Our Mission Statement

My reason for everything!

After talking to my mom one night about the importance of having a missions statement, I set about making our family's. So here it is... :)

Our Family Mission Statement:

Our purpose as a family is to communicate effectively, treat each other with respect and love, and realize our goals in a way that lets us best develop our skills and talents creatively, strengthens our character, bodies, minds, and souls, and allows us to work as one in our eternal family so that we can raise and become strong, independent, thoughtful, and intelligent individuals while keeping our faith in God.

We will accomplish this by:

1.) Accepting everyone as they are, but encouraging growth and change for the better.

2.) Speaking to each other with respect and showing consideration at all times. We are courteous and kind.

3.) Encouraging each other to make right choices and supporting righteous decisions. The choices we make affect those we love. In serious matters, we act as a family unit.

4.) Valuing privacy and trust. We know that there are consequences to all of our actions and we agree to take responsibility for our choices.

5.) Living our lives to be a good example for others. We expect to be treated the way we treat others.

6.) Performing our responsibilities, callings, jobs, and careers to the best of our ability.

7.) Keeping our sights on the Temple and the Celestial Kingdom at all times in our lives.

8.) Knowing who we are - children of our Heavenly Father, and what we represent - His Church. We conduct ourselves in a way that does not tarnish the name of those. For this reason, we do not use profanity, do not take the Lord’s name in vain, and follow the Word of Wisdom and the teachings of the Prophets.

9.) Working to live debt free (except for necessary debts) and conduct our finances in a way that leaves us free from needless burden. We do not need the newest or the best of everything in order to feel fulfilled.

10.) Making plans for the future and striving to follow through with those plans to reach our goals.

11.) Encouraging young men (and women if they so choose) to go on a worthy mission and preparing financially for that eventuality.

12.) Operating from one income so that mom can stay home and manage the running and raising of our family.

13.) Trying to keep Family Home Evening as a priority on Monday nights and keeping the Sabbath Day holy.

14.) Making sure our bodies, minds, and home are clean. We act with humility and modesty.

15.) Tithing honestly and giving fast and other offerings when possible. Instead of giving money to charities, we know that the Lord knows best where to distribute our offerings and we will do so through His Church.

16.) Taking and making opportunities to serve others whenever possible. We strive to use and develop our talents and gifts to benefit others.

17.) Keeping food storage on hand, working up to maintaining and rotating a year’s worth of food for our family, and keeping our 72 hour kits stocked and nearby in case of emergency.

18.) Giving our elders, leaders, and teachers the respect and attention they deserve.

19.) Respecting our country and its leaders. We recognize that we are blessed to live in America and will obey the law and follow the rules put forth by our leaders. If we don’t agree with the law, we will take appropriate and legal actions to facilitate the change we desire.

20.) Showing pride in our family members’ accomplishments and successes and supporting them through their defeats, failures, and trials.

New In Town!

Ava playing at a rest stop.

We've been the new blood in Chester for almost two weeks now. It snowed a ton the day we were headed up here. We got a chance to stop by and see Noni and Papa (as Ava calls Grandpa now) in Idaho before heading north. We got to Chester just before a huge storm that dumped some snow. Not too bad, but we were a little worried. The next day, we tried to ready the house for the movers but, really, how much can you do in one day? The highlight of the move was when the 18 wheeler got stuck in the snow/slush and the deputy had to pull him out with his Ford. The sheriff's guys were so proud.

Our new church home!

We made it to church the next Sunday and found that the branch here has a lovely bunch of people and quite an eclectic mix. The President is like a big kid. His wife is the sweetest woman I've ever met. There are a couple of families who have welcomed us into the branch/community with open arms. They both have kids. We've gotten along smashingly. I hope they like me. Both Mike and I are eager to please and since we really want to be a part of this community, we've been worried about it more than usual. Mike's job is going well. He has a lot on his plate. It seems like every time he comes home I hear about his new "baby" at work - another project his boss has him in charge of. I think he secretly likes it! Ava and I have made it to a playgroup a couple times. I like our options for friends here. Still, I hope they like me too. :)

Conference was this last weekend and Ava loves playing "Find President Monson." :)

Bathtime fun.

Ava and Daddy watching a movie.

Netflix is the big deal in our house now. It's working well in place of cable! We're settling in to our new life quite nicely and are working out a few kinks. I'm still trying to be supermom. Thus far I'd give myself an A for effort.

