Ava Walked!

Published
by
Chem
on Monday, June 29, 2009
in Pecze News
. 2 Comments

This weekend went far too quickly. It started with Thursday, we were finally able to mow our lawn after being gone for a week and a half. Shawn went into work really early, so that he could come home and mow it. It was getting embarrassing, but what can you do? We were gone for 10 days and then Shawn had to work. He has been working a lot because he has a giant project due at work and I am allergic to grass and have a 1 year old to look after. The only solution? Leave at 7 am and come home at 5 to mow the lawn. Whew. It does look so much better. Now if we could stop the japanese beetles from killing my plants!

Friday, it was crazy hot. We finally heard about our furniture that was ruined just before Ava’s party. They won’t reupholster the furniture, but will give us a credit at the store to buy something else. We spent Friday looking at furniture as the credit is only good for 30 days. We found a few things that we liked, but have not decided on anything solid yet. We dont have time to loose, so we have to move soon.

We took Ava out for hotdogs and burgers for dinner. Her favorites! Since it was late, she went right to bed and we watched a movie that we had rented. It was funny, so it was a very pleasant evening. I enjoyed just sitting and watching tv with Shawn. We have been too busy lately to just sit.

Saturday, Shawn took Ava to Gymboree and I went to lunch with Marjorie and Kerrie, followed by catching a matinee of The Proposal. it was really cute and a great way to spend the afternoon. Ineeded the break. Its not that it is HARD to raise Ava, she’s very easy going. Rather, its more of an endurance sport instead of brain teasing. I always have to be…ON. I’m not allowed to have a sick day, a sad day, a mean day or any other kind of day except bright and cheerful. If I’m not cheerful, she picks up on my mood and either copies it or doesn’t understand it. Its never her fault, but she wouldn’t know that. I was glad to just step away and regroup to come back fresh.

She is very easy to be around, though. She loves to point out things and chirp. She has become very “talkative” lately. She will sing to herself while she’s playing or in the stroller. When she has had a good nap, I will hear her sing over the monitor. It is very cute! Now that she eats solid food, we have to bring less stuff with us when we go somewhere. It makes it easier to pick up and go to the mall, a friend’s house, or the grocery store. When I think back to this time last year, I can’t believe the difference. I still had nerve damage and couldn’t walk well or drive at all. I was cooped up in the house, in lots of pain, struggling with breastfeeding, and not understanding a thing with Ava. We had jsut been given the sling and bouncer and was JUST getting some relief. By this time, she was sleeping through the night, but not taking any naps during the day. When the bouncer no longer soothed her, she was in the sling because she needed to be held at all times. Things are so different now. She follows me around the house because she is curious. She still likes to be carried, but she loves holding onto my fingers and trying to walk or climb more. She interacts with me now and can let me know more specifically whats wrong, what makes her happy, etc. She is no sitting in front of me in her highchair  holding a piece of cheese out to Bo yelling, “Bah-Bah!” She used to call him “Bo Bo”, but this week started calling him Bah Bah. She calls out to him more than the rest of us. When she caught me watching her, she quickly shoved the cheese in her mouth and gave me a very…umm…cheesy grin. Bad pun I know. Bo is forever hovering under her highchair HOPING she will drop something. She inevitably will either intentionally for Bo, in a temper tantrum, or to tell us she is done. Her balloon is still floating from her birthday and is still tied to the back of her highchair. This is another favorite toy for her. She is such a little girl now is so much less my baby girl.

After the movie, we went over to Melody and Griff’s house for the Twin’s (Wyatt and Jackson) birthday. There were so many kids running around that Ava felt left out. She and a 10 month old little girl were the only carpet bound kids. She wanted to go outside with the rest of the kids and run around. Neither Shawn or i wanted to run anywhere in this heat. We opted for the sofa, big screen tv and cold beverages. Ava decided that she had had enough of that and walked between us! She did it several times with about 8 steps each! She was wearing the squeaky shoes from G-Ma and G-Dad at the time. I was going to write  a separate blog about the squeaky shoes, but never got around to it.

The squeaky shoes are made by Flexi Feet and they are all leather uppers and very flexible rubber sole shoes that squeak when the baby walks. They have a wide toe base, so all toes spread out and can take her weight for stability. She loves the squeaky part. She will jsut stand and hold on to something, stomping her feet. She will delibrately stomp hard as she is walking to make the squeak. So, she was wearing them at the party when she decided that she had had enough of this sitting still thing.

We were so proud of her, but of course, did not have our video camera handy. When we tried to recreate it at home, it was a big giant no-go. I believe tears were involved. Maybe mine, maybe hers.

We came home from the party about 6:30 as Ava was getting restless. We ran up street to return the video and decided to rent another, gran Torino. Once we put Ava to bed, Shawn and I had another date night in front of the tv, this time with chocolate and peanutbutter ice cream too. MMMMMM.

