Ava's Birthday

This little girl turned 2 on Friday! I can't believe it. Time is flying too fast.

We had a small get together and Ava had a blast with her friends in the sand

and the water. Which makes a disgusting combination of course!

She sits...occasionally!

Since the day Ava was born, she was a mover. Her legs are constantly going and once she learned to crawl she was a much happier kid. Even happier after she learned to walk. I however have been a little happier now that she's also learned to sit.

We have been working really hard to get Ava to sit during church. By sit I of course mean stay between Dustin and I, on the pew or the floor, and without causing a HUGE distraction. I hardly ever hear the sermon, but have hopes that I will soon. I have often thought Ava has no idea what we are doing at church and thinks it is a place to play with her friends. Which of course is true, but this last Sunday I might have shed a little tear as we prayed before taking communion. As soon as Ava saw the deacon walk to the stage to pray, she got excited and yelled "bite!" Joy filled my heart as I realized she is absorbing some of what we're doing, even if she just knows mammy and daddy are going to take a bite of a cracker. I'm sure she doesn't understand that every Sunday we take communion in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice He made for us, but I hope we can teach her and show her how much God loves us. And I pray that God will help Ava sit longer and longer during services so we all can learn! We have a long way to go.

Ava's a big girl!

I don't have any pics yet but changed Ava's crib into a toddler bed. Which pretty much means we took the front off her crib and put up a railing so she doesn't fall to the floor in the middle of the night. So in other words, I'm not sure you'll ever need to see a picture of that. Last night was her first night in it. She got out of bed 4 times and each time was to play with her books. We took her back to her bed each time and on the 4th time (after a good talking too and some extra encouragement) she didn't get out of bed again. She didn't even get out in the morning. Just sat in bed yelling Mammy! Mammy! Daddy! Daddy! She did well at nap time today too. Only had to put her back in bed once. So now that last night and today has gone so well, I'm sure tonight will be a nightmare, but I hope not!

Now to get my daughter potty trained. haha.

Busy Hubby

Ava and I have that nasty virus that has been going around, so my husband spent the weekend building me this while Ava and I watched Marry Poppins and Elmo a thousand times.

I'm pretty excited about it. It's a little more done than this as of now. He has a lot of finishing touches and painting to do and I can hardly wait to fill up all those shelves! More pics to come...

Thanks Maria for sharing your hubby to help with my sewing room. I'm pretty sure that desk is big enough for two sewing machines! :)

Stuck

A lot has happened blog worthy this past month but instead of updating you on my life, I thought this picture was more blog worthy....

My plan was to make spaghetti squash for dinner tonight. Unfortunately my knife is stuck. I can't cut it open, move the knife up or down, or even remove the knife from the squash. Don't worry I already tried hammering the knife and banged the whole thing on the floor before deciding that might not be safe, especially with a toddler running loose. Now I have to decide to make regular spaghetti or wait until Dustin gets home to help me remove the knife.

So Ava's caught something like everyone else. sigh.

If you know my daughter, you know this has only happened a handful of times in the 21 months she's been around. (I'm only referring to the falling asleep or cuddling, she has my immune system, enough said).
Even when she had RSV she was too busy for us to hold her. Tonight, she obviously isn't feeling good and her fever is winning. I think Dustin is also winning since he is getting so many snuggles!
This has only happened to me on one occasion I can remember, so I think you could easily call me jealous of my husband right now.

Oh the volume of this child never ceases to amaze me!

Ava needs to nap. She doesn't want to. Sometimes I just want to record how loud and rediculous her screams are just so I'm not the only one listening too it. Unfortunately for you, I don't have anything recorded, so I'll just show you this picture that Mandy Stansberry (sorry you got to experience it Mandy) took at her one year. I can guarantee Ava has this same expression on her face right now.

I think for sanity purposes, we might skip the nap and go for a walk.