Ava
This little one is our "Sunshine Girl." Her complexion and bright blonde hair, teamed with her boisterous spirit, make me want to call her that. She's a Sunshine Girl mixed in with a little sass. :)
She loves to jump around the house. Literally. She loves to talk super loud and exuberantly.
It's been fun watching her grow into our daily routines and seeing the result of having such a routine. She usually sleeps later than the other girls. (She loves her warm, dark bedroom with the cute Hawaiian bedding in it.) She eats breakfast in her high chair, watching PBS or Signing Time. I've been having her watch Signing Time movies each morning and she LOVES it. It's such a good language builder.
She comes with me to take the girls to kindergarten or preschool or dance.
Anytime I take her anywhere, she's super friendly to everyone she meets. She makes best friends with her doctors, she gives anyone a smile, and she always asks any older ladies we encounter to hold her by saying, "Grandma, up!"
She loves to play with the toys in our toy closet and to get them all out while I'm on the treadmill in the morning. She loves eating in her highchair--I've gotten her to eat some things she wouldn't eat before, like meat, chicken sandwiches, oatmeal, toast with JAM on it, and I think a few times I've even gotten her to eat more than just the cheese on her pizza. :)
We read books before naptime and bedtime. She has one particular "touch and feel" book called Colors that we've read every day and I've gotten her to be able to say and identify clearly each object in the book. (Something we've been working very hard at!)
When I give her baths, Andi likes to stand outside the tub and play with her. She's gotten so she doesn't cry the whole time I give her a bath, which is good.
Ava's also getting more and more used to our dog, Harry. I think they've established a love/hate relationship, but that's much better than the complete hatred for Harry that in the beginning Ava made very clear she felt. All day she'd walk around saying, "NO, HARRY, NO!" It was pretty funny.
Something I love about Ava is that sometimes when I'm carrying her around she'll pat and rub my back. It's the cutest thing. Also, lately she's gotten so she'll also randomly turn to me and say, "I love you." It melts me, of course.
She's very good about saying "No thanks" now, and she's also very good now at counting the stairs when we go up and down the stairs together.
She also happens to love to take her clothes off whenever she's in bed, so we invested in a good pack of safety pins. :)
She loves to sneak into Abbey's closet, take off her pants, and put on Abbey's dance tutu and shoes. So she'll walk around in her diaper/tutu, and too-big shoes. It's pretty funny.
She is undoubtedly a special spirit and I feel honored to be able to take care of her each day. I look forward to growing closer together with her and to watch her grow. I thank my Heavenly Father for such a sweet spirit that has been as loving and accepting of me as she has.
Andi
It's been interesting watching Andi grow into this family, just like we all are doing. She has been so used to life as an only child, and she's also been very accustomed to having my sole attention. As such, there are most definitely those days when she'll turn to me and whisper, "Mom, I don't want them to live with us anymore." :) That said, no one talks more about Abbey than Andi. I'm pretty sure Andi worships the ground Abbey walks on. She copies Abbey and she constantly begs Abbey to play with her. She loves being a "silly sister" with Abbey and she adores these built-in buddies--something she's never experienced before.
I've noticed, too, Andi taking almost a protective role with Ava. If I ever say something to Ava like, "Ava, please stop whining," Andi will say, "Mom, I think she was just laughing. Don't be mad." Or, if I take her to a time out, there has been more than one time when Andi will cry for Ava. So while it's hard sometimes for Andi to share with Ava, I know she wants to be a good big sister and take care of her. She's got a big heart.
The most interesting part of all of this is watching Eric and Andi together. As expected, they typically aren't drawn to each other. But with each day comes a different bonding experience they have, and I love seeing them grow together as a result. Eric's been good about getting to know how Andi "ticks," so to speak. Therefore, he's learned that in order to connect to Andi, he needs to play with her: They'll often play a good game of hide-and-seek. She also loves being thrown on the bean bag (a Michael tradition that's very much stuck with her,) and she absolutely loves when Eric gets silly and starts talking in funny voices. She'll laugh so hard at him sometimes--It's the cutest thing. She also loves to follow Eric around and slap his butt. The funniest part about that is that Eric had no idea how to handle that at first. Now that he knows her a little better now, he's really cute about letting her do it and making her chase him around the house.
When he says goodnight to her at night, he always chases and hugs her. The first time he said her loved her, my heart just melt. It takes a fellow stepparent to know that it isn't always easy when it's not your own child, but seeing him make the effort makes it all worth it.
Just this morning she asked if she could have some of his Mountain Dew and he actually said yes. I'm certainly not condoning such a habit, but it made me happy that he's gotten so he wants to please her and make her happy, even if it's not the easiest or wisest. When he gave it to her, he even told her that her Daddy Michael liked Mountain Dew too. :)
Some other latest Andi-isms I want to remember:
She'll often say "a why..." in substitute for because. Very cute.
