South Family

Fun Easter Weekend!

2011-04-26T13:02:00.004-05:00

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend! We did!

Here are a few pics. Have a fabulous day!! Love love

Where have I been??

2011-04-22T20:00:00.004-05:00

So, I have taken a LONG break from blogging! Sorry! But I am back. :-)

Where have I been? Well, no place exciting. But I have been very busy. The last you heard I am having a GIRL! and I still am! LOL I do have good news! If you recall on my previous post from forever ago I wrote that I have placenta previa. I am happy to say that my placenta has MOVED! As of my 29th week ultrasound it is 1cm away from my cervix. They want it to be 2cm away so I am hoping and praying that at my 35 week appointment it will have moved another cm. I am HUGE so surely it has moved! I am not really that worried about it right now. My OBGYN felt pretty confident that it would move.

Now - let's talk about this pregnancy. To be honest I don't really remember much from when I was preggo with Ava Grace but this pregnancy has not really been that bad. I feel good for the most part. Like any preggo person I have trouble getting going and if I am up for long periods I get really tired easily. I am SUPER HUNGRY for pretty much anything and you can tell that by looking at me :-) The only thing this time is SHE IS REALLY REALLY LOW! I mean like I feel like she might fall out at any moment. My doctor said it is prob because this is my 2nd pregnancy and everything is not as strong as it was before. When I went in for my 33 week appt this past week he said something about her being low when he was measuring me. He did say that I was measuring right on time so that's good news.

I think I am nesting a little around here. This past week I have organized my closet, bedroom, and office. It looks and feels great for everything to have a place. Next week I am tackling the laundry room and Ava Grace's closet. I need to change out fall clothes for Spring/Summer clothes. I am loving this organizing zone I am in :-)

Ava Grace is doing great and loving school. She is doing better using her nice words and manners. This week she has said yes mam or no mam pretty much everytime I ask her something. That's HUGE! Her daycare was closed today for Good Friday and I was off work so we were able to spend some time together. We dyed eggs this morning and then went to see Rio and the Easter Bunny this afternoon. She had a BLAST! Then we ate dinner with daddy and came home. Oh and we had about a hour to kill so we went to Toys R Us to look around. Believe it or not this was the 1st time I have taken her to Toys R Us since she was about 6 months. She was in TOY OVERLOAD! So excited to be there! and She LOVED everything. I told her she could have 1 toy and out of everything there she chose a little stuffed Pluto that was only $6.99 so I think I came out pretty good! Bless her heart because she inherited my decision making. She looked EVERYWHERE in the store and had such a hard time choosing just 1 toy. When I was little I did the same thing! Heck - I still do that. I look and look and pick out things and then talk myself out of buying all of it. So - she gets it honest and I can totally feel her pain!

So - that is what we have been up to! Tomorrow we have the Easter Egg Hunt at the park that our church is hosting and then we are going to Nana and Pop's cabin to grill out and make smores! Ava Grace can't wait to play with her cousins, Braylen and Sarah. They are all about the same age and love to play together. It will be a fun weekend! I hope you all have a HAPPY EASTER!!

Guess What!?!?

2011-01-13T08:53:00.006-06:00

We are having another baby GIRL!! YAY!!

Ava Grace is pumped and is determined that we are naming her Strawberry Shortcake. She has said the whole time that she is having a baby sister. She knew it all along!

So... on to the ultrasound. My sweet baby girl looked great. She weighed 8oz and her heart rate was around 145. Her little heart looked great - all 4 chambers were there. Her little kidneys and her brain and all of the other organs they look for were there and working away.

There was one little issue that they found. As of right now, I am calling it a little issue until my next ultrasound. I have placenta previa. That is where the placenta is covering the cervix. There is complete previa and partial previa and I think mine is complete. So, basically what that means is that I don't need to go into labor and I will need to have a c-section early with this sweet girl. I also will need to be careful with myself and watch for bleeding. My doctor said that alot of times as the uterus gets bigger the placenta will move and in that case I would be able to have a vaginal delivery. So, I will get 2 extra ultrasounds for them to monitor the baby and me. My next ultrasound will be in March. If it is still there I will most likely need to have a c-section around 37 weeks if everything goes as planned. Now, we all know that when it comes to life and everything in this world WE don't have the plan. God is the ONLY One that knows what will happen and when it will happen. So I am just going to take things one day at a time, try not to read too much on the internet, and go ahead and get everything ready for her to be here so I can be prepared if she comes early. At this point a c-section scar, stretch marks, and brown spots on my face don't really matter that much to me. I just want to make sure this sweet girl gets here safely and healthy and that I stay healthy so I can take good care of her and my sweet Ava Grace.

Love love. My thought for today... NO WORRIES!

We LOVE Snow!!

2011-01-11T09:25:00.007-06:00

We had a blast yesterday! Ava Grace woke up at 6:30 ready to play in the snow! After a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, biscuits, and eggs that is exactly what we did. First we built a snowman and then we let her ride down a few little hills next to our house. Then we jumped in the car and went to the golf course to go down the BIG hills there. It was so much fun!! I wanted to go down the hill so bad but thought I better not take the risk with Baby South #2. So I took LOTS of pictures and Daddy and AG went down the hill! We were out in the snow for about 4 hours! Then we were all hungry and went to Mc'Ds on the way home. We had a great relaxing afternoon in the house. AG and Daddy rested and I did some work. And to top it off - Kyle went and bought groceries and made Chili for supper. It was so good! AG LOVED it!! Then we got on our PJ's and watched the Bachelor - which I am LOVING by the way! - and the National Championship.

Here are some pics from the day. Love Love

SNOW!

2011-01-09T23:08:00.003-06:00

Okay! I am super excited right now because it is snowing! And just so you know - this hardly EVER happens in the south where I live. I can't wait to play in it tomo and take LOTS of pictures!!

I hope it keeps coming down. Ava Grace is pumped about building a snowman in the morning! She didn't want to go to bed...

We had a fabulous weekend! Friday night we went to eat for Kyle's grandmothers bday. Saturday we stayed in our pj's til around 2! Then got AG ready and off to Nana's house and we went to eat dinner for a friends 30th bday! It was delish and alot of fun! Today we went to church then AG and I took a nap on my big comfty chair for about 2 hours. It was a VERY RELAXING weekend!!

Also - this is a big week! I am 19 weeks this week and we will be finding out Wednesday what we are having. We are thinking girl... Which will be fine since we have LOTS of girl stuff and a nursery already decorated for a girl. BUT if its a boy we would be happy too! I would love for Kyle to have a little boy that he could take to play golf! And I would love to see some blue in my house and go to some baseball games... We'll see! I will be sure to blog an update!

For now I am going to bed! I will post pics tomo of our adventures in the snow! :-)

Love Love

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T13:22:00.002-06:00

First of all, sorry I have been a little MIA for the past couple of months! The holidays kept me a tad bit busy. I did read everyone else's blogs but just didn't post :-( BUT - I am back! :-)

I will do a post on Christmas soon but right now lets talk about new year resolutions. I decided to go back this morning and look at my post on new year resolutions from 2010 to see how I did. And sad to say I didn't do so hot. Uh Oh! Maybe I will do better in 2011!!

So - here's the list...

1.) Get ORGANIZED and STAY THAT WAY!! This is so super important. Esp with baby #2 on the way. I am going to take a room a week and try to get organized. Any organization ideas PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send them my way!! The worst room right now is Ava Grace's playroom.

2.) Exercise more... so right now I am not really exercising much at all so more would be like 3 days a week or so. Surely I can handle that!

3.) Menu Planning!! I already do this each week for the majority of the time. Some weeks I try to cut back on grocery expenses so we eat a lot of soups and sandwiches those weeks and obviously there is no need to plan :-) But thanks to Nana and Pop we got a deep freezer for Christmas!! So I am contemplating making up some meals in advance and stocking up on some things from Sam's Club. We'll see how this one goes :-)

4.) PAY OFF DEBTS!! This one should have been FIRST on the list. I seriously want to pay off my short term debts. I know my student loans and our mortgage will take a LONG time to pay off but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get any credit card debt, car loan debt, etc paid off. Ideally before the baby gets here in June!

5.) Read the Bible all the way thru! Okay - really this one should be been first and the debts #2. I have wanted to do this for a really long time. For Christmas this year my sweet little sister in law gave me a daily planner that also has a daily reading schedule to read the Bible in 1 year. I am so excited to get started on this!!

6.) Spend more time with friends and family!!

What are your plans for 2011?? I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

love love

I love fall...

2010-10-29T09:47:00.005-05:00

I absolutely love fall. I love it when the air starts getting crisp. I love to watch the leaves change colors. I love watching the wind blow the leaves. I love the coolness in the air. I love that it is easier to breathe.

I love the smells of fall. Pumpkins. Pumpkin Spice Candles. Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks. Sweet Potato Casseroles. Fried Turkeys. Thanksgiving Lunch. Fall makes me want to bake muffins every morning... I love the smell of muffins baking in a cozy house early in the morning. I love the smell of hubby's coffee in the morning.

I love fall clothing. I love AG's cute little fall clothes. I love wearing skinny jeans and boots... and I love that AG shares this love with me. I love wearing sweatshirts. I love wearing cutsy long sleeve pajama sets from VS. I love snuggling with AG in her fun PJ's (that she chooses very carefully I might add) every night and morning.

I love the excitement of the fall holidays. I love watching AG get dressed up for Halloween and fulfilling her character to the max. I love seeing how excited she gets over the pumpkin patch at our church. I love how AG love love loves "scarecwows" and "pumpkins with lights." I love that my hubby doesn't play golf as much and we get to spend more family time together on the weekends:-) I love planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love that there is so much to look forward to from October til January.

I love fall...

AND

I love my proud little Jessie...

My Little Cowgirl...

2010-10-27T10:27:00.003-05:00

"YeeHaw I'm a cowgirl!" She cracks me up :-)

Fun Treats!!

