Our Last Week In Phoenix

I was looking through the pictures on my camera and found so many cute ones from our last week in Arizona. I wanted to share them! :)

Dance Party!!

We spent the 4th with our friends, The Rayburns!

 Everyone in got a bath after swimming!

Randy was the target in Wrestle Mania. LOL!

This was Dylan's last day at school. We had to pull his carseat out of the van so he borrowed Ava's. :)

After school we went for yogurt with our friends. We're already miss everyone!!

 Dylan decided that he needed to mark every box just like the packers did.

We tried to stay busy while the movers loaded the truck. I wanted an empty house picture of the kids, but Ava wanted what Dylan had instead.

I only have video of the first part of the roadtrip. We had a camera incident before leaving. No worries, the good camera is still working. Then, Dylan got so excited about the flip video that he ran the battery down and the charger was buried in the car. Oh well. We are taking plenty of pictures now!

My Sweet Girl is 1!

Ava's first birthday was today! I can't believe a year has gone by already! I remember going into teach my kinders on this day last year, but having a feeling that Ava would be joining us.

This was taken two days before..

She gave me contractions all morning. At about 12:45pm, I had to pause while reading my kiddos a book because the contractions got a bit more intense. That was the point that I called the doctor and left school a little early. The doc didn't think she was coming that day. He thought I just needed fluids. HA! I was admitted to the hospital at 4pm for those fluids and she was born at 6:17pm. Randy walked into the OR as Ava was being lifted right out of my belly. My mom was speeding from San Diego trying to make it in time.

She has been such an easy baby, but her "baby" days are coming to an end. :( There are some great things about this, but at the same time...she was/is such a cute baby.

She woke up this morning as her happy little self. Her hair is so funny right now because she has a reverse mullet. If I don't tie it up then she has a curtain in front of her eyes. So today I decided to try pigtails. :)

The problem with this is that then I decided she needed to wear matching bows. On any other day, she could have sported plain ponies and it would have been fine, but today was her birthday so I decided to make some bows at 8:30am while drinking my coffee. Crazy I know!

While I was working with the glue gun, Ava was running around and teasing Dylan just enough to have him lose it. It starts very young. Yikes!

We knew we were meeting up with our Friday friends so Dylan wore his backpack for about an hour until we left. I wanted to make sure Ava had a special day even if she wasn't going to remember any of it. :)

 We headed over to our friends' house for some play time at the park then at their house. Ava loved just running around without a care in the world. Dylan was able to play with his friend, David, while also exerting LOTS of energy. Love this!

As always, a good time was had by all! After a nice long nap and trip to get cupcakes, it was time for Ava's celebration.

After dinner, we gave sang Happy Birthday to Ava and gave her the birthday cupcake.

She didn't like how the icing felt on her finger. LOL! We'll see how she does with her cake on Sunday! :)

Next up...gifts!

I just put them in bags to make it easy for her. I think she like the bags more than the toys at first. :)

Daddy, I'm so excited!

Look...I've got a remote control of my own!

The hardest part for Dylan was letting Ava try out her new toys. He wanted to try them all out as if they were his gifts. He asked a couple times if he was getting presents next Friday. Don't worry Dylan, we won't forget your birthday. ;)

We had a pretty good first birthday! Now just wait for the party on Sunday! I'm ready for the madness! :)

Friday Fun Day

I can't believe it has been a week since I last posted! In my head I have written a post each day, but unfortunately haven't made it to my computer. :( So...what have I been doing?

Let's start with my fun Thirty-One Bag party! I mentioned a couple weeks back that I had attended a bag party and just fell in love with the line. Not only do I just love bags, but I also love the patterns, the different styles and the personalization. I got my order on Wednesday...

Thirty-one is now my new fav! When I LOVE something, I feel the need to share. This is why I decided to throw my own bag party, but this one had to be online. It is currently in progress and will be open until Feb. 27th. I'm curious to see who decides to participate. I hope people love it as much as I do.

So...I took these fabulous bags to the park today for a playdate. I mentioned last week that Dylan really loves playing with his friend, David, from school. Well, we joined David, his mom and sister at a park by their house.

A few other mommies showed up and I met some nice women and kiddos. It turns out that one of the mommies is a YMCA gym goer like myself. We recognized each other. She said she noticed my red hair. Of course...a redhead can never hide. ;) Dylan was very excited because he got the opportunity to water the bushes today...if you know what I mean. ;) Lack of bathrooms opens up new experiences. :) Ava was walking all over and even got a little cuddly with David's mom, Billie, since her morning nap consisted of the 10 minutes it took to get there.

Now, I have both kiddos napping which is absolutely wonderful!! Woot Woot! It's time to organize my coupon binder, which by the way, provided me with about $100 in savings this week. Another Woot Woot! :)

Have a wonderful Friday!!

Great day with a messy ending

She puked all over me! That is how my evening ended today.

We actually had a pretty great day today! Unfortunately, Ava woke up with a temp. of 101 so it looked like the doctor was a must today. No matter what I do, I just can't keep that temperature down. We had plans for a playdate at Dylan's friend's house. The boys go to school together and get along so well and us mommies have fun together too! It's a good match. :) I needed to take Ava to the doc, but I was bummed that it was going to effect Dylan's fun because he REALLY needed a friend to play with today. Well, when I shared our situation with Billie, my mommy friend, she suggested I drop Dylan off to play while we go to the doc then come over when we're done. I LOVED this idea! Not only was Dylan going to get to play, but the doctor visit is so much easier with one. :)

The diagnosis for Ava...double ear infection! No wonder her temp wasn't going anywhere! The hope is that the meds for her ear infection will also clear out the congestion and get rid of the cough. Cross your fingers.

When I got to the playdate, the boys were having a great time! Our little fivesome (Dylan, Ava, David and the 2 mommies) began hanging out regularly a couple of weeks ago. I wish it hadn't taken us so long because we are a great group! We stayed until almost 1:30pm because time kind of got away from us. Next time I'm bringing my camera!

Naps were awesome and the moods when waking up were also wonderful! Randy got home early from work which I always enjoy. So we were set up for an awesome night. Then....da da da da...the dark cloud comes over after dinner.

I was on the phone talking with our tenant in VA regarding the repair issues and the change in property managers. My poor little girl is coughing up a storm so I pick her up to pat her back. Next thing I know, she throws up all over me! Not just a small throw up you might think a baby would do, but an enormous amount of liquid that soaks my tank and my pants from the knee up. I put the tenant on hold until Ran could grab Ava. Then as I'm finishing up our conversation, I'm stripping off wet clothing in the kitchen. I then have to take a wet paper towel to wipe down my skin. Soooo gross! By the time I hang up the phone, I'm in my bra and underwear with sticky skin and a happy little girl. She feels great now that all that junk is out of her! The things that happen with a sick child. Lordy! From that point on, it was obvious that Ava was ready for bed. I followed her lead and down she went.

This is how she sleeps. :)

Thankfully everyone is asleep and I can relax. Great day with a messy ending, but anything is possible with little ones right?! :)