Favorite Pictures

I was going through pictures on my computer recently and kept finding all of these pictures that I love. And then I realized some were before the blog started, so I wanted to share. Some are of Ava, some are before Ava, but all family and friends who mean the world to me.

Lisa, Amy, Sara, and I at a golf outing for Amy and Sara's uncle. Darryl is living his final days with cancer and I pray for him daily.

My little Ava Kate. She looks so big in this picture!

This was her first official photo shoot with Lisa. This was maybe 3-4 days after we were home from China.

Haha!! She always puts her sunglasses on upside down!

Parasailing in Mexico. Yes, John is holding the camera for a self portrait. I threatened him with life if he dropped that camera in the ocean!

A night out in Mexico.

Eating at Fogo De Chao in South Beach with Nate. Look at those tan lines.

Haha! No words needed!

Aww! My favorite picture ever of Em and I!

Cindy, me, and Sara. I think this was Lisa's bachelorette party?

Lisa and I on her wedding day

John and my little Morgan Feather. Love those pigtails!

South Beach, baby!!!

Doesn't it look like we are on a cloud? My mom, my cousin Robin, and I on top of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, CO.

My mom, Robin, and I hiked The Crags in Colorado. It's a 3 mile hike up a mountain. This was us on the way. It started to snow! But I love my mom in the background of this picture! It was FREEZING!!!

Right before the hike

John and I in Antigua

Showing off muscles in St. Lucia

Liv and I at Chuck E Cheese

I'll have to go through the rest of the files and see what I can find. I love going down Memory Lane!

Looking forward to my Ladies Night Out with my FCC mama's tonight. Hope you have a great day!!

Swim Lessons and The Big Girl Bus!

Ava goes to daycare at a local YMCA branch. They have decided to incorporate swim lessons into the class each week. She is going to the same location that we normally take her so it isn't too different for her. And it saves me TONS of time in the evenings now. I got my Thursday nights back! Tuesday was the first day and Ava was so excited to ride the big girl bus. She kept asking me if I would cry because I always tell her when she rides the school bus, I'm going to cry. LOL!! She was so excited!

Getting ready!
All set!

Showing off!

All done and riding back with Nana. Which by the way, these were the updated pictures I got from Nana. I was in a meeting and kept receiving them! :)

Who is this kid??

Ava RARELY touches any fruit or vegetables. EVER. So imagine my surprise when she ate the entire bowl of salad at Olive Garden...

And asked for seconds!

Shopping for Princess Dresses

One of my best friends, Sara, is getting married in September. Ava is the flower girl and I am a bridesmaid. So, Saturday we went shopping for dresses. Ava was so excited to try on a princess dress. Here are the dresses we picked out. This isn't the color, but it is the dress. Here is myself and Maddie, another bridemaid. Let's just say her dress is a Size 2...Skinny little, oh never mind. :)

Ella is a Junior Bridesmaid. Here is the dress for her, but not the color.

Ava and Ella. This isn't the dress for Ava, but we tried it on for size. And she wouldn't take it off at first. She had a meltdown of all meltdowns. And then we told her we were going to get food. So she stripped it right off. Right down to her panties, in the middle of David's Bridal.

Here is the dress we picked out for Ava. We haven't ordered it yet. I'm actually going to see if I can find someone to make one cheaper.

After lunch, we went to Olive Garden for lunch. Such a fun day with my girls!!!

Ava and Ella had a great day together!

Hair Dryer

Ava has swim lessons on Thursday nights. We started incorporating a shower after the lessons are over. It's been so nice that a part of routine is complete by the time we get home.

I started drying her hair under the hand dryers before we left. Now, she likes to do it herself...

And now...everytime we go into a public bathroom and she washer her hands, guess what she calls the hand dryers? HAIR DRYERS!!! HAHA!!

Udder Nastics

AKA -- Other Gymnastics. :) And Ava calls it "udder nastics"

We have always taken Ava to the West YMCA for gymnastics. And she loved it! However, it is completely on the other side of town for us and there is quite a bit of down time. The instructor works one on one with all of the kids so Ava gets maybe 5-6 mins of actual interaction.

We were told about Kids World, which is about 10 mins from our house. It's a bit more expensive but closer. So, we took her for a trial night. It was awesome!! They have so many volunteers and the kids are busy for the ENTIRE 45 mins. Woohoo!! So, we switched her...

And we're very happy with our decision. The pictures are dark because I was across the room and it's not very light in there. But you can still see!

Already???

Ava's new thing is locking herself in a room and crying when she is upset...
Really??
Isn't she only 3? It's starting already??

So funny! And to top it off she was so TICKED that I was snapping pictures in her moment of frustration...Haha!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I love Valentine's Day! Not for me and John...we don't celebrate. I love it for Ava!! It's so sweet! Ava had 2 parties at school. They do it on 2 different days so that most kids can participate. I think it's so cute seeing all those Valentine's from the little kids. Ava brought home bags of goodies both days!

She enjoyed going through all of her Valentines each night!

On the actual morning, John and I gave her our little gift to her. Just some candy and stamps. Wow, did she love the stamps! We all went to work and school that days covered in stamps. My mom actually thought Ava was broken out in hives because she was covered in red stamps! Ha!!

Isn't this the sweetest little outfit? I love this kid in pigtails!!

Even Daddy got into in a little...:)