SO very blessed!

December 21, 2012

 Merry Christmas!

As I think about the last year I am so very grateful. We have had our share of ups and downs this year for sure. The latest tragedy in the news has once again made me appreciate what I have and that having a healthy family is such a blessing that I try to NEVER take for granted. 

Ava is 17 months old this month. I know I say it in every post but it is SO amazing to watch her grow and learn every day.

Here are a few things that I am loving about Ava at this age: 

1. The way she sings songs with me!
2. The way she swims in the tub
3. The way she gives hugs and kisses
4. The way she colors
5. The way she dances to music
6. The way she uses her step stool to get up on the furniture
7. The way she swings her feet when she is eating something she likes! 
8. The way she remembers EVERYTHING
9. The way she says "bye, bye" to me when she wants to be in her crib at night
10. The way she babbles/sings herself to sleep
11. The way she counts (knows up to 13)

I am SO excited for Christmas with her. She is loving all of the "ho-ho's, lights and trees in the stores. 

Here are a few recent pics:

Ava's first time standing/touching snow :) 

Our latest family picture! 

Silly Ava :) 

Reading in the basement 

A little of this and a little of that

November 19, 2012

Ava is almost 16 months old! I cannot even believe how fast she is growing. Here are some things that I feel are worth sharing about her right now and that I really want to write here since I cannot seem to keep up with a baby book.

• She loves to sing and dance. I am so excited for her to be old enough to join a dance class or something
• She is able to count to 5 (and do this when taking objects in and out of something)
• She knows some colors (purple and red)
• She is starting to want to "swim" during tubby time
• Her vocabulary is expanding every day. Right now I am starting to teach her about Christmas and she is able to point out Ho Ho, wreaths, bells and trees when we are out. 
• She is still a pretty good eater. Her favorites still include eggs, ravioli, grapes and cereal
• She loves to look at pictures of family members and identify them 
• She is able to point to and say (head, eyes, fingers, hands, knee, toe, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, and back)
• She just started using a step stool to get up on furniture and is SO proud of herself
• She loves to pretend play with dolls. She feeds them and puts them to sleep (it is SO cute)
• She loves to ride in the bike seat and have daddy take her for a ride
• She is starting to be VERY strong willed (has had a few tantrums)
• She likes to be silly and make people laugh
• She still does not like having her diaper changed or to get dressed
• She is only nursing at bedtime

Here are some recent pictures of my lovey! 

What a difference a year makes! 

"Ride, Ride, Ride on a bicycle" That is what she sings the whole ride :) 

Playing with her friend Zade

Ava's first Mani....done by Papa :) 

Sleeping on a road trip to Rochester (well actually on the way home)

Meeting her new cousin Noah (Nono) 

Life is so precious...and too short

There has been too many times and events over the last couple months that have made me stop and think about how lucky I am to be healthy and to have a beautiful healthy little family!

Ava is such a blessing and I am so grateful for her! She has a way of making me smile and feel proud even on my worst days. She is such a caring loving little girl and I can only hope that she stays that way forever. She amazes both Jeremy and I every day the way she takes everything in. She is a smart little girl to say the least.

Here are a few recent pictures of my "sunshine"

Such a lover! Even to Elmo

Ava and mommy making out silly faces :) 

My Pretty Girly

Silly girly! 

My Bumble bee on Halloween 

Such a clown! 

Coloring! 

First Birthday

Ava turned 1 on July 23rd! I cannot even believe that my baby is 1 already. It has been such a crazy ride. It has been so amazing watching her grow and learn everyday. Being a mom is something that no one can ever prepare you for. There has been some very high moments and some low moments as well but overall I have learned so much in this last year and I know that I will continue to learn as Ava grows. I am so proud to be Ava's mom! Jeremy and I are just in awe of her! I will leave you with a slideshow I made for Ava and some pictures of her first birthday party!

Waiting by the window for her guests to arrive :) 

Happy Girl! 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 

I set this table up to look like the pages in the book! 

The food table! 

Our little family! 

Time for Cake:)

Time to open gifts 

Ava and her friend Lauren! They are so sweet together :)

 Happy Birthday to our sweet girl! Mommy and Daddy love you so much xoxo

A little of this and a little of that!

