Nothing like playing catch-up.....

"If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one..."

-Cavett Rober

That quote could not be more true.  I'm sitting here thinking about all of the ways our lives are changing. In the blink of an eye.  If all goes as planned, we will soon be preparing our house to sell it.  But, it feels like we just moved in.  Every time I want to buy something new to decorate, I have to remind myself that I should probably just wait.  We won't know for sure until December if we are moving or not for Chris' residency, but as you know....December is just right around the corner. 

This was last December, and now this year, that little bundle of joy will more than likely be walking around!

This last year is just full of so many fun memories! Ava will be 6 months old on the 24th and I just don't know what to do with myself. I already have hundreds of pictures and tons of videos because I just don't want to miss a thing. But, I know I will.  Fortunately, they are all in my heart. :) The past month or so has been so busy with "firsts" for Ava. Eating baby food, getting two bottom teeth, swimming in a pool, getting in a lake, 4th of July, attending daycare, and so many more things. 

 This is at the lake on base. I have SO many fun memories here fishing with my parents and Chris has some, too, fishing with his Pepaw.  He remembers exactly where he caught his first fish here!

She will NOT let you see her teeth! Lol.

She got her first one on June 15th! And then exactly 15 days later, she got her second one! This is too much for Momma!

We took her to the base pool for the first time! She was very sleepy and hungry so not really into smiling on this day.

Just taking it all in.....

A few minutes of swimming....

And it was time for a bottle.  "Here daddy, I will help you hold it."

"And now that you've fed me, sure I will smile for you!" :)

Everything is going great at daycare.  Learning to adapt and improving each day on her naps.  She even already has a good friend named Avery. :)   She loves to go and they love to have her! Her soon to be teacher, Missy, made this picture to go above her crib at school.  She said Ava loves to have her picture taken! I wonder where she learned that..... :)

Love those big brown eyes.

She has really been enjoying baby food! Can't get enough....and I can't get enough of these hilarious pictures of people feeding her.  Check out her Dad and her Mimi feeding her! So funny. ;)

Baaahhhaaaaa!

Hilarious! :)

Now, I just need to remember to hide the camera while I am feeding her. ;)

The Sunday before the 4th of July, my mom had a HUGE cookout with some friends, family, and the members of her church.  It was hot, but a lot of fun!  Ava was so happy to show off her 4th of July outfit...she didn't want anything too flashy though. :)

So she opted for this so that she could easily wear it again. Such a smart girl!

Then, her Uncle Nick took her into the lake on the 4th of July and she LOVED picking up the sand and throwing it down.

It was SUCH a hot day at the lake. She never would nap until I handed her to Donna so that we could pack the car up.....

Fast asleep with her hand on her cheek. Being next to her Mimi was all it took for her to surrender.

She needed this nap because we headed home, showered, and went to another cookout! So much to do! :)

So excited to see our good friend Mallory..

And Max, too! :) (Ava has got to work on her tan!)

She really impressed them with her new look.  We like to call it her "beak"!

haha! she kept doing this all night.

I don't get many pictures with my girl because I am usually behind the camera.  Look at how long she is!

We couldn't finish off the night without a few chocolate covered strawberries...

So delicious!

It was a GREAT 4th of July weekend!

Last week Chick-fil-A was doing their annual Cow Appreciation Day.  Chelsea thought it would be fun if we dressed up and dressed Ava up and went and got some free food!  She was correct.  I had to work in Fort Smith that day and wouldn't be home until late, so she swung by and picked up one of Ava's white onesies from Chris.  I got home, freshened up, and then Chelsea was there with her "costume"!

Wow.  Happiest cow I've ever seen! She loved it! :)  And our free dinner was phenomenal! We will definitely be doing this again! I saved her ears! More pictures on Chelsea's blog! :)

And then on Saturday, we got to meet up with our friends Hanna and Kristin! We had a lot of fun.  Ava was only interested in trying to drink our drinks.  "Yes please, Hanna, I would like some lemonade."

And, "Yes, strangers, I would like some of your sprite as well!"

She is serious about trying these drinks, and these sweet people were happy to let her lick on their cup. Cracks me up! They came over to meet her because they had a grand daughter named Ava.

