Sunday, July 31, 2011

Bikini Time

Friday morning we headed north to the cabin for the weekend. We had great weather and a great time. I'll let the pictures tell the story...

It was time to break out the bikini.
I'm not sure who had more fun swimming in the lake...Daddy or Ava


"Airing out" on the deck
Touch Down!
Very excited to be trying Fritos for the first time.
Our family ride on the tube

Driving the boat with Boppa
Doing a bit of light yard work this morning
Daddy caught fish this morning
Our sweet girl hanging out on the dock

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Weekend

Ava's fun started on Friday when she got home from the gym. Our friends Nathan & Meredith brought Jackson & Eden all the way from IA, and came over to play. Unfortunately I was at work and missed all the fun. Nate said that Jackson & Ava had a great time, making sure that every single toy was removed from the toy box. I'm glad that they all had a good time, but am sad that I missed everybody. I hope to see you guys soon!

Saturday afternoon Ava packed up for a sleepover at Grandma & Boppa V's while Daddy and I went to a wedding. Nate and I had a great time, and really enjoyed our night out (perhaps with a few too many glasses of wine). It was reported that Ava was a good girl and had lots of fun. Unfortunately she decided to wake Grandma & Boppa up at 6:00 on Sunday. I guess she was just excited to see them. Daddy met up with them at church while I slept (I had to work my 12 hour night shift Sunday), and then headed back over for some more play time.
Yesterday Ava turned 17 months old. I was too tired from my night shift to even think about taking her picture, sorry. I can't believe the little person that she is becoming. I feel like every day she learns a new word or a new expression. She is growing so fast. It's hard to believe that a year ago she could barely roll over. Now she's this cute (sometimes whiny) little sassy thing. One moment she has me so frustrated, the next minute I'm laughing at something she's done or an expression that she's made, and the next minute my heart is melting as she snuggles into my shoulder, gives me a kiss good-night, and says, "love you" (more like whove ooh). We are so blessed to have this healthy and happy little girl. As much as I enjoy my quiet time during her naps, I can't imagine how "quiet" our lives would be without her.

Jackson & Ava playing
Nate & me at the weddingThese would be our photos from the photo booth.
Nate took this picture last week. I guess she was ready for nap time

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Day off

Today was my one day off this week and Ava and I stayed plenty busy. We left Daddy at home while we went to the gym this morning and then headed to Maple Grove to get Ava's hair cut. We were then off to Grandma & Boppa's to have lunch and take a nap (which there wasn't much of a nap). Ava got to play with Grandma while I went to the dentist, where I got a good report card. We played and hung out with Daddy this evening.
The heat wave finally broke today. It was still in the high 80's, but that seemed cool compared to the last couple of days. Ava was finally able to go outside and play for a little while. As you can see, it was another Rufflebutts day. She just looks so darn cute in them. :)

Ava working on her first masterpiece. We picked this little desk up at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago. It's just her size, and I don't care if she writes with her new crayons all over the top of it.
Daddy & Ava out for a little stroll early this morning

Picking up rocks and throwing them is Ava's new favorite past time while she is outside.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Heat Wave

I can tell that I have been working more hours and Nate has been staying home...we have far fewer pictures of Ava every week. :) It's been a pretty low key week which has been extremely nice. I worked Monday through Wednesday, with Ava going to day care on Tuesday. Nate picked her up so that I was able to enjoy a drink out with the girls after work. That was a treat (especially since the heat wave didn't come until Wednesday, so we were able to enjoy sitting out on the patio).

So, we had four days with just the three of us. I was able to catch up on some cleaning and laundry, we ran errands (grocery shopping), and even made it to the gym. It was so hot by Friday that we didn't want to go outside. Friday evening we got to go see Uncle Josh and Aunt Kate for dinner. We've been trying to find a time to get together for a month, so we were so excited to finally make it down to their place for a BBQ. We packed up Ava's pack-n-play so she went to bed while we hung out. Saturday we hung out and had a date night in at home. We went the healthy route and got DQ blizzards for dinner and rented a movie. It was actually quite enjoyable.

This morning we went to church and then got to meet Aunt Lisa & Uncle Craig for brunch. They were in the cities for a short time and we were lucky enough to get to see them. We don't get to see them near enough so we were grateful that they could squeeze us in before heading back to Kansas City. Ava made sure to give them plenty of kisses to last until we see them again. Thanks again Lisa & Craig...it was so great to see you this morning!!!

After going to the gym on Saturday we decided to run to Target and pick up a "potty chair". Picking out the chair was kind of a big decision. There are quite a few models to choose from. However, Nate immediately vetoed the one that plays music when you pee or poop. Anyway, I don't think that Ava is necessarily ready to be potty trained today. However, I thought that I would introduce her to the chair and see how things go. If she doesn't catch on it's no big deal. Well, we got the chair out today and let her explore with it. Let's just say that I think it may be awhile before we start potty training. She thinks that the toilet seat is a bracelet, and prefers to use the pee bucket as a hat (and Grandma thought that she was advanced for her age; I'm sure that all Harvard grads used their first potty chair this way). I've posted pics of our little genius below. :)

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and found a way to stay cool. Thanks for checking in with us!





