Playdate!

Yesterday afternoon, Miss Caroline came over to play! Ava was SO excited when they got here. For a little while the girlies sat and stared at each and talked a little.

Isn't it cute the way their feet are touching in these pics??

One of the cool things about going to a friend's house is that your friend usually has toys that you don't!!! The girls were excited to play with something new to them!

Caroline had some toys from Ava's purse...

... and Ava played with some toys from Caroline's bag, including her hat!!

The girls seemed to enjoy themselves. We hope you'll come to play again, Caroline! And the other great thing about it - after it was over, Ava crashed for a two and a half hour nap! That is a rare thing in this house!!

Super Saturday

I have some cute pictures to share from today! The day was incredibly busy. I had somewhere to be at 7:30 this morning and didn't get home until 1:00. Then I got busy getting ready for company tonight. My dear sweet friend, Chenin, and her fiance, Chuck, were in town for their engagement photos with the Beatys. After they finished, they all came over for dinner. My brother Stephen came over too (he was friends with Chenin in college too).

Before the other group got here, Stephen spent some good time with Ava.

She doesn't appear to understand the phrase, "look at Momma!"

Stephen is a big time fishing guy and loves spending time on his boat. He sent me a text message earlier in the week telling me that he had gone to a trade show and had bought Ava a life jacket to wear on his boat. It's a little big, but she'll grow into it. We tried it on her tonight, and well... the pictures speak for themselves!

Not a happy camper!

Our other friends arrived for dinner and I have to say, it was one of the best nights we've had in a long time. We talked and hung out way longer than we expected - and had Chenin and Chuck not had a 2.5 hour drive home, I'm sure we would have kept the party going. We're so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

Staying busy!

Today was a fairly normal day for us. We got up, went to work and school, came home, met some friends for dinner and then came home to get Ava to bed. Ava is getting so close to crawling these days. She is VERY determined and can move but always seems to fall after she takes her first "step" (I don't know what you call it?). Her faces these days are cracking me up.

We had a wonderful time at dinner tonight at The Pink Flamingo catching up with friends who don't live close (and also those that do!). I only took one picture while there and it didn't turn out so well.

When Zach picked Ava up from my mom today, she reported that Ava had slept a total of 20 minutes today. 20 MINUTES!!!! Ugh.. she was fairly pleasant (until we got home) for being such a tired little girl. We got a bath and went to bed as soon as we got home!

Ava has recently figured out how to sit up from laying on her belly. She gets up on all fours and then can put her rear on the ground. She tried doing this in the bathtub tonight but didn't have any luck...

So she decided to bite her ducky instead...

After making her bottle, I found Ava like this - this was a new one. I've seen the binky in upside down, but never sideways! (Edited to add: look at how her nose is squished!) At the moment, we thankfully have a little girl snuggled in her bed and fast asleep. I can't wait to get up tomorrow and do it all over again (except for maybe the going to work part!!!)!!!

Beautiful day!

Today was a GORGEOUS day! I've been waiting for these days because I've been so anxious to put Ava in some of her little dresses!!! We went outside this evening after dinner and took a few pictures.

Examining the grass

Flying high!

I ♥ her face in this picture!

Such a sweetie!

100th Post!!!

Woo-hoo!! I finally made it to 100 posts! (It sure took long enough!) We had such a busy (but great) weekend! Friday night we had dinner with some friends from church. Ava and their twins enjoyed the time out and were good enough to give us a couple of hours to eat/visit. No pictures though!

Saturday was Zach's birthday!! I co-hosted a shower for my future SIL that afternoon, so Zach got to spend his birthday on the golf course, which I'm sure he didn't mind at all!!

I was getting ready for the shower on Saturday and came across the scene in this next picture. Remember this seat and how much I said I thought I would love it? Well, I do love it. But apparently Ava has found another use for it besides sitting in it to eat. It seems to make a great toy as well. She is obsessed with those straps! (Why do we bother buying her toys???)

(and check out those thighs!!!!)

