Ava Update

Ava is really turning into a toddler! She can now stand up on her own and balance and is wanting so bad to take a step, but she just isn't quite sure of herself yet. It won't be long. Today she crawled to the top of our stairs all the way from the bottom! I almost died. Same story tenth verse, someone, hmmmmm, wasn't watching her and the baby gate was open and she headed to the very top. Thank goodness she didn't fall down but seriously this better be the last time I write something like this or it ain't gonna be pretty in my house! auugghhh! Anyway, I have been listening to her lately and I really thought she couldn't say but a few words until I started writing down all of the ones she would say.....I have to say I think she takes after sissy. Here are the words she can now say: Dada, Mama, Baby, Bible, Pray, Dear God (she puts her hands together when she says that or "pray"), Ruff (dog noise), Moo, More, That, Ball, uh oh, bite and done. She will also help me dress and undress her now, likes to imitate putting on clothes, sunglasses, headbands, and hats and likes to try brushing her hair. She loves to read books and loves books that have big flaps or have music. She is very nuturing with her baby doll and will pat it's back and head and kiss it, but then she gives really sweet kisses to all her toys, esp. the dolls and animals. She will give kisses to pictures of babies too. Very sweet. She will pretend go to sleep lately. If we are playing and I pull out a pillow and say "time to go night night" she will lay down and be real still. It's cute. Well, hadn't updated on her in a little while, so thought today would be a good day.

Evening Stroll

Daddy was just really excited to have a nice natural trail to go to!

We are very blessed here with lots of parks and walking trails that really are in the middle of the woods, yet a few hundred feet from a road. It's weird because we are so close to everything but on these trails you can't hear cars or any other outside noises except for nature. Uncle Chad and Aunt Lesley will be proud that we are watching very little TV and getting out all the time now! We are loving the environment we are in.

The new cradle roll class

I'm ready for class Miss Mommy!

Here are two pics of the new cradle roll room at the church building. I wish I had taken some before pics but truly there was nothing to see. It was all white and had crazy curtains up. There was a crib, a box of broken toys, a changing table that was broken, and 2 very very very old upholstered chairs that sort of rocked but not really and where hard to get in and out of. It was interesting, but with a lot of help, it has turned out quite bright and cheery if I do say so myself. The changing table in the pic has been removed and a new one is in it's place. I am working on getting a glider or 2 donated also to take the place of an old wooden rocker that hits the wall after about 4 rocks. Also I still need to paint the "tails" on the kites but that will be a quick fix. Otherwise we are up and going. Ava and the other babies are thriving! The first Sunday we had class, we had 4 babies! It was wild. Two were about 4 months and 2 were 1 year old. Usually I have 3 on Sunday and 2 on Wednesday nite and they love it. I am so thankful to be able to teach these babies. It is amazing how quickly and early they soak up the routine and start really getting into it!

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

Wow fire and ice cream.....

Um...why is it not in my mouth yet?

All right this is ridiculous....GIVE ME THE ICE CREAM!!!

On the 13th, Ava's actual birthday, we did our own little family celebration for her. We went to the mall, had pictures taken, played at the indoor playground, ate at Olive Garden(she said all she wanted for dinner was whatever would make her mommy and daddy the happiest....go figure!), and got her some ice cream at McDonalds. I put a candle in it and we sang happy bday to her. Unfortunately once she realized we had ice cream she threw a major fit because we weren't giving it to her right away. I took too much time putting the candle in and lighting it and singing the song so we got quite a hilarious shot of her with her birthday ice cream.

A year and a scorpion

Ava had her 1 year appointment and shots today. She did wonderfully and is very healthy. She weighs in at a whopping 18 lb 8 oz and is 30.5 inches tall. She is tall and skinny according to the percentiles. I really thought she would be well over 20 lb right now since she has been eating like crazy but I guess she's burning it off with all the crawling she is doing. They strongly urged me to take her to have blood drawn for lead testing which they are telling all the parents to do but I'm just not sure about it. I know that lead poisoning is real and bad but also we have a very low risk lifestyle for it and I really don't want to put Ava through having her blood drawn. It wouldn't just be a finger prick. What do you other moms with youngsters think? Anyway, she is a happy healthy baby.

