Christmas Fun!

We had a great Christmas this year! Patrick and I are about to head out to Orlando for New Years (and then to watch the Dawgs play on New Years Day), but I wanted to put up a few quick pictures! This Christmas Eve dress was from Michee. Isn't everything SO FREAKING CUTE!!!?? I had to trick her to get the bow in...and as soon as she discovered it, out it came! But, I was able to get a few pics with it still in! She looks so girly with it in!!
Bobbi's house had The Grinch, and she carried it around with her a lot!She fell in love with Grandpa Mike and just couldn't stop giving him hugs and kisses!
Loves those stacking cups...
Little stinker....
The Christmas Bo. (Catcher)
Christmas morning...Ava stocked up on more books...she loved them!
She got this warm fuzzy thing...not really lovin' it...but it's REALLY cute!
Her big present from Grandpa Mike and Bobbi....this pink car! Aunt Sarah brought it out with a sheet on it, and when she uncovered it, Ava had the best reaction! I wish I had it on video! She had a HUGE smile on her face, walked slowly toward it and looked around smiling at all of us....as if to say, "Is it really mine? Is it okay if I touch it?" Then she got in and out and in and out for the next several hours and completely loves it! She loves to push the horn too....it plays songs. Aunt Sarah said she was going to take the battery out....
She just smiled like this for at least an hour!
Christmas day dress. She had cute little red shoes on, but she took them off!
A Christmas kiss from Daddy!
Aunt Sarah gave her her headband, and Ava wore it for a whopping 20 seconds!!
Quick family photo!!
I'll post for Ava's 17th month soon. (Holy Cow! That sounds old)! We're off to Orlando for a fun night with Tim, Nicole, Keinan, Unlce Ian, and Aunt Booj. Bobbi came down to watch Ava for the night!

Hope you all had a wonderful Chirstmas and have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

16 months- Sorry So Late!!!

So, I've been so busy doing a hundred things, and I am WAY late on updating Ava's life! Sorry!

So, she has been amazing, impressive, smart, funny, loving, loud, stubborn, and completely entertaining!! It's been a fun month, and Ava is changing and learning at a truly incredible speed! Every single day she surprises me with many new things that she knows or has picked up on. The 16 month old mind is unreal! She's added some words to her vocabulary. The only ones that I can think of right now is car ("ca") and color ("ca-ca"). Michee gave her an early Christmas present (since we're flying home and couldn't bring back any bulky things)- she got her a coloring desk that can fold up to an easel. She really loves it and uses it everyday. She's getting more and more interested in coloring....and (this is really great news!!), she favors her RIGHT HAND when she writes!!! YAY!!! She's definitely a lefty when it comes to eating, but for some reason, she'd rather write with her right hand. Hopefully, that will continue. Then she wont have to sit in that crazy looking desk at school! :) Here she is sitting at her desk...like she's all grown up or something!So, we got a Christmas tree last weekend, and since then we've been talking about Christmas and Santa and Jesus (we talk about him at night before bed)! She can pick out a picture of Santa in a book, and if you ask her what Santa says, she says, "ho ho ho!" And whenever she says it, she points to the Santa person I have next to the TV. I'm quite impressed by her! ;) Can you tell?

She just recently learned how old she is...if you ask her, she holds up one finger! Usually I'll say "one" when she holds it up...then she proceeds to say "tewuuuu" and I finish with "three!" She tries to say three, but she can't do it quite yet! She's also been "reading" books to herself lately. She's gotten into imitating us, and she'll pick up a book now, sit on the ground, and babble to herself as if she's reading the book aloud...we think she's doing it cause that's what WE do. Smart little cookie.After her bath at night, I always sing "Rock-a-bye-baby" to her while she's still wrapped up in the towel, and she's started to sing a long with me now and joins me very clearly when I get to the "down will come baby, cradle and all" part....she joins in with a very long, drawn out "aaaaaallllll" at the end. It's very sweet...and it also lets me see those little molars coming in way in the back of her mouth! She's just growing so fast!! Ava's had a runny nose on and off for about 2 weeks now, and her nose was getting raw from me wiping it...so, one night I layed her on her changing table just before bed and put some Aquafor on her face (good lotion stuff), and she was so calmed by it! She just laid there and let me rub her face for many minutes and eventually started to close her eyes and fall asleep. We've been doing it pretty much every night since, and now she gets so excited when I ask if she wants some Aquafor! She has a blanket that she sleeps with, and she sucks on the tag (which is totally disgusting, and even after washing it, the tag smells gross), and Aquafor is the only thing that she'll totally forget about the tag for! She loves it!

