A day of freedom!

We had the chance to get away this weekend and had wonderful time! My friend Sandy had box tickets to the horse races at Oaklawn in Hot Springs and they invited us to come along. I’d never been to the races and it was a lot of fun!

Horses coming out of the gate!

Zach handled most of the betting. I did help him pick one race where the horse won! This picture is of two horses that he happened to pick for an exacta box bet (either horse could win as long as the other came in 1st or 2nd) and I just so happened to capture a picture of the two of them and they were 1st & 2nd!!!

His winning ticket! This won us $20!! WOO!!

Here they come!!

And there they go!!

Do you see how tiny the jockey is?! Their weights were listed in the program and most of them were around 115 lbs – teeny guys!

We ended our weekend by going through Little Rock on our way home to have dinner with our friends who we don’t see nearly enough! It was great catching up with y’all, Chenin & Chuck!

Ava had a good time with her grandparents while we were gone. I was ready to pick her up this morning after church but she wasn’t so sure about us after leaving her! She had fun and was so busy she couldn’t even talk to me on the phone when I called! As much as I missed her (and even felt a little guilty about leaving her for two nights), we had a good time and it was good to get away from our parenting responsibilities for a couple of days!

Busy week ahead – lots of church services for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter! What an important week as we reflect on the death of Jesus and celebrate His Resurrection!

Have a wonderful week!

Time out!!!

So the attitude has definitely gotten worse lately. And for once it’s not mine! Ava has a major attitude. Her time outs used to occur in her crib, but recently we’ve moved the time out spot – she now sits against a wall in the living room where she can see us and she does not like having to sit there.

She pretty much went back three times in a row tonight. Every time she’d get out she’d go throw something else so she went right back. Life is SO hard when you’re one!!

Ahhhhh…. Spring!!

Or not!

Friday was warm, sunny, and in the 70s. Yesterday started out cold and rainy and the snow started before we went to bed. It is STILL snowing!

We took Ava out to play for a little while and she was gripey at first but then loved it again. She didn’t want to come in!

I had wanted to do some spring cleaning this weekend. Even though it’s spring, the absence of springish weather and the ability to open my windows changed my mind – ha! I did get one closet cleaned out so at least there was some progress! The other things I wanted to do aren’t going anywhere, no doubt.

Zach and Ava are on Spring break this week – lucky ducks! I wish I were getting to spend some time at home with them. I’m saving most of my vacation for our beach trip this summer – this will be our view in about 4 months – much different than our view today!!

I guess I’m going to go and see what little more I can accomplish before the weekend is over. Hope your weekend has been great!

If I could turn back time

How in the world did we go from this… 

 

to this???? 

Sweet Ava, you are 18 months old today and I cannot even believe that you now closer to  2 than you are to 1. Part of me misses that little baby you were and would give anything to just be able to hold that tiny girl just one more time. But I love the little young lady you are becoming. You are growing and changing so much every day and I am so proud to be your mommy! I cannot explain to you the excitement I feel each time I see you accomplish something new. You bring us more joy than we could ever have imagined and are so thankful God blessed us as your parents. Thank you for making each day a little brighter! And while you are certainly no baby anymore, you will always be my sweet baby. We love you!

Mommy & Daddy

LOVE this voice!

I have been trying FORever to get some video of Ava talking. I never want to forget the way she says some things. She finally didn’t clam up or run away from me the other night! I apologize for the two videos but we were driving and sitting in the car and she was easily distracted and not necessarily looking so she was a little hard to hear.

This kid pretty much makes my heart burst with love! Hope you enjoyed her sweet little voice as much as I do!!!

TGIW

Thank goodness it’s Wednesday, that is. Because, really, I’m ready for Friday. Not that this week has been a bad week, I’m just ready for a break from work.

Zach is leaving town tomorrow so it’s just me and the kiddo. He’ll just be gone one night and I’m sure we’ll manage just fine.

We had a chance for severe weather tonight but so far we’ve been lucky. I hope those of our friends who have been in areas where there has been lots of hail and/or tornados are ok and have had no damage!

And now some pictures of the last few days. Sunday we had dinner at my parents’ house. Two of my brothers were in town so it was nice to see them. Ava enjoyed having more people to play rough with her.

She also got to play outside and swing and slide…

And drive her car. She was locked in her car (because she had a wreck earlier and tipped over) and she wanted out and realized she couldn’t open the door, so this followed:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My grandparents got Ava The Little People Nativity Set for Christmas. I’m one of those moms that puts toys away and then pulls them out later when she is getting a little bored with some of her toys. She has enjoyed playing with it, but she has a little bit different idea of which character sits on top of the manger. No angels watching over Baby Jesus here…The wise man sits watch here. I even try and replace the wise man with the angel and she is quick to switch them out.

