Time Out Baby!

Ava has had dolls pretty much since she was born. She's played on and off with one doll (which is obvious from the pictures - this doll has been very loved), but besides that hasn't had much interest; until a couple of weeks ago. She has recently become obsessed with her "baby." She plays with it constantly and I've been able to get a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. :)

The other day I was in the kitchen and I heard her say "No No Baby!" I looked over and she was placing the doll in the corner. A few seconds later she said, "Good Girl?", then proceeded to pick her up, give her a kiss and a hug, and the two were on their merry way. Hmmmm . . . . Wonder where she got that idea? Here she is with her baby in timeout.


Here are a couple of pictures of Ava teaching her baby how to rock on the rockin' horse. Eventually she decided it would be easier if they both got on and rocked together.



In this pic Ava is teaching the baby how to thread the shoelace through the little button. What's amazing is that my 2 year old can do this. What would be more amazing is if her baby was able to pick up on it! I'll post pictures when that happens. :)


And hear she is snoozing with her ragamuffin baby. She fell asleep with the sucker in her mouth. Can't be good for the teeth, but it makes a great picture!


By the way - I was going to add that my child usually does wear pants, but after looking at the pictures, I've come to realize that maybe she doesn't! :)

Camping . . . . . . . . .

We are hard core campers . . . . . as of this week. We went camping for the first time as a little family all by ourselves. We packed up the tent and cooler, headed to Fish Lake, and had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures. It was so much fun, yet long enough for me. I was so worried about how Ava would sleep, but she slept from 9:00 pm to 8:00 am. I, on the other hand, woke up 55 times throughout the night. If Ava's gonna sleep that good, I might as well take a Tylenol PM to get me through the night. LOL.


Ava and Mommy.

Strutting her beautiful stuff.

Juice Box and Camp Chair. Complete Relaxation.

On the way home from camping. She is one satisfied camper.

Me and My Love.

Ava and her best friend, Dakota. Koda was SOOO sick of Miss Ava by then end of the camping trip.

Ava's first Smore. She LOVED it!

Breakfast in the mountains.

Daddy cooking delicious sausage and eggs. Why does it always taste so good in the mountains?

Ava and her daddy. They're best buds.

Who knew throwing rocks in the lake could be so fun!

Beautiful Fish Lake.

Does it get any better than this?

Helping daddy get some firewood.

Yes - My 2 year old does seem to be wearing a wife beater with a tattoo on her arm . . . . . . . .

She LOVED the tent. We couldn't keep her out of it . . . try as we might.

Walking in the freezing cold water. I was trying to keep her shoes dry by taking them off, but the second I put them back on, she walked straight into the water.

Eating a gumball.

"Walking" Dakota. She is so proud of herself.

Hard Labor. . . . . . . . . .

I know that typically, 2 year olds make most jobs a bit tougher. Whether it's showering, reading a book, or trying to update your blog. :) BUT, I have found a job that Ava LOVES. Today I decided that instead of us going to a car wash, we would just clean the car outside. We vacuumed the inside (which, by the way, 2 year olds do make more difficult), and then washed the outside. Ava had a BLAST! You would have thought we were in Disneyland. When we were done washing the car, I tried to get her to understand the concept of drying the car rather than washing it, but she wanted nothing to do with it. So, I'll take this opportunity to apologize to any neighbors that may have heard my sweet 2 year old's LOUD tantrum in the driveway. I'd also like to apologize for completely ignoring it. I've realized that sometimes that works better than anything else. :) So, moral of the story, 2 year olds CAN be very helpful, they just need to help with the right things. :)

Summer Time Fun . . . . . . . . . . .

We have the cutest little neighbor kids. Ava LOVES them! These are some pictures I took of Ava, Zane, and Kalel (probably didn't spell that right), enjoying an afternoon at the pool! Yes - I do realize that this is the world's tiniest swimming pool, but honestly, we could give Ava 2 inches of water and she would be happy. Seriously, is there anything more fun than relaxing in a (tiny) pool on a hot July day with an orange popsicle? Didn't think so. :)

Layers . . . . . . .

