This weeks events

Youth Group Christmas Party

 Last Sunday night we had a Christmas party at our house for our youth group, we had some delicious dinner, played "Honey if you Love me won't you please please smile?"...very entertaining  :)  We did a silly white elephant gift exchange, ate some good deserts, and enjoyed a bon-fire in the back yard.  I'm so thankful for these lovely folks, they brighten my life, and I always look forward to the time we get to spend with them.  As crazy as they are I love them dearly  :)

Everyone showing off their white elephant gifts

 

This Christmas Eve before going to church

30 weeks

 This is the second year I am spending Christmas away from my family, the first year being when I was in South Africa.  It's kind of weird, but yet feels so natural to be spending this Christmas with my little family in our own home.  Today we have been wrapping presents, and getting things ready for Christmas day, we also got some lunch and went to the park to eat and play with Ava on the play ground, it was a fairly relaxed day I would say.  Tonight we went to the Christmas eve service at our church, then came home had a nice dinner, and are getting the kitchen and house cleaned up for tomorrow... I mean, who wants a messy house on Christmas day?!  Anyway, I'm feeling rather ready for Christmas day as far as preparations go, as far as the Christmas season goes, I am sad that it has almost come to an end, it's definitely one of my favorite times of the year.

The lines on my shirt do trippy things  :)

On another note but still concerning Christmas, my Jehovah's Witness friend came over the other day and we talked for a while, one of the things we talked about was why I don't refer to God as "Jehovah" every time I talk about him.  She felt it was irreverent of me, and as we were talking, I realized a few things.  For one, God has many names so just to stick to one of His names doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.  She mentioned that we are to make his name known, to her that name being Jehovah, and I explained that I don't think God is offended by me not calling him Jehovah every time I talk about him, He wants to see and know that I'm living for him, that my complete trust is His, that I have surrendered myself to him and his work in my life.  Also, because I believe Jesus is God, I want to make His name known... I want to let people know who Jesus Christ is, the He is God and that He humbled himself by becoming a human like us living in a sinful world, and then taking Sin upon his perfect self and dying so that we don't have to... and after ALL that, raising himself from the dead, so that we can LIVE forever in Him.  So... is Jehovah my God?  Yes... just as Jesus Christ, his son is my God.
I feel like this girl and I are going around and around on this subject of Jesus being God, she wanted to talk about other things last time, but I explained to her that this is the cornerstone of my faith, and there is no use talking about other things, when she is believing a lie, when we disagree on such important things... pray for her, only God is able to do a work in her heart.

Chris & Kelly's wedding

Kelly, the man of honor, and her girls

cousin Mariah

Me and my baby

Our little family

Lori and Mark walking Kelly down the Isle

TJ was our instrumentalist

pretty bridesmaids

Love this girl!

Ava was the flower girl... she loved the rose pedals

Ella and Ava entertaining themselves during the ceremony

witnessing the marriage of their children

Congratulations Chris and Kelly

Beautiful!  (Kelly wore her mom's dress)

My sister in law Cherie... I love her to death!

dancing... woop woop!

Ava enjoyed dancing as well... crazy girl!

Somebody loves her daddy

So... as you can see, yesterday was a pretty big day for the Shropshire family, TJ's younger sister Kelly became to wife of Christopher Byron.  If we back up a little bit I can tell you that  Thursday night TJ's Aunt Nancy, Uncle Tim, and cousin Joanna came from Texas to stay with us for the wedding, it has been so much fun having them here... they leave today :(.  Friday Aunt Nancy and I spent all day doing the flowers, she did all the bouquet's and I did all the boutonnieres and corsages... lots of work, but definitely fun!
Saturday, I prepared Ceasar Salad for the reception, helped get the flowers ready to go, got myself ready while TJ kindly gave Ava a bath and dressed her, and we were off to the beach to have a wedding.  Ava and her cousin Levi were the flower girl and ring bearer, they were so cute!  Kelly looked beautiful in her mother's dress, and the whether couldn't have been better on that beach!
The reception was at a different location of course, we had yummy food, and lots of fun dancing, Ava never fails to dance whenever she hears some good music  :).  I hope and pray that God can be honored and glorified in this union of marriage, only by his grace do we have the ability to honor him, and it is only through Christ that we can truly love one another... so Congratulations Chris and Kelly Byron, may you love each other with the love that God has already bestowed upon you!

