A beautiful winter morning

My brother Zac and I drove around after church on Sunday to take some pictures of the gorgeous frost. Here are a couple of the shots that I got.

Christmas has begun!

We had our first family Christmas party on Saturday and, of course, Ava had to wear her pretty Christmas dress and I had to take lots of pictures. (That's my job, right? Says it there in the job description, "Mom: cook, photographer, diaper changer, etc") Ava plays right along and lets us take her pictures when she's sitting so cute in the chair, playing with her Uncle Tod, and opening presents (that weren't hers, don't tell). Ava has lots of Auntie's watching out for her and making sure that her pretty dress doesn't get in the way of her crawling everywhere. You can thank Auntie Ellen and Auntie Wendy for tucking it into her bloomers so she could crawl. (No, it was not a new fashion statement we were trying to make. If you want fashion statements, check out Taylor, Samantha & Jack on Amy's blog. Follow the AnemaFive link on our page.)

I'll tell you when I want to get out!

Or, at least that's what I think she was saying when I suggested her bath be over. She LOVES bathtime! She lays on her tummy and plays with her duckies (she's got 5 or 6) or sits up and splashes and kicks her feet. The whole "washing her hair" thing she could do without and so as soon as the shampoo comes out she becomes a slippery little octopus with legs and arms everywhere and all of them are aimed at getting me soaked. Jeff somehow yesterday was able to get her to lay flat on her back while he rinsed the shampoo from her hair, how did he do it?!? (I swear he bribes her, promising extra puffs and chocolate.) Though Ava really loves her tub time I think that her favorite part is really before she even gets in. When I start running the water, she starts squealing and laughing and clapping her hands. She stands next to the tub and jumps around in a way that only a non-walking baby can. Surely those feet of hers are in the air because with that much energy and enthusiasm, how could they not be? The Bathtime Bop continues as I take off her pants, top, diaper, then it ends in a happy squeak as I plop her in the tub. Yay! Bathtime!

Ten Months Old Today!

I thought that I'd post a picture of Ava in her carseat the very first day that she sat in it. I thought it would be fun to see the comparison from ten months ago, today! Oh, baby girl, you're getting so big! She was so tiny in it that first day going home from the hospital. Now she's gotten to the point where we can't adjust the straps to get any larger and we're going to have to move her into a bigger seat. I try not to be sad at how big she is because it truly is a blessing but I do miss those teeny, tiny days.

Jazzed about winter

My cousin Emily gave Ava a beautiful coat for winter, its so cute! And warm! The hood is lined with fur so Ava looks especially cute when the hood is up. Unfortunately, when combined with an already tight baby carrier the result is akin to a straight-jacket (or perhaps picture the younger brother from the Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story"). Needless to say, she's not impressed. She doesn't mind it just as long as she's not wearing it sitting in her carseat. We'll have to move her up to a bigger carseat soon and hopefully winter clothes work better in that one. For now we just pack her up in her seat, wrap the blankets around her and carry her winter coat. Just in case. :)

All I want for Christmas...

I thought that I'd try and snag some pictures of Ava in front of our tiny little Christmas trees so that I could you know, "preserve some memories of Ava's first Christmas". The trees did great! Stood there, didn't move, looked cute for the picture. Ava Reese, on the other hand, did not see what the big deal was and thought it would be hilarious if she could grab the camera before I could snap her picture. I had to call in reinforcements in the form of Dad, who had until that moment been sitting on the couch laughing and watching the circus act. With the two of us against our one little cyclone (err...I mean, perfect angel) this is what we got.

Glamorous!

So, Ava has enough hair (just barely enough hair) for a pony on top of her noggin. But once its in there the little bit that goes in the bow stands straight up. I guess we need to let her hair grow a little bit more before its ready for the beauty salon. Do you see any red? I think she's got a hint of her Grandma Theresa's Irish red in there but it's usually just apparent in pictures that we take.

Ava's been sick with the flu and now a nasty cough. I took her to the doctor yesterday and had to do a few nebulizer treatments and a chest x-ray. Our doc didn't think that it was pneumonia rather just some bronchial congestion which I guess means Ava takes meds and we do more nebulizer treatments here at home for a while. She's a little cranky today but still really upbeat. Hopefully she'll be back to her usually goofy self soon.