Ava turned 2! Remember the day she was born?...

How did this happen? Look at how far we've come....I could cry. I've never felt my heart pulsating, bursting and overflowing with love as I do when I feel my love for Ava. There is nothing like it. Thank you God for choosing me to be her mother. Thank you, Thank you.

April 26, 2008 at 12:51pm she burst into the world and took her first breath. I cried, Brad cried. Jill cried and her joyful voice filled my ears. Ava Martina was here and she calmed immediately when they put her on my chest. I could say nothing, but whisper "good job, baby, you did it." She nursed and her life on earth began with us. On that day and looking forward I've never believed so much in God. There is no way that Brad and I could create such a life alone. No way.

I had no idea what experience was upon me. I just knew we were connected and I wanted to be the best Mommy I could. Ava grew....(in and out of colic).

She was about 6 months old when I came out of my fog and really began feeling comfortable as a mom and like I finally knew what to do. I felt more confident and less frantic and began really enjoying the process all the changes happening. To think, I used to say "I wish she would just grow faster!" (this was in desperation for her to grow out of her colic). As you can see below, colic and reflux are gone! And my happy girl arrived to play :)

There is nothing I love more than to play with her

And then time just started flying by!

She turned one!

and just kept getting cuter and cuter...

(18 months)

And my love and gratitude keeps growing and growing

and now she is 2! 

She's full of joy and imagination, strong will and independence, stubbornness, and love. She tells me daily that she loves me (on her own volition)! She is the sweetest little being who is my biggest motivator to be the best mommy and person I can be! (that hasn't changed, it just keeps growing). Happy birthday, baby A. You are my sunshine! I'm so proud of you! xoxoxoxox

Family Picnic in the Park

In honor of Ava turing 2 we decided to have a small gathering of family and friends we consider family meet us for a picnic at Wildwood Park in Saratoga. It was a perfect afternoon for it. The weather couldn't have been nicer and Hailey came down for the day! Ava was about to pass out from exhaustion (we had an eventful night in ER with her the night before due to something called Nurse Maid's Elbow). She had been up late and up early that morning, but when Hailey walked up the stairs to our apartment she broke into a huge smile and got a burst of energy. She was so happy to see her! She kept running up to her and hugging her. she's in love with her sister. This is Ava smiling at Hailey....

Hailey brought a gift she had picked out. So sweet and thoughtful. It was a picture album with Ariel on it. And she wrote the card all by herself. When we asked Ava how old she would be on her birthday, 2 weeks ago, she would say "2 minutes", so Hailey remembered and wrote that :)

hugs, hugs and more hugs

Nana and I picked up some little slices of heaven on earth at the local bakery.

Just a few of the variety we picked out.

Poppi grilled some delicious tamari ginger chicken

we arrived and waited for guests. Hailey was "bored", but hung out with Poppi to kill the time. She was very excited for Ava. Come to think of it, she didn't show an ounce of jealousy. She was purely gracious and helpful and so happy to celebrate Ava. Oh gosh, I'm tearing up thinking back on it. She is SO sweet.

Auntie Jill was there with her girls and boys ;)

Moorea & Tyler

...and Pierson (9 weeks)...Jason is her other guy ;)

Sophia came with her mom, my loving friend, Lisa.

There were many more people there to celebrate with us that I didn't get pictures of: Grandma & Grandpa Koch, Brendy, Steve & Flo, Daddy's buddies, Stu, Jerry, Victor, Dave & Sue, Kevin, Tom & Yvonne. And then there were those that couldn't make it, but sent love instead, like Grandpa Great, Auntie Hsiaolei, Uncle Scott & Kekoa, Auntie Laura & Jeff, Auntie Mina & Sasha, Auntie Coley & Uncle Dave (and the rest of our family back east...)

We sang Happy Birthday to Ava

(2 candles and one to grow on)

She blew out the candles perfectly.

And devoured her cupcake! YUM!

After playing in the hot sun and as things were winding down she found Mama and lost it, crying, until she fell asleep on me in the grass.

