what a great day!

We had such a good day today!! Ellie was very obedient and just so sweet today! (Which was nice because she's been pouty and pushing buttons lately.) Anyway, as I was rocking Ava to sleep tonight, Ellie decided to have a birthday party for her bears with cake (play-doh), candles, drinks, and their "present" was a play house (which is what my parents built the girls for Christmas!) Cute and creative!

The weather was beautiful today!!! We HAD to go outside for a few minutes after Mother's Morning Out and before Ava's nap, so I brought my camera and snapped some pretty cute shots of my girls!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one of Ava!

It's been hard to get a good picture of Ellie lately. She's either acting silly or doing her fake smile or her hair is crazy...but this is one of my favorites of her EVER! Her hair was super cute today - she wears it like this a lot. Messy buns, is what we call them - dog ears with her hair only pulled half through. It was super curly today, too, which made it even better.

Ava has just switched to calling us Mommy and Daddy, rather than Mama and Dada - it's so cute!

Ellie cracks me up with how grown up she sometimes acts. Our babysitter came last night for us to go to life group and Ellie said, "So, Christine. What did you do this weekend?" Then she said, "My mommy BABYSITTERED Adaline." It was so hard not to laugh!!!!!

This is a little late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY LANDY!!! My cousin turned 26 on Saturday and I was able to hang out with her some that night and we had a blast! I wish I could spend more time with her. Maybe when she finishes nursing school, we can live even closer together. Anyway, we love you, Landy!

random pics

jumping at Pump It Up!
We had such a good time! Ellie got to go to a birthday party for a little girl she's in dance class with. Ava got to go too and she was such a little daredevil! She loved the big slides - she actually helped Ellie not be so timid.

my pretty girls - even in their play clothes, I think they're the cutest ever!
I guess my mom took this one while I was at work Monday.

on their way to school (Mother's Morning Out) - how did they get so big so fast?!?

this was Ava's expression the whole time at the party - she loved it!!

Ice, Ice, Baby!

I could post hundreds of pictures from the ice storm, but here is a link to some of my favorites. We lost power for a few days, so my dad came and got the girls and me, since they have a generator, gas heat, and a gas stove. We ended up getting to spend some time with my cousin's kids, who we don't see very often, and with my brother's kids. My nieces actually came back to our house after we got power back and spend the weekend, which they don't get to do very often, either. We actually had a good time and were safe, so it wasn't bad at all. My parents just got power back last week, though, so they had a harder time than us. The ice was pretty when the sun hit it, but I'm over it and done with ice for a LONG time!!

Here's the link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=79226&id=504816953&l=b9305

More new words

Ava's favorite word

Ava loves to walk around saying, "dubba dubba dubba" and it's SO cute!!

Ellie's first piano lesson

Here is Ellie playing her song after her very first piano lesson.
I played piano growing up, so I'm teaching her instead of taking her somewhere and it's so fun!!

SNOW!!

Ellie and Ashley

Ava and Emily - we call her Emmy, and Ava says, "Memmy"

Ellie girl making a snow angel

Ava going for a quick ride - she didn't stay on long. We use this sled inside and I pull them up and down the hall and Ava says "ride" over and over again, so I thought she would love it, but she just wasn't sure what to think about it.

All the kiddos

It snowed here today - and it is such a pretty snow!! We bundled the girls up and went outside. Surprisingly, Ellie loved it and Ava didn't know what to think about it. She wanted to be held most of the time and Ellie was right in the middle of it all. We played with our neighbors and it was so fun - nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air - even if it was cold air!! Makes me want to go snow skiing.

Rembering

Ellie has the best memory!! I don't know how she remembers details like she does, but it's one of her strong points! My Nannie always asks if I think she remembers my Grand-daddy, who a lot of people referred to as "Red". I tell her yes, that I really think she remembers him, but sometimes I wonder if she really does or if she just knows the stories we tell about him and the pictures she sees of him. Anyway, the other night, I needed to do some reports for work, so Jeff got out his laptop so I could work in the living room while we all watched Wall-E. When Jeff brought in the TV tray (which we never use because our living room and dining room are in the same space, so we don't have a reason to eat in front of the tv - because our table is pretty much in front of the tv), Ellie's light bulb clicked on. She said, "Hey. Do you remember Grand-daddy Red? (her own version of his name - we didn't put the 2 together) He used this table and ate his supper (it was lunch, but Ellie gets lunch and supper confused all the time, so she calls everything supper) and sitted in this chair." I could not believe it?!? I would have never remembered that, but the last time he was at our house (probably for my birthday in August of last year), he sat in the recliner and ate his lunch using the TV tray. What a great memory!! Ellie was very fond of Grand-daddy and when he passed, we were all gathered around his hospital bed saying our goodbyes. He was so sick and really didn't acknowledge anyone and was pretty well non-responsive, but when Ellie walked in the room, he raised his hand to wave at her and smiled. It was absolutely precious.

