Great Papa's birthday

My grandpa's 85th birthday is today. We had a little family birthday celebration for him on Saturday. I was surprised at how well Ava did. She went and sat on both of my grandparents laps. She is usually a bit more shy. Andrew didn't have any interest in sitting with his great-grandparents but he wasn't shy. He talked the whole time! Happy Birthday Grandpa...we love you!

Ava and her great grandma Ming

Ava and her great grandpa Ming

Andrew did want a picture with his pama.

4.14.2012- Ava 23 months, Andrew 4 1/2 years

23 months

One more month and my baby is 2. I just can't believe it! How did it happen so fast! Ava is so much fun right now. I really love this age with her. She is constantly cracking us up with her cute and funny little personality. She is trying new words all the time and is constantly gibbering. She still loves books and will babble while she looks at them. I'm sure she is saying something that we just can't understand yet. She copies everything Andrew does which can be good and bad. She is super girly and LOVES wearing jewelry...necklaces and bracelets. She also loves shoes, purses and wearing dresses. She likes to count especially in preparation for jumping or walking down the stairs. She likes to play with toys now and will keep herself entertained even though she usually makes the biggest mess! She hates getting her hair brushed or sitting down for more than two seconds. She loves to give kisses and hugs and is becoming more snuggly (especially with mommy) everyday. She finally got her last 2 teeth in, her upper i-teeth. They came in about 2 days before she turned 23 months. She likes to make silly faces where she puts her fingers in the corner of her mouth and pulls it apart...she thinks she's so funny. She really wants to be with "baba" brother all the time and wants to sleep in his bed at night. There are so many words she can say, I can't even name them all. Her newest thing is calling Papa and Pama, Hapa and Hama. She loves getting her picture taken and likes to say "cheese." She still LOVES princesses, especially Ariel and will now sit and watch cartoons with Andrew, mainly in the morning.

Her cheese face.

We took a walk around the neighborhood and found lots of flowers to take pictures with.

She looks so grown up to me in these pictures. I feel like she has grown a ton in the last month.

Hopscotch

Another beautiful day, some more fun in the sun.

Ava saw an airplane....she loves airplanes.

Doing a little digging with his new shovel.

While Andrew was digging, Ava found his trike and wanted to take it for a ride. She was pretty proud of herself and luckily Andrew didn't seem to care.

I made a hopscotch for the kids and Andrew loved it.





4.10.2012

Morning time

This is what the kids do in the mornings while they wait for mommy to get ready, watch cartoons in our bed. I love that they are both laying on their stomaches. Ava copies everything that Andrew does.

A child's prayer

Leading up to Easter we'd talked a lot about the meaning of Easter. On Good Friday (April 6th) before bedtime we told Andrew that if he ever wanted to ask Jesus into his heart he could pray and ask him into his heart. He said that he wanted to and that he would as soon as Nate & I left his room. So when we left I stood outside of his room and listened. He said, "Dear Jesus, please come into my heart, amen." It was the sweetest thing.

On Easter night before he went to bed, he prayed:

Dear Jesus,

Thank you for Pama's birthday and for a good day. Thank you for coming into our hearts and for Easter.

Amen

I teared up. It was truly one of the sweetest moments I've ever had with Andrew. I'm so proud of how my little boy is growing to love Jesus more and more each day.

p.s. He also really loves to read his Bible

An Easter Egg Hung

That evening we invited my parents, Nate's parents and my sister in law over (Kayla, Cory & Leyton had to go back to Eugene) for an Easter egg hunt and dinner. The kids LOVED it and had so much fun!

Before everyone came over, we headed out for a little walk around the neighborhood since it was so nice out.

Ava smelling the flowers.

When it was time for the Easter egg hunt, Andrew was running everywhere. He was having so much fun!

Ava was on the run too, especially when it was time to collect eggs outside.

These kids are just too cute!

Ava opened her present from Janet Pama & David Papa...her own Bible and she loves it.

After dinner, the kids were super hyped up from all the sugar from the day. They were having the best time cuddling and laughing on the couch. LOVE these smiles!

Pama's Easter Birthday

This year my mom's birthday fell on Easter. So we had a birthday party and Easter celebration all in one. After church we headed to Oswego Grill for lunch.

The kids got a little restless, so Daddy turned on a cartoon for them.

My parent with all of their grandchildren (Andrew 4 1/2, Ava 22 months & Leyton, almost 5 months)

After lunch we headed back to our house for cake, ice cream and presents. Andrew really loves birthdays (just like me) and was so excited to celebrate Pama.

He was also very excited to get his Easter gift from Papa & Pama.

Love these pictures of my mom and Andrew. He was so excited to sing Happy Birthday to her.