First birthday party!!

Yes, it's been a week since the birthday party. And yes, I'm just now getting the pictures posted. And I've had several people asking where they were.... so since I know you've all been patiently waiting for them, here they are! :) Get ready for some polka dot overload!

The only decent family picture we got that day - in all the rest of them Ava was touching her eye... such a weird child..

Her cakes... and let me say.. her big cake was NOTHING like I'd hoped. I was very disappointed when I picked it up and saw it.. It just looks a little sloppy to me.. the writing is off center... it was not anything like I asked it to be, though it does match the tablecloth remarkably well. Go figure... I guess it was ok because it tasted so incredible. Half chocolate and half vanilla with strawberry filling....mmmmmmmmmmmm!

Close up of the disappointing cake

At least her little cake was cute

The birthday girl shrine... notice the round balloon with a 1 and polka dots. I gave them a plate that looked exactly like that and THAT was what the cake was supposed to look like...


So our daughter is like an animal... she went from person to person (more like plate to plate) opening her mouth for food. She seriously was like a puppy dog. She even went up to someone's plate and picked something off of it and ate it!

PRESENT TIME!!

Even though my mouth was in the middle of talking, I love this picture of us. She looks like such a big girl!!

She did really well opening the first few presents...

Then it was over because she wanted to play with the toys she'd already seen!

And then she was ready to dig in to her cake!

Happy birthday, dear Ava!!

She definitely enjoyed that. I had to take the cake away because she ate half of it and I didn't want her to get a tummy ache!

The party was great and it was so wonderful to see Ava have such a great time.


She spent a good portion of the party running around with a huge smile on her face! She picked up very quickly that the day was about her and she loves being the center of attention! She had an absolute blast and seeing her enjoy herself so much was priceless!

*****I totally meant to put on here where I got Ava's shirt - so since I got a comment this morning and some questions IRL about it, here is where I got it:

Trucks and Tutus Boutique

Y'all, this girl is talented! She's only been sewing for a few months - can you believe it? She was so great to work with and the shirt turned out better than I'd hoped! And she can do ALOT! So check her out!

Please pray

for this sweet little baby.

This is Noah. He was born yesterday morning and his mommy is one of my oldest friends and they need prayer. Noah was given a healthy slate at first and then some tests came back indicating he had a bacterial infection in his blood. In his first day of life he's already been through the ringer. He's had extensive tests, had a spinal tap and cannot eat. There is fear that his condition could be either pneumonia or meningitis. Because of some issues, the results from the spinal tap won't be available to his parents until Tuesday evening. His parents are holding up well considering the circumstance and have been told that his condition was caught early enough that it is not fatal. He is on two high powered antibiotics and will be in the NICU for a minimum of 7 days and possibly up to 21 days.

His parents' biggest concern at the moment is that if he does have meningitis, there is a possibility that he will have developmental issues and possibly problems hearing.

Please pray for Noah, and his parents, Natalie and Steve. This is their first child and they are heart broken that their first days as a family of 3 are filled with their son being sick. I went to the hospital this morning to be with Natalie and she is being very strong and knows that whatever happens, this is Noah's story and it is in God's hands. Please pray for her as she heals from her c-section and pray for her strength and courage right now. She's very sad that she's not getting to hold her baby boy.

Please pray that this sweet little baby's body will be healed from infection and that there will be no lasting damage as a result of this illness. I know they will appreciate any prayer they can get right now.

New Toy and DWTS

Saturday may have been Ava's birthday but I got a present! Well, it's not really a present when you buy it yourself, but that's ok! I've been wanting one of these for a long time, it just took a while to make up my mind!!!!!




I am loving this camera! I have so much to learn but that's ok. I'm so pleased with the quality of pictures it takes and I am excited to learn more about it!

Good thing I have a cute subject to practice on!

Oh, and another season of Dancing with the Stars started tonight! I wasn't too impressed with the list of cast members at first but tonight's show featuring the men has been pretty entertaining!! Hopefully I was wrong and this will be a good season! I liked the dance by Mark Decascos (the Iron Chef dude). I think he will do well. I also think Donny Osmond is going to be tough to beat. He definitely had the crowd going, so I bet he'll get lots of votes. I'll be curious to see the ladies bring it tomorrow night. Are you rooting for anyone in particular?

**Edited to add: I just have to say the segment with Cheryl trying to teach Tom DeLay to shake it was pretty humorous! You could tell he was definitely not comfortable with that!

Happy 1st Birthday Ava!!!

Oh, sweet Ava girl. How can you already be 1?? My heart is so happy and sad at the same time right now. You have brought SO much joy into our lives but I'm a little sad the last year has gone so quickly and that you've literally grown up in the blink of an eye!

