Mo! Do Not Take My Picture!

Okay, so Ava is very against any photo taking right now.  Any time I get the camera out and point it towards her, she says, "MO" and runs away or hides her face.  She sometimes gets "No" out, but most of the time it comes out as "Mo".  What a character she is!

Friday!

Emma dressed up for her school's mis-match day.

Ava stole mommy's work out hat!

New bean bags from Meme!

Emma's friend Erin joined in the fun this afternoon.

More of the Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Patch

Just Some Photos

Ava in my vest.  She loves putting on big jackets, but hates wearing her own.

Ava enjoying sitting with Big Sis!  Grams and Papa hanging out on the couch!  They came to stay with us for about a week and we had a blast!  Thanks Grams and Papa for all the help and great company.

Bath Time Fun!

Look at my BUBBLES!

I just wanted to post a photo from our Gotcha Day over six months ago.  Ava has changed a lot since that first day.  Here she was very shut down and didn't show any emotion.  Now, you definitely know how she's feeling--she doesn't hold anything back.  What an amazing little girl.  We are seeing her change on a daily basis!

Update on Ava

One word to describe Ava would be ACTIVE! This girl is non-stop, on the go and into everything. Let's just say I enjoy her naps more than she does right now--it's the only time I can get things done around here! Ava has started a Mom's Morning Out program 2 days per week now and seems to enjoy herself--at least that's what the teachers tell me. I take this time to get our grocery shopping and errands done. Ava is not too hip on being strapped into anything right now, no shopping carts, no strollers, no car seats, so shopping with her is quite the adventure. She is so happy with her freedom right now and loves to do everything by herself. If she sees you do something, she is going to try it herself. One big thing is that we are potty training her and she's doing pretty good with it. Hopefully she will be out of diapers/pull-ups soon.

Ava's health seems better. We took her for an upper-GI test and spine x-ray a month ago. She didn't have anything obstructing her GI tract so she has been diagnosed with acid reflux for now. The medicine seems to be helping a little, but she still throws up every now and then. She coughs and gags and gets the hiccups every day, so we are still researching her problems. Her lower back has an indentation visible from the outside and looks almost mis-shapen from an injury of some sort. The x-ray didn't reveal anything internal, so the doctor is not worried about it. She is receiving physical therapy for her muscle development and walking issues and therapy for her speech as well. She is really starting to talk a lot more--it's fun to watch her transforming so quickly. Here are some recent photos.

Chillin in my crazy glasses!

I found Emma's old winter hat and mommy's oven mits. I am ready for Kansas Winters!

Daddy and Ava watching Emma cheering!

Sisters!

Ava actually wanted this bow in her hair because Emma had one for the game. Of course she took it out before we even got out of the garage on the way to the game!

Update on Emma

Well, Emma turned 6 on August 28th and had a great party here in Wichita with her friends and classmates. I talked her into having her party in mid-September so we would know more people from school and our neighborhood. Emma loves 1st Grade and all the new things her school has to offer. She rarely eats cafeteria food, but loves riding the bus to and from school. I wasn't so hip on the idea of the bus, but we are the last stop before the bus gets to school in the mornings and the first drop off in the afternoons. The school is exactly one mile from our house, so she's only on the bus for about 3 minutes tops! The bus driver is very strict, so of course, I love her! Here are some photos of our big girl!

First day of school with daddy, her favorite person!

Emma's birthday party at a place called Pump it Up! The kids had a blast!

Emma's smiling big before her Cheerleading Camp. She got to cheer at a local high school football game last Friday night--she LOVED it!

Future cheerleading squad!!!

Learning to fish at clinic with daddy. She actually caught a little fish that day and now wants a pet worm to keep in her room, go figure, not a fish?

Updates on the House Here in Kansas

Finally, a chance to post a few things. First, I will update you on the happenings with the house and getting settled and then I will tell you about the girls! We jumped right in here with painting the house, as I mentioned in the previous post. The painters took one month instead of 2 weeks and it was painful! The house was a mix of really bad colors of paint and wood work, so we had the walls, trim, doors, and even the ceilings painted. We lived upstairs while the basement was being done and in the basement while the upstairs was being done. Unfortunately, the basement only took a week and the upstairs took 3 weeks. After the pain of living in the basement and having our entire upstairs wrapped in plastic (no kitchen was not fun!!!), we also got granite countertops put in the kitchen. We are now getting estimates for new cabinets--the cherry ones we have now don't even blend with the hard wood floors--I think the previous owners were color blind. We did get a great deal on the house, so we still feel like we are staying well within the market for this area and adding value to the house. Here are some photos of the not so much fun of remodeling and living out of pocket.

Emma lounging on the blow-up mattress in the basement.

Ava scratching her head and going, "Are these people gypsies or what? First New Mexico, then Kansas, first upstairs, now down stairs, what is going on?"

This is the upstairs before the painting began. Lots of tape and plastic everywhere. We even had to use the refridgerator in the garage for 3 weeks and do our laundry on base. We kept reminding ourselves, that at least we had a house and to just get over it. It did make it a little easier to be thankful for the things we had and not life's little inconveniences. We feel blessed that we could afford to have the painting done in the first place.

Our master bedroom before the new paint. Lovely yellow in some rooms and blue in others. Dark cherry finish on the woodwork in some rooms and white-washed pine in other rooms???

Our bathroom before the painting.