Knowles Family

Merry Christmas in 2011

2011-12-18T16:56:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

It has officially been one year since I posted on this blog. At that time I was sitting in our apartment in Seattle. I am now sitting back in Wichita reflecting on the path we traveled this year.

I couldn't decide if I should detail our life chronologically or create a paragraph on each family member. Since I'm indecisive, I'll do both!
In January Matt surprised me with a trip to Hawaii! The trip was in honor of our 10th anniversary, we just celebrated a few months early.

It was quite the trip, glad we did it, but will probably not go back!

Ava was the one with the most eventful year. It started with the first of many visits from the tooth fairy.
Also known as Toot= h Fairy!

To date she has lost 5 teeth. We are starting to save for braces!

She also took the big step into Kindergarten. Her teacher happens to be the parent of a girl I went to high school with. Knowing her teacher really helped ME get through the first day of school. I took comfort in that fact that she was in loving hands.

She absolutely loves school. She has learned a tremendous amount, especially in her ability to read. Matt and I have to be careful about spelling things we don't want to share with the kids because Ava can decode that information!

Ellie has grown and matured a lot this year. She has fully capitalized on the freedom that she has when Ava is at school!
She loves her baby dolls and mothers them constantly. In fact, she was like a proud mother when she found a baby that could crawl. I am pretty sure she teared up when she watched her doll move!

Little Miss Flexibility started gymnastics this year. She loved practicing the "forward roll" (AKA somersault) along with showing off her other skills.

I too have had an adventurous year. When we returned to Wichita, God blessed me with the ability to return to my job at Wichita State University. I am in the same role as a speech-language pathologist working 2 days a week. In addition to WSU, I started my own business providing speech therapy to school-aged kids.

Feel free to check it out at www.ExpressionsTherapy.com or like it on Facebook!!! (what's a little shameless promoting among friends?!)
I am trying to think of what else I do in my spare time, but I am not sure that I have any spare time!

Since Matt does not like me to talk about him, I save his part for last. I am sure that he is hoping that everyone has stopped reading at this point! To his dismay we are not currently living in his favorite city, Seattle. He visited Seattle this fall, which I am sure was the best weekend of his year. He continues to enjoy playing XBOX; I am told there have been some exciting games come out this fall...

As a family, our biggest change has probably been that fact that we started attending a new church. It was difficult to leave all our good friends at our other church, but we knew God was leading us down a different path. The church we currently attend, City Life Church, has been open about 3 months. We have met many new people and grown closer to others we already knew. Together we have participated in a couple of outreach projects, something my kids have not done before.
As we look at what 2012 may hold, we are discussing the possibility of attending a mission trip with our church in Haiti. While we are still praying about the possibility of this trip, we strive to teach our children that God has blessed us all with the things we have.

As I wrap this letter up, I pray that you and your family enjoy the holidays, have a relaxing Christmas and are blessed in the upcoming year.

With much love,
Matt, Megan, Ava and Ellie

Merry Christmas

2010-12-26T19:23:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here trying to think of all the things I want to remember about this year...wish I wrote these things down throughout the year!

We are packing up our little apartment in Seattle, starting a new chapter of our lives in 2011. I vividly remember the day in July that the kids and I moved from Wichita to Seattle. There are not many times in our lives that we have such obvious life transitions. The day the kids and I boarded the plane we transitioned from the city and house we were comfortable with, to a new home, school, job, friends...you name it. Obviously we were excited to be back together as a family and thrilled to see "Daddy" daily. I am confident that if God had not taken me through the journey of being a semi-single mom, I would have been very bitter about moving to Seattle. I know that God had to get me to the place that allowed me to be thankful for seeing Matt for 3 hours a night instead of angry that I only saw him a short amount of time. I truly enjoyed our time in Seattle. I am a better, more thankful person for that journey.

Ava has matured into a respectful and loving preschooler. She LOVED her preschool that taught her many things including sign language and Spanish. She thinks it is pretty cool to communicate with me from the other side of the room, or to talk to Dora in Spanish! Her imagination has blossomed, which allows for some pretty good laughs at the things she says. This morning she asked Matt if he was allergic to soy (she has no idea what soy is...) and later asked if it would be a problem if we bought a cat from a gas station. Whaaaatttt???

Ellie has changed the most this year. Her sweet little personality has started to show; she is much more of an introvert and is easily overwhelmed with chaos and busy places. She looks like me, but has Matt's personality! (Ava looks like Matt but definitely has my personality.) This has taught me a lot about how my husband's brain works :) She use to require her "blankie" EVERY. WHERE. WE. WENT. but now leaves the blanket at home and only needs it when she sleeps! In the last month every time she saw lights or a tree she would yell, at top of her lungs, "Chwit-mas!" Made me smile every time! Love that girl.

I am excited to see what 2011 holds in store for us. We already know that Matt will start a new job, we will move home and Ava will start kindergarten in the fall. It will be another memorable year!

Spiders

2010-08-25T14:48:00.000-07:00

In an effort to stay busy each day, we are exploring the city. I found a botanical garden that has children friendly activities every Wednesday. A few weeks ago was a spider theme. Each girl received a magnafiying glass & shared a spray bottle. They were told to spritz the web with water to increase the visability. The goal was to find 8 spiders.
The girls LOVED it, but I had the heebie jeebies the whole time. I am SURE I walked through 10 spider webs- nice!

Once they finished the spinder hunt, they made spider hats.

(This is the pose Ava chose, I did not direct her to stand like a hussy!)

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie

2010-08-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Ellie, I am amazed that it has been two years since you came into our lives. Your birth weight (10 lbs 5 oz) lives in infamy, but fortunately you have thinned out. In fact, you are a petite little girl who can out eat most grown men. If we put it in terms of pizza, you eat 3 whole pieces plus some veggies. You can EAT!

Last year we thought it was novel that you were celebrating your 1st birthday in Seattle; however, we were wrong. Here we are celebrating #2 in Seattle. We had a family party for you in July to allow you to have a real party. I made Ava's 2nd birthday cake and I wanted to do the same thing for you. The problem is, it was a disaster! The icing fell off, the colors didn't turn out... So, in an effort to keep things the SAME, I made you a very ugly cake!

Fortunately for you, our friend Erin made you a whimsical cupcake-cake.
You were pretty excited!
You were also excited to open gifts this year. You like to color and play with Play-doh, so those items were a big hit.

This has been a momentous year; you learned to walk, run, talk, hug, love...
We have really seen your personality blossom too. You are a mild-mannered & calm kid, as far a toddlers go! You prefer to sit & take in all the things in your environment. You are also developing your independence as your favorite phrase is "I DO IT!" You like to pick out your clothes, your bows, your shoes and the food you eat. You want to buckle your booster seat and your car seat, but I fight you every time in order to help you be successful (and safe in the car!)

