Lauren's Confirmation

Tonight was Lauren's Confirmation at St. John's in Hillsdale. We got there just after it started, but the church was already packed full and there was nowhere to sit - not good with 2 little girls! After standing in the back for a little while, we opted to take them outside and let them run around on the grass...

They had so much fun running around together!

Here's Avery offering her big sister a snack (goldfish)

We all went over to Jose and Doreen's house afterward for food and cake to celebrate Lauren

Maribel and Marcelo

(Maribel was Lauren's Sponsor)

Pepin with his kids, Maribel and Jose

Jesus and Debbie

Ethan and Josh playing the Wii

Lauren with her parents, Doreen and Jose

Sweet Sisters, Gabby and Lauren

Lauren with her godparents, John and Dawn (Doreen's Sister)

Avery and Amanda

Gabby and Alexis

Lauren and Reagan

Avery giving Lauren "loves"

Here's the famous cake! Lauren is in love with Kris Allen, this year's American Idol ... she photoshopped her picture over Kris's wife :)

She's too funny ... she even changed her name on Facebook to read "Lauren Fernandez Allen"!

Papa loving Avery

Marcelo, Joaquin and Gabby

Nayda, Lauren, Catherine and Alexis

Lauren cut out Kris's head and saved it in her freezer ... she later changed her status on Facebook to read, "Kris Allen's head is in my freezer!"

We decided to stay until cake was served, but it was WAY past the girls' bedtime. Reagan couldn't even finish her ice cream cake she was so tired! As soon as we got in the car, she asked for permission to go to sleep and passed out cold immediately. Once home, we easily transferred her to her bed and she was down for the night. She has always been very adaptable and easy when it comes to staying up late/sleeping in. Unfortunately, her little sister Avery is NOT as adaptable and functions so much better when kept on a proper schedule. We purposely let Avery sleep in, then put her down for a late afternoon nap, then woke her up just before church. We thought she'd do okay if she stayed up late, but our plan certainly backfired. She was wired for the entire ride home, then wouldn't go to sleep until about 1:00AM. It's interesting to see how different our two girls are. Friends always thought we were crazy when we'd let Reagan stay up so late, yet she has always adjusted so well that we didn't see any harm in it. Avery is on a pretty good schedule and whenever we alter it, she refuses to adjust!

Melisa's Sprinkle (aka Baby Shower for 2nd Child)

Tonight was a fun Mom's Night Out (MNO) to celebrate Melisa's pregnancy! Stacey and Corey organized the dinner as a "Sprinkle," a very cute way to celebrate a second baby without a full-blown "shower!"

Standing: Ronni, Michelle, Corey, Stacey, Alexis

Sitting: Amanda, Melisa (guest of honor), Kelly

Melisa's arrival (we shouted "surprise!" even though she knew about the occasion)

Amanda and Melisa

Corey, Stacey and Ronni

We had a great dinner at a restaurant called Buca in Clifton. After dinner, we came out to find that it was pouring rain (it was REALLY coming down!). Ronni had us all cracking up; she was freaking out about how she couldn't go out in the rain because she had just washed and blown out her hair that evening ... if it got wet, it would go all frizzy and she had some type of wedding event to attend the following day.

Reagan's Field Trip to Closter Nature Center

Today was Reagan's field trip to Closter Nature Center with Ms. Lisa's preschool. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip last year, so I decided to make it a family morning, as all 4 of us attended. Avery certainly had just as much fun as Reagan did! It was a special treat for me, since I got to see many of my friends :)

Jen's son Sawyer had been sick the whole previous week (throwing up, and then in the ER due to dehydration), so he wasn't quite himself ... but still cute as ever!

The kids loved "Cookie" the turtle

Then it was "Cupcake" the toad

Avery was dying to touch each creature, but she had a difficult time being gentle

"Spaghetti" the snake

Video of Avery on stage - I think she thought everyone was there to watch her!

Ms. Lisa with Jen & Sawyer

Corey & Jamison with Sandy & Julia

Mark played his ukulele and sang "Big Fat Frog" while the kids all danced

After Mark's presentation of pond life, we went on a nature walk, searching for the ducks with their baby ducklings

Papa with his girls

John and Avery

Checking out a ladybug

After the walk, we had a delicious snack (courtesy of Ms. Lisa) and then the kids did a craft. My battery died, so I didn't get any other pictures of the picnic :(

It was a really fun morning. I'm so sad that preschool is ending soon for Reagan ... she will certainly miss the best preschool teacher in the world, Ms. Lisa. Thank goodness Avery will be going to Ms. Lisa in the fall!

