Our baby's walking...

...well, walking may be an exaggeration, but she is definitely taking steps!!! Last night my mother-in-law, Carla, and sister-in-law, Rissy were over here. While Carla and I were talking, Rissy started shouting that Ava had just walked, Carla and I gave each other a "lets humor her look", and turned to see. Rissy said to Ava, "Walk to Grandma!", and as if she were an old pro, she took 3 or 4 steps, walked right over to Carla and fell into her arms! She spent the rest of the evening perfecting this, and ended up taking up to six steps at a time! We are so very excited about this new development in our sweet Ava Rae's life. ~ Brit

"Ohhhnooo"

Okay, so I know that it as been ages since I have posted anything...but I am here now, so I don't want to here it!
A lot has happened since our last posting, but most recently, Independence Day!!!
We started out the day helping Mom and Dad at their house (setting up, setting up, and setting up), moved on to the party at their house, and then ended to night out with the fireworks display at the football field! It was a BLAST (no pun intended)! Ava had allot of fun and was not even a little bit scared of the booming fireworks! As she looked up at them, she kept saying "Ohhhnooo", it was so precious!

I hope that everyone Fourth was as joyful as ours!



~ Brit



Oh and by the was, Ava started crawling on the 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summer Time!!!

Well, it's that time of year again! A time to relax, soak in the sun, and enjoy all that life has to offer. At least for those of us who are not taking summer classes (Penny). Summer began for us back on the second week of May, for many of you it has just begun. I know for myself, I will be taking it easy, as easy as a person with three jobs can take it anyway. I finally get to spend some of that "quality family time" with Brit and Ava, so I am positive that this summer will be a blast. For those of you who have a lot of time on your hands these next few months, I say "make the best of it." Many of us, myself included, are so busy during the school year and are unable to catch up on all that good family fun, including that enjoyable time spent with friends. So, go all out. Rock it out with those you love! And remember those suffering times throughout the school year when you wished summer would finally get here!!!!
Kris

Procrastination

I was reading a very interesting article the other day. It was talking about why people are late. It said that if you, in fact, are late allot, it may be because you don't really want to be going to that place anyway.
After reading this, I started putting this idea into other aspects of my life. Why is it that I don't want to make that call to a friend? Is it because I don't really want to talk to them? Is it because what they have to say may make me feel uncomfortable? And, not just for that. What about weight loss? Why is it that some people just can't seem to commit to weight loss? Could it be maybe that they are afraid of the outcome? Are they worried that they might fail?
If we could put all of these negative feelings aside just think of how many positive things we could get done.

~Brit

Ava's first tooth!!!!

Ava has received her very first tooth, and it is so precious!!! It came in last Monday, on the 7th, and was proceeded by three days of tears, sleepless nights, and fever! But it's here!!! We are so excited for this new development with our sweet daughter, and we can't wait to see what she will amaze us with yet! Here is a few pictures. See if you can spot the tooth...

An unforgettable Retreat!

How wonderful it was to gather around friends and family last weekend at the annual Cisco Family Retreat. It will be a memory Brit and I will never forget, not only because it was Ava's first camping trip, but because the weekend played out so well. A time to fellowship, and praise Him in all his glory and wonder. Who could ask for more? With such beautiful weather and scenery, the weekend could not have been better. I won't go into detail about what all activities we participated in, only because Uncle Eddie was able to list the weekend activities so well in his blog. But, I have to say if you have the opportunity to spend time with your family and experience the nature that God has created for us, do not pass up the chance. Plan ahead, your family will truly be blessed! Here are some pics of the weekend, I am sure you will be amazed!
Kris

Today I am all mom

A few days ago, Kris walked into our apartment after he got out of school. It was around 2:00 pm and I was still in my pajamas. Ava was dressed, the house was clean, but yes, I was still in my pajamas. After Kris said his hellos to me and Ava, he asked, "Honey, are you going to get dressed today?" I simply replied, "Not if we are just going to stay home."

