The Cunninghams

Big Girl Bed

2012-02-10T10:30:00.005-06:00

We knew that baby #2 was hopefully going to be coming soon and Ava had been sleeping horribly in her crib so we decided it was time to try out the BIG GIRL BED!! We figured if she was going to cry in her crib, she could just cry in the big girl bed. haha!

So, anyway, we made a trip up to Schaumburg to IKEA to shop for beds. We knew we wanted to use the crib for baby and after looking online, we found some reasonable ones at IKEA. We ended up with this one.

It was really basic and REALLY cheap! I think the frame was like $50 and then we got the mattress, as well as her bedding there, too. Here she is just doing a little bedtime reading.

We were pleasantly surprised with how well the transition was. We told her that the #1 rule was that she "could not get out of the bed." We said when she woke up in the morning, to just say "Mommy, Daddy, I'm awake." She only got up ONCE on the first night and I am pretty sure it was to go out in the hall where I had thrown a bunch of stuff that needed to be put in a new place after adding the big girl bed to the room (the crib is also in there since we only have 2 bedrooms upstairs. The others are in the basement or on the main floor (ones we COULD use as a bedroom) and not ones we'd use for a 2 year old. Anyway, we heard the door creak so I went upstairs and she was in the hallway grabbing some stuffed animal. I asked her what she was doing and I think I caught her off guard so of course she cried, and cried, but then we just told her again she can't get out of the bed and honestly she hasn't since!

We've had a few phases where she will cry when we walk out of the room and there were a few nights I sat there rubbing her back until she fell asleep because I just didn't want to listen to her crying (yep...she figured me out! haha). But like I said, it really was just a phase and obviously I wasn't going to sit there every night doing that so we've had some cry it out moments. Sometimes if she starts crying when we walk out of the room, we will immediately go back in and sort of say "no, you aren't going to cry!" with a stern voice and it actually seems to work!!!

Little Birdie

2012-02-10T10:22:00.002-06:00

Obviously I know this is OOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLDDDDDDDDDD news (to some of you...LOL)...but I'm trying to blog in order and my last post was, sadly, October. Oh goodness!! Anyway, this way I can hopefully order a blog book someday.

Anyway, we found out Ava was going to be a big sister back in about September (um, it's Feb. now. EEK!). I excitedly got on Etsy and ordered her this ADORABLE whimsical birdie shirt to help us announce our special news. I made this little card with my Creative Memories digital scrapbooking software and sent it out to the staffs at my school as well as uploaded it on Facebook. We also had her wear it to announce the news to Travis' family when they were at our house.

Look for an upcoming post (when baby is 2 years old) to find out the gender! LOL!!!!

Jason and Jia-Yee's Wedding

2011-12-14T08:46:00.005-06:00

We went to Chicago on Oct. 1 for the wedding of Travis' friend, Jason. They met at work and since Jason has left ATI and moved to Chicago. He and Jia-Yee live in an awesome apartment near Michigan Ave. Their wedding was at a really nice hotel in downtown Chicago and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. Oh my word! The pregnancy brain is upon me! LOL! Anyway, as you'll see from the photos, it was VERY luxurious. We also were upgraded to the highest luxury suite (no idea why!) but we didn't complain. =) We hung out with one of Trav's other buddies, Jamison (Jamie) and his girlfriend, Scout. They live a few blocks away from us and all 3 guys worked together when Travis started at ATI.

I loved the cake! And their cake topper was the cutest thing I've ever seen...and so original!

The happy couple =) Jamison performed the ceremony!

The 3 guys!

The view!

There was also a separate living room. I swear the whole suite was about as big as the first floor of our house, haha!!

Ava Funnies

2011-11-28T21:04:00.003-06:00

My sweet little 2 1/2 year old! This was one evening when I needed to run to pick up a few things after Kindermusik - I was tired and in a hurry - and HUNGRY! I think I was picking up something for dinner. Ava wanted to wear this headband so she put it on and this was how it turned out, LOL!

I have to document a few of the funnies from Ava lately! I just don't want to forget and she is just so darn cute right now!!!!!!! =)

Today we got a thank you card from a baby shower we recently went to, so I told her we had gotten some mail. I asked her if she wanted me to read it to her and she said yeah. Then she says, "It's from the ZOO!!!!!! It's from the 'aminals!' They eat paper!! And bones. They eat bones." Pretty sure they learned something about bones at Miss Lisa's but I have no idea where that came from!!!!!!!

She is obsessed with being a kitty right now. She will crawl around meowing and say she wants a treat. Then will tell you to meow and ask you if you want a treat.

She is also obsessed with telling on one of the little girls from daycare. LOL!! Little Allison is about 18 months old (so quite a bit younger than Ava) but has 2 older brothers and is apparently used to wrestling and can be a little rough! She also hits (which I am not worried about in the least bit!! And I work with Allison's dad at school, LOL!). Anyway, in the car, at dinner or just playing, we will hear Ava saying, "Allison, NO HITTING, NO HITTING, NO HITTING! That is naughty! Miss Lisa says "NO HITTING." Oh it's too funny! I always tell Ava "It's ok, Miss Lisa took care of it" or "see, it's not nice to hit."

Speaking of...about a week ago, Ava was jumping on the couch and I told her to sit down and kind of forced her to sit down to which she HIT me!!!!! (ha!). I told her to go to time-out and that "We do NOT hit." She screamed and cried all the way to time-out and then said, um, screamed, "I AM MAT AT YOU!!!!" I literally had to run into the kitchen so she wouldn't see me laughing! Then I of course went back and we had a little talk.

Oh my word, she is also obsessed with saying "right." She will say any sentence and then go "Right??" and now she has started saying (particularly in the van or car when we have her music CD on), "We don't say right! Not until the CD is over." We have no idea what it's all about! Then tonight at dinner, she said something like "We don't say right, right?" Then Travis and I kept saying "right. right." Then she goes "We don't say right. We TALKED about this!" bahahahaha!!!

Little Miss Ava has always been a talker and pretty much can say just about anything so Travis and I LOVE her little words that she mispronounces!!! Here are a few:
Ro-get (for Yo-gurt!)
Mus-gik (for music)
Lel-low (for Yellow!) Why do all kids say lellow??? So cute!
El-pha-lant (for El-e-phant)

September 2011

2011-11-28T20:19:00.008-06:00

This will probably be quite a post! Feel free to browse the photos (and skim the commentary, LOL!). I have once again said I am going to keep up with my blog but I haven't blogged in over like 2 months, so in an effort to get caught up, I am going to do monthly posts until I get caught up. I do really want to try to do a blog book so I am going to have to try to stay on top of things! The past 15 weeks (minus about 2 or 3), I have been EXHAUSTED due to being preggo (more to come on that)...and literally had to go to bed as soon as we put Ava to bed. It was ridiculous! I am thankful now that I can stay up until at least 10pm and actually still function in the afternoons...well, somewhat...we might want to ask my students! =) So, anyway, here goes!

In early September, we went to an ISU volleyball game with Uncle Rob and Aunt Abby. Ava had a lot of fun running around before the game outside and inside the auditorium.

Labor Day Parade:
This was the first year we have been able to go to the Labor Day parade because typically we are in Grafton with my side of the family, but since Ava had the flu and we couldn't go, we were able to enjoy the parade at least. It is right in our neighborhood so we just packed the wagon and walked a few blocks and met up with the Hobsons.

Ava enjoyed it and looked so cute in her shades and Hello Kitty backpack peeking around to see what was coming next.

Ava and daddy and Hunter and his daddy, Jay!

Cheese!!

Chicago:
Travis and I were able to go to Chicago for a Bears game on September 11 and enjoy a mommy/daddy weekend while Ava stayed at home with Gma Holtman. We took the train up on Saturday so we had time to shop, go to a nice dinner and then relax (I think I was asleep by like 11pm) and be ready for the game on Sunday. We ate dinner at Hugo's Frog Bar and Fish House. It.was.AMAZING!!! I had the crab legs and was not disappointed (they even cut them open for you!!)! We also had the crab cakes appetizer which was delicious!

Us waiting for dinner in front of a cute little fountain on Rush St.

Bears Game

It was pretty neat to go to the game on Sept. 11. I LOVED the huge flag they put on the field!

Rawwwrrrrr!!! (and they won!!)

My 15 Year High School Reunion

Les, Anne, Kristy, Me

Me and my sis...no not twins, since it is "Alumni Weekend," she was out with some friends, as well.

Anne and me...BFF's! Anne is one of my dearest friends. We went to high school together (obviously) and then were roomies in college and still keep in touch and are best friends even though 2 hours separates us.

Whew! Busy September...October coming up soon!

Getting in Gear

2011-09-19T12:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been blogging much lately - partly because if I get on to blog then I get lost in reading everyone else's blogs...which of course I LOVE DOING, but I find I am wasting a lot of time that I could be doing something else (um, things that I HAVE to do...and not as much fun of course!). And especially if I am checking blogs during my plan time at work, LOL! =) Anyway, I have always used my blog to help me keep track and journal our daily lives which in turn helps me with my scrapbook. BUT...the idea of actually turning my blog INTO my scrapbook is sounding more and more intriguing as the months fly by and Ava is still only 6 months old in her scrapbook - and she is *ALMOST* 2 and a HALF! So, I thought to myself well, if I'm going to plan to do that, then I better get some blogging done! =) I even have digital scrapbooking software but it still is time consuming AND you have to be in a scrapping kind of mood, so apparently it's not helping me. ha!

This post is going to be kind of random but of course, those simple small things that we do each day really are the BIG things in life, aren't they??????? These are also pics from my phone and of course I have loads more (I'll get to those someday!) but since I'm (SHHHHHHHHHHHH) blogging on my lunch/plan break, these are what I have to work with. teeeeheeee! My goal is to get back into doing more structured posts of actual events etc.

This is a pic of Ava at our local Hobby Lobby. One evening Ava and I took my good friend Nanci out to dinner and then we did a little shopping. Nanci often times watches Ava for us if we have mommy/daddy plans. We've been friends since college and she will NOT let us pay her!

Last week (ish), poor Miss Ava got the flu for the very first time. Yes, the vomiting flu. YUCK. Not fun for anyone. Now, obviously things are going to get passed around at the daycare, but one of the little girls apparently vomited at 4:30 on a Wednesday afternoon and went back THE.NEXT.DAY! Well, no wonder. Ava got it - along with EVERY SINGLE CHILD at daycare, the daycare provider, her daughter and lots of mommies and daddies (including me.). Boo. Here ishe is recovering. Sweet little thing. She didn't quite understand the whole throwing up thing. I think she must have thought we were saying "poop" instead of "puke" because later she said something to the effect of "I pooped in my bed." LOL

This is a picture of her helping me out at my school preparing for the start of the school year. If you can see the partial image on the Smart Board in the background, yep, that is Dora's torso. And on the table is her "lemon-dade" and popcorn. No wonder she keeps asking if we can go to my school now! :)

This is a picture of Ava while we were waiting at the airport here in town waiting on my sister and my nephew Jackson to arrive from North Carolina. They went on vacation and actually made the drive down there (my sister, bro-in-law and 2 nieces as well) but then my sister and J made the trip back via plane! :)

Watching their plane land!...

Every day when I pick Ava up from Miss Lisa's (if she isn't upset because we have to leave), then she asks if we can go to the park. This girl LOVES being outside. This was taken before school started. It stinks because we usually can't just go to the park right then because we need to get home for dinner etc. but we will also go outside to play at home and I try to make a quick trip to the park when we can. The problem with that is that then she doesn't want to leave! :) The crying is usually short lived, though!

She is so much fun right now (as usual, right!?). She is constantly cracking us up. Funny things

she has said lately...

"Can you open the garage sale so I can play?" bahahaha! Her toys are in the garage and we all know her mommy loves her a garage sale! I guess she got the 2 mixed up.
"Actually............" Her new favorite word is actually. One day at Jewel, she asked me what this thing up on the wall was. When I told her it was leaves, she said "Actually, it's a flower." Well, ok then! Now all of the sudden that is her favorite word.
This one cracked me up...Me: Well, I better take a shower. Ava: Well, I better watch a Dora. Nice try little one!
"I have Cheetos in my butt." No, I am not proud of this one but apparently she had Cheetos at Miss Lisa's as part of her lunch and then when she pooped she said this statement. Travis and I about died! I mean, how does she even know to say that???
She is also repeating things I say a lot. For example, "Wait a second! I think I forgot something!" hahaha!
While she used to be deathly (screaming) afraid of bugs, now they are "cute little baby bugs!!!" Crack me up.
She can also recite her ABC's perfectly and count pretty well (sometimes up to 15)...when she wants to, of course.
She is learning a lot at Miss Lisa's who does preschool daily and one night while we were saying our prayers she then breaks out with the Pledge of Allegiance! I was dying. I think she initally said "indivisible" and I was like "Oh, you want to say the Pledge of Allegiance!" She doesn't have it fully memorized...yet, but I'm sure she will soon.
The other funny thing about that story was she kept saying "Here's your chocolate chip!" so I asked Lisa and she said they all get a chocolate chip after play time and before they start Preschool time.

She continues to be such a sweet little girl and is very sensitive and compassionate. She is always asking if you are ok, or "are you tired?" if you yawn. She takes care of her babies very well and is always making sure they are ok. We love you, Ava!

Ava's First Movie

2011-09-08T21:43:00.003-05:00

We went to see Smurfs last week with the Hobson and Cunningham boys. We were the ONLY ones in the theater!! It was really fun. Being Ava's first movie, I wasn't sure how she would do...especially with the movie choice (not necessarily something I knew she'd enjoy) but she did great!! It was FREE popcorn night so that definitely helped. =) She giggled a lot at the little Smurfs! At one point she told Katie, who was sitting next to her, to check out her painted toes! LOL!

She only said "I'm all done" right at the end with about 10 minutes left so we went out and then immediately she said she wanted to go back in. So back in we went (after refilling our CAFFEINE FREE Diet Coke) and she sat and watched the rest. It was a decent movie and I enjoyed some free popcorn too!

Travis and I are excited that now we can start going to movies! I hope there are some cute ones out this winter for little ones!

SUMMER LOVIN'

2011-08-08T22:01:00.011-05:00

I have been a HORRIBLE blogger this summer!! UGH. And summer is winding down. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to! The pics are not really in any order because I always forget to upload them backwards. =) Regardless, we have had a GREAT summer! I have so enjoyed every single second I've had with Ava and going back to work is always bittersweet. I am fortunate to have a job that I love and I enjoy my students, but of course, I will miss Ava tons. Luckily my days are so fast paced and get over quick and in the blink of an eye it's the end of the day!

Rock Band!!! Testing, Testing!!!

Lots of manis and pedis. :)

Playing with my bracelets while I get ready :)

Lots of splash parks, pool days, and fun hanging with our friends. Loved this pic of Ava and Lauren in their 4th of July suits!

Fun at the library. We frequented both public libraries to check out books and play. Ava loved it!

Putting our animals in time out!

We made it to the Fun Run most Friday evenings and Ava enjoyed getting her ribbon, seeing her friends and receiving a trophy on the last fun run of summer!

Out and about with Bitty Baby. Ava is all about safety, LOL!

Mommy and Daddy went on a vacation to Playa del Carmen, Mexico and it.was.AMAZING! It has been a few years since we've been on a real vacation and we figure it will be a few more til we are able to go on another one so we WENT FOR IT! AND it was our 5th Anniversary, so we figured the timing was perfect! =) Don't regret it one bit. It was perfect! We missed Ava, OF COURSE, but she did great with Grandma Holtman.

Here's Ava "swimming all by herself" as she will tell you. So glad I got her this life jacket with the floaties on the arms and the piece that goes across the front (Thank you, Annie for recommending it!). It is great!

Ava and I went on our annual "Girls" Trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my mom, sisters and my nieces and nephew. Mr. Jackson is the only "boy" allowed! <3

The Gang!!!! We had a lot of fun!

Great Wolf Lodge. 2011

We just recently went to our county fair with my friend Katie and her boys. It was melting hot, but the kids had so much fun riding the rides (see pic below, Holden is helping Ava! LOVE!), eating fair food, petting the animals, getting face and arms painted by the Zoo Lady crew and checking out the tractors. We also went to my hometown fair to watch my niece Isabelle sing in the talent contest. She did great!!!

Holden, Hunter, and Ava feeding the animals.

Ava and cuz Jackson. She absolutely LOVES him!

Fun at the Discovery Museum. We also went with Katie and her boys on a Friday night and "closed the place down" :) Ava enjoyed all of the areas there to play.

Pizza anyone?????

My mom and I went to St Louis recently, as well, to the American Idol concert. We had floor seats so that was fun. =) We ate at the Cheesecake Factory, did a little shopping and met up with a friend that lives there that was also going to the concert.

(me UNsuccessfully hiding my drink from the photo, LOL!)...

So, as of tomorrow, we have ONE week til school starts. Next Tuesday is our first day back with an Institute Day. The kids come back on Thursday for a half-day and luckily for me, I get that day to work in my room because kids won't come to area classes until Friday. I will need it as I have TWO classrooms to prepare. One is pretty much ready after multiple visits this past week!! :) I am anxiously waiting to find out my schedule. It is always initially a nightmare and requires a few tweaks. BOO!

Anyway, I feel super blessed to have the best of both worlds! I can enjoy the summer with Ava and she also gets the opportunity to be around other kids at daycare while I go to work. We are excited that she is starting at a new one this year. Again it will be in-home with a woman named Lisa. I have many co-workers/friends that have kids that go there and have heard only amazing things about her. She does preschool in her home with the kids as well so I am excited for all of the things Ava's little brain is going to absorb!

2011-07-14T07:45:00.003-05:00

*UPDATE*
I am pretty proud of myself so had to toot my own horn. Since I wrote my blog post "Today is the Day!" I have actually been really good about working out and eating better. I have cut out COFFEE (I've only had it like twice since July 5...I'm shocked! As I type this, though, thinking pretty sure I need some today =)
I have been doing P90X including the ab ripper, my old workout 'tape' The Firm, and taking walks, etc. I think I've only missed a few days. I have also been trying to eat better and will get a side salad if we eat out rather than getting fries. Of course I splurge, too. Yesterday we went to lunch and I got a horseshoe and we all shared pizza dough bites. Um, YUM.
I am not necessarily seeing any major difference *yet* but it is amazing how just one week (a little over) of working out can make you feel!!! Here's to hoping I can keep it up, especially after we get back from Mexico. I am pretty sure I won't be working out on vaca, though I always say I'll try.

2011-07-11T09:12:00.005-05:00

Happy 4th of JULY! (a little late!!)

We had a great 4th of July weekend with lots of family and friends time!
Us at my friend Annie and Steve's on the 4th.

Ava in the bird area at our local zoo. I just thought this was the cutest pic of her so I did some fun editing on picnik.

Me and my munchkin at my friend Brooke's cookout. It took about 20 shots to get a decent one, LOL! and my smile is still goofy!

Cooling off at the splash area the day we went to the zoo! It was HOT!!!

Doesn't she look ornery???? =)

Today is THE DAY!

2011-07-07T22:04:00.005-05:00

Well, that is what I told myself 3 days ago!! I have finally started working out again. This has been my goal since the beginning of summer and here it is after July 4th! Soooooooo---after much indulgence over the holiday weekend (and really the whole summer so far!), I am trying to get back into a good workout and eating routine. Unfortunately, I am either "ALL IN" or "ALL OUT!" I am not one that has the discipline to really watch what I eat (hence the reason I want to work out!!). I hate not being able to eat what I want!!! However, if I would just watch what I eat, then I wouldn't have to work out so much. UGH! HAHA! Truth is, though, I do love working out...once I get in my groove. It is ADDICTING...for me, anyway! And, I of course, LOVE the results!!! It is fun to see what I can do that might have been hard at first.

Before Miss Ava, I was working out like 2 hours a day. I would go to the gym right after school and eventually was running 3 miles (without stopping!), doing pilates, spinning, and some strength training. I even did the 3 miles of running and then went to spinning on several occasions. CRAZY, I tell ya! My goal was to get into shape before getting pregnant and I accomplished that. I did think I would continue to work out after having her. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't quite know how hard it would be!!!

