The Adventures of Ava

My Christmas Present

2008-04-29T22:11:00.009-04:00

So I know this blog is mostly about my child but I thought I would let you know that I finally got my Christmas present this Friday night. For Christmas Brandon got me tickets to the Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban concert. I have been so excited and I thought it would never get here but it finally did and we had so much fun. I am a huge Carrie fan and she was amazing. The girl can sing like nobody's business and I love that despite all of her success she seems to have remained humble and she has kept a relatively low profile in her personal life. Anyway, she sounds exactly the same in person as she does on her CD's which is an accomplishment these days with all of the electronic things they do to singers. Keith Urban was great as well and I now know why he won Entertainer of the Year. He was very high energy and they were filming a DVD of his tour that night so he played an extra long set. All in all it was a great night and I threw in a picture of Ava since this is her blog.

Birthday Pictures

2008-04-14T21:11:00.004-04:00

Well I promised more pictures and I was waiting for my good friend Cori to send them to me and they are here. However they are on Snapfish so I can't save them to the blog. Here is a link to view them though. If you have a Snapfish account go ahead and sign in then cut and paste the lingk. Enjoy! http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=186694362/a=57632535_16617622/t_=57632535

Ava's Birthday Video

2008-04-12T22:54:00.002-04:00

Here is the video I put together for Ava's Birthday! It is a bit lengthy about 10 minutes so be warned. Hope you enjoy! The party was fun but I am exhausted. I will post more pictures tomorrow.

Ava's Birthday Party

2008-04-11T22:47:00.004-04:00

Well tomorrow is the big day and of course it's supposed to rain. I guess I'll be cramming 20 of our closest family and friends into our house. It should be interesting. I will try to update tomorrow night after her party with pictures. I am praying that she feels better in the morning as she has been running a low fever today but not enough to make her cranky. Here are a couple of new pics until tomorrow.

Easter Sunday

2008-03-31T21:39:00.017-04:00

Well, it's been a very long time since I posted but my life has been in overdrive getting soccer season underway. We are all doing well and I can't believe that in two short weeks my baby will be 1! A year has flown by and we are so blessed to have the privilege of raising such a sweet girl. We have been on lots of adventures lately starting with a quick getaway to the beach at the end of February. The weather was great and it was hard to come back. Then we went with Gymboree friends to the aquarium. After about 30 minutes all 5 of the kids were asleep of course. Good thing they were free. Finally, we spent Easter here and had lunch at my parent's house after church. The Easter bunny came to visit but I don't think Ava really even knew or cared. Please excuse the fact that she is wearing her Christmas pajamas on Easter morning, just getting my money's worth out of them. Her new thing is to make a huge mess whenever she eats. She likes to smash it on the plate and rub it in her hair which makes me cringe. We always end up going straight to the tub after we eat. She has also started to walk around the house with one of her push toys so I know that walking is only a few short weeks away. We will celebrate her birthday on the 12th since that is the only weekend we don't have One Goal and I'll post more pictures then. Here is a recap of the past few months.

Making a mess at
dinner

Easter lunch

Easter Sunday

Family picture before church

Easter morning

Parker, Jack, Hayden, Ava and Laura Beth at the aquarium

out cold

Trip to Destin

Ready for Spring

2008-01-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

I must say that I am ready for Spring. We have had 2 days of snow here over the past 2 weeks and it has been incredibly cold. I have decided that I am over that and want to get back to milder weather. Sorry, to all of our friends and family up North. I don't know how you do it. I am ready for long walks outside and playing in the yard. Ava is just getting over a miserable sinus infection and has passed on her lovely illness to Brandon and I. She is crawling so much and keeps me pretty busy. She is starting to pull up on the furniture and cruise a little bit. I am working on not gasping every time she falls. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks. Hope your all doing well!

The Rest of Christmas, New Years and the Chick-fil-A bowl

2008-01-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

On the 27th we made a trip back to SC for the Bowen family Christmas with all of the extended family. We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with everyone. Then on New Years Eve we attended the House Divided Chick-fil-A bowl. Brandon's mom, dad and Grandmother came for the game so I was outnumbered by Clemson fans until we met up with my family. My mom volunteered to keep Ava so that I could go to the game and I'm glad that I did. War Eagle! We decided to take Marta from Perimeter Mall. Big mistake, at least on the way home. After a close Auburn win, we ended up waiting to get on train until well after midnight. Isn't it romantic, we spent New Years Eve with 30,000 other people in line for Marta. At least we could see the fireworks from Centennial Park. Once we got on Marta it took us about 2 1/2 hours to finally get home. Never again!! From now on I will always drive and park. We had awesome seats on the lower level 10 yard line, Auburn end zone, 1 section away from the band. It made up for not being able to go to any games this season. Now that the holidays are over I am looking forward to a more normal schedule and being able to slow down just a little, though I know it won't last long. Ava started crawling several weeks ago but has really taken off so she is keeping me very busy. I will have to make a new video of her on the go. I hope you are all well and look forward to hearing from you soon!

