Christmas Morning

What a picture to start with, I know. But, this is how Avi looked when she woke up on Christmas morning! She had some crazy hair going on. She took a bath and washed her hair at my mom's house the day before, and for some reason her hair went crazy. It looked like she had stuck her finger in a light socket. We even rebathed her that night and rewashed her hair, and it didn't help! Drew was VERY concerned about her hair!

So, of course, he had to brush it before she could go see what Santa brought her! It looked a little better after he brushed it, but it was still very funny looking.

I love this picture! When Drew put her down, she started running to her toys! It was so cute.

She loved gettting all the things out of her stocking. I'm sure it was like a treasure chest!

Showing us her Hello Kitty playing cards.

And, of course her favorite, M & Ms. She was very proud of them!

Opening one of her presents. You can see it in the bottom of this picture...she got a sit & spin. She loves it. She spins and tells us to look at her spinning. Very cute. I think she had a great Christmas morning! It was fun to watch her slowly discover and understand Santa this year!

Drew's Gaming Abilities

Okay, those of you who know Drew will really get a kick out of this video! Joel, my sister Abbi's husband, has a Wii, and he brought it home with them for Christmas. He got a new set of games for Christmas, and one of the games was sword fighting. And, so the video is of Joel (in the back) and Drew (in the front) doing their best sword fighting. Ya think Drew got a little into it??!! Notice the difference between Drew and Joel!

I don't wear diapers anymore, I'm a big girl!

This is the phrase I hear every morning when Avi wakes up & I am changing her diaper!

She says, "I don't wear diapers anymore, mama! I'm a big girl. I only wear diapers at nighttime!"

And, I am very happy to say she is right. I would venture to say she is potty trained! It just kinda happened. She decided she was ready...she's had a few accidents, but really not very many. I'm sure she will have more over the course of time, but she's doing pretty well! She pretty much tells us anytime she needs to go to the potty, and oh how nice it is not to be changing diapers all the time! I guess the focus has shifted, though! We're constantly asking her if she needs to go potty. Most of the time she says, "I don't." It's been fun to see her figure it all out, and it's pretty amazing that she understands when she needs to go potty now! So, I guess I got my Christmas present after all! And, it's a great one. Oh, and I promise, Christmas pictures to come. I'm working on it!

Big Girl Panties & Boots

Yep, it's hard to believe, but we are potty training. Notice her big girl panties in the picture (Elmo panties at that)? She loves wearing big girl panties. She's been potty training with pull-ups at school since September, but it's been pretty slow going at home. Even last week I would have told you she really wasn't cognitively ready. However, all of a sudden this week she seems to have turned a corner. She tells us when she needs to go (most of the time), and she's really making some progress! We are very excited. I'm hoping to be done with diapers very soon!! Wouldn't that be a great Christmas present?!

Bob, Judy & AnnaClaire gave Avi her adorable boots for her birthday. She L.O.V.E.S. them! I have to admit, she looks pretty cute in them. As she would say, "thanks, y'all!"

Every morning this past week Avi got a pillow off my bed and would pretend to take a nap on the floor. Then she would instruct me to take her picture! I made her pose with her baby doll, Amy! Aren't they cute?

Halloween Fun

Halloween started out with Drew, Cory & Joan completing an adventure race Saturday morning. They won the race, and they were the only team that did not consist of college students! I think they had fun! (Sorry, I don't have any pictures of it; I forgot my camera). In the afternoon, we played outside at home, and Avi loved the owl on her Halloween shirt...she was showing it to me in the above picture.

Avi was clapping because we were getting ready to go see Jack Fountain and Emily Adkerson.

Avi and Daddy

I tried really hard to get Avi to let me take a picture of her in her rain boots. She was totally ignoring me, and she did not want me to take anymore pictures. It's starting already!

Jack (the firefighter), Emily (the cowgirl), Addie (the zebra, oh wait a horse as she said...it's a long story), and Avi (the ladybug)

A close up of the girls

This picture is of Avi walking down the road to go trick or treating.

Walt or "Walt Man" as Avi loves to call him!

So, Walt was in the stroller, but soon into the trick or treating, Avi was so over it, and she booted Walt out and got in the stroller herself...she was relaxing!

Avi enjoyed the little kid's room at our church's Fall Festival. She loved riding that tractor, and she kept asking for the keys to it! All in all, we had a fun, full day. I'm glad Halloween only happens once a year! It's pretty tiring! Hope you all had a fun Halloween.

What's Red, Black & Polka Dotted All Over?

