Happy Halloween 2010

Our little ones had so much fun trick-or-treating this year! It was Avery's first time. Any time she pick up a new piece of candy she did not want to put it down, so she walked around with a chocolate bar in each fist the entire night! It was so cute to hear her say "ti-kou!" (thank you) in her tiny little voice. And Trent even mumbled what sounded like "trick-or-treat" a few times, and also said "chocolate" periodically, wanting to have a bite! He didn't want to put on his Woody costume at first (same one as last year), but we persuaded him to at least wear part of it. And Avery's frigging adorable witch costume is a hat/tutu set I'm photographing for the fabulous Bella Tutus on Etsy!

Something New

Do you notice something new in this picture?



Trent started wearing underwear for the first time last week! He's been doing a good job as long as we remember to take him to the toilet often enough. He's not really to the point where he tells us when he needs to go.







Avery was excited about the underwear too.

In other news, Kris and I went to an Autism conference this weekend in Long Beach. It was all about Autism as a medical condition having to do with the gastrointestinal tract, the immune system, the metabolism, and the brain. And perhaps most importantly, how to treat these issues. We will be getting with a special doctor here in Phoenix and implementing these treatments, including diet changes.

Avery's First Swim

My aunt Caryn is kind enough to let us come over and swim any time we want, but we usually don't even think about it until the end of summer! This was Avery's first time. She was a little unsure about it at first, but then had a lot of fun.

Birthday Fun

This year we held a double birthday party for Trent and Avery, since their birthdays are so close together. We were happy that we could share this fun day with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and many, many cousins!

Trent especially had a lot of fun with his cousin Shay. They were so cute chasing and being chased, with lots of wild giggling involved! It's so wonderful to see him starting to be able to really socially interact with other kids. And little Shay was so great with him. I got video of it, but no pictures!

And of course, much food was had by all. That's mostly the point of a party, isn't it?


There was a cupcake tower. It was cute and scrumptious. They tasted like an orange and vanilla dream bar.



Avery enjoyed hers. Well, the frosting anyway.




And soon I'll post some four-year-old portraits of Trent... as soon as he gets a haircut!

Happy Bithday Avery!

Our sweet baby girl...


is growing up!


Here are some fun facts about 1 year old Avery: She is very smiley, playful and busy. Constantly on the move! If there is a blanket spread out on the bed or floor, she'll start rolling all over it. She likes to bulldoze things with her head while crawling, especially balls and people. She likes to point at pictures in books and say, "da"! Absolutely loves playing and splashing in the bath. She'll sit and watch the entire movie "Elf".

She's such a fun little sweetie and we love her more every day!

Construction - Day 96

The progress on the house is beginning to be less and less noticeable. The big item this time was that the tile was completed. It's amazing how many options you have for tile, and then they give you just as many options for detail work within the tile. We opted to have a little bit of special work done in the entry hallway as an accent. It turned out very nice.


They also finished painting the outside of the house, including the doors, eaves, and accents around windows.


The entryway is pretty nice, with a 12-foot circular recessed ceiling.


Our lone coach light is just outside the front door. We opted to not get them on either side of the main garage since we're on a corner, and there is a street light right next to us.

Construction - Day 89

The tile started this week, so it's really starting to feel more like a home. The tile color and the kitchen cabinets really look good together - now to select a paint that goes well with both.


They also poured the driveway and walkways in the front. As of now, our plan is to remove the walkways and replace them with other landscaping. Unfortunately, they wouldn't just leave them out for us from the beginning.



The stone detail on the front of the house is a nice accent. We may try to incorporate the same stone on other parts of the landscaping - we'll see...