Carmageddon (longest post on the planet)

The title I stole from some guy on the radio. It refers to the outrageous number of cars left abandoned at the side (and sometimes in the middle) of the road on Christmas Eve night near Oklahoma city. My count of slide-offs was up to 43 before I quit counting and that didn't include the 100 or so more we saw that had been purposely pulled to the side of the road and left. Read on for the whole story.

We left around 10:30 in the morning on Christmas Eve because we needed to arrive by 4 for a family party at Rob's parents house. The drive (Plano, TX to Harrah, OK) is typically 3 1/2 hours so we figured that gave us plenty of time. We'd looked up the weather the previous night and what we could find said there would be a storm with some rain and snow. All was going well despite some rain coming down. We stopped for lunch around 11:30 though Ava insisted she was not hungry (when is this kid ever not hungry?) and wouldn't eat anything. At around 2 we hit a little traffic but not too bad until 2:30 when we were at an absolute stand still on the freeway. At this point we had been driving through snow fall for a little while. We waited patiently and called the in-laws to tell them we would probably be a little later than planned. After we had been sitting there an hour or so we were starting to get annoyed because we had the radio on and nobody was telling us anything. Our side of the freeway was literally a parking lot and yet we couldn't find one piece of information on it on the internet (thank you iPhone) or the radio. Finally we heard that all the interstates had been closed. We waited to be directed off some exit where the freeway had been closed............10 1/2 hours later. No that's not a typo. We really did sit there in the same spot for 10 1/2 hours.

Let me answer the questions that are coming to your mind at this point: 1) no we did not have any food, unless you count half a bag of bugles as food which I guess is better than nothing 2) Ava did great and she only spent about 2 of those hours watching Dora 3) No we didn't have a full tank of gas and could not keep the car running. We had about 1/4 of a tank so after Rob set up a bed in the back for Ava and I, he slept freezing in the front seat so he could let the car run for 10 minutes every hour or so 4) yes we told Ava we were camping and let her open all the Christmas presents we had in the car for her 5) yes I am 8 months pregnant and typically have to use the facilities numerous times in 10 1/2 hours...........Ava is at the end of potty training right now, there may or may not have been a frog potty in the car that I may or may not have had to resort to using during which time Ava may or may not have encouraged me by saying things like "good job mommy, you're peeing on the potty. you're a big girl huh mommy cuz you keep your panties dry." (Come on people, it was either that or stick my pregnant butt out the window in 10 degree weather. Not gonna happen. In my defense, I only used it twice....I mean I may or may not have only used it twice.) 6) Rob used the much less humiliating method of peeing in a coke bottle and pouring it out the window........seriously. 7) Yes I laughed out loud at 1 a.m. when a policeman pounded on the car window to wake us up and shouted "Come on, let's get moving" as if he was in a hurry or something!

A couple of cool things happened while we were sitting there. We saw a guy whose car had slid off the road going the other direction. I was watching him try to get it out of the snow bank and I said out loud "If someone would just get out and push him, he could probably get unstuck. Ah, somebody go help him." I actually wasn't trying to send a message to Rob as he wasn't even wearing a coat and it was freezing outside. But he jumped out of the car and trudged through the snow and started to help push the guy out. After about the second push, about 4 other men jumped out of their vehicles and came to help. They were all decked out in hats and gloves and big coats and boots. Rob and I talked about how most people are willing to help in a situation like that but it often takes just one person to get the ball rolling. The guy was extremely grateful when they got him unstuck and it only took Rob about 20 minutes to get some feeling back in his fingers!!! The other cool thing we saw was after we'd been there about 7 hours. We see some guy walking down the middle of the two lanes with a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper knocking on windows to see if people have something to drink and if not tossing them a can or two until he ran out.

Living in such an age of technology and information, the most frustrating things was not knowing what was going on, having zero info about why were were sitting there, how long it would be, etc. There was one of those roadside electronic signs about 4 or 5 cars up from us on the other side of the road. It was flashing a couple of things and the only part we could see was "Prepare to stop" and then it would flash a number and minutes and we couldn't see what was underneath that. The number went up and down the whole time we were sitting there 74 minutes, 63, 58, 41, 84, 32, 51. I told Rob I was going to get out and go see what the sign said because it was driving me crazy and maybe it was telling us how long we had to sit there. Rob wouldn't let me get out and told me it didn't matter anyway but after some time Rob says to me "now that sign is driving me crazy. I wanna know what it says." At one point we even played a game to see who could guess the right number that the minutes were going to change to next. In the end when we drove by it, the sign said "Prepare to stop __ minutes to the end of construction zone." Yep, it had nothing to do with why we were sitting there but in our yearning for any kind of information, it kept us entertained for quite some time.

