It's A White Winter Day!

Well, I just looked and my last post was Thanksgiving....so now I'm writing to say Merry Christmas! It really was Christmas at our house....we decided to have Santa come early to our house because we will be traveling for the next week or so. It was so so much fun this morning watching Ava and Cooper's eyes light up as they came downstairs this morning in their matching pj's! Oh to be a kid again:) We don't have our pictures loaded yet so I'll have to post them later. To top it off we looked out the window to see the ground and trees covered in snow!

A few funny moments.....after the kids came in and saw all the presents under the tree, Cooper bee lined it into the kitchen and stood at the refrigerator screaming because he wanted breakfast! We were trying to get him to open his stocking before breakfast...but boy, did he throw a fit! With him, food always seems to come first:)

Another funny thing.... we were having lunch and I asked Ava what was her favorite thing she opened and to my surprise she said, "my Dora panties!" Are you kidding me??? What about your cute dollhouse??? Oh well...so glad she enjoys the small things too:) We have had a delighful day so far and are looking forward to celebrating Ava's 3rd birthday in a few days as well as Christmas with our families!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We tried a new thing this month....below is our Give Thanks Tree:) Each night we passed out cut out leaves and wrote down what we were thankful for. It was such a fun time especially to hear from Ava. Well, as for Coop....we just guessed what he might say:) I loved seeing him each time though get so excited to get his leaf and then of course came throwing a fit when he had to put it up on the tree! It was super refreshing for me and for us as a family just to take time out to do this!

A new thing this year was us going away for Thanksgiving! We went with my parents down to Tennessee for the week. We took day trips to Nashville and to Gatlinburg. It was great to get away and enjoy being together. The funny thing is that I think the favorite thing for the kids was riding on the luggage cart:) No need for Disney World here in this family:)

The days we took trips to Nashville and Gatlinburg were long days for the kids with no naps! At one point Cooper could stand it no more...this is a picture of him laying on the floor throwing a fit after getting off of a train ride and wanting to ride again:) I am so thankful for time with family this week....even with the melt down's and temper tantrums!

October is already gone!!

Can you believe that November is here? I can't! I love the month of October because there are so many fun things to do especially if the weather cooperates! Our family headed off about a month ago to pick our pumpkins from the patch at our local Young's Dairy Farm. I really wanted to do something with Ava to them but...carving with a 2 year old??? Not me! So, we got out the glue, buttons, googly eyes, bendy stick thingys and ribbon and went to town! Ava had lots of fun and really still wants to decorate Mommy and Daddy's pumpkin too!!

Another thing I love about October....all the leaves! I know Matt may disagree when we look out our windows and all we see are leaves which requires hours and hours of raking but they are beautiful! We have loved some of the weather lately and I am trying to still get the kids out each afternoon to play because I know all too soon the gray clouds and snow will roll in! Ava has loved kicking in the leaves! I'm not sure what she'll do when Matt rakes them all away:)

Who is this princess that badly needs a haircut??? That is Snow White for those of you who aren't up on the Disney movies! We went back to Batesville over the weekend. My mom's side of the family all got together for dinner and fun. So for halloween we just took the kids to several of our relatives houses. I really didn't think Ava would get into saying 'trick or treat' at the door but she did. Last year she wouldn't even take a piece of candy from anyone...times are changing! The more you have M&M's the more you want them:)

Cooper was the cutest little monkey I've ever seen! He LOVED this costume! I thought for sure he'd throw a fit and want it off right away...but to my surprise...he strutted his stuff and cheesed it up! Well....on to November! We are excited to see what fun adventures await us this month!

What a Great Fall Day!

It is an absolute beautiful fall day here! The sun is out....finally:) We got back from Bloomington Illinois almost a week ago. We had a great visit with Matt's family! Unfortunately, I caught Ava's viral infection and laid on the couch for 2 days! The last time Matt's family other than his mom and dad were able to see Cooper was when he was 4 months old! And he wasn't at his finest then...lots and lots of crying! Matt and Ava went back last spring but I stayed back with Cooper because he was really sick. So it was a much needed visit. Here is a picture of him with Gigi and Grandpa...so cute!

Matt also had his 20th high school reunion! I think he would say he is glad he went even though it wasn't ideal. The best part was being able to catch up with a few friends that we hadn't seen in awhile. It was fun seeing Matt laugh and reminisce with them about the good ole days:)

Matt was sad that he didn't get to watch a Bears game on Sunday with his dad because they weren't playing but they still seemed to have some football fun. If you can't tell from the picture, yes, that is a Bear on Matt's head!

