Ravioli Girl

All I can say is "WOW"! I am in awe at these pictures. I mean in the last picture she even has her tongue out and is licking the tray with her feet propped up on it! Just what every mom dreams of her little girl doing:)

Long Morning

I am working on dropping Averi's morning nap. She has been pushing it later and later (sometimes playing in her bed an hour and a half before falling asleep) and it has been messing up her afternoon nap. So I think she is ready to go to just 1 long nap in the afternoon. Really it will be better for me so that we can get on with our day. So today was the first day we tried it out. It was exhausting for me but seemed to have worked out well! The girls played here for a couple hours then we headed out the door around 9:30. Here is a recap of our morning...
Daddy put up Mia's tent in her room so they played in their for a while.

Then we went to the park to take a walk and see the ducks.


Then on to Old Navy to the Summer Loving Sale:) $1 Flip-Flops - woo hoo! The girls love this dog (it talks when you push the button) and to play with the soccer balls there.

I put Averi in the basket while we waited in forever long line (you would have thought it was Black Friday-crazy)

And finally over to Books a Million to play with Thomas the train and read books.


Then we went through the Taco Bell drive thru and headed home around 12:00. Boy was I exhausted at the end of the morning! But it worked and Averi slept almost 3 hours this afternoon...

Just Life

We had a super busy week last week. I taught 2nd grade at VBS at our church. It was a lot of fun. Mia got to participate with the 3 year old class as well. She had so much fun too. Her favorite part was the singing/dancing in the assembly every day. We also had my brother Joel and his wife Cristy here to visit for a few days. We had a great time hanging out with them even though it was a short visit.

Averi has been walking (all over) for a little over a month now and Mia loves it! They have so much fun running around together and she is always right on Mia's heels. She has also started to talk more. Her most recent new word is "Mia" (meee-uh). She walks all over the house repeating it over and over. Mia LOVES it and keeps saying "she said my name!!!" every time she says it. It's really cute. Mia is definitely Av's biggest cheerleader. There are still days where she still says "Mom, Averi's walking!" in this expressive little voice even though she's been doing it for over a month:) It's cute though. Here are a few recent pictures...

Ready to go "bye bye"...notice Mia's purse and beads! She has them everywhere we go!


Mia is constantly giving Averi kisses...so sweet!

Holding hands in the car

Averi, Connor & Mia at the zoo


This is Averi's favorite face to make. I love it!

After nap cuddles

Exciting News

I'm gonna be an aunt again! My little sister Jeanna is expecting her first baby. Her due date is January 20th so she is almost 10 weeks pregnant! We are all really excited for her & Jay. This will make grandbaby #7 for my parents.

Happy Hour at Sonic

Between 2 and 4 pm every day Sonic has there smoothies and slushes for half price. So one of the thing's we have been doing on super hot days is going to get the girls a slushy. They love it because they each get their own lemon slushy and it's only like 65 cents each. Also, we just got these little chairs for them and they each have their own now. They love to hang out on the porch and lounge in their new chairs...



Averi got caught stealing her sister's drink too:) Notice the guilty look on her face. She is so mischevious...

My Birthday

I had the BEST birthday, even though I turned 30:) It seriously was a great one! I went to lunch with my sister Jeanna and my good friend Susie. A couple of my other friends weren't able to make it at the last minute but the 3 of us still had a great time at P.F. Chang's.
Jon spent the afternoon working with his dad on the backyard. It is our major project right now. They cut down a couple trees that had basically overtaken the yard (we have a small lot) and they starting building the swingset that we just got for the girls. We are also adding a pathway back there. I'll take pictures of it when it's all completed. So, I got to hang out with the girls in the afternoon while they worked on that which is a HUGE gift to me. It will be SO great when it's finished!Lastnight we went to dinner with Jon's mom and dad at Brio's. Unfortunately his stepmom Marianna was out of town and couldn't make it. We had a great time though and the food and atmosphere was fabulous as always. Jon and his dad/stepmom went in together and got me a dozen roses and a day at the spa...seriously can't wait! I also got some money so I will definitely be doing some shopping this week too. Here are a few pictures of the evening...

Turning 30

So tommorow I turn the big 3-0 and I'm telling you I am really having a hard time with this birthday:) Never until now have I dreaded my birthday. I think the main reason is because when I was younger I always thought 30 was SO old and now here I am about to be 30.

So, trying to be positive about it all I have to say that I really am thankful with where I am in my life at 30 years old...happily married to the love of my life for 7 years (July 13th) and a mom to 2 beautiful little girls who are such a joy to me and my little blessings. I hope my 30's bring many more special memories with my family and maybe another little Spain???

Ballet

I think we have decided to put Mia in ballet class starting this fall at Briarwood. She absolutely LOVES to dance! Her favorite show is "So You Think You Can Dance". I made some money doing 1 on 1 soccer training this season and am planning to put it towards her ballet because I know she would love it. She has already been talking about it like crazy. Here are some pictures of her "practicing":)

"Making Averi Pretty"

As most of you know very well, Mia is quite the girly girl/princess and loves to dress up. Well now she is into "making Averi pretty" too as she put it:) I captured these pictures of her putting necklaces on Av and brushing her hair. I have a feeling this won't last too long with Averi's personality:)

Swimming & Visiting Baby Lily

My parents were SO nice to leave their water on through the summertime so that I can take the girls over to their house to swim on their awesome deck. It's wonderful because it is all enclosed and I can relax while they swim.







This is my good friend Aaron's new baby, Lily. She was born last week and is PRECIOUS! Really hard not to get baby fever when I was holding her:)

Here's Averi checking out Lily (and making sure I wasn't getting too attached). She kept giving her kisses and barking at her like she was a dog:) What the heck?! At least she was being sweet!

Pictures

Okay, so I'm on a roll here...Here are some pictures of my little ballerinas and a few pictures from Kevin & Julie's wedding Saturday:

Two ballerina's

Dancing together

She put her own lipstick on...can you tell?:)

Just being cute!

Last day with Mimi:(

Mia & Tiffany watching "the princess" (as Mia called the bride)

She is such a little flirt! She kept walking up to this kid & saying "hi".

Daddy & Mia hanging out

Me & Av

Mia dancing around at the reception

Mia hugging "Manda" (Amanda Cannon)