A Reflection on Ava's First Year

Here's Ava with all of her birthday presents!

Ava went to the doctor today for her 12 month check up & shots.
Here's her stats:
Weight: 20 lbs 2 oz (40%)
Height: 30 inches (75%)
Head Circumference: 17 3/4 in (50%)



What a difference a year makes!
Here's her stats from when she was born:
Weight: 8 lbs 14 oz
Length: 20 1/2 inches

Here's what she can do:
walk; dance; feed herself; laugh; say mama, dada, get (she repeated this after hearing Nathan tell Sadie to "get" the other night while we were eating), sadie, pop pop, ball, shoes; drink from a sippy cup; kiss and rock her baby dolls; follow after you if you tell her to; put up toys; sleep 12 hours or more straight throughout the night; mimic Noah's squeals

Here's what I love about my Ava (just to name a few):

• Ava LOVES shoes and will pick them up if they are laying around no matter what size they are and carry them around.

• She likes to wear mardi gras beads- I'm sure she would love to get into my jewelry.

• She does not like to have her face wiped after eating.

• Her favorite foods are lima beans and watermelon. She will shove so much food in her mouth that she can barely close to chew.

• I just found out this past weekend how much she enjoys balloons.

• Ava breastfed for an entire year (something I am very proud of) and just weaned herself a week before her first birthday. We are in the process of switching from formula to whole milk.

• Ava loves her pacifier but I only give it to her at nap time and bed time and sometimes in the car.

• She LOVES her fleece blankies and must have them to go to sleep. She will just bury her little head in it or cover her face with it.

• When it is time to sleep I just lay her in the crib (with her blankie and binky of course) and off to dreamland she goes! What a HUGE blessing this has been for me since Noah required MUCH more assistance at sleep time.

• I love that the first thing Ava does when she wakes up in the morning is turn on her little fish aquarium in her crib

• Ava loves to swing and be outside

• Ava likes music and will immediately start dancing if she hears it

• Ava can go for a 3 hour car ride with barely a peep

• I love Ava's beautiful dark complexion that she got from her daddy and also her light brown/partially blond wavy hair (where she got that body from- I have no clue!)

• Ava is definitely a girly girl- it is so sweet to watch her kiss her "babies" and rock them

Thanks for a wonderful first year baby girl! You are such a tremendous blessing in our lives and we couldn't imagine it without you! Can't wait to see what this next year has in store.....

Ava's 1st Birthday!

Saturday September 20th was Ava's first birthday. We had all our family in town to celebrate. I was thrilled to have everyone there to celebrate this memorable milestone in Ava's life- it means more to me than you will ever know for going out of your way to be here and make this day so special. The day was supposed to start out with Noah's soccer game at 8:30 but it was rained out. Thankfully the rain came early in the day since Ava's party was planned to be outside in the afternoon. We had a great day visiting and preparing for the party. Due to a variety of circumstances, many of our friends were unable to attend but we still had a great turnout and a lot of fun. Ava didn't really dig into her smash cake (that my mom made) like I thought she would but we all enjoyed the cake! When I brought her presents out she immediately walked over and started saying "Ooohhhh" - I guess she knew they were for her! She had fun opening the boxes & bags -she received many sweet and precious gifts. Her favorites so far seem to be the baby dolls and a little purse that my grandmother gave her that has a baby cell phone, key, mirror, and powder puff inside. She will kiss her babies if you tell her to- it is the most precious thing I have ever seen. I'll have to post another blog later about the fun I had planning her party and about what a sweet baby girl my Ava has turned out to be.

* A special thanks to Mom who made Ava's smash cake & the flower cookies as well as letting me borrow several of her party items. And for listening endlessly to my "ideas" and indecisiveness about various aspects of the party. Thanks to you and Dad for all of your cleaning, food preparation, child watching & entertaining.... the list goes on. I couldn't have done it without your help and support!

