Ava loves Valentine's Day!

Really though. Valentine's Day, or should I say "Balemtimes Day" this year was so fun! Ava discovered that this day = massive amounts of sugar - which she definitely loved. She jumped for joy and squealed "MAIL! PRESENTS!" each time we would open the mailbox to a package packed full of pink glitter and heart-shaped candies and toys. She loved helping decorate Valentine's cookies and sneakily picking off the sprinkles and popping them into her mouth. I loved spending this fun holiday with my sweet Valentines!

Gavin {11 months}

Dear Gavin,

You turned 11 months on February 6, 2014. 

You are now walking! You are still much faster and efficient at crawling, but you get better at walking every day. You can stand yourself up in the middle of a room and then you will slowly, carefully walk all on your own. When you notice I am watching you, you BEAM with pride. 

Right at 10 months, you started sleeping through the night finally! I put you down for bed at 7:30pm and you sometimes wake up once around 3 or 4 to eat, but usually you sleep straight through to 6 or 6:30, when I bring you into bed with me, feed you and you go back to sleep until around 7:30am. When I put you to bed, I can put you down wide awake and you sing yourself to sleep. You take two naps, one at 9:30 for about an hour, and one around 1 or 1:30 for about two hours. 

Still nursing 3-4 times a day. Wearing size 3 diapers, size 9-12 month clothes for the most part, some 12-18 month. Eating pretty much any table food we put in front of you. 

You wave, give kisses, and smile at everyone everywhere we go. You love to try to keep up with the "big kids," and you LOVE your big sister. 

This is your last month as my "baby," - next month you will be a one-year old. You are growing into a toddler, into a little person, into a little man before my very eyes. And although time is passing me by quicker than I would like, I am loving every minute of you. 

I love you,

Momma 

Ava, my sweet little love

I feel like I don't document anything about Ava anymore. But she still continues to grow and change and learn new things just as much as before, if not more! She is bright, smart, sweet and SO funny. She LOVES to learn new things constantly. I will teach her something, thinking in my mind there is no way she will understand or remember this...and then a day or so later, I will hear her repeat back what I had taught her, all on her own. 

She loves to sing and dance, loves to color, loves to "cook" in her kitchen, loves being outside, playing with her friends and giving lots of hugs and kisses. She is sensitive to people's feelings and keenly aware of emotions. If you are sad, she will hug you tightly while asking, "Happy now?" 

She is fiercely independent and knows exactly what she wants. She loves to do any and everything her momma does, but all by herself of course. She ADORES nursery and asks for it several times a day. She loves to grab a blanket, climb up onto my lap and snuggle on the couch.

She knows her alphabet letters and most of the sounds they each make. She knows how to spell her name and tries to write it on her own. She draws "people" with one big head, two little eyes, one mouth, one belly button and two "feet." She was potty trained after two accidents. 

She is the absolute best daughter and big sister we could possibly ask for. I honestly feel incredibly blessed that I get to spend my days, my life, with this beautiful little girl. 

I just love my sweet little love. My Ava.

Gavin {10 months}

Dear, sweet Gavin boy,

(side note, these pictures are completely and totally unedited)

Ohhhh my goodness. Where to begin with you, my little love? You have such a tight hold on my heart that so often during the day I say out loud, with no one but myself to hear, "GOSH! I just LOVE YOU!" And I do!! You are such a sweet, smiley, happy little guy that just melts my heart.

You are now totally and completely mobile. Your preferred method of getting around is most definitely crawling, and you do it well and very, very fast! You are busy and all over the place, into every nook and cranny, climbing into, onto and behind everything you possibly can. All I have to do is look away for one minute and you're off, while I'm left searching the house looking to where you ventured off. (The more mobile you become, the more my "free time" dwindles...which is why these blog posts have become harder and harder haha.)

I love to watch you enthusiastically speed after your big sister, trying so hard to keep up with her. For the most part, you really do keep up with her nicely - you two are already sweet little friends. If there is ever a time that my heart will just BURST with love and joy, it will definitely be while I am watching my two sweet kids play together. I hope, more than anything else, you will always be genuine friends with your sister. 

Things you love:

• Dancing. The second music comes on, you bob up and down and sway back and forth with a big grin on your face. 
• Eating. Holy moly kid, you LOVE to eat. And you are a fantastic eater who will eat just about anything we put in front of you. When you're done eating, you promptly throw everything left onto the floor. You also LOVE drinking from a sippy cup, which is great since you never really liked bottles.
• You think you're funny and love to play little "games" with Mommy and Daddy. You love to drop your pacifier or toy and when we give it back, you immediately drop it again. Sometimes it takes me a few times to realize you are playing with me and dropping it on purpose. Then you laugh and laugh.
• You can sign a few words in sign language: more, grandpa, milk
• Mom. You are definitely in your "Mommy stage." Especially when we were in Colorado, someone else would be holding you and the second you saw me, you would reach for me and whine and whine until I grabbed you.
• Getting into things
• Being outside
• Playing with other babies and kids - you are very social.
• Waving at any and everyone - you smile at everyone! 

Things you've been up to lately:

• You have two new teeth - the top front two teeth. You now have 4 total.
• You were sick for the first time. :( 
• I still nurse you about four times a day, but you also LOVE cow's milk (only because you steal Ava's sippy cups and chug the milk like it's the most delicious stuff you've ever had). This makes me hopeful for a smooth transition to whole milk when you turn 1.
• Trip to Colorado for Christmas & New Years! First time in the snow (you hated the cold and clung to me so tightly anytime we were outside), met Santa for the first time, experienced your first Christmas and spent a lot of time with our wonderful family! You are one LOVED little boy! You even learned how to sign "grandpa" while we were there (all thanks to Grandpa Webster and his tireless efforts - that eventually payed off!!)
• Nam and Nampa came to visit San Francisco and stayed with us for several days! They took us to some great children's museums and fun places to play! It was a wonderful visit!
• For Thanksgiving, we went to Southern California and you met the Bryson family, who were extremely nice to have us stay with them for a week! We had a great time at Knott's Berry Farm, visiting Uncle Jayson's mission, go karting and visiting with family!
• In Colorado, you were a TERRIBLE sleeper. And that's all I'm going to say about that. haha :)

Nicknames:

• Gavers
• Gavin boy
• Chunkers (Ava)
• Bubbas (Ava)
• Gav
• Bud/Buddy

Sweet Gavin boy, I adore you. I love having a son so much. You make my life brighter and I feel so blessed that you are mine. You attract A LOT of attention everywhere we go. I hear people constantly talking amongst themselves in line behind me or as they walk by us, oohing and awwing over you. And when you flash your sweet smile and wave that chubby little arm...it. melts. hearts. Swoon.

I love you, I love you, I love you.

Love forever,
Momma

Gavin 10 months from Ashley Webster on Vimeo.

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!