Bath Time!

Ava loves her bath time and her mommy and daddy are so grateful.  Until she was about 2 months old, she HATED the bath.  She would be as happy as a clam and you put her in that water and she would just start screaming.  It was so sad!  Now, it's her favorite.  We still bathe her in our kitchen sink because we don't have a bath tub and we haven't gotten around to getting our her little portable tub yet. As you'll see from the pictures, she barely fits in the sink anymore so we better get our act together and make the switch to the tub.

Strikin' a pose for the camera

All bundled up

We sure are loving this little babe!

A Visit From Papa

My Dad came out to visit us on January 3rd-7th.  He said he missed his grandaughter and couldn't wait until March when we come out to Utah to see her.  How sweet is that?  So, my mom gave him tickets for Christmas and out he came!  We really didn't do anything too exciting, but it was so nice just to have time with my Dad.  I did take him down to Arthur and he loved seeing the Amish farms.  We also got to go to dinner with my cousin Bruce and his wife Brittney who have lived in Champaign for the last 4 1/2 years.  They moved to Pennsylvania shortly after my Dad was here so it was nice to spend some time with them before they left.

Bruce and Brittney

 Ava and her Papa

My Dad is such an incredible man and a great example to me of faith, hard work, learning, love and so many other things.  We had a great time and can't wait for another visit!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2010 was so merry!  We were able to stay home and celebrate the birth of our Savior with our little family.  It seemed even more special this year with Ava in our home.  Even though she obviously had no idea what was going on, Drew and I sure had a fun time celebrating with her.  Here are some pictures of our celebrations.

Drew and Ava getting ready to open the presents

Every year I give Drew something "bacon-themed" because the man is seriously obsessed with bacon.  This year he got bacon and bacon-cheddar flavored microwave popcorn.  A word to the wise: Never, ever purchase this product for yourself.  Unfortunately, Drew decided to pop some and it made our house stink like you wouldn't believe, not to mention it tasted disgusting.  A funny gift perhaps, but not suitable for human consumption. 

 Ava with all of her loot.  Pretty spoiled for a 3 month old, wouldn't you say?  The funny thing is that I only bought a few of those gifts.  Most were from generous family and friends.

 Drew's loot

 Aubrey's loot.  (Aren't I brave for posting such an awful picture of myself?  Who takes the time to look in a mirror on Christmas morning anyway?)

 The traditional Christmas brunch.  (Sorry that the picture is so blury for some reason).  We had cinnamon buns, eggs, bacon (of course), hasbrowns, orange juice and egg nog (for me).  Drew actually went to Walgreens to buy me some egg nog because he knew how much I loved it.  What a nice husband I have!

 We had a gorgeous snowfall on Christmas Eve so we got all bundled up after brunch and took some pictures of our white Christmas.  Drew's Aunt Debbie made Ava and I these matching hats. 

While I was working on breakfast we were listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas CD and Drew was playing with Ava.  I could hear her laughing from the other room so I just had to take a video. 

Now if that doesn't just bring Christmas cheer to your heart, I don't know what will!

Our Chritmas gifts to each other were a little small this year because my sweet husband decided that our gift to each other should be an airplane ticket to Utah in March for me to go visit my sister when she has her baby.  I am so grateful to be married to such a selfless and giving man.  I am so blessed!

A Visit to Columbus

My dear friend Katie Gardner moved to Columbus, Ohio last summer.  I was so excited to have a friend so close! (Yes, I consider 4 1/2 hours away close.  It's all relative you know!)  It was high time that I went and visited and she desperatley needed to meet Ava so we packed up the car and took a road trip December 7th-10th.  Heaven forbid I stay home for more than two weeks in a row!  We had a fabulous time catching up and seeing the sights of Grove City, OH.  Such a cute little town! 

Katie and Ava at a little cafe we stopped at for lunch

 After a long day of shopping, Katie's daughter Carolyn-Kate and Ava were all tuckered out.  We just had to take a picture!

 Carolyn-Kate was so great with Ava.  They quickly became best buds.  We went and saw Santa at Carolyn-Kate's school so here they are all decked out in their holiday outfits.

Ava's first picture with Santa

Although this picture has nothing to do with our Ohio adventure, I just had to include it because Ava just looks so darn cute all bundled up! 

Picking out a Christmas Tree

When we got back from Utah we decided it was high time for Christmas decorating and what better way to start than with a Christmas tree?  We headed out to a tree farm that is just a few minutes from our house and found the perfect tree. 

