Good Ol' San Antone

This past weekend we went to San Antonio for my friend Cathy's wedding and while we were there we spent some quality time with friends and family. We left Thursday night so that we could travel while Ava was sleeping and it worked out great. It was a late night but it was so nice to not have to stop to feed her or entertain her in the backseat. Plus, leaving at night gave us a full extra day to spend with our friends Ryan, Paige, and their new baby Ray. This was our first time to meet Ray and boy is he a cutie! Thank you Ryan and Paige for letting us stay with you and being great hosts!

Ryan, Ray, Mikey, and Ava

or

The Dads and their mini-mes

Playing music with the little ones


Precious Ray

We practiced our crawling

And played in Ray's swing

Ava and Ray playing footsies

It wouldn't be right if Ava didn't try and take Ray's pacifier.

On Friday night we attended Cathy and Danny's wedding. Cathy was radiant! I have never seen her look more beautiful. I had so much fun dancing with the girls just like old times. Congratulations Cathy and Danny!

(The picture I took of them is on my other camera so that will be posted another time)

Sauce and the saucy husbands

(Sauce is the name we gave our group of friends from High School. I still don't know the reason behind it but it always stuck. These girls will forever hold a special place in my heart. Many of us have moved away, gotten married, and had kids yet we still have managed to keep in touch and remain close. I love them dearly.)

Paige and Little Miss

Ava and Jenny



Paige(Reynolds) had a great idea for us mommies to get together with the little ones for lunch on Saturday since she has never met Bekah or Izzie. We had our own mini playdate.

Ava and Izzie

Bekah, Izzie, and Ava

Ava of course pulled off Bekah's bow at one point and Izzie being the big girl she is told her "no no". It was precious!

After lunch on Saturday we went to my Dad's to visit and stay the night. He hasn't seen Ava in months so I was anxious for him to see her and see in person just how much she has changed. He lives out in the country so it was like a petting zoo for Ava. I never realized just how much fun his place is going to be for her until this trip.

Checking out the horses

They had this baby doll in the closet left by Shirley's granddaughter so they gave it to Ava to play with and she loved it. She pulled the baby's hair, chewed on her hands and feet, and she didn't even cry! Hopefully she doesn't try that on her real friends.

Ava had fun climbing on the couch

Jumping in the jumperoo

Sitting in Papa's lap

And terrorizing the kitty

We can't wait to go back! I am sure kitty would love for us to stay away though. We packed a lot in this trip but had a great time. I have noticed I am a lot more laid back when we are out of town for some reason and I think it rubs off on Ava. She has been an angel during all of our traveling this month. She even naps better! Who would have thought?

Sending our love to all our San Antonio loved ones!

8 months old

Happy 8 months old to my Ava Marie! The months are flying by so fast that before long I will be planning her 1st birthday and reminiscing about those early days when we first brought her home and were learning how to be parents. So much has happened in her 8 months on this earth! I am still amazed at just how fast these little ones grow and how much they learn in thier first year of life. If only we all continued to learn at their rate and take notice of the simple things in life, like the leaves blowing in the trees or big orange dogs that chase their tails round and round. I have loved just watching Ava take it all in and smile at the things that seem so mundane to you and I. She still continues to teach me new things about life and myself everyday. Now that she is crawling she is exploring her world in a brand new way. I am sure we will be learning a lot about how things like dog hair and bugs taste (to name a few) along with our first bumps and bruises. I already feel like she is becoming more of a toddler than a baby. Thank goodness for pictures and my obsession with blogging to help me remember all her baby moments.

Here are some things I want to remember from her 7th month:

*The biggest milestone this month....crawling!! She has only been crawling the last week of her 7th month but that still counts. She just barely made it. She hasn't learned how to really pick up speed with the crawling yet but that is just around the corner.

