Team Shep Blog: Friday Night Photo Dump | January and February 2015

January

Saturday morning fun (also: saving all those old cell phones was an excellent idea).

Ava loves the sleeping bag she got for Christmas from Grampsie and Nana.

I promised Josh that our second child wouldn't get the short end of the homemade baby food stick. So, cook and blend I did.

Hugs.

Comfortable, Louie?

Silly girl.

Finally trying to nail down the fun idea that has been floating around in my head.

Such a good dad.

Not sure exactly what was going on here, but my best guess is that Elsa was not happy with Anna's announcement that she is now a vegan and thus refuses to help cook the steak.

Park weather in January? Yes, please.

Ava loves to draw on her new easel from Bunny and Nello. I was super impressed with this duck!

And these "sad faces" crack me up. Pretty sure she was using Charlie Brown as her muse.

Another favorite activity of Ava's is dressing up for bed. She adds most of the pieces after we say goodnight, so I don't see the full effect until going back in later to tuck her in.

Pajamas. Fuzzy socks. Dorothy shoes. Princess nightgown. Tutu. Wand. Witch hat. Check!

Off to dreamland.

My friend Neil nailed it on the head when he said that this picture is reminiscent of a Katy Perry video.

Ava even makes sure that the stuffed animals' dress-up game is on point.

Daddy-daughter basketball lesson.

Yolk finally opened up in my building, and the coffee is legit! It helped me get through the last month of Rylan's refusal to sleep through the night.

"I'm the mommy leopard, and this is my baby."

Ava loves her some birthday parties!

February

My Mom sent me this picture of them holding hands on a walk. Be still my heart.

Post-three-year-check-up popsicle at Steel City.

After Ava's birthday, it was officially time to put an end to all pacifier use (we had a slight regression after Rylan was born, and Ava continued to use them to fall asleep at night). For weeks we discussed how she couldn't use a pacifier once she turned three, and that she could exchange them for whatever toy she wanted at the store.

This is the sweet lady who took our pacifier payment.

Despite saying for weeks that she was going to buy a "soft elephant," Ava went with the unicorn :). She did great that night and only asked for her paci one time after that. Done and done!

Ava took this shot of Josh, and I kind of love it.

In addition to finding her in all kinds of outfits, Ava also falls asleep in very funny positions. This may be my favorite.

An early Valentine's dinner with my love at Public School 214.

I love how the Valentines for the kids' teachers turned out, and they totally deserved it.

And the Olaf-themed Valentines for Ava's class were adorable (and delicious).

But Valentine's Day took a turn for the worse when I got a call from Ava's school that her stomach hurt. Normally, I wouldn't have been too worried, but she didn't want to eat or drink anything during the party. Saying no to cupcakes and juice is a huge red flag.

Sure enough, the stomach bug showed up in full effect a couple hours later.

And literally as I was camped out in the bathroom with Pukey McPukerson, Rylan's school called to let me know that he had caught the rash/fever virus that was going around. All I could do was laugh.

Luckily, he didn't feel too bad, so the next day was a pretty calm day at home with my sick babies.