AC's first beach vacation

Well, AC has officially been on her first beach vacation (while not being in my tummy!) and she LOVED it! She had soooo much fun playing in the sand. Daddy took her down there and oh my! She was loving it....and eating it! We had to quickly go dip in the pool and try and get rid of it before she ate too much! I have soooo many precious pics and videos to share....but it's late and we just got back today....so needless to say, it will be tomorrow at the soonest! Sorry! Just wanted you guys to know that we are back home safely....and well, our vacation ended with AC filling her dress and car seat full as we were about 3 hours from home! She had a "bath" with wet wipes in the gas station parking lot and got into her pajamas way early! The things she will do to try and get out of that car seat! haha

Seriously though, we were so worried about this vacation with her. We had no idea what to expect and didn't really think it would be a "vacation" because she would require a lot....well we were WRONG! She was a precfect little sweet girl! She did anything we wanted and really only had one bad day the whole time. We spent so much fun time with her and have the most awesome memories of her first vacation. Matt and I are so lucky to have this little angel....she really is precious! Life would not be the same without her! We are sooooooo blessed!

She started the vacation off with being perfect for the car ride down. She did not cry---which is AMAZING!!!! She usually yells or cries in her car seat...but not on vacation! She sat back and watched Elmo dvd's and loved it! Elmo is a new favorite for her. She was making me laugh so hard...it was seriously like she was at the movies. She had some of her mum-mums and was eating them while she was watching Elmo....just all kicked back in her car seat. Then she took an almost 2 hour nap and when she woke up she was happy! I was soooo pleased with her car ride! We should have known then that the vacation would be great!

I can't wait to show you guys more pics....I'm going to leave you with this one! More to come tomorrow....

AC crawling

She's really crawling....EVERYWHERE! She just takes off! This video is not that great...I'll do a better one when daddy gets home!

AC playing catch

This video is toooo funny! They were tossing a foam ring (that Aunt Connie got her- thanks!) back anf forth and she thought it was the funniest thing!

AC eating carrots for 1st time

Here is AC eating carrots for the first time....I think she was like 5 months or so....feels like FOREVER ago! Sorry the video is late.....better late than never!

AC and the feather duster

So sorry to have never uploaded this....I am trying to "catch up" on video clips today! Here is AC at wal-mart playing with a feather duster with Mamaw....it was toooo funny! We of course had to buy it! But she really never thought it was as funny as this first time!

She Stands!!!

She pulled up while she was in her crib today!!! I had her in there playing (since she thinks it's a large playpen and not a bed!) while I was cleaning out her closet and getting her fall clothes out. She was being soooo good and I was getting so much done! Well, I should have known fisty pants was doing something sneaky.....I looked over and there she stood!!!! She had pulled up on the side of her crib and she was just standing there! It was the craziest thing!!! It was actually a little scary because the side of the crib was not up because she hasn't been able to make it up! Well, it's safe to say.....the side of the crib will go up everytime now!!!

MaMaw and Papaw

Well.....mamaw and papaw left this morning....we are too sad! We are still holding out hope that their lottery ticket will be a winner this week so they can move here!! Mom's favorite house is still for sale....so it's meant to be! AC would love having them as babysitters because she knows she could get by with ANYTHING!! ha

She is crawling so good now! She was too funny the other night. Mom, dad, and Matt were in the kitchen eating and AC and I were in the living room.....well, she decided she wanted to go where the food was!!! So, she took off! She just crawled all the way toward the kitchen. It was too funny! I promise to load a video tonight....we will get her crawling tonight so you can see her go!

She has a new favorite snack too. She LOVES eating mum mum's and they sure are messy!!! She gets them all over herself! But she loves them...so it's worth it!!

Nothing else too exciting is happening with us right now....daddy is CONSIDERING getting AC a dog! (He's not totally sure yet...but he's thinking she might be able to when she starts wanting one! I'm telling you....this little girl can get daddy to do many things! haha)

Molly Addison came to visit!!

