I have a ONE Year Old! (And my hubby is another year older)

It's about time I blogged about the Birthdays we celebrated in August!

Jeremy got older on August 18th! Guess how old?
Oh wait, there it is. He didn't want a cake this year, only Oreo Truffles.
And he wouldn't let me buy him any gifts, how lame is that? I did find him a new t-shirt, but wish I could have thought of something more. Oh well, his choice.

And this Little Princess turned ONE on August 31st!!!

We celebrated the weekend before in WA at my Mom's house. I attempted to make some cute Cake Pops, but didn't freeze the cake long enough and they were falling off the sticks...and it was late at night, so I gave up. Instead she got a yummy Baskin Robins Ice Cream Cake.

She loved her balloon!

Ava eating up her cake!

Ava got to stay the previous week with her Grandma and played with her cousins alot.

She had a great time and I had a relaxing week with just Ava & I (Jeremy was in training in Seattle). Thanks Mom!!!

And she LOVED her Ice Cream Cake!

She picked up her first piece by the cake end and ate the ice cream off, it was cute.

Jeremy thought her piece was too big, but she devoured the whole thing and would have liked her tray if she could reach it.

Yep, I'm a cute mess!!!

Gift time! But she really didn't care to help open them. She wanted to play the piano and some wood pieces under the piano legs.

Mya & Daddy on her Birthday!

We have a pic of Ava on her birthday wearing the same dress in the same position, Jeremy had to re-enact the whole picture with Mya.

My sweet, happy Mya! Oh how I love you and how you've made my life so much brighter!

I'm so grateful that God saw fit to add her to our family, she is truly a blessing!!!

Mya facts:

Standing up for a few seconds at a time and can take 2 to 3 steps before falling. Loves playing by herself and exploring the whole house. Hates her sister picking her up and moving her all the time, that's the only time she gets mad. Loves to venture outside and get in the play car and wait for us to push her (today she got in the wagon by herself and waited for Daddy). Loves to babble, but started saying 'Hi' and 'Up' and kind of says Daddy. LOVES her Daddy! Started giving kisses, or at least leaning in for one. Has the cutest little curls in the back of her head, LOVE them! Currently has 5 teeth with 2 more about to pop.

Weighs 21.5 lbs=53%

Height 31 1/2 inches=98%

Jeremy thinks we need to fatten her up more, not used to seeing our kids in the "average" range for anything. But of course her Doctor said she's just fine! And to me she's perfect!!!

Happy Birthday Mya!!!!

Part 4: Last leg of the trip: UTAH!

Time to finish our trip, we've only been home from it for 3 weeks now!

Last leg=Utah!

We arrived on Wed. the 10th, my sister Melissa's BIRTHDAY!!!

We joined her and her hubby Andy for dinner at Olive Garden. I think we provided the entertainment with Mya screaming for food and Ava just being Ava. Good birth control for those that don't have kids yet!!! Then she opened gifts (except I hadn't gotten her one yet, so I took her shopping!) and we had yummy Cold Stone Ice Cream cake.
Happy #29 Aunt Lissa!!!

The next day we hit up In and Out....Jeremy's favorite! Man that place is busy, we had to watch for people leaving their table and make a mad dash to get it, crazy. Then us girls went shopping and Jeremy & Ava went to some Dinosaur museums.

Then we had some bubble & squirt gun play. I like this pic of Ava shooting the bubble. My sisters yard has LOTS of grass to run around in, kind of nice.

Aunt Lissa and the girls. Why couldn't Ava have smiled as cute as the other two?

Then there was craft time. Melissa bought a kit of sun catchers for Ava to paint, I think she spent a whole hour occupied with it. That's amazing for Ava's attention span, note to self: lots more painting projects in the future!

The next day (Friday) Jeremy & Ava went for a walk and got followed all around by this cute kittie. But then we couldn't get it to go away. Ava had a great time playing with it though, she loves cats. Thank heavens I'm allergic though. :)

We also went to Lindon Aquatic center, which we have been to before when Ava was younger. It is so much fun and cheap! Ava could have played in the Lazy River all day. Our friend Heather Crozier and her son Gabe met us there for a little bit. She used to live in OR and go to church with us, but then they moved about 3 or so years ago. Fun to see them.