Ava's First Christmas

2008-01-01T22:06:00.000-05:00

We had such a fun Christmas! Ava was much more into it than I thought that she would be. I think she just loved all the commotion so it was great. On Christmas Eve we went to my dad's twin brother's house for a Stanfield family brunch. It was great to see my cousins and their kids. My cousin Jennifer's little boy Grant was so cute. We made him kiss Ava and she kept leaning in for a big old smooch. I know, this is how rumors start but they were so cute together. On Christmas Eve night we went to church with my parents and then went back to their house for dinner and presents. Ava got a baby doll which was quite obviously her favorite gift as she began to squeal and talk to dolly for a good 10 minutes. We were able to get it on video and it's so funny. It's two weeks later and we still get that response when she sees dolly. She also got a musical stage that has a mirror and lights up with music playing. My child has a thing with mirrors so this has also made for hours of endless entertainment. She got tons of clothes, a really cute book and several other toys. Needless to say she was quite spoiled. We spent Christmas Day with my mom's family and then Brandon and I left Ava with Mom and Dad and went to see National Treasure. Right as we were walking in the door Ava threw up everywhere. Poor girl was covered in it as was mom, the floor, the couch and their dog. So we had our first stomach bug on Christmas and it was miserable for her and for me. She was so pitiful and it's hard to see your helpless child be so sick. Anyway, she finally started to feel better by about Thursday so we are definitely on the mend. I hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. I have several other things to post and I will try to do so tomorrow.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-23T22:05:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I remember being pregnant last year and wondering what this year would be like with an 8 month old. Well, now I know. It is so much fun!! I love this age. She is discovering something new everyday and she has now learned to shake her head no. The answer to everything is no. It is so funny right now. I'm sure when she's 2 it won't be quite as funny. Anyway, I will have a ton more to post after the next couple of days but here is a cute video of her saying no. Merry Christmas!

Video

2007-12-18T16:12:00.001-05:00

Here's the video of Ava and Ezra James. Too cute!

Bowen Family Christmas

2007-12-17T21:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend we made a day trip to South Carolina to have Christmas with Brandon's family. Both of his sisters were in town for the weekend so we had Christmas early and enjoyed some time with family. We had a nice dinner and then exchanged gifts. Ava loved all of the excitement of opening the gifts and had fun trying to play with Ezra James and Brandon's cousins little girls Sydney Claire and Whitney. Sydney Claire loved playing Mom and was the spit up police. Every time Ava would spit up she would come running to let me know that Ava had "thrown up". It was too funny. Ava got a walker/push toy and a move and crawl ball that lights up and talks. She loves to chase it because when you touch it it rolls away from you. It has really motivated her to try to crawl. Finally we tried to get a picture of Ezra James and Ava in front of the Christmas tree. I have a funny video but Ezra James had a pretty good choke hold going on. Ava was a good sport but he better watch out because next Christmas she'll be chasing him around the house. Brandon and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas. God has truly blessed us this year and we have so much to be thankful for including our wonderful friends and family. Here are some pictures. Enjoy!
Grandpa entertaining all the kids!

Ava loved her walker. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Ava and Ezra James with Vaughn.

Ava and the girls...Sydney Claire and Whitney

Getting ready to eat Christmas dinner!

Update

2007-11-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

So it's been like a month since my last blog and I could blame it on One Goal as I have been very busy or on the season but to be honest I have done an awful job taking pictures. We are all doing well here. We spent Thanksgiving here with my family and Brandon's family came in the following weekend. We had a great time and even got up early Friday morning to do some shopping. Ava tagged along and was a trooper. We saw Santa at Phipps Plaza on November 16. It was so funny. Ava wasn't quite sure what to think. She would turn around and stare at him when he would talk and then she'd look at me and cry. It was great! We have it all on DVD too but it won't let me upload it to the site. I think they did something to it so you can't put it on your computer. I can't imagine why they would do that! J/K. We are working on our second ear infection in a month and she was extrememly miserable all day today. I felt so bad for her. We also have two new teeth coming through and as a special treat on Thanksgiving night she said mama for the first time! Wow, I guess a lot has happened in a month. Here are some pictures of some random events and then a cute video. She loves to play in the mirror and this time was too funny so I had to get the video camera. Hope your all doing well. I promise to take some more pictures and try to post next week.

