The Newell Family

Saying Goodbye

2011-04-03T20:14:00.006-05:00

Yes, bloggers, I'm saying goodbye. It's been a good 3 years. Life is busy, and I wish I could manage things a little better so that I could keep up with the blog. Not this mom, at least right now. If I start missing it, or all the sudden find a lot more time in my day (wishful thinking), then I'll be back. But for now, here are a few last pictures of the girls.

Here is the incredible playhouse that Jonathan's dad made for Ava and Lily. It will be a fun summer! (Thanks, Grandpop!)

Jonathan is turning Ava into his very own hockey fan - matching jersey's and all!

Hope you all are enjoying this nice spring weather.

Goodbye, blogging world!

February

2011-03-08T08:35:00.006-06:00

February was kind of a busy month for us. Jonathan had a few work trips, so I visited my parents while he was gone. Our family also seemed to catch every sickness that had been going around. It never lasted too long, thankfully.

Now that Lily is crawling, Ava now has a play-mate all the time. She's in love with her sister and the feeling is usually mutual. It's been fun seeing the girls interacting with each other more. Here are some pictures of the past month:

They both look suspicious to me

Ava's pretend friends

Enjoying the weather

Who needs a broom or a pet when you have Lily?

Ava has been enjoying one of mamaw and papaw's gifts from Christmas. It's one of those books that you record your voice reading the book. She loves it! I also have it memorized.

And Lily is almost 11 months old. She has found Ava's rocking chair and loves to rock herself. She's not showing any signs of walking yet. I doubt that will be anytime soon. But that's okay with me.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T15:30:00.003-06:00

Normally I'm not a big fan of Valentine's day. I mean, I don't hate the holiday, but I never make a big deal about it. But since Ava is getting older, it's been fun finding different things to make with her to celebrate together. So we've kept busy today. I even let her skip her nap today. (I do have other motives for that...no nap=early bedtime!)

This is for daddy when he gets home. Ava's first time to write "I love you". Can you find the "v"?

Ava had her first dentist appointment today. She did great but unfortunately I didn't get one picture of it. She got a special treat afterwards for being so brave. We went to Chick-fil-a and got some ice cream. Oh, and a sucker when we got home.

We've also been enjoying this beautiful day. Lily has had a rough napping day, so outside seems to help with the crying.

Hope you all have a fun Valentine's day celebrating with your love ones too.

Ava's birthday

2011-01-27T10:09:00.002-06:00

Finally...Ava's party. The first few pictures are of Ava's actually birthday. We made her a pancake shaped like a number 3. She loved it!

Since we had just got back from being gone for over a week, we were ready to stay home. But we told Ava she could do whatever she wanted to do. So, she chose to keep her pajamas on most of the day and wear her cowgirl hat. Along with watching Toys Story 1 and 3, and if I remember correctly, we watched one of those twice. Wow, a dream come true for her!
Then we made some brownies so she could have a little dessert that night. (Don't let Sophie look Catherine. She's eating some of the batter. ha!)

Then we let her open one gift from Lily that night. She had fun and that could have been the end of her birthday. But wait...there's more....

The next Saturday (Jan. 8) we had a little party for Ava. And I'm glad we did because the week between her actual birthday and her birthday party, she was telling me that she's not three yet because her friends haven't come over to celebrate.

I made Ava a birthday shirt with a giant cupcake on it with three candles. But, as soon as Sophie got there, she wanted to dress up like a princess and she kept it on the whole night. So, next year I may not try so hard to make a birthday shirt for her.

Sophie and Ava reading together. I'm sure that didn't last long.

Catherine and baby Micah - what a cutie!

My sweet, lovable Lily

Ava's birthday cake - a GIANT cupcake

Grandma Jan and the girls

Miss Amber and Ava

Ava opening her present from Sophie.

And here was the rest of the evening. Playing with Mr. Potato head that Ava was not willing to share, as you can see.

Ava had a great time celebrating! Now that she's three, we hear it all the time. "I'm three now, I can do it." Our little Ava is growing up and is changing so much. She's becoming very thoughtful, especially with Lily. She loves taking care of her. If Lily cries, then Ava will run and get her a toy right away. There's no need for Lily to start crawling anytime soon since we have Ava around. She is also our encourager. "You're so pretty, momma." or "It's okay, mommy. I will take care of you." I've started journaling some things she says because I never want to forget them. As any three-year-olds, we have our moments with melt downs, throwing fits, not sharing, etc. But we pray that God will use Ava to serve Him one day. And that she will shine her light in such a way that she may glorify Him. (Matt 5:16)

We thank God for bringing Ava into our lives 3 years ago. He has already used her to draw us closer to Him.

Birthday Party With Family

2011-01-19T10:00:00.000-06:00

After we left Jonathan's family, we went to visit my Grandma Jo at Princeton, IN. While we were there, we celebrated Ava's birthday. We first went to Chuck E Cheese, then on to a favorite mexican restraunt of mine. My aunt, uncle and cousin came, along with her three kids. Ava always enjoys seeing Elijah and Ella.

Papa and Lily

Ava and Ella riding, what I think was a rollercoaster. Ava would just stare at it and wouldn't move, Ella was a little scared and had to hold Ava's hand. It was cute.

Ava riding the horse. This was definitely her favorite ride.

Ava did not like Chuck E, but she still wanted to see him. We definitely couldn't get too close though. This is Ava watching Chuck E dance from a distance as she's holding on tight to mommy.

Belated birthday wish for Cate

2011-01-17T19:28:00.002-06:00

(This was meant to be posted on Cate's birthday, but we are almost 2 weeks behind. ooops! And I'm pretty sure Ava was on a sugar high. I couldn't keep her still.)

We miss and love you, Cate. Come see us soon!

Christmas

2011-01-10T19:02:00.005-06:00

We had a lot of fun during Christmas. Our first stop was Birmingham, where my parents live. My brother Jeromy, and his family, were able to make it this year, along with my sister and her family. So we had a full house. It was crazy, but the good kind of crazy. The cousins had fun together, too. Here are a few pictures of our time together.

One day we went to the Galleria and let the kids ride the train. They had fun, especially since Uncle Jeromy wanted to ride with them.

The kids had matching shirts on for Christmas day, but I never got a picture with them together. I guess that's what happens when you get 7 kids together. We did get Eli and Lily, but this is the best we could do. Still cute though!

The making of a ginger bread house. This was a big hit!

Don't worry, this isn't a real oreo cookie. Although I'm sure Lily would've loved that.

Lily trying out Eli's new Thomas the Train.

The first of many presents to come.

After we celebrated with my family, we left for Jonathan's family's house. We drove at night, which was great. Both girls slept the whole way. Unfortunately, I didn't get any picture from our time there. But, you will see a picture soon of Ava's Christmas and birthday gift. It's a massive playhouse that Jonathan's dad built. He did an AMAZING job! They will be bringing it down when it gets warmer out, so I'll show you pictures then. I'm sure Ava will be living in it most of the summer.

Eli's birthday

2011-01-10T18:38:00.004-06:00

I have so much to update about - Eli's birthday, Christmas and Ava's birthday. We'll start with Eli's birthday and slowly update with the rest. Eli (my nephew) turned one on December 22. My whole family, minus my older brother and his family, all went to my parents for Christmas. So we celebrated Eli's birthday together while we were there. My mom suprised my sister and made an amazing train cake. She did a great job with it!

The Shinkle family

The girls enjoying their cake together.

The famous one-year-old picture. He had fun, can you tell?

Silly sisters - (you're welcome, Annie.)

Eli, what a sweet boy you are. We love you and had fun celebrating your birthday with you, even though you are wearing a pink bib that says princess on it. I miss those kisses you would give me!

One more week until Christmas...

2010-12-18T23:18:00.002-06:00

and we are ready!

Here are two photos of Ava playing in the snow last week:

I think her favorite part was eating the snow.

After Ava was finished making snow angels, we warmed up with some hot chocolate.

What do best friends do for each other at 3 years old?

2010-12-16T23:12:00.003-06:00

Ava's dance moves

2010-12-10T23:58:00.000-06:00

Who do you think taught her how to dance like this?

Christmas is almost here

2010-12-03T10:30:00.001-06:00

Our Christmas tree is up and our stockings are hung. We so love this time of year. Ava is loving our Christmas tree lights. She loves turning off all the lights with only the Christmas lights on. We also decorated her room this year with lights. She loves it! We are trying to start a few new traditions this year. One being our advent calendar. There are LOTS of ideas out there. I got my idea from a friends blog. You should check it out here. We also have been reading this to her everyday. (Thanks, Catherine!)

Setting up Ava's nativity set

Little treats are inside and something special written that Ava gets to do everyday with mommy and daddy. I get just as excited as she does.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-01T15:33:00.007-06:00

First of all, the last post was to promote Shutterfly and in doing that they will give me 50 free Christmas cards. Here's the link if you are a blogger and what to do the same.

Promotion

We had a pretty low-key Thanksgiving. We stayed home for the first time this year. Even though we missed being with our families, it was nice to not travel with two kiddos. Our friends, the Newells, let us come over on Thanksgiving to spend with their family. It was such a nice time of fellowship. (We missed Amber though.) Thank you, Jan and Chris, for letting us spend the day with you. The food was DELICIOUS!

My sweet Ava

Priceless

Jan, Ava and Kristen

Shutterfly makes it easy to have the best Christmas cards

2010-11-29T21:59:00.005-06:00

In years past, we would take our Christmas photo to one of the national photo centers. Though they were good, they were not the best. So this year, we have decided to use Shutterfly for our Christmas cards. Shutterfly gives you a lot of options and designs to choose from.

One thing I love to order through Shutterfly is their photo calendars. They are great gifts for grandparents. My parents love them since it's a gift they see all year round.

Also, if you are planning on having a Christmas party, then you should check out their holiday invitions here. They have a lot of fun and welcoming styles to choose from.

