Life as it is

Life sometimes gets a bit overwhelming.
I love the motto "one day at a time" for this year. Basically that's all we've been able to do.
Put one foot in front of the other. Take one minute, one hour and one day at a time.
I've seen big changes in Ava in the past several months.
She speaks more, her "monk monk" is her favorite blanket, and often times we can't even leave home with out it. Although "Monk monk" gets to keep Ava's carseat warm until she gets out of school.
We have had almost 3 weeks (with the exception of one or two days) that Ava has kept her PJ's on at night. Not just PJ's but actual, real PJ's. Like the pants and bottom kind. Not the onesie's and pants. I'm so excited for this new step! We've been rewarding her with a sticker or a doll (one that she already has) in the morning when she gets up if she still has her PJ's on.
This is such a big and exciting new adventure for us! Only one or two accidents! This is amazing, and I can't say how thankful I am.
Unfortunately with Phil not feeling so great these days, we are not very exciting people right now. We watch more TV than we should, we are on the computer way more than we ought to be, we have gotten a little bit more lazy and let the minutes, days and hours pass without us noticing.
Ava has had her friend Addison over a few times over the last two weeks. They play together ok. Ava, you can tell is dominate, bossy and an only child. Maybe having more play dates this year will help ease her out of this rut of trying to run the house-hold.

But she is very caring. She will pat your back if you are sad. If daddy is ill, she will rub his arm, get in his face and say "Are you ok, Daddy? Daddy, ok?" or "Awww, I'm sorry. Are you ok?" She gives hugs, not only to myself, her dad, and grandparents but to her friends as well. She will often times pat her friends back or head.

Over the weekend Ava and I spent most of the day with Cheryl and Addison. We hung out for most of the day. The girls played together, ate together, drank juice together, played chase.
Sunday I wasn't feeling so great and Phil wasn't really able to take care of Ava, so my dad came to the rescue! Ava and "Gingka" (Grandpa) hung out almost all day. They had fun together. They went to church, they went to lunch and went shopping. Ava still talks about her day with Gingka even today.
Last night we couldn't get Ava to sleep. So on the second time to go up to her room to give her another, hug, kiss, quick cuddle I asked her "Are you ready for bed?" Ava replied "No. I want to watch TB (TV)".
Ava says some pretty funny stuff.

I have started cooking. Its actually ok now. I'm not afraid. I haven't caught the house on fire. And Ava and Phil eat what I cook! Wahoo! I am doing something right!


Somedays I wake up thinking how life is so different today than it was at this time last year.
Last year my mom, grandmother, and our cat Fizz were all still alive. Not well, but alive. I never thought that less than a month later all three would be gone from this world ready to enter the afterlife. Just a random thought. Just can't believe how much life has changed.