Anniversary's, Birthday's and Vacations oh my!

The month of May is a busy one for my family. There are many birthday's and anniversary's, including mine. On Tuesday, Mike and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary. It seems like a lifetime ago that we got married. It has been an amazing 8 years.
On Wednesday, we celebrated my 32nd birthday. I made my favorite dinner, which is tomato,basil cream pasta with garlic bread. For dessert, I made my favorite confetti cake with confetti frosting. I have been having that for as long as I can remember. I made a mini one, since it was the 3 of us (3 1/2 of us!) Here is my cake....

On Wednesday, I started my vacation, which is 12 days long! ahhhhhhh. It is much needed. We are going to meet up with Mike's sisters on Saturday morning for breakfast and then going to our friends house in the afternoon for a pool party.It should be a good time. We will see how Ava does in the "big" pool. She has never been in and if our baby pool in the back yard is any indication, she will hate it, but we are going to try.

On Sunday, we are heading up to Prescott for a couple of days to escape the heat. We are going to take one night and go out to dinner without Ava. That will be nice. I can't remember the last time we did that. It might of been last year at this very same time. Then we come back and on Thursday we have our first ultrasound. I am super excited to hear the baby's heartbeat and see it. That ALWAYS gives me a piece of mind. I will post pictures when we get back from the doctors appointment.

I am 7 weeks today and well, the morning sickness is starting to set in. I was hoping and praying that it wouldn't. I read that sometimes it can come on between 6 to 8 weeks, but some can feel it as early as 4 weeks. I was the later with Ava and this one seems to have just come on this week. I have to admit, it isn't as bad as with Ava and it is mostly in the morning until after lunch, but each day is different. I am SUPER tired though. I could fall asleep at any moment. I am glad that help will officially start on Saturday with Ava because some days, I make her bring me the toys and the books. Speaking of books, that is all she wants to do these days is read books. I read the same books sometimes 3 times in a row. I have decided that since she is still too little to know any better that it is ok to make up words and skip pages. Sometimes, I just close my eyes, make up some words or recite word for word what the book actually says because I have read it so many times and turn pages!

Below is a picture that most describes how I feel...

BUTT CRACK!!! Ava was doing that all on her own and I was laughing so hard, I almost missed the shot.

Here are some pictures we took the past 2 days. How can your resist those big eyes and lips..

here is a bath shot. We don't have many of these, but I put her hair in a mohawk and she was laughing because we were laughing. That is her laughing face..

Ava's gonna be a big sister!

Yes, we are adding another baby to our family! Ava will be a big sister to either a baby brother or sister. You all are the first to find out, besides family. We found out a little over a week ago and thought we would wait until the first ultrasound to tell people, but that is so hard to do. This was planned. We decided that we wanted our kids close together for a couple of reasons. We don't want to get a taste of "freedom" and then have to go through the naps/baby schedule all over again. It is just starting to get easy to go places because if Ava misses a nap, it isn't a big deal. We won't have to stop and then start again with diapers. We will be buying diapers for another 2 years. They will most likely be in diapers at the same time for a short period. (I want to start potty training early!)
How did I find out? Well, like I said, it was planned. I started "feeling" like I was pregnant. A little bit of nausea here and there. I decided that I was going to take the pregnancy test 2 days before I was considered "late", but I couldn't wait, so on the night of May 11th, I took the test. Mike was in his office working and I brought it into his office and laid it down on his desk. He was a bit in shock because the 2nd line wasn't really dark. I told him that there were 2 lines and there is no question about it. He made me take another one the next morning. It was for sure positive then. We set up our appointment at the doc's office and Mike still had to go and hear it for himself. He is too funny!
Right now, I am 6 weeks, 3 days along. Baby Leptuch #2 is due on January 13th, 2011. I am planning on doing another c-section. I thought it over and don't want to try to have the next one naturally and then go through what I went through with Ava, 18 hours of labor and failure to progress, and then have to have a c-section anyway. I was so exhausted when Ava was born, I don't even remember the first time I held her. I would rather just plan it and be able to enjoy it a bit more this time. Ava came 2 weeks early, so if that happens with #2, then it could be a New Year's Eve baby. We go for our first ultrasound on June 3rd. I will be 8 weeks along.
You might be wondering how I am feeling. Well, so far, so good. I was actually really good for the first week when we found out. I only had one night where I felt achy, which is exactly what happened to me right before I found out I was pregnant with Ava. Other than that, I have felt pretty good and not too tired until about a day ago. I'll take the occasional wave of nausea. This pregnancy and my pregnancy with Ava are like night and day. With Ava, I was nauseous all the time and so tired. With this one, I feel pretty good and have good energy until Mike gets home and then I am ready for a nap. I am definitely nesting. All I want to do is clean things out and reorganize!

