A Little Naughty But Mostly Nice...

Ava has figured out who Santa is this year...apart from the times she confuses him for Jesus.

She was pretty excited to meet the jolly old man.

Dex was happy to just be along for the ride.

Our Newest Addition!

He's almost a week old...

Where has the time gone!

Dexter Joshua surprised us by popping by to say hello on Thanksgiving Day.

He reminded us that we have so much to be thankful for.

He is PERFECT and we are TOTALLY in love!

A quick run down of the events...for those who wanted to know.

Wednesday night my water broke, not a gush just some trickling.

We went to the hospital around 1:30 a.m. Thanksgiving day.

They had us walk around the labor and delivery unit from 2:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. to see if contractions would start on there own...BRUTAL! I'm so not a night person.

Then we were able to "sleep" until 6:30 a.m. when they started me on pitocin.

I didn't have to feel very many bad contractions before they were offering me an epidural.

After receiving the epidural I progressed very quickly.

After 45 minutes of pushing, Dexter arrived posterior...and perfect.

He arrived at 1:05 p.m.

Weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz. and 19 inches long...and perfect.

Ava met her baby brother later that night, but she was more interested in showing off for the nursing staff than meeting Dexter. She has been very sweet with him, especially when nobody is looking.

Josh did the honors of Dexter's first bath at home. He is a pro. Parenting comes naturally to him, at least it does for one of us.

We are enjoying every minute of our time with our new little family member. We are already having a hard time remembering what life ever felt like without him.

We love him so much and...he's perfect.

Trick or Treat

She ruled the neighborhood last night...and to think it was her first time out on the streets trick or treating. You never would have guessed. While we were waiting for our friends to come over and join us, she decided to take herself to a few houses. Then, when our friends showed up, Ava decided to show them the ropes. She was a pro the rest of the night and in complete heaven, out with the big kids. She had quite the basket full by the end of the night and even treated herself to an Almond Joy...wrapper and all!

It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. She has become quite independent which is so fun to watch, but also hurts my heart a little more than I would like to admit. She has changed so much in the past year and now I know what they mean when they say, they grow up right before your eyes. After Ava went to bed last night, Josh and I looked at pictures from last Halloween, comparing them to this year and we hardly recognized our little girl, she has grown up so much! I guess this is part of being a parent, and I probably ought to get used to it. Dangit.

When Does It Stop?

When do things stop getting better?

It seems like everything we are experiencing with Ava keeps getting more and more exciting, fun, and rewarding.

This is our third year going to the fair with Ava and each year has consistently been more fun with her. Last year we thought it was so great, but this year was even better. As we walked around this year I wondered if next year would be even better or if it would be the same as the year before. Josh was really wanting to take Ava on a few rides, but we agreed to hold off for one more year so there is something new and exciting to look forward to next year.

Last year, Ava wasn't walking yet, but she thought the petting zoo was so much fun. We bought a cup of animal food and put it on her stroller tray and the animals would eat it right off her tray. She would laugh hysterically.

This year, she was holding her own. Walking and holding the food in her hand to feed the animals and she loved it. She thought all of the "puppies" were so much fun to feed and pet and play with.

It was so much better than last year!

Last year we saw the pony ride and thought Ava would enjoy it, but we decided against it. We didn't think her little body was quite ready to handle it.

But this year...

She was ready and she LOVED it!

That grin didn't leave her face the entire time.

She was in heaven and we were in heaven just watching her.

We both agreed that it was well worth the outrageous $5 it cost to ride.

Will it be as priceless next year?

Josh couldn't leave without taking Ava on one ride, and we thought the carousel was the perfect one.

Sure enough, she loved it, laughing and smiling the entire time.

I loved being able to stand back and take it all in as Ava and Dad rode.

I was glad she went on the carousel and excited for next year when she gets to experience many more rides.

It will be something to look forward to that will probably be better next year.

Of course, no trip to the fair is complete without a souvenir and besides the extra 5 pounds we each took home from eating fair food, Josh bought Ava this light up ball. She got one last year too, and she loved it last year. She loved when we turned it on and she could watch the lights, but this year...

She could do it herself!

She thought it was so exciting to turn it off and then on and act surprised. Her expressions were priceless!

I look forward to going to the fair next year and experiencing more new things with Ava. I just hope that it keeps getting better and better every year.

Praying...

This is Ava saying our family prayer a month or so ago. Sadly, she lost motivation around the end because she has the best way of saying "Jesus". She says it in a really deep voice and it sounds like she is speaking spanish because she pronounces it "hey-soos". We love the way she folds her arms for a prayer. Look for it after Josh says, " Heavenly Father". Ignore the hiccups, she gets them all the time. This girl is keeping us going lately and loves to get a laugh out of us, and she is pretty dang good at it.

Catch UP!

Sorry for the late posts...but here are a few things that happened during the month of July that are too important to pass up. ENJOY!

Ava turns Two!

Ava's second birthday came and went so quickly! Her big day was pretty low key, but I think she still felt special. We went to breakfast at one of our new favorite places, Rockies and then headed to Costco to pick up cupcakes.

I think Ava felt extra special because Grandma and Papa came up to spend some time with her.

Papa really enjoyed the party!

She received some great gifts including, a shopping cart with food, a Betty Crocker kitchen set complete with apron, oven mit, spoon, etc., a cute red chair, some moolah, a baby doll, a couple of books, a dress, and a mommy kit containing everything she could need to take care of her new baby.


Her favorite present was her new kitchen!

I didn't know how much I would loathe this kitchen and the mess it makes for me to clean up every day, but she thinks it is great and that makes it worth it!

She wasn't loving opening the presents, but she did love having everyone sing happy birthday to her and blowing out the candles.

...and of course eating an entire giant cupcake all by herself!