Catching Up On Lily

It's been a while since I've updated Lily's fans on all of the cool tricks she can do! So much happens in such a short amount of time.

First I need to showcase her top teeth. They just came in a few weeks ago. We've been waiting for them to arrive!

Her new teeth are a big help when it comes to eating. She was happy to say goodbye to baby food!

She can drink from a straw now too.

Her favorite activity is still reading books. She truly does "read" them too! We get a real kick out of her voice inflections.

Her ability to communicate has grown by the mile! She uses many signs, knows several animal sounds and body parts, and can repeat lots of words. You'll just have to take my word on it until we get video up!

She loves to play ball.

She isn't walking yet, but can almost pull herself up.

Lily and her "sissy" are like two peas in a pod. Who knows? Maybe they'll form a band one day...

Toonces "Kitty" Crane 1999-2009

Today we lost our beloved pet "Kitty" after a very short illness. For those of you who do not know, Kitty was given to me when Aaron proposed (the ring was tied on his collar). Kitty was known both for his size (22 lbs. to be exact) and his lack of friendliness. Many of our visitors found this out the hard way. While Kitty was the butt of MANY jokes, we loved him with all of our hearts. He was always on his best behavior around our girls (unless they tried to strangle him), and he never passed up a nap with Mom or Dad. Kitty, we miss you so much already and hope that you are looking down on us from Cat Heaven (where you can eat as much as you want)!

Been Busy!

These past few weeks have been very busy, so I'll try my best to catch you up. Ava started school and is an aspiring rockstar...


She also attends swim lessons and JumpBunch...


We've been to an ice-cream social...



And the zoo...



Now it's time for some REST!

First Day of School

Ava started her second year of preschool. I tagged along with her on the first day.



She liked exploring her new classroom.



She had fun on the playground.

She made a new friend.

She sat and listened very well during story time!


Her new teachers are Ms. Jane and Ms. Linda.

Ava is looking forward to another year of learning and fun!

Swim Lessons!

Ava had her very first swim lesson this week!

She did a great job learning new tricks in the water and was proud to show them off at the pool the next day.

She was nervous in the deep end, but I'm sure she'll be playing "Marco, Polo" in no time!

Ava Turns Four!

Ava celebrated her fourth birthday on Friday! As always, we did it up in style. What better way to kick off a birthday than with some gift opening?



Ava helped bake cupcakes for her party guests. She insisted on confetti cupcakes with strawberry frosting.

Then we met some friends at McDonalds for lunch.

They all had a blast on the playground afterwards!




Nan and Grampa showed up to surprise Ava.

And then there was ice cream.




And gift opening.



The one-year-old crew had a good time too!

Later that evening we had a family get together.





Everyone enjoyed Ava's cupcakes.




Happy Birthday, Bug!