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.

I didn't get my act together soon enough to send Christmas cards out this year - better luck next year I suppose. We leave soon for our trip to CA but wanted to wish everyone a very..MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Check it out

Check out this cute new dress my mom, Ava's grandmother, made Ava! It's actually a little knitted sleeveless dress and jacket set.

Here's the back view - she even added trim to the jacket so it stood out and did some cool detail work along the cuffs and hem of the dress.
Ava apparently likes her new dress too. THANKS GRANDMA!

We Gave it a Try...

We went to the Christmas Party at LMH, Chris' new employer, this week. Santa was there so your child could get their picture taken with him. We thought we'd see how Ava would do. I knew I'd have to sit by her but wasn't sure how she'd react to the man in the big red suit. The picture explains her feelings.
NOT A HAPPY CAMPER! :o( She was only with Santa for less than a minute but that was long enough for the pouty face. We completely understand her fears and just snapped a few shots and were on our way.
We moved on to the Children's Room where Ava (with help from Mommy) made a set of reindeer antlers. She was a little happier with this.

Maybe in a few years she'll be more relaxed with Santa. I'm sure it's pretty scary for a little kid.

Recent Snapshots

It finally happened. Maya and Ava made friends. They've always gotten along but Maya has kept her distance and rightfully so...Ava can be a little rough at this age. The other day I caught Maya climbing onto Ava's little couch and making herself a little snuggle spot. Chris longs for the day when we find the doggies snuggling with Ava in her bed at night. (they currently sleep in bed with Chris and me - thank heavens for King-sized beds.)
Here's Ava wearing her stinker-face. She's really got loads of personality. It's fun to watch.
Ava LOVED looking at the Christmas lights. She kept saying "WOW!" and "COOL!" - her new words for describing neat stuff. We put up a tree of her very own in her room, complete with Elmo and friends ornaments.

We gave Ava her first bubble-bath the other night. She still tried to drink the water though. I thought she'd learn pretty quick that bubbles didn't taste good - but nope she kept putting her face in it. The bubbles were a hit though as far as entertainment was concerned.

Looking for a Cure..

...to TODDLER BOREDOM!

Okay all of you out there - I need some serious help coming up with ideas to help entertain my 18 month-old. She's been on this Little Mermaid kick where she wants to watch it 1, 2 or even 3 times a day. I say yes to 1 time on most days, sometimes yes to 2 times, (when I'm enjoying getting project time - though feeling guilty about it) but no to 3 times. Of course, Mommy gets a little bored sometimes too. So - needless to say, we could use some fresh ideas.

If only she had a twin to play with! (right, Anne Marie?)

How do you keep an 18-month old, with no siblings, happy and entertained? Generic and Original ideas welcome!

Lobster or Chicken Fingers?

Tonight we went out to eat to celebrate Chris' new job. We went to McCormick & Schmick's on the plaza for some seafood. We had once eaten at a McCormick & Schmik's in Baltimore for Christmas dinner with Chris' family and loved it. We were really disappointed this time because they didn't have the Maryland-style crabcakes that Chris loves and I have grown to love. I guess you just have to be in Maryland to get the real things. (Actually, we've found that we can make some pretty mean crabcakes using the lump crab we can buy at Costco - guess we'll be doing that soon.)

Needless to say, we did have a nice dinner. Chris had lobster & scallops, I had salmon & caesar salad, Ava had chicken fingers and french fries. I think we covered the spectrum. Oh and we also had some yummy chocolate cake.

Holiday Spirit

Okay - it's got me - the holiday bug. I'm sure a lot of my feelings of holiday happiness are brought on from the commerial aspect of Christmas and Thanksgiving, but in general I just love this time of year. I'm also feeling very blessed right now. Heavenly Father has blessed us with so many great things - I can't help but feel gratitude. I'm also realizing how important it is to give back and to find ways to help others. We were at the grocery store just last night and Chris overheard a family talking about how expensive their Thanksgiving dinner was going to be and somewhat worried over whether they'd be able to afford it. It just reminds you that there are always people who are in need in ways that maybe we aren't.

I plan to and encourage all of you to try to do something different or more this season to bless the lives of others! I hope to not just stop there but to continue trying to share the blessings.

