Sit, Junie, Sit!

June has become quite proficient at sitting.  We've been working on it for a while, but just last week she got it.  And now that she's got it . . . she LOVES it.  She wants to sit almost all the time.  Most of the time (unless she's feeling cranky for some reason) she is happy to sit and play with her toys for pretty long periods of time.  I mean, she'll sit there for 15 . . . 20 . . . sometimes even 30 minutes!  Just sitting on her blanket surrounded by her toys.  Or sitting near us on the floor in the basement sucking on an animal from her ark while we make Lego towers with Ava.  She loves to sit.  And now that she is sitting, all new worlds of opportunities have opened up to her (And me!  Do you know how much I can get done while she sits and plays for 15 minutes!?).  This new independence allows her to . . . 

Sit in the cart like a big girl!
I texted this to Daddy while he was at work and he said it looks like she is doing a happy dance.  I  looked at the picture again and it totally does!

 Yesterday morning we headed out for a walk.  It was only about 35 degrees out, but it was very sunny and the wind was not blowing (amazing!) so it was really quite beautiful.  I bundled the girls up and we headed outside for a bit. Once again, June had a whole new experience as she got to ride in the double stroller without her carseat!

All bundled up and riding in the stroller like a big girl!

She was pretty quiet and still through the whole walk, but every time I leaned down to check on her she would look up at me with a huge grin.  I think she was just busy looking around and taking it all in!

Big sister in front.

Two Punkin' Heads!

We're ready to go, Mom!

A view from our walk.  Of course it was much bigger and more grandiose in person.
Even though it is sometimes a pain to live as far from Fort Collins as we do, I love the views out here!

It was so nice to get outside and get some fresh air.  It has been hard to do that the last couple months and especially hard over the last couple weeks as it has been so cold!
It's fun to see June reaching all these important milestones.  While I can't help but feel a teensy bit sad, as her Mama, I am excited about her new independence.  She seems so happy with her new skills.
Our girls are growing and changing every day and we are SO proud of them!

A White Christmas - Montana Style

Christmas in Montana was lovely.  The girls did really well on the loooong drive to Nana and Papa's house.  It helped that Ava watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse almost the whole way, of course.  June hardly cried at all, with maybe just a little crankiness during the last 45 minute-or-so stretch (who doesn't get cranky during that part?).  We put a Pull-Up on Ava for the drive just in case she got really desperate out in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming.  She kept it dry the whole way, despite being in tears for the last stretch because she had to go so badly.  We told her to go ahead and go in her Pull-Up (there was nowhere to stop and it was cold and windy and getting dark) but she refused.  Funny that she'll go in a Pull-Up during nap or at night, but apparently will NOT go any other time.
It's amazing how much longer that drive takes now that we do it with children.  We used to be able to make it in about 7.5 hours easily, but now it takes us around 9-10.  Just another way life was easier before children.  :)  But that's quite alright.  Part of the extra time is stopping for a long lunch to let the girls be free of their carseats for a bit.  Getting out of the car for a decent chunk of time is refreshing for us all.  And Casper is such a fabulous place to have lunch (not so much).

Watching Mikey Mouse Clubhouse on the road.  (It's a little blurry.  I am NO photographer.)

When we finally reached our destination, both girls seemed happy to see Nana and Papa.  June's reaction to seeing Nana at Thanksgiving was not so good, but she was happy to see Nana this time.  :)  The day after we got there was Tim's birthday.  That night my grandparents and my aunt Kim and uncle Jim (from my dad's side) came over for New York steaks and oh-so-yummy (professionally made) cupcakes.  There were lots of cupcakes in two flavors:  peppermint or gingerbread.  YUM!  Ava enjoyed her cupcake, but I'm pretty sure that when we sang "Happy Birthday" to Tim, she thought we were singing to her.  :)

Nana and Ava playing the piano.  Ava loves to "make music" on Nana's piano, which is why we got her a keyboard for Christmas, which you will see pictured later.

