She is the next big thing…..

This past weekend Ava had her first "acting" experience! Our neighbor owns a dog toy company and was shooting a web commercial to promote his product. He needed a toddler for part of the commercial and asked if we would be willing to let Ava be in it.  Here are a few pictures from the day. Once we get the footage from her scene I will post it on the blog.

Steve and Ava relaxing while we wait for Ava's scene. 

Ava was not a fan of this at first. She froze up as soon as she saw the actor, cameras, and all the people watching her. She tried anyway she could to scoot as far away from the actor as she could. After  a quick break, pep talk, and some cookie bribing she successfully said her line. 

Once she warmed up she was on fire. When she was all done she couldn't stop talking about how much fun she had.  

Potty Training Adventures

In March we decided to tackle potty training. The plan has always been to do it this summer when I was home with Ava, but she started to express interest in it so we gave it a shot. We picked a weekend where Steve had class and we didn't have much going on so we could stay at home and hang out. She did really well with only a few accidents the whole weekend. She continued to make progress in the weeks to come with little to no accidents each day. I was beginning to think we were out of the woods and well on our way to saying goodbye to diapers, but oh did she prove me wrong.  I'm still not sure if it was the traveling or all the changes happening with the sale of our house and packing for our move, but she definitely regressed. Just as I was about to give up and put her back in diapers she started to get back to her old self and I think (hope, pray) we are back on the right track. I know that with our move coming up and the baby coming there will probably be more regressions, but for now I can say that she is potty trained. We still do diapers at night, as I will not stop that until she starts showing signs she is ready. I know many books tell you it is all or nothing, but with us that just isn't the case. The funny thing about the "experts" who write all these baby books is that none of them have figured out that it is not an exact science. You do what works for you and your child not what you are "suppose" to do!

This is how we spent most of the weekend. For some reason being naked made it easier for her to know when she needed to go. 

We were both going stir crazy from being cooped up all weekend so we went to the beach. I figured this was a good place to test out the potty training since an accident isn't so bad when you're in your swimsuit. She did great for the whole trip until the drive home. I should've had her use the bathroom before we left to go home, but with minimal bathrooms around I decided to test my luck. I learned my lesson and also learned how hard it is to clean pee out of the carseat. 

Lucky Auntie Beth came out during our potty training adventures and got to experience every public restroom in the LA area. Thankfully she was there when Ava chose to pee all over the Lulu Lemon dressing room. 

Beach baby!

Where did April go????

April has come and gone and I did not make one single post on the blog! Here is the short version of this past month in the Scifres household.

At the beginning of the month we went to Chicago to visit Mimi and Papa. We enjoyed a week long vacation of lots of playing, eating great food, and seeing friends and family. While we were gone Steve was busy with class, work, and getting our house ready to sell! We decided with baby #2 on the way more space was needed before her September (we hope) arrival. We are very excited that our house (luckily) sold quickly and we are well on our way to closing escrow in a few weeks! We are scheduled to move into our new town home at the end of May. We are moving a bit south, closer to the beach, friends, and a more family oriented community. The only downfall to our new location is that it is a little bit farther from Grandma and Grandpa. Lucky for us they have still agreed to come visit us and babysit the girls in the fall. With Steve's new job as Assistant Principal of Calabasas High School he will not be working as far north as he is now which allowed us to go a little south to the area we have wanted to live in.

Now we just hope all goes smoothly as we go through escrow for our old and new places. Hopefully I will be updating with some pictures of the new place very soon!



Pictures from April:

Visiting in the Long Beach Aquarium before heading out to Chicago. Also soaking in the sun one last time before heading to the cold. 

Enjoying the new toys Mimi had for Ava when we arrived. 

Beautiful and sunny day at the Morton Arboretum 

Eating snack with her new panda bear that Papa picked up for her in China. Can you believe he carried this back on the plane with him? That is true love! 

Dinner in the city with Ava's aunties and Lily. 

Brookfield Zoo!

Just being cute. 

Enjoying the fake animals a little more than the real ones! 

Birds!

First manicure. Celebrating Mimi's birthday with a girls day at the spa. 

Saying goodbye to Auntie Beth is so hard. 

Playing with GG at cousin Isaac's house

Ava had so much fun playing with Isaac! 

Cousin fun! 

Visiting Grandpa Ed. Ava loved hanging out with him and sharing all of her animals. 

First hair cut. Ok, not really a hair cut, but she did get her bangs trimmed by my hair dresser while I was there getting a cut. I am not quite ready to have her get a full cut. We just got hair, can't take any of it away yet. 

The Easter bunny was her favorite! She didn't want to get off of his lap. 

Decorating easter eggs with Anna. We got to spend our second easter with Anna. Although I know her family misses her in Chicago, we hope to make spending Easter with her a tradition. 

She was so excited about her easter basket. The Frozen DVD and what she calls her, "Jesus book" were  her favorite items. 

Easter egg hunt around the house

Visiting with Titi after her wedding shower at Grandma and Grandpa's house.