11 months

Dear Ava Sophia,

You turned 11 months on August 29, 2012. Writing this post literally makes your crazy old mom's eyes well up with tears. You are a month away from being a one-year-old, a fact that I am just not ready to accept quite yet. You are still (and probably always will be, as much as you may fight it someday) my little bitty baby. The baby who made me a momma. 

This month has been a lot of fun - you have certainly learned a lot and blossomed into a very independent girl who knows exactly what she wants at any given moment. You are happy when you are given free roam of the house and even happier when I open our front door and let you run free outside. You collect sticks, rocks, pinecones...anything you can get your little hands on. You would spend the entire day outside if I let you. Your favorite thing to do is run away from me, stop and make sure I'm watching you, and then run, run, run as you laugh your little head off. You love to be chased and always run away laughing, and you always come back looking for more as if to say, "Well, are you gonna chase me or aren't ya?"

You have officially learned your first word! You will walk up to any and everyone, smile from ear to ear and wave as you proudly say "Hi!" People just "ooh" and "ahh" over how cute it is to hear that tiny, high-pitched "hi." You are also learning how to say "uh oh," and "ha ya!" You understand the words dance, no, hi, bye-bye, drink, hug and kiss. You are also learning baby sign language, but the only sign you will do on command is "baby." You are close to being able to sign "drink," and we are working on "eat," "more" and "milk." 

Things that you love: 

• Dancing. Even when a commercial with a little bit of  music comes on, you will break into dance. You even dance to the hymns at church. 
• Running (not walking!). People always comment on how you went straight to running, and skipped walking entirely. haha
• Being outside. When I put on my shoes or pick up the keys, you run to the door with a big smile on your face and reach for the door handle. 
• Being chased
• Playing patty cake, playing peek a boo and giving high-fives!
• Running to the door when you hear Daddy coming home. You run straight to him and give him a great, big hug. 
• Dogs. For some reason, you think dogs are the funniest things you've ever laid eyes on. I have never heard you laugh louder or longer than when you see a puppy jumping around or barking. 
• Reading books and turning the pages yourself. You especially love the books with the soft fur you can touch. 

You eat a lot of different foods now. You drink 3 bottles a day (9am, 3pm and 9pm) and usually eat 2 "real food" meals. You love strawberries, blueberries, bananas, green beans, black beans, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, yogurt and cheese. 

You still take two naps a day, one around 11am and one around 3pm. You go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 9am. 

New things:

• You have a new tooth! A molar to be exact. No other top teeth, except one molar on the top right side. 
• Your hair is getting longer on the top and in the back, but not on the sides. There are a couple little curls in your hair in the back. Cute, cute, cute. 
• This month, we told our family and friends that you will have a new baby brother or sister in March! You were the bearer of the good news, wearing on your shirt proudly that you will be the BEST BIG SIS!
• Church has become a struggle because you want to get down and run and make noise instead of sitting quietly and being reverent. We made a goal to make it through sacrament metting without taking you out, but for the other two hours your Daddy and I take turns following you (more like, trying to keep up with you) in the hallways. Baby steps, right? :)

This is Ava signing "baby."

Well, my sweet, sweet baby Ava, I love you so much! I feel incredibly blessed to be your momma. You have brought so much joy into my life! I couldn't have asked for a better baby if I had hand-picked you myself. You are the happiest, smiliest baby who laughs all the time. I love having a baby with so much energy and such a sense of curiosity. 

Love you so much!

Momma 

PS. please don't turn one! Please just stay my baby forever!

Guess what?

Yes, that's right...I'm pregnant! 

12 weeks along and due mid-March. 

We are incredibly excited and feel very blessed. 

1/3 of the way done already - here we go! :)

Here are just a couple belly shots:

8 weeks:

11 weeks:

Not really much of a difference and I have actually lost weight since getting pregnant because I have had absolutely NO appetite. But from here on out, it's just a steady weight gain for the next 28 weeks.

:)

Picture Overload

Ready for picture overload?

If you follow me on instagram, you have already seen all of these haha.

Bryson and Ava at the Oakland temple for FHE.

Running around a park in San Francisco.

Driving down the coast to Half Moon Bay.

Ava watching Bryson play indoor soccer. She was very sad that she couldn't go inside 

A friend invited us to Six Flags and we rode the train. :)

Ava's twin for the day.

Have I mentioned that this girl LOVES her Daddy?

California Coast.

Her shirt says it perfectly: LITTLE WILD CHILD

Little antennas 

Going swimming

Ava's hair is curly 

Splashing in the puddles. Ava would spend all day, every day outside if she could.

Ava really gets a kick out of dragging Bryson's shoes by the shoelaces. 

Ava has mastered the art of RUNNING through the halls at church. I honestly have to struggle to keep up with her. Phew.

This picture KILLS me - she looks like a LITTLE GIRL and not my itty bitty baby! 

She is a little fish!

Sometimes I think these beautiful beaches are wasted because it is FREEZING here! :)

Ava thinks she's funny.

Wasn't watching...entire box of cheese crackers on the floor. Ava ate exactly ONE and the rest went in the trash.

Sunday walk with Daddy and Ava.

Ava helping with the laundry.

Sleepy baby. 

She LOVES the water.

I ADORE this girl!

Here's a little video of Ava running to see her Daddy after work. She honestly gets SO excited to see him every evening!

Dance Dance Evolution

Ava has become quite the accomplished dancer (ha ha). 

Her dancing has evolved from simple bouncing up and down to an added side to side sway. 

And if we're lucky, we see an occasional head bang.

I told you...accomplished. :)
We have a lot of dance parties at our house. haha

A word of warning: Please ignore me in this video - I put on absolutely zero makeup that day and I don't even care haha. 

Also, don't you love how I only play the 90 second preview from iTunes?

:)

Ava the Explorer

This girl has so much energy these days, I don't know what to do with her. 

She is constantly on the go.

At least once or twice a day, I take Ava outside and we walk around our entire apartment complex 

(okay it's actually pretty small, but big for those itty bitty baby legs).

Perfect for tiring her out before nap times. 

Ava knows exactly where to go, and she leads the way every time.

She stops along the way to touch each leaf and speck of dirt,

but she pauses long enough to pick up only the most interesting of objects.

If she does pick something up, it will stay squeezed in her chubby baby hand for the remainder of our walk. 

When we get home, I love prying open her hand and seeing what she considers her most prized treasures. 

I have to admit, they usually are very neat - tiny pinecones, brightly colored flower petals, and other things that I would have no idea what to call or how to describe them. 

Bottom line...Ava is a little explorer and she loves being outside.

So much, in fact, no matter how long our little excursions are...when it's eventually time to go back home, Ava is a little less than devastated. 

I think she could spend the entire day outside if I let her. 

Notice her pacifier in her mouth in all these pictures. If I don't make sure her pacifier is in, she will pop any and everything into her mouth. :)

Have I mentioned yet how much I LOVE this age?

So much fun!