When we finally got off the freeway, the streets in the city were such a mess it was like off-roading to get through them. Rob did awesome and we found a gas station that actually had gas on only our second try. We pulled in to the in-laws driveway at around 3;30 am. Rob pointed out that having been in the car for 17 1/2 hours we could have made the drive to see my family in Utah. Maybe next time. It did turn out to be the worst snowstorm in the history of Oklahoma City and we stayed cooped up in the house for 2 days before heading back. I know that most people's Christmas posts probably include things like gifts they got or what their kid thought of the big day etc. but all that seems pretty anticlimactic compared to what it took just to get to that point! For all of you who worried and prayed for us, thank you thank you. It could have been much worse and to be honest, we're already laughing about it now. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Funny things she says.................

Ava is a little chatter-box these days and she comes up with some pretty funny things. Here are some of her most recent.


With the Christmas lights and decorations surrounding us, Ava has started singing Christmas songs. Despite being able to completely sing Jingle Bells last year, this year she has become a little confused. Here is this year's version: Jingle Bells, Jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride and Bingo was his name oh....hey!

After Rob didn't shave much all weekend and had a mustache/goatee, Ava (while sitting on my lap) said "Daddy has a mustache." I said indeed he did. She then looked up at me and said "Mommy has a mustache too." Apparently it's been too long since I've been to the salon.

At the doctor's office on the way into the ultrasound room, I stopped to go to the bathroom. Rob took Ava into the ultrasound room to wait for me where she informed him and both the u/s techs that "my mommy is peeing in a cup." Maybe taking her to my last doctor's appointment was a bad idea.

A few months ago Ava started becoming interested in boobs. One day when she saw me changing she said "Are those your buttons mommy?" Thinking buttons was maybe a good name for her to use I said yes. But after a few times I decided I'd rather have her use a real word for them. So the next time she brought them up and said "I see your buttons", I said "We call them boobs." She followed up with "Can I touch 'em?" Me: Um, no. We don't touch boobs. The next day in Target as I stood in line to return something, I hear her tell the lady behind me "My mom has biiiiiiig buttons" (thank you pregnancy) and I fumble my way through "um yep, mommy has big buttons on her coat. see these big buttons!" I barely managed to get the cart away from anyone who might hear before Ava began singing what has now become a signature song whenever she is confronted with a large set of knockers. "You have buttons and I have buttons. We call them boobs, but we don't touch 'em." So far she's sung it in Target, the library, Michael's and the grocery store. And if you know this kid, you know that she has two volumes.......silent and LOUD, very loud. I'm just waiting for her to bust out with it during sacrament meeting.

Growing Up

It's been a big week at our house. Not only have we been refocusing ourselves on potty training, but Ava moved into a "big girl bed." The potty training is going so-so. I have a stubborn one on my hands who knows exactly what she is doing but would prefer to hide in a corner while she poos in her diaper/pants rather than use the toilet. (Yes Ava, I know you will not appreciate this when you are 16. But guess what? If you'd poo in the potty I wouldn't have to write it on here. So there!) We're to the point of bribery here and apparently Ava gets it because the other day I heard her say "man I really need to poop in the potty." Then after a big sigh she says "because I REALLY need to watch some Dora!" That's the big motivator here, Dora the Explorer. I swear they pipe addictive drugs out your t.v. set during that show or something because my constantly moving, constantly jabbering two year old will sit as still as if she was dead and completely silent while she watches Dora and Boots figure out where to go next.

The other big news is the "big girl bed" as Ava calls it. We got this cute little bed on Craigslist and Ava went with me to pick it up and was super excited about it. She's slept in it a few nights and has done pretty well until the 4th night when she got up and down and up and down for an hour and then kicked the wall for 30 minutes. Unfortunately she was demoted back to the crib for a night. She appears to have gotten into the groove of sleeping in the bed now. Cross your fingers.

Prayer of a Child

Tonight I gave Ava dinner (a waffle per her request) and I forgot to have her say a prayer. When she had about 3 bites left I hear her saying her own prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for this food. Thank you that we can color. Thank you for this chair and for everything. Thank you. Now I have to finish my waffle. Amen.

I bet theses are God's favorite kind. So sweet and sincere.

Leaves are Falling

So despite the fact that there are several significant posts still missing from this blog (i.e. Easter, Ava's birthday, our trip to Seaworld, Rob's birthday) I am going to post the present until I catch up with the past. Yesterday Ava and her friends were at my friend LE's house for our babysitting co-op and LE did a little fall photo shoot with them. Ava hammed it up as always. So cute! (Don't you love the mullet? We're working on it. LOL)

Happy Halloween!

