Girls Weekend

We spent the weekend in Des Moines, just us girls! It was Ava, my mom, Rachel, and myself! We left on Friday morning. Ava loved the doughnut we stopped for before heading out of town! We got to Des Moines in time for lunch and a some major shopping before checking into our hotel. Ava was exhausted and didn't even make it across the parking lot before falling asleep. Normally, she has been hard to get down for a nap lately so I've been skipping it. Shopping must have worn her out! We spent the evening ordering in food, playing play-doh, and watching tv.

Saturday we got up and had a delicious breakfast and eventually headed out for more shopping. We only made a couple of stops before Ava crashed again. She ended up sleeping in the booth through lunch and then we just decided to head home.

It was a great weekend and my tree is full with presents underneath it now! I just have a few more things to pick up and we'll be ready for Christmas!

Meinders Madness :o)

We celebrated the first weekend of November with the Meinders clan. It was my grandma's 80th birthday so we had a party for her and had our annual Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration.

Friday evening we went bowling, which Ava got to try. She loved it even though the bowling ball was too heavy. The Dumont bowling alley is a perfect place to take kids, we had the place to ourselves and it didn't matter that Ava and I had a lane all to ourselves!

Saturday, my grandma had a very good turnout for her birthday party. Saturday night we had our celebration. My Aunt Mari "borrowed" a friend's "man cave" and let me tell you, this place was awesome. Set up in a barn, the place is heated, furnished with tables, chairs, a bar, and the best karaoke equipment you could find! We had a great time! Even Ava sang a little bit of "Twinkle"!

Fall fun

We have been enjoying the great weather we've been having! A trip to the pumpkin farm, playing outside in the leaves, and going to the park have been so much fun in this nice fall weather!

We also carved pumpkins for the first time. Actually, my first time as an adult as well. Darren enjoyed it most of all. Ava didn't like the mess and lost interest pretty fast. I finished mine fairly quickly and poor Darren was left to do his all by himself.

Ava dressed up as a cupcake for Halloween this year. She was excited about the candy and loved carrying her bucket around. We went downtown to Main Street Cedar Falls to trick or treat. All of the merchants sit outside and hand out candy for the kids. She was terrified. There were so many people, and some dressed up in scary costumes. She made me carry her the whole time, so needless to say we made it about two blocks before we headed to Aunt Rachel's to trick or treat. She got plenty of candy for a 2 year old in that time frame anyway.

More birthday fun!

Ava's birthday weekend continued with lots of fun for our second annual trip to the UNI Homecoming game and tailgating. Ava did pretty well without a nap, but like last year managed to fall asleep just as the game was starting. This time on her new favorite person, Uncle Josh.

She was quite hilarious that evening saying very funny things like "Josh naughty" and "Josh sleepy" at very appropriate times. She sure makes me laugh!

The next day we had family photos done for Ava's 2nd birthday followed by a quick nap and an Elmo themed party in the afternoon with some friends and family. She is a very lucky and loved little girl!! She loved opening her presents this year and was enthusiastic in opening exclaiming "WOW!" after each one.

2 YEARS OLD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVA! It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital welcoming you into the world. Boy, has the last two years flown by! You are the light of our lives and we are so thankful for you.

Today for your birthday, Mommy took the day off work to spend with you. When you woke up I kept staying "BIRTHDAY GIRL!" You thought that was hilarious. We watched your favorite cartoons in the morning and played and colored for awhile. You finally let me get you dressed and we went to the park to play. You wanted to swing a lot today, but weren't interested in the slides. After the park, we went to have lunch at Panera. You had Macaroni and Cheese and kept saying "mmmm.... nummy, Mommy!" You loved it! After we had lunch, we went to take lunch to Daddy at work. You were excited to see him. Then you and I went across the street to the river where we fed the ducks and geese. We were standing really close to them and you were running around chasing them. The geese must have gotten sick of us because all of a sudden three or four of them took off in flight and went right over our heads. It scared me, so I grabbed you and ran to the car. The rest of the day you kept saying "duckies, scary!" We went home after that and you took a nap. Daddy brought home Pita Pit for supper and then you opened your gifts. We got you a Barbie Power Wheels Jeep a while back that was part of your birthday. Today you received a pretend makeup/hairstyling kit, 2 outfits, jammies, finger paints and paper, and bedding for your new big girl bed.



