27 things before 27

Here are 27 things I want to do before I turn 27 (in December). OH gosh 27 sounds hideously old.
I've been compiling these for a while now - some of them I can already check off my list. :)

1. Have this baby (setting myself up for success, ya know?) haha :)
2. Make an "Important Documents" binder for our family
3. Make a photo book of Ava's first year
4. Buy a new car 
5. Send a package to my missionary brother once a month
6. Lose all the baby weight
7. Have 4 families a month over to our home (maybe giving myself a break in March when baby comes)
8. Make a quilt
9. Run a 5k (or at least be able to run a 5k)
10. Donate plasma or give blood
11. Take Ava on a bike ride (in one of those baby bike seat things)
12. Keep up with my blog (post at least twice a month) and print it at the end of the year
13. Find a way to serve my husband at least once a day
14. Make one thing I found from Pinterest
15. Go to Utah for Thanksgiving
16. Do a session in one new temple
17. Read one "churchy" book (besides the Book of Mormon/Bible)
18. Stop biting my fingernails
19. Be a good visiting teacher
20. Try a new kind of food
21. Go on at least one date a month with my husband
22. Have the missionaries over for dinner once a month
23. Buy a new kitchen table and refinish it (paint it a fun color)
24. Plant a garden
25. Make a collage wall in my home
26. Throw a baby shower
27. Kiss and hug and snuggle my babies every day (not hard at all) :)

Showing off

I FINALLY got Ava saying a bunch of her words on camera - she usually sees the camera is on and gets all silly and starts dancing around and acting like the babysitters are over (haha that's a phrase Bryson and I use when kids get all hyper and start acting silly when visitors are over or when the video camera is out or something haha). She pretty much will "try" to repeat any word you ask her to - and after a few days if I repeat it often enough and if the word is interesting and has meaning to her, she will usually have it down. Little sweetie peetie - love her so much! 

Pregnancy update: {33 weeks}

I am 33 weeks pregnant - 7 weeks to go until the due date.  I'm starting to feel uncomfortable and not sleeping so well. It's also getting harder to pick up Ava and chase her all over the place haha and wow I am exhausted all of a sudden. BUT other than that, I am feeling great - really no reason to complain. I had my 32 week check-up this week and my doctor said everything looks great - blood pressure is perfect (something I worry about every time) and I am measuring at exactly 33 weeks (right on schedule). This little guy moves constantly and my belly is like a big bowl of jello - always moving, sometimes it's freaky to watch. According to my pregnancy app on my phone, he is the size of a honeydew mellon (19 inches, 4.5 pounds). We have still not chosen a name (surprise, surprise), but I have a favorite and Bryson has a favorite, and we both like both of them...so who knows who will end up winning that battle haha. :)

This is me at 33 weeks:

This was 32 weeks (last week):

How far along? 33 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: +11 pounds

Maternity clothes? Yes and no - I still fit into all my pants, but I wear maternity pants sometimes.

Stretch marks? No

Sleep: Starting to be uncomfortable, and of course I have to get up to use the bathroom 500 times a night.

Best moment this week: Ava learned how to say "baby" when she sees a baby.

Have you told family and friends: Yessir

Movement: Feel him moving ALL of the time! Very active!

Food cravings: Nothing in particular. I just eat a LOT! 

Anything making you queasy or sick: I have started feeling a bit nauseous again, but not too bad.

Have you started to show yet: Yes

Gender prediction: It's a boy!

Labor Signs: No (feeling A LOT of Braxton Hicks contractions)

Belly Button in or out? In

Wedding rings on or off? On

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy, Bryson might tell you moody though haha

Weekly Wisdom: We are so blessed to have a sweet baby boy join our family! 

Milestones coming this week: Baby is clocking in at five pounds and could be as tall as 20 inches by now, and the vernix (the white coating protecting baby’s skin) is getting thicker. Those tiny fingernails have probably reached the tips of his fingers by now — and getting ready for that first postpartum manicure. Baby is still gaining weight (about half a pound a week), and he could grow up to another full inch this week. With that much baby inside your uterus, your amniotic-fluid level has maxed out, which explains why some of his pokes and kicks feel pretty sharp these days. (There's less fluid to cushion the blows.) 

Jean Jacket

I remember before Ava was born when I would buy clothes for her, I would fantasize of squeezing her chubby little thighs into the cutest of outfits. Once she was born, I remember dressing her up and then realizing that really, newborns look the cutest in pajamas - and since they spend 95% of their days swaddled and sleeping, there really was no point in getting them all dressed up anyway (am I alone in this? hah). As Ava has gotten older, I have found it SO much more fun to dress her. Ugg boots, skinny jeans, pea coats and jean jackets - even more dangerous to your wallet than baby girls is toddler girls. Ava suddenly looks like a mini-human, and I find it so.much.fun!

Doesn't she look older all of a sudden?
Her hair is finally getting longer and everything.
And as usual, she is always the happiest when she is outside exploring and picking up rocks and sticks.
(She has learned now that if she brings me her shoes and repeatedly says "shees, shees, shees," eventually I will put them on for her - after which she waves and says "BYE," runs to the front door and pulls open the handle. AND if I forgot and left the door unlocked, she runs outside without hesitation. Ah!)

And have I mentioned lately how much I ADORE this girl?

Well, I do. 

So, so, SO much. 

15 {and a half} months

I didn't post anything when Ava turned 15 months because we were in Virginia. But I just want to take a minute to record the new things she has learned in the last month (and a half, now that she is 15.5 months). 

