Merry Christmas, Ava!

I haven't posted in a while... Mostly because Ava has a facebook page set up with all of her family as friends. It was easier for family to just see the pictures we post instead of taking the time to put together these blog posts. I sort of regret not keeping up with this, for Ava. I may go back and update all her big milestones at a later date so she has them.

This morning was her first big christmas. While she had her first Christmas last year, she was too small to understand or participate in anything. This morning she was very hands on. I'm compelled to write about this for several reasons. 1. I want to document this. 2. It saddens me that she has family that will never know how truly amazing this little girl is because they're too stubborn to pull their head out of their asses. Offended? Oh well. The only feelings that matter to me are my daughters. She has cousins she won't know or be able to spend these holiday's with. This is NOT because we live in North Dakota... Because, we've been back to Michigan since we moved and she knows and LOVES her cousins Luca & Joseph. That makes me happy. She would follow luca around all over the place.

Ava had a fantastic Christmas. She was so happy and excited to play with everything she got. Her favorite toy so far, her new born baby doll and accessories. She stopped opening presents and only wanted to play with her baby doll. She loves her Princess Castle and Mickey Magic ChooChoo. Those were her big toys.

On the Move!

Our little girl is mobile now. She's not crawling yet. She is trying so hard though. She has figured out how to get around though. She leans forward like she's going to crawl, and moves her little tushy into a new position, and scoots to where she wants to go. She does this over and over until she gets what she wants....

She's also said her first word! "Mumma" she knows who I am by name now and doesn't hesitate to use that to her advantage! That's a tough one when she's crying.

Lately Ava hasn't been sleeping through the night. Something in her habits changed. She wakes up 2-3 times a night to eat now, and has been for several weeks. She was going a six hour stretch before waking up for food and slept through most of the night. I've done everything I can to get her to sleep better. I don't think she's transitioning very well to the move, and then moving from co-sleeping to her crib.

She goes in this week for her last set of immunizations until her 1st birthday. I'm curious to see how much she's grown the last two months. She's getting so big, so fast. Sometimes when she falls asleep while i'm rocking her before bedtime I can still see that tiny newborn face. She hasn't changed that much when shes's calm. Her facial expressions definitely bring out her personality though. She's quite the little character.

Ava's First Christmas

Holding myself up on my belly!

Christmas Dress from Grandma

Meeting Uncle Steve

Done with pictures!

Our Christmas Tree

So excited!

I rolled over for the first time Christmas Morning

We proposed to Mommy Christmas Morning - She said Yes! 

My favorite Toy

Catching up: Wisconsin Trip

I've really been slacking on keeping up to date with this... I would love to post more detailed stuff about our road trip but I'll just skip right to the whole purpose of the trip. To meet out of state family. For Ava and I we'd be meeting Andy's Dad, Brother & Sister for the first time. I was nervous (I always do that to myself with these types of situations) and excited for them to see Ava. I was so relieved when we got there. Grandpa was so happy to be meeting Ava and everyone was so welcoming and so incredibly nice. I felt right at home. I do have to say that all of the Parke's have made me feel more welcome than I ever have before. They're genuinely nice, friendly people. I'm happy Ava will be able to grow up surrounded by that.

Road Trip - Day One - 11.15.11

At 7:30AM Mommy and I left to see my Daddy! We both missed him so much that we decided to go stay with him for a few weeks until he comes home. It's 18 hours to get to Oklahoma so we decided to split the trip up into two days. Mommy says I was a real trooper and did awesome in the car. We had to stop every 4 hours so that I could eat and get out of my car seat to stretch. Our 9 hour days became 12-14 hours with our stops. And with all that, I was still happy at the end of the day!

And we're off! We stopped a few times in Indiana to eat, and stretch and get gas :)

Our first stop was a breeze! We went to McDonald's and I knocked Mommy's smoothie onto the floor while she was changing my diaper! Our next stop was a rest stop so I could eat and get a clean diaper again.

It was time to stretch!

Ahh..... Strrrrretch!

Now I'm a happy Girl!!!

I've been in Three States already before I'm 2 months old!

Stop #3 for the day! Shortly after this we stopped at a Mall to get some things Mommy forgot at home before we got to our hotel. Our goal was to get to the other side of St. Louis but I couldn't be in the car any more. I had to stop and relax for the night.

After 11 hours of traveling I was tired of being in the car and ready to get out of my car seat. We got a hotel in Vandalia IL for the night and Mommy and I relaxed and watched Mickey Mouse before we went to bed.