10 Months Together!

Wow, we have been together almost a whole year!!!



I went to the prom with my mommy--it was super fun!


Everyone kept taking my picture!


I loved sitting on the floor watching the kids dance! I also would sit by the appetizer table until one of the big kids gave me a mini hot dog--it worked every time!


They were all so nice to me!


Finally, I get to play in the backyard. I keep picking up the seeds off the grass and putting them back in the feeder!


I love sticks, I collect lots of them in my yard


Just taking a stroll...
I pick the dandelions for my mommy and give her tons each day!



Bath time fun!


After my bath I walk around when mommy sings "naked nudey", I really don't like getting dressed!




Me and my buddy Ben!

Ben has already been to Disney world, I can't wait until I can go too! Grandpa has wanted to take me since I got home, mommy says I'm too young.


This is the mess we made, mommy said people would laugh really hard since nothing was out of place before I came along!


I love making up my own outfits...this one consisted of rubber gloves, winter boots and hat and later on I added a fish net to my get up!


I was waiting for my mommy to finish getting ready but I just gave up and fell asleep! She sure can take a long time with that whole make up thing!


I wanted my mommies earrings on but she made me take them off before daycare! I was so sad...





I refused to wear shoes this day! I went to Aunt Sandy's and would not put on shoes, only my Dora slippers!

I know its been a little while! I have been getting some slack about not putting up new pictures so here they are. So this week is monumental for me. I have been waiting to say I have had Ava for more of her life than I haven't and now I can say it! I got Ava a few days short of her 10 month birthday and 10 months ago today my dad and I left for Guatemala! It's amazing to me how fast it has all gone.

We finally had some spring weather and were able to get outside. Ava loves it and now screams when she cannot go out. We fenced in the yard with the fencing used for gardens to keep her in. It works--despite the fact that it says it can be used for chickens!

I am the teacher who organizes the prom so Ava went to her first one at 19 months! She had fun and danced with all the teenagers. She was a much better date than my own prom date 18 years ago! I have to load more pictures from it, at one point she was walking around with sunglasses on and leis that the DJ gave her. Last year at the prom I kept dreaming of when we would get out of PGN and this year there she was. A lot of the students were in my class last year and endured all the picture updates month to month so it is neat to see her interacting with them for real!

Ava is chatting some more these days--"no no" being her favorite! She says mommy a lot too. Her favorite word is bubble and she says it so cute. She will do the hand gestures for "I love you". She is attempting to get away with temper tantrums and slapping but she is not winning. Now when she hits she immediately realizes she made a mistake and will instantly give a hug instead. One day at daycare the provider told me that Ava hit her and then tried to pretend to be sleeping to get away with it! She does this fake snoring thing which is hysterical. She continues to have battles with one other child at daycare and I'm beginning to get really frustrated. As soon as I get out of the car this kid will come up and do something mean to Ava and I'm losing my patience! Over and over I remind myself that this other child is 2!

It is great watching Ava's little personality come out. These couple of months have been my favorite so far, she is her own little person for sure. She understands a lot more and communicates a lot of things. We are dog sitting and the other night I hear her going "woof woof me" over and over. So I go into the kitchen and she is on the floor eating the dogs dry food! Oh, mine is a big word too! Everything she touches she prefaces with "mine".

All is great here! Looking forward to summer vacation--6 weeks left! Woo-hoo!!!!

Lauryn's Baptism and other random pictures...

The Bruno Family--Lauryn's Christening DayAva, all dressed up and ready to go party!



But not before she played with her cars and garage...

Ava loves getting dressed up, she spins around in her dress and points to her pretty shoes showing anyone who will look!


At one point during Lauryn's party, she just decided to plop down on the dance floor...

She loved all the balloon animals but eventually wanted a sword like the boys so she could get in on their jousting!

Ava's first magic show...she would laugh when all the other kids laughed. It was so cute!

A girl can never have too many beads!

First cotton candy--surprisingly she didn't like it! Momma is glad...


Just chillin....
Knocked out cold...too much partying!


Lauryn was out too on her daddy...

I love seeing the girls together...get a load of Ava's face! She was probably jealous of Lauryn's beautiful dress!


Me and Ava & Lynda and Lauryn

Balloon tug of wars...very fun

Out and about....Ava is a girl who enjoys going out on the town!


Especially since she became a girl who can walk! Look how old she looks, a lot of it is her hair!
Tub time...


Ava loves to blow bubbles in the tub....I try to keep her comfortable with putting her face in the water to prepare her for swimming lessons coming soon...This is a picture for Aunt Jenn who always likes to see how long missy's hair is getting!



"mommy, I have no clothes on, put the camera away!"
Hello--We went to Lauryn's Christening party on Sunday. It was a great time! She came home from Guatemala in February (www.lauryngracebruno.blogspot.com). Our families have known each other for years so it's great to see all of these kids together--all of us thankful for the gift of adoption! Lauryn's big brother is from Russia. What a party they threw--cotton candy and popcorn machines, a magician, balloon animals....great music and food. As soon as we walked in Ava heard the dj and was dancing. She is too funny. At one point she got knocked down on the dance floor and she didn't cry--she looked around and busted open her bag of popcorn and just sat there and ate. It was very funny. She loved being with so many little kids.

We have been super busy. I keep thinking our lives are slowing down but that's not true. Our next free weekend is sometime in June! We're going into Manhattan this weekend to speak again for the adoption agency I used. We've done it a lot! Also, they have a huge reunion in Ohio Memorial Day Weekend so we will be traveling there. Last year there were over 5000 people! Any other EAC people who read this, are any of you going? I made a decision to go to this instead of Guatoberfest this Fall.

Ava continues to have a personality conflict with one child in daycare--averaging two time outs/day! Ugh...it's only with this one kid. It is becoming very frustrating to me. I'm on vacation next week so she will be there a little less and in two months it is summer vacation--yippeee!!!! I cannot wait to be able to be home with Ava full time. She loves the backyard and it's wonderful watching her explore everything. It's finally feeling like we might get Spring here!

Ava is now 19 months old, home for over 9 months....we're almost even! Soon I will have had her longer than I have not had her. For some reason that is huge for me! Time to start another adoption! Eventually I will--I keep watching Guatemala to see where it is headed, also looking into other countries. Ava will need a sibling--

Hope this finds you all well!