World Traveler

Just a quick note to say that Ava was awesome on the plane! We couldn't have asked for a better baby. She even slept for an hour. The portable DVD player might just be the best investment we ever made. She fell asleep to Finding Nemo. The weather was pretty cruddy when we got here, cold and rainy. I was worried I didn't pack enough warm stuff for us. But today was a great day, in the 70's and mostly sunny. We went to a family party at the moose hall and Ava was really a good girl. She is acting like a different baby up here! It's like she knows that we're on vacation and she's relaxing too!

Holiday, Far Away....

We leave for vacation tomorrow night! Technically we are flying on Saturday but we are going to my sister's house and spending the night tomorrow night since she lives 10 mins away from the airport. I am a little overwhelmed right now with things to do, but am trying not to freak. There is still much packing to be done and even some laundry and house-cleaning and very little time to do it. I am really excited! I've been checking the weather up there and it looks a bit yucky, only in the 60's, but I'm hoping it warms up. I bought Ava the cutest summer stuff and I want to show her off in it! I am so excited for Ava's first flying experience, I am not even letting myself think about what could go wrong. We are buying the portable DVD player. That was a last minute decision that I think we will be happy about. Three hours on a plane, on our lap, and I'm sure someone is going to go nuts, whether it be her, us, or another passenger.
Please check the blog, I'm going to try to post from up there. Be back soon with lots of pictures!

Happy Mother's Day

Can we pretend that today is yesterday and I am posting this on Mother's Day? Thanks. I hope that all of the Mom's out there have a wonderful day today (yesterday). I have some friends that celebrated their first mother's day - Jackie, who has a little Ava just like me, Lenabelle who has Emily, and couple who have babies on the way - Kerri and Jen and Jennifer. Last year was my first mother's day, and to be completely honest I think I was still kinda sleep deprived so I don't remember the actual day, but I do remember the feeling. I know that Brent got me a watch and I know I saved the card he gave me.
This was my 2nd Mother's day, and I actually feel like more of a mom than I did on my first. Last year at this time I was knee deep in diapers and bottles and binkies and lots of spit up. Now I have a full-fledged child who says words and gets into trouble. She plays outside and watches Barney and Sesame Street and lets me know when she wants juice. I now have to think about how I talk to her and choose my words carefully, and explain things to her, and be an example. She acted yesterday like she knew it was a special day and she wanted to give me a break. She slept in until nearly 9:45! She was so sweet to me, I didn't even have to beg for a kiss. I went shopping by myself, and Brent made me a really nice dinner. It was a good day.
I won't get really mushy in this post and write about my deep feelings about being mom. There are good times and then there are times when I want to rip my hair out and slam a door or two, but then I just think about a good moment, or something sweet that she did, or a new word that she learned. And then I just want to hug her.

Feeling Hot (hot hot)

Sorry for the stupid title. We are smack-dab in the middle of Ava's first fever, and it is no good. She isn't sick, I don't think, but she is teething, which I think is the cause. She has never had a noticeable temperature, has never had more than a minor cold, and has never had an ear infection since she's been born! (Knocking on so much wood). So, I didn't know how to take her temperature, as we don't have an ear thermometer and I am not about to take it rectally (you're welcome Ava!). I ended up using the digital under the arm. Yesterday her temp was somewhere around 102 and this afternoon it was 103. I've been giving her ibuprofen, and it's been helping. She has been cranky, unbelievable whiny and clingy. I was losing my mind yesterday, before I knew what was wrong. I only discovered she was teething this morning. When Brent got home from work yesterday I left to go to Walmart just to be on my own for an hour. I feel so bad for her, this afternoon she just looked miserable. She hasn't been eating as much, all she wants to eat is fruit, and we could tell she had a headache. I laid down on the floor with her in her room, and she ended up cuddling me like I was her teddy bear and falling asleep within a few minutes! Anytime I tried to pull away she would hold on to me and not let me go. That made me forget about the crying and whining for a little bit.
As if that weren't enough, the nanny at work has been out sick the past 2 days, so guess who's been watching Ava and Max? Yup, me. In a way it's good, since Ava isn't feeling well and is being a total Mommy's girl, but lord I am going crazy. I'll be honest - Max drives me nuts! He turns 2 in July, he is a trouble-maker, and he is mean to Ava quite often. Not cool with me at all.
We are so close to going on vacation and I cannot wait! There is so much to do before we go. Besides the fact that our house is a disaster, we have more shopping to do for Ava, we are debating about buying a portable DVD player for her on the plane. That would be mostly for our sanity and the sanity of our fellow passengers. I am already thinking about what to pack!
Here are some old-ish pictures that I never posted. We went on a rare family outing to Jungle Gardens, which is like a cheap, smaller version of a zoo. The nearest zoo is in Tampa, which is a hike for us. We will get up there one day, but for now, Jungle it is. Did I mention how hot is was? Thank goodness it is all shade pretty much. They have nice walking paths and lots of free roaming ducks, birds and flamingos. I guess all 3 of those are technically "birds" but I wanted to specify. There is a big pond where you can feed them and they are all hanging out. Ava wanted to grab one. She ran up on unsuspecting snoozing ducks and literally tried to pet them.

The Bike