Ava {21 months}

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

yellow, bee (what she calls all flying bugs), there she is/there is!, okay, choo choo, bug (she says bub), bless you (ba-choo), Bubba (what she calls Gavin), three, excuse me (she says skuze you), mine, bus, you okay? (when she or someone else gets hurt), hurt,  Jesus, uncle, airplane, egg, tractor, what's that (waz dat), two, car, orange, blue, purple, bird, bus, Misty (the horse), Oma (what she calls Becky), knee, amen, byebye, octopus, fishies, keys, sit, achoo, look, hat, kick, stick, Auntie, puppy, elbow, banana (nana), walk, eyes, hot, yeah, play (pay), swing (wee), cup, buckle up (buka uh), bubble gum (bubba guh), apple juice, happy birthday (appie day), cupcake, goodnight (nye nye), oh cute (ohhh toote), moon, bow, ouch, cookie, all done, water, happy, moo, baa, thank you, truck, duck/quack (same thing right now) car, balloon (boon), cake, please (meese), flower (wow-wee), belly (buh-bee), clicker, cup, oh no, ball, bubble, up, apple, cool, Elmo, baby, no, grandpa (says poppy), grandma (says mama), ow/owie, milk (muk), paci (she actually calls it mammy), cracker, shoes, dada, mama, hi, more, uh oh, wow, cheese, book

Just a few fun things about Ava:

• Songs she loves: 5 Little Monkeys, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes, Daddy Comes Home, Baby Bumble Bee, Bubble Gum, Mr. Alligator, Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy & You Know It, Ring Around the Rosy
• Foods she loves: Milk, bananas, popsicles, cheese, all fruit (raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples), apple sauce, pretzels, peanut butter
• She loves to "talk" on the phone. She picks up our ipods or iphones and puts it to her ear and says "Hewo?" And then has long, one-sided conversations with whoever she thinks is on the other end. Every time I ask her who is on the phone, she replies proudly, "Poppy!" (Which is what she calls her grandpas). Whenever I pick up my phone to make a call, she asks "Poppy?" thinking I am calling her grandpa. 
• She is very outgoing and social and loves to play with her friends. She asks for her friends on an hourly basis, if not more. She asks for Teddy, Lexi, Avery, and Anna. 
• She is ridiculously fearless, which I love, but it also scares me sometimes. She is fiercely independent and never cares to look back to see if I am around. She will ride any ride, play with any animal, go anywhere, play with anyone. Fearless I tell you.
• She loves the garbage truck - whenever it comes on Fridays she runs to the door shouting "Tuck, tuck, tuck!" Then she says "yum yum yum" each time as it "eats" the garbage, waves bye bye as it drives away and even blows it kisses. She also loves to point out every single tiny speck in the sky as an "Aye-pane!" and any and every truck or bus that we drive by.
• She has learned to turn on the camera on my phone and when she does, she walks around the house saying "CHeeeeeeese!" taking lots and lots of pictures as she goes.
• She is getting her top right 2-year old molar. So she is chewing on everything - especially her pacifiers. This, in turn, causes her pacifiers to get holes, which means they lose their "suck" - if you know what I mean. When she pops one of these chewed-upon pacifiers into her mouth, she immediately shouts, "Ucky!" and throws it on the ground.  
• She knows and recognizes the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G and O. 
• She is starting to "count," but she only says two, two, two, two. If I say one, she holds up one finger and then says "two." And THEN she says "three...go!" (one, two, three....go!).
• She says "Tah-Dah!" when she does something she is proud of, like a summersault or riding a ride. When she is feeling especially proud, she even goes up to random strangers, holds her arms over her head and proclaims, "Tah Dah!" 
• She LOVES to dance and "twirl" with her arms over her head like a ballerina. 

Ava singing the ABCs  (kinda haha)

Listen to her say "There she is!" at the end.

Saying yellow about her yellow straw.

Dizzy :)

There is so much more I could say about our sweet girl, but these are just some fun highlights. 

We love you SO much Ava Sophia. 

You are the light of my life, I love you more than you know. 

