Little Miss Independence

Despite the weather, we had a pretty busy 4th of July celebration. We started things out with a "bang" on Thursday night when we went to watch Red, White, and Boom. You can't see them very well, but the fireworks were spectacular. As you can see, my favorite part was rocking out to the music.





On the morning of the 4th we braved the rain to watch the Upper Arlington parade for the first time. It lived up to all the hype.


After a day of rain, it cleared up just in time to have a good ol' Fourth of July cookout with some of our friends.



After the cookout it was on to see more fireworks. This time we caught the Dublin show. I also had a proper introduction to sparklers!



The festivities did not end there! The next morning we headed up to Toledo for Jordan's graduation party. I spent most of the day on the swingset.


That night I caught my third round of fireworks in Aunt Beth's neighborhood. What a great weekend!

Getting Ready for Baby

In less than a month our baby will be here, and I have been busy helping Mommy get things ready. Now that I have a big girl room, me and Mommy have been working on cleaning out my old room and getting it ready for my brother or sister.

I've also been polishing up on my big sister skills. Here I am giving Baby Bear a bottle. Mom has been teaching me that babies need to be swaddled and burped.

I decided that I needed something a little more human, so Daddy was kind enough to let me practice on him. He wouldn't let me practice changing diapers with him though. Maybe in a few weeks I'll get to practice when I go to my Big Siblings class!

My New Room!

My Mimi has been hard at work turning my Daddy's office into my new, big girl bedroom! Mimi did most of the work, but my Daddy and Papa helped out too.

Here's me and Papa doing some painting in my closet.

I helped Daddy do some "pounding" for the finishing touches.

The theme of my new room is fairies.

This used to be my Mommy's dresser when she was little!

My Mimi is so talented!

Here I am reading in my new closet/cubby. I just love the fence and flowers that Mimi painted for me. It's my new favorite spot!

Here I am spending the night in my room for the first time. I am officially a big girl now!

Drew's Little Sister

I finally got to meet Drew's little sister Sophie. She is so precious!



Not too much longer before I'm a big sister too!

Happy Father's Day!

I have been very lucky to have my Daddy to myself for almost 3 years now. I love spending time with him (I tell my Mommy this quite often). I can't wait for him to get home from work every day and play silly games with me, like "stinky", give me a bath Daddy-style, or hook up his laptop so we can play computer games together. My all-time favorite Daddy activity though is bedtime. Every night my Daddy and me look at "more Ava's" before bed, and he reads to me. My new brother or sister is one lucky kid. I love you Daddy!!!

Big Sister Brunch

This past weekend I hosted a Big Sister Brunch in honor of my new baby brother or sister. Many of my favorite ladies were in attendance! Here are some pictures from this special day.




Most of my Aunties were there, along with Nan and Mimi.

My Gi-Gi was a guest of honor.

My cousin Sophie all the way from Colorado!

Our good friend Amy

Marissa and Taylor

Dreami my babysitter and good friend

Nickie, Lulu, and Maggie

And our neighbors, the Fugitts.

I really enjoyed sharing my excitement over my new baby brother or sister with all of these special people!

Crazy Cousins!

I've been spending the week in Toledo hanging out with ALL of my cousins. Here are some pictures from our adventures together.








Look at how we've grown! Cecelia, Josh, Ava, Sophie, Drew, Jack, and Michael!

Baby Cecelia's Baptism

Aunt Gina, Uncle Rodman, Sophie, and my new cousin Cecelia came to Toledo for a visit. Cecelia was baptized over the weekend.



Mommy and Uncle Nick are the proud godparents.


What a precious baby girl!

Welcome Sophia Rose Schaeffer!

My buddy Drew became a big brother last Friday!!!

His little sister Sophie was born at 8:03 AM. She weighed just over 8 pounds.

I haven't been able to meet her yet, but these are pictures from Mommy and Daddy's visit.

As you can see, Drew is very excited! I'm sure he'll be able to teach me a thing or two about having a new baby in the house. Congratulations Schaeffer family!

School's Out!

Mommy is officially out of school and ready to be back home with me and the baby. Here she is having fun with her "kids" on the last day of school.


Mommy had a really nice class this year, and they took really good care of my baby brother or sister. I'm happy to have her home though.