Ava's play date

BABY SHOWER * APRIL 25TH SATURDAY @ NOON
Just ask for more details!

We had the best day yesterday visiting a friend and her kids for dinner. Don worked on their cars with Eric and we had a blast! I am smiling ear to ear just thinkin about my baby girls day...Ava made best friends with their daughter who is I believe like 10 years old lol Ava knows NO difference! I swear she laughed the entire time we were over.
Along with the most precious sight I was holding their newest edition baby Maddie who is a miracle premie baby-- but anyways I was holding her and Ava came up reaching to get in the chair with me..my first thought was Oh no she is jelous...great thing to look forward to in like a month lol..but no! she climed up and put her arm behind Maddie's head attempting to hold her like i was..then kept huggin her and sayin "awww"..."aw". lol I was exstatic good things to look forward to with baby Max. She is going to be the best big sister!!

So anyhoo our whole day was a blessing and I have God to thank we have been searching and praying for a family to bond with since moving to Florida and we found great friends in the least expected place!!! Hope everyone takes a little time this week to tell a friend you apprechiate and love them, Good friends are hard to find!

Easter Egg Wreath

This project was easy, fun and I love the end result.
The supplies you'll need to make one are:
The Supply list: Cardboard, Plastic Easter Eggs (These pics used 42 medium (regular sized) but we'll talk about this later), Easter Grass, 1 1/2 inch wide Ribbon, Wire or Pipe Cleaners for bow and hanger an the back. I recommend you match your grass with your ribbon...not the same color but the same color family.
The Tool List: Hot Glue Gun, Scissors and a Pencil with it's eraser never used.
Let's get started!

We'll start with a base of cardboard. You can just grab any box and cut out two circles. If your cardboard is super thick and sturdy, you can use one thickness if you wish. The outside of my circle is 12 inches and the inside measures 9 inches. This makes the wreath a little over 13 inches in diameter. If you need or want a larger wreath, then cut bigger circles....and you'll need more eggs.



Add some hot glue to one of my circles in a pretty decorative fashion. Ha! Who am I kidding? You can just squirt it around the frame!


Okay. Now it's time to start hot gluing the eggs down. Look at the top right of the photo. This is where you can start. Put a little glob of hot glue on the bottom of the green one and set it down on the cardboard with the fat end on the inside. Make sure you place the eggs horizontal on the board. Do not have them standing at attention or tilting upward. Next you place the pink egg next to the green one and put one small dab of glue in between the two to connect them. You could probably see it if you click on the picture to enlarge it. Next you add the purple one and connected it to the pink and green one with more glue. To sum this up, you will have glue on the bottom of all the eggs to adhere it to the cardboard and anywhere it touches another egg, you'll need to put a little dab on it too. This will build a nice and sturdy wreath. As you can see with the first three eggs, the purple one nestles right in with the other two. As you work around the wreath, this is not the case with every egg. Look at the next two (yellow & blue). The blue can't quite nestle in between the yellow and pink. Not a problem. Just make sure that when you continue with your wreath, your outside eggs are facing out like a sunburst and your inside eggs are facing inward to a center point. Do not worry about the gaps where you can see the cardboard. We'll fix that later.


The next step is to put the top layer on the wreath. You can use about 10 eggs...2 of each color. All you do is place them in a random fashion. You can look at the first picture for the example. You can place them over the places where you have the biggest gaps and then fill in or whatever you like. You will need to hot glue these down everywhere they touch another egg.


Anyway....start with a little grass and using your pencil as a tool push some grass with the eraser into the gaps of your wreath. Start with the the gaps under the top layer of your eggs. Then you will need to put them between the outside rim of the bottom layer of eggs. In the space where the gap is, put a little bed of hot glue and let it cool a few second and then put some grass there to cover the cardboard.



After you are done "grassing" your wreath, trim the fly-a-ways from the outside of your wreath to shape your wreath.




Do not try to shove too much grass in the gaps. If you press too much in there it will act press against the eggs and pop them apart. You really just need a little to cover up the gap and add sparkle.

Don't forget to trim the inside too!
Next you'll need to make a bow or if you want, find someone to make it for you.


Add the bow to your wreath in the space not covered by the eggs and add a pipe cleaner to the back to make a hanger for the wreath and you're done!

Silly Soles

So if you've ever seen my Ava's socks it wouldn't be hard to tell my favorites comes from trumpette- they sell the cutest designed socks for babies / toddlers ever! Can you hear the excitment in my voice? GOOD!

Well I about freaked when I came across this news..they have just launched a line of shoes called Silly Soles and they are adorable I already ordered Ava a pair! Oh deary I have a shoe fetish!Am I teaching her bad habits? haha

Survey about Moi

4 of this and 4 of that...

