31 months - August

Avery sure is developing quite the strong personality.  She is very confident in what she likes and doesn't like and has quite the severe case of OCD.  The other day we were walking through Target and looking at toys, something that she loves to do.  While walking through an aisle, there was a toy in the aisle that was out of place.  She had to stop, find where it went and put it away and then she said "that should do it."  Ben and I each have our own OCDness (if that is even a word), and I think she got the both of ours combined.  It does help when it is time to clean up though as she is quite good at that. 

Her new favorite show is Doc McStuffin and it really is a cute show.  She loves to give people check ups and has them lay down in a very specific way.  Some of the lines that she has begun to use on a daily basis from the show are "now take a deep breathe, and breathe out", "your heart sounds just as pretty as you are", "that should do it".  She sure makes us laugh!

Every toy of hers has a name these days and some of them are quite a mouthful.  A horse that the Burnitz girls gave her is named BeeBeeaBobba... no idea where she gets that.  Her bunny is still Bobby and if she gets a new toy, she names or makes up a funny name for it.

Avery started dance class this past month.  She is really into ballet and does moves all over the house.  She also has tap shoes which she loves to make noise with.  Abagee was taking her on Friday's and I just started taking her on Saturdays.  She is a little shy but breaking out of that pretty fast.  It's pretty cute to watch!

We went to San Diego for about 10 days so we could look for a place to move into when we move out in September.  Thank God we found a place about 1.2 miles from my parents.  They will get lots of grandkid time!  While we were there, I went to Chicago and Avery stayed with my mom and Ben drove back home to Vegas.  My mom took her to the Children's Museum on the trolley, Aunt Boo, Nany and Papa took her to Legoland, and then Nana, Boo, Aunt Christi and I took her to the water park.  She sure had a jam packed week.  I guess that is what life will be like when we move! I can't wait!!!!

These days when Avery gets in trouble, she gets SO sad and has the best pouty face.  She really does not like to get in trouble and just the word time out typically will straighten her out.  Her Averisms as we like to call it are just pricelss.  I have already mentioned a few but some others are "not yet, I'm busy, Mom or Dad (where did mommy and daddy go), Silly mommy" 

She still loves playing dress up just about every day

She is obsessed with stickers

And still has that same smile that let's her get away with just about anything!

Bricker Family Reunion July - 2012

Every two years, Jan's side of the family does a family reunion in a different place.  It's a time for all the cousins and aunts and uncles to get together and spend some time together.  This time we went to Bend, Oregon and it really is a beautiful place. 

To get there, we flew to Portland and drove about 3 1/2 hours into Bend.  We left around 10 am and flew the 2 hours and then rented a car to drive the rest of the way.  Abagee and Grandpa were part of our traveling crew and overall we all did pretty well.  We rented a red minivan and it was quite convenient.  It had a DVD player in it so Avery was able to kill quite a bit of time watching movies and napping.  Abagee and Grandpa got a bit of shut eye in as well so I am sure that the trip seemed much shorter to them! 

Once we got to the resort, we got checked in and settled into our 1 bedroom condo.  The resort was very family friendly with pools, game rooms, lots of grass, playgrounds, stables, miniature golf course, and great rooms for families.  We spent Wednesday night through Sunday there and just had some nice down time with family.  Avery had 2 little cousins there that were about her age so they did quite a bit of playing.  She did do her normal 3 hour naps during the day which meant I had some nice time in the room.  She was able to stay up pretty late each night which was nice since last reunion I think I spent more time in the room than anywhere else! 

She even got to meet baby Stella for the first time and can't wait for her to have "teeth" so that she can share her food with her!

One of the things that Avery loved while we were there was riding the ponies.  In fact to this day, she still talks about riding Sugar and Starbucks.  I think she may end up being a vet since she is pretty much obsessed with all animals!

Overall we had a great time and are looking forward to seeing everyone again in two years!

July 2012 - 30 months

What a busy month!  I feel like the summer months just fly by.  It seems like you blink and the month is over!  So much has been going on that I don't even know where to start.  We have been discussing moving back to SD for some time now.  When we first moved here, we said we would be here five years.  Five years will be November!  I also said that when we have our next baby, I wanted to live in SD.  Well that time has come and it looks as though it may happen.  I have been praying for some time that God would open the doors needed for this to become a reality and it's looking more and more like this will actually happen.  There are still a lot of pieces that have to come together for this to actually happen but the facts are that things are working out and coming together.  We just have to keep praying that if God wants us there that it will happen.  We will miss parts of Vegas, especially Abagee and Grandpa but we are working on getting them to move there too!  If we could get them to move there, it would be perfect!  Jan has been so wonderful with Avery over the past 2 1/2 years and I really want for them to remain as close as they are. Keep praying!

