Alli's Bday and Family Visit Part 1

This past weekend my mom and Bri came in town to visit and help us celebrate Alli's birthday. We originally had plans to go to the State Fair but since the weather was rainy and we didn't have quite as many attendees as planned we decided to just spend the day visiting at our house with some of the fam before heading to Main Event to carry on with the party. My Aunt Lisa was also in town visiting so it was great to be able to spend time with her as well.

Ava and her Great Aunt Lisa at Main Event

(there was too much action going on for little Miss to look at the camera)

Ava was in hog heaven walking around and looking at all the lights and hearing the loud noises from all the games.

We played lots of games while we were waiting for our turn to bowl. Alli and Bri rode a rollercoaster....


Alli and I put out fires...

and posed for a picture with Greg (Alli's boyfriend)

Ava and I rode a motorcyle...

Ava finally got ahold of a balloon. She had been eyeing them all over Main Event ever since we arrived.

She wanted to shoot hoops like Greg, Alli, and Daddy

Ava and Bri were excellent cheerleaders during our bowling game.

My mom, Uncle Matt, and Aunt Lisa

I think the highlight of our time at Main Event was the bowling. We all had a blast and to top it all off I was the high scorer on our second round!! I bowled a 60 or 70 something the first game and then a little over a 100 the second. It was a fluke....just like how Mikey and I, along with our friends Ryan and Paige, won the intermural bowling league at A&M.

After Main Event we came back to the house for pizza, birthday cake, and games!

Happy Birthday little sis! I love ya! Sorry your cake was a dud! How do I always manage to screw up baking???

Before my mom and Bri left Bri and Ava were able to squeeze in some sidewalk chalk time

and play a painting game on Bri's ipod. I wish I had an ipod just for that! It held her attention SO long!

The bday and family fun continued after my mom and Bri left on Monday. Part 2 coming soon!

Call me crazy

but this delicious greenness was part of my lunch today :)

Before you gag let me explain. It is called The Green Monster, great name by the way, and it is a smoothie that combines fresh spinach, almond or soy milk, a frozen banana (and anything else you want to add to it). I also added some flaxseed to it and a tsp. or so of peanut butter. I first heard about it from Jenny's soon to be sister in law Rani and then I looked at this website, The Green Monster, to get the full scoop on this strange looking smoothie. I was very skeptical at first but since I am on a super health kick these days I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you in all honesty.....it is actually good! It tastes nothing like spinach, thank God! I actually taste mostly banana and a little trace of the peanut butter. The almond milk I put in it is vanilla flavored so that also makes it taste good. It tastes like a healthy banana milkshake really. It claims to give you more energy, glowing skin, and of course you know you are putting really good things in your body when you drink it. This is only my first day to try it but I am already a fan. I plan on drinking this in place of my coffee and peanut butter toast every morning for breakfast. I will check back in in a few weeks and let you know if I have noticed any changes. Amy is also on board so we are doing The Green Monster Movement together! Who else is brave enough to try it with us?!

18 Months Old

18 month stats:

Length: 33 1/2 in. (90-95%)

Weight: 23 lbs. 15.5 ou. (50%)

Head Size: 19 in. (90-95%)

Dear Ava,

I can hardly believe that you are a year and half today!! I feel like just yesterday we were celebrating your 1st birthday and now you are halfway to your 2nd. These past 6 months seemed to fly by even faster than your first 6 months. Before I know it you are going to be starting Kindergarten and I will still be saying, "Where did the time go?". Every day that I spend with you is truly a gift. I wish I had the power to freeze time and make you stay small a little longer but you are growing up into a precious little girl before my eyes. I am loving every minute that I spend with you. You have become my little buddy and are one of my favorite people to be around. You constantly have me smiling and laughing. The stage that you are at right now has been the most fun for me. Here are a few things I want to remember about you this month.

You are pretty easy going with very few meltdowns, please continue to keep those at a minimum, and are so full of life. I have noticed over the past month how quiet you become around new people or new situations. I thought I was going to have an extrovert on my hands but it seems like you are developing a different side of your personality much like your mommy and daddy's.

You are still very active and have even added hopping to your list of talents. You love to attempt to hop around the house and I think you love even more saying the word. You're good at that word and you know it. I have noticed that words that you say the best are the ones that you say the most often.

You know all your body parts at this point and your favorite song to sing is "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes". Here you are singing it during our photo session.

You have started shaking your head and saying no when you don't want to do something. It is really cute and your daddy and I have to try really hard to not laugh. Since you are so good at saying no we have really been working with you on saying "yes" and it has worked! You now answer appropriately with a yes or no when we ask you questions. Our communication between one another is taking on a whole new level.

We just bought you a kitchen from a garage sale and you love to cook and bring us food. We often have tea parties together and you will carefully walk, very waitress like, with a plate full of fake food and bring it to us to eat. Hopefully you end up being a better cook than your mommy.

Speaking of eating, you have become a picky eater this month (maybe last month too). Don't know what that is all about but hopefully it is just another stage you will soon outgrow.

We have been working on teaching you how to share and now you want to share anything and everything with everybody! It is really cute to watch you interact with other kids, especially when you give somebody something and you wait for their reaction. I love the sweet little girl you are becoming.

