Ava Trying To Eat Bannanas

(more) New Pictures

So I got suckered into going to a picture place in the mall to have Ava's picture taken, just as something to do today because I got a coupon in the mail for a free print! I figured, since they don't charge for the sitting, it will just be something fun to do and I won't spend money.
Well, as the day progressed, we had our photo shoot (complete with props, a wardrobe change, and multiple poses) and left the mall to run some errands while the photos were uploaded for viewing in the store.
We returned to the mall and after many "unplanned" dollars were spent, I left with 10different pages of prints and 2 framed prints! Man, they sure get you at those places. When we returned for "viewing", they had these huge pictures of Ava printed and framed in gorgeous matted frames just so I could "see how they look". I don't know how anyone could walk out of that place without buying those prints... I mean, what do they do with them, throw them away? It just seemed wrong.
So in the end, I couldn't really part with any of the pictures and ended up buying most of them because they were just too irristable(along with my 1 free print that originally was the purpose of our outing).
So here they are.... just tell me you could live without buying them...

Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo

We took Ava to Brookfield Zoo today so she could meet Santa for the first time and see the zoo's holiday decorations. When we finally got to "Candy Cane Corner" where Santa and the Mrs. were, there was a long line and Ava had just fallen asleep in her stroller, so we decided we'd catch him another time. But we had a great time, Auntie Em came with. Got some cute pictures too!

Two New Teeth!

Look at Ava's two teeth! They are getting so big!

Santa Baby Slideshow

From Collages

Bathtub Fun!..... (warning: rated PG for nudity)

Earlier this evening, I was getting ready to give Ava a bath, which is tricky now that she is so busy and mobile. I had her clothes off and the bathtub was filling when I noticed I had no towels in the bathroom, I had them in the clothes basket in our room. So i left her sitting on the floor of the bathroom while I ran to get a towel real quick....
When I came back, this is what I saw...
She was standing up, holding onto the tub, and what you can't see in the pictures is that she had just peed all over the floor while standing there...
She was so proud of herself!... What a treat! :)

9 Months!!!

Wow, I can't believe it's been nearly 3 months since I posted, I have been so terrible at keeping up with this!
Ava is 9 months old!!! Time has flown by, as usual. She has been very busy learning how to crawl, babble new words, and even growing two new teeth!! Her first tooth poked through a week ago today, and now she already has her two bottom front teeth showing! Her personality is showing more and more every day.
Here she is at her 9 month doctor appointment... it's hilarious to see how much each procedure becomes as she realized just how interesting everything is. Measuring her head was a piece of cake at her previous appointments, but this time it turned into some what of a wrestling match involving me, Ava, and the doctor...
she weighed in at 21 lb 7oz, 28 and 3/4 inches tall, and 17 and 3/4 inch head circumfrence, all of which are in the 80th-90th percentile. She is growing like a weed!!

I'm Gonna Get You!

Ava Giggling at Uncle Eric!

Ava's Baptism

The baptism tunred out beautifully. Ava's Nana and Papa came in town from Davenport and lots of friends and family were there to celebrate. The baptismal gown Ava wore is over 100 years old and has been worn by 18 people in the Wilberg family starting with my dad's Grandmother Elinor and her brother Art Kramer in 1901.
Here is a group shot of the whole family after church...
Here we are trying to get Ava into the gown at church before the service. We changed her at the church for fear that she would spit up in it or it get spilled on if she had it on before then.

Here is Ava and both of the sets of grandparents...Ava's Godparents, my uncle Gary and aunt Jennifer along with us and Pastor Tom who baptized Ava...

Here is a picture of me on my baptism day, in the same gown Ava wore, with my parents and Emily and Eric...

My mom and I...

Shutterbugs Photos

We had some professional pictures taken, (as if we don't already have enough pictures) here are some of our favorites...

Cereal...

So after getting the okay from the doctor to start solid food at her 4 month check up, we tried the whole rice cereal thing. Didn't go very well the first couple tries. The very first time, I even had the video camera out to record her first few bites of solid food. It didn't turn out as cute as it sounds... she ended up choking and spitting it out and making the most confused and disgusted facial expressions I have ever seen her make. Although it sounds funny now, no one was laughing when it actually happened. AJ even did a "finger sweep" maneuver while she was choking in hopes of getting any extra food out of her mouth.... :)
Tonight we decided to give it another try and it actually went quite well. Most of the cereal ended up on her, on me, on her bouncy seat, and some was even flung across the kitchen when she tried to grab the bowl out of my hand. I'm pretty sure she kept some down though, either way, we made some progress.

The initial shock...

Oh... so I'm supposed to swallow it?

Hmmm....

Okay, not so bad...