Christmas Tree 2022
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we began our Christmas traditions and went to get our Christmas tree. We went back to the Merry Christmas Tree Farm in Central and it is remaining our favorite spot to get a tree. We picked out a beautiful tree, the girls had hot chocolate, Zoe wrote a letter to Santa (she has decided this year she loves Santa, even though we don’t encourage Santa…must be the influence at school), and they even agreed to take more pictures with the little trees. We especially loved when they found the perfect Charlie Brown tree. That afternoon, we decorated the tree with very carefully selected ornaments…ones that we would not be upset if a certain puppy destroyed. The tree doesn’t have near as many ornaments on it as usual but we wanted to make sure it was safe from the dog(s) playing. So far, it hasn’t been knocked over and no ornaments have been chewed up…but Christmas is far from over so I’m not going to stop keeping a super close eye on it.
Fall Through
As always, I have to compare the girls at the apple orchard throughout the years….
Halloween 2022
This year the girls got to experience true trick-or-treating, thanks to some of our really good friends from church. They invited us to join them in their neighborhood and the girls had a blast! They loved running from house to house (with Paul and Zoe leading the way) and getting lots of candy. Ava chose to dress up as Uma from Descendants and Zoe came up with her costume on her own and chose to be a Princess Fairy Ballerina. It was such a fun first trick-or-treating experience.
Skytop 2022
Over the girls’ fall break, we were able to make it up to Skytop to pick apples. We had planned to go a few weeks before that but we all got the flu so it was postponed. However, it was nice that we waited because it wasn’t crowded at all. Fall break was later this year due to the election so I think that really helped the crowds a ton. We didn’t have to wait long at all to get apples and it wasn’t overrun with people in the stand. My mom joined us again this year and it was really nice to get to share the day with her, especially to be able to do something fun after her back surgery and recovery over the summer. We picked our favorite pink lady apples, visited the animals, ate donuts and enjoyed the new gem mine. As always, it is one of our favorite fall traditions.
50th Day of School
Zoe’s class celebrated the 50th Day of School with root beer floats and fifties attire. We borrowed a poodle skirt from a friend and Zoe looked so cute! We were so thankful she got over the flu quickly so she wouldn’t miss her first dress up day at school.
Zoe is 5 and a half
As always, it is crazy to me that we are halfway to Zoe’s birthday. I cannot believe she is 5 and a half already!
Zoe is now 44” tall. She is wearing mostly size 5T clothes. Although, finding jeans that fit her has been difficult because her little waist is so tiny nothing stays up. But, she isn’t complaining about that because she prefers to wear dresses or skirts every day. She is wearing size 11 shoes. She is growing but is still so petite.
The past 6 months have been big for Zoe. She finished her very first year of preschool. She absolutely loved her preschool. She learned so much and made some really sweet friends. We knew she’d thrive in school and she definitely did. But now, she gets to go to real school. She started kindergarten in August and she is so happy to be at Ava’s school. Her teachers this year are so sweet and she loves going to school every day. She gets excited to order lunch at school and especially loves her special treat of ice cream on Fridays. The first several weeks of school they focused on a few letters a week. Now, they are working on learning to read. Zoe already recognizes a few sight words. She is obsessed with writing her letters these days and she loves to try to figure out how to spell things. We think she will be reading soon if her interest continues to be as strong as it is right now. They also had their very first field trip a couple weeks ago when they went to a goat farm to learn how they make soap from the milk. It is so fun to see Zoe thriving so much in school and we cannot wait to see how much she grows this year.
Zoe is still doing dance. She had her spring recital at the beginning of June. The recital theme was songs from movies. Her Hip Hop class danced to Space Jam (from the original movie) and it was such a cute dance. She did an amazing job in the recital. Over the summer, she got to go to 2 different dance camps at her dance studio. And now, she is in the big kid ballet class. She is becoming obsessed with ballet and loves her class so much. You can even see her practicing some ballet in her pictures. She’s already excited for her Christmas recital where they will be dancing to a song from the Nutcracker.
