Catch up time....

I've been meaning to put of some pics from our Thanksgiving weekend, just too busy w/ the RS dinner (womens organization at church). Whew, it's over now and I'm ready to enjoy the rest of December now. So my bro and his family came down Thanksgiving weekend and stayed at my house, which was a blast. Thankfully sleeping went a little bit better than their last visit, we all survived. My Aunt & Uncle across town hosted dinner, think we had 28 relatives total there. Lots of good food and good company.

Kiera, Shanda (baby Liam~due in Feb!!!) & Ava~kicking back in their jammies.

Someone stuck olives on the girls fingers, Kiera wasn't a fan...

...but Ava was and i think she filled up her fingers a second time. Yuck! So not my child.

Too much good food, could use a nap!
Trish~Shanda~Grams Clift

The cousins cruisin' together in my minivan (it's the coolest since it has the DVD player!).

And check out the back windshield, it was a HORRIBLY wet day on Thanksgiving, but suprising clear and nice the 2 days before it. Go figure.

The next day we went to a nearby pond and let Kael do some fishing. The rest of us tried to keep the girls from falling off the dock....

....ooops, slipped in some mud! I knew that was going to happen.

Big teeth Trish & cutie pie Ava. :) (Seriously hope Ava doesn't inherit my teeth, really serious)

My oldest brother Brian & his girl Kiera

Gone fishin' Jeremy wanted take Kael fishing, and since J doesn't have a license but kids can fish for w/out one, it worked out. Not that he caught anything, but he was very serious about it. Jeremy needs a little boy!


We just got back for a Sing-a-long w/ some church members & had lots of goodies, so much for going to the gym this morning. Speaking of which, note to all~ eat lots of protein and good carbs before taking Nazi class. I almost passed out a couple times, just got really dizzy and vision got blurry. I had to leave the class early, how embarassing! I normally do this class at night, but thought I'd give the 9:45am one a shot. Learned my lesson.

To add in a funny moment: Last night Jeremy playfully smacked Ava on the butt, well she turned to him and said all seriously, "Daddy, you HURT my butt." I just died laughing...good thing she doesn't know what a real spanking feels like! Funny girl.

Oh how they grow....

2 days old...

2 months old...

5 months old...

10 months old.... (my favorite hair)

15 months old...

17 months old..

19 months old...

2 years old!!!

I wanted to do this when Ava turned 2, which was a couple weeks ago now. But Ava and I were looking over her photos (when she was supposed to be sleeping, but wouldn't) and I thought I'd do it today. Their are times I can't even remeber what having that little baby around was like, I know we did alot of laying around just staring at eachother! I LOVE the little lady she's becoming, even with the sassy attitude I get at times. I know I posted it on Facebook, but we hit a big milestone! GOT RID OF BINKIE! That thing has been plaguing me for months. Not that I think she is too old for it, but when I'm still woken up 1-3 times a night because she's lost the dumb thing, it's more than time to GO! It's been a week now, and we are doing pretty good. It takes a little longer to go to sleep at night now, but most the nights she has slept through okay. Hooray for sleep! And suprisingly she's only asked for it a couple of times. She is such a BIG girl now.

Who ready for TURKEY DAY???? Cause I am! And the minor detail of my birthday 2 days before, but who really cares about that....

My 2nd try....

This post is just to brag about my highly accomplished skills on the sewing machine! HA! So far from that, but I kept at it and made Ava yet another dress. This one was much easier, but still took me way longer than it should have. I have another one planned to make for another special little girl for Christmas (not giving away names though-and it's not Ava).....

Ava is getting a "little" better at smiling for the camera, just looks awkward though. She sure loves her TWINS though, thanks to Grandma & Grandpa Frey.

Modeling her new dress. Thanks to my Mom for showing me how to sew on the buttons a couple weeks ago, how lame is it that I couldn't even do something so simple. I toss clothes in a pile that need their buttons back on, but now I can actually do it!

Just had to take a pic of her being a good little Mommy and feeding her baby!

We are excited for Thanksgiving and seeing some of the family again (also for my BIRTHDAY a couple days before!). I just LOVE this time of year and all the celebrating and being with Family!

"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!!!