fun times with the girls . . .

One of my best friends from high school (6th grade to be more exact) is getting married at the end of July. This past weekend was both her personal shower and bridal shower and because of a great daddy who was willing to babysit . .. I got to go! It was so fun to see some old faces . . .and meet some new ones. I'm so happy for Jill, think Brian (her fiance) is a great guy and loved being able to be a part of the weekend. We won't go into the fact that I saw my life flash before my eyes saturday night . ..I think I'd prefer to save that story for yet another day.

before the tiger's game

Jill and I . ..I'm so thankful for her friendship! Between 6th grade and now, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. What a faithful (and gracious) God!

there's nothing quite like old friends!

at her bridal shower sunday

and for all you understanding moms out there . ..you'll be glad to hear that Ava didn't greet me at the airport walking. : )

on the move. . .

One of Ava's favorite activities as of late is her walker. We're quickly wearing a worn path around the house! It always amazes me how back and forth AGAIN can be so fun!

one armed - she is so close to walking! I'm off for a girl's wknd tonight and I gave Daddy strict instructions he can't work on walking with her. How sad would that be if I missed her starting to walk!! (I know I'm not the only sentimental mommy out there). ; )
As much as she LOVES walking - she HATES stopping. Her happy jabbers quickly turn to frustrated whines when an obstruction is encountered (sadly, I think she inherited that trait from me and not from her daddy). We're still working on turning.
Jackpot.

wait . . .and murmer not

Wait. It's a word I've seemed to encounter often lately.

I use it with Ava OFTEN through out the day. . . .

"just wait . ..I'm getting your lunch. be patient."

"just wait . . .you don't need to be held right now."

"just wait . . .we'll go outside after you're done eating."

"just wait, be patient . . .we're almost home."

For some reason, I don't have a problem with it when I'm the one using the word "wait." Ava can whine and whine and whine and yet I will continue to remind her that she needs to learn to wait.

I'd especially like it if she could learn to wait . . .and murmer not.

I've had the realization that I am very much like my daughter. I'm learning that I don't struggle when I'm the one using the word wait. I, too, stuggle (ok I flat out whine) when I'm the one who hears it. In fact, I'm sure to God (and occasionally Ryan or any of you others!) I sound as exhausting as Ava does to me when she whines and whines and whines.

I've been hearing wait alot lately.

Sigh. I've been whining alot lately too.

You see sometimes in my conversations with God I have this long list of things I would love to accomplish. The fruits I'd like to see now in my life. The list of "gimme's" I fight wanting now far too often lately. The areas of ministry in my life I would love to be active in now and yet God has clearly said "wait" on.

Yet just like Ava is not going to miraculously be able to fly from her high chair to her swing outside without a little help AND learning to walk herself, I'm not going anywhere without a little help and my own journey to get there.

I have to learn to wait.

That hasn't been easy to swallow for me as of late.

God's been repeatedly showing me lately that I need a new perspective and reshuffling of my list of future goals to become His list of present goals for me.

He's been showing me that I can't keep looking forward at a "someday" ministry and neglect my minsitry of "now" here at home with Ava (ie . . ..my master's and resulting ministries is going to be a very slow process).

He's been showing me that I can't expect the growth without the relationship and time - whether that be in my walk with Him, with the long journey of school still ahead of me or even with friendships.

He's been showing me I can't covet the new things . . .until I can learn to wait and praise Him for the used (and even broken) ones I already have.

It all makes sense in my head. Getting the truth to stick to my heart has been a little harder lately. I don't like to wait. Even worse? I whine and then look at others.

Yet God has also been showing me that I need to trust His timetable for me and not compare it with the timetables of others. That's another battle I think I'll take day by day.

Wait Amber.

Wait.

and did I mention murmer not?

kittens, kittens . . .oh - and Father's Day too!

It was so fun getting to celebrate Father's for the first time this year (out of belly). I feel so blessed to have a husband who makes one fabulous daddy. Ava loves him to death and I"m convinced her favorite time of the day is when she hears the kitchen door open and knows that when she comes speeding around the corner that Daddy is home from work.

My attempt to take a quick picture after opening presents . . .Ava just wanted to play. If you peek really closely you can see one of Daddy's gifts. We'll have to give you a better hint sometime later this week. Hint one . . it's green and gold.

Ava got her first upclose experience with a kitten while we were at Grandpa and Grandma Prevo's. She had fun snuggling them . ..even if they didn't!
snuggling the kitty
in the words of the kitten: "HEELLLLPPPPPP!"

take a close look at Ava's grip . ..that is the kitten's tail. : ) He was a good sport.

10 months old!

Ava was 10 months old on monday - time flies! Here's some snapshots from this week . ..

A moment of shame as parents. sigh.

If Ava is awake, there's a good chance we're outside. She's loved splashing in her pool.



My daughter's latest obsession? Swinging. She always wants to and never likes to stop. She actually swung for over 30 minutes yesterday while I was on the phone with my sister. Anytime I tried to take her out to do something else, she'd get upset. So we just kept swinging! I've decided that I need to invent a motorized swing for toddlers.

photo ramblings

So I've been getting incredibly sentimental lately regarding how fast Ava is growing up. I'm starting to see a little toddler emerge. There's so much about her I love - How playful she is. How snuggly she is. How persistent she is (most of the time). How adventerous she is. I love how much she loves people. I've taken her to 4-Seasons twice this week. Both times, while waiting for me to sign her in, she has found the open door to the play room, crawled in herself and began to play without a second look back at me. I think she likes that she can pretend to be one of the big kids there. Somehow, I don't forsee kindergarten being a hard transition for her someday (I may be another story . . .but there's time).

A few mornings ago, I was snuggling her after she woke up for the day and I looked at her and said, "Ava, can you give Mommy a kiss?" She got this ornery grin and kind of cocked her head at me for a minute like she wasn't going to. . .and then just planted a big one on me. It was too cute. Here's her "cheese" that morning.

Sunday evening we went to the park to play - she looks so old in this picture!!
And the photo shoot begins.

We were outside waiting for daddy to get home from work monday and I was watching Ava play in our prairie grass (we have mowed since then ; ) ) and I had to run and grab the camera. I may be biased but I think she's pretty sweet.

I'd love to know what she's thinking here!

really mom - another picture?

"hmmmmm . . .."

i LOVE outside mom!

isn't she absolutely squeezable here?!?!

more vacation

Here's some more photos of vacation we got from Grandpa and Grandma Prevo

Playing cards - Ava must think she's missing out reading books with Grandpa
Snuggling with Grandma - her morning playmate
on the boat tour - if I hadn't have been holding on, Ava would have thrown herself over the side to try and reach the wave of the boat!
How Ava spent much of her vacation outside - in the stroller!