Trip To Florence, Alabama

This past Thursday, we had the opportunity to visit Florence, Alabama, for the "God Does Not Exist" debate between Blair Scott and Kyle Butt. I will have a lengthy post about the actual debate in a later post, but for now I want to post some pictures of the fun stuff that we did with the James family in Florence!

We arrived in Florence at about 4:00 in the afternoon and checked into our hotel. We were all starving, so we agreed to eat at Umi's. It was the neatest Japanese Steakhouse that I have ever been to! The decor was beautiful and the sushi was fantastic!! It was so good that we went back the next day for lunch! We had the option of dining in a private room on the floor like a traditional Japanese mealtime, but we wanted to sit at a table with chairs. There was no way we were going to let Ava crawl around our food at a low table!! The hostess, instead, gave us a private room with a table and chairs. We enjoyed sitting in a quiet space all to ourselves.

We went to the debate immediately after dinner and then went back to the hotel after that. Ava was such a trooper the whole time!! When we got back to our room, she decided that she had had enough!! She would not go to sleep! I don't know what the trouble was, but she would only sleep on Jeremy's chest and when she was placed in her Pack 'n Play, she would scream and choke and gasp for breath. It was so sad!! She finally fell asleep at about 3 am. It was a really bad night, but she woke up happy the next morning!! In all, we had a great time!!

Ava's Twin

Ava discovered herself in the mirror several months ago, but she has never had a floor to ceiling mirror to stand in front of. This past Thursday evening, our family traveled to Florence, Al, with some friends of ours (Marty and Peyton) to attend the "God Does Not Exist" debate between Blair Scott and Kyle Butt, on The University of North Alabama campus. Instead of coming home late that evening, we decided to stay in a hotel and leave the next morning. We were in luck! The hotel room had a wonderful mirror covered closet door! It kept Ava entertained all morning while her daddy and I got dressed. Don't you just love cheap entertainment?

A Play Date With Friends

Today, Ava and I had a little two and a half hour visit with some friends. Gabby and Anna Caroline came over to play for a little while so that Rachel could drop some stuff off at the consignment sale. We had a great time playing with toys and watching movies. Anna Caroline and Ava did not really know what to think of each other. They would get close to each other for a few minutes and then crawl away. I think they were a little overwhelmed with another "little person" in their midst! Gabby pretty much kept herself entertained by building a fort out of my couch cushions. She did a great job with the fort!

Here are some pictures of our time together:

Storytime Tuesday: Months Of The Year And Days Of The Week

Today, Peyton was the storytime teacher. She and I have been trading off every other week until Mrs. Cindy gets back from England (We are so jealous! She has been gone almost three weeks!) Even though it was quite the rainy morning, we all managed to make it safely and even had 4 visitors! Allison and her two children, Kate and Luke, have been visiting our church for about a month, and Bryson came as a guest of the Tucker family. We had a great time with Mrs. Peyton!

 Ava and Bryson play together.

 Why have one toy when you can pull the entire toy chest over on top of you?

 Mrs. Peyton and Cooper taught the class today. The bullfrog book was too cute!

 Peyton makes a mouse face! During the course of the book, the bullfrog ate a mouse. :)

 Ava and Anna Caroline socialize over some toys.

 Canyon plays in the bookshelf.

 Ava plays with a My Little Pony. Luke keeps himself entertained in the background.

 Nora and Gabby cheese for the camera!

 Cooper and the month book

Canyon and the bullfrog book

The Pickle Jar

I have no idea why, but whenever I open the refrigerator door, Ava quickly crawls over and puts her mouth on the pickle jar. I guess the cold glass is soothing to her gums. She is so quick, that I have to sometimes put her in her highchair before I get things out of the fridge. Once she gets hold of the pickle jar, I have a VERY hard time getting her loose! I know someone is probably thinking, "yeah, right." But I promise!! I am not exaggerating! She will not let go and she will sometimes scream when I pull her away. :( Poor baby just wants her pickle!! (By the way, she does love pickles)

 Clamped down on the pickle jar!

