Friday, December 16, 2011

Mobile Monday Make Up

OK here are some pictures since Thanksgiving. Maybe this will help me remember to make time to do this every Monday. And yes, I know its Friday, but I have some free time right now so I'm jumpin the gun and goin' for it!

Someone had some chocolate pudding at GiGi's...

Attempt at making a handprint ornament...

The final product. And yes, we kept it and will hang it on the tree :)




At the ENT

I think she's going to make a great big sister :)

Shopping!

Lovin' some JELLO!

This is how we told everyone it was a GIRL!


My crave for pickles is at it again. Yes, this is at my desk at work.

Ava at her ENT appointment

Remember...

Remember that whole post about promising to try and write a LOT more...and then remember how that was almost 2 months ago? Yep. I failed, again. I know its cliche to say "I'm so busy", but seriously, we have been SO busy lately. And whatever free time we have we are either unpacking or sitting on the couch trying to catch our breath.  LOTS AND LOTS of new developments though!

1) Chad got a job! He starts in January and we could not be more excited about this amazing opportunity. More details to come in January after he actually starts! It is with a digital signage company - like touchscreen technology stuff. Awesome.

2) Ava is now 11 months! Time is FLYING by and we have one month until she is a YEAR old!

3) Lexi Lee is due 05.12.12. We found out that is another GIRL and we are thrilled. Chad knew since we found out we were pregnant that it was another girl. I, on the other hand, had no feelings at all. No idea. We are very, very excited to meet little Lexi in May!

4) Christmas is in 9 days! We have our decorations up, there are some presents under the tree, and this weekend we hope to be making Christmas cookies! We have our office Christmas party today, our small group party tomorrow, our church christmas party was last weekend, and then a week full of family, extended family, travel and actual Christmas-Christmas...es coming up. This is my favorite season and I-AM-LOVING IT!

Friday, October 28, 2011

We Have Moved!

This past weekend we moved to a new house! Yes, HOUSE! No more apartments or townhomes. The move went wonderful and I will update all about that later. I just wanted to do a quick shout out to my millions of followers to let yall know whats going on. We have moved but we still do not have internet at our house, hence the lack of blog updates I was promising :) In fact, it looks like it might be a while before we get internet if we even CAN get internet. Yup. Awesome, huh?

So this was a quick update from work just to let you know what's going on. But we are alive, moved, and doing well!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

I'm baaack!

This may be a little ridiculous to try and make a promise to myself to blog at least 100x more often than I have been lately RIGHT before the weekend we move, but here I am, doing just that.  The big things that have happened I will recap in future posts, but just so I don't get overwhelmed with catching up on EVERY DETAIL of EVERYTHING that has happened, I'm starting fresh. So, welcome to my blog. A few things you should know about me : I make promises of blogging that rarely ever work out, I am a procrastinator, and my life is chaotic. :)

OK but seriously, here's to new blogging and hopefully plenty of it!

---

So like I said we are moving this weekend. Are we ready to move? I am counting down the seconds! Are we LITERALLY ready -- not at all. We have got to go on a packing frenzy to try and get everything ready. Like I mentioned, I am a procrastinator. At least I'm honest.
We are moving to a place about 10 minutes from where we are now - a quiet little neighborhood. New construction house for less than we are paying now. Score. Our neighbors are friendly old folks and there is a couple a house down from us who is expecting a baby. Perfect.
No siren's going off through the night, no loud traffic right outside our window, no crazy neighbors playing techno at 3 AM. We. Are. Ready.
The house is a 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car garage house. It is on plenty of land but the backyard is wooded so its not like a big field or anything. TONS of trees though - and they said deer come and walk around all the time. Who doesn't like watching deer in their backyard gazebo while sipping coffee as the sun rises. All we need now is the gazebo.
However this new place is not fenced, and therefore not allowing dogs. Good ol' Winston found a new home today. I have to admit, I am a lot more sad than I thought I would be. I know he will be going to a better home with a big yard and kids to run around and play with him (imagining all this helps when I think of him living with someone else) but despite that, I still miss him. He's been a good dog. Chad texted me today and said that a siren went off and it was the first time we didn't hear Winston howl while it went off. Sad. BUT honestly he will be better off and we probably will too since we will have our hands incredibly full coming up -- but that's a different post :)

