Catching Up!

Oh man! Blogging had been put on the back burner lately. Sorry! Especially to our out of state family members that look forward to catching up with us.

The last posts I wrote were about purchasing our new house and before that time gap...Ava's 2nd Halloween! She was a little clown and won a prize in the "Original Costume" category! I was so proud haha and had so much fun! 

The following day, we celebrated Ava's 2nd birthday! We celebrated on Nov 1st (my mom's birthday) rather than Ava's actual birthday (Nov 2nd) due to the space we rented out. We rented out the gymnastics facility in Ft. Lauderdale that Ava plays at once in a while. They have wide open areas where the toddlers get an "open play time" all to themselves two times a week. I am so happy we decided on this location. Ava had a ball and did not want to stop running around. She cried during cake cutting time (classic!) since she was exhausted by that point but wanted to keep playing. Needless to say, she didn't care about eating cake and went off to play again. (Doesn't bother me one bit! Haha)

The November birthday Girls!
Me: Nov 5
Ava: Nov 2
My Mom: Nov 1

This was was extra special since we were sharing it with my mom on her 48th birthday. A few weeks prior, I had gotten in touch with mom mom's childhood (lifelong) bestfriend and asked if she would be able to drive over from Fort Myers, FL to surprise my mom. Without hesitation, she took work off and we started planning the surprise. Mark and I gifted my mom with a night at the Diplomat Resort&Spa in Hollywood, FL so that her and her bestfriend could spend the night there and catch up after they left Ava's party. 

I had so much fun seeing my mom so surprised and excited to see her friend.

That night: I seriously started crying (pregnancy hormones!) when I was reading Ava her bedtime story. Mark laughed and took pictures.
It was her last night as a one year old. Where had the last 2 years gone!?

 Kissing daddy goodnight and learning how to say "I am 2!"

 Next morning: Ava's Birthday Morning! 

  Hello Kitty Breakfast for the birthday girl! 

 Birthday crown and all 

Fast forward to today....

I ordered this adorable set from a mom in a local mom group that I am in on Facebook. These moms are like-minded in relation to healthy eating and natural parenting practices. It is such an amazing group of moms always reaching out to support and help each other. One of the  moms volunteered to make these sets and put the proceeds toward the moms in the group that are struggling this. Holiday season. I quickly put our order in and was happlily surprised when she said she would personalize them!

                    

I am so in love with this set that will help families this holiday season while giving our family a new tradition. I am already picturing Ava and her little sister having story time by the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve followed by putting out Santa's milk and cookies. Oh, the cute pictures every year that will be taken to capture these adorable moments! :) 

Thank you to the mama who is making these. I am so grateful to be in this amazing group of mothers who always support and help each other whenever possible. 

Later today, Ava and I are going to out to lunch with our friends Jereann and her daughter, Sophia, for lunch. Jereann is expecting a son in a couple of months and Ava's little sister will be here in about 4 more months. With Sophia and Ava being big sisters and the same age, it will work out great when it comes to play dates and learning how to juggle our two kiddos together. They also purchased a home a few streets down from ours and will be moving in soon around the same time we are! It will be awesome to have them close by as well as six other families I counted that will be close by as well now. Looks like we picked a great neighborhood to move into! 

Hope everyone is having a great short work week to get ready for Thanksgiving.

XO

Christina 

P.S. My goal is to get a Wellness Wednesday post out tomorrow to cover some healthy new habit ideas. :)