25 months

I seem to have forgotten to update Ava's vocabulary.
She is talking a whole heck of a lot now!
Its incredible the things that she comes up with.

Some of the new words are:
Airplane
Worm
Elevator
Beans (the cat)
Sponge Bob

Some of the phrases she uses are:
"Where'd it go?"
"Where the bird?"
"There's the airplane"
"Bye bye airplane"

"Bye Bye, WATER (I love you)"
"See you later"

She now has added the new word "my" to almost everything
"My Monkey"
"My daddy"
"My beans (the cat)"

She calls me "Mommy Kelly" sometimes.

We didn't do a whole lot this weekend.
We had fun with our little girl.
Yesterday we went to the hospital to visit Ava's Great Grandpa Ted.
After I dropped Phil off at home and we went over to "Gingka's" house who has now become "Grandpa" :(
So my dad, Ava and I went to BJ's Pub down the street. We had pizza and stuffed mushrooms. We had fun.
Then my dad took Ava this morning. They had lots of adventures. Grandpa and Ava went to church and McDonald's and Lay-Z boy.
Phil and I attempted to go shopping and we actually went to lunch. I guess you could say, we went on a date!

Ava also had a great week at school. She likes her friends and enjoys playing. She is learning a lot and although she still has some terrible two issues, she picks up her toys when asked, she USUALLY will stop doing something if we ask. She is doing really good. We love our little Ava.

Bucket List

So....two weeks ago today (WAHOOO) I quit my job.
Since I haven't started classes yet I've had a lot of time on my hands to come up with things to do.

A BUCKET LIST is the perfect place to start!
I am going to list all the things I want to do

1. Go to DisneyWorld (my life long dream)
2. Go to Dallas to see KiddKradick Live
3. Learn how to edit photos- professionally
4. Get my MBA
5. Get my Real Estate License
6. Work for myself (or from home)
7. Go to BC (British Columbia)
8. Go to Seattle
9. Take Phil to Hawaii
10. Get the backyard done
11. Learn how to (and enjoy doing so!) cook
12. Get Ava's pre-birth and 1 year scrapbooks done
13. Go to Colorado Springs to meet Carla
14. Go to the Bahamas
15. Go to New York to meet our clients!

If I think of more I'll add it.

What a week!

We got a new addition to our family.

We got a new car. Phil's SUV was broken into, right in front of our house! The back window was removed, the car was trashed (well you could just tell that they went through everything). And that was all she wrote for the car. The back door was broken from the accident 3 years prior and never shut properly. The gas gage didn't work and the car would read 60 mph at a stop sign. LOL
So we figured, maybe its time for a new car.

Friday we went out of town. We spend the night in Sacramento. What a night. We shared the bed with our little munchkin, she kicked us, and smashed us and smooshed us. Needless to say, we got very little sleep. Saturday morning we headed over to Fairy Tale Land next to the Sacramento Zoo. Not really worth it in my opinion. Everything was sticky. Phil sat in something that looked similar to poop (ewwwww), and Ava must have touched something sticky and put in her mouth because just after she threw up.

We made one other stop and proceeded to go home. We took the long way. Maybe not such a good idea because there was so much road construction. It took a long long time to get home.

Sunday was interesting. We went to Fallon for Paul (Phil's dad) birthday. We started off the day at Sand Mountain then we went to visit Uncle Nick and then went over to see Phil's Uncle and two cousins and then over to Grandpa Paul's and then to pizza. We at at Straw Hat Pizza. It was pretty good!

We took an adventure after pizza and Dairy Queen but I'd much rather forget about. But Ava did great and didn't complain. She did great.

Sunday we kept Ava home because she was kind of stuffy. We went over to my dad's house twice. Nancy came to help us clean our house. Nancy and I cleaned out our master bedroom closet. I can actually walk in my closet, got rid of some stuff. Cleaned out some bags that we still had stuff in from the Condo.

Ava and I went on a walk last night. We walked up the street. As we came back towards our home, Ava started say "No! No! No!" So we kept walking. We walked down the street and back up. Again when our house came back in sight Ava said "No! No! No!" but this time we went inside. Ava didn't get out of her stroller for about 10 minutes. She thought if she kept sitting there we would go back outside for another walk.

