can she really be this big? almost 8 months (on saturday) already?!?

at night time sometimes she chooses not to cooperate. (I know what you're thinking: no way! an infant? difficult at night time? that's not normal...)

anyway, there are times I can lay her in her crib, she'll fuss a round or two, and give up and doze off into blissful sleep (for a few hours...). and there are other times that it requires a bottle and mommy to snuggle as bribery before she'll go to sleep for the night (or for a few hours...).

She's a pretty good sleeper. She just likes to snuggle at about 1:45am. every. single. night.

and there are those times like early this morning when I woke up at 4:45am to her sitting up right next to me - just starting at me. and you can't ration with an 8 month old. so she just kept playing. finally we had to bribe her back to sleep with a bottle. (like you've never bribed your infant. come on. don't judge.)
and who knows even what time I went and got her from her crib to lay in our bed to begin with. I certainly don't. that got lost somewhere in the night. and once we got her back to sleep (c: 5:15am-ish) I didn't want to move her. so last night we had a slumber party for most of the night.

oh well.

baby girl got a new hat...

and this evening when I was cooking, we laid her down for a nap. all this time we thought she was sleeping... (tilt your head to the left)

nope. wrong-O mom. play time = all the time.

and Ava's newest feat: she knows how to clap! consciously too, not just accidentally so I'm bragging like she's a pro. She really IS a pro!

I don't know how mom's, working mom's especially, but even non-working mom's with more children than 1 get ANYTHING extra-curricular done. I say more power to you. I am exhausted.

I found this to be very insightful:

"Love in the purest form comes from a willing and open heart to make your life about someone else."

see philandlacy for more

Sam & I are doing the "Love Dare" book together (though it will take us much longer than 40 days to complete, seeing as how we've had it a week and are thru day 3...). (and the "Love Dare" book comes from the movie FireProof). But it gives you much to think about when truly thinking about HOW we are supposed to love our spouse. I am no expert, but I am excited about our 3 year anniversary coming up next month. and I want to be one of those marriages that truly was made to stand the test of time. This is a fun, somewhat challanging journey we can do as a couple. and I find it in good timing that Lacy posted the above quote because pretty much that's exactly what we need to do. so, thanks Lacy.

just for fun...here is a picture I found this morning of me and my brother when I was only a couple months old (if that...). my brother, also known as Brandon, B, and "Handsome" (nicknamed dubbed by his wife of course...see her blog here)

what else to do on a saturday morning when your daughter wakes you up at 6:30am...

here is a collage (click here for a larger picture of it) of some of ava's best friends so we can look back at when she was 7 months old and remember who her crew was. (grandparents and the rest of the family was mainly excluded for no other reason except that of course we know you are in her life and love her. some other day, maybe next saturday at 6:30am I'll make a family one...we'll see.)

From left to right: cousin Joel. friend Connor. friend Rachel. friend Hayden. cousin Julia. (her one true love) daddy. aves herself. (her BFF) mommy. friend Rowan. cousin Carolyn. friend Alec. cat Jaxon. friend Haley. dog Rexy. cousin Sam.

I'm excited to see how her circle will expand as she gets older. Too bad we can't ALWAYS pick her friends for her. What happened to the good-ole-days when parents could choose the girl's husband? I think I would like that opportunity. Then again, probably not worth the trade-off of her possibly hating us for the rest of her life.

just us girls listening to a great song and hanging out

(turn your head sideways for this...I'm still learning about our new camera 2 months later...)

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ava has learned how to laugh and snort at the same time. it might be the funniest thing I've seen in my whole 26 years of life. this barely catches the end of it, so it doesn't quite do it justice like the in-person version does. mostly she laughs at her puppy dog, but sometimes she thinks we're funny enough to deliver a snort. anyway, it's at the very end of this video. and if you really get her going, sometimes she'll snort 3 times in a row. priceless.

and then a couple of our weekend projects are here: painting her bathroom. the color is technically the washington redskins football color. looks more red in the picture, but really it's a maroon-ish. and the idea is that it will be her shabby-chic bathroom once we're all done with it.

and (drum-roll please) the ceiling fan is finally in!! We've had this thing since probably february. and now it's in. doesn't it look great?! this is the handywork of my wonderful husband and my very helpful father-in-law, who I'm told did most of the work. Either way, I'm proud of them. I'll have to admit I was very skeptical when the electrician was a no-call, no-show and sam said "no problem. I'll do it."...

and he did :)

thank you dear.

new work at my old job

I am blessed enough to be back at work where I can take baby girl with me. oh I am so thankful. the trials of figuring out jobs has come to an end. THANKFULLY. Sam & I both love what we do and have been truly blessed.

so, on that note, our baby girl has been quite the busy little bee...

I was sitting at my desk working...

and let's just say one man's trash is another man's treasure

and, to get caught up from last week...HAPPY 1ST 4TH OF JULY BABY GIRL!