Family Photo Shoot

I wanted to do some family photos this year as my Christmas present. Doug was a little resistant, as you all know he LOVES getting his picture taken, but he managed through it and the end result was fantastic! We used downtown McKinney as our back drop, that had some wonderful old brick walls, bright painted colors and cool old doorways. We did it first thing in the morning when all were rested and in good moods and the light was just right. It was freezing though and we had to warm up the girls between shots to keep their lips from getting blue! We shared the session with some of our neighbors, so that helped the girls hang on by playing with their friends during breaks.

Ava's Christmas party at School

Ava had her Christmas party at school the other day and we all got to attend. They received and gave gifts, consumed A LOT of sugar, and wore the cutest hats that they made. Here's Ava unable to contain her excitement about a gift one of the teachers got her. Oh my ...

Dicken's Christmas

Amy and Nick were here for Thanksgiving and we spent a day in downtown McKinney at the Dicken's Christmas event. They had such a nice set-up for the kids - merry go round, petting zoo, train rides and even fake snow! Gotta love how they do it down here in TX! The kids had a blast and were even patient enough for us grown-ups to grab a pint at the pub. Check out Mia during her first petting zoo experience. She has a love for animals and was shrieking with delight! I think she even scared a few of them with her zealousness!

Ava at Disney on Ice

I took Ava to her first "show" this Thanksgiving to see Disney Princesses on Ice at the new Allen Event Center. She was so excited and had a blast! She dressed up in her Sleeping Beauty dress up clothes, complete with a tiara so she could be just like one of the Princesses. She sat next to another little girl and they both hooted and hollered for the characters throughout the show - so cute! She loved it all ... except for the big scary dragon that breathed fire. I thought it was cool, but for weeks she is still talking about how she didn't like that scary dragon. At least it was at the end of the show so it didn't ruin it for her. Had to dodge all the vendors selling all the Princess gear to the kids. She wanted everything - and it wasn't cheap! We got away with our $7 small box of popcorn and a $15 Ariel necklace. Not too bad! Ava is getting so big now. It's fun to be able to do things like this. Daddy is taking her to see her first movie in the theater later this week to see Tangled. I'm sure she'll love that too.

Fall Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

There is a pumpkin patch practically in our back yard at Story Book Ranch this year. They have a great kids' play area complete with pony rides, a petting zoo, a bouncy slide and a hay stack maze. I took Ava over one evening and she had a blast! Check her out ...

Mia at Gymboree

We've been so busy, I haven't posted anything in months! I'm forcing myself to do it now. I signed Mia up for the Gymboree Play and Music classes now that she has turned one. I did all this stuff with Ava, so now it's Mia's turn. She is loving this class so far. They opened up a new facility close to our house on 75 and Stacy Road, so it's really convenient. This is our special time together on Saturday afternoons!

Mia's On the Move!

Mia will be 9 months old next week and is growing up so fast. She crawls around everywhere, is pulling up and cruising and is even starting to wave! She's eating everything we give her and even what we don't. She tries to grab food off of our plates and is even eating table food like tortillas, chicken and experienced her first french fry today (love at first bite!). She loves the dogs and shrieks with glee whenever they're around. She always wants to be in the action and is extremely busy, busy, busy.

Ava's Third Birthday

Ava was sooooo excited about her birthday this year. Instead of her birthDAY, it was more like her birthMONTH. She talked about it for weeks before and after and is still telling us today that her "birthday is all done", because we have to keep telling her that. She had several celebrations, so it really did make it all a very big deal. My parents came over for her actual birthday and brought her a big girl Tinkerbell bike. It only took a couple of days before she was peddling well down the street! She also had a birthday celebration at day care with her classmates. I brought some cupcakes in for her to share and Mia even got to partake in the fun. The big celebration was her party at the Little Gym, where the Tinkerbell theme continued. She had a blast running and jumping around - climbing on equipment, singing and playing with bubbles. Boy, were we so glad the craziness and wildness of it all wasn't at our house. I can completely now understand why having someone else host your kid's party is the way to go if you can swing it! Our gift to Ava was a little wooden play house in the back yard. It took Doug and a couple of neighbors hours and hours of blood sweat and tears to put it together. Ava sure does love it though. I don't think we'll be able to top birthday #3 anytime again in the near future.

Laughing Out Loud

Mia finds her big sister very amusing. Lots of belly laughs!

Mia's Biter Biscuits

Mia loves to eat solid food. She scarfs down baby food and cereal 3 times a day and even eats a snack of her biter biscuits. She's a little piggy! There isn't a food she hasn't liked yet. She doesn't seem too picky, unlike her older sister!