Avery's 18-Month Well Visit

John took Avery to see Dr. Fisch today for her 18-Month Well Visit (sorry, no pictures!). Here are her stats:

• Weight: 27 pounds, 1 ounce - 85th Percentile
  
• Height: 32.5 inches - 75th Percentile
  
• Head Circumference: 48 centimeters - 85th Percentile

I was so good about keeping track of Avery's well visits for her first year. I just looked back through the archives to compare her weight with her last appointment, but I couldn't find it! I looked at my calendar in my phone and discovered her last appointment (for her 15 month well visit) was February 26th with Dr. Fisch. When I looked back at my February blog posts, I realized what a crazy month that was for us. We lost Nila on the 9th, so obviously, life was pretty sad and chaotic. On top of losing a member of our household, our computer crashed on the 11th and my point and shoot camera died on the 12th. So I guess it's not surprise that I missed a few important milestones, such as Avery's visit to the doctor! Now I need to track down that piece of paper the doctor gives me each visit so I can record all her stats! Wish me luck!


Reagan's 3 1/2 year well visit is on June 8th, so check back for that ...

Memorial Day Weekend

The first 2 days of our Memorial Day weekend were productive, as I took the opportunity to get our house a little bit clean and slightly more organized. Owning a house and having a family is simply a work in progress. Our house always seems to be a disaster and especially now since I'm working, I can't seem to stay on top of it.


While going through closets, I found this outfit from almost 2 years ago (I bought it at the Children's Place at the end of August of 2007). Reagan was a few months away from turning 2, but I bought a size 18 months, since she was sort of petite. I couldn't believe the skirt still fit her!
Reagan in the same skirt and hat, Sept 6th, 2007 - picture by Christie Adams

Reagan giving Avery a kiss

While organizing closets and doing laundry, Reagan found this skirt of mine and insisted on wearing it ... I was impressed with my creativity to make it fit her: I put one of her arms through the open zipper, then fastened the button at the top of the zipper. Then I tied a knot in the back to take up the slack! Missy, if you're reading this, I know you'll be proud of me! It reminded me of all the times Nadia wore your clothes, or when you turned skirts into dresses :)

Avery 5/25/09

On Memorial Day, we had a very small and mellow barbecue. Nayda (John's aunt) brought over all the ingredients for her Spanish Empanada so she could show John how to make it.

Avery at the table, eating chips

Video of Avery

John bought a swimming pool for the girls, then filled it up with bucket after bucket of hot water (what a sweet Papa they have!). Reagan, Avery and Joaquin loved swimming in it!!

As you can see, Reagan and Avery were loving the water! So happy it's almost summer!!

Just had to post this funny expression on Reagan ... and the suit is pretty funny too! I haven't had time to go shopping for a new bathing suit yet, and this was the only one I had that was 2 piece (now that she's potty trained, a two piece suit makes more sense for easy access!) - it's a size 2T!

One of the great things about having older cousins is that the girls inherit all their cool toys! John's brother's boys outgrew this bouncy house, so they gave it to us! The girls love it :)

Video of the girls in the pool

My sweet friend Diane came over with her 3 kids, JP (4), Kaitlyn (3) and Erin (2 months). Poor Erin spent the entire weekend in the hospital! On Thursday night, they were all packed to go to their lake house when Erin came down with a 101 fever. Her pediatrician told to take her into the ER, since newborns are in danger if they have fevers over 100. To rule out meningitis, they admitted her and did a spinal tap, a catheter, and lots of blood work. She had to stay in the hospital until Sunday when all the blood work came back okay. Turns out it was just a virus, but they had to take all those precautions. I'm glad they could come over and do something fun, since it had been a stressful weekend for them.

JP in the Big Boy chair

Marcelo jumping around the trampoline with Joaquin

Joaquin, Reagan, Avery and Marcelo jumping

As soon as Reagan heard that "baby Erin" was coming, she wouldn't stop talking about holding her ... she was insistent on it, but she was in the pool when they got there. As soon as she got out and got dressed, she couldn't wait any longer!

Unfortunately, every time I handed Erin to Reagan, she started screaming hysterically! Poor Reagan - she was so disappointed that she couldn't hold her very long.

So Diane offered her the perfect solution: she allowed Reagan to give Erin a bottle and Reagan was ecstatic!

JP was really shy at first, but after a little while of playing inside, he came out holding Reagan's hand, with Kaitlyn and Joaquin following. The kids all played so nicely together!

Nayda and Maribel were admiring baby Erin

The highlight of the day came at the end, when everyone went nuts over sweet little Erin!

I can't help it, I think this is the most adorable video clip ever! I couldn't believe how much Avery was loving Erin. I know this will encourage lots of comments to be left on this post, such as "time to have another baby, Amanda!" ~ oh well, I can take 'em! No, we're not planning on having a 3rd child any time soon, but it's definitely in the plans for the future. It was nice to see Reagan and Avery both happy and excited about a baby, no matter how far off that addition may be :)

I couldn't believe how much Avery was loving the baby! She would have laid right on top of her if I'd let her ...

Then Avery insisted on laying right next to Erin, to get as close to her as possible. It was too cute!