4 Jobs I've had :
1* In sales at baker shoes! (Loved this)
2* Receptionist/shampoo girl at Utopia salon & Dayspa
3* Babysitter
4* Stylist/makeup artist at my current location Before&After Salon

4 Movies I could watch over & over:
1* Sweet home Alabama
2* How to lose a guy in 10 days
3* The notebook
4* Pretty woman

4 Places I've lived:
1* Cridersville/Lima OHIO
2* Vandalia Ohio
3* Dayton/Centerville/Springboro/Kettering Ohio haha
4* HOLLYWOOD FLORIDA

4 Shows I watch:
1* John & Kate plus 8
2* any good design show
3* Dancing with the stars
4* American Idol

4 People who email me:
1* Mandie
2* My mother in law
3* My grandma in Tennessee
4* My church updates

4 Places I've been:
1* NYC
2* Kaui/Maui Hawaii
3* Jamaica
4* Mexico

4 Favorite things:(CURRENTLY)
1* (Current craving) APPLES
2* Morracain Oil (hair product)
3* shopping for Max ...well actually shopping for ANYTHING
4* Clorox Disenfectant wipes! HELLO they work like everywhere!

4 Fav places to eat:
1* Bahama Breeze
2* LOS PINADA(Mexican place back home)
3* PF CHANGS (Here we have MAMA FU'S Close enough)
4* CONCO DORO ITALIAN ...MMMMM...

4 Places I'd rather be:
1* A hotel..something about just going to one and sleeping in the big clean beds with cold pillows can make you feel on vacation no matter if it's even behind your house...

2* Boating..tanning on a boat..what the heck a house boat why not!
3* ON VACATION WITH MY HUBBY I'd like this any day everyday..I can't wait untill he retires haha we have about 55 years to go..
4* A SPA..Once again any day everyday

4 Things I look forward to this year:
1* Meeting Max my first baby boy (2more months!)

2* Ava communicating more...CAN NOT WAIT FOR THIS!

3* NOT BEING PREGNANT AND LOSEIN THIS BABY WEIGHT!(yes I have basically been pregnant 18months straight instead of the usual 9..What can I say I love my hubby!(Don't pitty me I guess I did have a like 5 month break somewhere in between haha I still felt pregnant though!!)

4* Dance workout classes here I come!!


NOW I TAG MANDIE!! OR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Night terrors vs. Nightmares?

I had no idea of the difference untill searching the web for what to do?

What are night terrors?
Night terrors occur in at least 5 percent of young children, and can start as early as 9 months. These mysterious disturbances happen during deep, non-dreaming sleep. A child in this state will cry, whimper, flail, and even bolt out of bed. Though his eyes may be wide open, he's not awake and isn't aware of your presence. Once the night terror (which can last anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour or more) is over, your child will return to a sound sleep and have no memory of the incident in the morning.

How are night terrors different from nightmares?
Nightmares happen during rapid eye movement (REM) or dream sleep. A child who's had a nightmare is likely to have a fairly clear idea of what scared him, though he probably won't be able to articulate his fright until he's about 2. He may also be afraid to fall back asleep, and in the morning, he'll probably remember that he had a bad dream.


We have watched my happy little Ava have nightmares since soon after she was born..but this past weekend she experienced night terrors and we just don't know what to do they have continued every night and I personally just cry at the sight..she screams her head off (and rarely cries on a normal basis)...these are horrifying no mother wants to hear her child screaming in fright...and she kicks uncontrollably at us trying to comfort her. Donny usually has to take her to sprits some water on her face to even wake her up yet her eyes may have been open the whole time. Very scary! Any suggestions?

Framing flashcards

They are simple, clean, and cute, some of my favorite things!



Lately I have been getting together everything for Max's nursery! I am attempting to make the bedding and most decor on my own- so far so good! I baught wooden animal springs for the windowsil that hold pictures (one each)..and I painted/colored them-sorry no pictures of the elephant, giraffe, and monkey picture holders but they turned out great! After all is said and done and Max arrives I will post a picture of his nursery with him in it :)

Ava's birthday bash*

Where have I been you wonder? Well besides becoming super busy lately at work (praise Jesus) our computer finally gave itself the ol' boot...thanks to our lovely daughter breaking our charging cord there has been no magic in that little box. So here's a short yet sweet update! I am STILL pregnant and growing very wide- Donny got a tattoo of our baby boys name on his forearm so it is definetly set in stone now.."Max Carter". YAY isn't that so exciting to be able to find out the sex of your baby and bond with it so much more for several months..I'm sure there is a ton of excitment in not finding out until after the extreme delivery making what you did so worth it..but me I just HAVE to know. We went through our first sickness with Ava she broke out from the antibioics she was on for an ear infection in hives...it went on for what seemed to be forever! And last but not least my baby girl has turned ONE! On the 25th she woke up with the biggest one year old smile you have ever seen! She just seemed older that day..but still my baby. We had no major plans for her birthday until today (Saturday) for her party. So Don and I just spoiled her all day with love and many many kisses..and dessert too. haha ! So todays her big day we are having family over to my moms in Tampa for a cookout and cake!

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So it's late Saturday night and man o' man I am exhausted! I have thrown the best
1st birthday cookout I might add, very proud of my party throwing skills. Ava seemed thrilled and our cupcake cake worked! Needless to say she was spoiled rotten...Here's just a few pics from today I'll post her 1 year old pictures once we get them finished with editing-