I'd love to hear how you serve or give back to others and/or the community.

What a Mess

I don't have much exciting to write about. I've been working on collecting fabrics and just finished the top to an I-spy quilt. (Thanks for the new addiction, Camie! I'll add that to my list of addictions, which include: scrapbooking, food, email, web/blog-surfing, various TV shows, shopping, speeding, etc.)

Needless to say, my house is a disaster area. It's too hard to manage all of the "other stuff", when you're immersed in a project. It's too bad we can't just spend all of our time doing the things we want to do. I'm still praying for a cleaning fairy.

The Little Mermaid & the Hospital

Ava's new obsession is for the Little Mermaid. She wants to watch the DVD all the time, listen to the music CD in the car, play with her mermaid doll (Okay, so we got her the doll which means we're slightly encouraging this obsession) and she even wants to sing the part where the mermaid sings, "Ah, ah, ah, ah.....ah...ah...ah...ah..." If you've seen it you'll know what I'm talking about. The other morning she woke up for a few minutes, starting singing this and then went back to sleep. :)

Where does the HOSPITAL part come in? Well, it has nothing to do with the mermaid. Chris just accepted a new job at LMH in town. We're very excited about it. He will no longer have a long commute, will be compensated much better, and will have better opportunities for the future. YAY, Chris! It will be so nice to have him close to home. Ava and I can go and see him and eat hospital cafeteria food for lunch, "YUMM-O". (thank you Rachel Ray for the tasty word).

Had a Sono Today

Well, we had a sonogram today and it looks like it's going to be a GIRL! The tech said she was pretty sure and that we'd check it again at my next sono - but added that she'd be surprised if it were a boy.

Our Little Monster (Monis)

Our little girl dressed up as ELMO this year. She absolutely LOVES Elmo so we had to do it. FYI: She's Our Little "Monis" because that is how she says monster...ie, cookie monis or just monis for cookie monster.

We went to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. Other than the fact that it was cold, I think Ava had a good time.
Give me some candy! She kept taking her "hood" off so we had to be quick to snap some shots with it on. The nice thing was that almost all of my family was at the trunk-or-treat, so we could all congregate together.
A car nearby was playing Halloween music. All of the sudden, Ava just started busting a move. Some of us circled around her and just watched her boogy to the music. She kept going back for more too. So cute! I love how uninhibited she is.

Here's Ava looking at herself in the mirror at Grandma & Grandpas. (We all headed over there after the trunk-or-treat.)
Family Shot...Chris had been wearing devil horns earlier but opted to take them off (well, not figuratively of course ;). I was a cat, cliche I know but super easy when you already have the headband and like wearing black.

Bath Time Fun

We were helping to watch Ava's cousins, Kate and William, Sunday night. Ava was in need of a bath so we threw Kate in with her. They had a great time. We even got Ava to wash Kate's back with the wash cloth.

Ava made Kate laugh hysterically by her excited splashing. Kate didn't seem to mind that it was getting all over her (and all over the floor!).
Ava was T-I-R-E-D. It was already past her bedtime - but what kid wants to go to sleep when there are playmates around? Kate thought it was funny to keep reaching out and touching Ava. Ava wasn't as amused.

An evening quote

“Oh no!”
Chris exclaims, looking into the refridgerator.
“What?”
Lori asks.
“I’ve been drinking squirrel milk!”
Chris replies seriously.
Lori laughs uncontrollably

I should probably explain that we buy whole milk for Ava and 1% for us - and one of Chris' nicknames for Ava is "Squirrel."

I got a pretty good laugh out of that one. I even had to look up whether squirrels did indeed lactate...they do.

We missed you, Camie!

For those of you who know my friend Camie, she had the tradition of throwing a Halloween Bunko party every fall. Since she has moved away we had to carry on her tradition. With her blessing and encouragement, Michelle and I hosted a Bunko party of our very own. Needless to say, Camie was missed. We took a minute to thank Camie (and Matt too) for their great idea and inspiration.

The party was a lot of fun. We had 16 people attend. Since it was a Halloween Bunko party we had costumes for everyone. The costumes included: Little Red Riding Hood, Robinhood, a baker, a movie star, an angel, the devil, a cat, a lumberjack, a nerd, a pirate, a cowboy, a pioneer woman, a conehead - yes, conehead, a witch, a soccer player and a punk rocker.

