Living Life, Terrible 2 Style

 I haven't done much blogging about what's going on with my little Ava in quit a while. Well she is TWO nuff' said. Seriously though she is every bit of a 2 year old, she is curious, hyper, she wants to touch everything, she has to walk when when go to stores, AND help push the cart. Sitting in the cart would be nice, I like to point out kids her age at the store who are sitting in the carts like good little children.. " look Ava, look at that kid, just sitting there quietly while his mom shops." I guess I will take her not sitting in shopping carts over changing diapers. That's right she is potty trained, like survived trips out of the house wearing undies potty trained.

 Since she is potty trained it triggers something in her to take off her all her clothes when she is at home.

At least she is a lady and left her shoes on...

  Another thing that comes along with 2 year olds, is picky eaters. I have officially changed the name of Macaroni and Cheese to "cheese pasta." If she hears you say macaroni and cheese, (or mac-n-chz as I like to call it) she won't eat it. Cheese Pasta on the other hand is a completely different meal in her mind. So cheese pasta it is.

 Something else that is new...I'm starting to consider banning crayons, or any other type of drawing mechanism. Kid's don't really need to color right? Are you wondering why I would do such a mean thing? Why tell you, when I could show you:

She is really into coloring right now, she always asks my husband or I to draw something for her, usually it's a "ishy" (Fish)  which is pretty easy to draw. But the other day when she asked me to draw a bunch of different things from a puppy to Barney.

 WARNING: the Elmo I drew may cause nightmares

These are all a little scary if you ask me, but amazingly Ava knew exactly what they were. I was pretty impressed, not with her, but my drawing.

She is growing up to be such a little beauty. I love her so much! Everyday is something new. I love watching her learn new things, I feel proud when she says a new word. She has turned in to such a daddy's girl, and I hate  LOVE it ;)

20 something going on 75

 You know that expression people use when asked how old their child is, " She's 10 going on 20." I have never really paid much attention to it, until now. Now that I can relate to it, and I'm not talking about my 2 year old, I'm talking about my husband and I. Last Saturday we drove about an hour north to go hit up some antique shops... we had a nice little Saturday, Enjoying the sights of some country mountains, and some old collectibles and such...

 Yeah going antiquing, that's our new "thing" apparently. Don't laugh to hard, we have gotten some pretty cool pieces of furniture for our house. Ok you can laugh... The fact that I used the term " had a nice little Saturday" had me laughing a while ago.

When we got home, Ava took a nap, and Tyler fell asleep on the couch while watching TV, and I started baking my Easter cake pops... Wow we are an exciting bunch over here. The sight of my husband napping in the middle of the day because he was so worn out from antiquing, randomly waking up to things like the oven timer going off, painted a picture of the old grandpa who sits in his chair all day long and sleeps every 2 hours like a baby. I can't make fun of him to much, I was baking... classic old couple scenario.

 We are 20 something year olds going on 75!

 Another instance of our rapid aging problem: This passed Christmas my mom asked me what she should get for Tyler, and I quote: " think of an 80 year old man, and whatever pops into your mind, then that is the perfect gift."  So you can imagine his excitement when he opened up a new robe, a pair of pj's, and moccasin slippers. I got a sewing machine, which is not an old person thing, but just think of the scenario I am playing out for you, now instead of baking, I am sewing, and my husband is still napping...

 We are both such homebodies, I have always kind of been like that. I enjoy the comforts of my home, maybe because it feels so homey with all my cool antique purchases. I enjoy that we have our "shows" that we watch on TV. Maybe instead of "shows" I will start calling them "programs." Its a little more fitting.

 At least we are in this together. And at least we have our daughter who keeps us young... or not she might actually be the problem to our tiredness, and that grey hair I found on my head the other day.

 We use to be cool, maybe being in Georgia is the problem... We are away from our Florida roots. We need sand and the ocean in our soul. Also extreme humidity, and sweat, that's part of the Florida package. Good thing we are going back, I'm not sure when but it is happening, and happening BIG. We are buying a house within 3 miles from the beach!

