Long Time, No Write...

Hey Friends! I hate to admit this but I've been the WORST blogger this summer for a couple reasons. The top three are because I didn't have any free time, I had too much to say, and most importantly, I didn't feel like it. Just keepin' it real. This may be the most confusing post ever, but I really do have a lot to say so I'm just going to go where my mind takes me.

Someone looks like her Daddy! (or her Mommy, I guess we really can't tell even today!)


Let's start with the most important news, according to Ava, at least. Ava's doing really well as she approaches her 2nd birthday in just a few short weeks. Seriously. Seriously? How did this happen? Wasn't she just a little peanut in my belly, like, yesterday? Hearing someone tell you, "they grow up so fast!" may just be the most annoying statement known to man. Unfortunately, it's true. It may just be time for us to start thinking about planting a new seed, yes? ;) I guess only time will tell...

Ava's talking up a storm these days. Lots of questions! "What's that noise? What happened? Where'd it go? Who's that? What's that?" and the list goes on. She's an inquisitive little girl, that's for sure. On the other hand, she's also quite demanding. "Mommy! Come here!". Or my personal favorite, "Mommy! Hurry up!" and "Mommy! Move!" or the oh-so-polite, "STOP!". But, we're most proud of things like, "Thank you!", "Thanks", "Yes, please", and "I love you". (The "I love you" sounds much more like "i-of-ooo", but you catch my drift. She's also big on, "Mommy hold you?" or "Mommy show you?". Too cute... Her vocabulary is expanding daily. She knows more words than I can give her credit for, really. Any and all animals, toys, things in the house, things outside, cars and trucks, things at the store... Impressive, if I do say so myself. Her memory is getting better and better all the time. She remembers families as a whole, "Ken and Deena and doggie Ely" or "Peter and Gretchen and baby Kaylee". If we mention one person she likes to list all the other remaining members of the family. She loves her babysitter, Marissa, and asks for her all the time. As for the extended family? They are her personal favorite. She asks to go over to AJ's house at least once a day, but more like 50 times per day. She asks for her aunts, uncles, grandma's and grandpa's ALL THE TIME. Man, we live TOO FAR from home.

Just like always, Ava absolutely loves to dance and sing! I've signed her up for a ballet class on base that meets once per week and she's doing fantastic. I think we have many a dance recital in our future with this little girl. I bought her a cute ballet outfit from Target last week that I will take a picture of next week when she gets to wear it for the first time. It's ADORABLE. The singing just warms my heart. She's got quite a few memorized after the millions of sign along sessions that we've had. Music is my number one bribe for Ava. I can always get her to come to me if I offer to sing her a song. It's her only weakness!

I'm still a teacher at heart and the first person that tells me I'm running a "hot house" will be on the receiving end of...nothing good outta me. Ava's a sponge and I'm all about teaching her whatever she wants to learn. So far, she can count to 15, name all the colors in the rainbow plus some, she knows all the basic shapes plus some, and she knows about 6 numbers and 10 letters in the alphabet. I'm so proud of her! Lately she's all about labeling things with their respective color. Like, Black car, or red shirt. We label A LOT. Most car rides she's yelling from the back seat, "Green rectangle!" or "yellow diamond" as we pass the road signs. She's got Curt's overachieving brains. Hopefully she gets my fashion sense. ;) Ava is my life, guys. I'm overly impressed by how much she can do each and every passing day. Soon enough she won't even be able to get help from me. We all know high school math and science wasn't my strongest area. Curt, on the other hand, smart as a whip. ;)

She's working on getting undressed on her own but the shirt proves to be quite difficult. She usually gets her head stuck half way through and gets mad enough to just quit. It's actually kinda funny. She can follow directions and helps out with things like laundry and cleaning up her toys.

Last but not least, Ava has finally broken her food boycott and she's trying more and more things each day. Praise the Lord! I knew she'd open up some day and realize there is life outside of goldfish and chicken!!!! Her new favorites are pizza and grapes. She eats more pizza and grapes, oh man, it's non stop. I'm just happy she's let her guard down and doesn't completely shut down when we present her with a new food. She's growing up!!!

Okay, without blabbing on and on for too long... I've got about a zillion videos on FB so feel free to hop on over there and check them out! Ava and Daddy videos are my favorite!!!!!

I've spent most of my summer in PA and we all had such a great time visiting family and taking vacations whenever we could. I managed to visit an old friend from school in Pittsburgh, go to the shore for a week, catch up with hs friends at home, and most importantly relax. We had a fantastic time and I have loads of pictures to prove it. I'll try and give you a little something with each picture I post...

Curt's been super busy at work, flying nights, going in early. Man! Life as a weapons officers comes with some serious commitment. Thankfully, Curt's all about it. He's doing a great job at home, too, whenever he's here. He practically begs me to go out and do things on my own after a long week is over so I can have some free time. He loves spending his downtime with Ava so he can catch up on all she learned that week. Sometimes her new words and phrases make him seriously grin ear to ear and laugh out loud in amazement. He gets bummed sometimes that he misses out on some things but as you can see, I'm the VIDEO QUEEN, so nothing goes undocumented. We, no kidding, have a wedding in the northeast every month until December. Will he be able to go to all of them? Of course not. But we will make it up there for as many as we can and we really value those trips we can take up to see family while we're living so close.

