*** Ava's Birthday ***

The day after Easter, April 13th was Ava's birthday celebration.

Madison and Kennedy were invited over to Ava's for sweet snacks and cupcakes.

Kennedy had her own special dish of cheerios (at the time she wasn't eating much more than baby food at that point) Her baby was (of course) in tow.

Ava loved blowing out her candles.

The girls loved celebrating Ava's 3rd birthday with her

(we missed the big party because of our beach trip- later post)

Another out of order post

This one is important, too.
While we were in FL we had some pictures taken at the photography studio where I worked in high school.
We truly fell in love with most of them.
They really capture the personalities of our little ones.
As great as the photos are....the prices are astronomical!
We won't have any hanging in our house, so enjoy them online while you can.
Here is a link to view all 45 of them.
The gallery is only available for a week so look fast.

Go to http://www.brucewilson.com/
click enter site
then click resources in the top right corner
click online ordering
our session id is lackey_portraits

Enjoy!

Blog- interupted

I have to interupt my behindedness
(ok, that's totally NOT a word- whatever)
for BREAKING NEWS....

Kennedy signed her first word today!!!!

We used baby signing with Madison,
but didn't start working with her until she was 10 months old.
She signed lots before she spoke
(do you remember? go back a few years if you want to catch up).
Signing is a FANTASTIC way to help babies express themselves when they are still learning their speech.
Not to mention it leads to excellence in reading comprehension.
We wanted to continue signing with Madison but pretty much failed.
When she really started talking we just stuck to verbal....
I digress....

we started signing with Kennedy last week...'eat', 'more', and 'milk'.
good basics
She's been responding to eat and milk when they are signed to her since day 3
but TODAY is the first day she signed what SHE wanted.
SO exciting....
MILK she said (signed)......

And milk she got.
from the mommy bottle as Madison says.

***Easter***

*** Finally, I'm publishing some old posts. We were waiting on the other pics from our FL trip, so these are not the best of the best- but they will do ***

Easter morning we woke up and prepared for our egg hunt.
Gramm and the neighbor, Susan (Ava's mom- remember Ava? She is 5 months older than Madison. They love playing together) planned and gathered treats for this huge hunt for weeks.
Madison started her day by helping Uncle Matt snap green beans for the afternoon's special meal.
Mommy and Gramm made the rest of dinner, then it was time to hunt eggs.
Uncle Matt was still in town for Easter and Uncle Daniel and Aunt Abby came over for the special hunt.

Everyone donned their ears and we were ready.
Madison and Ava were so cute in their little sundresses.
Whenever one of them spotted an egg they picked it up and gave it to the other.
In a few years I'm sure it will be me, me, me...the sharing was nice.

Kennedy took turns hanging out with Uncle Matt, then Gramm.

Madison and Ava searched Gramm and Pop's yard,

then went thru the new gate to Ava's yard and found some more.
When all the plastic eggs were found the girls sat on a blanket to exchange and divy up the goods.

When all the necklaces, candy rings, toys, crayons and other goodies were seperated, the girls parted their ways.
We all put on our special Easter dresses and headed to the church where Mommy grew up, St Cloud Presbyterian.

Our church at home is very big and the girls each have their own nursery/Sunday school room (infant-walking, walking-2yrs, 2yr, 3yr...you get the idea). We get a pager when we drop Kennedy off at home and they page us if she gets really upset and wants Mommy...only happened once so far. She was a hungry girl.
Mommy had a feeling she would not be happy in the little nursery room at church, so I went back to check on them right before service started. As I expected, she woke up from her short nap (she fell asleep in the car on the way there so we carried her in her infant seat).
Just before the sermon the pastor called the children up for a special message. Mommy noted Madison walked in with the other nursery kids, but no Kennedy...
I went to check on her only to have a special helper meet me in the hall on the way there to tell me she'd been screaming for quite a while.
She just wanted Mommy. I scooped her up and she was fine.
She joined all of us in the sanctuary just in time for the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus and visit with her Great Grandpa Lackey. She loved it.

After church we went back to Gramm's to play with their special Fisher Price Easter toys and all the great treats so many wonderful people gave them.

Aunt Nancy gave them each baskets and fishy plates, Aunt Darlene gave them each a Mickey/Minnie plush doll with their baskets (she was so good- the dolls matched their dresses!) Of course the Easter Bunny himself delivered all kinds of goodies for these very blessed (and a little spoiled) girls!

Aunt Nancy, Aunt Betty, Miss Meaghan, and Uncle Daniel's special friends from UGA joined us for an awesome Easter dinner.

Downtown Disney with Pop

Friday, April 10th Pop took his girls to Downtown Disney to play for the day.
We parked at Disney's Westside and strolled over to Downtown Disney.
We stopped at an irish pub in Pleasure Island to take a picture on a bench.

Then continued on to the new T-Rex restaurant.
We cruised thru the retail area, past the Build-a-Dino (from Build-a-Bear) to the fossil digging area.

Both girls had a great time, although Kennedy seemed to enjoy trying to eat the little pebbles more than really digging for fossils.

Maybe next time we will check out the food in the restaurant.
Check out their website for more info.
Next we meandered over to Legoland.
Madison thought the giant sea creatures made of legos were pretty cool.

Then she played in the interactive area with Pop.

Kennedy hung out with Mommy, although she was sporting the frowny face at first.

She quickly turned that frown upside down when she saw Pop.

Madison and Pop watched while some bigger kids made lego cars for a race.

Then they built one together and put it on the line. 3-2-1....

They won their race! Here is their car.

Check out the super cool lego family. Madison liked the dogs.

Then we ran into a couple of Madison's friends in front of World of Disney.

Look she even matched Aurora.

Then all the girls hung out with Cinderella.

Madison gave Mickey a big hug when we got inside.

Then she tried on a few princess hats.

Which made her pretty happy.

Kennedy enjoyed her baby teether.

Then we headed over to the train, one of Madison's very favorite things.

She helped Pop get her token.

She wanted to ride by herself. Pop walked in and helped her climb in and get her seatbelt on, then left the conductor to get her strapped in.

Then she folded her hands in her lap and rode around the short track by herself.

It brought tears to my eyes to see our little girl looking so big.

See her little head poking out toward the back of the train?

Kennedy kept herself busy teething with Mommy's necklace.

Pop showed Madison the parrots at Rainforest Cafe before we headed home.

What a fun morning.

Bath time

When we got home from Sea World the girls got a second wind.

One of their favorite things to do on our trip was bath time in Gramm's big tub.

Madison said she was making Kennedy 'be Santa'.

Kennedy just loves her big sister.

Such funny kids.