Last Music Class

On Wednesday we had our last Tiny Tots N Tunes music class. The toddler class was combined with ours and guests were invited so there were a lot more people than we were used to but still very fun. When we first started attending music class I didnt think Ava really enjoyed it but as I started to sing the songs from class she seemed to become more interested each time we went. I could tell she was listening and soaking up something from class despite the fact that I felt like I was just chasing her around and keeping her from getting in diaper bags and strollers. Two of Ava's favorite things from class are the shakers and bells and lucky for us we got to take some home with us! I am sad that class is over but we will always have the memories of Ava's first music class with our friends from our playgroup.
(Since I didn't bring my camera I stole these pictures off of Amy and Leanne's blog. There is a video at the end of Leanne's post with Ava shaking the bells for those who are interested.)

Brinley, Ava, and Madison shaking the bells

Ava and Brinley on the parachute

Notice my little toddler in the top left corner doing a meet and greet with all the new people. She walked around the circle of people almost the entire class.

Miss Holly ended music class by reading Brown Bear Brown Bear just like the very first music class. We know this one well so Ava actually stayed put the entire story.

Bubbles! :)

The playgroup with Miss Holly, the babies' first teacher

Easter 2010

We had a very low key Easter this year. We got Ava dressed in her pretty Easter dress, given to her by Gigi, went to church, and then Ava went on her very first easter egg hunt with Macy. Last Easter she was just a wee little thing so we have been looking forward to watching her carry around her easter basket and look for eggs for the first time. She looked adorable and we took a ton of pictures. These are some of our favorites. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Macy's eggs had dog treats in them

I had to hand Ava her eggs at first

Ava's eggs had snacks in them

Love this one

and this one

Macy looking for bunnies

ok, i love this one too (pretty much all pictures of these two together)

Ava saw this little worm on the sidewalk

She dropped her flower and picked up the worm. Gross!

After the egg hunt we went over to my aunt Kassandra's house where some of the family
was gathered

We dyed easter eggs and had an egg decorating contest

Aunt Konnie's egg (my personal favorite)

Mikey's Dallas Cowboy egg and my sparkly egg

Cheering on the dads

This morning Vaune and I, along with Ava and Luke, headed to downtown Dallas to cheer on Mikey and Ryan as they crossed the finish line in the bike race they were participating in. Cycling has become a new hobby of Mikey's and it turns out Ryan enjoys it as well. Mikey is riding in the MS15o from Houston to Austin in a couple of weeks so this was a good warm up to it. We waited awhile for the guys to finish, slowpokes ;), but Ava and Luke did great.

It was great to see the guys after the race but the best moment of all happened when we were driving there. We had Ava and Luke's carseat right next to each other in the backseat and at one point when I turned around to check on them this is what I saw...

I'm telling you, they really love each other. Vaune and I will save this one for the slideshow at thier rehearsal dinner. ;)

"Hey, I think I see them coming"

Vaune and Luke

Mr. Cyclist in his gear

Pointing again

The Family

Playdates

This week Ava and I had two fun playdates with our friends. On Tuesday my friends from college, three of which have newborns born within a week of each other, came over to the house for our first playdate together. Ava, Sally, and Madison were the big girls of the playdate and showed the new mommies all that they have to look forward to. The girls were all over the place and pulling out toys and things from all the diaper bags. It's funny how your perspective on parenting changes as your child gets older. I never thought I would be the mom that allows my child to get into things or make a mess but I have quickly realized that there is really no stopping it and the only way to keep her happy at times is just to let her explore. I forgot just how peaceful, quiet, and STILL a newborn is. I loved seeing my college friends as mommies and I look forward to many more playdates with them.

On Thursday, Ava and I headed to Jennifer and Madison's house for a playdate with our original playgroup. We didn't stay too long because I could tell Ava was getting really sleepy and she just seemed a bit off. When we got home she felt warm to me so I took her temperature and she had a small fever. Since she has never had a fever before ever I decided to take her in to the doctor to make sure she was ok and didnt have any ear infections or other sicknesses. She also had a red bump on her left thigh that looked like a bug bite and it turns out that the bump and the fever were a delayed reaction to the chicken pox vaccine that she got about 10 days before. (aparently these side effects can show up even after two weeks of getting the shot since it is a live virus). We have had a few rough nights with her not feeling well so I am hoping that the worst is behind us and she gets back to normal again soon.

(the pictures are out of order)

Playdate at Jennifer and Madison's house

Ava, Tyler, Brinley, and Madison

Jennifer had these huge Easter eggs in her yard that we thought were pretty cool

Tyler, Madison, Brinley, Jake, and Ava
(not a single one is smiling or even looking excited about this picture. ava stayed seated just long enough for me to get at least one picture. poor thing was not feeling well at this point)

Playdate with my college girls

(Jennifer and Madison, Lisa and Will, Jennie and Harper, Kel and Nolan, Rikki with Sally and Ava)

Sally tried out Ava's new car

Madison pushing the walker

Kel and Nolan

Will, Harper, and Nolan

The new mommies and their little ones :)

Who needs the zoo...

when you can go to Petland for FREE!!! Call me cheap but Ava had a blast!! She got to see some of her favorite animals free of charge and we only had to drive 2 minutes to get there! That's my kind of outing. It was so cute to see her face light up when we saw all the animals. She went right up to each cage and pointed to all the animals. People in the store thought I was nuts taking pictures of her but I didn't care.

We first saw the birds. The lady that worked in the store even put one of the huge birds on her shoulder for Ava to pet. (didn't get a picture of that because I was so worried it was going to peck at her)

and then we saw lots of colorful fish

This was what she got most excited about but the bunnies were sleeping in thier little shelter thing so she couldn't get a good look. Guess we'll have to go back!

It breaks my heart seeing these dogs like this. Ava and I wanted to take them all home with us.

I am on the hunt for another free place to take Ava! The library's always great and I hear our church's kid tubes/playarea is always open so we will try that out once she is old enough. If anyone has other suggestions let me know! :)