Ava's 8 Month Pictures

My awesome friend Kelsey took pictures of Ava on Saturday and they are fabulous! I'm already having a hard time trying to decide which ones to print out to hang. Thanks again Kelsey! Here are some things Ava has been up to lately: Standing all the time, walking along the couch, loves cheerios, makes a funny scrunchy face, follows Eli around everywhere, trys to find a way to get up the stairs, still drools a lot but no teeth yet, and has the prettiest blue eyes. Eli goes between playing with and teasing/torturing her. He is doing really well still with going #1 on the potty, but we are having problems with going #2. It is frustrating. Kaelub is getting ready to apply to PA programs next month and I'm having fun with projects/crafts. I get to help with the Relief Society activities and we have some really fun ones coming up---a self defense class, Halloween costume party, and super saturday craft day!! It's going to be a fun/busy couple of months. Oh, and my family is coming to visit this weekend!! Can't wait to see them.

Edible Playdough

On Monday Eli and I made some edible playdough. I had seen a lot of recipes for it, but none of them looked like they would actually be that great to eat. And I knew Eli would think it was fun to eat the playdough, but only if it tasted good. So when I found this recipe, I decided to try it. I didn't have a white cake mix like it called for, so I used the one with the colored sprinkles in it. It was really easy and we pulled it out of the fridge today to play with again. Here's the recipe:

1 white cake mix
1 cube softened butter
2-3 Tbl water
food coloring (optional)

Mix cake mix with softened butter. (I used a pastry cutter to do this part.) Then mix water in 1 Tbl at a time. (I only used 2 Tbl in mine.) Roll into balls and add food coloring.

Tutu Cute

I made Ava a tutu a few weeks ago for her to wear when she gets her next pictures taken. I couldn't resist putting her in it and snapping a couple pictures of her--she was so cute! I can't believe how fast she is learning to do things. She loves to stand, eats anything & everything we give her, is usually very happy, (even though she isn't too great of a sleeper), loves to follow her brother around, babbles a lot, and makes some pretty funny faces. We keep looking for her first teeth to come in, but nothing yet!

Potty Training

It has been a week now since we started potty training Eli. Kaelub took him to pick out his underwear and I made a sticker chart and picked up some prizes at the dollar store. The first 2 days were not fun! We went through 6 or 7 pair of underwear the first day and he fought me a lot the second day. I told Kaelub I felt like I was cleaning up after a puppy with all the accidents! Finally one time the second day when I forced him on the potty as he was kicking and screaming he went! And then he got really excited as we clapped our hands and cheered for him. He especially loved opening a present. He pretty much has the potty thing down at our house and he went on the potty at Walmart a few days ago. One day when we were at our friend's house, he would not go on their potty and ended up having an accident. (Sadly it was on the tile in their toy room and Eli's BF slipped and fell in it---sorry Brookie!) But yesterday we were at another friend's house and he went twice, so he's improving when it comes to going potty someplace new. We still are working on him going #2. For some reason, he still wants to go hide to do that. Any suggestions from you moms who have potty trained kids?