Fall Photos

Hey Everyone, fall is by far my favorite photo opportunity. I love the vibrant and warm colors that create perfect backdrops for gorgeous pictures. Here's a few we shot after raking the leaves in our yard.

Halloween Shalla!

This year for Halloween we dressed up as Muslim Indians and Ave was our pet Peacock. Our Halloween costumes were inspired by our summer spent in Houston, there were SO many Indians and they were WONDERFUL people. Jaimo spent ALL month growing out his beard to be just perfect for his part as Mr. Patel. He also spoke in his fabulous accent the WHOLE night.  Ave our sweet little Peacock was dressed to the hilt, I spent ALL month sewing and designing our costumes. It was definitely a labor of love. I learned to always buy extra material and that picking your stitches is horrible. I also learned that sewing without a pattern is almost impossible!

We celebrated on both Saturday and Sunday. First we went and visited some good friends and Ave got  Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and Spiced Apple Cider, which she loved! Then we came home and made caramel popcorn to bring to neighbors and the residents at Jaimason's work, Good Samaritan Nursing Home. That was my favorite part of the whole night, all the elderly residents went crazy over Ave. They just love Ave, and they all call themselves her Grandmas and Grandpas, so she has about 50 grandparents. HA HA!

Then that evening we really treated ourselves and got a pizza. We don't eat fast food very often so it is quite and indulgence to get a pizza. And boy did Ave enjoy her deep dish veggie pizza! She is so funny, she loves to share so she fed us all the toppings. Our little one is really becoming a silly little person.

Then on Sunday we got to dress up again and go to my parent's house to celebrate Jaydon's birthday. They made it such a festive party and made all sorts of "spooky" food. There was a meat head, eyeball meatballs, bloody fingers, and other fun stuff. We had a great time hanging out with the kids and playing. WE LOVE HALLOWEEN!

FALL PHOTOS COMING SOON!

Dad & Mom's Night Out: Harvest Ho-Down

I know this blog is about Ave but I just HAD to post this one cause it was just too much fun... First off we have the most fun and entertaining ward ever! They always come up with the best ideas for activities, this time they had a Harvest Ho-Down. We ate amazing food, played ridiculous games, learned some new dance moves, took pics, and danced into the night. AND we won the "Best Dressed Couple" award, pretty snazzy huh? Anyway, here's some of our funny pics and I hope ya'll enjoy! YEEHAW!

P.S. Special thanks to Maunya Marlene for babysitting so we could have a rootin' tootin' time! We sure do appreciate it! Lot's of Love! 

HAPPY HARVEST!

Mischievous Ave McMauve!

Since Ave has become more mobile, vocal, and characterized. She has also become ultra-sneaky and mischievous! It's like one second she's right there and the next she has disappeared to reek havoc on something. Her top favorite mischief is to play in the dog food bowls. We try to only feed Canaberry, our Shitzu, when Ave is asleep or distracted. But I think she senses when the bowls have been set out cause she cruises over to them asap! I am quite impressed though that she has found that if you dip the dry food in the water it becomes soft enough to chew... However, I find it absolutely disgusting that she has become quite the connoisseur of "fine dog food!"  

Ave's second most wonderful trick to pull, is to find wallets or purses and play with ALL contents inside.  Her favorite is the plastic and cash though. If she can get to those two items she will have a ball for hours just playing with the money. In this picture she has just got into Daddy's wallet and then took the contents and put it into her "shopping cart" walker and went around the house hollering. I don't know what she is saying but I can't wait to find out!

  During feeding time now Ave has become extremely independent and she doesn't just want one... SHE WANTS IT ALL! She will throw a mighty fit if I only hand her one, if she can't hold it all then she's not having it. But we had a discussion and have came to an agreement she can have one in her mouth and one in both hands. Our little lady is what I call a "chain-eater" she has to have food in hand at all times.

And finally Ave's death defying stunt: climbing the stairs. It scares the crap out of me every time she does this and I run up and grab her like a crazy lady. This is SOOO funny to Ave she laughs so hard when I get nervous and worried. Ave has absolutely NO FEAR and this makes me super excited about our future dare devil. I guess Mom's are always right when they say, "You're gonna have a kid just like you!"

STAY TUNED FOR: 

HALLOWEEN SHALLA!  

Watching the World Outside

Recently, Ave has discovered that she can watch what is going on outside through our screen door. She will sit for about 15 to 30 minutes just mesmerized by the cars that drive by, the squirrels, dogs, kids, ect. Sometimes when our dogs are outside playing she will pound on the glass and babble at them.

Another thing I wanted to share is this little clip of Ave's progress walking with the help of her "shopping cart" Whenever she is playing with her shopping cart she steals my cell phone and puts it up to her ear and throws it in her cart. She also loves to play with Daddy's wallet, she opens and closes it and empties the contents out. She will go around and gather her blocks and shapes and put them into her cart. And she stamps her feet and hands when the music plays on the cart. Our little girl is quite the mover and shaker these days!

