Memorial Day Weekend

It was a very busy, fun-filled weekend. We started on Saturday by going to Bella's dance rehearsal. She did a great job but I am just not quite sure what recital day will look like! We then headed to the pool and had our school friends over to play. Sophie is Bella's bff from school and her mom and I have gotten close over the last few months. Now, even the dads have hit it off and we both have new babies. It is a perfect match and we all have a blast!

Later that night Randy and I went to a friend of mine's 30th surprise party and saw a ton of our friends. It was so much fun, as always.

Sunday we went to church at the Ballantyne campus and let Bella check out the stage where she will be preforming Saturday. For lunch we headed to Randy's parents and ate hamburgers & hot dogs. I even got a nap in while we were there! That night we went to Grandma's for BBQ chicken, corn, beans, salad & pie. Both meals were the perfect Memorial Day mix!

Monday we went to the pool for a couple of hours and then my bestie, Lauren, and her husband, Kyle, stopped in to meet Ava. It was so good to catch up (They live in Wilmington). Last but not least, we headed to our neighbor-friend's place for a cookout and some fun. It was a great time! The kids played so well and the adults got to hang out and talk. Ava even had a little buddy to hang out with. She talked to him and he made sure to stay by her side and protect her through the night. (Bella knows the little boy, Landyn, from school and again, the mom (Kelley) and I have gotten close over the last few months plus the dads click too! I talked about them here. We are so blessed to have all of these families and friends in our lives.)

Like I said, it was BUSY but sooo much fun!!

rub-a-dub-dub

two girls in the tub!

I have been waiting for this day. Giving Ava a bath is not the easiest thing in the world with all that we have going on in a given night so she usually gets a shower with one of us. She never was a big fan of the bath BUT tonight we put them both in since Ava is sitting in the Bumbo for short amounts of time now. It wasn't real easy but it was nice to get two done simultaneously. The Bumbo was floating so it took one person to hold it down and one to protect her from the 3 year old and then any free hand was used to wash them. The moral of the story might be this: the Bumbo is for everything! You don't need a bath chair or even a high chair when you have a Bumbo. You can use it in shallow pools too. (It has a tray you can buy separately for eating and playing.) It isn't perfect but it gets the job done.

Overall, the bath was a success! Both got cleaned and Ava didn't cry :)

bumbo beauties

here are the girls in the bumbo and in the same shirt-

Bella

Ava

saturday at our house

this is how Bella helps Daddy wash the car:

a glimpse into the future with two princesses

Today Bella started playing dress up for one of the first times. It was precious! She looked at herself in the mirror as if she was truly a princess- so proud of herself. It didn't take long and she was getting her sister all dressed up. It was a glimpse into the future. It won't be long and both of my girls will be playing pretty pretty princess together! The last costume she tried on was Tinkerbell, wings and all. When Randy got home had her run to him and he made her "fly." He said, "Remember...Think happy thoughts!" He is the perfect daddy to two little princesses.

more accurate comparison

Each of the girls at 3 months:

Bella-

Ava-

My favorite part is how Bella has her fist out- I didn't remember her doing that but Ava does that all the time! Bella was a lot chubbier than I remembered too. It looks like Bella was bigger than Ava at the 3 month point.

another comparison

Here is each of the girls on their first day at the pool- Bella was only a month and a half though.

Ava goes to the pool!

We put Ava in her bathing suit today and headed to the pool for the first time this year. We waited until later so it wouldn't be crazy hot but today ended up not being that bad anyway. We weren't sure how long we would be able to go but she did pretty good. Bella had a blast! We saw our sweet friends there- Landon and Lavery. It was Lavery's first time too but she is 10 months and so cute! She was loving it. Ava on the other hand was not so crazy about the cold water on her feet.

And she really didn't like Bella's wet/cold self touching her! Poor thing!

the things she says...

Bella says some of the cutest things when we least expect it. I just don't want to forget them! If only I had them all on camera.

-Yesterday she sang 'Old MacDonald' by herself out of the blue. She said things like, "and an oink here and here and here and here and everywhere. everywhere." and "he had a donkey. honkey was his name. honkey here and honkey there. everywhere."
-Tonight after Randy got out of the shower, he had given himself a little haircut and she noticed right away. A few minutes later she said, "Daddy you look GORGEOUS!"
-She asks me now on a daily basis, "What's your choice?" and gives me a couple of things to choose from. The only thing is she picks for me :)
-When we say thank you, she says, "I welcome."
-Randy was showing Bella the Quail Hollow Golf Course on TV and pointing out different parts and she listened so intently and then said, "You learned all that Daddy?!"
-A friend was giving her 8 month old some yogurt and Bella said, "Where is my baby's hogurt?" She really can't wait for "her baby" aka Ava to eat real food.

somebody is THREE months old!

Well... Friday marked 3 months for Miss Ava Hope. Here are a couple of shots I got:

Wells Fargo

I headed to the Wells Fargo Championship today. with both girls. by myself. We survived but that is about it...lol. I am glad I went because it looks like it may be the only day I get to go this year, but it was hot and hard with both girls. Randy took some students on a field trip there today so we met him at one of the holes. Bella got a signature and a picture with someone whose name I don't know :) Randy was wearing some really bright Puma clothes and he asked him if he was a Gator fan. Randy said, "No, just a Puma fan," and he said, "That's what I like to hear. I can't wear blue and orange together. The one time I did, I did awful." We didn't see anyone "big" out there today except Rickie Fowler but it was still nice to see the grounds.

Rickie on the driving range:

Randy just told me the guy's name is Jonas Blixt. It turns out he went to Florida State so no wonder he didn't care for the Gators. He is from Sweden and it is his first ear on tour.

Of course Bella's favorite part was... riding the bus!