A Brother's Love

Avery has been a GREAT big brother. He's always wanting to hold her and says, "I love her." He calls her Lia.

Piece of Cake

Well I'm sure the spike in hits to our blog has nothing to do with anything besides the expectation that we will be having a baby soon. Yes that's a weird sentence and yes I'm very tired. So here's the condensed version. I brought Brandee to the hospital at around 5:00 am. They got her admitted by 5:30 and at 6:00 am the nurse came in and checked on her. Brandee was calm and cool like always so the nurses were pretty relaxed. At 6:30 Brandee told the nurse that she was ready to push and the nurse was a little shocked but checked and agreed. We waited for the Dr. as they got everything ready. Brandee pushed once and I passed out. (ok get your laughing in now) She pushed a second time and I woke up, By the time I got to my feet she pushed a third time and the baby was out. Quick and easy.

Alia Sydney Davis
7 lbs 3 oz
19.5 long
born 7:02 am 2/7/09

For all you belly fans...

I've had a few requests for one last belly picture. Thankfully, the belly will be gone soon because I don't think I can get much bigger without falling over and needing to be rolled places.

When it's too cold out to play in the snow....

make your own edible snowballs! Every once in awhile I check out this blog looking for a story and an activity. Today Avery and I read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats and made our own snowballs. I followed the same recipe from Just for Fun but we added melted peanut butter and chocolate to the mix. Here is the recipe:

2/3 cup butter or margarine-softened
1/2 cup sugar
1T. water
3T. cocoa
1/2 t. vanilla
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix the butter and sugar together. Add the water, cocoa, and vanilla. mix well. Add rolled oats, mix well. If you want to add the melted peanut butter and chocolate chips, so that here. Roll about 1 tsp. of the mix in your hands to form a ball. Roll in powdered sugar.

The flattened pile was Avery's attempt at making a ball.

To our 44th president....

I was watching Obama's inauguration speech and Avery decided to join me. After about ten minutes I asked him if he wanted to go play. He said, "No I want to watch a little more of Obama." Later on, he had gotten into some tape and had it stuck to various places. I asked him where he got the tape. His response, "Obama gave it to me." It seems the new President is already making an impression and a little boy is already finding someone new to blame for his mischief.

Trouble?

Is this a sign of trouble to come when we welcome our newest addition in a few short weeks? I was getting out all of the baby things last week to prepare for the arrival and Avery found the pacifier amongst the things. He immediately wanted to have it and proceeded to suck on it for quite awhile. We had a long conversation, 2 year old style, about why a baby needs one and a toddler does not. He wasn't convinced until I told him that babies have pacifiers and 2 year-olds have suckers. The last time he had the pacifier was when he was 3 months old so I can understand its novelty.

Already quite the charmer

I caught one!

This year we made Avery a fishing pole and fish for one of his Christmas gifts. Grandma Davis joined us for our sewing project. Here is the final product after several attempts at a good fish. I wish I had taken pictures of the first few we tried to make, they looked like bow-ties.

Avery showing us his mad fishing skills.


My favorite fish was this one- Dragon fish.


Caught one!

Christmas in Platteville

For Christmas, Amanda and Joel gave Avery a cozy coupe car. I call it a Flinstone car. We couldn't put it together until we got home, but the boys had a blast with it anyway. They played with the plastic parts for hours. Here they are being pushed by Gaven on one of the side doors.


The boys: Jaycent almost 3, Avery 2.5, Gaven 10, and Austin 5.


No explanation needed here, right?


Here are just a few of the cousin's from my dad's side.

No longer for the birds....

We took advantage of the one warm day and headed out to find the perfect Christmas tree. When I say warm, I only mean that it wasn't below zero. As I'm typing this, it is once again below zero, a nice toasty -6. Avery enjoyed finding the tree this year and was quite fascinated with the saw.







These were the ornaments I let Avery claim so he wouldn't be tempted to play with mine. He really liked them because they both play music. They used to hang on my Grandma Wunderlin's tree every year and I can remember enjoying them when I was a kid.

