Fears

We all have a fear of something. Mine has always been heights. I get dizzy just thinking of being high up somewhere and looking down.

Ava has developed a new fear as of this weekend. She is afraid to go for a car ride. She keeps thinking that we are going to leave her. She won't let me open the car doors until I put my shoes on and doesn't want me to turn the car on until I am in. (Luckily the cooler weather is on the way, because I always turn the car on to cool it off). As soon as I say we are going to go out, she starts to ask if we are going in the car or stroller. If I say car, she starts to say over and over "mommy is never going to leave me." That is because that is what I have been telling her to calm her down. It started the day we left Prescott. We had everyone packed up and Mike went in the house one last time and she started to freak out, as if she thought Mike wasn't coming with us. I am hoping that this phase will pass fast. We go out and about in the car EVERY. DAY. Luckily as soon as I get in the car equipped with snacks and good music, she is ok

Noah's has a fear of public restrooms. Random, I know. Every time we are out and I have to use the restroom, as soon as I start to go in one, he starts to cry. Then it goes into high gear once he hears the toilet flush.

He is also scared of big crowds and loud noises when he is in his stroller when we are out and about. He mostly starts to cry when we walk by the play area at the Chandler mall. I guess it echos and is loud and he probably realizes that I am not there. (On the bright side, my arms are getting a great workout because I have to carry him the rest of the time.)

I know that each of them will be afraid of something at every stage of life. I just hope I can ease their fears as their mom.

And with that, I leave you with my two cuties...

Another Weekend in Prescott

Gosh, it has been a while since I have blogged. We have been busy around here. There are really just not enough hours in the day!

We got out of town this weekend and headed up to Prescott for my Grandma's 84th birthday. (And wouldn't you go figure that I didn't get one picture of that day!)

We drove up Saturday morning and left on Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect.

Mike and I were able to take a nice long walk Sunday morning and then we headed to the pumpkin patch. Ava was scared at first and then had a good time looking for a pumpkin.

Ava and daddy looking for pumpkins in the pumpkin patch.

Looking at the animals in the animal farm.

Noah was more interested in the pumpkin than looking at me for a picture.

 Trying to get Ava to look at me for a picture.

Our Evenings

For the past month or so we have been doing our winding down to bed time in Ava's room.

Here is a snapshot of our evening.....

Noah has been spending his time trying to roll over to crawl. 

Or to chew on the bed rail while Ava reads.

See how he is twisting. If we move the pillow, then he will go "splat" onto his belly.

It has become my favorite time of the evening because we are all in the room with no distractions and it is our family time!

Curious George

Every Friday at 10:30am, our Barnes and Nobles has story time. Today they had a special guest appearance, Curious George. I have been talking it up to Ava all week. Today we went and it was a Mad House! We met up with Ella and Erin. Ava was excited to go, but I knew that this is how it was going to go.

After the Curious George Book, out came Curious George.

And this was Ava's reaction.

No surprise here, but what is she going to do when we go and meet Dora or Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny.

It was still fun to get out. We enjoyed a nice lunch at the food court and now she is all tuckered out!

A Girl And Her Soccer Ball

The other day we ventured out to Buy Buy Baby. Ava wanted a new ball. She had her pick of any kind of ball. There were ones with Dora and Diego on them, Ladybugs etc.. But Ava wanted the Soccer Ball.

I think she will be into sports when she gets a little bit older. She just loved that ball and carried it with her in the car seat all the way home1

Backyard Photoshoot

Every month, I get pictures of Ava and Noah together. I want to see how much they change each month. (Plus, I am working on my yearly Christmas Photo book for the grandparents).

Yesterday, I took these pictures of the kids.  Enjoy!

A Day In The Life Of...

...Noah at 8 mos and Ava 30 mos. I thought I would randomly throughout the year post what a day in our life looks like so I can go back and remember. After all, my memory of things isn't getting any sharper!


After a night of many wake ups, mostly from Ava, our baby alarm clock goes off around 4:45am (that would be Noah)

5:25am Mike and I jump in the shower in hopes to get ready before Ava and Noah start to squawk loud enough that we can't ignore it anymore!

6:00am: Get Noah up, fed and dressed.

6:15am-6:45am: I make my breakfast. Mike makes breakfast and his lunch. Ava plays by herself and frequently asks us to play. Noah hangs out in his poop chair.

6:45am-7:00am: I wash bottles and clean up the kitchen. Mike heads out for work and the kids play.

7:00am: Noah gets his solids.

7:00-8:00am: Ava, Noah and Mama play in the living room.

8:00am-9:15am: Noah naps,Ava gets dressed and then breakfast (she is not a breakfast girl. She won't eat for a while after getting up. If we try to make a breakfast too early, she will only take a couple of bites). Then Ava gets some TV down time and I do some chores around the house or things on the computer.

9:15-10:00am: Noah gets up and we play. If we have our play date with Ella, this is when we head over to her house or she comes over to our house.

10:00am: Noah gets his bottle. Then we play until lunch time. Sometimes, this is when we will head out to the mall for an hour or so. On Fridays, Barnes and Nobles has story time at 10:30am, so we head over for that.

11:00am: Noah gets solids and Ava gets lunch. Then we play until nap time.

12:30pm-2:00/2:30pm: Nap time. Yay! Yay! This is mommy time. This is when I catch up on my Tivo. Don't bother me during this time. As of lately it has been a short time because Noah has been taking a short nap during this time.But on the flip side, now that we have moved this nap out, Ava has been taking longer naps.

2:00pm (or whenever Noah wakes up): Noah gets his bottle. Ava gets a snack. Then I clean up the kitchen from lunch and get the coffee ready for tomorrow and pull out what I need for dinner. The kids play.

4:00pm: As of right now, Noah still goes down for a short catnap, but I am trying to change that. Mike comes home. I make dinner and then we all sit down for dinner. (Yes, we eat really early).

5:30pm: Bath time and get into jammies.

6:00pm: Noah gets his night time bottle and then we retreat into Ava's room for quiet time and to start winding down for the night.

6:45pm: Noah goes to bed and Mike reads Ava books and then it is lights out. Then this is where Ava pulls out her "playbook" and starts going down the list of things she can say to get us to come in and get her up or out of bed...Ava, we are on to you..." I'm choking, I have to go pee-pee, my knee hurts", we know them all!!!


Then Mike goes into the office to do some work for a couple of hours. I retreat into the bedroom for a TV show or two and then off to bed.

Pretty much the same every day. As I like to say Wash. Rinse. Repeat...but I wouldn't change it for the world.