Your "claim to fame" is your flexibility. You must have double jointed hips because your legs look like they are on backwards at times! You ALWAYS sleep in splits, it is just a crack up.

I could go on & on about who you are, what you say and what you do. I love to see how your little brain works.
My prayer for you is that you will continue to develop a gentle spirit and that you continue to touch the lives of those who meet you. We love you Ellie Alexis.

Dining room

2010-08-04T14:51:00.001-07:00

My craigslist table = $80 for table & 4 chairs. BTW- don't ever buy a black table! It shows every smudge of food, such a pain :)

I had to buy a rug ($50) to protect the carpet- I sure don't like carpet under a table!!

The girls' room

2010-08-04T14:37:00.001-07:00

Here are several pictures of the girls room. Their beds arrived yesterday, so I can now say their room is fully furnished. In an effort to decorate/furnish the apartment on the cheap, the entire room cost less than $250 including curtains, bedding & wall art.

"The Garden" as Ava calls it. I purchased the removable stickers at Target using a gift card I received from my co-workers at WSU.

Ellie's bed

Curtains tied back.

Blackout drapes covered with a green sheer drape. As you can see, there is no curtain rod. To keep it cheap I used pushed pins to keep them up!!!

From the doorway

Looking at the pictures reminded me that I have a photo collage with their name to hang above their bed. I guess I will have to hang that tonight!

Welcom to Seattle, bienvenido a Seattle

2010-08-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, we didn't move to Miami, but the OLD SCHOOL Will Smith song came to mind when I was typing the title!

We have been in Seattle, specifically Mill Creek, for over a week. We had a little drama leaving Wichita because our original flight was canceled. When I rescheduled, the lady neglected to tell me she put us on a flight for the NEXT DAY! Only by the grace of God did I find this out before I arrived at the airport. When I attempted to re-reschedule, I was told all flights were book. Ugh! After several phone calls we were booked on a flight from home to Denver to Las Vegas to Seattle. I was nervous I would get stuck in a random airport, but we arrived in Seattle late Saturday.

The kids have adjusted fairly well. Initially the time change made for grumpy kids, but I think they are getting back on schedule. Ellie struggled with the time change the most- lots of crying, screaming and tears the first week. Last night she was crabby while we were eating dinner. I took her out of the restaurant to walk around the mall while Matt, Ava & our friend Bob finished dinner. As we were walking she through a fit in front of the Croc kiosk- "I want to look at SHOES! No, I want shoes!!" Ahhh, mommy's little girl!!

Ava had more issues missing her friends. She cried on several occasions when she realized she would not see certain people for awhile. Of course, it breaks my heart to see her cry :(
The other area of struggle is that she has become very worried about death. We have taken this opportunity to further educate her on the love of Jesus, but we are not quite sure how to set her mind at ease. Some of the humorous things she has asked about include: will I have hands in heaven? What will I drink when I get thirsty? Will there be babies there?
If anyone has suggestions on how to talk to a 4 year old about death, I would welcome the information.

As for me, I have really missed the people. My friends & family became such a support system to me over the last year; I really feel a sense of loss. I know this is a time of growth for me, but I am not pleased about having to change!!! The other transitional area is the weather. I went from this

to this!

Mentally I keep dressing like it is 100 degrees out, and then we all end up being cold during morning outings. In order to assist my adjustment, I HAD to go shopping for new clothes! It's a tough life...!

Life for Matt continues to consist of work, work and more work. He works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. He also is adjusting to life with two crazy kids, but I know that he is thrilled to have us all together again (as am I).

Let's see, what else... We started the "church search" today. Everyone I talked to recommended Mars Hill - they even have an app!! We enjoyed the sermon & plan to return next week.

Stay tuned for pictures of the apartment and Ellie's 2nd birthday pics.

What? I have a Blog??

2010-06-28T17:38:00.000-07:00

I am not sure I even have blog followers due to my lack of posting. I will have to do better about updating, especially from Seattle. It took us a year to figure out that the kids & I just need to bite the bullet and move to Seattle. If you have had to hear my weekly drama with changing plans, let me give you a little insight into what this has been like... We are moving to Seattle, Mukilteo to be specific, no Mill Creek, no wait Matt says he found a nice apartment in North Everett, no no it's back to Mukilteo, or maybe Mill Creek. Yep, I think Mill Creek, but I have not gotten the official word that the lease has been signed for the apartment in Mill Creek, so it could be any town in a 30 mile radius! Every.single.decision. has been like that. 400 choices, changing our minds several times; it makes my head spin! Life in Wichita is obviously just as crazy. As you can tell from the video, even Ellie is at a loss. I will TRY to be a better blogger, but no guarantees until August!

We have a Birthday Girl-- 4 years old!

2010-04-25T05:54:00.000-07:00

To my birthday girl who turns 4 years old today:
As I think back to the day you were born I am amazed at how you have changed and how you have changed our lives. Every day I marvel at your blonde hair and hazel eyes, God sure surprised your mom on this trait! There are days that you get upset because your hair doesn’t match mine, but I am sure you will quickly appreciate your hair color.

You have learned to write your first name, you know your full name, but like to say that your last name is AnnKnowles. You are becoming interested in the beginning letter of words and can even sound out some 3 letter words. You finally decided to write with your right hand; however, you continue to be fairly ambidextrous. This year you can ride a bike with training wheels, but you don’t steer very well! You have learned a lot this year, but you have shown us your perfectionist tendencies in your refusal to complete tasks. I think you have my personality- oops!

There are days that you make me laugh and cry in the same instance. You come up with some pretty interesting comments about life; I love to share them with the world. Ava, you love people, love to talk, love to be in charge, and also love God with all your heart. My prayer for you in the coming years is that you will continue to have the same passion for Jesus and continue to show other’s his love through your personality.

We love you crazy girl!

My secret public journal

2010-03-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

**Disclaimer** If you don't want to read a blog that is a bit whiny and might read like a country song, then don't read this post. Also, please read this as a venting session for me. I don't want sympathy, I just want to unload and continue to be authentic in my posts.

To set the stage, I will update you on the status of our lives- - ChAoS.
Matt been in Seattle for 10 months now. We have no idea what the next 3 months will hold for us, not that anyone really knows what the future holds. Since Matt is a contract employee, he is not "allowed" to work a full calender year, which means he will be coming home in May. We are hoping he finds a job in Wichita, but we could easily be moving to Seattle. This adds some stress to our lives; sure wish we could see the future.

That means I have been a single mom for almost a year. Overall we have adjusted well. We are in our little routine and I have gotten use to the loneliness. There are days I think I might become a crazy lady with 200 cats, but the kids do enough damage that I don't need to add the cats, yet...

