Within the last few days Ava's started making this face. We laugh, she laughs, and then she does it again. Mike thinks she's imitating me so I'm starting to get a little sensitive when she makes the face and they both have a good laugh.
What a comedian!In response to Amy's comment about Ava not grabbing the cat, I've decided to upload this video. I hope no-one calls the ASPCA on me but Ava, who certainly adores the cat, doesn't exactly leave her alone. Ringle gets lots of kisses ("mmmmmmaaaah") and lots of "gentle pats" (see video). The first words out of her mouth in the morning, as well as the moment we walk in the door after work, are "kee-kee" and "meow". So view this video knowing that it's out of pure love that Ava abuses the cat.
As you can see, Ava loves to go lay her head down on the cat while she's sleeping. Ringle doesn't mind that or even several kisses and pats but this went a bit too far for her taste. In my defense, I usually intercept this kind of behaviour but...well...I wanted to capture it for posterity. Sorry Rings.
Here's some footage I shot today on Ava's 15-month birthday. Also, if you weren't able to view "Ava and the Door", I apologize. It should be working now. Here's the link.
"Whoa! Do you have any idea how heavy those are, Mama?"
Off again...
I leave you with a little peek into how Ava sleeps...
That's her "beh". Ava's been so much fun recently. She's saying lots of new words and doing all kinds of hilarious things. It's impossible to capture it on a blog. I don't know where to start. I wish I could just have a camera running 24/7. I love watching her while she explores and figures out how things work. Here she is practicing walking in and out of the office door. I should note that she did this over and over for about 30 minutes. No exaggeration.
We took Ava to the much advertised "Santa's Wonderland" in Bass Pro Shop. I must admit it was really, really fun. We had a great time and I hope to return in years to come. It really put us in the Christmas spirit. Ava had a late evening nap and we arrived on Wednesday night at 8 pm. We had the place (and Santa) to ourselves. I may have come away with an entirely different opinion had we visited the "wonderland" on the weekend when the place was likely filled with cranky kids and stressed parents. 
Mike and Nana battled at the BB gun range:
I was hoping to get a Christmas card photo but Ava was much too suspicious of Santa to cooperate.
I can't wait to take Ava back next year. There were kid-sized tables with coloring pages and crayons, trains, Christmas music, elves, and free games. The only thing missing was hot cocoa! 
On Friday morning Ava woke up with yet another cold and fever. She was puny all day long wanted only to be held. Luckily there were more than enough willing hands in the house. 
Ava recovered quickly and her fever disappeared on Friday night. Unfortunately, I've now come down with the same thing. We hit the annual Holiday Parade this afternoon. Mike and I learned that it helps to have a cute baby along when you're hoping to score lots of candy. Watch as her tray fills...
There's the big guy in the red suit!
Ava's friend Alex came over this weekend for a play date. Here's the little peanut:
Ava was a little bit horrified by the sudden appearance of an adorable baby. I had the opportunity to hold Alex and get a small taste of what having another baby would be like. It didn't go well. I was trying to coo at Alex and I could feel Ava's eyes staring at me. She was sweet to Alex, she even gave her a kiss but I think she was relieved that she went home with her own mom and dad for the evening. Soon enough though, she'll be begging us for a sleepover.
Finally, here's a photo from Sunday afternoon. The weather was actually pleasant and Ava and I were able to get out and enjoy the weather. She wouldn't give out a smile for anything!
In this adorable little sweater Mike and I thought Ava looked liked a little julenissen. Ava is a quarter Norwegian after all. With the temperature dropping she's channelling her Norwegian roots to stay warm and cozy. Here's the little gnome being just plain silly:I chopped off my hair today to donate it to Locks of Love. Here's the before photo:
Here's the after photo:
I like my new 'do today but we'll see how it holds up under my less-than stellar hair styling abilities. 
Colin Roust is the Supreme Election Prediction Guru for 2008! Based solely on the results of the Electoral College, Colin predicted Obama would win 370 votes to McCain's 168. Erin came in second place with a prediction of 353-185. The actual result (assuming MO goes for McCain and Omaha to Obama) is 365-173. Congratulations Colin!
If we look at the states won by each candidate, Erin wins that category. She predicted every state correctly except Indiana. Congrats Erin!
And finally I came in last place :(
...but hey, at least I picked the correct winner ;)
I must admit, I am a politics/map geek and I love looking at this stuff so I decided to make a fun little contest out of it. Click on the link below to the LA Times website where you can make your own election map.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-votemap,1,6739961.htmlstory
Then click on the "SHARE" button in the lower-left of the map and copy the (second) link into the comments section of this post and tell us your final electoral vote results.
