Christmas 2008

To celebrate Christmas, we loaded up the girls and headed to Austin to have lunch with MeMaw and stayed in Austin for the night with Aunt Cindy, Cousins Kristen and Kyle.

Ava burning some energy

Making her move....

Ava and Megan making some music

Holiday Pictures

Pictures of Ava and Megan....

Fairies, Ninjas and Princesses oh my….

We went to our friends Laura and Josh Leonard's house for Halloween. Laura was a wonderful hostess; provided us with some food and beverages. We also took the kids around to a few houses for trick or treating. They weren't sure what to do at first but caught one pretty fast.

Ava as a Fairy

Hugs...Ava and Katherine

Ava, Katherine and Kaiser

Another first...

While we were in Austin during Hurricane Ike, Ava became obsessed with Aunt Cindy's cat, Socks. At first when we kept calling for the cat, Ava would look at her feet, thinking we were talking about the socks on feet. When she finally distinguished the difference between the two, she started chasing the cat around the house asking 'where is she'. This phrase was very muffled an mumbled, it took a while to figure out what she was actually saying.


This brings us to about a month later...Ava always does a mental check of her family. She points at me and says Mommy, then to Daddy, to herself and then sisa (Megan); you catch my drift. Sometimes she will throw in a PaPa for Granpa Darrell and a Gr for Granma Gloria. She will even recite the names of her 'babies'. Bu for bunny, Mu for Muno, Bobbie for Brobee and Tutu for Toode (By the way, those are her characters from her favorite show Yo Gabba Gabba). On Sunday, Ava was doing her usual check list of the family; pointing at Mommy, then Daddy, then to herself, and then all of the sudden she blurted out 'Where is Sisa'? This time it was very clear and we knew what she said right away. So there goes another first....Ava's first sentence, well at least in my book.

First Haircut

After 20 months of growing beautiful blonde curly hair (is she my child!?!), we decided Ava needed to get a trim. She was just as enthused as she looks!

Fun in the park

We were at the park and Ava was chasing a squirrel. She looks perplexed because she thinks it got away, instead it just ran up the tree.




Ava and Megan running around Nana and Grandad's backyard

Hurricane Ike...

September 12, 2008 the news media worked overtime to warn us all about the approach of Hurricane Ike. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to 'hunker' down at home and ride out the storm. Ava had a fabulous night's rest while Mark and I were up most of the night watching and listening to the wind and rain blow through. After about 12 hours without power, we decided to take a ride to Austin and stay with Aunt Cindy until our power was restored. Despite Aunt Cindy having a full house which included us,Nana and Grandad, we were very grateful to have a/c, internet and cable, however, i don't think it phased Ava one bit. She had a great time and kept very busy by...

Catching up on the internet with her friends...

Playing at the park...down the slide...

on the swing...

and of course there is always time for peek-a-boo!

Jenna Martinez's 1st Birthday

This Saturday we celebrated Jenna's 1st birthday at Build-a-Bear. After some dancing and singing, Jenna's guests got to pick an animal to build. The girls got to stuff their animals and pick out outfits.

They munched on some chick-fil-a and birthday cake. I think Jenna had a great time!

Birthday girl, Jenna and big sister Alexis.

Jenna got to put some lovin' into each one of her friends' animal.

Birthday girl and mommy!

Ava with mommy and her monkey, JenJen. She doesn't seem sure about this stuffing business, but quickly took to the concept.

Ava and Cousins

Ava with her cousins, Ethan and Addison, Aunt Lisa, Granma and Mommy!

July 2008

Acapulco, Mexico

July 15 - 19, the entire Gilley family vacationed to Acapulco, Mexico. Ava's first trip out of the country. We spent a lot of time hanging by the pool and the beach, despite mommy's gym injury. Ava had never seen the beach before, so this was a huge first for her. She was very timid when we first approached the water, but after watching a few kids playing in the sand, she was an instant natural.

After a few minutes, there was no more fear, she was running towards the ocean...

We did a day tour of downtown Acapulco. We got to see so much of the history (Chapel of Peace Cross and the original Tarzan's restaurant, just to name a few). We ate lunch while watching the infamous cliff divers...

Ava had to burn some energy by running the halls of our hotel...

The last night of the trip, we ate dinner at the most fabulous restaurant.The food was so amazing! Our view at sunset...

Tugentmans Visit

Aunt Lisa and the twins came to visit us for the month of July. During her visit, the 'little' tuggies came to see everyone and to celebrate Granma's 60th birthday! We had a family birthday for Granma on July 6th. Ava loved spending time with all her family!

Ava giggling with Uncle Steve...



Ava and tickle finger. aka Granpa...

Sissy helping Ava walk down the stairs like a big girl...
Ava was trying to comfort Ethan while he was crying...

Megan and Addison...

Uncle David, Granma and Uncle Steve...

My little Geisha doll...

Mommy and Daddy's friends, Jeanne and Curtis got Ava the most adorable outfit. Daddy busted out his camera and took some great shots.

Lost Pines

We decided to take a mini vacation to celebrate Megan's 11th birthday at The Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, TX on June 6th. The resort was a perfect place for the girls to play, swim and burn some energy. And a good opportunity for mommy and daddy to get a few moments of R&R - we wish. Megan and Ava had a blast playing in the pool, tubing around the lazy river and sliding down the slides. I wonder if Megan's favorite part of the trip, was the swimming or the after dinner smores.

Weee.....


Mommy taking an 'Ava' break to shoot some hoops with Megan...

A moment of peace for Megan and Ava...

A usual scene; Mommy chasing Ava...

May...

Ava is officially walking. Of course she is trying to skip over the walking and head straight to running. She looks like Frankenstein in a rush. She has also picked up a few new signs, and made up a few of her own, which I have no clue what they mean.

Here is Ava's first official 'school' picture. This was taken in March at St. Lukes. I still wonder how they got her to stay so still.

We had a great mother's day at the Kingwood country club. Ava had fun hanging w/both her sets of grandparents

Not sure why she was pouting, but she was laying it on thick.

And her famous fish lips. Daddy thinks she looks like the predator.

Over Memorial weekend, Ava got to go swimming. She absolutely loves the water! It is especially fun when daddy throws her in the air.

Or when 'my' Megan is holding her.

Bluebonnets!

We took Ava and Megan to Brenham for a photo shoot with the bluebonnets on April 12, 2008. Da da took some great shots!