Which brings me to today. Today was atypical, and - correction- the kids, barely survived. The day started out okay, typical morning of breakfast and the morning routine. A friend of mine dropped off her little girl for a couple of hours, which was no problem at all. In fact all the kids played before it was time to leave for swim lessons. In the chaos of the morning the toilet paper ran out and I tossed a new roll into the bathroom. What did I find a few minutes later?

Ellie so graciously tossed the toilet paper into the toilet. It kills this frugal momma that not a single sheet was used before I had to throw out an entire roll of TP! Laugh all you want, but I just got rid of the horrible toilet paper I accidental bought several months ago :)

We got out the door, to swim lessons, then later got to see my niece or nephew via sonogram (YAY!) and then back home for nap. That is when it all falls apart. Lots of yelling and screaming from both kids. Ellie took a nap, but not Miss Ava (she NEVER takes a nap, I just really wanted her to.) Lots of crying and misbehaving occurred during Ellie's nap. Later both kids refused to eat dinner. Side note-- Ellie has decided she only wants to eat if she is walking around with her food. If she has to sit, then she won't eat. Since no one ate dinner they were hungry AND crabby. Awesome for a mom who was already frusterated. I made it to my Pilate's class at the YMCA- got to walk in 10 min late because... both kids cried when attempting to leave home. They cried in the car, but then they were excited to go to the Y. Got home, Ava cried when told she was going to take a bath. Then she cried that she didn't like the temperature of the water, then tears because she didn't want to pick out her PJs... (this is the time I am sure that someone could generate a country song.)
SO.... I put the kids to bed a few minutes early and jumped in the shower. When I got out both kids were yelling "mom!!!" All I wanted to say was "I'm not your mother", but dang it- I AM their mother! As I write this 90 minutes after I put them to bed Ava is still yelling at me.

So it was not a great or funny story of my day, but I feel better now that I complained to my blog. Plus now I can feel like I updated my blog, but I will have to post something positive soon or I will just be "Debbie Downer!"

19 months

2010-03-14T15:48:00.001-07:00

Ellie is now 19 months old-- doesn't she look old?!

I HAVE DUST ON MY FAN BLADES!

2010-02-22T12:49:00.000-08:00

Did you read the title? That is right, I have DUST on my fan blades. Why is that my title? Let me explain in a very long post...
One of my goals for the year is to be real, to not put on a false show for anyone. At the risk of being Debbie Downer I have really worked on not pretending my life is always gum drops and roses, that my house is always clean, letting people know that I have real problems. I know that everyone has problems, it is just that I have realized that the act of being perfect could actually make another person struggle. When I don't know the ins & outs of a person's life, I tend to think that everyone else lives with more money, has fewer problems and a better life than I do. So that is why I am working on being real with people. Boy, did God challenge me on that goal!
Last week my wonderful friend Melissa called and asked if our Sunday School class (AKA Adult Bible Fellowship) could come over and help fix the things in the house that have not been touched since Matt left (8 months ago). It was SO hard to accept this blessing. I like to be the one to help, not the one to accept help. I didn't want other people to take time away from their family to help ME! Plus, I have DUST on my fan blades. All sorts of people from by SS class will see the dust and other imperfections of my house! :)

I was out of town this weekend, but people from my SS class took time on a Saturday to fix
the light bulb that burned out months ago...

the crown moulding that was never completed...

Before

After

and the baseboard that had some problems!

Before

After

Plus LOTS of other things around the house.

I want to thank everyone in my SS class, not only for helping me fix up my house, but for providing me support during this difficult year.

2 Corinthians 9:12-15

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to GOD for his indescribable gift.

God has given me many gifts through my church. I know I praise God because of your service and I hope others will also read this and praise God, because of your service to Him.
THANK YOU!

fun with friends

2010-02-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Valentine's Day considering we didn't get to be with Daddy. The girls have been sick over the last couple of weeks and Ellie has been especially nasty the last week. I have not been able to put her down without constant screaming; that makes mommy CrAzY!
My parent's started the day by bringing me a Diet Coke, which really is "coke" to my system! I really needed that!
At the end of the day my good friend Erin called and asked if she could be our "sweetheart" and bring us dinner and a Diet Coke. How nice of her!!!
(she now has me addicted to Knolla's sandwiches with the best bread sticks EVER)

She also had the brave idea to give the girls pedicures.
Laughing before the pampering begins...
Pretty toes (please note the Kleenex on the ground, needed those for those semi-sick kids!)

Then there is my awesome friend Erin. She is the kind of mom who willingly lets the kids put make-up on her face. She is the person who thinks of me on Valentine's Day, to give up time with her own honey to make someone else feel a little less alone. She is the kind of real friend that you don't have to clean your house for her visits, or put on make-up, or pretend that you don't feed your kids McDonald's food! She is the kind of friend that comes over with a goal to hold my clingy child so that I don't have to. THANK YOU ERIN! (Look at her selfless picture while you can, I have a feeling she will be embarrassed and make me take it down :) )

I like to play with glass

2010-02-05T12:41:00.001-08:00

Some kids like to stack blocks, my kid stacks glass bottles (okay, just the TOP bottle is glass, the other one is plastic).

But she loves it, and it keeps her entertained and that is what is important, right?!

Why Mommy doesn't blog much

2010-02-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

I am the worst at keeping this blog up-to-date, but I can explain. Did you notice that I had 2 up dates on Sunday? Well, as I was wrapping up the last post, I told the girls it was time to go to Grandma & Grandpa's house for dinner. Ava lovingly picked up the pyrex dish that had dinner in it and accidentally dropped it on the floor, where is shattered into many pieces. You really can't salvage dinner when it has shards of glass in it!
This story is an example of why I just don't have time to type at the computer, someone is always into something!

Gulp

2010-01-31T13:57:00.000-08:00

I never thought I would be the mom who wanted 2 of every toy. I know that it is important to teach your children to share. Come on, they really need to learn that skill because you can not covet your neighbor's "stuff". Now comes reality, swallowing my pride in my knowledge of the right thing to do... because I LOVE the fact that we have lots of babies and 2 baby strollers in my house. They still fight over who gets which stroller, but at least they each have one!

If we didn't have 2 strollers, life would look like this ALL of the time... instead of most of the time!!
(Note that Ellie is the one making Ava cry)

The BIG 3-0

2010-01-31T13:46:00.000-08:00

I had one of those birthdays this year. You know the kind, the ones that make you feel old, turning point in your life, times you feel like you should now be "wise", but know that you are far from it?! Yeah, one of THOSE birthdays! Actually, it was nice and simple and pretty fun!

To celebrate, I thought I would post my favorite age joke:

I've sure gotten old! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement,
New knees, fought prostate cancer and diabetes
I'm half blind,
Can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine,
Take 40 different medications that
Make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts.
Have bouts with dementia ..
Have poor circulation;
Hardly feel my hands and feet anymore.
Can't remember if I'm 89 or 98.
Have lost all my friends. But, thank God,
I still have my driver's license!

