We are so thankful!

Thanksgiving was a BEAUTIFUL day, warm and sunny! After a nice big meal (way too big!), we headed outdoors for a walk and then played outside for a while! If you haven't seen Ava Kate in a while, you'll have to do a double take. This little girl is growing so fast! I've said it before and may have to eat my words down the road, but so far we have the most pleasant child! She is happy most all of the time and it she lends a smile to everyone we meet! :)

A BUG'S LIFE (ladybug, that is!)

A LITTLE BIT OF LADY, A LITTLE BIT OF BUG....
OUR AVA KATE KELLEY, SENDS YOU A GREAT BIG HUG!








...we didn't get a photo opp with "sissy" and ava kate...sissy was cinderella and here is her beautiful pumpkin carriage...

Mommy and Me Class was so much fun!

Ava Kate had a BIG DAY on her playdate with Hayesli Orange (daughter of Brandy & Bryan Orange) at Gymboree's mommy and me class! It was just the funniest thing to see Ava Kate interact. Actually she just wanted to see what everyone else was doing...my little nosey rosey! While everyone else was learning tacticals, Ava Kate was busy studying the others while they gleefully squealed! Seriously, though we had a great time - tummy time with the giant mirror and "the parachute" were HUGE hits for our little Lala!!!! She even showed off her new trick...ROLLING OVER!!!

our little "pumpkin"

So, here is our pumpkin carving pictures. WORD TO THE WISE...Pumpkins DO NOT last all month. They fail to tell you this when you are happily bee bopping around the pumpkin patch (albeit the 90 degree weather should've been a clue it was a tad bit too early to be lugging home a 40 lb pumpkin!). In true Kerri fashion, I was so eager to get the halloween festivities underway that I failed to think about the poor pumpkin's lifespans! Poor things....and the mums....oh, don't even get me started. They are now a natural habitat for all green lizards within a 20 mile radius!

I really love...

I really love............her voice, her "gummy" little smile, the way her eyes swint like her mommy's when she's laughs, her soft belly, her drooly kisses (saved only for her mom), the way she loves that "green frog", how she and I share secrets that no one else can know, to look across the room and realize she is staring back at me, to see a broad grin come across that beautiful little face when she opens her eyes from naptime, the way she examines people, other children, dogs, toys, - she's thinking and I wonder what out little "einstein" is figuring out, when her little cry turns to laughter, the way she smells after bathtime, breathing her in like I may never take another breath, and most of all I just LOVE being her mommy!!!!!!!!!! She is all things precious to me!

Ava Kate's first beach trip

all new pictures...

Just wanted to share new photos with you all! 

Ava Kate is so sweet and while she's certainly 

looking much like her daddy, she has a personality all her own! 

ava kate played with "friends" in her room! 

  

LaLa is now 10lbs. 7ozs. and 22 inches!!! WOW! 

a photo shoot with Cafaro Photography (thanks Mak!)...

 

 ...and at Aunt Lynn's lakehouse with the Kelley cousins! 

and we can't leave you without a little "WAR EAGLE!" - we want to make Aunt Brandi (aka, sissy) proud!!!

Here we GROW again!

My, my how time is flying! Ava Kate is 9 weeks old today! Thanks to everyone for "reminding" me to update the blog! SO...what is new with Ava Kate? 

Since we last blogged, Ava Kate has had her first SMILE, first TUMBLE, and first BOO-BOO! We've also had a few more visitors! 

Brian Roy (above) got a smile out of AK and Jess (below) got a good cry out of her. haha! Yes - my perfect child does cry from time to time, but even that sounds like music to my ears.  

Her daddy and I think she is changing so much. Her personality is developing, it's just too cute! Her first smile was at the end of the 5th week. One particular day on week 6 was just a "if it can go wrong it will" day and the only thing that saved me was this little smile! After a day of near tears (likely from pure exhaustion), she and I both had a little laugh! It was heaven sent! But, there were no smiles on week 8 when she took a little fall. Don't worry she wasn't hurt - the boppy was around her, pillows and even Geoffery (the giraffe), who was "babysitting". Geoffery was FIRED soon after!  Daddy was a trooper, while Mommy was a panic! She survived with only a little cry and an totally freaked out mom!  

Sorry it took so long to blog, but we hope you enjoyed the update! So, do you think she's changed as much as we do? 

Happy 1 Month Birthday

Today our angel turned one month old! I can't believe it's been a month! In a way it seems like we've had her FOREVER and on the other hand it feels like it was just yesterday when I first saw that beautiful little face! We are enjoying ever second of this little life! 

If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle.

Vincent van Gogh

Happy 4th!!!

They say motherhood changes you....WELL....most of you won't believe this, but I actually MADE Ava Kate's fourth of July dress! Bless her heart, she's so small that none of her beautiful clothes fit (sorry Aunt Mak, the oh so cute and festive 4th outfit you got her swallowed her whole!) so I decided to try my hand at sewing! Aunt LeAnn helped me do this and we finished it about midnight the night before! (Thanks Lee and to sweet Tanner who lent me his mom, even though he was SO tired and wanted to go home!). THE OUTCOME...a pretty darn cute dress, if I do say so myself! Ava Kate debuted the design at Gigi's annual 4th of July pool soiree! We really enjoyed it! I even dressed Daddy to have us all match (i know, i know!), but you'll have to take my word for it as we just never had that opportunity for a family photo - such is life as a new parent! Hope all of you enjoyed the holiday!