I am also unfortunately NOT.A.MORNING.PERSON!!!! Never have been and don't think I ever will be. haha! I know I could probably make it 'habit' to get up early and workout...but ICK. I love my sleep!! For now, I am trying to work out during her nap time OR after she goes to bed. We also go on walks and then if I get in some weights, I feel pretty good. I am also sprinkling in some P90X (a few of the one I like!) and the P90X Ab Ribber..."I hate it.......but I LOVE IT!" LOL

I am also trying to be more conscious of what I am putting into my mouth. I was getting into the habit of having an evening snack (= ICE CREAM) every night!!! WHY? Cuz I can, I guess! And I also love me some wine in the evening. I haven't been drinking enough water and too much Diet Coke so those are things I'm working on. AND NEWS FLASH...I have even GIVEN UP COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Since Ava was born, I think I've literally had a cup of coffee every single morning. I do love it, but it is not the coffee that is bad, it's the YUMMY, DELICIOUS hazelnut creamer that I pile in the cup. 3 tsp = 50 calories so I know that right off the bat, I've consumed 50 (and probably more...) unnecessary calories. Now, I'm not saying I'm giving it up forever...just maybe I don't HAVE to have it EVERY DAY. Jeesh! And I would never think of drinking coffee black. Ewwwww! =)

But...I am not loving the GUT I am developing. I am thankful for clothes that can cover it yet I am tired of not being able to wear half of my clothes and feel comfortable. And not to mention the flabby arms I have. EWWWWW! hahaha!

So. Today is the day!!! =)

Here's to hoping I can keep up the routine. Especially once school starts up again. I know it will be hard, but hoping if I kind of go extreme NOW while I have time, then I can do mild workouts during the school year and just maintain.

2011-06-27T12:27:00.002-05:00

Little Diva - ReAdY for SuMMeR!!!

Well, we made it through the entire church service this past Sunday without having to go RESCUE Ava! YAY! She did cry the moment we walked in and I stayed with her for a few minutes but then she did great!! Whew...PRogReSS!

I am thoroughly enjoying my summer with her! It is going to go by WAY TOO FAST, as always...though I do believe I am a better mommy because I get to go to a job I love and it gives us a little separation time, too. And as I talked with some of my teacher friends recently, we've decided that we really don't think being a stay at home mom in the dreaded WINTER would be much fun!

She is at an age where she is really taking everything in, learning new things and retaining so much. She will say things and I'm like, "WOW, how does she know that!" It is so fun!!! She is a very perceptive and observant little thing. She notices the TINIEST things, for example the cow on her yogurt container that is literally the size of her pinky nail! The other day we were in the basement and she noticed that the little area of the basement floor where the paint had chipped and said "Puppy right there." Do you see it????

She was eating chips this day and said, "Boot?" I guess she might take after me a little bit and have an artistic eye! :)

She loves to sing and I'll be excited to get her back into Kindermusik in the fall. She can sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" It usually goes like this...
Twinkle, Twinkle (or Crinkle, Crinkle, sometimes)...Star How I wonder...Are Like a Diamond in the Sky

I think she knows it's cute and she usually sings it
repetitively at bedtime when we are snuggling. haha!

Our summer is pretty low-key.....which I LOVE!!!!!! I don't have her signed up for anything but we enjoy the Fun Run every Friday evening, going to the pool on Tues and Thurs with friends and Friday playdates. We also are signed up for both BLM and Normal Summer Reading programs and we usually go exchange our books on a rainy day - which has been a LOT lately. (BOO!). We also hit up garage sales on Thursday evenings, Friday mornings or Saturday mornings...and I do have to do go the chiropractor 3 times a week (and 2 times a week soon) and they are very kid-friendly. The girls there help keep her occupied or she can go into each area with me, as well. The only thing that really scares her is the adjustment bed which moves. She cries most days about that but there have been a few where she has been ok. The day I stopped for Starbucks and got her a cake pop - there were no tears!!! LOL
Dr. Steve does not scare her though, which is good and he is a tall guy! She will say hi to him and want to show him her snacks, etc. She even says "Dr. Steve?" when she plays with her little Dr. kit!

Ava's friends at the Fun Run...The Cunningham boys, Hobson boys, Corinne (who Ava will go to daycare with in August!) and some little boy I don't know. I am assuming he knows Holden or Colin, ha!

Ava LOVES her new water table! It is technically a sand and water table and we bought sand but haven't put it in yet. I like having it on the front porch and I don't want sand dumped out all over the porch =)

Miss Ava

2011-06-13T22:26:00.010-05:00

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

{Dr. Seuss}

We have been so blessed with such a good girl...not to mention funny, goofy, silly, haha...She continues to crack us up every day. She does get her share of Time-Outs, though!!

Why, you say????? =)

This was me attempting to get her 2 year chair pics.

This was on her actual birthday. Per tradition (and until she can request the restaurant!), we took her to Chili's. They even have a FREE birthday Sundae...SCORE!! I think she liked it.

My little munchkin just chilling on the steps with her drink (probably "lemon-dade" if you ask her), a chip and her cool shades.

We went to friend Izzy's 2nd birthday party the first weekend in June and it.was.hot. We had lots of fun, though and I threw Ava's hair up in a ponytail and THIS is how it turned out. I hope her hair stays this adorable forever!!! People out and about everywhere ask me (DAILY!) if her hair is natural. It cracks me up because what I want to say is "No, I curl it every day." LOL. Am I mean????? =) ha. Just kiddin. They are just giving her a compliment, I know!

Yes, we enrolled her in etiquette classes early. 2 isn't that young!

Other randoms...
It is amazing how much difference just a few weeks (days!?) makes in Ava's vocabulary. Our pediatrician did say (or maybe I read it somewhere) that we would be amazed with the language she will gain from age 2 to 3. She is apparently listening even when we don't really think she is. For example, today we got out of the van and she said, "It's chilly outside." I just had to laugh. She has also started saying things like "didn't he" and "isn't it." I have a few Precious Moments figurines that I have on her dresser in her room and she loooooves the bunny one I have and likes to give it kisses at night and in the morning. Last night she said, "Bunnies, cute, aren't they?" Everything is "My do it." Her new thing in the last few days is "bring it wissss us?" (with us) when she wants to bring a toy with us in the van. She also is becoming more aware of her surroundings and says things like "kitchen, basement, living room, upstairs, back door, etc." She also says "my bringing it" and today even said "pretend" when she was putting her baby's bottle in her mouth and I told her we just pretend (and then I demonstrated). It was really cute. Oh and she has even upgraded "Stop that" to "YOU stop that!" hahahaha!
Not all words come out perfectly, of course.

I have been going to the chiropractor and the office is very kid-friendly and when I asked, they said to bring her with me so that is nice. I have been telling her we are going to the dr. to make mommy's back feel better. Now anytime I (or Travis) moan or groan about something or even yawn, she asks..."Dr.?? Feel better??"

I am hoping that our little excursions this summer will help with her shyness/timidness. She has done great at the chiro! The only thing that freaks her out is when the adjustment bed moves. One of the office staff ladies took her to her desk today to color. :)
Our most recent nursery visit also went a lot better and she ran around Trav's office today not afraid of ANYONE! She was giggling and showing off the whole time. HOWEVER, immediately after we went to lunch and she was fine and being social to others around (turning her head and saying "Hiiiiiiiiiiiii" to one of the waiters and THEN...she saw some regular guy sitting at a table about 15 feet away and FREAKED OUT! She cried and cried and wouldn't eat. I did get her out but only after telling her she had to stop crying (which she attempted to do) but you can see real tears and that she is really scared of something (not just whining!). So anyway, I get her out and she just sat on my lap and then when the guy and his buddy left, she said "all gone." I am not sure what to do about this! But for now we are just trying to Keep Calm and Carry On!

*KEEP SCROLLING!!!!!!! Don't Miss Ava's 2nd Birthday Party Blog Post!!!

C...is for Cookies!

2011-06-13T21:43:00.011-05:00

I had sooooooooooooooooo much fun planning Ava's 2nd Birthday party! I chose the theme "Milk & Cookies" after browsing online for some cute/unique ideas. And WHO DOESN'T LOVE MILK & COOKIES!? I would say that 99% of my ideas came from the internet, so thank you fellow bloggers for some ADORABLE ideas!!!

The Milk & Cookies table

The table included a variety of cookies - almost all homemade! Chocolate chip by my mom, Snickerdoodles by my sis, No Bake by Ava's Daddy, Peanut Butter with Reeses Pieces by me (AKA, Ava's mommy!), Individually wrapped Sugar cookies with a "2" made again by me! (my tradition! And then we purchased 2 types of Oreos and "Raspberry filled Pillow Cookies" from our local Fresh Market (= YUM!!!).

We had paper sacks for guests to fill up with cookies to take home!

Oh and don't forget the varieties of flavored MILK!! My mom even found these cool flavored milk straws which we placed in old Starbucks Frappucino bottles and Snapple Tea bottles!

The Birthday girl in her birthday shirt painted by ME!! Ready to party!!

My Grandma has been making cakes since I was 2 (ha!) and graciously agreed to make Ava's 2nd birthday cake. I really didn't care what she did (they always taste yummy too!). We loved her "wafer" cookie cake!

She also made these cute cake pops!! THEY WERE AWESOME! :)

Happy Birthday Ava!!!

You can see more from my friend Katie's blog here. :) She got some great shots, and frankly, I wish you could upload more photos at a time so I'm being lazy!!

There were a few more things I would have liked to do for the party, but I told myself that whatever we got done, we would be happy with. The end of the school year is just CrAzY soooooo I think we did pretty well. :) And the weather could not have been more perfect especially with the chance for RAIN.

I made this sign and had people stick their heads in the holes. If nothing else, it was fun (funny!)

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!

2011-05-25T22:30:00.001-05:00

Dear Ava,
You are 2!!!!! It is hard to believe...
I want to capture every.single.moment with you right now as you are blossoming into your own little person so I'm writing you this letter. You are hilarious, expressive, shy, smart, dramatic at times, a good eater, and sweet. Right now you are into giving *hugs* and *kisses* especially when we leave in the morning. You have so many little expressions and are talking a mile a minute. There is really no way to keep track of what you say and you are talking in little sentences.

It is hard to figure you out sometimes. You are so social and love to say "HI" to everyone while we are out and about, for example, yet you get very shy around certain people and even CRY hysterically around some men. ?? You say "oooooowwwwwwww" a lot (especially when you get your hair combed) and will say "Kiss It" when you get hurt - no matter where/what it is that hurts. You love to be outside!! Your eyes are very sensitive to bright lights and the sun so we have little sunglasses for you that you actually keep on pretty well!

You can be a bit dramatic at times (LOL) and definitely test mommy and daddy often. You have to sit in "time-out" for hitting, throwing toys, saying "NO!!!!!!!" and crying for no reason but you are a really good girl. You don't have a mean bone in your body and are so sweet but You. Are. 2! :)
You are a happy little thing. You wake up in the morning as cheerful as can be and will play in your crib for quite a while. Usually we hear you in there giggling at yourself, saying "Mommmmmmmmyyyyyy, where are you??" or "Commmmeeeerrrre (come here)."

You are still a great sleeper but you often cry when mommy or daddy walk out of the room. It usually only lasts a few minutes or LESS. You have been waking up earlier than you used to (7am!!!!!!!! used to be more like 8 or 8:30) but it is still a little random.

One of my favorite times of the day is our "snuggle time." Our nighttime routine is dinner, play, bath, jammies, books, prayers and then snuggling. We usually rock for about 5 minutes or so. At this time, you looooove to be tickled and always say "more more." I just started giving you butterfly kisses and you just GIGGLE AND GIGGLE! We also sing. Your favorite right now is "Crinkle, Crinkle." (Twinkle, twinkle). We also sing "Jesus Loves Me, Hush Little Baby, and Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." We always ask who you want to snuggle with and lately it's been all mommy. You love your daddy for sure but you are definitely a momma's girl.

You love Kindermusik. You always request the CD to be on in the car. Soooooo, mommy and daddy know ALL the lyrics to every K musik song. :) We even listen to them in them in the car when you are not in the car before we realize we CAN change the channel.

You love to be outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You love the slide, going to the park and going for stroller rides. I am so excited I just got you a little slide at a garage sale for $5. :)

Funny things you've been saying/doing lately...

Stop it, or Stop that!

Last night you put your bath toys (penguin, ducks) in time out on the edge of the tub. I was playing along and got in their faces and said, "Oh, why did you do that? You need to listen." You then said, "Why...do dat!?" Oh so cute!

I do it!

Where are you?

What's that??? What's that??? What's that??? (x a million, LOL)

Who's that?

I eat it all

awwww. Sweet. (about babies, birds, etc.)

I hear it

Luz you (love you)

You mix up a few letters and I LOVE it. You say "sunny" for funny and "crinkle crinkle" for Twinkle, Twinkle. You also say "grink" for drink. WE LOVE IT!

OH MY GOODNESS!

Nothin' in there

Favorite foods:

You still love cottage cheese. I swear, you could eat the whole container

Regular cheese

Yogurt

Craisins

Spaghetti

Cereal

Cookies!!!!!!!!

Hamburgers with ketchup (lots...just like daddy).

You will try just about anything. You don't like lettuce. :)

Favorite Books:

Ten Little Babies. You call it "Sticky Babies" because on one page there are "8 sticky babies, in marmalade heaven."

Pooh book from Aunt Bridgett. It was cousin Isabelle's favorite too!!! Pooh gets stuck in the door from eating too much honey. On the page where you see Pooh's "behind," you say "butt!" OOPS!

Prayer Book

Your Friends:

Kids at Tammy's, the sitter: Emersyn, Ethan, Lucas, Zachary, Annah and Seth (Sitter's kids)

Holden and Hunter

Izzy and Tyler

Lauren and Luke

Caroline who we see at Kindermusik, too

Colin, Cade and Chase

Your cousins, Belle and Livy and Jackson (we miss them tons!)

Cousin Ella in MN who we also miss

Cousin Redd:)

I am excited for a summer of fun. We already have play dates and pool dates set up weekly. WHOHOO!

And as I said on facebook this morning, "2 years ago our lives changed (for the better obviously!). Sometimes I wish time would stand still, but I am loving watching you grow up. We love you more than anything in the world." Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!!!!! Love, Mommy and Daddy

ps. I apologize for all of the SPPPPPPAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS in my blog text. It automatically enters it anytime I upload a photo, save a draft and then go back to edit it. ANNOYING!

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T23:13:00.006-05:00

Happy MoThER's Day 2011

Me and my munchkin after church. She wasn't really into our photo session. :) I had to tickle her to get her to smile and avoid her wanting down! ha!

She reeeeeeeeeeally wanted to sit in her own chair! Ok...fine :)

My sis, mom, me

The Bettis MOMS!

Cunningham Fam

We had a nice Mother's Day. Got up early so we could make the 9:00 church service. I have been wanting to get to church so TODAY was the day! =) We attempted the nursery, but one of the ladies had to come get me. Apparently Ava didn't seem to notice too much that we were gone until "some big burly guy" dropped off his son. Oh and she said he stuck around to wipe noses, etc. LOL! I calmed her down, which took several minutes and snuck out again...but only to hear her crying before I got out of the cafeteria next to the nursery. I couldn't take it and I just took her back into the service with us. She sat quietly with her baby, bottle and blankie for the rest of the service. Just relaxing. She even shared her baby with the nice older man sitting next to me. Oh that girl! =) The ladies in the nursery had some great suggestions for the upcoming times so hopefully since we'll be making it a priority it will get better with time. I'll eventually have to let her cry I suppose...

Then we dropped by home to pick up our cheesy potatoes, change clothes, etc. and head to my aunts to have lunch with my mom's side of the family. It was great to see everyone. The weather was beautiful and I got to see my sister and nieces and nephew Jackson, too, WHO I MISS TONS! Of course, I got to see my mom, too, but I see her more often, I guess. =) It was fun.

*Ava even fell asleep on the way home! YAY! We were beginning to get worried as the last 2 times traveling have equaled NO NAP for her! She fought it, but finally fell asleep.*

Cutest Baby Boy in the WOrLd!

We ended the evening by playing outside, walking to Gene's for ice "tream" as Ava would say. Travis and I watched Due Date and had popcorn after putting her to bed.

I have an appointment tomorrow so no school for me! Can't say I'm too upset about it! It's MONDAY, ya know!!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-27T11:16:00.002-05:00

Would you believe that this SWEET little blue-eyed girl threw a screaming, crying, temper tantrum for *almost* the ENTIRE 2 hour drive home on Easter Sunday?????

We had already driven 2 hours to Travis' parents that morning, had lunch, played, etc. then at around 3pm decided to head home. She hadn't napped yet and we assumed she would just nap in the car on the way home. NOT SO MUCH!

She has never done this before so not sure what the deal was. (This was also the first time riding an extended period in the car with no binky!) It started out that she wanted a movie on. She kept saying, "movie? movie?" When we said, "No, it's time to go night-night." that did not make her happy, LOL! We don't ALWAYS show her movies in the van. I've been kind of adament about it, however, I know our sitter does turn it on when they go pick her daughter up every single day from school. Granted, as my sitter said, it is only for a few minutes, but still. She said when she gets to the school and waits in the line to pick her daughter up, she turns the vehicle off, so no more movie.

Anyway, Ava started crying about the "NO MOVIE" and it just escalated and escalated. She continued to cry. Then she got really mad, and then wanted out, which made her more mad. We never gave in and turned on the movie, though.

We even tried her music cd. That didn't even really help. We tried ignoring her, turning the actual radio on and UP. She continued to cry. I even videod her on my phone and then made her watch it, at which time, she got VERY serious. But any time I took my phone away, she got mad again. Then she wanted to see Jackson. LOL.

We hoped she would eventually give in and fall asleep so we tried not to give her any toys, etc. That might have worked, who knows. She also kept throwing her blankie down and saying "I don't want it."

Oh the joys of having an *almost* 2 year old!!!!!!!!!?????????? =)

Have you ever experienced this with your child/children? What did you do? What would you do???? Like I said, we didnt want to give in and turn on a movie (even an educational one) but DANG...not sure who really got the punishment. We got home around 5 or so, had dinner, played a little, bath and then she went to bed at a little before 7pm! (an hour-ish early)

{STINKER}

2011-04-17T19:09:00.006-05:00

Ava doesn't forget ANYTHING!

Today while playing with a little plastic block that is green and is actually "grass" to go along with her Cinderella block castle I got her at a garage sale, she said "Broccoli?" So funny...it totally looked like it.

She always plays with my bracelets and she recently found one that is cream in color and is made up of little rounded rectangles and she was going around going "Dominoes..." She loves to play with Dominoes at the sitter apparently. It was just funny!

She knows all of her body parts - and let me say ALL of them. Apparently I've told her what a "booby" is because she for sure knows that. OOPS! Last night while rocking before bed (my FAVE time of day...we just "snuggle" and rock, sing, tickle, etc. then I lay her down. It has always been our routine...never rocking her to sleep, though). Anyway, last night while snuggling, she says (while poking my eyes out...), "two eyes!" I was like, "yes, thank you!" LOL. Then I asked her where her armpit was (and she knew), then her knees, shoulders, etc. She knows all of those due to singing "Head, shoulders, knees and toes..." Then I thought, ok, what other areas can I ask her about so we learned elbow, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc. she's a funny little booger!

Other funnies...

She is into everything being kissed right now. The other day apparently she hurt her butt because she said..."kiss it...(then...) butt" I never thought my almost 2 year old would tell me to KISS HER BUTT! LOL

She is really understanding so much and has started talking in sentences and even answering questions appropriately. SOMETIMES...LOL. Some of her new little phrases lately are: "What happened?" "I hear it!" "What is this?" "Are you all right?" "I don't like it" "I don't "wan" it" "I LIKE IT!!!" "Morning!!!" "I "luz" you" (melts my heart!) Oh, I know there are tons more.

She also says "Mines" for "mine" Cracks us up. I guess because there is an "s" on YOURS, she thinks there should be one on the end of MINE.

