9 month check up

Today we went for Ava's 9 month check up. She weighted in at 18# 7oz and is 28 3/4" long. Dr. Garner is please with her growth and gave us the okay to give her more big people food!!!

9 months old.....

My mom decided to give Ava a taste of some yogurt the other night, Ava loved it so much that she tried sticking her pacifier in the yogurt and she succeeded!!!!

Race for the Cure

On Sunday my mom, sisters, Ava and I all participated in the Race for the Cure in downtown Lansing. It was a sunny day, but very windy. There were over 6500 participants and we raised over $475,000, our team MDIT raise the second highest amount of money for teams, over $11,000. Great Job!!! Ava enjoyed the day by sleeping the first 2 miles and finally woke up at about 2.5 miles. She was pretty stylin' in her shades!!!! Mom and I finished the race together in less than an hour and Rissy and Alicia finished just before us!!!

Next race for us (Ava and I) is May 18th!!!!

A Busy couple of weeks.........

This week has been a little crazy. Getting back into the swing of things since I was on vacation. Ava is growing by leaps and bounds. She is cruising along furniture and back and forth between the couch and ottoman. We bought her a walk behind walker, which she loves. She is going to be walking by herself in no time. Kyle and I have been busy getting our house ready to put on the market. We don't have to move, but we just want to see if we can sell our house and get something a little bigger for almost the same amount of money we are paying now. If we don't sell, it's no big deal because we do love the house we are in.

Mole removal update: I have to go back in May for a biopsy. The lab wanted to see more of the area. Keep your fingers crossed that it is nothing....

Ava and I are going to walk our first 5K on Sunday. We are doing the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. I have a goal to walk a 5K every month so I have to get out and get some exercise. I am going to start playing softball again this summer with my mom and sisters on Thursday nights. Kyle and I are playing volleyball on Wednesday nights and Kyle is playing golf with his dad on Thursday nights. Ava goes for her 9 month check up on Wednesday, so check back then for the update and pictures from our 5K.

my new walking toy

I'm tired of walking I just want to chew now.

momma and Ava being silly

my cool new shades

Big people food......finally they will let me feed myself....:)

Swimming version 2

We started swimming lessons again this past Sunday. Our friends The Kolberg's joined the class with us as well. I think Ava and Aubrey will have a blast together....

Ava getting dunked

Hey Aubs......what do you think of this huge pool???

I'll race ya to it?!?!?!

Here is a video of Kyle dunking Ava in swim class. She is getting the hang of it because she isn't crying anymore when she comes up. Sorry, that it is sideways....

Spring Break..........

This week I have been on vacation.....it has been nice because I have been able to get some things done around the house that needed to get done. On Monday, I washed the wainscot in the kitchen so I could paint it ( I was suppose to do that 2 spring breaks ago and then last spring break but I was preggo for Ava....oops). My sis Alicia came over that day and washed my kitchen walls, dusted and vacuumed for me (THANKS!!!).

On Tuesday, my friend Cortney came over with her little girl Meghan. We had chicken kabobs on the grill, potato salad and strawberry shortcakes. It was nice to spend time with her and watch Ava and Meghan interact (since there is about a 2 1/2 year age gap). We also got outside in the afternoon and did a little yard work before it snows again this weekend.

On Wednesday we got up bright and early to take my sisters to Jackson to catch the Michigan Flyer (it's a bus that takes people to the airport for those of you who are not Michiganders) so they could fly out to Denver, CO for the Frozen Four (men's ice hockey.........oh yeah and it snowed when they got there), my mom joined them later that night from Tampa (she was there for the women's baskeball final four). Next we headed to my doctor to have a mole removed off of my back. It was weird looking and it just appeared since Easter........still waiting to hear the results (please keep your fingers crossed that it's not malignant). I dropped Ava off at daycare that day so I could go home and pain the wainscot. Which I did, so it is finally all done.

Yesterday, I took Ava to daycare and just came home and cleaned the house. I got bored of looking at Ava's room the way it was so I rearranged it. I think it makes the room look bigger the way it is now and she slept through the night last night........finally after a week of waking up all through the night. I also emptied out our closets and drawers and got rid of 4 bags of clothes, two baby stuff and two of Kyle and I's stuff.......that all went to Goodwill.

Today, I have just sat around and relaxed enjoying my last day of vacation.

Ava in her Maine sunhat from Rachel......

Hangin' out with my friend Macy

My newest thing....pull myself up, bend over and pick up my toy, drop it and pick it up again while holding on to the ottoman the whole time..........

This week at the zoo has been an eventful one for Kyle. Sunday night Ebony the female Rhino who has been battling cancer passed away, so they had to load her up and take her away. Her pal Spike who was the healthy one passed away in February from liver disease. Now the zoo is looking to bring in either two more black Rhinos or two white ones. Then yesterday (Thursday), the zoo welcomed a 1 year old female lion. Kyle helped carry her in in her cage and she roared at him. Ava and I are hoping to get to the zoo sometime soon. Maybe when it warms up a little more.

Bathtime....

Now that Ava has mastered the art of pulling herself up, that is all she does especially in the bath tub.

Come here ducky I want to eat your bill
oops....I dropped something
I'm a big girl now.......
look at my crazy hair!!!!!

She has taken a couple of showers now with me since she doesn't like to take very long naps at home anymore. She seems to enjoy them. She actually pooped in the shower the other day. Kind of gross......

Finally....new carpet!!!

We finally got new carpet. Some might think it is easy to pick out a neutral color with a tan base, but not so much. Thank God you can bring home carpet samples. I picked out a Butter Pecan, Cracked Reed and Crossroads. The Butter Pecan was great, the Cracked Reed looked dirty and the Crossroads was just to dark. So we (I) decided on the Butter Pecan. It is a frieze style carpet with grey and blue flecks in it. Oh, and we got rid of the huge entertainment center we had and got the TV stand that Ava helped Kyle put together!!!

Before.....

After.....


The new carpet is great. I wish we would have done it sooner. It is so soft!!!!

Ava's 1st Tiger game

Today we took Ava to her 1st Detroit Tiger's game. It was cold (40 degrees) and overcast out. Ava wore her pink Tiger's outfit that Aunti Kelli got for her. I wore our backpack and put Ava in facing outward when we got there and all she did was giggle and kick her feet until we got to our seats. She was so excited. During the game though I put her facing me, so I could zip up my coat around us and surprisingly we stayed warm. She did very well, she even slept through a few innings!!!!

Happy, but somewhat cold...

Staying warm with mama....

Hangin' with daddy....

See I'm really at the game....

Hangin' with Uncle Jason and Aunt Alicia....

As a side note, Ava cut her second tooth on Wednesday (the bottom left one) and has managed to walk herself around the ottoman!!!