ER visit

2010-01-02T10:27:00.000-08:00

We had the "opportunity" to see the inside of this building

The Seattle Children's Hospital.

I was visiting a friend from graduate school and ironically she told me the story of her son falling down the stairs and dislocating his front tooth. She was telling me of her experience with the pediatric dentist when we heard thump, thump, thump. Ellie fell down the steps!
I scooped her up and took her to the sink since there was blood pouring out of her mouth. At first I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from, but after 5 min or so I could tell that her left front tooth was deviated to the left. Her bottom lip was also very swollen and the skin was raw from carpet burn. My friend was such a great help during this adventure, she called the nurse at the hospital to see what to do. They recommended either a trip to the ER or an emergency dental visit. We couldn't find a dentist that was open, so I loaded the kids up and met Matt at the Seattle Children's Hospital. By the time we got there, about 90 min after she fell, she stopped screaming and the bleeding had stopped.
Our experience in the ER was wonderful, minus the fact that Ellie was in pain. Everyone was friendly and informative. I learned that any time a tooth moves front to back, there is a concern that the bone around the tooth is broken, which can cause long-term problems. Ellie's tooth was slightly loose, you could move it left/right and front/back, so they wanted a pediatric dentist to see her. We went to her office across the street. She wasn't worried about any bone issues, but semi-worried about the position of the tooth. It is possible that the tooth lost the blood supply. She offered to pull it right then, but we decided to wait and see if the tooth dies. Frankly, I want to give her an opportunity to have all her teeth. Since it's a baby tooth, and it would be pulled, they can not put a crown or any prosthesis in it's place. Poor girl might be missing her front teeth for 7 years- that would be a long-term Christmas wish-- All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!!!

As the swelling went down, her tooth moved back into a more normal position. We will have to wait about 2 weeks to see if the tooth firms up. If it does, then it is probably alive. If it does not, then we need to have it pulled to avoid infection. Our prayer is that the tooth has good blood supply. I will keep you updated when we know more.

Snow bunnies

2010-01-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

All bundled up before heading up the mountain. Both girls are wearing their Canadian souvenirs, new hats.

Olympic Debut

2009-12-28T12:22:00.000-08:00

Ava ice skating at the winter Olympic games in Vancouver. *hehe*
We went to Vancouver and Whistler 47 days before the start of the Olympics. I am thankful we visited before the craziness of increased traffic and a million more people!

We arrived in Canada on Christmas day and realized that the next day was Boxing Day, similar to Black Friday, but also a national holiday. That meant not everything was open the day after Christmas, but all the tourist sites were willing to take our money!
Overall we had a very nice Christmas and thankful we were able to spend it together as a family.

Elliefun

2009-12-06T18:08:00.000-08:00

This is a long, but cute video of Ellie playing the Elefun game. For those of you who don't know this "game", it's an elephant that has butterflies come out of the trunk. The goal is to see who can catch the most butterflies in their net. The down side is that the butterflies last approximately 15 seconds before you have to start and set up the game again.
She had such a great time picking up the butterflies and enjoyed the process of setting up the game. She wanted to play with this elephant for over 30 min. I thought it was kind of cute (note she has on 1 shoe), plus it's long enough to make up for the lack of posts the last month!

Chickens

2009-10-31T12:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!
These chicks are doing well. Ellie is literally changing everyday; she is walking and talking so much more! Her words include: Mama, Matt, popcorn, up, Hutch (grandma & grandpa's dog) and more.
Ava is becoming a little lady. She now writes her name EVERYWHERE. In fact today I noticed she wrote it on the trash can! I have really been pleased with her new preschool, they are teaching her so many new academic skills.

I know I have been terrible about posting pictures. If you are not my friend on Facebook, I encourage you to join me there. You will find I post more frequently :-)

Award

2009-10-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Sherri from Warden4pack is a friend from high school. I love that the web allows me to keep in contact with people I have not seen in years! She has a great spirit and knowledge in the Lord, which is shown in her blog. She has passed me an award that I am sharing with my other bloggers.

The rules for this award are:

For those receiving this award it is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I want to pass this to:

Laura- a new mom!

Jamie

Caryn

Ashley

Danie

Crystal

Thank You all so much for making this world a MUCH better place!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-04T19:30:00.001-07:00

I have not posted a video in awhile, so I thought I would post one. It is not too interesting/exciting, but I wanted something I didn't post on Facebook.

Surprise Visit

2009-09-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Matt was home for the weekend! We surprised our families with his 3 day visit :-) He arrived late Thursday night, we played as a family on Friday, then had family over for breakfast Saturday morning. It took most people a second or two to realize that Matt was in the kitchen cooking pancakes!
We really enjoyed our time with him, we all have missed him SO much.

It's a deal

2009-09-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I am going to do some different things on the blog. Here is my first deal post, thanks to @Raising Daisies. Artscow.com has great deals on photos and photo products. You get ALL sorts of free things by signing up. Here is a link to Ellie's Friday book. If you recall, I took a picture of Ellie every Friday to capture her development, well this book is the final product.

I'm baaaack!

2009-09-21T18:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a month since I posted anything on here! I really don't think much has changed in that month; Matt is still in Seattle and the girls and I are just hanging out in Wichita. Everyone has been so nice to help me with the girls all the time. My family keeps me entertained especially on weekends, which tend to be the hardest. My in-laws are so good about taking the kids off my hands, which allows me some time to myself. My mother-in-law had Ava & Ellie today, so I was able to do lots of cleaning. I even had time to do some scrapbooking, which I have not done in over a year!!! Here is a flashback to Ellie this time last year- how quickly time flies.

Also, I am planning on mixing it up on the blog. I am getting kind of bored with posting only pictures of the kids. I plan on adding funny notes, great deals I have found or other random info. Just for fun!!

I love fruit

2009-08-30T14:39:00.001-07:00

Here is proof that Ellie will eat ANYTHING!

Massive Update

2009-08-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

I posted a few new pictures below, sorry I have not update in awhile. We are back in Wichita after a fun month in Seattle. It took a few days to get settled in, but we really enjoyed our time in the northwest.
We stayed with Matt and his 2 roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment. The girls slept in his huge closet. It housed 2 beds with plenty of space, so please don't feel like you need to call SRS. We didn't lock our kids in a closet! LOL!!!!
Matt works 12 hour days Mon-Fri and 10 on Sat. His only full day off was on Sundays, so we took advantage of our Sundays by sight seeing & spending quality time together.
Ava has been a little confused with the new living arrangements. Once in Seattle, she was very worried about her stuff in Wichita. She frequently asked where it was & what had happened to specific toys. Now that we are back in Wichita, she compares her 2 beds and wonders when she will see daddy next. I wonder the same thing, we don't have the next visit planned yet.
I have hesitated to book the next flights, flying alone with 2 kids is exhausting! We survived with minimal drama, but I found that United Airlines has poor customer service. I am sure it is not any different than other airlines, but I was in tears over their lack of assistance. Fortunately, fellow passengers were more than kind and assisted me when airline employees would not. Well, enough ranting about United...
As I said, we are back in Wichita. We were in town 1 full day before I had to take Ellie to the doctor's office. She has a contagious rash covering approximately 50% of her body! We are now in quarantine :-) I guess it is nice to relax a bit longer, but makes me realize how much I miss having my husband around.
We are confident we made the right decision, but it still stinks that he is away. Pray for our continued strength and that we will hear something from the Sheriff's department soon!

