Ava's 4th birthday

My firstborn turned the big "4" last week and we had a very exciting time celebrating miss Ava J! She is so beyond loved by so many and we had a blast

this year as she totally gets birthdays and parties and blowing out candles, opneing presents, and themed parties. 

We started the celebrations on the Monday before her actual birthday, as dad took off work to spend the day putting together (with Steve) her present from NeeNee and Steve...a trampoline!! Mom and I did our part to keep Ava distracted from coming out back for the 4 hours it took the guys to assemble the trampoline. Ava had no clue what was going on! When it was finally ready we took her out back and she was in total disbelief. She couldn't believe there was her very own trampoline in her back yard!

On Tuesday it was her actual birthday. She had school that day so we opened presents and did a small cake and ate Rosa's for dinner. That was Ava's pick and Aaron nor I argued with her choice. Ha! She had a fun time and was super excited to get a princess scooter from us.

LOVE THESE TWO BABIES SO MUCH!!!

On Saturday we had her birthday party at a local bounce house place. This is the second year we have had it here and it's just super easy and Ava loves it. Win/win for us all! The theme this year was Strawberry Shortcake and so of course we had to make Ava her very own Strawberry Shortcake outfit. She was so proud of it. Sweet girl!

 Party favors. I got the strawberry baskets from Garnish.

 I decided to make the cupcakes this year as I am not a fan of store bought cupcakes and I wanted strawberry flavored ones. They turned out okay I must say. Think I may do this every year! So much cheaper and pretty easy.

 I can't believe we didn't get one single family picture on this day! Here is the only picture of me and the birthday girl. Stink!

Happy 4th birthday to the little love of my life, the apple of my eye! Love her to the moon and back!!  

Tiny Dancer

First off, Sheila is a little stinker isn't she?? That was the nicest thing she did and I am equally as blessed to have her!! Not many people can put up with my demanding nature, but she takes me (ALL of me) in stride every day. She is one of those friends that I know will ALWAYS be the best! Love her to pieces!!

We have had a CRAZY BUSY past few weeks in the McWilliams household.
It's been jam packed with so much fun for little miss Ava. Good thing for this weather has been less than desirable!
A few weeks ago Ava had a week full of ballet camp.
To say she loved it would be an understatement. She had such a great time and I knew she would. The girl loves to dance.
The girl loves music.
She loves ballet.
And she loves Swan Lake.

It was a week full of Swan Lake and each day I dropped her off she danced, ate a snack, and did a craft.
Is there really anything cuter than a little girl in ballet attire? I mean those ballet shoes. Sweet mercy!

On day three I picked her up and she was wearing a swan tiara she had made. Little princess!

On the last day they had a performance to show off what they learned during the week. I was very impressed!
We walked in the studio (us, Auntie, and Nee Nee) and she was so excited to show us her lipstick the teacher put on her.

Here is the video of her first part of the performance. In case you can't tell, Ava is the second from the left.

I still can't really figure out why the helper was showing Ava what to do? It looked like she was doing what all the other girls were doing. Oh well.
And here is the second part..
The end cracks me up that they were holding hands for so long! Precious girls.

Wasn't that pretty impressive for 3-5 year olds? For learning that in one week? I was amazed.
Here is Ava's ballet teacher, Ms. Rose.

Tiny little thing! I giggle because Ava is almost the same size as her!

I think I enjoyed getting Ava dressed each morning and putting her hair in a ballerina bun a little too much:)
My tiny dancer.

I'm so glad Ava had this fun week of ballet! She has been asking me when can she go back. Great news for her; she goes back in a few weeks for the fall semester!
And I hope each lesson poops her out just like this week did. I love anything to help her sleep just a little longer than usual.

The last two weeks have been just as fun and busy for Ava. Not much time for blogging but I'll be posting next about her other two week-long adventures!

Love this little girl

I realize I'm extra sappy and a bit more hormotional than usual, but I have been thinking a lot about how the 24/5-Ava and mommy- one on one time is coming to an end. Did that make sense?
I enjoy our time together as a family of three on the weekends. But I really enjoy the one on one time with just she and I when Aaron is at work. It's so fun to have girls days with her now that she's older.
So far, I am loving the 3's. We can joke around, have conversations, get pedicures even, and she is at the age where I'm still her lifeline and number one best friend!
(one day before church)



Each morning we snuggle and watch cartoons before we start our day. And maybe because I'm still a big kid myself we always do a little something fun while taking care of "life" at the same time. I'm so, so blessed to have this life, work from home, and my little girl is just such a joy!
As excited as I am for her upcoming year(s), it makes me sad to know that soon she will be in school 2.5 days a week, and she will have to share my attention with the baby. And with that I think about how this is just the beginning. I think about how in just the blink of an eye she will be in school and will spend more time with her teacher than with her mommy. Tear!!
It's thoughts like these that help me (when I'm not overly emotional and depressed about it) remember to not take this time for granted and to cherish it all.
I've been without my machines the past month (thanks to a great assistant!!) since we were moving and now that we are all settled and I can breathe again, I'm ready to get back to work. But I have definitely enjoyed the extra time & the fun things Ava and I have done while I've been "unemployed". On Thursday we started our day at a new park. The weather was 75 and perfect!