Last night while playing with her "letters" (which she loves!!), she plain as day picked up the S and screamed "S!!!!!!!!" I was surprised. I know she knows "A" considering it is her letter and the first letter of the alphabet. LOL. =)

She is still counting randomly. She usually counts by twos. HA!

We have a little prayer book (Thanks Megan!) and it sits on the little nightstand table and each night she grabs it and says "Amen?" I feel like a horrible parent sometimes because we haven't been going to church regularly, but I am still trying to instill in her a love for Jesus. My goal is to start going this summer and I am really hoping I can stick to that. I know summer sometimes is even more crazy than during the school year. Unfortunately every Sunday since January has been devoted to finalizing my homework. Not a good excuse, I know. But life has been crazy! Again not a good excuse but with getting our house ready to sell and keeping it up for possible showings (which there have been NONE so far), weekends are TOO SHORT! It is truly a goal for me/us, though and like I said, am hoping we can make it a priority this summer or even before. Wish us luck.

2011-04-12T08:28:00.003-05:00

Things have literally been CRAZY! And I don't think they are going to get any less CRAZY so...I'm looking forward to summer. =) I apologize if I haven't been able to comment on your blogs - I have barely had time to look at them, let alone comment but I'm always peeking to see who has posted something new and love to see what you are blogging about! Our house is FOR SALE! YAY!!!! Now, to get it SOLD is the task. You should see us every morning...running around crazy like chickens with our heads cut off....make the bed, get the towels in the hamper, no dishes out, open the blinds, fluff the pillows...you get the idea! Things are winding down (well, if you want to call it that) with my class. Only 2 more Monday night classes to go! But with that comes a LOT of reading and a 10 page paper to write. I CAN DO IT. I CAN DO IT! Since I have no idea what our house situation will be, I am leaning toward not taking any classes this summer. I can't imagine trying to look for a house, pack, move, unpack, deal with the end of the year school stuff, take care of Ava, AND TAKE A CLASS! At least I wouldn't be also working (if it happens in the summer) - like most people out there, hee hee!! - but I would like to enjoy summer. I have no real goals of WHEN I HAVE to finish my masters sooooooo....with that being said, I am going to take the summer off...most likely. I still haven't completely decided on whether I want to stick with a Masters in Reading or switch to Special Education either. Oh, I will also be potty training the lil one. JOY! Please send positive vibes our way that our house sells FAST...and that we can find a house that we can afford, where we want to live! I recently found out that taxes where we want to move are more than I thought they were going to be (about double what we pay now and $1500 more than I thought they would be!!!!!!!) and that changes what our monthly payment would be considerably. EEK! Thankfully Travis just got that 10% raise! Hopefully he will continue to get raises as well, since his job description/duties are continuing to change. I also have to keep in mind that our debt is also constantly going down as we are getting some things paid off finally! We've went to a few Open Houses and I hope to be able to keep looking so we have an idea but not get our hopes up too high since we won't buy til our house sells. Next week we will be celebrating Travis' birthday (the big 2-9!...can you believe my hubby isn't even 30 yet???) by going to Chicago to a Cubs game and then staying overnight. My mom will be at our house to watch Ava. I took a personal day on Wednesday, we have an Institute Day on Thursday, and Friday - No School due to Good Friday! Woot woot! I think it's going to be a good week. Too bad it's only Tuesday of this week...

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!

2011-04-11T11:17:00.015-05:00

Dear Ava,
You are 2!!!!! It is hard to believe...

I want to capture every.single.moment with you right now as you are blossoming into your own little person so I'm writing you this letter. You are hilarious, expressive, shy, smart, dramatic at times, a good eater, and sweet. Right now you are into giving *hugs* and *kisses* especially when we leave in the morning. You have so many little expressions and are talking a mile a minute. There is really no way to keep track of what you say and you are talking in little sentences.

It is hard to figure you out sometimes. You are so social and love to say "HI" to everyone while we are out and about, for example, yet you get very shy around certain people and even CRY hysterically around some men. ?? You say "oooooowwwwwwww" a lot (especially when you get your hair combed) and will say "Kiss It" when you get hurt - no matter where/what it is that hurts. You love to be outside!! Your eyes are very sensitive to bright lights and the sun so we have little sunglasses for you that you actually keep on pretty well!

You can be a bit dramatic at times (LOL) and definitely test mommy and daddy often. You have to sit in "time-out" for hitting, throwing toys, saying "NO!!!!!!!" and crying for no reason but you are a really good girl. You don't have a mean bone in your body and are so sweet but You. Are. 2! :)

You are a happy little thing. You wake up in the morning as cheerful as can be and will play in your crib for quite a while. Usually we hear you in there giggling at yourself, saying "Mommmmmmmmyyyyyy, where are you??" or "Commmmeeeerrrre (come here)."

Stop it, or Stop that!

Last night you put your bath toys (penguin, ducks) in time out on the edge of the tub. I was playing along and got in their faces and said, "Oh, why did you do that? You need to listen." You then said, "Why...do dat!?" Oh so cute!

I do it!

Where are you?

What's that??? What's that??? What's that??? (x a million, LOL)

Who's that?

I eat it all

awwww. Sweet. (about babies, birds, etc.)

I hear it

Luz you (love you)

You mix up a few letters and I LOVE it. You say "sunny" for funny and "crinkle crinkle" for Twinkle, Twinkle. You also say "grink" for drink. WE LOVE IT!

OH MY GOODNESS!

Nothin' in there

Favorite foods:

You still love cottage cheese. I swear, you could eat the whole container

Regular cheese

Yogurt

Craisins

Spaghetti

Cereal

Cookies!!!!!!!!

Hamburgers with ketchup (lots...just like daddy).

You will try just about anything. You don't like lettuce. :)

Favorite Books:

Ten Little Babies. You call it "Sticky Babies" because on one page there are "8 sticky babies, in marmalade heaven."

Pooh book from Aunt Bridgett. It was cousin Isabelle's favorite too!!! Pooh gets stuck in the door from eating too much honey. On the page where you see Pooh's "behind," you say "butt!" OOPS!

Prayer Book

Your Friends:

Kids at Tammy's, the sitter: Emersyn, Ethan, Lucas, Zachary, Annah and Seth (Sitter's kids)

Holden and Hunter

Izzy and Tyler

Lauren and Luke

Caroline who we see at Kindermusik, too

Colin, Cade and Chase

Your cousins, Belle and Livy and Jackson (we miss them tons!)

Cousin Ella in MN

I am excited for a summer of fun. We already have play dates and pool dates set up weekly. WHOHOO!

ps. I apologize for all of the SPPPPPPAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS in my blog text. It automatically enters it anytime I upload a photo, save a draft and then go back to edit it. ANNOYING!

Now Showing

2011-03-27T20:33:00.003-05:00

My Office/Guest Bedroom We are staging this as a bedroom/spare bedroom even though we have a spare room in the basement. That one can't be listed as a bedroom b/c it does not have an egress window so we are hoping to get people in the door and then they can see that either room could be a spare room or the one in the basement could be a bedroom for an older child possibly. We borrowed the futon from a friend (Thanks Brooke!) and I bought the pillows at Target today. LOVE the one in the middle!!!!! I might even try to do a painting to match it...WITH ALL MY SPARE TIME!!!! HAHAHAHAHA! If you saw this room before (and no I didn't take pics), you'd be amazed. We took a treadmill out of the closet you can't see, moved out an armoire type cabinet, a dollhouse bookshelf, LOTS of toys, moved the coats, reorganized the big closet, moved the desk and redecorated, took down one of the IKEA shelves. I'm really happy with how it looks. :)

2011-03-26T20:33:00.002-05:00

S.T.A.G.I.N.G.

Home staging is the act of preparing a private residence for sale in the real estate marketplace. The goal of staging is to make a home appealing to the highest number of potential buyers, thereby selling a property more swiftly and for more money. Staging techniques focus on improving a property's appeal by transforming it into a welcoming, attractive product that anyone might want.
....Thank you Wikipedia...

Well, I'll start by saying I am sooooooooo beyond exhaustion. I think more exhausted than having a newborn baby!!!!! ha!

We were hoping to get our house on the market at the end of this week - and we're almost there...but still have a few things to do. Here's what's on our To Do list...
1. Finish painting front porch (wood areas that were chipped from winter!)
2. Paint basement floor and back step area with spackled paint. Hopefully just touch up what is already there.
3. Finish cleaning out 'Trav's Room in the basement.' We need to move a few work tables he had in there for computers OUT and move some clothes in, etc. to make it look more like a guest bedroom/office as well as move a dresser in.
4. Take items to donate! YAY! Here's to hoping it benefits our tax return next year. We have LOTS!!!! Several years worth of items that I originally saved for a yard sale but haven't had time to have one and now we want it out!
5. Buy a few odds and ends...throw pillows for futon we borrowed from friend Brooke, etc.
6. Finish organizing basement and GARAGE (don't wanna even go there!)
7. Set up "work out room" in garage room.
8. Buy new water heater. Ours is conveniently leaking now.
9. Buy mulch for backyard and flowers for front porch...hope it gets and STAYS nice soon!
10. put on new toilet seat
11. Fix cabinet door that needs new screws
12. Finish preapproval process with the lady at the bank!
....I think that is it!...there could be a few more things though. LOL

Here's what we've done so far. Cleaned out all closets, rooms, cabinets, drawers, SERIOUSLY just about every.single.one. (I'm glad I started that a few months ago), moved treadmill out of house and into garage, Travis went to pick up futon, I washed the cover to it, painted front porch, cleaned off front porch (swept, vacuumed, etc.), cleaned up back yard (Trav filled about 5 heavy duty garbage bags full of leaves, debris, etc.), dusted just about every area I could think of, vacuumed up cobwebs including in basement, wiped down washer and dryer, cleaned out utility sink in basement, redecorated several areas around the house including rearranging a few items, took down a shelf, filled holes, painted the holes, touched up paint in several other areas including medicine cabinet in bathroom, ledge to banister upstairs, misc. areas of the walls/ceiling, back door, thoroughly cleaned basement, stairs to basement, swept/shopvacced the basement (more to do there, too!), cleaned the toilet in the basement, filled LOTS of tubs with items for storage, took all Xmas/Fall stuff to garage, went through all of Ava's clothes to get too small things put away, and get out all of the 24 month/2T items I've bought at garage sales, LAUNDRY, day to day items such as dishes, vacuuming, cleaning kitchen floor, etc. TRYING to keep up anyway, PURGED A LOT!!! Up/down/outside/up/down/outside...that has been the routine!

I think I could probably go on but you get the drift. We took Ava to the sitter 2 days, and my mom was here for about a day and a half to help with her while we worked and we took one day off to take Ava to the Shedd Aquarium. Our goal is now April 1. I think we can do it! Wish us luck with the whole process!

Apparently we don't take the STAGING idea too lightly!??

I'm Back...for now!

2011-03-15T22:26:00.006-05:00

I'm FINALLY posting another WIWW post! =)

I'm linked up with Lindsey at the Pleated Poppy here!

This was a little while ago...not sure that I ever posted it!

Above:

Green ruffled tank: Bergners I think

Skinny jeans: Gap

Cardigan: Forever 21

Scarf: Maurices - several years ago...

Boots: Naughty Monkey

Scarf, bracelet and earrings: Charming Charlies - LOVE that store!

Cardigan: ?? TJ MAXX maybe

Long sleeved Tee- Old Navy

Ring: boutique in St. Charles, MO

I was so disappointed the jewel fell out after only wearing it a few times so I super glued it in. It works and I get a lot of compliments on it. Just don't look too close - you can see a little super glue! ha!

My Grandma made this button bracelet. I LOVE IT!!!!!!! It is so unique and funky and of course she added in a lot of GREEN for me!! =)

Above:

Navy blue button down shirt and corral flower belt: New York and Co. I wore the same earrings from Charming Charlies (as in above pic with green scarf). My ring came from Cabo San Lucas. =)

We went to a wedding at the end of Feb. for our friends Dave and Brooke. I LOVED my dress from Maurices. Shoes: TJ MAXX. Tights (borrowed from a friend): Express

Chatter Box

2011-03-14T09:38:00.005-05:00

Ava has been cracking us up lately (well, when doesn't she???)

Here are her latest "FaVoRiTE" phrases:

It's ok, Baby
Come on...(when she wants us to go somewhere with her)
Where are you?? (it comes out pretty clear but not perfectly)
Owwwwwwwwwww....(she is very dramatic!)
Kiss it...(when she gets hurt)
Are you alright? (if Trav or I get hurt)
Come here (it sounds more like "come-mere")
No...(yep to just about everything!)
She does say "Yeah..." too. It's funny to ask her a question and have her answer yes or no. Wow! She is getting so big!
She also says "huh-uh..."
Bow Wow Wow (from Kindermusik)
See ya
Love you ("luz you")
Morning!
Oh Goooooodnesssss!
Darn it!
Yesterday she started saying "I know........" so when we'd say something to her she'd say, "I know." I can't even think of an example and it doesn't always make sense but it's hilarious!

The other day she hurt herself and she said, "Hurt...Hand..." It was so cute. She still repeats just about everything you say. It is fun to listen to her when she is playing

Her eyes are so sensitive to bright lights in the morning and the sun in the car, especially. We got her some shades and she is doing pretty well at keeping them on. She will say "Bright!" and so I've been trying to tell her to keep them on so it's not so bright. Apparently the sitter took her on a walk in the stroller to pick her daughter up from school and Ava kept the glasses on the whole time. Here she is chillin' in the car.

She still loves her blankie!!!!!!!!

Random

2011-03-10T11:16:00.002-06:00

Just taking a few moments to reflect...

I haven't had much time to blog lately. Even though I didn't have class this week due to Spring Break, I have been more busy writing my midterm paper. FUN FUN! I am done with the extended response (5-6 pages) but still have the 2-3 page one to work on. Hopefully it's not too bad. The week after next is Spring Break for my school, but we will literally be spending the WHOLE week, I'm sure, getting our house ready to sell. We still have lots of organizing to do of the random crap that ends up in our basement! LOL! So we can actually showcase that the basement can be used as a big storage area and not a big cluttered area! Our goal is to hopefully use the room in the garage as a 'work out room' and then use the extra space in the garage as more storage. Just having it organized is the goal. As for the house, there are only a few little things we need to do...touch up paint, clean high and low, etc. but I am sure it will take the whole week. My mom is coming to watch Ava a few days, and she could go to the sitter as I am pretty sure we have to pay her anyway. I will have class and homework to do as well.

I've also been sick and tired but I still have a hard time going to bed at a decent time. By the time we get Ava to bed and I try to get things picked up and things ready for the next day (lunch packed, clothes picked out, etc.) I'd like to watch AT LEAST ONE SHOW! Then it's 10pm already. So sometimes I stay up and watch another show just b/c I want to be able to veg. You'd think I'd go to bed, but NO! I want to be awake to enjoy it, I guess. LOL!

At this point, my class is kicking my butt with all the reading, homework, etc. It isn't the actual going to class that is hard...but I'm hoping I can get through it. I guess I'm in no hurry considering it took me over 10 years to go back in the first place. I just know I have to keep truckin on or I might never go back again. I am debating about taking a summer class, but hopefully I can take at least one. Then in the fall if I take one, I'll get my first pay raise (as little as it will be!)...I'll take it! But I like to have summer to enjoy time with Ava so that makes it hard. I think most are not for the whole summer, so it should be fine. The only other thing that might conflict is the Wisconsin Dells girls (family) trip we take each summer...So, keep the positive thoughts my way so I can keep it up! I am still trying to decide if I want to keep Reading or switch to Sp. Ed. With the cuts they are talking about in our district for special ed, I'd hate to get my masters in something that I couldnt use just in case I would ever want to. At this point, I love teaching art and will keep doing that, I'm pretty sure!!!

On another note, Miss Ava is keeping us busy. We LOVE Kindermusik every Wed. She sings the songs at home and loves listening to the at home CD. She will even break out in "Bow, wow, wow..." (Whose dog art thou...), and it is soo cute! She also attemps, "Walk along, walk along, walk along Rover." She also sings "inkle inkle tar..." One day in the car it took me a few minutes to figure out what she was saying! Then it dawned on me..."Twinkle, Twinkle, Star." So cute!

She is in a phase of saying "No" to EVERYTHING! "Do you want to take a bath?" NO..."Let's do this..." NO...She has had to sit in many a time out for saying no when we ask her to come here, or something of that nature. Little stinker! :)

2011-02-22T14:54:00.003-06:00

Today

I am...

wearing RED to support the teachers and other workers in the state of Wisconsin whose collective bargaining rights are being compromised
relieved I got one assignment out of the way for class
wondering if I should continue my masters in Reading or switch to something more applicable like Special Education
trying to get all of my grading done for the end of the trimester coming up
excited about my new Coach tennies that I got at TJ Maxx
going to the dr. for my annual exam...fun fun
"enjoying" our Institute Day and being productive (til now?? needed a quick break)
missing Ava! She is at home with Travis today. He is working from home because our sitter's daughter is sick so she didn't work today. I think I always miss her more when we've had a long weekend
wishing the warm weather had stuck around! Brrrr! It's a cold 30ish degrees today!
Hoping the warm weather will be back soon!
Loving the song you might have heard a LOT of if you watch American Idol...Cee Lo Green's "Forget You"

Happy Tuesday!

Happy {V} Day

2011-02-14T21:12:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have a sweet husband. He sent me flowers at work (which I really needed today...more on that later). He also made me and Ava cards. Ava's had little Valentine pics of Dora on it and mine was super cute. It had a little pic of pencils in the shape of a heart and he wrote "Will you pencil me in for dinner and a movie?" There was also a little clipart picture of a heart that looked like the hearts that he printed out (double-sided) and cut out to trail along our apt. when we got engaged. He was so thoughtful. And I LOVED it!

My day pretty much sucked though, otherwise. SORRY! I won't go on too much about it (don't want to be a Debbie Downer!), but basically I got to school today (my only full day at my second school) to find some guy in my room with the tables all moved around and all set up for something (later I find out we are having a Diversity Fair). Basically, I was never notified it was going on (our Weekly Notes simply stated "Diversity Fair" with no further details) nor was I told there would be no art, and that one of the stations would be in my room. A little annoyed I planned a full day (which I'll obviously do the next time they have art) and that this is about the 3rd or 4th time that my room has been used for something and I am never informed. At the beginning of the year the principal said that the room will probably get used for a variety of things but (and yes, I spoke to her about it...AGAIN!)...I guess I expected notification! Or that it would be used on days I'm not there. There's more to the story, but that is the gist. I asked the principal today if she could please send an email to the staff asking that if they need to use the art room on a Monday, to please notify me. No email yet. She also said to me "I will try to be more respectful of your room," the last time I asked her about it. Trying to shake it off but it is really annoying. I get that I should be happy, thankful, etc., that I HAVE a room, but I didn't realize that meant that teachers could be disrespectful of it and take advantage of the room use.

My room was not put back together AT ALL...not even attempted. REALLY?

Lastly, I just look at it like this. Are there any other teachers' rooms that people would use for whatever they wanted? Would they come in to their classroom in the morning and be told, "Oh...there is a meeting in here right now" or would people come in their classroom and move their things around. How would they feel if they came in to their desk and on SEVERAL occasions, the items on the desk are moved around or knocked over?

Well, anyway, I wish it mattered to others there, but apparently it doesn't. Doesn't make me too motivated to spend much extra time on that school.

I had class tonight, as well, but she let us out early, so that was a bonus! Hope everyone has a great week! Mine can only get better. {And there is no school next Monday!!} hehe!

What I'm Up To This Week

2011-02-13T18:22:00.003-06:00

Looking forward to a MUCH less crazy, hectic, stressed week this week. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot going on! Hoping my face clears up! EEK!

Monday after school: dentist appt. (cleaning)
Monday night: Class
Tuesday: nothing (whohoo!)
Wednesday: Kindermusik (yay!)
Thursday: Bunco
Friday: nothing (whohoo!)
Saturday: Travis work during the day and date night to the movie Saturday night
Sunday: HOMEWORK I'm sure!