Hard Times

Ava, after finishing eating, was sitting backwards on her chair just resting her chin on her hands.

Me: Are you done eating?

Ava: No.

Me: You just sitting there hangin out?

Ava: Yeah.....................this is a hard time.

Me: Oh yeah?

Ava: It's hard time to sit in a poopy diaper.

Me: Is your diaper poopy?

Ava: Yeah

Me: Sorry baby. You gotta tell me and I'll change it. Let's go change it.

Ava: No I'm gonna sit here for a little bit longer.

Kids say..............

Ava: Mommy you need to buy me a laptop

Me: Oh yeah?

Ava: Yeah

Me: You realize you're only 2 right?

Ava: (dejectedly) Oh.

You can't see the girl parts but.............

But I promise they are there. And despite the fact that it looks like an alien, it's an actual human. And it's a girl. Ava has named her Polka Dot, which in my opinion is better than the previous two names which were Pink and Blue. Ava is convinced she has a baby in her belly too. Sometimes it gives her belly aches, and other times I walk by her patting her own belly and hear her say "You hear? Can you hear the heartbeat?"

A couple days ago Ava was riding her little bike around. Then she got up to check the little compartment in the back of it and I hear her say "nope, it's not done cookin yet." So I ask her what's in there. She pulled out her baby doll and said "It's dinner." Needless to say after #2 gets here we will be keeping a close eye on any baking #1 does.

I am like a star

Ava is our little American Idol. She absolutely loves to sing and is always making up new and silly songs and loves to learn any new songs. I am like a star is one song we sing a lot at bedtime so when she broke into it today in the kitchen, I was not surprised. That is, until the end. I'm pretty sure I never used that ending. Here is her variation of the classic primary song:

I am like a star shining brightly
Shining for the whole world to see
I can do and say, happy things each day
For I know Heavenly Father loooooooooooooooovvvveeees my puppy! (note the puppy in her arms in the above pic)

Father of the Year

Rob has reached what he probably considers his greatest achievement as a father. Tonight after picking up our fast food (momma don't cook on Friday nights), we sat down on the couch and Rob reached for the remote. Then the following words came unprompted out of Ava's mouth:

"I wanna watch football daddy."

It's been about an hour and I still can't wipe the smile off his face. And I thought he was wrapped around her finger before.

Some recent Ava-isms

One of the best thing about 2 year olds is the way they talk and the things they say. Ava talks quite a bit for her age, in fact sometimes I forget she's only two. I remember reading once that when we learn new information, our brain tries to tie it to something we already know as a way to retain it. Here are some examples of what I interpret as Ava's brain doing just that. Either that or she's just two and says funny things:

"We saw shampoo the whale. I love shampoo the whale." (After seeing Shamu at SeaWorld this weekend)

"I wanna push the button for the aligator" (Standing outside the elevator)

"Let's sing Book of Morning stories" (When asked what song she wanted for Family Home Evening)

I am sure there are a thousand more that I am forgetting as she cracks me up a million times a day these days with all the funny things she says and the way she says them. And since I'm posting this today, here's a little Happy Birthday shout out to Rob! Happy Birthday babe!

Potty Training Spiders

Today Ava and I were in the bathroom and I saw a spider running across the floor. I grabbed the closest thing to me and gave it a whack. Then I told Ava to grab me some toilet paper, which she did. I picked the spider up in the toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. Ava, after watching all of this, looked up at me and said "Mommy, is that spider going potty?" Ummmm yeah, something like that. LOL.

Busy summer days

I've been absent for awhile, mostly because we've been having too much summer fun with friends. I've also been holding off posting because I wanted to get Ava's birthday pics and our 4th of July pics up but have yet to download them. But this week is the week that we get to spend with my family up in the mountains in Idaho at our cabin. I look forward to this week all year and feel like it's worth noting on here. This is the first time that Rob has been able to come for the majority. He has spent the last few days hiking the Tetons with some old law school buddies but should be arriving here tonight. Just pulling up here and looking up at the sky takes my breath away. I can't remember the last time I saw so many stars. And the weather here is my favorite, hot summer days and cool summer nights. Today I rode on the jet ski with my sister and as I looked around and breathed a sigh of relief, I realized that just as people have comfort foods, this is one of my very favorite comfort places. I immediately relax and know its time to sit back and enjoy myself, it takes me back to all the summers spent here as a child with my family. Today as I watched Ava play in the sand with her cousins, I found myself remembering images of myself and my cousins playing in the same sand when we were her age and throughout our youth. I am glad that she will grow up with equally fond memories. The week has just begun and already it's flying by. Before I know it, it will be back to real life. But I'll prop my feet up and enjoy it while it lasts.