Chad, Haley, and Molly Addison, our friends from Knoxville, stopped by on their way to Gulf Shores. Molly Addison is 16 months old and too cute! She was so much fun! It made us see what we have to look forward to soon!

AC's new toys!

WOW! I've never heard so many toys going crazy at one time!! Mamaw brought AC a bag of toys and of course...they ALL make noise! And of course, they are QUICKLY becoming AC's favorites! She loves laying on her tummy playing with one...while kicking another one with her feet! She is too funny! I'm going to have to think of a way to pay Mamaw back for these noisy things! hahaha I'm thinking she will want to bring them ALL when we come to TN for a visit!

Mamaw and Papaw are in town!

Wow! This picture is too funny--I had to share! Mamaw and Papaw are in town and we've been having fun and getting some projects done (at home and at school)....well, I had a math meeting that I had to go to today--so she stayed home with Mam and Pap and you should see what she got to do!!!! THEY PUT HER TO WORK! SHE HAD TO CLEAN THE GARAGE AND EVERYTHING! Check out the picture of her working.

They cleaned the garage and Mamaw was saying that AC did a lot of the cleaning with her feet! Her little feet were filthy and mom had to wash them two times to get them clean! But, our garage looks GREAT thanks to Papaw!!

I finally got this picture of AC and Miller from Mamaw's camera....she couldn't email it to me!! ha So, this is her cousin Miller who will be turning 1 next week. We wish we could come to her birthday...but we will be at the beach!!

AC and MaMaw just swinging! She sat like this for the longest time with mom! It was too funny!

Breaking news!!

Just wanted to let you guys know that AC can now go from crawling to sitting back up. She has been working really hard on it the last few days and I've been "helping" her. Well, she just did it herself!! I even put her back down to crawl again right afterwards and she sat back up on her own!!! She is such a big girl and growing up so fast! I'll try and video it later...those are so hard to download! Hopefully I'll have better luck!

Pulling Up Princess

AC is pulling up on EVERYTHING!! Long gone are the days of her sitting still....she is constantly trying to stand. She is always trying to pull up on things. When she is sitting in the floor in front of me playing...she will turn and try and use my shirt to pull up on. Most of the time that doesn't work out well! But she tries again! There is one thing you can definitely say about AC and that is she definitely doesn't give up easily! She always tries again!!!

Her crawling has improved a ton in the last few days too. She can make it just about anywhere she wants to go! She's still not just taking off super fast....but she is crawling and falls down and then does it some more. Again, she keeps on trying!

Here lately she is becoming such a daddy's girl! Matt came home early yesterday (what a great surprise!!) and AC had been kinda fussy all day. Well, when daddy got her---she was as happy as can be! We went for a long walk and to the Sweet Stop and she was just fine the whole time.....I think she just needed a break from mommy!!

Well she's napping and I need to go get some stuff done! Mamaw and PaPaw are coming down this week....so I've gotta clean!!

Pool Party Pics

Last night was our first late night pool party with the neighbors. We all have babies that are about a month apart! (I know!! It is too cool!) and decided to meet at the pool for a play date. They played on blankets together and splashed in the pool! It was so much fun!

Ginger and Baby Harper

Whitney and Hayes

Dana and Baby Kayla

Jen and Baby Bobby

Favorite pic of AC

This is my favorite picture of AC that I have taken recently....just wanted to share! She is such a blessing and we are so lucky to have her! She makes things sooo much better! Her smile birghtens our day and those little arms reaching up for us are just too cute for words!

BIG GIRL CARSEAT

What a new day.....Ava Claire likes to ride in the car now!! As many of you know, AC is almost the perfect baby...except in the car!!! She used to immediately tense up and start to cry when she would see her car seat and know she had to get in it. It made going home to TN painful and running errands exhausting.

