Ava's Dream Come True...

Ava LOVES horses! The girl is wild about them! Ponies, horses, unicorns, you name it. If it has four legs and looks big enough to ride, it's a pony in her eyes. :) We went to visit our friends, Lindsey & baby Mya (who's really not a baby anymore - she and Ava are ~3 months apart), up in northern Ohio over the summer - who also happened to have HORSES! Ava thoroughly enjoyed the visit. She talked about her "best friend" Mya for weeks and loved her ride on Gwen the beautiful "palo-rino" horse. Made me really itch for a smidgen of land to have a horse or two on someday. Horses rock... 

She's loving it. Just needed cowgirl boots & a hat!

I realize wearing flip-flops was not a great idea...but Gwen watched out for my heels & toes!

Lindsey & I didnt plan this :) But little blonde girls look pretty cute in blue tu-tu suits!

The girl on Diesel & Gwen. Did I mention I want horses again someday? Love.

Christy & Stella were a great pair. And low & behold..."Beary" is in tow. ;-)

A Special FIRST Birthday!

Happy Birthday Stella Jolie!

 

 

The last year with our two girls has been the most exciting adventure! It has just passed by so quickly. Stella has such a different personality and demeanor from her sister. She's docile most of the time, except when she wants to do something her way - then comes firecracker! She's pretty serious about stuff. She has to consider someone pretty much a best friend before she'll really warm up to the person. She love, love, loves snuggling. We rock forever in her room at night...and sometimes when she tries to get up too early for this mama in the morning. She loves snuggling almost as much as she loves "Beary" the teddy bear. Which brings me to my next topic: "Beary." He (She? I don't know, Stella has never specified. :)" has been her self-proclaimed lovie since about 9 months old. He always hung out in her crib and one day she suddenly demanded that he come with her out of the crib and never leave her side. Pretty cute. Beary is kind of a pacifier of sorts. Ava had a couple lovie blankets, with the special tag that she loved to rub, but neither child has had a pacifier. Not that I didn't encourage them, because anything to help soothe a fussy baby is good in my book! They just always gagged on pacifiers, even the tiny ones, so they each found their own "paci" and to my surprise neither one chose her thumb!

 

Stella is all over the place...although not walking alone, yet. She does a great job cruising, but hasn't actually taken steps on her own yet. She's so petite! Her pediatrician at her one year appointment said she was "hyper-flexible" and he didn't expect her to walk by herself until about 17 months. Fine by me! Let's not rush her baby-ness ... she's likely my last!! She's toughening up to her sister's less than fragile squeezes, kisses, & hugs. Such a little baby and such a big sister! At her one year appointment Stella was 18 lbs 4 oz. In the 20th %ile. I think. And she was somewhere between 30-40th %ile for length. This is September & she turned one in July... and I don't have my pediatrician supplied "blue book" on me for reference. She's somewhere on that scale of "small for her age." ;) And just for my reference...she's in 12-18 month clothes, size 3 diapers, take 2 naps a day, loves her bedtime bottle, and says "da-da" "uh-oh", plays peek-a-boo, gives hi-fives, waves goodbye, plays pat-a-cake, loves food (everything except meat so far), and understands the meaning of "No-no" and hates to hear it! :) 

 

Funny how the dynamics have changed from the first child to the second. I could've recalled how long Ava's naps were down to the minute when she was one year old. I could've named every food she'd ever eaten up to her first birthday. There's something awesome that takes place after the 2nd child (and I'm sure to a greater degree with each proceeding child) and I don't know how to describe it. It's not just a lack of time which has left me less time to pay attention to the little details. I give greater attention to the interactions & relationship between my girls. I savor every minute of their laughter together, their protectiveness of each other, their hair pulling of each other, their games together, their scuffles over mommy and daddy's lap & attention. These things really stick in my mind. In seeing and experiencing all of these things every day, I also pray for their relationship and friendship to remain and carry into their adolescense, adulthood, and beyond. I pray they will always share such a sweet sisterly bond that no one person or worldly thing will ever sever. I get all mushy when I talk about these little people... :)

 

We had a fun summer birthday party for Stella-bean. It was as hot as it could be outside, so we bunkered down in the a/c with family & friends to celebrate. I have a feeling most of her birthday parties will be spent splashing in the water outside or in the coldest of air conditioners inside. July is getting HOTTER every year! Enjoy the pics...

