Day 243

This was one tired girl after spending the evening with our buds, the Beatys! She came home and crashed fast! Thanks again for a fun night, Jon and Emily!

Day 242

Ava patiently waiting for her favorite time of day. Whenever she hears the water turn on, she hauls hiney to the source. She even tries to hike her leg to climb in the tub. She's such a lady.. :)

Day 241

Ava was pooped after going to a birthday party this afternoon. Funny story - I was hosting a baby shower and couldn't go so Zach had to take her. He usually asks me each day what she should wear but we didn't talk about it before I left. When they got home and I saw her in this dress, I had to laugh. He thought I'd want her to "dress up" even though she only wears this dress to church! So cute of them both!

Day 240

"Can I fit this whole thing in my mouth?"

Day 239

I walked in the living room and found Ava sitting here watching Wheel of Fortune. So cute!

Day 238

Ava got to sample a small bit of Momma's leftover cookie cake. How a taste of icing off my finger ended up like this, I'll never know! (Oh, and apologies for the bad picture - it's next to impossible to get the girl to stop walking for a picture!)

Day 237

My sweet, sweet Ava carrying her birthday gift for me over to me. Then she proceeded to try to open it for me! :) I had a great birthday!

Day 236

Ava this morning before her 1st day of school! Doesn't she look excited? Appearances can be deceiving though - I forgot her pack of diapers in the car when I took her in and we walked back out to get them and when we got to the car she started crying! I guess she thought I was taking her with me instead of letting her stay! She had a great day and the girl is exhausted tonight!! She's already in bed asleep!

Day 235

Ava was still excited about her Mickey Mouse bowl and bag this morning!

Day 234

My sister rode in the back with Ava today on our way to Tulsa and thought it was funny the way she had her binky in but wasn't sucking it. She said it stayed like this for a long time!

Day 233

This little girl had a blast visiting her uncle in town from St. Louis tonight that she stayed up very late and was a sleepy (but good) girl!

Day 232

Ava likes to walk up to us and grab onto our legs. I love sweet moments like this.

Day 231

I guess she thought the bowl would taste better?
(I love how you can see her eyes through the bowl!)

Day 230

Ava loooooves our phones but rarely gets to touch them. This morning I let her play her favorite game on my phone, Bubble Wrap, and she was soooo excited! When it would end, she'd hand it back to me for me to start it again!

Day 229

We had one of our favorite meals, chicken and broccoli stir fry tonight, and Ava got some of the rice and broccoli and she loved it! She loved it so much she had to have a bath right after b/c there was rice everywhere, including in her hair!

Day 228

There's nothing like being back in your own bed after sleeping somewhere else for the night! And Ava agrees! She is sound asleep tonight already with NO fighting and/or screaming! YAY!

Day 227

Such a daredevil this one. She loves anything to do with jumping and/or bouncing. Who knew that your bouncy seat made a great trampoline? Ava does now!

Day 226

If she already thinks she can dig in my purse for whatever she wants, that doesn't look promising for the future when she'll be in there trying to get money!

Day 225

Ava loves playing with her Busy Ball Popper! She's also having a blast with my cousin Lexie who is watching her this week! :)

Day 224

I love this sweet, goofy girl so much!

Day 223

Where does she come up with this stuff?

Day 222

This was the only picture I took today. Ava and I planned on helping Zach with getting his room all set up before his parents' meeting tomorrow night. However, Ava fell apart when we got there. Then she decided it was ok. And then I had to ship her off to my parents' house. Why, you ask? Because she came walking toward us, with drool running down her chin, moving her mouth like she was chewing gum. So what was in her mouth? A stinkin' screw. Yes, you read correctly - a screw! So after that she was gone so that we could finish working without having to worry about our child swallowing metal objects.

Day 221

Ava thinks the best food for practicing biting is pizza!

Day 220

Obviously when you are walking it's easier to carry things in your mouth than in your hands. It has also been the same story with the crawling. Where does she get this stuff?!

Day 219

Zach and I went to a party tonight so Aunt Stephanie came over to stay with Ava. They played Wii and had a good time - more like Steph played and Ava chewed on the gummy cover! Ava loves the bowling on Wii and thinks it's fun when she gets to "help" Mom bowl! Thanks again Steph!

Day 218

We never gave Ava a bath in our kitchen sink and Zach said every baby should get to do it once, so we did it tonight. She had a blast and managed to get water everywhere! I love watching her have that much fun!

Day 217

I took this sweet picture of Ava tonight (yes, I know she's wearing her 4th of July dress, but it's silly to wear it only one time!)....

Not even 20 minutes later, the sky looked like this...

This was Round 1 .. and Round 2 is getting underway! Lots of thunder and lightning tonight!

Day 216

Ava stood at the window for a long time tonight watching Daddy mow the lawn. Every time he'd come close and wave at her, she got sooo excited!!

Day 215

After 10 and a half months, Ava's hair finally seems to be coming in and it has a bit of a reddish color to it!

Day 214

This was taken shortly before the bedtime meltdown. We are slowly trying to enforce a stricter bedtime again in preparation for the upcoming school year. Ava's definitely not a fan!

Day 213

Ava went to her first friend birthday party today!