Aves Potty Problemos

**DISCLAIMER:  Toddler potty talk dominates this post. {Yes... Again.}  Enter at your own risk... **

Okay.  So it alllll started after T-Giv.  Aves had been potty trained for quite a while where #1 is concerned, but was still waiting to do her BigGirlBidness in the middle of the night.  So obviously, she was still sleeping in diapers.  When she needed to poop, she would just hold it in until night time rolled around and she found sweet solace in the comfort of her good old reliable Pampers :)

Welllll one day in late November she decided that since she did not enjoy one little thing about the whole idea of feces, she would just NOT partake in that part of the human body process.  So... for 7 days, LITERALLY SEVEN DAYS she refusssssseeddd to poop.  She needed to.  Really bad.  And on MANY occassions.  But she would just squeal and jump around and holldddd it in with all of her might until the sensation passed.  I can't even remember now how the big event finally went down, but on Day7, her bowels were relieved.  But only so she could start the process over again.  This time I think it lasted  4 1/2 days, and then she got into a groove of going every 3 days or so.  But NEVER without at LEAST a good 24 hours of her poopy dance (which she had totally perfected by this time).  The dance usually took place about every hour or so.... and then as The Moment neared, it would happen every 10 or 15 minutes.  I mean... Wow. 

Aves' poopy dance always involved an interesting combination of squealing, yelling, jumping, twirling, running in circles, and then by the end, she had added little interjections of her very own language.  Um.  It was HYSterical... except that it wasn't...because the poor child was making herself MISerable.  Anywho...by early January our little Avery had begun to go more regularly, with less fighting, and with NO tears (praise the Lord!)  After talking to our doc and doing a little google-ing, we decided to talk about how AWESOME pooping is NON-STOP, reward Averton with lollipops every time she went, and watch videos of cool cartoon characters pooping on the potty.  WHAT THE HECK.  NEVER in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this to occur in my house.  Toddlers = unpredictability, which = lots of hilariousness.  :) 

So.  Avery's pooping problems are now far, far behind her.  She's regular.  She doesn't fight it.  It's a non-issue.  As it should be :)  Every now and then she still tries to sucker us into giving her a lollipop for doing her business, but we no longer succumb to that little trickster.  For those of you who had to witness the misery of Aves' Poo-Dilemma, I am SO sorry :)  She would like to thank you for your support during those difficult months and wants you to know that she is only better for it.  She would also like to thank her super-supportive baby sister Cameron, who found such joy in our poopoo-focused life and always found a way to lighten the mood ;)

Whew.

Beauty & the Beast

Averton Waverton and I met Casizzle & Tatum @ the movies on my bday to see Beauty & The Beast!  It was in 3D, which I didn't nkow before going, and it was pretty cool!  Brought that old school animation to life a little bit more :)  Love that movie.  Love the music.  Aves totally loved it.  She & Tatum sat through the whole thing.  They looked SO adorable and SO old sitting in their own seats, rockin' their 3D shades, and snacking on the lunches that their frugal moms snuck in :) 

Love my little sweet pea and LOVE that we were able to some quality 1 on 1 time together ... and with some of our fave friends.  I've gotten lots of 1:1 time with Camo lately because she takes REALLY short naps most of the time...so we get lots of fun hang out time before Aves wakes up!  Anyway, I felt kind of ridiculous, but on more than one occassion during the movie I was almost moved to tears...and not because of the movies.  I just feel so OVERJOYED when I look at my munchkins and think about how perfectly they were created and know that they have a specific purpose in this world.  It's pretty awesome and exciting and sweet and happy and cheesy :)  Like.  REALLY cheesy.  Okay enough.  Yay for cute little memories with people we love!

 

Jesus: Toddler Style

I spent some time today trying to entertain the girls with the story of Jesus' birth.  I started with our little nice, heavy, pewter nativity set.  I started with how the beauuuutiful angel came to visit Mary and told her she was going to have a sweeeeeet baby.  Well... before the first sentence was completed, I was wrestling one of the lambs out of CamCam's hand so as to avoid any head trauma to poor innocent Aves (Camo has a bit of a violent streak...).  So.  I hastily dropped the nativity set back onto the mantle, out of my little peas' reach and tried another approach.  This one much less pretty :) 

After a quick trip to the playroom, I came back with scissors, a bunch of colored construction paper, some tape & a pencil.  We made our little Jesus story into an art project (if you can even classify my hasty & seriously abstract masterpiece as artwork!) and with much more success, I got to share the birth of Jesus with my little nuggets! 

