The Fry's

Ava's Christmas Program

2011-12-22T11:09:00.000-06:00

Ava was in her school Christmas program last week. After her Nutcracker performance, where she did nothing, I was a little concerned about her ability to perform in front of an audience. But she did great! She is one of Santa's reindeer and says the line "There's snowflakes in the air!". She also did a great job singing her songs. Click here if you want to watch the video, it's about 8 minutes long!

Breakfast with Santa

2011-12-16T12:25:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we went to have breakfast with Santa Claus at Neimans. By we, I mean all of the young cousins on my side, plus at least one adult per kid. We had a good time and the kids behaved very well for Santa.

All of us

Amber with Ava and Max

Ava did great with Santa Claus

Max didn't want to sit with him at all

Ava and Emma Claire with their balloon animals

The Nutcracker Dress Rehearsal

2011-12-10T21:59:00.000-06:00

Ava is in her dance studio's production of the Nutcracker this Sunday. Today was dress rehearsal, the only time we can take pictures. She cried for about an hour before she "performed" because her costume was too itchy and it was making her bleed (No bodily harm was caused by the costume, but hers was a little small). Ava plays the part of a present, and she is supposed to dance behind Clara and do whatever she does. Today, however, she was too interested in all the decorations and things to actually do her dance. But she didn't cry and she didn't run off, so it was somewhat successful. Hopefully tomorrow at the real performance she will actually do something!

Fun In Louisiana

2011-11-19T16:00:00.000-06:00

In October we went to West Monroe, LA to visit Andrea, Karl, Kaden, and Leland. Ava and Max had a great time playing and Micah got put to work, as always!

Halloween

2011-11-19T14:54:00.000-06:00

For Halloween this year Ava and Max dressed up as Jesse and Woody from Toy Story. Ava got to wear her costume to a party at school and to her ballet class. Max just wore his on Halloween. We sold our house in Corsicana and closed Halloween morning and Micah had to get stuff ready for school the next day, so we just did a quick trick-or-treat at our house and at Papa Jack and Grammy's. Ava and Max knocked on our door about 10 times and got really good at trick-or-treating. They had fun and looked really cute!

Painting Pumpkins

2011-11-19T14:12:00.000-06:00

I have not been doing a good job of keeping up with the blog since we've moved, so instead of going back and blogging everything we've done over the summer, I'm just going to pick up at Halloween. This year we didn't carve pumpkins, but we did paint them. We went to the Dallas Arboretum and Ava and Max both picked out pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. They had a great time painting them and they've been sitting on our mantle. Yesterday, I finally decided the pumpkins had to go, so we went down to the pond and threw them in. That was the only way I could get Ava to part with hers!

We're Still Here...Kinda

2011-10-18T20:44:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in a while, mainly because we moved. Micah got a new job on somewhat short notice, and this summer we packed up and moved. We've been busy moving and readjusting and trying to get into a routine which hasn't really happened yet, making things somewhat difficult for me and Max and Ava. Also we haven't had the internet! We are living kinda far from town and any service we could get was expensive. We finally figured out we could get mobile service through Tri-Con, so we just recently got internet. We miss Corsicana and all of our friends there a lot, but hopefully once we get more settled in here things will be better. We are living in a house temporarily right now while our house in Corsicana sells (should happen the end of the month). As soon as that is done we can hopefully find a permanent home! So, I'm going to try and catch up on blogging. Here's just some random pics from our summer!

Sweet kids

On the scissor lift at Micah's old school

At the spray park in Corsicana with Colton

Playing in the gym at Westhill

Max rockin the 'stache

Ava decided to try on her baby lobster costume

Playing in the Water

2011-05-18T17:13:00.000-05:00

Summer has begun, we were able to play in the water for the first time this year. What started as four girls playing in the backyard quickly turned into a waterhose fight thanks to Papa Jack and Uncle Jake. Luckily the girls all had their swimsuits on hand. Ava and Zoey fought over who had control of the water most of the time, and everyone got a turn to spray each other.

Ava trying to spray Jake, but he stopped the water.

Ava and Zoey

All the girls playing in the water

Max chillin watching the spectacle.

Pictures

2011-05-17T17:24:00.000-05:00

I have not been doing a very good job lately keeping up my blog. We've been very busy, my computer broke, I got a new one, the internet hasn't been working, and I haven't been taking many pictures because my camera is acting weird. So here are just a few pictures from the past several weeks that I did take.

Ava fixed Max's hair with a pretty purple clip.

Max spilled a whole box of cheerios. He and Ava thought it was great.

Ava wearing shades on the playground at school.

Easter 2011

2011-05-17T17:08:00.000-05:00

This year for Easter was spent at Papa Jack and Grammy's house. The kids had lots of fun hanging out and playing with their "friend cousins" as Ava calls them (i.e. Zoey, Maddie, Emma Claire, and Sawyer).

Ava and Max before the Easter Egg hunt

Coloring eggs with crayons.

Roasting marshmallows at the barn with daddy

Ava and Vanessa watching cartoons

All the great grandkids

Hunting Easter Eggs. Ava did good, Max didn't care.

The Boyd and Fry kids all dressed up for church.

Our House

2011-04-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Because of all the storms we've had over the past year, we were able to get a new roof. We were really excited about this, because we didn't really care for the red roof.

Our house when we bought it. Red roof and old plants and all.

Our house now. Much, much better!!

Happenings

2011-04-11T21:09:00.000-05:00

We have been very busy around here this past month. We've had events going on such as the Navarro County Youth Expo, which kept Micah working pretty much every day until 8:00 or later-something we are just not crazy about. The Expo went well and is now over and we are all glad to have Micah back as part of our family! Ava and Max loved the Expo, we were there almost every day. Here's a few pics of them watching the goat show.

Meanwhile, Ava was having some regression issues with potty training. I finally bribed her with a new purse. She was very happy to get this Hello Kitty purse, complete with sunglasses and lipgloss.

I also ran my first long race. Page and I ran in the Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon. We ran the half marathon relay, so I only had to run 6 miles. But for me, that's a big deal. Page's half was mostly uphill, and my half was mostly downhill, which I was ok with. Sorry Page! Page ran with Jake and their pace was just under a 10 minute mile...really good. I ran with one of Jake and Amber's friends, and our pace was just under a 12 minute mile...which is really good for me. I'm super slow. My knees hurt the next week, but that was about it.

I've also been busy baking. I made a cake for a friend of mines sister's lingerie shower. It turned out alright, there were a few things I wanted to fix, but the more I tried to fix it, the more I messed it up.

This past weekend we went went to Paris for one of Micah's friend's wedding. Micah performed the ceremony and did a great job. I directed everyone and told everyone where to go and what to do. I was very glad that we had family around to watch our kids the whole weekend!

After the ceremony, Micah helped trash Chad's truck.

Spring Break Fun

2011-03-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

It's spring break, though spring break really doesn't exist for me anymore. I'm having a hard time understanding this! We were able to do some fun stuff this week, though. We went to the zoo on Tuesday with a bunch of our Corsicana friends. Ava and Max loved it, especially the howler monkeys. My favorite part was getting to eat at Chuy's afterwards and discovering the creamy jalepeno dip (Ava loved it, too...she was licking it out of the bowl) and the fried avacado.

With the gorilla statue

On Friday we met Grammy at the Dallas Arboretum. It was very pretty with lots of great spots for pictures. Unfortunately I have children who don't care to pose for pictures. Ava loved all the fountains and water and fish. Max liked walking on the grass. We ate at Keller's with Grammy and Papa Jack when we were done and then went to see Grandmama. I really like Dallas.

Max's First Birthday

2011-03-18T21:37:00.000-05:00

We had Max's first birthday party at my parents' house in Lone Oak. He had plenty of guests and we were happy they were all there.

Max's train cake that I made. Impressive, even though my fondant isn't totally smooth.

Happy Birthday to Max!!

Cheesing for the camera

The cake tastes great!

One of the very few decent pictures I have of both of my children. We were at school on Max's actual birthday and Lanette got them both to look and smile!

12 Months Old

2011-03-18T21:19:00.000-05:00

Max is a year old! We are all a little better off than we were a year ago. Micah and I both love our kids very much, we are just definitely not baby people and prefer it when our kids are a little older. Just turning one is the perfect age for me. Max is so fun right now. He's learning new things all the time. He mimics things we say and things we do. He can make an elephant noise, roar, clap, sing songs, eat A LOT, and he can officially walk. Really really well. And with walking he has become much more independent. He wants to go wherever he wants to and if he doesn't get his way, he throws himself on the ground and cries. He eats and drinks all the time and sleeps well as long as he is in his own bed. He doesn't like to be in the car too long and he doesn't watch tv! I guess that's a good thing. At this age (and still) Ava was glued to the tv whenever it was on. Max could care less. He is a big time mama's boy. He loves for me to hold him and always gives me a huge hug when I get him out of bed in the morning. We go to the doctor later this week, so I will update all his stats then!

