Stranded

Ava and I were out running errands on Monday when the car battery decided to die, leaving us stranded. Thankfully, Vaune and little Luke came to our rescue and dropped us off at home. Considering the situation it didn't turn out to be half bad! We were in a safe parking lot without a lot of people around, there was a beautiful park with a pond across the street to look at, it was a beautiful day, AND we got to see our friends for a little bit. I opened up the back doors of the Tahoe and Ava and I just tailgated until our friends arrived. She loved it and it gave us a chance to enjoy the pretty weather and just chill.

We strapped Ava's carseat in the back of Vaune's car next to Lukie. They both were a little tired to enjoy each other's company.

Thanks Vaune and Luke for coming to our rescue! We enjoyed seeing you both.

A visit from friends

This weekend Aaron and Chelsea were in town so they stopped by to visit. Chelsea met Ava when she was a newborn but this was Aaron's first time to meet her. Ava of course loved Chelsea, and her beautiful necklace, but had a more difficult time warming up to Aaron. I think I would too if I saw this tall man with lots of facial hair! Of course Aaron wasn't really trying to win her over so that didn't help! The Carters also stopped by and it was fun to see them again as well. Ellie and Kevin are just too cute and we enjoyed watching them entertain themselves at our house.

Chelsea and Ava

See what I mean by not trying to make her smile?! haha. He played it up by frowning at her and that instantly made her stick out that bottom lip and pout. (ok, I actually encouraged this picture a little too because she had been doing this so much and I had to get her reaction on camera, mean mom!)

Kevin tried on Aaron's boots and shuffled around the kitchen. So funny!

Kevin's Mission Control Center, aka Ava's exersaucer

It was a fun day with friends, as always! Now if Aaron and Chelsea would just hop on the baby band wagon...;)

Happy Birthday to you....

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Alli. Happy birthday to you!!!!

Dear Aunt Alli,

Happy birthday! I love you so much and think you are the coolest aunt ever. I like staring at you because I think you are soo pretty. Thank you for all my fun presents that you give me like my Care Bear, my hooded duckie towel, and my pretty painting that you made just for me. I am lucky to have an aunt like you. You promised to always have candy, so when I get all my teeth I will be ready!

Hugs and slobbery kisses,

Ava Marie

No Longer Itty Bitty

Over the past few days Ava has started sitting on her own for long periods of time. It is so cute to see her sitting up and I think she is quite proud of herself when she does it. She enjoys playing with toys now that she can sit up and I love watching her face light up when we show her her favorite toys, the ones with lights and sounds. Before now, when we put her in her exersaucer, she would just fling her hands around and accidentally hit things to make sounds go off but now that she has more control she intentionally plays with certain toys and knows how to make them move and make noise. Our little girl is no longer an itty bitty baby!

Sitting pretty

She was sitting for so long that I wanted to snap some shots of her neck so we remember what it looks like.

This is usually how she looks from behind, head tilt to the right.

But look at that! She is completely capable of straightening her neck and head now, which is a huge improvement. We still have a ways to go but I am so proud of how far she has come.

Ava now likes to reach in her diaper basket and see what she can find to put in her mouth.

Found her sunglasses

And her toes

Ava is entering such a fun stage. She is becoming so alert and observant and interacts with us more than she ever has before. We love doing silly things to make her smile and laugh.

Bottle Cap Magnets

This is my latest craft project from Supper Club last week. I am in love with these bottle cap magnets! Vaune found the idea on Martha Stewart's website and she showed us how to make them. They are very easy, although Vaune had the hardest part of shrinking our photos we sent her and making them black and white. I can't wait to make more!

On the frig!

Here is a link to the directions if you want to make some of your own. I am thinking these would be GREAT Christmas gifts.

Bottle cap magnets and thumbtacks

First Veggie

Ava tried her first vegetable on Sunday, green beans. Introducing new food to her is so fun and I am enjoying making it as well! Next is sweet potatoes, yum yum.

6 months old!

Half a year old

(click on picture to see her toothy smile!)

I know! Hard to believe right? What an exciting 6 months it has been! She has grown up so much and is learning new things by the day.

She is now...

15 lbs. (25-50%)

26 inches long (50-75%)

head size is 17 inches (50-75%)

Some other milestones and important things from this month are:

*Her two bottom teeth have both come in. They came in at the same time and she was such a trooper!

*Ava can now sit on her own for brief periods of time. She is learning how to support herself by leaning on her hands.



*She has a new fascination with the cell phone and the remote control. She likes to touch the buttons and try to eat them.




*She is getting very long! Those long legs of hers make it hard to fit in her bathtub comfortably. She now stretches end to end leaving very little kicking room which she loves to do in the tub.



After we bathe her we have been taking the sling out of her tub so she can sit like a big girl and kick her legs and play with her toys.


*This month Ava has discovered her loud voice. She likes to squeal like a mouse and her daddy has affectionately given her the nickname "Ava mousy" when she does it. Very cute!

*She is starting to laugh more and more and loves it when we make new silly sounds, especially ones that she can imitate.

*Ava is now eating every 4 hours so she is now down to only 4 feedings a day. Because she is such an efficient eater I continue to nurse her for each feeding rather than give her a bottle. She eats rice cereal usually after her second feeding. Whenever I start stirring her cereal together she instantly gets excited and starts jerking around in her high chair. Who knew rice cereal would get such a reaction?! I can't wait to see what she does when we start giving her fruits and vegetables this month!

