The Pumpkin Patch & Sparkly Shoes

Today we visited the Cedar Creek Pumpkin Patch.

It was so cute-- pumpkins, games, cookie decorating and storytime. Ava loved it! She wouldn't leave without telling the "teacher" (the woman who read the story) bye.

The picture below requires a story. First, Ava is wearing the red sparkly shoes that Julia mailed us today for Ava's Dorothy costume. She refused to take them off during her nap. She even took her pants off because they were blocking her view of the sparkly shoes. My girl LOVES shoes!Second, I have been experimenting with different forms of discipline lately because there have been more and more "terrible two tantrums" around my house. A few days ago, I tried putting Ava in time out in a small chair facing the wall in her bedroom. It backfired. She thought this was a new, fun game and has been asking to get put in time out ever since. When I put her down for her nap today, I reminded her not to get out of her bed. Several times she got up and walked around loudly in her sparkly shoes, yelling, "I'm up mommy. You can put me in time out." After the second time delivering her back to her bed, I decided just to let get back in bed when she got tired enough. When it finally got quiet, I peeked in and Ava had fallen asleep in her chair. . . still waiting for me to come put her in time out I suppose.

Back to the 80's

There is a fine line between totally lame and rad to the max! Last weekend our small group had an 80's party and walked that fine line. . . we moon walked it! Here are some pictures to prove it. Blogger won't let me upload any more, so for more laughs, check out http://www.katestover.blogspot.com/ for our couples pictures and a full story of the night's events-- the good, the bad, and the ugly! Making an appearance at the Galaxy Grub definitely ranks on my top 5 lists of most awkward moments. But if you're going to show up at an ACU grub as a 29 year old mom, you might as well be wearing a lavendar poofy sleeved dress with really big hair!

This is what the Walters family might have looked like in 1986.

The boys are posing like the 80's band ( I forgot the name) album cover behind them. Check out Brandon's Miami Vice look-- so classic!

Like, what a cute little valley girl!

Here we are trying to jump and pose like the movie Girls Just Want To Have Fun.

Anyone up for a 70's party next?

From the lips of children and infants

I just left Ava's room after putting her down for the night and I had to come write this down because I don't want to forget. Ava was crying and having a hard time going to sleep tonight. As I rocked her, this is the conversation we had:

Mommy, It's too dark.
I know it's dark, but you don't have to be afraid because you can talk to Jesus any time.
Where did Jesus go?
He is with us all the time.
Yah, he lives with us.
He does? What does he do?
He talks to me. He funny. (she laughs)
What does Jesus say?
He prays to God.
Do you pray with him?
Yah. He my friend.

Thank you, God, for sending your son to be both man and divine, to have relationship with us, to know us, to love us, to laugh and talk and pray with us as we seek you. You have revealed yourself to me many times throughout my life, but never so sweetly as tonight, through the lips of my two year old. I am overwhelmed by your goodness as I praise your name.

Psalm 8:2 You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of infants and children you have ordained praise.

Emma's Princess Party & Ava's Shoe Obsession

Ava poses for her princess picture at Emma's birthday party. All the pretty princesses. I love how frilly they all look-- so cute! Ava lining up her shoes

We had a fun, busy weekend in Fort Worth, seeing family, friends, attending birthday parties and Chad's 10 year high school reunion. It was good to see everyone, even though it was a fast and furious visit. Maybe next time we'll get to visit a little longer. The first 2 pictures are from Emma's 3 year old princess party. It was so cute. Julia decorated the house like a castle and all the girls were dressed up like princesses. They decorated crowns, ate lunch, listened to a princess story, and took pictures on a "throne." But Ava's favorite thing at the party was all of the little shoes the girls were wearing. My girl is obsessed with shoes-- big shoes, little shoes-- doesn't matter, she LOVES them. If you've been around her for more than 5 minutes wearing a pair of flip flops, she's probably either asked you for them, or just taken them right off your feet. The last picture is Ava lining up her all of her shoes-- one of her favorite games. She might end up being a little obsessive compulsive. That will probably be the one thing she gets from me. I have to fight those OCD tendencies! (And for those who are interested, she is sleeping great in her new big girl bed. She loves it and has slept through the night with no major incidents of wandering through the house. . .yet.)

"And Ava will be there. . ."

