Tanny

We decided to put out another bird feeder this year. The other one died in our hurricane like winds we get here. We are attracting some cool birds this year. Jason snapped a pic of my favorite bird that has been hanging around. I looked it up online and it is called a Western Tanager. Hannah has named it Tanny. What a surprise, since everything she names has a "y or ie" at the end. Example, her dolls: Gracie, Dolly, Cutie, Bunny, Sammy...now there is Tanny her pet backyard bird. He is pretty cool looking. He has a bright orange head and a bright yellow body. His wings are black with some yellow stripes on them.
Yesterday he brought his girlfriend with him. They were k-i-s-s-i-n-g at the bird feeder.

Friends

When we lived in good ol' Provo, we had the best friends and neighbors anyone could ask for, Adam and Hanni. Then we moved here and they moved to NY. They have since moved back west and they were here in Utah to visit and so we set up a time for us to get together. We have added one more babe to our fam and so have they. Parker, Hannah and Finn got really close when we lived next to each other, even though the kids were tiny, they just got along so well and when they finally saw each other again, it was like they had never been apart.

Finn, Parker, Hannah, Ava and Tiig. What a bunch of cuties!
These three kids are hilarious. Parker was so excited to see Finn.

Crazy kiddies!

Love this picture of them all laughing!

It was so good to see Adam and Hanni and their kids, hopefully we get to see them again soon!

Ava's 2 Year Checkup

We headed to the doc to have Ava's 2 year check up. She is VERY healthy. She loves Dr. Wynn and Nurse Vicki. When they called her name and we were walking to go back to the room, she turned to me and waved and said, "Bye Mom." Um, sweetie I come with you. Yeah, she would have ditched me for Vicki and Dr. Wynn in a heartbeat. Ava's favorite part about the Doctor...the spinning chair, the mirror and the fact she gets a sucker at the end. I think she likes the doctors office more than the park.

I am thinking our girls are pretty dang cute.
Ava finally realizing that I am behind the camera. She was shocked and so surprised, it was hilarious.

I have no idea what she is doing here. She was showing me her serious side I guess. Silly babe.

Then we had to play on the chair for a good ten minutes.

Then we had to have 1 of 20 snacks why we patiently wait for our turn.

Me and my squishy puff. Notice how much she loves when I take self portraits of us.

It was a successful trip. Ava is one healthy babe and she is growing right on track.

She weighed in at 31 pounds and I love that she still has some little chubby rolls on her legs. She had to get one shot and she didn't even cry. She just gave Vicki a crusty look and then pointed at her band aid and said, "Mom owie." She is one tough cookie. And of course, she got her sucker and a sticker at the end. She was on cloud nine.

The Tower

To say we were impressed with our kids blanket/pillow tower is an understatement. I mean seriously, the way they stole all the pillows and blankets off of every freshly made bed in the house was amazing. Then they took chairs for the bottom support and stacked all the blankets and pillows on top of them and boom, you have yourself a blanket/pillow tower aka a gigantic mess. They also made themselves a secret door. They were pretty impressed with themselves.

The secret entrance.

What is in her mouth?

Sneaking back in.

Even though this was a huge mess, they played together for hours. These babes make me laugh!

Ava Karen

2 Years Old. Dear Ava,

On May 18th, 2009 you arrived to us bright and early. You were chubby, oh so chubby. I honestly thought you didn't have a nose because your face was just cheeks and big dark eyes. You didn't even cry. You just looked around with those big eyes and took everyone and everything in. You were already curious. I should have known right then that you would take us on an adventure. You have always been feisty, smart and silly. You are the first to make a mess and the first to help clean it up. You are mischievous, but love when you get caught because you think it is so funny. You love to laugh and your laugh is loud, just like your Mama. You have a smile that is contagious and a scowl that scares even grown men away. You are a fighter for what you want and you are determined to have your way. But, you can also be so sweet and loving. You love to give slobbery kisses and you are quite the cuddler when you want to be. You love your Papas and your Daddy, but are still a Mamas girl at heart.

You have some mad dance moves. You can shake, shimmy and jump like a pro. You are daring and want to try whatever the older kids are doing like climbing trees, playing on rope swings, jumping off furniture, going down slides backwards, swinging "oh so high." You are an eater, you can eat half a steak and a side a potatoes and top it off with a capri sun like it is no biggie at all. You love all veggies, all fruit, but you love sugar the most. Hershey kisses, smarties, suckers and cake are you all time favorite sweets. You love your brother and call him Bubba. You are always asking, "Where Bubba?" even if he is sitting right next to you. You want to be just like your sister Hannah. You follow her everywhere and do everything that she does and even try to copy what she says. You love your woofie Jed. You still call him "Dead" and are constantly feeding him. You are Dad and Moms special babe, you always have been. We knew it the minute you came to us. We knew you would be different, that you would help our family realize how important we are to one another. We knew you would teach us to be more grateful and to love each other more and you have. Each and every day you make us laugh and we fall more in love with you and each other. We can't wait to see you grow and become a marvelous, sweet, strong willed, giving and caring woman. We know you are destined for many great and wonderful things. We Love you Ava.

Lots of Love, Dad and Mom

Ava Turns 2!!!

Our Sweet, Feisty baby turned TWO on May 18th. We can't believe our squishy puff babe is getting so grown up. This little lady is a bundle of energy and we love her to pieces!!

Here she is the morning of her birthday. I asked her how old she was and she flashed me the "two." We have been practicing this forever and she never does it when I asked, so I was one excited mama when she finally did it! We chose to do an Elmo Birthday party, since Ava is OBSESSED with Elmo, which she calls "Melmo." When she came down the stairs on her birthday and saw all the Elmo balloons and decorations she ran around screaming. To say she was excited, was an understatement. There were a few moments I thought she was going to pass out from screaming.
The Elmo cake. She loved it!

When Ava realized that this party was all about her, she was on cloud nine. Lots of screaming, giggling, clapping and smiling. This babe is the best!

The goodies! In the jars was Ava's favorite treats: Hershey kisses and smarties.

The entire time we sang Happy Birthday to Ava she laughed hysterically. She was laughing so hard that she started tearing. It was classic!

How can you not LOVE this baby and want to give her squeezes and kisses all day?!?!?

Ava kept saying, "My Melmo. Mom, my Melmo."

So dainty. Yeah, right, she went to town on her piece of Elmo cake and then she needed an additional cupcake. That girl loves her some cake!

Chowin' down!

Hannah, Carter and Parker enjoying their cake!

Playing balloons with Grammie Olson. Ava was laughing so hard and thought Grammie was so funny.

Check me out peeps!

When I showed her her presents, this is what her reaction was. Such a drama queen!

Ryan and Carter got her an Elmo toy and she was pumped! It even came with a little stuffed Elmo doll. Ava refers to it as "Baby Melmo."

Carter and Hannah were sitting like this watching Ava open her gifts, so Ava stopped opening them and went over and sat down next to them and did the same thing they were doing. So funny!

What a cute bunch of kiddies!

Nana gave Ava 10 dollars. Ava went crazy. She was running around the room showing everyone her cash and jumping up and down. It was great!

Here she is checking out her moola. Later that day she went and put it in her purse.

Just chillin' on her new Princess couch courtesy of Papa and Grammie Olson.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL! We hope your day was as special and sweet as you are!