Zoe had some big changes in life these past 6 months with school and dance but her favorites haven’t really changed much. Her food preferences are mostly the same. She still loves bread, rice and plain pasta. She loves her yogurt and applesauce and fruit too. She loves breakfast foods like pancakes, waffles and biscuits. She did recently start liking peanut butter and jelly, which has been great for school lunch. But, she definitely would prefer to live on her almond milk and plain carbs.
Zoe’s favorites in other areas haven’t changed a ton in the past 6 months either. She still loves music and prefers Disney music to anything else (especially Disney Jr music like Mira the Royal Detective). She does request to listen to “Eye of the Tiger” a lot though and has asked to hear it at Clemson. Unfortunately, we can’t make it to a game again this year but we hope one day we can finally get Zoe to Death Valley to hear “Eye of the Tiger” at a game. Zoe also still prefers to watch Disney Jr shows. She really likes Eureka, Mira, Elena, Puppy Dog Pals, Fancy Nancy, Vampirina, Doc, Bluey and Chicken Squad. She also likes My Little Pony (the new series that is based on the old school My Little Pony, not the more scary series). Zoe also loves Encanto, Frozen and The Little Mermaid. We let the girls watch those on the way to Disney, skipping the scary scenes, and she loved them.
Zoe still loves to build with her magnatiles. But, I think her dolls have taken over as her favorite toys these days. She loves to dress her dolls up and take care of them. She even refers to them as “The Girls” and is so cute when she talks about them. She recently used her Christmas/birthday money to buy a Healthy Roots Doll (whose name happens to be Zoe) that you can actually wash and style the hair. The company was started to encourage girls to love and be proud of their natural hair. Zoe loves picking out matching hair styles for her and Zoe doll. She still is not a fan of hair day (she’s super tender headed) but I keep hoping Zoe doll will help her like having her hair washed and styled more. Zoe also still loves to play outside. She loves to look for rocks, snails and now acorns all over the yard. Eeyore is still her favorite stuffed animal and she sleeps with him every night. But, she also added Piglet and her gray bunny that she slept with as a baby into the mix. One super cute attachment she recently added is to a bear that was mine when I was little. It is one my dad gave me and Zoe has decided to name him Bobby and uses him when she’s scared at night of the dark or of a thunderstorm. I love that she feels comfort from the bear that my dad gave me as a baby.
Zoe still loves to read books and loves to go to the library to pick out new books. Lately, she has been looking for ballerina books at the library. She loves looking for books about dancing. Angelina Ballerina books continue to be a favorite series. She also loves any Disney books with the princesses or Disney Jr characters in them. She also likes to read books with animals as the main characters. I think now that she is seeing she can read some, we will be getting the early reader books each visit from now on.
Zoe is still our goofy little extroverted kid. You can see her silliness in these pictures. Some of the best smiles actually came after she was sticking out her tongue and I told her to put her tongue back in her mouth. She loves to make people laugh and will turn up the silliness if she knows people are watching. She loves school because she gets to be around people all day. She definitely gets a high from social interactions. She has no trouble making friends and will start playing with any kid on the playground. We love watching her blossom so much!
Zoe loves big and is still super cuddly. She is happiest when she is touching us and still wishes she could be carried around all day. I think she would be happy if she could still be worn in the baby carrier. She is our snuggle bug for sure. She is starting to apologize a lot more for her disobedience or bad attitude. She can be super sassy but then is super sweet when she snuggles up to apologize.
Zoe is still just such a joy to us and our family. We love her so much and are so thankful to have the privilege of watching her grow. We do not take any of this lightly and we think about her birth mama all the time as we do life with Zoe. She means the world to us and we are so grateful to have her and Zoe in our lives.
Frozen and Encanto on Ice
We surprised the girls with a day trip to Charlotte to see Disney on Ice Frozen and Encanto. It was such an amazing show! Those are the girls’ favorite movies (and music) and it was so fun to see it played out on the ice. The most impressive parts were when Isabella and Mirabel did flying acrobatics above the ice and when Bruno lit a ring of fire on the ice. The girls absolutely loved the show (as did we) and it was a fun day together.
