Aw Shucks, It's The Bullocks

Miss A's First Day of School

2011-08-24T01:28:00.002-04:00

Avery had her first day of Pre-K today! She has been very very nervous about it, saying she's not sure that she wants to go, but after a full morning I went to pick her up and saw a smiley, red faced (from recess) cute girl. So I'd say it was a success!

She told us about how she finger painted a rainbow, complete with clouds, was assigned the Paper Passer for her class "job" and sits in between the only 2 boys in the class, OH MY!! :) Luckily, she has a good friend that she knows from Little Gym in her class so she already had a friend going in. Plus half of the students are biracial or multi-cultural. Hooray for diversity!

I'll post more pictures once we get our big laptop back from the "Shop", but here's one I took with my phone this morning of Avery with her uniform on. Luckily I got her to wear her black shoes instead of her white and pink sneakers. She also made Colbie dress in her school colors, I guess it's official, Colbie's the GCA mascot.

Happy Father's Day Daddy

2011-06-19T00:50:00.005-04:00

Happy Father's Day, Love your Girls

Dear Daddy,

We love you, you are the best daddy ever. I like it when I get to ride the lawnmower with you and go to Lowes too. You are the best block builder and make great zoos for my animals. Thank you for loving me, being silly with me, and helping me to be brave.

I love you,

Avery

Dear Dada,

You are so silly! Thank you for feeding me snacks. I love to lay my head on your shoulder and give you kisses. I like waving bye-bye and blowing kisses to you when you go to work. You are my favorite daddy.

I love you,

Colbie

A Dollie for Me

2010-11-05T23:54:00.003-04:00

The girls received these oh-so-cute dolls from Nana for their dedication on September 29, 2010. They're made by my friend Kiley here at: Hidden in My Heart's Etsy site and the girls fell in love with them.

And the Dollies are making friends all around the Bullock house.

Avery's How To's - How to Rock a Mohawk

2010-11-04T23:33:00.000-04:00

As you all know Miss A has a number of different hairstyles, this new one was a request:

Step 1: Pull all the hair back while strumming your air guitar

Step 2. Turn to the side and shake it all around!

Step 3. And rock on like a rock star!

**This has been a message from Avery's How-Tos and is sponsored by Avery**

November Pics

2010-11-03T22:55:00.002-04:00

Just thought I'd post some of our favorite pictures from November, check out our beautiful girls.

Avery got to wear her Halloween Costume to Little Gym class!

Loving the milk dribble!

Silly girls!

Return to NOVA

2010-11-01T22:34:00.000-04:00

Joel's new job asked him to go to McLean, Virginia to do some training, so we felt like it would be a great opportunity to go back and visit Northern VA (NOVA), especially since we hadn't been back since we last moved down, right after Avery was born. So that was over 3 years ago, that's a long time!!

While we were there we stayed at Windsor where I used to work and got to see all of the changes at Shirlington. It was surreal for me because I remembered visiting all of the shops and restaurants when I was pregnant with Avery and here I was visiting now with 2 children, those are pretty big changes.

We also got to see some amazing people, a few of my previous residents who I adored and our favorite Grillo girls, some of my old coworkers at HCMW and Windsor, and one of Joel's groomsmen, Mike.

Aside from rushing to leave shortly after Trick-or-Treating, the trip was amazing!! It made me miss living there, but only for a minute, then we were stuck in the usual traffic and I remembered there's no way I would have been able to be a stay-at-home mom if we were still up there.

But here are a few of our favorite pics from the trip! Enjoy!!!

Trick-or-Treat

2010-10-31T22:17:00.000-04:00

This year Avery went Trick-or-Treating with Daddy since Colbie's bedtime was much earlier than Trick-or-Treating. She had a blast with Daddy and Colbie got her rest. Check out our cute Snow White and her stash too!

What a beautiful Snow White we have!

Roly Poly Girl

2010-10-24T22:13:00.000-04:00

Check out this adorable baby, she's on a roll!!

Doesn't she look cute in blue???

Pumpkins Times Four

2010-10-23T02:45:00.000-04:00

We went to our favorite pumpkin patch this year: Carrigan Farms It has been our family tradition for the past 3 years and we were not disappointed. This was our first year bringing Colbie (outside the womb!!) and although it was a tad chilly we had a blast, check out our pictures from the hayride, pumpkin picking and our favorites, the petting zoo!

Pumpkins picked!!

A great time had by all!

I Love My Hair

2010-10-22T02:41:00.002-04:00

While watching Sesame Street with Avery we saw this video about a girl with very curly hair who has many different styles, just like Avery. It's called, "I Love My Hair." And we hope and encourage Miss A to love her hair because it's beautiful and so is she!

What do you think of the video?? What's your favorite hair style?

Just Like Mommy

2010-10-20T02:26:00.002-04:00

I love Avery's curls, in fact I'd always dreamed about having daughters with curly hair and as you know, I definitely got my wish! For Avery's Halloween costume we wanted to make her hair temporarily straight, so I french braided her hair the night before, then took it out and combed it, which helped and made it a lot less curly for our straightening process.

Here's the hair we started with:

A little more progress, luckily Avery is great at holding still for me to do her hair.

A little sass from behind :)

And the finished product, a happy little girl that looks just like momma and perfect for Halloween, but we still love her curly hair!

Video Update

2010-10-19T02:13:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to post a few videos of the girls, this first one is Avery playing on the iPod, she loves it and there are so many Apps (applications/games) that I have downloaded to help her spell, learn new words, and even mathematics!

Here Colbie is, laughing at Avery's dollie, she loved how the eyes opened and closed, can you tell how much she liked it??

Yummy Apple

2010-10-17T02:04:00.000-04:00

Check out this delicious apple that I picked up, it's the sweetest apple I've even seen, and pretty plump too :)

My gorgeous little apple!

Look at those beautiful eyes!

The paci says it all

The end

Bottle...Psych!!

2010-10-16T01:59:00.000-04:00

We have been having the hardest time with Colbie taking a bottle. She doesn't want to have anything at all to do with bottles. This means it's 24/7 mommy time, which I love but at the same time it'd be nice to get a little more freedom and allow Daddy to have some quality time feeding her as well.

I decided to give her the top of the bottle, nipple and all and got excited because she started sucking on it. Hooray!!

Psych!!!!!!

Just kidding mommy, I still don't like bottles!

Oh well, we'll keep working on it...

A House Hunting Weekend

2010-10-15T01:49:00.003-04:00

Grandmom and Papa Bullock came down to North Carolina to check out some houses in the area. In case you didn't know they've been thinking of moving so they can be closer to the grandchildren and we're pretty excited about the prospect of having family close by. While they were in town we had a little bit of time to spend with them, it's never enough.

Grandmom and Avery had so much fun putting puzzles together, they did such a great job with this dinosaur one!

Daddy looks happy and Colbie looks shocked, but they were having a blast playing on the floor.

Our two entertainers! Two peas in a pod!!

Until their next visit, maybe that time they'll fall in love with a house close by!

Silly Sisters

2010-10-14T01:31:00.000-04:00

As Colbie gets older her love for her big sister grows, and they are hilarious to watch together. It just melts my heart that Colbie's eyes light up and she squeals whenever Avery enters the room and Avery loves being the big sister (although sometimes a little too much of a mommy), and really cares about her sissy.

Avery loves to entertain Colbie and making her laugh is one of her favorite things to do. Avery says, "Ga, Ga" to Colbie a lot and I'm pretty sure one day Colbie is going to call Avery, "Ga, Ga."

Here are a few pictures of my silly girls together:

I'm tired!

The musical duet by The Bullock Sisters

I hope you two beautiful girls get along this well when you're older. I can't wait for you to play together more and start talking with each other, in English that is.

Dedication

2010-10-03T02:20:00.000-04:00

Now that Joel and I have found a "home church" and are members of Christ Community Church, we decided that we wanted both of the girls to be dedicated. A few people we've come across aren't exactly sure what being "dedicated" means.

Our church says this about dedication and the difference from baptism:

"At Christ Community, we wait until children are old enough to believe and understand the true meaning of salvation and baptism before we baptize them.

Some churches practice a "baptism of confirmation" for children. This ceremony is intended to be a covenant between the parents and God on behalf of the child. The parents promise to raise their child in the faith until the child is old enough to make his own personal confession of Christ. This custom began about 300 years after the Bible was completed and is not found in the Bible.

This custom is different from baptism as mentioned in the Bible because scriptural baptism is only for those old enough to believe. The purpose is to publicly confess your personal commitment to Christ.

At Christ Community, we have a dedication service for infants and children that emphasize the parent's role in raising a child to follow Christ."

Basically, we decided we would like the world to know (and help us) that we want to raise our daughters in a Christian home and try to be the best Christian examples that we can be to them. We are giving them to God and pray that they will in their own time decide they want to follow Jesus, but we believe that that will be their choice to make and should they choose Christianity then we would love for them to be baptized.

Unfortunately the service was during the week and at night so many of our family and friends were unable to make it being out of state but we had two amazing families, that we're very close to and we hold dear in our hearts who showed up to support our decision and be there for us and the girls. Thanks so much McKinley's and Woerner's!! (That's your shout out ;) )

Here are some pictures of us and our Pastor Jack, we love him!! And some of us and our children.

Enjoy some photos of this amazing event! 9-29-2010

(Coincidentally all of our children are very close in age, Avery is the oldest, Abigail is the middle, Abbey and Bryce are the youngest of the "Big Kids," then Colbie is the oldest of the babies, Noele's son (who was at home) William is the middle baby and Chayse is the youngest baby and yes we were all pregnant at the same time, with all of our children!)

Thankful

2010-10-03T01:57:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows it doesn't have to be the month of November or even Thanksgiving Day to be Thankful in their lives, I am truly blessed that God has chosen me to be the mommy to these two beautiful, amazing, delightful little girls.

There are some things in life that just can't be captured with a camera or words and for those memories God gave us minds. Unforuntately even those, with time I'm afraid will not preserve my exact memories. And no matter how hard I try to grasp those memories I know they too will slip away.

So, I'm enjoying every moment. From the smell of Colbie's hair after bath, to going into their rooms each night to make sure they're safe and sound, watching them laugh and smile at each other because they love their sister, the feel of Avery's crazy wonderful hair and deciding each day what new fun thing to do with it, the delight in Avery's eyes when I ask her to help me in the kitchen, and the giggles from baby Colbie as I tickle her tummy.

Nothing can compare, I'm so thankful for those moments, so thankful that I am able to stay at home with my little ones, I get those moments, to hold onto, to cherish, to smile and cry about, at least for a little while. So here's to my girls, my beautiful little girls, they're so different and unique and I love you both with all of my heart!

Teeth, Sitting, and Just Plain Pretty

2010-10-01T01:21:00.001-04:00

Colbie turned 6 months on the 26th of this month. 6 MONTHS!!! Personally, I am going crazy, I can't believe my little baby is already half a year old, someone please make time freeze. It's hard imagining that this is our last baby, our last of the firsts. So I really want her to slow down with growing up, but she just won't.

Colbie has been begrudgingly trying solid foods, but she really doesn't like them. She'd rather just babble and play, see:

Last month two pearly white foreign objects appeared in her mouth and I tried to deny that they were teeth. At 5 months, she's not supposed to get them earlier than Avery for goodness sakes! I tried to get a shot of them so many times and was finally successful:

Two teeth, front and center!

And now my pretty, little baby...is.....sitting up?? What's next? College?? Marriage?? Children?? Please can someone tell her it's okay to slow down?

Even though I don't want her to grow up, here's to my beautiful 6 month old baby! I love you sweet Colbie and am delighted at all of the things you've done already in these past 6 months, including stealing my heart.

Story Time

2010-09-30T01:02:00.000-04:00

Avery (not unlike her mother) is a very silly, animated girl who loves to tell us stories. Here she's telling me about the sculpture garden she checked out with daddy. Enjoy!!!

