Beach bum

It's Aiden's last week of summer school, so I took advantage of having only one kid this morning and took Ava to the beach, just us girls. We didn't stay long, only an hour, but she was having a grand time shoveling, playing with the trucks, pointing out the boats, and chasing the ducks (much to their chagrin, of course).

These are definitely not the best pictures I've ever taken, but just watching her on the beach, I was struck with such a sense of awe and pride and...accomplishment? Anyone that has kids will surely understand when I say that I was watching her and just thinking to myself, "Wow, she's mine. I helped create her. She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen and I did that." Pretty damn amazing. Thank goodness no one else was there because they probably would have thought I was completely mad, watching her play and crying just because of the intensity of it all. I felt like, for the first time since I've had both of the kids, I really know what people mean when they say, "You're gonna miss these days." This morning I truly realized how much this time home with them means to me. I felt like the luckiest person in the whole entire world.

Ok, ok, enough gushing. Pics of my sweet girl:)

Dinosaur

One of Ava's new words is "dinosaur." I love how she says it though, "Di-thow!" lol. She adores this dinosaur puzzle we have and of course feels like she needs to tell me over and over all about her "di-thows." So cute:)

Another video...

I'm trying to catch up on these video clips. This shows how southern and white trash we are becoming, lol. Gotta love the chairs IN the pool:) The kids absolutely love sitting in the chairs and kicking as hard as they can. It is so funny to watch!

You spin me right round

I know what most of you will think when you see these clips, "That looks like child abuse!" But I can assure you that this is Aiden and Ava's new favorite thing to do, lol. They were both cracking me up last night, Ava in particular. She has the funniest deep belly laugh that sounds nothing like her sometimes. They were both so dizzy when they were done!

Ok, it's only letting me put one clip on here, so I'll have to do a separate post for the other clip of Aiden.

Wish I had more to report...

Well, it's Wednesday (already?) and I wish I had more to report! Even my muses (Aiden & Ava of course!) haven't been very exciting this week. I know I promised lots of video clips, but I'm having issues there also. For some reason uploading a clip to Youtube takes the better half of an entire day, which can't be normal, can it? Does anyone have any tips for me? I feel like I'm missing something that would make uploading videos much simpler, but I just can't figure it out. It just keeps telling me that it is processing for hours and hours.

At any rate, I will raise my coffee mug and toast to Ava still sleeping at 7:45am, which I am pretty sure is a record, now that I think about it. She's just about to have her 4th molar cut through, so maybe we're finally getting into the sleeping-in stage (hey, I can dream!). But of course the one morning that she sleeps in, Aiden is up at 6:30am. Sometimes a mama just can't catch a break:)

It is also hard to believe that it is already July 22nd. Don't get me wrong, I am more than ready for the summer to be over. I've been taking the kids outside to play right after breakfast, and feeling the cool (75 degrees) breeze is enough to make me swoon. I love autumn and everything that goes with it: crunchy leaves underfoot, long walks and bike rides, playing for hours at the park, sunny skies and cool breezes, and even my birthday (though turning 29 is a little bit sad). I love hot cocoa and Halloween and I'll even embrace the beginning of football season (not to say that my enthusiam stays for long, lol). I am so excited for fall that I can almost smell the burning leave piles right now. Ahhhh....I've always told Chuck that if they actually made a perfume that was "Burning Leaves" I might seriously buy it and wear it. I think he's very glad that they don't! Lol.

I wish I had some new pics to share, but I don't even have that! I promise I'll take some of the kids today!

Getting brave

I've taken a lot of video clips this week, and I am slowly but surely getting them on youtube and will be putting them on the blog. This one is of Ava. She has finally gotten brave enough to go down the slide on her climber like a big girl, lol. When I finally started filming her doing this yesterday, she had already done it about 20 times. She was hilarious, she just kept running over and climbing right back up. Too funny!

More videos of Aiden to follow...

Past and present...

A long long time ago (ok, so it wasn't really that long ago--6 years to be exact) I had an interview for a job at a little insurance company some of you might know. As it turns out, that little insurance company changed the direction of my life as I knew it. The last 6 years have been full of ups and downs and everything in between, but I still look back on that interview and smile. Sometimes a job doesn't turn out to be everything we wanted it to be, but it gives us the power to look deep inside ourselves and figure out what we really want.

So here is a little picture of my present job playing with some mementos from my former job. One of these IRVs was Chuck's, and one was mine--a present from him when I first started working for Progressive. Who ever would have thought that those two IRVs would be driven around the living room by such an adorable little boy? It would make a great ad, right? lol...

Best friends

If there was ever a little girl who loved cats more...well, it was me, lol. Ava certainly gets her love of furry creatures from me. I remember how much I adored my cats growing up and she reminds me so much of myself. These pictures just make me smile. She could lay with Bailey all day long:) I especially love how my cat looks almost as big as my 18 month old. Lol.

Aiden quote of the day...

I was driving the kids to story time this morning and this was my conversation with Aiden.

Aiden: Mommy, I want that Dora book on the floor.
Me: I can't get that for you right now Aiden, Mommy is driving.
Aiden: Well, you drive like you fix roads: lousy!

If you've ever seen the movie Cars, you'd recognize this as a quote from it. But he totally floored me by saying it without missing a beat, like he had just been waiting to criticize my driving. I wonder who he gets his snappy comebacks from...(if you've met my husband, surely you can guess!)

Piano man...

My awesome friend Susan sent me a Craigslist post for this adorable pink piano for only $10, and I couldn't resist! Ava absolutely LOVES the mini-piano at Susan's house and always plays it whenever we go over there. We picked it up yesterday and both of the kids absolutely ADORE it. It surprised me how much Aiden likes sitting at the bench and banging away at the keys. I promised to capture a happy Aiden on camera, and I think I succeeded!

PS--Gotta love their fake tattoos (if you look closely it is the Geico gecco on one arm--he was at story time on Wed. and the kids loved meeting him. I should have taken a pic for Chuck's desk at work, I'm sure he would have loved that, lol)

Polar opposites...

I apologize in advance for not posting at all this past week! I tried several times and was having issues with Blogger, but thankfully they seem to be fixed today!

Again, these are ALL pictures of Ava. She is always so willing to bust out her famous "Cheese!" face for the camera. Aiden, on the other hand, runs away crying if I even ask to take a picture of him. I've literally only taken less than 10 pictures of him in the past 3 months I think.

At 18 months, Ava's personality is definitely out in full force. I am happy to report that, for the most part, SHE is happy. She is a cheerful girl who nearly always has a smile on her face and is very easy to please. She loves hugs and kisses, adores her stuffed animals (and her beloved binky) and really loves her "meow!"s--her kitties, Zoe and Bailey. She's even started calling Bailey "Bayee." So cute!

Aiden, on the other hand....sigh. I love him so much, truly I do. I just sometimes feel like I am drowning in his sea of never-ending disappointment. It isn't to say that he is NEVER happy, just that when he is, it seems so fleeting and is almost always instantly replaced with anger, sadness or disappointment. Most days I feel like for whatever reason, this little man has been brought into my world to teach me to try to take pleasure in the smallest happinesses in life. It's a challenge, to say the least, but I am trying so hard to make sure he knows that he is loved, even if he doesn't necessarily feel like being loved that day. Lol.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Enjoy the cute pics of Ava, and I promise to keep trying to snap away at Aiden--frown and all!