Ava's Antics

Ava's been a busy little toddler (she'll be 20 months on Feb. 9). She loves to find empty laundry baskets (or almost empty and she'll happily dump out the rest) to lay in, sit in, read in, etc. Here she is reading in the laundry basket with her baby doll. I had just given her a pillow that she had asked for.
Ava got a kitchen set for Christmas. (Thanks, Rebecca for the great deal!) Here she is with her Aunt Kelly and cousins, Yummum (William) and Kate.
Here she is stuck in the toy basket in her closet. I heard her yelling, "Help! Help!", but made her pose for a picture before I got her out.
Ava loves her mermaid tent that my parents got her. She also loves the blanket from Chris' dad.

Here are just a few of the phrases Ava has been using lately, (some I enjoy hearing more than others):
1. No, Mommy...(when she doesn't want to do something)/Stop it Mommy (when she doesn't want me to do something - like talk to Daddy or check my email instead of paying attention to her)
2. I don't want to
3. Ava do it ...Mommy do it (said this when Mommy told her to clean up her mess)
4. Uh-oh, I dropped it
5. Where'd it go? I found it.
6. I sorry Mommy/Daddy....or she'll say "I sorry" when she gets hurt
7. C'mon! Hurry!
8. Help! I stuck.
9. I love you/I love you too!
10. What happened? What's that? OH, no!
11. First, diaper/eat/clean-up -then, books/play (repeated after I say it)
12. I drive (Ava says as she sneaks into the driver's seat of our new van and starts turning the wheel and moving the gear shift)

13. Listen, Listen...Do you hear that? ...airplane/truck/baby crying
14. Sweet dreams, night-night
15. Mmm, yummy....I like it.
16. Ava sad/happy.
17. 1, 2, 3, fork, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (she sometimes skips 5 & 6)

18. Oh my gosh

19. do you want one/some?...yes?

20. No Quartz/Maya - Ava's food!

21. Please! Thank you, Mommy/Daddy

22. A kiss it? (when she gets an ouchie)

23. She's also been singing lately. She likes to sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and the ABC song...oh and of course anything from The Little Mermaid.

24. Ava also thinks it funny to call me Lori. ;)

25. I swimming, swimming...(she likes to pretend swim in the bathtub)

26. That tickles

27. "MINES!"

28. I race you!

29. Dang it! (repeating what her mommy said...oops)

A Must Read

Just thought I'd share...I think everyone should read this book.

I've read this book about 3-4 times in the last 2 years and think it is one of the best financial books out there. It's short and easy to read (it'd probably take you 2 hours tops) and has practical steps to follow. The title might sound a little too good to be true - but note that it doesn't say INSTANT millionaire - just automatic. It covers topics from getting out of debt, paying yourself first (through pre-tax investments like your 401k or IRA), investing, becoming a homeowner and paying off your mortgage early, and even covers tithing and charitable giving.

I hesitated to post this but I really think it is a beneficial read...the younger you start - the better.

Snow Much Fun

We took advantage of the few inches of snow that we got this weekend and had some snow fun.
This was Ava's first time playing in the snow. We bundled her up and just let her go. She took to it immediately, sloshing around in her snow boots.
Here she is waving to the camera...you can see the snowman that we were building in the background...actually Chris did most of the building. I did the decorating. We used Chris' hat, an old scarf, rocks for the eyes, sticks for the arms we found in the field across the street, mulch pieces for the mouth and buttons and a baby carrot for the nose...I guess we just don't buy the regular sized carrots anymore. Anyway, it was the perfect snow for making a snowman.
Once we let Ava take her mittens off she couldn't get enough of picking up the snow. She enjoyed adding handfuls of snow to the snowman as her contribution.
Daddy and Ava next to our snowman. We built the snowman close to the house to deter neighbor kids from knocking it down.

I'm sorry to report that by the time Chris left for work this morning it was demolished...how rude! We're not going to let it damper our spirits - we'll be rebuilding tonight - but this time in the backyard. Ava will be able to look at it more through the back door this way anyway - until it dies a more natural death - via melting! UPDATE: We won't be rebuilding after all - it's TOO cold and the snow is too hard. That's okay though. At least we have our pictures to remember him by. ;) It just makes you wonder why kids do that kind of stuff! Oh well. Luckily, Ava isn't old enough to be sad about it and recognize that it's still supposed to be there. We did notice that almost all of the snowmen in the area were also knocked down...someone must've gone on a snowman rampage...so sad.

The Home Stretch

I've got less than 10 weeks to go before baby girl #2 arrives. For the majority of this pregnancy so far I've kind of forgotten or have been in denial that I was pregnant - not really thinking about it unless I was feeling the baby move or feeling sick.

That has changed...I'm now feeling pregnant and my belly has sure expanded in recent weeks. I'm definitely feeling more tired and am also feeling the effects of all of those wondeful hormones - not to mention mental pressure and anxiety! This pregnancy has been a little different.

Here are some of my cravings this pregnancy: oranges, hot chocolate, Ramen noodles, bread, especially Great Harvest Honey Wheat bread (I couldn't eat bread, sandwiches or pizza when pregnant with Ava - yuck), ice cream, juice, salad - can't get enough of the salad bar at Jason's Deli (which reminds me that Chris is due to take me there) and glazed or powdered donuts.

