Mother's Day 2013

Another Mother's Day in the books.

It was a relaxing day. On Saturday, I went out for a couple of hours to do some shopping. Much needed mommy time. My mom came down on Saturday afternoon and Mike and I went out to the mall to do some shopping for him. He only goes once a year. It was time for some new things!

That night, my mom was up sick with a bug. (Sorry mom, but all family things are fair game on this blog!) So we spent a relaxing Sunday with her in the morning. We went to my sister Jacy's house for dinner. It too was a quiet evening.

This year was a special Mother's Day for me because it was the first one that I got a homemade gift from Ava. Hopefully the first of many. You know for sure this one is going in the keepsake's box!
It was a pin.




Mike got me a spa day at Dolce, which I have already booked for my birthday. I am getting a facial, massage, pedicure, shampoo and style, lunch and makeup touch up with customized lip gloss. They were having a deal on it and was more than half off. Can't wait!!! It is much needed!

This and That and Sleep and Garden...

There are a couple of things that I have been blogging in my head for some time now, so I guess I should just do it!!!

Right before Easter I decided that it was time to shut Noah's door during nap times. He was fine with it being closed at night, he just got used to it being open during naps and I didn't want to have to tiptoe around for the next year. One day, I just shut it. Of course he cried, but it was only about 3 minutes. The next day he cried about 2 mins and it went down from there. It took about a week and we now shut his door. It is so nice. I knew he could do it and I knew that he would cry at first, but I also knew that it would be short lived and it was! I also think closing his door has shortened his naps. Ever since we closed his door he wakes up and cries after about an hour to an hour and ten minutes. So he spends a lot of time doing this...

But it is usually on mama! He will fall asleep on us after we get him up for a good hour usually.

Around that same time, Ava started just getting up out of bed when she was done napping or sleeping. Let me tell ya, it scared the heck out of me the first time because she is so quiet and she just popped her head up from the behind the couch. I actually really like it because she wakes up much happier that way.  But, with that said, the kids have started going down for their naps a little later and Ava likes to read for a bit, so there are many days I have to go and wake her up at 3 pm and she is NOT a happy camper! She has had a couple of days where she hasn't napped too. I know that days are coming where she won't nap anymore, I am just hoping we can make it another year!

Because of Ava's new found "icangetupwheneverIwantto" attitude, she does get up many times and comes out of her room when we put her down. Just recently she started coming into our bedroom and stands by Mike and it scares him half to death. There is always some silly reason that she is out of bed.

The garden is coming along nicely. The green beans are taking off and growing so high. We have been able to sample a few here and there. the tomatoes are going crazy. We have only gotten a couple there too. The kids had a turnip yesterday. They love eating things right out of the garden. We check out the garden every morning and every evening. It is pretty awesome.

Basil and Tomato box

Sunflower seeds


Squash

Last weekend when we went on one of our weekly walks, Mike and I were feeling good so we did some running. Ava REALLY wanted to run too. So when we got to the end of our street she ran down the street with me. I told her she was my running buddy and she has wanted to go running every day.


Today Ava and I went to Brayden's 4th birthday party at Peter Piper Pizza. Ava couldn't wait to go. She kept asking all day if we were going.  She remembered that we went last year and played games and ate pizza and had cake.

This game was a bit hard for her. She made me do a bunch.


We had a lot of fun!

We've had some lazy weekends here. Mike has been working on the garden a lot.
We have been debating doing some kitchen remodeling. We did buy a new refrigerator and are crossing our fingers that it will fit ok. We have always hated that when you try to open the freezer, the wall stops the door from getting all the way open. We bought a 30.7 cubic foot French Door refrigerator. It will be bigger inside, which we NEED. We also need more pantry space, so those 2 things have made us think about remodeling, but only is the price is right!! I hope it is, I would love a better set up!

Noah's a Pocket Mouse and Ava Went Fishing

What can I say about Noah. He is hitting the terrible two's. He's defiant, stubborn and yet loving and caring.

Whenever Papa Dee comes to visit, he and Noah go back and forth calling each other Pocket Mouse. Noah even walks around saying Pocket Mouse Papa Dee! Noah is very silly when he wants to be.

His choice of word to agree to something or say yes to something is "sure". If you ask him if he wants something to eat, he says "sure". If you ask him if he likes something, he says "sure". If you ask him a yes or no question and his answer is yes, he says "sure". Funny, how kids pick up on a word. That is his word!

I have decided that Noah is on the Raw Diet. (Not really) But his choice of foods is ALWAYS fruits or vegetables. Not that I am complaining, but I wish he would eat other things too. He loves granola bars too. Lately, he is also loving pancakes. But, what Noah loves today, he will probably hate tomorrow.
The other day, I was eating a salad and Noah wanted to share.


