Happy 1st Birthday Ava Elizabeth!

I can't believe we celebrated Ava's 1st Birthday this past weekend. We had her family party on Saturday. We took a great nap right before her party but still woke up a little rough. As everyone arrived Ava wanted to be held by Momma and I totally didn't mind. We decided to try opening presents up first, but needed to take a break because she was started to cry. I think Ava was overwhelmed by all the company at one time and being the center of attention. After a break for some milk and snacks she warmed up and we resumed opening presents. She did very well and then we decided to sing and have cake. We undressed her and put her in her highchair with her beautiful cake. She dipped one finger in and wanted me to lick it off. She would not get messy and didn't want anything to do with the cake. We even tried to put some fruit on it to persuade her to try it. She just wanted some strawberries and blueberries.

After we sang and handed out cake, she was a hoot. She was running in circles and singing to everyone. She is such a ham! As the last guest walked out the front door I took up upstairs for her nap. She was so tired but did so good for having 30 people over at one time.

Sunday was her birthday and Daddy made us blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We went to Fritz's Train restaurant for lunch. Ava loves watching the trains bring food to the customers. She pointed out almost every train. We even learned how to sign train in sign language. She had a blast. We went home and took a short nap before we went to dinner with Nana, Papa, Aunt Fannie, Aunt Lisa, and G.G. at Texas Road House. After Ava finished eating her dinner, the workers came by to sing happy birthday to her. They put her up on a horse saddle and announced to the restaurant that it was her first birthday and then sang. Ava did great and just watched in awe of the singers.

What an awesome weekend! I finished up the last week in St. Louis, leaving Ava alone for the very first time. I did get a little weepy leaving her, but seemed to do okay as long as I was occupied. I was away from her for 48 hours. Daddy and Nana did a great job taking care of her. And praise Jesus for our new phones which have video cameras on them. I got to see her every night before she went to bed. I can't believe that my baby is one year old! Time continues to go by way too fast. It just seems like yesterday that I was cuddling with a little ball of baby. I now have a toddler.

She walks, is beginning to run, and ohhhh the attitude. She does not seem to like to be told no. When she knows that she is not suppose to do something she will shake her head no as she does it. Then when we remove her from the outlet, tv, laundry room... she says no, no and waves her pointer finger around. Is that what I look like when I say that to her? Haha. Our little princess is getting quite a personality. She waves at whoever will look at her, she will smile at anyone, and she is really starting to babble. She is really starting to repeat words. Instead of Boo, she says Do. And instead of Grace, she says Dray. So precious. My baby is too big!

11 1/2 Months Old

I bought plates, cups, napkins, and decorations for Ava's birthday party which will be in about 2 weeks. We are having a family party on March 5th, but next Saturday we are having Ava's baby friends over for a playdate. The weather is unseasonably nice this week and I am going to take Ava up to Zona Rosa after school for a little retail therapy. She loves shopping! When we get home we might try and sneak in a wagon ride before her late afternoon nap. But more than likely we will need to sleep before we can play. Tomorrow it is suppose to be 70 degrees! Yesterday the Parents as Teachers Educator came over to check on Ava's developement. She is doing very well and is actually ahead of most children her age. The one thing they told us to work on is drinking out of a cup that does not have a lid. We are going to start practicing in the bathtub for right now. I am also going to start looking for more flashcards to work on new words and some toddler crayons for her to work on drawing.

For Valentines Day, Daddy got Ava a beautiful lavender rose and a sweet card. Mommy took her to Target and let her pick out a present too. She picked a Barney DVD and a book with lots of animals.

Ava is really starting to try and emulate words that Mommy and Daddy are saying. Some words like hot, dog, now, and yes sound like the words we are saying. Other words like Jayhawk sounds like jayha, bottle sounds like baaa. So some of her words are nothing like what we are saying, but she is making the effort to try and repeat things when we are her to. Her new obsession is to turn the tv off and on, off and on, off and on.... over and over. She also wants anything that is plugged in outlets. She is taking off walking from one thing to another. She is doing much better walking and she only falls now when she gets going too fast. She still loves looking at birds and squirrels out the window at Nana's. She continues to be a "ham" when we are out in public by waving and smiling at other shoppers. Mommy's social butterfly!

Snow Days

Well it's my 5th day off school this winter. We are getting a blizzard this week. Yesterday we had a shortened day and it looks like we will be off today and tomorrow. Thursday is up in the air but the high is suppose to be zero. But Thursday is my birthday so I wouldn't mind being at home and playing with Ava. We are currently watching Baby Signing Time. She just loves love the video and she will sit and watch for the 30 minute show. I am not sure how long an 11 month old attention span is suppose to be, but we love it! She is signing the following words: bird, dog, fish, more, milk, bed, mom, baby, diaper, all done, hurt, beautiful, snow, poop, please, water, food/hungry, and shhhh. She is doing really well with her communication skills but oh the attitude. When we don't understand or she doesn't want to do something she now throws her head back, arches her back, and starts a fit. She does not want her diaper changed so you have to entertain her with toys with you do it. So we are dodging poop on shoes, clothes, and toys. She also can find and point to body parts. She knows where her eyes, eye lashes, nose, teeth, tongue, hands, piggies, tummy, hair, head, ears, and gulu are. We have fun quizzing her all the time. She loves eye lashes, but she is definitely not gentle on you or herself. Ava is a great eater and we really have not found anything that she won't eat. Her favorite food right now is probably fresh blueberries. She just gobbles them up. She still loves her eggs, basta, bread, and cheerios. She is most interested in whatever Momma and Dada are eating for dinner. She will be 11 months old next weekend and we are busy planning a first birthday party for our precious princess!

