oh dishwasher...how i love thee

Dear Dishwasher,
Although we have been living together for most of my life, I have ignored you.  But it wasn't because I didn't like you.  I was actually afraid of you.  You can do things that I cannot.  You are something that I am not.  But now that I have given you a chance, I think we make a perfect match.  Thank you dear dishwasher for allowing me to feel like I have accomplished something at the end of the day--even if all I did was load you up.  You keep a cluttered mess out of my kitchen.  I often find myself looking for other dirty dishes so that I can push those pretty little buttons of yours and listen to your soothing sound--often pretending that they are waves at the beach and ignoring the screaming children in the background.  You are my solution to the dirty dishes that I despise.  You complete me. 

Sincerely,
Your BFF, and tired mommy

p.s--being that dirty dishes and cleaning bathrooms are on my top 10 list of things I despise doing, do you have any friends that you could hook me up with in the bathroom department as you do in the kitchen?  If so, please give them my number. Just don't tell my husband.

4 years old and the trip to the pediatrician

So Ava turned 4 on May 21st.  I can't believe how time flies--truly.  It kind of makes me sad because she is definitely not a baby anymore, even though my she looks like she's about 2.  (Sorry honey, you got mommy's genes.) 

She is so funny.  I love listening to her and watching her.  She says and does the funniest things.  She loves to sing and dance and doesn't care who is watching.  She is obsessed with shoes, and thinks she knows everything--actually, she will tell you that she knows everything. She has also decided she wants to be on tv and has asked her dad several times "Daddy, how are you gonna get me on tv?"  Hmmm... 

Anyway, she is a mess, but she makes me laugh and smile and be silly every day.  She makes my life...I truly have no idea what I was doing before she was here!

Here she is...just being Ava...and funny poses are her new thing!

Well, now that you've seen the wonderfully silly side of Ava, let's talk about her 4 year checkup with the pediatrician.

First of all, we totally love our pediatrician, Dr. Ramirez.  He is wonderful with the kids and is so easy to talk to.  Ava adores him. 

I went into the visit knowing that shots would be in the very very near future.  They did the normal little things like weight and height, but this time it was a real little persons physical.  They checked her blood pressure and did a vision and hearing screen, and Ava's favorite part--she got to pee in a cup.  She was truly excited about that part, though I'm not completely sure why.

The doctor saw her, checked her out, talked to her and played for a while.  She is definitely petite 5% for both weight and height--28 lbs & 37 in...but she is healthy and growing, slowly but surely. 

"So, Mrs. V, you know that today she will be needing several vaccines, right? Now, you have two options 3 today and none next year, or 2 today and 1 next year?"

I opted for the "get it all out of the way" package, which he totally agreed with. 

So the doctor leaves and Ava is so excited to go because I told her we would go to Starbucks when we were finished, knowing we would need something to look forward to.

Ava:  Let's go mommy.

me:  well, Ava, you know at the end of Adam's doctor appointments something else happens

Ava:  ya, he gets shots (as she is saying this her eyes get bigger and she is now aware of what is going to happen next)

me:  Right.  Well, since you are 4 now, you have to get some shots so that you can stay healthy and not get really really sick.

Ava:  But I don't want any.

me:  I know.  Mommy will hold you and you can squeeze me tight and then we will be done and go to Starbucks. 

Ava:  (tears)

So the nurse comes in and Ava begins screaming.  The nurse talks to her and I'm holding her trying to keep her calm...no such luck.

Before the shots even happen, she wouldn't even let the nurse touch her legs, so  I had to hold her down.  It is truly amazing the strength of such a tiny little person. 

I'm laying over her holding the top part of her body down, and the nurse is holding her legs, and she is totally screaming and crying hysterically.  I just wanted to take her and say forget it, but I know that it is super important for her to get these, so I held on and tried to stay calm myself.  Nurse gets the two shots in one leg and one in the other and we are done.  At this point I am sweating and my ear is ringing from the screaming.  She was a great nurse, but this was by far the worst regular doctor visit. 

I had to hold her for about 5 minutes in the room doing deep breathing with her to calm her down.  It was really hard--for both of us! 

I carry her out and as we are leaving the nurse comes over and apologizes to her for having to give her all those nasty shots.  Ava turns to her and says with tears in her eyes, " It's okay. I'm gonna go get some coffee now." 

Whatever gets us through certain situations!

adam's first haircut

So we ventured out finally to get Adam's first haircut.  I had every excuse not to do it each day we planned to get his haircut, until I started to see the out of control mini mullet--maybe it was time.  We took him to a kids place so that he would be distracted by the movies, the noise, and the fire truck and car seats.  All was well with him.  I was the one who was completely not ready.

me: just trim it a little bit

super patient haircut lady:  ok mom, do you want it cut around his ears

me: well...i'm not sure...what do you think

super patient haircut lady:  we usually do, just so it looks better, but it's up to you

me:  ok, whatever you  think, just not too short (i still want him to look like a baby)

So she starts cutting away.  It looks like she is cutting it way too short, and she must have seen the horror in my face, so she starts talking me through it a little more.

super patient haircut lady:  I know it looks like a lot, but it's very little that I'm actually cutting.  These are all the little stray hairs

me: oh...ok

Adam is sitting there like a champ.  Not too interested in the movie, very interested in driving the fire engine and loving the bell

All is well...until she busts out the clippers.

me:  wait, wait, wait.  What are you going to use those for?

dad:  she's just going to go around the edges and clean them up and his sideburns

me:  (still waiting for her to answer)

super patient haircut lady:  exactly.  Is that okay?

me: (No) oh, sure.

super patient haircut lady:  It's okay mom. He'll look more like a little boy now.

me:  :(

So she finishes and styles it with some hair junk--which I quickly wiped out after we paid--comments on his good behavior and we are off.  I was exhausted.  This was definitely harder than Ava's first haircut.  Maybe because he's a boy and he probably will not have hair that long again anytime soon. 

Before

Ok...so he looks a little upset here, but check out the hair.  I thought it was cute, but needed a little taming.

He did great!  What a handsome little boy!

Later that day, after taking a bath and his hair drying on its own, I realized that I did not like it because it reminded me of something...

but after taming it to the side, I guess it's not so bad.