Christmas Day

It's Santa Claus! (ho, ho, ho)

Ava really enjoyed playing with all her new toys!

She got to top it all off with her new favorite meal...Gigi's spaghetti!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in Greenville is always at my parents' house. My dad's family comes over and we have the traditional spaghetti and lasagna.

The cookies were made...

The stockings were hung...

and after bedtime stories...twas all a good night!

Arriving in G'ville

We got to Greenville on the 23rd. Ava got to learn how to avoid floor furnaces and how to play the drums (both very important lessons).

"The little drummer baby"

New Wheels!

Since we are going to Greenville for Christmas, we didn't want to lug her cozy coupe all the way there. So, Santa dropped it off in Tupelo early. She loves her new car. It's so much fun to open and shut the door and honk the horn!

First trip to the zoo

We spent Sunday afternoon at the zoo in Nashville. It was Ava's first trip to the zoo. She loved it! Unfortunately, it was too cold for all the animals to be out, so she missed out on some.

Topping the list of her favorites were these monkeys. She was fascinated and loved watching them climb, jump, and play with each other.

Her other favorites were these elephants. When we left them she was blowing them kisses and telling them bye bye. (pictured below)

Thanksgiving 2008

We had Thanksgiving in Tupelo this year joined by my parents, my meme and pawpaw, and Tracy. We had a great meal that Ava slept through, but she had leftovers when she got up.

Lounging on the couch post-meal.

My uncle Carr made Tracy and me wooden cars when we were little that Ava loves to play with. For her birthday, Carr made her one of her own. This is right after she opened it and couldn't wait to start driving it complete with car noises (brrrrrrooommmm).

Our little indian...or as she is known at daycare...little water lily.

Gigi just had to try Ava's feathers!

Weekend Visitors

Mom (Gigi) and Tracy came to visit this weekend along with our nephew, Coleman. Here we are enjoying a popcorn snack after a day of shopping. Snacktime is pretty much the only time we can get Ava to sit still.

Sunday afternoon we got a surprise visit from our friends Darrell and Henry. Ava's doing a good job of exposing Henry to the fine arts. Henry managed to teach Ava how to say "Elmo."

Throwing the Ball

We spent most of today raking leaves (just the first of many such days until all the trees shed their leaves). After raking, Michael spent some time with Ava improving her tennis ball throwing.

It was all going well until Ellie decided she didn't want to share her tennis ball anymore.

Halloween

Ava's first Halloween to trick or treat was fun. She dressed as a peacock and we went to a few houses. Her favorite treat was a strand of beads (mardi gras like). She really liked carrying her Elmo bucket around and learned you're supposed to hold it out for treats while watching her friend, Autumn, do it. She blew a kiss to a lady as she was leaving one house...I think she's already learning what to do to get extra candy! She did have some people ask if she is a boy...can you imagine dressing a boy as a peacock?!!

Early Boo

Ava had her Halloween party at daycare today. She dressed in her halloween best equipped with a strobe pumpkin on her shirt and strobe candy corn on her socks. She really liked the lights. Here she is talking on the phone (maybe she's talking to the Great Pumpkin).

Bulldog Walk Through

At the bulldog walkthrough, I got to ride on my daddy's shoulders to see the cheerleaders, band, and players...

hang out with grandma, Aunt Tracy, and Andy...
(Note the beads grandma is wearing. Ava was very nice to loan those to her since she is obsessed with wearing them right now.)

get a pawprint painted on my face...

and learn how to scream my name through a megaphone from Carly. As Elmo would say, "I'm pooped!"

Cheerleader In Training

We were at MSU Saturday for Homecoming. Grandpa was teaching her some new cheers. She's been practicing her cheers for months at home with her daddy.

"Do it, do it, do it like a big dawg..."

She always reverts back to her favorite form of cheering....clapping.

Kisses and Pansies

Look mama... I picked you a pansy!

Ava is really into kissing the pups right now. Here she is spotting her prey...

Emma gets her kiss...

and Ellie gets hers too.

Cruisin with Daddy

Ok, she wasn't really riding in the jeep, but it still looked funny with her sitting in the front seat. I think she was definitely wanting to take it off road.

Fall

Ava helped me plant mums. It's so sad for us that it is getting dark earlier now--she loves to play outside.