Christmas in July!

Ava just received a Christmas present... Yes, we know its July and no, it isn't from me! It is from her Aunt Annie (which is actually her great-great Aunt). She is always able to find the sweetest, most beautiful gifts. Case in point this picture frame:

It has her initials embroidered at the top

Thanks Aunt Annie and Uncle Don- I know she is going to LOVE it!

Wordless Wednesday

Shop 'Til You Drop- Final Post

(this picture was actually taken on the way up, but I forgot to post it and I figured it was too cute to leave out)
Okay, so I am pretty sure everyone is tired of hearing about our trip, but we were going then entire time we were gone, so there was a lot to tell! Tuesday morning we didn't really have any concrete plans and had just decided to play it by ear, and it actually turned out to be a good thing as Mrs. Dot got sick and stayed sick all night and day. So Mom, Leslie, Aunt Robin, Ashley, Samantha, Ava, and myself all decided to go shopping again (go figure- as if we hadn't already done enough). Mom and I had been wanting to stop by Macy's since we don't have one here, so off we went. We were only gone a couple of hours, but it gave Mrs. Dot some peace and quiet since we all know 7 girls together cannot be quiet, no matter how hard they try. After lunch, we came back and loaded up the van to leave. When I say loaded up- I mean loaded up. We had stuff crammed in every spare spot as evidence by this picture:

Remember all the space I had previously posted about in a mini-van- yeah, well we are obviously going to have to put restrictions on the size and amount of luggage- just like the airlines, because we didn't know if we would be able to get it all back home. Keep in mind, this picture is from the very back seat looking forward, what you can't see is the storage compartments underneath each middle seat and the very back of the van- Kinda sad isn't? :)

Even Ava's space seemed a little crammed- but that could be partly due to the fact that every time she saw a toy she wanted to hold it and we were not in any kind of mood to have a fussy baby on the 6-7 hour trip home- in our minds- she could have whatever she wanted. After I took this picture, I did strip away all the things in her carseat so she could be a little more comfortable.

Doing Business in Tiffanys

We actually came across a Tiffany's and believe it or not, we did some business in there. Now, by business I mean we all had to use the restroom and were looking for the closes one when a guy in a suit asked if he could help us find what we were looking for. The conversation went something like this:
Man in suit: Can I help you find something?

Me: Yes, we are looking for a restroom

Man in suit: Right thru those doors- we have one in the very back

Me: Ok, thanks as I turn to look, I realize he is talking about going INTO Tiffanys

Me: Are you sure?

Man in suit: Yes, go right on ahead

Me: Okay! Thanks! (notice it was with a little more enthusiasim)

We proceeded to head thru the doors, which a man opened for us. , Feeling like royalty, or at least someone who has a lot more money than we do, I say, sheepishly, "He said (pointing so she knew we weren't making it up) we could use the restroom!"

The woman at the counter pointed politly to the back of the room and said down the hall.

We obviously were feeling out of place and knew even the keychains were out of our league so we did bother to even act like we were interested. I did however check out the guy buying something in a little blue box that he carried out in a little blue bag.

At least Ava can say she stepped foot into Tiffanys before she was 1.

Shop 'Til You Drop- Part 3

Day 2- We got a late start becuase we were waiting on Aunt Robin to return from the doctor with Jim. They had an appointment to find out the results his scan so we sat around anxiously awaiting a phone call, praying it was good news. Finally about 11:00 we received the call- great news- the tumors had shrunk considerably- the oncologist was ecstatic, she even commented about how she had been on vacation and when she got back she was looking over the report late the night before and almost called because she was so excited- but she thought better of it and waited- and of course we all were thinking 'We wish you had called!' After the great news- we headed to the mart for another full day of shopping. This time, we learned how to get around security, so the stroller wasn't an issue. Leslie and I walked around the 13th floor is called "Children's World", it has every store you can think of. The first store we went into was Rosalina's and we even had hopes they would let us buy stuff, even if it had to be ordered, we could get it at wholesale, so we didn't care. I asked how much the minimum was to open an account and she said $100- I thought that was fair and then she proceeded to tell me that everything had to be ordred in 3's. It could be 3 different sizes, but it had to be 3 of one style dress. :( Bummer! So Leslie and I just daydreamed as we window shopped the floor of opening a baby boutique... We also passed a Feltman Bros store- It wasn't very big, but it was filled entirely with Feltman, my Nana would have been in heaven.

