Tampa 2008 Part 2

I think I am going to have trouble editing the photos so settle in.

Tampa 2008

We had a great trip to Tampa last week. The weather was mostly a little bit cool but still much nicer than in London so I am not complaining. It was great to walk barefeet on the sandy beach and the weather the day we went to Busch Gardens was perfect. The pool at our condo was heated so Avery got to swim every day even though sometimes it was cold to get out of the water. She still strongly believes she can swim by herself regardless of whether she is wearing a floatation device or not. She had lots of bonding time with her cousin Callum and they are better friends than ever. I will get to posting loads of photos since Brianna was kind enough to act as the primary photographer for the trip.
The last photo in this series is Brianna and Maren.

McKinley's Expressions

He is starting to be more expressive so I thought we should throw up a few pics. He is very quick to smile these days but unfortunately his mother is not very quick to capture it on film. I am hoping to get better at this.

Happy Birthday and Bye Bye Soother

So we decided that her birthday party would also be a bye bye soother party. Avery, not realizing what she was agreeing to, was on board with the plan and even seemed excited about it. She was telling perfect strangers that she was going to 'cut the soother, throw it in the garbage and say bye-bye soother'. Of course once reality set in she was not so impressed with the plan and over a week later we are still trying to get back to a normal bedtime routine without buckets of tears and me pulling my hair out. My new mantra is: This too shall pass...this too shall pass...this too shall pass....

Avery's 2nd Birthday Party

Here are a few photos from the family birthday party we had for Avery.

Monkey Time

If you have ever been at our house during the bedtime routine you will recognize that these photos were taken during what Avery calls 'Monkey Time'. This is when she jumps all over our bed as we all sing 'No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed' and then we have some tickles, etc. All in all it is one of our favourite times of day.

Bath Time!

So far I am able to bath the2 kids together without Avery drowning McKinley so that helps me be efficient in one area of my life. (probably the only area these days!)

Recent McKinley Photos

Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year. We had a busy holiday and Avery was quite sick so that made things interesting. Life is starting to get back to normal and I thought I would post a few recent photos of McKinley because we think he has changed so much. As of this morning he is 10 lbs and started smiling at us. We have been trying for over a week to get a good photo of him but as soon as we pull the camera out he starts doing facial contortions. These ones are the best I have but we think he definitely looks even better in person.

A few more of Avery

Here are a few pics of Avery. IN the first one she is modeling a coat that Grandpa McGuire brought back from Ireland, in the second one she is having fun with her good friend Molly and in the last two are of the Daycare Christmas play.
Enjoy.

More of McKinley

Here are a few more photos of the big guy. He is now back to his birth weight and is doing very well after a few days of jaundice and too much sleepiness. He is get more alert each day and is now starting to fuss a bit. Overall he is still quite lovely and his big sister is totally enamoured of him.