Ava of the North

The last thing I do before I climb into bed at night is look in on the girls. This is what I saw when I tucked Ava in last night. I had to sneak back in with my camera, it was too good not to capture.

She's had this thing about winter clothes lately. Last week, it was raining and she claimed it was "cold and bwustery(l's are w's)" and insisted that she wear her cut velvet pea coat over her shorts and tee shirt when we went to the grocery. Uh, it's July in Georgia. The other moms at the store all just nodded with a knowing look, but she got quite a few "Nice coat" comments from other patrons and employees at Kroger. After every such comment, she looked at me defiantly...as in: "See Mom, I told you it's okay to wear my coat right now". I had tried to talk her out of it before leaving the house and then again before entering the store. I had explained that people would think her "weird" for wearing a winter coat in the middle of July.

Two days ago, while lounging in a tank top and undies, I found her with 2 pair of my Karen Neuberger socks, one pair pulled up to her knees (they looked like furry go go boots on her scrawny lil' legs) and the other pair over her hands and pulled up to her elbows. "Ava, don't you think it's a little warm for those?" I asked. To which she replied, "No, Mommy. I like cold weather. I wish it was cold weather here ALL of the time." If that's true, I think she'll be very happy where we're headed tomorrow.

Smartypants Emily

It's my blog, so I get to brag if I want to, right? Here are a couple of things that Miss Emily has done in the last day:
* She's starting to walk forwards in her walker (opposed to scooting backwards or sideways)
* She figured out how to push the button on her box of wipes, open the lid, and pull out about 5 or 6 before I caught her. Maybe that's not that impressive, but it was pretty funny. You could see on her face that she knew she'd been "busted" and then she just gave me the biggest smile
* She's starting to recognize certain words. For instance, if I mention "bath" (her favorite activity) or "puffs" (her favorite snack) she gets so excited that she starts squeaking and babbling and waving her arms. If I say "kiss" she actually opens her mouth, leans over and plants a big ol' drooly kiss on my face. I'm pretty sure that she knows what I'm talking about.

I'll be bragging on Ava again soon. We all know she's a smartypants too. This week she discussed "photosynthesis" with me. Love it!

Happy 29th Birthday Karla!

Yesterday was my wonderful sister's birthday. I almost got to spend it with her. Both Karla and my mother-in-law were nice enough to come down this week and help me pack and take care of the girls. It was so good to have help and get to spend time together. I was ready for some girl time! Karla must've liked it down here, because her plane was overbooked on the way home and she tried to give up her seat and spend another night with us (for a $400 voucher). However, there was still one open seat after everyone boarded, so she flew home just in time to spend her birthday with her own lovely family. Happy Birthday, lady! I love ya!

Here are a couple of pictures I took of Karla and the girls the first night she was here. I'd say she's lookin' pretty good. She'd been travelling all day and then I promptly put her to work packing up our toy room and helping with bath time this night.

Playing in the hose

I told Ava, "If you want to come outside and play while I wash out the aquarium, you need to put on some clothes." Obviously, that was pointless. At least she had a good time.

Emily

Emily had her 6 month appointment today. She's 6 months and two weeks now. A little sad, because it's our last appointment with our pediatrician. She's been wonderful and Ava adores her. So much in fact, that she pretends to be sick and asks to go see Dr. Kemi.



Emily is doing great besides a little head cold that's keeping her up at night and making her a little miserable. She weighs 19 lb. 1 oz. and is now 25 3/4". She got a couple of shots today, but took them in stride. She cried for a second, then made some angry noises in the direction of the nurse and then it was back to her signature megawatt smile.



Developmentally, she sits up unsupported, and I've actually watched her trying to pull up a couple of times this week. She's not quite strong enough yet, but I'm sure she'll be there soon enough. I guess when we assemble the crib at the new house, we'll be dropping the mattress down. She loves playing with her toys and her special talents include arranging herself so that she has the best view of Ava, no matter where she is in the room. She LOVES her big sis. She's doing pretty good with all of the baby food. I did give her a chicken and veggies yesterday and it must have tasted so bad that she gagged and threw up right on the spot. Sweet potatoes and cereal are still her fav, but we're trying new things. She's really starting to perfect her pincher grasp. Instead of shoving those Gerber puffs by fistfuls into the vicinity of her mouth in the hope that one falls in, she actually pinches them between her fingers and pops em' right in.

Oh, and she jabbers up a storm, so she might have also inherited the "gift of gab" that I passed on to Ava.



That's the latest on Miss Emily. Here are a couple of pics that I took yesterday.

