A Time of Firsts...

Ava's first birthday is just days away and we are enjoying a lot of firsts. Ava finally gets to face forward in the car (she is much happier), first taste of milk, and a first for Malia. Her first haircut. Of course, I was emotional about it...the lady thought we were talking about Ava at first which was hilarious. Obviously, Ava has very little hair:-)

Ava loves reading with big sis...also, she LOVES her milk!

Here is Malia waiting for her turn to get her hair cut!
She was very worried that the lady would get water in her eyes.
So excited!
Even Ava got to play a bit!
Malia was watching the lady the whole time...my favorite part was when the lady brought out the hair dryer. Malia had never seen one, let alone used one. Guess that tells you that I don't do much to my hair:-)
All done!!!

Viva Las Vegas!

Aaron and I had a wonderful trip to Vegas. We snuck away for two nights to Vegas to have some us time. It was hard to leave our girls but such a wonderful trip. I ended up winning over $700.. few hundred here and there...what a blessing!! We are so lucky that we had family that stepped up to help with our girls...especially Grammy (Aaron's mom) who stayed overnight with them both nights!!! What a great trip!!

We took a picture by the pirate ship for Malia :-)

This was Aaron's only wish for Vegas...to visit the Callaway golf center with driving range. Funny guy.

Heading home to our girls....happy mommy!

Happy Valentines Day!!

Valentines marks 11 years together for Aaron and I! For Valentines we got a new couch...and I couldn't be happier! You know you are old when you get excited over a couch!

There it is...couch and his/her loveseat!

SO happy!!! Love this couch!

Here is Ava in "timeout". Malia was upset because Ava pulled herself up and was trying to eat her food!

Ava loves to cheese for the camera!

Here is our baseball superstar!

Ava loves to eat...and from the looks of the plastic bottle perhaps drink, too?

Malia is REALLY upset at Ava for messing with her inside the box. She is not used to Ava pulling herself up!

Happy Valentines from our girls!!!!

Kennedy School!

We had such an amazing time at the Kennedy School in Portland. It is one of the McMenamins...quite unique if you have never heard of it. It is a hotel, theater, bar, ect all in one. We had such a great time with our college buds!!!CWU!

Love these guys!

Here we are in our golden girl shirts...mine says Butter Queen. 'Nuf said.

It was so good to get out with the girls (and spouses!). Thanks so much to my mom and Michelle for taking such great care of the girls.

Where does the time go???

I cannot believe it! Ava is 10 months old! I feel like we were just preparing to have her and now she is 10 months old! She is so adorable. She is pretty laid back, although recently she has had an ear infection that won't go away and she FINALLY got her first tooth...both of which put her easy going spirit to the test. The funniest thing is that Ava is TOTALLY a daddy's girl. Wants him to hold her...gets excited when he gets home...it is so cute.

Neither girl is sleeping that well...poor Malia suffers from night terrors and she is starting to develop a real fear of sleep:-( It's almost worse now because she can verbalize it. But oh...what a journey this is. We feel so blessed to be on it. The experiences we have had has led us to truly appreciate our girls...and even the lack of sleep. Valentines is just around the corner and it marks 11 years since Aaron and my first date. How far we have come...

10 months old and such a sweetie!

Here is our superstar! Malia loves to be front and center. She will sing, dance, and ham it up in front of anyone! Wonder where that comes from?Someone was pooped after Aaron's bday dinner...poor Ava!

Suncadia!

This year (especially with my mom's cancer scare) we decided to exchange the gift of a family experience for Christmas. We went to Suncadia for a fun (and hilarious) filled weekend!

The crew...so many family memories together...now we have one more!

Here we all are on the stairs in the house. We had sucha great time together!

This is the tubing hill. It has a rope tow to get you back up. Chad's rope broke and I was behind him so I told him...don't worry...I got you. Then I promptly let him go... (he was heavy!). It happened again with Keri and Aaron caught her...and carried her all the way up. I guess blood is not necessarily thicker:-) You had to be there to get the humor...

What a cute fam!

Ava didn't go tubing but she loved watching!

Malia's first time ice skating!!! She was great!!!

The whole fam playing cards and gambling...just a little bit!

Here are the girls...these are two chairs pushed together.It became like a big comfy crib!

Melly's Visit

Over break, my life was enriched by a visit with my best friend, Mel. It was the very best gift a gal could get for Christmas. I have not seen Mel since I was 5 months pregnant and I felt like I was going a bit crazy. She has been my best friend for half my life and is more like a sister. She flew in early and surprised me at Red Robin. Aaron was in on the surprise and was wonderful enough to capture the moment.
Here is one of the many nights that we went out and had a few! This night we were at the Swiss and we had SUCH a great time!
Here is a photo with Mel's badge. She has always wanted to be a police officer and I remember when she became a mother at such a young age...she wasn't sure if that would happen. I am SO proud of her determination and faith. She NEVER gives up and is an inspiration to all.

It is a tradition to sing a song for Melly. I don't sing all that much anymore but always for her.

The fam came out to celebrate Melly's return home!

This is our standard pose. I think I have about two hundred pics of us like this :-).

Great times with the fam!

There it is...don't blink. The infamous sweater. Shiree (love her!!!) made a comment...the sweater ended up in the garbage. The rest is forever one of my favorite drunk stories!

Mom, Melly, and Meg. The three M's!

Love these girls! I have known them all since high school!

Ava was SO happy to see her godmother for the first time!

This is Melly and I saying goodbye. Is it obvious I don't want her to go? I got in my car and sobbed. It's like a piece of me is gone:-( However, it makes me appreciate her all the more. Can't wait for the next visit. Vegas anyone?