A Funny Photo...

Ava thought it would be funny to pile shoes on top of Greta, who was resting in her vibrating chair. ;) Two little girls are so much fun!

Mommy's Baby!!!

I had to blog this little moment so that I don't forget! It was funny but semi-sad at the same time! Last night, Jeremy was holding Greta while I finished dinner. Ava held up her hands like she wanted Jeremy to pick her up. Jeremy said, "Ava, I'm feeding Greta, hold on." Ava shook her head "no" and said, "Mommy's baby!" at Greta. Jeremy and I looked at each other and laughed! Ava came over to me and patted my leg and said, "Mommy! Baby!" and pointed to Greta. She thinks that Greta is my baby and not Jeremy's. I probably put too much thought into this, but it kind of hurt my feelings because I don't want Ava thinking that Greta is ONLY my baby and that she is ONLY Jeremy's baby. So, I have made a conscious effort today to treat Ava like she is also my baby. I guess I have been trying so hard to make sure that Ava is adjusting to being a big sister that I have forgotten to just treat her like the baby that she still is. Lesson learned... :)

Good-Bye Grossy!

Today, Ava said good-bye to a great friend. After her nap today, Ava walked Grossy to the trashcan and threw her in. Tonight is going to be so hard, but we had to do it. It was getting to the point that Grossy was leaving a really bad rash on Ava's face almost every night. We tried washing Grossy in every imaginable concoction, but to no avail. Last night, Ava started crying about an hour after she was laid down. I went in to check her and had to completely change her clothes. She is teething and slobbered all over Grossy while she was sucking on it. In turn, Grossy stayed saturated and got Ava's clothes all wet. I have tried to break her Grossy habit for a while. I have cut off Grossy's tail, ears, nobs (giraffe nobs on her head) and mane. The poor animal is pretty unrecognizable now! 

Here is a picture of what Grossy looked like when we got her:

Anyway, I really wanted to keep Grossy as a keepsake for Ava to have one day, but I can't. Grossy is in far too bad condition to keep. I am really afraid that she has been so nasty that even washing her would not kill all the bacteria on her (imagine what it has done to Ava's teeth! Yuck!) I would hate to unpack Grossy 18 years from now and find black mold on her and all the other keepsakes that are packed away with her. So...in the trash she went! We will keep Grossy's memory alive in this blog. Ava will not have this sweet giraffe to pass on to her children, but she will have the memory. It is a sad day. :(

Sissy Stories: The Offering Plate

I have been thinking the past few weeks that I need to start teaching Ava that she is expected to put something monetary into the offering plate when it comes her way. Even though she is a year and a half, I think we need to begin training her to do things like this. Hopefully, if she has always done it, she won't stop when she is older and begins to make her own money. Plus, I want to teach her how to give back. We are not rich folks, but we sure have been blessed with a lot. She needs to learn that we give back to God...after all, it all belongs to him, right?

I hated to begin this today because Jeremy was out of town, but I had to start sometime. Since Greta's arrival, one of our elders and his wife (John and Sherry Barrow) have begun to sit with us and help us out. Since Jeremy is the song leader, there is a period of about 20 minutes where I do not have his help. John and Sherry have been a tremendous help to me during that time! I really needed them today since I would be parenting alone for the whole service. I passed down a quarter to Sherry, who was holding Ava, and asked her to make sure that Ava put it into the plate. When the time came, I leaned over and whispered, "Ava, put it into the plate." She dropped the quarter into the plate with no hesitation! Yay! I don't know if it would have gone so well if we had asked her to put a goldfish into the plate! She loves her "shish." :) I hope it is always that easy for her to give back.

Anyway, this made me think of my sister, Brittany, when she was younger. My mom would always give us money to put into the offering plate at church. One time, when my mom was not looking, Brittany kept the dollar that my mom gave her and slipped a couple of dimes into the plate instead. When we got into the car to go home, Brittany had the dollar out. My mom asked her where she got it. Brittany, without any embarrassment or regret, explained that she wanted to keep the dollar and put dimes into the plate instead. She wanted a new Barbie doll. I can't believe I remember that! I also remember being so mad! Not because she didn't put the money into the plate, but because I wanted a new Barbie too! Why didn't I think of saving my offering plate money and offering dimes instead? :) ha! My little child brain!

All of this really did not have a point, it was just a memory that I wanted to share. It's funny how life experiences trigger memories of a different time in my life. Plus, I really like to share funny stories about Aunt "Beet." I know Ava will love to hear about this one day!

WOW!!

Parked next to us at Logan's Roadhouse:

A Visit With Granny

Granny is now in an assisted living facility. We went by to visit her twice during our stay. I didn't bring my camera with me the first time we were there, and the second time we visited, Granny was still in her nightgown. So, I didn't take any pictures of her. Maybe on our next visit :) But, Ava sure did a have a good time using Granny's walker!

Joy Ride With Bant B

We got to visit with Bant B, Uncle Ty, and Cousin Chris while in Tennessee. While Greta took a nap, Bant B, Jeremy, Ava and I all took a joy ride on the golf cart. Berrie, Ty, and Chris all live out in the country near horses, ponies, goats, and cows. Ava enjoyed getting to take a ride and help "drive." :)

Sam & Greta

While at Roy and Linda Jo's house, I came across this picture of Sam. It struck me how much he and Greta favor! The picture on the bottom is Greta. Greta definitely takes after the Pate side of the family! :) Their hairline is similar and their eyes are very much alike. I love seeing the family resemblance!

Playing At Nana & Poppy's House

Here are some photos of Ava playing while on our trip:

We arrived at their house at about 9:00pm. It was right in time for Greta's last feeding of the night. Nana took Greta and fed her while Jeremy and I got all of our stuff in from the car. Poppy took Ava upstairs to play with dolls and the kitchen set. She had a great time playing with her poppy!

On Tuesday, Hadleigh and Sam came over to play. Hadleigh and Ava had such a good time playing on the side porch. Hadleigh pushed Ava around in the stroller while Ava waved and American flag back and forth. It was pretty cute!

Cracker Barrel in Cullman, Al

On Sunday afternoon, we packed up our car and headed out to Columbia, to visit Nana and Poppy. Of course, we had to stop at Cracker Barrel. My deal with Jeremy was that if we stopped at Cracker Barrel, we had to visit the Parthenon in Nashville. Did we visit the Parthenon? Nope. He owes me big time. For those of you who don't know me well, I don't like eating at Cracker Barrel.

I made the best of it, though! Ava had a great time pulling all the pegs out of the little wooden game. At one point, she had a death grip on them and would not give them to Jeremy :) Greta was hungry and cried almost the whole time. There was too much commotion and she could not concentrate on eating. I finally had to take her to one of the rocking chairs on the front porch and feed her. She is definitely her mother's child! I am not one for loud restaurants either.

One of the things that was remarkable about this trip to Cracker Barrel was the people. We sat down at our table and the family directly across from us kept staring. Finally, the mom leaned over and said, "You have such a beautiful family. Your girls are beautiful." I thanked her and smiled. When I took Greta outside to feed her, at least three more couples stopped to tell me how precious she was. One woman told me that she had a grand-daughter who was the same age as Greta. She stood and talked to me until her husband walked out of the restaurant. I don't know if Cracker Barrel attracts laid back people, or if Cullman is just a really nice place, but it was a neat experience. :)

I couldn't resist taking pictures of these gorgeous blooms...hibiscus, I think...