Archive for July, 2007

 

 

 

 

We finally celebrated Ava’s 2nd birthday. Grandma Coddou made the Dora cake, and I made the little bug cakes to go with it. Ava had a blast and was on a sugar high for several hours!

 

 

OK, I am feeling a bit better because I have now finished at least one thing in getting ready for the baby. We got the crib set up!

We had a big milestone this week. Ava moved from her crib to a big girl twin bed. We have been talking alot about it and her and I picked out the bug bedspread from Overstock.com. Then, we made (yes, as in painted ourselves) the bug prints. I think they turned out pretty cute. We put it all together, along with some block letters that spelled AVA, which weren’t dry when I took the picture. The best part was that Ava took to it right away. The first night she popped into bed, read some stories, and said, “Goodnight Mommy”. And that was that!

I have been loving this album this summer. I gave it to Dave as well and he gives it a thumbs up also. iTunes has this album and the whole thing is really good.

OK, I guess I am too reliant on iTunes. Pete Murray (video below) has had an album out since last year, which is where the song “Opportunity” came from. It is not available on iTunes (that I could find) but maybe B&N or an independent store. Ooops!

Dave’s teaching me how to embed videos…check this one out. I love this song. Album coming out this week, I think????

 

 

Because people keep asking me if I am showing… the answer is OF COURSE! We are in final countdown mode, I think…except we still haven’t really done any of the stuff we need to do. For some reason I assume that this one will come on the same time schedule that Ava did. This reminds me that isn’t necessarily true and I should probably get some stuff done (like move Ava from the crib and get the baby stuff back out to figure out what we need or don’t need). We still can’t agree on names. It changes everyday. The ones that keep circulating are: Olivia, Zoe, Audrey, Madeline, Ruby, Hazel. Let us know which one you like, of if you have other suggestions.

As if there was any doubt, of course Dave got the new iPhone. I have to admit, it is pretty awesome. And, while I won’t be joining him in the iphone arena…at least he takes some pictures with it. I thought this one that he took at the park was pretty good for a cell phone!

 
What a difference 24 months makes, eh? Here are my top ten favorite things about little miss two!

10) Love that you usually want “popcorn” or “popsicles” for breakfast.
9) Love that you find swimming the purest form of happiness on earth. Nothing evokes the same high pitched squeal as, “Wanna go swimming?”.
Love that you are the kind of girl who ADORES bugs. Lizards, snakes, beetles, ants…your standard response to any of them is…”Awwwww, he’s so cute. I wanna hold him, Mama.”
7)Love the times when you realize you have overstepped the bounds and put YOURSELF in time out with a stern “You go sit in time out. We do NOT do that.”.
6)Love that you are the best sleeper in the world. You always have been and I am so grateful for this. I pray that you will teach your sister this habit!
5)Gotta love the fake whine when you think it will further your cause…even though it doesn’t.
4)Love that you recognize instruments such as the trombone, flute, and violin in music and that the other day driving you told me, “Mama, that’s a trumpet. It my favorite instrument”. Of course, I felt like a complete retard because it wasn’t until you pointed it out that I realized it WAS a trumpet playing during the song. I think I owe Little Einsteins props on this one…And since this number 4 is really about bragging, can I also say I love that you know your ABCs and numbers 1-20!
3) Love that everyday you line up all your plastic animals in a meticulous well-formed row and count them. Then, every night before bed you “clean up them”. Love how you pronounce certain animal names like “croc-kee-die-dile” for crocodile.
2) Love your blond curls and the way the stick out every which way in the morning. Love when you wake up and want to snuggle with me.
1) Love it when you say, “I wuv you, Mama. Very much.”

Really, we need to invent a better word than love to describe how I feel when I look at your little face. Love barely covers it, kiddo.

 

 

 

 

I cannot believe that Ava is now two! Crazy how time flies. We celebrated on her birthday (Friday) by going to the Houston Museum of Natural Science which has a great bug exhibit and an indoor butterfly park. Ava loved both the bugs and the butterflies! Really cool museum, we’ll be back there often to see the other exhibits. We ate at McDonalds, tried to watch a 3D Safari Imax (that might have to wait until her third birthday…Ava was not a fan of the 3D glasses after the animals jumped out at her). Then we headed home and she konked out in the parking lot before the car barely pulled out of the parking spot.

We had the “official” celebration planned for Saturday with some friends and family to do the cake and ice cream and so on…but driving home we got the news that my grandmother Mimi had a stroke the night before. She is in the care of hospice now and the end seems near. We cancelled the party and headed down to see Mimi after my sister flew in. I have to say that Mimi is now 92 years old and has had a great life filled with love and family and many wonderful times. In the days since her stroke, she has been visited by so many friends and family and I know she loves that and hears the voices of each person as they come through to say goodbye. It is hard when a family is on “death watch”, but a natural part of the circular nature of life, I suppose.

So…the pictures of cake and ice cream feastivities will have to wait a little longer. At least Ava is at an age where she really doesn’t understand what she is missing out on. Dave left for a business trip today and we will plan on celebrating when he gets back. Stay tuned!