Some of your favorite places to go these days are Storytime at the library, Tappy's Frozen Yogurt, and the play area in the mall. We pretty much rotate through those things each week but you never seem to get bored of them. You really surprise me at storytime because you really don't participate a whole lot, only wanting to sit in my lap quietly and observe. Your friends that were with you in music class last fall will agree with me that that is very uncharacteristic of you. Once again, as you are growing up I think you are becoming a little more reserved and quiet. Your teachers someday will thank you for that! You had me worried about how you would behave in school for a little bit!

You and Macy continue to be the best of friends. You have learned how to pet her gently and many times I will find you laying or sitting on her. She is your favorite snuggle buddy. If you are ever walking around with your snack, Macy is not far behind you. You love to feed her your food. I think you think you are sharing with her. I am glad yall have each other.




Well, my little munchkin. As you turn a year and half old today I will be celebrating all the wonderful things that make you so special. You are the light of my life and my heart overflows with love for you. I am so proud of all that you have already accomplished and look forward to watching you learn and grow even more this next month. I love you sweet sweet angel!

Your Mommy

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Pooch Pool Party

At the end of every summer the waterpark close to our home has a Pooch Pool Party before they drain the pools. I have known about this for a few years now but it always passed us by. Not this year! I made sure to put it on my calendar because I knew Macy would LOVE it. They had a few contests (dog/owner look alike, best costume, and a fetching competition) but basically it was a dog free for all at the waterpark. Dogs were off leashes and running around sopping wet chasing after tennis balls. It was great!!!! I think you really had to be a dog lover to enjoy something like this, otherwise it would have seemed chaotic and scary with all these dogs running around. All the dogs were so well behaved and friendly though. I never saw any dogs get aggressive. In fact, surprising a lot of the dogs didn't even interact much with each other, including Macy. They were just happy to be in the water and playing fetch with their owners. Ava loved watching all the dogs run around her. I think she wanted to get in the water with them but I didn't allow that to happen. Plus, for sanitary reasons they didnt allow any humans to be in the water passed their knees. I am so glad that they have something like this for the dogs to enjoy. We all had a great time and will for sure be doing it next year as well.

What a pretty girl. I love dogs, especially this one!

Our little family

Was not expecting that shake and was caught a little off guard :)

Didn't phase Ava

This is the pool where the dogs could swim around in and play fetch

Some dogs, like the one on the left, even had life jackets! haha. One lady had one on her tiny dog, makes a little more sense, and it had a handle on the top for her to just lift him out of the water and carry him around. She said "it's like carrying a six pack" hahahaha, and later I saw her husband carrying him around the waterpark just that way too. It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.

They had this sprinkler thing by the pool so I let Ava play in it to cool down.

On our way home we stopped at Sonic and got a slushi and someone loved it

Aunt Alli and Greg came over to come to the pool party with us

Tickles from Aunt Alli

What a fun day for all!

Product Review

I am realizing more and more the importance of eating healthy and taking control of your own health. I want to make sure that not only am I putting the best things in my body but also in Ava's. I have been on the hunt for a healthier snack for Ava since Amy told me that our pediatrician told her that we shouldn't be feeding the girls goldfish as a snack anymore. Oops! She said that we should be giving our kids less processed food and she suggested trying some Kashi cereal as an alternative to goldfish. Of course fruit or veggies would be even better but those usually don't do too well in snack traps for eating snacks on the run (the moms know what I am talking about). I have tried several different Kashi cereals myself and although I like a few of them I didn't think Ava would really like them. I tried another kind of Kashi cereal, Honey Sunshine, and it is a hit with Ava and I. It is our new favorite. It looks like Captain Crunch but is not super sugary. It is naturally sweetened with honey and is a good source of fiber and whole grains. Give it a try!



I also really like these chips, Corazonas Tortilla Chips with a squeeze of Lime. I'm not a huge chip fan but I do like tortilla chips and salsa every now and then. These chips are all natural, gluten free, made with whole grains, and 0g trans fat. Another great thing about them is they only cost $1.99 and they sell them at Super Target!

Ava the tickle monster

is going to get you with her "creepy crawly spider" fingers :)

Have a great weekend everybody!

1st Date

Last week Ava had her first date with her daddy. I don't think it is ever too early for a daddy to start taking his little girl on dates and show her how a man should treat her. That is, just like a princess!! At our Chickfila, one of Ava's favorite places, they were having Prince and Princess night so it was the perfect night for their daddy and daughter date night. Rocky, Amy's husband, and Brinley also accompanied Mikey and Ava so it was like a double date. It was too cute! Amy and I dressed the girls in their tutus and she made each of them their very own crown. Too bad Ava wasnt interested in wearing it. The dads dressed up for thier little girls too and they looked so handsome in thier slacks and dress shirts. Amy and I tagged along to take a few pictures and then once they had their food we took off across the parking lot to the Old Navy to kill some time. When we came back the girls were full bellied and happy as can be playing in the Chickfila playarea.

Dressed up and ready for dinner!

Quick picture with her crown on before she yanked it off

Daddies and their little princesses

Ava, if you won't wear your crown then daddy will

Amy and I took the girls' tutus off after dinner so they could play freely

We didnt' plan it but underneath their tutus we put their bloomers with their names monogrammed on them so we tried to get a cute bottom shot