Ballerina

Picture of Ava before her first dance class.  She is watching the big girls dance. 

Ava turns 2

Love

I am so amazed and in awe of Ava every day.  She is talking in 3 and 4 words sentences.  In the car yesterday she was going through the list of people she loves...."I love Barkley, I love Sasha, I love Grandma, I love Grandpa, I love Lindsey, I love Calea, I love Amanda, I love Bob, I love Rylie, I love Natalie, I love YOU mama, (awe), I love daddy....and mama...I loooooooovvvve puppies."  Ha.  I was laughing so hard.  We are very lucky to have such a sweet girl in our lives.  And Ava..."I love YOU!"

Ava is 2!

Mama's shoes

Ava loves to wear my shoes.  I think she can walk in my heels better than I can.  Ha.

Butterfly Pavilion

Ava loves butterflies.  Butterfly was one of her first words.  She FREAKED when we went to the Butterfly Pavilion.  The butterflies fly around everywhere....and even land on you.  It was such a moment to watch Ava....watching the butterflies.  Awe.

Here's a great daddy and daughter picture full of love and wonderment. 

Ava the snow queen!

Here's some cute pictures of Ava playing in the snow.

Peek a Boo!

Peek a boo!!!

Guardian Angels

I took this picture of Todd and Ava several weeks ago.  I love the orbs of light around them.  Believe or don't believe, but it looks like we have several guardian angels.  Love!

Ava rocks!

Fun things about our girl;

• Ava is talking up a storm.  She amazes us with new words and phrases every day.  We joke that any day now she will just start talking in full sentences.
• One of her favorite games is to look at pictures of the family and point out people by name.  She's so smart. 
• She loves to play with our cat.  She says, "Hi Sawwwwsssshhhe."  Her name is Sasha...but I love the way Ava says her name so much.
• Ava loves to dance.  She dances all the time.  She dances to songs on the radio/tv or whenever she hears music.  She shakes her little bootie and swings her arms.  She really has good rhythm and dances to the beat of the song. 
• She loves to dance and sing "ring around the poseys" all the time.  She says, "ashies, ashies, ashies."  Which means she wants us to get down on the floor next to her and sing the song while she twirls in a circle....for hours.  And she won't let you sit on the couch or stand next to her and sing.  You must get down on the floor right next to her.  Ha.  She's a girl with a strong sense of what she wants.
• The other day I was driving and she was in the back seat.  I thought she was sleeping.  I was singing along with a song on the radio.  At the end of the song, I hear her clapping in the back seat and she said, "yay mama!"  Made my heart soar.  Glad she likes my singing voice.  Ha.
• She loves to play tea party.  She sets up the tea cups and plates then pours tea and says, "cheers!"
• Ava got a Dancing Elmo from her aunts and uncles for Christmas.  Elmo has a drum set, microphone and tambourine.  The other day she turned on Elmo and he was dancing and she grabbed the microphone and was singing into it.  It was so sweet.  I think dance classes are in her near future.
• Her teachers at school say that Ava often does puppet shows for her friends in class.  So sweet.  I love that she likes to perform.
• Whenever she sees a Broncos logo she says, "touchdown" and put her arms up in the air.  She will see a logo on a can in the grocery store...the smallest logo ever and she says, "touchdown".  When she says it I have to look around to find where she saw a logo.  Amazing.

We are very blessed to have Ava in our lives.  She's a peach.

Ava loves yogurt!

Ava loves to eat yogurt (or yo-yo as she calls it!)  :)

Christmas early with my aunts and uncles

Ava's aunt Amanda came in town a few weeks ago (Zach couldn't make it because of work).  So we did Christmas for Ava from her Aunts and Uncles a little early.  We had Grandma and Grandpa Kyle, Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Aaron and Aunt Amanda over for some dinner and fun. Boy they sure did a great job picking out the perfect gifts for the little girl. 

Playing with Daddy

I'm not sure the audio is working on my videos...but I will try another one.  Here's a video of Todd and Ava playing.

Ava loves our Christmas Tree

Having an adventure-loving 20 month old with a Christmas tree set up at her eye level has been fun.  And a good teaching opportunity about "look but don't touch".  She has only broken ONE ornament (which my glue gun fixed)....so we feel pretty lucky.  Here's a fun video of her exploring the tree. 

McKenna Carey

My 3rd niece was born on Thanksgiving evening.  Her name is McKenna Carey and she is gorgeous.  She is 7 lb 10 oz and 21" tall.  Love her already.