10 Months Old

I cannot believe that Ava is 10 months old. Here is what we can say: Momma, Dada, Nana, Papa, dog, bye bye, brrrrrr, and ball. Ava loves her sign language DVD's we got from Grandma and so far we can sign: dog, bird, more, and milk. Ava still refuses to crawl and we are figuring we are skipping right to walking. She is cruising around the couch and ottoman constantly. She did figure out that if she is laying down she can move by rolling. But she really want to be standing up all the time. As soon as you stand her up her feet are moving. I have spent a lot of time on my knees and holding her hands. She is getting very brave and turns from the ottoman to the couch and back. We have also started to take some falls. Matt and I know that she must learn that if she lets go, she will fall but we do our best to catch her before she face plants into the carpet. As soon as you save her beautiful face and sit her back up she gives you a huge smile. I am sure it is all a game to her. Her other favorite game is to throw food off the high chair. Grace the dog has become a vulture and hovers near the high chair at all times.

Ava always makes us smile when we tell her to look up and down- then she nods up and down. Or we can say right and left- and she will shake her head right to left. She will also shake her head no, usually after we say "no no, we don't throw our food." Matt and I can't help but smile. She has also started to "blink" which is more like a squint/wrinkle nose/smile on request as well. Ava is also getting good a pointing. She seems to be saying, "Mommy what is that?" She will also point out family members in photos too. I am sure every mom thinks their child is a genius, but she seems to be very observant, curious, and interested in everything around her. She still has to have her wubbie to sleep, she loves Sophie her giraffe, and she loves to look at books (over and over and over). Matt and I are truly blessed with a beautiful and smart baby girl. She still melts my heart with those big blue eyes and her toothy (6 of them) smile.

Baby's 1st Christmas

Ava's first Christmas was so much fun. She got a wagon from Santa and lots of toys and books. She participated in the opening of presents, but we had to watch her because she kept wanting to eat the wrapping paper. She loved her Bitty Baby Doll she received from G.G. and let out the cutest coo when she unwrapped the package enough to see what is in it. It was precious.

We woke her up Christmas morning (of course taking pictures of that) and took about 20 pictures before we even made it downstairs. We went downstairs to see what Santa left Ava and then took a break to eat some breakfast before we opened the presents from Mommy and Daddy. At 10:00 Nana, Papa, Uncle Brad, and Aunt Fannie came over for more presents. By noon Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Megan, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Tom all showed up for more food and presents. Ava decided she did not want to take a nap that day until about 4:00, but the day was filled with so much fun. Ava will now wear a new outfit and play with a new toy everyday until her birthday! She brought us so much joy this Christmas and Mommy and Daddy were very excited to help Santa!

Ava visits Santa Clause

Ava recently paid a visit to Santa Clause at the Hallmark offices. Each year Hallmark envites employees, reitred employees & family to come visit Santa at their Liberty office. Since Grandma retired from Hallmark she just had to take Ava this year. We weren't sure what to expect with Ava & Santa. Would she cry? Would she laugh? Would she just sit there trying to figure out who the fat guy is with a big white beard? She didn't cry or laugh. She was not real sure what to make of Santa. Ava's wish list for Santa has only two things. A wagon and an Ipad.

Mommy wrote the wish list. Just saying...

8 1/2 Months Old

Ava is growing like a weed and is already starting to wear some of her 12 month clothes. She has got really long legs so the shirts are still a little big. She is finally rolling over like a champ. She rolls all over the living room now collecting dog hair on her outfits. She loves to roll over to the DVD player to get Daddy's xbox controller. She is standing at furniture all by herself for about 10-15 minutes at a time. She still hasn't really learned to bend her legs when she falls, so we have had some tears when we bang our head on the carpet.
Ava really likes Gracie now too. She wants to pet (or hit) her every time she comes close. But she blinks when Gracie gets all in her face. We are still having to protect Ava from dog kisses. So gross! Ava celebrated her first Thanksgiving with the family and got to eat turkey (after I chewed it a bit for her) mashed potatoes, noodles, corn, and green beans. Her favorite had to be the rolls. The girl loves bread!
Ava's favorite word right now is Dada. In fact, if you tell her to say Momma, she will look right at you and say Dada. She says Dada, Momma, Nana, and dog. Ava also got her first Christmas tree this weekend. She loves the angel at the top. After telling her that was an "angel" twice, she now will look at the angel everytime you ask her to. She is so smart! Christmas is right around the corner and we can't wait to see Ava's reaction to Santa and presents~