Why it's a lady bug, of course! Isn't she cute? Avi got to wear her costume to school this morning for a Halloween costume contest. Most of the kids and the teachers at her school dress up on Halloween. It's a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoy it!

This is Avi's best "cheese" smile. She kept saying, "Cheese. I wanna look at it, mommy." Everytime I took a picture, she wanted to look at it on the camera. Funny how they start understanding technology at such a young age.

These are a few of the kids in Avi's class. From left, Morgan, Miller (aka Miller Man), Avi, and Peter.

The kids with Ms. Elaine, their wonderful teacher

Haircuts & Pumpkins

I finally took Avi to have her haircut last Friday. It had gotten fairly long in the back, and it had some beautiful curls. However, the piece in the center of the back of her hair had gotten significantly longer than the other part, making it look like she had the infamous 80's rat tail. Drew had been on me for a while to get it cut, but I was just so hesitant to cut the sweet curls off. I took the plunge last week, and I am very happy with the results (the picture above is after the cut was finished). Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, and I took these with my phone; thus, the poor quality.

I had promised Avi M&Ms if she didn't cry and if she was a sweet girl while she got her hair cut. Needless to say she loves Ms (as she calls them) enough that she was an excellent little thing while she was in the chair getting her hair cut. I was very proud of her.

Last night we went to Starkville's first Pumpkin Palooza in downtown Starkville. We had a fun time, and it was a chore to get Avi to take a picture with the pumpkins. Again, I forgot my camera, so my phone had to do.

As a side note, we're headed to tailgate before the MSU/Florida football game. Go Dawgs! Hope we pull off a major upset tonight!

Where does Jesus live?

I had an interesting conversation with Avi this afternoon. I picked her up from school and as she was climbing into her car seat, she saw our Sunday School book. She started calling it mommy's Bible, and I didn't have the heart to correct her. And thus the following conversation took place :)

Avi: (gripping the Sunday School book to her chest) This mommy's Bible.

Me: That's right, that's mommy's Bible (again, not having the heart to correct her).

Avi: This Abi's Bible.

Me: No, that's mommy's Bible, but you may look at it (trying to teach her that not everything is hers...not sure it's sinking in).

Avi: This mommy's Bible (maybe it is sinking in)

Me: Avi, who does the Bible teach us about? (fully expecting her to say "I not know")

Avi: Jesus

Me: (extremely surprised and excited about her answer) That's right, the Bible teaches us about Jesus.

Avi: I see Him; I find picture of Jesus.

Me: I'm not sure there is a picture of Jesus in that Bible (thinking maybe I should have told her it wasn't a Bible??)

Avi: (she looks through the book several times) I not find picture, mommy.

Me: Well, I'm sorry sweetie. We'll look for a picture of Jesus when we get home.

Me: Where do you think Jesus lives? (I have no idea why it occurred to me to ask her this question)

Avi: in JACKSON!! (very excited that she knew the answer :)

Me: (trying to control my laughter) Well, I'm not sure he lives in JACKSON! I think maybe he lives in Heaven.

Avi: Yep, heben.

Me: Who else do you think lives in heaven? (thinking she might bust out with God or brother Austin or something like that)

Avi: Ummmm (one of her favorite things to say lately) Japheth (yes, she said Japheth, who is one of Noah's sons, as in Noah and the Ark...my mom taught her Noah's sons names, and she knows all of three of their names: Shem, Ham and Japheth!!)

So, really it was a fun and enlightening conversation on my part to be able to get a glimpse at what goes through my 2 year old's mind. Too funny.

Lots of Happenings

Last Friday night we went to a small fair that the Mississippi Horse Park had in Starkville. Avi had so much fun. We met up with Cory, Joan, Laura Leigh and Walt and had a good time letting the kids ride on the rides. Avi really enjoyed "driving" the cars. It was cute.

Riding in another car with Laura Leigh!

Avi also enjoyed a climbing/play gym that they had. She was really too young for it, but sweet Laura Leigh helped her go through the whole thing twice, and Avi was so excited. I'm not sure if you can tell in the picture, but she is dying out laughing coming down the slide at the end! Laura Leigh, thank you for taking time to help Avi go through the play area!

This picture cracks me up. She looks like she is glaring at me like a teenager! I made her let me take a picture of her :) at the tailgate on Saturday. I had to show off my abilities, though...I made the little outfit she is wearing in the picture (I made the pants and appliqued her name on the shirt). I was pretty proud of it.

Adorable Walt man!

Joan really had Avi's tickle box turned on at the tailgate!

