Be Brave Braves!

Since the Braves won last night, I thought I would make my Daddy and Uncle proud and wear my Braves outfit. Hopefully this will bring them good luck while they play tonight and the rest of their games and we can send them to the playoffs! But, if they don't win- you can't blame this little face:

Did you feel it?

Did you feel it?

You know, when you walked out the door this morning....

Did you feel it?

I sure felt it!

It felt cooler than it has been in months and it even had a breeze all day! I am so ready for fall! Maybe now I can get ready in the mornings, load up the car, and not look like I have just run a marathon!
Happy Fall!

Don't Insult the Alligator 'til you cross the river...

Yesterday was such a beautiful day we would have done it an injustice if we hadn't spent it on the water! We went with some friends to the river and had a great afternoon. Thanks to Mrs. Linda for being the grandma of the day- she fast became Ava's best friend when she brought out the snacks and then held her while she slept!

We all agreed that Lyndsie really acted like she knew what she was doing (moreso than the rest of them) but, she does need to work on her getting-off-the-boat technique. haha!

(cut off the top part of Grant's head- must have been too much air- haha! )

We even saw a rainbow!

Leslie giving it a go- or a let go ;)

Okay, she's done!

See the huge wasp nest? Yes, we didn't tell Leslie that she was near this, until she saw the pictures later that evening!

Our driver for the afternoon- she's cool and in control

We had a great time, the weather was perfect- it started to sprinkle a little, but it quit just as fast as it started. I will say, this didn't help with our boat fever :)

Dancing, Cookies, and Ice Cream!!!

Last night, after making a quick stop to see the newest addition to our family- Raeleigh, we went out with some friends to eat. We went to Joe's Crab Shack which is always a fun place to eat and more importantly, a place Ava has plenty to see. She loved it when the lights would go down and the crazy lights would come on. She kept trying to grab them. Haha! If you have ever been to Joe's you know that when the lights go down and the music gets louder they are about to dance. Ava wasn't too sure about all the people dancing, but I think she felt better when these two jumped in on the fun....

Yes, Jeremy and Lyndsie did dance on one of the songs :)

Here Ava is trying to dance as well, but she wasn't going to get up in front of everyone, she was going to stay behind the table. After dinner we all went to this place called One Hot Cookie. I'm not sure how long it has been here, but Oh My Goodness!!! It is amazing. You pick your cookie dough (we chose chocolate chip), you pick your topping(s) (we chose white chocolate), and you pick your ice cream flavor (we chose vanilla) and add chocolate syrup if you want and before they add the ice cream and syrup they bake the cookie just enough that it is gooey and almost done and then top it with ice cream. It tastes amazing. If you haven't tried it- you must go! I'm almost wishing they hadn't told us about it- because it is going to be hard to refuse if we are in the area.

They had several different ice cream flavors to choose from- Ava was really wanting to get into all of it, I have a feeling her grandpa will have a little competition for his ice cream bowl when she is a little bigger- this girl loves her sweets- but I can't complain too much because she is really good at eating her veggies too.
We had a great time out - as always!

A Heavy Heart

I'll start by saying that I am writing this post with a heavy heart.

On the way home last night, I was listening to a song that basically talked about going through storms in your life and when everything is down knowing your strength comes from the Lord. I was listening to that song thinking having a child really puts things into perspective. Things that were such a big deal before, aren't any longer. It's amazing how something so small can make such a big impact. I also started thinking that anything I have been through in my life at this point is minor compared to what some families I know either personally or through the "blogsphere" are going through. I am amazed and in awe of people who sit by watching their child fight a sickness or newborns fight to live and still praise God in the midst of it. I would like to think that I would be able to do the same thing if it ever were to happen to me, but honestly, I don't know if I could. It would be very hard- its much easier to say than do.

Sometimes I have to stop reading other blogs or thinking about people I know going through things with their kids because it just breaks my heart- I have nightmares about something happening to Ava and while I know that God is in control and he can see the big picture that I can't, I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to Adam or Ava. I know we have been through times when we wondered if we were going to make it out a live, but its amazing how after you travel through it and look back you see it wasn't as bad as it could have been or as bad as what someone else may be facing. I have a heavy heart because I look around my life and realize I have a great life. I have a wonderful family, I have great job that I am fortunate to be able to bring Ava with me everyday, I have food in my cabinets, I have a roof over my head and we are currently house hunting and some of the homes we are looking at are ones we never would have dreamed we would ever be able to afford. I don't say all this to pat myself on the back I say all this to say that last night I felt an overwhelming burden for the people who are struggling. In today's economy there are so many people losing their jobs and homes on top of those who are facing death in their families and to think that I was frustrated because Ava wouldn't go to sleep last night and I had to fight with her for 2 1/2 hours....I just wanted everyone who reads this post to think of those people (whether you know them personally or not) and say a prayer for God to comfort them and give them the strength they need to make it through each day.