For this pregnancy, I bought a "Belly Book". I wanted something easy and light to write in. So each week, I am going to take a profile picture to put in it and I will post online too, at least until I deem that I look ok, then you might only get a monthly picture!

This is week 5...

Week 6....

No bump as of yet, but I can definitely tell it is starting to get bigger. In fact, my belly grew almost an inch in the first week. I read that sometimes you "pop" earlier with the 2nd one. I also think it is because I have an appetite the size of Texas. Mike wants to feed me all the time and every time I say I am hungry, he says "feed that baby of mine". He expects another big and healthy baby.

As some of you know, I joined Weight Watchers in January because I just couldn't loose the last of my baby weight and what girl doesn't always say they want to loose 10 lbs on top of it anyway. Once I started, it was pretty easy and just kept going. I had finally gotten to my goal weight and lost 20 lbs and now I am pregnant. That was actually planned. I took away better eating habits that I hope I can take with me in this pregnancy and not eat In and Out Burger all the time like I did in my last pregnancy Hamburgers were my big craving when I was pregnant with Ava and I have been thinking about them lately. Don't worry, I will be eating, I just hope that I can make better choices. ( I know I will read this post in a couple of months and laugh at this "hope"). Sometimes the cravings overtake my thoughts. Speaking of cravings, so far, nothing yet, just sweets.

So enough about me... Here is a picture of Ava.

We went to our friends daughters birthday party on Saturday to celebrate her 2nd birthday. It was from 9-11, which is right when Ava naps, so I was curious on how she would do and she did great. We left a little early and on the way home, I gave her some puffs to try to keep her awake and I looked back after about a minute or so and her eyes we barely staying open. She was eating and fighting the sleep. It was hilarious. I laughed and then she laughed, again, with her eyes drooping down. She loves to laugh especially if we laugh. Sometimes, Mike and I will be having a conversation and laugh about something and she will laugh too.

Well, sorry about the novel. Looking forward to this week as we are celebrating our 8th anniversary on Tuesday and my 32nd birthday is on Wednesday. I only have 2 days of work and then I am off for 12 days. A vacation is much needed!

15 months old

Today Ava is 15 months old. I can't believe how fast time flies. We had our 15 month well check up this morning too. She weighs 24lbs 4.5 oz. That puts her in the high 70th percentile. She has really slowed on the weight gain. I am not sure how, because some days she eats like a cow. Tonight she had 2 pieces of pizza and probably could of had more. I guess, I will continue to feed her if she seems hungry. She is 32 1/2 inches tall which puts her in the 96th percentile. Gotta love daddy's genes! Dr. Jafri was really pleased with how well she is doing and couldn't believe how many teeth she has. (she has 12 officially and the bottom 2 canines are coming in). I can tell she is trying to talk more and more. She tries to mimic what I say. Words might not come out, but she moves her mouth to try to get it out. She is communicating more, well, if you count grunting and pointing. She will go to the kitchen by the cabinet where we keep our food and start grunting and go into melt down if I don't get her a snack right away. I guess she is like me in that way. If I don't eat when I am hungry, I start to go downhill fast.

Ava is starting to get more and more timid around other people/babies. Today, when we went to Gymboree, there were a lot of new kids/parents. She buried her head in my legs when another toddler would walk towards her. At one point all the kids were on this air log and the parents were bouncing them up and down and Ava was so scared she clung to me and then buried her head in my chest and did not more for quite some time. I had to go and get one of the stuffed animals to get her to lift it. That is my only concern with her. I know that it is probably not an issue, but I still worry. I know that I just have to keep taking her and eventually she will warm up. She needs familiarity and routines, that is just how she is and when it is not like that, she tends to get scared.

