My YAY list

I'm stealing the idea of a "YAY" list from my sister Heidi. Hopefully this will compensate for some of my more whiney posts as of late.

1.)Yay for the fact that baby #2 is still a girl. We had a sonogram last week and were able to "double-check". It was great getting to see her sweet little face (chubby cheeks), although Ava kept Chris on his toes the whole time.

2.)Yay for the fact that I should still sometimes listen to my mother: Ava had been acting cranky and my mom said that she didn't think Ava was feeling good - that something was up, she wasn't herself. I brushed it off as Ava being tired and whiney for not getting her way. Guess who was right? That night Ava came down with a fever.

My mom was also right when she got after me for being so stressed, saying that I was trying to do too much and putting undue pressure on myself. She said I just need to rest and take it easy.

3.)Yay for Ava's naptime! She totally wore me out today at Library Storytime today. She was such a stinker! She must know that I can't chase after her very well. She left the room we were in twice. I finally told her we were leaving but then committed parent inconsistency and let her play with a friend from church we saw before leaving. QUESTION: I'm pretty confident with my "in-home" parenting skills but what about in public where you don't have the same resources - like a crib for timeouts, etc. I haven't figured that out yet.

I sat and watched our DVR-ed American Idol episode during her naptime. Yay for DVR by the way. I also ate the Heath blizzard that I bought on the way home from the library. Just what I did and didn't need. Both of us were much happier after naptime.

4.)Yay for the fact that my husband is helpful around the house! I'm also thankful that he tells me to just rest and not worry about things. I wish I could just do that - I'm trying to do better.
Also, yay for the fact that Chris hasn't complained that we've had cereal for dinner at least 3 times in the last week and a half...as if I normally do much of the cooking anyway.

5.) Yay for spring-like weather!

Rite of Passage

I don't mean to make this a complain fest -but this has been a hard week with husband and child sick --- Ava's still sick and vomitting. On top of that, I'm feeling very pregnant and wondering how in the world I'm going to make it to my due date (Mar. 26th). On the other hand, I'm not ready yet so I don't want the baby to come too soon either....better get things ready! Time for reality.

For those of you who know me well you know that I'm somewhat of a control freak so it's really hard to feel like life is spiraling out of control. I'm ready for a takeover now though...the spring weather is quite refreshing and exactly what I need today. I also realize that all of these issues are ones many of you have been through and that it's just part of being a mom/human. ;) I also think in a way this is preparation for the chaos that is to come with the early weeks of the addition to our family.

I will get through this...but sometimes I just feel like rebelling and refusing to do anything that I don't want to do. Wouldn't that be nice?

Thought of the Day

You know it's going to be a blah day when the only thing you've managed to put on your TO-DO List is: Take a shower...and you don't even feel like doing that. ;op

Oklahoma Visit

This past weekend we tried out our new mini van and went to visit my Grandma Patty in the OKC area. Ava warmed up to Great Grandma right away. Here is GGma reading Ava an Elmo book from the library.
VEGGIE MONSTER! You may not know this but Ava LOVES veggies, especially green ones like broccoli, peas and green beans. She gets so excited when we put veggies on her plate. Sometimes I have to try to get her to eat her other food before we give her veggies or that's all she'll eat. She also loves grape tomatoes, and other fruits like strawberries, grapes, oranges and bananas. The weird thing is that she doesn't really like bread and she'll always leave the corn untouched from her mixed vegetables. ??? Go figure!
I love her expression in this photo. We were having fun with her 2nd cousin, McKinley, petting the doggies.
My Grandma and I...ELMO got into the pictures because we were trying to coax Ava into taking some pics with GGma before we left...didn't work b/c she was too groggy from her recent nap.
Chris, Elmo, Quartz, Grandma Patty, and Maya. The dogs loved snuggling on Gma's couch...nice and warm and comfy. We had a nice visit and were glad to be able to go, although it was pretty cold driving down.

Are we in trouble?

I've been indulging in napping when Ava goes down for her nap in the afternoon. Some days, she would only sleep an hour and then wake up so I started putting her in bed with me so I could sleep longer.

So she got caught a little cold this week and has had a hard time breathing through her nose (can't breathe through her mouth very well because she loves her binky --- another issue I'm not going to deal with yet). It turns out she did not want to sleep in her crib. I took pitty on her because I'm sure it's hard trying to sleep flat with a runny nose and such. So, into "Mommy's bed" she went. I could prop her up with pillows or on my arm so she could breathe. A few days of doing this and Ava wants nothing to do with her crib! AHH! I wouldn't mind her in my bed as much if I was ready to go to bed at 8:00 or if she didn't wake up in the morning when Chris turns the shower on.

My next goal was to get her back in her bed now that she is feeling better. After lots of tears, she's finally back in her bed. My observations: Crying it out does not work. I can't handle it and it's not good to cry when you're already suffering from a drippy nose...it becomes waterfall or snotterfall...okay I know that's gross. I even laid on the floor until she fell asleep in her bed one night. It didn't work the next night.

Finally, I tried reasoning with her...telling her "no crying" "you're okay" "you're tired" "you have to sleep in Ava's bed"...etc. It finally worked last night. I asked her to be nice and lay down (after the millionth time) and she did. I'm hoping it will last and that we won't have to start all over again.

The funny thing is that she gets the joke and it's on me. The last couple of days when she has taken a nap or slept through the night in her crib I'll say, "Good job sleeping in Ava's bed!!" Then, she'll smile and say, "Mommy's bed???" NO MOMMY'S BED!