One HOT summer!

Momma's little bookworm, couldn't find her and she was just reading in a quiet spot!

It has been so HOT this summer that we have had to spend lots of time playing inside. We are getting a little bored and running out of ideas of things to do. We have spent a lot of time, climbing the stairs, reading books, and just having family time. I must admit, it is pretty nice!

Ava had her 15 month checkup with Dr. Raley this month. She was a nightmare, she saw the nurse and freaked out. This is not her normal behavior but Dr. R assured us that it is completely normal at this age.  I still couldn't believe that my sweet Ava would act like this.  A few days after her appointment, Ava was still a bear and I noticed that she had developed some blisters on her feet and in her mouth. I remember from my days at ECC that she probably had Hand, Food, & Mouth disease...not actually a disease, just a virus. It was Friday evening when I noticed the blisters, of course, so we took her to the Pediatric Urgent Care, and they confirmed my suspicion. Turns out, earlier that day she was sharing Cheetos with her Big Pop and gave him the virus too! It only lasted 3-5 days once we noticed the blisters.  One morning, she woke up her normal, happy self! Thank goodness!!

Ava is still talking like crazy, she is repeating everything we say. Here are her new words/phrases from this last month:

• I did it! 07.08.11
• Ice 07.01.11
• Hands 07.16.11
• Sing again 07.16.11
• Eeeeeeeee (monkey sound) 07.16.11
• Apple 07.17.11
• Scooter 07.23.11
• Yuck 07.23.11
• Good job 07.22.11
• A bug (there was a bug in her baby pool, she would not get in and kept pointing at it saying, a bug, a bug) 07.23.11
• Bowl 07.23.11
• Corn 07.26.11
• Hot 07.29.11
• Clock 07.28.11
• She also learned the baby sign for thank you

Some of her favorites this month:

• Climbing the stairs
• Hitting
• Signing time, a show in OETA
• Exploring the house, we moved the baby gate to the stairs only, now she has free rein of the downstairs
• Books, her Bible especially, she carries it around
• Dips, i.e., ketchup, mustand, ranch, yogurt, etc.
• She also went potty, on the potty, for the first time this month 
• Sharing

Not so favs:

• The church nursery
• Being told no
• Staying indoors
• Meat

A few pics from July:

Too funny not to share!

The day Ava gave Big Pop Hand, Foot, & Mouth. :(

It's perfectly normal to enjoy an apple in the tub!

First marshmallow...YUM!

A little jealous, Momma is holding our good friend's new baby, Cooper.

Trip to KC, fireworks, and family!

After church a few weeks ago! A little out of focus but she was smiling at the camera...if I remember correctly, Dada was holding his keys by the lens.

We have had a VERY busy and fun summer so far. Mommy is really enjoying spending time with her little family. Ava is growing and changing so much. She is talking, using some baby signs (please, stop and "all done"), will say what sound a dog and duck makes on command, she is running everywhere, and is as busy AND active as ever! 

Some of our little Chatty Cathy's new words:

• lake 06.01.11
• wisk 06.02.11
• noodle 06.02.11
• stop 06.03.11
• woof 06.05.11
• blue 06.10.11
• tells Lola, "NO" 06.16.11
• car 06.13.11
• Ketchup 06.15.11
• go 06.13.11
• Sit 06.13.11
• Toot 06.20.11
• Quack 06.22.11
• Go Go Go 06.22.11
• please 06.27.11
• outside
  

Some of her favorite things to do:

• giving Lola belly scratches
• playing outside
• sharing food with Lola
• sticking her tongue out
• reading books
• climbing on the fireplace
• blueberries are her favorite food at the moment
• dipping her food in ketchup or ranch
• helping Mommy, she helps me load the wet laundry into the dryer, throwing things in the trash, unloading the dishwasher, cleaning up her toys
  
• she's a chapstick girl like her Momma and LiLi
  

Things she's not so crazy about:

• meat
• being told she can't go outside
• smiling for the camera (don't let the picture at the top fool you...she will not look at the camera anymore, guess since we have taken 12 billion pictures in the last 15 months that she's sick of the camera being in her face!)

Over the 4th of July weekend, we went to Kansas City, well, Olathe, KS to see Aaron's sister and family.  We stayed with Ava's cousins, Uncle E, and Aunt RoRo!  We had such a great visit. Ava LOVES her cousins, and Chloe too. Ava got to visit cousin Amber's goat, Heidi, we went to Deanna Rose (a great petting zoo), she got bit by both a cat and a goat all in the same day, and saw a great fireworks show. We wished we didn't live to far away from them.  Here are a few pics from our trip: 

Amber & her goat, Heidi.

Cousin, Andrew protecting Ava from the goats.

Bottle feeding a baby goat. Aunt RoRo and cousin Matthew standing close by to keep the goats from knocking her down.

 

 

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Ready for S.U.M.M.E.R!!

 

Another month has flown by, our sweet little girl is as busy as can be. I must say, she is really enjoying having her Momma and Daddy home right now...we are both enjoying being home with her too!! We are ready to go swimming, go to the lake, and spend time with one another.

