Happy 4th of July 2009...

Our 4th of July weekend was fairly uneventful. We decided to stay around home and get some things done. Friday, we did escape to Sioux Falls for a few hours and bummed around. Saturday, Brad built shelving for our garage and we got everything organized and put away. We decided around 9 pm to head to Worthington for the fireworks. We thought for sure that Ava would fall asleep on the way over. Surprisingly, she was a chatterbox all the way there. She seemed to enjoy the fireworks. We kept asking her if she saw them when they'd go off, and her reply was "See um, go boom". She did a lot of pointing and chatting during the fireworks, apparently trying to give us a commentary on what was going on. I did think the mosquitoes were going to haul us off at one point, but we escaped with only a few bites and had a good time.

Some Cousins Come to Visit....

Ava & Cousin Maddy Cousin Alexandra & Ava

Daddy & Ava hanging out

Even pajamas need hair accessories - Ava loves accessories!

Everyone always says Ava is always smiling on my blog posts, this is proof she does get cranky!

My cousin Lisa came to visit with her three children. Ava always enjoys having other kids around. They were so nice to her and catered to her every need. Ava got spoiled and of course she loved every minute of the attention.

The Household Chores Just Never End.....(Ava 20 mths)

"Mom, I'm trying to vacuum"

Ava loves the toothbrush that actually spins "So much carpet, so little time...."

"I can mop just like Mommy"

At 20 months, Ava is very independent and tries to copy nearly everything Brad and I do. She loves to "help" with household chores. I am happy to hand her the dust mop...what could it hurt? Ava is also our little chatter box lately. She says so many words and many of them are pretty clear. Her new favorite that we taught her was "Sieve". She can say it plain as day, but will not say "Ava Sieve" together. "Ava" has gotten much more clear in the last few weeks as it used to be "Offa". Brad has also taught her that my name is "Sally" and she has called me that a few times which he finds hilarious. Of course, she won't call him "Brad".

• She has started with a few short sentences like "where's the puppy?", "where are you?", "I want some milk", "eat this first" (we always make her eat her maindish before she can have any dessert- guess we may have said it a few too many times). I know what you are thinking, we may have an Einstein on our hands, right? :)
• Ava has started to sleep in much later. Many nights she will go to bed at 8:30 and sleep until 9:00 the next day. She still usually takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.
• She is still a very good eater. She loves pretty much everything except fruits. We did manage to get her to eat three or four bites of pineapple the other day, so that was a big milestone. Broccoli and green beans still seem to be her favorite veggies. She also loves rice and grilled meats. We continue to be amazed at how much she eats, but I know she is growing and she's never still.

Ava is so much fun and we are certainly enjoying this age. It seems so hard to believe she is well on her way to 2 years old!

Just some fun pictures of Ava....

Her blankie is never far away...

Ava loves the pool!

Ava is excited to watch Daddy mowing the lawn!

Ava loves to play in the pool. Her favorite activities include dumping the water out and throwing her toys out as well. We are certainly enjoying the outside activities. Ava is always in a good mood when she is outside.

The Last Days of Sandy's Visit from Tucson...

Aunt Sandy and Ava The twins..Shelly & Sandy

Playing at the park: Ava, Sam, Addie and Jason

Ava, Sam & Addie playing

Shelly, Sally, and Zach-8 yrs

Aunt Sally & Toby 3 1/2 yrs

All the girls with Ava

The real twins- Sandy and Mom

The good kids posing for pictures

All the kids lined up....except Ava, the unwilling participant

Ava- 1 1/2 , Zach-8, Addison 2 1/2, Sam-4, Toby- 3 1/2

Aunt Sally making rice crispy bars with the boys

My sister Sandy's 3 and a half week visit seemed to fly by and soon it was time to say our goodbyes. Ava and I spent the last weekend she was here at Shelly's where she was staying. We attempted to get a photo of all the VanMeeteren grandkids together, however, Ava would not really cooperate for any of the poses. Sandy, Shelly, and I even managed to rent a movie and watch it together after all the kids went to bed, so that was fun. We enjoyed Sandy's visit and will miss her and the boys. It's sad to say goodbye as we know it will be at least six months before we get to see them again.