16 Weeks Pregnant!

Christmas Day was the 16 week mark for me. I am a week late posting this, but life has been super busy! Tomorrow, I will be 17 weeks pregnant! The time is flying by so quickly!

Here is what's going on:

• Baby Pate is about 4.5 inches long (head to rump)
• He/She weighs about 3.5 oz
• He/She is about the size of an avocado
• The heart is pumping about 25 quarts of blood a day
• Toenails are growing
• Bones in the ears are in place, so more than likely, this little one can hear my voice
• Eyelids are still closed, but eyes can move side to side and perceive light

I still have not felt any movement. This does worry me a little bit because I was expecting to feel movement a lot sooner than my pregnancy with Ava. But, I have felt really good and my next appointment is on Tuesday, January 3rd. I will just pray that all is well!

Ava's 1 Year Photo Shoot With Terri Lane Photography

Terri Lane Robertson is a good friend from church and an amazing photographer! She did Ava's 1 year session and smash cake session. Jeremy and I bought the rights to these photos, so I am not breaking any laws by posting them to my blog. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Ringing In The New Year

When 2012 rolls in, we will be snug in our beds. We are boring old folks now :) We did get to have dinner with friends tonight, though. We visited Kim and Wesley Burkhalter and two of their boys: Wyatt and Beau. Peyton and Marty James and their two children: Lily Grace and Cooper, were there as well. We had a great time spending time with our friends!

On Top Of Dad's Shoulders...

Friday night, we went to Midtown Village on a family date. We ate at The Longhorn Steakhouse with our Darden gift card that we received for Christmas. Steak and Lobster never tasted so good! It was almost an hour wait, so to waste time, we walked around Midtown Village. Ava had a great time riding on Daddy's shoulders! It took several times to get a good shot, but here you go:

Bloopers:

A Gift From Grannie Verannie

When Jeremy and I lived in Texas, the church secretary, Veran, was like a second mother to both of us. She always made sure Jeremy had everything he needed to perform his job properly and on more than one occasion, I would drop by the office and sit on the floor with my legs propped in her lap while she pinned my too-long-pants to a decent length. I don't know what we would have done without her! 

She always makes sure to send a gift to Ava for Valentine's Day, Birthday, and Christmas. This year, we received her package in the mail and opened it on the kitchen floor. Ava loved pulling the tissue paper from the box! Veran got Ava a purple velour jogging suit and a cute little purple polka dotted outfit from Carter's. Ava has already worn both outfits, and I must say she looks pretty snazzy! We love and appreciate Veran and her husband Terry for always thinking of us!

Bant B (otherwise known as Aunt Berrie) :)

I found this picture of Jeremy's sister, Berrie, when we were in Tennessee. Even though I think that Ava favors me when I was little, she certainly looks a lot like her aunt! 

See what you think:

Aunt Berrie

Ava @ 6 months

To Granny's House We Go...

When we were in Tennessee, Jeremy and I took Ava to visit Granny. Granny is Jeremy's grandmother, so that makes her Ava's great-grandmother. Ava had a great time in Granny's playroom!

 Granny helped Ava learn how to play with a stackable toy. Ava refused, thinking that she knew best. :) Ava now has the blinking head from this stackable toy, but no torso and no legs and feet. That's okay. She seems perfectly content with the blinking head.

 The blinking head.

Jeremy showed Ava a light spinner. She LOVED it! 

We had such a great time getting to spend time with Granny!

Christmas With The Pate's

My parents left our house on Thursday, December 22nd, to go back to Texas. The very next day, Jeremy and I loaded Ava and D'Atra into our car to head to Tennessee for a few days. D'Atra is our "adopted" daughter who is away at Troy University right now. During holidays, she will usually spend some time with us or the Box family (her "grandparents") :) We were able to stay in Tennessee from Friday to Monday. It was a short trip, but we had to get home so that Jeremy could take the Youth Group to Exposure Youth Camp in Huntsville, on Tuesday. It has been an extremely busy Christmas season, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

 I fed Ava right before we opened gifts. I wanted her to be all set because there was a lot to open!

 She is looking at her food before I put it in her mouth.

 My mother-in-law always cooks a delicious Christmas meal and sets the table really nice. The table settings were so pretty that I had to take a few pictures!

 Norman Rockwell plates

 Beautiful Poinsettias!

 My favorite! This ornament is one that Jeremy designed when he was 11 years old. It is Michael Jackson :)

 The beautiful Christmas tree!

 All the gifts!

 Ava opening a gift and showing her cousin, Chris.

 D'Atra looks on as Ava opens a gift from Berrie, Ty, and Chris: a cross to hang in her bedroom :)

 Aunt Berrie, Uncle Ty, and Chris bought Ava a cross and a Baby Bible. Ava loves looking at her bible!

Ava had a great time with Nana, Poppy, Berrie, Ty, Chris, D'Atra, Mommy and Daddy!

Christmas With The Watkins

My mom is a 3rd grade teacher in Texas, which means that when she gets a holiday break, it is usually a lengthy one!! Our family was blessed to have my mom, dad, and brother come to visit us for a week. My mom got out  of school at 11:15 on December 16th, and by 2 pm, my family was on their way to Alabama. Jeremy, Ava, and I really enjoyed getting to visit with them while they were here! Since they would not be here on Christmas day, we decided to open gifts and celebrate the holiday with them on Tuesday, December 20th. We had a great time opening gifts and EATING! I feel like all we did was eat!

Here are some photos of our Christmas celebration with them:

 We decided to put Ava in her bouncer until we were all finished opening our gifts. It kept her out of the way, but also allowed her to see what was going on. We waited until all the adults and my brother had opened gifts and then let Ava open all of hers. It worked out really well :)

 Brendon giving Ava her stocking

 A sock monkey!

 A Rapunzel piggy bank from Mommy and Daddy. This is what she will use to save up for all those Disney trips!

 New bath literacy tiles! Woo-Hoo! You can tell that this is a Mommy gift!

 Straight into her mouth! Well, at least she knows they need to be wet!

 That is about right. Our child opened hundreds of dollars worth of gifts and she is more content sitting on Brendon's nerf gun box playing with Daddy's breath mint container!

 Ava's wrapping paper

 Some of the loot

 Ava's new cube activity center

 Books from Gigi

 A cute sparkly outfit!

 Aww! Too cute! Ava's Christmas tree outfit.

 My grandparents (Nana and Pop) gave this to Ava for Christmas! We can't wait for her to wear it!

 Jeremy bought me The Hunger Games trilogy for Christmas. I read all three books in three consecutive days. I can't wait to see the movie in March 2012!

 My mom bought me two Scentsy wax burners. I love this one because it matches my kitchen! She also bought me two scents: Camu Camu, and Kalika Hula. I cannot pick which one is my favorite!

 This is the second Scentsy warmer! I love them both!

 A gag gift from my silly husband!

 Another gift from my husband. He calls this my "horcrux" necklace! I love it, though!

Jeremy always buys me some kind of expensive shampoo and conditioner for Christmas and my birthday. I am all set on hair products for the next several months! :)

Last Christmas was wonderful because it was quiet and it was Ava's first. But, this year was amazing!! She had such a great time opening gifts! Jeremy and I really loved seeing her face when she would open a present. She was more intent on tearing the paper than receiving the actual gift, but it was fun all the same! I can't wait until next Christmas!