Month: May 2012

It’s hard to believe that our little girl is already six months old! These past few months have flown by very quickly and Ava is growing so fast. She’s close to crawling, and can actually scoot backwards already. She’s happy all the time, sleeps great at night, and loves to play on her activity mat. She’s been eating real food for a few weeks now and seems to be getting better at the concept of eating from a spoon. It’s still adorably messy but she’s getting there. She has had a great week with Mom and Grandma and even went to another photo shoot yesterday. Apparently she didn’t feel like smiling for the camera but was more than happy to oblige today for her "official" six months picture. Tomorrow morning Amy is flying to Indiana to meet up with Tom and go to the Indy 500. Jessica has to work brunch this weekend and I’ve got a bunch of homework to do so it won’t be the most exciting holiday weekend ever but I’ll take it. Next weekend we’ll be in Vegas so I’m looking forward to that as well. I’m sure before we know it we’ll be celebrating Ava’s first birthday.

Today Grandma Amy flew in to spend the week with us. This is her first time seeing our new house and her first visit with Ava since Colorado, so it should be a good week. It’s hard to believe that Ava will be six months old this Friday! It seems like just yesterday that she was born. Amy will be with us until Saturday, when she and Tom do their annual trip to the Indy 500. I’m hoping we’ll get the chance to go with them sometime in the next few years. Now that I have a normal work schedule I can do normal things like celebrate Memorial Day, although not this year since Jessica will be working and I’ll be buried in homework. We don’t have any plans for the holiday weekend but we will be in Vegas the following weekend so that should be fun. Back–to–back 3 day weekends sounds especially amazing right now, mostly due to the wrapping up of a project for Mattel that has been an absolute nightmare. I’ve been on it for nearly 3 months and can’t wait to get started on something new. I may never buy Ava a Barbie doll because of this project 😉 I found out today that my next project will be just about as difficult as Mattel, only with about half the time to complete it. I’m sure we’ll make it through somehow. Here’s some new pictures of our beautiful baby girl.

I’m very fortunate to have quite a few amazing women in my life who also happen to be mothers, and today is their day. This Mother’s Day is extra special for us because it’s Jessica’s first. I’m thinking a lot about my Mom today. She had surgery yesterday and is beginning her recovery, which I hope is quick. Jessica’s Mom we be coming to visit us soon and get to see our new house for the first time. She won’t believe how much Ava has grown since Colorado! Shortly after Amy’s visit we’re heading to Vegas to stay with my Mom and vacation with Joel and Melanie for a weekend.

Unfortunately Jessica is working brunch this morning (one of the busiest days of the year) so I’m home with Ava. We’re getting ready to go to the grocery store and pick out a nice meal to make for Jessica when she gets home. Yesterday we had a great full day off together and went to the beach with Evan and Natasha. We drove up to Del Mar and took the first parking spot we found. Unfortunately that meant walking about a half mile with all of our beach gear and Ava in her carseat. Needless to say there was a small parking lot right next to the beach entrance with several available spots. We spent the next few hours playing frisbee, boogie boarding, and just hanging out. The weather was nice and the water was surprisingly warm. We got to setup our beach tent from Joel and Melanie for the first time and Ava seemed to love it. She was in there almost the entire time and never made a fuss. I definitely got too much sun and looked like a lobster last night. After the beach we picked up Mexican food and went back to our place to watch "3:10 to Yuma." Love that movie.

I want to send all our love from the three of us to: Sherri, Amy, Dana, Lora, Brenda, Kristy, Lauren, Heather, Sydney, Aunt Norma, of course my Mom, and all the other Mom’s we know and love. Wishing you all a very happy Mother’s Day! Enjoy the latest photos of Ava.

Ava’s first Mother’s Day

Ava’s ready for her first day at the beach!

Last night Jessica and I, along with my friend Jaime from work, went to see Adam Carolla and Dennis Prager at Spreckles Theater in downtown San Diego. I’ve been a big fan of Adam for a long time and listen to his podcast everyday at my desk. It was a really interesting show that was equal parts family, religion, politics and comedy. Each one of us enjoyed it very much. Our friends Evan and Natasha babysat Ava again and had a good night with her. Before we went out I made gnochhi with salmon, asparagus and broccoli for everyone. We lucked out and found free street parking downtown, even though it was Cinco de Mayo. We stopped by a cool little restaurant/bar and had a drink before the show. The show itself was really interesting and entertaining and we all walked away somewhat enlightened and laughing. Afterwards we went up to Hillcrest for drinks and appetizers at my old bar, The Tractor Room. I hadn’t seen my old co–workers in several months so it was great to get caught up with everyone.

Unfortunately Jessica threw out her back yesterday morning while trying to spit out a piece of breakfast that she was choking on. At first it was kinda funny but once I realized that she was really choking I got pretty worried. We had plans to work out and take the dogs for a walk yesterday afternoon but that all went out the window once she hurt her back. Regardless we had a really fun night and spent the whole day today relaxing around the house.

Our beautiful baby girl is all smiles these days and is growing so fast. She’s sleeping more than normal, probably because of all this rapid growth. When she’s awake she is as happy as can be. She’s also getting really good at entertaining herself. Today she laid on her activity mat for a couple hours, wide awake, and never made a peep. She was happy playing with her toys and staring at her bib. Jessica continues to take daily photos of her. Here are some recent good ones.