When I was pregnant with Ava I was working so had fun dressing up in all of my new maternity clothes, etc. Now, I am perfectly content if not elated to be in my favorite comfy pants, wearing Chris' athletic socks (it's sooo cold right now), with my hair in a pony tail, reading or watching one of our favorite shows that we've dvr'd (sp?). Now that's the life.

I'm starting to face the reality that yes, the baby is coming and yes, I am pregnant, and yes, this is the last leg and I will experience more discomfort as things progress. On the other hand, I'm also starting to really think about the excitement of welcoming a new family member to our home and how blessed we truly are!

Those are my thoughts for now.

I just joined the club...sigh...

I'm officially a "minivan mom". It's too cold to take a real picture of our new (well, slightly used 2006) Toyota Sienna so here's a stock photo. We tried really hard to find an SUV that had decent gas mileage and enough room for our expanding family...not to mention safe...but instead got a mini van. We realized it was the more practical move although I'm having mixed emotions about it! (I'll post a real pic when the weather isn't so foul).

Busy New Hobby

Now that these quilts have been opened by their intended recipients and parents -- I can show you what I spent so many hours working on. First of all, Camie gets the credit for turning me on to making these I Spy quilts. Totally her idea. Then, Rebecca S. gets the credit for motivating met to get them done because she amazingly cranked out like 4 of these before I finished my 2nd one. What's an I Spy quilt? It's basically just a quilt full of novelty fabric blocks that contain lots of different objects that you can play games with and use during quiet times or on car trips. I decided to try and make one for each of the 4 grandkids for Christmas (Ava's has not been done yet - have to get on that).

Here is the first quilt that I made for my 1 year old nephew, Ryan. (You should be able to click on the picture to make it bigger). It kind of has a "picnic" theme to it. Keep in mind that other than a wall-hanging - this is my first ever quilt. I learned quite a bit. Also keep in mind that I made the decision that I couldn't go for perfection - if I wanted to ever finish it anyway.

Here is the 2nd one I did for my neice, Kate. Her mom, Gaia, knew I was doing these quilts and came over and picked out some squares from my HUGE collection that I have aquired from ebay as well as LOTS of trips to local and not as local fabric shops. I think I bought 70 1/4 yards of various fabrics plus kits purchased from ebay.
And the last one I made was for my nephew, William. Gaia mentioned that William would probably want to put the quilt on his bed so I tried to make it a little bigger. I also skipped the sashing and did solid blue squares (thanks to Rebecca for the idea and sample). Because of a sewing machine malfunction I took a long break between quilts 2 and 3 and didn't finish William's quilt until 2 days before we left for our trip. But, it did get done! Now, I just need to make one for my own daughter.

Side note: I'm really starting to feel the pressure of this new baby coming (due March 26). I feel like there are so many things I want and need to get done before she comes! AHH! Baby steps, baby steps....

California Christmas

TIME FOR A NEW BLOG!

We had a nice Christmas in California this year to visit Chris' dad and stepmom. We almost missed our plane getting there (several people in front of us were trying to get to Denver during their snowstorm), and had and eventful plane ride - but we made it afterall. Ava is Chris' dad's first grandchild so it was nice for us to be able to spend Christmas together.

They live in Vallejo which is near the bay area. We spent a day in San Francisco's Union Square and then went to Pier 39. We ate at MY diner, a 50's style place, and went to a cool store called Hannspree, pic below.

What a cool little frog seat. Ava, of course thought it was fun to sit on him.

At Pier 39, they have a huge two-level carousel. Ava absolutely loved riding on it, saying "Whee" almost the entire time, then pleading for more rides. We were going to ride it again but went instead to see the famous sea lions before it became too dark. We taught Ava the sound for a sea lion and listened to it for the rest of the trip...that was funny!

Christmas morning was fun. Ava had a TON of presents to open. I think she got a little overwhelmed. She figured out how to do it and got the hang of it, although she wanted to open and play with each present right away. That was hard to understand. Ava took the loot in the Little Mermaid category - mermaid blanket, sleeping bag, tea set, cd player, purse set, dinnerware, cups, then a mermaid tent from my parents, a mermaid chair from Aunt Gina, a mermaid dress, and yesterday, cousin William gave her a Flounder pillow. I'm probably leaving something out but you can see it was lots of MERMAID stuff! She loved every bit of it.

Christmas Eve we went to Chris' stepmom (Jenny's) parents' house for Crab - Chris loved that. Then, we had a nice Christmas dinner at their (Will & Bonnie)'s house. We had a nice time. This is our best shot at a Christmas family picture. OH well. :)

Chris' dad helps head security at the C&H Sugar Refinery in Crockett. On our last day, we went to visit him at work. PIC: Chris, Ava, Chris's sister, Liz, and their dad, Glenn. Ava loved the Culligan water station - we kept having to get her refills and replacing the little cone-shaped paper cups. She thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Grandpa George let Ava put on his safety glasses and we found a hat to complete her look.

We had a nice visit in CA and enjoyed meeting back with some of my family back in KS. -Other than the hassles of airports and air travel: lost Chris' luggage on the way there and then lost Ava's box of presents and her carseat on the way back. All of the items were delivered shortly after being lost - they had to give us a "loaner" carseat so we could get back home, then delivered hers later.