Videos of Ava Swimming

I'm sure this will not be of any interest to anyone other than grandparents, but I took a couple videos of Ava swimming in the pool yesterday. She has really turned into a fish :)

Ava Swimming 7/29/10 from Stephanie Henderson on Vimeo.

Ava Swimming (2) 7/29/10 from Stephanie Henderson on Vimeo.

Girls Day at the Mall

Ava has been to build-a-bear a few times now, and since Daddy was gone AND they were running a promo we decided to take Ava. She knew the drill, she went straight in and picked out the animal she wanted. She ended up picking out the tropical hello kitty, so we waited our turn in line to stuff the kitty.

When it was our turn, Ava picked out the kitty’s heart and opted to put it on the kitty’s head instead of inside her- so the sweet lady took extra care of the heart and placed it inside the kitty :)

If you don’t know the drill after the animal is stuffed, you give it a bath and pick out the outfit and accessories. Ava knew the drill and kept saying “Clothes! Clothes!”

The finished product :) Everyone meet Kitty!

Another thing on our agenda was to look for Ava a flower girl dress for her Uncle Brian’s wedding, so we went and had her try on several different dresses- poor thing had only had a 30 minute nap all day and was extremely tired- we were treading on thin ice! We finally found one I thought was cute and since it was on sale I went a head and bought it, I have a couple other ones that I have found online that are really cute as well, so I’ll just hang on to the receipt until I decide for sure. We kept calling it her princess dress- just to get her to try it on without having a meltdown. After trying on the last dress she just lost it- so my mom took her downstairs to watch the kids play in the play area while I paid for the dress.

Right there at the play area is a train- I’m sure you have seen them at all the malls…Ava kept pointing to it and saying “Choo! Choo!” So we paid ridiculously overpriced amount to ride it. She wasn’t too sure at first, but as we got going a little further she relaxed a little and enjoyed it.

Even though you can’t tell by the look on her face she did have fun and she did smile through most of it….and after we got off, every time we would see or hear the train she would say Choo! Choo! and look for it. She was just really really tired at this point. I will say she thought she was something else when Aunt Ro Ro and Meggie waited for us in the middle of the mall and yelled her name and waved to her.

It wasn’t long after the choo-choo ride that she had a full blown meltdown. It was about 6:00 by this point and the child is used to getting at least a 2 hour nap and she was trying to go full steam on a 30 minute nap, so we headed home. We had a great girls weekend, but we were so glad to see Adam when he got home Sunday evening.

***Thanks to my mom the brilliant photographer…I think she took about 20 pictures of the train ride and most of the were blurry and a few of them were of the floor only! :) We need to get her into some basic photography classes soon!

Book Recommendation

I’ve always loved to read- always loved it! However, as most moms can attest- I just don’t have the time to read, so I used our trip to Atlanta as a chance to read a book that had been on my list for a little while. This is book is by Angie Smith (her husband is lead singer (Todd Smith) in Selah). I had followed her on her blog as she carried her daughter through a pregnancy many doctors had suggested she abort.

I won’t tell you all the details, because I think you should read it. I was telling Adam a little background on it before I started reading and he made the comment “Why would you want to read something like that!” It would undoubtedly cause me to cry and my heart to break for what the family was going through in the book. This book was so much more than that. It’s audience was definitely more those who had suffered loss, but anyone, no matter the circumstances, would be able to take something from this book. The walk of faith that Angie and Todd had throughout the pregnancy and even after is amazing. Yes, I cried, but when I closed the final pages of the book I felt a sense of hope. You must read this book and more importantly you must keep it on your list of something to give to anyone who has suffered a loss. I think anyone who picks up this book will grow in their faith!

