Time Flies!

Wow, time really flies when you  forget to blog! 

Let's just do a quick catch-up:

Baby girl is now 2 1/2! The hubs has a new job he loves (finally) and I made the move from being a special education teacher to regular classroom teacher. That's right,  now I'm responsible for 22 of the sweetest, smartest and sometimes very challenging five and six year olds! I absolutely LOVE teaching Kindergarten.

Ava is no longer a baby. She is quickly growing into a little girl with a mind of her own! She is smart and funny and very unpredictable.....which is a perfect time to start blogging again!  

I have to start putting all if these little memories down somewhere before I forget them. And more importantly, I need to make sure I have tons of ammunition for those trying teenage years! 

Oh, and don't be surprised if the name of this blog changes again. I'm A.D.D like that.

A funny

Conversation between J and I during one of the many hours we spent in the car with our 18 month old:

(Ava had been in the car forever and was pretty whiny in the backseat.)

J- "Aaavaaa, you need to verbalize."
Me-"Exactly which one of her 15 words would you like her to use?"



I was laughing so hard, I couldn't even get mad at him for being so ridiculous. Also,
I have no idea how families travelled with small children before the invention of portable DVD players. Thank God for modern technology! Can I get an Amen?

Saturday Morning Confessional (on Friday night)

I must be the worst blogger mom ever! I find it funny that I thought once I had a child my blog would become really fun and interesting. I imagined all the quirky comments and silly pictures I would post once I had some material to work with.

AND THEN REALITY SET IN

I'm tired.

Scratch that, I'm exhausted. All the time.

I wake up early, rush around trying to get myself, my husband and my daughter out the door. Then I rush to work, where I constantly feel like I'm 3 weeks behind, barely stopping to eat or go to the restroom (seriously, I've already had one kidney infection this year and it's probably from holding it all day) rush to get my daughter who is usually a cranky mess by the end of the day, fix my family some sorry excuse for a meal, put my daughter to bed and then pass out myself. Most nights, I'm asleep before the Mister has even had a shower. Then I wake up and do it all over again.
*Let me add that I'm not complaining. I love my life, I'm just thinking out loud. Well, sort of.

I have only one question for all you bloggers out there.

How on earth do you find the energy? Is there something wrong with me? I only have one child for goodness sake you'd think I could handle a little creative blogging? I mean, I'm not really doing much of a baby book so this is really the only thing Miss A will have that chronicles her life and I stink at it!

I read blogs (of strangers mostly, so I can't necessarily ask them their secrets) of moms who have multiple children, full time jobs, side jobs and sometimes they're students too and all of them seem to be able to find time to put their memories into writing so that one day their little lovely's can take a trip down memory lane via the world wide web.

Well, I have a plan but I can't promise you (Miss A) that it's going to work. I have a fresh new look, a new blog name and a list of things I plan on blogging about. We'll see if it works. Just remember though, sweet girl, that as frazzled and exhausted as your mom may be she is cherishing every single moment with you and if it makes you feel any better, I have a really good memory so I'll at least be able to tell your future prom date some embarrassing stories of your childhood.

So,

Here we go......again!

Why I don't give Justin the camera.

Justin took Ava and me to Pop's this weekend. I know, I know, I'm way behind on the "cool" things to do in the area but I could never convince my husband it was worth the drive.

Anyway.

I wanted to take some pictures because who knows if I'll ever get him to take us back. Here are a few that I took (with our point and shoot which explains the lack of quality).

Granted, she wasn't looking at the camera but look at that cute face!

And here is another one....

I love how her face is popping up from the corner.

And then there is this sweet picture of Ava and her daddy reading a book while waiting (forever) to be seated. Priceless!

On our way out, I asked Justin to get a few pictures of Ava and myself. I can actually count the number of pictures that we have taken together in the past year. We have hundreds of Justin and Ava but hardly any of me. I would like to have some pictures of she and I to look at when I'm old and gray, so I kindly handed the camera over to Justin.

This is the first one.

Great picture of the bottle but those two people could be anybody!

After jumping and hollering and waving hysterically (because he was too far away to hear my normal voice)for him to move closer and then prompting him to take the picture while she was cutely pointing up at the huge statue instead of waiting for a posed shot, I got this.

This one is not too bad but again, those two people could be anyone.

Finally, he takes one close enough to actually see our faces and I end up with this.

It would have been perfect if Ava didn't have her finger crammed up her nose.

I gave up after this I couldn't take the 198 degree weather any longer. Oh well.

Happy Birthday Ava Caroline

(I'm just going to pretend like it hasn't been 3 months since I last posted)

Happy Birthday little girl! You make life so much sweeter, we love you!

9 Months

Before I forget.

Ava's stats at 9 months old.

Height: 27 inches

Weight: 21.5 pounds

At nine months, Ava can crawl, pull to stand and has started to cruise. She'll be walking before her first birthday most likely.

Despite my efforts to get her to eat more big people food and less baby food, Ava hates most things I've given her. She gags on anything with texture and it's beginning to stress me out! I'll keep trying and hopefully as she gets a little older, she'll like some different things.

Ava has one teeny little tooth poking through which explains her crankiness as of late. Adding insult to injury is her constant ear infections. She is scheduled for a consult with an ENT and hopefully after tubes, she'll feel better. This whole fluid in the ears thing has really been stressing me out. As a teacher, I tend to freak out a little over her language development and I'm terrified she's going to be behind because she hasn't been able to hear us clearly in months! Ahhh, the panic attacks I've had!

I know, I know......Chill.Out.

Most importantly, she is the sweetest little thing. She has the cutest little personality and I have a feeling she is going to keep her dad and I on are toes! I love that she is so affectionate and always up for giving tons of hugs. And zerberts! That little crooked smile melts my heart and will most certainly be the tool that wraps daddy around her little finger.

This post is way longer than I intended.

We love you Ava! Thank you for making life so much sweeter!

Breaking Out

And I'm not talking zits here, people!

We broke out of the house to celebrate Ava turning 9 months old. She's been sick so much since November that I've sheltered her as much as possible from the cold outdoors.

Since Justin and I were both off work for Spring Break, we decided to take Ava to the zoo. We've been waiting for this day since before we were even pregnant! We love to go to the zoo and it's so much more fun with a little one. Ava pretty much only cared about watching the people but one day she'll be just as excited about the animals as her dad and I are.

This is was her reaction when we told her about the big trip!

Maybe she was just excited about her breakfast.

with dad

with mom

We're counting down the days until summer break!