Ava at 14 Months Old

In the last month Ava has become a proficient walker and is adding new words to her vocabulary almost daily. She is extremely observant and watches Evan very closely attempting to repeat what he is doing or saying. She is a great eater typically but recently she decided she only wants what we are eating. And I don't mean the same food she wants OUR food off of OUR plate or she won't eat it! She gets very agitated about it too!
In the last few days her fourth tooth broke through her gums FINALLY! The poor kiddo is quite delayed in the tooth department which has made her food options much more limited. She is going through a phase where she absolutely adores her dad and when she hears his voice as he enters the house or hears him talking in another room she screams out 'Da-da' over and over. It is pretty darn adorable! She also loves music and loves to dance (I need to get some video to share with all of you so you can witness the cuteness too!).

Evan Turns 4!

Evan's birthday party was at the farm again this year and was space-themed. We had about 45 people to the Island for a BBQ, hayride and a bouncy house. The weather started out cold, damp and very windy the morning of the party so I was very concerned given that it was supposed to be outdoors. I had to take down several of the decorations I put up because the winds were so high. Fortunately about an hour after the party started the sun came out and it warmed up - it was perfect! Evan was so excited about his birthday this year, for the two months leading up to his big day he asked daily about many days away it was. When the day finally came I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the excitement and he was unusually quiet at the party at times. The day of his actual birthday Aaron had the day off and we had a fantastic day just the four of us at the park and ended it with dinner at Red Robin (his favorite!).
























































It has been amazing to witness the changes in Evan recently even in the last month since he has turned 4. His reading has taken off, as well as his writing, he just learned how to swim and he's been attempting to ride his bicycle with no training wheels with some success. I love just listening to him talk about things he's interested in. He actually teaches me about things now! His confidence as a result has boosted and he is really becoming a very outgoing child. He talks to everyone everywhere we go now. He is such a happy, bright child, he amazes me daily!

Father's Day

We spent a wonderful father's day together just the four of us, starting with an amazing brunch at Salty's Restaurant. We played at Alki beach for a bit afterwards. Ava did not know what to think of the sand and Evan had a blast skipping rocks and searching for shells for his collection.

Evan made a great drawing of Aaron in honor of Father's Day. The circles in the lower portion of the drawing are what Evan called 'Dad's big belly'!

Ava's First Birthday!

The last year flew by in a blur and now our little angel is one! She is so much fun, she is happy all the time and has the sweetest laugh. Evan can make her laugh like no one else can and she continues to absolutely adore him. She started taking steps on her own a few weeks ago but is very tentative about doing it. Her latest 'trick' is to blow kisses. We had fun getting her all dressed up for her special day (which was funny considering I did not even like pink before she was born and I never imagined I would put a headband on my child)! Her cousins and Aunt Amy flew in from Georgia the night before so we were thrilled they could be there as well to celebrate her first birthday. She is an amazingly special little girl who is loved by so many people. Her Nana handmade her a doll, her Aunt Melissa made her sinfully delicious cupcakes and her cousin Julia sent her a special birthday gift all the way from Spain (just to name a few!).

Easter

We had a fantastic Easter weekend. Aaron took the day off on Friday and we all headed to the farm for three days. The weather was amazing, mid-60's and not a cloud in the sky. We were long overdue for nice weather! We had a ball driving around the farm on the new John Deere Gator and checking out the newly created trails for the zip line canopy tour. The boys went fishing for the first time this year and enjoyed toasting marshmallows around the fire. We also had an egg hunt on Sunday morning and enjoyed a wonderful turkey meal.

As you can see Ava is standing up without holding onto anything and she is very proud of herself (as are we)!


The following pictures are from Evan's preschool Spring Egg Hunt last weekend. Within a couple of hours of these pictures he developed a 104 degree fever and we had to rush him to the
doctor where they diagnosed him with two terrible ear infections.

Saying Goodbye

On Wednesday our Rottweiler, Hili's long life came to an end. She had been slowly declining over the last few years, her hearing was almost gone and her hips were arthritic. Her condition worsened in the last several months to a point where she had a difficult time getting out of bed each day. Beginning on Sunday she started to refuse food, she would not lay down and the sparkle in her eyes was gone. We knew the time was near but it still shocked me when I looked out on the deck and saw her body lying still.

When I met Aaron over 14 years ago, he had just adopted Hili a few months prior. A friend of Aaron's had rescued her from a family who was grossly neglecting her at only a few months old. I lived alone at the time and Hili would often stay over to keep me company, she quickly became my guardian. She never realized that she was a large dog and would try to curl her huge body in your lap. She LOVED playing catch and would do it until she could literally barely walk. Just last week Evan was playing catch with her and even at 14 she was running through the yard like a puppy chasing after the ball.

I found this video of her licking Evan through the baby gate when he was about 11 months old.
http://vimeo.com/22671876

10 Months Old

Poor Ava has had a rough month of being sick. Immediately after we returned from Florida she developed a cold and after two nights in a row of her screaming I took her to the doctor. They discovered that she had an inverted ear drum possibly from flying. Just this week she developed another cold which resulted in another ear infection (her first was when she was just about six months old). I guess that is the plight of being the second child!

She is developing so fast, it is such a fun time with her right now. She giggles constantly, even just walking down the stairs or watching her brother talk while they are both in the car seats makes her laugh. I have been doing a lot of basic sign language with her over the last several months and now she is starting to do them on her own (she does 'all done', 'milk' and 'more'). She is definitely saying 'Mama' and 'Dada' now specifically referring to Aaron and I which we both just love of course! She also tries to say 'all done' but only I could translate it, it comes out as 'ah da'. She claps now too which is the sweetest thing to witness! She stands on her own for almost a minute at a time and when she realizes what she's doing she quickly lowers herself to the ground. She loves to be read to and gets excited when I pull out one of her favorites. She is also sleeping through the night as of the last several weeks (aside from when she's had ear issues)!! She also had her first tooth come in a couple of weeks ago.