Sunday, September 23, 2012

Going to the chapel

We spent last weekend in IA helping cousin Kristin & Luke celebrate their wedding day.  We got to Grandma & Grandpa's Thursday evening around 9:00, about 10 minutes after Ava fell asleep in the car of course.  Cousin Reece was there to make sure that she was wide awake for awhile while they played. 

Friday was a very busy day.  Ava was up early and ready to go.  We must have trained her well because she went down to Grandma & Grandpa's room bright and early on the following two days and woke them up instead of Daddy and me.  :)  Nate was out the door by 7:00 to go golfing with his friend Nate in Amana, while us girls and Reece got ready to go help decorate the reception site for Kristin & Luke's wedding.  After decorating we ran home for lunch and Aunt Lisa watched Ava while I got my hair done.  Grandma got off work early and after Ava woke up from her nap all of us took Great Grandma to DQ for ice cream to celebrate her 80th birthday.  She has to be one of the most active and well traveled 80 year olds that I know.  That woman is always on the go! Ava loved singing Happy Birthday to her multiple times while she ate her first DQ ice cream (with sprinkles of course).  We then rushed home to get ready for rehearsal.  It was another late night for Ava, but she did good. 

Saturday was the big day, the day that Ava got to wear her "princess dress".  We were lucky enough to sneak in a quick morning nap for both her and Reece before we had to be at the church for pictures.  Ava was still requesting a nap by early afternoon and every time that we would get her settled and ready to sleep they would come and get us to tell us that they needed her for another picture.  The poor thing was exhausted, but overall did really good.

Nate and I waited anxiously at the front of the church for her to come down the aisle.  She started out so good, walking down dropping one flower petal at a time.  Unfortunately, she ran out of flower petals about 1/4 of the way down the aisle and wasn't quite sure what to do after that.  Reece just kind of stood there looking at her as Ava looked around wondering if she should go back and pick the petals up and start over.  After a few awkward moments cousin Melissa went and got them and walked them down the aisle.  Luckily Kristin didn't really care if they made it down the aisle by themselves or not.  She was a great layed back bride (who looked absolutely beautiful).  Ava fell asleep on the way to the reception so Daddy sat in the car with her a bit so that she could get a little rest.  I thought that Ava would be tearing it up on the dance floor after dinner, but she was just too exhausted.  We ended up leaving the dance around 10:00. 

Ava was still up early Sunday.  I'm sure that it was because she wanted to be the first to wish her Daddy a happy birthday.  I can't even tell you how many times she sang Happy Birthday to him that day.  He loved it every single time.  :)  Grandma made a yummy breakfast for us that morning and then we hit the road.  We stopped at Nana's on the way home and had lunch with her and got to see Aunt Sue while we were there.  Ava loved Nana's cooking and had a lot of fun riding on the golf cart with Aunt Sue.  She slept probably 3/4 of the drive home from IA.  She definitely had some catching up to do.

This past week went by quickly, nothing too exciting to report.  We did get to have dinner with Cora, Mike, and Kristi.  Ava had been looking forward to seeing Cora for quite some time (and of course we looked forward to seeing Mike & Kristi).  :)  It's always great to catch up with them, and watch the girls play together.  Yesterday afternoon/evening Ava hung out with Mema while Boppa, Daddy, and I went to the gopher game.  It was another Gopher win which makes for an enjoyable evening with my husband.

We  hope that you had a fabulous weekend and hope that your week starts out well!     

 
Great-Grandma, Ava , & Mommy

The picture above is my favorite from the whole weekend.  Aren't they cute?!?
Grandma & Grandpa with all the grandkids (minus Jordan)
 
Parr family picture
Great-grandma with the grandkids
Kristin & Ava
Grandma & Ava
Getting to the point where the petals in her basket ran out

All the "Parr" girls

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Go Gophers

Saturday morning was the day that Nate had been looking forward to for months.  No, not the birth of our child...the Gopher home opener!  We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to spend outside with the family.  Nate and Boppa headed down for tailgating early, while us girls stayed home for a bit and met them down there around 9:30 for the 11:00 game.  Ava had a great time.  She fell asleep at the end of the first quarter for about 30 minutes (until I tried to move her).  She loved cheering on the Gophers, yelling "first down" and "go gophers", giving high fives and knuckles to the people around us after the touchdowns, and of course loved snack time.  Like I said, it was the perfect day to take her, and it really helped that the Gophers won.

