I've been tagged...

Thanks to my sister-in-law Ashley, I have been tagged. Shoot! I always have a hard time filling out these surveys. The rules are as follows: List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random surprising facts about yourself. At the end, tag 3 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Joys:

1. Being a mom. I have to admit, being a mom isn't easy. But it is those little moments that makes all the hard work totally worth it. Who knew you could have so much fun with a 13 month little girl.
2. My super hot husband (I probably just embarrassed him...sorry honey). Getting married to Josh is the best decision I ever made. Raising Ava together has brought me the greatest joy I have ever known.
   
3. My bed! There is no where else I would rather be than cuddled up in my silky smooth sheets. I could seriously stay there all day...seriously!
   

Fears:

1. Something bad happening to someone I love. I am such a worry wort. But a quote from Quentin L. Cook has really helped me put things in perspective. He says, "Live by faith and not by fear." I'm getting a little bit better, but it doesn't help when your husband rides a train under the bay in earthquake country. Which reminds me that I need to get a 72 hour kit for Josh to take to work.
   
2. Bees. I have never been stung, maybe it's because every time I see a bee I run to the house as fast as I possibly can.
   
3. Spiders. This past week I was driving the car and a grotesque, extremely hairy spider made an appearance above my head. If Ava wasn't in the car, I probably would of lost control of the car. If a spider ever comes near my baby, I will take them down no matter how terrified I am.
   

Goals:

1. Live near family. Our family members are not making this easy since they all live in different cities. You guys could totally make the decision easier if you moved near us!
2. Buy a house. Hopefully we'll accomplish this goal sooner than later. We are accepting donations to the Josh and Korey House Fund :)
   
3. Visit Italy. Romance, Italian food, museums...what's not to love. I think it's every girls dream to visit there one day.
   

Current Obsessions:

1. Photography. Josh and I decided to do our part in helping to stimulate the economy by purchasing a super sweet DSLR camera. I can't believe how great the pictures look. This past Sat. we took 186 pictures. In my defense, my mom was out visiting, so we were touring the city.
   
2. Pioneer Woman. From photography to cooking, this site has got me hooked. I diligently check it everyday...along with 20,000 other people.
3. Reading. I hated reading all through high school. But the Twilight series has really sparked my interest. I never thought the day would come that I would rather read a book than watch tv. If you guys have read any good books, totally tell me about them!
   

Random Surprising Facts:

1. I didn't loose my last baby tooth until I was in 7th grade. And that was only because the dentist pulled the stubborn thing out! I guess my permanent teeth weren't exactly on top of my baby teeth. So they wouldn't push the suckers out.
2. I love mowing the lawn. I used to mow my parent's lawn for free. Even though they would of paid me. I know it just isn't me, I've talked to other people who also find it very relaxing. I also enjoy vacuuming.
3. I drink Fruit Punch Crystal Lite everyday. Dang! That stuff is good.
   

Tag: Kristin (my college roomie...I know way too many Kristins), Saskia, and Morgan

Bad hair day

I guess if Ava has a bad hair day the blame falls squarely on me. Unless she decides to pull out her ponytail holder and then proceed to pull a blanket on and off her head (as pictured below).


Look at those bangs! Hey Ava, it's me your mother. Can you see me?


I don't know if you all can help us with this, but Josh and I still can't decide what color Ava's eyes are. The outer most edges look grayish blue, then they get greener until they are a honey brown. What am I suppose to put on her passport when they ask for eye color?


Out of hundreds of pictures, here is one of Ava FINALLY smiling. Gotta love the summer wardrobe. Little rompers look so darling on little girls!

Ava's got soul

If there is a piano in the room, you will most likely find Ava next to it. She was the happiest little girl once she grew tall enough to reach the keys of on her own. The other day I put the keyboard on the ground so she could play it on her own...and lets be honest, I wanted a few minutes to do a few chores! Ava loves banging on the keys and pushing all the buttons. She just happened to discover a button that plays a song when you push it. Check out Ava grooving to the piano...

We've got a walker

Ava surprised us the other day when she decided to walk over to where I was sitting. It's been a few weeks since and now she is starting to climb up on furniture and anything else that she can hoist herself up on. Good thing she's small for her age because it limits her climbing possibilities!

74

How many M&M's I've eaten this past hour? How many pairs of shoes I own? How many seconds I've had of piece and quiet? Those would all be wrong! 74 is the number of points I got in the game of Scrabble after putting down the word screamer. I must admit, during the game my only goal was to put down a word with at least 4 letters. So when I happened to discover that I could lay down all my tiles, Josh and I were pretty shocked! Did you know if you lay down all your tiles you get an extra 50 points. I ended the game with the highest Bunting total to date...a 269! What's the highest score you've ever gotten at Scrabble?

Beach babes

This past week one of my friends called me up and asked if we would be up to going to the beach. It was a hard decision, I was already planning on cleaning the apartment. Who cares about the apartment! We totally decided to go to the beach!

It was a pretty nice day, but the wind made it feel cooler. Why does it always have to be windy at the beach? Here is Ava longing to go into the water. You can't tell from the picture, but her little friend that came with us is playing in the ocean...Ava's a little envious!


Ava absolutely loved the ocean. We were in a little inlet off of the ocean, so the waves were a lot calmer. So Ava had a blast walking in the waves. She kept squealing with delight and wanting to walk further and further out. The water wasn't actually that cold. Which I'm not used to coming from the Pacific Northwest, where you don't ever go into the ocean!


Here are the girls having a blast playing in the sand. Of course Ava couldn't help herself from trying to eat everything within her reach. Including sand, sticks and even using a shovel to suck up ocean water. This girl keeps me on my toes!


Ava, aka the sand baby! For those who need a quick tip of how to get sand off, use baby powder. Works like a charm and then it makes your baby smell oh so good.


Ava's new favorite trick. This child is going to need a good scrubbing once we get home!


Aren't they adorable?!!! They play so well together. We had so much fun spending the day at the beach. I would choose it over cleaning the apartment anyday! We totally need to go again...soon.

What every mother looks forward too...

Any guesses? I'll give you a clue, it only applies if you have little girls. I'd give you more clues, but I am just too excited to tell you that this past week I was finally able to put Ava's hair into pigtails!!! Since being able to style Ava's hair is a momentous milestone, I couldn't help myself from holding a mini photo shoot. Enjoy the collage!


By the way, I'm sad to announce that Ava's birthday party has officially ended. After 34 wondrous days, Ava's balloon could no longer stay afloat. If you are confused why I'm even mentioning this, check out this post.

Breaking Dawn

Only 61 more days until Breaking Dawn is released. For those of you who haven't read any of the Twilight books, you might think I'm a little obsessed. I promise, once you read them you'll totally feel the same way. I have never been one to choose reading a book over watching tv, cleaning the bathroom, pretty much I would rather do anything than read a book...you can thank required high school reading assignments for that! But I can honestly say once I started reading the Twilight books, I couldn't put them down. I read an entire 500 page book in 3 days. So lets just say I'm a little excited to read the 4th book coming out in August. Today I was able to find the 1st chapter from Breaking Dawn on the web...gotta love the internet! If you are dying to read it, then click the link. I'm dying to hear what you all think!

http://www.fanpop.com/spots/twilight-series/forum/post/13965