Where did the time go??

How is it possible that my baby girl is a year old???  This past year has flown by and I am so blessed to be this little girls momma!!  She brings such joy to my life and a smile to my face :)  She is so smart that we are having to be very careful what we do and say around her because she is imitating EVERYTHING!  Here are our latest stats from our 1yr check up today:

** 30 3/4 in tall--90th%

** 20lbs 8oz--49%

not sure where this long and lean girl is coming from but we will take it!

** walking/running EVERYWHERE!  we've been doing this since 9mo old so she thinks she's an old pro ;)

** eating anything we let her--a couple of new favs are oranges, craisins, prunes, chicken and of course french fries (and the occasional ice cream from daddy!)

** we have 4 teeth--front 2 top and bottom--making chewing things really fun lately

** favorite things to say are mama, dada and yaya (her precious baby sitter)

We have had alot going on since I last posted so let me try to catch you up a little--

Ava got to spend some time with her Great-Grandmother on her 93rd birthday in June!  She of course was impressed with our smart girl :)

Ava got to take her from trip to Wonderland Park with her PaPa!!  As you can tell by the giant smile, she LOVE the carousel!  This is a little theme park in Amarillo that we used to go to growing up.  PaPa loves to take his kiddos every summer :)

While we were at mom and dad's we got to see another very special lady--Mrs. Gray.  This precious lady and her husband were our "adopted" grandparents for a day at church when i was about 4 and we never let them go.  She too is spunky 90 something just like Hue's Grandmother!

We met Ava's friend Jillian and her mommy and daddy at Barnes and Noble story time one friday night and got to meet Curious George!  Not sure she is a fan but it sure was fun!

And last but not least, Ava took some flowers and a sunshine toy to her big brother for his birthday.  She loved the fountains there in the cemetery. 

That is not nearly all of what we have done but you all might quit reading if I drag this out anymore!!  I am so excited to see what this next year brings in my sweet girl's life!  I pray daily for her to be safe, healthy, strong and independent and so far all prayers are being answered!

2 Years Later and Blessed Beyond Belief

It is hard to believe that 2 years ago today I gave birth to my sweet angel baby, Ian.  I thought I would never make it through the first year much less 2 but God has been so faithful to our little family.  In my earthly life, I will never know why God chose me to walk this road filled with loss and grief but I do know that He has been with me through all the twists and turns, mountains and valleys.  Daily I remind myself that God has such a greater plan for my life and for my family.  I remember that if we had not lost Ian 2 years ago we would not have our beautiful and precious Ava Kate.  I cannot imagine my life without this spunky and loving little girl.  She has brought such joy to my heart over this past year where before was much pain and I am eternally grateful for the chance to be her mom.  We are taking Ava to "meet" her brother for the first time today.  I know that she will not understand right now but I pray that I will always tell her about her brother, her very own special guardian angel.

This past week I just read the book, "Heaven is  For Real".  What an amazing story of Heaven and what is to come for us.  I always knew that I would see my son again but you always wonder if you will know it is them or will he know I'm his mom.  I truly believe that I will know him and he will know me and he will know Ava and his daddy.  So grateful for that assurance right at this time of year.

The picture collage is just some of my favorite photos from the day Ian was born.  The middle picture has become one of my most cherished because it is truly where our little family began.  I was upset at first that they didn't have 'DAD' written on Hue's tag but the more I see it I think how perfect it is that it says 'FAMILY'.  The other small pictures are just a glimpse at the love and support we have had from family and friends over the past 2 years.  We could never have made it without each and every one of you.  We love you and are blessed beyond belief to have you in our lives.



**UPDATE ON DYRK**
On August 2 Dyrk was blessed with the gift of life and received a new liver!  This little boy is a true testament to the power of prayer.  The donor was exactly the same weight as Dyrk and the liver was an EXACT match!!  How amazing to see God's hand all over this!!  What a sovereign and faithful God for hearing and answering our cries!   Now, the road is not over for Dyrk.  In fact, it is just truly beginning.  He will still need to undergo at least 2 more rounds of chemo.  Prayers are needed now more than ever for him to stay strong and healthy as his little immune system will be compromised to the max right now.  Pray for Shelley and Dameon and his brothers that they will find peace and rest.  Also please pray for the donor family.  We are so thankful that Dyrk got a new liver but for this to happen another child had to die.  During the worst time of their lives, this family was so unselfish and donated their child's organs so that other sweet babies could have another chance at life.  What an amazing gift!