Bullocks in Asheville

2010-09-29T00:12:00.001-04:00

If you read my MommyB Knows Best blog (and you should if you're not!!), you'll know that this past weekend we visited Asheville, NC for a blog conference. Joel was an amazing husband and brought the girls and me so that I could attend the conference (since Colbie's still not taking the bottle.)

The conference was on Friday, so we decided that Saturday we'd enjoy Asheville as we ventured home. We got to see a lot of great places including a very Biltmore-esque Grove Park Inn. We got a peek inside the resort and it was beautiful. Maybe someday we'll save enough to actually stay there!! While we were there we also visited some of the cool museums and art studios, it was so eclectic and fun, I kind of wished we lived there, but I know the nutty-crunchy inhabitants would probably scoff at my disposable diapers and mini-van *LOL*

Here are some pictures of fun, art, and cars in Grove Park:

Grove Park Inn and Resort, it's much nicer in person I swear!

Avery and the Model-T Ford

Joel loved this place

Random Bathtub in the Antique Car Museum....eerie!

Miss A and the beautiful Butterfly Bench, doesn't she look like a butterfly?

Cool metal flower sculpture

A nice gentleman working at the car museum found some bubbles for Avery to play with. Daddy was "helping" too :)

We loved the amazing art work, wish we had enough money to buy it, but at least we got to enjoy it. The piece above is from a really nice man, Carl Powell, he had a huge black standard poodle named Jasper that thought Colbie was a toy and he does amazing things with glass and concrete. Check him out here: http://carlpowellglass.com/ By the way this was Joel's favorite piece, so feel free to set up a fund for him to purchase it, I think it was only $10,000 or so.

It is rare that I'm seen in front of the camera, especially with the girls, but we were living it up in Asheville, the weather was perfect and I was with my three favorite people. Good memories!

After our adventures in the Grove Park area we drove around and found some local joints for lunch and dessert :) We enjoyed the New York Deli Style feel of Circle in the Square where we ate some yummy sandwiches and Avery enjoyed a Boar's Head hot dog. Then, we HAD to try out this fun ice cream shop, I'd heard all about it on Twitter so we went a couple of doors down to The Hop. The Hop is a very hip ice cream shop, they make their own ice cream, serve non-dairy ice cream and other tasty treats including organic ginger ale! Such a super friendly place and great stop for kiddos if you're visiting or passing by. Check out Joel's homemade Banana Pudding:

Here's Avery enjoying my Nutella ice cream.

All in all we really enjoyed ourselves in Asheville and can totally see ourselves going for a mini-vacation. Wanna come next time???

Smiley and the Hair Monster

2010-09-21T00:45:00.000-04:00

I love my girls and they love each other. They are both each other's favorite people in the world and my heart melts because of that! I couldn't have asked for anything more. Avery calls Colbie aka Sissy her best friend and is constantly giving her kisses and telling her that she loves her and Colbie lights up, wiggles and laughs at her big sister.

Here are a few pictures of our two gorgeous girls, Smiley and the Hair Monster, we'll leave it up to you to figure out who's who ;)

The Whos????

2010-09-21T00:26:00.000-04:00

Yeah yeah yeah, I know it's been forever since I've written on the blog. I have to say it's much harder to get family bloggy time with the two girls now, and the fact that my mom blog http://www.mommybknowsbest.com has blown up, (in a good way.)

So needless to say the blog here has suffered for a few months, but we're going to start from current day and work our way back to where we left off. (Don't ask why I'm saying we since, well everyone knows I blog on here 99.9% of the time.) Guess that's because I have so much to say. Anyway we hope you enjoy lots of fun posts and we promise to be at least a little better!!

Love,
Jenn, Joel, Avery, and Colbie

3 and 3

2010-05-26T11:00:00.000-04:00

This is the first and only time the girls will both be 3, Avery 3 years and Colbie 3 months. How fun! It is also the only time they'll be in the same number since by the time Avery's 4 Colbie's 4th month will be long gone, actually she'll be a year old! Whoa, slow down!! Seriously though I'm so proud of my big girls.

We'll start with the oldest girl, Avery had her doctor's appointment and was a little shaken up because there was an intern with the nurse and it was a male so she was a little upset especially since she was already apprehensive about going to the doctor anyway. She was in the 95th percentile for both weight at 38.5 lbs and height at 40 inches. My big girl!! The pediatrician was amazed at her verbal skills, as usual. Which I'd love to take credit for but she's just smart on her own :) PS Everyone has told me about three being worse than the 2's and they were right....be scared, be very scared!!

She's been taking dance classes and gymnastics and is totally loving it, and it gives her an opportunity to listen to someone other than mom and have more structure in groups, I love our play dates and meetup.com events but Little Gym just gives her a nice format for getting ready for school in a couple of years.

We weighed Colbie a couple of different times on a friend's scale throughout the month and she was about 14.5 ish pounds, my growing girl! She's becoming quite the socialite, talking so much, and is still sleeping pretty good, we're between 2 and 3 hours feeding times except at night when on most nights she sleeps from 7:30pm to 3:00am and then wakes up at 7:00am (because Avery's so loud that she doesn't have a choice.) Still taking usually 3 solid naps and some days a couple extra sprinkled in, depending on if she's growing.

I've been noticing that the drool spout has been turned on so I think teething is coming very very soon. Not one of my favorite parts of babyhood. She's been practicing tummy time and getting great with her neck control too, just look:

Here are a few more pictures of our 3 year old and our 3 month old, enjoy!!

A Churchin' Family

2010-05-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

We'd really been missing going to church, but we were more concerned with Colbie not getting sick, especially with the large number of people who go to our church, and knowing that everyone would want to see her. We wanted to wait until her immune system was a little stronger so we finally went when Colbie was 5 weeks old.

Since then Avery has been excited to be back at church with her favorite Sunday School teachers Miss Shelia and Miss Ally, although teachers change each week.

Our church has a great connecting-point/cry room for all the moms of small babies or crying children to go hang out it. It's a great room with lots of couches, dimly lit, and a place where we can still watch and hear the service, unfortunately there is no children's church pager if Avery needs us, but we try to let the teachers know we'll be in that room each week.

Both Joel and I have become members at our church and are getting the girls dedicated in September.

Avery loves to wear dresses so church day is especially fun for her. Here's a pictures of our church girls.

Colbie's 2nd Month

2010-05-20T08:48:00.002-04:00

Look at that sweet face! My 2 month old baby seems like she's growing like a weed. Her personality is coming out more and more every day, she's a good sleeper, a very happy baby, a morning babbler, and she loves checking out everything that's going on around her.

She's blowing bubbles and starting to lose her hair, very typical of a 2 month old. Avery's still loving having a baby sister and is so good with Colbie. I can't wait to watch them grow together more and more!

At her 2 month appointment you would have thought Joel and I were brand new parents, but Colbie's a different kid so we had a lot of questions. Our awesome pediatrician said she's doing great. She's weighing in at 11 lbs 12 ounces, and 22 3/4 inches long and her head measures 15 1/4 inches, so she's around the 50th to the 75th percentile for babies her age. I think she seems pretty big already, but we'll see as the months fly!

Here are a few more pictures of our 2 month old for you to enjoy!

Till next month!

Miss Avery turns 3

2010-05-19T08:47:00.003-04:00

I know every mom says time flies when it comes to their kids growing up, and it's painful but also exciting. Avery's birthday fell on a Tuesday this year and since we like to have her parties on the weekend I decided that we'd still celebrate on the actual day of her birthday.

And what's a birthday without a cute shirt and even cuter pose.

"I'm 3"

We started the day off by heading over to Dunkin Donuts to grab some munchkins to eat on our way to our friend's house Noele, Abigail, and William, they were messy but delicious and something we rarely do, but this was a very special day for a beautiful three-year-old.

Once we got to the M family's house we enjoyed some play time and Avery got a fun present....she's faster than the average pre-schooler, stronger than a baby, it's.....Super Aves!!!

For lunch we decided that since we were on the road we'd just grab McDonalds, but it was so not a great choice, first they forgot the happy meal, thank goodness I didn't drive off, after driving around they gave us the Happy Meal and I proceeded to drive home, I don't know why I decided to check close to home, but right before we got to our exit I opened the Happy Meal and saw that there were no nuggets in the box....oh Lord!! Long story short Avery ended up with 2 extra nuggets and a couple bags of cookies for our trouble, at least!

Avery is mostly a girlie girl, like her mommy, and I love every minute of it, so another birthday treat was nail painting. Avery received 2 Hello Kitty cards for her day and they included nail stickers...here's the finished product with our favorite Piggy Paint, you would think that they would make the stickers smaller for kid fingers....just a thought.

I wanted to go somewhere kid fun for Avery to have dinner so we figured what better place than Red Robin...as soon as we walked in the big Red Robin scared Avery so much that she tried to run out of the restaurant and almost got trapped by the huge closing door, we calmed her down and asked if she wanted to stay and she said yes, but I think she's really more brave than anything and we knew she would not have a good time if we stayed so we went to her favorite....Chick-Fil-A, she got a cute cow and balloon from the staff and enjoyed her food.

We love to kiss our girls!

Avery had an awesome birth day, also got two sessions of Little Gym, dance clothes, tap and ballet shoes, a Barbie carrier, some fun puzzles, an outfit and lots more on the day of her birthday, we hope the day of her party is as much fun for her.

Happy birthday beautiful girl, we can't believe you're so big already. You're so smart, you light up our lives, and make us laugh. You're crazy and have an amazing heart, I want to be like you when I grow up!! Mommy, Daddy, and Sissy love you with all of our hearts!

The Shirt Says It all.....

2010-05-15T21:18:00.000-04:00

This is one Happy baby and her outfit says it all:

Look how long she's getting!!

Our Little Talkers

2010-05-14T22:13:00.000-04:00

Avery's been talking for a while now, but she's expanding her vocabulary every day and sounds so grown up sometimes. She loves words and letters and reading books. Well I'm not sure if it's because mommy is a talker, or sissy is a talker, but little Baby Colbie has joined the club. She's quite the talker, mostly in the mornings and for some reason her favorite happy spot is the pack and play.

Here are a few videos of our beautiful girls, including an "interview" that I hope to do each year the girls are able to talk to see how their interests change and how they grow each year.

Can't wait to see these two talking more to each other! Poor daddy!

Colbie's Professional Photo Shoot

2010-05-13T22:35:00.003-04:00

Our favorite family photographer Barbara Payne was able to take newborn shots (2 weeks) of little miss Colbie. Colbie was pretty awake when we arrived, so after many attempts to put her in a milk induced coma she finally fell asleep for some of the pictures. Barbara knows our family pretty well and is one of our good friends so she was super patient and got some great shots. Check them out:

Thanks for checking out our beautiful princess :)

Birth to Teenager

2010-05-05T15:14:00.000-04:00

Baby Acne Strikes Colbie Bullock!! Miss Avery never had baby acne so when Colbie got it I didn't know what to do. Of course I read up on it, asked all of my other experienced momma friends, and my pediatrician, and found out that it's perfectly normal, but boy did it annoy me!

I was told to just leave it alone, it would dry up and go away and it did....all the while Colbie was a happy girl, it didn't matter to her that her face was red and bumpy, that's my happy little peanut.

and here's her beautiful cleared up face:

My sweet babe!

Avery's How To's - How to Pick a New Car

2010-05-04T15:03:00.001-04:00

So it's been way too long since I've done any "how to's" but here we go :)

Picking out a new car is quite the task, but as usual Miss Avery takes every step in stride.

Step 1: Check out the lower end models, even if it's a vehicle you have to peddle, but at least it had a cool GPS system.

Step 2: Think long and hard about your purchase....especially if you're looking at buying a pink, purple and blue Jeep.

Step 3. Opt for the most practical decision because well, the grass isn't cutting itself.

