14 months old -Lacey

This girl that loves to brush her hair with whatever brush she can find...tooth or hair is getting soo big. I just caught her watching herself brush her hair in the reflection of the kitchen garbage can. Lacey loves telling her sister Ava what to do in her own type of language. She loves songs and I can usually hold her down long enough to change her diaper only if I'm sing Old Mcdonald or Popcorn Popping. She grunts at you if you take something from her that she wants...she can get pretty loud too. She loves walking while holding your hands and is getting pretty fast at it. She is quite often found in ah of something with her funny oooo face. She is still the cutest cuddle bug there ever was and as long as you have her sniffy (special blanket) and her pacifier she'll stay with you as long as nothing better comes along (ie. food, fun toy, food). She is still so good at sitting and playing by herself or reading through her favorite books. She has a very short attention span if you are trying to read her a book in your lap but on her own she can go 10 minutes easy. This poor girl has a molar poking through...ouch! But aside from the crazy molar she has the 4 teeth on top and 4 on bottom that are all pretty much fully out.
She has recently taken ownership of Ava's calculator and loves using it as a phone. Why is it just so cute when they try to act like you? ...I just love it!!!
Happy 14 months Lacey Ann!

3 and a half -Ava

My first born is three and a half today! We would have gone and taken pictures in her new Easter dress but she is sick today and even stayed home from preschool.
Ava is such an amazing girl. She's really growing and becoming her own kind of person (some of which I'm glad about and some I'm not). This girl has an opinion about everything.
She LOVES her sister Lacey. They are pretty funny together. Ava can always make Lacey smile.
She is still a little timid and we are not sure how to help her with that but we love her all the same and usually she just needs to warm up a bit.
If Ava could spend the day at the park playing in the sand she would. She loves helping me with baking and loves measuring things out. Her counting is becoming more concrete, meaning she understands that when she's counting objects that each number is being represented...if that makes any sense. Ava loves her cousins and misses them and talks about them often. She has great friends she loves to play with from our church. She is still learning to share and take turns but now can be reasoned with where six months ago she could not.
We love our Ava girl and can't imagine life without her.

13 months old -Lacey

Oh Lacey Lou, how do I love thee let me count the ways...
1) I love how you laugh when I laugh even if you don't know why.
2) I love how much you love to snuggle.
3) I love how much you love Ava and your dad. You always have to touch them to make sure you have their attention, almost as if you are sharing your love for them.
4) I love how you smile at strangers I know that your Jackolantern smile brightens their day.
5) I love how you try so hard to be happy even though you are working on your 9th tooth.
6) I love your super cheesy smile where you smile so big your eyes turn to thin slits.

With all the love in the world,
Mom

Ava's Quilt 2 of 2

Laying everything out was tough with limited childfree space and it took a lot longer then I thought (pic 1-3). Before I could lay it out though I had to go through and cut out all the yarn ties my mom put in. Sentimentally this was tough, I love everything my mom makes me! Then I flipped it (pic 4). I don't have a picture of all the pinning I had to do but there was a lot of it. I used DNC floss to tie it (pic 5-6) and a little after Christmas it was done (pic 7-8)! I am very happy with it! Now that Lacey's birthday is over I can start on the pillow cases. I am excited for them because they are smaller then a full size quilt I can get a little fancier. P.S. I used a flat sheet for the backing so the fitted sheet on her bed matches the quilt exactly.

Ava's Quilt 1 of 2

The quilt (pic 1) we were using for Ava's bedspread was getting a little threadbare. Maybe because my mother made it for me back in high school. I'd already fixed one tear and a little bit later I found two more. Since Christmas was coming I figured a new quilt would make a good gift. I decided I wanted to use my old quilt as the batting for the new quilt. I got some cute fabric on sale (pic 2) and the next task would be deciding on a quilt pattern. I found a quilt square pattern (pic 3) I liked and thought I would do the whole quilt in the pattern. I laid it out (pic 4) and didn't like it so I kept looking and found the next picture (pic 5) and decided to go generic square. My friend Marin let me cut all the squares out with her rotary cutter (pic 6) and then I mapped out how I wanted the squares laid out (pic 7). Then, all the sewing and ironing began (pic 8-9)!

Lacey's Birthday Photo Shoot

Can you tell from the pictures when she was done?

Lacey's one year birthday party

Happy Birthday Lacey!
We had dinner at the Bean's with all the Beans and the Wheelers. Dinner was awesome, thank you Rose!!
I made Lacey a little cake with no sugar and no eggs but I'm pretty sure the frosting made up for the no sugar in the cake. (It was a apple spice cake the was sweetened with molasses...I liked it) Lacey seemed to like it too! She jumped right in and loved all over the cake. She kept on trying to pick it up...so funny! She was such a ham, when every a camera would flash she'd look up and smile and show her crazy teeth. Such a fun night!