September 19, 2008

Day 2


First week

Can I just say how unbelievably blessed I feel for her first birthday to be on a Saturday so we could both spend the whole day with her? We have had the best day!!

Going to see the birthday girl when she woke up




Her cute birthday shirt (which she will be wearing again tomorrow for her party - gotta get the use outta it!)



I asked her to put her arms down to show me her shirt and this is what she gives me! I can see our yearly 1st day of school pictures going a little like this...


Having a yummy birthday lunch at Blaze'n Burrito!


Opening a birthday present from Mommy and Daddy

Finally got it!

We spent the day together as a family and I thought it was a wonderful day. I looked at some of the pictures of Ava's first days a while ago and wow... she was so little and so fragile. It's so hard to believe that she's been here with us for so long...

But, my heart and life are full with love for this little girl. She is absolutely our pride and joy and life would be so dull without her. And even though I'm a little sad that she's growing up so fast, I love seeing the little person she is becoming! It's so wonderful to see the world through her eyes. I can only imagine the excitement that's in store for us over the next year!

Birthday party coming up tomorrow!!!!! :)

The birthday fun is starting!

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately. I've been in a bit of a funk. I'm not sure if the like 6 straight days of rainy weather have had anything to do with it, but it's possible! I typically love rainy days (I know, I'm weird!), but even I agree that this is enough! Things at work are very stressful and overwhelming right now, and coupled with some personal stuff that's been tough to swallow, it's been a hard week! But life has its obstacles and I still have plenty to be thankful for, so I'm trying to focus on that!

Now then... we have an almost 1 year old on our hands and she is starting to see some birthday goodies rolling in!!

Ava got a card today from a boy who is on the approved dating list for Ava when she's older. My sweet friend from jr. high, Jen (who we met here), has a little boy and he is exactly six months younger than Ava. Anyway, he sent Ava a sweet card and she had fun opening it!

She carried it around the house and was soooooo proud of it

There was also a package on our porch for her. One of my very best friends can't make it to the party because she lives about 2.5 hours away. But she and her sweet husband (who we also met up with the same weekend we met Jen above) sent Ava a gift! I didn't let her open it b/c her daddy wasn't home, but I do think she'll know what to do when her party gets here! Thanks again, Chenin and Chuck!


And, I know I've said that our funny girl really enjoys showers, but here's the proof. I looked down and she had scooted herself under the faucet to let the water flow on her!


I think she looks like some kind of perched animal here, but can't think of which one .... thoughts??

Oh, one last story. Earlier as I was getting some pictures ready for this post, Ava saw some of her pictures on the blog and got excited. I decided to show the last video I posted and she got soooo happy and started waving to herself - seriously, this girl makes me melt!!

Be on the lookout for lots of birthday fun in the days ahead!!

Boo for ear infections!

Thursday evening Ava woke up from her after school nap and was a little whiny. I didn't think much of it as she is always that way when she's hungry and waiting for dinner. We both noticed that her cheeks were red but thought she'd just been laying on them. A little later I decided to take her temp b/c she felt warm and it was 102.2!!! So we started Tylenol. I woke up around 3 and went to check on her and she was hot so I roused her slightly awake, gave her another shot of the meds and she went right back to sleep. When we woke up, she didn't have a fever... oooook..

So we headed to school and they said she wasn't quite herself the day before. I told them she wasn't feeling well and that I thought it might be her ears, and they confirmed she'd been tugging at one a lot the day before.

Then the frustration started.... I called the dr's office at 8:30 am. The nurse called me back around 9:30 and asked some questions, such as was she running fever, tugging at her ear. I decided to call school to see if she was messing with her ear and they said she was so I called the nurse back to tell her that. She said she'd check with the dr and she'd let me know, but that he'd probably want to see her. Well, the morning passed on. My mom picked Ava up around 11:30 and took her home with her. She was running fever again and pulling at her ear alot. So around 12:30 I called back to tell the nurse she had a 101 fever and was pulling so I wanted to bring her in to check the ears. Well, by 2:00 I hadn't heard anything and was starting to get a little ticked. Around 2:30 I called back and said I needed to know whether or not I could bring her in or if I needed to take her to a walk in clinic. They said he was going over phone calls and I should hear something in no later than 20 minutes. Well 25 minutes later they called and said I could bring her at 5:30.......5:30 AFTER calling at 8:30 that morning! SOO incredibly frustrating. Then when we got there, there were probably 7 patients ahead of us still waiting. Now, I know it's an early sick season, but seriously? This happens every time she's sick so now I'm debating on whether or not we need a new pediatrician. He's a good doctor, but does that matter if we can't get in to see him??? We didn't get out of there until after 7 and she did in fact have an ear infection. She didn't get her first round of antibiotics until after 8. Had we gotten to go a little earlier she may have felt better with more medicine in her and we may not have had to cancel her 1 year pictures this morning!!! If you are from around here and have a good suggestion on a pediatrician, please let me know.


