Ava's 1st Birthday Party

We held Ava's first birthday party on Saturday, November 24th.  We kept it small with just immediate family coming (since she gets slightly overwhelmed in large groups).  We served lasagna, salad and crazy bread and a cupcake pull apart.  She got so many nice things and had a blast enjoying her big day.  She did not dig into the cake as much as I thought she would, but still more than her big sister did.  

Her "theme" was turquoise and damask and once again the fabulous Sheila Richardson hooked her up with a ridiculously cute outfit!  

We had so much fun celebrating our little girls milestone birthday!  Love you, Ava!

Ava is 1!

Little Miss Ava turned 1!  I can hardly believe it!  Our little chunker monker born just before Thanksgiving is now a spunky, mobile, chatty and beautiful little girl.  She has brought so much joy to our family - I don't know how we functioned without her.  One of the biggest blessings she has brought is the joy of sisterhood.  It melts my heart to see the girls interact.  The love between them is so apparent.  Just last night Ava kept leaning her head towards Taylor's to lean on her cheek.  Both girls were giggling.  Taylor looked at me and said "I love Ava".  So heartwarming!!!  I hope they always remain so close.  They truly are best little buds and it is so neat to see them starting to play together more and more!

Onto Ava Bean's stats:

• Height = 31.75" (which happens to be the average height of a 19 month old - ha!)
• Weight = 24 lb 10.5 oz
• Still in the 99th percentile for both!  There are now only 5" and 5 lbs between the two girls - yikes!  
• She went instantly from baby food to table food and there is no going back now.  She loves anything we put in front of her and is not shy to let us know when she wants more of something.  
• Clothes - totally in 18 month everything.  Some of her 18 month shirts are becoming belly shirts very quickly.
• She is still a great sleeper - goes right to bed and we never hear another peep from her.  Most days she will also take 2 decent naps - one around 10 and one around 2.

We celebrated the unseasonably good weather on her birthday with a little trip to the Toledo Zoo.  It was the first time we had been there.  Being off season a lot of things weren't open, but it was a great time and we practically had the place to ourselves!

Happy Birthday baby girl!  We love you so much and you make our hearts so full!  xoxo

Family Pics ~ 2012

Well, it was quite a debacle to get these (locking keys in car @ the park & a screaming 1 year old for the "make-up" session), but here they are!  We still got quite a few pics of the Stephens Fam version 2012 :)

Halloween 2012

Superstorm Sandy dampened the mood of Halloween this year, but the girls didn't let it ruin their fun!  

Boo Day @ Valassis was held the Friday before Halloween.  The girls loved dressing up and trick-or-treating at Mommy's office.  

After Boo Day, we went to Mom's school for Trick-or-Trunk.  Taylor loved getting to put her costume on twice in one day.  

The actual day of Halloween was really cold.  As I mentioned, the superstorm came through a few days before Halloween and we had 40 mph winds and it was like 30 degrees.  Well, maybe not 30, but it felt like it!  The night or trick or treating was freezing!  They were calling for some rain which really worried me, but luckily it held off.  The girls lasted longer than I thought they would.  They each had multiple shirts and pairs of pants on :)  Taylor, Ava and I went down Waterlily and back, then switched places with Daddy who was handing out candy.  He took Taylor back out and they went down Sunflower and back.  Ava helped me pass out candy on the driveway.  After an hour their poor faces were cold, so we decided to call it a night.  We were practically out of candy anyways.  

Taylor asked if we could go trick or treating "this Saturday" so I think its safe to say she enjoyed herself and got into the holiday spirit!