Somewhere else in there I'll have to fit in more homework (the usual reading, as well as the reading (b)log, AND my assignment that will be due next Monday the 21st). It is called an Instance of Practice. I have to have a photo or a short video documenting the activity and then will have to explain how the activity supports a chosen theory AND present it to the class (luckily there are only 9 of us in class). I am thinking I am going to try to do Reading Buddies, since this week's reading discussed that activity as supporting the Social Learning Theory. We'll see. I am awaiting responses from any teachers that might be doing their Reading Buddies this week. If they aren't, not sure what I'll do!

I also have the ISU student coming to my classroom starting this week every Monday afternoon and Wednesday morning to help out, demonstrate, hang displays, etc. YAY! She seems really nice. She will do her student teacher next January so this is just a requirement to get her into the classroom for one of her classes.

At this moment, I can't think of anything else! I am just glad my evaluation is D.O.N.E. for 2 years! Woot woot!

WAW

2011-02-09T21:22:00.004-06:00

...What A Week

Well, sorry, ladies, but my WIWW just isn't really happening this week! Here is my ONE picture that I snapped last week. We had THREE snow days last week and a major blizzard so I really didn't have any worthy outfits to take a picture of. I think one day I had on candy cane pajama pants, a green and hot pink pajama shirt and hot pink and white socks. I guess I should have snapped a pic that day. LOL...I think I got this one the day we ventured out for manicures. This sweater came from Target---it was on clearance for like $6! It might not be the most flattering thing but it is warm and COZY so oh well! Paired with my Uggs, I must say I was in heaven. I did have a cute outfit on Monday but I've been toooooooooooooooo preoccupied to take pics I guess. Here's what's been on my mind...

Class (Monday night) and a gazillion different theories about reading, theorists, blogging for that, BLAH-ging, I should say!
Homework...more reading
Paying my bill for class (had to drive around ISU's campus for about 15 mins to find the Student Accounts office). I should have just called but I was using my phone GPS (luckily I only have to pay the fees since my district does a tuition waiver!)
Figuring out my bill for class. I was charged $25 because I apparently didn't get my immunization records to ISU by the deadline...that I didn't even know about... Supposedly I received a registration packet (that I don't recall)..and it's in my ISU email that I hadn't even ever checked. ICK...
Getting evaluated this week
Getting a supply order ready for art supplies--this is a bit time consuming when you have 800+ students!
Preparing books, images and Smartboard documents for a few new lessons I'm doing (one is Giraffes with 5th grade. Super excited about it!)
Meeting with our realtor last night (WE ARE PLANNING TO LIST OUR HOUSE IN MARCH!!! YEAH!)
Kindermusik with Ava tonight (FUN!)
Dentist on Monday (I got a new crown to replace one that I have NOT been happy with since I got it 5 years ago)
Email special education teacher regarading an autistic student that comes to art and is very low functioning to discuss accommodations that could be made
Plan accommodations for this student
Met with an art professor from ISU and a college student today who is going to be volunteering in my classroom for the remainder of the semester (will be awesome though!)
Found out my sis Tammy is going to be home from MN this weekend so looks like we'll be making a trip to my mom's to see them...need to prepare for the 2 hour trip home
Laundry
Working out - P90X is still going. Travis and I work out when we can. Some days I feel better about myself than others. The fact that Travis and I just sat here and ate Oreo's out of the bag M.I.G.H.T. have something to do with that. hehe!
Keeping the house in order

Uh...and it's only WEDNESDAY!

Blizzard 2011

2011-02-03T21:41:00.018-06:00

Our Story

I am not sure if anyone was really sure what to expect regarding the Blizzard of 2011!!!! We got 'wind' of the storm late last week (I think!?). We knew that the storm was supposed to hit us with a LOT of snow, possibly ice, and really low temps!!!! And they weren't LYIN'! We had school on Monday with a little bit of snow during the day. Later in the day/evening it started getting kind of bad out *but not blizzard conditions or anything. =) It was bad enough that my masters class got cancelled. YAY! My professor has to drive from out of town, as well as a few of the girls in class. So, anyway, once I found out I didn't have class, I decided to run to Walmart to get a few things. It was pretty comical the amount of people out...it was like people were really preparing for WEEKS or MONTHS of being trapped in their homes. I was early enough to get milk before they ran out and got one of the last 2 containers of regular eggs left. The rest were brown/organic. I just wanted them to make cookies---b/c I figured with some snow days, I might get in the mood to do some baking. =)

Tuesday morning arrives (no school!! Snow Day #1) and nothing yet. By about 10am, I was starting to get a little antsy with all of the anticipation!! And still nothing was happening yet. I decided that Ava and I would run out to Target to get diapers (aka---get out while I could!). By the time we checked out, it was SnOwING! We got home safely, but the snow was definitely coming down. The snow continued pretty much all day. I took a few photos throughout the day though none of the pictures really do this storm any justice.

Ava thought her puppy wanted to see the snow!!!!

It continued to snow and snow and snow and snow. I think there was one point where it did actually let up but that only lasted for a short while. Travis was at work all day (didn't miss a single day for Blizzard '11!). He got home around 4:00. At around 5pm, WE LOST POWER! It wasn't fun...but luckily it wasn't dark yet. I called the power company and they were aware of the outage and said that about 300 people were without power in our zip code and it was apparently due to a tree limb or something of that nature affecting the transformer. Thank goodness for laptops and cell phones! We still had a charge on those. My good friend Kim offered up their house since they still had power. We just weren't sure what to do because we knew it probably wouldn't be safe to drive over there especially as it got dark. In the meantime, Travis talked to a co-worker of his that has a 4x4 truck with a plow on it and he said he could come get us and take us wherever we needed to go.

Sure enough as he gets here, we see the Ameren truck on our street so we wait a few minutes. The truck leaves...still no power. So we make the decision to go ahead and go to Kim and Craig's. As we literally get to their neighborhood, we get a call from Ameren saying the power might be on and we call our neighbor who says that YES it is! Soooooo----we turn around and come home. Luckily, Travis' co-worker was a sport and didn't seem to mind at all! I think he was just having fun out there. It waas pretty freaky though...especially since we had a 1 1/2 year old in the backseat of a pickup truck with NO CAR SEAT. She was really cute though and seemed to enjoy the ride! I was afraid we might lose power again but we were in the clear! I just couldn't really imagine being without power with a little one and an older home with 1/2 of our windows being OLD! So glad it all worked out ok. I know others lost power for 24 hours!

We have a detached garage and a driveway that is on a slope so when I got home from Target, I couldn't get the van all the way up the driveway so I just parked halfway up. When Travis got home with my car, he just parked behind me. I was kind of like..."We are DUMB for not parking in the garage!!" but when you see the after pics, you might see why I'm glad that we didn't now!

Here is a pic of my the vehicles at around 11pm Tuesday night.

And my boots, of course!

I thought the design the snow made on the window was pretty cool! It wasn't that high though...LOL!

The AFTERMATH

See why I'm glad we didn't park in the garage??? We both have remote starters on our vehicles so we actually haven' t even been using the garage, as crazy as it might sound. (One of the reasons I can't wait to move!). It is not convenient at all to walk down the steps, out the back door around the house and through the driveway to get to the garage, so I'd much rather just park in the driveway and be close to the front door...now that I have a child. I HATE taking more than one trip out to the car or in! It really has been a pain but anyway, that is another story! Back to Snowmageddon!

It's pretty hard to see, but if you look closely, there are footprints where the road is supposed to be...and those belong to my husband. On Wednesday morning, he really needed to be at work so his friend with the plow came to pick him up but was afraid to dome down our street so he made it to the nearest crossing street and Travis had to hike it there (a total of about 3 houses...) but that was in tennis shoes. The poor guy doesn't even own a pair of snowboots!

Another view of the cars...

The huge drift next to our driveway by our neighbor's house...

I had to take Ava out in the snow of course. I mean, what kind of mom would I be if I didn't document this historical event!? Well, needless to say it took us longer to get snow gear ON than the amount of time we were actually outside. When I put her down, she kept saying, "mommy, mommy, mommy!!" Not to mention, it really was FREEZING! When we were walking back in, a HUGE gust of wind about took my breath away so I can only imagine what she thought! In this picture she is sitting on top of a huge drift.

Hat change...(had to dig it out of the van!)...still not a fan!

So, we decided to bring the snow inside where it's warm. I put some in a bowl and was trying to get Ava to take a bite but she still didn't really want to eat it. I think we'll try the snow ice cream I have seen most of my friends talking about on facebook. =) Sounds yummy! I don't think the snow is going anywhere anytime soon.

It's much more fun to play with the snow INSIDE!

We made a teeny tiny snowman. We tried adding sprinkles but once I packed the snow, it really was like ice!

Goofy girl!

Silly girl...this face was actually about the leftover cookie she noticed on her tray!

Looking out the kitchen window (and admiring her owl from her b'day party!)

Travis snowblowing the driveway!!! Thank goodness for a coworker that GAVE this to us a few years ago! We spent $80 this year having our neighbor fix it...well worth it, I'd say!

We had a lot of fun painting our nails, watching Dora, playing with baby dolls, reading books, watching Toy Story 3, making Valentine sugar cookies (eating said Valentines cookies), and filling out our Valentines. I also organized all of my mail, paid my bills, vacuumed (several times), did ALL the laundry and put it away (with the exception of the small load sitting next to me!), blogged,had a Valentine photo shoot with Miss A, made her Valentine photo card with my Creative Memories software, and even had a little time in there to relax! (You didn't see working out OR doing homework on that list did you?? I guess I'm more of a creature of habit than I realized. Oh well, my friend Becky said that none of the calories consumed on the snow days counted! So there!)

Since I could actually get out today, I took Ava to the sitter for a few hours while I went to lunch with friends Karen and Brooke, as well as got a manicure and shopped at Ann Taylor (be looking for a few more cute shirts from me...hehe)!

We thorougly enjoyed our 3 snow days!!! But I guess it's back to work tomorrow (but hey, at least it's Friday)! Looking like our last day of school will be June 3 or 4!? Boo! But oh well! We still get our week long spring break and that is always a break I look forward to. This year I'm hoping it is used getting our house on the market so maybe next year we can actually go somewhere.

And in the words of my hubby..."And it's not like you aren't off all summer!"

I guess he's right!

What I Wore Wednesday - #3

2011-02-02T09:01:00.006-06:00

WWW - #3

I'm linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy

I only have a few photos. Not sure what happened! =)

Above: I returned the 'baggy' pants to Ann Taylor and got this really cute shirt (though it's hard to see what it really looks like in this picture. I'll have to remember to take multiple shots. It is ruffled and has sequins on it. I also got the really cute bracelets. Nothing too exciting! =) I have had these gray pants from Kohls for several years and love them. Forever 21 - cream cardigan and my Steve Madden brown shoes.

Above: Navy dress - Old Navy

Belt/Necklace - Ann Taylor (LOVE THIS THING!)

Gray tights - Old Navy (hope they look ok. A coworker asked me why I chose to pair the brown boots with gray tights (I had my coat on and she couldn't see the rest of the outfit). I thought with the belt it all kind of came together. ??

Boots - Naughty Monkey <3 href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AVE45ZTwYrw/TUlzs0HbbqI/AAAAAAAABGs/UP9j3HIkZ5A/s1600/WWW7.JPG">

Above: Casual Friday (or maybe it was Wednesday...we can wear jeans on both days. On Wednesdays we have to wear our "Spirit" wear for our school and on Friday we can wear whatever we want. Feeling pretty thankful about that!

Jeans - Old Navy

Rain boots - I picked these up at Meijer one day while I was filling a prescription for Ava. I didn't wear them all day but I do LOVE them for this lovely winter weather we're having here in IL. I hate getting my pants or socks wet!

And what Ava wore Wednesday:

Look at the camera? Are you kidding me?
Owl dress: Target (clearance...it was under $3)
Gray leggings - Gap (garage sale find)
Pink socks - Old navy (clearance!)
Shoes - pink sparkly Pumas

Green Basket

2011-01-31T18:24:00.002-06:00

I bought this cute green basket last summer at a garage sale for 25 cents. If you know me, I'm a sucker for GREEN and for any type of basket and organizing! Problem is, I can't figure out what to use this for. I imagine it probably came with some kind of cup/container when it was originally bought so I thought maybe if I could find some little cups that would fit, maybe I could use it to organize Ava's little art supplies. BUT I am not sure they'll all fit or that we have enough yet. She pretty much has the basics right now: crayons, markers, paint sticks (brushes with paint in them), watercolor paints and stickers.

If you are reading this and have an idea for how I could use this, please share! :)

Here's a pic to give you an idea on size.

20 Months

2011-01-30T16:04:00.007-06:00

Ava - One year ago!

Miss Ava - 20 months (or wait, is it 19 months?? LOL). I've been having a hard time keeping track lately. Never claimed that math was my strong suit.

Feeding the baby. (Note to self: We need to get some baby doll toys!)

My pig-tail girl!

Playing with baby Jackson. He is growing and changing so much too!

Ava is getting funnier every day--and especially with seeing baby Jackson, I'm realizing she isn't a baby anymore!! She will always be my baby, though. I will pick her up and hold her like a baby and she will say "Baby?" and I'll sing Rock-a-bye-baby." She still loves to play "Ring around the rosie," too, and anything related to music. She loves to dance. I'm super excited about Kindermusik starting this week!!

She has started using the word "No" more in response to questions. It's pretty hilarious *most* of the time. Last night I asked her to take a bite of her green beans (which she does love) and she said, "No." Today she noticed me putting out some coasters I got at IKEA a while back. She picked up the pile and then said "Here" as she was handing me one. As I went to take it, she wouldn't let go. I asked her if she was going to share to which she repeated "Share?" Then I asked her again "Are you going to share with mommy?" to which she simply replied, "No." Very matter of factly, too! We had a couple little crying fits over that one because I made her give me one. ha!

She has started to say several little sentences like "Where'd it go??" and "I don't know" and "Here you go." It's kind of like all one word when she says it. Funny. She also says "Right back." We are getting a little somewhere with the potty. She will still tell us "poopin" but I think she think peeing is the same because half the time we'll check her or try to get her to the potty quick and she has just peed. She will, however, sit on the potty a little longer than before and will grunt. It's pretty cute. She will also say "Big Girl."

I have noticed her going around saying, "1...2..." but that's about as far as she gets. hehe!
She has the Dr. Seuss ABC book and somehow she hasn't forgotten and will go around saying "ABC," too. One day she repeated the whole alphabet with me. I was pretty impressed just that her attention lasted that long. She at least gets the concept of colors and shapes though most things are 'lellow.' She will repeat all of the other colors, though. I think she kind of knows...PINK! =) She also (Kind of) knows triangle, circle and square. We love to use the bath crayons. I will make shapes for her. She has one of those little teapots that came with desserts in the shape of a triangle, circle and square. One day we couldn't find the triangle and so I started saying "Triangle! Where are you?" and she was repeating that and remembered that the next day. I think that helped her learn the triangle as well as the Melissa and Doug puzzle that her daddy got her with all of the shapes and colors on it.

Some of her other new/favorite words to say are:
pocket
tissue
walk (she likes to walk to the car when I pick her up from the sitter)
read (she asks us to read her books now)
keys
remote (mote)
hug and squeeze (she will wrap her arms around you and give you hugs)
pillow (she got a flower pillow for Christmas)
Brrrrr! and cold

She continues to amaze us every day. Her manners are great. She consistently says please, thank you, and bless you when you sneeze. LOVE IT!

What I Wore Wednesday...Take 2!

2011-01-26T08:00:00.008-06:00

What I Wore Wednesday...Take 2!
I'm linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy! =)

Above: Casual Friday
Ann Taylor Loft lavender ruffled jacket. MY ABSOLUTE FAVE!
Ann Taylor Loft purple and gray t-shirt
I just had this paired with skinny jeans (Gap) and my gray slouchy boots.
Tiffany bracelet
Rings from Forever 21
Lovely picture, I know!

Above:
Tank from Aeropastal
Pink cardigan from Express
Gray pants from Maurices
Necklace and earrings from Premier (love them both!)

My 2nd grader's interpretation of me. LOVE THIS!

And by night. I switched it up to head out for my hair appointment.
Navy t-shirt from H&M
Jeans from Gap
Brown Uggs

Above:
Pants from Ann Taylor Loft (not sure but thinking they look kind of big/baggy!?)
Ruffle Tank from Kohls
Shoes from Steve Madden
Cardigan, you guessed it, Forever 21
Necklace from Premier

Again, I apologize for my poor quality pics. Please pay no attention to the mess in the background of most of the pics. =) And most of these were again at the END of the day!!!! ha!

Video

2011-01-23T21:30:00.003-06:00

This is for you, Aunt "Bridett!!" We love you!

Ava LOVES babies right now!! Real ones like her cousin "Jack-in" (Jackson) or her baby dolls. Ever since seeing Jackson and my sister Bridgett at Christmas (on New Years Day), she holds her babies and bounces and says, "Shhh, shhh, shhh." It is soooo cute! I have a video of that...maybe coming soon! =)

She has one of those little books "Who Loves Baby" where you insert photos and she pulled that out the other day and it was so cute that she knows who "Gma" is and "Aunt Bridgett" too!

Anytime that I get my computer out, she says "Baby??" because I show her pictures of Jackson and herself, too. ha! =) I think the way she says Bridgett is soooooo cute! Usually she says "Baby...awwww..." but she was having a hard time sitting still in this video. Travis had just walked downstairs and anytime either of us leave a room, she is very concerned with where we are going and usually says "Right back..." Oh and I think at one point (when she yells out a word and I say "What??") she is saying "God!" Oops! What a stinker! I have honestly gotten better at saying "Gosh" but she hasn't forgotten!

Subway Art

2011-01-20T13:05:00.004-06:00

Check this out!

(Thank you Megan AND Jessica!)

Jessica from Craftily Ever After is doing a

GIVEAWAY

for this awesome "subway art" that she created.

Considering crafting, scrapbooking, CrEAtInG and anything artsy is right up my alley, I am writing about it on my blog in order to receive the CoOl subway art FREE!!!! I was just thinking it is about time I get my Valentine decor out!

Check out her blog Craftily Ever After to do the same. There is also a tutorial on how to create these felt rosette decor balls here.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-01-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

Welcome to my FIRST attempt at a What I Wore Wednesday post. I'm linking up with Lindsday from The Pleated Poppy here. =)

Here are the only 2 outfits I've gotten recently. Please excuse the fact that each one was taken at the END of the day. Apparently I'm too busy to take it in the morning..........and they are horrible quality as they are from my phone. I can only improve from here, right?

Same outfit, 2 different looks...

Shirt: Ann Taylor (40% off plus 15% off Educator Discount)

Top photo: Necklace: Ann Taylor (same deal!) Cardigan: Bergner's

Bottom photo: the necklace can also be used as a belt!

Gray Boots: don't see a brand...

Butterfly Dress: Old Navy (used Birthday money)

Long sleeved tee: Old Navy (on sale $5)

Sweater tights: Macys' last year

Cardigan: Forever 21 (I have two of these and LOVE THEM!)

Necklace: Rue 21 (Christmas present)

Boots: Naughty Monkey (bought with birthday money from my mom)

New Look

2011-01-18T21:14:00.005-06:00

Well, I've been playing around with my blog (like you, Megan!) and (for now)...I really like it! I finally got the pictures at the top centered!! YAY! I see myself playing around with it some more in the future, however! Now that I know how to do a few things, I'm sure I'll mess around with it soon!

Thanks to Sarah at Life {Sweet} Life blog for the awesome tutorial on how to do this! If you'd like to DIY, click here. =)

For my blogger template/background, I went here.

Enjoy!

