Family pics 2013

This was a quick photo shoot this year, thanks to my VERY sweet Grandma and Grandpa who patiently snapped a few pictures of us after I set the camera settings and then ran into the shot. 

After MANY bribes in the form of chocolate chips to get Ava to sit and smile (yeah right haha) and a huge handful of dirt in Gavin's mouth, we ended up with a couple shots with everyone looking in the general direction of the camera - which is more than I ever hoped for! :)

I am totally and completely satisfied!

Thank you Nam and Nampa for your help!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

This face...

I LOVE this girl OH so much!

Gavin {9 months}

Right now I'm just going to post these pictures and come back and write Gavin's 9 month letter later. Let's be honest, the pictures are the best part anyway. :)

Ava-isms

Ava has quite the little personality. She is smart and funny, inquisitive and observant, feisty and beyond active (they call that "spirited, I've learned), and sweet and sensitive. She undoubtedly keeps me on my toes and never sits still for more than a minute. So many times a day, she blows me away with the things she picks up on and how quickly she learns things. People constantly think she is much older than she is because, one she is SO tall, and two she talks so well and is so smart.

These are just some funny things she has said or done lately that I want to remember:

One day, I was having a rough morning with Gavin and was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. He finally went down for nap and I quickly made Ava and myself some lunch. As we sat down together to eat it, she stopped, folded her arms and said, "Prayers?"  I asked, "Ava, do you want to say it?" She quickly responded cheerfully, "Yeah!" She then said the most beautiful and perfectly imperfect prayer I have ever heard. "Heady Fader, thank you, Momma, Daddy, Gavin, Grampa, Gramma, Uncles, Aunties, Jesus, Night night, Amen." All the many nights of her listening to Bryson or me pray, she was listening and understanding, and she was able to recreate it on her own. It was a beautiful little tender mercy in a way, exactly what I needed to feel at that moment. Sweet baby girl.

She knows many of her favorite books by heart, including "Caps for Sale," and "We're Going on a Bear Hunt."

She knows all her ABC's, can count to 11 (haha), can count backwards from 5. She knows these shapes: oval, circle, rectangle, triangle, diamond, star, heart, square

She is ACTIVE ACTIVE ACTIVE! She is constantly running around and jumping and dancing and rolling around. She also loves to jump off any and everything. This is all thanks to her dad who encourages it, all while I am standing by (or more like shouting, No, no, be careful!) scared to death. She is fearless I tell you!

She LOVESSSS nursery and asks for it daily.

Funny/cute things she says: 

• "Waz zat sound?" (What's that sound?)
• "Happy Momma? Happy 'gin?" (Happy again?) - When I sigh or if she can tell I am sad or upset, she will ask this repeatedly until I say, "Yes Ava, I'm happy." She is VERY aware of feelings and emotions and very concerned if I am ever anything less than happy. 
• "Happy choice." This is our catch phrase if Ava is being naughty or throwing a fit. I say, "Ava it's time to make a happy choice," hoping she will change her attitude and be happy. If she is in timeout, I tell her, "You can come out of timeout when you make a happy choice." So, she will cry and cry in timeout until suddenly she stops, runs to me with a big smile and says, Ava happy choice!"
• "Bubbas" - This is what she calls Gavin. LOVE it - I think it's the cutest nickname. It started back when she couldn't say "Brother," and it has stuck. So cute. She also calls him Gavs and Gavers and Baby.
• I can't even think of anything else to write here - but she is talking 3-4 word sentences and speaks very clearly. I took her into the doctor the other day to check for asthma and the doctor was amazed by how clearly she speaks. 

And since I am lazy and can't think of anything else to write, I'll just add some videos for an added bonus haha.

I LOVE MY SWEET, CRAZY, BEAUTIFUL, SPUNKY, FIESTY little Ava girl!! 

Gavin {8 months}

Dear Gavin,

Today you turned 8 months old! What a difference a month has made - you really have grown and changed A LOT this month!

Here are the new things you are doing:

You are almost crawling, but still moving very fast doing your little army crawl. You can crawl on your knees a short distance, but are still much faster at the army crawl. You can get back up onto knees into crawling position from laying down and from there you can sit up. Several times when I come to get you from your nap, you are sitting up in your crib. You can sit up on knees like you are kneeling and then pull yourself up to standing. You stand up in your crib and grab onto the couch to pull yourself up to stand up.

You are extremely active, constantly on the go, go, go, go, go. You will go to great lengths to find any and every tiny little speck on the floor (and put it straight into your mouth). You wiggle yourself into the funniest, most random spots and then cry for me to come save retrieve you. You try so hard to keep up with Ava and for the most part, you do well! You chase after her, squealing with glee. I love to watch the two of you play together - she loves to let you know who's "boss," but what she doesn't know is, someday you will be bigger and stronger and will fight back when she takes your toys. But I also know that even when you can fight back, you will always be a good friend to your big sister.

You are eating finger foods and you LOVE it. I honestly think you would sit in the high chair all day long if I let you eating green beans, little pieces of cheese, banana, apples, beans, cereal and anything else I feed you. You get SO unbelievably excited at even the sight of a jar of baby food or anything that looks even remotely like it.

