Big Girl Bed!

**Random**

First, let me say that I am so heart-broken about this Caylee case. I have been following it closely (short of watching Nancy Grace) and I just feel so bad about what happened to her. Today they identified her remains, and I feel relieved that they found her finally, but I can't help wondering what her last moments were like. If it was indeed her mother who did this, then a life sentence does not do her justice. I don't see how anyone could hurt a young child, especially a parent - especially a MOTHER.

Ava is getting her big girl bed tonight! I am so excited. Brent got the room set up this morning while Ava and I were at school and work, so when we get home today we will get to see it. Ava doesn't know about it yet, though we have dropped many hints. Look for pictures coming soon.

Is all your Christmas shopping done? I only have a few small things to get. My budget went out the window a long time ago, but I am thankful for my job that gave me a very nice Christmas bonus today. That is always a good thing! It will be another warm Christmas this year - I think the high will be in the upper 70's. It's nice if you are here on vacation, but I would love a cold Christmas. Nothing like celebrating xmas in shorts and T-shirts with the AC on.

I am really excited for Ava's birthday in January - we are taking her to Disney World! We will be there for 2 days and will probably just hit the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney. Some of my favorite memories are at Magic Kingdom. I haven't been in years, and I know Ava will love it since she's into all the princess stuff now.

Ava and one of the nannies - Carol. They did a Thanksgiving thing and Carol dressed up like a pilgrim.


The other nanny - Leah - also as a pilgrim


Ava and Max doing some baking. Through the french doors there is my "office."

Coming Soon to a Christmas Card Near You

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving will be a pretty low key event this year. Just Brent's parents and my Mom over at the house, possibly a couple of friends. I am sad that Ava probably won't get to experience the kind of Thanksgivings that I grew up with. My stepdad's side of the family would all meet up at my Grandma's house in North Carolina. In the boonies really. She lives in a very small town, on top of a mountain in a modest but nice house that my Dad and Grandpa built. We would drive up, usually at night, and my Dad would make a bed for us in the back of his pick up, which had a top on it. I wouldn't really sleep though. I liked driving right past Atlanta and seeing all the lights of the buildings. We would arrive very early in the moring, an it would be cold. We would set up camp in her basement. The days would be spent doing nothing but playing cards or walking around outside in the leaves. Sometimes we would take a drive to Cherokee and go into all the cheesy Christmas shops. Thanksgiving day would be a mess of cooking, lots of loud talking, and laying around. There would be many pies, and eating left overs for days. Every few years it might snow flurry for a little bit. Never enough to really stick, but enough to build a very tiny snowman on the hood of a car.

The family has grown and spread out even more than before. I was always the oldest, but now even my youngest cousins are 20 years old. My parent's would still usually make the trip, but not this year. There was a bad drought and water is scarce up there. My mom is busy and my Dad left tonight to Arizona to go on a 22 day rafting trip down the Colorado River. I am pretty jealous of that, but come day 10 he'll probably be missing a warm bed and Florida weather.

So, it's just our little family, at our little house. And it will be fine, because Ava will still have a blast, and maybe when she's 30 she'll reminisce about it.

One thing I am really excited for is Ava's Christmas present from my Dad and stepmom in NJ. They got her a bedroom set. I have mixed feelings about moving her out of the crib, but it is time. I think it will be a smooth transition and I can't wait to decorate her room. My little girl without a crib! So weird. It's kind of a milestone.

I'll have lots of pictures up soon. We did a little photo shoot at a museum and I got some great pics of her. We were hoping for a nice family shot, but we are not so good at those. It seems that one of us is always looking in a different direction and Brent smiles like Chandler in pictures. If you're a "Friends" fan you'll know what I'm talkin bout.

$2.07

That's the price of gas here. How crazy is that?? I put $30 in my Explorer and nearly filled it up.

Ava is doing good. People who haven't seen her in a few months are telling me how tall she looks and how she is losing her baby face. I would agree, she is getting tall and thin - just like her Dad. She has a nice big scabby scrape on her chin right now, courtesy of Max. He pushed her off a slide and she fell into some recycling bins and got scraped up good. Of course, her school pictures were taken this week too, so it'll be interesting to see how those come out. She looks like a bruiser.

For Christmas, Ava wants "a pink soccer ball and Lightning stuff." Lightning stuff means "Cars" the movie stuff. She LOVES Cars. I have it on good authority that Santa will be bringing her a big girl bicycle and probably a new bedroom set too! I don't want to overload her on xmas, since her birthday is in January.