Ava's Name and Baby's name?

So at the beginning of next month we should find out if this baby is a boy or a girl!!! I can't wait! I have no idea! With Ava it was so easy! We both immediately thought she was a girl...knew she was a girl...not that we preferred either way...she just was and her name was Ava. Which has a story to it as well. Adam was going to get me a bird as a pet for Christmas, which was a bit of a sacrifice for him, but I really wanted one. For Christmas he took this big decoritive egg we have and put a cute note from my future bird in it, describing his breed and what breeder he was coming from and so forth...really cute...he is always great at presents. The day before New Year's Eve...and my birthday, we found out we were pregnant. We knew her name would be Ava...what we didn't know is that Ava means "bird like" also they think it was dirived from the Hebrew word meaning "life". Even after we knew her name...but not the meaning, I really wanted a name that reflected God's grace and the freedom we have in him...It's prefect. Thanks, God.
As for this baby....do you hear the crickets. Well, I guess we still have a while. I really like the name Selah for a girl, pronounced "say-la", it's a word in Psalms used at the end of the stansas, thought to mean 'reflective pause' because you are to think about what is just said...such a simple, almost quiet word with a lot of power. but...we really, really don't know. that's all for now.

"Aunt Rachel..."

Aunt Rachel (or Aunt crazy, as we like to call her), I just thought you'd like to know that I left Ava's room at 7:30 on the dot and had her all tucked in....it's 8:30 and she's still talking...well, not talking exactly..actually she's singing...about you. It's a song about Aunt Rachel...and pizza...I have no idea! um, she is definitley excited you are coming over tomorrow.

oh, now she is yelling "baaarrrrrk, baaaarrrrk". I really don't think that has anything to do with you, Rachel, though.

"I pee pee in the potty"

Ok, the title was support to reflect Ava talking...not me! So I'm excited to say we on our way to being potty trained...and when I say we...I mean Ava..I mean I'm already...you know what I mean. Anyways, Ava has had a potty chair for a while, but we haven't really tired to potty train yet. Until a couple of days ago...well, it was all Ava's doing. She carried her potty chair out of the bathroom and into the living room, then proceeded to take all her clothes off, which she has grown accustom to doing, including her diaper...sat on the potty...and went potty!!! You should have seen her face...she was SO excited...SO was I. We broke into her halloween candy to celebrate (and we wonder where emotional eating comes from). She has been doing GREAT ever since. Seriously, this was suppose to be so much harder!!! and I know it is for so many...my heart is with you! It's pretty crazy though. I don't have to remind her or anything. She is using the last of her diapers at night and pull ups at bed time and when we go out for now, though she frequently keeps them dry. She loves calling her daddy, aunt, and nana to them them how she pee peed or poo pooed in the potty. It's so cute. She said "I so proud!" over and over after she potties...I think she got it from one of her potty books. Man! I guess she was ready!!! Nice!

"I'm a big sister"

So we were trying hard to tell our some of our friends and family that we were pregnant. My sister, Rachel, was watching Ava for me while I went to the doctor. I called her on my way home and told her that it didn't look good and I could have tumors or something (which is what I had thought before seeing the doctor...wow, a baby is WAY better!). She was very supportive, poor thing. I stopped by the store to pick up two matching bibs, because my sister happens to be a month farther along in her pregnancy. When I got to her house...my nieces, Alyssa and Sarah, and brother-in-law, Jay, were there as well, I said, "hey look what I got at the doctors" (ok, so that doesn't completely make sense), "I thought our kids could wear them together". They looked a little confused for half a second and then my sister, pregnant mind you, started jumping up in down saying "I told you! I told you!" (which she had been telling me I was pregnant and I was thouroughly annoyed by it because I knew I wasn't). It was great!
THEN Rachel helped me pick out a plan shirt for Ava and I ironned on letters that said, "I'm a big sister". Ava really got it. Especially after she got to see the baby on the ultrasound, which she called "peeking at the baby". She laughed so much and thought it was so funny. I asked her if she knew what being a big sister ment and she said, 'baby in mommy's tummy'. She could have melted my heart. Anyways, I went over to Becki's house, who I had told that I probably had tumors or something, and as soon as she opened the door and read Ava's shirt about 5 times, she started jumping...and I mean jumping up and down, screaming (oh, yeah, did I tell you she was about 6 months pregnant, oh man, was it a sight). Serioulsy now, that will go down in my funniest memory book in my head.
Ok, so I have more to tell you...but I want to break it up so you'll actually read it...so more of all that later : )

Suprise!!!