11 Months Old

2011-02-17T21:50:00.000-06:00

Max is 11 months old! I took a picture of him eating in his high chair, because right now that is his favorite thing to do...eat! He shovels food in by the handful. His favorites are Italian foods, Mexican foods, and vegetables. And blueberries. He's drinking 4 8 ounce bottles a day, but they are half formula and half milk. He's becoming a pro at the sippy cup, and I think he will be done with bottles soon. He crawls everywhere, and will walk everywhere as long as he has something to hold on to. He has taken a few steps by himself, but that's as much as he wants to do right now. He repeats tons of sounds, including spitting sounds. He will make an elephant sound, growl, and loves to mimic the noises that the kids in his class make. He can clap and shake his head no and pout when he's told no. He sleeps all night, and when he does wake up at night, he waits for me to come into his room then throws himself down in his crib and goes right back to sleep. I think he just wants to make sure we are still there. He is taking one nap a day, usually about 2 hours. I'm hoping this gets a little longer. He loves to play with Ava, he especially likes to pull her hair and steal her blanket. He's a funny kid and loves to laugh!

More Snow

2011-02-04T21:37:00.001-06:00

Just a few pics from the snow. Ava loved it, Max did not.

Click here to see Ava playing in the snow!

Sickness and Snow

2011-01-24T21:03:00.004-06:00

It all started January 2. We went to Arby's to eat with some friends, and Ava wouldn't eat. Not even french fries. That should've told me something was wrong, but I just thought she wasn't hungry. Then she kept saying she needed to spit. After several trips to the bathroom, she finally "spit". All over Arby's, the trash can, the floor, the bathroom...everywhere. The people at Arby's were really nice about it, and I was grateful. The rest of the night was spent in my bedroom and bathroom, with Ava "spitting" quite frequently. She began to recover the next morning and regally ate her breakfast in bed.

After her tummy troubles, Ava decided to run fever and develop pharyngitis (or a really bad sore throat). She was better by that Friday, which was good because Micah and I were going to the Cotton Bowl. On the way down, I didn't feel so great. We ate some food and I was better, but by half time we all were feeling a little down. It was pretty cool to get to go to the game, though, and we were on the world's largest HD screen twice. That was awesome.

We made it home just fine, but the next day, the stomach bug hit me. And Max. It was rough. Especially on Micah, who had to take care of everyon. Luckily it snowed that Sunday and Monday, and Micah got to stay home from school one more day to take care of us. We felt good enough to get out in the snow and play some.

Tuesday morning, getting ready for us all to go to school, Ava starts telling me she needs to spit. And she did. All morning long. Another day at home with another stomach bug. Sitting on the well covered couch with her "spit bucket" beside her, we managed to keep the house fairly clean.

That night, the stomach bug hit Micah, too. None of us were spared this go round. By Friday, I thought we were all recovered. We went to the library and HEB. We got home and Max took a really long nap. When he woke up, his fever was 103. We went to the doctor and Max was promptly diagnosed with the flu. He tested positive for type A flu.

Max ran fever and felt bad all weekend, but was better on Monday and Tuesday, then got worse. We went back to the doctor and he was diagnosed with a secondary infection from the flu of bronchitis. More medicine. I had the doc check Ava out, too. She had been coughing some and had a low grade fever. He decided she just had a cold, but the next day she had a 102 fever and did not feel good at all. Luckily, she was better the next day.

Max, on the other hand, still felt bad. I made him some pancakes, though, and that seemed to help.

Ava was very restless and tired of being "stuck in the house" as she would say. We played alot, painted some, and watched more tv than is good for any 2 year old.

It is now January 24 and Max had his first fever free/medicine free day in 10 days. Hopefully we are all recovering and done with sickness for the time being!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-15T21:26:00.006-06:00

Christmas this year was awesome, but I must say that I did a horrible job taking pictures. We had Christmas at home Christmas Eve, then went to Paris to have Christmas with the Frys and Zants. After that, we went to Lone Oak for Christmas with my family, then back home to Corsicana, where the McDonalds met us to visit for a few days. It was a great Christmas and we enjoyed seeing everyone!

Ava and Max are ready for Santa

Getting cookies for Santa and his reindeer

Santa came and brought at tricycle for Ava and a tractor flashlight for Max

Maybe the trike was for Max, too!

Santa brought me some running gear

Ava got a Cat In The Hat shirt

Max was an expert unwrapper

Ava loved her tricycle, too.

At Grandma and Grandad's, Max loved the purple ball

More presents!

Playing with Jeff

Ava's new house

Auntie Am and Max

More toys and fun!!

10 Months Old

2011-01-12T22:21:00.002-06:00

Max is 10 months old! He's getting to be a big boy. He wears 12-18 month old clothes and size 5 diapers. He takes five 7 ounce bottles a day, eats three meals (sometimes...he's not big on eating food still), and takes one to two naps a day. He can wave and say "bye-bye", "Da-da" and "Ma-ma". He will give you a high five and can shake his head no when he's done eating food or when he doesn't want to do something. And he understands the word "no". If you tell him no, he stops what he's doing and puts on the biggest pouty face. On the other hand, if you point a camera in his direction, he instantly smiles. He's a very happy and laid back little boy. He loves to play and plays very well by himself. He goes into Ava's room and pulls all the drawers out of her toy shelves and plays with all her stuff. He loves the bathroom, especially the toilet. He loves to play the little piano and open and close all the doors on the play kitchen. Max loves to be held and cuddled and likes to sleep in bed with his Mama when she lets him. Max is pulling up on everything and walking around while holding onto stuff. He's not quite found his balance yet so I don't think walking will be happening any time soon. He's very clumsy and falls down and bumps his head all the time. He'll either wind up being tough, or not very intelligent. Max LOVES to be outside. Ava has learned to open the back door and any chance she gets she will open and and the two of them will escape to the back porch. Max loves to bug Ava, pull her hair, and jump on her. He's a sweet little boy and we're glad he's here!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-23T23:25:00.002-06:00

It's Christmas Eve at our house today. We woke up this morning and ate breakfast at Denny's, hung around the house and played all day, and got some Christmas cookies for Santa. We told Ava that Santa is coming in the house through the fireplace. She keeps saying, "Santa, fire?" I'm afraid she may think that Santa's going to blow up. We've been watching Indiana Jones movies and the original Superman, and there's lots of things that blow up. She's always concerned when something blows up and wants to know about the fire. Maybe when she sees the toys he left, she'll know he wasn't blown up! And Max, he has no clue what's going on. He's just glad to be feeling better!

Christmas Time

2010-12-23T23:00:00.003-06:00

It's Christmas time and we've been super busy, just like everyone else! We've had parties, shopping, baking, and sickness to deal with. Max is getting over his first ear infection, he was a very sick little boy! The ear infection rearranged some of our shopping plans, but luckily we got it all done. Here are a few pics from our past few weeks.

All smiles

Ava wanted her picture taken with Max in front of the tree.

Max was done

So tired she needed to take a nap on the kitchen floor. Isn't our floor lovely?

PJ Day at school. I think Max was starting to get sick here, you can see his eyes just don't look good.

9 Months Old

2010-12-23T22:43:00.003-06:00

Max is now 9 months old. He is 28 inches long and weighs 23 pounds, a short and stocky boy. He's a very happy baby and loves to play. He plays with Ava's toys more than she does. His favorite game is peek-a-boo and he loves to pat things and wrestle. He likes books and enjoys being sung to. He also likes his friends at school and church, I think he's going to be a social butterfly. He pulls up and walks around everything, as long as he's holding on to something. He will stand on his head and play "dead bug" with you on the floor. He takes 1-2 naps a day, about 3 hours napping total, sleeps from about 8pm to 8am, usually waking up once a night. He loves his mama. He eats 5 7 oz bottles a day and his favorite food is any veggie. Max has two bottom teeth and four coming in on the top! Fun times!

Christmas Cookies

2010-12-11T20:57:00.002-06:00

Ava's friends Colton and Ellie came over to our house and helped us make Christmas cookies. They had lots of fun, and lots of sugar. Ava did better this year than last year. She quit eating the m&ms and icing after she was threatened with a spanking and actually decorated her cookies.

