Memorial Day...better late than never

I know it seems like a million years ago, but here are some pictures of our Memorial Day get-together with Stacy, Jonathan, and JonThomas. This year instead of doing our usual cookout, we decided to do BBQ and baked potatoes with homemade ice cream. It was delicious. Unfortunately the weather was kind of yucky. It was very humid and alternated between pouring rain and sunny and humid. We were able to spend a little bit of time outside where Bradley and JonThomas played ball with Ava and then the rest of the day indoors playing American Idol and Guitar Hero on the Wii. Let's just say that I completely suck at Guitar Hero! I don't know why I can't work my hands at the same time. We also played Stacy's favorite game (yeah right) Trivial Pursuit.




This is the 3rd year in a row that we have had Memorial Day together and I hope it is a tradition that continues year after year.
Does this face look evil or what?

Pretty Toenails and Tonka Trucks

Last weekend when we tilled our garden Ava got a chance to give her Tonka Trucks a whirl. Her Gramps, my Dad, had given her a dump truck and another piece of equipment to play with. Even though she hates having sticky, messy hands, she loves to play in the dirt. So after Bradley tilled up the garden, Ava got a chance to take these new toys for a spin. I just thought it was funny that this little girly girl with the painted toenails was so into playing in the dirt and absolutely did not want to stop when it was time. She enjoyed helping plant, but is bummed that now she can't play in the dirt.

10 on Tuesday...Ava Funnies

10 on Tuesday ... Ava Funnies Edition...

*FYI* Our computer is in the shop so I am posting from my school laptop. My pics won't be as big and I pray that the movies show up!

1. The other day we were outside and Ava kept saying she wanted some "Engle Lines." Bradley and I were so confused and had no idea what she was talking about. When I said, show me, she went out into the yard and picked a "Dandelion."



2. Ava and I have been crafting in my scrapbooking room. She has a little basket of craft stuff like paper, crayons, and stickers that she gets out and decorates. Yesterday I had went upstairs and she was downstairs with Daddy (or supposed to be). I knew it was awfully quiet and when she heard me coming downstairs she ran from the craft room and said, "It's okay Momma, it's just glue!" WHAT!?!?!?!? She had gotten into my stuff and proceeded to decorate her own scrapbook picture with glue and buttons! What a crafter!



3. Ava kept talking about this thing she called "The Mask" after we left Disney World. When we were watching our videos she saw the Spectromagic parade (which she can't get enough of) and pointed out the mask to us. The mask is actually Chernobog from the movie Fantasia. The first video shows the footage Bradley filmed of it at the actual parade. It is like a volcano that shoots out smoke and then opens up to reveal this demon type thing. For a while Ava would actually cry about it and act very scared. Now it has become more like a joke and she will actually cloke herself in a blanket and reenact the mask scene, complete with music.





Here she is describing the mask:











4. Here is a nice photo of the cave baby hair. I have just been trying to keep her hair off of her face and out of the sore on the side of it. Needless to say, it is not always an attractive look.

5. The other night Ava was in the craft room and she kept crying for her "Rah Rah." I had no idea what that was until I picked her up and she showed me. It was an old pom-pom that she had gotten at a football game. She loves to play cheerleader with her "Rah Rah."

6. This child eats green peppers like they are apples. She is satisfied to just wash it and eat it whole!

7. Saturday we were going to town to buy plants for the garden. I had put a little barette in Ava's hair to hold it back, but she also wanted her headband. It was an interesting look that prompted Bradley to give her the new nickname of "Baby Jane Fonda."

Well I guess I am all out of funnies, so here are a couple of other tidbits.

8. Ava's Dr called this morning and said her culture came back negative for Staph and Strep. They weren't sure what the blisters were, but keep her on antibiotics and watch for more.

9. We finally got our garden planted and Ava had a time helping. I will be posting some pictures of her playing in the dirt later.

10. 5 and 1/2 more days of school and then several days of inservice! YAY!

Nana's Birthday

Last weekend was Nana's birthday. Her actual birthday was Sunday, but we celebrated on Saturday night. Joe did a cookout and we enjoyed that and then cake. Ava had been talking about it all day because we had taken Bethany to pick up the cake so Ava had been anticipating cake all day long. She didn't even want to eat supper because she wanted cake. I even bribed her into trying squash for the promise of cake. Reluctantly she tried it and then said, "I want some cake now!" You can't come between this girl and her cake. After cake we watched Ava's new favorite movie, Alice in Wonderland. By the time school;s out, I bet Nana will have this movie memorized!

Happy Birthday, Nana!

Heading to the Dr.

Just a quick post to let you all know that Ava is getting ready to head to the doctor. She has a spot that popped up on her face yesterday. This morning it was oozy and even more irritated. She also now has one that is popping up on her arm. Say a quick prayer for her if you get a chance.

Thanks!