Love, 

Momma :)

Videos {of Ava}

Here are two videos for your viewing pleasure. pshhh

Really though...

This one is Ava showing me her letters. She is slowly learning her letters - we work on them constantly.  She loves to learn the letters and colors (I should take a video of that, too - she says "yeh-woah, yeh-woah, yeh-woah!" always three times, and "puh-puh" for yellow and purple).

And here is one to make you laugh. 

For some reason the way Ava says popsicle makes everyone laugh. 

You will hear it at the very end of this video.

Yes, she says it like that every single time - so funny.

And that is all I have time for. 

Thank you and goodnight. 

Happy Father's Day {From, Ava}

Ava loves to sing the song "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home..."

Or I should say, she loves to dance and do the motions to the song while I sing it haha. :)

On Sunday, when the Primary kids got up to sing the song, she motioned along with a huge smile on her face and even applauded herself at the end.

This is her way of saying "Happy Father's Day" to all the dads out there 

(as if she even knows what that means...) :)

and now for the blooper reel (even though there's just one blooper). 

Happy Father's Day to my Dad who always teaches me to get back up whenever you fall. 

And if it's in the middle of a song, just pick back up where you left off.

Love,

Ava

Here is Ava on Father's Day last year. Holy cow, where has the time gone?

Gavin {3 months}

Dear Gavin,

Today you turned 3 months old. I feel like I blinked and you suddenly you were no longer a "newborn." You are such a happy, smiley, friendly little guy - you bring nothing but absolute joy into our lives. You flash the sweetest baby smile every time someone smiles at you - which means you have many adoring fans everywhere we go. I have been asked more than once, "Where do I get one of those?" I'm lucky that you are mine, mine, mine. :)

This month, you found your new favorite "snack"- your hands. I love to watch you working so hard to get those chubby little hands all the way up into your mouth. Your hands have proved to be a great source of entertainment. Your hands are almost as good as your pacifier.

You took your very first airplane ride this month. You were absolutely perfect and slept almost the entire time. I had many people comment on how well-behaved you were. We flew to Colorado to celebrate Aunt Maddie's high school graduation. It was the perfect excuse to visit all of our family in Colorado and to let everyone meet you, finally! Now you have met Grandma and Grandpa Webster, Grandma and Grandpa Schooff, Auntie Kait, Auntie Maddie, and Uncle Blake.


Just a few night ago, you drank your very first bottle. This means that I can leave you with Daddy if I need to and I don't have to worry that you will get hungry. Of course, I can't imagine being away from you for very long - I know I would miss my little man.

That same night, your Daddy made you laugh for the very first time. Hearing your sweet, squeaky laugh was the most beautiful sound your emotional mom could ever hear, it brought tears to my eyes. Of course, you will only laugh for your dad for now - but I know some day you will think I am funny too. :) You are also very ticklish - you squirm and grunt and almost laugh anytime we tickle your belly or under your arms.

Some other random things about you:

• You are wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 or 6 month clothes. 
• You usually eat every 3 hours.
• You take 3-4 naps a day (usually 3). Your morning and early evening naps are about an hour, but your afternoon nap is typically around 3 hours (which always lines up perfectly with Ava's).
• You love taking baths. 
• You have blue eyes and brown hair. You have one dimple on your right cheek.

And here you are at one, two and now three months.

Well, my sweet little man, I love you so much. I LOVE being your momma. I always say that if all babies were as good as you, I would have 100 kids (okay not really, but you know what I mean).

Love always,
Momma :)

Ava {20 months}

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

Jesus, uncle, airplane, egg, tractor, what's that (waz dat), two, car, orange, blue, purple, bird, bus, Misty (the horse), Oma (what she calls Becky), knee, amen, byebye, octopus, fishies, keys, sit, achoo, look, hat, kick, stick, Auntie, puppy, elbow, banana (nana), walk, eyes, hot, yeah, play (pay), swing (wee), cup, buckle up (buka uh), bubble gum (bubba guh), apple juice, happy birthday (appie day), cupcake, goodnight (nye nye), oh cute (ohhh toote), moon, bow, ouch, cookie, all done, water, happy, moo, baa, thank you, truck, duck/quack (same thing right now) car, balloon (boon), cake, please (meese), flower (wow-wee), belly (buh-bee), clicker, cup, oh no, ball, bubble, up, apple, cool, Elmo, baby, no, grandpa (says poppy), grandma (says mama), ow/owie, milk (muk), paci (she actually calls it mammy), cracker, shoes, dada, mama, hi, more, uh oh, wow, cheese, book

