Ava's Third Birthday Party

We had Ava's party at Pump It Up this year. She was SO EXCITED that she talked about Pump It UP and her Hello Kitty birthday cake for a month beforehand. Here are some pics from the fun day!

Playing Catch Up!

THIS SUMMER......

Ava was a flower girl for Uncle Mo and Aunt Audrey's wedding...



We played in fountains...



We went to the carnival....



We went to the beach...



We potty-trained...



We took road trips...



We went to picnics...



We played with friends...



We got ready for baby Nora...



We did LOTS of swimming...

Meeska Mouska...MICKEY MOUSE!!

So when we heard that Ava's favorite person EVER was coming to Nashville we just HAD to get tickets. I can't even remember the name of the show...Disney's Playhouse, Clubhouse, something like that. Pooh and Friends, Handy Manny and Friends, Little Einstiens , AND Mickey Mouse and Friends were all there. Ava was so excited to see Mickey...but Daisy wasn't there and she kept asking where she was. Her favorite parts were anything Mickey and the pat pat pat pat blast for Rocket (Little Einstiens). She sang along, clapped and really enjoyed herself. She's a serious kid...so you'd never know that from pictures.

Under The Big Top

Okay...this is really late. As soon as I got on a blogging roll, Ava messed up our computer screen so that I couldn't really see anything. We did finally get it fixed, but I had already fallen off the blogging wagon...I'm trying to get back on...so here is our trip to the Circus!
Ava really had a great time...even though she didn't smile for the pictures. Even though I told her otherwise, she really expected there to be a carousel there, so she was a little disappointed when there was not one. Other than that she had a blast and is still asking to go back.

Introducing...Valentine, the "Beba" Fish!

Well, you may have noticed my mention of getting Ava a Beta fish for Valentine's Day in a previous post. Nathaniel was against the fish and resisted for a while, BUT Ava and I won and she got a fish for Valentine's Day. Fittingly, he is red and his name is Valentine. She calls him her "Beba" Fish, and it's pretty cute...she LOVES him! Her Mimi and Papa have a Beta fish that she talks about ALL the time, so I thought she needed one too. Whenever we hear one of the kitchen chairs scooting across the floor we know that Ava is on her way to visit Valentine. She talks to him and stares at him for a large part of the day...The first three days were a little rough (I had to change the water three times in three days). The first time I had to change the water was because she fed the fish shredded cheese. The second time was because she pulled out a bunch of rock and the plant. The third time was because a large portion of the water was mysteriously all of the counter. It took some training, but now Ava keeps her grubby little fingers out of the fish bowl! The fish survived through all of this...so I think he's sticking around






.

Diggin' For Gold

Well, Ava is officially a booger picker. I swear if she was digging for gold we would be totally rich by now. She is totally amazed with this new discovery and has even started to eat them!! The first time we caught her picking her nose we told her that it was yucky. She proceded to tell us that, "Ava likes boogies!" and that, "Ava likes big boogies. Ava likes little boogies." From there she stuck one in her mouth and said "mmmmmmmmm!" I may be a bad parent, but this just made me laugh out loud (to her pleasure). Now she likes to say "mmm tasty boogies!" I'm not sure if now we should ignore the boogie eating or remind her that it's just plain gross. Until we figure it out, we will leave you with this picture of the cutest boogie eater on the block!

25 Things About Ava Laine

As most of you facebookers know, there is a post going around where you state 25 things about yourself, and then post it to all your friends. Since most of my (3) blog readers love Ava updates, I thought I would do one for her. Here goes:

1 Ava was born on October 20, 2006. I was induced, due to pre eclampsia, around 1:30p.m. and she was born at 5:35 p.m. I think I pushed a total of three times...it was all very fast and I remember probably as much as she does!

2. Ava never liked baby food.

3. Ava's soft spot didn't close until after she turned two.

4. She had her first doughnut two weeks ago (at doughnuts with dad at her school), and she has talked about doughnuts ever since.