Looking Back - The Last 5 Months

Well, well, well, what have we here? I'm a procrastinator of the worst sort. Okay. I admit. I haven't felt like writing about anything for a while becasue I've been sort of wallowing in a little sadness. I thought that things weren't going so well, so it was harder and harder to come up with good things to say. As I don't want other people to hear me gripe, I just quit writing. Well, I'm done with that part of my life now. Lots of really great things happened and I know we've all grown. Now lets move on. :)

We went to Seattle to visit Noni and Grandpa, Unkie Dave and Amie in November. Christmas was very nice. New Years was good. I made zero resolutions since I obviously didn't keep with the ones I made last year. They make me nervous so I didn't make any. :) Around the end of January, we found out we were pregnant, just to find out that we were having an early miscarriage. It was hard since we have been waiting for baby #2 since Ava turned a year old. We have both come to our own terms with the loss though. we're really looking forward to the next few months since the chances are higher that we will get pregnant now. Thank you hormones!

We also found out a month ago that Mike got accepted for an awesome job in chester, Montana! He will be a Natural Resource Specialist for the Department of Reclaimation. We're so excited to move. It's been sort of sad though. We have to leave our home of the past two years. Rolla has been so great to us (aside from not offering us jobs). I have made some lifelong friends. Our family is here. It's where Ava was born. I think the hardest thing is separating Ava and her cousins. But we're still excited. It's a great opportunity to start our own lives and it's going to be the start of quite an adventure.

Ava is still doing really well. She's so smart! She is still beyond her peers in development. She is speaking in short two or three word sentences now. She's getting into everything and making huge messes. I'm glad I know it's just a part of her learning what happens when she pulls all the keys off my keyboard or dumps the crackers on the floor and then grinds them in. She's learning... it's ok. I just have to keep repeating that to myself to keep my sanity. We're working on not reacting harshly. That's the first thing you want to do is yell and get mad. That's really no way to be. I hate feeling angry or mad and it's really just a part of the process, so why get mad?

She's quite the copycat too! We've really got to watch what we say and do because she can hear a word once and repeat it. Yesterday that word was "Shut-up" thanks to her cousins. I have always hated that word. It's good that she's so cute though... it came out as "Shup bup." I can handle that. People tell me the Terrible Two's are here. I can't think of it that way! She's not terrible. She's amazing! Everything she does these days makes me laugh or shake my head in wonder.

She's tall and skinny. Well, I say skinny but she looks good. For a while I was worrying about her weight dropping but I finally decided that her body knows what is best and she's evened out now. She's stopped now around the 18th percentile for height to weight and now we're all ok with that. :)

My plans for the future are to become a better stay-at-home mom. I'm really hoping that this move, and getting into a routine like we once had when mike had a 9-5, will help me be able to cook dinners every night. I'm trying to do at least one learning activity with Ava a day. These aren't necessarily learning based but more fun things that we can do one-on-one. I feel awfully in-between these days as we don't know the exact day that the movers are coming. Since we're being moved we can't pack our own things. That's a blessing and a curse. I feel kind of in limbo. I'm hoping, now that we will be far from all our family members, to keep track of posting updates. I won't even say a goal lest I jinx myself. I just hope to be all-around more thoughtful with my life to be a better wife and mother than I feel like I have been lately. Luckily, I think my fibromyalgia/joint pain is lessening again. It got to its highest point from Oct-Dec which is also why I havn't felt like writing much. When you feel like crap, your outlook is crap and I didn't want that to come out in print. I think that voicing it when I am in pain helps though. I want my kids to know that it is ok to feel bad for a while. It's part of the process of making your way out of trials. You CAN wallow. As long as you work on making it out of the pain and then asses how you've grown it's ok. I've grown a lot from the last two years. I feel like the last two years have been our trial. Now, as we make our way to (hopefully) better times, I hope I am thankful enough and can grow from it.

My Little Smarty Girl

Two months have gone by? What?? Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m a procrastinator.

Really, it’s a disease I’ll always have to fight with, tomorrow.

At Six Flags Fright Nights (Ava did not like it)

Looking her gosh darn cutest!

