november puddles

Have you ever seen a nice deep puddle with a beautiful reflection that you just wanted to go splash in? Well, Ava sure has. We have had some nice showers these past couple of weeks and Ava was a quick learner when it came to water aerobics!

Enjoy the fun!

Welcome November

I think Ava managed to adjust to the time change. Hallelujah. I got a little worried when she woke up at 6:00 yesterday morning. She's still sleeping and I'm about to go pour myself a cup of coffee. Mornings start off best when I have a cup of coffee in me before she wakes up.

She's so much fun right now. Everyday she does something new and/or funny and I am kicking myself for not doing a better job and noting them down. The only one I can think of at the moment happened last week. I was working in the kitchen and had given her some cheerios as a snack. My back was to her and suddenly I feel this little hand smacking me on the backside. I turned around and there she was looking up at me very earnestly and making the hand sign for "more". She was out of snack and letting me know it.

Oh and also she nearly gave me a heart attack a few days ago when I realized it had been about a minute since I'd last seen her pushing her highchair around the living room. I went into the kitchen and she was SITTING IN HER HIGHCHAIR LOOKING OUT THE KITCHEN WINDOW! I literally did a double take. She likes being in her highchair and she likes looking out the window and I guess she just decided to push it to the window and then climb in. When I came in she just gave me a look like, "What? I don't see anything unusual going on?" She's not a climber and I shudder to think how she got herself up in that highchair with out falling. Needless to say I've been much more careful with letting her play with her highchair now.

Here's some recent pictures. We went to her friend Evie's costume birthday party on Saturday and scored a great deal on a costume by waiting until Halloween day to buy it. The party favors were fairy wings and there were a pair that perfectly matched Ava's dress. So cute.

About 30 minutes before we had to leave for the party Tony and I decided to dress up too. This is what we came up with . . .

The birthday girl, Evie.

Evie's mom Amy made yummy homemade Mac N Cheese for everyone

Evie's brother Simon

And Simon with his Nacho Libre mask.

Princess Lily

Present time. Evie got a play kitchen from her parents and everyone got her accessories for it. Fun. Ava had a bit of a melt down though because she wanted to play with the food and feed the doll. . . I guess I know what she wants for Christmas . . .

Ava playing in their backyard in this cool tree house at Simon and Evie's.

Born to shop?

We went to Toys R Us a couple of weeks ago and Ava found her favorite toy. A Stroller. It doesn't matter if its a kids stroller, a real stroller, or something so big her daddy couldn't push it, but it still resembles a stroller... she will be occupied for hours just pushing her stroller. We discovered that this is a fun place for her to go sometimes. Enjoy the video I snapped as she was pushing this baby doll around the store. You can here them announce the store is closing in the beginning. But don't worry, she didn't break anything, so we didn't need to buy anything. :)

Playing at the Pumpkin Patch!

We have had some beautiful weather here lately! When I came home to have lunch on Monday, I saw a blanket in the backyard. I then came inside and saw Teressa and Ava preparing the last few things so that we could have a picnic together. It was the perfect weather for it, and I always love to get outside as much as possible at lunch, because a lot of the day will be in the office on the phones.

We also got to go to the free pumpkin patch again this year. Ava had even more fun this year! Enjoy the photos.

Ava and I headed out to the backyard to play for awhile, as Teressa finished getting the sandwiches together. We even had some great chocolates, that my mom had mailed us, to have for dessert. I had the ladder out to put up Ava's little swing.

"Dad, your my favorite picnic partner"*
(*caption added by her Dada. Actual thoughts are still unknown)

When she learned that she could pull these wagons, she was off. She would push and pull and nothing could get in her way. Except for a hill or a rather large pumpkin. She was no match for those.

Ava doing her "superjump"

Wrestling around in the pumpkins with Dada

My most beautiful bride. Standing there. Looking beautiful.

Playing in the warm sun

"Care-free"

This is Ava after she learned that these pumpkins could be rolled. Pure delight. That is what filled her heart at that moment.

Isn't she growing up so fast?

She loved running around with her Mama. I think we may have been having too much fun.

Once Ava learned that she could put her face into these cardboard characters, she loved it. I'm just happy about that broom - does that mean she can help sweep now?

Ava and I had lots of fun in this tractor ride! It actually went pretty fast.

Go speed racer, go!

One of the greatest things about Texas are Fletchers Corny Dogs. That was our dinner that night. Here is a sad little girl who realizes there are no more corn dogs left...

Ava meeting the local clown.
"Not amused" is an understatement.

What a gift.

Is there any game that is as much fun as throwing pumpkins?

Ava was a lot more happy to be "Tigger" this year!

Of course we have to break out the photo from last year. Not as happy.

