The 'A' Team

Books, books, books...

Ava has ALWAYS loved books...even from the time she was very little. She loves to read one, and then pick up another, and then another, and yet another.  This is what it looks like after a few minutes...

    

Catching up

I am soo behind on posting. One thing I plan to do in 2010 is be better about documenting the life of our little Ava and our entire family adventures. I need to just pick up from where I left off and bring this blog to current date...so I can just take it day by day...or week by week.

Well, having said that...here goes!

Here are some of Ava's summer fun! 

A couple pool pictures (i think my camera died here, so all I have is like 2 pictures, haha). This is our neighborhood pool

 

Then her new friend, Billy the goat

 

We also had some fun visiting in TN with Aunt Mona

    

Love her little toesies...

 

Ava was a little scared of the water shooting up. She didnt really go into it like all of the other kids. She mainly stayed where it felt 'safe' for her. Where the water was low...

Then she decided to climb the lion. Dont worry mom...we were RIGHT there...

And we cannot forget Ava's cousin..SADIE! Look how tiny she is here!!

Sadie chasing her...so funny

 

   

Ava dancing

Ok....last video for today.  I know I post alot of videos...but I just cant help myself. I dont always get alot of good ones, b/c it seems like every time i pull out the video camera these days...Ava stops what she's doing and just wants to stare at me.  So when I do capture something, i want to show it.

Ava has this little barn magnet for the fridge that holds little farm animals and if you press it, it plays a few songs.  She loves to go up to it and press it and do her little dances.  She has gotten a little shy though and wont do it as often or as aggressive as she used to. But it's still soo cute.  Check out her moves!  This one is called the STOMP! :-)

Last day of school

Ava has been at a church dayschool this past school year for 3 days a week.  Her last day was in May, and alot of the moms brought in their camera to get some pictures.  It was kind of sad b/c her teachers were GREAT!  They had a very 'difficult' eater on their hands...so I love the way they worked with her and really took care of her.  Ava loved going to school and she will start at a different church this summer. 

Here are some with her teachers and friends.

Ava loves Ms. Christy

....and Ms. Linda

Yup...more videos

I just couldnt resist posting this one...even though its super long.  She is SO cute after naps and this time was no different. (well, except for the fact that she'd been in bed for 2 hrs and didnt sleep a wink).  She likes to play keep-away and run from you when you do come and get her. This is when mom was here and we both went in.  I hate that i forgot that dang 'ocean' on (her noise machine).  It's quite annoying...so you'll have to try and tune it out. :-)

Ava's first BUBBLE bath

So funny!

HATS

Another post from March pictures. I just think these are funny b/c Ava went through a phase of loving hats. My winter hat, my baseball/workout hats, anything she could get on her head. She would put them on and walk around like she was really something...kinda like this:

Snow for a day in AL

It was funny...b/c everyone freaked out about snow in March! But it only lasted a day, or not even...b/c by that afternoon...it had already melted. But ofcourse, we had to get pictures! :-)

Ava's 1st BIRTHDAY....(finally, I know...)

Ava is now 15 months...almost 16, and I'm finally getting around to posting her birthday pictures. There is no order to this blog whatsoever. haha.  I am REALLY going to get better at this...promise.  

Anyway...it was a happy and sad day all at the same time.  It was so fun to see her around all the family and friends we had over, but at the same time, my little baby was turning ONE! I couldnt believe it, and I remember the emotion of that day as if it were yesterday.  I know this same emotion will come back with every birthday from now on....it's so bitter-sweet. 

We had a little celebration on her actual bday (2/26) and her party was that Saturday.  We decided that for her birthday, we would just get her a little cookie from the Cookie Company (b/c it's Jason's favorite...and he wants to pass down the torch) and put alittle candle on it and have our own little special time.  It was me, Jay, mom, Judy, and Bunu (mom's dad from chicago).  She was so cute..she didnt know what to do with it until she realized it was SUGAR!!!! 

Nanny (jason's mom) also brought over a chocolate cake over and it was funny to see her dig into it. she definitely got plenty of sugar that night

our little pirate...with her chocolate gotee...hahhaha

Ok...now for her party!  I had the hardest time trying to figure out what 'theme/colors' i was going to go with. But since I really love her room...we decided to keep it the same colors/theme.  We went with the yellow and pink...and birds. SO cute.

I had little birdie cupcake toppers, yellow and pink plates, napkins, and then i found these chinese lanterns that i thought would look cute as the center of the table...and i hung them from the chandelier. This was all very last minute (surprise surprise)...so I was pretty pleased how everything looked. 

