Let’s Be Thankful

What are you thankful for?

“The Biggies”

1. My Husband and My Ava. Where do I begin? Even though we’ve spent so much time apart this past year, not one day as gone by when we didn’t make the time or effort to talk. Some days it was into the wee hours of the morning, but it’s always well worth it to hear his voice, even if only for a minute. I’m thankful for his love, his devotion to Ava and I, his big heart, his generosity, his faithfulness, and the list goes on. He is wonderful with Ava and I am so looking forward to getting in our new house and starting our life again in our new home. My sweetie pea, my suger pie, my lovey bug, my Ava has really put things into perspective for me. On a normal day, she is dressed to the nines and fed before I even brush my teeth. My life revolves around her schedule and by the time I put her to bed and have some “me” time, I’m about ready to pass out on the floor. But, the second she spends the night with her Grandma, I’m constantly wondering what she’s up to. My life has forever changed. I’m no longer first, and I never will be again. This love is unconditional.

2. My Family. How in the world would I have survived over these past 8, yes...EIGHT, months of raising Ava while Curt was away? HOW? In all honestly, it would have been tough. It’s been awesome having them all here watching Ava reach all her milestones and be able to meet and love on her gma’s and gpa’s while Curt is away. They love her as if she were their own. It will be a sad, sad day when we head south. I think it’s safe to say, we’ve been blessed.

3. My Friends. I have some patient and understanding friends, let me tell you. It’s been tough getting out there to do the things I used to do before Miss A came into the picture, but I have a small group of faithful girls who are always there to pick up right where we went off. I’ve finally surrounded myself with people who only make me feel good and are just so great to be around. Feels good...

4. A New Church. Ava and I go to church each and every Sunday with Grandma Dougherty and it’s been a wonderful experience. The Pastor just has an amazing gift when it comes to spreading the good word. It never feels like pressure, it’s always uplifting, the music is always moving... I will certainly miss this when we move.

5. Myself. Can you thank yourself? I think so! I’ve grown up so much in the past five years, I often amaze myself with the things I am able to take on. Sure, I still like to rely on others sometimes, but I’ve never felt more independent than I do right now.

“The Small Stuff”

6. MY NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!!! UH, HELLO!!!!! We’ve been through some shoddy places the past few years and it’s about time we move on up in this world. Thank heavens for that extra income I pulled in over the past few years workin’ my teachin’ booty off because my heart literally skipped a beat when I walked into this house. It was like a wedding dress. I just KNEW it was “the ONE”!

7. Easy Shopping. All my England friends know what this means. It means that if I needed something at the last minute in England, oh well! The chances of the lovely BX carrying anything I was looking for was slim to none. Pathetic. Now we’re “blessed” with 24 hours of stores with anything and everything you could possibly dream of. AMEN!

8. My Passport. That sucker has been stamped more in a 4 year period than most people will ever have in their entire life. I’ve seen so much...France, Germany, Italy, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Belgium, Denmark... Fo-REAL! I never thought I’d say this but it would a nice surprise if someday in the future we were given the opportunity to live overseas again. (In a few years of course, I’m still adjusting to my wonderful USA for cryin’ out loud!)

9. My military family. (Although, this should probably be a “biggie”!) To those who live on the outside of this tight knit group, it’s really hard to describe the relationship that we have. We make friends and develop strong bonds over a short period of time, move on in our lives, and yet we still feel just as close to each other as if we were still living near the same base. We need each other in times that only we can truly relate to when things get tough...and when things are great! Having your family be separated is the norm for us and although many people like to say, “I don’t know how you do it?”, we know although life isn’t always easy, we have each other. Love is love and at the end of the day, we’ll do anything to keep our families together. I love my military family.

10. The super smalls....That make me super happy:
-my stuff. my bags, my jewels, my shoes... you know how i do!
-cinnamon scented candles. oh the sweet smell of the holidays is just so nostalgic to me.
-the fall and the winter. there is so much warmth and love during those chilly months that i can’t help but always look forward to sweaters and uggs. loveeeeeeeeeeeee.
-going out to dinner with curt and sharing some good food and drinks on a night where we have time to waste. it’s been a while...
-a night out on the town! all dressed to impressed, a good crowd in a good bar with all my friends is by far, one of my most favorite things to do.
-the thrill of finding the “perfect” dress. i’m talking “fancy pants” dresses, too! bcbg has my heart. they’re never wrong.
-coming home from a long day and immediately throwing on my favorite fleece pants (that i stole from curt) and my sweatshirt and just unwinding. what a good feeling...
-watching the food network. i love me some barefoot contessa, giada delaurentiis, and bobby flay. YUM-O!
-Bravo tv. I watch Bravo every night at 10. It’s what I like to call, “my happy place”.
-the feeling of completing all my chores for the day. it’s a fantastic feeling knowing that all that’s left to do is play with my baby and just relax. (this rarely happens...)