 Who am I kidding, we were like this before we moved to Georgia. Next thing you know Tyler will be rocking floral Tommy Bahama shirts, and I'll have a skirt attached to my bathing suit...

At least Ava thinks we are cool...for now...

My apologies to you

 Pre- children, where you  judgmental of moms and their parenting abilities? Did you frown upon people who sometimes used their TV as a babysitter, and had to occasionally go through a drive through for lunch? What about to those Mommy's with screaming kids at the grocery store? Did you ever find yourself thinking " if that were my child I would"...(insert some completely ridiculous action, and only if you have never had kids sounds good) 

 I'll admit it, I did. Its easy to look at other people whom you know nothing about and say they aren't doing a good job, and you could do it better.

 I'm sure the time I was at the grocery store and Ava was acting up so I gave her my phone to watch Barney on YouTube, then she terrible two style threw it on the ground, and of coarse it busted open and the battery flew out.. well I'm sure people were judging me...and I knew it, and it felt crappy.

 I knew in that moment,that she would eventually stop acting that way. I also knew that I was doing all I could to keep her entertained. But to an onlooker I'm sure I looked dis-shoveled, and crazy. I'm sure I got a few "if that were my child thoughts thrown my way" As if I can predict when a tantrum is going to happen.

 So I am apologizing to all the parents I have ever judged. Because now I know they were doing the best they could.

This post is brought to you by this wild child picture of my daughter wearing a pj shirt, undies, plastic barbie high heels, and Tampa Bay bucs necklace... oh and some craziness going on with her hair. For the record, I would never leave the house with her like this! ;)

So yes, Being a Parent Changes you

 If you would have told me 7 years ago that I would one day be couponing, and pushing around the race car shopping cart in the grocery store... I would have died laughing.

 I would have laughed even harder if you said that some day I would be making up songs about going pee pee and poo poo on the potty, or that I would would have every song ever sang on Barney memorized, (and maybe even know a few of the dance moves.)

 There are so many things I do today, that leave me wondering " who the heck am I!" I always knew I wanted to have kids, and it was no surprise when I found out I was having Ava. But it is funny how your world changes... I didn't think about me dishing out timeouts, and turning simple words like "socks" and "wipes" into "sockies" and "wipies."

 I didn't think I would ever have a good excuse to eat childhood favorites like grilled cheese sandwiches, and  macaroni and cheese again. I guess I still don't really have a good excuse for that...

And I didn't think that I would have 150 videos on my phone of Ava saying " hi, I love you and bye bye" over and over again.

 So yes being a parent changes you, I think for the better...

Just Another Day in Paradise

 It started off like every other day...Woke up to my daughter poking me in the face. " Hi Mum Mum, hi!" apparently shes a little British. I rolled over and tried to pretend I didn't hear or see her, in hopes that she would curl up and go back to sleep. This never happens but I always try anyway.

 I finally decide to get up when I hear her playing with toilet water in my bathroom. We make it half way down the stairs, when she starts calling out for " Ba-ey, Elbow, Uppy" These are the FOUR stuffed animals she has to sleep with. Barney, Elmo, and she has two puppies. Why all four? Who knows, but I have to admit, when she comes stumbling in my room in the middle of the night with her crazy curly bed head, while holding all for of these stuffed animals... its pretty stinkin cute! Anyways So I walk back up the stairs and grab her babies, and anything else I might need.

 My old house didn't have stairs, and I'm starting to hate them. I make sure I get EVERYTHING I need for the day before I come down, because I'm not going back up there, unless I have to!

 Ok so back to the story... first things first, I have to get my coffee going, nothing good happens in the morning before my coffee. Something about knowing that its brewing makes me feel better. Thanks to my keurig this process only takes like 5 seconds. Ava eats, watches Barney...blah blah... same thing every morning.

 Then it all goes down hill from here...

 I go to change her diaper, its an all out battle trying to get another diaper on her. After 10 minutes of her actin a fool, I finally get the stupid diaper on. " HA, I win!" That's what I'm thinking so myself.

