Thanksgiving!

I figure I better blog about Thanksgiving this year before Christmas rolls around...better late than never, right?!

This Thanksgiving, Dee was sent to India for work. We had planned to stay here as a family this year for Thanksgiving, but when Dee was set to be gone for 9 days AND over a holiday, my parents generously offered to fly me and Ava out to AZ so we could be with them (thanks again Grandmommy & Grandpa!).

Thank goodness for technology - we were able to FaceTime with Dada every single day!

Keeping a toddler occupied on flights involves lots of stickers and mommy's arm!

We had to rush to make our connection, just to be told they changed planes and 1/3 of the people weren't making it on the flight...while they figured out who those not-so-lucky people were, we played at the airport's indoor playground!

This little girl was SO happy to see her Grandmommy!

And she pretty much lived in Grandmommy's bathtub - we took about 2 baths a day!

She also loved playing in Grandmommy's pantry!

All dressed in pink! She reeeeeally wanted to go swimming - I think this will be her favorite spot come summer!

Silly faces!

Ugh, being a toddler is such hard work!

Hey, mom - what's this cool plant - can I touch it?!

We ate at one of mommy's favorite restaurants, Zona 78, and Ava loved getting to play with pizza dough!

Ava loves her Auntie Janella and Uncle Kevy

 Reading her "Pinkalicious" book to bunny

 
Being a silly goofball with a Tupperware bowl on her head!

This girl was all about Grandpa - she wanted to follow him everywhere and do everything with him!

Ava loved getting to see Auntie Nan!

Playing with homemade playdough with Auntie Ella

One of many trips to our favorite store, Costco, with Grandmommy & Auntie Ella

I leave Grandpa alone with Ava at Costco for ten seconds and find this!

We went to the Tucson zoo while we were there - it is AWESOME! So much better than our zoo here in CA...we're definitely going to have to go every time we're in Tucson!

All ready to feed the giraffes!

Auntie Ella held Ava while she fed the Giraffes, but mommy failed to get a good pic!

Ava loved seeing the elephants and baby elephant (so cute!) with Uncle Kev!

Baby Elephant! So super cute!

We went out to a nice dinner with Janella's parents at one of our favorite places, the Hub; but first, we had some fun in the parking garage...

What better way to walk to a restaurant?!

I decided to start training for my first 5K in October, and the race was Thanksgiving morning. I loathe running, but I wanted to prove to myself I could do this - my goal was to run without stopping. And, I did it!! I'm so happy my beautiful sis, Janella, did it with me!

Thanksgiving was at the Alfaro's (Janella's parents'). Ava wore the adorable flannel dress Auntie DD made for her -

So sweet! Holding Grandpa and Armando's (Janella's dad) hand!

Loves her Grandpa!

And her Grandmommy!

She wanted to hold their hands the whole night!

Ava was the center of attention, showing everyone "what sound" each animal makes (including Grandpa!)...

I failed to get pics of the incredible food and beautiful table! Janella's mom, Jill, went above and beyond creating a stunning and delicious Thanksgiving for us all!
Ava loved helping everyone play this game...I forget what's it's called, where you toss a sack across the room and try to get it through the hole on the board...

Ava took her first "Janellfi" with mama, Uncle Kev, and Uncle Johnny - a selfie with Janella's portrait haha

I also failed to get any pics of Ava with Jill's litte dog, Gracie. Ava had a blast taking pieces of Gracie's food over to her and putting it on the ground, then pointing to the food when she made eye contact with Gracie while she made the baby sign language sign for food. Then Gracie would eat it, and Ava would do it all over again. For a good hour, this entertained her, which of course entertained all of us - it was too cute!!

The day after Thanksgiving, we headed home. This girl did SO amazing on the flights, which I was very thankful for, as it's super stressful flying alone with a toddler!

First thing she did when we got home? Hug her puppy!

Two days later dada came home from India, and all she wanted to do was play in the suitcase, with dada helping buckle her in :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Dream Come True

Stephanie Mains Photography is finally open for (official) business!

I've dreamed of being a photographer ever since I was 14 years old and received my first DSLR camera for my birthday. Scared I wouldn't be able to support myself finally, I went the business route in college instead. I definitely don't regret that, as all my experience in the business world has given me a wealth of knowledge that will serve me well in many endeavors. But, my heart was never in it. 

Having recently quit my job to be a full-time mommy, I knew now was the right time to launch my business. It gives me the creative outlet I crave, and it makes me so happy to see others happy with the photos I take of their loved ones! I'm so excited to see where God takes me on this journey - I have no expectations other than to just relish in each session I get to photograph. It truly makes my heart SO full! 

If you're on Facebook, you can find and follow Stephanie Mains Photography there to see my work. If you're not on Facebook, you can visit my website www.stephaniemainsphotography.com

I'm excited to see what this next year will bring for my photography passion!

Gymnastics!

We have just two sessions left of Ava's first 7-week long gymnastics class. She LOVES gymnastics - I mean, more than anyone could love any thing. As soon as we get inside the building she will squeal and point to the trampoline and whine to go out and start practicing her moves. It melts my heart!

The class is for 18mos-2.5 year olds, but thankfully I got approval for Ava to start at 17 months since she turned 18 months in the middle of the course. She does really well with the other kids and learns a lot from the more experienced ones.

I love that the class is not only fun for her, but it works on her physical abilities, her mental abilities, and also her interaction with others (taking turns, waiting turns, celebrating others' accomplishments, etc.). It's been so cool as her mother to watch her go from having not a clue to do with any of the circuits, to, after just a few sessions, being able to walk the balance beam, climb the ladder, jump on the trampoline, and do forward and backward rolls!

Here are some pics we captured in a few of the classes...

Learning how to hop in a circle (this turns into a cartwheel once they move onto the next class).

This is from her very first class - she did not understand how to climb the ladder...at all!

And, we wanted to sit on the balance beam in our first class instead of walk across it ;-)

All smiles waiting for class to begin - these following pics are from her 4th class...

She can finally jump on the trampoline!

She LOVES doing forward and backward rolls...the backwards are probably her favorite (seen here)...

Toes up on the bar (cutest toes ever!)

Jumping again...she pretty much rushes through all the circuits to get to the jumping again...

Her third favorite circuit...the monkey bar!

We not only can climb the ladder now, we can do it without mom's help! Where did my baby go so quickly?!

Getting ready to do a handstand!

Listening and watching the teacher walk us through the next set of circuits...

Climbing through the tunnel...

At the end of every class, the kids either get to play in the foam pit or with the giant parachute - here they are playing with giant parachute - the kids LOVE running under as we lift it up and then bring in down on them and they also love "popping the bubbles," meaning running on top when we put it on the ground. It's so cute seeing all these littles go crazy with excitement over it!

Needless to say, mama and dada are doing everything we can to fit gymnastics in our budget from here on out! I think Ava would be devastated if a Monday came around and we didn't go to class! ;-)