Ava is obsessed with layers. Lots and lots of layers. I don't know why, but she loves it. I may have already mentioned this, but when we took her binky away, she suddenly became enthralled by blankets. Not one at a time. All of them at once. This next picture is a good example of how you can find her many times throughout the day. Granted, I am the one stacking the blankets, but she is giving me the order.


These next few pictures are of what entertained her for a good hour today. The top drawer in her dresser is filled with tights, underwear, and plastic swim pants. Again, with my help, she managed to get the majority of what was in her drawer, on her body. I don't know what it is with layers, but she loves it. Doesn't some ancient proverb say that if you're into layers then you are very smart with deep thoughts and will make lots of money some day? I may have made that last part up. It might just be that she is entertained by odd things. :)

Just had to share . . . . . .

This is a father and son. Turn the music off at the bottom of my blog because this song is beautiful.

4th of July Weekend . . . . . . . A Little Late

We had such a crazy fun fourth of July weekend in Richfield. We had the parade, the rides at the park, bbq and slip n' slide at Grandma and Grandpa's, and fireworks that night. Ava had SOOOOO much fun with her cousins. Randy and I had a good time hanging out with the family too. I'm so grateful to have married into such an awesome family. I just love my brother and sister-in-laws. They're the best.

After the Richfield weekend we went to Nephi for a bbq. My grandparents were there and we played wiffle ball and bacci ball. I have to point out that my team won wiffle ball, and although my mom and I may not have won bacci ball, Alecia and Jared didn't manage to score even one point. Just had to point that out. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!


Watching the Fireworks.

Ava and her cousins watching the parade. My daughter won't look at the camera so Braden took charge! :)

Our little Miss watching the parade.

Ava and Grandpa. What pals!

Playing on the slip n' slide. Ava LOVED it!

Slip n' Slide

Randy IN the little kid blowup maze. Ava got stuck!

Ava crawling through with her cousin Hailey.

Our little trio at the "Hometown 4th of July!"

Google Reader

Have you all heard of this? Coolest thing ever. Do this: Get yourself a gmail account if you don't already have one. Go into the reader section (top left hand corner). Put the web address of all the blogs you read into the subscription part and Voila! You log into that gmail reader and it tells you who has updated! I did it a couple of weeks ago and it is the coolest thing ever! You don't have to go to every single blog to look for updates, it does it for you and saves so much time! Just thought I'd pass that little tidbit of information along! :)

Relax . . . . . .

I've learned A LOT of things since I became a mom. You'd think I would have become more tense, stressed, and wound up. While that may be true at times, the majority of the time I'm actually more laid back and relaxed than I was before. There is so much to do in life. For heaven's sake, I don't even work, and I feel like I can't accomplish everything in a day. Laundry, cooking, taking care of the yard, being a support to my spouse, catching up with family, fulfilling church callings, etc. etc. etc. And oh ya, raising and nurturing a child. What I've learned is that the last bit, the one about raising a child? By far the most important. We all know that the things I mentioned before have to be done, but when it comes right down to it, family and the gospel are the most important thing. My husband and my baby are my life, and they are my focus every day.

I have truly learned it's okay if my daughter is soaking wet and getting muddy because she's playing with the hose. She's much happier than if she was perfectly clean and dressed and you will always remember that smile of pure joy. It's okay to rock her to sleep sometimes even if it throws her sleeping schedule off. She's only little for a very short time. It's okay if your bathroom stays dirty for one more day. You won't remember it in the years to come, but you will remember sitting on the floor putting puzzles together. It's okay if it takes me 2 months to read one book when it used to take a week. My daughter is a child of God and deserves the love and attention that Heavenly Father would give her. That means going to a petting zoo, being outside in the heat, or watching Sesame Street when you'd most certainly rather be doing something else. When it comes right down to it, it's all about her.

I feel lucky because for some reason, I have come to realize early on what the important things are in life. I think it takes a lot of people too much time to come to that realization. Don't get me wrong, my house is typically clean, I cook dinner for my family (most nights), and I tend to get some reading in here and there. But it's just like everything else: Moderation. I want my kids to have a great childhood, and when it comes right down to it, it's all up to the parents. Our kids grow so fast, and I, for one, don't want to miss the ride.