Ella Has Arrived!

Ella Riley joined us on Monday, July 28th at 11:44 AM weighing 7 lbs 4 ounces and 18 inches in length. She has dark blue eyes and lots of straight brown hair for the moment. Most importantly, she is healthy and eating very well. Avery just adores her and is so happy "we brought her home!" We are very proud of her big brother!!

The Day Before

Tomorrow is the scheduled arrival of my baby sister. Every day I talk to mommy's belly and say "Baby, come out and play!" I'm ready to be a big brother and share my toys with her. Here's a few pics of the baby room... mom has finally finished!

Our Knight

It started with a catalog in the mail with Halloween costumes for kids..... All week Avery was obsessing over a Knight costume, carrying the magazine with him everywhere he went. On a quick trip to Target last weekend he saw this costume and what can I say.... mommy gave in. Daddy makes a great horse doesn't he???

High on Chocolate

I'm not too sure how many of you have seen this one... but this is what Wade saw when he picked up Avery from daycare on his 1st birthday in Las Vegas . Taken from a cell phone, it isn't the sharpest picture but what a memory! This is what a kid high on chocolate looks like!!

The Graduate

Yesterday I got to ring the bell as I received a medal and a certificate. Why you ask? I graduated from Level I swim class! No pictures to share since dad was caught off guard but who can blame him with 4 sessions remaining in the class. Mom thinks they advanced me to Level 2 b/c instead of listening to the instructor, I proceeded to show the other kids "look what I can do!" I may be a little bit of a show off! Mom will get to see for herself next week as she starts maternity leave. I'm so excited- in less than 2 weeks I will be a big brother!

July 4th Weekend

Avery, mommy and daddy had 3 days of fun together over the July 4th weekend. I played putt putt golf for the 1st time. It was a lot of fun locating the holes on each new course and making sure mom and dad didn't get to finish one hole on their own! I'm still a little confused why the last hole ate my ball though!

I showed mommy how I use my scuba gear in the community pool, played tackle football in the backyard with daddy and of course, watched fireworks on July 4th. The pop-its are my new favorite thing... they make a spark!

Poo Poo in the Potty

July 1st will go down in history for us as the day Avery decided he really wanted the scuba diver gear we have been talking about for the past 6 months! (If you can recall Finding Nemo and the scene where the scuba diver scoops up Nemo.... this is where the fascination originated.) For how badly he wanted this scuba gear, we were sure that if we used it as, let me say, a "tool" to get him to go #2 in the potty, he eventually would. Well it was 8:45 on Monday night and he decided it was time. Overcoming his fear, he laughed and smiled with such self confidence that we had to remind him to get his shoes on... it's scuba gear time!!

Again, all the credit goes to daddy in the potty dept! 3 years, 2 months and 5 days of diaper duty, whew! At least we will be diaper free for another 2-3 weeks before baby #2 arrives!