4 Months

Our little Mary is now 4 months old!  Today she had her check up and she is doing beautifully!

The doctor was impressed that she has been rolling over for over a month already.

That's right, my kids rock.

He also loved how smiley and giggly she is.  He said his 6 month old daughter

 smiles and squeals, but almost never laughs.  

I told him that's how Avery was too, it was like a laugh was on the verge of coming out, but it never would.  Some babies you really have to work to get them to laugh

 and some just laugh easily.  Mary's one of those and we really love it a lot.

Mary is now 13 pounds and 4 ounces which puts her in the 50%

She is 23 3/4 inches in the 35%

Her head circumference is 16 1/2 inches which is in the 75%

She is a wonderful baby that loves to be held and talked to.  

She loves her hands and is constantly sucking on them.  Sometimes her whole fist is in her mouth! 

She loves to roll and roll and is starting to play with toys.  

I'm really loving seeing her personality starting to come out. 

Today

Today has been a good day for Avery.  Here are a few reasons why:

She got to wear her "Papa Papa Papa" shirt

and we all know how much she LOVES (loves loves loves) her Papa.

Second awesome part of Avery's day,

She got an awesome package from her Aunt Sarah.  Fun was had, 

Observe!

She had never painted before and absolutely loved it!

As you can see she got quite messy.

Paint was in her hair, on her face and ears, and on her shirt.

Which is why I whipped out one of my old shirts I don't wear anymore.  

And my goodness she looked so dang cute in it!

Number three reason why her day rocked,

She stole my scarf and slippers.

She was pretty excited about this.

And that is why she had a good day.

Yesterday

Yesterday brought us down to Ogden.  We hadn't seen our family down there in a while and wanted to go for a visit.  We started at my parents because my mom is sick and I wanted to drop off some soup.  We chatted for a while then headed over to the Brandleys.  We sat and talked and played games with Grandma Steele and Annette.  We also got to watch some old home videos which was a lot of fun!

Mary with her Great Grandma Steele

Later that day we went to Bella's for dinner to surprise Megan.  It was close to the end of her shift so the manager let her sit and eat with us.  Also Elijah (Louis' cousin) who is a waiter there stayed late to serve us, it was really nice of him!  We treated it as a celebration for Grandma Steele's birthday that was last week and she got to wear a sombrero and was sung to and got fried ice cream!

We went back to the Brandley's and played some more games before heading home!  We really love living close to family so we can visit them often!

Cute Hat

Remember this post?  Of course not.  Well I'll remind you.  I had this pair of aaamazing yoga pants that were to the point of needing to be thrown out.  But I loved them so much and I didn't want to.  So instead I made some cute little hats our of them for the girls.

Well yesterday I realized that I haven't even put it on Mary yet.  So I put her in it and we had a little photo shoot.  Avery also put her on, but she would not sit still for me to take a picture.  I really wanted to get one with the two of them in their coordinating hats, but oh well!

And after our little photo shoot she promptly fell asleep holding onto her little bunny that she loves so much.

We love this little girl and can't believe she's almost 4 months already!

2012 in a Nutshell

This year has been a wonderful one, we are sad to see it go, but very excited for all the new things 2013 are sure to bring.  Here is our 2012 in a nutshell:

January:  At the beginning of January Avery started walking!  It seems crazy to think that a year ago she started to walk!  Also in January we found out that we were expecting our second child, due October 3rd (Louis' birthday!)  And as a funny side note, when I told Louis I was pregnant he said, "Good job"  Um, thanks sweetie. . .you too?

February:  Avery's hair finally started growing and we could put a clip in it!  That is exciting enough to me to include!  Louis and I celebrated our 4th Valentine's Day together and we've never been more in love!

March:  In March we had dance parties, went on a hike because it was ridiculously warm in Utah for a while there, we got to see the baby for the first time and my stomach started getting BIG!  We enjoyed family get togethers, including a fun St. Patrick's day party.

April:  We had a pretty awesome sibling supper at our house (a black tie affair!), Louis had a mustache  Avery had her first Easter egg hunt, and Louis took me on a weekend away for my 23rd birthday.

May:  Two big things happened.  We found out we were having another girl and Avery turned 18 months old!  Nursery!

June:  Louis and I got called into nursery just TWO WEEKS after Avery was put in there.  I participated in the Bike with Brent event.  We got a new nephew!  Went on a lot of walks and played at the park!  At the end of the month we traveled down to Manti for the Manti Pagaent with family.

July:  My sister Charissa and her family came to visit!  Visited with friends I hadn't seen in a long time.  4th of July!  Welcomed my third trimester.  Had an AWESOME time at the Brandley family reunion!

August:  My sister Jessica and her family came to visit.  Louis and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We were able to go to the Brigham City temple open house.  Girl's night with the Brandley's!

September:  I got even huger. Louis started his final semester for his Bachelor's degree!  Most exciting of all, we welcomed our sweet Mary into our family 12 minutes after we got to the hospital!

October:  Louis turned 25.  We adjusted to having two kids in the home.  Enjoyed a fun murder mystery at our sibling supper.  My little brother John got ENGAGED!

November:  Avery moved into a big girl bed at the beginning of the month.  Later in the month she turned 2 years old!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Brandleys.

December:  Louis' brother Phillip came home from his mission.  We blessed Mary at his homecoming.  Mary started consistently sleeping through the night!!  Sterling's basketball games.  Family time at a condo in Bear Lake.  Christmas!

We hope everyone had a great 2012 and that you will have an even better 2013!  Good luck with your resolutions, ours include getting new hobbies, losing weight, and my BIG one, not buying anything for myself the whole year. This doesn't include necessities, food, personal hygiene products, etc.  It's going to be tough.