*Ava's torticollis continues to make slow improvements. Her wonderful physical therapist Leakhena is now starting to come twice a week. She has been such a blessing to us! She is so knowledgeable and has put us completely at ease. She was sweet enough to even tag along with us to her 6 month check up to talk with the pediatrician about Ava's progress. Love her! With her continual help I am confident Ava will be torticollis cured (at least by her 1st birthday which is what we can expect).

Mommy and Ava

I love you little munchkin! You have made my life oh so sweet. I am proud and blessed to be YOUR mommy!


Ava and Daddy
Aren't they cuter than words!?





And of course, here are some more pictures from this past month.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Giggles to melt your heart

These home videos and pictures that we take of Ava have become our prized possessions. They are priceless memories! I often find myself looking back at the videos and pictures we have taken because I love reliving all the fun moments we have had with Ava over the past 6 months. Can you believe she is almost half a year old already??!! We go for shots and her well check up today so I will post her stats along with her 5th month slideshow soon. Almost finished!

We are wanting to buy a good quality video camera, instead of using the one on our old camera, so if anyone has any recommendations send them my way.

Ava's Dedication Weekend- Part 2

As mentioned in the previous post, we had Ava's dedication at church on Sunday. It was such a special moment for us as we stood in front of the congregation and made the commitment to raise Ava to know and love our Savior Jesus Christ.

The grandparents joined us on stage as our pastor said a few words and prayed for us.

" I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth"

3 John 4

Ava's Dedication Weekend- Part 1

This weekend we had lots of family in town to help us celebrate Ava's dedication at church on Sunday. Our church does not have the traditional baby baptism, rather an opportunity for parents to dedicate their babies to the Lord. We were so fortunate to have Ava's grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, and great aunts join us for such an important event. The weather was not kind this weekend but they came out anyway to love and support our Ava. (several family members couldn't make it but we know they were there in spirit)

Here are a few pictures from the weekend. I will post pictures from the actual dedication soon.

Family photo

(top- Gramielle, Papa Jim, Great Aunt Sah, Uncle Greg, Aunt Alli, Kay Kay

bottom- Bpop, Gigi, Mimi, Mikey, Me, Ava, Great Granny Jean, Aunt Bri, Great Aunt Konnie, sister Macy dog)

Showing off her pretty white dress and flower headband


and cute embroidered bloomers with her name on them

some of the papparrazi taking pics of Miss A

Since we are teething now she loves to suck on this teething toy that has an ice cube in it.

Mimi, Ava, Kay Kay

Ava and Gramielle

Ava with B-Pop and Gigi

Sisters and Ava

And you betcha we got in some craft time before Kay Kay and Mimi left. We are not a family of "Martha Stewarts" but somehow it has become a fun way to spend time together. (I was making them a pumpkin dishtowel for Fall and my mom and Mimi were making more clipboards for work friends since they fell in love with my mom's)



There was no shortage of love for Ava this weekend. I absolutely love having our families together at our house. I am overwhelmed with happiness when I see Ava with her family and how much they love and adore her. It makes me a proud mom and reminds me of all our many blessings. It's one of life's sweet moments!

Just can't get enough

I came across this video that we took of Ava a couple of weeks ago. I love that sweet smile of hers!

(sorry for the spit up on the video. can't avoid it!)

Gig'em!! One of Ava's early talents (that is her foot)!

Teeth!

Ava's two bottom teeth have made their appearance! For a few days now they have been just under her gums but yesterday I noticed her gums were more swollen than normal and then this morning I could see the corners of her teeth emerging from her gums! That counts as teeth right? I can definitely feel them now when she bites down on my finger. Hopefully she won't use those little teethies when I am nursing! Since this major teething phase she has been more restless at night. For the past 3 nights she has been waking up around 5 but then this morning she woke up at 3:30. Now that I see her teeth cutting through her gums I am not surprised. Other than waking at unusual times, she is handling the teething pretty well. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues that way. :)

Labor Day Weekend

We traveled to The Woodlands to spend Labor Day weekend with Papa Jim and Gramielle. This was only the second time for us to travel with Ava and considering she is teething she did pretty well. She didn't do as well in the car this time but it was nothing we couldn't handle. I ended up sitting in the back seat and was Ava's entertainment. I think the teething had a big part to do with the rough car ride. Not to mention she spends more time awake and gets bored more easily. We were happy none the less to be getting out of town for a little bit and visiting with family. We played with Ava in the pool for the first time and on Sunday Jim and Lauren had about 40 of thier closest friends over to the house to meet Ava. It was the Ava party for sure! She did very well and mingled nicely with all the guests who were anxious to meet her. Thank you to all the friends who came over to meet our precious girl. Before we headed out of town we stopped by to see the Burkharts. It was a short visit but always fun!

Pooltime with dad


and mom
(she liked kicking her legs in the water)


Her swimsuit is a strawberry and it looked super cute on her. Glad she got to wear it before she outgrew it.

Some of Jim and Lauren's friends stopped by to meet Ava on Saturday since they weren't going to be able to come to the party Sunday. This is Ava smiling at Brady (despite his Longhorn gear).

Old friends were reunited and were able to show off their new granddaughters.
Edwina, Lexi, Gigi, and Ava

Ava opening a new book she recieved at her party.

Getting some Papa and Gramielle time on the patio

Classic shot, sucking on fingers. I can see those little teeth about to come through. They are just about to break the skin.

Grabbing for the coffee mug

and chain

(everything is interesting to her and she wants to touch it all)

Visiting our sweet friends Jenny, Zack, and Baby Bekah

The Burkhart Family

The dads with their teething girls. They both have their hands in their mouth. It's so cool that our girls are going through these milestones at the same time.

Macy and Charlie finally got to meet each other!