Two Year Check Up

Ava had her 2 yr. doctor appointment yesterday, and all checked out well!

Height: 33 3/4"

Weight: 25 lbs. 6 oz.

50th percentile for both. Still a little on the petite side, but what can I say, she's got short genes.

Oh, and she also now has short jeans...I spent the last couple of days hemming some of her pants!

Lake Trip

So we decided to take a little break and head to the lake for a couple of days. Oh, did I say break,ha! It was not as relaxing as I had envisioned, but it was still fun. Ava was great! We were so concerned that she would throw a fit about wearing the life jacket, but she was a perfect little angel. She loved running around the campsite and had a blast on the boat too. She even jumped right into the lake with Grandma, which also surprised me! Livi was not as excited about the outing on the boat, not enough room for Mommy to walk around and bounce her. Although the pictures might fool you; she did enjoy a short catnap in the boat cabin. Here are some pics:




Ava, Grandma + Grandpa went swimming before the rain came. Mommy + Livi watched from the boat. Then the rain came and we were caught on the boat, luckily we made it the dock. It was so humid but we all sat below and waited for the rain to stop before heading back to the motorhome. Normally I wouldn't mind sitting below in the boat, however it was extremely humid, and it made me so nervous sitting in the water with a huge lightening rod!!! (aka the sailboat). Needless to say Ava had a blast sitting in the cabin with everyone right there; at least she kept us entertained.

Here we go 'round the merry-go-round...

We finally took Ava to the carousel while checking on Aunt Lisa + Uncle Andy's house last weekend.

I think it's the oldest in the state, or something like that. We rode about 3 times, Ava LOVED it...I was getting a little dizzy. We'll be back I'm sure.

Toys!!!!!

While Grandpa was getting ready for a meeting the other day, Ava happened to be in the office when he was searching for a box to put a model in. Well she hit the jackpot when he pulled one down from the closet....we hit the mother-load of little people, aka my sister's and my playmobil toys. I had forgotten the collection we had acquired over the years; we used to get these at Disney World when our family would go every Thanksgiving for many years. I think it's a German company, so we couldn't find them many places except at one particular toy store in Disney. Oh how the memories came back! I really had a wonderful childhood! Anyway, I'm pretty certain Ava is too young to play with these, because we had several bags of very tiny accessiories that I couldn't ever show her, but I did find some things that looked safe enough. She's had a blast with them, and I have too just watching her. I will have to hold myself back from ordering anymore for her until she really is old enough for the little pieces; I never could find the suggested age on the website, but perhaps I didn't look hard enough. Anyway, enough jabber, enjoy the pictures:


And what has Livi been up to?? Or down to, rather?....I caught her doing a Saturday Night Fever move on her activity mat, while sporting her "DG" onesie with the bling. Too cute! And she's getting so much more expressive.

Little Laughs

Livi laughed out loud for the first time yesterday, it was so sweet. The funny thing is I didn't even see it, but I heard it from the next room. I was working for my Dad in his office (in their home) and my mom was changing Livi's diaper in the next room, when I hear the sweetest little sound, a big giggle! My mom was of course laughing too; unfortunately by the time I got there she was done, but it was so exciting to hear it. We'll hope to perfect her giggles by the time we get to see Daddy, in a couple of weeks.

Mr. Sandman

Wow, we've been getting some pretty good visits from the Sandman at night. In the past 3 nights little Livi has slept for 7 - 7 1/2 hours each night...yeah!!! The routine started forming around the time she was 6 weeks old, and keeps getting better each night. Of course I realize that could change at any time, but for now I am really enjoying it! And what am I doing to get her to sleep like this??....Absolutely no idea! I think it's just persistence with our night time routine.

Ava has also turned into quite the good sleeper too. Double hooray for me!! She only gets about 12-13 hours of sleep total (night time plus nap), but she's going down really easy at night and staying asleep even with Livi and me sharing the room with her. She actually puts herself to sleep, after we brush her teeth and read some bedtime books then I tell her I love her and I'll be back in a little while. I turn off the lights (except for a nightlight), and close the door while she lays on my bed with her blankies. Then I go into the living room with the monitor and listen for her to call for me, but she doesn't, unless she needs a fresh diaper. It all started because I would have to leave the room to tend to a crying Livi, and I'd tell her, "I'll be right back"; I used to lay with her until she went to sleep, but now after our books she just looks at me and says, "Mommy be right back!". She's actually telling me it's OK to leave, what a big girl! Now if only the potty training was going as smoothly. Oh well, in time I suppose.

She wore an....