Funny Ava Story

2011-01-17T22:26:00.005-06:00

We have a bath hammock that holds all of Ava's bath toys and considering it is OVERFLOWING with squirters and other bath toys, LOL, the little suction cups that hold it to the shower, aren't holding it on very well. So, tonight she is taking her bath and I decide that I'm going to *attempt* to re-hang it (usually Trav's job, but he was at the office). Apparently I didn't do a very good job, because a few minutes later, the toys come falling down. Now, as I explained to Travis when I told him the story, I didn't have a reaction that I feel would really scare Ava...I only said "Ohhhh mannn..." I might have said it in a little high-pitched voice but I guess that coupled with the falling toys, it FREAKED her out. When I say FREAKED...I mean, screaming at the top of her lungs, trying to get out of the bath, real tears, etc. I tried to get her calm, said "it's ok, sit down" etc, but she wasn't having it. We were done with the bath part anyway, but I was trying to let her see that it was ok before getting her out. Anyway, I get her out, she continues to cry through me putting her jammies on and then is finally ok. JEESH!
I tell ya. She is a little scaredy cat! I kept saying "sorry, honey, mommy didn't mean to scare you, you are ok" and she is all about repeating the LAST word of everything you say now, so it was "scare" and "ok."

I will say at least, that now she will actually get her play vacuum out while I'm vacuuming and I no longer have to hold her while I'm doing the vacuuming (though I think that was a pretty good workout). =)

She is very sensitive and always has been very scared of loud things, etc.

I really wish I could just get inside her head and understand what's going through that little noggin of hers! Yesterday, Travis was going to our friend, Jamie's, to watch football, so before Ava and I headed out to do a little shopping, we stopped by. We walk into his house, Travis is holding her and I'm getting my shoes off, she starts SCREAMING! It is only Jamie and his friend Pauly (the least scary guy in the world!). I have no idea what brought it on...she was just scared apparently...maybe she thought we were going to leave her there, who knows! She has always been scared of men, but like I said, Pauly is the least scary guy (kinda short, very skinny, etc...not a BIG TALL GUY or something!). It took her all of the time we were there to warm up to them. And she's seen Jamie several times and never been scared of him. SILLY GIRL! She did 'knuckles' to them both when we left so that was a good sign.

I just honestly don't get it, though, because if we are out and about, she is the MOST social little thing. She says "HI" to everyone...she loves talking to people, comments on all the babies, etc. WHO KNOWS! She is also very attached to me and days off don't help--not that I'm complaining...=) While at Jamie's, I couldn't even walk out of the room to get more food without her freaking out, even with daddy in the room.........

Other funny stories: As I said, she is into repeating the last word, so now her big thing is to say "God." I know, I know...I'm working on it. I have really gotten better at saying "Gosh" but it's funny because she hasn't forgotten it and I have to now say "Oh my Gosh" on purpose to get her to say that instead of the other.

I was really REALLY shy as a little one so I guess Ava is getting at least ONE thing from me. =) I hope it isn't as bad as I was...my Grandpa had to bribe me when I was the flower girl in my aunt's wedding (with MONEY!!) to get me to walk down the aisle. Then, I STILL barely looked at anyone as I swung my little flower girl basket all the way down the aisle. I am definitely not shy now, but it took me a long time to grow out of it. Let's pray Ava grows out of it a little quicker than I did!

Here's a pic of me and my sister in our infamous sweaters with our names down the sleeves made by our Grandma Daniels. I have the perfect picture of me screaming my head off as about a 6 month old but of course I can't get it to upload. It says there's an error so I'll have to ask Travis about it later. =)

New Year

2011-01-09T20:50:00.003-06:00

With the new year, I will be experiencing some new things going on in my life...

Tomorrow I start my first master's class - Theoretical Foundations of Reading. I am not technically registered yet because I am still awaiting some information to go through with my account at ISU but I am accepted into the program. I emailed the professor and she said to go ahead and come to class, that there is plenty of room, and then I will register as soon as the information goes through with my account. I can't really say that I'm excited!!! EEK! I am a little nervous but am taking the class with 2 co-workers so that is good. It will be every Monday night from 5:30-8:20. I would have loved to take an online program where you have your master's in a year and a half, but I decided I can't go more into debt considering I still have student loans from WIU...AND Unit 5 offers tuition waivers so I am FINALLY taking the plunge and doing it! I am sure I will be fine but I am feeling a little nervous about the fact that I haven't been a student in almost T.E.N. years! YOUCH! The fact that I am getting my master's in Reading and I am not teaching Reading or ever taught Reading is also making me a little uneasy. One of my professors in college once told me that I had a knack for writing so hopefully that will help me! Wish me luck! =) I just plan to take a class here and there, maybe one in the summer until I'm done!!! The only other thing that I am not looking forward to is not seeing Ava before bedtime (one of my favorite times of the day) but at this point, I will still be picking her up from the sitter and will have about an hour with her before heading out.

On another note, Travis and I have started P90X. If you haven't heard about it, it is a 90 day program with 12 different ONE-HOUR workouts designed to take you from 'regular to RIPPED in 90 days.' The secret behind it is a technique called 'muscle confusion.' Anyway, a few weeks ago, Travis asked me if I wanted to do P90X and I said, "ok!" because usually he isn't one to want to work out. So far, we have done 3 days of workout and they've ALL been KILLER!!!!! I don't have any expectations of doing it EVERY day for 90 days, but am hoping to do at least 4 days a week. There is also an ab workout scheduled in, and depending on how many days a week we do, I would like to try to do that at least 3 days a week, too. I am in SERIOUS need of some toning so I am hoping that having a workout buddy will help. We haven't really ever worked out together before...but so far it has actually been fun. I think I can finally cancel my gym membership and save us some money there! Sooooooo, I guess check back to see our after pics in roughly 90 days...THERE WILL BE NO BEFORE PICS! hahaha!

December Stuff

2011-01-04T21:42:00.008-06:00

Well, my blogs are crazy out of order so here are a few misc. pics from December!

"Color!"

If you've read the recent "Ava Update" you might remember that she likes to say "no, no, no, no" with a pointed finger. Yep, that's my sweet lil angel!

We went to the other Cunningham's (my co-worker Annie and her hubby...no relation) for New Year's Eve. Here is Craig and Travis sporting their matching shirts. I'm annoyed we didn't get a pic of the 2 of us (or 3 of us). I was wearing a cute outfit, too with my new b'day boots. Oh well. Not like we don't have enough photos or anything!

All the kiddos!

I thought this was adorable of Ava, Holden and Lauren...not that the rest of the kids aren't super cute!

Happy New Year!!!! Don't you love her "outit"??? I got it all on clearance at Old Navy.

Flashback to early December...Here is Annie and I at the Ugly Sweater party for our staff Christmas party. :) One of our co-workers let us borrow her sweaters and even matching earrings! I of course tried to make mine look a little cute!!?

Me and Trav. I know we should have just went as "ELVES" but Travis wouldn't. haha! His vest and shirt was borrowed from my step-dad but I didn't think it was ugly enough so I went to the Dollar Tree and found this beautiful Santa (it was an ornament...but we turned it into a pin.). Crack me up!

Ava loved it!

Ava and Lauren at Lauren's Dora birthday party.

Recent playdate with friends at Kim's. Crazy how the group of kids keeps growing. Lil Lukie (Kim) will be added to the group this spring!

Hunter and Chase. So cute!

Ava and Natalie. Love it!

Noon Year's Eve

2011-01-04T21:33:00.002-06:00

On New Year's Eve we went to the Discovery Museum for their "Noon Year's Eve" celebration. It was fun but a WEE bit crazy! I don't know if we'll go again...I didn't really see it as any different than going on a regular day. None the less, we had fun...well, let's say that AVA had fun. hehe! Travis and I were exhausted! I got some cute pics of her though. She even liked the countdown and loud boom with confetti. She said, "More, more!"

hehe!

Her beautiful tiara!

Reading...

Future artist??

Yum.

Peek-a-boo!

I'd say she liked the water table!

So fresh and so clean!

2011-01-04T20:52:00.004-06:00

My house is so organized right now I can hardly even stand it!!! Just thought I'd share some pics. Once I got my Christmas stuff put away, I was just in the mood to get things organized, and was in a PURGING mood! I finally came to the conclusion that I don't need (literally) 100 gift bags (a few of each type and size would be sufficient). I also don't need 15 extra copies of Ava's birth announcement. I've scrapped one and saved several...nor do I need 100 hangers...you know, the kind that comes on the clothing!! WhAt the HeCK????? This is how I ended up with about 10 bags of trash (and about 5 or so tubs with garage sale items!).

We are hoping to put our house up for sale SOON so I also wanted to get the staging process started. I think I did a pretty good job in about probably 20 hours of work time. I did it all by myself, including the rearranging of furniture. So...who needs P90X?? haha! I am anxious to talk to the bank again and a realtor, but I am HOPING it works out to put our house up for sale in March and try to sell by summer since it didn't happen last year. Then we can look for a new place. I am even willing to move into an apartment if we have to so we aren't rushed while looking but WE'LL see!!!!!!!!! I know that would be hard. Anyway, I am kind of a neat freak (though you wouldn't always know it...haha!). Now if only I didn't have to work, I think I could keep my house looking this way! (I wish I had taken before pics!)

Dining room. I moved the table at an angle instead of square. I moved the curio cabinet out of the corner and onto the one wall so I could hang the 3 boards there (2 cork and one magentic). I also switched Ava's little kitchen cabinet (made by my great-grandpa for my mom) and a wire shelf that you can't see.

New set up in the living room.

My office/play room...

I got new bins for my shelf a while back and the brown polka dot ones for Christmas.

This is the area right between the living room and dining room.

Back to regular decor on my shelves. I switched up just a few things.

Ladder shelf - I was debating what to do with this thing. I still like the shelf but was wanting to move it. Instead I just redecorated it as well and I LOVE IT!

IKEA is having a sale right now and I think we are heading up there this weekend as Travis got Texas de Brazil gift cards for Christmas and his mouth has been watering ever since. YAY for me, though, because this is just about the only way he agrees to go to IKEA. Not sure what the sale will have in store for me other than a dresser (can't fully finish our bedroom until I get one). We got a new flat screen TV for our bedroom for Christmas (our gift to each other) so we can get our huge one and stand out of there. I am in desperate need of a dresser!! I don't plan to buy much else since I don't want to put more furniture in our house if we are going to move soon!

Wish us luck!

Lastly, the only thing I need a solution for is WINTER COATS. Ick. I have a really cute shelf hanging right inside the door but I hate how cluttered it gets with all of our coats. My 'coat' closet is already filled with other coats. hmmmm...a sign I need to get rid of a few??? We'll see.

Ava update

2011-01-04T12:49:00.005-06:00

Miss Ava is now 19 months old and still cracking us up! She is so fun and FUNNY!!! She is continuing to talk a LOT and repeat most everything so I have had to stop saying a *FEW* things (such as: Oh my God, What the heck, Crap, etc.). Luckily, that is about the worst of it. haha!

She is still into Dora right now. Thank you On Demand!! Although, there are only 4 episodes which have been there for a LONG time so I could probably say the whole episode word for word! Not that she watches THAT much Dora!!! And I did get smart and record a new episode!

She will say "show" and "movie" and when you turn on the TV, she will say "mote" for remote. (again, we don't just sit around and watch TV all the time!!) ha! We figured out that the reason she says "movie" when we get in the van is because of our sitter. She has to take the kids every day to pick up her daughter from school and I think they watch a movie when they go. The sitter mentioned it one day and though I would prefer she not watch movies EVERY time in the vehicle, oh well, I suppose!

She continues to put herself in timeout. She grabbed about 4 stuffed animals the other day and put them on the rug and said "mout" (time-out). haha!

She LOVES books and is learning new things all the time. We are working on colors and shapes right now. I think she knows a few colors and she knows what a star is!

Other words she says all the time: lotion, tissue, potty, pooping, OH NO!, color (crayons), book, "rosie" (ring around the rosie...she LOVES it!), baby, coat, glub for glove, hat, shoes (she can say it now), backpack (Dora), bash (bath), nigh-night, blanket, binky, LOUD!, shhhhhh, milk, bacelet (bracelet), belly, Coooookie!, "no, no, no, no (with a pointed finger)," get it (I often say, "I'll get it" or "Can you get it," right back, fishy (she still loves her fishies in her crib) and those are just a few. =) If you ask her, she can say just about anything. She hears me yell for Travis so she will imitate that so you'll hear her saying "Bab (her version of Trav), then Daddy..." I love it!!! Travis, not so much. haha! She has recently started saying "Bless you" when you sneeze and even "Thank you!" ***(adding this on...) Not sure how I could forget. She says On and Off but off is more like "asssss" with a short A sound, however. I think she has a British accent. She also says "eeeeeeelllllllllooooo for hello. haha! =)

Travis and I agree that she is a really good girl! (Wondering if that means she will be a terror at 2 or 3??? haha!). She is always a good shopper, loves people (says Hi and Bye to everyone anytime we are out), does well going out to eat and has been good at home, too. She doesn't throw too many fits and is easily distracted if she does start to get upset. We always remind her to "say" what she wants not scream it. She also uses her manners and says "please" for everything!! We are working on getting her to come to us when we say "come here."

We are still working on the whole potty thing. She will tell you she is pooping usually, but it's too late. A few times she has said "pooping" and I'll sit her on the potty but after about 10 mins and no poop, we just put the diaper back on (I'd prefer no more pooping on the floor!). I am still in no rush and know that I'll have all summer to work on it with her. I'm just continuing to keep her aware and try in the event she will actually go on the potty and then want to go more!

The Big 33

2011-01-04T12:35:00.006-06:00

"The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age."
-Lucille Ball

Happy Birthday to me!

I had a fun birthday! The night before my b'day I went to my Grandma's for a Bettis girls sleepover. (pics to come when I upload from my other camer). My cousin Anna was home from AZ, which was really why we were getting together. It just so happened to be around my b'day so my mom got me a DQ cake! MY FAVE!! YUM! We played games, did our nails, chatted ,and of course, ATE more yummy food!

The next day on my actual birthday, I went to lunch with my fellow art teacher friends because one of the past art teachers moved to Colorado and was in town. We went to Swingers and while it was yummy, I had a stomach ache most of the rest of the day so I had to skip the plans of going to dinner with Travis and Ava. Luckily I was feeling better just in time to go to a late movie. Nanci came over to watch Ava and Travis and I went to see Gulliver's Travels. It was pretty cute! =)

I had several other birthday celebrations, too! =) Kim, Annie, Katie and Bridget (friends from school) met me for dinner at CJ's - a yummy local place and friends Paula, Brooke, and Karen #2 (friends from Chiddix) met me at Reality Bites for dinner and drinks.

Here's to 33!

Word!

2010-12-20T21:29:00.003-06:00

This is for you, Katie!!!!

"Word!!!!!!!!"

Ava has been copying us (on top of repeating everything we say!). If we have our arms crossed, she will totally cross hers so we started saying, "Word! (to your motha!)" and she will say it, too! Sooooooooo funny! It doesn't come out quite right, but we know what she is saying. Hilarious!

ps. Check out that morning "hair!" WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Random

2010-12-19T21:47:00.004-06:00

This blogpost is going to be really random...I'll just tell you that up front! I am super excited that there are only 2 more days til BREAK! YAHOOOOOOOOOO! It will be awesome to have time with my little munchkin, a break from the kids (though I love em) and a chance for a fresh start in 2011! I am also super excited that my Christmas shopping is done! Travis has a few things to buy for his dad - he was in charge of that one, and I do have a few birthday presents to buy people that have December birthdays but otherwise, I've been done for a while! I am having shopping withdrawals, however!!!!!!!!!!!!! Feeling like I need to get out and buy something!

In other news...Miss Ava is cracking us up!!! She is almost 19 months old and so much fun!! I don't want to forget any of the cute little things she is saying and doing! She has been called a "parrot" by numerous people lately and she does REPEAT EVERYTHING!! Time to start watching what you are saying around the little birdie! She has so much emotion, can be pretty dramatic, and is always sooooooooooo happy! Love this child! She wakes up happy, loves books, animals, Dora and giving kisses! Her favorite things to say lately are: all the kids' names from daycare...Emersyn, Ethan, Izzy, Luke (Uke); moo-cow, gross (the sitter says this...LOL!), "Dori" for Dora, Backpack, Map, Kitty (still loves her furreal kitty), "mout" for time-out...(she even puts herself in time-out), "shhhhhh," baby, away (throw or put things away), walk (she likes to walk out to the car when I pick her up...), "bless you" when you sneeze (hehe!), she will repeat "honey" if we call each other or her honey, poopin...ha!, chair, man for snowman, elf, "outit" for outfit, tissue, lotion. Those are just a few!

Funny stories:
The other night, I had the movie, Elf, in the computer because I watched it while icing my sugar cookies in the kitchen. So, the next night I decided to turn it on while Ava and I were in the living room hanging out. It got to the part when the nun is putting the baby in the crib in the orphanage (at the very beginning) and Ava starts weeping a little (here comes the drama), and even seems to have a few tears, and was saying "night-night in a very sad voice. Then a few minutes later, she was messing with the computer and the movie popped out - so I restarted it and let it get to that part and she did the same thing! It was so funny and odd all at the same time. She loves going night-night and always goes to sleep on her own just fine so I have no idea why that scene was making her so sad!?

As I mentioned earlier, she puts herself in time-out. The other day she hit me (not like it hurt...haha!) and then immediately said "mout" for time-out and marched herself over to the rug where she sits in time-out. I joked that yeah, not sure what that is saying about her!!!

She is a little faker sometimes. If she is in trouble or in time-out, she will fake cry (yes, sometimes it's real though!) which then usually makes us laugh!

We aren't really potty-training yet but we have the potty and occassionally I'll try to put her on it in hopes she'll go - and then maybe she'll "GET" what she is supposed to do. She already says potty, poop and pee, but has yet to go on it. I am not concerned with it but like I said, I'd like to keep her aware and attempt it here and there. Well, the child is the most regular person I know (she eats, she poops, she eats, she poops...all day long!) so yesterday she had just eaten breakfast, we were playing and then she said "poopin" so I assumed she was either pooping or maybe just tooting (she gets the 2 confused!). We stripped her down after I checked and no poop yet, and I was having her sit on the potty. Well, she would get up, sit back down, get up, etc. and I was watching her *pretty* carefully in hopes I'd catch her if she started to and sit her on the potty. NOT A CHANCE! I was talking to my sister on the phone - which I'm sure didn't help...haha! but the child didn't squat or give any signs and WALAAAAAA---I see poop---ON THE FLOOR! I did kind of freak out, told my sister I'd call her back and quickly realized it was too late. This all took place in the living room, so I carried her upstairs (where more poop landed...), she somehow got poop on her foot, I threw her in the tub and she did NOT like that! She was screaming hysterically!!!! We finally got everything cleaned up and she calmed down so as long as I didn't traumatize her for life, we'll try again someday!!!!! Poor thing!

She also LOVES LOVES LOVES music! Her favorite song lately is "head, shoulders, knees and toes." It was on a baby einstein video we had watched in the van while traveling back home a while back and since then I've had it in my head. She LOVES it! If you sing it, she will sign and say "more, more, more" UNTIL you sing it again. She also loves music on TV, videos, shows, etc. and will say "more, more, more" so sometimes we'll rewind it so she can see it again. Now she will say "HEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAADDDDDD" meaning that she wants you to sing "head, shoulders, knees and toes." So cute! She loves to dance and attempts to snap, too!!

She will say "shhhhhhhhh, shhhhhhhh" anytime she hears a baby crying (or child) when we are out and about. It is hilarious! What is more hilarious is when she is crying, she will stop and "shhhhhh" herself!!! Then she'll cry some more usually!

More to come!!!!!!!!!!!

You Better Watch Out...

2010-12-08T22:13:00.005-06:00

When we were little, my older sister, Tammy, used to ANTAGONIZE the crap out of me! She knew how to push my buttons and could make me CRY and POUT with the drop of a hat. Every holiday season, she would bug me and bug me and make me cry (as usual) and then she'd sing "You better watch out, you better not CRY, you better not POUT, I'm telling you why..." and I'd cry and POUT even more! Just a little story to go along with little Miss Ava's Santa pic from 2010. Her POUTY face cracked me up! She would NOT look at Santa but I was expecting some major freaking out so when she just sat there with her pouty face, I was super shocked!!!!!!! This WOULD have been an awesome Christmas card photo (I agree, Megan! =) but my card was already done. {Editing done at http://www.picnik.com/}

On that note....

Super excited about my Christmas Card this year! I used my Creative Memories digital scrapping software to make it and ordered them through http://www.winkflash.com/.

