I seriously repeated the title of this blog out loud, several times. I do this every month, and each month that Ava gets older, feels like it came quicker than the last. So many other parents have expressed to Justin and I how quickly this goes. They express how these times, right now, are the best times of our lives with our little girl. This past month Ava has been advancing like crazy. She can stand (for a few seconds) by herself without holding onto anything, she can wave (a backwards wave), and she can feed herself finger foods. Her favorite word is "Da Da" and she loves when her daddy sings "The lion sleeps tonight" from the Lion King. Ava understands the word no, and playing tea party with daddy seems to be her favorite past time. It's been a couple months now that we find that Bug can entertain herself really well. She received a lot of toys for Christmas, and she plays with all of them. As always, I have compiled a list of items that we now use with our baby girl.

The inflatable safety duck from munchkin has become a regular thing in our household. I'm not quite ready for Ava to be in the bathtub with zero support, so this is definitely a fun way to ensure her safety. There is an indicator for when the water temperature is too hot, and I love how easy the assembly was. The age on this safety duck is six months to twenty four months, I'm hoping that once Ava reaches a year, we can put this away for the next Howl baby.

We have also introduced finger foods to Miss Ava. I was a little uneasy about opting not to make Ava's snack foods, but after seeing how much she loves these finger foods, I feel great about it. The puffs and other finger foods come in so many different flavors and styles. It's been fun watching Ava throw, smash, and eat her little snacks. Speaking of snacks, because the containers they come in are so huge and so not diaper bag friendly, I started using the planet wise snack bags. I purchased a gray chevron one while we were still in Georgia, and I absolutely love it. Super easy for Ava to take her own snack out and feed them to herself.

These bags are super easy to wash, and definitely baby friendly. I've watched Ava put her snack bags in her mouth, and I have zero worries that something is going to snag her gums, or irritate her. I like the fact that there isn't any plastic and that you can wash these when need be.
We are all about reusable in this family, so these definitely work great.

The last (and most recent) thing we have introduced to our sweet love bug is unflavored pedialyte. Ava got her first stomach bug late last night, and we actually took her into the emergency room. One of our main concerns off the bat was possible dehydration. Although dehydration actually wasn't the case for her, bug still wasn't able to hold down breast milk. As a safety precaution we gave Ava some clear liquids in hopes that she'd be able to keep it down. Thankfully, she was and she is doing much better now. I was completely against using products like this with our girl, but when push comes to shove, I'd do anything to make sure she's well taken care of.

Aside from the stomach bug, Ava has been thriving so very much. She remains healthy, happy, and so very comical. Justin taught her how to do this cute little laugh that I plan on sharing with all of my readers. I've taken about a million videos of those two mimicking each other, I just need to upload it. Speaking of upload, I am doing a "what's in my diaper bag" for a nine month old cloth diapered baby, per the request of a few other mama's on facebook. It's long overdue, so look out for that post this week!

Alright all, I'm off! Enjoy your Monday and if you are a Washingtonian, stay dry!

♥- Leilani

New car, 9 months, & the Changes

I don't quite know how I have the energy to write this right now, but here goes nothing. Today was such hectic day. I thought Thursday had plans of total relaxation for me and my sweet lover bug, but the universe had other plans for us. Justin got off work extremely early, due to the high volume of soldiers in processing at his installation. Apparently all the NCO's that were in processing got pushed back a couple days. This allowed for them to get the Joe's all squared away first. Justin had no complaints about that, and I don't either. It's kind of nice knowing that his impending field time is being delayed a bit. Any who, so with my husband getting off so early, we decided it was time to go car shopping.

I had researched a few car dealerships that I liked, and we came across this 2001 Hyundai Elantra that I Thought would be perfect for Justin to commute to work. Turns out I was right, because after test driving it and inspecting the car, Justin was sold. I am pretty proud of my negotiating skills. I was able to talk the car down to a very decent price. That price included the minor repairs that needed to be done to the car, and tax, title, and registration. Definitely money well spent on our part. I don't think there are too many things we hate more than car payments, so I'm glad this car is paid in full and set to go. The carfax we viewed couldn't have been any better. This vehicle only had one owner, and nine services. No accidents, or anything like that either. The entire car purchase process took about three hours, and we went to a dealership about an hour away from home. The car sales men who sold us the vehicle mentioned that Washington state has over sixty six percent of  car sales in that area. Clearly they are doing something right in Everett and Lynnwood!

Today was also the day I switched all of Ava bug's clothes over to nine months. It was actually kind of emotional for me. I have a true to size baby who will be nine months old on Monday, and I just don't know where the time is running off to. I'm having frequent flashbacks of my little newborn in her newborn clothes. It feels fresh, as if it were yesterday. We also scheduled some Valentine day pictures for bug and her daddy. Apparently Ava is only allowed to have one Valentine! I can't wait to see how their photos turn out. Bug is wearing a red tutu, with a be mine onesie. This is the first time she'll have had a studio session before, so I'm hoping all goes well.

Last night I also decided to try my first batch of organic prefolds and a certified organic workhorse diaper. I'm very excited about using my favorite type of cloth with Ava. Since we will be at home a lot of the time, I can utilize my covers again! I can't wait. I love Karen from Green Mountain Diapers. a family that built a company due to their love of cloth. Cloth diapering isn't some cool trend or fad for our family. It's not solely about savings, or trying to appear more natural or green. We cloth because we truly believe it's a better diapering system for Ava, and we love that it's helping our world stay a bit more green. I am constantly reminded of that when I purchase or receive cloth essentials from small companies.

Whoo! This was longer than I expected. I'm off all! Tomorrow is love day with my sweet man, and I've got a lot to do between now and then! If you know a Veteran, make sure to give em a smooch for Valentine's day!

  ♥- Leilani