Avery's 1st Day of Beauty

Dearie's most treasured tradition, for forty-one consecutive years, I have set aside the last day of the year for primping and pampering self and have shared the spirit of the day with so many friends over the years. But this year was truly special, it was Avery Kathryn's first Day of Beauty!!

Daddy and Riggs had many errands to tend while Mommy recovered from some virus and Avery (who had been planning to attend Day of Beauty with Mommy) was delighted to share in the regimen once Daddy dropped her off!

She sat in her "own" chair and was thrilled to have the baby lotion smoothed on her face, hands and feet. Mommy had sent her nail clippers but Avery wasn't into to the mani / pedi element of the day.



I think she's really excited about sitting in her own chair while getting her foot rubbed!!



After smoothing the baby lotion on her face, Avery wanted to make sure I knew how pretty she was!! She loved the one-on-one attention!!!

It wouldn't be right to spend a day primping without constantly munching on goodies like the big girls were doing so, Dearie cut up a little cheese so that Avery could have her own plate of goodies!



Such a little lady, Avery let Dearie feed her one bite of cheese at a time (not necessarily her favorite way to consume little munchies!!).



Avery arrived just after we'd all finished watching "Gone With the Wind" and she was not going to be happy until Dearie put the DVD back in for her to watch the movie!



We'd moved from the living rooms where there were far too many things of interest for Avery to the bedroom where she could get comfortable (and hopefully nap) while we watched the movie. Alas, Avery was completely consumed by the film!! More so than I've witnessed with Baby Einstein, she kept her eyes on the movie, bobbing her head when there was music and the best? When Scarlet would get a little emotional, Avery joined right in though I have no idea was Avery was telling /agreeing /arguing with Scarlet, she definitely was into it all. I don't know that Avery has much to learn from Scarlet . . . perhaps she could have taught Scarlet a thing or two??

No nap. Cheese, juice bottle, water bottle, three pamper changes and half the movie later, Daddy came to fetch her. Clearly not happy to leave, Daddy had a bit of a struggle getting Avery into her bucket! Once situated in the car, I leaned into to give her one more kiss and she did it . . . arms outstretched for "hold you!"

Happy New Year everyone! Mine is going to be great!!

My 2009 in Review

January
Darlings Avery Kathryn and Riggs Trey are born on the Feast of the Epiphany
My dearest friend, Susie Daigle, joins me in helping unpack Anne and Tim in their new home while Anne recovers from the delivery of My Darlings

February
Begin the pattern making for the Darlings' nursery ensemble and help Anne and Tim get situated in their new home
Help my sister, Stephanie, successfully get out of a pretty troubling situation

March
Getting my Darlings' birth announcements delivered to Anne complete with envelopes
Cutting pattern pieces (while matching the giraffe print at seams) and stitching for the Darlings' nursery ensemble continues

April
Filling Easter baskets with non-edible goodies for My Darlings
Trying to figure out means for connecting stiffer fabric to supple fabric and stitching for the Darling's nursery ensemble continues

May
Nursery ensemble completed just days before the Baptism of My Darlings
Six rooms of my home destroyed by a raccoon resulting in no place to live for seven weeks

June
Going through tons of "stuff" trying to decide what should be kept and what should be pitched
Decisions, decisions, decisions

July
Going through the "stuff" continues
Puppy sitting for my first darling, Abigail Leigh

August
Spectacular early birthday dinner with every one at Clair and J's home
Fifty-seventh birthday spent down with the flu

September
Spending quality time with My Darlings after workday projects
Getting ready for the garage sale in November

October
Having the garage sale of the century and finally emptying the POD of all salvageable contents from the raccoon attack
Hospitalized with paralytic ileus -- not a fun experience but was well tended by Tim, Anne, Clair and Buddy

November
Helping Anne and Tim with My Darlings when the babies had tubes put in their ears
Thanksgiving at Buddy's and getting to meet Frankie Biggs for the first time

December
Fashioned Christmas stockings for My Darlings and watched them with pure delight on Christmas morning
Forty-first Day o' Beauty shared with Darling Avery as she experienced her first one

Messages from Santa Claus for my Darlings

Avery's message

Riggs' message

Ah, children and the holidays

Merry Christmas!