Jonathan and I have loved using Shutterfly for a lot of reasons. We have enjoyed their photo books especially. We have made Ava a few photo books and loved how they have turned out. Now we are in the process of making Lily one too.

Memories of your family will always be cherished, why not use Shutterfly?

Sisterly love

2010-11-18T13:33:00.000-06:00

Here is a little preview of what Lily thinks of her big sister...most of the time anyways. :)

Lily laughing

2010-11-07T00:02:00.001-05:00

Lily is 6 months

2010-10-18T21:16:00.005-05:00

Hard to believe that my baby girl is 6 months already. A little about Lily:

Lily really suits her name. She is such a sweet and happy little girl. Her smile is very contagious. She always wakes up so happy in the mornings. It's one of my favorite times with her. Lily loves to see Ava. When you ask her where Ava is, she will look for her now. She is a very content baby. She babbles a lot now - mostly da da da da. (Ma ma will come soon, I hope!) She has two teeth and she's about to have four. She rolls a lot. Hasn't mastered sitting up on her own yet, but everyday she sits up longer and longer. She giggles a lot. Started eating a lot of baby food recently. Loves most everything I've fed her except for squash. She will stare at her daddy a lot and always gives him a big smile. Lily loves her "Sophie" - it's her giraffe teething toy, although she loves Ava's BF Sophie, too. :)

I can already see the differences in Lily and Ava. Ava was almost crawling and pulling up on furniture at this age. Lily isn't even quite sitting up on her own yet. She doesn't seem too active, which I'm thankful for this time around :).

We love you, sweet Lily!

Here's her stats: 13lbs. 11oz. (10 percentile) and 26 in. long. (61 percentile).

Here's my little princess:

My two sweeties

peek-a-boo

bath time

first pony-tail

Lily's first play date with Heidi, our neighbor and friend. Heidi is 3 hours younger than Lily. Yes, that's right, 3 hours a part. If you read my birth story, then you will remember that me and my neighbor went into labor on the same day and delivered at the same hospital. Pretty crazy how the Lord works. They seemed to enjoy their time together and Ava seemed to enjoy it a lot too. As you can see, Ava's pretending to be a baby with a rattle in her mouth. :)

Happy birthday Sophie

2010-10-13T22:12:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin patch

2010-10-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

Random pictures over the past few months

2010-09-29T10:09:00.007-05:00

Sisterly love

Jonathan's parents graciously came down to watch Ava for us overnight a few weeks ago. Ava wasn't spoiled at all! :)

Lily at 5 months - cut her first two teeth.

My sister and her family were in town last weekend. The girls LOVE playing together. We wish we lived even closer, but we are very thankful that it's only a 3 hour drive.

One of Ava's favorite things to do with daddy. She begs him every night to be thrown up in the air. Jonathan gets his work-out for the day, that's for sure!

Ava loves, loves, loves her daddy.

Ava's name

2010-09-27T10:27:00.002-05:00

Lately Ava and I have had "school time". I take about 30-45 minutes in the morning to sit with her and work with sounding out letters and writing them. She will ask to have school time every once in a while, too, so she seems to really enjoy it. She's just soaking it up. It's been fun seeing her learn and how quickly she's picking it up. This past week I've been working with her on writing her name. She finally did it all by herself. I was estatic! And I know, her name only has three letters and two of those letters are the same, but she still did it and I was so excited for her. Makes a momma proud! Now we're working on Lily's name. (So I pick easy names for my kids. Didn't have that in mind when we named them, but it's kind of nice when they start learning to write their name!)

*Update on Lily: She is growing a little better now. We started her on cereal, but she doesn't seem to be too interested. So, we'll keep trying and sooner or later she'll be eating like a champ.

Lily

2010-09-04T20:17:00.006-05:00

Lily has found her feet! For the past few months, Ava has been biting her toe nails. It's disgusting! She knows she's not allowed to do that anymore, but now that she sees Lily sucking on her toes, Ava thinks she can do it too.

My sweet girl

Lily is old enough for the Jumperoo now. She loves it, although she isn't quite ready to actually jump yet. It brings back a lot of memories of when Ava was a baby. She would jump forever in this thing. That should've been my first clue to tell how active she was going to be. I'm surprised it's still in good shape. :)

And she likes her Bumbo seat. It's great having her sit with us during dinner now.

Lily is growing up too fast. And even though a lot of moms say that about their babies, I really can relate after having Lily. With Ava I was excited and ready for her next milestone. It was all new to us. (Even though I did get sad when she moved out of the babies nursery into the toddler nursery!) But now that Ava is 2 1/2, I really do know how fast they grow up. Every stage is exciting. I'm trying not to think about how fast time flies, but to enjoy this stage of Lily's life.

*Quick update on Lily: Lily's weight is still dropping in percentile. It was at 47% and now it's at 10%. The doctor isn't quite sure what's going on yet, but right now we will keep monitoring her weight. I'm offering her a bottle after every feeding now. She will take it sometimes, and other times she won't. They aren't sure if it's my milk supply or if something else is going on. We check back in with the pediatrician on Tuesday. I'll try to update then.

Just a little crush

2010-08-31T22:55:00.002-05:00

Ava has her first crush - his name: Mr. Steve.

She likes the older married men apparently. Ava sees him at church every Sunday and loves to run up to him and then she'll run away from him just as fast. She gets all flustered when he's around. (It's cute, but I'm not too sure what his wife thinks of this.) :)

Sunday they asked if they could take Ava out to lunch. I knew she would be in heaven to be with Mr. Steve & Kristen. Kristen took a few pictures of the day, so I thought I would post them. Ava was spoiled...just a little!

First stop: Wendy's

3D shades with her happy meal.

Next stop: the park
And yes, Ava is a climber if you haven't noticed.

Ava and Mr. Steve
Last stop: ice cream

On her way home about to fall asleep.
Thank you, Kristen and Steve, for taking Ava out on a date. She had so much fun! What a blessing you are to our family.

Gatlinburg Trip

2010-08-31T22:23:00.003-05:00

Here is a short video that Jonathan made of our family trip to Gatlinburg.

Summer

2010-08-18T16:38:00.005-05:00

Thought I would add a few more pictures today, since I'm in the mood for blogging and all. Just thought I would share this picture of Ava sleeping since it's too cute not to, and also because I never get pictures like this anymore.

One morning, Jonathan met Ava, Sophie and I at the pool for Jonathan's lunch break. Catherine, Sophie's mommy, came to my house to watch Lily for me so I could take the girls. (Catherine was 9 months pregnant at the time and didn't feel like torturing herself in the heat.)

The above picture is the Newell's family photo we took when we were there for the fourth of July. Can you tell it was around July 4th?

And here is the Thompson's family photo. We were able to all meet together in Gatlinburg this summer. It had been about 2 years since I had seen my brothers and their families, so it was good spending time with everyone. Our families have grown a lot since our last family photo.

Wow...an update!

2010-08-17T19:03:00.005-05:00

Yes, I'm finally updating my blog. I know ALL you readers out there have been missing my blog post. HA:)

Over the fourth of July, we went to visit Jonathan's family. It was a super quick trip, but we had a good time seeing his family. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures at all. But I did capture the photo below and it's absolutely adorable! This is Lily and Claire. Claire is our niece and she was born a day before Lily. And, I caught them both smiling. Beautiful!

My grandma came to visit us for a few days this summer. I really enjoyed spending time with her. I just wish I could see her more often. It was nice for her to get to meet Lily for the first time, and spend time with Ava. Ava still talks about Grandma Jo.

Daddy and his girls.

My little cutie pie!

Mommy and the girls.

And here are just a few pictures of Lily a few weeks ago. She is four months now - growing up way too fast! We had he check-up last week and she is growing, but not as fast as the doctors would like to see. So, I'm trying to offer her a bottle once or twice a day after I nurse her. She is little bitty. But then again, so was Ava. I guess we just have little babies.

2010-08-09T10:29:00.001-05:00

Sunday trip to Bobbies Dairy Dip

Ava laughing

2010-07-29T22:05:00.001-05:00

Random Pictures of the past few weeks.

2010-07-20T14:51:00.002-05:00

Lily and Ava

2010-07-10T20:01:00.003-05:00

I think most of you have seen these pictures, but I thought I would post them just in case. For some reason it won't let me post them individually, so I just attached a link so you can view them. Enjoy!

I'd like to share my Walmart Digital Photo Center photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

8 weeks

2010-06-25T15:37:00.003-05:00

Okay, so Lily is actually already 10 weeks, but I'm slacking on my post. She had her two month check-up a while ago and she weighs in at 10 lbs. 8 oz. (40th %). She's gained two pounds from her birth weight, which is great. She's still so tiny, but she is starting to get some fat rolls (which I don't remember Ava ever having...and still doesn't have!). Her length is 23 in.(74th %). Lily is smiling all time and cooing a lot. I love to hear her raspy little voice. She's been such a great sleeper, too. This week she gave me a very special gift, she's sleeping through the night consistently now. It's wonderful!

Below is a picture of Lily at 8 weeks. Right below that is a picture of Ava when she was 8 weeks old. Can you even tell that they are related? Some people think they look alike, but I defnitely don't see it.

Ava has been a riot lately, let me tell ya. I have a list of things written down that Ava has said recently that I don't want to forget. (Some of which I couldn't share on here!) But she definitely keeps us laughing, that's for sure! One thing she must do is hold Lily. She asks me all the time. Lily is a trooper about it. She doesnt seem to mind, except of course when she's sleepy.

We have been enjoying our summer so far. Jonathan leaves next week to work at summer camp with our church. We both went last year and had a great time with the youth group. This year I obviously can't go since I'm nursing, so the girls and I are going to visit family. We will miss him a lot, but I'm looking forward to hearing all about it.

What did we do on our rainy day?

