Dancing baby

She loves this toy!!! When ever you turn it on she starts to dance and then tries to kiss and eat it.... its so funny!!

8 months old

Where has the time gone?? I can't believe that my little baby is already 8 months old. She is getting so big so fast. She is completely mobile. She hasn't quite figured out how to crawl but she is close. She rolls everywhere and is so interested in EVERYTHING. Her first tooth broke through on Sunday and is working its way up. She is eating all kinda of 1st and 2nd baby foods and loves most everything. Her favorite is still squash. She loves rice cereal as well. She hasn't been to the Doctor so I'm not quite sure what she weighs but I would guess around 16 lbs. She is getting very long too. She loves her 'dada' and hasn't quite figured out how to say 'mama'. She is such fun loving happy baby. She loves to play on the floor and just explore new toys. She is my everything and I don't know where I'd be today without her. I can't wait for the future with her and love this little girl more than anything!!

Ava's first trip to the ZOO

Today, Me and my Dad took Ava and Taylor to the zoo. Taylor loved seeing all the animals and Ava loved the ride in her stroller. She rode like this with her foot propped up on tray almost the whole time. She loves 'people watching' and didn't cry the whole day!

Giraffes are my favorite!! They even had a baby giraffe but that picture didn't turn out too well.

Me and Taylor took a ride on the Carousel. She loved it! It made me sick after a few minutes. She would of kept going around all day if they would of let her.

Taylor was scared of this Ape statue. She wouldn't stand by it. So this is the picture we got.....

My angel baby just relaxin and soakin up the sun and enjoying the day.



We took a train ride. Taylor loved it but it was so short and not really worth the time or money... kinda disappointing.

Me and Ava on the train ride.

I wanted to get a picture of Taylor next too the famous lion but this is as close as she would get.... she was TERRIFIED!

Papa showing Taylor the monkey's.


Ava just being the happy baby that she is

I finally had the guts to do it.....

Check out my beautiful baby girls ears!!! I finally had the guts to have them pierced!!! I've been wanting to do this since she was about 3 months old but haven't been strong enough to get them done. She is such a happy baby and I didn't want to cause pain to her.... I know pathetic.

She did great and it hasn't fazed her since. She hasn't touched them or cried when I've cleaned them. I think the hardest thing for her was we had to hold her down to get them done. Thanks to Melissa for helping me and holding her while she had them done. I was a nervous wreck. But I love them and am so happy I finally did it!!

Wake boarding

Steven and Shelia took us all out on their boat after church this past Sunday. We all had a chance to wake board. Shelia was up first and she is awesome on the wake board!! She made it look so easy!

Grandma Sharon and Ava just relaxin.

Robby was next to try his hand at the wake board. Of course he did excellent. Like he told me "He can do everything, he just can't do everything well"

He can wake board pretty good... especially for his first time

Then it was my turn... Now, I'm pretty good at water skiing and knee boarding (however, Robby has never seen me do either). They all didn't think I would be able to get up my first time on the wake board. I shocked them all when I got up my first time and every time after that. I'm not any good on the wake board but hey I got up! My uncle 'A' would of been proud! :)

A little family Picture while we were just chillin on the boat

Sharon jumped in and gave her stab at wake boarding and she did AWESOME! She got up her first time and let me tell you something... Ava's grandma Sharon ROCKS at wake boarding!! she's a natural

Then of course Steven jumped in and showed us all up by how amazing he is at wake boarding. He was doing jumps and some pretty cool tricks....

All in all it was a fun day and we loved spending time with family!!

More MN pictures!!

I have got more pictures to share! Sharon let me borrow her camera and download her pictures for everyone.

During the family reunion we would spend some time on the Crow Wing river floating down it. It was a blast. Very peaceful and relaxing.... once you got use to the cold water! Ava floated down it twice. This river was in the back yard of Robby's Great Uncle Bernie. We would get in behind his house and an hour later we would be at his dock on the other end of his property. It was alot of fun and very relaxing!

The tractor with this trailer would pick everyone up. You could throw the inner-tubes into the middle of it and there were benches for you to sit on all around the outside. Someone would jump on the tractor and take us back up to the tents.

At times your bum would drag on the bottom of the river and at other times you would be chest deep.

Ava didn't last very long in her car float. She didn't like the cold water so we would put her on our laps and she would be fine until a part of her would touch water...

Great-Grandma Nelson, Grandma Sharon and Ava just floatin down the river!

We spent alot of time sitting around the camp fire talking as well. It was a lot of fun getting to know everyone and enjoying their company.

On Saturday morning the guys got up and went golfing. They had a great time together.
(left to right: Robby, Mark, Jeff, Steven, Doug)

Sitting by the fire
(left to right: Sheila, Ava, Sharon, Florence and Robby)

Ava doing what she loves, exploring.

Sheila, Ava, Sharon and Me before the barn dance

Family Picture....
(left to right: John in the background, Steven, sheila, Sharon, Ava, Me, robby)

Family picture again but with Florence and John

Robby and Ava and Grandma Florence

Getting ready for the group picture.... just to give you an idea of how many people where there, this was only half of the picture

Lexie and Ava sliding

Uncle Bruce feeding Ava

Uncle Bruce and Great Uncle Bernie feeding Ava

At the indoor waterpark... playin in the kiddie pool with Grandma Sharon

Robby and Shelia coming off of the slide at the waterpark

Playin in the kiddie pool. She loved it!

Floatin with Mommy down the lazy river

Robby with his Grandma, Mom and Ava

Lexie, Grandma and Ava

Ava fell asleep in Luann's arms and she looked so cute!

I love those cheeks!

Grandpa John, Grandma Sharon, Ava and Robby

So that will be all of the MN trip pictures! For now anyways.... wow such a long post. hope you enjoyed them!! We had a blast!