Words she knows as of today (pink ones are new words this month):

ball, bubble, up, apple (she now says it the correct way instead of appie), cool, Elmo, baby, no, grandpa (says poppy), grandma (says mama) while signing grandma, ouch, milk (mee), paci (pappy), cracker, shoes, mama, hi, bye, thank you, more, uh oh, wow, cheese, book

Words she is learning/can kind of say:

Cake, water (wawa)

These are the words she can sign: 

nap, milk, drink, mama, daddy, up, ball, banana, cracker, fish, bath, tree, ball, potty, more, grandpa, cat, baby, all done, eat, cookie, juice, one, bird

Body Parts she knows:
She knows where her nose, eyes, ears, belly button, toes and hair are.

Things she loves:
Loves playing with my hair (no idea why), plays "puppies" and crawls around on the floor barking, loves her baby doll and taking it for walks in the stroller, loves to put her "make up" on, LOVES to dance

Random things:
*She knows the difference now between a cat and a dog and barks or meows while signing "cat" or "dog" appropriately.
*She is extremely social and loves to wave and talk to any and everyone everywhere we go. (I get stopped multiple times in every store we are in and told "She is the friendliest little thing.")
*For a little while (maybe a week) in December she only took 1 nap, but now she is back to 2 naps a day (one at 11 and one at 3).
*She went through a "Mommy phase" while we were in CO and VA and would only let me hold her.
*She has 12 teeth (6 on top and 6 on the bottom).
*If we say "Show me your muscles" she will "flex" her muscles.

I keep telling Bryson that just within the last week or so, she suddenly seems a little older - a little more independent, a little more aware, a little better at repeating and learning new words...just a little older, and I'm actually enjoying it a lot.

She's my sweet, sweet girl and I couldn't love her more.

Here are some videos of Ava dancing to her favorite, favorite song. I know I post a lot of her dancing to this song, I just can't get over how hilarious it is that she LOVES this song. I will play other songs and she will dance, but it definitely doesn't get the same reaction as her favorite song. You'll see what I mean in the last video. Every.single.time I play this song, she goes NUTS. And if I stop it, she asks for "moooorrrre." (I know these are long videos, sorry!)

Alright, who's sick of that song yet?

And here's one of her saying the most dreaded word: no (sounds like "now") haha.

60 days

Before the holidays, I kept telling myself "Don't worry about or even think about the baby coming until after the holidays." So if I would think of things I needed to get done, I would just add them to a list that I would then tuck away until after the holidays. Well, somehow "after the holidays" came much faster than I anticipated. Since coming home, I have made about 100 "To Do Before the Baby Comes" lists. I have a list of things to clean and organize, things to buy, things to do with Ava, things to make. Thanks to Christmas and my birthday, I have most of the big things we needed for him, we just need clothes and diapers and a few other small things. We bought an airplane ticket for Bryson's mom to come out when the baby is born...which makes me feel about a million times better knowing she will be here to help with him and with Ava. I can't imagine a better person to be here to help during that time - she is amazing! 

Now, we are down to 60 days until his due date. And I feel like we have so much to do. But then again, in all honesty, he could come tomorrow and we would be pretty much ready for him. Most importantly  I just want to soak in the next 2 months with Ava as my only child. As much as I tell myself I will still give her as much of my attention even after the baby comes, I know that is impossible. So for now, I am going to spend as much time cuddling, dancing, singing, running around outside and kissing my sweet baby girl who I adore with all my heart.

Nursery

Ava is 15 months and in our ward, she is the youngest of her little age-group of "friends."

So, her little friends are starting to turn 18 months, which means they are going into nursery.

As I am walking the halls with Ava during church, she stops at the nursery rooms and stands on her tippy tippy toes to see over the baby gate and into the nursery at all the kids and toys. 

Today, one of the nursery leaders invited us in, as long as I stayed with her. 

I gladly accepted her invitation and Ava had the greatest time! 

She certainly has more energy than any other little girl I know and was climbing in and over and through everything in sight. 

At the end, they have singing time. All the other kids sat on their little carpet square and sang the songs while Ava danced in the middle like a little wild child. She was SO excited. I'm telling you, the girl LOVES to dance.

Anyway, I just love watching Ava interacting with other kids and seeing her little personality around other adults and kids.
And I can't WAIT until she is in nursery for good haha.

I'm sorry these videos are sideways...they were taken on Bryson's phone and I don't know how to fix them.

If you watch towards the end of this video, you will see Ava take one of the animals from another little boy. When he reaches his hand out to get it back, she gives it back AND gives him the other animal in her hand haha. So cute.

Videos {December edition}

I am going to try to catch up on blogging about all our adventures over the holidays....slowly, a little at a time.

First, I'm just going to post some videos I got off my phone. 

They are all super random, but hopefully you get some enjoyment from them haha. 

Ava really enjoyed being at Grandma and Grandpa Webster's for Christmas! She loved having her uncles and aunts around to swing her in laundry baskets, spin her in swivel chairs and toss her all around. Whenever they would stop, she would say beg "mooooorrre" until they did it again, and again, and again.

Ava rode her first "big kid" ride at Busch Garden's Christmastown. She rode the kiddie swings and LOVED them. Of course it was FREeeeeeeZing, so she was all bundled up and could barely move, but she was laughing and squealing the whole time.

Ava loves to dance!

Ava loved this little rocking horse!

This video makes me laugh. She was playing in the laundry basket and got stuck and started to have a little panic attack haha. 

Sorry you had to listen to my annoying voice in the background of all those videos. :)