Well if I still have any followers left be looking for Mobile Monday to make its return, pictures of the move, and Ava's week by week updates along with her 9 month post! This girl is incredible. Be prepared to be amazed with all she is doing!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Birthday Celebration

Wednesday was my birthday! I am now a whopping 24 years old. It was actually a great day. I went to work and was greeted with banners and streamers and a balloon tied to my chair. I got lunch from The Fish Market (thanks APG!) and we finished up work early! I headed home and was unloading the car and getting everything situated and I put some things in the fridge and saw that there was some Babybel cheese in there and I knew it wasn't there before! I turned to Chad and was like "aww you bought some babybel cheese!" and he just stared at me and said "...well that wasn't the first thing you were suppose to notice..." then he glanced towards our coffee table.  That's when I saw the roses, babybel cheese and crackers along with some sparkling grape juice, and a card - all lit up by a candle. Once again I ruined a surprise haha but it was still just as sweet!
After admiring the flowers and reading my (very sweet) card, we packed up the fam (ha, its fun to say that) and headed to Olive Garden with a gift card! Dinner was great, and Ava did perfect.

Thanks so much to everyone who sent cards! It is always so fun going to the mailbox and getting to open birthday cards :)
Thanks to everyone else for all the birthday wishes and gifts! It's been a great birthday this year!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

8 months old!

What is Ava up to at 8 months?


Everything.

Oh specifics? Ok here we go

-she is crawling EVERYWHERE and pulling up on EVERYTHING and constantly pulling dare-devil stunts. this girl keeps us BUSY -- and i love it :)
- she waves 'bye-bye' but of course never when we try to show it off to people. she waves the right way too and not backwards like a lot of kids seem to do.
- she does this thing when we saw "aww" she leans her head against yours or whoever you're saying "aww" too and it is the sweetest thing in the world. She's doing it on her own and not on command anymore too which is even cuter.
- she is giving kisses, which aren't quite kisses, its more like an open mouth drool fest kiss on your cheek...but who doesn't want that?? it is just so sweet every time she does it.
- she is sleeping better! most of the time she goes to sleep between 7-8:30 and sleeps until anywhere between 5-7. it isn't always like that but its getting more regulated which is wonderful!
- speaking of sleep, lately (and i hope this doesn't jinx it) at night we will walk in the room, turn out the light, i say 'ni-night' and turn on her seahorse, and at that point is when i try  to rock her. I say try because lately she has been reaching for her crib and as soon as you lay her down she snuggles up with her blanket and goes to sleep. That's it. No crying, nothing. Which is AMAZING, don't get me wrong...I just miss rocking her sometimes :)
- she is getting closer and closer to her 3 meals a day routine. At 9 months is when they are suppose to be transitioning so we are in the training process I suppose.
- she LOVES puffs and cheerios. she is getting SO good at picking things up! she still doesn't quite use her thumb right but hey she gets it in her mouth herself so we are glad!
- she is in 6-9 month clothing now. All 3-6 month onesies are out - her head doesn't fit through them haha some of the pants still work and especially if they look cute as capri's!
- she has stood on her own a couple times. not long, not well, but she's done it. we are on our way to needing more baby-proofing items.
- ok this one i don't quite know how to explain...you know how you make the noise and motion when you are 'imitating' an Indian? (this is not meant to offend anyone, sorry) well Ava now can do this herself, except instead of with her palm facing her with a flat hand like normal, she makes a fist and does it with the back of her hand near her knuckles. yup. i think it may be something you just have to see....
- she is paying a lot more attention to who is holding her. instead of just being passed from person to person without realizing what is going on she is now reaching for people and shy-ing away from people.
-this girl is impossible to put a diaper on. she may be fine at first, but you better believe before you have the old diaper off and the new diaper on she will be rolling and flipping all over the place.
- she is in love with food. if she notices you eating something (even if you try and be super sneaky about it) she will just stare you down and make little noises and move her mouth until you end up feeling bad and giving in. she has it down.
- she still love love loves being outside. it still never fails to make her feel better no matter what mood she is in. walk outside and boom - happy baby.
- she is more and more demanding every day. not in a bad way, just a busy way? does that make sense?
- we are trying to start introducing sippy cups. We were given these and she drinks great out of these because it still has the nipple on top and so she knows what to do with it. We just got a new set that she still can't quite figure out since it has the actual sippy cup ... sipper haha
- i just know she will be able to really use an iPhone before she is 2, if not around age 1 really. as soon as she see's one out she crawls right over to it and wants to flip through everything. there is an app called 'phony phone' and it has all the numbers and makes phone noises - she loves it. Mema and Papa just got her a play phone that she plays with all the time. makes me wonder what she'll be using when she's a teenager ha!
- she gets more animated by the day. she's got the most hilarious grumpy face, the sweetest smile, and the cutest laugh. joy all around -- even during the grumpy times :)
- she loves the touch and feel books. it is so funny because she will take just her pointer finger and scratch the fur or cardboard or whatever is in the book. just one finger. then she will 'pat pat pat' it but at first it is always with one finger.
- when she is crawling around and ends up in the kitchen she always crawls right over to the dishwasher and gives herself a kiss in the reflection. every. time.
- she still crosses her feet at the ankles when she is 'lounging' or sitting
- her hair is actually starting to grow in the back! never mind the fact that it looks a little like a rat tail right now, she has hair! well she's always had it in the front and the sides but the back is finally catching up! and it is still curly on the ends. i'm so excited to see how it eventually turns out
- you cannot walk through Target, Walmart or any other store without being stopped by at least 5 people who talk to her and tell her how cute she is. never fails.
- one of her favorite songs right now (besides the Elmo's World song) is 'Country Strong' by Gwyneth Paltrow. yes, the one from the movie. and no, i don't really know how it became a favorite.