(Beware, Jill – jammie pictures coming up!!!!!)A sheep made it’s way on top tonight too… (and please ignore my dirty living room… there’s no way to keep it clean while the munchkin is awake… even when I try, she’s right behind me ready to mess it all up!)

I’m excited to get my hair cut tomorrow!! I haven’t been super satisfied with my lady lately, so I’m trying someone new! Emily has given rave reviews about the girl who cuts her hair so I’m excited to try her tomorrow!!!

Alright, that’s all I’ve got tonight! Thanks for stopping by!!

wonderful weekend!

I just love weekends!! We are having the most beautiful weather and we’ve spent lots of time playing outside!!!! Ava loves playing outside …. so much in fact we’ve had two major hissy fits on separate occasions after it was time to come in.

But, first things first – look who’s feeling better!!! She’s mostly cleared up – the snot isn’t as green anymore. Her eyes weren’t clearing up so I called her dr back on Friday and he called us in some prescription eye drops that seem to be helping.

Zach had to help with the state quiz bowl tournament at his school yesterday, so we went and had breakfast with him before he went. Ava and I ran some errands and she was tired when we got home so she chilled and watched a little MM while I worked. Girl still loves her MM. Today I was getting ready for church and she brought me the remote to the tv and said “Mih?” She was asking me to turn on MM and it was soooooo cute! Sadly he wasn’t on but she didn’t mind. I love that she is starting to ask us for stuff!!!!!

After her nap yesterday, we headed down the road to a school to play on their play ground. I figured it’d be less crowded than the parks. Ava had a blast. However, she spent most of her time cleaning the mulch off the steps. Crazy kid. It ended up getting fairly crowded with some bigger kids (and adults) playing rowdy and not paying attention to her so we left and went out to play in the backyard. First we had to climb in and out of the chairs.

Then we had to play with our pink ball!We ended up eating dinner on our patio and it was so nice! Ava’s currently napping but we’re going to go out play again when she wakes up. A new swing set is getting ready to take up residence in our back yard as soon as I can make up my mind on one! Anyone have any suggestions on one or have one they love???

She played SO hard yesterday that she slept in until 8:00 am! Unheard of here! It was wonderful! In fact, we woke up before she did and each got a shower before she could wake up. It was nice to shower in peace without her opening the door trying to climb in! Zach went to get her after his and this is what he found:

Nice and refreshed! She was even a good girl in church. Until the end….. she didn’t want to come home with me. She wanted to go with her grandma…. Do ya see the tear stains? So sad. She’s like her mama – not a pretty cryer! haha.

Time to go enjoy the rest of my peace and quiet. Zach’s golfing and Ava’s going to wake up soon awake and talking in her room so my me time is almost over! Hope your weekend has been as fabulous as ours!!

Please try to contain your excitement

This post may contain more excitement than you can handle. not.

It’s Tuesday.

I’m already tired.

Ava’s still not well. She’s on her 2nd antibiotic in 2 weeks. We quit the first one because it obviously didn’t work. She still hasn’t been in to see her doctor – I guess since they are super busy and because she hasn’t run a fever they don’t think they need to see her. If she’s not better by Thursday, they ARE going to see her. I’m sick of fighting her to wipe her snotty nose 98 times a day. Speaking of Ava, she is starting to talk so much more. I love her little voice. I think my favorite word she says right now is please which comes out “pwee”. She thinks if she wants something all she has to do is say please and she’ll get it – she repeats it over and over and over and looks at you with pleading eyes. It’s so hard to resist when she’s using such good manners!!

She’s also starting to finally get some hair in! WOOHOO! Check out that mop! We’re even able to get some clippies and small bows in with no headband!!! (I think the snot under nose is a nice touch, don’t you?)

Anyway.

Oh, and one more thing…. did you see the new DWTS lineup?? Buzz Aldrin. Pam Anderson. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they had to add in Kate Gosselin?? Think she’ll talk to her partner like he’s 5 like she did her ex-hubby??…Lucky for her The Bachelor is also on and with his unpopular pick last night, I think his rear will be one of the first to get voted off. I could be wrong though.

I know this post was extremely riveting. I hope it wasn’t too much for ya! BAHAHAHA! Next time I’ll try to keep the excitement to a minimum!