29 weeks

 This baby is getting bigger... it's starting to wear me out a lot more these days, but it has also been a very busy week, so I'm sure the combination has made things seem harder than they are.  My favorite part about getting bigger is watching and feeling this active little baby move all around... very fun for me!  :)

Wedding and Grocery shopping

So... since TJ sold his bike a few months back, we have been operating with just one car, and his parent's truck a few times a week.  So Ava and I took TJ to work this morning, and decided to go for a little shopping jont... it always seems to be more pleasant in the morning.  Apparently Aldi doesn't open until 9:00 am ... How lame is that?!  So we went to Walmart.  Ava has become more difficult to shop with, she just wants to get out of the cart or sit in dangerous positions, but today I found that if I kept her entertained enough she liked laying down... as long as she's happy I'm good with it!  :) 

On another note TJ's sister Kelly's wedding is this Saturday, and family is going to be staying with us, we have been busy cleaning rooms that don't get used very often, particularly one that turns into our junk room ie. Christmas presents, clothes we are giving away, old stuff Ava isn't using anymore, you get the point, it collects... but this kind of thing always gives us a chance to sort through our junk.  We are excited to be apart of Kelly's big day, TJ is playing guitar, and Ava is a flower girl, so... hopefully we can get some pictures, and share with you soon.  :)

Our December so far

 So not last weekend, but the weekend before TJ and I took our youth group on a weekend camping trip, it turned out to be really fun, and I'm so glad we found the time to do it.  It was pretty uneventful as far as injuries and things go, there were a couple foot cuts and things from our canoe/kayak ride down the river, but not too bad.  I had fun making food for everyone, and the girls helped out a lot.  We tried to get another lady chaperone to come, but no luck there so it was just me.  Dave Cicerelli was our other man chaperone, and we were so grateful to have him there to help and hang out with.  :)  Peter Shropshire is just beyond high school age, so he volunteered to help as well... thanks Peter!  Ava's naps were kind of messed up, and she cried quite a bit the second night... and for about the next week and a half she has been Mrs.  Rebellious... TJ and I are sure that something else was going on, some sort of transition for her, because she would not stop testing the limits, she has calmed down a lot in the past few days, but WOWZERZ we have had our work cut our for us.

Ava doing ok

Ava (with lack of sleep) angry at mommy for trying to touch her

All the kids who went

Everyone

Our house this Christmas

Making eclairs for our family get-together

The spread (and Mommom)

 It is a long time tradition for the Shropshire family to attend the Titusville Christmas parade which is kind of a pathetic event, but it's so much more than that...  it's the fact that every year we all sit in front of the Subway on US 1, the kids with their bags in hand to collect the cheap candy they throw out, and of course there is always someone yelling at Graham to get BEHIND the line!!!  This is the second year that we have had a get together at our house after wards, and as I pointed out to TJ it will be our last year of doing this for a while, because we will be away at school in Missouri.  It is always fun for me to have company in my home and the honor to cook and bake for them... I would say it's fulfilling  :).  Other than the fact that Lori got her thumb smashed in the van door, it was a great time!

Had lots of Shropshire family at our house after the Titusville parade

  

28 weeks pregnant

 I am 28, almost 29 weeks pregnant, and still feeling really good!  This is probably my favorite time... the baby is getting bigger, and I can just watch it move.  As time goes on I am starting to wonder more what this baby is like, and this time we don't even know if it's a boy or girl, so there are a few mysteries here.  I am so looking forward to meeting this little one!