Playing dress up

Ava's finished cookies

Breakfast With Santa

2010-12-11T20:19:00.003-06:00

Today my mom took Ava, Max, and me to have breakfast with Santa Claus at Northpark. Micah and I have been preparing Ava all week, telling her that Santa was going to talk to her and she needed to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. We asked her what she was going to tell Santa she wanted and she said, "Toys". We guided her a little (we are getting her a tricycle) and asked, "What about a bicycle?" and she said "Yes!" We asked her "What about a tricycle" and she said "yeah, tricycle". Then she said, "What about a motorcycle?" We told her maybe when she got bigger she could ask for a motorcycle. Then she decided that Max needed a motorcyle.

Eating Breakfast, waiting for Santa

The Elf came by and gave Ava a cool balloon bracelet

Santa's here! Max loves Santa. He watched him while he walked around the whole room

Ava warmed up to Santa pretty quick. She told him she wants a tricycle, Max wants a motorcycle, and daddy wants a teddy bear.

Ava loves trains, so after we had breakfast Grammy took us to see the trains. Max and I didn't see them all because it was really crowded and our stroller didn't fit well. And Max was hungry. But Ava and Grammy really enjoyed the trains.

Thanks Grammy for a fun day!

2010-11-30T22:40:00.002-06:00

Funny video of a little bug and Ava.

The Lake and The Zoo

2010-11-30T21:58:00.003-06:00

A few weekends ago we went to the lake (aka Grammy and Papa Jack's House) for the weekend. We had a great time just hanging out and playing outside, as you can see!

We also went to the Waco Zoo with Lanette, Colton, and Ellie. We all dressed for cold weather, since it is the end of November, but were surprised when the temperature was in the 80s! Ava wanted to be carried most of the time because she was too hot. The kids loved the zoo, and they also loved our trip to Arby's afterwards.

Ava and Ellie look at the Jaguar

Max enjoying himself

Such a happy butterfly!

8 Months Old

2010-11-30T21:40:00.002-06:00

Max is 8 months old. Well, at least he is in this picture. He's almost nine months old now, and I'm just really far behind on my blogging. At 8 months old, Max sleeps all night long (most of the time), goes to Tuesday/Thursday school and loves to crawl around all over the place, eats very little solid food (he likes mainly veggies and bread), drinks 5 7 ounce bottles, takes two naps a day, and is a really happy baby!!

Halloween/Iowa

2010-11-06T15:08:00.007-05:00

Halloween weekend we made the not so long trip to Des Moines, Iowa to visit Andrea, Karl, Leland, and Kaden. It was not so long because we got to fly! The flight was only two hours, much better than the 12 hour drive we normally take. Ava and Max did great on the flight. Going through security was another story. Ava freaked out and threw a huge fit the whole way through. There were all kinds of people trying to help us get all of our stuff through. When we finally made it, I took Ava to the bathroom. She kept saying, "Ow Mama, I don't want a shot!". Apparently something about going through security made her think she was going to get a shot and she was not into that. Once I explained to her that she wasn't going to get a shot, she was just fine. She did worry about her car all weekend long though. She kept telling me that she didn't want Jake to take her car, she wanted her car back. When we got back to Dallas, Jake picked us up in our car and she was overjoyed!

Ava dressed up as The Cat in the Hat. Minus the hat. She wouldn't wear it, but she did use it to collect her candy.

Max was a lobster

We took the kids trick-or-treating at Living History Farms. They have an 1800's town set up so the kids went trick-or-treating through the old town. They had a great time and got tons of candy.

The next day we went to some farm in Iowa with lots of corn. I know that narrows it down quite a bit. There was a cornfield maze that we trekked all the way through. Ava and Kaden enjoyed picking up the corn cobs and pulling all the corn out.

Children of the Corn

Micah, Ava, and Max rode the go-karts.

Trick-or-treating Midwest style. In Des Moines, everyone goes trick-or-treating the day before Halloween. And instead of saying "trick-or-treat", you have to tell the people a joke to get candy. Since we had been trick-or-treating the night before at Living History Farms, we decided to stay home and hand out candy. And watch the Rangers in the World Series. Micah, Andrea, Kaden, and Ava did a great job handing out treats.

Max and Leland had lots of fun bouncing

On Monday we went to the Des Moines Science Center. This was lots of fun for all of us. Ava and Micah built rockets, dropped eggs from huge heights, and we built a Catenary Arch.

We had a great trip and were glad that Andrea and Karl let us invade their home. I was glad Mary made coffee every morning. Ava and Max were glad that we got miles from Grammy and Papa Jack to fly instead so they didn't have to sit in a car seat for 12 hours. And Ava was really glad that Uncle Jake brought her back her car.

What Used To Be Our House

2010-10-25T21:51:00.002-05:00

When we first moved to Rice two and a half year ago, here is where we lived.

This is what that house looks like today. Trees were snapped, the house was blown off its foundation, the roof is messed up, and windows were broken.

Our house was a "mother-in-law" house to a big two story house that sat about 30 yards to the north of it. It had a big detached three car garage between the big house and our little house. Here is what's left of that house today.

The lady that we rented from had just recently sold the property, moved out of the big house and into the little house where we used to live. The new owners had moved into the big house. The owner took shelter in a closet under the stairwell. That was all that was left standing of that whole house.

Tornado

2010-10-24T21:13:00.003-05:00

Today we went to Wal-Mart and to the gas station before church. As we were pulling out of the gas station, I noticed a funnel cloud! This is what we saw.

We could tell the tornado was far to the north and headed northeast, away from us. But we were sitting in the parking lot of the gas station with our small children so I decided that we should probably head some place a little safer. We drove to church and parked and continued to watch the tornado as it got bigger. It looked like it was in the Rice area and near the house where we used to live. We found out later that Rice Intermediate School (brand new school) and the house where we used to live sustained severe damage. Luckily no one was hurt.

This is a picture that a friend sent me. It was taken from the Rice Bank.

We are very thankful that everyone is okay, but saddened by the damage done by this storm.

7 Months Old

2010-10-18T17:00:00.002-05:00

Max is 7 months old! He is a very busy boy, scooting all over the place. His favorite toys aren't his toys, but anything that isn't a toy that's left on the floor. He LOVES Ava, and she loves him most of the time, but is starting to get annoyed by him getting her toys and other stuff. Max is at Mother's Day Out with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays and is finally starting to settle in to the routine. He loves to eat any veggie, but still does not like fruit. He's waking up at least once a night still and usually sleeps around 3-4 hours during the day. He laughs easily and in pretty happy as long as he is fed and well rested.

Ava and Max's Bathroom

2010-10-02T10:26:00.004-05:00

Our master bathroom is done enough, so we have moved on to Ava and Max's bathroom. This is what the bathroom looked like when we bough it. Yes, it is hard to believe we paid money for a house that had a bathroom that looked like this.

Here is the bathroom after minor renovation. We had to make it more livable than what it was.

And here is the bathroom today. We have separated it into two rooms, that way one kid can be taking a bath or using the bathroom and the other can still use the sinks.

We have a new tub and subway tile surround that goes all the way to the ceiling. It makes it look so much bigger.

And pretty white floors. I'm sure they won't stay this clean and white for long.

Micah is painting and doing the lights today, grout goes in on Monday, then we will be ready for the sinks (2 pedestals), toilet, and fixtures to be installed hopefully Wednesday. Then we will once again have two functioning bathrooms in our house! We are still missing cabinets but will get those soon!

6 Months Old

2010-09-26T22:12:00.002-05:00

Max is now 6 months old. Actually, he's almost 7 months old, I'm just really, really behind on my blogging for some reason! Oh well, I'll catch up someday. Here are Max's 6 month stats:

Length: 27 inches
Weight: 20 pounds
Talks: All the time, lots of babbling, squealing, and laughing. He LOVES to laugh!
Activities: Sits up by himself, loves to chew on things, loves his jumper and exersaucer
Eats: Veggies, especially green ones. He gags on any fruit I've given him. And for some reason there aren't alot of baby food green veggies. Guess I'll be making my own! He's also started taking some formula in a sippy cup.
Sleeps: From about 8 pm to 7 or 8 am, usually wakes up once a night for a snack. Naps are unpredictable. He gets them when he can!

Max is such a good, sweet baby. And he's also good looking. I am constantly gettting comments on how pretty he is. Even his doctor went on and on about what a pretty baby he is. Maybe people are just being nice, but I really do think he's pretty.

