Ava's 1st Christmas!!!

So, here is how our Christmas started. Poor Ava had a cold for her 1st Christmas and her eye was gooped shut. However, we cleaned her up and she was fine for the rest of the day. I was surprised at how into Christmas she was.

I thought for sure she would be more interested in the boxes than the toys, but she LOVED all of her gifts. She got more toys then she'll know what to do with! Thanks to everyone who made it so special for us.

1st experience with snow...

So, as promised... here are some pics from our 2nd Santa party.... yes the one where Santa was the devil according to Ava & Shaelynn.

Here's pics of Ava's 1st experiences in the snow. Dad thought it would be great if she made a snow angel.... obviously she did NOT feel the same way.

Don't ask about the BIRGHT ORANGE vest....

9 months old!!

I know it's a few days late, but Ava is now 9 months old!! CRAZY!! She is so active and fun. Here are a few bits of info about her.

She is 26 inches tall and 16 lbs, which puts her in the whopping 9% for height & weight. She is in the 11% for her head. She may be tiny, but at least she's porportionate...right?

Her reflux is getting TONS better!! Thank heaven!

She has been pulling herself up to furniture for about a month now & is starting to scoot along the edge of things.

She is quite the little walker... with help of course.

She can say "mama" & "baba" and definately knows what they mean!

She NEVER stops jabbering very loudly. We are in trouble!

She has started to dance everytime she hears music come on. Thank heaven she got her Mom's beat and not her Dad's!! (he has none.)

Her favorite show is Backyardigans.

She is still Grandpa's girl.

She thinks Aunt Heidi is about the funniest person on the planet. All Heidi has to do is look at her and she busts a gut. I'll get it on video sometime... it's hysterical.

She had her first encounter with Santa this last week. Here's a couple pics. We went to 2 seperate Santa parties. Here's pics from the first party. I will get pics up from the 2nd one. She didn't like him near as much the 2nd time. The first time she just sat there and stared at him.... Sorry the pics are kinds blurry.

Ava's newest trick....

Things are going good for us. Just staying busy working and getting ready for Christmas. Almost done! Here's a fun little video for ya...

Randoms

Here's a couple random pictures from this week.

Ava riding the rocking horse at Grandma & Grandpa's for the first time!

Ava fell asleep in her high chair for the first time. I had just gotten her out of her crib after she had been screaming forever because she didn't want to take a nap. Apparently 2 minutes in the high chair will do it every time. :)

1st Time Decorating The Tree!!

Ava had a blast helping us put up the Christmas tree last night. Well, I guess I should say she had a blast taking it down as we put it up! She was taking the ornaments off about as quick as I was putting them on. Here's a few pics.

Don't worry... the ornaments are plastic.

Ava found a pumpkin bucket that evidently didn't get put away after Halloween and decided to wear it as a hat. I know it's not a Christmas pic, but I thought it was cute anyway.

Thanksgiving!!!

WOW!!! What a whirlwind this last week has been. The weekend before Thanksgiving was spent up in Boise, ID with my mom's family. My cousin just got home from his mission, so the whole family came up to spend an early Thanksgiving with him. We goth ome last Sunday late in the evening. Then we headed to Rhett's paren't house on Tuesday for the rest of the week. It's Sunday evening now... and we just got home! We had a blast doing everything, but it's great to be home. Here's a bunch of pictures from this past week....

All bundled up ready to go cut down a Christmas tree!!

ok, ok.... I know what you're thinking.... why is she all bundles up like it's 10 below outside and Dad is in a t-shirt? That's because Dad is insane and it was really FREEZING!!!

Uncle Leslie trying to decide how to go about cutting down Misty's favorite tree....

All worn out from the days activities.... notice she still has Dad's popcicle stick in her hand.

mmmm........cracker!

Finally, back at home. Rhett thought it would be so funny to let her "have" a Mountain Dew.

8 months old!!!

