Monday, December 26, 2011

MONDAY

We had an unexpected visit today from Grandma and Grandpa Waldo! They came about lunchtime so we had pita bread pizzas...Donald took his dad out to fly for a bit and then we headed to town. We visited Fern and then went to Grocery Outlet...the store where you spend way to much money on food that you wouldn't normally buy! Grandma and Grandpa had fun picking out candy and goodies with Ava :) Donald, Ava and I went to Newberg after they left to find some new glasses for me (cuz Ava broke my other ones) grrr..... By the time we got home, it was too late for Ava to get a nap...she fell asleep on my lap at 7! I quietly took her upstairs and she was fast asleep until I walked out of the room. :( Now it's almost 7:30 and she's up there singing away and quacking like a duck! How does she go from sound asleep to wide awake like that?!? Hopefully she'll fall asleep and not wake up till morning. Ha. 


*Update:
It's 10 minutes to 10 pm and Ava is still awake...

Sunday, December 25, 2011

CHRISTMAS

Today is not a bad day....compared to any other normal day, it's been a pretty good one. We went out for lunch, got the car washed, put Ava down for a nap and cleaned the house. But, knowing that Mom and Dad have a house full of people that are special to me makes it a difficult day. Donald is out on a walk so it's just Tap and I on the couch, in a house that's way too quiet for Christmas Day. I miss houses full of people...fires in the fireplace...skating on the lake....munching on goodies and playing games until after dark....I hope that next year will be like that. Hopefully next year we won't have to cross mountains to get home. 


In other news....
Ava has been "grounded" from her iphone for almost a week. She asks for it every day but we just tell her we don't know where it is. :) She's been extra bratty because of the things that she's learned from her little friend Franklin on YouTube. It's been a better week and she's played with her toys a lot more. I like it. 
The people that came to look at our house called and told us they really like it but that they're going to look around a bit more. Boy, do I want to get this thing sold. The more time that goes on, the more anxious I am to move and have a new adventure :) 
Ava has been telling random strangers that, "Mommy has a little tiny baby in her tummy!" It makes for some awkward moments. 
Speaking of baby...I've been feeling it move every once in awhile but I'm still a ball of nerves, tension and worry that everything is ok.  Sometimes it consumes me and it's hard to tell myself that whatever happens is supposed to happen. It's hard for me to believe now that it's possible for me to have another healthy child...that Ava wasn't just good luck. More than anything I want this little being to make it out into the world and be healthy. I want Ava to be a big sister. 
The past couple of days, I've been so thankful for our little family....Donald, Ava, Tap and I.  We've had it pretty good. :) I need to make the most of it. 


*Update:
We went to Davison's for supper and games and didn't get home until 11pm! It was great!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS

I had a checkup yesterday...17 weeks and 2 days. :) We heard the baby's heartbeat again...always a comfort. This just doesn't seem real yet. I feel good. Baby's heart rate was 140...I lost 2 lbs :) yay! We have an ultrasound scheduled for Jan. 13th to find out what we'll be having!! Oh, and I love my midwife...she's awesome. 
Ava had her (very late) 2 year checkup today. She's 25.7 lbs and 35.5 inches tall....Dr. says she's petite and perfect. :) 
We're showing our house today at 2 pm. I hope they like it. :) Crossing my fingers.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

THEY KNOW MORE THAN WE THINK THEY DO

We had Lyle and Troy here for 4 nights and they just left today. It was sad to see them go and watching Ava say goodbye was especially hard. 
A couple of days ago, we asked Ava what Lyle and Troy talk about at gospel meeting. She said, "Abraham!" :) And we thought she wasn't listening.
This afternoon, Ava and I were upstairs cleaning up and making beds and I heard her playing with her kitties. I looked over and she had them all cradled in her arms, rocking back and forth. She was swooning over them saying, "Oh I know, kitties. I know, I know. The yife (life) is so hard. The yife is so hard." Haha....
When she woke up this morning, she told me that she had good dreams last night! I asked her what she dreamed about and she said "My yittle baby sister" :)
Her favorite bedtime songs are (in this order) "Oh Sweet Pea", "Rock-by-Baby" and "When You Pray". 

