A Long's Life

More Pics

2011-11-09T10:36:00.000-06:00

Just a few more pics from the pumpkin patch...

At the Patch

2011-11-09T10:33:00.000-06:00

This year we tried a different place for our pumpkin fun. We went to Ranalli Farms in Tontitown. It was just perfect for us! First of all, it was FREE. Most pumpkin patches are pretty expensive these days, so free was a huge plus. This place is really simple and cute. There are not actual pumpkins on the vine, but they have lots of pumpkin vingettes and fun photo ops. The girls loved it and we were the only ones there when we went!

My Halloween Cuties

2011-11-08T00:36:00.000-06:00

We had loads of Halloween fun this year! We had Halloween playdates, carnivals, and trick or treating. Kinley was Wonder Woman this year and, in my humble opinion, she was the cutest super hero around! Ava was a fairy princess. She has a favorite costume from her dress up box and that is the ONLY thing she wanted to be. She LOVES that costume, although it is starting to get too small. She was also very particular on which crown she wore and how she wore her hair. Ava is already asking me when it is going to be Halloween again! Do you think it has anything to do with the bucket loads of candy?

A Few Beach Pics

2011-09-15T22:39:00.005-05:00

At the end of August we took a trip to the beach. Gulf Shores to be exact. This was the first time for either of our girls to see the ocean and their first car trip longer than 2 hours. Going to the beach and seeing the ocean was a great experience for them, but they really preferred the pool at our condo. Thankfully there was a sandy "beach" area at the pool. Best of both worlds!

This picture was at dinner one night. I just can't believe how grown up Kinley looks!

Ava and Papa in the pool

My buried beauty.

Chewing on a nice mouthful of sand. Yum!

Tiny Dancer

2011-06-23T01:48:00.000-05:00

Have I used that title on a blog post before? Probably so, but it is almost 2:00 am and I am not going to scroll through and check. I THINK I have gotten my blog issues solved. We shall see when I click "publish post" in 3.2 minutes.

Kinley is practicing her ballet moves on the Bella Dancerella bar. And she is pretty good!

Taking a little break. Dancing wears a girl out!

Drumming a beat on the coffee table (which you cannot see because of the pillow).

Ta-Da! The big finale!

Not forgotten...

2011-06-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

Just a note to say that I have NOT forgotten about my blog! I have been having difficulty getting pictures to show up, so once I get that figured out I will be back :)

My Semi-Extreme Couponing

2011-04-26T22:46:00.000-05:00

So lately I have been into bargain hunting. My interest startedy reading some couponing/money-saving blogs, long before I had seen TLC's extreme couponing show. I must say, I am addicted. It is such a rush to find a great deal! I have heard people who do not "coupon" say things like, "There are no coupons for things I use" or "Why would I buy things I don't need right now?" Well I can assure you that there are coupons for things you use. Some people are brand loyal, but only because that is what they have always used, not necessarily because it is better. For example, we had always used Cascade dishwasher detergent. Finish powerball detergent (pictured above) went on sale and stacked with my coupons to make it almost free! You can bet that I tried it out! Now I love it. As for buying things you don't need right NOW...if you can get things you use for free or really cheap, you will see your future grocery bill decrease by stocking up. I am not suggesting that people should hoard 77 bottles of mustard. Just enough of something to get you to the next sale cycle. Enough of my rambling. So in case you are curious how much I spent on the above items...around $6. It is not as good as TLC's extreme couponers who can get 10 times the amount for $6, but it makes me happy anyway!

My Superhero

2011-04-02T23:25:00.002-05:00

Kinley is SOOO difficult to take pictures of! Ava was always fairly cooperative, even when she was really young. But this girl, on the other hand, does NOT want her picture taken. I have no idea why. She was dressed up so cute in the Wonder Woman costume the other day. In the above picture, she was crying and saying, "No, no peecher (picture)."

She ran away from me to behind the train table. She is wagging her finger at me!

Screaming on the floor because I am still trying to get a decent picture.

I guess my little superhero just prefers to remain annonymous!

Kinley Time

2011-03-14T14:53:00.000-05:00

Kinley hasn't made it into the last few blog posts, so I thought it was time to dedicate one just to her. We are laughing all the time because of this girl, she is such a clown! She likes to harass her big sister by taking toys from her, then running away with it and laughing. Kinley LOVES to dance and sing...anything involving music. She is really talking a lot lately. My favorite thing she says is "help me." She says it plain as day, just like you or I would. Kinley adds so much fun and joy to our household!

I love the picture above! It is so hard to get a picture with this girl smiling! I also love that she actually kept a bow on for 5 minutes!

This picture is funny because it looks like she has a side ponytail with a bow in. Justin saw this picture and said, "How did you get her hair like that???" It is actually Ava's head behind her :)

I love this sweet face.

Trying to push Ava out of the car ride at Fun City.

Ava's Clubhouse

2011-03-07T22:41:00.000-06:00

We finally had Ava's birthday party 3 weeks after the originally scheduled party date. This year she wanted a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme. I use to think that I never wanted to do a character theme birthday party, but she was so excited about it that I couldn't resist. We have had her birthday party at the same place for the past 3 years. Our friends said that they look forward to this party every year since swimming is such a novelty in the cold months!

My Surprise

2011-02-23T22:25:00.000-06:00

This month I turned 30! My sweet husband threw me a surprise party with some of our church friends. It was on our regular scheduled community group (bible study) night, so I really didn't suspect a thing until we pulled up and I saw more cars than usual. The best part was that my friends wrote notes for me and Justin compiled them, along with pictures, into a scrapbook from Mixbook. It was a great surprise! And by the way, I totally would have dressed up more if I had known :)

Making a wish!

A few more blizzard pics

2011-02-11T21:26:00.000-06:00

Proof that I was, in fact, outside in the snow.

Ava, trying to put snow on Kinley's head.

Daddy and Ava starting to build a snowman.

This is Kinley for about 15 minutes after coming in. She LOVED being out in the snow. She did not want to be put down or walk around in the snow, but she just wanted to be out there. Poor thing :(

Snow pics

2011-02-11T21:21:00.000-06:00

As much as I didn't want to go out in the snow, Justin convinced me we all needed to. This was, afterall, a record snowfall. Our yardstick measured 25 inches!

My baby is 3!

2011-02-10T20:07:00.000-06:00

Our sweet Ava turned 3 this week! I can't believe how fast the past 3 years have gone by. She is such a blessing in our lives. Ava is responsible, caring, thoughtful, funny, creative, and SMART! She is also a great big sister. We had to cancel her birthday party last weekend because of the weather. She was bummed, but Mimi and Papa took us to Chuck E Cheese so that she still felt special. She got to open presents, eat pizza and cupcakes, and of course play lots of games. We love you Ava!