A new shampoo and cleaner for the Davis household

Whenever I was done with the peanut butter container, I would give it to Venus and let her get the last bit out. I hadn't done this since Avery was born, so I decided to let Venus have the peanut buttery treat. I was cooking dinner and assuming that Avery was playing with his cars like he had been and that Venus was licking the container. I walked in to check on them after about 15 mins. I found that Avery was sharing with Venus. He was covered from head to toe as was the dog. I think he spread most of the peanut butter on Venus' fur and his hair. There was also peanut butter smeared on the coffee table and Avery's cars. I thought I cleaned it all up until I saw Venus walking around licking toys and furniture. I wish I had a picture, but all I could think about was cleaning, imagine that.

Kansas

Since this is the last time I saw Grandpa North.....

we decided it was time to go visit him. It was a short trip, but we enjoyed every moment. Especially since it was 60 when we landed. However, it was 16 degrees when we left. Avery was 2 months old in this picture.


Avery really loved playing with Grandpa. He warmed up to him right away even though he's never really met him.



Here is Fred, Avery named him. I read somewhere that pipe cleaners were the perfect activity to bring on a plane because they can become so many things and they are quiet. Scott created Fred from a cup and the pipe cleaners and Fred entertained Avery the whole trip there and home which was 1 1/2 each way. So if you're flying soon, consider pipe cleaners. The cup had an added feature, Fred could give Avery small treats. There is combos in the cup in the picture.

News from Avery

I've been working on colors with Avery lately and everything seems to be the color green. I'm not sure he even knows which one is actually green. Anyway, today at lunch we were eating oranges and he dropped one in his bib. He said, "I dropped a green in my bib." Notice it wasn't a green one, just a green. He knew that the fruit was the same name as a color, he just thought it was called a green. I had to laugh!

Thanksgiving

We spent a fantastic Thanksgiving in Washburn with G & G Davis, Orla, and Tony. Here are a few of the highlights....

Thanksgiving meal


Being eaten by a large fish


Feeding the fish a more suitable diet- half frozen caterpillars we found on the ground. Scott's holding one of them.


Feeding the ducks. This was especially entertaining this year because there was a spot that was partially frozen. We would throw the bread on the ice and watch the ducks slip and slide to get to it.


Geocaching- of course no adventure would be complete without a few finds. Avery's all time favorite find is this dinosaur that hops.


Hiking


Playing


We enjoyed a nice lunch at Maggie's in Bayfield. It has a flamingo theme.

A sticky situation

I guess I should have been paying closer attention to my little chef while we baked today. You see, I thought I had all of the ingredients ready but when I looked for the peanuts I realized they were in the basement pantry. When I returned with them, this is what I discovered.....

Finally a real use for these....

There's a little joke in our house about these much used golfing items. I've known Scott for over ten years and he's only gone golfing twice. Today I'm pleased to say that Avery has found a much better use, at least for the golf tee's.

Friend's Reunion

It was our 4th annual friends weekend in the dells this weekend. We had a blast staying at the Wilderness water park. As always it was a great weekend full of games, lots of laughing and great food. If you see Irene, ask to see her latest dance moves. We forgot to take a picture of the whole group this year which was a bummer but I do have a picture of Janna, Sarah, Irene, and I.

Financial Planner Official Release

I'm finally releasing this free to anyone that wants it. For those of you that don't know, I have been working on my "Financial Planner" for almost 6 yrs now. It is at the point now were I am comfortable sending it out. This excel program is a general budgeting tool with sections on car buying, home buying, and investments/retirement. I figured with the tough economic outlook this is as good a time as any. I hope this helps someone out there.

Download HERE

Pumpkins and Dragons

Picking out the perfect pumpkin. I picked a nice round one with a large stem and Avery picked the little one he is holding. He was so proud of the pumpkin that he carried it all the way home. We had walked the few blocks to go get them.


I got him this stroller with a baby in it to get him ready to be a big brother. He loves both baby and stroller and uses the stroller for his favorite things. Notice the stem is gone on the pumpkin. He thought it would be a grand time making the pumpkin roll down our stairs again and again until the stem broke off.


He was hesitant at first to stick his hands in the pumpkin, but once Scott showed him it was fun, he was really excited.


We ended up enjoying a member's only night at the zoo where we were spoiled with treats and lots of fun animal exhibits.