Sunday, May 31, 2009

A New Red Wagon & Planting Flowers....

Ava posing in the wagon... not happy I left her in it to go get the camera Her beloved rocks
Posing by the flowers she "helped" plant
Ava, Aunt Shelly, Addie, and Jason Summer is officially here and it seems the days are just flying by already. With all the nice weather, it seems we spend more and more time outside, and then precious little housework gets done, but oh well! I finally got some flower pots and planted flowers this week. It was a fun project that Ava enjoyed. She loved to run off with all the empty plastic containers. My mom and I went shopping and purchased a wagon for Ava. It was a tough decision on what to get as there are so many neat outside toys. I think we made a good choice because she now asks for "wides" in it every time we go outside in addition to just asking to go "side" (outside) every fifteen minutes. She does love the outdoors. Shelly and Jason stopped by on their way back from Duluth, so the kids had fun playing. Ava likes to sit on laps, even very small children's laps so she spent alot of time positioning herself to land on Addie or Sam's laps despite their struggles to get away from her. It was comical to watch!

Joe's High School Graduation....

Brad, Lori, Joe, and Lisa Brad & Ava eating...again.
Ava, Brad, and Joe
Gary, Joe, Joyce
Layne and Ava after commencement
Last weekend, we celebrated the last of Brad's siblings to graduate, his little brother Joe. We went to commencement on Friday night. Then we went to Gary and Joyce's afterwards to hang out with all the family. It was the first time we had all gotten together in quite a while, so that was fun. Brad even got Ava to fall asleep on the bed (she was exhausted- way past her bedtime!) Sunday was the party at the Wilmont community center. Joe had a great turnout and beautiful weather. It's even hard for me to believe he has graduated since he was only 12 years old the first time I met him. Joe is planning to work for Brad this summer and then attend Minnesota West in Jackson for the construction electrician program.

Friday, May 22, 2009

A visit to Grandma Sieve's and hot weather

Ava and Grandma Joyce Ava enjoying the new space to explore
"Wow!"
"why are you always taking pictures?"
Her new "smirk" that she uses alot
Her future is so bright
Last weekend, we went out to Gary and Joyce's to transplant a few trees from their grove onto our lot. Ava seemed to enjoy the time outdoors and we all managed to get pretty muddy. We were lucky enough to time our trip right after a rain. Needless to say, we at least have a few trees started so we may reap the benefits of shade before we go to the nursing home.
We have had the pleasure of extreme temperatures this week. We had several days in the 90's so we hauled out the tank tops and enjoyed some time outside. Although it was windy, it was nice to be warm outside instead of cool. Today, the temps are down in the 60's and it is supposed to remain on the cool side for the whole Memorial Day weekend. Hopefully, it won't rain for Joe's graduation party on Sunday.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Mother's Day 2009

Mom & Ava Ava had a lot of "dirty looks" for the camera
The best family photo of the day...
Grandma Flo, Mom, Shelly, & Sally
Brad let me sleep in on Mother's Day and brought me a nice breakfast (his world famous omelette) in bed. We headed to Sanborn to celebrate Mother's Day. We met Grandma Flo, Mom, Dad, Jason, Shelly, Sam, and Addison at Jay's for the Mother's Day buffet. It was a beautiful day and great to see all the family. Ava was a bit cranky as she is getting multiple molars and not sleeping well. I got my own personal gift from Ava as the rather runny contents of her diaper squeezed out on my pants just as we were leaving the restaurant....I know she really appreciates me :) All in all, it was a fun day.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Ava is 18 Months Old....

Posing for Mommy I like to look at books Ava with her milk "mustache" under her chin
It's hard to believe, but little Ava is 18 months old already. I tried to have my own little "photoshoot" today. I had a hard time keeping her on the chair to snap pictures, so I can just imagine how well it is going to go at the professional photographer on Wednesday. We'll just have to hope for the best.
Here is the latest on Ava at 18 months...
Height: 32.5" - 75th percentile
Weight: 27 lbs 4 oz - 90th percentile
Sleep: Ava usually sleeps from 8:00 pm to 7:30 am with one two to three hour nap in the afternoon. It has been a little bit of a tough adjustment to the one nap as she is quite tired during the supper hour, but she seems to be doing okay.
Teeth: We thought she still had the 8 teeth she has had for forever, but we just recently noticed an additional tooth on the bottom right, so that makes 9!
Eating: Ava continues to be a great eater. She pretty much eats anything, and eats quite large quantities. She loves her veggies, grill cheese sandwiches, pizza, and any hotdishes. She loves to eat bananas, but we really can't get any other fruits going yet. She eats applesauce (with othe mixed fruits) each day, but no raw fruits. This is something we continue to work on. She loves yogurt.
Speech: We are amazed at all the words Ava has picked up in the last couple of months. She copies almost everything we say, and will attempt to say almost any word if you ask her. Some favorites include:
"nana"- banana
"side" - outside
"thu" - shoe
"thock" - sock
"pathi" - pacifier
"daag" - doggie complete with the sound it makes ' "woof, woof"
She really doesn't say many two syllable words except "daddy", "mommy", and "wava"-Ava. She is working on putting some two word sentences together, but has not perfected this skill yet. We are just enjoying the fact that she can usually show us what she wants and get her point across which is much better than us guessing.
Ava continues to love electronic devices and pulling things out of cupboards and drawers. She also loves to play outside. With the weather getting nicer, it is great to let her run around in the grass. She loves our neighbor's dogs, and talks and points at them pretty much the whole time she is outside. She is reallly fun to have around.

Brad's Little Brother Joe's Senior Prom....

Joe & Cassie Wilkening Cassie & Joe by the car
Brad, Sally, Ava, Joe, & Cassie
Brad's "little brother" Joe who isn't so little anymore, had his senior prom last Saturday. We ventured to Fulda for the grand march so we could see him all decked out in his tux and meet his date, Cassie Wilkening. It was neat to see the grand march, however, both Brad and I felt very old when we left. Unfortunately, Joe's prom night got cut short. Shortly after the "after prom bash" got started, there was an accident. He was playing on a large inflatable and was ejected off and hit the bleechers. He had a serious laceration on his face. He was brought to Worthington hospital where they discovered he had a couple of facial bone fractures. He was then shipped by ambulance to Sioux Falls. There, he met with a plastic surgeon and received stitches. After the swelling goes down, he has to return to the doctor and decide the extent of the fractures and if any surgeries will be needed.
We are happy Joe is okay and pray for a speedy recovery.