Heart

That's what Ava calls her fishy. Let me explain how "Heart" came to live at our house. Soon after Emily was born, it was Mike's turn to put Ava in bed. Sometimes this task is extremely challenging. After a drink of water, 2 stories, back rub, another story about when you were little, a dramatic and well planned need to go potty even though she just went, suddenly she can't find Snow White (her favorite doll), and so on.........you can find yourself getting very frustrated. At this point I usually lay down the law and become pretty stern. If Ava doesn't stay in bed and quiet down, I start taking away privileges. Daddy, on the other hand, starts making promises. Somehow on this night he must have been pretty desperate to get Ava to sleep because he promised her a trip to the pet store. I'm not sure if a fish was part of the promise, but once they were at the store they decided to get a fish. Well....they couldn't just get a little fish in a bowl. It turned into a 3 day project, complete with getting an aquarium, rocks, plants, decorations, fish, etc. and then setting the whole thing up. I hesitantly gave my blessing (not that anyone asked) to this project because it was a good father-daughter bonding experience and because I do feel a little (very little) guilty that Ava does not have a dog, cat, bunny, whatever. I was hesitant because I just knew that I'd end up being in charge of the cleaning and care of the aquarium and fish. Yuck. Well, the fishies were Heart and Flower. Ava specifically picked them out and named em'. Flower has perished, but Heart lives on, no matter how neglected he, excuse me SHE is. In the background of the first 2 pictures you can see the scummy aquarium that I need to clean and take apart for the move. I had thought about giving Heart away to a neighbor with an aquarium or even (gasp!) a little flushy flushy on our way out the door. But as you can see from these pictures, I'm pretty sure that she needs to make the move with us. She is Ava's pet. This morning Ava was watching Noggin and the topic was pets. The character on the show asked, "Do you have a dog or a cat?" Ava yells back at the TV, "NO! A fishy. My Heart." Yep, the fishy will be riding shotgun.

Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere Boxes

I told you that I've been collecting boxes for the last couple of days from the grocery store. Impressive display, isn't it?

When Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You

So, yesterday I spent the afternoon packing up our garage. As I packed up boxes, I started throwing away items and papers that we no longer need or want. I came across a bag of stuff that I will label "party favors" from a bachelorette party that I threw about 5 or 6 years ago. I think I'm out of my bachelorette party throwing phase of life now, so I tossed the bag into the dumpster. As that bag flew through the air there was a beautiful and colorful display when the sun caught a significant amount of sparkly novelty confetti fluttering down to cover our driveway. I meant to sweep it up, I really did. But, I got distracted by finishing the box I was sorting through and then Emily woke up and I went in to get her.....
By the time that I returned to the garage to resume packing, I'd forgotten all about the confetti. Until Ava excitedly said, "Look mommy! Look! Look! I decorated my Jeep with sparklies! Look! Isn't it beautiful?" Oh yes she did. Stranger yet, she had gotten into the polyfill and arranged puffs of the cottony stuff and decorated that with the "sparklies" on the seat of her Jeep. What could I say but, "Yes, Ava. It is beautiful. Good work, honey."
Now I'm going to have to come up with a good excuse as to why mommy cleaned her decorations off while she was sleeping.

Containment Process Completed

So, I've been hitting 3 grocery stores per day collecting boxes for the big move. Now that she sits up, Emily just loves cruising the stores in the buggy (we're in the South, ya'll) When we got home tonight I noticed there was a sticker on her bottom. Just read what it says. It's probably funnier to me than anyone else, since I deal with Miss Queen-of-the-Blowout, but it definitely made me laugh. She must've sat on it in the grocery cart or it came off of one of the boxes. Containment Process Completed....don't I wish!

Be Realistic

Sometimes I have to remind myself. The first few days of my house hunt were rough. I was just getting the "lay of the land". Checking out areas, scanning the Classifieds, and figuring out where we wanted to be. I saw some pretty bad stuff those first few days. Then I started making contacts, and honing in on certain neighborhoods and things started looking up. I found an area I loved. Right next to skiing and a National Forest. It was really pretty...but not really in our price range. I did see a few homes in this area that were in a beautiful setting and fit our budget, but the actual house wasn't so great.

First there was the house with the basketball court in the driveway, fire pit, and a big back yard that dropped down into a rocky river bed. There was a cave at the back of the property, and the view out over the river of the cliffs was gorgeous. My sense of adventure nearly caused me to over look the fact that the 1970's interior not only didn't have much space, but was completely decorated in mirrors. As in, no less than 4 walls in the home were covered in mirrored glass. One of them in tiny pieces of glass ala disco ball style. Not only do I not need to see that much of myself, but my need for a tidy house would have required huge amounts of Windex and paper towel. Plus, it just looked tacky. I had to be realistic.

Then there was this big contemporary style house on a cliff. The home itself was beautiful with plenty of space and was completely updated down to the new stainless steel appliances. The decks were awesome and so was the view. But a) there was no yard for the kids to play in and b) Dangerous! Ava is way too adventurous for me to trust her around a cliff. I so wanted to be finished with my search when I found this home that would work for us, but again I had to be realistic.