Waterfall

2009-08-22T18:24:00.001-07:00

The last full day that we had with Matt, before we left, was spent at the waterfall. We went hiking (with a stroller!) and enjoyed the scenery.

Ellie's Birthday

2009-08-22T18:16:00.001-07:00

Ellie truly enjoyed her hamburger birthday cake. The store we bought it from provided a cake just for Ellie to eat, which is why the cake she is eating is a different color! She doesn't look too happy in these pictures, but all happy pictures were blurry because she was wiggling so much!! ha ha!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

2009-08-08T06:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl. I can not believe it has been a whole year since Ellie entered our world.
She cruising around furniture, but not walking yet. She consistently signs "more" and starting to sign "drink" and "all done." Says "uh-oh, momma, dada & hi" and loves to shake her head yes & no! I am excited to watch her grow and develop even more.

Starbucks In Seattle

2009-08-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

One child liked her sip of Starbucks, the other did not...

Pacific Ocean

2009-07-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

We have been in Seattle almost a week now and tonight I finally took some touristy pictures. The weather has been nice, until today. Today, and the next 5-7 days will be in the 90s, which wouldn't be that big of a deal if we had air conditioning...

We have done a few of the typical tourist items; went to Pike's market, Space Needle, Puget Sound. I have not had too much of a desire to head into downtown Seattle because Everett (the town our apt is in) is nice and has plenty of kid friendly activities.

McDonald's Play

2009-07-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Ava and Ellie love to play together, here Ava is sliding down & Ellie is climbing up the slide.

Preparing for the trip to Seattle- I hope to keep the blog updated with different sceneray!

The girls playing around

2009-07-12T18:20:00.001-07:00

Ava loves to tickle Ellie to make her laugh, here is a snap shot of that!

Playing in the mirror

2009-07-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Ellie loves to play at the mirror while I get dressed in the morning. Cheap entertainment!

Things in Wichita have started to calm down, we are getting use to our new routine. Basically it includes a lot more TV so I can handle the craziness!

Special request

2009-06-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

The girls went to a friend's birthday party and had a BLAST. They all dressed up as princesses...
Ellie as Snow White

Ava as Cinderella & Kate (the birthday girl!) as Ariel. Her sister was Sleeping Beauty, but no pictures of her :-(

Our family

2009-06-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

A snapshot of the family before Matt left. He has made it Seattle and moved into a nice apartment. It has been hard having him gone, but we are just counting down the time until we go visit.

It's the letter B

2009-06-14T20:50:00.001-07:00

The girls went to a birthday party at My Gym this weekend, here is a picture of Ellie playing in the ball pit. She had so much fun!

Ava with her new bike! We picked it up at a garage sale for $7, thought it was just perfect for Ava. I am sure in a few years we will get her a better bike, but this is fun for now!

For those of you who don't know, Matt will be moving to Seattle on Thur. The girls and I will be staying in Wichita and visiting frequently! Please pray for all of us as we transition into a new phase of life. We are hoping he will only be gone for 6 months, but it is possible he will be gone at least a year.

Knowles-family

2009-06-09T05:34:00.000-07:00

As this is the knowles-family blog, I thought I would post some pictures of Matt and I 8 years ago today.
Don't we look young!!!

Rice Krispies

2009-06-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

We spent a few hours cooking together this week. This is a picture of the girls helping make Rice Krispies- yum!!!

Last day of school

2009-05-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Thursday was Ava's last day at daycare until Aug. Matt decided since he is laid off, he might as well keep them on the days that I work, so no summer daycare bills!

As with most schools, the last day is all fun and games! Here is snack before going out to play.

Painting with her favorite color- purple. The teacher put a few drops of paint in lotion to create body paint- pretty clever!

In the sprinklers with friends, this also helped wash off the body paint!

Ava's 1st Fish

2009-05-26T11:42:00.000-07:00

We went to the Knowles' family cabin at the lake for Memorial Day. This is the first time Ava and Ellie have ever been. We let Ava pick out her own fishing pole, of course she found the Cinderella pole that came with a tiara bobber & pink sunglasses!!! She had a blast fishing, and even caught a fish. A few times she caught the dock and would yell out "FISH!!"
We had a great time with family and Ava kept us laughing.

Lake Story

2009-05-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

I decided it was very important to get a picture of Matt fishing with the Cinderella fishing pole. Not only is it cute, but I always need a few blackmail pictures! While I was taking this picture, Ava fell into the lake. My mother-in-law proceeded to jump in after her, both fully clothed. Ava was pretty upset after falling in, but developed a healthy fear of the water. The rest of the weekend she told everyone to stay back so they wouldn't fall in!

My new "helper"

2009-05-26T11:28:00.001-07:00

Ellie is my new little "helper" around the house-- here she is doing dishes! She has started waving hi & bye, loves eating finger foods and has finally started sleeping better. Ellie's Grandma Janis had her spend the night for a few nights to assist with changing her sleep schedule, which really helped the issue. She now sleeps for ~7:30pm to 6:00am waking up 1-2 times in the span, but only requires a pacifier from Dad. Ellie will NOT take a paci from me at night, so dad now has night duty!

Momentum

2009-05-18T17:16:00.001-07:00

Well, Ellie is officially crawling! It's a whole new world, I have to be sure the floor is clean & that Ava does not give her anything that she shouldn't!
These are pictures of Ellie in her swimsuit and cover-up. We were planning on swimming with some friends, but the weather did not agree. Ava had a hard time understanding why I told her we were going swimming, then didn't make it to the pool. Someday she will get use to Kansas weather!!

Ava has started swim lessons without mom in the pool this time. She is learning to swim by saying "soldier, monkey, airplane"-- this is a flashback to my own swim lessons! I will attempt to get a picture of her in lessons and post it.

Baby dedication

2009-05-18T17:12:00.003-07:00

Ellie's baby dedication on Mother's Day
She wore the dress I wore at my baby baby dedication and the same dress Ava wore for hers.

