From the mouth of Aves

Seeing Griffin get a diaper change in the hospital, Ava exclaimed, "It looks like a pig"!!

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"When Griffin gets older, we will change his name to Pablo Griffin."

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"I don't like Griffin"

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"I love baby brother"

Has it really been 2 weeks?

Life with a newborn.

And a toddler.

Crazy.

One day at a time.

Huh.

Some pictures from our past 2 weeks as a family of four.

Wordless Wednesday: Silly Series

Ava is officially a BIG SISTER!

Arriving a week early, little Griffin Davis --um, yes, we changed his middle name last minute, AFTER already announcing the other-- is here...officially making Ava a BIG sister!


Griffin Davis
Born May 13, 2010
9:36 p.m.
7 lbs. 7.6 oz
19.25 inches tall

He is SO sweet! And a little snuggler, I might add. He has been so chill and relaxed until our first night home. We had a rough night, no sleepy newborn last night. We think it's from the circumcision that was done yesterday. Hopefully.

Ava is LOVING this big sister thing. Today out of nowhere she said, "I'm a big sister...YAY!" and started doing the "big sister dance". She is so so helpful and curious. We couldn't be happier or luckier. What a blessing.

What I LOVE about you being 3 years old

I love that you teach me so much. When I get frustrated, you'll tell me to take a deep breath and "keep trying" or you'll make a suggestion for another way to do something and say "is that a plan, Stan?"

I love that you are willing to try new things and remain pretty flexible. You always tell me, "You have to try it first before you know if you like it".

I love watching you think. It's like I can see the wheels turning in your head. Spawning off of trying new things...One day, while we were riding in the car, I mentioned that I wasn't sure if I liked a certain children's television show. You thought for a second and said, "Mommy, have you ever watched it?". Quite honestly, I hadn't, so I told you that. You replied with, "How do you know if you don't like it, if you have never watched it? Maybe you should watch it and see." Blow me away.

I love going to the park with you and watching you swing (though not in excess amounts of time, you could swing all day, just ask Aunt Jill). We have our deepest, most interesting conversations on the swings. I don't know if it's just the relaxing atmosphere and that you are in your element, but you talk and talk for days on the swings. One day, out of nowhere you told me that you were "just breathing in the air that the trees make for us". Another day, you spied two black birds and named them Jack and Jill and once they flew away, you began to sing the black birds song. It's just little things like that make me smile.

I love going on nature walks with you. Everything that is nature you are quick to point out, investigate and inquire about. Your questions never get old. I like the challenge of a preschool explanation. When we saw a dead baby bird yesterday, you were adament that his mommmy was going to come back and make him better because he was sick. Of course she was.

I love my time with you.

I love watching you converse with others. I love their reactions when either they have no idea what you are talking about or they can't believe they are having that conversation with you. The other day while on a walk, you stopped a man and his son and said, "How's it going?" and then you had to know, "Where are you going?" They were great sports about talking to you.

I love that you are know what you like. You get dressed everyday in an outfit of your liking and you must wear the same shoes, everyday. Your black, maryjane crocks are IT. You have so many cute, fun shoes and you won't wear them. Only the black shoes. You've also learned to put them in the shoe basket so you know where to find them as we've had some scares with missing black shoes.

I love listening to you prepare for a baby brother as best as you know how. You talk about what he'll say, "ga ga ga" and you'll talk about what you'll do together. It doesn't matter that we try to tell you how tiny babies don't do much yet, you are preparing for a sibling...that is so special!

I am going to love the age difference in you and your baby brother. You are so independent and understanding that I will hold these qualities near and dear to me when he arrives. Soon.

Wordless Wednesday: Dressed (all by myself) and Ready to Play

Sweet Spring Treats

Thanks to Aunt Jill's recommendation, Grandma sent us the neatest popsicle maker, the ZOKU, for Easter. We have used it several times, usually 1-2x a week and we just love it. It literally takes about 7 minutes to make a popsicle using ingredients of your choice. We usually just use orange juice as our base because that is what we have on hand and add fruits such as blueberries, mango, strawberry, canteloupe, watermelon and banana. Aves enjoys getting creative with her combinations and today we had an orange, strawberry, canteloupe, mango popsicle. YUM! Thanks Grandma!

SPRINKLERS!

One of Ava's favorite pasttimes is playing in the sprinklers. I'll have to look up old pics, but I think I have captured every year. Each year it gets more and more intense. She was running, jumping, leaping, falling, splashing...you name it.

I can't believe the hot weather is here already. On this particular day in May, it was already 93 degrees.

Super Sibling Prep Class

She's One in a Million

Our First Few Days in Frisco

There is definitely not a shortage of kid-friendly things to do here. Each week is a new adventure as we find our way around, meet new people, discover new areas and parks, and explore our new surroundings. We are both loving it.

A popular request from Ava is just to be able to go walk around the mall because, much to our surprise, there is a carousel! She thought that was just the neatest thing.

We have also attended a puppet show, "The Tortoise and the Hare" along with "The Princess and the Pea".

The library, which is in Frisco square by "downtown Frisco" is another frequent stop on our weekly outings. Not only is it beautiful, they provide story time (3x a week) and a great kids area. When we went to our first storytime, I think we were both a little overwhelmed. It's not like our typical, quaint little local library storytime. It's get your ticket before they run out and listen to the librarians while they are on their microphones! Yes, they have microphones attached! Ava really enjoys it and it's our usual Friday outing. It's also neat to see how she understands borrowing books and tells me what she wants to find and check out the next week. We've done everything from her new favorite, "Pinkalicious" and "Fancy Nancy" to books on being a big sister, to kitty cats and doggies.

Organizing Old Pictures-Ava's 3rd BirthDAY

We woke up singing "Happy Birthday" to our birthday girl with surprise balloons all over the living room floor (thanks for the idea Parents mag). We wanted to do bedroom floor, but since she is up to potty most nights, we didn't want her to trip or see them early. She loved it!

Her presents included a new big girl scooter, some really neat blocks and a gardening set. I love the picture of her digging in the dirt with a leotard and tutu on...typical Aves.

Happy 3rd Birthday....again...my baby girl!