How do three girls spend their morning together? They divide their time evenly between kitchen duty, necklace crafting, and baby care, of course. | View Show | Create Your Own After three rounds of hugs, Ava waved goodbye to Ruthie and Lydia and then looked up at me and said, “I had great time today, [...]

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Hands down, Ava’s favorite snack is graham crackers dipped in water. Seriously. She asks for it nearly every afternoon, and she dutifully reminds me that you can’t “dippp” your crackers in water at church. Her daddy has one word for her this messy treat: Disgusting. According to Ava, it’s good to the last crumb.

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or what God is teaching me through Ava. Ava, like all children, is present and immediate. Therefore Jesus is not a story or a religion or a theology. He is not even someone she goes to church to learn about. He is her friend. She talks to him, often. He is the one who heals [...]

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CAR SEAT: “…cows are animals and pigs are animals and sheep are animals and farmers.” DRIVER’S SEAT: “Farmers are people.” CAR SEAT: “Farmers are people, but they’re not real people” DRIVER’S SEAT: “Yes, Ava, farmers are real people.” CAR SEAT: “No they’re not. Mama. They’re not real people.” DRIVER’S SEAT: “Ava, farmers are real people.” [...]

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Ava and her buddy,Henri scraped upsnow in coordinatingfur lined hoods.

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2007 marks Ava’s very first haircut. One too many tear had been shed over the merciless tangles that had overtaken her hair, so I finally pulled out the scissors. It took one piece of gum, one sucker, and one candy cane to get through the ordeal, but I think we are all happy with the [...]

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“Ava, you can’t have a candy cane right now,” heard Ava after pushing a dining room chair over to the ledge and climbing up on it to be closer to the jar of treats. “Ava,” repeated her daddy, “no candy canes.” She hopped off the chair and looked up at the sweets again. “Take ‘em [...]

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12. Tie: “I love you, Daddy” and “I love you, Mama” ~ Ava is very affectionate and has truly embraced this phrase this year. We love you too, Ava. 11. “Have juice please may I” = may I have juice please ~ Ava’s roundabout, polite way of asking for nearly everything. 10. “I need it!” [...]

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Ava came out of her room this afternoon and announced, “Ava got dressed all by herself. She looks pretty, doesn’t she? She did a good job, didn’t she? She did it all by herself. That was a good job. Doesn’t she look pretty, daddy.”Yes, she is wearing three shirts (t-shirt, then tank top, then sleeveless [...]

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On New Year’s Eve we went to an early, family New Year’s Eve party at our neighbor’s house. Ava was delighted to find so many kids there and was soon immersed in bubbles, blowers, party crowns, and confetti sprayers. And Nate and I were enjoying the rare freedom of chatting with the adults, yet we [...]

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