Almost 6 months... (make that 7!)

It's been almost 6 months 7 months since the last time we put up a post.  Honestly, I don't regret it, we've just been super busy and have found so many other things to keep our attention and time.  So I guess this is a bit of a catch up to let you know what has been going on. 

I guess we should start with Christmas. We had a very nice Christmas this year, very laid back...  we stayed at home!  Something I think we will continue to do.  I can remember when I was little running around at Christmas trying to get to everyone's houses and it was quite intense.  We really enjoyed taking our time and seeing people when we were able and not feeling like we had to be somewhere at a certain time or certain day.

If you missed it, this was our Christmas card picture this year... LOL.  I was trying out setting on my new camera and when Nathan saw this picture he said we had to use it.  It captures Ava's true personality, we love it.

 We attended a birthday party for our friend Lilly, and Ava had to show off her fairy mermaid skills.

We also took a (rare family) trip to the Children's museum.  We are are so glad Daddy was there to teach us about everything.  :o)

Around Easter we made our way back to the Egg'stravaganza that our church puts on each year.  As expected it was twice as big this year.  Ava still allows me to take her picture with the Easter Bunny.

Decorating our sliding glass doors...  Months later, it still looks like that, and may even have a few more items now.

 Ava had her first fishing experience back in April and loved every second of it. I'm sure a second trip, as well as many more, are in her future.  And yes, she did grab the worms for the hooks, hold the fish, and throw them back in the water.  Our little girl who hates bugs such as ants had no problem with worms or fish... go figure!

 Ava once again took swim lessons this Spring.  I'm going to say it was a waste of money. Ava has no problem with the water and the class she was in for her age group was more for kids who were afraid of the water.  Guess we'll look into something different next year.  But Ava did love it, as she loves the water and probably was meant to be a fish.

Ava camped out in her room for a good 2 months.  So long in fact, the tent fell apart.  Daddy has promised her another camp out, with him (!) in her room in two weeks.  Looks like I'll be tucking in two kids that night. 

We once again enjoyed Lil' KidQuest this year.  Ava had a blast each day being with friends, making crafts, eating crazy snacks, and of course bouncing in/on the inflatables.  She'll have one more year of Lil' KidQuest and then will graduate to (big) KidQuest. 

At the beginning of June Ava's gymnastics group had their spring show.  The parents were able to sit in the room and take pictures and videos while the kids showed off everything they had learned.

Ava got her medal and she was so excited!

Ava had another birthday party this past week, and I'm 99% sure Ava is counting on her birthday party this year being at the same place.  Who wouldn't want their party at a place with a huge ball climbing structure, outside rides, and games? 

 We also made sure to celebrate National Donut Day...  did you?  

We have also made many many many crafts!  Masks for everyone in the house...

Again this summer we had a family wedding, and Ava was a flower girl.  Todd, Nathan's younger brother, married his long time girlfriend in Morgantown weekend before last. 

Ava dancing the night away.

In other news, if you couldn't tell from the above pictures 

(maybe you think I'm just getting fat?  I did look like a house in those pictures...)  

Ava is going to be a big sister.  

 

6 months and counting...  Baby Girl B2 (no name yet!) will be here hopefully in September.  Depending on how you count weeks and such we have less than 4 months until our due date...  this time went crazy fast! 

Hope to update again soon.  See you then!

a little bit of everything...

Unfortunately, it's become quite typical for me to neglect our blog for too long.  And to quote Britney Spears, "Oops, I did it again!"  (Did I really just type that?)  Anyway, the months are flying by and it seems like we are busier every day, even though nothing has changed recently.  I think we had a full third quarter and were thrown right in to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and now we're starting into Christmas.  The end of the year is always busy, and it's the only time of year that I wish was incredibly slow.  Sitting at home by the fireplace, with the Christmas tree lit, watching the snow fall... it's what I dream of doing each year.  And it rarely happens. 

 

But let's not dwell on what or what may not happen this month.  Instead, lets get to what really matters, pictures or our precious girl.  She is growing like crazy, and bringing us joy and headaches each day.  :o) 

 

As usual, nothing is in order, thus our first video is from our trip to Idlewild back in August for Ava's birthday.  It was too cute not to share.  Please excuse the horrible-ness that is the video, but the whole point was to capture a bit of her reaction to her first roller coaster ride, and despite being thrown around as I tried to hold on, I was able to get a little someting. 

 

 

Man, was she excited.  And I couldn't be happier to have a roller coaster lover to ride with me in the future.  Looking forward to a trip to Disney in the years to come.


This year we thought it would be a good idea to get Ava involved in some sort of a sport.  She was too young for soccer, and it was obvious that she wasn't the ballerina type, so we opted for gymnastics.  Being her first year, she has improved a lot since the beginning of class in September.  And last week, she was the only one in her class to do a backwards roll and land on her feet.  Thats a big deal people... she's 4!  (yes, yes, a lot of kids start earlier, and are more advanced, but she didn't even start until this fall).  I've tried to take as many different pictures as I can, but sometimes it's impossible to get a good one, especially since we didn't have a good camera until last week. But here is a bit of what Ava has been doing.

on the bar all the way in the back

balance beam (pink shorts)

 

 

this has to be one of her favorite things to do.

 She's a little monkey!

handstands against the wall (pink shorts on the yellow mat)

 

 

Ava is great at pushing up on the bar

 

again, upside down

Ms. Sarah is a wonderful coach, and Ava loves her.

 

Ava loved the zip line, hopefully they will get to do that again.

 

......................................................

 

Halloween came and went very quickly, even though Trick or Treat was postponed for 4 days due to Sandy the superstorm.  It rained here for 5 days straight, and I couldn't have been more thankful to not have to go out in the rain again this year for Trick or Treat. 

 

Daddy and Ava decorated and carved our pumpkins... I played with the "goop" and made roasted pumpkin seeds. We had more pumpkins this year than in past years.  We started out with 3, and ended up with about 7 I think.  Our little girl loves pumpkins.  (several were donated) 

Ava's zebra face

 

Ava wanted to be a zebra this year.  The only problem, they don't make costumes like this for kids her age.  Okay, they do, but they have tutus and girly pink stripes and such.  Thats not our Ava or what she wanted.  So I made her outfit from different pieces.  It wasn't perfect, her pants and top had different sized stripes, but it worked out well and she was one incredibly cute zebra. And yes, if you're keeping track, Ava has been an animal every year, her choice! 

passing out candy at the end of the night

enjoying a little of that candy as well

 

having some dinner

 

We had a great time, and Ava is already talking about next Halloween.  Now to stop eating the candy so I don't gain 20 more lbs.  We hope you all had a great Halloween!