2010-10-26T08:21:00.005-05:00

Yesterday after school Ava Grace and I made some fun treats!! She had a blast. Her favorite part was sticking the eyes on! Oh yeah - and eating all of the oreos and nutter butters! :-) I think she ate about 5 cookies and who knows how many M&Ms?!?! :-) But she had fun and that's all that matters! and she was REALLY PROUD when we took all of them to school this morning for her to share with her friends :-)

Have a good day! I think today will be a good day to carve a pumpkin :-)

Guess What?!?!?!?!

2010-10-22T09:08:00.003-05:00

Ava Grace is going to be a big sister!! That's right! We are super excited! I know she will be a great big sister and a my big helper.

I am only 7 weeks and we just had our 1st ultrasound. So far everything looks good :-) We are due June 9th and couldn't be happier :-)

I hope you have a great weekend!!

Weekend Recap

2010-10-19T11:11:00.007-05:00

We did a little singing and dancing...

We played dress up...

We played with blocks...

And Sunday was Ava Grace's 1st time to sit thru the entire church service :-)

Yesterday Ava Grace had her first field trip! They went to the pumpkin patch at our church and I was able to read to them during story time. Here are a couple of pictures!

Rest...

2010-10-18T21:00:00.004-05:00

of knowing I have done everything I can in this situation.

of knowing the He loves me for me.

of knowing that He will fight for me, I don't always have to take up for myself.

of knowing who I am and who I am not.

of knowing where I am going.

in the Word that God has given me.

of believing that I am forgiven and I can stop repenting for the same sin.

We become servants to whoevers approval we are trying to get. The only approval I need to seek is from God.

So, some of you may or may not know this. Right now I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study, Breaking Free. I look forward to this time every week and EVERY WEEK God has spoken TO ME directly thru this study. Honestly before I started this study I was completely blind to the bondage I have been experiencing in my life. Since I began this study I have experienced many not so pleasant situations. I kept asking God - WHY?? WHY am I feeling this way?? WHY is this happening?? Sept/October has been extremely stressful for me. As soon as one situation was getting better, another situation would arise. And I don't just mean little things... they were things that are a really big deal to me. During my study tonight I just wanted to cry. I mean, if I was sitting there by myself I would have prob just screamed out. I KNEW that God was speaking to me. I have been praying and praying to not let things bother me so much and to give it all to God. And for some reason it was still lingering in my mind and hurt. Literally I was hurting - like someone had taken a knife and stabbed it thru my heart. Tonight...as I type this... I truly feel like a different person. Like the weight of it all is being lifted. It is still there... a teeny tiny part... but I know that with God's help this hurt will be removed from my heart. NOW THAT MY FRIENDS IS WHERE MY REST COMES IN...

I have always been the type person to want to make everyone happy. I can't stand tension. I seek approval from several people in my life and strive to make them think good of me. I say YES sometimes when I am really thinking - No, I don't have time. Some might call me out on this because I know I have not always made everyone happy. And I am positive I have created lots of tension in my life. But... deep down I just want everyone to be happy. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW EXHAUSTING THAT HAS BEEN FOR ME??

I need to REST.

I still want others to be happy but I need to get my priorities straight. I will serve the Lord with everything that I have. I will continually seek God and only God's approval. God has invited me to rest in Him and I have accepted. And it feels GREAT!

"Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads. I will give you rest. Accept my work and learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will find rest for your souls. The work that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is not heavy." Matthew 11:28-30

5 years ago today...

2010-10-15T09:43:00.003-05:00

I married my best friend :-)

I love you Kyle!

Stormy Night

2010-10-13T08:22:00.006-05:00

Last night was a stormy night here at the South Family house. Luckily we only lost power once for about 30 seconds so it didn't ruin our fun game of Toy Story memory Ava Grace was playing. Here are some pics from last night.

And for some reason this picture has white dots all over it. I read online that it was either bugs or dust particles in the air. It said that sometimes the flash illuminates them and makes it look like huge white dots. It looks a little scary to me!

On a completely different subject, for the past week we have been letting Ava Grace sleep in big girl panties at night. She really could have slept in them since she has been potty trained but I was just too nervous. I knew the first night that I let her go without pull ups that she would have an accident in the bed. Thank goodness she didn't! Well, we ran out of pull ups last week and I decided that I was not going to buy anymore. Let me tell you what she did last night... I woke up around 5am and saw that the hallway looked bright. I got up and saw that her light was on in her room. I went to her room and she was asleep in the bed so I just turned her light out and went back to sleep. I figured she was afraid of the dark since it was storming last night... When she woke up around 6:30 this morning I asked her why her light was on. And then she said "I had to go to the potty! I'm a big girl!" so I went and looked in the potty and she did! She got up without waking me up, turned her light on, and teeteed in the potty and wiped herself. I can't believe she didn't wake me up. She said "SEE!!" and was so so proud of herself! She is growing up so fast!

Randoms...

2010-10-11T21:19:00.000-05:00

**Ava Grace’s conversation with a little girl on the playground per her teacher…

Little Girl: (Crying…)

Ava Grace: What’s wrong with you?

Little Girl: I want my blanky!

Ava Grace: Well, ask Mrs. Mochelle because Mrs. Mea will say No!

HAHAHAHA! She has it all figured out! :-)

**Ava Grace’s prayer tonight at bedtime…

“God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our ~~food~~ Bed! In our work and in our play, God be with us everyday!”

**Another funny thing from the playground per her teacher…

Ava Grace to a teacher on the playground: Can we play Simon Says?

Teacher: Sure

Ava Grace: Simon says touch your nose… (AG touches her nose)

And per the teacher watching this, Ava Grace goes on and on and on with the game wanting to play and it gets to a point that I think it might be driving the teacher crazy…

Teacher: Simon says GO PLAY IN THE SANDBOX!

And Ava Grace runs away and starts playing in the sandbox!!

**Ava Grace is addicted to Oatmeal Crème Pies and I am addicted to Chocolate Peanut Butter bugles!

**Tonight I asked Ava Grace to clean up her toys ONE TIME and that is all it took! She put all of her toys away and then turned off the light in her playroom. She is such a sweet girl! :-)

**I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study right now called Breaking Free and tonight was one of those nights where I just KNEW that God was speaking DIRECTLY to me. Isn't it amazing the words that God throws in our faces right when we need them the most! God is so good!

**Yesterday we went to Nashville for my sweet nephews 4th birthday party! I can’t believe he is 4!! Everyone had a blast and Daddy won Ava Grace a Hannah Montana pillow that looks like a boom box and has a handle on it. Earlier today it was her boom box but tonight it is her purse and she told me that she has lots of gum in it! And I can have some but I better not swallow it! She cracks me up!

I hope you all had a wonderful day!! Our week is off to a great start!

Family Day!

2010-10-09T20:31:00.005-05:00

Today has been a GREAT day! It started with pancakes from McD's and then we all put together puzzles for about an hour! Ava Grace had a blast and she was really good at putting the puzzles together. We were amazed! Then she played with all of her babies and put them down for a nap so they could sleep while we went to buy some pumpkins to decorate. We bought pumpkins, a carving kit, a few other things and headed home. We had bagel bites, bananas, and strawberries for lunch then she napped for about 2 hours. After dinner tonight she painted pumpkins and had a blast!! Now she is snoozing in her bed...

She is now officially sleeping all night in her own bed!! YAY!!

Here are some pics from today!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Abraham's Offering by Danielle Rose

2010-10-08T10:22:00.004-05:00

Have you heard this song before? It is AWESOME! A sweet friend of mine emailed me the link earlier this week and I can not stop listening to it. I hope you have a great day!

Nanny 911

2010-10-06T20:44:00.005-05:00

So... when I was preggo with AG everyone said "Oh you are going to be so sleepy!" "a newborn is so demanding" "it's hard but you'll get the hang of it"

Well folks - Let.Me.Tell.You. - taking care of a newborn is NO PROBLEM compared to PARENTING a toddler. Seriously. For the past week everything that comes out of Ava Grace's mouth is NO and she wants to do the opposite of everything that we tell her. Now - in her defense she is not like that all of the time. She is such a sweet and fun loving little girl. Her personality is like none other and she will CRACK you up!! She will have you laughing so hard you won't be able to stop!!

I know it's just a "phase" - or I think it is. But, I still can't let her constantly get her way and think she rules this house. So... who did I turn to??

NANNY 911 OF COURSE!! I mean that woman KNOWS HER STUFF ABOUT PARENTING!!

I watched several episodes online today and this is what I learned. It really is common sense but it's kinda hard to stick with it when the going gets tough.

1.)STAY CALM - this is super hard for me and the hubby. But we talked about it and we are going to try really hard to just keep an even tone with her when we she misbehaves.

2.)TIMEOUT - we are already doing this but I found some new techniques with the timer and everything.

3.)BE CONSISTENT - this is SUPER IMPORTANT. I think we just couldn't find something that immediately worked with her so we jumped around from incentive charts and stickers, to timeout, to the sad spoon. So we decided that we were going to strictly do TIMEOUT for an entire month and then evaluate how it is working.

4.)BEDTIME - she needs to go to bed on her own in her own bed. She does sleep in her own bed but gets up at 3 and comes to our room like clockwork every night. And I have to lay down with her until she falls asleep and half the time I end of falling asleep at 8 with her and I never get to spend time with the hubby.

So... do you wanna hear my success for tonight?!?!?!

She got put in timeout twice. Once for backtalking and the other for refusing to wash her hands before dinner. She sat there for 3 minutes each time letting me know that she did "not like the timeout chair!" - which was perfect with me. I stayed calm and set the timer. Then when the timer went off I explained why she had to do timeout and if she was quiet then she could get up. She got up and went straight to the sink, washed her hands, then came to the table and ate 2 plate fulls of food! Yes - 2 plate fulls!! I praised her for her good eating and she got her 4th sticker on her Good Eating chart! (Only a few more and she gets a trip to ChuckeCheese and she is SUPER EXCITED about that!!)

