Z is for Zoom!

Z is for Zoom:

Zoooooommmmm, that is what 2010 did. It zoomed by! As have the last 2 years, 8 months and 2 weeks! I can't believe how much Ava has grown up in the last year, let alone that the last 3 months! Its amazing how just this past summer she barely said a word but now she is telling stories, singing songs and making us laugh the whole time.

We had a nice Christmas this year. Ava had lots of fun with her "friends" (her cousins Maija and Kieran) and got spoiled by all. She got 3 teddy bears, 2 Lolaloopsy Dolls (which we found out this morning used to be called Bitty Buttons dolls), a shopping cart, clothes, lots of colouring and art type things, books and Play-Doh. We even had to leave some of it behind at Grandma's for her to play with next time. She had lots of fun telling Grandma and Granddad stories and going "ditch fishing" in all the puddles around Grandma's neighbourhood.

It was a bit sad though, as my Grandfather had passed away a week before Christmas Eve and my Grandma wasn't doing very well with her Alzheimer's. So between that and the stress of Derek's job a month before Christmas it took quite some time to get into the Christmas spirit. Ava was a great help and made everyone smile and laugh, then with the arrival of Ava's cousins the next day it was a very fun and busy time around Mom and Dad's.

Mom turned 60 on December 27th and we threw her an impromptu birthday party with 5 of her 7 brothers and sisters there as well as a few of my cousins. She said she didn't want a party but was happy that we threw her one after it was all said and done :)

That was our Christmas and it went by like a flash. We did a bit of post Christmas shopping today using gift cards that we received, and I booked my present from Santa, a new hair cut and colour at my favourite salon :)

With only 2 days left of 2010 you could really say the year Zoomed by! Derek started the year as a reporter and is ending the year running for a seat on Comox council! Ava started the year not saying much of anything and is ending it singing songs and telling stories! As for me I started the year with an almost 2 year old, working nights and weekends and not feeling very content, and I'm ending it with an almost 3 year old and feeling pretty content. We don't know where 2011 will take us but for right now, my life with a 2 year old is pretty good.

Y is for Yuletide Fun; Y is for You Never Know Where Life Will Take You

Y is for Yuletide Fun:

We are getting in to the last couple of weeks leading up to Christmas and Ava's loving it. She loves the tree, the lights and she even loved visiting Santa this year. Last year she had a tough time with Santa and Mommy had to be in the picture, this year I'm happy to report that there were no tears only sweet smiles and no Mommy in the picture :)

She is going to be one lucky little girl this Christmas and I can't wait to see the delight on her face when she gets what she asked Santa for :) She's been such a good little girl and has come so far in everything since last Christmas. It's these years that will be the most special.

Ava can even recite the 12 Days of Christmas by memory:


I love her little voice and I love making these videos of her :)


Y is for You Never Know Where Life Will Take You:

Today is our 8.5 year dating anniversary, but this week has special meaning to us, in many other ways.

Ten years ago this week I quit my job at the grocery store (you know the one that I am working at again) and moved to the Comox Valley for my first job in radio. I was so young and naive and excited. It was what I wanted though, on air at a country radio station, and it was great for awhile. I was on air from December 2000-April 2004, when I decided I would rather have weekends off with Derek and work a Monday-Friday kind of job. I left the radio station to go on maternity leave when I had Ava and never went back.

Speaking of leaving the radio station, this Friday will be Derek's last day!!!!

After over 24 years of working for the Coast group of stations he has decided its time to move on. There are many other reasons which out of respect to my amazing and brave husband I won't get into, but lets just say, it wasn't right. I am really excited about the unknown, I was really upset for a couple of days but now I am really happy and excited for him. I'm very proud of my husband.

I'll have to work more, but I am grateful that I have a job that will allow me to pick up more hours and that has been so flexible. This wasn't where I thought I'd be when Ava was born, I thought that I would be able to stay home and raise her, but now her Daddy will get to have more time with her and we'll still end up with more family time than we had before, at least for the short term.

Derek has a few ideas of what he'd like to do but we'll just have to wait and see what the future has in store, whatever he decides he will succeed!

X is for Xylophone; X is for Xanadu

X is for Xylophone:

Ava loves to play music she is a very musical little girl. She has rhythm, something that I don't possess or can normally even spell (thank you Spell check). She loves to play her keyboard and loves any sort of instrument, even xylophones! The one thing she hasn't really tried to do much of though is sing, the closest she comes is by making clicking sounds along to her favourite songs.

X is for Xanadu:

The term Xanadu comes from the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Coolridge, and means an exotic, luxurious place. That sounds like somewhere I'd like to go about now. How did it become winter? Isn't it supposed to be windy and rainy here in November? Not snowing, twice, a month before Christmas?!

Yes, I would love to be somewhere warm, tropical, exotic and luxurious right about now, lying on a beach somewhere sipping a drink with an umbrella in it and spending a few days without a care. Haha, who am I kidding, I can't take the heat, so I stay out of the sun. Can't take the cold so I stay out of the snow. I guess my kind of Xanadu is somewhere that doesn't get too hot or too cold, but somewhere exotic and luxurious....hmmm sounds like a nice posh hotel room to me, with room service ;)

W is for Wonderment; W is for What a Week

W is for Wonderment:

With the Christmas season almost upon us its a magical time of year. Between warm snuggly mornings under big blankets at home, afternoons colouring and watching Christmas cartoons and going for walks to the park then finishing the day in front of the glow of the Christmas tree lights, its going to be a wonderful Christmas this year with Ava.