123 Imagine with Elmo!

Ava has loved watching Sesame Street for a while now. When I heard that Elmo was coming to Dayton, I decided to check it out. I actually took Ava about a month ago over to get the tickets at the box office and she really thought we were going to see Elmo then! So...it's been a long time waiting but Ava finally got to see him and the whole gang! She was so excited that night! She couldn't wait to get to our seats and get the show going! Unfortunately she was just coming off of being sick for several days and towards the end of the show she was not feeling good again. As we were leaving, she wanted to know if she could come back the next day to see Elmo again:) Matt seemed to enjoy the show as well...his comment was this is so much better than Barney!!! It really is such a joy to see our kids be delighted. Of course, we got sucked in and bought an elmo light up toy that is now deep in our toybox somewhere! At intermission they were selling Elmo balloons and Ava wanted one. Matt and Ava walked down to get one...I was thinking $1 maybe $2....nope $10!!! I could not believe it. So an early lesson for Ava that we can't always have what we want but she was fine with it.

No More Cast!

Just a quick update...Cooper got his cast off on Thursday! The doc said it looks good. You can still slightly see the fracture on the x-ray but that is normal. Of course Coop screamed his head off getting it cut off because of the noise of the saw...but as soon as it was off he wanted down and had a huge smile on his face as he looked at his leg:) No walking yet, but I think it'll be very soon. Thanks for praying for him and for his leg to heal!

So....no more cast, no more double ear infection, no more roseola.....ahhhh! It feels good! I know there will be more sickness/injury ahead but I am just enjoying the moment!

My Favorite Time of the Year!

I love the fall! It really is my favorite time of the year! Who doesn't love the weather, the leaves, and all the fun things to do outside! Saturday Ava and Matt went to the parade here in Xenia! It really is a great parade because it is long! The bummer was that Coop and I had to miss it because yet again, we were in the doctors office! He had a rash all over and they were afraid it could've been some kind of reaction to his antibiotic. Ended up being roseola...which is a viral thing after having a fever. We are definitely ready to be done with this streak of sickness/injury!

That afternoon after naps we went to Young's Dairy to pick pumpkins! Another thing I love about this time of year. The kids loved riding in the little green wagon much more than picking out pumpkins:) Coop as you may see from the pics really wasn't into taking photos...he just wanted down!! That really is all he wants these days...let me loose!

It's a Bad Hair Day!

Have you ever had a really really bad hair day? I'm sure we can all relate on that one. Matt had Ava in the kitchen getting breakfast and just had to take some pictures:) My guess is we all have really bad hair straight out of bed...but my kids do for sure! Take a look...

You may not be able to see Coop's bad hair as clearly in this pic...but let's just say he looks like he just might fly away:) Of course part of this is due to my lack in getting him another haircut! Who wants to pay $12 bucks for a 1 year olds haircut? Some say...just trim it yourself! No way! Not the way he wiggles around! I don't trust my skill or lack thereof rather!

Speaking of hair...we were at a fun festival last weekend and just couldn't resist buying this oh so cute headband Ava is wearing! It is adorable...but guess what? She wears it for about 15 minutes and then rips it out saying, "it's too itchy mom!" And I go on to say, "Oh but Ava it's so cute in your hair!" trying to persuade her to leave it in. Nope..."it's still too itchy, mom!" Guess a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

For those of you reading this that are not so much into hair and headbands....how about the NFL?? Matt just couldn't resist buying Coop this Bears outfit! Matt stayed home this morning with Coop for a few hours and took some pics in his new gear! So cute! Apparently this will be his Sunday afternoon attire for the next few months! Go Bears!

Lots of Firsts Around Here!

We've had lots of fun around here lately! Cooper turned one on August 27th one day after Matt turned .... well, you take a guess:) We had a wonderful time celebrating! Matt's parents drove down to my parents place in Indiana for the weekend so we could celebrate together! Coop wasn't too sure at first about his cake but eventually dug in with two hands:) It's so hard to believe a year has gone by! I always seem to think the first 4 months seem soooo long and then after that it flies.


Another first...Ava is taking a gymnastics class at our local YMCA. Her friend Lily is also taking it which is nice for Ava because she tends to be a little timid in new situations and she and Lily just have fun together. I asked her what she liked the best about her time and she said acting like a fish. They did act like fish to do their 'stretching' before the trampoline and the somersaults:)

A 'first' we weren't really looking forward to.... Coop broke his leg:( So sad! He has a spiral fracture about 2 inches long where his shin is. We were at the indoor playland area at our mall and he was scooting off a 10 inch platform and his right leg just twisted behind his left. I wasn't even thinking at first anything was wrong because he stopped crying very quickly and did fine the rest of the time in the stroller. Once we were home, I noticed he wouldn't put weight on his right foot and would just cry...so off to the doc, x-rays and then because it was the weekend to the Children's ER to get a blue cast. He is doing fine just frustrated that he can't get around like he is used to. The doc says probably 3-4 weeks until the cast comes off.