2010-06-10T12:09:00.006-05:00

Well, we stayed in our pajamas all day and we did some baking. It was fun relaxing with Ava (& Lily) and just enjoyed my daughters. And, as you can see, I think Ava enjoyed the day too.

Ava & Lily

2010-05-19T08:19:00.005-05:00

My good friend, Catherine, took some great photos of Ava and Lily. Lily was right at a month old, so I thought it would be fun to get a few of her before she changes too much. Catherine also made the shirts they are wearing. They have their initials on them. She did a great job. She's one of the most creative people I know! It's nice having a friend that's so crafty since I have no crafty or artistic ability.

Thanks, Catherine, for taking great photos!

Lily has recently started smiling - it's precious.

Probably my favorite photo. It's so sweet!

1 Month old

2010-05-14T12:05:00.002-05:00

Lily Jane's stats:

9lbs. 1 oz. - 47th percentile

21.5 in. - 68th percentile

The doctor says she's a healthy little girl. Not much else to say about this check-up. I guess that's a good thing!

Life with two

2010-05-04T14:14:00.005-05:00

So, as shocking as this may sound, I've been a little busy lately. Life with two kids is very different then life with just one. It's been such a blessing to have so much help after I've had Lily. My mom came in town to help for almost two weeks. The last week she was here, my dad came up too. It was nice to get to spend time with both of them. While they were here, Jonathan decided to go back to work so that I would have the extra help once they left. So this week Jonathan is off work. I've definitely been spoiled with all the help. Next week I'm officially on my own with two kids. If I don't post much in the weeks to come, you'll know why!

Mama with her two granddaughters. She was a HUGE help!

Here is my sweet Lily. She's changing so much already.
I wanted to put a few pictures of Ava and Lily together, but that's actually hard to do, especially since Lily sleeps so much right now. But Ava loves her little sister...A LOT! She wakes up saying, "Hold her?". She can be a little rough at times because she kisses her all the time and wants to hug her. (And Ava's hugs aren't the softest.) But it's sweet that she loves her so much.
While my parents were here, we ended up going to the zoo a couple times. Ava really needed to get out of the house...actually, we ALL needed to get out of the house.
Ava's favorite part of the zoo, the play area. This is also one of my favorite parts of the zoo because I get to sit and watch, using no energy at all. And, it gets Ava's energy out, so she usually takes a good nap after a morning at the zoo. A win win for both of us!

Papa and Ava looking at the meerkats.

Lily has been such a blessing for our family. She's only three weeks old, but I already forgot what life was like without her. God is so good!

The photgraphic evidence of Lily

2010-04-20T12:35:00.004-05:00

Here are the pictures I promised on my last long post of the story.
One note: There have been questions about the timeline of the birth, yes the timeline is literal, down to the minute.

It's a girl and a wild ride!

2010-04-18T20:21:00.014-05:00

Well, most of you already know that Amber and I finally met our newest child, a girl, Lily Jane. But, most of you may not know the story behind her entrance into the world so Amber asked me to fill you in and share some photos.

Our Tuesday evening started out pretty normal we had a friend over for dinner and during the dinner Amber started to have some, what we thought were "mild" contractions, about 5pm. After our dinner Amber thought that we should go on a little walk to help the contractions pass. We walked around our neighborhood for a little bit having to stop every 2-3 minutes so that Amber could work through the contraction (you would think this would prompt us to go to the hospital now, but no). At 7 we got back to our house and Amber once again stopped for a contraction, but along with this contraction came some water (again another hint to start heading to the hospital). Amber decided to take a shower to help with some of the contractions, I took this time to call her parents who live 3 hours aways to tell them that they may want to start the drive to Nashville. After her shower Amber came out to the living room to lay on the floor and by this time the contractions were coming faster and stronger, we still thought that she was in the very early stages of labor and we had plenty of time, wrong! Amber wanted to call her twin sister who has three kids of her own to get some advice, Annie said, "if your water broke you may want to get moving to the hospital because your second child and move pretty quick after the water breaks". Had Annie not filled us in on this little piece of knowledge we would have had an unplanned home birth! At this point we called the doctor and filled her in on the situation and in a very calm but concern voice she says, "yeah lets just have you come in". Amber then tells me to get someone to come over and watch Ava while we get going to the hospital so I ran next door to our neighbors to ask if she could sit at our house while one of our friends came over to watch her for the night. The neighbor was a little concerned because her daughter, who lives with her, just went to the hospital in labor an hour ago! (There is a funny side story here, but I will stick to our story for now) Our neighbor was able to come sit at our house for a couple minutes while our friend Angela, who was over for dinner earlier, came back to watch Ava.

Once the neighbor came in our house, I ran out and got our car ready for to go, then ran back in and picked Amber up off the floor and helped her to the car. Once in the car I downshifted and started to run every stop sign and red light I came to. I tried to be the good calming husband to Amber saying, "just breath, stay calm, keep relaxing" and she responded to me, "this baby is coming now and I need to start pushing!!!!!".
Now let me pause for a moment. When you hear your wife exclaim this, a few things go through your mind. First, "No, I am not a licenced delivery doctor so lets just relax and wait until we get to the hospital", second "Should I pull this car over and then pull this baby out and save the money from the hospital stay, no, if I do that then I have to push this car in the river because the resale value on this car just dropped down into the negative", third "Let's see how fast this little car can go because I ain't about to deliver this child".

So there I am racing through the streets of Nashville, my car riding the red line and my pregnant wife in some serious pain the passenger seat. We finally arrived at the hospital and I drove straight to the Labor and Delivery door and helped Amber through the door. The admitting clerk looked at us and didn't really seem to care that she was about to witness the birth. She finally grabbed a wheelchair for Amber and not so speedily took her back to the delivery triage rooms. The clerk finally came back to me after what I can only assume was her lunch break, smoke break and coffee break all in one because she was taking her sweet time. She forced me to sign some papers, and I can honestly say I have no idea what they were, but working in the hospital industry I know they have to collect tons of signatures to prevent lawsuits, but these were the least of my worries at the time.

Finally she allowed me to pass her mind games and go find my wife. I wandered through the halls of the hospital for Amber and one of the nurses stopped me and asked who I was looking for once she knew who I was she said, "you better hurry". So I started a trot. I finally walked into the room with Amber in a bed, an armada of nurses around her each sticking her with a needle or monitoring machine. Two minutes after my entrance into the room Amber had another contraction and she says, "I'm about to push, can I push?" The doctor tells her it is ok to push, after Amber hears the ok she lets out the loudest scream I have ever experienced, so loud in fact that (remember our neighbor that went into labor 2 hours before us?) our neighbor hear Amber and the neighbors nurse said, "Well, I guess she's not getting an epidural" After the first yell our new doctor very calmly says, "lets take all the energy that you are expressing through the scream and re-focus it into a push". Amber then started to apologies to everyone for screaming, because if you know her you know that she is not a screamer. Two minutes later another contraction came along and Amber (minus the scream) started to push, and surprisingly we now had a daughter.

And just like that, as quickly as it started it was over and we had a healthy baby girl. I will end this very long description with a run-down of the timeline for everyone keeping track.

5pm - contractions start to come consistently

7pm - water breaks

7:45 - Amber on the floor with strong contractions

8:15 - Annie says, "go to the hospital"

8:30 - doctor says, "yeah, lets just have you come in"

8:45 - neighbor enters our door

8:50 - we leave for hospital

9:00 - speeding up I-65

9:10 - enter hospital doors

9:12 - Amber is wheeled back

9:17 - I finally find the right room

9:21 - Lily Jane is born

Pictures will be on the next post because of space.

Little Hockey Fan

2010-04-09T20:19:00.004-05:00

Ava has no choice but to become a Predators hockey fan. If anyone knows my husband, then you know that he is truly one of the biggest Predators fans around. He's a very loyal fan. Ava and Daddy had a few date nights at the hockey game last week. The first night I was out with friends, so I couldn't make it with them. I was a little worried about how she would respond with the loud crowd, but Jonathan said she LOVED it. She did get a little scared at first when the loud horn went off when the Predators would score, but she got used to it. After they got home Ava told me all about it. She told me she cheered and said, "GO PREDERS!". In one weeks time, Ava made it to three hockey games. (That also means she had a lot of late nights that week and a lot of cranky mornings. Jonathan got the good end of this deal!)

This was when she first got there - a little unsure of everything.

So I did make it to the second game, but we didn't stay quite as long due to me being very pregnant! (The chairs aren't really all that comfortable.) I enjoyed going with Ava. It was fun watching her cheer and get excited, even though she had no clue what was really going on.

Ava's friend, Riley, let her borrow a Predators jersey for one of the games. Ava was all ready to go! I couldn't make it to this game either, so I'm glad I took these two pictures before the game because Jonathan forgot to take pictures at the game. He was a little preoccupied you could say.

Trip to California

2010-03-22T16:54:00.007-05:00

Jonathan had a work trip in California the end of February, so at the last minute, I decided to go with him. My parents were gracious enough to watch Ava while they were about to move into their new house.

The last day of our trip we drove into San Francisco. All of the pictures below are from that day. Jonathan had to work the other days, so I just relaxed and took lots of naps. It was a very relaxing week.

China Town

This is where I realized that I don't like authentic Chinese food!

Lombard Street

On our way to Alcatraz.

Alcatraz

We had such a great time touring Alcatraz. It was very interesting and I would highly recommend going if you're in the area.

Ava & Sophie

2010-02-22T14:00:00.005-06:00

Well, we are getting closer to D-Day and I keep thinking about everything we have to get done around here before this baby comes. We are getting very excited to meet this precious little one, but there is so much to do before he/she arrives and updating my blog hasn't been on the top of the list. But, I did get some cute pictures of Ava and her friend Sophie the other night. We were watching Sophie so her parents could enjoy a night out. I was getting them ready for bed and found out that Sophie has the same pajamas as Ava, so of course the camera comes out. They were so stinkin' cute together. They were cheesin' it up when the camera came out too.

