Halloween

It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....

Once again, Ava showing off her photogenic skills and Tripp just hangin' in his own world.



Tripp looking at Ava wondering if she will ever leave him alone.

The cutest Mickey Mouse!

The cutest Minnie Mouse!

Tripp one month

Well, I know everyone says it but I seriously can't believe Tripp is one month old already. It feels like he has been with our family forever and hard to believe he hasn't been with us forever.



Thanks, for the cute pj's Aunt Sheila!



And, while Tripp was turning one month old, Ava was doing her October craft of painting a pumpkin - I have never seen the kid so serious she couldn't even smile for the camera while painting she was totally focused! Of course, the finished product was one that only a mother could love. It sits on our dining room table and she gets more impressed with herself everytime she sees it - cracks me up. Literally not a day goes by that she doesn't open her eyes really wide and say wow, pumpkin!!!

Pumpkin Patch

A little shop in our small town did a small pumpkin patch so I thought it would be a perfect thing to take the kiddos too to get some pics, Ava was everywhere except where I wanted her to be. This was pretty much the best pic I could get of them and due to the smallness of the patch there really wasn't anywhere to put Tripp and if you think I am going to let Ava hold Tripp - you are out of your mind!!!



Tripp in his outfit, looking ever so handsome!


Ava's new pose - this is how it goes Ava say cheese and Ava literally squats like she is going to the potty and says cheese. You can't get her to say cheese and smile standing up only in this position - nice!!!!

Random Pics that I like

This is Ava's favorite thing right now is when I get her up from her nap (she doesn't think she can get out of her bed without me) is for Tripp to lay with her for a little while she thinks it is hilarious!


Tripp just looking cute!


Tripp sitting with his Daddy contemplating life.

Ava looking so big in her first pair of boots and she was just way into the book that she couldn't look at the camera in fact anytime I asked her to say cheese she just stared at the book and said book.

Ava just being hilarious in her Ava ways - she just got the boots (thanks Aunt Haley) and of course had to add a few touches to her outfit.

We are home

Well, in case you didn't get the message on Facebook - Hughes Heath Hamrick aka Tripp arrived Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 11:25a.m. weighing 7.7lbs and was 19.5 in long. He is beautiful and healthy and we are now adjusting to a family of four. Thus far, he is a good baby and we are loving just looking at him and watching all those cute newborn things.

As everyone else puts their labor stories I will put mine it is pretty uneventful. I went to the dr. friday and there was absolutely nothing going on. However that night I felt horrible, all day Saturday I felt horrible. Then about 5:45 Sunday morning I woke up went to the bathroom - had a contraction, had another, then another. I thought I should time these things starting at 6:15 they were coming every 5 minutes. So, at 6:30 I woke up Heath and said if this lasts for 45 more minutes we are going to the hospital. They lasted - we went to the hospital got there at 8 was at a 3, at a 4 at nine, at a 6 at 10 had the epidural and he came at 11:25. All I can say is that when my babies decide to come, they come and don't waste a lot of time which is fine by me!!!!

Anyway, here he is on Day 1

Ready to come home (you know, I know carseats are the law but why must they look so uncomfortable.)

Proud Big Sis - she is doing ok with him has her great moments and not-so-great moments but for the most part is doing good. She is feeling a little under the weather right now so that does account for some drama.

Shout Out

Ok, I have to give a big Shout Out to my friend Cami - you have to check out her embroidery website at her latest entry - those cute little things are for our little man. Arent' they just precious, I just can't wait to see sweet Tripp in those cute little things. She does awesome work - so next time you need something sweet for those little ones keep her in mind!

http://sugarbritchesemb.blogspot.com/

First Day of School

Well, I am so far behind in blogging that I am thinking I may just skip the month of July and start with the biggest thing in Ava's world and that is the start of preschool. Here she is on the first day of school and she just started her third week this week. She has done pretty well, up until today she has ran right in and saved her meltdowns for later in the day. Today they had to take her screaming and kicking but after the intial meltdown she had the best day yet... go figure just like her to be a little backwards.

Such a big girl! I may have some random July posts we did a lot that month - the fourth, Ava turned 2 with two parties, and vacation to Estes Park, CO and a visit with our favorite little boy Corbin and his precious little sis Callie.

Currently, we are pretty much done with Tripp's nursery and I will post pics of that soon. We are just waiting on him, I have about a month left. Nuts - somedays it feels like this is taking forever and other days it feels like it is flying by.

What up

Well, I realize I haven't posted pics of our happenings in months - so in one swoop I have shortly recapped every month since April. We have been busy around this joint getting ready for Tripp (yes, this is what we are calling the new bambino). We have almost converted Ava's room for her big girl bed and have started moving her furniture into Tripp's room.

Spring and summer have flown by we are outside as much as we can or as much as the heat will allow. Ava is a fish and would live in the water if we let her. I will have more pics of that later on. Hope you all are finding great ways to stay cool for the summer.

