SPRING FEVER

Ava wore a dress to church last Sunday that was very "Spring" looking in hopes that the weather would turn a little bit warmer. She stands at the living room window staring outside several times a day, wishing her parents would let her outside more often. (Her parents just wish that it was 10 degrees warmer most days.)

But today she got her wish and we went for a walk to the park. (The wind was a little bit colder than we would have liked, but it did not stop Ava from having a good time.)

There is a cute little tree house that has stairs up to it. I took Ava up inside, and she was not too sure about it at first. I think she might be a little scared of heights.
She did enjoy looking at another little girl running around on the grass below.


Hopefully the weather is turning and we will be able to venture to the park more often.
Ava sure loves it there.

Great Company

The other night we were able to have dinner with our great friends Mark and Rhonda and their adorable son Henry. We always look forward to our time with them. Great food and always wonderful company.

I have known Rhonda since Middle School, and it is so much fun raising our children together.
We look forward to summer adventures together too.

And for those of you that need an Ava fix... Here are some cute recent pictures.

Ava just loves helping in the kitchen.

Ava moved all the oranges and grapefruit into the potato drawer. I guess she thought where we had placed them was not good enough.

Joel says this last photo makes Ava look like a werewolf.

She tends to look like this after she pulls her pigtails out.

I promise that we do clean her mouth off after eating.

Sleep is Over-Rated

Ava seems to think that sleep is over-rated.

Ava has never been a great sleeper. Let's be honest...she is a horrible sleeper. I have friends that say that their child has been sleeping through the night since they were 6 weeks old...heck some that say they began sleeping through the night at 6 months old. Not our Ava. She is 14 months old and still does not sleep through the night. I have to admit that it is getting a little bit better. This week she has slept until 4 and sometimes 5 AM, but it has not become consistent yet. Until this last week she woke up at 1 AM to eat a bottle every night. Grrrr. I have been ready to have her cry it out for sometime now, but Joel says that if she is hungry she should eat. His argument is that he gets up to eat in the middle of the night if he is hungry (which he really does do), so she should be able to eat if she is hungry too.

Since I do not agree with the whole nightly feeding thing much anymore, Joel has decided that he will get up and feed her if she is hungry. Joel feeding her is nice, but her crying and waking us up every night is not. I hope that this phase is coming to an end soon, because I am getting a little sleep deprived (a little...who are we kidding. I feel like a zombie at times).

All I have to say is.... IT IS A GOOD THING THAT SHE IS SO STINKIN CUTE.

I love her even when I have had less than 4 hours of sleep a night for 5 days straight.

And even when I am exhausted, she still brings the biggest smile to my face each day.

Bed Head

I love going to get Ava out of her crib after a long nap. First, because she is always so excited to see you, and second because she usually has the cutest bed head. This day's bed head was extremely cute...the picture does not do it justice. Ava has the most gorgeous curls, especially right after a bath (or in this case - after she sleeps on one side for a few hours). Hopefully her curls stay with her for a few years.