Christmas Day, 2011

When Matt and I WOKE Ava up Christmas morning (that's right, we were probably the only parents in the world who had to wake up their kid), she did not want to get out of bed. This is nothing unusual for her, but on Christmas morning? Really? We told her Santa had come. We told her presents awaited her in the living room. We bribed her with hot chocolate and M&Ms... And yet, she wanted to stay in bed.

Finally, Ava decided to set her morning in motion, not by getting out of bed though... But by reading a book. Not just any book either, Ava specifically asked for the Bible. Matt and I thought her request was quite fitting considering reason for celebrating today.

About 30 minutes after we woke Ava up, she finally made her way down the hallway to see what Santa had left her. Instead of tearing into all of her new gifts, Ava stood in the exact same place, taking everything in, for about 2 whole minutes. That's a long time for a 2 year old... Especially for a 2 year old surrounded by new toys!

Eventually, Ava moved from her "let me check everything out" position and moved immediately over to the empty plate of cookies and empty mug of milk.

Ava leaned over the mug and excitedly shouted, "All gone!" Oh yes, the milk and cookies were definitely all gone, and I believe it is safe to say that Santa enjoyed every last bite of the treats Ava left for him.

And now, on to the toys! For several months now, Ava has had her eye on a certain teddy bear at Target. "Teddy bear" was the only thing Ava could squeak out through her tears when Santa asked her what she wanted for Christmas. Ladies and gentlemen... Meet, Teddy Bear!

Do you see the baby-doll crib in the picture below? Santa must have pulled some serious strings to get this crib to Ava. My grandpa made this crib for my mom when she was a little girl. My mom passed the crib down to me when I was a little girl. Santa must have found it somehow, spruced it up, added a bed skirt and bumper, and gave it to Ava for Christmas. Ava has played with the crib non-stop since receiving it, and the crib is now the official home for Ava's plethora of baby dolls.

Another one of Ava's favorite gifts from Santa is this art center. There is plenty of storage for markers, stickers, and paper galore! Plus, there is a lid that conveniently hides all of the art supplies while providing a flat surface, perfect for coloring, painting, and being creative!

I have been known to throw Ava in our jogging stroller, and gasp for breath, grunt, and will myself to run through our neighborhood. Our stroller, which in all seriousness is called a, 'BOB' is well known by my future running partner. When her eyes came across the stroller seen below, she placed her new baby doll in it and exclaimed, "Bob!"

Here is a throw back to my elementary school years... A Caboodle. Come on, I know I'm not the only one out there who owned one of these!

And not to be left out... Ava's stocking. Filled with her annual Christmas ornament, trinkets and candies.

After we opened presents, we enjoyed our first of many, "Blackberry French Toast Casserole Christmas Breakfasts." We got dressed, and headed to church. Due to the fact that Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, our church did not have childcare for the little ones. I completely understand their reasoning behind this decision, and I am thrilled that all of the hard-working Sunday School teachers got a morning off, and that they were able to enjoy the Christmas Day service. This did however, mean that Ava had to come into the Worship Center with us. She did great during the music, but I am sad to say that during the lesson, I had to take Ava out into the foyer. Either way, Matt and I were sure to let Ava know that Christmas is a day to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It should also be said that in this household, Christ's birth, and resurrection, are celebrated on a daily basis!  

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Following church, we headed to Matt's uncle and aunt's house (Tim & Kathy) for a wonderful, family Christmas lunch. As soon as Ava was finished eating, she spent the majority of the afternoon going up and down the stairs, taking Aunt Kathy along for the ride. Thanks, Kathy, for being such a great sport!

Eventually, we all huddled around the, ahem, GIANT Christmas tree to exchange gifts. I mean, seriously... Look at that thing! You are seeing less than half of the width in the picture below, and the tree's height is several more feet past the top of the photo. HUGE! But absolutely breathtaking.

As if our day had not been busy enough already, after lunch, we headed to my parent's house for yet another Christmas meal and gift exchange. We were apparently too busy having too much fun, because I don't have many pictures to show our time at my parent's house. I was also probably in a food coma from everything I had shoved in my mouth throughout the day.

Out of our time at my parent's house, I have proof that Ava loved taking her Playskool pup for a walk...

