stock show fun...

we spent the afternoon at the stock show yesterday. unfortuantely they were cleaning out the barns between show animals so most were empty. boooo. the horse barn was full, so ava loved that...horses are her favorite anyway. and she did have fun "driving" the tractors and other big machines in the exhibit hall, though! she even got her first john deer matchobox style tractor!

she loves pushing the stroller... our big girl...she's very convincing up on those machines...like she knows exactly what she is doing!

the baby animal section was open and ava was happy about that! her favorite spot is the chicks..she likes sticking her hands through the fence and letting those little guys just peck her little fingers...she can be a strange little thing sometimes! she thinks it's hilarious and just about dies laughing!

letting the chicks peck her little fingers...

& this time she was actually holding her hand because it must not have felt very good...shocker!

running around like a wild woman! leading the way to the next animal of choice.

checkin out the bunnies.

it was so much fun. the rides didn't open until four, so we are going to have to take her back to ride them another day...after 3 hours, we were ready to go!

got to love the stock show!

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oh.my.gosh...i'm in shock!

look what i just won!!!! crazy, incredible! i love this bumbleride indie twin and never dreamed i would ever have one of my own!!! wow...i am feeling truly, truly, lucky & blessed! wow.....

n0w there is absolutly no excuse for not getting out and walking every day...

xoxo,

a

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gettin' his hair did...

this gorgeous little man got his hair did for the first time saturday night over at his grammy and granddaddy's house! we were at our monthly birthday/anniversary/anything we can celebrate party and his autnie liz cut it! it was getting so long on top and hanging down in his eyes...bo told me to cut it, but i preferred a professional & liz is awesome! it is kind of sticking up in this pic...the style had kind of faded by the time we got home, but he looks so handsome and i {heart} his little face with his new do!
{& those baby blues are just about killing me these days....i still can't believe we have a blue eyed baby! still crossing my fingers they stay that way!}
other news...ava is doing so good on the potty training! it has been 10 days now and i am so proud of her! the past two days have been accident free! what?! so awesome! as much of a hassle as it was in the beginning, life is so much easier with her going on the potty and she is so proud of herself {& i don't think she thinks the rewards are bad, either! ha!...yes, i bribe my child!} nonna {bo's mom} took her to the stock show today with maddy and sydney and they had a blast! & even with all the schedule changes, she still didn't have an accident! she is totally boss! she had so much fun and returned to me face painted, GIANT bag of cotton candy, new jewelry, and one sleepy girl! we spent the rest of the day over at grams and felix's house watching football and playing play doh, princesses, kitty cat {she is now loving pretending to be a kitty cat}, and just having a nice relaxing day! i swear, my kids are so, so lucky to have so many wonderful people in their lives that adore them so much! i love that they are getting to grow up near their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. i grew up far away from mine, only visiting a few times a year...i always wanted to be close to them. anyway, it's been a fun weekend and i'm hoping to make it to the zoo early this week and return to the stock show with the kids on wednesday so i can see my girl light up on all the rides and swoon over the piggys which she says are "so cute".

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hope for haiti

tonight i watched most of hope for haiti now {as i'm sure so many of ya'll did, too}. it is truly amazing to see so many people come together and do something so beautiful for others in need. this has always been one of my favorite songs and oh.my.lord! justin timberlake and matt morris made it even more incredible. i am such a music lover and when i hear something this powerful it touches my heart, makes me ache, and just want to sing out...it is truly heaven. {i think i lub j.t. more and more every day.}

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpfLDRULi0k

so many stories broke my heart, made me wish i could do something more than just give money & prayer, and amazed me. i am in awe of the spirit of the haitian people. i can't imagine what it is like to be there right now. so i will continue to pray for them all and everyone over there offering help and support. keep them safe.

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reduce, reuse, recycle...

bo's mama brought over a few boxes of his childhood toys a while back and we haven't made the time to go through them. yesterday, bo had ava out playing in the front yard and on the porch and he started doing some digging...he found tons of old cars; hot wheels, big cars, little cars, police cars, trains, ambulances, dukes of hazard metal cars {my personal favorite!}, & so many more! well, ava loves anything with wheels and it seems that these days cars are her toy of choice, so she was absolutely in heaven playing with these dirty, dusty, old squeaky cars! i love that about her...she doesn't care if it's shiny and new or old and faded...she loves what she loves.

i love my girls spirit....

so she's been doing lots of this...
while i've been cloroxing the crap out of them {the cars...not aves!}
i love something with history...and the fact that these were the toys that the man i am so in love with played with when he was growing up just melts my heart...
so, yeah...we won't be buying any new toy cars for a while!
xoxo,
a

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what we've been up to...

some couch sleeping...onstott's love their naps on the couch :)

busy has been building lots of towers...
running around on gorgeous afternoons with grams in the front yard...

watching and dreaming of running around in the front yard with grams and busy.

& of course, playing with the chipmunks {the complete set, i might add!}

we have been having some really fun days lately. nothing ground breaking or majorly different, just feeling very connected to one another and enjoying the littlest of things together. ava is also doing really great with the potty training! i'm so proud of her! she has had one accident every day since we've started training {5 days ago}, but i think that's pretty darn good. she still doesn't tell us she has to go, & if i ask, the answer is always a firm "no", but i just take her every 30 minutes or so and she does pretty well with that. today we actually had a break in the resistance. she went a few times tonight without any whining...of course, she may have just been showing off for daddy {he was off work today, & it was pretty much the first time he has been aroudn to help us with the potty business...he's been working a lot of overtime..}! whatever, i'll take it! i braved the zoo today alone with the kids. {i usually drag daddy along with us!} it was a gorgeous morning and we can't let that zoo pass go to waste...i think i might cry when ava turns three and we have to either get her a pass or pay for her each time...blah! she asked for the birds the whole time we were there and when we finally got there {usually our last stop}, they didn't dissapoint! it wasn't a field trip day or busy 1/2 price day, so the birds were hungry and ready to eat! ava is getting them to climb on her stick all by herself now and carry them around! she had three birds at one time, even! and then a cockatiel landed on her head, which she thought was hilarious, & i was wishing for my camera...didn't even bother bringing it along...i knew i had my hands full without it! hopefully next time i can get some good pics of her in all her birdy glory to share! it's pretty fun to watch her. of course, hollis slept through most of the zoo...i was a bit worried when we got there and i realized i forgot his paci...but he did great without it & i realized i don't need to rely on it so much. he's pretty much a happy little guy :)