Ava let us sleep in until about 8Am. Awesome! shawn played with Ava while I got some work sone around the house that has been piling up. things like vacuuming, dusting, etc. I keep picked up throughout the week, but the scrubbing doesn’t get done until Ava is watched. I can no longer do this durring naps. Ever since she started teething, she has been a very light napper. Even the planes will wake her. Very frustrating, but gives me a chance to catch up on my Bachelor/ette junk tv!

We hired a babysitter to watch Ava. We have been too nervous to leave her with anyone outside of family until now. We have decided to stop imposing on our friends’ good natures and try the babysitter out. She watched Bo while we were in the Thousand Islands, so we know her to be careful, meticulous and she can follow direction. it also doesn’t hurt that several of our neighbors use her and like her. Shawn had bought the spa package back in May, but with Ava’s party, going out of town- a lot, illness, etc., we had not gotten around to celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. i finally made the appointment for Sunday and made it happen. Oh…it was ahhhhhhhwesome….

The babysitter arrived earlier than we expected, but this was perfect as I wanted to run a few errands. Then we showed up for our appointment. There were cold washcloths with cucumber slices, a steam room, sauna, my favorite tea and that was before the magic began. Then Shawn and I were led into a treatment room where we were able to get our massages in the same room. It felt sooooo good. I was a little nervous as, while nudity doesn’t bother me, people invading my personal space does. I hate close talkers, exuberant huggers,etc. Even my hairdresser can set off the sort of panic attack by touching my neck too lightly. I don’t know how to describe it… chalk it up to one of my quirks. Anyway, I warner her in advance of my quirk and she said that everything would be fine (I have another spot on the back of my thighs that can get you punched in the face if you try to tickle me. I gave her fair warning). she did a great job. She even massaged those punch-you-in-the-face areas without incident!

The next part was awesome, too. They turned out the lights and we sat in a spa tub with bath salts alone with nothing to do, but talk. There was a multicolored light in the tub that gave some illumination, but mostly, we were in the dark. It gave that sort of midnight magic ambiance- TypeA personality checked at the door. We didn’t want to leave.

We went home to find that Ava never even missed us. That was a slight blow. We gathered up her gear and went to the Grant’s for dinner. They had the Coveners over as well. It was the perfect weather for grilling out and dinner was, as usual, very yummy!

About 5 this morning, we heard Ava wake and scream. She cried for about 15 minutes before I decided it wasn’t stopping. Plus, she started calling for me. How can I resist that? I went and brought her into our bed. She would not calm down. Finally at 6;30, I told Shawn that he should jsut get up and go to work. As soon as he hit the shower, Ava fell sleep and then so did I. Shawn took some embarrassing photos ( I am NOT a morning person!!!) I woke her up at 7:15. I didn’t want her to sleep any longer because 1) I was hungry 2) I needed to shower before Shawn left and 3) I didn’t want to miss our daily walk together (we do morning and evening). Everytime i woke her, she gave me this giant sleepy grin and would settle right back down. I told Shawn that it was his fault that she would not sleep in. Ava couldn’t sleep with the glaring contrast in her jammies. Shawn picked out her jammies and it was a red shirt with cherries embroidered on the front and navy blue pants with pink flowers . Poor girl, it would have stressed me out too.

But there you go, kharma. I have been paid back for my maliciousness. I just looked down and saw that my zipper was down. The last time i went to the bathroom was right before Gymboree, the bank, the grocery store … Ava started gettign into the toilet paper, I rushed and there you go. Poor attention to details and everyone caught a look at my Christmas themed undies (it was the first thing I grabbed in the drawer.) I think I will go put ice on my red face now.



Pecze Family Update

Published
by
Chem
on Wednesday, June 24, 2009
in Pecze News
. 1 Comment

I have been really bad at posting lately, but many of you have actually seen us in person, so I figure it all evens out, right?

Ava has been going to Gymboree four days a week now and LOVES it. She climbs everything in sight and is even trying to tackle the sofa (which comes up to her upper chest/neck). she loves the stairs and is now learning to come down the stairs. She will not go town the stairs on her backside, rather, she prefers to walk down them. Luckily, we are always there to indulge her and now I know a trick to pacify her when she has a diaper rash, sore gums, not enough nap, etc.

She also knows several words, although is not big on speaking them. If I ask her to point out my nose, a tree, an airplane, light, balloon, cup, fan, Bo, pan or ball, she will point to it or look at it delibrately. She also loves to point to things and chirp “DAT!” This is how she asks what something is. You can tell that she is really trying to learn as she will grin and do the same thing three times. I might have to go through this a few times, but then will know what it is. She chirps a lot, but still doesn’t SAY a lot. She knows Mom-mom (she doesn’t say mama) and Da da. she knows Bo and uh-oh. She will only say our names if she is really upset about something or if she is checking we are still around. She only says Bo when she misses him, for instance if we go shopping or traveling. She says uh-oh the most, but even still not with regularity. She is more of an observer. She loves to sit back and watch. I think she will talk when she has something to say.