*Edited - Dr. is relatively sure that Ava has staph infection in 3 places on her face and arm. They swabbed it to culture it and see, but are treating it like a staph infection. The Dr. said this is very common and that we all carry staph on our skin. She said when conditions are just right and the bacteria enters an open spot, then the staph begins to spread. She will go back to the Dr. on Friday.*

Mother's Day Weekend - Saturday in KY

Last weekend we headed up to KY to spend the day with my mom and grandmothers. We wanted to visit close to Mother's Day and also celebrate my mom's birthday which was in late April. Once we had pegged down the date we were going to visit, I called and made reservations at Patti's so we could have her birthday dinner there. I must say that since the day I made the reservation I had been looking forward to it and ready for some serious grub!

We got into Princeton a little bit after lunch and hung out for a while at my parents house. Once my mom was ready we went and had a little snack break at Sonic and Ava enjoyed an ice cream cone (and so did we). I also discovered a new weakness, the Mango Limeade. Delicious! I could drink one everyday! After Sonic we visited with my Mammaw and Nanny and spent some time visiting before our dinner reservation. Ava enjoyed playing with Mammaw's dog, Poncho, and we had fun brushing out his winter coat. At Nanny's Ava played with Maggie and Spanky and was excited about bringing Maggie back to TN.

Finally what I had been waiting for: a delicious meal at Patti's. The only downside was that Ava had not napped and was getting testy and did not want to sit still while we ate our food. But I got her to spend some time drawing pictures which occupied her for a bit. After desert, complete with singing Happy Birthday to my mom, we walked around the settlement for a bit, saw a little of a wedding, played with Ava on the slide, and did some window shopping. The setting there is just so beautiful that you could spend a while just looking at everything. Unfortunately with a 2 year old, you don't want to be around breakables, and she doesn't have much attention span! But I thought it was a delicious meal and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Then we headed back to Princeton, picked up Maggie, and headed home. It was a nice visit, quick as usual, but well spent with my family and our new houseguest.

Ava and Mammaw

Ava, Mammaw, and Poncho

Ava and Poncho (these expressions are funny!)

4 generations (and I love Ava looking at Mammaw in this first one)

Ava and Nanny

4 generations of ladies

Ava helping Grammy open her birthday card

My mom thought these wind chimes were funny...?

Ava and Grammy

Ava and Grammy and Gramps

10 on Tuesday

1. Everything Ava refers to in the past is classified as "this morning." As in, "I went to Disney World this morning." "I watched a parade this morning." "I hunt eggs here this morning." And with her little southern drawl, it is too cute!

2. Her imagination is really coming out and she is doing a lot more pretend than she had previously been doing. The other night she had to undress all her dolls to give them baths using baby wipes.

3. Ava had a couple of inches cut off of her hair a couple of weeks ago in an attempt to help even it out and tame it a little.

4. Some of her favorite cartoons to watch are Smurfs, Snorks, and Flinstones. We have the Boomerang channel which is a part of Cartoon Network and it shows older cartoons a lot.

5. I haven't mentioned this on her yet, but my Nanny (Mom's mom) has started the first of three rounds of chemotherapy for stage 2 lymphoma. She has moved in with my aunt and uncle while this is going on. To help ease things and since there really isn't much we can do at this point to help, we are keeping one of her dogs until she is able to come back home. Maggie came home with us on Saturday and has been hanging out with us here in TN. Ava is in heaven, but I am not so sure about Maggie. She loves to be in Maggie's face and giving Maggie tons of hugs. Poor thing won't know what to do when Maggie gets to go home, but for now, Ava says, "I love my doggie!"

6. For my mother's day I got a nice gift card to iTunes so I can charge my iPod with some new tunes! Thanks, Bradley and Ava! I also had a nice dinner out at Applebee's.

7. After I got back from Murfreesboro a few weeks ago, Ava decided to help unpack my bags. I heard her head into the kitchen and say she was looking for a babysitter for Bacon (her toy pig). She took all the cosmetics out of my overnight bag and lined them up in a circle around Bacon.
8. Ava has been very into wanting to dress herself lately. Here she is one morning last week when her outfit consisted of pajamas, cowboy boots, and a festive belt.
9. My poor house has been a disaster ever since we came back from Florida. Between the sicknesses we had and the morning sickness I have had, our house is an absolute wreck.

10. Next week I will officially start the second trimester of pregnancy. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the rest of this morning sickness and some of this tiredness will disappear! We heard the baby's heartbeat last Thursday and the doc was surprised we were able to hear it this early, but that is a great sign!

Bonus Item -

11. Happy Birthday to Aunt Bethany! Here are a couple of pictures from last year's birthday, complete with Ava stealing cake icing! Look how short her hair was!

To Hold You Over

I have taken several pictures this week and weekend, but haven't found time to download them yet. As I type this, I am listening to Ava scream bloody murder because she doesn't want to sleep in her bed. She would rather be in our bed like she was Friday night during a thunderstorm.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of Ava from the beach that I had yet to post. I hope everyone had a fantastic Mother's Day!