Top Left~

Ava has her top left tooth...looks like she will get them in BEFORE Christmas. I am amazed at how well behaved she has been.

Fun at Daddy's work

Daddy's bank had a customer appreciation day this weekend so we went and took advantage of all the fun. They had the radio station, a fire truck, face painting, a pumpkin painting contest, a petting zoo, a bounce house, and food! It was a terrific turn out ~ and the weather was perfect.

Grandma and Grandpa Shores have a perfect around the town stoller for their use. It was great for being out in a crowd. She is a good rider. I don't think she really knows what to think about the hat and sunglasses I have on her... She had just been asleep in the car though, so I'll call it a delay in waking up. We do stay on the go so I imagine each time she wakes up she has to figure out where she is! :)
Horses seem to follow Ava wherever she goes...she has been to a rodeo, a barrel run, and now she has finally been able to get on her first horse. They had pony rides at the bank so we took advantage - well, for a photo op anyway...not too much riding for this little one today. Grandpa (and Grandma) was a great helper that day, as usual. It's a blessing to have them close, they can watch Ava grow!! I'll bet Ava's cousins Brooke, Halle, Bailee, and Bethany would love to give her her first "real" horse ride...and maybe even some barrel lessons...

Sittin' patiently

Miss Ava continues to demonstrate a very laid back and calm personality...I give her dad TOTAL credit for that!! After her naps, she just sits in her crib and talks...this is how I typically find her. She isn't in a huge hurry to climb or get out, it's almost as she enjoys "her" time. Look how happy she looks. And...she can sit and entertain herself for a good 30 minutes. Sometimes I feel neglectful but she just talks to and laughs at her toys so I let her develop those skills.
Below is her most recent milestone...a sippy cup. We have been trying it for about a month with formula, now we have added some water with ice. She likes to hold the cup and play with it. She is able to get the liquid but she definitely prefers her bottle. Today she signed the sign for milk (1st time) while we were sitting at the table ~ she was in her high chair and I was feeding her squash. I think that she was a little confused and must have meant "eat" but it was enough, I praised her and gave her another bite!

Sweet Dreams

Ava now sleeps with a "lovey" at night. She seems to enjoy having some company :) I noticed tonight that she has it sort of wadded up under her head, almost as a pillow. I am continuously amazed at the revelations she has made in her short 7 and 1/2 months. She is figuring out new things faster than I realize. I guess you do learn all you really need to know before kindergarten...

Trip to Quincy and Hannibal

We had a fun filled weekend with an old friend of Daddy's this weekend. We traveled to Illinois to visit the "country". We saw horses up close and personal. We toured Hannibal, MO...birth place to Mark Twain. We saw the Mark Twain cave and heard the story of all the people in the stories. We also took a short ride on the Mark Twain riverboat. It was Ava's first cave and riverboat. She slept through the second half of the

cave, it was cold and dark...I figure

she thought it was bedtime :)

The boat she enjoyed. She laughed

at everything, even

when I covered her ears with

a blanket and my hand

while the captain sounded the whistle. Here are some pictures with the horses and then one on the boat...I love to see that happy baby!!

Hiccups

Okay, so this may not be funny to many people but I'm the momma and I want it in writing forever!! Today as I was giving Ava her lunch bottle, I got the hiccups. At first I was irritated as I usually am when I get the hiccups, then I was getting frustrated with Ava because she kept playing with her bottle. Once I stepped back from the situation and really thought about it, I realized that she wasn't "playing" with her bottle...she was taking it out of her mouth to laugh - AT ME!! Every time I hiccuped she would take her bottle out of her mouth and laugh! We laughed together today. This was the first time that she laughed spontaneously without being directed by play. It was such a precious moment we could share, all because I had the hiccups. Tears of joy and pride fill my eyes to think of what a sweet little sense of humor Ava is developing. It will be a long time before I can get hiccups without remembering this dreary, gray, Friday that my daughter and I laughed together.

Celebrating 7 months!

We are thrilled to celebrate 7 months (and 1 day) with our sweet baby girl!! She continues to grow at an alarmingly fast rate. I don't know if I signed up for Ava to be this independent~ At 7 months she is pulling up on everything and trying to "cruise" the furniture. She has learned how to clap ~ not only does she do it on her own, she imitates me. She has a growing fascination for our dog, Lily...However, Lily does not share that fascination...she would rather Ava steer clear. We were at our friends house last night and Ava had the most fun with Matt (see the cutie pie she is cuddling with on the couch in a previous post), he would go behind the couch and play peek-a-boo, she just laughed and laughed. We also have this little game that we play when I put her in her carseat...I close the door and then we play peek-a-boo, again...she laughs out loud...I love it!