**This has been a message from Avery's How-Tos and is sponsored by Avery**

A Home Vacation

2010-04-26T09:00:00.044-04:00

After Joel went back to work I was so nervous to take care of the girls all on my own. I did a pretty good job if I don't say so myself, but it seemed that that was the week that all the visitors stopped coming too, so not only was I stuck at home (still weaning off the pain meds that I couldn't drive on while taking,) but I was lonely because no one was visiting. So when my mom and sister Hayley came to visit it was a much needed "vacation" at home.

Avery loves her big Aunt Hayley especially since mommy couldn't be "rough" and play too much. Hayley's just the right age (almost 13), to still want to play with Avery, but at the same time know how to help her and be patient with her too. Avery got a chance to play in her homemade "tent", party with her stuffed animals, and get some fun books read to her. We even convinced Hayley to sit at the kids table with Avery one lunch, what a good Aunt!

Of course Mom and Hayley got a chance to see not only Avery, but Joel, Colbie and me again too. While they were here we got to watch some fun movies at home, do a little bit of shopping, take some photo ops, play dress up, sing, be silly, learn recipes, and get taken care of. Being the way that I am it's hard to let people help, but my mom is a good care taker and made me some delicious dishes of hers that I can't get anywhere else and of course spoiled my girls. It was really refreshing to have both girls here and we can't wait for their next visit.

Hayley even experienced one of her "firsts" here. Since she said mowing the lawn is a boy's job we thought we'd put her to task....here's a picture of her ~~hating~~ enjoying driving the riding lawnmower, although she tried to pretend she didn't really like it, I think she loved it :)

Luckily we had pretty decent weather and made a lot of great memories. Here are a few more pictures from their trip.

Until next time, Bullocks out :)

Growing Growing Gone

2010-04-16T17:30:00.018-04:00

Little Miss Colbie is only 3 weeks old and already growing so much! I guess when they're this small every little bit makes a BIG difference, literally! She's been doing a wonderful job with sleep and eating. So far she's on a wonderful schedule and has been a pretty easy baby. She really only cries when she's hungry.

Colbie has made her jump from newborn diapers to size 1, a milestone that I don't really think I was ready for and since our next doctor's appointment isn't until May we have no exact clue what she'll weigh, maybe we should have a poll. I am noticing that she's growing from delicate and fragile to sturdy and getting the beginnings of sweet baby rolls on her legs and wrist. I love chubby babies and I really feel like this little peanut will be roly poly in no time.

Not only have the size of Colbie's diapers changed, but she's even starting to outgrow clothes, which is odd because it seems like just the other day she was swimming in those same outfits. Ah well I guess that means now we can get rid of them, how weird to not have to hold onto it "just in case" we have another girl.

She's doing an okay job of sleeping, although she likes to stay awake until midnight some nights, when mommy just wants to go to bed at 9. Colbie is loving her swing, not as much as Avery, but she enjoys watching the bird and bugs spin around and checking herself out in the mirror.

We're not sure if Colbie will be a "Paci-girl" (like the pacifier) or not so we offer it when she's crying/wants to sleep but she's not dependent on it, at least not yet. Until next update :) Take care!! Love the Bullocks, all 4 of us :)

Easter Fun

2010-04-13T16:52:00.000-04:00

It seems like each Easter we not only get a visit from the Easter Bunny himself, but also family. This year we were able to enjoy the company of Joel's mom and dad. This was their first opportunity to meet little baby Colbie. With Joel's dad being a teacher they had to wait until his spring break to visit. Boy did we have a great time with them!

I was still recovering from my c-section when they had arrived so they were a lot of help. Joel's mom made us some great meals and helped with cleaning and small chores around the house. That's right I actually let someone help me around the house, I guess I must have been in pain :) Seriously, it was a huge relief not to worry about all of that and just focus on getting better and hanging out with the girls and Joel and his parents. Avery loved having both of her grandparents here, we only get to see them so often since they are in Virginia.

Joel's dad was able to help us out in the lawn care department with a "new to us," lawnmower. Which Avery LOVED and called her mowercycle. Here are a few pictures of her and daddy riding it.

We also had to make some fence adjustments, luckily Joel's dad is a shop teacher and has so many great skills on hand. Colbie also loved his singing talents as he sang her to sleep.

One of the ladies in our mom's group sent Aves a little baggy filled with Easter goodies, check this fun bunny mask out. She looked A-dorable!

Since Colbie was only a little over a week old we decided we didn't want to take her out in public quite yet because we're germphobes and she was so small, but we wanted to get the girls dressed up anyway. I know I'm partial but I think they're beautiful!

Joel hid some plastic eggs in the backyard and Joel, Grandmom, and Avery had a great time looking for all of the multi-colored eggs. We also had a couple of small baskets for the girls, this Easter was pretty low-key though because our new little miss was with us. Most importantly we enjoyed celebrating the fact that Jesus rose from the grave, what an amazing God we have!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. Blessings!!

Sissy, Sistah, Sisters

2010-04-12T09:33:00.001-04:00

Avery is absolutely in love with Colbie and it melts my heart. She is so gentle with her little sister and is always wanting to touch, kiss, and hold her. Avery says Colbie is very delicate and even says (to Colbie,) "it's okay sweetheart." Sooooo sweet, I can't even stand it! Here are a few pictures of the sisters:

Avery meeting Colbie for the first time.

Aves and Colbie both asleep in the car

The girls on Easter morning

I never had a sister so close in age, so it'll be neat to see these two grow up together. I hope that they are best friends, although I'm sure there will be some arguing in the future. We love both of our beautiful girls and are so blessed and can't wait to see them grow together.

Weight Just a Minute

2010-04-10T11:54:00.000-04:00

Yes I meant to spell weight and not wait, as you read this post you'll find out more.....

The day before we were discharged from the hospital the pediatrician and lactation consultant noticed Colbie had lost 9% of her body weight. At 10% or more loss they keep babies in, so luckily we were able to go home with a few stipulations.

We were told to nurse like normal and then supplement with formula. The problem was that we had a very sleepy little miss. I'm not sure if it is just her nature or the medication that I was taking or a combination, but I had a very hard time keeping her awake to eat anything for longer than 7 minutes total, (it's optimal to get at least 15 minutes on each side.) So we rarely got the formula in her but we tried.

Another stipulation was that we were to take her to the doctors office that following day, Monday, for a weight check up. I was nervous, wanting her to gain so tried everything from undressing her to tickling her feet and everything the lactation consultant and pediatrician suggested.

When we arrived the new nurse greeted us and Joel took Colbie out to get weighed. The nurse told us Colbie was 6 lbs 12 oz (keep in mind she was 6 lbs 7 oz on discharge from the hospital.) Now I know nothing about how much newborn babies are supposed to gain or lose or whatnot so I was hoping that this gain was enough of a gain. As we talked to our doctor (who I absolutely LOVE,) he seemed a little concerned with her weight still and suggested that we make a tentative appointment with a lactation consultant in case there was something going on with nursing that might be hindering her from getting milk. He also wanted us to come into the office on Wednesday again to check her weight.

So here we go again....me doing everything to get this little girl to gain as much as possible. I felt like she was gaining a good amount so I was hoping when we went to the office on Wednesday that things were fine. I was even more nervous as we went into the room. Again, Joel took Colbie out to get weighed while I kept Aves company, then Avery had to go to the bathroom, so I stayed with Colbie and waited for the doctor. Joel had said before he left that she was weighing in at 7 lbs even. I was nervous that this may not have been enough of a weight gain and started to worry. I'm such a worrier.

I thought about it more and knew that I was a good mom regardless of what happened and I tried my hardest and I prayed to God that I would just have a peace about whatever the doctor was going to say. Right then the doctor came in with a very puzzled look. He said he couldn't understand what was going on with Colbie's weight and all I heard was that it wasn't enough (although that's totally not what he was saying.) Then, he mentioned that he had never seen a baby gain so much in just two days, (again, I was confused) and he said, "to drop down to 6 lbs 7 oz then drop down again to 6 lbs 2 oz and then gain up to 7 lbs in just a week makes me worried."

That was my aha moment, I said, "6 pounds TWO? ounces?????? The nurse told us 6 pounds TWELVE ounces." Just then, Joel and Avery walked in and without prompting I asked him if he remembered how much Colbie weighed at our last weigh in and he said, "6 lbs 11 or 12 oz." Hooray!!!! I wasn't losing my mind and our doctor wasn't seeing a health anomaly. On that note he reported that Colbie was doing just fine. After I asked half-jokingly half-seriously if we could have a refund on our co-pay he let us know that we could skip the 2 week check up and come back next month.

All I have to say is Praise God, what a relief to know that my little girl was healthy and that I was doing a good job nursing her and giving her what she needed to grow. :)

Home Sweet Home

2010-04-08T16:57:00.030-04:00

Originally my obstetrician wanted to keep me in the hospital until Monday, but I was doing such a great job recovering that I convinced her to let us out (me and Colbie), a day early. So, just like when I had my c-section with Avery I was out of the hospital in 48 hours. I really was feeling pretty good, getting around much better than my first c-section so I was prepared to go home, although I really did love my nurses and the facilities at Presbyterian Huntersville.

Here we are, the three of us, ready to go home.

For those of you who know me well you know I'm not really the type that likes to sit and be waited on. When I had Avery I put a lot of expectations on myself and with a 3 level townhouse at the time, overdid it between the stairs and just not resting enough. Rest is important for recovering from major surgery and I vowed to Joel, my family, friends and mostly myself that I would relax more this time and allow people to help.

So far friends and family have been awesome and have lined up meals and visits. Not having to cook for a couple of weeks is going to be heaven. My mom and sister came down to stay with us for a couple of days, mainly to take care of Avery but it was nice to see them the day before they had to head back to New York. They took Avery to Build-A-Bear to make a bear for her little sister and visited me while I was in the hospital, my mom even stayed with me for a few hours one night so Joel could get some rest. When I got home from the hospital, I saw signs and balloons adorning the front of our house and mailbox, it was a great welcome, what a sweet gesture! I was sad to see them go because I had not been able to spend much time with them, but hopefully they'll be down again this month.

Joel's parents also came down the first week in April to meet Baby Colbie and help us out too. Joel's mom was wonderful and made us a couple of delicious meals and I even let her clean up (again so not me,) but she washed dishes, cleaned the kitchen and even folded some of our washed laundry, I never thought I would enjoy someone else cleaning for us, but with recovering it was such a blessing! Joel's dad brought us a "new" riding lawnmower since Joel's electric mower died and we really needed one. He also helped us build a new gate because, well, when the guys measured over the phone, before his parents came to visit, there was some miscommunication and our current gate ended up being too small to fit the mower. Avery loved getting a ride with daddy with the "mower-cycle," as she called it.

So far we're enjoying being home, Colbie has been sleeping a lot just like in the hospital, but has a few awake moments. Avery is getting adjusted to our normal schedule and mommy and daddy are learning our own parenting schedule between our two beautiful girls. Home Sweet Home!

It all began....

2010-03-28T15:03:00.000-04:00

on a stormy night. Okay just kidding, that's not really how the story of Colbie's birth went, but it sounds a lot more dramatic. Here's what really happened, if you're up for the full read.

Because Avery was an "emergency" or unplanned c-section, health reasons, timing, and many other factors Joel and I had decided that a scheduled c-section was the best option to deliver Colbie. Some of my mom friends said they had to wait until it was the same month as their due date to even talk about the date, but luckily our practitioner let us schedule a couple of months in advance. Of course with scheduling the c-section they want the baby to "bake" as long as possible so they scheduled me at 39 weeks and 1 day.

Now if you know me at all you know I was incredibly relieved because I am such a planner, of course my child's welfare comes first but it really helped to know when we would welcome our newest little girl into the world so we could make sure Avery was well taken care of and we had everything in order. My one worry though was that Colbie would make her appearance earlier than the scheduled date, especially since I had heard from a few mommas who had scheduled c-sections that their children just couldn't wait.

Lucky for us Colbie decided that she would wait on us. After a long week of getting the house cleaned and organized, (so we would have little to do when we got home) and having our friend Noele come over the night before to watch Avery the day of surgery we were ready for baby!

