Our weekend ( just a few days late)

We had a busy last weekend in our house! Fun, but busy! We started our Friday off by driving to Dallas and staying the night with Aaron's sister. I always love staying with her because we eat at Mi Cocina for dinner. It's my favorite mexican food ever!

Judd was up past his bedtime and we were off our normal routine but he was still so good. I always get nervous when my babies are off their schedule or away from home. It's definitely more stressful for me when they are infants (I am now realizing since I am on child #2). Anyway, he did great during the night too! He did wake up more than usual but went right back to sleep. Sweet baby!

Ava loves to visit "Auntie". She was super excited and on her best behavior. Doesn't she look happy? Love this girl!
On Saturday the girls went to see Disney's Princess on Ice while the boys stayed home and napped. Ava has been obsessed with princesses since she turned 2 and I just knew we needed to get tickets to this event. She had the best time!
Waiting to go inside the venue, wearing her Cinderella dress made by yours truly.

Please notice the necessary accessories. The crown, wand, and princess cell phone. This girl cracks me up with all of her flair!

Ready for the show to begin! I thought they did a great job with it and Ava was enthralled from beginning to end. We had a great time! Ava says her favorite part was the Cinderella act where the mean step sisters were dancing with the Prince at the ball and acting all silly. It was pretty funny, I have to agree! My favorite part was the Tangled act.

On Sunday we made our way to Forest Park for an Easter celebration with our friends. They had an egg hunt, lunch, and a visit from the Easter Bunny! Ava (as always) was so excited to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap. My girl LOVES anything in costume. It always makes us laugh.

She had fun hunting eggs and really "got" the concept this year! Her age is so fun because she fully understands and gets into the various holiday traditions. I'm enjoying reliving my childhood through her eyes:)
Judd didn't get to hunt eggs this year, so he just sat around looking cute. He is teething something fierce this week and you can tell in this picture!

I love the spring time and all that it brings! Hope you all have had a great week and Happy Easter!

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!

Life's a Beach {Destin Vacation}

We've been home for a week now and oh how we miss the snow white beach and turquoise waters of the florida panhandle. We had the best time!! I know I've basically recapped our trip in a previous post, so this one is mainy to share some of my favorite pictures. Thanks for indulging me!:)

Little miss priss was wayyyy too cool to smile for the camera. I mean she was at the beach and there were far more important matters for this 3 year old. Swim, ride waves, build sand castles. Who has time to smile for mom?

This year was the first that I caved and wore a hat. Getting sun on your face takes on a whole new meaning while pregnant! Ever heard of the "pregnancy mask"? I hadn't until I got it! Hormones plus sun are not a good combo. I look like Michael Jackson circa 1988.

Ava loved the pool a tad more than the ocean we think. She wanted to stay in the pool most of the day. I denied her request for obvious reasons, but mostly because the pool was too small and there were too many people in there. Yep. Not a big fan of peepee water. But we still smiled for a cute picture!

I seriously die over this picture!! It's my favorite. Any professional photogs out there want to edit this for me in exchange for some SheShe credit? Email me! For reals! Haha.  

I'm so excited Ava got to get her Crab Trap bucket of food. I did the same as a little girl and it was a sweet moment to see this come full circle. I am such a mush about things like this. I had the same thing here I ate 20 years ago on my last visit. Fried shrimp!

A playground on the beach? So cool! I told Aaron I wanted to bag up enough sand to take home with us and put on our neighborhood playground behind our house. The soft white sand in Florida is seriously unreal!

One afternoon before dinner Auntie put this little doo-rag on Ava and we thought she looked so cute. And so big too! Where did my little baby girl go? Gah.

We had fun going to various restaurants each night for dinner. This particular night we went to eat in Baytowne Wharf at Sandestin. Aaron and I planned to eat at Bistro Bijoux for our anniversary but we felt bad leaving Ava and Auntie at home to feast on Totino's pizzas. So, we went to eat at Poppy's instead. It was decent. Not bad, but not our favorite for sure.

We match. Haha! I did not plan that.

My sweet beautiful girl. I just love her deep blue eyes and soft curls!

After dinner and a little fun at Baytowne Wharf we went for a walk on the beach. A teeny tiny walk for this pregnant lady couldn't hang. I also wanted to get a few pics of her in this SheShe Made dress. It is so simple, but believe it or not, it is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing that we sell right now. I adore it.

Another day at the beach!

We went to dinner at Seaside on our last night. Hands down our favorite evening! We ate at Bud & Alley's and once again, ate there as a kid many times so it was a stroll down memory lane. The place even smelled the exact same as I remembered. Yes, I recall weird things like that!

I was so excited to get beach pictures of us and as soon as dinner was over a massive storm rolled in. We had to snap pictures super quick and the best one was blurry. Sad face. So here is the next best one we got.

And speaking of sad face, you can't tell in this picture, but we were very sad to be leaving the beautiful beaches of Destin. Waiting for dad to drop off the rental car here.

I cannot WAIT for many more family trips to Destin/Seaside. We plan to drive next year and stay for a week. I am all over the place about taking a baby, so we will see about what happens. Either way, we are definitely going back!

Until next year, Destin! We love you!

Homegrown Goodness

A few weeks ago we went out to the farm to visit MeeMaw. Ava asks about her all the time so we try to get out there as often as we can. I know MeeMaw will not be around for most of Ava's childhood as she is in her 90's. So, this time is precious to us and we are thankful for the memories Ava gets to make while time allows. 

Ava found some snacks in the pantry. Nothing like some "blue chips" (Ava's favorite) and cranberry juice, huh?

After her snack, Ava wanted to go for a ride on the golf cart. We were in for a treat on this particular golf cart ride, because LOTS of vegetables were ready to be picked! 

