3.31.2009

ava on film!

turns out my camera does video! no sound...just video...so just play a song along in your head. this is Ava & her daddy playing with her jumper. She thinks it's hilarious when he sings along with the tune about a half beat behind the music. she just giggles at him. it makes us smile.

and this is just Ava being Ava

I'm inspired by this blog-mom: I think I should "go green" more. I am not nearly as enthusiastic as she is--but it's something to strive to. this is from her blog:

Here are some green keywords/tips:SIMPLIFY!!! Learn to live SIMPLY!!!!Give away! Don't buy excess!!! Buy used!!! Buy only what you need!!!!Eat local!! Eat seasonally!!! Eat vegetarian!!!! Eat ORGANIC!!!!Rather than hug a tree, PLANT a tree! Plant native!! Clean naturally!! Say NO to chemicals!!! Make healthy smart decisions!!!! RESEARCH!!!Have houseplants!!! Open your windows!!!! Turn off your A/C and ON your fans!!!!! Turn your refrigerator to 37 degrees and freezer to 3!!! Turn OFF your lights!!!Install CFL's in your home!! Wash laundry COLD!! Air dry your laundry!!!!THINK!!! ACT!!!!Buy organic cotton products or other sustainable materials!!! Buy fair trade!!!!GREEN REMODEL/BUILD!!!Walk and bike where possible!!!! Take public transportation where possible!!!Use biodiesel!!! Install low-flow showerheads!! Collect rainwater!!! DON'T overwater! Install a water filter!Get a reusable water bottle and coffee mug!!!! DON'T buy bottled water!!! Buy and USE reusable bags in lieu of paper or plastic!!COMPOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Refuse!! Reduce!!!! Reuse!!!! Recycle!!!!! Restore!!!!!! Precycle!!!!!!!CONSERVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Happy Earth Day!!!!

like mother, like daughter

Everyone keeps telling me how much Ava looks like me. Now I see why.
Ava Mae


me & my Grandma
I now see the resemblence.


I stole this from another blog while perusing thru last week. I hope somehow we (my husband & I) are able to instill these characteristics in our children. I told him I can totally see myself needing to go to the "Letting Go" seminars when I'm older...hopefully if I work on it now then I won't hold on so fist-tight when she's 18. we'll see. I'm not making any promises.

3.27.2009


Bath time is about an every-other-night occurance for our little one at home. I like to set myself up for success, NOT failure, and I'm certain that I would fail if I said I'd get to it every night. However, I don't know why not. There is something so sweet, so peaceful about bathtime, it's almost spiritual {said so appropriately by Katie}. Just looking at her, so honest and content. I think I probably get more out of it than she does because it's the perfect wind-down-from-an-unnecessarily-stressful-day right before bedtime. I think I need it at the end of the day just as much, if not more, than I need coffee to jumpstart my mornings. The joy she gets out of splishin-and-splashin in the water is priceless. The surprised look on her face when water gets her a little wet from her own feet is very comical. And the pure happiness when she sees that her daddy has settled the dog down enough so that he can come join us for bath time is truly heart-settling.

There really is something to what Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." If only we could make life so simple again, as children know it all so well.

3.25.2009

what we've been up to:
Jumping in our new jumper!

going on a walk to the Luff park with Grandma, Grandpa, Katie, C, Jules, and mommy

Looking stellar in my pink bow!

working out my legs in my pink bow!

and lifting some weights!
she's learning so much!!

3.23.2009

thursday night 3/19: Ava slept 8 1/2 hours
friday night 3/20: Ava slept 7 hours
saturday night 3/21: Ava slept 9 hours
sunday night 3/22: Ava slept 8 hours

We are LOVING this trend! I think we're getting into a routine that suits her just fine apparently. eating RIGHT before bedtime seems to be a b-e-a-utiful thing!

3.20.2009

miss busy bee



here is a more fitting photo for today actually...this was when she was only a couple weeks old. (notice her cheeks are SO big it squishes her eyes shut...)


GO MIZZOU!!!

HAPPY 1st-DAY-OF-SPRING!

when we bought our house in August, my mom helped me plant some flowers (see exhibit A). I'm so excited because though I am NO, let me repeat NO green thumb, these little buggers still came up again like they were supposed to!

hmmm...exhibit A is currently not on my computer anymore for me to upload a picture so I'll take a picture when I get home of the new sprouts to show I'm not making it up.

so for now...here's Ava :) she's cheering Mizzou on today @ 2pm--don't miss it!

3.18.2009

warm weather = cute summer outfits = happy baby




3.17.2009

this is Ava and her buddy Hayden. Hayden is 3 and is our friends' kiddo. (Sam's already got his eye on how close he gets to her...) But they wore matching Adidas outfits one day and I thought JUST IN CASE they get married some day, they'll appreciate these pictures (though Sam I'm sure would disagree)

HAPPY ST PATTY'S DAY!

3.12.2009

this is quickly becoming my best friend and Ava's worst enemy...

I think her RSV might be coming back :( she has slowly started her cough again the past couple of days but last night it got quite a bit worse, and mucusy. So I used this before I fed her this morning and it makes a WORLD of difference in her ability to breathe thru her nose. So I know she hates it, but surely she loves being able to breathe better. What I'm hoping is if we can keep this going and keep it from getting close to her lungs then we won't have to go back to the hospital for the deep suction. She hated that. So did I. It made me cry.

