Yesterday was so fun. It was such a nice day so we took Avalon to the Folsom Zoo. One of the tigers were up and was so close. Avalon LOVED it. She kept growling like a tiger. She knows what they say because theirs a picture of baby tigers above her changing table. We also saw some deer. They are definetly domesticated there at the zoo. The came right up to the fence and we were able to pet them. They were so cute. Then we went to babies r us. Avalon has this book called "Big Girls Use the Potty." Out of the million books that she has she makes us read that one over and over and over again and will sit through the whole book. Well we thought who knows when Avalon will be ready to potty train let's just buy one now and she what she thinks of it and then if she doesn't want to sit on it then we'll at least have it for later. Well, later that evening we got home and I put it together. I sat her on it and gave her her book about Big Girls Use the Potty and after I read the first two pages of it SHE DID IT!!! Of course we were excited even though we know she has no idea what she just did. We got a potty that when she does her business it starts signing and of course she loves that and then it has a pretend flusher that makes a sound and a place to hang toilet paper on it. She is hilarious. She absolutely LOVES toilet paper. I showed her how I use it and she caught on quick. It's pretty cute. Well, this morning I woke up before she did and when I saw her wake up I decided to try it again. And well, SHE DID IT AGAIN!! And then later after playing for a little while I had to go so I brought her in and told her mommy had to and I had her sit on hers and SHE DID IT AGAIN!!! We'll see how it goes. Hopefully she'll keep up the good work. We are so proud of her!!!

It's been awhile since the last time I blogged. Well, we've had a lot go on the last few months with the lose of Avalon's Great Grandpa, my step dad having surgery to remove cancer that they had found in his neck, to Avalon's birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. It's been busy. Avalon had her first birthday on November 12, 2009. She had a blast. She had her closest friends and family there and was spoiled. She has so much fun with all of the toys she got. She is so attached to baby dolls and books. All she ever wants me to do is pick her up and read her a story. She'll go to her book self and pick the one she wants. And of course I can't just read it once. I have to read it over and over again. She's gets mad when the story is over. Then we had Thanksgiving with great grandma green and the family. That's always fun. Avalon loved chasing around the little weiner dogs they had. Especially because she just started walking that week. We also went to the Santa Parade with Sean and Lindsay. NEVER go anywhere without Avalon taking her nap. OMG!!! Lunch time was awful. All she did was scream. This child is a whole other person if she doesn't get her nap. But we still lover her (just won't go anywhere unless she takes her nap which she'll only do if she's in her crib). Then Avalon had her Christmas show at Tricks Gymnastics and of course from the picture you can tell how she felt about Frost The Snowman and of course that's the same face she made when we took her to see Santa at the mall. It's a priceless photo. Then we had Christmas. It was so fun. She opend TONS of presents and so much fun with all of them and of course took off with my beef jerkey that I got in my stocking. This kids loves to eat (but a picky eater like her mama). Avalon is now starting to talk so much more. It's so funny when you get her out of her crib in the morning and the first thing she asks for is a bath (which is funny because we always give her a bath at night, not in the mornings) She's asks for them all day long. She LOVES shoes and can say some of her colors like yellow, blue, purple, and red (red is only sometimes). And now just waiting to see what the new year brings for us. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a Happy New Year!!!

So this month has been an emotional rollercoaster. Between John's grandpa dying, finding out my aunt may have a tumor, and another close family member finding out that he has thyroid cancer, and Avalon's birthday it's been a little crazy. Well, Avalon's birthday was so much fun. She is one spoiled little girl! She had her friends over to celebrate and help her play with her new toys. It's crazy how a first year flies by. Thank you everyone who was there you made it very special!!!

R.I.P Grandpa Green (Avalon's Great Grandpa)
We miss and love you very much!!!

Busy October!!!