Itsy-bitsy, teen-weeny, yellow hula girl bikini for the first time today:

Happy Father's Day!!

Daddy, these are the pictures we tried to make for you; can you guess why this is not what I sent??? Watch your 2 year-old's face for the answer!

Happy Birthday, Ava!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava Marie! Here are the pretty flowers Daddy sent you on your special day; you are admiring the fuzzy little raccoon + rabbit hidden inside. Very cute, Daddy! So sorry you couldn't be here with us to celebrate, but in true Jeff fashion we will drag her birthday out + celebrate again next month when we come down to see you and Granny + Papa!

Here are some pictures from the party, mostly grown-ups but Ava didn't seem to mind, just more people to try and solicit attention from. She had a great time!! We had a backyard luau/pool party, the cake is "loosely" based on Nemo...I did my best. Some favorite presents include, a new dollhouse (she cried when she had to leave it for bed that night), a big girl step stool, a rocking chair from Granny + Papa, "Potty Patty" from Aunt Lisa, a Dora cash register from Grandma + Grandpa, the "jumping thing" + tricycle (sorry no pics yet) also from Grandma + Grandpa, and Jasmine doll from Mark, Melo and Morgan:

In Daddy's absence, Uncle Andy helps to assembly the dollhouse. She loves it! So cute to watch her pretend play with the little family. The party scene:Emma and Ava playing on the "jumping thing":
Little sis, Livi, kickin' back at the party:
Singing the happy birthday song:

Enjoying some cake with Grandma:Opening a Dora cash register from Grandma + Grandpa. Umm, I think I actually enjoy this more than Ava. I wish I had the time to video it, but there's a microphone you can talk into, so I get my little repeat (that's Ava) to say things in it like, "diapers, aisle 7", "produce on sale", "clean-up, aisle 2"....and she says them!! It's so hilarious; I laid on the floor laughing the first time we did it, my parents just watching us. The part I love the most is that I know my sister and I would have had a BLAST with this thing if we had one when we were little. I think it's actually for a 3 year old, but with Mommy's help we have a great time playing "shopping at the grocery store." I called Aunt Lisa that night to pump her up to play with it the next day...and it was a blast!!
Her very own rocking chair from Granny + Papa, so cute: Potty Patty from Aunt Lisa...yeah, I have some reading to do before we put this to use; more on her later:

Ava lures Tim into playing with her in the jumping thing, a little grin and she had him (thanks Tim!):Mommy + Livi join Ava in the "jumping thing" at the end of the day: Oh, one last credit: I have to give a "shout out" to Linda, a friend of my mother-in-law's, for the outfits that Ava and Livi wore at the party. Thank you so much, Linda!!! They are absolutely adorable!

Birthday Party!

It's been a little wild around here in the past week. I had a sinus infection, then Ava got a virus...her first ever! She had a fever, diarrhea, and threw up; poor little thing. But we survived, and Ava got to feeling better just in time to celebrate her 2nd birthday. We had a birthday party yesterday, but she actually turns two tomorrow; so we'll probably do a little more celebrating with immediate family. So with all of the drama in the illnesses between Ava + me, and getting Livi's immunizations, I've been too busy to post much. I'll get more pictures from the party up soon. This is my favorite though! Her grandparents bought her her very own bouncy house, because she couldn't stop talking about it after the one at Aunt Teresa's + Uncle Ken's house. She cried last night when it was time to go to bed; she didn't want the party to end!

Ava Does the Carnival

Well Livi got to go too, but she slept in her car seat the entire time....which was only about 30 minutes. The "carnival" was a few rides set up at the mall parking lot, very nice...not! Oh well, I knew Ava would be thrilled because they had a merry-go-round. Grandma took her on the carousel first...big hit! Then she got to fish for a prize, which she won all by herself! Then Mommy won her a blow-up Dora doll, also a big hit; Dora accompanied her in the bath that night...and every night since then. Then it started raining and we had to leave, needless to say there were lots of tears on the way home.

Once Upon a....

Pee pee!! Ava officially broke-in her potty chair yesterday! I was definitely the most excited; I even wore myself out from being so excited. However, we still have a long way to go. Although Ava is exceptionally smart, I'm not sure we're quite ready to leave the diapers behind just yet. About 98% of the time she tells me when she goes pee or poo, although she can't quite distinguish between the two just yet; however, I'm not always sure if she tells me before, during or after. So we did some bare bottom drills yesterday afternoon, which resulted in the pee pee in the potty. I didn't think this was going to be too difficult, but now I know I need to consult a few more books, and friends. It's going to be a long summer!