Ava was so excited to find the perfect tree, can't you tell?

All bundled up 

My manly man cut our tree down for us



It was a fun day and a great way to get us into the Christmas spirit!

A Month in Utah

Since Drew was away in Chicago I took advantage of the time without him by spending the month of November in Utah.  Ava and I missed him so much but it was so great to be able to spend that much time with family and friends.  I got to see people that I don't usually have time to see when I am out there and everyone got to meet Ava which was so fun.  Here are some of the highlights of the trip. (Brace yourself, we had a ton of fun so naturally there are a TON of pictures)

Lily and Jetta were so excited to meet Ava. 

My dad is the cutest "Papa" and frequently takes the grandkids to Hogle Zoo so Ava and I tagged along one day.  We had a great time!

While the weather was still nice we decided to take my Dad's Rhino for a ride up Farmington Canyon.  We bundled and buckled Ava up and away we went.  (Ava really was buckled in very secure in her carseat and we stayed on the road the whole time - I promise!)

Since my time in Utah is so short I have never had enough time to make the trip down to Vernal to see my dear friend RoseAnna Batty but since I was in town for so long I was able to spend a few days with her cute family.  She had her baby Sophie 2 weeks to the day before Ava was born so naturally they are best friends already and naturally we had to do a photo shoot

I made matching tu-tus for them and it was honestly like seeing double.  When I look at some of the pictures I have to look really close to see which one is Ava because they look so similar.

While we were taking their pictures we noticed that they had their arms locked.  Sooooo sweet!

My little ballerina

My very thoughtful Richards family threw me a baby shower while I was out there.  We gathered together at my parents' house and shared food, laughter and gifts.  We had a wonderful time and I was so grateful to get to see my aunts and cousins.

Grandma Cheryl with Jetta and Ava

Drew's sister Cathrine lives in Logan, UT so we got to see them a couple of times while we were in town.  Ava got to meet her cousin Isaac for the first time.

My niece Jetta turned 2 on Nov. 10th and Michelle threw a darling cooking party because Jetta loves to help her mommy cook.  My mom made her a chef hat and matching apron and we made personal pizzas and decorated sugar cookies.  A great time was had by all!

Have I mentioned what a sweet Papa my dad is?  He absolutely adores each of his grandkids and loves to spend time with them.

My nieces love to have what they call a "glitter toes" party so of course we had to have one while we were there.  Everyone gets their toenails painted and gets a little mini pedicure.  Jetta and Lily couldn't wait to have Ava get her toes painted.  She was a good sport and let her mommy paint them, and I must admit they turned out pretty stinkin' cute!

All of my nieces and nephews absolutely loved doting on Ava.  Anytime she would make a peep they would run over to her to attend to her every need.  I sometimes would put her in her bouncer up on the counter or table so Ava could have some "alone time" but as you can tell, the kids had no problem climbing up to get up close and personal!

Oh how I love these kiddos!

My little brother Austin was a pro at getting Ava to smile

I just had to include this one - don't you just want to squeeze those chubby cheeks?

Jetta and Lily are the best of friends.  They were playing underneath my parents' computer desk and were calling it their "princess cave."  Too cute!

As if surprising me with Michelle coming out to Illinois wasn't enough, Drew and Michelle secretly changed Drew's flight to Utah to the day before I thought he was coming so he just showed up at my parents door!  Scandaled again!  To say the least, we were so happy to see him!  It felt so nice to have our family together again (and I think he missed us a little bit too).

We were able to get family pictures taken after Drew got to Utah.  It was FREEZING cold - we're talking like 15 degrees outside, but I'm so happy with how they turned out.  We're a good lookin' bunch if I do say so myself!

The day before Thanksgiving we blessed Ava at my parent's house.  We kept it really small but it was such a nice evening.  Drew gave Ava a beautiful blessing and she looked so precious.

Ava wore the blessing dress that my mom made for me

All of the grandkids

Jetta and Lily loved to hold and kiss Ava.  So sweet!

The whole clan at the dinner after Ava's blessing

The proud grandparents

For some reason I didn't take many pictures on Thanksgiving Day but I did have this one of Ava and my Aunt Lola.  She is actually my grandma's aunt so that makes Ava her great-great-great niece.  She is in her late nineties and the sweetest lady in the world.  Pretty cool.

We had such an awesome time in Utah.  I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that love and support our family.  Like always, it was hard to say goodbye but we were excited to get back home and settle in to our new life with Drew home for good!