Petting ZoO!

Ava and Mommy had a fun filled day today. We went into Waterloo and spent the day with Great Grandma Niemann and Grandma Julie. We had lunch at Applebees, then went to Roth jewelers and Great Grandma bought mommy a couple beads for her Pandora bracelet, I am now up to three! I have a feeling it will take a while to fill up, but it will be fun picking out each bead along the way! We then took Great Grandma home and headed to the petting zoo on the cattle congress grounds. Ava was in aw to say the least. We saw a lot of different animals, and the only ones she wasn't so sure about was the llama and the horses. They were a little big for her liking but she still watched them like a hawk.  Here are some pictures from our day at the zoo, we will be visiting again soon. :)

Just getting to the zoo! So excited!

OHHHH...that is not a kitty!

She was watching the bunnies drink water.

That thing is HUGE MOM!

OHHHH...chickens!

Chickens are hilarious!

Pot belly big...she wasn't sure..

Kitten...she loved! OBVIOUSLY

Petting Kitty

So tired!

1 year old!!!!!

Well it has happened. What a difference a year makes. 

We now have a big girl! No more infant or baby in our house. And she rang in her first birthday by showing us all how big she really is. She is WALKING and took more then 2 steps (she had done that a couple times before) on her first birthday!
Ava's first birthday party turned out AMAZING! It was a little warm but we had a nice breeze and she had almost (missed you aunt Mandy) all of the people who love her celebrating together. I had a cupcake theme. Since it was outside at the city park, we had limited decorations. I went over to a girlfriend from works house on Friday night with some flowers and cute ice cream bowls I found in the wal-mart dollar isle and gave her the mission of putting them together to resemble a cupcake, here is how one came out! Too adorable, I put these on her cake/gift table

We also worked together to put 10 jars of cookie mix together to hand out to Ava's friends. Here is a pic of those

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We added the phrase: Sugar and spice and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of.

Natalie then put together a birthday onsie for Ava, and I made a tutu. I didn't get a lot of good pictures of them together on Ava as she wasn't fond of the tulle and I took it off when she was eating. Here is a pic of the onsie

And here is one of Ava with her ball...which she loves... you can kinda see the tutu...

And opening presents with Mommy (guard your eyes from me and my paleness!)

Finally a picture of her cake. It was a cake made in the shape of a cupcake out of cupcakes. Lois, my favorite cake lady made it. She has made all my cakes from my baptism, birthdays, wedding, baby shower, and Ava's baptism. She has had fun celebrating all the occasions with us, and this is the first cupcake cake she made! I should have taken it out of the box to photograph, but had too much on my mind. The cupcake in the corner was Ava's smash cake!

Boy is she loved! You would have thought it was Christmas on her birthday. Spoiled girl! She got lots of fun toys, a pool, a sandbox, a bike, beautiful clothes, and books. Her room is now jam packed and we are going to start converting the basement into her play area since she would take over the upstairs if not!


She is still very interested in reading, and is starting to mimic more and more of the words we are saying. She makes her attempts at saying them but they sound nothing like they should :) I am working with her on manners and saying please. It sounds like "pa" but it's a start.


Ava you have been such a joy for Mommy and Daddy and you make us excited to wake up each morning...even at 5am to see your smiling face. I look forward to all the memories in our future.

To my husband Cole, we made it through our first year of parenthood!! High five. There were ups and downs and winding roads along the way but we did it together and with the same goal in mind, being the best Mommy and Daddy as possible for Ava Nicole. I love you!

Planning for party!

I have been picturing Ava's party in my head for well over 3 months now, and this is my final week to get everything in order! Anyone who knows me knows how I am obsessed with Pinterest. I have gotten so many idea's for recipes, pictures, crafts, and of course birthday parties! I wanted to share my first go at POMS. They are basically hanging balls of tissue paper, but I think they are adorable! I got the directions for this off of the blog, Imperfectly Beautiful. It took a little bit to figure out how to fluff it, but I think my first one was a success, and they should only get better from here! Also, don't mind the colors, even though I thought they turned out pretty cute for green and yellow- reminds me of Columbus High school colors, it was all I had on hand. I have multiple colors for her party!




