Good Grief, Charlie Brown

So, my week started by me getting strep. It knocked me on my rear!!! It was horrible! 103.4 temp for over 24 hours, sore throat...blah, blah, blah. I'm not the only one that has ever had strep, but I am so thankful it's not something I get often - actually, I don't think I've ever had it before. So, Monday I started an antibiotic, but as of this morning, still couldn't eat or drink anything because my throat was absolutely raw!!! Back to the dr. I go, this time without Jeff's amazing help (he's done it ALL this week), so I had both girls with me. I had to get a shot of antibiotic to try to kick the strep, plus I have a virus that has caused ulcers in my throat?!?!?!? When they brought out that shot, Ava started crying!! Poor girl - she's had so many shots lately that she's petrified! Ellie was nervous and kept saying she didn't want me to get a shot. I had to explain that it wouldn't hurt her!! Anyway, the nurse was great. I stood on one leg, held Ava in my arms on that side, propped my other leg up, Ellie held my shirt out of the way, the nurse unfastened my pants and pulled them down, gave me the shot, and helped me get back together. It was the weirdest, but most pleasant shot experience I think I've ever had. I was talking to Ava and Ellie, they were both there with me, and it took my mind off of what was going on. I almost immediately felt better - within like 2 hours?!?!? I get so frustrated because we try to do everything right - eat healthy, keep things clean, wash our hands often, exercise, I breastfed both girls...and we still continue to get sick. It could be so much worse, though! Hopefully, we are all well now and will stay that way for a long time!! I have some great pictures to post, but my computer won't read my card right now, so I'll have to reboot and try again tomorrow.

silly pants

My mom and dad got Ava some markers for Christmas. She loves to color and they are easy to hold. They also make fun sounds when you put the top back on. Anyway, here is one of my favorite shots of her "enjoying" and "using" her markers. I got the cutest video of her attempting to say, "color, color", but I'm not having any luck uploading videos tonight.

TEA PARTY!
I didn't think Ava would have a clue...
but she was pretending to make drinking sounds and was sharing with everyone!!

We had Christmas with my Dad's side of the family today. We waited until today because the baby, JD, had RSV and some of the other kiddos have been sick, too. Anyway, here are some pics from the day.

Elizabeth (aka Dizzy or Lizzy)
(she's the cool, popular one - especially in Ellie's eyes!!)

My Aunt Karen (dad's sister) holding JD

Issy being Issy, silly as ever!

You won't find much better friends than Ellie and her Diz!


On a side note:

Ava is hillarious!! She is a ham and she knows it. Our kids are complete opposites. One big way is that Ellie cries before she gets in trouble because she knows she did something wrong...Ava laughs and does it again!! Tonight, Ava was throwing food on the floor when she was finished eating. I smacked the back of her hand and said "No, No!"
SHE LOOKED AT ME, LAUGHED, HANDED ME HER OTHER HAND AND SAID, "A-NUH-NUH"
(which is how she says ANOTHER)?!?!?!?!?!?!? It was impossible to not laugh!

Christmas Pictures

The girls with Nonee and Papa

Little girls' dream house

Ellie and Ava's "playhouse" from Nonee and Papa

Christmas with my family

Visiting with friends

Nana reading to the grandkids

Christmas Eve

silly sisters

What did Santa bring??


We had a great Christmas with family and friends! I had a hard time deciding on which pictures to post. I had several good ones. Ellie was incredibly worried about Santa coming in to her house, so she slept with Jeff and me. She also made me move the stockings into the living room because they were at the end of the hall!! :-) She had so much fun making cookies for Santa and leaving water, carrots, and sprinkling oats and glitter for the reindeer to know which house was hers. Ava was clueless, but had fun opening gifts. Santa brought them some books and a talking disney nursery and we gave them babydolls (Ellie a doll dressed as MinnieMouse and Ava got a Lucy baby!!), and we got them a wiggle racer - really cool, but it didn't have all the parts, so we have to call about it. The list goes on and on - we are incredibly blessed and were reminded of our blessings while spending time with family, which I think is always the best part of celebrating Christmas!! Jeff's family did a great job of providing "entertainment" during our get together and the kids were really involved. We're still trying to figure out what kind of family traditions we are going to have within our family of 4. One thing we did this year was fixed a big meal of breakfast food the night before Santa came, but we want to have more "traditions", so I'll be thinking of ideas throughout the year.

Hope you had a great Christmas and that you remembered the reason for the season!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Sneak Peek...

