Welcome Baby Eli

On Friday, February 19th our newest nephew was born. He weighed 8 lbs. and was 20 1/2 inches long.

We went to visit him for the first time yesterday. He is so cute and tiny. It is hard to believe Ava was 1 1/2 pounds smaller than him. We loved to hear his squeaky sounds and look forward to many years of Eli and Ava playing together.

Two is Company...Three is a Crowd

This is a common occurrence in our home. When ever I sit down to take a minute to eat I have 2 hungry friends. I rarely can enjoy a quiet snack alone. This night Ava was actually on her way to bed when she saw me eating my (our) favorite snack of Boursin cheese and flat pretzels and starting signing "eat". Then of course Luca jumped on top of me even though I tried to block him. Instead of fighting them off I shared my treat and we were all happy.

Snapshots from the week

I hear the garage door. Daddy must be home...YEAH!

As soon as we hear the garage door during the week things are crazy. Luca runs around with excitement and throwing his kong (toy) in anticipation for Rich to play with him. Ava in turn gets excited and often starts crawling toward the garage door.

How did this happen?

Ava was having fun taking out toys and putting them back in her toy box until she crawled in. She was trying to reach a toy at the bottom and decided to use the tiger piano as a step stool. Instead of getting the toy she crawled in and got stuck. It was kind of funny until she realized she couldn't get out on her own and then she panicked.

Who said Star Wars is just for boys...Last Sunday we had a friend's son come over while she was at church meetings. He loves Star Wars, so we got out our toys for him to play with. Before he came Ava had discovered them and enjoyed playing with the ships.

Ava & Mommy's 1st Sushi

Tonight Ava and I had our first sushi at our favorite sushi restaurant, Ichi Maki. Usually I go with Rich who gets sushi and I enjoy terryaki and edamame. We were served miso soup which Rich and Ava drank. I waited for the edamame which we all enjoyed. Rich also got a cannon ball appetizer which is a deep fried salmon and crab cake. For dinner Rich got a sushi roll with soft shell crab so he could share it with Ava. We also ordered Ava a cucumber and avocado roll that I could try. I of course order a beef terryaki box with tempera and potstickers.


To our amazement Ava loved almost everything she ate. I on the other hand about throw-up after eating one slice of the cucumber-avocado roll...that darn nori (seaweed). Ava nibbled on her roll and then we broke it apart for her to eat. She also had some crab from Rich's roll and some of my tempura vegetables. She enjoyed both and kept signing more. At the end of dinner Rich gave her some fish eggs and she even ate them. I'm happy that Rich now has a sushi partner in the family.

Ava drinking miso soup.

Rich feeding Ava edamame with chopsticks.

Ava trying her sushi roll.

Ava and mommy trying sushi together.
Ava eating the inside of her sushi roll.
Ava trying some soft shell crab."I want dad's food!"
"More, More!"
Ava trying some fish eggs.

In this video Ava is nibbling and having fun with her sushi. I on the other hand was trying to keep it down. I really did feel like throwing up until I washed the taste away.

Crazy Hair

Ava loves to play with her hair especially when she is tired. It makes it difficult to keep pigtails in or headbands on. I often will make her hair cute to only have her pull it out within a half hour or less. Usually we can distract her enough to keep her hair cute, but in the car we stand no chance.

Last weekend Ava had a cute outfit on with a matching headband. Before we got in the car she looked pretty. As we drove down the road to our destination I turned around and got a big shock. Ava had started rubbing her hair and it looked hilarious. I got my camera out and took a few photos. I thought her hair was crazy, but crazy cute. Sometimes I think her crazy hair is cuter than the pretty hairdos I try and give her.

Valentine's Day

We started our Valentine's celebration a day early. On Saturday my parents came to watch Ava, so Rich and I could attend the ward Valentine Activity. We all went to lunch together and then we left Ava with my parents. Rich and I went to a baptism and then got frozen yogurt at Yogurt Monkey. We stopped by home to change and then headed to the activity.

