Ava is small. She out eats Carli two times over, but still she is so small! Can't really argue with facts. But I don't think it really registered just how small she is until we dressed her for church this morning...
Sunday, July 31, 2011
My Petite Little Girl!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Amarillo - Day Two
Our second full day in Amarillo began well. We got up and headed to church! I was sure that Ava would be fine during Bible Class since her teacher was Naggy and Ms. Robin. I wasn't so sure how Carli would do b/c she usually gets very clingy in new situations. They handled her really well and instead of the teachers coming over to try to pry Carli off my leg, they sent over a couple of older (4-5 year olds) to ask Carli to come play. They were persistent and Carli finally gave into peer pressure and I snuck out!
By all accounts by girls did really well in Sunday School. Service was a whole other issue. Carli did fine. She is to that stage now where you can give her a box of crayons and a coloring book and she's quiet, and still! Ava not so much. I finally took her out to change her diaper and I walked the back of the church building until she finally gave up the ghost and went to sleep, during the invitation song. Sweet baby...ha!
We had a nice surprise when Uncle Barry and Aunt Carolyn met us at church and came to lunch with us. Ava slept through most of lunch but Carli and Aunt Carolyn had a grand time playing games on her phone.
Being the sweet, innocent children that they were, my children did not beg for money from both Naggy and Aunt Carolyn in order to ride the little rides outside of the restaurant and they absolutely did not do this multiple times until all the quarters where used. And their Mother did not finally step in and tell the girls that was enough when Uncle Barry and Pappy came out of the restaurant and they begged for more money to ride more rides. Nope, that did not happen!
Don't you just LOVE the girls dresses? Grammy made them and put the final touches on them just before we left for Amarillo. I have yet to get a good picture with the girls together and I so badly wanted to get one with the girls dressed in their new gear. We tried enticing the girls to water Naggy's plants in order to get them in the same vicinity of one another!
One of the highlights of the day for Carli was getting to take a ride in Pappy's jeep! Ava wanted to go too, but Momma convinced her to stay at the house. Quite honestly, I'm not sure this didn't happen on a different day, but it did happen and Carli LOVED it! :)
Keith and I also got to go visit with some good friends Zane and Shawna Oliver. We got to meet sweet Baby Seton for the first time. Zane and Shawna are an amazing couple and I love just watching Shawna talk about her sweet little boy. Her face just lights up with pure joy and pride! If you have a minute, go check out their blog: Life with the Olivers. They have overcome so much in the last six months and you will be inspired, touched and amazed!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Amarillo Trip - Day One
A very rare feat, got all three of them smiling!!
A huge thanks to Mrs. Jeri for letting us crash her pool and home for a couple hours. We all had a blast!
Afternoon naps were a must for all. After dinner, we headed out to the mall to Build a Bear - only it wasn't Build a Bear, but something similar. Ava really got into the whole stuffing process... Carli built a pink princess pig. She insisted it all be pink...yes, go ahead and laugh. My daughter loves pink. It was inevitable.
Ava "built" a Monkey, which she found absolutely hilarious when Naggy made it talk to her on the way home! Our first full day in Amarillo was an absolute blast! The girls slept like little worn out angels all night and I'm pretty sure all the "big" kids did too!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Our Magic Bean Stalk
We got home from Amarillo to find that the two beans that Carli had planted at VBS had sprouted. One was in full sprout when we got home and the other started breaking ground this morning. They were in a small little plastic drinking cup which was really neat because Carli could see the roots and we had a nice little chat about how roots work. Carli was exciting because she remembered planting them at VBS. So in an effort to not kill our new little plant, we made a trip to the store to get some real planters so we could give them some room to grow.
Carli had a blast painting her planter. She really has taken to painting and coloring these days. She worked for a good 30 minutes on her pot...
Ava is 14 months old - don't expect much. I was asking for a disaster with Ava in the room and an open bottle of paint. Thankfully we just got paint on Ava, Carli, myself and the table. No paint got on the dogs, the carpet, or the pot. Ava thought she wanted to paint but then mistook the paintbrush for a spoon and I quickly put an end to that...
Carli was a very intent little painter - but she likes to have company when she paints. So I had to paint a lot too but that was okay considering Ava couldn't necessarily paint her own pot!
With three dogs and the Texas heat, we didn't risk leaving our new little friends outside. Instead they have a new home on the kitchen table and at every meal we have the opportunity to talk about how much they have grown and that God has helped them grow, etc. Hopefully we can keep them alive for awhile!
What does 14 months bring you....
How about our first tooth?! Yep, while we were in Amarillo Ava's first tooth finally decided to pop through. It is her bottom left front tooth. If wise tells hold true, that may mean we have a lefy on our hands!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
VBS
This week the Hays' family stepped out of their comfort zones and dove head first into experiencing VBS. Carli was not quite old enough for the 3 year old criteria, so we sweet talked Ms. Marla into letting Carli and her friend Allie come if Keith and I would help out in their group.
Shiloh Road tried a new concept this year and instead of dividing the kids out into different age groups, they combined all the age groups into 12 Tribes. Each group had a range in ages from 5th grade down to 3 years old. Our little group had nine kids in it and 3 were under three. It took four adults to manage them all! :)
Every night we came home exhausted, but it was a good kind of exhausted. Carli had a wonderful time and her little friend Allie did too. We were glad to participate and experience VBS this year!
Carli at the petting zoo with our good friend Tiffany. Tiffany was an amazing help on the last night of VBS since our main "Leader" couldn't be there. I am not a teacher by nature so I was bit stressed about being in charge. Tiffany took over and did an amazing job! I went back to my post of herding our little tribe!
Carli tried to feed the catfish grass. She was quite pleased with herself!