Miss Bed Head

ever laugh so hard...

... that soda came out of your nose?

when i came home from work a few weeks ago and teressa showed me this video clip from ava earlier in the day... it almost happened to me. enjoy laughing along with her!

Ava's first steps!

So Teressa had a brilliant idea tonight. (No, this isn't Teressa writing. This is Tony. Come on guys... she's not that proud. ;-) )

Well, back to her idea... Ava was standing up next to me while I was sitting on a chair. Teressa started calling for her, but couldn't get her to walk over to her. So we tried it the other way and I called to her as she stood by Teressa. Lo and behold... 5 steps later, and she was in my arms! Yay! So then we of course made her walk back and forth til her legs grew very very tired. We'll have to get some photos or a funny video clip up soon.

But a couple of weeks ago there was a huge storm that came through this area. While everyone else in town was sitting in the bath tubs, I asked Teressa and Ava to come out with me onto the front porch. There was a calm in the storm and even though it was very dark a few minutes prior, it started to light up and got extremely windy. Ava sure liked that breeze. Thought you might enjoy a few photos from that night. Hopefully, someday, i'll have some good tornado photos... I have been waiting 6 years to see my first Texas tornado...

Today I don't know how to be a mom

This last week has been a little on the rough side for me, the mommy. Ava was her usually happy self until she woke up from her afternoon nap on Tuesday. She woke up on the wrong side of her crib and has firmly planted her little self there.

She's been in a just plain foul mood and now she's old enough to take it out on me. Wednesday she gave my my first command. I was changing her diaper and she grabbed my hand, shoved it away and said "NO!" with more authority in her voice than I use when I'm talking to her. Since then we've been dealing with some repeates of her forgetting who the mommy is. This is all making me reevaluate my preparedness to be a mother. Why don't these things come with instruction manuals perfectly customized for each child? I want one. I feel like I know the theories and spiritual principles of good parenting and have some of the common sense factor. But I don't know the practical day to day steps. The "When she does this, you do this" and "When she says this, you say that."

A book my friend Megan gave me that I have already read 3 times called the Mommy Book has helped some. The Mommy Book is just a collaboration of all these moms talking about everything relating to raising kids, games to play, caring for newborns, discipline, etc. Basucally they just say what they did with their kids, so we can learn from their mistakes and successes. It's brilliant to have all that mothering experiance wrapped up in one book so that I don't have to have raise children myself before I get it right. But I wish there was one just like it, only just totally on disciplining and teaching your kids. So if any of you guys have that perfect book I'm looking for, I'd appreciate the tip.

Meanwhile, I'll keep praying and trusting the Lord that He will give Tony and I the wisdom we need for each step of the way. That will probably, I mean, will be, more effective than even a customized manual for little Miss Ava Helene.

P.S. In order to be fair I do have to say that I think Ava's molars may be coming in and I'd be in a foul mood too if I have pieces of bone shoving themselves through my gums. And she's had intermittent super sweet moments, like she's trying to make up for all the screaming and kicking me when I pick her up and away from the toy she was playing with. Most notably crawling up to me while I was laying on the carpet of her bedroom (we'd been looking at her books on the floor together and I just closed my eyes while she kept looking at them) and put her face millimeters from mine and then leaned over to lay her cheek on mine for a few seconds. That makes up for a lot of kicking . . .

I swear that Ava doesn't watch too much television , BUT . . .

We don't have a TV so Ava doesn't get the opportunity to watch too much of the good ol' telly, but on occasion, (ok, three specific occasions, 1) I need to trim her nails, 2) she's exceptionally cranky or 3) I need her to eat in a reasonable amount of time because we need to get out the door and watching something keeps her mind off the fact that she'd rather feed herself then have me shovel the food in with a spoon) we'll watch a little Sesame Street or Blue's Clues together on the computer. She's probably watched a grand total of 2-3 hours at the most of Blue's Clues in her life, broken up into 5 to 15 minute segments. And yet, a couple of days ago I caught her opening her hands and closing them just like Steve does every time he says "Blue's clues" while she was watching an episode. I rewound the video a bit to see if I was right and yup, the next time Steve said "Blue's clues" there went her hands again, imitating his. And she does it when ever we say "Blue's clues" to her now too.

Now I know that this does not sound much like a notable accomplishment. But there's just something about those tiny fingers opening and closing and the silly grin on her face while she does it that makes me laugh every time.

And it also serves as a reminder how quick kids imitate what they see. Therefore, I will no longer be letting her watch Blue's Clues so she doesn't start tucking her polo shirt into her khaki's like Steve does. . . .

Ava's 1st Birthday Party!

Here's the pictures from Ava's first birthday party. Enjoy!

Ava in her special birthday dress from Grandma Mary. Unbeknownst to Mary, I had seen that dress online, thought it was really cute and secretly wished Ava could have it to wear on her birthday. Imagine how excited I was when a package came in the mail and that exact dress was inside! I felt like Anne when she fianlly got her dress with puffed sleeves. . . Doesn't Ava look like a little girl?

The Cake.

The Cupcakes.



Ava greeting her party guests. I was really glad most of her friends were able to come. They all like playing together.







Our friend Troy bringing her the cake while we all sang and Tony snapped pictures.

Not too sure what to think . . .

Note this handful of frosting, courtesy of her dad, in the above two pictures. Her left hand is totally incapacitated by the sticky stuff. Thanks dad. . .

After mom cleaned of her hand. . .but she was still more interested in just playing with her spoon rather than actually eating. And it did taste good. I promise.

Diving into the cupcakes.

Present time!

Ava has a natural talent for opening gifts. She caught on very early on in life. She wants to see whats inside ASAP.

"Thanks everyone for my presents!"

The after party pool party.

Can you believe those eyes?

Ava loves her pool. Her birthday present from mom and dad.

Just chill'n

Corrina's graduation

Last month Tony's step-sister Corrina graduated from SMU with law degree. Pretty cool. Tony's family came to celebrate and here are the rest of the pictures from their time here.

Adam, Tony's sister Danielle's son. What a cutie.

Ava crawled into the exersaucer while Adam was in it. Funny girl.

The only comb-over I've ever loved.

Not sure what happened with Ava's hair. This is not one of my proudest mom moments . . .

Ava loves dogs and we met this Great Dane at the park. She was pretty impressed.

Corinna and her husband Josh's son Hayden. He is one of the smartest kids I know and a very staunch Republican. Seriously. He can hold his own in a debate.

Tony's dad Joe and step-mom Beth

Joe after Danielle snuck up on him with a cooler full of ice water. . . .

Corrina

Josh

Grandpa Joe and Grandma Beth got Ava Elmo Live for her birthday. She was a little scared of him at first but she loves him now.

Graduation time.

Tony led the waiting crowd in a round of Happy Birthday to Josh while we waited for the graduation ceremony to begin. And it really was Josh's birthday.

Ava's doll from Aunt Danielle. She loves it and carries it around everywhere.