Christmas Wrap Up

2011-02-02T10:48:00.000-06:00

We wrapped up our Christmas festivities in Springfield with Grandma, Aunt Lari, and Steve. We had lots of fun! Can you tell that the slinkies were a hit?

Christmas Day

2011-01-31T13:46:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas day. Sadly, we barely took any pics at our own house. The bottom picture is at our house Christmas morning. The girls loved the train table that Santa brought them! Ava has been wanting a train table forever. Then we spent the rest of the day at Mimi and Papa's. Fun times!

Our Christmas Eve

2011-01-20T13:55:00.000-06:00

I know my Christmas posts are a little late, but honestly I have been avoiding updating the blog because we have SOOO many Christmas pictures! I am overwhelmed trying to decide which ones to use :) We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Grampy's. We had such a fun time and it was a special night for aunt Liz and Lance because they got engaged later that evening!

Nana with the girls.

Our group shot actually turned out good! No eyes closed or screaming kids!

This sweetie looks so grown up!

Kinley having a conversation with Aunt Liz :)

Chrsitmas Train

2010-12-05T11:09:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went on a Christmas train ride. Ava has really been into trains lately (she even asked for a train table for Christmas) so she was really excited. The train was really pretty and felt old timey. We sang Christmas carols and got to see Satna and Mrs. Claus! The ride was 45 minutes which was perfect for us. Kinely would not have made it much longer :) They also had lots of fun stuff to do outside the train station...bounce house, toys, art projects, petting zoo, etc. It was super cold, so we just did the petting zoo before we left. Ava got to sit on a cow!

Christmas Train

2010-12-05T11:03:00.000-06:00

Magic Carpet Ride

2010-11-16T23:48:00.000-06:00

This is a new thing that Mimi started. The girls love it! She pulls them around the house on a blanket...the "magic carpet"! Gotta get creative when we are stuck inside!

Are you over it?

2010-11-12T14:38:00.000-06:00

Are you so over Halloween by now? Probably so, but I will post anyway. On Halloween evening we went trick-or-treating with our friends the Porbecks and Wilkinsons. We started in our neighborhood, then went to the Wilkinson's neighborhood. You may notice from the picture that Kinley is wearing a different outfit from the one at the playdate. Thankfully I bought two this year for her because I just couldn't decide which I liked better. And I got them used so I think I paid $5 each. On Halloween it was really warm, so we went with the poodle. And yes, I dressed up too. Ava was mesmerized when Snow White came out of the bedroom. In the third picture you can see the gigantic operation game board that our neighbors made. They put the candy in the slots and you had to use tongs to get it. It actually worked and buzzed if you hit the metal! They also had a life size Barbie box for photo ops! So creative! We had lots of fun and are still snacking on the candy!

Halloween Playdate

2010-11-08T11:01:00.000-06:00

My girlfriends have an annual Halloween playdate tradition. We get together to play and try to get a good picture of all the kiddos dressed up. I assume this will get easier as they get older :) As you can see, my little lamb did NOT want to be a part of the group photo. She wanted off that couch! Her sweet sister was trying to comfort her and keep her on the couch. In the end, Kinley won that battle. She did not make it into the group photo. My friend Cari did a great job hosting! She made hot dog mummies, the kids made mini pizzas, and decorated cupcakes. What a fun time!

At the Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-30T21:49:00.000-05:00

What would my blog be without a pumpkin patch post? We went to the pumpkin patch on opening day, back in September. Grandma, Trystin, and Aly met us there. We had the place almost to ourselves. I think there might have been two other families there! We had fun seeing all the different types of pumpkins. Each kiddo chose a pumpkin and got to help Justin cut it from the vine (except Kinley :). We also took a hay ride and played in the hay tunnel. Another successful trip to the pumpkin patch! Can't wait for next year!

Happy Birthday Kinley!

2010-10-13T20:03:00.000-05:00

Today is Kinley's first birthday! I can't believe that one year ago today I was in the hospital, about to have this little sweetie. She has brought such joy to our lives over the past year. We had her birthday party a week and a half ago. I think she liked all the attention. She was definately hamming it up while everyone sang Hapy Birthday! Since I can only add 4 pictures at a time, these are all the ones I will post for now.

Scaredy Cat

2010-09-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

I know my blog has been neglected for way too long, but too tell you the truth I have been a little scared. With the recent rape of a 3 year old in our area Wal Mart and 3 other attempted child abductions I have been thinking a lot about safety. I know those incidents did not deal with stalking particular children on the internet, but it just makes me worry knowing what kind of sickos are out there. Taking down my blog entirely has been pondered. In the end I have just decided to be careful with how much info I share about our lives on here. Sorry this post was such a downer...hope you enjoy a few new pics of the girls! This weekend we had a fun photoshoot and I will share some of those pictures soon!

All About Ava

2010-08-11T22:17:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how big my girl is getting! She just seems so grown up these days (except for those tantrums of course :) I can tell she is going to be a very responsible young lady. She watches over Kinley like a hawk to make sure she doesn't do things that she isn't suppose to. Ava always asks permission before doing something she shouldn't do. When we tell her "no", she may fuss about it, but she listens. She is so compassionate and hates to see anyone sad, especially Kinley. If Kinley fusses, Ava runs to her side to love on her, sing to her, and hug her. It melts my heart! Ava started sleeping in a big girl bed in March (a month after she turned 2). She was finished daytime potty training in April. Since then, she has never had an accident out in public (she probably will tomorrow right?) and has only had 2 accidents at home as she was running to the potty. She does still wear diapers at night and thankfully she and Kinley wear the same size! Ava says the funniest things everyday that I really should be writing down. Here is the latest... Last night she asked if she could put some lipstick on. I told her no, we don't put makeup on at bedtime. I said that she could put some on in the morning, to which she replied "Ok. I really love lipstick. It's my whole world." She keeps us smiling for sure!

Keeping up with Kinley

2010-07-20T22:29:00.000-05:00

She's not a Kardashian, but you can still keep up with her :) So what has Kinley been up to lately? A LOT! In June she finally started taking a bottle and eating solid foods. We had been struggling with this for months. Now we cannot get the child food fast enough! In June she also said "dada" for the first time. It was a one time fluke though, we haven't heard it again. Over fourth of July weekend Kinley started crawling! It is actually more of a scoot, but she gets around really fast. And last but not least, she got her first tooth last Wednesday! She had been really fussy before bed for a couple days, then low and behold a tooth popped through. Then the next day...up popped tooth #2. I can never get a smiling picture of this girl...so this will have to do. I can't believe that in a few short months it will be her birthday!