So... How did bedtime go?? Well let me tell you I AM STILL SHOCKED AT THIS MOMENT!!

Nanny 911 said to just put the child in their bed over and over again whenever they get out and eventually they will get the point that you are the boss. Well, that's EXACTLY what I did and it only took 30 minutes and she is ASLEEP in her bed by herself!! She got up about 4 or 5 times and turned her lights on. I just kept turning them out and put her back in the bed. I did find her nightlight and turn it on just in case she was afraid of the dark. Now - she might get up at 3 tonight but I feel like we are on the right track. She really didn't have a tantrum about going to bed. She just kept getting up and standing at her door saying "Mommy will you come back?" Talk about BREAKING your heart! She's such a sweet girl! The last time I put her in the bed I think she was finally just giving up and she said "Night Night I lub you!" and that was it. Now she is snuggling with her Dora Pillow and her blanket! :-)

The hardest thing is being consistent!! But me and the hubby are both on the same page and that is really our main goal right now! :-)

And Ava Grace is not the only one comfy in her bed. Look at this sweet baby! She played hard outside with us this afternoon and is one tired puppy!

I feel the need...

2010-10-05T14:56:00.003-05:00

Right now I am feeling the need to have a better schedule. My laundry, dinners, routine, house cleaning, etc... It is all going downhill. So - that is my goal for this week! To get caught up on laundry first and foremost and then plan a better schedule and routine for the South family. What kind of cleaning schedule do you have? What kind of schedule are your kids on? How often do you cook?

And here is a pic of Ava Grace and her B.F.F. Dora! This was at her birthday party a few weeks ago! I love that sweet smile! :-)

Sassy Girl!

2010-10-03T19:45:00.007-05:00

I am BACK!! I can't believe it has been more than 6 months since I have posted. Thanks to Leslie at Lamberts Lately I have a new blog design! YAY!! Thank you Leslie!

So, I thought I would start back with some recent pics of Ava Grace. I took these yesterday evening. She was outside playing with her Barbie jeep and I managed to get her to stop for pics... with a little bribery of course :-) M&Ms do the trick every time... and they have to be "lellow" to work!

Fun Fun Weekend!

2010-03-22T09:52:00.004-05:00

WOW! We had such a fantastic weekend! Aunt Caroline was here to visit and Saturday Ava Grace had 2 friends over to play. Her cousin, Colin and her best buddy, Parker. They had a blast!! We were outside from 10:30 am until 4:30 pm. We had a picnic lunch, played with bubbles, sidewalk chalk, bounced in the Sesame Street Jumpy, played with the Barbie Jeep, Parker brought over his tractor, and they played and played and played! We also dyed eggs for Easter Time and they had a blast!

Sunday we went to church and then to a wedding shower for a friend. Then we met up with Daddy and ate dinner with Pop Up.

Here are some pictures from this weekend! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

I LOVE SPRING!!

2010-03-19T09:18:00.006-05:00

It is starting to get warm outside and that makes me really HAPPY! I have played outside with Little Bit for the last 2 afternoons and she is loving it! This morning she woke up at 6:30 and said "I want to go outside!"

I have a feeling that we will be spending a lot of days outside this spring and summer. So, I think we need some more outside toys to play with. I know what you are thinking... "That child does not NEED any toys!" - well, guess what? I am about to justify that...

Right now this is what we have to play with...

Sesame Street Bounce House: It did have a tear in it but we found the patch kit and I fixed it up yesterday.

Barbie Jeep: Maybe when she is a little older she will drive this. She will not push the pedal. She gets in it and puts her 'baby for the day' in it and then gets out. She is afraid to push the pedal. :-(

little Swing Set - and when I say Little I mean l-i-t-t-l-e. It is for ages 1-3. She can not fit in the swing anymore and she is taller than the slide. But it is great for her 'baby for the day'

Tricyle: She had a tricyle but it is made so strange. It is a retro looking tricycle so it looks really cute but she is too short for it and I think when she is tall enough to use it she will be riding a regular bike.

That's it right now. I know what you are thinking... "THAT'S IT!" - I know it is a lot of things but she can only really use a couple of them and I would much rather her be outside playing nonstop instead of sitting in front of the tv... So here are some things I am thinking about!!

What favorite outdoor toys do your kids/grandkids love?!?!

Dora's #1 Fan!!

2010-03-17T11:20:00.011-05:00

It's official! Ava Grace is Dora's #1 Fan! We stood in line to see Dora yesterday - not once... but TWICE! The first time we waited in line for about 30 minutes. The 2nd it was only for about 10 minutes - and IT WAS WORTH IT to see the SMILE on little bit's face!!

The first time we got to see Dora - they were only allowing you to take 1 picture and were rushing you to take it and go... well, that didn't really work for us. When Ava Grace had to leave Dora she was SO SAD! :-(

So I thought maybe I could take her to another section and play - WRONG ANSWER! Just when she thought I was not looking she took off in a SPRINT towards Dora. I caught her just as we got to the door where Dora was sitting and Ava Grace let out a "I WANT DORA! MY DORA!" So - that is why we decided to go thru the line again. And by the way it is REALLY HARD trying to explain to a 2 year old that she has to wait in line AGAIN to see Dora. The first time standing in line she was extremely patient. The 2nd time - notsomuch but she tried really hard!!

Then at lunch I realized where Ava Grace gets some of her impatience... ME! The line was SO LONG for pizza and it was taking forever and I caught myself getting so frustrated and impatient. Then I remembered that I had been telling Ava Grace to be patient for the last hour... So, God gave me a little lesson on patience standing in the Pizza Hut line. Being patient really is hard - so I guess AG and me can just work on that together.

Here are some pictures from our fun day! If we didn't live so far away I would take her every day this week - THAT IS HOW MUCH FUN SHE HAD!! The only time she stopped smiling is when she had to sit down to eat lunch... and when Dora went night night.

On our way to see Dora. She had to take 2 Dora's and Super Why came along for the ride too!

She was a little star struck in this picture! But this was our 1 picture. She has a look on her face like "this is MY Dora!"

This was our 2nd time thru. She first ran up to Dora and gave her a big hug and said "I LOVE YOU DORA!" - It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen. And then she was trying to show boots her little Dora that she brought from home.

Having fun playing on the Butterfly Wall!

My nephew Roman on the NEWS! This was so cute!

My other newphew, Gavin - loving on Dora too!

Me and my sweet girl! I love taking her to do fun things like this!

After playing hard all day - she passed out with her new Diego and Dora doll.

Temporary Home

2010-02-09T22:14:00.003-06:00

I love love love this song... It has been on my mind all day long... so, I decided to post it -

Little Mommy

2010-02-01T21:35:00.004-06:00

Ava Grace is such a little mommy. One of her favorite things to do is dress her babies! She just kind lays the clothes on top of them and yells "Mommy Look! It's SO CUTE!"

She cracks me up! Last night she was dressing all of her babies and telling them how pretty they looked. Here is her conversation with her babies last night...

"Lay wight dare"
"you want da dora shirt?"
"okay... be wight back"
"here you go"
"Oh...wee... it's sooo cute!"
"I lub it"
"So pretty"
"You a big girl!" - with a pat on the back and kiss on the cheek...
"good job"
"tank you much"

*Do you notice something a little different about her american girl twins?? Hers have permanent makeup on... thanks to the surprise purple marker at the bottom of the toy bucket. It only took 5 seconds and it was done... voila!

*My hair is in my face and I don't care! HA!

We love to Paint!

2010-01-28T10:24:00.005-06:00

Here are some pics of Ava Grace and Aunt Caroline a couple of weeks ago painting. She got lots of fun paints for Christmas and LOVES to paint at the table like a big girl.

Great Feeling

2010-01-26T12:17:00.004-06:00

At the beginning of last year I started running. Then I stopped and got lazy. :-(

I just started back in December and finally have worked up to 4 miles without stopping. That's big for me! I am hoping to make this a habit. The first mile is kinda hard for me and then the rest is fine. I just have to focus on something else.

Then when I am finished... I have a Great Feeling! Seriously - I can think better. I can breathe better. I just feel better all over.

Maybe I will get addicted to running. How AWESOME would that be?!?!?

Relaxing Weekend

2010-01-25T12:21:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! We did.

Friday night the hubby was in the mood for a steak so he grilled out for us. It was yummy as always. He also stuffed Bell Peppers with thin steaks, onions, mushrooms, and Dales Sauce and cooked them on the grill. His own little creation... it was good! I put cheese on mine and put it in the oven for a few minutes! You know me! I like cheese on EVERYTHING! We also had Lipton Teriyaki Noodles to go with it. Ava Grace's FAV!

Saturday we were SUPER LAZY! Ava Grace and I watched Cinderella and Snow White Saturday morning and then ate lunch and took a 2 hour nap together! Saturday night we went out to eat with Mamaw Faye and were in the bed by 8:30!

Sunday we went to church, grocery store, ate lunch, and then I took Ava Grace to a birthday party for a cute little boy in her class. After the party she took a nap and I had to wake her up at 5:15pm.

Last night I found another dinner that Ava Grace loves just as much as Chicken Casserole and Spaghetti!!! We had a Chicken/Wild Rice Casserole and she LOVES it!!

Here is the recipe. Sorry I don't have any pictures.. I will make some next time. Pinky Promise.

Chicken/Wild Rice Casserole

Chicken Strips (8-10) or Chicken Breasts (3-4)
2 Cans Cream of Mushroom
1 Box of Uncle Bens Wild Rice

Cook the Chicken in the oven until done. I use the strips because they cook so much faster. I also just put butter and some Italian or Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing on them so they won't get dry. Then cook the Wild Rice in the microwave according to the directions on the box. When your chicken is done - cut it in bite size pieces. Mix together the rice, Cream of Mushroom, and Chicken and cook in the oven uncovered for about 15 minutes on 350.

I served it with Sweet Peas, Fruit, and Rolls.

Let. Me. Tell. You. It was SO GOOD!

Thanks Honey!

