Ava is 1!

Our whole gang - including our new addition, Lucy

She loves her car - and I love that face!

SO sweet!

pretty ballerina

Our sweet Ava Claire turns 1 tomorrow! I never dreamed I would be blessed with such wonderful little girls! Ellie continues to amaze me with how obedient and willing to learn she is. And both girls are so loving. But, both girls are so different! Ellie walked at 13 months, Ava walked right before she turned 9 months. Ellie still doesn't like to climb, Ava climbs on top of the table and stands up and claps for herself. Ava is so funny - she has such a silly personality and is a jokester! Ellie will pout about something for what seems like hours, Ava keeps her emotions out for everyone to see. That calls for more tantrums, but she throws her fit and she's done and can move on. Ellie has always been real timid around animals, but is really growing to like them more, Ava has always loved animals and has never been scared of them. Ellie likes certain foods and most are pretty healthy, but doesn't eat much at a time, Ava is such a good little eater - she'll eat anything and absolutely loves fruit! Ava talks all the time and picks up on sign language really quickly. She can sign more, please, all done, and thank you. She says several words, too. Mama, Dada, Poppa, Nana (which could mean Nana, Nonee, night night, Hannah), nuh (which means up), diddy (which is sissy and/or kitty), dog, and bird. She knows how to make a few animal sounds, like panting like a dog, roar for a bear or a lion, and blows a raspberry with her tongue for a horse. She can run now, but she doesn't know how to stop herself, so she just has to run in to the softest piece of furniture she can find! :-) I can't imagine my life without my family. Jeff and I have been truly blessed with such wonderful girls who we love more and more every day. Ellie is so looking forward to her birthday, which is going to be Hannah Montanna themed, but we also have our family (Jeff, me, and the girls) trip to Florida between now and then...and Halloween...and a trip to Indy...and a trip to Atlanta...we're busy, but it's fun! So, Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!
WE LOVE YOU, AVA CLAIRE!!!

Poppa

Ellie never floats - but somehow my Dad convinced her to try!!
Isabelle is really good at it!

Ava's version of floating!

crawling like a crocodile

Well, Ava decided while we were in Florida to cling to her Poppa (my dad). She started saying Poppa and Mama . She had said Mama several times before, but didn't really call me Mama - now I hear "Mama, nuh" all the time...nuh means up when you speak Ava's language. :-) Anyway, all of the kids enjoyed the swimming pool at our hotel, but Ellie and Ava had such a great time - especially with Poppa!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Disney Tea Cups
~look at all those girls~

wonder if Cathi will add to those girls...
or finally have a boy...
we'll know November 4!

Mom and one of her best friends, Dawn

~Sisters~

My super sweet mom turned 56 yesterday!! She is such a great mom and has become a great friend! She helps me so much by keeping the girls while I work one of the days a week and while she's at my house, she's always cleaning something. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mom/Nonee!! We love you!!!

Disney

Well, I have so many pictures I want to share, but for now, I'll just add my favorites. We had such a great time!! These are actually from the second day we went. My Dad has the pictures from the first day and I can't wait to post those. Ellie knows Jeff and I are taking the girls in October and she asks every day if it's time to go back yet!

milk

So, Ellie and I were laying in my bed last night and she was almost asleep. She rolled over and said, Mommy, do you still feed Ava milk from your boobies?" I told her no, that Ava was too big to do that, so she drinks milk from a cup now. Then I explained that I used to feed her that way, too. She got quiet for a minute and said, "How does God put milk in mommie's boobies anyway?"

I love it that she knows that only God can do a thing like that!

The girls and I are headed to FL tomorrow to be with my parents, my brother, and his 2 girls, so I'll post pictures and stories when we get back.

giggle boxes

My girls can make each other laugh better than anybody! I can stand on my head and not get a reaction like they can from each other. It's so funny!! I got Ellie a kazoo - and Ava can play it better than I can! :-)

My poor girls - they have been such troopers! I took Ellie to the dr. yesterday because she had complained of her ear hurting, then when she woke up yesterday, her eyes were goopy and there was fluid coming out of her ear that she said was hurting the night before. And, both of them had red eyes and runny noses. I thought it was just a cold, since everyone around here has a cold. While I was there, the dr. checked Ava too and they both have ear infections in both ears and Ellie's ear was hurting so badly because it ruptured. I am going to buy an at-home otoscope!! They are only $15 and it comes with a guide that explains the ear and what ear infections look like. I'm afraid we're on our way to tubes Ava's ears and again in Ellie's.

Ellie's first day of "School"

First day of school goodie bag, full of candy, pencils, and tracing books.

Ellie started Mother's Morning Out again on Tuesday(she went last year for a little while), but this year she's in the 4 and 5 year old class and it is run much more like a preschool class. She was SO nervous. Bless her heart - she just cried when I was getting ready to leave. AND it took her 2 hours to fall asleep the night before. Once I left, she was fine and she loved it and was ready to go back - she just has a hard time with things that are new, especially when someone she's very close to can't go with her. She has another Ellie and an Ava in her class.

Today, both girls went to MMO. Ava is only going on Thursdays, because I just want her to be around other babies her age - and her class is all girls, with another Ava. I had no idea we picked such popular names?!?

Ava is a pro at eating - especially cookies!

My mom made the girls matching "Belle" princess dresses. They had to try them on to hem the bottoms, but they both love them! Ellie has never been much in to princesses, but she loves this dress! We're heading to FL and will go to Disney next week with my parents, my brother, and his 2 girls, then Jeff and I are taking our girls again in October. I'll post pictures of the finished products soon!

comparing pictures

Ellie in her birthday dress. I don't remember the exact date, but she was 11 months'ish - I don't think it was actually on her birthday. She wasn't walking then, so we don't have any pictures of her alone - we were holding her in all of them. :-)
(Plus, she was an only child at the time!!)

Ava at 11 months in Ellie's first birthday dress. They look so different?!?