Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Ava's 1st Birthday

Ava's first birthday was so much fun! We traveled to Liberty to go to the pumpkin patch and corn maze. There, we went to the petting zoo, played on the trains, went on a hayrack ride, picked pumpkins both at the baby patch and at the big patch, and went through a corn maze! We had SO much fun and Ava had a BLAST!!! For lunch, we ate at the Crayola Cafe at Crown Center. We took her to the giant toy store there and let her pick out her first present. She was very decisive and after only three no's, picked out a stuffed weiner dog, just like my parents' dog Layla. She has been hugging and kissing it ever since! Grandma and Grandpa came over in the afternoon to play and brought her balloons and another present. She was obsessed with the balloons and has continued to play with them all night! After she woke up from her nap, James and Steph came over for dinner and we had fancy cupcakes from a local cupcakery. Ava's was a vanilla cupcake with hot pink icing. After we sang and blew out her candle, she picked up her cupcake.. turned it upside down... and ate just the cake part! Eventually she got to the icing and thought that part was pretty good too. She ate the whole dang cupcake! Mommy couldn't even finish hers!!! She got to open one more present for the day.. a pink and purple Fisher Price "Little People" train from James. She loved opening a present and loves the train. Thank you Jamesy! It was such an AWESOME day for all of us and we enjoyed spending a (rare) day together. Happy first birthday Ava! Mommy and daddy love you more than anything in the world.



























HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY AVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, it's so hard to believe that Ava is one year old today. What a year it's been! Ava has been the light of our lives. She is a warm and loving little girl that has changed so many lives for the better. We often forget what life was like without her and have truly enjoyed the past 365 days. They have been the best days of our lives. It's amazing how much she has grown and changed in one year!

At one year old, Ava's favorite people foods are scrambled eggs and mashed potatoes. Her favorite baby foods are bananas and sweet potatoes. Ava's favorite toy is the leap frog activity table that nana bought her. Ava loves dogs and animals in general. She doesn't watch TV but she LOVES music and for some reason she loves it when mommy sings to her. She waves and claps and wants hi-fives.. occasionally you can get her to say HI! but for right now her favorite words are "UP!" and dad. She pushes her baby stroller and the laundry cart all over the house but refuses to walk by herself. Soon! She can climb up the stairs in a matter of seconds and can go back down. We are so proud of her! Her first nickname was "sweet pea," followed by "Ava burrito," followed by "munchkin," which we sometimes short to "munchie." Sweet pea was given to her by nana and poppa, and she continues to be the sweetest little girl we've ever met. Ava burrito was our idea, because when we used to swaddle her.. she looked like a little burrito! Munchkin we gave her when she started standing up because she's so petite for her age.. she looks so short when she walks and stands up, etc. Munchie was just a shorter version and it's true because sometimes she's just so cute we want to eat her :) Today, we took the day off and we have a whole day of activities planned!

We love Ava so much. Sometimes we both just look at her in amazement and get a little teary.. but we thank God every single day for giving us such a beautiful blessing.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Girls Weekend in AZ!

This weekend, Ava and I traveled to Tucson and Scottsdale for some much needed R & R.. and a little sunshine. For whatever reason, it was nearing 100 degrees our whole trip (a little hot for this time of year).. which means that Thursday morning we were in our winter coats, hats, scarves and gloves.. and when we stepped off the plane, switched to shorts and short sleeves. We had such a fun time visiting friends and enjoying the sunshine. Thank you Cassidy for having us and we had so much fun visiting everyone! Check out the video too of Ava at the hotel :)









i LOVE this picture of Ava & Parker!


Ava's new BFF Isabella.. after a big 'ol kiss!
beautiful Fallon


Ava's first bite of fruit tart


who's that pretty girl in the mirror?

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Week 5 - Chiefs vs. Cowboys








....and a couple of my favorites from this week :)



Sunday, October 4, 2009

Week 4 - Chiefs vs. Giants






TOUCHDOWN! KAN.SAS.CITY!