4th of July pics part 2

2010-07-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

Fourth of July

2010-07-14T21:20:00.000-05:00

It's been waaaaaaay too long since I have updated, so how about a sneak peak at our July 4th fun! We had a cookout with neighbors and had a blast. Nana and Grampy came too! It was a good thing they were here because they took turns going inside to watch cartoons with Ava when she was scared of the fireworks :) As you will see below, we put a crochet headband around Ava's ears to muffle the sound. I don't really think it was doing anything, but in her mind it was! Let me tell you, we had a spectacular show when all the neighbors pooled the fireworks together. Next year we need to charge admission! And since I can't add more than four photos...I will make a second post with Fourth of July pics.

Sweet Dreams

2010-06-10T17:01:00.000-05:00

Ava got to have a sleepover with her cousin Aly when we went to Springfield for a visit. Grandma went to check on them and this is what she found. SO SWEET!

A visit with Family

2010-06-03T15:11:00.000-05:00

We went to Springfield Sunday and Monday to spend some time with Grandma, Aunt Lari, and the cousins. We dressed the kids up all matching and TRIED to take some pictures. To say that it was difficult to get a shot with everyone looking at the camera and not crying is an understatement. But you can tell they are having fun!

Water Babies

2010-06-03T15:01:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend we went to Mimi and Papa's and took our first boat ride of the year. Ava enjoyed it, as always. This was Kinley's first boat ride ever. She just relaxed and eventually fell asleep! I'm so glad my girls like the water!

Attack of the Roses

2010-05-18T13:48:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend we had some family pictures made. It has been raining like CRAZY here, so we were tromping through wet soggy grass and mud to get some good shots (totally worth it though). We decided to set the girls by some flowers and bushes to get some "sister" pics. Kinley does sit up by herself, but still topples over from time to time. Poor baby just toppled over and rolled into a rose bush :( I got her out of there in no time flat and she really only cried for about 5 seconds. She was a trooper! I guess this was her first real booboo.

A Whole Weekend of Celebration!

2010-05-09T22:48:00.000-05:00

I had such a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! Justin really let me take advantage of the holiday all weekend :) Friday evening we went out to eat and then Justin took the girls home and I went to the craft fair alone! It was fun to just walk around by myself and see all the fun (and strange) booths. Saturday morning we all went to Ava's swim lessons, then Justin took Ava to the kid's workshop at Lowe's while Kinley and I napped. I really think sleep is my favorite gift for any occassion! Saturday evening we went to some friends house where the guys had a Mother's Day dinner for us. The guys did all the planning and food prep while us gals just did what we do best...talk. It was so much fun! On Sunday morning Mimi and Papa met us at church for a pancake breakfast. I got to choose what we did after church and I decided we should go to Sam's. I just love wandering around in there. Ya never know what you will find! This afternoon Justin and I worked out in the yard a bit, had dinner, we all played in Ava's room for a while, the girls went to bed and ...ah just time to relax. I sure do love my family and am so thankful that I get to be Ava and Kinley's mommy. I hope all you wonderful mothers had a great day!

At the pancake breakfast

Chocolate chip pancakes, yum!

Mother's day dinner with friends

Poor Baby

2010-05-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

This is what happens when big sissy wants to play dress-up...

And...the end

2010-05-02T21:28:00.000-05:00

We finished our Easter festivities at Papa and Mimi's (my mom's) house. We just had a relaxed dinner and egg hunt with prizes for the grown-ups...cash!

Ava hunting eggs.

Papa and Ava chillin on the couch.

Almost Done...

2010-05-02T21:20:00.000-05:00

Well I am FINALLY going to finish up posting about Easter and move on! I had every good intention of finishing up Easter posting weeks ago. Then Ava was sick and throwing up (for the first time ever) and the sickness made it's way through our family. By then Easter seemed like so long ago that I felt funny postin about it. But something is holding me back from posting anything else until I finish Easter! Cab you believe I did not take a single picture on Easter Sunday? Horrible I know. I got these pics from family members. We actually went to Saturday night service and loved it! Then we went for lunch over to Nana and Grampy's (my dad's) house.

This is not a good picture of me, but I think Kinley looks sweet :)

Grampy and Ava having fun!

A visit with Grandma

2010-04-06T19:03:00.000-05:00

Grandma, Trystin and Aly came down for a visit at the end of last week. Ava spent the night with them in a hotel. They went swimming in the hotel pool, colored Easter eggs, and had lots of egg hunts! The next day we went to jump zone. I'm so glad that Ava was brave and played on EVERYTHING! We were there for Jackson's birthday back in November, but she was hesitant to play. I think she was overwhelmed. This time there were only two other kids there besides us AND she saw Trystin and Aly going down the big slides. Once she went down a slide and saw how fun it was she was fearless!

Kicking off the Festivities

2010-04-05T13:27:00.000-05:00

We started our Easter festitivities with an egg hunt at the park with some friends. It was fun to see all of the kids' different egg hunt personalities! Some could care less about the eggs, some were satisfied just finding one or two as long as it had a treat in it, some were serious competitors, and some (like my daughter) were intent on getting all the pink and purple eggs. It was a fun time and a good excuse for us moms to get together and chit chat!

Ava is on a mission.

Ava was very protective of her eggs. Payton was casually looking at them and it sent Ava into a tizzy!

This is what Kinley did the whole time...just relaxes, soaked up the sun, and watched the "big" kids hunt eggs!

Jesus is Alive!

2010-04-04T22:08:00.002-05:00

I am so thankful that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. He died on the cross, but now he's ALIVE! Our hearts are filled with Christ's love as we celebrate Easter this year. We have so much to be thankful for. I hope your Easter was wonderful!

Awesome Hair

2010-03-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

'Nuff said.

Art Time

2010-03-23T14:06:00.000-05:00

Ava loves to sit at her new art table(thanks Grandma!) and draw(thanks Katy!). It was perfect entertainment over our snowed in weekend!

Sprinkle Sprinkle Little Star

2010-03-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

Our neighbors gave us a fun princess cookie set that we decided to get out and make this week. It came with a pretty pink wand and the cookies "magically" turn pink when you add the water. Ava loved adding the sprinkles to the little star cookies. Later when we went for a walk, she saw gravel on the ground that she thought was sprinkles! She really wanted to touch the "sprinkles"!

Rice Cereal

2010-03-18T13:51:00.000-05:00

Kinley had rice cereal for the first time two days ago. Doesn't she look thrilled?