We have a busy week ahead of us.  Today Ava and I will head to my OB appt. so that Ava can "listen to the baby's heartbeat".  She gets so excited for this every time that we go.  Only 6 weeks to go, but I feel like it could be a long 6 weeks.  I'm starting to get more uncomfortable (mainly when sitting or attempting to sleep) since I feel as though he sits very high.  Although I feel like he's very high, at the same time I also feel like he's sitting directly on my bladder.  There's not a night that goes by that I'm not up to pee at least twice...I feel like I'm 90 years old. 

Thursday afternoon Ava and I will pick Daddy up from work and we'll head to IA for cousin Kristin's wedding. We are really looking forward to celebrating her and Luke, and spending a great day with our family. I'm also saying a prayer that Ava is well behaved. She's the flower girl and will be wearing her "princess dress". I'm really hoping that she walks nicely and quietly down the aisle with Reece. It could be interesting, especially if she doesn't get her nap in. No matter what, I'm sure that it will be a weekend filled with lots of love, laughs, and memory making!

 This was just prior to Ava's 1st quarter nap.
 Cheering on the Gophers!  She was a very vocal fan...I wonder where she gets that from. :)

 More progress on the house!!!  These are from last Friday, if they stay on schedule the whole house should be framed in by the end of Friday.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Lo hicimos!

Lo hicimos, we did it!!!  That's what Ava (and Dora) would say.  We finally decided on day care for the kids once we move to Apple Valley in December.  I can't tell you how relieved I am to not have to worry about it anymore.  Don't get me wrong, I never stop worrying about leaving my children with strangers, but we feel good about the situation that we're going in to.  We decided to go with a lady name Cyndi who was a nanny at one time, but last worked as an accountant until she had her second son and now is a stay at home mom.  She has a two year old (and an older child) that she stays home with, and will then watch our two kids three days a week when I work.  She lives super close to our new place, and we feel as though our kids will get a lot of attention and interaction while in her care.  We're excited about it and hope that it works well. 

Speaking of moving, we haven't been down to our new place since last Thursday, but the building contractor called Nate last Friday just to let him know that everything is going smoothly and is on schedule.  They were supposed to start framing in the house last Friday, and continue through this week.  The weather has been perfect so I'm assuming that everything is still on schedule. 

As mentioned in my previous post, we stayed home this past weekend and it was Wonderful!  We went to the park Saturday morning, to the mall in the afternoon, and picked up some yummy unhealthy chinese for dinner on the way home.  Sunday morning we were off to church.  The greeters informed us when we walked in that there was no child care that day.  I guess it makes sense seeming as though it was a holiday weekend.  We were once again reminded of how grateful we are for those volunteers who work in the nursery/childcare area at church.  Nate took Ava out for a little while (after we ran out of snacks) and when they came back Ava climbed up onto my lap and fell asleep.  Unfortunately this was also disturbing to people around us because she was snoring so loudly.  People kept looking around and then spotted our little girl with the big snores.  You couldn't help but laugh. 

Monday Daddy fired up the smoker and we had delicious brisket and ribs for dinner.  That morning Ava & Daddy decided to wash all the cars.  Ava had a blast!  She went out in her pjs.  She was soaking head to toe by the time that they were done.  She washed the cars for awhile, but then decided to take the soapy sponge to herself (body and clothes included).  She then took the hose and sprayed herself down.  The water was freezing cold but it didn't seem to bother her. 

This week I've been busy working and have been exhausted by the time that we get home.  Tomorrow evening we're going out for a nice dinner to celebrate Daddy & Uncle Wes's birthday.  Ava gets to stay home with Lauryn, which means a nice peaceful dinner out for Nate and me.  :)  We won't be out to late because the boys have to get some rest for an early morning of tailgating.  That's right, the gopher's home opener is Saturday.  Us girls will be tailgating as well, just at a later time.  The weather is supposed to be fall like and gorgeous.  It should be a great day!  Hopefully Ava will have a good time (which means that we can have a good time).

Hoping that you all had a great Labor  Day, and enjoy the upcoming weekend!


 
Helping Daddy wash the cars


She loved playing with that hose.


Ava's new bedroom set