Highlights:

• My favorite new thing that Ava does: she points to something and asks "Waz dat?" when she doesn't know what something is. 
• She is now making two-word sentences, such as "No milk," "More juice," and "No night night." 
• Songs she loves and knows the motions to: 5 Little Monkeys, Wheels on the Bus (her favorite is saying "shh, shh, shh") Bubble Gum, 5 Little Ducks, Daddy Comes Home, Popcorn Popping
• She tries to count, but only says "two." So instead of saying, "one, two, three," she points and says, "two, two, two." 
• She has started going to bed earlier, around 8pm, and wakes up around 8am.
• We are working on her colors. She can say orange, blue and purple.
• She is starting to recognize letters. She knows A for sure, and that it says "ah." She can say most of the letter sounds.
• She loves to color. I only give her Color Wonder markers that only color on special paper, otherwise she draws all over herself, on the table and probably all over the entire house if I let her. When she is using a marker, she takes off the lid and puts it on the other end. When she is done with that marker, she puts the correct lid back on and puts it back into her little marker pouch.
• When she cleans up, she sings "Dah, eee, Dah, eee" to the tune of the "Clean Up" song.
• She LOVES flowers and picks every.single.flower in our backyard. Sad. She also loves to pick (or harvest as Bryson says) the fruit and vegetables in the garden (raspberries, snap peas, tomatoes). 
• She LOVES animals and is completely fearless around them, which is good, but also scary haha. She especially loves dogs.
• Animal sounds she can make: duck, lion, tiger, bird, cat, dog, horse, elephant, whale, monkey, bee, cow.
• Family members she recognizes and calls by name (in parenthesis is what she calls them): Momma, Daddy, Gavin (Baby), Grandma Webster (Mama), Grandpa Webster (Poppy), Grandma Schooff (Oma), Grandpa Schooff (Poppy), Uncle Blake (Uh-koo), Aunt Maddie (Aye-tee), Aunt Kaitlyn (Aye-tee), Uncle Brad (Uh-koo), Uncle Jayson (Uh-koo).
• She recognizes who Jesus is and gets excited anytime she sees a picture of Him. (Funny story: in the airport, she saw a man with a full beard and excitedly pointed to him and exclaimed "Jesus!"). When we say "Ava it's time for prayer," she folds her arms. We say family prayer every night and she lists off all her family members that she is grateful for. 
• This month she went to a little amusement park called Santa's Workshop in Colorado. She rode every single ride, and not a single one scared her, not even the ones that I sincerely thought would be too intense for her. She is truly fearless. 

Here are some random pictures from this month:

And here are some videos of Ava working on her alphabet. I love this app on Bryson's iPad.

Wow, I am so incredibly blessed to have Ava as my daughter, my little buddy. She truly brightens my life and brings completely JOY into our family. She is happy, bright, smiley, smart, funny, spunky, and full of non-stop energy. She is definitely on the go-go-go 24/7. :) And I wouldn't have it any other way! I LOVE her more than I can ever express. 

Until next month. :)

(Crazy to think, only 4 months until Ava is 2 - I don't want to think about that just yet.)

I love this girl!

Gavin {2 months}

Dear Gavin,

Today you turned 2 months old (May 6, 2013)! I can't believe how much you have changed in such a short time! I have loved watching you discover things around you this month - this is just the beginning of so much learning to come. I love that you go everywhere with me, you are my little buddy. 

When you were five weeks old, you shocked me when I laid you on your tummy and you promptly rolled over onto your back. You have since rolled from your tummy to your back many times, but not every time that you have "tummy time." You hold your head up well and bear weight on your legs already - you are a very strong little guy! I sometimes feel the need to sit you down and have a serious discussion about slowing down on the whole "growing up" thing. I need you to stay little for a while longer, please.