Kinley- 5 Months

2010-03-16T13:42:00.000-05:00

Wow...my little Kinley is 5 months! My how time flies. She is still just happy as can be and is such an easy baby. She sleeps like a champ through the night and also at naptime. Her little laugh is hysterical! She loves to mock sounds we make and then laugh. We love her to pieces!

Surprise!

2010-03-08T21:02:00.002-06:00

Last week I pulled off a surprise birthday party for Justin! You see, his birthday is actually THIS week so I had the party last week in hopes that he would totally have no clue. And he didn't! Justin and I occasionally check each other's emails, so I had my friend Alaina send an Evite and all correspondence through her email so that nothing would come to mine. I planned it so that my mom came to babysit and Justin thought we were going on a date night. I casually asked Justin where he wanted to go eat and he said he didn't care(I knew he wouldn't), so I suggested Guido's. Little did he know that 20 of our closest friends would be there to surprise him! He was so pumped and totally shocked! I would normally just get a cheap cake, but I wanted a special one so I went with Rick's Bakery. Justin is a die hard Razorback fan, therefore I got him a Razorback football field cake. They did such an awesome job! They made little grass sprouts coming out of the field, so cute! Justin is such an awesome dad and husband and I wanted to do something special for him. Happy 30th!

Dept. 56 Collection

2010-02-26T14:10:00.001-06:00

Kelly at Kelly's Korner is hosting "Show Us Your Collections" over at her blog today. I decided I would join in. I started collecting Dept 56 North Pole Christmas villages two years ago. I use to think that Christmas villages were for old people, but for some reason the magic of those twinkly little lights drew me in two Christmas seasons ago. Since it was Ava's first Christmas I started thinking about how fun it would be for Justin to take our kids (when they get a bit older) each year to help pick one out for my Christmas present. So Justin and my mother-in-law did a great job finding good deals on ebay and starting my collection off right. My picture below is HORRIBLE but it is all I have since they were put away 2 months ago. After I took this pic I rearranged, added more snow, and removed the weird road...but I never took a picture of how it turned out in the end :( Before Christmas I was at the mall by myself and stopped to admire the window display of a store that has a fabulous Dept 56 Village setup. As I was taking it all in, two teenage girls stopped beside me to look too. One girl said, "Oh how pretty! Wouldn't that be cool to have that display in your bedroom?" Her friend said, " Yeah, my grandma would love it!" Ha! Well I guess I am getting old!

Our LOVEly Weekend

2010-02-19T17:52:00.000-06:00

I know I'm a bit late posting about Valentine's weekend, but I have no pictures to go with it so I just put it off. My birthday is two days before Valentine's day, so the excitement of both days sort of just gets rolled into one. This year we "celebrated" for an entire weekend. I say it like that because all 4 of us have been sick in some capacity over the past week and a half so the celebrating was very low key. My sweet husband took the day off from work on Friday (my birthday). He planned on it being a surprise, but poor Justin never can pull it off. I ALWAYS find out. I wan't trying to spoil his fun. I promise. But his ipod was laying around and I checked to see if it needed to be charged and low and behold across the screen it flashed "personal day tomorrow, Rachel's birthday". So I slept in until 10:00 and oh was it nice! That evening we went to dinner with some family and then we got to go to the movies while Mimi watched the girls. Saturday we did nothing and it was great. Well, the girls and I did nothing. Justin actually worked hard getting the Christmas lights off the house and putting away the final tree. I know...middle of February and we still had Chrsitmas up. ANYWAY, on to Sunday which was V-Day of course. We had community group (like bible study) that evening. We have been trying to make the switch from Wednesdays to Sundays but there was always a reason not too. Like the Superbowl. So we decided to suck it up and make the switch even if it was Valentine's Day. After group, Mimi came again to watch the girls so Justin and I could go on a date. We went to Thai Secret and it was quite good. Since I have no pics to go with out weekend, here are a few random pics from a couple of weeks ago.

Ava is putting lipstick on Kinley.

Check out that awesome hair!

Baby toys...

2010-02-15T20:25:00.000-06:00

...are so much fun! This girl has so many toys, but of course she wants to play with Kinley's toys. Thankfully Kinley doesn't care at this age...but I can see that there will toy fights in our future!

A few more party pics...

2010-02-15T11:01:00.000-06:00

Sweet Kinley barely made a peep the whole time.

Happy Birthday Ava!

2010-02-07T21:48:00.000-06:00

Our sweet girl is already 2 years old! I remember two years ago being scared to death going in to the hospital to be induced. I had no idea what to expect as far as labor is concerned and I definately didn't know what to do with a newborn! But here we are two years later and I can't imagine life without her! Ava is such a joy and makes us laugh a lot these days. We had a swimming birthday party at the Boys and Girls club (same as last year). Her party was red/pink Valentine themed. The pictures below are in reverse order, I can't figure out how to switch them. Also, can someone please tell me how to add more than four pics to a post? I will add more party pics later in a new post since it won't let me add more than four!

Ava enjoying another cupcake after swimming

Swimming with Daddy

Singing to the birthday girl

I Wear My Sunglasses at Night...

2010-02-04T13:06:00.000-06:00

Is that eighties song playing in your head now? A couple weeks ago Mimi bought Ava some new sunglasses. For a few days she did NOT want to take them OFF! She wore them inside, outside, breakfast time, play time...you get the picture. Here are some "playing in the bedroom with my glasses on" pictures!

A Texas Longhorn fan?

2010-02-02T21:37:00.000-06:00

Sshhhh...don't tell daddy!

Snowed In

2010-01-31T23:15:00.000-06:00

We have way more snow here than I care to have. I really don't like to be out in that powdery white stuff. Thankfully, having an infant gives me a great excuse to stay in. Every time Justin asked me to come play outside with he and Ava, my reply was,"I can't...someone has to stay in with Kinley." I guess next year we should invest in a snowsuit for the girls, I just didn't think we would get much use out of one. I was wrong. Justin and Ava have been out in the snow at least once a day, sometimes twice. Ava loved it, although she hated being all bundled up. Eating snow was a favorite thing! Today we had some people over and after they left I saw Ava walking around eating snow out of her hand. I asked her where she got it and she took me to the rug at the front door. She was eating snow that people kicked off their shoes when they came in! After that we got her some clean outside snow in a cup and I got some to make snow cream. Ava would not even try the snow cream! She just wanted her plain ol snow.

Papa giving Ava a push down the hill

Wahoo! So much fun!

