Tennesse Family Reunion

Earlier this month we had an exciting trip to Tennessee! When I was little, we used to gather in Tennessee almost every summer for annual family reunions. All of my cousins were close in age, to a varying degree, so we always had lots of fun together. Some of my best memories are of swimming, skiing, boating, eating grandma's surprises, and just overall hanging out at my grandma's house with my siblings and cousins. It was just as much fun to also go visit the Allen's, on my dad's side of the family. I always looked forward to playing in grandpa's garden and farm. Not to mention, eating a good old fashioned country meal.

We all got together again this year for a bittersweet reunion to memorialize my grandma and spread her ashes. It was the first time Ava got to meet my cousin's children and play like we used to. We were invited by Aunt Linda and Uncle Lee to stay at their home that they built on the same lake that my grandma lived. What a beautiful house it was! We were very grateful for their hospitality.

We had a lot of first experiences on this trip and Ava learned so much. She still talks about Tennessee. Here she is on her first plane ride. She did so well on the 3 hour flight, though didn't sleep a wink like her cousins, because she just couldn't miss a thing. Once we got to Tennessee, she immediately took it all in and headed for the great outdoors. It was a refreshing 77 degrees there and we felt rejuvinated, as we had come during a hot streak of 100+ degree temperature. She ran throughout the green grass, investigated all plants and bugs, and played on the canoe with her 1st and 2nd cousins. She got to swim in the lake for the first time. The same lake I swam in the summers, as a child.She took her first boat ride. Uncle Ty is helping Ava onto the boat. All buckled up and ready to go. She transitioned to sitting with daddy at the front of the boat shortly after we left. She absolutely loved riding on the boat and continued to ask to do it again the rest of the weekend. Side note, look how beautiful it is there!Visiting Grandpa Allen and Aunt Kay. We ate like no other and enjoyed every last bite. They were all impressed with how well Ava ate. Here is a plaque and tree planted in memory of my dad. Cousins.

The Allen's.

Grandpa's Garden.
Grandpa giving us the tour.

Cheese!

Eating tomatoes from Lee and Linda's Garden.

Happy 4th of July!

My Grandma's (former) house is back in there. So many wonderful memories there.

Feeding the fish.

Ava loved their dog, Tilly.

Ava fished for the first time. She didn't catch anything, but her cousin Abigail did!

Chasing Lightning Bugs. Another fun pasttime that I have fond memories of!

On a walk to pick wild blackberries. Ava enjoyed finding and eating them with Aunt Jill.

Playing with Words

Ava has been playing with sounds of letters and words. Random. I just cheerlead her as I listen and she comes up with some good ones!

"Ooooooooooooo U! That sounds like Barack Oooooooooooooooobama"

"Wow, Wow, Wubzy. They sound the same. Wow. Wow. Wubzy"

I love her observations because nothing is memorized, nothing is taught; it's purely her playing with her words.

Two Year Pictures

We had the pleasure of attending a photo shoot with our friends, Keri and Mia, to one of their friends studio. Ginny of GinnyBPhotography exceeded our expectations of capturing Ava's personality so perfectly and beautifully. How she managed to get these precious pictures is beyond me when my little toddler tornado was everywhere. In Ava's defense, she listened really well to Ginny's directions, but still, as those of you with toddlers know, she was everywhere.

Thank you so very much to Ginny for giving us a Father's Day gift for Ryan and a forever gift for our family. These photographs are absolutely amazing!

All photos taken by Ginny of GinnyBPhotography.com

My favorite. I just love her eyes and that innocent look while I rubbed her arm. She was so relaxed.

Ava wearing Daddy's shirt.

If you give a toddler some paint

(Reads like the book, If you Give a Pig a Pancake)

If you give a toddler some paint,

She'll probably dabble in it enough to peak her curiousity.


She'll create a masterpiece of "Stars and Stripes", but...

That won't be the only masterpiece that is created. She'll insist that she "just wants to make a mess" and do a little more body painting.

And as an onlooker you have the choice to ruin the harmless fun or let her explore her world and create new colors and areas to paint. Besides, who could resist a face like this?

So, once you've created such masterpieces and your toddler looks similar to Barney the dinosaur, covered head to toe in purple, a color of which she figured out on her own through mixing, you have to decide the best way to clean up.

So you let her enjoy a little sink-time fun. At first she'll want to wash some dishes.

And then she'll want to make you some "sweet tea".

Finally, if you give a toddler some paint, she'll want to do it again. Only this time, she'll want to paint her hair with a paintbrush and water.

And if you give her a paintbrush and water, she'll have just as much fun.

Wordless Wednesday: Cousins baking Cookies

First Shiner

Caused by a plastic baby doll. =(

First Movie Night

Watching the movie Cars lasted all of 11 minutes. We had a chill night one Saturday and Ava was so excited to go to the movie store to pick out her first official movie! We made a pallet on the floor, popped popcorn, and ate sweets until Aves got bored with the movie. I thought for sure it would have held her attention, but not this one.

She did, however, love the music to the movie and everytime a song would come on, she grabbed her tutu and danced!

Going to the Doctor

I had to go to the doctor for my annual the other day and was telling Ava that while I was gone, she would stay over with Aunt Jill, Abigail and Emery. Here is our conversation:

Mommy: "Mommy has to go to the doctor today and you are going to stay with Aunt Jill for a few hours."

Ava: "Are you sick?"

Mommy: "No, I'm not sick, it's just so the doctor can check me out and make sure that everything is fine with my body."

Ava: "What are you going to take?"

Mommy: "Hmmm, I don't know. What should I take?"

Ava: "Your blood pressure and your heart beat."

