Turtles!

On Sunday, Ryan spotted a baby snapping turtle in our pool! We're not sure how it got through the screen enclosure or into the pool itself, but we rescued it from a certain chlorine induced coma and I released it into the canal that evening. It was so tiny! I had brief thoughts of keeping it for my classroom, but that brought back memories of the 23 snapping turtle eggs I hatched sophomore year in college....not a pleasant smell, not to mention very uncuddly.

This is the little snapper by Ryan's pinkie finger. Now, we all know that Ryan has mammoth fingers, but this still shows how TINY this little bugger was!

Ava loves her 'honu' turtle onsie sent all the way from Hawaii (Thanks, Steph!). I'm sorry to say that she didn't wear it for long....this was outfit #3 in a 5 outfit day.

Watching The Barclay Open with Daddy...he reported 6 spit ups in the time it took me to shower and get dressed! Hence the 5 outfit day.

Now that Ava is addicted to rolling over, I had a chance to catch it on video. It took me many tries because she was so fast that sometimes I only caught the end of the roll. She still hasn't grasped the concept of rolling back over, so she gets a little frustrated after too long on her tummy. We're hoping for lots of practice once Grandma gets here: T-3 days!!! :)

I love her facial expressions in this video. She's looking at me as if to say, "Mom, this is no big deal...you've watched me do this a dozen times already! I'm so over how big you're making this out to be. I've practically been doing it for years!"

4 months old today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVA!

We got up early today to bring Ryan to his truck (at Doug's) and then went to school for most of the morning so that I could work in my room. Ava cooperated nicely and slept for almost 2 hours! We ran some errands after that, including buying a shower curtain rod and some cute fabric to make a 'milking station' barrier in the prep room of our science labs. (Glenn's idea, actually!) It'll be easy for me to pump a couple of times a day with some privacy and not have to schlep my pump around campus trying to find a suitable place to do it.

Once we got home it was lunch time, followed by another lengthy nap. Then the rolling began! She's been rolling onto her stomach for the last week or so, but today she actually freed the arm that's usually stuck from underneath her! I thought it might have been a fluke, but she did it again when Ryan came home. :) Our girl is definitely growing up!

I chatted with a mom of an 11 month old at BB&B today and she said, "It'll get easier...in a few more months, she'll be sleeping through the night." I didn't have the heart to tell her that Ava's been doing that for almost a month already and that if she gets any easier, I won't have anything to do!

"WOW, MOM! I rolled over!!!"

Smiling for Daddy.
*Note the killer scratch under the eye - I think I could cut her nails every day and she'd still gash herself daily*

Who's got big feet like Daddy? Um...no one.

Watching football with Daddy. Don't you love the leg rolls? :)

Lotion time before pj's. Ryan was showing me how he could make her entire butt disappear.

"Aw, Mom...are you really taking pictures of me when I'm naked?!?"

Ava's almost 4!

Four months old, that is. She'll be an old lady on the 28th! My, how the time flies! Her latest big accomplishment is rolling over...sort of. She still gets one arm stuck, but gets some help from Ryan or me and now loves being on her tummy. She squeals and grins like it's the best thing ever. :)

We were supposed to go to her doctor's yesterday, but had to reschedule...so, unfortunately, we don't have an update on her height and weight. I'm settling for "long and heavy" at the moment.

She continues to be a rock star at school. This week she's hanging out with Barbara, the Upper School history teacher and a recent grandmother (times two). She's been keeping Ava occupied in her room, while I'm teaching "camp" next door. It's working out perfectly and Ava's taken a bottle the last THREE days! WAHOO!

No big plans this weekend. We're hoping to Skype with some of you, so let us know when you're around. Duke will finally be leaving our house when Doug moves this weekend and takes him back. He's been hanging around by the pool since the beginning of July and we'll miss him, but it's definitely time for him to go.

Countdown to Mama O: T - 7 days!

"I'm a rolling over queen!"

"I'm also a laying on my back queen!" I love my mat and the birds that Erin Engle made for me!


Cute video of smooches and giggles when Ryan was changing her before bedtime tonight. She's giggling at pretty much everything these days and we can't get enough!

A relaxing Sunday...

Ava slept in until 10:30 this morning! She's such a rock star!

We had a nice, lazy day and Brent, Nicky, and Doug came over in the late afternoon for some pool time and a cookout. We enjoyed some sausage roll, fresh lobster (caught by Brent), edamame, and crab legs. It was a beautiful evening and our bellies were full!

Playing with Daddy on the couch.

Swimming with Nicky.

Browser got a little jealous of Ava spending so much time with Nicky. He wanted some action, too.

