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This little girl has given us 365 days of sunshine! Joe often says, "She is so full of life!" and I remind him that's exactly what her name means!
Ava: Filled with life. Filled with praise. |
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| It's so hard to believe it's been one year since I heard the sweet words
"It's.A.Girl" announced out of the mouth of my favorite man! Ava, you
have been such a delight! You have had pure joy to our home along with a
whole lot of life and laughter. We all love you to the moon and back.
Thanks for blessing us with your sweet rays of sunshine.... |
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| This girl is a mover and a shaker these days and made us work for a successful photo op! If only there was a video of my 4 guys in the background trying to get her attention :) Well done, gentelmen.... |
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| Ava's birthday didn't go exactly as planned. Isn't that true of everything in life? I'm learning to plan contingently, be flexible, and just roll with the ebb and flow of life! Sadly, Joe's Uncle John passed away from a long battle with cancer. His funeral ended up being on our girl's 1st birthday. Death is hard. So hard. But one thing it always gives is a fresh perspective of how precious life is and a reminder to live each day to the fullest. Today is all that is certain, right? I think Ava's life and birthday provided some joy after the intensity of losing someone. If that isn't enough, our Wy guy came down with the flu. So...... Ava's party had to be cancelled quickly on Friday night in attempt to not expose our friends and family to our germs. |
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| Joe's parents were already planning to come celebrate over the weekend, so we did just that.....influenza a and all! ;) |
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| Opening gifts is a family affair. Who is more excited about what's inside that pink, hello kitty paper? I LOVE how excited the boys were to celelbrate with their sister! |
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| The 'cake smash' was a bit anticlimactic. We expected this girl to dig in and devour the cake to the very last sprinkle. But she was not a fan! She kept puckering like she was eating a lemon. Sugar shock, I suppose. |
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| But she had a blast smearing it around like finger paint. |
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| Micah ended up getting a low-grade fever and I was anticipating have to cancel party #2, but we persevered and were healthy by Saturday! Our one-year-old would not have known the difference, but her big bros' hearts would have melted if we had to cancel again. They were SO excited to celebrate! Sweet memories, for sure! One of tradiations for upcoming birthdays is to spend time looking back on previous blog posts of past birthdays. I had no idea that boys would think that was so special..... I guess there's something about being celebrated that makes you feel pretty darn loved! So it continues.... |
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| Oh Happy Day was our theme. It was a Happy Day, indeed! |
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| It was fun to have 2 cakes in honor of these 2 Birthday Buddies, exactly 65 years apart! |
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| Ava Joy loves her Auntie B |
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| Ava LOVES her brothers! I have loved seeing how God knit her perfectly together to be the baby sister to three big brothers. She laughs at all of their crazy noises and wants to be right in the middle of their wrestling mat. His works are wonderful, I know that full well (Ps139:14)! It has been so fun to see how the Lord has used Ava as a sharpening and refining tool in the lives of these warriors. There has been a softer, tender side uncovered that I didn't know existed. Ava, their future wives are going to thank you! :) |
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| Cake #2 might have been LESS exciting than cake #1. Ava might just take after her momma....I can skip the sweets anyday (but I make up for it with chips and salsa!) |
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| The big girls loved helping Ava unwrap and get acquainted with her new toys! |
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| The sweetest part about having a baby girl? Seeing these two together! Wasn't sure what it was going to take to soften this iron-willed man (that is a quality I love about him I must add!) but I think a baby girl has provided the answer. Their connection is just so stinkin' cute. Melts my heart every single day! They are both smitten with one another. This girl is BLESSED to have the very best daddy around. |
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| Meeting Ava. It was love at first sight. |
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| I so want to hold on to these curls! |
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| Wyatt made this picture for Ava. Notice the sunshine? Seriously, we have all been impacted by her radiant joy! Wyatt and Ava have a super sween bond and I pray they always will. We have this framed in Ava's room. You are loved, my dear.....by all of us! |
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A Few Fun Facts: AVA....
-Is cruising! You are taking steps and feeling pretty proud of yourself
-Is sensitive to textures. Maybe that was the cake aversion! You like baby food and anything smooth!
-We call you Ava Roo because you jump and bounce ALL the time. Bouncing always makes you happy, even while you are teething it seems to numb the pain
-You have been a hard teether. Ugh!
-FINALLY starting sleeping through the night at 10 months! You now love to sleep....8pm-10am. You are making up for lost time!
-Love to wrestle. You are making my "we don't wrestle girls" rule very hard to enforce!
-Love your bros and your dady like no other
-You and Wyatt have a super special connection! You just adore his attention!
-You are not so recpetive to the sign language I have been trying to teach you but you sure are eager to communicate with words. If only I understood your words.
-You are super sweet with a lot of spunk!
-You love attention and to get a laugh out of people
You are fearfully and wonderfully made! You are so loved!
May you always be full of
life and may your life overflow in
praise to the One who loves you more than your daddy and mommy combined!
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