We started with the cornfield!

Ava was enthralled with the "really tall weeds". And even more so when she learned that these weeds had corn growing on them!

Dad showed her how to pick it, and they both enjoyed scoping out the best looking husks. 

                                 

Looks like she found a winner!!

Doesn't she look like a fancy corn picker? I had no idea we would be out in cornfields and vegetable gardens or else I probably would have dressed her in overalls and rain boots. Haha!

I didn't get pictures of the vegetable garden, but here is out loot! We got enough corn and red potatoes for an army, onions, squash, and peppers.

Doesn't get more homegrown and fresh than this. We were so excited! 

Talking on our squash phones. 

I also noticed pumpkins and gourds were just beginning to grow too! More great things to pick in the fall! I can't believe I've been out to the farm all these years we've been married  (all 5 of them. that is A LOT. ha!) and NEVER realized all the great veggies that were being grown.

I was super pumped to get home and cook up all the veggies. We cheated and stopped by the store for some okra. We wanted fried okra with our other veggies. Just seemed like a Texas necessity, ya know?  

It was one of our top three favorite meals and I am so excited we have tons more in the freezer so that I can cook up this meal again SOON! This day at the farm was most definitely one that will never be forgotten.

It's a BOY!!!!

I am still in shock.
Our family dynamics have changed today.
And we could NOT be more thrilled to share that we will be parents of a bouncing baby BOY!!!

He was a bit shy, but looked oh so sweet! I am so in love with him my heart could burst.

And his name....

Most people expected his name to start with an A. Well we really weren't crazy about any names that began with A for boys, so we decided to go with Judd; our very first boy pick when we were pregnant with Ava. I was stuck on the fact that he would be outnumbered in the A initial department, so here is what we "shook" on back in February...

If it is a girl, we are naming her Anniston Lake and we will have no more.

If it is a boy, we are naming him Judd Richard and we will have ONE more and name that child a name beginning with something other than an A so Judd isn't left out.

Sounds so silly, but I really want 3 kids so it works out perfectly. And Aaron is not the kind of man who just HAD to have a boy so he was happy with that plan.

So THAT, my friends, is how we came up with his name. Nothing fancy. Just a name we both love. I don't even know what it means yet. I should look it up, huh?

His middle name is from his grandfather, Aaron's daddy. His first name is Richard. Ava has my mom's middle name and Judd will have have Aaron's dad's name. We are so thankful for our parents and it is the least we can do to honor them and continue to carry their names.

As for little miss Ava...she is THRILLED! All along she has said I was having a girl but that she really wants a "bruvver". So when we showed her the baby on the big screen and told her it was her brother she said "Ahhhh so cute little boy."

She is going to be the BEST big sister to a little boy.

And as far as SheShe Made boy's line is going.....you can expect to see LOTS of baby boy gowns, JonJon's, and matching brother/sister sets in the future. My head AND heart are exploding with the ideas!

16 Weeks Pregnant

Today I am 16 weeks pregnant with baby #2. I have yet to do a pregnancy post and so I think it's about time!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How many weeks: 16

Size of baby: The size of an avacado

Total weight gain: 4 pounds

Maternity Clothes: Mostly maternity pants and some shirts. Regular dresses and stretchy clothing.

Gender: Find out this afternoon so STAY TUNED! My guess has been girl all along. In fact, all three of us say girl. So if it's a boy we will be so surprised. And thrilled either way!

Movement: I felt the baby move once last week and then again today. Little baby flutters that make me second guess what I'm feeling so I'm still anxious to feel those "real" movements. Haha!

Sleep: I am up to use the bathroom about 3 times a night and have insomnia at 3 and 6am. It's so wild because normally I'm a narcoleptic and can sleep 14 hours in one stretch if left alone.

I don't have many crazy dreams. In fact, I rarely dream at all. Unusual for pregnancy I think!

What I miss: I'm not gonna lie, I miss a good glass of wine or a really cold beer on a hot evening. It's the hardest part about being pregnant this time of year I have discovered. But SO WORTH IT!

Cravings: Baked potatoes,peaches, and ice cream. I also am in love with Wendy's salads at the moment.

Symptoms: Not really any other than my super sonic strength nose. WHOA DUDE! I can smell anything a mile away.

Best moment this week: Ava kissing and hugging my belly. Now that I am showing she is all about loving on this baby. Such a sweet girl!

I'll be back on later to reveal the baby's gender.



While I was away...

It has been SO SO crazy for us since Ava's birthday. Life has gone full speed and I can't believe it's almost June. Let me catch you up to speed on our crazy life...

Well, there is really only one big thing. We moved! That was a whirlwind of a deal too. We got an offer on our house around April 10th and moved out on May 6th. 

We had been praying so hard to sell our house as we had just simply grown out of it. We seriously knew it would be a long shot to sell it due to the economy and because we weren't willing to lose money on the sale. Well, God sure blessed us. And the selling process was painless. We closed within an hour on both houses and moved into a newly constructed house in a great neighborhood!

Here is our new home...

Here are a few pics from the inside after we finished 99% of the decorating. 

downstairs bathroom

eating nook and living room

kitchen

living room

master bedroom (I fixed that bed skirt after snapping the pic)

upstairs (Ava's favorite)

loft/playroom

upstairs bath

I still need to finish Ava's room and the master bathroom, along with add a few finishing touches to the formal dining room and then do baby's room. Oh! And I haven't even touvhed my office/sewing room. Hoping for tht to be done this weekend! I'll share those in the next few days. Well, minus the baby's room! That comes in a few more weeks:) 

We've had a few ups and downs since moving in a week ago, but for the most part (and by most I mean 95% of the part) we are loving it!!!! Our neighborhood is just great, we live directly in front of the park, and we just love all the extra space. We are blessed.