our little native american girl

yes, we traveled

Our family for the most part lives here but Randy has some extended family in Cincinnati, Ohio and we went to see them for Thanksgiving! It was about a 8-9 hour drive. On the way there we stopped in Knoxville to stay with my uncle. It was a great way to break up the drive. Wednesday we took our time getting ready and getting on the road. We got to Cincy about 5. Randy's cousin, Pam & her husband & four kids hosted us for the time we were there in their newly built home. It was incredible. They took such good care of us and i said on numerous occasions, we may never leave. She made me a vanilla latte every morning plus we had amazing meals, tons of fun & entertainment playing with the kids and all of their toys, going to the Cincinnati zoo and visiting with aunts and uncles. I felt like we didn't see Bella while were there. She was always off playing with cousins and probably exploring. for Thanksgiving dinner, there were 31 people! Pam is incredible at hostessing and entertaining and their home is also amazing. We drove back Saturday and made great time so traveling wasn't bad. The girls did great. It was good to get home but we had so much fun and look forward to seeing them all again sooner than later we hope!

Now it is time to prepare for Christmas! Hard to believe.

(cousin Becca was a huge help!)

(Uncle Dick & Aunt Joanne)

(the table set for 31! but we ended up having 32)

(Aunt Chris, Evan & Quinten)

(the house)

(some pics from the zoo)

There's Nothing Quite Like Christmas

There's nothing quite like Christmas
to set your heart aglow
For every face is beaming
like roses in the snow.

The beauty of the season
fills us with delight
And tugs upon our heartstrings
just singing, "Silent Night."

The weary world is young at heart
beside a Christmas tree
Where memories remind us
how good this life can be.

Christmas brings the best of times
we'll treasure through the years
As we gather with our loved ones
and remember some with tears.

Hope and faith are born anew
across the anxious earth
For there's nothing quite like Christmas
to celebrate Christ's birth!

-Clay Harrison

Thankful

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family this past weekend and it was such a good time. We had great food and it just makes me anxious for Christmas. We are headed to Cincy soon, with a stop in Knoxville, TN, and could not be more excited to spend time with Randy's extended family and my Uncle Les! Meanwhile, I have been working on finishing up the semester, getting our Advent calendar planned & ready, taking care of house projects, doing lots of laundry and battling a nasty cold. Ava and I both got it and it has been a rough go. Thankful for friends that offered to help out :) Bella actually spent the weekend with my sister and brother-in-law at their family cabin so she had a great time exploring the outdoors and Randy and I were able to have a nice break. We have so much to be thankful for.

(so many. three additions in 2012.)

(my sister & Will, hoping this is documentation of their last Thanksgiving as a family of 2...hehehe... we will see)

(my little girls with their Uncle Will)

What Bella Said Today

Bella asked me today if I could Ava in the kitchen for her. I asked why and she told me she wanted to play with her in there. I said, "Okay, what am I going to do?" and she answered, "You can go in there and think." She repeated the plan to me saying that I could go into the LR and think and she would watch Ava for me.

She is one smart girl. Thanks Bella for my break today :)

She also said some other funny things today. She picked up on the routine of going to Rotelli every Tuesday for pizza night and talked about that today on the way home all on her own saying something about Ava was going to miss 'Telli and pizza because she wouldn't be staying up. She has to go to sleep because it is Tuesday apparently. The other thing she said I will have to spare you as it had to do with picking her nose and having to stop when Daddy gets home from work.

girls just want to have fun!

Bella likes to play dress up a lot these days... Ava often gets roped in.

9 months. November 4th

I wrote this post on November 4th and took her picture on Nov 4th so I was on time just for the record, BUT just getting around to putting them together.

nine months in the womb go by so. much. slower! than they do outside the womb! i tell people that all the time as i think about pregnancy and the fact that Ava is growing up too fast. she is nine months today. she is chunky & almost always happy. she loves to eat & loves her sissy (most of the time), she loves to scoot around the floor & be involved in whatever is going on around her. she spreads joy like wildfire. you cannot help but smile when you are around her. i was reflecting recently on this in my journal and can't help but think we should have named her Ava Joy.

(I also included some pics my assistant photographer took of her. She insisted.)

our growing little girl

I don't even know how to deal with today. Bella looked like a five year old all day. She did her own hair this morning and it was perfect. It looked long and whispy and it just reminded me of someone much older :( Then after dinner tonight she asked Randy to braid her hair. She has never once asked me to do that- it was weird that she wanted it done. Fortunately and unfortunately Randy doesn't know how to braid though and because I had expressed my disappointment she jumped in my lap and let me do it :) After that, she looked ten. Oh my. I cannot handle it!

lady bug babies, brown eyes, blue

Bella Bug

Ava Bug

Halloween

We have Ariel, no wait.. Tinkerbell, nope... Cinderella. That was our Bella. She was three different Disney princesses for Halloween this year. We didn't have to buy her a costume this year because her cousin Sophie passed along all of her princess dresses not too long ago and so we had quite the choice to make. Bella's favorite has been Ariel for a while now so it was no surprise she wanted to be her. She did that for trunk or treat last Saturday but then she got the new Tinkerbell movie, Secret of the Wings, from her aunt PJ so she wanted to do that for her Fall party at school then when she got there, her BFF was dressed as Cinderella so she decided for trick or treating Halloween night she would be Cinderella. Shoo... can you even catch up? At least Ava can't change her mind yet! or make any choices for that matter! She was a ladybug and she had no complaints thank goodness :)

(well, Ava did have one other Halloween outfit)

Ava's first trick or treat house:

and our buddies, Palmer/Dragon (top) and Landyn/Peter Pan (bottom):

more? clapping?

I have been ready to post this all week- I was going to announce Ava's new "trick," clapping, BUT then I realized she isn't always clapping. She is doing the sign for "more." Randy works with her when he feeds her and I am not really sure when she started doing it, but yesterday when I was feeding her I saw it! She kept turning away from me trying to play so I would ask her, "Do you want more Ava?" and she would turn around smile really big and put her hands together for more! I could not believe it. All this time I was so proud of her for clapping when really she has probably been telling us she wants more most of the time. I think she does clap sometimes but it is really clear when we say "more" she puts her hands together, she just may not relate the meaning yet.