...And that God has blessed us with the most amazing daughter we could have ever imagined!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Believe it or not, Christmas Eve was one of our least busy days this Holiday season. Which is fine by me! We got to spend the day enjoying the company of wonderful friends and family, while kicking back, relaxing and celebrating the true reason for the season.

Our morning started by having our 2nd annual Christmas Eve brunch with great friends. Last year, Ava could not yet walk at Christmas, so my morning was spent chasing Ava as she crawled around the floor, making sure she wasn't putting unidentified objects in her mouth. This year, Ava is fully mobile and (thankfully) past the "put everything in her mouth" stage. What does this mean? I was able to enjoy my food and my conversations while kept herself busy playing with Tucker and Finn.

We are very blessed to have such amazing friends!

For dinner, we went to The Olive Garden with Mimi, Poppy and Gammy. Ava always loves spending time Gammy.

When we got home, Ava got to open one present before going to bed...

If you know my daughter, you know that she LOVES her mammies (jammies). You probably also know that she would stay in them all day if I let her (which has happened a time or two). Needless to say, Ava was very excited to find out that her Christmas Eve present was a brand new pair of Christmas jammies.

May I also mention that I was surprised and thrilled to get to open up my very own pair of Christmas jammies as well!

There was only one thing left to do before going to bed...  I hope Santa will enjoy Ava's handmade cookies!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!

Christmas Eve Eve

Christmas Eve Eve was spent with Matt's mom's side of the family. We had a wonderful evening, packed FULL of laughter, dinner, gifts and great memories. I was so busy enjoying the evening, that I managed to only take a handful of pictures... Here is a quick recap of the night:

Ava has the best cousins. Ever. She loves spending time with them.

After dinner, we all listened to Anna read us the Christmas story out of the Bible (Luke 2:1-20).

Then, wrapping paper, tissue paper, ribbons and bows starting flying as the kids tore into the Christmas presents.

Before Ava begins to tear into a present, she asks who it is from, and then says, "thank you." THEN, she opens the gift and typically says one of the following: Ooooh. Nice. Pretty. Awesome. Cute. What 2 year old precedes gift-opening with manners? My 2 year old, that's who! Ava also made sure to hug everyone in appreciation of all her fun new toys and clothes!

She's 2 and already, Ava tech savvy. Give her a cell phone, laptop, iPad... And she'll have it figured out in no time at all. Tonight, Aunt Lisa's video camera was Ava's gadget of choice. Thanks Lisa, for entertaining Ava and letting her play with your camera.

There is no better time than family time. Merry early Christmas!

Cookie Making Time

Our days leading up to Christmas have been spent enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season. Today, Ava and I took some time to slow things down, and bake Christmas cookies.

Ava enjoyed playing in the flour, pressing the cookie cutters into the dough, playing in the flour, putting the cut out cookies on the cookie sheet, and playing in the flour. :)

There are very few things better than eating warm gingerbread cookies just minutes after coming out of the oven. Ava definitely learned that truth today...

When the gingerbread cookies were done, it was sugar cookie baking time. While I switched out ingredients, cleaned bowls and wiped down the counter, Ava apparently got bored. She ran back to her room, where she got much more quite than I like to hear. Typically, silence = mischief. Not knowing what to expect, I asked, "Ava, what are you doing?" To my pleasant surprise, she responded with, "Reading the Bible." Sure enough, I walked back to her room and found Ava sitting on her bed and looking at pictures of Job (the man in green she is pointing to with her right hand). Her current favorite stories in the Bible include, but are not limited to:

-Jesus is born: When Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph are in the manger.

-Moses: When baby Moses floats down the river in a basket.

-Abraham & Sarah: They were sad because Sarah couldn't have children. Then they were happy when God blessed them with a baby.

-Samson: When he broke through ropes that bound him, killed a lion with his bare hands and tore down a building.

-Jonah: When the big fish spat him out (Ava likes to make a funny 'sptting out sound' while reading about Johan).

 

After a little Bible time, it was back to making cookies. When the sugar cookies came out of the oven, it was time to decorate them. I spread a beach towel on the kitchen floor, stripped Ava down to her diaper, made the 4 colors of icing Ava requested, gave her (never before used) paintbrushes, and let her decorate her heart out.

I made several dozen sugar cookies, and this activity kept her attention long enough to decorate each and every one!

They are the most beautifully decorated sugar cookies I have ever seen.

