Happy Birthday My Baby Girl!

Today you turned two. I remember the day you were born. 

Your dad and I were not really sure what to do with you, and to be honest, we still aren't!

You are such and amazing girl. You are so smart and I love watching you learn new things every day. I love that you wake up in the morning so happy and I love that you always give me hugs at just the right time. You are so independent and you are growing up to be such a wonderful little girl. I am extremely proud of you and everything you have accomplished in such a short two years. I cant wait to continue to watch you grow up to become and beautiful and smart young woman. Me and your daddy love you so much.

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea! 

Cookies and Milk

FOR A PRINCESS! 

We had a great time! The kids played outside 

Ohh and don't forget the Cookies 

She blew out her candles! 

I think she has a great time!

Happy Birthday My Princess! 

Accomplishments

It amazes me how much a child can accomplish in such a short amount of time. Little Ava has only lived for a short two years (on monday) but I cant believe how much she has done already. I know in the long run, things like walking and blowing kisses aren't really known as big ta-da's, but from a moms point of view, I am so proud of everything she has done. Some of our loved ones don't get to spend tons of time with Ava, Daddy included right now, so I thought I would just do a little post on everything she is up to....it's a lot so just bare with me and skip over any parts that may be boring to you! :)

The biggest thing Ava has done this past year is move across the country with us. She is a great traveler! Since she has been born she has moved like 4 times and been on a good 9 flights. She adapted very well. She loves the ocean and playing in the sand.

She is amazingly good at feeding herself with a spoon and fork now. I cant believe how much control she has gained in the last year. Makes for a lot less messes at meal times!

She has been to a ton of really cool places this year. We took her to her first fair. Her favorite part was not the rides or the games but the roasted corn! She has been to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, All the famous surf spots on the North Shore, The Georgia Aquarium, The Jacksonville Zoo, Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Panama City Beach, and lots of other exciting places. We hope to take her to Disney World when Daddy gets home!

She has totally forgotten about her PACI!! I know, it shocks me too. I seriously thought she would be the one child that went to kindergarden with it! She was so big through the whole thing, and really kind of gave it up on her own. It was sort of sad for me :(

Right now we are potty training. She has done remarkable. She still has some accidents every once in a while but we have been diaper free for quite a while and I am so happy and so is she. You can tell she is very proud of herself. She loves to pick out her panties every morning and always reminds me when she has kept the same ones on all day!

Just a little list of things she can do now :
* Climb on anything!
* Unlock my phone and get to the camera to take pictures
* Dress herself. Shirt, Panties, Pants, Socks, and Shoes.
* Sing lots of songs
* Open the refrigerator
* Lay down in the bath tub to wash her hair
* Brush her own teeth and hair
* Point out a few letters in the alphabet
* Knows a few colors
* What red lights and green lights mean
* Count with you


We are very proud of her and all that she is doing. She loves to learn new things and I cant wait to continue to watch her grow. I cant believe she is almost 2. My baby girl is growing up!

You don't have days like this in Hawaii

ok, ok, Im trying to make myself feel better there. But days like today make me so happy, actually the whole weekend was amazing. In hawaii every day is warm and beautiful. We left there to come home to freezing weather!! Seriously I was freezing. It was in the mid 70's and sunny all weekend. I was so grateful, Ava and I really needed to play outside! After so much cold weather we really appreciated it! Now in 3 more months it will be 100 degrees and so humid that you cant breath and we will all be wishing it was cold again. Thats the sound for ya! With the warm weather comes planting watermelons! Today my Dad got on the tractor for the first time this year. I could tell he was excited, and so was Ava.

She loved playing around while Papa worked! This girl is going to be in Heaven this summer, there is no doubt about that. Now don't get me wrong, living just a short walk from the beach is amazing, but there is something about those amazing days right before winter leaves and summer comes in at home! We may pretend like we are Island Girls, but deep down, we are really just two Georgia Peaches! 

just because

because I miss him!
We miss him!
We wish he could be here with us!
But we know what he is doing is so important!
And we are very thankful!
And proud!
But we do miss him!
I miss his smile!
His laugh!
His dirty Cami's
And even his kisses
Ava said she misses his cookies!
It's the little things,
Even for her!

It's hard not to miss a guy like this!

dont look to hard...he is taken already! 

ohh we miss you babe! 

love, your girls 

New Years Resolution

I have been thinking a lot about these.

I of course have the normal be a better mom and wife but I dont feel like thats something you accomplish and check off your list. I would love to be a more organized person and write my plans down so I'm not so scatter brained all the time. It is not really fair to forget to wash Chase's cammis on the weekend or be an hour late for lunch because we were busy cleaning.

I have some resolutions I would like to just do for me though:

This baby weight has GOT TO GO!! Can you even call it baby weight still when your "baby" is about to turn 2? Whatever you want to call it, it's outta here! I go to bed at night wishing I would have been healthier that day or exercised. I just want to get back down to my pre-preggo weight. I have accepted the fact that I may never fit back in my tiny skinny jeans and thats ok. I just want to be healthy and fit!

My second resolution for me is to learn to shoot in manual mode of my camera. I have had my SLR for over a year now and I would really love to improve my pictures. Automatic mode is fantastic, but I want more out of my camera! I do have a really great subject to photograph.

My third and final resolution is to take some time for me. I try to do that ( some times ) but I should make it a point. I guess taking a shower alone doesnt count, not that I do that often. I would like to spend some more time sewing and learning new things.

So this is pretty much just a post so that I have to be accountable for what I have set for my resolutions - you know since they are on the blogosphere for all to see. I am a little late starting all of these but hopefully I can accomplish them all by the end of the year.

What are your resolutions??

Happy New Year!

I know we are a little late but HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I cant think of anything else I would love to start the year off with than what I have!

(except a pair of Christian Louboutin Black Heels with the signature red bottom)

This year has busy for us. Here is little recap ::

Ava turned one at the begining of the year! I cant believe how fast time has gone by. She is getting so big!!

In April, we packed up our entier lives and moved to a big rock in the middle of the Pacific. You may have heard of it, Hawaii (also known as Paradise)

In July, Chase and I celebrated our 3rd Wedding anniversary. I can't believe we have been married for 3 years.

We had a few visitors come see us. We love for people to come visit and I hope more people come once Chase comes home!!

Halloween was a fun holiday this year. Ava went as a puppy dog. Her favorite animal as of then. We had lots of fun but it was strange that it was that warm!!

Chase got promoted to Sgt. in November. I pinned his new rank on while Ava watched in the background.

Right before Thanksgiving, we said "see you later" to Chase. He is currently serving in Afghanistan with 2/3 on his 3rd combat deployment.

We missed Chase this Christmas, but we are so proud of him. He watched Ava open all her Christmas presents and that made us all very happy :)

We are very excited to ring in the new year. 2011 will bring Chase home and us all back to warm weather Hawaii. Please keep Chase in your prayers and he is protecting all of us!