On Christmas Eve evening, we went to church with Nana and Papa.  It was a very nice service, although I ended up in the back hallway rocking Junie through most of it, and Ava had a little trouble sitting quietly.  Afterward we went over to Kim and Jim's house for dinner and the usual Christmas Eve celebration with the Dunn clan.  Evidently I failed to get any pictures from the night.  Darn!  No pictures even of the girls in their cute dresses.  What a fail.  :(  

It was great to see everyone, although I couldn't help feeling a little sad without Grandpa or my dad there.  This was the first Christmas I have been back since Grandpa passed away and it seemed like something was missing.  Kim always has a lovely spread of food, though, and we really enjoyed being there.  It's only too bad we couldn't have stayed longer.  June was having a rough evening for some reason.  Unfortunately the Dunn side didn't really get to see her fun, happy self that night.

The drive back to Nana and Papa's on Christmas Eve (it takes about 20-25 minutes) was beautiful.  It was getting later and was very dark and snowing and just lovely.  Everything felt so peaceful with a soft blanket of white.  The snow was falling lightly and it seemed like the picture-perfect Christmas Eve.  When we got back we rushed the girls to bed and then Nana and I filled their stockings.  :)  I love that part.  I always thought stocking stuffers were one of the best parts of Christmas as a kid, and I love giving those little gifts to my girls now.  I mean . . . Santa giving them, of course.  Ava is getting older and I'm going to have to start being a little more careful about what I say so I don't give it away!  Hopefully she doesn't read this in the next couple years.  :)

Christmas Eve morning.

That little butterfly toy goes EVERYWHERE with us!

The girls woke up early as usual on Christmas morning . . . but Daddy sure didn't.  We waited and waited around for him to get up so we could do stockings.  ;)  The girls are not old enough to know yet, so it didn't matter.  In fact, Ava was too busy watching a new Mickey Mouse DVD to have noticed any full stockings or anything.

Watching Mickey on Christmas Morning.

Eventually we headed out to see what Santa had brought us.  The stockings were too heavy and full to hang anymore, so they had to sit on the fireplace hearth.

Do you see who was waiting for Ava . . . just peeking out of her stocking?

Santa brought lots of fun stuff, including toys, Mickey DVDs, a stuffed Mickey and Minnie (and Donald for Junie!) and . . . of course . . . socks and underwear!  Who doesn't want those from Santa?  ;)

Something new to watch on the ride home!

Sure is fun watching Ava open everything for me!

And then came the special Santa gifts that were hiding in the basement:

Ava opening her new . . . 

Strider bike!!  In pink, of course!

And Junie's new wagon!

Ava had fun walking her bike around Nana and Papa's house . . . until she realized Mickey was still on.  :)

Watching A Muppet Christmas Carol with her new Mickey and Minnie.

Once the Santa stuff was opened, it was time to do some cooking!  And watch A Muppet Christmas Carol, per the family tradition.

Such a beautiful Christmas tree and SO MANY presents to be opened!
No wonder our fingers were bloody stumps by the time we were done!

Our dinner party that evening consisted of the four of us, Nana and Papa, Granny and Grandpa, my cousin Brian and his wife, Tiffany, and their son, Lane.  It was not a big party, which was nice.  Nana and Papa served an amazing dinner of prime rib and all the fixins.

Nana and June on Christmas

Trying to get a decent family photo . . . not so great.

Ava watching Nana work her magic in the kitchen.

 Ava woke up very cranky from her nap.  I'm not sure how I managed to get her dressed in her Christmas finery, but somehow we got through it just in time to Skype with Jess, Brandon, Cameron and Everett.  Perhaps someday we will all spend Christmas together again!
After dinner it was time for . . . opening presents.  Finally!  We can get away with waiting until Christmas night while the girls are young, but I'm not sure we'll be able to do that forever.  I know I would have been putting up a fight.  I'm notorious for having been the child who couldn't wait to open presents.  We'll see if that is in Ava's genes.

Ava opening her new keyboard.  I had one as a kid and  LOVED it, and we figured Ava would, too, with her love for music.  Not so much so far, but maybe she'll become more interested as she gets older.

Junie with one of two shape sorters that she got.  There are always a couple duplicates, it seems!  Oh well.

Playing lovely music, I'm sure.

Num num!  This new "Beast" toy is super tasty, Aunt Jess!

Playing on the floor with Brian.

Wearing her new vest and playing with her new Legos.  

