A Brother or Sister for Ava

That's right... we have started paperwork for Baby #2!!  We are so excited to start this process again.  We weren't thinking we would start quite so quickly but we can't wait to get back to China and bring home a brother or sister for Ava.  We are almost through the first round of paperwork and are planning to have our home study in September.  

While we were in China with Ava we made the decision that we would definitely be coming back to China for Baby #2.  We fell in love with the culture, traditions, and people of China.  Now that we have seen the poverty and need of the children awaiting homes, we just can't ignore the situation.  There are so many children out there who are just waiting to be welcomed into a family and to be loved.  I am definitely still learning how to be a good Mama, but I do know how to love my child.  Love is something that I can guarantee to my family.

Matt has been cracking me up this go around; it's like our roles have changed!!  When we were adopting Ava, I was the one pushing all the paperwork and making sure we are on target with our goal.  This time Matt is the one pushing for us to get paperwork done asap.  He is the one keeping us in line and arranging our appointments.  Don't get me wrong, I am super excited too but I have never seen Matt so excited about anything or should I say anyone.  Before Ava he was always so scared about being a dad.  Now he knows he can do it and he knows that an amazing little person is waiting for us at the end of all the paperwork and there is no sense in making them wait any longer than we have to.

Our family is growing and we are excited to share the news with everyone!!  Please pray for us as we begin this crazy, amazing journey again.  We love you all and couldn't do it without your prayers.          

I Love...

I love the way...
You blow kisses to everyone,
You can put a smile on anyone's face in a second,
You move your tongue around in your mouth from side to side when you are really focused on trying to figure out something new,
You squeal with joy when you figure out something new,
You give a hug with all your might,
You love to read the same books over and over and over again,
You love to have fun,
You never meet a stranger,
You don't stop until you master the task at hand,
Your smile lights up a room,
Your laugh echoes through our house,
You are so brave facing this big new world,
You will stop whatever you are doing to dance,
You love me even with all my faults.

Ava Tian you are the most amazing gift we could have ever asked for.  You are far more than I ever imagined.  I love you SO MUCH!!!  And you have my heart forever!!!

5 Months of Pure Joy

I can't believe how much I love this beautiful little lady!!  She has filled my life with pure joy...happiness beyond anything I've ever experienced.  She fills our house with laughter, mischievous shenanigans, singing, dancing, reading, and lots of talking every day.  Now that she's in my life, I can't imagine life without her.  I love you so much Ava Tian!!

5 Month List:

1.  It seems like you have grow huge over the last month.  We need to get you in for your 2 year physical but if I had to guess I'd say you're a pound or 2 heavier but probably a couple inches taller!!  In our bathroom you can all the sudden see into our drawers and pull out what you want...you couldn't do that just a short time ago.  

2.  You had your first American birthday party!  We celebrated for several days and finished off the celebrations with a party with family, friends, and lots of neighbors.  You had a ball and were quickly a pro at opening presents and blowing out your candles.  You were also so sweet and gave every single guest a hug and some even got a kiss!  I know you made their day with your sweetness. 

3.  You are eating really well again including chicken and beef.  Yay!!!  You even tried elk burger for the first time this month and really liked it.  I didn't buy you your own burger because of your aversion to beef lately but you ended up eating half of mine ;)  Favorite foods include:  strawberries, yogurt, ice cream, eggs, sausage, and fish.

4.  You love the water!  You received a fun water table and sprinkler for your birthday that you love.  You already had a blow up pool in the backyard that we couldn't keep you out any time we were outside.   We are just used to stripping you down to your diaper and shoes when you go out in the backyard because we know we won't be able to keep you out of the water and keep you dry!!  We've spent several days at the lake and last weekend you didn't want to leave.  You kept saying more, more.  Meaning you wanted to swim more and more!!  You're a fish already!  Swimming lessons are coming soon.

5.  New skills:  You are able to crawl onto and off of furniture all by yourself.  You can go up and down the stairs all by yourself (if you want to) safely.  You mostly use a spoon and fork to feed yourself; you just need help loading the utensil first.

6. You are doing really well at daycare and love being there.  You still blow us kisses when we drop you off and when we come to pick you up you are always a happy girl.  You are making friends and love your teachers.  You are even starting to say their names.

7.  Words you are saying consistently:  Nai Nai, Grandpa, G for please, thank you, Baba, Ja for Jack, ice, more, Mama, Lau Lau, wa wa for water, strawberry. 

