Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Dora Dora Dora...

Okay. So I think I have found a way to get Ava Grace to eat (for now anyway!) She has not really been eating well for the last couple of days so I have been trying to think of something different to do to get her to eat. Today I found the CUTEST Dora place setting and flatware!! For those of you that know Ava Grace - you know how much she LOVES Dora. Well... IT WORKED! I gave it to her at about 4:30 and she ran to the kitchen and got in her seat and waited for me to fix her something to eat. Of course - I did not have dinner ready at 4:30 - so I pulled out a ravioli/green beans gerber meal and fixed it for her and put it on her new Dora plate. SHE ATE ALL OF IT!! Seriously! Then she kept asking for "more ravioli!" Then she wanted yogurt so I put her yogurt in the bowl and she ate all of it too!

I hope she keeps this up! :-)

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Merry Christmas!

You know how I told you that Ava Grace LOVES Santa... Well... HE LOVES HER TOO!! Here are some pics from Christmas day!!

I hope that you and your families had a FABULOUS CHRISTMAS!!

Love Love





Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Santa Baby...

I took Ava Grace to see Santa Monday night! She LOVES him! We stood in line for about 45 minutes and when it was almost her turn she started getting really anxious!! We sang Christmas carols to pass the time and she made a few friends in line. She told Santa that she wanted a Barbie Jeep and then she got her picture taken with him.



Merry Christmas!!

Monday, December 21, 2009

I Love Christmas!

I love the way it makes you feel. I love getting together with family. Sharing meals together. Giving presents. Decorating. I love the smells of Christmas. I love Christmas music. I love the excitement of Santa. I love the reason for the season. I love baking Christmas goodies. I love watching Ava Grace's face when she opens her presents. I love Christmas movies. I love hot chocolate. I love cold weather. I love shopping for Christmas presents. I love that I am off work for a couple of weeks. I love that Ava Grace is out of daycare for a week and we get to spend quality time together. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

Here are some pics that I have taken this month... ok ok ok - It's really ALOT of pics! But since I have been a blog slacker, it takes a bunch!












Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Hungry?

Okay. I think I have figured something out. I have always loved food. Period. But here lately I am starting to think that I am just eating food because I miss it, not because I am hungry.

I know you know what I mean. Surely. Where are my hunger signals?

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

How Precious is THIS!?!

Me: "Ava Grace, What do you want Santa Claus to bring you for Christmas this year?"

Ava Grace: "A CHRISTMAS TREE MOMMY!"

Seriously... she melts my heart every day!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

I Can't Let Go...

Once upon a time I used to be a fun person... I promise.

For some reason I can not fully let go anymore. What is wrong with me?

Is it because I work from home and my work is always staring at me. 24-7.

When I am trying to have a fun day or relax... I can not keep the following from happening:

My mind is wandering off in VarsityLand thinking...
Checking the crackberry every 5 minutes afraid that my emails are piling up...
Thinking about what report is due next...
Thinking what more can I do...
The house needs to be cleaned...
I have tons of clothes to wash...
I need to organize this and that...

This thinking inhibits me from FULLY enjoying anything. Which is really sad. ya know.

I have discussed this with the hubby. Several ideas have been tossed around but no conclusions. We thought about setting office hours for myself. Work 'X' number of hours a day and THAT IS IT! But that is nearly impossible. During my busy time of the year I work ALOT LONGER and HARDER - then there is about a month out of the year that is not as busy and I have a little more free time. So it kinda all evens out. But where do I draw the line?

As for the house. I know it is here, the laundry is continuous (just as it is in every household), it is going to need to be cleaned. In this house - I do the laundry and cleaning and any organizing that gets done. I have tried several different schedules to keep everything running smoothly and they just don't see to work out. I either run out of hours in the day to get it all done or something happens (AG gets sick, big project for work due) and I fail miserably at my schedule. Then I am just all out of whack and feeling pretty much like I am today.

I need help. Any Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

*I have asked the hubby when I can just be a stay at home mom or work part-time and the answer is pretty much a sarcastic laugh and a look like 'NEVER'... just wanted you to know on the front-end in case that was your suggestions.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Kitty Kat

Work has me going crazy right now... so not too much time to post.

