She's getting closer...

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Crafts and Home Project

I saw this cute shirt on one of my favorite blogs so I made one for Ava last night at Supper Club(the girls always do new crafts at SC). I think it turned out cute and it couldn't have been easier to make. It took me literally 3 minutes. Those are my kind of crafts! Tana and Vaune made this craft instead and I loved them. They will make such a cute decoration for their home. I didn't like the way the "S" looked or I would have made one too.

Modeling her new "vintage" lacey shirt

Tryin out a new smile

This baking mat, that I got in the dollar section at Target, is my new favorite baby item now that Ava is feeding herself. I usually just bring it to restaurants as her "placemat" so I am not putting her food on the nasty table but tonight I put it on her high chair. It kept the tray from getting so nasty and it was less slippery so she could grab her food easier. (the girl LOVES her some black beans! i like how it looks like she has a 5 o'clock shadow after she eats them. :)

We finally found the darkening shade I have been looking for for Ava's room. I no longer have to use a sheet to block out the light! Woohoo! We found this one at Home Depot and Mikey installed it this afternoon. I wanted one that went over the blinds and that I could raise up during the day when she wasn't napping and this is perfect.

10 Months Old

Ava is 10 months old today! Can it really be that she is going to be a year old in 2 more months?! This is what Ava has been up to this past month:

*She is constantly on the move! The girl can crawl with the best of em and is very active! Her favorite thing to do is crawl as fast she can down the hall. She stops midway to make sure we are following behind her. Most of the house is baby proofed but she always manages to venture to the places that are not. She keeps her mommy busy!

*She can now pull herself up to standing without holding on to anything and stay there for a few seconds.

Standing on her own!

*She is starting to take steps using her walker and when she is holding on to our hands. My prediction is she will be walking in a month. We'll see if I am right!

*She is eating just about anything we give her. I reserve a little of whatever we make for dinner and she eats it the next day for lunch or dinner. Most of the stuff we give her she can pick up on her own and she seems to like feeding herself. She is loving clementines, bananas, macaroni & cheese, and black beans right now. Her and Macy are starting to team up at feeding time. Macy is always close by when food is around so when Ava's hands get dirty she hangs them over the side of her highchair so Macy can lick them. It always makes Ava giggle.

*She waves all the time, even to the babies on the TV.

*She no longer likes to lay down in her tub in the sling for bath time. She outgrew it a long time ago but up until this month she still liked to lay down, with her legs scrunched, and have us bathe her. Now she prefers to just sit up and play with her bath toys.

*She likes to give kisses. She gives us a kiss every night before we put her down and I have seen her give Macy and animals in her books kisses as well.

*She loves to watch her Praise Baby DVD's. When we turn them on she wants to be right up close to the screen, bad I know. I love watching her get so excited about something.

*She likes to pick up the remotes and point them at the TV. She obviously knows what they are used for so she is already trying to change mommy's channel.

Pointing the remote to the TV. Precious!

*She knows lots of words and I get the sense that she understands so much of what I tell her. She picks up things so quickly and is becoming such a smart little girl. Words that I am sure she knows are Mama, Dada, Macy, no,milk, more, all done, kiss, diaper, hi, bye bye, Kay Kay, Bri, and Deshka. (she just picked up the last three when my mom and Bri were visiting for 4 days and we were watching Deshka for my sister). I have been using the word "no" a lot lately and she responds very well to it (at least for now). I tell her no in a low tone and so far she has stopped whatever it was that she was doing and looks at me with big eyes. I know there will be a time when she tests me and tells me no but for now I am happy that she is understanding it.

*She is back to sleeping through the night after the holidays threw her off for a little bit. Over the last two weeks her naps have started to get better. Her first nap is usually between 1-2 hours and her second is much shorter, between 30-45 minutes. For awhile she wasn't napping hardly at all for her second nap and only 30 minutes for her 1st so we are making steps in the right direction. I am trying my best to stay positive, be encouraging, and more prayerful. God has reminded me this month that when I put my trust in Him and allow Him to be in control that He will pull through and good things will happen. Praise God for better naps!


*The older Ava gets the tighter she gets wrapped around her daddy's finger. She loves him so much and the highlight of our day is watching him walk through the door and wave hello to him.



*Have I mentioned that fuzzy head of hair?! Her hair is getting longer and more out of control! It is baby fine, like her Daddy's was, and never lays down flat. She refuses to let me put headbands on her anymore so most days her hair is lookin a little crazy! I do love it though. Makes her unique!


Ava, I tell you this every month but I dont want you to ever forget just how much I love you. I promise to always love you with everything that I have. You fill my heart with so much joy and I thank God each and every day for bringing you into my life. Happy 10 months old sweet girl!
Love, Your Momma

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More family time

Kay Kay and Bri came to visit us this weekend since they had a few days off last week and Monday for MLK. They must really love Ava to make that long drive all the way from Corpus just to spend more time with her. They will be back next month too for one of Brianna's cheerleading competitions. Ava is growing up so fast so I am glad they are able to see her a lot in the next few months. My mom always makes me laugh and that Bri is one sweet aunt to Ava.

Sitting with Bri and watching her Praise Baby DVD.

I got to go on a date with my hubby since our babysitters where in town to stay at the house with Ava. We went to one of our favorite restaurants from when we lived in Uptown, Cremona's! The original location burnt down but they reopened another restaurant nearby. It was just as good as we remembered it. It's not crowded and stuffy like some other restaurants in Uptown and it has such an authentic Italian feel to it. Besides the great food they always play Frank Sinatra. We had dessert at a restaurant called TouLouse, also very good.(there is my adverstisement for all the Dallas people). Brianna was too cute because while we were gone she straightened all the shoes in my closet and turned down the sheets on our bed. What service!

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

Dinner tonight was pretty tasty so I wanted to pass on this super easy, delicious, and healthy recipe. Even Ava loved it! My friend Danielle passed on this blog with tons of Weight Watcher recipes. I'm not on Weight Watchers but I love eating healthy and I have several WW recipes that are in my "favorites" section of my recipe notebook. Yes, I have a recipe notebook. I like having things organized. :)

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

There are several other recipes on the blog that I am interested in trying. Maybe they will be worthy of making it into my super cool recipe notebook.

Another playdate

It's been awhile since we got a group picture of the babies from our playgroup (minus Tyler) so I quickly took a few while they were all awake and happy. The babies have all grown so much in the last month we were all together. Ava is Miss Crawler of the group so she is by far the most active. Her and I didn't really sit still much so I didn't have the nice chats with the other mommies like I would have liked but we still had a fun time as always!

Carter, Ava, Brinley, and Jake

This is a cute one of Jake giving Carter a hug while both were looking to see what the little Miss was up to.

The big kids of the group! Hard to believe they are going to be a year old in 2 months!

Ava found Danielle's stairs and immediately started to climb them like she has done this before. The girl is full into exploring mode and has NO fear.

I followed close behind her. Notice how she is pushing me away. I ruined her fun. So sorry!

I can't wait for our music class to start in February!! We all got in the same class so it will be so fun for us all to experience together. I know the babies are going to love it!

Sneak Peak

Here is a little preview of what I am planning for Ava's 1st birthday in March. It will be a butterfly garden theme and the birthday girl will be wearing butterfly wings of course. I just found these this weekend so I wanted her to try them on. She didn't quite know what to think about those big things. My hope is that she will be walking by her birthday so she can toddle around with her big wings. :)