Oh, my friends. I could go on... But there are things to be done while Ava takes her nap so until next time...

WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR???

Welcome Back, Me!!!!!

Ooookay, I think I have a really good excuse for being a bad blogger these past few weeks. Well, I have a few. Here it goes:

-I am “single” parenting Ava here and although I have help from the family, I’m still wrapped up in all things baby for about 90% of the day.

-Unlike England, I have bunches of things to do in my free time, ie: Ava’s awake time, so I’m usually trying to free myself from this place whenever possible. Meaning, I have less time to sit on my duff in front of the computer.

-It’s groundhog day. It really is. I don’t want to bore you too much with the details of my daily life....until NOW. Ha!

So what’s new you might ask? Well, lots. Let’s review:

-WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!! Here’s some pictures. It’s beautiful. I love, love, LOVE it. Oh man, do I love it. What else do I love? Um, this sweet piece of property would have been TWICE the cost we paid if we bought anything remotely as nice here in the beautiful Chester County. Meaning, we feel like we got a steal of a deal. No one likes to walk away from a big buy and say, “Man, I just got robbed!”. So, we’re feeling pretty blessed to have found such a great house that we, again, LOVE.





-Ava is 13 months. Uhhh, yea. She’s huge and growing more and more each day. Here are her big deal accomplishments. She’s a walking machine. It’s terrifying. All I see is sharp corners and hard surfaces. Thankfully, she lands on her squishy diaper butt 90% of the time. But that other 10%, uh, let’s just say she had her first “goose egg” thanks to her plastic piggy bank that she took a head dive into. It was bad. Bad, Bad, BAD!
She has 10 teeth and 2 more molars on the way. Don’t even ask me about my attempt to brush them. She’s uncooperative, to say the least. She’s got a lot of hair and it’s starting to form something I would classify as the “mullets” cousin. We’re hoping it all evens out, soon.
I think she’s on the cusp of her first word...aside from “Mama”, “Dada”, “Hi”, “Gee-Gee” (Maggie)... She’s very chatty these days...and very loud. Ava is currently obsessed with my Dad, or her Grandpa. She screams when he leaves the room. He loves it. LOVES. She also clearly understands the word “NO!!!” and loves to push her limits when I ask her not to do something. Sneaky little bugger. Is she seriously trying to get a rise out of me, this early?
Ava is like her Dad in so many ways and one that I really could live without is her opposition to trying new FOOD! Seriously, my 13 month old is still eating BABY FOOD. It’s so expensive and I would do just about anything to get her to eat some “big girl” food. Please help. She only eats puffs. THAT IS IT. So frustrating. I’m also having the hardest time getting her on cows whole milk. She refuses that like crazy too. This Mama is sick of washing bottles. The worst part about the baby food is that’s a whole big fight in it self. I usually have to distract her with Barney to distract her into eating at all. Please avoid any and all judgement. I wonder if she would eat at all without the distraction. :( It’s horrible.
On a lighter note, she is sleeping well, learning more and more each day, walking all over the place, interacting with her cousin during play time...and just being awesome at all she does. We are blessed.





-Curt came back to PA for 36 hours for a wedding of a high school friend of ours and we had such a great time, even though it was so short of a trip. We got to spend the night with our favorite friends from high school and then have a brunch with family the following morning. It was perfect. He was gone as soon as he got there, but we’re headed there in about a week to see him so we have tons to look forward to!








-I’m starting to feel pretty sad about my upcoming trip to Vegas and leaving my home. At times it felt like we were so far away from being with Curt again but like all our time spent apart, it feels like it went rather quickly. We were initially going to stay here up until graduation but realized that we could not be away from Curt for yet ANOTHER holiday if it wasn’t mandatory. So, we’ll be roughin’ it in his teeny, tiny hotel room for a couple weeks while he wraps things up at Weapons School. We miss him!!!!

I think that’s good enough for now, don’t you? I’m so distracted because I’m trying to watch TV at the same time and this lil update is taking a bit longer than I had anticipated. With my upcoming trip to Sin City I’m bound to have some more “free time” to blog... I promise.

Annoying...

Don’t you HATE it when you obsessively check a blog that you often read and every time you get to the page you notice that they haven’t updated it lately.

SO ANNOYING. You either blog, or you don’t. Geez.

Lazy...

HA!

Wait, I really don’t think that anyone religiously checks this thing of mine, but...hopefully you know where I’m going with this.

I miss you blogger. I do!

