Wow, can't believe it's the last 2 days of January. (Happy Birthday Rachel, today, Monday, is her birthday) Today is also Becky's Adoption Day. 20-some years ago today (I won't say how OLD she is) Becky's mom and dad adopted her. So without that day, you wouldn't be enjoying Ava's blog today! Thanks Lou and Sarah, and thanks Dianne for making the right choice.

Anyway, enough philosophizing. Enjoy the pictures. My next installment will be our trip to Hilton Head. Today, it's just fun.

Watching her eat "real" food never gets old. Mostly, she takes it all in stride.


Sometimes, she lets us know what she doesn't like.


And other times it takes a little pre-chewing. She loves pecans and walnuts.


She's ready to get her own food! (This is the new pantry I installed while waiting for my basement to be fixed)


Ava's first sled ride!


Mama's getting a workout.


Yep, she likes it :)


Who needs flat ground with a hill in the backyard. Wheeee!!!


Bundled up and rosy-cheeked.


By the way, these were taken a couple of weeks ago. For you out-of-towners, the snow is all gone thanks to 45+ degree weather and rain. Crazy winter in Michigan!

Catching Up

Wow...can you believe we're creepingup on 10 months now! And Ava has 7 teeth. She's so talkative, babbly, but fun. She's crawling so fast, and just loves to be mobile. Here's some pics from recently. I'm almost done organizing our Hilon Head pics. Those will come soon. By the way, like my icon on my profile? Aren't we so cute.

Here's what's been keeping me busy and stressed. The company who installed my basement system has screwed up again, and water is seeping into the basement. They're coming to fix it, but I'll never recommend Basement Systems to anyone I know.


I got Ava this cool hat in Hilton Head. It's cute, right?


I think I can...


...look at me!!


"I love this dog. C'mere Patch. Grrroooowwwlllll!"


Ava loves taking showers. The hot water puts her to sleep almost every time.


I'm a sap, but these girls are all the reason I need.

Third Time's the Charm

Finally some pictures. It's been crazy at home, but enough excuses. Enjoy this little crop from some random times.


Playing cards with the family.


Sometimes we dress Ava up in wierd stuff.


And sometimes she chews on wierd stuff.


"C'mon guys...enough is enough."


Yep, she's a musician!


One of my favorite times...listening to Ava giggle as we play with her.


Our good friend Susan at lunch with the ladies. She and husband Scott are moving away. Booo Eaton!!! We'll miss her very much.


We bought Ava her first pair of shoes (official) the other day. We may return them, but it was fun, and they're SO cute!!! She might be better off, though, waiting until she's really walking. And I've put up the baby gates. She's mobile now. We thought for sure she'd skip the crawling, but she's taken to it now.

Everything else is pretty good. The basement deal is a huge, frustrating fiasco. I just want it solved so I can finish it, and move on. We'll see. Other than that we're great. I'm still sorting through the Hilton Head pictures. Those should be coming soon.

Back from Vacation

If you're only here for the pictures...this post ain't for you. You'll have to read for an update this time. I plan to work on pics soon. It's my new year's resolution.

Well, we're back from our trip to Hilton Head. We had a tremendous time. It was sunny and mid 60s, which is slightly different from home. We made it to the beach for sunrise a couple of times. The first time, we got a real treat. About a dozen dolphins were enjoying the sunrise not even 50 yards from shore. It was amazing. And with a sunset in the southwest, we got to enjoy that on the beach as well. Really a week to spoil us. And Becky's Aunt and Uncle came from Florida to visit. Plus we got a date night, dinner and a movie. I even got a history lesson with dad on a Gullah Heritage Tour.

Here's a few links for that:
Try this one.
Here's another.
Here's a whole list.

I'll go into more about that as I blog the trip and pics. It was a terrific vacation, revitalizing as they say. We missed everyone back home. Ava was thrilled to see Grandma and Grandpa at the airport. And it was wonderful to see Great-Grandma and G-Pa, as they were in Michigan for the holidays.

Anyway, we're doing great, Ava is almost 9 months old now, and has 5 teeth already. Number 6 is almost through too! And she's doing well with food. She loves sweet potato and avacado and oatmeal. Though not all at once :) And we've discovered she likes the way we cook, with lots of flavor. So I'll get to work on the photos as soon as I can. The basement remodeling is keeping me busy, too. Happy New Year to everyone, we hope Christmas was blessed and the new year rings beautiful.