5-Year Stats and Shots

**please forgive the weird spacing...I've tried to edit numerous times and the stupid thing keeps doing this...

Today was Ava's 5-year check up and dreaded booster shot visit. To put it in our pediatrician's words, she's "proportionate and perfect". Here are the stats:

Height: 45 in (91st percentile)

Weight: 46 lbs (82nd percentile)

To put the height into perspective, she's grown three inches since her last well-child check up and one inch in the past five months. The doctor told her she'd be one of the tallest girls in her class. Big surprise, huh?

She passed her hearing and vision tests with flying colors and had all the right answers to the doctor's questions. When the doctor asked Ava if she knew most of the letters in the alphabet Ava said very frankly, "I know ALL the letters in the alphabet". That's our girl...so humble!

We made it no secret to her that shots were a possibility, but as far as shots go, she was one tough broad and didn't cry...although, I did get the "look of betrayal". To reward her for her bravery, she got to take a dip into the doctor's special treasure chest of prizes reserved only for 5-year check ups, got two stickers and Mommy treated her to a milkshake.

And the kindergarten prep has begun! One day closer to putting her on that school bus for the first time...

Celebrating With Family

On Ava's official 5th birthday, we headed to Gram and Dzia's for some spaghetti and meatballs, cake, presents, and family. When occasions like this come up, we are reminded just how truly lucky we are that both of our families get along and really consider each other a part of their family.

Along with Gram, Dzia, and us four, we had Memaw, Pepaw, Uncle Drew, Uncle Ross, and Aunt Ashley there to celebrate. Man is this girl loved and lucky - she made out like a bandit! I should say the KIDS because each guest even brought a gift for Aidan. Now usually I am opposed to this seeing as how it wasn't his birthday and I don't want him to come to expect it - but as much as I try, there really is no stopping the grandparents and aunts/uncles!

Pretty girl and her packages:
One of the gifts Memaw and Pepaw got Ava: an apron. Memaw picks Ava up from preschool and watches her on Fridays, and their afternoons usually include making a craft or some kind of food:

Uncle Ross and Aunt Ashley got Ava lots of "expansion packs" for the dollhouse they got her for Christmas. Ava was impressed:

Gram and Dzia got Ava a whole big trunk of new dress-ups and Great-Dzia got her some new dress-up shoes and tiaras to go with:

"My Little Pony Cake" + the whole room's undivided attention = ONE HAPPY GIRL!

Uncle Ross and Aunt Ashley got Aidan the "Wall-E" game for his Leapster. Let's just say, not having a nap that day can lead to one sleepy three-year-old falling asleep in the middle of things:Thanks Mom and Dad for hosting again and thanks to all who helped us celebrate our big girl's day!

Harness?

Given the events that transpired at Ava's birthday, and the fact that we're going to Disney next month, I wonder "Is it OK to harness my kid?"

I have always been adamently opposed to parents putting their kids in these contraptions, but after last weekend's scare, I want to be confident that we won't have to go through that again AND I know we'll get to take our boy home and not have him get lost (or taken - the thought of that makes me ill).

I don't plan to have him on it all day, just want to have it as an option in case he decides to flex his freedom muscles.

So, I have added a pole to my blog and I ask you, "To Harness, Or Not To Harness?" Tell me your thoughts!

Do You Have a Fairy Godmother?

...because Aidan does!

Oh boy - talk about a scare. You may recall a couple summers ago, Ava "escaped" from our house one afternoon and was a few hundred feet away from our house on her tricycle "going to work". That was her one allowable scare - she's exhausted her allotment. And on Saturday at Ava's party, Aidan has officially used up his.

The plan was to have all our party guests meet at the carousel at 3:15 so we could all ride together before going to the party room. Ava and I had just exited the mirror maze and saw her friends Emma and Delaney and we walked over to greet them. At that same moment, Sean (who was monitoring Aidan) came to me and said, "I don't have Aidan - he crawled underneath the maze wall". This maze has some "escape" routes where people who can't find their way through the maze can crawl out.