Today in Bible class Ava learned a new song. When she learns something new, she repeats it over and over. . . and over, just to make sure she's got it down. Today's song is to the tune of the Farmer and the Dell and goes something like," We are going to Bible class, and Ava will be there, and Jude will be there, and Emma will be there, and Ashton will be there,. . ." this goes on and on as you say every child's name in class. Ava sang this all afternoon inserting almost every name she knows into the lyrics. At one point, Kate and I were driving in the car with her and we started laughing at the length of the song and how many people will "be there." Ava quickly changed the song to, "And mommy will not laugh and Kate will not laugh. . . " This of course only made us laugh harder. She is a funny kid. This picture has nothing to do with my story, but new photos are always fun. This one is of Ava reading and singing as she rocks her baby.

The West Texas Fair and Rodeo, ACU & other things

1. I tried to take a picture of Ava's first day of school ,but whenever I tell her to smile, she makes this face. She closes her eyes as soon as I hold up the camera. What a goofball! She was pretty excited about having pockets on her jacket, so she walked around all morning with her hands shoved deep in her pockets as you can see in the picture. (Note to moms out there: Ava's hair is getting lighter and thinner. At first I thought it was just because we were in the sun, but it's gotten so thin, I can't even keep a bow in it anymore. I am starting to worry that she is malnourished or something. Is this normal? Do you have any ideas or experiences with this? I don't want to be paranoid but people ask me about it all the time, and I'm getting more concerned.)

2. We went to the annual West Texas Fair and Rodeo last night with our small group. I ate Sharon Allen's chopped brisket sandwich, sweet iced tea and a funnel cake. What's a trip to the fair without sticky fingers and a layer of white powdered sugar all over your clothes and mouth? Highlights for Ava include dancing to the western band, feeding the goats at the petting zoo, and riding the train. (It cost $6 stinkin' dollars for a 30 second ride-- $3 for her and $3 for me because she's too young to ride alone.) Somebody is making some serious bank at the fair and I'm pretty sure it isn't the "carnies" who work there. Highlights for me include watching Kevin Campbell ride a fake bull for 8 seconds, dancing with Ava to the music, and hanging out with my friends. Something about that environment reminds me of being in middle school! We had fun, but 2 hours at the fair is about all I need until next year.

3. Today I went to chapel at ACU with my cousins and had "Cousin Lunch" afterwards at Little Panda. I've got four cousins and a nephew at ACU right now. Being back on campus is interesting. It has the same feel with the same young faces, so I kept expecting to see someone I recognized. I caught myself scanning section "L" for a familiar face. Then I did a little math and realized that the freshman starting ACU this year were in 2nd grade when I started at ACU in 1995! Needless to say, that one made me feel old. Still, being on campus brought back great memories. Ava loved the singing and seeing all those kids in chapel!

4. For those who don't know, I took on a second part time job. In addition to being the Nursery Director at Highland, I am now a Rep. for National Geographic and a few other publishing companies. I market curriculum and instructional materials to schools. Generally speaking, I hate selling anything to people. It is just not my personality to be a salesman, but I am stretching myself and giving it my best effort. I took the job because we have to replace our air conditioning unit so we needed to make a little extra to help offset the cost of that, plus our electicity bill, and the gas prices lately have been making us feel the crunch. Chad has also been working extra hours. We've both been pretty worn out, but we're thankful to have ways of making extra money to help when we need it. I know many people don't have those opportunitites.

Good Morning, Patty!

So I spoke with my dear friend, Patty, a couple of days ago, who told me she checks my blog every morning after she gets to work. Talk about putting on the pressure to post more often! Everyday she checks only to be disappointed that once again there is nothing new, and then, wa-lah! Two posts in a row. Happy reading, Miss Patty!

This got me to thinking about who actually reads my blog. Patty has never posted a comment so I wonder who else has been secretly reading. Kind of creepy when you think about it. Have you ever cliked next blog in the upper right hand corner of your blog just to see where you end up? There are some pretty interesting folks out there. I actually don't recommend this practice because there's a pretty vulgar blogging culture outside of the family oriented bloggers I'm used to reading. It is interesting though to click and see that many of the other blogs are written in different languages. It makes me feel somehow connected in such a big world.

Isn't it crazy that you can use the word blog as a noun, verb and if you really stretch, an adjective?
I am a blogger.
I blog.
I have a blog.
This is blog world.
Fun Word! Hope all you non-posting blog readers out there have a good day!

