Happy 2nd Birthday, Ava!

Ava turned 2 on May 3rd. We had planned to have an 'Elmo' party at my sister's house with a bounce house and some food. The Elmo invitations went out, and the Elmo cake had been ordered. The bounce house was ordered in advance, and the morning before the party, Mark and I went to Costco for all of the food and beverages...Unfortunately, the weather decided to take a turn for the worse and it ended up being cold and rainy for about 3 days. I made the executive decision on Saturday afternoon to move the party for Sunday indoors. I thought about using my sister's garage, but she and my brother-in-law were in the middle of remodeling their house and the garage was full of power tools and new tile. So, where else do you go when it's raining and you're expecting about 20 kids? Chuck E. Cheese's! They had an opening and I took it-the employees there were wonderful. I called everyone and told them of the change of location, and time, and most everyone was able to still make it. I didn't have to set up or clean up, which was great. The kids all had a fantastic time and Ava ended up still having a great 2nd birthday party! I tried, but some of the pictures are not in order...

Ava blowing out the candles with a little help from Mommy.

Ava, not so sure about dancing with that Chuck E. Cheese guy...

We still used her Elmo cake that I had ordered...it tasted so yummy!

Ava on one of the rides.

Yeah! Dancing to the music of Chuck E. Cheese and the band!

Happy Birthday, little munchkin! She LOVES her new playhouse! Thank you Grandma & Grandpa and Omi & Opa!

Isn't this the cutest playhouse?

All done with cake and ice cream...look at that face!

Forget the fork!

Yum!

Stay Tuned...

Wow- Has it really been since Easter since I last updated our blog?? I will update soon- including, Ava's 2nd bday, Ava's 1st camping trip, swim lessons, Ava's 1st trip to the movie theater, and more... get ready to read!

Happy Easter!

This year, the Easter festivities started on Friday afternoon with an egg hunt at Nana's. On Saturday, we went to Durham park for another Easter egg hunt. On Sunday, we spent Easter brunch at Raymond and Jenny's and then drove down to my parents' for Easter dinner. Three days and 4 Easter egg hunts later, Ava was wiped out! She had a blast and loved spending time with the whole family-her favorite thing to do! I learned that plastic eggs are much better for an almost-two year old to hunt for, as opposed to hard boiled eggs. Ava tried to "open" some of the hard boiled eggs that she found and stuck her fingers right through them! She thought there was candy inside those too...

She loved the bunnies!

See the scratched up chin? She fell off our neighbor's porch the night before and cut her lip and her chin-great timing!

My mom's table, set for Easter dinner.

Ava and Gramma laughing at the egg and the chick.

Ava was heading out--check out her overflowing Easter basket!

Takin' a break from finding eggs.

Drew and Emma were helping Ava find Easter eggs-they were so helpful and Ava absolutely loves them!

At Raymond and Jenny's finding eggs. Last year at Easter, she wasn't quite walking and didn't get the whole idea of finding eggs...this year, she was on a mission! She was running everywhere trying to find every single egg-I'm going to need a bigger basket next year!

The fam, at Durham park. Ava already had her mouth full of chocolate...

At Nana's, satisfied with her one egg that had jelly beans in it.

The bunny hutch that Aly and Ava made-Ava tried to eat everything the whole time...

Aly and Ava-having fun!

Cutie Pie

I think this is currently my favorite picture of Ava. We went down to my parents' this weekend and my mom took this while Ava was reading her Elmo book. Mark and I went to dinner with our friends, Trevor and Rhiana, while my parents watched Ava. They decided to take her to John's Incredible Pizza Co. I've never been there, but have heard it described as Chuck E. Cheese's multiplied by 1000!! They have toys, rides, and a pizza buffet. My mom said that when they walked in the door and Ava saw all of the games/rides she looked over at my parents and said "Wow". She had a blast! My mom and John met some other friends there, and Ava went on some of the rides with their daughter, Emma. I don't know who was more exhausted when the evening was over, Ava or my parents! When Mark and I got back, Ava was sound asleep. She had such a good time with Gramma and Grampa!! Thanks Mom and John! :)

Here Comes Trouble!!

This afternoon, Ava was playing at my in-laws' and found a sprinkler that was on out back...she was just standing there, clothes and all, getting soaked!! I have no idea what she was thinking, but she thought it was pretty funny. Notice her shirt says "Here Comes Trouble"...how true!!

Kite Day

Every year, Chico has its annual 'Kite Day'. We never used to go before we had Ava, but we've gone two years in a row now. It was super windy that day and nearly impossible to fly a kite. I let Ava pick her kite out and she wanted a Barbie kite. I didn't think she even knew who Barbie was, but what do I know?? We got Barbie up in the air for awhile, but the wind was so strong, the kite kept doing nose-dives into the ground. People were dodging kites left and right. Ava thought it was neat for a few mintues, then wanted to move on. They have a playground and she was much more interested in going down the slides and playing on the swings. We had a good time, but I hope next year isn't so windy.

Going to explore with Opa.

I found her hat in her diaper bag-she actually wore it, which is surprising!

Mark, flying the Barbie kite :) What a good Dad!

Barbie, two minutes before she came crashing down.

Omi and Ava, trying not to blow away.

We're back!

I know it's been so long since I've posted an update! I've become addicted to facebook and have neglected our family blog...Well, I'm back now, and I vow to take more pictures- I haven't been very good about that lately either. Anyway, we've been having fun living life and watching Ava grow.

Ava update: She will be 2 in 2 months and I cannot believe it! She is really into Elmo, so we're thinking of having an Elmo birthday party. She is talking up a storm and has become the resident mocking bird. She amazes us everyday with new things (words, gestures, expressions, etc.). She loves to sing songs, or rather, have me sing them to her. Every night when I put her to bed, I have to go through the usual line-up of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Rock-A-Bye Baby, the ABCs, and we even sing Happy Birthday to almost every single family member. She has just started this "phase" where she takes her socks and shoes off EVERY single time we get in the car, no matter how far we have to go. She's becoming very independent and has started to try and dress herself in the mornings. She is getting pretty good, but still needs help with getting her shirts over her head. She still never ceases to amaze us or make us laugh everyday!

I have completed two 5K runs in the last couple of months and just signed up for the random lottery to see if I get picked to run in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in SF in October...yikes! What was I thinking? Mark and Ava came to both of my runs to cheer me on-Mark is very supportive and taught Ava to yell "Go Mama Go!".

We have lots of fun things planned for the upcoming months and I will be better about taking pictures so I can share them with everyone. We hope everyone is doing well!

Ava playing on the swings while I was running at the Almond Blossom 5K

Starting line at the Almond Blossom in Durham.

Finish line- I don't know what I placed, but I did finish 2 minutes faster than my previous run

Our friend, Matty, after he crossed the finish line... Medic? Medic?

With our friends Jason and Matty

Here are some random pics I've taken over the last couple of months...

One of our family friends, Jodi, was doing a scrapbook layout for a project and needed a picture of Ava with her shoes...She has a little shoe obsession--dontchathink?

Hello? Mama?

Playing at Omi's in the Grocery Store

Aly turned 14!! OMG - I feel old! Ava absolutely loves Aly and talks about her all the time...

Ava's first pedicure, compliments of mommy. Not the best paint job, but you try painting a 22 month old's toes!!