Today Carli is TWO -

Tomorrow she will be THREE!!!

Two More Days Until Carli is THREE

Isn't that how you interpret this picture?

Our conversation this morning:

Me: Carli, it is only two more days until you turn 3!

Carli: No Momma, I am three on Saturday.

Me: Yes, that is in two more days.

Carli: Momma, I am two, Ava is one and I'll be three in three days.

Me: Right, you are two. Ava is one. But you will be three in two days.

Carli: Mom, today is Monday....

And she left the room. Hmmm...we got a bit a ways to go on the days of the week. Ha!

Three Days and Counting...

Three more days until Carli's birthday!!

Carli thought the monkey needed is picture taken with her sign.

See Mom...three days...now lets change it to two....

THREE MORE DAYS! Is what she is yelling, while riding the giraffe.

Four More Days

Carli is so excited that her birthday is this weekend. She is constantly asking if it is her birthday yet? Let's sing the birthday song to me!! And where are all her friends!

We have told her that her party and birthday are on Saturday. She has tried many times to make today Saturday and for that matter any day Saturday so that her party will be here!

This morning we made a count down. I wrote, she colored and maybe, just maybe she will be able to wait until Saturday for her party! :)

Homemade Fun

Way back at the beginning of the month we went to the lakehouse one Saturday afternoon to "help" pick pears. Actually Keith had spent the whole day there working on the deck and the girls and I joined him later that afternoon. A picking pear post will soon follow but blogger didn't like me posting that many pictures on one post!

The kids did awesome playing together and they even got creative with their playing! Keith had built a ramp on one side of the deck for Grandma to use. It is a little steep but maybe when he gets the rails up she will be able to use it. The kids on the other hand seriously thought Keith built them a slide!

They used floatees to make a train!

All three had no fear about sliding head first!

Michelle even got some footage of the fun...

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Hopefully I'll get caught up soon with the blog. I have lots of pictures and stories, just not a lot of time and energy. However, I will persist b/c I promised myself I would keep this going if nothing else so my girls would have something to look back on and read later on. Here's to a new week full of new blog updates! :)

Play Room Trundle Bed

Since Ava was born, we haven't done many new projects at the house. The playroom has been in a constant state of change over the last year and we are finally getting it to where we are happy with how it functions and looks!

Some folks thought I was crazy to be so determined to have the girls share a room, instead of giving them each a room. But I wanted the girls to have a room which was dedicated solely to sleeping and another that was for play. I didn't want the two to mingle. I was determined but even I had doubts given Ava's sleep habits early on. However, persistence has paid off and our plan is working well! The girls both sleep well in the same room, even during naps now.

Our plan for the play room was multipurpose. We needed a room dedicated to playing but also needed it to function as a guest room. I had a vision and my wonderful husband had the skills! we took the two bookcases that use to make up our entertainment center in the living room and put it on each side of the windows. Then I scavenged Craigslist and found an awesome deal for two pillowtop twin mattresses for $40 - for both! Next I convinced Keith to build a trundle bed to go between the two bookcases.

Keith built it, and I sanded and stained it. I'm not sure my Grandfather would have approved of the staining job but it works well for our purposes! The final result turned out really well. Perhaps one day soon we will finish out the rest of the room and I'll share more pictures! Ha!!

Ava at 15 months

Little Miss Ava Ruth was 15 months old on August 14th. We didn't get her in for her check up until Sept 1st.

Her 15 month stats are:

29 inches (8%)
19 lbs 14.5 oz (7%)
18 inches (head, 41%)

At 15 months Ava is so much fun! She talks a lot. We don't understand everything she says but if she gets frustrated with you she will take you by the hand and try to show you what she wants. Some words we hear and understand on a regular basis are:

- Daddy
- Bye Bye
- Sista
- ogan or gan gan (Logan)
- Pa
- Momma
- Outside
- baba (banana)
- juice
- Shea
- Hi
- ammy (Grammy)
- shoes


She loves to blow kisses and wave good bye. She actually plays this game with her baby often. Ava loves to bring you her shoes to put on for her but as soon as she gets in the car she wants you to take them off. She loves to go outside and play. She thinks she is as big as her sister and is absolutely fearless. She climbs on everything and can make it up to the top of our play structure without any help from us.

