My baby girl turns 3 and has the Piggest Party, ever.

This was from back in August, 2009. We planned her party to be at the little park by our house, but woke up early to thunder. We waited a couple hours to see if the rain would clear up and then decided to move the party indoors to our tiny apartment. After the party started, the rain cleared and it was a really beautiful day outside but we had to carry out the pig party inside.

The last year, our little Ava has grown and grown. She had to learn how to go from being the only child to being a sweet, helpful, and caring big sister. She is still learning about playing with other kids besides her brother and discovering that having friends to play with can be fun. Ava still has the most photographic memory of anyone I know. She'll talk about things that happened a year and a half ago and can memorize any song or book to a T, then pull it out of her head months later. She's super hilarious and makes me laugh every day with the cute, witty things she says and does. I'm really looking forward to watching her figure out the world we live in and see how she interprets what she sees, but also very sad to see the sweet, sensitive baby that she was turning into a big girl right before my eyes. This was a really fun party, and it was so cute to see her actually excited about all her family and friends and all the pig stuff.

Hot fun in the summertime.

Stryder's 1st birthday party -aka- Hatty Birthday.

As promised, only 6 months late (these were from July, 2009). Thanks to everyone who made this a great party. We all had a ton of fun that day, especially the birthday boy.

Neglected.

I have let the big events go undocumented here for about 6 months. Knowing that I have to go back and catch up is making it an even more daunting task. But it seems today is as good a day as any. Hopefully, after I get back on track I will keep posting more frequently. It's not really a New Year's resolution, per se, just something that's been nagging at me forever. So, here's to starting fresh.

Oh, Halloween time, how I love thee.

Just went to a little costume party last night at my sister Dana's house. This is me as a voodoo doll and her as a raven. Just a tiny glimpse, that is. I love having an excuse to dress up!

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This picture could have been taken right out of a Precious Moments calendar..

Skunk face.

To show his disapproval at various situations, this guy started to do this ridiculous scream where he sticks out his tongue a little bit curled. It looks just like this face our cat Skunkbelly used to make when she smelled another cat's pee. Endearing, isn't it?

Trying out some Halloween looks.

This is the stuff that makes having kids so awesome.

What a little softy.

The boy is just happy and content in his element.