The Hill Family

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Ava, my sweet girl

This girl is just the cutest thing I have ever seen. I love having a little girl! She is still so sweet but her fiesty personality is starting to come out more, which I love. She is moving a lot and starting to get into everything. She's not crawling yet but she is a scooting pro.

say what?

She has two teeth on the bottom.

Just look at that arm fat! Oh she is so chunky I could eat her up!

Those baby blues melt my heart. When I married Darren I wanted with all my heart for just one of my children to get his blue eyes. Hers are so beautiful! She is my sweet girl and I'm so lucky she's mine. She's 10 months old tomorrow. Time slow down!

Easter Morning

Grayson wasn't too interested in his basket full of enriching activities. He had approximately 10 Starbursts in his basket total and that was all he wanted. I couldn't even get him to look at his new crayon box or coloring book.

Poor baby girl. Those scratches are evidence of older brother's love/irritation. (I can't ever tell) We're still learning to be soft with little sister and I'm still learning not to have a heart-attack every time this happens. Also, any advice on how to get this to stop would be very welcome!

"Mom, it's just too early for pictures."

Oops, I think I see one more starburst....

Ava, with the one egg Grayson would let her have. Poor second baby.

This is Ava's Easter dress (you can't see it very well) that I stayed up until 2am to finish. My heavens, who would have thought a zipper would be that hard to sew! I'm not kidding... the dress was done around 11 and that stinking zipper took 3 hours! But it ended up being pretty cute. I just thank my lucky stars that Easter dress making is only once a year and that my sweet husband stayed up with me while I cried. He must think I am crazy!

See Grayson, there is more in here!

Nope, just the candy

This little darling has her daddy's hair. Not the color or even the texture (her's is a little curly) But it grows straight forward! Right into her eyes.

Showing off the matching Easter tie. I wish we could have gotten a family picture but nap time was calling our name loudly when we got home from church. Maybe we'll get all dolled up again next week.

Birthdays, train cake, and Grandma!

In February our Tracy cousins came. And they brought Grandma with them! It was cousin Ryan's birthday and we celebrated with the cutest train cake that Karen and Mom made. Oh and Karen had just had little Benjamin two weeks before... she is amazing for even thinking of making this trip! (And check out that chunky girl up there!)

Grayson loves his cousins so much! Every night he prays for "cousin Ryan" and "cousin Sarah". Every time I mention seeing Grandma he perks up and asks if his cousins are coming too.

Rosy cheek girl

This little boy has the most sparkly eyes. They just twinkle!

Grandma is the best storyteller!

Update...

Waiting outside the DC temple for Daddy

Cute boy!

This man looks good in an apron! This was our Martin Luther King Jr. celebration.

Mommy and Ava

Our best attempts at family photos

Not much to show but it works!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Country Benefits

As part of our New Year's resolutions we are trying to stay more up to date, so here we are. The pictures are from our visit to the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, which is a big deal in this area of rich and expansive farmland. Between seeing prize-winning cows, live pig auctions, and the most massive geese we had ever encountered, we also experienced fresh-from-the-cow-to-die-for-chocolate-milkshakes. Grayson loved the large farm equipment on account of the gargantuan wheels on the tractors. Other pictures are from our visit to the DC temple. Medical school presses on, and I'm currently in the midst of the neurological and behavioral sciences block - maybe I'll learn what disorder leads people to choose a medical career. I actually have enjoyed the block so far.

This goose may not seem too impressive from afar, but it was truly a sight to behold.

You can't really see the impressive detail here, but this is made completely of Land-O-Lakes butter.

Two from DC

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Catching Up

We are alive and well, although you may have doubted. Yes, it is true that our last post was nearly six months ago, and much has happened. Let me explain- no, let me sum up: our beloved Hyundai Elantra (in which Tia and I first met) died in May, we bought a minivan, became minivan lovers, Tia's father came out for military training and just barely missed Ava Lynne Hill's birth on June 7 at nine pounds even, Tia's mother came and went as well (although all but 2 days of her three-week stay was pre-Ava's birth - we wrongfully expected Ava to come early), I spent the summer "working" doing about 10 hours of research per week and playing with Grayson on the playground while the two girls cooled off inside, we attended an awesome Hill family reunion in Mendocino, California and stopped in on Tia's family in Colorado on the way home, Tia stayed in Colorado for a couple weeks while I started year two of medical school and helped lead our ward's young men on a two-day 30-miler on the Loyalsock Trail, then we endured together through hematology, cardiology, nephrology, pulmonology, and gastroenterology, interrupted by a nice Thanksgiving break down to Virginia to visit Adam and Karen where Grayson was in heaven playing with his cousins, and then Christmas break came, providing us with a wonderful escape to Colorado to stay with Tia's family, a drive to Utah to spend a belated third anniversary and see our friends Jeffrey and Kara get sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, and then a week down in southern Colorado at Tia's extended family's cabins for Christmas and snowmobiling.

Pre-Ava