Nice Sunday with Auntie Susan and Troy

Aunt Susan and Troy came over last night for some BBQ chicken, potato salad and fudge brownies (yummy!) Ava is starting to remember who Susan is and let her hold her and Ava even put her head down on her. It was so cute! She was hamming it up for them too!

After dinner, we went outside and because it was still a bit warm, Mike wet Ava's hair down and this was her new do!!!

My crazy haired girl!

I love my Ava!

I wanted to take a minute to stop and really appreciate my little girl. I tend to get so focused on what she is doing and our family life. I am very lucky with my job. I work part time from my house and right now we are in between nannies as most of you know, so I watch her 24-7. I really, really enjoy every minute of it and know how lucky I am I know many moms don't get to be with their kids, but for a couple of hours every night. Some days are tough, I have to admit, but I still love it and wouldn't change it for the world.

This weekend we got up early on Saturday and headed off to the zoo. We got there at 8 am and walked around. Ava loves the animals. I guess I should really say, she loves them from afar, not up close. We got to pet a donkey, Pedro, and watch the rooster and turkeys and all the other great animals. She just loves going. Here are some pictures below.

Ava's personality is shining through every day. Overall, she is a great baby. She usually plays by herself in the mornings so I can get work done. When she gets frustrated, she will start to cry. I am trying to encourage her to figure it out with just a little bit of help so that she can build her confidence and not get frustrated so easily. It is difficult sometimes. I tend to do everything for her. She is exploring her space. She likes to crawl under the table. It almost always ends with a cry.

She is learning about opening and closing doors.She will go into the dark laundry room and close the door. I usually wait a minute or two to see if she cries, but she never does and then I go and open it for her.

She loves music. When she hears it she sways her body or bounces up and down. We play a lot of music in our house, because I need background noise.

Sleeping has been a bit rough lately. I am not sure what the deal is. Her naps are very unpredictable. Sometimes she will take two 1 hour naps or sometimes two 1-1 1/2 hour naps. Yesterday we put her down a little bit later than normal for her morning nap and she slept 2 hours, but didn't take the second nap. She has been waking up around 5 ish every morning and screaming as if she is scared. We go in and give her her paci, but she still cries for a bit before settling again. This morning she was up at 5:20am....I did notice a bump on her bottom left side where her canine tooth is coming in.

She loves to watch baby Einsteins. She knows a lot of it by hand now. she knows what is coming next on the video. Below is her and daddy watching it. On a side note, I was watching with her and happen to see the dancing part and realized that is where she learned to bounce up and down when I say to dance.

She is really shy. I know that I was pretty shy until about High School and I really hope that she will come out of her shell. If someone tries to talk to her, she will bury her head in your legs. When we were at Gymboree, they did this activity where all the kids sit on an air log and we hold onto them and bounce them and she was the only one that insisted that I hold onto her her as if we were hugging. The rest sat on top and let moms hold them and bounce them. She is more shy in bigger groups. The previous 2 weeks at Gymboree, it was Ava and Alli only. No other kids showed up and she participated in some of the group activities that she hadn't done before. She was too scared. It will just take her a little longer to get involved in things.

Friday Night Pizza

All week long, we look forward to Friday night pizza. It is a favorite in our household and we have it every Friday night. The past 2 Friday night's, Mike and I actually had a nice treat as Ava took a little bit longer evening nap and we were able to eat alone! Last night was no different, but when Ava got up and we told her that her pizza was ready, she got all excited. She eats 1-2 pieces. She loves it and so do we!

Happy Mother's Day!

This was my second Mother's Day and it will be unforgettable. Why, do you ask? Well, at about 1:30 am, we woke to the sound of Ava chocking and then puking. Mike and I sprang out of bed, ran in, picked her up and realized that she wasn't done throwing up. I ran her to the bathroom, but quickly found out that she doesn't want to be turned out towards the sink, but in towards my chest. So I was puked on first thing this Mom's Day. It was not my first and certainly won't be my last! We got her all cleaned up, read some books and then put her back down, only to be awoken again about 30 mins later to the same thing and again, I was puked on. By the third time, I grabbed a towel to use as a buffer. I felt so bad for my little girl. We don't know why she was sick, but that was the end of it. She did wake up one last time, just scared, around 2:45. I just picked her up and put her on my chest and rocked her in the rocking chair for about a half hour while she slept. That part I enjoyed sooo much! She was fine by morning.

