Little Lins!

Hi. My little ladybug is now 162 weeks old.

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Hi there. My little bunny is now 25 weeks old and still loves grabbing her feet.

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Hi. I’m Ava. Can’t look up. Mama is letting me paint my fingers and toes for the first time.

Must. Con. Cen. Trate.

Almost done.

Tada!!!

Now time to paint my little piggies.

Right foot.

Left foot.

All done. What was Mama scared of this whole time? This painting stuff is EASY!!!!

Hey Dada! You want to be beautiful like us?

Okay?

Looking good, Dada. Looking good.

Hi! Our sweet Ava is now 37 months old!

And what was she doing when she turned 37 months old exactly? Napping in the car at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona.

And when she woke up, she was ready to run. But where is Deets?

No Deets this time. I think she remembered this picture from over a year ago.

So she had to make new friends. And she immediately befriended this young cat.

And the cat tried to get her to go ghost hunting in the graveyard with her.

Maybe next time silly cat.

Is that a ghost over there?

The cat eventually came back and Ava played mini-golf with her.

Ava keeps asking if we can go to Nona’s house or to the Clubhouse with Grace. So Dan busted out the map to show her how far we were. Not sure if she got it but we gave it a try.

Ava has been enjoying trying to cook with Dada and sometimes with Mama too. (Hey, I make pancakes!)

And when we went to see the old copper mine, she asked me if Chuck E. Cheese was in there. (???????)

The little dinner at the Shady Dell has ice cream sundaes just her size. Much to her delight.

And the weather is perfect for some play time. She finally got to use the moon sand she was begging to use all week.

For Valentine’s day, it was ice cream sundae time again!

I think she is a little tired of playing with us all the time.

But lucky her, a friend showed up. Hello Sophia. And they quickly became friends.

Ava got to go to Tombstone. This is her second time here. Take that Dida!

And if restaurants are too crowded, like this one in Tombstone, Ava likes to cover her ears and say that it is toooooo loud.

The girls had fun running around. Ringing bells.

And when I asked Ava what we should buy Dida, Ava told me that Dida wanted this horse. Nice try, Ava.

They also got to eat pancakes together at the little dinner.

And play on old mining carts.

And scream ‘stop’ on the street so the adults would halt every few feet. Which took us a very long time to get anywhere but we were in no rush.

All that stop and go pooped us out so it was off to the Copper Queen hotel for Happy Hour.

It’s nice to have another kid here for Ava. Even though she gets super crazy.

These two love playing “You can’t catch me!”

And they even played it on Geronimo’s Monument. Moments later, Ava fell off of this thing. Right into the bushes. It could have been really bad. But she was okay. Thank God. Ava has a bad habit of running and looking behind her at the same time.

Then it was off to New Mexico. Look! The beach! Not really. Hello White Sands National Monument.

Ava has been acting up again. And gets time-outs every once in while. Even at National Monuments.

Then it off to play in the sand.

This place was super awesome. You must go if you are ever in New Mexico.

She had a blast sledding with Dada… until her legs folded under the sled somehow. We all freaked out for a second but she was okay.

Alright. Time to get back to our road trip.

And relax. Bye!

Hello. Our little Mila is now 24 weeks old!

And still enjoys napping with Yoda. Even though she has no idea that the cat is even there.

When she is awake she is loving this exesaucer. What is not to love?

This week we are at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona. One of our favorite spots to visit.

And how is Mila enjoying our road trip so far? I would say that she loves it. As long as Mama is near by.

Mila has become a great grabber this week. Much to her sister’s dismay. Mila loves trying to pull the sippy cup out of Ava’s hands every morning and at bedtime.

We try to take a lot of walks on our road trip. Sometimes Mila sits in the stroller…

…but she still prefers this carrier. Each time she falls asleep, I wonder what she thinks when she wakes up. Because by then, we are in a new place.

Where are we now, Mama?

At an ice cream parlor? Cool. One banana split, please!

In the mornings, Mila LOVES laying next to her big sister. And her big sister loves showing Mila the ropes.

Oh Mila. You are growing up so fast!

And she even have a pair of sunglasses now. (Sorry they are so crooked!). Happy first Valentine’s Day.

Dada gets in on the baby carrier action too sometimes. Here is Mila are asleep with Dada since she refused to sleep in the bed.