"Piddy" in Pink

2010-01-17T23:32:00.000-06:00

Ava loves piddy (pretty) things these days. She admires sequins, sparkles, and all things girly. A couple days ago we were staying home all day so I let her pick out her outfit. Look closely at the picture below. Pink from head to toe! Socks, bow, everything! The girl wants to MATCH. How do you explain to an almost 2 year old that you can mix it up with neutrals and complimentary colors?

On another note, we have had an interesting week. Ava and daddy had an ER visit one night due to some hives. It was just before bedtime and I discovered she had swollen bumps and lines from her waist down. It really freaked us out. So Justin and Ava went to the ER. Thankfully they had the portable DVD player to watch Dora for about 3 hours while they waited! The doctor said it is hives from something she is allergic to and gave her some Benadryl. Well now these hives have come and gone for the past 5 days. She will be totally broken out, then an hour later they are gone. We cannot figure out what is causing it! No new foods, no new soaps, diapers, lotions, etc. They don't seem to bother Ava at all. She just gets stressed when we want to look at the hives and yells, "No boo boo!" She has a well check up at the Dr. this week so hopefully we can get something figured out.

A Kinley Pic

2010-01-15T21:19:00.000-06:00

I really don't feel in the mood to type tonight, but I wanted to share a recent picture of Kinley. They change so fast! She laughed for the first time this week! She has also been squealing a lot more. This girl is content to just take in life!

Polka Dots and Wild Things

2010-01-09T22:05:00.004-06:00

You may or may not know that I started a business a couple years ago selling scrapbook supplies and handmade items. I created an online store to sell the scrapbooking supplies and sell handmade gifts locally (although I have had some out of state customers order handmade stuff). We were so busy moving and having a baby that I shut down the online store. Recently I came across these baby items and fell in love! I can't resist polka dots! I am going to place an order and sell them through my store. Being Razorback country here I am really excited about the red and white set! If you would like to order something please email me at rachelnlong@gmail.com. I will be placing my order on Tuesday. Of course I will have them for sale after that, but if you let me know before I place my wholesale order it will gaurantee that I have the size, color, and style that you want. There are polka dots and 3 different animal prints. Onesies and toddler shirts come in long and short sleeves. You can also get matching leg warmers, headbands, and beanies. Onesies and shirt size 2t are envelope neck, shirts size 4 and 6 are ringer neck.

Prices:
Headbands - $6 - one size
Beanies - $10 - size 0-12 or 12-24 months
Leg Warmers - $12 - one size
Onesies, long and short sleeved - $16 - 0-3, 3-6, 6-12, 12-18 months
Shirts, long and short sleeved - $18 - sizes 2t, 4, 6

Snug as a Bug in a Snuggie

2010-01-07T21:32:00.000-06:00

Well today I just have lots of random tidbits to share. First of all, Kinley has been sleeping TEN HOURS through the night! And actually I have been waking her up after ten hours (which is currently 8:30 am) so I have no clue how long she would sleep if I just let her be. I am going to slowly move back her bed time and wake her earlier because I am soon starting an exercise class that begins at 8:30. That means we probably need to get up around 7:30 to get everyone fed and ready to go. Kinley is an amazing baby...a pure joy! I lay her down awake for every nap/bedtime and she falls asleep with no crying. And she is just so darn smiley!
I am planning Ava's birthdya party right now. I can't believe she is going to be TWO! It seems like not long ago that we had her first birthday. Now she knows all her colors, body parts, and can count to 10 with some help on 4 and 7. She really surprises me because without being prompted, she will bring me 3 things and say, "Three!" Ava is also really into matching. When I get her out of bed the first thing she does is pick out her hair bow. She will look at the pjs she is wearing and pick a bow that matches. She's got style!
Next, I want to say to the person who left the annonymous comment on my last post...thank you, it gave me a laugh. I thought it was quite funny that someone was giving some constructive criticism on my posts. What you said is true. Our previous blog posts were quite bland, I agree. I will tell you why. We had an old, slow computer that took forever to upload pictures. I could not post by myself. So we would lay in bed and post right before bed, sort of as a chore. Justin would do all of it while I told him what to type. On Black Friday I got a new laptop and it has a thing where I can stick the picture card right in the computer. And it makes blogging so much easier and faster! So now I actually enjoy updating the blog and I can do it by myself! So this, my annonymous blog friend, is why my posts are better now.
To end this post I thought I would share a snuggie photo to warm your heart. Our friends Dory and Jesse are in town visiting for a few weeks. They live in Italy...must be rough huh? They braved the snow and ice to come over for dinner the other night. We had a good time catching up with them and it makes me wish Dory didn't live so far away!

Snow Much Fun!

2010-01-04T23:38:00.000-06:00

Sorry, I couldn't resist the cheesy title! We had heard that we may be getting some snow over the weekend, but didn't think much about it. Sunday morning I was getting ready for church when Justin walked in to tell me that we would not be going. I was shocked when I looked out the window! We got snow over Christmas but we were just too busy to go out and play in it. So this was really Ava's first time to play in the snow. We don't have a proper snow suit for her, so daddy was resourcful and put Wal-Mart sacks under Ava's pants to keep her waterproofed. She had so much fun! She did not want to come in. She even went down the snowy slide of her big toy a few times!

Tasting the snow

Sisters

2009-12-30T13:07:00.000-06:00

I just realized as I am posting this that the girls outfits match the chair! Haha! Kinley is starting to become more interested in watching Ava. And Ava LOVES to hold her hand. She also likes to put things right in front of Kinley's face to "show" her. I hear lots of, "Ook Neenee...Doowa!" Translation - Look Kinley...Dora!

Christmas at Grandpa and Babula's

2009-12-27T22:45:00.000-06:00

The day after Christmas we drove to Seymour Missourri to have Christmas at Grandpa and Babula's house. It is a 3 hour drive and was our first long drive with Kinley. She did surprisingly well! Justin's brother and his family were there as well. Everyone had a great time and on the drive home Ava kept saying, "No home, back to Babula's house!" Sadly I did not get any pictures of Kinley since she was sleeping most of the time.

Ava is trying out a piece of her floor gym for the baby doll

Caleb, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Linda, and Brian

Babula wrapped Aa up tight to go outside

Ava loed playing with Grandpa's coin sorter

Christmas at Mimi and Papa's

2009-12-27T22:35:00.000-06:00

Christmas afternoon we headed to Mimi and Papa's house. As soon as we drove out of our neighborhood our car did a complete 180 on the ice! We kept going and found the highway to be clear of snow and ice. At Mimi and Papa's we just played and relaxed. And of course, the girls got some fun new things!