This is the mood we usually wake up! And we always have a red nose!

Just had a bath and getting very sleepy

Halloween

2007-10-31T23:31:00.000-04:00

So after our long weekend Ava slept a good bit today and then tonight we went trick-or-treating with all of our friends. We walked around with Kylie and Kim and Andy. I felt bad getting candy since Ava can't eat it yet. After we finished we put Ava to bed and hung out with all of our friends at the fire pit in the driveway. We roasted Smores and drank hot chocolate. We have such great friends and neighbors. Oh yeah and Emory also convinced Courtney to take her first motorcycle ride. Pretty funny!
Ready for a fun evening out
Brandon with Aidan, Mina and Ava-How cute are they?
The girls in their cute costumes
Check out Courtney on the Harley

NYC Part 3 and 4

2007-10-31T23:08:00.000-04:00

On Monday we went drove to Brooklyn and ate at Grimaldi's Pizza at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. When we finished we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge back into Manhattan. It was really neat but it was so cold and windy. After that we went back and shopped on Fifth Avenue. That evening we went into Times Square and did some more shopping. On Tuesday we had breakfast and then had to head to the airport. Ava decided not to sleep on the flight back and was pretty fussy. We were delayed b/c a circuit breaker blew right before take off so we sat on the plane for about 45 minutes before we ever left. Anyway, needless to say she was exhausted and so were we. It was a great trip and we loved spending time with family and friends.
Feeling like a need I walk after lunch at Grimaldi's

A gorgeous view of Manhattan
Ezra James and Ava ready for our walk
Starting out across the bridge
A view of the Statue of Liberty from the bridge
The halfway point on our walk across the bridge
Headed back after our walk
The Empire State Building
The Rink at Rockefeller Center
This is a horrible picture but it definitely expresses how I felt by the time we got home. Tired!

NYC Part 2

2007-10-31T22:51:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we went to church with Carmen, Aaron and Ezra James and Ellis, Ginger, Lauren and Caleb. The service was great and Aaron did a great job. It was very cold with the morning temps in the 30's and a high of about 40 something so we had to bundle up. We had lunch and went to see Carmen and Aaron's new apartment which was very cool. They completely gutted it and turned it into a 2 bedroom place and it looks great. Then after a much needed nap for my child we went to a really cool restaurant called Ellen's Stardust Diner. It is in Times Square and all of the wait staff are aspiring Broadway stars. They sing and dance during your meal. It was really cool and Ava loved it. All the people who have ever worked at this diner have ended up on Broadway so who knows maybe our waiter will end up in the next big Broadway hit. He definitely had the pipes.

This is a cute video of Ava watching the singers at the Diner
This was Ava's first cold weather experience and I don't think she liked it.
Ava peeking out from under her hat
It was so cold!!
A view of Times Square with an ad for my favorite musical ever Wicked
The Kids enjoying the singing

NYC Part 1

2007-10-31T22:33:00.000-04:00

So I think I am going to be making up for lost time. I have a lot to post. We just got back from our New York trip last night. We had a great time but I do have to say that travelling with a baby is much different. Ava was definitely a trooper though and we ran her until she just couldn't go anymore. We flew into LaGuardia on Saturday morning and Ava did really well with her first plane ride sleeping for a good portion of the flight. When we got there we went to our friends Ellis and Ginger's apartment. They moved to NYC in August where they are doing some training in preparation to plant a church in Baltimore. We were so glad to get to spend time with them and their kids Lauren and Caleb who are growing up way to fast. We miss them so much! That night they offered to keep the kids and we got to go to a movie. We went and saw Dan in Real Life. It was really cute. Then we came home and crashed!

Ava's first plane ride

Lauren and Ava hanging out

Ellis feeding Ava some dinner

Lauren, Ava and Caleb

Pumpkin Patch

2007-10-13T17:53:00.000-04:00

So we went to the pumpkin patch today. Brandon's parents are here and we thought it would be fun to get some pictures and pick out a pumpkin. We loaded up and headed out to Berry Patch Farms in Woodstock. It was no Burt's but I liked it b/c it was free, you only had to pay for your pumpkin. Ava was such a trooper even when her mean mommy made her put her costume on for pictures. They turned out so cute though!
I have a lot of pictures so enjoy!

A little late...