Master Bathroom

2010-08-27T20:54:00.004-05:00

We have recently remodeled our master bathroom. It wasn't a major remodel, just ripping out the tub and changing it to a shower, new tile, new vanity, new shelves. It looks sooooo good, and is so much better than what it was! We are loving it. I don't even mind cleaning it because I feel it can actually get clean. Before it was just always dirty, so I didn't see much point in cleaning it. Gross, I know. There are still a few things left unfinished, just like all the other rooms in our house, but it will get done eventually. Until then, we are enjoying our nice, new, clean bathroom, and starting tomorrow on remodeling Ava and Max's bathroom. Sometimes I question our intelligence....

Before

After

5 Months Old

2010-08-17T21:46:00.003-05:00

Max is five months old now. He is BIG! Micah and I both find it hard to carry him for too long because he's just so heavy! But he is a sweet baby and very very very cute. He's happy most of the time and loves to be played with, especially peek-a-boo. He loves to watch Ava and he likes TV, too. He rolls all over and has started rolling over to sleep on his belly or his side at night. We started rice cereal this month and he thinks it's great. Overall he's doing well and is a happy and healthy baby boy!

Oh, and he has two teeth now!

Ava's Second Birthday

2010-08-11T21:59:00.002-05:00

Ava is now 2 years old! She is growing up and getting smarter and funnier every day. She loves to play and runs everywhere she goes. She is also definitely into the terrible twos, throwing herself on the floor whenever she doesn't get what she wants. She loves to sing and dance and watch tv and play outside, when it's not too hot. Ava's birthday was a full day celebration, starting that morning with her presents. This year she got a kitchen, which she plays with all the time.

Ava's Kitchen

Birthday Pancakes

Butterfly Birthday Cake

We had several friends with small children come over for Ava's birthday for cake and ice cream. The kids all played in Ava's room the whole time while the adults got to hang out and talk. It was a great birthday for both Ava and us! This is Ava's room after everyone left. She was eating M&M's the next morning off the floor that she had brought in the night before. She had a blast!!

Click here to see Ava's Birthday Video

Max Eats!

2010-08-07T21:45:00.004-05:00

Max got his first taste of solid food and he loved it! He ate it like he'd been missing it his whole life. He is eating two meals of rice cereal each day and thinks its great. We will be moving on to more foods soon!!

Click here to see video!!

Videos

2010-08-05T13:38:00.005-05:00

Click on the links below and check out some new videos!

Max Playing

Galveston 2010

Max Laughing

Cooking With Ava

2010-08-05T10:11:00.002-05:00

Ava and Max decided to make a cake the other day. We made personal sized instant cake that Micah's aunt had given us. Ava did a great job of mixing the ingredients and eating the cake when she was done. We practiced singing happy birthday and she did a great job of blowing out her candle. Max was a big help because he played happily in his exersaucer the whole time. He's finally big enough for it and it just makes things soooo much easier to have him playing in it!

Our Trip to the Beach

2010-08-04T15:15:00.004-05:00

Last week we went to Galveston for Micah's Ag teacher's conference. We stayed there for 5 days and had lots of fun. We went to Moody Gardens to the aquarium, took a cruise of Galveston Harbor, swam in the hotel pool, ate at Rainforest Cafe and some fancy fish joints, and of course we went to the beach. Ava LOVED the beach. Whenever we were out of sight of the water she asked over and over and over again, "Where'd the water go?" She would wake up in the morning and immediately start saying, "Let's go to the beach." Max didn't really care, he just slept. On the harbor tour, we saw dolphins swimming. Ava thought that was pretty cool and in addition to her asking where the water went, she began to constantly ask where the dolphins went. Luckily we found a store that had a dolphin you could ride. All in all it was a pretty good trip!

Pictures

2010-07-23T09:55:00.002-05:00

Jeff and Vanessa came in last week and we all went swimming at Jake's house. Well, they all went swimming. Amber was hosting a party (which we crashed) and I was taking care of Max. Ava loved the pool...eventually. She slept great that night.

Ava sees a plane. So does everyone else.

What's Going On

2010-07-23T09:23:00.002-05:00

We've been busy this summer, going lots of places and seeing lots of people. Here are a few pics from the past few weeks.

Max is doing well sitting in his Bumbo. His legs are starting to get too big to fit in it, though. He may outgrow it before we even start solid foods!

I took a shower the other day and put Max in his crib and left Ava in the living room watching cartoons. When I got out of the shower I heard Ava laughing really loud. I walked into Max's room and this is what I found. She had crawled up into the crib with Max and the two of them were just as happy as they could be!

Working on the computer with daddy

Jeff brought Ava these wooden shoes from a layover in the Netherlands. She wouldn't wear them when he gave them to her, but the next day she thought they were great!

We have dabbled in potty training these past few weeks when we've been at home. This is what happened when I tried to get Ava to wear big girl underwear.

4 Months Old

2010-07-20T20:42:00.003-05:00

Max is now 4 months old! Actually, a little over 4 months. He's doing really well. We went in for his 4 month check up and the doctor said he was fantastic. He weighed 17 pounds 9 ounces and was 27 inches long, 90th percentile. He got 3 shots and did NOT like them. He's eating like a pro, but we haven't started solids yet. He can roll over both ways, but most of the time chooses to just hang out on his back. He loves to watch the lights and the fan and laugh when people talk to him. Ava loves to jump over Max and try and pick him up and carry him. He's sleeping better, but not through the night yet. We go to Galveston next week and when we get home I'm planning on doing some serious sleep training...we will see how that goes. All in all he's a pretty good kid!

4th of July

2010-07-09T11:20:00.005-05:00

Four generations of Frys
Max, Micah, Michael, Edd

Max is ready for some fun in the sun

Ava would only get in the water if her daddy went with her

Braxton fell off the mule and busted his head. A trip to the hospital and two staples later he was just fine. He's a pretty tough kid!

Ava and Kaden driving the mule. They weren't driving when Braxton fell off...

Kaden and Ava

This year we had a very professional fireworks show, complete with electronic push button control. Whenever we pushed the button, another firework went off. The fireworks were great and I was really impressed that it all worked. Good job, Karl!!

Max is pushing "The Button"

Karl has all the fireworks ready to go

Watching the fireworks

4th of July Parade

2010-07-09T11:03:00.003-05:00

Every year we go to the 4th of July parade in Paris. Ava really enjoyed it this year and did a great job picking up all the candy that was thrown our way. Max didn't really care, maybe next year.

Ava, Kaden, Logan, and Rosa enjoying the parade.

Ava and Nana

Leland

Max

New Home/Lamesa/Lubbock Trip

2010-07-09T10:43:00.002-05:00

We recently went to the Lubbock area for the Zant Family Reunion. We went a few days early and visited with Micah's cousins and all their kids...5 boys ages 5 and under! Ava had a lot of fun playing with all those boys, but was ready to go home where she could be the center of attention.

After the reunion. Ava and Kaden were tired out.

Playing in the sand with Brazos. There was lots of sand.

Kaden in his red hat.

Ava and Brazos playing a game.

Max and Leland enjoying each others company. Max is two weeks older than Leland.

Thanks Lyneil and Andy for letting us invade your house and eat all your yummy food!!

Playtime

2010-06-10T15:19:00.003-05:00

Ava's first experience with play dough. A friend suggested I use playdough to help Ava learn her colors, so I went out and bought a multi-colored pack. We took it out, I gave her a color, got her to say the color, then tried to show her how to squish it. She did not like that. She just wanted to take the playdough out, look at it, then put it back up. She hasn't learned her colors yet, either.

On the other hand, she does a great job playing with her Mr. Potato head and all the pieces. She likes to put them on herself now and is putting them on Max, too!

Ava also loves to wear the laundry hamper on her head and walk around the house.

Ava and Max are starting to enjoy each other more. He is actually letting her hold him, and smiling while she tries to feed him her milk.

Ava-22 Months

2010-06-10T14:51:00.003-05:00

Ava is now 22 months old, almost to the terrible twos! I think they've hit a little early, though, because one of her favorite things to do now is throw herself on the floor and throw a fit. She talks more and more every day and is putting two and three words together. She can pretty much let us know what she wants and lets us know when she doesn't get what she wants. She sleeps from about 8pm-8am, which is great, and still takes one 2-3 hour nap a day. If she goes to bed late, she wakes up early. Strange. She is very busy and always has something on her agenda.

Ava has been getting sick about once a month. This picture is from her last sick spell. This is the only time she has ever just laid down on the couch and fallen asleep.

Ava loves to collect things. Here she has multiple packets of flower seeds.

Ava's favorite spot to eat breakfast is in the rocking chair while watching tv.

Bed-Head after her nap.