and for BIG news, Ava has her first crush. Yep, that's right. Our 8 month old little girl has a crush. Every time she see's him or even hears his voice in the distance she breaks out in to a HUGE smile. She stares at him longer than she does anyone else. Oh, you want to know who?







This guy. Yep, Ava loves Elmo. Now everyone knows.

Coming up ....
I'm actually going to be blogging again - ARE YOU SHOCKED?!
Mobile Monday's will make a comeback!
Updates will be given!
Backgrounds will be changed!

Prepare to be an avid reader again.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

6 months old

6 months ago our baby girl was born at 7:47 am on Thursday January 13th. I cannot believe how quickly this time has gone by! She is just growing up in to her own little person so fast. I am so incredibly proud of everything she has done and is doing.
Here's her 6 month stats:
16 lbs 3 oz
23.5 in
-she got her round of shots and was quite the trooper, only cried for a little bit.

Here's what Ava is up to at 6 months!
- about a week and a half before her 6 month birthday Ava crawled! Chad and I were both watching her get up on all fours and rock (which she had been doing for quite some time) and then all of a sudden out of the corner of my eye i saw her take 2 'crawls' forward! She's been going nonstop ever since.
- besides crawling she is also pulling up! The doctor said "developmentally, she could sit and do nothing else for the next 3 months and still be ahead of the curve". That's my girl!
- she is definitely liking exploring other food options. We have started the baby food purees but are also doing bits and pieces of other random things like bananas, pineapples, crackers, etc. On her half birthday she also tried some ice cream...and LOVED it!
- we  introduced the sippy cup and so far so good! Today we had put some apple juice with water and she was guzzling it!
- she is sleeping better, which is very much welcomed by Chad and I.  Her usual routine is that she goes to sleep anywhere between 7-8:30 and IF she wakes up its usually around 3 and she only needs a little pat to go back to sleep. Then she always wakes up about 5-6 to eat. Sometimes she goes back to sleep, sometimes not. Either way it's still better than waking up every 2 hours. Woo Hoo!
- She is still LOVING her baths. She is now in a big girl chair thing that suctions to the bottom of the tub and she splashes and splashes and plays with her bath toys an just loves every second.
- She is now a super-pooper. She goes just about every day which is big improvement over her once a week diapers she used to have haha. The funny thing about this is that most of these dirty diapers happen when she is in her exersaucer. It's hilarious - she'll be fine and playing and then once she goes in the exersaucer she will play a little longer and then you'll see 'the face'. My mom texts me updates at work a lot of the time and now when I see "guess what she's doing again?" I know exactly what's going on ha!
- she is fascinated by Chad's guitar. She loves listening to him play and also loves to crawl over and try and show him what she knows too.
- ba ba ba ba ba -- she is babbling a TON! Her regular sounds are 'ba', 'na', 'ya', 'gui' and several raspberries and giggles. Don't forget her squeals!
- she has this noise that i absolutely love because it's hilarious. It's like on a scary movie when you hear someone do a 'whisper growl' kind of thing. Thats the best way I can think to describe it without taking a video of myself doing the noise and posting it on here, which I don't think I want to do :)
