It turns out Ava was a very nice girl this year. Santa came and brought her some great presents. Her favorite being her very own cell phone. She was a lot of fun and was great at unwrapping as long as we got it started and she could tell there was something interesting inside. We had a nice quiet day and enjoyed some rest and relaxation. 
I may or may not have bought Ava a Christmas dress last year for this year and I may or may not have forgotten about it and purchased another one and kept both because I loved them both so much. She is just too dang much fun to dress. 
One second she would be laughing hysterically, the next...well...you get the picture.
After taking this picture a few weeks ago, we thought a picture with Santa wasn't going to be much of a success this year (even though I don't think it could get much better than this).
Last weekend Josh and I hosted our first holiday party...our first ugly holiday sweater holiday party. It was a blast! I was not disappointed, we had a few couples really go all out which made the night, but everyone joined in on the fun. We had invited nearly twenty couples in hopes that half would come. Were we ever surprised when all but 4 couples decided to join us.
Wanna know who, okay, I'll tell you...
Remember a few months back when I won this sweet little "Pay it Forward Giveaway"? Well I'm not a total loser, just a slacker, because I am just now getting around to "paying it forward". Sorry to Jessica if I made her think she had "paid it forward" to the wrong person. But I finally got it together and thought this was the perfect time of year to "pay if forward". Who doesn't like to receive unexpected gifts around the holidays. So without further adieu...
Included in this package of holiday cheer is:
This may not look like a big deal, but trust me, it is. This is Ava holding her own cup, something she has never done before until a few weeks ago. Now she does it like a natural! 
" Look mom, No hands!"
She takes a break to stop and play and then...
...back in the mouth it goes and...
She's off!
It started out by getting hair done and getting nice and pretty for the day.
Then it turned into playing with friends for a little bit.
"Please can I have this cookie, mom?"
"Yes, it's all mine!"
After lunch we walked around the farmer's market where Ava met the largest dog we have ever seen. It was huge! The picture doesn't even do justice to how massive the dog was, but it was very kind and let Ava play with it for a minute.
Josh's idea of fun was to head to the Boise Art Museum. It was pretty boring, they were in the middle of switching exhibits and there wasn't a whole lot to look at besides the weird crap some people call art, not the most exciting part of the day, but it turned out to be great. We ended our museum visit at a stop at the children's section where Ava was able to play and have a good time and we loved watching her. The shapes she and Josh were playing with were magnetic and stuck to a huge magnetic wall, she thought it was the best thing ever. Every time they stuck one on it would make a loud noise and she would throw her whole body back in laughter. Good Times!
This week during Ava's therapy session we started working on getting her to pull up onto things. We have been working with the laundry basket because it is the perfect height for her to kneel. She picked it up very quickly and is now doing it on her own as long as there is proper motivation. i.e. toys. Once she gets it down we will work on getting her to go from kneeling to standing. She is so close to a regular four point crawl, she just needs to find the confidence to go for it. We have also been working on getting her to go from a crawl into a sitting position. Once again she has the skills and can totally do it, but never had a reason to outside of being helped to during therapy. Well, as I was typing this post, I looked down and noticed she was sitting. I asked Josh if he sat her up and he hadn't so it looks like she has figured it out! Yea! She is getting it! I just watched her do it again, she has totally got it! Ava's therapy sessions and therapist have been so awesome. It is so nice to have someone help you figure out the correct order of developmental skills to be working with Ava on, especially as a first time mom who really doesn't know. Just last week I couldn't figure out how we were ever going to get from Ava's current army crawl to independently walking, it seemed like it would take forever. At Ava's session on Wednesday, Amy, the therapist, laid it all out for me and it feels great to know that we are not as far away from our goals as it tends to seem. 
I've always been a lover of the holidays, but I have a new found excitement for how great they can be now that we have our little witch to share them with!
I have also been busy making Ava's Halloween costume. She is going to be a witch this year. (Pictures to come). I also decided to make Ava a Halloween pillowcase dress, thanks for the idea Ruby! I am hooked. It was so easy to make and turned out so cute. I may have to make her one for every holiday. I already have the Christmas fabric!
I love this time of year and making the most out of every holiday. Tomorrow we will be having fun at a neighborhood get together on our street. We still need to make and decorate sugar cookies (my favorite tradition), carve pumpkins, hopefully make it to another pumpkin patch to enjoy their petting zoo, and of course, enjoy a little Trick or treating. 
Hi, Do you remember us? We haven't been around for a few weeks, but we are back and ready to blog!
This little girl gets around...the house that is! She has become a really mover and shaker and she is all over the place. This is her coming to get me after her nap.
But first she needed to make a pit stop to see if anyone was at the front door...
But what about the living room...Nope.
It sure has been fun watching her move, something that had been a very hard thing to imagine just a few short weeks ago. We sure love this little girl!
This is video from a couple of weeks ago, she still has the same crawling technique, just a little faster.