Ava and Max

3 Months Old

2010-06-10T14:36:00.003-05:00

Max is now three months old! He is growing constantly. He now weighs about 15 pounds. He likes to be held and cuddled a lot, and definitely likes to eat all the time! He's eating about every two to three hours. He sleeps during the day, but not in his bed. He does best on the couch, in the carseat, or in someone's arms. He sleeps in his bed at night though and will sleep all night sometimes. Other nights he will wake up two or three times ready to eat and play! Hopefully as he gets older this will get better. He is laughing and likes to be talked to and sang to. He's just now gotten to where tummy time is ok, and he will pick his head up well. Overall, he's doing well and seems to be a happy boy!

Master Bathroom

2010-06-01T06:59:00.004-05:00

Micah has begun work on our master bathroom! It's been pretty nasty. I have tried cleaning it really good a couple of times, but it just never seemed clean enough. So we're ripping everything out and putting new stuff back in! Here are some pictures of the bathroom before...

And here are the after pictures. I already like the bathroom better. This is the cleanest it has ever been!

We demolished the bathroom on Saturday. Miraculously both Ava and Max went down for a nap at the same time in their own beds and slept for like 3 hours! By the time they woke up, we were done. Ava walked into our room after she woke up, looked in the bathroom and said, "Oh no! Where'd it go?"

Ava and Max

2010-05-21T15:38:00.003-05:00

And here is a video of Ava and Max playing.

Ava is a Genius

2010-05-21T14:44:00.002-05:00

Ava somehow has learned to count to ten! I think it's from Sesame Street. I was doing crunches the other day and I count out loud with her and Max around. I stopped at 7 because I was feeling a little lazy, and Ava kept counting..."8, 9, 10". I was shocked and started at one with her, and she said all her numbers all the way to ten! She's a mathematical genius. We got a video of her counting, though she doesn't do as well for the video. She was distracted by Tank outside and her daddy's shoes.

Check out the video here.

More Pictures

2010-05-12T15:19:00.005-05:00

Watching TV

I cleaned out the DVD cabinet an Ava decided to help from the inside

Napping

Gotta wear shades

Happy boy

Two Months Old

2010-05-11T21:11:00.002-05:00

Max is now two months old! Time flies. He weighs 13 pounds, 10 ounces which is in the 90th percentile, and is 23 inches long which is in the 50th percentile. So he's a somewhat chubby baby. He is sleeping good at night, but during the day wants to be held all the time! He is very cuddly and loves to eat all the time. He is finally taking a pacifier and will take a bottle when we make him. He is smiling all the time, he loves to be outside and to be talked to. Ava really likes him now, she likes to take care of him and talk to him. She wakes up in the morning and her first question is "Where's Max?" Overall, things are going well!

Max has very pretty skin, everyone comments on it.

Lifting his head up. Tummy time is not his favorite, but we manage to get some in.

Ava playing with Max

Ava eating strawberries and whipped cream. She's pretty messy.

Stock Show

2010-05-11T20:57:00.002-05:00

Last month Ava, Max, and I went to the Lamar County Stock Show to watch Hunter show his sheep. He did a great job, and we had lots of fun and got to see family and friends.

Lynda and Max

Hunter showing

Ava and Eli watching the show

Papa and Max

Just Some Pictures

2010-04-13T13:12:00.003-05:00

Sitting with Daddy

Ready for school

First tub bath...notice the big belly button!

I love ketchup!!

Swinging

Max loves sleeping in mom and dad's bed

Ava's new hat the she insists on wearing everywhere!

Max also loves to sleep on the couch

Big sister and little brother

One Month Old

2010-04-13T11:44:00.003-05:00

Max is now one month old. According to my measurements, he is about 22 inches long and 11 pounds. He is definitely eating alot and growing bigger every day. He's totally outgrown newborn stuff, and the overalls he is wearing in this picture are the same ones Ava wore in her 3 month old picture. He's a very good baby, but very particular. He does not like his diaper to be dirty or wet at all, and it always is. He SOAKS them. So, we are going through diapers and trash bags like crazy. He loves to be held all the time, but is getting better about spending some alone time on the floor, in his crib, or in the bouncy seat. He sleeps in his crib until about six in the morning, when he likes to get in bed with us. This may be more because we are too lazy to put him back to bed at this time and it's just easier to snuggle with him in bed until Ava wakes up. He usually wakes up two to three times a night to eat, but he eats rather quickly and goes right back to sleep, so it's not that bad. He smiles now, a real smile, not just a gas smile, and will take a pacifier sometimes, though he isn't really fond of it. He is a really pretty baby and everyone comments on how beautiful his skin is, he looks like he was born with a tan. Overall we are doing good. Ava likes him most of the time, she wakes up in the morning wanting to know where the baby is, and any time we go somewhere she always reminds me to get him out of the car, too. When he starts crying in the car, she will pet his leg and say "Shhh baby, hey.....shhhh."

Getting a kiss from Ava

One Month Old!

More Easter

2010-04-12T21:52:00.003-05:00

Easter morning we woke up and saw that the Easter Bunny had visited. Ava enjoed everything he brought. We then rushed to get ready for church and went to church with Micah's cousin Amy and Jorge at the Iglesia de Cristo in Greenville. We left church and went to Grandmama's house where we ate a good lunch, hunted eggs again, and visited with lots and lots of family. Ava had a great time with all the small children there!

Checking out what the Easter Bunny brought.

Max didn't really care.

All dressed up for church

At Grandmama and Papa's house.

Going through her loot. Micah is taking the candy, Jake is taking the money.

Jacob can vacuum.

All the grandkids (minus Jeff who is in DC) and great grandkids.

Grandmama is ready for us all to go home! I'm sure she will call me when she sees this picture. Micah took it.

Easter Part Two

2010-04-12T20:08:00.004-05:00

Saturday of Easter weekend we spent at my parents' house. Ava had a blast playing outside, riding on the golf cart, and playing with Lane and Page's girls. Max had a great time, too, being held by everyone.

The girls had a great time blowing bubbles. Ava tried to blow them herself. I think she swallowed more bubbles than she blew.

Ava, Maddie, Zoey, and Emma Claire had a great time riding in the wagon, the golf cart, and the shopping cart.

Auntie Am and Ava

Ava playing with the colored eggs. She didn't do well coloring them, but she did do a good job smashing the eggs and eating them. She even tried to drink the colored water.

Stacey and Ava

Max's Shower

2010-04-10T16:09:00.004-05:00

My family decided to throw a shower for Max and I Easter weekend. We had it at my sister-in-law Amber's house. It was a wonderful shower and Max got lots of cool stuff. He will definitely be a well dressed kid!

Amber and Katie

Grandma Fry and Max Fry

All the presents!

Easter Part One

2010-04-10T16:01:00.002-05:00

Ava's first Easter egg hunt was at Mother's Day Out the Thursday before Easter. I was there because I thought I would have to help her and show her what to do. I was wrong. She knew exactly what to do. She took off picking up eggs and depositing them into her basket. Being the little hoarder she is, she did really well and got tons of eggs!

Ready for the hunt.

Finding the eggs

Full basket!

After the hunt was over, the teachers took the kids baskets inside so they could divy up the candy a little more evenly and so the kids could play on the playground. Ava was the only one who threw a fit because her basket was taken away!

Ava's First Hair Cut

2010-04-06T13:18:00.002-05:00

Ava was developing a bit of a mullet, so we decided to take her and have her hair cut. She did very well, but by the end was ready to get out of the chair. She got a sucker when she was done and had a great time twirling in the chair and rolling around on the hair covered floor while I got my hair cut.

The Mullet

Best shot we could get of her final cut.

Two Week Check Up

2010-03-26T18:26:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went in for Max's two week check up. The doctor said he is doing great. At two weeks, they like to see the babies gain back to their birth weight, which for Max would be 7 lbs. 10 ounces. He weighed in at 9 lbs 6 ounces and had grown an inch in two weeks! Big change. He has an umbilical hernia, which is no big deal, he will just have an outie for a while. Things are going good and Ava is more interested in him every day.

What Ava's Been Doing

2010-03-26T18:12:00.002-05:00

These past few weeks while Max and I have been hanging out at home, Ava has been out and about on her own. She has managed to go to school and participate in Tricycle Day and see the mailman and the policeman. Thanks Lanette and Kerri for sending me pics of all this! She also has been to the Youth Expo with Ashley and Michael and seen all the animals!

Checking out a pig

Petting a steer with Eric

Playing outside at Tricycle Day

Checking out the police car

Going for a ride at school

More Visitors

2010-03-26T13:59:00.001-05:00

Cousins-Ava, Hunter, Max, and Eli

Aunt Ashley and Max

Grandmama and Max

Sweet sleeping boy

Our First Week Home

2010-03-18T10:18:00.003-05:00

Things have been busy since we've been home, but they are going well. We've had several people visit us and bring us food, which has helped out sooooo much! Here are a few pics of our first week home with Max and Ava.

