Nick and Josie Get Married!

I had my camera but the battery was almost dead, so I didn't take very many pictures. Annie emailed me 2 of the pictures, she took with her phone. Nick looked very hansome and Josie was BEAUTIFUL!! The wedding was at the Farm Kitchen, in Poulsbo, WA. We all had a great time at the wedding and then the reception. What a fun day!!

 

Heading to Seattle

We headed out today for Seattle for my cousins wedding on Saturday the 25th. We drove until Ellensburg, had lunch and then continued on our way to the Silverdale Beach Hotel. Both kids did GREAT in the car. By the time we got to Seattle, Noah had a lot of energy to burn so he jumped on the bed for the first 15 minutes in the hotel room, while Ava ate. We went to the Olive Garden with my parents and Annie, after we were all checked into the hotel. Then we all went swimming in the hotel pool. I, of course, forgot the swim diaper, so Noah's regular diaper was full of water and disentigrating. It was GROSS!!! Once we got back to the room, we all went to bed. Andy slept with Noah and I slept with Ava. It was a very long day!

 

Noah in the balls

Sweet Baby Smiles

Popeye Smile!

The easiest way to get Ava to smile is to tickle her lips with her blankie. It works like a charm almost every time.

Tummy Time

2 months old

Ava went to the Drs office today for her 2 month well baby exam. I was excited to go to the Drs office for a well baby and not sick baby exam. Ava weighed 10 lbs even (25th percentile) and was 21 1/4 inches long (10th percentile). She is still pretty little but she has gained 2 lbs since leaving Sacred Heart after the pneumonia, so she is going in the right direction. The Dr. said she looks great, so no concerns. Hallelujah! I took Ava's footprints and did her pictures. We took some posed on the couch but she was crying in almost all of them, so we just took tub pictures. Come to find out Noah's 2 month pictures were also in the bathtub.

Noah at 2 months. He is quite the rolly polly and bald compared to Ava.

Ava at 2 months.

Ava was starting to fall asleep in the tub, so it was time to get out.

Ava has only been a normal baby for the last 2 weeks. She is just starting to smile, and coo if you talk to her in a high squeaky voice. She is very cute and a delight to have around.

Blankie Love

A few days ago I made the biggest parenting mistake anyone can make!! I gave Ava one of Noah's blankets. Please note that Noah's blankets are old white burp clothes, nothing terribly special. Well the girl fell in love with it, and Noah didn't want to share his blankies (who can blame him). Fortunately for me, Noah has about 12 blankies, so I dyed a few pink for Ava. That small change was enough so Noah doesn't take them away anymore.


I am so lucky, that my big mistake was easily remedied with a little pink dye. Definitely a mistake I won't make again!

What Happened to Noah

Now when you read the title of this post you may think, what happened to Noah. Well thankfully nothing!! You may notice there are very few pictures of Noah on the blog recently. I have a very good reason for that. Noah is going through a phase where he prefers to be behind the camera. Every time the camera is put in his face he makes one of the 3 following faces and/or yells and runs away from the camera. That is not a battle I am willing to fight, so no pictures of Noah.



I can tell you a little bit about Noah right now though. He has become quite the chatter bug. His chattering isn't always understandable but to the trained ear about 90% is understandable. He loves to watch movies. He loves to play with his cousins Eric and Sophia and his girlfriends Sarah, Katelyn, and Ella, whether at the park or at home with toys. He loves things that go whether they are cars, trains, or construction equipment. And the best thing he loves is his sister. He always calls her "pretty girl" and "big girl" (not sure where he heard those ;))and talks to her sweetly. We love him so much, we just don't have a lot of pictures right now. Someday hopefully soon, we can add some good pictures of Noah.

Follow-up with the Peds surgeon

Today Noah, Ava and I drove up to Spokane to go to Ava's follow-up with the surgeon who corrected her pyloric stenosis. That guy is awesome!! He was continually interacting with Noah so he didn't feel left out. Noah did really well, because he was being stimulated by the guy in charge, not just told to "sit and be quiet" by his mom. I had mentioned, in a previous post, Ava's hernia under her right incision. Well, the hernia is gone!! She just has a little scar tissue under it now. So she will not be needing surgery!! Praise GOD!!!

Hair Bows

I made all these cute hair bows, in January. At the time, I didn't realize once we started using them how much space they would take up on the dresser. Ava's dresser was a MESS and very unorganized.

I decided I needed a hairbow holder, so I started looking online. I found a lot of super cute ones. But decided I could make my own. And I think it turned out much cuter than any I saw online!!

Another carseat picture

Looking back through all my pictures, almost all of Ava's pictures are of her in her vibrator chair or in her carseat. She apparently spends a lot of time in both those places. So here is another carseat picture. Notice, she has a dress on (with capris, I believe that is in style now, right?) mostly because it's not quite warm enough to go without something on those little legs.

Goodbye Juniper bushes

When we moved into our new house, the first outside project I wanted to have accomplished was to get rid of the juniper bushes. There are A LOT of them!! Especially with the neighbors fire pit behind our house, there is no need to have fire starter in our yard. So Andy has started the LONG project. There were 3 smaller bushes by the porch, which Andy took care of in a few hours.





And this large mess of overgrown and half dead bushes. This project will take a lot of time and many trailers full of shrub to the recycle center.


Here is the little tiny 5 foot corner he has already gotten done. He only has about 50 more feet to go, give or take.

After all the bushes are gone and roots are dead, we are going to plant some cute SMALL, flowering bushes or trees in there places. I can't wait for that day!!

I hope she can forgive me

For those of you who knew me in junior high and high school, one would say I had straight hair. For those of you who knew me in college, one would say I have straight hair. For those who have not been fooled or know the real me, I have AWFUL curly hair I have been straightening for most of my life.

When we went to Hawaii in May 2010, I had good intentions to straighten my hair everyday so I "would look good," this entailed packing my straightener and blow dryer (which took up a lot of space in my suitcase). I had straightened my hair the morning we went to Hawaii, but when I stepped out into the humidity, it became a curly, wavy MESS. So I gave up. The real story is, I used them once and that was for Mandie's wedding day. With a lot of hair spray, mousse, straightening, and curling with a curling iron, I had flawless straight hair for the wedding.

Since Hawaii I have learned how to fix my hair so it can look presentable and be curly at the same time. Because in a mom's world, who has time to spend an hour having straight hair anyways? Certainly not me.

And this brings me to the title of this post. My mother gave me her curly hair, who got it from her mother, who most likely got it from her mother. And now POOR Ava has my hair. Although hers is much curlier!! I hope she can forgive me for the hair she inherited through the hair genes I wish I could have traded in.



Please FORGIVE me Ava!!

I love summer, and DRESSES!

Noah Shares

Ava was laying on the living room floor and Noah really wanted her to hold on to his purple car. This is a big deal because he loves purple car. She gripped it for a second and then dropped it. This is a good start to wonderful friendship, and sibling rivalry as she starts taking all his stuff.

Healthy Girl!!