Happy 4th of July! Where does the time GO!

Well hello again to all of my friends and Happy 4th of July!  This morning I had a wild hair to get back on my blog.  This is one thing that I wanted to keep up with over the years to capture all of life's sweet memories in one spot, but unfortunately life does happen and where does the time go.

To catch up a bit since it's obvious the last post was in 2013.... It is now 2017!  Summer at that! half way through this year! WOW! Where has it gone.  It has gone by with fun, exciting events, life changes, and never without some sadness.

My oldest, Brett, is now 2 years into college and my youngest, Ava, has graduated from kindergarten.  My husband and I have celebrated 7 years of marriage this past June and we are gearing up for another eventful school year in just another month.

Ava celebrated her 6th birthday this past April 50's style and is an avid gymnast, excelling very fast within the levels.  She loves flipping on the trampoline and is very passionate about gymnastics.  She has tried youth softball and enjoyed it, but wants to try soccer this upcoming fall to see how it goes.  She definitely got her momma's athletic abilities!  She is a Bloomin Flower as always and her Great Grandpa Herman is watching her bloom from Heaven!  He is smiling down as he would sit and watch the dandelions bloom from his window!

I myself have gotten back into running after years of being out from foot surgery and the busyness of life that I promised myself would never get in the way of whats important like running!  I am training for a half marathon this October to check off the bucket list and say I completed it!

With all that being said, I am happy to be back!  Here are some pictures to catch up!

Oh My Does Time Fly....

 My oh my where does the time go these days!  My baby is just 6 weeks shy of being TWO! She is growning too fast but definitely blooming like a beautiful flower.  This momma couldn't be happier and I know Grandpa Herman would be proud! 
Another year has past by from his passing away, but God gave me a blessing of a flower for him to watch from the Heaven's above like he watched his dandellion's out his front window!

 I have attached some pics from this past Christmas when Ava got to spend some time with her Bubby!  Ava loved her Bubby! she could follow him around all day and play dolls and house with him.  Only if he would! LOL! He actually did takes some breaks from his video games and played house with her! It was the most precious thing ever! She can't wait to see her Bubby again!

Here is my handsome son Brett and Ava's beloved Bubby! :)

In the last year I can't even begin to remember EVERYthing that has gone on and how Ava has changed so much! She has definitly changed a lot! I wish I would have kept up better with my blog on a monthly basis, but failed to, so going forward that is a goal to do!
Ava is talking so much now, even talking sentences.  She is in the process of almost being potty trained! She is one smart little girl I tell ya!  She has much determination like her momma and took the initiative of wanting to sit on potty chair herself!  So we have been.  This past weekend we even got out the BIG girl panties! My oh my did she love that!

 Ava loves to dress up in daddy's boots and also LOVES mommys shoes, this girl could play in our closet for hours dressing up in shoes.  She knows how to match shoes correctly and also can put her own shoes on the correct feet!

 The below pic was a Halloween memory!  Ava demolished a bunch of chocolate after trick or treating! She didn't quite like any of the costumes this year, but she loved the candy! She was on a sugar high for sure! But mommy and baby Ava had a grand ole time spending Halloween day together all day!

 Here are a few of the AMAZING pics from a good friend of our Kendra!  She has been taking pics of Ava this past year and we LOVE them!  I can't wait to post her 2 year old pics after we get them done in April.  Ava is very photogenic!  Her smile can light up a room.  She has charisma and spunk and loves people! 

 Here is Ava dressed up in one of mommy's dresses from when I was her age!  Gammy kept some adorable clothes of which we are able to dress Ava up in now!  I love it!

Now my oh my, the time did fly! I am going to be better and not let a year fly away from me again.  I look forward to sharing many many more exciting updates on this little flower blooming!

Grandpa Herman,
We miss you greatly.  We know you are a guardian angel by our sides and watching down over us.  Your little flower is blooming and will be the BIG TWO in just 6 short weeks! Keep watching this little flower! :)
Love you!

Ava's One Year Bday Pics!

Ava is ONE!

Hi all!! It's been a while since I have posted once again..... But I am happy to say Ava is ONE now!! She celebrated her First Birthday this past weekend and had such a blast!! She is growing up way too fast! She walks, talks, blows kisses, waves, climbs up slides, stands up in chairs, pretty much you name it and she does it! She is a pistol! Really reminds me of a great man of which is her Great Grandpa Herman! It's no joke, she takes after him in so many ways! He is def watching over us and God has blessed us in so many ways!

The past few months have been so busy and crazy with lots of different things going on in our lives, but I know everything happens for a reason and whether its good, bad, or indifferent, there is going to be so much better to come! I am def thankful for my baby girl she is the center of my life! Josh even knows he takes second place now LOL! Not really we have a great family and Love each other unconditionally!

I will keep this blog short and sweet and try and add pics, the blogger wasn't uploading pics so I may have to do a separate one to show so Birthday pics!

Dear Grandpa,

Its been a year now, Ava officially turned 1 this past Sunday. She is growing fast! I swear she is a spitting image of you! She is very determined, independent, and hard headed. Ok, so maybe a lil like me but I get it from you as well. She LOVEs her dandilion flowers almost as much or more than you did! She loves picking them tho, not just watching them grow up in the yard. She is very inquisitive and is always trying to figure out all kinds of things. You would def be proud of Gods creation of your Great Granddaughter! I know you are watching over us and her every day and watching her grow! She blows kisses your way now that she has figured out how to blow kisses! And she even adds the muah! :)

My, My does time fly!