Cousin Time

Adam left town last Thursday evening. He and several other guys went to a lake house in North Georgia and did a bunch of guys stuff…so Ava and I filled our weekend with a bunch of girl stuff. :)

Raeleigh and Shelby came over Friday evening to play. Ava adores Raeleigh and talks about her all the time. You have to keep a careful eye on Raeleigh because everything goes straight to her mouth. I was lucky and really didn’t have to worry about that with Ava, so her playroom isn’t exactly free of small items.

That didn’t stop them from destroying the playroom in a matter of minutes :) They had so much fun! They both have a lot to learn in the “sharing” department, but despite a few temper flares they were perfect!

 

Raeleigh and Ava are exactly a year apart so it is fun for me to see Raeleigh and remember the stage Ava was in a year ago. It doesn’t seem possible for time to be flying by so quickly!

 

After a little while, Ava wanted to show Raeleigh her slide, which is currently in the living room, so we moved in there where Ava brought out her ‘colors’ (aka- markers) Raeleigh immediately went for them and put them in her mouth. Ava knew this wasn’t right, so she grabbed Raeleigh’s paci and kept trying to put it in her mouth.

Raeleigh would take it for a few seconds and them spit it out and the whole process started all over again…..

“Good Girl”

“But I don’t want it!”

“You’re going to take it- TAKE IT!”

Ava hasn’t stopped talking about Raeleigh since she left- we will have to get them together again soon!

Atlanta Mart

There are 2 big marts each year- one in January and one in July. It had been a year since I had last been, my mom and been a few times since, but the last time we went we had to sneak the stroller around because Ava was with us. Now that she is over a year old, she isn’t allowed in. Adam was just a good hubby and daddy because all it took was a little bribery (aka. Braves game) and he said he would come along and watch Ava while we were shopping.

I knew it was going to be a great trip when we ate dinner on the way up at the Cracker Barrel in Tifton. We had a waitress that had the biggest country accent I have ever heard.When we go to Ace conventions I always have people ask me where I am from and I say North Florida and usually their response is- “Oh, it must be that south Georgia coming out in your accent….” I hope it isn’t as thick as our waitresses was. We laughed so hard we couldn’t hardly order our food. Of course after each person ordered she would ask if they wanted “beeeeescuts or cornbread” and we would die all over again. (Disclaimer: She had no idea we were laughing at her- we aren’t that mean! I’m sure she thought it was something else we were laughing about)

We had such a good time, we left Thursday afternoon and came home Sunday and crammed as much stuff into those few days as possible! Friday and Saturday we spent all day at the mart….We were tired by Saturday night! It didn’t help that Thursday night or Friday night Ava didn’t fall asleep until AFTER 3:00!!!!

After shopping all day on Friday we met Adam at the Varsity, ate dinner and headed to the Braves game, we rode the MARTA to the game- Ava wasn’t too sure what to think about all of it.

 

Ava did so good through the entire game, she actually ended up fall asleep about the 4th inning and waking up about the 7th. There just wasn’t enough action on the field to warrant her interest…and apparently she thought she was at a football game and she slept through halftime…Either way, she never once fussed and enjoyed watching everyone around her.

It was hot at the game- every now and then a breeze would blow and it would be really nice, but there wasn’t much of a breeze throughout the game.

After getting home, looking through some of our stuff we had bought earlier that day, we all got showers and went to bed…everyone except Ava and myself…apparently the child needs no sleep, we were up until after 3 again…I had a venti coffee from starbucks every morning- otherwise I wouldn’t have made it through the day!

Saturday morning we all got up and headed to the mart again, Marty and Caroline came with us and Caroline was such a trooper- she hung with us and we were all impressed, we figured Saturday morning she would have ended up staying back with Adam and Ava, but she surprised us all :)

Here are most of the necklaces I got, I am running out of room in my jewelry box so I bought a cheap picture from the dollar store, added some hooks and ta-da instant jewelry display. It has been working out good so far. I keep my nicer jewelry in the armoire and the rest on the frame. I also added a decorative bowl and plate for my earrings and bracelets on my dresser.

