Practicing for Hawaii

We leave for Hawaii tomorrow, so last Sunday after church Avila and I decided to hang out on the beach with some friends. Before going to the beach with her meant leaving her in the car seat and chatting with friends. Now, going to the beach means something entirely new.
This is what I now know about my daughter.

1. She rarely sits still and although she still can not crawl, she now enjoys flinging her body face first into the sand.
2. No toy is as much fun as rubbing sand between her fingers.
3. She does enjoy long walks on the beach.
4. Watching waves is thrilling.
5. She DOES NOT LIKE cold ocean water. Even the feeling of water sand sends her into a screaming frenzy -she gets this from me I'm sure!

8 months old!!

She thinks she all grown, chewing on her very own apple! If only she had teeth! She did start holding mushy peach slices and taking bites and eating them. It's so cute to watch her chew with no teeth!

My little monkey girl!
We're still a little unsure about halloween, but we have 2 more months to grow into our costume and realize how much fun "we" (meaning mommy and daddy) are going to have.

We still love our bath time!

Almost 7 months old!!!

More summer pictures!!!! I'm trying to keep good on my promise to post pictures as frequently as Kat.....I'm doing my best!!!

Not walking just yet, but she sure wants to. Last week she learned how to pull herself up, yet still can't roll over. She's decided to focus on walking and skip crawling all together. She still HATES to be on her tummy more than 5 minutes. I will admit that after a few minutes of her laughing and being proud of herself she landed flat on the ground...not so happy then. but she got right back up, that's out girl!
This is her celebrating that mom and dad have been married for 5 years!!! Thanks Grammy Patsy for the gift card! Avila may not have eaten, but she liked the free necklace they gave her.

Obviously mom and dad are more amused than the baby.

All that play makes a baby tired. She is so cute!!!

Water baby

showering in the sink is one of our new favorite past times. Actually anything in warm water seems to be a hit with Avila. Today was the first time she was allowed to sit up in the sink and play with the faucet water. She was mesmerized. It was pretty cute. Now there is even more of a reason to wash the dishes! Hey, maybe in a few years Avila might think it's fun to wash dishes herself. I think I will start doing a little cheer every time I go to wash dishes, then she'll think it's something to look forward to doing!!!!

Summer Time Fun

So I know I haven't been the best at posting pictures and especially videos on the blog frequently for all the grandparents and great grandparents to enjoy. Kat and Anna are really putting me to shame! So here are a few of my favorites from the summer. I hope her cuteness makes up for my neglect of the Blog.

Happy 4th of July outfit. I know I already added a blog photo of the 4th, but here is a close up of the outfit. Both Blair and I laughed that we dressed her in a themed outfit, but we only have a few more years to dress her up as a nerd for our enjoyment before she cries and tells us "no".

Swimming in the pool is our new favorite activity. I say "our" because I get to lay out and tan while she sits and splashes in the pool. Don't worry Grandmas, you can't see it, but she's under a large umbrella and has sunscreen on. When she's done swimming she even enjoys laying out. She really is the perfect child!

Grandma came to visit and brought a TON of light of musical toys that great grandma and her bought at our favorite store - Value Center. I don't know how happy dad and mom were to have annoying toys in the house, but our little Avila was INSTANTLY thrilled.

She even got a pool full of balls! Everyone at playgroup that next week enjoyed it, especially Avila.

The boys went spear fishing while Grandma Nancy was in town. See the blog below to see what I thought about that beach day. All in all it was a lot of fun and we all had smiles on our faces until the very end!

Well, that's our summer events for now! Nothing too exciting, just hanging out and enjoying our family and friends. Stay tuned for the Edwards Family Reunion in Oakland next weekend. And hanging out in Napa with the other great grandparents and grandparents! Flying with a baby should be excitement enough for the summer. I will try to post as soon as we get back.

The new Beach Days

I have starting becoming that person that has to think before going to a beach day. No more are the days where a beach day meant a good tan now it means making sure my child and the children around me won't drown, eat sand, get a sunburn, kiss a dying fish (thanks Ava) and figure out how a grown adult can pee in a baby diaper since there is no time to run to the bathroom (actually, that last part is an exaggeration.....it's only been a thought at this point, not an action). And all this thinking and I only have one kid. This to me is considered the fun part, the not so much fun part is the packing. Blair and i honestly decided we needed to keep an SUV for beach days alone. We are those people we made fun of for years!!! We actually hiked a BBQ, ice chest, buckets of baby stuff and 7 children to the beach yesterday. Not to mention umbrellas.....I'm learning to love my white summer skin.

Let's take a moment of silence for the old beach days that are dead and gone now...............ok goodbye.

Happy Fourth of July

We had a great 4th o July! It started with a beach day (those pictures will be up later this week) and ended with dinner at Avila's boyfriends house.....sorry Landon and Gavin Holt, you boys need to put the moves on!

Yes, she is wearing a holiday themed outfit, which I always said I would never do, but how cute does she look in her little flag outfit! I actually made fun of my mom for buying it for her, but once I put it on I couldn't help myself - I was in love. The red matched her little sun kissed face from earlier that day. At least mom and dad resisted the red, white and blue theme and wore green in honor of Uncle Stephen (go army!)