Happy Birthday Dear Ava

Two years ago today, our sweet Ava Grace was born! It's so cliche to say this, but I can't believe how quickly she's grown from being a tiny baby to a little girl. The past two years have been the most fun, exhausting, joyful, selfless, happy, prayerful, thankful two years of my life. And we're just getting started. . .

This week, Ava has been saying, "Oh my gosh." We think she picked this up from a decorating show as the room was revealed. It could be worse, but still, it doesn't sound very nice coming out of her little two year old mouth. We have been redirecting her to say, "Oh my goodness" instead. A few nights ago during dinner, we repeatedly corrected her "Oh my goshes" to "Oh my goodness." After a few minutes, she announced. "I don't want to Oh my goodness. I want to Oh my Gosh!" She certainly has a mind of her own! Oh my Goodness! Needless to say, we're still working on it.

We've been so into the whole birthday thing lately that Ava has been singing "Hatty Burtday" to everyone and everything. In the past couple of days, she's sung happy birthday dear peanut butter, squeaky shoes, Abraham, and cantelope to name a few.

I love so many things about Ava, but mostly I love her spirit. She has something remarkable and hillarious to share with me everyday. I am blessed to be her mother.
Here are some pictures from Ava's ladybug birthday party:

Our little ladybug

Smiling for the camera Ava and mommy

Blowing out the candles

Cancun Baby!

Okay, so I have been a horrible blogger lately. I have been hearing from the few of you who actually check my blog that it's time for a new post. So here it is-- our Cancun pictures from July! We went to Cancun with the Ridgells a little over a month ago for a short, but fabulous trip! Ava loved the beach, the sand, and the swimming pool. She got pretty confident with her floaties. Jamie, Joe Don and sweet Anna were great travelling companions.

We were both a little nervous about flying with the girls, but I packed a bag of goodies and a portable DVD player and Ava did great. Anna did so good too. We didn't hear a peep out of either of them on the plane. We love hanging out with old friends. We have a special relationship with the Ridgells because Chad and Jamie grew up together in Fort Worth and Joe Don and I grew up together in Abilene. Then Chad and Joe Don were roomates in college, and Jamie and I bonded on our summer abroad trip to Oxford. Jamie actually takes credit for setting Chad and me up! Needless to say we're friends all the around and had a great time with the Ridgells in Cancun! I love the beach.

Jesus diapered all the babies

After bath time, Ava, Chad and I usually sing a couple of songs, read or tell stories, and pray before bedtime. Here are a couple of my favorite Ava bed time stories:

As I was singing songs with Ava, I asked her, "What song do you want to sing now?" Ava's response was, "Jesus put diapers on babies." Not sure about this one, so I asked her to sing it. Ava started to sing, "Jesus loves the little babies, all the babies of the world, every color dark and light, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little babies of the world." This song I am familiar with. We sing "babies" instead of "children," and "every color dark and light" instead of "red, and yellow, black and white," but still I was confused about the diapers. Then she proceeded to verse two. "Jesus diapered all the babies, all the babies of the world. . . " Somewhere along the way, I had sung, "Jesus died for all the babies. . ." Ava has no frame of reference for the word "died," but she certainly knows a diaper, so in her mind, Jesus diapered all those babies. He must be one tired guy!

Last week, we were reading from Ava's picture Bible, and we were on the story of Abraham (which in her version is a very short poem about Abraham leaving his homeland to be father of all. It makes no mention of Sarah or Isaac.) Ava pointed to the picture of Abraham, Sarah and Isaac to the left and said, "Who's that?" I told her, "This is Abraham and his baby Isaac and this is Isaac's mommy." Her response was, "Sarah!" Stunned, I looked at Chad, who had a similar expression on his face. Neither of us could remember the last time we had read this particular story and pointed out and named Sarah. It was sweet to know that she is soaking in so much of God's word, and a little bit scary to think how much of everything else she is soaking in too! She copies everything we do and say!

Ava sees Jesus in everything! Any photo of a man with unfamiliar attire and some facial hair is Jesus to her. Recently she has seen Jesus in a drawing of Shakespeare, an American Indian carved into wood at a local museum, and a photo of a man from the middle east. I'm glad that she's got Jesus on her radar!

