The Ashby's

I love Halloween! I know I am crazy but it really is one of my favorite holidays. I think I love it because it is the start to Fall and cool weather (unless you live in Arizona where it is still in the 90's) and Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. Also I love to dress up. I think it is so fun. Dave is so patient with me and allows me to make him costumes each year that are slightly crazy (you may remember Doc from last year). I think deep down he loves it. This year Ava was a monkey so I made us some awesome banana costumes. I was pretty proud of them I must say and they turned out way better than I thought they would.
It is fun having children though that love Halloween too. Ava was in heaven for our week long of festivities we were able to participate in. She loved getting candy (she gets that from me I'm sure...) and I tried to teach her to say thank you after people gave her candy but she didn't quite get that down. Her response was "MORE!" Oh she is so crazy and by the end of the week the sugar and excitement high caught up to all of us and we were ready for the festivities to be over :). We had a blast though.

Well I am finally getting around to posting on our other computer with the newer pics of Ava. I haven't wanted to because it has been so hot in our upstairs study where the computer is (since we turn our air off during the day to save $). But I am actually really cold right now (probably because I just got drenched in the rain and haven't fully dried yet) so I figured it was a perfect time to post.
So our little Ava turned 18 months on September 28th. I can't believe she's that old. It's sad how quickly they grow up but so fun watching them grow. She went to Nursery for the first time two Sundays ago and I was the only one getting teary eyed. Ava didn't even look back. She is such a social little girl and truly isn't afraid of anyone or anything. It is kind of a good thing and a bad thing especially when we are out and she goes up to some pretty interesting people to say hi and wanting to sit on their lap. She is pretty crazy and it does make me slightly nervous sometimes, but I love her little personality. She is such a fun little girl to be around and keeps me on my toes. She also helps me to be more social which is good for me. I love our sweet, little Ava.
We had her 18 month check up last week and she is now 21 pounds (8th percentile) and 31 inches (31 percentile). Still our little runt but growing. I don't know how she stays so small since she is constantly begging for food all day long and eats a ton. It must be her great metabolism because she is always on the go and doesn't stop till bed time. I just can't believe my baby isn't a baby any more...
For some reason I can't write captions under the pics that I post so I will explain them down here. The first pic is of Ava playing the piano - which she loves to do - thankfully we don't have one :).
Ava's new favorite thing is swinging on mine and Dave's legs and saying "Weee" it's pretty cute and a great leg workout!
We also had a hail storm here a few weeks ago. They were larger than golf balls and I thought our house was going to fall to the ground when it started. I had no idea what was happening :). It was pretty cool though and we're just glad nothing got damaged.
We took Ava to Peter Piper Pizza to play the games and she had a blast! It was so fun watching her get so excited. If you look close enough in our family shots you can see that I am growing quite plumply :). Sorry I don't plan on posting any pics of my growing baby belly. If you want to see it just come visit me :) Oh and for those that haven't seen my highlighted hair that I did a while back you can see it in the last shot. The end!

Every October and April is a fun time of year here. Not only is it General Conference during these times, but here in Glendale it is garage sale season. I have become slightly obsessed with it... But most of you have probably not seen anything like it. They have community garage sales here, every weekend, for the whole month. It is total chaos with people up and down the streets getting the greatest deals ever. I need to take a picture of it but it really is so fun (at least I think so). I found some great finds over the past weeks that I had to share. I got Ava a sandbox, a little table and chair, a rocking horse, small rocking chair and a toy organizer all for super cheap. You can see it in the picture with the free kitchen I got and love :). That corner used to be a mess, but now at least it is an organized mess. Also I got an awesome desk for $5. Yes it was probably worth that and did nearly fall apart bringing it up the stairs but it is awesome for organizing our study which was a disaster. Also my greatest find is that white dresser. I can't help but just love it! I have been wanting to put something there for months but couldn't find anything I liked/was in my price range until now and it was exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Nicole and Stephanie for finding it!! I love it! That small black table too was given to me by my mom. It was my grandmas and I finally got around to repainting it and love it too so I had to take a picture of it. Now our home is fully complete - the way I have wanted it to look since we moved in. Thank you garage sales!

I know we are a little late with this post... but anyone who actually follows my blog knows that I am pretty late with all my posts. But for those of you that are a little behind we found out that we were pregnant over the summer. We were so excited to find out and Ava is definitely in need of a little buddy. Dave and I were certain it was a little boy. I don't know why really but I was certain it was (not that I was necessarily hoping but just felt boy). My pregnancy has been COMPLETELY different which is awesome because it has been so much easier. Well after weeks of researching boy bedding/boy everything... We are having another little girl! We couldn't be happier. We were surprised but definitely not dissappointed. It is way better for our bank account:) So now we are transitioning from boy to girl. We already had our boy name picked out and everything. Coming up with our next girl name has been harder than I thought it would be. We have a few names we have been thinking about but right now I just don't know what her name will be... Any suggestions??? We like the names Claire, Ella, and Taylor but not sure where I stand with any of them somedays... I guess we'll surprise you all along with ourselves when it comes time to name her. We are so excited though to have another little girl and can't wait till she comes... well not too soon! Here are a few pics of Ava to tide you over too... All my more recent ones are downloaded to our other computer so I'll have to do a post from there sometime soon.

