It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

We headed over to Lowe's today to get some Christmas lights for the house...decided that this year we actually were going to put them on the house and wanted to go for the old school look -- you know the big colored lights? Figured that since Ava now really gets Christmas, that she would love the lights so we are trying to go all out.

Here is Ava at Lowe's playing with all the Christmas toys...she pulled them all off of the shelf and then proceeded to turn them all on. Over and over again. Quite funny. We did this for a good 15 minutes while Darren found everything we needed to light up the house.
We then headed over to see Santa at the Galleria. Ava did not want to sit on his lap (guess that is good since he is a stranger, right?) but she did at least get close to him and talk to him. Told him about having candy in her pocket (not sure what that was about seeing as she had no candy on her) and also asked him about his reindeer. And told him we were meeting Me-Mommy there. Quite talkative as usual. A lot of progress from last year when she would not get within 1o feet of Santa.

Btw, this was a good Santa...real beard, right age, very nice. Hate the overly fake beards...I have to imagine that the kids know something is wrong there.

Here's the house after it was all lit up...thankfully Ava a took a 3 hour nap today (that is a rarity these days as she sometimes does not nap at all) and I was able to help Darren put the clips on the lights.

And then of course, I accidentally moved the camera when I took this one, but loved the result...looks like crazy fireworks or something.

Family Time

Donna & Mike and some of the other Friends came over to hang out at G&P's house since they were in town at Mike's family's house. We cooked out and fished a lot and watched all the kids play around...a bit chaotic but fun.

Ava checking out Allie's catch...she wanted to touch it but was still a bit creeped out by the fish.
Ava & Ian fishing on the dock. No hooks people, just practicing casting off.

Darren & Ava enjoying a nice Daddy/daughter moment...I really need to get myself in some photos!

Ava & Emily in their cute matching dresses I made. Funny thing was I told Donna to have Emily wear this dress that day but did not know it was going to be cold. We both layered the dresses over shirts & leggings and surprisingly we did the same colors. I was this close to putting Ava in a red turtleneck under it but at the last minute went with white.

Even More Caroline

Yep much fun was to be at G&P's house this weekend....Ava got to play with Caroline MANY times. And of course I took MANY more photos...because I'm obsessed.

While playing a game with Darren, wherein he was the tickle monster or some other monster or maybe this was also when they played hide and seek, I'm not sure, the girls kept hiding under the playscape. Which led to hugs...usually initiated by Ava. Seriously the girl can't keep her hands to herself...guess that one comes from Daddy.

Anyways, they posed for some cute little photos and then of course I took a million and one shots of them running around...good thing I can't post all of them.

Playing with Caroline

After Ava's nap today, we went outside to chat with the neighbors. Ava was really excited because their granddaughter Caroline was in town so they got to play. They ended up playing for several hours that day and it was really fun to watch the 2 of them. My favorite part was watching Ava give Caroline unsolicited hugs and kisses and the real highlight was when Ava put her hand on Caroline's cheek and said "You such a cute girl." Hilarious.

Note: Caroline literally just woke up from a nap she took while on a boat ride in this picture hence the unsmiling face. Think Ava's touchiness was a bit disconcerting to her right after waking up. :)

Playing on the "pway-ground"

Sharing the ball (although really it looks more like a power struggle in this picture)

Crazy photo! Night setting plus action makes weird blurry shots that I kind of love. The girls were running around with the ball, playing chase, and using Darren as a tunnel. Good times.

Thanksgiving

We had a really nice Thanksgiving down in Conroe at G&P's. My dad even came by for our lunch and afterwards he and Ava worked out.
For a little girl she is surprisingly strong...she was lifting 10 lb weights first and then we decided to give her something a little safer...2 lbs.

Darren caught a big fish...here he is reeling it in.

It was an almost 10 lb carp! It was huge (or at least I thought so)...Ava was super excited.

This is her I want to touch the fish face...or something like that.