Practicing front floats with Daddy. She got her face in a couple of times and it didn't even seem to phase her much - she just coughed a little and that was it.

"I'm ready for my close up, Mommy!"

She couldn't take her eyes off Ryan's beer and finally had to get her lips on it too! Don't worry, it was empty!

"Do you like my mohawk?"

After everyone left, we got to Skype with Krista, Lane and Ainsley for the first time. Lane didn't hesitate to ask everyone else to leave the rooms so that he and Uncle Ryan could play 'Cowboys and Indians.' I video taped a little clip. It's so cool that they get to "play" together even when they're so far apart! Watch out for the flaming arrow!

Short and sweet...

We just finished having a lovely dinner and visit with Erin. We've seen her a record number of times in the past two months - TWICE! She's in town for work and got off early enough tonight to make the drive to Delray. It was great to catch up and she made it in time to cuddle a bit with Ava and put her down to sleep. Then, Ryan, Erin, and I had a nice meal and had a chance to really catch up - since when we saw each other in July was a bit too chaotic to really chat. We love out of town visitors! :)

Erin and Ava, just before bedtime.

Yesterday, when Ryan and I were in our room folding laundry, we heard Ava talking to herself. She sounds like a dolphin - it's so flippin' precious! You'll definitely be playing this one over and over and over again!!!!

Rolling over...sort of

Right before bath time last night, I put Ava on her play mat while I prepared her tub. When I walked back into the room she had rolled over! Well, she rolled her bottom half over...her left arm kind of got stuck underneath her.

Ava's first roll!

With a little help from Mom, she got her arm unstuck and had some tummy time.

She's starting to like tummy time more and more, now that she's got more control of her neck.

Our little monkey...

in the cutest monkey outfit from Grandma O! SO stinkin' cute! She was a very happy girl when we got home from 'school' yesterday. Our babysitter, Doris, had rave reviews from the day. The only downside is that she's still not taking a bottle...but we're thinking positively and, hopefully, things will change soon!

"Grandma, I love my monkey shirt! This is my new favorite outfit!"

Sitting in the Bumbo and actually enjoying it! She still prefers laying on her back, but sat here for awhile making cute faces at me. :)

I love that she keeps herself occupied. She can lay and play on her mat forever and doesn't seem to tire of it. Now that she's grabbing at things and starting to scootch around, she is a busy little bee.

We love the weekend!

We've sort of had a long weekend together. Ryan worked from home on Thursday and had a short day on Friday, so we all got to spend a lot of time together. I'm beginning to dread Monday morning when I have to drop Ava off at Doris' house (even if I can see it from school!). I'm definitely looking forward to Mama O coming down so that I won't have to worry (as much). :)

The best thumb sucker in the world! :)

Getting kisses from Daddy...or Daddy's getting slobbered by Ava.

"I love my turtle shirt!"

The video is precious. She's just beginning to do raspberries...if you can call it that. She sort of drools and spits a little, but it's super cute. ENJOY!

Squat giggles!

We've had two pretty uneventful days. My main mission was to find someone to watch Ava while I'm teaching at a summer academic camp next week. My original plan sort of fell through, so I was flying by the seat of my pants! I contacted a colleague of mine who lives on our school's campus. She is a wonderful woman and agreed to watch Ava each day from 8-12. Ah, now I can breathe as sigh of relief. I'll drop her off and walk across the field to school! She's near enough so I can be there if I'm needed and I can bring her back to my classroom after lunch to get some work done too. A perfect situation, I think.

Smiles for all of you!

This is as close as she's gotten to rolling over. When she gets this far, she turns her head and starts sucking at the mat.

Our newest little g's: The 4th of July edition "from sea to shining sea."

I couldn't figure out how to rotate a video - sorry!

A quiet day on the Bogert front...

After a nice 12 hour night, Ava and I did a morning workout (Thanks G). She absolutely loved it! I'm hoping that I can get Ryan to video a little of it because she is really starting to giggle (She apparently thinks squats are funny - I certainly don't).

Later, Miss A and I took a quick trip to school. I had to pick up a few things from my classroom to prepare for Academic Camp next week. We're still trying to work out the details for Ava's care when I'm working those 8 days, but it'll all come together (I hope!). A few people have mentioned that she's so chill that I should just bring her into the classroom...and none of the kids would even notice. :) Is that really an option?!?

Note the lovely arm band our girl is wearing.

(Don't pay too much attention to the disposable diapers! They're just temporary while we're waiting for our G Diapers delivery. We really don't like the disposables because we've gotten so used to the little G's. {Blowouts: Disposables = too many, G's = 0}).