Anyway, updates: Ava’s next two bottom teeth are coming in. That will make a grand total of 6 teeth and she’s 16 months old. She’ll be 17 months at the end of October. And mommy will be 27. I feel old. Yesterday she had a 1 year screening by the Parents As Teachers program. She’s still pretty nervous around her parent educator but she performed well. Mary Beth tested her on fine and gross motor skills, language, and social skills. She far succeeded her age group in everything! In her social skills and gross motor (throwing a ball overhand) she tested in the 18 to 24 months range. In fine motor she was within her age group but on the far end of it. And surprisingly, in language, she tasted at around a two year old!!! Mary Beth chalked it up to doing sign language with her, reading to her all the time, talking to her. It really makes me feel good to know that all my hard work will pay off. And Ava has always been a really smart baby. I guess that extra week and a half of development in my tummy and all the brain-boosting breast milk helped too. I just love my smarty pants.

Our little GQ and his ladies

Every day her personality shines through more and more. She’s got a funny bone like no other kid I’ve ever known. I read that second children are usually the funny ones, or the last child because they have to crack everyone up to get attention. Maybe Ava is like that because she has her cousins around all the time so she gets all kinds of attention from them when she cracks up like a little hyena every time they giggle. Her laugh is certainly contagious. She’s a stickler for routine too. She likes to have a yogurt cup every morning for breakfast while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She has to have her bedtime routine the same way every night. And she still tells me, when it’s 7:00, it’s bedtime. Right now, Mike walked outside and she's yelling for him to come back. Not only does our house ring with my voice yelling, "Miiiike?!" Now, we hear Ava yelling, "Miiiiiiii!" I've tried to start yelling for Daddy, but she prefers to call him Mike... Oh well!


My doll face!


A few nights ago we were going through our routine, same as ever. Mike washes Ava. They play in the tub for a little bit while I get her jammies, diaper, lotion, and book all laid out. Well, I was procrastinating, of course I do it at the last minute, and suddenly I heard Mike scream. (Literally, it was a scream I never thought my manly husband could make.) I ignored it… guilty. Next he said, in a very panicky voice, “Veronica, get in here QUICK!” So I walked to the bathroom and said, “What the heck?” To which he, freaking out, yelled, “Hurry! Ava pooped in the tub!” As I started to laugh… him, “It’s not funny! Help me!”… me, “Ew, its HUGE! How could that come out of her?” The whole time, Ava was trying desperately to climb out of the tub because her daddy screamed at the poop and she had no idea where it came from. For all she knew it was dangerous stuff. We wiped off her tushy as much as possible and Mike handed her to me (she still smelled like poo). I was telling Mike, “Hurry up she stinks!” as he walked out to the kitchen. I said, “What are you doing? Hurry up! She’s scared and wants to snuggle and I CAN’T!” To which Mike yelled, “I need some gloves!” Well, sadly, for him, we used to have a box of gloves under the sink but I would use them all the time so I didn’t have to touch meat. They’ve been used up for a while now, needless to say I don’t cook as often as I did with them. I told him the gloves were gone and he huffed and puffed and then grabbed, of all things, a plastic grocery bag! Of course, when a plastic bag gets wet it sticks together but I didn’t want to deter him from getting the tub cleaned out quickly so I just let him go for it. Finally he got the poo out and I set Ava on the sink in the bathroom. I told him to hold on to her while I cleaned the tub. (Which he didn’t think we needed to do… ugh, men.) Then I cleaned it with SoftScrub, best stuff ever. Ava REALLY didn’t want to get back in the tub, she thought she was done. Mike washed her all over again and finally the crisis was behind us. The whole thing was so funny, looking back, that I had to share. I think every kid poops in the tub at least once in their first few years. This makes twice for my kid. Oy.

Talking to My Monkey

Ava's top right tooth finally popped through exactly one week ago. It's mate has yet to appear although I can feel it under her gums so... any day now. Her personality is really shining throught now. She's a ham. She cheezes for the camera. She prays. Now that's really cute. She will close her eyes as tightly as she can, clasp her little hands and then open her eyes looking very proud of herself. I'm pretty impressed that that is what she chooses to do to mimic me, given all the other embarassing things she could choose to do!

She's always got to be in the action. Not one of those "never-seen, never-heard" kids. Do those even exist? She's been perfecting saying a lot of new words and phrases. (Early? My pride says yes!) She says:

1.) Chansh Euooo! (Thank you - goes with signing is said VERY enthusiastically!)

2.) Eysh (Ice - one of her favorite things.)

3.) Yuck (Apparently it's one of the things mommy says a lot)

4.) Thuck (Stuck - which, at first sounded like "yuck" and gets said often when mommy puts her in the high chair or grocery cart seat and buckles her in. My response... "I know you're stuck... I stuck you there.")

5.) Aaaallllaaaaa (All done - goes with signing.)