Ava giving kisses to her new Furreal Friends cat

Ava with Mimi and Papa

Our Fam

Christmas Morning

2009-12-27T22:26:00.000-06:00

We were so busy video taping that we forgot to take pictures Christmas morning! We always want to focus on Jesus' birth as the reason for Christmas, but it sure is fun to watch kiddos open presents. Ava had a BLAST opening presents. She squealed with delight as she ripped off paper. Ava's big gift was a tricycle. She also got a couple books, a color wonder princess set, a Dora baby doll, a play hair/makeup set, and a Dora figure. The Dora figure is made of plastic and her hair is one smooth, brown chunk (best way to describe it). Ava looked at her and said, "Chocolate head"! It was hilarious. And she is right...her head does look like chocolate! Kinley's big present was a toy that is an inflatable ball tethered to a stand that plays music and lights. When we told Ava that Santa had brought it for Kinley, Ava said, "No, for Ava". Then she took it and brought Kinley one of her old balls. Too funny. This was a special Christmas since it was Kinley's first and Ava's first Christmas to be old enough to undersand. We are blessed with these precious little girls!

Christmas at Nana and Grampy's

2009-12-27T22:09:00.000-06:00

We started our Christmas festivities at Nana and Grampy's house on Christmas Eve. We had a nice dinner and then opened gifts. The time flew by as we were having fun and before we knew it was almost 7:00. Justin checked outside and it was sleeting! We had to get packed up quick and then drive home slowly. Ava was just giddy with all of her Dora gifts!

Aunt Liz and Kinley

Grampy and Ava

Sweet Kinley with her big Christmas bow

Daddy and Ava acting silly

Christmas with Friends

2009-12-22T23:29:00.001-06:00

Every year our "extended" Community Group (bible study) has a Christmas party with a white elephant gift exchange. This year we had the party at our house and had a blast! We decided to do a "regift" exchange and bring only things that we had been given and didn't want. There were some hilarious gifts, including a conch shell vase/sculpture that has returned for the third year.

Sweet and Smiley

2009-12-21T13:57:00.000-06:00

I can't believe how quickly Kinley seems to be growing and changing. She has been wearing size 2 diapers for a couple weeks and weighs around 13 pounds. Clothing size 3-6 months is what she wears most of the time. She is opposite of Ava in that area. Ava was a smaller baby and usually fit into something when she was at the end of the size range. For example, she couldn't wear a 3-6 month outfit until she was 6 months. She is still that way. She is 22 months and is just now fitting into 18-24 month clothing. Some pants she still wears 12-18month. I realize I just rambled on and most of you don't care what sizes my children wear! Anyway...Kinley is such a smiley baby. It really doesn't take much to get her to smile at you! She is so sweet and I made her promise that she will stay that way always...no tantrums! Haha! We are really settling into being a family of four now and I couldn't imagine it any other way!

A visit with fam

2009-12-17T23:16:00.001-06:00

You may or may not know that I was born in New York and the majority of my extended family lives there. When I was young I visited during the summers and even stayed for a month at a time. I spent lots of time at my aunt Marcia and uncle Len's house with them and my cousins Lynn and Kelly (I know... it is not gramatically correct to have so many ands in a sentence). They had a big house with a pool that seemed like a mansion when I was small. My uncle Len teased me when I would come by saying, "Welcome to America!", implying that Arkansas isn't America. They finally came for their first visit to Arkansas a week ago and I asked Uncle Len if he needed a passport to get here. It was so good to see them and Ava really took to them quickly! In the first two pictures Ava is opening gifts that they brought. Of course she got to open Kinley's too! The last picture is aunt Marcia with the girls at Catfish Hole. We thought those Northerners needed to try some good southern cooking!
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Christmas Pics

2009-12-07T23:37:00.000-06:00

This year our neighbor took our Christmas pictures. She really did a great job! I love the location where we took them. We were all FREEZING , but it was worth it. Here are a few previews. We put our favorites on our Christmas cards. And yes...I have made a ton of blog posts tonight. We got our situation worked out to get our pics uploaded again, so I am trying to catch up. Enjoy!

Lights of the Ozarks

2009-12-07T23:31:00.000-06:00

We met up with some friends last week (almost 20 of us to be exact) to eat at Tim's and take a walk around the square. Ava really enjoyed it and REALLY wanted to ride the fake carousel made of lights. She didn't understand why she couldn't ride those flat horses. We were able to get a picture of some of the girls on a bench. None of them are looking at the camera, but at this age it is considered success if no one is screaming! Sorry there are no pics of Kinley here, she was bundled up in the stroller.

Trimming the tree

2009-12-07T23:23:00.000-06:00

We started decorating for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving. We usually do it the day after Thanksgiving, but with a new baby and a toddler I figured it would take us longer than usual. And besides, when it takes so long to decorate I want to enjoy it for as long as possible. Ava loved to "help" me add ornaments. Look how proud she is after she hangs one! She liked to hang them all in one place, so I had to move them when she went to bed ;)

Ava's 1st Haircut

2009-12-07T23:18:00.000-06:00

Ava had her first haircut the week before Thanksgiving. Her aunt Lari came down to cut it. Ava was not in a great mood that day and I did not end up getting an "after" picture. But it looks cute! I was trying to wait as long as possible to get it cut, but it was starting to look mullety. She had one sweet little lock of hair that was an inch or two longer than the rest. Lari cut that piece first for me to put in Ava's baby book.

Bathtub Painting

2009-12-07T23:12:00.000-06:00

Ava is enjoying some fun painting in the bathtub. This occupied her for quite a while and the best part is when she is done we just wash her down right there!

6 weeks...

2009-11-23T22:42:00.002-06:00

Can you believe Kinley is already 6 weeks old? She is such a sweet baby and generally content. She is getting to be quite a little chunker. Right now she still wakes up twice in the middle of the night to nurse. This creates a tired momma, but I know that soon enough I won't have that alone time with just her. After Ava started sleeping through the night I sort of missed that time with her so sometimes I would just get her out of her crib at night and hold her. Ava is not almost 22 months! It's about time to start planning her second birthday party! Ava loves Dora, the moon (she wants to go outside every night to see it), and the song B-I-N-G-O. She is becoming a picky eater. I cannot tell you the last time she ate a vegetable. She goes to "school" one day a week and really enjoys it. The teachers always have lots of praises for her :) Sorry the pics are not showing up lately. We figured out that it is because we exceeded our Picassa storage. SO...when we figure that out we will add some pics. I know it is boring without them!

Halloween!

2009-11-02T17:50:00.001-06:00

Halloween was a lot of fun this year since Ava could actually enjoy trick or treating. It was the first time since I had Kinley that I got ready and put make up on! I pushed Kinley in the stroller while Daddy and Ava walked (or he carried her). We just made the loop around our small neighborhood but Ava got plenty of candy. Both of my little princesses were cats this year!

