Can you feel the Love?

Look how precious my babies are holding hands and snuggling together. It makes me happy to see the bond they are creating together even at this young of an age.

14 Months!

Ava turned 14 months old on Thursday, Nov 20th. I sometimes still cannot believe that I have a daughter and that she is already one and walking and in full toddler mode. It was yesterday that it was just the three of us. Time flies. What a blessing sweet Ava is to our family. She is not all made up in this picture due to the fact that it was hurriedly taken between a birthday party and bunko- which by the way-Amanda-if you are reading from work- thanks for letting me sub- I had a great time playing and catching up with all my girlies.
Ava is walking so much faster now- almost running at times if Noah is on the chase
Ava says all kinds of new words:
juice (her favorite word & the one I hear the most as she refers to anything in a sippy cup even if it is milk as juice)
eye (and she can point to it on your face)
quack, quack
sadie
jetta (my parent's dog- yes she said the dog's name before she said Mimi or Grandpa)
I know there are more words I am leaving out- I'll have to think about it and edit this post later
Ava is still so very sweet- she loves to bury her head in her blankie and snuggle.
She LOVES her Daddy as evidenced by all the dada's I hear and her excitement to see him when he walks through the door after work or after waking him up
She likes to rock her babies and can back up and sit down in a chair all by herself (I don't think Noah did this until he was 18 mos or older)
Ava loves to dance and TWIRL
She likes to brush her teeth
She LOVES Noah and it is so much fun to see them playing together. It makes my heart overflow. She likes the toys in his room a lot.
We are SO BLESSED by our happy and healthy children and the tremendous joy they bring to our lives.
I know some of you may not be interested in all these little things.... I am just trying to record it today so we can remember it tomorrow.

Need a Lift?

Here's Noah giving Ava a ride around the cul-de-sac in his hand-me-down jeep. Yes Ava is holding floaties- she found them in the garage and screamed if we tried to take them away. Noah was a pretty good driver with his lil sis in tow- except for the lightening fast switches from drive to reverse which seem to cause a little whiplash...but Ava didn't seem to mind.

Playing with Grandpa

My parents came up last weekend for a quick visit. We picked up Noah from school on Friday and went straight to Hamil's for lunch where we met my brother and his friend Garrett. Hamil's must have been the place to be because it was absolutely packed! We even saw the tall blond news guy (I can't remember what channel) there. Ava steadily shoved lima beans and macaroni in her mouth and most everything else too. We had a great meal and a great visit and can't wait to head down to the coast this week for Thanksgiving.

What's for Dinner?

Any idea what is wrapped up in that tortilla? You'll never guess so I'll just tell you- Ritz crackers! We must have been having Mexican for dinner which Noah doesn't eat so he decided to munch on a plain tortilla. Halfway through, he decided to spice it up a little with Ritz crackers wrapped inside. Thought it was so funny & strange that I had to document the moment.

New Pictures

It was time for Ava's 12 month pictures & Noah's 3 year old pictures, so we had them taken last weekend. If you recall it was absolutely FREEZING that day! And on top of that, Noah did NOT cooperate at all- in fact he got a spanking right in the middle of our session(not too hard because I didn't want him to cry!). And believe me we had tried all the bribes in the book! I usually don't bribe too much but I really wanted some good pictures taken so I told Noah he could go pick out any candy he wanted if he was good and did what he was told. Skittles are his favorite so I was sure that would work. My mom was there to help me change the kids clothes- thank goodness- and she stepped in and told Noah that he better straighten up or she would spank and we all know Grandmas (or Mimi in this case) don't spank. Her reprimand definitely went further than mine but I still am not super happy with the pictures of Noah. I am disappointed since the last pictures we had made of him were in May 2007- that's a year and half ago- I was pregnant with Ava at the time- and he looks SO different now and has gotten so tall. ANYWAY. What can you do? Click here if you want to see the pictures and just for fun let me know what your favorites are.

Fall Fun at the Park

Well it seems like I have taken a bloggy break! Not on purpose really- just not much to report. Ava & I have been doing a lot of Christmas shopping while Noah is at school and Nathan's been busy with work. Last weekend Nathan's brother Jason was in town and we took the kids to the park for fun. This is my first time to post a video. I hope it works!

Another Gatti Town Adventure

Friday we met some friends at Gatti Town for lunch. We sat the kids in front of the huge TV while we ate and actually got to enjoy some adult conversation! The kids had a blast as always and we very tired when we got home. Don't Laura Claire & Ava look happy waiting in the strollers? :)

I'm a Big Girl Now!

Well I finally did it. I finally bought Noah a new car seat meaning Ava finally moved out of the infant car seat to a big girl seat (aka Noah's hand-me-down seat)! These are pictures from Ava's last ride in the infant car seat and her first ride in the convertible seat. Yes she can "legally" face forward now but it is SO MUCH safer to keep her rear facing, so we will do that for awhile. In case you were wondering, I bought Noah a Britax Frontier- it is relatively new on the market. With the Frontier, he can remain in a 5 point harness up to 80 pounds and then it converts to a belt positioning booster. I ordered it from http://www.elitecarseats.com and the main reason was that they had a $1 shipping insurance meaning if you didn't like the car seat you could ship it back for only $1! I had my reservations on the Frontier based on some reviews I read but after installing it and having Noah ride in it for about 4 or 5 days I really do like it. He has plenty of room to grow which was my main concern. Anyway, I don't know that Ava is really loving the bigger seat like I thought she would but maybe she'll change her mind soon!

Squeaky Clean!

My babies fresh from the bath! You can't tell but they both have whale towels on. Don't you like how Noah is checking himself out in the mirror? :)

Please...

Let's Pray

Please pass this prayer on right now on behalf of John McCain. Please start prayer chains immediately for the election. This election can be turned around for the glory of God if we will stop worrying and get on our knees !!! How many people can you pass this on to ??? Let us pray.

Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to You right now asking for a miracle in this election. Lord, we lift up to You right now Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin. Lord, we ask that You would just wrap Your arms around them and their families at this critical time. Father, we ask for miracle upon miracle in this election. We know that only You can turn the tide of evil in this election. Father, as we await the final days of the election, we ask in complete faith that You would allow the truth to be known across this land.

Lord, we ask for forgiveness for putting You last...Father, please heal our land and homes, allow us to have another chance to love You the way you should be loved. Lord, we ask specifically for John and Sarah's health, wisdom, words, actions and their campaign staff. Lord, we lift them all up to You now. Father, we also specifically ask for the voters in many states who are battleground states. Lord, please convict the hearts of voters in Florida, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, North Dakota, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado .

Father we beg for every electoral vote. Lord, we lift all of our needs up to You now. In the name of Jesus we claim victory in Your name. Lord, we pray for Your will to be done in a mighty way...we know that this election can and will glorify You! Father, place the man you would have to lead our country in a Christian way on November 4. We love You, Lord. We await Your holy miracles...

In Jesus' Name we pray, Amen

Fall Festival

Friday Night we went to Colonial Heights with our neighbors to attend their fall festival. We went last year and Noah had such a great time that he talked about it for months- literally- so we knew we had to go again this year. Noah rode a motorcycle, ate a blue snow cone & cotton candy, jumped in the space jump & slid down the big inflatable slide. We also took a hayride through the woods where they had cute little harvest scenes set up. The four of us were together and it was really fun since it was dark and cold. Then this afternoon while Ava was sleeping, I let Noah paint his pumpkin that he picked at the Pumpkin Patch. He really had a good time and was very proud of the finished product! The kids have had so much activity this past week- I hope they aren't bored that I have no plans this week!