Sophie & Ava

B.F.F.

There is really not much to update on the pregnancy. I am almost 33 weeks now, so we have 7 weeks left...unless this little one decides he/she wants to come early, then I'm okay with that. Ava felt the baby kick for the first time today and she just laughed for awhile. She thought it was so funny!

Pregnancy update and Baby Eli

2010-01-29T18:34:00.006-06:00

I thought I would update you all first with a picture of how big I've gotten lately. This picture is actually a few weeks old. I'm 27 weeks pregnant here, and I'm almost 30 weeks now. But, I'm not so great at taking pictures 2nd time around. I'm getting to the uncomfortable stage, as I call it. That's when you know this baby is coming soon! We still have 10 weeks to go, but I'm really hoping we have this baby early because I'm not sure how much more I can grow. I had a check-up yesterday and everything is going really well. We still don't have a name picked out, which makes me a little nervous, mostly because we have to pick two names since we aren't finding out the gender. Any suggestions would be great!

Also, as most of you already know, my sister had her baby at the end of December. She did great and now has a precious baby boy, Eli Brock. He weighed 9 lbs. 5oz. HUGE! My sister was amazing and had him completely natural. I'm still not sure how she pulled that off. We went for a visit to meet our new nephew and Ava's new cousin a few weeks ago. I didn't get a chance to take as many pictures as I would've liked to, but here are a few.

We love you, Eli. You are precious and we can't wait to see you again soon!!

Ava's 2nd birthday

2010-01-07T13:51:00.006-06:00

Ava turned two on New Years day. It's hard to believe my daughter is two now. The past two years has seem to fly by. Ava has brought so much joy and excitement into our home. And, if you know Jonathan, you wouldn't think we would've needed more excitement or enthusiasm in our home. She definitely has Jonathan's spunk. And she's becoming such a daddy's girl. She makes us laugh all the time with the new words she says, or the new things she'll do.

We had a little party for Ava and the theme was Curious George. Jonathan's parents bought her a monkey jacket, as Ava calls it, so we found it appropriate to put that on her for her birthday party. Also, Ava LOVES boots, so of course she had to wear her cowgirl boots on her birthday. She looked super cute and was really excited that some of her friends were coming over to play. Plus, she knew there was birthday cake!

Grandma Jo, me, Ava & Mama - this was a last minute trip for my family. We were so glad that they were able to make it!

Yummy food

Ava's monkey cake. Jonathan's mom made it. She did a great job. It was delish!!

Ava's friends: Sophie, Cate, Riley & Ava

Blowing out her birthday cake.

Ava opening up her presents. She was really excited and kept saying "Wow!".

She got a kitchen. She loves cooking with mommy now!

And all the kids loved the last gift - her puppy dog!

Cate, Sophie, Ava & Riley

I thought this was cute of Cate and Ava. A rare photo of two toddlers.

And already playing dress-up the next day.

Ava loved all of her gifts and had so much fun. We were so thankful to have friends and family to share Ava's special day with.

Christmas '09

2010-01-06T14:40:00.006-06:00

Here are few Christmas pictures that I thought I would share. On Christmas Eve, once Ava woke up, we opened our presents with just the three of us. Ava woke up to this:

(Ava was dressed by her daddy really quick before opening presents. This is just a side note so you understand why she's not in her cute little pj's on Christmas morning!)
Opening one of her many gifts this year.
Here is Jonathan, still tired, but acting excited about his gift.

Once we opened presents and ate breakfast together, then we headed up to Indiana to Jonathan's family. Here are a few pictures that I took.

Ava was really into the gifts this year. It didn't matter what it was, she loved it all!

Concentrating on getting her present open!

Ava understood a little bit more about what was going on this year at Christmas. We all had a good time together.

I'm going to post some pictures of Ava's birthday party soon. My baby turned 2! I'm still in shock at how fast 2 years has gone by.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T10:09:00.006-06:00

Ava and her two best friends, Sophie & Cate.

We had a great time at the Parks' house the other night at a Fondue party. Catherine did a great job preparing everything and making it very special for us. We put the girls Christmas dresses on so we could get a picture of just the three of them. They actually cooperated very well, which was surprising.

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas Party

2009-12-12T11:34:00.003-06:00

Last night we had our youth group's Christmas party. We had a delicious dinner prepared by the staff. The theme was, who can wear the tackiest sweater. So, I headed out to a thrift store the day of the party and found some sweaters. I even found one for Ava.

Ava wearing mommy's bow that Katie bought for our small group girls.

We played a few games. One of which was to decorate someone in your group as a Christmas tree. The staff chose Jonathan.

I didn't end up getting great photos of Jonathan because Ava was a little scared of her daddy at this point. She was holding onto mommy for dear life when we made it closer to daddy. Once everything was off of daddy, Ava said, "ALL DONE!". She didn't like daddy all dressed up, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it...even Jonathan enjoyed it a little too much.

We had a great time of fellowship with the youth and the staff!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-10T13:30:00.005-06:00

For Thanksgiving, Jonathan, Ava and I, went to my sister's house. We mostly relaxed, but one day we decided to venture out to Dollywood. We were given free tickets, so it was free for all of us to go. Our plan was to stay a few hours, but we ended up staying most of the day. It was fun, but very cold.

Here is my sister's neighbors inflatable turkey. The girls loved it.

At Dollywood

Ava's favorite ride...the carousel.

Ava loved Dollywood, but she could only take so much!

We (my sister and I) gave Ava her first hair cut. I knew this day was coming, but I have been in denial. Now I love the new do. It's super cute.

And finally, the last picture of the preggo twins before Annie has her baby. She is due in two weeks, but I'm guessing she only has a week left. Keep her in your prayers if you think of her!

Now on to Christmas!!

It's a....

2009-12-01T13:27:00.004-06:00

well, I wish I could tell you the gender of our baby, but we didn't end up finding out. We are going to let this one be a surprise. We had our 20 week appointment this morning and it was so fun to see our baby again. Our baby is perfectly healthy. What a miracle the Lord has given us!

Well, I just wanted to update you on our latest news. I will post Thanksgiving pictures soon!!

Yee-Haw

2009-11-02T15:40:00.007-06:00

Every year our church has a fall festival for Halloween. They have lots of booths set up to play games and to win candy. Ava enjoyed it a little more this year than she did last year. We decided to dress Ava up as a cowgirl, so Jonathan and I dressed up with her. We had a great time. We didn't end up with as much candy as I would've liked though! :)

The only picture I got of Ava and Sophie. They were both cowgirls.
Ava diving in for some candy. That's my girl!!

And this is how Ava's hat was worn most of the night...on daddy's head!

And I had to end with this picture. She loves her new pj's that Jonathan's parents got her. Can't you tell??

My best friend

2009-10-28T21:40:00.004-05:00

So I forgot to post a very important picture from my sisters visit this past weekend.

My sister and I are so blessed to be pregnant at the same time. A dream come true for both of us! We always thought it would be so fun...and it is! Even though she is 31 weeks pregnant and I'm only 16 weeks pregnant, it's still fun going through this together. So, I thought I would share this picture with everyone. It's fun being pregnant together for many reasons, but it will definitely be fun when are kids will be so close in age.

I love you, Annie.
(I hope you don't mind me posting this picture of you! You look adorable!!)

Pumpkin Farm

2009-10-28T13:32:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, my sister and her family decided to visit us for the weekend. They have recently moved to Pigeon Forge, TN. It's only a 3 1/2 hour drive! We were so excited when we found out that we were going to be living so close to each other. I mean, we are practically neighbors now! (For those of you who don't know, since my sister and I have been married, we have never been able to live near each other.)
So, we woke up Saturday, had a big breakfast and headed off to the Pumpkin farm. It was a very cold day, so we had to bundle the kids up. We had a great time together. We also met some friends there too. My camera died after about the 5th picture I took. So my sister sent me a few pictures from her camera. My friend, Catherine, also took some great pictures. Once I get those, then I might post of few more. But for now, here are a few pictures of our day.

Ava & Emma

Ava would have played in this the whole time.

My sister and her beautiful family.

Elsie, Ava & Emma

On the hay ride.

What has Ava been up to??

2009-10-16T08:57:00.005-05:00

The lack of posting is due to laziness these days. Mostly because I don't take many pictures anymore. Although, I'm in my second trimester now, and I'm starting to feel much better. I have a lot more energy. I actually stayed up until 10:00 the other night and Jonathan was very proud of me. (He's been such a huge help during my hibernation stage!)

Anyways...on to Ava.
Lately, I've been trying to train Ava to actually sit still for a little bit to read books. She's a very busy little girl and hardly stops moving - always on the go. (Except, of course, when the princess movie is on!) She's done really well with staying on the couch. Today she wanted to read to her baby, which is adorable, so I actually got my camera out! (Yay for me!) She kept pointing to all the animals and letting her baby know what they were and what sounds they make. (I should've recorded it, but then I would've had to get my video camera out and I was doing good just to get my digital camera out.)

And this is what happens when daddy gives Ava a bath.

Last week, we had an overnight guest - Madison. Ava is Maddie's number one fan. She loves her so much. If you ask Ava who is coming to see her, she will always respond by yelling, "MADDIE". She will always welcome Maddie with a yell of some sort and lots of giggles.

Ava thought she was a "big girl" while Madison was here, so she had to sit in a "big girl" chair while eating snacks.

Ava all excited the next morning to see that Madison was still at our house! Her dream come true.

This weekend we are going to a pumpkin farm, so hopefully I will have another update soon...unless I forget my camera. (My memory is pretty bad right now!)

Our big news

2009-09-17T17:00:00.010-05:00

That's right, we have big news! Ava is going to be big sister! I'm 10 weeks pregnant. My due date is April 14. (Don't get your hopes up, Catherine! I'm hoping for an early delivery with this one.) We feel so blessed by God to have another addition to our family. Ava is still a little too young to understand what's going on, but she does know where mommy's baby is when you ask her and she'll usually hug my belly or kiss it. It's sweet! I will try to keep you all updated during my pregnancy as much as I am able to.

