World Traveler

Ava and I just returned from our month-long trip away from home. We spent some time in Bear Lake, UT w/ my family and a couple weeks in Palo Alto, CA with Rob who was there for work. We had a lovely time and even got to see my cousin Dacia in California. Her and I have been inseperable since childhood and now that we're "all grown up" (some people may dispute that) and have husbands and such, we don't get to see each other nearly as often as we'd like. We spent one day at the beach where Dacia took some pictures of Ava that she (Ava) will surely grow up to despise. You can see them here but please remember that she was in dire need of a nap and apparently starving!

Dacia and I also got to spend a day at a ginormous flea market which we enjoyed since we both like to scavenge for good finds. Ava was extremely pleased with the purse I bought here as well with the inflatable dolphin with the jingle bell inside (see how well I scavenged :) and I got myself a good bargain on a great purse.

All in all a good trip but we are happy to be home for a couple weeks until we head off to D.C. on September 11th for a few weeks to follow Rob for work.

Slacker

Well I've been a total slacker at updating this blog now that I am trying to keep two of them going. (The other is less of an Ava update and more of random things I'd like to write about. Feel free to check it out www.foldedbutnotputaway.blogspot.com )We are enjoying our summer. Rob is working like a mad man trying to get ready for the big trial they have starting in September. Unfortunately this has meant a lot of time away from home, Ava and I. He was gone a total of 21 days in July and will be out of town most of the month of August. Ava and I have been in Utah/Idaho the last week or so for my family's vacation and then we head out to Palo Alto on Monday so we can at least see Rob for the few minutes he takes each day to eat and sleep! :) Then the three of us will be spending the month of September in Washington D.C. for the trial.

Ava is growing like crazy and seems to learn new things everyday. Her sign language is pretty impressive these days and she can also verbally say 'daddy, momma, bubba (aunt breea), d-nee (her cousin sydnee), all gone, no, uh-uh, uh-oh, dog, bird, thank you (taku), yum yum, .................................. She's walking all over the place and into EVERYTHING. She is super strong, very determined, and a giggling, smiling, performing ham! We love her!

Happy Birthday Ava!

So Ava turned 1 today. I can hardly believe it's already been a year. We celebrated her birthday on Saturday. Rob's parents and brother were here and our friend Monica and Ava's best friend Elle came up from Dallas as well. It was a good day. Ava was cute as ever. She wasn't sure what to think about the cake and loved the wrapping paper almost as much as any of the presents. Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures I took. Enjoy!



This is the ladybug cake I made Ava. Note the double chin (hmmm just like Ava..lol) and cut me some slack as this was my first not square or rectangle birthday cake!


This is Ava in her birthday headband concentrating very hard to walk all the way across the room to mommy.


Uncle Ryan had more fun with the headband than Ava did. This is the birthday comb over that he made with it. I don't have pictures of the Chief headdress he turned it into or the ears he formed out of it.


But this was Ava's favorite way to wear it.


Note the look on the child's face as she reaches for the fire. Do we have a future pyromaniac on our hands?


This look about sums up what Ava thought of the ladybug. Not that impressed. Note the war paint on her cheeks that her daddy helped her do. :)


Here she is amidst all her presents.



And like mother like daughter. Here she is lovingly hugging some of the new clothes that she got. :)


Here's Ava holding her best friend Elle. They don't know they are best friends yet. Her mom and I are working on it. Lol.


I told you, they don't know they are best friends yet. This picture was followed up with "Now Ava, we don't scratch our best friends trying to claw their ears off."

No-No

So Ava has recently started shaking her head no whenever I tell her no. I guess its because I must shake my head when I say no. Good thing I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what it means yet!

Ava signs monkey!

Okay, I've been wanting to post this video forever since it is hilarious (at least if you're the parent) but have just barely gotten around to editing out the parts that make you dizzy and a little nauseated (the beginning and the end where the camera points at the floor and sways). Background: Ava got this stuffed monkey from her Aunt Kristy for Christmas. When you drop it or bounce it it makes a "boing" sound. When she first got it she was too little to be into stuffed animals and wasn't that interested but we pulled it out again recently and without any coaching on our part (seriously) this was her reaction to the sound the monkey makes. Pay close attention to her tongue!

Wow, that's funny everytime I watch it! Hope you got a little chuckle out of it too!