9 Months Old

 

Well, Miss Ava Grace, I had all intentions of posting this almost two weeks ago when you actually turned nine months old, but a thing called life happened. And if I were to impart some kind of wisdom/insight to you at nine months, it would be that life does not always go as planned. People get sick, work has deadlines and the ten loads of laundry call your name. But not to be Debbie Downer on you because sometimes life calls you to chase your crawling kids around the living room or snuggle with your four year old for a few minutes of cartoon watching.

I still don't want to miss documenting the past month of your life because with each passing month, you get a little taller, a little funnier, and a whole lot cuter. If last month was a month of firsts, then this month was time for your personality to really shine Miss Ava Grace. We call you a "mess" with the sweetest of intentions. It just means that you are really, really funny to us. You scrunch your nose up when you smile and sometimes can hardly contain yourself when you "dance." You get those little legs to going up and down in what I call your squats.

 

You have been "helping" me in the kitchen. Mostly, I give you a bowl and some measuring spoons and that occupied for awhile until you found the fun game of looking at yourself in the reflection on the oven. That's not such a "hot" thing to do little missy. "No" is a word you have been hearing frequently this past month. You must like it because we have to say it to you often. Like your daddy says, you don't know the subtle meaning of "no" just yet but you are learning. 

You tend to give your brother one of two looks. Either your face lights up or you give him this "what are you doing?" kind of look. He simply adores you.Yesterday he kept saying, "Mama, take our picture."

You have become quite vocal although I don't know that you connect "Mama" and "Dada" to anything in particular. I looked down today and you had pulled yourself up by holding on to my pant leg with one hand. Crawling seems second nature to you but you do it without allowing your knees to touch the ground. It's so sweet to watch you sleep. The thumb is a certain must and if I'm holding you, you reach up and hold onto my hair. If you are in your bed you hold on to your rabbit's ear.

 

At your doctor's appointment, you weighed 16 pounds and 6 ounces (11%) and were 27.5 inches long (50%). I wasn't surprised that percentage-wise your weight had gone down since you are so active, but it was surprising that your height went from the 95% to 50%. The doctor said you could have been going through a growth spurt last time.

Finger foods make it to your mouth very quickly especially cheese. Meats were something we added to your diet this month and you are new friends with the sippy cup although all you do is chew on it.

Life just keeps getting a little busier and a lot lovelier with you around. We love you so dearly Ava Grace. ~ Mama

You are My Sunshine

I just love this kid. He melts my heart and is my sunshine. He is growing leaps before my eyes yet still says things like, "Are we going to fire (choir) tonight?" We took the plunge and decided to homeschool him his pre-k year. We still do lots of play, but he's more than ready for a little more academic structure. He's serious about his school work and silly when it's song time. Gavin loves to show his daddy what he has learned and accomplished at day's end.

His sister is learning the fine art of being a character. Her personality is evolving but it's mighty funny and full of curiousity. Which brings me to my next point.

 It's not easy especially with this adorably active little girl around (we take advantage of working during her nap time) but the time together and Gavin's academic growth in the past few weeks are so well worth it. That's not to say we have his schooling figured out for next year.

 

In addition to church choir, we have also enrolled Gavin in Awanas at church. I'll post more on that another time, but for now here's a Gavin story I don't think we will forget.

One night, we had a little family tickle time before bed. Laughter abounded as well as "Watch out for Ava!" In the midst of tickling, Hunny pulled my pants leg resulting in a ripping sound. The next sound was full blown balling coming from Gavin. When we got him calmed down enough to see why he was crying, he said, "Daddy broke Mama!" We quickly reassured him that Daddy would never hurt Mama and it was just my pants that tore (they actually didn't.) I love my tenderhearted little boy.

And here's this picture just because I absolutely love it.

 

Movie Memories

I did fairly well at taking pictures throughout the summer but not so hot documenting what we did. Let's just say the next few posts will be a trip down memory lane. And what better way than to start with an activity that is nearly a thing of the past if it were not for the Showboat Drive-In.

 

           

     

 

One day I'll be able to show our kids the moon they fell asleep under even if it looks tiny.

8 Months Old

Sweet baby girl, tonight I rocked you and sang song after song. Most nights you just want a quick kiss on the forehead and to be laid down, thumb in mouth, but tonight was different. You let me rock you, as your hair rubbed my chin and your foot tapped against my leg to each new song. Your head gently rested against my chest just like that moment you were first handed you to me eight months ago.