Here is a picture of my little Kitty Kat! She had so much fun wearing her costume!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Perfect Pumpkin

Yesterday afternoon I took Ava Grace to the Pumpkin Patch at our church. Her and Big Bird searched for the perfect pumpkin.





Then she took a break and socialized for a little while with all of her best buddies at Children's Place. They were so excited to see each other! Parker (adorable little boy in previous posts) was really excited - he kept telling everyone "My Ava Grace!"



Then she found the scarecrow so we just had to get our picture taken with him! I think she liked the ghosts painted on the sign the most.



She finally found the perfect pumpkin!



She gave it to the nice lady and got a pumpkin stamp and a sticker!



So we headed home to paint our pumpkin! SHE WAS SO EXCITED!!




She chose to paint it yellow and pink (aka Pinky). She had so much fun!






Voila! Here is the finished product!



I LOVE FALL!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Elmo and Big Bird are AWESOME!!

Ava Grace had so much fun watching Sesame Street Live on Sunday!! She was amazed!!

As soon as we sat down she looked at the stage and screamed "Sesame Street!!" The look on her face during the show was priceless. Every once in a while she would look at me and smile really big and say "It's big bird!"

We went to the show with Ava Grace's best buddy Parker and his Mommy. They were so cute together! Cousin Colin and Aunt Terri met us there too and sat with us the second half of the show.

Parker and Ava Grace looking cool in our glasses!!



Waiting for the show to begin. They were both really sleepy when we got there but perked up soon after the show started!!



Ava Grace loves Abby Cadabby! She made herself disappear and that bothered AG a little. She kept saying "Mommy where did she go?"


The set was so cute! Here is Elmo and his fish Dorothy!


Singing and Dancing...


And this cute little munchkin was waiting on us when we got home. She was cuddled up to Barney in her Halloween glow in the dark shirt! She is such a sweet little puppy!


I can't wait to take Ava Grace to see Elmo again. Next time I will remember to bring our Big Bird and Elmo stuffed animals since I bought our 5th Big Bird and 4th Elmo while we were at the show. The Mickey Mouse Playhouse is coming in March and we are for sure getting tickets for that show too!!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

U of A Homecoming! Roll Tide!!

The University of Alabama's homecoming is today. We took Ava Grace to the parade this morning and she had a BLAST!! Here are some pictures... :-)










Ok - well maybe it was alot of pictures! Tomorrow we are going to see Elmo!! I can't wait to see Ava Grace's face when she meets Elmo, Big Bird, and Abby Cadabby!!

I hope you are having a great weekend!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 4th wedding anniversary! I can't believe it has already been 4 years!

Kyle and I started dating in August of 2003. August 3rd to be exact! Here is how we met...

I was working with his sister at this little children's shoe store in Tuscaloosa. One day we were talking and I told her that I needed to sublease my apartment that August. It just so happened that her brother (Kyle) was needing a 6 month lease since he was finishing school in December. She told her mom and we all went to look at it. Then when it came time to sign the papers over Kyle came to my work and picked me up so we could go to the apartment leasing office together. I looked like crap! I didn't know we were going to do that then and I had forgotten how hot he is. At this point we really didn't know each other. We had seen each other out before but only said "hi." I think he was just about as nervous as I was. When we left my work he starting going the wrong way down the road!! See! I was already driving him crazy!! HAHA! Then after that about a week later his sister called me and asked me if Kyle had called me. He had not and she said that he had just called her and got my number!! He called and asked me to dinner and the movies. We had a great time on our first date and THEN HE DID NOT CALL ME FOR A WEEK! I even left my raincoat in his car and he gave it to his sister to give back to me. I thought for sure he would give it right back to me. (I did not leave it on purpose - although after I thought about it, it would have been a good idea) I was so mad. That whole week I was trying to figure out what I did wrong!! Then he called again and came over to help me move in my new apartment. He was going home to Fayette for the weekend and asked me to go with him. I did and we have been together ever since. We got engaged March 10th, 2005 and married that October 15th.

In my first 4 years of marriage I have learned that marriage is fun but hard. You have to constantly keep working at communicating. It is so easy to get relaxed and out of touch with each other. Since we had Ava Grace we have not "dated" each other as much as we want to but that is about to change. We have decided that atleast once a month (hopefully twice) we are going to start getting a babysitter and going on a date. I think every married couple needs to do that!!

Here are some pics of me and my sweet hubby!!