BIRTH-DAY
Having a scheduled c-section is sort of like Christmas Eve, it's the night before you get an amazing present and it's so hard to even think about sleeping. I went to bed around 11:pm and woke up at least 5 times and checked in on Avery, hoping and praying we were making the right decision, although at that point it would have been a little late to go backwards.

I finally got dressed and ready at 5:00 am, got Joel up, and since I couldn't eat we grabbed the hospital bags and headed to the hospital. Joel had mentioned how seldom the two of us rode together alone and I was thinking how we'd be coming back home with another little one.

We arrived at the hospital and checked in with the maternity ward, got everything settled in my room, and then the nurses attempted to hook me up to monitoring. As usual, little Miss Colbie, who has never liked the ultrasounds or sonogram machines, was giving the nurses a hard time and moving around so much it was difficult to get her heartbeat but I felt her moving around a ton so I knew she was just fine. I think her due date really is going to be reflective of her personality, little miss April Fools.

After hooking me up we filled out paperwork, met the very dry and sort of scary anesthesiologist, and finally got poked at least 5 times trying to get an IV in me, but was told "You're doing so well sweetie," I made sure that nurse told all the other nurses what a good patient I was. :)

I went to the bathroom and when I came out Dr. Vuong was super excited to see me and have a brief talk about the surgery with me, this really helped because I was a little nervous, being that last c-section I was in pain and the medication was a relief, and this time I was feeling just fine and wasn't sure about needles etc.

Hubby suited up, and looked oh so handsome ;) and I got my beautiful cap on and we were ready to become parents, again.

After walking into the OR I got my spinal (pain medication), definitely jumped a little but if you ask me I did pretty well considering. I remember how it seemed like there were a million different things going on all at once. After getting the medicine and laying down on the table, being prepped, Joel finally was allowed in and the operation began. This time around my teeth did NOT chatter from the anesthesia, which I was hoping for. I did have a few moments where it was hard to breathe, when they were pushing to get to Colbie but other than that the surgery went pretty well.

My favorite moment and a moment I had really fought for was when the doctors held Colbie over the drape to show her to me. Of course writing this now is making me teary, but it was amazing, my first glimpse of my new baby girl. For some reason, non-health related, the doctors in Virginia did not show Avery to me right away and after watching countless baby shows on TLC I felt like I was being cheated, so I made sure Joel, the nurses, and the doctors knew I wanted to see Colbie. Here she is making her debut, hello world!

After that things were somewhat a blur, either because my eyes were teary, I was sleepy from the drugs, or because so much was going on. But I did get to hear her weight and see from the corner of my eye Colbie getting cleaned up. I just kept staring at Joel saying how much I loved him and was truly happy. Our family of 4 was now complete.

The first picture of the three of us

Overall this second time around has been easier to recover and being a mommy to a newborn again. I'm sure part of it has to do with my previous experience, but also we had really great care at the hospital and all of the nurses were great, some were amazing, but there wasn't one that I didn't like. The facilities were outstanding as well.

Colbie was an easy baby, loved her hair being washed, and we enjoyed lots of family and friends who came to visit. Luckily my mom and sister were able to come and stay with Avery and keep her company while we were in the hospital, I don't know what I would have done without them.

Avery loved meeting her little sister for the first time ever and called her, "My Colbie." When I saw them together all my fears of Avery getting jealous or feeling left out totally went out the window. My heart melted because Avery gave such gentle care and was wholeheartedly excited and in love with Colbie, again making me a little teary as I write. I can't wait to see their relationship flourish!

Here are a couple more pictures from our stay at the hospital.

The Bullock Family

The Bullock Girls

Colbie's Here

2010-03-26T08:26:00.000-04:00

We'd like to announce that the little girl who has been kicking, keeping mommy awake, and growing bigger and bigger these past few months finally made her debut!

At 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches, Colbie Evelyn Bullock is our newest addition. We are so in love and are enjoying being a family of 4. Stay tuned for some more updates on Colbie and our family. But for now here are some pictures to enjoy.

Proud Papa

Momma and her beautiful girl

Sisters!

Thank you for everyone who was thinking and praying for our family during the pregnancy, surgery, and delivery of our new little girl.

4 Days and Finger Paint

2010-03-22T21:38:00.000-04:00

Wow where has the time gone? In August we were announcing that we were going to be parents again, and now we have 4 more days until baby Colbie makes her entrance into the world. We've been trying to make sure the house is clean and as organized as possible to make bringing home baby less stressful.

We've also been trying to have fun and enjoy being a family of three. We had out last dinner out the other night, and Avery has been tearing off paper chain links since 15 days before Colbie's birth day. Can you believe we're already down to 4???

Avery counting the remaining chains on her "Days until Colbie is born" chain.

One of my great photographer friends did a shoot with another mommy and her son painted her belly during the photoshoot. So I stole this idea. I thought Avery would have a blast with it and it would be a good memory for when Avery and Colbie are older. Although I'm not sure Colbie will appreciate being painted.

Avery was very precise and the paint was a little cold

I got smacked with two little hands to create fun purple/pink handprints. What a great masterpiece.

And voila, Avery's masterpiece (and Daddy drew a little heart in the middle) We're very excited for Colbie to come join our family. And we get to meet her on Friday. Please pray for the doctors performing the c-section and hopefully a healthy baby and easy recovery from my two surgeries.

Here comes Colbie Evelyn Bullock!!!

2 Weeks 2 Girls

2010-03-12T08:33:00.008-05:00

Wow has time really flown, we only have 2 more weeks until Colbie joins the Bullock family. It's insane this time around how fast things have gone and before we know it we'll be a family of four.

We've been preparing for Colbie's arrival setting up friends and family to come help us with Avery and recovery in general and my mom's group has amazingly offered to make some meals for our family as well. Again, super blessed.

Well, what have we been up to??

Recently I became a member of our church, Christ Community Church because I know it will be much harder to attend the 3.5 hour session once little girl comes. I've also been trying to make sure all closets, pantry, storage areas, and rooms are as organized as possible. I can be particular in the way I want things but it really does help save me time and energy if I know where everything is or can at least describe it to others.

All the baby clothes are washed and it really is crazy holding them up and being reminded of baby Avery. It seems like so long ago!!

Not only are we trying to get ready for Colbie, but I'm trying to do a few things to prepare for Easter and Avery's 3rd birthday because again, I know it will be much harder once the baby is here. We will definitely not be holding one of our huge kid birthday parties this year, but I think Avery will have a blast regardless. I still can't believe she'll be 3 although at times she acts much older.

Avery has been a computer wiz these days, she loves Sprout Online and Hooked on Phonics and is able to use the mousepad and type all by herself. We're very impressed, then again look at her web daddy and blogging parents :)

We can't believe in just 2 weeks we'll have 2 little girls!!

Enjoy a few new pictures:

My oh, so handsome husband!

The Bullock Girls

Baby Sprinkle

2010-03-01T16:16:00.001-05:00

I have been very blessed, like I said before with so many people who've offered their services once Colbie arrives and I can't thank God enough for putting these great people in my life.

Recently one of my best friends Noele, who is also expecting her second child this spring threw me a very cute Baby Sprinkle. In case you don't know a Sprinkle is basically a Shower for a subsequent child. I was very blessed with the number of awesome girl friends I have that were able to show up and have fun and celebrate little Colbie.

We played some fun games, one of which was measuring my belly with string, and I don't know if it's a good thing or bad thing that almost everyone's strings were absolutely huge on me. Noele had some great decorations and put up some cute baby clothes on a clothes line that I got to take home with me! I just love girls clothes.

There was some great food, but most of all this amazing Chocolate truffle cake ever, and it had Colbie's initials on it too. WAY cute!! My favorite part of the shower though was enjoying chatting and laughing with all of my friends. You don't realize what you have sometimes when it's right in front of you. Anyway here are a few pictures of me opening presents and enjoying time with my guests. Hope you enjoy!!!

Please ignore my faces, I love these shirts

The hostess Noele and I, both Momma's to be (again)

Look at that baby bump!!

Cute Mary Jane socks

And last but not least a few of Colbie's Aunties :)

I couldn't get everyone in because a lot of great ladies showed up and some more great friends couldn't make it. But I'm thankful for everything we've received for Baby Colbie and the cute gifts we've gotten for Big Sister Avery too. Thanks everyone and a big thanks to Noele for hosting my shower, er I mean sprinkle :)

Short and Stout

2010-03-01T15:51:00.000-05:00

Being pregnant is not an easy task, being pregnant while chasing after, loving on, and entertaining another child is even harder, but I think for me one of the hardest things about being pregnant is being short.

Pregnancy takes a big toll on my petite body, especially my back and hips, and I think that is why God would never bless me with multiple babies at the same time. Luckily, Avery was pretty average at 7lbs 3ounces and I'm guessing Miss Colbie may be around 7lbs 9ounces or so.

But even with the difficulty sleeping, eating, bending, heartburn, entire body aching I'm trying to enjoy this pregnancy because it will be our last pregnancy. My favorite part though *enter sarcasm* are the lovely people, even other moms who just don't understand the old saying, "If you don't have something nice to say....don't say it at all."

Yes I know I'm short, yes I know I'm pregnant, no I'm not having twins, triplets.

After leaving a restaurant with Avery the other day an older woman said to me, "I hope you're close to home!" I didn't really get what she meant but assumed she meant close to the end of my pregnancy (and now realize she meant in case I deliver.) But anyway I continued to say nope, 4 more weeks for me. She said, "Wow!" and I said, "That's how I feel!"

Even when I was pregnant with Avery I got the, "Are you due yet's." You would think that moms would know better but even some of them make their remarks. Surprisingly, I only gain about 30-35lbs with my pregnancies, but being only 4' 10" really every ounce makes you look humongo! So I just deal and turn the other cheek and hopefully when Colbie is born people will start saying, "Wow you look good," and "did you just have a baby???," even if they don't really mean it. :)

Colbie's Birth Day

2010-03-01T15:36:00.000-05:00

Because Avery was delivered through an "emergency" c-section I wanted to discuss birthing options with my doctor to see what the choices were. After talking through the reasons behind the initial c-section and planning for family and friends to be available to watch Avery and help with recovery Joel and I decided, along with our Obstetrician, that a scheduled c-section this time around would be best for our family.

Luckily the ban that the hospital had on child visitors has been lifted. I was very nervous and upset that there may have been the chance that I would not have been able to see Avery during the time that I was recovering from the c-section. I have not been without her for 24 hours ever and most of the time she is sleeping or with Joel. But again praise the Lord that Avery will get to come to the hospital and meet her little sister and see mommy.

We actually scheduled a sibling maternity tour for Avery which is a class that teaches siblings how to hold the baby, diapering, and shows them around the hospital as well. We're very excited to attend that class this week and are so blessed that the hospital that we are delivering at offers the class at no extra cost.

Back to the c-section part of the post :) Can't blame a pregnant lady for being scatter brained right?!?! Luckily we were able to discuss/find out the c-section date via the Ob office, (awesome office) well ahead of time in order to start making plans for family and friends to come help us with meals, taking care of Avery, and me recovering. Joel only has a couple of paid maternity days and thankfully is able to use some sick time to take care of us, but with my surgery I'll need extra help and have been so blessed with my mom and sister and friends offering to help out, it's definitely taken a huge burden off my chest.

Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for, and some of you already know through my emails or facebook posts but our scheduled c-section date is March 26th. So this will be Colbie's birth date, unless she decides to come early. Although I'm done being pregnant at this point in time I'm hoping she waits because everything is so planned and I'm totally a planned person (when I can be.)

On a side note, I won a wonderful giveaway for a service from Baby's First Phone Call. Basically Joel and I enter phone numbers of those who want to be contacted when Colbie arrives and then once she's here we record one message that goes out to all of our friends and family who've been put on the list. It even allows us to select certain times not to call someone in case it's very early in the morning, and will leave a message if the phone is not answered. Pretty cool if you ask me. If you haven't already given us your number and name please do so quickly in case she decides to come early.

