sunday pictures

Max (always holding a dinosaur) and Ava

Ian (who never stops talking) and Ava

I tried to snap photos of all three children after church today, lest the boys read this blog one day and feel bad about the overload of Ava pictures. But, to be honest, the only reason I have so many pictures of her is because she can't move yet. She is the only one who stays still long enough to have her picture taken. And she will be crawling in the next few months so I have to take them while I still can. Anyway, the boys argued about who got to sit on her right side until I solved things by taking two separate pictures.

Ian is constantly talking to Ava, and is easily frustrated when he doesn't think she is listening. He grabs her face with both hands and says "Ava! Did you hear me, Ava?" He is also constantly analyzing their differences. "Mom, Ava doesn't have eyebrows, but I do. And she doesn't have a pee-pee, but she has a bum just like me! And her poop is yellow mom, but mine is brown. Uh, what color is your poop mom? Oh, it's brown? But what about dad, is his brown too? Mom, Ava poops in her diaper just like me, but Max poops in the toilet. Mom, Ava is just a little baby, but I am a big, HUGE boy...(and so on and so forth)"

another sunday another dress...

Ava has way too many clothes. Most of them are gifts, scattered with hand-me-downs and thrift store finds. You would die if you saw all the dresses in her closet. Although she doesn't "need" it, I couldn't resist this blue number when I saw it at Nordstrom Rack last night.

She couldn't keep her tongue in her mouth for our post-church photo shoot. It is sticking out in 90% of the pictures I took. She can even touch the bottom of her chin with it...still trying to figure out if this is normal for her age or rare and unusual talent. She can also sit for a considerable amount of time without falling over. Not bad for five months.

(she fell over after a solid two minutes of sitting shots)

tootle bug

You would never guess by looking at these pictures that she spends most of her day making loud, flatulence-style noises with her tongue. She loves sitting (but still falls over occasionally). She loves any attention she can get from her brothers (which isn't much). She loves eating (as you can tell). Her chubby legs in leggings = my favorite thing ever.

kitchen overhaul

Making some progress on our kitchen overhaul. Now we need to find/install some back splash tile. I was going to go with simple white-ish subway tile, but it's hard to find in this southwestern-everything-is-stone state. When I asked the guy at the tile store to help me find the subway tile, he looked at me like I was an idiot and told me that it is very outdated and that I wouldn't find it anywhere in Arizona. I will find some, but I'm not so sure that I'm set on it. Any suggestions?

cake mix catastrophe

These dark brown eyes melt me. And I can't blame him. I love chocolate too.

pretty ava

This morning I put a dress on Ava that I had been saving for Easter (I know I'm late). I couldn't even button it. She is getting SO big. The first six months of having a baby are my fav. Mostly because there is lots of snuggling and not a lot of messes. I am not looking forward to feeding her real food in a few more weeks, and especially not looking forward to the transition to smelly diapers. Why can't they stay little forever?

these two

Seeing the world through the eyes of a two and three-year-old is quite entertaining. Today I'm loving Ian's obsession with fire hydrants. He explodes with enthusiasm when he sees one. Like it's the coolest thing EVER. "Mom, LOOK!!! It's a fire hydrant! A yellow one!"

Yesterday Max got a container of strawberries out of the fridge and started eating them while I was feeding the baby. Ian woke up from his nap and walked into the kitchen. When Max saw him he said "Ian, come eat strawberries with me! But these strawberries have weeds in them. First you have to pull the weed and then you can eat it...like this!" I had a large pile of "weeds" to clean up off of the floor when they were finished.

the room: sneak peek

The progress on Ava's room has been slow. I have been painting, thrifting, searching craigslist, sewing, and so forth. I scored great deals on a pink rocker, antique bed, and antique mirror...all lucky finds. The yo-yo mobile I made lasted about two days until one of the boys climbed into the crib, pulled it down, and destroyed it. Sigh + deep breath. Oh well. I don't love the lamp (spray painted goodwill find), and will probably make a different shade as I don't like how it turned out. The letter is my first experience with modge podge. I still have a long way to go. More pics to come...

yellow dress

I was sorting through some photos today and found these. Some friends gave me this outfit for my shower, and I was so excited when Ava was finally big enough to wear it to church. For the record, she is around four months old wearing a size 18 month dress. Thanks to a grumpy post church mood, these are the only pictures she isn't crying in. Thanks again!

go duke

This is what Max was wearing when I woke up this morning. J-P swears that Max requested to wear it, and that he had nothing to do with it. Max has been outside shooting hoops in his Duke shirt all day. I don't follow college basketball, but in the hope that Duke winning the championship helps J-P get a job...GO DUKE!

easter 2010

Here are the cousins posing with their Easter loot after the hunt. We had a lovely week with my mom and Nona (aunt jeri even came for a couple days). It was so great to have them both in town. We went to see the blooming desert, went to the zoo, played at the park, shopped, ate out, and went to the Easter pageant at the Mesa temple. The boys are currently experiencing grandma withdrawals...

four generations