That last post was written by Dave if you couldn't tell. I think he got sick of everyone in the world telling me I needed to post. Ha Ha! So here it is the post you've all been waiting for :). It's a miracle I'm finally posting. I think I have had a pretty good excuse though. We've had a pretty eventful summer and the last thing on my mind has been the blog. Dave has been out of school the whole summer (reviewing his first year of school) and I have LOVED having him around. I am not looking forward to school starting up again in a week and a half but I know he is excited and ready to get back into it. To start off the summer though Ava started really walking which quickly turned into running and I can't even keep up anymore. She is so fun though and her little personality has just exploded the last few months (as Dave posted about previously). We headed out to Texas right after school got out in June and spent a few weeks there visiting my family and some of our wonderful friends out there that we miss so much! It was so fun being out there going to the beach, the lake and eating at delicious Mexican restaurants. Mmmmm. We love Texas! After a fun and eventful few weeks out there we drove back to AZ with my mom who so kindly watched little Ava so that Dave and I could enjoy a week in beautiful Hawaii!! We missed Ava so much but loved going on a late honeymoon together. Hawaii was amazing and couldn't have been more perfect. We basically ran from place to place just so we could fit everything in that we wanted to do. We went snorkeling, kayaking, mopeding (I was so nervous riding that thing all by myself :)), boogie boarding, and to Pearl Harbor and the PCC and so much more I can't remember. It was a blast! Thank you so much Mom for watching Ava so we could do that!! We love you! Right before we left for Hawaii we found out some good news though... We are pregnant! Due in February. We know Ava is excited because babies and puppies are probably the 2 things that bring her the most joy in life right now. She is always pointing them out where ever we go or harassing them :)! We are excited too and seem to think it is a little boy but we could be wrong so who knows. We'll let you know in a few weeks when we find out. This is probably the biggest reason I haven't posted because I have spent most days feeling pretty crummy and so exhausted that I don't want to do anything but thankfully I think I am getting past it. With Ava I was sick all 9 months!! It was pretty miserable but with this one it might actually just be the first trimester! I am keeping my fingers crossed but I have been feeling pretty good the last 11 days (yes I am counting and you would too if you spent most of the last few months throwing up :)) So things are looking good and we are now 15/16 weeks along! The rest of the summer has been spent with yard work and house work which Dave has done such a great job on. Our backyard is actually playable now which will be nice once it cools down a bit and all of our boxes are now officially unpacked and sorted through (and yes we have lived here a year!) A few weekends ago we also had an Ashby family reunion which was so fun out in Heber. It was so nice getting out of the heat and enjoying time with family. This summer has been wonderful and we are so sad it is coming to an end because I am pretty sure it is the last one we'll have like this till retirement.. But it's been so fun enyoying time with our wonderful family and friends and I guess reality has to start back up again.

This has been quite an eventful summer for the Ashby family. Ava continues to get sweeter and sweeter. We love hearing her soft sweet voice say "Puppy" "Mommy" "Ducky" "Nana" and then she can get really serious and intense and say "No!." When she says "No!" she will put both of her hands out in front of her, hold her breath as she tenses her muscles until she shakes, her face will then get bright red, and then she says "No!" followed by a smile and laugh because we all can't help but laugh. Those of you who have seen this know exactly what we mean. There has been a couple times where she has had all of us laughing so hard that our stomachs and cheeks hurt. She also loves to give kisses and hugs on demand and isn't afraid to cuddle up with a complete stranger at the doctor's office :) We love waking up to her every morning as she is standing in her crib and gives us the biggest smile. She went through a little phase where she would immediately point to her necklace after she woke up in the morning or from a nap in the afternoon. Just like her mommy when she was younger :) She is also learning things really quickly now. We have taught her how to sign a few words in ASL and we love to see her sign "more" "please" and "thank you." Sometimes when she is really hungry or wanting something mom and dad are eating she will come up and sign "please" as she rubs her belly with both hands and then "more" and she'll go back and forth between the two until mom and dad get her what she wants. Ava has also started to walk starting at the beginning of May. It was so fun to see her get her confidence up and go from pushing a little toy around with wheels to getting the courage to start walking all over the home. Ava continues to love to tickle herself or others. She will put her hands up to someone or to her self and scrunch her hands up and open them back and forth as she says "giggle, giggle, giggle." We love to hear it and she always does it while she is smiling. Ava also loves little babies and puppies. Anytime she sees a baby in a carseat she loves to go right up to it and start smiling and giggling. We are happy to see she loves them so much because she is going to be such a great big sister :) We found out she is going to get a little brother or sister in the beginning or middle part of February and we are so excited!! Danielle has been such a trooper these first 11 weeks. There has been some pretty bad days, but she is always so patient with them when they come. We are very grateful though, because by this time with Ava we had been to the hospital two times, because she wasn't able to keep any food or fluids down. We are figuring this pregnancy out day by day though and doing those things that give her the best chance of feeling well throughout the day. Overall, the pregnancy has been much better to Danielle than the first and we are so excited to have another little one in our home in February. We are pretty positive that it is a boy :) We will have him in volleyball camp by the age of 2 working on his vertical so don't worry. We'll leave a bunch of pictures here with some videos as well of our little girl.

So it is finally finals week for Dave. The last week of his first year of Med school!! Wahoo!! I can't wait until the week is over but more so I am sure Dave can't wait until it's over. 6 tests in 5 days is pretty miserable - just ask Dave. Unfortunately, however I made it even more miserable last night. Around 4pm yesterday I started to get the worst migraine- the kind where you spend a few hours hovering over the toilet wanting to throw up... which I did last night (Sorry too much info). But anyways even during finals week, the most stressful week of the year, my sweet husband came home and took care of Ava and me so I could rest and feel better. I have the most wonderful husband and I am so grateful for him!! So the question on some of your minds might be... Is she pregnant? The answer is no. However last night did make me rethink being pregnant ever again. Being nauseous is the worst feeling ever and feeling that way for 9 months is even worse! Do I ever want to be pregnant again? NO! Do I want more children? YES! So I guess I don't have much of a choice in becoming pregnant again. But after 9 miserable months it really is worth it in the end! But nothing to announce...Just that I have to most wonderful husband ever!.. Which I already knew.