Welcome Ava!

Our new little niece arrived last night at 9:07pm. She was 6 pounds 13.5 ounces and 19 inches long. Becki and Ava are both happy and healthy, though maybe a little bit tired. Iain would want me to mention that Brantley is doing fine as well. =)

Congratulations, Brantley and Becki!! She is beautiful, and is blessed to have the two of you as parents! We love you guys.

Today

Audrey is Too Cool for School

Audrey has used her potty every day for the last 5 days during our "getting ready for bed" routine. That is big news around here! I snapped this picture of her tonight. Classic.

Aunt Aeriale Visits

Our amazing friend Aeriale arrived today! The girls love her and I don't think they even remember that Iain and I are here. Here's a little shot from a few minutes ago.

Avery Starting to Walk

Avery's starting to push her toy around the living room. Here's a little shot of her from 2 minutes ago (yes, sometimes, I CAN post in real time). =)

Tonight

Avery is getting a lot of airtime in this posting, but it was hysterical to watch her with Rufus' cat door. Rufus was on the porch trying to get in, but unfortunately for him, Avery was blocking the way. Avery, meanwhile, was ecstatic that Rufus was so close to her for so long (albeit, on the other side of the door) since that rarely happens, so there was no way she was giving up her position.

The other two are Avery as a "burrito" after her bath and Audrey finishing her dinner. We made homemade pizzas, and you see that Audrey's pizza is almost all gone and her corn remains largely untouched. =) On a random note, last night at dinner, Audrey decided she wanted to wear a bib like Avery. And tonight, she wanted one again. So she had it on, and at one point a drop of pizza sauce fell onto her bib. She took it off and said "new bib." We told her that the point of a bib is to get dirty so that her shirt stays clean. She was not to be dissuaded, and refused to put it back on, saying "dirty bib" (you can see it lying on the table in the picture).

Also in random news, while giving Audrey her bath tonight (Avery was already out and crawling around), Avery crawled into the bathroom and proceeded to climb up the step stool that we have in front of the sink for Audrey. She went to the top (second) step then tried to climb on the top railing to boost herself onto the vanity. We have to keep our eyes on that one!

Memorial Day Weekend

On Saturday, we went to Camp Pendleton (north of San Diego) for Audrey to take a pony ride. When we got there, they brought out this huge horse with an adult size saddle (or at least not a saddle for a 2-year old). "THIS is our pony?" So they gave us the lead, and the 4 of us walked on a hilly trail (with Audrey in the saddle), two times around for $2. That's the best deal going! When we put her in the saddle, she looked around like she'd ridden 100 horses and this was no big deal. Audrey had a good time, and her favorite part was when Harry the horse would snort. Her least favorite moment was when a fly landed on her leg and she thought it was a bee and she said "get you" (as in, the bee is going to get me and I don't want it to). Audrey and Iain fed the horse an apple when we got back. Anyway, she had an awesome time and so did the rest of us.

Then we headed to get some sandwiches and had a picnic at Lake O'Neil (also at Camp Pendleton). Iain pitched our tent in a shady place next to the playground and all 4 of us took a nap for about 2 hours. It was perfect. (We had brought Audrey's blanket, so it helped her get in the groove for taking her nap). While we were sleeping, some birds came and pecked open our bag of chips and it was a disaster of chips when we woke up. But the little critters did a good job of carrying away their feast, and by the time we left, there were no chips to be found.

We then rented a paddleboat and went for a spin on the lake. We were out there for about 45 minutes and Iain did most of the paddling by himself. Thanks honey!

We stopped for a great dinner on the way home in Ocenside Harbor and the girls were angels, as always (well, almost always). =)

It was one of those magical days that I think I will remember forever. Of course, the video camera was full so we missed capturing video. But I did get a few still pix.

Yesterday we went to church, then went to the beach in Oceanside in the late afternoon. There's a great playground on the beach where we played for a while, and then Audrey wanted to go in the water. The first wave that hit her above her knee scared her a bit. But soon, she was running with Iain on the beach, into the water and out of the water. She'd wait for a little tide to come in and hit her feet and then she'd take off running with her hand in his. It was so beautiful to watch. We tried putting Avery's feet in the water, but she wanted no part of that (can't say I blame her ... that water is COLD)!

We're headed to a BBQ this afternoon. Should be fun. I think we need more 3 day weekends! =)

We also are finally Skype users, so let me know if you want to Skype with us. =)