Ava turned one year old on Friday, September 4th. It was such a sweet day. Chris stayed home from work to help me prepare for the weekend festivities - her Birthday party on Saturday morning and her Baptism on Sunday morning. It was a big weekend and I feel so blessed that everything turned out perfectly - despite the scare Friday night when it began to pour rain for over an hour! Several family members and friends joined us to celebrate Ava throughout the weekend - as it was all about her and what a blessing she has been in all of our lives. Friday morning Chris gave Ava her first ever Birthday present to open - one that he picked out special for her - a Dressy Bessy. Growing up, Chris had a Dapper Dan (cute!) and he always loved playing with him. Yep...Ava's daddy had a doll! It was sweet to watch her gently tear the paper. Slowly but surely she got to the box and once we helped her pull Bessy out of the box they were instant friends.
One of our neighborhood churches creates a big pumpkin patch every year. Over the last couple of weeks there have been signs hanging on the iron fence of the church that read "The pumpkins are coming!" I was so excited to take Ava because last year she was just a month old when they arrived and I never got a chance to get her photo in the patch! So...this year, I was ready! I got her all dressed up and our Cousin Katy Fendrich helped me get Ava situated for her photo shoot. Ava is so serious when she is in a new environment. I couldn't get her to smile because she was just so seriously studying the pumpkins. She liked them though! 