What's the point of getting dressed into clean clothes, when your sweet darling daughter is just going to blow a raspberry on you just as you give her a bite of pureed mixed veggies? Why get dressed, when your little bundle of joy would like to sneeze milk all over you?
If I were to stay completely clean all day, every day, I would also have to do at least two loads of laundry of my own clothes. I know to some people this may just seem like a lazy persons way of dealing with a baby and the messes that go with her. But I don't care. On the days that I stay all day in my Pajamas, I just tell Kris, "No, sweetheart, I am not getting dressed today. Today, I guess you could say, I am all mom." ~Brit

Crying it Out

Crying it out...if you are a parent, that's something that you dread on even thinking about having your child do. Before you send me your wisdom and opinions on this topic...we have already started doing it. That's right, I am a mean heartless mother that just lets her baby cry herself to sleep. Well, that may be an exaggeration, but that is what I feel like.
It all started when Ava started getting up every hour of the night crying. I would run to her and give her her wubanub (that's a pacifier for those who don't know me), but she didn't want it. I would rock her, but she didn't like that. I would nurse her, but she was not hungry. So, after an hour of trying to appease her she would finally sleep, but then be up in an hour. So Kris and
I became desperate! We did the unthinkable, we let her cry it out!!!
AND SHE DID GREAT! She exceeded our expectations. She did cry the first night for about 30 minutes (35 minutes to be exact, I know because I cried with her), and then she went to sleep. When she awoke throughout the night, she would whine a little and then go to sleep. Last night was our third night to do this, and though she cries at the beginning, she falls asleep after a little bit!
We are so proud of our sweet Ava Rae for showing us that she is a big girl and that she can fall asleep all on her own.

~Brit

The Easter Bunny

Yesterday, Kris and I went to the mall. We met his Dad, sister and nephew there. As we were walking around we noticed the Easter Bunny. So, I said to Kris, "Wouldn't it be a great idea to have Ava's picture taken with him?" and he said, "If it's free." We walked up to the price board and noticed quickly that this would not be cheap. The lowest priced item was like $14.00. So just as Kris was turning away, I asked the lady taking the pictures if it would be alright if we could take our own picture of the baby and the Easter Bunny with our own camera. She hesitated and then said that we could if we just stood out of the display to take the picture. So as I was unbuckling Ava from her stroller, Kris said to me "I don't think that this is a good idea. That bunny looks weird." So I looked and well, he did, but what did you expect a 7 foot tall bunny to look like? So I carried Ava over to the bunny, and he just sat there. I looked at him in his huge bunny face and he just sat there. So I said, "Well, are you going to hold her of what?" He gave a start and held out one arm for me to put her in. So Kris took the picture as soon as he could. Amazingly you can't see my arms hovering just in case the weirdo dropped her. From now on I will listen to Kris, if he says the Easter Bunny looks weird, then he is.

~Brit

Ava's First Sunday School Class!!!!

Well, Last Sunday, the 9th, Ava went to her very first Sunday school class!!! We were so proud and of course we had our camera ready to capture the entire event. We did not stay in the class with her (though we really wanted to), no, we let Jeremiah show her the ropes on his own. I must confess though, Ashley did go in and check on her once and said she was doing great. After class was over and it was time to go and get her, Ms. Cristy (her teacher) said, "she was wide eyed and excited the entire time!" ~Brit

For the Cause.

Here is a video that I have come across that gives a good insight into the world of Fair Trade. I have to confess it seems as if I usually do not think to much about anyone else but myself and close family and friends, most of the time. After watching this video, and doing quite a bit of research, I have realized that Fair Trade is a bigger issue than I ever would have thought. Skimming over e-mails, or tuning out of speeches on the subject is my normal routine. Now, I am fully aware of this movement, and the great cause it is doing for so many people who are less fortunate. I hope to look for the label that notates Fair Trade, hopefully you will also.
Thanks for watching,
Kris

