Happiness

For starters, I have decided that for Lent, I'm giving up complaining. It's so useless. Without sounding like a totally cheese ball, I have lots to be thankful for and instead of dwelling on things that are small in this life, I am going to try and celebrate all the wonderful things I have been given.

Life here at the Dougherty house is calming down, somewhat. We have a lot of the major things we were waiting on be delivered just this past weekend and it has made a big difference in how comfortable we fill within these 4 walls. We now have:
-New Couches
-The largest TV, ever.
-New Bedroom Set
-Guest Bedroom Bed
-Refrigerator
-Washer/Dryer (AMEN!)
Just reading through that small list you can see how important all those items really are in a house so being without them since the beginning of JANUARY has been quite tough. We have some small odds and ends we want to buy just to make the final touches (wall art, hall tables, fancy-pants leather chairs for Curt's "sitting room"...and some bits and pieces left to locate) and we'll be all set.

Moving into a brand new house has been so awesome in that it's just that, "brand new". The only thing is that we have to do (buy) a lot of things that you would typically find in a previous loved home. What, you might ask? Oh, ya know, things like gutters, a mailbox, screening the porch, fencing the back yard...and the list goes on. It looks great but all I see right now is $$$. Holy Smokes, my friends. I feel like we're in that movie "money pit", except my house is rockin' and not falling to pieces. However, sticking with my lent promise, I'm not complaining...just simply pointing out the facts.

Curt is a really supportive husband and without giving away too much of our personal life, I was feeling like I was kind of in a funk lately and he suggested I get out there and start making some new friends within our squadron. I'm so glad I did because I feel like my social calender is busting at the seams. I'm booked solid this entire week, watch out! Lots of squadron meetings, play dates, a roof stomp, crud practice, lunch dates... It feels good getting involved again. Just let me know when I can "pencil you in...". Ha!

What else...

Speaking of play dates. We've started a group within our squadron of about 8-10 kiddos all around the same age as Ava and we get together once a week for about two hours in the morning so our toddlers can mingle and we can chat. Well, Ava has been doing her best to enjoy the company of her peers. She's a bit scared of the boys (who are quite rambunctious at this age, I might add) and very overwhelmed when there are a ton of kids and adults all within the same space. It's loud, it's chaotic, it's too much. I'm definitely going to keep at it though because my thought was that I wanted Ava to learn to socialize with children her age now, instead of later, so she can become more interactive with other children and not just Curt and I. I think she'll adjust soon enough. I mean, look at the "social butterfly" of a Mom she has as a role model. ;) We hosted the group today and Ava was pretty eager for them to leave, asap. She usually begs me to go up into her playroom all day long but today she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it... Poor girl.

I do believe that we have tracked down a new babysitter. She's 16, which is older than I was when I was a full time nanny as my first job, and she lives one neighborhood over from ours. The best part is that her parents are really good friends of ours from England because her father and Curt flew together in the Bolars. What a great set up! She's young, fun, and available! Ummm, YES, please!!! She's been coming over once or twice a week to play with Ava while I'm home so they can get used to each other in time for our big night out next weekend. We have a fancy party to go to for Curt's work and I get to wear a long, formal gown. MY FAVORITE. Momma and DaDa have date night!!! It's a cake job, too, if you ask me. She comes over at 5:30 and Ava's in bed at 7:30. Best $8 an hour she ever made considering we'll probably be home around midnight. (ps: how much do you pay a babysitter, anyhow? $8 too much? too little? who knows...)

In other recent news, my parents flew down to G'boro for the long weekend and it was so great. Ava had NO problem remembering them and she was showered with more gifts than I bought her for Christmas so, she's a lucky girl...but we already knew that. It snowed, naturally, the night they arrived and we got so bloody lost on the way home from the airport is was insane. My GPS was sending us to VA when I told it to take me "home". Curt tried to "find" us from the house, which was next to impossible considering that my GPS was going in and out of range and my iphone died (I forgot the phone charger) and all the road signs were covered in snow. Are ya kiddin' me? Hellacious. What a nightmare. Our hour and fifteen minute drive took about three + hours and it sucked. Hey North Carolina, salt your roads already...geez! We saw over twenty accidents all ranging from cars spun out and stuck in a ditch to car fires. Bad. Very, very bad. BUT, it was all worth the trip when Ava got to spend 3 days with her ummmm-ma and her paaa-pa. So cute! Thank God for ichat, we keep in touch!!!

Curt has been taking some random days of leave here and there so he can make sure we have more time together. Now that he's a weapons officer he is freakin' more busy than he was in Lakenheath, which I didn't think was possible. For example, it's 9:30 pm...still no Curty. He's trying really hard to balance work and family and even though he may spend more time at work, the time spent at home is just what we need to keep this boat floating.