Trying to get one thing done a day so when next Sunday comes I won't be stressed! I have also had lots of help from friends and family and I thank each of you! Ava's 1st party is going to be great! Can't wait, and pray that it doesn't rain since we are planning on having the party at the park, or we will all be crammed in our house. Either way we will be celebrating an amazing little girl's big day with family and friends and that's all that matters, we will just be real cozy!

And she's walking.....

Almost! Like I said previously Ava has been able to walk along the couch and with help from Mom and Dad but we tried out her walking toy this weekend and she was off! We have tried it a couple of times with her but she couldn't keep up, she would push the toy and it went too fast so she would fall down, but she seemed to keep her balance today. She has been all over the house, but with all the furniture, walls and her steering ability, she couldn't go a very long distance without bumping into something! I decided to take her outside and let her go, and she loved it. Thought I would share a video so all the family and friends can see! Enjoy

11 months

I'm so BIG! I can stand on my own!

I Love my Daddy!

My favorite thing to do is read

Getting ready for Mother's day brunch... I'm already hungry!

Well 11 months is here, and again I can't stress how quickly it has flown! Since the last blog post Ava has yet to walk. But she is getting closer and closer everyday. She walks along furniture and is great walking when holding our hand, but she hasn't been brave enough to try to walk on her own. She loves to give kisses and is beginning to get separation anxiety, I feel horrible when I drop her off at daycare these days.  Her favorite thing to do before bed time is reading. She loves turning the pages and pointing at the pictures, we hardly ever complete a full book, because she always has her eye on another one and wants to start reading it right away. We are going to need another book sling soon as she has so many books that we literally have to squeeze them in it!
Sunday was my first mothers day, I am am so blessed to have our sweet, adorable daughter! She brings a smile to my face every time I see her and the joy I feel everyday makes me understand my purpose in life! How amazing is the gift of being a mom? I absolutely love it!
1 more month (ACTUALLY 27 MORE DAYS) Ava will be a yr. Really have to start getting all the birthday stuff ready as it is creeping up on us! The invites are being created and about ready to go out (thanks Sharon!)  I cant wait, should be a lot of fun.

I posted a video of Ava "helping" Mommy. She always takes things out of drawers, toy boxes, containers, if there is anything "in" something, she will take it out! It's cute the FIRST time, after about the 6th time, Mommy doesn't find it as cute! :) but it is really hard to be frustrated at this little munchkin!

10 Months

10 Months has flown by. I can remember how long it seemed to take when I was pregnant, it seemed like FOREVER! I guess that is the difference between  longing for this little person that you know you are going to love to death and actually having her! Ava has become a major talker. She has created her own language which we are all trying to decode! She can say Dada and Mama, she says "mo" for more...or just shrieks REALLY loud, and "ba" for bye. She has also learned how to wave bye-bye.

Bye-Bye!

 I am going to work with her on blowing kisses next :) About a week ago I was holding Ava and we accidentally "bonked" heads. So I said "ohh bonk" and she thought it was hilarious. Little did I know this would be her favorite form of entertainment. So now she bonks my head, the wall, kids at daycare and laughs each time she does it. She is no way head butting, it's a soft "bonk" but it still seems crazy and silly to  me that I have to take her away from the wall to have her stop hitting her head :0) haha.
Ava was a great little girl for Easter. We went out to Traer to Great Grandma Schoonover's brother's house. There ended up being a lot a people that came from out of town, between 25-30 and she loved it. She is very good with people and she definitely enjoyed all the "big" people food that they were giving her. This ultimately led to a day of her struggling to go number 2 and a day of blow outs! Ava still eats a few things of baby food (veggies mainly) otherwise she eats what I am eating. She loves grapes (which I cut into itty bitty pieces) and string cheese, and yogurt. If she see's Cole or I eating something we always hear "oh" really loud. She wants to eat whatever we are eating, and it's like she knows when I get out a jar of baby food that it is for babies, and she doesn't want to be one anymore. She will push my hand away, I have to try to get a little of the food in her mouth so she can taste it, and then she realizes that she likes it! What a turd :)
 We are excited to see her developments throughout her tenth month, I have a feeling that before her eleventh month post that we may have a WALKER! If it happens before I will update!
I am still planning Ava's birthday party. We have a date on June 10th, It's a Sunday, and invites will follow to family and friends!
Happy 10th month baby girl! We love you!

