So Big!

Ava is getting so big. She can now stand up on her as long as she is holding onto something (like in the picture). She can stand there for about a minute or so and then she loses control and falls to the side. But as long as I stand her back up, she can do it again. She loves to stand here and play with her toys.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Sorry we haven't put up any new pictures lately. Life has gotten a little crazy lately with all of us being sick. After we got back from Naples, I got sick for a few days and now Curt is sick. Ava decided she loved us so much that she wanted to pass along her sickness! What a wonderful daughter! :)

We are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. Curt has a half day today and then will have the rest of the week off. We are celebrating the holiday by ourselves at our house. We are really looking forward to it. Tonight we are going to church for a Thanksgiving service. Tomorrow, I will be making a turkey and everything...hope it turns out! And of course, I'm sure football will be on ALL day! Then on Friday and Saturday, we plan on putting up our Christmas decorations and just relaxing at home. We will not partake in the Black Friday madness! We have officially finished all of our Christmas shopping and feel relieved that we don't have to venture out in the madness.

I will try to take some pictures of Ava and put them up soon. She is almost crawling. She can stand up on her own as long as she is holding onto something! What a big girl! I will try to get a video of that. She is still eating great! She loves every vegetable I give her but she doesn't seem to like any fruit except for bananas. I have tried applesauce and pears so far. She's a little backwards...most babies love their fruit and not the veggies! WE HAVE TEETH!!! On Saturday morning, Ava woke up with her bottom tooth pushing through. It is showing more and more each day and I will try to get pictures of it as soon as I can. She is a little on the fussy side but she's not too bad. Those Hyland's Teething Tabs work great!

Next week she has her 6 month appointment. It is about 2 weeks late as our doctor was out for 2 weeks for Thanksgiving. I'll definitely post the details about her doctors appointment.

Fun in Naples

Ava and I are back from our weekend in Naples, FL. We had a great time with my cousin Christie. Ava fell in love with her Aunt Christie and couldn't stop smiling for her. We spent the weekend swimming at the pool, on the beach, and walking around the town of Naples. It is a beautiful city but is filled with people over the age of 60! We were the only people under the age of 60 at our hotel! :-) Ava did really well in the car. She slept almost the entire way and only fussed for 30 minutes each way. Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

Last week, Ava was diagnosed with a sinus infection and has been on antibiotics since Wednesday. She is starting to feel better but still has a stuffy nose. She has also managed to spread her sickness to me and now I'm feeling awful! Just in time for my birthday tomorrow! :(
Ava has started sticking out her tongue all of the time. She is trying to do raspberries but hasn't really figured it out yet. She does blow bubbles though! It's so cute!

Aunt Christie with Ava

The three of us walking through downtown Naples. Ava wanted to drink our coffee!

Ava and I on the beach right after sunset. We ended up missing it but the clouds were still beautiful!

Ava sporting her onesie that was decorated by her Aunt Christie back at my shower over Christmas. I was really happy that Christie could see Ava wearing it. That is a 9 month onesie. So, for all of you who decorated 6 month onesies for Christmas....oops! They won't fit! :-(

Long day at the beach! Ava crashed right before sunset. But there wasn't a sunset anyway because of clouds. We were really upset.

Ava in her 2 piece swimsuit. Sorry, you can't tell though. She was adorable.
Aunt Christie with Ava right after sunset.
Aunt Christie and Ava walking on the beach. Isn't she adorable in her swimsuit, hat, and sunglasses?!
Just playing around at the beach. Gotta love those toes!

She loves to...

EAT! Wow, everyday I am amazed at how much she loves to eat. She will easily devour 2 servings of bananas and a full serving (4-6 Tbsp.) of cereal for breakfast. After we finish, she is still hungry but I don't know what else to give her except milk. So we finish with that. Then for dinner, she will eat 1 serving fruit, 1-2 servings vegetables, and another full serving of cereal. Then she will eat more milk afterwards and still act like she's hungry! What am I going to do with her?! She is definitely filling out though. People no longer say "Oh, she's so tiny!" I wanted to post some pictures or videos of her eating but since Curt is at class tonight, I couldn't take any and feed her. She eats quickly and gets frustrated if you don't give her the next bite quick enough. I will try to get some tomorrow night and post. We tried peas tonight and I wasn't so sure about how she would like them. She loved them of course! The only thing she hasn't liked so far was applesauce...still haven't figured that one out! I'll try to post some pictures of her eating tomorrow!

Rolling, Rolling and Rolling

Ava was playing on the floor today, rolling all over the place. I looked over at her and this is how she was. She was holding onto the blanket and must have rolled over several times. She was rolled up in the blanket and couldn't get out. She thought it was the funniest thing ever! What a crazy girl!

Working Hard

Ava has started to get the correct motions in order to crawl. As you can see in this video, she moves her legs great but can't figure out her arms. She has gotten up on her tiptoes with her legs completely straight and then has even straighted her arms so that he belly is completely off the floor. She hasn't done that very often and I haven't been able to get a picture of that yet. It won't be long though until she begins crawling. :-) She is doing great with eating! She loves bananas, squash, and green beans. We have given her apples and she absolutely HATES apples! She gives me a mean look every time I sneak some apples in! I'm such a mean mommy!

This is Shadows favorite spot in the house! Anywhere next to Ava. It is so cute. Whenever I put a blanket down on the floor for Ava to play on, it's only minutes later that Shadow decides to lay down next to Ava. Ava loves it too. She will roll over to her and start petting her and she just starts laughing. I will try to get a video of Ava getting excited to see Shadow. It's adorable. They are best buddies!

On Friday, Ava and I will go down to Naples, FL to visit my cousin Christie. Christie can't wait to meet Ava and I know that Ava will love her Aunt Christie! I'll post lots of pictures from our trip when I get back.

Mommy and Me Halloween Party

Today, we went to our Mommy and Me Halloween Party. We had a great time and it was so cute seeing all the babies dressed up. In my opinion, Ava was the cutest one there but I'm a little prejudice. Here are several pictures from our big day!
What a cute Lady Bug!
Ava with her best buddy Lucas the Lion! (He's holding her hand)
Andrea and I got matching shirts for Lucas and Ava. Aren't they adorable?
The Mommy and Me Group (missing about 8 moms)
The babies! (Left to Right: Gator Cheerleader, Lion, Ladybug, Charlie Brown, Strawberry, Tigger, and a Bunny)
Haylie Reese the Wiggle Worm
Jordan the Gator Cheerleader

Future Fincancial Advisor?

While Curt was trying to study the other night, he decided that Ava would like to hold/play with his finance calculator. She looked so cute holding it and we did not place it like this. :-)

Naked Baby!

After our walk the other night, we came back ready to put Ava to bed. Instead of putting her straight to bed, we stripped her naked and played with her on the floor for a while. She thought it was the greates thing being naked! As we were taking a picture of her laying on the floor naked, she got the biggest grin on her face. Little did we know that she was just peeing all over the blanket and floor! oops! At least we got a good picture out of it though.

Yummy Green Beans!

We have officially started Ava on vegetables. We started with green beans on Friday night and she loved them! I am making all of her food and it is much easier than I had thought. This week, she will also get bananas and sweet potatoes. She's getting to be such a big girl!