4th of July Fun!

This is Ava watching the fireworks at Nelson Park. She made this face almost the whole night. The lights and sounds surprised and excited her every time! I loved experiencing fireworks for the first time again through her eyes!

Watching fireworks with Daddy!

Loaded this picture before I saw it up close and realized

how rough I look in it with my eyes half shut. Don't know

how to delete one without losing them all. Oh well.

We spent the 4th of July weekend with the Thompson side of the family in Brownwood. We ate great food, played games, and hung out on the lake all weekend! In this picture, Ava fell asleep on the boat ride. You can barely see her under her life jacket.

Pretending to drive the boat!

Can you believe how blond she's getting?

Swinging with Great-Grandpa at the Lake. Ava stood by the door all weekend talking whoever walked by into taking her outside to either "Swing high,""Go see the lake," "See the dog," or "Go in the boat."

That's me and Ava tubing (very slowly) behind the boat. She said,

"Whee. I like it!" as soon as she realized we were moving.

Ava and me floating in the lake!

This is a cousins dog paddling contest. Jenny and Joe won with an impressive 1 hour and 20 minutes. I was out after a long and painstaking 12 minutes. I'm obviously not a swimmer. . .

P.S. Dad is safely back from Israel, and recovering from jet lag. He has great stories and cool souveniers-- I got a 4,000 year old pottery shard from the dig and a tooth dug up from an animal that was probably sacrificied around the same time! Thanks for your prayers for his safe return.

A different perspective

Usually my blog is pretty egocentric. I generlly post photos of our family and talk about things that are going on with me, Chad and Ava. I love this form of communication and being able to share with friends and family via the web. I still plan on posting photos of Ava and letting you in on our daily happenings. Today's post will be a little different though.

Lately, I've been thinking and praying alot about my role in the bigger picture. I think that it's so easy in America to allow things to become routine, comfortable, sheltered even. For some reason, Chad and I have both had a heart for Africa in recent months, but not just Africa-- Iraq, Isreal, nations living through war. I don't have any answers for war, but I think that being sheltered from it is not what we are called to do. I enjoy listening to Christian radio, but the "safe and fun" mantra seems to spill over into our Christian living. I don't think that Jesus called us to live "safe and fun" lives. He called us into the world. He called us to be salt and light. Jesus lived a dangerous and uncomfortable life. When I ask myself honestly, "What would Jesus do?" I am frightened by the answer because I'm not sure that my life is truly a reflection of his. I love him, that is certain. I attend church, bible studies, I serve in ministry. I love others in His name, but is that enough? I am still very comfortble. When I see children living in poverty in need of things I take for granted, I am haunted by the fact that this would not happen in America. And yet these children are loved by their parents and God just as much as I love Ava.

Africa:
A couple of months ago, Chad and I participated in a "Global Night Commute" to help raise awareness for the "invisible children" living in the Sudan. These children are being captured by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) and forced to kill. We first saw a documentary about this in Fort Worth. It brought us both to tears, but we didn't know what to do. Right after we moved to Abilene, we attended a forum at Highland and met some young people who were on a national tour to raise awareness for the invisible children. Since then, we receive e-mail updates, and have been in prayer for these kids. The Global Night Commute consisted of people all over the U.S. who walked from their homes (or in our case, ACU) to a downtown area and literally spent the night in parking lots to raise awareness and publicity. Click here for a video clip about the Global Night Commute . I also have a link on my blog to the main invisible children website.

Israel:
If you know my family even a little bit, you probably know that my father marches to the beat of a different drummer. Right now he is in Israel on an archeological dig for a month. He found a group online and joined their team. They have been excavating an area in Maggedo; he is living in a Jewish Kabbutz (communal living area), and eating Kosher. I have always admired his spirit of adventure. He deliberately seeks out experiences that are not comfortable and familiar. For more on his travels, check out his blog at jkpierson.blogspot.com His experiences in Israel have gotten me paying more attention to international affairs in Israel and Palestine as well.

This is alot of type for a blog so I'll sum up. I want to be more consiously aware of global issues. I don't want to live too comfortably. I want to be intentional about the way I treat others, even others I don't know across the world. I appreciate and admire families like the Vaughns, who don't just talk about this, but act on it, and go to Africa to live like Jesus. Great is their reward. I am inspired by that kind of courage and I pray that God will help me to be more courageous and less comfortable in my faith.