At 2 years Ava weighs 37 lbs (99%) and is 37 inches (99%).

At 2 years Ava is a non-stop talker. We can understand about 75% of what she says. I am often time baffled by the things that she knows and remembers. The few weeks ago we were reading an animal book and we came to the page with the skunk. She says, "Skunk, stinky." Then with the page with the bats, she says "scary bat!"

Ava wears her heart on her sleeve. If she is happy, you see or hear it in her smile and laughter. If she is upset, you see it in her big crocodile tears. She is also extremely sensitive. If you tell her not to do something, she puts her head down and acts extremely sad. I'm going to have to be careful how I say things to her so that it doesn't hurt her feelings. I think she is like me in that sense, I tend to get my feelings hurt easily as well. Maybe its a girl thing?

Ava is a very good sleeper, usually at least 11 hours a night. She has been a little bit harder to get down for a nap lately, but still takes one around 1 1/2-3 hours. Bed time at night is pretty easy, but she doesn't go right to sleep like she used to. Ava tends to lay in her crib for up to an hour singing and reading books to herself. We've been considering moving her to a twin bed and will work on getting a "big girl" room ready for her in the next couple of months. She often likes to take a nap in what she calls "Nana's room" (guest room).

She continues to love bath time, playing at the park, her dolls, and playing with her kitchen. She's also developed a love for trains, trucks, and buses. Ava is also very attached to her "blank" as she calls it (her blankie). Her favorite "blank" is pink with a silky brown back and silky pink edging. She loves the ones with the silky part.

Ava also continues to have a love for music. We go to Kindermusik on Monday nights and she has so much fun doing the dances and playing the instruments. Her favorite songs are "ABC's", "Row Row", "Twinkle", "Puppy" and "Happy". She can sing along to quite a bit of these songs, or at least hum along. I'm so glad she has developed my love for music! Is it too early to sign up for singing lessons?!

Omaha

I am so far behind in posting, I don't even know where to begin.

Labor Day weekend we spent in Omaha for the third year in a row. We love that city. We invited my family to join us this year. It made it extra fun, and I know Nana and Papa especially loved seeing Ava's reaction to all the zoo animals. After a pit stop in Grimes on Saturday to visit Darren's cousin Clint and Libby and their boys, we arrived in Omaha and went to get check into our hotel. We then decided to take a little stroll down in the Old Market. We took a boat ride and Ava got to feed some ducks. We also got some exciting news from the Burton's that night when they showed up wearing some extra special t-shirts with an extra special message. (Mommy & Daddy To-Be!) I screamed so much when I saw them that my throat hurt all weekend and I'm surprised I didn't knock them to the ground when I practically jumped into their arms!







Sunday we took in the Omaha Zoo. The weather was a bit chilly for Labor Day weekend, but the sun was out and as long as we weren't in the shade it was fine. The highlight of Ava's day was seeing monkeys and the coy fish. Unfortunately, she slept right through the aquarium. My favorite part was when one of the orangutangs tried to spit on my dad. So funny! Sunday night Darren wasn't feeling well, so he stayed back at the hotel while Ava and I enjoyed pizza and she did a little swimming in the hotel pool. We were all pretty exhausted from the long day of constant uphill walking at the zoo!





Monday morning we headed home, but stopped to visit my Grandma on the way. She was in the hospital in Des Moines during that time undergoing leg amputation. She is doing much, much better since the surgery.

No Binky? No problem!

I'd been saying for months that we need to get rid of Ava's binky soon. I wanted it gone by her 2nd birthday for sure. It seems like every morning and night she was becoming more and more attached to it by asking for it, "Baby" she'd say. Which meant I was becoming more and more attached to it. I dreaded the crying for it and having to say no. I did some reading about how other mom's took the binky away (including cutting the nipple or poking holes in it, sending them with the "Binky Fairy", or sending them to new babies). I didn't try any of these things, and apparently didn't have to.

I asked the girls at daycare if Ava was still taking a binky at nap time there, of course they said no and she hasn't for months. It was basically a cold turkey take away, and she hasn't even noticed or asked for it. We're going on day 4 now. Clearly, I was more attached to the thing than she was!