52 Project 2015: Week 25

"A portrait of each of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Jackson: Last week it rained Every. Single. Day.!! We were so sick of rain! By Friday evening, after being stuck inside all week, I decided to take the kids for a walk to look for muddy puddles to jump in. It had stopped raining for a little while and I thought it might be a way for us to embrace all the rain we've gotten in a fun way. Jackson loved it, to say the least!

Avery: In the wagon while we were at the park jumping in muddy puddles. Jackson was pulling her through them and she loved it.

And a few more photos from our fun evening at the park.

And I added this same picture in black and white just because I love it.

52 Project 2015: Week 24

"A portrait of each of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Jackson: I was off work this past Monday and I let the kids play outside in the sprinkler and in the hose. :-) 

 Avery: She didn't play in the sprinkler much but liked playing peek-a-boo with the beach towel. Ha!

 (Linking up here at Practising Simplicity)

For Sale!

If you're friends with me on Instagram or Facebook, then you already know that our house is officially on the market! We decided about a month ago that now seemed to be a great time to list our house. This was something we weren't really planning on doing until next Spring, but because of the "Seller's Market" right now, we decided to go ahead and list our house asap. It went on the market this past Friday and already we've had 3 showings!! We are excited and nervous about this big change. We're praying that it sells quickly because keeping the house show-ready all the time with 2 kids and 2 dogs is nearly impossible. 

At this point, our plan is to sell our house and then move into a small condo that a friend of ours owns. The condo is in the town we live in now and we can rent it for as long as it takes for us to find a new house (which hopefully isn't longer than a few months). The condo is a small 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, second story condo. It will be tight and it will be a pain. We will have to walk the dogs every time they need to go out and Jackson will have to room with us. The washer/dryer is shared within the building and there is no dishwasher!! When I said it would be a pain, I really mean it will be a pain. We plan to just bring the necessities and get a storage unit for the rest of our belongings in the mean-time. The rent will be inexpensive though and it is better than intruding on family (though I'm sure they wouldn't mind).

We are mainly moving for better schools. When we bought this house, our plan was always to move in 5-7 years and as of April, we've owned the house for 8 years. We knew we wanted to move before Jackson started kindergarten and since we weren't sure how long this whole process would take, we thought now would be a good time to start. We will be looking for a new home in a few of the suburbs across town from where we are now. We plan to remain in the St. Louis area, just in a different part of St. Louis.

So we've been getting our house all ready to sell these last few weeks. Our house was already in great condition, so there wasn't a whole lot we had to do, but a few things here and there have kept us busy. I imagine it will only get worse once the packing and moving process begins, of which I'm not really looking forward to. I am, however, looking forward to being moved and situated in our new home (which hopefully is our forever home because I don't really want to have to do this again any time soon).

So chances are, I may be a little hit or miss around here this summer, but I hope to keep up with my Project52 and post when I can. :-)

Here are a few pictures from our listing:

The Front Yard

The Entryway/Living Room

The Dining Room/Kitchen

The Upstairs Bathroom

The Master Bedroom

Jackson's Room

Avery's Room

The Basement/Family Room

The Basement Bathroom

52 Project 2015: Week 23

"A portrait of each of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

 Jackson: Playing his first Pee-Wee Baseball game this past Saturday! He did so good and had so much fun!

Avery: Watching her big brother play baseball! :-)

 (Linking up here at Practising Simplicity)

And here are a few more from Jackson's first game!

 

52 Project 2015: Week 22

"A portrait of each of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

Jackson: Picking strawberries at Eckerts. We went with Jake's Family on a rather cool day. We had a lot of fun, despite the cooler temperatures. I'd love to go back when it's a little warmer.

 Avery: Picking a few strawberries at Eckerts as well. She wouldn't try eating them, but she did love squishing them in her hands! Ha!

52 Project 2015: Week 21

"A portrait of each of my children, once a week, every week, in 2015."

 Jackson: This past Saturday, we went to visit my Grandparents and Aunts, Uncles and Cousins in Mt. Vernon, IL. (My Dad's Parents and siblings.) They had some kiddie bikes and a wheel chair ramp... need I say more. Jackson loved every minute of it.

 Avery: Also while visiting family that day, Avery tried on her cousin Landon's cool gold shades. Too cute!!

Avery's 13th Month

Avery,

Today, May 28th you turned 13 months old! Wow, a whole month passed the one year mark!

Size:

You seem to be slimming down now that you're walking and very mobile. At your 1 year check-up at the doctor earlier this month you weighed 21 lbs. 14 ozs. (77th percentile) and you were 31 inches tall (95th percentile)!I think that's probably still the same now.

Clothing:

You are wearing 18 month clothes with a couple 24 month things thrown in.

Shoe Size: 

Size 4 

Diapers: 

Size 4

Teeth: 

You just got a new tooth in this past month and are getting another one as well. You now have 4 on top and 3 1/2 on bottom. ;-)

Hair/Eyes: 

Light Brown Hair (it keeps getting lighter and lighter) and brown/gray eyes.

Sleep:

You usually go to sleep between 8 and 9 and you generally sleep until 9 or even 10 the next morning!You are such a great sleeper and Mommy and Daddy appreciate that. You are down to taking one long afternoon nap that usually lasts between 2-3 hours, sometimes a little longer even.

Eat: 

You love pancakes, toaster sticks, peanut butter sandwiches, macaroni, yogurt, apples... well there really isn't much you won't eat. You will try anything and depending on your mood, you will chow down or sometimes you'll spit it out. Sometimes you'd rather play with your food than eat it and you always eat better if you are able to feed yourself. You now think you need a fork or spoon no matter what you're eating, but at least it's good practice.You generally get one 10oz. bottle of whole milk right before bed and then whole milk and/or water in your sippy cup throughout the day. You drink from a sippy cup and straw very well,

Favorite Toys: 

You love your baby dolls. It's so sweet.

Milestones: 

You have been fully walking for a couple months now and can even run. You can climb the stairs (with assistance of course). You can play peek-a-boo, give high fives, clap your hands, wave bye bye, raise your hands up when we say "so big", you dance to music or just when we say dance Avery.  You try to jump when we say jump and you mimic me if I rub my hands together with lotion. You shake your head yes and no. I may or may not have taught you to shake your head yes when I ask you if you're Momma's girl. ;-) You give hugs now by laying your head on our shoulder when we say "hug".

Vocalizing:

You say Momma, Dada, Papa, Uh Oh, Nigh Night and Bye Bye/Baba and you even say Brother. This past month you also added Ball to your vocabulary and "All Done". :-)

Personality:

You're just so sweet and adorable. You're definitely a girly girl. You love to brush your hair and you love shoes!! However, you can hang with the boys too and I love that! You aren't happy when you don't get your way and definitely let us know about it. You get your feelings hurt easily and will pucker up your bottom lip. It's so pitiful.

You love to laugh at your brother. You love him lots and give him hugs when you go to pick him up from preschool. He is definitely a cheerleader for you as well and gets so excited when you do something new! It's so fun to watch you two together. You are starting to learn to play together and it was so cute the other day when he was playing swords and you had 2 hairbrushes and were following him all around. He would say "come on Avery" and you would follow right along like you knew what you were doing. SO STINKIN CUTE! He stands up for you if someone makes you cry, but if you steal his toy or cup, look out because he will snatch it right back, no questions asked. (We are working on that.)

You have stolen this mommy's heart and I can't begin to say how much I love you! I know I say it every month but you are just so much fun! We can't go anywhere without having multiple people say how adorable you are. I Love You to the Moon and Back Baby Girl!
-Mommy xoxo