Big fun in Fort Worth

Ava and I just got back from a six day trip to Fort Worth where we visited family and friends and attended Summer Spectacular. I can't believe it has already been six months since we moved. It was so good to reconnect with everyone. In our short stay we managed to squeeze in dinner with the Micks, Quanzes, and Walters, a birthday lunch with Aunt Teressa, a baby shower for Amy Carder, helping decorate for Summer Spectacular, a two night trip to Decatur for Ava, a play date with several friends at the Critz's house, a trip to the Roanoake pool with Emma and Julia, and Summer Spectacular! We had a great time. Here are a few pictures from the trip:


Emma was so sweet to Ava all week, and Ava loved playing with a big girl! In this picture, Emma catches some air!

The girls had fun at the pool! Ava finally got brave enough to ride the slide!

Ava pats a bunny at Summer Spectacular!

Karaline, Ava, Aunt Teressa & Melissa at Summer Spectacular. Ava spotted Teressa on the stage & was very excited!

Play date: Jack Pinson, John Critz, Abby Railsback, Jack & Hayley Willbanks, Emma Russell, Garrett Walton & Ava.

Ava and Hayley love each other! I told Ava to give Hayley a hug and they held this pose for about a minute. It was so cute!

Attack of the Ducks

Ava and I enjoyed an interesting morning at the park today. It has been so hot in the afternoons that I decided to take her outside a little earlier today. I packed tortillas and we headed to Nelson park to feed the ducks. We did this a few weeks ago, and she's been saying,"Feed the ducks" ever since. I had imagined that we would throw some bread to a few ducks, walk around the pond area, and enjoy a serene morning with the God's creations. I was wrong. I don't think the pictures adequately reflect the number of ducks and geese that were gathered this morning. When we arrived at the duck pond, I took Ava out of the car with one tortilla and we started throwing small torn pieces to the nearest ducks. Every duck in the area started waddling, swimming and flapping toward us. By the time we had given out our first tortilla, there was a swarm of about 100 ducks encircling, some even snapping at us as they quacked. At first this was funny; then it started to freak Ava (and me) out. The ducks didn't concern me, but the geese were pretty agressive. I picked Ava up and started to slowly back away, but the geese did not back down. Those crazy animals chased us back to the car, honking loudly. And yes, I ran! I am sure this was a hilarious sight, but I felt had no choice. Chad was bitten by a duck as a child and I was not going to stick around to let history repeat itself. I headed back to the car for more tortillas and the security of a quick getaway (just in case.) I let Ava in the car as I gathered more bread, and when I looked up, there were ducks and geese completely surrounding our car. The quacking was getting louder and louder at this point, and Ava started saying, "Uh-oh, mommy." We stuck around a little longer and handed out the rest of our tortillas before we headed over to the park to swing. We honked the horn several times loudly to no avail. These ducks were not afraid of cars, horns or people. I finally had to put the car in reverse and drive out backwards to get out of there without hitting a duck! These photos were taken prior to the attack of the geese, after which I would not let Ava down. But you can still get an idea of how many ducks were out. I wish I had a panoramic camera because they were completely surrounding us!

Happy Birthday to Chad!

Chad got a digital camera for his birthday! I'll finally be able to share some pictures of our family. Those of you from out of town are most interested in Ava, so most will be of her, but at least you won't have to click over to Kate's blog to see photos of my child now. I'm still trying to figure out if the camera can take a photo without a two second delay. That's why Ava is not looking at the camera in any of these photos. By the time the picture takes, she's on to something else. Most of the pictures are just around the house. One was taken at an ACU baseball game where Ava was sporting a cute little wildcats cheerleading outfit in support of Uncle Stover. Another is of Ava hanging out of her crib. I think it might be time for a big girl bed! Hope I can figure out how to upload everything. Enjoy!

Sisters

Kate and Brandon moved in a block away from us last weekend. It was a busy couple of days. (See Kate's blog for all the details related to the move!) I am so excited to have them even closer, though nothing in Abilene is far. It will be fun to put Ava in the wagon and walk over to Kate's to visit. I was telling some girls at a Bunko party that my sister had moved in around the corner, and several commented on how they could never live that close to their sisters. I've heard comments like this before, and I can honestly say that I cannot relate. Kate has become one of my very best friends, and there is something about knowing each other's history so intimately and loving each other anyway that makes sisterhood a tight bond. Kate is laid back when I am wound up. She's witty when I'm lame. She's giving when I am selfish. She is faithful when I doubt. And she's a great person to have around the corner. Couldn't ask for a better neighbor, sister and aunt for Ava!