6.) Ish (Fish)

7.) Oosh (Shoes - is it just me or don't all kids say it this way at first?)

8.) Kittykittykittykitty (Said really fast with no spaces... just like I typed it... but while running after Loki or carrying him like a purse down the hallway.)

9.) Waaa Daaa (Want down - pretty often!)

10.) Auwaa (Water)

11.) Mao (The kitty cat says...)

12.) Aye aye... OOOOOoooooooo (Singing along with the Spongebob themesong. About the funniest thing I've ever seen.)

Those are the only ones I can think of now. On top of that she's getting really good at signing the things she wants. Now I need to teach her the sign for "help." I'm getting really tired of the screaming, hitting, pinching, etc. when she wants me to help her with something.

Ava is almost weaned now. I hurt my back (tore a ligament off/partially off my spine) about a week and a half ago and couldn't nurse. It was too painful and I was on pain meds so I decided that making it to 14 months was really good and I guess I still haven't stopped nursing completely and hopefully won't soon. I was only in pain for a couple of days (being engorged). The back pain only lasted about a week (then my neck hurt).

Ava still gets that one nursing session of the day right at bedtime after her bath. It sets my mind at ease that it's not complete weaning. I had wanted to have her nurse until she was two, at least. She is sleeping better at least. And her eating during the day has picked up which makes me feel better as before this she had lost 3.5 lbs in a month.

Lots of going to playgroups, swimming, having friends over and general activity around here. This time in a toddler's life is all about repitition and Ava is surely doing a lot of that. We must do everything over and over and over again until she's satisfied and can move on. Climbing on chairs, couches, tables, anything she can get her leg up on is her favorite activity this week. So with all this activity going on is it any wonder why naptime is pretty close to my favorite time? My favorite has to be when she is getting sleepy and snuggles with me. No "milkies" for naps has made us closer and she loves to snuggle down to sleep now. I know when she's tired now too because she climbs onto my lap and lays her head on my chest.

My baby is now a toddler. Bittersweet.

Would You Like Some Cheese With That Wean?

It's been too long since my last post. As always, a lot has happened. Our lovely little garden is producing a little extra produce for us. The cucumbers below are tasty but grew in this awfully weird shape. Mike thought they might have crossed with a watermelon but I don't think so. They are only about the size on my hand. Our tomatoes got blown down by a big storm and are bent at the stem now but I keep pushing them back up and they keep falling back over. They are still producing tomatoes so I guess they're ok!

In Ava news... She is now 14 months old. She's been slowly losing weight lately, much to my concern. In the past 25 days she's lost 3.5 lbs and she now weighs 22 lbs. Otherwise she is happy and very healthy so I'm not worrying too much. Just keeping an eye on it.

Still just the two bottom teeth. The top ones feel really close though. We try to remember to put her teething necklace on everyday because I definitely notice a difference in her mood when she is wearing it.

We've finally come to the eventuality of weaning. It's been a tough time but the circumstances were beyond anyone's control. Two nights ago I was nursing Ava in the night and I rolled her off my arm and onto her side of the bed. When I tried to move around to get myself comfortable, I felt a sharp pain between my shoulder blades. My first thought was that Mike needed to pop my back to relieve it but as I moved around it was hurting so badly I could hardly get out of bed. Mike took off work yesterday to get me to the doctor. I was sure I had a slipped disk or something serious. It turns out I had separated (or partially separated) a ligament from my spine. It should take about a week to heal. I can't pick up Ava, get into a comfortable position to hold her, or nurse. I feel so sorry for her that she will be missing out on those last few months of nursing that I had planned on. This wasn't the way I wanted to wean. I had always hoped that we could do it slowly, letting Ava decide when. I guess God had other plans.

I am seeing the good in this situation. Since this is truly beyond my ability to control the situation I feel a lot less guilty about weaning. We are keeping the post-bath, bedtime routine nursing but that is it. Last night was Ava's first night with no "milkies." From the time she went to bed to 5 am she had no milk. Then, for who knows what reason (I can only speculate), she woke up screaming and crying to the point of choking and gagging. I decided it was too much, too fast and let her nurse that time too. It killed my back but I needed to give her that.

Tonight should be easier.

We have been enjoying our summer. Getting out with friends and spending some time in the forest has really made our summer complete. We're still crossing our fingers and praying that some of the jobs Mike has applied for recently will come through. One, in Dickinson, ND sounds promising. We'll see. Oregon, Colorado, North Dakota? I'd go anywhere if it meant we could have a secure income.

