Sunday, July 29, 2012

Ava: 5 months

Oh Lord, please don't tell me we have to start teething all over again! Ava is drooling and chewing on just about everything. Daycare has had to give her tylenol when she gets fussy and chews on her fingers......oh how it makes me nervous. Austin didn't get his first tooth until he was 6 months, so we'll see how comparable that is for Ava. So far....no tooth buds just yet. I started to say no tooth buds when I was writing this out earlier this week, but now of course, she has them on the bottom gums....Oy!

Ava has found her feet and loves to play with them.

Just as I remember with Austin, she flipped a switch and is going to bed at the same time as Austin right now which is 7pm. She is showing signs of wanting to go to bed earlier but I seem to push her limits a bit so I can stay and play with Austin too.

Her hair is still questionable in color, but as I am staring at my blog book of when Austin was 5 months, he had the exact same thing and I even wrote "light blonde/brown color". Looks like my Mom and I still have the great debate (loser buys lunch) of what color she will truly have.

This is about the time I started letting Austin try baby food. I made Austin's baby food for a very long time and still hope to do the same for Ava. I unfortunately don't have as much time or freezer space...(the chest freezer is literally full to the top with breast milk).

Ava loves to play peek-a-boo regardless if anyone is paying attention or not. If she has a dress on or is playing with a blanket, she puts it over her face as fast as you can take it off or pull it down. It makes me laugh as I turn around and see her dress over her face, kicking her legs, with her chubby little belly exposed!

She loves to sit up and watch Austin play. She's also a very distracted eater. When there is lots going on, she can't help but make sure to watch all the action.

She doesn't complain too much but there is a reason Austin puts a "D" in front of her name, she certainly is a little "Diva".

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Build: Exterior Almost Complete and More Decisions to be Made

Painting is really coming along on the exterior, but not yet complete. The white trim has yet to be painted but that didnt stop Jason from adding more corbels. Love them!! I love the "jewelry" on the garage doors as well.
The living room beams have been placed but have yet to be stained. Perfect size!
At this visit to the house, Jason had me make a few decisions on the trimwork of the columns at the bottom of the stairwell. He spent a few hours coming up with a few different options and I can't wait to see the finished product.
Doors have been placed around the house and are looking great. I can't wait to see the rest of the dark hardware on them. The first picture of the doors is the entry way closet and the second picture is the closet across from the mudroom lockers, with the single door going to the downstairs bath.
We also need to order our decking! We have been looking at the composite decking but dont have lots of choices when it comes to colors. Jason is holding up the samples to the house and we are leaning towards the middle color that looks most like actual wood.
Austin tries to help clean up so Daddy can come home and play!
Decisions have been made and hopefully more progress is around the corner. Jason is working at the house every night and all weekend now so that we can continue with our projection to move in at the end of September. We are both becoming exhausted with this routine but with the move just a few short months away, we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately Jason's light is on until the wee hours of the morning lately.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Ava: 4 month stats

Height: 25 inches 59th percentile
Weight: 14lbs 12.5 oz  58th percentile
My growing peanut!!!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Ava's Baptism

Ava was baptized this past Sunday July 15th at Zeeland Community Church. My Uncle Dann married us in that same church 6 years ago next month.
We were very fortunate that it just so happened to be on the same weekend that my Grandma Ondarko, along with my Uncle Joe and Aunt Sally, came from MinnesOta to visit. (yes, you have to emphasize the 'O' if you are going to say it right!)
My mom and I pulled our inspiration for decorations all from a napkin we saw at Party City. Thanks to my amazing family as usual for their help and setting up the decorations ahead of time!!
I gave Costco the exact same napkin and they made her an adorable cake to match!
Poor Ava was already very tired before the service even started....

Austin was excited to point out to everyone that is his sister Ava (still 'Dave-ah' in his version)
This picture makes me realize how much Jason and I have grown as parents. With all that we are going through right now, we are stressed to the max. BUT, despite all of that, in this moment, we are just looking at each other with pure joy and happiness that our children, are children of God. We are so blessed.
And here is the picture of the day!! After the church service, and having lunch and cake with all the family, we went back to my parents house to enjoy more time with the Ondarkos. I had missed a lot of opportunites to get photos with being the busy mom that I am, so I ran Ava into my parents bedroom quick to snap a few photos......and here's the reward!

