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 :) 

Things I never knew...continued

Ava will be 5 months old this month! It is really crazy and kind of scary just how fast these last 5 months have gone. As I expected I continue to learn new things everyday since I became a mom.  Here are a few more things that I never knew until I was a mom...

6. I always have known that I am a pretty selfless person however; it is a whole new thing to give/do anything for your child. Even on my worst days and when I am feeling extremely exhausted as soon as I look at Ava I get a whole new sense of energy and am able to do whatever it takes to keep her happy!

7. My mother is a pretty amazing person! I give her so much credit for the job she did raising me and my siblings. She was a stay at home mom who did so much on her own! I now know just how hard that can be!

8. Going out to dinner and shopping are luxuries! Ava does not like going out!! I never knew how much I should have appreciated Saturday's with Jeremy shopping and having a meal out :)

9. Play dates are so fun! We have had such an awesome time having play dates with Zade, Ella, Peyton, Ashton and of course cousin Brayden while I have been on maternity leave.

10. Stay at home moms are SO lucky! I would love to be able to stay at home with Ava and not have to work however; I feel very lucky to be a teacher and to have summers off! :)

I will leave you with a little slide show... Enjoy :)