I like that I can see everything right there and since I hang the frame in our closet- no one sees it- and the dish is decorative enough it doesn’t seem to create a cluttered look- which I was initially worried about.

Probably my favorite piece of jewelry I bought is something called a Journey Locket.

 

It is a locket that you can change the pictures in whenever you want. I absolutely LOVE it. I have worn it just about everyday, especially since I can change the pictures to match what I am wearing that particular day. You can also see both the front and the back so it really holds 2 pictures.

Ava loves to show me her daddy when I wear it, she will point at it and say “Daddy! Mama, Daddy!!!” So cute and sweet :) They had different sized squares and round lockets and you can easily change the necklace that you have it on to a pearl necklace  or different types of silver or gold necklaces or your own necklace.

After the Mart on Saturday we met Adam and Ava at Mary Mac’s to eat. It is a restaurant in downtown Atlanta that has a lot of history and good southern food. We always eat here when we come to the mart. We had a lot of fun, we were completely worn out by the time we arrived home on Sunday, but already looking forward to going back! Thanks to Aunt Ro-Ro for letting us crash her house. She isn’t in any of the pictures because she was working at the mart, but we enjoyed spending time with her after we all made it back home!

Michael Buble

My mom took me and my sister to see Michael Buble in concert. It was hands down the best concert I have EVER seen. Adam and I had always thought he would be better in more of a Florida Theater type atmosphere- but after seeing his show, I understand why he wouldn’t (plus the show was sold out in the arena- there is no way he could fit as many in the Florida Theater.) He did more than sing in his concert- he really put on a show. I will say it was a very adult show, he used a lot of adult humor, and since we were all adults, it was okay. I’ll say it again- the best show ever!

A group called Naturally 7 opened for him, they were awesome as well. They were a group of guys (7 of them in case you didn’t draw that conclusion :) ) and they were completely accapella. They used their voices to make all the instrument sounds and when they were all doing it at the same time, you couldn’t tell there wasn’t a full band playing along with them. They were very talented.

The whole time we were there I kept saying, Adam should have been here, he would have loved this, he would have appreciated this…. He stayed home with Ava so I could go- and I am so very grateful :) I promised him next time I would take him :)

We had a picture that someone took of all three of us, but it wasn’t on my camera, so it must have been on my mom’s camera, which means I will see it sometime next year….

Weekend at the Lake

Adam’s parents rented a lake house for a week the end of June, so we traveled down and spent the night one night. I wish I had taken more pictures, but having a toddler around water while holding a camera doesn’t make for the greatest combination, I did manage to take a few pics we went out on the boat.

I’ve never been much of a lake person- in fact- the only time I’m getting in the water is to walk to and from the boat- I just don’t like the feel!! (I know- I’m a girly girl….) but Adam was practically giddy about going to the lake…I would just laugh at him it was so funny!

Ava enjoyed the boat rides, she would fall asleep every time we went out, she has always liked boat rides, which doesn’t help Adam in the “I want a boat” department.

We had a good time and Adam really enjoyed being on a boat and water…sometimes I think he connected with the water a little too well….. :)

Listening to Daddy Play

 

We love our church and Adam has been playing guitar a lot here recently. I love when he plays guitar, partly because he enjoys it so much, but also simply because I like listening to him play. It makes Sunday morning chaos worth it :) I teach Upstreet every other Sunday, so sometimes I’m not in there when he is playing. This particular Sunday, Ava and I got ready early and surprised him at the dress rehearsal so we could listen.

