Pecha Christmas

My side's family Christmas this year was a little different. With us wanting to start our own traditions and I'm sure Rachel and Tyson will want to in the next year or so as well, we are left trying to decide when the best time to celebrate is. Plus throw in the weird work schedules of several of us and we ended up with no real set time on our celebration, but rather a "lets all get together and wait for Tyson to get off work party." It worked.

We woke up Christmas Eve morning and Darren wasn't feeling well, I couldn't decide if he had the stomach flu or if it was food poisoning. I didn't want to take my chances, so I quarantined him to another room while Ava and I got ready and then Ava and I headed over to the Burton's as fast as possible.

My mom was already over there and had started preparing our meal. It was just us girls until around 2 or so, when Josh and my dad arrived (aka Santa) with all the gifts. Seriously, the gifts. We decided to let Ava open a few right away because clearly her pile would take anyone several hours to open, and lets face it, we didn't want to be still opening her gifts at midnight. She was much more into the presents this time around, and I was so excited for that! She had so much enthusiasm, like "WOW" or "That's mine!" My favorite part of the whole day though, was probably when my parents opened the gift Ava had made for them and in her proud little voice says, "I made it!" So cute.

Tyson arrived and we continued to open more gifts. Took a break at 5 for church, came back home, more gifts, ate dinner, and more gifts. Good grief... did I mention the gifts?

Unfortunately, with Darren being sick we didn't get a single family Christmas picture this year. Bummer. And I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked either.

Malcolm Christmas

We spent the Sunday before Christmas with the Malcolm's to celebrate Christmas this year. I have to say I am thankful for a mother-in-law that is flexible on the date as opposed to always wanting it right on Christmas Day. It allows us to have a more relaxed holiday celebration and more time with each family, rather than being rushed from one place to the next. It is also important to us to start our own traditions with Ava and I really want her to continue to wake up in her own home Christmas morning. I remember that being so magical as a kid and I want that same experience for her.

We arrived and Ava was excited, as usual, to play with the toys at Grammy's house. She was able to play for a little while before dinner was ready to be served. After dinner, we opened presents. I will admit, I was slightly disappointed in Ava's reaction. She was more interested in playing with the toys at Grammy's than the opening of any gifts so I had to open hers for her. However, once she opened the princess castle, she was hooked on that. She kept saying "a castle!" in such an excited tone.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing games and visiting (and eating too many snacks). It was a great day. Ava was disappointed to leave. I always look forward to this time of year and am always sad to see it pass by so quickly as well.

Girls Weekend

We spent the weekend in Des Moines, just us girls! It was Ava, my mom, Rachel, and myself! We left on Friday morning. Ava loved the doughnut we stopped for before heading out of town! We got to Des Moines in time for lunch and a some major shopping before checking into our hotel. Ava was exhausted and didn't even make it across the parking lot before falling asleep. Normally, she has been hard to get down for a nap lately so I've been skipping it. Shopping must have worn her out! We spent the evening ordering in food, playing play-doh, and watching tv.

Saturday we got up and had a delicious breakfast and eventually headed out for more shopping. We only made a couple of stops before Ava crashed again. She ended up sleeping in the booth through lunch and then we just decided to head home.

It was a great weekend and my tree is full with presents underneath it now! I just have a few more things to pick up and we'll be ready for Christmas!

Meinders Madness :o)

We celebrated the first weekend of November with the Meinders clan. It was my grandma's 80th birthday so we had a party for her and had our annual Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration.

Friday evening we went bowling, which Ava got to try. She loved it even though the bowling ball was too heavy. The Dumont bowling alley is a perfect place to take kids, we had the place to ourselves and it didn't matter that Ava and I had a lane all to ourselves!

Saturday, my grandma had a very good turnout for her birthday party. Saturday night we had our celebration. My Aunt Mari "borrowed" a friend's "man cave" and let me tell you, this place was awesome. Set up in a barn, the place is heated, furnished with tables, chairs, a bar, and the best karaoke equipment you could find! We had a great time! Even Ava sang a little bit of "Twinkle"!

Fall fun

We have been enjoying the great weather we've been having! A trip to the pumpkin farm, playing outside in the leaves, and going to the park have been so much fun in this nice fall weather!