Ava is still not really walking. She still runs around with her mower and walker. She will walk while only holding on to one hand and will even run around me in circles while holding onto one hand. She wont walk on her own. We have been told that this is more of a personality issue rather than developmental. She is not a risk taker, bu is overly cautious. She will walk when she is certain that she will not fall. i am like this. I wont participate in something unless I know I can succeed. I know, I know, I miss out on so much, blah blah blah, but I never feel bad about myself for failing! When I do it, it will be perfect. This is why I can’t play board games. I don’t know if I will win and I am way too competetive to stand the chance of losing! Severe personality flaw, i know, but at least I am up front and honest about it. I am aware of it and restrain from inflicting my quirks on unsuspecting bistanders!

We took Ava to the pool a couple of weeks ago and she loved it! We bought her this inflatable floaty thing with a cabana. We plunked her in the pool and, once the initial shock of the chillier water (as opposed to bath water), She paddled around, laughed and refused to get out. We were all very wrinkled before she would allow us to get out. it has been almost too hot lately to go to the pool, with temperatures near 100. While the water is undoubtable pleasant, I am afraid of bringing Ava out in such obscene heat. We try to limit our walks to mornings and evenings to still give her the fresh air, but reduce the shocking heat exposure. I feel bad putting her in the car to take her to Gymboree. We will probably be more of hermits until the heat breaks. See ya in the fall!

We recently took a trip up to Alexandria Bay, NY and the 1000 islands. The St. lawrence River is a massive water way that is shared by Canada and NY. it drains Lake Ontario and is a busy water way for Cargo liners coming in from and going out to sea. this was also the first time that we had ever left Ava overnight, let alone for days. I was excited for a chance to sleep or be the couple we were before the baby, but i knew I would miss Ava like nothing else.

We drove up to DC to stay with Shawn’s cousin, Lori, on Friday. Shawn took a half day of vacation after working until midnight Thursday night and then starting in again at 7 AM. I was in charge of packing. It was in the 90’s here. Remember that. it will come back to bite me in the backside later. I got Ava down for a nap, cleaned the house, finished the laundry and packed up all of the gear we would need. I even packed an overnight bag for Lori’s so that we would not need to haul all of the suitcases and gear in and out. Furthermore, I packed a suitcase with Ava’s stuff and one for us so that we didn’t inadvertantly take something of hers up to the Islands. I really felt good about my packing skills. I even checked the weather forcast and packed warmer jammies (50’s at night is a little chilly for this Southern girl) and a pair of jeans for each- just in case.

The trip to DC was pretty uneventful. Ava has about a 2.5 hour car limit, so the 5 hour trip was past her threshold. We flipped her seat around and this made traveling more tolerable for all of us. She was too long for the infant seat and so bored. Now she can stretch out, has a cup holder, can see out the window and I can pass her toys and snacks. We only had to stop once on the way up. this was great!

Once at Lori’s, Ava immediately resumed her friendship with her older cousin, Emma. Emma showed her toys, shared her swing and bubbles (Ava’s favorite) and the two ate together. it was cute, what one ate, the other picked up too.

Ava woke me really early. I had been very sick again (somehow picked up another sinus infection, pink eye, drainage in my ears and settling into my lungs. I had been on antibiotics again long enough not to be contageous, but not enough to feel great) and just wanted sleep. I went to bed early while Shawn watched his Pens win the Stanley Cup. Since I was  sleeping so light and Shawn was driving, but stayed up so late, when Ava woke screaming at 3AM, we decided to bring her into our bed. We thought maybe she was scared at being in a new location because she wasn’t wet and she had meds for teething already. Nothing satisfied her. At 4 Am, Shawn was irritated and I knew it wasn’t going to get better. I brought her downstairs, fed her a bottle (she had been on a hunger strike, so I figured that I would make hte most of any opportunity and method to get food into her) and sat on the sofa with her. lori’s dog, Juno, decided she wanted in on the fun and followed us around. Ava fell in love with Juno. She is a big, happy, patient,white fluffy husky(?). Ava can lay on her, pull her hair or tail, bounce on her, etc and Juno takes it. she does lick and when she licks, Ava runs. i think Juno uses her kisses as a weapon against The Intruder. Anyway, Ava kept laughing and pointing to Juno.  By now it was 5 AM and I just wanted a little more sleep. I was pleading with ehr to just lie down. I turned out all of the lights and Juno immediately started snoring. Ava thought this was hilarious and kept laughing. She would grow quiet, still wearing a grin, cock her head to the side and chirp, “Dat!” Yes, Ava, juno is snoring. Then Ava owuld giggle and start all over again. At 5 AM, I was NOT amused. I laid down on the sofa and pulled Ava onto my tummy to sleep. She rolled over and tried to climb the pillows. I was MAD! I pulled her down and tried to get her to lay down, so she crawled further down the sofa and started climbing the pillows. Suddenly, she flung herself into my lap, rolled on to her back and dozed. Sweet relief! Then Juno started barking in her sleep. This set off the giggles all over again. i woke the dog up and went back to the sofa. Finally calmed Ava down and we dozed from 6 until 7. She refused to sleep any more. I was so tired that I couldn’t function. We went outside and sat on Lori’s deck. I put Ava in the swing and mindlessly pushed her hoping there would be coffee. At 8:30, I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to wake Shawn for his turn. It was his stupid fault he came to bed late anyway. I kicked them out of the room and slept until 9:30. That little bit helped clear the cobwebs and I felt awake enough to make a cup of coffee from the pot that Lori had blessedly made! Shawn had jsut finished feeding the girls, giving Lori a chance to read her paper in peace for a change. He felt he could afford to be charitable here since we would be Ava-free for a few days ourselves!

