The weekends

May 21st, Jay ran the Ogden 1/2 marathon. He absolutely amazes me at his endurance and strength. For his "training" Jay would play basketball sat. mornings for a couple hours. He also went out once to see how fast he could run a mile. That was about the extent of it. The crazy thing is he did real well at the race, running around 9-10 min miles, not stopping, and feeling strong the whole time. It blows my mind. I could train for months do a 10k and be done for the next few hours. Ava and I met Jay after the race and Ava was so excited to see him.

Jay and Ava after the race.

Ava and her new medal

June 3rd Ava and I went to town and bought her a new "big girl" bike. She loves it and rides it so well. She actually rode it so long the first day she chafed her poor little bum.

Ava on her new bike

Just a little frustrated she got stuck

Riding off into the sunset

June 4th we took Ava to Hogle Zoo. She loved the Zoo train and carousel. The new dinosaurs they have around the park were not a huge hit for her though. She really enjoyed seeing the baby elephant Zuri and her mom. They were playing in the mud and Ava thought that was really funny. We spent most our time watching them play.

Ava at the train station

Jay and Ava getting ready to ride the train

The girls on the zoo train

Ava enjoying the rainfall

Jay and Ava on the carousel

After the zoo Jay took me to Home Depot so I could build my mini "car wash" water works for Ava. I had this funny dream about a little water park play area for Ava this summer and decided I needed to build one. So sat. evening I started the construction and finished Sunday after church. Ava was such a little helper. She loved connecting the PVC pipes together. On Monday we had a water day, invited the neighbor boys over and played in the pool and sprinklers. They looked like they had lots of fun. Today, Friday, we had our other neighbor kids over and played more in the "car wash" and pool. The one big hit was the large sponges. They would soak the sponges and slap/squish them on their faces. It was so funny to watch. Hopefully I will get a few more toys and have many fun days for Ava outside.

Ava helping me put the "car wash" together.

The finished product it's a good 5 x 3 x 10 ft.

Playing in the "car wash"

Ava, Carson, and Jarron soaking their faces

This weekend the 11th Jay is doing his first bike race. It's a century (100 miles) ride. And has he trained. Of course, if you count two rides all season averaging about 20 miles each! While he is doing that I think Ava and I are going to do a 1 mile race.

Good luck babe! See you at the finish line!

Idaho

Over Memorial weekend we went to Hailey Id. to hang out with Jay's sister, Trina, and bro-in-law, Tommy. I love going to see these two! They are so fun and are definitely little kids at heart. Always making for a great time. Every year they want to do some crazy hike or run or something to try and make Jay puke. I have learned from the first years amazing hike that I let them do their "tire each other out" thing and I will hang out and hear about the adventure later. I do wish at times I had the stamina like the 3 of them do, but I think it's a genetic thing. Trina and Jay are nuts at long distance exercising (Jay can do a marathon without training and Trina has done 100 mile run races). INSANE! Maybe one day. This year since I am pregnant I had a good excuse not to go. Anyway, I'm getting off subject. Ava was a little shy for the first couple hours but when she realized how fun they were, she was always wanting to hang out with them, show them something, or just talk to them. While there we had a little water fight, marshmallow gun fight, Ava designated herself as the marshmallow picker upper (and trying to shove them all in her mouth), Trina took me to get pedicures (so, so nice and needed!), we always have a WII Bowling tournament, Ava loved showing Trina how she can ride her bike and made Trina watch her for hours (sorry about that), and last but not least, we made some amazing meals. Thank you guys so much for another great vacation in Idaho! Can't wait for you guys to come here next (hint, hint).

Ava "cleaning up" after the marshmallow fight.

Coming after mom.

If you notice the gun sizes Jay is not playing fair!

Tommy and Ava having a shoot off

Ava shooting Trina with the water gun.

Easter Update

This year for Easter we went up to Stacey's again for their Easter Egg Hunt. It's quite a production. Ava had such a fun time hunting for eggs and finding the prizes inside. I decided this year I wanted to make Ava's Easter dress. I have always liked the idea of making an Easter dress, just to let you know I have never made a dress before and am not an amazing sewer. But that doesn't matter right? Since I am pregnant my brain thinks I am super mom so, when I was buying the pattern for Ava's dress I found two other cute patterns and thought, "if i'm going to make one why not make two more, how hard can it be?" (Insert laughing) I of course bought all three patterns got home and just stared at them, for about a month. I finally called my sewing friend Teisha and went to her house to make a dress. I'm sure she made most of it though. I realized before even finishing the first dress that this is not my thing. I would rather find a cute dress and call it good. Well, I did finish her Easter dress and one of the ladies at work is sewing another one for me, so now I just need to find one more person to make my last dress! Too much drama.