I thought I would also share a few pictures of what Ava's been up to. She's been helping me do the dishes...everyday. She loves it!
Ava's favorite new phrase, "One more, and then all done." She wanted one more picture of herself, which is a first for Ava. She normally hates the camera!

Look Mom, no hands!

Beach pictures

2009-09-03T09:35:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. We have had such a busy summer, as most of you can relate. We have been traveling a lot this summer with summer camp, visiting family and work trips for Jonathan. He's working in Ft. Wayne, IN this week. It's just a few hours from my parents house, so Ava and I decided to spend the past few weeks with my parents while Jonathan is working. It's been a nice and relaxing time. (Although, Ava misses her daddy.) I have been horrible at taking pictures since we've been here. I did take a few pictures when we went to the beach, so I thought I would share them. This was Ava's first time at the beach. It's not the ocean but it sure feels like you're at the ocean! We had a blast and the weather here has been so nice. I'm looking forward to the fall.

Mama and Ava getting their feet wet in the ice cold water!

Ava's favorite part was feeding the seagulls. She definitely didn't get that from me.

The "other" Amber Newell

2009-07-28T14:42:00.008-05:00

My friend, Amber, watched Ava for me a few times this summer. Amber just sent me these pictures , so I thought I would post them. She is such an amazing girl. Her love for the Lord is incredible. I have enjoyed getting to know her and her family the few years that we've been here...and not just because we share the same last name! (I'm sure we are related somehow!)

Ava trying on Amber's sunglasses and "hiding" from Amber.

And now trying on Amber's shoes.

We love you, Amber. We feel so blessed that you are a part of our lives!

Tomatoes & Lemons

2009-07-25T13:34:00.004-05:00

Jonathan and I planted a few tomato plants in our back yard this past spring. We were both pretty excited about it and now we finally have tomatoes!!

Look how many tomatoes we have!

And Ava loves them too!

We've also had this lemon tree for about 3 years now. It has only produced one lemon so far, but now look....we have 2 huge lemons! Jonathan loves this lemon tree...it's like his baby!

Visiting Family

2009-07-22T15:11:00.005-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last update. It has been a busy few weeks for us. As I said in my previous post, Jonathan and I helped out at our church camp for a week. We had a great time getting to know the kids. It was also a great spiritual bond between all the staff leaders that were able to be apart of the week. I did surprisingly well without Ava. I knew she was in good hands but also we were so busy all day at camp that I didn't have a minute to think about her, which was a blessing! Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the week. (There are plently of pictures on Facebook posted by the kids!)

As far as what we've been up to, well, we've been busy seeing family. This week Ava and I went to my grandma's house. My sister, brother, mom and dad were there as well. My brother, Jeromy, has never met Ava, so it was great seeing him and his two precious boys. If my brother would've let me, I would've taken those boys home with me. They were so sweet!

Ava, Emma & Elsie (They were all smiling!!)
Jackson cuddling up with his brother Samuel.

Here are all the kids minus Ava. We were having snack time in the car waiting very patiently to leave.

My brother, Jeromy, and his son Samuel.

Elsie and her daddy.

Jackson, me, Samuel & Ava.

It was so fun getting to see my family again. It's a little crazy when we're all together, but it's always worth the craziness!

Family Photos

2009-06-26T13:38:00.005-05:00

Next week, Jonathan and I will be leaving with our church to take the youth group down to summer camp in Florida. (I won't be posting anything for a while.) Please pray for the leaders of this trip, the kids attending and for our pastor, Byron, as he will be the speaker next week. Jonathan and I are really looking forward to getting to know all of the kids better. You can also pray for me as I'm leaving my daughter for a whole week with my parents! She (and they) will have tons of fun, but I pray that I won't let my emotions distract me while I'm there.

A few weeks ago my friend, Catherine, took some great pictures of our family. I wanted to post a few before we left town. She did such a great job!

Hope you all have a happy fourth!!

Sounds Baseball game

2009-06-21T23:02:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we met some friends at Greer Stadium to watch the Nashville Sounds play baseball. We know the pitcher, Tim Dillard, so we like to go cheer him on. It's a lot of fun, especially when all your friends are there to enjoy it with you.

Me & Ava, Angela & Madison, Lauren & Ruby

Chattanooga

2009-06-15T23:10:00.006-05:00

Over Memorial day weekend, we took a trip to Chattanooga. We had never been to Chattanooga before, so we thought it would be fun to get away for a little while. I thought I would share a few pictures from our trip.

The first few pictures are at Coolidge park where Ava loved to run.

The fountain in the background was very crowded with lots of kids in their swimsuits running around. They had statues of animals circled around the fountain. Ava just wanted to sit on the statues and watch all the kids.

After the park we ate dinner at a restraunt downtown. We didn't know our child loved corn-on-the cob so much. Ava's balancing act.
After dinner, we went back to our hotel to go swimming. And as you can see in the picture below, Ava loved it!
She also loved riding in the elevators. She would get so excited every time.
On Monday, we went to the zoo. This is a picture of Jonathan and Ava in the petting zoo. Of course I preferred to stay back and watch, especially at this zoo. They had goats everywhere!
If you look closely in the picture below, Ava is holding her chest. That means that she's scared. (And I can understand why!)

And of course you must wash your hands after the petting zoo!

Adios Amigos!

4 years ago...

2009-05-28T09:57:00.005-05:00

...Jonathan and I were married. I just wanted to say "Happy Anniversary" to my hubby and to the ones who didn't know us back then, here are a few pictures of our wedding day. It's great to go back through pictures and remember your special day. We have both changed since then - physically and spiritually. It's been a fun journey so far and I'm looking forward to many years to come. I love you, Jonathan!

Coupon post

2009-05-26T23:17:00.005-05:00

I've been sucked into the coupon world. Last night we hit the highlight, thanks to my friend Kelly. She knows anything and everything about how to use coupons. There was a great deal on meat this week, so Jonathan and I decided to stock up. I called Kelly to ask her a few question about it, and she told me to stop by her house so she could give me a few more coupons to make this deal even better. Our total purchase came to $212.32, but we only spent....$26.34. That's right! We felt pretty good walking out of Publix and saving close to $2o0! In the picture is everything we ended up buying except for the charcoal. We had to buy 4 bags of charcoal to get the free meat. And anyone that knows me knows that I'm ecstatic that I was able to get FREE Dr. Pepper!! So, in case you were wondering what we've been up to, well, this is it!!

Gatlinburg

2009-05-09T19:56:00.009-05:00

A few weeks ago, Jonathan, Ava and I met my parents and my sister, and her family, in Gatlinburg. We spent a week there. It was definitely one of the most relaxing vacations we've ever taken together. It was extra fun for Ava to be around her cousins all week.

Here is our cabin.

Jonathan and Ava looking out from the front deck.

One day, we went on a hike to see...

(It didn't take Ava long to fall fast asleep on daddy.)

this waterfall. Mama and Papa with their three grandkids.
Another day, we drove through Cades Cove. It takes you through the Smokies. The whole time we were watching for bears. We saw plenty of deer and turkey, but we never saw a bear.

Here are some pictures of the Smokies.

We were still there to see the sunset. It was beautiful!
We also went to Dollywood one day. I was a little hesitant at first to go because it's not cheap, but I'm so glad we did because we all had so much fun. Ava rode so many rides and loved all of them. I think she would've rode the big kid rides too if she was allowed. She threw a fit after almost every ride because she didn't want to get off.
Ava was funny on the carousel because everytime she would come around to see her daddy, she would wave really big like she was big stuff riding on her horse.
On the train at Dollywood.
Riding on the ducks.
A long day for Ava. (I think this was actually her second nap at Dollywood.)

The last day we walked around Gatlinburg. Ava and Emma are taking a little break from walking.

After walking in Gatlinburg we drove to Pigeon Forge to play putt-putt golf. Here is my sister and her family. Speaking of my sister...she found out, while in Gatlinburg, that she's going to have another baby! (They are praying for twin boys!) Her due date is December 26. Maybe she'll have the third New Year's baby in our family. Wouldn't that be weird??!!
Ava trying to play putt-putt.

The whole gang.

We were so blessed to share a relaxing vacation with family!

Easter

2009-04-16T21:20:00.006-05:00

The day before Easter we took Ava to the zoo for an Easter egg hunt. It ended up being pretty chilly out, so we didn't stay long. I think Ava enjoyed it though.

Here we are about to go get our Easter eggs!!

And here are some pictures of Ava in her Easter dress. I took a ton of pictures. It was hard for me to narrow it down to just a few.

Last week, one of my friends let me borrow a book called Treasuring God in our Traditions. There was a chapter on Easter and it gave me some great ideas for next year. I want Ava to learn that Easter isn't about bunny's, eggs, chocolate, etc. It's Resurrection day! As Ava is getting older, it will be fun to start some traditions of our own.

Workin' Away

2009-04-10T22:07:00.007-05:00

One of my friends sent this picture to me recently and I really wanted to share. She's such a cheeser.We have been loving this great weather, so we've been taking advantage by working in our yard. This is a first for us. We have no clue what we are doing when it comes to yard work, but we like to act like we do. (Any suggestions would be helpful.)

Ava enjoyed helping daddy and also playing with my shadow.

And lastly, we have a porch swing!! I've always said that the first thing I want to buy when we bought our first home was a porch swing. I just love them. So, this past Christmas my in-laws gave me this swing. And better yet, my father-in-law made it. He did a fabulous job. Thanks, Benny! We love our swing-it's perfect!!