I watched the girls after breakfast while Lori and Shawn mowed the lawn, weeded the garden, trimmed the shrubs, etc for Lori’s HOA inspection. We know from experience jsut how hard it is to get that done, work a full time job and suffer the plague at the same time. both Lori and Emma were recovering from the same crap I had. We all caught it Memorial Day and have been sick on and off since then.

We then left for my parents and arrived Saturday evening. We had a pleasant visit with my family. Mom discovered that a local pizza place, nirchi’s, now makes gluten-free sheet pizzas. it was awesome! I couldn’t tell it was gluten-free! it was spongey and delicious! Ava decided to wake again at 3 Am, but since she was in her own room and doors were closed, we turned off the monitor and let her cry it out. I woke up a half hour later and turned the monitor on again and she had settled. She was up again at 6, though, and no amount of crying it out would work.

We pulled ourselves together, ate breakfast at a country-style restaurant near my parents’ house and hit the road for the short trip to the 1000 islands. We arrived about 2:30, got Shawn a fishing license, parked and took the boat over to the island. it was really pleasant. sunny and mid-70’s. Shawn’s college roommate, Brad, took us out on the boat. We brought the camera, but forgot to put the battery in it. The sky was amazing. You could see a Thunderstorm raging in Canada, but it was calm and beautiful in NY. They guys fished until dark. The guys had cooked up brats and served chips with it, eating around a campfire. Beers, Brats, lake setting at dusk and campfire. it was great. Then Brad’s wife, Jill, brought out the s’mores. Then it just got better. i couldn’t eat smores, but I did have toasted marshmallows! Then the bugs hit. They had super teeth or something! I had welts under my clothing!The marks are still present a week later!

Monday, we woke to freezing air (oops! left the window opena nd fan on!) and rain streaming down. it was a cold, wet, dreary day, but we got to sleep in until 8:30! Tried really hard to sleep in later, but it just wouldn’t happen. I think the baby messed with my clock. oh, how I miss the first trimester days when I could fall asleep instantly and sleep like a rock until I HAD to get up. I could sleep anywhere, anytime. We showered and dressed for the day, but I was freezing. Shorts and T-shirts were not going to cut it. I pulled on my jammies over my clothes. layers are better, right? Brad and his brother, Dwayne, got up at 5 and went fishing. Even in the rain. More power to them. I slept. I was relatively dry (the cabin was a little damp. We were warned that it was rustic.) When the cleaned up, we decided to go into town and shop since no one else wanted to fish in the cold and rain! Remember, we are on an island. we still have to take the boat around to get off the island.

A short, but chilly ride later, we were piling into Brad’s large SUV. He drove us into Alexandria Bay and we tooled around town. Shawna nd I bought souveniers and couldn’t pass up a little ballerina frog for Ava. or fudge. ummm. Also for Ava? Not buying it? Alright, alright. it was for us, but I am blaming it totally on Shawn’s other college roommate, Kent. It was his idea. We jsut ate the sample and couldn’t leave without buying more. We then ate lunch in a bar built on a floating dock. I think I was a little seasick with my inner ear problem and all of the meds I was taking. I felt drunk. The room was spinning and I couldn’t eat. It was a tragedy because I LOVE bar food.We all started a ritual after lunch that I embraced wholehartedly-the afternoon nap!

the sun finally came out and warmed up the day. We went out on the boat for some evening fishing. I read a book and took pictures. We again grilled out and ate around a campfire, this time eating the chicken Spiedies that Shawn and I brought. Huge hit. The bugs weren’t that bad and we stayed around the campfire until 11:30.