2007-10-10T21:22:00.000-04:00

So I have decided that I am totally a slacker when it comes to blogging, but I also haven't done well taking many pictures lately. Anyway, not much has been going on here. Brandon has been working a lot so we have tried to pass the time during the day by going a lot of different places but our favorite has to be Target. We spend a lot of time there which can get me in trouble if I'm not careful. Anyway, 2 weeks ago our friends Andy, Kim and their baby Kylie came to watch the Clemson game. Even though they lost the girls had fun. Ava was so funny, Kylie would reach for her and Ava would die laughing. We tried to get a video and we did get a little giggle but as soon as the camera was on she wouldn't perform. It's so fun to watch her little personality develop and see her begin to interact with other babies or even the cats. Brandon's parents are coming for a visit this weekend so that should give me some good posting material.

Sorry...

2007-09-29T11:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I have been pretty slack on updating the blog lately. It could be because Ava has not been sleeping very well and I have been getting up alot at night. She is teething and it has caused a lot of sleepless nights. She has also decided that she doesn't want to be swaddled anymore so we are trying to break that habit as well. We tried to go cold turkey but she cried all night long. Now we are doing one arm out and she often ends up with the other one out by morning but at least she isn't waking up. We have started Gymboree on Wednesday and she loves it as do I b/c I get to interact with other stay at home moms. I will try to take some pics of some things we do there as well. As many of you know Brandon and I have taken back over One Goal and I will be doing the administrative work from home (yes, Brandon is still working at Barnsley as well). We are very excited but it does mean that I will have to do a better job of time management during the day. Please pray that we will make wise decisions and that God will use One Goal to share his love with others in our community. I am posting a cute video of Ava laughing. She thinks most things are funny these days and as most of you parents know you'll do anything to hear your child laugh. It's so cute and I am thouroughly enjoying this stage. Love to all!

Ava's Dedication

2007-09-19T21:51:00.001-04:00

This weekend we had Ava's baby dedication at church. It was such a sweet experience. I was really worried that when we walked up there Ava would cry. The little girl in front of us was crying and Ava started to whimper but when we got up there she was great. Our pastor Brian started talking to us and she gave him this big grin. It was so cute! She's really good at getting people with that smile. Anyway, we had a lunch at our house afterwards with our families and a couple close friends. It was such a gorgeous day that we got to eat outside. We had a great time and I'm sure that it will be one of those days we look back on and cherish. Hope everyone is doing well. Love to all!

Road Trip

2007-09-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

What a weekend! For those of you who don't know we took a road trip to Hilton Head and Pawleys Island this weekend. We left on Friday morning and just got in tonight. Brandon was in his friend Benji's wedding in Hilton Head. It was a lot of fun and the wedding was gorgeous. We love his new bride Katie and we couldn't be happier for them. After the wedding we jetted out to Pawleys Island to visit Jerry, Kelly, Austin and Blake. They are some of our good friends that were in Atlanta and moved last summer. It was great to get to visit with them and it made us realize how much we miss having them here. We had great weather and spent Sunday and Monday lounging around at the beach and pool. Ava loved the water and would fuss every time we made her get out. She was quite the trooper though as she spent a lot of the last five days in the carseat which she hates. Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip. Hope you enjoy!

Kelly, Jerry and Blake at dinner!

Ava with Daddy after the wedding was over.

Mommy and Ava at the reception.

The happy couple!

Family shot!

Ava in her cute bonnet since the wedding was on the beach.

1-0, Go Tigers

2007-09-04T11:51:00.000-04:00

Here are some pics from last night. Clemson looked great (most of the game) and we had fun getting the girls together. It's hard to take pictures at this age, when one was looking the other wasn't and Kylie also had a fascination with Ava's ear b/c she wanted to grab them in every picture. It was so cute! They are going to have so much fun when they can run around together. Anyway, enjoy the pics! Proud Clemson dads!

Kylie and Ava discussing the next play.

Told you Kylie liked Ava's ears. Obviously Ava didn't mind.

One of the few where Ava was sitting upright. She kept falling over.

Go Tigers...

2007-09-03T11:36:00.000-04:00

Well it is officially fall because college football season is here. War Eagle! Auburn somehow scraped by with a win, I'm not sure how, but it goes in the "W" column anyway. We are now preparing for the Clemson/FSU game tonight. We are going to watch the game with our friends Andy, Kim and their baby Kiley. She is probably Ava's closest friend in age as the girls are only 10 weeks apart. I will post some more pics of the girls in their Clemson outfits tomorrow. We had fun dressing Ava up in her little Auburn outfit the other night for the game though she wasn't real interested in the game itself. I must say that watching football with a baby is difficult. We had to pause it like 10 times to feed, change diapers, give her a bath, put her to bed, etc. Thank goodness for Tivo. I don't think that we would make it through this football season without it. Anyway, check out my favorite Auburn video of all time. It gets me pumped every time I watch it. War Eagle!

