August Long Weekend

We had so much fun this past weekend! Ava and I spent the week at my Mom's where we got to meet my new little nephew Athen Tane, the cutest little Maori boy! We went to the beach, I was able to have a massage (not at the beach) and my Mom and I did some sewing. The weekend was spent at the cottage where Ava went on her first boat ride and went fishing with Mommy and Daddy. I had a blast tubing and sea-dooing. I hadn't been tubing for 2 years and I forgot how much it hurt fun it was! I was definitely feeling sore for the next few days. We went to North Bay on Sunday for church where Ben helped with being a part of Athen's baby blessing. After church we headed back for the Fuller Fishing Festival activities. The weekend was great and I know it tired Ava and I out because we slept all the way home.

Ava and Daddy

Holding on for dear life!

Lauren, Emily and I.

Matthew and Athen having a nap

Ava enjoying a cookie.

Lilah 

Little Maori boy

So sweet.

Maia and Lilah playing in the sand

William having a blast!

Kids playing games at the Fuller Fishing Festival

How cute can one baby get??

Ava and Daddy

First boat ride!

Ready to go!

Hips Don't Lie

Our little cupcake was born with hip dysplasia due to being breech the whole time in the womb. Now that she is more mobile she loves to go into the splits and swing her legs behind her in order to get onto her tummy and then swings them forward to sit up again. She likes to do it over and over again and even does it in her crib when going down for a nap. I usually go up 10 minutes after she's gone down to put a blankie on her as she likes to kick it off. This is how I found her today......

I see gymnastics/dance in her future.

Summer 2011

I'm pretty sure it's time to update the blog when the template background has a spring theme. My bad. Here's a little update on what we have been up to this summer so far:

• I rear-ended someone downtown and caused some (a ton) of damage. All I can say is thank goodness for insurance! Let's just say Ben wasn't too pleased.
• My Mom came down to surprise me for my birthday and it was fantastic! (Mostly because she took me shopping.)
• We met John's fiance Stephanie and spent a few days stuffing our faces with the always delicious food at the Hitchin's.
• Ava had an x-ray on her hips. There is still a bit of a difference between the two hips but the orthopedist said it should sort itself out when she starts walking. She goes back for another x-ray in October to make sure everything is all good in the hood. Fingers crossed.
• Ben had the opportunity to go to the MoTab sound check where he got to meet some of the choir.
• We celebrated Nate's birthday and Emily's grad.
• Ava and I spent some time up north at Nona's where Ava finally started crawling. She does the army crawl and scoots her little bum up. I need to get video of her doing it. It's so stinkin' cute!
• Ava's favourite things to do are play peek-a-boo, clap her hands and cuddle with her fluffy.
• We went up to the cottage where we celebrated our niece Olivia's 1st birthday.
• Nate, Em, Ben and I went boat flying. (I just made that term up. It's when you lay on the front of the boat and pretend you are flying at top speed. Kind of stupid, seriously fun!)
• We celebrated Ben's birthday by going to see Transformer's 3, ate delicious ribs and of course finished off by eating ice-cream cake. I got him a sweet electric toothbrush that he had asked for.
• We've gone swimming here at our place (soo cold) and at Grandma's (sooo warm) and have had some yummy BBQ's. (Who knew Ben was such a grill master?)

Anyway, there has been a lot more stuff that we've done but that's just a snapshot. I'll be posting pics soon of our downstairs bathroom reno we started on Saturday. Stay tuned....
Now for your entertainment:
Ava and Uncle John having a nap.

Celebrating Auntie Emily graduating from Sheridan

 Chillin in the Backyard

 Celebrating Uncle Nathan's 23rd Birthday

Before and After Part 1

I posted earlier about how we redecorated our living room and posted a picture but here are some before and after shots. We also redid the upstairs bathroom but I'm waiting to put up a frame around the mirror before I post pictures. I'm on a decorating high but have no idea what to do in my bedroom. I'm also in the middle of painting the rod-iron on the staircase black. More pics to come soon.

Before

After

                                                                          

Before

After

                                                                            

Busy Bees

We have been so busy lately settling into our new house and making it our home. I posted about a week ago but my whole post got deleted somehow and then I had to tend to Ava so it got forgotten about. We have been busy with throwing a 50th Birthday party for my Mom, getting Ava's ears pierced, taking Ava swimming, redecorating the living room including endless trips to IKEA, a visit from my Mom who did most (o.k. all) of the decorating, attempting a trip to the Home and Garden show (long story), I spent a day at the spa with my MIL, making my first real roast (in the oven, not the crock pot and yes people, I can cook!), making my first real craft, Ben stayed up super late making his famous violet crumble cheesecake for our friends Holler, and we've been watching our little girl develop the funniest little personality. (She definitely takes after her Daddy) This post is making me wish I had taken more pics of all these fun events. But here are some for your entertainment.

2010 The Year in Review

2010 was an exciting year for us. Here is our 2010 year in review.

January: I found out I was pregnant.

February: We told everyone! 

March: Was busy with school projects.

April: I graduated with my Advertising diploma and Ben spent a week golfing in St.George.

May: I had an awesome birthday in Niagara Falls and went on Maid of the Mist. 

June: We both worked, and Ben's sister Natalie got married.

July: I spent an awful week at Girls Camp. Being 7 months pregnant in the hottest week of the summer is something I will never do again.

August: We moved into a closet. (basement apartment) and celebrated our 1st Anniversary by attending Nathan and Emily's wedding. It was so awesome being in the same room in the Temple exactly a year later. 

September: I had Ava. 

November: Ava had her baby blessing.

December: We bought a house and had an awesome Christmas up north.

As you can see we had a very busy, fun and life changing year! We are so excited to move into our new home in Burlington and are excited to see what 2011 has in store for us. Happy New Year to everyone!!

Hello 2011!!!

Ben and I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! We spent the Holidays at my parents up north. We had a fun time relaxing and playing with our nieces and nephew but we are glad to be home.

Christmas day was spent opening presents with the family. Ben got me a spa package that I can't wait to use and a sweet water bottle that I asked for. I got him some much needed white shirts, a sweater, driving gloves and a car cleaning kit. Ava got some toys, stuffed animals and some really cute outfits. We got some awesome gifts from my parents as well. As a tradition, my Dad made everyone breakfast then in the  afternoon we headed to the Fullers cottage where everyone played some games.

For new years eve I was too tired to ring in the new year and went to bed with Ava at 10:30. Ben stayed up and lit off some firecrackers and chinese lanterns with my Mom, Nate and Emily. We have a funny video of the lanterns that Ben took with our awesome new Picsio camera that we got for Christmas that I'll post later.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year and are excited to see what fun things will come our way in 2011.