School Firsts for Zoe
Zoe is loving kindergarten so much. She’s learning so much and making great friends. She’s also already experiencing some school firsts. She had her first dress up day for the letter fashion show (she was the letter J), first e-learning day due to the hurricane (kindergarten google class meets are fun) and first field trip to a goat farm to learn how they make soaps. We can’t wait to see what all she does the rest of the school year!
Olivia’s First Birthday
Over Labor Day weekend, we headed down to my cousin Lauren’s house to celebrate her sweet Olivia’s first birthday. It was so fun to see all the youngest cousins together (minus Piper) and we all had a great time celebrating Miss Olivia. She was so cute and was not a fan of her cake. It was funny to watch her try to eat the strawberries but not the icing. It was almost like she was wondering why someone messed up her strawberries. We loved being with family for the day and watching these girls have a blast together.
All the First Days
Because I can’t help it….here are all of the girls’ first days of school.
Their Only Year Together
This year is the only year the girls will ever overlap at the same school. We hate they won’t have more years together but are so thankful they get this one year together. Ava is already showing Zoe the ropes at school. Zoe thinks she is big stuff being there with Ava. We hope this is a special year for them!
First Day of 5th Grade
The first day of school was a big day for Ava as well because it is her last first day of elementary school. We cannot believe she will be in middle school next year! Paris Elementary has been such a great school for Ava and we are sad this is her last year here. But, we keep telling her to enjoy every minute of this last year at Paris and all the benefits that come with being the big kid on campus. She could not wait to get back to school to see her friends. She had a great first day and already loves her teacher. We are so proud of all she’s accomplished so far and cannot wait to see her rock her last year of elementary school!
First Day of Kindergarten
The day Zoe has been dreaming about for so long finally came! She is headed off to kindergarten and gets to go to school with Ava. She was full of excitement and nerves but so ready to head into school with her big sister. It was definitely full of mixed emotions for mama and daddy as well but we know she is going to thrive in school. She had the best first day, loves her teacher and is already making friends. We can’t wait to see what this year holds for her.
Twas the Night Before Kindergarten
August 15th was going to be a big day in our house as both girls went off to school together. They were both so excited to start school. Zoe’s teacher gave her some ready confetti to put under her pillow the night before school. It came with a note saying her teacher would put some under her pillow as well and would wish for a wonderful year together. This little girl could not be more ready for big girl school!
Happy Birthday, DJ!
For DJ’s birthday, we decided to go check out a newer apple orchard. His birthday was 2 days before school started so it was also a fun way to end summer break. We headed up to Jeter Mountain Farms, which was a gorgeous orchard and wedding venue. We of course had to test their donuts but the girls said Skytop’s are better. We’ve now tried 3 other orchards and none can beat Skytop’s donuts. We decided not to pick apples but did enjoy their field of pick your own zinnias and sunflowers. The girls also loved their playground area. It was a fun way to celebrate the birthday boy and the end of summer.
Summer Highlights
Here are some random highlights from my phone from this summer that didn’t really fit into other posts.
The girls have both figured out how to take pictures with the iPad or my phone so I am constantly finding random pictures of them on my phone….usually making silly faces.
Sookie and Winnie are loving life together. It took Winnie a little while to really start to play with Sookie. It almost seemed like she was afraid she would hurt Sookie when she was really little. It took a few weeks for them to adjust to life together but now they are best friends and play all the time! Sookie is slowly learning boundaries with her play because Winnie lets her do anything (except take her food…that’s the only time she’ll growl at Sookie). We are working on teaching Sookie that you can’t bite and play dirty. But it is so fun to see them play and be best buds.
Sookie is such a cutie but she is a mess. She is constantly stealing shoes, socks, stuffed animals, bathroom trash, etc. We keep saying we forget what life with a puppy was like because the time when Winnie was a puppy seems like a black hole because we had a 1 year old baby at the same time. Sookie got spayed this summer and had to wear the donut of shame. We decided to wait to get her groomed until after she healed from getting spayed to be able to even out where they had to shave her, which meant she got super shaggy. She got so shaggy she had enough hair on top of her head for a little ponytail…something she was not a fan of. Zoe and Sookie are really developing a bond because Zoe knows that Sookie will eventually be her sleeping buddy. She started playing a game with Sookie where she lays on the floor and hides under the blanket while Sookie lays down on top of her. Zoe giggles the whole time they play together. And this summer she discovered a fun new toy…balloons. She is so cute when she plays with balloons and surprisingly she plays for a while before she pops them.
