Growing Too Fast!!

My daughter is growing too fast. I want to bundle her up in a warm fuzzy blanket and snuggle with her again. That stage went entirely too fast...I blinked, and it was over. Anyway, I'm trying to keep up with her and enjoy every last second of every stage. She's a little person with a HUGE personality nowadays. The words are flying out of her mouth faster everyday. Cracker, ice, cheese (CHEEEE, is what we hear...alllllll day long:), dog, kitty, mama, daddy, please...I mean, they're never ending. She says the beginning of many words after she hears us say them. It's fantastic...we love her to death and are eating up every second of her toddler hood...cause Lord knows this stage too, will be gone before we know it.

She loves this chair and her books...she certainly doesn't sit still long enough to flip through every page...but still loves looking though them.

She likes watching our mouths move when we read to her...I wonder what exactly she's thinking. I wonder what she's thinking a lot of the time.

Portia gets hugs all day long from Ava. She's been really into hugging things lately...us, her babies, Portia, kitty. She also loves picking things up and carrying them around...things as in big things...bigger than her usually...but she manages to lift her couch up and carry it across the room...grunting the entire way. ;o)

Such a snuggle bug. And Portia eats it up...every last hug she can get. :o)

The child loves tomato sauce...I don't know what we'll do when we're out of our canned tomato sauce. It's such a mess to clean up...but by the look on her face, she can't get enough of it!

Yep, she's still got it...the kissy face...pucker lips...whatever you wanna call it. :o)

Let Your Inner Health-Nut Shine!

I find that the hardest meal of the day to prepare is lunch. I always struggle with what healthy & quick meals to give Ava...especially because she's only got 6 teeth! The easiest would be things like Dora shaped mac & cheese, hotdogs, spagetti-o's, bologna sandwich...stuff that I remember eating for lunch as a kid. BUT, then the OCD-health-nut side of my brain takes over and since so many people have asked me lately some good ideas for quick and healthy meals I will just share some ideas from our house. :o)

 ~ Whole wheat spinach & ricotta cheese ravioli with our homemade canned tomato sauce...

~ Whole wheat toast with organic peanut butter & jam...

~ Frozen broccoli, peas & carrots, bite sized butternut squash, edamame...

 ~ Bits of cheese (Ava loves Babybel cheese!) ...

~ Homemade canned peaches...

~ Kiwi, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, bananas...

~ Homemade mac & cheese made with whole wheat elbows & organic cheddar cheese....

~ Pieces of baked chicken leftover from dinner last night...

~ A brown rice, tomato, black bean, ground beef mixture used for our stuffed peppers...

~ Unsalted Ritz crackers make great snacks...we buy the Whole Foods 365 brand of these and Ava loooves 'em!

(Don't forget about leftovers! You can freeze leftovers and heat them up for quick & healthy lunches...also good when you're having something spicy for dinner and need a 2nd meal for little ones.)

~ Happy Baby (all organic) makes some great toddler meals too--Ava loves Salmon Stix & Veggie Tots! Okay--they're a bit pricey--but they almost always have Buy One Get One Free coupons inside the box...which to me is worth it!!

~ Organic cereal bars are fantastic as snacks...they are soft enough for Ava to bite pieces off, and they don't fall apart and get all crumbly & messy...the best part. Barbara's Bakery makes a great fruit & yogurt bar!  One of these is usually Ava's afternoon snack...with a little milk or juice on the side. :)  I actually, on a whim, gave Ava a nutri-grain bar and she spit it out like it was dog food...oh my, I'm creating a miniature food snob...

~ When it comes right down to it, I think the most important component to well-rounded meal preparing for toddlers is providing foods with a variety of colors. I always shoot for at least 3-4 different colors on Ava's plate when I prepare any meal for her. That goes for our meals as well!!

So, there are a few ideas for healthy meals & snacks. I always think its helpful when I read healthy meal options for toddlers in magazines & on other peoples' blogs. From one mom to another--happy meal makin' !!

Just Some Random Cuteness ...

Just wanted to throw these totally random pictures from the last couple days on here... enjoy!

Just playing with her popper! Ava has been fighting a bug for what seems like a month now!! We have all had serious sinus issues actually..runny & stuffy noses...awful coughs...and Ava had a fever last week. I can't express to you how ready I am for it to be spring!!!!!!! Since that isn't likely to happen anytime soon, I would at least be relieved if all of us could get rid of the SNOTS!!!

Classic fridge shot. I saw yesterday that Ava's 2nd cousin Allie also loves to play in the fridge! :) It sounds like this chilly reservoir is an obsession for many kiddos this age!

Just my boo-bear...looking cute. :o)

She's incredibly ornery these days!! And I'm not sure why, but she has literally been attached to my hip for the past week. She's not interested in playing with anything...she just wants me to hold her...and she's perfectly content to watch me try to do laundry with one arm. :o) Maybe it's this bug she's fighting that's got her extra clingy. She's also been adjusting to one nap a day lately. That was totally her idea...not mine. She began putting up the biggest fight for her 2nd nap, so we've eliminated the morning nap and are trying to get her used to taking a nap after lunch. Otherwise, one nap in the morning makes it far too long without sleep before bedtime.

Nice buddha belly, Ava.  Target has the cutest toddler clothes out right now, by the way...in case anyone is looking...I had to talk myself into leaving the store before I bought one of everything!

Trying on daddy's slippers.

Lil monster!