She's also found my jewlery drawer, and she always goes for the same thing....two stretchy beaded bracelets. She puts one on one arm and one on the other and walks around with them. Oh gosh, I can just see her in my heels not too long from now. (Oh, who am I kidding...I don't wear heels...I can see her in my....flipflops)! I need to get her some pretend bracelets that aren't choking hazards! She's been kinda a bugger lately with eating...she's such a picky little thing. And she doesn't care if she just doesn't eat...if she doesn't like it, she'll just want to get down. Seriously. How did WE end up with a picky eater!!?

During Thanksgiving we were able to go to the Georgia Aquarium with Michee, Ian, Booj, Keegan, and Emery. Here are a few pics!Well, I've got two more days of work, then we're heading home for Christmas!! Can't wait to have some time away from work! I know I'll be totally crazy busy while I'm at home since we're only there for 5 days...but, I'm really looking forward to it!

Here are a few more pictures....the picture quality is pretty low because these weren't taken with my good camera since it was out being fixed. Although, I got it back, and it's still nowt fixed...so, looks like I'll be using my little one for a while....

I love this Elmo shirt on her! When she wears it, if you ask her where Elmo is, she points to her belly!!
We had a cold snap down here a few weeks ago and actually got to try out Ava's new coat...
Hanging out with Catcher...
This was during Thanksgiving...just looking like such a big girl...and a pouty little thing!! And that turtle neck it just too much!!! Things have been so great. She just keeps me completely entertained and constantly amazed at how much she is learning. I can't wait to get home and share her with everyone!

Here are a few other pictures if you'd like to see more of Ava's 16th month! I'll try not to take so long for my next post.....Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know it's a little late, but I was back home with no computer for all of Thanksgiving week! It was great! I took a few days off from work and was able to be on vacation for the whole week! Patrick and I took a quick trip to NYC sans baby for a little alone time (which was so great! We ate good food and shopped)! Ava stayed with Bobbi and Grandpa Mike and had so much fun! They went to ride the carousel at the mall, went on lots of walks, and went to the park! Any grandkid would be lucky to spend the weekend with Bobbi, Grandpa Mike, and Aunt Sarah! Patrick and I came back on Monday and got to hang out with family and friends the whole week! It was great! We took Ava to the Georgia Aquarium for the first time ever! It was a family affair- Keegan, Emery, Uncle Ian, Aunt Booj, and Michee went too! Ava was pretty interested in most of the fish. Some of the stuff there is pretty awesome! It was a lot of fun! Michee took pictures, but I don't have any yet. I'll post some when I get them!

My camera is still out of commission, but I was able to use Michee's camera while I was home! So here are just a few pics! ;)
What a sweet smile that is. Doesn't it just make YOU smile?!

Ava always loves her time with her Aunt Sarah!
Hangin' out with Pop!
Ava had rosy cheeks so much this past week. Sometimes I think it was the cold air hitting her face, but others....maybe she had some wine in her sippy cup?!?
Ava and Uncle Ian!
Ava is just growing so fast and looking older and older every second. I saw this picture and wondered where my little baby went?! Where has the time gone????

Ava and Keegan hanging out! Look at their feet crossed!!
Bobbi got Ava a little baby stroller to push around. She LOVES it. She also likes to sit in it too...she barely fits! When she sits there, we tell her to "hold on," and this is what she does! She holds on to her OWN hands! How cute!! Here are some more pics of Ava's Thanksgiving!! Enjoy!