We had dinner with some friends, Michele and Hans Herrmann. Their daughter, Petra, is about 9 months older than Avi, and they see each other at school a lot. They had fun playing with Petra's stash of princess dress-up clothes.

They were so cute sitting on the coffee table together!

Finally, about 2 or 3 weeks ago after church I went to grade some papers. When I got home, I saw the most magnificent rainbow I have seen in Mississippi, or anywhere for that matter, except for Hawaii. I could see both ends of the rainbow. It was just above our house, and it was beautiful. By the time I got into the house and got Avi and Drew to come out side to see it, it was almost gone. It was very neat to see, though. This picture doesn't do it justice.

Sesame Street Live

My sweet mom bought Avi this very large Elmo balloon

Since the RAIN ruined our plans to tailgate with friends before the MSU vs. LSU football game this morning, I thought I would post pics of our trip to see Elmo (been meaning to post this for a while!). Back in August, we went to see Sesame Street Live, Elmo's Green Thumb, in Jackson. We had a great time. I got worried there for a few minutes after the characters came out and started dancing because Avi turned around and put her head on my shoulder and said Rock Sing. It took her about 10 minutes to decide the characters were okay, and she finally turned around and started watching the show. From that point on, she loved it. She danced and clapped her hands!

She still had to have Boppy and her thumb, though!

Madison, Sheri, Mimi, myself and Avi all ventured to see Elmo!

The show was very colorful, and I definitely recommend it if you have a little one.

A Sweet Request

On this past Saturday  morning, Avi's birthday, when she woke up, I put her in the bed with me for a few minutes because I wasn't ready to get up yet to cuddle. Once she decided it was time for us to get up for good, I had a sweet (and funny) conversation with her. It went something like this:

K: Who's birthday is it today?

A: Abi's birday!

K: That's right, it's Avi's birthday today.

K: What do you want mommy to fix you special for breakfast today since it is your birthday?

A: Pause

A: Huge grin

A: Eyes cut over at me

A: CUPCAKES???

K: CUPCAKES??? (much laughter from me) 

A: Mmmhmm

K: Well, that's a good idea, but I think we better wait to have cupcakes this afternoon at your birthday party.

A: Disappointment

A: Okay, pancakes bananas?

K: Sure, that sounds much better!

So, all I could do was laugh when she asked for the cupcakes. It melted my heart. It was so sweet and she thought it was the best idea she had thought of in a while! Very sweet.

Birthday Fun

I should warn you, there are a lot of pictures in this post! We had a small party for Avi Grace yesterday. I think she had a fun time playing with the water toys. Thankfully the weather held out for us. The party ended at 5 and it started raining about 5:30!

Isn't her cake adorable? Carol Taylor (Sweet Temptations in Starkville) made it to look like a cupcake. She did a great job, and it was D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. Everyone raved about the taste of the cake. Thanks, Carol.

Nana Gayle and Avi

I should have practiced blowing out candles with her prior to her party! She wouldn't blow at all! Oh well...there's always next year!

She chose a pink cupcake!

Her 2 favorite things, cupcakes and cheetos!

She was saying, "Hey!"

I think she was a little overwhelmed with all of the gifts.

Well, this was it, her favorite gift for her 2nd birthday: a broom and dust pan! Thanks Aunt Sheri, Uncle Mike, John Michael (aka, Sun Michael) and Madison!!

Avi loves to put a diaper on her new baby doll. She says, "Peeyew" change your diaper baby." We named her new baby Amy :)

Loving the step stool. Thanks Mimi and Papa! Now she will be able to reach the sink to wash her hands and brush her teeth. Also, a big thanks to my friend Sarah Largen who painted the adorable step stool for us. You can't tell in this picture, but it has paisleys and Avi's name painted on the stool Love it. If you are looking for aunique step stool, you should check out Sarah's blog.

Drew rigged up this little number: our borrowed slide from the Fountain's into the baby pool! It was a hit, I have to admit.

This is one of my favorite pics from the party. Jack Fountain was moving the elephant's snout around to spray the other kids, and he cracked himself up!!

Okay, Emily had this pose she would do every time she got out of the water from sliding. It was hilarious, and I am glad I was able to catch it on camera!

Avi enjoyed writing with the sidewalk chalk.

Clay & Will Patterson, Avi's sweet little cousins. We're so glad they were able to make it to the party. They came all the way from Memphis!

Well, I had to throw this one in there. After the party was over, Drew immediately started cleaning up the water toys (bless him), and I looked up only to find him draped over the kiddy slide. I guess that position was helping him let the air out of that pool?? Not sure about that one!