Gifted?

2010-03-01T15:03:00.000-05:00

I know every parent thinks their child is the smartest kid on the block. Well, Joel and I are no exception. Since the moment our little Avery was born we noticed how observant she was for a newborn. She'd check everyone out in the hospital, looking around, seemingly studying their every word and movement.

Since her arrival we've noticed she has an extremely good memory and picks up on things, colors, letters, whatever we teach her relatively fast. She walked at 10 months, which is not extremely early but in the earlier than the average child, started talking a bunch around 15 months, not like one of the "Your Baby Can Read" kids but to us she's pretty smart.

Here are some signs of giftedness:

Birth – 2 years

Early expressions (e.g. smiling)
Unusual alertness
Interest in books (turning pages of books before 1 year of age and paying attention when read to within 6 months)
Interest in computers
Unusually active and high levels of energy (but not hyperactive)
Playing with shape sorters by about 11 months.
Ability to form two word phrases by 14 months
Ability to understand instructions by 18 months
Ability to say and understand many words before 18 months
Could stay still and enjoy a TV programs (e.g., Sesame Street) by the age of 1
Has favorite TV shows/VCD/DVDs by age 1
Appears to require less sleep (yet not sleepy or irritable due to lack of sleep)
Recognition of letters/alphabets by age 2
Recognition and rote counting of numbers 1 – 10 or higher by age 2
Recognition of colors by age 2
Recognition of first word by age 2
Interest in puzzles by age 2
Has long attention span in interest areas by age 2
Ability to form at least 3 word sentence by age 2
Interest in time by age 2
2 – 4 years

The following includes all/most skills in the checklist above.
Early and extensive language development and vocabulary, forms grammatically correct sentences as compared to peers
Interest in computers (not video games)
Ability to solve a 20-piece puzzle by age 3
Has a vivid imagination (includes having imaginary friends)
Extraordinary feats of memory
Extreme curiosity and asks many questions
Specific talent (if any), such as artistic ability or an unusual facility for numbers - becomes more apparent by age 4
Ability to memorize and recall facts easily
Early development of a sense of humor
Ability to do one-to-one counting for small quantities by age 3
Recognition of simple signs and own written name by age 3
Ability to write letters, numbers, words, and their names between 3 and 4 years
Ability to read easy readers by age 4
Rather independent on the computer by age 4
Demonstration of musical aptitude just after 2
Ability to do simple addition and subtraction by age 4
High degrees of mathematical understanding by age 4
The above checklist is at best regarded as a rough guide and bear in mind that not all of the skills and age guide mentioned is absolute. Some children may demonstrate these abilities at a younger age and some may be older and yet classified as advanced learners. However, this can be a good guide to look out for signs of early advanced development in children and provide the necessary platform for them to flourish.

As for Avery, she's certainly an active kid, but can focus and concentrate on certain things. She loves art and draws faces, with eyes, ears, cheeks, hair and the rest all the time. She has always loved books and pretends to read them to us sometimes. She has been a pretty chatty baby, toddler and now preschooler and even amazed our Pediatrician with her vocabulary, which to me, says a lot.

The doctor also called her percotious, which I thought was mischevious, but it actually means being exceptionally early in development or occurrence or exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age. We found that although difficult for us to deal with, Avery would always say words to ask questions and if we did not answer them she would persist and need that affirmation before she talked about anything else.

She's a very very inquisitive girl, asking what people's names are that she sees in the stores, asking why certain things are the way they are, or what small things are.

Avery loves watching television and I don't think it's because she's a couch potato, I really believe she understands what is happening in the shows, and even at an early age would discuss the show with me.

She definitely has never been a sleeper, and that is a listed in the signs of early giftedness. I'm assuming because they want to be up learning/playing. I guess I should be happy for my lack of sleep because of this.

We were amazed that Avery knew all of her colors, some shapes, and how to sing her ABCs before age 2.

A few strange things that put us in awe of Avery is that even before she was 2 she knew the difference between boys and girls and would tell us that Mickey was a boy and Strawberry Shortcake were girls and even label strangers on the street and be correct all the time. Avery also remembers things from when she was 1 that I would have a hard time remembering. She even noticed as we were in line picking up our Santa photo that the Santa on the products was not the Santa we'd seen. (I think we may be in trouble)

Avery is such a ham and always loves to trick us, steal our seats, she loves being silly so definitely has a sense of humor.

Avery knows all of her letters (occasionally forgetting a G or a K here and there) she also likes to write O's, T's, H's and X's. Loves drawing smiley faces with hair, cheeks, ears, eyes, nose, smile, sometimes a beard. Her favorite thing is to make up characters on the computer (paint.net) with daddy. We play with the library computers too and they're a lot of fun. Avery has started to become very good with the mouse these days.

Avery has memorized her age, what state she lives in, what state her grandparents live in, both of our names, how to spell her name, what my, Joel's and her birthdays are, (Month and Date), her numbers through 14.

Knows her numbers on her hand, and also will add her fingers (ie 1 and 1 = 2)

Avery loves music, any instrument, she's drawn to piano, played the harmonica and was VERY into it. Will chew, hum, clap to the beat of a song. Anything for a little rhythm with this girlie!

She's a little bit of a perfectionist, lining her shoes up, having certain things in certain spots, getting upset if something is not done in her order. Maybe I would say she's particular instead. :) That's okay mommy has a little bit of that in her too :)

I was a gifted child and in the gifted program at school starting at grade 3 and hubby was smart, after all he married me.

So what will we do with this talent? Well, we'll nurture it and help her grow as much as we can. At this time we don't have the money for pre-school but at the same time I feel right now I'm giving her everything and more than what she would/could be learning plus more hands on time. She's getting the socialization from our friends and many play dates so I'm not worried about that either.

We're surrounded by some very smart kids and awesome parents too so that's a blessing for us. We're so glad that God has put this beautiful, bright little girl into our lives and made us her parents.

Bullock Family Update

2010-03-01T14:45:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while since we've had a family update post, I figured it'd be nice since there are a lot of great things going on in our lives.

Joel has been working on his blog doing a bunch of different things including attending to his new blog Theme Park Syndicate (in case you haven't already checked it out.)

Jenn is getting ready for Colbie to arrive, getting all of Avery's baby clothes washed and folded to go into the nursery. Colbie is doing great, at our appointment on February 4th her heart rate was 151 and the doctors said she's doing great. They even told us we'll be able to pick a date for our scheduled c-section. How exciting and weird.

Avery has been doing an amazing job, learning how to spell her name, and doing great with knowing her letters through Hooked on Phonics. She's a letter crazy lady now!

We've had a little bit of snow here and there and Avery really enjoys being outside these days when we get the chance.

Here are a few of the latest pictures from our lives, enjoy!!

Our Little Snow Bunny

Hot Cocoa after being outside in the cold

Colbie is growing growing!

Avery having fun with her friend Abigail (who is going to be a big sister in May)

Hope you enjoyed a slice of what's going on with us now. More posts to come. Sorry for the delay with Baby Colbie on her way we've had little time on our hands.

Avery's First Sled/Sleigh

2010-01-31T11:30:00.006-05:00

We just got about 3 to 4 inches of snow with a bit of ice mixed in. Unfortunately, all of the stores were sold out of sleds so Jenn and I had to improvise. I figured a large storage bin lid would work. And then Jenn came up with the idea of using a jump rope as a way to drag it. The hill in our backyard was a bit to steep to sled down safely with Avery, but she loved getting rides around the yard and neighborhood.

I was excited to show Avery the wonders of snow building. Snowballs, snow forts, snowmen, etc. But, the icy, crunchy snow wasn't good for building anything. Or so we thought. We made snow towers by stacking the plates of snow. We made one for each member of the family. It was fun to get outside and play in the snow.

Hello Kitty, Bye Bye Paci

2010-01-24T14:08:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we planned on taking Avery to Build-A-Bear to say goodbye to Paci, however she got sick and we didn't feel like it was good timing to take her Paci away from her when she was ill. So, today we are having our Hello Kitty, Bye Bye Paci "party" at Build-A-Bear.

We invited a few friends to make the event even more special, and perhaps encourage others to get rid of theirs too. I got the idea from a mom website, and boy let me tell you there are about a million ways to get rid of Paci from snipping the end to the Binky Fairy.

Since Avery got a Hello Kitty DVD from her Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Stacy she has loved Hello Kitty. She has a few dollar store jewelry items that are Hello Kitty, and some Hello Kitty stickers that she gets to put on her Bed Chart if she stays in bed at night. So when I saw Hello Kitty at Build-A-Bear I knew this would be the way to go.

We've been prepping Avery for a while now telling her that we are going to get Hello Kitty and put her Paci inside and she will not be able to get it out, but she will be able to keep Hello Kitty with her whenever she wants. She has said a few times that she's excited and is a big girl and wants to get rid of Paci and even though she only uses it at nap and night time (and even then typically it falls out,) we're still a little nervous as to how well she'll do without it, but we feel it's time and she certainly understands it's time to say, "goodbye."

This Hello Kitty is very special, it is the 35th Anniversary Hello Kitty and even comes with a necklace for Kitty or Avery to wear. Avery was very adamant about getting Hello Kitty from the time we suggested giving up Paci.

The Big Party

I had invited a few friends from my mom's groups to join us in celebrating Avery's big day. Unfortunately some of them couldn't make it, but we still had a great turn out of Avery's friends, some who built their own animal and others who bought accessories for the pets they already had. You're welcomed Build-A-Bear!

Fortunately, and even though it was a weekend, BAB wasn't too busy, we did have a small party ahead of us but that gave us more time to remind Avery why we were getting Hello Kitty in the first place. Once it was her turn she gave the man Kitty, told him her name and got to step on the pedal to "fill Hello Kitty's Belly." I think at this point Avery was enjoying herself but being a little shy since she didn't know the man who worked there.

She listened to his instructions about warming up Kitty's heart and making a wish very intently. Of course you don't want to make a mistake when you're creating a new life! After she placed the heart inside Kitty she then took her Paci put it inside Hello Kitty without a second thought and said, "Bye, bye." We tried to make it a huge deal and were very excited and proud of her.

Afterwards we did the routine BAB things, like washing her Kitty off, picking out clothes (can't have a naked Kitty!), and printing out her birth certificate. Avery even gave her Kitty a big kiss, although I think she was a little confused as to why Kitty doesn't have a mouth.

We got a chance to play in the mall play area with our friends and even had a fun lunch at the food court, one of Avery's favorites, Chick-Fil-A.

All in all Avery did a great job of saying goodbye to her Paci and was excited to become such a big girl.

Check out some of the video we got of Avery washing her Kitty and taking good care of her.

Colbie's First Close-Up

2010-01-17T10:28:00.006-05:00

We went to The Prenatal Picture on Friday and got to see Colbie in 3D. Not only did we get 3D images and '4D' video, but Jenn's mom and sister (Hi Hayley) were able to watch the session live through the Internet. Prenatal Picture also had a den-like area with couches and a projection screen in case you bring a large group. I was using that area to keep Avery occupied. It was cool to see Colbie's eyes and mouth open, but other than that she wasn't too cooperative. We all need our sleep, right?

Here's a slideshow of some of the best pictures from the session:

Now we know:

#1 - She has the 'Bullock' nose.
#2 - She has full lips.

#3 - She has hair.
#4 - She's not too active at 2 in the afternoon.

It's been cool comparing her 3D photos to Avery's 3D ultrasound images.

It was great to see her in this way and we can't wait to meet her in just a few months.

The Many Styles

2010-01-06T16:37:00.000-05:00

The Many Styles of Avery B. Well not so much her styles but the styles of her hair. I used to pray that her short somewhat wavy hair would be long enough for me to do something with it and now that it's not a mini-fro anymore, actually it's an entity of it's own sometimes, I can do more with it.

Here, ladies and gentlemen, are the Many Styles of Avery B.....

