A Change is Coming...

Last week we were reminded again at how faithful our God is!! David and I have been praying for a long time about me staying home with Ava. Last week I met with the manager of the Emergency Room at the hospital and they are in need of "prn" nurses. I talked it over with David and we decided that this was a great opportunity! So as of July 1st, I will be home with Ava every day during the week and work as needed in the ER on the weekends. I am SO EXCITED about this new chapter for us!!! I read back to a post I made the first day I had to return to work after Ava was born and I wrote that David and I knew that God was making a way for me to stay home with Ava as much as possible. God's promises are true and I am so thankful!!!

David's 2nd Father's Day!

Yesterday we celebrated Father's Day! Ava's present to her daddy were sunglasses that we actually bought when we were at the beach. David desperately needed them at the time so Ava drew him a picture to remind him of the gift that he was already using...Mommy needs to get a little more creative with the "projects"! :)

We started the day at church and David really got to use his "daddy skills"....we were teaching in the 2-3 year old class with about 13 kids!! After church we came home and David headed to his favorite place in the whole world...the gym. I so wish I had the same love for that place! I'm really proud of him though, he rarely misses a day!

Ava and her daddy before church

After Ava's nap (and mine too) we headed to my parents house to swim and grill out. (We celebrated with David's family Saturday night.)

Ava and Gigi dancing

Ava probably thought it was Christmas and not Father's day...She has outgrown a lot of her toys so we decided it was time for our little princess to have a castle!

"Um... I'm not too sure about this!"

"But if it's fun for Daddy then I guess it's fun for me!"

Ava loves the slide!

One final picture to share...

Ava's crazy hair when she woke up Monday morning! I think Father's Day really wore her out!

We hope everyone had a great Father's Day!! (Especially my daddy-who is the best daddy and grandman a girl could ever ask for!)

Pigtails!

Ava and I worked very hard on these this afternoon and wanted to share...

She had them pulled out in 5 seconds but my goodness were they cute!

Birthday Fun!

Monday was my 27th birthday! 27...yikes! I am getting old! David and I decided we were long overdue for a little getaway so we decided that my birthday weekend would be a great time. We headed to the beach on Saturday morning and had a great day just relaxing.( Ava had a great time playing with her Nana, Papa, and Aunt Shannon. I think Ava kept them very busy with a trip to Chickfil-a, going to the park, and the endless trips outside to see those darn chickens. She LOVES those chickens!) Then on Saturday night, David and I ate at one of favorite places...The Channel Marker. Back in the good ole dating days, David and I would drive down to the beach just to eat and then drive back home...

A little self portrait on the beach

We were very ready to get home Sunday to our sweet girl! Then on Monday we celebrated my birthday with CAKE!

I had a wonderful birthday and am looking forward to spending many more with my wonderful hubby and daughter!

Zoo Trip #2

Last Saturday we met up with Ava' buddy Seth (and his parents Jonathan and Joy) at the zoo. We took Ava last year and we loved it! We probably didn't pick the best weekend to visit being it was Memorial Day weekend and all. I kept thinking nobody will be at the zoo, right? Everyone will be at the beach. It seems a lot of people had the same idea as me! We had a great time despite the crowds...
My pictures are not the greatest because we only used David's I-Phone but we did see a lot of animals! My favorite part, and I think Ava's too, was the carousel. She rode a dolphin!

I think Seth really enjoyed his ride on the giraffe, too!

We had such a fun time with the Morgan's and Ava can't wait to see her little buddy Seth again soon!

Visit With The Bolin's

This past weekend David and his friends took their annual trip to the All Star Race. Ava and I decided to join my parents and head to Georgia for Jay's preschool graduation and Caroline's dance recital. Ava is the best traveler!! She loved the fact that I let her have the whole bag of fruit loops. Notice how dark it is out??? We left my house at 3 am!!??!! Anyway, so allowing my child to hold the ziplock bag was the least I could do to make up for waking her up at that hour!Ava had the best time playing with her cousins! I can't believe Jay will start school next year! He is greatest cousin and told me that he would be Ava's big brother until she gets one! (Might be kind of hard to have a "big" brother for her, uh?)

Caroline did great at her first dance recital! I got a little teary during her dance because I know that Ava will be up on that stage soon doing her little ballet dance. Whew..time is going by too fast! Gigi taught Ava a new trick..."Ava, raise your hand if..." You can say just about anything here and Ava will still raise her hand! Guess she's ready for school too!

Grandman made us pancakes every morning! Ava has joined in the tradition of LOVING Grandman's pancakes!

Sadly on Sunday we had to head home! Actually, Ava wasn't too sad because she knew she would have lots of snacks on the way home! :)

Thank you Bolin's for having us and Gigi and Grandman for letting us tag along! We love u!

Happy Mother's Day!

Ava gave me a big "Happy Mother's Day" kiss this morning! I feel so honored that God chose me to be Ava's mommy!

I thought this was so cute:

A REAL MOM IS ONE WHO…
Counts the number of sprinkles on each kid's cupcake to make sure they are equal.
Wants to take out a contract on the kid who broke her child's favorite toy and made him/her cry. Has time to shave just one leg at a time.
Hides in the bathroom whenever she feels to be alone
Her child throws up and she catches the same.
Sees someone else's kid throwing up at a party and she keeps eating.
Considers finger paint to be a controlled substance.
Mastered the art of placing food on a plate without anything touching.
Her child insists her to read "Once upon a Potty" out loud in the lobby of the doctor's office and she does it.
She hires a baby sitter because she hasn't been out with her husband in ages, then she spends half the night talking about and checking on the kids.
Hopes ketchup is a vegetable because it's the only one her child likes eating.
Finds herself cutting her husband's sandwiches into unusual shapes.
Fast-forwards through the scene when the hunter shoots Bambi's mother.
Obsesses when her child clings to her upon parting during his first month at school, then she obsesses when he skips in without looking back.
Cannot bear to give away baby clothes--it's so final.
Hears her mother's voice coming out of her mouth when she says "Not in your good clothes."
Stops criticizing the way her mother raised her.
Reads that the average-five-year old asks 437 questions a day and feels proud that her kid is "above average."
As she clings to the high moral ground on toy weapons, her child chews his toast into the shape of a gun.
Donates to charities in the hope that her child would not get that disease.
Uses her own saliva to clean her child's face.
Says at least once a day, "I'm not cut out for this job", but she knows she would not trade it for anything.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!