Trip to the golf course

One of Zach's favorite hobbies is playing golf. He loves to play during the spring and summer (and I guess fall and winter too) all year. One night last week he was headed out to the course to meet up with my dad and I decided Ava and I were going to go along to walk the course with them. It was a beautiful evening and we had a great time. We didn't really expect Ava to make it through the whole round, but she did great and seemed to really enjoy herself.

Just getting started - she looks thrilled to be there, huh?

Walking along with Momma

Watching the golf action

Little girls need water breaks too!

While we were walking along, if Ava heard her Daddy or Grandpa talking, she had to hurry up and find them. It was so cute!

We had a good time and hopefully we will have some more nice, not too hot evenings so we can walk along again!

Mickey Mouse!

Ok, so in the mornings when we are getting ready for work, Ava typically wakes up around the time I am getting out of the shower. She usually doesn't want to wait to eat, so we put her in her bouncy seat with a bottle and let her watch a little tv. Since she's at school most of the day, she doesn't really watch tv and doesn't show a whole lot of interest in it. However, this morning, I went back to check on her and I couldn't even get her to look at me! She was totally enthralled with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Every time a new character (Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald) would come on, she would get all excited and "talk" to them!! I'm going to start recording episodes for her to watch when we're at home. I love how sweet she is just staring at the screen! Seriously, is this not adorable???

Cute pictures from the past week

I have definitely enjoyed having an extra day off this weekend!! Yesterday we went to visit Zach's side of the family for the day. We were lucky to not travel in any rain until about the last 40 minutes. We worked around the house some today and got the garage cleaned out and our cars washed! We're going to go have dinner at my parents' house shortly. I haven't had a whole lot of free time lately so I have some pictures from the week to catch up on posting. So here goes..

We sat outside a couple of evenings this week because the weather has been beautiful! We got some sweet pictures of Ava one of the nights:

When Ava was on this blanket, she was concerned with the grass. She was scared of it. She would put her hand on it and pull it back really quickly. At one point she crawled off of it and would get her booty up in the air because she didn't want her knees to touch it. Funny stuff!

We like to read books at night (well mostly Ava likes to open and close them but we do get some reading in). She decided she wanted to pick the story for one night.

Her newest talent, standing up, seems to be even more exciting to do while in the bath tub. She is sooo excited when she does this. Unfortunately for her, mommy doesn't share the same enthusiasm!

Isn't that grin sweet? Now that she can move, she loves to crawl into our bathroom and sit outside the shower while someone is in it. Usually if she can't see one of us, she'll go back to where the other one is. Yesterday morning while Zach was showering, she sat there the entire time and when he would open the door to peek-a-boo with her her, she'd laugh so hard. I think the little quirks little kids have are so precious!

Another work week starts tomorrow. Ava doesn't have daycare though because they have an odd schedule. They basically are open only during the school year and then have Mother's Day Out two days a week during the summer. This works for us since Zach teaches, but Ava's last regular day was Friday and Zach isn't out until next week. My sister will watch her this week because thankfully she doesn't have to take her finals so she doesn't have to go to school. I'm sure Ava will be very excited to go to MDO (or actually Daddy's Day Out in our case) and see her friends in two weeks. While I know the two of them will have fun this summer, it's a hard time for me. I wish more than anything I got to be out and stay home with them. However, I did laugh today and told Zach he'd be working just as hard because this girl is a handful these days! :)

Eight months old!

My baby is eight months old today. She's slowly turning into more toddler and less baby. We are having SO much fun right now but sometimes I get sad at how fast she is growing up! Where has the time gone? She is amazing us at how fast she is learning new things. Some days I wish she would slow down and just be a baby for a little longer.

At eight months old, here is what Little Miss is up to:

• She is crawling
• She is pulling up and taking steps while holding onto things
• She eats 3 meals of baby food each day along with her bottles
• She also has "snacks" like Ritz crackers, 'Nilla wafers, Gerber puffs and we occasionally give her bits of our food
• She is still incredibly fiesty
• One of her top teeth broke through today!!!!
  

It amazes me that in just a few short months we will be celebrating her 1st birthday!!

Pretty girl all dressed up

Waking up from her nap after church on Sunday - isn't that face adorable?

First of many times to dig in Mommy's purse, I'm sure

She decided to crawl into the entry way last night - she looks so small here!

Ava and Mommy

Daddy was making Ava laugh

**Side note - I have noticed that since Ava has become mobile, it is becoming more difficult to get good pictures of her because she just crawls off!!

And on a different topic, we got some very good news yesterday!!! I'm not able to say much about it right now but it is definitely an answered prayer and we are SO thankful! I'll be able to share more soon!

