The Smockling Giveaway!

Love From Texas is hosting a giveaway from The Smockling! Y'all, I am SO excited about this giveaway! As most of you probably know, I am a sucker for all things monogrammed and smocked!

The Smockling has some PRECIOUS bubbles and dresses!! If you are like me, you should go to their FB page and LIKE them!!! Then head over to Love From Texas and enter to win an outfit!!

They've got CUTE boys outfits too!

I can just picture Ava in this right now... CUTE!! Love the Robin's Eggs!!

Ah! Don't you just love this bubble?! Precious!! I think Ava needs one!!

What are you waiting for?? Go enter the giveaway!!!



Pictures courtesy of The Smockling FB page.  

Sitting Up!

Ava starting sitting up today! She started sitting up about a week ago but right when we would sit her up and she realized we weren't supporting her, she would arch her back to lay down. It was like she was scared to sit up on her own.

I can't believe she is already big enough to sit up. I feel like it was yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital!

Some other things about Ava that I want to remember:

• You sit in the big girl seat in the grocery cart now and every time we go to the grocery store, we get stopped several times by people that want to know all about you. They think you are so sweet and precious! And we do too! :) 
• We started you on solids a couple of weeks ago and you hate peas. I have tried several times to get you to like them but it just isn't happening! You will eat green beans and avocado but they are definitely not your favorite. You will eat about 6 bites and then whine before every bite after that. You really like squash, carrots, bananas, and apples. We are trying sweet potato's and pears tonight!
• We went on a trip to Belgium last week and you did so good in the car. You talked almost the whole way there! 
• You are really into touching everything these days. You are constantly hitting things that are in reaching distance. 
• You are seriously the best baby! Every time we are out in public, you just smile and sit so quietly...even if you missed your nap! 
• We were finally able to get you into the doctor for your 6 month well check up tomorrow and I am anxious to know your stats. 
• You have been getting up about 2 times during the night to eat..I think you're going through a growth spurt. 
• You are VERY vocal! 

Dinant, Belgium

Bryce was off on Thursday and wanted to go somewhere so we went to Belgium. I have been wanting one of their waffles so I was really excited to go. We went to Dinant which is a pretty small town but it is beautiful. I would LOVE to live there!!

The streets of Dinant. 

The castle overlooked the city. 

At the top of the castle. It was beautiful! 

It was really windy and kind of cold so we wore our big coats and Bryce put his ear muffs on Ava. She looked so cute! 

Rockin' the ear muffs! 

This was so crazy! We walked through this and it felt like we were going to fall over. Just look at the water, it is high on the left side but low on the right side. The lights are crooked too. A bomb is what caused this. 

The only pic we could get of all of us. We propped the camera up on something and put it on the self timer. That's why its so crooked. 

Ava Drew is 6 months old!

Ava Drew you are 6 MONTHS OLD!! That is a half of a year!!! Where has the time gone? 

It feels like time just goes by faster and faster. 

Side Note: I am totally embarrassed by these photos. Not the sweet girl in the picture but of the quality of the picture. For some reason, my camera is all messed up and takes really dark pictures and they are almost impossible to edit correctly. If you know anything about Nikon's, help a sister out!! 

Back to this little diva... 

You are wearing size 6 month clothes and some 6-9 month. 

You wear a size 2 diaper and a size 1 shoe. I ordered you a size 2 shoe for the summer but they are huge on you. 

I am not sure of your stats. Hopefully we can get in the doctor before we leave for the states in 3 weeks. 

 You are still sleeping good. You go to bed at 8pm and wake up between 6:30 and 7:30 to nurse then you go right back down for another couple of hours. 

When you wake up, I feed you rice cereal with breast milk. You play for a couple of hours then go back down for a nap. 

You nurse every 3 hours but for your last feeding, we also give you a vegetable. We just started that this week and so far, you HATE peas and you aren't a big fan of green beans but you will eat them. You are definitely your daddy's child! 

 I always have a glass of water with me and you just started reaching for it so I let you try it the other day and you really liked it. You are a pro at drinking from a cup! 

Every time you see us eat, you start smacking your lips and reaching for our food. 

You are a Rollie Pollie!! You love to roll all over the place. We can't leave a room with you unattended anymore. 

You just started trying to pull up on your knees. You want to crawl and move so bad! 

You are the HAPPIEST baby!!! 

You love your jungle exersaucer. You could stay in it all day if we let you. 

Your face lights up and you get SO excited when your daddy enters the room. 

You can ALMOST sit up on your own. You are just a little scared. You can sit up for about 5-10 seconds on your own. (You are sitting up in this picture)

I think your "yelling" days are over. Now you just like to talk. 

We put you in the nursery for the first time on Sunday and you did really well. The teacher said you made her want to have another baby!! That's my girl! 

You love attention and if you aren't getting any, you will let us know! 

I always get complements everywhere we go of how good of a baby you are. You are always so quiet and content when we are in public. 

 You belly laugh when we tickle you. It is the funniest thing! You are really ticklish. 

We love you SO much Ava Drew!!! I love the stage you are at right now! Can you please stay this small forever? You will probably hear me say that your whole life. 

HE IS RISEN!!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!! 

And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 

Mark 16:6

Trier

Bryce and I decided at the last minute that we wanted to get out of the house and go somewhere. We decided to go to Trier, which is only about an hour drive. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in 16 BC. OLD!! We have been wanting to go for awhile but never really got the chance.

Ava all bundled up before our hike around the city. 

We got there at about 3pm so we didn't have much time to explore. We didn't do any research before we left so we didn't really know where to explore. We just happened to stumble upon a couple of old buildings.

The city wasn't like we expected. I expected there to be a whole section of all the old buildings but it was actually a mixture of new and old buildings.

First, we came upon the Imperial Roman Baths which is one of the largest Roman Baths north of the Alps. It was built in the 4th century but was never finished. It was, however, used for another purpose. A large part of the building was destroyed in the period following the Roman era.

A really neat water fountain that we found in the city. 

This is the next old building that we saw. It is the Porta Nigra. It is the largest Roman City gate north of the Alps. The Porta Nigra was built between 186 and 200 A.D.

We stopped to eat at an Italian restaurant and girlfriend here thinks she is too big for her pants! She looks incredibly TOO big in this picture!!!