Monday, July 23, 2012

Birthday Girl!

We had a wonderful time at Ava's birthday party on Friday night.  Most of the family was able to attend and we were able to have some good food and some good fun!  Ava really enjoyed herself and loved the special cupcakes that Mommy made for her.

 We want to thank Sylvia Hager for giving us ideas and letting us borrow a number of decorations to use for the party!



 She's the star of the show!
 Yummy!




Ava loves all of her kitchen toys!
She especially loves getting dressed up in her apron and playing with her new kitchen
She was able to wear one of her birthday dresses on Sunday
One of the best things about turning 2 is that she can now go to her own Sunday school class with her own Bible

First Trophy!

Jack's first year of T-Ball was a success and he had a really good time getting to play some ball.  He had some great hits and he had one of the biggest cheering sections as most of the family attended numerous games.  Last Thursday was the closing picnic and also the awards ceremony when all the kids received a trophy.  Jack is very proud of his trophy and was loving running around and showing everyone.




Thursday, July 19, 2012

Happy birthday, Ava Jane!

Two years ago at 8:19 am on this date, I heard Ava's voice for the first time. She cried while they cleaned her and weighed her and while they did all the stuff they do. She cried while they finished my surgery and when they took her to the nursery to wait for me. She cried while Matt held her and finally when I got to my room around 10:30, I could hold her and she instantly stopped crying and went to sleep. So we had a bond right away, and I'm so grateful God gave her to us! And I'm grateful Matt wanted Jack to have a sibling, or she might not be here! Ha! I can't believe she's 2! She is a reserved little girl until she knows you, and then she unreservedly loves you once she does know you.

She is saying so many words well now, but I love that flower is wowa.

She loves to take her shoes off and put everyone else's on. She is always walking around with Jack's on.

She loves babies, real or fake.

She pretty much loves doing whatever Jack is doing. Sometimes I have to remind her that she has her own toy box. I love how when I get her up and changed, she runs to Jack and they hug. They might not get along the rest of the day but they are always excited in the morning to see each other.

Some wonderful ladies in our church have given her a few gifts so we had a little cupcake party last night with the Elmo cupcakes one of them made. I was trying to get them in order but for some reason, they never insert right. Anyway, we are planning a family party tomorrow night so there will definitely be more pictures. I'm so excited about the (------)! Don't tell!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Kid Stuff

Ava is thisclose to having conversations now. She says oh dear and oh no and my seat. Tickle and Bible and even Dack for Jack. It's finally happening. Still lots of cute jabbering though. She's almost 2! We are gearing up for a party next week!

Jack is making us laugh. We had a whole day planned around him last weekend, and we stopped at McDonald's midway through for the dollar menu. He asked for a toy, and I said no. He protested once and I said, "We have planned this whole day for you, so don't complain about this." When he didn't reply, I said good job not giving me a hard time. He said, "Well, there was a little tear right here in my eye." Ha. He never lets up!

We have been laughing at his Tball games. All of the kids are so cute. There are so many funny things you didn't know would be said at a game. Matt had to tell Jack to quit staring at his shadow while he ran to first base. The coaches draw Xs to show the kids where to stand, and they are all obsessed with their X and worried if it gets messed up while they're playing. So you will hear "Don't play in the dirt" a lot. When they made two little girls separate to their positions, they said sadly "Bye". My favorite was when a mom came behind the fence to tell her little boy batting, "Why don't you try it the other way? You're right handed." It's really been fun! So just a few more nights of Tball before the trophy! So exciting!

Besides softball and Tball, we have been keeping ourselves busy with friends and the pool, and now are starting to look forward to VBS in August and then the Fair! Woohoo! And then who would believe school will be starting. Our lives will be changing forever. And we are excited!