Valentine's Day

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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.