 Trying to pull it out of the refrigerator! Smart girl!

 Hmm...it was too heavy to pull out. I guess I can still suck on it.

Mommy caught you!!

New Vocabulary Words

I should probably wait until Ava's ten month post, but I can't wait!! Here are the four words that Ava says:

"dada" (Daddy)

"neh-neh-neh" (No) :) This is her favorite!

"bybybyby" (bye-bye) She will also raise her arm up toward the ceiling when she says this.

AND... (drumroll please!!)

"mama" (momma) She learned this last week, but I am just now posting it!!

Jeremy and I woke up one morning to hear her saying it over and over again in her crib. When I walked in the room, she exclaimed, "MAMA!" I was so happy I could've started dancing!!

What I Have Learned From Being A Parent

*I have learned that Ava needs a nap especially when she protests!

*I have learned that active child does not equal bad child. Nor does calm child equal good child. Ava is very active, but she is also a very good, obedient child.

*I have learned to get my bluff in early.

*I have learned to let Ava roam freely as much possible with as much supervision as possible.

*I have learned to not run to Ava every time she cries.

*I have learned to not make a big deal out of every bump and bruise. It usually hurts for a second and although the bruise lasts for several days, Ava carries on as usual.

*I have learned to enjoy the tough moments because I will miss them one day when Ava is grown.

*I have learned to laugh as much as possible!

*I have learned to let Ava be social with as many people as possible. I don't want to teach her to pick favorites. She needs to be nice to everyone.

* I have learned to not compare Ava to other children.

*I have learned to not compare myself to other moms.

*I have learned that no one can make more of an impact on Ava's life than her parents.

*I have learned to keep my mouth shut when people want to give advice. I usually don't want it unless I ask for it, but it is not worth being rude and cutting them off mid-sentence. It is just better for everyone.

*I have learned that Ava does not like socks and hairbows; therefore, I will not make a battle of it and force her to wear it. We will work on that when she gets older.

*I have learned that successful parenting is getting your child to Heaven. That's it.

*I have learned that I am not always right. Sometimes Jeremy has insightful advice that I should listen to.

*I have learned who to ask for parenting advice. If I know I will disagree with someone, then I don't ask them. I solicit advice from people who have similar parenting philosophies.

*I have learned to not post parenting issues on facebook. Everyone has an opinion and it doesn't always come across as nice. I would rather avoid confrontation and conflict.

*I have learned to trust my instincts.

*I have learned that playdates are good for everyone involved.

*I have learned about Agape love.

*I have learned that rocking a baby to sleep is not always a bad thing.

*I have learned to have fun!!

Ava On The Move

Storytime Tuesday: Folktales And A Visit To Daddy's Office

This past Tuesday, I was in charge of Storytime. I will be honest; I was tired and not in a particularly creative mood. I decided that story time would consist of songs, two stories, and a snack. Even though it was much more simple than usual, the kids did not even know the difference! They still had a great time playing together and listening to two classic folktales: The Three Little Pigs retold and illustrated by Barry Moser and Goldilocks and the Three Bears retold and illustrated by James Marshall.

After I read each story, I asked the kids what their favorite part was. They all had a great memory and told me different answers. My favorite answer, though, was Luke's. There is a part in the Goldilocks story where she wakes up to find the three bears standing over her bed. The text says, "Goldilocks woke up with a start. And her eyes nearly popped out of her head." (pg. 29) Well, this was Luke's favorite part, except his version went more like this: "I like when her eyes pop out of her head." I laughed so hard! I have only been out of the classroom for a little over a year, but I had forgotten how literal kids are. He probably was imagining eyeballs rolling around on the floor below the bed Goldilocks was laying in. Yikes! I hope his mom was not too mad at me!! Kind of a gruesome thought for a three year old!! But, he did not seem disturbed in the least bit, and his mom laughed too. :)

After storytime, Ava and I had a short little visit to Jeremy's office. He is a comic book fanatic so you will note the posters on the wall behind him. His office is a little overwhelming to me because it is floor to ceiling comics and VBS posters that he has designed. It is a haven for young children, though, because he also has toys EVERYWHERE! Imagine Tom Hanks' character in the movie BIG. His office full of toys reminds me of Jeremy's office. He is just a kid in an adults body. :) (That's why I love him!)