Me & my Sis (and Mya sleeping under the towel)

And now she's awake and happy! Cute girl.

Thanks to my Sis & Andy for putting up with us and all the good times we had! So wish they were closer, miss that girl.

Saturday morning we packed up, headed to La Grande, OR and stayed with my Mom's cousin Sarah. Then drove the last 4 hours home on Sunday. Now I need to catch up with the rest, like Jeremy & Mya's Birthdays!!!!!

Vegas Baby!!!!

Part 3 of our Road Trip: Vegas!

For those that don't know, I grew up in Vegas. Or at least spent about 14 years of my life there.

We moved because it's hotter than Hell there, which is dumb to choose to visit in the middle of August...but that's how it had to work out. Thankfully my Dad hooked us up in one of his Timeshares and the place had a fabulous pool and lazy river, so nice. Did I take pics of it, of course not, was having too much fun instead.

My baby brother Mark and his girlfriend Tray, aren't the cute together?

Glad he is finally dating someone tall, she's 5'10 (or 5'11) and he's 6'10, not too bad.

My Dad (or as Ava calls him "the Grandpa with the big belly") and Mya

Sorry Dad, had to add that in!Ready to go swimming! Could barely peel her away from the pools there.

Mya kept throwing her head back and giving me this goofy smile, that kid cracks me up!

My friend Korrie & baby Macaylah
Korrie was my BFF in Middle School and HS, but then she moved to Oregon. Then when I moved to Oregon she moved back to Vegas, weird. It was good to see her and her FOUR kids, they are sure cuties.

Mya was all over her, she just wanted to bonk heads and poke out eyes.

Take notice of Jeremy's belly burn, that happened in Cali after taking off his water shirt and not sunscreening!

I'm totally bummed I didn't take pics of my friend Megan and her fiance Bryan, they came to visit us at the hotel for a BBQ with my Dad and others. It was a quick trip, arrived Monday afternoon and left Wednesday morning. It was fun to see how much Vegas has changed and see the ones I love, but I sure don't miss the heat (112 on Tuesday!).

Road Trip: Part 2: Arizona!

Cali was great for a week, but we had a whole other week of adventures!

Next stop: Northern Arizona, near Payson. Grandma's Cabin.

I have not been here since we moved to Oregon 7 years ago and I've soooo missed it.

Parker (my cuz Janell's son), Addie (cuz Rachel's girl) & Ava

Ava loved playing with her new friend.
Cousin Rachel and Baby Boy!

Besides seeing my Grandma, this was what I wanted to do there, ride her ATV!

Ava did NOT want to ride, but we threw her on, shoved some fruit snacks in her mouth, and away they went. Down the rode we heard her laughing, silly kid. She gets so scared sometimes.

Then I took a ride and when I came back she wanted to go, then ran away, but we got her on again. She kept telling me to go really slow, saying that's good enough Mom, no faster. I am kind of a chicken riding it on the trails, my brothers and boy cousins would be so ashamed of my speed. But it's still so fun!

My brother Andrew came up for the day (he's going to school in Prescott, AZ). Ava wouldn't go with him, but was willing to sit for a picture.

Nice, huh? My cousin Rob hit & killed a deer on his way to the cabin.

Thankfully no one was hurt, except his BMW and the deer.

My family & Grandma Flick

We love her to pieces!

Back on the rode again.

With all that driving and not much to do, Mya taught herself peek-a-boo.

It was soooo cute!

We arrived at the cabin on Sat, Aug 6th and left Monday morning. Too short, but still worth it.

My Aunt's family was there because they were going to visit my Uncle's grandparents in Mesa, so it was a full house with 15 people to fit in. But it was great to see them all in one place. And Andrew came for all of Sunday, so we got to catch up with him.

Next post.....Vegas Baby!!!