We decided to buy a new tree last weekend, and were going to wait until later in the month to put it up, but Ava was so excited that we decided to put it up that afternoon, she has done pretty well not destroying it, but she still manages to take some off here and add a little more to another branch. When we were finished decorating the tree she said to us "Okay, time for presents!" This one is smart, and funny :) I think we will wait a bit to put any presents under the tree, and I think it might help if we'd done some Christmas shopping first!

In more Ava news, she's become really animated in her stories lately. Last night I think she must have had a dream about bumblebee's because when she woke up this morning she told me a whole story about bumblebee's that were flying high up in the blue sky. It was so cute. She's also getting really good with her drawings, she draws faces with legs and shoes!

She is such an artistic little soul and a musical one as well. Ava loves to draw, colour and finger paint, she also loves to dance and listen to music. She also amazes us with her reading skills, we're not sure if she can read or if she just has an amazing memory, either way its impressive.

I know every year will get better for her at Christmastime, but I'm really looking forward to this Christmas. It's the first year that we have to be careful about presents, and about what we say in front of her, the first year for secrets and surprises and the first year for fun stories from Ava and neat little sayings. Christmas is going to be filled with wonderment both for Ava and for her Mommy and Daddy.

W is for What a Week:

So we had a wonderful vacation in Victoria and Seattle, but reality came crashing back in a big way this week. I started the week with no voice on Friday, it was my last day of holidays and we spent the afternoon going to a movie and a tiny bit of shopping in Nanaimo, just the two of us. It was a nice way to end the holidays, on a hot date with my hubby! However, I had no voice! My cold which had gone away for a couple of days while in Victoria, came back full force on our last full day in Seattle. So croaky and barely able to say a word, a couple of hours in a movie theatre was a great way to spend the day (for those who are wondering we saw Skyline). We ended the evening with a very upset Ava. She had fallen asleep just before we got back to Mom and Dad's and when I woke her up she wasn't ready to get up so it took quite awhile to calm her down and have something to eat so we could get on the road. By the time we were in Courtenay she had fallen asleep and didn't wake up until 7 the next morning!

Then Saturday was my first day back at work, I wasn't feeling that great but good enough to go to work. I did pretty well for the first couple of hours, other than having a rough sounding voice, then a couple of hours into my shift I had my first big cough attack, followed by another a few hours later. I ended up going home 2 hours early. I made it through the day on Sunday but had a couple of coughing fits. My cold is slowly getting better, but its a rough one and I keep running into people who say the same things about it. It's tough!

Then tonight, my cold wasn't bugging me much, but just as I was about to go on my break, I got tripped by a customer!!! I actually tripped over someone else's feet! I went tumbling down and slid across the floor with my hands out to stop me! I have a couple of sore, bruised knees but other than a bruised ego for looking like an idiot I'm doing fine. I just hope tomorrow, the last day of my work week, doesn't bring anymore surprises...

U is for Up, Up, Up; U is for Umbrella; V is for Vacation

U is for Up, Up, Up:

"Space Needle goes Up, Up, Up, Mama" my little girl would say many times. "Look, at that Daddy, Space Needle goes all the way Up". Ava loved the going past the Space Needle she thought it was so neat how high in the sky it was. Unfortunately when the time came for us to go up the Space Needle she had fallen asleep as soon as we got there. Maybe the next time we go to Seattle she will be able to stay awake.

U is for Umbrella:

I think we need our umbrella's here, on the Island, more than we needed them in Seattle. My sister lent us her good one, and of course we forgot to return it when we picked up our car on Thursday so I will have to send it back to her :)

V is for Vacation:

Since we all went on Vacation I figured this one I could group together as one word to describe both Ava and Mommy. Our vacation, was much needed and wonderful. It also made me realize how much I appreciate our life at home. It was so nice to experience new things and new adventures as a family. The best thing was having that quality time together that we don't always have between work and more work.

If you are planning on taking your little ones to Seattle anytime a few tips-

-Customs, take something to entertain your little ones so they don't throw impatient fits while having to wait in line or wait for your plane/boat to come in. Prepare to wait longer than you think you will.

-Visit the Children's Museum, but be prepared to stay for hours!!! It is a lot of fun, and there are a lot of things to do and see there.

-Room service is a wonderful convenience, especially for yet again, impatient 2 year olds!

-Don't attempt to visit the Pacific Science Centre on Tuesdays, it won't be open.

-Go shopping on Wednesdays, it tends to be field trip day in Seattle at all the tourist attractions.