 

 

Precious baby.

 

Daddy & his girls.

 

Me & my sweetums

 

Birthday babies always need help from big sisters for opening their presents. :)

 

Hello blue eyes!

 

Hmm...so you're saying this is all mine?

 

Yummy Granny - gimme more!

 

Time for clean up!

 

Come to think of it, I am getting thirsty...

 

Birthday's are fun!! :) 

 

 

 

And the co-star of the party - the Cupcake Cake! Made by Granny. 

SUMMER RECAP!!

Happy to blog again! I don't really have any excuse besides the usual. Too busy! But we're about to make a comeback over here, so get ready. :) Much has happened over the last 6 MONTHS! This could get lengthy...I'll try to take it easy...

Ava tried out soccer this June. She looked cute and all out there, but she by no means loved this sport. The first 10-15 minutes into the practice were great. Then she sort of wandered around and did her own thing. Most of her practices were spent off in the middle of the field yelling, "hey mom!! you see those clouds up there?! you think it's going to rain!?"

 

 

Watching her sissy.

 

She didn't even dig the cute coach. ;)

 

 

This little guy happened to be sitting on a rock outside our water garden on the day I got my new camera. So he became my test subject. Pretty, huh?

 

One of our maannyy trips to the zoo this summer. One of our favorite places to go. This trip was with Aunt Tammy & cousin Torie. 1 Favorite Place + 2 Favorite People = SCORE! :)

 

Just hangin' out...

 

"Siiiissy...look...at...the camera."

 

Silly sweeties.

This Month...

**In my defense, blogger was acting up when I tried to post this last week. So, I would have met my goal of one post per month...just so ya know I tried! ;-)**

February has been awesome. Great weather - when's the last time I could say that about FEBRUARY? I can't complain...we've been able to get out of the house and enjoy sunshine, fresh air, fairly mild temps & playgrounds!


My work life (schedule, on call, mandation, classes, stress, etc) is actually improving and I feel like we've been livin' it up this month! Speaking of classes & stress - our entire unit (attendings, residents, nurses) have been mandated to become certified in fetal monitoring. You know all those lines on the neverending strip of paper that prints out of the machine that is attached to the monitors on moms belly while in labor? Maybe you have no idea what I'm referring to, but all those lines and jibberish actually mean something and we, as nurses and docs, have to "read" the strips in order to know if mom & baby are healthy & happy...-ish...pretty much. Anyway, I took the certification exam after a long weekend of 12 hr days of work & mommy-ing...needless to say, I wasn't feeling up for the challenge at that particular time in life. There was no studying or prep...just a wonderful teacher from Seattle WA who came and delivered a kick a** 6 hr review course before the test that Monday. I went in with the mindset that if I don't know this stuff, perhaps I need a new career! Received my letter in the mail saturday telling me that I am, in fact, not the absent minded dummy that I thought I was after taking the exam. ;-) Sweet.


My kids have been great. We're coming into a really happy time frame here. Stella is emerging into this babbling, bashful, yet attention-seeking squeally baby. She smiles all day long! We've recently dubbed her the pterodactyl baby...for obvious reasons...she screeches like a pterodactyl!! It's the shrillest screechy scream I've ever heard and it mostly debuts when she's hungry and sees that the bowl of food is close, but not close enough to her tummy!!! :) She's awesome. My baby now and always will be.  She loves food and is starting to pick up teeny tiny things (like carpet fuzz, etc!) and put it in her mouth. Finger foods aren't far away. She gobbles up baby Mum-mums (rice biscuit looking things) and I've started giving her frozen fruit puree cubes in her fresh fruit mesh feeder. This week I bought a variety of fruits & veggies to really start broadening her diet. Should be interesting - I bought kale, turnips, beets, blueberries, carrots, strawberries. She's pretty much just had greens & yellow/orange food. I've even seen some babyfood combos with chia seeds (high in DHA and some other good stuff) so I'm thinking about adding some of that. I have fun with the babyfood making - always funny to see what color her cheeks will be stained today. :) The vibrant colors from the fresh babyfood blow my mind.