We celebrated 4th of July with Aunt Boo who came out for the weekend.  We went to a party at one of the kids that Ben coaches and had a great time.  They had a great view of all of the fireworks. 

I  had her wear the same dress as she did last, boy has she changed!

We also decided to make a last minute trip to SD to escape the heat.  Ben had the weekend off so we headed to a much cooler climate!
We went to the beach..

Went to the Children's Museum

And had a last minute BBQ with some friends.  My parents were out of town so we had full use of the house.  Let's just say that with 10 kids under the age of 3, the house looked like a tornado.  It sure was a fun night though!  SO happy that soon we will be back living by all these guys!

She also started soccer this month.  It's a bit crazy out there but hopefully the more she goes the more she gets the hang of it. She was a bit shy at first but I am sure that will go away the more comfortable she gets there.

While Aunt Boo was here, we also took her to the Tournament of Kings show at Excalibur.  It was a dinner show and she really had a great time.  There was lots to see with horses and kings and princesses.  She really enjoyed herself!

She truly makes us laugh all the time.  She comes up with the most random things that I have no idea where she gets them.  She will tell a story and say maybe 5 times within the story.  Where she gets maybe I have no idea. She loves to read stories to you and will say "once upon a time...the end".  It's pretty cute.  She is very particular about what she wears and she always has to ask "does this match"?  The fact that she asks this so young just tells me what I am in for as she gets older.  She says hiiiii and byeee very drawn out and really has her own little make believe language that she uses when playing with her toys.  Her schedule hasn't changed in some time and she still loves those 3 hour naps in the middle of day, as does mommy since naps are pretty essential when you are pregnant!  One of her other favorite things to say is "not yet".  We can pretty much expect her to answer that way when we ask her a question.  Her other favorite thing to say is "why"?  We have officially hit that age and any and everything out of her mouth is why.  It sure is funny but boy does it get tiring and sometimes you run out of answers.  I love that she is so inquisitive though!

The other big update of the month is the we did potty training.  We started on a Saturday that we had no plans and just went full force on no diapers.  The first week we had about 4 accidents but after the first week, she has not had one since.  We still put diapers on her for naps and bed time but 90% of the time she wakes up dry.  Not sure when we will cut the diaper completely but I am sure am proud of how fast she picked it up.  Now when she goes potty she has to go in all by herself and do everything by herself.  She walks in the bathroom and says, "you not come in here, I do all myself" and shuts the door.  She does know that if she poops, we have to help her.  We started with her using a little toilet to using the big girl potty with a little seat.  Before long, she didn't want to use either little girl seat and has now learned to climb up on the regular seat and balance herself all on her own.  Our little girl is growing up!
Here are some additional photos from the month. 

June - 29 months (squeaky parrot)

I decided to title this post squeaky parrot.  That is my little nickname for her since she has the squeakiest voice and will literally repeat just about anything that you say.  She has become a full blown talker and there is not much that she doesn't say.  We laugh so hard when she says things like "maybe or a little bit".  She has adopted our language and to hear her say things outside of nouns are quite hilarious.

She continue to make us laugh with her infectious smile and her cute littler mannerisms.  She tries to do everything that you do and she continues to amaze us with her wit and humor.

The last week and a half we have been working on potty training.  She has only had 3 accidents since we first started and she is only wearing her diaper for nap and bed time right now.  I am so proud of her that she has grasped this so fast.  Going poop is a little harder and she has gone a few days in between them and we are trying to figure out if it's a fear thing or if she is having digestive issues.  She has told us a couple times that she has a tummy ache so we are working on figuring out what's going on. 

Avery has really grown up a lot within the last month.  She has learned to communicate her feelings and emotions.  Some things make her happy and sad and scared.  Hearing her tell us these things really brings makes us smile.  She picks up so much on her own and hearing her play with her toys and babies is adorable.  She really loves to play with her babies and is so gentle and loving with them.  I hope this is how she will be when the new baby arrives!

She also loves to sing her own songs.  We still sing Ariel "Part of Your World" every night before bed and now there are many nights when she sings with me.  It's quite amazing how much of the song she actually knows!  She also is obsessed with tape.  She always wants to have a piece so that she can "fix" things!

Avery continues to love to read books and many times she will say " I read to you mommy".  The way she tells a story with some of the words from the story is pretty cute!  Her toys all have names now and when she wakes up and I ask her how she slept and if she had good dreams, she says she did and she dreamed of bobby and her blankee and minnie and daisy!

She is quite inquisitive these days and every sound she hears she says "whats the noise."  If it's not a noise, her favorite thing to ask is why and what he doing mommy or where we going or what's that mommy.  It's always a question of some sort and it sure makes us laugh!

Overall it was a great month and I am sure that this next month will be over before we know it!

Building a bird house with Aunt Boo

She starts dance next month so we got her some dancing shoes... She is a bit shy in them but warms up pretty fast!