Gardening

For Easter Papa & Nona Kurz gave Ava a gardening set which we finally put to use. I saw these beautiful flowers that reminded me of Ava and I had to have them. The center of the flowers are the most amazing blue color just like Ava's eyes. Ava and I had a fun time planting them and I think she will enjoy helping in the garden this summer.

Ava loves to smell flowers. When she sees flowers she will put her hand to her nose and act like she is smelling them. It is her made up sign for flowers.

Mother's Day

I had a nice Mother's Day. I enjoyed being with Ava and my family. We went to church and then headed to my brother's for dinner. He made some delicious tri-tip, potatoes, and salad. I brought an apricot tart for dessert because my mom loves it. I also made a giant chocolate chip cookie because my brother and I don't like apricot tart. It was nice to hang out together and Ava loved being with her Nona.

Ava and Rich also got me a beautiful miniture rose to complete my 4 pot collection. It is called Coffee Bean. It has deep red outer leaves and turns to a reddish-orange toward the center. I love it!

1st Family Bike Ride

We have wanted to go on a family bike ride for a while, but just got Ava's seat hooked up today. Ava seemed to enjoy her new seat. She sat and watched all the scenery go by. We will have to make this a regular activity because we all enjoyed it.

Thanks Papa and Nona Kurz for the cool bike seat!

Reading Can Be Dangerous?

Tortilla

Ava continues to work on her vocabulary and you can see her trying figure to out how to say different words. This week she has been working on tortilla. This is a video of her trying to say it.

She also continues to expand her sign language skills. Recently, she has started signing daddy and gorilla...I'm not sure if there is some sort of connection there. I am amazed and what she picks up and remembers. We only signed gorilla a few times when we had an Eric Carle book from the library, but one day she saw a gorilla and repeated the sign.

Water Table Video

Check out Ava's cool hair. She had pigtails in, but pulled them out. She is always making her hair look crazy and I love it.

Water Table

Last weekend Ava played with her new water table for the first time. We thought since she loves to splash in and out of the tub this would be the perfect summer toy. Ava loved it! She had a good time taking the animals out and throwing them on the grass. She also loved filling up the scoop with water and pouring it on the grass. Ava got most of the water she poured out on herself, but didn't seem to mind. I think this will be a really winner during those hot summer days.

Sacramento Temple

I forgot I took these pictures at the beginning of the month. It was the day Rachel went to the temple to baptism for the dead for the first time. Rich went in the temple to help with the ordinances and I hung out with Ava and Nathan.

3, 2, 1...Lift Off

For Easter we got Ava a bubble rocket launcher. It was probably more for us than her, but Ava did enjoy all the cool bubbles.

Springtime Cutie

Enjoying the Weather

We have been enjoying the sunshine and mild temperatures. We have been spending more time in our backyard exploring. Ava enjoys watching our tortoise Mo eat, throwing the ball to Luca, and smelling flowers. She also likes to hunt down all the fluffy dandelions that have turned to seed. When we find one I blow on it and that makes her laugh.

Blowing on a dandelion
Smelling a miniature rose

"He loves me. He loves me not."

Ava destroying the rose.

Ava trying to feed Mo.

Always cute, but not always sweet

I LOVE this picture!

Ava knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let you know. Recently, she wants whatever I'm eating and will throw fits when I don't give it to her. She has also mastered arching her back and playing limp girl.

Reading Books and Kicking Balls

Right now two of Ava's favorite things are "reading" books and kicking balls. We don't really read books because she likes to flip through the pages so fast, but she spends a good portion of the day on my lap looking at different books over and over. We have about 6 books that she focuses on and loves to pull as many books as she can off the shelves. Needless to say I spend a lot of time picking up books.

Ava is rapidly improving her walking skills. She has figured out if she walks she can carry two objects at a time and that has encouraged her to walk more. One of her favorite walking activities is kicking a ball around the house. I am amazed at her balance and skill. I think we might have a soccer player in training.

Whole house fan

After 3 trips to Home Depot and about 7 hours of work I put in a whole house fan yesterday. Well I.. is an exaggeration. I had a lot of help. My friend Craig did >90% of the work. My friend Bill made an emergency trip to Home Depot for me when I realized that the board I cut out of my attic was a 2x8 and not a 2x6. He also helped hand stuff to us that we forgot down below. Lisa helped flip off the breakers and then did all the clean up. It was hard work but it will be worth it when things heat up this Summer. Thank you to all my helpers. Craig is featured in the second photo. You will see his foot dangling from the ceiling. Bill is featured in the first photo. You just get a look at the top of his head. Lisa preferred not to be in any pictures yesterday.

Ava's 1st Drawing

Splish Splash Ava's Not In The Bath

This week Ava figured out how to get water out of her sippy cup. While I was getting lunch ready Ava was playing and experimenting with her water. Before I realized it she had a giant puddle of water (thank goodness it wasn't sticky juice) all over her tray and was having a great time splashing. This caught me by surprise, but it made me laugh. I especially like her expression in the last picture. It is her "I'm so funny" face.

I can't sing, but Ava doesn't mind

I want to share this story, so in the future when Ava tells me to be quiet or to stop singing I can remind her that once she was entertained by me.

Yesterday while I was baking in the kitchen Ava was watching and eating in her highchair. Since we all love music in our home we had the radio on and I was singing and dancing around. Instead of Ava covering her ears she was smiling and enjoying the show. This made me happy and love her even more. You see, I love to sing, but I know I can't carry a tune to save my life. Fortunately, I am married to a sweet (and possibly tone deaf) husband that tolerates my singing. Now, I am also blessed to have a daughter that loves me despite my terrible voice.


*Sidenote- Sometimes I wish life was like a musical and we could just burst out in song during everyday life. I know that is corny, but it's true.

WE'RE APPROVED!!

We found out today we our approved to adopt again through LDS Family Services...YEAH!! We are excited, nervous, and scared. We don't know what the future holds for our family, but we look forward to the journey. Ava has been the greatest blessing in our lives and we hope to experience that joy again.

Thank you to all our family and friends for you love, support, and continued prayers. If you want to check out our adoption profile click the link in the sidebar on the right ("OUR Adoption Profile").

This Explains A Lot...

For those of you who are not sure what we are talking about notice the white pokey tooth coming in. That's right Ava is getting a molar. We were surprised to find this tooth coming in last night as we brushed her teeth.

Ava has not been feeling great and a little crabby, but we weren't exactly sure why. She also has woken up a few times at night screaming like she is in pain, but we couldn't pin point the problem. It never occurred to us that she would be getting a molar. This teething experience has been so different than I expected. I thought they would come in, in order and not take so long to do it. Ava currently has her front 2 bottom teeth, 3 top front teeth (the 4th getting ready to pop out), and now a molar. Papa Bruce and Bob, Is this normal??

Getting Longer

The other day I was able to pull Ava's hair back into a ponytail. It is amazing how much hair she has now. I thought she looked pretty cute, but of course she pulled it out within a few minutes. I can't wait for the day she lets me do her hair and will leave it alone....at least I hope that day will come.