A Rare Treat

Yesterday Noah went to Pump It Up for his friend Alex's birthday party. For those of you who don't know, Pump It Up is rooms full of inflatable jumps or as Noah calls them "jumping stings". Anyway, when we got home I put Ava down for a nap and settled Noah in for a little quiet time on the couch with a blanket, chocolate milk, and a movie and went in to the computer. Five minutes later I emerge to find Noah sound asleep on the couch! Hallelujah! Since he doesn't nap anymore this really is a special treat. I grabbed my book as fast as I could and read until I fell asleep for a nap of my own. What a nice surprise....

Why I Love Navarre Beach

We just returned from Beach Trip #2. Mimi, Grandpa, and John joined us on this quick trip to Navarre. We chose Navarre for its wonderful playground and water park that Noah absolutely loves. He actually fell asleep in my lap at the dinner table one night from having so much fun. Ava got in the ocean for the first time and she seemed to like it okay. Noah did get stung by a jellyfish once so the kids didn't spend too much time in the water. Noah, Nathan, & Uncle John all got buried in the sand at least once and we took several shell walks. I wanted to get more pictures of the kids dressed up but the weather didn't cooperate. We had a great time- hopefully we can fit one more beach trip in before the summer ends...

Latest Happenings....

Well I don't know if you can tell good from this picture but Ava's hair is pulled back with a rubber band. It was our very first day to make it all day long without Ava pulling it down. My friend Tami gave me the ponytail holders to try. Her hair is so long it was always in her eyes and nose. And those are NOT bangs - just new baby hair that is growing in .

These are out of order but I am still trying to figure all this stuff out.
Anyway, this is Noah & Ava's first wagon ride together.

Ava finally figured out that she could "crawl" out of her room and she seems pretty excited about it! Although the picture is deceiving, she really moves around on her belly pulling with her arms and pushing with her toes. She can crawl a little but I am definitely not encouraging any more movement- there is plenty of time for that later!

Ava also just recently learned how to pull up to stand.
This is from right after we got back from vacation.
Most of the time though she just pulls up to her knees.
I am so sad my baby girl is growing up!

I can't remember what we had done this day but obviously Noah was exhausted! He doesn't really take naps anymore and certainly never falls asleep like this.

Noah told me he had to make the mirror "shiny and clean".
I guess it must have been really dirty for all of the soap he is using...

Ava's first wagon ride.
We walked for about 2 blocks and then Ava decided that she didn't really like it anymore so Noah ran and I carried Ava and pulled the wagon back home.

The Creative Mind of my Three Year Old

Just a few quotes from the past couple of days:

" How do jellyfish give us jelly?"

"Can I have some more barking coke?" -referring to Barq's rootbeer

Noah: " I gave Ava a booger present."
Jennifer: "Where is it?"
Noah: "In her mouth."
Eeewwwww!!! So gross.

I am teaching Vacation Bible School at my church this week but Noah calls it "Bible Mentary School"

These are some pictures we took in Mimi's yard.


Noah was sick with a fever so we didn't plan to take any of him but of course since he wasn't wearing anything cute he decided that he wanted to be in the pictures too.

I love summer vacation

Well we just returned from our 2 week vacation in Seagrove Beach, FL. It was truly a relaxing time spent with our family. I'll have to admit though that I had not completely thought through the logistics of bringing a newly mobile 8 month old to the beach. Ava did well sitting in the shade of the beach umbrella on a large blanket as long as she was occupied by a toy or food but that left one of us sitting there with her in the shade. She did manage to nap on the beach but of course they never lasted as long as her normal naps in a quiet cool place. A few times we left her napping back at the house with Pop Pop or Rachael to look after her and that was quite nice. Noah was probably the most entertained he has ever been at the beach just playing at the water's edge or in the sand. The three of us took a walk down the beach in search of shells for Noah but unfortunately the trash we found and picked up far outnumbered the shells! Nathan & I recently watched a show on PBS highlighting the effects of plastic on our environment and we are starting to try to be more aware of what we use (too many individual serving packages) and how we dispose of it. I am in the middle of starting to recycle and have realized that probably 75% of what we usually throw in the trash can be recycled. I am by no means a tree hugger but just feel led to make this change in our lives. Anyway, we had an awesome pool all to ourselves as well that we mostly made use of daily. Ava took her first dip in the pool and seemed to like it pretty well. We even have a skinny dipper on our hands! We had a great time and were very sad to leave. Thanks Nonnie & Pop Pop for a wonderful trip! And thanks Mimi & Grandpa for taking care of Sadie while we were gone!