Anyway, the night before Easter we helped Ava color Easter Eggs for the first time. She really had a blast coloring on the eggs and watching them change colors. Easter after church, Ava had another egg hunt at our house and received her basket with her new toys. I actually think we did about 5 egg hunts because she was having so much fun. After we went for a nice walk and hung out just us. What a wonderful relaxing day!

Ava was so excited she decided to start the hunt early.

"Jackpot!"

Ava and her cousin Bodie at the hunt.

Coloring the eggs (so serious)

In they go

The end results with a smile

The dress.

Ava in her new dress and apron during one of her hunts.

Ava and her new princess chair.

The past few months

Well here is a recap of the past few months in the Ackett world. Starting from this last weekend.

This weekend I finished one of my many projects for the babies room. This is her mobile for above her crib. I really don't like any that the stores have and they cost way too much. Sorry the pic isn't the best but if you can see it there is an elephant, zebra, lion, giraffe, a monkey, a singing bird and some jungle leaves. I kind of like it, hope the baby does too.

This last weekend we went to IFA for yard supplies and Ava found the baby ducks and bunnies. She of course fell in love with the bunnies and we got to hold one. He was so cute I almost fell in love with him too. He just sat there cuddling up to Ava and she kept giving him kisses and hugs. When it was time to go she did not want to give him up. I'm not sure I have ever seen her face so sad. It broke my heart! I almost caved into asking Jay if we could buy him. Every time I tried to take the bunny from Ava she would turn her back to me and take a few steps away and cuddle the bunny more. Finally some girls came up wanting to hold the rabbits and we convinced Ava to let them hold her bunny. So sad.

Jay had his 34th birthday in May. I had to work all day that day but we still had a good time. All Jay wanted for his birthday was money to put toward his new road bike. Which he was finally able to get. So, I made Jay a money tree. I origami(d) all his bills into leaves and placed them on a tree embedded into his (dirt) cake. And yes there are worms too. I would say not bad for a quick make. Happy Birthday babe, I love you so much! Thank you for being the amazing man you are, I am so grateful for all you do for us.

Ava has her Girlie girl moments. This is one of them. She enjoys her tutu skirt and at her Granny and Papa's house has her own purse with brush, mirror, and lipstick. As seen here she loves to apply her lipstick. I'm trying to teach her less is more but it's just not sinking in yet.

We have been playing at the parks quite a bit. She loves the slides and really loves the swings. Sometimes after we play Emma will pull Ava and one of us home. So fun for all!

We taught Emma to "take Ava to bed." She walks Ava into her room lays by her bed and after we tuck Ava in they fall asleep together. So cute!

In March we took Ava to WSU to see the ducks. She had such a great time chasing the ducks and eating their bread.

We also started potty training in March. Ava did ok the first week and awesome the second. I'm so proud of her for starting so early. During those weeks we had a great time doing science projects and crafts. We made pine cone bird feeders, grass people, and slime to name a few. Ava is still doing great with potting, but she did have a set back week which kind of freaked me out thinking she didn't want to use the toilet anymore.

7 weeks left

Well again I haven't posted for a while so I thought I would give an update on the baby on board. We had our Ultra-sound around 12 wks ago and found out we are having another girl! Though my brain won't let me think that way. For some reason my brain keeps telling me we are having a boy. It's bad enough that the babies room is in neutral colors and when I really find out what we are having I will add touches of either bright pink or blue. Most of you I have told this to think I am crazy but I can't help it. I'm getting better at saying "she" but it's a work in progress. If she is a girl we will name her "Charly" and if it's a boy right now the name is "Graham." Gotta keep your options open right? Anyway here is proof that she is a girl.

Stretching out (her usual position)

The little limbs that can kick like no other.

She has all 10 fingers

The actual proof that for some reason I can't pick up on.

So when I first saw this last photo I noticed the little "bump" in between her legs, thinking it was the boy parts. Come to find out it's just the umbilical cord lying in perfect position.