drum roll please....

Ava can walk! She took 5 steps last night! We were clapping and cheering for her and she was very happy.

the giggles

This clip was taken on our way home from the Oregon Coast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv4sH3x3pg8

S'mores

We went down to the beach one evening to roast marsh mellows over a fire. Luckily, when we got to the beach someone had just finished with their fire so all we had to do is add more wood. It was pretty windy that night but the fire was toasty warm.
Leah, Kaleb, Eli, Shauna, and Zack
Adam, Rhonda licking her fingers and Jeremy and Emma

Ava sitting in the sand

Emma just wanted to get down and play. She loves the sand and she really loved the fire. So we tried to keep her safe by holding her but as you can see she just wants to get down.

Ava standing by a big rock.

I also want to mention that we roasted a marsh mellow and had a wonderful smore. We turned in early because the girls were cold. But it was fun. I will have to get a copy of all the others pictures that were taken because I was busy trying to corral the girls.

The Coast

We just returned from the Oregon Coast and we had so much fun. The girls really liked being on vacation. I want to post pictures from the vacation in pieces related to the activities we did. So this post is just about the family. The house we stayed in was ginormous with three levels. We mostly spent our time upstairs on the top level where the kitchen and lounge area were. The girls loved playing with their cousins and we loved to visit with everyone.
Jeremy and I
Erin and Jason (I know, Jason looks super excited to be in this picture)

Leah, Emma, and Ava

Jeremy and Emma- we had lunch at Mo's.

Adam, Andrew, Brei, Jennifer, and Eli at Mo's

This was the only morning we spent on the beach. The girls were more interested in eating the sand than enjoying the beach so only made a few quick trips to the beach. Plus it was cold!

Nice hair Jeremy. We just were out there for 20 minutes or so.

Leah, Shauna, and Kaleb

Denise, Zack, Jeremy, Lusina, and half of Leah

just a little update

The had their first ride in a pickup the other day when Jeremy picked them up from our sitter's house.

This didn't turn out to be a pumpkin, it's a spaghetti squash and it was very delicious too.

So can you tell which little girl this is? I had to look twice and I think I could only figure it out because I know who sits in what spot at our table.

Its... Emma! She always has her feet on the table.

Here's Ava.

This is my kitchen after I cook dinner, what a mess!

This is Emma after she ate her peanut butter and honey sandwich. She rubbed peanut butter all over herself and on me too.

Ava even had rubbed peanut butter in her hair. She has become quite the little paper chewer lately. I always find a piece of paper in her mouth. She also likes to eat books.

Emma is trying to help Ava's hair stand up like hers.

Ava is getting really good at standing up. Most of time she is right at my feet holding on to my pants as we both walk around. She sort of took a step the other day when she wasn't really thinking about it but then she sat down and crawled. Her new word is "push". She likes to push the garage door button to close it when we get home. She also loves to say "no, no, no!" as she is pointing her little finger at you.

We are headed to the Oregon Coast tomorrow- more fun pics to come!

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

So since I always post about the girls I thought I show you a little of my garden. I have never had a garden before. I have however had many failed attempts at growing things in pots. So I was super excited to try this year. Our yard is growing great. If you notice the marigolds that are around my garden have grown way more than I expected.

I couldn't figure out how to show how tall they were but at the bottom of the picture is my cuff of my short sleeve shirt. Yes, they are that tall.

This is my sad little corn patch. It's been blown over few time and most of the tassel has actually been blown off. So I have ears on the stocks but they are still very skinny. So we will see.

Marigolds.

This is my pumpkin. It has a mind of its own. It's totally running everything over. I have given it a few trims, but it still keeps growing and growing.

'Lil pumpkin

This was my second cucumber plant that I started. The first one turned sort of a rust color and died.

Jeremy insisted we have sunflowers. So here they are the fence behind them is 15'.

My cherry tomato is overtaking the corn.

little cherry tomatoes

I started my green and hot peppers from seed. I think I started them late but I saw flowers on them this last week so we should have lots of peppers.

Monster pumpkin plant

marigolds

The garden from afar.

Our little sleep over

Ava and I had a little sleepover last night. She woke up at 4:30am and I held her for an hour. Then Jeremy woke up to get ready for work and he rocked her for a little while. Then he brought her back to me at 0630. Then at about 0845 I woke up to this:

Ava zonked out next to me. She is such a kicky cow, maybe the Foster's only know what this means. So I went up stairs to check on Emma and this is what I found.

Emma had been asleep so long she peed the bed. So after a quick outfit change Emma and I went to go see if Ava was waking up yet. And I don't know if Emma was too noisy and woke Ava up or what but this is Ava waking up with bed head:

She is pointing a picture of Jeremy and I on the wall. Notice how big her hair is. Notice Emma just stole Ava's binky too.

Here they are standing up next to each other. Ava is making a "cheese" noise with her tongue sticking out. Since this they ate breakfast. Ava threw all her food on the ground and she had to sit in time out while Emma got in trouble for playing with the blinds and she had to sit in time out too. And now they are napping. Whew!