I know its been a while since I've published a post (though I have written many!) but this one had to happen today! A couple of weeks ago, Anne began pulling things together for her first Christmas party here in Lafayette. She'd just returned from Thanksgiving in Louisville where she must have had plenty of time to scour numerous catalogs because she had very definite ideas on how she wanted to decorate the house. Amidst all the collecting, gathering, ordering, and organizing, she found it necessary to have CUSTOM made stockings for their new mantle! This was after I'd strung lights on both my Christmas tree she's using AND lights on garlands around the front door. She managed to find all the various fabrics and notions . . . and what can I say, I'm a sucker for anything that has to do with My Darlings . . . nothing is too much!

By last Saturday, the parts and pieces were delivered to my home. Anne has this thing about piping and seems everything I make for her is piped (though I never enjoyed making piping, I've gotten pretty darned good at it in this past year!).



I thought about this stuff all night long. Anne's most specific requests were that the stockings be large enough to actually hold gifts AND that each of the stockings (oh wait, did I mention that the number of stockings had grown to include one for both Mommy and Daddy!) should contain one element of each of the five base fabrics and notions! Okay. No biggie, except I didn't sleep restfully because I was too busy trying to collect and arrange all of this in my head!

Alas, I woke on Sunday morning, drew the pattern pieces for the stockings,



cut them out: boys in the beige linen and girls in the sage suede cloth, and arranged stuff on each one (its really difficult to come up with four stocking designs that coordinate, range from frilly to non-frilly AND the ultimate . . . meet Anne's test!). I called Anne and she came over around noon thirty to pass her eye of inspection on what I'd laid out. Here's Avery's pinned up for her to view:



The stockings (at least My Darlings' stockings) had to be ready for the big z'affair! With her approval on the layout, I've spent a little time each evening of this week working on putting these things together. Well, Anne has this way of finding fabrics with totally different weights . . . she's a textures girl . . . and, that was the case with the sage suede cloth. Too flimsy to support the weight of the trims. I didn't have time to get out to the fabric store so I used some left over linen I had in the closet to (you got it!) cut out another pair of stockings to interface the sage ones! One more thing, both sides of the stockings are trimmed . . . double the fun!

Well, long about Tuesday, Anne told me she'd found someone who could embroider the names on the stocking cuffs! Yippee!! Anne said that I should go ahead and do cuffs for Abigail and me! All cuffs were already cut but before I'd trust anyone to do the embroidery on the cuffs I had to give 'em specific instructions! Boy, did I!!!!



The cuffs were returned to me on Wednesday, perfectly embroidered. But, I had to go to see My Darlings Wednesday and Thursday night so there was little time for stitching!

But oh my goodness, I woke this morning and with a vengence I got moving on the stockings for Avery and Riggs. Though not yet lined (I can't seem to locate any lining fabric in my house and clearly I don't have time to get out to the fabric store!) but more than usable for hanging on the mantle for tomorrow evening's z'affair . . . .





Wish I could be a bug on the wall to hear how Anne tells folks about the stockings!!

Swiped images from Aunt B and Mommie

Lunch at Aunt B's. Little did we know it was going to be yucky!!


An afternoon at Aunt B's playing with Charlotte and Frannie while enjoying the absolutely gorgeous fall weather here in Louisiana. Of course, Aunt B's new camera arrived and you guessed it, she needed to try it out!!



Charlotte loving up on Avery.



Frannie trying to love up on Riggs!!



I'm not sure about this Mommie! Is it okay to hang in this?



Yep, I like this swinging!!



Mommie, this is not so comfortable for me!



Thank goodness I'm out of that swing . . . I wanna play with Maggie!



My favorite yard snack . . . leaves!! They are a little crunchier than my puffs!



Okay, I'm still . . . quick, get the picture!!



I really like swinging!



Dearie says I'm handsome and she's always right!



Traveling to Birmingham with Mommie and Daddy!



I have to get a turn to have a picture on the trip to Birmingham.



We decided this was a fun place to play 'cause we can see outside really well!



Before the LSU v Bama game, Daddy's little cheerleader!



Mommie is teaching me to yell!!



Say what??



