"Sweet" Ava Marie

Now for the story behind the unknowingly even more than obvious perfect gift from Ava's Godmother....

I figured Aunt Karen gave this gift because of already knowing the story behind it, but she didn't.  All she knew was the perfect coincidence of name (as she happened to pass the shop on a side road while heading to a wedding in a nearby town).  This is what I shared with her in an email after we received the gift..."The first time my parents met yours they traveled out to the east coast and stayed at a place in Peterborough, NH.  Winter of 2006/2007, I think.  We ended up touring around the town and saw the chocolate shop.  I was drawn to it because I've always liked the name Ava, and with my middle name being Marie we thought it was just too cute.  My mom and Rob knew that I was in love with the name.  The shop was really "sweet" :)  Then, in the summer/fall of 2008, after we were married and moved to Colorado, my mom saw an article on the chocolate shop in a magazine at the doctor's office (if you can believe it!).  She pulled out the article and mailed it to me, which I've kept for all these years :)

And, that's the story of how in at least one way I knew we were destined to have a little girl :)"

Our "sweetie"

Valentine's Day

Dad made pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast, free-handed!  The artistic talent in this house is sizzlin' hot.

Ava's Baptism Weekend (Jan 31, 2015)

Loved having everyone fly into town to join us in celebration.  We missed all those who couldn't make it!

Godfather Uncle Tyler and Grammy (standing in for Godmother Aunt Karen).  We missed you Aunt Karen!

Part of Godmother Aunt Karen's baptism gift - Ava Marie Chocolates.  A cute story about this will follow in another post (stay tuned!).

Jameson's famous words upon recently turning two, "This called?"

Still lovin' cousin Penelope :)

Um....girls are exhausting!!!

Ava and Uncle Matthew.

Playtime with Grammy.

Fun excursion to the local library with Grammy and Papa.

Giggling with daddy.

Since the grandparents stayed at a nearby hotel (10 min walk from our house), we got to enjoy the hotel pool!  I remember as a child always being excited anytime we stayed in a hotel because of getting to swim in the hotel pool, so this brought back fun memories.  This is Ava's first time swimming and she loves it!!!

Jameson loved it, too.  I can't wait for summer to arrive so we can go swimming as often as we want :)

Swimming with daddy.

Papa loved being able to take both girls swimming for their first time.

Jameson's 2nd Birthday with Friends

Our little All-Star turns 2 - and no surprise, it's a ball-themed party!

Jameson got a ball pit as one of his birthday presents, and it was a big hit with the party guests!  With our guests including 9 children and 10 adults, we were glad to have hosted the party at the neighborhood clubhouse across the street.

Thanks to Pinterest, I lost hours of sleep but had a great variety of fun custom birthday treats, activities, and crafts.

As luck would have it, Jameson's birthday party coincided with an afternoon of Packers and Broncos playoff football.  The Broncos lost their game, but the Pack won and advanced to the NFC championship game.

Pin the football between the goalposts!  For the younger kids, it was more of an exercise in following directions than a test of blindfolded coordination :)

Yummy celebration time.

End of the party: Jameson is in a sugar coma, and Ava finally woke up and is ready to celebrate.

Ava 4 months

At 4 months, Ava was still sleeping in our bedroom in a bassinet.  We had been putting off finishing her nursery for various reasons, but were determined to move her into it soon!  She was still waking up twice during the night to feed - midnight and 3/4am and we trusted that would change (for the better!) once she was in her own room.

Ava had a very healthy 4 month wellness visit.  She got all her vaccines and growth measurements.  On 1/19/15, she weighed 12lbs, 3.24oz (9th percentile), measured 24in (24th percentile) and had a head circumference of 15.86 (35th percentile).

January 7th, Jameson's 2nd Birthday

Happy birthday my sweet boy!

Happy birthday to the best big brother!!  I love watching you and learning from you.  I giggle when you come over and play with me and often cry when you leave me.  Thank you for getting more gentle with me over the past month and for recognizing more and more what toys and sounds I like.

A bedtime story book featuring a brother and sister, from Ava.

Jameson loves to take my credit cards when we are checking out at the store and loves everything that has buttons...he's already in love with this birthday gift!

Check it out!!!  Now I can build lots of towers and walls, etc with all the blocks I got for my birthday (more seen in the picture below).

Cool tools!

Is this really what I think it is?!?!?!?

Totally awesome!

My own ball pit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ava 3 months

I can roll over and sit supported, but prefer to lay on my back and stand with support.  Even though I'm strong enough, I'm still not a big fan of the whole tummy-time thing.