First Steps

Ava finally took her first steps 2 days after she turned 11 months old. And guess who to? Not to this 24/7 stay at home mom. No, not me. But I'll have to say it was to the next best thing- Daddy. Nathan was playing with the kids in Noah's room and he yelled out to me and I just knew what he was about to say. I don't know how but I just knew it. Bless his heart, he works so hard and so much that I really am excited he was home to witness this major milestone in her life. Later on she took about 3-4 steps to me and my mom (Mimi) was there to see it too. They were up moving my brother into school at MC. Those 3-4 steps have quickly turned into 10-12 steps at a time, give or take a few, throughout the last 3 weeks. She still looks too little to me to be walking but she can move quick when big brother is chasing her. All at once she also learned to dance or should I say do reps of squats although she is starting to throw a little hip movement in every now and then. Ava is still the sweetest baby although she is learning how to let us know if she doesn't like something! She will turn 1 in 5 days and I am totally on emotion overload. I just can't believe it has been a year.We are so blessed by her presence in our life and are thankful for her everyday.

Ava loves playing with these mardi gras beads!

Too sweet to leave out.

This was my dress as a little girl.

Welcome to the World!

My sweet friend and neighbor Tami delivered her first baby on Sunday morning. I went to the hospital this morning to visit with Tami and her husband Stephen and meet baby Henry. He is so tiny and precious. Congratulations to you both! You will be wonderful parents!

Quick Beach Trip!

The weekend before Hurricane Gustav hit we were down on the coast and fit in another quick beach trip to Fort Morgan. We had not planned on going and therefore did not have the essentials like beach towels, beach umbrella, floaties, etc but we made do and bought a few new things. Our first evening there we saw about 2 dolphins jump fully out of the water and they were pretty close too. It was really neat and fun to see. The water was super calm the whole time and very clear but it was starting to get a little cold!

Ava is taking steps now so here she is checking her balance!



Sunset before dinner

Here's Noah's new "flotation device". He didn't seem to mind it and I think it will actually help him learn to swim better in the long run.

Visiting Great Mother

Last weekend we visited my great grandmother in the nursing home in Bay Springs. This was Ava's first time to meet her great-great grandmother. I think she really enjoyed seeing the kids- she smiled and laughed quite a bit.

This was the closest we could get to a group picture. Noah was too busy to stop and pose.




Ava really liked Great Mother's "jewelry".

My Favorite Little Boy Part 2

These pictures didn't make it into the last post somehow, thus the continuation.
I know there is a picture of me talking on the phone when I was little just like this one plus the telephone cord.


I think this picture looks just like one of Nathan's pictures when he was a little boy. The hat Noah is wearing was Nathan's. Isn't that sweet?

My Favorite Little Boy

Here's a few random pictures of Noah from the past few weeks. He is such a sweet energetic little boy that loves to make up words and talk constantly. I love him so much!

This is what Noah chose to make at Wacky Bear. He walked in wanting a puppy dog and walked out with a frog he named Frisky.



Noah LOVES to play with his blocks. He has really gotten imaginative and builds all sorts of things.

Here's Noah next to one of his creations he made with Nathan. Please note the Super Fast Racing Team shirt. This is Noah's FAVORITE shirt- he asks to wear it on a daily basis and no I do not let him wear it daily.

Fun Day at Dr. Tiffany's

A couple of weeks ago Noah's dentist had her 1st anniversary and celebrated by having space jumps and such for all the kids. Noah as you can see had an absolute blast. He even had a shooting star and rainbow painted on his face and enjoyed some BOPS when he finally decided to take a break from jumping.

Jellystone Water Park

A couple of weeks ago we finally made it to Jellystone Water Park. We went on a Monday afternoon after school had started back so it was only our family and one other family there. It was so nice to enjoy the fun with no crowd! Noah and Ava had a great time and I think Nathan and I enjoyed the slides just as much as the kids!


My handsome husband with Daddy's Little Girl


Noah finally braving the slide on his own

Ava got to slide too!