A note from the writers

Blogger seems to be having some trouble with its videos. They've been uploaded correctly and will run sometimes. If you can't see them now, come back another time and try again. It's totally a game of chance to get them to run. If anyone out there has a fix, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks!

Monday, April 27, 2009

First Day of School

Last night, as Matt and I put Ava to bed, we realized that today was a really momentous day.  Today, Ava started full-time daycare at Bright Horizons.  From now on, until she graduates high school and leaves our little nest (wherever in the world that nest is), she'll be going to school all day Monday-Friday.  

On the one hand, it's exciting to see your kid grow up and know that she's totally ready for this next little step on her road.  On the other, of course, you never get to go back.

So, here they are, Ava's first first-day-of-school pictures.


**Update:  Her day went great.  She cried when I left, of course, but then her teachers said she had a really good day.  She'll be exhausted by the end of the week learning the new nap routine and by playing so hard, but she's doing great!  :-)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

At 17 Months...

I think I missed this last month, but I wanted to do a little snapshot of Ava at 17 months.

*Our baby really is a toddler these days.  No more bottles, at lot more "mine!".  :-)

*Her vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger.  Probably no one else would understand, but Daddy & I do (probably Sarah, too).  She says house, Dolly, kinky (this is apparently what we're calling Binkies these days), cook (this is book), car, more, hi, bye, Libby, Ellie, Grace, Sarah, poopy, potty, owie, moon, and then all the old stand-bys too.  Uh-oh is still a really big hit.

*Speaking of saying poopy, on more than one occasion, Ava has notified us that her diaper is, in fact, poopy.  The days of potty training are not far off.  (Doing the happy dance here...not to be confused with the peepee dance, of course.)

*She can run!  And, more often than not, she's able to keep her head aligned over her feet...less road rash that way.  :-)

*Ava loves grass.  We got the artificial turf in our backyard and she loves to pet it.  She also loves grass at the park.  She, literally, gets on her hands and knees to feel it.

*Ava is a great body part identifier.  She can point to head, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, neck, back, elbow, hair, bellybutton, fingers, hands, and arms.  Libby is less than excited that Ava can point to eyes, however.

*The music thing is still big for this girl.  She sings a lot.  We still do the Chicken Dance, but also Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes, and Whole World in His Hands.  We also sing Rock-a-Bye Baby every day...she'll sing it to her dollies on her own.

*One of Ava's favorite games is "lick your face."  She'll lean in to give you a kiss and, at the last moment, change to a full on face lick.  Sort of gross...extremely funny.  Clearly, allowing Libby to raise this one has backfired for us.

*Ava loves to brush her teeth.  It's a struggle to get her to let us do the brushing at night, but she definitely has to have a turn.  She's got good technique...future dentists will be pleased!

*Proving that she's a girl after my own heart, girlie loves shoes.  She carries them around, loves trying them on, and loves to pick out which ones I'll wear for the day.  Walking through the shoe section of a store is more dangerous than the toy aisle.  Have to say, I hope she ends up being a size 8 so we can share in the teen years!

*Today, just this morning, she started trying to jump.  She'd gather up her chubby little baby self, raise her fists in the air, and then one foot up, and then the other - never at the same time, of course.  But, the shouts of "jump, jump" made it clear that she was working hard!


Love you, baby girl.  You keep right on doing your thing.

Monday, April 20, 2009

What do you get...

...when you throw together a hula-hoop, three curtain sheers, a round tablecloth, & some string?

A playhouse!

We made Ava a playhouse for the playroom yesterday.  It's a fun little nook and she really seems to like it.  Fun stuff!



Scenes from the Playroom

Just a couple quick shots of Ava in the playroom...

Teaching her stuffed friends how to count...
Modeling her homemade shorts in all their 1980s glory...


Easter

We had a great time on Easter.  We dyed eggs on Saturday, then Ava hunted her basket on our patio Easter morning.  Jelly beans were a big hit!  Then, it was off to a picnic with several of our Vegas family friends.  We had a lovely time picnicing in a nearby park, playing cornhole and hunting candy-filled eggs.


Good times!



Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Just in case you wondered...

...this is how a squirrel eats.



Be sure to keep scrolling a ways...I had lots of updating to do this week!  -SBC

Grandma is Here!

I had a ton of work to do over Spring Break, so Mom came out to watch Ava while I spent a couple days in Starbucks knocking out some big papers.  (Finished today...yay!)

Matt was home yesterday afternoon, so we took some time and went to the park.  Fun times!





Libby even got to go along to the park.  Ava took her on a walk....then Libby took Ava on a little drag.  :-)

Family Photo Session

We were a little overdue for a family photo shoot.  It was nothing like having a great friend, Carrie, do the photos, but at least we've documented us, as we are now.

Enjoy!