And one more example,this is the house that was our 2nd choice. This house backed up to the National Forest. Not far at all from Mike's office. The yard was GIGANTIC with a big hill for sledding, fire pit,and a garden. However, there was only one crappy lil' bathroom that was between the 2 upstairs bedrooms which we would've given to the girls. The house was old and with the noisy plumbing, it probably would've woken the girls when Mike took his shower before work. No I take that back, there was a free standing shower in the dungeon of an unfinished basement. I can just see Mike down there showering with the spiders. The room that would've been ours was too tiny to fit our bedroom furniture. The kitchen was small and very dated. Those of you that know me well, know that I practically live in my kitchen. Not to mention, that we have a push mower and Mike's favorite past time is NOT cutting the grass. It snows quite a bit where we are moving and we would have to pay someone to plow the driveway "no less than 6 times a season" according to the property owner. Still, we were willing to over look all of that because it was in such a great place, with an amazing yard. I went there to look at it and think about it 3 times(the owner left it unlocked so we could come and go as we pleased). Finally, I had to BE REALISTIC and we rented something else.

The above was just my thought process on the 3 runner's up. In all I think I saw the inside of 20-30 homes and spoke with about 60 property managers/home owners(I got pretty good at weeding them out early over the phone), I looked at a countless number of classifieds and websites and drove all over the city to find an "ideal" location. Hey- I AM getting better at this. I accomplished in one week what took me 3 months when we moved to Atlanta. Plus, I did it with one extra kid. I'm totally giving myself a "You go girl!" on this one.

Anyway, I knew some of you who have been through relocation or even just shopped for a new house in the same town could relate to this.

This is what we ended up with:

Not everything we wanted, but certainly everything we need. Plenty of space, fits our budget, it's clean, nice neighborhood, nice backyard. It even has a basement that will be good in case a storm happens our way. The biggest downfall is that it doesn't have a guest room and of course, that there are no caves, rivines, rivers, or National Forests in the back yard.

Talk about a change....we're going from a Turn-of-the-Century style house to a 1980's Contemporary.

Tagged!

My cousin Jen tagged me. The rules are that I tell 6 things about myself and then tag 6 more people. So here goes....I'll try not to make this too much like "Moment of Truth".

1. I am a true chocolate lover. I eat at least one form (or a dozen) of chocolate every day. I honestly don't remember the last day that I endured without at least one bite of chocolate.

2. I'm outdoorsy. I love to hike and camp and all of that stuff. My secret dream (well I guess it's not a secret anymore) is to one day hike the Appalachian Trail.

3. In contradiction to #2. I'm super girly. I rarely leave my house without makeup. When I'm camping, I actually blow dry my hair if at all possible. Can you imagine me sitting along the AT applying mascara? Like the bears and the squirrels are gonna care.

4. While I love Ava dearly, I have come to dread bedtime. We used to read and snuggle. Now we read, snuggle, and then negotiate, debate, and all out battle. It's like an episode of the Super Nanny. It's not just me. Mike and I start wheeling and dealing on who puts her down before the dinner dishes are cleared!

5. In high school I drove a '69 Mach 1 Mustang. That car was hot! The red blooded American girl in me STILL loves the sound of a muscle car roaring down the road. Now I drive a mini van and I am not ashamed. Hey-it's a good mini van. So practical.

6. I make meal plans every 2 weeks. I pull the recipes, write the menu and post it on the fridge, make the grocery list and clip coupons every two weeks. I know exactly what we're having for dinner next Tuesday. Anal. I know.

Okay, so now I'm going to tag Katie, Angie, Shellby,Kalynn and Deanna

Here are the rules:
-Link to the person who tagged you.
- Post the rules on your blog.
- Write six random things about yourself.
- Tag six people at the end of your post.
- Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
- Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

My Summer Vacation

Didn't you just love those compositions back in the day? Our summer vacation started with as much predictability as possible when you have two small children. We spent a couple of lovely days at my in-laws, enjoying the lake and family. Then it was up to my parent's where Ava took her first overnight camping trip and we attended my cousin's wedding reception and my nephew's first birthday party. That was all planned. A nice little summer vacation to visit the family. The twist in the plot happened on the 3rd day of our visit. My dear husband called me up that Monday morning and informed me that he had the option to be transferred to Ohio. Two days worth of discussion later we decided it was the right move for us. So....rather than head back to the South last Monday as planned, I headed East to locate a place for us to live. On Wednesday my dad brought his camper over and I got a crash course in how to empty a sewer tank. On Thursday afternoon, Mike arrived and we were able to spend the 4th as a family. So, now our planned 10 day summer vacation had evolved into a 21 day camping trip/ house hunting mission. I have to brag that I dragged Ava and Emily in and out of houses for 5 days straight and they both were so good! Ava has become quite the little house shopper. As I pulled away from the final house today she said, "Mom, I think that kitchen would work, they just need to clean it up a little" We did of course, manage to squeeze in campfire time, swimming and trips to the park. Ava also caught her first fireflies and swirled her first sparklers on the Fourth. I am happy to report that as of today, we have found a house and will be wrapping up paperwork this week. What a whirlwind! We still have a couple of more days on the road and then it's home(whatever that means right now) sweet home. But, rather than unpack when I return from our vacation, the packing will just begin!