She woke up to my movements an unhappy girl (but with such beautiful eyes)

Something was wrong, I could tell. Brad told me that one of the kids at the party had pulled on her arms to pick her up off the ground and that's when she had started crying and come over to me. I thought she was just tired, but her crying when she woke up told me that she was hurt. And then she said "arm hurts" and held in the same way she had the night before, but this time it was the other arm. I knew her elbow was dislocated again and I was SO frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brad and I had to leave my Mom and Dad at the park with one car to pack up while we took Ava back to the ER! Luckily, if she doesn't move the arm it doesn't hurt, so we kept it stable and the doc popped it back into place for her (again). Bad luck having it happen 2 days in a row, but apparently it's a very common injury in kids 1-4 years of age. She was a trooper in the ER both nights. Getting a popsicle helped ;) ...And having left over cupcakes helped too :)

Bachman Park with my Babes

Bachman Park is right outside of town, just up a quiet street, into a quiet neighborhood. We heard it was packed at Oak Meadow and weren't  up for the crowds, so we biked up to Bachman. It was really nice there and the lighting was incredible. Again, I was having a field day with my camera. I need to do something with this passion! I think it's time to try. I just need to work on the confidence part. 

The trees at the park are, what I like to think of as, family trees. They branch out the way that one would that you were drawing and adding to with more family as it extends. They are all over the park, providing a nice shade for hot days, like today. (it was 80 here today!)

Ava really wanted to go on the "big girl" swings, but she had to wait, so in the meantime she settled for the "baby"swings. She likes 'em though because she knows I'll give her a much bigger push!

Look at the joy!! That just captures how great it is to be a kid!

Then is was her turn on the "big girl" swings. Lovin' it!

She wanted Daddy to come swing too :)

We headed into the grass to run and find "wishing fowers"

Isn't the light amazing?!

getting tired and fussy, but still wanting to run down the hill

my handsome man

this is Ava's face as she takes it all in: other children playing and adults interacting. She is an observer. Those big eyes don't miss a beat.

Little Gardener

Ava loves her watering can. She proves to me day after day that it's the simple things that can hold her attention for the longest stretches. I picked up this watering can at Target this week and it's been so fun watching Ava learn how to use it and explore how it works. I like that it teaches her about taking care of plants and how we need to help them grow sometimes.

This morning we were down in the courtyard for an hour, just filling up the watering can over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over... you get the gist.

she's very serious about her gardening ;)

Then she realized that she needed some watering too!

So she watered herself for a while while Scott and Kekoa and I observed in delight.

When she was good and soaked there were some yawns and signals that it was nap time. We headed up stairs, changed clothes and hit the crib for a 2.5 hour nap! I guess watering the plants tires a girl out ;)

Actually, she is cutting her 2 year molars. It looks like she is yawning in this pic, but she's just showing Scott her new teeth :)

Can't get enough of Kekoa!

We got to spend 6 hours with Mr. Kekoa on Saturday! It was our pleasure to take care of him. He was an angel. He didn't make a peep (unless it was a happy peep) until bedtime (he doesn't like bed time), so from 2pm-6pm he was awake and talking to us and smiling at us and being the easiest baby we've EVER taken care of. Brad said to me at one point "if you can guarantee that our next baby would be this easy going then we can start now!" :) Really, just holding him relaxed us. He is so warm and calm and just happy. He was a little wary to say goodbye to his Daddy, but look at that face. SO sweet. 

Just a few minutes and he was distracted by his Ava and smiling and playing.

He loved his Uncle Brad too. They developed a special little connection over the course of the afternoon :)

I even plunked them in the bath together. They had fun, but the truth is, by the end of the day Ava was tired of sharing her Mommy. She is, shall we say, slightly possessive of me. (As Brad reads this he is thinking slightly?!) You can see that feeling written on her face. Though it didn't faze Kekoa. He was splashing and smiling, squealing with delight. (Now I understand more fully how much he LOVES the water, Hsiaolei!)

The next morning Ava and I were down in the courtyard watering the plants and Kekoa came down to visit us with his Dad. The lighting was so beautiful where we were sitting, I couldn't resist snapping some shots of him. He gets SO excited to see Ava. It's precious. Ava was ignoring him, but he kept at it, squealing and screeching to try and get her attention. Scott said, "get used to it Kekoa. this is what it's like with girls..." I laughed out loud.

Oh, beautiful boy!

Daddy love.

sweetness

We love you Kekoa. You are part of our family. xo