*Ava has also learned how to pull herself up to standing position and anything she can use to pull up on she will. We borrowed a jumperoo from a friend (thanks Gladice) and I think that has really helped Ava feel more comfortable putting weight on her feet along with all the work Ms. Leakhena has done with her.

*She has spoken her second word, Mama! Dada was her first word although in the beginning I don't think she was associating it with Daddy. I can tell that she does know Dada now because whenever I say it she starts kicking her legs and if we are close to the back door where he comes in from work she will look in that direction. So cute!! The only time I have heard her say Mama, sometimes just m-m-m-m, is when she is standing her crib and declaring that I come and get her out. It's so funny because I really do think she is calling out for me because she never does it any other time except when she wants me to get her from her crib.

*Her favorite "toys" have become any ordinary object that is not a baby toy, such as my wallet, her diaper/wipe holder for the diaper bag, straps on the baby bejorn, buttons, velcro, zippers, paper etc... Really just any new texture that she can put in her mouth. Leakhena mentioned that it is time for more cause and effect type toys, where you push a button and something happens, because those will be more entertaining for her.

*One of our new favorite things to do at home is to lay on a blanket in the front yard and touch the grass and leaves and watch Macy try and jump up the tree to look for squirrels. We could sit out there for hours. She loves being outside. Sadly that is about to change when the cold weather comes.

*Ava now loves to eat puffs. She is getting better at picking them up and making it to her mouth. They are great to have on hand at restaurants or when I am preparing her food at home. The girl can get very impatient when it is time to eat. When she is hungry she wants her food now! I think this is going to be our first lesson in combating instant gratification.

*Our naps are still short but occassionally she will grace me with an hour to an hour and a half long nap. I am done wasting my time stressing about it and trying to figure out how to make them longer. I don't want to look back and wish I had spent less time making this into a bigger deal then it really is. Truth of the matter is, Ava is a happy baby and just doesn't seem to require as much rest time during the day. There really isn't a problem other than me being a little selfish and wishing I had more alone time during the day to get things accomplished. Her short naps just give me more time with my precious girl ,right?! That's my new outlook!

This past month with Ava has been so fun. Celebrating her 1st Halloween, standing up, crawling, riding in a shopping cart for the first time, playing with friends at playdates, and visiting family have all been special highlights. I cannot wait for this next month when we get to celebrate Ava's 1st Christmas. :)

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She's Crawling!! (and Standing too)

Ava has been on the verge for about two weeks now and this evening she finally crawled!!! I have been waiting for her to really move across the floor before I could officially say she was crawling. She would make it two steps (with her hands) and then her right leg would get in the way so tonight I held her leg down and helped her a few times and she figured it out in no time. Now I can say she is an official crawler! I am so excited for her and all she is about to discover but this means I am going to have to keep a very close eye on her. Yikes!





Leakhena has been teaching Ava how to pull herself up into standing position and so naturally she has started practicing her new skills in her crib. It's pretty cute to go in her room after a nap and see her standing with a big grin on her face. Love my girl!

1st time to the Zoo

Mikey had the day off on Wednesday, thanks to Veteran's day, so we decided to go to the Ft. Worth Zoo. This was a first for all of us. We have been wanting to go ever since we moved to Dallas and just never got around to it. It's fun exploring all these new places as a family. I'm glad we waited till now. The weather couldn't have been any better. We had a blast!

First stop, to see the monkeys!

There were so many beautiful waterfalls as part of the exhibits. Ava seemed more interested in them than the animals at first.

Silly monkeys fighting over a blanket ???

Lazy cheetah

This little guy was hanging out in the corner like he was serving his timeout.

Tiger

Taking it all in

Ava wasn't too impressed with the lion, maybe because she looks so much like her dog Macy!

Helping Dad decide which animals to see next

Giraffes

We were hoping for the giraffes in the background but our random photographer didn't seem to think that was important.