In the above picture Ava is doing a fake smile while she is crying. She did not want to be taking a picture, she wanted chocolate!

Our family of four!

First Few Days at Home

2009-10-18T21:47:00.001-05:00

We have been home for a few days now and so far so good. I hate to jinx myself by saying this, but Kinley has really been a good baby. She wants to eat almost every 3 hours like clockwork and she sleeps in her crib. We struggled with both of those things with Ava. Now my biggest worry is how in the world I am going to take care of both girls when I am all alone. I know we will get into a routine at some point, but I think it will be rough in the beginning. Here are a few more pics. You can see how excited Ava is about Kinley. She likes to sit by her, lay with her, and give her kisses. She calles her Nee-Nee. So cute!

Ava and Kinley...

2009-10-14T15:37:00.002-05:00

Kinley

Ava

I was looking through some of Ava's old photos and found one where Kinley and her look exactly alike. Its amazing! They both got their momma's good looks! Im a lucky daddy!

2009-10-14T13:40:00.002-05:00

Our growing family!
Kinley Grace Long
October 13th @ 11:13 pm
8lbs 2oz. 19.5 inches long
Mom and baby are both doing great!

Pedal to the Metal

2009-09-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

We recently got Ava's Barbie jeep out of storage and she has been loving it! She use to be a bit scared of it, but now she wants to drive everyday. The funny thing is that she usually drives without using the steering wheel, so she runs into things and sort of goes in circles! She doesn't mind though :) Somehow we caught her with her hand on the wheel in 3 of these 4 pics.

18 months

2009-08-08T22:35:00.003-05:00

Ava is now 18 months old and she is learning and changing everyday. She is trying to talk more, although usually Justin and I are the only ones who can understand her. She LOVES kitty cats! She calls them me-o's (her way of saying meow) and looks through her books everyday in search of them. Here are a few recent pictures:

Ava loves to get out all her hair pretties and play. This day I started to put pigtails in her hair and she kept handing me rubberbands and saying "more." Then she would run to the mirror and smile. She only ended up with four in her hair but she wanted more!

Yogurt facial!

Wearing daddy's shoes!

This picture was from today at our neighbor's birthday party. I was surprised at how much she enjoyed the water balloons.

More water balloons!

Here we are later in the day at another friend's birthday party. This was the sack races. Basically Ava was in the sack, Justin put one leg in the sack, held onto her and ran! Sadly they didn't win :(

It's a...

2009-07-08T23:39:00.002-05:00

GIRL!

We found out last week that we will be having another little princess. The most important thing is that the ultrasound showed everything was perfectly healthy. Ava is so excited (actually she doesnt even have a clue.) Now time to start decorating nursery #2.

Playdate Fun

2009-06-15T21:13:00.006-05:00

Today we went to Katy's house for a playdate and had so much fun! How many people do you know without children who want to have a bunch of toddlers come over and play? Not many! Katy is a gem. We played in the pool, ate snacks (including pudding pops that Katy made), and had a good time all around.

Updates...

2009-06-10T23:16:00.003-05:00

We're back in blogland! The past month has been busy busy. We finally moved and we are loving our new house. The whole process was a lesson in faith and patience. It was very frustrating to sell our house, move out, and have no idea if we were going to get the house we wanted. We just had to have faith that God would provide. When we got our contract accepted the closing happened very fast. We have been in the house for over a month now and we have LOTS of work still left to do! Unpacking, painting, changing fixtures, tending to the yard, and more. It is slow, but the progress we have made is gratifying. The best thing is that Ava LOVES it here! She loves the open space and playing outside. There are lots of kiddos in the neighborhood to play with. Her favorite activity right now is drawing outside with chalk. A few other Ava updates:

* She has to have a bow in her hair at most times. When I get her out of bed in the morning the first thing she does is pat her head and say, "Bow. Bow." Such a girly girl.

* She loves her baby dolls and spends lots of time putting them in chairs, rocking them, and feeding them fake bottles.

* As of this week, she no longer takes a bottle. This is an overall good thing except for the fact that she has woken up earlier due to empty belly.

* Overall Ava is so funny and fun to be with. She changes and learns new things everyday. I think she is going to be a fun big sister!

We still don't know if we are having a boy or a girl. My maternity insurace starts in July, so until then all expenses are out of pocket. We decided we will wait to have the ultrasound (which cost about $200-$300) until it is paid for by insurance. Can you blame us?

Enjoy the slide show!

Moving Day...

2009-04-25T23:51:00.003-05:00

Tonight is the last night we sleep in our house. Tomorrow we will officially be moved out and it will be someone elses house. There have been alot of memories in this place. Rachel and I's first house. Bringing Ava home for the first time. Seeing her first steps. God has been so good to us. We hope the next people that live here will be just as blessed as we were. Hopefully we will hear something back on our future house, until then we will be living in an apartment. Goodbye house, thanks for all the memories!

Egg Hunt

2009-04-14T19:34:00.000-05:00

Easter was so much fun this year! Ava went to her first Easter egg hunt on Saturday. The hunt was sponsored by UBC at Wilson park. She did a great job picking up eggs and putting them in the basket (we practiced at home first)! We have more pictures from Easter Sunday, but the camera is in the car so we'll add those later...

By the way...

2009-03-26T21:01:00.002-05:00

I'm pregnant! Justin updated the blog with a baby count down graffic before we ever said I was pregnant. So if you saw the ticker and were curious...yep! I'm due October 16th. Ava and baby will be almost two years apart. I know it will be hard at first, but I think they will be great friends!

I love you Billy!

