Birthday Cake

I seriously have the funniest friends in the whole world!!! We went bowling with some of them on Friday and then went to Talia's house for cake and ice cream after. I knew something hysterical was about to happen when Talia and Heidi were dying laughing at my cake and wouldn't let me see it. The big moment came..... they put the candles on, light them and then showed me the cake. I was dying laughing!! It says "happy birthday smalls" and there is a picture on it that Talia took of me posing behind some random bush. She said do a serious face and this is what my serious face looks like:

Happy Birthday Mommy!!

Ok, so I know this will be rather lengthy, but TOTALLY WORTH READING!! So, this year was a rather interesting birthday for me. Not everything went exactly according to plan. I'll spare you ALL the details, but here's the absolute highlight of the day. I spent the morning with my best buds in the whole wide world (Heidi & Talia). We went for a lovely 4 mile walk to get some lunch.... babies in tow of course! I have to back up for a minute.... my birthday story actually starts the night before my birthday when I found out some rather interesting details about my birthday festivities that I wasn't exactly thrilled about. Ok,,, now back to the story.... we had gotten back from our walk and I decided to let Ava feed herself her lunch (which was really messy) so I stripped her down to her diaper and threw her in her high chair. When she got done I cleaned up her amazing mess and decided to lay her down for her nap in just her diaper, as it was a rather warm day and we haven't turned on the central air yet. Talia went home and Heidi had to leave, so I proceeded to go outside to mow the lawn. I had gone in a few times to check on Ava.... sure enough sleeping soundly. I got finished just as Heidi got back from running her errand. We both went inside when not too long after, all of the sudden we hear this horrible SCREAMING coming from Ava's bedroom! I started toward her bedroom wondering what on earth was going on because she usually wakes up really happy. I start to crack open the door and this wall of indescribable stench hits me!! I didn't even have to see it! I KNEW what had happened!!! So I opened up the door the rest of the way to see Ava's little eyes poking up above the crib swelled with tears. But, in front of her eyes.... on the crib was POO SMEARED EVERYWHERE!!!! I exclaimed "Ava why'd you do that?!?!?!" When hearing this response Heidi of course had to come check out what had happened. I'm pretty sure Heidi found it hysterical, I however did not. I just kind of sat there and stared at it for a second not sure whether to tackle the crib or her poopey butt first. This decision was made quickly once I saw that she had poo all over her face and hands and was gnawing on her fingers!!! YUCK!!!! So I grabbed her and proceeded to wipe her down. I got her in the tub and cleaned her up. Heidi was kind enough to clean up the poo on the crib and throw the sheets in the washer. HERE'S THE KICKER..... the diaper that she had ripped off didn't have a spec of poo in it!! She had taken her diaper off, peed everywhere, and pooed in the corner. Then picked up the poo and proceeded to play with it. EEEEEWWWWW!!!!! Gross! The day just gets worse from there, but again... I'll spare you all the other details. Here's the pic that Heidi snapped with her phone.

Happy Easter!

Easter was great! Ava is a pro at it now that this is her 2nd time around! (nevermind she wan't even a week old for the last one...) Here's pics of some of the weekend's activities. She's so into everything! It cracks me up.

Coloring eggs with Dad

Practice egg hunt at home.... have to be prepared for Grandma's to have a chance at beating the other kids to some eggs.

Just taking a stroll outside before festivities begin

WAIT!!! Is that Grandpa over by the swings?!?! I had better go check that out!

It was Grandpa by the swings.... of course she suckered him into pushing her. She LOVES to be outside & swing!

And we're off!! The egg hunt has offically began!

Taking a rest after searching so hard. I think Dad is stealing some of her candy.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY AVA!!!

It's official!! Ava is 1 year old! Ok... so she was 1 on the 17th of March (St Patrick's Day), but we didn't celebrate her birthday until today. We had a big party for her. It was a blast. She made quite the haul with the toys and clothes. She must REALLY be loved. Can't possibly imagine why ;);) Here's some pics of the party. The first picture was on Ava's actual birthday with Gma & Gpa Wilkinson came over. Gpa decided that she needed her OWN cupcake on her acutal birthday. Thanks sooo much to everyone who came and helped us celebrate Ava's special day!

Some tidbits about Ava:

1) She can say mama, baba, dada and the word no. The last not being my favorite.
2) She had 8 teeth! 2 bottom center, 2 top center, 2 molars on bottom, 2 molars on top. Crazy!
3) She could walk if she wanted to, but simply chooses not to. She will take a few steps and then starts crawling.
4) She just started having regular milk. YES!!!!!
5) She would much rather just feed herself. Forget the baby food!
6) She weighs 17lbs2oz and was 27.5 inches on Friday @ the doctor's office.
7) She is in the 5% for weight and in the 8% for height. Little!
8) She LOVES pickles.
9) She loves to dance.
10) She loves to help unload/load the dishwasher. Mostly she likes to unload the silverware whether its being unloaded or not.

Dad's Party

Last Friday we had a big surprise party for my Dad's 50th birthday. It was a blast! Here's a video that I put together (for all you out of towners that couldn't make it :( we missed ya!) I'll post more pictures as soon as I get them from Corinne ;);)

Nice...

I had Ava in the bathroom with me this morning while I was getting ready. I left the bathroom to go to the kitchen and get my cell phone (which if you've been to my house you know that's not a long trip). I picked up my phone and came straight back to the bathroom.

When I left Ava was playing with one of her toys I had taken in there. When I got back this is what I found....

She has this habit of sticking things in her mouth (socks, toys, just about anything) and carrying them while she crawls around the house. When I went to pick her up, she stuck one of them in her mouth and took off. All I could do was laugh. Don't worry.... it's a new one!

Randoms

So here's just a couple random things that have been going on. Rhett decided to give Ava a pickle today. SHE LOVED IT! sorry it's kinda blurry. Always happens when I take pics with my phone. Oh don't worry.... there is NO WAY she could have choked on the pickle!

This was one of Ava's christmas presents. She's finally getting big enough (sort of) to ride it. Her feet only touch the bottom when she has on shoes that are way too big for her :)