June 12, 2012


I was doing SO good writing regularly...for a couple weeks anyway :) The past couple of weeks have been pretty great for us! This past month Jeremy and I have seen such a change in Ava. She is really developing such a great little personality.
Here is some recent info about our Ava Bean :)
Likes: 
"reading" books
  Watching and listening to Barney
   Balls (loves saying this too)
   Playing with my phone
   Playing chase
   Cheese, Peas, Watermelon and Ritz crackers
   Taking walks in her stroller
   Kitty Cats
   Pushing buttons
   Emptying baskets/drawers and cabinets
   Splashing in the tub


Dislikes:
 Having her diaper changed 
 Getting dressed
 Riding in the car (lately)

Milestones:
Got her 1st pair of stride right shoes! 
Walking while holding on to something
7th and 8th tooth coming through (soon I think)
Still sleeping 10-12 hours a night 
Saying many "words" (ball, cheese, cat, puff, barney, booty, Da-Da, More, shoes, up, baby (de-de), light, Ava (ehh), Elmo, done, book, rocky(when rocking the chair)
When asked what does the cat, tiger, bird, monkey, horse, sheep, train and bunny say/do she can answer with the correct sounds or "hop" for bunny!


She is SO observant and such a sponge! It is so fun to play with her and teach her things everyday! This is what I have dreamed of my whole life :) I am a very lucky Mommy.


It is very hard to believe that we will have a 1 year old next month! I am so excited for her big party and have already started planning...
Until next time I will leave you with some recent pictures. 

My Pretty Girl :)

Ava + her Papa=love

Watching her favorite baseball player :)

Ava's first hike

A little snooze! 

1st trip to Lake George

Reading with Daddy

Reading with Mommy

10 month picture! Look at those new shoes :) 

   

Happy Mothers day!

I had such a wonderful 1st "official" Mothers day! We spent the weekend out and about. On Saturday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to go watch Cousin Lexie play in her soccer game and then went to the tulip fest. On Sunday we went to Glen Sanders for brunch. It was a wonderful weekend.



Mommy and Ava At Brunch



I am so amazed at how fast Ava is growing every day! She is such a smart observant little girl and I am so proud of her! It is funny to think of what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time I was pregnant and full of anticipation! This year I was able to hold my little girl and I was full of pride :)



Mothers day last year



Mothers day this year :)



Happy Monday!
 It was pretty tough getting up to go to work today. I had such a great weekend with Jeremy and Ava!
On Saturday we had a lazy morning together and then spent some time at my parents house. It is so fun to be around my family with Ava. My dad and her have such a cute relationship and it warms my heart to see the two of them together! My mom has so much fun teaching her things! I love to see how proud she is of her.

On Sunday we went for a long walk in the morning and then Jeremy's parents came to visit for a couple hours. It is so cute to see the way Ava acts around different people. Her Nana and Grandpa definitely got a kick out of her!

After the visit we did some shopping and then came home and took a quick bike ride and ate dinner together!
It was so nice to relax and spend time with each other! I cannot wait for summer!!! :)

For some reason one of my favorite things to see Ava do is to kick her little leg. She does this when she is happy! It is so cute to see her do this. It is usually her right leg and she always flexes her big toe when she does it. I don't know why but it is seriously one of my favorite things that she is doing right now. I am going to try to get a video of it for next week. :) It is the little things right?

Here are a few recent pictures of her for you to enjoy!



Clapping :)





My Happy Girl



Saying "no" because she knows she is not supposed to be climbing over the arm of the couch!



Looking up at the light (one of her favorite things right now)



Pointing (another favorite thing to do)





So excited!



A good shot of her teeth :)



An inspiration....

I am in the middle of reading a memoir by a mother who gave birth to a baby with Downs Syndrome. It is a wonderful book. Part of the book talks about how she got into blogging. I have always loved the idea of blogging and when my best friend started a blog about her daughter I always said I would do the same when I had a child. I feel like I have tried my best to keep up with it however; have not done such a great job! There are so many times when I see Ava doing something cute/funny and think That would be great for my blog...but, somehow I never get to the point of posting it.
So....I am inspired from reading this book to start again....I am going to try something new-I think that if I have a scheduled time to blog that I will be more likely to do it. From now on I am going to make Mondays my blogging night. :)

Monday April 30,2012

I took the day off today to take Ava to the doctors. We had SUCH a great day together! We relaxed in the morning, had lunch with Aunt Stephie and Cousin Brayden and then went to the doctors for her 9 month check up! The visit went great. She is growing like a weed and is right on track with her milestones. I am in awe of her everyday and what a smart little girl she is. Here are just a few things that she is doing these days...
~Waving and saying Bye-Bye
~Pointing (at everything)
~Says Ball (been doing this for a few months)
~Crawling all over the house
~Pulling herself up to standing
~Cruising along furniture
~Gives kisses when you ask for them
~Says mmmm (moo) when you ask "what does the Cow say"
~Throws her food on the floor and says ne (no) We are working on this one LOL
~SLEEPS ALL  NIGHT IN HER CRIB!!! (This is HUGE for us!)
 She is such a little sponge and I am loving it! She is even starting to like to be read to and look at books on her own! It is so amazing how fast the time goes.
Here is a little slideshow Jer and I made! Enjoy :)

Ava's first Easter

Happy Easter! 

Our little girl is getting so big! We had a great Easter with her! Holidays are so special now :)