Cuddlin' and chewin' on Daddy. Probably the best "welcome home from work" he can get!

And cuddlin' turns to zzz's.

It's a good thing she's cute, because she did not want to take a bottle this afternoon. Ah, me... we'll try again tomorrow.

A couple of victories for the Bogerts!

Victory #1: Ava successfully took a bottle! Some of you know that we've struggled over the past month or so to get her to take a bottle, since I strictly breastfeed. In order to prepare both of us for my return to school, we decided to start working on bottle feeding today and it went like a charm.

Victory #2: Ryan and his partner, Sam, won the 1st annual corn hole tournament at our 2nd annual Birthday Bash.

She wasn't quite sure what to do with the bottle at first, but then she sucked it down like I would a milkshake!

She's loving her play mat more and more, especially since she's reaching out and grabbing things.

Apparently I did not rotate this picture! This is Doug holding Brent's catch of the day - Florida lobsters! As Doug said, prior to our party, "We're going to eat like kings!"

Ryan found these super cool cups at Total Wine that you can etch into so that everyone knows which cup is theirs. Too cool!

Lou and Ursula w/ Bandit and Riley.

Ryan and me, trying to figure out the corn hole tournament bracket. Who knew it could be so complicated?!?

Nicky...disappointed (or not so much) after a loss to Ryan and Sam.

Gavin (6 months) w/ Forty, enjoying some pool time.

Man, I thought I rotated this one too! This Amberjack was in lieu of a birthday cake. :) Lou's cousin, Tony, caught it spearfishing Saturday morning. They filleted it in the backyard and everyone got to take home some fresh fish. It made for great sandwiches today. Thanks, Tony!

The video below was taken when we stayed in Savannah. Ava was squeaking and squealing when Ryan spoke Donald Duck to her and I was lucky to catch it on video. Enjoy!

Home at last!

We finally made it home! After two nights in NC and one in Savannah, we arrived at our home on Thursday afternoon. It's still standing!

Princess Leia look alike contest?

She's begun to grab onto things...even in her sleep!

Ava and Ryan on the water taxi across the river in Savannah.

Walking down Riverfront to dinner.

She's a bar fly already! We had to wait at the bar for a table at the Shrimp Factory and she enjoyed the aroma of wines and brews.

Tomorrow we're celebrating Ryan (and Brent, Rusty, and Jamie's) birthdays with a party at our abode. I probably won't blog tomorrow night...as I'll be overseeing the imbibing of our friends and neighbors, but look forward to blogging on Sunday!

July 26th thru August 5th

Here are a bunch of pics from our last couple of weeks on the road, beginning with a small reunion with some of my classmates from Cato and ending with our stay in NC with Ryan's boss.

Catching up with Jeremy at our mini reunion hosted by Colleen. It was a great afternoon, good food, and competitive corn hole.

Our next stop was a week at Ryan's parents' place in Columbus, PA. Ava finally got to meet Shannon's wife, Lisa. She is a baby lover and cuddled with Ava every chance she got!

We had a cookout down by the barn on July 31st. The LaSalvias, Weavers, Bylers and Bogerts were all in attendance. Hunter LaSalvia thoroughly enjoyed cooking hot dogs over the fire.

Hunter's sister, Taylor, entertained us all by eating an entire ear of corn...even though it took an hour!

LJ, a friend and Ryan's former coach, came out to visit us and catch up. We haven't seen him since our wedding, so it was a wonderful visit.

Dana and Amy Keeler missed the cookout, but made it out to visit us this past Sunday. Ava charmed them both and Amy was very proud of herself when she got Ava to burp. :)

We decided to stop in NC at the Gockerel's. Ryan's boss, Darrick, and his wife, Dina, were thrilled that we stayed with them for 2 nights. They have recently built a stunning log cabin in the mountains and it was really tough to leave. We have already started making plans for a visit next summer because we really want to see the gem mines and Linville Falls.

A view from the top of their extremely long driveway. The view from the front deck in the morning was awesome once the fog lifted.

Ava finally found her thumb!

We really only had an afternoon to explore NC, so we chose to visit Grandfather Mtn. It was well worth it! The weather was gorgeous and the view was spectacular. Ava was awake when we crossed the swinging bridge and then she napped the rest of the way.

On the swinging bridge: exactly 1 mile above sea level. It's the highest swinging bridge in the U.S.

On the other side of the bridge there were huge rocks to climb on. This is as far out as we could go. From this point you can see in every direction - STUNNING!

On our way back across the bridge with Darrick and Dina.

On the road again...

Ava has been great in the car. Lately she's begun to play with the toys I hang on her car seat. She tuckered herself out after awhile! So cute!