Our trip to South Carolina

Ava and I took our annual trip to SC in the beginning of May to visit Angie. Maybe it's not really an annual trip yet, since we've only been twice and she's only lived there a little over a year.....but still, as long as she's there we'll go!! It was so much fun with Ava this year. She was still so little last time I went. She had a blast playing with Angie's dog, Molly. I think they bonded :) She's such a little water baby that she played in the pool even when we were wusses and thought it was too cold! Next time we will have to hit the beach!! Thanks for letting us come play Ang....can't wait to come back :)

What's for Dinner?

Ava's newest hobby is playing in the pots and pans...pretty usual for a 1 year old right? But is it normal for them to want to be the main course? I look over as I'm cooking dinner the other day, and this is what I see.............

Coldest Easter Ever!!

I'm not sure what was up with the whack-a-doo weather, but Ava had to forego her cute Easter attire, and bundle up in her winter coat to go egg hunting. I had just finished packing up all of her cold weather clothes, thinking I was safe. Still, she had a blast......even if it was colder than Christmas. If it wasn't her 1st real Easter Egg Hunt, I might have said "Um babe, I think it was too cold for the Easter Bunny to come this year.....he's still hibernating!"

Friday she went with Hannah and Hunter to the Gillis' Easter Egg Hunt in and had so much fun. She pretty much took over an entire end of the "field" and had the whole "pick egg up and put it in basket" thing down in record time. They were all so cute....who needs candy with those little sacks of sugar running around? Saturday it snowed on us as we were driving to Paris. I'm guessing there were alot of fingers stuck in ears and some "bllaaaa bllaaaa, I can't hear you" going around from all of the global warming peeps when they heard reports of snow in Texas in April......I'm just saying ;)

Sunday we had Easter at our house and the kids were hilarious running around the front yard. Ava and Hunter are young enough that just eggs are cool.....Hannah will promptly discard any empty eggs. They are of no use to her if there are no goodies inside.....She definitely has that one figured out!! I loved that they were all old enough to run around together this year, and watching them try to steal what was in each other's baskets was priceless. They are without a doubt the 3 cutest kids I've ever seen in my life......not that I'm at all biased or anything ;)

Ava's "Big Girl" Bathroom

I finally decided, after a year of living in our house, that it was time to get to work on Ava's bathroom. I needed to reclaim mine.....I was tired of stepping on rubber ducks and accidentally using baby shampoo (as good as it smells, it doesn't do much for the fro!). I started this weekend, and ripped down the hideous wallpaper....then re-textured and painted. There were a few other steps in there, but I'll spare you the details. I will, however, give a shout-out to the genius who thought it was a good idea to caulk the wallpaper to the ceiling. It might have peeled off from every other edge in the room, but it most certainly was not going to fall from the ceiling....kudos to you, my friend! I thorougly enjoyed scraping that off with my trusty exacto knife ;) We had to do a few minor repairs....the drain and faucet in the tub was corroded, and Jon tackled that one...plus he took the super ugly sliding glass shower doors off a few weeks ago. I would love to replace the lovely pink toilet and tub, and gold countertop, but those will have to wait. There are a few other cosmetic things that need to be done....those dorm room towel racks have got to go, and there is one stubborn knob that has to come off...it's not ready to part with the room just yet, apparently. Other than that, I'm pretty proud of my handy work....not bad for 5 days, most of which was done during Ava's daily 2 hour nap!! I didn't take any before pics, but if you've been in my house, you know how ugly it was. If not, then trust me....your eyes thank me :)

My Little Fashion Icon

As well as her usual "must have" accessories, like her pink blanket, purple straw sippy cup, and baby doll, Ava has picked up a few more that she just can't seem to live without. More often than not, she's seen with a cell phone lately....we try to make sure that it's her play phone....but you know how that goes. The crazy thing is she knows exactly what it's for. She opens it, pushes buttons and puts it to her ear....then it's either "Hi Dada" or "Hi Tissssssy" (i.e. Aunt Tiffy).

She's loving purses right now too. Such a girly girl...where did that come from?? (I think Jon has some explaining to do.) It really all started with Tiff's purse...and that is still the favorite, but at this point any purse will do. She grabs a purse, brings me her shoes, and it's time to go!! Oh....but we can't forget those shades. Little Miss Thing cannot be bothered by the bright sunlight ;) At least she doesn't try to steal mine anymore! I have no clue where her crazy little personality came from (snicker away people)....but in addition to saving for college, I'm thinking maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to start a "Hollywood, Here She Comes" fund as well.

Welcome to My World!!

So I'm only a year late, but I had planned on doing this when Ava was born to keep everyone up to speed on what was going on in her little world. Oh well, better late that never, right. Since I'm horrible at sending out pictures (It's not like I've been busy chasing her crazy butt around, or anything), I'll try to put a few on here a week so that everyone can see the Monkey in action. Check back whenever you feel like you might need a little dose of Ava :)

Here's a few of Little Miss Cranky Pants at her 1st Birthday Party:
(Note to Self: Do not wake a sleeping munchkin up from a nap in hopes that she will take another one later so that she can stay up and party like a Rockstar on her Birthday.......it doesn't work!)

I didn't actually take a single picture that day, what with all the craziness that was going on, so thanks Tiff and Steph for these little gems!!














I take that back, I may have taken this last one....one of the few times during the day when she wasn't screaming. Give a baby some balloons and all is right with the world ;)