Prayers for a Friend

I know that so many of you believe in the power of prayer as much as I do.  I am begging you to please join me in bringing this sweet family to the feet of Jesus.  A friend and former co-worker has a precious 3yr old little boy--Dyrk--who has been diagnosed with a very aggressive type of liver cancer that has also spread to his lungs.  He has been on the most aggressive chemo regimen that they can do to try and shrink the tumor enough to be able to list him for a transplant.  I received a text from Shelley this weekend that absolutely broke my heart.   Here is the text:

Ok everyone we need your prayers.  Dameon and I greatly believe in the power of prayer and dyrk needs them now.  This is what everyone can do for us.  Dyrk has developed resistance to his chemotherapy.  All lung surgery and liver transplant is on hold.  He was suppose to begin lung surgery this week but as of last week, he stopped responding to his chemotherapy.  Until he can show that he will respond to his chemotherapy, we can not go on to surgery - therefore the final cure.  So here's the plan--on Monday Dyrk will start a new chemo drug for five days.  He must respond to this medicine!  As the doctors say "This is it."  We humbly beg of you-Dyrk needs your prayers now more than ever.  Let's let prayer cure this child-his cancer is in God's hands.  When you go to church this weekend, please ask your church, bible study groups, family to pray for our Dyrk.  We are not ready to give up on him and we need you to not give up on him.  We need your prayers.  Thx-The Burcie Family

Please, please, please cry out to God on behalf of this precious little boy and his family.  We all know that God has a master plan and he purpose is perfect but in this situation it is so hard to understand what that plan and purpose is.  Here is a link to his caring bridge site.  I know Shelley updates as she can--

Dyrk's caring bridge site

I too will keep you all posted via this blog so you can all know what to pray for.  I know this family covets all of your prayers and is grateful beyond words for all of the prayers on their behalf.

Last night, Ava woke up screaming around midnight.  I went up to her room hoping she would go back to sleep soon since I was so tired.  As I sat there rocking her and looking at her sweet face, I began praying.  I also held her a little tighter knowing that tomorrow is not promised to us--any of us.  I know I did not have my sweet boy for long but I know the pain of a parent who loses a child and I begged God last night that my sweet friend would not have to know it too.  I know God can heal and I will pray everyday that His healing hand will come down on this sweet little boy.

Until that day, I know that this family is wrapped in love and prayer and that God's arms are holding them so tightly. 

love to you all

Ava's Nursery

So I have had a few people ask to see photos of Ava's room so I am going to do a quick post for you guys! I will tell the story of her nursery for those of you who may not know.  When i was pregnant with Ian I found a contest online via theBump.  It was to be the Couple of '09 for a nursery design company called Peekaboo Design.  Peekaboo specializes in "surprise" nurseries, meaning they know the sex of the baby and will create your dream nursery but you still get to keep the surprise of boy or girl until baby is born.  If we were chosen as the winners, we would win our dream nursery---if we kept the surprise!!  Now we were by no means planning not to find out the sex of the baby but we thought "hey, if we get an amazing nursery then it would totally be worth it."  Long story short, we were the last couple to enter and we won!! When Ian passed away, Kim and the girls at Peekaboo were amazing.  They kept in touch with us, checking on us, and just really loved us through such a difficult time.  When we found out we were expecting again the girls jumped into action and started planning the nursery of our dreams!  Thank you Peekaboo Team!  They completed the nursery about 4 wks before Ava was born.  They had it locked up nice and tight so we couldn't peek!!  We had a reveal party when we brought Ava home from the hospital and were finally able to see their handiwork!

(Please excuse the photos---obviously i'm not a professional!)



Descriptions from left to right:

• The feather boa wreath on the door has an "A" in the center.  So super cute and girly!!  We have left this on her door and probably will for a long time!  
• We LOVE this rocking chair/glider!  It is so awesome and comfy.  The ottoman doubles a storage for lots of her toys!
• This wallpaper is probably one of my favorite parts of her room.  It is silver and pink and oh so pretty!  On the wall are our first 2 babies---Bently and Zoe---who sadly had to find new homes since they could not learn to play nice with Ava. :(
• This girl has quite the closet!  And this is after I have cleaned it out a couple of times to remove the clothes she has grown out of!!

• The chandelier is my next favorite thing is this room.  It has a dimmer on the lights and is just fabulous!
• Her dresser is EXACTLY what I was wanting for her room.  I did not want it to be to "matchy-matchy".  This reminds me a lot of my old dresser growing up with the way the drawers creak when you open/shut them.

These wall words were a must for me in the room be it a boy or a girl.  My dad bought Ian a teddy bear that we buried him with that had this on its hand.  I really wanted him to be a part of this room so his little sister would know she has a special angel watching her from Heaven.  We added the photos after Ava came home and I think it is just perfection!