The Park

I got to take Ava up to the park today when I got home from work. Jami had watched her earlier this week and I was a little jealous that she was the first one to take Ava! She had told me how much she loved it so I was excited to see her in the swing! Ava thought it was the best thing since apple juice! She had so much fun! I attempted to get a video of her swinging, it isn't the best since the sun was right in my eyes (camera) but you will get the gist. For those family members that haven't seen, look closely and you will see her teeth! Her uncles claim she looks like a hillbilly. Here are a few more pictures from the park, some with Jami and some from today...

"Hey Ava, I need a push!"

What is this stuff? Wonder if it tastes good....

This is way better then my swing at home.. no offense Grandma!

Yup Mom I was right, I LOVE the park!

She found a small twig

and a stick

9 Months

1 Day Old

Wow! I can't believe little peanut is 9m old already! This past month as just flown by, maybe due to Ava flying all over the place and keeping us on our toes! She has started crawling! YaY!...I think? :) This means that her curiosity is on the loose and she wants to know about EVERYTHING. From the t.v., Daddy's ps3 headset, to the itsy bitsy piece of lint on the floor. Her main source of discovery you ask?... her mouth! Everything goes there first, until Mom or Dad say "yucky", or "no no Ave". She listens pretty well...for 10 seconds or so and then her attention span is gone and she is back to rediscovering the object in her mouth :) This age has been a lot of fun for Cole and I to watch. She has been growing into her personality and it's fun to see her discover the world around her. She is pulling herself up on her own and has let go of Mom a few times and stood on her own, but she hasn't yet tested out moving her feet on her own. We had her 9m check up last Wednesday and she is now up to the 70th percentile when combining height and weight. She was 17 pds and ............I forgot how long, will update that when I have her baby book on hand! She has been messing with her ears a lot, I took her to urgent care last Monday thinking she had an ear infection and she was completely fine, and then they checked again at her 9m apt and nothing. She must just think they are fun!

9 Months

We left her for the first time since she was born overnight this past weekend. She stayed with Cole's parents, while we went to Dubuque. It was needed but we missed her so much she was almost all we talked about! We forgot what life was like before her and in NO way want to go back to that. We caught up with each other and enjoyed each other's company, but we were sooo excited to get home to her!

Birthday planning is still in the process...only 3 more months to go and we will have a big girl on our hands! Love you munchkin!

TuTu TuTu

So for those of you family members that are unaware, I am currently planning Ava's first birthday party. I have got the theme and have been going crazy with idea's for decorations, food, invites, outfits etc. I found this adorable outfit on etsy (which is an AMAZING site) with a tutu and onsie included for about 50 bucks. I had talked to my friend Steph at work, who has a little one turning one in about a week (same day as Cole) and she got Gemma (her daughter of course :) a custom made outfit with a tutu from Bundle of Joy in Waverly, but mentioned how they could be pretty easy to make. So that got the wheels cranking in my head and I thought "I can make one, I am pretty creative and it can't be that hard". So I ventured out to Hobby Lobby and bought some tulle and ribbon, you tubed "how to make a sew free tutu", and began my mission. I was RIGHT! HOW EASY. Took me maybe an hour all together to cut the tulle and make the tutu and guess what... it cost under 4 dollars. I spent 8-9.00$ at hobby lobby but I have enough left to make at least one more if not two. Maybe I should start selling them for 30-40, that's a pretty good mark up. The pictures do not do the tutu justice, it is so sparkly and bright. Little miss Ava will be ready for any dress up day as Mom will be making many more tutus throughout her child hood! Thanks Grandma Kay for the pictures, your camera showed them a little better then mine!