-Have a wonderful time, and go at your little one's pace since you will likely have to anyway :)

In all honesty, we had a wonderful vacation and would go back to Seattle again. We may drive there next time and do the Pacific Coast Highway route, or we may go somewhere totally different, but I think we'll be staying put on the Island for awhile now. My travelling bug has passed, now I just need to get rid of this actual cold bug and then all will be well :)

T is for Talking and Teeter Tots; T is for Tired

T is for Talking:

It's amazing how much Ava can talk now, and how many words she can say. It was like the whole time she was just observing and absorbing everything we were saying and then one day she woke up and decided she was ready to start talking. She says some of the sweetest things now too, her latest things are "Mommy I miss you" when I have to go to work, and its so sweet because she says it as she put those little arms around my neck and holds on tight. We went out for lunch with my Dad yesterday for his birthday and every couple of minutes Ava would say "Hi Grampa, oh Hi Grampa" and she kept saying it until he'd say "Hi Ava!" it was too cute, and funny. Last night when she was supposed to be going to sleep she was telling me about Super Bunnies, not sure what Super Bunnies are but maybe I'm supposed to write a book or tell her a story about Super Bunnies :)

T is for Teeter Tots:

Tuesdays mornings is time for Teeter Tots! Ava loves Teeter Tots and has so much fun at the gym. It's a great way to get her out and around other little kids and its nice to see some of my favourite Mom friends (Dese) and catch up on what's new. We were running a little behind this morning since Ava didn't wake up until 9:45 when we would normally be running out the door. We did manage to have some fun times in the foam pit though, and Ava watched as a Dad tossed his boys around in the foam pit. She is getting really good with the routine of circle/song time at the end of class and then going to the stroller to get ready to go at the end of the session. It makes for a much happier time for everyone!





T is for Tired:

I'm a tired Mommy today, last night I had a restless sleep and tossed and turned a lot. Ava woke up around 4:30 and cried out a bit, but when I went in to check on her she had rolled over onto her tummy so I just stroked her back a bit and when it was safe went back to bed. I have a long week ahead of me with 4 nights and a full day shift ahead of me so I am anxiously awaiting Halloween so we can have the day off together. We are both burnt out from our jobs taking up so much of our time lately, so our vacation can't get here fast enough!

S is for Silly Sleeper; S is for Seattle

S is for Sweet Sleeper:

Ava said the sweetest thing to me today, she said "I lub you Mama", so sweet to finally hear those words and know that they came from her, not just because Mommy asked her if she could say "I love you."

In other Ava news, she has been attempting to rid herself of naps lately. She goes longer and longer without napping, until she finally gets so tired she falls asleep. Today she didn't nap all day, and she even made it until after dinner to fall asleep. I'm hoping she's asleep for the night, but I have a feeling that she is going to wake up right when we are about to go to sleep. Luckily neither of us has to get up too early in the morning, so if we have a bad night of sleep, or lack there of well then at least we can attempt to sleep in!

S is for Seattle:

I'm so excited, in two weeks we will be on holidays! This will be our first trip to the States with Ava and I'm so looking forward to checking out all the fun stuff Seattle has to offer! We will start our holiday by heading to Qualicum and staying at Mom and Dad's for the night, then driving to Victoria for the weekend. It's my birthday, as well as my sister and her husband' birthdays all between November 7th-11th, so it will be a fun weekend in Victoria celebrating birthdays. This trip we'd love to take Ava to the Museum and maybe to Miniature World as well.

We'll be heading to Seattle on the Monday of our week off but won't be getting in until mid evening as the Clipper only sails to Seattle at 5pm in the winter months. We're hoping to take in an art museum, the zoo, aquarium, Space Needle as well as a few other little places and hopefully get a bit of shopping in there as well! So we have a fun and exciting trip planned, I just hope it doesn't rain the whole time we're there, but if it does we'll be able to drink plenty of Starbucks to keep us warm!

R is for Reading; R is for Reliving My Youth

R is for Reading:

Ava loves books, she always has and I hope always will. We go to the library every few weeks and usually take out about 7 or 8 books, which we then read at least 3 of those until Mommy and Daddy are tired of them, but Ava can't get enough. The ones we'll be taking back that have been read over and over this time are "How to Catch a Giraffe" "Bear in Underwear" and "Hippo Has a Hat". During our trips to the library Ava will usually sit at the kids computer and watch the Cat in the Hat or the Sesame Street games while I pick out some bright and colourful books for us to read. Ava will occasionally pick out a book or two but usually that task is left up to Mommy, it's also quicker ;)

Ava is also becoming really good at reading numbers out loud, if she knows the number she can say it out loud, we've even heard her count past 10! The other day she said "11, 12, 13" and I'm not sure if 2.5 year olds can usually count that high, but we are pretty pleased :)


R is for Reliving My Youth:

One of the best things about being a parent is getting to relive some of the best parts of your childhood, even watching Disney movies! This evening we sat down with a bowl of popcorn and my favourite Disney movie, "Beauty and the Beast." Ava really liked it and thought the Beast was funny more than scary, at the end when Belle and the Prince are dancing, Ava was saying "Not Beast" so cute and so perceptive :)

It really is so fun to get to see things through fresh new eyes, and to get to do some of the things that I used to enjoy all over again.

Another thing I'm getting to relive again is my love of writing, I have something coming up next month that I'm pretty excited about that I will share with you later, but it has something to do with with the word Mom and the word Posse!

