1 year-old photo shoot

As a parent of a first born you tend to get excited about everything and anything, and end up doing things that your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc... child will probably miss out on because they were just born at the wrong time in the wrong place.  In this case Ava went in for her third photo shoot in under a year, but every year we are in awe of the beautiful pictures and beautiful baby girl that we have.  Before I go on can I just say that our photographer, who has taken Ava's photos twice now, is super talented and has the most amazing outfits, backdrops, props, and skills out there.  She sent us a few "peeks" at the most recent shoot (which happened to be 3 hours long) and we are in love all over again.

(Don't ask me how she ends up posing in most of these pictures but she sure does seem to enjoy getting all girlied up and getting her pictures taken)

 (The yellow stool seemed to be her favorite, because she was just so happy to be on top of it)

 (Again with the adorable poses.)

New Year

It's a new year 2013, but as we reflect on 2012 we hit a lot of different milestones, Ava turned 1, Brandon turned 30, and Christina continues to be the young and beautiful girl that married Brandon in 2006!  Brandon got a new job working in his favorite industry (oil and gas) and couldn't be happier about the great people that he is working with.  It has been such a blessing having him home all the time and never having to see another busy season again!  Ava continues to be our little ham!  She is so happy and crazy.  Brandon thinks she has some sort attention deficit disorder because she is all over the place.  We're not sure if that's normal or not, but she seriously is so distracted with everything that goes on around her each day.

 We took a few pictures to commemorate her turning one year old this year.  She loves so much her little dolly, and although she is good to leave her in the crib, we thought we just had to capture how much care and love she shows towards dolly.  Here is a list of other things that she loves:

- Mommy! (Of course Mommy is at the top of the list)
- Hanging upside down
- Puffs
- Strangers
- Anything soft and cuddly
- Chocolate
- Blowing all the water out of her mouth that she swallows
- Doggy (Her stuffed animal)
- Saying: Ball, Tree, Arf, book, momma, dadda, babba
- Being Chased around by daddy
- Storytime and reading any book
- Bathtime
- Sharing
- Her cousins
- Grandma and Grandpa
- Uncles and Aunts
- Papa D and Mama J
- Daddy

 On the flipside, Ava does not love everything, fortunately she loves most of the important things, but here are the things that she could live without (if it were up to her):

- Water on her head (always screams when we wash out her hair)
- Food (she doesn't like most solid foods)
- Cleaning her nose
- Nap time
- Bed time
- Anytime really that she has to be sleeping

Christina continues to be a natural at this mother thing, she sometimes misses teaching those cute 5th graders that she came to love so much during her few years that she was teaching, but she has found many projects to do and Ava keeps her locked up full time most days.  Brandon continues to work-out 4-5 times a week and has recorded very good muscle gain during the last year, it's very nice having a strong burly man around the house!  As a family we continue to enjoy shopping, watching a good television program, and laughing with each other every single day!

We hope 2013 brings all of you the blessing of our Heavenly Father, Health, prosperity, and the good company of family and friends!