I love popsicles!!!

15 months!

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted about Ava! Although, I do have to admit that this new I-only-post-once-a-month thing is great. I almost forgot how time consuming it is!! But, I'm glad to update you now! So, can you freaking believe she's already 15 months old!! WOW! She's becoming sweeter and sweeter in her old age. Well, actually, I don't know if you can get sweeter than a newborn, but you know what I mean. She's still so lovey with me...and she still favors me over everyone else. I know this wont last forever, but I sure am enjoying it now! Everyday when I come home from work, she runs (I mean, really runs!) to me saying "mama, mama." Then I'm greeted with a great, big hug! Many times, Patrick and Ava are standing in the front yard when I pull up, then Patrick lets her run up the driveway to me. :) I just really love it. This next picture really captures how lovey she is right now. She's constantly putting her head on my shoulder and giving me hugs....I don't even have to ask! Awwe...look at her!
Ava is doing just great! I don't know exactly how many words she is saying now (I guess I need to try and count), but there are many! Some things are pretty clear, while others are very hard to understand unless you hear them a lot and pay attention to what she's doing...then you can figure it out. Some of the pretty clear ones are: ball, up, bye-bye, hi, mama, dada, nana (banana), eye, nose, and hot. The not so clear (but Patrick and I understand) are: all done, open, Sa (Salsa), and help. There are others, but I can't remember them! ( I really should write them down)! She really likes to stack things...blocks, cups, etc. She loves to open all the cabinets and take stuff out and sort them into piles. She also likes to step in and out of our shower (stand up shower) and move the shampoo bottle in and out. She's got a thing with the drain too...she likes to stand on it! :) She still loves reading her books. She spends a LOT of time at the park...mostly on the swing, but also walking around. April (babysitter) takes her everyday at least once, and sometimes Patrick or I will take her again. She's got some friends that she sees on a regular basis there! She had her 15 month check up the other day. She got 3 shots. :( I didn't go because I had to work, but Patrick was there and said it was really sad. Up until the shots, though, he said she was perfectly happy and walked around the room touching everything (eww!) the whole time. She did great, though, and was perfect the rest of the day! No fussiness! She weighed 19 lbs 10oz and was 3o inces long. 10% for weight and 75% for height! Wow! I wonder where she got that from! Doc said everything looks great! She's been eating a little better lately, and we've re-introduced milk into her diet. She'll drink some of it...not a lot, but we're working on it! So, anyway, she's healthy and wonderful! Can't ask for more than that! We're very lucky!

Here's a series of pictures that I really love. Her skin is seriously porcelain!

That smile is infectious! I see this and I can just hear her laughing!

Ava had two very important visitors this month! Michee came one weekend and Bobbi came another!! They had so much fun! I wish Ava could see them more often, but it's nice that they come down pretty regularly. Just 7.5 more months left...then we'll be home...with all the grandparents!! I wasn't able to get any pictures with Bobbi :( but I got a few with Ava and Michee. Here's one of them being silly!Patrick, Ava, and I went to visit our friends in Tampa for a quick overnight trip to watch the Georgia/Tennessee game. We were able to make it to Tampa bay for a few mins to let Ava check out the beach! She loved it!
She likes pinecones. Even though she moves her fingers around and I can tell it kinda hurts her hand. She doesn't drop it...just keeps carrying it!
"Wanna see my hands? Here they are!"
So, my camera has been giving me some problems...so, I've sent it off to have it looked at. I have no idea how long I'll be without my camera...it's been almost a week now. I don't usually miss it so much during the week...but it'll be hard not to have it during the weekend! So, I'm not sure how many pictures I'll get this month, but if it's an emergency picture, then I'll use my little dinky one. But it doesn't take that great of pictures, so I don't really like using it too much. I think camera places usually are pretty slow...so, I'll keep you updated!

Click here for more pics of Ava's 15th month!