Happy Birthday, Todd!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!!



Birthday breakfast at Milk & Honey



Surprise Party and White Elephant gift exchange

too much food :)

A perfect morning...

Avery got a new big girl bed on Friday and last night was her first night to sleep in her bed.  She made it THE WHOLE NIGHT!!!  She came in my room at 6:45 a.m. (like clock work) so excited and proud of herself.  It only took 4 years (almost) So, because she had a good night sleep, we got up made chex mix and had a dance party with Justin Beiber's song, Baby!  What a great morning... Thanks Aves!!

Stella's Smile...

Bieber Fever

Justin Bieber concert tickets...check
Backstage pass...check
Avery saying, "He looks so cute in his all white outfit"...priceless
and
McDonald's milkshake after the concert...delicious :)

Thanks Dad.  You're the best.
Quote from Aves: T.o.d.d. I love ya

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Santa was visiting Avery's favorite store, Bullfrogs and Butterflies, so we thought it would be fun to take the girls to see him.  Stella was all for it.  Avery, well...

LPP Holiday Pageant

Avery was the special star...watch the whole thing!

Stella is 1 month old...

WOW...where did the time go? Oh, I know...eating, burping, changing diapers, sleeping, crying & eating some more! You are such a sweet, cuddly little girl.  We love you!

Newborn

 

1 month



6 lb 6 oz




 

1 month



Stella



 Stats:

Stella:

Height: 21 in (50%)

Weight: 8 lb 13 oz (>25%)

Head: 14 1/2 in (25-50%)

Avery:

Height: 20 3/4 in (30%)

Weight: 7 lb 14.2 oz (10-15%)

Head: 14 1/4 (25%)





Hot Chocolate

When I was a child, I loved coco and toast (I still do!)  Everytime it snowed, we would bundle up and play outsides for hours.  When we came back in our mom had coco and toast ready for us...So, this morning I decided to share the same experience with Avery.  This weekend was our first winter snow and the first time we have played in the snow with Avery.  I didn't take any pictures because I was inside with Stella, but Todd, Mike (Ave's best adult friend, Mike Jones) and Avery built a HUGE snow man in our front yard.  It was awesome.  We didn't have any vegetables to use, so the snowman's eyes were limes and the nose was a jalapeno.  So creative!!

The top 10 reasons we LoVe Avery...

1. She is so creative
2. She has the most outgoing personality
3. She is sensitive, but will speak her mind and tell it like it is (like it or not)
4. She enjoys playing school
5. She loves her little sister
6. She is willing to try anything atleast once
7. She loves to ask questions and learn new things
8. She has the funniest sense of humor and uses it at appropriate times
9. She is full of sass

10.  She is full of life and love :)

Avery doing ALL the things she loves at once: Watching TV, playing school with her circle spots, with her pillow pet, in her flats and outfit she picked out by herself. So creative, Aves!

Love the outfits!

Avery and Stella

And then there were FOUR...

Since this blog will serve as a memory book for our family, I should share the arrival of Stella Michael Harris on November 7, 2010.   After being induced because she was 5 days late, my labor was 3.5 hours.  I was a nervous wreck days leading up to the induction.  I would rather go into labor naturally than know exactly when I was going to have my baby.  I thought I would be at the hospital all day....BUT, 3.5 hours isn't that bad :)  Thanks to working out, yoga and all the positive pushing vibes from my friends!!

All checked in

Our room number.  94 was Todd's football number in college, so its a special number for us!

6 lb. 6 oz...19 in...at 2:44 pm

We did it!

Avery was SOOO excited to meet Stella!  She has been an awesome big sister!

A HUGE Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Van Dyke and Grandma Donna from staying with us the first 2 weeks to help us transition.  We really appreciated the help!!!  Love you!

Our first post...

I have been wanting to blog for quite sometime and I am totally excited that tonight will be my first post! You will have to bare with me as I am not a great writer, so when reading my blog just imagine I have automatic spell check on, punctuation check on, etc. 

Yesterday, was Thanksgiving.  It was our FIRST Thanksgiving with just the 4 of us.  Stella was born 2.5 weeks ago, so we decided this year we would stay in Chicago for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Todd made turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, salad and rolls.  It was delish!  He commented it was nothing compared to his mom's or my mom's, but it was pretty good for our first (maybe the last) attempt.  At dinner, we talked about what we are thankful for.  Avery said her family :)  We are truly blessed and thankful for our family, friends, health, jobs, and home.

Today, is black Friday!  We made French toast and eggs for breakfast and then got started decorating our home for Christmas.  We put up the tree and exterior lights.  We were brave enough to visit Target this afternoon for a few items- light bulbs for our tree, burp cloths, candy, ingredient's for homemade pizza and beer! We are so glad to have two more days off work!!