Bye Bye Pies

This past Saturday we said bye bye to our pies and hello to our big girl and big boy beds!!

I was really in no hurry to get rid of the paci's and transition out of the cribs. They were not climbing out and they were both sleeping pretty well, so I was really afraid to rock the boat. However, I made it my goal to get rid of the pies and cribs this summer, so we decided to just go ahead and do it so they'd have plenty of time to adjust before starting school in the fall. We told Carson and Avery that they were going to get a big boy and big girl bed for their rooms but only if they gave their pies to baby Berkley (our friend Brandy's baby that's due this September). Avery cried the first time I told her about our plan, but after talking about it for a couple of days, she was really excited about getting rid of her baby crib and getting to have a big girl bed. Carson was pretty excited about it from the beginning. So Saturday we packed up the pies and said goodbye to them.

One last "pie" picture! (I have to admit it was a little sad for me)

Ready to give their pies to baby Berkley

They both handed them over very willingly, I was shocked that there were no tears or fits, they were actually really excited that baby Berkley got to have their pies.

So exciting!!

So Saturday night Carson and Avery had their first "pie-less" night in their big beds, and they did GREAT!! They both went right to sleep and slept all night, I was again shocked. I was expecting them to have a really hard time getting settled down, but they didn't at all. It hasn't been that consistent since though. Carson has been doing great staying asleep all night, but Avery has been waking up a couple times a night the last two nights crying, so I'm hoping she will go back to sleeping all night again soon. Thankfully neither of them come out of their rooms during the night, or nap time for that matter. Nap time has been hit or miss the last few days for both of them, but at least they are staying in their rooms even if they don't go to sleep. So over all the transition hasn't been too bad, we just need to get them both napping again (good luck with that one right?) and get Avery sleeping through the night again!

We also told them that if they gave up their pies and slept in their big beds they would get to pick out a scooter at Target. So Sunday they got to ride outside on their new scooters.

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They were so excited!

The pies and cribs were our last two baby things to get rid of. So sad.

They are still my sweet babies though!!

Swim lessons

Carson and Avery have been taking swim lessons the past several weeks! We enrolled them in the "infant rescue" type of swim lessons, and they are doing so great!!

They were all smiles (before they realized what was about to happen to them)

You want us to do what?

They learned how to kick their legs

How to float on their backs to rest and get a breath...

And how to swim under water!

They took 4 weeks of individual lessons (4 days a week for 10 min each day). It was very traumatic, to say the least, for the first couple of weeks. There was a lot of screaming, crying, throwing up, and many attempts at various stall tactics, but at the end of the 4 weeks they were swimming and floating. It was amazing! Avery loved it after she released some control and realized that swimming was fun. Carson cried every single day for the whole 4 weeks...poor guy!

After their individual lessons were done, Carson and Avery joined a group class once a week with their  cousin Taylor. 

Standing in the "castle"

They got to jump off the "jump rock" during group class

Taylor comforting Carson when he was crying, so sweet!

Their most favorite part though, was probably the lollipop they got from Ms. Tracey after their lessons! 

Carson and Avery have come a long way these past several weeks. They are swimming so well, and I feel so much more peace when we go to the pool. They absolutely love swimming now!

Here is a Carson before picture...

...and Carson after! So happy in the water now!!

Thank you Ms. Tracey!

Little Boys

This little boy loves construction trucks....

And working on his truck too!

He loves fishing...

And four wheelers!!

But his greatest love right now is lawn equipment!

Mowing,

Blowing,

Edging,

And weed-eating (with his "weeder")

He loves trying to start it!

Thank you Jesus for little boys, they sure make life more fun!!

Cousins

I am so thankful that Carson and Avery have been blessed with cousins!

It is so awesome that they are all about the same age and get to grow up together!

They have so much fun!

We dug out our old trikes at my parent's house a couple of months ago.

The kids loved riding them up and down my parent's long driveway.

I love this one of Avery and Taylor

And just to show how old these trikes are, here's a picture of my brother and I on one of them.

One of Carson and Avery's favorite things to do when they get together with Kennedy and Taylor is "stunts"

They are always asking to do some of Kennedy's cheerleading stunts.

One of my favorites of the four of them (Kennedy and Taylor don't use paci's, they were just joining in, Carson and Avery on the other hand may go to college with theirs :)

Memorial Day we went over to my parent's house to ride in Shane and Stephen's new mini truck they bought for their deer lease.

The kids loved it!

Don't worry, they didn't ride around like this, it was only for pictures

The kids played "birthday party" in Mimi's kitchen

I love the little games they are starting to make up, their little minds are so creative!!

The girls singing "happy birthday" 

Blowing out the candles

They have so much fun together!

That night we lit a fire in our fire pit and made s'mores

Yum!

Then turned the music on for a dance party,

Dog pile!!

These four sure do love each other (most of the time)

We also got to see Carson and Avery's other cousin, Barrett this past week. Travis, JJ, and Barrett stayed with us for a night on their way up to Arkansas.

Carson and Avery had so much fun playing with their baby cousin, he is getting much more mobile and is such a sweet and happy baby!

Can't wait till these three are running around together and getting into all sorts of mischief!!

Avery was so excited she got to hold Barrett (although he is just about as big as her now :)

We love our cousins!!