Meet Makenzie (and Heather too)

My good friend Heather and her daughter Makenzie came to visit us yesterday. Lisa, Heather's friend from Florida, was in Charlotte, so they came to check out the beauty of fall in the mountains. We had a great visit and lunch before they headed off to the apple orchards. I'm sure Makenzie had a good time with all of those apples!! We are looking forward to seeing them again soon and Ava Grace is looking forward to many more play dates with Makenzie!!

Honoring Grandaddy Shaw

On Friday night, Ava Grace, Cece, and I attended a re-dedication of the football stadium in Myrtle Beach. For those of you who don't know, my dad was the head football coach and athletics director at MBHS for 25 years until he suddenly passed away in the fall of 1994. After his passing, the city decided to name the football stadium after him for all of his accomplishments/dedication to MBHS as well as to the city. The county school board and the city worked together in renovating the stadium, which turned out to be a $3 million project!! We were there on Friday night for the re-dedication ceremony. The stadium is gorgeous and I know Dad would be so proud of it not only for the students, staff, and fans associated with MBHS, but also for the city of Myrtle Beach. It is a most deserving renovation and of course I am beyond proud that my Dad's name is associated with it.

Three of my Dad's sisters and one brother-in-law along with 3 cousins attended the ceremony on Friday night. They made the 3 hour trip just to attend the football game and be there for us. It was so great to see them and Ava Grace has now met all of her Shaw great-aunts and two of her great-uncles (we'll see you son Uncle Paul). Thank you Aunt Doris, Aunt Natalie, Aunt Sara, Uncle Jack, Pam, Teresa, and Jimmy for taking the time to celebrate Dad and all of his accomplishments!!

Uncle Doug, Aunt Stacey, and Luke could not attend the ceremony as Uncle Doug had to coach his own football game on Friday night. It was obviously a good game based on the score (34-33), but the Laurens Raiders ended up victorious that night. Uncle Doug's team played well, but just couldn't pull it out.

Playdate with Ellis

Ava Grace, Cece, and I went to see Miss Dawn (Mimi), Aunt Natalie, and Ellis on Wed. for a play date. Ellis is almost 17 months old now, so she is a busy little girl. She enjoyed looking at Ava Grace and touching her feet. Ellis talked to all of us constantly and watched Elmo as we ate lunch together. I think Aunt Natalie was excited to see Ava Grace too!! Ava Grace enjoyed smiling at Miss Dawn and Aunt Natalie. Uncle Wells even made a surprise visit (Ellis was thrilled to see him). We had a ball and are hoping to make a road trip to Atlanta to visit Aunt Natalie and Ellis (Brett too) very soon.

**Please excuse my lovely face in the picture. I didn't know Cece was taking the picture then.

Happy Birthday Uncle Doug!!

We wanted to send Happy Birthday wishes to Uncle Doug today!! We are so sorry that we won't be able to celebrate with you this weekend, but we will plan for a get together soon. Go get those Mauldin Mavericks ready for Friday night!! Good luck and we love you!!

Itty Bitty Jeans on a Friday night

Do you remember your 1st pair of jeans? Of course you don't, but I'm sure y'all looked cute in them. Ava Grace wore her first pair of jeans to Uncle Doug's game on Friday night. Luke couldn't believe how little they were! I know I am biased, but look how cute our little girl is in those itty-bitty jeans!!

Speaking of Uncle Doug, the Mauldin Mavericks won again!! They beat Westside 25-24 in OT. It was so exciting as the Mavs had to win 10 points in the last 2 minutes of regulation to send the game to OT. Westside won the toss and elected to have the ball first. They scored a touchdown and got the extra point (so 7 point total for all of you non-football fans). The Mavs got their turn to move the ball towards the end zone and they did just that. After Westside received a penalty, Uncle Doug decided to go for all the marbles. He went for the 2-point conversion and IT WORKED!! The players, coaches, parents, and fans went nuts!! It truly was a thrilling Friday night! So, congrats again to the Mauldin Mavericks!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Steve!

We wanted to send birthday wishes to Uncle Steve today!! We hope you have a great day and we hope to see you soon!! We love you! :)

Meeting the newest Shaw's

Ava Grace, Cece, and I went to Greenville yesterday to meet our newest cousins. The Shaw family is HUGE and we are continually growing. We will have 6 new babies within a year!! WOW, huh? Our first visit was with Callie, who is the new daughter of Michael and Amy (my cousins). Callie is 1 month old! Don't they look a little alike? The Shaw genes are strong for sure!! Our next visit was with Fisher and Davis, twin boys of Natalie and Evan (also my cousins). They are almost 5 months old now and soooo dang cute!! Ava Grace also met Aunt Mickey and Uncle Revonne! Although she was a little fussy because she was sleepy, they still got to love on her!!

Ava Grace had a BIG day and it was so good to see everyone. We hope to see y'all again soon. I think there will be many play dates in our future!!

Happy Birthday Uncle Evan!

We wanted to send happy birthday wishes to Uncle Evan!! Ava Grace was so excited to see him yesterday (minus a few tears that were shed). Uncle Evan, We hope you had a great day and we can't wait to visit with you again soon. We love you!!

2 months old

Ava Grace turned 2 months old yesterday! It is hard to believe that she is already that old (even though that probably doesn't seem old to some of you). She has learned to roll onto her side, has discovered her hands (and it is really neat to watch her explore them and what they do), smiles spontaneously and often, and even lets out a little laugh every now and then. She really is growing up and changing everyday!