We recently got his hair cut. We held off for so long because it is not a pleasant experience. We brought lollipops and smarties to bride him with, but he just wasn't having it. He cried for us the entire time.
This was his hair a week before we got it cut.


We had my sister come over to visit us last week with baby Sam and Noah held him. He was so excited. He likes to say how cute baby Sam is.


Noah loves his sister! He copies everything she does. Ava put on a hat, so Noah had to find a hat to wear.

Ava is still into picking out her clothes and this is what we end up with!

Ava also held Sam when he was here. She was pretty excited.

Last weekend, Mike took Ava fishing. They didn't catch any fish and Ava kept saying that it was taking too long, but overall had a great time.

Easter 2013

What a great Easter we had. It is Mike's favorite holiday and we hosted at our house.

My mom and Dwayne stayed the night,so they were here when the kids got up to look for their Easter baskets. The Easter bunny left eggs around the house with little notes in them for the kids to find their Easter baskets.

Ava was mad because Noah wanted to open this egg. I actually let him, but he wouldn't give me the note to read. Ha!

Another egg!

She found her Easter basket. It was under the "monkey bars"

Noah found his too!

The only thing that Noah cared about was the candy. He went right for a pack of smarties and after he shoved them in his face as fast as he could, he ate this chocolate bunny. All of it! He is just like his mama, a sweet tooth. After that, I told him he couldn't have any more and then he looked at all his toys.

Ava, on the other hand, was very much interested in her toys and could care less about the candy. Go figures!

The Easter bunny got Ava a bubble machine and they both LOVED it. This is the best kind, you just fill it up and turn it on!!

Everyone came over around 2 is and after a yummy dinner, we had an Easter egg hunt. Noah was really into it.





Ava too!

Unfortunately I didn't get a family shot. Noah was kinda fussy and clingy and Ava didn't want to sit still. Needless to say, we went on a sugar detox for this week. These kids are really effected by sugar. They don't sleep well and are really whiny. Now that we have a ton of it, they get a piece here and there.

The weather was great. I think we were in the upper 80's. Mike put up a tent in the back yard so that we could eat outside.

Grandma Nini Visit

Grandma Nini made a last minute decision to come out and visit us  the past couple of days.  She drove out here with Nancy, Mike's sister.

The kids always love to hang out with their grandparents. Unfortunately the kids started getting sick on Sunday, when she came, but they were troopers for her visit here.

Grandma Nini brought Ava some barretts and of course Noah wanted in on the action.



Of course Buddy and Bobo wanted in on the action too!

Our Little Garden Grows

Here are some updated pictures of our garden. It grows more and more each weekend and it now looks like this:

Ava was telling me that there are too many mushrooms growing!!

Box #2

Sweet Poatoes




The kids love to go outside at night with their daddy and check out the garden.  They have eaten some green beans off the plant already!!

Life Lately

Here is our life in bullet points:

• My little sister gave birth to her first baby on March 12th (which also happens to be Mike's birthday!) After many, many hours in labor, Samuel David Walters was born weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 20" long. I don't have any good pictures yet! Hopefully we can get a nice family shot on Easter!!
• Ava is on Spring Break this week. We have been crafting up a storm. 
• Noah loves music. Any toy that has music on it, he will turn on and play over and over again. He loves to try sing the songs, but loves to dance.
• Ava and Noah have a typical love hate relationship. Sometimes they play so well together and the other times they are at each others throats.  The other day, they were pretending that they were on a ship and had to watch out for the sharks. They played and played.
• Most times, when one kid has a toy, the other wants it, claims that it was theirs and/or grabs as fast as they can and runs with it. This is always followed by tears.
• Noah likes to copy everything Ava does. If she says something funny, Noah tries to do the same. If Ava does a funny move, Noah copies.
• Noah still won't really eat meals. He is a snacker on the go. We do get him to sit down for dinner, but lunch and breakfast, for-get-about-it.
• Ava has been waking up again in the middle of the night. It is always around midnight. She has been pulling lots of shenanigans at bedtime again. When this started over a year ago, we decided that we would sit in her room for 5 minutes after Noah went to bed. Lately, as soon as Mike leaves her room, she either a)starts crying and/or b)gets out of bed and opens and closes her bedroom door and/or c)reads for a little bit and then proceeds to do a) and b). I finally took away one of her animals that she took to bed and it has worked for 2 nights now. I know this won't be forever, but it is hard to have your sleep interrupted and to go in and out of her room for an hour at bedtime. We have told her that she can read or play with some animals in bed, just don't call for mommy and daddy.
• Noah wakes up at 5:30 EVERY SINGLE morning. The only nice part about it is that he is a snuggler and will usually come in our bed and snuggle.
• Last weekend, both kids slept in past 6 am on Saturday. It was such a nice present!

Looking forward to Easter. I am going to make it my goal to take family pictures.