April 21st was your blessing day. Your Daddy gave you a beautiful baby blessing in church and you wore a sweet little white outfit that Nam made for you. Your Auntie Kait was there to celebrate your special day with us.

This month you rewarded your adoring parents by flashing us your first smile! You have since proved to be a very smiley baby, smiling every time you see me or hear my voice. Your entire face lights up when you smile, it's infectious. You have the cutest little dimple on your left cheek that really stands out when you smile. :) You also make the absolute sweetest "coo" sounds; you get so excited and kick your legs like crazy and "coo" loudly.

Recently you have started sleeping longer during the night. I feed you and put you to bed around 10:00pm. Then you sleep for 5-6 hours, wake up to quickly eat and go back to sleep for 3-4 more hours. When you sleep, you love to snuggle your face into a blanket, my arm or whatever is close. You also love sleeping in your bouncy seat because it vibrates.

You are wearing size 1 diapers and size 3 month clothes. You weigh 13lbs 12.4oz (80th percentile weight for age), and are exactly 2 feet tall (97th percentile). Your eyes are still that baby blue-grey and your hair is dark brown. The thing people always comment on when they see you for the first time is your eyebrows. You have very expressive, defined eyebrows for a newborn. :)

Here you are at 1 month, and now 2 months. Your cheeks are getting much fuller and your tummy is getting chubbier. We LOVE that you are our chubby little boy!

Well, my sweet baby Gavin. I love you more than you can ever possibly understand. I feel incredibly lucky to have such a sweet, mellow, happy baby boy. I often catch myself just staring - completely unable to take my eyes off you, this tiny person with whom I've been entrusted. Memorizing your eyes, your fingers, your nose, your lips - every nook and cranny of your little body. Every inch is perfectly perfect.

Thank you for letting me be your momma.

Love,
Mom :)

Ava {19 months}

I decided to keep writing monthly posts about both of my kids so I can print the posts into a book at the end of the year.
Ava is still changing so much each month, I want to write it all down so I can remember.
So, here is Ava's 19 month post. :)

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

keys, sit, achoo, look, hat, kick, stick, Auntie, puppy, elbow, banana (nana), walk, eyes, hot, yeah, play (pay), swing (wee), cup, buckle up (buka uh), bubble gum (bubba guh), apple juice, happy birthday (appie day), cupcake, goodnight (nye nye), oh cute (ohhh toote), moon, bow, ouch, cookie, all done, water, happy, moo, baa, thank you, truck, duck/quack (same thing right now) car, balloon (boon), cake, please (meese), flower (wow-wee), belly (buh-bee), clicker, cup, oh no, ball, bubble, up, apple, cool, Elmo, baby, no, grandpa (says poppy), grandma (says mama), ow/owie, milk (muk), paci (she actually calls it mammy), cracker, shoes, dada, mama, hi, bye, more, uh oh, wow, cheese, book

Highlights:

