Valentine's Wkd in Fort Worth

BEWARE: Lots and lots of pictures to follow...

Valentines weekend we drove up to Fort Worth to meet up with Naggy, Pappy, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan. The plan was to have a good visit and bring Naggy home with us for the week. Carli was so excited to go see Uncle Kevin. We had talked about going all week and every time we got in the car she wanted to know if we were going to see Uncle Kevin now! :)

We were a little apprehensive that her enthusiasm would diminish when we got to Uncle Kevin's since she is notorious for being bashful at the most inconvenient times - but she didn't skip a beat! She ran right up to Uncle Kevin and talked a blue streak all weekend!

We barely made it in the door before Valentine's day gifts and gifts from family members in Amarillo were handed out...

One of Carli's most favorite things to do now is to color - and to break crayons!

Uncle Kevin was a good sport and took a nap with Minnie Mouse as instructed by Carli.

Since we drove up in Daddy's truck and we knew Uncle Kevin had a good walking trail, we decided to bring our wagon. Ava loved every minute of it!

Carli played and played and played...and when she finally wore herself out, Naggy took the opportunity and napped too!

It was this weekend that Ava decided that the act of getting on her hands and knees might not be such a bad idea! We still only push ourselves backwards, but we are making progress.

Aunt Megan and Carli cooked up some awesome Vday cookies and decorated them too!

A pretty awesome picture!

Have we mentioned that Carli MUST have her sunglasses on if we even think about going outside?

My smiling Baby Ava

When it was time to go home, Carli and Henry had to have a sweet little good bye talk.

It was a great weekend for all!

Ava Stands...Almost!

If you are a true Ava fan, perhaps you will make it all 3 minutes! :) Tuesday night Ava decided she would stand without our assistance. She did require some assistance of the couch, but at times she dared to not lean on it for support. She thought it was an awesome game! I'm not so sure! Perhaps she should master crawling before standing? But that's just a suggestion from Momma!

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And yes, my children are wearing their Christmas PJs in Feb!

Carli's Big Red Ball

Last week we decided to take Carli to Target to see about a little gaming system for her to play in the car so she will keep begging, whining and screaming for our iPhones to play a game on. We had some gift cards and thought we'd go check it out. We did find one that seems to satisfy her - but what she really loves, she got for $2.98 and attempts to carry it with her where ever she goes...

The big red ball even made an appearance in the church nursery on Sunday night when, in an effort to get Carli in the car, I gave in and let her bring the red ball. She got out to the car and then stopped and said, "Momma, I show my red ball to Ms. Patty?" Sure! Why Not! Come on - we have to go, get in the car....and Carli didn't forget. So, holding up my end of a promise, I helped Carli carry her big red ball into church on Sunday night so Ms. Patty would get to see it. Lesson learned...

When Naggy Comes to Stay..

Carli and Ava are ready to play!

Last week Naggy came and spent the whole week with us! Keith was gone for half the week, so Naggy came and helped us out. She and the girls played and played and I worked and worked! :) They all had a blast, but I am sure Naggy was ready to get a full nights rest by the time the week ended! Naggy shared some pictures from her week with us.


Thankfully the weather was awesome and the girls got to spend a lot of time outside - they loved it!!

Oh my - look how big Ava looks here! Is she really getting this big?!

Thanks Naggy for sharing your time with us! The girls LOVED having you here - we only wish Pappy could have come too!

Ava is 9 Months Old!

My baby girl turned nine months old on Valentine's Day. She is such a cutie!

We LOVE nine month check ups...no shots! Too bad I didn't realize this until after I had given her Tylonel in preparation for her shots! Oops!

Ava did awesome at the doc. She is the light of the room where ever she goes. She smiles at just about everyone and is starting to talk to whomever will listen!

What was funny about this appointment was that the nurse came in three times to double check her height. Apparently Ava didn't grow much. The nurse made a comment that she only grew a quarter of an inch but when I went back and looked at her 6 month stats, she had grown 3/4 of an inch...we count every little bit! And she had put on 2 lbs!

At nine months here are Ava's stats:

25.5 inches long (2%)
17 lbs 6 oz (23%)

I can't resist seeing what Carli's stats were at this age and it cracks me up that they are at the same weight but Ava is a good 2.5 inches shorter.

I love my short, squatty little girl!

Our Awesome Great Aunts

Have I mentioned before how awesome our extended family is? Well, they are! We are very blessed. This past week, I had to work in Alto three full days again to help train our new employee. My Aunt Sarah, who works with me, came down to help with the training and since my Aunt SuAnne lives so close to Aunt Sarah, she decided to come too!

On Thursday, Aunt SuAnne watched the girls all afternoon for me. By all accounts, they had a great time. Ava took an unheard of 2.5 hr nap and Carli and Aunt SuAnne just played and played and played! Poor Aunt SuAnne sprained her ankle that morning helping me get the girls out of the car - but she was quite the trooper and insisted on watching the girls even though she couldn't really put weight on her ankle. I am very appreciative of her effort!