This has been a month of firsts. The same day you tried out your high chair, I noticed your first tooth peeking through. Since then, the tooth next to it cut through as well.

You are also much steadier when sitting up and are crawling like a pro. Most often, you will crawl, stop, sit up, and then go back to crawling. Life just got a whole lot busier.

 

And to my surprise, I glanced over at your video monitor to see you pulling up. I ran up the stairs, took a peek and then ran right back down to grab the camera. You are having the best time with this although you did throw your brother for a loop when you tried to pull him down by pulling up.

 

Your daddy was also quite happy today because he is convinced that you were saying "Da Da." I am still holding out that you are going to say "Ma Ma" first. Whatever it is, you have definitely become more vocal.

You also had your first trip to the beach in what I hope will become an annual girls trip. You seemed to like the sand, but with your red hair and fair complexion we were only able to stay out for a few minutes. That's okay, it was about to storm anyways.

Here you are with my dear friend Alisha during dinner on our trip.

Miss Ava Grace, you are such a joy and little spitfire. You keep us entertained and are apparently going through a growth spurt (at eight months?). You are wearing 6-9 months clothes, size three diapers and based on the calculations from your brother's measuring tape today, you are 28 inches long.

I get the biggest thrill out of hearing you and Gavin laugh together. He is so patient with you and sweet to get you toys for your entertainment.

You have also eaten lots of firsts foods this month for a rotating menu consisting of apples, butternut squash, bananas, avocados, peas, prunes, carrots, and  sweet potatoes. Puffs are also new but you have not quite mastered getting them into your mouth. You grab them with your hand, pull your hand to your mouth but instead of opening your hand, you suck on your thumb.

We love you to the moon and back and more dear one.

Mama

Walk This Way

Doesn't everyone's evening walk include lightsabers and a duel?

Let's just say it wasn't a fight to the finish but the length of the walk ended with one of the two being carried home.

7 Months Old

 

 Oh sweet girl, you are ever changing. It seems like you have grown so much physically and socially in the past month. It's now on to 6-9 months clothes for you as well as size three diapers. Your hair is coming in a lovely shade of copper while your eyes seem to be in the midst of changing from blue to....not sure.

It has been fun seeing you explore as you have learned to rock back and forth on all fours and manage to "boot scoot" your way across the floor. You are also getting the hang of sitting up and standing with some support.

 

Anything and everything would go in your mouth if we let you put it there. Gavin really doesn't like it when you get slobber on his toys or animals but willingly shows his love by holding your hand or talking baby talk. We really don't know where he picked this up.

And speaking of your brother, he is also growing much too fast. Gavin's vocabulary has taken off and just last night for dinner he ate two hot dogs complete with bread and cheese, half an apple, grapes, a yogurt, 2 glasses of milk, a spoonful of peanut butter and a chocolate chip cookie. Growth spurt!

 

Ava, a few of your nicknames are Boot Scoot, Missy Moo, Sister Roo or Sister Rooey, Little Red, Ava Grace Grace, and Sweet Girl. You have a way of studying people or things and are sometimes somber when you first wake up. But when you get that gummy smile going, it's nonstop. Lately, your daddy is getting a kick out of you screeching in response to his screeches. We used to call Gavin Screech Owl, but as your daddy pointed out, your screeches sound more girly.

As soon as we moved, I started you on solids other than just rice cereal. You tried sweet potatoes first, then bananas, avocado, oatmeal and butternut squash. You definitely favor your rice cereal but are an overall good eater with a fairly consistent feeding schedule of 8am, noon, 4 pm and 8pm.  I'm loving this new schedule.

 

The following outfit I put on you for Independence Day. Let's just say the bow and the dress were big and bright much like this Texas girl. The dress reminds of the one in the Pollyanna movie. 

I'm not sure what to think of your personality yet, but you are always making us laugh with your many faces.

We love you to the moon and back and more Ava Grace.

Mama

Ten Years

During my newlywed days, I remember hearing about couples who had been married ten or more years and thinking "wow, I know we will get there, but it seems so far off." Well, we are there and I can't believe how fast time has flown. I couldn't be any more blessed to be married to my best friend. We couldn't be anymore alike or anymore different if that makes any sense. It's been fun during the ups and I feel like the downs have drawn us even closer to each other.

Enough of the sappy stuff. I don't think I could post without including pictures, so here's two of the very few pics I have on my laptop (we have yet to set up the computer since the move). However, once we do, I want to post about our ten year anniversary trip that we took last year. Hopefully, when I do, that last sentence will make more sense.

Then

 And Now