We had a busy October. First we had Avalon's Great Grandpa's birthday. He just turned
87 and has been battling cancer for the last year. We had so much fun. She would find his walker and push it around the house. She LOVES her great grandpa. She always waves and him and crawlers over to him and wants to sit with him. It was a fun birthday. We also went to Apple Hill with Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Sean. It's our annual trip. Going and getting our pumpkins to carve, eating apple donuts, walking around, and then leaving with a pie. We also took her to Bishop's pumpkin Farm. That place was huge. We had so much fun. Their pumpkins have to be on steroids because they are HUGE! They have a petting zoo. A haw ride out to cut off your own pumpkin, a big hill with slides, a corn maze, a sun flower maze, and a train. Avalon enjoyed the train ride and looking at all of the animals. We also had a playdate with her friend London. It was so fun watching how they interact together. Avalon just wanted Jody to help her push the shopping cart around their house. Avalon has also become very fond of our cat Abby. Anytime she sees her she chases her around the house. Abby will come in the living room while Avalon is playing and watch her and Avalon will come over and roll on top of her. It's quite hilarious. We had dress up week at Tricks. All the little ones in their costumes was ADORABLE!!! But my FAVORITE part of the month was when we carved our pumpkins. Avalon hates anything dirty on her hands so we tried to have her play with the pumpkin guts. She didn't want anything to do with touching it, but she watched me scoop out the pumpkin guts and place them on the table then she wanted to do it. So she grabbed the scooper and then would place it in the pumpkin and take it back out and over the pile just like mommy. And then Trick or Treating. We went over to Barbara Jo's house and went Trick or Treating with her. Avalon signed please at every door. Then she caught on and before we would even tell her she would see the candy in their hand and sign more please. She LOVED Halloween. Then yesterday we went to the Train Mueseum and she learned all about the trains and ate dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. She loved the music and watching the waiters and waitresses dancing. She would start clapping and dancing in her high chair. We ripped apart a grilled chicken , but she decided it was so good that she would try and fit the whole thing in her mouth.

Avalon in her new class.
Jumping with her teacher Barbara Jo and her friend Iris.
This is Avalon's first love. Avalon always has to touch Madden and Madden is always not so happy with it.
Parachute time.
"Let go of my fur!!!"

Avalon is growing so fast. She has learned to do her apart togethers. She is now in the crawlers class. She can pull herself up to stand. She talking all of the time. She can say ,"dada, baby, doggy, kitty, hi." But of course no mama yet. We bought her a tunnel at home to crawl through and she LOVES it and so does another member of the family. Well, the cat wouldn't move so Avalon decided the right thing to do would be to pull the fur out of the cat to make her move. The cat (Abby) didn't like that idea as you can tell in the picture.
I have been jogging with Avalon every morning. I jogged 2 miles this morning the whole way without walking. Hooray for me!!! One more mile and I'll be ready to register for a 5K.

Avalon LOVES to read her book. She gets so mad when she turns the last page and the book closes. Then moves on, turns it back over, and reads it again. Her FAVORITE color is BLUE. Everytime she gets to that page she gets excited and puts her head on it. Her stackable rings she always takes all of them off to get to the blue one that's on the bottom. The next color she likes is GREEN (which is good because it is her last name. )
Here's the munchkin standing. She's getting so big.
And then it's her daily yoga. She loves downward dog.

Avalon's growing up so fast. The first video is of her trying to read and the other one is of her doing the song The Wheels on the Bus.

Sometimes Avalon does the silliest things.

Last weekend John and Sean rode their bikes in "Ride For A Reason." They did really well. They rode 19 miles and during those 19 miles they stop at different check points and played games to collect tickets for the giant raffle. Lindsay and her mom volunteered during the raffle and Avalon and I sat and watched. It was fun. I am so proud of the boys. It was for a great cause; Parkinson's Disease and Cancer Survivors. One guy came up and talked about his story a little bit with Parkinson's disease and it was so touching I got tears in my eyes. It's amazing how many people were there. Some people raised so much money. It was great to see everyone helping.