My Little Artist

Isn't it beautiful?

Feeding Frustrations

Our first lesson on how to use a spoon...Doing an okay job

Getting a little messy


Forget the spoon!

All clean

All Dressed Up

Now that the cold weather has arrived, I am finally getting to dress Ava in her new winter wardrobe. I just love it! I mean who wouldn't...she looks precious in everything:) Last Friday, I labored and labored over what to pack for her and what she should wear to our first family Christmas gathering of the season. This is me..."Should she wear her candy cane Christmas dress?...No, maybe the pink sweater dress that Nana got her for her birthday...But, if she wears that, we will have to keep the white tights clean so she can wear them with her monogrammed Christmas dress Saturday night....Should she wear a white turtle neck or just a long sleeved T-shirt?..." Okay, confusing I know, but this was my mind. So many options! I went with the pink dress, but remember we HAD to keep the tights clean because we needed those to wear again on Saturday night. Long story short, this is what Ava looked like when we arrived at my sister's house.....

Early Christmas Trip

We will not be able to see my sister and her family this year on Christmas Day. So, we had an early Christmas celebration with them this past weekend. My mom, Blake, Ava and I drove to Collierville, TN on Friday night. The girls shopped on Saturday while the guys went duck hunting. That night, we had a nice dinner and opened presents. We had so much fun!!! Thanks Aunt Sissy and Uncle Rob for such a fun, early Christmas weekend!

On the way to go shopping!

The Duck Hunters






Mommy and Ava got matching house shoes

Fancy Tinsley

Looking Back

I cannot believe my baby girl is one! She has grown so much this past year. I love looking back at these pictures. I took one each month in the same chair with her Hip Hop. It is amazing to see how she has changed! One month old
Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old

Six months old


Seven months old

Eight months old


Nine months old

Ten months old


Eleven months old

One year old

Hand-me-downs

Ava Jayne and I are so fortunate to get LOADS of clothes handed down from Ava's cousin, Tinsley, and Aunt Sissy! Kerri (my sister...AKA Aunt Sissy) is wonderful to send huge boxes with each new season. We have had this outfit since January of last year. I have looked and looked at it hanging in the closet. I just love it and now Ava Jayne can finally wear it!!! So exciting!!! Here is a precious Christmas picture of Tinsley from last year and then one of Ava Jayne that I took today. Thanks Aunt Sissy for all the cute outfits!!! We love you!!!

Tinsley - Christmas 2007

Ava - Christmas 2008

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were at Mamaw and Papaw's house for lunch and Nana and Pop's for supper. We ate way too much as always. Ava really liked hashbrown casserole and chocolate cake. She was such a trooper while we traveled. Whoever thought to put DVD players in cars was a GENIUS!!!! I would like to send my personal thanks to that person! We are so blessed and thankful for all that God has given us...his love, our families, a healthy little girl, a cozy home and DVD players :)

Oh Christmas Trees, Oh Christmas Trees...

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas around the Young house! This is our first post to our new blog. We are very excited about this way to share with everyone what is going on with our family!

We are getting geared up for a very fun holiday season. Ava loves the Christmas trees!!! She points to them and says, "pretty!" She is so funny! She is afraid of the big tree in the living room. She will look at it from a distance and say how "pretty" it is, but wants no part of touching it when you get her close. With HER tree, on the other hand, she was very interested in pulling the ornaments off! This is going to be such a FUN Christmas!!!