It won't be like this for long...

...so I am trying to soak up every litte thing! We had another crazy week! Tuesday morning, we all woke up sick, but we all pushed through. Tuesday night, however...Avaree couldn't sleep. Wednesday morning, I took Ave to her pediatrician and sent Brandon to our family doctor. Ave had the croup (I couldn't believe that that awful sound could come out of that little body!) and B had (and still has) pharyngitis, and I am sure that I had some combination of the two--but I never went to the doctor! Alas, we're all on the mend and life is still a wonderful, crazy adventure. I try to cherish every minute. I was just telling my brother today that Avaree's smile never ever gets old. She can go three seconds without seeing me and run (yes she is now running--or at least briskly walking with a little hop in her step!) to me and throw her little arms around me with a big 'ole smile like she hasn't seen me in a week. It's pretty much the best thing ever. Enjoy the pictures! :)

Goooooooo Aggies! What a great game (or at least second half!!) on Saturday night! YAY! :)

Please keep Brandon in your prayers. He is starting to get his voice back, but I am still worried about him. His voice is very important to all of us...

Last Sunday afternoon, Avaree and I got to have some wonderful girl time! We went to Jamie and Daniel's and made a couple of meals and baked cupcakes to bring to Lauren, Brian and Berkeley! It was soooo fun, and Avaree was perfect! She loved walking in circles around Jamie and Daniel's dining room and living room! This is "Aunt" Jamie with precious Berkeley!!!!!!! She's perfect.

 And this is her beautiful Mommy!!!! :)

 And this is MY beautiful baby girl! :) She played sooooo sweetly in the living room and even let Brian and Daniel watch her (aka...she played with Daniel's iphone..hehe) while I visited with the girls and held Berkeley for a few minutes.

 Love this sweet face...

 I put the Christmas tree up Saturday morning while Ave was napping. Yes, I realize that it is early, but I have several things going on in the next few weeks and didn't want to be rushed! I carely planned out where I would place all of the ornaments (the top half of the tree!) so that the Princess wouldn't be tempted, but I also put a few special ones on the bottom just for her. I was so excited to get her reaction...and this was it. She just stared at it for a few seconds and then moved on. hehe. :) Maybe she'll be more interested in the presents... :)

This is what happens when we say "TOUCHDOWN" to Avaree. Her Daddy has never been more proud! :) It's also a great trick to get her clothes on/off and to help her when she has a mouthful and gets choked up!

 I am soooo glad that my precious angel loves to read!!!!!!!!!!!! This makes me soooooooo happy! :)

 I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was upside down. I just sang the ABC song as she pointed to random letters! :)

Only one more week of school until Thanksgiving break! YAHOOOOOOOO! :) Enjoy your week!

Berkeley Alise Tingle's Birth Day! :)

 The girls in the Labor/Delivery room! This is around 1pm. Lauren has already been in labor for a few hours!! Doesn't she look amazing?

The epidural made Lauren really itchy, so sweet Mrs. Terri (aka Tootsie) was making her feet happy by scratching! :)

Uncle Eric, Aunt Kim and cousin Allie!!!! This family is so precious!

I was soooo happy to have my baby girl for a few hours while we waited for Miss Berkeley! Thank you, Daddy, for being amazing and taking care of Avaree so that I could be at the hospital!!! It was such a great afternoon! I was able to take off of work early and be there for several hours! I loooved visiting with Lauren and Brian's families (and my precious Jamie Dekat!!!!), and, of course, I didn't want to be anywhere else until I knew Berkeley was here and Lauren was okay! PTL for a wonderful day of celebration!

Mama and Avaree taking a little snack break!

My little beauty!

 Waiting to see sweet Berkeley...!

Uncle Tanner, Uncle Sawyer, Aunt Lisie and Uncle Nick!!!!!!

 This is precious Allie. She is the only one in the world that can get away with calling me "Big Allie." :) She was playing with her Grandpa (Brian's Dad)! I just love the look of adoration on her face!

 This was just one moment after Brian announced Berkeley's birth! What a precious moment!

 Beautiful Mommy and baby!!!! Princess Berkeley weighed 6 lbs, 10 ounces and is perfectly healthy!

 Precious family picture...:)

I am soooooooo happy to get to experience motherhood with my precious friend. Thank you all for praying for Brian, Lauren and Berkeley. Please continue to do so as they go home and start their lives as a family of three! Berkeley is one loved baby girl.

I'm sooooo happy for you LaLa! :)

Princess Avaree: eating spaghetti, brushing teeth, falling down, ear infection, poppa/niecey, and Halloween...!

 Avaree loves to be outside. She would stay outside all day if she could. This is the Friday before last...soooo happy to be home! :)

She will hold our hands better now, but last week (while she was still learning to balance) she would just keep her hand close to Brandon's, just in case she needed to grab it, but hold it she would not. :)

 Poor baby still has a fear of grass. She doesn't like to be near it, but she especially doesn't like to touch it. Love this face...

 Love seeing pure joy on her face...

 Daddy teaching Avaree "the claw!" (Go Rangers!)

 Avaree's first spaghetti: It was gluten free and on a plate. The pictures are in sequential order. :)

"Hmm...this doesn't look like my normal food."

 "But it's messy and no one is stopping me..."

 "Mmm...where has this been all my life?"

 "Yummo. My compliments to chef mama. Can I get down now?"

 Avaree sporting her Rangers shirt! We love Josh Hamilton!!!

 We loved our girls date with Uncle Spencer. :)

 This week Avaree had her teeth brushed for the first time!!! She was a little concerned at first, but really likes it now! In fact, she quite enjoys her nightly gum massages. :)

 This weekend Poppa and Niecey came to visit! We had a great time!

 Playing with Poppa!

 This is Avaree's "touchdown" trick. She walks around the house doing it all the time. Her Daddy is so proud. :)

 Saturday morning was eventful. First of all, Avaree woke up with tons of gunk draining out of her ear, so I called to make a dr.'s appointment, then she tripped and hit her lip/gums/nose/upper lip on the bottom of the couch. At first, there was so much blood, I couldn't tell what she hit and it was absolutely terrifying. Alas, I held it together and she healed quickly, but those few moments of trying to get the bleeding to slow down so that I could see what was going on were very scary. Everyone says she'll fall a million times, and that is probably true, but I can't imagine it getting easier! She had a puffy lip the rest of the day and looked like she had gotten in a fight. :(  This is the cleaned-up version that night...

 We did go to the doctor and Avaree DOES have another ear infection. :( In fact, her ear was so infected that they couldn't even see if her tube was still there, so we are going back in 10 days to check it out again. Meanwhile, she is on Suprax, ear drops and got a shot. :(

In spite of all that, Avaree still smiled, played and had a good weekend!

 Ave loves to read!

Watching Poppa read...so sweet!

 

Sporting her Tom Cruise look... :)

 Learning about nature from Niecey!

 Precious Angel...

 Our little Halloween Princess :)

We waited on Daddy so that he wouldn't miss it! He enjoyed sitting outside handing out candy--until the Rangers came on of course! :)

I didn't want Avaree out in the night air, but we let her go trick-or-treating to our sweet neighbor's house for a couple of minutes. She loved it! :)

 

 Thank you for the sweet tutu, Aunt Cari!

One more exciting piece of news: Avaree LOVES milk now! She drinks organic whole milk and loves it. I guess she finally forgot what my milk tasted like and decided she would like moo milk! This is great news!