- the past couple days she has really been exploring her voice and has discovered that she can suck in. It's an awful sound almost like she is having trouble breathing but she's not, she's just messing around.
- she's at the beginning of a separation anxiety phase we believe. She's starting to cry as soon as we walk away or leave a room. This seems like it'll be a fun phase to endure haha - it is a little sweet though that she just wants to be around us :)
- she love love loves dogs. Especially my mom's dog cocoa but pretty much all dogs. Whenever she's at my mom's house if cocoa comes in a room or even just moves Ava immediately takes off towards her no matter what else is going on.
- we are finding out that Ava loves cords to any and all electronics. Oh boy.
- she understands her name now I think. Could still just be her turning towards sound but it really seems like she responds to her name.
- one of her favorite things is her walker - she loves running around in that thing! Her elbow always hits the same button so I now find myself humming the tune over and over and over.
- she has a a funny need to hold something while she is eating. Usually a burp cloth or blanket but she will throw her arm around until she finds something to hold, then grab on to it, and flail it around while she eats. So funny.
- we have now lowered Ava's crib mattress. Chad walked in on her crying after a nap one day and there she was, just standing up holding on to the rail like a pro. So down her mattress went. It's the cuttest thing to see her standing there when you walk in though.
- she loves playing with cords. In the living room we have her mat set up and all her toys everywhere so she can crawl and get to them all, and guess what she goes straight over to? Any cords. TV, Computer, random cords we never knew existed - this girl seeks them out and devours them. We've started saying 'no, no' to her when she does it - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We will see how that works haha

OK feel free to add some and I will add more if I think of any!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Mobile Monday!

Another round of MM is up! It's been an exciting week - Ava turned 6 months! The 6 month post is coming up next so be looking for it!




Eating a banana!

Excited about the homerun derby!

New shoes - jelly!



Bubble bath!

She loves her Poppy's giraffe he made

Happy half birthday ice cream!


Introducing the sippy cup and juice

She hasn't worn shoes in a long time and on Sunday she finally got to wear a pair - we had a bet that at least one would come off before we got to church....

Monday, July 11, 2011

Mobile Monday


...on Monday! Here's what we've done this week....



We had a family date night (first time just the 3 of us had gone out since Ava was born!) at Carrabas. Ava LOVED the bread!



We bought a mesh feeder this weekend and you stick frut in there and just helps them not get big pieces of food to choke on. She had pineapple and LOVED it!



looking good!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Mobile...Wednesday?

Yes I know I am awful at posting- all these holidays keep throwing me off! So I welcome you to Mobile Wednesday - hopefully a one time occurance but knowing me, probably not...


*courtesy of ms. kalie killen*

*courtesy of ms. kalie killen*

*courtesy of ms. kalie killen*


this is during church while Ava had my phone :)


big girl bath ring!




4th of july cupcakes!

my best one!

we were going to go outside but it was rainy so the kitchen worked just fine