I did a photo session with our babysitter and her husband and here are the un-edited photos that are my favorite... I don't have a professional camera, so I'm having to make-do for now. I'm hoping to get a little cash for Christmas and maybe at least upgrade a little, but I think these turned out great for what I had to work with. (my camera, not the people!!)

Our week...

Ava's ready for her Christmas party at Mother's Morning Out.
She talks about her "Mah-Mah" all the time - Maggie is one of her friends there!

This is the Paula Deen Peppermint Cake that
Ellie and I stayed up so late making last night - it was SO worth it!!

Ellie and I got to have a "big girl" day and I took her to see the Nutcracker ballet.
We had such a good time. We do little things here and there, but it's always really special when she and I get to do things by ourselves. Jeff and I are going to start spending more time with both of the girls individually because it's so different and so fun to make them feel so important that they get Mommy or Daddy to themselves! Poor Ava rarely gets one-on-one time, but she eats it up when she does.

A diaper cake Ellie and I made for a baby shower at church.
The topper was a Christmas ornament they could keep and
the ribbon in the center was a hairbow for the big sister!!

We've had a busy week! Started with a visit to the ENT - both girls are getting tubes in their ears on the 29th and Ellie is getting her adenoids taken out. Then, Ellie had a stomach bug, then Jeff got it, which meant I changed my work schedule and have had to reschedule for later this week and didn't get much sleep (something I should be catching up on right now!!) Last night, Ava had a rough night and Ellie and I were making a cake for her teachers at Mother's Morning Out (actually, it was for all the staff), so I went to bed at 2am (Ellie crashed way before then) and was up at 7, but was up with Ava 2 times between then. We took the girls to Chuck E Cheese just for fun as a family yesterday and I took the girls caroling at a nursing home tonight. I love Christmas and all the activities, but I'm almost ready to slow down...my favorite thing about January.

Christmas Open House

An outside picture of the first time we have decorated anything outside!
We never had a house of our own, so we didn't want to buy anything that we couldn't use for several years. Last year Ava was so small that we decided not to, plus we bought the lights after Christmas on sale! Jeff did a great job of hanging the icicles!!

One of my favorite snowmen...

At the end of our hall, we have our stockings and
a great Christmas pop-up alphabet book some friends gave the girls last year.

The centerpiece on our dining room table.
(A wreath laid flat with a candle in the center.)

Ornaments on display.

Our tree...it was my parents' tree when I was growing up and I love it!
All of the ornaments are ours that we have collected through the years.
Nothing trendy, just good, old fashioned collectible ornaments.

Our nativity.

I guess most people who check this blog don't get to visit our home, so we hope you enjoy a few pictures of how we like to celebrate with decorations!
Merry Christmas!

Have yourself a very Nashville Christmas

Nannie had such a good time!
We wore her out, but we had a blast with her!
I am so thankful she went with us.

Sweet Hadlie checking out the lights outside...
and licking the window!?!?!?

Ellie being goofy
Nannie and I braved the cold and went outside to see the front entrance.
We did not, however, ride the carriage in the freezing cold!

This is one of my favorites of the girls together - I especially like this one of Ellie!!

All of us -
this lady started taking pictures of our girls, so we asked her to take one of all of us together. We let the girls get down and run and play and they had a blast!! We were all laughing at them and people we didn't know were coming up and taking pictures of them!!

This is one of my faovrite pictures of Nannie ever!
She loves flowers and we had never seen miniature poinsettias before.

This one is for mom. Didn't turn out exactly like I wanted, but it's still pretty cute.
They were sitting in front of one of the poinsettia trees.

Another one in front of the poinsettia tree.
Hadlie is very laid back, which is why she's looking right at the camera in this one. Ellie is a mama to everyone, so she was making sure Hadlie wasn't going to fall and making sure she was happy and Ava is just happy and silly and so darn cute -
this picture shows their personalities perfectly!

My favorite of Ava by herself!

Going to see Tishie - this was taken at our hotel.

The outlet mall has the cutest train - we rode it once -
Ellie taught Ava how to say choo choo!

Ellie, Hadlie, and Ava waiting to talk to Santa.

We went with Jeff this week to Nashville - he had to go for work, so we decided to go with him and visit with some friends. Then, my aunt Tishie had to go to the hospital and my mom and dad were going to be out of town (my Dad got a cruise for meeting a goal at work!!). Anyway, I invited Nannie to go with us, thinking she could stay with Tishie as much as she wanted, but Tishie got to go home much earlier than expected and is doing much better!! So, Nannie got to stay with us, which was so nice. I loved having her company (I used to be attached to my Nannie like crazy!!) and she was such a big help with the kids! We all had such a good time. We also got to visit with Brad, Julie, and Hadlie, our friends from when we were first married.