 





The New Van

And, finally, three weeks later, here's our new van!


Working in the Garage

A couple weekends ago, Matt was home on a rare Friday.  We spent the whole day enjoying the beautiful weather outside and helping Matt build a solar water heater for the pool.  Ava and I repotted a new flower for outside our front door and Matt put all his creative effort into warming up our pool early.



In the course of all the trips to Lowes for this project, we also discovered the greatest, cheapest toddler toy ever.  PVC!  Whole bags of connectors for a couple dollars and 6 feet of PVC for a dollar.  Yay for cheap building toys!


The PVC fun also led to the discovery of a strange Ava behavior.  Build PVC into a cross, hold it in front of her, and she does this...every time.


Weird.

Friday, March 27, 2009

For her fans


Happy Friday, everyone!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Our Little Picasso

We bought Ava a Magna-Doodle for Christmas and she's just now really able to use it.  She's starting to hold the pen right and really scribbling up a storm.  Next, we're on to crayons!


This video is a little long, but hang in there to see the latest of Ava's tricks.  
She can point to most of her body parts!


Old-Fashioned Train Ride

This weekend we got a real treat.  We went with the Hoffmans and the Freedmans to Boulder City to ride their restored train.  It was really beautiful and a really good time.  The train runs along a seven mile track and, once it moves up into the mountains a bit, it's easy to imagine that you're really on an old-fashioned train headed into the Wild West.



Ava loved the train ride.  One of the four cars was open, so we got to enjoy the real sights and sounds.  Despite the cold and the rain, it was awesome.  We'll be ready to go back next time we have visitors!


    

Good thing we got to take the coolest chic in the world with us on our trip.  :-)

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

End of an Era

First there was this....
Then there was this...
And, coming soon, the exciting newest development for our family.  (It's just  got to be light out when we're all home!)

Headgear

Ava loves to put things on her head.  


She comes by that trait quite honestly, as you can see.  In fact, there's a bit of genetics on both sides that lead to this particular delight of hers.  

Anyway, you might remember that right after moving to this house, Matt dug out a couple of metal mixing bowls and played "moon hats" with Ava.  

Well, those moon hats are still in the toy box and still come out to play a lot.  But, as a sign of how much she's grown, Ava's moon hat doesn't fit anymore.  Sigh.  Doesn't mean she won't wear it, but balance is more of a factor in keeping it on her head now.

Guess she'll be ready when NASA wants to go to Mars.  At least she'll know which hat to pack.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Ava's New 'Do

The girl got a haircut courtesy of Momma.  Isn't she just the cutest?

Don't mind the ketchup-face.  :-)


One more.  Just because she's pretty...

Bike Ride

Finally bit the bullet and bought a bike for myself.  Didn't manage to get a picture of that.  

We also bought a rickshaw-type thing to haul Ava around in.  Managed to get pictures of that.  :-)


She was set-up like a queen in there with a blanket, milk, snack, dolly, pacifier...the whole smash.  Her helmet didn't fit so great...we're returning it and will get another.  Overall, she liked the ride.  It was, though, pretty windy and colder by the minute.  We'll go earlier in the day next time and she'll do just fine.

By the way, the rickshaw will carry two passengers.  So so so tempted to put Libby in, too.  Think she'd like it?  :-)



Oh yeah, she liked it.  :-)

Got the Knack

Did we mention that our pool pump went kaput a couple weeks ago?  Well, kaput it did and Matt spent his free time over the last couple of weeks fixing it.  He replaced the bearings and the impeller and the thing is like new.  I think he was a little nervous as he reconnected it and hooked up the electrical.  His fix-it skills (and a $700 savings) were, after all, on the line.  But, when all was said and done, it works perfectly (knocking on wood {so to speak}) and it's even quieter than before!

Truly, if we weren't sure of it before then now we really know Matt's got the knack.  

Of course, it would seem that the knack is genetic.  We've got proof.



Thursday, March 05, 2009

Bundles of Bows

Hey, friends!  I need you to go check out my good friend, and fellow Bond girl, Carrie's new Etsy shop.  She's making and selling some adorable hair bows.  (She was TPS-famous for her bow tying abilities.)  I've just ordered two for Ava and can't wait to use them.

After you've browsed around, pop over to her blog and let her know what you think.  If you comment on her blog, she'll enter you in a contest to win some of her creations.  Fun, fun stuff!  :-)

Also, if you haven't yet discovered Etsy, now's the time.  All the items there are home/hand made, unique and affordable.  Gift buying (for self or others) has never been more fun and easy.

I'll post pics of Ava with her new bows as soon as I get them in which, knowing Carrie, will be sooner than later.

Have a great end of the week!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Cutting Teeth

Living with a toddler cutting 4 molars...

...is like living with a bi-polar elf.


Thank goodness she's cute.