I got a great deal as the cards were on sale (and I was able to upload the card I created as my 'photo' into a blank template)...but it won't beat the deal at Sam's, I know! (100 cards for $15!). Oh well! Here's a SNEAK PEAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't look if you want to be surprised!! HEHE!

I also loved how this photo turned out. It was just one I took of Ava by the tree and then edited on picnik as well. Love that site!

Don't you just love her cheeks!!!?? I could just EAT HER!! And trust me, I kiss those cheeks a million times a day!

Misc. from Nov!

2010-12-08T21:32:00.004-06:00

I am soooooooo behind with blogging! Here a few pics from November!!!

Miss Ava snapping! She loves music! I can't wait to finally get her signed up for Kindermusik! This will be the BEST time to have her signed up anyway!!!! This was my 2nd attempt at her 18 month chair pics! Isn't that the CUTEST shirt/dress EVER!? I got it at Target for $2.88. I think it was on clearance because it is supposed to be a summer dress (it is a 12 mo size) but I paired it with some little black leggings and a long-sleeve shirt under it! >3

Happy Turkey Day 2010! This was taken the day after at Cousin Megan's house.

My garage sale $2 plate that came with the stand. =) Love that I can decorate it for each season. Since this photo, I've added a red strand of sparkly garland through the holes with a bow on top. *I just wrote "May Your Days Be Merry and Bright" with a dry-erase marker! =)

LOVED LOVED LOVED this bus stop in Chicago! Thanks Lori for taking some awesome photos of me there! (though I think my mom actually took this one with my camera).

We had a lot of fun in Chicago - as I said before, it was definitely an adventure!! (Long story short, we got caught up in the 2 million people there for the Christmas parade).

18 Months Old!

2010-11-23T23:07:00.004-06:00

Well, it is pretty INSANE to think my little baby is 18 months old this Friday!!!

We totally love this age right now! and we TOTALLY LOVE HER!

My how things have changed in even the last month! Ava can now say more words than I can count, I think! She will pretty much repeat anything you say - and she gets most of the words out pretty well. Our sitter calls her a parrot! Here are some of her recent faves:

Puppy
Monkey
Up
Down
Please (Peeesse) - She signs this and says it now!
Book
Nigh-Night
Snack
Cookie/Cracker
Bella (Umbrella)
Elmo
Bird
Socks
Ish for shoes still
More (she signs this and says it!, too)
Hi/Bye
Duck
Go
Potty
Eyes, Nose, Mouth (and she loves to point to your EYE!)
Kitty/Meow
Pretty
"Weeeeee"
Yay!
Nice
Milk
Watee for Water

Like I said, she pretty much repeats everything you say. I said something tonight about her being a silly-butt. Yeah, then she was saying "Butt." NICE! She loves to read her books and will usually just look at them rather than you reading the story. They keep her pretty entertained in the car, too. She loves her animal books especially.

Potty:

We've purchased a potty and she knows how to say potty and what it means for mommy to go potty (considering our only bathroom is upstairs, all summer long I'd have to take her up with me to go potty). I'm glad at least, that she isn't afraid of the regular toilet. I will ask her if she wants/needs to go potty and sit her on it and she then likes to put TP in and flush though she's never went on it yet. I attempted to get her to pee on the potty one night last week I think and so I took her diaper off (I read an article recently that you can have your child potty-trained in 3 days if they don't wear any pants for that entire time...LOL...) so thought I'd try to catch her anyway and she peed on the floor twice! hehe! I have NO expectations yet for the potty-training, however, I want her to be aware of how it all works and until she actually goes on the potty, I don't think she really knows. She does however tell you (sometimes) if she has poop in her diaper.

Time-Out:

She now knows where her "time-out" spot is (the rug by the front door). She is just testing us, the little booger. She likes to say "Niiiiice" and rub your face and then all of the sudden WHACK!If you say "Do you need to go sit in time out?" She will actually go sit there. At first she would pout and give you a look, but now she is starting to get a little ornery while sitting in her time-out or try to get up. It is often hard not to laugh though, she's so cute!

She is definitely soaking everything in each and every day!!!!!

Read With Caution...LOL!

2010-11-06T22:05:00.003-05:00

Well, I've been a little MIA from the blog world. I am not really sure why. I guess it's been a combination of things. 1. My student teacher finished her 8 weeks with me and moved on---so I've been sent back into reality...LOL. 2. Busy planning for the Halloween party, getting our costumes finalized, etc. 3. Me being sick, Ava being sick. 4. Planning for my sister's baby shower.
Lots going on. =)

I did, however, have to share this little story...

We found out Ava has a double ear infection and possibly bronchitis, Dr. Emm said. So, with all of that, her poor little nose is running, running, running. At night, it runs and then gets crusted on the outside. I literally have had to SCRAPE her poor nose every morning for the last about 5 days (lovely visual, I know...but it gets better). So, we got up this morning at my mom's house and I noticed her icky nose once again and then I got to looking closer and saw that since her hair is so long, it actually had gotten down in her face (if she's had pigtails in all day, I take them out to sleep) anyway, a strand of hair had gotten down in her face and then caked in the GUNK that was coming out of her nose. I could NOT get it out for anything and was even having a hard time getting the boogie out so first step I had to CUT the hair to get it apart.
All that was left was this HAIRY BOOGER stuck to her nose. Then I FINALLY got it off...and let me tell you it was disgusting!!

We left my mom's tonight and she slept pretty much the entire 2 hours home. She did not move when I opened the van door, the light came on, I unbuckled her, carried her in, upstairs, turned on her space heater, fan, monitor, (snuck in a little rocking time) and laid her down! Hoping she sleeps all night tonight and the time change doesn't mess us up! =)

More blogging and pics coming soon...

Update on Fits

2010-10-11T22:23:00.006-05:00

Well, I thought I better post a little update on the whole "FIT throwing" situation. =) Things have been 100% better since I last blogged. I don't think Miss A has really thrown a HUGE fit since. Now, she still has expressed her mind there or here and has started saying "Nooooooo" while pointing her finger. haha! Oh it is actually quite comical and sometimes I have to walk away or cover my face so she can't see me laughing.

She did get a little irked tonight when I needed to change her diaper and it was right in the middle of her playtime. She was really into playing with one of her toys but when duty calls!! So she kicked a little (her other thing...to kick me!). I usually say "Nooooo, we don't kick mommy." That really has had no affect on her so the past couple times I've been saying "Ow-wy!" and then usually she repeats that back to me and will stop. Not sure why that works!..and it doesn't work every time but funny. Other times, she will get that bottom lip out and give me a huge frown and even cry when I tell her no, but I guess she is kind of understanding she shouldn't be doing it.

It really has been a fabulous weekend. Ava and I went to the mall - just the 2 of us on Friday night. We shopped, had dinner in the food court and rode the carousel (another story there...later). She was such a good little shopper. Just enjoyed hanging out in her stroller and hardly made a peep, other than to say hi to people. Saturday I went on the Spoon River Drive with the Bettis babes. Travis stayed home with Ava. She had another good day and we just hung out at home after I got back til bedtime. Sunday we went to church with the Stille's. Ava went to the nursery for the first time and though we snuck out, she did great! The ladies said she played and had fun. Then we had lunch at Moe's. I made a quick trip to the mall during her nap and then we just played around the house the rest of the evening. Today was FABULOUS to have the day off!!! Ava and I slept in (til 8am almost, again!). We had breakfast, played, watched Sesame Street (she is getting more into shows but still just for a little while. She says ELMO now!), made a quick trip to Walmart before her nap. Travis worked a half day and then we headed out to the pumpkin patch with Lori and Uncle D for our fall pictures. I was really worried (with the fits...and just the fact that Ava is 1 and a half (almost!!) but she did great. She is just the sweetest thing!! The pics with the antique truck there turned out great and she had a ball playing on the inside. After our (about) hour long shoot, (in the heat no less, and 'fall' clothes), we had a snack, played in the little buildings at the pumpkin patch, and jumped on the big giant pillow!! It was fun. And she not once threw a fit. Having this long weekend was great but I am going to miss her tomorrow for sure! Oh and I actually have to teach this week as my student teacher is gone tomorrow and it's her last week with me! OUCH!

Well, anyway, don't worry, I'm not getting too excited about these fit-less days. I am sure they aren't over, but I WILL enjoy it when they aren't happening! =) She is getting her other bottom tooth now - along with one of the molars that is still coming in but she is overall in a better mood!

OK, so the carousel story (not that it's great) but she has ridden it twice at the mall and once at the zoo (just remembered).and LOVED it! So, I decide to take her on it while we are there Friday night. I am not sure if the inital music startled her, or what, but as soon as I put her on the horse, she started getting whimpery. Then it almost immediately started going (we were the only ones on it), and maybe she just wasn't ready. So, I took her off, tried again, whimpery again. So we sit on the bench and she was clinging onto me. She did keep looking at the jesters in the middle and maybe they were freaking her out! Who knows! She is over being scared of the vacuum though! YAY!

So, as my friend Amy S. said, I know it's hard to believe that THIS sweet little face could be guilty of throwing any fits!

Fits

2010-10-05T21:08:00.004-05:00

Ava and her kitty!

Well, Miss Ava is now 16 months plus. She is definitely becoming her own little person - well, not that she wasn't already and showing her sweet, cute, funny, little personality. Lately in addition to being sweet, cute, and funny, she is showing her STUBBORN side. She is really into throwing fits - oh and I mean fall on the floor, flail, kick, cry, scream, bang your head on the tub fits (she was ticked she had to sit down in the tub). Oh, and our tub is NOT plastic - it's a very hard ceramic tub. You can bet that didn't make her stop crying.

It's hard to ignore the fit, as the dr's sheet says to do - hehe! But we are trying all sorts of reactions from ignoring her, putting her in her crib for a timeout (minus her binkie and blankie), walking away, saying no, a little swat on the leg. I can't say much is really helping. I am hoping it's just a phase or possibly a result of being cranky because of all of the teething. Her bottom tooth that has been cutting through is finally in about half-way and one of her bottom molars is also visible but not really cut through. I think there's one more in there somewhere trying to come in. Total she still has only 6 teeth so let the teething continue, huh!?

The fits typically happen when she doesn't get to do what she wants, doesn't get what she wants, has to stop doing something or has to do something if SHE doesn't want to. =) hmmmmm....can you say DRAMA!? Anyway, I hope I am not the only person's child who has started throwing fits (haha!) and I'm also hoping it's over soon! She is still my sweet, funny, and loveable lil baby - who isn't much of a baby anymore!!!!! =)

Update on Vocab

2010-09-29T10:12:00.004-05:00

Another lil update: =)
I can't believe I forgot this one...she has been saying "hot" forever now. All summer she'd say hot when I made my coffee and also around the oven.
This past week she has been saying "up", "nigh-nigh", "papa", and attempting "cracker" more, too.
Also, surely I've put this one in but she says "HI" all the time! She is starting to say "bye" though she waves bye-bye typically rather than saying it!

Ava's Vocabulary:
*update*

Miss Ava is saying so many new things EVERY DAY! I am trying to keep track so I can scrapbook all the info later (when I finally get to scrapbook past 4 months old. haha!)

•No (one of her first words other than mama and dada)

•She used to say "pup-pup" and she still says "woo - woo" for woof woof

•"Uh-oh"!!!! (over and over and over)

•"Tick-e, Tick-e, Tick-e" for Tickle, Tickle

•"Icky"

•"Emma" (the babysitter's dog!)

•"Ish" for shoes

•"Ball"

Update:

pretty sure she is saying "Cookie" and "Cracker" now
Travis thinks he heard her actually SAY "Please!" awwwwwww! She still signs it like crazy
"MOMMY" She has moved on from "ma-ma" to "mommy" and she pretty much says it all day long. NOT COMPLAINING. I love it. She has even been waking up and calling me..."mommy, mommy, mommy"
My mom and I think we heard her say "Snack" over the weekend, too.
Oh and she will even say "icky" and go throw her diaper away! Cracks me up every time! I just say, "Ok, Ava, Icky, go throw it away!" and I just help her lift the lid on the trash can. This might backfire on me, as I caught her trying to throw a measuring cup away yesterday! Wondering if that is where the missing blue lid is I can't find!!!!!

I have been home the last 2 days with Ava b/c she had a slight fever on Monday and has been experiencing some lovely diarrheah (me too!...TMI) so I had to miss the Baby Communication class I was going to take with my friend Brooke. Bummer. I am sure it would have been fun!

Baby Communicating

2010-09-20T21:29:00.007-05:00

Sept. 2009

Sept. 2010

Ava's Vocabulary:

No (one of her first words other than mama and dada)

She used to say "pup-pup" and she still says "woo - woo" for woof woof

"Uh-oh"!!!! (over and over and over)

"Tick-e, Tick-e, Tick-e" for Tickle, Tickle

"Icky"

"Emma" (the babysitter's dog!)

"Ish" for shoes

"Ball"

She cracks us up each and every day. She is starting to have fun wrestling around. She is also becoming a bit ornery (that is the weirdest spelling for a word!). She is starting to stand up on her various chairs we have (the Pottery Barn chair, her little toy chair) and she will look at you to see if you have noticed and give you her cute little grin! Hard not to laugh.

She now religiously and I mean RELIGIOUSLY signs please now (after several days of screaming her head off when we told her to say it!!! Stubborn little booger!). She still signs "All-done" and "hungry." She doesn't mess around when it comes to food. If you even mention "hungry" or are fixing food for a meal, she gets VERY antsy to eat!

I am super excited to be taking a "Baby Communication" class with my friend Brooke at the end of the month. It is through the local community college and it's FREE!

15 Month Chair Pics...

2010-09-13T22:17:00.005-05:00

Well, I decided to take Ava's chair pics for her 15 month mark (and then 18 month and then yearly at 2 and so on). Here's my ATTEMPT!!!!!!!!! I suppose she is a typical 15 month old.

Ok, so not sure what is even in her hand! A cotton ball?

You want me to sit in my chair? Not without my kitty!

Uh.......not so much!

Oh, I'll sit on this chair, all right!

And again, not so much! =)

ps: check out that LONG strand of hair!

15 months!

2010-09-13T22:03:00.006-05:00

Miss Ava's 15 month stats:

Length: 30 inches - 30th percentile

Weight: 21 pounds - 20th percentile

Head Circumference: 19 inches - 97th percentile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still a peanut!

Travis took Ava to the dr. today for her 15 month checkup. All was well. She is doing all the things 15 month olds should be doing. I also officially used my child tonight to go to the other room and get something for me. Is that on the list? LOL. We were getting ready to go on a walk so I asked Ava to go get my shoes and bring them to me. It took me a few times of asking and pointing (and then her bringing me two different pairs before she brought the ones I wanted) but she did it. I was cracking up!

These pictures were taken on Labor Day. Travis and I stopped in Jacksonville to meet up with friends Alex and Stephanie on our way home from our annual trip to Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton (I'll try to post pics soon!). Anyway, we decided to meet up with them because we hadn't seen them in forever and they suggested Nichols Park (after partaking in some DQ!), which just so happens to be where we took some of our outdoor wedding photos so OF COURSE I was thinking----photo op for Ava!!!!!!!! =) She had fun running around the gazebo and even saw a puppy. This was her reaction!

Goals!

2010-08-29T21:21:00.004-05:00

This will, I'm sure, be a work in progress, but I wanted to post a few of my GOALS for the upcoming weeks, months, years...who knows! Just so it's in writing!

Get together with Laura (and anyone else that wants to join in!) to make some bows for Ava (and Izzy) so we can stop paying $3 per bow!!!!!!!!! When we know we could make them way cheaper!
Scrapbook, scrapbook, scrapbook! (just in general and work on Ava's scrapbooks she will keep when she is older!)
Work on painting for the bathroom. Either something on a canvas or paint something on the wall! We'll see!
Take a photography class. Gotta learn more tricks of the trade with my camera. Still loving it though!
Learn to sew!
Wait, rewind!!! Get a sewing machine!!!!!!!!!

More to come!

A little bit of this; a little bit of that...

2010-08-26T21:54:00.004-05:00

Miss Ava is 15 months old TODAY! I will get her chair pics sometime this weekend :) I figure I will take 15 month and then 18 month and then her 2 YEAR as I'm no longer doing monthly.

Here's a little bit of what she is doing.

She said "uh-oh" this week. She has been saying "Uh" and "Ohhhh" for a while but she is now putting them together. It is so cute. Tammy, our sitter, said she likes to drop her cup and say "uh-oh" (oh and also feed the dog!)
Speaking of, she has adjusted to the sitter quite well. It took a little while but she was only going one day a week so now that she is going every day, she is really seeming to like it. Emersyn is a little girl there (she's 4) and they seem to love each other! Our friends from our childbirth class also take their daughter Izzy there. She and Ava are 2 days apart.
Ava is walking like a pro and even starting to run! She is definitely on the move!
She loves animals! I got her a "fur-real" kitty at a garage sale for $1 and she is obsessed with it---even though I think it's a little creepy!
She loves books. She is into a few right now: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See; a little Fishy book, My Pink Purse. She loves to read them before bed.
She can finally clap correctly!! (LOL) Tammy, the sitter, and Emersyn taught her by singing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!" It is too cute. Now, I know that most kids have already learned to clap by now, but no matter how hard I tried, she wasn't interested. She did sort of attempt it, but it was never quite right. =) Her clap is cute, too. She keeps one hand still and claps the other to it.
She LOVES music (a beat-belt quality!). She will bop her head when she hears our fave song "Hey Soul Sister" (also my ring tone) and other songs on the radio and TV
She LOVES being outside. Tammy, the sitter, takes them out and they have an awesome backyard. We'll often play outside when we get home and take walks over to Miller Park. The fits have already started when we make her come in. Sweet girl!
She understands more and more every day. If we say things like "Do you want to go take a bath?" she will go toward the stairs. If we say, "Are you hungry?" she will go to the kitchen and "Ava, go get your kitty!" and she will go find it!
She is still doing her signs. She has finally gotten "Please" but she can be stubborn and I really have to get on her to sign it.
She jibber-jabbers constantly. Sometimes it really sounds like she is saying "What's that?" etc.
She has started putting her hands up for "So Big!" It is hilarious! One day I was just talking to Travis and said something regarding Ava getting 'so big' and she did it! LOL. =)

I'm finally also back in the swing of things with school. I have my two classrooms set up and have seen almost all of my students. Tomorrow and Monday will be my last "first" days. With that said, I miss Ava a LOT!!!!!!!! I am luckily too busy during the day to really think about it, however, I soak up every single second at night with her. I am a little emotional about it too. I cried the other night putting her to bed because I had curriculum night and only got to see her for a little bit after school and at bedtime. I do really really enjoy teaching and so far, things are going well. Tomorrow is my first day to travel so we'll see how THAT goes!

August

2010-08-16T21:21:00.002-05:00

August. Oh August, how I dread you every year! Even though there are still 2-3 weeks of summer days left in August, it always flies by! I swear, yesterday was August 1st and today it's August 16. I anticipate the new school year every year and have a HINT of excitement but since becoming a mommy, I also dread it like I dread WINTER---and if you know me, I HATE WINTER. On that note, I do love my job and don't really think I could be a stay at home mom, especially in the winter. I think I might go nuts. :) Not really but I think teachers have sort of the best of both worlds. We've had such a fun summer, making lots of memories...pool days, the zoo, play dates, sprinkler parks, walks, the mall, and just plain hanging out at home...And it's hard to believe that at the beginning of summer Ava was a brand new "walker" and now she is practically running. Being at the sitter is great for her, too, because she has become quite the "mommy's girl!" and she is frightened by just about everything. I guess that is just her nature, but being around other kids is good for her and something I want her to experience.