I'm off to clean our room so Curt doesn't have to witness the disaster that occurred in our closet when I was attempting to get dressed this morning. But in the mean time, I'll leave you with an Ava, Ava, B0, "B-Ava" Update.

Ava has been growing up at lightening speed. She learns things so quickly, it's just simply amazing to watch. She learns so much just from observing what is going on around her. Yes, I do try and get her to sound out new words or intentionally bring some things to her attention to see if she can retain what I teach her, but more often than not she is learning way more than I intend to show her. SPONGE, this girl is crazy smart. (I can totally say that, because I'm her Mom, and that's what we do, right?!?! Right.) She's firing out some new words but the most impressive is "ball" and "bye-bye" and "caah" (car) and "chhhiii" (chip). She still calls her friends by name, "Mo" (Elmo) and "Pooh" (Winnie the...). She is constantly rambling off in baby gibberish and it's awesome to listen. If you're really paying attention you can hear the beginning consonants of things that she is looking at and it makes me wonder if she is attempting to label something and just hasn't gotten the feel for the whole word yet. Yet, she still manages to grunt and yell and point when she wants something and is too lazy to sign for help or get it herself. So, maybe she is normal... :) She loves her Da and often goes looking for him during the work day wondering if he's hiding somewhere in the house. She yells, "Daaaaaa! Daaaaaaa!". I respond by saying, "Dada is at work, baby. He'll be home later." She then gives me a dirty look as if I'm the one who forced him out. He's making the money, girl! Some one's gotta do it! She has learned some new facial expressions like "surprised!" and "sad". So funny... She knows most of her body parts and can point them out on Curt and I, and herself. She loves puzzles and completes them now without effort. I think I need to buy new ones... She stacks blocks like crazy and makes towers about as tall as she is, it's awesome to watch her concentration. She still loves to dance and her favorite time of the day is some country dancing with Curt in her playroom. He turns it up real loud and then just get down! It's perfect right before bed time because it just wipes her out! Ava now has 12 teeth (4 front on the top and bottom) and 4 molars. She's about to break through on the 4 teeth (two top and two bottom) around the 8 teeth she already has there. They are going to break through any day now. We are eager to say good bye to the runny nose and irritability. Blah. She's been sleeping really well, with an exception here and there (sorry Mom and Dad that you had to witness a yucky night....dang teeth!) and we are down to one nap per day. I have to tell you, one nap a day is about as awesome as it gets. Ava and I run errands in the morning, come home for lunch and a 2-3 hour nap, then play until dinner and Dada comes home, then it's in bed by 7:30 so Curt and I can have some time to ourselves. She's sleeping about 12 hours too, so I really can't say anything bad about how she's been doing when it's time to sleep. MaMa needs her breaks! Ava loves to help. For example, I bought some corona the other day and as I was putting them in the fridge I turned around and my 16 month old had two bottles in her hands and she was eagerly passing them up to me! I promise she helps with more appropriate things, that one was just the most entertaining. Ha! She knows most of the "commands" (for lack of a better word) that Curt and I say to her. For example, "come here", "give me that", "open your mouth", "stand up", "sit down", "can I have a kiss". She's usually spot on when we ask her where something is in the house like "couch", elmo", "book", "puzzle", "bathroom", "diaper", ava's clothes"...and the list goes on. I feel like I'm dealing with a grown up some days! (And some days I definitely know I'm dealing with a toddler....). She's pretty much running around now and she has a few head bonks to prove it. She loves to jump on the bed and although she doesn't get any "air" when she does it on the ground, the attempt is quite clear. As far as her head tilting situation, it's getting better. It's still there. Some days it's not at all, and other days I notice it. Our doc wants to see her at 18 months but he's seeing me in 2 weeks, because that's when I want to go. So there. He feels very strongly that if something severe were going on, there would be more clear signs in her development. I'm a girl who needs answers. I think that's only fair. No guest-a-mating in this house, thanks.

I'm sure I left out tons of good stuff but I feel like people stopped reading a long time ago. My urge to blog has been getting better so hopefully it's not too long before you hear from me again!

PS: I forgot to thank my good friend, "Jennifer", who is always there to write me the best emails when I'm worrying about Ms. Ava. Her son, Cameron, is so stinking cute. He and Ava were most likely separated at birth as they look like twins. Freaky! Oh, and did I mention they were born less than a week apart??? Hmmm.... Well, she always makes me smile with her witty banter and her uplifting emails. I'm so very thankful for my overly awesome friends.

PPS: I hate proof reading long blog posts. Don't hold it against me. I know, I'm a teacher. I'm also a Mom...and I'm TIRED!!!