Friday, January 28, 2011

6 months

 Ansley is 6 months today!
This past week she has been perfecting the art of "the pounce"- she will get up on all fours, start rockin' then hoist her entire upper body forward to retrieve an object. (and she's got to be fast enough to beat Avery or Avery's friends to the desired object)  Its so FUNNY!
She's like a little lion ready to pounce on its prey.


  BUT, Today she got it all figured out & started CRAWLING!!!
 She is doing extremely well and brings so much sweetness into our home 
 Ansley's All time Favorite:  AVERY
Avery makes her laugh the hardest (even if she is being pulled across the room by her feet), when Avery is around she stops crying, & she is always trying to catch up to Avery.  I love watching these two together.

Avery has been dying to go camping and since we haven't been able to go, we've been doing A LOT of indoor camping.  I put Ansley in the tent with Avery so I could get some cleaning done and they had a blast together!  Avery is getting better at being a big sister- Today she told Ansley as she hands Ansley one of her toys, "its ok if you drool on this toy; I will just wipe it off when you finish."  ~ I couldn't believe my ears ~
 Yes, I had to stop cleaning to get this pic!  I can't get enough of them!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Snow in AR

 6+ inches of snow in Little Rock, AR

 We had snowball fights

Built a Snowman on Day 2

 & made snow angels
 But overall we would last a whole 20 minutes outside before the cold brought us back inside.
WE ARE NOW COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS 'TIL SPRING!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Trip of the Year!

**VERY LONG POST**
The Monday after Christmas we headed down to my parents (a day early cause we couldn't wait any longer) for a second round of Christmas with all my siblings.  We made so many great memories and everyone but my sister's husband, Bryan, were able to make it!

Cute pic of my lil Ansley practicing her new fav trick -sitting up- only for about 10-15 seconds but she is getting stronger everyday!
Tuesday The Grahams and Grandma Grandpa & Mingi headed to Dallas to see the new Cowboy stadium (which I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of it was so AWESOME) and then I went to this cute craft store some friends of mine here told me about called City Craft citycraftonline.com.  It was a cute store but my girls were so fussy I didn't get to stay as long and browse around as I wanted, but its ok:)  We then checked into the hotel and played games as we waited for my sister, Renee's flight.  My dad and I went and picked her and her boyfriend up at 1am.  The next morning we all headed to --
DAY 1:  6 FLAGS HOLIDAY IN THE PARK
It was a perfect day- no lines- 68 degrees and overcast :)


Meeting the Characters


Avery the whole morning had been telling us she wanted to ride the big rides.  So, I put her hair in a ponytail on top of her head, let her wear her cowgirl boots with a bit of a heel and she squeaks by as tall enough to ride some of the bigger rides with an adult.  She anxiously boarded THE CONQUISTADOR with the 'big kids'.  The first 2 swings and she was loving it!

 when it got this high- NOT SO MUCH!  
When she got off she told me, "Mom, I don't like that ride.  It tickled my whole body!" 
Such a fitting description

So we decided to take it easy and my sister rode the "Bumpy Boot" (as Avery called it) and she liked it much better.  
I was a little worried my younger siblings would get irritated with being slowed down by the kids.
It was quite the opposite and they were helpful and ready to ride with the younger ones.
 
A ride we could do as a family
 Avery loved the Carousel
Ansley Loving 6 Flags
I LOVE this pic of her!
Truck Drivin' in Toon Town
Look at these sweet helpers!  They sat with the kids too so Rose and I could ride some roller coasters!
Our favorites were the Titan and Superman!
Avery loved the characters so much!  I can't imagine how giddy she'd be at Disneyworld!
Even big kids like the characters
Tweety was the fav!
Cute little Jordan!
I love this little guy!!!
Avery's favorite ride - The airplanes.
In her bed time prayers she always includes that she is thankful for airplanes and dogs!

After all our fun at 6 flags we headed over to Cici's across the street for dinner.
My best friend growing up lives in Ft. Worth and she came to meet us; it was so fun to catch up!

Our girls of course were friends instantly!
DAY 2:  Getting Everything ready for our Second Round of Christmas & Marshall Wonderland of Lights
Thank goodness Renee got us all out of the house and demanded we go see the lights (which is a family tradition) cause we had fun!  & the lights were beautiful!
Let the girl on the train! or she'll tip the stroller over to get on it!
Had to get this pic -this is what you see when you go to an ice skating rink in the south -
more people hanging onto the wall for dear life than actually skating!  ha ha
couple pics of the girls:
Avery smile!
She finally does Only a little late...

DAY 3:  GREBE FAMILY CHRISTMAS
Everyone gathered for Christmas morning fun!
Mingi serenading us with some beautiful Christmas music on the flute
 Loving on Aunt Rose
 Did my parents really get this for her, along with a loud keyboard and drums?!?!?!
I think those are stay at Grandma/Grandpa house toys:)
 Robert Rose and Baby Jordan
 Grandpa!
 DAY 4: FAMILY PICTURES/ SHREVEPORT/ NEW YEAR'S EVE
We thought that while we had so many there we better get some pictures & my mom got the cousins matching outfits!  They looked adorable!
**it wouldn't be normal if someone wasn't arguing or being irritable about taking pictures, this year was Avery's turn!**

 Mom and the Boys
 Such a good picture of Rose and Jordan
 Jordan and Ansley
 Girls with Dad
 The Boys
 Grandpa of the Year!
 All my siblings

 Mom and the girls
 Our whole crew!
 with Mingi, Kyle and Scruffy
 at this point this would be the more honest Whole Crew Picture!
(I think its my fav)
 & Ryan being Ryan (he should be tapping his head... hehehe)
 After the picture taking Rose and I laid the kids down for naps while the younger crew headed over to Shreveport
They went to the big Bass Pro Shop
Renee and Kyle (such a sweetheart!)
Mingi!

 Buddies (they played here together a lot!)
 Ansley trying out Jordan's johnny jump up


 & fireworks for New Year's Eve
 Avery thought they were too loud!
Roman Candle Wars
(Yeah Rose and I were the smart ones or pansies however you want to look at it and didn't participate)

 DAY 5:  JUST HANGING OUT & BOWLING
Last day Rose flew back early in the morning and we just took it easy and went bowling later that evening.

WE LOVED LOVED LOVED OUR TEXAS TRIP!