We also carved pumpkins for the first time. Actually, my first time as an adult as well. Darren enjoyed it most of all. Ava didn't like the mess and lost interest pretty fast. I finished mine fairly quickly and poor Darren was left to do his all by himself.

Ava dressed up as a cupcake for Halloween this year. She was excited about the candy and loved carrying her bucket around. We went downtown to Main Street Cedar Falls to trick or treat. All of the merchants sit outside and hand out candy for the kids. She was terrified. There were so many people, and some dressed up in scary costumes. She made me carry her the whole time, so needless to say we made it about two blocks before we headed to Aunt Rachel's to trick or treat. She got plenty of candy for a 2 year old in that time frame anyway.

More birthday fun!

Ava's birthday weekend continued with lots of fun for our second annual trip to the UNI Homecoming game and tailgating. Ava did pretty well without a nap, but like last year managed to fall asleep just as the game was starting. This time on her new favorite person, Uncle Josh.

She was quite hilarious that evening saying very funny things like "Josh naughty" and "Josh sleepy" at very appropriate times. She sure makes me laugh!

The next day we had family photos done for Ava's 2nd birthday followed by a quick nap and an Elmo themed party in the afternoon with some friends and family. She is a very lucky and loved little girl!! She loved opening her presents this year and was enthusiastic in opening exclaiming "WOW!" after each one.

2 YEARS OLD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AVA! It seems like yesterday we were at the hospital welcoming you into the world. Boy, has the last two years flown by! You are the light of our lives and we are so thankful for you.

Today for your birthday, Mommy took the day off work to spend with you. When you woke up I kept staying "BIRTHDAY GIRL!" You thought that was hilarious. We watched your favorite cartoons in the morning and played and colored for awhile. You finally let me get you dressed and we went to the park to play. You wanted to swing a lot today, but weren't interested in the slides. After the park, we went to have lunch at Panera. You had Macaroni and Cheese and kept saying "mmmm.... nummy, Mommy!" You loved it! After we had lunch, we went to take lunch to Daddy at work. You were excited to see him. Then you and I went across the street to the river where we fed the ducks and geese. We were standing really close to them and you were running around chasing them. The geese must have gotten sick of us because all of a sudden three or four of them took off in flight and went right over our heads. It scared me, so I grabbed you and ran to the car. The rest of the day you kept saying "duckies, scary!" We went home after that and you took a nap. Daddy brought home Pita Pit for supper and then you opened your gifts. We got you a Barbie Power Wheels Jeep a while back that was part of your birthday. Today you received a pretend makeup/hairstyling kit, 2 outfits, jammies, finger paints and paper, and bedding for your new big girl bed.



At 2 years Ava weighs 37 lbs (99%) and is 37 inches (99%).

At 2 years Ava is a non-stop talker. We can understand about 75% of what she says. I am often time baffled by the things that she knows and remembers. The few weeks ago we were reading an animal book and we came to the page with the skunk. She says, "Skunk, stinky." Then with the page with the bats, she says "scary bat!"

Ava wears her heart on her sleeve. If she is happy, you see or hear it in her smile and laughter. If she is upset, you see it in her big crocodile tears. She is also extremely sensitive. If you tell her not to do something, she puts her head down and acts extremely sad. I'm going to have to be careful how I say things to her so that it doesn't hurt her feelings. I think she is like me in that sense, I tend to get my feelings hurt easily as well. Maybe its a girl thing?

Ava is a very good sleeper, usually at least 11 hours a night. She has been a little bit harder to get down for a nap lately, but still takes one around 1 1/2-3 hours. Bed time at night is pretty easy, but she doesn't go right to sleep like she used to. Ava tends to lay in her crib for up to an hour singing and reading books to herself. We've been considering moving her to a twin bed and will work on getting a "big girl" room ready for her in the next couple of months. She often likes to take a nap in what she calls "Nana's room" (guest room).

She continues to love bath time, playing at the park, her dolls, and playing with her kitchen. She's also developed a love for trains, trucks, and buses. Ava is also very attached to her "blank" as she calls it (her blankie). Her favorite "blank" is pink with a silky brown back and silky pink edging. She loves the ones with the silky part.

Ava also continues to have a love for music. We go to Kindermusik on Monday nights and she has so much fun doing the dances and playing the instruments. Her favorite songs are "ABC's", "Row Row", "Twinkle", "Puppy" and "Happy". She can sing along to quite a bit of these songs, or at least hum along. I'm so glad she has developed my love for music! Is it too early to sign up for singing lessons?!