This is Ava's new face that she is always making. It's the mouth open, gasp, sounding shocked and surprised at everything. (she can sometimes be a drama queen, I'm not sure where she gets that from)




Ava exploring her new potty chair. No, she usually doesn't run around with just a diaper on but this girl sweats like no other. So, this afternoon we went sans clothes.






What can I say, she likes to accessorize

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Teeth, turds in tub, tubing, high temps

The subject of this entry pretty much sums up our past week. There's never a dull moment in our lives with little Ava bug. She now has one more tooth, and another one trying to break the skin on her lower jaw. I try to attribute her sassiness (aka, being stubborn and yelling when she doesn't get her way, and frequently saying "no") to teething, but I'm pretty sure that she's just testing her boundaries and our patience all while developing her own personality. I have a feeling that she will be a little girl with a Big personality. :) Her vocabulary does go beyond "no", and she repeats many things that we say. We're now able to read her books and point at objects and she can tell us what they are (granted, we read the same books 25 times a day, but we still like to think that she's brilliant). :)

Ava had her first "turd in the tub" earlier this week. I had put her in the tub and asked Nate to watch her while I ran to the bathroom. I'm coming downstairs and hear Nate yell, "she's pooping". So what would you do? Of course, you run downstairs to grab the camera rather than grab the turd that's about to plummet into the clean bath water. By the time I got back up with the camera there were other "floaters". So, I took her out of the tub and told Nate to watch her while I bleached the bathmat and disinfected the tub. I'm wiping the tub down and say to Nate, "my gosh, it still smells in here". As I turn around Ava is standing right behind me. She has a large pile of poop on the floor behind me, which she has proceeded to step in with her heel and walked across the bathroom mat. All you can do is laugh...and take more pictures. So, I apologize if the pictures below gross you out. I work with poop every day so I find the pictures somewhat funny. Ok, that's enough about poop.

Moving on to tubing. Friday morning we packed the car and once again headed up for a weekend at the cabin. This weekend was a special one since we were getting together with four of Nate's high school friends and their significant others on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous all weekend (except for Saturday morning). It was sunny and hot. I was so happy to be able to enjoy a weekend of nice weather. Friday Ava spent a lot of time in her pool, and hanging out with us and Grandma. Saturday everybody came over to the cabin and Ava got to hang out with Grandma & Boppa while we enjoyed some time on the lake. We got a new tube this year to pull behind the boat, so we thought we would try it out. Ang, Ava, and I took it out for a test drive. Daddy pulled us behind the pontoon and Ava loved it. She kept saying "weeeeee". She got a little bored by the end (since we weren't going real fast), but didn't seem the least bit scared. That evening we went over to Katie's cabin and had dinner with everybody and hung out over there. We left just before midnight. I'm driving and we get about a mile from Katie's place and I hear a "thud thud thud". I pull over (in the middle of nowhere) and we find that I have a Very flat tire. Long story short, we finally got the tire changed after somebody stopped to help us and we got eaten alive by mammoth mosquitoes. We got to bed around 1:15, and our sweet angel was there to wake us at 6:23. Luckily she was full of giggles this morning so it made being sleep deprived a little more bearable.

We're now back home and preparing for another week. Ava will go back to day care on Tuesday. She went last Wednesday and I was told that she had a "great day". I think that she's enjoying the toddler room a little more now that she can walk and keep up with the other kids. That made me feel so much better!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend. Thanks for checking in with us!

Yeah, the brown log on the side of the bath mat is NOT a bath toy!


This would be the large poop that she made on the floor while I was cleaning up the poop inside of the tub. She looks so pleased with herself.


Enjoying a nice hot day poolside.



Life doesn't get much better than this!









Getting ready to head out on our first tube ride.





Mommy, Ava, and Ang ready to go


Marissa, Katie, (me), Ang, Kersten, Brian, Jason, Daddy, & John. What a fun day we had with everybody!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July!

I spent the weekend at work, so Friday morning Daddy & Ava picked up Uncle Wes and headed north to the cabin for a long holiday weekend. Ava spent her free time swinging, playing in her new pool, going for a boat ride, and attending a BBQ at Dick & Renee's. From what I hear she played hard and had lots of fun. Unfortunately she doesn't like to sleep in when she's there. I got a phone call from her on my way to work at 6:00 Saturday morning. She's supposed to sleep until 7:00. I guess that rule doesn't apply when she's at the cabin.

They arrived home just after me this afternoon (I worked today). Ava came in and said, "hello Mama". What a wonderful thing to hear after a long weekend at work! Our 4th is pretty low key since Ava's bedtime is 7:00.

Hoping that you were able to enjoy a beautiful weekend and had a Wonderful 4th!

Ava helping Boppa play cribbage

Grandma & Ava

Ava & Boppa at the BBQ

Playing in her new pool


It's important to stay hydrated when it's so hot outside!




Enjoying a little time outside on this sunny 4th of July


She Really enjoyed taking the rocks out of the flower bed, and then throwing them back in