John, Megan and Eli

I wanted to share a few more photos of John, Megan and Eli. Teressa had an awesome time getting to spend a few days with her sister, Megan and her nephew Eli. Then on the last day, John got to come hang out with us too, before they all flew back up to Washington. I snapped a few photos of them while Teressa was making dinner. :)

ava enjoying some ice cream

it was such a beautiful day in texas today. wonderful temperature. nice breeze. definitely one of those days where you try to soak it all in.

so we decided to do a little family hike. we went down and hiked some trails around lake grapevine and had a great time. ava was in a little backpack thing and she had fun looking around, pulling my hair, smackin my head, and even... giving me wet willys. if you don't know what those are, your a fortunate person. but my wet ears testify that i know them all too well.

after that we were driving home and we drove by a Rita's Italian Ice. we stopped to get a dessert to split - a gelati. it's italian ice mixed with custard. yum. there are some water fountains and some park benches nearby so we sat down. the video clip below will show you what happens when a 1 year old discovers what custard is and has a spoon of her own. :) and enjoy the cool outfit teressa put on her today. hehe. hand-me-downs are the greatest thing ever. i asked where this white sweater thing came from, i think she said jaime. thank you jaime :)

Rainy Texas

It's been raining and raining here and I'm loving it. To me Texas feels more like home when it's gray and cloudy out, especially if it's actually cold and rainy and not hot and steamy and rainy. Those days are gross.

Today I met Tony and our Pastor from Calvary Grapevine for lunch at Cafe Brazil. I love that place. The lunch was great and it was good to have an edifying lunch with our pastor, just talking about the Lord, the work He's doing in Asia, parenting, the Bible, etc. I think that might be what I miss most about working full time in the office at GFA, just talking to people in the halls and at lunch about their lives and the Lord and the ministry. It was nice.

Then Ava and I hit up Babies R Us to get a shower gift for a friend and a much needed replacement bib for Ava. I was talking on the phone to my mom when I pulled into the parking lot and made the mistake of thinking I could continue to talk to her as I tried to get myself, my purse, Ava and Ava's baby doll out of the car while keeping the phone pinned between my head and shoulder. Just as I got Ava out of her car seat I dropped my purse onto the wet pavement. I bent down with Ava on one hip to pick it up and my phone slipped off my shoulder and went sliding underneath the car. I grabbed a diaper out of the car and knelt on it while keeping one hand on Ava in the car and was just able to grab my phone with my finger tips. Every day I feel more and more like a mom. . .

My sister was here last week with her nearly one year old son Eli. We had a great time, even though Eli came down with a cold the day after they got here, which then turned into pneumonia and a double ear infection. So we didn't really leave the house much other than a Target run and a couple trips to the urgent care, but we still had a really nice visit. Ava loved playing with her cousin and I think she really enjoyed being the "big girl" especially when she got to eat her meals at her desk while Eli used her high chair. She also like helping Megan change Eli's diapers and once even went into the guest room and brought Megan back Eli's wipes after she heard Megan say Eli needed his diaper changed! It's amazing what they hear and understand. Scary too.

Eli is a very sweet little boy and full of energy, even when he's sick. They did really well together most of the time, and Ava was good about sharing her toys and playing with him up until the last afternoon. She was eating some cheerios off of the top of a stool in the kitchen (it's a low wooden bar stool that I sometimes use as a table for her snacks when I'm working in the kitchen). She was happily snacking away and then along came Eli. He pulled himself up to stand by the stool and began swiping the cheerios off onto the floor. She started to push his hands away and I told her "no, no, you need to share" and she just couldn't take it anymore. Down to the floor she went, just wailing her little heart out. And Eli just stood there watching her, scattering the rest of her snack and then even had the audacity to eat a few. She would just look up at him, nonchalantly eating HER cheerios, and cry all the louder. I tried to give her some more snack on the other stool but she just couldn't take it anymore. She'd been so kind and patient with that boy and then he just came along and messed up her snack and then didn't even care. She just cried and cried and cried. I think we've all been where Ava was that afternoon. Or at least all of us with little brothers. Haha!

We didn't get many pictures of the two while they were here, I guess because of Eli not feeling well and just thinking he'd feel better tomorrow and we'd get more . . .and then it never happened. But here's a few of them playing in the tub and some Tony took of Megan, John and Eli before they headed to the airport on Sunday (her husband John was in New Orleans that week working on a rebuilding project with Samaritans Purse, but his layover was in Dallas so he could fly home with Megand and Eli). I am assuming that the world wide web will be so obsolete by the time Ava and Eli are old enough to care, that it's ok for me to post these pictures for the entire world to see.

Isn't he just the cutest little boy ever?