Random

This post has nothing to do with Ava...just thought I'd show you how much I love my camera...and why it is awesome. Because it takes photos like this...

Picking

How does that saying go? You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friends' nose. Or in this case, Daddy's nose. Gross!

Granny Time

Ava got to spend a lot of good quality with Granny & Pops this week. And I actually got a lot of photos of her & Jeanie together.

Here they are feeding the ducks (Ava has got an arm on her!--no throwing like a girl here)
Then Granny played a fun game with Ava using the slide and the ball...Ava loved it. Thank goodness G&P have a playscape or we wouldn't know what to do...Ava needs to get rid of all the energy she has!

Ava & Granny cuddling on the porch swing after nap...Ava woke up screaming and Jeanie was the only one able to calm her back down. Thanks for all the help!

Art Project

Granny & Pops whipped out an awesome art project for Ava today...she was SUPER excited to get it. It was a Christmas tree that you decorate with foam sticker ornaments, garland and glitter glue. Surprisingly she was able to put the decorations where they were supposed to go and she had such a good time.

Showing off her work...

Deep in concentration while using the glitter glue...that is by far her favorite art thing to play with (and messiest).

Making Cookies

We headed down early to G&P's house for Thanksgiving week...Darren had to work out of the Houston office (originally for 1 day but that somehow turned out to be 3 days). We filled the time with lots of different things...one of which was decorating sugar cookies.

Ava loved this! I know her face does not show it here but she had so much fun.

I had a bit of fun too. I did the Turkey, Santa, Candy Cane and the Christmas tree (2nd from top left)...the rest were all of Ava's free form decorations...pretty!

Playdate with Sienna

Jen, Sienna and Trey came over for a playdate today. As usual, the girls had a lot of fun playing with anything and everything.

Here they are sharing their love of dress up, princesses and lollipops.
And they took turns jumping on the trampoline and being the cheerleader.

Playdate with Friends - Old & New

We went over to my old friend Carla's house today for a playdate with her 2 daughters, Marin & Tatum. Carla & I used to work together many many years ago, and then I moved to Dallas and she moved to Canada then Chicago. They just moved back and she now lives 10 min away and has 2 girls around Ava's age.

We had a lot of fun...Ava did not know what to do with herself..they had so many toys! Here is Marin (Carla's oldest, almost 4) and Ava playing dress up.

And here is Tatum (almost 2), Marin & Ava singing their ABCs while having a tea party.

Silly Ava

"Mommy! Mommy! Take a picture of me & my friends."

What Happened After the Paci Fairy Came

So these photos are taken the day after the Paci Fairy came. Ava was excited about the "BIG PRESENT" -- a trampoline. Jumps on it all the time. We did have more issues with the paci being gone the day after up until now but nothing major. Really just some whining here and there (which has subsided) and some issues with naptime. But I am so proud of our big girl and seeing as it is only 2 weeks later and she really does not mention the paci anymore, it's great. Next stop...Potty training. Been putting that one off. :)

The Paci Fairy is Coming!!

After a week of telling Ava that the Paci Fairy was coming, the day has finally arrived. We've been wanting to break her of her pacifier for ages now but it was time...seeing as she is 2 1/2 yrs old and she started taking a new interest in it. Have to nip that in the bud now.

So the Paci Fairy story basically goes something like this, "Ava, the Paci Fairy is going to come this week. We'll get all your pacis together and the Paci Fairy will come and take them to babies who need them and she'll leave you a BIG PRESENT. Do you want a BIG PRESENT? She'll take your pacis forever and leave you a BIG PRESENT."

Notice the emphasis on the big present. Also we repeated this to her a million times.

So here is Ava on her "paci hunt" finding all her pacis around her room/house.

Ava, being super proud that she found them all and setting them out for the Paci Fairy. So the night went without incident. She whined a little for her paci but was able to go to sleep and it really was not as bad as I thought it would be. Of course this is nighttime we are talking about and not naptime...should be interesting.