Grammy got out of school and came to play too. Good thing since Carli is on a Grammy kick and I have major explaining to do if we dare go to Alto and don't see Grammy! So, they got some quality Grammy/Carli time and Momma didn't get a lecture about going to Grammy's house! ha!

Aunt Sarah brought Carli the coolest little sweater:

It was my cousin Deborah's sweater when she was little and when Aunt Sarah found it she couldn't resist bringing it to Carli! Carli LOVES it! :) If she sees it, she insist on wearing it! The other night she decided it had a hood and walked around with it over her head- she looked like a little hunch back! It was so funny but she was so serious!

Thank you Aunt Sarah for the awesome sweater and all your help! And thank you Aunt SuAnne for helping out with the girls! We are so very thankful for both of you and all you do for us!

Happy Valentine's Day from Two Sweet Girls!

We try to be creative in this house...but bless these two little girls hearts, this Momma is just short on time it seems! We had big plans for our Valentines Cards this year - but I forgot to get the pictures printed and to go to Hobby Lobby and time didn't stand still for us! So we made due with what we had at home and this was the result!

Carli had a blast coloring the hearts - Ava had a blast playing in the paper scraps - Momma kept her sanity the whole time! And Daddy - bless him - cut out lots and lots of hearts!

I did splurge and go have them laminated b/c the tape wasn't holding it all together and Carli thinks everything is a sticker these days - so in order for the Valentine to make it in one piece to it's recipient...we laminated!

Carli did a really good job of handing out her Valentines with the chocolate kisses...


She was so very excited to give Sassy hers! And Sassy gave Carli a "baby monkey" - another story for another post - and a Valentine cookie! Ava got a cute little caterpillar - we have a slight caterpillar obsession in our house...

I am so very proud of this picture! I didn't embarrass Sassy b/c she was all dolled up! :) And everyone is smiling!! Ignore the fact that the girls are looking down at the cookie I am bribing them with! ha!

We made 16 total Valentines and we had to mail 4 of them...we hope they made it in time! The other 12 we delivered. We even made a special trip to visit Riley and Kenzie on Friday since we were going to be out of town on Monday. Carli walked right into the house, gave Riley his Valentine and told me to go to work! Gave me a kiss and off she went to play! She obviously has missed seeing her little buddy! Bless Sarah, she told me to go have lunch with Keith and Carli could stay and play. They had a great time!

Momma and Daddy's Valentine plans? I can guarantee they are better then they were three years ago! But alas, Keith is in Dallas for work and Momma is home with two sweet little girls and one awesome Naggy!

Happy Valentines Day!

Carli pushing Ava

Carli and Ava have kind of sort of started playing together as evidence of this video! Carli can make Ava giggled and smile a lot. They actually started this little game on their own and it didn't take much encouragement to get them to play it again for the camera!

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When It's Bright Outside..

The logical thing to do is to wear two pairs of sunglasses...

Natural Smiles...Kind of

Ava is a natural smiler it seems. She smiles a lot! If you talk to her, she smiles. If she is screaming at us, and finally calms down, she'll throw us a smile! Seriously, she's one smiling little baby!


To get Carli to smile...you can ask her to say "CHEESE!!"


Or you can catch her in a natural smile as she is playing! But for now, a smile for the camera that just might look normal, it's not happening!

Ava Ruth Playing

We bought this little toy for Ava a month or so ago at a resell shop for $4 b/c it didn't come with the balls. We had plenty of balls at home. Ava has watched her sister play with it and we've helped Ava put the balls in each little slot. Today, she decided she could do it all by herself!

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Too Cool

Last Sunday, we got to the church parking lot and as I am trying to grab two diaper bags, juice, snacks, etc and get Carli out of her seat, she declared she was taking her sunglasses with her. Sure, why not? There is no harm, so off we went into church with her sunglasses on. She pretty much wore them during the whole service. She did take them off for class, but she put them back on during lunch and on the way home.

When it was time to go to small group that night, she insisted on wearing the sunglasses into the house as well and if she was in the main room where all the other people were, she would put them on.

I guess they are her new security blanket? ha! In any case, she sure is cute!

Look who is in Pull-Ups

So Carli is not the least bit interested in potty training. Actually she will ask for her diaper over a pull up. But the other day we were playing in the play room and she needed a diaper since it was sagging down to her knees, and I just happen to have a pull up handy. So I asked if she would wear some big girl pants, and she informed me she was a baby not a big girl. So I asked if she wanted to wear some flowers on her diaper, and to this she was excited to do! But, half way into putting them on, she announced that Ava had a saggy diaper and needed flowers too! Thus is how both my 2 year old and 8 month old ended up in pull ups for the afternoon!


Aren't the flowers pretty? :)

On Feb 1, 2011...

Ava pulled up by herself for the very first time!