Father's Day Fun

My first official Father's Day was great. Ava and I had a good day together. We started out the day with presents from Ava and Lisa. I got a cool tie with pictures of Ava on it. Lisa also made a shadow box with memories from mine and Ava's birthday.

Then we went to Gridley to see my dad and grandpa. We gave Papa a tie just like mine. We had lots of fun with Ava's cousins.

I waited a long time for this day and it was worth the wait.

Ava Giggles

Ava is happy, smiley, girl, but she doesn't laugh a lot. She does laugh from time to time, but we usually aren't ready to get it on video. Tonight she was laughing like crazy and kept it up even after Rich started to video. Please enjoy our cute little girl giggling.

Mormon Messages on YouTube

Today I was checking out lds.org (LDS Church Website) and came across a Mormon Message video that is on YouTube. I watched the video about being a father ("A Father Indeed") and got a little weepy-eyed. I then clicked on the YouTube link with more Mormon Messages and watched a few. The short video clips are great. They teach about the church, our beliefs, and are truly inspirational. I know there is a lot of bad and incorrect information floating around about the LDS Church, so it is nice there is some good and true information too. I am happy the church put out these short clips and I became a subscriber to the Mormon Messages to be updated about any new videos. To check out the Mormon Messages go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/MormonMessages

A Message I Recommend
The video entitled "Sunday Will Come" also made me a little weepy-eyed...okay, okay, I actually cried. I remember this talk given by Elder Joseph B. Worthlin very well. It touched me then too and gave me hope in a time of darkness. Even though I wasn't grieving the loss of a loved one at the time I was going through a tough time with the adoption process and this talk gave me hope. It reminded me that even though I am experiencing pain for the moment one day it will be gone. One day if I endure my trials well and continue to have faith I will be reunited with my family and be able to live with Heavenly Father forever. That testimony helped me through some tough days. Now, I have been blessed with my beautiful Ava and soon we will be sealed in the Sacramento Temple to be a forever family...I truly feel like my Sunday has come.

NorCal Cousins

For father's day we went to Gridley to spend the day with Rich's family. During previous visits Ava has not interacted with her cousins very much, but this time was different. Ava had a great time with her cousins and I think they enjoyed her too.

Homemade Pretzels -- Take One

I really like soft pretzels and often eat them as a snack. I like the ones at the mall (Pretzel Time, Auntie Anne's Pretzels, etc.), but settle for the frozen pretzels since going to the mall isn't convenient. I have been thinking about making pretzels at home and this week I started the quest for a delicious homemade soft pretzels. I figure if I make them at home I can save money, control the ingredients, and freeze some for impulsive snacking. My first try was okay, but not exactly what I am looking for. Now I plan to look for a new recipe and try again.

Ava's New Trick

This month Ava has been working hard to sit on her own. We have been practicing since the beginning of the month and she has been getting better each day. Now when she is on her back she uses her elbows and does mini-crunches trying to sit-up. She isn't strong enough to get into the sitting position on her own, but when helped she can sit for quite a while.

6-9-09

6-10-09

6-20-09

6-22-09

Bad Habit

This past week Ava has discovered spitting. I blame Rich and I for teaching it to her, but there is no going back now. When we read "Polar Bear, Polar Bear", by Eric Carle Rich would make an elephant trumpeting sound that Ava has started to imitate. At first it was kind of cute to know she was copying her dad, but the first time she did it while eating carrots I was not as excited.

1st Sweet Potato

On Saturday Ava tried sweet potatoes for the first time. She seemed to enjoy them and last night she woofed down her potatoes.

Sweet Serenade

At night before Ava goes to bed we say a family prayer, give hugs & kisses, and then Rich walks her down the hall while singing to her. He usually sings in Italian and I listen on the baby monitor...it is so cute!!

I Love to See the Temple

The temple is an important part of our life. Before we were blessed with Ava we tried to go to the Sacramento Temple once a week. It was a place of great peace and comfort to us during a difficult time. We found our days and weeks were easier to handle after being strengthened from a visit to the temple.

Now that we have our beautiful baby girl it is more of a challenge to go to the temple regularly. Rich has been able to go a few times, but I haven't been since the day after Ava was born in Utah. That changed this week when my good friend and her kids offered to watch Ava. I decided it was time for me to get back to the temple, so I went and I'm glad I did. It was so wonderful and uplifting. I felt happy and renewed and it was exactly what I needed. I now hope to go more regularly and I'm grateful for the invitation of my friends to watch Ava for me.