2010-01-19T15:12:00.002-06:00

My sweet husband has been wanting to gain weight. So... for the past week or so he has been working out and eating a lot more. Do you know what that means? I have been facing A LOT of temptation to eat things that I would really rather eat!!

We LOVE the Blue Bell Peanut Butter Chocolate milkshakes from Jack's - so for 2 nights in a row he has surprised me with one when he comes home from working out! He has gained about 10 lbs and if he keeps bringing me milkshakes I am going to be right there with him!! Last night I made sure that he knew that I really appreciated it... he was just thinking of me and that was really nice!! BUT it will NOT hurt my feelings if you just get a milkshake for yourself and not one for me!!

I am always wanting him to do sweet things for me and surprise me... then he does and I have to turn him down! GEEEZZZ!!

Pour some sugar on me...

2010-01-18T13:01:00.003-06:00

Check out Made You Blush for her AWESOME giveaway! It's her 1 year blog-versary!! YAY!! and she has a TON of followers!... So, what does that tell ya?? She has a lovely blog and YOU NEED TO CHECK IT OUT ASAP! It always inspires me to read her posts and she is absolutely beautiful.

She is giving away her daily perfume, Pink Sugar. It smells like cotton candy.... and who does not love the way cotton candy smells?!?! So hop on over to her blog and enter to win!! The winner will be chosen at random on January 23rd!

New Bedding!!

2010-01-15T13:34:00.003-06:00

I just ordered Ava Grace's big girl bedding and I am SUPER EXCITED!! Here is a picture of it below!

Life After You

2010-01-13T21:28:00.004-06:00

I heart this song... and I don't mind watching him sing it either. ;-)

No Trampoline!!

2010-01-13T15:27:00.002-06:00

Ava Grace started back to gymnastics today! The gym has moved and it was really nice! They had lots of new equipment for the obstacle course and she LOVED it!!

The only thing she didn't love is the trampoline. She has never really been a huge fan of the trampoline. At the other gym the trampoline was set in the ground so that it was level with the floor. Well, this one isn't. It is a little higher and she is terrified of it!! She walked across it about 4 times and screamed the whole time. This one mom looked at me and said "Honey, it will be better next week!" I hated to tell her that she has been taking gymnastics for a year now and still does not like the trampoline!! At the other gym they had a big pit of foam blocks - so we would just play in the blocks while the others were jumping. This gym doesn't have the foam pit so we were kinda forced to jump this time. I am sure that with time she will be okay.

She rocked out her forward rolls, beam, and the bars! She did really good on those!

So... what do you think I should do? Should I buy her a trampoline to get her used to it?? I know that sounds a little extreme but I want her to be able to understand that she is going to be okay. Trampolines can be so much fun!! She just doesn't see it yet...

What's for Dinner?

2010-01-12T09:14:00.002-06:00

That is what I am asking myself right now. I secretly LOVE getting our meal plan made for the week and then buying the groceries. I don't really love unloading them but God knows I need the exercise - so there.

Usually on Sundays, I take time to write out what we are going to have for dinner each night. Then I make out my grocery list, add the necessities in, and then go grocery shopping while Ava Grace is napping. For different reasons, this Sunday duty has moved to Tuesday this week and I don't have a clue.

Do you ever feel like you cook the same things over and over again? Well, I do. Ava Grace LOVES LOVES LOVES spaghetti, ravioli, baked ziti, lasagna! So I have to do atleast one of those once a week. She also LOVES LOVES LOVES Poppyseed Chicken Casserole! So I have to do atleast one of those a week. I guess I don't really "have to" but I like to see my baby eat - so whatever works. Right?

To try and save money I always look to see what I have in the pantry first and then decide my meals from there. I usually always cook Monday-Thursday night. Friday night we go out to eat or get something to grill and during the weekend we eat sandwiches until I go back to the grocery store on Sunday afternoon.

How do you plan your meals out for the week? Do you have any easy recipes for me to try? What do your kids LOVE to eat?

Love love :-)

Not Appreciated...

2010-01-10T10:52:00.001-06:00

That's how I am feeling today.

Love love :-)

Fresh Start...

2010-01-04T10:53:00.003-06:00

Don't you just love the beginning of a new year. It gives me a great feeling. I feel like I get to start over in a way. So... let's talk about New Year Resolutions!

I have about 20! Seriously. I do. So - let's go over just a few of them.

1) Okay. Workout 5 days a week. I have really struggled with this one. I know that you should make goals reasonable and 5 days may not seem too reasonable. I contemplated with 4 days - but anyway - I am just going to see how it goes.

2) Lose 10 pounds. Seriously. I really want to do this.

3) Eat Right - more fruits and veggies. I am also trying to cut out dark/colored soft drinks. Only Sprite and Water. NO. SWEET. TEA. (yea - we'll see how that goes!)

4)Go to church every Sunday - (when I am in town of course.) I have to work out of town on the weekends a pretty good bit in the Spring.

5)Keep up our Thursday date night and have more family nights/days.

6)Do more activities with Ava Grace. I feel like when she is at home that we are either leaving to go somewhere, doing things around the house, or sleeping. I want to take out some time and do more special activities with her.

So... there you go! What are your New Year Resolutions? Do you have just one or LOTS like me?!?!

Dora Dora Dora...

2009-12-29T19:05:00.003-06:00

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! :-)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T22:51:00.003-06:00

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

Santa Baby...

2009-12-23T13:50:00.004-06:00

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!!

I Love Christmas!

2009-12-21T11:48:00.006-06:00

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!

Hungry?

2009-11-25T12:27:00.002-06:00

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?

How Precious is THIS!?!

2009-11-17T12:08:00.000-06:00

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!

I Can't Let Go...

2009-11-05T10:30:00.003-06:00

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.

Kitty Kat

2009-11-03T08:57:00.003-06:00

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!

The Perfect Pumpkin

2009-10-22T08:05:00.013-05:00

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!

Elmo and Big Bird are AWESOME!!

2009-10-19T15:29:00.008-05:00

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!!

U of A Homecoming! Roll Tide!!

2009-10-17T22:18:00.010-05:00

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!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-10-15T08:52:00.006-05:00

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!!

How often do you clean out your closet?

2009-10-14T10:32:00.003-05:00

What are your personal rules for the clothes in your closet? I have a hard time going thru mine and getting rid of clothes that I haven't worn in a while.

I always think - well... I MIGHT wear it one day!

So, the problem is that it is getting colder so I have switched over to the bottom row in my closet where most of my winter clothes are and I DON'T LIKE ANY OF THEM!

For one, I have lost about 15 pounds since last fall. So alot of them don't look that great on me anymore. I am good on jeans - I really just need shirts right now. Any suggestions for really cute shirts that are not too expensive?

WOULD LOVE SOME SUGGESTIONS and OPINIONS!

Fun Weekend!!

2009-10-12T20:24:00.010-05:00

This weekend started with the Fayette High School football game Friday night... Ava Grace cheered her little heart out!!

Saturday we did a little painting...

Here is the Masterpiece!!

Then Saturday night, Ava Grace spent the night with Nana and Pop. Kyle had his 10 year class reunion this past weekend and we had a blast. Here is a pic of us at the party...

Sunday morning we went to the early church service and then headed to Nashville for my little nephew's 3rd Birthday party. I can't believe he is already 3!! Ava Grace slept the whole 3 hours there and then had a great time playing at the party. Here are a few pics... How cute is he?!?! I just love his little smile!! and of course Nana pulled out another AWESOME cake!!

After the party we stopped by Logan's to eat dinner. It was so yummy! When we finished eating it was about 7pm so I thought it would be a good idea for me to go ahead and change Ava Grace into her pajamas so when we got home I could just put her straight into the bed. You aren't going to believe what happened. She was standing up in the back seat and as soon as I took her diaper off of her she peed EVERYWHERE!! She seriously must have been holding it for about 5 hours! So I see a car detailing in my very near future! :-) She looked at me and said, "OH NO! I tee teed!!" hahahaha!

We had a fabulous weekend! I hope you did too!

At The Foot of the Cross

2009-10-09T09:12:00.001-05:00

We are singing this song at church Sunday. I love love love it and wanted to share. :-)

No Energy...

2009-10-07T20:37:00.002-05:00

Seriously. I have no energy. I don't know what is wrong with me. Ava Grace is still having a hard time in her toddler bed but I had a lot less sleep when she was a baby and I didn't feel this way. I have no motivation to do anything. I just feel like I am exhausted and everything aches. This is my 3rd time to feel like this in the past 4 weeks. It lasts for a few days and then I start feeling better again. What does it feel like to have mono? I have never had it before... The other 2 times I felt like this I also had a fever of 102. I just started feeling this way again today but I don't have a fever or anything.

Oh well... this mommy does not have time to be sick or have a lack of energy. I have tons to do. Work. LOTS of Laundry (the more I do, the more I have to do.) Pay Bills. Balance check books. Write AG's Thank You Notes (I know I am WAY BEHIND.) Kyle's Class Reunion this weekend. and the list goes on and on and on.

I need to start taking vitamins again. I took some today and am going to try to remember them every day. I was told that I was anemic in high school and when I was in college - I wonder if I am again? But that wouldn't cause a fever? Maybe I just need a break. Maybe I am just slap out of energy for real.

Any thoughts?

What's for Supper??

2009-10-05T10:55:00.003-05:00

Do you feel like you make the same things every week? I do!

I usually make out my menu for the week on Sunday and then grocery shop. Yesterday afternoon I sat down with my cookbooks and started trying to figure out something new to cook. We are for sure having French Dip sandwiches one night... but the rest I just don't know.

So as you can see - my Menu is still not finished and I NEED SOME IDEAS!!

Please leave me a comment with your favorite things that you like to cook for supper!!

THANK YOU!