Monday, December 12, 2011

KID SPEAK

Last Saturday, Donald took Ava to Tillamook to see Grandma and Grandpa Waldo while I went to Portland...alone :) 


Grandpa: "Ava, you want me to sock you?"
Ava: "Yeah Grandpa."
   He put her socks on.
   She handed him her coat.
Ava: "Coat me!"

Monday, December 5, 2011

BATH TIME

Drying off after her bath, Ava looked at her fingers and said, "Yook (look) Mom! My fingers are all sprinkly!" I think she meant wrinkly :)

Sunday, December 4, 2011

WHEN YOU PRAY

I love listening to Ava sing in her squeaky little voice...when she plays...or right now - putting herself to sleep. We're listening over the intercom while she sings "When you pray, will you pray for me? For I need His love and His care. When you pray, will you pray for me? Will you whisper my name in your prayer?" I brings a little tear and reminds me that, even though she's only 2 1/2, I need to pray for her. Oh I love her.

Friday, December 2, 2011

THIS WEEK

On Monday, Uncle Lyle left us after being here for 5 nights over the Thanksgiving holiday...We're always sad to see him go and we enjoy him popping in during the week to say hi. He and Ava enjoy spending time together. I gave Tap the ham bone from Sunday and he was sick for 3 days...poor thing. 

Tuesday...I decided to start potty training....a daunting task. We ran out of normal diapers so I figured it was a good time to start. We started using pull-ups for the ease of using the potty chair. Ava is NOT down with the whole "going potty in the toilet" thing. I even set the potty timer but not once did she go. I'd take her to the potty and 15 minutes later, I would take her again because she didn't go before and her pull-up would be wet. So frustrating. If there was someone I could pay to do this for me, I would gladly do it :) So, I've decided just to keep doing to pull-up thing to get her used to the idea and once she starts going in the toilet, then go to undies....it's probably not the best plan but that's it for now. 

Wednesday night at gospel meeting, Ava learned a valuable lesson...Do not put your notebook on the chair in front of you while everyone is standing to sing :) The look on her face as the elderly lady sat down on her notebook was priceless....she yanked desperately at the couple of inches sticking out and cried when I told her she would have to wait till the end of meeting to get her paper. 

Thursday was a good day. Clear blue skies, 55 degrees....it felt more like spring than the 1st of December! Donald had jury duty but was home by 10 am...Ava and I headed out to meet Jen B. for lunch at Taco Del Mar - yum. We went to Target and Joann Fabric and then headed home. Ava took a "snooze" (where she sits and sings her bed for an hour and a half) and Tap and I went for a walk in the sunshine. A perfect day. Later that night, Ava was jumping on the couch and somehow bit the outside of her lip. Blood. I was a little shook up. She wouldn't let me touch it or wipe it so there is still a big bloody scab where there should not be a bloody scab :) She told me she had a balloon in her lip :) 

Today was another beautiful day. Uncle Lyle stopped by over lunch time for a couple of hours....He and Ava took a little walk and came back with Ava's selections from the store on the corner - 1 green apple, 1 avocado and 1 pint of strawberry milk. :) Ava and I talked to Grandma Lund and Auntie Drea on Google+ hangout....it always makes home feel not so far away. 

Sometimes we head out to the coffee shop on Friday nights to listen to the live music, but tonight we're just relaxing at home...drinking hot chocolate...Ava's in the bath where there are more bubbles than there is water (because all of the water is on the floor)...anticipating another good day tomorrow at the zoo for the polar bear birthday party. 

