Fatal attraction?

Ava's first outing to a birthday celebration and she attacks the birthday boy. Maybe we need to discuss better methods to make new friends...

Leyton is finally here!

Born on his due date, June 14th, Leyton Lassiter weighed 7 pounds 12 ounces and was 20 inches in length. Both Momma Rachel and Daddy Lawren are so proud of him. Ava is thrilled to finally get to meet her youngest best friend! 

Walking soon?

Yep, that's our girl! Already tired of crawling, she is now cruising along anything she can pull herself up to. Here she is at her friend Jordan's house - very curious about the big pup.

Isaac, Jack, Ava, Cammy, and Chaney

As Isaac attempts to bring the meeting to order, he and his faithful followers pause briefly to pose for an impromptu photo. 

Crazy Cousin Cruisers Club

Yes, we belong to the 4C Club. Membership is extremely elite. To qualify, you must be at least 6 months old, capable of crawling, and related to the Ragsdale clan - oh, and crazy too. 

Weekend with family

Mawmaw, Pawpaw, Uncle Patrick, Aunt Lorraine, and cousin Isaac all came to see me this weekend!!! Isaac and I impressed everyone with our crawling races. Ok, so Isaac beat me everytime. He is two months older than me - give me a little more time to practice and I'll catch up!

Showing off her stuff

Ava is becoming extremely adept at entertaining her parents; everyday she enjoys strutting her newest trick. Here she illustrates how one can look absolutely adorable wearing only a diaper and a grin. Clearly, an age requirement necessitates this type of pageantry.

Bathing Beauties

" Alright, alright, we will pose for a photo; but no autographs please".

Ava and her new friends, Elizabeth (9 months) and Tatum (13 months) take a much needed break from lounging in the pool - and get suckered into posing for a photo.

Ready for the pool!

Slather on the sunscreen, mom's taking me to the pool. She says I've gotta get used to the sun and the water so I can have lots of fun when we vacation in Aruba this fall with Mawmaw and Pawpaw.

Her charm keeps melting us...

Ava's getting increasingly mischievious with her ever expanding mobility. Yesterday when I went to get her out of her car seat, I found her impishly grinning at her new found skill of pulling her sunvisor to the front of her.

This is how Dustin and I found her this morning; pulled up by her tiny hands, proudly gripping her crib rails. Guess its time to lower the mattress.

Jordan, Ava, and Hannah

"Psst - Hannah's mom says she's The Most Beautiful Baby in the World?"












"Mom says I am The Most Beautiful Baby in the World. Your mom says the same thing about you!?"












"You lied to me Mother!"

The Joys of Toys

Just give me a walker and some toys and I'm set for at least 15 minutes of shear merriment.

Rizal's Mommy and Daddy

Glyn - you may make a great father-in-law one day considering how goofy you are... But please give some personal space to The Cheeks.



Kate - we are exceptionally photogenic, aren't we? People must hate us.

Ava and Rizal

Ava is weighing her options for future husbands. Rizal (due in just 6 short weeks) should be a fine catch considering his mixed heritage; Mom is a blue eyed Norwegian beauty, Dad is a tall dark handsome Philipino.

"Hmmmmm... let me rub your belly and see if I feel any amorous vibes".

Playdate Mania

Ava is turning into quite the social butterfly. She was a little bored and sleepy until Kaylee (8.5 months) and her big brother Jayden (2 years) arrived one afternoon. Her face just lit up as she watched in fascination at her new friends - the nap could wait. She really does seem to grin and wiggle more energetically when other kids are around.

Oh, and I must add a little on her development - she's beginning to crawl and she just learned to sit up independently. She's a genious, I tell ya, at a mere 6 months old :)

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend was spent at Mawmaw's and Pawpaws in Nashville. I got to celebrate Mawmaw's birthday with her, hang out in the sun with cousin Isaac, and blow raspberries with Pawpaw. I also got to go to my "Aunt" Rachel's baby shower. Then Mommy and Mawmaw insisted on spending a day shopping - so they wore me out as usual. Napping in my car seat ain't what it used to be...












Isaac and me in matching outfits - made especially by Mawmaw!
















I discovered my tongue Pawpaw!

Reunited with my gal pals

This past weekend I got to spend some much needed quality time with my girlfriends - Kaylee, Scarlett (Harper was napping), and Jordan. But I got a little irritated by our snap-happy parents. All they wanted to do was take photos of us. Let us play, please!

Got Rice?

Is it just me - or does this kid get cuter every day?

Here she is thoroughly enjoying the attention she is getting in one of her hippest outfits. Thanks Uncle Glyn and Aunt Kate!

My name is what?

Ok, so Dustin and I chose to name our daugther Ava Leigh ostensibly because we loved that name. But I rarely ever call her Ava. These crazy nicknames always spill from my mouth whenever we play. She entered the world with not such pleasant names, I admit. Bucket was one of her first nicknames. Short for Fuss-Bucket because she cried so much at first. Then Bucket turned into Button, short for Button-Head because she has such a tiny little head. Every week or so a new nickname emerged: Cheeky, Avers (I got close once), Buttercup, Suger-Girl, Shoogy-Girl, Shoogy-Woogy-Boogy-Girl, Shoogy-Woogy-Shoo-Shoo-Girl, Shoogy-Bear; to name a few. Every nickname eventually gets shortened. She's often just Shoogy (apparently Shoogy and any variation of that name hits the spot for me). But the latest has been Sugar Pops. I guess I kinda like that one because she's had it for a while. Maybe its because she's just so adorable - she inspires lots of cute nicknames. She's my Sugar-Pops-Girl!