When daddy got home, Aves showed daddy out pretty pic and pointed out the angel, Mary, "baby God", the three men with their "presents", and... "who is that?"  She had trouble remembering Joseph's name.  I think I kind of threw her off with the whole idea of 2 dads.  A little outside the mental capacity of a 2-yr-old I think :)   SO cute.  There are few things Brian and I love more than hearing our lovebugs talk about God & Jesus.

So.  Avery is super excited about "Jesus dirthday!!  I sing happy dirthday to Baby Jesus!"  and keeps asking where Baby Jesus is.  She knows God lives "in my heart", but can't seem to figure out where Baby Jesus is hiding. 

And while we're on the Jesus-Toddler topic, Cameron has fallen in love with Avery's little storybook bible.  She ran around for an hour today saying, "bobble! bobble!" and begggging us to read it to her.  If there's any way to make me drop what I'm doing and cater to my children's wants, this is it.  Little CamCam has got it all figured out :) 

If there's anything in this entire world I want to leave my kiddos with, it is knowledge of who God is and how MUCH He loves them.  Completely.  Unconditionally.  Of course I WANT them to know how overwhelmingly I love them and want the very best for them too.  But it all points back to Him.  What better time to remember & put some on that than during this season that we celebrate His most perfect gift to us!

Building Towers

Aves is SUPER into towers & castles.  Our backyard "playground" is now known as Avery's "castle" :)  AND, she drags the girls' bag of wooden blocks around the house to build her "tower" wherever we happen to be hanging out.  And she FUUHHREAAAAKS out when it starts tipping over.  I mean like... you would think her life is being threatened.  Silly child.  SUCH a perfectionist.  :)  I love watching her build her towers and love seeing how proud she is when she builds it almost "as tall for (aka-as) me!!"

What's not to love about that proud, SUPERpumped little face??  Love my Aves :)

Fall Festival Cuties!

Since B-Riz had golf plans and Casizzle was down with that dern stomach bug, G-Money & I (in true Bradford-Weghorst Commune style) took Aves, Cam, & Tot to Hope Fellowship's Fall Festival yesterday.  THEY WERE PRESHLINGS!!

They had SO much fun sporting their cute little costumes.  They ADORED the opportunity to run around with all the big kids.  They jumped @ the chance to pig out on popcorn & cotton candy (thx for waiting in that line, Geg!) Aves' excitement about the giant inflatable slides was super adorable.  She would have gone up & down those things for 3 hours straight if there weren't lines for every ride.

Our 3 little ladies are really almost like siblings.  LOVE seeing them interact and play together.  Thanks Geg, for helping with the leetle ladies, and for taking over photographer duties since your wifey couldn't make it.  

The girls are SOOOOOOO excited to trick-or-treat tonight (esp Aves...Cam doesn't totally get it yet.)  Avery keeps asking me, "Where's Halloween, mommy???"  Love my littles and can't wait to take them door to door tonight with B-Riz!  Also TOTALLY can't wait for them to help us hand out candy.  

Cutie pies.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Tx-OU Weekend...

It's no secret that we love our Texas Longhorns over here @ The Bradford Casa.  Brian and I have season tickets (to all the home games) every year, but since the Red River Rivalry is played at a neutral location, we have to enter a "lottery" for those tickets.  Since we got married, we have YET to get tickets to that game.  Bummer right?  Wellll this year we broke our streak and finally got tix.  Woohoo!  Brian proposed to me 5 years ago (from Saturday), so it was the perfect little celebration.  Funny story actually...

Back when was in college, I made the trip to Dallas EVERY year for Tx-OU weekend.  It was one of the highlights of every year!  LOVED it.  Love the atmosphere.  Love the neverending sea of maroon & orange.  Love the intensity of the rivalry.  Love the fair.  Love the roadtrippage.  Just...SO much fun in SO many ways.  So... since Brian and I were dating during my senior year, we discussed the weekend plans, and he didn't want to go!!  WHAT?!??  I was SO ticked and annoyed with him.  But, I'm pretty sure I was super nice about it :)  Thank goodness.  Because it turns out he had some pretty sweet plans up his sleeve.  He totally surprised me by popping the big question.  I thought he was just being extra nice because he knew I was superbummed we weren't going to the game.  Um.  SO beyond worth missing the game haha.  :)  One of the greatest nights of my life! 

Anyway... B-Riz and I were pumped to enjoy an entire game of UT football without any interruption from babies :)  We enjoyed the pregame and 1st quarter.  We didn't love the start of the 2nd quarter.  Could barely stand the end of the first half.  Annnnd headed out to the fair at halftime!  We caught bits and pieces of the game as we passed screens and kept up on our phones while enjoying yummy food & drinks at the fair before heading home. 

