5 Months!

Today Ava turned 5 months and we had a very fun day. Ava made 2 new friends. We met a friend from my Thursday morning bible study and her 2 kids at the park. We had lots of fun visiting and her 2 year old loved chasing the ducks. We also had Rochelle over and we had fun playing with Ava and talking about life. 

It is crazy to me how big she is now on this mat now. We have put it away this past month and just use it as a frame of reference to see how much she has grown.

Ava has been very busy this month. It is crazy to me how active she can be without crawling. She is getting on her hands and knees now and she will rock. She is still rolling like a mad woman! She enjoys her TurtleTot and her activity tree and more than anything Mommy. Ava is a sweet, happy, and content little baby and she gives smiles freely. I love her more than words can express. I am so thankful for the 5 months that God has given us with our girl... Oh and the most recent development is that Ava began Army Crawling today!!!

Very Intellectual

Ava has never shown interest in books before. But today she would look at me as I read and she briefly looked at the pictures and when I set the book on the floor she took advantage. She began to play with the book and gnaw on it. (This girl chews on anything she can get her mouth on. The other day I saw her chewing on our coffee table and I thought I need to break her of this habit before she gets teeth!)

Spring Break

We had a fun and eventful Spring Break. David spent the week with the youth everyday giving them an assortment of fun activities to do. Also, David's parents and aunt came into town. We had a blast shopping for Ava and visiting. Here are some pictures of the fun we had this week.

Group pic of David with the youth

Such excitement!

Playing with Papa. She loves to grab faces!

Cutie Shopping!

Such a happy girl when she wakes up.

Crawling????

Yesterday was a great day because David got home from work at 4:20! He had a work planning retreat so he came home after the retreat was over.

Ava loves to play with her feet!

She is holding on tight.

On Sunday she got on her hands and knees for the first time. But last night she put one knee forward!!! Then she fell down. She kept trying to crawl all night. She would get on her hands and knees and fuss because she wanted to crawl. I don't think it's too much longer until she is really crawling.

Monday Madness!

On Monday Ava and I went to visit Uncle Bob, Aunt Lauren, Andrew and Lily. It was such a fun afternoon. We hung out at their house for a bit and played. Andrew showed Ava her first bubbles. He was so excited it was adorable! Then we went to the Botanical Gardens and had a picnic. It was so good getting to spend time with them. It has felt like it has been a while.

Cutie Pie!!!!

Back at home playing with Mommy and Daddy.

Swimming

I wasn't paying attention and I looked down and I saw my little girl getting into mischief. She rolled to the computer and started playing with the screen!

Time for some Yoga. Downward Dog anyone???

Zonked after a long day of playing.

Hoppy

This weekend we made a new friend...

Meet Hoppy. We found him in the garage when I got home from Waco on Sunday. David saw him initially and thought he was a large rat. So naturally he let out a yell. But then he got a better look at him and realized that he was just a harmless baby rabbit. We talked about it and wanted to keep him but then decided against it when we heard that cottontail rabbits die in captivity. So David spent some time in the garage trying to chase him out of our garage. It made me think of Peter Rabbit being chased from the garden by mean old Mr. McGregor. With one exception David was just trying to save Hoppy.

What I like to call swimming. She picks up her arms and legs and moves them about as if she were swimming. David and I mimicked her as she was doing this once and it is a great work out. I don't know how she sustains this position for very long but she does!

Little rolly polly. This girl loves to move around whether by rolling or scooting.

Ava loves to grab faces. She grabs lips, noses and chins. She will also grab the occasional eye. Ouch!

Friday Fun

One of the reasons that I like David being a pastor is that he has off on Fridays. So whenever every other husband is at work mine is at home playing with his family. Last Friday David took care of Ava in the morning so I could get a little extra rest. When I got up I was surprised to find her in an incomplete outfit.

David dressed Ava this morning and he chose what he thought was a dress. It is really an overlay for another outfit, that is why it is so short. I had to capture it on film. I love that he is so sweet and helps out!

Daddy daughter nap time. 

That evening the three of us went to Barnes and Noble and we looked at books while enjoying coffee.

Ava is very interested in whatever we have. It has become increasingly more difficult to hold her if you are eating because she will grab at the food we are eating. 

Jakin

Hayley had Jakin 3 weeks ago and Ava and I went to visit the Saturday after he was born. 

I was dressing Maya on Monday morning and I noticed that she and Ava had the same outfit so naturally I had to dress them alike!

Handsome little man

The Perry Pack

The following weekend David Ava and I went to Waco to visit Jakin and as a bonus we got to see Jenny and Micah with their new baby Eli!

Sweet Family! 

Bath time

At 7:00 Ava was falling asleep so we decided to give her a bath to help keep her awake until 8. So Maya and Ava took a bath together! They had a blast having a bath buddy.

Beautiful Mommy and Baby

David's birthday was the next Sunday so my mom made him a cake to celebrate and everyone went together to get him a Keurig coffee maker. He was so excited!

David playing with the kiddos

Cleaning Day

The other day I was vacuuming the living room and I caught Buddy hiding from the vacuum behind Ava. I laughed at his train of thought, "They really love Ava so I will take cover behind her". 

Buddy hiding

Playtime!

Sweet smiles

4 Months

On Sunday Ava turned 4 months. We went to church and went to see David play a softball scrimmage. We had lots of fun at the park. We watched David play, took a walk, and played with a cute Golden Retriever puppy. 

Ava is rolling over like a pro. I will place her on the ground and she will roll across the room. She is also scooting. She will lift her stomach off the floor using her legs and propel herself forward. I think that she gets frustrated because she is not mobile yet because when she is scooting sometimes she will fuss as if to say "I want to crawl!" Ava gives lots of smiles and is getting easier to giggle. Ava lets out giggles and BIG smiles when we play horsey (I bounce her on my knee). One of her favorite places to be is still her changing table. When we are getting ready for bed at night I will just play with her on her changing table for like 20 minutes because she is just so happy and smiley. I am so thankful for my sweet content happy little baby.

Our trip to see Daddy's softball scrimmage

Ava's 4 month Butterfly pic

4 month pic

Ava went to the doctor Monday and had her 4 month check up. She weighs 14 lbs 11 oz and her length is 24 inches. She is in the 73% for weight and 40% for length. I love my little chunky monkey!!!

Sweet snuggles after getting shots today.