As the months go by, I find myself soaking up every minute that I have to spend with my friends and family.  Now that I am back at work and Ava is in daycare, our time is just so short because she is usually in bed by 7.  So weekends are just so special.  I usually have a to-do list a mile long, but these are the only things that I can manage to get accomplished.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.  I have not a care in the world.  Kind of like her. :)

Naptime on Saturday...check

Naptime on Sunday...check....this is our favorite rocker/recliner.  Love my husband for capturing these moments.

The past few days and nights have been a little rough(but she is a trooper) for Ava because she caught her first cold.  It was to be expected with her starting daycare.  She's such a healthy little thing, and it's so hard to see your baby cough and have trouble breathing.  We have spent the last few nights sleeping in her room.  The way it works at our house is that if one of us is "up" with the baby, the other comes in for support, just so we don't have to be alone.  We take turns holding her in the recliner (while sleeping), and the other sleeps on the floor until needed.  It's just nice to feel like we are sharing the load and getting up together.  Chris is such a good Daddy, so thankful for him.  And then in the morning, we all three play on the floor.  It's one of my favorite times! :)

"Daddy, wake up, turn over!"

It does not take long to get him up! She loves to talk and play with his hair. :)

So this is just a little bit of what's been going on at our house! Work is going great for me and Chris is busy studying away for his Step 2 at the end of the month.  He has his Ophthalmology rotation at UAMS next month (he is so pumped), and then he will be leaving us for 2 whole months to go on away rotations! So you know we will be capturing some memories!   My sister in law is due with her sweet little girl any day now and we are just so excited because Ava will have a cousin within 6 months of age of her! We are planning a trip to visit next month, and then a couple more over September and October to visit the new baby, Joie ( and family) and Daddy! They will all be in San Antonio! :) Can't wait.  Until next time.....try to make every day a good day.

Be Blessed!

Big Day for Miss Ava...

If I want it, it's mine.

If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.

If I take it away from you, it's mine.

If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

If it's mine, it will never belong to anybody else, no matter what.

If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.

If it looks just like mine, it's mine.
~ Author Unknown ~

Haha.  I saw this online and loved it! :) This will soon be true for her....until we can reason with her and teach her otherwise.  Today was Ava's first day at daycare!  She now attends McArthur Christian Academy and we are so excited! I have been anticipating this day for several weeks now. I went to visit the daycare and fell in love....and they fell in love with Ava.  The Lord had a spot for her there.  They gave me all of the information Chris and I would need (even sent me home with a supply list..yippie!!) and told me they would see us on Tuesday, July 5th! So you know what I had to do! Shop! She had to have supplies! :)

So fun! I love shopping for "school supplies!"

I had been prepping Ava all week and weekend that she was going to be going to daycare soon.  We talked all about how she would soon meet new friends, learn to play nicely with them, take turns being held by their teacher, and how she would learn very quickly because of all that was going on around her!  She seemed pretty excited.  We had a super busy weekend (more on that in another post) and I knew she would be so tired come Monday night.  I was right.  She didn't get into bed until 10 pm and we didn't hear another peep from her until after 8:00 am on Tuesday morning.  I even went in around 7 and 7:30 to check on her, but this was what I found...

Sweet girl, tucked away in her favorite corner.  She starts out in the middle of the crib and scoots here. :)

Finally around 8:10, she flipped over and started talking.  We didn't have much time because I had a busy Monday, Tuesday ahead of me!  I brought her into the living room while I packed up the car and she watched a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...it's right on up there with Dora the Explorer.  Finally she yelled out that she was hungry for her breakfast.  While I was feeding her Chris texted and said that he would be home shortly to take her to daycare with me! We were pumped because he originally couldn't go because he had registration until 10.  SO glad he got to go.  He was so happy to see his big girl all ready to go in her new outfit! :) And a fresh tan from the lake on Monday!

So sweet!

Everything was all set, Chris needed to make a drink and then we could be on our way...Ava told him how she thought her day would go while he made it.

Yacking away!

He loaded her up next to all of her supplies.  Woo, this little girl needs a lot of stuff!