Hi all! I am getting lost in time and getting behind on blogging. Ava is growing so fast! Since the last post of which she was just turning 7 months old after celebrating her First Halloween Ava has done so much!! In November 2011, Ava was 7 months old and she got to experience many first all in a short time! Mommy and Ava took a mini vacation to go to Clearwater, Florida to see Uncle John and Aunt Jolynn! Two of Mommy's closet friends! Ava got to experience being in airports, flying in airplanes, being on the beach, being on the ocean and seeing dolphins jump out of the water while we were cruising along in the boat, Ribfest and her first country concert with the Jane Deere Girls and Trace Atkins, and everything else exciting with Florida!! Ava loved it and John and Jolynn loved her!!

The week after getting back from Florida it was Turkey Time already! Ava got to celebrate her First Thanksgiving with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma! Ava wanted to eat lots of turkey but unfortunately couldn't chew it yet... Oh well, she will be diving in next year!

Then December rolls around and Ava turns 8 months old! She is growing fast! Ava celebrated her daddy's birthday in December by giving him lots of love and then Christmas was here before we knew it! Ava's First Christmas!! I have a few pics below of how pretty she looked! She is my lil princess for sure!

Now it's January and Ava is 9 months old already! Man does time fly! less than 3 months to her First Birthday!!! We had her 9 month check up the other day and Ava is tall and skinny! She weighed in at 19 lbs 9 oz and 29 in long. She is now standing by herself without hanging on for moments at a time and trying to go for that first step! She does walk behind her push toys and I tell you it is so darn funny watching her! She climbs up and walks around the table and loves dancing to music. She also has figured out how to sing into her little elmo microphone so she sings her songs to us. She is going to grow up with lots of talent and maybe even be a singer! :) Ava also crawls around exploring every nook and cranny of the house, of course she has to see what all she is not supposed to get in to. She is starting to love talking and says momma, dada, nite nite, bye bye (and waves), and says uh oh!! I love that one!

All and all, Ava is definitely growing like a flower and has a very cute personality! She is going to be a definite one of a kind! She loves laughing and being silly. I have put a few pics on here from the past few months, I will try and post just a bunch of pics here soon!

Ava says hi to everyone as she's sitting in my lap as I type!

Look momma!! I'm a big girl!

Mommy and her sweet baby Ava!

My little Princess getting ready to celebrate her First Christmas December 24, 2011. We went to Aunt Sarah's house and opened presents and then went to Christmas Eve Service at our Lutheran Church. Ava did excellent through the whole service!

Ava's first Christmas outfit! Christmas 2011.

On we go with the next few months!!

Time to play catch up....

Hi all!! Check out the pics of Ava's first visit to the pumpkin patch and all the other fun times! Then check out the blog below and enjoy learning all the fun times that we have experienced and had with the sweet baby Ava in the past two months!

Hi all! I have got behind already with Ava's new firsts and beginings. So no it's time to back track a bit and play a little catch up! Ava is now 6 months old! She measured in length of 26 and 3/4 inches and is a whole 16lbs and 12oz! She is definitely bloomin like a flower!

September flew by so fast we missed it when we blinked! Ava started moving around in the walker and showing us what a strong personality she has! She has a bit of a temper you can say. We celebrated many birthdays along with my 30th and Ava's great grandma's 90th birthdays! We also enjoyed celebrating Ava's friend Cora's first birthday!! It was a blast!

Since September came and went like that and now that October is here and almost gone as well, I am a little more up to date! The leaves on the trees are turning colors and falling to the ground, it is a sign that Fall's beauty has begun! Ava loves being outdoors and enjoys looking at natures beauty. She is always looking at the trees and everything nature presents. She is my little outdoors girl! October 1st Ava was officially 6 months old!! Some of the new and exciting things Ava has tried and done now at 6 months is eating a lot of different foods, she especially loves sweets like frosting and whipped cream! (I wonder if that's cause I craved it most of my pregnancy and ate it now she wants it all the time.) Oh well, she is definitely sweet! Ava can walk around and push herself around in the walker. Ava can also sit herself up from the floor as well! She says dadadada and ma, and is starting to figure out the whole crawling thing!! She gets up on all 4's and then will move one knee and hand and throw herself forward. She's just gotta learn not to throw herself forward into something because she gets hurt then! She does know that she can get anywhere she wants by rolling! And of course she can always scream and yell and get picked up!

Today on October 15, 2011 we visited the pumpkin patch and corn maze in Missouri and Ava just loved all of the excitement and actvities! She played in the corn box, hay, went down the slides, and also on a hayride! So much fun!!

I hope you enjoyed all the pics from all the excitement from the first bit of fall and I promise to keep more up to date! I certainly don't want to miss any of Ava's exciting moments and I enjoy sharing them with all my friends and family!

Natalie Turns 1!

Hi all!! Here is a little more updates for the month of August! Mommy had foot surgery August 12, 2011, but that isn't keeping her down. We celebrated Natalie turning 1 on August 13th, 2011! It's such an exciting time and Milestone! Ava loves Natalie! It is especially funny, cause Ava gets mad that Natalie can walk and she can't. So when Natalie takes off somewhere, Ava's little temper comes out and she wants to get down and run!

Here is my little princess Ava! And then below are the two girls stylin and profilin in their fancy tutu's!

Natalie and Ava riding together on Natalie's litte scooter car! They were having a blast!

Here is mommy and aunt Sarah with baby Ava! Ava isn't even paying attention to the camera, the picture was more for me and Sarah! :)

Natalie and Ava playing with Natalie's new birthday toy!

The two girls have sooooooooooo much fun together it's priceless!!!

Soon Ava will be 5 months old! In just another 2 weeks at that! Oh my! Ava is a Bloomin!! More adventures to come!!