*.*.* 8 months *.*.*



Well this 8th month post doesn't have all the excitement that the previous posts have had, and there was a good reason why this post is late this month. Although Ave was OK on the 11th of Feb, on the 12th we were in Urgent Care in Waverly. She had been having a consistent cough that was getting worse, and getting to the point that she was gagging from coughing and throwing up food. Come to find out not only did she have an ear infection, she was also diagnosed with RSV (which stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus). This is the first time she has been actually sick, and it sure did come in with a bang! She has been a pretty happy girl for the most part, we have been to the Dr's office twice in the last 4 days, and have been having to do breathing treatments with her every four hours. At first she was having no part of it, but now it's like she knows that it helps her and is getting used to it, so its getting easier. It's been hard for Cole and I a few times because we started using a mask on her in order for more medication to get into her lungs and she wanted NO part of that so we had to hold her down :( The whole time we are like "love you hunny, sorry" We are only doing it to make her better but you just feel so bad as she is screaming for 10 minutes, couldn't they make the treatments a little quicker? She couldn't go to daycare as well because RSV is very contagious to kids under two. I was able to stay home with her Monday, and luckily my mom had already preplanned having this week off as it was her birthday week. She was able to watch her yesterday and today (thanks again Grandma!) and the Dr. gave the OK for her to return to daycare tomorrow.
On a happier note she is becoming more and more independent. She still isn't crawling, but she can scoot, and for some reason is very good at going backwards! She is trying to pull herself up on EVERYTHING, again I think she might skip crawling and just start walking. She has 2 teeth now, one on bottom and one on top. She is also very vocal and "talks" to us all the time. It has been tough watching her be sick, but on the flip side we have to be thankful she's been as healthy as she has! It could always be worse!
 Love you baby girl, sorry your first Valentine's day wasn't the sweetest, but we will have many more to celebrate and your our perfect valentine!



At the Dr. right before getting diagnosed with RSV. She was having a party, ripping up the paper. The nurses said they wished all sick babies were like her.

Second stop at the Dr's. Making sure she was getting better.

Ava getting her breathing treatment before we got the mask.



Lucky Number 7

I know I say this almost every month but where has the time gone? Our baby is 7 months already! She's not gonna be a baby for very much longer.. pretty soon we will have a toddler! Updates with Ava since her 6 month post, she still has NO teeth, I have been thinking she's been teething since 3 months, and nothing is popping through! Shows what I know, I guess we can attribute her fussiness at times to Ava just being Ava.  She is making a little more progress towards crawling, she can wiggle herself around and get up on her hands, but still can't seem to figure out the leg part. At times it seems that she is just going to skip crawling all together and start walking. The other morning I had her in the crib playing with toys while I was putting make-up on. I walked in to talk to her and low and behold she is holding onto the railing and pulling herself up. I am thinking "really child, you are not supposed to be doing this yet, you haven't even crawled". The look on my face I'm sure was priceless. I grabbed her out of the crib quickly and held her close kissing her multiple times on top of the head and swaying back and forth. I guess I was trying to savor her littleness...I'm not sure I want a big girl yet! She is starting to learn how to give kisses....sorta. She will perch out her lips then begin spitting or "blowing bubbles" as she leans towards your face, sometimes she just opens her mouth wide and plants one on ya. Being her mom I love it...the more slobber the better!
She has said her first word...if you can call it a word. It's "oh"...she says it whenever she notices something or something catches her attention like, the cat, something on t.v., a toy, or daddy. I think it's her way of letting us know she's paying attention and wanting one of us to see what she's seeing. It's adorable because her mouth forms in an O and stays that way for about 10 seconds. Love it.
Hmmm, what else... I could go on and on but I feel like I am being one of "those" mom's who thinks her child is the greatest thing that has ever entered creation, which she is! :)
Ava, Mommy and Daddy love you so much, and can't wait to watch you grow and grow. You may be getting to go out in the snow for the first time soon, I hear we are supposed to actually experience winter tonight! Should be fun and looking forward to seeing how cute you are in you snow suit!