Of course I was pissed thinking, "Well, go get him!". As I was waiting for Sean to walk around the corner holding our little monster, he came - without Aidan. Frantically I had Ava wait with E & D's daddy and they went to look for him as Sean and I went back through the maze. Of course, this place is PACKED with tons of kids and there's lots of noise, so even as I was calling for him, I knew he wouldn't hear me.

As our guests began to gather, they all started to help look for him - we even had parents and kids we didn't know offering to help. While that was happening, I was talking to security and giving them a detailed description of what he was wearing and what he looked like. For those of you who have been to this museum, you know how many exhibits, nooks, crannies, corners, entrances, elevators, and people there are - how were we supposed to find him in all that madness?!?

Right about the time when I was imagining news casts of our missing little boy and also the moment I thought I was going to throw up, pass out, or do both - Aidan's godmother Jessica came through the crowd holding Aidan.

I quickly snatched him from her arms and squeezed him as tight as I could and told him not to leave us ever again and then gave Jess a huge hug. Apparently, our very independent three-year-old walked himself on the carousel and even managed to climb up on a horse. When the ride ended, Jess saw him and sprinted over to him and grabbed him. He had no tears - in his mind, he wasn't lost...he knew exactly what he was doing!

If you see this girl, make sure you thank her! She truly is a "fairy godmother" and has definitely proven so:

Happy Birthday Little Miss!!

*warning: a long read...

OK seriously. At what point did someone press the fast forward button to get us to the point to where we have a FIVE YEAR OLD?!? It seems too hard to believe, and it in fact is true what my mom always told me when I was a kid, "Enjoy your time now, because it flies when you're an adult". Indeed it has.

She just got her ears pierced, she's in gymnastics, has tons of friends, and is getting ready to start kindergarten this fall. I just hope we as parents can do a good job of raising her to be a good person in this sometimes scary world. Is it too late to bottle her up and keep her all to ourselves?

Happy Birthday sweet girl; Mommy, Daddy, and Aidan love you "all the way too the moon...and back".

This year, Ava chose to have her friends party at the Children's Museum. It was very nice and effortless on our parts, as we just had to show up with our gifts and treat bags. Everything else was provided: from table ware to decorations and all the way to the cake. It was quite lovely!

Our guests were able to explore the museum at their leisure, and then we met as a group at the carousel to ride it together before heading to the party room. It constantly amazes me how many wonderful people we have in our lives who make the time to help us celebrate - thanks to all of you!

Ava and Aidan climbing the "ant mound":

Aidan's diggin' for dinos:Having fun with Daddy:

In the mirror maze, we saw this. I thought it was too perfect and had to snap a pic (please ignore the flash):

Daddy and Aidan on the carousel - after our joyful reunion (more to come on that later...):Cute kids waiting for the festivities to begin (L to R: Allison, Logan, Delaney, Emma, Kate, Lilly):

Aidan and Parker (one of Ava's many suitors - he snatched up all of the unattended plastic rings from the girls' treat bags and gave them to Ava):

Pretty princess showing off the new earrings she got from Jenna, Brad, Parker, and Kate:

Aidan gettin' up in big sis' biznas:

FINALLY - the cake all the kiddos were waiting for:

Our pretty princess. How many more years do we get to hold her like this?

Ava modeling the Snow White costume we got her. This is what she'll wear to Disney World next month;

Later that night...we went out to dinner as a family, and then two of Ava's very good friends came over as she hosted he first sleepover:

They played Barbies, hide and seek, and watched a movie complete with popcorn:

The girls after a long day of partying. It must have gone well because the next morning, Delaney was crying because she didn't want to go home. We had fun girls - you're welcome to come back any time!

Our Big, Brave Girl

Well, she finally did it - Ava put on her big girl pants and got her ears pierced! We had been asking if she wanted to do it and she kept saying, "I will on my fifth birthday". We convinced her to get it done before her birthday so that she would have pretty earrings to show her friends at her party.

Of course she kept wanting to know if it would hurt and what it would feel like. I told her it just feels like a little shot. Ava has always been good with getting shots and not crying or complaining too much, so I felt that was a good comparison for her.

