Phone Dump

Can't believe it's already mid July. 

Here's a little (big) peek at what we've been up to on the daily

Jeff's sister Amy came to visit! We love Amy.

 It was so nice to see her and for Ava to meet her other aunt. While Jeff and I were at BYU, we'd go over to Amy and Steve's all the time for dinner and games and to see the girls- we miss them!    

    

We look out the window... a lot.

I've been taking advantage of this crazy awesome weather with early morning walks. 

That morning it was 84 degrees!!! 

in july.   in texas.    unreal.

Ava with her BFF

oh hey

haha

going to church!

sleeps with her hands just like how Jeff does

she is such a sweet and cuddly baby

for Father's Day the ward made all the guys chocolate mustaches.

waiting for Dad to get home

Ava got to facetime with both of her Great-Grandpas. 

and of course a little facetime with my parents. 

Happy Smiles

Happy smiles.... happy smiles....

^^^every morning she is full of these tongue out smiles. Sometimes I have a hard time feeding her in the morning because she just wants to smile.^^^

^^^late night smiles are rare. but sometimes she gives us some sleepy ones^^^

^^^this is the grin she saves for her daddy^^^

 When Jeff was a little kid, he'd walk around singing "happy smiles, happy smiles." And now that Ava's gotten so smiley we find ourselves singing it to her as she grins back.
Love those grins.

Wednesday Morning

We have pretty chill mornings around here. Slept in, ate a ton, and kicked back with a mirror sesh followed by some time on the tummy and then a long nap (holla)- that never happens.

We play hard.

4th of July Weekend

We started the weekend off with a pool party/water vball get together that Jeff organized.

I just sat in the shade with Ava and talked with all of the other girls who have little babies. There are a lot of little babies in our ward- it works out great! After the pool, we came back home, took a nap- I made enchiladas because we were craving Mexican food- and then we were going to go watch fireworks but the little miss was really tired and just wanted to go to bed. So we stayed home and Ava rewarded us for listening to her by sleeping all night.

I'll take that over fireworks any day.

Later on that same weekend we went up to Lewisville Lake with some friends.
It was so nice to get out of the house! Jeff and I had never been up to the lake and we ended up loving it. Next summer I want to bring Ava back so she can have fun too :) This trip she pretty much just lounged in the shade looking cute in her sunhat.

Don't worry- we didn't have her in the sun for very long.
The day was hot, but for Texas it wasn't that bad! I know the rest of the country was having a serious heatwave, but Texas has been in the 80's/90's - which is amazing compared to the summer that Jeff and I moved here in.

 ^^^family pic^^^
the fact that there are three people in our family still makes me giddy

^^^lover boy^^^

^^^boys with babes^^^

^^^Jeff's two favorite things^^^ 

^^^ Me, Leandra, and our babies^^^ 

Ava and Ellie are about a week apart. 

^^^had fun hanging out with this girl in the shade^^^

^^^And my sweet girl is all tuckered out^^^ 

Great weekend.

Ava Rees * 2 Months *

So my girl is two months! I'm loving it! She has started smiling and cooing and becoming a little more fun to hang out with :) Of course, most of her coos are saved for her bff, the baby staring back at her in her mirror- BUT she does give me giant gummy grins when I go to pick her up out of her crib in the morning. She's actually very smily in the mornings. I just love it. Sometimes she actually stops eating, leans back and gives me giant smiles so much that I have to not look at her so she can finish eating. And if you know how much this girl likes to eat- that's saying something.

The little miss had her two month check up this week:

Weight: 13 lbs 11 oz- 97%

Height: 24 inches- 95%

Head circumference: 40 cm- 80%

So basically she's still our big growing girl!

blurg- I was so close to getting this smile directed my way,

 but alas, the ceiling fan seems to be her one true love

Ava has been loving her playmat. There's a mirror attached to the top that she just stares at. She coo's and talks to the mirror for forever. 

She'll also smile at herself for a solid 15 minutes! I'm loving her high self-esteem :)

Ava had a rocky couple of weeks when she came down with a bad cold. It was so sad. I called her doctor twice and made Jeff call once just to make sure they didn't want us to bring her in. I guess I'm a  first time mom, but whatever- hearing her sniffle and all congested was so hard. Thankfully she's all better and back to herself after a lot of cuddles and long nights, a lot of time with the humidifier and a lot of suctioning. 

Also- she's back to being a fantastic sleeper! (knock on wood) last night she slept for 8 1/2 hours straight, woke up to eat and slept for another 3. I felt like I could run a marathon that day I had so much energy. We're still working on the nap situation though. She just wants to be a part of everything going on! She hates napping- so weird. 

Ava has also been so smiley lately it seriously kills me. I love her more and more every day and am having a lot of fun with her. I can't even be mad when she poops on me- because she's smiling while she's doing it. 

Ava has now 100% refused all bottles. She just hates them. I've tried everything and have pretty much given up for now. I can't be too mad at her for preferring me- but... it would be nice to be able to leave and not have to rush back- I guess it's good motivation during my runs to go faster so I can get home  to my hungry girl more quickly :)
So far this summer has been great with Jeff's school schedule. He's almost always home by 5:00 and the moment he comes home I hand Ava over to him and go for a run. I get some alone time and Ava and Jeff get some bonding time. Win/Win.
Two months in and every week just gets better.
We still love her! 

4 Years...

A couple weeks ago was our 4 year anniversary. 

We celebrated at home with my favorite candy, flowers, love notes and a lot of pizza- 

oh, and with one adorable baby girl. 

It was perfect.

Four years seems like a long time- and looking back at some of our wedding pictures it really seems like it was a long time ago. 

We look so much younger. Maybe we're not aging well. I need to look into that...

ahhh and here's us in present day. 

Happy FOUR years of marriage sweetheart. You're my best friend and that's why being married to you is so much fun. You keep me laughing and you somehow still surprise me every single day. Life is never boring with you! This last year has been the best yet- it was also the worst for a while, but Ava made it better and seeing you as a dad has been so very wonderful. Life just keeps getting better with you- here's to many many more years of being best friends.

LOVE YOU!