Ava's 1st Christmas!!

Boy, has it been a busy few days!!

Christmas was an exciting time for us because we finally got to spend the holidays with our little girl that we were anticipating for a long time! But, not only did we celebrate Christmas on December 25th, we also celebrated our 2 month anniversary of our forever family! 2 months...it doesn't seem like that long of a time, but when we look back over this short time, our lives and our daughter have changed dramatically. When we first met Ava she didn't walk (we found out later she could, just chose not to), she took 2-4 bottles per day, and didn't want anything to do with me. Now...she is constantly on the go, has grown out of bottles and almost out of sippy's, and is attached to my hip. And has even sat on the potty a few times!

Happy 2 months, John and Ava! I'm so in love with our family and I thank the Lord everyday that I was blessed with the two of you in my life.

Our family has some wacky traditions around the holiday season. And this year was no different, we participated just as we have in the past.

Tradition #1: Lunch at Fricker's with my dad's side of the family on Christmas Eve

Both of my grandparents on my dad's side have passed on, so that leaves my dad, uncle Carl, and uncle Stan. The brothers, kids, and now grandkids meet at Frickers for lunch on Christmas Eve. Here are a couple of pics of Ava and her cousin Brooke. She brought Ava a new set of jammies and a little dog.

Ava decided that Brooke needed to have her hands cleaned and helped her put on the sanitizer.

Tradition #2: Christmas Eve service at St. John's in Genoa.

I don't have any pictures from church, but I can tell you that we lasted about 5 minutes into the service and then ended up in the cry room. She wasn't crying, but just couldn't keep quiet because one of her teachers from school was sitting in front of us and she kept trying to get her attention. So we decided to respect the others around us and take her out.

We also tried to get a picture of Ava in front of the tree with her Christmas dress. I will save that post for tomorrow. It's hilarious! So you will have to wait until then to see her Christmas dress.

Tradition #3: Midnight "dinner" at the truckstop on Christmas Eve

Yes, I said it. The truckstop. Years ago (I really don't know how many), my aunt Tammy had to work until midnight on Christmas Eve and she suggested that we meet at the truckstop afterwards for dinner. So, a few of us did. Now this has become a tradition for many others, as well. We started with maybe 5-6 people and now we are probably averaging about 30-35 people. Now, there is extended family and friends! It's crazy, but we all have a good time. Last year, however, we switched it up (since we are getting older) and we meet at 10pm now. It does make it easier, but we are all still super tired! Ava did great! I was so proud of her since her schedule was so messed up.

Mama and as Ava calls him, Mama (while giggling)! She does say Dada, but now it's a game with her to call him Mama.

Enjoying her time!

Tradition #4: Christmas morning AKA Santa time! Emily, my 32 yr old sister with Down syndrome also still believes in Santa, so we have always done the Santa thing. You will hear no complaining from my brother and I. Speaking of my brother, he flew in on Christmas Eve night! So excited he got to finally meet Ava! Unfortunately, he goes home tomorrow. It's never long enough when he comes home.

Did Santa come?????

I think he did! These ARE NOT all for Ava! I swear!

Just chillin...waiting for everyone to get here...

Playing with the gifts that weren't wrapped while waiting patiently for the rest of the family to get here!

Her new tricycle

And her kitchen set! Let's just say very little mattered after this!

Don't you just love her jammies? They had Clarice from Rudolph on the bum with her name! I loved them!!

Grandpa got a new jersey!!

Daddy got cigars!

Mama got earrings (that Ava wanted)

Aunt Tammy got a new shirt!

Uncle Carl got new socks!

Uncle Nate got new books!

Aunt Emily's new "Aunt Emily" sweatshirt!

And Nana got one, too!!

Please disregard my face in this picture, but I'm so excited about this video! It's for Ava, but I'm definitely more into it than she is!

Lovin' her dishes!

And her Bitty Baby!

Later in the day, we had my mom's side of the family over! So all the aunts, uncles, and cousins came over!!

Ava and Jordyn were loving the kitchen set!

Had to throw this picture in! Check out her cupcake hat!

We got all of the cousins Pillow Pets this year! They loved them! Here is Jordyn with her duck:

Livi and Morgan with the dolphin and dog:

Here is Ava with one of her gifts, a Snuggle Kins!

And a cleaning set! Can't wait to bust this out!

We gave Ava ice water for the first time...think she liked it?

This morning, we met my dad and Tina at Maumee Bay for brunch. It was super yummy and guess who loved the chocolate fountain?

Playing with Daddy!

After brunch, we came home and took much needed naps. We were pretty much lazy the rest of the afternoon. We did end up going to my moms for dinner and to play games. We had an awesome dinner and played Apples to Apples. I'm not a huge fan of games, but that was so much fun! We laughed so hard! I didn't take my camera, but I wish I would have. I'll have to steal some pics from my mom. I wish I could have caught what Ava did while we were playing. She literally unwrapped about 20 hershey kisses. She didn't eat any of them, just enjoyed playing with them. It kept her busy through 2 whole games! It was hilarious! And afterwards, she put them in a bowl and tried to pass them out to us. Her actions just crack us up all of the time!

Tomorrow, I'll post the Christmas picture saga.

From our family to yours, we hope you had an AMAZING holiday!

Love,

John, Sara, and Ava