 Not even 5 minutes later she comes running around the corner wearing nothing but her shirt, and her plastic barbie heels.She took the dang thing off! I tried to put it back on...FAIL.I tried to get her to at least cover up and wear pants...FAIL. Finally I had it, I was not going to spend the day hearing her screaming like crazy... " fine be naked and see what happens!" I swear the way she looked at me after that, I could just tell she was saying "HA, I win!"

 At this point Ava wasn't 2 yet. This was about 2-3 weeks before she turned 2. I wasn't planning on potty training until after she was 2. She hadn't shown any signs of being ready, she wouldn't even sit on the potty.

 So that being said... yes she peed on herself, a few times. She didn't like it, I didn't like it, but the kid wouldn't put clothes on. Not only that, she kept going behind the curtains on my glass sliding doors, So anyone who would have maybe been outside(we don't have a fenced backyard) would have seen my naked child standing there, probably peeing on herself. This is parenting at its best!

 I finally got her to wear something, it wasn't a diaper, it was the little bloomers that go with her dresses. Not that it did anything, but at least she was covered up. By nap time she FINALLY let me put a diaper on her. For the rest of the day it was off and on.. and this continued for about 3 days total. I was desperately hoping it was just a faze, and that I wasn't going to have a two year old nudist who sometimes said words in a British  accent.

 I think it might have on the 3rd day, I hear her say "pee pee" I'm thinking there is no way! I take her to sit on the potty and can you believe she went! I wasn't prepared for this! I had nothing to give her to make her feel special, except for these Three wolf moon stickers, my brother got my husband as a joke.

  ( if you don't know what Three wolf moon is, please click here, and read the first review about the "dual function design" its a completely ridiculous review somebody gave this wolf t-shirt on amazon, and it will make your day!) Because of this one review this T-shirt has gone viral, and has been on the news, and even on the show The Office.


 Sorry back to my story...

 From that day on Ava has been potty trained. She learned in just 3 days! A pretty good amount of time has gone by, and she has done amazing. I have never felt so proud. Its amazing, the feeling you get when you see your child learning.

 She is also wearing clothes again...

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Don't Blink

Today is Ava's 2nd birthday!

I can't believe it has been 2 years, Time has gone by so fast, its scary...

When I look back at pictures of her when she was just a few months old, I feel like I don't ever remember her ever being so small.

                             (look closely you can se my husband behind her holding her up)

 

             Being called "Mom" is the greatest blessing I have ever received

 I love you Ava! Happy Birthday

 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I am completely surrounded by pregnant people, and new babies. I have two friends that are pregnant, two of my sister in laws are newly pregnant, and one friend who just had her baby yesterday!

I also have two friends who recently had babies, that are about 4-5 months old.

Ava will be 2 years old in two weeks. All these pregnancies, and babies, and birthdays really get me thinking about my pregnancy.

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

I wish someone would have told me that your nose can get fat. Yes your nose. I saw a picture of myself at my baby shower, and was like " Holy nose!" I didn't really notice at the time, and I'm sure no one else did either. Its just me beating myself up.

I found out really quick that not all pregnant women "glow."

What might have been a glowy look, was probably me sweating, creating the illusion of a dewy, glowy-ness...

I worked through out my whole pregnancy doing hair. There came a time where things started to get real awkward.  My belly would rub on my client's shoulders. Or it would be all up in their face. I was always hoping no one wanted bangs, so I wouldn't have to get in the baby to face position.

Being that I was around people all day long. I got some of the dumbest comments.

Seriously people, can you just stop and think about what you are saying! Maybe telling me how awful your labor was isn't the best thing to say to someone who is about to give birth!

Also, unless your positive that I am having twins PLEASE do not joke around about it.

Its not funny.

 In your head "are you sure there is only one baby in there?" Might sound like a great ice breaker, but listen guy at home depot, If you want to walk out of this store with all your limbs attached, please don't talk to me!

Man, apparently I was an angry pregnant women, that's just a touchy subject. I got comments about how I looked like I was having twins more than once, and that poor guy at home depot was the last straw!

