Ava, Ava, Bo Bava, Banana Fana Fo Fava...

Well I feel like I am always doing posts about Van and then adding a little side note about our crazy 2nd child. This post will be purely dedicated to our "beautiful tornado" as daddy calls her. Honestly she can be such a handful or such a lover. She is highly volatile and such a spaz. You really just never know which side of Ava you are going to get. She is so sweet...when she wants to be. She loves to give tons of hugs and kisses and just sit with you, rub you, and usually tell you she loves you...unlike her completely independent brother. But on the other hand, she can squeal and grunt when she doesn't get her way...or usually the food she wants when she wants it. She is obsessed with saying "mine" which I detest. As a good friend recently told me...2 of the most annoying things kids say...mine and no....let me tell you, Ava has them both down. She has this crazy hair, that really is some of the softest and prettiest little girl hair I have ever seen, but anyways, it is really long and if not pulled back, all over her face. So she likes to shake her head no super fast so her hair is flying all over her face....this too I detest. She is quite the talker these days. She loves to say hi and bye to anybody who will pay attention to her. Also in her vocabulary are...cheetoh, please, na-nu (thank you), every family member you can think of, juice, shoe, hair, head, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, oowee (ow wee), brother, i love you, ni-night, amen, num nums, water, swing, ball....I'm sure I'm forgetting other stuff but unless she is standing here saying it to me, I just can't remember. She is an excellent climber and will take on any physical task I give her. She loves almost everybody. She loves to play chase with her brother...mostly when its bedtime and she's running after him with her arms open to catch him and give him a big hug. She loves to get up in the morning and go looking for "da-ee" (daddy) or "brover" (brother). She loves to be in the cupboard at all times, usually finding something to carry around with her like Cheezits or chips...yes she just helps herself. She loves to lay on the carpet on her tummy with her head resting on her elbows and be engrossed in whatever activity I'm doing with Van. She loves to imitate anything Van is doing....he can be quite the manipulator. I have even over heard him telling her..."Ava stick your hand in the fan....yeah like that"....minutes later there was some crying while Van comes running so innocently to me..."mommy Ava stuck her hand in the fan". Oh the fun stuff these two do. But honestly, they really love each other and that just melts my heart. Although there are some days I would love to pack up my daughter and ship her to Siberia (:)), I really just can't imagine our life without her. Our 2 kids remind me so much of Mike and I...polar opposites...really I think I keep Mike grounded with my seriousness....mostly like how Van does for Ava....and Mike is always my entertainment....just like how Ava is for Van. Well I will end this post with a few pics of Ava that I took while she was playing with Daddy....enjoy!

Loves to you baby girl.

B

Family Pics

So a few weeks back, we got to have a free photo session with an amazing photographer. My boss was having a contest where the winning families got a free session. We ended up with an open session right in the middle of the pack so my boss asked if my family would like to take it for free. Of course we said YES!!! As any young family can attest, good pics are hard to come by and even harder to buy. We can never seem to capture just the perfect moment with our little ones...but these professionals...they are amazing. I thought I would post a few pics for you guys to see from the session!!! Love them....Jack Randall Photography in Dana Point....amazing! Enjoy :)







B

U...C...LLLLLL...A...U.C.L.A. Fight Fight Fight!

So college football season has begun again...which means every Saturday is consumed by a 3 hour football game. I'm really so tired of hearing "fight on"...blah blah blah...usc blah blah blah....we need to give our Bruins some love. For those of you who don't know, we are HUGE UCLA fans. Not only does my husband enjoy the games, but I do too. I actually like sports a lot...as Mike says, its kind of freakish how I know random things about sports. But anywhoo, we both enjoy this season. This was the first year that Van got to accompany dad to a game. They tend to be all day affairs between the driving, commuting on the bus to the stadium, the (at least) 3 hour game itself, commuting back to the parking structure, and then driving home. So up until now, I'm not sure any of us wanted to brave the whole day with a tired little boy...but now....big boys get to have all of the fun. Mike took Van to the first game of the season, against SDSU and of course we were hoping for a win. Van even wore his little jersey (seen above) that he got from "nana" for his birthday this year. So him and his daddy got all dressed up, packed in the car and had a great time. Van said he got to enjoy popcorn, nachos, a hotdog, lemonade and much more. He got to see Joe Bruin dancing too. Still to this day, if you ask Van what the best part was he will tell you "the tunnels". I guess when Mike and him were driving there they rolled down the windows when they went through the freeway tunnels and screamed really loud....he loved it. It was so nice for Van and daddy to get to spend some one on one time. You really forget about that once you have a second. You forget that for the first part of your first child's life, they were used to having you all to themselves. Van is great with Ava and never really puts up too big a fight about sharing time with her...but you can tell by the big smile on his face that when he gets you all to himself he loves it! Here's a couple of more pics from the big game day.

PS The bruins won...so all around it was a great day!!