Q is for Quickly Growing Up; Q is for Quick trip to the mainland

Q is for Quickly Growing:

Ava will be 2.5 this month. Hard to believe how fast the time has gone since she was born. In the just the past 2 months alone, she has quickly gone from barely saying a word, to pretty much saying everything she can. I'll say something to her and she'll repeat it or point things out to me. We figure she was biding her time and just absorbing all the information she could take until one day she was ready to speak on her own. She is great in places full of people, but when there are only a few people in the room, especially ones she doesn't know very well she gets very shy. When we are out in public and she can people watch without worrying about people watching her she really comes out of her shell.

I am really looking forward to the next couple of months with her. Thanksgiving this weekend, trips to the Pumpkin Patch and Halloween this month, then a trip to Victoria and Seattle next month and of course Christmas in December we will get to see a whole new world through her eyes and her voice. It's really very exciting.

Q is for Quick Trip to the Mainland:

This past weekend we took a quick trip to Horseshoe Bay to finally celebrate my parent's 40th Anniversary all together. The whole family was there, and it was a wonderful day. Ava was a bit surprised to see Grandma when they arrived, but then was super happy to finally have her "Gamma and Ganddad" back :)

It was nice to get off the Island and the weather was a beautiful day for a ferry ride. We had a nice short visit with my brother and his little family. I brought my camera along and was sad that we suddenly ran out of time and I didn't even get any photos at lunch. Ava had a great time on the ferry on the way over and especially on the way back dragging us all over the ship.

P is for Please and Pictures; P is for Peaceful Mornings

P is for Please and Pictures:

Ava is getting very good about saying please when she wants things :) "Two more chocolates, pleeese"; "Up, Pleeese"; "Hep Me, Pleeese" Its really adorable, especially when its things she really doesn't need, but she just sounds so sweet and polite that it's sometimes hard to turn down her requests.

Yesterday we were finally able to get the outdoor family photos done that I've been wanting to do for the past year! After many failed attempts the stars aligned and we went out to the Filberg with Shawna from A Thousand Words Photography and spent a wonderful hour climbing statues, jumping near the shore and throwing leaves about. It was a wonderful hour for our little family in a weekend filled with working. We've had photos taken of Ava before by Shawna for the Cutest Kids of the Comox Valley photo contest, and they were great, even though our little bug was rather shy, so I'm really excited to see what these ones will look like!

P is for Peaceful Mornings:

I have a feeling I will have a few of those this week. With Derek working mornings again, he is up and off to work around 4, which makes for a broken sleep for me. If I was smart I would just roll over and go back to sleep, but since I'm not the world's best sleeper, I find it easier to just get up if I can't go back to sleep after an hour and a half of trying. So this morning I experienced something I haven't in quite some time....peace :)

I got up around 5:45 and got to watch the Desperate Housewives that Derek PVR'd for me last night, and I got to watch the whole show, uninterrupted! It was amazing ;) Then when I noticed Ava starting to stir in her crib, I experienced a whole other level of peace, the peace you feel when you hold your little one in your arms while they fall back to sleep on you and the world feels like all is well.

Even though I wouldn't mind going back to bed now, I have got to admit I started my Monday off on a great note!

O is for Olympian; O is for Over emotional

O is for Olympian:

Our little Olympian has started Teeter Tots, and has a great time playing with all the fun equipment at the gym. She goes through tunnels, swings on ropes, jumps in foam pits and climbs across metal bars. At times she gets a little over whelmed by all the other kids there (its a program for kids aged 2-4) and being on the younger end of the spectrum its not a surprise, but she happily plays by herself. She loves going up and down the slides, and she also loves looking at herself in the mirror, according to my husband, a trait she gets from her Mama. The best thing was she, had so much fun and wore herself out so much that she fell asleep in her stroller on the way home :)


O is for Over-Emotional:
I'm feeling a little over emotional this morning, could be lack of good quality sleep, a daughter that hasn't been getting as much sleep as she used to, just reading my friend's emotional blog about the birth of her daughter a couple of years ago, and maybe just maybe I might be missing my Mom and Dad a little more than an almost 31 year old should while they are off enjoying their selves on a 40th Anniversary cruise! It could also be that feeling of needing a break from your boring life when its been over 17 days since you and your husband have had a day off together.

Yes work has a way of getting in the way when you want to make plans, there always seems to be something happening at his work or mine, keeping us from having fun, but I guess if you want the bills to be paid and to be able to afford to live in such a nice place you have to make sacrifices along the way. I'm just looking forward to some much deserved time off for us in November. Time for some new adventures and some new memories with our little girl.

N is for Naps; N is for Nights Off

N is for Naps:

Ava has changed nap times on me again...

For awhile she was really good and would fall asleep almost like clock work at 1:30pm and sleep until 3:30 which was great on the nights that I work and it was great for developing a schedule of sorts. Then we went away and she didn't nap at her normal times or for the full length of her usual nap times either. The last two weeks Derek was working mornings so she was usually pretty excited when Daddy would get home right around nap time, then again so was I, so for those weeks we were lucky if we got any nap time in. Now that Daddy is back to working his regular schedule, at least for the next couple of weeks I thought I'd try to get her back on schedule, did it happen? Uh, uh! At least I'm not working tonight so its not a big deal, but today my little one fell asleep around 3pm with a full ice cream cone tummy :) Hopefully tomorrow nap time will be around 1:30 especially after I try to tire her out at Teeter Tots :)

N is for Nights Off:

It wasn't until I had to start working evening shifts again that I realized how much I had taken for granted having evenings to myself/ourselves. Nights off are great, you get to eat a real dinner, watch tv, do bath times and try to get everyone to bed at a reasonable time. Working evenings is great because I don't have to worry about someone else watching Ava and I get to spend all my free time with her, but its really taken a toll on my TV viewing! With the new fall season about to start I find that I'm just not that excited about it since I won't really get to watch my favourite shows on a regular basis. I can hope for a night here or there to watch and I can catch up via the DVR and on line, but its not the same as watching it when every one else is.