For more info. about temples check out these links:

The blessings of the Temple (YouTube)

Why Mormons build Temples

Frequently asked questions

We're going to court...YEAH!!

I know going to court doesn't sound like a good thing, but in this case it is GREAT!! This morning I went down to the courthouse and turned in all of our adoption paperwork and left with a court date for the finalization...Woo Hoo!! We are set to finalize the adoption on July 20th. We will then have Ava sealed to us in the Sacramento Temple on July 25th. We have waited for this day for a long time and we are EXCITED to take Ava to the temple...oh did I mention we are just a little bit EXCITED...WOO HOO!!!

MMMM...Carrots

Today Ava tried carrots. We bought some carrots from the farmer's market then steamed and pureed them. We weren't sure what Ava would think of the orange food, but she seemed to like it. We only gave her a little and finished off the meal with rice cereal. As long as she seems okay tomorrow we will give her carrot for the next few days and then move on to something else...maybe sweet potatoes.

5 months old

Ava is now 5 months old. She keeps getting bigger and stronger each day. The past month Ava has changed a lot. She has started eating rice cereal and oatmeal. She is also more active and aware of her surroundings. Ava wants to grab everything and put it in her mouth. She also is able to hold her head up and look around during belly time. Ava really likes to sit-up and we are practicing so she will probably be able to sit by herself soon. She also likes to stand and loves her jumperoo. Ava entertains us each day and we are excited to see what changes the next month brings.

Farmer's Market & Cousins

On Saturday Rachel and Nathan came to visit while their parents went to the temple. We were happy to have them with us and they had a good time with Ava. We decided to go to one of the local farmer's market and get some produce. While there Rachel and Nathan were both very attentive to Ava. Rachel enjoyed pushing the stroller and Nathan made sure the sun was off Ava by controlling the canopy and putting her hat on. They were both helpful in the car as well by making sure Ava was entertained and happy...what great cousins!!

At the farmer's market Rich bought some cherries, nectarines, apricots, and some sunflowers for me. Rachel got some kettle corn and cherries. Nathan helped me pick out some carrots for Ava. These carrots will be her first food other than rice cereal and oatmeal.

Can I bake?

I can cook but baking is not really my thing. I made some cookies recently. This reminded Lisa of a previous incident that I had while baking an Oreo cookie cake. We were eating the cake and wondered what was wrong. It was bad and there was something missing. Later someone opened the microwave where they found the butter that I had melted to mix in the cake. We decided to reenact the incident while I was mixing my cookies. I did remember the butter and the cookies turned out OK, but not great.

Punch-Out!!

I recently bought Punch-Out for the Wii. It is based on earlier versions of the game, but with better graphics and the new game play. I have sore arms today after punching at the air for hours yesterday. I give it a thumbs up. It is on the simple side but very entertaining. Ava is probably just as entertained from watching me swing my arms around like crazy.

Plugged Up

This has been a rough week for our sweet little girl. First, I had take her out a lot during the day because I was getting paperwork done and turned in for the finalization of the adoption (hopefully in July). This caused her to have terrible morning naps and through off her schedule...Ava likes her schedule.

If this wasn't bad enough Ava has been constipated and gassy most of the week. She started eating rice cereal a couple weeks ago and the extra iron has plugged her up. When Ava was a couple months old she had a similar problem with the iron enriched formula and we had to give her water to help regulate her. We have been trying to do the same thing but until today it wasn't helping much.

The poor girl has been unhappy and uncomfortable on and off this week. The worst was last night. She was really tired so she went to bed easily, but she woke up at 12:20am crying. Rich got up and comforter her for a while. She then woke up again a hour later. I then got up with her and we spent the rest of the night in the rocking chair. Ava would sleep for a little bit and then wake up crying. It was so sad because I could tell she was not feeling well.

Since Ava and I had a rough night we did not make it to church. I was finally able to get her to sleep around 8am and she slept for almost four hours. She then woke up and decided it was time to eat. I fed her, her normal amount of formula followed by some water and just hoped she would be able to pooh. When Rich came home from church he came with a bottle of prune juice for Ava. I gave her about an ounce to start. A few minutes later she started making her pushing sounds (which sound like an elephant) and then I smelled it...Eureka!!! Her diaper was full and we all did a happy dance.

Ava: "Feel my pain daddy!"

Prune juice not Pepsi...sorry Papa Bruce.