Ava watched videos of herself as a baby and now wants me to sing "Oh Sweet Pea" to her every night before bed :) She dances to music with her eyes closed. She says "Thank you Mommy!" for every little thing. She sits down when she does something naughty so that I won't give her a spanking. She throws a fit when something isn't just perfect. (I think she gets that from her Dad :) ) She puts her own dish in the sink. She dresses herself (some days). She helps unload the dishwasher. She dreams about her "little baby sister" every night. :) 

Saturday, November 26, 2011

12 WEEKS

12 weeks...12 weeks is a turning point....a time when moms to be breathe a little sigh of relief. The end of March 2011, I was 12 weeks pregnant...or so we thought. Not an easy thing to take....we should have a 6 week old baby...

On Nov. 11, 2011, I went in for another 12 week appointment. Just a little bit nervous, Ava and I walked into the  little office. We had already seen the heartbeat in the ultrasound at 8 weeks but I was still a bit tense. The nurse used her little machine to listen for a heartbeat....after about 3 minutes of nothing, I cried. Not again. Please, not again. Another 2 minutes went by...still nothing. She told me she would order an ultrasound and walked out. I cried. We waited. Ava was so sweet and kept asking if I was sad and reached up to dry my tears. My midwife walked in...she's awesome. She asked me if she could listen and if I wanted to have another ultrasound. I told her that I only wanted one if she couldn't hear anything. She used the little machine again and tried to hear that little heartbeat. A couple of minutes went by....still nothing. I cried again. Then she said, "You know what? The battery light on this thing is flashing...I'm going to get a new one...we need this thing to be full power." Then she patted my arm, told me not to "go there" yet and walked out. My heart was pounding...this was it. If we couldn't hear it with a full powered machine, then we knew. After an eternity and a half, she walked back in. She moved the wand around for less than a minute....there it was. She found it. That speedy little thump, thump, thump was music to my ears. I cried again. We just sat there for awhile and listened. It was beautiful. I think that there will still be a little be a bit of apprehension and nervousness until the baby is born....assume nothing and take nothing for granted. 
We can hardly wait for the end of May :)

Sunday, November 20, 2011

MOMMY & DADDY

Ava has been doing a bit of experimenting on what she calls us. From the time she could talk we have been Mommy and Daddy.  Lately, we've been hearing things like:
"Dad? What are you doing, Dad?"
"Donald! Where are you?"
"Honey? Honey!!!"
"What are you doing, Jenny?"
"Mom? Mom?"
Not sure if we should answer her...

SEAGULLS

Last week, we went to the beach in Lincoln City with Grandma and Grandpa Lund. Ava loved chasing the seagulls...

"Don't fly neagulls! Don't fly neagulls!"



Later, we asked her if she liked chasing the seagulls on the beach...

"Yeah, I like seaballs!"

...She'll get it right someday. :)

DISCIPLINE

Mom: "Ava, sit down! On your bum! Right NOW!!!"
Ava: "Mom, are you mad at me?"
Mom: "No Ava, I'm not mad at you."
Ava: "Are you happy at me?"


Later that day...


Mom: "Ava, I'm sorry when I get mad at you but sometimes you're naughty... I just want you to know that I love-"
Ava: "You're youd (loud)."
Mom: "I'm loud when I get mad at you?"
Ava: "Yeah."

GO-NUDIE-BAR

We had a good laugh on our way home from grocery shopping a couple of weeks ago.
Ava: "Mom, I wanna go nudie bar!"
Mom: "You want what?"
Ava: "I wanna go nudie bar!"
(Donald and I look at each other with shocked looks, wondering who in the world taught our daughter about such a thing.)
Mom: "I'm sorry Ava, what did you say?"
Ava: "I wanna go nudie bar!"
(racking my brain as to what this could really mean...and then it dawned on me)
Mom: "Oh!! You want a granola bar!!! Oh yeah! You can have one of those!!"


Seriously, the things kids say!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

AVA - 22 MONTHS

"Granks!" = "Thanks!"

One of our favorites :)