Nursery Update: Gallery Wall

When I shared Ava's nursery with you before she was born (over TWO years ago now!) I had a list of things I still wanted to do to finish the room. Most of them never happened (although I did get a small table lamp to go on the bookcase, which we use every night), but I did eventually get around to creating a gallery wall in the blank space above the dresser.

I framed Ava's birth announcement, a silhouette we had hand-cut of her at the state fair last year, and a picture from her one year photoshoot. The pink Ava print in the middle is a custom personalized print that Etsy seller RawArtLetterpress sent me as a thank you for sending so much business her way via the Don't Worry print I used in the nursery over the crib. She even researched that the name Ava means "little bird" and used those in the design. So sweet and thoughtful!

The second half of the gallery contains decorations and the invitation from Ava's first birthday party, which just happened to use the same pink as her room, as well as the shirt she wore that day.

I used white frames from Target in a variety of sizes, as well as one silver frame from the dollar store. 

This was a pretty easy project and I love the way it turned out. And Ava likes it too -- she likes to stand on her changing table and look at the pictures of herself. It's hard to believe that pretty soon I'll be turning this room into a big girl room! (I'm in denial about this fact and putting it off as long as possible.)

Summer rut

When you're stuck in a rut, sometimes taking the first step to get out of the rut is the hardest part. So instead of breaking out of my no-blogging rut with a long, picture-laden post, I'm going to jump in with something simple. I don't know what it's officially called, but I call it the -ing post where you talk about the things you're up to recently. So here goes.

Watching: Orange is the New Black and my summer staple Big Brother. I broke down and got Netflix just so I could see what all the fuss was about over OITNB and now I totally get it. I'm halfway into Season 2 and totally hooked.

Reading: Chelsea Handler's Uganda Be Kidding Me. If you're a Chelsea fan, you'll enjoy it. Somewhat disjointed at times, but had me laughing out loud nonetheless.

Traveling: to the beach and river all summer. We've gotten lots of trips in this year and it's been awesome.

Planning: Ava's 2nd birthday party! How did that happen? I know that most people don't go all out for year 2 like year 1, but I just can't help myself. You know I love a party.

Loving: the following words that Ava says: simming (swimming), tumunger (cucumber), baby soup (bathing suit), jommies (pajamas), and "oh goodness!"

Listening: to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" on repeat. This could also be under the Dancing category.

Writing: a ton of blog posts in my head. But I can't ever seem to sit down and get them posted. So to help me break out of my rut, tell me which post you'd most like to see live and in the flesh (well, on the Internet), and I promise I'll write about whichever one wins.

What blog post would you most like to see?

July 4th in Pictures

Picnic lunch on the boat:



This girl slept GOOD:



And so did this one:



Patriotic sangria:



Cousins:



Multiple July 4th wardrobe changes:



Both sets of grandparents!













Watching fireworks from the pier:

Visit to the NC Zoo

This weekend we went to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro with our friends Brandon and Caitie and their toddler Allyn. Even though it was hot, we had a great day and the girls were troopers.

I highly recommend the suggested route on the zoo's website as to the best way to tackle the day. Arrive as soon as they open, park in North America, go inside and immediately take the tram to Africa, do the Africa loop and eat lunch in the middle of the park, then walk through North America and end up at the North America parking lot. No backtracking, and you're in Africa first thing in the morning to see all of the best animals before it gets too hot and they get lazy!

For us, Africa was definitely the better of the two continents. All of the animals were on full display, except for the lions who were sleeping.

Mama and baby gorilla:



Ostriches (these things were HUGE!):





Flamingoes:



Giraffes from afar:







And up CLOSE!





Family photo with the elephants:





This is Ava doing "what does an elephant say?" where she makes a blowing noise and raises her trunk in the air :)







Carousel ride after lunch:





We didn't have as much luck in North America as the grizzly bears, black bears and wolves were hiding out (it was hot by this point) and the polar bear(s) weren't on display.

We did have fun with the seals though:





And Ava made a friend:







These girls had a blast at the zoo and we ALL (well, except the driver) had a nice nap on the way home!

Playhouse Paradise

Ava is a proud new homeowner. That is, homeowner of the cutest little playhouse you ever did see.



The playhouse is at my sister's back home in eastern NC (we stay with her a LOT on weekends and holidays). It came from Sam's Club (thanks mom and dad!) but I did assemble it myself from 40,000 parts and pieces of hardware, and of course added a few extra touches, like curtains, flowers and a flag.























The curtains were made from a vinyl table cloth bought at the Family Dollar for $3.50, with curtain rods from Walmart.

She loves her little "haus!" and enjoys pretend cooking, opening and closing the door and checking the mailbox. And she's already had her BFF over for a chat on the porch!