Kitchen. 

Avalee admiring the mess! 

Carter eating breakfast! 

Lincoln tried to drink his milk from the bowl and dumped it down the front of him. 

Lincoln and Carter! 

Thanks to Grandma B. and Aunt Jeana my kids had awesome easter baskets! Lincoln helped everyone go through their basket before he started on his own. 

If you look close, you will see bunny footprints on the carpet. Avalee was explaining to Lincoln and Carter that the Easter bunny came and left his footprints and eggs. 

Avalee is admiring what Lincoln got! They both had a blast! 

Lincoln had so much fun! 

Avalee, Lincoln, and Carter at the ward Easter Egg Hunt. There was so many eggs they didn't know where to begin. 

Lincoln finally got a new big bed also. He loves sleeping in a crib instead of a pack and play. He still needs to figure out that his head goes on the pillow. 

Avalee's new bed! She wouldn't let me put any of her new pillows on the floor. 

Avalee, Lincoln, and Carter have fun in the tub! 

Primary Activity

Avalee went to her first primary activity tonite. She had a blast. When I was putting her in her carseat to come home, I said, "wow, you are hyper". She responded, "Silly mommy. I'm not a diaper." I guess the word hyper doesn't have any meaning to her yet. I will have to work on that.

Time Out!

The last two days have been full of whining kids and colds. Avalee has a horrible cold and just wants to be held. Of course, this makes Lincoln want to be held also. Today they whined and cried at each other and Avalee was not content in any situation. Nathan decided that it would be best to seperate them so he took Lincoln to visit a friend. This was a very good decision as it allowed Avalee to calm down.

Nathan told Avalee that he was taking Lincoln to "time out" in the car. As Nathan and Lincoln left, Nathan took the garbage with him to the community trash compactor. After a while, Avalee said, "Lincoln went in time out in the garbage. Oh no, we won't be able to find him." I laughed and explained that Nathan had not put Lincoln in the garbage.

Even after Lincoln had made Avalee cry numerous times during the day, she still loves him and worries about him.

Swiper, No Swiping!

Avalee loves Dora the Explorer. We recently rented a Dora the Explorer movie. In each episode, a fox named Swiper tries to take something from Dora. Dora has everyone say, "Swiper, No Swiping! Swiper, No Swiping!"

Now when Lincoln tries to take something from Avalee or mess up her toys, Avalee says, "Swiper, No Swiping!" Avalee gets so frustrated with Lincoln because she will set up a tea party or other types of toys just perfect then Lincoln comes along and moves everything.

Today we took the kids on the metro train to the Ballston Mall for ice cream. It was the last place that Nathan wanted to be on a Saturday but Avalee and Lincoln loved it. We had to wait a while for the train to leave the stations so the kids enjoyed standing up. 

Ice cream fun. We left the kid's raincoats on them so we could just wipe away the ice cream mess. 

Two!

The other day Avalee was doing something she wasn't suppose to be doing. I told her I was going to put her in time out and started counting. I said, "one." Lincoln forceably yelled, "two." I started laughing so hard I never made it to three. I didn't know Lincoln was that smart.

Avalee the Mechanic!

Thursday morning we got in our car and it wouldn't start. We explained to Avalee that something was probably wrong with the battery. As we came back in the house, she ran to the junk drawer found a AA battery and a screwdrier and said, "My Avalee fix it." If only it was that easy!

Lincoln and Avalee discussing what they see out the window. 

I let Avalee and Lincoln play out on our patio today. They were just laughing and talking and after awhile I went to check on them. This is what I found!
 

The Mug Shot! 

Lincoln taking a break before the drama of the shower began! 

Look, mom! I got some mud. 

Avalee told me she got Lincoln all clean. 

Melinda's kids! 

Avalee and Abigail! 

Lincoln is nine months younger, even though they are the same size. 

The fun of cousins....Lincoln, Avalee, Mathew, Abigial, and Steven. For family members, these are Melinda's kids. 

Lincoln's Accomplishment

Lincoln reached a great milestone in his life today.

Last week we took Lincoln to the new Tyson's Mall playground. It has a fun tree slide. Lincoln would crawl up the stairs and jump or dive onto the slide. Needless to say, he got hurt a couple of times.

Today, we went to the mall. Lincoln ran right over to the slide crawled up the stairs and turned around and went down on his belly. Right before his face disappeared, I saw a smile of accomplishment. He was so proud!

Now I just have to get him to realize he has to run around and climb back up the stairs to go down again. He tries to be like the big kids and climb back up the slide.

Lincoln is too smart!

Lincoln and Avalee seem to play in the afternoons instead of taking naps. I put them both in their beds and left. After awhile, I heard Avalee yelling "Lincoln, give my sippy cup back." The only way he could have gotten it was if she had thrown it into his bed. I just ignored her and it got quiet. About an hour later, Lincoln woke up screaming. I went in to the room to find a fun project awaiting.

Lincoln has a horrible diaper rash. To ease the pain he had taken his pants and diaper off. Then he had drank the sippy cup full of water and peed everywhere. Avalee has always been one to take her clothes off but I don't remember her starting at 15 months.