Some of Ava's new words:

• No (05.08.11)
• Wawa (water) (05.11.11)
• Momma wawa (said while pointing at her bathtub) (05.12.11)
• All done (05.14.11)
• Woof (05.19.11)
• Bye bye (05.19.11)
• Yes (05.19.11)
• Di Dop (Big Pop)
• Kick kick (05.25.11)

Other fun things she has learned or loves to do:

• Clicks her tongue
• Playing chase with either Lola or anyone that will chase her
• Being outside
• Ketchup: she points at it and says, that, that
• If you ask her if she is ready to take a bath, she runs to her bathroom and tries to climb in the bathtub
• Eating whole apples
• Eating big girl cereal with a spoon
• Riding Big Pop's 4-wheeler 
• Reading books
• Chips and salsa
• Running

First cereal with milk! It was Cinnamon Toast Crunch...not the healthiest, but she LOVED it!

BOOKS...the only way to get her to sit still!!!

Our busy lil' girl!!

This month has flown by, seems like we just celebrated her 1st birthday.  We definitely have a blabbering toddler on our hands.  I look at Ava now compared to a few months ago and it is incredible how much she has changed. She is constantly, and I mean constantly, talking and on the move.  I am sitting at the computer and watching her on her baby monitor and she is rolling circles in her crib and talking non-stop.  Some of Ava's new words are:

• eyes (04.19.11)
• dog and puzzle (04.21.11)
• Easter night, she said Jesus, twice 
• pretty  (04.29.11)
• Is it? (04.29.11)
• Daddy and Ava (said in sentence form) (04.29.11)
• look (said while pointing at everything)
• Lola (05.03.11)

Ava is taking swim lessons on Monday nights at Miller Swim School, in Tulsa. She takes it with her good bud, Caleb, from church. She has so much fun singing the songs and "rowing", "kicking", and doing the "pancake." Often times, Ava is too busy to pay attention to her teacher, Ms. Glenda (who is awesome, by the way). She will point at other children in the pool, her Aunt LiLi who comes every week to watch her swim, or just random things that catch her attention. She is the cheerleader in the group and likes to clap when her classmates do a great job.  She has learned to go underwater, climb out of the pool, doggie-paddle, float on her back; of course, these are all done with the assistance of her Momma, who has just as much fun as she does in the class!!

Reading with one of her favorite people in the world, her Big Pop!

After a scrumptous 1 1/4 PB &J (yep, you read that correctly...she was a hungry girl!)

Ava has had such a busy month learning new things. She can jump, wave, say "Go Pokes" with her hands, clap, go find something, all when asked. She is such a smart girl!! We are so thankful for such a busy, heathly, and happy toddler!

The big O.N.E!!!



Ava showing everyone she's 1!!!

Well, we just celebrated our little girl turning ONE! It was such an emotional day.  I have never in my life thought about how my mom felt on my birthday, guess I was just selfish and was always thinking of it being my day.  When really, it should be a special day for her as well. 

Ava wearing the same dress that both her NoNo and I wore on our 1st Birthdays

Ava's birthday fell on a Sunday so we celebrated the Saturday before.  We had a small party with some family and friends.  Our guests started to arrive and Ava decided it would be time to open gifts... on her own...

B.U.S.T.E.D!!!

The week before Ava's first Birthday, we had our wonderful photographer, Ann Bennett, do Ava's 1st birthday shots.  It was literally freezing outside, but like usual, our Ava is easy going.  You'd never know how cold it was by the smile on her face. 

We had been planning these pictures for a few months and had wanted some great shots of Ava, outside, smashing her cake.  Well...the weather put a damper on that...soooooo, our sweet photographer called up her mom and asked if we could do Ava's cake smashing in her newly remodeled kitchen.  Did I mention it was the Mayor of Tulsa's kitchen?  It made for a fun time!!

Last but not least, I wanted to update you all on our little JOY's 1 year stats:

Height: 30.5 inches (90 percentile)

Weight: 24 lbs 6 ounces (91 percentile)

Head circumference: 46.2cm (80 percentile)

Favorites:

whole green beans

lima beans

strawberries

swim class

Big Pop (cause she gets what she wants)

playing outside

her new car

our neighbor across the street's for sale sign (she points and screams at it)

arching her back when she doesn't get what she wants

Not so favorites:

her new Sunday School class

diaper changes

sitting still

1 year molars

strangers



Countdown to...

...the big day! Ava is almost 1!!

We are getting close to the big day! Ava Joy is almost one and is changing everyday.  She is getting so independent and boy is she ever busy.  I have never met a lil' one who is on the move every waking moment of the day. We wouldn't have it any other way though. 

Here are a few of Ava's new tricks:

• Books, they are the only thing that slows her down for a few minutes, she even "reads" them the right way and loves turning the pages
• Throwing things and chasing after them
• Learning to stand
• Climbing on everything, i.e, fireplace, dishwasher, couch, etc.
• Chapstick, thanks to Aunti LiLi.
• Clapping 03.01.11
• Shaking her head no
• Pickles
• She took a step for her Big Pop at the beginning of the month
• Drinking with a straw 03.03.11
• Balloons

Some of her least favorite things:

• Having her diaper changed
• Not getting her way
• Being trapped in half of the house
• Getting dressed

We have already had a busy month so far. Mommy had her appendix out on Wednesday and it has been hard cause she can't hold Ava for 2 weeks. Daddy is busy taking 18 hours of school and Daddy is currently at Drill this weekend.  We will hopefully slow down during Spring Break as we are taking Ava to the beach for the first time. We are excited to just get away and enjoy some family time.  Soon after our trip, we will putting the finishing touches on Ava's 1st Birthday.