Thanksgiving 2008

This year we changed up the norm and made a different plan. We decided to spend it with some friends and then have George's parents and our family (Ashley, Ava, George, and I) together in the evening for a meal and games. Ava put a wrench in the plan with a pretty bad cold that started on Wednesday night. I stayed home with Ava and George brought me a delicious plate from Lori and Larry's. We still went forward with our evening plans and had a good meal, good company and played a few games. Overall, it was relaxing and enjoyable. We took Ava to the Doctor on Friday and the prescription was "time" with lots of fluids and lots of rest.

Abby likes the Bumbo Seat Too!!

We had a scare before Thanksgiving with our fourteen year old cat Abby. We took her to the Vet and she is currently on medication and doing well. If she continues to do well and her symptoms clear up, she will be out of the woods. So far..So good. Abby loves Ava's Bumbo seat as seen in the above photo.

New feats and perspective's for Ava

Ava is doing something new almost daily now. It's like she wakes up and tries something new and George and I look at each other and say how did she know how to do that??!!! She is now sitting up, sucking on her toes, making lots of vocal sounds. She hasn't figured out VOLUME control yet. She is completely and totally mesmerized by our cat Opal. She now knows her name and will respond when you say her name. She would make a good farmer-early to bed..early to rise!! She loves her new walker because she can move around the house and get close to the cats. Unfortunately for me, she also likes to watch football with George. Maybe it's just a phase. She loves her sister and smiles when she comes home from work. I love how her little personality is developing and how much fun she is to be around.

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas.....

Today we all woke up to a winter wonderland. It was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I took Ava outside for her first snow day and she seemed to like it. I started playing Christmas music already. Normally I wait until Thanksgiving weekend but the snow seemed to draw me into the Christmas spirit. George will be ready to cut the speaker's out of the ceiling by December 25th as he will be hearing Christmas music all day long for the next 39 nine days!! My friend Rapture from Texas would love this weather and she can testify first hand of my love for Christmas music as she had to hear it all day long when we were working together. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear" (From the movie "ELF")

Third Year and still inspired!

Every year for the last three years, George and I find a single Mother and her children to adopt for Christmas. Every year we are inspired by the love and perserverance of these Mother's when they are faced with providing for their families. It gives George and I great joy to help in their circumstances as I was once a single Mother myself, raising a daughter without a father or financial support. I've had people help me along the way, and God put people in my pathway to give me direction, love and support. This year we adopted a single Mother with a newborn baby that has mental and physical challenges that lay ahead. We were able to meet with her and her beautiful baby girl on Sunday and what a joy it was to see this tiny baby. I hope that our help will have lifted some of her burdens and we hope to continue to see her and her baby in the coming months. Please take a moment to join George and I in our prayers for this baby's upcoming surgery and challenges!!!

Visit from Indianapolis

This weekend we had my niece Brooke, her husband Corey and their cutie pie baby Malin here for a visit. Malin and Ava are only 3 weeks apart! It was fun to see them interact together and Malin sat up for the first time on Friday night.

It was a great visit and we look forward to spending time with them as our daughters grow up together. We look forward to our upcoming visit with them in December!

What's new for Ava

I keep forgetting to let people know what "Little Ava" is now doing. She has progressed to three meals a day of baby food and eight bottles. She is now turning over from back to stomach, and close to turning from stomach to back. She can somehow find her way across the room when I leave the room for just a couple of minutes. She is Mobile!! She loves to stand up on my lap and look around at all the things in each room and she loves to look outside. She has just started to use an activity saucer and she and the cats have begun to size one another up. Opal tried to rub her head against Ava and Ava grabbed for the fur. Yikes! She will be Six months old on Thursday and she is growing up SO FAST! George and I look back at video's and pictures of her when she was born and we can't believe how the time has gone. More updates later.