Bella

2009-10-02T08:30:00.004-05:00

I want to introduce you to the newest member of our family. We got a little yorkie last weekend and she is so sweet. She is 4 months old and weighs 2.2 lbs. She is a tiny thing!! She is already house trained (knock on wood!) - seriously she has only had a few accidents since we brought her home. She has been using the puppy pads and I am so impressed. Her and my little maltese, Carson, don't really love each other yet but I am sure they will one day.

Shopping!

2009-10-01T10:51:00.002-05:00

Ok - I am in the mood today! It is beautiful outside and getting cold and you know what the means!! Time for some new winter clothes!

Very rarely do I go and just buy myself some new outfits - but today I am!

Ava Grace is going too... she loves to shop... she says "Oh! That's Cute!"

and on a sidenote... I am thinking about getting some hair extensions! Not the really expensive ones. I was thinking Jessica Simpson extensions - maybe the straight 22 inch or 25. The lady that cuts my hair told me that if I got the long ones and they were too long that she would cut it to where I wanted it. I have been trying to grow my hair out long again and it is taking FOREVER! Also, I thought it would be FUN to have long pretty hair! So - don't make fun of me when you see me!

Have a wonderful day! I am!

Today is THE DAY!

2009-09-30T08:45:00.002-05:00

Ok... I do this every few months... I do really great at eating healthy and exercising and then something happens (like raining FOREVER) and I become a slacker.

Well, now it is BEAUTIFUL outside and I have no excuses!! So... TODAY IS THE DAY!

I had a water this morning and now I am drinking my ONLY soft drink for the day (I know I don't need a Dr Pepper but if you knew how many times I had to make Ava Grace go back to her bed last night you would understand.)

Right now I am blogging (of course) and catching up on my emails for work and doing laundry.

Are you ready for what is coming next?? Try not to be TOO jealous!

I am getting a massage at 10am thanks to my sweet hubby. Then chilling out, work, then a little more laundry... THEN THEN THEN THEN THEN

I AM GOING TO DO IT!! Me. Outside. 1 Hour Atleast. Walk. Run. Sweat. De-stress. Think.

Then the cycle begins. I am making myself have the HAVE TO mentality. I am not sure about you - but sometimes to get motivated I have to 1)Blog about it and 2)make it a GAME. So the game is... I am going to see how many days I can exercise in a row... How many do you think?

I know... I know... Some "experts" say that you should have one off day atleast... NOPE. Not Me. If I have an off day I will have to make another silly post like this one to get motivated again.

So - Good Morning. Happy Exercising. Cheers to getting SKINNY!!

Marriage

2009-09-29T08:39:00.001-05:00

Why does marriage have to be so hard?

Swine Flu

2009-09-28T10:55:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone. My really good friend, Kristia, starting noticing that her little 6 year old boy Forrest was not feeling good this weekend. Saturday he seemed fine and was just a little pink around his eyes but didn't think anything of it because he has allergies really bad. Well on Sunday he was saying that he didn't feel good - so at 6:30pm she checked his temp and it was normal. All he wanted to do was lay down - an hour later she said that his face was really red so she checked his temp again and it had shot up to 103.6!! She called their doc and took him to the emergency room and he tested positive for the Swine Flu. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

Also, please pray for Ava Grace. Forrest and Ava Grace played together on Saturday for a little bit. They colored together and shared potato chips. They had a lot of fun but we are afraid she might get the Swine Flu now. Please pray that she doesn't.

She cried more than usual this morning so that made me nervous but she did not have a fever. I called the Pediatrician and they said that it is possible for her to have the Swine Flu without a fever at first and that if she continues to be cranky for me to bring her in to get tested.

I also found out today that there have been 97 cases at the middle school here this year. Is this published somewhere? I didn't realize it was that bad here -

kinda scary if you ask me...

No Sleep...

2009-09-23T10:07:00.002-05:00

For the past 3 weeks Ava Grace has been doing GREAT with her big girl bed. We do the whole bedtime routine and then we go potty and then get in the bed and read a couple of books. Then I leave her door cracked and she stays in there and goes to sleep - NO PROBLEMS! It has been wonderful... she has been getting up around 6:30am and coming in our room to get us up...

Well - I am not really sure who she has been talking to... but starting Sunday night she DOES NOT WANT TO SLEEP!! I am not really sure what is going on. We usually put her to sleep around 7:30pm so she is for sure out by 8pm. For the past 3 nights she has not gone to sleep before 9:30pm. We do everything the same and for some reason now she is getting up. She gets out of bed and tells me she needs to potty - she did that twice last night. Then she wants to read "Hush Little Baby" again - then she wants to rock. I did put her on the potty and she just played - then I put her in the bed and she cried. What is going on with her? She was doing so well and then now she is putting off bedtime... last night I ended up laying down with her for a little bit to get her to go to sleep. Then she woke up crying at 3am.

Now... she DID GET SHOTS on Monday. Could she be having nightmares about the shots? I really babied her on Monday so maybe she is just not wanting to be alone... But Sunday night she was WIRED too! I just don't know what it is... We have been having storms and weird weather here lately...

Can strange weather (like LOTS of rain and storms) cause kids to be wired at night? It is almost like she is delirious when bedtime hits... she is not having bad behavior issues... she just doesn't want to go to bed.

Any ideas, thoughts, suggestions, etc would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Just Wanted to Share...

2009-09-17T23:21:00.002-05:00

I love this song. It came out when my hubby and I were dating and we decided that it would be our special song... Isn't it amazing how God works?

Talking Nonstop...

2009-09-14T09:51:00.004-05:00

My little girl woke up this morning talking non stop. Those of you that know Ava Grace know that she talks alot anyway... but most of the time it is just jibber jabber that you really can't understand. But this morning I could understand her!!

She woke up playing with her Minnie Mouse. She said "Hi Minnie Mouse - Ready to go to school!"... did I hear that right??

Then she got up said - "I wanna eat!" "sit in my seat!" "I want a numa (that means muffin...)"

ok... so I was thinking... this is AWESOME! I can understand her!!

Then after she was done eating she said "All done. I want down."

so she got down and started playing with her babies. She was putting them on her nap mat and telling them to "lay down!" - then she said "You want your blanket? I'll get it!" then she ran and grabbed it off of the table and covered them up.

Then it was time to go and we walked outside and she said "Hold my hand." - so I helped her down the stairs... on the way to the car it started to rain and she said "its raining!"

It is so weird how this happened over night! I know she has been talking to us and everything but that was just one or two words at a time - today she woke up with sentences!!

She hit 2 and it seems like she looks so much older and is acting so much older!! time is going by too fast!!

Have a great day!

Slacker...

2009-09-12T16:51:00.004-05:00

I know I know... I have been a serious blog slacker...

So... here is what the last week and a half has been like.

Wednesday before last was Ava Grace's birthday! She had a big day. I made cupcakes for her class at school and they had a party for her. Then that night we cooked dinner and sang happy birthday! It was lots of fun! She looks so much older in these pictures!

Thursday before last AG started running a fever... YIKES... then she started coughing a lot. She kept this all weekend but it remained low grade so we just figured she was getting her 2 year molars. So...

Labor Day we went to the zoo. Daddy, Mommy, AG, and Aunt Caroline. We had a great time! Ava Grace had a lot of fun! She loved the monkey and the bobcat (she kept saying HI KITTY KAT!) Her favorite part was riding the train!!

Tuesday we had to take Ava Grace to her 2 year appointment. They did not want to give her shots since she had been running a fever. So instead we found out that she has the croup. So... she stayed home with me the rest of the day. She went back to daycare on Wednesday since she had not had a fever since Monday.

Thursday she had a note in her cubby from her teacher. SHE PUT HER BLANKY IN HER CUBBY AFTER NAP TIME BY HERSELF! Now that is something to celebrate about! She LOVES her blanket. It goes everywhere with us! She has had it since she was about 6 months old and she is really attached to it. I know we need to start weaning her from it a little bit but I think it is so stinkin cute and it really does make her happy. Anyway - we have been trying to only let her have it when she goes to sleep and also when she is in the car we let her have it too. At daycare she is only allowed to have it during nap time. She has been doing really well with it.

Yesterday we really didn't do much of anything. Ava Grace just played and I prepared for a Kelly's Kids party I had today at my house.

My sister in law just became a Kelly's Kids rep and I love their clothes! They have some really cute things! I wish I could just buy all of it!! We had a party at my house this morning and it was a lot of fun. The kids played and ate lots of muffins (or Numas as Ava Grace says it... she says the "n" before the "m" in the word muffin and somehow NUMA comes out...)

So - the past week and a half has been a little crazy. I am ready to get things back in order around here. Good news is that I just bought a NEW Planner from MomAgenda and it is awesome and I am feeling extremely organized. Also, since I had the party at my house this morning I have fresh flowers on my table and back porch and my house is really clean. Let's see how long that lasts...

Have a great weekend! We are headed to Nana's to watch the game (ROLL TIDE!) and hang out with family. Love love!

Happy Birthday Ava Grace!!

2009-09-02T08:55:00.016-05:00

My baby is 2 today!! I can't believe how fast the past 2 years have flown by!!

This past weekend we had a Luau Party to celebrate AG turning 2... It was a success! Everyone had a blast!! The kids had so much fun playing in the water at the splash pad!! Here are some pictures!!

This is a picture of the party favors. They got a coloring book, crayons, bubbles, luau tattoos, flip flop gummies and some other candy!! They turned out really cute!!

For those of you that don't know - Nana does WONDERFUL cakes! She made Ava Grace a Hula Girl cake and it was AWESOME!! We are VERY LUCKY to have a Nana that does such BEAUTIFUL cakes!!

We had fruit and pizza to eat... My fruit was on little flamingo, monkey, and umbrella skewers!! It looked fun!!

Ava Grace eating some YUMMY cheese pizza!!

Ava Grace had a blast playing with her 6 foot flamingo!!

She got so many nice gifts! She wanted to play with each of them right then!!

Nana got her a really cute party hat and shirt to go with her Luau theme!

Ava Grace and Mommy!

Ava Grace playing with Daddy!

This is a cool picture from the party - one of the beach balls was thrown into the air on one of the water spouts...

