Ava and the Christmas Tree

These ornaments taste good mommy! I love Christmas!

Playing in the Leaves...

So when we bought this house one of the things I loved about it was the backyard. The house is 10 years old and the trees are full sized and beauitful. Ahhhhhhhh... but we forgot about the fall. 12 large sized garbage bags of leaves later, our yard is no longer crunchy. But before we raked it all up, we had to introduce Ava to her first fall... as you can see she was not amused. :) And as usual - we were!

Auntie Evonne and Auntie Megan came to visit!

calm soul
sweet eyes

Ava, Daddy, Grandpa Jim and Papa.
Ava (a bit cranky), Granny, and Greg on the 4th of July.

Grannyisms

Last night we went to the in-laws to see Granny and Papaw. Greg's grandmother makes me giggle every time we see her. She has this dynamic and stereotypical Granny personality. She is loud, blunt, and well... a granny. I told Greg on that way home that I needed to start writing down the things she says so we can remember some day how funny she is. Last nights grannyism was (on the topic of Hilary Clinton running for president) "We don't need no woman in the white house." I always have to remind myself she comes from a different time and place then the world I am living in and I smile.
Papaw has been diagnosed with alzheimers and I have a hard time seeing him with Ava knowing that some day he may not know who she is. Right now, he is absolutely crazy about her and brags on and on about her and how she is the first girl Melton in over 100 years. It's hard to know if he is just old or if it's the alzheimers as we have heard the story over and over before. But, as Greg said last night, he may not remember her name, but he remembers how much he loves her.
It makes me sad that Ava will not know her grandparents on my side. My grandpa Schaefer was the last of my grandparents to pass away - the year before she was born. But my grandmothers not knowing her makes me the most sad. They would have loved her to pieces and I often feel that the two of them are the spirit of the woman I am today and the woman Ava will someday be... Jacqueline and Helen. Unfortunately they both passed before I was woman enough to know how much a part of me they were.

It's funny how I feel like I have something to say and then I say it and then I have nothing more to say... that was it. I miss them.

Happy Halloween!

I'm a little chicken! cheep-cheep!

Ava and Her Pumpkin

Picking a Pumpkin

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch to find our halloween pumpkins. It was freezing, but sunny as you can see from the pictures. Ava, as usual, put up with mommy and daddy's antics by keeping a confused, but contented look on her face through the entire ordeal. Of course, we had to trapse to the far reaches of the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkins, towing our little red wagon through the mud. Greg still isn't sure why I insist on these traditions as Ava will never remember, but I can't help but think we'll appreciate the memories some day. And despite his protests, he's the one asking Carl, the pumpkin seller, to take our picture together while people are waiting in line to purchase their pumpkins. And, of course, Ava isn't looking and there is a woman picking her nose behind us... ahhhhhhhh the memories.

Whose turn is it?

Hubby and I just had one of our tiffs about whose turn it was to handle the baby. It disgusts me that we aren't both jumping at the chance to do whatever needs to be done for her. But, I've really decided the problem is not that we don't want to help her, it's that we are both very fair people. I did this- so you do that. We both like to keep things even so nobody feels shafted. It just sometimes feels silly since we both love her so much. But there is also the truth that we both still need our down time to unwind and collect our thoughts or the days just pass us by with hours of work, hours working around the house, hours spending time with Ava, and hours sleeping. It is all a balancing act... doing enough of everything that we don't feel guilty for what we didn't do. Is that enough? Would life feel more full if I gave all of my energy to one or two things and felt like I really did them well? Or would I just feel guilty for all the things I could be doing, but I'm not. Now that we have Ava, living my life well seems so much more important. But with such a short amount of time, how do I be the best mom, the best wife, the best teacher. And I don't mean 'best' as in the best at it in the world, I just mean the best that I can be... what I am meant to be. What am I meant to be?

Ava is tucked in her bed. She went to bed at 8pm tonight... two hours earlier than normal. I believe we are all feeling a bit worn out after our long weekend in Florida. I have a feeling that vacations will no longer be relaxing for Greg and I. But it's so fun to watch Ava have new experiences that it makes the craziness of traveling with her worth it. She's become so much more smiley in the past couple weeks and we heard her first true giggle the night we arrived in Orlando... as if she knew the fun was coming. Despite her many smiles these days she seems to be a pretty serious baby. Whenever she is experiencing something new she crinkles her eyebrows up and seems to be contemplating heavily what she is seeing or feeling or hearing. It was hard to see her off to the babysitter today after all the fun we had. But fall break is just around the corner and I'll have 5 days straight to hang out with her.
You'll notice in the pictures, her smiles are the biggest when she's with daddy. She definitely has developed a fondness for her daddy. Last night on the plane on the way home she had fallen asleep on his chest (her favorite bed) and he was taking a nap with her (as he usually does) and I found myself contemplating what I would do without these two incredible human beings sitting next to me. Greg and I had watched Cast Away three nights previous and I was imaging something going wrong on our plane and the two of them disappearing into the night sky... needless to say I have a vivid imagination. And all I kept thinking was 'you can have it all, Lord'... our house, my car, my job, my stuff, even all of these silly pictures I have become so attached to... but please don't ever take these two from me. I remember my mom saying things like this to me, that she couldn't imagine how she would survive it if something happened to me. I remember thinking she was silly. Not silly... not silly at all. My heart could take a lot of things, but not that. Not losing the man who loves myself and Ava more than any person could or the baby with the smile that lights up everthing inside of me.

Thinking all of these things my eyes filled with tears and I turned my head to look at them. He was already looking at me and said with tears in his eyes 'I'm crazy about you.'

I am truly blessed.

Disneyworld

I had my first trip to Disneyworld on Sunday! I got to ride the carousel for the first time, I got to ride "It's a Small World", and I got to eat my first funnel cake... just kidding. But I watched mommy and daddy eat it and it looked really good. I also got to get in a swimming pool for the first time and take my first airplane ride. I'm worn out! But I'll let mom tell you the rest of the story while I take my nap.

Kentucky Football Game

We went to Grammy and Grandpa Eric's house this weekend in Kentucky. I got to tailgate in the back of Grammy's car... it was rainy, but fun!

Home with Ava

Our babysitter wasn't available today so I had to stay home with the peanut... I was devastated as you can imagine. :) She's always in the best mood in the mornings so I took some pictures of her. I can't stop taking pictures of her these days. Her expressions are so much fun and her eyes are enchanting. Staying home with her makes me wish I could every day, which is why I've decided to really try and pursue a photography "career". I know it's going to take a little time to get things rolling, but I'm working on putting together my portfolio. Ever since I've started digging through some of my pics and researching other children's photographers I can't stop thinking about it. I don't think I've ever been so excited about something - so ready to go for it. We'll see where it leads and until then I'll just keep snapping pics of my incredible little girl.

Sweet face...

Ava Grace

Ava Grace Melton
Born: May 10, 2006
Weight:9lbs. 5ozs.
Length: 22 inches
Nickname: Peanut

This is the best thing that ever happened to us!

Finally Here!

Okay, so my friends have been bugging me to do this for months now. We are finally here and I will begin posting pics and info. as soon as I can.