The shower was great although I was busy playing hostess and didn't snap any pictures! After the shower, we headed to watch my cousin's baby get baptised. We then headed to a party at their house after that. It was an exhausting day!

Sunday we recouped and then celebrated Zach's birthday with dinner out. Also, yesterday our big girl turned 7 months old!! It is so hard to believe it is going this fast. She is so cute with the things she's doing right now, but I'll save those for another day. I'll end with this picture of our girl.

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday, Zach!!!! Ava and I love you so much and are so lucky to have you!! You are an amazing husband and such a wonderful father and we couldn't ask for anything better. You are the favorite guy in our life! We hope you have a wonderful birthday!!

Little Chatterbox

As evidenced by pictures, it's pretty clear Ava looks like her daddy (minus her eyes, which she got from me.) However, she has another characterstic from her mommy - she loves to talk (much to Daddy's chagrin)!!! He was hoping she'd be a quiet little girl!

K-Bug Designs and Jen Gets Fancy

I just wanted to share some great sites you should check out!

K-Bug Designs
http://kbugdesigns.blogspot.com/

I went to college with Amanda and her items are inspired by her little sweetheart, Kenley! I looked for this headband Ava is wearing at our specialty baby store and they didn't have any of the color I wanted. I checked back with them two weeks later and they still didn't have any! I wanted one for Easter and saw that Amanda had some in her store! I contacted her and had it two days later! Such quick service and cute items - go check her out!!

Jen Gets Fancy
Love my new blog look?? I do too! Seriously, go see Jen! Click on her button below and you can see some other samples of her work and the design kits she can use to liven up your blog! She is super fast and the results are amazing!! You will NOT be disappointed!!

Thanks to both of you!!!

Our Easter 2009

Easter weekend was jam packed and fun filled. Saturday we took Ava to see the Easter bunny. I haven't had a chance to get that picture on the computer yet. She didn't cry, but the picture wasn't all that great. It was also a special weekend for our family. Not only did we celebrate Christ's resurrection, but Saturday evening, Zach was confirmed and joined the Catholic church. Saturday Zach's parents and grandma came down to visit and spend some time with Ava before we headed to our church celebration.

Zach's mom, Zach, Ava, & Zach's grandma

Our family before church

Our family at church after Zach's confirmation

We had a late night on Saturday night. Church didn't start until 8:00 and Ava slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up. Needless to say, it was way past her bedtime when she finally went to sleep. She could have slept - she's just too dang nosey to do it!! She finally went to bed and when she woke up, she had a visit from the Easter bunny!

I love this look of pure glee!

Checking out her loot

I'm not sure about any other kids out there, but Ava loves the tv remote. When we saw this toy remote, there was no doubt it'd be a big hit. We just didn't know how much! The girl loves it! She'd always go for the real one no matter where it was laying, so we are just leaving this one laying around and she spots it and does her best to get to it! We then got ready to head to church in the pouring rain!

All dressed up (and yes, she did wear this on Saturday night too - gotta get the use out of it!)

Our family before church (she's already looking sleepy)

Ava and Caroline (and their mommies) after church

Those were two sleepy little girls - and apparently they were both looking off at the same thing. I wonder what was so interesting? After church we went to my parents' house for a big family Easter dinner. The rain prevented the big egg hunt from happening so we improvised and the kids just took turns picking eggs out of the basket. Ava was all about that - every time it was her turn to pick, she would put her hands on two eggs, not just one! Smart girl! What a fun (and exhausting) weekend!!

Fun day off of work and school!

First of all, I wanted to say thank you to all of those who offered car seat advice. I appreciate it and have more of an idea of what we're going to get. It wouldn't be so hard if I wasn't so indecisive!