I promise to be much more efficient with my updates. Life without Curt, or, my “baby daddy”, is tough sometimes. You see, he is required to help me with her on a daily basis whether he likes it or not, thus giving me some “free” time to play on the computer and ramble on about the life and times of our family. (No worries, he LOVES it...)

So, as we all get closer to the completion of weapons school (I act as if I had anything to do with his hard work, ha!) and even closer to our move down South, I assure you that my bloggin’ days will be up and running again.

The Luxuries In Life

I got to thinking the other day after I went out to dinner with my good friend Katie, who has a cutie of her own, about what we consider to be a "luxury" these days. She said something to me that really spoke the truth. She said, "He doesn't really understand the luxury of getting into the car and driving somewhere without a baby in the backseat." Amen, Katie. Amen! Let me start by saying that there is no complaining going on here from either one of us. I think at the end of our conversation we were at a mutual agreement that life is 110% better with babies in it. No doubt.

So, let me just paint a little picture of a day in the life of Moi with Miss Ava in tow. My examples will be brief with a little comparing and contrasting along the way.

Shower Time
Pre Ava: Whenever I damn well pleased.
Post Ava: When she's napping. But I have to wait until she's asleep in order to ensure she doesn't have difficulty actually falling asleep and have a meltdown that I'm sure is often heard in space. I need to be quick and quiet because that 1.5 hour nap could easily become a 45 minute nap and once she's up...she's UP! It's a race to see who will be "done" first. I often lose...

Driving...Anywhere!
Pre Ava: Who cares about traffic? Who cares if I go the long way? Who cares if the windows are down?
Post Ava: I must make sure I'm never out in rush hour. My bag of "car toys" must be ready and full so I can quickly pass her back toy after toy after toy to keep her content while we're in route. The windows should be up so she isn't blinded by the wind and I have to maintain a constant cool temp in the car so she doesn't sweat herself into a tizzy. All trips must be short and I must avoid stoplights and heavy traffic areas. Unsuspected stand stills aren't well received. When all else fails, we enjoy a sing along of her favorite songs.

Shopping
Pre Ava: Browsing and literally shopping until I drop.
Post Ava: It's in my best interest to have a route planned out in the mall and be as quick as possible. The stroller is only entertaining for so long. Trying things on? Ummm, I don't have the option. The fitting room is where it gets ugly.

Grocery Store
Pre Ava: Well, the grocery store pre Ava was the pits, isn't it always?
Post Ava: I must have lots of sani wipes to de-germ the nastiness that is a shopping cart. Who knows what was in the seat before Ava got there. She likes to gnaw on the handle and it's just gross. Again, timing is just key. No crowds or long lines allowed. I'd bring in the toy bag but she'd much rather "play" with all the food I'm trying to get home in once piece.

Toy Stores
Pre Ava: What's a "toy store"?
Post Ava: TOYS ARE EVERYWHERE!!! It doesn't have to be a store specific to toys. As soon as that girl spots the "toy section" she "ooohhhhhs and aaaaahhhhhs" herself silly. I did make the mistake once of letting her out of the stroller to get closed and it was a horrible idea. She wanted it all on the floor and when I pulled her away she had the tantrum of ALL tantrums.

Play Time
Pre Ava: Play time wasn't the G-rated play time it is now. It was more like happy hour or pub crawls.
Post Ava: Toys must be entertaining...for hours on end. Lights! Sounds! Movement! A billion pieces! Of course now all I see it sharp coffee table edges and glass cabinet doors by the stone fireplace. With a very mobile Ava it's bound to get crazy. I never stop moving... Never

Phone Conversations
Pre Ava: Eh, wasn't a big fan before Ava either.
Post Ava: None existent. Naps are meant for showers and chores...and Ava's awake time is too demanding of my attention.

Computer Time
Pre Ava: Whenevs....
Post Ava: Oh ya know, around 10 pm when I finally sit down at night. Exhausted.

Mommy and Daddy Time
Per Ava: Well considering Curt's work schedule it has always been crazy...
Post Ava: Hmmm, we've had one date in the past 3 months and two dates in the past six. I'm sensing a pattern here.

Bed Time
Pre Ava: Whenever I felt tired enough to lie down and take on my 8 hours in peace.
Post Ava: Even though many people say, "You should sleep when she sleeps". Funny. If I did that I would ZERO time to myself all day everyday. When Ava goes to bed it's "Me" time. I enjoy it. Sure, sometimes I enjoy it until 11 or midnight, but it's my time and I need it. Of course sometimes I do get an early rise out of Ava and the midnight bed time doesn't seem like such a great idea when she's up at 6. Yes. All things I need to take into consideration...

