Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter...we sure did! I LOVE Easter and I am so thankful that God gave his only son to die on a cross so that I can have eternal life in heaven! I can not even imagine the sacrifice he made, by giving his son to die for me and you! I am sooo thankful that he did and can't wait to teach this little girl that Easter really has nothing to do with Easter bunnies and egg hunts but has everything to do with Jesus dying on a cross and rising again for her!!! Wow...thank you Jesus!!!! I really have been wondering this year where did the Easter bunny and egg hunts come from....what do they really have to do with Easter?? We did have fun celebrating the day with them though!! =) I'm not saying we won't have egg hunts and the Easter bunny, because we will, but I'm just not sure how that came to be or what it has to do with Easter and I will be sure to teach Avery what this day really is all about!!

Avery checking out what the Easter bunny brought for her!
Loving her new Dora paint book!
All dressed up and ready for church! This is what our little ham does when I ask her to smile!!

This is soooo Avery! She put her Easter basket around her neck and said "look it is like a drum, I am in a marching band!" She is always singing, marching, dancing, playing the drums or something!
Our little family of three....not for long!
So excited looking for eggs! She was running and screaming! Every time she found a egg she would say "look, there is one, I got one!" She wanted to stop and open each one right away! You can tell she was an only child out there hunting eggs! I remember with my cousins every year, you didn't dare stop for anything....you got as many eggs as you could while running and pushing people out of the way! This is her last year for a solo egg hunt though...she will learn how to do it next year when you have some competition! =)
"Look mommy, I got one!"


Showing us all of the eggs she got!
Checking to see what was in this one!

Another Easter present! They just kept coming!
Even Nana and Dillon came by with a basket full of goodies!!! Avery is a blessed little girl! Easter started to look a little like Christmas by the end of the day!

We had a wonderful Easter full of church, family and good food....couldn't ask for a better day!!!

Sunday is coming

When you have an extra 3 minutes and 40 seconds you MUST watch this video! It is sad and wonderful at the same time! I am soooo glad Sunday came! Thank you God for sending your son Jesus to die on that cross on my behalf! I can't even fathom what He must have been feeling and to think He did that for me and you just blows my mind! God sent his son to die on a cross for us....WOW!! Can you imagine doing that with one of your children?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naajYZSbWdw

You may be able to click on the link or you might have to copy and paste it....it is worth every second!!

Bath time fun!

Avery LOVES taking a bath! She gets sooo excited every single night when Ryan says it is bath time! He is the bath giver! She runs into the bathroom saying "I do it daddy, I do it!!!!" Actually screaming! She has to be the one to turn on the water!!!! She has sooo much fun taking baths and splashing her daddy! I love to listen to her laughing the whole time!

Arbuckle Wilderness A.K.A. Scariest Place on Earth!!

A couple of weekends ago we decided to drive to Oklahoma and go to Arbuckle Wilderness. It is only about an hour and a half away. I remember going to this place when I was a kid and I remember VERY clearly NOT liking this place at all....I remember being terrified. But, I thought okay, you are an adult now, it is nothing. Now, I know when we went we were with my dad (Lew) in his jeep with the windows rolled down and he is brave and thinks that we should be too! So, I thought it would be way less scary this time b/c there is nooooo way we would roll the windows down! You are suppose to buy cups of food and drive through the park and roll down the windows and feed these crazy animals, but we were just there to look at them and for noooo reason roll the windows down. I seriously do not know how people drive through here with the windows down and feed these crazy animals and not get seriously injured. But, it turned out to be a good trip! Well, for Avery and Ryan at least. I have not conquered my fear of this place!! Avery kept saying "Mommy are you scared, why are you scared mommy, it's okay mommy they can't get you, look at the pretty animals mommy!" That is when I realized I had better suck it up and pretend like this was the greatest place I had ever been to at least for Avery's sake!!!

These crazy creatures would come right up to your car and stare you down like they would love to eat you!! They even tried eating Ryan's truck! Avery really let them have it for that one! "Noooo Animals, do not eat my daddy's truck!" She was NOT afraid!!!
Look at this.......tell me that is not scary!
I had to beg her to make a scared face! I really think she was a little afraid...she was trying to be brave at first for me, but once I stopped acting like the big chicken that I was she really really enjoyed it!!
I do have to admit, I really really liked the zebras. They were sooooo pretty! Avery was giving them kisses from inside the window and they were putting there mouth on the other side!!! Yuck! She really was impressed by the zebras too and is still talking about how she saw the zebras at the animal place!!

