Beach Vacay Part III

Face Painting! They started out doing these elaborate designs over the whole face but there were so many kids there they finally had to narrow it down- a snake or a heart. Nathan stood in line for probably 15 minutes for this b/c Noah wanted it so bad.


Pretty heart baby

Nonnie & Pop at The Red Bar


Luisa & JJ

Beach Vacay Continued

Lydia- Don't her eyes look beautiful in this pic?


Ava riding the jet ski raft- she actually had the best balance of all the kids

Rosemary Beach had a free kids night that we took advantage of- here's Noah doing the limbo-I think the look on his face is hilarious- like he might not make it under even though he has so much room


Nathan, Nonnie, Noah & Lydia

Seagrove Beach 2009

Well here we go. I've been putting off posting pics of our vacation because I have 660 to choose from, so I'm sure there will be many posts as picasa will only upload 4 at a time. Anyway, the first 2 pics are from our first night there. We had a great trip and it was much easier with Ava this year since she could walk and wasn't trying to crawl in the sand.

Luisa & Jason



Lydia & Noah

have you seen a cuter swimsuit?

What's for Dinner?

So I've been trying some new recipes lately and wanted to share them with you. Pictured above is pan seared salmon from www.kevinandamanda.com . She also has some really cute fonts to download for free. I really liked the salmon cooked this way and Noah even ate it too! I served Uncle Ben's brown & wild rice that you microwave for 90 seconds and the microwaveable broccoli in the steam fresh bag for 5 minutes. The salmon cooks quickly too so you have a healthy dinner really fast! I've also tried her chicken parmesan which was absolutely delicious! It really had a lot more flavor than what I usually cook. I have a few other recipes from her website that I am waiting to try. I've also been making crepes for breakfast lately. Nathan and Noah LOVE them and I get requests 2-3 times a week for them! Sorry no pictures- they get eaten too fast! Do you have any recipes to share? I'd love to try them....

Horn Island

One beautiful summer day before Nathan started work, we took Pop's boat out to Horn Island. Nonnie kept Ava for us. It was SO ROUGH on the way out there even though we left around 7:00 am. I'm glad we made it- there was no one else out there except for us! We had a great time shell collecting with Noah, swinging, and walking to the other side of the island.

Wordless Wednesday

Bye-Bye Stitches

So as you know, Noah got stitches in his chin while we were on vacation. Daddy didn't put them in but he did take them out! I had the awful task of sitting on Noah to keep him still so Nathan could get them out. It was not a fast process, but we got it done. To play up the removal, Mimi helped Noah bake a cake and he got to decorate it. He hasn't talked about us taking them out, so I guess we didn't scar him for life. No pun intended. :) He does have a little scar but it's under his chin so you can't really see it. We've been careful to put sunscreen on it- hopefully it will lighten up soon.

My Baby's Getting Older...

I couldn't stop now even though the pink chair is in storage! Here's my baby girl- almost 2! Ava likes to go around the table and name who is there but when she gets to herself, she'll point to herself and say "Baby!". It was hilarious the first time it happened and it made me think that I do call her "baby" a lot. Also if you will note baby jaguar- or as Ava calls it "baby now now"- he has become a rather permanent attachment everywhere we go and sleep. I do not know why she loves it so much but she does. One day she just picked it up and would not put it down. It's the jaguar from Dora and Diego which she has only seen a handful of times since we do not have cable. We have since found a Dora figurine or "Deda" and McDonald's just happened to put a look alike "Boots" in their happy meals one week. That equals one happy baby. Anyway, Ava repeats most of what Noah says, good and bad alike. Her vocabulary has really grown over the past couple of months and we love listening to her sweet little voice- especially when she says "I wuv you, Mommy".

Catching Back Up

I'm back!! Have you missed me? Ha! Yeah, right! I did not intentionally take a break but that is what it seems to have turned into. Once we got back from the beach (mid-July), we didn't have a fast enough connection to upload photos. Then we moved into a condo across from the beach when Nathan started his job August 1st and I just haven't been motivated to blog until now. We are still living in the 2 bedroom condo. Nathan is settled into his job and really loves it. (What an answer to prayer!) We are still looking for house. I'll spare you the details but we have offered on 2 different houses and things have just not worked out. We are trying to be patient as we feel that the Lord has a reason for all of this waiting. At the same time, Noah is not in preschool yet- and even finding one that is not full- is proving to be quite difficult. He is such a social and active child so with no real outlet for him to "play" with kids his own age or run around a yard or street- we are having some behavior difficulties. Ava is still her sweet little self and talking much more. Anyway, in an effort to preserve these memories for our family, I guess I'll start back from our beach trip and move forward from there. Enjoy!