Blessed with friends

Ava and I are truly blessed to be surrounded by such loving friends in Dallas. I never knew just how much I would come to enjoy the times that I spend with other mommy friends and their babies. I always look forward to our playdates or any opportunity to bring the babies together and speak with my fellow moms about motherhood. I can tell that Ava really enjoys these times as well and it will be even more fun when the babies are older and can play more together. I have already started thinking about all the fun craft/learning playdates we can have once they are older. The teacher side of me will never go away.

Here are some pictures taken of Ava and her friends over the past few weeks.

Halloween party at Tess's house. My little ladybug in the bottom center was a little overwhelmed by so many "big" kids and mommies saying cheese. Maybe I should have held her like my friends Charlotte and Kim did. Oh well!

Brinley and Ava

Already holding hands

Jake, Ava, and Brinley

(Tyler and Carter, sorry we didn't get you in the picture)

Ava and Luke

He is always so gentle and sweet with her. Just what we want her boyfriend to be like :)

Luke giving Ava a hug

Stephanie and Derek were back in Texas this week so that she could visit with friends and family and go to a workshop to get some counseling credits. I was reminded just how much I miss seeing her and Derek.

Ava, Me, Stephanie, and Derek

Precious Derek

He didn't want to miss any moment with his friends so he decided not to nap at all that day. He was holdin on strong!

Ava and Derek loved playing with Carter's piano.

Traveling weekend

This weekend we headed to The Woodlands/Houston area to visit grandparents, attend Charlotte's baby shower, and hang out with The Burkharts at their new house. It was a fun weekend and we were so glad we went. We drove in Friday night and stayed at Papa and Gramielle's house. Mikey's brother Jim was there along with his stepbrother Lance so we enjoyed catching up with them as well. On Saturday I went to my good friend Charlotte's baby shower in The Woodlands. I forgot to bring my camera to the shower so I don't have any pictures of Char and that cute belly of hers. Now that she lives in Virginia I dont get to see her nearly as much as I would like. I'm glad I was able to see her Saturday even if it was for a short time. Saturday evening we spent the night at the Burkharts house in Houston. Jenny and I have been looking forward to getting the girls together again so that they can play together. They are at the age where they can actually play with toys and are more aware of each other. We loved watching them together! That Bekah is a cutie pie!

Papa, Gramielle, and Ava

Lauren wanted a picture of Ava on her fur coat so we had a little photo shoot. It made a nice backdrop and Ava loved how soft it was.

She practiced her crawling. She is oh so close to really crawling. I am thinking any day now it will be official. Yikes!

These are some of my favorites from Ava's photo shoot.

Already texting

"Bekah, c u soon"

Ava loved Bekah's jumperoo

And her swing. I told her we would never go back to the swing, it's like an addicting drug, BUT I couldn't resist. I wanted to see her face light up again.

Jenny, modeling her new snuggie that I got her for her birthday.

Zack was jealous so he tried it out for himself.

Bekah shared her books with Ava too. Such a sweet friend.

"Don't cry Bekah. How about a hug?"

Mikey's storytime drew quite the crowd

"Welcome to this special edition of storytime with Daddy"

Charlie and Macy became best friends. He was a little intimidated by her largeness last time we visited but he gave her another chance. They had fun chasing each other around the house.

Zack and Ava

She knows a daddy when she sees one.

The girls dancin in their pj's

Sari, baby Whit, and Rob were also in town and stopped by so we could see them before we left. I have been waiting to meet this little guy that I have heard so much about. He's a cutie and of course Ava thinks so too.

Ava and Sari

How cool is it that we all now have babies that can play together?! I love times like this!

As a side note, Ava has her first sickness. I took her to the pediatrician today because she was sounding hoarse and he said she has laryngitis. I had a cold last week so she caught it from me. The good thing is is that it doesn't seem to be affecting her at all other than her voice. She doesn't have a temperature and has been her normal happy self. Hopefully it goes away soon though. Hearing her cry is especially sad now that she is so hoarse. She was fine all weekend but I hope she didn't pass anything on to Bekah.