We went to church for the first time today since she was born. It was great to see people and they oohed and aahed over her. Our preacher even made an announcement that she was sitting in the pews with everyone. My friend Lisa and I had to teach Children's Church today, so Ava Grace had a busy morning She did great and seemed to enjoy the music as she smiled at times when the organ would play. She wore one of my dresses to church this morning. It was a dress that Cece has saved all these years just in case I would have a little girl one day. I must say she looked pretty darn cute in it too!!

Congrats Uncle Doug!

YEAH!! The Mauldin Mavericks won their game tonight against TL Hanna High School!! The score was 14-13. The Mavs played well and hung in there when bad calls were made and things just weren't going their way. The Mavs scored a touchdown with 4 minutes remaining in the game and were able to hold off the Yellow Jackets during their final possession. The Mavericks football team donned brand new uniforms tonight and they looked great!! The boys were so proud of them too (so was Uncle Doug)! What a great victory, especially after losing a heart breaker last week.
So, Congratulations to Uncle Doug, Cousin Lee, and the rest of the Mauldin Mavericks football team!!

Tummy Time

Ava Grace got this cool surfboard tummy time mat as a gift from Coach and Mrs. Lynch. Coach Lynch was my high school tennis coach and Mrs. Lynch was one of our school counselors. They are the proud grandparents of 8 grandchildren with 1 more on the way!! So, they definitely know what types of gifts to give a brand new baby. Ava Grace is doing really well with holding her head up. She gets frustrated with the tummy mat sometimes because she can't pull herself up as easily as when she is sitting on our laps and looking around (there isn't much work there other than using her neck muscles). The mat requires the use of her shoulder muscles which makes it a little harder. She is getting it though and definitely enjoys the toys attached to the mat. Ava Grace smiles and laughs when we encourage her to lift her head (which distracts her somewhat from being frustrated). Here is a picture I took this week of her trying her best to lift her pretty little head!

2 month check-up

Ava Grace went to the doctor yesterday for her 2 month check-up. She had a great visit!! Our little girl now weighs 10 pounds, 6 ounces (which is a lot considering how far she had to come when she lost sooo much weight after she was born). We learned yesterday that we don't have to double diaper her anymore!! YEAH!! Yes, Ava Grace's little hips are developing just right and they have gotten a lot stronger. Tim and I will probably continue to double diaper out of habit, but it is GREAT news to know that she doesn't have to look like she has a big hiney anymore! :) Ava Grace did have to get 5 shots, but did exceptionally well. Of course her face got red and she cried loudly for a minute, but she quickly got over it. Thank goodness the nurse was able to stick her twice very quickly in each leg, so we are definitely singing her praises for how fast she worked and how gentle she was!! We are not scheduled to go see the doctor again until she is 4 months old. I can't wait to see how big she is by then!!

First Clemson Game

Ava Grace attended her first Clemson game this past Saturday. We all had lots of fun even though it was about 100 degrees!! Tim introduced Ava Grace to the game of Cornhole and I sang Tiger Rag to her...do you think she will be able to recite it at the game this Saturday? :) Cece, Uncle Doug, Aunt Stacey, Luke, Tim, Ava Grace, and I (along with other cousins and friends) were all there to cheer on the Tigers. Well, at least some of us had on orange and were pulling for the tigers! Tim, being a Carolina fan, wanted to wear a USC shirt - thank goodness he didn't (I probably wouldn't have talked to him). No matter what team you pull for, it was a great day and a lot of fun for all of us!! Clemson beat the Citadel (one of my my alma maters) 45-17. GO TIGERS!!

So unfortunate...

Ava Grace attended her first Mauldin Mavericks football game last night. She did great with all of the noise and really enjoyed herself. She was actually awake most of the game and didn't want anything to eat until the very end. I was surprised! Unfortunately, Uncle Doug's team couldn't pull out a victory. They lost to JL Mann in the last minute of the game 10-7. Our cousin Mickey coaches for JL Mann, so it was good to see him and his family, but we were surely hoping for a win on our side. I decided that part of the problem was that Ava Grace was not wearing any orange, but we will fix that! With pulling for Clemson, Auburn, and Mauldin, our little girl will definitely have some orange and white attire soon!! :)

Sip 'n See

Ava Grace had her first tea party on Tuesday! While at Cece's house, Ava Grace was visited by many friends and two of her Shaw cousins. Cece thought it would be a good idea to have a tea party so that all of our Myrtle Beach friends could get a glimpse at our little girl. Paige fixed some wonderful treats (as always) and we served them to the guest as they oohed and aahed. Ava Grace wore a white dress with blue trim. The dress was one of mine when I was a little girl and I must say she looked so cute in it! :)

One of the honored guests at the party was Mrs. Geri Snyder (Mammy). Mammy is Natalie's (my best friend from home) grandmother and she and Ava Grace share the same birthday. The day that Ava Grace was born, Mammy turned 83!! Mammy would babysit for Natalie and me and boy did she put up with a lot!! I was so excited to see her and she in turn was so excited to hold Ava Grace (and see me too).

It was a really great day and we all had a fun time!! I am excited for these special friends of ours to watch Ava Grace grow up just like they watched me grow up.

GO MAVS!!

Congratulations to Uncle Doug and the Mauldin Maverick football team!! They won their first game of the season on Friday night beating Hillcrest (across town rival) 28-7. They take on JL Mann High School this Friday night. Our cousin Mickey is the head coach at that high school, but this week (as always) we remain loyal to the orange team!

GO MAVS!!