End of October

Miss Lucy loves being on her tummy, usually because she can eat things after she scoots over to get them.
But look! She's learning a new skill!

Goodness, she's cute!

Speaking of new things, this has been the new hairstyle lately. Every time I'm thinking of cutting her hair, I realize how much I love styling it, and how feminine and beautifully girlish Miss Ava looks with her long, put up hair.

That same little girl loves her cars...

and she is finally smiling for the camera again! It melts my heart every time she turns this smile on.

Just this morning-look at those circles. Miss Ava has been into drawing her own circles lately.

My little artiste. She is amazing!

Shoes, Pink, Blue, and Food

She was wearing shoes here. It took close to 10 minutes to find all the outerwear, and put it on. She wanted to come in after 2 minutes outside. I hear parents everywhere empathetically nodding and smiling.
She likes to put shoes on, too. Or try, anyway.

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There's some very cute babies that hang out here during the week.
I love the pink Lucy and the blue Riley. Aren't they adorable?

Every photo shoot should have an efficient props coordinator.
Does "widdow man" feel left out?

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I made these sweet potato fries and chips.

Most had salt and pepper, and one batch was made with brown sugar and cinnamon. (Those are my favorite. Sometimes my sweet tooth is irrational.)

And supper tonight: Salmon patties and acorn squash.
This picture demonstrates a few things:
1. Disproportionate patties result when I make one and then scrape out the leftovers and put together a tiny last pattie.
2. These look much more delicious when cooked.
3. I use olive oil and butter to fry them thanks to Pioneer Woman. SO delicious.

The squash was yummy tonight! I cut in in half, scooped out the seeds and discarded them, then turned the two halves upside down in a baking dish with a little water. I think it was 400 degrees for 1 hour. Then I righted them, scored the sides and put in a little butter and brown sugar and left them in the oven until the patties were done. To serve I mixed the cooked squash in a bowl before dishing it out.

Food is so fun to cook and eat, and I don't mind the clean-up either!

Double-Chinned Wonder

Also referred to as "Chubulous One"

Peekaboo

White

Ava Does.

"Two legs, two bottoms, two ears, two eyes....one nose!" She seemed to be in disbelief that only one nose was on her face. Also, this was stated very loudly in the middle of the store. I just laughed and laughed. (I still remember her walking up with both fingers stuck in her nose saying, "two noses!". That was the day we discussed nostrils and nose.)

She has recently learned that milk can come from cows. It started with her finding the cow's udder on her animal magnet and asking about it. Ah, science for the young.

Makeup. She loves my cosmetic brushes. The huge smile she gets when I tell her she looks "so nice" is like sunshine.

Miss Ava wears anywhere from 2-5 outfits each day. Start with pants, then we want a skirt. Lose the skirt for play clothes to go outside, then a different outfit when we change out of our dirt and chalk-covered play clothes. And of course, pajamas.

She hauled an entire shoebox full of toy cars to me for opening. Seriously, she is strong!

Everything is "very". Very swinging, very coloring, very naughty, very happy, very whining, very grumping, very laughing, very eating, very sleepy, very silly.

She's started answering herself. Parental questions are usually answered with, "No. Why not?"

Parenting: A lot harder than I ever thought. More rewarding than I ever dreamed. A hundred times more fun than I could have imagined. What an awesome journey to be on!

Miss Lucy

Little Lady

I'm a bit of a foodie...

First, french bread.
It's delicious in egg casserole.
It's also delicious buttered and toasted, then lightly topped with mayo for burgers.

The one I took a picture of was the grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches. Yum!

Pumpkin butterscotch muffins. Delish.

I had a bunch of apples from a friend. So, I set up my little helper and went to town peeling and slicing.

Then I put the apples in my amazing electric skillet (which is a bazillion times better than a stock pot for this) along with some sugar, butter, and cinnamon. I let it simmer until the apples were crisp-tender, then added enough cornstarch to thicken.

It's easy to figure out what to do with homemade pie filling when your husband works with single guys.

I call fresh apple crisp an excellent use of time, and a fun gift to give!

[I can get recipes to you, just let me know in a comment.]

Ava, 2 Years Old

Our sweet Ava turned 2 years old!

She is the one who made me a mommy.
I remember how hard it was to get used to sleepless nights.
How odd yet wonderful it was to become a mom.
I couldn't believe the instant, fierce love I had for someone so tiny.

Then she turned 1, and I thought my heart would break because it went so fast.

And now she is 2.
My heart will probably break with each new birthday, because birthdays are bittersweet. Another step from baby, from childhood, from innocence;
another year of learning, maturity, growth, love, inexpressible joy, and delight.

I love her fiercely, dearly, no matter what.
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So, Ava's birthday celebrations. What fun! We started 4 days early with a party, complete with a Thomas balloon. Her first birthday was all pink, but this one came with lots of color and variety, which suits Miss Ava perfectly!

Great-Grandparents, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and a Little Sister all came to the party.
Ava is very delicate when it comes to wrapping paper. Her fingers gave the daintiest little pulls!

She even got big-girl panties! Her sits on the potty chair are more and more frequent, so I'm hoping it clicks soon!

A pink parasol that gets carried around all the time!

And CAKE!

It was so cute the little puff she gave to that candle. But it went out! I was so proud of her. :)

No hesitation. The cake, frosting side up, went IN her mouth!

At the end of the day she was all tuckered out. Grandpas are perfect for those tired cuddles.

On her actual birthday we took her shopping, then she wanted pizza for supper, so Pizza Ranch it was. She ate ice cream for dessert and was hyper for a LONG time after that.
It was fun to sing "Happy Birthday" to her all day long on her actual day. She thought it was the funniest song!
We are so blessed by our silly girl!
We love that she learns, adapts, creates, imagines, describes, counts, dances, and laughs.
Above and beyond all, our hearts' desire is that she love Jesus, with all her heart, soul, mind and strength!