Mommie's little man is dressed for the game . . . cool dude with his polo and jeans!




Daddy is showing off my fill-in hair!



No, this man is not from Arkansas. A graduate of Yale law school and a wonderful husband. a great dad and my son-in-law. I'm sure there's a really good explanation for this digisnap but presently, I can't figure it!! LSU lost to Bama . . . connections???

Showing off a little

L'il Miss Avery Kathryn ready to crawl some more!



Now, Riggs has learned how to open the bottom drawer and pull stuff out! This could make things VERY entertaining for Mommie and Daddy!

Swiped photos from Aunt B!!

As you may notice, the quality of Aunt B's digisnaps is a little off 'cause her camera's decided to go haywire. And, the camera went to the camera hospital so it can get all better before the holidays get here! Aunt B's beside herself without the camera . . . its okay Aunt B! Mommie has a camera she can loan to you!!

But these images are still good enough to provide a couple quick glimpses into my darlings' actions!!



While over at Aunt B's last week, Riggs discovered Maggie's waterbowl and wouldn't stop playing with it. For those of you wondering what this little fella might "really like" for Christmas, here's your best clue!!



Avery, my little ham!! What do you mean smile? I'm busy eating!! How about a little smoochie??



How's this? Can you see everything in my mouth! How about my two new teeth!! I can play with them any time I want!!



I'm concerned here, you want pictures but no one's cleaning my face! I can't do everything!

Back in the world of functioning

Following a few days in the hospital and a week of recovery, getting back into my normal groove is proving slow! Its been a while since I've had either the energy or the time to get on with the blog and wouldn't you know . . . there are forty-seven bajillion things I have to tell about my Darlings! Needless to say, they are crawling everywhere (very well I might add!), teething (and, Avery's two bottom teeth are almost completely out as of October 20!), and developing precious little personalities! Suffice to say, I have to load images from my camera and steal what I can from Aunt B's blog to fill you in but I will do it!!

This weekend I ran over to see my darlings on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday, I dropped off their little "have a happy Halloween" cards and Sunday I dropped off the package of "boogie" wipes that I'd forgotten on Saturday!!

Saturday afternoon / early evening, the Darlings had a few friends over for Halloween and trick or treating in the neighborhood. Aunt B snapped a few which I've swiped from her blog!



Cher l'il darlings in their giraffe costumes!!



BFF Ryker dressed as a duck!



The May Flowers, Charlotte and Frances, as . . . you guessed it! LSU Cheerleaders!!

As luck would have it, Sunday was the day that Mommie and Daddy decided to hang the swing that Aunt B had loaned 'em! From a mighty tall branch of the oak tree, Daddy managed to hang the swing and, Riggs was the first to give it a try!





Cher, he was laughing and giggling and just loving every moment in the swing!!




When it was Avery's turn, she was not-so-pleased with the notion of swinging (though she didn't cry, the grimace on her face said it all!). Course, she's still playing with her new teeth . . . either biting her bottom lip OR hanging her tongue out and over 'em!

Avery and Riggs are such blessings!

l'il giraffes for Halloween!!

Enjoy these little snippets of digital video and know that my darlings definitely know how to have fun!!

Just another Thursday afternoon

It was just about dinner time! Both Avery and Riggs were sitting in their high chairs enjoying the little puffs (which seem to be daily appetizers!) and making sweet little sounds. When I walked in and called for my Darlings, Riggs squealed and did his new little laugh followed by a string of dah, dah, dahs and Avery gave me a screach of enthusiasm punctuated with smiling squeals! Both began slapping the high chair tray!! Cute! Abigail came running to greet me . . . almost as though she feels the need to compete! Mommie was busy preparing dinner for the Darlings (busy 'cause Avery was getting a little anxious about having to wait!).

While Avery and Riggs were at MDO earlier in the day, Mommie took Abi for her annual well-dog check-up! And, although she had to have her first "geriatric" physical, Mommie was pleased to announce that everyone (the babies and the dog) weighed about the same . . . 20 lbs! Hard to imagine that nine months ago, Avery and Riggs were less tha 5 lbs each!!