The side puff

The multi-braid

The double shimmy shimmy Coco Puffs

The "I-just-woke-up" Fro

The side braid-half up

Mom's too tired to do my hair so I'll wear a hat instead

The braided beauty

We hope you've enjoyed the viewing of the Avery's styles and plan on having more to come with Avery and probably once little Colbie has long enough hair her too!

What's in a Name?

2009-12-25T00:19:00.012-05:00

We originally decided that since we found out and told everyone the gender of this baby that it would be fun to keep the name a secret. Well, it's hard for us Bullocks to keep things from our family and friends. As of two days ago we picked a name and decided that it was a definite for our little baby girl.

Today, we thought it'd be a nice gift to give our family and friends to announce our name, so we did. We've decided to name baby #2......Colbie Evelyn Bullock.

There it is folks, not very traditional, but with names like Joel and especially Jennifer we're not ones to give our children "plain" names. Thus was born Avery. We wanted something that would also go along with Avery and our style in general and found Colbie.

Here are some fun facts about the name.

Colbie is a female English name originating from the name Colby. It is typically a boys name, but has become a girls name as well. The name means dark or dark hair, which I'm sure our little one, if anything like Avery, will have dark hair, and lots of it (although I've had considerably less heartburn with this pregnancy.) Famous Colbies: Colbie Caillat, (our daughter was not named after this pop singer.)

Evelyn is in honor of some of the women in our lives. Three ladies including Joel's grandmother that passed this past March, Joel's mom's middle name, and my grandmother's middle name are all Evelyn. So we thought it would be appropriate as a middle name for our little one.

Avery is having fun pronouncing "Sissy's" name and often says, "Her name is sissy," and gets mad whenever we say otherwise. Too cute!!
I think for a lot of people since it's not something that you automatically hear, (is very uncommon) that it will take a while for it to grow on people, but we love it and are excited to meet our little bundle in March!!

So Merry Christmas to you and yours. May your New Year be blessed as well.

Love,
Joel, Jenn, Avery and Colbie Bullock

100

2009-12-22T12:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe we're almost in the home stretch with this pregnancy. Today I have 100 more days until my due date. Of course baby will come before then by scheduled c-section, but since we don't know that date we'll stick to my due date.

My mom's group did an amazing photo shoot, with my amazing photog friend Barbara, it's something we try to do annually, Glamour Shots. A few of us mommas got together and had a blast, here are a few shots from the shoot, and me enjoying being just the right size.

and my personal fav....

We are amazed at how God is making this little one grow and how already we see so many differences in this pregnancy than with Avery.

She's so ready to be a big sister!

Neglect

2009-12-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

Dear Family Blog (and our blog readers),

I have a confession, I've been ignoring you because, well, I'm in a relationship with another blog. I didn't realize that a new blog, chasing raising a 2.5 year old, getting over a cold and taking care of a sick little one, running and being active in my mom's group, being pregnant, and getting ready for the holidays would distract me from my first blog love.

I'm asking for your forgiveness because I do love you and I want this relationship to grow and flourish. So, if you'll have me I'd like to try to be better and spend more time with you. There are a lot of things we still have in common and I don't know what I would do without you.

Let's plan a date after the holidays. And for now I wish you (and our blog readers) a very Merry Christmas!!

Love, the ever so sorry,
Jenn

Happy 30th Birthday Jenn!

2009-12-06T22:52:00.004-05:00

Jenn Turns the Big 3-0
Today, Jenn turns 30. She was treated to a fun afternoon with her girls including lunch and some pampering with a manicure and pedicure. Avery and I made her a card and then tonight we took her out to eat. I hope she had a great day today. 30's not so bad.

Happy Birthday Jenn!

Jenn's New Web Site

2009-12-01T19:48:00.006-05:00

I've spent the last few weeks upgrading Jenn's MommyB blog. I have to say that my little blogging protege has come quite a ways in just a few months and hopefully the new site will help her even more. Aside from a completely new look with better organized content, she now has her own domain, so it will be easier for her to give out her site's address.

On her site she'll continue to review kid and mom related products while giving her personal tips and tricks as well. You'll find her reviews on pretty much everything. A few of her recent reviews include the Santa Buddies DVD, my favorite childhood book The Napping House, the Dora Christmas CD, and Piggy Paint, non-toxic finger nail polish for kids. And, she's got an exciting celebrity product review coming up later this week.

Check out her new site.

2's and 5's

2009-11-19T15:37:00.002-05:00

Hmm 2's and 5's what's that a card game?? Nope, it's actually how old Avery is 2.5 years old and how far along I am in this pregnancy 5.25 months. Strange huh? Exactly one day apart from each other.

My 2.5 year old is doing amazing these days. She is loving going to the library to get books and videos, wanting to pretend and make up songs all the time, and she actually ate pasta for the first time in her entire life. I know I know what kid doesn't like pasta, well mine I guess. (See future posts on the pasta eating.)

Here's a cute video of Avery singing her favorite Church Nursery song, Baby Bumble Bee....

As for baby we're about 90% sure we've decided on a name (if she really is a girl ;) ) but have decided not toshare the name with anyone until she's finally here. Sorry folks we thought it'd be a nice surprise. Little baby is very healthy and growing so much. I've been feeling her move for about 10 weeks here and there and now I'm feeling her every day through the day. Joel finally felt her kick the other night, hooray! I think this is my favorite part of being pregnant, feeling little one move around even if I am being abused *LOL*

I'm growing growing and loving my baby bump :)

Other than our 2's and 5's we're happy to report that we've found a home church! Praise God!!! We've really been searching on and off and are glad to have a church we all like. Joel and I are blogging like crazy, as he helps me on my redesign for MommyBKnowsBest and I can't wait to launch.

We're getting ready for the holidays, Thanksgiving in Virginia and Christmas in New York and can't wait to see family and friends.

Oh My, It's Pie

2009-11-10T15:01:00.001-05:00

My mom group, the Playground Divas, got together last night and had a pie night. Boy was that a great idea. We had some great conversation with warm pies, what could be better?!? We had a very beautiful apple pie, (thanks Diva rookies), and I found an awesome recipe on one of my fave sites Bakerella who got it from Nestle Classic Recipes Cookbook.

Here are some great pictures we took. Mmmmmmm good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
Serve with ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

The Fro

2009-11-09T14:22:00.000-05:00

Is taking over!! I combed Avery's hair out after a day's worth of braid (plaits) and brushed it out and wowzers it is getting really really really really, (did I say really?) long, as you can tell. Even with it combed out it's actually still a little longer than that when it's pulled straight.

Now I'm just imagining what kind of hair my next baby will have.....hmmm....

Tell me about your funniest kids hair moment.

Are you Sure????

2009-11-04T14:29:00.000-05:00

So the baby is officially a girl. Or is it???

Joel, Avery and I went to the ultrasound appointment and got to see our little one during a much anticipated visit. This was the day we'd find out the gender of this little one growing inside me. We saw all of the babies body parts, head, arms, legs, feet, hands, and the technician said the baby is growing at the perfect size for how far along the pregnancy is. Hooray!!!

We got to see the little one with their arm propping up their head, just like their Daddy and sister. My two love to sleep in the craziest of positions.

During our check of body parts and health the tech went to check out the gender for us since we absolutely wanted to know. This little baby decided they wanted to play shy. With it's feet crossed AND the umbilical cord in the way this baby made it very hard for us to see anything. Since the baby was in a very difficult spot in my womb it was even worse. So we decided to check other things out in hopes the baby would change position, during the course of our visit I laid on my side, did pelvic thrusts (yes that's right pelvic thrusts,) and the technician apologetically but painfully prodded my belly with the equipment, trying to shake the baby around so we could get a peek.

Eventually we all got a very brief (if you ask me, not so convincing) look at the baby parts and we sort of concluded that it was a girl. The technician said no test is 100%, which I think they all say, just in case. When I asked her if we should tell people the gender she said, "Yes, go ahead and tell people it's a girl."

Really?!?! I was convinced it was a boy. I'm also the type of person that likes to know things like oh the gender of my baby for sure, or at least more than a quick glimpse. Even the photo of the ultrasound is very questionable. So, I'm in search of a 3d/4d ultrasound to confirm.

Either way though we have a beautiful healthy baby that is very active rolling around and kicking throughout the day and we are very blessed. We have started to look at girl names and will not be sharing the name with anyone, we decided it would be fun to keep that a secret until the baby is born :) How exciting. So we'll update again after our next ultrasound but for now we're going with girl.

Avery the Love Bug

2009-11-01T16:07:00.000-05:00

Well she's either a Love Bug or a beautiful pink butterfly, I'm not sure but whatever it is she's suuuuuuuuuuuper cute! Avery had a blast again this year trick-or-treating. She was so excited to dress up, not to mention I was happy getting 40% off her costume, just for being patient :)

Avery loved saying, "trick-or-treat," and opening her Dora bag for candy. My favorite part was when she thanked the candy givers and just stood there. I think she may have been waiting for more candy, hilarious! We enjoyed our family outing and even survived a small sprinkle while we were out. Surprisingly we were out for about an hour, maybe it seemed longer because I'm pregnant now, or because it was dark out, but it was a lot of fun seeing the neighbors and having them dote on our little girl too ;) What mom doesn't love compliments on their kid??!?!

After our round of trick-or-treating Avery of course dumped out her bag of goodies and ate two yummy pieces of Halloween booty. One of our other favorites of the night was handing out candy. Avery helped Joel give the kids candy.

Complete side bar: Why do kids these days feel like they don't have to dress up for Halloween or wear their regular clothes and say they're a thug, or a kid?? What happened to creativity or even the cheapo costumes with the plastic masks? ARG!!! Pet peeve.

Anyway for the lovely children who decided to stumble upon our doorstep lacking Halloween type apparel, we decided that this year they would need to do a silly dance if they wanted candy. I felt like a judge on So You Think You Can Dance. Some of these kiddos really went all out, I think I even saw a moon walk. Is it sad that I would prefer dancing to costumes...hmmm I need to think of a way to franchise a holiday where kids dance for candy, sponsored by Hershey, and Mars ;)

All in all I think this year so far has been the best Halloween for Avery. Since I missed posting here are some pictures of our carved pumpkins and yummy roasted pumpkin seeds.

Above photo taken before I broke the knife off inside the biggest pumpkin, oops!!

Yummy Pumpkin Seeds!

Happy Halloween

Gender Time

2009-10-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

Sorry everyone, I wanted to have this post up a lot earlier, but we've been a little sick here at the Bullock household. Especially since our ultrasound is tomorrow.

Nonetheless, I thought it would be fun to post a few wives tales and see how they compare to my pregnancy to see if we can "predict" what I'm having....

Carrying high or low. High = Girl and Low = Boy - Jenn-Low-Boy

Craving sweet or savory? If you're craving sweets, it's a girl. Jenn-Savory-Boy

The Key Test. If the pregnant woman picks up a key from the thin end, then it’s a girl. If she picks it up by the large end (head) it's a boy. -Jenn-Large end- Boy

Chinese Gender- Says Girl (Avery's Chinese Calendar said boy for her)

It's a boy if:

You didn't experience morning sickness in early pregnancy (NO)
Your baby's heart rate is less than 140 beats per minute (NO)
Your belly looks like a basketball (YES)
Your areolas have darkened considerably (YES)
You are carrying low (YES)
You are craving salty or sour foods (YES salty)
You are craving protein -- meats and cheese (YES burgers)
Your feet are colder than they were before pregnancy (YES)
The hair on your legs has grown faster during pregnancy (YES)
Your hands are very dry (NO)
Your urine is bright yellow in color (YES)
Your nose is spreading (YES)
You are having headaches (YES)
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an even number (YES 36)

It's a girl if:

You had morning sickness early in pregnancy (YES)
Your baby's heart rate is at least 140 beats per minute (YES so far)
Your left breast is larger than your right breast (YES)
Your hair develops red highlights (NO)
You are carrying high (NO)
Your belly looks like a watermelon (NO)
You are craving sweets (YES)
You are craving fruit (YES)
You crave orange juice (NO)
Your face breaks out more than usual (NO)
You refuse to eat the heel of a loaf of bread (NO)
Your breasts have really blossomed! (YES)
Your urine is a dull yellow color (NO)
You add your age at the time of conception and the number for the month you conceived and the sum is an odd number (NO)

11 yes' for boy answers and 6 yes' for girl answers

So most signs point to a boy, but we'll see tomorrow!!