Pump it up

2009-03-30T20:27:00.003-05:00

Last Friday, Jonathan took the day off, so we decided to take Ava to Pump it up. It has a bunch of inflatables like slides, obstacle courses, etc. Ava isn't quite big enough to enjoy it by herself, but Jonathan and I had fun jumping with her. It was free for all of us to go because Ava is under 2. It's a great place to go on a rainy day when you really need to get out of the house. We'll definitely go back soon.

Enjoying the weather

2009-03-23T09:52:00.003-05:00

We went to Radnor Lake this past Saturday and walked a few miles. It was great exercise, especially when you have a 20 pound baby weighing you down. That part wasn't easy, but it was a lot of fun. We just enjoyed being outside enjoying the weather. Here are a few pictures.

Ava preferred daddy's shoulders.

Beautiful Tennessee!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!

2009-03-12T09:42:00.005-05:00

I got this idea from a friends blog. I wrote out 20 random facts about my husband. I hope you enjoy learning more about Jonathan on his special day!

1- Today is Jonathan’s birthday – March 12. He is now 26. He is two years younger than me, but he likes to think that he’s way more mature than me! (Which, in most cases, he actually is!)

2- Jonathan LOVES Star Wars. That would be, by far, his favorite movie. I’m actually surprised he started pursuing me after knowing that I had never watched Star Wars and didn’t know a thing about it. I eventually agreed to watch one with him, but I couldn’t tell you which one we watched together. (That must tell you how much I enjoy Star Wars!)

3- Jonathan went to school at MTSU for recording. He wanted to be the next BIG thing in Nashville. Fortunately, God had other plans for Jonathan. He now works for a health care company and started in the mail room. He has since moved up in the company to a position he really enjoys. He has a lot of motivation and drive and I knew he wouldn’t be in the mail room for long.

4- Jonathan had never changed a diaper until Ava came along. I’m pretty sure he had never even held a newborn before Ava came along either - which is sweet that Ava is the first newborn he held, but a little scary for me. But once Ava entered the world it was like a light switch came on and Jonathan knew exactly what to do with our little baby girl.

5- Jonathan does not require a lot of sleep. This was especially great when we first had Ava when she wasn’t sleeping through the night.

6- Jonathan is a very positive person, so he’ll always assume the best of someone before the worst. He’s taught me a lot in this area.

7- Jonathan loves his church and is very committed to the church body.

8- Jonathan was saved at the age of 12. It wasn’t until we found the church we attend now, that he could really tell he was getting fed spiritually. He learns new things all the time from our pastor and other Godly men and loves going to men’s bible study every Tuesday morning.

9- In high school, Jonathan and his friends would do some really crazy and random things. If you would ever like to see what they did, well, you are in luck because they video taped most of their craziness. They even have a few videos on youtube. They kept out of trouble, for the most part.

10- Jonathan has been to almost every state in the U.S. besides Hawaii and Alaska.

11- Jonathan knows a lot of useless information. If I ever wanted to know something really random, then I know he would know the answer.

12- Jonathan loves guns. His grandpa gave him a gun not too long ago. If you ever come to our house, then you will most likely see the gun. He is very proud of it, and loves showing it off. (And if I knew anything about guns, then I would tell you what kind it is, but that’s way out of my league.)

13- Jonathan had the same cell phone for about 4 years. It was a big Nokia phone. It didn’t do anything but take phone calls. He refused to upgrade because he hates cell phones…that is until the iphone came out. He used to never be on his phone and never want to bring it with him. Now it’s hard to get him off his cell phone. He still doesn’t really enjoy talking on it, but he loves everything else about it. Who wouldn’t? It does EVERYTHING!

14- Jonathan got bit by two cats on our honeymoon in Jamaica. He had to see the doctor and be put on antibiotics because his bite marks got infected. He can give you the full story sometime, and why my hatred for cats grew more after our honeymoon.

15- Jonathan LOVES the Predators. If he could, he would go to every hockey game they play. He contemplated on saving all his birthday and Christmas money, just to buy season tickets for the Predators hockey. (He ended up buying the iphone instead!)

16- When Jonathan is sick, he would rather me leave him alone than to wait on him. So, he’s pretty easy to take care of when he’s not feeling well. He also could be in the worst pain ever, and I would never know. He doesn’t like to complain. (I on the other hand am completely opposite!)

17- Jonathan LOVES to eat at Waffle House. One year for his birthday, he asked if I would take him there. Gross, I know!

18- My husband is very computer savvy. My family, and his family, will call all the time to ask him technical questions. You could consider him their customer service support line.

19- One year for Christmas, or his birthday, I can’t remember which; he asked his parents for a fog machine and strobe lights for the basement of their house for parties. He finally got rid of them a year after we got married, but it was hard for him to say goodbye.

20- Jonathan and two of his close friends bought a speed boat together while they were in college. They called it the Jay-bee and it was like their baby.

We hope you have a great birthday today! We love you so much!!

Love,

Amber & Ava

Peeping Tom

2009-03-08T13:50:00.002-05:00

Ava has a new routine. She has decided to pull up a step stool by the window and watch our neighbors. She loves watching their dog run around and the kids jump on the trampoline. I hope they don't mind because this is an everyday occurrence. It's also nice for me so that I can get dinner ready. I just wonder what our neighbors really think of us!

We've been enjoying this nice weather lately, so I decided to start going through Ava's clothes and get out all of her spring/summer clothes. Ava just enjoyed me getting the tub out so she could play in it.
Oh...and she loved trying on some new outfits.

Spring is coming and we are SO excited! Have a great week!!

Praying

2009-03-01T20:53:00.004-06:00

Ava has been having a lot of fun learning new things lately. For instance, she loves brushing her hair. She hates when I brush it for her, but she definitely knows what to do with her hair brush.

She has also wanted to start helping mommy and daddy lately with different chores around the house. Jonathan was hanging pictures and Ava climbs right up on the stool with daddy. It was too cute to pass up a picture.

And I have posted a video. I don't normally post videos because our camera doesn't have a mic, so you can't hear anything. Some ladies that I used to work with have requested to see a video (probably because when I bring Ava into the office she's NEVER happy) but also because they don't have speakers on their computers, so they couldn't hear even if I had a mic on my camera. So here you go ladies. I hope you enjoy it.

We have taught Ava how to close her eyes and fold her hands while we are praying. It's pretty funny to watch. (Toward the end of the video, Ava starts to throw a fit. When Ava's older, she'll apprecite me leaving that part out!)

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T10:32:00.006-06:00

Last week, Ava and I had some friends over for a little Valentine's Day party. We had lunch and yummy cupcakes and then went outside to play. Everyone wore pink or red. Here are a few pictures of the day.

The "Gang"
From left to right:Riley (10mo.), Cate (13mo.), Sophie (16mo.), Maddox (12mo), Ava(13mo.) and Madison(4mo.) - this picture was a little hard to take, as you can tell. It only lasted a few minutes and this is the only picture I was able to get.

Ava was more than thrilled to be sitting by Madison. She wanted to get her hands all over her!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day.
Ava sends hugs and kisses!!

More fun with the cousins

2009-02-10T15:12:00.004-06:00

Here are a few more pictures of a our time with my sister and her family...

The girls with their matching vest. (Thanks, mama and papa!!)

Movie night

Our neighbors have a trampoline, so they offered to let us use it for a little while to let our girls release some stored up energy. They loved it!! (Notice that we are ALL looking at the camera - that doesn't happen very often!)

Ava loved wearing Emma's hat. She would get so tickled everytime she had it on. But when we took it away, it was definitely the end of the world to her!

Matching cousins

Annie and Brock packing up their car. It was great visiting with them and we look forward to seeing you all soon! We miss you already!!

Park and Pig-tails

2009-02-06T13:31:00.003-06:00

Off to the park we go...

This was Ava's first time swinging on a swing. She loved it! Although, we didn't realize how cold it was outside until we were out there for about five minutes. Then we decided that was long enough.

Elsie - almost 2 years old
Emma - 3 1/2 years old

Aunt Annie tickling Ava.

My sister and her family are here visiting this week. They had to make a trip to Chattanooga for two days, so Jonathan and I watched their girls for them. Since I was in charge of getting them dressed, I decided to dress them alike, and do all three girls hair in pigtails, including Ava!! Ava's hair is getting longer and definitely out of control. I'm not sure what to do with it these days. But I did manage to put them in pigtails, and I have to say, it was adorable. The above picture is my attempt to get all three girls picture taken. I was by myself trying to accomplish this, so maybe that helps explain the picture a little better.

Emma loves helping Ava!

My favorite picture of Ava...until next week of course. Hopefully I'll get around to posting more pictures of the cousins once they leave. Have a great weekend!!

Slumber Party

2009-02-05T10:48:00.006-06:00

Last week, Ava's friend, Sophie (16months), came over to stay the night. We thought it would be cute to give them a bath together. It was cute until Ava kept splashing and get water everywhere, including Sophie's face. (They did mention how much they missed their friend, Cate. Maybe she'll get to join them next time. )

I love this one. I'm pretty sure neither one of them has had to share a bath tub before, so they looked a little confused at each other.

All ready for bed. Just relaxing together before bedtime.

Ava loves...

2009-01-17T23:05:00.004-06:00

snack time...

licking and giggling at herself in the mirror...

doing some stretches on daddy...

feeding her baby doll...

cuddle time with her bear...

relaxing on her chair with a book...

pushing her bear in a stroller...

and sometimes being pushed in the stroller by mommy or daddy.

It seems as though our daughter falls into the "toddler" catagory now and no longer in the "baby" catagory. This has been a bit hard for me, especially when I watch her play with the older kids in the nursery now instead of being in the baby room. I love watching Ava grow and learn new things, but knowing that she is a toddler has been a bit emotional. The "T" word is still hard to say at times when it comes to saying Ava in the same sentence!! She's growing up so fast and we praise God for what a healthy year she has had. We count our blessings that we've only had a few colds and a few ear infections. Last week we had Ava's 12 month check-up. She weighs a grand total of 17lbs. 9oz. She is 29 3/4" long. (She is only in the 5th percentile in her weight.)