One evening this summer we looked outside and saw the most beautiful double rainbow!
DJ and I were able to take 2 dates over the summer. The first was to the Monet and Friends exhibit at Biltmore, which was so cool. Impressionists are my favorite artists and it was so cool to see their images projected in the immersive exhibit. Then we were able to see Hamilton again when it came to town. It was just as good as the first time we saw it!
Zoe found a way to make the most of the rainy days we had this summer. As long as it wasn’t thundering, she wanted to play outside in the rain some. Ava is growing so much these days! And Zoe requests having her picture taken more and more these days, which I am happy to oblige.
Zoe decided to use her Christmas money to buy a new doll this summer. This doll is amazing. Her name happens to be Zoe (so she is referred to as Zoe doll) and the creator is a Black woman who wanted to create a doll to promote a positive image around Black hair. You can wash and style the doll’s hair and Zoe is now a little more willing for hair day since she can choose a style for her and Zoe doll. On one of the days Ava had her last camp, I took Zoe to try to find some crocs at the consignment stores since she outgrew her’s. I realized as we were out that we didn’t have time to go back home for lunch before we needed to pick up Ava so we headed to Panera. I decided to take a picture of her because I realized it was one of my last days to spend just the 2 of us before she heads off to kindergarten.
It was a busy summer with camps and swimming but it was a lot of fun. Now we are all ready for school!
1st Day of Dance - Fall 2022
We are excited for Zoe to start another semester at Dance Without Limits. Now that she is in kindergarten, she’s moved up to the next level of classes (and dress code). Back in the spring, they let everyone try a week of dance for free to see what class the kids wanted to sign up for in the fall. Zoe tried jazz, hip hop, acro (basically tumbling), and ballet. To our surprise, she chose ballet. So far she loving her ballet class and she looks so cute in her new leotard. We can’t wait to see what this little ballerina does this fall.
Ava is 10!
I have no idea how Ava is double digits already! Every year seems like she is getting so old but man this one feels like another huge milestone. I feel like the first big milestone was when she turned 5 and it felt like she was suddenly a big kid. Now that she is 10, she really seems so much older. She is about to start her last year of elementary school. The time is just flying by so fast!
Ava had her well child check and she is right on track and very healthy. Her stats were:
Height - 57.5” - 87th percentile
Weight - 89.4 lbs - 82nd percentile
That height helped her reach a big milestone as she no longer needs to use a booster seat in the car. She probably could have ridden without it before now but we prefer to max out the law/recommendations to be extra careful when it comes to car safety.
As usual, I can definitely see how much she is growing in her clothes. She is wearing size 10/12 clothes and size 4 or 4.5 shoes. I think she’ll be in size 12 jeans this year, mainly for the length. Some tops that I bought for the fall are size 12.
So I asked Ava the same questions that I’ve asked her for the past several years on her birthday. I love being able to compare her answers each year and to really get an idea of what her favorites are each year. So, I’ll let Ava tell you about her life at 10 (in italics), with some extra details added by me.
How old are you?
I’m 10
What is your favorite food?
Pizza
Ava’s favorite foods still really haven’t changed much over the past few years. She also still loves chicken tacos, chicken pot pie, lasagna soup, eggs, pancakes, waffles, chicken tenders, mac and cheese and black bean burgers. The past few years she has been able to eat lunch for free at school and her favorite days are the nacho days, especially the tater tot nacho bar. Now that she is getting older, she likes to be able to fix her own food. She can scramble her own eggs and makes her own oatmeal most every morning for breakfast. She really wants to learn to bake after watching a lot of baking shows on TV.
What is your favorite color?
Light purple
Ava still loves all things girly...pink, purple and glitter.
What is your favorite show?
