Our Baby Turns TWO!

This weekend we celebrated Ava's birthday with a party in the theme of her beloved cartoon character..... Sponge Bob Squarepants!

We had beautiful weather for an outdoor party, and family and friends got to enjoy the pool, good food, and of course a delicioius cake!

Daddy even dressed up as Sponge Bob himself to deliver the birthday cake!!

Ava wasn't exactly sure what she thought about that....

But the cake was Y-U-M-M-Y!! She was shoveling it in using both hands!

With careful supervision from her cousin Callie, Ava opens up all of her birthday gifts! She got lots of fun stuff - thank you everyone!

Ava loves anything with Dora on it - this play tent was a huge hit!

The next day, Ava and Daddy played in the new sandbox!! Thank you Grandma and Pat!

The most adorable part of the whole weekend, sunday night getting in her pjs after her bath. The guests were all gone, and the party was over, only a few stray balloons floating around. And Ava sitting on the couch, completely exhausted from the weekend festivities saying "More BuhBob party pleeeeeease?!?"

Thank you to all friends and family who were able to spend this special day with Ava!

Exactly Two Years Ago....

Our lives changed forever. Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at 8:08 in the morning, Ava Riley Whetzel made her appearance into this world, after an eventful evening at the Community Hospital North labor & delivery unit. Karin was admitted the night before to be induced, and not a moment too soon - considering she was a week overdue!

2 days later, we were sent home. Like a baby bird being shooed out of the nest, we left the hospital and were on our way to the fairytale beginning that is life with a new baby. Or so we thought! And here we are, two years later. The rollercoaster that is life with a newborn finally let us off the ride, only to discover that life with a toddler is just a whole new obstacle course! It is amazing to look back and see how tiny Ava used to be, considering she is now in a world where she wants to do everything herself, and she has the vocabulary to tell us so as well!

Happy Birthday, our beautiful girl!

The new house

As some of you already know, we were lucky enough to move into our brand new home this April. It was quite an interesting process to build a home from the very beginning, and it was exciting to pick out all of the details that make it more personal to us.

Packing up and saying goodbye to the house we had called home for several years was hard. Luckily Ava was still too young to realize what we were leaving behind, but for me and Chris, there were many memories revisiting us as we packed up boxes and shut the doors for the last time. But we know our future is in this new home, and we intend to be here for quite a while!

The best part about our new home came a few weeks after we moved in - Our new pool was completed! Chris and I joke that we now feel like we are on vacation every day, because it is so relaxing to be outside and take a swim whenever we feel like it. Ava *loves* the pool and has become quite a little fish in

the short time we have lived here. She now doesn't let us sit on the side and watch anymore, she prompts us with "Jump! Jump??" because she loves jumping off the edge into our arms and making a big splash.

So, about this blog thing

I finally decided to join the ranks of many others in the 21st century and start a blog. I used to think to myself, "I don't need a blog. Blogs are for people that have tons of time, and even more to say, and that's not me", but the more I think about it, it is me. I also realized the great parts of blogging (as witnessed by other friends and bloggers) - you can post tons of pictures in your blogs! For the family and friends that know me well, you remember my website for Ava, which started before she was even born (http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/w/whetzel76) but that site has its disadvantages. I know a lot of people only come for the pictures (which is great), but now and again, there are more updates to give than are possible without words. And also, your picture input on the site is limited. Here, the possibilites are endless, and because of the continuation, I don't have to erase older pictures in order to post new ones - they will all just post in order, newer ones first!

So be patient with me, I am still learning to navigate this new world called Blogger. But if it can connect any of my family in friends better to my wonderful little corner of life, than it will be a success. Lots of new news for everyone - I better get moving!