Our Week in Pictures

We've had a really fun week around here.  Nothing too crazy or out of the ordinary, just lots of time with Ava and I, playing and exploring.  It's been a sweet answer to my prayers as of late.  We had such a busy May and I felt like my time with her was so divided most days.  I've really been longing for a quiet week so that we could just reconnect again and I could see the world through her little eyes.  Well this week, God gave it to me and I kept my camera at hand a lot so I could remember this little phase she's in and the adventures we've had together....

MONDAY

Our little monkey reared her head this week and her inner climber came out!  Travis and I watched her begin to scale her crib and we immediately felt affirmed in our decision to move her to a big girl bed when Carter comes!  At this rate, I'm not even sure we'll last that long :)  She made some serious progress on her first attempt!

She also sought out as many tight spaces as she could this week, crawling in and out of them all day long.  In fact, she got so good at it, there were several times I wondered where on earth she was??

So, we put on our suits and made a trip to the splash pad to enjoy the sunshine. 

And this little cutie made me as proud as any mom there.  She marched all over that pool, up and down the slide, playing with her toys.  I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, but I think it was probably me.

TUESDAY

On Tuesday, we had some fun with our friend Barrett at Underwater Adventures in the Mall of America!

We explored all they had to offer...

Mostly enjoying the great aquarium and all the fish we saw.  Ava loved it and reached for everything that swam over and around us.

Even the big sharks that were surrounding us!

She and Barrett chatted and talked at the sight of all the bright fish...

...Ava especially loved this tank with all the little guys!  It was our first aquarium experience and she took it all in like such a big girl.  I loved taking her and immediately started thinking about all the times we'll go there, soon with her baby brother in tow!  This stage of life is so much fun!

WEDNESDAY

We got a cute haircut!

And found out how much fun could be had, playing under the kitchen table!

After our naps and a trip to the grocery store, we packed up for a beautiful night at Church with Daddy and the junior highers.  It was a water balloon fight night and Ava was mesmerized by the whole thing!

 

She especially loved digging in the buckets of balloons and licking her hands afterwards!

Oh the simple joys of being little!

 

We love going to Church with Daddy and one of my favorite things to watch is Ava's desire to be right where Daddy is, no matter what he's doing :) 

Even better is to watch him scoop her up and let her be a part of what he's doing.  

It makes my heart melt and already it makes her feel loved by him.  She has no concept that one day she'll have to learn to share her Dad in situations like this, but for now all she knows is that he's her Daddy and she wants to be held.  I'm so thankful he sees that and doesn't push her away while he's working.  We are blessed to still get some family time in, even while at work.  Plus, the kids adore her and they get the biggest kick out of watching her interact with us and with them.  

I couldn't love raising our kids with Travis any more than I already do!

THURSDAY

 

Yesterday, Ava found another tight spot to climb on!  It was cute and she was pretty proud of herself, but I quickly realized how dirty that bowl was!  She was covered from head to toe in dirt and she loved it...I wonder who she gets that from??  God knew what He was doing when He decided to add a son to our family.  They will have a messy blast together one day!

 

I finally got my pots planted this week and we've been enjoying lots of time on our balcony ever since.

Ava loves to play with my little candles, which of course I don't want her doing because they are glass.  Naturally, that makes her want to do it more. 

 

I do love it when she plays on her knees though :)  She looks so sweet when she's getting in trouble!

After we changed into cleaner pants, we tried out some of our new pool toys, again in our (waterless) pool!  I promise to put water in, just as soon as it warms up again.  But it was only 65 degrees on Thursday and pretty windy, so for now we are pretending there is water!

But clearly, she knows no difference.  She had tons of fun anyway.

FRIDAY

Of course we started this morning off with a new place to climb and hide!  I spent lots of time yesterday, cleaning out the drawers in our changing table to make room for Carter's stuff.  After I pulled out all of the pink stuff, you can see it was left quite bare!  Which is hilarious, because it was totally full of blankets, burp cloths, receiving blankets, sheets, etc. and now, it's down to 3 or 4 things.  Time to fill it back up again with blue stuff :) 

But until we do, it's the perfect place for this little monkey to play.  

It's been a great week for my sweet girl and I.  Now we get a couple of fun days to play with Daddy too!  

Thank you for all of your sweet comments about our little Carter and the flowers from my latest wedding.  You made my heart happy this week reading all of them.  

We hope you have a wonderful weekend!!  We've got some more playing to do!