4 Year and 9 month check-ups

I was able to take McKenna and Ava in at the same time for their check-ups which seemed like a brilliant plan at the time of making the appointments. What I failed to realize was that McKenna was getting 4 shots and Ava was getting 2. Needless to say, at the end of the appointment, the nurses were running out of the room and I had 2 screaming girls to deal with. Ava settled down after a few minutes, McKenna was fine after she realized she was going to get a sucker as we checked out -- the magic of suckers! Everyone is doing fabulously, McKenna had to sign a contract with the Dr. promising that she would eat more fruits and meat, and so far she has at least tried some different foods, but we are still working on her.

Stats:

McKenna

Weight 34 lbs 4 oz (45%)

Height 38 3/4 in (30%)

Anna in comparison 31.2 lb (20%) and 39 in (40%0

Ava

Weight 17 lbs 5 oz (25%)

Height 27 3/4 in (55%)

Head 45 1/2 cm (88%)

comps: Anna 15 lbs 7 oz (3%) 26 in (10%), 45 1/2 cm (90%) not sure why the % are different!

McKenna 17 lbs 9 oz (25%) 28 in (75%) 44 cm (50%)

The girls are all off of school for the Christmas break and they had their Christmas parties at school on Friday. Anna and 6 of her friends took it upon themselves to try out for the pep rally, so they got up in front of the entire school and sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. She had quite a cheering section - mom, dad, McKenna, Grandma and Grandpa Clerkin and Grandma Franz. We are so proud of her - I was nervous for her, but she loved it! They had a party in their classroom at the end of the day, and she had a great time making reindeer food and playing pin the parts on the snowman.

McKenna also had her Christmas party and she had a little too much fun chatting it up with Elijah (good thing Patrick didn't make it, he would not have been pleased!). She got to decorate gingerbread cookies and play 'Santa Says' and she won't hesitate to tell you how good she is at the game.

Both girls were so excited since Uncle Mike and Nicole came to their parties - as well as Grandma and Grandpa Clerkin, but it seems like we all played second fiddle to Uncle Mike. I am sure there was a little guilt laid on by grandma to get him there, but the girls loved having so many people with them. Ava got to spend the day at the house with Mayu which was nice for me so I could focus on each girl at her own party.

Christmas is just a few days away, and Anna and McKenna are ready. McKenna tells me that she is going to dream about the baby Jesus every night and they have been helping me make cookies all day. We have big plans for setting out cookies and healthy food for Santa and his reindeer.

Ava is thinking about taking some steps. She hasn't started crawling, but she is starting to cruise, and she lets go and stands by herself for a couple of seconds. I cringe when I remember that McKenna started walking before 10 months, and I am hoping Ava will wait a little while longer! She is up to 4 teeth and wants to feed herself most of the time. Her new favorite thing is to play the little piano we have upstairs. She gets her whole body into it, kicking her legs while banging the keys, it is quite a sight! She is still my little angel and even though she started waking up at about 2 am for the last couple of days, she is still a very good baby, turning into a wonderful little girl.

Happy 4th Birthday McKenna!

Happy Birthday McKenna!

I know I am a day late for posting this, but we have had a busy weekend. A birthday party with all of her friends from school and some playgroups on Saturday, and then we went to the lake house on Sunday to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. She got cake on both days and had a fabulous birthday weekend. I will post more pictures later, but here are a couple of shots of the beautiful birthday girl.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Today marks 9 years of marriage for Patrick and I! What have we done for the past 9 years... lived in DC, moved to Dallas -bought a house, got a dog, got another dog, moved to Frisco - bought house #2, had a baby, had a baby, had a baby! It has been a wonderful 9 years, and I look forward to future anniversaries!

No huge plans in store to celebrate - just dinner tonight - Grandma Franz is coming over to watch the girls.

Patrick - I love you so much. You are my best friend, and I can't imagine a better husband for me or father for our girls. To find the love of my life when we were 16 years old is amazing - thank you for using the excuse of teaching me to drive a standard as a way to ask me out!

Merry Christmas!