Once dinner was finished, it was time for the playroom! While I played with the darlings, Mommie showed off her purchases from Gymboree! With the holidays just around the corner AND the nearly two weeks the Ryan clan will spend in Louisville, having the right outfit is definitely an important element. I can't begin to describe everything but, suffice to say that each of babies have at least five coordinating outfits complete with sweaters, sweater vests and quilted sleeveless vest. The pants (jeans and cords) for Riggs will need to be hemmed and Mommie will have to get the size 3 in their shoes (Mary Jane's for Avery and penny loafers for Riggs) because the size 2 are tight on Avery and Riggs can't get his foot in 'em!!

Daddy came in to scoop up the twins for their evening stroll so Mommie could get dinner going. Dearie had so much more to do in preparation for the red beans and rice lunch at UL. Kisses and hugs then I was off. Just another Thursday afternoon with my Darlings!!

From last Friday at Aunt B's house

Darling Riggs was tickled to play hide and seek with Frannie. Though lacking video, his laughter and squeals are enough to brighten anyone's day! Thanks Aunt B!

Visiting at home

Yesterday Mommie heard from Ms. Lauren (a college chum) who lives in Houston and was tickled to learn that the deposition she'd been in Lafayette for was cancelled so she could come by to visit. Word travels fast and not long after Ms. Lauren arrived, Aunt B came by with Charlotte and Frannie! Aunt B documents e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g and so, everyone piled into a chair for a digisnap moment!





Riggs decided that he didn't want to be with all these girls . . . once his crying started, Avery decided it wasn't fair that Riggs didn't have to remain in the group!! Oh yea, it is getting ready to be fun with the twins as they develop those little personalities!!

Swiped from Aunt B's blog

I knew, all along, that Aunt Blair had a few more digisnaps of Avery Kathryn from week before last when Mommie was helping her get ready for Frannie's big birthday party!



Avery has her pose perfected, please note that the body faces one way so that she's able to look over her shoulder. Guess Mommie's told her this was her pose?



This is the sweetest little picture . . . Charlotte kissing my darling Avery!

Getting ready for the garage sale

Aunt B came by this morning with Frannie to drop off a thank you note to Mommie, Avery and Riggs. While they were talking and catching up on the best method for cleaning up Aunt B's le Cruset pot (she did a fine burn job on it on Thursday afternoon!!) of enchilada soup--with a deep, crispy layer--well, what was supposed to be enchilada soup!!




Mommie was telling her about what still needed to be done for Dearie's garage sale, Avery having a doctor's appt. later in the afternoon and Aunt B decided she would just take Riggs for the day so Mommie could f-o-c-u-s!

As soon as the Mays left the driveway, Aunt B posted this image of Riggs taken as they were backing out of the driveway!!



Mommie sent it out to everyone and Uncle Zach sent a note back that said, "A confused little man, but sure is cute." Well, it was UK weekend (last weekend was Tiger weekend!) What folks may not be aware of is that Riggs is, in fact, a diplomat-in-training!!

Mommie and Avery helped Dearie out from time-to-time during the day until it was time to pick Riggs up before taking Avery to the doctor. Aunt B photo-journaled Riggs' visit with them:


Oh yea, I'm a happy boy! New toys, life is good!


I've learned, when Aunt B says "look at the camera," you look at the camera so she can get her shot OR she will stay in front of you, telling you to look at the camera and that can become troublesome if you really wanna play! Keep Aunt B happy and just look at the camera!


I can gnaw on anything that I can get to my mouth!


Oh yea, I will stay very still when pretty little girls wanna kiss me. You know the game, "kiss me, I'm Irish!" Me and kisses are tied up in rich tradition!! And, Frannie is such a sweet little lass!!

Mommie took off with Avery a little after lunch . . . they picked Riggs up, went to see Dr. Bailey and then came home. Both Darlings were thrilled to be back home so they could enjoy their new playroom. Mommie's got the right idea giving the darlings their own space . . . they love it!!

A quick trip to the park with the May Flowers!

I know Nana and PopPop will enjoy these images from earlier this afternoon!!



How precious?



Okay, I'll smile a little bit for the camera but, I lost my baumbie!!



Don't worry about it, I think I've found a way to satisfy the need for a baumbie.



Riggs doesn't need his baumbie right now so I'll use it, okay?