Cookies with friends

A week before Christmas we had a playdate with all of our toddler and mommy friends. It had been awhile since we all saw each other so a playdate was definitely in order. We played upstairs in Madison's playroom for a little bit {so jealous of people with playrooms} and then we went downstairs to decorate sugar cookies! Now that the kids are getting older it will be fun to do more hands on things like this. I am thinking some crafts are in our near future Miss Ava!

Tyler, Carter, and Ava playing in the playroom

Madison, Ava, and Carter
Someone couldn't wait to decorate the cookies before she started eating them.

Madison showing Ava how it's done

Time for the sprinkles

The group

{minus Amy and Brinley-we missed yall!}

Boy did these girls love them some sprinkles!

Especially the glittery green kind that sticks to your fingers after dipping them first in icing and then licking them

Delicious ;)

Santa

We went to get Ava's picture taken with Santa this afternoon and she did great! I was pleasantly surprised at how at ease she was sitting on his lap. She does LOVE Santa, it's all she talks about these days, but I thought based on other examples set by her friends and the fact that she is so shy that she would cry the second we put her on his lap. She kept waving to him while we were waiting in line and when we placed her on his lap she just looked up at him and stared. It was adorable! I wish we would have gotten that picture on cd too but this one turned out just as cute.

Merry Christmas!

These are a few of my favorite things

{Christmas Edition}

*Weekly Christmas movie and Christmas drink night with the hubby (Elf is my all time favorite)

*Listening to any and all Christmas music (even that stupid Beatles/Paul McCartney Christmas song, you know the one)

*Alli's homemade egg nog

*Hot chocolate in my snowman mug

*Scarves and my new pretty white coat

*Snuggling with my munchkin

*Christmas decorations

*Looking at lights (especially with an excited 21 month old in the backseat!)

*warm slippers

*holiday parties

*Giving (and although secondary, I like the recieving part too. not gonna lie)

*Peppermint mocha's from Starbucks

*Hearing Ava say "Santa"

*Spending quality time with the family I dont see nearly enough

*Remembering the real reason behind Christmas and teaching that to Ava (we sing an awesome duet of Happy Birthday to Jesus)

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and many blessings in the new year!

21 months old

21 months

Dear Ava,

Happy 21 months old! 3 more months and we will be celebrating your 2nd birthday! This month seemed to be a blur with all the craziness of the holidays but I will do my best to remember all the things you were up to this month.

*You can count all the way to 10 now (you actually proved to me that you could do this a week after your 20 month post, you little turkey!). You don't really like to be put on the spot to perform.

*You can recognize the letters A, B, C, D, H, K, O, X (a little out of order but who cares!) I might be leaving some out but Daddy would know because he works with you on your letters in the bathtub.

*You love playing in the water during bathtime and pretending to make me soup or oatmeal. It's a good think you love bathtime because you take about two baths a day. Besides the evenings Mommy puts you in the tub in the morning while she gets ready for the day. No, I'm not an irresponsible Mommy. I am right beside you as you play watching your every move. It's the only way to get out of the house with my teeth brushed and dressed!

*You still love love love to color. You still use both hands but I think you will end up being right handed.

*You also love to dance/jump around to your popper toy that plays ridiculously loud music. If I am not watching you you call out my name to look at you. Very cute!

*You love to tell me stories in your babble language. Your favorite place to tell me stories is in the corner of the couch and I have to sit right next to you while you jibber jabber away. I wish I knew what you were telling me but I am always entertained by watching your facial expressions and hand gestures as you tell your story.

*You have a ton of words in your vocabulary and you can combine two words now. You have always been a teeny bit behind in the talking department but I am not worried because you will be talking mommy's ear off in no time at all. ;) I have heard you say "Macy, come" and "Bye bye Santa". Speaking of Santa, you love to point out Santa everywhere we see him and call out his name. You get so excited and I can't help but smile.

*You are still very shy around other adults and will often times turn your head if someone looks at you or talks to you.