Not really on purpose - but Michelle and I both made a recipe from Camie. I made her sour-cream coffee cake and Michelle made her popcorn.The only thing missing was Camie herself. You were there in spirit, my friend!!!

Here's Ava up way past her bedtime the night of the party, taking part in the dressing up.

Far from perfect

So I got an email from a certain k8 G.R. about the quilting group she is heading. It was of a cute pumpkin quilt wall-hanging. (some of you probably got the same email). I don't know what I was thinking, but I thought that I could make said quilt even though I have never quilted anything before. (I did make a 9 square pillow-top in jr. high home-ec, but that's it). I bought a set of pre-cut, pre-selected fabrics from k8 to attempt the project.

It is far from perfect, (so don't look too closely please), but it is done and hanging up for us to enjoy. I liked the quilting process in general, although I had to think a long time about how binding works. Now it's on to something for Christmas.

"PUNKIES!"

Boy, it's time for a new post! Like many of you we ventured out to our local pumpkin patch to get some of what Ava calls, punkies.
Here is Ava holding a pumpkin. We thought this was the perfect sized pupkin for her but when we handed it to her she did one of those, "whoah this is heavy", manuevers and almost dropped it. That was pretty funny. She ended up picking a tiny one from inside their store.
Ava and the cousins sure are growing!

Here's last year's pic. Ava was much smaller and Kate was in her mommy's tummy.

Ava loves giving hugs - even to pumpkins!

CHEESE ALERT!

Okay, if you can't stand cheesiness - don't read this blog. I just have to write it!

Reasons my husband is great:
1. He absoulutely adores our daughter and does everything he can to protect her
2. he cooks, cleans and does all of our laundry - without me ever saying a single word - I'm talking dishes, bathrooms, vacuuming - you name it
3. he gets ready in the dark so as not to wake me (he leaves at 6:20). I have fond memories of seeing him poking around our room with a flashlight looking in the clean clothes basket. I've told him it is okay to turn on a light but he doesn't.
4. he kisses me goodbye and tells me he loves me every time he leaves and gives out lots of hugs and kisses to his 2 favorite girls (Ava and I of course.)
5. he is really smart and could win any trivia game - don't challenge him to Trivial Pursuit because you would lose ;)
6. he commutes 45 minutes each way every day to a professional, decent-paying job and works hard so that I can stay home and NEVER complains about it.
7. sometimes in the middle of the night if he gets up - he'll bring me some juice without me asking and asks if I want a drink (I always say yes - juice at 3 am is so good).
8. he would much rather be at home or spending time with me and Ava than be anywhere else
9. he's really funny - our senses of humor usually mesh really well - I like it when he laughs at my jokes
10. a million other reasons.

Sorry for the cheesiness but I just had to post my thoughts today.

FALL Projects

Here is my Fall Project List. Many of these will likely make the winter, spring or fall of 2007 list. Oh well. Surely we'll get some of these things done.

1. Landscape - plant bulbs, prepare beds, plant tree?,place rocks
2. Paint exterior trim
3. Fix fence (damage from our microburst back in MARCH ;(
4. Paint master bedroom and bathroom
5. Re-caulk bathrooms and kitchen (builders did a horrible job!)
6. Garage - clean, organize, recycle - a BIG job - very neglected area
7. Finish piano and bring inside (light sanding and staining)
8. Try out my new (used one from my mom) sewing machine - actually making something would be nice - I'd like to learn how to do some quilting
9. Wash windows
10. Scrapbook
11. Organize closets, drawers (make give-away pile)

That's it for now. I'll be happy just to get half of the list accomplished. The never-ending to-do lists.

Top Ten

Top Ten things on my mind today:

1.) too bad Project Runway was a re-run tonight
2.) reading my scriptures daily is a good thing
3.) how many people also sometimes type: "eee" or "qqq" instead of "www"?
4.) can the dental hygienist and dentist see right up my nose?
5.) was a little surprised when I found a snake in one of my perennials to be planted
6.) how much tv is too much tv for a toddler?
7.) I have too many Fall projects to accomplish
8.) thank goodness for the 2nd trimester!
9.) family is #1
10.) can you ever be totally organized?