After storytime and our little visit, we went to Chick-fil-a for lunch. We had a great time with Ms. Carla, Luke, Sam, and Daddy! We love storytime Tuesdays!

Finely Fall

I hope everyone understands that I did not misspell my title. I was trying to be creative! ;-)

I am not really the type to decorate my house for every season. I wish I was. I love looking in magazines and seeing all the cute stuff that makes a home look festive. But, I am not going to lie: It is too much work to fix up my house for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas within a three month time period. We put up the Christmas tree in November and it stays up until January. That is about it! There is one thing that I do when Fall rolls around. It is my guilty pleasure!

I take all my candle holders, arrange them on my dining room table, and burn Tahitian Vanilla pillar candles. I turn off all the lights and let this glow be the only light in the house. The thick vanilla aroma makes me feel cozy and warm and completely ready for Fall!!

Sock Monkey Shower

When I was pregnant with Ava, there were five other women at church who were pregnant at the same time: Jennifer, Rachel, Terri, Carla, and Katie. Jennifer, Rachel, Terri, and I were all due within six weeks of each other. Carla was due in April and Katie was due in June. I jokingly referred to this group of women as the Pregs. We had a cute picture taken of all of us (minus Katie because she was not telling anyone that she was pregnant) with our pregnant bellies. One of these days, we will get a new picture with all of us and our babies.

From left: Terri (baby Jillian), Carla (baby Sam), Me (baby Ava), Rachel (baby Anna Caroline), and Jennifer (baby Brody)

We all went on to have safe deliveries and all our babies are doing well. A few weeks after Anna Caroline was born, Rachel had the shock of a lifetime! She was pregnant again!! Basically, the day she went back to work, she asked off for another maternity leave! Anna Caroline and Stanley Clark Jr. (they will call him Tripp) will be 11 months apart! We are so happy for this growing family!

To celebrate this occasion, several of the ladies from church hosted a shower at my house in honor of Rachel and Baby Tripp. Tripp's nursery is painted gray with yellow and orange details, but we decided that the theme for the shower would be sock monkeys! We didn't want to go overboard because sock monkeys can look a little scary and there were going to be children at the shower. So, we opted for a red, cream, and brown color scheme with a few sock monkey details like invitations, cupcake toppers, and a diaper cake. Since Rachel LOVES chocolate, we had a chocoholic buffet. We also tried to keep the foods within the color scheme. It turned out really cute! It was a great day!

This was my first attempt at a diaper cake. I watched an online tutorial on how to make one and it was so simple! There are some things I will change the next time I make one: I will not buy silk ribbon, I will buy clear rubber bands, I will make the bow on top larger, and I will buy a sturdier base. But, I do think this turned out really neat for my first try!

 I bought this little guy off ebay for about $2. He was too cute to pass up and was the perfect size for this diaper cake. He was also the least scary looking sock monkey I could find! :)

 The table decor ended up looking really nice. Carla made a raspberry punch, Terri bought the chocolate cupcakes, and Peyton made the little cupcake toppers.

 Rachel and her oldest daughter, Gabrielle, opened a present together. Rachel's sister Reagan helped dispose of the bows and wrapping paper. She got so much stuff for her little boy!!

 These were just the gifts at the beginning of the shower. Several more people came as the party went on, and the gifts continued to pile up!

Littlest Big Sister: Anna Caroline! She didn't really want much to do with the shower. Instead, she played in Ava's room. I would say she had just as good of a time as her big sister and her mommy!