So glad it's Friday!

Ahhhhhhh... I'm SO glad it's the weekend. I love Fridays when I have the whole weekend ahead of me! We have a busy day tomorrow. My future SIL is graduating from med school so we are going to her graduation. And after that one of my best friends is getting married!!! I'm so excited for her and can't wait to watch her get married! It will be a LONG day and I hope Ava handles it ok. We have to travel about 2 and a half hours each way and there will be lots of time sitting. I'm sure she'll be a trooper though!

Today was the first really pretty day in a while, so Zach headed out to the golf course tonight. Ava and I headed to the grocery store and got groceries. She was so well behaved and just spent the time looking around. She loves taking in new things. We picked up some 'Nilla Wafers for her to try and she got one when we got home. I think it was a success!

I finished the Grey's Anatomy finale tonight and I must say I was shocked!!! My goodness! I was not expecting that ending. I guess that's good tv though. That's about all I have for tonight.

Happy weekend to you all!

Let the fun begin!

The crawling has opened a whole new world for Miss Ava. She has been so busy this week mastering her new skill and enjoying the freedom that it has brought her. Over the weekend, she figured out that she could actually crawl to get to something she wanted. We can watch her face and it's so cute when she eyes something, sits and looks at it for a minute, and then takes off after it. She has spent much time crawling all over the house and exploring her new territory. She is so curious and although we have to keep an eye on her constantly, it's fun to watch her as she discovers new things.

Peeking around the corner into our bathroom

Coming back from exploring the hallway to her bedroom

Checking out the goodies on the entertainment center

Yeah, so we realize we have two potential hazards here:
1) Obviously the cord
2) Using an unsteady lamp to try to pull up

(We're working on the baby-proofing)

And now that she can crawl around, she is going to things and trying to hold on to them to stand up. In just the past two or three days, she has learned how to stand up very quickly. I wish that whatever new skill she learned would be enough for her for a while. She's just always ready to move to the next thing. The other night she was standing and holding onto the couch and taking tiny steps down the length of the couch as she held on. I hope we have a little more time before she actually gets the walking down!

She tried to use the laundry basket to pull up...

...but when she couldn't because it wasn't steady, she just decided to help with the laundry!

And lastly, this is how we found her tonight before her bath:

So proud of herself

Checking out the long way to the floor

We'd already lowered her crib mattress once - looks like we will be doing that again tomorrow! She is growing at lightning speed and sometimes I feel like we can hardly keep up. However, it's amazing to experience things through her eyes. It's all so new to her and she is amazed by it all and I love watching her take it all in and learn! Even though I wish she would slow down a little, I'm so proud of her! I have a feeling the fun is only beginning!

My first Mother's Day

I have to say that I have had a wonderful first Mother's day! We got up and went to Mass at 8:00. My grandparents usually go to church at that time so all their children who live here decided to go this morning at that time and surprise them and then take them out for breakfast afterwards. Not only is today Mother's day but my grandpa's birthday is tomorrow. We had a fun time at breakfast and got home around the time we would generally be going to church. It has been somewhat nice to have a large portion of the day free to spend time with my sweet girl and husband. I received a beautiful new necklace this morning as well as some flowers.

I feel so very blessed to be able to celebrate this day. Ava is my pride and joy and each day with her is so special. Each day is a new experience and just when I think I can't possibly love her more, she shows me I am wrong! She is at such a fun age right now and I know it can only get better!

Sometimes I feel guilty for having to work and send her to daycare. I know it doesn't make me any less of a mother but I still wish circumstances were different. However, I have seen that it is a good thing for her to be there. She thrives on the social interaction and loves going each day. And on holidays like Mother's day, they take the time to do something special for the mommies and having these types of things are so very precious to me. This is what my sweet daughter "made" me this year:

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

While we were gearing up for wedding festivities, Ava was gearing up for a rough weekend. Friday morning she woke up and wasn't quite herself. She was fussy and irritable which is very unusal for the mornings. I was trying to comfort her and noticed she felt a little warm. I took her temp and it was about 99 - nothing really to be concerned about. I was more concerned with the fact that she was shivering and just not herself. Zach thought she was just tired b/c she'd had a bit of a restless night. He was off on Friday but was planning to get some things done b/c of our busy weekend. We gave her some Tylenol and I went ahead on to day care and she fell asleep. When we got there, I took her in and realized she was burning up! I took her temperature again and in the span of 30 minutes it had gone up to 101.4! So we turned right back around and I handed her off to Zach. She ran fever all day (up to 102) and was sleepy and cranky. I called her doctor and they said since she didn't really have any symptoms besides a fever to just give her Tylenol, keep her hydrated and to call back if her fever went up to 105(!!?!) or if it lasted more than 3 days. 105 seemed really high to me but thankfully we never got to that point.

