Ava Grace is 18 months old -it's her half birthday!! The reason I make a big deal about that is because we celebrated yesterday. I always remember my college roommate Becca talking about her half birthday (which was this past Monday might I add) and eating a cupcake or something to celebrate. So, in honor of Ava Grace's half birthday, we enjoyed a big M & M cookie!! They don't sell single cupcakes at our stores, so a cookie had to do. It was a better option as she probably wouldn't have eaten the cupcake anyway. She ate maybe a fourth of it and then she was over it. It was good though (since I ate some too)!! So, in honor or our little girl and her half birthday, I wanted to share 18 things about her:
1. She loves being outside - any type of weather and any temperature
2. Her favorite food is EVERYTHING. She loves chicken, fruit, fish, veggies, peanut butter....
3. She loves to read and work puzzles
4. She does not like getting her hair washed and cries through the whole process.
5. She runs to greet her Daddy when he walks in the door from work.
6. She goes to Nanny's everyday while we are working and LOVES every minute of it.
7. She says "I nu new" when you tell her that you love her...melts my heart.
8. She loves wearing toboggans which is a good thing since we have had sub zero temps!! For
you northerners, toboggans are winter hats in the South.
9. She says "Go Gamecocks" (for her Daddy) and "Go Tigers" (for her Mommy) but she definitely wears more orange (especially since I dress her everyday).
10. She is a great sleeper!
11. She enjoys visiting her Meme and Pop Pop and Cece along with playing with all of her cousins and Aunts and Uncles.
12. She loves to color or write/draw on paper. She also loves to finger paint.
13. She says 2- and 3-word phrases and talks all the time (not sure where she gets that from).
14. She dances to any music that comes on the TV or when she turns the radio on.
15. She currently sings "Alright" by Darius Rucker....saying "Alright" after he does each time in the song.
16. She has learned the color pink, so everything is pink if you ask her what color something is.
17. She tells me that she wants "chicken supper" every day when I pick her up from Nanny's.
18. She says "Amen" at the end of the blessing....actually she says it before we're even finished.
I could come up with more things about her, but that is enough for now. Happy Half-Birthday, Ava Grace!! We love you!!
Once the snow stopped, we went to Johnson Farm (Historic Farm that our school district owns) for their annual Christmas. Ava Grace and I rode on a horse drawn buggy (hay ride really). So, she got to see some horses and got to pet a donkey. She didn't mind petting the donkey, but as "Chelsea" (the donkey's name) would turn her head and nose, Ava Grace wasn't too sure about the animal being that close. She never cried or anything, but held on tightly to me. So, as you can imagine, there was no way she was going to sit on Chelsea for a picture or anything. We watched other kiddos make crafts, but she was too young for that just yet. There was a Christmas tree representing every school in our county, so we looked at all of them. They were all very creative and made me proud to know that I worked with some of those children. We went on a tour of the old house on the land, but that didn't last very long as Ava Grace doesn't quite get the concept of "Do Not Touch". Ava Grace also got to sit in Santa's sleigh although Santa was missing and a teddy bear took his place. She liked it nonetheless. After our fun, we ventured into the main building where she enjoyed a big cookie and I enjoyed some hot apple cider. We have the best apple cider that is made at our numerous apple farms. YUMMY!!! 