Already 2

My dear Ava:

It's hard to believe you are already two years old. The last two years have been a crazy, fun, exciting whirlwind. You are such a huge blessing to your dad and I and we love you to pieces. It's amazing to see how much you change every day and all the new things you learn. You are becoming very independent these days. It's not rare for you to respond to a request from me with "I don't wanna _________." or "No way!" The word your dad and I constantly use to describe you is intense. Everything you do you put your passion into, whether it is playing with your dolls or saying hello to a friend. You are so smart and talk so well for your age. You keep me laughing everyday with the silly things you say. You love to read books and would do that all day if I would sit and read to you. You also adore puzzles and lately you really like playing "mommy" to your dolls. Your dad and I are often told "Shhh, be quiet, my baby is sleeping." You are quite the musical child and you astonish me with all the songs that you know. You sing almost 24 hours a day and are capable of turning anything into a song. In the car when we sit at a red light you will often shout "green! turn green!" and when the light changes you will burst into song "Green, green, I love green. Green, green, I love green." You have spent much of the morning today singing Happy Birthday to yourself while you went about your playtime. Another thing you love, which you don't get from your mom, is bugs. When you see one crawling outside you get so excited and always try to get it to crawl in your hand. You will crouch down and follow it around while saying "Hello bug. Hi bug. Whatcha doin bug?"

The last two years have been wonderful and here's to hoping the next many are the same. Your dad and I love you more than you know and are so grateful you are part of our life. Happy Birthday my little one.
Love-
Mom

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.....or works like medicine

So I was standing at the counter today and I hear Ava taking a drink of water out of a sports bottle. Then I hear her whine and this is the conversation:

Ava: Ow! My mouth is hurting.

Me: I'm sorry. You gotta be careful with that bottle so it doesn't pinch your lip.

Ava: My mouth is hurting.

Ava: (moving over to the drawer where I keep the Skittles) I need some candy to feel better.

Me: What did you say?

Ava: (holding on to the drawer where I keep the Skittles) I need some candy to make it feel better.

Me: (busting out laughing and reaching into the Skittle drawer!) You are hilarious! And dang smart! And that deserves candy.

Apparently Mary Poppins was onto something with the whole "sugar" and "medicine" thing! Either that or Ava has watched her mom make herself feel better with candy!!!

Bath N Body Works

Any of the rest of you use Bath n body works wallflowers? I'm addicted to them but I'm also a cheapskate which turns out to be a problem. But, right now they are trying to get rid of all the wallflowers and wallflower refills in the old packaging so they are selling them for $4 a piece! That's practically giving them away when you consider they are normally $12.50. Anyway, just thought I'd pass on the good find to all 3 of you who read my blog. :) I just bought a billion of them tonight and man does my house smell good? You can get away with not cleaning quite as often if you have a good air freshener! People take a big whiff and figure it must be clean if it smells like that. Yum! K off to do laundry. Why does it feel like I'm always "off to do laundry?" Maybe its because I'm always off but I never actually get there so there's always laundry to be done. Anyway.............

Ava likes to read

Ava has been obsessed with books since birth I swear. Her perfect day would be to sit on my lap with a giant pile of books and have me read to her all day long. We recently checked out a book about trains from the library. She's a big fan.

Everything is BIGGER in Texas

Including the lightning and thunderstorms. We had a doozy last night. Ava and I went to the zoo with some friends yesterday and when we were pulling in the garage when we got home I could hear the city tornado sirens going off. I swear, I didn't even know bad weather was coming but apparently we were in the hot spot for tornadoes, bone-crushing thunder, and 70 mph winds. At 8 pm, after a bolt of lightning that lit the sky and thunder that felt like it was shaking our house, our power went out. It is now 11:30 the next morning and still out. Apparently it's dangerous to repair power lines while there is still massive lightning in the sky! It's amazing how much we depend on electricity. Like this morning when I realized my cell phone was about to die and I had no way to charge it and since I have a cordless phone at home I was soon to be cut off from communication to the outside world. I'll be honest, the thought freaked me out. And of course, there was no internet. So Ava and I loaded in the car (after I raised the garage door manually - ugh the torture!) and headed to a friends house to soak up the comfort, convenience and bliss that is electricity. My cell phone is charging on the counter, Ava is dancing to the music coming from the television and here I sit updating my blog for all to read. I would have made a terrible cavewoman.