8.  Our little girl is a reader!!  Yes, you love books and lots of them.  Often by the end of the day there are books all over the living room floor and you move from one to the next while Mama and Baba take turns reading to you.  You favorite books lately continue to be the Hallmark interactive books.  Luckily you received a lot of new books for your birthday so we are hoping that another few books will soon become your favorite!!  We love that you love to read!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Ava turned 2 on July 2nd and we've been partying ever since!  What a fun celebration it has been.  Starting on her birthday, Matt and I both took the day off and we were able to hang out as a family.  We went the lake for the afternoon, had a yummy dinner of grilled salmon and fresh corn-on-the-cob, and finished off the day with Cold Stone cupcakes.  After Ava went to bed that evening Matt and I sat by the chiminea talking and shedding a few tears about how surreal is was to be celebrating our daughter's birthday.  God is so good to us and has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams!!

This was the first trip to the lake where she was ok sitting or walking in the sand.

Opening gifts from Mama and Baba:  a bug barn and lots of books!!

My WHOLE heart!!

Lau Lau and Pappy were able to come visit on July 4th and stay for several days.  July 4th was spent with our amazing neighbors; lighting fireworks and enjoying each others' company.  Ava loved the fireworks!  At times we were having to hold her back because she kept wanting to get closer to them.  Have I told you already that she's not afraid of anything??!!

 

Ava stayed home from daycare on Friday to get some extra time with her grandparents.  While Pappy and Baba spent the day building a sand box for Ava, Ava got to "help" Pappy and Baba and spent a lot of time at the park and splash pad with Lau Lau.  Special memories...

Playing with her new water table from Lau Lau and Pappy

Friday night, Ava's other set of grandparents arrived for Ava's Birthday Party on Saturday.  Saturday we spent the day preparing food, decorating, and setting up for the party.  My dad, father-in-law, hubby, and brother also made my day with new back patio steps.  I've been talking about needing new ones for awhile and they felt like the day of Ava's birthday was a great day to start this project!!!  LOL.  All I asked was that I had steps done in time for the party and they made it happen.  So happy!!  Our family was so much help getting things ready for the party and helping serve during the party.  Our guests showed up around 5 and we were able to spend some time talking, playing yard games, and broke in the new sand box and water table.  The rest of the evening was spent eating delicious BBQ, cake and ice cream, and opening gifts.  Ava is a pro at blowing out her candles.  We think it's because she loves pinwheels and has been trying to master blowing air in order to spin the pinwheel for several months already.  Good practice!!

What a blessing to be surrounded by so many family and friends to celebrate our baby girl's birthday!  We are so thankful to have you all in our lives.  Ava is beyond blessed to have Grandparents that love her to the moon and back.  

        

Father's "Baba's" Day

In our house Father's Day is called "Baba's Day".  Ava enjoyed celebrating one of her most favorite people.  She made him a clay footprint at daycare that turned out really cute.  For Baba's Day we made him a breakfast of french toast, eggs, and Canadian Bacon.  We then went down to the Farmer's Market.  We were able to pick up some delicious fresh produce as well as some Elk burgers which we can't wait to try.  While there, we stopped in at Jones Brother's Cupcake and picked up a little snack to share...yummy!!  After we all had a little nap and chill time we loaded up a picnic and headed to the lake for the afternoon.  It was Ava's first time to Fremont Lakes.  They are a bunch of small sand likes that used to be sand pits so they make for a good swimming hole.  We all had a great, relaxing day together.  Another fun memory.

4 Months Together

This morning as we celebrated 4 months of being together, we looked through our China photo album. I know I say this every month but I can't believe it's been 4 months but in so many ways it is hard to remember a time without you. It's so fun to look through pictures of when we first met each other and to think of how much we've all grown and changed. I won't change one second of it. We love you beyond words!!!

1.  You are SO much fun and are very funny!  You make us laugh all the time by doing something silly or just busting out laughing in the middle of no where.  A couple weeks ago we had lots of friends over at the house and I was trying to take a picture of 2 of your friends when you bombed the picture on purpose!!  It was so funny to hear you laughing as you blurred the picture and then kept on moving.

2.  You have such a sweet heart.  You are generous with blowing kisses and giving hugs.  When we tell you to say hi to someone you normally just blow them a kiss instead.  You'll often blow kisses to our waiter at a restaurant which in turn means we get great service!!  We pray you always have that sweet personality. The world needs more Ava's. 

3.  No more crying at daycare; in fact you love daycare.  The last couple of weeks when we drop her off in the morning she blows us a kiss and says "bye, bye" with a big ol' smile.  We celebrated big time the first time you didn't cry when we dropped you off and you gave us that beautiful smile.  It meant you were trusting us~ you knew we'd be back to get you at the end of the day.  Your teachers at daycare are also fantastic.  You are constantly doing new things that are creative and get you moving.  We are so thankful for your daycare teachers.