All of the kids had a BLAST!!

Can't believe my baby is almost 2!

2009-09-01T08:33:00.011-05:00

I am a little emotional today... I can't believe my little girl will be 2 tomorrow. I feel like the past 2 years have flown by.

Here are some pics of Ava Grace...

3 DAYS OLD - This picture was taken the day we got home from the hospital.

3 MONTHS OLD

6 MONTHS OLD - She was Christened this day...

9 MONTHS OLD - Mommy giving her sugars on the beach...

1 YEAR OLD - I loved her 1 year pictures...

15 MONTHS OLD - she is learning to eat with a spoon... a little messy but that is what makes it fun!

18 MONTHS OLD - she LOVES playing in the water!

21 MONTHS OLD - my little monkey climbing on her playset!

ALMOST 2 YEARS OLD - this is us at her birthday party this past weekend. (those pics will be posted tomorrow!)

She is a BIG GIRL!

2009-08-31T11:14:00.003-05:00

Wow! We had a great weekend! Ava Grace had her 2nd Birthday Party on Saturday and she had a BLAST!! I will post pictures tomorrow because my card is not uploading right now... so the Luau Party is to be continued!!! (Can't wait for you to see the cake that Nana made... It was the best ever!!)

I would like to talk about the Big Girl Bed! and how Ava Grace SLEPT IN IT LAST NIGHT! Yea - you heard me right! So, let me back up for a minute. For those of you that just started reading my blog... Last Tuesday night my little almost 2 year old jumped out of her crib. I took her back in her room and asked her to show me how she got out. So, she threw her leg over the side and barrel rolled to the floor. She is such a little monkey!

So, on Wednesday we converted her bed to the toddler bed. When she got home from "school" we introduced her to the bed. She loved it! She kept getting on and off of it and wanted to lay down and watch Barney... BUT when nite nite time came SHE WAS NOT HAVING IT! She refused to sleep in it. She would lay down if I would sit with her but as soon as I got up she would get really upset. She could be dead asleep and wake up when I was sneaking out.

On top of this, last week we were getting things ready for her birthday party on Saturday and I was sick with cold symptoms. (btw - I am still sick and have no clue what is wrong with me... but MOMMY does not have time to be sick! So I am just keepin on movin and waiting for it to go away!) Anyhow, I was being really lazy with it and decided this weekend that we were going to make her sleep in her own bed this week.

I tried the Nanny 911 method. Which is sitting in the room, not looking at her, and staying in the room until she stops crying. That didn't work so well. I just couldn't handle her sitting there reaching her arms out crying "MOMMY!" It made me sad to think that she thought I was ignoring her. So then I just went out of her room and decided that every time she got out of the bed I was going to put her back in. We went thru that about 10 times and I decided to just lay down with her for a few minutes. I fell asleep in her bed with her and I woke up at 11pm. I sneaked out and went to my bed to sleep. She didn't wake up until 5:45am - I went in her room and just sat next to her bed and she layed back down. Once she was asleep (about 5 minutes) I went back to bed. Then I had to wake her up at 7:40 to get her ready to go to "school." I made her a "Big Girl Bed" sticker chart (thanks Lana!) and she was excited to put a sticker in her little square. We taped it on her door so she can always see it. I am not really sure if she understood it but maybe she will after a few days.

So... that is the update on the Big Girl Bed... maybe tonight will be even better!!

Notsomuch -

2009-08-27T08:56:00.002-05:00

So... Last night was Ava Grace's first night in the big girl bed. It didn't work out so well. She kept getting out of it all night. She was okay as long as I was sitting right there next to it but as soon as I left her side she got so upset.

So... This is going to be a difficult next couple of weeks but I know she can do it. Last night she ended up sleeping in our room because I was so tired.

I am sick right now. I am not really sure what I have - it is for sure some sort of cold or something. Last night I had a fever of 102 - I was freezing and could not get warm. I ache all over and can not breathe out of my nose... I don't have a fever this morning so maybe I am getting better. Hopefully I don't have the flu or anything like that!

Well, enough about me. I hope you have a great day today!!

Time for a Big Girl Bed!!

2009-08-25T20:52:00.003-05:00

As I sat down to do my daily blog reading... I heard a thump and little footsteps running to my office...

Ava Grace climbed out of her crib!!

So, we are about to start the nite nite routine all over AGAIN! She is on a pretty good routine right now but here lately we have been having to let her whine a little in her bed. Well, she sure showed me tonight! She whined a little and then pranced in here to find me! Now - she is laying in our bed "trying" to go to sleep! We are already starting off bad... I know! Tomorrow we will have to turn her bed into a toddler bed and tackle the new sleeping routine.

This is gonna be LOTS of FUN!

I KNOW....

2009-08-24T09:36:00.002-05:00

Ava Grace did the funniest thing last night. After we got her out of the bathtub I put her on the bed and was getting her dressed. Kyle was pointing to shapes on her pajamas and asking her what they were. She was tired and sucking on her finger and wouldn't say anything. So, Kyle and I started talking about the shapes that she knows... Then Ava Grace took her finger out of her mouth and started talking to us really loud...

"I KNOW CIRCLE, I KNOW STAR, I KNOW SQUARE, I KNOW HEART, I KNOW BANANA, I KNOW PINKY, I KNOW LELLOW, I KNOW PURPLE!"

It was hilarious! I wish I would have had it on video! That was the most that she had ever talked at once and we actually knew what she was saying. She wanted to make sure that we knew that she DOES KNOW all of those things!!

and PINKY is the color pink! I think she gets pink and piggy mixed together - since the piggy is pink! HAHA!

She makes me smile more and more every day!

My Surprise!!

2009-08-21T09:23:00.001-05:00

I am so glad to be home! Kyle surprised me with a NEW KING SIZE BED!!

I was so excited! We had a queen size bed and have really been wanting a king size bed for a while now. YAY!!

My husband has brought in MAJOR brownie points!!

I hope you have a great day!

Thank You Jesus!

2009-08-19T22:57:00.008-05:00

I love music! The two songs below are really helping me in my life right now.

I hope you enjoy them and that they help you the way they have helped me today. It is amazing the things that God puts in your face when you are feeling low. I was looking for something else on my computer and this came up. He is with me! Always! I am so thankful to have such a loving Father. He always places Peace in my heart. Thank You Jesus!

Cool Girl!!

2009-08-18T16:28:00.004-05:00

I wanted to post this picture from a few weeks ago! We were eating at Olive Garden and she was having so much fun playing with my sunglasses...

She is so funny!!

**I took the pic with my phone so the quality isn't that great... but you can still see it :-)

Working and Playing...

2009-08-18T16:06:00.004-05:00

So, I am at beach right now for our Summer Wrap Up meeting. We are planning for the Fall and the Upcoming 2010 Recruiting Season. It is so great to work with such wonderful people.

We have been working in the mornings in the room and then taking our Legal Pads and Planners to the beach to finish up the day. It has been a lot of fun and we are getting a ton done!!

Of course I miss my hubby and sweet little girl. They are having some good Daddy/Daughter time right now! I just talked to them and Ava Grace was playing and having a good time!! Daddy said that they have a surprise for me when I get home and I will be very happy! I can't wait to see them Thursday!!

Hope you all have had a great day!

Awesome Feeling...

2009-08-13T13:38:00.002-05:00

It is so awesome the feeling I get after praying. As soon as I am done I feel so much lighter...

I know I have blogged about this before but it is too great to not blog about again...

Just wanted to share...

Hope you have a great day! and if you have anything weighing on your heart or anyone in your life that needs help don't forget that God is always listening. He may not take care of it right then but in time He will show you the way. Just be true to yourself and Him and it will be okay.

Love love...

Is this bad?

2009-08-12T09:02:00.006-05:00

So... I have been trying to walk in the mornings around 5:30-6:30...

I want to lose weight. Not alot of weight...

Just about 5-7 more pounds...

Is it bad that I do not drink any water until I can get home to weigh myself first?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

OK OK OK! I know that is bad!

HELLO! MY NAME IS NIKKI and I HAVE A PROBLEM!!

Spaghetti Supper

2009-08-11T08:22:00.006-05:00

Here are a few pics of Ava Grace from last night. She LOVES spaghetti!!

All cleaned up and ready for Night Night!

Ready for Shopping this weekend!?!?!?!

2009-08-07T14:02:00.002-05:00

So excited! This weekend is tax free back to school shopping! We are getting some new clothes and I am getting some supplies for my office! AND we are going to get the decorations for Ava Grace's birthday party!! YAY!! I can't wait!

AND Aunt Caroline is going to be here this weekend to hang out with AG and me!

TGIF!!!!!!

I hope you have a great weekend!

My Sick Baby

2009-08-06T12:55:00.003-05:00

Tuesday night everything went as planned. Daddy had plans with his friends and AG and I played. After we went thru the whole bedtime routine she got in the bed and went Night Night...

Then it happened... 20 minutes later... she started screaming like she was hurting. I went in her room to check on her and she was very sick. She threw up all over the place... We called Daddy to come home and she got sick 6 more times... She would not drink anything or even eat a popsicle... she could barely hold her little head up so we headed to the emergency room...

She got sick 2 times in the waiting room and they finally took us back. They put in an IV and gave her some fluids and some Zofran to help with the nausea. They took her blood and said she had a stomach virus. Before they gave her the fluids her little lips were so dry and they were starting to turn blue on the edges. She strained so hard and it was so scary. I felt so bad for her and wished it could have been me instead. After she got the fluids and medicine she started feeling much better.

Every time she would get sick she would say "It's okay!"... then when the nurse that gave her the IV was leaving the room she said "Bye Bye I lub u" ... it was so sweet...

Then yesterday she had a low grade fever in the morning and it was gone by the afternoon. I think she is all well today but kept her at home just in case she wasn't completely over it.

So - the last couple of days have been a little crazy and my house is a wreck. In between working and giving AG attention I am trying to get this place straight and get some laundry done... I AM READY FOR THE WEEKEND!!