Tuesday came chilly. the guys, again, were up early to fish, but Shawn and I slept in. It was awesome. fresh air and no responsibility. We shivered through our shower and was ready to go by the time the guys came back. once they were cleaned up, we piled into the boat and headed for town by water, this time. It was sunny and warmer (low 70’s) so Brad showed us the sites by water. We floated past Bolt Castle, Millionaire Row, and hundreds of little islands that were jsut so cute! We docked in a public boat parking lot thing and ate at a pizza joint. They made me the best sausage burger! It was yummy! Shawn, of course, took his golden opportunity to chow down on pizza. he doesn’t get too many chances.

After lunch, we looked at boats and Shawn is convinced that we need a boat. since i love being on the water, i can indulge him on this…maybe when Ava is older, though. Soon, we were back at the cabin indulging in my new favorite pasttime, the nap, before going outon the water again. We stayed out on the River until dark. The guys then built a fire and made Mountain Pies for dinner- think rustic hot pockets. Everyone chose to make them with left over spiedie meat!

Wednesday, we packed up our luggage and got ready to go home. While we enjoyed our freedom, it was getting harder to stay away from Ava and we couldn’t wait to feel her little arms gripping our necks in one her famous bear hugs! We drove home, stopping in Syracuse for lunch. After a forever and a day long trip (2.5 hours), we finally met up with my mom at Friendly’s. Ava looked different. i couldn’t say how. Longer? heavier? Maybe I was going crazy. I wasn’t. We would find out later that she was in a growth spurt and gained a pound! She was a little taller too! Now the joke is, it took us three weeks to get her to gain a pound and Grandma 3 days.

The minute she saw us, she gave us this gigantic hot dog grin! It was perfect! We took her back to my parents’ after lunch instead of letting Mom take her back to work. We missed her too much. She chattered and laughed the whole way home. She didn’t want to go down for a nap, so I think she missed us too. She did finally give in, thank heavans, because we were desperate for our new napping routine.

The rest of the week passed in a blur and soon it was Saturday- time to come home! We drove to DC again, this time stoppping over at Shawn’s best friend’s house (Mike and Stacie). We have only seen them briefly this year, so it was nice to stop and actually have time to chat. Plus they live near the best breakfast place ever- the home of the gluten free pancake! I made myself sick trying to finnish a plate of their banana pancakes. Shawn got this massive apple pancake, larger than a pie. His eyes about fell out of his head when the waitress put that down in front of him. He said it was amazing, though.

Sunday was Father’s Day. I felt bad about abandoning my dad a day early, but made sure to call him. Plus I had to apologize for Shawn rubbing it in to Dad that we ate at hoss’s the night before. My dad is a Hoss’s addict. It was my first job, the company was really good to me and the food was good too. Dad has remained a loyal guest. We were at Friendly’s this time. it was accross the street from Hooters. While I am a big It’s-your-day-let’s-do-what-you-want kinda gal, my enthusiasm doesn’t stretch to hooters. I told him it was little girl friendly and he would have a heart attack if his daughter ever worked there. besides, Friendly’s has the Reese’s Pieces Sundae. Ice Cream finally won my slightly losing battle. whew.

Nearly an hour from home, Kerrie and Shayne called and invited us to eat dinner at their place. Shayne got a new grill and steaks were on the menu. So were green beans and mashed potatoes.  all of my favorite food groups- not turning that down! We had a great time at dinner and the evening passed too quickly. soon Ava was passing out and we had to get her to bed.

Monday was back to the normal routine. Ava was thrilled to be back at Gymboree. Everyone there said she looked different too so that was validation that I was NOT crazy!!!! They set up new obstacles courses and Ava jsut powered through them all doing her aye-aye-aye chant. The teachers got the biggest kick out of her. normally, she sits back and watched the other kids before starting an exercise and NEVER talks in public. She must have been so happy to be back. She was waving at the teachers, watched them attentively, and was doing things that i didn’t even know she knew how to do- like climb on the rocking horse by herself. She really must have grown.

Today has been a typical day as well. Ava woke up at 5, not typical and not welcome, but I let her cry it out. Finally at 6, i went to get her and found that she was cold. Shawn had turned on her fan to air out the stuffy room (it has been BLAZING hot here) and forgot to turn it off. Poor thing was huddled in a ball in the corner of her crib. I felt like Mother of the year after that. Great. Her arms were like ice. I felt like crap. She curled into me and we laid down in my bed while shawn showered. Soon she was up and moving around. no rest for the weary, i guess! she did take an early nap, around 9AM and slept until it was time to leave for her class. this was good bewcause I had a full day of fun planned. We went to class and she was not really into it. I think she was still tired. She was content to ride the rocking horse a few times and sit with the other girls and toss some balls around. No one was into the obstacle course today. The moms and teachers weren’t either. We all jsut sat around and gossiped. I still count the class as good. We got out of the house and Ava interacted with her peers. then we left for our typical Tuesday event. We went to lunch at a favorite burger joint. We have a standing Tuesday date for this and Ava loves it. She gets her hotdog and I can get a baked potato. Ava actually ate all of her hotdog, some crunchies, some yogurt melts, part of my baked potato (big surprise here-I never thought that she would eat that) and drank some of my lemonade. I don’t think that she is really a fan of the lemonade, rather she loves drinking from the straw. We then went into harris Teeter for Super Doubles week. Thrilling, i know, but they were doubling cupons up to 1.99, instead of only .99. On 18 items, I save  60 bucks (for those doing the math, Harris Teeter happended to be running specials on the products as well)!

