I think they like each other...

They are going to be best friends.

Soooo...do they look alike?!? I usually think no, but I'm thinkin' they kinda might. What do you think?!?

Guess who the photographer of this one was??? Yep- Ava. She LOVES taking pictures with Mommy's fancy camera!

Ava was trying to be all serious....but I won her over...and look at that gorgeous smile.
As crazy as life sometimes feels, I am one lucky lady. I have two amazing girls who I love more than this world. And they love me too. Which is totally awesome.

Rolly Polly

So, about 5 days ago, I decided that it was time to stop swaddling Bella for sleeping. She had started thinking about rolling over but wasn't really anywhere close. Just as I suspected, she hasn't been sleeping as well and has been waking up during the night and then again very early in the morning. But, for the past few nights, she's slept through the night....until about 5am. She's been waking up between 5 and 5:30am. Ugh. That is just too early.

BUT, I don't even care about any of that right now cause about 2 hours after she went to sleep tonight....I heard some noise on her monitor. I turned it on to see that she had ROLLED OVER from her belly (yes, I put her to sleep on her belly....she was NOT a good back sleeper without the swaddle!) to her side...and then all the way to her back!!!

Now, you're probably thinking...what's the big deal?! But, seriously! She just ROLLED OVER!! And the reason I'm so excited is that....I worry. About everything. I worry that she's developing properly, I worry that she hates tummy time, I worry that she still doesn't hold her head steady 100% of the time....I worry.about.everything. But when I saw that she had rolled over- I smiled ear to ear and just wanted to keep watching that monitor. Rolling over is age appropriate for her. Well, for her adjusted age, that is. And I have spent many many hours silently wondering and worrying about her development (she was 9 weeks early...and hit her head. hard.). If those things didn't happen- I probably wouldn't think twice about any of this stuff....but, alas, they are Bella's reality....and so....I worry. .....Did I mention that I worry??

So, THAT is why I am over the moon that she rolled over. My sweet, wonderful, and incredibly strong baby girl rolled over. Isn't that GREAT?!??! It doesn't take much for your kids to make you smile. Which is totally awesome.

Man, I love that baby.

Little Mama

So, for the longest time, I promised an Ava update. But, things got crazy and life got busy, and despite my best efforts- here we are, at least 3 months later with still no Ava update.....

So, here it is! :)
So, Ava is just about 3 1/2 now- officially, next month she'll be half way through her 3rd year, but she's already telling everyone she's "3 1/2 now." :) I think when I was going to update this before, it was just after Ava turned three and all of a sudden, we sailed right through the two's into the terrible threes!! For the first 3 years of Ava's life, she was pure JOY. And I am not kidding. So, it was quite a kick in the arse when, all of a sudden, she became...dare I say...a brat!!! I kid you not, it was like 2 weeks after she turned three, and she just decided that she had things to do and that she wasn't listening to anyone about whether or not she was allowed to do them! Okay- so I think this is probably very normal 3 year old behavior, but it totally threw me for a loop. Pure joy, remember?!?

So, anyway, we went though a period of about 1-2 months of acting out, testing limits, not being a good listener, etc. It even got to the point where I was mourning the loss of the old Ava. I so enjoyed every minute of her first three years, and was truly sad that she had changed so much. Apparently, she was still quite wonderful at school as her teachers complimented on how well behaved and polite she was. I was glad to hear that even though she was being a hellion at home, she still remembered her manors at school!! But, I REALLY missed her sweetness at home. I was beginning to get so sad- that maybe Ava as I knew her was gone. But, thankfully, my sweet girl has come back to me. :) Now, we still have our moments of course, but overall, Ava is quite a wonderful girl. I'm truly thankful to have such a well behaved and great kid.
I am learning things about Ava. I've known for a long time that she's super-dooper smart. Like crazy smart. I know I'm her mom, but whatever, she's a freakin' genius. ;) But, I'm also realizing that she is a natural caregiver! A little mama. She is an incredibly loving sister to Bella. She's constantly entertaining her, reading to her, singing to her, playing with her, bringing her toys, etc. If Bella starts to cry, Ava immediately stops what she's doing and runs right to her- almost always before me- and tries to sooth her- usually shaking a rattle, talking, or singing to her. And Bella loves her so much that it usually works! Which is totally awesome for me. :)
Bella certainly is not going to have any shortage of entertainment while she's growing up! Sometimes it's even hard for me to nurse Bella when Ava's around, cause if she hears her talking (which, come on, is non-stop ALL THE TIME!!!), Bella pops right off and hangs her head all backwards and sideways trying to find Ava. :)

Here Ava is reading to Bella. She does this all the time. :) So super sweet.

