Nighty - Night

Ava is so sweet! I love at bedtime how she rubs her hand up and down my side and just looks up at me. She has become so snuggly lately. It melts my heart :) She is almost completely weaned off of breast milk. I still nurse her about once a day. I have tried Enfamil and Simalic and she seems to like Enfamil more. She won't take it in the ready-made bottles though because its at room temperature. I have to mix the dry formula with warm water. I guess shes so used to breast milk being warm that she won't have it any other way. Sooo spoiled!
I thought I would have a break down once she started taking formula and ball my eyes out. But you know what, it hasn't been a bad transition. I still snuggle up with her, even when I'm giving her a bottle. I'm very proud that I nursed her for almost 9 months but I think it was time. Today I am going to start her on a sippy cup with some diluted apple juice. We'll see how that goes!

My Little Prisoners :)

Hey Everyone! Here are a few pics I took this morning of Ava in her little Minnie Mouse outfit. She was chasing Belle around and playing with all her toys. Then she wanted to be out on the patio because thats where Belle ran to hide.



Also just thinking about The Masters that starts today. Don't know if anyone is a golf fan but my hubby is obsessed and I've grown to like watching it aka (riding on the cart with a refreshing cocktail). Just wondering what everyone is thinking about this Tiger Woods situation. Nike just released their new Tiger ad, which is in black and white and of Tiger looking into the camera while you can hear his Dad's voice in the background speaking, "Tiger did you learn anything, I wonder what your thinking was, what are you feeling." Does anyone buy this??? I feel so sorry for Elin and the kids.

Easter Weekend

We had a great weekend, even though we missed the rest of our family in Tampa. It was very relaxing and we had beautiful weather. Dying the Easter eggs brought back so many memories from my childhood. Even though Ava wasn't able to understand what we were doing, these are traditions that we are creating and she will love to look back at all these pictures one day. I just can't wait until she is running around next year for an egg hunt. We re-visited a church that we have tried before for Easter morning. We liked it a lot better this time but are still searching for a church that feels like our fit. The sermon was good and it's always refreshing to remember the true meaning for the holiday.

Here is our visit to the Easter Bunny. Hubby was hilarious. When we were in line, he was freaking out. Saying, "I don't like this, who knows who's under that bunny costume, it's probably a pedophile and I'm about to put my daughter in his lap, at least with Santa I can look at his face." Then when it was our turn and we bring Ava up to the Bunny, he says "You be careful with her" in this stern voice. I was about to die laughing. I'm like what is he going to do Bryan, through her on the floor. What a protective Daddy, I love it. :)


Dying Easter Eggs with Aunt Bec


Baskets from the Easter Bunny and from Grammy / PaPa



My Easter Gift!!



Our Easter Feast


Family Photo


Uncle Mike eating Ava's fingers. Yumm

Learning to Walk

Ava loves her walker! At first she was so timid and would just make a little tip toe forward, now she sucks her bottom lip in and shes off. She walks back and forth across the room. I get such a kick out of watching her. She is also climbing and pulling herself up on everything within her reach. The other day when I was at work, Bryan took her out with him while he fished. He said that when he caught a fish and it was flopping all around, Ava was laughing and loved it. This is such a great stage, I know I say that about every stage of her life, but it really is.
We have been busy planning our Easter. We will be staying here and not traveling. We're going to church in the morning and then we will go over to my sister's to have Easter dinner. I've bought everything and am ready to start cooking. Also later today we are going to see the Easter Bunny at the mall! YAY! Ava smiled for Santa so we'll see how it goes and hopefully we'll get a good picture. Then tomorrow my sister is coming over and we are going to dye easter eggs. I promise to post bunches of pictures.

Easter Dress

The Easter Dress I ordered just came in the mail and I was so excited to rip the package open and try it on Ava. What a let down as I opened it up and realized the dress was huge! I don't understand the sizing at this age at some stores. It was a
(6-12)month size. That just seems to be such a big gap and needless to say Ava was swimming in it. I also ordered a matching bonnet in this size and it was too small! I don't get it. I'm sending it back and will just have to go out and find something that I can try on her first. Here is a picture of it anyways. Any ideas on cute Easter dresses

I'm Back!!