The table...before pizza came out

Ella sneaking some m&ms :-)

Opening up gifts

Books....always a great gift. she LOVES books

There were so many gifts...i didnt know if we'd get through them all..but we did. Except I wont show ALL the gift pictures, b/c this is pretty exhausting, lol.  Here's the last one...the big car from mommy and daddy. She didnt really love it the second she saw it, but it quickly became a favorite once we took it out for a ride :-)

And last but not least...some cake pics. I think she started to feel alittle overwhelmed w/ all the people around her, and had a little cry. But she got over it pretty quick! :-)

After a few bites of her cake....she is thinking..."I've got a full tummy and it's nap time!"

Ava's very first steps - more old videos

We had the camera out ALOT when Ava first started taking her first steps. It was cute..but it was also very challenging, b/c i had to wait till Jason was around. Filming and trying to catch her when she fell was pretty much impossible. Here we were one night and Ava was taking some of her first 'confident' steps.  This was taken on Feb 9th. Right before her 1st bday.

It's a very short video, but you can see how she's so wobbly, holding out her arms to balance herself. so cute!

She is 15 months today...

...and her smile melts my heart! I love her more and more each day!
This picture was taken this weekend, and there are sooo many more cute ones i want to share...but AFTER i post her birthday pics :-)  haha  will get there one day.

Old video...

I was going through some pictures to post for the blog  (since i'm being reminded by EVERYONE on this planet that the blog needs updating)...and i found this video. This is when Ava was 11 months...and barely walking...just holding on to things. But gosh...she was starting to really talk, as you'll see. Too cute not to share.

One for Buna...

I PROMISE i will post more, but it's late and i'm TIRED...so more to come. This is just to make you smile and get you through the day.  Here she is...all springy and such. She found a flower petal and did her 'O' face.  SO CUTE!

Never be too sure of yourself....

Ava loves to get on our bed and bury herself underneath our pillows. She loves getting behind them and standing up at the headboard. Like this....

It was right before bath time, and after getting her out of there once, we let her go back there....in her birthday suit!!  BIG mistake....!

I thought...'Surely no harm in that'.  haha...cant be too sure.  #1 rule that we learned, never let a naked baby run all over your pillows.  Yes...what ever you're thinking she did....you're right!!

She is in mid-damage mode here if you look closely. Hahaha
 Yes, Ava...we forgive you...again!

Piggy

literally one of the best gifts we recd. We had to go out and find another one to have and switch out whenever we washed one of them, or went on trips, etc.  She is sooo attached to it...such a security blanket. It's kinda cute huh? It's like she never puts it down...as you'll see in these pics.

Some of our friends came over and played a while. Ava really enjoyed it. But as much as she wanted to get her hands on Hagan, she's still not letting go of Piggy. lol

Making a mess...

Ava is just like every other baby...loves to make a mess! Everytime I have laundry on the couch...she has to get into it. Her favorite thing is taking each item one by one, and flinging them on the floor.  This time, though, she took it a step further and took her own pants off. It was pretty funny, i'm not gonna lie. How could you be mad at this?? :-)

Aunt Ruth...I miss you!

Why couldnt you  have taken me with you? Maybe it's b/c mommy wouldve had a cow... ya think???

It was so fun having Ruth over here. Ava really loved having her to play with. I know that they'll be good buddies when Ruth gets back, just like they have always been.

After taking Ruth to the airport, we headed over to Ikea in ATL to pick up a few things. This fruit hat was not on the list, but Ava liked it so much, we decided to let her wear it throughout the store. We got a kick out of it...so did everyone else.

Special Delivery for Pappa!!

Here I come Pappa! I miss you so much, that I decided I was going to send myself overseas to see you! :-)

Bye Bye everyone! See you later!

Copy cat...

I think this video was back from either Thanksgiving or Christmas...cant remember. Me and Ramona were hanging out with Ava at breakfast while everyone was still sleeping.  And no, i WOULD NOT trade these moments for sleep!  Makes me laugh everytime!

BRRRR....it's cold!

It has been freezing here lately...which is very unusual! But i'm loving it! I want it to feel like winter in the winter time...i dont want 70 degree weather in the winter months! If you were to add a few inches of snow....i would be 100% fine with it...and even truly excited! 

In the meantime...we'll settle for bundling up in our coats and hats...and it doesnt get much cuter than this.  I call this hat of Ava's....the Russian hat.  Dont know why....but it just reminds me of that.  It's so cute on her though.  Here we are on our way to school and snug in the car seat!