Saturday, December 20, 2008

Meeting Brylee June

While we were in Arlington, we had the pleasure of visiting Tanna and meeting Miss Brylee June. She is SO SO cute and tee tiny. It is hard for me to remember Ava ever being that small. It was almost uncomfortable holding something so small. :) Ava had fun running around playing, and wasn't jealous at all of me holding another baby. Brylee was beautiful and slept the entire visit. It was neat getting to visit with Tanna, and just hang out with our little girls. We hope to visit them again soon!

Ava was very sweet when we sat her next to Brylee. She kept trying to stick Brylee's pacifier in her mouth even though she was sound asleep. Ava is OBSESSED with pacifiers even though she never took one herself when she was a baby...she likes to steal them from other kids and chew on them now.
Checking her out...very gently.


Giving Brylee a hug as best she can.









The Big Move

Last Thursday Ava and I loaded up and headed to Arlington to help Diana and Eric pack up and move. Since Diana couldn't take off of work, I packed up her house. I don't mind helping pack, move and unpack when it is not MY stuff. It was not stressful in the least. My brothers friend had a moving truck, and we had plenty of help loading and unloading. It was an easy move, and by the end of the day we were hanging decorations in the new house! We look forward to hosting Christmas in her new house soon.
Ava all bundled up ready to watch everyone load up the moving truck.


Loading up the old house in Arlington...


...Diana and Maddy getting ready to walk into their new house for the first time on moving day...in Heritage Trace in Keller.

Ava did her part helping squash old boxes after unpacking in the new kitchen. She was so proud of herself.

Ava watching me pack up the car getting ready to head back to Austin. She was making the funniest faces up against the glass. I wish I could have caught more of them, but I couldn't get the camera out fast enough. IT WAS COOOOLD!

CONGRATS ERIC, DIANA & MADDY ON YOUR NEW HOME!!!




Christmas Pictures

Well we managed to get a few pictures taken for Christmas cards with one teenage boy and a one year old girl. PHEW!! Neither one had a very long attention span or patience for taking pictures...but we were able to get some good ones!

Ava started out by giving us the evil eyes...I think she knew what was coming.

We started out trying to take some outside, but all Ava wanted to do was play...so we got a very fake smile out of her while Hunter was trying to hold her down.


I love Ava's smile in this one. We had to start taking them standing up because Ava would cooperate on the ground. :)

Out of all of the pictures, this is the only one where Hunter showed his smile full of braces. Ava was just trying to escape.

So we moved inside to the fireplace. Hunter was getting tired, but Ava had some great teethy smiles. She is so cute in this one!!

We ended in front of the Christmas tree. I love her 8 pearly whites....Hunter is DONE by this point!!
...but he posed for one final one...letting his baby sister kiss him on the cheek! Could they be any cuter??

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!



Monday, December 8, 2008

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

WOW!! I can't believe I have gone THIS long without blogging! Bad bad bad!





I hosted Thanksgiving for Jamie's side of the family this year (around 20ppl), and I think the weeks leading up to preparing for Thanksgiving got me a little stressed and the blog got neglected.




It was a successful Turkey Day. I made my first ever turkey, and no one ended up sick. :)I would definitely want to host it again. We painted a football field on our front yard (the guys were in heaven), had a cornhole tournament, and hooked three wagons to the back of our lawn mower for rides around the neighborhood for the kids. It was a blast! Oh, and Jamie's little sister announced that she was engaged...to someone we have never met, nor knew existed before Thanksgiving, so that was interesting. ;)




Riding on the "Turkey Express"

My FAVORITE thing about the holidays....all of the desserts!!!!

Ava has also had another bout of RSV/Bronchiolitis this winter. She had it last winter when the weather changed, so I already had the breathing machine and medicine. It lasted about a week along with fever for a week, and if she even smelled or tried to eat food she would vomit because the drainage was so thick. Poor baby. It turned into an ear infection, and she had to take her first antibiotics. She is better now, but the breathing machine is still handy.

Hunter had another spot of staph come up again...this time on his arm. NOT FUN! We think he keeps getting it from school. Although football season is over, he still has athletics. They are lifting weights, and have to change into school provided work out clothes. Hunter has special permission to take his home every day and wash them, but every other teenage boy has to lift weights in clothes that only get washed once a week. YUCK!! So needless to say staph is brewing all around him, and he is very susceptible to it. More meds (for the whole family), more doctors visits, and more strict cleaning. :(

Ava is getting SO big. I can see her changing before my eyes every day. She can sign eat, drink, baby, more, ball, all done, and milk off the top of my head. She is obsessed with birds, and LOVES to watch My Friends Tigger and Pooh on the Disney Channel. She still loves giving hugs and kisses, and has finally starting giving kisses with her mouth closed. Woo Hoo!

We have really been enjoying the cooler weather. We have been reading outside in the hammock wrapped up in a blanket, wagon rides around the neighborhood, dinner and Smores out at the Hyatt Lost Pines, and Christmas Light shows around town.

I finally finished putting up the Christmas decorations that were strewn all around the house. I actually have most of the presents wrapped and under the tree which is pretty amazing even to me. I have a few more things to buy, but mostly gift cards. I am beyond excited for Ava to open gifts and participate in Christmas this year! It is going to be so much fun!



Such a cutie in Winter clothes!

Ava LOVES books. She prefers "reading" a book over playing with toys....
especially reading in the hammock!

"Go faster Mama!"

Getting ready to go eat some Smores...mmmmmm
Our Christmas tree with a few of the gifts underneath.


"The stockings are hung by the chimney with care..."
Ava is obsessed with the dancing Santa! As soon as it comes on she starts dancing too!
Ava has her own Christmas tree...complete with pink bird! She has to see it every day.


Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!
We hope to see you all soon!