Hi friends!
Adam, Ava, and I have some excited news if you haven't already heard...We are pregnant!!! It was a real surprise to me, because I had taken 4 pregnancy tests which were all negative! I finally went to the doctor thinking that something was definitley wrong with me. I don't want to gross you out of anything...but I couldn't do the urine sample at first because I had only just drank a bunch of water. I went through the whole appointment with my doctor and the options weren't looking good. She said if they found out my pregnancy test was negative, they'd send me in for an ultrasound to see what was going on. Well, I got an ultrasound anyways!!! Let me back up. After I had finally peed in the cup, I sat waiting in the...waiting room. I started smiling really big wondering if I really was pregnant....I thought "Leah, you are going to look ridiculous, smiling from ear to ear, only for the nurse to say, 'what? why are you smiling, weirdo? It's negative like you thought it would be". Luckily, it happened very differently...and frankly, if she would have talk to me that way...well, pregnancy hormones, you know. Anyways, she opened the door to the hallway smiling ear to ear as well. The nurses gathered round this really sweet young nurse who said "You're pregnant!" I was SOOOOOOOO excited! And dumb founded! I really felt like I was dreaming! I told them that too. I think they thought I was pretty funny. The nurse told me how she talked to the other nurses because she wasn't sure how to tell me and showed me how bold the pregnancy line on the test was. Then I rambled on and on to the nurses and doctor who had now all gathered. It was great!
You a Daddy...Again!!! I couldn't wait to tell Adam! I couldn't wait until that night and I didn't really just want to tell him over the phone, so I called Candace, who works at his branch, and she so thoughtfully bought balloons tying them to a baby bottle and a card. The funny thing was, Adam wasn't having the best day and as I've heard, he didn't look very happy as his staff approached his desk with the balloons. They took a picture as they gave him the balloons, while the whole "your a dad again" hadn't quite set in...he quickly realized what was going on and said, "oh, take a good one!" Everyone thought it was pretty funny after the fact. He is very excited as well and has been so supportive with backrubs, lots of cleaning, putting up with pretty crappy dinners and a dirty house for the whole first trimest.
The day after we found out we were pregnant. I got an ultrasound and I was already 9 weeks!!! Oh, wow, that's why I've had no energy!!!

Wow! Sorry that was so long. I had no idea...I even left stuff out!!!

Birthday with the Fam

Birthday with the Fam

For Ava's 2nd birthday with my family, we went to Organ Stop Pizza, as suggested by my Dad. Good call, Dad, good call. Ava LOVED, LOVED, LOVED it. A man plays this huge organ, whose pipes run through the whole building (the organ...not the man). Not only did Ava absolutely adore being a ham as she danced to the music, she loved these cat puppets that would 'perform' ever so often (then the curtain would lower over their stage). She was so distraught when the curtain went down. I told her when they went behind the curtain, they were taking a nap. She was ok with that. Every time after they would dance and the curtain went down, she would proclaim that they were taking a nap...she still is talking about it at least twice a day! When she talks about it, she looks up to the sky and dances her hands in the air like she immetating the cats. The organ player man played every style of music imaginable...but we came on the right now because tons of people had b-days (he plays requests through out the night) and not only did Ava get to hear him announce that it was her birthday and she was turning the ripe old age of 2, but she thought they were playing 'happy birthday' (which really does happen to be her favorite song) all night long (especially since we would sing it to her every time). She had so much fun (and so did her parents) between the music, dancing, puppets, pizza, balloons, light up bracelets, happy cake, and nana, papa, aunt Rachel, uncle Jay, Alyssa, Sarah, and Uncle Matt...not to forget her presents! She loved her presents! She got a McDonald's cash register food, head set etc. thanks to my sister's fam and a great gift card to Barn's and Noble's, which she already used. I can say without a doubt that the books and McDonald's set is about the only things she plays with all day every day. So good job, fam!!! Ava thanks you so much!!! And we have memories to last a life time!!!

Super Ava!

So, for a while now Ava has been running...or flying...around the house, shouting, "Super Ava!" (she draws out the beginning of the word 'super' and also 'Ava'...it's hysterical) I have no idea where she learned it. She also plays 'super bunny' and will call us 'super mommy' and 'super daddy'. The only influence we can think of is 'super Grover' from Sesame Street. Right after she started playing that game, I walked into her bed room to see her slipping her arms into a spaghetti strap tank top to wear as a cape! And it totally worked! So now she frequently uses the tank tops as cape...she actually always refures to those shirts as capes instead of shirt now too. It's quite funny.

Soccer Game

Game! Game!

Ava now thinks that when she plays ball, such as just throwing a ball across the room, it's a soccer game. I think she's actually thinking of baseball...because just about every time she plays ball she puts on a baseball hat..that's too big for her. It's really the cutest thing ever. Well, along with all the other 'cutest thing(s) ever' she does all the time. She also likes to play with this stuffed football. Maybe she is trying to play football. Who knows.

Shoes!

So I didn't need to teach this girl to love shoes! I'm not much of a shoe girl myself...but she loves them!!! In fact this picture was taken in July when we were shopping for wedding shoes. She was sitting behind where we were looking. I turned about and she had done that ALL by Herself!!! It was so funny! For the last week she has insisted on wearing on big shoe and keeping the other barefoot. Every time I turn around, she's wearing this one shoe thats too big for her. She's so funny! She also gets very excited when she sees shoes in the store...man, we are going to have to watch her...and our money as well. Just Kidding.

Mommy's Daughter

Once about a few days ago, I told Ava that she was my daughter and daddy's daughter too. I told her that I'm a mommy, Adam's a daddy, and she's a daughter. Many times randomly, she has told me, "I mommy's daughter. I daddy's daughter." Or point to her self and say "daughter". (She pays particular attention to the possessive "s"...I'm not kidding. She looks so proud when she tells me. It makes my heart melt. She also has been pointing to herself and saying "I 2! I 2!" I know it's a little early...but she's practicing. She also says "I girl". She is the cutest...

Oh Happy Day

Even though Ava's B-Day isn't until September 2nd, she got to celebrate it early with Gianna, her cousin in Tucson, since Jill (Mamaw) won't be here. Adam, Ava and I stayed in Tucson Thursday night till Saturday night at a house that Jill was house sitting at. Our nephew, Brandon, also stayed with us and Adam had fun playing video games with him. Ava LOVED playing with Gigi, mostly playing at her play kitchen together. They were adorable! They were both excited for the Mickey birthday party...Ava was talking all about it before hand, especially about "numbers" on the cake. She adored her uncle Mike and loved playing with him. Her Aunt Erin made everything look so cute!!! Ava loved, loved her presents. She got a whole wardrobe from her Mamaw...super cute by the way. A Cinderella Birthday doll...so appropriate...who has a present that plays the happy birthday tune...Ava sings along. Super cute jammies, ballet slippers, a gift basket from her aunt Erin...and a bunch more!!!

Fun in the Sun

Ava and I had a fun week of swim lessons last week at the phoenix pool. Though Ava was definitely a bit caution, she practiced picking up toys off the ground of the kidding pool...though very afraid of getting her face wet, blowing bubbles, touching her chin and nose to the water, kicking, floating on her tummy and back, scooping her arms (that was a hard on for her), and getting out of the pool (her fav because she'd say "elbow, elbow, knee, knee" in the process). It was a lot of fun. We are definitely going to start at the beginning of next summer.

The Cutest Flower Girl EVER!

So my beautiful sister married Jay Sibel (right), equally as beautiful...jk, that would be weird on July 19th at Joe's Farm Grill. Guess who was the flower girl...that's right! AVA! She was the cutest flower girl ever in her puffy dress. She had lots of fun and was an angel...well, a bit of a loud angel. It was 9:00 o'clock in the morning and her poor little head was really sweaty, but she strolled down the isle because we told her to "run to uncle Jay". She loves, loves, loves uncle Jay so this wasn't a problem, but she walked slowly because I think she loved all eyes on her. She held a cute little basket and some of the puddles fell out of it as she bobbled a long which was perfect. She also held a little wand that she likes to 'poof' people with...especially when they pretend to be 'poofed' into an animal and make animal sounds. She ran around a little during the wedding. One of my favorite parts was when she saw Rachel start to walk down the isle and yelled "YEA!". I think she found out why we kept having her and Rachel try on the dresses leading up to the wedding. She practically looked over Rachel and Jay's shoulders as they were taking communion because she was wondering what was going on. She also flicked her lips and made a loud "brrrr" sound during the vows. It was pretty cute though and my sister's a great sport, not to mention Ava's biggest fan. Ava's favorite parts were running to uncle Jay, eating Happy Cake!, and eating the organic grapes off the vines. I have some pictures that my sister in law Erin took as you see, which are super cute. I'll also put up the ones Matt took when they are developed and scanned. Maybe we will put some videos on here eventually. Click on any of the pictures to make them bigger!Isn't she the cutest!

Mamaw's visit and Dress Rehearsal

It's been crazy around our house, with Rachel, Alyssa, and Sarah, and Jay staying with us some because Jay's house is been sold in Tucson. Jill or Mamaw came to stay with us too. Ava couldn't be more happy to have a house full!!! Especially because it's people who adore her...well, who has the strength not too... We had a week of fun and ciaos, but Jill was a really, really good sport!!! Mamaw surprised Ava with a yellow wooden duck that's so cute and matches her room..the best part is she spotted it amongst other ducks and went right to it think it looked like Ava and it had a name tag that said, "My name is Ava" What are the chances!!! She loves it!!We went to Barns and Nobles. Adam was with Ava and she started going crazy over "Happy Cake" she saw in the coffee shop window. Adam told her that she should ask her Mamaw...thinking that she would forget about it...but she never forgets about 'Happy' cake. As soon as she saw Mamaw...as I hear the story goes...she was saying

"happy cake, happy cake" and pulling Jill to the coffee shop. She very enthusiastically pointed at a chocote cupcake with yellow frosting and then held her hand pulling her over the drink section and pointed out the milk carton with a straw...she knew excatly what she wanted...this girl doesn't full around when it comes to happy cake. She was soooo excited. Once Mamaw trying breaking off a peice of the cupcake because seh was having a hard time eating because it was so big, but she was really upset about that until Mamaw put it back together using the frosting as molding...It was really funny. She really liked eating the leftovers too...she's a slow happy cake eater. Mamaw sure made her day with that happy cake!!!

At the dress rehearsal dinner we got to thoroughly embarrass Jay and Rachel by making them wear cute outfits that the girls picked out at the dollar store. My camera died, but we also made jay wear a coconut bra and Rachel had to wear this big heart shaped light as a necklace that said, my heart belongs to Jay as we went to Islands for drinks that night. It was pretty funny...at their expense...

A Note From Ava

Hey Dudes (she's learned it from Backyardagans)
I just wanted to let you know what I've been up to and what I'm doing lately.

What Vava LOVES
Happy Cake!!!
Animals
Her Beep beep car (a plastic car a sit in while mommy or daddy pushes me)
Books
Yellow Bear with a heart (build-a-bear from uncle and aunt)
Blocks (relocated them around the house)
Talking
Her uncle Jay
Shoes and dresses
Jumpin on the Bed
Jack
Fruity cheerios
Raisins ("beans")
Caillou
My yellow Ava duck
Baby Einstein
Maw Maw's phone
My first swim lesson
Saying "Nope" in a silly way
Milk
Accessories
My Mommy and Daddy!!!

And best of all, ME!!!

Updating!

Hey everyone,
So we haven't added anything to our blog since Ava was 5 months old!!! So now I'm going to be better about it! Just thought I'd tell everyone : ) There are a lot new pictures on the right side column and there will be more to come! So keep checking. I'm hoping to blog at least a couple in the next week. We love you!