We had a diaper situation in the check out line, so I knew that we would not be able to finish the shopping. We fought tons of traffic home, unloaded the car, played then Ava went down for her nap. As soon as she wakes, we will be heading for the store, again!

We have decided not to take any trips for the near future. We have had so much going on this year and continue to have full plates for the forseeable future. As much as I love to travel, I need to be home. My laundry needs done, floors need dusted, the lawn needs mowed! the last thing we need is a citation there. My flowers have suffered in the heat and need a little TLC. It will be good to jsut be home for a little while. It really is a lot like work to travel. Well, Ava is awake now. Time to shop. oh, how I love those words!



Ava is official!

Published
by
Chem
on Thursday, June 4, 2009
in Pecze News
. 2 Comments

We got the notice last August that Ava’s birth certificate was elible for pick up, but itme flew so quickly that we never went to pick it up. I finally got the courage to find my way downtown (thanks, GPS!) and picked it up. I’m glad I went early. There was only one family in front of me, but they were asking for multiple certificates on all 20 of their kids. I’m exaggerating, as it felt like 20 when they kept going over and over what they needed. Finally another teller stepped in and helped me. 20-kids-family was still trying to get their act together when I left. There was a waiting room full of people when I left. I am thrilled! I have a certified copy proof that Ava exists!

Last night, I made jambalaya for dinenr. Ava hasn’t been eating well and I gave her a spoonful on a whim. I make her at least try everything we have for dinner so that I can find what she likes and what she doesn’t. The night before last, I made roast beef and mashed potatoes. She wouldn’t touch the beef, but couldn’t get enough of the potatoes and gravy! Last night, she ate two spoons of jambalaya before calling it quits. then she ate some yogurt melts and cheese. Shawn came home for dinner and it looked like she was hungry agian. Shawn fed her probably a quarter cup of jambalaya before she wanted cheese. I was shocked. I delibrately did not make it very spicy in the hopes that she would eat some, but I sincerely doubted that she would touch it. Happy to be proved wrong! This morning’s diaper was WRONG!!!!! Somehow, Iwas the only one who noticed a diaper situation…Wow! I am gagging just remembering that. She did get a little diaper rash from it, so we will keep the jambalaya to a minimum in the future, but interesting taste palate this one!



Ava update (updated)

Published
by
Chem
on Tuesday, June 2, 2009
in Pecze News
. 0 Comments

We are about to begin the summer long all-you-can-go Gymboree fest. It began yesterday, but we had put my carseat and gear in Shawn’s car over the weekend while running errands and didn’t realize that it was still there until Shawn was already at work. Today, we will start. Ava loves these classes as she can mingle with other kids, spend extra energy and climb on everything without getting into trouble. I love it as it gets me out of the house and Ava spends all of that extra energy. Win Win. Her age group has classes 5 times a week, so, instead of the usual 1 time a week, we are taking advantage. It will be hard for her to go back to one time a week in the fall!

Ava is getting very close to walking. She is back where she was in April, taking a lunging step in the direction she wants to go, but counting on her weight and momentum to get her to the object. It is not a true step, but a step in the right direction. Okay, okay. that was bad, but I’ve been waiting forever to use that pun! Last April, she took this step, but misjudged how far the sofa was and she missed the sofa, but skimmed her face down the edge. She has been reluctant to walk since then. I think watching Emma walk over memorial day has made her brave again. She can walk and can stand, but lacks the confidence. She has a mower toy that she got for her birthday. It does not support her weight at all, but she plays with it because it makes noise (of course she is only attracted to the noisy toys!) She runs around with it, so I know she can walk, but it fools her into thinking there is a safety net. Soon, enough, she will be walking, I guess.

We bought her car seat this past weekend. We have been looking for a while, but Shawn’s cousin, Lori, showed us hers. She said that it was recommended by the firemen because it doesn’t have swivel armrests that can become dislodged in an accident (apparently they have rescued several shishkabob kids. Instantly, we favored the molded onepiece!) Ava is slightly underweight yet, so we have probably another month to go before she will fit into the seat. Before she can turn around, she must be 20 lbs, 28 inches and 1 year old. She is over 28 inches and 1 year, but just under that 20 pound mark.

