Ava is 1

I know this is a little late, but better late than never... right?!? Our little princess turned 1 on September 1st!! WOW! Time has just gone way too fast! Miss Ava is growing and learning everyday!! We love her so much and are so grateful for her wonderful little spirit in our home! On her birthday, we had her party and she was SPOILED!

 Birthday Dinner

 Yummy!! Turkey Rollup

 Playing in the decorations befire the party

 Cute Birthday Outfit

 Present Time

 Lovin' the pillow pet!

 GOT A TRUCKLOAD!!

 Cake to share with everyone!

 Her VERY own cake!!

 Tearn' it up!

 Post cake smash and ready for bed!!

Ava sure is loved and we are so grateful for all the people in her life that care for her and love her so much! We love our little princess and would not trade her occasional screaming, tantrums, and pinching for anything! We love her guts!!

11 months and FIRST haircut!

I can't believe how fast time has flown!! Our little princess will be 1 YEAR OLD in less than a month! It has definitely been a ROLLER COASTER of a year but has been a wonderful one!!

At 11 months, Ava is:

• Crawling ALL over the place and QUICKLY!
• Now has a total of 3 teeth. 2 on bottom, 1 on top.
• Loves eating solid food
• Loves to have a nibble of mom and dad's food!
• Loves all animals but especially DOGS!!!
• Loves splashing mommy while in the bath!
• Loves singing
• Love Love Loves DANCING! She will dance to ANYTHING!!
• Has had her FIRST haircut!
• Loves giving hugs and kisses
• Loves being around other little kids
• Can climb the stairs like a champ

Here are some pictures of Ava's first haircut!

 Before

During

This sucker helped a TON!! Thanks Meli!

After! How could you not LOVE that cutie!!

10 months

Our sweet little baby is quickly growing out of her baby stage! I am sad and yet happy at the same time! She is do SO many different things now and she amazes me by how much she really does learn and how quickly she does it!

Ava @ 10 months:

* She can army crawl and man is she FAST!!
* She can push herself up to a seated position from a crawling position
* She loves "grownup" food
* She has 2 teeth with 4 COMING IN!!! (No sleep in this house!)
* She loves to give her baby "kisses"
* She loves little kids
* Says "mama", "dada", and "baby"
* Loves animals, especially dogs
* She would rather feed herself
* Loves bath time  
* Loves reading books
* Loves being outside and going on walks

She has grown up so fast but we are loving every minute of it!! Happy 10 months Miss Ava!! We love you!!

Check this cutie out and don't forget to vote!!

We snagged a free photo session with a photographer in Idaho Falls, Brandee Simpson is her name and you can check her site out HERE. She did a WONDERFUL job and were very happy with the end product! how could you not love this cute little girl?!?

OK, so the pics are REALLY REALLY SMALL!! You can check them out on her site HERE! We LOVE them all!!



We also entered Ava into a baby photo contest!!! Check it out here and vote for her so she can win!!!!!!!!!

http://modelsearch.parenting.com/contests/voteformyentry/305899?sk=ea9yo_F0%3B

Thanks and wish us luck!

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This thing is AWESOME!

I would LOVE to have one of these!!!!

Enter HERE if you want one too!

4 years and counting...

to ETERNITY that is!! Greg and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on May 19th! 4 cars, 2 houses, 1 dog, 1 child, and 4 years later, here we are!! I am so excited to have made it past this mark in our lives and to celebrate so many more with my very best friend :)

To Greg:  I love love love you more than anything. I am so grateful that I married my best friend and am able to share this life and the next with you. I love you more and more each day and appreciate all that you do for our family. You are wonderful person who can achieve ANYTHING with your determination and drive. I love you for the husband that you are and for the wonderful father you have become. We have SO much to look forward to and I couldn't imagine spending it with anyone else but you, babe!

 

Beauty Queen

We entered Ava into the Miss American Starlet Beauty Pageant on March 19th. It was a fun experience and guess what???.... She was Overall Miss American Starlet and the Prettiest Eyes!! We were so excited for her as were her "Fan Club"!! It was a little long for Miss Ava and she fell asleep half way through the ceremony but was wide awake when she received her crown!! Here are some photos that captured the moment:

 Doesn't she look SO thrilled?!?

Photo Op

Checkin' out the goods!

Eatin' the goods!!

 

Motherhood

I have truly enjoyed being a mother! The last 6 months of my life have brought every emotion to the surface... happy, sad, joy, frustration, anger, love... you name it, I've seen it! At times, I feels as though this was not my calling in life then more often then not, I step back and take a deep breath and realize this IS my calling in life! I was called to be a mother and there is no greater call in life than being a mother! I read a quote the other day that I just LOVE:
I have learned to rely on my Heavenly Father through my rough times and my good times. I love knowing that my prayers will be answered even if it's the answer I don't want. My faith has increased and my testimony strengthened just through these last 6 months(and through out most of my pregnancy) due to the birth and raising up of my little girl! I know my Heavenly Father loves me because he sent me my little girl to brighten even my darkest day.

"Mothers go longer on less sleep and give more to others with less personal renewal for themselves than any other group I know at any other time in life. It is not surprising when the shadows under their eyes sometimes vaguely resemble the state of Rhode Island...You are doing God's work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you, and He will bless you, even-no, especially- when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master's garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and weep over the responsibility as mothers, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' and it will make your children whole as well."

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland "Because She Is a Mother"

  

I have learned to rely on my Heavenly Father through my rough times and my good times. I love knowing that my prayers will be answered even if it's the answer I don't want. My faith has increased and my testimony strengthened just through these last 6 months(and through out most of my pregnancy) due to the birth and raising up of my little girl! I know my Heavenly Father loves me because he sent me my little girl to brighten even my darkest day.

Christmas 2009

I know, I know, I'm way behind on blogging but just got lots of pictures so I'm trying to play catch up!
Well, it was Ava's first Christmas, though I'm sure it was just another day to her. She was spoiled and Greg and I were spoiled as well!

 

Ava and Santa

 

Most of my family!

And apparently I only have 2 pictures of Christmas time... thought I had more! Well, I'm slowly catching up and if I keep going at this rate I will have caught up by next week! I promise I will have more pictures in the next post!

Ava's Blessing Day

We blessed Ava on December 6th, 2009. Greg gave her a beautiful blessing and all that could attend were. We were so happy to have all our friends and family there to celebrate this special occasion. Ava looked absolutely beautiful! We had a luncheon before her blessing and had her blessing after the normal block program. It was different but it turned out great!

                                                 Mom, Dad and Ava... she's not too happy!!

                                                               Some of the cousins!

 

Right before her blessing

 

She was good all the way through the blessing, just not too happy before or after!

 

My Family!

 

Greg's Family!

 

Our good friends, the Henson's!

My Goals for 2010!

Well, some call them resolutions but for some reason if they are called that, I never follow through! So I'm gonna call them GOALS!!

My first goal is to work out with this lady 3-5 days a week

And once my membership is up @ Fitness, I'd like to sign up here just to change up the routine a little

I'm also going to try and eat a little more like this

 

So I can get in shape to run this

(The half)

I'm so excited and nervous and scared for all of this BUT I know I can do it!!!!!!!