To be honest, I thought for sure she was going to chicken out. But, when it was go-time, she hopped right up into the chair and sat there patiently and quietly during the whole process. Girlfriend didn't cry, flinch, whine, or even make a funny face - what a champ! We were beyond proud of how brave she was :)

Here is the last picture of Ava sans holes in her ears:
Creating the target:

This was the extent of her reaction to the piercing:

Pretty pink flowers!

She did such a great job, we treated the kids to lunch:

Earrings today...prom tomorrow...

We Goin' Disney, We Goin' Disney

As indicated by the new Lily Pie tracker on our blog, you will notice we are headed to DISNEY! We plan to spend a few days with our good friends Nick and Sarah at Sarah's parents' condo in Naples and head to Disney for a day at the Magic Kingdom.

While we're there Ava, Emma, and Delaney are going to be made over as princesses at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and Aidan will be made up like a pirate at the Pirates' League. This is also a very monumental trip for us, because it's the kids' first time flying - they are over the moon and can't wait to go "up in the sky". Now only if Mommy can contain her nerves...

To Infinity...

...and beyond! I caught Aidan dressing like Buzz while he was playing with his big Buzz robot. They look an awful lot alike - can you spot the real Buzz?

GO COLTS!!

Last weekend, we were able to go to the Colts' last game of the season. One of my mom's co-workers is a season ticket holder and sold us her tickets - her FOURTH ROW TICKETS!! It was the closest I have ever been, and I'm not gonna lie...it was pretty sweet :) Especially sweet because this was the game that would put the Colts in the playoffs with a win. And win they did - barely.

A shot of the Luke:
Here we are in our seats. And it wasn't one of those pics where someone walked down a few rows to get a good shot of the field, this is exactly where we sat amongst the other very gracious season ticket holders. The gentleman next to me said they've had their tickets for 25 years...maybe we could be there when we're 55!

Announcing the starters...I had chills:

Reggie Wayne always comes to the corner of the end zone where we were sitting to come and say hello:

And I think you all know #18?

The Colts pulled out the win, and the place went crazy! We had so much fun, and hope to be able to do it again next year!

New Year's Eve

This year was a low-key NYE for us, but we had lots of fun with our friends Keith and Jessica. It was the only day we could get together to exchange gifts, so Jess thought it'd be fun to make it like a NYE party complete with favors, party food and dressy attire.

Here are our wonderful hosts:
Miss Lilly and the new blond Barbie and car we got her for Christmas. Notice she put the brunette in next to her? Jess thought it looked like Lilly and Ava rolling together:

The kids' feast (topped off by about 5 desserts each):

...we were there too:

Wasting no time ripping into those presents - they've had plenty of practice:

Pretty girls (Allison was there too, just sleeping):

After all the playing, eating, and unwrapping, there was still time for coloring:

This would be one of the 5 desserts I was talking about - chocolate fondue:

In the end, we didn't make it all the way to watch the ball drop, but the kids were going strong until about 11:00...then they pooped out.

Shavin'

One of the things Santa brought for Aidan in his stocking was a play Spiderman shaving set - complete with shaving cream, a "razor", mirror, shampoo and hair gel.

This has been the bath toy of choice for both ever since Christmas. It's so nice of Aidan to share with his big sis!

Not sure I'm ready for this sight...Ava "shaving" her legs:
Think Aidan's been watching Daddy and taking notes? He knew exactly what to do:

Another Mommy/Ava Date

One of the nice things about having a few days off during the holidays, is getting to catch up on time with my kids. The day before Christmas Eve, I took Ava to see "Tangled", and last week, we went to the Children's Museum.

This was the first time we have experienced the winter wonderland they create, and it was so much fun and so beautifully decorated.

Here we are walking into the lobby:
They transform the staircase into a slide, and this is the cute little scene right next to it (yes, we did slide, and I do mean 'we'...Ava wanted me to go with her, thus no pictures):

"Ice" skating in her socks:

She even got to participate in an indoor snowball fight (if you look closely, you can see the snowball flying off the girl's head in front of Ava):

She baked me some muffins:

And took some time to model with Barbie:

We finished our visit with our traditional carousel ride:

And to top it all off, we got to eat lunch with Daddy!: