The words of a 3 year old.

Oh. The things we say these days Ava.

"Stop, stop, Listen to my words"

"May, Excuse me, I have a conversation" Or "May I, I have a question"

you say "What's your problem?" and "Awww, man"

"That sounds like a good idea"

When you get frustrated at someone because they are telling you to stop doing something (that you shouldn't be doing) You yell "NO, NOT EVER. NEVER!" and then you go "aaarghgh" under your breath and walk away.

Then you say things like, "don't you know I love you" and "you are my favorite friend" And "when people have problems I give them hugs to make them happy"

You want me to rub your back at night before you go to sleep.
And read you two books. Then you like to read the book to Mommy. YOu like to fall asleep with your night light on.

Stories. Oh man! Do you love to tell stories. And you expect everyone else to tell a story too. "what's your story about Mommy?"


You love to help with ANYTHING. Feed the birds, load the dishwasher, walk Daisy, sweep, what ever anyone is doing...you want to help.

You are very independent and want to do everything yourself.


I'm so proud of you and amazed of the purity that is a child's out look on life. You are a blessing. I love you forever and Ava, you are my most favorite friend ever.

Pictures....

You love school Ava. Even though you don't look like it in this picture, you do love to go to school.

Your sister is 15 soon to be 16 and you adore her.

Hanging out with Grampa reading some books.

Your mommy and Daddy having fun at the beach.

Your Mommy and Aunt Katie taking self portraits...

FIRST SLEEPOVER WITH HAZEL AT YOUR HOUSE!!

We've had a lot of fun these past months with you little Ava.

Ava's first Sleep Over

Ava,
FINALLY, you have the ability to have your very first sleep over. It is the sweetest thing ever.
We weren't sure how Hazel would react once it was time to go to bed...but to my delight, she was SO excited to sleep in her new bed! Grampa bought a mattress for the trundle bed in Ava's room, i bought her a cozy pink blanket with hearts all over it, we had pizza and cookies. PERFECT!

It is the cutest thing to peek in and see both of them in Ava's room.
I LOVE THIS.

Hazel has NEVER spent the night with out her mom and dad in someone else's house...and Katie and Dave have never spent the night in their house without Hazel. It's a big night for us all.

Good times. Good times.

One Day

Let's see...
What did we do today? What did the family do today?

Woke up at 6 am. Got ready for work. Got you ready for school. Made your lunch and made you a blueberry waffle for breakfast with a "soosie" (smoothie)
Daddy took Drew to school. (She is a sophomore now)
Daddy's car is being repaired so when Daddy got home he took us to school.

You LOVE school and you LOVE to see your friends. You like to hang your lunch box on the right side of your two pronged hook and your backpack on the left side. You always talk about your friends, Easton, Kota and Annabella.

After your "school day" is over at 3:00, I come pick you up and we go back to the office. You are always very well behaved while we wait until it is time for me to go home.

Today Daddy picked us up from school. ON our walk to the parking lot we saw two lizards and a bunny. You tried to catch them all but they kept running away from you. Much to your dismay.

We then went to Starbuck's (mommy wanted a coffee) It's my weakness....
We went and got daddy's car, then you and I went to go pick up Drew. She wants to go on a cruise with one of her friends for her friend's 16th birthday. hmmph.
Scary.

Anyhoo....we came home, had dinner, you slammed your toes in the front door (so sad!) daddy did some side work, we watched a movie then went to bed. 8:00 p.m.
Perfect.

That is pretty much a typical day. It is nothing extravagant. Nothing amazing but it is my wonderful life and I am thankful for every normal minute of it.

FAIL

Yep. I'm failing as a blogger. Failing to keep up to date on all the little things that are happening too quickly.
Sadly too much time has passed since my last entry to try and chronicle everything that has happened in detail, so let's just take from where we are.

And where are we? Well, it's August. The end of August at that. It's embarrassing, the last entry was in OCTOBER!!! Gaads...we've done so much, you've changed so much Ava.
We've gone to Disney World, Key West, Busch Gardens, Mommy and Daddy turned 40, we got a new house, you sleep in a big girl bed, and
YOU STARTED SCHOOL!!!

Let me say that again. YOU. STARTED. SCHOOL. (Pre-K 3)
It is the sweetest and most endearing thing to watch you walk up to school smiling ear to ear and a light in your eyes. It makes my heart proud. You LOVE school. LOVE. There are 11 kids in your class, 7 of them stay all day like you. I'm so sad in a way because a stage in your life has ended. You are no longer a baby, you will no longer spend the majority of your time with your family. I am excited for what this new chapter will bring and the joy it will bring you but a part of my heart is sad to turn the page and close this chapter forever. I am so thankful that you were able to stay home with me and Grandma this long. I think it provided you with a strong sense of self and gave you the chance to develop your tender and loving nature. You are such a sweet and loving child Ava.
Mrs. Land, Mrs. Koplik and Miss O'Conner take very good care of you. It is a relief that so far you have been very mindful and respectful. And it seems that you have a boyfriend...Easton. His mommy teaches Pre-K 4. I guess he told his daddy that he met a new friend, her name is Ava and she is a girl, she is my girlfriend. :)
Then he looked at a picture of you and said "she's mine" Ha!


Anyway, how do I even describe you these days? You are doing EVERYTHING. Grampa got you a big girl bed for your birthday, so napping and going to bed are pretty easy these days. I think the first night was harder on me than it was for you. I've gotten so used to you being two feet away from me and now it feels like you are on the other side of the earth.

You color in the lines. You love to sing. You make up your own stories and you LOVE to tell people your stories and then have them tell you a story. And this is at any time of the day. You still love to read stories at night before bed. You love to get "cozy" now with your blanket.
We take showers now instead of baths.
Your appetite is not as strong as it used to be but that is ok.
In school you "love to go on the playground,and sing and do your exercises with that boy who is Soooo strong" (Coach Dodge)

You yell "Mommy!" and come running into my arms when you see me. The days of "scary mommy" are gone. And let me tell you, I am FINE with that. It melts my heart when I see your face light up when you see me. Melts.

Another big milestone...We moved.
Halleluja.
Finally we all have our own spaces. Our own rooms. It is so peaceful in my mind now. We live in Poinciana... a 5 minute stroll to Katie's. It's perfect. The only member of the family who has not settled in very well is Daisy. She has not quite accepted this as her home. I think she really misses her old house, the smells and sounds of her old neighborhood and most of all, Patricia and Bob. She hates our new back yard. It's so strange. She only walks the perimeter. She refuses to walk around in the middle of the yard. With my imagination, it kinda makes me nervous...Just remind me NOT to put a pool in our back yard.
I'm just sayin'.

Anyway. I can't think of all the things that I need to think of to document. I'm so very tired so I will write another day, and I will post pictures too.

Until the morrow',


I LOVE YOU AVA.

What is going on 40?

I STARTED THIS MONTHS AGO.....I CAN'T SEEM TO FINISH IT SO I'LL JUST POST IT.....WHY BLOG IF YOU DON'T POST?


40. Hello. Nice to meet you.

I'm not too sure how I became 40. I think I've calculated incorrectly. Math has never been my strength.
I don't feel like I'm 40.When I tell people my age it sounds so strange to say Fourty.

"yea, I'm Fourty. Yep. No, I'm not lying. Why would I lie about 40? That's silly. Oh, what? You were 7 when I graduated high school? Good for you...."

That is just strange to me.

Anyhoo...THings happen when you 'get up there' in age. Some not so great, some pretty great....

My skin is wierd. Different. Lotion? Yes, I put lotion on my skin all day long.
Lotion. Vitamin E oil. Olive Oil. Vaseline. I even rub old coffee grounds on my arms to exfloliate and soften yet the skin is still....wrinkly. I guess that is the word I'm trying to avoid.
Wrinkled. And not the kind of sun baked wrinkle but the kind of wrinkle that says...I don't want to be taut anymore. I want to sag a little....I wanna just take it easy for a bit.
My mom always said it would happen. That I would start to notice a change in the elasticity and texture of my skin. That I would start to get the "turkey neck"
I don't want the "turkey neck". 40 year olds don't have "turkey necks"
End of story.

My eyesight.
WHAT?!
YES! My freaking eyesight is "going". I need to use readers. I don't because I don't want to admit that my cuticles are blurry and that if Ava puts her cute little face close to mine she is blurry.
But yes...soon I will need to invest in a snazzy pair of readers.

Flexibility. It apparently goes away if you don't stretch.

Patience: I have WAY more patience now than I ever had. Way. More. Bushels and bushels of patients.

How the days blur together!

Too many days have passed since I last wrote. It was in October. OCTOBER?!
How do I even explain how much you have learned, all the things you have seen and done?
So many things have changed Ava...you change so quickly. Who pressed Fast Forward?

We have entered the Terrible Two with a vengance. However, you aren't really terrible. You are actually very sweet and you love love to snuggle and "get cozy" but MAN! You can be one defiant little angel.
Your attitude somedays puts Drew's to shame....And THAT can make for a very long evening.
A. Very. Long. Evening.

But then you come up and put my face in your tiny little hand, give me a look that MELTS my heart and say "it's okay, mommy. I love you" Then you give me a kiss on my cheeck.
Then, I die. At that point I don't even remember you screaming "NO! GO AWAY!" and kicking me repeatedly. It is just a distant memory. So what if my shins are on fire. Big deal. And why address the issue that she says "it's okay" rather than "I'm sorry"?
It will just take away from that precious moment.
Another crusher is when you will come up to me, put your arm around my shoulder, press your cheek to mine and say "My best friend"
uuugh. It is pure joy.


Let's see...what is new with us these days?

Mommy works full time at The Community School of Naples. I now have a 'normal' job. I love it and it makes me happy everyday I go but I sure do miss our full days together. Not to mention the fact I was able to actually get stuff done.
I don't know how so many mom's and dad's do it.
It's hard to work all day and then come home and have dinner ready at a normal time if ever. Ask my husband...it has yet to happen at our household. And cleaning? HA!

okay. Good one.

Anyway...Drew is on the cheerleading team again this year and is LOVING it. She is a true FLorida girl. She wears sweatshirts when it is 80 degrees out. She loves anything typical of Florida: going to the beach, surfing (when we get "waves" here in the Gulf), boating, fishing, snorkling,sunbathing and recently she has discovered the joy of Paddleboarding. You actually love to cruise around on a paddle board with daddy too. You just lay there and enjoy the ride!

We are determined to buy a house this year so you can have your very own room and so Mommy and Daddy can have their very own room too! You ask me everyday when I get home from work if I "got your room yet" Sigh. Insert dagger and twist.

As far as what is new with yo....
I don't even know where to begin with you and all that you can do now. It AMAZES me and astonishes me daily. You are the light of my eye little Ava.
You are full on potty trained and can even put your own underware on. You love to tell stories now. It 's the cutest thing to listen to you make up a story. It's usually about Rapunzel, Cinderella, Mommy Dinosaur or a monster. Or all of them together.

Instead of saying "excuse me" when you want to talk to someone you say (with you hand up) "stop talking, stop. My turn to talk"
It's really cute but we have to remind you to speak kindly.We have to remind you to do that quite a bit these days.
Time out's stopped working with you when you started giving yourself time out's.

You LOVE LOVE to swim. You are full on into books now. I've been WAITING for you to get the book fever. Finally.
I love to watch you "read".

You still don't like your feet covered up when you sleep. You still love cereal and have it for dinner often.
Grandma watches you and Hazel everyday. You and Hazel have a very special and sweet relationship. I hope it stays strong forever.
You both have learned to work out your "problems" yourself and and learned a great love of sharing.