Ava dazzled us with her skills recently. She definitely takes after one of her parents and isn't afraid to perform..."wonder which parent that is?????". Sadly her only song was "woowoowoowoowoowoowoo"....but it was the sweetest song I have ever heard!!!!
To me this picture is all about childhood. Ava had the best time running up and down the levee this day. The grass was tall and all I could think was...man I bet her legs are itchy! But it did not phase her. She would fall and get right back up and do it again. She rarely sits still for pictures these days, so most of my shots are "on the go" type pics. I love this stage (although...there are days I am exhausted from chasing her all day). She is sooo chatty (wonder were that comes from???) She rarely slows down, but when she does and sits in my lap for a little snuggle, I could not be more content. I guess I'm equally content to be chasing her up and down on a levee in tall itchy grass.......
My Dad is a Vietnam Veteran. He was drafted at the early age of 19! It still amazes me that at that age he was in a strange country fighting a war. Here he is with all his Grandchildren! They all adore their papaw! Ava and I plan to take him a box of homemade chocolate covered cherries later today (he LOVES choc covered cherries). Happy Veteran's Day to my Dad and all Vets!!!!!!!
Ava hosted her first Halloween party this year. Her friends and family were treated to lots of food, fun, games and a hayride. Everyone had the best time! In addition, Ava had the pleasure of wearing her Witch costume 5 times. Formal pictures (that were sadly lost by the studio), her party, "Witch Way to Main Street", Trick or Treating and "Goblins in the Park".....our community REALLY likes this holiday. It's also my favorite in addition to Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Years...well..all of them!
Ava recently had her "first" haircut. It was VERY hard for me to do this!!!! I was sick of Jason and Ava's Grandparents hounding me about her hair.....but they had a point....it was always in her eyes. Since she refuses to wear a hair bow, I had no choice. I put it off as long as I could. She did very well! She did not cry, but she wanted me right there beside her. It changed her looks soooo much. She no longer looks like my little baby. Instead she looks like a big girl. I guess I'm going to have to accept that she is going to grow up.....
We are having another GIRL!!! more PINK!!!!! Ava and this new little one will be the best of friends...until they hit their teenage years. As it stands now, Dr. Lee has given me a due date of March 2 and the ultrasound is showing Feb 27th. I will be just fine with Feb 27th! However, I do not feel like I am nearly as prepared as we were with Ava. We are having a little trouble coming up with names, and my office will be the baby's room (dont know about a new office). We are very excited about our growing family!!!!!
I'm sure Ava will thank me for these pics one day...or not. She LOVES to take a bath. I can't believe I was able to get her to sit still long enough to take this picture.
Ava is a DAREDEVIL!!!!! On this particular day I spent all my time going from one "no-no" to the next. There are several more not pictured here...the tupperware drawer, bathroom, cabinet under the sink.....but rest assured, she was into it all!!!!
If you dont catch her in time...she climbs onto the table.
She is usually standing up on this ottoman and trying to jump.....yikes!!!!OK...no pics on this post....but boy do I have a story to tell. Jason and I recently went to "Ozzfest" in Dallas (a father's day present from Ava). What an experience!!! I firmly believe that everyone should experience an event that they would not normally be a part of. Now don't get me wrong, I love "War Machine" by Ozzy and "Enter the Sandman" by Metallica....but on the radio. Live and in person was....different. The concert stated at 10:00am and was an outdoor concert with three stages. We did not arrive until 2:00 because Jason did not like any of the first bands. Right off the bat, I knew we were out of place. We stood out like a sore thumb. Me in my cute little purple ralph lauren t-shirt, capris and yellow box sandals and Jay in his checkered 3 button polo and cargo shorts. Depending on how you look at it, we were either WAY overdressed or WAY underdressed. The attire ranged from long sleeve black shirts, pants and biker boots to bikinis. It was VERY hot and the "overdressed" folks were being hauled out on mini golfcart/ambulances by the droves. After about 30 minutes I lost count of the number of tattoos and piercings we saw. A bottle of water was $4....we spent about $80 on water! I estimate that about 75% of the concert attendees where partaking of "pot" throughout the concert (a smell that I ran from most of the night). We left about midnight. metallica was still performing, but we were both DRAINED from the sun and heat. Having said all this....we really did enjoy the trip.
