Swimming Pics

Ava's first time "swimming" with her friends Sophie and Cate.

If only we could know what Sophie was thinking about here.

Sophie, Cate and Ava (We could NOT get Ava to look up at the camera.)

Ava looks a little scandalous in these pictures because her swimsuit is a few sizes too big for her. Ooops...

Home again

Last week Ava and I got to spend some time back home again. We were able to surprise my mom this time, so this trip was exceptionally special. My dad and I were pretty impressed with ourselves for keeping it a secret from mom for so long. We couldn't believe we pulled it off!! Here are a few pics of our time back home.

Mama and Papa couldn't get enough of her.

Ava all dressed up for church. She's happy before church...

...but not so happy after church. Sunday's are a long day for Ava.

Ava was so tired after church that she fell asleep on the swing outside next to mama.

Look what Ava can do...

Ava has learned a new trick - sitting up! She loves sitting up, but we have to be close by still because she's still working on her balance. The past two days she's been doing really well sitting up by herself. It kind of happened over night, so we were a little shocked at how well she has done. She hates to lay down now, especially when we change her diaper.
(I let Ava play with my phone sometimes, but I might have to stop that soon because of the amount of drool she has. It may have water damage now!)

Ava is still trying to cut her top two teeth. We hope it happens soon, so we can get more sleep at night!

I just wanted to share with everyone what you get when you let daddy dress Ava...

Ava had a mess on her shirt after eating rice cereal, so I had Jonathan take her shirt off and just put this onesie on her. I came in to find the onesie was over her pants. Cute, but not too stylish.

Family Time

Last week we were excited to hear that my sister, Annie, and her family were driving through and were able to stay over night at our place. We had a quick visit with them, but it was so fun having them around and seeing the cousins together. Emma loved kissing Ava so we captured a picture of the moment. Ava seemed to be so entertained by her cousins that it gave me a little break from trying to keep her occupied.

This is my twin sister, Annie, playing with her girls Emma and Elsie. We thought about throwing Ava on top, but she's still a bit too small.

We had a great time together, especially when all the kids were down for the night!

Time To Eat

After Ava's 4 mo. check-up the doctor said we can start her on baby cereal. And, in a few weeks we can start her on baby food. Jonathan and I are really excited about this new stage in Ava's life. Everyday I watch her and think about how fast she's already growing up. Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy her while she's little, and now I feel like I truly understand why. The past four months have flown by and now we are starting her on baby food! Was it not just the other day when we had her? That's what it feels like some days. Here are a few pictures of the first time Ava ate cereal like a big girl. She did great, but most of it ended up on her face and not in her tummy.



Here are some more pictures of Ava. As you can see here, Ava has found something new to chew, suck, lick ...her toes!! Ava saw her friend, Sophie, last week at the park doing this, so she thought it looked pretty yummy and wanted to give it a try. Apparently she thinks it's pretty cool too because she does it a lot now.

4 months old

Ava is 4 months old today. Where has the time gone?? She had a check-up today and she did great! She got 2 shots, which aren't fun, but she didn't even realize that she was getting the shots until the second shot. The first shot she was still a happy little girl. Now the second one she wasn't so happy, but it didn't take much to calm her down. It was definitely hard to see again, but a lot better than the first time around. Here are a few pictures from today after getting back from the doctor. You can see she is very happy, so the shots aren't really affecting her this time. I just hope she sleeps as long tonight as she did when she got her first shots. Here is what we found out today:

Height: 25 1/8 in. (90th percentile)

Weight: 13 lbs. 14.8 oz. (50th percentile)

And now she has TWO teeth coming through. The doctor was so shocked that she's already cutting teeth!

Exciting Times

Ava and I have been taking full advantage of the nice weather we have been having. We try to take as many walks as we can. It keeps her occupied and it gets us out of the house for a while. The next two pictures are of Ava enjoying the weather and sporting her new hat.



The next two pictures are of Jonathan playing with Ava. This was right before bed time. Let's just say that Jonathan doesn't quite understand that we are suppose to get her to wind down for bed time. I guess that's what dad's do.


And now, what you've all been waiting for...Ava has cut her first tooth! And yes, she will be 4 months on Thursday and has a tooth coming through. It must have broken through last night. We were completely shocked as I'm sure most of you are. Now looking back on it, she has shown signs of teething. We just thought she was too young for it to actually be true. This picture is kind of sad to see her like this, but she really has been a trooper through it all. (Tylenol helps by the way)
*My friend, Catherine, has posted some pictures on her blog of her daughter Sophie and Ava having play time together. I thought you all might enjoy seeing pictures of Ava and her friend. Just click on the link to the left under Friends that says "The Parks Family".

New Toy

Ava has been enjoying her new jumperoo. She's finally old enough to sit and play in it. She hasn't mastered the jumping yet, but she still loves sitting there looking at all the fun new toys around her. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpop Newell for this new exciting activity during our day.

A Trip Home

So for the past two weeks Ava and I made a trip home to visit my parents while Jonathan was on a business trip. We had such a great time visiting them. My mom and dad helped out so much that it was like a little vacation time for me while I was there. The first night my mom insisted on getting up in the middle of the night to feed Ava so that I could take a break and finally sleep through the night. Well, her intentions were good, but it didn't quite work out the way we had planned. Apparently I'm so used to waking up that I just automatically woke up anyways and went in to get Ava. Oh well...it was a nice thought. Here are a few pictures of our week. Thanks mom and dad for helping out so much. Ava definitely misses her Mama and Papa!! We love you.

Papa and Ava

Mama and Ava

I just had to throw this one in there because my mom loves it when I post pictures of her!! :)

Daddy and Ava on her first airplane ride.

3 Months old

Ava is 3 months old now. It's amazing that 3 months has already passed. I wanted to post some pictures that my friend Catherine took of Ava's 3 month pictures. (Thanks to Catherine for taking such great pictures!) Ava is starting to learn to do a lot of new things lately. One thing she has learned to do is roll over, as you can see in the video I have posted in the previous post. She has also found her voice. She is talking to us quite a bit now. (We would love to know what she is really saying to us...or maybe we don't, I'm not too sure.) We hope you enjoy the photos of our growing daughter!