The Barham's brought us dinner and brought Ava a Handy Manny toolbox with tools. She loves it, she even wanted to sleep with the tools, as you can see. She fell asleep with the pliers on her face!

Max likes the boucy seat, Ava likes the car seat.

Amber and Jake came to see us, Amber was the only one who could keep Max happy that night!

Max sleeping in his crib for the first time. He's not that crazy about it yet, he prefers to be held.

Ava using her tools to fix Max's play mat.

Ava fixing Max's pillow.

Stacey and Bobby came to visit us. Ava was a big fan of Bobby!

Ava went to a birthday party and played in the bounce house and loved it!

Ava holding Max for the first time. It was first thing in the morning so we didn't look that great.

Pictures of Max

2010-03-11T16:20:00.001-06:00

The Birth of Max Edd Fry

2010-03-11T10:42:00.004-06:00

Sunday morning, March 7, 2010, I began having contractions, just one every hour or so. I knew that this could go on for days, so I wasn't concerned about going into labor anytime soon. Micah and I got up that morning, got dressed and went to church. Ava was in Paris for the weekend, so we had plans to just take it easy all day. I continued to have small contractions every hour, but nothing major. We decided to have Ava come home since we had no idea when the baby would come. Micah's parents brought her home around 6 Sunday evening, and I was still having contractions about every hour. As soon as they left, though, my contractions went from every hour to every 30 minutes. Then my water broke, and the contractions went from 30 minutes to 10 minutes, then to 5. And they hurt! We called his parents and my mom and asked them all to come to our house and they did. As soon as my mom got to the house Micah and I left for the hospital, a long and bumpy 30 minute drive. It was not that enjoyable for me! When we got to the hospital we went to the ER and were taken back to labor and delivery. My contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart and painful, but were manageable as long as I was standing up or walking around. When we got into the room, they made me lie in the bed so the nurse could check things out. They did determine that my water had broke, but I was still only about 2 cm dilated and the baby was very high. Because of this they made me stay in bed because walking around could cause the cord to prolapse. I had gone into the hospital wanting a natural birth-no meds-but once they told me I couldn't move around, I knew that was out the window. I wanted the epidural. This was about 10:00 Sunday night. I labored until about 2 am and finally got the epidural. I lasted that long without any other drugs, so I was glad. I didn't want any narcotics this time like I had with Ava, and I didn't get any. That made this labor and delivery soooo much better!

Having a contraction before the epidural.

At the time of the epidural, I was about 3 cm and having regular contractions. After the epi, I felt great and we slept. I was checked about 5 am and was progressing, 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced and the baby had dropped quite a bit. I wasn't checked again until about 7:30 Monday morning, and even then the nurse wasn't going to, but she noticed the baby's HR dropping when I had contractions. She checked and was shocked that I was 10 cm, 100% effaced, and the baby was right there! We woke Micah up, she put me in stirrups, and called the doctor. I started pushing about 8 and the baby didn't like it very much. He was born at 8:38 am March 8, 2010. The cord was wrapped around his neck, which was why he wasn't crazy about contractions and pushing. He's fine, though, and so am I! He weighed in at 7 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 1/4 inches long. We named him Max Edd because Max is a name that Micah and I both liked, and Edd is Micah's grandfather's name. Our last name is Fry, so we figured we would let him have it too, just to make it easy.

After the delivery, I was hungry!

Nana and Granpa with Max

Grammy and Ava with Max. She was very unsure of him at first.

Ava and Max at home. Once we got him home, she really warmed up to him. She runs around the house yelling "Baby! Baby!" and tries to give him his pacifier all the time.

Sorry there aren't more pictures. With Ava, when we got to the hospital I wasn't having any contractions and I felt fine so we thought about taking pictures. Not this time! I'll post more later, though.

Ava's New Hobby

2010-02-27T16:37:00.002-06:00

Ava loves to color! Well, actually she loves to take every crayon out of the box and hold them all at one time while attempting to color with one hand. When she actually does color, she does a pretty good job for an 18 month old. She generally will hoard her colors in her left hand while using her right hand to actually color with the crayon of choice. And she holds the crayon correctly while coloring! She does this with a pencil, also, and loves to walk around with a pencil and notepad and scribble. She can say the names of all the colors-they've been working on this at MDO-but she doesn't know which color is which yet. She seems to like the brown and blue a lot, though.

Playing Outside

2010-02-27T16:29:00.002-06:00

In between our days of 3 inches of snow (crazy!) we've had some good weather and have gotten to outside and play. Here are just a few pictures. I've got some video of Ava yelling at Tank that I will try to post later.

Sunday it was warm enough that Ava decided she could go for a swim.

Eating

2010-02-27T16:17:00.003-06:00

Meal times at our house are usually lots of fun, and I'm not being sarcastic! Ava really is a good eater and generally eats whatever I fix her. Breakfast we usually either sit at the table and eat waffles or oatmeal and some sort of fruit, or we sit in the recliner and eat while watching cartoons. Ava prefers the recliner. Lunch and dinner we eat at the table and she does well for both, though she has been doing some things lately that make us laugh. She has started to like eating her food directly off the plate. We've been working (not very diligently) on using utensils, but I think she's decided that eating directly off the plate is a much more efficient way of getting all the food she wants in her mouth.

Last Sunday Micah decided that we would go to Waxahachie and try out Logan's Roadhouse. It was okay, not as good as Texas Roadhouse. Ava's favorite thing was the butter. She picked up the tub that came with our rolls and shoved it in her face and proceeded to lick the butter out. When we took it away, she was not a happy camper. So we gave it back and Micah and I enjoyed our meal while Ava ate butter.

Notice her cute white tutu sticking out from under her A&M jacket. This is an outfit that our friend Whitney gave Ava and it's really cute, but white, so I put the jacket on her to protect the outfit. It worked really well. I think this jacket will be Ava's new bib!

Ava's Antics

2010-02-17T13:58:00.003-06:00

Ava does funny things all the time. Here are just a few of her recent antics. She decided the flowers were thirsty and needed a drink. She also has gotten into putting her food in interesting places and then eating it, like my hot chocolate, the bathtub, the floor,

The Baby's Room-37 Weeks.

2010-02-17T13:42:00.004-06:00

The baby's room is done...enough. The crib is ready, the changing table is ready, we've got diapers, wipes, and clothes, so I think we are good to go! I'm 37 weeks pregnant, which means I'm full term and I could have this baby any time in the next six weeks! My technical due date is March 13, so I've got less than a month left. I went to the doctor yesterday, she said everything looked good. The baby has dropped a little and is head down. I told her that Micah was going to be out of town next week and she said that should be fine. I think she was going to check and see if I was dilated at all, but decided not to since Micah was going to be gone. She didn't want to freak us out if I was dilated any, because it really doesn't mean anything! I could be dilated to a 4 for weeks or not dilated at all and have the baby the next day (like I did with Ava). She thought I would be just fine for one more week. However, when I was leaving she let me know that she was on call this weekend, so if anything started to happen I should come on in! That made me realize that I need to get on the ball and start packing my bags and getting things together!

Snow!

2010-02-12T12:32:00.004-06:00

Yesterday it snowed off and on all morning long in Corsicana, but it never really stuck. Finally, about 3:00, the snow started to stick. When Ava woke up from her nap, there were huge snowflakes falling and the backyard was white. She looked out the backdoor, her eyes got really wide, and she said, "Whoa!" She was very excited about the snow. We got out this morning, layered her in tons of clothes, and played in the snow. She thought it was great, as long as she didn't have to touch it. She loved walking in it, but wouldn't taste it and didn't like it on her hands. Tank came out and played with us, too, and he felt pretty much the same way. His toys kept getting lost in the snow and he wasn't too crazy about that. Overall I think we got about 5 or 6 inches. Ava played for awhile, then finally fell down and said she was all done!

Ava's Room

2010-01-23T12:42:00.004-06:00

Ava's room has finally transitioned over into it's toddler stage. She has her new twin bed set up and has been sleeping in it for the past two weeks. She does good once she falls asleep, but we usually have to put her in bed several times before that happens. She likes to get out of bed and play with her toys. The past week has been a little rough because she has had RSV and pharyngitis, but she's doing much better and is finally sleeping all night again! I'm not looking forward to the whole waking up every night in the middle of the night thing with the new baby. Ava also has a new shelving system to put all her toys in and it's working great. She is able to take them out and put them up all by herself. Well, she takes them out by herself. Putting them up takes some help from momma or daddy. We owe a big thanks to Andrea and Karl for giving us the idea for these shelves. Someday, they will have their own shelves for Kaden, and we know that they will all love them! Now that her room is done, I can start working on the baby's room.