Nights off are also nice because it means time to spend as a family, maybe a walk here or there and a dinner prepared especially for Derek or Ava. Mostly they are nice because we're not in a hurry to get anywhere we can just do as we please. Those are a couple of things I enjoy most about having a night off, what about you?

M is for Mom-mee; M is for My favourite time of year

M is for Mom-mee:

Mom-mee seems to be Ava's favourite word these days, sometimes she'll go on for over 5 minutes just saying Mommy, Mommy, Mommy! It's so funny! She also loves to say Dad-dee as well as A-boom!, All Done, Hey Dude, Oh Man, Hi, Hey, letters of the alphabet, she can count to ten! I'm so happy with how she's finally begun to blossom with her vocabulary. It's really true that they learn at their own pace and if they aren't ready they will be with time. I think that once she started to learn a bit of sign language and was able to communicate with us, she realized that things were much more fun when you could talk and let people know what you wanted. I love the way she counts to ten, its the cutest thing ever "Un, Tooo, Twee, Urr, Bop (lol), syx, svn, eet, nyne, tenn" its so cute!



M is for My Favourite time of the year:

I love fall! I love the cozy sweaters, the rainy days after a summer of too much heat, the good nights of TV (though working 3-4 nights a week sort of kills regular TV watching for me), new clothes and the feeling of starting over that comes with years of back to school. Though my school years are behind me, I've always loved that feeling that going back to school would give me, a sense of new beginnings and excitement for things to come. This fall I've signed Ava up for Teeter Tots (lots of fun gym time) and I'm planning on taking her to Strong Start (a program for pre-kindergarten's) at the elementary school that she one day may attend.

Other things that make this My favourite time of the year are Thanksgiving, Halloween and of course my birthday! I celebrate my birthday in November, and since I was born have shared it with my sister (I was born two days before her 7th birthday) and now my brother in law, who was born two days after my sister! That week is a very busy but fun week for the 3 of us.

We are planning on taking a vacation to Seattle this fall as well, but are still just in the early stages of planning. We'd love to take Ava to the Zoo, Aquarium, Experience Music Project, Space Needle, and maybe a bit of shopping in there for us as well. So there you have it, a few reasons why this is my favourite time of the year! Happy Labour Day, hope your fall is as good as mine!

L is for Lion; L is for Loving Life

L is for Lion:

Last year our sweet little Ava was a Lion for Halloween, she was adorable and excited to be trick or treating. Ava's first Halloween she was a Bumblebee, very fitting since her nickname before she was born was Baby B. This year we decided to go back to the insect route and she will be a beautiful pink butterfly :) We bought her costume this weekend on our wonderful weekend getaway to the big city, I tried it on her and it fits pretty well, lets hope two months of growth won't change that :)






L is for Loving Life:

Life has been very good to us this summer, with lots of weekend getaways with family, and a few lazy relaxing weekends in there as well. Here's a few things I loved about life this summer:

-Big family gatherings: My sister' wedding at the the end of July and my nephew Kieran's 1st birthday party this past weekend in Maple Ridge provided loads of family time for Ava to visit with her cousins and for my parents to have all their kids together at one time :)

-Mini vacations: This weekend we went away to the "Big City" which although fun made me realize that I love our sleepy little town. I feel at home and much more relaxed in a small town than I do in the big city. Although I did love riding the sky train and I think Ava had fun too :) We are hoping to take another mini holiday in a couple of months, whenever we can get some much needed vacation time off for Derek.

-Quality Family Time: We had a few wonderful days here and there through out the summer where we spent the days just the three of us. One day we went to Campbell River and just got out of the Valley and explored. I love going for walks with my daughter and my husband. Seeing the joy on her face as she carefully runs outside, exploring the parks or throwing rocks in the water, I can tell she longs to be outside more often.

-On line shopping: Taking a bit of a departure here and one of the things I love is the ability to shop my favourite stores on line, especially if there isn't a store nearby, that's why I was so excited when I found out that Old Navy, now ships within in Canada! Love the clothes, and if its a clearance item even better, means I can buy that much more for Ava!

Finally, something a little sinful and decadent for my love list-Island Farms Butter Ripple Ice Cream with Chocolate sauce on top. Delicious!

K is for Kisses; K is for Kitties

K is for Kisses:

Ava is such a sweet and affectionate little girl these days, always giving us hugs and kisses. She likes her toys to kiss, and likes it when Mommy and Daddy give each other kisses too. She loves giving and getting kisses. Derek started a little game with her when she gets grumpy that usually sends the grouchies away, by giving her kisses and tickles. She always knows she'll get one of those right after she gets the other and loves the game. Most of the time she gives cheek kisses but sometimes she'll give you a kiss on the lips. Such a sweet little girl.

