Sleepy Girl

Thanks to Ava's Nana for the wonderful comment that you left. We have definitely missed having you here! Although, I think Ava has now developed a penchant for sleeping in now. This morning she let Bradley sleep until 9:45. We went from having a girl up at 7 on the nose, to having her sleep so late that I got check on her to see if she's okay. In the past we haven't set our alarms on the weekend for church because she is always up so early. Last Sunday when I woke up at 9:45 I couldn't believe it. First of all because I never sleep that late and secondly because Ava defintely doesn't! Oh the changes that happen when you are least expecting it!

What Ava's up to this week:

• sleeping in!



• Cutting two molars on bottom and possibly the eye teeth on top.



• Being so sweet, but into every Christmas decoration she can get her hands on!

New words:

• "Owside" - Outside



• Bear



• "Aci" - stands for Paci just without the 'p.' You say it and see what you get! ;) She walks around saying it constantly!

These photos come courtesy of Ava's Nana who took them while she was napping the other day. How adorable!

She's Definitely my Daughter...

because she is a spaghetti fiend. Well, okay, she loves carbs in general. On Friday night I made homemade spaghetti and Ava just loved it. She loves picking up the noodles, sucking them up through her lips, and basically making a mess. She is adorable eating it though that I forgive her for all that clean-up time!

Crazy Haired Girl

Here are some funny pictures of Ava after waking up from a nap. Man, am I going to have so much blackmail material when she gets older...

Ava News

Ava had her 15 month checkup today with her doctor. She weighed in at 23 pounds and is 31 inches tall. Everything looked great and the doctor was pleased with how well she is doing. She got 2 yucky shots today; measles and the first round of flu shot. She goes back next month for round 2 of the flu and then next year it will just be 1 flu shot. She was not very good during her visit and cried every time one of the nurses or doctor tried to touch her. But we survived to tell about it and maybe next time she won't be as scared (doubt it).





What Ava's doing now:

• Dancing, Dancing, Dancing - This little girl loves to sway to the music, especially fast songs and she even tries to sing along.


• Sharing - She loves sharing her food with Squiggles.


• Kissing - She loves giving kisses and gives them to every object she comes in contact with.


• Talking on the phone - Every object Ava picks up is a telephone. Yesterday I gave her a slice of cheese and she stuck it to her ear and said, "L-O"


• Mimicking - she mimics the words you say to her and says them back in a funny way.

Ava speak:

• "Ommy" - Mommy


• Daddy


• Cat


• "Uppy" - Puppy


• Little Bill


• Cereal


• "Oo-bye" - Goodbye


• No! - self explanatory


• "Y-Okay" - Are you okay? Learned from Nana


• Apple


• "Cacker" - Cracker


• Basically something new every day and I know I left some off.

So we are doing good and gearing up for the holidays. This weekend we have plans to put up the trees and start the Christmas decorating. Can't believe a week from today is Thanksgiving. Hopefully I can squeeze in a little photo shoot with out little turkey. Until next time, have a great weekend!

Wearing Nana's coat.

Happy Birthday Dad (AKA Gramps!)

Just want to wish a very happy birthday to my Dad (Ava's Gramps)! We love you very much and can't wait to see you and celebrate your birthday with you! Maybe your week will get better...

Ava Movies

Here are some recent movies of Ava doing various things around the house.

Here she is playing ball with Bradley.



Ava playing with her Dancing Pablo (from the Backyardigans).



Ava dancing along with Dancing with the Stars.

Fall picture scouting

On Wednesday afternoon I decided to take Ava out scouting for places to take fall pictures. We have a very nice rest area right outside of town so we headed their to check it out. The leaves here haven't all turned so some are still bright green while others are completely turning. In our backyard, it is either yellow or green and nothing else. So we went to the rest stop and of course Ava just had a ball running around and exploring. However, that is not the best time to try to get pictures. She just wanted to run and not pose for anything. I got a couple of good shots, so here you go.

Sickness in our House

Well, we are finally getting over the blues that we have had at our house. Like I mentioned last week, Ava has had a runny nose, but on Sunday, Bradley and I both got sick. I had a stomach virus that lasted about 10 awful hours and Bradley has had stomach problems and fever. We both ended up home from work on Monday and thank God for Nana (Anne) because without her I don't know what we would have done. {Thank you so much for taking care of Ava! You do a fantastic job and we don't let you know enough how much we appreciate you!} We are both back at work and a little puny, but better than we had been. Ava's runny nose is slowly drying up and she is feeling better. In fact, today we headed out to scout some fall areas for pictures and headed to a rest stop outside of town. The leaves here haven't all turned and I was hoping to find some pretty scenery, but Ava is just at a horrible age to try to take pictures of so I just snap away and hope something turns out. I will try to get those posted maybe tomorrow. So that's basically it from the home front right now. Just getting ready to start getting into the Christmas spirit and start decorating!

Halloweenie Roast Pictures

Here is the rest of the pictures from the Hall-O-Weenie Roast. After carving pumpkins and playing badminton, we got the fire going and roasted hot dogs and had s'mores. Ava was very intrigued by the fire, but never got too close. I was just scared she would trip and fall near it so we kept a very close eye on her. She ate most of my hot dog and most of her Nana's veggie burger.

Then I changed her into her Pumpkin Princess costume so everyone could see what a cutie she was. She ran around in her little outfit for quite a while. She had only taken a short nap and was so tired that we tried to get her in bed at 8. No such luck, but thanks to her Daddy who bathed her and put her in bed because her Mommy was so tired she was in bed before Ava! It was a great day, but we were exhausted. Thanks to everyone who came.

Ava with Pop (I love how the smoke from the fire is making a screen)

Nana and Ava

I think her little tights and tutu are so cute!
Grammy's Rose
All 5 of our pumpkins
Bethany and Peyton's Castle
Gramps's skeleton - Grand Prize Winner

My Dumbo

Above - Nana's Donald Duck

Below - Ava with Grammy and Gramps