I guess this is all I can write for now. My back is seizing up as I sit here. Wish us luck for all this new junk going on. :)

May... Big Month of Firsts!

Wow, what a month... what to report first? Ava got her first tooth two days ago! The bottom right one. Nana was so excited! She's been looking for that tooth for months. It finally came through. I guess it was waiting for her to turn one.

We've been very busy lately. Ava is an on-the-go sort of kid and I try to keep up with her. Unkie Dave Ring came to visit around the middle of the month and we had a blast! We went to the zoo with him. Ava learned a few new signs there and she loved trying to figure out what all those animals were. She mostly thought they were all dogs, cats, birds, or ducks. She did learn what an elephant was and that was so cute! (See picture below!) While he was here we also had Ava's birthday party a week early. She got some awesome toys for her birthday including some clothes and a bunch of wooden food toys, which is what I had asked people to get her. Nana got her the fruit set and Mike and I found her a used lot of sushi, sandwiches, and pizza on Ebay. She loves them. Fake food was one of my favorite things to play with when I was little so I wanted to pass that on to Ava.

On May 17th, Mike and I have been married for two years!

Ava started walking on her own two weeks before she turned one! I thought she was ready to walk but she always wanted to hold my hand so I went out and got her some used push toys. A ball popper and a car that turns into a pusher. The ball popper was so exciting she forgot I wasn't there and just walked away with it! So the first time she walked on her own was April 30th. But she was holding the popper. Two weeks later she tried walking without the push toys and just took off! She's so smart!

She got her own cake on her birthday. I put whipped cream on it so she wasn't getting a ton of sugar and nasty stuff and she loved it! Her personality, careful and calculating, shined through as she ate the cake. She just played in the whipped cream until the cousins showed her how to really dig in. She's a lot like me.

We went to Six Flags for the first time this summer, Ava's second time. She liked it so much more this time - she was only a couple months old last time. Even though we were there all day from open to close, she stayed happy and we all had lots of fun. She only nursed once but we all made sure she was getting lots of food and drinks and she stayed content all day except for when she got tired. Only one nap that day though because she was so excited and there was so much to look at!

I haven't been feeling well lately. Really nauseous, headaches, cramping, nipple pain. I though I was pregnant. It was really disappointing to find out I'm not. I think with the nursing my hormones are all out of whack. Maybe I'm ovulating. I'm ready for the next baby. Ava would make a great big sister! Hopefully I feel better soon.

In sad news... Aunt Patti passed away suddenly while having a gallbladder surgery on May 13th. I am going to miss that woman more than anything. She had a heart bigger than anyone. It was really hard on Robin. I'm glad we're going to Gatlinburg on Sunday, that way we can help her get her mind off of it a little bit. Aunt Patti, you will be missed. I just wish you could have met Ava and Mike.

I can't wait to go to Gatlinburg on Sunday. I miss my family being here in the middle of nowhere. It will be so good to have 9 days with Robin and Dad.

Once again, I'll try to update more often.

April's News

Ok... so I'm a bad blogger. It's been too long since I updated. But there's a lot to report about Ava. We've been keeping really busy lately. We have met a ton of new moms many of whom share my feelings about mothering which really helps. I love having other moms like me to bounce ideas off of and it really helps to keep me feeling great about the mothering choices I make. I know it shouldn't matter what other people think and ultimately it doesn't but I love having a support group.

Here's a sweet picture of Ava asleep in the backpack. She always falls asleep in there. Mike and I were messing around in the yerd the other day and she just konked out so I set her down and put the umbrella over her to keep off the sun and she slept like that for a while.