Now, she's awake from her nap and calling to me...guess I will run and enjoy more time with sweet babyAva...

Trying to "cruise" the furniture...sometimes I think she'll bypass crawling - she is too anxious to see what's out there. A close up...holding on tight to the coffee table.
This is one of the few times that she's actually smiled on cue for the camera!! Usually she just reaches for it :)
Yeah for Ava...she loves to clap her hands...

Our new look

Hope ya'll enjoy the new look of our blog...I was getting a little bored with the blue! This is much more girly...don't ya think?? Besides, we need an exciting blog for our little princess.

Baby Sign Language

Tonight at church Ava and I attended our monthly new mom's group. We always have such a great time with all our friends and it's such a blessing to watch all of our babies grow and develop in such a unique way. The oldest of our little ones is 10 and 1/2 months old and the youngest is 3 and 1/2 months old. Mine of course, right in the middle...does that mean she'll experience middle child syndrome with her church friends?? Anyway, tonight we had a lady introduce us to baby sign language. We learned the basic signs: eat, drink, milk, juice, more, all done, water, cracker, and play. Then we learned some more advanced for later: cookie, cereal, ouch, shoes, socks, bear, car, bird (her kids are really into animals), ball, and all the emotions. I don't know how much we will teach Ava...because as a speech path, I feel that she needs to learn speech and language as early as she can, but I am sure that it will alleviate some of those frustrating moments when Ava can't tell me with words what she wants. But it was truly a fun night and I enjoyed the presentation. I always look forward to these nights ~ first of all, Dave and I are both at the church in meetings, and secondly I love the company of other moms!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Carroll!!

Today is Grandpa Carroll's birthday. Ava must have known it was an important day, she didn't want to miss a thing!! She sat in her crib and talked/played for one hour and forty minutes (hey, I know - but I had to vacuum, sweep, and mop)...at least she was happy...no crying until the last 15 minutes. So, Grandpa, we hope that your day is fabulous and that you have a blessed year! Big hugs from Ava!! xoxoxoxo

WAR EAGLE!!!

Uncle John and Aunt Jennifer have kept my Auburn wardrobe up to date!!
Touchdown Tigers!!!
Here's my tiger paws...
...and my hair bow!

Mississippi pics

Here are some fabulous pictures from our trip down south! We really had a terrific time:)

Ava learning how to crawl through an obstacle course at grandma Carroll's.
The cousins on their horses ready to run barrels. (l to r: Brooke, Halle, Bailee)
Brooke and Tommy playing with Ava.

Safe at Home

Well, Ava's first Labor Day ended with howling (from the wind that is!!). We spent the weekend in south Mississippi with my parents and kept a watchful eye on the weather channel for Hurricane Gustav updates. As parents now, we decided that it was best to not chance it - we left a day early to come home. Turns out that we left just before the first bands of rain came...lucky for us! I had called ahead to get a hotel reservation...the lady almost didn't let us have the room because we weren't truly "evacuees". I quickly told her that I was in south Mississippi, had a 6 month old and didn't want to get stuck here...that should count as evacuee enough. We got the room and made our way north with all the Louisiana residents. Thankfully we didn't have too much traffic and were blessed to have a decent night of rest. We made the second half of our journey home today!! I am especially glad though that this storm came in with less power than originally expected.

Ava was a great traveler. She has a new "big girl" car seat (she was too long for her infant carrier) and she seemed to like it. It took mom and dad some getting used to - it is taller than the old one. Ava loved seeing all the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents! We took her to a barrel run on Saturday and she loved watching the horses. It wore her out, she fell asleep in the car-we even moved her in the house without waking her. And she loves to go to church...she watches the preacher with great concentration, must be taking it all in.

At grandma and grandpa's house this weekend she pulled up on the bar stool, she started saying "mama" and "dada" more frequently, although she doesn't know what she's saying :) and she is learning how to adjust to a different environment. I loved watching her adapt to all the people and places. She continues to amaze me! We are thankful to everyone for the love they show our little lady!

Now home again and getting ready for the weekly routine. It's past bedtime now so she's had her last bottle, she smells fresh from her bath and she is in her bed - sleeping I hope:) Now it's time for mom and dad to get ready for work tomorrow!! That's the most dreaded part of the vacation. We hope that ya'll had a fabulous weekend, maybe a little less eventful in some aspects but just as exciting.