This is the baby's room as of right now. We've got some work to do still.

33 Weeks

2010-01-22T12:43:00.003-06:00

I'm 33 weeks pregnant with baby #2 now, which is about the same as I was at Stacey's wedding when I was pregnant with Ava. I decided to try on my bridesmaids dress to see if it fit me this time. Much to my surprise, it does! It may even fit a little bit better...it was pretty tight at the wedding. So, we've only got about 7 weeks to go more or less. The baby is due March 13, which is the first weekend of Spring Break. We are hoping he comes by then, because starting the last weekend of Spring Break and for the next few weeks, Micah is super busy with work. Oh well, I guess he'll get here when he gets here!

The first two pictures are when I was 33 weeks pregnant with Ava. The last two are 33 weeks this pregnancy.

More Pictures

2010-01-19T14:23:00.004-06:00

Playing her piano.

Her "I look live Elvis right before he died..." look.

Bows and beads

Watching TV

Ava and Kaden having fun playing

Ava on her first day of Mother's Day Out. She was really exctied about it.

Ava in her big bed.

Playing outside in her boots.

Christmas

2010-01-19T14:09:00.004-06:00

I've been doing really bad about blogging lately, but here are some pictures from Christmas. Micah and I both have been having camera difficulties since about Thanksgiving, so I don't have a whole lot of pictures. Here are a few from our many Christmas adventures!

Random Pictures

2010-01-10T13:53:00.003-06:00

Ava's First Day of School-She is now going to Mother's Day Out two days a week. She did great Thursday and hopefully will continue to do well!

Relaxing in her new chair

All dressed up

First pig-tails. They are really cute, but she doesn't leave them in for long at all!

Playing on a baby bed at Grandmama's house

Our first present for the new baby from my friend Whitney

Reading books, a favorite pasttime

Playing in her exersaucer...I think she's a little big for it!

Definitely A Boy

2010-01-09T22:02:00.002-06:00

So, after our doctor had us confused for a few months concerning the baby's gender, we are now sure that it is a boy. We had a 3D sonogram done today and could definitely tell the baby is a boy. I have pictures to prove it, but I will refrain from posting those on the blog. Instead, here are a few of his face. Notice he is smiling in both...definitely taking after Micah already.

??????????

2009-12-22T14:28:00.002-06:00

I went to the doctor today for my 28 week visit, and she performed another ultrasound to see if we could better determine the baby's gender. Last time she thought girl, this time she thinks boy. So, we have decided to prepare for both! The baby is in a frank breech position, so it is very difficult to see what we need to see. Everything looks good and healthy, though, so we are glad. There is plenty of time for the baby to turn for delivery so we aren't worried about that yet. I had my glucose test today and my sugar levels were great. My iron is still low, even though I've been taking additional iron pills. I get to take more now and hopefully that will help me not be so tired. Overall things are good, the doctor said I'm just the right size, and I actually weighed less than I thought I would at this visit. Here are our ultrasound pictures from each visit.

Week 16
Verdict: Boy

Week 24
Verdict: Girl??

Week 28
Verdict: Boy

Can't really tell much from these, so that's why we are preparing for a boy or girl.

First Christmas Present of 2009

2009-12-18T21:00:00.004-06:00

We have been very busy at the Fry house making Christmas food, gifts, going to parties, and working. Ava and I went to work Thursday at Mother's Day Out. I had a class of four one year olds, including Ava. It was an interesting day. The kids were all good, but I could definitely see how spoiled Ava and I both are. Neither of us are used to having to deal with other kids during the day and when she didn't get what she wanted she turned into a bit of a bully. Overall she did okay, though the other kids didn't let her sleep as long as she wanted and I am still sore from chasing after 4 kids all day! All of the busy-ness is just a long way for me to explain why Ava is in her pajamas in the following pictures. We have been so busy at home doing stuff that I just haven't felt the need for us to really get dressed. So, Wednesday and Friday were both pajama days at our house. On Wednesday, Ava got her first Christmas present this year from my aunt and uncle Kelly and Gary. I'm not sure if she was supposed to open it yet or not, but I went ahead and let her. She wasn't really sure of what to do with the package so I had to show her how to open it. Once she finally got the toy out of the wrapping, she wanted it out of the box quickly, which was not easy to accomplish. We finally got it out, and she loves it. It's a spinning top that makes animal sounds and counts, two things Ava loves to do. While the present was great, the real hit of the whole package was the box full of styrofoam peanuts the present came in. Ava has had days of fun playing with the peanuts, and my vaccum cleaner is about tired of them! Thanks Kelly and Gary for the great present!

Look What I Know

2009-12-11T15:27:00.002-06:00

I've been working with Ava for a while trying to get her to learn the names of her body parts. She is not interested in it at all! But yesterday, I heard her saying "eyes, eyes". When I looked at her, she was pointing to her eyes! I was very excited and told her good job, and then asked her where her nose was. She proceeded to stick her finger up her nose...the first time I have ever seen her do this! She was so excited that she found this cool hole to stick her finger in, she kept doing it and laughing. So, I laughed too and took a picture. This just goes to show all of you who think I taught their child how to pick their nose, they are going to do it wether they are taught or not!!

Grammy and Papa Jack's House

2009-12-11T15:20:00.003-06:00

After we went to Abilene, Ava and I went to Lone Oak for a few days where we got to hang out with Grammy, Papa Jack, and all the dogs and cats. Ava had lots of fun here, too!

Ava and Grammy by the tree

Ava in her Rudolph Christmas outfit

Sitting with Annie. Her favorite spot in the office was on the dog beds. Shortly after this picture was taken, Ava tried to climb over Annie, who is 17 years old and arthritic. Annie didn't care for it and snapped at Ava. This did not phase Ava, though, and she was quickly looking for the dogs again!

Watching some more TV

Girls, Girls, Girls!!

2009-12-11T15:09:00.003-06:00

Ava has lots of cousins on both sides of our family. On Micah's side, they are all boys. On my side, they are all girls! This week she and I went to Abilene to stay with Lane and Page and visit our "girl cousins". Ava had a blast playing with Zoey, Maddie, and Emma Claire. It was really nice having three other girls around because I got a break from playing with Ava...she wasn't interested in me at all, she just wanted to do whatever they were doing! And Page's house is totally kidproof, so I didn't have to worry about Ava much at all, she just got to play all day!

We watched the older girls make a gingerbread house.

Emma Claire and Ava played the piano.

Emma Claire showed Ava how to pet Charlie, which she loved!

Relaxing watching some TV, our favorite pasttime.

4 silly girls in a bath tub!

26 Weeks

2009-12-02T10:20:00.004-06:00

Only about 100 days left to go with Frybaby #2. We still don't know if it's a boy or girl, but hopefully will find out December 22! I have grown alot over the past two months and am beginning to feel it. The days that I work out, I need a nap and tend to go to bed a little earlier than the days I don't. Overall, though, things are going well. The baby is VERY active and I feel good. Ava has no clue about any of it. After Christmas when we set up her new room and the baby's room, maybe she will be able to understand that something is going on.

This is me a little over 7 months pregnant with Ava (just for reference)

Here I am almost 7 months pregnant with #2. I think this one is lower and about the same size.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2009-12-02T09:00:00.002-06:00

My camera is broken and Micah's is missing, both things I'm blaming on Ava!! As a result, we don't have many pictures recently, and I have NONE of our Thanksgiving. I'll blog all about that later. At home, we've been getting ready for Christmas. Ava was a big help putting up the the tree and decorations, letting me know where NOT to put things. She loves the tree and every time we turn the lights on she says "Wow!!". She is learning not to touch the decorations, just look. I wrapped all our Christmas presents last night and so far, she hasn't bothered them. She did go and sit on one this morning so she could get a closer look at the TV. I think she's enjoying Christmas so far. I'm enjoying it, too, because this is the first year in a while that I haven't been teaching or moving houses and I actually have time to get some Christmas stuff done without rushing at the last minute!

Ava checking out the tree and presents.

My fake mantle that I made, then Micah improved. Micah also made a sign for one of his cousins that's in the picture.

Christmas shirts I made for Zoey, Maddie, Emma Claire, and Ava. I'm making one for Kailee, too, just haven't got it done yet!

Ava helped put up and decorate the tree by climbing up and down the ladder over, and over, and over!

Taking a break on the vacuum.

