Some of A's current favorites...

Shoes, shoes and more shoes...

Moms shoes



Why not dad's and sissy's at the same time?

She loves shoes so much that every morning when I am getting her dressed she just repeatedly asks for shoes and then has to pick out which shoes she wants to wear on her own. If we are at the store and she see's the shoes, she has to try on the shoes and then cries when I make her take them off. I guess she is a girl after my own heart, you should see my new red heels! I guess dad better start Ava's shoe fund.

We also love accesories, necklaces, bracelets, headbands (most often worn around the waist) and scarves. The best part is that she is always so excited to show us her pretties!

She obviously didn't do this one herself she did have some sister help, but she looks so stinking cute.

One of our new found favorite things to do is climb in the dryer, this happens every time we do wash. She takes drinks in the dryer with her and books, she has even been found in the dryer with a blanket, book and a drink. Silly monkey.

Pinkalicious fun...

We love the pinkalicious, purplicious books at our house, so cute and fun.

Recently they had pinkalicious toys in the burger king kids meals so I decided to pick up Trena from school and head there. We had kids meals and got a fun pinkalicous toy and played in the playland for about an hour.

Next we made pinkalicious cupcakes, with strawberry flavoring they were so yummy that when I was putting them in the tuperware container Ava was diving at it mouth first, it was hilarious!

Making cupcakes

finished product

Licking the wrapper clean



I love having moments like these with my girls

This crazy monkey will eat anything...

Ava like most kids eats like a champ some days and not so much on others, typical toddler. She is so funny though because she likes foods that other kids that other kids won't even look at. She LOVES red pepper hummus, pesto, salmon, tilapia. She hates white potatoes, mashed or baked, isn't this a food all kids like? On the other hand she loves yams, baked or mashed. She loves all vegetables and fruits, especially berries, except tomatoes. She wants to eat salad so bad and always asks for it, but then can't get it chewed up and swallowed so she spits it out, but loves the taste. She also loves fiber select wheat thins, go-gurt, homemade blueberry waffles, peanut butter, multi grain cherrios, sour cream and raisins. However she will eat so many raisins that she is up all night with gas. I am sure there are many other yummy foods that she loves, but I can't think of them right now.

We love our little hungry mungry girl and I love to watch her eating wheat thins dipped in hummus.

Valentines Weekend

We had a nice Valentine's weekend as a family. We went to lunch at Chipotle on Saturday and then on a little drive up to the mountains where the girls got to play in the snow. We didn't exactly have anything planned so no camera, only memories. They loved it though and Trena was even sliding down the hill on her butt.

That evening we put Ava to bed and then Brent went out and got Chinese food and brought home to me and Trena,. he also gave me a beautiful rose for Valentine's Day. Then Trena went to bed and we watched "The Time Traveler's Wife". I really liked it, and thought that it went well with the book. Brent was dreading watching it, but I don't think he thought it was as bad as he feared. He said that was thanks to the time traveling which switched it up from your normal chick flick.

The next morning the girls got up to balloons and cards from Dad.


And some other little trinkets from mom and dad.




We then got ready for church here are the girls in their V-day outfits I made them using this simple tutorial from where else, Joy's Hope. They are super simple and make cute sun dresses. I already have a few more planned for Ava.

I also made super simple felt heart clips for their hair:

After church it was about 70 degrees outside so we played around in the front yard and Brent fixed my jogging stroller, hip hip hooray! and then removed my destroyed bike chain, and hopefully next weekend he can finish fixing my bike and we can go on a family bike ride.




Here is a pic of the rabbit hole in our front yard, the girls love to watch all the rabbits.



Today we took advantage of another beautiful day (Trena was out of school) and went on a picnic to the park in our neighborhood (can you believe I didn't have my camera again!!!

All in all it was a wonderfully, perfect Valentine's weekend as simple as it was it was truly one of the best we've had.

Happy Valentine's to all !!! Especially to my Hubby and beautiful baby girls.

18 months

STATS:
weight: 22 lb 5 oz (25th percentile)
Height: 31.5 in (25th-50th percentile)


She is right on track with her physical and emotional development, but the Dr was quite impressed with how bright she is. He even jokingly asked me if she was really only 18 months (and preterm at that).

She can easily say 5o+ words and can do the actions to songs and ask for songs by name and she even speaks in two word sentences. She even told Trena, "Trena mine", hmm wonder where she learned that one. She can say "Ava Lulu North", Lulu is part of her nickname, she won't even attempt to say Angeline. She is also very much aware of going to the bathroom and where she should be doing it. The Dr said he thinks she's ready for potty training. I agree totally (T was potty trained by 25 months), but A seems slightly afraid of the seat so we are easing in slowly.

We love to hear her sing and do animal sounds, she can do about 15 animal sounds, she is so fun to watch dance and she thinks she is so funny. When she finishes dinner at night she starts playing peek-a-boo and laughing. She will say almost anything you ask her to say, even if she has never said it before, but if its too big of a word she won't even try. She says Please without much reminding and we are still working on thank you, but she will say it when prompted. She loves to talk on the phone especially to her Grandma's. She is very much a climber and wants to climb on EVERYTHING, and go through Daddy's dresser drawer. Ava doesn't really play with toys, she looks at books and will sit down every once in awhile to play, but not often. Her favorite toy right now is her baby doll though, she loves to feed it and listen to the noises it makes, she hugs it and pats it on the back. she is such a cute little mommy. She LOVES to go get sissy from school and play in the backyard, but doesn't like shopping very much. She also loves to taste test everything mommy is cooking.

We love our little monkey and are so blessed to have her as part of our small little family.

Ava's cute piggies

I painted Ava's toes for the first time last week and she LOVES to look at her orange toes. She points at them and says toes every time I am getting her dressed or undressed. She also no longer wants to keep socks on so that she can check out her toes. She even showed the Dr her cute toes today.

New Blog for my Favorite Recipes

I am always looking for and trying new recipes, so I am starting another blog with some of my faves that the whole family or majority of the family has given their seal of approval too. Now some will be healthy (or atleast have tips on how to make them healthier) and others will just be yummy! We like a variety of food so you never know what you'll find. My new blog is called Num Num's because that is what we always ask Ava if she want's Num Num's, anyways I will try to keep it regularly updated and hope that you will find something you enjoy as well.

Here is the link to Num Num's