K is for Kitties:

Growing up we always had cats, at least 3, sometimes 4 cats at a time! They are and always have been my favourite animal. Giving love, and getting plenty in return. Sometimes they can be crabby and want to be left alone, other times they want lots of attention. I love that they are purrfectly happy left to their own devices and are not needy like dogs are. One of my favourite cats Morris used to sit by my side when I was little and if I was sick, he would vigilantly sit by my side guarding me to make sure I was okay. He was a good cat and lived a good long life. Another one of our cats, Casey knew how to use the toilet and to play pool, Morris was his mentor and he adored him. Though both cats are now gone, they will forever remain in my heart and always be a big part of my childhood.

There is only one cat left at Mom and Dad's, Fisher and he is a wonderful kitty. Ava loves him and giggles away at his tail and everything he does. He is a bit leery of my adorable shrieking little girl, but has grown accustomed to her. The other day they napped together on the bed :)

J is for Jeans; J is for Just Being Me

J is for Jeans:

Ava has so many pairs of jeans, plain ones, fancy ones, light ones, coloured ones and even skinny jeans. During the winter months they are a staple in her wardrobe, but these days she's happiest in a diaper and nothing more. We even found a pair for $1 a couple of weeks ago at Walmart, so we made sure to pick up a couple of those pairs.

One of my favourite pairs of jeans on her, was a pair of hand me downs from her cousin Maija, they had an apple on the knee and were adorable. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather to come in a couple of months so I can dress my girl up in jeans and cute shirts! But for now the most I'll be able to get on her is a pair of sunglasses.

J is for Just Being Me:

I've always been influenced by what my friends are doing, if one friend was getting married, I wanted to get married. If one friend was buying a house I wanted to buy a house, and of course if one friend was having a baby, I wanted to have a baby. To me the grass always seemed greener on the other side.

I was really lucky growing up and got to go on lots of vacations, had lots of Barbies and never felt like I was lacking in anything. It wasn't until I became and an adult and had to do things on my own that I started wanting what others had. Derek is a saint and puts up with me and my constant changing wants and needs, though I must admit I have had to learn that I can't have everything I want, all the time. I have to earn it, which I guess makes it better when I finally get what I want, it has also taught me patience.

In the past little while I have also started to discover more of what I really want in my life, opposed to what I think other people might want for me. In an earlier post I thought that I wanted another baby, but these days I'm happy with just Ava, and if it were just to be us three, I would be happy with that, if another little one entered our life I would be happy with that too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm happy with what I have right now, in this moment, because right now is all that we are ever certain of, isn't it?

I is for Ice Cream; I is for I Thee Wed

I is for Ice Cream:

Ava loves ice cream, what kid (of all ages) doesn't? Today on the way home from running some errands we stopped by Benino Gelato in Comox and got a treat. Bubblegum ice cream in a cup for Ava and Dolce Latte in a cone for Mommy. It was delicious! The last time we treated ourselves was Ava's birthday. I learned my lesson last time and got her ice cream in a cup instead of in a cone.

I is for I Thee Wed:

Today is our 5 Year Anniversary. Five years ago today, at this very moment, I was just about to get married! It's amazing how fast time flies. We have gone through so many happy times in the last five years: wedding, house, baby! It just doesn't get better or more exciting than those first five years, but I can't wait to see what the next five years have in store :)

Last Saturday my sister got married, it was a beautiful ceremony held at the Qualicum Beach Memorial Golf Course. I was the Maid of Honour and Ava was one of the flower girls (my niece Maija was the other). My sister looked beautiful in her wedding gown, and we had a wonderful time at the salon getting ready for her big day. I wish that my sister and brother-in-law as many happy years to come as Derek and I have had.

To my darling husband, I would just like to say thank you for the last five years, and I look forward to many many more. Love you.
XXO

H is for Helping; H is for Hair

H is for Helping:

Ava loves to "help" Mommy. If I'm sweeping the floors, she likes to push the Swiffer around. If I'm loading or unloading the dishwasher, she likes to play with the dishwasher and I hand her the cutlery that is hers to load into the cutlery rack. If I'm sorting the laundry she likes to take the laundry out of the basket or put it back in the dryer after its already been dried. These little bits of help are so sweet, sometimes they make for more work, but its the thought that counts ;)

H is for Hair:

I have always had a love hate relationship with my long straight hair. If I get bored it usually means its time for a haircut or a new hair colour. My first experience with dying my hair was with Henna, I was in middle school and it was something new and relatively safe to try, I liked it. Then I moved on to Castings, then when I got older and more sophisticated I went to the salon to get my hair coloured. I usually stick with a red shade, but I did try blonde the summer after Ava was born. It looked good, but after looking back at pics from when it was growing out it didn't look quite as good as it once did. These days I'm back to reddy brown and from a box, maybe I'll go back to the salon the next time.

My biggest struggle is bangs, I hate that my forehead is too big and that I need these pesky things to cover them up. It seems like too much maintenance to go to the salon every couple of weeks for a trim, so I either attempt to cut them myself which has always been a bit scary or I attempt to let them grow out and put barrettes (these days Ava's little girl barrettes) or elastics to pull them back. I broke down the other day and pulled out the scissors again, I don't mind them so much at the moment, but I'm sure that will change again, just give me a few weeks!

