"Divine Design"

"Families by Divine Design" was the them of an Adoption Conference we went to this weekend. It was put on by FSA-Families Supporting Adoption, which I think is a support/advocite organization that is branched off of LDS Family Services for adoption. I just have to say, it was AMAZING! I've been reading books and researching on the web about Adoption for years now, but meeting people that have been through the process and in all different situations was the best. We went to lots of different classes pertaining to all subjects of the adoption process and people involved. I just feel uplifted and more sure that this is our next step.....and I'm EXCITED! We still aren't sure when we'll actually start or which way to go. We are deciding between LDS Family services or adopting from the State Foster care system. I was really glad we went so that Jeremy could learn alot more also, as he hasn't been the one researching the topic. One of the best things I learned from the conference is how amazing birth mothers are!!! There was a couple ladies there that had placed their babies for adoption and their stories are very emotional and hard, but they all feel so blessed by the process and feel total peace with their decision. To my friend who will read this (not naming you), that is such an wonderful gift you gave your baby and I'm sure to the adoptive parents. I've gained a better perspective on the whole process and I have a strong feeling this is the route to building our family, I think the Lord has been preping me for this.

I just wanted to share that with all of you. Even though we spent 5 hours in classes on Friday and 6 hours today, I'm more excited for this new journey from all I've learned! I'm open to any questions or advice or experiences from any of you out there! Love to you all!

End note: My Grandparents (Ava's Great Grandparents) rock for watching Ava while we attended! She's always an angel for others when we aren't around-thank heavens!

Make way for her Royal Highness....

Here is my little Princess Ava! Dang she looked cute. At 4pm we went to downtown Gresham to go Trick-or-treating at the retail shops there. There is always quite the crowd of kids, so we went right when it started. Ava was totally unsure of what was going on and why she was carrying a bucket and having candy put into it. (Though I don't think she knew it was candy until we got in the car and opened some!) Then we went home, had dinner and the kids starting coming around. Ava and I took off in the car to stop by some church members home. When we got to "Baby Kaelynn's house" we went trick or treating around their neighborhood w/ them. Ava must have tripped 2 or 3 times, one good crying spell. Got freaked out once by a fog machine and talking skeleton. And w/out Mom noticing, stuck a chocolate eyeball in her mouth w/ the wrapper still on. I only noticed when chocolate was running down her chin...oh yum. Then we went home and handed out candy while Ava ate her fair share of what she got. Jeremy and his parents were game playing non-stop. All in all, we had a great Halloween! Can't wait for next year.

Daddy, just let me eat my sucker....

I'm done w/ this poofy dress already!

Grandma, Grandpa & Ava

Daddy, Ava & Mommy

And today Jeremy's parents got on a plane and flew back to Minnesota. We had a great time while they were here, especially Ava. She really likes her Grandpa. And they spoiled her for her birthday and let her pick out a dolly (and let me pick her out some clothes), well she picked out Twin babies. Then we took her to Toys R us and she got a baby crib, stroller, and highchair thanks to Aunt Terry's money gift. She is in BABY HEAVEN! And she's pretty good about carrying her twins all around, my sweet little Mommy! Now it's back to normal life for awhile, until all the Holidays come.....

2 year old stats!

Ava had her 2 year check-up yesterday. Of course they included 2 shots-regular flu shot and some other vaccine (I'm so bad at remeber names or why they even need them!!). All afternoon she was whinning/talking about the "owies" on her legs. Her Dr is always amazed at the giant she keeps becoming.

Stats:
34.4 lbs (In the 90 range-didn't tell me exactly)
38 in tall (98-99 percentile for height)

So at least she is getting taller and not fatter. My Mom even commented this past weekend that she is losing her baby fat and getting thin. I'm missing all those rolls. :(
Otherwise, she is a healthy, happy, developmently on track Toddler!

Now on to more family in town, Jer's parents arrive in less than 2 hours for 4 days of fun w/ their only Grandchild (and to see us of course).


Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween w/ their little munchkins- can't wait to see all the costumes!

Welcome to the Terrific TWO's!

We are just wrapping up our wonderful weekend with my family in town. Actually they all have left and just relaxing now. Ava turned 2 years old yesterday, what a fun day we had! This pic is of her and her cousin Kiera in their matching skirts, thanks to Aunt Shanda. They LOVED hanging out together, not that there weren't plenty of battles over toys, but Ava has been asking for her all night.

I think Ava's favorite gifts were the chair she is sitting in and the bottles to feed her Dolly. Kiera would sneak onto the chair everytime Ava got out of it. When Ava went to eat cake, I was told Kiera went straight to the chair!

Ava got a Little People's castle and lots of fun to go with it, even cousin Jessica loved it.

My Mom found a hat that was mine when I was Ava's age and gave it to her, she LOVES it! Especially when she can't see from under it...silly monkey!

We also celebrated my Gramps' 86th (Oct25) birthday and my nephew Kaels' 5th birthday (Nov 9th). I made Ava a Horse cake (which I must say is the cutest thing yet that I've made-I'm quite proud), Kael got a dirt/rock/worm cake and Gramps got a Pecan Pie (store-bought). Lots of goodies for all.