Apple Picking

Chris scoping out the available apples
Ava and I in our cart.
Kevin and Gaia in their cart trying to make Kate happy. She later fell asleep.
Ava grinning for the camera.
Ava picking up wormy treefalls.
Gaia filling her bucket. She even climbed a few trees to get the best apples. (Later we realized we probably should've grabbed an apple picker device from the counter.)

(Late post) A few weeks ago we went to the Fieldstone apple orchard. Chris and Ava and I went as well as Kevin, Gaia and family and my mom. We had a good time. The best part for me is driving around in golf carts around the orchard instead of having to walk and drag your bucket-o-apples. Most of the apples were small but we found a nice patch of my favorite, Jonagold, which were large, beautiful and perfect for eating right away. The rest of my apples were either made into pies or are still in my fridge slowly being eaten. My mom is already ready to go back again to get more! I don't know what I'd do with more apples.

Ava also had a good time at the orchard. She quickly figured out what we were doing, hopped out of the cart and starting picking up apples - from the ground. There were a few close calls where a mooshy, wormy apple almost touched her lips. YUCK! She must have seen us all tasting the apples, a task recommended by the owners.

Project Runway Thoughts

Chris and I have been tuning in to watch Project Runway so I thought I would just share my thoughts. I am sooooooooooo ready for Jeffrey to get the boot. He is evil, or at least not a very nice person. Even though Vincent is not my favorite, I agreed with his comment last night that, "it's getty a little too ugly" for his taste.

I would reallllllllllly like for Michael to win. I think he is the best, most consistent, thoughtful designer. He's also a nice guy. Go Michael!

Other thoughts: Laura is emotional but I thought she did deserve to win one last night, Euly(sp?) -she's good but is making the same thing it seems - getting bored. Michael should win I say again.

These are just my blabs for now. I'm also getting REALLY excited for The Office season to begin. If you haven't watched it you should - it is HI larious!

Scarlet Fever

It might be hard to tell from the pictures because of lighting - but last week my daughter was covered with red spots! She had had a fever and cold symptoms so I was keeping an eye on her and giving her tylenol. I changed her shirt after her nap and discovered the rash. I got her into the doctor an hour later and they discovered that she had Scarlet Fever. It sounds terrible and can be terrible if not treated. Scarlet Fever is caused by strep and it's pretty rare in toddlers. Anyway, after 24 hours of antibiotics she was no longer contagious and was doing better. The pictures were taken on the second day so the rash was already looking a little better.

It was a little scary but the doctor was glad I got her in right away. She also had a majorly sore throat, described as "red and pussy". Poor girl.

I also got a sore throat and am taking my antibiotics too. We're doing much better now.

(By the way - Ava is wearing Kirkland brand diapers from Costco (Costco store brand). We've been using them since she was in size 3 diapers and really like them. They look almost exactly like Huggies. Just thought I'd mention that in case someone was looking for a good deal on diapers).

This makes me so sad

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/05/irwin.death/index.html

I'm so sad about Steve Irwin's death! While we weren't huge fans we had seen his show a few times. One year for Halloween, Chris went as the crocodile hunter and I went as his wife, Terri. It's just sad. He was a good guy and an advocate for animal rights, even the ugly ones.

TMNT: Turtle Power

Michelangelo (Gaia), Raphael (Kelly), Leonardo (William) and Donatello (Heidi)

My family got together this weekend and my nephew, William, wanted to do a play. He REALLY like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles so we obliged to do a play with them. Everyone had a part from Grandma & Grandpa playing the bad guys who kidnapped the little babies to the little babies played by the baby grandkids. We enjoyed the play but it got pretty late by the time we were done. My sister, Kelly, even did the ninja turtle make-up using her stage make-up from her thespian days. William had a blast but would sometimes get so involved in saving the babies and beating the bad guys that he would forget that you were just supposed to "pretend" to beat up and stab the bad guys. Thank goodness for plastic swords.

Raphael and Leonardo

William was taking his poses very seriously - it was pretty funny. He did a great job as Leonardo. We had a good time doing the video but unfortunately the recording didn't turn out so hot so it's kind of jumbled. Maybe we have to reinact it one day...