I was on a mission to try something weird & fried.  BUT...I couldn't pass up a frito pie, roasted corn (YUM!) & frozen sweet tea, so there was no room in my tummy for anything else!  Seriously... we grill corn around here all the time, but roasted corn from the Texas State Fair canNOT be beat.    AND...that frozen sweet tea was the most delish and refreshing drink I've ever had in my life!  I'm pretty I'm going back to the fair JUST for some corn & frozen tea.  Who's with me?

So... although the Horns game was ROUGH, there are a couple of positives to note:

1. It's a teeny bit satisfying to me that all the Garrett-Gilbert haters can no longer pretend like he was the reason Texas struggled through so many games.  When your line can't give you any time, it doesn't matter how good you are, you're not going to be successful.  Props to OU though.  Those dudes are good.
2. When you come home to this level of cuteness, it doesn't matter HOW painful the game was.  Life is good ;)

 Hook 'em!!!

He Did It Again!!

So there's a significant weather advisory around these parts, and it is thundering BIG time.  Cameron isn't a huge fan & wants to snuggle (which we love), but ever since we taught Avery that "God makes thunder & lightning", she just exclaims with excitement, "He did it again!" anytime she hears the thunder or sees the lightning.  CUTEness.  :)

In other news, I guess I pulled a muscle in my back.  Between my spine and my right shoulder blade, there is some major discomfort going on from my trap to the bottom of my shoulder blade, and it's been there for almost a week now.  It hurts with a firm touch, and feels like a pulled muscle.  When I lean against the back of a chair or lay on my back in bed, it spasms and is just...annoying.  It's definitely a muscle issue, not a joint/spine/bone issue (thankfully!).  But I'm not sure how to deal with it?  I spent a few days icing it (after making it worse by asking the hubs to give me a massage thinking I had "knots"), I've been taking anti-inflammatories, "resting" it...as much as a mom of a 1 & 2 year old can rest anything :)  I'm not a fan of having to steer clear of working out OR not being able to roll around on the ground with my littles, so I'm hoping this thing leaves me alone soon!

And in other AWESOME news, the Rileton is back in the States for a few days, so we get to hang with him this weekend.  SUPER excited to spend time catching up on his life & God's work in Honduras.  And just pumped to chat and hang and let the girls love on BOTH of their uncles for a couple of days.  Super thankful for the times my fam gets to be together...yay for The Curry Connection!

Potty Training w/Aves!!

WARNING: Much toddler potty talk exists below these stars...

**********************************

A few months ago, we attempted to start potty-training Averton.  Um.  It was a no-go.  The little munchkin just wasn't quite ready, so after a few days we ditched the big-girl underwear and stuck with diapers for another couple months.  About 3 weeks ago, we made attempt #2, and this time, Aves has been all about it!  She doesn't do the whole post-tinkle "treat" thing.  She's just not motivated by it for some reason.  She seems more motivated by our excitement with her success.  Kind of a cutie :)  Who knew a trip to the bathroom could result in so much joy :)

Each time she goes, she exclaims with GLEE, "I GO TEE-TEE!!" with the most excited smile on her face :)

Anywho- we're still sleeping in diapers, but starting to work on the concept of not going potty ANYWHERE, but on the potty!  I'm not sure how long kiddos usually sleep in pullups before they're 100% potty-trained.  Right now, she waits until she's in bed with a diaper on to go #2...she tries to go in the potty sometimes, but hasn't had success yet.  We've got #1 down to a T!  So proud.  There's nothing cuter than seeing that tiny little hiney running around in undies!  

It's the Little Things :)

As we head into the weekend, I'd like to leave you with an image of pure bliss

I hope you all take one from Averton and let loose this weekend.  Indulge in the simple things in life {like cowboy boots ;)} and enjoy the sun, the outdoors, your fam...whatever makes you happy!   We sure plan on it :)

Toddler Tanning Sesh

My 2-yr-old loves to "lay out".  I'm serious.  She randomly lays down flat on her back anytime we go outside to play... and I made a big deal one time when she did it at the pool, sooo it has become an Avery tradish.  When we from the pool back to our chairs to get ready to go, she has to lay the towel across the chair, and "lay out" for a minute or so before we can do anything else.  It's rather entertaining :)  Love my little ham!