We played tag until I was barely breathing and then I asked her to climb this {little} 7 ft rock wall. Her reply? "Mom you're ridic-uh-less. I'm very too little." ha!!
She says the funniest things!
After the park we went to our local animal shelter as I was on a mission to adopt a long haired dachshund that had been posted on Facebook. We got there and it was adopted the previous day. We decided to take a look at the other dogs and cats to see if we needed any. Y'all! That place is sad. It was my first time visiting and to think all those pets were abandoned and possibly about to be euthanized broke my heart. But Ava? She was in heaven! She loved all the animals. Especially the cats!!




She would get close to their cage and say "Hi sweetie." I love her heart. I love this next picture because you can tell she's deep in conversation with these cats...



We didn't leave with a pet on this day but we will be back to see if we can find a potential match for our family. I really want a smaller dog thats already potty trained. After this we headed to the movies to see Rio. It was a cute movie about Ava's favorite bird; the blue Macaw.



She loves the movies! She also loves the popcorn! Not real sure which she loves more but she is a good little movie buddy. She wants to see Kung Fu Panda 2 but first we must see the first Panda movie!
All in all we both had the best day. I love my girl and I enjoy our special time together!

We now have a THREE year old!

Three years ago today my life changed forever!! I was blessed with the most beautiful, spunky, hilarious, one of a kind baby girl and she has rocked our world in so many ways!!!

This morning she woke up to a few little presents (that I had stored away from Christmas. haha!) This cash register has been a HUGE hit so far!

We went to an Easter Egg hunt bosted by our good friends, the Borgs. This Easter Bunny was not very popular to the little tikes. But as usual, Ava was his biggest fan. The girl is a sucker for anything in costume. She LOVES characters. Very fitting since she is such a little character herself.

Hunting for the perfect eggs. Doesn't her SheShe outfit look so sweet? I LOVE this dress so much. She got chocolate ALL over it. Praying it comes out. Not materialistic at all.

After the egg hunt we rode the Trinity train. We just love riding this mini train. It was fun to ride with our friends too!

We went to eat birthday dinner after the train and then came home for a little family nap. There is just something special about Sunday afternoon family naps, isn't there? After her nap we had cake and sang happy birthday at her actual REAL TIME birthday.

This is at 6:09 pm. Three years ago at this very moment she came into our world.

We love her so very much!!

Off to See the Wizard {Ava's 3rd Birthday Party}

                                            

  

Today was this little cutie's third birthday party! We had such a fun time celebrating her three years of life. 

She picked her theme of a Wizard of Oz birthday back in January when I was planning it all.

I really, really wanted to have her party outdoors so that I could go all out. My thoughts were to do a costume party, have all these fun themed snacks and games, and decorations & the whole nine yards. BUT every year it has stormed on her birthday/party day. So I decided to book it at a local jumphouse.

Well, wouldn't you know the weather today was absolutely perfect. Sunny, not too warm, and just great outdoor weather. However, this still turned out to be the BEST decision made, since we have just sold our house and we're knee deep in garage sale, decluttering, getting ready to pack up!

We invited about 20 of her little friends and she had the greatest time!

She was just beside herself all morning before we left the house.

This age is SO FUN because they are aware of what all a birthday entails. She had been talking about this day to every stranger she'd see the past week. She was thrilled when we went in to get her out of bed! I wish I would have recorded it.

She was patiently waiting for all of her guests to arrive!  

Sheila french braided her hair and I can't get over how grown up she looked! So bittersweet!!

The decorations in our little party room...

The favors

       

These ruby red slipper cookies were just as delicious as they were beautiful! My friend made them and she now has an Etsy shop here. She can make ANY COOKIE!

We ate pizza...  

                                                         

     We sang happy birthday as Ava grinned from ear to ear, sang along, and ate up all of

      the attention. She was singing while tilting her head from side to side. It was the

 cutest thing!

                                    

One of my ex student's mom made this ADORABLE cake for Ava. I was so blown away by how cute it turned out. The characters were so darling.

                                                          Some more pictures of her party...

                                         

                                         

We are so blessed to have such sweet, sweet friends come out to play, celebrate, and bounce! Thank you  to all who made her day so very special. She has talked about it nonstop since we got home. In fact, I can hear her in her bedroom, at 10:30pm, talking about her party. Might I add that she has been in bed since 8:00! Haha!
                                            And the fun continues tomorrow on her real birthday....