Oh, and as for those of you who have asked me to post some pics of how big I am getting they are coming. I just seem to look so tired in the evenings when I think of taking a picture - can't imagine why?!!!!

June

First Ranger game of the summer and with this heat it will probably be our only Ranger game of the summer. Ava had a great time dancing to the music and just playing. Here is she is with our sweet friend "Jess". Jess is already back in England and we are ready for her to come back. Ava loves her so much she even sat still for Jess and Rachel to paint her toenails - amazing!



Life is grand with a mouthful of M&M's all the while saying cheese for the camera.



About 10 attempts of a family pic at the game and I know this is just going to get harder when we add another.


Happy in Gree's lap with her new favorite kind of water bottle. She loves the tops on these particular bottles and down 20 oz. of H2O in a heartbeat.


Met up with the Shuttlesworths' for lunch. As you can tell the kiddos were having a blast. The adults had a blast too. Heath commented that Lindsay and I didn't visit much and I just laughed and said welcome to playdates with kids you start a conversation in the midst of it make sure your child hasn't ran out of the restaurant or beat some stranger child, then try to remember where you were in the conversation to finish it. Isn't motherhood grand?

May

The month of May was nothing too exciting, great weather fun times outside. Oh wait, Ava you have on such a cute outfit let me take your picture. How about a big fat "NO!!"



You can have a picture of the back of the outfit and that is it!


Let's try a little golf in the bottom picture we started out with our plastic clubs but shortly moved up to the real thing for my short game. Let's just say Daddy tried to show me the ropes but I am so good I know I can swing better by myself without any help.


Who needs both hands, I can swing with one!!!

April

Here is what is going on in April, we love shapes in this house and Ava is obsessed with this shirt because it has a heart on it she was thrilled when she actually got to wear a shirt with a shape on it. Oh, the things that make a little girl excited!



We are always so full of joy for life here she is just screaming at the top of her lungs because she thinks it is funny, can't say that I don't think it is funny. She thought it was even better that I was taking her picture while doing it.



I know some of you are thinking I just injected my child's lips with Botox but no this particular evening she was just really into saying "CHEESE!!!".


Nothing like studying a cookbook upside down with your sunglasses on!


And, yes this is her beautiful Easter dress and the best picture she was willing to take that day. I keep telling myself I will dress her up again and try it one more time but things are always so nutso on Sunday mornings.

Surprise

Well, this past Friday we found out we are having a little BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a total surprise I wasn't scheduled to find out but thought hey Heath is with me so I will just ask and maybe she will sneak us on in. The doctor was totally cool with it.

The name is Hughes Heath Hamrick. A little background - Heath's name is three H's, his dad's name is three H's, his grandpa was three H's. So, in other words I could not marry Heath unless I agreed that one day if I had a boy, I would use three H's. Hughes is my grandmother's maiden name and it is a little obvious where we got Heath. I don't know at this point what we will call him Hughes or Hugh. My sister is planning on calling him Trip for triple H. It too is cute we will just see what I think he might like when he gets here.

We are super excited he is healthy everything looks great. I have gone through a little grieving about not seeing Ava's clothes again, the dreams of matching smocked dresses, bows, all things girl. But oh well, I now have to think - khacki's, jeans, polos and sweater vests and blue, blue, blue!!!! Nuts, I still can't wrap my mind around it sometimes.

March

Where has the month of March gone? I know it has been a while since an update but the picture below shall explain why.


Yes, my friends there is going to be an addition to the Hamrick household. Looks like the little bambino is coming October 5th. We are excited however this momma has not been feeling well at all and once it passed Ava has decided to quit sleeping at night. I think it is her two year molars and it is whippin' the parents. Any suggestions on how to make this a little easier for all involved would be appreciated.

So, now that the announcement is out here are a few things that are going on. Ava's new favorite accessory - this hat. She now wants to wear it since it is 70-80 degrees outside. She will wear it around the house for hours. She loves to pull it down over her eyes and act as though she can't see and walk around the house and yes, she does run into things and keeps on going.



We had some chocolate doughnuts one morning and as you can tell she likes them.


She went to her first carnival and it was not a success, see how serious she is in the this picture that is how she was throughout the whole three rides she rode. Poor thing was scared to death.


But the carnival ended well with her first taste of cotton candy!!!


With the nice days we have had we have been outside alot. The other day she was playing on her playset in our yard and got tangled on the slide and did a face plant once she was at the bottom. Once I got over to her, this is what I found - beautiful don't you think. To top it off she was chewing the dirt off her lip - good stuff!!!


Well, that is all for the month of March. Hopefully, I will be more on top of blogging in April but can't make any promises. We are quickly approaching the twos in this house and that means testing every boundary of every day so alot of times at night instead of blogging I just sit and stare at the walls and wonder what happened to my little newborn that was a by the book baby. Don't worry I do think she is a by the book kid now but it is the book entitled "Strong Willed Child" it is next on my list to read.