G is for Grandma; G is for Grateful

G is for Grandma:

Ava adores her Grandma, she has a special Grandma Giggle, she lights up when she sees her and when Grandma is around Mommy doesn't matter ;) Ava loves it when Grandma and Granddad come to visit her, yesterday she got a nice visit with them while Mommy was at work. They brought her pizza, strawberries and a new glittery coloring book, what more could a two year old ask for :)

Ava's love of Grandma began the day she was born, after meeting her Mom and Dad, the first two people she met (other than the Midwife and nurses) were Granny Janny and Johnny Lightning, while the nicknames didn't stick her love of them did.



G is for Grateful:

On this gorgeous sunny day I am grateful for many things:

-Grateful for Derek and Ava and how on a crappy day seeing them play and laugh together makes everything better.

-Grateful for my family who have always been there when I needed them most.

-Grateful for my friends, past, present and future who have helped shape me into the person I am today and will continue to do so.

-Grateful for my health, without it I wouldn't be here.

-Grateful for the roof over my head, the food in my belly and the pillow I lay my head on at night.

-Grateful for the job that as much as I might complain about, allows me to have the above and continue to have the above.

and I'm also grateful for the technology that allows me to bring this inspiring blog to you.

So now that I've shared what I'm grateful for, what are you grateful for?

F is for Funny Girl; F is for Fixing up the House

F is for Funny Girl:

Ava has been super goofy this week, she's taken a liking to trying on people's glasses. We think she's a tad upset that she doesn't have any glasses of her own since both Mommy and Daddy wear glasses, as do Grandma and Granddad has reading glasses after getting his eyes fixed a couple of years ago. She also likes to wear glasses as a belt and thought it was so funny when Grandma told her "those aren't a belt" the other day. She likes to put glasses on her CareBear and other toys as well.

F is for Fixing up the House:

When we bought our house over 4 years ago we knew there was a lot of things we wanted and needed to do to it. The first thing we did was get rid of the horrible curtains that were hanging in the living room out to the patio, then the first big project we did was new counter tops and hardware in the kitchen, we also painted and had a dishwasher installed, that was year 1.

Throughout the years we have painted various rooms, and done small little things to make the house more of a home. This year we replaced all the carpet upstairs with Traffic Master Allure Plank Vinyl flooring. It looks great and really helps cut down on the amount of dust upstairs. Our next project we'd like to tackle are the floors downstairs. We would like to get rid of all the carpets and replace the old linoleum in the kitchen.

Another thing we would love to do is fix up the bathroom upstairs, there is a lot of empty space in there and we would love to add a double sink in there or at least replace the vanity that is in there now.

So much to do, now if only the lottery gods would pay attention to us!

E is for Ears; E is for Errands

E is for Ears:

Ava is 2 years and 2 months old, she says some words but not as many as she "should" at her age so at her 2 year check up in April the Dr suggested that maybe she had a blockage in her ears. After a big struggle and many tears the Dr looked and sure enough her ears were rather red, so she put her on some antibiotics to see if she could clear them up but it didn't work, so after trying a different type of antibiotics and no change she decided that she should see the ENT (Ears, nose and throat Dr).

Meanwhile she was sent for a hearing screening which we had done last week, it was another case of kicking and screaming which I really don't blame her for. She was put into a small dark room where voices would come onto the speakers, and little flashes of things would pop up, if I was 2 I might be scared as well. So after a stressful session we found out her hearing is "grossly normal."

Now we have to wait until August 4th to see the ENT and find out what they have to say, here's hoping for the least traumatic solution for someone who's ears hear perfectly well.

E is for Errands:

I used to enjoy going shopping and running errands, but that was before I had a two year old! I didn't realize going from place to place would be so difficult with a whiny impatient little one. I don't blame her its not fun doing stuff that is mundane like paying bills or dropping off books but they are things that need to be done. When Ava was a baby people used to be so happy to help because she was a baby and just sat there patiently looking so sweet. Now she's 2 and I feel like I'm one of those mother's who gets shunned because I'm out with my energetic little girl who doesn't have time for waiting in a line. I must say she was pretty good today, I brought along a little Dora colouring book and then bought her a treat at the end of the errands so I only had to deal with an eensy bit of complaints, but even that tiny bit made me cringe.

A friend of mine told me that it does get better, but you just have to lower your expectations, I think that's a good piece of advice!

D is for Daddy; D is for Derek!

Time to pay homage to our favourite man!

D is for Daddy:

Ava loves her Daddy, he makes her giggle, he reads to her, plays with her, he knows how to get her to cooperate, he is such a fun Daddy!

Ava's Daddy knows how what to say that will make her giggle, its always something silly, they've even started to watch Sponge Bob together!

Derek is also really good at getting Ava to cooperate with him by making things fun and distracting her when she doesn't want to do as we ask, he is great at making a game of things and getting her to listen or reading a book to her to distract her from something else. Derek is a wonderful Daddy and Ava loves him very much :)

D is for Derek:

What can I say? I'm a lucky woman to have such a fabulous husband. He's been having a rough month, thanks to seasonal allergies wreaking havoc on him, but he still manages to do so much for me. We went shopping this weekend and he bought me all sorts of things, whether he had planned on it or not is another story, but he still was very good to me despite feeling like crap from "allergyville".