First Baseball Game

For Father's Day 2009, we hung out, went swimming and went to Ava's first AAA Baseball game. She had such a great time running around, riding the pony, playing on the playscape, jumping in the bounce house, eating all the junk food, and cheering for the team. She would yell, "Everybody stand up!", and when mommy didn't stand, she said, "I need you to be a good listener to Ava, please".

Oh, and a scary story. Ava and daddy went to go walk around for a bit. Mommy was sitting and people watching on our blanket in the shade, not really paying attention to the game, when someone shouted, "HEAD'S UP!". I look up and see the game ball coming RIGHT towards me. I dive to the other side of the blanket and cover my head. The ball ends up hitting the guy behind me in the leg. Good thing Ava wasn't around and good thing my head didn't get between the ball the the guys leg, which it would have if I hadn't of moved. Yikes!

We had such a great evening and have decided that we definitely need to frequent more games.

So much to love about DADDY!

Happy belated Father's Day Daddy!

We are so lucky to have YOU!

Here's why....

1. It is YOU that reminds mommy to put Ava's toothpaste on her grocery list.

2. It is YOU that plays hide and seek time after time after time and evokes a true, deep, laughter from Ava that is rarely heard.

3. It is YOU that prepares for an outing by making sure Ava has her water and other needed items.

4. It is YOU that makes up silly words, stories and songs that captures and develops Ava's imagination.

5. It is YOU that knows Ava's schedule so well that if mommy is running late, she is sure to get a call.

6. It is YOU that wants the best for Ava in everything.

7. It is YOU that always goes back in to give Ava that extra hug and kiss she requests before going night night.

8. It is YOU that will sit and draw with Ava while she "does her business".

9. It is YOU that goes with mommy to take Ava to dance class and grins ear to ear watching her on the screen.

10. It is YOU that gives her so much love that she will always, always know how much she is loved and adored.

Thank you for being such a GREAT daddy!

We love you!

So much to love at 2 years, 3 months

1. I love hearing words like "privacy", "coopepate" (cooperate), and "observation" come out of your mouth.

2. I love how far you can remember things and how you are able to recall past events with specifics such as what we ate, what we talked about, or who was there. You'll say "You 'member when ......".

3. I LOVE your imagination. It blows us away. Whether you are pretending to hatch out of an egg, eating cupcakes, or swimming like a sea turtle, you keep us astonished at what you'll pretend next.

4. I love your love/hate relationship with Boo (the cat). You two mostly love one another, Boo having to be in your room every morning when you wake up and every afternoon when you wake from nap, but sometimes you two are on each other's last nerve.

5. I love when you find something interesting and you insist that you "need to talk about it". For example, you like hearing the story of Josh's laptop being stolen by someone it didn't belong to, or how our hearts beat and pump blood throughout our bodies, or when someone is sick or sad or happy, you always want to know more.

6. I love what a big girl you are and just go potty all by yourself. I'll say "Ava, where are you?" and you'll say "I just goin' pee-pee, mommy" whilst sitting on the potty. You wear big girl panties during the day, even when we go out and about. Pull-ups are still on at nap and night.

7. I love little word quirks that you have and will soon outgrow, I'm sure. When saying words with blends (sm, tr, sk, st, etc.), you say "I mell (smell) somepin" or "I just pretendin' I aseep (asleep)"

8. I love how you want to rescue a roly-poly who is turned upside down on the ground. "Mommy! The roly-poly needs help!"

9. I love when you dance. We went to your first dance class this week and daddy and I sat in the waiting room watching you on the tv and you did so well with listening to Miss Yolanda and following directions. We were so proud! Also, when you hear any music, your little hips start to move or your feet start to get happy.

10. I love how daddy is "MY daddy" and mommy is "MY mommy". There is no one else's mommy I'd rather be!

A Stalling Secret

She's come up with a new stall tactic when it comes to going night-night. The list already included, rubbing her back, a family hug, another kiss, some water, and some more water. So last night she thought of a new one and knew mommy was a sucker for secrets.

Ava: "I have to tell you a secret!" she yells as mommy is leaving her bedroom.

Mommy: "Okay. ONE secret"

Ava: gently whispers in mommy's ear, "Iiiiiii love youuuuuu sooooooo much!"

Mommy: pushes her heart back into her chest and tells Ava, "I love you so much too." And left her bedroom with a smile.

It's a Pull-up Hat!

What's THAT you say?

An invented term created by Ava when she decided that she didn't want to sleep one afternoon. Hmmm, this seems to be the case A LOT lately in my posts.

I heard her talking and listened to her sing "Happy Birthday" on the monitor and thought I better go in there just to make sure IT didn't happen again. You loyal blog readers know exactly what I'm talking about.

When I walked in, I saw something on her head. It took me a few seconds for my eyes to adjust and she said, "It's a pull up hat, mommy!" She was so proud of herself and it was all I could do to maintain my composure. "bwahahahaha!" I literally laughed out loud.

This is the funniest thing she has done so far. It was just the innocence of it and how much of her personality showed.

Singing "Happy Birthday" again for me.

The Next American Idol?

She loves to sing.

Not only does she love to sing, but she loves to pretend she is singing into a microphone.

Or in this case, a plastic baseball bat.

She gets points for her creativity though.

Note: The one-arm shirt was created by Ava herself. Jewelry provided by mommy and daddy on a recent trip to NYC.

She's not TECHNICALLY Sooner born

But, she sure is Sooner bred! When I told her that we haven't started saving for OUT of state tuition yet...

A Video of Ava with the Giggles!

She gets a case of the giggles when she tells daddy about everything she is going to eat. It's a little hard to hear, but you get the idea from her laughing. She says she is going to eat things like the camera, the sky, the books, the floor, etc.