We had so much fun, and I think we definitely spent the bank. Ava, of course, scored the most, she got jewelry, clothes, more jewelry, more clothes and she even got a couple of puppets. She even had a couple of exhibitors give her some things to play with. Leslie got a little taste of what it is like to go anywhere with her in tow. She had picked her up at one point and was carrying her and had at least 10 people commented to her about Ava- she kept pointing toward me a few steps ahead- and saying- 'that's her mom'- LOL. We even had one offer to trade her for a sample!

After we left the mart, which closes at 6:00, we went to the mall to Janie and Jack since I had a gift card to that store and absolutely LOVE the store. There isn't one around here, I think the closest store is in Orlando and then Atlanta. So we went to the Rich Person's mall as we label it- Phipps is actually the real name, but in this mall they have all the upper end stores. This mall had a Tiffany & Co. in it and we actually took care of some business in there, but more to come on that....

After visiting Tiffanys and Janie and Jack, we headed over to another mall to eat dinner and then back to the house to call it a night. We were all worn out and I think I actually made it to bed before midnight, but just barely.

Shop 'Til You Drop- Part 2

For those of you who do not know what the mart is, it is this massive shopping center where gift stores and boutiques of every kind come and buy their merchandise. And when I say massive, I mean massive- there are 3 buildings and the smallest building only has 15 floors, the\largest only has 23.... They have everything you can think of here- it is just finding that is the problem. You can get lost and become very overwhelmed, however, this time, during the temporaries, which is when stores come and set up just for the market dates, we stayed in building 3 (the smallest building) since they had all of the temporaries. In the pictures below you can gain some perspective, however, let me mention that these store fronts are not 1 deep, many of them are 3 and 4 stores deep. You would spend a lifetime in there if you were to look at every store.

Building 3 looking around from the 4th floor

Building 3 from the 13th floor looking down

Now, the rules at the mart state that strollers are not allowed, but we thought- surely they aren't going to expect me to carry her around the entire time. Just to play it safe, we checked in and kept the stroller out of view and then mom carried it in while I carried Ava. Once we were in and past security, we pulled it out and set her up- we were ready to spend some money!! Wouldn't you know that I didn't make it 2 isles on the first floor we stopped at and someone came up to me and said "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the floor"...I thought they were absolutely insane. So, I, being the good mart attendee, took it out to the car and got the carrier and strapped it on. Anyone who has around a 20 lb. baby can vouch for me- it is NOT comfortable and she get very heavy after a few mins. She ended up falling asleep and slept for about 2 hours (I ended up carrying her about 3 hours) then we stopped for lunch. While we were eating, my shoulders were so sore and tight from carrying her, Mom offered to carry her next. She ended up falling asleep again and mom sat outside a store while we were shopping. Aunt Robin and Mrs. Dot decided they were going to try and sneak the stroller in again. They did and we played keep away from security. I do have to add that at one point (We were still carrying her, they asked to see her badge...I almost wanted to laugh out loud, but was too frustrated from digging in the diaper bag while holding her at the same time to laugh. I'm not sure what the purpose of stopping a 10 month old baby to see if they have a badge is...maybe they think she is a secret spy in disguise?) We made it thru the rest of the day without getting caught- to which our backs and shoulders thank us.

After the mart closed we went to eat at Mary Macs Tea Room, now the name of this restaurant implies a little girlie quaint restaurant...not so...this is restaurant that is southern cooking at its best- it is just about impossible to eat healthy at this place. If you are ever in Atlanta- you must go eat at this place!

Going thru some of the things we bought

With all that Ava had gotten on her first day, she was more interested in a paper bag....