As you can see, Ava has three favorite items...her blanket, her bear and her passie. Since she was a tiny newborn she has always liked having something soft in her hand. She takes these 3 items to bed with her EVERY night. I had all these cute little pacifiers when she was born, but she got attached to these ugly green ones and will not take anything else. The blanket was a gift from her Aunt Gloria for her Baptism and it is very soft. The bear was a baby shower gift from my best friend, Beth. The bear and the blanket get washed...alot. We learned our lesson early on and have about 10 green pacifers! The picture below is her early morning attitude. She wakes up and wants her milk...right then!!!! Then she wants to sit in my lap and hold her items and suck her passie and watch Elmo! You can forget her sitting in your lap any other time of the day (not a snuggler) so I really enjoy our mornings!
I recently saw this really neat post on another blog. They centered each post around a word starting with each letter of the alphabet. Naturally, I'll begin with Ava (is anyone shocked). There is no way I could express in words everything that Ava represents for us. She is simply....amazing. Here she is playing with her stuffed animals. She loves to play with all her toys and I find myself picking up a house full of toys on a daily basis. She is a very active little girl and seems to always be on the move. She loves books and cartoons. She can point to her nose and her bellybutton (as well as Mommy's). Everyday she amazes me!
MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph
I am very SICK of hearing from everyone how much Ava looks like Jason. Soooo, I decided to get professional help. Well...according to this meter she "does" look more like Jason - BUT only by 3%.
We recently returned from the beach...tanned and rested (well semi-tan and semi-rested). Ava had the best time. She loved the beach and she REALLY loved the pool. She was exceptionally good on the 7 hour journey to the beach. We enjoyed ourselves sooo much. She was able to go to the waterpark and spend a few hours in the kiddie pool. Sadly...I got very sick the day we left (VERY SICK)..... The ride home was not so hot!. However, that did little to spoil the fun memories we made!
Ava in the pool
Our family!
She loved this!!!
I have very few photos of me with Ava...
She loved the fountain in the pool....Ava and her Daddy went fishing in the pond yesterday. To our dismay...she is not afraid of anything. She wanted to touch and hold this big catfish..even cried when I took her inside the house!
Beth's reaction upon seeing her sister Cathy!
Mom drying her tears of joy!
BFFs
Ava's guests were treated to sand buckets filled with goodies..
Ava's smile while guests were singing "Happy Birthday"
She LOVED the cake!
The party ended with a balloon release...the perfect ending!Father's day started out with Ava and her daddy snuggling Sunday morning. Then we cooked Jason breakfast. Ava surprised her daddy with a new "bug light" and tickets to OzzFest....yes OzzFest! Believe it or not, Jason likes heavy metal. Later, we spent the day at Ava's papaw's house swimming. We had a great Father's Day!
Stop taking our picture!
Ava and her Papaw.Ava recently experienced her first Rodeo. The event started at 8:00 (her bedtime) so you can well imagine how cooperative she was.....but she stole the show with her little cowgirl outfit.
YeeHaw!
Ava and Rhett (my brother's son).I am such a BAD blogger! I started out strong and then I totally dropped the ball. My only excuse is.....I was caught up in being a Mommy! Ava turned a year old on April 24th. She had a HUGE birthday party! She will never remember it, but she will see the pictures and realize how special that day was. She is walking, running, climbing and talking. Her vocabulary consist of Mommy, Dada, Mimi, Papaw, No No, Quack Quack, uh-oh, bye-bye and outside. She will imitate just about any sound we make (therefore, we now have a censor in the house)!!!! Here are a few recent photos
Ava in her "pigtails" 
Getting ready to go eat pancakes and visit the zoo with Daddy and Mommy!
On Mother's Day Ava spent the day playing in the grass.
Ava's first time in the big pool at MiMi's house.
