Papa and Grandma Come to Visit!

My parents came out to visit us in early October.  We love when they come because it is pretty much non-stop fun!  Of course we had to visit our favorite little town, Arthur.

 A beautiful road-side stand

 Papa and Ava

 Ava with her cute grandparents

 Oh look!  I was there too!

 Ava loves to ride on shoulders.  I love her make-shift "handles."

We took a little weekend trip to Kirtland, OH while my parents were here.  The weather was beautiful, the historic sites were fabulous, and the company was even better!  

 (again on the shoulders)

My dad and Ava on a swing at Lake of the Woods park.  

My parents are such great grandparents and truly love to spend time with their grand kids.  It means so much to me that they spend the time and money to come out here and visit.  When I asked my dad what he would like to do while he was here he answered, "Play with Ava, read to Ava, feed Ava, take Ava on walks . . . you get the idea."  I couldn't ask for more than that!  Thanks for coming out Mom and Dad!  Let's do it again . . . . SOON!

Shower Time!

Our little house only has a shower so for the longest time we bathed Ava in a little tub on our kitchen counter, but she has long since outgrown that.  We now just sit her down on the shower floor and we spray her down with the shower head.  At first I was nervous that it would freak her out, but from the very first time we bathed her this way she has loved it.  She just giggles and squeals when you spray her.  Drew is usually the one to give her a shower since every time I do it I manage to get water all over the bathroom floor and he never does.  He's got mad skills, and Ava absolutely loves her shower time because Drew is so cute to play with her while he does the job.  Good times!

Ava is 1!

September 20th was Ava's official birthday.  I had some professional pictures taken of her that day and  I was so happy with how they turned out.  I think they show Ava's fun little personality perfectly.  Here are some of my favorites.

On the night of her birthday we had a few more presents for her to open.  She obviously didn't know when her actual birthday was, but she sure did enjoy opening the gifts!

Oh how we love this little Ava girl!  She is so full of personality and is so good-natured.  At her 12 month appointment she weighed 22.8 pounds (75th percentile) and was 30 inches long (80th percentile).  She's a big, healthy girl! Ava has always been chatty, and by the time she turned a year she could already say "dada," "hi," "ba-bye," and "baby."  Drew and I constantly wonder what we did for fun before we had her because she is our constant source of entertainment.  It is so fun to watch her figure out the world around her.  She is like a giant sponge and just soaks everything in.  We love you Ava!

Ava's Birthday Party

We celebrated Ava's birthday on Saturday, September 17th with a few friends.  We had a small lunch at Lake of the Woods and had a great time.  It was an absolutely gorgeous fall day and the setting was perfect.  I decided to do an owl themed party and I was happy with how it turned out

 The night before the party my cute husband helped me make these little owl bean bags.  (Here's a little known fact about Drew - he's actually really good with a sewing machine because he uses one at work to sew straps and things onto braces.)  While I was putting Ava down for bed he took over at the sewing machine and he did a better job than me so I let him finish the rest!

When I saw this owl cupcake cake in an issue of Family Fun Magazine I knew I just had to do an owl party for Ava.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was (which is why I could actually make it!)

Bill and Pam Devlin with Ava (Bill is Drew's co-worker)

Theron Waisath and Riley, Kim and Tenille Bode with our spread of food.  I made Cafe Rio knock-off pork salads with a fruit salad, homemade salsa and tortilla chips.  

Drew, Dan and Dean Stone and Ava

Tate Bode and Scarlett Stone had a blast running around the park with the balloons.  Precious.

Tenille caught a little frog and was quite proud of herself, even if she was a little scared of it!

After lunch Drew helped the kids with the bean bag toss.  

Morgan Waisath had a great time seeing how many bean bags she could hold at once.

The kids had to try and hit one of the three targets Drew had made out of some cute owl fabric I found.

Ava joined in on the action too!

Next was present time and Ava had a ball!  She was all about looking in the bags to see what they held!

All of the kids were so cute and "helped" her open her gifts and try them out.

"Wow!  This whole thing is for me?"

A tower of little owls

Ava dove right in to her cupcake, of course!  No hesitation there! (We took a video of us singing Happy Birthday and her "blowing" out the candles, but it's far too long to post on here).

Oh look, I was there too!

After all the festivities, poor little Dean was all tuckered out.  I love how he is clinging onto his little owl.  Too cute!

All and all, it was such a fun day and a perfect way to celebrate our little Ava.  Happy Birthday sweet girl!