big girl bed

last night was ava's first night in her big girl bed! i was a little bit nervous about this transition...this child loves & i mean LOVES her crib! her new bed is way too adorable & we call it her princess bed...crossing our fingers this will make it even more appealing to sleep in! she did so good! she only got up a few times before she fell asleep! yay! she slept all night, no rolling out of her bed onto the floor, no sneaking in bed with us...she woke up a bit early, but i was so glad she did so well!
nap time...totally different story...she wants to play with all the toys in her room instead of sleep...we will be working on this for the next several weeks to try to get in a good naptime routine...i know i will need it when this little guy arrives!
tonight she only got out of bed once and it was to get a stuffed animal...yes, another stuffed animal to sleep with. she was asleep within 10 minutes (of course, this could be due to the no nap afternoon...) crossing my fingers she does as well tonight!
you would think she had been up all night last night...i have been so sleepy today. i didn't sleep good at all last night worrying she might get up in the middle of the night and "explore" around the house....
hopefully tomorrow i can get a pic of this princess bed to share with you all....i was too tired today!

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the 4th

hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of july! we sure did! we headed out to the lake in the morning to spend the day with the family. ava was so excited and it was such a great time with lots of good food and fun in the sun!

ava & grammy

ava hiding from grandaddy
ava and grammy sitting in front of the cabin

miss maddy...she is so pretty!

ava playing with her cars

ava and sydney swimming

ava, maddy, & sydney

the onstott men sittin' on the dock

maddy in the water

daddy & ava

ricky & rick on the dock

daddy & ava

we headed home for a bit in the afternoon to give ava break from the heat and try to get her to nap...no such luck. headed back out for fireworks! she loved them! it's the first year she has caught them...she fell asleep last year. she thought they were pretty and loved how they went "boom"! so cute to see her experience new things. then she chatted about them all the way home. the girl slept until almost 10 this morning...i think she wore herself out a bit yesterday and it was definitly a fun day for all of us!

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happy birthday auntie toon-toon...hope you had a special day full of fun and surprises! yes, i know, every day is a birthday post...july is just full of celebrations for us!!!

we had another busy day today. this is how it began...ava and zack snuggled up on the couch. we are watching my dad and maryann's puppies while they are on vaca. zoe was still pouting about being left behind, but zack is all about snuggles on the couch...don't worry, though, zoe finally emerged later this afternoon and had some snuggles and playtime!

ava got a super special birthday package in the mail today from landon, heather, and david! when we were visiting with them last week, ava fell in love with these little wooden cars and ramp that landon had. such a sweet surprise to get her very own in the mail! ya'll made her day, she played with them all afternoon...on the ramp, on the couch, pushed the cars in her stroller...she absolutly LOVES them! thank you so much for thinking of her, you are so thoughtful! (we still have one pink nail from our trip to see nonna at the salon...she may have to fix this when she keeps ava on monday!)
told ya...on the couch
she wouldn't let them go...

we spent some time with grams and popo this afternoon swimming and going to lunch. ava is such a summertime girl! she just loves to swim! i think she is just the absolute cutest thing i have ever seen! oh how i adore baby legs!

she loves being tossed up in the air...and believe me, it's definitly a work out for the tosser!

my summertime girl

ava loves to float...when she wants to she refers to this as "princess"...such a silly girl!

so many people made our day so wonderful! we hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of july!!

xoxo,

a

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happy birthday...

alex!! yep, alex and jen share the same birthday! alex is one of my most favorite cousins...unfortunatly he lives in minnesota and we live in texas, so we don't get to see him as much as we would like. but this past year he made a trip to texas with his wife and one with his dad and brother...then we got to go up and visit them a few times (one for he and kirstin's fabulous wedding)! we got super spoiled getting to see him so much! crossing our fingers we may see them down here after hollis comes?! anyway, hope you had a great day alex! we miss you! ava sends lots of hugs and kisses!

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happy birthday jen!!!!

happy birthday to my bestie! she has been my bestie & more like a sister since the first day of first grade when we bonded over the unfortunate hairstyle of a classmate ( i had to steal that off your blog...i think it's too funny!). i adore her! i moved to texas the summer before the sixth grade...who knew we would be able to stay in touch and stay so close over all that distance and time! we talked on the phone every chance we could, wrote letters, summertime visits, even made silly cassette tapes to send to each other updated each other on what was going on in our lives! i wish i could get my hands on one of those tapes...i'm sure it would be very entertaining! we have been through lots together, whether near or far, i always know jen is there for me. we have been together on some of the most important days of our lives and if we couldn't be there, we talked on the phone all about it! it has been way too long since we have seen each other...hopefully sometime this year we can get together for a visit! she is one of the most beautiful, creative, thoughtful, funny, quirky girls in the world & is also the best auntie my ava could ever ask for! i hope you have a great birthday! & i'll get your pressie in the mail sometime soon....

had to snag this oldie off jen's blog....too funny! looks like i have an unfortunate hairstyle...jen has always had the most gorgeous hair!

on jen's wedding day!
my wedding day

my bachelorette party...soooo fun!
love you girlie, xoxo,
a

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birthday extravaganza....

so it makes for a couple of crazy days when your baby girls birthday is the day before yours! it seems like we have been going nonstop for the past few days and it has been so much fun! had to share just a few snappy pics from the birthdays :)

we bought ava a kitchen set for her birthday complete with a mixer, cookie tray, cookies, and spoons. she loves it and has bee playing with it non stop! maybe she'll be a chef?

she also got the matching refrigerator from her grams and popo. the whole set looks sooooo darn cute!
this girl loves water...playing in it, swimming in it, walking in it, splashing in it...it doesn't matter. we went to dinner over at my mom's house and ava was playing in the sink...i think she is just way too cute for her own good!

my brother was in town for business, so he spent the evening with us! so much fun for ava to have her uncy d with her on her birthday. not sure how often that will happen! it was so much fun to see them together. they are watching star wars here...who knew my girl would like star wars?! it was also a treat watching them play together! dathan is very entertaining and ava had such a great time playing with him! i so wish he and his fam lived closer so she could know him better...he is such an awesome brother and just the best uncle in the world! and how great is it that he actually got snuggles?! i mean, this is a rare occurance...ava is sooooo not a cuddler, but she sat with him several times...i loved that he got this special time with her! i hope he soaked it all up!

here she is blowing out the candles! we had to do this several times...another new favorite!

and now onto my big day! it was pretty mellow. ava decided to wake up early...she must have wanted to celebrate :) we hung out around the house. bo bought me flowers and then told me to go get whatever i wanted for my birthday...not sure i will ever hear those words again...especially after i ran with them...straight to fort worth camera & supply! ha! anyway, i upgraded my camera and got a new lens! this is quite an excellent pair and i am sooooooooooo excited to figure out all the ins and outs of the camera and hopefully get some great shots! he is so good to me! bo had to work, so ava and i headed over to my dad & maryann's for dinner. d met up with us again, yay! i have been totally spoiled with his company...i hate to see him go...but he must return to colorado...that baby boy could be here any day & i'm pretty sure his baby girl is missing him terribly! so we had some more good food, good conversation, ava played monster with uncy d, and then it was time to head home! it has been a great few days.

isn't she gorgeous?! i think i'm in love!

xoxo,

a

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it's my party...

and i'll cry if i want to....29 today...need i say more....

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