Choc-et?

I have been a bad blogger lately. We've been pretty busy since we moved into our new house and I started a new job. I've been unpacking, decorating, and getting organized so blogging has been low on my priority list, but I think I've finally gotten enough home projects done that I can stop for a while, and I'm starting to settle in to my new job at Highland as the Nursery Coordinator. The job opened up at just the right time, and is a perfect fit for me as a mom since I can drop Ava off at YCW and then work right there at the church (which is half a mile from my house.) I'm loving not having to fight traffic and being able to run up to the church for an hour here and there to work on things.
On to the story that my title refers to. . .
This afternoon, Ava who is almost 19 months now and surprising us with new words everyday, was playing in her playroom as I unpacked groceries in the kitchen. I had gotten some Easter candy for her class at school, and very discretely helped myself to one of the chocolates. She was in the other room and I thought I had gotten away with it. A couple of minutes later, Ava came in the room and I picked her up. She leaned in and smelled my breath, and said, "Choc-et?" She caught me! I thought it was so cute that I had to give her a little piece. She's a girl after my own heart. Chocolate is my weakness, and it seems to be Ava's too!

Home again, Home again, Jiggety Jog. . .

I have no idea what that saying means, but I can say that I am so thankful to be home again, home again! We have been in our house now for about a week and I'm exhausted, but happy. It is good to have my own bed and a place for my shoes. Ava is adjusting well to her new room (which looks very much like her old room.) She must have felt at home right away because she started sleeping better on our first night in the house. She still wakes up once usually, but it is much better than the three times a night she was waking up at my parent's house. I am recovering from shingles and am so thankful that it doesn't appear to be as severe a case as some! We are still unpacking and have a few things to paint, sew and organize, but I am starting to feel like this house is ours. We are so thankful for it-- it's a great little house! I'm looking forward to seeing friends this weekend at Sing Song. I miss so many of my friends, but we are really liking Abilene. The pace is so easy and laid back. Last night after a fundraiser event at Highland, we had some friends over. It was 8:00 on a Sunday night and we decided to order pizza and watch Grey's Anatomy at our house. I love that. We could never have been that spontaneous in Fort Worth! People live too far away. We are getting to rekindle some old friendships and make new ones as well. Our impromptu dinner party last night consisted of Kevin and Sarah Campbell, Zach and Kara Sheets, and Kate and Brandon. It was a really fun group. I don't have much time to write today. Ava is down and I have some unpacking to do during her nap. I just wanted to check in say that it's good to be home!

Ava's Ramblings

Ava has been talking a lot lately. I understand about half of what she says, but she's so expressive and confident that I always agree and nod even when I have no idea what she's trying to communicate. She has handled this transition really well considering that during the last 6 weeks we have been in three different houses, started her at a new church and school in a new town, and about half of her toys are packed away. She has been clingy and had trouble sleeping, but during the day, she is cheerful and talkative.

My favorite sayings lately are
Bye, She you! - Bye, See you.
Mama, yar you? - Mama, Where are you?
E it is. - There it is.
Oof - Oops. (Says this if she drops something)
Hi, Papa - Ava and Papa (my dad) will go back and forth saying, "Hi Papa," "Hi Ava," " Hi Papa," "Hi Ava," until one of them gives up. This can go thirty or forty times. Usually my dad gives up. She's a persistent little thing!

Ava has also learned two new words, which I'm not as excited about, "No", and "Mine." These are used frequently when she is trying to get to her favorite grown up toys: keys, the remote control, cell phones, and wallets. She is inquistive and into everything. This is such a fun age. I love to watch her learn!

Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I've ever seen?

Well, this post has been a long time coming, but things have finally slowed down enough to write. Chad, Ava and I are officially Abilene residents although we're still living with my parents at the moment. We have a house that we'll close on tomorrow and move in to at the end of the month. I am so excited! I think I've decorated every room in my head at least 3 times. Of course most of my ideas will have to wait due to budget constraints so I'll just have to go one room at a time. We've had a very busy holiday season. I think that the last time I blogged was early December.