The weather ahs turned rediculously hot now and we bought Ava a swimming pool float toy to help her in the pool. We plan to go to the pool this weekend, so look for pictures! Don’t be surprised if there aren’t many pics, though, she only prefers warm water! We’re thinking, given the weather has been sunny and mid 90’s, the pool should be warm enough for her. Now to get me a magical swimsuit that hides the cellulite, fat, lumps, stretch marks, c-section scars, mole removal scars, but doesn’t resemble a circus tent. If you find one, save me one! I’m looking for the Victoria Secret model look. If you find a suit that can turn me into that, you’ve hit a gold mine!

Shawn installed my water fountain on the deck this weekend. I love it! it makes the most peaceful sound. Add to that the shaded deck and the flowers and it is very pleasant back there…now to get rid of the mosquitos!

Shawn also got sand for Ava’s sandbox. We spend about an hour out there before bed everynight. She loves it! She is even learning not to eat the sand! No small feat! We plan to take her to the beach later this summer, so this training is necessary!

Well, class starts soon, so I had better wrap it up now. Then, off to the grocery store! My fun knows no bounds!

In my haste to run to class, I forgot to mention that we installed the tot locks on our cabinets. Ava was into everything, the garbage, under sink stuff, pots and pans and even found the liquor. I was having a heart attack on a daily basis and IT WAS TIME!!! Now, I’m having a heart attack because I CAN’T get into the cabinets. Darn things need a key and I keep forgetting the tot locks are there. I have ripped off more finger nails than I care to count. Ava is a very UNHAPPY camper. She just yanks on the cabinet and screams in frustration. FINALLY, I have one-upped her!

I still feel like a dirty girl. That little girl of mine can find a speck of dust even on a freshly vacummed carpet! She makes no bones about sharing it with me, too. Great. Thanks. She will seek me out to hand me the dust I missed.  I jsut want to tell you, “Just you wait until you have kids of your own and THEN we’ll see how clean YOUR carpets are!” Just so you don’t think I’m completely nuts, when she hands it to me, she wears this cheesy grin that screams, “You missed a spot!”

Toilet paper was a thing of the past in our house. Good luck if you happen to be a guest in our house, finding the tp. We have to hide it in strategic places. half the fun is trying to figure out where the other hid it. Ava has joined the puppy in her taste for tp. I have seen her eat it, shred it, and unravel it in a giant trail around the house, etc. When she’s bored with that, she’s figured out how to turn the water off to the toilet and pedestal sink. if the toilet won’t flush or the sink wont work, chances are, Ava was there right before you. just turn the knob. Look at it as a mini scavenger hunt in our house. Always an adventure. Emma and a couple of kids at Gymboree do this as well, so I think Ava is normal.



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, June 2, 2009
in Ava and Travel
. 1 Comment

Over Memorial Day weekend, we travelled to Johnstown for my friend’s wedding.  While we were there, my cousin Lori brought her daughter, Emma, up so that she and Ava could play together.

Ava and Emma

Ava and Emma



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, May 19, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 1 Comment

On Saturday, we went and had 1 year portraits done.  Since Chem’s family was in town for the party, we decided to include them.

Avas One Year Portrait

Ava's One Year Portrait



Ava’s First birthday

Published
by
Chem
on Monday, May 18, 2009
in Pecze News
. 2 Comments

I hate the day after a party where all of the guests are gone, but the echoes of the party are still present in the stale cake on the counter, a random soda can left on the mantle or the balloons nearly deflated by a day of sun and wind and now rain. Most of the party has been cleaned up; dishes are washed, decorations taken down, beds and bath linens are piled in the laundry room waiting to be cleaned. Its a very rainy Sunday, so the balloons are left half-mast on the deck and mailbox, but the indoor balloons have been cut down. only one brave Mylar balloon is still valiantly floating in the air-conditioned breeze.

My parents left early Sundayy morning and my brother, Eric, and his wife, Michelle, left about an hour later. My mother-in-law left shortly after them. Ava is took a long nap, worn out by all of the activity, so the house seemed extra quiet in the wake of the busy weekend.

My parents and brother arrived on Thursday afternoon. We had a full day! Shawn and I have been cleaning like crazy. i had blogged about our thousand and one half completed projects? We were making great strides on the furniture painting, thanks to the Stogner’s paint-sprayer thingamajig, but then the humidity rolled in and stalled the drying process. It still is a little sticky, so we still don’t have a kitchen table or chairs. It looks awesome, though, and I feel much more positive about the college furniture! Some pictures weren’t hung, laundry not completed, and not all of my flowers were planted in time for the party, but no one noticed but me.

we took my parents to Char-grill for lunch on Thursday, so tasty! its one of those 1950’s drive up, flame-broiled burger joint with quite possibly the best milk-shakes i have ever tasted. My parents then took us for a tour of the sandboxes. My parents had already sent a toddler baby grand piano, but they wanted Ava to have a sandbox and toys for the summer as well. since thursday was actually Ava’s birthday, we went to Biaggi’s to celebrate. Biaggi’s has an extensive gluten-free menu. I ordered a marinara and a dish of peas and pancetta for Ava. Ava loved the peas and pancetta until my marinara arrived. i gave her a sample to see if she would like it and she lady-and-the-tramped it, sucking up the noodle. it was adorable. of course, an hour later, she was covered in marinara, but LOVED it. They even brought her an ice cream sundae with a candle! She, of course, loved it!

