Hanging out in the back yard

Ava - June

Buddies

Ava and Joanie- May 2008


Ava and Joanie- May 2008

Adoption Day

In which Zan takes time out of her hectic schedule of feeding, bathing and clothing Ava, not to mention the countless other parental tasks that she does daily in addition to her full-time job, so that the state of Massachusetts can recognize her as Ava's true 2nd parent, other mother, whatever you want to call it.

Having said that, we are grateful that in our state 2nd parent adoptions are allowed (there are still places in which they are not) and that it is a relatively easy process.

Ava - 19 months

Believe it or not, this was a relatively calm hair day for Ava. Her hair is as wild as she is.

Mother's Day

We had a nice Mother's Day doing not much of anything.... took a walk in the beautiful sunshine to our favorite breakfast place, went to the playground and then back home for a nap (Ava) and housechores (us). Ava did her usual playing in the front yard, pushing her babies up and down the sidewalk in her stroller and saying hello to every car and person that comes by.

This, by far, is her new all-time favorite activity. First there is an announcement of what, or who is coming by, as in CAR! or DOGGIE!- and then the greeting- HELLO CAR! HELLO DOGGIE!- followed up by the goodbye, complete with a wave- BYE BYE CAR! - BYE BYE DOGGIE! , and further followed up by a conversation about it that will last a good 5 minutes after they've left- CAR BYE-BYE, DOGGIE BYE-BYE..................... PLANE!
and here we go again....

Flash-back Photo

Ava and Joanie hanging out with some stuffed animals last summer. I can't believe how much they've both grown since then!

Some video of Ava with her cousins, Madison and Michael

http://vimeo.com/932315

Suddenly, a little kid

Ava is 1 1/2 now. I don't know how this happened, how yesterday we were holding a tiny, swaddled bundle of a baby and today we have a little girl, sitting on the front steps with her first skinned knee.

What's in Mommy's purse today?

Ava, Easter Sunday

Whenever we're going to get Ava a little dressed up, we tell her it's time to put her "Fancys on", and whenever we're going to put on her little sweat pants and overshirts, we tell her it's time to "Put on cozies"... Needless to say, we are mostly all in our "Cozies" around here, but Aunt Jenny and Uncle Nick came to visit this weekend, and Aunt Jenny likes the "Fancys", so she got to dress Ava for a night on the town- and of course Ava loved it, and twirled and twirled in her little poncho like a movie star.

So here is Ava all dressed up in her "Fancys" last Saturday night.


It's really kind of fun having a girl.

Ava, before bed on Monday night

Big-Girl Crush

Isabella is 4 years old, has beautiful big blue eyes, and Ava is absolutely amazed by her.

Cooking in the Kitchen with Mommy

Ava- 15 months

15 months and full of mischief

A few recent shots of Ava

Christmas 2008

We had a fabulous time with the family this Christmas.

Ava got to get all fancy in her Christmas dress.....


And then there was a little naked time! Nothing like being naked with one patent leather shoe on, pushing a truck around the living room!

Snow!

New Year's Day brought another round of snow to our New England town. We took a nice walk around the neighborhood and said hello to all of the neighbors out using their snow blowers. This was Ava's first real experience being out in the snow- she didn't seem to mind at all.

Christmas pics to come, but for now here are some shots of our afternoon walk.