Mia's Sitting Up All By Herself!

A week before Mia's 7 month birthday, she started sitting up all by herself. Within one week, she's become a pro! So glad, because she's much happier now that she can sit and play with her toys and be in the action with everyone.

The Dallas Children's Museum

This week is Doug's Spring Break. I took a few days off too to spend it with the family and enjoy some of this warmer Spring weather. Today we went to the Dallas Children's Museum with Amy and her two little ones. Zach just turned two and Cameron is almost exactly one month older than Mia. Ava and Zach had so much fun digging for dinosaur bones, riding a fire truck and playing in the water. We got there early which was a good thing because it was so crowded when we left. Mia hung in there and didn't want to miss a beat - I was hoping she would nap in the stroller, but she wanted to see everything. She zonked out as soon as we got in the car.

Ava's Dance Class

Ava's been taking ballet/jazz for a few months now and is really starting to enjoy it. She does the dances around the house and wants me to do them with her. She's starting to get the moves better and has a blast making friends with some of the other little girls. Here's the latest!

Big girl peddling on her bicycle!

Ava is starting to peddle on her bike all by herself! She's so determined. She doesn't want us to push her at all. I think we need to invest in a new bike that's easier for her to peddle. This one was great for when she was little since we could push her with the handle, but it's hard for her to peddle and steer right now as she's learning. Anyone have a good recommendation for a tricycle that's easy for the little ones? With Spring just around the corner, I'm sure we'll be putting a lot of miles on it soon!

Potty Trained!

We've been working at it for a loooooooong time - but Ava is finally potty trained! She started at school with Pull-ups several months ago and with panties at school about 4 weeks ago. Finally, for the last couple of weeks, she's been doing it at home too! She was VERY stubborn about doing it at home - but finally she turned a corner and would do it on her own terms, not when we asked her. She says she needs to potty - she grabs it out of the bathroom and gets down to business. We are so proud of her. Still wearing a diaper and night, but she's pretty dry in the mornings. It's like the McCall household just got a raise, with no longer having 2 in diapers! Hooray!

Here's the princess on the pink potty. Another shot of some sisterly love with little Mia. Hope you are all well!

Snow Day!

We had a record snowfall in Texas on February 11th. It snowed for about 16 hours and the DFW area got up to 10 inches in some parts. I was home with a terrible head cold on Thursday, so got to enjoy the beautiful snow falling outside all day. As the temperatures dropped and more snow fell, everything was cancelled on Friday so we got to enjoy the day off with the snow. Ava got out there twice to build snowmen and eat snow. We built a puny one the first day, as I was feeling lousy and could only muster a small amount of energy. Feeling better on Friday, we decided to go bigger - complete with hat, scarf and carrot nose. Ava loved it! Poor Mia has gotten my cold as well and it turned into an ear infection for her. Poor girl - she's not even 5 months old (will be in a few days), and she's had 5 or 6 colds so far! I can't wait until cold and flu season is over! We've had enough of this.

Mia's Funny Noises and First Foods

Mia's been amusing us lately by mimicking our funny faces and noises. She can blow raspberries and tries to stick her tongue out when we stick ours out at her. It's so funny! She's also started her first solid foods. We keep it to rice cereal and oatmeal. She prefers the oatmeal, like Ava did at her age. It must have more flavor. She's getting better at it each day. Still, I think the amount that ends up on her vs. in her tummy needs improvement!

More Dance Class and Parties

Ava has been enjoying her dance class. We've been going for about a month now, and she's getting more and more comfortable with the teachers and the kids. She's able to be more independent there, and is even starting to learn some of the dance moves. A lot of is just standing there and watching, but she's catching on. We also had a birthday party this month for our friend Cade who lives a couple houses down from us. It was at a Gymnastics place that also had bouncy stuff. Ava's really liking those things now. Last year at this time, she was afraid of bounce houses and especially the tall slides, but not anymore. What a difference a year makes!

Mia in her Activity Gym

Well, Mia learned to roll over this month, but of course, she wouldn't do it for the camera! Here she is just playing in her activity gym. We'll catch it next time when she's ready to perform!

Ava's new Dance Class

Now that we are finished with the Little Gym, we decided to try something new - dance class! Ava tried it today for the first time. She was a little hesitant at first, but then really started to enjoy it. It's a combo class so they do ballet, jazz and tumbling. Here she is giving the tumbling a try! Ta da!