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!

Snow in Texas!

This is our second snow storm in TX in a week! We had a white Christmas and now more snow today. Hoping for a snow day tomorrow so I don't have to go into work. Ava is really having fun with this. She enjoys catching snow flakes on her tongue and eating it by the handful.

Mia's Tummy Time

Here's Mia having some fun during tummy time today. She usually isn't a fan, but if you time it just right, she can get her exercise without complaining too much! Pay no mind to my silly baby talk to her ... ha, ha!

Last Day at Home

Today is the last day of my maternity leave at home with Mia. Ava is at school today, so my Mom and I had a fun outing this afternoon and we are now relaxing at home. We did a little shopping (I got two back to work outfits for a steal at the outlets) and had a yummy lunch out, while Mia had a nice long nap. We took some pictures to capture the moment. I am not liking the fact that I'll be leaving little Mia, but I take comfort knowing she'll be in great hands with Grammy Joyce! Back to the daily grind ...

Maternity Leave Comes to An End

I'm sad to say that this is my last week at home on maternity leave. The time has gone so fast - especially the last few weeks! Doug's family was in town for Thanksgiving and the next thing you know, I have only days left before I return to work. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, but really got used to be home over these last few months. I'm trying to savor this last week but also get the final things done on my to-do list - deliver Christmas packages and cards, finish Christmas shopping, work on my scrap books - Oh just too much to do! I made some good progress over the weekend and today, so I'm feeling good about that. Here are a couple pictures from our visit with Doug's family. Ava had Santa visit her school today, so we got 2 pictures with Santa this year! We were rushing out of the house to get to school early, so Mia was still wearing her pj's in the picture. They weren't even her Christmas pj's. You do what you can!