Another reason I dread August is the stress I start to feel. It always ends up working out fine (and not that I haven't been teaching long enough to know what I'm doing...) but I let myself get freaked out for nothing. I've already had one meltdown (you can ask Travis!) and then I have to tell him..."you know what time of year it is!" I also S.T.R.E.S.S. each year about my schedule but with obvious reason and this year since I am at my second school for more of my time (1.2 days compared to a half day last year) comes the sticky situation of travel time. I'm hoping and praying that it will get fixed but as of now, I have 20 minutes to get from one school to the other and be ready to teach. Not to mention I have 2 classes in a row, 20 mins to get to the other school and then have 3 classes in a row (pretty much the equivalent of 5 in a row, which I refuse to do!). I'm really hoping and assuming it will get fixed but in the mean time, I'm a little freaked out! I don't like to be rushed and stressed and I'd hate to show up for class each week and walk in the door with my purse, bag, coat, etc at the same time as the kids and have to make them sit and wait while I unpack and get ready. And honestly, I'm not sure where going to the bathroom fits in this equation---and again, if you know me, I pee more than a pregnant girl!

Well, enough of that. I'll keep you posted! Ava is off to the sitter tomorrow while I work at school (s) all day and then my mom will be here Wednesday while I work and then we are in school mode with meetings Thursday and Friday! I am so thankful I still have the half-day on Monday to prepare, as students will not come to area classes that day.

Happy August Everyone!

Summer

2010-07-31T20:41:00.004-05:00

{Summer}...

I pretty much want it to never END!

We've been having so much fun this summer and Ava is learning new things every day, I swear...

She is starting to use a fork. You can see the wheels turning in her head and she tries really hard to get the food on the fork and then to her mouth. I usually help her with getting the food on the fork, and then it usually falls off the fork as she is putting it in her mouth. She even will pick up the food and put it ON the fork. Too cute! I love that she is starting to show interest. She still loves to eat and her favorite foods really haven't changed! She still loves CHEESE, Cottage Cheese, fruit, pasta salad, etc. I was afraid she wasn't going to be a big meat eater but she has recently began to eat more meat. She seems to like ham and turkey (ok) and she even ate some salsa chicken (crockpot recipe=YUMMY!). She loves corn dogs, which I'm not a huge fan of her eating but unfortunately a lot of restaurants really don't offer the healthiest options for kiddos (and we wonder why our country is obese???). For example, tonight we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and we got the mini corndogs but before we fed her those we gave her some grapes, cottage cheese and raisins. At least that way she had some healthy items. =)

She has also started to put the rings on the stacking toy ring (what is that even called?). She can put them all on pretty well! Not necessarily in the correct order, but hey, pretty good job Ava!

She has this little monkey (looking) toy that I got at a garage sale (imagine that) that came with these cute little balls. Some are clear with little rattle-y things inside and you put them in the mouth of the monkey and he says 'yum yum yum' etc. She LOVES putting them in where they go! So fun.

She can shake her head yes and no. Pretty cute. And I'm pretty sure she is actually saying "no, no, no" though it sounds like "no-oy, no-oy..." It sounds more like an actual word and not just the "n" sound.

Overall, you can tell she is understanding more and more every day. When you say, "Ava, do you want to take a bath?" She will go over to her chair (which blocks the stairs...LOL) and wants to go upstairs.

If you ask her if she is hungry, she will go to the kitchen, etc.

She stillllllllllllllll loves doggies and birds are her second fave. She loves to sit in her high chair and watch out the window for birdies (I really should get a bird feeder, I guess) and she loves to listen for the neighbors ever-so-annoying barking dog! :)

Loving life! and DENYING that it is AUGUST!

14 months...ALMOST

2010-07-17T22:08:00.005-05:00

July 2009 (above)

July 2010 (above)

(LOVE this outfit. The shirt I actually bought new, the shorts were hand-me-downs from cousin Ella, and the SHOES----garage sale! of course).

In just under a week, Ava will be 14 months old! (sniff sniff...)

But with each passing day, she is getting funnier and funnier and smarter and smarter. Here are some things she is doing nowadays.

Blows on her food. She has seen me blow on food that is hot or my coffee so she has to blow on just about everything even if it's a cold grape. LOL! She also wants mommy and daddy to blow on it for her.

She tries to point to her nose. When you ask her "Ava, where is your nose?" She points to her mouth, I think!

She did pat her belly the other day when I asked her where her belly was.

The other night in the bath, I said, "Ava, we need to brush your teeth." and she turned her head and pointed to where we keep her toothpaste! I was pretty amazed! =)

She still is obsessed (as the new sitter would say, haha!) with puppies. If she even hears a dog (the neighbor's dog barks all.the.time it seems), she starts 'barking!'

She will look at one of the pictures I have on a shelf in her room and point to it and go "awwwwww...bay..." (I can't remember if I've already written this in a previous post)

I will stand her up on her changing table to pull up her pants typcially and I'll ask her "Ava, where is the butterfly (in the painting I did on the wall in her room) and she will point to it.

She signs "All done" "drink" and attemps "please" She still isn't really doing them on her own but she will do it after we do it usually, with the exceptoin of "All done" which she will tell you when she is done eating---let me tell ya!

She loves the water but still cries every.time we rinse her hair in the bath. Not sure what is up with that. She hates it. I usually just tilt her head back and get it over with. I think Travis tries to be more gentle about it. :) It barely even gets in her eyes so I don't honestly know what the big deal is.

We have a gate up in the kitchen where the stairs lead to the back door/basement but we use her little Pottery Barn chair to block off the stairs to the upstairs. It has worked just fine (and still kind of does, I suppose) but she has figured out how to move it so she can go up the stairs, which she loves to do and can do without much problem. We are still working on going down.

She has a million and one toys (barely exaggerating) and she still loves to play with the most random things: package of diapers, remotes, phones, my workout steps, kitchen utensils...you get the point.

She stands on her head a lot. She just decided to do that on her own. Pretty funny.

{Peek-a-boo!}

She still LOVES music. She will bop her head in the car or anytime she hears music or (heaven forbid---I sing!)
She is getting more into TV shows. I don't really have it on for her much but there have been a few times if she is bored or cranky, I'll turn on the ON DEMAND...soooo helpful! or her Baby Einstein DVDs.
She still doesn't really clap correctly. When you try to put her hands together to help her, she stiffens up (???). It started out as kind of a rolling motion and now she will clap one hand on top of the other one (cracks me up!) but the other half of the time she will get it right.
Still says "Hiiiiiiiii" to just about anyone and everyone when we are out and about.
Seems to say "What's that..." That is what it sounds like anyway!
She loves when I whip my ponytail around. She will just giggle and giggle.
Is ticklish just about everywhere!

Well, that's all for now. Remember this is mostly for my purposes, but hopefully you enjoyed. :)

June 2010

2010-06-28T22:07:00.004-05:00

Wow, what a great month it has been! I really can't believe June is winding down. Ava has adjusted to mommy being home - well, a little too much, I think! She has definitely grown a little attached. Not saying I MIND, however, it will definitely make going back to work more difficult.

So far this month, we've stayed busy doing lots of outdoor activities. Ava LOVES being outside and playing in/with the water. I got a pool pass and we have been going to the pool a lot, as well as the sprinkler parks for playdates, etc. We attended a babytime class at the Children's Discovery Museum with friend Laura and her daughter, Izzy. Travis and I met Laura and her husband Dave at our Childbirth class and didn't exchange numbers or anything but always kind of laughed at the same things and felt like each other would be fun to hang out with. The day I was to leave the hospital, Travis was walking down the hospital hall and ran into Laura and Dave!! She was there, too, but having Izzy about 5 weeks early. We exchanged numbers and have been keeping in touch. It's been fun to have someone to hang out with that also has a 1 year old and Travis and Dave get along well, too! We also went to the Fun Run last Friday. Ava had fun and I got workout, too, since I had to carry her a LOT of the way. =)

Ava and I are heading back on Wednesday for my hometown's fair. It is tradition to meet up with my sis and my BFF Anne to go to the Queen Pageant, but mostly gossip about all of the people we used to go to high school with, etc. hehe!

Other happenings with Miss Ava:

Walking, walking, walking. She is starting to stand up on her own without something to help her up (couch, etc.)
Chatterbox: still says 'pup-pup,' starting to say 'bay' for baby. She will point at her baby pictures around the house and say 'oooooohhhhh bay.' And it is SO CUTE!
She loves all of her stuffed animals and will cuddle with them
Great eater! She loves all fruits, pasta salad, bread, yogurt, and will even eat her veggies most of the time. CHEESE is still her fave. She will find it on her tray and eat it first. She loves hamburger with ketchup ut isn't a fan of other meats so far.
No problems getting rid of the bottle...BiNKY: that will be a different story.
Still says HIIIIIIIII to kids and babies especially when we are out and about but is a little social butterfly to everyone.
Such a little smarty: tries to talk on the phone (well and remotes, too...LOL), tries to put her headbands on, tries to put mommy and daddy's shoes on (well, daddy's are skis!)
Such a sweetheart!

Life

2010-06-15T13:36:00.004-05:00

Well, let's just say that life sometimes throws you curve balls. Summer didn't quite start out how I had hoped. We got a call from Travis' dad on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend that his grandma had passed away. She was home from Texas and staying at Travis' parents house. She came down to work her puzzle and had a stroke they think. She was a sweet lady and I'm so glad I was able to know her. She was able to come to Ava's birthday party, too, which could not have been more perfect. Lori got this 4 Generation picture and these other shots, which will be cherished forever!

We were gone from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend until Wednesday night at 10pm. YIKES! I then I had to get my house in order so I could ENJOY summer only to have Ava being a little out of sorts. There were a rough couple days when she just was not happy unless I as right there entertaining her. I couldn't even walk out of the room to throw a diaper away! I was starting to get discouraged, thinking "Oh no! Is this how my summer is going to be??" Well, I am happy to say that now she is back to her little happy old self. =) I think she was probably just needing her routine back, too. She is walking more and more and playing and getting into everything! She is also talking a LOT (though I'm not quite sure what language!). She is even playing right now as I'm typing this! Ahhhhhhh...A great feeling! She IS, however, going to be a momma's girl before summer is over, I'm afraid!

So, even when things don't always go your way, keep trucking and it will get better!!!

PASTING?

2010-06-09T23:01:00.003-05:00

Well, I can't figure out how to PASTE (fellow bloggers...can you???). So if you are interested in what's new with Ava, check out her Shutterfly site. Let me know if you need the address and let me know if you know how to allow blogger to paste.

Peoria Zoo!

2010-06-09T21:30:00.006-05:00

Megan and I went to the Peoria Zoo today with Reddington and Ava. It was absolutely the perfect day! Megan and I had great conversation. Well, we tried but Ava apparently had lots to say too! I guess she is going through a phase (not wanting to be in the car!). You start to think something is wrong but when we pulled into the driveway and I turned back and looked at her, she says "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Little stinker! Of course it was fun, none-the-less and otherwise, she was a good girl!

Megan is my cousin Nathan's wife and we hit it off right away. Gosh, how many years ago has it been now? (7ish!?) She is a teacher as well, and with Redd and Ava being so close in age, it's great! Thanks for a fun day and always being such a good listener when I have so many things on my mind. =)

Ava and Reddington loved all of the animals and pointed at them when they saw them! I swear Ava thinks everything is a puppy. Either that or she was really excited and made her little 'wooo wooo' sound when she saw something she liked.

Checking out the lions!

wooooo wooooo!

Hi there nice lions!

Ok, so I don't think I am digging my $1 garage sale glasses??? I look like a bug!?

I HEART Giraffes!!!!!!!!!!

Holy Cow! I didn't know how long their tongues are!!!!!!!! Did you?

Reddington loved the llama!

Ava was pooped! =)

The End

Anne's

2010-06-09T21:14:00.003-05:00

While I was home for Liv's birthday, I also visited my BFF Anne and her boys. We always have fun no matter what we are doing (even if it's absolutely NOTHING!). Ava did surprisingly well sleeping. She went down without crying and slept all night...she doesn't always do great in unfamiliar surroundings. Anne and I joked that she might wake up and freak out at the deer head in the room but she was fine! LOL! The boys had fun playing with Ava. Ethan is 5 and absolutely LOVES tractors. I think he asked me a bazillion questions about tractors and said that Ava probably couldn't ride on one like him because it would be too dangerous. Crack me up! Not to mention the loud noises would for sure scare her! Mitchell is 2 1/2 and is a sweetie pie!

We had fun and Anne and I ended up chatting til about 2am. We could talk every day like 3 times a day and never run out of things to say or talk about and there is never an awkward moment. I guess that is how you know how someone is your true friend! =) We've been through a lot together! Now I just wish we lived closer...maybe someday!!!!!!!

Here is Ava with the boys...

This is just outside Anne's house. I thought it was a cute spot for a photo op. OF COURSE!
Ava saw a little willy worm or something on the rock. Hilarious!

I think she just ate dirt or something here...

A stray cat but she loved it!

Olivia's 6th Birthday Party!

2010-06-09T21:00:00.003-05:00

Well, in an attempt to get my blog back in working order, I am going to start with June!!!!!!!

I went home last weekend for my niece Olivia's 6th birthday. I still can't believe she is 6 (and that Isabelle is 10 and Ava is ONE!).

Liv's cute cake...

Aunt Bridgett and Miss Ava

Making a wish...thinking hard!

Ava and Liv...

Birthday Girl!

Me with Belle, Liv, 'baby' Billy (their cousin on their dad's side) and Ava.

I'm Alive!

2010-05-14T08:28:00.002-05:00

Well, HELLO blogging world...

I am actually still alive! This time of year is absolutely crazy. To add to it, I hosted a Kids Art Fair (for all of my 750+ students) at the end of April and we are planning Miss Ava's FIRST Birthday Party (I know, can you believe it!!??).

My original thought was to start using my shutterfly site for Ava (which I will still probably do/am doing), and even though you can 'blog' on it, I haven't gotten myself in the habit - like I was here on my blog. Funny thing is I REALLY enjoy writing and getting my thoughts out, etc. One of my english teachers in college even told me I was good at writing and should think about using that talent!

I'm sitting here on this Friday morning with my coffee (2 Hazelnut creamers and 2 sweeteners---is it even still coffee???) and need to get a few things off my chest!!!!!!!!!!

I am sooooooo anxious for summer and the kids are even more anxious - or so I would think based on their behaviors! YIKES! I feel like I'm speaking a foreign language to some of them. I need to push in my chair? What? I need to walk? What? I need to stop talking? What?...
Yeeeeeeeeah!

On top of that, I have purchased all of my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students (about 375) a 4" x 4" canvas to paint on (with money I earned from my art fair). We are doing a REALLY cute project (I'll post some pics sometime...). I am even allowing them to splatter paint...they are having a ball but wow, I'm losing my mind! It definitely makes for a lot of clean up but oh well, it will all be worth it. :-)

OK, so with my mind going in 2 million different directions, I think it's putting me a little on edge and what would probably not bother me normally just really gets me ticked off! Oh it could also be due to the fact that Ava has been sleeping horribly...thankfully last night she slept all night without any interruptions!!!!!!!!! YAY! We were thinking maybe another ear infection or something but she seems fine now and I think she was just getting too comfortable with mommy and daddy coming in at her every whimper (haha...not really but...)

{So anyway here are a few stories of what's been bugging me!}

Yesterday I find out that a group of teachers were going to use my classroom because they thought I wasn't here (I'm at my other school on Thursday mornings...but come here in the afternoon). That wasn't a big deal but then one of the teachers proceeds to tell me that she tried getting on my (school) laptop which was IN MY LAPTOP CASE on my desk. Since I keep it 'locked' (when you open the computer you have to log in), she wasn't able to get on it and she said she didn't want to mess with that so she just left me a note. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I would never open someone's laptop case and just get on their computer...

Ok, so this one is pretty comical...so, I go to Walgreens after having to run some errands yesterday after school and before Bunco and just need to pick up my Nexium, return a few things and get some eyeliner and some fast dry nail polish. "GIDGET," the girl working there WOULD NOT STOP TALKING TO ME!! I was telling Travis, she had completed the sale, I had paid, my items were in the bag and she would not hand it over! She kept going on about how they are doing a lunch this weekend and it's only a $5 donation for lunch...oh and the garage sales in the neighborhood are also going on, oh and this one guy who had cancer and is in a wheelchair offered to go around and pass out flyers, oh and he is even going to collect the money for them, oh and yeah, people are so excited, they are going to bring their 4 kids and wow, only $5 and that gets them lunch......................O........M........Goodness!!!!!!!! It really went on longer than that. Then I'm driving home, on my street, only a few houses away and the people up the street's dog (ok, and I LOVE dogs) is just leisurely taking it's time walking down the middle of the street. This dog is old and just wanders, I swear!

So, anyway, that is a glimpse into my world. :) I will post another blog soon for Ava's 11 month info....well, hopefully before she turns 1 YEAR OLD!!!!! My little sweetie pie!

New Site

2010-03-18T20:52:00.003-05:00

I have started a new private site for Ava. If you haven't received the email yet and would like to be added, email me, fb me, or call me. :)

I will still be using my blog but I'm just trying this new site out.

Happy March

2010-03-07T10:35:00.003-06:00

I am happy to say that Working Out is going much better! Last week I worked out at home 2 days, went to the gym before school 1 day and went to the gym after school 1 day! That is FOUR DAYS out of 7...ok, not so bad! I ran a mile the first time and a mile and a half the second time. Hoping to get back up to 3 miles, which is where I was pre-Ava. :) Once Trav's work schedule gets back to normal, I will go to the gym in the morning probably 4 days a week---the 4 days I'm at the school that is closest to my gym. It worked out perfectly and I even got to school a little earlier than I normally do when I am just at home---less distractions. I don't get to see Ava for the 5 minutes I otherwise would, but I will survive, I suppose.

I am also happy to say that it is only TWO WEEKS until Spring Break!!!!!!! We can't go anywhere because Travis can't get off work this year BUT I am going to MN with my mom to see my sister Tammy and niece Ella. That will be fun. I am just excited to have the week off and spend it with my favorite little girl! We'll see about next year! Also, once spring break is over, the school year always FLIES by! I am already getting giddy about the thought of having AAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL summer off with Ava. I know there will be lots of pool time, going on walks, going to the zoo, hanging with friends, cookouts. Ahhhhhhhhh...

Next weekend we are going to Schaumburg with Kim and Craig. No babies. My mom will come up and watch Ava overnight. I am excited to go to IKEA. Travis gets to go to his favorite place, Texas de Brazil, and I think Kim and I are going to get a pedi!!! YAY!

Happy March everyone!

*This is one of the pics from Ava's 9 month photo shoot. She did great for having a fever 2 days before. She was kind of serious (especially for this smiley little girl) but they still turned out great! Not sure how I will ever pick. I LOVE this one. :) She, of course, gave lots of smiles when her daddy walked into the room!

9 Months Old!

2010-02-25T20:32:00.004-06:00

Ava's 9 Month Stats:

Height: 27 inches, 30% percentile

Weight: 18 pounds, 40% percentile

Head Circumference: 18 1/4 inches, 95% percentile

Ava had her 9 month well visit yesterday. She is doing great! Dr. Emm said she is doing awesome. The only thing I had a question about was her birthmark (s) - she has one on her forehead (angel kisses) and the one on the back of her neck (stork bite). He pressed on them and it shows they disappear so he is confident they will fade. I really don't care one way or another as far as 'looks' go, but had noticed that the one on the back of her neck seemed darker. He said it is still fine and he isn't worried about it. We'll keep an eye on it though.

She of course cried anytime he came near her or touched to (to listen to her breathing, check her ears, etc.). He said he doesn't take anything personally. :-) I really like him. He is young and has 2 daughters himself. The youngest is a few weeks older than Ava so that is cool. She even cried when I put her on the weighing table and just the female nurse was in the room. I wasn't surprised though because she still cries (FREAKS OUT) anytime I try to change her diaper in a public restroom. I am sure the other people in the bathroom think I'm torturing her in there! He said that is pretty normal. She is a little scaredy cat anyway, so I figured. The vacuum freaks her out, too. I was surprised a few weeks ago when I took her to the ISU game that she seemed to enjoy it. She did jump EVERY time the buzzer went off though. :)

She is now TECHNICALLY crawling, however, she still mostly pulls/scoots herself around and like I said, don't let that fool you, she is quick! I guess she is also considered a 'cruiser' because she loves to stand and can even kind of walk around her toys. Here is a little video of her going for the electronics. I can't get a video of her crawling because she usually starts to do it and then decides doing the worm is much more fun! :)

Working Out is Not Working Out...