Rich calls this Ava's vampire picture. No this is not blood...it's just prune juice.

First Harvest

On Thursday we harvested our first vegetable from the garden. It was a beautiful crook-necked squash and Rich ate it with dinner (I don't like squash). We were excited about this first harvest and looking forward to the rest of the summer. Our tomatoes are getting big and have some flowers. We also have a few zucchini and cucumbers almost ready. This summer is going to be fun as we watch our garden grow and Ava starts to try these new foods.

New Dishwasher

A couple weeks ago we got a new dishwasher...YEAH!! It is so wonderful and quiet. Our old one still functioned, but it we called it the sanitizer because that's all it was good for. Since we bought the house 4 1/2 years ago it has gotten louder and louder. If we were watching TV we would have to turn it up quite a bit to hear it over the dishwasher. As we started doing research we looked at the old dishwasher manual and discovered it was a Montgomery Wards (went out of business many years ago) brand and was at least 12 years old...crazy!! At this point we decided it was really time to get a new dishwasher.

When we got our taxes back this year we first paid off our car, paid for our bed, and then decided to use some of the left over money for the dishwasher. It was nice to finally be able to buy the dishwasher and with Ava's bottles it was definitely needed. I'm sure with this new dishwasher we will save money on our utilities too.

The Fountain

Ava was given a new nick name this Sunday. One of our friends' son Ethan called her the Fountain after he witnessed her spit up all over me and my newest suit during Sacrament meeting. That morning Ava woke up early and was given 2oz. of formula to calm her down. We then went to Church at 9 a.m., which is during her usual breakfast time. We forgot the previous 2oz. and still gave her the usual 8oz. It was too much and about 2 oz. came shooting out and all over me. Ethan thought it was hilarious. We had a good laugh too.

Ava enjoys bath time and expects it before 9pm. If 9pm rolls around and she has not had her bath she will let us know. Ava is very vocal and is not afraid to let us know when she wants something...NOW!!

Tonight Rich was making some cookies, but Ava did not want to wait until he was done for her bath. Since we give her a bath in a tub on the kitchen counter Rich had to take a break from the cookies, so Ava could have her bath. She was much happier when she was clean and ready for bed.

I Love Turtles

As most of you know I love turtles, so when Gymboree had a turtle collection for girls I was so excited. I think the turtle collection is actually from last year because Rich's sister bought Ava a cute turtle shirt last summer, but our outlet had the collection this summer...YEAH for outlets!! When I first saw the clothes I couldn't decide what to buy, but I did know I couldn't (and didn't need) it all. I finally decided to buy the summer dress I loved even though it won't fit Ava for a few years (3T)...it was just too cute. I also got turtle barrettes that match. Rich also picked out a cute outfit that Ava was able to wear today. That was all we got until a few weeks later when we went back and the collection was all on sale. I still limited what I...I mean Ava...got and bought things for next summer since we have been given so much for this year. I was able to find the cutest swim suit, sunglasses, and a jean/top outfit. Of course I wanted to buy the whole collection, but Ava doesn't really care and it is definitely not necessary. I am happy with the cute turtle outfits we got and I look forward to seeing my beautiful Ava wear them.

Belly Time

When we started belly time several months ago Ava hated it!! Now that she is bigger and stronger she doesn't hate it so much. When she is in the mood Ava can lift and hold her head up for almost a minute. When she is not in the mood she usually will fuss a little bit and then suck her thumb...she has almost gone to sleep a few times.

Ava really doesn't seem that interested in rolling over. She does try to put her knees underneath her and will push with her legs. She also will follow her toy cow and has tried to stretch out her arm to grab it. I still think she might crawl before she rolls over. Is that weird??

Lion King

On Thursday Rich and I went to see Lion King at the Sacramento Community Theater. I wanted to see it when it came 4 years ago, but we had just bought the house and it didn't work out. This time I made sure to buy tickets as soon as they were on sale. I had been excitedly awaiting this day and it was well worth the wait.

I loved the show and the music was beautiful. I always did like the story and I was amazed how it was transformed into a Broadway show. The puppets were amazing. I especially liked the giraffes and elephants. I also really enjoyed the African rhythms in the drums and during Rafiki's songs.

Rich also enjoyed the show...even more than I expected. Since we both enjoyed the show we decided to order the soundtrack on Amazon for memories. The sad thing was Ava was too little to go and enjoy it with us. There were a lot of kids there, so I hope when Ava is bigger we will have the chance to take her to see the show.

Bubble Bath