Omaha

I am so far behind in posting, I don't even know where to begin.

Labor Day weekend we spent in Omaha for the third year in a row. We love that city. We invited my family to join us this year. It made it extra fun, and I know Nana and Papa especially loved seeing Ava's reaction to all the zoo animals. After a pit stop in Grimes on Saturday to visit Darren's cousin Clint and Libby and their boys, we arrived in Omaha and went to get check into our hotel. We then decided to take a little stroll down in the Old Market. We took a boat ride and Ava got to feed some ducks. We also got some exciting news from the Burton's that night when they showed up wearing some extra special t-shirts with an extra special message. (Mommy & Daddy To-Be!) I screamed so much when I saw them that my throat hurt all weekend and I'm surprised I didn't knock them to the ground when I practically jumped into their arms!







Sunday we took in the Omaha Zoo. The weather was a bit chilly for Labor Day weekend, but the sun was out and as long as we weren't in the shade it was fine. The highlight of Ava's day was seeing monkeys and the coy fish. Unfortunately, she slept right through the aquarium. My favorite part was when one of the orangutangs tried to spit on my dad. So funny! Sunday night Darren wasn't feeling well, so he stayed back at the hotel while Ava and I enjoyed pizza and she did a little swimming in the hotel pool. We were all pretty exhausted from the long day of constant uphill walking at the zoo!





Monday morning we headed home, but stopped to visit my Grandma on the way. She was in the hospital in Des Moines during that time undergoing leg amputation. She is doing much, much better since the surgery.

No Binky? No problem!

I'd been saying for months that we need to get rid of Ava's binky soon. I wanted it gone by her 2nd birthday for sure. It seems like every morning and night she was becoming more and more attached to it by asking for it, "Baby" she'd say. Which meant I was becoming more and more attached to it. I dreaded the crying for it and having to say no. I did some reading about how other mom's took the binky away (including cutting the nipple or poking holes in it, sending them with the "Binky Fairy", or sending them to new babies). I didn't try any of these things, and apparently didn't have to.

I asked the girls at daycare if Ava was still taking a binky at nap time there, of course they said no and she hasn't for months. It was basically a cold turkey take away, and she hasn't even noticed or asked for it. We're going on day 4 now. Clearly, I was more attached to the thing than she was!

I feel like I haven't posted in awhile.

We went boating on Sunday with my cousin Stacey and Nate and daughter, Taylor. We left Sunday morning for Coralville Lake. It looked like we were moving on the boat for a week with the cooler and bags of towels, extra clothes, and toys and books to keep Ava entertained. Turns out, I probably wouldn't have needed half of what I brought. She was content looking around at the "wa-wa". She took a quick nap on the boat and of course is as brown as can be now! We even got to get her on the tube and take her tubing! She loved it and was yelling "woah!" the whole time. When I asked her if she liked it, she says "YEAH!" She absolutely loved Taylor and even got to go swimming in the water for a little bit. Pictures to come.

I also wanted to write about a couple cute things Ava did yesterday. She found a bottle of sunscreen and was pretending to put it in her hand and rub it in my hair. (Which I will admit the tube looks a little like a hair product bottle) She continued to "fix" my hair for at least 10 minutes and keep saying "Pretty, Mommy" every couple of minutes. When she was finished she said "All Done!" and kissed me. What a little cutie! And let me tell you, my hair looked fabulous.

Ava has been really into playing pretend with her babies lately. In fact, this is something she's been doing since she was still in the infant room at daycare. Yesterday, she went to her room and grabbed all her diaper changing supplies (wipes, diaper cream, diapers, etc) and brought them and two babies out into the living room. She plopped herself up on the couch and proceeded to change and wipe her babies, while saying "poopy". Haha

Smarty Pants

Ava amazes me everyday with the new things she learns. Recently, she has started saying "mas" instead of "more" and after a few days, Darren said, "mas" is "more" in Spanish. No joke.

Also, recently she was doing something naughty so I started counting, giving her to three to stop or was going to put her in time out. (I've done a couple time outs with her, but they usually fail miserably. How are you supposed to keep a 1 year old in time out?) Anyway, I started counting... One... and Ava says... "Two..." It took everything I had not to laugh.

