Up, up, up the stairs I go!

Here is Ava going up the stairs. She is also starting to figure out how to go down backwards. She has a long way to go before she masters going downstairs, but every day there is progress!

SAVE THE DATE!! Ava's Birthday is January 18th. We are looking at Saturday, January 19th (1-3) for a birthday party. Invites will go out in the next couple of weeks! Sorry, no petting zoos or inflatables at this one! Just some good old fashion fun for the kids to play and parents to chat a bit. AND CAKE & ICE CREAM!!!

It will be a great time!!

I did it!!

A BIG thank you to Heather B. for telling me how to make sweet potatoes for Ava (who knew it would be so easy!) I made enough for lunch, dinner and three more days worth for the freezer! Now I want to make more stuff, so if you have any fun recipes or baby food ideas, please let me know! She is always eating these days, so it would be wonderful to make the stuff myself if at all possible. Have a great day!

Me and my Daddy

Daddy and Ava spent some time last night looking at the tree - it is only half decorated, but we are getting there! She has been really good about not going to the tree by herself. She remains - so far - to be more entertained by her books and toys than attacking the branches and nonbreakable ornaments (thank goodness!).

Splish Spash Ava's Eating Dinner?!

In our attempts to get Ava to hold her own cup/bottle you can see that it quickly becomes a game of "Flood the Tray". She seems to enjoy watching the water come out of the cup when held upside down. We are continuing to work on this, but are finding it difficult to be patient!

Three little cuties standing in a row..

Here is Ava hanging out with the boys at this morning's play group. Ava, Brennen and Jakob - we missed seeing Connor and Kaia - hopefully they will be there next week!

Ava is getting more and more brave one her little legs - maybe by Christmas she will have the wobbles out of them!

O Christmas Tree

Our tree is up and ready to be decorated. I think this is the most beautiful tree we have ever had. I love Christmas trees and am excited to decorate it in the next couple of days. We underestimated the size of the tree when we bought it so we will probably have to rearrange the room to accommodate the tree. I couldn't help but break into a couple of Christmas carols, but Kevin lost his voice yesterday so he couldn't join in - although I think he thought I was silly for singing as it was.

Ava went up to it once last night and felt the branches and then tried to stand up next to it - that part didn't go so well. So far she hasn't bugged it too much, but I am sure she will get more and more interested in it as the days go by (and as more presents gather under the tree)!

Happy Birthday Grandma Carolyn!

Happy Birthday Grandma Carolyn! We hope you have a great birthday! We are looking forward to seeing you on Christmas Eve!

Later today we will be getting our christmas tree - very exciting! We haven't had a tree in a couple of years and are excited about getting and putting up our tree. It will be very interesting to see how Ava reacts once we have the tree up!

Picture Perfect Kids Contest

I forgot to mention that Ava made it through the first round of the Picture Perfect Kids Contest. This is a contest where you vote for your favorite baby and the proceeds go toward getting newspapers in schools. If you would like to vote, please do so at:

www.winonadailynews.com or click on the title of this blog to get there! Because this is a fundraiser, it does cost to vote - minimum of $5 if you vote online. This next round of voting will narrow it down to only three kids for the final round, so feel free to vote!

Ava is just waking up so I have to run!

Thanksgiving at the Koopmans

The guests came, food was eaten and good times were had by all! I forgot to get the camera out until this morning, so I only had Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Tony here for a group picture.

Uncle Tony left a short time ago so he could get started on a bunch of homework due next week.

Now we are planning some nice quiet time this weekend to get Ava back on a schedule. We are also hoping she gets over this cold soon.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Santa Delivered!

Santa (otherwise known as Bill the Mailman) delivered Ava's gift from Santa this morning - a little rocking pony. I let her play with it just a little while - because I couldn't go five minutes before wanting to see if she liked it or not. The pony is going to go into a witness protection program for the next month until Christmas morning!!

We had a good time at our Baby and Me class this afternoon - Ava only destroyed one toy (biting a chunk out of a foam block) for the day. I am also proud to say we made it out without seriously injuring any of the other babies!

Tonight will be a full night of cleaning and kitchen prep for Thanksgiving! We have guests arriving beginning tomorrow.

My Little Meatball

Ava always gets excited for spaghetti night! So does daddy! Mmmm, it's so good...!

First Try

I have been considering the blog scene for months and decided on the way home from play group that I should Mom-up and start the blog. I will learn as I go, but hopefully this provides a nice way to keep family and friends informed!

Kevin and I worked for a half an hour the other night to take a family photo with the delay setting on the camera. The is the best picture we could manage!