*I need to get our bedtime routine on video for you because after daddy reads you a story you have to say "night night" to EVERYTHING in your room. That is your daddy's fault though. He started that and now it has become routine. Before we lay you down you give us about 5 kisses each going back and forth from mommy to daddy. It is one of my favorite moments with you! You are such a sweet and loving little girl.

*You have so many sweet little friends but unfortunately we dont get to see them all the time. Your two very best friends that we see the most are Luke and Brinley. I use them as motivational tools all the time to get you moving in the morning. I'll say "Let's go (fill in the blank with whatever is difficult to get you to do) and THEN we will go play with Lukie or Brinley. I of course only say this when we are actually going to play with them but it works every time and you love being around your friends.

*You went through a picky stage of eating/not wanting to eat but I can say that you are back on track now. Your favorite things to eat right now are string cheese, fruit, turkey and cream cheese roll up, chicken nuggets, black beans with cheese, yogurt, and kashi cheddar bunnies. Anytime you see mommy or daddy eating something you always ask for a "bite" or "sip" if we are drinking something.

Little munchkin, you are growing up too fast. I hope you always know how much you mean to me and how much I love you. As always, I am super proud to be your momma and absolutely cherish our days together. Love you sweet girl!

Your Momma

{and here is the slideshow of Ava's last 3 months. Ive come this far with them I can't stop now... no matter how little time I have to make them! I think I deserve a prize {from Ava} for getting this done the week before Christmas AND before we left town!}

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

More Christmas Fun

A couple of weekends ago I made a solo trip back to San Antonio for my friend Cathy's baby shower. I had a great time seeing my dad and Shirley again and getting to visit with my friends without having to worry about Ava. I didnt get any pictures unfortunately because I left the camera with Mikey. Gigi came to visit while I was gone and Ava, daddy, and Gigi had a fun filled weekend as well.

Gigi and Ava taking pictures on her iphone. Ava now holds up any phone and turns it around and says "Cheee" like she is taking a picture of herself. It's hilarious.

The three of them went downtown for a Christmas parade!

Not saying "chee" hear but Gigi did a good job!

and look who they saw....the always fun Aunt Alli! She actually told Mikey about the parade because she was there with my uncle and cousin.

Uncle Kent (back to the camera), Cousin Devon and her little girl Aubrey, and Alli

Must have been lots for Ava to look at!

Gigi gave Ava some stickers

and when I came home I had this desk with coloring books and crayons to give Ava. An early Christmas gift from Papa and Shirley.

Gigi and Ava were also busy while I was gone making me a special ornament :)

When I got home Sunday afternoon we bundled up and went outside to help daddy put up the lights and Santa that Gigi bought for Ava.

I love these two!

Pretty lights

Going outside to see daddy's creation

Another family photo on timer on top of Tahoe. Nice.

Ava has loved saying hi and bye bye to our santa and every other santa in the neighborhood. Last night we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and it was the happiest I think I have ever seen Ava. She had the biggest smile on her face and kept saying "lights" and "ohhhh" and "pretty". It was the cutest thing! Whenever we came to a street where almost every house was decorated with lights she would start clapping. I think I want to take her to look at lights every night. :)

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree

I love Christmas! Celebrating Christmas with Ava has been even more fun this year since she is more aware of what is going on and can be involved in all the traditions. Early last week we decorated our house and tree{in our christmas pjs!}. As expected Ava thought all the ornaments were toys and as she helped us unwrap each one she would say "oooohhh" and quickly snatch it up in her hands. She did this with about as many ornaments as she could hold in her hands and then we had to show her that although it may seem silly we actually hang these toy looking things on the tree and we can't play with them. Talk about a huge tease for a 20 month old. She has done so well though and has only taken a few off when I wasn't looking.

hanging the first ornament. see last year's pic

{side note, we didn't have the camera on the right setting to capture the prettiness of the tree lit up. it looks like it is bright as day but it was actually pretty dark in the room.}

unwrapping all the ornaments.