Okay, so I know that I have missed a holiday, but we have already had 1 picture taken with Santa this year (it seems like most years we end up with multiple!). My mom strongly dislikes holidays out of order, but she was a champ and helped me with the girls on Nov. 8 (Santa's first full day at Willowbend mall) to get pictures taken. I think this Santa is one of the best. We had NO wait to see him, and he talked to Anna and McKenna for about 5 minutes since there weren't any other kids in line. Ava was perfect and thought it was fun. Even though McKenna isn't really smiling in the pic, they had a great time, and I am so happy to not have to deal with the lines later in the season. That is all for Christmas celebrating prior to Thanksgiving - the tree doesn't go up until the day after Thanksgiving, so the girls will just have to wait!

Pumpkin Patch, Pumpkin Carving and Halloween

We started our Halloween fun with a trip to the pumpkin patch. This year Anna's school went on a field trip to the big pumpkin patch, so we just went up to the church nearby to get our carving ones for the house. Grandma Clerkin took McKenna to another pumpkin patch with some friends from school and some of Grandma friends one day which was a huge hit with McKenna.

Anna finding the biggest pumpkin she can carry

Posing with pumpkins

Just the right size

Anna likes the pumpkin goop - McKenna not so much!

Grandma Franz and Aunt Jenny always help to carve the pumpkins!

McKenna at the pumpkin patch with Caitlin from her class and Mary, grandma's friends' granddaughter

HALLOWEEN!!!!!

What do you get with 2 princesses and a lady bug on Halloween night? 2 VERY excited little girls and 1 sick baby :( Overall we had a great halloween, but after we got all dressed up and had some family come over, Ava started not feeling well, so Aunt Jenny (my sister) came to the rescue and hung out at the house with Ava while Patrick and I took Anna and McKenna out with some other girls from the neighborhood. We started out with the same 6 girls from last year - Anna, McKenna, Caitlin, Kennedy, Maddie and Abbie. These girls have known each other since the older ones were just under a year. We were all in our neighborhood playgroup, and Caitlin and Kennedy's mom, Ashley, and I work together. After a little bit, this group headed over to Megan's house - a friend from school and we became a group of 10 little girls - crazy! they all had a great Halloween night and were thoroughly exhausted after running from house to house

Original 6 sisters

9 of the 10 (Minnie Mouse didn't want anything to do with pictures!)
Ava telling us that she would rather stay home with Aunt Jenny

Sitto, Jiddo and Grandma Clerkin came by with more Halloween treats!

Ladybug Ava

Snow White McKenna

Cinderella Anna

We also celebrated Grandma Clerkin's birthday in October. Grandma wanted strawberry shortcake for her dessert, but the girls insisted that she really wanted chocolate cake, so we ended up with both! Can you guess who really wanted the chocolate cake? :)

We had a very fun playdate with some of the kids from our original hospital playgroup that we joined with Anna. The girls had so much fun running around with Gemma, Zara, and Dylan. I finally got to meet Dylan's little sister Savannah who is 1 week younger than Ava, and we got to hang out with Gemma and Zara's sister Isla, who is 1 week older than Ava. Below are the 4 older girls - they are standing in reverse age order: L to R - Zara, McKenna, Gemma and Anna - the older 2 look smaller than the younger 2!!!

Kristen and I with the little ones - Eric and Patrick don't know what to do with all these girls!

Anna and McKenna thought these dresses were so much fun. I did NOT pose them like this. They were doing their own fashion show - giving great poses and loving it!

How big are Gods Ears?

and other musings of the Clerkin girls!

Patrick and I laugh over the fact that Anna and McKenna have VERY specific routines that they go through at night. I stay in McKenna's room and Patrick stays in Anna's room for the initial 'settling down period'. The girls are able to ask questions with their eyes closed. After a minute or so, we each say goodnight to the girl in our room, we switch rooms and say goodnight to the other and then they proceed with the final questions, always in the same order and they are never skipped...

Anna:

1. It's too dark - which means, Daddy go mess with my closet door so I think it is open wider

2. Is my fan on?

3. What time is it?

4. Where are we going in the morning?

5. Can you put the covers over my head 2 times?

McKenna:

1. Is my fan on?

2. Is my closet light on?

3. Is the little thing on my door... so it won't close all the way?

4. If I get scared I can go downstairs or call you?

5. If I get thirsty I can go downstairs or call you?

Those are the normal questions. They will throw in a couple of others just to catch us off guard. Patrick gets the questions like, can we go to the mall tomorrow, what is going to be in my lunch... I get questions like, why do you and daddy get to sleep in the same bed (this is really because the girls want to share a room), why did Jesus die, are we going to die, how big are God's ears (this one may have stemmed from us telling the girls that God hears everything and they have equated that to REALLY big ears!). I am not sure what I have done to get the hard questions, but it shows me how much the girls are listening to things around them, trying to figure out the world and understanding that there is a lot in this world that can't be explained. We try and answer their questions as truthfully as a 5 year old and almost 4 year old can comprehend, but I am beginning to realize they grasp a lot more than I may give them credit for.

