Another Year Older..

Yesterday was my 26th birthday! I am now closer to 30 than to 20...scary! David and I went to the Melting Pot Saturday night to celebrate. It has become a tradition for us to go there for my birthday. He took me their for my 21st birthday (we had only been dating for like 3 months so we were both still too nervous to eat in front of each other!) Now we are maybe a little too comfortable around each other and we all but licked the chocolate fondue pot clean! :)

This is Ava on the way to Nana J's house Saturday night. She gets very mad at us now when we put her in the car. I think she thinks we may drive all the way to Atlanta again...

Our dessert at The Melting Pot...

and after....

On Sunday we went to church and then to the pool. David and Ava gave me a Beth Moore book that I read while laying out. (Part of my present was to be able to lay out while David kept Ava entertained.)

Road Trip

We had a great time on our first road trip as a family. Ava was a little trooper! We were in the car a total of about 16 hours in 4 days so it was a little much for all of us! We had a wonderful visit with the Bolin's. Jay and Caroline are growing up way too fast and I enjoy every minute we get to spend with them. On Wednesday night Pastor Israel (our pastor here at New Beginnings) spoke at my sister and brother-in-law's church outside of Atlanta. He was awesome! We have been going to New Beginnings for about 3 1/2 years now and I am still blown away by how amazing he is! We are so lucky God placed the Campbell's in Wilson! We sadly left Atlanta on Friday morning and headed to Myrtle Beach. Ava did great until we got stuck in horrible traffic coming into Myrtle Beach. (Umm...why didn't anyone tell me it was bike week in Myrtle Beach??) Ava had reached her limit with riding in the car (I had too) and screamed for the last hour of our trip. We still had a great time at the beach with David's family. We shopped a lot and ate a lot...our favorite things to do. On the way home from Myrtle Beach David and I began talking about possibly flying to Disney instead of attempting the 9-10 hour drive. ;) Some pictures from our adventures...

Guy's Weekend

David got to get away this weekend for some "guy time". He left very early Saturday morning and headed to Charlotte for the all star race. From what I heard, they had a lot of fun! He got home today and looked a little sunburned and worn out! He said they are going to make this an annual trip. A lot of his friends are daddies-to-be so we will see how that goes! :)
Ava and I spent the weekend together and even had a little slumber party last night! (Okay, this is really the last time she will sleep in bed with me...I promise!) I used to be so scared to stay home alone but something about having my little 4-month old beside me was comforting.
Even though David was very tired when he got home we had a lot to do! We are leaving Wednesday for our first little road trip as a family! My brother-in-law, Jason, asked our pastor to speak at his church Wednesday night. We couldn't miss it..and we are long overdue seeing the Bolin's! Then on Friday we are driving from Atlanta to Myrtle Beach for the weekend with David's family. We have a LOT to do between now and Wednesday morning so we better get busy!! Everyone please say a prayer for Ava's car riding skills...this will let us know if Disney World is in our near future :)

Neat Story

I read a cute article from Parenting magazine and wanted to share. Yes I have gone from getting US Weekly to Parenting magazine...guess I am growing up! :)


The story was written from a father's perspective. He had a daughter who was born with a large birthmark that covered the entire left side of her head. He said that every time he would take his baby out in public everyone would stare and come over and ask, "What is wrong with your baby's head?" He said that he got to the point where he would start explaining the birthmark before people could have time to ask such questions. Eventually his daughter required surgery to remove the birthmark and today it is completely gone. He then told about how he went into a store that he had not been to in a while. The lady working said "You have a baby daughter don't you?" He said he just knew she was going to ask him about her head. Instead the lady said, "She has the most beautiful blue eyes." He said yes, as a matter of fact, she does!

I thought this was so sweet. We have gone through this a little with Ava's eye. We get that people are just curious but you sometimes get tired of explaining that she has a birthmark and it will go away. As parents, you don't even see the imperfections in your baby. When I look at Ava all I see is beautiful, bright blue eyes (exactly like her daddy's) and sometimes, if I am lucky, an adorable grin! She is perfect to us!

Oops!

Ava has successfully slept in her crib through the night for the past few weeks. But last night she had a little setback. We are not sure why, but she woke up at 1:30! Now my husband has really impressed me with his daddy skills but in the middle of the night, he is clueless! When he heard me getting up to go check on Ava, he started to get in the shower. He had no idea what was going on! :) Anyway, everyone and every book will tell you not to pick up your baby but to try to get them to go back to sleep on their own. I tried rubbing her hair, singing to her, and giving her a pacifier....she wasn't having it. So I resorted to the one thing I said I would never, ever do....

Yep. That's Ava all snugly and comfy in our bed! Now I know it is very unsafe to sleep with a baby in the bed with you. Trust me, I never was asleep more than 10 minutes at a time before Ava's little arms or legs would fling into me! She is such a little wiggle worm! She must have been very cozy because we had to wake her up this morning at 7 to eat... I hope we haven't started a very bad habit!

(Pam, I know I promised I would never put Ava in the bed with me...but how do you say no to this...)

Happy Mother's Day!!

I had to share this...it is too cute and too true!

Before I was a Mom I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried. I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.



I have loved every minute of being Ava's mom! I can totally relate to the being puked on and peed on..it happens to me almost daily. I have also lost complete control of my mind...I think you lose every brain cell when you are pregnant. Ava and I walked around the Target parking lot for at least 15 minutes Friday searching for my car. :) But I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world! I thank God everyday for choosing me to be Ava's mommy! I never knew I could love someone so much!
David and Ava made sure that my first mother's day was extra special! We went to church and then came home and had a very yummy lunch! I allowed myself to eat everything and anything I wanted! We even had donuts and brownies for desert! (Tomorrow it is back to South Beach...) Ava gave me the sweetest card and a gift card for a massage!

She is the spitting image of her daddy in this picture! :)

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and mommies-to-be!!!

New Friend

Ava stayed with her Nana J, Papa, and Aunt Shannon Saturday night so David and I could go to a wedding. The wedding was beautiful and I got to see a lot of friends from high school that I had not seen in years. Shannon bought Ava a cute little mouse toy (what a great aunt! I remember when Jay was born..I never went to visit him without bringing him new Disney toys.) Ava is in love with her new toy! She took a nap with him today...