She has also recently started saying "Okay" for everything rather than "yes". Ava, do you want more milk? "Okay!" Ava, do you want to go outside? "Okay!"

She has even started calling me Mommy lately rather than Mama like she used to. Its so adorable, but sure makes her seem so old.

Pretend Crying?

I have recently discovered if I pretend to cry, Ava will drop everything and run to me to give me a big hug. This is such her lovey personality and what I love most about her. Ok, I have to admit I am aware this could and probably will blow up in my face. However, I have been having quite the time waking Ava up in the morning for day care. I offer countless things that she loves to get her out of bed, such as cuddling, milk, cartoons, going to school, seeing her friends, breakfast, etc. She still won't budge, in fact, she has mastered the art of pretending to be asleep when she's not. So this morning, I decided to try my pretend crying bit. "Crying", I said Ava, will you get up? "Ok!", she says. Keep in mind I had been trying to wake her up for at least 10 minutes prior to this.

Same thing happened this evening. She didn't want to get ready for bed and would run away from me when I tried to get her to change her diaper and put on her jammies. But when I pretended to cry, she said "Ok" and ran to me, hugged me, and laid down for her diaper and jammies.

Big Helper!

Ava is becoming such a big helper. She likes to help put the clothes in the dryer and throw things away. She also loves to dust, sweep, and help fold (or un-fold) the laundry. In fact earlier today I had folded some towels and some of Darren's t-shirts. I went to put the towels away in our bathroom and told her I'd be right back. I quickly ran upstairs to put the towels away and when I was coming back down, Ava was climbing the stairs carrying Darren's t-shirts to help put away. I couldn't be more proud.

Franklin County Fair

We were able to spend some time at the Franklin County Fair over the weekend. Ava, Rachel and I went on Friday for a couple of hours and walked around to see all the animals. Ava was a little interested, but also didn't want them to come too close either. She thought one calf in particular was hilarious because it got up to see her when we got close to it. She also love touching the bunnies through the cages.




Saturday evening I went to the Kellie Pickler concert with some of the women in my family. I had a little mishap with some of the greasy fair food (it spilled all over my lap within the first 5 minutes) but I was able to clean it up and it dried pretty fast in the heat. We were also able to get pretty close to the stage and take some pictures.



Sunday we went for a swim in the Lewis pool before nap time and then after nap headed over for rides at the fair. It was pretty hot, but Ava was having a blast. She loved the elephant ride that went high in the air and the carousel the best. I took her on the elephant ride the first time and she continued to yell "Woah" and "Yay!" the whole time. She is such a joy to be around. We also enjoyed a train ride around the fair, had some old fashioned homemade ice cream, and also a cream soda in the saloon.

Moe-Moe

Lately Ava has been calling Sophie, our dog, Moe-Moe. She'll stand next to her and yell "Moe-Moe, No!" Last night she stood outside with Sophie's leash yelling, "Moe-Moe, Moe-Moe" over and over. I find this hilarious and have even started calling Sophie "Moe-Moe" as well. I'm sure this is a horrible thing to do to Sophie, poor thing is probably so confused!

Dumont Sandbaggin' Day

We went back for Dumont Sandbaggin' Day over the weekend. Ava and I headed there on
Friday evening. Ava spent some time with Papa before going to bed and I was able to visit with my friend Wendy Miller. It was so good to see her. Saturday morning, Ava and I hit up a few garage sales and spent some time visiting with some family, including Grandma Meinders who is recovering from her balloon surgery she had done earlier in the week. Around noon, my dad took Ava for lunch and nap time while I worked in the beer garden and Tyson and Rachel participated in the bags tournament. I then went to spend some quality time in the Lewis pool and Ava joined me when she woke up from nap. I was trying my best to get a good tan that day, and well... it worked and I was slightly pink for the evening festivities.

After the parade we enjoyed dinner and then headed back to my parents to freshen up and enjoy some a/c for a little while. Darren took Ava over to his parents, as she was spending the night there. Later that night, we went back to town for the band Wild Card, street dance, and beer garden. Rachel, Lisa Lewis and I had volunteered to take tickets and money for a while. We participated in a lot of activities and were able to visit with a lot of friends and family, but my favorite part by far was Ava riding the smiley train after the parade. I thought she would be nervous or scared, but instead she was laughing and had the biggest smile on her face!