Most of December was a blur of boxes, good-byes, Christmas shopping, and illness. We packed our entire house to be put in storage except what we need for a month, which for Chad and me was a suitcase of clothes and some toiletries. For Ava, that consisted of an entire carload full of toys, baby gear, pack-n-play, clothes, diapers, etc. During all of the packing, all three of us got sick at overlapping intervals. I have a newfound sympathy for babies with ear infections. I got my first one and that is some serious pain! During December, we also had to say our good-byes to many friends and family. Our closest friends from church threw us a going away party, which was so fun! Being all together made me realize what a blessing it has been to have such an amazing core group of friends who we have shared so much with. I felt an overwhelming sadness at what we were leaving. But, I still believe that God is in control and I rest in the peace of His plan. My coworkers at RHCC also threw me a good-bye luncheon. I cannot express how hard it was to say so many tearful good-byes throughout the month of December. I love so many people there, and moving away was more difficult than I even imagined it would be. After all of the chaos leading up to the move, we finally did get our belongings loaded up and sent on to Abilene. Chad, Ava and I stayed with the Micks for the rest of the week while Chad worked the last few days before Christmas break. Ava fell in love with their dog, Murphy (who I almost lost, but that's another story.)

Christmas in Brownwood with my mom's family was a refreshing change of pace. I caught up on some much needed sleep and finally got over the ear infection. Ava loved being the center of attention! When we all get together, there are about 30 people, and we all stay in one house for the entire weekend so there was no shortage of help with Ava. Chad made the comment that we needed a baton or bracelet of some kind that you could pass off so we would know who was in charge of her at any given time. There were a few times when I knew she was in a group of people outside, but I wasn't sure if any one person was watching her. We thought we should come up with some kind of "tag you're it" way of making sure that she was being supervised. I guess I'm still a new parent of a first baby and sometimes overly cautious. We've had a lot of babies raised in that family, and we haven't lost one yet, so I guess I shouldn't have worried. I definately enjoyed all of the food, games, conversations, and a groovy seventies Anniversary party we had for my parents' 30th! Much fun!

From there, we headed back to Fort Worth for Chad's last four days of work at Metroplex and Christmas with his family. We had a great time opening presents with the Walters, Micks, and Quanzes. Ava loved her new toys! She bopped her head to the rhythm of a new keyboard while sitting in a wagon loaded down with fun toys! She loves her cousins and enjoyed playing with each of them! I spent most of the week spending time with friends since I didn't have to work. Ava got to hang out with Hayley, Bella and Emma (three of her closest little friends) and I got to visit with their moms (three of my closest friends.) On Friday, we had dinner with the family, said a heart wrenching tearful good-bye and headed on to Abilene.

We enjoyed bringing in the New Year with the Ridgells (here visiting family) and the Reeses! Chad and I hung out for a few days in Abilene and then headed to Sante Fe since he didn't have to start at his new job until the 9th! We enjoyed beautiful weather, interesting people and sights, lots of art museums and galleries and tasty food. We had a relaxing couple of days while Ava spent time in Decatur with Grandma Ruby and G-Sir. By Saturday, we were ready to see our baby girl, so we got up at 5:00 AM and headed back.

Once in Abilene, we finally unpacked at my parents' house where we'll be for the next 3 weeks until we can move in to our house. Chad started work this week, Ava started at Young Children's World at Highland where she'll go twice a week, and I am still praying for direction with my job options. I'll keep you posted. This week, I have been "reaquainting" myself with Abilene. It is familiar and new to me at the same time. I have enjoyed spending time with Kate who I have seen every day, and have been working on getting into a new routine of working out at Hendrick Health Club. Chad has come home for lunch several times and I can already feel myself settling in to a slower pace. It feels good. I have felt homesick from time to time, but I'm not really sure where my home is right now. I think I'm just ready to be settled after so much transition in the past few months, but I am enjoying time with my family, having extra help with Ava, as well as some great home cooked meals from mom. Ava is having fun with her Papa and Sasi! She has replaced her infatuation with saying, "Hi Dotee!" to saying "Hi Ba ba" (Papa) even when he's not home! She's a funny little thing.

We appreciate all of your love, support and prayers! I year ago I would never have imagined that we would be here, so I am looking forward to seeing what awaits us in 2006!