Ava at 18 months

On July 14, Ava turned 18 months old. I have very few pictures of Ava because they always come out blurry. That about sums her up!

She has always been a busy baby. I thought Brielle was a busy baby and I thought I could totally sympathize with the moms who have boys that they just cannot get a handle on. But now I KNOW I can sympathize because I have a boy that I just cannot get a handle on, except she's a girl that wants her toes painted while she takes all the books off that shelf and also runs a marathon.

In the morning I get Ava out of bed and she sits on my lap on the couch for a few minutes giving me a precious cuddle and sometimes some kisses and always lots of smiles. Then after about five minutes of that, she is off to the races. She literally does not stop RUNNING until it is time for her nap after lunch. That wasn't true a couple of weeks ago because I could put her in her highchair and as long as she was eating, she was happy. She'll eat anything, and all of it. (Up from the 3rd to the 6th percentile at her check-up!) But now that highchair is just too restraining. She wants to sit in a big person chair while she eats but she actually wants to crawl all over all the chairs and the table while she eats. Plus, that gives her the freedom to get down and do a couple laps between bites.

She is a bright little thing. She follows instructions just perfectly and will take her clothes from her bedroom to the laundry basket on the other side of the house with a happy, "Kay!" She has quite a few words but she is very good at communicating with the few she uses most. Please, thank you, that, kay, oh, bye, binky, love you daddy. And of course, Brielle's constant renditions of the song have taught her "let it go." Since posting this a few days ago, two people have mentioned that I forgot to add "hey!" Which I can't believe I forgot because it is her favorite, catch-all word.

She decided this month that she is ready be potty-trained, so that's been funny.

She is a happy girl. Always so happy. And she is so fun. She gets more fun and more hilarious every day. It has been such a joy being her mama. And now I hear her calling me from her crib. So, game on.

Mason turns 5 years old

My little Mason just turned five. Five years old. Yesterday they cut this perfect, handsome baby out of me and today he is half a decade old.

I asked him a couple days before his birthday what he wanted to do to celebrate and he had the best idea. "After I go to bed, you will put up decorations, and then when I wake up in the morning, I will be so surprised!" THAT, I can do. He couldn't think of a single actual activity he wanted to do, but he was very concerned about what kind of party he was going to have. Theme-wise.

So, the night before his birthday, Tim and I went to the store and bought him a couple of small gifts and some Ninja Turtles birthday things. Then we decorated a little! Sadly, I slept through his reaction in the morning, but Tim said it was great. We let the day be all about Mason and just had fun as a family and then had the whole crew over for cake and ice cream that evening. That was the best part. Mason's heaven is playing with all of his cousins and he was out-of-his-mind happy all evening. A couple of times he came in to where the adults were chatting to announce a new game and we would all get up and look for him while he hid, or watch him use a flashlight in the dark suspended garage, or something like that.

When Mason is happy, all the world is happy. Some days I get more "I love you, Mommy," 's than I can fit my heart around. Some days he just wants to sit so close to me as often as he can. Some days he comes up with so many great traps and games and Lego houses to show me and I am just amazed at how curious and smart and adorable he is. Sure, he likes to pester his sisters and sometimes his world is so confusing or hard that he has to scream. But he also loves to play with and comfort his sisters and instead of screaming, he goes and sits quietly in his room to regroup.

So far, I'm impressed. I'm sure it is only going to get better.

BOY!

Our Dr. told us for two appointments in a row (at 13 and 17 weeks) that we were "definitely" having a girl. I was completely expecting the baby to be a boy.

Now, I also thought Brielle was a boy. I mean, I was sure. When he told me that my second would be a girl it was a shock, but it was a happy shock. And I was so excited to have a little lady! I just got behind that %100.

I had no idea what to expect with Ava, but I kind of suspected she would be a girl, so I was happy to be right and to have two little girls.

This one has been a boy from day one. I only thought of boy names. My symptoms felt very similar to how I felt with Mason. Plus, I just felt like there was a little baby boy waiting to join us. So when the doctor told us it was a girl, I was very surprised. I have learned, however, that you can't exactly change these things, so you get happy. And I did! Kind of.

I still had this lingering feeling one more boy belonged in the this family and the thought would not leave. I had to talk Tim into going for a fourth kid in the first place, and I knew a 5th wasn't happening. The peaceful, finally-I-will-never-be-pregnant-again feeling that I had been hoping for just wasn't there. (Tim has since said that he kind of felt the same, but never would have said anything.) While telling myself that three girls and one boy would be the perfect family for us, I was also (secretly in the deep recesses of my brain) hoping that the doctor had been wrong, that it was too early to tell.

Well guess what?! It was! You should have seen our reactions when the ultrasound tech told us, or showed us, that we were really having a boy. Giant smiles. Laughs. I think we may have high-five'd. So...good thing this kid is a boy. I feel much better about this.

4th of July

After we drove home from our overnight cabin trip, we had to set off some fireworks and enjoy a little barbecue. Luckily, our neighbors and good friends, Becky and Jeron Larsen, had the same idea.

Cabin camping

Tim's sister, Stephanie, recently bought a cabin near Strawberry Reservoir and invited us up for the 4th of July. So we decided to head up and stay a night. It was nice to get away, ride some four-wheelers, do a little fishing and hang out with family.