Roadtrippin'

This past weekend we took a roadtrip to The Woodlands to visit Papa and Gramielle. We were excited to have a long 4 day weekend to spend with them. Little did we know that our fun weekend would not end as such. On Thursday night, our first night there, Ava came down with a stomach bug. She had never thrown up before let alone multiple times so it was scary and we were unsure at first what to do since it was after she had gone to sleep and we didn't want to lay her back down. She was so so tired, even fell back asleep in her own throw up the first time, but we got her all cleaned up and just stayed up with her until we thought the throwing up would stop. Luckily after only about an hour and a half she stopped so we layed her back down and she slept the rest of the night without a problem. Whew! That could have been worse and we were so grateful that it didn't last too long and she was able to get at least a little sleep that night. The next day, Friday, she was feeling much better although didn't want to each much the rest of the weekend. We spent Friday playing at the house, doing some shopping at Market Street, and then having dinner with Jim, Mikey's brother, and his girlfriend. All was going well until I woke up at 5:00 am and had to make a mad dash to bathroom to throw up! The bug got me too! So not fun. I was only sick that once but felt crummy the entire rest of the day so I slept on and off most of the day. Finally when I was starting to function again, Mikey gets sick!! I should have known that was coming. He had it way worse than Ava and I. Poor guy. So, the majority of our weekend we were sick and unable to do all the fun things with Papa and Gramielle like we had planned. We were a fun crew to be around let me tell ya. I sure hope we didn't pass on our sick germs to them.

We did manage to take a few pictures on Friday when Ava was feeling better and before the bug got Mikey and I. P & G have a lemon tree and they wanted Ava to pick the first lemon off the tree. We had a hard time getting it off at first....

But then once she pulled it off she clung on to it the rest of the night.

This one makes me laugh because I was doing ridiculous jumps and being silly to get Ava to smile. At least it worked for Papa!

Still got that lemon in her hand!

Oh no, hurry pick it up!

Wanting one for the other hand

It was so nice to hang out with Ava outside once the sun went down. That is the one nice thing about the time change. She loved being out in the dark.

Saw the moon for the first time

Played with these cool checkers made of stone. I was so glad my little munchkin was feeling better and was her happy self again.

Hopefully we won't have the stomach bug again for a long time and our next visit to The Woodlands will be more eventful. Thanks for putting up with our sick selves Papa and Gramielle.

Gigi and Bpop come to town

This weekend we had the pleasure of seeing Gigi and Bpop for a few days! We were so happy to see them and get to spend some time with them. We wish so badly that we lived in the same city as all the grandparents so anytime we do see them it is extra special. Ava loves to look at the collage picture in the hallway of her and all her 7 grandparents and 4 great grandparents. She is getting pretty good at saying most of their names. She was pleasantly surprised to see Gigi and Bpop in person on Sunday! We didn't do a lot while they were here but we had fun just being in our element at home playing with Ava and watching her show off all her new skills.

Playing in the backyard with Gigi

Throwing Macy's ball. She yells out "Mace" in the cutest little Ava way. That is what we call Macy a lot so she has aparently picked up on it.

I was bad about taking pictures while they were here and didnt get any with Bpop! Thanks for coming to visit us Gigi and Bpop! It was fun!

Convinced

I am officially convinced that Ava will only sleep ___ amount of hours in a 24 hour period and that if she sleeps till 8:15 in the morning, like today, then I can only count on a much shorter nap because she already used up that extra hour or more of sleeping time this morning. Darn! I was so looking forward to a 3 hour nap like she has been pulling lately. Not today! Hmm, what to do with her the rest of the day....Tappy's Frozen Yogurt perhaps! Who cares if it isn't exactly ice cream weather!

Hope your kiddos napped better than mine today!

Wordless Wednesday

1st Trick or Treating

We had so much fun last night seeing some of our closest friends, The McAdams, and going Trick or Treating for the 1st time. Last year we had The McAdams and The Louis' over for Halloween but the kids were too young to go Trick or Treating. The girls couldnt even walk! My, how much has changed in a year! Ava was of course thrilled to dress up as a kitty cat again and we got this adorable video of her looking at herself in the mirror.

The McAdams stopped by for just a little while so that we could take pictures of the girls in their costumes.