Adam usually leaves the house at 6:30ish on mornings that he is playing, they have to be set-up ready to go by 7:30 so it can make for some hectic Sunday mornings when I am getting Ava ready to go by myself. Why is it that it is so much harder on Sunday mornings that any other morning?! They have a full run thru that volunteers can participate in before the service starts, usually we don’t make it, but on mornings I’m not teaching and Adam is playing, I take Ava into the service with me for the music portion (she can’t stay in there for the message…she hasn’t quite grasped that whole sit still and be quiet thing while we are in church). This particular morning I had made up my mind I was going to make it to the rehearsal, even if it killed me, and surprisingly we walked in during the first song- just in time :)

Ava loves it when her Daddy plays, she will clap and point continuously at him and say ‘Daddy! Daddy!’, when they walk off the stage, she holds up her hands and asks, ‘Daddy?’ She likes to see him on stage. In fact, she, herself, likes to be on the stage…after I pick her up from Waumba Land we walk back in to see Adam and he is usually packing up, so still on the stage. Well, she knows where to find him and walks straight up to the stage, makes her presence known and marches up the stairs onto the stage. Maybe she will grow up to be a great guitar player like her daddy!

 

Installing a Husband

I recently received this as an email from someone and thought it was too funny not to share, especially since I am married to a computer guy!

INSTALLING A HUSBAND   

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.
In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as
Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as
NBA 5.0,
NFL 3.0 and
Golf Clubs 4.1.
Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.
Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate.

Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind,
Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while
Husband 1.0 is an operating system.
Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html, try to download Tears 6.2, and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
If those applications work as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.
However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1.
Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta.
Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)
In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. This is an unsupported application and will crash Husband 1.0.
In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!
Tech Support

(And of course, what post would be complete without pictures of Ava….)

New Things Are Happening…

Our small group meets every Wednesday night and up until last week we had been just following along with Andy Stanley’s messages each Sunday. A while back I had heard great things about the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I bought it and read it and thought it was great- and very challenging. Another small group in our church had done the book and really enjoyed it- so we decided to try it. If you haven’t read the book- you really should.

Speaking of our small group, we had a new member join our group- Jane Katharine made her grand entrance into the world on June 21st. She is such a doll :)

Our small group meeting Jane for the first time :)

I love to read books, yet, for some reason I don’t have time to read them anymore…. that doesn’t stop me from having a list and a stack of books sitting on go so that I can start the next chance I get….I plan on reading another book by Francis Chan called Forgotten God, which I have heard is even better than Crazy Love.

Mr. Squirrel

We have what Adam calls a ‘Bird Sanctuary’ simply because he refuses to call it what it is- a couple of bird feeders. We had a bag of sunflower seeds and the bag busted so we poured it into the nearest thing we could find- 2 buckets. We put them right next to our patio doors and the other morning, while we were in the living room, a visitor came up to eat and he wasn’t the least bit scared of us, even when Ava knocked on the glass- I guess he was either A) really smart and knew there was a door between us,  or B) just really didn’t care since his belly was being filled. Judging by the cut-off ear I am going with choice ‘B’ since he obviously doesn’t seem to know when he is in over his head…..

Regardless of why, he sat their until he couldn’t eat anymore and Ava really enjoyed watching him. He entertained us for quite a while.

Playing Catch Up…

We’ve been busy with a lot of little things, hence the reason it has taken me almost a month to post again….shame on me! I’ll be backtracking quite a bit for the next few days to try and catch up.

Father’s Day 2010

Adam was playing in church and he leaves about 6:30ish in the morning, so we really didn’t even see him before he left. After church we went to eat, the sun was in their eyes, but this was the only picture I had of the 2 of them together.

We didn’t get Adam much for Father’s Day, but only because he just bought a new guitar, so technically that was his Father’s day gift. Ava colored him a card and we had cake for him.

He is such a wonderful Daddy, we are both very lucky to have such a great guy to take care of us. I also think Ava inherits her silliness from him….

I was folding clothes and the next thing I knew Ava was wearing a new hat? or headband? It was actually bottoms to one of her dresses, but she just knew she had started the next trend in fashion…just remember- you saw it here first! :)

I can’t write about Father’s Day without thanking my own Dad for being such a great Dad me and now Papa to Ava. We both think the world of you :)