Avaree Grace turns FIVE!

My baby is FIVE.  (I have cried buckets over this. In some ways, it has just flown by, and in other ways, we have just made so many memories and life changes together that it seems like you have always been a part of our lives. This little girl made all my Mommy dreams come true!!!!)

Avaree Grace turned FIVE on September 21st! Her birthday fell on a Sunday, but we have been celebrating the whole month, so she has felt very loved and special! 

I took her outside the day before her birthday and told her to strike a pose, and this is what she did! That girl!! :) She is so full of energy, life, love, tenderness, knowledge, hope, and hilarious comments! We love her so much, and she is a constant source of joy in our lives! 

She reads like she is in second grade, and she has the biblical knowledge that would rival just about anyone. She has read her Jesus Storybook Bible cover to cover at least four times (not including the number of times we had read it to her prior to that)! She soaks up language and ideas like a modern day linguist, and I can't even imagine what God has in store for her! This is her last year before going to school for 17+ years, so I am treasuring my time with her! She goes to pre-K on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and she loves it! She is counting by 10s, 50s, and 100s, and she loves, loves school! On the days that she is home, we work on math skills and reading at her level. We are reading our first chapter books together. It blows my mind that she can read them. I've encouraged her and given her the tools she needed to continue to learn and achieve, but her intellect is God-given, and she blows us away every day. We have already begun praying for her Kindergarten teacher!

Avaree loves people. She is 100% her Daddy in the fact that she has never met a stranger and loves to entertain! She is the life of the party, and she would dance all day if she could. Even though she is growing up fast, she still wants to be my baby a lot. She wants to cuddle, and she loves to be held! :) 

We are so proud of Avaree and so thankful for the five years that we have had with her! She has changed me oh so very much, and I know that just like that she will also change the world very soon. It's an interesting balance to parent someone that is so intellectually mature, yet emotionally she is still so little. :) We seek to give her the stability and security that she needs to flourish, while still giving her the freedom to be who God has created her to be--even in her little five year old body! :) 

A couple of months ago, Brandon and I took the girls to a street in Arlington, and our goal was to knock on every door, and hopefully we would be able to talk to at least a couple about Jesus and invite them to LABC. Little did we know that it would be a treasured family memory, and that Avaree would RUN to every door. She would cry if no one came to the door, and she proudly held her LABC card, and talked to every one that opened the door to us about Jesus. She also asked them how she could pray for them, and she challenged us with every word she spoke. We don't know what God will ultimately use Avaree's life and passions to accomplish for His Kingdom, but I know that it will be great. In the same breath, I also know that Satan will try to derail her (and already has), so we are praying daily for her to continue to be bold in her faith and confident in the love that surrounds her!

Just when I think it isn't possible to love this girl anymore, she shows me time and again how precious she is. She is an amazing big sister, and she loves, loves to play, dance, cook, write, read, and be with the people that she loves! She has a unique ability to make everyone in her life feel so very loved! :) 
We love you, Avaree Grace! May you forever understand that "nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love!" (Romans 8:38) Every day with you is an adventure, and we are so very, very humbled and thankful that God chose us to be your Mommy and Daddy! You are such a precious GIFT!  Love you, Mommy  

We're having a ...

B-O-Y!
Everyone is excited, but no one is more excited than Daddy! :)

I'm ready to put him up there next to them! :) 

Our Dream Disney Trip, Days 4-5: Hollywood Studios and Home!

I'm almost sad to blog day four of our amazing trip because that means it's over! :( We had a wonderful last day at Disney! We got up around 7am, and we got the girls dressed and ready for Hollywood Studios! We took the bus from our hotel, and we got to the park right before it opened. 
Doesn't it look like a beautiful day?! As soon as we walked in the gates, we were greeted with the Frozen soundtrack and SNOW! :) 

 It's hard to see, but it snowed for fifteen minutes, and it was incredible Disney Magic! :) The girls LOVED it! :)

We headed straight back for our breakfast reservations at Hollywood and Vine (also known as Disney Jr's Play and Dine) Restaurant! (Side note: I originally had reservations for three character meals and one non-character meal, but because of cost, I ended up canceling two of those, so this was only our second real sit-down meal since we got to Disney!) 
While we waited for them to call us to our table, Felicity perused our activities for the day! :)

 My oldest beauty! :)

This breakfast and character(s) experience did NOT disappoint! The breakfast buffet was literally the longest buffet I had ever seen. It kept going and going and going! Felicity LOVED the Mickey waffles and eggs, while Avaree loved the eggs and bacon! Daddy enjoyed the biscuits and gravy, and Mommy loved the fresh fruit and hash browns! Everyone was happy! (Another side note: Felicity was free everywhere we went! She had her own plate and drink and everything, and she was free! That's pretty awesome of Disney.) 

