First Day of Preschool 2012

Bella had her first day back to school at Forest Hill Playschool today. She has Ms. Susan and Ms. Holly this year and has some of the same friends in there from last year with her. She has been so excited and has asked me twice already if she can go by herself into school now. What?!! Where did she even get this idea? I don't know but it broke my heart a little. She told me at open house she could do it because she is so tall now. (Of course she also wants a "shortcut" like Daddy's hair so she can be strong... the ideas they get!) Anyway, it went really well, a little too well... She walked in there with confidence and didn't even look back! Before we left the house, though, she walked over and gave Ava a sweet little kiss on the cheek and told her bye. She looked a little sad when she did that but it was so precious I almost lost it.

Here she is before we left the house:

And with her buddy Landyn right after school:

7 months

(and I am on time!) Ava turned 7 months old today and she is just as sweet as ever!! Not too much to report- she is sitting up by herself and eating all the time! She thinks her big sister is the funniest thing in the world and she is without a doubt a Daddy's girl- she ALWAYS has her eyes on him!

darnedest things part 3 (i think)

Bella says the darnedest things- Part III

-She keeps saying the same two things to and about Ava: "Ava, you are a genius!!" and "her is soo big!"
-she is slightly OCD like her parents so when she told my mom one night how to do something, my mom said, "okay Ethel," to which she said, "I not Ethel!"
-she picked up the word actually so she puts that in there whenever she can
-she said chicken as opposed to "wicken" the other day and when I pointed it out to her and congratulated her she just kept going around screaming, "I can say chicken!! I can say chicken!!"
-if I haven't documented it already, she always says, "I told you!" or "Daddy told you!" especially if she is trying to get someone to do something the way she likes it done
-"uh oh scettio"
-"I'm starving!" out of nowhere
-"we're back on track"
-"that is soaking wet."
-"Mommy, you know better!"
-"Ameri-a-ca- you have to take an airplane to get there. It's like far away."
-She showed my mom and Grandma what patience is- she said, "This is patient." [pause]. "That's patient."
-she is a confessor of sins: my sister told her, "You sure do have a good mommy," to which she responded, "Yeah.... but sometimes she sceams at Daddy." When I tell her she is a good girl, she always says, "Yeah, but sometimes I'm rough with Ava. And sometimes I am gentle. Sometimes."
-when we were at the beach this last time, she saw a woman with her grandkids wearing a cover-up like her GaYa and she said, "Look! A GaYa! [long pause] Is that GaYa?"
-we were eating dinner at my Grandma's one night and as she was talking to everyone at the table, her eyes began to water. There was no apparent reason, but she paused and looked down, kind of smacked her lips and said like an actress, "I a little sad..." then kept right on with her story. Can we say politician?

just a little recent photo shoot!

*and if you are wondering why Ava is always in a diaper sans clothing, (besides the redneck you just can't take out of this mama), it is because she is the sweatingest thing you have ever seen!

Summer Zoo Trip #2

We ended up getting a membership because it is quite the deal. We go to Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, SC. It is about an hour away but by far the best zoo I have ever been too.

We got to do a couple of things we missed last time like feed the giraffes & the birds, see the penguins and feed the fish. (Bella had been asking us to feed fish for almost all of the summer so it was nice to finally check that off the bucket list!)

A sweet mama gave us a wristband for Bella in passing on this particular day and it could not have made us happier! She got to ride the ponies for the first time (she is finally tall enough! her wedges may or may not have been partially responsible), she rode the train a few times, got to feed the giraffes & lorakeets, plus ride the carousel to her little heart's content. It was so much fun!