Because Carli loves to sit at their little table and color, Ava can be found sitting there attempting to color just like her big sister at least three or four times a day.



Ava sleeps all night. She takes two naps a day - at least one of them usually is about two hours. We've come a long ways in the sleeping department!



Ava eats all the time. Literally, she loves to eat. She loves fruit and really doesn't care much for bread, crackers or veggies. Right now her favorite food is a banana because she can hold it herself and take big girl bites.



Ava finally has two teeth. They are both on the bottom. Her second tooth broke through on her 15 mth birthday.

Ava LOVES one on one attention and many days she will do her best to skip her afternoon nap so she can spend as much time as possible with just Momma or Sassy. Her afternoon nap is by far her shortest and I truly think it is because of this. She is still a Momma's girl, and I wouldn't change it for the world! She does melt her Daddy's heart in the mornings when she calls for him after she wakes up. She gives him the biggest kisses and waves every morning before he leaves for work.

Happy 15 months little Ava Ruth Hays! You are an amazing little angel and we are so proud to be your parents!!

Girls Day at the Splash Park

Last Wednesday we picked up Kenzie and went for a morning at the Splash Park. I remembered to bring cups this time so they all had a blast. I'm sure they would have played longer than the hour we were there but I had an appointment so we had to cut it short.

Almost caught all three of them together

Carli poured from one cup to that other, over and over and over...

Ava and her pink cup! The older girls did really well helping her keep up with it and not taking it from her. I was very pleased with their efforts to take care of the "baby."

Carli coming to give me a nice wet kiss.

Ava figured out if you put a cup over the water spray and let go, the cup will go flying!

Another attempt of a picture of all three of the girls, yes, despite telling Carli not to, she still drank the water and spit it out.

After the splash park, we all loaded up and headed to the house for some lunch. Keith met us there and after I got everyone seated at the table I had to leave. I told Keith to let them play as long as they got along and he could handle it and then take Kenzie home. The goal was to wear them all out so they would take nice long naps that afternoon! Keith did pretty well and after he took Kenzie home I met him at work with our two and came home. Our plan worked! Kori said Kenzie napped for over 2 hours that afternoon! Yeah!! Operation wear some kids out was a success! ha! We'll have to keep this up!

Learning to Pray

To say the last couple of weeks has been a challenge would be an understatement. I haven't felt that hot with allergies and after a couple of weeks gave in and went to the doctor - only to have that turn into a whole other fiasco. But finally after three days of waiting they gave me some meds, and then the stomach virus hit our house. I will say that I'll take a throwing up 2.5 year old over a throwing up 15 month old. At least the 2.5 year old can make it in the bucket or toilet for the most part...with the 15 month old, there is no warning. And she likes grapes...lots of grapes. Grapes even stain brown carpet. But when the virus hits both parents at the same time, we were thanking God that we have family so close by to come rescue us, even when both kids weren't 100%! Anyway, after two weeks of being sick, trying to keep up with life, kids and work I've returned to the blog world in an attempt to catch up. So the next few posts will be of the weeks past but are cute pictures (with cute kids of coarse) and fond memories!


Just today we were hit with another challenge that I can't quite explain in terms Carli can understand. There are fires everywhere, but they never seem real until they hit so close to home. After getting a call from my Dad to bring some hoses and sprinklers down to their Linwood farm this afternoon, I can't quite explain the craziness and surrealness (is that a word?) of it all. So when I tried to tell Carli why we needed to pray for Pa's farm, it finally came down to we had to pray for his chickens. Man, I love it when kids learn to pray...so innocent and intense. At least that gives us all a reason to smile, through the fires, sickness and challenges...

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**Just a little background, yes we do pray in the bathroom. No toys and less distractions! Hey, whatever works. You can't hear the first part of our "prayer time" but we talk about who and what to pray for. Carli was telling me we needed to pray for Pa b/c she threw up on him and Logan threw up on the couch. Ha!