 Last night for the first time I made stuffed shells... mmmm, they were so good!  But you know, it's really just another form of Lasagna, at least it seems that way, I used ricotta cheese as well as cottage cheese  (that's in case you use this recipe).  My husband and baby seemed to enjoy them, we now have tons of leftovers so I hope we enjoy them for many days... ;)

Ava seems like she is growing so much lately, and I'm referring more to her mind here, she is throwing out all sorts of words, not afraid to try and say different things, and along with that she is just blabbering so much right now, it's mostly nonsense, but the cutest nonsense I've ever heard!  It has been a bit of a struggle with the Christmas tree, as there are pretty shiny balls on it.  Every morning when she gets up and sees the tree she says "ball!"  She has been touching it less and less seeing as she gets in trouble every time, but I would rather her learn and us have a tree, because I love Christmas trees!

Life in November

25 weeks

26 weeks

In California... Ava LOVES kitties!

Arielle, Del and new baby Silas Ezekial

The 1st Thanksgiving meal I have ever made in it's entirety 

Ava busted her lip on Thanksgiving

We had to ice that sucker some how

 So here I am in Cocoa Florida... and it's almost December and so much warmer than California.   The rest of my time in California was wonderful, I got to be there for the birth of my brother Del and sister in law Arielle's second baby Silas, which was was such a blessing and a wonderful experience!  I spent a few days with Barry, Helen, and Bella before flying home, which was really nice.
When I got home, TJ had cleaned the whole house, and applied beautiful flowers to many surfaces, he got me a newer more organized fridge, a bike that I can ride around with Ava, and he cleaned and reorganized my pantry... what a guy huh!?  He's so good to me.  :)
Thanksgiving was not too long after I got home, we spent it with TJ's family at THE Shropshire house, everyone brought something, and we all spent some good time together, how thankful for family I am!  It was a good day except for Ava pushing the bike over on the back porch and busting her lip open... :(
  This year I decided to do my own Turkey, because I missed having the leftovers in my own fridge to eat when I want (kind of selfish of me I know)  So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I ended up making a whole meal, a Turkey which turned out really good, my mom's stuffing, green bean casserole, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots that were roasted with the turkey, homemade crescent butter rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert.  We had the privilege of having Kyle, Cherie and Levi Shropshire over for the meal, and it just turned out wonderful, I couldn't have been more pleased.  I told TJ it was like a day at an amusement park for me, cooking is probably one of my favorite things to do, if not on the top of my list, so making a first time thanksgiving meal where everything turns out fantastic is so fun and rewarding!  Anyway, I just had to share that with you.


Ava has been changing so much, she has become so much more perceptive, and responsive.  She walks around like she owns the place, and has definitely been testing the boundaries we set for her, so that has been a little challenging.  We continue to seek God, and try to be as consistent with her as we can when it comes to discipline.  She has been growing more hair, which has in turn made it more curly.  She has learned a few signs in Sign language very well, things like, more, please, all done, and Thank you, these are just ones that she uses constantly on a regular basis.  Her vocabulary has grown, and she is not so afraid to test out new words, even if she is nowhere near pronouncing them correctly.
Things she has been saying:
Daddy, mommy, ball, cat, doggy, ducky, Nonnie, Papa, Mormor, Woof woof, baby, night night, bath, bite, milk, juice, shoes, book, socks, Hi, byebye, more, poopoo, belly, nose, eye, ear, no, outside.

She has been asking to go to bed every night, and at nap times by sucking on her blanket, saying "nigh-night"... TJ and I keep saying it's not supposed to be this easy to put your baby to bed.  Ava is a constant joy, it is so fun to watch her grow and learn.

I had an appointment with my midwife when I got back, and I am measuring about a week behind what I think I am, so I'm not sure what that means, but maybe I'll give birth closer to my due date this time.  We also had an ultra sound, it was SO fun to see our baby, it was moving all around, it even opened it's mouth, and stuck it's tongue out while on the ultra sound... funny kid.  The gender is still remaining a surprise, we are not finding out until it's born, which should be interesting, that was pretty much TJ's decision I would have gone with finding out, but I can't always have my way can I?!  March 1st is my due date, and I think it's going to come pretty quickly.

This weekend we are taking our youth group on a camping trip, so that should be fun and interesting... pregnant with a toddler  :)  I'll let you know how that goes.