• Has started putting two words together ("Hi baby," "Hi mama," "Hi flowers" etc)
• New body parts she knows: knee, tongue, elbow, fingernail, toenails 
• Says "Tickle, tickle, tickle" as she tries to tickle you
• If we say "Be soft," she will gently rub your arm or cheek.
• My favorite thing that she says right now is "yeah." We will ask her, "Ava do you want to go play outside," and she answers, "Yeah!" in the cutest little way. 
• She loves for me to blowdry her hair and she pretends to put on her makeup when I am putting mine on. She also pretends to shave under her arms (obviously she has seen me do it a few times hahaha). You never know what they are watching you do until you see them do it themselves haha. 
• Whenever we drive past some of our "usual spots," she recognizes them. For example, when we drive past the park or even get close to the parking lot, she starts clapping and shouting "Play! Play!" Or, (and yes, I am embarrassed and slightly ashamed to admit this) if we are driving past Taco Bell, she will start signing "eat" and will shout "Cup!" (because if we go through the Taco Bell drive-thru, I always get her a cup of water). 
• Her favorite movie is the Lorax - she gets sooooo excited when it comes on and is glued to the screen the entire time. 
• Her Auntie Kait came this month for a few days and Ava absolutely ADORED her. She quickly learned how to say "Aye-tee" (Auntie) and followed her around like a little shadow the entire time. The day Kaitlyn left, Ava walked around the house saying "Aye tee" over and over and over, trying to find her Auntie.
• She LOVES flowers right now - everywhere we go, she points out the "wow wees," and (unfortunately) she picks the flowers we have planted every chance she gets. 
• She now goes to nursery and she literally SPRINTS for the door as soon as we get to church. She runs right in the room and doesn't look back and could care less if I'm there or not. Her nursery leaders said she is definitely the "leader," and she makes everyone "happy" because she tries to cheer up the kids who are sad. Last Sunday, Bryson and I peeked in on her and my heart had a major pitter-pat moment watching her listening (or not listening haha) to her teacher and learning about Jesus and eating her snack. When I went to pick her up after church, the second she saw me, she ran into my arms and gave me a big hug. Gosh I LOVE that girl! 
• Most people who know her and spend time with her say she is a happy and fun little girl and that she is funny - a lot of people say that she makes them laugh. She definitely has a spunky, boisterous personality. She loves to laugh, smile, dance, and sing and she gets excited easily. She is very social and loves meeting new people and playing with kids of all ages. 
• She also is tender-hearted and loves to give hugs and kisses, and she especially likes to try to cheer people up when they are sad (including Gavin) by smiling big, rubbing their head and saying "Hi" right in their face.
• Overall, this month I have really noticed that she is starting to understand much more. If she is upset, I will sit her down and explain to her why she can't do certain things or I will tell her what I expect from her or what I need her to do to help me...and she just "gets it" much, much more than ever before. I have noticed if I give her a choice, it works better than if I just say "no," to something. For example, if she is being "naughty" and running around outside instead of getting in her car seat, I will say, "Ava, you can either get in your car seat so we can go byebye or we can go inside and be all done." I will see the little wheels in her head turning, and most of the time, she will make the right choice and come get in her car seat (or whatever else). Then, since she made a good choice, I can praise her and that way she feels proud of herself for doing the right thing. (Of course, sometimes it doesn't go that smoothly haha).

Here are some pictures from this month:

All dressed up for nursery. :)

She's all ready for summer in her new swimsuit and sandals. :)

Ava got 2 HUGE splinters (or slivers as Bryson calls them) one night. There was MUCH drama and many, many tears shed in the effort to get them out! So sad!  She still comes to me, holds her hand out and says "Owies" until I kiss it better. 

We went to the Oakland Zoo with Auntie Kait.

Ava pet the goats...for about 10 seconds and then got bored haha.

Oakland Zoo with Momma.

Ava ADORES her Auntie Kait.

She followed her Aye-tee everywhere!

First Ikea ice cream cone. 

We learned this month that Ava HATES laying in the grass haha.

Her baby brother was blessed this month.

More sweet moments with Auntie Kait. (Somehow, Ava and Kaitlyn coordinated every day while she was here haha)

We LOVE our sweet Ava.

This month we also introduced "Time Out." :(

Ava went car shopping this month and loved climbing in all the new cars. She was so excited to drive home in our new MINIVAN! haha

Well, another month has come and gone faster than a blink of an eye - I can't believe it's already almost MAY. I sure do love my sweet Ava - she brightens my days with her beautiful smile and her very curious nature. I just love watching her learn and grow. 

Until next month. :)

Gavin's Blessing Day

Today was Gavin's blessing day. 

He wore a little white outfit that Nam made for him.

He was perfect, of course. 

Someone in the circle said that he was smiling and looking around during the whole blessing. 

Sweet baby boy.

Bryson gave him the most beautiful blessing - what a wonderful daddy.

Ava was on my lap shouting "Dada, dada, dada" the entire time - because (hello!), the attention is supposed to be centered around her. ;) Right?

We love this little boy so much! 

We are so lucky to call him ours.