Welcome, Fall!

Ok, so I completely took a break from bloggin over the summer, but it's a new season and I'm going to attempt to recommit! We had a wonderful summer...lots of going to the pool and relaxing together. We spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking (I rediscovered my passion for homemade ice cream and the kids, well lets just say we will be making a lot of ice cream in the upcoming years! Ava just started back to school a few weeks ago at Oak Hill Methodist preschool and is loving it! She just learned to write her name and is very pleased about that! She has become quite the little chef. Her favorite thing to do is crack open eggs and she's really perfected it! She took swimming lessons over the summer and now can blow bubbles and go under. Anderson is growing like a weed! He is now 13 months...we had a wonderful birthday party for him in August with all of our family and friends! We took a trip to Sea World for his actual birthday and he loved the whales. Anderson's favorite thing is playing ball...such a boy! He throws really well, too! We went to his first playgroup this morning and he enjoyed hanging out with other babies...I just can't call him a toddler yet!!! Adam and I joined a new small group at our church and are really enjoying it and learning so much. Our remodel is now complete and we are really enjoying our new amenities. We eat dinner on our back porch almost every night. Little Anderson is screaching upstairs, so I've got to go...Keep you posted.....

Bluebonnet Pics

This spring has flown by, hasn't it!? It's been so long since I've posted that I thought I'd better catch everyone up. We have just begun a major home improvement project--we are having all of our bathrooms redone and a patio and porch cover built as well. We just had hard wood floors put in, and they look great! Ava is just finishing up her first year of preschool (I still can't believe she 3) and her graduation is next week! Anderson is almost 9 months old and is cutting his first teeth! He just loves his sister more every day! We are looking forward to visiting their great-grandfather this weekend!

Ava and her new glasses

On Feb. 27th, Ava got her 1st pair of glasses! She looks just adorable in them and is very proud of them. She picked out a pink pair and a purple pair! She also got to have a teddy bear picnic and parade at school today (the highlight of the year given that every day she asks if she can bring her bear to school and this was the first time we let her!) We are going to the 80th annual Zilker park kite festival tomorrow. Will post pics later.

Ava's 3rd Birthday Party

We celebrated Ava's 3rd birthday with her friends at Goin Bananas playnasium on February 6th. She invited 15 of her closest friends and had a party fit for a princess! Even Anderson had a great time!

Turks and Caicos Jan. 2008

We took our first beach vacation with the kiddos in January! We had a blast! We went to Beaches in Turks and Caicos--Ava was entertained with Camp Sesame (with all the Sesame street Characters) while Anderson hung out with some new friends in the nursery. Adam and I went parasailing and snorkeling in the most beautiful blue ocean we've ever seen! We saw 2 spotted stingrays, lobsters, and several sea turtles as well as several different types of fish! We had the most incredible time!

Snow at Gampy's House

We were blessed to spend some time with Ava and Anderson's great-grandpa while in Illinois! Anderson met him for the first time and they hit it off quite well! We took some pictures I will treasure for my lifetime! Ava just adores her "Gampy", too! Ava also got to play in the snow while we were there! She and her daddy had their first snowball fight. We made snow angels, too!

We went on the choo-choo train!

Ava and Anderson took their very lst adventure to Chicago on the Amtrak train on Dec. 19th. They had the BEST TIME! Ava met a new friend on the way there AND on the way home! It was 30 hours each way but both kiddos slept all night and when we woke up the morning of the 20th, beautiful snow covered the ground outside! Anderson met his Gampy (92 year old great-grandpa) for the first time and we had a magical Christmas with Mim, Aunt Allison and Uncle Eric, and Aunt Jess and Uncle Joe.