Late Post

2009-05-06T18:00:00.001-07:00

Sorry this post is almost a week late- I will try to make another post this weekend, so I can catch up. :-)

Ellie is really becoming mobile. She can crawl backward & started crawling forward today-- ahh, life is a changin'! She also sits up on her own & can stand with minimal assistance.

Here is Ava holding the cookies her Uncle Tyler sent her. She was very excited about the purple ones! Today she started swim lessons that don't require me to be in the pool with her. She did a nice job of swimming & I was pleased to see that she stayed on the side of the pool when not with the instructor.

Happy 3rd birthday Ava

2009-04-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ava picked a Cinderella theme for her party. She loved eating this Cinderella cake that was more frosting than cake!

Here is a picture of Ava preparing for her party at 6 AM!!! We forgot to tell her that her party would not start earlier if she woke everyone up early :-)

This was the first year that was more oriented toward her friends- they all appeared to have a good time!

Hurt Finger

2009-04-19T18:39:00.001-07:00

About a week ago Ava hurt her finger (hang nail, I think), she really likes to show people where it hurts...

Hoppy Easter

2009-04-13T17:17:00.000-07:00

We had a fun filled Easter, lots of egg hunting and eating good food with family! Once again Ava refused to have her picture taken, so I only have before church pictures of Ellie.
Ava's master piece!

illness

2009-04-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

This sums up our week at the Knowles household. Everyone ended up having some type of illness. Ava was on antibiotics for the past 2 weeks, so she was wrapping that up, but continued to be CRANKY! Matt didn't go to work Monday or Tuesday because he was sick. He found out he had the flu along with an upper respiratory infection. He had doctors orders that he couldn't be around the kids! (nice, huh? I want to go to that doctor, maybe I could get a similar note!) When he called to tell me that Ellie was literally throwing up! She also had the flu & a double ear infection. Last but not least, I had pink eye! I am so grateful that I felt okay, because I'm not sure we would have survived if I was as sick as Matt.

This little number if for the person Matt works with that inquired as to why Matt was never featured in the Knowles "family" blog. My reply to that is because he HATES to have his picture taken. Obviously he is not aware that this picture was taken, nor that I am posting it! So, please tell him I have included him in the blog this time. Let's see how long I am allowed to keep this posted :-)

Like mother like daughter

2009-04-05T14:41:00.000-07:00

There is no denying it, Ellie & I look alike :-) I would like to note my dedication to this blog, I have posted pictures of myself without make-up & in a swim suit! I will blog at all costs!

These are pictures of us before we went swimming this weekend. Ava also went swimming, but she refused to get her picture taken. Ava started swim lessons last week, so this gave her a chance to practice her new skills.
We celebrated Patterson Family Christmas- delayed, by staying in a hotel with my parents, We had a good time & crammed a lot of activities into a few hours.

Random pics

2009-03-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

We are sitting watching a movie as a family due to the amount of snow we are receiving this weekend; possibly the most snow Wichita has ever seen! I figured this would be a good time to upload pictures.

The girls on St. Patrick's Day. This is the only picture I have of the girls together in their green shirts, it only took me two days to get 1 picture!

Eating dinner- I believe dinner was chicken and carrots. Each time she took a bite, she put her hand in her mouth, took food out & rubbed her face- lovely!

Ellie taking a nap in her car seat.

Daddy gave Ava a bath and had some fun with her hair!

Just my morning

2009-03-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

A Snap shot into a day in the life of Megan!
(This is a day that I stay home, not a *work* day)
I’m not sure when to deem the “start” of my day, since Ellie is up every 2 hours. In my head, the day begins when I go into the kitchen to start breakfast, usually by 7:00.

Start breakfast, Ellie is the only one up. Matt leaves for work by 6:30.

Eat breakfast myself, entertain Ellie & of course, check my e-mail & Facebook.

Realize at 8:00 that Ava must be sick b/c she is not up yet. I should also note that last week she had strep, has been on antibiotic for a week (another week to go), and now complains that her ears hurt.

Call the doctor, set up an appointment for 10:00

Once Ava wakes up at 8:30 (a hour later than she has slept in a year), realize her diaper has leaked & she is soaked in urine.

Strip down her bed, put it in the wash.

Bathe Ava, get her dressed, and then feed her breakfast.

Check the clock, realize that if we leave now I can run by the bank before the doctor’s.

Load everyone up, head to the bank.

Unload everyone, herd them into the bank (had to put some things in the safe deposit box)

Load everyone back into the car.

Get to the doctor

Unload everyone, including a toddler who is crying b/c she doesn’t want a shot & screaming when outside b/c the wind is making her ears hurt worse. The wind gusts are 34 mph

Find out Ava has double ear infections, have to change her antibiotics.

Load everyone back up. Decide to head to the local grocery store so I can knock out all my errands in one shot; fill prescription, grocery shop & deposit a check. I had to grocery shop b/c Ava is responsible for snack at her preschool this Tue & Thur. Deposited the check (different bank) from an insurance company, this is from the fender-bender I was in last week!

Get everything but razor that my husband requested. I didn’t get these b/c the kids were antsy; Ava didn’t want to sit in the cart & Ellie has missed her nap. Go over to get the razors, find they are locked up & you have to hunt down an employee to open the cage, realized I don’t really care about razors & figure I will have to go back to the store in a day or two anyway b/c I always forget something.

Load everyone back into the car. Had to put Ava’s shoes back on her, since she found it entertaining to play with them in the cart and frankly, I didn’t care in the store b/c she was quiet.

Get home, unload kids & groceries. Ellie has finally fallen asleep in her car seat!

Fix lunch for Ava & myself

Serve lunch to Ava

Put wet bed sheets in the dryer

Ellie wakes up, nurse Ellie

Attempt to eat lunch

Ellie starts to scream, put her in the highchair and open a can of baby food. Feel a tinge of guilty since I typically have homemade baby food for her, but don’t have anything frozen at the moment. Get over that guilt quickly.

Start feeding Ellie & take another bite of my lunch.

Ava needs help going to the bathroom.

Come back to feed Ellie & myself

Finally finish lunch

Take the random things out of the fridge that Ava put in there while Ellie & I were eating.

Make Ava pick up the kitchen utensils she has chosen to make a tower with. Mentally remind myself that one of the cabinets needs a new baby lock. (Had to take it off to add a double lock to a cabinet in the bathroom so she couldn’t get the medicine, again)

Sit down to write this post. It is now 12:30.

Hope & pray that Ava takes a nap- I know this is wishful thinking.

Oh- Ellie just spit up lunch on the floor. Better go clean that up & clean her up as well!

Professional pictures

2009-03-21T18:32:00.000-07:00

I took the girls to get some professional pictures taken. It took 2 hours from start to finish, way too long! I wanted more pictures of the girls together, but Ellie was not cooperating.
Once again, I can't figure out how to rotate the pictures on the blog. If I view them on my computer, they are the rotated correctly, but don't maintain that when I upload them. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know!