Things have been great at our house - hectic which is why I haven't blogged in awhile, but really great. Anna is still loving soccer and she is getting better each week. Practice was rained out today and she started crying! We had our first parent/teacher conference for Anna is she is doing well in kindergarten. We have to work on some concepts, but overall she is adjusting well socially, her teacher thinks she is adorable (who doesn't?) and she has made several friends in her class. I try and have lunch with her on Friday's and there are 5 girls who sit at the lunch table together - it is mass chaos and they are all laughing and having fun - it is great to see her in those situations! Anna decided the other day that we should have a picnic - it was beautiful outside, so we set up the blanket, grilled some hamburgers and hotdogs and had a nice picnic in the backyard. As we were getting ready to eat, the wind picked up a little and the napkins all blew off the blanket and Anna's hair was getting in her face and she turned to me and said - 'This is not how I imagined it my head!' - she is growing up way too fast.

McKenna is having fun in preschool, but she misses her 2 yr class teachers. She likes her new teachers, but she always asks if she can go back to Miss Amy's class. She thought she wanted to stay late another day, but she ended up not knowing anyone else who stayed on Fridays, so she is back to only staying late on Wed. for music. She really enjoys the music class and has met a friend named Anna Katherine, which she reminds me isn't her sister! :) McKenna has decided that she wants to play soccer in the spring, so we are hoping to get her and her friend Abbie on the same team. Abbie's sister Maddie was able to join Anna's team a little late in the season, so it would be fun to have both the sisters on the same teams.

Ava is 7 months old and still the best baby ever! I think she cried out in pain once with her first tooth and today when she got her booster flu shot, she just looked at me and the nurse with a look of 'that's all you got?' No tears, no fussing later in the day, just happy go lucky as always. I don't remmeber Anna or McKenna being particularly bad babies, but seriously this is ridiculous! The only complaint that any family member has is that Patrick swears Ava only likes him if I am near. She was all smiles and giggles the other night with both of us, and then I went to get her bottle ready and she started crying as soon as I left. I think it is just her sisters have told her how to push mom and dad's buttons, but Patrick thinks it is something deeper - to compensate, he promised to buy her a car :)

Since I know all anyone really wants is pictures, enjoy!

I came home from work to find McKenna all dressed up!

Parents of the year we are not - Ava fell asleep in her high chair as Patrick and I were talking at dinner one night!

Aunt Jenny's birthday dinner

How old is she?!!!

I am coming to get you soccer ball...

It's hard to be this cute, but somebody has to do it!

This was a true 'Fancy Nancy' day (for those with girls who don't know who Fancy Nancy is, you will soon enough!). Anna picked a sort of fancy dress and McKenna picked a really fancy dress, so I put a fancy dress on Ava as well. We went to the mall, Costco, and grocery store with the girls all dressed up and Patrick and I in jeans - we were decidedly unfancy!

Ava has started sticking her tongue out in photos which is exactly what McKenna used to do at the same age, but I think Ava looks much more like Anna did at this age.

Ava has a tooth!!!

I know I am way behind, and there are no pictures today :( Maybe I will get a real update sometime this week...

On Saturday afternoon at Anna's soccer game, I discovered that Ava finally has a tooth! So about 4 months after I thought she had her first tooth, she really has her first tooth. She hasn't had any ill effects from getting it - so in true Ava style, just rolling with the punches.

Ava also sat in a highchair at a restaurant for the first time. She is getting way too big, but she did great, and had a lot of fun. She discovered that McKenna will jump out of her chair everytime a toy drops - this was lots of fun for both girls, but McKenna hardly ate anything. 7th months old tomorrow - where has the time gone?