KC Undercover
Ava discovered this show when she had some time with Zoe not at home. She doesn’t have a chance to watch much without Zoe so she loves it when she can watch shows that are more her age like this. She also loves to watch the Descendants movies when Zoe isn’t home. When they watch shows together they typically watch something like Trolls, Spirit, Home, Karma’s World, or Lego Friends. Ava also really started getting into the baking competition shows, which Zoe will agree to watch sometimes as well. Ava loved the Disney Bake Off, Baking Impossible and Is It Cake. When she was giving me ideas for her birthday cake she started listing off all these options and I said she needed to stop watching the baking shows because that was way beyond my cake decorating skill set, haha.
What is your favorite toy?
Princess barbies
Ava is starting to outgrow most of her toys but she still loves her Princess Barbies. She loves imagining adventures for them and creating new outfits for them with fabric scraps or anything she can find to use. Speaking of creating, Ava is also still obsessed with anything crafty. She is always happy when she can draw, cut, glue and create. This summer, she attended one art camp at a local art collective and she loved it so much we signed her up for their after school art program. We also utilized some space in our basement for a craft area for the girls where they can go and create and not have to worry as much about the mess.
What is your favorite song?
Show Yourself
Ava still loves music and sings all the time. Her favorite music is still probably anything Disney but especially Frozen 1 and 2, Encanto and Descendants. Broadway musicals are another popular choice like Newsies, Wicked, the Wiz or the Broadway version Frozen. Ava also loves Toby Mac, Colony House, Jamie Grace and Lauren Daigle. I created a random playlist for the girls with music ranging from 90s music to Disney channel hits to movie soundtracks like Trolls or Despicable Me to the Beatles to James Taylor and she still loves to listen to that a lot.
What is your favorite book?
Star Friends
This is a series of books that Ava discovered at the book fair, I believe. She bought one of the books and absolutely loved it so she is on the hunt for the rest at either the library or book stores. Ava still loves to read and flies through books so fast. We are always getting a huge haul of books at the library. She and DJ recently started going to the used book store in town and sell books and get new ones. Book stores of any kind are her happy place and she would spend hours looking through the books if we’d let her. Her favorite genres are fantasy and mystery.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Guy Quesadilla Mexican
This answer hasn’t changed in the past several years….the girl loves any Mexican restaurant. She loves to get the chips, salsa, cheese dip, refried beans and a cheese quesadilla. Some of her other favorite places to eat are Swamp Rabbit Cafe, Tupelo Honey Cafe, Tropical Grille, Sidewall Pizza, Chick-fil-A, and Papa Johns.
What is your favorite outfit?
Light jean Shorts and pink tie dye shirt
Ava still loves clothes. She is very particular about what she wants to wear these days as she is getting older so it is harder to just buy things for her that she will like. But She does love to go shopping and loves it when I buy things online for her to try. She isn’t as much into dresses and skirts as she used to be but she does still wear them a good bit. She definitely prefers shorts/pants now. I think most of the girls in her class wear shorts or pants instead of dresses so she wears dresses less and less these days. I definitely miss the girly girl in dresses every day but finding older kid clothes is fun too. It is crazy to me how much the styles are like the things I wore in middle school! I remember my mom saying the same thing about styles when I was in middle school and high school…guess the styles always come around again.
Where is your favorite place to go?
Disney World
No big surprise that this answer hasn’t changed since the past 2 years...it is the happiest place on earth. We were so excited to FINALLY be able to go back to Disney for spring break. It wasn’t back to 100% normal there yet but we at least didn’t have to wear masks in the heat and we got to interact with the characters, even if it was from a distance. Although now that things are pretty much normal there again, we are all dying to go back but that is going to have to wait. Ava loved our trip in the spring although she did admit that she didn’t like that she was too old to truly believe the magic of it all. We told her that is part of growing up but even as you get older you can still appreciate the magic.
What is something special to you?
My family
This was a super sweet answer that I wasn’t expecting. I was expecting her to say something tangible but she said her family and that really meant a lot. I think she was including her extended family and her birth family in that answer, not just us and Zoe. She truly loves everyone in her family so much!
What is your favorite thing to play?
