Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Girl!!

How is it possible that our sweet little princess is already four years old? Seriously - where DID the time go? I can still remember the first day we met her, which was one of the best days of my life.

Ava has grown into such a beautiful, sweet, kind, loving girl. It seems like just when I can't imagine her getting any cuter or funnier, she does! Each day since she has been born has been a blessing and gift from God.

This year, we had Ava's party at the local "Build-A-Bear" workshop. It was our first time visiting "Build-A-Bear", and I think it was a lot of fun. The kids got to pick an animal they wanted to fill, chose a name, had a heart ceremony, and eventually filled their animals.

After the fun at "Build-A-Bear", we paraded down to the Food Court where we had cake and presents. FINALLY after all that fun, we came home to celebrate with our families. It was a very fun-filled day!

The kids choosing their animals:
The Heart Ceremony (l to r: Logan, Ian, Ella, Ava, Makenzie and Emma):

After filling their animals, some of the kids gave theirs a bath:

The big birthday princess about to blow out her candles:

While we were at the mall partying, Memaw, Pepaw, and Uncle Drew were working on a surprise. Our gift to Ava was a big girl mattress set and my parents bought her new bedding. Memaw, Pepaw, and Uncle Drew were SOOO nice to get the bed delivered and set up to surprise Ava.

Happy Birthday Ava - we love you to pieces and hope you had a great day!

Christmas, Part 4 : The Day After

Christmas falling on a Friday this past year was great, because we were able to make the rounds without it feeling completely hectic - and still have two days to recover before going back to work!

The day after Christmas, we went over to Memaw and Pepaw's early in the morning for another round of present-opening and food-eating goodness. Once again, the kids got a TON of cool (and big) stuff. Not only that, but SANTA stopped in for a visit!!

Ava assuring Santa she has been a good girl:
Aidan wasn't too sure, so Daddy went with him to visit Santa:

The kids playing with the castle Uncle Ross and soon-to-be-Aunt Ashley got her:

And Spike. Most of you may have seen him before - he's the big 'ol dinosaur on display at most Targets and Toys-r-Us'. He is remote-controlled and can walk, roar, stand up, eat plastic boulders and bones, and he even falls asleep. ALL of the boys in the house were excited about this one:

The kids checking out the ornaments with Pepaw:

Christmas, Part 3 : Christmas Morning

After a nice Christmas Eve visit with Sean's family, our kids got to wake up in their own beds Christmas morning and see if they made Santa's nice list. I think they both did, because they made out like bandits!

The night before, we set cookies and milk out for Santa along with an apple and a bowl of water for the reindeer. Sean and I held our traditional gift exchange that night so that Christmas morning could be more about the kids. It is always so much fun playing Santa and thinking about the kids' reaction in the morning - and actually getting to see it!

After gifts, we had a nice big breakfast, then played some more. For dinner, I made my first beef-tenderloin roast that I picked up from a local butcher - and it was GOOOOOD!! Later that evening, we went to our good friends David and Jenny's house for dessert and drinks. Talk about a great day!

Santa brought Aidan this neat easel:
And Ava got this pretty silver headband in her stocking (tent in background also came from Santa):

Aidan is REALLY into Mickey Mouse right now:

Here is Ava giving the big girl training-wheel bike Santa brought her:

Christmas, Part 2 : Christmas Eve

Each year in Sean's family, Christmas Eve is celebrated at Grape-Grandma Melba's house. Also each year, the dinner tradition is to break tradition by having lasagna for dinner in lieu of ham or turkey.

It's always a very nice, laid-back visit that usually results in some cocktails and a few rounds of Euchre.

Here is Ava posing with the bear she got from Grape-Grandma along with Ashley and her "dolly":
Memaw and Aidan playing:

The kids getting roughed-up by Uncle Ross (also a tradition):

Christmas, Part 1 : Celebrating with Gram and Dzia

This past Christmas, we were blessed to be able to spend time with each of our families. My parents came down the Sunday before Christmas for a joint Sean's Birthday/Christmas celebration. We started the morning with a big breakfast, followed by the customary opening of presents. Later that afternoon, when there was enough of a separation between the Christmas and "birthday" parties, we went out to dinner (we wanted to make sure Sean didn't feel like his birthday was lumped in with everything else).

The calm before the storm:

I love this look of pure concentration on his face (he gets that from Daddy):

Of course, Ava wanted to play with Aidan's toys:

But that didn't stop Aidan from finding some of Ava's presents to get into. Isn't he a pretty fairy? (not to worry...a few days later, Aidan stripped all of Ava's Barbies down to nothing and was laying in bed with them):

Too cute! My brother bought Ava this folding chair a couple Christmases ago, and Aidan has always fawned over it. This year, Gram and Dzia got him one of his very own:

"A Fox and Hound Christmas"

Not to confused with "A Benihana Christmas" (for those fellow 'The Office' fans out there, you know what I am referring to).

Last month, I FINALLY got to go out with Sean and his co-workers (they are always going out without me). While the main purpose was to celebrate the holiday season together, I also worked a tiny bit of magic to squeeze in a little birthday celebration for my man.

Poor Sean's birthday is 12/21, and he never seems to have anyone around to help him celebrate since it's so close to Christmas. And since most of our closest friends got together to help me celebrate my 30th back in October, I knew it would be very difficult to get those same people back together.

Since we'd be with most of Sean's co-workers and work friends, I decided to surprise him with a birthday cake - complete with a toothless picture of him on top. Needless to say he was shocked, but very appreciative for my little gesture.

Here is the proud birthday boy cutting his cake: I managed to snap a shot of it before he butchered it ("Baby-G" is a nickname his office gave him because the haters think it looks like he shops at Baby Gap):
Me and the birthday-boy (he went out and bought a special tie for the occasion):

Ava's First Christmas Program

This year, Ava took part in her first-ever Christmas program. This year was extra special, because it was the first year each child was able to dress up as the character of their choice. Ava, being true to form, chose the most appropriate role: angel. And if you ask me and Daddy, we think she was the prettiest angel up there!

Talk about precious when we saw the look of sheer elation on Ava's face as she marched in and saw us sitting in the crowd. She did such a great job - all the kids did (only a couple came down from the altar to sit with their families).

I definitely shed some tears at the sight of our big girl up on a big altar all dressed up singing Christmas carols. It was truly a sight - yet another time when I have felt very proud and blessed to be called her Mommy.

Ava (front and center - as always):

Directly above Ava is her friend Makenzie, and Emma is to the right of her (they both chose to dress as Mary):

Bump, Set, SPIKE!!

This past winter Ava, along with her friends Emma and Makenzie, took their first set of volleyball lessons. This class was geared specifically for kids age 4-8, and most of the time was spent learning the various lines on the court, hand/eye coordination, and very basic volleyball skills.

Although Ava and Emma weren't quite 4, the club that Emma's mom and I used to coach for was the club sponsoring the lessons. And, although they were the youngest by about a year, Ava and Emma were not the shortest ones out there.

I think we have the starting six in the making:
Ava practicing her setting skills:

Baby Claire

I know, I know. I am very far behind in my posting duties. Trust me: I plan to spend a long time tonight getting caught up (on at least a few).

To help tide you over, here are some pictures of my recent visit to see my friends Sarah and Nick and their new baby girl Claire:
All that hair! Reminds me of Ava when she was a little peanut:

Welcome Baby Claire!

Recently, my very good friend Sarah welcomed her third little girl. Claire was born 1/1/10, weighed 7 lbs, 5 ozs and was 21 inches long. Claire took her time wanting to come, and gave Mommy and Daddy a tough time - but she is here. Mom and baby are doing well.