People have asked how we think Ava will be with the new baby - answer I have no expectations. As of right now I will hold one her babies like a baby and she will proceed to take it out of my arms and chunk it across the room. One of my aunt's said you better hope you can find a helmet for this new one because it will need it with the big sister it is going to have!!!

Who knew

Who knew such small things can be entertaining for hours on end. Like this crown on top of Ava's head she has never shown much interest but the other day she put it on and left it on for like two hours, like she knew she was a Princess and of course no princess is complete without her cell phone she gabbed forever on that thing all the while wearing her crown and she thought she looked great. In fact, she went and looked at herself in the mirror for quite awhile with her crown on. And, this is her new smile, can't you tell she is literally saying "cheese".


The other small joy in her life is this balloon she is holding. Every time we go into the local Wal-Mart she sees these balloons and just points to them and gets so happy and I have never gotten her one before. However, when Valentine's day was approaching and we went into Wal-Mart these balloons were everywhere, so I decided why fight the battle it is for a special occasion and bought her this balloon. If anyone dared looked her way while we were shopping she would hold up the balloon and shout yea and clap her hands. She fell asleep with it when she went down for a nap and it is the first thing she gets when she wakes up from her nap and first thing in the morning. She absolutely loves the thing and it cost a whopping $2. Oh well, whatever keeps them busy.

Ears, ears and more ears

Since mid-September we have been in for nine ear infections. We are now allergic to two antibiotics, a couple don't work, we have been to the pediatric allergist, but today was the day for tubes and let's hope this cures the problem of constant ear infections!!!!

Pretty sad when this last ear infection has lasted more than two weeks we have been on three antibiotics and the Dr. said today that he drained a ton of junk from both ears, poor little girl!!

So, at 5:15 this morning we headed out to the hospital - and what could make a girl so happy as this hour is to realize she has a new stuffed Barney which was so kindly given to us from a very special person.


Ava enjoyed pre-op, she especially enjoyed hiding under the chairs Heath and I are in. Each time a new nurse or dr. would come in she was always under the chairs just looking at them, like what's up?

Here we are in the pre-op enjoying a little Barney on the portable DVD player. Just having that today was worth the $50 Gree and Grandpa spent on that jewel.



Don't I look so cute in my gown?


Gotta love hospital gowns!!!!!


Overall, the surgery went great and hopefully this will be the answer to the problem!

The days I never thought I would have...

Let's take a look back shall we let's say oh 8 years ago. I had just graduated from college and started my job in corporate America. I worked in downtown Dallas on the 38th floor of the TXU building, rode the train into work everyday and loved it. I loved my job, loved the people I worked with, the company I worked for everything. I wanted to succeed and was well on my way to doing just that. Can I just say during this time how many times I said I never want to have children. They are fun and all but I really like to give them back to their parents when they get cranky!!!!

Well, today was a day I promised I was never going to have. Ava has not been feeling well but it seemed as though it was just the junk that every other kid has right now, just the time of year. Well, last night it got worse, blah, blah - called the dr. this morning said to come in. From the time I called the dr., Ava broke out in a rash all over her stomach and back and I am thinking glad I already called the dr., I am so on top of my mother's intuition today. Well, then we head for the dr. which is a little bit of a drive for me. She started crying this so sad pathetic cry and then about halfway there it happens projectile vomiting everywhere. I immediately pull over praying that I don't get hit by a semi which seriously could happen on this particular highway. Get as much of it cleaned up, realize I don't have a change of clothes for my child. On the way to the dr. I am fretting about taking my child into the dr. in a diaper but then realize I did have a onesie in the back. So, if you can imagine we both smell like throw up my child is in a onesie, socks and tennis shoes (high fashion in the toddler world) and here we go walking in to sign in.

I sit down and my poor child can not even hold her eyes open. Then, I see this new mom with her newborn (make-up, cute outfit and all) there obviously for a well-check I know she is looking at us or smelling us and thinking that will never happen to me and new mom I have news for you, I thought the same thing too!!!! In fact, I never dreamed this would ever happen to me because I was never supposed to have children!!!! Once we get back in the room as we are waiting I just start to giggle at the wonderful paths our lives take and how I wouldn't trade being a Mom for anything it is just funny that at one time I couldn't have even dreamed this day.

So, I thought I would post some pics from last week of a happier time here at the Hamrick house.

The other day Ava was playing with the hand towel in the bathroom and although it looks like she is closing her eyes this is how she winks at people, cracks me up everytime.


Aren't I beautiful and the queen of drama.


I have to hide from the paparazzi.


This is her latest trick to get the trigger of the spray bottler in her mouth and push it backwards with her teeth, therefore, spraying herself in the face. Weird I know.


I mean don't you want your face dripping with water 2-3 times a day?


Then, just to prove her Taz self, I was trying to get some cleaning done so Ava played on her stool in the bathroom and within a matter of minutes had everything pulled out of the open cabinet and all over the floor.


Well, that is all for now, please excuse me while I go whip out my engineering degree to figure out how to put the car seat back together after it has all been washed!!!!