Ava does things for her babies that I do for Bella. She swaddles them (better than some grown-ups can do!), pretends to nurse them (yep!- sits on the couch, pulls up her shirt, and holds her baby doll to her belly!), sings them songs, feeds them (I don't feel Bella food yet, but she somehow figured out that some babies do eat!). She is totally a natural, and I already know that she will want to be a mother someday....and that she will be great.
So, bedtime has always been such a sweet, wonderful, relaxing time in our house....until now. Now, it is stressful, loud, and usually involves crying and/or moaning (not necessarily just by Ava. Hee hee. Okay, well, I don't actually cry, but sometimes I feel like it). Ava and Bella both go to bed at about the same time- between 7:30 and 8pm. If I'm by myself, I do the dual bath, then I put Bella down first, then do Ava. That usually works pretty well, actually. When we're both here, I put Bella down while Patrick helps Ava with pj's, brushing teeth, and stories. Then when I'm done with Bella, I go to Ava for prayers and songs. Well, if you haven't noticed, Ava is a bit...shall we say...type A, OCD, crazy. Pick one. So, if there is anything that doesn't go according to her little plan, which happens almost nightly, there is a breakdown. If we take her shirt off instead of her taking it off- breakdown. If we don't use the particular toothbrush she was planning to use- breakdown. Tell her Daddy is gonna do bedtime instead of me- breakdown. Now, I think most this is because of the fact that she doesn't ever want to go to bed anymore. She wants to stay up. But, of course, I also realize that kids like to have some sort of control- since they have so little of it- and that probably has a bit more to do with it. We always regain composure eventually...but, man. What a stress! So, anyway, needless to say- I am BEAT after bedtime. Especially if it's a workday for me and I didn't even get home until close to 7pm- which is when we start heading upstairs to start the bedtime madness. But, having said that...sometimes it's as wonderful and peaceful as it used to be. Here's Daddy and Ava reading at bedtime.
On test weeks, Patrick is usually gone from morning until night and, often times, will not be home before the girls go to bed. One particular week, Patrick was MIA a lot but he made it home for bedtime one night. He got home while I was reading stories to Ava, came in and laid next to her. She held his face between her hands (one hand on each cheek), looked right at him for a few seconds, then hugged him. She loves her Daddy. :)

So, looooong ago when we first moved to our new place- we got Ava a new house present. It was her first bike...a balance bike to be exact! Here she is when she first saw it! And Patrick explaining how it works to our coordination-challenged child. :)I think she likes it. :) It's pretty cool- it's a bike with no pedals. This takes the place of a bike with training wheels. You can walk with your feet at first, and as you get better and your balance gets better, you just pick your feet up. A much more natural transition to a real bike with no training wheels. And, best of all, there's no falling!!! You just put your feet down if you start to lose balance! Great idea!!

Ava also had her very first hair cut this past fall!! It was beginning to look a little like a mullett. Actually...it had been looking like a mullet for quite some time! Here it is before.
I decided to cut it myself. I figured I could do a decent enough job for now!
And after! Ahhh. So much better!
****There is a graphic picture coming up- skip it if you have a weak stomach!

So, I know I've mentioned before that we have a very accident prone little girl. Well, we were walking into church one day and she was walking with both hands in her pockets. As we were crossing the street- she tripped over her feet and fell forward- face first into the asphalt. Busted lip and scratched nose and chin. This is her about a week after that fall. :(
And then....there's Ava vs The Banister. I think the banister won. It was a rough week.

BUT, she's all better and is slowly learning to be a bit more careful!