Delay

2009-03-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the week delay, we were without a computer for a week. I am so glad I have an iPhone so I was able to check e-mail and facebook, otherwise I am not sure what I would have done with myself. Computer problems are a bear! Speaking of bears, I have insisted on allowing Baylor basketball games to be viewed in my house. Since Baylor beat KU, the hubby has not been trilled with my alma mater. The pictures below are of Ava saying "Sic 'em Bears" with her green & gold Baylor blanket. In the last few days she has also picked up a southern accent, who knew you could pick that up by watching southern basketball? :-)

Ellie has really grown in the last week. She is starting to get up on her hands and knees, crawling will begin soon! She is also babbling a lot, which makes this speech therapist very proud. She has such a sweet & laid back personality (so far) As many of you know, we continue to have sleep issues. Ellie gets up about every 2-3 hours at night. We have tried EVERYTHING, from feeding her, letting her "cry it out", acid reflux medication, swaddling, etc. She has a bedtime routine, goes to bed every night by 8:00, can put herself to sleep... If you have any suggestions, please let me know, I am open to about anything!!!!
In the last week I even took her to a pediatric chiropractor. I tried this b/c a friend heard him speak & thought about Ellie based on all he said. He didn't really have any solutions for us; he said he sees this type of sleeping behavior with colic babies, but she does not have any of the symptoms of colic, so he didn't think he could be much help. I am finally resigned to the fact that there is nothing I can do to solve this problem, God is teaching me that HE is in control, not I. Please continue to pray for her sleeping patterns. The lack of sleep for 7+ months is really wearing on me!!!!!

1st official haircut

2009-03-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

Ava got her 1st haircut (not counting trims from mom.) She sat very still & chatted with the stylist, it was very funny!

Video Variety

2009-02-18T16:56:00.000-08:00

Sisters! (this is not how they typically interact, but this is a snippet of a rough day)

"Balentimes"

2009-02-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

Ava holding her Valentine's (aka "Balentimes") for her teachers. She is excited to show her teachers that we traced her hands (the larger outline is of a hand also, but we used Daddy's hand as a tempate for that!)

6 months

2009-02-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Ellie is now 6 months! She can now roll over, spin circles on her belly & push herself backwards. She talks in vowels, squeals & laughs. Solid foods are going well, she has eaten everything presented! Sleeping is still an issue, she continues to sleep 2-3 hr spans at night. Hopefully that will resolve soon!

Ava is quite the chatter box, she comes up with very funny statements. She is on the potty training road... she is mostly potty trained at restaurants. She asks to go to the bathroom about 5 times a meal, my mom says it's paybacks!

Caught in the act

2009-02-02T08:48:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of Ava refilling her watering can, unaware that I was wathcing! Check out the pride on her face at the end!

Pictures as promised

2009-01-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

Ellie

2009-01-20T18:20:00.001-08:00

I know I have been posting a lot of Ellie pictures & very few Ava pics. I will try to get some new pictures of Ava for next week. Take care :-)

Semi-sit

2009-01-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

Ellie is growing so fast. She is starting to sit for short periods of time, it was a bit difficult to get a good picture of it. We have decided she just does not want miss out on anything, which is why she doesn't sleep. Ava was a good sleeper as a baby, Ellie is NOT!
Ava amazes us daily with the things she says. We have to be VERY careful of what is going on around us. She now tells everyone "I want to be a Rockstar" because I was listening to a song that had this as the lyrics. O, the things they pick up on!

Solid foods

2009-01-02T12:26:00.000-08:00

I finally gave in and starting feeding Ellie solid foods. I was planning on waiting another month, but since we are having so many sleeping issues (i.e., sleeping only 2 hour spans) we started rice cereal today. Here is how it went...

A BIG thanks

2008-12-27T13:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful Christmas. We had a very merry Christmas. The girls got too much stuff, as usual.

Daddy helping Ellie open gifts

A couple of pictures of Ava in her dress-up clothes

Santa

2008-12-23T15:31:00.000-08:00

Gingerbread

2008-12-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

We went to our good friend's house today to make Gingerbread houses, it was a good time. Ava & her friend worked on their houses while their sisters took a nap!

Sisters

2008-12-14T19:55:00.001-08:00

(sorry, the computer keeps rotating the picture sideways!)

Ellie had her 4 month check-up. She currently weight 13 lbs 6 oz (50 percentile), which is about the same weight as Ava at that age. I am glad her weight is now normal! Ava is as busy as ever, she is enjoying Christmas trees, Santa & Christmas music. It is fun to see her so excited about every aspect of life.

4 months

2008-12-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

Ellie is now 4 months old- time is moving too quickly!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a happy Thankgiving, I know we did. We hosted Thanksgiving at our house on Thur. & again on Fri. This was mostly because it is much easier to have the kids at our house so I don't worry what Ava is getting into!

The Story

2008-11-22T18:20:00.001-08:00

I am learning that life with two kids can get very interesting. I am also learning how to "triage" life in general. The other day I was feeding Ellie, which is a time that is always difficult for Ava, since I can not maintain complete attention on her. As Ellie & I were sitting on the couch, I realized that things were very quite, even when I asked Ava what she was doing. Whenever I don't get an answer it is not a good sign. As I went to check on her, Ellie's diaper overflowed w/ poo. I walked in the bathroom to find Ava in this condition
(story continues after the picture)
Now the triage begins, do I
A. Yell at Ava for using all my mascara on her face & then clean her up.
B. Change Ellie's diaper & clothes to avoid getting poop everywhere.
or
C. Get the camera & take a picture.
Of course, I had to choose C, now I can show her this years later...
Ahhh, you just can't make these things up!

Ellie

2008-11-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Ellie has started to giggle, which is so much fun to hear

Build A Bear

2008-11-08T15:05:00.000-08:00

Ava and I had a date to Build a Bear so we could have some one-on-one time; she had a BLAST. Of course everything she picked was pink; dress, bow, shoes and panties! She name the bear all by herself - "Bear Hunt"

Ellie- you can't tell, but she is at the zoo...

The Butterfly & The Flower

2008-10-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

Busy household

2008-10-25T13:19:00.000-07:00

we have stayed busy these last few weeks, but nothing exciting to report. Ava is certainly a busy toddler, she likes to "sing" and frequently uses her outside voice. Ellie has decided she does not like this & cries when things get too loud- which only raises the volume of my life!

Ellie is smiling much more & loves to "talk" with anyone who makes eye contact with her.

Chuck E. Cheese

2008-10-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

A trip to Chuck E. Cheese on a cold & rainy day. Chuck E. Cheese is not too bad if you go early in the morning on a weekday, no one is there.