In other news, Ava in really getting mobile now. Not walking by herself but hse loves to hold my hand and walk me around everywhere. If I forget to hold her hand and try to walk past her it really makes her upset. So I try to include her in everything I do and we've been having fun with that. She really likes to help me. She likes to sit on the counter while I cook and she comes to the bathroom with me and sits on her own little potty. We've been working on getting her used to the potty for a little while now and she seems really excited by it. Monday, I put her on the potty before her bath and she actually peed in it! I thought that was just a fluke cause she usually pees when the water for her bath is running but then this morning right when she woke up I thought she might need to go and, sure enough, she went in the potty. Then, I was in there earlier today and she tried to climb on by herself to I thought I'd try it just to see if she had to go and she did it again! She knows what to do on there now so hopefully I can figure out when she needs to go and we'll be using less diapers in no time. I spend a lot of my energy on helping us to communicate better. I always tell her what I'm going to do or what we are doing and it's making us so in synch. She points at everything and I tell her what it is. She's started brushing her hair and her teeth now. When we are doing our bedtime routine we put her in the tub and daddy always blows the washcloth off the bar where we hang it so she coppies him. It's so funny to see her look up at it and try to blow it down like daddy. Then when she's done in the tub I clean her ears. She LOVES having her ears cleaned. Her eyes roll back in her head every time. Then we put on her PJ's and she sometimes helps me by pushing her arms through. After that I comb her hair and she tries to do it herself. Too adorable. And I brush her teeth. She loves to brush her teeth. I put the little nubby thing on my finger and she grabs it and moves it back and forth to brush her teeth - still non-existant though. We read a book then she goes down so easily. We've been having a hard time after I go to bed though. She want so badly to cuddle. I'm hoping she grows out of this bad sleeping pattern. I'm just biding my time. I'm really not sleeping well but if I have to sacrifice that's ok. A friend of mine just had to wean her almost 2 year old because she wasn't gettign any sleep and I dread doing that to Ava now. Maybe if she was older...

She's turning so quickly into a little kid. She signs what she needs all the time. She comes up to me and signs "milk" or "diaper" when she needs to. She signs "drink and eat" when she wants those. She's saying "bye-bye" now all the time. Yesterday I was busy and I guess she got bored but, she crawled over to the door and started saying "bye-bye." I guess she wanted to leave. She gives kisses and hugs to people she knows well. And she learns things so quickly! I credit the mommy milk. On the 15th, she said her own name for the first time. She was sitting on the counter and she kept pointing at her picture on the cabinet and I'd say "that's Ava" and pretty soon she started to say "dat Abba!" And today she started saying "wa Abba?" when she covers her eyes because that's the game we play. She covers her eyes and I say, "where's Ava?" and she uncovers her eyes and I say, "peekaboo!" It's so sweet to see her learning and talking so much. She also says "light" although it sounds like "ite" because she's obsessed with lights. And she loves to be outside. She cries when I make her come in from playing in the front yard.

Speaking of outside, we have been planting this week. We have two smallish boxes that Mike built for raised beds. In one we've got a Japanese eggplant, three zucchini, some lemon balm, mint, and three rows of onions. In the other box I just planted rows of watermelon, basil, lavender, cucumber and carrots. Inside, I am starting some garlic to see if it will grow. We need one more box for the last few things I need to plant but then we should have a respectable garden!

This is what happened when daddy left his chocolate milk glass where Ava could reach it. We've forgiven him. :)

A Few Posts In One

(Monday, March 29) Wow… I have so much to report. Ava learned how to blow kisses. She blows kisses at just about anything she likes. It’s adorable. She finally found her feet. Well, she knew they were there but finally learned how fun they are to eat! She giggles like crazy when she gets them up to her face and because she’s also pretending everything is a phone, she gets her little foot up to her ear and says, “huh!” I guess she’s copying me and Mike when we say hi on the phone.

It seems like she’s teething on everything. Drooling a ton. I have been awaiting teeth for a long time now and I’m not gonna guess when they’re coming. She’s also been letting go of whatever she has been holding on to a lot. She just stands there for a little bit trying to keep her balance, then it’s, boom, right onto her bum. She kicked the cold she had earlier this month but now she had another one. The bulb sucker is her nemisis. Her little nose is all red from me wiping it, another thing she hates.

Ava went swimming for the second time. This was the first time she really enjoyed it. We were there at the indoor pool for about an hour and she had a blast. We were all exhausted when we got home. No pictures from that excursion but we will have plenty of other pics from swimming this summer, I’m sure.

Aside from all this news, it has been turning spring and there have been a number of beautiful days where Ava and I just sit outside and play in the grass or go for a walk down to the park. We’ve been making new friends too and have a bunch of kids that Ava loves to play with. We’re all looking forward to summer and more beautiful days!

(Friday, March 26) We had a playdate with Ava’s friend Loyal. Ava had so much fun, and a nap surprisingly! After seeing Loyal eat like a big boy we tried it when we got home. Ava sat in her high chair and ate a whole jar of carrots! Then, later, she saw the kitties and let go of the chair she was holding on to and took a step!!!!!!! She’s getting so big! I can’t wait for her to start walking.