Hopefully this isn't it

You know that quote from Andy Warhol that says that everybody will have 15 minutes of fame? Hopefully today isn't Rob's. I think we'd like ours to be when we accept our check from Publishers Clearing House. Still, Rob is fielding phone calls from the likes of The New York Times and Fox News New York today. For those of you who have been watching the news, Obama appointed a new justice to the Supreme Court: Judge Sonia Sotomayor. And it just so happens that Rob interned for that same judge when he was in law school. So apparently the hard-hitting reporters have been trying to get Rob to weigh in on all the negative criticisms she's been getting, which of course he won't. I asked him if he said something good so they would quote him. Rob: I don't think I said what they wanted. I told him maybe this was his 15 minutes of fame. Rob: I hope not.

I hope not too. Ed McMahon, we're waiting!

To the Big Girl

Dear Ava:

Today you and I went to Old Navy to return a few things and as usual, you were obsessed with the mannequin dog there. You spent 10 minutes petting it and talking to it and giving it hugs. So I took this picture of you and emailed it to your dad.When your dad and I talked again later, we laughed about how with your sunglasses it's hard to tell which one is the mannequin. We also joked about never needing a real dog because you are apparently content with a plastic one. About five minutes after we'd hung up, your dad called me back:
Your Dad: I was looking at that picture you sent again.
Me: Yeah?
Your Dad: She looks like a little girl in that picture, not a baby anymore.
Me: I know.
Your Dad: She is a little girl now, I mean look at that picture.
Me: Yep, her and I just had a conversation today about how she's not a baby anymore.
Your Dad: How did that happen?
Me: I don't know.

Even though we're not sure how it happened, the truth of the matter is, our tiny baby is long gone. It's hard to believe that you will be two years old next month. Where did the time go? I'm not sure but I know it's been quite the ride so far and we still shake our heads and can't believe how boring our lives must have been before you came along. I'm sure time will continue to fly by and before you know it your dad and I will look at another picture and wonder when you became a teenager. But until then, I'm gonna enjoy today with you. Let's go read a book.
Love,
Mom

The smoke is coming from my house.........

And no, not because my house is on fire. I know judging from the last post that's the likely thought that is passing through your head right now. Well just stop it. It'll be a good year at least before I do something else dumb enough to have to call 9-1-1. But anyway, back to the smoke coming from my house. We got a fire pit!!!!! And if you can't tell by the 5 exclamation points at the end of the last sentence, I'm very excited about it. I've wanted one forever. In fact, I tried to talk my dad into putting one in my backyard growing up but alas, he doesn't love me that much (ha!). But Rob and I have decided that this is the year to get our backyard into shape and so after laying sod for an entire Saturday two weeks ago, our grass is looking fantastic and it has motivated us to get the rest of the space put together. So today we bought some new patio furniture, some tiki torches (another childhood dream) and a fire pit. And Rob and I even had a romantic little evening making smores over our new toy after the kid was in bed. (Technically the instructions say not to use it as a cooking device but I've never been much for rules). It was actually a cool night here in Texas and it was lovely to be able to sit next to it and warm my hands and close my eyes and pretend I was camping. It was pretty close. I even have the smoke-filled sweater to prove it. So don't call the fire department but feel free to stop by for a little conversation around the coals. It's bliss!

Please Pull Over For Emergency Vehicles

Because you never know who they are going to help. Perhaps it is just a kitten stuck up a tree but maybe, just maybe it is a sweet young mother who has locked her keys and her child in the car in the fabric store parking lot. Maybe this mother realized what she had done and a wave of sheer panic went through her. Maybe at that point she accosted some nice random stranger (she looked like a grandmother) in the parking lot and asked her to stay with the car. Now of course this situation is completely hypothetical but just to make it easier, let's give this young mother a name. Let's call her Ally. Now perhaps at this point Ally ran back into the store to use the phone and I imagine a death glare may have passed from Ally to the clerk who acted annoyed about loaning out the store phone. It's possible that Ally realized that due to the age of cell phones she didn't know anybody's phone number except her very good friend who happened to be the first person she thought to call. Now Ally's friend might have been at a soccer game and unable to get Ally's extra set of keys. Ally may have had the brilliant idea to try to get her toddler to climb up to the front seat and press the button on the keypad to unlock the door however, I imagine that when Ally got back out to the parking lot, the toddler had already buckled herself into her car seat. Ally may have even tried another friend who she couldn't get on the phone. It's possible that the nice random stranger had the idea to call the fire department. Ally was probably hesitant to dial 9-1-1 for such a situation but seeing as she had exhausted her other options and her husband was out of town, she probably acquiesced but still acted helpless enough that the random stranger offered to make the call. You may have been asking yourself at this point what the toddler was doing (if this had been a real situation of course) and maybe the toddler thought the whole thing was a game and was playing patty cake and itsy-bitsy spider through the window with the random stranger. Maybe the toddler got very excited a little later and started shouting "Yeah fireman!" as the fire truck rolled down the street flashing lights and sounding sirens and all. At this point, the young mother was probably a bit embarrassed at all the pomp and circumstance over the situation but relieved when the firemen were able to successfully open the car door without any permanent damage to it. Maybe the mother had to laugh a little when the firemen asked if she'd like the toddler transported to a medical facility (since the toddler was obviously fine). Maybe the mother was thinking "actually I'd like you to get those flashing lights and sirens out of here so people stop staring at me and I can stop feeling like a moron for having had to call 9-1-1 for this." And maybe Ally was so thrown off by the whole event that she went straight home instead of to the grocery store as planned. And maybe, just maybe Abby's Ally's friends that she told have been making fun of her ever since. Of course, like I mentioned before, this is all hypothetical. Purely a fable to remind you of the importance of pulling over for those flashing lights. It could be you next time. Or it could be Ally again. Either way, pull over would ya?