My what a difference a year makes!

Birthday Party

2009-01-08T12:00:00.010-06:00

We had a lot of fun celebrating Ava's first birthday. We had two parties, one at my parents house, and the other one at Jonathan's parents house. It was a blessing to be able to share Ava's special day with our families. The first few pictures are from my parents house...

The 2nd birthday party...

Ava's personal cake...
Jonathan's mom made the cakes - she did an amazing job!!

Ava dove right into the cakes, she wasn't shy at all...as you can see with the above pictures. She had a blast!! Thanks, everyone, for making this day so special for her.

Reflecting on 2008

2009-01-01T22:03:00.006-06:00

Jonathan and I were brought a lot of changes in 2008. As I'm thinking back, this has been the year for a few big changes. First, came our daughter, a year ago. It's hard to believe a year ago I was in the hospital holding my sweet little Ava for the first time. I can remember feeling her baby soft skin, and looking into those big blue eyes, and seeing her bright red lips for the first time. Seeing all her fingers and her little toes just brought Jonathan and I an overwhelming joy. Having a child changed us in so many ways. It brought Jonathan and I closer in our marriage and it also brought us closer to Christ. After having Ava, and holding my newborn baby, made me realize how much Jesus did sacrifice for us. How He was once that small - AMAZING!!

Another big change came at the first of October. By the Lord's grace, we were able to buy our first home. We love our new home and couldn't ask for anything more. It's a perfect size for our little family and we praise God for that!

We have had our spiritual struggles, but our prayer is that in 2009 we will grow closer to God and have a better relationship with Him. Each year should bring us closer and should give us hope for His return.

It's been fun keeping family and friends updated with our life, okay, mainly Ava's life, with our blog. I hope you have been enjoying it. Sorry there aren't any pictures with this post, but I promise birthday pictures will be coming soon.

Hope you all have a blesssed 2009!!

Happy Birthday Jason & Ava

2009-01-01T00:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday to my brother Jason (33) & Ava (1)!! All the way from 1976 - 2008. Thanks Jason for sharing your outfit. We thought it would be cute to dress her like her Uncle (minus the bow-tie). We love you both and I am so glad you can share this day.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T13:25:00.005-06:00

Here are a few pictures of Ava in her Christmas dress.

Sophie & Ava hanging out in the nursery at church with their pretty Christmas dresses.

Heart wrenching video

2008-12-22T14:46:00.010-06:00

I found this video through a friends blog - thanks Gina! You need to watch it. It will defintitely bring tears to your eyes. I felt led to share this because Christmas is in a few days, but also because we, including me, need to remember why we celebrate Christmas and be reminded that it's not all about the wrapping and unwrapping of gifts. It's about Jesus' sacrificial love for us. We need to think about how Jesus came to live on this wretched earth only to die for our sins. None of us deserve His grace, but by His grace, we can be free from our sins and live forever in His kingdom.

"and He Himslf bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." 1 Peter 2:24

HFG Christmas Party

2008-12-15T21:30:00.006-06:00

Last night we had our Home Fellowship Group Christmas party. For the one's that don't know what HFG is, then let me explain. Every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month we meet at the Newell's house (no relation...that we know of) for a bible study and fellowship. Our church has about 10-15 different groups and they all meet in different homes. We usually talk a lot, eat a lot, laugh a lot, and learn a lot.

Last night we went caroling, ate A LOT of yummy food, had a white elephant gift exchange, and played mafia. Here are some pictures from the party.

Both of the Newell girls with Ava.

Action shot of Ava. I'm not sure what she was doing, but it almost looks like she is protecting her bear from being snatched up by Cate. She is getting really attached to that bear these days.

The Zobrist proudly showing off their gifts they ended up with.

Steve, Kristen, Amber & Lindsey playing mafia.

The Dillards

All the girls talking...and eating.The group!

We missed a few families that were unable to make it, but hopefully they'll be able to make it next year.

Thanks for a great night everyone. We had a blast!!

BED HEAD

2008-12-05T16:21:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving fun

2008-12-03T11:54:00.007-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year. We had a great time with family. We drove to east TN to be with my sister and her family this year. We won't be seeing them for Christmas so we celebrated Christmas together too. I couldn't capture all the fun we had because with a house full of people it got a little nuts at times. But here is just a few pictures of what we've been up to.

First time Ava opened a present. The fun begins!!

We also went ice skating one night. I'm not an ice skater, but it was a lot of fun!

My sister and her family

After we went ice skating, we went to a light show at Bristol where the race track is. We had a very memorable time as we drove through to see the lights. The reason why it was so memorable is because we ended up waiting forever to get in to actually see the light show. I think we started around 7 and we didn't get home until 11. Keep in mind, we all piled in a van so we could enjoy it together. That makes 3 kids, and 6 adults in one van. It was a little exhausting and very uncomfortable. We all had a great time, but we were ALL ready to get out of the car! Here is a little example of how crazy we were going. (this is my sister...not me!!)

You're welcome, Annie!!

The next day we decide to stay home and bake some cookies with the girls.
Ava wanted to help too.
Now it's time to think about Christmas. Happy shopping everyone!!

Fall pictures

2008-11-11T20:38:00.007-06:00

A few pictures of Ava and her cousins, Emma and Elsie.

Ring around the rosie...

Can you tell which one I am??

First Halloween

2008-11-10T22:17:00.005-06:00

So in order for me to post pictures of Ava's first Halloween, I had to steal them from my friend's blog. (Thanks Catherine!)

The reason being, I left my camera at my sister's house last weekend. I'm beginning to wonder how you live without a camera when you have a 10 month old running around.

For halloween, our church had a fall festival. They had a lot games to play and candy to win. Ava was a little young for the games, but still had a great time seeing her friends all dressed up.

Erik & Sophie (the puppy), Jonathan & Ava (the ballerina), and Tim (the slightly bigger ballerina.)
Ava and her best friend Sophie

Nita & Cate (the panda), Catherine and Sophie, me and Ava

A few pics of our weekend

2008-10-26T21:35:00.004-05:00

Ava trying her first lemon. She loved it!

Jonathan's parents came down for the weekend to see our new house. They brought Ava her own little pumpkin.

We put Jonathan's dad to work by installing a new kitchen sink. Ava was there to oversee their project and to keep them in line.

We also went to the pumpkin fest in Franklin on Saturday. Unfortunately, this was the only picture we took at the fest, but probably one of Jonathan's favorites, even though Ava was very upset.

Happy Birthday Sophie!!

2008-10-14T08:43:00.007-05:00

One of Ava's best friends turns one today. They had her birthday party this past Saturday. We had a great time, and as you can see, so did Sophie as she ate her cupcake.

She's still thinking about it...
And now she's excited about it.
Kristen holding Ava as Ava is sooo excited for Sophie to be eating a cupcake. She was just wondering where her cupcake was.

Sophie just wanted to share her cupcake with mommy and daddy.

And then while Sophie is getting all cleaned up...Ava was enjoying playing with Sophie's new toys...especially this new princess toy.

We love you, Sophie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

We Moved!!

2008-10-13T09:24:00.003-05:00

That's right, the Newells have moved. We are very excited to buy our first home. God has blessed us with the perfect home for our little family. Upon request, I have posted a picture of our new house. The above picture is of us standing in our Uhaul before we packed everything up. Now we are unpacking and trying to get settled. It's a little different unpacking with a 9 month old, but we are having fun.

Have a great week!!

Catching up

2008-10-11T20:06:00.005-05:00

A few days ago, Ava and I met my former boss, Dr. Nancy Laden, for lunch. We had a great time catching up. As you can see in the picture, Ava FINALLY warmed up to her - which means that Ava finally let Dr. Laden hold her. It was sweet and I was glad that Dr. Laden got to enjoy her for a little bit. We enjoyed our time and hope to get together again soon!

(For the rest of the ladies at work, I will get up there one of these days...I promise!)

Cheekwood

2008-10-06T08:49:00.009-05:00

Here are a few pictures of our free day at Cheekwood this past Saturday. It was such a beautiful day!

I'm it!

2008-10-04T20:34:00.003-05:00

I've been tagged, by my friend Shai, in a blogging game...so here it goes.

1. What time did you get up this morning? My sweet husband let me sleep in this morning and I slept until 10. I love sleeping in, but it just doesn't happen very often anymore.

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Dark Knight and boy was I scared!! (I didn't like the movie much at all - it was too dark!!)

4. What is your favorite TV show? The Office and Lost

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Cereal or a breakfast bar

6. What is your middle name? Jill

7. What food do you dislike? Meatloaf...YUCK!

8. What is your favorite CD at moment? I honestly haven't listened to much music lately, so I couldn't even tell you.

9. What kind of car do you drive? Mitsubishi Outlander

10. Favorite Sandwich? Chick-Fil-A sandwhich...YUM YUM!!

11. What characteristic do you despise? When someone acts as though they are better than someone else.

12. Favorite item of clothing? I LOVE wearing pajama pants. I could buy those all the time!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Northern Ireland - I lived there for a few months and would love to go back with Jonathan and Ava.

14. Favorite brand of clothing? Gap & Banana Republic (They have great sale prices!)

15. Where would you retire to? Somewhere where we would live closer to family.

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? When I turned 25 - my parents and twin sister, and her family, were able to come and celebrate together.

17. Favorite sport to watch? I love volleyball, but I don't get to watch that very often.

18. When is your birthday? April 28, 1981

19. Are you a morning person or night? Definitely a night person!!

20. What is your shoe size? 6.5 - 7

21. Pets? No

22. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us? YES...We just bought our first house!! We close on the house in two days.

23. What did you want to be when you were little? a teacher

24. How are you today? Great...Today we enjoyed a free day at Cheekwood and enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.