Ave's First Horse Ride

Ave's Maunya Marlene invited her to go riding for the first time ever. So we threw on our jeans and boots and saddled up. Ave has excellent balance on the horses and sits up with her "head up, heels down." She wasn't a bit nervous or scared.

I liked this picture because Ave is like, "look Mom, NO HANDS!" I think Maunya has a new riding partner for life!

Ave is a super lucky girl to have a professional horse trainer and teacher for a grandma. As you can see in this picture Maunya Marlene never passes up a chance to teach. 

And as usual here is my chance for a photo op! Ave looked so darn cute in her cowgirl boots and hat. I had so much fun sharing my love of horses with Ave. Thanks Maunya Marlene for letting us ride  your ponies! 

Park City Weekend

My parents invited us down to their time share in Park City, UT for a weekend and we jumped at the chance to go enjoy the last of Summer.

Ave just loves the outdoors and was so content when we were hiking. She is definitely in her element here in the mountains as you can tell in the way she smiles in these pictures. 

We also got to go swimming at the resort. After being in Houston though this pool was a little too cold for our blood. We enjoyed it anyway and Ave is such a good little fishy. She LOVES to swim and hopefully we will get her into swim lessons this winter. 

At the pool they had this huge chess set that was the perfect photo op. So I took a bunch of pictures and Ave was even pretty smiley in them :)

Here are a few more shots we took of Ave. She is getting pretty good at posing for the camera. And it helps that her Daddy is happy to dance around like a rabid monkey... She thinks he is absolutely hilarious! 






Ave also feels like she is old enough to walk on her own. Sometimes when we are holding her she will squirm until we let her down then she insists we hold her hands and let her lead. 

I love Park City's art scene. I will forever love hippy artsy fartsy towns. These fish were all recycled car materials and I just thought they were awesome. Art makes me happy. 

Our favorite part of Park City was this little park called Sound Park. It was a bunch of sound makers made once again out of recycled materials and they actually made great sound. Since Jaimo has percussion background he was like a little kid running around banging on things. 

I love Ave's expression in this picture! HA HA HA! She looks so amazed at Daddy playing music. So dang cute!

Ave even joined in the fun and played some music. Jaimo has made beat noises for her since she was newborn so she has quite a good sense of rhythm and beat. Ave definitely enjoys music a lot!  

We also took Ave to the playground and she went down the slide for the first time with her "young at heart Maunya Marlene."  

She also was able to swing all by herself and she thought that was   really cool. She squealed with delight and giggled the whole time. We had a great time in Park City. What a nice weekend it was!

Family Pictures 2010

We recently had the opportunity to get together with my family and have our pictures taken. My parent's home is so beautiful this time of year and it was the first time in years that all of us were together. So as promised here is a few of the pics of the whole family!

Ave is not a big fan of the camera so most the time she just glares at the photographer. This time we caught a little half smile and her big baby blue eyes! 

Ave was so patient during these pictures! And she was exactly nine months old... I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by. But it has been one of the most savored years of my life. I'm so grateful for an incredible year with my little family.

Here I am with my absolutely gorgeous sisters. I just love these girls and it has been so great to have my big sis back from Philly! People are always saying how we look alike but I only see small resemblances. These girls are my best friends!

This is my all time favorite picture of my favorite nephews! They make me so happy... each one of them have their own special personality and I just LOVE them. They are such characters they make me laugh constantly and fill my soul with joy! THESE ARE MY BOYS! 

Here is the WHOLE Ploc-her clan! It has been such a long time since we've all been together and oh how wonderful it is. There is so much energy and fun that we all have together. Once again my blessings of a great family are overflowing. I have so much gratitude for my incredible parents, brothers, sisters, nephews, and niece. True contentment is found in family life.

This next picture is our little family. I just love my two favorite people in the whole world. Jaimason and Ave have brought bushels of love to my life. I cherish these moments we get to capture and keep forever. 

Finally, here is my favorite pic of the whole shoot. I am still so in love with my handsome and brilliant hubbins. Our lives have changed because we have each other. Hand in hand I get to spend forever with my best friend and partner in crime! 

Thankful for the establishment of the 3 Little McReynolds

Ave's 6/9 Month Check-Up

Because we were in Houston for the summer we missed Ave's six month check-up. So when we got back we made an appointment asap to see where she was. It had been four months since we knew her weight, height, ect! At 8 months old Ave is 25 and 1/4 inches tall, that is in the fifth percentile, meaning 95% of kids her age are taller. Big surprise right?! And her weight is now 15 lbs 7 oz, which is in the 10th percentile. However, her head circumference has stayed at a constant 30th percentile so according to the doctor she is right where she needs to be. 

THINGS AVE HAS ACCOMPLISHED:

* Pulls herself up to standing position from sitting.

* Picks up tiny objects with any part of thumb and finger.

* Walks holding on to furniture.

* Stands alone momentarily.

* Understands the word NO (but does not always obey it).

* Looks for dropped or hidden objects.

* Objects if you try to take a toy away.

*Works to get a toy that is out of reach.

* Can pass objects from hand to hand.

Coming Soon:

Park City Adventures!