2009-03-25T22:26:00.001-05:00

As long as I can remember, I have loved Billy Joel. When I was little I would take my dad's Billy Joel tape (and later cd's when we had that technology) and jam to it in my walkman. Sometimes I would play the tape in my bedroom stereo while I laid in bed and sang along. This week I got to mark "Go to a Billy Joel concert" off my bucket list. For my birthday Justin got us tickets to the Billy Joel - Elton John concert in Tulsa. I do like Elton John, but really I could take him or leave him. It's Billy that I was there to see. The concert was AMAZING! 4 hours long, no opening acts. They came out together and sat facing each other at their own pianos and played together on each other's songs. First was an Elton song, then a BIlly song. They went back and forth for about an hour. Then Elton played alone for an hour, then Billy played alone for an hour, then they came back out together for about another hour. Elton sang some obscure songs (in my opinion) that I had never heard - Funeral for a Friend, Burn down the Mission, Mad Man Across the Water. Anyone know these? But he also played all the favorites - Tiny Dancer, Crocodile Rock, Bennie and the Jets, Candle in the Wind, etc. The highlight for me though was Billy playing alone. His voice still sounds as young and smooth as ever. I knew every word to every song except one Zanzibar. There will never be a concert that could top this one and in my eyes there is no bigger music star. Just a random tidbit - I found an excerpt from an interview where Billy Joel is discussing the differences in dressing rooms. Check this out:

BILLY JOEL insists his backstage dressing room is like a different world compared to touring partner SIR ELTON JOHN's colourful space.The pair has hit the road again on the Face2Face tour and Joel insists the fact that both be and Elton play piano is one of the only things that make them alike. He claims their differences are clear in their dressing rooms. Joel tells Rolling Stone magazine, "Mine is like the back of a deli. Give me some water, a couple of sodas and a cold-cut (meat) platter, and I'm good. "Elton's looks like the glory that was Rome. He has flowers, and the room is draped with all kinds of materials. "There are boys in togas, like centurions. And he's got dozens of pairs of shoes and beautiful jackets and sunglasses.

I find it quite disturbing that Elton has boys in togas in his room. He is quite the diva. And all Billy needs are some cold cuts. Just another reason why I love you Billy!

Look what I can do...

2009-03-01T21:00:00.001-06:00

What a look of determination!!

Ava took her first steps last week. We were able to catch it on video while grandma and mimi were here this weekend. She is building up confidence and taking more consecutive steps now. She is getting so big!

Project Playhouse

2009-02-22T23:05:00.000-06:00

Project Playhouse is a fundraiser to benefit a local organization called CASA. CASA is Court Appointed Special Advocates and they work with foster children going through the court system. Playhouses are designed, built and donated to the fundraiser. The houses are then auctioned off with all the proceeds going to CASA. Justin was able to be able to be a part of it 5 years ago when he worked for McMahon Bros. This year he got to be apart of it again by designing a playhouse for the architecture firm he works for. All the playhouses were great, but I must brag because Justin's was auctioned for the highest price. But this is HOG country so what else woud you expect.

Ava Photoshoot

2009-02-18T22:05:00.000-06:00

These are some pictures we had taken of Ava back in January that we have not been able to post.
They were taken by a local photographer named Eric Howerton. He really captured her personality!

Ava's 1st Birthday

2009-02-15T23:15:00.000-06:00

Ava's first birthday was a blast! Her party was at the Boys and Girls Club at the swimming pool. Lots of cherished family and friends attended. After figuring our how to really dig in, Ava devoured her cake! We cant believe our little princess is already one...

A late Christmas Post

2009-01-14T23:05:00.000-06:00

Ava's santa dress was so cute! Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture that captures its true cuteness.

Wrapping paper is just as fun as toys!

Ava has started training for her career as a wrestler.

The Christmas gift ten times the size of our ten month old. Can you guess what it was?

Life has been crazy lately and the blog has become neglected again. We had an awesome holiday and really have so much to be thankful for. Ava's first Christmas was tons of fun! To say she is spoiled by all her grandparents is an understatement! Now we are planning her first birthday party. I can't believe it has almost been a year since she was born. She continues to do new things all the time. I love watching her explore the world with curiosity and excitement! And our world is much better because she's in it.

First Snow...

2008-12-08T22:58:00.002-06:00

We had our first snow of the year the weekend after Thanksgiving. It didn't last long, but Ava enjoyed watching it fall. Doesn't she look adorable in this hat?

Halloween

2008-11-15T19:05:00.005-06:00

Here are a few Halloween pictures (just two weeks late). This year Ava's Nana made her Halloween costume. The plan was for she and I to make it together so that I could learn to use a pattern. I did help with some of it (and learned to use a pattern), but the detail work was beyond my ability! Judy is an AMAZING seamstress! I love the way it turned out and it was totally original. The day before Halloween some friends got together for a costume playdate. The kids were so cute! We had mostly animals, a couple bugs, and one vegetable. On Halloween we started by going to Nana and Grampy's house to show off Ava. Then we went to a carnival where Ava couldn't really do anything, but she enjoyed watching other children. Finally, we went trick-or-treating through a neighborhood so mom and dad could have some candy :) As you can see from the picture, no one told Ava that you have to unwrap candy before you eat it!

Look What I Can Do...

2008-10-28T23:05:00.002-05:00

October Fun!

2008-10-28T22:28:00.003-05:00

October has been a busy month for our family! We took a weekend trip to Chicago to meet up with Justin's mom. She goes there often on business. We had a great time, just wish we could have spent a whole week! It was also Ava's first plane ride. She did OK...just hard for an 8 month old to be contained to such a small space for so long. Coincidentally, some of our friends had been in Chicago and were on our flight home, sitting right behind us! So they helped us entertain Ava. Two weeks ago we had fun visiting the pumpkin patch in Pea Ridge. Justin's mom brought Ava's cousins Trystin and Aly. A good time was had by all! Check out our Flickr for more pictures.

Almost 8 months...

2008-10-02T23:39:00.002-05:00

Sweet, precious, funny, adorable...these are just a few words that come to mind when I think about my little girl. She is such a joy and I am thankful for her everday! She is not crawling yet, but she wants to SOO bad. She sort of scoots around and lunges forward. We don't really mind too much though because soon enough we will be chasing her around the house. She started a mother's day out once a week for a few hours. The workers say that she does great. She LOVES being with other kids. I think she is going to be a social butterfly!

On another note, I decided to fallize (yes, I make up words) our blog. Fall is my favorite time of year: the cool, crisp air, the vibrant, changing leaves, pumpkins, fireplaces, and so much more. I wanted the blog to reflect a bit of that. My lofty goal is to try and change the blog for every season. Hold me accountable!

-Rachel

It's been a long time...

2008-09-09T22:54:00.002-05:00

We have been bad bloggers! We have had so much going on lately, the blog has become forgotten. Ava is 7 months now and she is a hoot! For the most part she is a happy baby. Pretty soon she will be crawling and I know our lives will change drastically! Baby proofing is on our "to do" list this week! Enjoy the photos...

Caleb and Brian's Birthday Party

2008-08-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we went to Springfield to see family and went to Caleb and Brian's Birthday Party. We had a great time!

Ava's Photoshoot

2008-08-03T16:12:00.003-05:00

Rachel's step-sister Brandy took these photo's. We love how they turned out. Ava is available for modeling opportunities. :)

-j

Ava @ 5 1/2 Months

2008-07-26T22:06:00.003-05:00

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. We have just been busy with all kinds of stuff lately. Hope you enjoy this slideshow!