Our Life in Charleston

Time. Something that I do not have enough of now that Ava is a toddler. (I cannot believe I am actually saying toddler!) She is busy busy busy. Also, she only takes 1 nap a day now which makes me quite choosy with my down time. Thus, I have not blogged for the past 5 months! So you might wonder what we have been up to. Well let me fill you in.

First things first David got into PA school in Charleston West Virginia at the University of Charleston. So after living with his parents for around 8 months we packed up our bags and got out of their hair. (I'm one of those lucky girls with wonderful inlaws (sorry to all of you out there who cannot say the same, mine just stole all of the goodness from yours). So here we are in West Virginia and I LOVE IT! I have such a wonderful support group of other PA wives, as well as other member's of our church. It makes me so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I always know that no matter where we go in our lives that we will always have people to help us out and make sure we taken care of. I feel so blessed. We do play dates weekly and have been able to stay busy and meet wonderful people! It will be hard to leave after enduring PA school for 27 months with the other PA wives....it just naturally has bonded us together! :)

David is also busy busy busy. He wakes up at 4 a.m. each day to get ready and is out the door by 5-5:30 a.m. and then I pick him up at 5 p.m. He is a hard worker, but loves every minute of it. He is doing so well in school. I just knew that he would! I couldn't be more proud of him.

So how is Ava?! Well, Ava is doing AMAZING. Seriously, I just love each day with her. Some days can be frustrating with her increasing desire to be independent and climb on every things and take all sorts of new risks. Yet, I sit back at the end of everyday and talk to David about how amazing she is and how much we love and adore her. I don't even know where to start! WARNING: this is an Ava update overload....for those who care:

1. Ava is 14 months old! Gahhh.. where has time went?

2. She has an incredible vocabulary. Seriously, it is amazing! She is just a little repeating parrot. She says many things like: Doctor, Tennis, Pilot, Pirate, Drive, Ride, Walk, Night Night, Tired, Water, Noodles, Cheese, Shoes, Bath, Bear, Ball, Candy, Door, Beam, Jesus, Belly, Side (outside), Duck, Jack-Jack (pixar short...lol), Book, Bow, Fly, Diaper, Pretty, Help, Baby, No, Go, Teeth....and those are just a few! It amazes me

3. She loves bath time and swimming on her belly.

4. She has a sweetheart named Jace (she calls him Jace Jace) who she gives hugs and kisses to. They are so fun to watch!

5. She loves feeding herself with a spoon or just eating on her own in general.

6. She loves pixar shorts.... (yes, I get bad mommy points for letting her watch TV)

7. She hates having dirty hands when eating, but would play in the dirt outside all day if she had a choice.

8. She loves to go shopping and help push the cart! This sometimes makes shopping quite the task...but oh well, its all about the experience!

9. She no longer cries herself to sleep! You just put her in her bed and she goes to sleep! 

10. She is a climber! I took my eye off her for a minute this past week and later found her standing up on the toilet! I didn't even know she was big enough to climb up on it!?

11. She is such a sweetie! She gives hugs and kisses when she does wrong (or when she wants her way) and hates to see others sad. 

12. She has a tender little heart, and gets so sad when she gets in trouble (especially by daddy). It is so sweet.

13. She loves peak-a-boo and hide and go seek! She will tell you to go bye bye once you find her...she especially loves to do this in the cabinets!

14. She is also still picking up on signs, but I only use them when I notice she is frustrated and cannot communicate something to me: more, please, eat, book, read book, all done, open door, close door, Up, Fish, socks, (currently working on: tired, sorry, time for bed, play)

Okay...so there you have a quick little bit about miss Ava. We also had some family pictures taken when we were still in Texas!! We love them...Julie Johnson is amazing. She did our wedding pictures as well and I just love her work!