Happy New Year!!

I thought I would start 2009 with a post about the end of 2008. Ava continues to grow like a weed and it's hard to imagine that next month she will be two!! At the end of the year she had her graduation from the "Little Gym" finishing her second semester. I'm sure you can just feel the excitement from all these kids who just received their medals.

I should also take this time to share some of Ava's other accomplishments from 2008. Ava can now count to 8 and occasionally throws in 9 and 10. She tries to sing her ABC's....it usually goes something like this "A B C D A B C D A B C D." We're working on EFG. More that anything else Ava loves to talk. I can't think of many words she doesn't know and if we come across one we just have to use it once and it becomes a favorite. She's starting to speak in sentences, which I am thankful for because "Mommy I tripped" or "I want one too" is much easier to understand than "uh uh uh." Also as strange as it sounds her favorite song is "Brass Monkey" by the Beastie Boys. We didn't play this song for her, but she heard it when we were going through Dan's iPod and all she needed to hear was "monkey" and she fell in love. People always ask what is your favorite stage, but as I'm sure most parents would agree, you can't pick just one. Every stage has been exciting, rewarding, and fun! I love being a mom and feel as though this is what I am meant to do. Hopefully the fun will double with the work when baby #2 comes.

Over the holidays in 2008 I again slacked on taking pictures. Ava did get some one on one time with her favorite cousin Elway.

One of Ava's favorite new toys is her car. Here she is showing off her new wheels and her beautiful grin. I would like to just say, it's not evident in these pictures, but I do fix Ava's hair...the problem is it only takes her 2 minutes to destroy it.
Did I mention Ava has really been helping me out a lot.

Another big gift this year was Ava's kitchen....here she is microwaving a hot dog for

her doll Dora.

After feeding Dora, Mommy and Daddy usually get some good food too.

My little munchkin has more energy than Dan and I put together, but I wouldn't change it for the world. She's growing up way too fast and I am just trying to soak it all up. I made a new years resolution to update this blog more often and I'm sure I will be called out if I start slacking!

I hope you all had a great 2008 and I wish you all a wonderful 2009.