I love you peanut! As my Uncle Dann says at the end of every service, "May His seeking comfort find you, may his loving arms bind you, may his might protect you and his wisdom direct you, and may the joyous love of Jesus Christ be with you and those you love, now and forever more, Amen."

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

The Build: Exterior Details and Paint

The outside of the house is getting lots of attention as Jason finishes up the details of the trimwork before the painters came. We talked about the columns outside the entry and the amount of detail they would receive. I like the columns without the extra piece in the middle as you can see on the right side. We also talked about continuing the horizontal trim above the entry door. Here is a before pic.
Here is a picture after the trim went up above the door and with the paint to match the siding.

Jason is holding up a corbel to give me an idea of their size and orientation. They have yet to be stained a dark expresso.
Here is the house with the beginning of the paint. This week the trim is being painted white and I CAN'T WAIT to see it! Jason just sent me a preview picture from the house after he couldn't stand it and put one stained corbel up just to see what it would look like.

Did you see Austin's head poking through the bottom of the picture above? Sometimes the only way I can see the house is bringing a kiddo along. This visit, Austin kept saying 'this house' and pointing to the front door as if we should knock. He also found all sorts of stuff to play with lying around the front yard. He kept bringing it to Jason as if saying "Look what I found Daddy!" So cute. Can't wait to blog next after the exterior gets even closer to being finished.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

4th of July

How is it that kiddos look so adorable all decked out in red, white, and blue?! Here is my first attempt at getting photos of Austin and Ava together...
I can imagine Ava was wondering what we were doing trying to make her sit by herself since we only have a few moments to get a shot before she starts to fall over.

One of my favorites by far.....my buddy and his dimples...
Here he is enjoying the view from Aunt Carol's deck
Aunt Carol enjoying some Ava time
Ava and her Great Great Aunt Fran

It was nice to spend the day with family. Once Austin got exhausted, my mom and I decided to take him for a stroller ride so he could nap. He fell asleep before we even left the driveway! We ended up walking for at least an hour and a half while Austin snoozed. The only problem was that it was 90 degrees and we were drenched with sweat when we got back. Jason spent the day working on the house since he just got back from annual training and didn't want to feel so far behind. I think we need to somehow stick a few more holidays in the middle of the week in the summer....it was such a nice day off.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

People Watchers

Each weekend I try and pick out something fun for us to do to get us out of the house and get a few hours of entertainment. Whether it be the Meijer Gardens, a splash pad, someone's pool, or the tree house at the mall.....just something that we can enjoy as much as the kiddos. Although, I have to say that sometimes I find it more exciting than they do.

We decided to check out a new splash pad this past weekend, which in my opinion was awesome! Not that Austin didn't enjoy it as much, he sure did, but in a different way.
He played in the playground until the splash pad opened, and then we had to do some convincing to Austin that the water was more fun than harm...
He played a little with the fountains and the water guns...

He took a nice break for some snacks with Grandpa....

But mostly of all....he was a people watcher. He loved watching the kids run around, scream, and splash.
Maybe next time Austin will be one of those kids running around......but even if he's not, he had a good time watching everyone else...and we had a good time watching Austin!

Monday, July 2, 2012

Grandma and Grandpa

Where would we be without Grandma and Grandpa? I for one thing, would be bald! Yup, I would have pulled out all of my hair by now. They are lifesavers and we are lucky to have them. But I know they would turn around and say they are lucky to have us too. We have lots of fun moments on our weekends together that are sometimes countered by our not so fun moments.....but we wouldn't take any of them back for a second!

Grandpa and Austin do lots of fun things together. They do projects around the house.....like scraping the deck before it gets stained....and other boy stuff.......
And Grandma and Ava spend lots of time snuggling together.....and having girl talk.....
And I get to sit back and watch it all....taking photos here and there....and most importantly joining in on all the fun!
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