then ava spent the afternoon playing on the porch with daddy and a bunch of his toys from when he was little...of course the cars were her favorite! that girl loves her cars! i can already see her outside in some mini coveralls helping daddy work on cars! i have dreams of them fixing up an old mustang together for her first car....i so hope she enjoys that with her, would be awesome for her to know the mechanics of the car so if she ever has a problem she can take care of it herself! but, we have a long ways to go before those days....of course, they'll be here before we know it!

hope you are all having a great week so far!

xoxo,

a

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found one of these on craigslist...crossing my fingers it isn't already gone! i love, love, love it! {ya'll cross your fingers for me too, k?! it's gonna be jogging weather in texas shortly and i need a stroller that can haul my two babies around!...and not cost a fortune...we already did that with the single stroller....}

oh, phil & teds how i adore you!

xoxo,

a

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heavy

the other night while eating with our family at McDonald's {yes, while on the quest for Eleanor}, i couldn't help but feel guilt as so many images from haiti were flashing accross the big screens up on the walls. heartwrenching images, so hard to watch and hard to believe that it is actually happening somewhere out there. today, my heart is with those people in haiti. people that are lost, people that are hurt, people that are scared, children that are growing up too fast, & people that are there to help. today i will be thankful for all i have because life can be set on a tailspin at any given moment and changed forever.

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two hundred aannnnnddddd one!

so i realized after my last post that it was my 200th! wowza! can't believe it! we spent a lazy day around the house. ava actually took a much needed nap...not sure why somedays she will and some days she won't...it's a mystery. but of course, then she didn't want to go to sleep tonight. i had her in bed by 8, but she was up and down until about 9:30....frustration for the mama, that's all i'm saying.
well, not sure if you have been following mcdonalds toys lately, but they are giving away alvin and the chipmunks talking toys in their happy meals. i took ava to see that movie a few weeks ago and she loved it. she has every chipmunk except ELEANOR...my her favorite! so we have been traveling to far away mcdonalds, eating high amounts of happy meals searching for her. we have so many alvins & brittneys {the ones you would think they would be short on}, but no eleanor. well, i gave up my search tonight and just bought one of ebay{super duper cheap}. i know, it's rediculous. but sometimes rediculous is necessary. gonna start potty booty camp tomorrow and am hoping in 3-5 business days i can give this to ava because she is doing so great! a girl can hope, right?!

can't wait to see you eleanor!

xoxo,

a

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hippie chick

i spent some time taking some pics of ava...we tried to get a little hippy chick-esque...i think the look really fits her! {or maybe i just want it to...i've always felt a bit hippie-ish! ha!}

i am so loving braiding her hair these days, i think the look is adorable! {when i was her age my mom used to always have my hair in braids!}

i think this is one of my favorites...so glad we've held onto the bugs for so long now!

wwaaayyyyyy overexposed...but love it anyway!

xoxo,

a

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gratitude...

soooo...my very, very best friend did a post about gratitude on her blog yesterday and like so many things she does, it spoke to me. so i thougth i better take a long hard look at this life i am living and instead of focusing on things that lead to frustration or things that really don't matter, i need to aim my focus on the things in this life that bring me happiness, joy, and peace. so this will be my first of many gratitude posts...

my body.
i have been given a body to walk through this life in. everyday my heart pumps blood through my veins to all my organs, keeping me alive and healthy. there is more going on in this body than i can even wrap my brain around. this body has worked hard and given me two of the most beautiful gifts in the world, healthy children that will forever bring joy to my life. this body can run, dance, play...it is amazing! i can do ANYTHING! today, i am thankful for this body and am promising to take better care of you.

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the new year...

so life has been pretty simple around here...we have been spending a lot of time inside, as it is super cold outside! i think we are starting to get cabin fever and may have to take a drive out to see mimi and poppy in granbury tomorrow or just go for a drive if timing doesn't work out. today was a hard day. ava has recently really been testing us {well, me!} and today was the worst of it so far. i feel like i spent all day feeding hollis and getting onto ava...like i said, cabin fever setting in...feeling so frustrated. ava was on a nap strike and this child needs a nap! NEEDS one! and then i went in to check on her {because i heard her say "ewwww, a mess"...not what you want to hear from your supposed to be sleeping toddler!} and she had pulled off her diaper and gotten poo everywhere...yeah, i said it on my blog, poo! so then this sent me into frustration about potty training and why haven't i gotten her there yet? just feeling a little overwhelmed today...this too shall pass. hoping that this new "attitude" ava has developed doesn't linger long...i can't stand it...anyway, here are a few sweet moments of the kids together.

{i love how when ava reads to hollis she always has to have her finger run along the page...words or no words! ha!}

she has been wanting to hold him a lot lately...even feed him! it cracks me up! if he is crying she lifts up her shirt and says "aba feed hollis!" always gives me a laugh!

so yeah, this tired mama is off to bed. it's gonna be another day tomorrow and i have to have all my wits about me to deal with little miss sassy pants.

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