Ava's First Halloween

We had such a great Halloween and Halloween weekend! We took Ava to a pumpkin patch and let her pick out her own pumpkin (since she can walk around and choose one herself!). The pumpkin patch was awesome and had a few ponies that you could pet and play with. They were called "therapy ponies" and are taken to nursing homes to visit the residents so they were really mellow and gentle. On Halloween night my friend Keesha brought her kids Cohen (6) and Audrina (4) over to trick or treat with Ava. Ava was just along for the ride, but had a great time seeing the other costumes and kids. A lot of the parents made a big deal over her, which she loved! We can't wait for next year when she'll be a little bigger and able to do more things.

Try this one out

I've learned that I'm not too talented when it comes to posting videos, since my last 2 attempts were complete busts. How about this one? This is the best one I've gotten so far. She's doing so awesome!!

A few favorite photos for right now

Trying out some pancakes!

First solo ride in the grocery cart without the carseat. She wouldn't touch a thing...

Wearing her hooded outfit

Playing at the toy table. Who needs the chair? Not this girl!

Relaxing with Daddy

Women's Fitness 5K

Jessica, Debbie, and I participated in Boise's annual Women's Fitness 5K Run/Walk. We chose the run/walk portion of the event so we could all go at our own pace and we had a great time! We are already gearing up for the competitive run wave next year. Hopefully Becky and Tara will be able to do it with us!

Here we are before the run...

And here we are at the finish line!

Welcome September!

We are entering the very begining of my favorite season! It has started to cool off just a little bit, making it a perfect time to spend some time outdoors before winter settles in. This weekend we went to one of my all-time favorite places in Boise; Kathryn Albertson's Park. It is the most beautiful park I've ever seen and it's full of ducks, turtles, geese, and DEER!! Ava absolutely loved it too and didn't make a peep the whole time. She just looked around at all the sites. You can tell just how distracted she was in all of the photos :-) Later that afternoon we made our favorite treats to welcome the fall; pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! And they were fantastic.

Five years, are you serious?!

Today is Shaun and my FIFTH wedding anniversary! I cannot believe that we are even old enough for that to be possible, but it is. All that time has gone by in the blink of an eye. Here are a few of our accomplishments over the past 5 years:
1. Moving to Boise to start our life
2. Buying our own house
3. Shaun finding a new job and moving into management
4. Starting my own at home business (fairly successfully)
5. Adding Ava to the madness

Not a bad start! Let's see what we can do with the next 5...

Light at the end of the tunnel...possibly?

I've been working on transitioning Ava into her crib over the last couple of weeks and it has been tricky, to say the least. I haven't been able to get her to stay asleep longer that 15 minutes in the crib and I end up giving in and putting her to bed in her Fisher Price sleeper (which she is now too big and too smart to be in). Well, as I type this, she is napping in the crib and has been doing so for the past hour and 13 minutes. I just laid her on top of a fuzzy blanket that is a little more cozy than the crib sheet. Will this solve my problems? I hope so! I think she likes laying on her tummy and having the blanket on her cheek :-)

Jumperoo!

Isaiah let Ava borrow his horse jumperoo and she absolutely LOVES it! She is still a little small to get too crazy in it, but she goes as fast as her little legs will allow. She gets really excited when I chant "JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!" Check her out! (We made this video to send to Isaiah via Blackberry, so dont mind the little shout-out to him :-)

Summer Nights

Last night Ava was a little restless so we went for a little stroll around the neighborhood. It was about 9:00 and the weather was perfection! Our walk started out like this:





And ended about 30 minutes later like this:

I think we'll do this again tonight!

Guess who likes SQUASH!

Ava got to try some roasted butternut squash yesterday and I think the face says it all!!

This face usually follows a high-pitched squeal and a then a little giggle

PEAS!!

I can't even believe that Ava is starting on baby foods! We've been trying rice cereal here and there for a week or too, and now she's gotten a taste of peas. And she LOVES them! It was the messiest thing trying to feed her in her bouncy chair since she is still too small for the highchair. She likes to "help" by grabbing onto the spoon when she thinks no one is watching. Hope you enjoy these cute photos!! Next week: butternut squash!! That could get interesting... (and i had to add a photo of Ava in her new favorite hat)

How ya like them apples?!

Ava rolled over for the first time on Easter morning. I was able to record this little milestone 2 days later. Don't mind my 8-year old sounding voice in the background. She's getting so big!!

The little addition

Another free picture slideshow by Smilebox

I "borrowed" the slide show idea from Tara after seeing her use it to catch us up on the past few months. It was such a great way to do that without having to use a million words. Thanks, Tara!!

Not long now!!

So we are getting down to the wire with the baby these days. Our due date is less than 3 weeks away and Shaun and I have been racking our brains trying to make sure we have everything covered. Physically, I think we're just about ready. Mentally, however, is a completely different story! I don't think there is really any way to prepare ourselves 100% for what is about to come our way, but we're doing the best we can. Our little house is filled with baby swings and bouncy chairs and we can't wait until Ava is here to try them out!
These are a few pictures from the nursery that we've been working on. It is a lot of work for someone who isn't all that gifted with the decorative and creative aspects! I love the way the corner shelves turned out though. Shaun painted them for me and I'm really happy with them. Now, all we need is the actual baby :0)