Why children don't need presents or toys

2008-10-09T15:58:00.001-07:00

Ava has too many toys, including several dolls. Instead of playing with those, she has decided Aunt Jemima is her favorite companion! She talks to the syrup, kisses it & loves it!

Oh the things you learn...

2008-10-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

what happens when you tell someone they are a tree hugger!

The other day I laughed at the things I have learned being a mom. These are things I am pretty sure I would never have known if it were not for my children.
1. That I will use the T.V. as a babysitter
2. My child will not die if I let her lay on the floor at McDonald's
3. I will totally let my kid lay on the floor at McDonald's, if it keeps her quite!
4. That I will change my outfit 6 times a day, not because of vanity, but because of spit-up.
5. Bug spray will take out permanent marker stains from any surface. (try it- it really works)
6. Automatic flushing on toilets will go off frequently with a toddler on the toilet, but you can stop it by putting toilet paper over the sensor.
and finally, to be sentimental
7. God must REALLY love us, since his love is greater than mine could ever be.

Same 'ol story

2008-09-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

Nothing new around the Knowles household.

Smile

2008-09-19T12:38:00.000-07:00

Quick update: Potty training is going well & Ellie now smiles frequently. It is fun to see them grow!

The Fam

2008-09-12T15:18:00.000-07:00

Life in the Knowles household has been busy. We started potty training Ava today, only 1 accident. The problem was the accident was on mom & dad's bed :( Ellie had her one month appointment yesterday- she now weighs 11 lbs 4 oz. The Dr. noticed she has thrush, so I have to give her & myself medicine every time she feeds. That means my whole day was shuffled between the two girls- the life of a mom!

Back to normal

2008-09-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

Life in the Knowles home is starting to get back to "normal." Ellie is sleeping more, she slept for 6 hours last night! Typically she sleeps about 4 hours at a time during the night. I am able to function pretty well with this amount of sleep.
We have started calling Ellie "puddles" because is spits up so much that she is constantly laying in a puddle of spit-up, lovely!
Ava began a new daycare. She enjoys going to school and we love hearing the funny stories from the staff. On the first day she had trouble keeping her shoes on because she wanted to "flex her toes" !?!
I am blessed to have a great husband who is a big help. He helps get Ellie back to sleep after those 3am feedings & has been going into work a little late to help with the morning routine. I have gone back to work (just my usual 2 days a week) and Ellie gets to go with me, so she is meeting lots of new people.
I think that sums up life around here!

3 weeks

2008-08-29T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ellie is 3 weeks old today! The transition between 2 kids has not been too tough- Ellie sleeps for about 4 hours at a time, so we are getting some sleep. Ava had some behavior problems at first, but we are slowing getting those back to what is expected of a 2 year old!

Matching dresses- on our way to church

Ava

1 week picture

2008-08-16T14:33:00.000-07:00

I am attempting to take a picture of Ellie once a week, just like I did with Ava. This is her 1 week picture. Be sure to scroll down to see zoo pictures that I added today.

Interactive zoo

2008-08-16T14:29:00.000-07:00

A new interactive zoo opened about a month ago- it was pretty neat to be so close to the animals. Ellie slept through the entire event, so Ava got lots of attention!

1st bath

2008-08-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

Ava watches intently as Ellie gets her first bath.

All clean

Welcome to the world

2008-08-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ellie has made her GRAND entrance into the world on 8/8/08 at 12:41 pm. She weighs 10 lbs 4 oz & is 22 inches!
I am attaching two pictures now, cuter ones will be updated (in the next few days)
All are doing fine!
Love,
The Knowles

Playing

2008-07-27T15:13:00.000-07:00

Flying on Daddy's feet

Playing in a box

Here are a couple of pictures of Ava playing around w/ Daddy. These will probably be the last posts of only Ava- the next updates should include Ellie! I am 2 weeks from my due date, but wishing & praying that she comes early. This 100 degree weather is getting tough!

summer fun

2008-06-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our summer activities, at least the ones we do between thunderstorms. The pregnancy hormones must be effecting me b/c I am posting a belly picture in my swimsuit (or "swimsoup" as Ava calls it). 7 1/2 weeks to go!

A Guatemala greeting

2008-06-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

This is a greating we recorded for Matt's brother Bryan, who is in Guatemala for a month. I thought I would post it here too, since I have not posted a video of Ava yet.

big shoes to fill

2008-05-19T13:29:00.001-07:00

Ava is doing a good job of walking in mommy's shoes!

Hungry

2008-05-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

Ava decided her baby was hungry, so she put her in her highchair & got her a bib all by herself! Mom only provided the cereal after Ava attempted to feed the baby a banana.

Offical 2 year pictures

2008-05-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

2 Years

2008-04-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Ava's Elmo party.

Update

2008-04-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of Ava helping put together her big girl bed. She loves to play in it, but will not sleep it in. She just cries "crib!" when we put her in it at night or nap time.
She has also developed some fears, mostly of loud noises. One big fear is the trash truck. About 20 min after the trash truck left, she looked at me very scared and said "Mommy, I see trash men!" Maybe our daughter has a 6th sense & sees trash men!

Easter Day

2008-03-23T15:15:00.000-07:00

Dad was sick, so he took our picture prior to church. We had a wonderful Easter & hope everyone had the same.

Coloring eggs

2008-03-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Ava loves hiding eggs, and now really enjoys eating hard boiled eggs.

Knowles Family

Merry Christmas in 2011

Merry Christmas

Spiders

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie

Dining room

The girls' room

Welcom to Seattle, bienvenido a Seattle

What? I have a Blog??

We have a Birthday Girl-- 4 years old!

My secret public journal

19 months

I HAVE DUST ON MY FAN BLADES!

fun with friends

I like to play with glass

Why Mommy doesn't blog much

*Gulp*

The BIG 3-0

ER visit

Snow bunnies

Olympic Debut

Elliefun

Chickens

Award

Pumpkin Patch

Surprise Visit

It's a deal

I'm baaaack!

I love fruit

Massive Update

Waterfall

Ellie's Birthday

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Starbucks In Seattle

Pacific Ocean

McDonald's Play

The girls playing around

Playing in the mirror

Special request

Our family

It's the letter B

Knowles-family

Rice Krispies

Last day of school

Ava's 1st Fish

Lake Story

My new "helper"

Momentum

Baby dedication

Late Post

Happy 3rd birthday Ava

Hurt Finger

Hoppy Easter

illness

Like mother like daughter

Random pics

Just my morning

Professional pictures

Delay

1st official haircut

Video Variety

"Balentimes"

6 months

Caught in the act

Pictures as promised

Ellie

Semi-sit

Solid foods

A BIG thanks

Santa

Gingerbread

Sisters

4 months

Happy Thanksgiving

The Story

Ellie

Build A Bear

The Butterfly & The Flower

Busy household

Chuck E. Cheese

Gulp