Merry Christmas

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Wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Can't believe it was a year ago that we were packing our suitcases and getting ready to fly to Ethiopia to meet Ava. This Christmas will be special because it is also the day Ava arrived home to meet all the Jarvies.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Disneyworld this year and Ava LOVED Mickey (and all the characters). Unfortunately, her love did not carry over to Santa. Our first picture of her with Santa is not a pretty one.......she's screaming and trying to jump off his lap!

As we celebrate this wonderful time of year, I can't help but think back to all the beautiful orphans we met while we were meeting Ava. Thankfully, many of those children have been matched with forever families, but many have not. I hope that more families will feel called to adopt these amazing children.

We have much to be thankful for this year and we look forward to 2011!

Happy Fall!

Ava experienced her first trip to the Pumpkin Patch last weekend. She enjoyed toddling around and watching all the kids.

A Whole New World

It's finally happened!!!!!! Yesterday, Ava walked all by herself!!!!! It took many months of practice to get there, but she took a few steps in the afternoon and by bedtime she was walking all around the house. It's so funny to see her plump little body upright and moving independently! At 17 months and 28 pounds, it was time for this to happen. I am so proud of her, but at the same time my "mommy heart" is sad that her "baby life" is coming to a close and her "toddler life" is beginning. It is all happening in a the blink of an eye. I'll try to post some video or photos later!

My Montage 9/23/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summer

So summer flew by without any updates......sorry about that! With the kids being home, there just didn't seem to be time to update the blog. Tonight they are all in bed and ready to start their first day of school tomorrow. It will just be mommy and Ava at home again and Ava will be missing her sisters. They did a great job of entertaining her this summer.

Ava was quite the traveler this summer. We went to Ocean City, MD, Myrtle Beach, SC, and Boston, MA. She loved the pool and ocean....think I'll put her in swim lessons this year. She is almost walking and can crawl at record speeds. She just discovered she can get herself up the steps, so the gates went up this weekend. She is 16 months old and is still in the 95 percentile for weight and has dropped down to the 75th percentile for height. Her favorite activities are rolling/throwing the ball and reading her books. We are working very hard to get her to say a few words, but she isn't cooperating. I am taking her this month to have her hearing checked, just to make sure that isn't an issue.

She loves to make us laugh and she has figured out little tricks to get our attention. She pretends like she has a cough and then we all look over and say, "Ahhh, does Ava have a cough?" and she just cracks up. Her other favorite trick is to pretend she is putting her food in her mouth, but at the last minute she flings it over the side of her high chair so the dogs can eat it. She thinks that is just so funny. She loves for us to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider (over and over and over). We are branching out to new songs because we all are sick of singing that song!

My favorite thing is to go in and get her out of her crib in the morning. She is always standing there with a big smile on her face ready to start the day.Then gives me a huge hug.......can't think of a better way to begin the day! She is such a happy girl!

We were discussing the other day that she has now been home with us longer than she was in Ethiopia. It's just amazing how much she has grown and changed. Everyday is something new and we love experiencing all of it with her!

4th of July

Ava celebrated her first 4th of July!!!! We took her to see the fireworks and at first she didn't love the loud noises the fireworks made, but she loved watching them. She was a trooper and stayed up way past her bedtime.

She turned 14 months old on July 3rd. She is babbling all the time and now says "Dada" and points to Bruce. I have to admit I am a little jealous since I am with her all day long and still haven't gotten a "Mama" out of her yet! She is pulling herself up and moving around, but not walking on her own yet. I think we are just a few weeks away from that happening.

We have taken her to the pool several times now and she LOVES the water! I really have to watch her because she is not fearful of the water at all. Her personality is really beginning to shine thru. She loves to be tickled and teased.....she is going to have quite a sense of humor!

The girls have been out of school for 2 weeks and she really likes having the girls around. There is always somebody there to play with her!

13 months!

Ava just turned 13 months old and continues to grow (and grow!). I took her for her one year check up a week ago and she is in the 95th percentile for her height and weight. She is just going to be a BIG girl!!! We had our 6 month post adoption interview with the social worker and she was impressed with Ava's development.

So, at 13 months, Ava :

- has 6 teeth

- is eating some real food (pancakes, fruit, pasta, etc)

- can stand up while hold onto my finger

- is crawling all over the place

- can pull herself up to a standing position

- can tell us how old she is by holding up 1 finger