After Election Day we will find out the winner. What do you get for winning you may ask?? A big congratulations from me and a post declaring you the Supreme Election Prediction Guru of 2008. What more can you ask for?? ;)
I know I posted this late but I hope you will give us your predictions!
Here is my prediction:
As promised, here are some photos from our Halloween. We waited until the last minute to carve our pumpkin. With the 70 degree weather we were able to carve it on our deck. Ava sampled the innards while Daddy carved a scary face. .jpg)
Of course, we had to torture the poor baby and put her in a costume. Here she is as a Bunny! She wasn't so sure at first but she warmed up to the idea.
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Mike's spooky Jack-O-Lantern:.jpg)
While we answered the door for the Trick-or-Treaters, Ava treated us to some hilarity. She's started making this very silly face. Check out the video for one goofy baby..jpg)
Happy Halloween, everyone! Here's a photo of Ava's first halloween a year ago. My how she's changed! 
Below is a photo from this morning; she's wearing a pumpkin hat. She can say "Pumpkin", "Kitty", and "Meow" so this outfit is pretty entertaining when she wears it! Her version of the words sound like "Puhka", "Kkk-kkk" and "Mao" but we get the idea. 
We'll be posting more photos of her in costume (if she's agreeable) later tonight or tomorrow. I hope you all have a spooktacular Halloween with many treats and no tricks!
Wow. What a night! We went to the rally at about 7:00pm and Obama wasn't supposed to take the stage until 9:30pm. The line was already wrapped around a good chunk of campus before almost encircling itself. We had walked from University Garage following the line past Memorial Union thinking the end of the line was somewhere down by Brady Commons. Wrong. The line continued around Rollins then back up College Ave and then back to University Street right were we had parked the car. Along the whole path there were a few vendors selling Obama buttons, T-Shirts, etc. It seemed like almost everyone had some sort of Obama paraphernalia on them.
After waiting an hour and a half we finally made our way into the south quad where the stage was located. Unfortunately there is a hill crest right in the middle that blocked the view of the stage and by the time we got there all of the prime real estate had been taken. So they had a giant video screen that was hoisted up in the air by a fork lift so we (and half the crowd) got to see the speech from there. So I'm sure if we were at home and watching CNN we would have had a better view, but it was really great to be in the middle of such an electrified crowd with all the cheers and waving campaign signs and knowing the candidate was only 100 yards or so away. Anyway, I'm posting pictures and videos below if you want to see them. I apologize, many of them are blurry because I was walking and the low light.
We are going to see Obama tonight. He's holding a rally here on campus. It should be very interesting! I hope to post some pics tomorrow.
So tonight before Ava went to bed she was pushing her little walker with one hand when suddenly, completely out of the blue, she let go and walked into the kitchen! I yelled at Mike to get the camera and here's what followed:
brown! For all of those voting, thanks for your contribution. A majority of you picked brown and you were right. Although mommy will argue there is some blue around the edges still...and since I'm (partially) colorblind, I will defer to her :)
Today we hit the road to enjoy one of the many festivals around the area. This weekend was the Chestnut Roast in New Franklin. We all (including my sisters) loaded up in the car and headed out:
"Chestnuts Ho!"
As soon as we arrived we all had our first taste of the roasted chestnuts. The results were mixed. I liked them. They sort of tasted like a slightly undercooked baked potato. 
In addition to the chestnuts there were pecans, almonds, walnuts, cheese, and both wine and beer from around Missouri. I was really impressed with this event. So many times all the festivals run together and the theme appears an exuse to bring in the same funnel cake truck, hot dog vendor, kettle corn stand, etc. This event, while missing my beloved kettle corn, had a very unique character! Speaking of characters...
I haven't caught it on tape yet but Ava's new favorite phrase is "Bah Dat?" or "What's That?" (or so we think). She literally starts asking that the moment I lift her out of her crib in the morning. She points all around her room. When we pick her up at day care she starts pointing to everything in the room and asking us "Bah Dat"? We're doing a ton of identification!
Oh, and she's also nailed the answer to "what does the doggy say"? "Oof-oof". It's pretty cute. I don't even notice that the neighbor dog is barking until I hear Ava say "oof".
We've just returned home after attending a wedding over the weekend. Mike was a groomsman. Here he is walking little Ava around after the ceremony.
he'd been missing her house and her toys. 
