Ava's "12 Month" Pictures

To keep with the tradition, we took these pictures of Ava in / around her rocking chair. She moves pretty fast these days, so these pictures were no small feat! Bribery with bubbles worked, this time. :-)



She's been a bundle of fun lately. Yesterday we surprised Doug by taking an ice cream cake and some balloons to his workplace, and went out to lunch with him (to celebrate his becoming an official Architect). He seemed pretty surprised. We then came home and Ava played outside for quite a while. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, recently!



Ava LOVES dogs. Our neighbor was walking her dog, stopped and talked to us, and walked away. Ava kept yelling loudly (as loud as her little voice could go) at the dog and waving, like she wanted the dog to come back and play. :-) She enjoyed pushing her Fisher Price "car" around outside, and picking purple flowers (aka weeds).



This morning, before she and Doug left, I asked if she would give me a "high-five". She did! We haven't ever practiced the high-five, so it was cute. She thought it was hilarious and laughed.



Enjoy the weather!



With love,
Shelly

Douglas Paul Carey, Registered Architect!

At long last, Doug got the news he was waiting for! Six weeks and a day after taking his ninth Architectural Registration Exam, he received a letter from the Secretary of State saying HE PASSED!!!!!! He has dedicated the past two years to taking these nine grueling examinations, with Ava's birth and a kitchen remodel thrown in there.



I am so proud of my hubby for his persistence and dedication to this. I know at times it has been extremely frustrating to study, when everyone else is playing. Thank goodness he can put this behind him, now. It's over and done, and he's a legitimate Architect.




HE PASSED! HE PASSED! HE PASSED!



Congratulations, Doug!

Love,
Shelly, and your other sweetie, Ava :-)

P.S. - I believe that the following link will take you to the Georgia Secretary of State's Web site, where you can see his registration for yourself:

https://secure.sos.state.ga.us/myverification/

Easter!

We enjoyed time with family in Michigan this Easter. It SNOWED on Easter, so the egg-hunts didn't occur outside, but we had a great time! Grandma Carey noticed bunny tracks right next to Doug's truck, on the way to church! Wow... The Easter bunny really did come to drop-off Easter baskets!

Ava was a tired little girl during church, but seemed to enjoy a new bunny in class. :-) After church, we headed-over to Grandpa Dean and Grandma Dolly's to visit. Ava hunted for her Easter eggs, found them and added them to her Easter basket. After visiting for a while, we headed-over to Grandpa Bill and Grandma Pam's house for more egg-and-family fun. Ava seemed to momentarily forget how to pick-up the Easter eggs and put them in her basket, so Daymian and Jordan lent helping hands.

It definitely wasn't sandal weather for Easter this year, but we came back to Atlanta to pretty chilly weather, too. I think it's finally going to warm-up today, which will be nice.

We hope you had an egg-stra special Easter, filled with fun family times!

With love,
Shelly

Daredevil

1st Birthday Party

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Carey for letting us throw Ava's birthday bash at their place!

Each year, Doug has Good Friday as a company holiday, so we try to take advantage of the long weekend. This year, we made the trek to Michigan to celebrate Easter and Ava's first birthday, with family. Ava did unbelievably well on the way to and from Michigan. We made great time until we hit the Michigan state line, where EVERYTHING turned to ice! It SNOWED in April!?! It seemed everyone on I-75 was going about 30 MPH, it was that icy. Fortunately we made it to MI safe and sound, staying with Doug's parents and sister Tracy.

Because Ava's birthday party coincided with Easter weekend, and because Ava loves all things "bunny", we had a bunny-themed birthday party. I made a cake in the shape of a bunny for her "smash" cake. She didn't quite know how to blow-out the candle, so we'll practice for birthday #2. :-) After kissing the bunny on the nose, she seemed to get into the frosting a bit more. She seemed to like it. She's almost able to unwrap presents; I think by Christmas she'll be able to really tear-into gifts.

At the party, Ava was able to celebrate with all of her grandparents, Great Grammy, and some other "Greats" (Uncle Danny and Aunt Linda). She received many fun gifts: a fun Tickle-me Elmo, lots of books, cute stuffed animals, fun ride toys, electronic remotes, cell phones, keys, a Barbie laptop, and very cool clothes. Thank you so much for spoiling her! (Party attendees were: Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa Carey, Grandma Dolly and Grandpa Dean, Grandma Pam and Grandpa Bill, Great Grammy, Great Uncle Danny, Great Aunt Linda, Daymian, Jordan, Aunt Kristen, Olivia, Sophia, Aunt Tracy, Tom, Ginger, Jake, Lora. Great Grandma Burnis and Aunt Janice tried to come, but the roads were pretty dangerous, so they headed back home).

We had a full schedule while visiting, as always, but were able to see most everyone. We were even able to briefly stop by Grandma and Grandpa Spangler's house, to visit. Please keep Mr. Spangler and his family in your prayers, as he is currently in hospice care at home.