The activity started with a swing lesson. Rich and I took a basic swing lesson while in college, so this brought back some fun memories. We both enjoyed the lesson and dancing together.

After the lesson we had dinner and dessert. We had chicken salad on croissants, Caesar salad, grapes, and brownies with strawberries. The food was delicious and the company was even better. It was nice for Rich and I to be alone...well except for the other 20+ couples there.

After dinner there was a dance. Rich and I started the dance, but only a few couples joined in. Throughout the night the music was songs the couples had requested. When our song, "The Promise", by Tracy Chapman, started to play we were busy helping with the food. Rich drew my attention to the song and we danced to the end of it. Hearing that song brought back memories of our wedding day and we laughed and smiled as we reminisced.

At the activity Autumn took photos of the couples. We thought it looked like a cheesy prom picture, but it was fun.

On Valentine's Day we woke up and got ready for church. I made sour cream cheese pancakes and raspberry syrup. It was a nice quiet morning for everyone except Rich who had to prepare for a talk. Since my parents were here late watching Ava they stayed and went to church with us. Rich gave a nice talk about Love.

After Sacrament meeting we came home and prepared to go to Gridley. We went to Rich's parents because Anne and her family were in town. We were happy to see everyone and Ava had fun with her cousins.

Ava with her two loves, Panda & Doggie.

Q: What soothes a crying Ava?

A: Music and the Spoken Word



Ava had a long weekend and last night she let us know it. After church, 2 short naps, and visiting with her cousins in Gridley Ava was exhausted. We got home at midnight and unfortunately she woke up during her diaper change. Rich tried to lay her down, but she got really angry and cried for the next 20 minutes. After realizing she wasn't going to calm down Rich brought her into our room to comfort her. Ava was so upset she was shaking while she cried and sucked her thumb. I felt bad and was trying to think what I could do to help. I remembered that we had "Music and the Spoken Word" on our DVR so I turned it on. Within a few minutes Ava calmed down and halfway through the program she was asleep snuggling her panda.

Sleepless Nights, Bloody Nose, and a Panda

What do these things have in common? Well, I'll start with the sleepless nights. Since December Ava has not been sleeping through the night. This has been very distressing and exhausting. It all started with her illnesses and has continued on. Over the past couple months she has only slept through the night half a dozen times. When she was sick the only way she would sleep was if one of us was holding her and now when she fusses at night that is what she wants. I think her continued nighttime fussing is due to teething and separation anxiety. Ava got so use to us holding her and comforting her that now that is what she wants. Part of me wants to hold and cuddle her all night, but I can't because my body and sanity can't take it.

So, now to the bloody nose. The last couple nights I have been trying a new tactic to get Ava to sleep through the night and soothe herself. When Ava starts to fuss I let her for a little bit to see if she will drift back off to sleep. If she doesn't I turn off her light, lay her back down, and rub her back for a few minutes to calm her. I then leave the room and pray she will go back to sleep. So far this hasn't worked and I find myself back in her room a couple times during the night.

Last night Ava started fussing around 2am and after a little bit I got up and soothed her. I went back to bed and within a half hour she was fussing again. I got up, soothed her, and went back to bed. Within a half hour it started all over again. This pattern continued until about 6:30 this morning when I finally couldn't bare it anymore and I brought her to bed with me. Once in my bedroom and with some light I noticed Ava had some dried blood on her nose. So sometime during the night with all her fussing and anger she bumped her nose which caused it to bleed a little...man do I feel like a terrible mom!

After some snuggling and Tylenol Ava forgave me and drifted off to sleep. She slept well this morning and I had to wake her up, so she wouldn't sleep all day. Instead of waking up grumpy, she woke up with a smile and a panda. The first thing she does when she wakes up is grab her panda and say "panda, panda, panda." She will usually give him to me and then takes him back when I pick her up. Ava loves her panda and it makes her happy. As I laid her down for her morning nap she rolled over to her side snuggling her panda. Now if only the panda could offer some comfort and peace at night we would all be much happier.

New Recipes

The past month I tried a few new recipes. If you want any of these recipes leave a comment and I will post it on my RECIPE BLOG.