25. What is your favorite candy? Snickers candy bar

26. What is your favorite flower? Gerbia Daisy

27. What is a day on your calendar you are looking forward to? October 17th - my cousins wedding. (My parents will be there too - I haven't seen them a few months.)

28. What is your full name? Amber Jill Newell

29. What are you listening to right now? A baseball game that my husband is watching on TV.

30. What was the last thing you ate? Spaghetti (yes, Catherine, I ate spaghetti!!)

31. Do you wish on stars? Ummm...NO

32. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Blue

33. How is the weather right now? Fall weather - I LOVE IT!

34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today? My mom

35. Favorite soft drink? Dr. Pepper

36. Favorite Restaurant? Pancho's...When I worked in Franklin our boss would take us to Pancho's every week. It's so yummy!!

37. Real Hair Color? Brown

38. What was your favorite toy as a child? I can't remember a favorite toy.

39. Summer or winter? Summer

40. Hugs or kisses? Hugs

41. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate

42. Coffee or tea? I like them both and don't drink one more than the other.

43. When was the last time you cried? I don't remember, but I cried for the first few months after I had Ava, so that should make up for the rest of my life!

44. What is under your bed? my keyboard

45. What did you do last night?Watched a movie with my hubby

46. What are you afraid of? Sad to say, I'm afraid of animals...especially cats! They are creepy and sneaky. (sorry Minx)

47. Salty or sweet? Both

48. How many keys on your key ring? I would say about 5

49. How many years at your current job? Ava is 9 months old, so 9 months now! (I'm a stay at home mom.)

50. Favorite day of the week? Sunday - We go to church and listen to the preaching of God's word, and enjoy the time with fellow believers.

51. How many places have you lived in? 9 different places...I don't think I've missed anything (Princeton, IN; Birminham, AL; Booneville, IN; Dale, IN; Santa Claus, IN; Bradley, WV; Portage, IN; Northern Ireland; Nashville, TN)

52. Do you make friends easy? Yeah, I would say so

Now I'm suppose to tag three people...Catherine, Nita, and Darbi. Have fun!!

9 months old

2008-10-02T14:32:00.003-05:00

Ava turned 9 months yesterday. It's crazy how time is just flying by. She has grown up so much over the past few months. Ava loves to crawl wherever mommy goes. Ava will play by herself, but she has to keep at least one eye on mommy. As soon as I leave the room, Ava is right behind me. It's adorable, but not so much fun when we drop her off in the nursery at church. Or, if someone wants to play with her - she doesn't like stangers AT ALL! (which will be nice when she's older!) Ava loves to feed herself now. We started her on table foods, and since then, she hasn't wanted me to feed her baby food. She is definitely growing up too fast. Lately she has been able to stand by herself for a few seconds. She hasn't started walking yet, but I know that will be coming very soon. She has taken a few steps on her own recently, but not all the time. The first couple pictures are of Ava standing by herself. She went to the doctor yesterday and she weighs 16 lbs. 10 oz. (25th percentile) and she is 28" long (50th percentile). She hasn't really gained that much weight and it's probably because she is on the go ALL the time!

Ava is waiting on her daddy to come home from work. She loves to spend time with her daddy after a long day with mommy.

Out & About

2008-09-27T20:04:00.009-05:00

Today we enjoyed a free museum day at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Here is a picture of us standing in front of gold records. Ava and I enjoyed it, but I think Jonathan enjoyed it a little more than we did.

I also wanted to share with everyone some photos of Ava and her friend Sophie. We got together this past Wednesday and took a few pictures at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. Here is a link to check out the rest of their photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ambernewell/AvaSophie#

Father Daughter Bonding Time

2008-09-22T14:54:00.005-05:00

I thought I would share with everyone what Jonathan does with Ava when I'm not around...

We're back...

2008-09-19T15:00:00.007-05:00

We have been missing in action lately. Sorry I haven't posted pictures in awhile. Ava has decided she doesn't want to take naps anymore, so as most of you know, babies can be a lot of work, especially if they aren't sleeping well, which means they are generally cranky. She has been having some better days now, so we're hoping we are past the bad napping phase. Besides the naps, we have been really enjoying our daughter and watching her grow. I've just posted some pictures that we've taken the past week or so. ENJOY!!

Ava expanding her variety of foods - GRASS!!

Grandma Jo came to visit this past week from Indiana. We really enjoyed her company and can't wait to see her again soon!

Prayer request

2008-09-07T19:54:00.010-05:00

I just wanted to take a minute to share with everyone what's been on my heart lately. I am by no means a writer, so bear with me. Last night, a dear friend of ours came over to visit. We hadn't seen him in a few months so it was nice being able to catch up a little. He was sharing with us about things that have been going on in his life recently. One of the things that he shared was about his family and what they've been going through. His sister gave birth to a little girl, Ellianna, on August 1st. She was diagnosed with Trisomy 13. He then proceded to tell us that Ellianna went home to be the with the Lord on August 27th. As he was telling us what happened, I had tears running down my face and looked up at Jonathan with tears filling his eyes. (Now that we are parents, it is definitely different when you hear stories like this.) I know that Jonathan and I were both thinking about our little Ava and how we would have survived if we were in their position. I don't know these people, but just by reading their blog, and listening to our friend speak about them, you can tell they love the Lord and know that the Lord has complete control of our lives. Knowing that, gave them hope and comfort. Even though sometimes we don't understand why God allows horrible things to happen, we know He does it for a reason. And after talking to our friend, we know that the reason for this tragedy in their family, was to bring glory to Christ. Many peoples lives were changed just because of this one little baby that was only here on earth for 27 days. This has changed my heart and mind through the testimony of this family. It made me realize how thankful I should be for Ava. And even though I am, I haven't really stopped to thank the Lord like I should for a beautiful healthy baby girl. Last night, as Jonathan and I prayed for this family, we thanked God abunduntly for Ava. We prayed that if something ever did happen to Ava that we would uphold a great testimony for the gospel of Christ and give Him the glory NO MATTER WHAT! If anyone thinks about it, please pray for this family. If you are interested, check out their blog.

Thank you Lord for my sweet little Ava!

Family reunion

2008-08-24T15:22:00.007-05:00

A couple weeks ago we took a trip to Jonathan's hometown. His two older brothers and their families came home too. We hadn't seen them in almost 3 years. It was a great time to have a little family reunion. We also met our nephew for the first time, Carson. And they all met Ava for the first time too.

Jonathan and his two brothers.

Here is a picture of Ava and her three cousins. (Carson didn't make the picture.)

Jonathan's brother Josh, his wife Holly, and the boys, Jordan, Jack and Elias.

Jonathan's other brother, Daniel, and his wife Ashley, and son Carson.

Me and my sweet sister-in-law Ashley.

Jonathan really missed his brothers, as you can see in the above picture!

All the grandkids with great- grandma Newell and great- grandma Densten. (Ava was already in her jammies and ready for bed. As you can tell, she's not too happy here.)

The next two pictures are of Ava and Carson(4months).

Ava is going for the paci...

...and takes it away from Carson. Sorry buddy!

And Lastly, the family photo - the Newell gang.

We had a great time seeing everyone. We miss you!!

Have some fun!

2008-08-17T23:06:00.009-05:00

So I saw this on a blog that I like to read and had to share it with everyone. If you want to give yourself a laugh, go to this site and upload a picture of your head. It gave me a few laughs. (okay, maybe more than just a few laughs.) Have fun!

Here is a little preview of what you'll find:

1974 pics of me and Jonathan. (don't make too much fun of us...okay, you can make fun of Jonathan because it is a pretty funny picture!)

2008-08-05T22:26:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Ava this past week:

Ava on her new cool riding toy!
She's already excited to start riding roller coasters with mommy and daddy!

Ava and I visited Grandma Joan for a few days!
While we were there, we were able to go swimming. (Ava's first time in a big pool.)
And Ava was excited to get back home to see her daddy again.

Baby proofing now begins!

2008-07-26T12:42:00.007-05:00

So it's been a long time since I've posted pictures of Ava. We have been getting complaints from people saying they are sick of looking at the cracker, which I'm really tired of looking at it too. And for the record, I put my peanut butter on the TOP of the cracker. Why would you put on the bottom and eat it upside down? (That's just weird!) Ava has definitely had lot of changes since I've last posted. For now, I have posted two videos of Ava. The first is of Ava crawling!! Yes, Ava is crawling now. She's slow at it (for now), but she can definitely crawl to get to where she wants to go. The videos that you will see have no sound, due to our camera without a mic. I tried uploading a video from our video camera so you can hear her, but it didn't work out so well. This first video is of Ava when she first found out she could crawl, which was a few days ago. (Now she crawls a lot faster. It's only a matter of days until she's crawling so fast that I won't be able to keep up with her!) The second video is Ava clapping. She has recently learned to clap her hands together. (It's just so darn cute!) I hope you enjoy and hopefully soon my electronically savvy husband will try to upload some videos with sound soon!

Butter me up!

2008-07-14T13:19:00.003-05:00

Ok, so while sitting in my house yesterday I witnessed what can only be called, "A flagrant foul of the buttery kind"

In order to remain impartial in this story and the results of the above poll, the real names and events have been changed.

While enjoying a delightful lunch with my wife and child of Ritz crackers and Peanut Butter I glanced over to see my life partner enjoying a cracker with peanut butter carefully placed on the (inappropriate side of the cracker). I exclaimed, "whoa now, you can't be puttin that p-butter all up on that side, it is unnatural" the person in question responded to me with, "whatever are you speaking of, I can butter whatever side of the cracker that I please."

A ten minute conversation ensued on the correct placement of the butter on a singular Ritz cracker, it got a little heated and some yelling was done, but after some time we decided to agree to disagree, until now.

I am putting it before you, the loyal masses to put this issue to rest. Please voice your opinion on the above poll about where the Peanut Butter should be placed in order to have correct consumption. The results will be available when the truth is known.