Cali Beach Trip 2011

We just returned from a 2 WEEK vacation...I think that's the longest I've ever been away from home! We clocked a total of 62 1/2 hours of driving and 3500 miles, that's the downfall. There will be multiple posts to document all the places we went, but we'll start with the first..CALIFORNIA!!!

The girls are ready to get to the beach...let's go!

First day playing in the water, boy it was COLD! Ava never went very far in, she was always chasing and running from the waves. Though Jeremy let a semi-strong wave take her down, but he was there to rescue her.

One of the 3 pics of me, not my favorite place to be pictured. You will see NO pics of me in a bathing suit any day soon! But Mya is looking good and scandalous in her too big suit.

(SEE THE FIRST PIC...I accidently deleted it, but then couldn't get it in the right place!!)

Sleeping Beach Baby!

We practiced my Aunt Mary's tried and true method of the "Dunk & Nap"

You strip your baby of clothing, dunk in the freezing cold water to remove the mounds of sand, then wrap up and put down to nap. Worked like a charm every time! But she became fearful when near the water, sorry baby.

And she ate sand, pooped sand, became part of sand!

And sucked sand off rocks.

Oh ya, looking good!

Even just licked the sand right off the ground.

Didn't bother me a bit, I just let her do her thing and enjoy it!

Jessica, Ava & I made Jeremy into a Mermaid. And it was Jessica that gave him a "chest", not I!

LOTS of Suncream was used in this week and still lots of burning took place on this poor little white girl. Not a happy camper when having it rubbed on with a burn and sand mixed in!

We called them her "Angel Wings".

50 proof Sunscreen doesn't do a thing for this girl.

Lot of holes were dug and played in. Made the perfect wading pool for Mya.

Mya even learned how to dig, see her tracks?

Small buckets of water are better than the ocean to play in.

The last day we were there my cousin Audra & Family came a day early to see us and meet Miss Mya (they were there the next week with alot of my other family that stays for 2 weeks at a time). Audra is such a blast, wish we would have been able to do the second week with her.

Two of her cute kids playing with Mya. Mya got lots of love from everyone!

It was such a great week, though lots of work with little ones to clean up and keep track of. They both slept great in the tent with us and Ava had a cousin to play with all week. And of course lots of fun game playing and visiting at night. Not pictured is my Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary & 4 kids, Uncle Wayne & Aunt Stephanie & 4 kids, my Mom's cousin Sarah & hubby Les & 2 kids and some 2nd cousins. Not sure that we'll go next year, but maybe in 2 years we'll be back for more fun!

Baby Shower!

This past Friday I threw a Baby Shower for my friend Rachel and her baby girl Kaitlyn.

She's already a Mom to two little boys, so we had to celebrate the arrival of a GIRL!

Mya was in on the party to, she enjoyed the attention and didn't care that Mommy got to hold the Kaitlyn alot.
Haha! My friend Rebecca, bet she wouldn't like me posting this pic.
We played the Candy Bar Poopy diaper guessing game, too fun.

The guest of Honor, Miss Kaitlyn Lucille!

She'll need to grow into the headband & ribbon clip I made her, she's sooo tiny.

A lady from church made her these little cowboy booties....stinking adorable!

Should have taken a pic before the food got eaten. But I made yummy choc dipped strawberries with pink choc drizzle on top and choc cupcakes with PB frosting. And of course served some healthier items as well. I had orginally spent 3 nights making cheesecake pops, but then it was slightly undercooked and way to soft after they got dipped in chocolate. Jeremy didn't approve of me serving, so I threw them in the freezer and now I'll get fatter eating them. Oh well, live and learn.

Ava modeling the clip I made, turned out cute, but kind of bulky.

And I made this cute applique onesie for the baby.

I had to experiment and make a Diaper Cake, I've been wanting to make one for awhile now.

I forgot to take a pic of the final results, I put fake flowers around the top and couple on the other layers. I've seen alot of cute ones where they attach binkies and toys and other baby items, but I'd already spent enough money on the whole shower, so I kept it simple.

It was so much fun to plan and carry out, though I wish I would have gotten invites out sooner. We still had about 8 women and some kids come to play with Ava, so it was good!