She is my sunshine, my only sunshine...

Everyone in our house is sick. All 3 of us have colds, and poor Ava has her first ear infection. But as usual she's all smiles, and busy soaking us with her giant, open-mouthed kisses. I've never seen a kid so dedicated to being happy, no matter how she feels. I swear she could make lemonade out of roadkill. Of all the adorable and charming things I love about her, this might be my favorite.

Joel and Kristen brought the boys for a visit last week, and though Ava isn't quite sure what to make of them yet (Charlie's a rather enthusiastic hugger), it was so great having them all here. We had some gorgeous weather on Thursday so we piled kids, strollers, sun hats, and diaper bags into two cars and hauled it all to the zoo. It took us an hour and a half to get everybody ready, 35 minutes to get there, and another 20 to get everyone and everything out of the cars and headed to the front gate, but once we got inside it was all worth it. Tyson was having more fun than any other kid there. Here are some pics from our adventure.

The weather turned nasty on Friday, but since the Easter Bunny had hopped all the way to Grant Ranch from, um, well, wherever it is that he lives, we dressed up the kiddos and went to see him. Apparently there weren't very many parents dumb enough to take their little ones out in a snow storm just to see a giant rabbit, so we had him all to ourselves for a while. Ava was pretty confused by the whole thing, and Charlie was certain the bunny was up to something, so Andy helped out and got involved.

Lisa, I think that picture is a contender for next year's calendar. And maybe this one as well...

Sorry, Joel. I couldn't help myself. I'll expect payback when we come to see you in July, but I don't care. It was worth it. :)

Ava and Ollie sittin' in a swing, G-I-GG-L-I-N-G

Happy St. Paddy's Day everyone!

Ava and Ollie had a play date today, so Lisa and I decided to take the kiddos to the park. You may remember Ava's last experience with the swing (yawn), so I wasn't sure how she was going to react. I could tell you, but I think you should just see it for yourself.

I love when our girl is so happy.

Stick with me, kid. I'll show ya how it's done.

As many of you know, our dear friends Chris and Brandy Laakso recently had a beautiful baby girl so we made a trip to Houston to meet her. Her name is Peyton Elizabeth, and she's the tiniest little thing you've ever seen.

Since Ava's gotten pretty good at working the system, I can only assume that she's got a thing or two to teach the newest Laakso. I can almost hear her now:

1.) "First of all, you have to use the crying to your advantage. Do it too often and it'll lose the 'poor baby' factor. But make sure that it sounds really sad when when you do use it. The cuddles you get are totally worth the red eyes."

2.) "Second, smiles are worth their weight in gold. Don't just give them out all willy-nilly; if you hold them back a little, you can get your parents to do anything to see that little grin. And I do mean anything."

"That should get you through the first few months. We'll reconvene this summer when I'll show you how to properly wear a cute hat, and explain why no one can resist a baby in jeans."

Ava did great on the trip. She sat through her first full meal in a high chair, where she politely inquired about the mashed fajitas, then did a little light reading while she waited for us to finish our meals.

She helped Aunt Marianne do a little work, and took some walks in the warm Houston sunshine.

And showed off her fashion sense at a little soiree thrown by Aunt Brandy and Uncle Chris. The whole family had a great time; Daddy got to have a little guy time, I got to do some bonding with little Peyton, and Ava spent some time reading stories with Sammie. It was so great to see some of our old friends and introduce them to Ava. I know she's going to grow up to love them as much as we do. We already can't wait to see everyone again.

Grandma, come baaaaaack!!!

There really is no one else on earth like a Grandma. They cuddle you when you're sad, only feed you things that you think are yummy, and will do just about anything to see you smile. They don't even care when you throw up on them! Although I'm guessing Grandma Sally will pack fewer black items of clothing next time she visits. (Mom, Ava says to tell you she's sorry about those pants.)

Grandma was here for a whole week, and she and Ava had a ball. They played with every toy in the house...

Sent out a few prank emails. (Think you got one? We'll never tell.)

And had some deep, therapeutic conversations. ("Ava, how do you really feel about peas?")

Grandma was a cleaning machine while she was here, but we had to slow her down when she mistook Ava for some laundry. Don't worry, we stopped her before any folding happened.

She also became president of the "Teach Ava to Crawl" campaign, but was impeached when she didn't have any more luck than we did. We're currently accepting nominations for her replacement.

Thanks for everything, Grandma! We love you and can't wait to see you and Grandpa in April!

We all have to grow up some time.

Now before any of you are tempted to get your knickers in a twist and start shouting things at me like, "Grow up!?! She's only 6 months old!! What's wrong with you??", relax. I'm not talking about Ava, I'm talking about me. We reached another family milestone over the weekend, but this time it was all mine: I left home for an entire weekend all by myself. Thanks to the fact that Andy is an amazing father, and that Ava lights up like a Christmas tree every time he walks into a room, I honestly wasn't worried about them; I was concerned that I would spend Brandy's baby shower missing Ava so much that I'd be crying in a corner. You'll be happy to know that everyone made it to Sunday in one piece. This post is proof that I'm still kicking. I'm attaching a picture of Ava reading the latest People magazine so you know that she's no worse for the wear.

If you can believe it, our darling Ava is now 6 months old. She had her 6 month doctor's appointment, and is 15lbs, 13oz, and 27in long. That puts her in the 95th percentile for height (yep, you read that right). Our girl is tall and skinny. Big surprise. :)

Ava is reaching all her milestones right on time, so to keep things going Andy and I are trying to start coaxing her to crawl. The techniques I've been trying are as follows:

1) The Demo. I don't think this technique requires any description, but I'll bet you're wishing you had a camera hidden in our living room right about now.

2.) The Assist. This involves placing Baby's hands and knees in optimum crawling position. It's often followed by The Demo.

3.) The Dangling Carrot. Also known as The Tough Love. Basically, you put a favorite toy just out of reach and hope that's incentive enough for Baby to get moving.

So far, nothing. We'll keep you posted. Ava finds this whole process exhausting.

Hey Mom, I got this one.

Hey there! It's me, Ava! Mommy usually writes all my blog posts, but she's busy making my bottle so I thought I'd scoot over here and say hi to everyone. Typing sure is hard with these tiny fingers of mine, so I'll just send out some hugs and kisses to all of you: XOXOXOXO! Gotta go eat!

Let them eat......meat.

Ava has decided not to become a vegetarian. I know this because Andy fed her turkey and sweet potatoes, and she ate it. You'd think she'd pretty much eat anything at this age, but she already has her own unique way of letting us know when something's just not her bag: she looks right into your eyes, and flat refuses to open her mouth. No fussing or fanfare; just pursing of her teeny little lips. In case you're wondering, pears are the first thing off her list.

There's nothing much cuter than a baby in a swing. The great big grin, the delighted giggling, the little legs kicking. And of course this is what we pictured as we gleefully pushed the stroller to the park for the first time. We got a few little smiles, but for the most part she just looked a little bored. See for yourself.

As long as she didn't hate it, we won't be giving up any time soon. As I said before, there's nothing much cuter than a baby in a swing.