Time sure flies when you are having fun!  Ava had a great Easter Holiday and loved going on wagon rides with her cousins and finding sweet surprises in colorful eggs left by the Easter Bunny!  She even wore her bunny ears for a bit.
St. Louis has had perfect spring and early summer weather this year.  We have been spending lots of time outside.  Ava still loves water and we have a small wading pool on our deck that she spends hours playing in. 
Over Memorial Day weekend, we spent the day at the City Museum in St. Louis.  Ava loved venturing around though the caves and playing in the toddler section. She and Daddy had a great time playing in the balls and with the building blocks. 
Ava is talking quite a bit. She actually said, "I love you Momma" last week!  Needless to say, my heart melted.  She is very curious and wants to see and touch everything!  She is still enjoying her school and graduated from the infant room into the toddler room today.  She loved checking out all of the new toys in her new room, especially the animal figurines.

18 months!

Our baby girl is now more toddler than baby!  We can not believe how quickly she is growing up.  She has went from walking to running and is talking quite a bit.  Every morning Ava wakes up and says "Hi Phoebe" to our dog.  She also says "good girl", "Ariel", "peanut", "thank you", "bye bye", and much more.  She loves visiting the park after we pick her up from school and has a good time on the slides and swings.  Ava loves playing with other chilren and tries to do everything that the bigger kids are doing.  She is quite a fun young lady!  It is so hard to believe that she is already 18 months old!

Ava's first Gotcha Day celebration!

Last Thursday, February 2nd, was our first anniversary of meeting our daughter.  We packed up and took Ava and our dogs Phoebe and Ariel to stay at a cabin in Branson, MO for the weekend.  We had a great time hiking, shopping, swimming and relaxing together.  Ava loved the indoor waterpark that we visited and really enjoyed going down the slides and playing in the waterfalls with Dad.  By the end of the night she was going down the slides all by herself!  Time together as a family is so precious and we so thankful to have Ava in our lives!

Ava's walking!

Ava surprised us all last Saturday night and stood up in the middle of the room and did a wobbly walk across the room.  For a few weeks she has been taking a few steps between Mom and Dad and she has been cruising around the furniture for months, but this is the first time she walked on her own.  She was so proud of herself!  Our baby is growing up!

Christmas 2011!

This was such a special Christmas for us!  Last year we knew we had a little baby waiting for us in Colombia, but this year, we actually got to celebrate our first Christmas together as a family!  Ava was a very good girl this year and Santa brought her lots of fun toys!  She really loves her new kitchen and blow up ball pit/future swimming pool (this summer)!  We were able to spend time with Grandpa McDonald, Uncle Pat, Aunt Kristin, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Amy, Shane, and Makenzie.  The kids had a great time playing together. 
Ava is growing up so fast.  She is practicing walking (although she still prefers to crawl-really fast!) and is working on her words.  She says Momma, Dadda, kitty, uh oh, Phoebe and many other words that we can't quite understand.  She is quite a vocal little lady! 
We are so thankful to have such a beautiful little girl and be able to spend time with our families.  We are truly blessed!

Walt Disney World!

On Dec. 14th, 2011 we left cold and grey St. Louis, Missouri and headed for sunny and warm Orlando, Florida.  We met Grandma and Grandpa Hornung and Uncle Joe, Aunt Connie, Lauren, and Alex at Walt Disney World.  Everyone had a fantastic week! Ava was a little nervous about the characters on the first day, but soon warmed up.  On the third day, she even gave Mickey a little kiss!  The kids (and adults) loved Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot.  Our hotel was right next to Magic Kingdom, so we spent most of our time there and really enjoyed all of the Christmas decorations, characters, and fireworks.  We really had a great time being with our family and look forward to going back some time soon!

Getting ready for Christmas!

Our little Ava is 15 months!  We can't believe how big she is getting.  She is one active little girl!!  She crawls at lightening fast speed and loves playing toys, dancing, and eating fruit.  She is not walking completely on her own, but walks well with one hand from Mom or Dad.  She loves to watch "the fresh beat band" and dance to her favorite songs.  Ava is still enjoying her school and has lots of new friends.  She is quite the "book worm" and loves to read books on Mom and Dad's lap.
We are looking forward to a family trip to Disney World next week.  We are meeting her Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Connie, Uncle Joe, and her cousins Lauren and Alex in Florida. We will be spending a week in Florida and then get back to St. Louis just in time to celebrate Christmas with the Alderman Family and the McDonald family.  It is such a fun time of year and we are really excited to celebrate Ava's first Christmas with us.