Let me just say that the entire Peekaboo team was AMAZING to work with.  They took care of so many little details right down to her clothes being washed and put away by the time we came home.  Peekaboo has so many different options from just helping with nursery planning to going all out and designing your dream nursery.  Check out Peekaboo Design for all of your nursery needs or for some great ideas!  Also, you will see on the page a photo of Hue and I as the next Project Peekaboo couple.  They will be airing our webisodes soon so keep checking back to their site!

Hope you all enjoyed your tour of Ava's space!

Cha Cha Cha Changes

This girls is transforming before my eyes!  I swear this girl does something new everyday!!  Our newest "tricks" are waving bye bye and clapping.  I must say my girl is very smart...when the music comes on, she stops everything and starts clapping.  It is SO funny to watch her.  She is also cruising and standing unassisted for several seconds at a time.  It will not be long and this girl will be walking.  This cannot be possible.  She is only 8 1/2 months old!!!

Ava also LOVES to go to the sitters house!  She loves her yaya and gets so happy when she is going.  She has such a great time being one of the big girls finally and getting to ride in the wagon!  So sweet to see these precious friends.

It also seems like overnight Ava's hair started growing like crazy!  I have to tell you that these soft little curls just beg for me to touch them!!!  They can be tamed but man can this girl have some WILD hair!  It just fits her personality perfectly :)

Speaking of personality....this girl has more than enough for all of us combined.  She is loud and has a lot to say.  She talks from the minute she wakes up to the minute she goes to bed!  Some of her favorites are: dada, mama, nana, yaya and then she is a master of giberish!  The best part is to listen to her change the tone of her voice as she talks to you...she really is telling quite a story!

I kid about her growing up too fast but I have to say she is SO much fun.  I really wonder what I did before her.  It is also really making me slow down and just be.  I want to enjoy and cherish every second I have with this precious girl.  I know one day very soon she will think she is too big to sit in my lap or to lay down and nap with mommy.  As much as I want her to stay little, I am so excited about the little person she is becoming.  I am striving daily to be the mommy God intended me to be for her.  I am learning so much from her about how to really love unconditionally.  I look at her and wonder how its possible to love more than i love her.  At church on mothers day, the pastor spoke about Hannah and the love she had for her child.  She prayed and pleaded with God for a child much as I feel I did after we lost our sweet Ian.  After much prayer God blessed her with a son whom she then gave to the Lord.  I don't know that I could give up my precious girl.  I am praying daily that Ava will always be in God's will for her life and if that means one day she leaves to fulfill His plan for her, that I will have the strength to let her go.  But...until then, I am going to love this sweet girl with my whole heart and make sure she knows that she has a mommy and daddy that love her so much.

Sorry to get heavy for a minute---now for some pics of my pumpkin!

I am going to try and do better about posting....I promise.  I know I say this everytime but I promise I will!!

April Showers

April was fairly uneventful for our little family.  Nana and Papa came down for Easter so we had lots of fun spending the weekend with everyone.  Ava has finally decided she is going to give kisses and let me say they are the sweetest kisses EVER!!  A little wet but super sweet!  Here are a couple of pics from the weekend.

We also had a fun picnic at the arboretum with some of our friends.  It is really sweet watching these 3 girls together!  We all waited a really long time for our sweet girls!  They are all stairstepped about 7 months apart.  I sure do love these girls and their mommas!!  As you can see in some of these I'm not sure Ava is QUITE ready for a sibling!!

Here are a few of my fav photos from this month of her--again--just a few!!

love you all--

March Madness

Ava is 6 months old!!!  How is it that 1/2 a year is already gone??  We are having such a great time at the Freeman house.  Our pumpkin is showing ALOT of personality these days!  Here are a few of our lastest stats:

** 27in long and 14lbs 13 oz (long and skinny--definitely did NOT get that from her momma!!)

** crawling EVERYWHERE and starting to pull up on things--slow down little momma!!

** things i like to eat--avacados, bananas, PUFFS--she doesn't like these...she LOVES them!

** things i don't so much like--cereal (instant gag when she eats this) and most baby food--she doesn't like the thin texture

We have been just hanging out mostly and spending some fun times with our cousins.  We are so blessed to be living so close to my sister and her family so we can see them fairly often and so that our kids can grow up together.

Ava's crawling is coming right along and she is now pulling up one things everywhere!  Can someone please tell me where my little baby went??  She is just way to big.  Suki--the cat--is her new favorite play thing.  Luckily Suki is relatively tolerant of a lunging baby!!

** i have tried multiple times to load a video here but it is not working---check out the mobile me gallery at this link***

Here are a few of my fav pics from the month---i said a few---there are a TON more in the gallery!

Hope you all are having a wonderful day!!