Seriously heartbreaking...


We rode along with Daddy on an errand today and I asked him to pick up some sleepers for Ava as they were the last things I needed for Ava for this fall/winter. She was so proud of them and even though she didn't feel well and was tired, she was hanging on for dear life!


Hoping we wake up to a little girl who feels much better in the morning!

Why can't all weekends have 3 days?!

Ahhh.. how nice it was to have a 3 day weekend. While I'd love more time off, I'm thankful for the extra day off!

Zach's parents came to visit to spend some time with Ava. They came with a couple of early birthday gifts b/c Zach's dad won't be able to be at the party. Ava pretty much knew the toys were for her and stood waiting for them. Here she is with her new lawn mower. We think she's got it confused with the vacuum cleaner b/c of how she pushes forward and pulls it back.



They also brought Ava this cute cheerleading outfit! She's ready to call the Hogs! We've worked on that a little and mostly she just thinks it's funny to wiggle your fingers and raise your hands while saying "Wooooooooooooooooooooo Pig Sooie"!!


We also sported our Razorback gear today to get our free chicken sandwich at Chick-fil-a! It was a mad house there but still fun. Ava wore her Razorback shirt too and got a free sandwich. She loved the chicken! This was the only picture I could get of her in her Hogs shirt. To see why she's eating cheese on the floor like a dog, click here.

And finally... I don't know where Ava comes up with things. She loves it when we play and make her lean backwards. Tonight she sat down on the floor and was trying to make herself fall backward without it hurting. It was so funny to watch. She then proceeded to do it over and over again!

I ♥ her!!!

McFamily Blog Hop

The McFamily is hosting their first blog hop and they want to see some funny videos!

I knew exactly which one to use. Every year, my funny, crazy (and keep in my 25 year old) brother likes to grace our family with a "special" Christmas dance. He picks a song from Trans Siberian Orchestra and does a silly, goofy performance. I think he's done this for the last 4 or 5 years, and Christmastime is the only time we get to see it. This year he performed while my grandparents were over and my sister decided to video it.

I'm not sure what's more hilarious..... the crazy dancing... my grandma laughing... when my grandpa got up at the end to join in... or the part where he hits his head on the ceiling fan light! Hope you enjoy! I know we always do!

Some random cuteness

Whoa... a post two days in a row! Unusual around here! Just wanted to share some cute pictures.


I came home from work this evening and Zach told me to go look at my daughter. I walked into her room and saw this:

She crashed sitting up and was sleeping slumped over. The girl cracks me up!

Tonight we decided it was time to turn her carseat around to face forward! She was SO excited and seemed to love riding and being able to see her Momma and Daddy!!



She was also excited to have a little more leg room. This was one of the main reasons we turned her around. Her poor legs were too long and she didn't have any room for them! They were right up against the back of the seat and probably not super comfy. Now she's free to kick and stretch all she pleases!


And just so you know, I'm terribly excited that I have three full days ahead of me with no work! WOO!

Catching up

Long time, no blog. There just hasn't been a lot of blog worthy stuff going on here. We're staying pretty busy as usual. I went to Dallas for a couple of days this week for work. We've got lots of exciting stuff coming up this month, most importantly Ava's 1st birthday!!!! I actually sent out the invitations for her party today so that's a big step. I've pretty much got the big stuff figured out so we're just doing the waiting game. We also have Ava's 1 year pictures scheduled for next weekend with our favorite photographers! I'm so excited for these for several reasons. Obviously I'm ready for some new pictures of Ava and our family. Also, I am ready for a sweet new picture of my girl because I'm getting a necklace with her picture in it! My friend Sally had a necklace with the picture of her sweet baby and I knew I always wanted one when I had a kid. After four years of waiting, I'm finally getting it! Zach got me a gift certificate for this necklace for my birthday and after Ava's pictures, it's all mine!

Another exciting thing coming up is RAZORBACK FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!! We love the Hogs here at our house and are so ready for another season! Here's Miss Ava clapping for the Hogs!


And lastly, have you seen these?!??!??
They are from Bath and Body Works and they are awesome! I got some for my birthday and I love it. I have one in my car and it has made it smell wonderful! Go get one!

Hope you enjoy your 3 day weekend!!