My house is about 90% complete. Curt keeps joking to me that even though we're supposed to be here 2.5-3 years they're going to change they're minds and move us early. Me? I don't think it's quite as funny as he does... I honestly love this house! I love the layout, I love the look, I love the decorating. LOVE. I have yet to take pictures and hopefully I'll get to do that in a separate post. I've had a great time adding my own personal touch to a place that we can finally call our own...

On a more sour note, I must say. I HATE, yes, HATE the weather here. Evidently it's one of the hottest summers EVER and I am melting. Yes, melting. It's been in the high 90's to low 100's all summer long. Um, NO thanks. I don't like to be in the sun, I don't like to sweat, I don't like summer clothes. I mean, I'm just over it. Ava and I have spent most of the summer in doors because it's honestly too unsafe for us to be running around outside in 100+ degree temps when I know it's impossible to keep her out of the sun and hydrated. For your skeptics out there, we play at daybreak and in the evening outside. We're not complete shut-in's. For all my England buddies out there, do you remember when we used to joke that for every sunny day we got in the UK it rained for the next two weeks? Well, here it's the exact opposite. For every rainy day we get it's a blazing hot, sunny mess for a MONTH. I mean, enough already. I've already made a mental note: Must retire somewhere north of New York. I need a mild summer with a long winter. Yes. LONG winter.

Last but not least, let's talk about ME. I've been trying to plan out the next few years of my life. Well, guess what? That's next to impossible to do if you're "married to the military". I'm so thankful for Curt and his awesome career, but it makes life a tad bit difficult for me as far as careers are concerned. I need to go back to school to finish my masters. Last time I checked, I was half way there. I'm not ready to put Ava in daycare or with a babysitter so as far as a job is concerned, I'm technically out of luck. Sure, I could get a job tomorrow in NC working in a public school. Not to toot my own horn, but those of you that follow education in America know that schools in NC are struggling and will really take anyone they can get. I'm just not quite there yet. I want to expand my family and raise my kids the way I want them to be raised. Do I wish I could have both? Of course. Is that possible. Of course not. Curt is our provider and he does more than enough to keep us afloat. It would a personal satisfaction making my way back into the classroom and someday, I will be back where I belong.

For now, here's some pictures of our summer!

Enjoy!

Not a care in the world, these two. Must be nice...


Um, kinda scary! Ava loves her a good ol' jump in the bed!


Sunbathing. But really, I think it was around 730 pm. Like I'd ever let her sunbathe in a diaper. No thanks. ;)


Swimming in my clothes?!?! So fun! What happens at Grandma's house, stays at Grandma's house.


Tearing it up on Mimi and Poppy's back deck. "I runnin'...!"


Where's Ava?!?!?


Peek-a-boo! Yes, this game never gets old. NEVER!


Here ya go, Maggie. I'm all finished so you can have it. Maggie was at Ava's feet pretty much constantly waiting patiently for her to pass off her "leftovers".


So happy!


Ava emptied this cabinet at my parents house DAILY. Everything out!


If Maggie could talk she'd say, "Drrrrrop it. Just drop it! Please?"


Ava LOVES when Poppy reads her books. She prefers him over anyone else when it comes time to read...anything!


Ava has now turned the table on all of us and SHE is now the tickle monster...


Best Friend, Poppy.


Ava and Aunt "Coal-een"


I smell TROUBLE! Of course, they get away with it ALL because of their high levels of cuteness...


Best buds. Snacks on the swing in the middle of summer. Life is bueno...


Colleen once said, "When they come at me at once I feel like I'm being attacked by pigeons! ;)


AJ! Always RUNNING!!!!


Don't they look like they're up to no good? They're conspiring to do...something. ;)


First boating trip! She was NOT a fan of the lifejacket.


First attempt on the tube with Daddy? Epic fail. She hated it!


Snacking on the boat while spending the day with our other families, the Yule's and the Madsen's at Buckhorn Lake!


My cousin John's wedding in NEPA. I finally made it home for a wedding! I sure missed a lot while I was living overseas.


Curt and his sister, Angela. Drinks while out one night in AC!


Angela and her hubby-to-be, Warren. Heidi and Spencer 2.0, right? Although, much cuter...and nicer...and down to earth.


Curt and I, sans Ava, for a night out in Atlantic City. (I need to lose like, 10 pounds, and the botched bang trim isn't helping. )


This is where you'll find cool people like Curt and I who have sworn off the sun. Be jealous.


My one night out with some of my favorite girlfriends from PA. So fun!


Ava's first day at the beach this summer! Contrary to her happy smile in this picture, she HATED the water. We need swimming lessons, now!


Beach Bum.


Ava and Daddy, strolling on the coast.


Hi, My name is Ava and I LOVE Swedish Fish. A lot.


Gummy worms? Don't mind if I do!


Riding the elephants with Daddy! So cool that she was able to go on the rides at the boardwalk this year. She LOVED it!


Merry-go-round with Mommy. She refused to get on the horse. Too scary!


Hating the pool. Not sure what that was all about. Maybe it was too cold? Either way, she refused to go in all week. Bummer...


Our first surrey ride! So beautiful first thing in the morning on the boardwalk.


Our navigator. She did great!


Wiped out after spending the morning in Cape May.


Daddy? Toys, Please?


Making wishes!!!


Random: How cute is this shower gift that I gave to my great friend, Deena, for her baby that's due this week?!?! Obviously, her hubs is a pilot too. Just perfect.