Friday evening we obviously had the rehearsal for the wedding so we left her with my parents. She slept a lot and was cranky there and a totally unhappy little girl. We came home, put her to bed and prayed for a good night's sleep! Thankfully it wasn't too rough and she woke up at 5am Saturday morning. She seemed to feel better and at that point she had no fever. I ran my finger across her top gums and found that one side was extremely swollen. It turns out she was just having an extremely difficult time with this teeth trying to come in. I had to get my hair done at 10 so Zach stayed with Ava until he had to be at the church. My parents were planning on coming to the wedding, and when my mom got there she told me Ava was running fever again and had been inconsolable basically the whole time she'd been at their house. My mom came though to say hi to Sandy and to apologize for not being able to stay. I felt so sorry for my poor baby! I hated that she was going through this while I had to be doing something else. We're very blessed that we had someone who would watch her and take care of her while she was so difficult. With her being so inconsolable all afternoon, we stayed at the reception for only a short while. I hated to do that, but our baby needed us. It was certainly not the best timing for this, but that's life, right?

As of today, the fever is gone (yay!) and she seems much better. I can see that tooth about to break through and am praying it happens soon! We have seen a much happier girl today and are so thankful she is feeling better!

If you haven't tried these for your child's teething, they seem to be a miracle worker! Ava can be screaming and we give her these and she calms down almost instantly!! They are definitely worth a try!

Adam and Sandy's Wedding

This weekend our friends Adam and Sandy got married. I met Sandy in Sunday school back in seventh grade. We were friends all throughout junior high and high school. We lived together our first year in college and we've been through many things together. Zach and Adam met in college and lived together in the dorms for two years and then they lived in an apartment together. Sandy became friends with these guys and it was through her friendship with them that Zach and I met. They were both in our wedding and yesterday we got to be in theirs. Friday we went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I was Sandy's matron of honor and spent the day yesterday helping her get ready! The wedding was beautiful and the reception was very nice. Unfortunately our time at the reception ended up being short lived as will be explained in the next post! Here are some pictures of the day:

Getting our hair done

The bride!!!

Ready to get married!!

Zach and me before the wedding

Sandy's sister, Becky, and me

Congrats Adam and Sandy!!!!!!

(Unfortunately, I never got a chance to snap a picture of the two of them together yesterday!)

There she goes!

So last night Ava finally figured out she could crawl! She was incredibly unsteady and it was hilarious to watch! She seems to be a little more steady today! She is by no means a master yet. The only thing we've been able to put on the floor to make her crawl toward it is the Bed, Bath & Beyond circular. (she actually just crawled across the room to get to me ♥)

This has been such a busy week for us and the weekend will be as well. It's also been somewhat of a tough week. However, we are patiently waiting for God's will in this area of difficulty and know that we are right where we're meant to be! We're definitely glad it is almost the weekend!!!

So much to do, so little time..

Why, oh why, do the weekends always go too quickly? It's been a busy week for us. Zach and I had various things during the evenings this past week and we weren't home on the same nights. Friday we were together and got to have dinner with our friends.

Miss Ava has had a good week. She's so close to crawling - in fact, she can do it, but she doesn't seem to understand that if she would just keep going, she'd be a mover. She moves, then sits down, then moves, then sits down, etc, etc.. She's on the brink though. She's always trying desperate to pull up on things... anything in fact.

We try to stop this because obviously things like toys aren't stable, but she doesn't seem to care..

And doesn't this look like a happy girl?

Last night we got a baby-sitter and headed out - unfortunately we headed to separate events. We both went to NWA. Zach went to a bachelor party for my brother while I hosted a personal shower/bachelorette party for my friend Sandy. Sandy is getting married next weekend and Zach and I are both in the wedding. We both had fun and it was nice to be baby free for a night. Hopefully next time we'll get to spend the time together!

Sandy and her cute cookie cake

Natalie and I while waiting for the table at the restaurant before the rest of the group arrived

This morning we got up and headed to church. I'm thankful that it wasn't pouring down rain. We've spent a quiet afternoon at home napping, making desserts for Teachers' Appreciation week at Ava's school, and just general house stuff. We have another super busy week ahead of us, including some big events for Zach as well as Sandy and Adam's wedding.

I'm going to end with a few pics of Little Miss before church this morning..

"Okay, Mom, I'm done with pictures - see ya later!"