I know that right now my family is on a mountaintop and that everything is looking good and that there will be a day where a storm will come and knock us down, I pray that when those days come that I will be able to stand and say that my strength comes from the Lord and that he will be the one I turn to when everything falls apart.

Guess Who!

Guess who slept in until 8:00 this morning....

I could say she did it for her mommy who desparately didn't want to have to hit the ground running at 7:00 (or earlier) like usual....

But, to be real honest, I think she did it because she was so comfortable in her Ace shirt! ha!

Jags Home Opener

Sunday was the Jags home opener against the Arizona Cardinals and we lost- big time- of course I'm not going to sit here and make excuses, but I am going to say that the refs were awful. To be honest, I usually say they have a hard job and I wouldn't want it for all the money in the world since you have to be able to see things when they actually happen- you don't have a slow button for real life- but I believe I could have out done them yesterday. (okay off my soap box now....)

Anyways, it was our 6th anniversary yesterday and so we decided we would all go as a family, meaning Ava would go. Now I know some of you would think that it is odd that I would want to go to a football game on my anniversary, but it is something we love to do and love to do it as a family and of course I would want to spend my anniversary with my family- so it was a no-brainer. I was a little disappointed the Jags couldn't pull off a win for us though.

I was a little worried how Ava would react since it had been almost a year since the last time she attended a game- so this would be a test on whether we would try to bring her to future games. She did soooo good- I was so surprised. I mean, she is always a good baby- but she just blew me away with how good she did. She actually fell asleep during the second quarter and slept through halftime. It was so sticky outside- if the breeze had been the least bit existent it would have been nice, a little hot, but nice overall. Here little cheeks were so rosy, but she had her grandparents to keep her cool with wet rags.

After her little cat nap..hehe...get it? Cat nap? She had was up and ready to cheer for the Jaguars! She was very interested in everything that happened on the field and would lean to see around people if they stood in front of us or if she was sitting down and couldn't see over them....we have always said she loved football and she still does.
After the game was over and since we weren't in extremely chipper moods after losing, we were walking back to the car. Now we have a parking pass and we really like our parking spot because you literally have no traffic in or out of it, so its really easy to get to, but it is about 3 blocks away and when you are carrying a 22 lb baby, after sitting in the sun, after losing, you really start to consider changing your lot. However, this sweet lady must have feel pity on us, she offered us a ride and boy did we accept!

We just knew Ava would fall asleep in the car as soon as we buckled her in- but she didn't and she stayed awake until her bedtime that evening- I believe this girl loves her some Jaguar football :) (which couldn't make her daddy happier)

It's Great to be a Florida Gator!!!!!

I am starting to think that from now thru December all of my posts will be about football....





Saturday was what I consider the Gators first game, yes, technically they had 2 games they have already played, but I don't consider them real games....not when you beat teams by margins of 45 or more.... We went over to Grant and Leslie's house and ate, watched football, ate, watched football, ate, watched football- did I mention we ate? We made typical football type food and just snacked the entire afternoon and evening- and boy was it good.

Ava thought she would take matters into her own hands by using the remote control- good thing for the guys it wasn't the right remote

She wanted to get really close so she could feel like she was actually at the game :)





We had a lot of fun and took Ava for a ride on the golf cart to see the cows and horses. She of course loves animals and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I will mention that since it was Grant's parents golf cart we took off on, it was all FSU'd, so we did our best to add Gator to it.




Told you we added as much Gator to it as possible. And can I just say- this golf cart was truly trying to tell us girls that we were over the weight limit- each time we would hit a bump- it let us know. haha!

Riley came over to play with us for a little while- but then Adam upset her by jokingly telling her he ate all her Reese Pieces- she started booohooing....poor thing! Even after we gave her the candy, some milk and cookies, she still didn't want to hang out with us anymore.

I think Jeremy came by out of sympathy for Grant- since he was the only Seminole fan in the entire house- Jeremy must have thought he needed support.

Did I mention we ate?