I'm just sayin...........

If you're going to buy a 10-pack of Baby Ruth's and you don't want to eat all of them, you probably shouldn't hide them in a secret place that only you know about. I'm just sayin..........

Amen to that!

For the past few months we have been helping Ava pray over the family meals. We subscribe to the parrot method, meaning we say the prayer and she repeats it. Lately we've gone from short, condensed sentences like "Thanks family, thanks food" to full sentences "Thank you for our family, thank you for the food." She was doing quite well mimicking this and for awhile now has recognized the end of the prayer coming and throws her arms out and shouts amen! Yesterday apparently she was feeling tired because all she could do was agree. Here was the prayer:

Me: Heavenly Father
Ava (nodding): yeah
Me: Thank you for this day
Ava: yeah
Me: Thank you for this food
Ava(nodding): yeah
Me: Please bless the food
Ava: yeah
Me: In the name.....
Ava: AMEN!

Apparently she was saving any energy she had for the grand finale of amen. Amen to that!

Flavor of the week

Ava: I yuv Ande (cute little girl she plays with weekly)

Me: Who else do you love?

Ava: I yuv ees-ur (Easter) (I'm sure this has nothing to do with the 35 lbs of candy you ate while your mom was chatting it up with her cousins and not paying attention to you.)

Me: Oh yeah? What else do you love?

Ava: I yuv jammies (me too if it means I'm going to sleep)

Me: Anything else you love? Who else do you love?

Ava: I yuv amals (animals)

And that's the list. For those of you who think you should have been included, don't worry, you may show up next week. The girl is very fickle!

In the words of a child...........

Out of the blue words from the 2 year old I am babysitting today:

2yrold: My mom says we don't eat diarrhea
me: What?
2yrold: We don't eat diarrhea, we don't eat poop and we don't drink pee.
me: Okay. What do we eat?
2yrold: Food.
me: (being facetious) Hmmm..... What about boogers? Do we eat those?
2yrold: No.......but just a taste.
me: Just a taste?
2yrold: Yeah cuz boogers is tasty.

And now you know.

Innocent bystander

If I wasn't a mormon, I think I'd be a coffee drinker. For now I fill the need with hot chocolate, flavored to french vanilla with my favorite CoffeeMate. I just love having a warm glass in my chilly hands and snuggling up on the couch to sip it, especially when the rain is drizzling and the wind is blowing. My favorite mug is one my talented brother-in-law made with it's own curlicue handle that's perfect for twisting my finger around. It's a big mug, which I love because that means I can have not just 6, (one packet) but 12 oz. of warm deliciousness. (Please do not comment about the caloric intake of 12 oz. of hot chocolate....I don't wanna know.)

Today was a sad day for me when I pulled something out of the oven, burned my hand and let go of the pan only to have it land on my much-loved mug. The curlicue was shattered, I gasped, Rob made some half-empathetic comment and I had to give him the "don't mess with me, this is serious" glare. (It's the same one I use with bad hair days, being unable to find an outfit, and an unfortunate color choice for my pedicure) Granted the cup could still work but it's just not the same without that handle. I'm a little choked up just writing this right now. So I mourn the loss and hope that tomorrows weather doesn't call for rain. And oh so talented brother-in-law, if you're reading this (he's so not) or your wife is (she totally is), my half-birthday is coming up!

The Golden Arches down on the farm

So Rob is out of town tonight and I have been feeling under the weather due to allergies so Ava and I decided to just do McDonald's for dinner. However, after giving her some chicken nuggets with ranch dressing to dip them in, I turned around to find the dressing completely gone and all of the nuggets still sitting there minus one bite. This is the conversation we had:

Me: Ava are you gonna eat your nuggets?

Ava: No want it.

Me: Eat your nuggets, you can't just eat the dressing.

Ava: No.

