New floors, birthday party, and the Zoo!!

Along with all of the sickness that has been in and out of our house this past month we also decided to put our home through a makeover. After Ava's birthday we realized that with walking just around the corner it was time to finally get new (safer) floors.  Our house had spanish tile floors throughout the whole place except for the bedrooms. Although at times I liked the authentic look it gave the place, most of the time I HATED them!! They were very hard to clean, cold, and not fun for Ava to walk or crawl on. She also could not get her walking toys to move that well over the grooves in the floor. My main concern was how dangerous they were to Ava. True spanish tile is more like cement! We found an amazing company who was able to take out our old floors and put in hardwood throughout the whole house in just under 2 weeks. It may have been the longest 2 weeks of our lives, but it was all worth it in the end. For a few weeks we lived upstairs in the bedrooms and Ava lived at our nanny's apartment during the day. It was definitely a crazy few weeks, but thanks to our wonderful nanny, wonderful grandparents, and a very go with the flow baby we were able to make it work.

Here are some pictures from this past month........

Helping daddy clean the kitchen

Ava getting some love from her bf Asher

At Claire's birthday party Ava wanted to steal the show and her cake. Ava kept trying to climb into Claire's chair and get her cake! 

During construction Ava got to eat in her room. I don't know who liked this more, Ava or Bruce. He was able to jump into her chair afterwards and eat all of her leftovers. 

Happy Valentine's Day.....Even with a fever she is happy to see her daddy and get her Valentine's day stuffed animal. 

Playing with daddy's basketball

Just being cute......beautiful day at the beach 

Pushing the stroller is way more fun than riding in the stroller

Loves to eat!!

Enjoying lunch before heading to the zoo

So BIG

She pointed at every animal and also called it a "woof woof."

Watching the monkeys with dad

Amazed by the flamingos. 

Trying to be as tall as the Giraffes. 

She thought the elephants were pretty cool. 

1 year check up(s)

Yes you read that correct, she had not just one, not two, but three one year check ups! Blogging has taken a back seat to the busy month we have had. First off, Ava was terribly sick (ear infection and virus) at her one year check up so we had to go back two weeks later after she was healthy again. A few days before her second appointment we got a call from the doctor telling us that Ava's blood work showed that she had higher than normal levels of led. Like any new mom would do, I freaked out and immediately brought her into the doctor to get her blood taken again (second visit). The nurse explained to me that many times the high led count is a false/positive and we had nothing to worry about, but I wasn't going to rest easy until I knew for sure. Luckily, the nurse was right and her second blood work came back normal. At her third visit to the doctor she was finally healthy and happy (well at least until the she got her shots). A few weeks after her third visit to the doctor she got sick again with a nasty virus and cough. Since the worst of it came over the weekend we did not take her in, which would have made for a fourth visit in under a month!

Here are the stats on our spunky little one year old.

Weight: 18 pounds, 11 ounces - 25th percentile

Height: 29 1/2 inches - 50th percentile

Head circumference: (I have no idea, but I do know it is the 90th percentile)

- Words she says: mama, dada, brrr (Bruce), bye, hi, no, woof woof (for dogs and pretty much any animals she sees), fafa (fan).

- She is not walking yet, but getting closer everyday. She loves to walk around the house with her musical walker. She also loves cruising around the couch and coffee table.

- She will stand on her own, but only when she doesn't realize it. As soon as she knows there is nothing or nobody holding her she immediately falls to the ground.

- Putting things in a container and taking them out could keep her busy for hours!

- She is eating much better these days. All table food (pretty much whatever we eat cut up into tiny pieces). She loves her morning smoothie that I make her to pack in as many fruits, dairy, and iron fortified cereal as possible.

- Nurses twice a day (We are slowly weaning).

- She has been such a fun little girl these days. She loves to rough house with daddy and cuddle with mommy. She laughs at everything and loves to hear others laugh.

I didn't take any 12 month photos, but did get this cute picture of her the night before her birthday. Opening her first birthday card. :) 

Pre-birthday fun playing with her friend Claire. 

101 fever and still smiling!! 

She was so cuddly when she was sick. I miss my tiny newborn who did this 24/7.  <3

A girl doesn't just get a birth "day" she gets an entire weekend!!!!

              Ava has already learned at 1 that if your a girl you don't just get a day for your birthday you get a whole birthday weekend! :)
              I took the day off on her birthday and my mom and I spent the day playing with Ava and getting ready for her party. In the evening we took her to Gymboree where everyone helped to celebrate her big day. On Saturday we had her party, which turned out to be a lot of fun. We kept it pretty small with just close friends and family. I was worried if we had too many people Ava would be overwhelmed and anyone who has been to our house knows that it doesn't hold more than about 20 people! :) Sunday was a pretty mellow day. We were all pretty tired from the party (actually it was the party preparations that had me warn out), so we just hung out at home while Ava played with all of her new toys. I had the day off on Monday as well so my mom and I took Ava down to the promenade and the beach. Grammy had to soak up the good weather before she headed back to negative temperatures in Chicago. Everyone has been so generous sending Ava gifts for her first birthday. I think the week leading up to her birthday and even a few days after something arrived in the mail for her almost everyday. After this and Christmas the girl is going to think that getting presents is a regular occurrence.

