My Best Friend

Early Monday morning I lost Sylvester, my best friend of 17 years. She will forever remain in my heart and mind. It will not be the same without her. I am going to miss her following me around, watching me wash my hair, hearing her coming up and down the hall, waiting for me at the door when I got home, loving on me when I felt down or sick, checking on Ava when she cried, loving on Adam when I wasn't home, and being the best snuggler ever!!!! I love you with all my heart "Sugar Bear"!!!! I will see you again some day at the Rainbow Bridge!!!!

Yummy Cheetoooos!!!!!

Ava sure does LOVE Cheetos Puffs! Or as she would say, "Cheetoooooos!!!", with a stretched out long o sound. So cute!! Anyway, if she sees the Cheetos bag or if you ask her if she wants some, she starts to cheer and clap and she will even try to climb up into her high chair. Hilarious!!!

What a Blessing!!

Gosh!! It has been two years (around May 5) since we found out we were going to become parents!! What an emotional day! I remember feeling so much joy but also scared at the same time. At the end of May, we moved up here from Natchez and were living in an apartment. We were very nervous because we had to find a house and I, of course, had to get a job! It is amazing how everything just fell into place. Praise God!! He led us to this great house and I got a job at NWRE teaching. I feel so at home at NWRE! I work with so many wonderful people and I am so grateful!!!I can not imagine working without them! I love you guys!!

Looking at all of these pictures fills me with so much love. Motherhood is the BEST!!

Looooove This Girl!!

Ava has certainly kept us busy and entertained!!!She is into everything she can get her hands on. If she can't get to it, she will find a way!! I haven't updated in a very long time, I know, so here is a little bit of what has been going on with our Sweet Ava.

She is about 23 pounds now and almost running everywhere. When she stumbles and falls, she says uh oh, and gets right back up never skipping a beat. She has her side molars in and almost all of her teeth in the front. Oh, and never put your finger in her mouth because she will clamp down and think it is hilarious!!!

She points to her hair, nose, teeth, ears, eyes, belly button, feet, and hands. Her new words are sit down and no, no. I'm guessing she hears that a lot!!! :) Other words she says are cat (kitty),uh- oh, mommie, daddy, papaw, papa, nite- nite, bye- bye, bunny, puppy, dog, and bubbles. Sylvester and Ava talk all the time to each other. Ava will meow back at Sylvester; just as cute and serious as she can be.

She absolutely loves bath time! She will drink out of the cup and pour the water all over her and onto the floor. When it's time to get out, she says bye, bye. Sooo cute!!! But sometimes, it's not that easy!! She will let you know when she doesn't want out!!

More on our growing little munchin later!!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

We all go back to our house Christmas Eve afternoon just in time to go to Christmas Mass. Oh, by the way, I turned 30!!! Yuck!!! Very depressing, but anyway, moving on. We got back from a wonderful mass and had supper. Then we had to get ready for Santa to come.

We hardly ever get a picture with the three of us! We need to work on that!

Adam's Mom and Dad came up on Christmas day for lunch. We had a feast too! They brought Ava her very first bike. Look at that big girl on a bike!

My parents weren't able to come up because my mom was still feeling bad and my dad had to work the next day! We wished you were here and missed very much!!! It wasn't the same without you!!!!!

My dad had his birthday on the 26th. Happy Birthday again Daddy!! I love you!!!!

"Giddy up, Papaw!!"

Ava's First Birthday and Family Christmas!!

Ava's Birthday!

I can not believe that our little bundle of joy has turned the BIG ONE!!! It really seems like yesterday that she came into our lives! It has been such an incredible adventure and we wouldn't change it for the world!! We had the festivites at our neighborhood clubhouse. We just wanted a small gathering and we had a great time watching Ava interact with everything going on. Thank you to all of our friends and family who came to celebrate this special occassion with us!! Here are just a few pictures from that special day.

"Watch out Daddy!! It's smashing time!!!"

"Yippee, This thing makes lots of noise! Thank you Aunt Katie!!"

" I don't know about this hat!"

Family Christmas!!

Were we busy during Christmas!?! But it was worth the traveling to see all of our loving family in Natchez and Vidalia. First we did Adam's family Christmas at his Grandmother's house. We had a blast hanging out and eating nonstop!! There is always some GOOD food at MawMaw's house!! All of Adam's wonderful aunts came into town and it was great spending time with everyone. There was lots of laughter going on too! During "Present" time, everyone has their own spot to sit and now Ava has her own little spot surrounded by all of her loot!! Ava sure did love opening all of her presents! MawMaw got Ava a Radio Flyer wagon that she can push and she had a blast! She would get a little mad and stomp her feet when she got to the end of the hall. It was hilarious!

"Do you mind if I tear this up?"

"Mr. Whiskers and I are going for a stroll!"

"Beep, Beep!! Coming through!!"

Next stop, my parents (Grammie and Papaw)!! When we got there, my mom felt terrible. She had fever, chills, you name it! She started to feel better as the day went on. But, she was a trooper!! It brightened her day to see Ava and to spend some time with her. We had lots of fun just hanging out by the fire and watching Ava play with all of her toys. My parents gave Ava her very own rocking chair, a precious outfit, a rocking caterpillar that plays music, and several other little things. My brother Tim gave Ava her first Teddy Bear named "Teddy"; orginal right? I still have my very first Teddy.

"Hanging out with Mr.Whiskers and Teddy!"

Thank ya'll for everything and for a wonderful Christmas!!! We LOVE You very much!!!!