Mike brought me coffee in bed, which is all I wanted, even though we could barely open our eyes because we were so tired for being up most of the night. I still drank it and loved every minute of it. Thanks hon! We had already decided on Friday that we were going to go to the Farmer's Market in Ahwahtukee and Ava seemed to be ok, so we packed up and headed out. I was a bit disappointed. Not many booths of fresh veggies/fruits or flowers. It was really small too, but we still walked out with some hummus and salsa. We came home and cleaned the house in preparation for the family to come over for lunch and dessert. It was really nice and low key. I made a fabulous carrot cake for dessert. Yummy! It was just a really nice day and happy that I have my little Ava to help celebrate it with. Love her to pieces.
I wish I had some pictures to post, but I am only posting because the TV in my bedroom is on it's last leg and I can't stand to watch it with lines running through it. It is too dark to fool around with a camera, so check back later this week.

Not looking forward to this week at work as we moved offices last week and our systems were down the ENTIRE week. I know, crazy,right? So I have a lot of catching up to do. Oh well, such is life.

Hope everyone else had a great mom's day!

My First Haircut!

Yes, Mike finally agreed to let me get Ava's "mullet" cut! We went to Kids Snip-Its by our house and it was a mad house, but we put our name in, went to Target and by the time we were done, they were ready for us. Here is the BEFORE.....

She did pretty well sitting in the chair to get her haircut. We had to give her her paci to distract her and daddy stayed right by her side. If I went too close or touched her, she wanted me to pick her up, so I was the paparazzi for the event.

We didn't want to get rid of her famous shag, so they just took a little bit off, but just enough to be cute. Here is the AFTER...

She got ahold of her paci when we were cleaning up in her room when we got home and I couldn't get her to let it out without a fight...

Ava's newest thing is CLIMBING.... the dreaded climbing.. This is where I can officially say that I can't get anything done. The other morning I was getting my crock pot dinner ready and I looked over into the family room and found Ava standing on the couch, smiling at me and bouncing up and down. Here is a video of it. (I called Mike and towards the end she was trying to jump off, so the taping is a little rough.)

She is also climbing up on her little pink chair that I got her awhile ago. That one is worse because it is made of plastic and she will stand on it as well and try to get to things and it tips really easy. I have to keep my eye on her every second.

She is using her sign language a bit more now, but still likes to grunt and point. She mostly uses "all done" and "more". I am trying to get her to say words, but she looks at me like I am crazy. I will take her using sign language, because at least she is communicating.

Our weekend

We had such a nice weekend. On Saturday, we got up early (6am) and walked to the Starbucks that is at the end of our street for some coffee and then went for our walk. Afterwards, we ran some errands and cleaned the house. I know...how is that a nice day, but being able to clean all at one time is a luxury these days. We went to my sister's house Saturday night for her delicious prime rib and to celebrate my step brothers birthday (Happy Birthday Brian!) I made a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. It turned out pretty good. I love to bake, but I don't do it very often because I can't have sweets around the house since I have no self control. It is as if they call my name to eat whatever it is that I made!
Sunday, we got up early again and decided to go to the zoo. If you become a member and buy a 1 year membership you can go anytime and one of the benefits is that you can go in 1 hour before it opens to the general public. Right now, that means we can go at 8am and that is just what we did. It was awesome. It is as if you have the park to your self. We walked around the kids area and Ava LOVED every moment of it. Above are a few pictures that I took. I know that her and I will be going A LOT. I know the summer heat will make it hard, but they have an area where the kids can play in some water. We will hopefully spend a lot of time there. We are going to be meeting up with Erin and her daughter Ella next Thursday morning and hopefully can do it a lot more. We headed out to Ikea after her nap, but it was unsuccessful as they didn't have what we went looking for instock. We are looking for a bench with shoe storage for out in the garage. As for right now you would think it was a shoe graveyard. Since we got new carpet last summer, we don't wear our shoes in the house and since we always go in and out through the garage, why bring them in since we would have to go to our closet and bring them out there anyways?They said they should have it instock in a week or so. Let's hope so. I wouldn't mind another trip to Ikea. Every time I go there, I find so many other things that I want to buy. I like things to organize our house.
Well, looking forward to Mother's day next weekend.