Me: Are you just going to eat ranch dressing for dinner? You should have told me that, it would have been much cheaper than going to McDonald's.

Ava: E-I-E-I-O

I have talented friends..............

So my friend is an amazing photographer. And lucky for me, she barters away her skills. I traded a homemade soap container for those darling snow pictures some of you saw on our Christmas card. This week it was her turn for the babysitting co-op that we do and she told us to dress the kids cute because she was going to take pictures. I offered to pay/trade her and she told me it's just her little thing she does with the kids. She said "You make crafts with them, I take pictures." Surely she is not comparing the cotton ball sheep ornament and the paper plate tamborine we made to the beautiful pictures she takes. But even if she is, who am I to complain? Just look at the darling Easter pics I got out of the deal.

Just behind the pickle

Here is the conversation we had with Ava this afternoon:

Rob: Ava, do you love daddy?
Ava: No, I yuv mommy.
Abby: Who else do you love?
Ava: I love peeekles (pickles).
Ava: I love daddy.
Rob: Great. I rank behind the pickles.

Camp Jellystone

We went camping this past weekend with some friends of ours. We went down near San Antonio to a place where we certainly weren't "roughing" it. Although we slept in a tent, the place also had an indoor pool and showers. Ava really enjoyed herself and getting dirty with her friends and I forgot how much I love sitting around a campfire at night having a good chat. Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Horsey Horsey we're on our way.........

Apparently the kindergarten teachers in our area get together over coffee so they can brainstorm nightmarish homework projects that will drive parents crazy. Or that's the way my friend Michele sees it. Each year, the kindergarten kids have a "Rodeo Roundup" (whatever that is) and as part of that are required to bring to school a handmade stick horse that they make with their parents. I do not have a child in Kindergarten. My friend Michele does. Michele called me this morning to tell me she was up all night watching "How to make a horse" videos and trying to cut out a horse head from felt and then finally deciding to use a sock for a head but not knowing how to do it exactly or what to do about the yarn for the mane, etc. I think she told me at one point (around 3 a.m. last night) she was in tears. Tears we cannot have. So tonight, after all the kiddos were asleep, Michele came over with her sock and a few supplies and here is what we came up with. Just another testament that two heads are better than one......or three if you count the horse. Here is Michele taking it for a test drive!

Proof is in the Pudding Pictures

I have been a blog slacker, I admit it. The last time I posted was, well I can't even remember without looking it up. But, in my defense, I haven't been just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I have been BUSY. And I have pictures to prove it. So hopefully I'll be forgiven for not being around for awhile. Here's the story. A friend of mine is having twin baby girls and my friend Tracey and I decided to make her some cute hooded towels and one thing turned to another and pretty soon it was way more than hooded towels (though we did those too). It was a good thing I didn't get into it by myself because I seriously couldn't have done all that sewing without Tracey around to chase after Ava quite a bit. So without further ado, here ya go:

The Booties...............why is everything cuter when it's tiny and in pairs?


I posted these before but had to include them again as part of the whole package.

The onesie dress

And the culprit that started the whole project - the hooded towels! It's hard to tell from this picture but they are very shabby chic.......it even said so on the tag.

And then you put it all together and it looks like this: Or this:

So now that that's over I should be back with some regularity at least. And at the request of Marie, in the next week or so I will post the instructions for how I make the hooded towels, even though it's nothing fancy.

Girls gotta stick together

So, here's a blog you should visit: annakarli.blogspot.com because she's having a contest with her husband to see whose blog gets more traffic. And you know, us girls gotta stick together (if you're a boy reading this, you can stick with us too). Go Karli!

Nothing in life is free eh?

Not true not true my friends. Take, for example, the free dinner Rob and I had tonight from Quiznos thanks to the million subs giveaway. And in tribute to the good folks at Quiznos, we taught Ava a new phrase, "Mmmmmmm....toasty!"

Lucky Lady!

You know how you know that life is good? I'll tell ya. When you have fresh flowers on your kitchen table for a month because the "welcome home" flowers your hubs gave you went ahead and kept on living clear up until the "happy valentines day" flowers from your dad arrived on your doorstep. Bliss I tell ya!

