I resolve to be a better blogger in 2010.

With all the craziness of the holidays, I haven't had much time lately for blogging. All of you loyal Ava fans have lots to catch up on. So, without further ado, let's get cracking...

Since Ava's still too little to understand what - or when - Christmas is, we decided to have a little family holiday at home before we left for Iowa. She of course doesn't quite get the concept of opening packages, but she did seem to like some of the stuff. Aunt Brandy gave her a giraffe (at least I think it's a giraffe) with rattles and colors and spinny-things (oh my!) that she adores, and watching her try to get the sock monkey I got her out of her stocking was a riot. To the left and right you'll see pictures of her with some of her spoils. How cool are those shades? I like them so much I have a feeling they might make a reappearance somewhere in this post. Guess you'll have to keep reading to find out.

After fretting for weeks about how our little sweetie would handle a 12 hour drive to Iowa, the trip of course came off without a hitch. Ava slept most of the way, and Andy was happy that I didn't spend the whole drive tugging on his sleeve and asking if we were there yet. I'm not much of a road-tripper, and tend to turn into a 5 year old after the first few hours. You'll all be happy to know I was on my best behavior.

We were thrilled to see everyone in Iowa, but the most exciting part was getting to meet Braydon for the first time. It's hard to believe the babies were almost 5 months old before they got to be in the same room together. We took a million pictures, and everyone took lots of time cuddling each other's kiddos. Tyson and Charlie were incredibly sweet with the little ones, and are funnier and more enjoyable to hang out with every time we see them. Ava and Braydon are lucky have them.

Another exciting first for our little family was Ava getting a chance to meet her great grandmother. She had a little cold, but she wasn't going to let that stop her. She threw on her sunglasses (told you they'd be back) and hat and was ready to go. We had a terrific day at the farm hanging out with the extended family and can't wait to go back.

As I mentioned earlier, Ava's battling a cold. Actually, we all are. But since this is Baby's First Cold, I of course have learned a few things:

1.) A baby with a cold will sneeze the second you put a spoon full of food into her mouth, spraying that food all over both of you. Wear old clothes until baby feels better.

2.) Baby Tylenol is the greatest stuff on earth.

3.) Sick babies produce a lot of snot, most of which winds up on the parents. See my advice in point number 1 for clothing choices.

Happy New Year, everyone. Cheers to a great 2010!

By the way, I still can't figure out why my blog won't allow comments. I'm working on it, but in the meantime if you have something to say you'll just have to call me.