5. Ava loves ALL animals, and if I get my way she's getting a red beta fish for V-day.

6. Ava has an ear lobe fetish. She rubs on them, kisses them, and asks to touch them if she is sad or hurts herself.(my ear lobes...not her own, but that would be more convenient)

7. She is Mickey Mouse's number one fan.

8. She loves numbers, shapes, and singing her ABC's.

9. Ava only falls asleep for naps if she's in her car seat.

10. She is fairly clumsy.

12. She has the memory of an elephant (i think that's what they say)...she remembers eeeeeeverything. This is sometimes good and sometimes bad.

13. If I get her in the mornings from her room she says "go find daddy"...if nate gets her she says "go find mommy"

14. Raisins make everything better.

15. She loves to boss Lola around. "Lola, no!" "Lola, hush!" "Off the couch, Lola!"

16. Ava is now a boogie eater. Not sure what to do about this.

17. She is the BEST snuggle bug ever!

18. She has started to be a picky veggie eater. The only one she'll consistently eat are peas.

19. She loves all fruit.

20. She just climbed onto the couch and is playing with my ear lobes.

21. She is obsessed with anyone's jewelry, and asks all females if they are wearing earrings.

22. She's a GREAT travel buddy. On a five hour drive or less we don't even need the dvd player!

23. She is a total grump after naps....she's doing better...she no longer cries for one hour straight.

24. She's never had an ear infection. And the only time we've been to the Dr, other than well visits, have been for mosquito bites that I thought were MRSA...oops.

25. She had to take miralax everyday, but we are hoping this is our last month!

All About Ava Laine

I thought I should update on all things Ava, so this seemed like an appropriate title. I've also read some really great blogs lately, which has made me realize how terrible mine is. I plan to work on that...

Ava is still enjoying preschool, even though lately she has had a few tears in the drop off line. Thank goodness I don't have to take her inside, or this phase could be a lot worse! She talks about her teachers and the other kids in her class. They sing a hello song (Hello ava, hello ava, hello avaaaaa. How are you today?) everyday at school and Ava loves to sing it (about each child in her class) and then she put in me, nate, lola, lily, etc etc into the song. It's quite precious, especially when she hits the really high and loooooong note (the third ava). I'm not sure if in the actual song the note is so high and long, but that's how she likes to sing it :)

She loves to call after Nathaniel if he goes into a different room or in the garage. She says "NATE! NATE! NAAAAAAATE....NATHANIELLLLLL!!!!" Which has a VERY country twang to it and Nathaniel sounds more like "Afanel"...it's precious!

Lately she has been saying "I love you" all the time! Which of course is so sweet...her You is more like an eww...so she says "I LOVE EWWWW DADDY!"...makes me smile just typing it :)

I've been keeping Lily four times a week (she is my friend Abby's baby girl who is four months old) Ava really loves her and is so sweet to her! She has nick names her B Lily (short for Baby Lily)...whenever Lily is sleeping Ava tells me..."shhh quiet...B lily seeping!" If she cries ava tells her "what is it B Lily?? It's okay!"...such a little mother!

Ava really enjoys all things play doh, paint, markers, etc etc. She still makes me draw elephants all day. Also in the mix now are crabs, lola, carousels, guitar hero, and anyone who is on her mind...we've had some heather's and curry's lately!

Ava has been in a big girl bed since November, and it was going realllllly well until we went to visit my family in OH around Christmas. She and I shared a bed (nate was out of town on work), and that really ruined her. After a couple weeks of her waking up in the middle of the night and wanting me in the bed with her we had to get serious. So I told her that if she got out of her bed she would not get to watch any Mickey Mouse ( or t.v. period) the next day, and she wouldn't get to eat any raisons. If you know Ava, you know that these are two of her very favorite things. Well...she took this very seriously and did not get out of bed! To be honest, I was shocked! She did cry for a few nights which made me sad, so I did give in and we let Lola fall asleep in bed with Ava (after we put a large blanket over the bed to protect from Lola hair). We get Lola out of Ava's bed before we go to sleep and Ava continues to sleep. I'm not sure about the Lola bed sharing, but as long as Ava is sleeping for 12 hours
I'm happy!

I had some cute pictures to post, but they aren't working....i'll try again later