Ava on phone

Little Sweetheart

Here is an update on Ava for all of you who have been asking!
Ava is learning so much and she copies everything we do. She bows her head when we pray. She is playing pretend more and more like pretending to talk on the phone, give her doll a bottle, carrying her "purse" around, dusting and washing things and reading.

She loves to cuddle and will put her head on our shoulder when we ask for a hug. Talk about melting your heart! She is basically a sweetheart.
Also, she loves it when we ooh and aah over her and eats it right up! She is walking really well now too and toddles around non stop.
Ava is having some separation anxiety lately and cries when I leave the room, give her to someone else or put her down. It's not all the time so it may be that she doesn't feel good (teething). She is also still waking up at least a couple times a night but usually (not always) goes back to sleep quickly so I can't complain too much. That's about all for now!

Enjoy the pictures....

Giggling with Mema

Visit with Auntie
"reading" the Bible
Feeding herself yogurt

All Bundled Up
Dusting...I'm teaching her early!
She painted her first pictures and likes to scribble with pencils and crayons. She also tries to eat them.
Giving her moose the bottle

Happy playing

Feeding dolly

Cuddle bunny

BEHOLD!!!! - SHE WALKS!!!

Amber got a nice video of Ava walking around the house a few days ago, so here it is!

Fun being One

Ava has taken her first steps!! She is getting braver and continues to take more steps each day, with prompting and occasionally without. She is getting smarter and bigger each day. She amazes us all the time. She had her second big trip when we went to Florida to visit family. Ava felt the grass on her toes, went swimming and had lots of new experiences.

Our Happy Girl

Ava is such a good baby. Most of the time she is so easy going and happy. She has a little stubborn streak and lets us know when she's not happy though. She has learned a few more things, like "sharing". She hands us everything and smiles when we say "thank you". She likes peek-a-boo. She will duck down behind the coffee table and then pop up and laugh when we say "there you are!". She can also put balls down a "rainspout" on her toy. She loves to walk holding on to our hands or holding on to anything...it's her favorite thing to do. She's going to be walking very soon!

She has also gained 4 pounds since we've been home! And she has 3 teeth now. We think she gets cuter everyday...and we are so amazed at how smart she is. I try but I just can't capture how adorable she is in pictures...of course this is a mom talking. She is truly so beautiful though! We feel so blessed to have her as our daughter!
OK, I'm done bragging!! Here are a few pictures:

A Girl Can't Have too Many Clothes....

or shoes or toys...


Ava has had two more baby showers! A small family one and one at Jason's job. She has recieved some very cute clothes, toys and other items. She does go though a lot of clothes a day and she's growing fast so all of her new things will be used! I'm having fun dressing her up in the cute dresses and outfits too!


She loves all her toys and plays, plays, plays all day! I am glad she has a lot of things to interest her. She loves her musical and talking toys the best, she bounces to any fast music...it's adorable!


She's quite the party girl...here are a few pictures from her showers and at home...

Our Baby is Growing!

Ava is growing! She looks so healthy and happy these days. We are settling into a routine and enjoying our time together as a family! Ava had been sleeping great but then decided that she wanted to wake up about 6X or more a night and be rocked back to sleep every time (by mommy). Also, she had decided she didn't want 2 naps a day, or any naps some days. I was getting very tired but she is doing better (mostly) now! Also, it took 3 weeks but she likes her bath now! We had to very slowly get her used to the water, now she really likes it and reaches out when she sees water running.

Ava is doing new things every day and she said her first words!! They were "Dada" and "Ava"! She has also said, "duck" and "Bye". It's kind of funny her first word was her own name...but I guess she hears it enough! She is trying to say other things too...it's very cute! Here are some more pictures!

Ava's first haircut!

Here's what she thought! Of course her bangs are crooked because she was squirming!

Mommy's helper :)

Reading with Grandma

Playing with her bib & Spencer.

Bath time in the ducky tub!!

With her cousin Ben.

New Pictures

The sweetest face in the world.
Playing Guitar with Daddy!
She loves her playpen! Mommy does too!!
Making Music!

All Dressed Up

Ava dressed up for her first meeting.

She slept through most of the meeting and then woke up and started charming everyone with smiles. She seemed a little overwhelmed with all the attention before we left but she did really well.

More than one baby in the house...

Spencer found Ava's pacifier and was running around with it in his mouth! He thinks he's still the baby.

Visit with Great Grandma

Visit with Great Grandma, Grandma and Auntie (and cousin who is not yet born).

Visit with friends. Ava really didn't want to be held by anyone but me or Jason as you can see. She is very shy and thankfully very attached to us already!

Life With Ava

We are adjusting to life with Ava very well. It feels like we have been together so long...so much longer than a week! We can't imagine life without her! She is such a blessing from Jehovah!

First taste of applesauce.

She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING! We have to watch her every second!

Her new hat. Can she get any cuter?!

Her new walker ($5.00 on craigslist!)

She was so tired after a long day (Dr. visit and blood test) that she fell asleep eating her dinner.