Messy Eater...

2009-08-04T16:06:00.004-05:00

I just ordered 9 of these for my messy little eater that loves to pull her bibs off! I am tired of her cute little outfits getting stains on them that even OxyClean won't remove! Can't wait for them to come in!

I am going to have some of them monogrammed with her name for daycare and some appliques put on the others... Can't wait for her to wear them :-)

They are only $3.40 each - which I thought was a GREAT DEAL! Go to Worldwide-USA and order your little messy eater some today!

Lazy Sunday...

2009-08-02T17:34:00.005-05:00

I LOVE SUNDAYS!

Church, Out to Lunch, Grocery Shopping for the week, then Nap Time for AG and Lazy Time for me...

It has been wonderful!!

P.S. My sweet little niece had her First Birthday Party yesterday! Check out my Sister-in-Law's blog for the pictures! Everything was Super Cute and Ava Grace had a blast!

Check this out!! So much fun!!

2009-08-01T06:47:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone!

You have got to go HERE and check out this giveaway! It is super cute!

Have a happy Saturday! We are headed to Nashville for my sweet little niece's First Birthday Party!!

It is going to be a fun day!! Love love and Hope you have a great weekend!

Something More...

2009-07-29T21:23:00.003-05:00

Do you ever feel like you should be doing something more with your life?

I do not want this post to sound like I am not happy with my life - because I am EXTREMELY HAPPY! I have my husband and my sweet little Ava Grace that makes me laugh and appreciate life everyday...

I just feel like I should be doing something extra with my life. Just a little something more for others. I wake up some days and have this feeling that there is someone that needs me beyond my immediate family.

One of my good friends and me were talking the other day... We always have great talks about God and religion and being the best Christian that we can be. She was telling me that her service last week was about facing Jesus when we die. Jesus loves that we do things for others and spread his word but she said that her Priest said that we should imagine Him saying this...

"What did you do to glorify My name with the talents that I have blessed you with?"

To be completely honest - I have NEVER really thought about it like that. I just think to myself...

I am a good person.
I try to do right.
I say my prayers.
I go to church... (not as often as I should, I admit)
I sing in the Praise Team at church.
I read my Bible.
I try to help others.
I am thankful for the things I have.
I work hard to help provide for my family.
I try to be a good mother to Ava Grace.

But... What have I done for God with the talents he has given me? What talents?

What is my talent that I can use to glorify God? I don't know...

I sing in the Praise team at church but I feel like there is still something missing...

This was just a thinking post... It helps me to type it out and look at it and FYI I love getting feedback on my posts. It makes me really happy! :-)

Right now all I can do is pray about it and ask for direction. If you have any ideas of ways I can help others more I would love to hear it. We do sponsor a family at Christmas but I still feel like that is not enough.

Music Monday...

2009-07-27T21:12:00.006-05:00

I love this song... This makes me look forward to making lots of Mother-Daughter memories with Ava Grace... It is so sweet...

Taylor Swift used her own home videos to make this. How awesome is that?!?

Big Girls Don't Cry...

2009-07-27T09:10:00.004-05:00

She did SO GOOD TODAY!! She started curling her little lip up as soon as we walked in the door but she did not cry. She went to her teacher and just kept on sucking her finger and holding her blanket. Last week we were prying her off of me - so... this is a fantastic start to a great week!

She for sure gets a prize today for being such a little angel!!

WEEKEND:

We had a great weekend... Daddy played golf all weekend so it was just AG and me

Friday: We went to the movies for her 1st time. It went pretty well for a not even 2 year old. She loved it but wanted to carry on a conversation with everyone around us. We didn't stay the whole time but she still had a blast. Then we went to Mimi's house to visit and Gavin, Roman, and Aunt Shelby came over to play for a little bit. Then we went to eat at Taco Casa... YUMMY!!

Saturday: Aunt Terri and Colin came up to play. They had a lot of fun!! I can already tell that they are going to be gettting into a lot of trouble together!!

Sunday: We did absolutely nothing... just stayed in and played...

How was your weekend?

Good News

2009-07-24T10:20:00.002-05:00

She did cry hysterically this morning when I dropped her off. But I went back at around 9:30 and she was having fun playing! I am so glad! I have been so worried about her.

This afternoon I am going to take her to the movies for the 1st time. We'll see how that goes! She may think it is fun! I just wanted to do something special for her because I know this has been a rough week!!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the dropping off will get better over the next week!!

Being a mother is hard... my nerves are shot and I am so glad it is Friday!!

Today was even worse...

2009-07-23T10:12:00.002-05:00

So as soon as I was heading down the road toward daycare she started screaming. It makes me feel like the worst mother.

Well, let me start off by explaining that last year she went to the daycare at our church. I took her out for the summer to be with me (guess that was a mistake.) I have heard alot of really good things about another daycare where we live and they do half days and our old daycare did not so I wanted to give it a try. Ava Grace is really good with other people and I just KNEW she would be fine.

Well, evidently she is not so fine. Today when the teacher went to get her - she HIT HER! She never acts like that! Then she was just screaming. Needless to say I left crying and she was crying too. I kept thinking that maybe I have made a mistake. Maybe I should keep her at the daycare at our church where she is used to everything. I just don't know how many more days I can take of this.

I called a little while ago and they said that she was still crying on and off. So my child has been crying for 2 hours.

At our old daycare she did not act like that. I know that she is older now and is more aware of what is going on. But I am just trying to think about it from how she sees it - new building, new playground, new friends, new teachers... she only knows 1 child in the class :-(

I may not be able to keep her there.

Smart Girl

2009-07-22T21:31:00.003-05:00

Ava Grace already has daycare figured out. When I drove up to the church this morning she started crying. Then she was ATTACHED to me - I mean I really could not get her off of me! I felt so bad.

I stayed for a little while to get her warmed up but that didn't work. I had to leave and I heard her screaming all the way out to my car.

When I went back to pick her up only 4 hours later. I peeked in her room and she was laughing and playing and dancing around. She was having fun so that made me feel better.

I hope tomorrow goes better. She has been at home with me all summer so I know she is really attached right now. I just hope she makes lots of new friends!:-)

Monday...

2009-07-20T13:53:00.002-05:00

Gotta love Mondays...

I started mine with a 4 mile walk at 6am.

It felt GREAT!

Then I took AG to her new daycare... :-)

I went home and worked... called LOTS of customers to register them for camp...

Picked AG up at 12

and now she is napping and I have been working...

I somehow managed to squeeze in a minute to type this...

When she wakes up we will play and then she has gymnastics...

Daddy is coming to watch tonight!

FUN FUN FUN!

How is your Monday going?

Date Night

2009-07-17T08:21:00.003-05:00

Little Bit played with Mimi last night so the hubby and I could have a date night. It has been so long since we have had a date - just the 2 of us.

After we dropped AG off it felt weird! She has been with me all summer non-stop. I love my baby but I needed a break! So anyway - we went to eat at the Japanese Steakhouse and I got my fav... Steak and Chicken! While we were waiting for our food this is how it went down...

I sipped on my hurricane

Kyle pulled out his phone... SURPRISE!! He is so addicted to his iPhone

I started asking if I was not any fun - hence the cell phone at our dinner

Then he said "I wanted us to read the NEWS!"

What? READ THE FREAKIN NEWS! Are you kidding me!?!

Then I proceeded to tell him how this was SO GOING ON MY BLOG!

Then it was time to eat...

Our food was so GOOD! And our cook was awesome! After we were full we headed to Barnes and Noble to kill a little time before our movie started. On the way there he said "You are so much fun when you drink!" What the heck is that all about?!? "Am I not any fun when I don't drink?!?" I said - then he started stumbling around with his words, laughing, and basically telling me that when I drink I am more relaxed and not so structured and stressed.

Maybe I should become an alcoholic... notsomuch...

Anywho - we went to the book store and I bought this book.

When she was born I read The Happiest Baby on the Block and it really helped me with her feeding and sleeping schedule. It made a world of difference in the amount that she cried and I could read her signals much better. Right now she is really curious and is into everything! I know that is just a part of her age but I need to know what the best way is to deal with it. We are also about to start potty training too - I will let you know how it all turns out. I know that she will go to the potty one day and that she will grow up and be a good girl but for right now... for my sanity... I need to read this book.

So - back to the date - then we went to see THE HANGOVER and it was FREAKIN HILARIOUS! I am not kidding - I laughed hysterically the whole time! It did have bad language and was slightly crude in more ways than one but it was all in fun. I absolutely loved it!

Then the date ended and we went back to Mimi's to get Little Bit. Her and Mimi were playing the piano when we got there (around 9:40pm!) When we walked in the door she gave me this look like - I AM NOT LEAVING NOW! I AM PLAYING THE PIANO!... She had so much fun! We loaded up and got home around 11.

It was really great for Kyle and me to have that time together. It made me realize that I get so wrapped up in taking care of Ava Grace and everything else around here I forget to relax and just enjoy being a Mommy and Wife. There is just not much to love about doing housework, laundry, and changing poopies. But I did find out that I need to set aside some special time to go on a date and reconnect with my husband every couple of weeks. I am also going to throw some fun family nights in there too.

Love Love

I'm Moving On...

2009-07-15T21:42:00.003-05:00

I listened to this song over and over tonight while I was walking. It just puts me in a mood that is hard to describe. It is about putting the past behind you and moving on with your life. That is a hard thing for me to do because I constantly think about the past and I dwell on it. Seriously, I dwell on it. I know that I shouldn't but I do. Listening to this song tonight really made me think about my life. I need to just be happy with myself and move on. I am so blessed and life has so much to offer. I need to enjoy every day more instead of filling the hours in the day with worry and thoughts of the past. Listen to the song. What does it make you think of?

Happy Birthday Papaw!