I enjoy being home. I like being with Phil and having more time with Ava. I enjoy working for ourselves.

24 Months and counting

There have been so many changes!
Ava had her 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday little missy! Your mommy and daddy love you dearly!
We had a Yo Gabba Gabba party at our house with everything from, bubbles, dancey dances, and pin the food in Brobee's tummy. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches also nutella sandwiches and a wonderful cake made by Isabel's bakery! Ava had a lot of fun turning 2 this year. She was super excited to see all of her friends and her cousins. It was a blast!

Since I last wrote, we have also gotten rid of the "nuk nuk". No more pacifier! Wahoo! That is a huge accomplishment for us. Although once in a while she will ask, we no longer have an issue with the "nuk nuk". We threw all of them in the trash can.

Ava also had her 2 year check up. I am happy to report, she is healthy, and GROWING!
She gained 1.5 lbs, grew 2 inches and her head is in the 33%.
She can now, officially go once a year for her YEARLY check ups.
We still need to keep her on pedisure and her doctor assured us that its OK to go on every couple of months or so to get her weighed in. I'm so excited for this report. I was worried because she has been sick on and off again this summer that she wouldn't gain weight for this appointment.
We are almost in 18 month pants! I'm so excited for this!!! She fits them length wise but her waist is so small, she can fit in 9-12 month pants/skirts/shorts. Good thing its summer! She has lots of "capri's"!

Her eating tastes have changed, she is now more "sensitive" to texture. She now refuses certain foods she once loved. We are starting to get her to eat vegetables again, she loves fruit and almost exclusively eats fruit and fruit only. We have resorted back to the baby meat sticks (YUCK) but she will eat the entire jar in one sitting, and since its protein, I'm not complaining.
Every morning she usually eats yogurt and either a baggy of cereal or a cereal fruit bar. Everyday is a hit or miss with lunch and dinner is usually up in the air. We continue to feed her two pedisure's a day, and if I'm not quite certain she will eat lunch she gets a third pedisure to drink at school.


On Thursday August 11, 2011 I quit my job. For about a month, I almost lost my mind. I didn't know why I was quitting (other than to go back to school), but since I quit, I have had some of the most amazing experiences. My cousin came to town on Friday. I had the best day with her. We went to the Spa and had a manicure and pedicure. It was awesome. I've had more time with my husband and baby girl. While Ava still hits once in a while, we have almost eliminated ALL time outs! Phil and I seem to be getting a long a lot better. And I noticed, that while I am still kind of stickler, I have relaxed (for me) for the first time in almost 4 years. I feel like I can breathe.
I miss my co-workers, they are some of the best people I know! I wouldn't trade them for anything. But I am so happy and excited for this opportunity to stay home, go to school and learn the family business. I'm so excited.

Ava is doing exceptionally well. We are impressed with all that she is doing all that she is learning. Everyday I hear at least 5 new words come out of her mouth. She strings together sentences and words, she is learning more sign language and to say the least, is very demanding (gee...I wonder where on earth she gets that from).
Some of the things she says now are:
"Where'd it go?"
"All done"
"Open it"
"Outside"
"Put on"


She can understand that animals say certain sounds.
She also attempts to count but it goes something like this: "1, 2, 3, 7" or "3,4,9"
She can also name part of her body: "Arm" "Face" "Ears" "Nose" "Feet"
When we put on her clothes she can name "Shoes" "Pants" "Shirt" etc.
She can also sing "Ashes, Ashes, down"
She now understands the sticker process. Since brushing her teeth has become such an issue, I now give her one sticker after she brushes her teeth. If she only lets me brush the upper OR lower part of her mouth she gets HALF a sticker.
So now she will ask for a sticker and understands that she must brush her teeth to get a sticker.
So far we have had the best luck not finding stickers stuck to the wall or the side of her crib. We are lucky for that.


While we have bouts with the terrible twos we are learning that sleep and spending time with out little one has a lot to do with how much or how little she acts out. Now that I have more "time", I feel like we are doing better as parents providing for her and giving her the attention we've always wanted to give her. Being a parent is such a joyful experience, but the process of learning how to be a good or better parent, well its a process.