Christmas - Just the 3 of Us...

Ava posing in front of the tree Helping Daddy put his "just wrapped" presents under the tree

opening gifts

The favorite gift - the baby that can drink from her bottle

Christmas Eve- playdoh party!

Chasing Daddy around the island

So much energy

Santa presents (Ava styles her own hair when she gets up)

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The rocking chair from Santa

It seemed like it wasn't really Christmas this year. No family get togethers to get to, no Christmas Eve services to go to, no family meals. Instead, we stayed couped up in the house and had our own little Christmas while the snow just kept falling. At the end of Christmas Day, Sioux Falls said we had gotten over 15 inches! We are thankful to be safe and warm in our house, but sure miss being with our families on this holiday. Ava was not much into gift opening once again. She sort of liked tearing the paper, but not for an entire gift or anything. She really liked her new doll. She also liked the playdoh set, but I think it helped that we all played with it together. Oh, how she loves company when playing with anything! I don't think Ava understood anything about Santa this year, but she did ask me to read "The Night Before Christmas" about 20 times. That is the longest book she has ever sat through, so that is a milestone in itself. We are looking forward to seeing our extended families hopefully this weekend if the weather cooperates!

Christmas Eve: Day 1 of the Blizzard

Ava watching Daddy clear the driveway Ava checking out the snow

Just the first few inches of snow...more to come!

Christmas this year was spent at home, just the three of us. With the forecast predicting 12-18 inches of snow, we were forced to stay home on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On the first day of snow, Ava was very excited to go outside and willingly put on all the snow gear. Perhaps, she was sick of being inside as she had only asked to go 'bye, bye car" about twenty times before I brought up going outside to play. She wasn't thrilled to play in the snow, but she did like watching Daddy in the skidloader. She stood and watched Brad go back and forth for almost an hour. She'd periodically ask me "What's Daddy doin?", but would never take her eyes off of him. We got her a little kids snow scoop, but she really didn't want anything to do with scooping.

Christmas Cookies at Grandma Chris's House...

Our Masterpieces!

Ava playing with the dough

Ava & Shelly

Ava sure enjoyed eating the cookies

Let the fun begin...

What the girls did when they were done "helping" : FRONT

Jumping Girls: BACK

Addison, Ava, & Grandma Chris (her 60th B-day)

My mother graciously offered to have the grandkids come over and make Christmas cookies at her house. I thought it was a fabulous idea although would never be ambitious enough to attack the project on my own. It was Mom's 60th Birthday, so it was great to come out and spend the day with her. The weather did end up being okay and my sister Shelly & I each made our hour and 15 minute drives to Grandma's. Shelly's kids were very much into rolling out the dough and cutting out cookies for at least a half an hour before tiring. Ava was scared to do anything with the cookie cutters. However, it did not take her long to figure out how to steal cookies off the counter to eat and that she did! She loved the cookies and kept asking for more. Soon, it became Shelly, Mom and I cutting and frosting the cookies which was fun and reminded us of doing this same thing when Shelly and I were kids. How time flies! It was a great time and we decided to make it an annual affair as the kids will only be more into it as they get older.

Winter Fun....

Ava & Daddy Dressing herself - pj's with feet, shoes (even on the right feet), and her hat - all ready to go out!

Hannah & Ava

Mommy & Ava making almond bark pretzels Just some fun pics from early December. I look at these and can't believe this is our little girl...where did she go?

A Weekend Getaway to Bridges Bay...

Just barely getting her feet wet...

Enjoying the lazy river

Some cousins came to visit

Breakfast in our room

Jumping on the bed!

Our little "bell boy"

We escaped for a weekend getaway to Bridges Bay in Okoboji. We did not get there as soon as we would have liked to on Friday night as Brad had a million service calls. This always seems to happen when we have plans to leave town. We were excited to take Ava as we thought she'd have so much fun this year with her being older. She wasn't thrilled with the actual pool part. She walked around a little, but in true girl fashion, got frightened every time someone splashed or got near her. We then opted to put her in her float and enjoy the lazy river. Enjoy was exactly what she did. She loved it! She grinned for the entire time she was in it. Then my cousins came down from Minnesota and the real fun started. They paid lots of attention to Ava and were very willing to chaperone her trips around the lazy river after my cousin Lisa and I felt nauseated from the 100 or so trips around we made. I would guess Ava spent 3-4 hours in the lazy river that day! She cried when it was time to get out. Following two nearly sleepless nights (loudest place we have ever stayed & Ava got woke up several times), we checked out Sunday and managed to do a little Christmas shopping on our way home. It was a fun weekend, but looking forward to a peaceful nights sleep!

The Puzzles & Misc Pics

Her best "cheese" smile Pointing out all the animals

Gotta love cool whip! Puzzle time!

Ava has become obsessed with puzzles lately. She will take all of her puzzles out because she can't do just one at a time and proceed to put them all together, sometimes with a couple going at a time. She loves her puzzles that make sounds and the shapes one is probably her favorite. She now knows all the shapes, but still is not willing to commit to the colors of the shapes. If we are home all day, she probably sits down with her puzzles at least 3 or 4 times. They rank pretty highly along with her babies and her play food!

Snow!

Not quite sure what to do

Well, it was bound to happen, the first snow of the year. I decided to bundle Ava up and put on her boots (which she wasn't thrilled about) and see what she thought of playing outside in the snow. When I first opened the garage door, she just stood there like she was going to melt away if she actually placed her boot on the snow. After much convincing and me making a fool of myself dancing around on the driveway, she decided to give it a try! She discovered it was pretty fun to make tracks all over the driveway and sidewalk. Ava seems to have no problem tolerating the cold weather. She never complains, and it is always a struggle to get her to come inside.

Bed Head!

I thought it only fitting to post these pictures of Ava displaying her "bed head". It seems that the longer her hair gets, the more wild it gets in the morning. I will tell her when she gets up in the morning to go look in the mirror, and she now will agree that her "hair is crazy!". One other small trait she inherited from her mother....

Thanksgiving 2009 at the Kleis's

We spent the Thanksgiving holiday at the my sister Shelly's house in Sioux City. It was Shelly's first attempt at preparing the entire meal solo and she did a great job. I felt I had it pretty easy this year with only bringing a pie. We all successfully ate way too much and the kids seemed to enjoy thier time together. Addie and Ava seem to be getting along a little better all the time which is nice. Jim (Shelly's father-in-law), Brad, Shelly, and I even enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood in what was a very beautiful November day.