Hey everyone! It feels like forever since I have been able to even think about blogging. We are now all settled in our new apartment and getting used to our new routine.
Okay so we rented our home and moved into a apartment as a temporary stay. Our lease is for 7 months. We made this decision because we need to be in a spot where we can move once Bryan is able to start up our Chiropractic office. There is no way we could sell our home in this market, so the only solution was to rent it out. Apartment living has been an adjustment especially with a dog. Our miniature pinscher, Belle, is not used to the small space and having to be walked in order to go to the bathroom. She's used be being able to roam the backyard. Also I'm not used to hearing people above me or the guy next door snoring when we are sleeping. No, I'm not joking, the first night we moved in, we were laying in bed and I thought it was the dog snoring, but upon investigation Belle was wide awake and it was our lovely neighbor snoring away. Bryan and I were dying laughing. The best thing about the apartment is that it is literally 2 minutes from my hospital. So convenient!! Also we are saving a ton of money right now!!
During this move, we also went back to Tampa twice for my sister's bridal shower and then her bachelorette party. The bridal shower was very nice and there was a good turn out. She had a joint bachelor / bachelorette party and we all went out to a place in Tampa called Channelside. I saw a ton of people from the past, lots of old high school friends, it was like a reunion. This was classy mommy's first night out on the town to have some drinks. One margarita down and I was feeling good. My sister and brother-in-law babysat Ava. I had pumped and left a bottle for them to give her and then she went to bed. They sent me a text picture of her sleeping. It melted my heart. It felt so weird leaving her to go out, but it was nice to get all dressed up and for Bryan and I to have a night out together. We had a lot of fun and we got to celebrate with my baby sis and new brother-in-law.
In other news, Ava started crawling on St. Patty's Day!! YAY!! She was 7 and 1/2 months. I never thought it was going to happen, she always came so close and then would just fall. But when it happened I just couldn't believe it! Now she is so fast and always after Belle. She also said her first word which was of course "DaDa". Bryan just ate that up. She is his little princess.
We have all just been busy bees but now that life is getting back to normal I should be able to keep up with my blog. We are now looking forward to Easter and Ava's Easter dress should arrive in the mail any day now. It is beautiful and I also bought her a matching bonnet and shoes! We will be going to the mall to get her picture with the Easter Bunny soon!! Well here are a ton of pictures of all our adventures.....

MY LITTLE BALLERINA :)




PRETTY IN PEACH




LINGERIE FOR THE BRIDE!



NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN...








BRIDAL SHOWER





BREAKFAST OUT ON MOVING DAY

Beautiful Blogger :)

Thanks so much to Mrs. H over at From Mrs. to Momma for my 1st blog award. I'm now supposed to share 7 interesting things about my life and then nominate 5 other ladies....

1.) Being born and raised in Alabama for 9 years, I am a Southern Belle at heart. That would explain my love of Gone With the Wind, the sweet smell of Gardenias blooming, Paula Deen, saying yes ma'am no ma'am - no sir yes sir and of course ya'll. This also crosses over to Ava with my love of big hair bows, pearls, sterling silver, bonnets, and ruffle butt panties.

2.) Hubby and I were married in Maui, Hawaii. I have to say it was a dream wedding and honeymoon. It was paradise! I feel so blessed to have had that experience. Our goal is to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary there.

3.) My mom swears she spelt my name with an A because she found it in a baby book and
that Erica with an A is much more feminine than with an E. I dont know about this but I do like that my name is spelled different, howevever I have gone through life being called, A-reeka, Africa, and are-ica. You name it, I've been called it.

4.) My idea of the perfect day is being on the beach listening to the waves, watching the sunset, Jimmy Buffet / Bob Marley in the background, with a Corona Light in my hand and snuggled up to Bryan and Ava.

5.)Hubby and I both went to the University of South Florida and graduated in 2005. Go Bulls! :)

6.) I love Halloween! It is my favorite holiday. I know it sounds weird but I share this love with my Mother and sisters. I love all the fun aspects of it, like dressing up, carving pumpkins, caramel apples, trick-or-treaters, costume parties, etc.

7.) My celebrity crush is Johnny Depp, I find him so mysterious, talented and handsome. All of his movies are great and he is a musician. He lives in France and owns is own island with a ship. What's not to love?

Now here are my picks for other beautiful bloggers:
1. The Undomestic Momma
2. The Heir to Blair
3. As the Foreste Grows
4. The Glamorous Life of a Housewife
5. The Princess and the Sweet Pea

I am still extremely busy with the move and will be posting a blog about it soon. Also the shower was a great success! Will post some pics soon, I promise. I am working all this weekend, so I hope to get something up on Tuesday.