Happy birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday. Zach keeps telling Ava that her mommy is very old today - he revels in the fact that he is 8 months younger than me! I'm 26 today and so far it doesn't really bother me. I realize I'm closer to 30 than to 20, and I'm sure in the next couple of years it's going to get to me, but for now, I'm good and just enjoying my special day!

Trip to Tulsa and Birthday Celebration

First of all, it's been a week since he has had students, and Zach LOVES his new job! It's going well and he thinks he's really going to have a great year!

Ok, now for the other stuff. Yesterday we decided to head to Tulsa for the day. We didn't have any plans; we just went for some fun. Our first stop was Bass Pro Shop. Zach had a gift card to use and wanted to look at a fishing pole. They had a person taking pictures in front of a backdrop and this is what we got:

After that we headed to the mall. We spent a couple of hours just looking around. We didn't buy much but that's ok. I did find a couple of things I liked and may get with some of my birthday money if I decide that I still want them. We did however find the Mickey Mouse mecca, aka The Disney Store.

We walked out of there with a Mickey Mouse bowl. Ava was so proud of her bag. She clutched it tight and was showing it off to each of us. (She was excited even though she doesn't look it in this picture.)

After the mall we headed to a party store. I wanted to look and see if they had the decorations I wanted for Ava's birthday party. (By the way, I've decided to go with my ideas for this year. I figure we'll be doing character parties a lot in the years to come.) I didn't find what I wanted at the store so we headed to dinner at Ted's! We had a wonderful dinner and then headed home.

This morning we went to church and afterwards headed to my parents' house to celebrate my birthday, which is on Tuesday. When we were almost there, I realized I'd forgotten to pack food and a bib for Ava! (oops!) It turned out ok though b/c she was able to eat chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and sweet potatoes and she loved every bit of it. I didn't want her to ruin her dress so this is how she ate:

I also got a yummy birthday cake

Notice Ava going in for the icing swipe?

Sweet success (literally)!

It was a fun day and we had fun catching up with my grandparents and also my brother and his wife who were in town from St. Louis. My poor SIL Kelsey sat on Ava's other side and Ava had dirty hands from feeding herself and kept reaching out to try and pat Kelsey! She was a good sport though. Here's Ava and her Aunt Kelsey!

We've had a great weekend and Ava starts back to school tomorrow so all of our routines will be back to normal. Wishes for a great week for everyone!

The countdown begins..

.. to Ava's first birthday!

This sweet little girl is 11 months old today.



So can't believe it. I wish that I could convey in words the personality of this munchkin. She is a riot. Where she gets things, I have no idea, but she keeps us laughing. Her biggest accomplishment this month is that she has mastered walking and is trying to run, but can't move that fast yet.

I was taking some pictures of her last night and she was walking away and I caught the funniest picture of her:


So funny.. makes me giggle every time. She was taking a step and got a little off balance and I somehow captured it! She amazingly didn't fall.


We're working on Ava eating our dinners and on feeding herself. Looks like it's going well, dontcha think?

Weekend fun and party planning

It's hard to believe another week has flown by! It's been a busy one but full of fun. Ava did just fine this week with my cousin Lexie watching her. Zach is finished preparing for school and tomorrow is his first day! He is excited and ready to get the year moving.

Last night was an exciting night for us! Ava spent her first night away from the both of us!!! We dropped her off at my parents' house around 6:00 and had our first full night alone since having her! While I did miss her, it was so nice just getting to do whatever without toting around a baby! We went and had dinner. After that we saw The Ugly Truth, which we both laughed at all the way through. After that we headed out to the casino for a little while and just enjoyed not having to rush home to meet a baby-sitter! It was nice this morning not having to rush around getting ready for church. My mom and dad brought Ava to church with them and she was happy and excited when she saw us. However, she stayed up a little later than normal and didn't get much of a morning nap in, so even with an afternoon nap, she is still a tad cranky this afternoon. See?



Ok, so Ava's first birthday is coming up and I'm trying to finalize my ideas for her party. I didn't really plan on having a theme per se, but more like just going with some ideas based on the colors of the shirt I had made for her. I thought I had pretty much decided what I was going to do, so we went to a party store here yesterday to see if they had what I was planning to use. Zach found some Mickey Mouse plates and showed them to Ava and she got all excited and started grinning and laughing. Soooo, seeing as how after this year (ok, maybe next year) she will want some input into her party, should I go with what I was planning:


Or do I go with Mickey Mouse since he and Ava are BFF?

This and That

It has been fairly uneventful here the last week. Zach is back at work full time. Ava's in the middle of the marathon of different baby sitters. Her school doesn't start back for two more weeks so we're having to cover it with different people. We're lucky we have people willing to help us out.

Friday night we went to a party and it was a lot of fun. We haven't had a baby free evening in a really long time and it was nice to have an evening to ourselves. Aunt Stephanie was kind enough to baby-sit for us and Ava loves her so it worked out well for all involved. You can't tell it in this picture, but Aunt Stephy is one of Ava's favorite people. When she walks into a room, Ava gets so excited and wants no one but her!


Zach's first week at his job went well! He is making lots of progress on his room - he painted it this weekend and we are going to put it together tomorrow night. His first day of school is a week from tomorrow and so far he thinks it's going to be a great new experience. He's excited about getting started.

Ava is really mastering the walking. She's getting so good at it and seems to prefer to try it now before crawling. She is also quite resourceful in moving her things from place to place:


We are also letting Ava try more and more food. She loves trying new things and so far this girl is not a picky eater. She's been enjoying fresh blueberries and strawberries and is a big fan of them. She also likes using her teeth to bite things - like pizza!


I'm hopeful these next couple of weeks aren't too rough on Ava with lots of new faces watching her. She typically adjusts well so I'm praying she has a good week. And I hope you all have a good week too!

Crazy little girl!

The days just seem to be flying by. I can't believe how quickly time is passing. We had a wonderful weekend. Saturday I took Ava to her first birthday party! Miss Caroline turns 1 on Wednesday and had a party on Saturday to celebrate. Here is Ava with her gift for Caroline:

Ava had a wonderful time at the party. She so enjoyed all the other little kids and I think at one point she was so involved with playing that I could have left and she wouldn't have even noticed! It was a great party and we had such a fun time.

I wish I had done my silly things Ava does post a couple of days later. One day late last week, she started doing this thing where she will be playing or standing and will all of a sudden bend over and put her head on the ground and look between her legs! It's hilarious and I have no idea where she learned it. In fact, she did it once at the party and once after church this weekend. She thinks it is so funny too!


She is getting so good at her walking! She is becoming more sure of herself and is practicing a lot more these days! She had one moment where she took about 12 steps in a row!! She can do really well if she goes slowly, but a lot of times she gets excited and tries to go too fast. I have been trying to get a video of her taking a long string of steps and tonight I got a few steps when she decided to do her little trick! I figured the one with many steps would come later and that this one was a cute one to share! Enjoy our crazy girl!