Here's Ava between the doggies. She's constantly playing with them. I think they will be so excited with Bella is old enough to play with Ava! She's always crawling on them, sitting with them, covering them up, bringing them toys, etc! They are wonderful with her, and Ava just loves them. :)

During our snow storm, we did a little baking. Ava loves to help....but most of all she wants to lick the batter. :)So, there you have it. An Ava update. I'm currently working on making Ava's room a little more complete looking. So I can have at least ONE room in the house that looks finished! Her mattress is now on a bed frame, she got a new big girl duvet cover to go over an old down comforter we've had a for a while, she actually has a real dresser and curtains, and we're working on deciding on a color for her walls. I'll post pics when it gets a little more finished.

PS. Bella turned 6 months old yesterday!!! That's half a year, people!!! When did that happen? Crazy. And she has pink eye x2. :( We started eye drops yesterday and they are already looking almost as good as new. But, geez. How much does this baby have to go through?? She's a tough cookie.

Okay, fine. Just one picture....looks definitive now. I think we've got another red-head. :)


Okay- you twisted my arm. One more. :)Hope you're all doing great! Until next time...

Seriously Snowed In!!!

So, as most of you know- the southeast has had a pretty big snow storm (at least according to Georgia standards!) and basically the entire city is snowed in!!! It's kinda crazy. The snow came late Sunday night, and now it's Wednesday afternoon with still little improvement since the temperature doesn't seem to be able to get above freezing! Our offices (work) have been closed thus far and it's not looking too good for the rest of the week!

So, anyway, we've been having a fun time playing in the snow. Although, we have about 1/2 an inch of ice on TOP of the snow. So, you have to break up the top layer and toss it aside to get to the powder. But, Ava wanted to build a snowman (er...snowwoman), so that's what we did!

Of course, we are NOT prepared for this kind of weather- nothing we have is water proof, but luckily, our very nice neighboors who recently moved from Chicago leant Ava some good snow playing clothes. They're a little on the large side, but we made it work.

Ava was unsure about what she thought of these over sized clothes before we went out...
But decided that once we were out, she quite liked them. :) So, here's a pic of the snowwoman we made. Purple hair and all!! Coal for the eyes and nose and crasins for the mouth!!

Ava is so sweet- I told her to go stand by the snowman (ok, it's just too hard to keep saying snowwoman, and it doesn't sound right, so "snowman" it is).....anyway....she went and stood by her and held her hand!!! TOO much!


And Bella-boo was more than happy to stay nice and cozy inside! :)We are starting to get a little itchy to get out of the house, though. Patrick managed to make it to the gym today and Uncle Ian and Aunt Booj and the kids are gonna come over for a little while and play. So, that'll be fun and give us something else to do! Hope everyone is staying warm!

A Merry (and white!) Christmas!!

So, I know it's a little late, but I've been a bit busy...so, I'm doing a Christmas post now. :) I'll try to be brief, but we all know that's not likely. ;)

So, this year was the first year that Ava really was able to understand all the Christmas stuff. At first, we weren't sure if she'd be a believer because she's so dang logical, and everything has to make sense. For instance, we did the Elf on the Shelf this year, and when I told her that he comes alive and gets into mischief while she's sleeping, she said, "He can't walk, Mommy, his feet are too small!" And when we went to pick out a tree from Hunter's Christmas Tree Farm (where they had a nice looking Santa), she just stared at him and said, "That's not the real Santa." She's THREE people!!! So, of course, I said- "You're right, that's not the real Santa. That's one of his helpers. He has a lot of helpers. We're gonna see the real Santa at the Santa party next week." Geez.

So, anyway, a friend hired a Santa to go to her house and had a party. Santa did the sit-on-his-lap-and-tell-him-what-you-want thing, he read a book to them, and them gave all the kids a special gift (thanks Bobbi!). Anyway, of course, Ava was NOT about to go sit on his lap, but Bella was too young to care. So, here's Bella with Santa.
And this was the beginning of the rather long attempt to get Ava to get even remotely close to Santa.
More trying...

And more trying...
It was a no-go. But after he read everyone a story, he called each child by name and gave them a gift. Ava had the biggest smile on her face when he called her name and was so in awe of the fact that he brought her something. We opened the present and I told her that she should go tell Santa thank you for the gift...which she did.
After that, she was willing to talk to Santa and tell him what she wanted- "a microphone, a red umbrella, a picture of me and Mommy, and a picture of me holding Bella." Quite reasonable, I think! Oh yeah, then she asked him a question. "What color PJ's to you wear?" HA!