The Kitty Cat and Owl (how cute is Brinley's costume? Once again, Amy proved her amazingness with this costume!

It was still very light out but since the girls were looking so cute with their pumpkin buckets in hand we decided to see if any of the neighbors on our street were ready for some early birds.

"Come on guys, what are ya waiting for!"

Our next door neighbors, a couple in thier late 90's (seriously!), was our first stop! Ava didn't really know what to do but when our neighbor handed her the M&M's she took them and then hung on to them for quite awhile. She had no clue that it was candy and something that you eat.

Side note, be cautious when your kids are around candy and if you are still unsure if the are allergic to peanuts. We saw an ambulance across our street last night and turns out our neighbor's 1 year old daughter chewed threw a bag of candy that had peanuts in them and she broke out in hives and had trouble breathing. Scary stuff! Unfortunately I bet that happens a lot on Halloween. Aparently the little girl is fine.

Both of the girls blowing kisses. Guess they thought that if they blew us kisses and told us bye bye that we would leave them alone and let them wander on their own.

Sorry girls, your parents know better but good try.

Still carrying around her M&M's. And for the record she is not allergic to peanuts. Whew!

Going to the next house

Ava was so shy at first and didn't want to reach for the candy

but once she got another in her hand she was off

Once Brinley got the hang of it she kept going back for more and more

and Ava did too. Our neighbor thought the girls were so cute going back for more candy that she just kept offering it to them. The girls had more candy in their hands then they could hold. It was funny to watch.

Once the McAdams left we came inside to try our 1st taste of candy before going out for more Trick or Treating.

This girl LOVED it, of course! She kept asking for more even with a mouth full.

1st taste of Twix, yum yum.

I managed to put her tutu on without her noticing and then we were off and ready for round 2 of Trick or Treating.

Daddy, Ava, and Aunt Alli

So many fun costumes and Halloween decorations to look at. I had no idea trick or treating could be so much fun!!

By the end of the night we had one tired kitty cat who was just asking to be held.

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!!

Storytime- Halloween Edition

Today we went to the library for our usual storytime but today was extra special because all the kids got to wear their Halloween costumes! I hadn't dressed Ava in her kitty cat costume yet so I was anxious to see how she looked and if she would actually wear all the parts of the costume. She surprising loved the whiskers on her face and her fluffy tail (piece of a black boa pinned on)and kept asking to "see see" herself in the mirror. I made a black tutu for her to wear but she refused to wear it so she just wore her black leggings and black shirt. How simple can a costume get!? I thought she looked precious.

My cute kitty cat

Trying to open the doors to storytime. Someone was a little anxious.

I brought the video camera to storytime today and caught Ava doing one of her favorite songs. So stinkin cute that girl!

and Macy will also be dressing up for Halloween this year since we will all be going trick or treating for the first time. She is going as Macy "the Wonder Pet" and Alli's dog Deshka will also be a Wonder Pet too. Alli and I made the capes last weekend.

"Lenny, Tuck, and Mace Mace too. We're Wonder Pets and we'll help you"

Playdate with Sally

It had been a long time since Ava had seen her friend Sally so yesterday Rikki and I set up a playdate for the girls to play and for us to catch up. We are so happy that they are back in Texas and we can have playdates like this more often! The girls played so nicely together and were very sweet, especially Sally. She kept giving Ava and I the sweetest hugs. Thanks Sally for sharing your toys with Ava and thank you Rikki for inviting us over! We had a great time catching up and sharing stories of toddlerhood.

Sally wanting to sit in Ava's lap, hehe

The girls sharing a snack

Ava loving all the new toys to play with!

19 months

Dear Sweet Ava,
You are 19 months old today! You are getting closer and closer to that two year mark! Pretty soon I am going to have to start thinking about what to do for your birthday party. I feel like I just planned your 1st one! This month really flew by. Here are a few things that you have been up to this month.

*You have been re-aquainted with your long lost pal "Bubbles" and lately you have been treating him like your baby, sharing toys with him, reading to him, putting him in your chair to watch tv...You have never really liked dolls so I am glad that you have Bubbles to love on.