You now have two teeth. You love to give big, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses. You can now put your pacifier back in your mouth all by yourself (although you don't seem to be as attached as your sister is to her pacifier).

This month you were sick for the first time. You had a little cold with a runny nose and a little cough. There were some rougher nights than usual, but overall you handled it well. 

Things you love: baths, splashing in the bath, big sister Ava (she can make you laugh and laugh), jumping, "dancing," food, being outside, swinging in the baby swing at the park, driving in the car (no matter how fussy, if I put you in the car you are happy the entire time we are driving), being tickled, when your Daddy throws you up in the air

YOU DO NOT SLEEP VERY WELL AT NIGHT.

(something that is a daily, or should I say nightly, struggle for me, as your over-tired mom).

Every morning when I get you from your crib (after you have woken up every 2-3 hours all night long), I tell you it's a good thing I think you are SOOO ridiculously cute or else this lack of sleep thing would not end well for one or both of us. (haha, I'm kidding...but really). We have tried sleep training and it works for MAYBE a couple nights and then it's right back to the constant waking. AND let this be a true testament to you, my son, of how. much. I. really. do. LOOOOVE. you! Because as exhausted as I am, as frustrated as I can get being woken up so frequently, I still melt the second I hold you in my arms and I would do it forever and ever if that's what you need (but please, let's not put that promise to the test haha). I know some day you will learn to sleep through the night, some day you won't need me anymore - so I will relish these fleeting moments when you really DO need me.

Gavin, in my eyes you really are the most beautiful, sweet, happy baby boy I could have ever asked for. You bring so much joy and happiness into my life and into our family, we are so blessed to have you. I love you, I love you, I love you, what more can I say?

Happy 8 months my sweet boy.

Love,

Momma :)

Halloween 2013

This year for Halloween, Ava was a cowgirl and Gavin was a cow. We participated in several Halloween festivities, including BOO Night at the YMCA, two pumpkin patches, Boo at the Zoo at the Oakland Zoo, our ward Halloween party, the Halloween Story Time at the library, Halloween singing time and tomorrow we are going to an "Eats Before Treats" get together and then we will go trick or treating with a group of our friends.

Ava quickly caught on that somehow this little blue tutu and these brown boots have a strong correlation to getting her some candy. Gavin, of course, really has no idea what's going on other than his little cow costume seems to get in the way of his mouth if it's zipped up all the way. But they certainly do look as cute as can be, as evidenced by the pictures below (which honestly it was a miracle that even one picture came out not completely blurry because both of these little ones are constantly on the go, go, go).

I love these two OH so much!

 

Videos from Ava's 2nd Year

This is always such an overwhelming project 

- making ONE short video of the entire 2nd year of Ava's life. 

(We all know I take a million and a half pictures and videos of my kids on a weekly basis).

I have been working to organize this for a long time and finally I stayed up all night and finished it.

It's definitely not perfect and I'm sure I'm missing a few important videos 

(didn't find any videos of Christmas?!)

but it's still sweet, sweet, sweet!

I can't believe the difference in Ava from the first video to the last!

I realized while I was making this that I am the voice behind the camera 99% of the time unless my sister is with us and then she actually thinks to get me in the shot (thank you Kaitlyn!). :)
Also, the way the video uploaded on Vimeo makes the videos look really, really small and I'm too lazy to change it. haha Oh well. :)

I also added the video of Ava's birthday party and the 2nd year video we made to the end, so it's like 12 minutes long. 

Hopefully someday Ava will appreciate this!! :)

Ava 1-2 years old from Ashley Webster on Vimeo.

Phew, glad to have that project done!

Ava's 2nd Birthday Party

We celebrated Ava's 2nd birthday on Saturday, the day before her actual birthday. 

We did an "under the sea" ice-cream party. 

About 10 of Ava's little friends and their parents came, and each kid made homemade ice cream and then got to add toppings such as "sea pearls" (round sprinkles), "shell cookies" (nilla waffers), "octopus ink" (chocolate syrup) and "sea foam" (whipped cream). 

Here's a very short video of her party. She loved being the center of attention and eating her "cuh-cake." Now, every time she sees a cupcake or any kind of cake, she sings "Happy Birthday to Ava, Happy Birthday to you," pretends to blow out her candles. 

Ava's 2nd Birthday Party from Ashley Webster on Vimeo.

This is what Ava woke up to Saturday morning - it looked like Christmas morning! We let her open her family presents as soon as she woke up so she could play with them all day before her party. 

One of Ava's favorite presents was a ballet skirt and a ballerina from Grandma (Amma) and Grandpa Schooff. Ava has been dancing like a "ba-reena" constantly and asks for "ba-reena" skirt all the time haha. She also got a play grocery cart, a Little People doll house, a play vacuum, stroller for her baby doll, a Cabbage Patch doll, some very cute clothes and shoes, books, puzzles, coloring books and stickers, and a few more fun toys. This girl is officially sittin pretty when it comes to toys! We won't need any more toys for a while (at least not until Christmas haha).

Just a little bit of the aftermath - checking out all her presents. Thank you to everyone who made her day very, very special! :)

Happy Birthday Ava! :)