Snow Days

In early January we had such cold weather and a few snow days. It was too cold to go sledding so we had to make our own fun! I will be glad when summer gets here!

Happy Holidays!

We want to wish you a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We hope you enjoy every minute of your holiday season as I know how fast it will go by. I am officially off work until January 4th! We are decorated for Christmas…well as much as we can be since we have little hands that seem to get into EVERYTHING! AJ is getting taller and I judge that simply by what he can reach on the counters. He flashes his million dollar smile and regardless of what he just got into you have to smile back. AJ is constantly on the move and he is starting to talk more everyday. Ava is rolling from side to side and really pushing up on her arms. Perhaps by the New Year she will be crawling! She is more hands on reaching and grabbing for everything; where AJ has been and probably will always be rough and tumble. Ava came home from the hospital skin and bones and my premature little girl who had a hard time eating is NOW a nice healthy 20 lb, 8 month old. She just got her first two teeth! When everyone said they will grow up so fast I thought…yeah whatever… It is truly amazing how fast the year has gone by. AJ will be 2 in February and Ava will be 1 in April. Two miracles!

2009 was such a bitter sweet year. We have learned a lot this year watching all the amazing things our children do, the challenges of parenting, the love and laughter we share, and the loss of our child. Audrey Faith was our third miracle. Although we have learned a lot, I am not sure I will ever understand some of the challenges we face. (Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see [Hebrews 11:1]) Kevin and I grow closer each moment in the challenges that life throws at us and we are so grateful for our children, family, and friends. We are so blessed.
Happy Holidays and may 2010 bring you good health and much happiness!
Love, Kevin, Stacey, AJ, and Ava

A quick glimpse of our 2009! Enjoy the holidays!

A Hunting We Shall Go

This weekend and last weekend are deer hunting firearm season. Kevin has been at his uncle's property hunting. His uncle's property and my Grandma's are parallel with each other. This is how we met. As much as I want him to hunt I also want him to be at home. I really couldn't imagine being a single mom. Kevin took our nephew, John, hunting this youth season too. Deer seem to be few and far between; needless to say they did not get one.

Last weekend our niece, Rachel, and nephew, John, came over to play with AJ and Ava. AJ played and ran around with them. My camera is acting up and the pictures are not coming out clear and there is a delay when I take the picture. I am wondering if AJ pushed to right buttons and has changed the settings. I am going to have to get this checked out.

Turkey day is so close and that means Christmas will be here before we know it. It seems like it was just August...

Halloween

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXalJ1g_a98E0pNxtU8yJjaW0Y1h3KXpjQTDk5Du5yxhk0S4VsBAUCPsV9FTdWB6mpv4RIwK_Uup41TlzI82bT5gN15iNkqICXySiqq6wuPSy-VIGWaGNDG_CJa2OwEyvoj1LgFR4-yBE/s1600-h/P1060561.JPG">

Ahhh, finally time to sit down and update what is going on with our family. The kids are finally asleep and Kevin is hunting. This was the first year AJ and Ava participated in Halloween. Last year I did not think that AJ needed to go Trick or Treating, but after all the heck I caught for not dressing him up and taking him out I made sure that AJ and Ava both went Trick or Treating this year. The costumes...Ava's was a no brainer and I new she would just go with it...so Lady Bug is was. AJ on the other hand would be a little more difficult. I needed something without a hood or hat and simple for him to put on. We went with the spider costume and still had to bribe him with going to play outside only if he wore his spider costume. It worked like a charm and so we figured we wouldn't have any problems on Halloween. We took the kids down to main street on Friday and on Saturday evening we took them to a few houses on our street. It was awesome! AJ was so darn cute on Saturday. As we left the house he march right up to the first house and knocked on the door. I was amazed how he was not scared and how he sort of knew what to do. He also helped carve the pumpkin. He was so tickled when he reached inside the pumpkin and pulled some of the seeds out. Then he decided that was not for him. This was a great start to the Holiday season!

Fall, where are you?

I can not believe how fast October has come and will be gone. Where oh where did fall go? The rain has just about gotten to all of us and has really put a stop to many of our fall activities. We did manage to make it to the pumpkin patch, but AJ frequently declined to smile and was more interested pushing and pulling a wagon. We picked out two nice pumpkins,which he enjoys climbing on and rolling. When it not raining we have been able to go outside and play, but try explaining to a 20 month old (whose favorite thing is to go outside)that it is raining and we can NOT go outside. One might as well forget it, b/c all he heard was "outside". Both kiddos have been pretty healthy knock on wood, but each of them has a runny nose. Halloween should be interesting. Hopefully it won't rain. AJ is going to be a spider and Ava is going to be a lady bug. I hope Mr. AJ will wear his costume. I guess you all will have to wait for the next blog update to find out....... Have a Spooktacular week!!!!

Apple Picking

On September 27th we headed to Eckert's Apple Orchard in Belleville, IL. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon to go apple picking! Grammy, Papa, Nana, and cousin John all joined us for our fun adventure! AJ loved eating the apples!