What life is all about!

So over the past weekend, we went to visit our friend Chenin! Her husband was gone and we certainly missed him, but I was so thankful for a chance to catch up with my sweet friend!

It was a quick trip but we still had a blast. Saturday morning we took Ava to a children’s “museum” and she had an absolute ball!

Her favorite part, hands down, was crawling through this tunnel!!

They also had a water table but Ava wasn’t too fond of wearing the smock so we didn’t stay long b/c she was getting pretty wet. (she looks SO grown up to me here!)

Doing some grocery shopping!

This is such a fun age. Ava is growing and changing so much every day. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and as sassy as it is, I can’t help but giggle when we ask her something and her response is “NO WAY!” She’s just so funny most days! I have to end this post with what was one of my proudest parenting moments to date. I will never forget this. Today when I was home for lunch, Zach and Ava were sitting there. As soon as I sat down, Ava looked at me, and folded her hands like we do when we pray and was telling us she wanted to pray! I thought my heart was going to bust out of my chest I was so proud. I almost couldn’t make it through the prayer b/c I was about to cry! It makes me smile now just thinking about it. I absolutely was about to melt! Life is definitely all about good memories from the weekend and sweet moments like today!!!!!!

Happy Father’s Day??

I say that with a ?? because of the “fun” we had today. Our weekend started off so well – we went to visit our good friend in LR and had so much fun. We went to church this morning and had lunch for Father’s Day…. and then took a fantastic trip to the ER!

We were sitting around and I was in one room and Zach and Ava were in another. She ran off towards me but detoured so we both thought she was with the other. She wasn’t alone very long, but when I found her, she’d been going through my purse and among other things she’d gotten into, she’d unzipped a pouch I had, opened a bottle of medicine and pills were scattered around her. We didn’t think she’d been able to take any but couldn’t know for sure. My mom called poison control and they said we really should take her to the ER since we didn’t know one way or the other.

Thankfully it wasn’t terribly crowded. It took about 25 minutes to get called to check in. We got to move right over and talk to the nurse immediately. The lady who checked us in was funny and told Ava she was dangerous. Ava kept pulling at her hospital bracelet and she said she’d be impressed if Ava could get it off b/c they were tough to get off……… she had it off by the time we were to the next window.

We had to sit back down for another 30 minutes before they took us back to a room. They put a monitor on her finger to measure her oxygen levels and her pulse.

I was concerned but considering she looked like this and was behaving in true Ava fashion, I was skeptical she’d gotten anything in her. This was before she managed to rip the monitor off. :) And I know ERs are busy, but I called the nurses’ station to tell them she’d taken it off…. her monitor showed her having flatlined, and they never came to check. Good thing she didn’t seriously lose a heartbeat… it would have been way too late by the time they came to put it back on.

Anyway…. she was up and down off the bed, tried taking the keys and saying “bye-bye” thinking she’d get to leave, taking my shoes and wearing them, and even jumping on the bed. Considering this all happened while she was supposed to be napping, she got extremely upset and cranky after about 2 hours and finally fell asleep. Of course, right after she fell asleep, they came to check her vitals. Nice timing. The dr came in again around 5:00 and said they really thought she was ok based on sustained normal vitals. We were told what to watch for and if any of that happened, to bring her back.

She’s been just fine this evening, acting like her normal self… into everything, super sassy and just Ava – and I’m so incredibly grateful she is. This could have turned out so differently and I’M SO THANKFUL the Lord was watching over her and protected her. It also goes to show that determined little kids can get through safeguards so even if we think something’s safe, there’s probably a way around it. Lessons learned.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for protecting our baby girl!

And even though our day didn’t go as planned, Happy Father’s Day to my wonderful hubby and Ava’s daddy. We are so blessed to have you~! Like I said at the hospital… you can golf any time, but it’s not every day you get to sit in the ER! ;)

Here’s to a quiet week! ;)

I figured it was time for a real post…

I know it’s been a while, but it happens. We’ve been busy just enjoying time as a family since we have less to do in the evenings.

A couple weeks ago we went to visit Zach’s family over the weekend. Ava of course enjoyed being the center of attention. Since our big girl is now completely pacifier free (yay!!!), we knew she would need a distraction in the car and invested in a dvd player. She would have made this trip ok but we have a long one coming up and we’ll need it then. She enjoyed watching “Mouse” (as in, Mickey Mouse). She also got to play outside… …and wander down by the lake… …and play on the playground.

She had a very fun time!

While her daddy golfed yesterday afternoon, I took her swimming for the first time this summer. She scares me to death… mainly because she isn’t afraid of the water at all!!!! She would have jumped off the diving board if I’d let her! I ordered her a new floatie a while back for our beach trip but it was back ordered and we haven’t gotten it yet. It should be here soon though! Yesterday we just had to wing it.

Putting her face in the water... She loved jumping off my legs into the air and would go down all the way under water. Not afraid one bit…

When I made her get out to dry off a bit, she helped herself to some crackers.. 

And a few pictures from today..

Wearing her bandana from a birthday party a couple weeks ago

I captioned this one on facebook: “Ummm… when did she become a teenager??!” Seriously….. she looks like a 13 year old doing this! :)

Okay, so that’s a good enough update right? I’ll leave you with a funny story from today. Ava’s showing a lot of interest in potty training but we aren’t pushing it. Today while I was home for lunch, she ran off and I went looking for her, and she was sitting on her potty (with her shorts and diaper still on), going #2! I guess it’s good she at least knows where to go to do it! She just hasn’t put it all together yet! :) Love that kid!

Hope you are having an enjoyable summer too! :)

We ♥ GLEE!!

Zach and I aren't the only ones who enjoy Glee! Ava had a little dance fest last night during the season finale! Total cutie - she's definitely a music lover!

Random update

So.. I can’t say much has really happened since my last post. Last week was super busy with it being the last week of school. Ava had a beach party 3 days and enjoyed playing in the water. She had another allergic reaction to a new sunscreen but we finally found one that works! Her new lunchbox also was ready just in time for the last day of school!

Ava is a major thief these days. She helps herself to whatever she can get her hands on… She really liked Mom’s Toms :)

She is also very much into helping. Her chore of choice is sweeping. She also helped sweep Friday night when we went to NWA to help my brother move into his new house.

We had a nice, busy Memorial Day weekend. We got a lot done around the house. Ava wasn’t feeling great so she wasn’t in the best of moods but we still managed to do some fun things. We went to a wedding and a cook out. We also went to a party for one of her friends at school. It was at a local place with animals, a hayride, and fruit picking! Ava wanted nothing to do with the animals but was all about picking some strawberries! 

We watered our yard for a bit tonight and let Ava play in the water for a while. She needed a little help to get going. She’s so stand offish with things at first. Sometimes she warms up, sometimes she doest. That’s just Ava.

Can.NOT wait to see this little tush on the beach in a few weeks!

Look at this sweet baby. We have finally taken the plunge to remove the pacifier at bed time. She’d become a little too attached to it lately so we took it away two days ago. She only asked for it one time today. She laid down and went to sleep tonight without even making a peep! I’m so proud of her! I have a feeling she may still want it in the next couple of days but it feels good to have made some progress! Her new items of comfort are her goggie (doggie) and her blankey. It’s amazing how quickly kids catch on.

So, anyway. That’s what’s going on in our world. Anyone else amazed it’s already June?!?!