New Year

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

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

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!

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

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

"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!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!