I'm sooooo very thankful for my sweet, crazy, silly, beautiful, funny, ACTIVE little Princess! She has brought lots of happiness and joy to our family. Her sweet little laugh melts my heart and makes me want to cry tears of love. Her kisses are so tender and heartfelt, she is very kind and loving. Always concerned when someone is sad and trys to cheer them up. She has Daddy all wrapped around her little fingers, he is her BEST friend! And Mommy is always needed when she gets an "oowie." Ava is quite the little Mommy herself, making sure her baby is sleeping and eating well and always snuggled in her blankie. What would my life be without this little Angel??? I don't like to think about it, just count my blessings and be thankful for what I've been given! Happy Birthday my big Girl Ava!!!

Random fun times!

Cute pic, for once I got a good smiling photo! Can't believe this gal will be 2 years old 5 days....

Yummy yum Pudding, had to take the shirt off for this! It pretty much became Body Art.

Fall is upon us, LOVE the color change of the trees and all the leaves on the ground (though they are a mess to clean up). We are getting rain on and off like usual for this time of year. Had to turn the heat on in the house the other day, getting chilly at night.

Daddy and Ava got a hold of the camera, they had some fun!

I posted a comment on Facebook last week about Ava LIKING football, it's just not right!!! But she likes to sit by her Daddy and watch when she can. I thought she looked all cute laying in front of the TV to watch it, though I can't stand to Sport.

We are getting ready for my parents & my oldest brother Brian and his 2 kids to come down this weekend, then on Saturday my Grandparents and Uncle & his clan will come over for Ava's party. Then the next week we have Jeremy's parents coming for about 4 days. We'll be a bit busy, but it's always good to see the family!

Construction completed!!!!

Our master bath is FINISHED!!! Only took about 3 months since Jeremy was out of town for a month...but it's done and looks fabulous! Here is the shower after I had a blast knocking tile off the wall. There was alot of mold in the drywall, which is the main reason it had to be done.

But it was also an UGLY bathroom and very outdated, so it needed done.

Ava wanted to be Daddy's little helper the whole time, so he had to work at night while she was sleeping. Jeremy did another awesome tile job and design in this bathroom. He's learned some good skills w/ all these projects.

Okay, that cabinet was supposed to go over the sink, but Jer installed the lights too low and the top of the cabinet blocked the light too much. So no there are 2 mirrors in the bathroom, oh well.

I'm loving the black, my favorite! And in this bathroom we did brushed Nickel fixtures, looks really good I think. I didn't get a good pic of the light fixture, but it's pretty fancy. The mirror is supposed to rotate up and down, but takes alot of effort for some reason, so it'll just stay in that position.

We were going to re-tile the bathroom, but ended up finding an insert that was a decent price and sooooo much easier to install and clean! We decided not to put a door back on like it used to have, they just get to grimmy, and cleaning bathrooms are not my favorite activity. So anything to make the job easier I'm all for it! It's hard to tell in the pics, but the wall color is called Pebble stone, like a light grey. I wanted something a little darker, but it matches the tile well and looks pretty good.

That SHOULD be our last major project in this house. I told Jer I'd stay here maybe 2-3 more years, then I want something a bit bigger. I already feel stuffed in here and if we add more kids to this family, we'll be crowded. But we've made this place look way better than what it was when we moved in 4 1/2 yrs ago. If we stayed much longer, I'd make Jer re-do the kitchen, but thats not going to happen. Now what do we do w/ all Jeremy's free time???

Should have been napping...

Yesterday, when Ava was supposed to be going to sleep, she decided it was more fun to JUMP in her crib. I was cleaning when I heard a thud and some fierce screaming begin...somehow she bit down or hit her mouth, either way she bit her lip pretty good. Once we cleaned up all the blood (and there was LOTS), she settled down to nap. But when she awoke I had to document this incident w/ a photo! Too cute :)

Thanks to my boss man taking off LOTS of time this year, and I mean lots, I got to spend most the week playing w/ Ava. So Monday we ventured to the Zoo to see the new exhibits, the Lions! Ava did not like this statue, I tried to get her to kiss it, not a chance Mommy...

Lazy Lions...but oh so cute! Ava kept "roaring" at them.

Lately Ava has really become a little Mommy. She's always loved babies and her Dolly, but recently Dolly comes w/ us everywhere and sleeps w/ her. If she doesn't sleep w/ her at night, Ava is asking about her the minute she gets up and runs to find her and squeals w/ joy "I find her!" Dolly has got some pretty bad hair, not much can be done about that.

Ava has also become good at making scary faces, somehow I think she got it from the song "If you're happy and you know it." Instead of pushing her lips up to make a smile, she pulls them down. Silly girl.

I soooo can't believe she'll be 2 in 2 1/2 weeks, that's just crazy to me! Of course it makes me sad to know my baby isn't a baby anymore and I may never have another baby again. I'm still holding out on a tiny piece of hope that it may just happen, but I'm not counting on it. In some weird way I just knew this last cycle wasn't going to work, I knew I'd get that call saying my embryos didn't make it, but I still had a little hope. I think maybe God was preparing me and I guess me not hoping too much made the let down a little easier to take. Sorry that I'm rambling on, I'm just missing my baby Ava, but I LOVE the big girl she is becoming. She makes me laugh everyday, like today at the library. She has to say hi to EVERYONE we pass when we are out. So at the quiet library, she is loudly saying Hi to everybody we walked by. Even if they weren't looking at her. She is such a sweet, silly little girl!