Well, since mommy got a new car, we decided that it might be a good time to get AC used to her new car seat as well. So, we got her a BIG GIRL car seat and it gives her soooo much more room! She is way happier in it than she was her infant carrier! It makes running errands way more enjoyable and I don't have to worry about when she's going to start to scream!!

We are hoping that she will continue to enjoy her BIG GIRL car seat! It's soooo hard to believe that she's already that big! She is just growing up wayyyyyy too fast!

Does she really look like a boy???

Well, I have plenty to blog about today!!! We were running some errands and AC was dressed so precious...in her little white dress with a BIG white bow--she looked like a live baby doll! I'm just thinking to myseldf how cute she looks and how sweet she is being. She was in the baby bjorn and we were shopping and just having a gool ole time...meanwhile a little old lady comes up to me and this is how the conversation goes:
Little old lady (LOL): "oh! HE's a cute baby"
me: "thanks! She's a sweet girl"
LOL: "wow! HE sure does have some big thighs"
me: "yea, she's a big girl"
LOL: "what's HIS name?"
me: "Ava Claire"
LOL: "Ava Claire- hmmm"
me: "yay"
LOL "oh is HE a girl?"
me: "yay, she's a big girl!"
LOL: "oh. ok"

And she turns and walks off....I'm just standing there like "are you kidding me??!" SHE has a HUGE bow in her head!!! I would have been really offended but I think her bifocals weren't working right! She was at least 70 plus....so we'll cut her some slack!!

She had a HUGE white bow in her head......

Fun with the Fam

Ava Claire had some special guests this week (Matt's parents came!) and had so much fun!! She has been showing off all of her new things she has learned. We have a very funny video of her playing with one of her toys.....daddy was "throwing" it to her and she just thought it was the funniest thing ever! I tried to upload it and it's not working right now....I'll try to get it done later!! Here are a few pics for now!

4th of July Fun with Friends

Wow!! We had so much fun with the neighbors tonight....Ava Claire got to play with some of her friends. She especially loved playing with Olivia (from my class last year) and playing with her shirt. Olivia's shirt had sequins on it and AC LOVED them! Here are a few pics of her with her friends....they have matching outfits! too cute!

Ava Claire and Kayla

Kayla, Hayes, and AC

4th of July Parade

Just wanted to share a few pics from the neighborhood 4th of July parade. Ava Claire did great!! She actually made it all of the way in her stroller (which is a BIG deal for her!!) The parade was very funny....lots of participants....but only about 10 spectators!! too funny! Next year she wants to ride in her wagon with some balloons on it!! We're heading to a block party later, so I'll share some pics from that soon! Hope you guys are having a fun holiday!! We miss ya'll!

Such a big girl!!

I feel like she changes everyday.....she just keeps looking older to me. When I look at her each day, I can't help but feel like the luckiest person alive!! She has made life so much more enjoyable. Everything she does is a blessing and we're very lucky. Again, she is doing so many new things I just don't know where to start....she sat up really good and played with her toys from her toy basket for a long time today (by herself!!) which was wonderful! I was able to clean her room during this time and pack up many clothes that are too small! She is now in 12 months stuff and some 18 months depending upon the brand. We are very sad that she is just about to outgrow her bumbo seat and baby bjorn carrier too....oh my I don't know what we'll do when that happens! She LOVES being carried around in that thing....so I'm very worried that she will expect us to carry her once she is too big to be in it!! We shall see...

She's finally asleep and I need to get some stuff done...she didn't nap again today so I haven't had much time to get anything done! We'll post some pics of her in her 4th of July outfit tomorrow...she's going to be in a parade...so let's hope she will cooperate. We'll let ya know how that goes....

Lunch with her 1st grade aunts!

Ava Claire had so much fun today at lunch with her 1st grade aunts! She got used to seeing them every morning before school started and has missed them! We went and ate some Mexican food (she will not be too too happy later! for some reason it makes her gassy!) and visited. It was great!