Shop 'Til You Drop- Part 1

The travelers in front of the mini-van

This past weekend we set out for the Atlanta Gift Mart. Now, up until about 2 years ago I was a gift mart virgin, but not anymore, we have this thing figured out! We all wanted to ride together and with Ava and all the room her car seat needs, we knew we would need a bigger vehicle than any of us had. We ended up renting a mini-van. Yes, you hear right. The girls are going shopping in a Mini-van!!! I'll have to say, while I am not a mini-van mom, I can so see the advantages it has. So much room and now, everything is button operated, if you want the door open, push a button, if you want it closed, push a button- and the storage that is available seems endless- although we knew we were going to push the limits this weekend on the ride back with everything we were planning to buy. We arrived at my Aunt Robin's house right outside Atlanta about 11:00 on Saturday night. This was after a search for a birthday cake and party hats to surprise her with, which included 2 Publixs that were both closed, so we had to travel to Walmart and pick her up something. I think we ended up backtracking about 3 times...oh well...When we got to Aunt Robin's we hopped out and surprised her. Her birthday was earlier in the week and if anyone knows Aunt Robin, you know she loves a party- especially if it is for herself! I know we didn't end up heading to bed until after 1:00 that night. Ava did wonderfully- she was so excited to get out of her carseat, but I couldn't have a better child! The next morning we all got up and believe it or not- I had to wake Ava up to get ready to leave. Everyone else had already been up and ready and she was still sleeping away. I couldn't believe it. She had slept quite a bit on the ride up, but I guess we just wore her out once we got there- either that or she knew she was in for a full day of shopping so she wanted to get as much sleep as she could!

Notice the party 'tiaras'

Might I add that we had 8 girls staying in 1 house- plus Jim- poor Jim- he was going to be ready for us to leave on Tuesday.

10 Months Old

On July 5, 2009, Ava turned 10 months old. She is growing up so fast and developing such a personality. At 10 months old, she has 4 teeth and 2 more just below the surface trying to break thru. She is still in 6-9 month clothes and can still wear most of her 3-6 month clothes. She loves to babble and LOVES to sing, she has the sweetest little singing voice, makes me want to tear up when I hear her. She would much rather walk around holding our hands or onto furniture than sit or crawl. I have caught her standing by herself only once...but I know many more will come. She is very cautious and thinks thru each step before she takes it. I love how she is so much more confident when she is holding my hand than when she is holding onto the chair. Oh, to have the faith like a child, I can only hope and pray I never disappoint her. She is growing up to be Miss Independent and would rather feed herself than someone else do it for her. I am having to learn about nutritious finger foods :) Whenver we go anywhere, we will have more people than we can count comment on what a cutie she is and of course, she just smiles back at them, which makes them enjoy her presence even more. Ava has earned the nickname given to her by my dad as 'Swivel'- as in swivel around- she has got to be the nosiest child in the world, nothing can slip by her and she is going to know what is going on - no matter what! She is the love of our life and we can't imagine what we would do without her. We often ask the question, 'what did we do before we had her?' I am so looking forward to watching her grow up, knowing it is going to be fun and crazy ride!

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! Ava had a day filled will several firsts, so of course, this will be a post of several pictures! Adam and I both were home all day and spent the morning hanging around the house playing with Ava. We discussed going and doing something several times, but we never really found something we really wanted to do, so we were just lazy for a good part of the day.

Later that night, we went to Fernandina to get on a boat to watch the fireworks. We knew this would be interesting to see Ava's reaction on the boat and also her reaction having to wear her life jacket the entire time. We left early enough to ride around for a few minutes before setting up to watch the shows. The night was absolutely perfect, we watched a beautiful sunset and the moon was about 2 days from being a full moon, so it was georgeous all the way around- great for pictures :)




After we rode around for a little while, we got into postion to watch the fireworks. We sat in the intercoastal and were able to see fireworks from the Plantation, the Ritz, Fernandina, and St. Marys, we had, as Mr. Lane put it, surround sound :)


Ava did so good, when we were riding around, she just sat up on the front of the boat and laughed with glee watching everything go by. After we finished riding, she got a little tired and took a short nap, which we all thought was amazing as uncomfortable as she looked in her life jacket. She woke up right before the fireworks were to begin and we watched the show. She was interested, but I think her bed time just got the best of her, because about half way through the fireworks, she was out- and she stayed out, even when we took her out of her life jacket and placed her in her carseat, she didn't even wake up when we got home. She did so good and we are so proud of her. Adam and I both love that we can take her just about anywhere with us and she will do good. I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!