our tree is a collection of ornaments that were either given to us from friends and family before we got married at our "ornament shower" or are ones that have been in the family for many years. needless to say our tree is very eclectic but very special. it makes unwrapping the ornaments and remembering who they were from and the story behind them so much more fun.

these two gingerbread from the Burbachs were a favorite

but the most favorite thing of all was the bubble wrap

family pic with timer. come on macy! ;)

I also put another small christmas tree I already had on the bookshelf in Ava's room. We put lights and a few of her ornaments on there as well. Turning the lights on is always the first thing we must do after she wakes up.

And this is a random pick from last week that I think is cute. She loves standing on the stool in the bathroom, washing her hands, and looking at her self in the mirror. :)

Thanksgiving 2010

Alrighty, I think things have finally slowed down around here {for a little bit at least} for me to post Thanksgiving pics! We traveled 7 1/2 hours all the way to Corpus Christi for the big day and then drove to my dad's near San Antonio the day after Thanksgiving. It was a lot of car time but seeing my precious family made it all worth it. And Ava was an awesome traveler considering she was strapped in for so many hours and mommy and daddy did not want to stop!

More details of our Thanksgiving soon but first I have to post a few pictures from when our good friends The Price's stayed with us the night before we left. They flew in from Virginia for Thanksgiving and I was so glad that we were able to catch them before we left town. It had been almost an entire year since I had seen them AND I had never met Austin, their soon to be 1 year old! That has been really hard considering these friends are so special to us. I am so glad we were able to spend some quality time catching up and watching the kids play together.

Ava and Evey (3) chatting on their cells

Sweet sweet Austin who is almost walking! Isn't he the cutest?! And talk about a mellow happy go lucky baby!

Bathtime

Of course I wish we could have spent even more time with The Price's but we hope to take a little family vacation to see them sometime in the Spring. :)

On to Thanksgiving. We arrived at my Mimi and Big Bob's house Thursday evening and got to see Kay Kay and Bri, my aunt Lisa and cousins Ryan, Reagan, and Rachel. Ava was being your usual shy self most of the time which was a lot different when we were there close to this time last year. I wish she would have allowed the family to love on her more since they dont get to see her that often but everyone was so good about giving her her space and letting her slowly warm up to them.

I have said it before but being in Corpus at Mimi and Big Bob's is like being home for me. The yummy smells coming from Mimi's kitchen, Big Bob watching his tv in the garage :), the traffic of people all through the house, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, sitting around the table with my family eating and laughing.....those are memories that I will always cherish and why I love Thanksgiving so much!

It wasnt long before Ava had a pen and paper in hand. This was her designated pooping spot away from all the people where she could close the door if she wanted to. (Sorry Ava, I know you will hate me one day for sharing such things)

KayKay was surprisingly very good at making various animals out of playdo for Ava. Who knew?!

Taking a break

Mimi has been working countless hours cross stitching Ava's stocking and Ava got to open her very special gift. It is now hanging on the mantle next to mine that Mimi made me years ago.

Bri performed Thanksgiving night at Callalen's pep rally since their team is in the playoffs. I was so glad that I got to see her finally perform with her team! She's a natural!

Ava loved Mimi's cooking too. Especially the sweet potatoes and her special cranberry salad, just like her mommy!

Big Bob and Ava :)

Ava with Mimi and Big Bob

{I just love the way he smiles at her}

and Kay Kay joined in the photo as well

On Friday we drove about 2 hours to my dad's just south of San Antonio for a post Thanksgiving visit. Alli and Granny Jean were already there so I am glad that I got to see them too. My dad's wife Shirley cooked some amazing meals while we were all there. It was nice to sit by the warm fire, visit with family, while Ava was happily entertained by Shirley's granddaughte, Panda. Yes, her name is original but she is as cute as they come!

Panda and Ava got into the hair accessories

Panda was like Ava's big sister and shared all her toys so nicely

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving counting all your many blessings!