6th Month Check-up

Ava made it through her 6 month check-up. The shots were a little harder on her this time around - read that as a total meltdown during Anna's dance class. I had to call Patrick to come pick her up because there was nothing I could do in a crowded, really hot, waiting room for another 1.5 hours - Anna and McKenna have back to back classes! Ava's stats:

Weight: 14 lbs 15.5 oz - 30%

Height: 26 in - 55%

Head: 43 3/4 - 75%

Comps - Anna - 12 lbs 15 oz (3%), 24 in (4%), head 43 cm (75%)

McKenna - 13 lbs 12 oz (10%), 26 1/4 in (70%), 42 cm (40%)

Developmentally she is doing great. She is sitting like a champ, eating lots of baby food and really pushing herself up during tummy time. Anna and McKenna love playing with her and every time she babbles, they swear she says her first word - they can't wait for her to talk!

Anna is having so much fun with soccer. The girls are hilarious to watch - they just run after each other and they all want to do the corner kicks and throw ins. The league doesn't keep score, and you can't have a goalie, but Anna has really taken the 'protect the goal' to heart. Whenever she sees the other team kick the ball, she immediately turns around and runs to the other end of the field. She isn't the most graceful runner (I have to admit that is from the Franz side :), but she enjoys every minute of it.

McKenna started in her new preschool class last week and she loves her school so much, she is asking to stay longer. We originally only had her staying until 2 pm 1 day a week, but we are going to let her stay late on Friday's also. She is excited and I think it will help to prepare her for full days at kindergarten - it was a pretty big transition for Anna. McKenna had no issues with the new class, walked right in and started playing - no tears or anything. She is definitely my little miss independent!

We celebrated my friend Brendy's and her boyfriend Joe's birthdays this weekend - their birthdays are just 2 days apart. I won't say it was alcohol induced, but somewhere along the way Brendy challenged me to an arm wrestling match. I think she forgot that I carry 3 children in my arms all the time, so I had an unfair advantage, but Patrick was very proud that I won the match. I am waiting for Brendy to send me the photo of the match and I will post it so I can gloat forever more - Happy Birthday Brendy and Joe!!!

Soccer Here we come!

After two successful weeks of school, Anna is in full kindergarten mode. I dropped her off in the cafeteria and she made it down to her classroom and got all of her items put in the appropriate buckets and was sitting so nicely in her chair when I came running down the hall because I was still holding her jacket - oops! It is still a learning process, and she looked really happy to see me, which means she hasn't moved into the 'Mom, you're embarrassing me' mode just yet.

Wednesday night was supposed to be our first night of soccer practice, but it was cancelled due to the weather. The parents convinced the coaches to have practice on Friday night since we still have our first game on Saturday and none of the girls have played before. Anna has made a new friend in her class at school, Makenzie, and we were very happy to find out that they are on the same soccer team. They are very sweet with each other and hold hands and run around. They both have little sisters and were trying so hard to get the younger ones to play together so that they could play together without the little ones! McKenna was not pleased with that AT ALL :) Anna and Makenzie taking a water break at practice.

McKenna starts preschool on Monday - her meet the teacher was today, and she can't wait to get started. She is jealous of Anna getting to go to school, and just wants to be like her big sister. She will be going 3 days a week this year, and taking a music class - I am excited to see how she does this year. She will be with some of the same kids as last year, but lots of new faces as well. She is being such a goof ball recently - she loves to make faces at herself in the mirror - she reminds Patrick and I of her cousin Tommy - he is a goof ball too!

Ava is making huge strides developmentally - she is sitting up unassisted, rolling over (when she wants!), getting into her belly laugh/screech and she is eating up storm in veggies. She will be 6 months old on Sunday, and her check-up is Monday so I will post stats after that. Look ma, no hands! Cell phone video isn't the best, but you can hear her laugh :)

We went to the lake for Labor Day weekend and Anna learned to drive the wave runner. Grandpa and she were going all over the place, but notice the series of pics below...

1. Anna driving, she seems to be saying 'Grandpa, would you like to go for a swim?'

2. Everybody off!

3. Anna laughing at grandpa after repeated attempts to climb back on the wave runner without knocking Anna back off! Grandpa was a great sport, Anna wasn't so sure she liked falling off, but she thought it was hilarious to watch grandpa. She was telling the story the rest of the day and laughing the whole time :)