2010-02-24T22:12:00.004-06:00

Welllllllll, I gotta say that the whole working out thing is not 'working out.' I have been doing 'OK' I suppose. It is just really hard to go from working out 5 days a week (pre-pregnancy) to a few. I have to have routine and it is almost like I need to do it every day or I get out of the habit of doing it. No excuses, however, as any working mom would probably agree, it is really hard to make the time to do it (and being dead of winter does NOT help!)...

When Ava and I get home, we usually hang out and play for a while. When she was still taking her evening nap, I would take that time to work out, however, now that she isn't doing that, I'd much rather play with her. Then Travis gets home and we typically do dinner, then it's time to clean up, prepare for the next day (lunches, my coffee, clean up, etc.), then it's bathtime, play, read books, bottle and bed. By this time it is about 8:30 and this is the chance to maaaaaybe get on the computer, watch a couple shows, etc. It is definitely NOT the time to work out. My goal of going to a weekend class is also hard to keep up because apparently I'm kind of busy on weekends! :)

I did have a thought, though and despite my {LOVE} of sleeping, I think I am going to try to get up and go to the gym (YEP...still paying for it) in the morning. Right now, Travis takes Ava to the sitter so I'm thinking there is no reason that I can't get up, head to the gym and get in a 3 mile run. Since the gym is literally about 1 minute from my school, I can just get ready there and still get to school by 7:45 or 8:00. The way I figure it, I will only have to get up about 15 minutes earlier.

I'm going to start this new goal next week (or Friday, we'll see) since I'm at Fairview on Thursdays (not near the gym). If only I could 'watch' what I eat...(I just watch it as I shovel it in...LOL...). No, honestly, I think I do ok, but I do enjoy eating, and working out was my way to allow myself to eat whatever I wanted and lately I've been continuing to eat (almost) whatever I want and not working out as much. Surprisingly, I'm not toooooooo far from my pre-pregnancy weight but the muscle tone I had is definitely NOT there! I don't want summer to arrive and not be toned!!! So looks like I have about 2-3 months to get there! My goal is to get back into my Seven jeans...comfortably!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, the catch?????? Going to bed at a decent time...(It is 10:40pm now, and I'm just chillin' on the couch with my computer and Idol...)

Wish me luck!

Happy Birthday To Me

2010-02-21T22:51:00.003-06:00

2 months later...I finally used my birthday money at the Coach outlet yesterday and since I got such a good deal (it was on sale to begin with plus I got another 20% off!), I even have some $ left over. I can't believe I've actually had the money since December! The scarf attached is from "Thirty-One." I'm still trying to get it to look right, it might be too long but I LOOOOOOOVE them both and, of course, they are both GREEN!

Miss Ava

2010-02-21T22:15:00.006-06:00

Peek-a-boo

Chewin' on the funnel

Love the position...and her socky. If she isn't pulling them off, they are falling off anyway!

Pretty girl...

"Check me out..."

Happy Girl!

Playin' with mommy's foot...

Things are getting more and more fun around the Cunningham household. It is REALLY hard to believe that Ava will be 9 months old in 5 days. I actually didn't even realize it was that close until I just looked at the calendar. Even though I feel like winter is never ending and I'm so anxious for spring (so anxious that I painted my toenails for the first time in months), February is FLYING by! Don't you think so? Anyway, here's the latest...

Ava is now saying "mama" (YAY! :) I was gone yesterday for the day to the outlet mall with Annie and Katie and I came home to her saying it.

She is also kind of saying a "b" sound (baba?) and the "n" sound too, I think (Nanci??)

Her 2 bottom teeth are really coming in and I must say, they are "2 cute!"

She is still not 'technically' crawling but her version is much more entertaining. She doesn't even really do the army crawl, it is more like the "worm" but today she was even just kind of pushing herself along to where she wanted to go with one leg---almost like the other leg is paralyzed. I need a video for sure! Anyway, if there is anything electronic around (mostly cords), she can get to it in the blink of an eye!

She L.O.V.E.S. to stand. She giggles when you help her walk and she loves to stand at her musical toys and play. She is getting better at pulling herself up all the way. I have to remind myself not to always do it for her. :-) My friend Jaime got me these things called walking wings. I will definitely have to use them soon. They help you so you don't have to bend over when you are helping little ones walk. How cool!

I am loving my new camera. I am hoping to take a class on how to use it/photography this summer. (Man, I sooooooo can't wait for SumMeR!!!!!!!!)

I went to an open house today. I was just browsing FSBO - (For Sale By Owner) and there was an open house going on at that exact time for a house that looked really cute. My friend Kim met me there. We both really liked it. It will probably be SOLD soon because it is in a nice area--Attached garage, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and 4 rooms in the basement (semi finished) and very reasonably priced. Oh well, hopefully it will get the ball rolling for us. We want to move ASAP so I guess we'll be trying to find out our status with our house and maybe put it up for sale. On the drive home, I felt a little guilty (like our house might find out...LOL), but no really, I will miss our house! It is our first home and has so much character. I'll miss that when we move someday.

Happy {Belated} Valentine's Day

2010-02-21T22:10:00.003-06:00

XOXO,
Ava

My New Love

2010-02-15T22:49:00.011-06:00

Digital Scrapbooking

I have been sooooooooooo addicted to my new digital scrapbooking software: Creative Memories Storybook Creator 3.0. I LOVE IT! It is so nice to be able to do a page quickly and not have to get all of my scrapbooking supplies out. I will still do traditional scrapbooking when I can, but this way I don't have to feel like I will NEVER get Ava's scrapbook done. I can print the pages as 12x12 photos and slide them down in Ava's scrapbook I've already started. How awesome is that!? And this way, I can still save little keepsakes to go in her scrapbook and also have more creative freedom than with online photo books, etc.

Here are a few pages I've done. I'm still learning!

{Sneak Peek}

2010-02-12T12:18:00.005-06:00

I took full advantage of our snow day on Tuesday and took some Valentine pictures of Ava in her adorable Valentine outfit I got her. It is a pink tutu with a black onesie with a pink glittery heart on it and the super cute bow that my friend Audra made to match. I used my new camera and then did some editing with my memory manager software from Creative Memories. I think they turned out pretty well for me being an amateur!

I will post more pics soon!

What a sweet face!

Things are going good with us. Ava is getting her TWO bottom teeth and has had a runny nose but for the most part still in a good mood. She doesn't really have much of an apetite for her bottle from time to time and wouldn't take it 2 nights in a row. Travis took her to the dr. yesterday and she is completely fine! Oh well, good to know. The nurse thought maybe ear infection but the dr. said her ears look great. I caught whatever she had, I think, and took a sick day yesterday and slept ALL day. I, too, don't have much of an apetite, so I think she probably just has drainage, etc. and maybe her toothers are bothering her. Otherwise, she is still sleeping through the night, so that is great!

Hope everyone has a fun Valentine's Day weekend. XOXO

Ava Saying Dada

2010-01-26T19:39:00.002-06:00

This isn't the best video but Ava is continuing to say DADA every day now. Travis got the best clips on his phone via an audio recording. I'll have to see if I can upload those but CUTE regardless! :)

Our 8 Month Old!

2010-01-25T21:52:00.006-06:00

It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into.

-Terri Guillemets

Well, I don't know how this has happened in the blink of an eye...but our baby is 8 months old! For some reason ALL OF THE SUDDEN, it has hit me that she just isn't a little baby anymore. Could it be that she is enjoying lots of table food? Could it be that she is ALMOST crawling? Could it be that she is sleeping great and even starting to weed out her evening nap (not completely yet...)? That she is saying DADA!? That she is even getting better at holding her own bottle? Could it be that she has started to go to sleep in all kinds of different positions and is pretty much never on her back anymore? Could it be that she is getting better at hanging out by herself and has started to like her jumperoo? That her hair is growing like crazy and is even growing over her ears? Could it be that she is sitting in a high chair now at restaurants and loving it!? That she has figured out that if you open the wipes container and pull on the little wet white thing sticking out, there is another one there and another one and another one and another! Oh I think I could go on an on!

Well, all of the sudden it has hit me that she isn't a newborn anymore. She is a sweet, beautiful, hilarious, little person. I absolutely LOVE newborns---their sweetness, their innocence and it is hard to believe that she was once a tiny little 7 pounds 19 ounces! I still have her outift that she came home from the hospital hanging in her room and tonight I was rocking her and giving her her nighttime bottle and just reminiscing. As cliche as it may sound, I will always tell a pregnant woman or a mother of a newborn to truly cherish every. single. moment with their baby. They grow and change every day and it really does go by in the blink of an eye! I will cherish every video and picture we have and I really do feel like I never took any single moment for granted.

On that note, each new stage is fun and exciting and I LOVE this stage right now too. She is so much fun and Travis and I have noticed that she is really seeming to understand and be communicating with us. Just tonight, we were laughing and she will look right at you and smile or laugh. Her new thing is to close her eyes and give a huge grin! So funny!

Happy 8 month birthday Ava! We LOVE you!

Ava 7 months+

2010-01-18T20:45:00.004-06:00

Look familiar??? I have a thing about extreme closeups. I love her!

Enjoyin' some puffs

She thinks her bottle is a toy lately :)

She loves her fishies...

Ready to crawl!

Ava 7 3/4 months ;)

Still no teeth. Poor girl. I am a little afraid of when she DOES get them...
Anyway, she still loves to eat with or without teeth. She's had shredded cheese, cottage cheese, bread, lunchmeat, tater tots, etc. She had one of those biter biscuits tonight too. She seemed to like it. Wow those are messy! :) She also likes suckers. I let her have a little lick last night!
On the verge of crawling. She can get around and around and around. She can also push herself backwards and pull herself forward. It is just getting the legs figured out and she'll be off! She hasn't quite gotten herself up on her knees yet.
She typically does NOT like to be alone. I don't think we necessarily 'spoil' her but she has her moments. Sometimes she is completely fine playing by herself but other times she must be saying "PLAY WITH ME!"
She started shaking her head (no??) last week. It is hilarious though I don't think she knows quite yet what it means. She will do it when she doesn't want a bite but then 2 seconds later she'll take a bite. She also does it when she is being silly or we're singing, etc. so maybe it is her version of dancing because she LOVES music.
Today I was just singing her name really loudly and she was giving me her huge-open-mouth grin. LOVE HER!

Dear Pre-Pregnancy Body part 2

2010-01-11T12:43:00.006-06:00

Dear Pre-Pregnancy Body,

Well, I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your kindness towards me as I have been working to get you back. Last week I accomplished my GOAL! I did a workout video 2 times last week and even managed to get myself to the gym on Saturday morning to attend a spinning class. Let me just say IT FELT GREAT! I have truly missed spinning.

This new body is, well, pretty out of shape (I was ~~struggling~~ dying a little bit with a video that I used to do WITH 5 lb weights...and was doing it with NO weights...) but I plan to keep my goal and even work out a few more times a week hopefully. I didn't want to kill myself too much the first week back. I'm HOPEFULLY going to be going to Florida for my mom's retirement party in June, so I plan to have you back by then...

I even said NO to a cookie at Blimpie the other day. And let me just tell you, they have awesome sugar cookies. :)

Yours truly,

Steph

Christmas Morning

2010-01-10T21:37:00.007-06:00

Christmas morning was really fun. Travis and I got up and did our stockings to each other (we don't do 'gifts'...Stockings are my fave anyway! :) Travis always finds me cool pens, sharpies, etc. This year he got me scented colored pencils. The kids at school will be JEALOUS...LOL. :)

I'm not sure how my DIET is going to go with all of these sweets!!!

I got Travis 2 ornaments on our St. Charles trip. One of a sushi roll and the other a chinese take out box--2 of his favorites! I also picniked the pic of Ava from our Christmas photo shoot to take to work. I put Daddy's Little Deer at the top and I love you daddy at the bottom, 2009 :)

Oh and the safety goggles were just a gag!

Me with my coffee!!!!!!!!!!!! I HEART YOU!

Then we got lil Miss Ava up for her 1st Christmas morning. :) To be quite honest, we didn't buy her a ton. I mean, we buy her WAY TOO MUCH on a daily basis so I wrapped up a couple things for her to 'open!'

I think we had more fun with the bow from her present. Always a photo op...

"Now what????"

Me half ready. I did my makeup in the car.

Ava and her daddy. See a resemblance??????

These are a few pics from Gma and Gpa Cunningham's. They had these cute little wooden dolls and blocks set up. The dolls moved and Ava was very intrigued!

Can't wait til next year!

ps. Since Ava turned 7 MONTHS on the day after Christmas, and with us traveling for the holidays, I'm using those as her 7 month chair pics/Christmas morning pics. :) Not long and she'll be 8 months! Hard to believe!

More Journaling

2010-01-06T21:45:00.005-06:00

Ava is getting to be such a big girl. Here are her latest 'things.' Remember this is me journaling...

She is continuing to roll over a lot. She is even rolling over and moving ALL over in her crib. Sometimes it gets in the way of her sleeping. At first she would roll to her belly and then get so mad that she couldn't go anywhere and she'd scream and cry. It's like she forgot how to roll from her belly to her back, which she did a long time ago. Silly girl! :) It's getting better. When we went to get her out of her crib this morning she was sleeping away on her belly. It's pretty cute---hands up by her face and legs crossed or sometimes on her side a little.

She can sit up on her own quite well and push her body up with her arms while on her belly and scoot along, do 360s, etc. Once she gets those legs figured out, she'll be GONE! It will still be a little while I think, which is totally fine with me. Still haven't fully baby-proofed the house. I am not sure how that is all going to work out. If you've been to my house, you know what I mean. I have a lot of ~~CRAP~~ stuff that isn't for little Miss Ava.

She is getting very cuddly and even gives some VERY slobbery kisses from time to time.

We are attempting to teach her sign language for "more," "all done," and "thank you." (Thanks Nanci!)

She has always enjoyed her bath but has been playing with her toys in the bath and even splashing the water. I think she is going to be a water baby! She is very intrigued when I turn on the kitchen faucet.

She is loving to eat. She is actually quite the little pig! So far she's had the fruit and veggie baby foods and a few of the other dinner type ones. I don't think she's a huge fan. Probably because she has also had shredded cheese, cottage cheese, pizza, monkey bread, and her daddy's pumpkin bars. She will actually take her left hand and grab the pieces, shovel it in her mouth and then her right hand IMMEDIATELY, and do the same. I have to just make sure she isn't getting too much in her mouth at one time. Stinker! She loves her puffs, too and the Yo Baby yogurt meals. She gets super excited if she thinks she is getting food. Even tonight I was stirring the sour cream and she was in her high chair and she was getting all excited thinking it was for her.

No teeth still---nothin even close that we can tell. :)

She is scared of men and is recognizing strangers but typically it is just males and even sometimes men she does know scare her. Sorry guys! My mom said she gets that from me. I was quite the cry-baby.

She is very social otherwise. She seems to like to be 'on-the-go' and loves shopping trips and being out and about or having the constant entertainment at Jeanne's of the other kids and her 2 dogs.

Back to Life, Back to Reality...

2010-01-05T20:35:00.004-06:00

Dear Pre-Pregnancy Body,

I am very sorry I did not appreciate you as I should have. Please forgive me! I have genuinely missed you but have not had the time or motivation to get you back and until the recent holiday season, I didn't think you were too far gone. It is my goal (not really a new years resolution...) to do a workout video a few times a week (or more) and attend a weekend class at the gym (since I'm S.T.I.L.L. paying membership) a few times a month (or more). I will also stop feeding you all of the "quote-un-quote" GOODIES that have filled my house and the teacher's lounge for the last about month. (well, once they are gone maybe...).

Please don't be too hard on me tomorrow after our first workout tonight. I'd like to be able to walk pain free! I said please!

Yours truly,

Steph

Christmas---Part 1

2010-01-03T17:35:00.011-06:00

This year was our year to do Christmas Day with Trav's extended family, so the Bettis fam (my mom's side) alternates so that we can all still be together at Christmas time. We got together at my mom's house for a brunch on the day after Christmas.

Travis and his pumpkin bars! They were YUMMY! We also had pumpkin french toast the next morning for breakfast and I must say that was awesome too. I think we've finally used all of our pumpkin from Halloween. :) haha

Me and Megan---the bobsy twins once again!

Sisters---Bridgett, Tammy, Steph

Belle and Ava. Isabelle is in the 4th grade (hard to believe!) and is such a good cousin. Olivia was sick and couldn't come (pink eye!).

Some family shots. As you can maybe see, it was quite the crowd! My mom has 4 siblings. I think everyone in the family was there except cousin Anna who lives in AZ and was home for Thanksgiving so 11 of 12 were there plus OUR kids! I am sooo bummed we didn't at least get an all cousin shot of all the cousins that were there. NEXT TIME!

More family shots. :)

Typically we choose a separate day to open gifts with my siblings but it worked out that my sister Tammy and family were home for Christmas on Christmas, so they were able to be there for the Bettis celebration and then we opened our gifts to each other that evening.

Travis and Jeff (Tammy's husband)...Jeff got the cooler so I guess that Fancy Nancy box is Trav's. haha

Ava had some fun playing with her cousins. Ella had these clip-on hair things for her ponies so she 'ever so gently' clipped one in Ava's hair. It was hilarious! She didn't even notice!

My mom still does stockings for us since one year I about had a cow when she stopped. :) She now also does them for the grandkids. Thanks mom! :) Stockings are my fave! She also started the tradition of getting Ava a Holiday Barbie for Christmas.

Jammies!

Ella

Ava just hanging out.

The great-grandbabies born last year. My grandma has 8 great-grandchildren total.

Ava: 7 months

Dasani: 9 months

Reddington: 10 months

Landen: 4 months

Christmas---Part 2 coming soon including Ava's Christmas morning and her 7 month chair pics. :)

Snow Baby

2010-01-03T17:24:00.004-06:00

I am not really a HUGE fan of wintery weather, ice, etc---ICK---but mainly because I hate being cold (it could last for the month of December and I'd be happy), however, I will say I always loved playing in the snow and sledding growing up. We lived on a lake so we would occasionally go ice skating at our friends' house and I think I remember a few times that my best friends Kelli and Les and I snuck down to the lake when it was frozen and just messed around. Not very smart but, hey, we survived! and had lots of fun in the process. :)

We took these pics of Ava at my mom's house the day after Christmas. She had just gotten this cute snowsuit and the snowflakes coming down were huge and beautiful! I am not sure she really thought it was too fun but I'm sure she will in a few years and it made for some cute pics of her first time in the snow.

Christmas Eve

2010-01-03T16:11:00.004-06:00

This year we made the decision to be at home on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning...something that has not happened since Travis and I have been together. We still traveled on Christmas morning, but it was nice to be at home and get up on Christmas morning to do our Christmas together---a tradition we both had growing up that we wanted to pass on to Ava!

Since we were home, we were also able to attend the Christmas Eve service, which I don't think I have ever done. I was glad Ava would get the chance to wear her Christmas dress again, too! She did great...with a little help from some Gerber 'puffs' :) And it was just nice to be able to celebrate the real reason for the CHRISTmas season!

We went with Kim and Craig and Ava's buddy, Lauren and each of their families. Then Kim's mom graciously invited us over for dinner. I guess you could say we were like honorary family members that night. :)

Christmas Photo Shoot/6month Chair Pics

2010-01-03T15:56:00.006-06:00

Well, as I mentioned I'm a bit behind in my blogging so here goes. I am going to try to get caught up as much as I can. I have been too busy over break enjoying the holidays, my birthday, spending time with Travis and Ava and family and friends, and organizing just about every closet, drawer, cabinet, etc. in our house! I even got all of Ava's "too small" clothes put away and labeled in tubs. Whew!!!

Lori came up and took our Christmas family photos in early December and also did Ava's 6 month chair pics. Despite Ava being still a little sick, she did great and as you'll see, we got some AmAZinG photos!!!!

*Remember you can click on the collages/photos to view them larger. :)

I absolutely loved this one. It's like she's saying "Doot de doo...what now?" Lori said she looked like an old lady who forgot to put her teeth in. :)

We had some fun with Christmas props as you can see!

"Daddy's Little Deer"----LOVE this outfit!