"Bradford Backyard Beach" ...Avery's 2nd Birthday Party!!

toddlers + water + sand + slide + sunglasses + friends & fam + FOOD 

=

 Avery's 2nd Birthday Party!!

so pumped to model her new suit :)

Thanks so much to our loved who made it out... the kiddos were friggin adorable running a muck all over our backyard.  We loved just hangin' out, chatting, eating, and watching the kiddos enjoy life :)  Yay for celebrating our insanely loved first-born on her special day (even though her birthday was almost a month ago!)

good friends

this child LOVED flying down the slide

colt & aves obsessing over the beachball sprinkler.  tatum...mmm...not so much :)

my babygirl trying to keep up w the big kids!

getting dirty never gets old for a toddler

time to re-energize w/some fruit & veggies!!

don't worry.  baby seester did NOT go hungry...

time fro presents!! aves was so worried about destroying the wrapping paper.  

beautiful jake.

cupcake time!! so dainty.  took her like...15 minutes to eat this thing...

what you don't see is the entire half of her cupcake that fell on the grass.  she was a little bummed about it i think...

happy bday my sweet little nugget!!!

Mothers' Day 2011/Avery's 2nd Birthday!!

I never posted about this!  Aves and I got to share the day which was super fun!  

First off....my mom.  Being a mom myself has given me a new appreciation and understanding of my own mom.  I can better understand how DEEPLY she loves me.  I get that I (along w/my bros) bring her SO much joy and she would do anything..literally anything...for us to be healthy and happy and thriving!  I also know that we frustrated the LIFE out of her on way too many occasions.  It's interesting how you can never understand that your parents really truly want the very best for you in all things at all times...until you become a parent!  Having my own munchkins has made me 983,000 times MORE thankful for my awesome mom.  Love you Rachey!  You are the greatest!

So Aves and I shared a super great day....loved it :)  B-Riz let me sleep in and got up with the girls, which was awesommmme :)  They made me a yummy breakfast, and we just hung out all morning in our PJs.  We let Aves open a few presents before we started getting ready for church, and she was just THE cutest thing.  She was excited.  GOSH I love that child :)  It's insane that she's been alive for TWO YEARS!!!  We could not adore her more.  She's hilarious.  She's beautiful.  She's sweet, loving, kind, & affectionate.  She's got some 'tude sometimes, but she's the bomb.  Her vocab is inproving EVERY day,  she says and does things that we are SHOCKED that she even knows!  2 year old brains are pretty impressive.  LOVE YOU AVERTON!  Happy bday babygirl!

After Cameron's nap, we grabbed a quick bite & then went to late service @ church (which I think we're going to start doing...)  John talked about moms for just a bit before he began his sermon, and for some reason, I was just INSANELY emotional.  During pretty much the whole service and throughout the day.  On a day when we intentionally celebrate motherhood, I just couldn't escape thinking about how EXPLODING with love and joy and gratitude and happiness my heart is because of Avery & Cameron.  I literally can think of NO greater thing to do in my life than to raise my 2 girls.  Even when you're friggin wiped OUT, frustrated, whatever...you still LOVE being a mom.  What other job is like that!?  We get to take them from the day they're born and love them with the love of Christ, teach them about God, teach them His ways, encourage them, direct their path (as much as they'll let us!), crack up @ their silliness, hug & kiss & horseplay w/them non-stop....it's just... the greatest.  A great responsibility and a great JOY and a great honor.  And I am SO thankful God has blessed me with this opportunity in my life :)  I literally could not have EVER imagined how wonderfully perfect being a mom is.  

{still trying to find my camera cord to upload pics of me w/my babieeees!!}

Hi Daddy

This is what Avery chose to wear to greet her daddy as he got home from work.  Somebody lovvves her daddy :)

showing off for daddy :)

the inevitable clown-shoe-induced crash :)

Update on the the Paci Sitch

In case you missed it, Avery said bye-bye to her paci recently {permanently}.  Avery is not napping well at all.  She doesn't wail and cry, she just doesn't really sleep.  She calls out periodically, but mostly just sits in her bed and talks/reads/plays.  At night, she cries on & off for a while (or...a LONG while) and then finally falls asleep.  The combination of these factors has left little Averton rather EXHAUSTED>  On our way home from our little family outing tonight, she fell asleep.  WHAT!?  That never happens.  Like...NEVER.  We were in the car for 10 minutes and this chick was OUT.  She still cried for a good 30 minutes (off & on) once we put her in bed, but I think we're making progress...

I figure if she keeps this routine up she'll be so wiped out that before long she'll just fall asleep at the dinner table and we can leave her there overnight ;)

Hi, I'm Avery

I love to accessorize.

I love my daddy

I am all about climbing on EVERYthing.

I'm really good @ getting into things I'm not supposed to

I'm the bouncing queen "bocky bocky"

my new fave thing is to pretend like I'm asleep.

I love to play with my baby seester.

I heart skirts (aka "tutus")

& i'm obsessed w playing in the dirt.

i really enjoy helping mommy push the stroller.  It makes me feel like a big girl.

annnnd I really miss my paci...so i borrow my babydoll's (sad/cute!)

I'm pretty presh, huh?