I'm so sorry...

that I haven't posted any recent pictures lately. We have been busy getting on a schedule and enjoying the nice weather. We got a lot of rain last week due to Tropical Storm Fay but now we are back to our sunny Florida days. I have posted a lot of pictures that I have taken over the past 2 weeks. Ava is now 3 1/2 months old and we can't believe how big she has gotten. She had a growth spurt last week and is starting to get some rolls on her thighs. :-) She truly is a wonderful baby! She rarely cries and is always flirting with complete strangers. She couldn't stop smiling and laughing with people at church on Sunday and they thought it was the cutest thing. Now that she has started rolling over, that is about all she wants to do. Although, she still hasn't figured out how to get off her belly and back onto her back. She will lay on her belly for awhile but then will start grunting to let us know she has had enough belly time. But, as soon as we put her on her back, she rolls right back onto her belly and we repeat the process over and over. :-) She thinks it's great but her Mom and Dad are getting a little tired and can't wait for her to figure it out on her own. She loves sucking on her fingers, thumb, fist, shirt, blanket, birp cloth...pretty much anything she can find to put in her mouth. And of course, with the sucking comes drool.



These first 4 pictures were taken last night right before bedtime. She was starting to get a little tired but still had a little smile for the camera.


One of our favorite things to do at night is to sit outside on our patio. Shadow loves to chase after the lizards...and sometimes she even catches one. Curt likes to play around on his laptop and Ava and I just sit on the loveseat and play. Well, one night she was too tired to play and decided to just fall asleep. So, here is the picture of her outside sound asleep.



Ava and I made a visit to school a couple of weeks ago. The students weren't there yet and I went to help out my friend Nicole (who is pregnant and due in December)! I didn't get a picture of Nicole but did get a picture of my other friend Terri with Ava. I taught 1st grade with Terri for a year and have known her for the past 3 years.


The rest of these pictures were from Curt's sister Michelle's visit. We had a great time with her and were really sad to see her leave. We think they need to make a big move down to Florida so we can see each other more often. :-) We took Ava to the pool for the first time and I'm not sure what she thought of it. The water was really warm and she loves the bath so I thought she would love the pool. She didn't cry like she did at the beach but she wasn't too happy either. It was really sunny out that day so it was hard for her to open her eyes and see anything. We all had a great time though!


We don't have any big plans for the next few weeks. Ava has her 4 Month appointment on September 17th and will get more shots! On September 23rd, Ava and I will be making a trip to WI for 10 days!

We are very excited and I can't wait for Ava to meet a lot of her extended family.

Aunt Michelle

Curt's sister, Michelle is here for the weekend. We have had a great time already and will be sad to see her leave on Monday. Here is a picture of Ava with her Aunt Michelle after her bath. Ava has really enjoyed flirting with Aunt Michelle and always has a smile or laugh for her. We will post more pictures later in the week. :-)

Ava Can Roll Over!!!

Today was Ava's 3 Month Birthday! It was a very big day for her. We were playing on the floor and all of a sudden, she rolled over. Luckily, I had the camera nearby and she rolled over several times after the first one so I could get it on camera. Now all she wants to do is roll over. She can't roll from her belly to her back though so she gets stuck and will start to fuss after a few minutes on her belly. She learn eventually! :-) We were so proud of our little girl! Her Aunt Michelle comes for a visit this weekend and we are all very excited to see her. I will post more after the weekend. :-)

Noises

This is a video that I took today while Ava was playing on the floor. She has started to make noises and sounds. At first we weren't sure if she was upset or just having fun. We have determined that she is just having fun even though she makes a fussy face sometimes. She is getting so big and will turn 3 months old this Thursday. I weighed her last week and she weighed 10 lbs. 7 oz.. We were thrilled since she has gained more than a pound in less than 3 weeks. :-)

2 Month Portraits

I picked up Ava's 2 month portraits yesterday from JCPenny. They turned out really cute! Here they are!

Mommy & Me Class

Today was the start of the Mommy and Me class that we have joined. It is the 1st three Wednesdays for the next 3 months. A bunch of moms get together and listen to a speaker discuss an important topic related to motherhood. Afterwards, we have time to mingle and some of the women go out to lunch afterwards. Todays topic was Poison Prevention, which was helpful but wasn't the funnest topic. Here is a picture of Ava with one of her boyfriends, Lucas. I taught 1st grade with Lucas' mother, Andrea, and Lucas is 2 days older than Ava. Ava was quite the flirt and couldn't stop staring at him. It was adorable!!

The Beach!

Well this is a little late considering I wanted to update this a few days ago. We did get home from the beach on Sunday evening. We had a great time enjoying God's creation and time with family and friends. Ava and I spent a lot of time on the beach while Curt went deep sea fishing on Saturday. As you can see from the pictures, I got some sun but luckily, Ava stayed as white as can be. Curt caught a 27" mackaral which was also the biggest fish caught on the trip! Way to go Curt!!!

We ate way too much food and had such a good time that we didn't want to leave. Thank you to my Uncle Stephen and Aunt Ellen for letting us come down and stay with you. It was a well needed trip away from home. Ava did extremely well the entire trip and even slept well in the pack 'n play.






My cousin Jared and Ava relaxing on the floor before heading out to the beach!















The beautiful beach!









Sweet sleeping baby!

Off to the Beach

Ava is now 11 weeks and 2 days old. She is getting bigger every day and she is starting to fill out. She is slowly fitting into her 0-3 month clothes. We can't believe she is almost 3 months old already, it seems like she was just born yesterday. Here is a picture of her from yesterday. We were playing on the floor when all of a sudden she fell asleep. She can pretty much fall asleep anywhere and anytime. Her shirt says "perfect is my middle name" but she wasn't so perfect when she woke up. She left me a surprise that exploded all over the place. :-) She thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop smiling when I was cleaning her up.


We have had a very busy but relaxing week getting things ready to go to the beach this weekend. We are leaving this afternoon to meet my Uncle Stephen and his family at a beach on the Gulf side of Florida. We are really excited as this will be Ava's first night and weekend away from home. We borrowed our friend Shari's pack 'n play and hopefully Ava won't even notice that it's not her crib. Curt is going fishing in the Gulf tomorrow morning with my Uncle and a family friend. He is really excited and hopes to catch some big fish. While he is fishing, Ava and I will be relaxing on the beach with the rest of the family. I will take lots of pictures and post them as soon as we get back on Sunday afternoon.

A Visit from the Clouses!

My Uncle Stephen and his family were also in town this weekend. Their daughter Abby lives here and they came by to meet Ava on their way to the beach. Here are a few pictures. We are hopefully heading over to visit them at the beach next weekend.

In this picture are (Left to Right): Caroline, Aunt Ellen, Jared, Hannah and Abby.











My Uncle Stephen

Ava's First Visit to the Beach

Here are some pictures of our trip to the beach. I was really nervous about taking her to the beach but my pediatrician said that it was no problem as long as she had a hat and sunscreen. Luckily, we have a portable swing that made the trip so much more enjoyable. Ava was adorable in her little swimsuit (thanks Lydia!) and slept the entire time we were there. She even got to touch the ocean for the first time! She didn't really know what to think but quickly decided that she was hungry. Since it went so well, we are probably heading over to the Gulf side next weekend to visit my Uncle and his family. Ava loves being outside!