Shopping With Ava

2009-12-02T08:50:00.002-06:00

Shopping with an active 15 month old is very interesting. Most of the time, she's okay. But there are times that she is tired of sitting in the stoller or buggy and will throw a huge fit. If I let her out, she is gone before I let go of her hand, pulling things off the shelves and playing hide-n-go-seek. I've been trying to work with her on staying with me when we shop, but it hasn't really sunk in yet. I have tried many things, including making her sit in time-out at the clinique counter at one store! As a result, our Christmas shopping has been done in short spurts, and a lot has been done online-the best thing ever!

We are at Home Depot and she is mad!

At Wal-Mart, my sunglasses were keeping her occupied.

It's A...

2009-11-24T05:50:00.002-06:00

Baby. We went to the ob yesterday for my monthly check-up (I'm 24 weeks) and she did the big sonogram where we are supposed to find out for sure what the baby is. Now, we have already had an unofficial sonogram at 16 weeks and saw the baby was a boy, but we were having this one just as a confirmation. With Ava, the sonogram took about 30 minutes. We saw every body part, lots of face pictures, watched her move, all sorts of neat stuff. This sonogram took about 5 minutes, we never saw the face (which made me sad), but did see the top of the baby's head and its spine, which both looked good. And when she went to look for the gender, she said the baby was breech and it would be hard to tell, but she thought it looked like a girl! So, we are now clueless about the sex of our new baby, and Micah and I both are people who don't like to be clueless!! I suppose we are being taught a lesson in patience and should be grateful for a healthy baby (which we are), but we are just slightly frustrated!!! I'm contemplating going to a private facility for a 3D sonogram but I'm not sure about that. Oh well, we will find out eventually what the baby is!!!

15 Months and 21 Weeks

2009-11-04T15:29:00.002-06:00

Ava is 15 months old! It seems like she has always been here. She is a really great kid and is happy most of the time, until you tell her no or don't let her get her way. Then she can throw a huge fit! She eats well, fruits and veggies are her favorite things to eat. I got her chicken nuggets from McDonalds recently and she would not eat them. I made her some veggies instead and she devoured them. She is also a huge fan of chips of any kind. She has recently discovered how to dip them into hot sauce, ketchup, whatever is available. She tries to do so many things that we do now. She can drink pretty well from a real cup, though we don't try that too often, and she loves to shake something into her cup, like sweet-n-low. We don't let her actually eat sweet-n-low, don't worry, she just pretends. She copies lots of things we say and can say things on her own like: mama, dada (she always knows when Micah is home), Tank (the dog's name), dog, moo, cockadoodledoo (or a variation), bye bye, night night, eat, more, please, thank you, and her new favorite, no. She doesn't always do these on demand, but will say them when necessary. She can follow directions well, which amazes me every time. She know what it means when I say: "Let's go outside", "take a bath", "get a book", "go to Ava's/mama and daddy's room", "go bye bye", "movie", "sesame street" and probably lots more. She walks well, can go up a ladder and get down by herself, go down the slide, climb on just about anything, and can now throw a ball. She loves to read her books and play outside. She's growing fast, and I didn't realize how much she can actually do until I started writing it all down!

As for the new baby, we are currently around 21 weeks pregnant. I will go November 23 to the doctor and get my in depth sonogram. He moves all the time (we are pretty sure it's a boy). I have grown drastically over the past few weeks, and think I have to bigger than I was with Ava. This baby is definitely lower than she was, which I hope is a good thing for delivery. I have more aches and pains this time, but food wise things are good. I still love hamburgers, which I absolutely could not eat with Ava. I feel like these pregnancies are totally different from each other for some reason. We are over halfway there, and I know the next few months are going to fly by!! Overall, things are going good. This is not the most flattering picture of me, but oh well!

Trick or Treat

2009-11-01T15:52:00.003-06:00

This Halloween Micah, Ava, and I dressed up as cowboys and Indians. We took Ava trick or treating at our church's Trunk-or-Treat, and she loved it. It was cold and windy so we didn't stay too long, but she caught on to the concept very quickly. She had her little bucket and walked around to all of the cars and held it out until she got some candy. And she would NOT let her bucket go! She wound up eating two suckers that night, one with the paper on because she wouldn't let go of it long enough for me to take the paper off!

Indian Ava and Cowboy Micah

We told her there was no more candy...

Indian Ava

Practicing her Indian yell

Cowboys and Indians

Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Colton and Ellie, our buds) with Ava

Trunk-or-Treating with the Olsens

Thanks to the Boyd Gang for our cute costume, and Whitney for the boots!!

Our Favorite Pastime

2009-10-27T12:55:00.003-05:00

Ava loves to watch TV. Every morning when we wake up, we sit in the recliner and eat our breakfast together while watching tv. Sometimes we watch the Today Show, sometimes she grabs the remote and lets me know that's not what she wants to watch and we turn it to the Disney Channel or PBS. Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse are by far her favorite shows. In this picture, you will see that she has her plate of pancakes (with peanut butter, not syrup) and her milk and is intently watching tv while eating her breakfast.

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-27T12:41:00.002-05:00

Last night we carved our pumpkin for Halloween. Ava was a big help to Micah and she thought it was lots of fun. She helped scoop out the insides, then used a very dull knife to help Micah carve the pumpkin's face. She tried to eat the gooey stuff on the inside several times and finally realized it wasn't that great. When we were all done we turned out the lights and lit the candle in the pumpkin and she was fascinated. She even gave the pumpkin a kiss goodnight!

Cooking and Football

2009-10-26T14:36:00.002-05:00

Ava loves to cook with me. She will sit on the counter and pour all sorts of stuff into whatever we are cooking. She even made green bean casserole with me the other day, poured all the ingredients in and then stirred it up. She then stuck her foot in it, so we had to make another batch. We made brownies the other day and she was much more interested in eating the batter than actually cooking.

Friday night we went to the Rice football game. Micah is announcing the games, so we got to sit in the press box. We only stayed one quarter, that was as much as we could take. Ava liked the band and dancing on the counter in the pressbox.

Outfits

2009-10-23T21:29:00.002-05:00

Ava has many cute outfits, most of them not bought by me! Here are a few recent ones.

This shirt says "Small Fry". Lyneil or Andrea bought it for us before we even knew we were having a kid. It's still a little big for Ava, but she wears it.

This is Ava in her red satin nightgown. I had one very similar to this when I was little. Her Grammy bought it for her at Canton.

This is a super cute outfit Grandmama bought for her. She looks so grown up when she wears it!

Yard Work

2009-10-23T21:09:00.002-05:00

Ava loves the lawnmower. She really loves anything that makes a lot of noise. These were taken one morning that it wasn't raining and Micah could actually get out and mow the lawn. Ava and I went out to watch, and she ran out into they yard after him and rode with him for a while. She doesn't look like she's having fun in these pictures, but she really is!

I Fought The Law

2009-10-23T20:56:00.002-05:00

Cute picture of Ava riding happily in her carseat. Notice the blue light in the background? Yes, it's a cop. I got pulled over tonight driving a little too fast in town. And I got a ticket. Ava and I had gone to eat and watch part of the Rice football game with Micah and were on our way home. Ava threw a fit while we ate, threw a fit at the game, but was as happy as she could be when we got pulled over. If only she could have thrown a fit then, maybe we could have gotten away with a warning! To make things worse, as soon as I pulled over and put the car in park, I texted Micah to let him know we were getting pulled over, just in case the cop was an imposter and was about to kidnap us. That's the Gipson coming out in me. So, the cop walks up and I'm texting. He made me feel really bad about being a texting, speeding mother with her "precious cargo" (his words). Oh well, we are home and safe and will try to pay attention to the speed in the future!!

iPhone Pics

2009-10-02T20:25:00.002-05:00

I don't download pictures from my iPhone very often, so here are a few I downloaded recently that are cute.

Ava wearing her sunglasses while we go for a walk

Ava in a cute outfit that reminds me of Cousin Stacey. If they had it in a big girl size I would buy it for her.

While we were in Paris, we visited Chisum Elementary where I used to teach. They have remodeled the whole building and it all looks fantastic! We went into Mrs. Pickering's Pre-K room (super cute, Charlot) and Ava made herself at home.

Micah washed the Ag truck's tires this week and Ava helped him. This picture was taken the next day when I went outside with Ava. She found a brush and walked to each tire of my car and proceeded to "clean" them. Smart kid.

Visitors

2009-09-28T20:24:00.003-05:00

Last week Andrea, Karl, and Kaden came to visit us. We had lots of fun and enjoyed them being at our house. While they were here, the kids played, we went to the Dr. Pepper Museum and the Waco Zoo. Here are a few pics from our week.