Rainy Day + Good Music + Fund Raising

So, Ava is napping. Laundry is working. Dishes are clean. Toys are (sorta) cleaned up.

Could this be?

Do I have a “free” minute?

Hmmm, this is rare. So, I thought I’d take advantage and write up a quick bloggy blog!

Not much to report here in PA these days. Ava adjusted quite well once we first got to my parents house and we only had one bad experience with her sleeping in her old crib. Aside from a first day of adjusting to her old bed, she’s been kicking butt in the sleep department. We had a small bought with the stomach flu and it was hellacious from start to finish. This bug rocked her world and everyone in it. Just think...clingy, crabby, tired, crying, barfing, fever, and NO appetite for food or drinks. Oh, did I mention is lasted about 6 days? Nightmare. We ended up in the emergency room after a call to the nurse helpline and her advice was get to a doctor, and quickly. Evidently dehydration in a toddler is no bueno. My main concern wasn’t necessarily the clingy and crabby symptoms as much as the dry diapers even after 12 hours of sleeping and the dry heaving. So, off to the ER we went. They decided she wasn’t dehydrated *yet* but if she didn’t start taking in fluids that day, then and there, they would do an IV just as a precautionary measure. I can’t be sure, but I think Ava would all but freak out if they strapped her down to a table and inserted an IV. Could you imagine? So, they started her on some anti nausea medicine which THANKFULLY was enough to get her to take some juice and even a bit of milk that afternoon. What a fiasco! Since she was able to keep those liquids down we were pretty much in the clear about 24 hours after all the drama went down. Of course, with my luck, this all happens on a Sunday in PA where I’m a few states away from an urgent care center that takes my insurance, or even a doctor that she could see. Drama, friends. Drama. It took Ava about 3-4 days to get her appetite back and I will say that it’s still not as good as it used to be. Poor girl...

Aside from all the yucky sickness, we’ve been enjoying our time in PA. Of course, it’s going too quickly. We miss Curt a whole lot so we’re looking forward to getting back to NC this weekend so we can hang out with Da until he goes away again for work. Busy bee, that guy. We’ve been taking lots of videos lately just to make sure he doesn’t feel like he’s missing too much! I’m uber jealous of his work destination right now, I wanna go to Alaska! We’re planning on taking our honeymoon (5 years after we said “I do”) this summer on an Alaskian cruise and I am super excited! Most of you know I hate the heat so my idea of a good vacation doesn’t involve sandy beaches and hot temperatures. I’m weird. I know. Plus, I hear that Alaska is just beautiful in the summer so it’s the perfect match for Curt and I.

Things have been quite chaotic since I’ve been here so I didn’t even see friends until last night! Hopefully I can get a few more of my own “playdates” lined up before we head back south. Ava, on the other hand, has been loving her time spent with her bff, AJ. They’re just obsessed with each other. OBSESSED. AJ must kiss Ava at least 10 times a day. He’s just such a cutie! It’ll be tough to say goodbye again in a few days. Poor kiddos...

Ava’s been growing up by leaps and bounds since we’ve been home. I can’t believe how much different she is with each passing day. She even looks different! Less baby fat on her cute little cheeks, her hair is longer, her 24 month pants are fitting better (I couldn’t do the 18 month pants anymore, they were flood pants!), and she’s just a sponge with what goes on around her.

Here’s some of my favorite new things she’s picked up...

-Telling Maggie (our big golden retriever) to “Sit!” whenever she wants to give her a cookie!

-Asking AJ politely to “share? share? share?”, when she really just wants to take whatever toy he’s playing with and keeping it for herself.

-Counting!!!!!!!! She is a counting machine. This girl counts EVERYTHING. “One... Tee-ooo... Tree...” It’s super cute. I’m so proud!!!! (Check out the video on FB that we posted....)

-Walking around the house with the phone to her ear pretending to have a conversation even starting with a “hello” and some brief pauses in between her rambling to make sure she leaves time for her “Da” to talk. Of course he’s on the other end...

-Calling out for her “Poppy!” when she wants him to read her the book that they share daily. Oh, and evidently he’s the only one who is worthy of sharing her magna doodle with... Lucky Poppy!

-New words. Tons of words, daily. Copying, learning, remembering, using... It’s amazing stuff, friends.

-Asking for “uu-sic” as soon as she gets into the car. Meaning, hurry up Mommy and turn on the music! Her personal fave? Taylor Swift by a long shot.

-Requesting “fries” for every meal. Lovely.

-Calling her Aunt Mariel (aka: “Man-uel”) and Aunt Colleen (aka: Caul-yeen) by name.

-Having a sense of humor! I love watching her laugh at her own antics. Hysterical!

-Reading to herself. She’s big on the animal books. Pointing out a labeling each animal she knows. Piggy! Horsey! Moo! (cow) Howl! (owl) and many more...

-Communicating with Mommy! Ava’s been asking for a lot of the things she wants now by name. Of course, sometimes I just don’t understand what the heck she wants and in that case I say, “Ava, show mommy what you want” and she walks me right over to where I need to be to understand what she’s looking for.

-Chores! Ava is good about putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, putting up her toys when I ask her to (sometimes...), getting Mommy a diaper when she needs a change, closing doors, flipping off lights. I’m going to milk this for as long as possible!

-Dancing. This girl cannot get enough dancing in her life. We really only like the songs that we can do the hand/dance motions to so Barney has been a great resource for this ex-kindergarten teacher in helping Ava get her groove on to some sweet tunes. Our new faves are “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, “Wheels on the Bus”, and “Clapping Game”. Oh, and I need to get this girl into a gymnastics class, stat. The climbing is out of control! Oh, and while I’m at it she needs some swimming lessons, too. We loves us some bath time before bed. Water Bug, fo’sho.

In a random note, without pushing my ideas and beliefs on anyone else. We’ve agreed on a way to discipline Ava and it seems to be working well! We’ve stuck with the “talk it out” and “timeout” method. You see, Ava’s young. Does she understand what I’m saying to her when she’s done something wrong” Not necessarily. Does she understand my tone of voice? Absolutely. In the beginning of all this I thought that maybe I was going a bit overboard on the timeout’s but over time, guess what? She’s aware of the consequence that would occur if she did something she’s not supposed to and it’s actually worked (most of the time...)! I remind her that if she hits Mommy, she goes to timeout. It’s just one minute, she knows she’s being punished, and she sits quietly, sometimes. Sometimes she’s crying because she’s mad at me. :) I will say that she hits way, way less and is being a better listener when I ask her not to do something. I’m trying to be as consistent as possible so hopefully over time this will be a great way help Ava grow up with some good values and be a kind and respectful young girl! I’m sure you’ll hear more of this in the future!

Oh, my sweet friends. My baby is no longer that, a “baby". She’s in full on toddler mode and although I’m glad she’s finally at a more manageable age, I’m already starting to miss my tiny munchkin days! (Minus the sleep drama, of course.) Perhaps we should start workin’ on making this threesome a foursome...???

Hmmm....

When does Curt get home again?

;-)

Finally... (Part One)
Only one of my most favorite Love Songs, ever. Expect to see it soon on a lil video project I have in mind... Enjoy!



Finally... (Part Two)
Help Me Raise Money For Cancer! I’m doing relay for life in just a few weeks and although soliciting money is so far down on my list of things I like to do, I couldn’t help but just make all my friends aware of what I’m standing up against, Cancer! If you want to help make a difference in the lives of those people out there who are or were touched by cancer, donate to the American Cancer Society! I’m super excited to be a small part of something so big and every little bit helps. I’m honored to be a part of Relay and helping raise awareness. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/moeq16