One of my friend's clients told her "you look great, your face is really filling out."  What does that mean? " your face is filling out"  

So My face is fat, that's what your saying, that I have a fat face...

Never tell the person about to do your hair, that her face is filling out!

(I'm just kidding she would have never done anything to purposely mess up her client's hair)

One time, the girl making my sandwich at subway told me I looked like I was about to pop.

" I still have 3 months left.."

I really wasn't offended that she said that, its just a common thing people say, but apparently she felt very uncomfortable, and started rambling on about her pregnancy. Personal things.

I can deal with all the fluffy stuff ( how much he weighed etc..)

But I don't want to hear all the gooey stuff.

Please lady just make my sandwich so I can get outta here!!

And you know what! I don't care if you didn't start to show until you were 6 months.. Good for you!

" wow your already showing, I didn't show until I was 6 months."

When you say it like that, you are just bragging.

In all honesty, my pregnancy was not to bad, yes I was uncomfortable, and sick at times. But I have seen people have it so much worse than I did.

 I am blessed that I had a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

me 1 month before Ava arrived!

Looking back on the past 7 years of my life.

 Cut to me... a young almost 20 year old. Working as a hostess at Macaroni Grill. Eating all the pasta and bread I wanted without gaining a pound. Thinking I was so cool because I had older friends who were co-workers of mine. Not a care in the world, except for stupid things (which didn't seem so stupid at the time) like making sure I had something to cute to wear. Or my trials in trying to get my hair blonder.

  Who would have known that in the middle of all that Americanized Italian deliciousness I would have found my future husband. Yep what a true love story right? Me a lonely hostess, and him and Strong handsome cook. Those were the days, going into work, and after your shift was over, going to where ever something was going on.

  Cut to Tyler and I living in our first place together, Who would have known that place would be the first of many. Apparently we both hate moving, but like new scenery. He is older than me, and has had his own place before. Me... well this is all new and excited to me. FREEDOM!! oh sweet freedom. What a great feeling. Until I realized we had to buy things like toilet paper, and laundry soap... then the real world slightly started to set in. But it was great.

  HMM... what am I going to do with my life? I didn't take the usual road after graduating high school, I took a little break. To do what? I couldn't tell ya. Which probably means I had a lot of fun. After my mini break I started college. It was quickly after that I decided to go to cosmetology school. Which was one of the best decisions I have ever made. "WOW, I'm going to do hair, and be awesome, and look cool, and be a famous hairstylist to the stars!" What I haven't told you is, I am a dreamer... I obviously am not a movie star hairdresser, you will not find me getting paid boo-kuu dollars to flat iron Jennifer Aniston's hair.

  Cut to me about 3 years after graduating cosmetology school. I'm working in a great salon. One of the best in the area! I have great friends. I'm making pretty decent money. It turns out I'm not to shabby at doing hair, and I have a clientele! I actually have random people who I have never met, so there is no need to feel obligated to tell me they like theirhair. Who love me...I mean they really like me, and what I do, and how I make them feel. Life is great.

  Tyler and I are going Strong, we had been through ups and downs... we could handle anything thrown our way. We were in a good place. So good that we got engaged! What an exciting time in a young couples life. Now its time to actually start wedding planning. As everyone knows weddings are expensive. How the heck were we going to afford a wedding. It seemed almost impossible.

  Our "AH HA" moment hit us like a ton of bricks. We already had a trip to Hawaii in the works. We are going to in Hawaii in 3 months, why not get married there... just the two of us! We were so nervous to tell our family this is how we wanted to get married, but this is how WE WANTED IT! No one could have changed my mind. I think everyone accepted it. No one really tried hard to discourage it. So that's the way it would be. A destination wedding/ getting eloped... I wouldn't changed for anything!