2009-07-14T08:40:00.006-05:00

My Papaw would have been 80 today! He was such a character! Growing up, we lived next door to my grandparents. I would go to their house every afternoon and sit with him on the front porch and talk. I would get out in the yard and do cartwheels and forward rolls and he would clap for me and say "Do it again! You're really good at that!" They also had a pool and he would always make all of the grandkids milkshakes to sip after swimming. They were so perfect! He knew just how everyone liked theirs - they were so good! I miss those days!! I could go on and on about all of the funny, loving, and mischievous things that he did. I can't wait to see him again someday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPAW!!

Papaw loved to wear Hawaiian shirts like this - He was the life of the party!

This is us skating when I was little. He loved to have a good time - this was at my birthday party...

This picture was taken on Christmas Eve - He loved the holidays! And he loved spending time with us! I love this picture because he is smiling so BIG!!

Yellow Creek Weekend

2009-07-13T18:03:00.021-05:00

We had a blast this past weekend with all of the family! Here are some pictures...

In the car on our way to Yellow Creek! Ava Grace was so excited!

Ava Grace has a hard time taking a nap if there is alot going on. Needless to say there was ALOT going on so we took a little boat ride to help her get to Sleepy Town!

Mimi and Ava Grace playing together!!

This is my youngest nephew, Gavin. He is so sweet!!

Ava Grace in her 4th of July dress - this past weekend was our 2nd 4th of July for this year!!

My oldest nephew, Roman, and my cousin Mark Gregory had so much fun playing together!

The boys had fun hitting golf balls off of the pier. It was Heaven for Kyle - being on the water and playing golf! It doesn't get much better than that!!

Ava Grace playing in the Bouncer... She had so much fun jumping in this with her cousins!

Daddy playing with Ava Grace and Gavin at the baby pool - Thank you Mimi for getting a baby pool for them to play in! They loved it!!

Mamaw and Me - Mamaw was SO EXCITED to have all of her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids there. We ALL grew up going to Yellow Creek every weekend. My Mamaw and Papaw had a cabin there and my parents had a cabin there. It was our home away from home! Now - my Aunt Kim is the only one that has a cabin at Yellow Creek. Kyle and I hope to build a place there in the future!

Ava Grace playing in the baby pool with her new life vest on! She loves it!

My Mom(Mimi), Ava Grace and her YUMMY popsicle (she ate ALOT of popsicles!), and my sister(Aunt Shelby)

My nephew, Colin; My cousin, Abby; and Ava Grace - Mimi brought them some surprises to play with on the deck! We had marker EVERYWHERE! But they had so much fun coloring and that is ALL that matters!!

Mimi helping Ava Grace with her stickers! She finally stopped eating stickers - Now we can play with them!!

Little Bit was exhausted from the weekend and passed out as soon as we got home!

Baby Pool, Jet Skis, Boat Rides, Yummy Food, Bouncy for the kids, Skiing, hiking, tubing, Being with Family, Reminiscing of old times, Eating together, Praying together, Coloring and Stickers for the kids, Watermelon, jumping on the Trampoline in the Water, Hitting golf balls off of the floating dock, Hanging out in the River on floats with the people you love the most, laughing, night talk, tons of pictures, Margaritas and Coronas, sweet little kids everywhere... It was definitely a weekend to remember!

Family Reunion Weekend!!

2009-07-10T12:52:00.004-05:00

We are on our way to the River today for a fun filled weekend with the fam jam! We are all so excited! Everyone is getting to come!! This will be the 1st time we have all been together in about 8 or 10 years!! Isn't that crazy!?!

Ava Grace isn't going to know what to think! I have her bag packed and she is SO EXCITED! She knows we are going somewhere fun because I packed her water toys and bubbles...

And by the way... this is her "You're making me mad!" face... I was trying to get her to take a pic for me last night so I took her baby and held it up next to me trying to get her to smile... well, it just did the opposite - it really put her over the edge!!

She got over it pretty quick and went right back to playing with her baby... :-)

Have a great weekend! I will be sure to take lots of pics to show you!!

Fighting the Urge!!

2009-07-09T13:35:00.003-05:00

It is one of those days again! I WANT TO BUY SOMETHING! Is that crazy!?!

Here are the things that I want to buy right now:

1) Sunglasses - not an expensive pair because I will prob lose them

2) AG a sandbox... guess I will need sand for it too!

3) White and Khaki pair of Capri's

4) Pictures for AG's Playroom

5) Bathing Suit that I don't feel fat in... (NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE!)

6) Dressy Tops or some dresses to wear to church... I wear the SAME THING every Sunday!!

7) Makeup - this is a MUST!

To be honest I think I just need a girls night! I want to sit down and have a good meal, be able to eat it without saying "NO! Don't throw your food", "Sit in your seat like a big girl", "Don't throw your cup!", "Inside Voices"... I also want to be able to leave dinner and not have to stress about picking up all of the food under the high chair (this really stresses me out! I hate to leave my table looking like a tornado hit it!) Most of the time we go out to dinner - I eat my food SO FAST! I don't even think that I chew it! Shopping is a whole new post in itself...

This is what I want to do. Eat. Shop. Relax. And have an adult conversation.

Is that too much to ask?

Yay for a TOY FREE kitchen!!

2009-07-08T22:59:00.002-05:00

Well, at least for tonight! I finally cleaned out Ava Grace's playroom tonight! It looks much better! And I FINALLY moved her kitchen set and play food into the playroom instead of having it in my kitchen.

The original idea was that she would play in her kitchen while I cook dinner at night. I didn't think about the fact that she did not want to cook in her kitchen - she wanted to cook in MY KITCHEN with the REAL STUFF! Anyway - I was tired of stepping on little plates and bowls and cracker boxes and fake food!

My car is LOADED DOWN right now with bags of toys and stuffed animals that are going to Goodwill tomorrow. I seriously have like 10 of them packed in my car!! I saved the toys that I thought would be good for our next baby and we put those in a plastic tote in the attic. I moved the furniture around too - It always makes me feel good to move the furniture around every once in a while!!

The next move is to get some pictures on the walls. Right now it is pretty plain. I am going to order some poster prints from KodakGallery and frame those for her room but I also need some other cute paintings to put up too. Where could I get some really cute paintings or prints that are not too expensive?

Hope you had a great day! I am looking forward to starting my Thursday with a clean kitchen, baby room, and playroom!! Her closet is ANOTHER STORY!! I am going to chill on that one for a little bit.

Another Day...

2009-07-07T23:18:00.002-05:00

So, today has been pretty normal for us.

Woke up at 7am

Ava Grace had Chocolate Milk and yogurt

I worked and she played with her toys

We ran errands and played outside

She ate lunch

Then AG napped (for 3 hours - WOW! I know!) and guess what! I WORKED!!

Then she woke up at 4 :-)

She ate a WHOLE CUPCAKE for snack! Healthy - right?

Then we went to Freds and she got some new coloring books and twistable crayons and Mommy got Aspirin for my headache from being on the phone with customers all day

Then we went home and ate dinner and Daddy had a boys night

We played with Carson then AG went to bed... and guess what!

I have been working ever since... BUT NOW... I think I am going to hang it up for tonight and pick it up in the morning...

HOW EXCITING WAS THAT?!?!

Love Love Night Night

Blog Hop!!

2009-07-06T22:00:00.006-05:00

FUN FUN FUN! I am loving the blog hop hosted by MckLinky - What an awesome idea! Welcome to my blog!

This picture is of my little girl, Ava Grace, and me at the beach a few months ago. She is almost 2 and making me smile everyday! I mostly blog about the funny things that she does and some days I just blog about the way I feel. Isn't it a wonderful stress reliever!?!?!

I am glad that you stopped by my blog - check out Ava Grace's gymnastics pictures here. They are super cute! We started gymnastics for her to get out and do something fun... it turned out to be a GREAT WORKOUT for me!

Thank you for visiting!! Have a great day!

Toys Toys Toys

2009-07-06T12:08:00.003-05:00

I am so tired of picking up toys!! I have declared July DECLUTTER MONTH! This week I will be going through Ava Grace's toys and either giving them away or consigning them. It is INSANE the number of toys and stuffed animals that she has. Don't get me wrong... I am not going to give away all of my baby's toys - BUT she can only play with so much and I can only pick up so many stuffed animals. Right now she is wanting to dress them - so she drags out ALL of her clothes and shoes and gives them all a NEW LOOK! Then she says, "OH, THAT'S CUTE!" - It's really precious but I think I am about to lose my mind.

We need a little more structure in the playroom... My OCD can not take it too much longer!

Party Hat Cookies!

2009-07-03T21:20:00.005-05:00

My Nephew, Gavin, is having his 1st birthday party on Sunday!! I can't believe he is almost 1. This year has just flown by!!

I made Party Hat Cookies today for his birthday party. They turned out really cute!! and they are YUMMY! I messed up one and JUST HAD TO EAT IT!!

And I had a fantastic little helper today! She was really concentrating on doing a GREAT JOB!! OH... and she tasted a little too!

She Makes Me Smile...

2009-07-02T21:40:00.003-05:00

Tonight I had to leave AG and Kyle for a few minutes to borrow some cookie supplies from Nana and check the mail at the Post Office...

When I got home Ava Grace came running to the door with Barney and she was yelling, "THAT'S MY MOMMY!"

How sweet is that?!?

I love her so much!

Future Purchases...

2009-07-01T22:52:00.002-05:00

We have a lot of things that we need to buy in the next few months... Here are a few that I am working on right now...

1. Rail for our back porch... since we moved in our house MAY 2007 and still do NOT have one...

2. KING size bed... we are sleeping on Kyle's queen size bed that he has had since he was about 10... I think! I think we will be getting this next month.

3. Ava Grace's birthday supplies... we are having a Luau so it shouldn't be too expensive but I do tend to get carried away when it comes to her.

4. Not Really a purchase... but I have a goal to be debt free by the 1st of the year. (exception: house and car payments)

So, with that being said... Any ideas on where I can buy some really cute inexpensive Luau party supplies?

WOW! It's amazing how much better it makes you feel to list the things you need. My brain works better this way.