Fun around the house

Avery said her first sentence a couple weeks ago. The girls were pulling a bunch of stuff out of a cabinet, and I came up and asked what they were doing. Avery stands up and declares "What a mess!" like she didn't have anything to do with it.

Sitting in their chairs drawing. A rare moment of peace and quiet!

We had to wear these adorable sun dresses and our summer shoes one more time before it got cold.

Kara's favorite activity in the whole world is riding her horse.

Showing off our Halloween shirts.

Look at our cool hats!

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A few weeks ago we went up to Arkansas for our college homecoming. They had a choir reunion, so I got to see a bunch of my old friends. We stayed in a hotel room, and it was the first time the girls spent the night away from home. Kara had some trouble going to sleep in a new crib, but during the day they had a lot of fun. JBU provided childcare, so they got to play all day with other kids.

JBU Cathedral Choir sang a few pieces, then the alumni came up and joined them. It was a lot of fun!

Playing with balloons outside the childcare area. Avery's pant got dirty, so she was pantless when we picked her up.

Dallas Cowboy fans

Steve is attempting to create two new sports fans in our house. Obviously my feigned attempts to seem interested in sports aren't believable. He's hoping the new generation of Whitsons will share his love of football and basketball. We got them each a "Biggest Little Cowboy Fan" shirt for the opening game of the season last Sunday. I don't think they watched much of the game, but atleast they looked cute. :)

Kara and her two penguins watching the game

Showing off her new shirt

Yes, that's right...I've resorted to taking a picture of them trapped in a grocery cart to get them both in the same picture looking at the camera.

Mother's Day Out

We started twice a week Mother's Day Out on Tuesday at our church. I can't believe they're old enough to go. I was a little sad dropping them off. I've never left them anywhere before, but they did great. After crying for a minute, they were fine. My mom is the director and I really like their teacher Miss Jackie. I must say it's awfully nice to have a few hours to myself. I'd forgotten what the peace & quiet was like!

Checking out our lunchboxes before leaving for our first day of school

In the car on the way to the church

Two Silly Girls

In the last couple months, Kara has become very concerned with cleanliness. Lately, Avery is too. It's so funny. They find tiny specks of dirt on the floor & say "uh oh" over and over while they hand it to me or take it to the trashcan. They've obviously noticed my less than stellar housekeeping abilities. Thanks girls! They also want their hands kept clean when they eat, and most of the time they let me know if they need a diaper change. Maybe we can potty train in a few months. No more diapers!!!

Hanging out after church

Playing with rocks

As usual, my attempts for a picture of the girls together never work

Sitting with Gigi & Grandad

I leave the room for a minute, then come back to find Kara has climbed onto the dining room chair. Atleast she isn't on top of the table...I'm sure that will come next.

Miss Smiley

Showing off her pretty bracelet from Gigi

Playing outside

Finally....new pictures

Avery & Kara are 20 months old now. Their favorite things to say are "What's that?" and "Uh oh!" I hear them both about a million times a day! Kara is climbing on everything. She can climb into her crib and somehow stealthily climbed into her highchair when I wasn't looking. Avery's trying out lots of new words, and they both use quite a bit of sign language. We have a few sign language videos that they love. They're very into puzzles and shape sorters...and stealing things out of cabinets and off counters.

They're personalized chairs I couldn't resist buying. Ofcourse they each prefer the chair with the wrong name!

Attack of the stuffed animals

...and again

Attempting to use our spoons. Getting better with practice!

I'm not sure what they were doing when I took this pic, but it looks like they're dancing with Kara taking the lead

Avery looks like a little nurse. We were out to eat with Steve's parents.

Yes, Kara is nibbling two big pieces of chicken at the same time. She wouldn't let us take either away from her.

Poor little Edgar had surgery to have a growth removed...non cancerous thankfully. We've renamed him Frankenbeagle.

Keats took good care of his buddy while he felt bad

We went to the Dallas World Aquarium a few days ago. It was hot & crowded but fun.

Checking out a giant fish

Watching the flamingos

It's a bird...it's a plane....ahhhhh, it's a flying saw shark!

New Professional Pics

I had some new professional pictures of the girls taken a few weeks ago. The photographer, Brad, is wonderful! He's the only photographer who's ever gotten them to smile (he took their one year pics). Brad came to our house and set up all his equipment while the girls watched. It put them at ease and everything went really well. Here's his website: www.rembrandtstudio.net
If you need a good photographer, call him!

Little miss giggles!

Some Recent Pics

Wow, the girls are 19 months old today! We went to their 18 month check up a couple weeks ago. Avery finally weighs 20 pounds, and Kara's 21.5lb. Kara's an inch & a half taller than Avery. They're saying more new words all the time, especially Avery. She's become quite the little talker. They still love books and can identify lots of different animals and pictures. They've started playing little games with each other involving blankets, the curtains, crawling like animals. They crack me up.

"I love my sister!"
They give each other kisses sometimes. So sweet.

Fun with blankets

Wearing Dada's belt and Mama's sandal. Kara loves walking around in our shoes.

Hooray for Avery!

How cute are they with pigtails?


Avery's enjoying Kara's hairdo

Working hard on a puzzle

My beautiful orchid I got on Mother's Day. Miraculously, despite my black thumb, it's still alive!