MICKEEEEEEEYYYY!

WE LOVE DISNEY! What a wonderful trip it was! I could not have survived being 6 and a half months pregnant and chasing after a 20 mo. old baby girl without Lindsey and Katie! We laughed together as we commented that we were the epitome of teamwork because every bus ride, carousel ride, Disney show, etc required fast hands and smiling faces as we would quickly pull Ava out of the stroller, gather our belongings and collapse the stroller within seconds! Katie and Lindsey became Pros at working her stroller! hahaha!
I would have to say that Ava's favorite part of the whole trip was her beloved balloon. Oh, she was soo cute with that balloon. I got it for her ($10!) on Saturday afternoon as we arrived to Magic Kingdom and I would say that she pretty much only let go of it willingly for her carousel ride! We have great pics of her napping in her stroller with her "nigh nigh" bear in one hand and her balloon in the other! We had the joy of giving it away to another little girl on Sunday afternoon while Ava was napping and had momentarily let go of it in her sleep. I wish we could have taken it home on the airplane as the ULTIMATE souvenir, but we just couldn't. She woke up from her nap and luckily didn't remember it...until we saw another one as we were leaving the hotel...immediately she cried, "ballooooon!!"...Lindsey, Katie, and I looked at each other like, "uh-oh..." but fortunately she got distracted by something else quickly after.
I am so grateful for Lindsey and Katie because they captured some GREAT pics of all of us at Disney-especially Ava! I hope to post them soon! It was so wonderful to spend time with my best girlfriends, and I was so happy that we had Ava with us. At one point I considered leaving her at home with Bobby, because we each miss her so much when she is away from either of us, but I knew I just couldn't let her miss out on this Disney trip!

Baby #2 Update: I am 27 wks pregnant, so by the weekend I will officially be 7 months pregnant! I am getting more anxious by the week to hold our new tiny baby. Ava seems to LOVE babies and gets so excited to see them in person or on TV...I just have not been able to tell how much she will love them in Mommy or Daddy's arms...we might need to practice that in the next few months which shouldn't be too hard since 4 of my girlfriends are having babies between now and May! One thing that has been a little different lately is my abdomen is really tender in certain areas-mainly toward the left side by my belly button. I notice the baby kicking there often, so I wonder if I am just sore from all the soccer kicks I am receiving to that area! haha!

Life update: I love BObby :) I am at work right now and it's 2:45 am, and I am just reflecting over all the fun we have had together as a family these past few days, and it just makes me realize what a wonderful man, father, and husband he is. He is so fulfilled by being the provider and protector for Ava and I. He is SOO loving and gracious in the way he loves us. Bobby and I gave a talk this past weekend for a Three to GEt Married engaged couples retreat, and we gave it together, but I was so proud standing next to my husband watching him speak about "The Early Years of Marriage"-that was the topic of our talk. We shared all about our ups and downs in our first 2.5 yrs of being married, and we realized that we have learned ALOT! From how to share our beloved oatmeal cookies to which way we will hang our towels in the bathroom! Hehehe! The past few days have been so beautiful and warm outside, so we have had 2 picnics, 2 bike rides (Bobby took Ava on a special daddy-daughter bike ride tonight just the 2 of them after I left for work :) ), and a swim in the indoor pool at the YMCA...and oh my gosh, Ava is a fish! Bobby and I laughed out loud as we tried to keep our arms around Ava- I swear she thinks she can already swim! It was all we could do to hold her because she kept trying to wiggle out of our arms! We quickly decided that next time we will definitely have little floaties for her arms at least!

Our Growing Family!

Oops! So I started this blog almost one year ago, but never kept up with it! I am going to try again as a way to keep in touch with my family especially now that we have moved away. Just a quick update: In August 2008, Bobby and I and Ava, too of course, left our hometowns in Woodstock, GA and moved our family to Franklin, TN to pursue a job opportunity for Bobby working with Dave Ramsey, "the Financial Guy". We could not be happier here! We miss our families back in GA so much, but truly feel like this is where God wants us for now as we build our own family together.

In October, we found out that we are expecting baby #2! I am due June 20, 2009-just 4 days before our 3rd wedding anniversary. Ava will turn 2 in July, so the babies will be about 23 months apart. Perfect!

On December 28, 2008, I lost my precious baby sister Victoria. She was 18 years old and a senior in high school. I would say that she HAD so much to offer the world, except that she IS still offering herself each and everyday as a reminder of how to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! My parents, Alex, and I experience the loss of Victoria every day, but we live with hope that we will be with her again. We are sustained by our Catholic faith along with everyone's prayers for Victoria and our family. Our memories of Victoria comfort us and bring us a healthy mix of laughter and tears. It is incredible to see how her short life left such a lasting impact on the

hearts of so many others. Her funeral alone was an amazing witness to the life she lived. As a family, we sat among 1500+ friends and family all gathered together to celebrate her life. Fr. Larry, our parish priest, said he has NEVER EVER seen our church St. Michael's so full! It was so humbling to be surrounded by so much love for my sister and family. I miss Victoria every day, but am grateful for the gift that she has given me to live for eternity with every moment so that I can be with her again someday.

This picture was taken about 1 week before her car accident.

And now to today. Ava is napping, I am still in my PJ's (hehe), and am loving being able to open our windows finally as the warm weather is beginning to show...at least for today! Ava and I are leaving on Thursday to head to Atlanta to go to Disney World with my 2 best girlfriends Lindsey and Katie! I have not been to Disney since I was about 12, so I am really excited to spend this time with my girlfriends. I think Ava is going to love it! I am a bit nervous about the plane ride, but luckily I will be bringing Elmo along...my parents gave Bobby and I a portable DVD player for Christmas for when we travel, and it has been a great way to keep Ava happy in the car...so I am hoping I have just as much luck with it on the plane! The only minor problem is that the ONLY dvd that she likes is this Sesame Street one from like the early 90's that is only 25 minutes long....so needless to say, it repeats about 2-3 times before we just can't take it anymore! Hahaha! I wonder if Ava would keep headphones on....??

Anyways, we are going to miss Bobby so much, but luckily Ava loves talking to him on the phone. "Daddeeee!" she always gleefully says whenever she sees my cell phone! I love it.

Well, I am going to take advantage of the rest of naptime to get some things done around the apartment. If I can figure it out, I will try to post a really funny video of Ava from dinner a few weeks ago. We went to a Mexican restaurant and well, she started playing with a cup of water...I apparently thought it was HILARIOUS, but I can't tell if our "neighbors" behind us were so thrilled. Not sure if they got "blessed" or not! Hehehe.