terrible twos? not right now

Don't you hate it when you blog a really long post and just when you're about done, something happens and you lose it all.  Then you are faced with the decision of: do I start over and try to capture the spontaneity and humor of the 1st post or do I just do a run down of the pictures and give my brain power a break?....you know, because writing a blog post is quite mentally exhausting ;-)
Sorry everyone, brain break won out

Here she is in all her 2 year old glory, Avonlea Elise
This girl brings a smile to my face and heart EVERY SINGLE DAY!
She is such a sweet sweet girl and has so much love to give.  She loves to give hugs and gives them freely, even if she doesn't know the person.  I love that when I get her out of her crib in the mornings, she just snuggles into me and lays her head on my shoulder.  Always is a favorite moment of the day for me.  She has such a sense of humor and is so thoughtful and kind.  She always says "thank you mommy" when I do anything for her, like doing her hair or changing her diaper. LOVE THAT.  She likes to tell knock knock jokes and she is BUSY!  She gets into everything and pushes the chairs around the kitchen so she can climb and get into even more stuff.  She is our little tornado and we love her to pieces
2 yr. stats- 29 lbs and 35 1/2 " tall
Her is a run down of her party and another little adventure we had with her this week 

we have to start the morning with some special birthday cereal

 after her birthday bath, she got in her new birthday outfit and play play play.  She also got to come help me teach dance

 

after one of her favorite dinners of terriyaki chicken and rice, it was time to par-tay

all the kids were there in case she needed help opening the gifts.  They were there to help her even if she didn't need help, cause that's what older brothers and sisters and friends do right?  they open your presents FOR you ;-)

"YES! I totally scored" 

I knew her birthday would be a little crazy since I had to teach dance so I needed an easier cake for her.  This caterpillar turned out pretty cute (soft frosting and all) and was pretty easy 

I'm sure Kimball was thinking "enough with the pictures mom, let me have some cake already"

Using her bubble blowing lawn mowing machine.  unfortunately you have to push it to make the bubbles blow...but how can you chase bubbles if you have to push a lawnmower?  that is what Avonlea is trying to figure out
We had a wonderful birthday with Avonlea and a couple days later, we had another adventure with her.  Remember how I said she gets into everything?  This is how we ended up in the E.R.
Ammon has a little pocket in his backpack that he kept a ziplock bag of some vitamins and some of his pills so if he forgets a dose, he will have some on hand.  Well, he had just come home from school and a few minutes later I see Avonlea holding something in her hand.  Its some vitamins and the ziplock is on the floor.  I asked Ammon if there had been anything else in the bag and he thought there was 1 pill left.  I searched and couldn't find it and Kimball said he saw Avonlea eat it.  We called poison control and they said that she was at a toxic level if she did eat it and it was better to be safe than sorry so we needed to take her to the E.R. 
Have you ever noticed that when you need to go somewhere fast, you hit almost every red light?  rrrrrrrgh. However, Avonlea was just in the back singing to herself and being super cute.  We got to the hospital and the poison control center had called ahead so they were ready for us.  She was acting totally normal and happy with no symptoms and there wasn't any other way of knowing if she had taken the pill with this medication so to be safe, they had her drink charcoal so the drug would bind to that and pass through rather than get into the blood.  I'm sure Ammon could give it to you in more technical terms but did you read what I wrote?  They wanted her to DRINK CHARCOAL!!! you know, like coal?  that stuff that you throw in the fire and have bbq's with?  yup, that. 

doesn't she look just so distraught? 

the brought the charcoal in a little sippy mixed with chocolate milk and cherry syrup to try to make it taste a little better but what it looked like is if you were to pour a little water in some ashes and then gulp it down. oh yummy yummy.  However, my daughter is amazing.  It took a while and a little bribery but she drank it ALL!  If she hadn't, they would have had to put a tube up her nose and down her throat and feed it to her that way.  I was SO HAPPY that she drank it and they were quite surprised she drank it all too.  They said not many kids would do it.  I wish I would have taken a picture after she was all done with all of it.  Her whole chin and cheeks were black black. she was a doll anyway. 

sippin it down. sometimes it helps to drink it through a straw so you cant see it.  Just ask Bella ;-)

Well after that, she deserved a little pampering with some crackers and cheese in bed and watching the tube.  All in all, everything turned out fine.  We feel so blessed and we could not ask for a sweeter little girl.  I'm glad I'm documenting this because I'm sure sometime in the next couple years (or the next 16 years) there will be times where I say, "This kid is driving me insane" but then again, maybe not.  Maybe she will always be a bundle of joy.  But I'm not counting on it ;-)