Mexican Lasagna

Sweet Potato Salsa

(on top of Tilapia for fish Monday)

Chili Rellenos

Chicken Pot Pie

Got to Love the Pony!

Ava's hair continues to get longer and longer. There is not a lot we can do with it still and it hangs in her face and covers her eyes. I've started putting it in a ponytail, so we can see her beautiful face....SO CUTE!!

12 Months

Ava continues to grow and never stops entertaining us. At the doctor she weighed in at 21lbs. 1oz. and was 29in. tall. She is in between the 50th and 75th percentiles. Ava is big for her age, but still has tiny feet. She wears size 3 shoes and is in between size 12 to 18 month clothing.

Ava still is not walking (thank goodness), but she is slowly working towards that milestone. She does furniture walk and loves to walk holding onto my pant legs. Sometimes she will stand on her own for a few seconds either signing or clapping. Ava still is a fast crawler and for the time being doesn't seem to see the need to walk.

Ava loves music. Currently, her favorite bands are Queen and ABBA. She likes to sing and dance along to music. She often will stop whatever she is doing to bop along to the beat. Ava also recently started singing, "Ba, Ba, Ba, Ba" to the song "Take a Chance on Me" by ABBA.

Ava has some new favorite toys, but she has been pretty loyal to her old favorites. She also still likes to read Eric Carle books and a book called "Over in the Ocean...". Ava loves pandas and it is probably her favorite word to say. Her favorite toys are: Doggie puppet, mirrors, glow-in-the-dark ball, piano/xylophone, Laugh & Learn table, and of course anything that is Luca's.

Ava has added to her vocabulary and continues to learn to sign. Her first word was button, followed by panda. She also tries to say doggie, turtle, and book. Rich is pretty happy that she says "dada" and knows that it is him. She still does not say "mama", but she gives me plenty of hugs and kisses to make up for it.

Ava's first sign was milk. The sign for milk has now turned into her sign for "I want". We've tried to correct her but it hasn't work yet. She can also sign more and eat which have both been very helpful to us. Just this past week Ava has started folding her arms to pray. Of course it only last for a few seconds, but we both were amazed the first time she did it all on her own. Now sometimes she will fold her arms and initiate the prayer before we eat.

The past year has gone by so quickly and our baby girl isn't a baby anymore. We have loved watching her grow and seeing her personality develop. We are grateful to be parents and have started the adoption process again. We continue to enjoy watching Ava grow and explore her world. We are anxious to have more children so Ava can have siblings and we can enjoy the blessings of parenthood. We will keep you posted as we start our adoption journey.

Our sweet little angel.

Yeah, I'm facing forward and can see the world around me!

Birthday #2

The only good thing about being sick and cancelling your birthday party is having 2 birthdays. We had a quiet celebration with my family on Ava & Rich's birthday and then celebrated again last weekend with Rich's family. We made two kinds of lasagnas and an ice cream cake to bring with us to Gridley. Ava was a little tired, but she had fun with her cousins. She also loved the cake.

Ava surrounded by helpful cousins while opening her gifts.

Rachel dressed Ava up with pretty beads and a bracelet. Ava does love her bling.

Nathan

Kobie

Lily

Sorry no pictures of the elusive Bella.

Baby Chuck's

Pine Wood Derby

Two Fridays ago we competed in our ward's annual Pine Wood Derby. We were both excited since we missed last years because we were flying home with Ava (which was much cooler). Rich had been planning his car for a year and he was so excited to bust out his Dremel to create it. I also planned mine far in advance but made it only a few hours before the race started.

Unfortunately we both came up big losers. Our cars were really slow, but not the slowest. Rich's wasn't very aerodynamic with Luigi on top and mine was just a big clunker. We all had fun and look forward to next year. I think Ava will have to make a car too.

Rich made the Super Blooper which is a car from Mario Kart (Wii Game).

I made a Lego car. I thought is was pretty clever because I can change and rebuild each year.

This is when we raced each other. Notice we are 3rd & 4th and significantly behind...Can you say LOSERS!!