She has the chubbiest, kissiest cheeks...I'm not sure who she got those from? ...... ;o)

And we're trying out utensils...she actually doesn't do too bad with them! We've also totally stopped babyfood...its been awhile now...I think right around her 1st birthday we just weeded it all out. She pretty much only wanted finger foods at that point anyway. We're working on bottles next. Pretty much she only gets a bottle at bedtime right now...and she looooves that bottle. So, it will be interesting to change up her routine and leave out the bottle...she might be a little mad at us!! :o)

Ears Pierced!!

We took Ava to get her ears pierced tonight!!! She looks so cute!! She was naturally not a big fan of having me put her in a head-lock for the piercing...but she was still such a trooper! They pierced both her ears at the same time...thankfully! Only about 48 seconds of some wild wailing and it was all over...and she's got cute, girly pierced ears! :o) Oh, the things we do to our children...

Signing her life away...

"Why are we sitting here on this big tall stool, mom?"

"Hmmm...something doesn't feel right here...something in the air tells me I should be afraid!"

"MOM, why are you holding my head still--you know I hate that! And what's this lady doing on my ears!?"

"Playing with my hair does not make this situation seem any lighter, mom!"

"OH MY GOSH, SHE'S GOT ME IN THE HEAD-LOCK!! AND TWO STRANGE LADIES ARE COMING AT ME AT THE SAME TIME WITH BIG GUN LOOKING THINGYS!! AHHHH"

"WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED?!! Oh, that was horendous!! I knew something wasn't right here!! MOTHER--You Traitor!!!"

"OH STOP..can't you just get off me lady? I don't care if that cotton ball is supposed to make my ears feel better...Oh, I am so OVER this day! Take me home right now....oooh where's my daddy?"

"Ahhh, my daddy...my savior...the man of the hour...oh, how you just saved me from that traitor of a mother of mine!!"

"Yay! I'm on my sofa! What's that you say? Do I remember that awful experience from the mall? Naaah...what ear piercing? I don't remember anything about this ear piercing business. Can I have more juice?"

THE END...

Seven Springs, PA

We went to Seven Springs Ski Resort last weekend for our annual ski-trip getaway! :) Well, my 1st annual trip...last year Ava was too little to leave behind and too little to take along...so Eric went with our friends and mama & Ava stayed home. This year Eric & I both made the trek to Pennsylvania and left Ava behind. We had lots of fun. I love skiing! I wish it had been a little warmer, but otherwise the weather and amount of snow we got was insane!! Perfect for skiing!! 20+ inches of powdery bliss! We stayed at a quaint, secluded cabin about 7 miles from the resort...literally in the middle of nowhere! There were 7 of us total. I'm already anxious for the next trip!! :)

Enjoy the pics....

Check out the snow!!!!!!

The only women on the trip...the guys would have been lost without us. ;o) hehe.

4 wheel drive was a must!

Warming our fingers up!

Seriously...it was freezing...below freezing actually. 16 degrees was the high!

Ava's 2nd Christmas...A Little More Interesting!

Christmas with Ava was a bit more interesting this year! She did more than blink and coo at her presents...yay!! Next year will be even more exciting for her...she was still a little unsure about the idea of unwrapping the gift to get to the good stuff...so daddy helped, cause he really likes opening presents. ;o)

Here we go! Daddy has to help...she has no clue what he's doing though.

It's a remote!! Maybe she'll play with this one instead of ours now!! Highly unlikely....but one can wish. ;o)

Chillin' on her new Dora couch....cause she loves couches!! This one folds out into a bed with a sleeping bag inside...she likes it best unfolded. :)

The infamous popper! Since she has gotten the hang of this thing she has loved it! She pushes it back and forth like we do with the vacuum.

A ball pit car! She loves to play in it...but gets so mad that she can't climb out without the thing tipping over...which totally freaks her out. So momma comes to the rescue. ;o)

Reeeelaxing. Notice the remote she's holding--it's not the toy!!

A new castle with a swing and slide!! Cool!! She stands up there and really thinks she's big stuff!! Until she topples over backwards down the slide...yikes....then she gets mad.

Steering the ship!! At least that's what I think that wheel's for. I thought this was a castle...so the wheel confuses me...maybe it's there just for looks & fun...or maybe I'm missing something. Oh well! She loves this thing anyway!!

Yes...Portia got some Christmas lovin' as well. She was seriously digging life at this moment....

Oh...just a shot to display our monkey of a child. She climbed on top of the couch by herself. I wonder what the neighbors thought. That had to be a sight from the outside. :o)

Just waking up on the ride home from Granny's. Givin' me an I-just-woke-up-and-I'm-happy-to-see-my-momma-smile/stretch. Those boots are brand spankin' new! She's not sure how to walk in them yet. Yes, they are a tiny bit big, but she kinda freezes in them...the way my cat does when I put a halloween costume on her. ;o)

Helping me make peppermint bark. Hey, daddy wasn't home...I needed a taste-tester. The girl loves chocolate...as every good woman does. ;o)

Tickle Time!!!!!! I love tickling that baby!!! You gotta get her right in the thigh--she belts out some incredible baby belly laughs!!!

And this is my sleeping baby girl...worn out from the holiday rush. Looks dangerous...blanket over the head and all...not gonna lie, I get a lil concerned when I see this...but really, she has a breathe hole over on the side where her 'taggie' is that she sucks on...it's strange, but she loves sleeping like this. Hey, if it suits her, it suits me. ;o) ....... but I'll be honest....it is strange...Ha!!