We headed to the daycare and Chris glanced into the back seat.  He said, "Oh I didn't realize you got little stickers for her stuff.  Those are cute!  But, her middle name isn't spelled right!" WHAT! Say it isn't so!  A couple weeks ago I had gotten so excited about her supplies that I decided to go to Inchbug to order her some labels for her bottles and supplies.  I later checked my receipt and what do you know.....I spelled her middle name wrong on the labels!!! Yeah, Mother of the Year right here, I know!  :(

Yep, Lauryn is spelled with an E on every label!

But fortunately, I didn't mess up the entire order..

Her bottle labels were correct! If you look closely, you can see her name on it. These are nifty little things! They can go in the dishwasher, microwave, they can even be boiled.  The daycare has so much going on that you have to have your child's name on EVERYTHING, just to be safe.  They even had it on her diapers when I picked her up! :) Ha!

Love it! 

Well, we finally made it there...Ava was just drifting off when we pulled up (as if her 10 hour night was not long enough ;), but it didn't take her long to perk up when Dad got her out.

Let's do this!!

We headed inside and they we so happy to see Ava again.  She smiled from ear to ear as we walked to her classroom.  Once we got there, Mommy just needed another quick picture (or 10) and then we would go! 

Our hair is comforting to her for some reason! :) 

We stayed around and chatted for a while and actually ran into another friend that has a son that attends MCA.  Now we know 4 families that have a child enrolled there! They all seem to love it. :)  Tina, the director told me to feel free to call and check on her if I wanted to.  I said, "Nah, it'll be fine. I'm not a crazy Momma!" (Haha, who was I kidding?)  We hadn't been in the car 2 minutes before I realized that I need to tell them to refrigerate her bottles immediately.  I dialed her up and Tina let out a giggle.  She said she would take care of it right away.  As soon as I ended the call I realized that I also didn't tell them what time she last ate!!! Ahhhh!!! Chris would not allow me to call back! Lol.  He said, "They will figure it out, Susan."  And they certainly did.  Ava told them. ;)

I had a great, productive day at work and the day just flew by.  I couldn't wait to pick her up and hear about her day.  I walked in and asked Tina at the front desk how she had been. "I think, she's been pretty good today, but she hasn't slept at all," she said.  We both laughed and figured she was probably trying to take it all in and did not want to miss anything.  That's the Ava I know.  Tina was right.

Baahhhaaaa! Not a single nap.

I walked down the long hallway and was impressed because I didn't hear her.  Could it be true? She's not crying?  I walked around the corner (and scared Emily her teacher) and there she was...

Sitting in a bumbo just talking away!  This child will not give our bumbo the time of day at home! Lol.  Emily said Ava loved it! That made my day.  

We chatted for what seemed like forever and realized that it was such a small world! She is a cousin of one of our good friends and when she saw Ava's paperwork she looked us up on facebook a few weeks ago.  She added us, but we had no idea who she was (or so we thought), so we declined her friendship!  Big bummer! She was our baby girl's first teacher! :)  She laughed about it and told me she had been to Florida with Chris when he went on their family vacation.  I couldn't wait to tell Chris.  He remembered her instantly then!  Meet Emily...

She's SO sweet and her and Ava got along great! Makes a Momma's heart happy! I told her to add us again and promised to accept her request! (Of course Ava has had to have a change of clothes...as usual!)

I knew what would happen next.  No naps at school means Ava is one tired girl.  We weren't in the car for 3 minutes and she was DONE. OUT. :)  I talked on the phone all the way home about how great she did her first day.  Not a peep from Ava.

Love her.

I brought her inside and she woke up instantly to tell Chris about her day.  I fed her some green beans and gave her a bath right away.  I knew what was about to happen.  This was not my first rodeo.  Her excitement would only last a short time and then it was bath, bottle, bed!!!

"I'm serious Mom and Dad, I LOVED it! I can't wait to go see my friends again tomorrow!" 

And then, just like that...the day was over and the inevitable happened.

She was out like a light....even though it was still light out. Lol.

But one thing you learn about being a Momma...is that you don't fight it.  If they are tired, let them sleep.  It's best for everyone.  If they get over-tired, they are so restless for the rest of the night.  So, now it's about 10:20 and she apparently was not playing around. It was indeed, bedtime. :)

Thanks to all the wonderful ladies at McArthur Christian Academy!  We are so happy to be a part of the family.  See you tomorrow!