Elle also had a check up today and she is exactly 30 lbs.... so tiny and long! She cried worse than Ava when they wanted to check her blood pressure until she realized it wasn't going to hurt. After all of that both girls got to get a book...they give books instead of candy and I think that's pretty cool!

Another interesting thing happened today....the girls and I were playing in the "dining" room which is really just a toy room to us, and Elle said "Mommy!" I looked and she was pointing at a bug, which actually was a scorpion! I FREAKED OUT! It is only by the grace of God that neither girl was stung by that scorpion. They had both been crawling around and playing all over that floor and all of the sudden it was right in the middle of the floor. I ran and got a glass and put over it until Shawn got home. He killed it outside. Long story short, Elle is now petrified of our house and afraid another one is going to get her (I don't blame her). I am petrified that Ava will try to pick one up or that one will sting either girl, and an exterminator is coming Thursday to do a mega extermination and we shouldn't see any more lives ones ever again. This may sound silly but please pray that scorpions stay away from the girls. Our neighbor has had a huge issue with them (seeing 10 in one week in her house) and her boys have been stung, but she finally called the exterminator and doesn't seem to have a problem with them anymore as long as she continually has him come out about every 2 months. This is going to cost us a bit of money that we weren't planning for (of course!) so just pray that they stay away from us!!! I really don't like bugs and ESPECIALLY ONES THAT STING!!! Okay so another day another story from the Montexans.

One Month

One Year

What a difference a year makes!

The last bit

Here's the dress Nana gave Elle. Ava got a matching one but it's alittle too big so I'm going to get the next size down and of course get their picture together!

Cute girl with a cute haircut...this style really seems to fit her personality.

I just love this picture of a cupcake I took at Ava's bday party.

Happy girl swinging away at the park.

There were a few pictures I wanted to share that didn't really have anything to do with the last two posts. Enjoy.

Come on in

These pictures are sort of backwards but you get the idea none the less. Enjoy the long awaited pictures from inside our home.

Ava's room...looks the same as in Greenville but a LOT more room to roam!

Elle's room

Our bathroom



In the open area upstairs

Master bedroom

The girl's bathroom

Scrapbook room/Office

The living room

The kitchen
The hallway when you first walk in the front door


Duh....the front door

Ava's Party

Ava's party was a lot of fun. My favorite thing was watching her dive into her cake. She acted like she was digging through dirt to find a hidden treasure and if we hadn't taken the cake away eventually, I think she might would have torn up the whole thing. What a sweetie and what a wonderful way to celebrate the first year!

525,600 minutes

1 Day Old

That's how long we have had sweet Ava Kate in our lives! She is one today and we are so excited. She is a sweet little baby and we love her so much. Happy Birthday Ava!

1 Year Old

Hayden turns 2!

A note of warning...if you like to read these things in order it's very important that you go back and read the previous post first or the surprise change will be very anticlimactic!

Okay onto the party. So, we went to Tyler this past Thurs-Saturday to celebrate my nephew turning 2. We missed his first birthday last year since I was going to have a baby in 6 days! We had a great time in Tyler. As soon as we arrived, I headed to the CCC sale to look for fall/winter clothes for Elle. I found some great stuff as usual. I got her about 10 shirts, 2 pants, 2 dresses, a pair of pink boots that she won't ever take off!, and got Ava one dress. It all came to about $100 which I thought was great! Then Friday, we got Elle's hair cut (see previous post) and went and saw my G-mama who is in rehab(ha ha ha)...physical therapy! Friday night we ate yummy Mexican food with my parents and then did a little shopping for Ava's bday. Saturday we chilled out and then headed to Hiney's bday. It was great! My sister did a wonderful job with the whole thing. Both Elle and Ava had a blast! The food was wonderful and the cupcakes were the best I've ever had! Never had icing that good before! Then we started home around six and arrived back home around 10 pm. It was a long weekend but a great one! Now it's time to gear up for Ava's big ONE! The 13th is the actual day and I think we're going to take her and have her pictures made as well as family pictures. What an exciting week ahead for us!

Don't adjust your screen color...that is the right color. Although the cupcakes were D-licious!, they were also colored with some toxic stuff that will probably have us all glowing in the dark...but it tasted good.

Saved the best pic for last. What a cute table Laura had all set up.....look in the middle! And it's beans he's after.