Chillin' in the "Ville" (Smithville!)

We spent last weekend at my parent's farm (one of our favorite hangouts) while daddy was away on a guys Fantasy Football Weekend and as always...had a BALL! The below video is my first to be easy on me and I have an ancient camera but I think it's still pretty cute. My dad was working on tuning his sax and we started making "kid" song requests. Ava took seat on her potty (yes with diaper ON...that's a whole 'nother post) and sung with her Papa. She has a book that plays the song "Are you Sleeping" but has slightly different words than the original, she's diggin' the song right now and so we had papa play that first then some more familiar fav's.

***NOTE: Mute or PAUSE the music at the very bottom of the blog on the player before playing the video so you can hear her sing, at the very end she really picks up***

I had dressed Ava in a dress that my paternal grandmother had sewn for my twin sister's when they were Ava's age (now are 34 yrs old!!!) It was neat to see my parent's reaction seeing her in the dress...and she of course looked so stinkin' cute (though it was a bit big). I remember the pics of my sister's in these dresses!

My dad had been involved in bands since he was 14 yrs old. He recently got involved again with his old band The Moods and is playing "gigs" all over every few weeks and having a ball! He was tuning two different saxes and a clarinet so Ava was in complete AWE and she loves music so dancing around...yes, naked. Not sure why, just no need for clothes at the farm I guess. *Note that cute hiney!

Papa's worn out so he's taking a break while Ava tells him about her animals in the tractor's trailer.

Bammy taught Ava to "poke" the eggs so she helps us every morning (at the farm & at home) and does a really good job. *She's still doing the "squinty-eye" smile we saw from her birthday in June...

Well, we got some clothes on her for this pic. She loves my mom's dog Cheyenne and always wants to follow her around, it's super cute!

This is my dad's rocking horse from when he was a toddler and the kids love to play on it every visit.

Back in Action!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you to all the faithful "Life with Ava" fans that have hung in there while Mommy battled an awful stomach virus. Not sure what I ate (we think bad okra) but I was "out of commission" from LAST Monday until really...today. I had no energy and felt...well almost like I had a "Hangover" for two weeks, not fun. This is the first day that so far, I feel back to normal. I have some catchin' up to do for sure! Enjoy!!!!! *I have more to post over this weekend so keep checking back, I have A LOT to catch up on in my little one's world!

Mommy & Me Dance Class...we found a WINNER!!!

So Ava and I started Mommy & Me dance class last week and she LOVES it! Yeah! The first 2-3 minutes she was a little shy and in my lap, but after she realized I was staying IN the room she was all over the place singing, dancing and playing. It really wears her out and it's so fun for both of us. Plus her friend Sophie is in the class and other sweet playmates. Yeah!

Here she's not TOTALLY "feeling" the dance class idea...

I was trying to pump her up to take a pic with her...she wasn't real interested.

This is a look of "please take the camera OUT of my face mommy"

And now she realizes this is going to be FUN!

Sooo cute, they run around with these stick horses and on the blue mats they stop to give them "water" sooo adorable

Ava LOVES the balance beam. LOVES it. If there's one at a park, that's where you can find us. She is really good at it too. This one is so fun since it's just on the floor.

Pink Pancakes

So I am still LOVING the Jessica Seinfeld "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook. When Bammy was in town we decided to make the "Pink Pancakes" I was soooo excited (more than anyone else was) and realized once we were already knee deep into creating these interesting nibbles, that my pancake batter was a bit...expired. We tried to use it anyway and no matter how long we cooked, the middle just didn't seem to cook all the way. Bryan was TOTALLY grossed out, I think Bammy, Mommy & Ava each took one bite. I need to tackle this one again with all fresh ingredients :o) Still worth a posting because they look sooo strange from the Beet Puree!

Grated apples are YUMMY!

Ava loves helping cook and yes..."T" is a big helper too! (her monkey under the arm...)

Ooops I poured a tad too much grease...this was wiped off a bit after I took this photo

Note the look on Ava's face as she analyzes what her strange mommy put in front of her and tried to pass off as "breakfast"

Note the RAW look of the center. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

We're baaack!!!! Well...sortof.

Hi all Ava fans! Sorry we've been bad on posting lately. We have tons of fun pics and news to report but mommy got sick Monday AM and hasn't been able to kick it. She feels better today so hopefully we'll get some photos on the blog today. We have some MAJOR catching up to do!!!

Woodlands Children's Museum

While in Houston my sis Lisa (Lili), Ava, Cousin Carter and I got to see my sweet friend Paige & Jagger. We met at the Woodlands Children's Museum and had a great time watching the kiddos explore and interact with each other. We also LOVED getting some sweet squeezes on Jag-Man! He's sooo handsome!

Paige realized Jag doesn't need a museum to make him happy...just a mirror with his reflection!

Ava's future career!

Carter gettin' busy in the dental area of the museum

Since I was sick I didn't finish posting our super fun Houston trip! Here are the rest:

Ava, Jagger & Cole in the dentist office :o)

Ava playing in the ground up, chunky rubber...very strange but cool for the kiddos!

Miss Bridget & Jags, he's SUCH a ladies man!

This isn't the greatest pic but I had to show the plate. It was raining and crowded when ran in Cheesecake Factory with three HUNGRY, TIRED kiddos in tow. At first we weren't sure how this was going to go but it ended up being AWESOME. When they showed us to our table they had the highchairs already in place at the table & plates of food for each child! GENIUS I tell you! They had sliced bananas and two types of bread, since all kids LOVE their carbs! Then they quickly got them drinks and offered suggestions on our meals that would work good to share with the little one's. I was super impressed and wish all restaurant's would take that little extra step for parent's, made it so nice and offered more time for us to gossip and laugh like the silly ladies we are!

Ok, so Ava was having an "off" hair day. She had in pigtails, then a ponytail on top and that got pulled out and THIS is what we got the rest of the meal... Nice faux hawk baby girl!

By this time the kids and mom's were pooped so getting all three to smile at the camera...not possible, but Ava and Jag were sharing...something...not sure what it was. Had a great time Paige & Jag's, we can't wait to see you again!

Houston Butterfly Exhibit

Ava & I had a great time with Lili, Carter, Cole, Sandra & Manuel at the Houston Butterfly Exhibit. So neat to see all the thousands of butterflies floating over your head. There were also many displays of (nasty) creepy crawlers like scorpions, hissing cockroaches and tarantulas (YUCK!) But the kiddos loved it though it was TOUGH to catch them for a photo op, most are "on the go!"

Look how ADORABLE this is! Big Cousin Cole holding Ava's hand in the parking garage walking to the museum. He is so amazing with the little one's!

Manuel, Carter, Ava & Cole

Ava LOVES bugs so she was in heaven!

SCORPIONS! I can't even look at this picture without feeling sick! If I found this in my home I would move immediately! Of course Miss A is not at all phased by them...

Ava and my sis "Lili" They look so much alike to me

Fun In Houston with the Cousins

We traveled to Houston this week while Daddy worked the Houston golf show to get in some fun PLAY time with Cousin's Carter and Cole. It was a jam-packed 4 days with lots of fun adventures. We definitely want to see them again soon. Poor Ava is going to be so bored with just Mommy & Daddy at our house :o(

Ava washing Carter's back...so sweet!

Finger (and body) painting...look at those adorable little hands hard at work!

Playing in Cole & Carter's fort...again, their yard is about an ACRE bigger than ours!

There were some moons out that day...Ava will KILL me for these but how cute is this hiney?

Slip-n-slide fun with Lili

Carter is growing so fast and has turned into such a handsome little man