 To top off our YUMMY breakfast, we got to sing and dance with (as well as meet and take pictures with..) Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Handy Manny, and Jake! The girls were beside themselves! 

 Sofia!!!

 There's her smile!

Ave and Manny!

 Felicity wanted to hold Manny's hand! :)

 Felicity says, "Hi Doc!"

 Mickey waffle!

Felicity grinning at the characters as they danced! She danced her little heart out! 

 Felicity had a BLAST singing and dancing to all the Disney Jr songs!

 Avaree loved Jake!

Avaree and Doc! 

(Aunt Shan, Ave wanted to take this pic for Evy!!)  

The girls didn't want to leave! Felicity just sat down by the signs of the characters! haha :)

 She wanted to hug Doc! :)

After our breakfast fun, we headed to the back of the park for the Frozen Sing Along with Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff! This show was absolutely incredible. Elsa, Anna, AND Kristoff were there, AND it snowed all over the theater during "Let it Go!" I looked at B at one point and just started crying! Avaree was SO happy, Felicity was SO entranced, and I just can't tell you how wonderful it was to experience that together! :)

 Do you see the snow?? Now, imagine EVERYONE (including lots of little voices) singing "Let it Go" at the top of their lungs!!! It was incredible!!!!

Next, we went straight to Disney Junior Live on Stage! Puppets gave us a live version of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and then Jake, Sofia and Doc came to visit! :) There were also bubbles, snow, and gold d'blooms! :) This was one of my favorite moments too!

The girls dancing to the "hot dog dance" during the show! :)

 After the show, we headed down to Pixar Palace and road Toy Story Mania on our fast pass! There were SO many people in line for stand by, and we just walked right in! (If you're going to Disney soon, research what to use your fast passes for!! It saves SO much time!) I didn't get any pictures in Toy Story, but Daddy and Ave loved it, Felicity screamed, and I was barely able to make it through as it went in circles! haha!

Next, we headed to the back lot to meet Sully and Mike!

 After that, we gave the girls drinks and snacks from our cooler, and we headed to the air conditioning inside the Art of Animation Building! Daddy and Ave met Frozone and Mr. Incredible!

 Mr. Incredible danced with Avaree as if she was the only little girl in the whole place! 

While they were in line for the character greetings, Felicity, Baby and I found a corner, and she went right to sleep. One would think that this was a brilliant idea, and it was, until I tried to get up. Both of my legs (whole legs and feet) were completely asleep!! It was hilarious to try to get up! :) At least Felicity got a good nap in the A/C while Daddy and Ave went exploring to see how the Disney creators drew the characters!!

 After one got a nap and one explored, we headed over to use another fast pass for Star Tours! While they enjoyed that ride, Felicity and I got ourselves a treat and found some shade! She got a strawberry fruit popsicle, and Mommy got a coke! :) haha 

Next up, we went to an incredible production of Beauty and the Beast!!!! 

(Side note: the girls did GREAT at sitting through three thirty-minute shows in one day!)

 We LOVED Beauty and the Beast! I brought out the big gun snacks, and everyone was happy! 

 Finally, we head to Indiana Jones for Daddy! :) 

We did a few other things that I didn't take pictures of, but it was getting really hot, and we were all getting tired, so we said, "Bye bye, Hollywood Studios!" 

 We came back to the hotel around 3:45, and then we let the girls play in the splash park! That evening, we enjoyed a Rice Krispie picnic while Mommy packed us up! Felicity had it EVERYWHERE! 

We all slept really well, and then we left our room around 7am to drop our amazing stroller off at the front desk, and then take our luggage to the airline check in (at our hotel)! Then, the Magical Express Bus picked us up and whisked us away to the airport. We were all so sad to leave!!! 

 The plane ride home was SO easy! (of course, haha!) We were on a big plane, and we had our Daddy with us! Felicity actually fell asleep right before take off, and she slept on me for the first hour and a half of the flight! When she woke up, the girls played together in the seat between us and read books! I did have to get Elmo out toward the end, but that was nothing comparatively! Avaree loved getting water refills from the flight attendant, and Daddy read a magazine! I'd say that was a successful flight! 

I'll forever treasure these four days together with my family! It was magical and wonderful and perfect and fun! (Any former students recognize that as a polysyndeton?) 

I'm so thankful that the Lord provided us this amazing opportunity!!!! 

I already have plans for our next trip, even if it is several years down the road! ;)

Once we arrived back in DFW, we got our car and headed for Mexican food! :) Then, we let Felicity take a nap in the car while we waited for our doctor's appointment to find out if we're having a boy or a girl! :)

Stay tuned for that!