Here it is Friday (March 18) and, sure enough, breastfeeding Ava has helped her kick this cold right out! I’m glad I didn’t give her needless antibiotics. We had a bit of an upset this week. I started babysitting for a friend Monday and Ava hated it. Isabel was good and was an easy kid to sit for but man, Ava did not like having another kid around. Especially one that can run away from her and doesn’t give her every toy she wants. It was really hard to make the decision to stop babysitting Isabel. But Ava was crying all day long and throwing tantrums over nothing. I had to make a choice. My baby’s happiness is more important than helping a friend, making a little extra money, or anything else.

I finally knew it was too much when Ava had a breakdown over me closing the lid to a water bottle one night. I closed the lid and she FREAKED! Tears and all! It scared me. I don’t want to have a spoiled brat for a baby. It really made me second guess the parenting I’ve been doing. I mean, I give her what she wants all the time because it really doesn’t affect anything but here we were battling over whether or not I leave the lid to the water bottle open. I let her cry about it until she calmed down then I opened the lid so she could see that calming down gets her what she wants. I hated to let her cry like that but I needed her to learn that it was completely irrational and silly to cry because she didn’t get her way. I refuse for her to be spoiled. I’ve been realizing though through all this that she understands me a lot more than I gave her credit for.
We’re still working on learning new signs and using the old ones correctly. Still making new friends. Amy had her baby last Friday. Annie – she named her. I can’t wait to meet her. Babies are so fun. I’m looking forward to nice weather. It got a little warmer today and I was able to clean out the car while Ava played in the pack-n-play. Warm weather makes me want to get organized and clean and exercise! Come on spring… quit teasing us!

(Wednesday, March 11) I have been a little lax in updating and getting things done this last couple of weeks. I have been nursing a cold for a while now and finally Ava and Mike caught it. Mike and I can handle a bad head cold just fine. Ava, on the other hand, has such a hard time. She got sick on Monday and on Tuesday night she was miserable. She cried really badly every time she started to fall asleep. We ended up having to walk her in her stroller around the block for an hour and a half. Finally we got home and just left her in the stroller. Every half hour after that she woke up crying bad and I had to Shhh her back to sleep and nurse her almost the whole night. The next day we went to the doctor and she said that Ava had inflammation in her right ear. She gave us a script for some Amoxicillin but I hate how doctors overprescribe antibiotics so we haven’t filled it. I don’t think we will have to now that the worst has passed. Her NP, Amy, finally admitted that she thinks they do overprescribe and that even if we did give it to her there’s a chance her eardrum could burst anyway and if it was a virus it would do no good anyway. She didn’t have a fever and didn’t seem like her ear was bothering her at all so I made a mommy decision and I’m gonna let her kick this one on her own.

Sick Mommy

So much new stuff to report. I have been very sick. Taking care of Ava and myself has been VERY hard. I have been trying to pull through it. Luckily Mike is between jobs right now so I have a ton of help. He has been so good to me and has been such an attentive Daddy. I have newfound respect for him as he has tried so hard to help me out even going to the trouble to take Ava out even when I didn't want him to. He's trying to force me to relax. Haha! I never thought someone would have to force me to go relax and take a nap. Being a mom has done wonders for my responsibility issues.

We got a new bed with the tax return this year. The waterbed (that I lived in while pregnant) sprung a slow leak and we had to trash it. We moved the old bed into the guest room and setup the new bed in our room with Ava's crib next to it. She stays in there pretty well while we aren't in there. As soon as we get in bed later, she is ready to snuggle. It's so nice because we can sleep together as a family finally. Ava's also getting used to the new arrangements after about a week of crummy sleep. Now I can't sleep due to this cold. Can't wait to get a good night's sleep, something is always holding me back.

Ava has new friends! And so does Mommy. There's a new girl (mom) in the playgroup, Amy. She's pregnant with her second baby and has a 3 year old, Sofie. They are so sweet. We had them over before I got sick and it was fun. Then we went to Mike's co-worker's house in Newburg and they were so sweet. Their little boy, Logan, was suck a great sharer. He's only two but he was giving Ava toys and being so nice to her. He just didn't like it when she tried to touch him. So funny!


I love it that Ava is getting bigger and happier. She's more confident. She knows what she wants and can get it now. Well, most of the time. She is still working on that walking thing. A few times this week she has had a toy in one hand and was holding on to the table or the couch and she let go so that she could explore the toy with both hands! She can actually stand like that for a few seconds before falling on her tushy. It does me good to see her trying it on her own. Someone told me that their baby did that too and one day just started walking. I hope Ava stays on this early track. It will be such a boost to her confidence to be ahead of the pack!