Opening June's new ball popper elephant, which is the hit toy of Christmas.  Ava LOVES it.  In fact, she loved it so much from the moment it came out of the box, that she broke it that very night.  Apparently it is not good to stick little pieces of cardboard in the elephant that can get stuck in the fan.  Poor girl.  She was SO upset that she couldn't go to sleep.  Fortunately Daddy was able to take it apart and fix it (Way to go, Daddy!) and once we told her it was fixed, she stayed in her room and went to sleep.  :)

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. Our trip went too quickly, as they always do. The only down part was having to leave . . . and realizing that someone had gotten into our Yukon and stolen some stuff. :( On Christmas Day Tim moved the Yukon from Nana and Papa's driveway out to the street in front of their house (right behind Ernie's detective car). Apparently in all the hustle he left it unlocked. As we got ready to go to lunch at Red Robin the day after Christmas (Buffalo Clucks and Fries . . . YUM!) he found our DVDs spread out all over the driver's seat and an empty glasses case where his brand new prescription sunglasses had been. Come to find out they took the sunglasses and our two sets of wireless headphones for the DVD player in the vehicle. Such a bummer. And, although expensive to replace, not quite worth enough to make an insurance claim. I suppose sometimes we need a reminder that stuff is just stuff. I am just so thankful that we didn't have anything more valuable in there and that they didn't do anything to trash the actual vehicle.
The drive home was uneventful and we were sad to leave as always. For a couple weeks afterward Ava talked almost every day about going back to Nana and Papa's house. Tim would try to remind her of how long it takes to get there and how much she dislikes the drive! It is too bad that it is so far away because we would LOVE to see Nana and Papa more. I guess that's part of what makes spending time with them so special!
We love you, Nana and Papa! Thanks for everything!

Christmas with the Kellehers

We are well in to January, so I suppose it is high time to post some pictures from Christmas!  We'll start with pictures from our first Christmas celebration, with the Kellehers.  We went down to Grandpa and Gigi's on a Saturday afternoon/evening and left the girls with them while we went to Tim's company Christmas party, which was in the Denver area.  They graciously watched our girls while we went out and partied.  We had a great time dancing (and drinking, of course) and stayed later than I think we ever have at one of his parties.  I think we just really needed the outing (I know I did!).  On our way back to their house we got stuck by a train for about 30 minutes!  Yikes!  We still made it back at a fairly decent hour, but wished we could have spent that half hour sleeping instead of watching a train go back and forth!
We all spent the night and in the morning Gigi fixed us a fabulous brunch.  There was a Honeybaked Ham, so what more do you need?  :) (Let's just say they know what I like.)  Uncle Toby came over, as well as Tim's cousin, Abby, and her husband, Jeremiah.  After stuffing ourselves we had our little family Christmas celebration by opening presents.  We were headed to Montana for Christmas and Pat and Tina spent it in Arizona, so this was our chance to celebrate together before we went our separate ways.  It was a lot of fun, although the time seemed much too short, as usual.  Here are a few pictures from that day:

Mickey!  He was out on the front porch when we pulled up.  Ava immediately loved him.

New cowgirl boots!

Showing off her Minnie jewelry from Uncle Toby.

Yeehaw!  She loves her new boots, although she is still getting used to walking in a heel.  :)

Making a haul.

Yes, it looks like his eyes are closed . . . but I think that's just the way he smiles.
We tried twice and got the same results.  :)  Love ya, Toby!

Trying out the new wagon (first of two!).

Ava promptly told Gigi, "Get out.  You're too big."  :)

Uncle Toby lets Ava play with his iPhone in ways that Mama never does.  :)
They are like two peas in a pod!

The girls were, of course, spoiled by everyone.  Tim and I feel so blessed by both of our families.  It has been wonderful having Pat and Tina closer to us now.  It still takes a little over an hour to get to their house, but somehow that hour drive is so much more do-able than the old two hour drive.  We love that they are able to be a more consistent part of our girls' lives.  Thanks for all you do, Grandpa and Gigi!  Seeing them more makes it much easier to see Toby more, as well.  Ava always asks if he is going to be there when she knows we will see Grandpa and Gigi.  She loves her Uncle Toby!

More pictures to come soon from our Christmas in Montana.