She loves going to breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Luke, who have been stellar at keeping up that special relationship they've always had together.
Every night she asks if she can sleep with me and Eric. When I tell her there isn't enough room, she says she'll sleep at the bottom of the bed "by our feet." When I tell her that Harry and Eric snore, she'll continue to beg and plead to be with us.
She's still obsessed with Ariel and Rapunzel. She loves Princess dresses.
We use magnets for Abbey and Andi every time they do good on the goals we set for them. Andi's goal is to "get dressed happily" each day without having a fit, and Abbey's is to eat her dinner. They both earned a month's worth of magnets, so we told them we'd take them to the Disney store. Andi chose a pretty new Rapunzel dress with shoes and Abbey chose a new Belle doll. We even got Ava a little Princess tutu because she loves tutus so much.
Anyhow, that's proof that Andi's still very much a princess dress kinda' girl.
She's also very perceptive and often talks about her Daddy Michael. She keeps asking if she can go to the temple to see "Daddy Michael." If that doesn't break your heart...
I try to explain as much as I can to her that she can understand. I am so glad that all of the pains that come from such conversations can be somewhat soothed by the fact that Michael...and Sheri...are not totally gone. That we are eternal and will be with them again. And I'm grateful for my belief in knowing of their presence around us and feeling of their concern and love.
Abbey
Abbey is such a unique and darling girl. Her friend's mom told me that Abbey is "the sweetest girl she's ever met." I think that's a very accurate description. She has such a sweet soul and deep heart. She feels things intensely and she is such a tender spirit.
She has adjusted so well to her kindergarten class. She was so brave that first day of school in her new class at Knowlton Elementary. She was so eager and happy to go. She had no qualms and didn't seem afraid to start this new life. She's embraced me as her other "mother," and has been so mindful of me and Sheri both.
She loves to take naps still and is so good about going to sleep. I never have a hard time putting her to bed at night. She often wants to go.
I've enjoyed taking her on little "Abbey and Lisa" dates and it's always fun hearing her chit chat about her cousins, Montana, Grandma and Granpda Zimmerman, and about her school class.
She loves reading books with me (which makes me so happy), and she's awesome about sharing with Andi and Ava. She also LOVES to color and draw. She'll often tell me she wants to be an artist or a first-grade teacher.
Her school had some early morning events that grandparents and parents could come to. So she was able to take her favorite people to her school: Grandma and Grandpa Zimmerman. :)
On the "Daddies and Donuts" day, Eric couldn't go, so my dad took her. I was so proud of her for wanting him to go with her and being so sweet.
She's had to be very brave in this new family, and I am so proud of her for learning and growing as much as she has and is. She's had to try a lot of new things--She's especially had to try a lot of new foods that she doesn't like, but she's getting better and better about eating different kinds of foods. She lets me take her to the beauty salon (my neighbor's basement) to get her haircut, she's gotten so she'll go to restaurants with me and my family, she'll ride her bike like a big girl, and she'll even go play at friends' houses in our neighborhood. She also loves her new dance class with Miss Katie.
I often find myself thinking what a joy she can be to have around. Her teachers have often said the same things, and I know it's true.
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| The girls all dressed in skirts this day. |
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| Andi's cousin Lydia has been a big help in coming over to play with the girls. Love her so! |
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| We made Valentine's cards for Daddy Michael and Mommy Sheri. This is Andi's card for Michael. So precious. |
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| Ava making her Valentine's card for Mommy Sheri. |
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| Grandma Joann with Abbey. |
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| Being silly sisters and dancing in the hall with their jammies on. |
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| At the bouncy place with cousin Gracie. Grace slept over at our house one night. I think Andi may have liked it even more than Abbey! :) |
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At the "Mommies and Muffins" morning reading event with Abbey at her school one morning.
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| We love Harry. He's such a wonderful part of our family! |
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| Grandpa Ron painting Andi's toenails. |
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| Grandma Zimmerman with Abbey at her school for the "Grandparents and Granola" day. |
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| Snow day. |
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| I think Ava spent three hours in the snow this day. She loved it! (I had to keep telling her to stop eating the snow, she loved it so much.) |
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| Bowling outing with the Klein family. |
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| Playing at Grandma Luke's for Sunday dinner. |
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| The famous diaper-tutu outfit. |
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| At Baby Gigi's baby blessing luncheon with Grandma Cathi. |
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| Visitng Cousin Maelee in Logan. Definitely two Allen girls. |
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| We drove up to the Bountiful Temple this last week. Such a sweet spirit with the girls that night. |
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| Perfect illustration of Ava. Happy, expressive, and boisterous! Eric went with me to the park that day to take the girls on a bike ride around the trail. |
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| She looks so grown up here. She insisted on having a picture with Harry. I love that she loves him! :) |
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| Ava at playgroup, learning how to scoot herself along on her "bike." |
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