Ava's new found way to make her parents crazy

Ava is so funny!...It's like she really knows the days of the week. Here I am on Wednesday morning at 6:00 writing a new post, because Ava slept through the night again! Here's the funny part though...Ava used to sleep through the night, every night. Then at like 3 months old she decided that was over rated. Then 2 weeks ago on Tuesday night, she slept through the whole night! Yea!!! and did the same on Wednesday night, then Thursday night...and then Friday night we went to stay the weekend at DRI and it's like she had been just holding in all of her "waking up's" for the weekend. So the spell was broken. We came back home on Sunday evening, and she got up throughout both Sunday and Monday nights...and then on Tuesday she slept through the night again!!! Success!!! She slept through on Wednesday night, and even on Thursday night...but then on Friday night, we went back to DRI and again the spell was broken.
So now do you see the funny part? Tuesday is Ava's magic day to start her new sleep cycle...and the good thing is that this time we are not going away for the weekend. ~Brit

Blogs

Have you noticed that now since everyone has a blog, there are seemingly less emails? Well, I have and believe me I am not complaining! I have always wondered how people could spend all day on the internet. What were they doing? What was so interesting?...Well, now I have something to look at to! Blogs!...and now that Ashley has one, and JJ too, there is no telling the countless minutes I will spend on the internet! ~Brit

Ava Rae Update

As I write this blog, my dear sweet daughter is sleeping...yes, that's right, it is 9:20 am and Ava is still asleep! Better yet, yesterday she did not wake up until 10:40 am! Granted, she has not been going to sleep until 10:45 pm here lately. Now, I don't know if this is a growth spurt, or if she is finally used to sleeping through the night, but all I can say is that I am not going to over think this new phase. ...and yes, Mother, she is still breathing and no, she does not have a fever. ~Brit

Kisses!!

Who are we to judge?

Why is it that we always assume the worst in people we don't know? You may think that you are different, but just listen to your thoughts the next time you stand in the checkout line at the grocery store behind a woman that has been there for fifteen minutes, or the next time someone cuts you off and speeds away on the road. Face it, we all have bad, angry, and mean thoughts about people that we have never met or spoken to.
A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to change my way of thinking about others. Those who know me well know that I am a very self conscious person. Talking to strangers or going out into public even was exhausting, for the simple reason of me not knowing what others were thinking about me. So one day while I was praying about this, I had this idea that maybe the reason I think everyone thinks bad of me or judges me to fast, is because maybe I do the same to them. So instead of prejudging others to fast, I thought of a rational idea of why or what they were doing that made me want to think badly of them. And suddenly the speeding car that cut me off a few weeks ago that was an annoyance, now became someone who had an emergency of some sort. Now the lady in the checkout line taking to long, was now someone who was having a bad day and just needed some understanding.
Now that I try to change my perspective of people, it has really made me a happier person. I am not as self conscious as I once was. So, now when I talk to a stranger or have to run an errand on my own and let the world take a good look at me, I say a little prayer, and proceed with confidence.
We should all try this in our day to day lives...it has sure made a profound difference in mine.
~Brit

Watch my newest achievement!

With Daddy's help!

All on my own!

Please Pray.

Well, Brit and I are back in town. We, unfortunately, had to make a quick trip to Indiana on Tuesday. My grandfather, Jim Greaver (72), passed away on Sunday morning, he was in and out of the hospital the past few weeks. Although, it might have peen predicted, it was still surprising to the whole family. We ask that you keep our family in your prayers, and especially those who were very close to him.
Love,
Kris, Brit, & Ava

The Start of Another Semester!!!

Well, it is just a start to another (hopefully exciting, and educating) semester. With this semester now in full swing, it is unfortunate that we will not be able to visit with friends and family as often as we were able to during the holiday season. With 16 hours of school, 30 hours of the week working with Lowe's, and usually a full weekend working at DRI, its hard to break away from such a hectic schedule to visit everyone. So, therefore it is our hopes that you will visit our blog often. Hopefully, we can keep you updated on Ava Rae, and give plenty of video and pics of her, and I guess of Brit and me also. Please feel free to email more often, and send comments on the blog page! With Britney at home with the baby, I am sure she would love to hear from you as much as possible. Well, keep us in your prayers, so that we will be able to be energized and stable for just another semester of (never ending...) school!
Love you guys,
Kris n Brit, & Ava