Wow I can't believe how fast time is flying by... it's been a month since the last time I posted :( Well lots of exciting things have happened so lots to share. I will try to make it short and sweet though!
Just took this picture this morning of our sweet girl :)
First of all I would just like to say a BIG CONGRATS to Mike and Sam on the birth of their baby boy Dean Michael - he was born on June 9th and I was lucky enough to be present at Dean's birth! Sam did such an great job and I'm so glad I was able to be there to see Dean's arrival into this world. Welcome baby Dean, you are such a handsome boy and we can't wait to see you grow over the coming months!
Dean and Ava's first time meeting each other... they were pretty hilarious together :)
As for other exciting news from this past month:
Love <3
Ash
- Ava met her great grandparents for the first time - they drove all the way to North Carolina from Arizona! They also brought along my old rocking horse for her to have.... I am so thankful that they kept it for me all of these years so Ava can have it :)
- We took a trip to Maryland for my little brother's graduation from high school.
While we were there Ava got to participate in her first 5k race! Her Dad pushed her in the jogging stroller and she had a great time!
Ava also went swimming for the first time while we were in Maryland. She seemed to love the water and enjoyed bobbing up and down and kicking her legs while swimming on her belly. Excited to do more of this sometime soon! 
She had a great time getting to see her grandparents and her uncle Connor again too... she really enjoyed spending time with Grandpa Troy watching Madagascar and sleeping in his lap.
- When we got home from Maryland Ava started sleeping in her big girl crib for naps and at night time. She has slept through the night still without any problem... we are so proud of her!! We bought an AngelCare Baby Monitor that we love. It monitors her breathing, movement and sound. It really does help me sleep better at night knowing that she's ok and if she does stop moving for more than 20 seconds the alarm goes off till we go turn it off. So happy we bought the monitor... it definitely gives us peace of mind. She seems to love sleeping in her crib and also enjoys scooting her cute little booty around while she sleeps too! Every morning when I go to check on her I find her on the opposite end of the crib where she started and usually against the right hand side. She can definitely scoot herself around that's for sure!
- About 2 weeks ago or so we started breastfeeding again!!! I was very nervous for a long time about trying again because it seemed to have gone so horribly wrong in the beginning but Ava is a champ and she has done such a great job with it from the very first day we tried again. My milk has started to increase quite a bit which I am so excited about and I don't have to pump at all for now on most days. Once I am able to make enough milk for each feeding so that we don't have to use any formula I will most likely start to pump again to have extra but for now I am just trying to have as much milk at each feeding as I can to help keep Ava motivated. Once again I am so so so proud of her for how resilient she is and well she adapts to change.
- Ava has grown quite a bit over the last month as well... I am not 100% sure about her weight but I am almost positive it's somewhere between 14-15 lbs. She has also started to do many new things such as reaching out for things (to include hair, excess skin, lips, chins, toys and blankets) my favorite is when she holds onto her little snuggle blanket that's a bear with a blanket attached while she's sleeping... it's so cute.
She has quite the grip and these grabs can really hurt sometimes... but it's too cute to care much about the pain. She really enjoys sitting on her own pretty much anywhere you put her but especially on the couch, in her bumbo at the kitchen table or watching us make food in the kitchen. She finds lots of things interesting now that she didn't care much about before... especially candles, the dogs, t.v., patterns, etc. She has also started following us around as we go in and out of the room which is really fun to see. She smiles a lot during the day and also will "talk" with us anytime that we engage her... these moments are so much fun! Her little gummy smile melts our hearts every single time :) She has also just started the last couple of days being able to hold her bottle on her own which she loves to do. She finds her hands very interesting and you can find them in her mouth most of the time. There are lots of other things but those are some of the newest things that Ava's been up to lately. - We got to celebrate Dan's first Father's Day :) We made lots of yummy food and heard a great message at church. Ava also gave her Dad a picture frame with a picture of them together and then next to it her hand and foot prints done in ceramic. We had fun making it for him! It was a great day and I'm so glad the three of us got to spend it together.
Love <3
Ash
