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.

safari time

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take the kids to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Preserve.  It was about an hour drive to get there, but it was fun.  Ava had wasn't sure what to expect and had lots of questions.  It was kind of pricey, but once we got through decided that it was worth it. So we unleashed the kids from their restraints in the back, aka- their car seats, and set off on our 5mph tour. We saw all kinds of animals and they were all so close. Ava recognized some of them from The Lion King.  At first, all was pretty uneventful.  A deer here, buffalo there, some huge goats, llamas...the usual.  Then came the ostriches.  I kind of already knew what to expect because I went on one of these things when I was a kid and an ostrich reached into the car and grabbed my mom by her hair.  So, yeah it pretty much went like that.  They are so aggressive. Ava was freaking out!  It was reaching into the front window and pecking at Rolando.  Ava had enough,was crying and jumped into the back seats.  "Close the window. Lets go faster daddy!"   Then later saw some more--we immediately closed the windows and it started pecking at the window...crazy birds.  So we move on.  The zebras were cute and basically wanted to come in and see what was going on.  Adam was okay with it and loved watching until it came in a little too close...and then he was done too.  It was a good, close to home, fun little adventure for the kids. 

Adam was really excited about seeing the animals and being out of his car seat.

Adam leaned as far back as possible when the zebra came in.  Then he was done.

At the very end of the drive, I asked Ava what her favorite part was.  "Ummm, my favorite part was the llamas.  I didn't like the ostriches because they wanted to eat me.  They were banging on the glass and they were gonna break it because they wanted to get in and get me."

just Ava and her random thoughts and words

Ava: Mom, I'm gonna get married when I get big.
Me: Oh yeah. Why?
Ava: Because, I'm just gonna.
Me: Oh. Okay.
Ava: I told daddy that I was gonna get married to Aedan when I get big.
Me: What did daddy say?
Ava: He said, "I don't like Aedan", but I'm still gonna marry him when I'm thirty.
Me: Okay, when your thirty?
Ava: Ya, daddy said when I'm thirty I can get married.
Me: Well that sounds great. You just have to make sure the person you are gonna marry is nice, helpful, fun, and makes you happy.
Ava: Yes. Aedan does because he's nice and he plays with me every day on the playground, so I get happy...except when he pushes me down and throws sand at me.
Me: Oh, that's not nice to do that!
Ava: He won't do that when we are thirty.
Me: :-) sigh :-)

Same day a little later...
Adam is crying and Ava is getting annoyed.
Ava: ADAM STOP!!!
Adam: waaaaaaaaa...
Ava: Adam, shut your butt!
Me: Ava, what did you say? That's so ugly.
Ava: Mom. He's so getting to annoy me.
Me: Well, you use kind words. Do you hear me?
Ava: Yes I do. You are hurting my ears because you are yelling.
Me: I'm not yelling Ava, I'm telling you in a firm voice.
Ava: Oh...
Me: What do you need to do next time if Adam is bothering you?
Ava: Not tell him to shut his butt.
Me: Right, that's not nice to say. What can you say?
Ava: Adam, you shut...(interrupted by me)
Me: No, we don't say shut anything.
Ava: But you say shut your mouth, mom.
Me: (thinking to myself--do I really say that?)
Ava: (looking at me for some sort of reaction)
Me: Well if I do, I'm sorry. We can say, Please be quiet or turn your voice down, or ...
Ava: Can we say, Adam be quiet or stop it?
Me: Sure. Just be nicer about it okay?
Ava: Ya, but sometimes he doesn't listen.
Me: I know but he's a baby and you have to teach him how to be nice because you are his big sister.
Ava: Ok.

Later in the day...
Ava and Adam are playing and I'm putting clothes away. I hear a crash and a cry from Adam.

Me: What happened Ava?
Ava: Nothing.
Me: What happened, why is he crying?
Ava: Oh...um...I pushed him.
Then she starts jumping up and down smiling.
Ava: I didn't lie to you! I told you the truth!
Me: (how do I punish her when she is so happy that she was honest...this is something we've been working on...stay strong..)
Me: Well, you know that it's not nice to push. Adam gets so sad and his feelings get hurt when you push him. Do you know that?
Ava: yes, but I told you the truth.
Me: I know. I'm very proud of you for that. Thank you for being so honest, but you pushed him, and that hurts. So, you need to go sit in the corner and think about what you are gonna do next time.
Ava: ok...
4 minutes later
Me: come tell me what you are gonna do next time.
Ava: I'm not gonna push him, but if I do I will still tell you. I should be honest
Me: sighhhhhhhhhhhhh

Turning 1 is so much fun...well, kinda!