San Francisco Summary

Day 2-
-Morning spent at laundromat due to Day 1
-Naptime for Ava
-Bought a cute necklace
-Marked out a spot on Post St. an hour early for..........
-The Chinese New Year Parade which redeemed the whole day. (pics to come)

Day 3 -
-Community Festival in Chinatown (yeah I love festivals and I love all things Chinese so what could be better?)
-Naptime for Ava - lunchtime for mom
-Hubs calls to say we have to have dinner with some "work people."
-The mommy doesn't feel so good
-Ava's horrendous poo of 2009 (she'll love me for this someday)
-Taxi to dinner
-The mommy really doesn't feel so good
-The mommy excuses herself from dinner before dinner is served. Hubs and Ava stay there
-The puking begins for the mommy (no I'm not pregnant so for those of you who want to leave that in the comments, don't.)
-Pull a blanket and pillow into the bathroom and sleep there all night.
-Tip of the day: Don't eat turkey sandwiches from Walgreens

Day 4 -
-Ava and mommy chill in the hotel all day and try not to request new bedding too many times.
-Hubs case gets put on hold which means he doesn't have to work anymore for now

Day 5 -
-Fisherman's wharf, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge
-Abby pays homage to a special place in her heart........H&M
-Dinner with sweet sweet Rebekah

Today -
Home

San Francisco: Day 1

Flight delayed an hour
Uber cranky flight attendant
Arrive in San Francisco
Dinner with hubs and Pumpkin
Bathtime and Bedtime
Dreaming that Pumpkin is screaming "mommy"
Realize it's not a dream
Spend the next 3 hours changing multiple pairs of pajamas and cleaning up vomit.
Apologize continuously to the housekeeping staff for having to request a 3rd set of sheets
Secretly grateful that I'm not the one that has to do all the laundry from this
Back to bed at 4 am

Looking forward to Day 2.

The Motherload

Today Ava had to go to the doctor, which she hates, so I decided I would take her to feed the ducks afterwards, which she loves. Apparently they hadn't been fed much today because as soon as we put a few crumbs out, we were surrounded. I had them literally eating out of my hand......not so much because I wanted it that way but because the moment my fingers held a piece of bread they would literally jump at me and snatch it away. One of them even bit Ava's hand twice when she wasn't holding anything apparently in anticipation of the bread that would soon be there! We backed off when I was afraid I could no longer defend her should they decide to attack and then the "bird lady" arrived. Okay really she is just some nice citizen who comes to make sure the ducks are fed but it was really cool because the ducks recognized her. She started walking into the park and one of the ducks quacked back to the others and ran towards her and the rest soon followed. Within just a few seconds every duck, seagull, pigeon, and flying thing was on the ground surrounding her. Ava just kept watching as more and more of them flew to greet her. I didn't get it in the picture but the sun was just starting to set on the opposite side of the big pond so it was a really pretty scene to watch. When Ava got bored with the ducks we played for a bit on the playground until it started to get cold. Before we left I told her "okay, you can go on the slide one more time and then we have to go bye-bye." The whole way home she was crying "one more slide, one more slide" and the ducks were soon forgotten. Good thing I took pictures!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Mirror Mirror on the wall floor?

Found Ava checking out herself in the reflection of this pot the other night. The fun never ends. It spins, it bangs, it clangs and it apparently works pretty good as a mirror.

We are the champions....(wait actually just I am)

So Rob and I got to go on a date Friday night. (Wahoo!) We went to dinner and a movie (so stereotypical of us) and whenever we go to dinner with just the two of us, we ALWAYS play coaster football and Rob ALWAYS wins. But alas, Friday was not his night. I won! And I'm documenting it here for posterity because it very well may never happen again. That's right, I beat him 66 to 55 and I even have the coaster to prove it.

Back from Vacation

Well Ava and I just returned from a 2 week trip to Utah/Idaho. We had a great time but are happy to be home and Rob is happy to have his girls back. We were able to see all my sisters, my brother Caleb (or Bee-bup as Ava calls him) and my parents and grandparents. After she adjusted, Ava loved all the attention and had a lot of fun playing with her cousins. I was able to watch my niece Alexis play in some volleyball tournaments which was exciting for me and took me back a little to my high school volleyball days. I can't believe how good Alexis is, especially for a freshman.

Whenever I go to my mom's I try to bring a project that will help me glean some new knowledge from her. She's extremely talented in a lot of ways but I was too dumb when I lived at home to recognize the value of having her teach me some of those things. So now I get to learn in bits and pieces whenever I can make it home. Here is a picture of our project from this trip:
I got this cute pattern for baby booties online and my mom and I went crazy. I don't have a picture of the darling pink ones she made because at the time of my departure she had only completed the left one......due to having to constantly assist me (and by "assist me" I mean chase my daughter around to keep her from destroying things) in the creation of the above. I was pretty pleased with the result and for any of you who have recently had or are soon to have a baby girl, please act surprised when a pair of these shows up on your doorstep!

All in all the trip home was a success. I even got to take Ava's seat on the plane for the ride home (wahoo!) and denied her a nap all day long so she slept most of the way to Dallas (double wahoo!). It's good to be back.

A Historical Moment.........

One of those days you just know your grandkids are gonna ask you about.