An Ode to Ava!

To my beautiful, independent big girl...

When you were born, I was overjoyed to have you in my life.
You were so small, so quiet, and the perfect little baby.
I cherished holding you every moment I could,
and always imagined when you got older playing with dolls, makeup and dress up.

Flash forward two years, and my small, quiet little girl is now a full blown toddler.
No more days that you only express yourself with those gorgeous eyes and huge baby smile.
Days are now filled with your boisterous voice and even bigger smile.
You sing-song throughout the day, and love calling your big brother to play.

My thoughts of you playing with dolls and being “girlie” have certainly come true...
And then some!
You sneak into my bathroom and play with makeup, only to be ratted out by the Spongebob and princess stickers you leave behind on everything you touch.
Necklaces and purses adorn you daily-whether they're for play or taken from mommy!

All of that personality that was hidden behind your baby blue eyes now can shine for all to see.
Your sweet kisses and hugs that are given out generously, and the way you tackle Dylan to the ground until he succumbs to all of your kisses,
Shows how loving you are...and how relentless you are!

You are affectionate, independent and sassy,
and you MIGHT remind me a little of someone I know :-)

Happy Second Birthday, Ava Grace.

Fore!

Now that the weather is getting warmer, our days our filled with outdoor activities. The kids are taking swim lessons, and Dylan is playing blastball. He loves sports – and was so excited to take his new set of golf clubs to the driving range with daddy!

I decided to go up there in order to take some quick pictures, and it was the absolute cutest thing I’d ever seen. He was practicing on the putting green, concentrating hard, and making it in the hole-even doing a celebratory dance. Needless to say, for the rest of the weekend, he was practically begging to go back! Michael took him to the PGA Superstore on Saturday hopefully to satisfy Dylan’s golf craving, where I heard he enjoyed practicing with an instructor. He even came home with a Titleist visor and golf glove...He got the visor Saturday and he has worn it every minute since then!

Concentration

Birdie


Celebration :-)

He’s my very ambitious future Phil Mickelson. I would’ve said future Tiger Woods, but with that comes a lot of controversy :-)

Hope everyone has a great week!

Easter Eggstravaganza

Easter weekend is one of my favorite holidays! I’ve been blessed to have a great extended family that includes the Highs and Boudreauxs that celebrate holidays together and have certain traditions that have stuck throughout the years.

Ava and Dylan's creations

Good Friday we had the annual fish fry at Michael and Kimberly’s – where my dad fries up fish, hush puppies, fries and sweet potatoes-YUM! The kids got to run around outside all night long jumping on the trampoline (Dylan’s absolute favorite), sliding down slides, playing in the sandbox and chasing each other around. There was the annual confetti eggs which all the kids love cracking on each others (and parents) heads, and this year they had a pinata filled with candy.

Neighborhood Egg Hunt

Petting Zoo

Saturday our neighborhood had free pictures with the Easter Bunny! We couldn’t pass that up, so we met up with Jason, Joanna and Kaylee and walked to the park. Not only did they have the Easter Bunny there, but there was also a petting zoo which Ava Grace loved, along with an egg hunt. The petting zoo had bunnies, chicks, ducks, roosters, lambs, etc. and Ava hugged/strangled all of them! It was such a beautiful day to be outside. The kids took turns sitting in the wagon with Kaylee, and each entertained her in their own little way :-)

Sunday we went to morning service and then got ready for Meghan’s Easter celebration. The kids got to participate in an egg hunt, decorate cupcakes, and have the annual “egg wars” that Boudreaux holds. I love being able to celebrate with family (extended or otherwise) during the holidays :-)

Of course, the Easter Bunny paid a visit to the house and dropped off a little something for each of the kids. Dylan freaked out over his new Snot Road car (yes, that’s the actual name from the Cars movie) and his Pez candy, and Ava Grace got a Snow White barbie and absolutely DEVOURED her chocolate bunny in no more than 10.5 seconds.

Hope everyone had a great Easter...and yes, I know this is being posted on April 19th but better late than never-LOL!

Open Ceremony and Parade

Dylan is playing blastball for the second year in a row. He had so much fun last year, we thought he would enjoy it even more now that he is bigger. The difference between playing at age 2 and 3 is amazing! He certainly has turned into my little man :-( This year he is on the Purple Panthers, and Michael is an Assistant Coach.

Next posts will be about swim lessons, birthday parties and Easter Eggstravaganza!!!

Park Fun

More than likely, the upcoming posts will be short and sweet, because I can't bear the thought of playing catch up! We've done so much the past month and have so many things planned for April...

Now that the weather is getting nice, we are getting out more and more in the evenings. I'm so glad we are able to walk to the pond and feed the ducks, and the kids can play on the playground. They have so much fun, just on the walk alone!

How do you spell determination? "A-V-A"!

Monkey Hang

"I'm not up to anything!"

Dylan and his million dollar smile

Baby Riley

While our beautiful baby niece Riley was born on Friday, March 12th, I’m just now getting around to downloading about 200 pictures from my camera! Dylan is super sweet and gentle with her, and will be such a great big brother to our third child. Ava Grace is still practicing her “gentle” and “nice” moves, but loves babies all the same. I caught a glimpse of how they will be with their baby brother or sister!