picking peaches

This oh-so-cute farm just outside the city has strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, nectarines, apples and pumpkins available to pick during the summer/their season. We went as a family on Saturday and gobbled up the amazing peaches and nectarines - so fun! Ava was in HEAVEN...always begging for more of any fruit she could get her hands on - full manifestation of the fruit gene!

look at that joy!

happy as can be

full mouth...and look at that yummy juice!

we didn't even have to use a ladder :)

milestones

Ava took her first steps yesterday!!! She even performed for her grandma and grandpa on 

g-chat video.  We are so excited! 

(photos of Ava's Seattle birthday party - courtesy of Lar)

our sweet girl turns 1!

I'm so far behind...


Ava Mae turned 1 on July 23rd, so we held a little gathering in her honor. It was lady bug themed in honor of her favorite blankie (thanks Jamie for the idea!). We had cupcakes and brownies and invited some friends over. I had planned to have everyone outside in our yard, but mother nature decided torrential downpour was the order of the day so we squished everyone inside instead. Made for a cozy evening, but the kids seemed to have fun!

We have made some great friends here in Boston and their support really means a lot to us! Mel and Derrick (above) just had their first - what a sweet baby.

Jamie, Bryson, Eliza and Rachel, Hailey and Ethan (two of the 5 kids from the ward who were born within 3 weeks of Ava)

This is the face of pure joy. We got a great video of the cupcake action and I will get it up soon. Let's just say she was not letting go of that cupcake for ANYTHING!

This is a perfect portrayal of our life these days - Ava always wanting to be touching me/in my lap and I am constantly trying to reassure her that she is okay sitting on her own.

She got a lot of great books from our wonderful friends!

Thank you again to all our friends who were able to come!

1 year stats:

Height: 31.25 inches (97th percentile)

Weight: 23 lbs 14 oz (86th percentile - a big girl!)

Head: 97th percentile

At 1 year, Ava is curious, happy, sweet and chatty! She doesn't have any real words yet (to my sheer amazement), but she jabbers up a storm and is constantly "talking" to me. She started sucking her finger a couple weeks ago, and it is her new favorite thing (see above picture!). She LOVES pulling things out of the bathroom cupboards, and still puts a lot of things in her mouth. She loves playing peek-a-boo, cuddling with her blankie, and greeting daddy when he comes home from work. She has an amazingly infectious laugh and great smiles, but those who aren't around her often have to work hard to see them. She is cautious around new people but loves to be out and about. She still refuses to sleep on airplanes and loves walking while holding on to our hands. She can unload the bookshelf in 5 seconds flat, loves bubbles and laughs at Toy Story. She is my cuddle bug, "punky" and sweetheart, and we have sure enjoyed her 1st year of life!

more eating adventures

This girl loves to eat. I feel like more than half the videos we have of her and from this angle, eating one thing or another. This one is pretty funny - we gave her a mango seed with some mango on it to suck on. She had a hard time holding on to it, but sure got testy if it fell down!

Check out the excitement 35 seconds in...

another yummy recipe

We have been on a white chocolate kick lately, and what is better with white chocolate, than macadamia nuts? Enter the best white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe EVER.


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
from All Recipes

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Trust me on this one, you won't be disappointed!

image from http://www.visionsofsugarplum.com/2008/04/white-chocolate-macadamia-nut-cookies.html

a few more...

Our internet was out for a week and a half. I kind of hated it. And I kind of loved it all at the same time. Now I'm having a serious relationship crisis with Facebook. We may be on the fritz.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures. The first is to show Grammie how much hair Ava has! (yes, I know the piggies are kind of ghetto...it's just for a picture!)

The second is to document how many teeth Ava has at 11 months. Can you see the little molar? That popped out without us knowing. Weird.

And two more cute videos. I couldn't resist. Some days, this is what we do...a lot.

And finally...I KNEW there was a budding musician in there! Look at that pure delight!

discovering watermelon, cute smiles and some talking

While I was away, Erik introduced Ava to watermelon...and so it begins! 

(and p.s., she is eating spaghetti again! hooray!)