3.11.2009

looking back - high school trip in 1998...back then it was boys, dances, crazy cd mixes, waitressing, homework & drivers licenses {and a bad sunburn if you look at my face close enough}


and look at us now :) husbands, babies, diapers, sleep-deprived, bottles, rattles, blankets, and celebrating the littlest things possible because they are the biggest achievements in our lives: those of our little ones. gosh those kids are so darn cute.


3.09.2009

an eventful weekend!

this weekend in photos:
Is my baby girl about to roll over?? I think she's trying!

We are trying to get in a routine of bath, book, boob (ie: her dinner for lack of better words that are clevar and start with a B) and bed. here is her in her bath last night. she's upgraded from the sink baths to the real deal (with help from this excellent ramp to lay on) AND SHE LOVES IT!

This is Ava's puppy dog Rex, aka rexy. they say curiosity killed the cat...that cat must not have had a curious dog chasing him 24/7 and being so nosey that he sticks his head thru Jaxon's only safe haven - his basement room.


and this beautiful bracelet was given to Ava by her good friends Brenda and Katie - friends from Lakeland. It has her name and her birthstones (turquoise). B-E-A-Utiful!


3.05.2009

can anyone believe she is 3 months old already?! I can't.

3.03.2009

this makes me cry, there's no getting around it. but I love it. I think I'm going to make a cd for Ava and put it with her baby book and include this tear jerker (which, by the time she's 20 will they even be using CD's?? who knows...)

It Won't Be Like This For Long
-Darius Rucker-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_lUnFjXg8

He didn't have to wake up
He'd been up all nite
Lay'n there in bed listen'n
To his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and says
It gonna be OK

It wont be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laugh'n
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
It won't be like this for long

Four years later bout four thirty
She's crawling in their bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She's clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I doShe says now don't you worry
This will only last a week or two

It wont be like this for long
One day soon we'll drop her off
And she wont even know you're gone
This phase is gonna fly by
If you can just hold on
It wont be like this for long

One day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times you'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the aisle
And he'll raise her veil
But right now she up and cry'n
And the truth is that he don't mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers
He lays down there beside her
Till her eyes are finally closed
And just watch'n her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows

It wont be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah this phase is gonna fly by
He's try'n to hold on
It wont be like this for long
It wont be like this for long

3.02.2009

Outlook-ing my life...

I decided I would like to "Microsoft Outlook" my life. I wonder if that is possible. and I believe it is. I'm on a quest to figuring out how.

I would have file folders such as "Sam" and "Ava" in my favorite folders. I would have a "Family" file, a DCI file (Diamond Contractors Inc - my #1 job...see cool website that my brother designed { and if you need a website built he's REALLY good at it so you should definitely hire him}), a Commerce Bank file (my #2 job), a Lakeland file (and a folder in a folder for my small group) and probably a Bills file (since I should start keeping track of those...). wow. the possibilities are endless even as I type this! I can't wait!
and, I believe I would have a Blessings file for instances such as Saturday, and my daughter being said to have RSV and recovered in what seemed to be 3 days. things like that.

AND! I would have the Calendar turned on at all times with all things necessary in my life so as to not forget them. Like the birthdays of my sisters-in-law coming up, and the wedding reception we're going to this Saturday, things like this. (not that I would forget those, but, you get it.)

oh how fun that would be. I don't consider myself to be a "Type A" personality. I don't even know what that type means to be quite honest. but I sure do love Outlook and all it's goodness!

God is so good

See how awesome God is in the details.

Saturday morning the roads were terrible due to the snow from early that morning. I was on my way to Commerce Bank (6:15am or so is when I left my house). I was driving the wrangler so Sam could have my car with the car seat for Ava. I had slid two times, very minor, but none-the-less enough to grip my attention while driving.
I was on I-70 Westbound before Blue Ridge Cutoff. There were probably 4-5 cars around me or in my little pack of cars, plenty up ahead and (come to find out later TONS behind me). The jeep started sliding and all of a sudden I spun 90 degrees and am going 40 mph sideways down I-70. I felt the wind almost tip me sideways but it didn’t. I spun around another 90 degrees and at some point I took my foot off the clutch and next thing I know I’m sitting in the fast lane, car dead, hands gripping the steering wheel and I’m facing oncoming traffic. I just see headlights coming towards me, and I see a couple cars switch lanes so as to not hit me.

I don’t think I sat there for very long. Then I just had such clarity of thought (thanks to God I firmly believe) and just remember thinking: You need to start the car and pull off to the shoulder. Unexplainably there was a clearing of cars long enough that I was able to get over all 3 lanes and sit on the shoulder for a minute to get my bearings. I called Sam, my hands were shaking so bad and I was trying not to cry because I was so shook up. Then, while talking to him on the phone, the highway was just flooded with cars, semis, trucks, you name it. I was in awe that just minutes, just SECONDS before there weren’t even enough cars to block any of the 3 lanes and now there wasn’t even room for me to get back onto the highway so I could exit at the next off-ramp because there were so many vehicles.

I just wanted to tell you guys my story from the weekend. I am so thankful. God is good.