Monopoly Deal
Ava loves to play this game and is getting really good at it. She beats us quite often. She also loves playing Uno, the regular board game Monopoly, Disney Monopoly, Princess Yahtzee Jr and Disney Spot and Find. She has really mastered her bike and loves to ride it around the driveway and our yard. She loved being able to take it on the local trail for a ride with DJ on her birthday. Ava recently decided she did not want to take ice skating lessons anymore. She still has her skates and says she wants to go and skate just for fun but doesn’t want to continue with the lessons. She wants to focus her time on chorus at school and the after school art program. Ava enjoyed playing basketball this year as well. I think once it cools off she will get back out and practice in the driveway with DJ. We recently got a trampoline for the girls as well and that has been fun entertainment for them.
Who are your friends?
Anahi, Maisy, Ella, Nora, Emily and Marislay
Anahi, Emily and Marislay are friends from school. Ava and Emily have been friends for a while. They weren’t in the same class this past year but we are hoping they will be this year. Marislay was in Ava’s class a few years ago and they played some then but didn’t really get to know each other until this year because when Marislay first came to the school she only spoke Spanish. This year she was teaching Ava some Spanish words and Ava loved it! Anahi was Ava’s best friend this year. They had never met before this year but bonded very quickly. They even look like they could be sisters and have been mistaken for sisters at the park when we’ve met up for playdates. We are really hoping they will be in the same class this year because Anahi is such a sweet friend to Ava. Ella, Maisy and Nora are sweet friends from church. Ella and Maisy have been Ava’s best friends at church for years now. Nora was on her basketball team and they really hit it off as well. We love that Ava has several super sweet girls as her friends and we love watching their friendships grow.
What do you like to do with your family?
Play the board game Monopoly and go to Disney World and lots more
Apparently she had too many things she likes to do with us to list everything, which was sweet.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
An art teacher or a teacher
An art teacher makes a lot of sense for a future career for Ava. She loves school and she loves art. And she loves making a mess with crafts so being an art teacher and helping kids express their creativity would be great for her!
What is one thing you hope to do before your next bday?
I hope to learn to save my money well for things I really want
This answer surprised me but this is something we talk to her about all the time. She gets money for her birthday and Christmas. She also gets a high from shopping and has made a lot of impulse buys just because she loves to shop but then doesn’t use or play with the things she buys. We’ve talked a lot about thinking through your purchases before you spend your money and making wise choices. This is a good goal for her to learn this year.
What is the best thing that happened to you when you were 9?
We went to Disney World and got a puppy on the best spring break ever
We didn’t originally plan to get a puppy right after we went to Disney World but the timing just worked out that way. We joked that going to Disney and getting a puppy were like the 2 ultimate surprises for a kid and we were giving the girls both of those surprises. It was so fun to surprise them the morning we left with their Minnie ears and Disney gift cards at their breakfast spots. Then on the ride home, we gave them pictures of Sookie and told them we were picking her up the next day. It was hard to keep all those surprises in (I had things hidden all over the house for the trip and the puppy) but it was worth it to see their reactions.
Ava is still a very empathetic kid. We think this skill is going to really help her in life as she forms relationships. She cares so much about her friends and never wants to see them hurt. She apparently gives her friends advice on how to handle the girl drama they are dealing with. She still feels big emotions herself and is still working on learning the best ways to express her big emotions. Like I’ve said before, because of her big emotions, the girl is full of so much love for her friends and family - adopted family and birth family. She loves wholeheartedly and we are so thankful to be part of her love.
We truly cannot imagine the past 10 years without Ava. She is a huge blessing to our family. But, like I always say, that blessing comes from a huge loss. Ava is really processing her adoption and the love she has for her birth mom. The connection that they have is undeniable. That bond is there and it is strong and we will always honor that special bond. We love her birth mom so much and we hope that one day she can have even more of a relationship with this beautiful girl. We are so thankful to her birth mom for making such a difficult sacrifice in placing Ava with us. We never take our privilege of parenting her for granted and we look forward to what this next year has in store for our girl.
Happy 10th birthday, Ava Girl! We love you to the moon and back!!
All the Tie Dye Details
All of Ava’s party decorations came together with a trip to Hobby Lobby. It was made complete with the funfetti cake that she requested and the flowers in honor of her birth mama. It was so fun creating this party for our double digit girl!