  March 11, 2009... We met on the beach in Kauai Hawaii... it was beautiful, more beautiful, than any picture could ever capture. It was quiet, intament, unique, it was perfect. The beach was called "ship wreck beach" There is some other Hawaiian name for it that I am not sure of at this moment, There was waves crashing, a beautiful cliff, black rocks, palm trees, and golden sand. I am from Florida, I am not unfamiliar with beaches...but trust me when I say I don't think ANYTHING compares to Kauai Hawaii. Even the air seems fresher when you breath. Its breathtaking.

  February 10, 2010... We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl! All 8lbs 4oz. of her. She is perfect in every way possible. Everything that your scared of while your pregnant just fades away the moment you hold your baby. I had not a care in the world.... until she spit up for the first time, we crazily buzzed for the nurse to come help us, as we were freaking out. We had NO IDEA what we were doing. Poor Ava, we couldn't even get her in the car seat when it was time to go home. "Surely there is something wrong with this car seat!"  "Oh yes it says right here in the users manual"... NEW PARENT WARNING: FIGURE IT OUT! 

  And we did figure it out, we are still trying to figure things out. Now the minor things I use to get all huffy and puffy about, have been over shadowed by diapers,  goldfish, dimples, and terrible 2 tantrums. And I bet one day I will look back at all this and think.. " those were the days"

Toddler bed Triumph

  Its official...We are now sleeping in a toddler bed! Its been a couple weeks, she adjusted just fine. I actually think she likes it better than her crib. So everything seems to be going great...except for one little issue. We seem to have a night crawler on our hands.

  I think it was probably the 3rd or 4th night in, I wake up to my daughter actually climbing into our bed.. which is just crazy to me because our bed is kinda high off the ground, and she had never done that before.( I don't mind her coming in my bed and sleeping there, as long as she initially falls asleep in her room, I don't think its a big deal. Plus I like the snuggles!) So not only is she now in our bed, shes WIDE awake... P.S. it's 3am! OK so just ignore her she will go to sleep eventually....so finally 2 hours of being poked in the face, my hair getting pulled, getting kicked in the arm, all while hearing "mum!... HI mum!" (YES "mum" This is how she says Mom...she's only 2 you think I could get a " mommy, or a ma ma" Nope... its "mum.") She finally fell asleep.

  Morning comes... you think that this kid would have slept in a little.. oh not my child...she's up ready to go at 7:30. I get out of bed... Hmmmm where's my phone, it was on the night stand... I find my phone in the door way of my bedroom. Once I unlock it there has to be about 5 pages pulled up.. including facebook!! OH NO! Please don't tell me she is up at 3 am sending weird messages to people, and liking everyone's status. Good thing as far as I can tell she was just looking around. She has uploaded pictures to facebook before. She's a technology baby.

  Another page pulled was YouTube, that was scary who knows whats on YouTube. Luckily she's smart enough to go to the last searched video, which is usually Barney, Mickey Mouse, or puppies. She LOVES " uppies."  I'm telling you, I seriously need to get her on video working my phone, she knows exactly what she's doing!

   So now not only is Ava sneaking into our room at night, she is checking emails, facebooking, watching a few movies, and who knows what else! Its funny now that I think about, I can just picture her walking around doing her thing...it's not so funny when its 3am and she's up for 2 hrs. Time to put a gate on her door!

    If your getting late night phone calls from me... its Ava, tell her to go to bed!

saying bye bye to the crib already?

   So  Last night I'm putting Ava to sleep, when all the sudden she lifts her little leg over the side of her crib and lifts her whole body up!! Luckily I was in her room still or I'm sure she would have went right over the rail. She will be 2 in February, is it really time to say good bye to her crib and hello to a big girl bed?

  

   Shes still my little baby she can't already be big enough for a big girl bed! This makes me sad. Obviously for her safety its time... and thankfully we already have one. I'm kind of excited to do a little re decorating, her old furniture is dark wood, and her new stuff is white. But I'm also sad to see her little nursery go...

  Also I'm a little nervous, we have a had a GREAT routine down, and have stuck with it for a while. This means we might have to change it up a little... and adding in a new routine combined with her terrible two phase is a little scary!

  Any advice from other mommas out there? Was this a smooth transition for you?