4.  You are still not eating hamburger or chicken very well but doing better than last month.  You do however love fish.  When we have fish for dinner we just break off bites of our piece for you but what we hear through the whole meal is "more, more"!!  And you end up eating almost half!  Don't worry, I'll always share with you :).
5.  Your favorite books lately are Hallmark interactive books.  You have one about Christmas and one about a train conductor. These are the books you pull out every night and we read over and over!!  You'll probably be getting some new books for your birthday ;)
6.  You went to your first parade this last weekend. When it started it was fun to watch you try to soak in all the people and festivities. At times it seems you were trying to figure out the point of us watching people walk down the street. But as soon as they started throwing candy you got into it really quickly!  And you discovered quickly that the more kisses you blew the more candy they threw to you...you are a smart girl!!
7.  You are a great sleeper!! And we are so thankful for that. You normally are in bed by 9pm and sleep through the night until 730am. Mama and Baba love our sleep too so we are so thankful you are such a great sleeper.
8.  Jack is your buddy!!  He loves you so much. You love him and enjoy his kisses but will push him away quickly when you are done being licked. You and Baba made a trip to Kansas and left mama and Jack at home. Jack moped the entire time and kept bringing things out of your room to lay with. I think Mama and Baba are now second fiddle behind you :)
9.  You love to swim!  We have a blow up pool in the backyard which you swim in a couple times a week. We've also made our first trip to the local swim lake. You're still not a fan of wearing your life jacket but if it means you get to swim in the lake it seems worth it.
10.  New words and sounds:  Ava continues to talk and sing all the time. Her daycare teaches say she talks all day to her friends.  Her new favorite words are: Grandpa, Lau Lau (which comes out li li), whoa, ice, China, thank you...and when she's feeling it I get to hear Mama more often lately. She continues to sat Baba all the time. And when she wants be ornary and I ask her to say "mama" she says "baba"!!

3 Month Family Anniversary!!

3 beautiful months have come and gone and left us with so many amazing memories!  We can't wait to see what the next 3 months have in store for us.  

3 Month List

1.  Ava's biggest challenge during the last month have occurred in the last week and a half...daycare.  Her first week was rough with lots of toddler attitude to boot :)  This past week however, she has done awesome!!!!  Still crying at drop off but it's not lasting very long and occasional tears when they go outside to play.  Her teachers say that she is making lots of friends and participates really well!!  We are so proud of her for braving yet another challenge in her life and rocking it!!!

2.  Ava loves "Insanity" workout videos!  LOL!!!  Matt and I work out to them in the basement and she  dances right along to the music on the DVD.   When we have an exercise that requires us to be on the floor Ava will come sit beside us and bop her head up and down like she's doing the exercise too!!  Seriously the funniest thing ever.  I have to get pictures and video of this before she stops.  I will never be able to workout without having my sweet little girl beside me to cheer me on again :)

3.  Because she's been in daycare and I've gone back to work we watch even less TV.  She still loves Baby Einstein and we've gotten a couple new ones this last month.  But she also will come running into watch the TV whenever any music is playing on a show.  When she does this, she'll do her little jig and then go right back to whatever else she was doing.

4.  Ava met both of her Great-Grandmas this last month!!  What a blessing to be able to share my beautiful baby girl with these special people.  Those introductions were definitely meetings I will never forget.

5.  Favorite Book:  Ava continues to love to look at books and have books read to you.  Her favorite book currently is a touch and feel book called "That's Not My Panda".  When she finally reaches the part of "that is my panda...his tummy is so soft" she rubs the soft part of the bear against her cheek.  Such a sweet, silly girl!!
6.  Ava made her first trip to the lake house in Missouri!!  This is something that I dreamt a long time about and was so thankful to be able to take her!  We spent 5 days at the lake with my family.  We spent a lot of time playing on the patio, going for boat rides, blowing bubbles, and just relaxing as a family.  Such a fun memory for us with many more trips to come in the future.
7.  Ava is (knock on wood) sleeping through the night almost every night!!!  YAY!!
8.  Favorite foods:  Ava is still a really good eater, but has become more picky in the last month.  Ava is especially struggling with eating hamburger and chicken lately.  She tends to put it in her mouth and chew on it for awhile but then will spit it all back out.  She eats a lot of yogurt, strawberries, turkey lunch meat, and eggs.  She has also discovered popsicles during the last month.  She thinks those are yummy!!
9.  Ava and Jack are definitely good buddies!!  Jack has been quite sad with Ava going to daycare during the day.  I don't think he knows what to think with all the quiet in our house during the day.  Everyday she gets home, she gets attacked with kisses from Jack~somebody misses her.
10.  New words and sounds:  We haven't heard a lot of new words lately, but are hearing new sounds since she started daycare.  We have a feeling that new words are coming very soon.  Her favorite new sound is ga-ga.  And she continues to sing all day!!  Sing will break out with "E-I-E-I, cluck, cluck, cluck" frequently during the day.