I'm so proud of his work achievements this year, becoming the News Director and all the plans he has for taking the news in a new and exciting direction and I can't wait to see it all come to fruition. Since last August when I had to go back to work he has taken on so much more responsibility between his own job and taking care of Ava and it amazes me every day how much he does. I really am so proud of him.

This August we will be celebrating our 5 year anniversary and I can't believe how fast those 5 years have gone, so much has happened in those 5 years: wedding, bought a house, had a baby and through it all we've remained strong. It makes me happy to have such a wonderful and supportive partner to go through life with. I could only hope for the same kind of love for my family and friends. Here's to another amazing 5 years my love.

C is for Colouring; C is for Coffee

C is for Colouring:

Ava loves to colour, she loves to be creative and colour and draw. As I type this she is colouring a new colouring book we bought her today. Colouring seems to soothe the craziness of being 2 and calms her down, for some reason I tend to forget to bring her crayons when we go out to eat which means we usually end up chasing her around whichever restaurant we are in. I love to see how much her art work has progressed, you can tell now that she is trying to draw objects opposed to just scribbles. On occasion she even draws a face or a letter that you can actually make out. I think she's going to be very artistic when she's older...

C is for Coffee:

I had a hard time deciding what I should do for my letter C, until my friend Dese told me I should do something fun like coffee, thanks Dese, so my post today is all about coffee! I don't know why I hadn't thought of it myself, guess I hadn't been drinking enough of it lately! I really do love coffee these days, I didn't understand it until I had Ava and began to lose out on sleep, but coffee really is wonderful!

I used to spend way too much on coffee by going out to the local cafes or Starbucks, but these days I have been using my Tassimo or making myself iced coffees! I love iced coffee, so yummy and the great thing about it is you don't burn your tongue on it. I love my Tassimo because you can make yourself a variety of drinks in a matter of minutes and if your the only one who wants any you don't have to worry about wasting a pot of coffee. I am really enjoying the lattes and cappuccinos that the Tassimo serves up, but you can also buy decaf, regular blends as well as Starbucks pods for the machine.

Gee, all this talk about coffee is making me want one, guess its a little late for one now....

B is for Barnyard Fun, B is for Babies

B is for Barnyard Fun

Today Ava and I went to the opening day of the Filberg Park Hands on Farm. She had a great time, and loved chasing around the animals. There were goats, sheep, pigs, bunnies, a cow, a donkey and even a turkey there! She really has no fear as she would run right over to the animals and get a closer look. During the opening speeches she decided to climb up the ramp where there is a platform for the goats to go on, of course I worried what other people would think about letting her run wild, but lets face it, she's a two year old and we're at a petting farm; those two things don't really go hand in hand with long drawn out speeches. Needless to say, I stopped worrying about the other parents and let her have a good time, the other Mom's can worry about their own little ones.

B is for Babies

When you get married everyone wants to know when your going to have a baby, then after you finally do have a baby, people wonder when your going to have your next baby. I wonder that myself, I wonder if want another, or if I'm happy with it being just the 3 of us. When I see babies I get that little knot in my stomach telling me yes, you want another, but when I'm having a rough day with Ava, I think am I nuts to want another? I know that for the first few years it will be tough having 2 little ones, but then I look ahead to the future during the teenage years, or when they are adults, when Derek and I are really old and really gray and I know that I don't want Ava to go through all of that without having a sibling to share it with...

A is for Ava, A is for Aging

I've wanted to blog for awhile now but I didn't really have any idea what to write about. I used to write all the time, then once life got busier I stopped, no reason other than being too busy and not really needing any kind of outlet. Then today as I was sitting in the car with a sleeping Ava in the back seat, I had time to think since I had nothing but time to think while I waited for Derek to return from getting groceries. I would write about the two things I know best, myself and my sweet little girl. So here it is, my inaugural post :)

A is for Ava.

The reason for this blog my beautiful little girl who brought new meaning to my life. All those cliches people tell you when they have kids, they may be cheesy, but their true. Time moves differently when you watch something you've created grow up and change on a daily basis. It's not about the future, its about the present, every day they grow and change a little more. Ava amazes us every day, for some one who is 2 she sure acts a lot older! She is so creative and loves to draw and colour, she loves to read, she loves to play with hair (especially mine) and she loves to be outdoors.

She is very smart and has been quickly learning sign language as a way to communicate since she doesn't say a whole lot. We've only been teaching her for a little while, but she already can sign at least 10 different words and every day she gets better at them :) She really is a wonderful little girl and I can't imagine my life without her.

A is for Aging.

As I was sitting in the car waiting for Derek with Ava peacefully asleep in the backseat, I had time to take a look in the mirror and to be honest I didn't like what I saw. Well, actually when I took a quick look I did, but as I looked closer with the natural light pouring through the windows, I saw a couple of things I didn't like. I saw many gray hairs and I saw some tiny wrinkles under my eyes. It seems that along with turning 30 last November, I also got some bonus gifts in the form of gray hair and wrinkles. I always figured that going into your thirties you would take some sort of maturity with you, but I didn't realize that all of these bonus "gifts" would start so soon. It also made me realize its time to dye my hair again.