Ava is growing in LEAPS & BOUNDS! I think she's at the height of the "why" asking stage. Oh Em Gee!!! My brain can't even keep up with her why's...lol. Our whole day is comprised of "why mommy?". I try to explain it all the best I can, but sometimes I'm like, "Ava, mommy's brain needs a break from thinking!" ha!! She so so so loves books. I can't read her enough books. She's also big into hearing random stories. After reading her a few books at bedtime she says, "ok momma, tell me a story" and we have to come up with the most random stories ever. Sometimes I'll tell her bible stories, or the 3 little pigs or something, but after awhile she wants to hear a "new" story and I have to make one up. More mommy brain power...lol :). The wheels turn so quickly in her little mind. Preschool is going really well. She loves learning. I've backed off on the "paperwork" learning and we just play, read, listen to music & sing songs. Although she has been asking me lately to tell her to find the shapes on old preschool papers I've printed off. We do paperwork type stuff for maybe 15 minutes at a time...then the attention span dwindles. She learns & retains so much through reading & musical play. We've added some little chores to her daily life as well. Just little things that make her feel accomplished like getting dressed, brushing teeth, making bed, brushing hair, clean up toys in bedroom every morning. I do them along with her and then she gets a sticker for her chart. I love watching her learn. It's one of the top reasons for my serious homeschooling consideration I've been bouncing around in my head lately. We're lucky to live in a mini metropolis with so many resources for homeschoolers at our fingertips. I'm just beginning to look into homeschooling co-ops & groups (there are so many around here!) and see if its something we could do. Even if just for a couple years. We'll see where this goes! We're always on some kind of adventure over here!


Some pics...

Disney on Ice

What a fun outing with our growing girl! Stella stayed home all snuggled up in her bed (under the watchful "ears" of Miss Kim of course), while Eric, Ava and I had a night downtown. Ava did bring a friend - who other than her favorite buddy Eli?! She's so funny, there was no hesitation when we asked her which friend she wanted to bring along. Her "date" even had a single pink rose for her on this special occasion. Such a gentleman...

Cute show & a great time! Although, we were B-R-O-K-E when we got home. $12 cotton candy & $14 slushies!?!? We indulged despite that ridiculousness...

Pizza dinner!

Beauty & the Beast

Pizza cheeks enjoying the show :)

Ava's favorite - Timone & Pumba!!

It was a great show!

My, Oh MY, Do We Have Some Pictures to Catch Up!

Bean at 4 months

Sissys...snuggling to some Dinosaur Train. :)

Christmas cuties!

Love her smiles.

Baby girl at 5 months!

baby sneeze...so cute!

Oh my... just perfect :)

Stella and her favorite bedtime bear! Appropriately named "Beary" - thank you Ava :)

Well, what happened here? Anyway - milk and cookies for Santa...and Ava didn't want to forget her letter to Santa...that never...got sent...ooops! ;)

Ava got a fishtank for Christmas...and a lovely new blue fish named "Glowey" :) She can name 'em!

Oooh, lets try some cereal Stella!

Pretty serious about that lil guy...

Glowey - up close and personal. :) After we put Ava to bed the other night, she came out of her room 20 or so minutes later and said, "Glowey did not yisten to me, daddy" Eric and I looked at each other and said, "what do you mean glowey didn't listen to you, Ave? What did you tell Glowey?" At this point, Eric went up to investigate...hoping to not find a fish in her bed. ;-) Well, what had happened was Glowey got stuck in that tube in the middle with the bubbles. Ava was telling Glowey to get out of that tube, and he wasn't listening to her. Silly Glowey.

Smiley Face!!

Stella lives most everyday with Ava in her face. Of course the pink headband kept her occupied this time, usually its Ava's hair that she's going after.

The Pink Bandit Sisters

Stinkerbelle trying to figure out the sitting up thing.

Stella's grandma face. Cracks us up! I need to get a better picture, because when she makes this face she looks exactly like an old toothless granny!!

I couldn't leave out the best part of Glowey's habitat...it GLOWS!! Imagine that! :-)