Sorry so long...

2007-08-29T14:48:00.000-04:00

It has been a very busy few days here. Brandon's grandfather (Daddy B) passed away on Friday morning so we headed out Sunday morning to South Carolina for the funeral. The service was very nice and the pig roast was a great tribute to his life. If you don't know what a pig roast is let me give you a visual. It is literally a hog that they roast all day then lay out on the table and you pull out your meat. I think the first Bowen family event I went to with Brandon when we were dating was a pig roast and believe me this city girl was in shock. Anyway, one positive thing from the weekend was getting to be with the whole family. Both of Brandon's sisters were there and our nephew Ezra James. We are usually only all together about once a year so it was fun to catch up. I can't wait until Ava and Ezra James are old enough to run around and play together. They are only 10 months apart so soon you won't even be able to tell there is an age difference. We drove back to Atlanta yesterday and we are looking forward to the long weekend. Next weekend we head back to SC for our friend Benji's wedding in Hilton Head. Then we will drive up the coast to Pawley's Island to visit some more friends from Atlanta. Hope this finds everyone doing well! Love to all!

Ava and Daddy B about a month ago.

Ava and Ezra James after their baths. Ezra James didn't like being hit!

Ava and Ezra James enjoying all the fun at the pig roast.

Ezra James checks out his first pig.

4 month Doctor Visit

2007-08-22T15:36:00.000-04:00

We went to the doctor today for our 4 month checkup. Ava weighed 14 lbs 7 oz. and was 25 inches long. Pretty good, even though her daddy wanted me to mention that she is in the 78th percentile for her height. He thinks she's going to be an athlete, but what daddy doesn't think that about their child. Anyway, she had 4 shots today so she is pretty miserable. Unfortunately, she usually runs a fever after shots so I guess she'll probably be down for a few days. The doctor also said that she could start rice cereal twice a day so we were excited to see how she would react to it. Despite the fact that she doesn't feel very good I think she liked it. More of it ended up on her than in her mouth, but she smiled and wanted to chew on the spoon so I think that is a good sign. We'll see how it goes in the next couple of days! Here is a quick video of her first cereal feeding. Hope everyone is doing well!

Update

2007-08-21T10:19:00.000-04:00

Okay here is a quick update, we survived the night and she slept a good 9 hours. Yeah!! I'm loving the Miracle Blanket. Anyway, will post more later just wanted to tell everyone how it went.

Hoping for a "Miracle"

2007-08-20T15:59:00.000-04:00

So let me first just say that my child loves her swaddle. She can't sleep without it and believe me we've tried. She will sleep for about two hours at best without it before her arms will jerk and wake her up. In about the past week or two she has gotten strong enough to bust out of her swaddle. Well after a LONG night of swaddling, busting out and crying (in that order) I went in search of a Miracle Blanket. My sister in law told me about it and used it with our nephew, who like Ava loved his swaddle. She kindly offered to send us one of hers, but after our night last night we were kind of desperate. (Carmen, if you read this and still want to send us one we'll take it for when this one needs to be washed.) For those of you who don't know, it has a special place for the arms so that they can't break free. Well wouldn't you know that there is only one store in the Atlanta area that even carries them and of course it's downtown. So this morning we made a trip to the store and purchased one. When we got home I tried it out on Ava and she seemed to like it and even started talking when I put her in it. Hopefully it will work and if she can get out of this one then I think she might have a career as Houdini's helper. I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes.

Talking to Daddy

2007-08-19T22:32:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to figure out this video thing. Here is a cute video of Ava talking to her daddy on July 4th.

New discoveries

2007-08-18T18:01:00.000-04:00

This has been a big week of discovery for Ava. First, she has finally figured out how to put her thumb in her mouth without having to eat her whole hand. Though she still does put the whole thing in her mouth until she gags. Oh well, I guess she'll make the connection one day. She has also discovered her lovie. It has been so cute to see her hold it in her arm when she gets sleepy. Finally, she has figured out how to roll from her tummy to her back. We are still working on the other way around. Thanks to Courtney she has inherited a Jump-a-roo which she loves. It makes my life a little easier b/c all she wants to do is stand up these days. Thanks Court! She is finally feeling better after her first cold and I am so glad. It is miserable to have a sick child as any parent knows. Here are a few pics from the past couple of weeks. Hope everyone is doing well!