Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Life in November

25 weeks




































26 weeks


In California... Ava LOVES kitties!


Arielle, Del and new baby Silas Ezekial

The 1st Thanksgiving meal I have ever made in it's entirety 














Ava busted her lip on Thanksgiving



















We had to ice that sucker some how




 So here I am in Cocoa Florida... and it's almost December and so much warmer than California.   The rest of my time in California was wonderful, I got to be there for the birth of my brother Del and sister in law Arielle's second baby Silas, which was was such a blessing and a wonderful experience!  I spent a few days with Barry, Helen, and Bella before flying home, which was really nice.
When I got home, TJ had cleaned the whole house, and applied beautiful flowers to many surfaces, he got me a newer more organized fridge, a bike that I can ride around with Ava, and he cleaned and reorganized my pantry... what a guy huh!?  He's so good to me.  :)
Thanksgiving was not too long after I got home, we spent it with TJ's family at THE Shropshire house, everyone brought something, and we all spent some good time together, how thankful for family I am!  It was a good day except for Ava pushing the bike over on the back porch and busting her lip open... :(
  This year I decided to do my own Turkey, because I missed having the leftovers in my own fridge to eat when I want (kind of selfish of me I know)  So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I ended up making a whole meal, a Turkey which turned out really good, my mom's stuffing, green bean casserole, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, potatoes and carrots that were roasted with the turkey, homemade crescent butter rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert.  We had the privilege of having Kyle, Cherie and Levi Shropshire over for the meal, and it just turned out wonderful, I couldn't have been more pleased.  I told TJ it was like a day at an amusement park for me, cooking is probably one of my favorite things to do, if not on the top of my list, so making a first time thanksgiving meal where everything turns out fantastic is so fun and rewarding!  Anyway, I just had to share that with you.


Ava has been changing so much, she has become so much more perceptive, and responsive.  She walks around like she owns the place, and has definitely been testing the boundaries we set for her, so that has been a little challenging.  We continue to seek God, and try to be as consistent with her as we can when it comes to discipline.  She has been growing more hair, which has in turn made it more curly.  She has learned a few signs in Sign language very well, things like, more, please, all done, and Thank you, these are just ones that she uses constantly on a regular basis.  Her vocabulary has grown, and she is not so afraid to test out new words, even if she is nowhere near pronouncing them correctly.
Things she has been saying:
Daddy, mommy, ball, cat, doggy, ducky, Nonnie, Papa, Mormor, Woof woof, baby, night night, bath, bite, milk, juice, shoes, book, socks, Hi, byebye, more, poopoo, belly, nose, eye, ear, no, outside.

She has been asking to go to bed every night, and at nap times by sucking on her blanket, saying "nigh-night"... TJ and I keep saying it's not supposed to be this easy to put your baby to bed.  Ava is a constant joy, it is so fun to watch her grow and learn.

I had an appointment with my midwife when I got back, and I am measuring about a week behind what I think I am, so I'm not sure what that means, but maybe I'll give birth closer to my due date this time.  We also had an ultra sound, it was SO fun to see our baby, it was moving all around, it even opened it's mouth, and stuck it's tongue out while on the ultra sound... funny kid.  The gender is still remaining a surprise, we are not finding out until it's born, which should be interesting, that was pretty much TJ's decision I would have gone with finding out, but I can't always have my way can I?!  March 1st is my due date, and I think it's going to come pretty quickly.

This weekend we are taking our youth group on a camping trip, so that should be fun and interesting... pregnant with a toddler  :)  I'll let you know how that goes.