These giraffes were pretty amazing! The giraffe's at the zoo do no do them justice, I could not believe how long there necks really were....
She loved it there....I am afraid we are going to have to go back again!!!!

Just like Daddy!

This girl is a sponge! I am telling you she soaks up EVERYTHING!!! She does not miss a thing. She can tell you something we talked about months ago and remember every single detail, even things that I have totally forgotten about...we have a serious smartie on our hands!!

She was going to work just like daddy! She got his lunch box and put his sunglasses on her shirt just like daddy does. She got the car keys and his cell phone and even his pocket knife... She was ready to go to work like daddy! She gave us both a hug and a kiss and said "I'm going to work, I'm really late!" "Have a good day!" She walked to the front door and came back and she was home from work!!! =) She is soooo silly, I love watching her play!!

Our Tent

You can't really tell by the picture....but, Avery and I built a tent! She saw on t.v. that the kids had built a tent and she really wanted one too! So, I drug the chairs from the dining room into the living room and sheet, comforters and pillows from the closet and we built a tent. Then we brought in all kinds of toys and food and had sooooo much fun playing in the tent! It brought back so many memories of my grandparents house. I remember my grandma doing the same thing with me. I can still remember the sheets with the flowers covering the bar stools and loving my tent! I hope Avery has great memories of the fun we have together!!! I know I will!!

Even Bruiser was allowed into the tent for a little bit!! He wasn't to impressed!

Avery...

Avery is super excited to be a big sister! I know she really has no clue what this really means or how her life is about to change....I don't think any of us do..ha!!! =) We talk about the baby all the time and about her being a big sister! She knows there is a baby in my belly and will show you where it is! She even wants to kiss the baby and talk to it sometimes, which is sooooo sweet! I can not wait to see her as a big sister. I know she is going to be such a good big sister, such a little mommy! She already has the bossy part down, so I know that won't be a problem, we all know you have to be bossy to be a big sister! She tells me how she is going to feed the baby, rock the baby, sing to the baby, hold the baby and kiss the baby! I can't wait to see her with the new baby! I just hope she doesn't change her mind once it is here! =)
Avery is just the BEST thing in the world....I can't imagine another child like her. I know the new baby has a lot to live up to! =) She is just growing up right before my eyes...I wish she would slow down a little bit! She is so funny and sweet and full of joy and life! Yesterday when Ryan got home from work she said "Hi Daddy, Welcome to our castle!!" She is FUNNY!!!!! She always tells me "You are my mommy, daddy is my daddy, Bruiser is my dog and I am your sister!" hahaha! I try to tell her that I am not her sister, but I think she is a little confused with all of this big sister talk. She will tell me "Mommy, I have to tell you a secret, and whisper in my ear "I love you soooo much!!!" I just love her more than anything and LOVE when she does that! Or she will say "Mommy, you are my best friend!" She is just a little person now and now a baby at all! I love that we can have actual conversations now and she understands what I am saying and I can understand her and what she is saying! She is at a perfect age! Some of the things she says that remind me she is still a baby (even if just barely): She still says logurt for yogurt! She says orangeres for oranges....fowler for flower!!! And, a few others that I love b/c it shows me she isn't totally a big girl yet!!! I just love her so much and want to soak up every single second of our time together!!! I want to remember every single thing even though I know I won't because I have already forgotten so much! Like the way she likes to turn on her own bath water every night and the way she wants Ryan to swing her in her towel and the sound of her laughing that will just make you want to squeeze her!!! The way she likes to carry her "ladder" around every where with her and use it for everything: turning on the lights, washing her hands, to open the door, to do the dishes...she loves her ladder! The way she loves to sing and dance and is ALWAYS moving...this girl is NEVER still, but I LOVE it!! I am sooooo thankful that she can sing and dance and move around all of the time! I am soooo blessed and soooo thankful for the perfect gift of Avery! I can not believe we are going to blessed in such a huge way again!!! =)