What's the point? No, people. I'm not ungrateful. No, I'm not complaining. No, I'm not making excuses. I actually miss her more than anything in the world when we're apart. Whether I'm running to the store by myself and I'm gone for an hour or if I'm off to spend a day by myself while she is with her Grandma, I always get so excited to come home and see what's she been up to. I miss her when ever we're apart. She's a part of me and my life is forever changed because of it. Yes, I'm always tired and never get enough sleep. Yes, what I once considered a luxury (new bags! cashmere sweaters! sleep! quiet!) are but a far and distant memory. But this is life. Life changes. I'm changing with it.

I still have bad days and Curt is still far away. He's so understanding of me. Ava and I are so fortunate to have him in our lives.

I still wonder what lies ahead...

I still get nervous and anxious about the unknown...

What I do know is I have the most awesome baby girl in the whole world and a hubby that supports us in every aspect of the word.

We're all still learning so much about each other along the way.

I'm a lot stronger than I thought I could ever be.

I Love Lady Antebellum

LOVE. (and it's "live"...which is even better.)

Mars! Or Vegas...Same Difference!

Ava and I took a trip out to see Curt over Labor Day weekend and we had the best time! Let me start by saying this: Just because there is NO humidity in the air doesn't mean that it "doesn't feel that hot". An oven in an oven people, and 100+ and up is just plain hot. You can't sugar coat it and fool me with your nonsense. I'm not sure what Ava and I would have done if we were out there for the entire 6 months because Curt said a few weeks ago it was around 110-115. We would have been in hibernation, for sure. The car was almost impossible to cool down even with the air conditioner blasting.

I'm happy to say that Ava warmed up to Curt within minutes. I think all those web chats we have really helped keep Dada in Ava's pretty little head. As soon as she saw him, she immediately got bashful and tried to bury her head in the stroller. She then refused to take her eyes off of him as we waited for the baggage and although he was desperate to pick her up, and didn't want to scare her. By the time we got to the car, though, she was climbing him like a tree. Phew! She remembers her Daddy!!! From that moment on I pretty much became a blur in the background and she really only wanted me when it was time to sleep. We have a solid routine down and it's comforting to her when it's time to nap or go to bed for the night to keep things as consistent as possible.

We did some short trips out to see the local sights. We hit up Lake Mead, the Hoover Dam, Mt. Charleston, and of course The Strip! I really wanted to see the Grand Canyon but it was just entirely too far of a car ride with the baby. I did see it from about 25,000 feet from my airplane seat, so that was pretty cool. (PS: Las Vegas looks like Mars, don't you think???) Speaking of the airplane, Ava was a great traveler-again! She managed to nap on both flights (direct, thankfully) and while she was awake she provided fellow passengers with some hearty entertainment with her many facial expressions and animated rounds of peek-a-boo. I was blessed with some wonderful and very helpful people sitting all around me that were more than willing to help take care of Ava. On a side note, flying Southwest was without a doubt the best traveling experience I've ever had, especially after my US Air nightmare.

Curt's room in Las Vegas isn't more than a small space with a bed, dresser, desk, a small kitchenette, and a teeny tiny bathroom. Uhhh, not the luxury digs we stayed in on the strip. Half of the lights in the room don't work and it has nothing to do with the actual bulb. The kitchen and bathroom were filled with 70's style orange counter tops and the shower head in the bathroom was eye-level...TO ME! I'm only 5'2'' and it was eye level!!! I think the air force needs to bite the bullet and invest in some small, but much needed, face lifts in these sad little rooms. I'm just sayin'...

On the other hand, my Uncle Mark was actually in Las Vegas the same weekend we were there on a work trip and he set us up in The Palazzo for one night and it was FANTASTIC. I think we need to thank his firm for footing that bill, ha! :) Talk about plush... It was fantastic and the view from our room was amazing. We took Ava to the hotel for our sleepover and it was just a really fun night for our family. We went out to dinner and toured all the hotels that we could get to. Bright lights, Big City is a busy place to explore, no matter what time of day it is. When we were checking out of our hotel the next morning around 8 am there were still loads of people still gambling and running around in the clothes they put on 12 hours earlier. Man, talk about feeling old! :) I'm secretly happy those days are long behind me. No all nighters for this girl... Thanks, anyway!

Curt is hoping Ava and I decide to come out and see him in November and stay with him until he's done in December. He misses us too much and vice versa... We just want his schedule to calm down a bit before we come out and invade his small space once again. So...here's to counting down til we see DaDa again!

As always, I leave with some pictures. All my FB have already seen these...but here ya go again!

Hello Yellow!

Oh I Wannnnnnt YOU!

JCrew, my weakness.

Why, oh why do you do this to me?



Ruffles. RUFFLES, for cryin' out loud!!! How do I resist ruffles?