Funny Faces

Ava has a game called Silly Faces that she calls Funny Faces. She loves to play it because you can mix and match eyes, noses, hair, etc. on these cardboard faces. Well, it is no longer just a board game at our house....it is our family! We've had lots of fun lately with the camera and just being plain silly. As you'll see, we had some glasses that helped in our silliness!

On the not so silly side of things, Matt and I got to go to the ATP Tennis Tournament last week! A friend was able to get us free tickets! I am the first to admit that I am not an athlete! But tennis is the one sport that Matt and I really do enjoy playing together and watching together, so this was a treat! We were able to see Nadal and Roddick who are in the top 4 of the world players. I love that God loves to give in sweet ways like this!

A Surprise Getaway!

Last Sunday, Matt wisked me away for a little getaway! It was 7 years ago that he proposed to me! He decided to take me back to the special spots at Put in Bay, Ohio where he first told me he loved me and where he asked me to marry him! We left the kids with mamaw and papaw and headed to the island! It was so much fun to be there and reminsce of all God had done in our relationship! We realized we didn't really get any pictures of the night he proposed and where we had breakfast the next morning before leaving so we got lots of pics this time:) Here is the Monument on the island where we got engaged.

And this is the restaraunt we had breakfast at the next morning..Pasquale's.

When I was there last the best way to get around was by golf cart...well now they have the scoot:) Matt had a blast driving this thing...he said it was the closeset thing to a sports car he'd ever get to drive! It was a fun way to see the island.


We had a great time and we think the kids had a great vacation away from us too:)

It's Potty Time!!!

That's right....we have a big girl now who sits on the big girl potty!!! Yeah! Let's just say I have never danced so much in all my life on a daily basis than this last week! It really has been so delightful to see Ava's eyes get big and light up as she realizes she is pee-peeing or pooing on the potty! Today was a big day because she even told her Sunday School teacher when she had to go! One question....how do we wean her off of the M&M's and cookies she's been getting as her reward??? Oh, and another question...how do we get her to not scream at the top of her lungs in public at a restaraunt as she comes back to the table to tell Daddy, "I went pee-pee Daddy!!!"?

It's been a fun few weeks as Ava is realizing she can do more than what she used to do...like putting her shoes on and off by herself (some of them anyway), open the back door by herself, get in and out of her carseat by herself.....it is a ball seeing her change and seeing her excitement with each new thing!

Coop's First Haircut!

Well, it's been awhile coming but we finally got Cooper's haircut! Let's just say it was getting hard to see his ears and Ava's hairbows weren't gonna look so good on him:) Here is the before pic!

He wasn't so sure of this strange woman taking a comb to his hair let alone scissors! He didn't really cry, just whimpered. He was a wiggle worm of course and this lady did a great job! I know I couldn't have done it without poking out an eye!

Look at that cute face! He was oh so glad to be done with that! He looks so much older now for some reason! The lady cutting his hair even took the electric shears to his neck in the back...I wasn't so sure at first, but he did fine! What a cutie pie!

Summer Fun!

It's been a while since I've written! Oh where does the time go? We have had a busy summer with the X-Project but have managed to get away here and there as well! I recently had a fun overnighter with some very dear girl friends! We met up in Indy for the night....ate, talked, ate, talked and talked some more:) I loved it! The only bummer....well, two things....I didn't get a picture of us all and the time was way too short! So we decided to do it again in October!

Nana and Papa came for a visit a few weeks ago! We spent a few hours at the Dayton Children's Discovery Gardens! What a great place for kids...lots of water to run through, sand to play in and flowers to water! Ava is keeping her feet cool here as she puts them in some water....notice no pants:) She protested on putting her bathing suit on....and she fell and got a boo-boo so she didn't want blood on her shorts! Thankfully, Papa came to the rescue with a band-aid in his car!

What's summer fun without bubbles...i think this is such a cute picture of Ava catching the bubbles! She and Nana had lots of fun on the front porch!

We also went down to Batesville for a day to watch my nephew, Eric, in his last baseball game for the summer. It was fun to see him pitch! We then all went back to Mamaw and Papaw's where Ava got to play on her new swingset and this fun swing that Uncle Tim brought over for the kids! They loved it....Ava loved pushing and Coop loved riding:)

Hopefully I will post some new pics of more summer fun soon...we just went to the Columbus Zoo and had a great day!