Now, on to our great day! One of the things I'm very grateful for is that my office is closed on Good Friday! I have very much been looking forward to this day off. Unfortunately the day started WAY too early, when Miss Ava decided that she was done sleeping at 5:45! So, our day started then. I got a few things done around the house and at 8:00, this is where we were:

Two notes about this picture: 1) She's finally growing some hair!! 2) We had to lower her mattress this week as she decided it was time to pull up in the crib. And this is how she greeted me when she woke up:

After her nap, I had an appointment to get my hair cut, so I left Ava with my sister. When I got done, Ava had just gone to sleep, so I made our Wal-mart run baby free. I then went to go get her and we headed home to do some work and nap. I was putting laundry in the dryer when I heard Ava struggling and went back to find this:

(Look at that mischevious face)

After our Good Friday church service, we went to eat dinner. Ava passed out in her car seat and was then in a great mood when she got home and ready for her bath.

I love this picture - she looks like she's lounging in a raft and should be floating in the pool!!

I LOVED getting this day off with my baby! If only these days happened more often!!

Splish-splash and Easter dress

Ava really loves her bath time. Last night Zach taught her to splash, and she is enjoying it tremendously! I guess from now on he's going to be the one cleaning up!

And on another note, I'm also so excited about getting to dress Ava up for her first Easter this weekend! Here is her sweet little dress:

One of my aunts gave me this at one of my baby showers last summer and I'm thrilled it actually fits Ava for this occasion! It's perfect! I can't wait to have her in it with her little sweater and bow! Too bad it is supposed to rain on Sunday!!

Your Advice, Please!

Ok, moms, I need some help. We are currently in the market for a new big girl car seat for Ava. I'm having a really hard time figuring out which one to buy, so I wanted to ask what kind you have for your children? I'd really like a convertible one so that we don't have to buy another one, but I want one that can be rear facing for now, and then can be turned around. I also want one where the harness fits the child for a bigger weight. In some reviews I've read, some car seat harnesses don't fit a child past 40lbs, but they aren't ready for a booster at this size. I might not be able to get all these things, so please share why you like yours. Also, did you buy one for each parent's car? Zach and I both drive Ava so it really makes sense for us to have one in each car. Any advice you have is greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance!!!

Sweetness

Below are my favorite pictures from our recent session with Jon and Emily. They got some amazing shots of Ava and we were thrilled.

And last, my absolute favorite!!

My heart seriously melts whenever I see this picture!!

And for some Thursday randomness: my morning was a little interesting. About 8:30, we heard a pop and then all of a sudden the office went dark. Our computers stayed on because they are on a power supply for reasons just like this. Out in the main area, a few lights that were on this same supply were on, but the rest of the place was in the dark! My office area is in a back corner, and we only have a few windows in here, so it was hard to see. Apparently a car hit a power pole close to us and knocked out the power. After about 30 minutes, they got our lights hooked up to a generator and by mid-morning, the power was completely back on. Gotta love the fun times at work!

Oh, and in other exciting news - our state finally got with the game and passed a tax-free shopping day for back to school clothes shopping! I'm not sure of all the items that will be covered, but I know last year when we went to Tulsa to shop during their tax-free weekend, it included diapers!!!! Gotta love that, Moms, especially if you buy the big boxes!!!

What we're learning now

Ava is changing so much these days. She is at such a fun age right now - she babbles, she giggles, and she is pretty cheerful (most of the time). She's mastered her sitting up and is now working on her crawling. She spends lots of time on the floor, either on blankets or just on the floor, like when we are in her room. Spending all that time on the floor, she has become fascinated with the carpet. She touches it and grabs it and continously feels it. Sometimes she just sits and touches it over and over, almost like she is petting an animal!

Spending time on the floor is also helping to prepare her for crawling. And I can wish with all my might that it wouldn't happen any time soon, but I know it's going to. Here she is tonight, trying to get herself up:

If you could see her face, you would see how hard she is concentrating. She gets very mad when she can't do something she wants to do. She can push up on her arms really well but hasn't figured out how to get both of her legs under her. She also scoots herself backwards and in circles. Just for fun tonight, we put her up on all fours, to see what she would do:

She stayed like this for a little while and rocked back and forth a few times before she finally fell. We decided we won't be doing this anymore as we want her to stay immobile for a little longer. I have a feeling she'll figure it out on her own before long anyway. We just wanted to see if she had the strength to hold herself up. She does!