Happy 5th Birthday Grace

January 28, 2003 - 3 lbs. 14 oz. - 16 3/4"
I do have cuter pictures but this just shows how small you were. This mans hands were not big.

January 28, 2008 - 35.2 lbs. - 40 3/4 "

Grace-

Tonight was the last time that I put you to bed as a 4 year old. Tomorrow when you wake up you will be my big 5 year old Princess. Wow times flies by so quickly. It seems that it was just yesterday that you gave me the greatest title on the earth: "Mommy." You have taught me more about life in 5 short years. You have taught me that life is about the moments not the things. That time goes by quickly so don't ever stop holding on.

I remember lying in a hospital bed not knowing what the first few weeks of your life would even be like for you. God knew. He held you (and mommy & daddy) tight in his arms. He kept you healthy and strong and he hasn't let go since. He also gave you a strong will and it just keeps getting stronger and stronger. I know that God has great plans for you and that you will follow him. I love being your mommy and can't wait to watch you grow into a wonderful young woman. I want to tell you just a FEW of the traits that I love so much about you.

1. You skip every where you go. Why walk somewhere when it's alot more fun to skip?

2. You are a prayer warrior. You never forget to pray for someone when you know that they are hurt, sad, or sick.

2. You ask a million questions. You leave no stone unturned in your quest to figure out how the world works. Each answer just leads you to ask 10 more questions.

3. Every day is a new adventure to you. At the age of 3 you were looking up at the Superman ride at Six Flags telling me "Let's ride that now!"

4. You have a passion about life and everything in it.

I love you so much!
To the moon and back again. Over and Over.
Love, Mommy

18 things I Love about my 18 month old

Ava is 18 months so I thought that I would make a list of 18 things that I love about her.
Ava I love....
1. your beautiful RED hair.
2. your blue eyes that look at me with such love.
3. the way you say Mommy.
4. that nothing is too hard for you. Once you have set your mind to it you can do anything. Including how you can climb the refrigerator.
5. the way you want to do everything Grace wants to do.
6. all the sweet words that you repeat after you hear them.
7. how much you love your sissy.
8. how you run into my arms after you haven't seen me all day.
9. your strong will.
10. the way you laugh.
11. the way you make me laugh.
12. laying on the living room floor watching the ceiling fan light turn off and on because you know how to use the remote.
13. that you love books.
14. rocking you to sleep every night.
15. how you like to kiss the air.
16. that you LOVE shoes.
17. to help you to dress up in all of the princess clothes, shoes, and crowns. YOu have always loved to play dress up.
18. YOU!

Fossil Rim

While the Cowboys were loosing we decided with the great WARM Winter weather we are having that we should go out to Fossil Rim. We were joined by my sister Sara and her two boys Mason and Jackson. The car ride was full of questions - or the same question over and over. "Are we there yet!" Now I know how my parents felt on road trips.

The animals sure learn quickly that cars provide food.

The petting zoo was fun too!

And the walking trail - which Ava preferred over the animals.

The Giraffe has always been my favorite animal so feeding it by hand was a really neat experience. It is the only animal at Fossil Rim that you can feed out of your hand. Grace, Mason and Jackson loved it also. Ava decided she was better off if she was as far away as possible. She lept out of my lap over into daddy's so she could observe from far away and it still wasn't as far off as she would have liked.

Go TEAM - Maybe next year!

These sure were cute on the girls but they didn't help a bit today. Maybe the Cowboys will actually make it to the Super Bowl by the time it's scheduled to be at their new stadium in Arlington.

Our 1st Sleepover

Gracie had her very sleepover last night. Her friend Sophia from school came over to play and spend the night at our house. The girls played great together. We had dinner at CiCi's (kid friendly), played, watched a movie and ate popcorn, and then went to bed. They slept all night and woke before the sun had barely creeped over the horizon.
Ava wasn't to sure what to make about her big sister playing with someone else on her territory. She would get mad if she wasn't invited into the room to play. She stood outside the door screaming. What can I say - she demands attention!

New Year

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions but as 2007 has come to an end I keep hearing this poem in my head over and over. It says: "Cooking and Cleaning can wait till tomorrow for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep. I'm rocking my babies and babies don't keep." I feel that God is telling me that one day I am going to look back and realize that time is gone and my kids are grown and he doesn't want me to look back with any regrets. I have this terrible tendency to stop playing with the girls so that I can get up to pick up something as simple as a piece of paper just because it's driving me crazy.

I guess that time has already snuck up on me. Grace will be five at the end of January and Ava will already be 18 months. At times when you aren't getting any sleep at night because you are up rotating between one or the other trying to get everyone back to sleep you think gosh I can't wait until this time passes but looking back I think that this is the stuff that I will miss the most. When Grace somes to the side of my bed at night and says "I had a bad dream and I just can't sleep without you there" it is really sweet. Ava just loves to snuggle up beside me and she can sleep for 12 hours straight that way. Why can't she do that in her own bed with her lovee.