*One of your favorite activities this month at home is to play outside in the front yard. We do this just about every day and you like to pretend to mow the yard with your push toy that you still love. Macy joins us outside and you like to help Mommy by calling her and telling her to come. Since we live close to the airport lots of planes pass overhead while we are outside and "e panes" have become a new obsession with you. You also love to spot them up in the sky when we are driving in the car. As they are passing by you say "epanes, epanes, epanes (sometimes more than that)" and then say "bye bye" to them. So cute!! I love hearing your sweet talking voice.

(oh yeah, and every once in awhile I get a sassy look like this from you when you know I am taking your picture. You are so full of personality and it just makes me smile...at least for now it does. I am sure these "Mom, WHAT are you doing, you are so annoying" kind of looks wont always be cute but your 1 1/2 and psst... can get away with a lot more right now) ;)

*You have been doing a lot more imaginative play besides just pretending to mow the grass. This month you have loved pushing your shopping cart around and around the kitchen pretending to go to Target. Haha! Yes, you and I frequent there often and you know where we are when we pull up and that mommy pushes you in the cart and gets groceries (and maybe a few other things every once in awhile!). When you push your cart I ask you "Hey are you going shopping at Target again? Can you get Mommy some more ______" and you kind of give me a little nod and then your on your way.

*Some things outside of the house that you have been enjoying are going to "Bible Study" with Mommy (aka the church nursery while Mommy is at Bible Study) and also storytime at the library. Almost every time I ask you if you want to go do either of those things you give me a cute nod of the head and say "ssss" which is yes in Ava language and with a little lisp (too too cute!). It's so nice that you can tell me yes or no when I ask you questions now. Your no is really cute too because you shake your head and say "nah" very casually. It's pretty funny when we tell you things like "Hey, Ava let's go change your diaper" and you shake your head without even looking at us and say "nah" and go right back to doing what your doing. Haha.

*You have been learning a ton of new words lately besides just yes and no. It's as if we tell you what something is just once and its already stored in your brain and then a few days later you will attempt to say it and it blows us away. Your 1 year old way of pronouncing words is precious!

* You know almost all of your body parts now including the most recent eyebrows and eyelashes. When we are changing your diaper you think it is fun to point to all of the parts of our face and name them. You also like to do this with Macy too. What a good sport she is!

Ears

Nose

Eyes

You like to get up right in front of Macy's face when you want to tell her something which usually involves a bunch of very serious jiborish and grunts!

*You can now also recognize and say your name, which is pronounced "ova" at the moment, and you also are learning about letters. You can recognize and say the letters A, B, and O. I know you are capable of learning so many more but we are taking baby steps so that they really sink in and you arent overwhelmed by so many new letters at a time.

You just realized for the first time that your name was on your chair!

*You aren't much of a snack eater, usually it is on the run, but if we are home you prefer to eat your snack at your table like a big girl. Of course, your doggy Macy is usually within a foot from you hoping for handouts which you so generously share with her.

*Some of your favorite songs to sing(or Mommy to sing) this month are The Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy and You Know It, Twinkle Twinkle, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider. You are so cute to watch when you do all the movements to the songs.

*Over the past couple of weeks I have seen quite a few more meltdowns from you. Usually it is because you want something and I won't give it to you. It can be very exhausting but I try my best to distract you and direct you to something else that you would like. Something that has worked well for calming you down before changing your diaper or laying you down for a nap (both of which you fight often) is I will say It's time to ________ and THEN we can do _______." Surprising it works about 80% of the time in those situations and you do them without a fuss. I always try and remember to follow through with what I tell you so that you will believe me. This often means that immediately following nap we go "mow the grass" outside because that is what I promised you we would do after you took a nap. :0

You LOVE stickers right now and I think you wanted me to give you like your 3rd sticker but I told you no more and you were NOT happy. The camera happened to be right there on the counter so I snapped this sad but true life picture of you. You have such a mild manner about you and are usually a pretty happy girl but we do have some rough moments which I am beginning to see a little more frequently now that we are approaching the 2 year mark.

Ava Marie, those big blue eyes of yours melt my heart everytime they look at me! I feel so honored and blessed to be your mommy. You are a very special little girl and in the 19 months that you have been in my life you have brought me more laughs, smiles, and happy moments then I have ever experienced. Your daddy and I love you so very much!

xoxo,

Mama