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Such a daddy's girl! Pancakes the morning of her birthday. 

Playing with Grammy while mom finishes the cupcakes for the party

Fun at Gymboree

Special bubbles just for the birthday girl

She couldn't wait to open presents, so she took it upon herself to head over and start ripping off the paper

This is her, "Uh Oh I got caught," face

Ok, I know the tutu is a bit over the top, but I had to do it for her birthday

Playing with her Great Uncle Mike

Playing with Grandma while the guests arrive

She loved the nacho bar! 

Not sure about the candle

But she was definitely into the cupcake. 

My dad was on facetime on the ipad and she was so excited. Her face here is priceless. Ava loves her Papa. 

Loves the sugar just like her momma!

Visiting the beach on Grammy's last day in Cali

Look at those teeth! She has 8 that I can see and a few more that I know will be in any day now. 

Ava's first Christmas!!

We had the most wonderful Christmas this year. My parents and my sister flew in to spend Christmas with us. We even had some "cooler" weather, so it did feel somewhat like a midwest Christmas. I feel so blessed that Ava was able to spend her first Christmas with both of her grandparents and her Aunts. On Christmas Eve we all went to church and surprisingly Ava lasted through most of it. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house and enjoyed a very tasty dinner and a relaxing evening with wonderful company. On Christmas day after opening a few presents under our tree we headed to Grandma and Grampy Scifres' house for more presents, yummy food, and relaxation.

Ava loved opening presents. Everyone said she would love the boxes and paper more than the presents and although she did enjoy eating some paper, she also loved playing with each gift that she opened. Our house currently looks like an aisle at Toys R Us, but Ava is one happy girl so I can deal with the clutter (for now)!

Here are some pictures from Christmas.

Crawling around with daddy before Church

Christmas Eve 

Ava;'s big gift from Santa. Her own Chair! She loves it!!

Opening gifts with Grandma!

Time for her stocking!

 Steve and his sister.

 The grandpas cooking away!

 Ok, sometimes the  box is more fun than the toy!

 Thanks for the table Great Uncle Mike. I love it!!

 Enjoying the blocks that Grammy got Ava for Christmas

Ava LOVES the motorcycle Aunt Beth got her. What Steve and I don't love are the sounds it makes!

11 months........

I have not planned anything for Ava's first birthday and I know it will be here in the blink of an eye. I am putting it off for two reasons......one, this is a crazy time of year with Christmas and New Years and I just haven't had a ton of time to do anything. Two, I get a little sad when I think about the fact that she is going to be one and a part of me knows that if I start planning her party it will actually happen! I know that sounds silly and growing up is a part of life, but geez why did the first year have to go sooooo fast?

Here is what my beautiful, spunky, and talkative little girl has been up to in her 11th month of life.

- Still LOVES music and dances any chance she gets.

- Talking a ton (of course)! mama, dada, yaya, rara, screams, and some new babbling that sounds like talking, except only syllables are still coming out. Occasionally we will get a closed syllable out of her and she will say, dad or dud.

- At her last doctor's appointment on December 14th (a few days before she was 11 months) she weighed 17 pounds, 6 ounces and was 29 inches tall. She didn't gain as much weight as I would have liked, but the doctor said she is still in a normal weight range for her age. 25th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height, and 90th percentile for head. That head is still growing rapidly!

- She is standing up on everything! Doesn't like to do much cruising yet.

- Plays "peek-a-boo" with anything she can cover her face with. She also likes to hide behind the curtains or door for a more advanced game of "peek-a-boo."

- She is still nursing 5 - 6 times a day. I plan to start weaning her when she turns one.

- Eats 3 meals a day and one dairy snack in the afternoon.

- Loves finger foods and her sippy cup!

- She has been attached to mommy these days. When I get home from work I have about a 30 second window to pick her up before she starts to lose it!

- She gives kisses now and they are the most precious thing on the planet. She will lean over to you with an open mouth and give you a nice slobbery kiss. <3

- At 11 months she has 6 teeth! 4 are fully in and 2 have just started coming in. 4 on the top 2 on the bottom. Crazy, how quickly those suckers make their way in!

Here are some pictures from her 11 month photo shoot......

"Mom I hate these monthly photo sessions!"

"I don't want to sit next to my bear....I want to play with it!"

"You  better stop taking pictures right now or else......"

And this is the or else.........

"Mom, there is no way your going to get me to lay next to that sophie doll!"

Checking out that baby camera. It amazes her! 

So funny! Look at those top teeth.