QT With the Cuties

We got to spend the past several days with some of our favorite people... The Usserys (Matt's sister and her family)! Of course, we were thrilled to be able to spend time with each and every one of them, but we were particularly excited to spend time, and meet for the first time, CHARLIE! He's so stinkin' cute!

Mimi and Poppy had everyone over for dinner one night. Ava got to join Jack and Finn at the kid table.... Sitting at a kid table is always fun. It's even better when you get to sit on the floor. On a pillow! When did Ava get so big?

Ava wanted to hold, kiss and snuggle with Charlie just as much as everyone else did. At first, I was hovering over Ava like a Hawk, making sure that she didn't you know, hit him, drop him or throw him across the room. To my pleasant surprise, Ava was amazing with Charlie. She was gentle (as gentle as a 2 year old can be), kind, and caring. This is good news to me since I will begin watching a friend's 3 month old at the end of January.

After dinner, Ava got to open her birthday present from John, Erin, Jack, Finn and Charlie....

That's right. A pink, Radio Flyer scooter. Don't be jealous.

Ava stood on the scooter correctly for about 2 seconds before she tried to push it around like a vacuum cleaner...

And ride it like a surf board.

Oh, and the best part of the gift? It came with this sweet helmet!

Somehow, the boys found Matt's old stash of transformers. Not wanting the boys to be bored, and have to play with the toys by themselves, Matt volunteered to play with them.

While the boys played, Ava and John spent some quality time together. This is worth mentioning and documenting with a photo because Ava was being quite a little stinker to her Uncle John the entire weekend. Whip out an iPad though, and Ava will be your best friend. 

Before we left, Ava asked Erin if she could hold Charlie. Ava loved every second of it and did a fantastic job...

Until Charlie started fussing. Ava then looked at Erin as if to say, "Uh, I didn't sign up for this."

I am so thankful that we are surrounded by no only great cousins, but amazing family as well! John, Erin, Jack, Finn & Charlie... We miss you already and can't wait to see you again soon!

Better Not Pout, Round 2

Last year, Ava's trip to see Santa was less than desirable. This year, we hoped for a different outcome, but I'll let you be the judge of how things went:

At first, Ava was curious, intrigued and captivated by Santa's Village at Four Seasons Mall.

She enjoyed hanging out with her super cool cousins while we waited in line to see Santa.

All of a sudden, we were next in line to see Santa, and all of a sudden, Ava was no longer curious, intrigued, and captivated.

The boys went first, all 3 of them. They told Santa what they wanted for Christmas. They all sat perfectly still, with beautiful smiles, while pictures were taken from afar.

While the boys sat on Santa's lap, Ava and I watched from a few feet away... So Ava could see that sitting on Santa's lap was no big deal.

Everything was fine, until... The boys got off of Santa's lap, and Ava realized it was her turn. She buried her head in my shoulder, and frantically started saying, "No Hanta! No Hanta"

I moved a little bit closer, and she dug her nails into my shoulders while tearing up and continuing to say, "No Hanta! No Hanta!"

As we approached the Jolly Old Man, Ava assumed the death-grip position as I threw her in Santa's lap...

All while screaming, "No Mommy, No Hanta!"...

And so, for the 2nd year in a row, Ava flipped out during our trip to see Santa. Let me say though, that while she was screaming and crying, she was very polite to the man in red.... When Ava first sat down, Santa said, "I love you, Ava." To which she replied (while screaming and crying), "Uh-Un, Hanta" (I love you, Santa). Santa then asked Ava, "What would you like for Christmas?" And while screaming and crying, with mouth and eyes open wide, Ava mustered up the courtesy to say, "Teddy Bear!" Santa handed Ava a coloring book, and without being prompted, she immediately said, "Cuh-Coon, Hanta!" (Thank you, Santa)... Again, while screaming and crying. Santa did his best to ask her more questions, but by that point, Ava only replied by saying, "Buh-Bye Hanta. Cuh-Coon. Cuh-Coon, Hanta. Buh-Bye." She blew him a kiss, jumped back in my arms and wrapped her little arms around my neck.

As soon as we were near the exit of Santa's Village, Ava was back to normal. Every once in a while, she would look back at Santa and say, "Hanta.... nice!"

Perhaps one day we'll get a picture of Ava smiling while on Santa's lap. If not, we'll certainly have an album full of hilarious pictures to share with her when she's older!