Easter Sunday Ava went egg-hunting at the grandparents' houses. She was a bit worn-out from partying too hard on Saturday, but she made it through the day wonderfully. She went to three sets of grandparents' houses! A world traveler...

We haven't been back a week yet, and miss everyone already. Thanks so much for showering our little family with your love, as always.

Shelly

Ava's One Year Pictures

The weekend after Ava's birthday, we took her to Babies 'R Us to have her "one year" picture taken. We had to wait 45 minutes before they could take her picture. She came in smiley and ready for a picture. While waiting, we played with all kinds of fun toys! She was like a "kid in a candy store", but she was a "kid in a toy store". It was funny to watch her get so excited about so many toys. Upon peeling her away from the toys (Elmo, specifically), she wasn't the happiest camper. She LOVES Elmo!

She was working on a tooth at the time, also. It has since popped through, so she now has her bottom front teeth and two top teeth (both next to the front) - she has goal-posts on top! :-)

Ava doesn't really sit still for pictures anymore. She's a mover and a shaker! It seems most pictures taken of her lately are of the back of her head; she moves that fast! :-) So, it was difficult to get both pictures below, because she wanted to get up and walk around. 'Still a happy girl!




This is her crinkley-nosed grin. What you can barely see in the lower-right of the picture, is her foot, which she hiked-up pretty high. Only for pictures :-) She may be a future karate expert or a Rockette, with this high-kick!

Average Kid?

We went to Ava's one-year doctor's appointment yesterday. She is a very healthy, developmentally ahead-of-the-curve, baby-girl (who detests most health care professionals, with exception to Aunt Tracy :-)).

She weighed 20 lbs, 11 ounces (with a... folks, trust me here... FULL belly of rotini pasta). I sent the rotini with her to day care, thinking there would be extra for another meal and she ATE IT ALL! (I think this kid must be part-Italian, with the amount of pasta she can consume). 20 lbs, 11 oz puts her in the 44th percentile for her age. I was shocked by this. She looks like such a big girl to me, that I thought she would at least be in the 75th %. I can't believe that the majority of babies out there are BIGGER than she is!

She measured 29 inches tall, which puts her in the 50% for her age. I thought she would be taller (again, she seems like such a big girl to me!). Her head is 18 inches around. No ear infections. Reason to celebrate! So, she's right around average for both height and weight.

She can now drink whole milk; the doctor gave the okay. So, suffice it to say, we made it a YEAR nursing. That was my final goal (after many shorter-term goals), and I am SO proud to say we got that far! It wasn't easy, especially at first. The first weeks seemed super-rough. As natural as breast-feeding SHOULD be, it isn't (at first). But, after the first month or so, things got much, much better. I am SO glad that we've been able to give her that leg-up as far as her health is concerned. And how much money have we saved by nursing instead of formula-feeding? Based on Web sites I've seen, anywhere from $1,400 to $3,163.86, for the year. Crazy!

Developmentally, Ava is doing some things in the 18 month category (crazy, I know). She can throw a ball, occasionally kick a ball, put things in containers, says more than 3 words. (I forgot the other "criteria" for 18 month babies). She is doing everything on the checklist in the 12-month category.

She got three immunization shots. Poor thing! When we came home, she should've gone down for a nap, so I put her in her crib. I listened to her babble to herself in her crib for at least 30 minutes, before I went up to get her. Obviously not ready for a nap! I thought she would be whiney and hurting from the shots, but she was just the opposite. Playing, giggling, playing peek-a-boo (a new favorite pasttime). What a happy girl! She crashed and burned later and didn't want to wake up, so we let her sleep it off.

We're so thankful for her health! We pray this message finds you happy and healthy, too!

With love,
Shelly

Baby Love

This past weekend, Ava became more interested in the baby doll that Grammy Lawson gave to her for Christmas.

We're not sure where Ava learned to "pat the baby"; she must've learned it from us patting her on the back, or in watching a teacher comfort a crying baby at day care. Either way, we thought it was super cute. She pats her baby quite frequently, lately.

Baby Love
Video sent by thecareyclan

She also looks more like a toddler, now. Within the past week or so she seems to have had a huge growth spurt. Her one-year appointment is this afternoon, so I'm anxious to see how much she's grown! (Not looking forward to the immunization shots...)

She now says these words frequently:
"Dada"
"Car" (LOVES pointing at our neighbor's car driving down the driveway, while in her high chair)
"Dog" (She gets excited EVERY time she sees a dog)
"Duck"
"Cow"
"Mama" (She still doesn't refer to me as Mama. I think Doug and I are both collectively "Dada". Over the past few days I've tried to emphasize that I'm "mama". When I say it, she just looks at me and grins. :-))
"More"
"Ball"
"Wow" (her all-time favorite)

She also says "Dah-dun" quite a bit (we're not sure if this is "thank you", or maybe "cousin"? We point to her cousins on the refrigerator quite often).

She also takes huge, fast steps and almost runs. She's into climbing on things now, too. She climbs up her "car" and stands on it in the middle of the living room. Yikes!