Ava is now 8 months old!! Can you believe it?! Time sure does fly fast. Here's just a little info about her:

She just recently learned to crawl forward. She has had the backward motion down for quite some time now.

Her hair doesn't always stand straight up anymore. It's thick enough that is actually lays down.

Last week at the Dr. office she weighed 16lbs 5oz.

She still takes medicine for her reflux. Which, isn't really getting any better yet. Orange spit up is just my favorite thing.

She LOVES it when you pick her up in the morning or after a nap. She gives great big hugs every time.

She loves her bathtime and has become a pro at splashing.

She is getting much better at being set down since she can move now.

She would much rather eat her vegetables than fruits. Weird I know... but hey, we'll go with it!

She only has to go into the Dr. about 1-2 times per month now rather than every week. THANK HEAVEN!!

She is the joy in her Mom's and Dad's day.

She is a Grandpa's girl! She would much rather have Grandpa Brad than anyone else.

Here's the proof that she really did find forward. Sorry it's kinds dark, our hallway doesn't have the best lighting. And just ignore the fact that Rhett sounds like a woman in the background. he he he...

Quite the little helper

So today Ava decided that she would oh so helpful and helped me unpack my Mary Kay boxes that were in my office. I had her in there with me while I was working. Apparently the little stage that I blogged about earlier today is already over! She decided to pull almost ALL the packing peanuts out of the boxes. She thought she'd eat a few. Evidently they taste good. Luckily they are made of potatoes so they aren't harmful. The peanuts were EVERYWHERE!! Not to mention all the other stuff she pulled out. He he.... oh well I guess.

She Found Forward!!

Ava finally figured out how to go forward! Hallelujah! Luckily she isn't really getting into much.... YET. So it's a great stage at the moment. I don't have to rescue her from getting "stuck" anymore and I'm not having to rescue all of the stuff from her. Can't she just stay like this forever???

Kissy kissy...

Ava recently discovered that she can pucker her lips up (kissy face) and make a smacking noise. She does it all the time. It's probably one of the funniest things you've ever seen because when she does it, it's all slow and dramatic. She looks like an old lady without any teeth. Sorry the first pic is so blurry... I was at the store and took it with my camera phone.

Happy Birthday Rhett!!

We had a huge surprise party for Rhett on Saturday. It was his 29th birthday. I know... most people would do a big party for their 30th b-day, but he was FREAKING OUT about turning 29, so I figured why not rub it in a little more? We had a blast! All of his family and friends were there. It was a packed house, but a good time. Here's a couple of pics. We (me, my parents, his parents, and his brother & sister-in-law) got him a Nintendo Wii. Hence the cake....

This was taken just after he realized what the cake meant. He was super excited!

It's official.... She's mobile!!

We are in some serious trouble! Ava has figured out that she can move. EEEEEKKK!!! However, she only has the reverse gear right now. It's pretty funny. She crawls her way backward until she gets to where she wants to be. She hasn't quite got it all the way figured out so she'll go backward until she runs into something. Then she just gets mad because she can't figure out how to get away from whatever it is she's run into. Hopefully she'll get that forward gear down soon.... then I won't have to go rescue her everytime she's running into something.

1st Halloween!

As promised here are pics of Ava on Halloween. She was a super cute little witch with a broomstick and all. See those hot tights?? Oh yeah..... I dyed those all by myself. :)

Hannah Montana (Shaelynn), Witch (Ava), Freddy Krueger (Brayden).

Notice... Ava hasn't noticed the freaky thing next to her, so everything's ok.

And there it is.... officially freaked out by the obscenely large daggers.

Dad's got me so I'll stop crying, but no way am I taking my eye off that freak!

(Corinne, Rylee, Shaelynn, Rhett, Ava, Brayden) Gotta stop partying to have a bottle. Yes... those are horns on my head.

Pumpkin Patch!

A couple weeks ago we took Ava for her first trip to a pumpkin patch. She had a blast, but seemed to be more interested in the sticks on the ground then the pumpkins! She got to sit on the John Deere tractor with Dad.