Thursday, April 1st, my baby boy turned one. I can't believe how much faster Adam's first year went than Ava's. I guess because we have been so busy that their is no time to stop and think about time.

We started out the day going out to eat for breakfast, then went to order his cake-but found out that Lucy's cakes is closed, then to the mall to buy him some new shoes-in the process he had a major diaper blow out-so thankful for the other mother in the Nordstrom's bathroom who spared some of her wipes, then home for a quick nap only to be woken up early to go to his one year doctor appointment. Got 2 shots and we found out he is growing-yeah!- and has moved from ths 3 percent to 5 percent on height, but still going strong in the 50% in weight and head.

From there we decided some play time at Zilker would be fun. So, we play and then head down to the water area to throw rocks in the water-one of Ava's favorite things to do. So, I'm holding Adam facing out and he starts crying. Thinking that I hurt his legs where he got his shots, I turned him around just in time for him to throw up his snack and his full bottle of milk all over me. I'm frozen with vomit running down the inside front and back of my shirt. He's screaming now, I'm calling for Rolando, and can do nothing else but start to laugh. Ava is so upset that we have to leave and refuses to hold my hand, "Mommy get away. You stink!" Very true. We are out of the baby spit up stage and are now in the full fledged stinky vomit stage...gross. I hate throw up!

Usually, this would never happen because I'm super self conscious about my body, but in this case I had to do what I had to do. Rolando gave me his under shirt and I changed shirts right there. I was somewhat hidden by a tree, but I didn't even care. We stripped Adam down to his diaper and then headed home. Roly stopped by central market and Ava went with him to pick out a small cake for Adam. My mom and dad came over to celebrate with us. So now we are ready for cake--light the candle, tell him it's hot, he starts to blow then proceeds to grab the candle with left hand, Rolando pulls his hand back and at the same time he grabs the candle with his right hand and extinguishes it. He starts screaming and I'm frantic. I washed his hand off and I think it was more the hot wax than anything cause thank goodness there was not mark or blister. When we get him calmed down he wants nothing to do with the cake. He would put his hand out to touch it, but then would pull back because he thought the cake was what caused him to be burned I think. He would eat it out of my hand, but other than that wanted nothing to do with it-he didn't even want it near him. My poor baby...please don't call CPS. What a day!

Happy Birthday Adam Joseph! I promise that next year your birthday will be better!

Playing before the vomit incident.


Before the extinguishing of the candle with his hand.

15 minutes after and happy to have had some cake.

Playing with Ava and my new toy.

June...the special cow

So we went to the Expo Center to have a fun day with the kids. We went into the kiddie area first, which had a petting zoo, pony rides, some other little kids stuff, and an area to watch a cow being milked. So the guy brings June out and starts talking about stuff that Ava has no interest in. He goes on and on about the types of cows they use for milk products, how many calfs this 3 year old cow has had, and how all of our milk before it is sold to the milk companies is skim milk and then the extra fat is added into it...appetizing. So Ava is half listening until he puts the suction cups on the cow.

Ava: What's he doing?

Me: Getting ready to milk the cow. He has to put them on so that the milk will go into the container.

Ava: What are those?

Me: That is where the baby cow drinks milk from his mommy. They are called utters

Ava: Are they her boobs?

Me: Yes Ava.

This conversation is going on as the old farmer man talks about his cows and how this particular cow produces 200 lbs of manuer a day. Quite the fiber diet I guess.

So now she is watching as the cow being milked. Super still, super quiet for a minute.

Ava: June is pretty.

Me: yes she is.

Mr. Farmer Man: Parents if your children are drinking chocolate or strawberry milk, it is still a good source of calcium and vitamins. No problems with that unless they are drinking over 1/2 gallon of that per day. Then you would have something to be concerned about.

Ava: June is pretty and brown. She makes chocolate milk.

Me and Daddy: What Ava?

Ava: June makes chocolate milk.

Me: You think she makes chocolate milk, why?

Ava: because she's brown

Me: Really? But her milk is coming out white.

Ava: yeah but she still makes chocolate milk cause she's brown

Me: And white cows, what kind of milk do they make?

Ava: the regular kind, white

Me: So what about the black and white cows, what kind of milk do they make?

Ava: umm...they make mud. Did you know they eat grass?

Petting zoo area. They both had lots of fun. Ava liked it, but wasn't too sure about touching everything. She did end up petting a llama and a baby goat. Adam on the other hand, had a great time touching ALL the animals. The only thing I could think about was hand sanitizer.

Time for the rides. Ava had a blast while Adam watched from his stroller.