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.