Avery's How To's - How to Pick up a Pumpkin

2009-10-27T14:00:00.000-04:00

From catapult to fork lift there are many ways to pick up a pumpkin, but none as cute as displayed by little Miss Avery.

Step 1: Survey your pumpkins, (looking cute in your fuzzy fall jacket,) seeing which one you want to lift.

Step 2: Do a practice lift to make sure you've chosen the correct pumpkin.

Step 3: Tah-dah! With all your might lift your pumpkin by the stalk, displaying your enormous strength without dropping it on your precious piggies.

**This has been a message from Avery's How-Tos and is sponsored by Avery**

Punkin Patch

2009-10-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

Punkins were a-calling as we near the end of October we thought this weekend would be a good one for our annual Pumpkin Farm Extravaganza. Little did we know that our fun hayride, pumpkin patch scavenger-ing, and animal petting day would be infringed upon by one of the chilliest days Charlotte has seen this fall.

Being from the North and the warmth of pregnancy of course I was fine, but my two sweeties were bundled up and still shivering all the way. Nonetheless we all had an amazing time this year and can't wait to add little baby #2 next year (in hopes the weather will be a little nicer.)

We got our family photo taken, just like last year, on our hay wagon ride. Notice we're scrunched together, not for the photo, rather the nippy wind. We enjoyed the hay ride past the pea patches and the apple orchard and took in God's amazing glory. The beautiful lakes were glistening as we drove up the hill.

Once we got to the animal pen Avery was ready to get out and visit all of the baby creatures. This was one of Avery's favorite parts of our pumpkin trip last year as well. We saw pigs, a bunny, chickens, goats, and even a calf. Despite her apprehension about animals in general Avery did a great job and wanted to feed the animals, at least for a little bit.

Afterward, we went to the huge, mucky, pumpkin patch where we got to pick out three of our favorite pumpkins. Avery kept saying, "How about this one?" She was so excited to run around and try to find her favorite pumpkin. I think we picked some really good ones.

Happy Fall! Happy Halloween!!! Love the oh-so-frozing (Avery's word for freezing/frozen) Avery B :)

Bullock Family Update

2009-10-16T14:36:00.000-04:00

We've had a very fun couple of months and a few milestones to boot. Check out our brief update with some fun pictures.

We had a chance to visit Busch Gardens before the weather got cooler and had a fun time riding the train, this time Avery wasn't much for the kiddo rides or Sesame play area, but we had a great time walking around and eating yummy treats.

After our trip to Busch we had a chance to visit Joel's family and have a fun lunch with them.

Avery also has been very excited to meet new babies in our moms group and will be a great big sister.

We have lots of friends who were born in late summer and early fall and are having a blast going to Yo Gabba Gabba, Sesame Street, Blue Octopus, Hello Kitty, and Cars parties. Avery's favorite part? The cake of course!

Aves has potty training down and has gone a couple of weeks being dry, even during nap and bed time. We're super proud of our big girl.

Things to look for are: some fun how-to's, baby updates, our fun Pumpkin Patch trip and more! Thanks for checking in!!

AKA MommyB

2009-10-12T16:30:00.001-04:00

For those readers of you who don't know yet. I (Jenn) have started a mommy review blog. http://www.mommybknowsbest.blogspot.com MommyB Knows Best, I don't know how much that is true but I thought it was catchy.

Anyway I've had written a few reviews on maternity clothes, restaurants, candy and am also excited about more to come including Piggy Paint (with a coupon code), and hopefully some cute handmade hats.

I would love more followers as my blog grows, so if you feel lead please come to my site and click the "Follow" button. Also if you have some products you are dying to know about please message me so I can check them out for you or comment on my posts to let me know what you think of products and places I've already reviewed.

Of course feel free to share with your friends :) Stay tuned for more MommyB fun to come!

My "Famous" Roast Beef Recipe

2009-10-05T22:04:00.001-04:00

So I've gotten a ton of awesome responses to my roast beef and figured I'd share the recipe. I borrowed the original recipe from Betty Crocker's, "More Slow Cooker Recipes,: and tweeked it a little to suit my tastes.

I love crock pot recipes and need more because they're so easy especially with an acitve 2 year old. So here it is my way. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil
   1 tbsp A1 sauce
   5-6 lb beef chuck or round roast
   (make sure to cut the fat off for more flavorful seasoning)
   2 tbsp chopped garlic (or less to taste)
   1 tbsp chopped rosemary (dried is fine)
   1 tsp salt
   1/2 tsp pepper
   1 cup beef broth

Rub oil and A1 sauce on the roast first, then add garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper evenly on the roast. Pour the beef broth in the slow cooker and place beef roast in the cooker.

Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 9 hours, if possible turning the roast over every 2-3 hours to keep the beef moist.

Serve with vegetables and mashed potatoes or break up meat for sandwiches. My biggest recommendation is to cut only the beef you'll be serving and leave the extra in the juices to keep it nice and moist.

All Things Potty

2009-09-23T17:51:00.006-04:00

Four score and February of this year if you read the post you remember this picture:

It seems as though we've been potty training forever, only because Avery has been both loving and hating the potty at times. Since she was going occasionally I didn't want to push her or make her think going was a chore. So we took it slow.

Originally we bought her a stand alone Dora potty seat for our powder room and a small dora potty seat that fit the big potty in the guest bathroom upstairs. After Avery complained that the stand alone was pinching her we bought another small potty seat for the powder room.

For about a month she'd been cringing at the thought of going potty for who knows what reason. Then lately she kept wetting through her diaper and I figured if we were going to have to clean up accidents then we might as well start officially potty training.

Luckily we were already stocked up on pull-ups, thick cloth panties, stickers, and even mini M&Ms. And on September 12th we unofficially/officially started potty training. Avery did great, we only had a few accidents.

Since then we have had very little accidents and have gone out and about and Avery is becoming a pro at going in public restrooms, although occasionally the germs stress me out. Maybe I should put gloves on her when we go in :)

She's getting great at letting us know when she has to go potty, and after she flushes and washes she gets her choice of mini M&M or sticker. Surprisingly these days she opts for the stickers. I have noticed she's a little Type A (not unlike myself) choosing matching stickers and lining them up.

We're very blessed most of the time she's enthusiastic to use the potty and gets excited about washing her hands, (that's her favorite part.) It's not always the first thing she wants to do in the morning but she's a pretty good listener.

Typically Avery will stay dry through nap time and bedtime, but we don't exactly have her where she can get in and out of bed easily so just in case we're still using pull-ups.

So here you have our Big Girl who's potty trained and ready for the next accomplishment! Good job Avery Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!

Bye bye Trimester

2009-09-17T09:02:00.000-04:00

Today marks the last day of my first trimester and the first day of my second trimester. Hooray for several reasons. One being that my nausea has lessened and there are even some days I don't want to eat a #1,#2,#3 AND #4 all in one sitting. Seriously, I'm not joking!

Another fun part of this trimester is that we get to find out the gender of our little bean. Now if you know us well I'm super planner lady and my husband, well secrets and surprises just kill him. See several of our holiday posts for the phrase "he wanted to open presents early," and you'll know just what I mean.

I even told him about Intelligender, which is a urine test you can take to give you the gender of your baby, it's said to be 82% to 90% accurate when used as early as 6 weeks into your pregnancy. Well I think secretly he may try to dip the cup in the toilet just to find out before me.

I'm definitely feeling boy this time around and Joel, well he doesn't have a guess yet. Avery often refers to the baby as he or her brother, but there are moments when she will say she or sister, but she's excited either way. Lately, she's been reading to the baby, "Once upon a time," she says, and she's been rubbing and kissing my belly. It's actually very heart-melting and warming at the same time.

I'm getting a small belly already as you can see. I figure the shirt I had for Avery, "Coming This Spring," works perfect for this little one as well. And I may just wear this shirt for each belly pic, I promise to wash it though!

Right now our little one is about the size of a lime and growing nails on their fingers and toes. I'm excited to grow and grow and finally see what this little one will look like. It will be neat to see their personality as well since we know we already have one fun-filled little girl.

Next month I go in for early gestational diabetes testing because it runs in my family, but I have a feeling all will be well. We'll keep you posted as this little one grows.

Kumquat Baby

2009-09-03T08:25:00.000-04:00

So Baby Center says that now that I am 10 weeks pregnant, little Bullock Baby is now the size of a kumquat. If you don't know what a kumquat is here you go:

Not too shabby, go mommy, go mommy, or should I say grow mommy!

Avery's getting the hang of this big sister thing, and keeps saying she has a baby in her tummy. I won a great wrap at my Playground Divas Anniversary Party and Avery wanted to test it out.

I think she'll make a great helper!

We have a couple of "Big Sister" books that she loves to read and re-read so that's a good sign, right???

I've been feeling a little better these days. Not as nauseas but still very very hungry. I'm to the point where I'm pretty much sick of eating, but trying to do my best to stay satisfied. Other than that I'm having CRAZY dreams and talking in my sleep a lot and waking up a few times during the night to use the bathroom. In all I'm just glad I'm not getting sick as much.

Our next Drs appointment is coming up this month so we look forward to finding out more about our baby and it's health.

At some point we'll start taking belly pictures since well, yes, my belly is already growing, so stay tuned!

Guess Who's.....

2009-08-27T09:03:00.007-04:00

... gonna be a big sister???? It's Avery!!!

She doesn't know what her shirt says because even at 2 she's already "spilled many other beans". But this picture sure looks like she knows what she's in for!

Joel and I decided we wanted to start trying a little after Avery turned 2 in hopes that she'll be potty trained and ready for a big girl room by the time the baby was to come.

God has really blessed us with this new pregnancy and we're praying for a healthy 7 months.

I have a new ob/gyn this time around and everyone at the office seems great so far. I've heard some amazing things about them.

Joel was fortunate enough to be able to take off work to come with me and we brought Avery too. We headed to the ultrasound room first and as soon as Avery saw the big screen TV she spouted, "Dora." I just laughed and told her I didn't think they got Dora on that TV.

Joel and I were both excited to see a little heart beating right as the technician turned on the video. Even though this is our second time experiencing all of this I feel like it's just as exciting as when we were expecting Avery. We got a couple of pictures of baby Bullock #2 that we want to share with you:

The Nurse Practitioner, (who we saw for our appointment,) said everything looked great so that was a great relief. We went over testing options and talked about normal pregnancy issues and topics and felt great about how things looked.

Our due date is April 1, 2010 and we can't wait to see how things pregnancy goes. So far it's been a very different pregnancy with nausea, being uber hungry, and a little more tired since I'm chasing after a toddler this time around. I haven't had much heartburn like with Avery but we'll see how that goes as I grow.

We're very excited to share our news with you and will continue to update as the baby grows and fun things come.

Avery's New Do

2009-08-22T16:24:00.009-04:00

Joel and I had been talking about getting Avery's lovely locks trimmed and hadn't picked a date to go. So, yesterday as a spur-of-the-moment trip we decided we'd go get the "fro" tamed.

I had been referred to Doolittles, Crewcuts and Pigtails and Snip-its but didn't know where to go. With Avery's hair being above average I was nervous that we'd find someone who knew how to cut curly hair. Each time I called a salon they would tell me all of their stylists could cut curly hair, and maybe they could, but that's not what I wanted to hear. I wanted names, names I tell ya!!

So I made up my mind and decided we'd try out Snip-Its in Huntersville (they're a chain too.) As we walked into the Wonka/Seussish salon I think we were all pretty enamoured. We got there just in time to see LaMonica (and Snips too.)

