Birthday and Christmas OVERLOAD!!!

Here is a photo journey to catch everyone up on the last week in Galesburg, IL...(Thanks Nana for being so good about taking pictures!)


Birthday celebration with the family at Happy Joe's Pizza.  And look at the awesome doll cake!

Christmas Eve at Gigi Pat's.  Then into our Christmas pj's!

Opening gifts on Christmas Day.

Playing in the snow at Nana and Pappy's!

Making words out of jello with our new cookie cutter letters from Aunt Heidi and Uncle Sean!

Innkeeper's Coffee with the family...cousin Brandon (Bubba) and Jori.  Reese trying to fit in with the "big kids."

Visiting the Discovery Depot Children's Museum...oh my, how AWESOME!!!

Playing with our friend Emerson at Nana and Pappy's house.

And finally...back home in Olathe enjoying our new Christmas toys!

Birthday Fun

Ava and Reese's birthday was on Friday (December 20th) and we've been celebrating ever since.  We started out the day with opening a few gifts and then after nap time we visited the Overland Park Regional Medical Center NICU to take cake to the staff and pizza to the current NICU parents (an annual tradition).  Then the girls got to go to one of their favorite places for dinner...Chapala (a GREAT Mexican restaurant), for chip and salsa, bean burritos and guacamole!  The night ended at home with birthday cupcakes that our nanny Laura made the girls.  Notice the black frosting...they were adorable polar bear cupcakes!

You don't think the celebrating stopped there do you?!  On Saturday morning we had a few friends over for birthday pancakes.  Yes...cake batter pancakes with sprinkles, glaze, and whipped cream.

Right after the birthday breakfast we headed to Illinois to beat the weather.  We got to see all our family and even got to practice opening gifts by helping Pappy open an anniversary gift for Nana and Pappy. (Ha!  Like Ava and Reese need practice!)

This morning we woke up to a few inches of snow to play in and don't worry...we've got more birthday celebrating to do.  These girls will eventually find out that birthdays are really just one day.

Catching Up

I know I haven't written in a while.  No excuses.  Busy just like everyone else so I thought I'd take a little time to give a couple pictures and videos in an attempt to catch up!

Ava and Reese doing some exercises with Grammy...

Ava and Reese gearing up for Christmas...

Reese was okay with Santa...no pictures of Ava with Santa because she was not so okay with Santa!

Ava waiting in the waiting room of Same Day Surgery at Children's Mercy.  After having fluid in her ears for three months in a row when having hearing screenings for speech therapy, tubes were needed.  Everything went well and we are hoping this will help improve speech even more.

The girls having too much fun with the jingle bells!!!