You Better Watch Out...

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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

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!