Meet Snips, the Salon "mascot" if you will. Avery said, "He's not real," in an effort to convince herself that he wasn't going to chase her around the room.

Avery did a great job sitting still while she got her locks clipped. She watched a few movies, LaMonica kept her engaged, and she even got a yummy watermelon sucker.

Typically at Snip-Its the girls get an "extra" for free, often a braid and a couple of clips in their hair. So when the stylist asked if it was okay for Avery to have a couple of braids I was up for it. Little did I know that she was going to do all of Avery's hair. How sweet was that??? Avery loved her princess look that was topped off with three plastic butterfly clips.

It was totally worth the cost of going to a fun place. Avery loved it, we had a great experience and they even gave us Avery's hair clippings and a certificate for her first salon haircut. Each kid also gets a card they put in this fun machine and out pops a kids toy! How cool is that!! I think I may start getting my hair cut at Snip-its too!

We got a lot of great tips on how to care for her hair. Now if I could only learn how to braid Avery's hair we'd be set!

30 Strikes!

2009-08-16T09:40:00.006-04:00

Avery and I want to wish our favorite man a happy happy 30th birthday!! Thirty years ago today Joel was born.

You're an amazing husband and a great daddy and we love you very much!!!

Trip to Myrtle Beach

2009-08-11T15:14:00.007-04:00

We had a great opportunity to go visit Myrtle Beach, (the first time for Avery and myself) and we had a blast. Avery had a great time at the Beach and her first time in the water and sand was a blast! We were so excited that she had such a great time.

Thanks to Joel's blog and Freestyle Music Park we got to visit this newly managed theme park and Avery's favorite part was Flip Five, a fun performing group for kids, and she love riding several of the rides, but the best part was Avery rode on her first kids roller coaster with her daddy, and although it looked like she was scared the whole time she begged to ride another time.

It was a great vacation and was well needed for our family.

Getting from Here to There

2009-07-19T00:24:00.001-04:00

Avery's an experienced traveler and has several modes of transportation. None of the following is a prefered mode, but all are equally fun!

Whether it's boating on the Nile River in her steamboat...

or posing on her motorcycle at the annual bike show...

sliding down the worlds largest plastic slide, (not really,) with mommy...

Jetting around in her hot pink racing plane...

Becoming the first train conductor under 3 years old...

and subjecting...I mean allowing mommy to ride the bumpy bouncer cars again, and again, and again.

So whatever vehicle Avery chooses to get from here to there, it's always in style.

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T14:00:00.000-04:00

Joel's family got the opportunity to come visit us and while they were here we got a chance to celebrate the 4th of July.

It was pretty nice out so we got some football, frisbee, and even some tag in and enjoyed our beautiful back yard.

Joel's mom celebrated her birthday shortly after they left but we thought it would be nice to "party" while she was here. Complete with a comfy chair to relax in and tasty cake. Avery's favorite part was signing, "Happy Birthday," and maybe even eating the cake...:)

Popsicles were a favorite for all the family:

We were able to enjoy the fireworks from our very own back yard thanks to a bunch of neighbors who bought tons. Thank you suburbia! Avery adored the bright colors and booms coming from the fireworks and occasionally she'll bring them up in conversation.

Happy 4th of July!!

Trips and Summer Fun

2009-06-01T15:14:00.004-04:00

This summer we've had a great chance to visit family in New York. While we were there we actually drove the same amount of hours that it takes to get from North Carolina to New York. Wowzers!!!

We had fun playing at the park, going out to meals with family, visiting Waldemeer again, seeing one of my bestest college friends, and getting to see another great college friend get married.

Avery did pretty well sleeping considering it was such a long drive. We had a very fun time seeing everyone and were exhausted when we got back home.

Here are some fun pictures from our trip! We tried to include a little of everything, it was a long long long trip :) Enjoy!

We're excited for many more fun family trips!!!

What's that???

2009-06-01T10:26:00.000-04:00

Avery and I were doing one of our many routine grocery shopping ventures yesterday. One downfall to having a Super Target just across the street from your neighborhood!

We were strolling down the pasta aisle and I decided to check out the Archer Farms, (the "upscale version" of the Bullseye Boutique's, noodlicious choices. What did I stumble upon?

BLACK SPAGHETTI. Yep, you heard me right. Now maybe I've been on another planet for several years but I have never heard of or discovered this dark delicatessent.

I was intrigued, and Avery thought it would be a good idea to check out the label ;) Basically it's pasta/samolina with squid ink infused to make it black. Wow, that calamari must have been pretty mad at those spaghetti's to squirt them!

I don't know how soon I'll be willing to try these inky carb noodles, but in case you hadn't heard I wanted to bring it to your attention.

Bows and Tutus Oh MY!

2009-05-31T00:26:00.001-04:00

Avery got some very cute bows and tutus from a great woman who hand makes them. She has a wonderful shop that we just love. Check out Ava's Kloset.

Of course Avery had to hang out in the backyard with her fun tutu. We found out that this is a multi-purpose tutu and actually acts as a bug catcher as well. Whoda thunk?!?!

Luckily the bows come in a number of sizes, I think the baby bows would have been eaten up by Avery's hair :)

What's a princess with every single bow and tutu on all at the same time??? Ah I can't wait for the days of Avery completely wanting to dress herself. That will be interesting!

Avery's How To's - How to Display a Cookie

2009-05-30T00:16:00.006-04:00

So there's no actual pictures of eating cookies, but they're not as exciting anyway :)

Step 1: Pull your delicious 'Nilla Wafer knock off out of the box and salivate while presenting it.

Step 2: Make sure the camera can see every crumb of the cookie or at least a super sweet face in the background.

Step 3: Check the cookie from all angles before you completely devour it, with a little milk to wash it down of course.

**This has been a message from Avery's How-Tos and is sponsored by Avery**

MAP!!!

2009-05-28T00:15:00.000-04:00

So I got a little crafty and decided to make some replicas of "Map" from Dora the Explorer for party favors for Avery's 2nd birthday.

With a little neutral colored felt, googlie eyes and puff paints I think I did a pretty good job.

She's a Genius

2009-05-27T00:14:00.000-04:00

Avery's enjoying learning her colors. Let her teach them to you.

all while doing some acrobatics. So smart :)

The Terrific Two's

2009-05-26T00:09:00.001-04:00

The time has come, we can't believe our little girl has graduated from a toddler to a "preschooler." We had so many fun plans for Avery's party, maybe a few too many. The rain came down and down and down and gave us no choice but to calm down some of those party aspirations. Nonetheless, we ended up having a blast even with the 40 plus people celebrating inside our home.

According to the lady in the Bakery section we needed two cakes to feed the number of people that we had in attendance. We only ended up with a WHOLE half sheet of cake left over. I guess every occasion is a learning experience.

We got nets for all of the kiddos for thier butterfly pinata candy. Our original intentions were to have a Dora/Diego adventure where they were hunting butterflies, I think the kids liked the nets no matter what.

Of course Avery got some great presents, including of course Dora and Diego toys.

Here we are singing Happy Birthday to the big girl!! We can't believe you're 2 now!!! We love you very much little girl.

Avery's 2 Year Photo Shoot

2009-05-25T00:09:00.000-04:00

Avery was excited to go see her friend Barbara to get her two year photo's done. Here are a few of our favorites. If you want to see them all check out Barbara's blog

She even got to play Wonder Woman to surprise daddy for Father's Day!!

Thanks Barbara!!!

Jenn's TV Debut: The New Cool

2009-05-24T16:28:00.000-04:00

Jenn's TV Debut
In May the Playground Divas, Jenn's moms group, was featured in a Fox Charlotte news story about people dealing with the recession. Keeping up with the Jones' is no longer 'in'; at least according to the story. The feature story aired right after the American Idol finale, so it had the best lead in possible.

Check out the "The New Cool" below:
I think Jenn looks great on camera. Maybe she can still pursue her dream of becoming a member of the Saturday Night Live cast.

Bullock Visit May '09

2009-05-23T00:15:00.000-04:00

In honor of Avery turning the big 0-2. Her Grandmom and Papa came down from Virginia to visit and spend some time with us.

It was obviously a tiring drive becasue Papa fell asleep. Who is this woman he's snuggling with? Oh don't worry it's only Avery's Dora pillow. He felt right at home.

Avery had a blast with Grandmom as they played with her stuffed animals, dress up toys and kitchen set. Avery's such a good hostess she even made grandmom some yummy brownies to snack on.

Avery got a lot of nice presents from Papa and Grandmom which included, but are not limited to some great books, lots of clothes, and..... one of her favorites, which she had to try on immediately, her red Dora shirt. If she could wear this shirt everyday she would.

Papa and Grandmom chipped in for Avery's big gift, which is her awesome outdoor play house. As seen below:

And Papa even went a step beyond and helped Joel put it all together for Avery to play with right away.

Unfortunately the Bullocks weren't able to stay for Avery's birthday party because of work, but we enjoyed our time with them and can't wait to see them again in July!!

Promises

2009-05-22T17:24:00.000-04:00

My darling husband called me on his way home from work (about 30 minutes away) telling me about a beautiful rainbow he spotted in the sky. He asked if I could see it from our home too and there it was just as brilliant as ever.

The picture doesn't do it justice.

It's pretty rare for me to see on of these but when I do I always remember God's words in Genesis 9:16 - Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

Snip, Snip

2009-05-21T00:09:00.002-04:00

Avery's curly, twirly, locks have gotten a taste of some ultra-grow somehow because it seems like her hair, especially the sides are expanding with full force. When it got really wet she had long ringlets on the sides of her head. Not so cute if you ask momma. So for the first time ever (excluding a few baby locks for her baby book, and with help,) I cut her hair.

So after much apprehension about whether to trim or get her hair professionally cut one of my friends who has a daughter with ultra curly hair offered to help me trim it. I took her up on the offer and bought a pair of cutting sheers.

Now don't get me wrong, I still was nervous to the morning I went over to their house to make the first cut. But I figured worst case scenario it would grow back.

Once we got to the "Chop Factory" aka Natasha's house, we put Avery in the highchair figuring the combination of TV cartoons and the restraint of the highchair would hopefully keep her still. I'm thinking this combo could actually work in several different situations just to give you moms a few ideas.

Here's the before hair-shaping picture:

We also bribed little missy with a sucker just in case. But she ended up doing a great job sitting still for us considering this was her first ever cut.

And here's the after, nicely rounded head picture. Now keep in mind we didn't chop all that much off, the extra water we used to spray it down also made her 'fro smaller. But all in all there was a good amount taken off to make it generally cleaner and a little easier to manage.

End result, happy momma, pretty girl!

Flower Power

2009-05-18T00:13:00.000-04:00

Joel got me some beautiful flowers for our Wedding Anniversary. The colors were brilliant bright yellow, perfect pink, and wonderful white. I enjoyed taking some pictures of them, and I hope you enjoy them too.

Avery loved smelling them too!!

Pucker Up

2009-05-17T00:25:00.001-04:00

Avery got her first fat lip ever. She was trying to get out of a chair at a play date. In return for all of her efforts she received this huge bump on her lip.

She was a little upset that she had not asked for a fat lip and received it anyway. For all of you looking to get the Collagen look, no need for needles, just bump your lip and instant plumpness!

Here's a video showing off her big, fat, lip:

All Picked Out

2009-05-16T00:25:00.001-04:00

Here's Avery's crazy hair picked out after puffs! It's growing longer by the minute!!

21st Century Lucille ball

2009-05-15T00:07:00.005-04:00

We have quite the comedienne on our hands. Avery is constantly trying to get a laugh from us. From her hyjinx of "surprising/scaring" us to making the silliest faces she cracks us up.

Avery loves making yogurt beards, calling one of her favorite shows, "Super Why"- Super Lion, making up silly non words, performing YoGabba Gabba style cool tricks for attention and singing goofy songs.

I have a feeling we have lots more crazy silly fun moments to come, and boy am I excited!