"Red, of course!," he said. :) Which was great for Ava since red is her favorite color- you know, cause she has red hair. :)

So, finally, a picture of Ava with Santa! Couldn't get her on his lap, though. Baby steps.
Ava also had a holiday celebration at school which I was able to attend (usually I can't attend these things cause I'm working and don't know far enough in advance to change my schedule). But, since I was still on maternity leave I was able to go. Here's a pic of Ava and a few friends all reading. Notice Ava holding the book like the teacher does. She does this at home now when she reads to Bella. :) Cute.
Funny story: I was dropping Ava off at school one morning and she came in on a conversation with one of her friends from school who said, "I don't celebrate Christmas,"

Ava's response: "You have to celebrate Christmas because it's Jesus' birthday and you have to have a party." Hahaha. Her friend just stood there not really knowing how to respond to that. Of course, I quickly explained that some people don't celebrate Christmas, blah blah blah. Funny, though. :)

We got to spend Christmas Eve dinner with Patrick's family and Christmas dinner with mine. Here's a picture of us on Chrismas Eve!!

Christmas morning was really fun. Bella woke up before Ava, so I had a chance to feed her then get downstairs to turn the lights on and make everything look pretty. Patrick started a fire. It was so nice. It's the first time we've ever woken up on Christmas morning in our own house....EVER! We have never done that! For the past 13 years, we've always been visiting back home from school (college, dental school, or residency)! So, it was just lovely to walk downstairs and do Christmas in our own home with our family! Here's the tree before anyone else was awake!
Crumbs from Santa, the empty reindeer food bag (which was sprinkled on the front lawn), and a little Christmas note for Ave, also from Santa. :)

Here's Ava with her new pink umbrella. If you remember, I mentioned before that she told Santa she wanted a RED umbrella. Well, her previous umbrella was pink, and it broke. So, we assumed he wanted another pink one. So, I found one, ordered it, and had it sent. Then a few days later, she was talking about her Christmas list and Patrick mentioned the umbrella could be pink. "No, red!"

Crap.

So, we tried to really hype up the pink idea, but she wasn't havin' it. So, ultimately, she got a pink umbrella with a special note from Santa that explained that they were out of the red color and had to make a pink one instead. She was good with that. :)
These next couple pictures are really sweet. She asked for a picture of her holding Bella. She opened this and just smiled so sweetly. She looked at it for a long time. Then she decided she wanted to put it up right away with the rest of the pictures. :) It was very sweet. She also asked Santa for a picture of her and me, but after she opened the one with her and Bella, she said, "I guess Santa didn't bring me a picture of me and you, Mommy." We had to tell her she needed to wait and see cause she had lots of presents left to open. Very cute. :)
She had such a good time opening her presents and she was very sweet about it. She didn't rush through and throw the gift aside and move on to the next. She was excited about (almost) all of them, genuinely.

We heard it was maybe gonna snow/flurry on Christmas, but you know how that goes. A few flurries and that's it. But it started to snow FOR REAL when we were opening presents and didn't stop all day!! It was kinda awesome!

This is what it looked like Christmas night looking out from our front porch. So pretty!!
Poor Ava. We were not prepared for weather like this! She doesn't really have a big winter coat. She's got a hat and mittens, but she left one of the mittens at school, so we had to get her old mitten from last year. Of course, NONE of these things were water proof, so after about 10 minuets of playing in the snow, her hands were soaked and FREEZING!! This is our attempt at keeping her warm. Not very impressive!
Daddy and Ava walking back in after she could no longer feel her fingers!

Here's Catcher enjoying the snow too! :) He's such an old man!
On another note, I returned to work on December 22nd. So, I am officially done with maternity leave. :( It's been ok so far, but the days are very long away from baby. I see Ava more cause I take her to school and she's older, so it's different. But I leave Bella at 7am and sometimes don't see her again until almost 7 at night. But, it's ok. I'm just glad it's only 3 days a week.

So, anyway, we had a wonderful Christmas this year! We hope you did too!!