The Recycling Bin

Why does she want to play with the recycling? This cabinet is just sooooo exciting to Ava these last couple of weeks but who knows why? First she would just pull out the newspapers and scatter them. Then she started pulling the cans and plastic out of the bin and playing with them. Then she took the whole bin of recycling out of the drawer and started carrying it around. Now today she discovered that she can fit right in that drawer if she takes everything else out. In she went. And giggled and rocked and giggled some more. Of course I told her not to play in there but how do I not take her picture first? I'm digging through my child-proof locks to see if I have something that will work on this cabinet but I am not finding anything yet. I guess the cabinet is hers for now...

Teeth teeth teeth teeth

Incisors!! Argh!! We hate these teeth! They have been tormenting Ava for two months now and have only just appeared in the last two weeks. But there are four to work on and we're only seeing the top two! And those two are only partially out of her gums! Thank goodness for ice and tylenol! I'm not sure what these teeth bring the number two for a total in her little mouth but it is in the double digits. (It's harder to see the teeth at the back of her mouth and I value my fingers too much to stick a digit in and try to count them all.) What we know for sure is that she's got a lovely smile (and an even better growl that REALLY shows off those teeth)!

I guess Ava's baby doll is hungry this morning because I just caught Ava shoving honeycomb into her doll's mouth. :) It's rather a large mouth because it usually holds a pacifier so why not fill it with some food? "Baby" is one word that Ava says really well and she loves carrying a doll around with her or pushing it in her toy stroller. (But she also likes pushing a book or other toys around in her stroller.) She's usually very sweet with her babies and we're optimistic that she'll be a big fan of her baby brother or sister when they finally arrive. She likes to "help" whenever possible and is just super with the swiffer and broom. :) I'm hoping that she has her Grandma Theresa's "tidy" gene because she didn't inherit any tendency towards tidiness from me or Jeff. She'll also help by wiping up the floor if that's what I'm doing at the moment. Still not a big fan of the vacuum if it gets too close to her but at least she's not crying when it comes on now though she still hates the small handheld dustbuster.

The Princess and the Pea

Ava got her Peapod Travel bed in the mail on Saturday! Yay! She thinks it is the greatest addition to her daily play, even laying down in it for a nap on Saturday afternoon. We're hoping that she'll like it and sleep in it verses the Pack-n-Play because it is ALOT more portable. If it doesn't work out for her, I guess it should for her little sibling. I figure it will keep him or her safe from bugs (and Ava) when we're camping and doing other things. :) My friend Elizabeth gave me the idea because this is what she used for her son's bed when they came to visit her grandparents this summer. Isaac thought it was the greatest thing and now Ava can see why!

Chasing Ava a.k.a. Watching Malory's Soccer Game

We went to the soccer fields in Sioux Falls to watch Malory's soccer game last weekend. We got to see most of the game but since Ava didn't want to sit and didn't want to watch the game, we all spent time chasing Ava. It got much warmer than expected so the longsleeve Hawkeye's shirt Ava had on had to come off. We're getting to the end of our nice weather so it was nice to be out in the sun for a little while. Pictured with Ava today are Malory, Daddy, Bailey, Uncle Greg, and Aunt Wendy.

We'd like to introduce you to Ava's Sibling...

We had our first ultrasound yesterday, we are 18 weeks and two days pregnant in these pictures. Jeff and my mom were able to come along with me to the ultrasound where we got our first glimpse of our baby. We did not find out the sex but judging from watching the ultrasound images we have our suspicions. :) And no, Auntie Jeni, we are not having twins! :) The top picture is of the baby in profile and I think it is pretty self-explanatory. Cute nose, right? :)
In the second picture here you can see the baby's tiny feet. The view is from the bottom of her/his feet so you can see the heels and toes outlined pretty well. It is a side-by-side view of the same shot, pretty much.
Here is a picture of most of our baby. It's a view from their left side but shot kind of from behind them so you're seeing the back of the head, their perfect little spine, left arm and left leg. The baby is facing down in this picture. The technician had a little trouble getting all the pictures that she wanted because the baby was not in the mood to be still. We got to see lots of wiggling arms and kicking legs and could even see the baby's mouth opening and closing. What a miracle!! We are blessed with a healthy little baby and we will just pray that they continue to grow and thrive until we get to officially meet him or her in February!

Arm Wrestling

Jeff can get Ava laughing like no one else. She thinks her Daddy is the greatest thing since fruit snacks (I agree) and whether they are dancing in the garage to Dad's music, playing "tackle" football in the yard, or arm wrestling, it is all great. Sorry if this video is a little shaky, I was having a really hard time not laughing and shaking the camera.

Helping the boys

Uncle Grant gave Ava a ride on the forklift on the day that we hung out in Trent with the boys. Three of my brothers, Grant, Luke, & Zac, are all going to USD this year and we spent a day with them at my parents' before they started school this fall. Hopefully we'll get down to Vermillion soon to spend another day hanging out.

Here's Ava helping haul wood from the truck to the pile. She likes "helping" when she can.

Taking a break from splitting wood, Ava and Uncle Zac play catch with Ruthie and Tom. Ava didn't want to touch the ball because it was slimy so she'd just kick it to the dogs. This usually resulted in the ball rolling slowly maybe 18 inches in front of her and it took Tom watching about four of these attempts by Ava to realize that this was as good as it was going to get. Soon he started getting the ball and returning it to Ava, game for whatever he could get, apparently.