Mila’s sleep pattern is wearing on us this week. She sometimes wakes up 10 times a night. We seriously can’t handle it anymore. Almost to the point that we considered going home. So tonight, on Valentine’s day, we started sleep training. The pack ‘n play came out and Mila started to cry it out.  It actually only took a half an hour of crying for her to fall asleep (Ava took an hour) on her first night. Don’t laugh at the sheet. We have to cover her since Dan and I stay up later than the girls. And she only woke up twice that night. Yeah. It’s working!! By the fifth night, she didn’t make a peep. She just passed out.

When Dan works during the day, the girls and I sometimes hide out in the bed room and have play time.

Mila loves chewing on anything she can get her hands on.

And sometimes she is lucky enough to get a story read to her by Ava.

Mila hates riding in her car seat at the moment. So it makes road tripping a little tough. But we schedule everything around her sleeping times so it all works out.

Night night.

And by the end of the week, we were off to New Mexico.

To see White Sands National Monument.

Night night. Again.

Peek-a-boo! Ava is now 160 weeks old!!

First stop this week was the Ostrich Ranch! It took some time but Ava finally warmed up to the lorikeets. Yeah!

And she fed them like a pro and made her Mama so proud!

She also fed lots and lots of deer.

And silly goats too.

Our first campsite of the trip was right across from a playground. Ava couldn’t have been happier.

And she got to stick her hand in a pool too.

But that wasn’t good enough. She needed to wear her new flip flops.

She walked VERY slowly to the pool with those things on.

So she can do what us big people do. Dip our feet in the pool.

In the rec room, Ava announced that she was going to read some girl books now. She came back in a boatload of romance novels. Pink ones. And said that all these Fabio men in them were Superman. Awesome.

The next day, it was warm enough for a real pool day.

And she got to wear her new bikini. “Just like Mama” she said.

Jump, Ava. Jump!

She has been occupying herself with her tool set with Dada outside.

And hosting tea parties for all of her friends.

And writing postcards too.

Then the rains came. But she didn’t mind. Time to bust out her Hello Kitty getup.

And spend time indoors in the rec room. Dancing.

She also got to play with a friend she met the last time we came through Tucson.

And pay for laundry for the first time. A serious highlight in her day.

Then it was sight-seeing time. Breakfast at the Cup Cafe.

Ghost hunting at the Hotel Congress. (She didn’t see any this time).

Playing at the Children’s Museum. Her favorite part was being a vet and giving cats shots in their foreheads.

Shopping was pretty fun for her too.

This? Not so much. I totally posed her for this moment.

We had a puppet show for Dada too, who was enjoying that bike a little too much.

This week Ava started to eat green mild salsa. Good job Ava!

And Yoda sat on her lap. Notice how the milky is down. She didn’t want anything to ruin this moment.

Alright. Time to play with our new English friends. Bye!

Hi there. Our little Mila is now 23 weeks old!

And blowing bubbles like a mad women.

This week began with a drive from the border to Tucson. With a quick trip to Rooster Cogburn’s Ostrich Ranch.

But we stayed away from the actual ostriches. Those suckers are mean. Lorikeets are pretty mean too but at least they are not taller than us.

Mila has been happy… and all scratched up. I have been cutting her nails a lot lately but she seems to like digging into her face.

It will all heal very soon, little one.

Once you stop grabbing!

So we made to our first campground and had a chance to relax by the pool.

And hang out in the Airstream, causing trouble. Mila LOVES pulling Ava’s hair. It makes her laugh.

Ava had enough the other day and actually bite Mila’s finger. Not good.

We had some rain days this week so we spent time indoors.

Hanging out.

And drooling on those chubby cheeks of hers.

And deciding who is going to get grabbed first.

Mila is also loving her feet. As soon as her socks are off, those things go straight into her mouth.

Mila actually laughed out loud for Ava this week. Mila and I were chasing Ava around the rec room and when we would all stop, Mila would laugh and laugh. It was so awesome!

When we did get out of the Airstream, Mila spent time ghost hunting at Hotel Congress.

And riding on cop bikes.

At night and in the morning, she is trying to grab the sippy cup out of Ava’s hands. And she is close to doing it too.

Mila is still napping in the carrier when we are out and about, too.

Alright, time to get some breakfast. Bye!