Here is Mike taking great care of our little angel. We went and borrowed a pump from the health department and Mike has been taking over one of Ava's feedings and her solid food feedings a couple of times a day. He's been doing her baths and she's coming around to taking her naps for him. I miss having her as solely my responsibility but I'm glad he has been here because I have very little strength. This is changing who she follows when we leave the room! She'd rather hang out with Mike now. I'm not jealous. I knew it would change eventually and I know sometime it will change back. I'm looking forward to getting back on our schedule. Between being sick, the new bed, and having Mike home (as much as we like that!) we are off our schedule a lot.

It's beautiful outside today. Too bad I don't feel great. Can't really enjoy it. I want to take Ava on a hike. Maybe next week?

Big Girl!

Lately it seems like everything Ava does reminds me that she's not a baby anymore. She's turning into a little kid in front of me. She knows what she wants and signs to get it. She officially picked up a new sign three days ago and readily uses "eat" now!

We found a great deal on these Babylegs legwarmers and they are now my favorite article of clothing to dress her in. They keep her legs warm and make it easier to change her diaper without having to pull her tights down. Love 'em!

We went to a Teddy Bear Picnic today. It was more for the big kids. But Ava did have her first taste of Cheerios and raisins. She liked both of them a lot. We are working our way toward a really diverse palate. Baby steps. Hopefully those are on their way soon too. She will stand and barely hold something now but she's scared to do it by herself so if you let go she sits immediately.

No teeth yet either. ???

Smiles Are One of Life's Little Blessings

It's been really snowy and cold lately. I have been wanting to get out and start getting on my resolution to start losing weight. I've been exercising for 20 minutes (at least) every day. I feel like my core is getting stronger. It has also been good for Ava. We are getting in a useful schedule and it seems like it is helping her to deal with the changes that happen. She is sleeping a lot better after just a few nights of horrible sleep. One of the best peices of advice my mom ever gave me and the best advice I could ever give my children for when they have kids is that "this too shall pass!" It doesn't take long for something to naturally work itself out.

The past few days it's been getting over 40 degrees outside. Beautiful weather for getting out of the house. Ava is a get-up-and-go kind of baby and I want to be a busy and fit mommy. I want to be like my mom. (Yeah mom, I said it!) When we were kids my mom always had fun stuff for us to do and we got to go hiking and exploring all the time. I don't want to be a lazy mom and hold my daughter back. I want her to be able to have that inquisitive mind and for me to be physically able to foster exploration.


Ava is turning into a toddler in front of my eyes. It's happening overnight! She would rather play with the big kids more often than babies her own age. She seems bored by babies. We go to a playgroup once or twice a week and she sometimes reaches out and pets the babies but she crawls like mad to catch up with the kids that are walking and running. She'll be off with them in no time. Her cousins are especially interesting to her. She would ignore hunger, a dirty diaper, anything just to play with her cousins!

Well, here's proof that she's teething. We're trying a homeopathic remedy for teething pain, a baltic amber teething necklace. It supposedly releases oils that help with pain, saliva production, irritability, etc. related to teething. We shall see. I'm sceptical. At the very least, it's very cute and she gets comments all the time.

Along with the teething, there are more signs (no pun intended) that she's growing up so fast. She's signing like mad lately. She knows: "milk", "diaper", "all done", and "bye bye". Sometimes she tries "drink". We are still working on: "eat", "more", "bath", "cat", "dog", and "hurt". She's so smart! She is pulling herself to standing now with great ease and can walk next to you if you hold one hand. At 8 months and 3 weeks old she is in 12 month clothes and can sometimes get by in 18 month stuff but it's a little roomy. It's so great that she's big! And she finally has enough hair to hold the cute clippy's we have! She is still a little mama's girl and has a hard time seeing me walk away from her even if it is only a few steps.

Her newest thing, proven by these pictures, is this goofy little grin that she does when she sees the camera. I love how sweet she is. The other night as I was putting her to sleep she softly cupped my cheek and as she fell asleep her hand slipped off. I couldn't help but think how special children are. I don't know what I would do without her.

Still no sign of teeth!???

Mom got us a ton (18!) of cloth diapers. We're still working out the kinks of cloth diapering. It's great to have another option and I love being in the special cloth diapering "club." :)

This life is amazing. I have my husband and my daughter and my God. Me and my mom are closer than ever. I have everything I need!