Friday, Shawn adn i had a bunch of errands that started at 7. Bleary eyed, we stumbled out of bed at 5:30. We asked my parents to take Ava to her Gymboree class as we needed the time sans baby to get things done and we thought that they would like to participate in one of Ava’s favorite pasttimes. We were able to go to my doctor’s appointment, take Bo to the groomers and iron our clothes for the portrait session that I had scheduled for Friday afternoon before my parents came back. of course, they had a great time. Ava’s class even sung “happy Birthday” to her. however, Mom was a little worried that something might be wrong with Ava. She had developed a rash all over her body. The day before, it was on her face by her ears only and I wasn’t too worried. I thought that I didn’t get all of the soap off of her face when I bathed her ( I am not the normal bath-giver so I thought I messed it up), but I knew it wasn’t my fault when the rash took over her body. I called the doctor. they had us come in immediately. I had jsut enough time to grab a diaper bag and cancel the portrait session.

Ava had gotten sick the Thursday after we returned from my grandma’s funeral. She apparently caught a sinus infection and was placed on an antibiotic, Amoxycillin. Ava is probably allergic to the antibiotic and the rash will go away with time. They jsut had us discontinue the medicine and monitor the rash. Once the medicine was stopped, the rash seemed to clear up right away. She still has the bumps all over, but they have lost the red color.

We spent the afternoon getting ready for the party and then went to ZPizza for dinner. they have a gluten free pizza crust that was very tasty. It was probably my favorite pizza that I have ever had, in fact. I have nevber ordered pizza in a restaurant, so this was an unusal and (don’t think I am an idiot) exciting experience. I felt normal for a change! mom is always complaining that I have it so much easier than she did. When she was trying to raise my brothers and I, no one had ever heard of Celiac or gluten free diets, now they are the buzz words in culinary circuits, healthy eating, and even in gossip magazines.

Luckily, we were able to reschedule the portraits for Very. Early. Saturday. Morning. For the second day in a row, I had been up late chatting with family and up early to get ready for this party. somehow, my dad talked Shawn into making cinnamon bun flavored ebelskivers and bacon for breakfast before our VEry. Early Appointment (have I stressed jsut how early this appointment was?) somehow, we got 6 adults and 1 baby ready for portraits, ebelskivers made and eaten and out the door on time. how? I have no idea, but I know it couldn’t happen again if we tried. The only thing? I did not get my requisite cup of coffee. The pot ran out before I could get some (I heard some went back for seconds) and the next pot didn’t perk in time for me to drink it. I really needed that cup of coffee.

We arrived at Portrait Innovations with one minute to spare. Ava was not having any of the portrait thing. She was UNHAPPY. We managed to get some pics, though, with Uncle Eric and Daddy working hard for those grins. Well worth the effort! Of course, i did not find out just how giant my cowlick was until we were revewing the proofs on a giant flat screen tv. I was shocked and everyone laughed uncomfortably. Even the photographer was embarassed. He said that he thought it looked bad, but was afraid to say something in case I had styled my hair that way. STYLED MY HAIR THAT WAY?! Seriously?! just one horn sticking off the side of my head and he thought I had done that on purpose?! so, a lot of my pictures feature the horn. It is quite possibly the worst set of pictures i have ever taken in my entire life. Shawn will be posting the pics soon, just watch out for what I have dubbed the “Devil Poof”, you might lose an eye. I can’t believe this…

We got home in plenty of time to get the sides finished for the barbeque. We had started them the day before, making it so easy to put on hte party! The boys went out for balloons (they were ordered in advance), cake, pick up the food, ice and rolls for the pulled pork.

It, of course, poured rain all morning long and I was freaking out. 40 people had RSVP’d that they would be coming; where was I going to put everyone? Luckily, the sun came out just in time!

the party was so much fun! We had hoped to catch up with friends at the party, but there was jsut so much going on that we were not able to talk to everyone as we had hoped. Now that Ava is a little older and a bit more independent, we hope to revive some friendships that have been englected this past year!

Ava wore a pretty white dress with white polka dots embroidered on it. It had pink smocking and a big white bow in the back. It was very sweet. it didn’t stay white though. Ava had a gluten free chocolate cupcake with chocolate buttercream frosting that she devoured. It was everywhere. I am still cleaning up chocolate cake days later! At first, she was not sure about the cake. Soon, she nibbled on some crumbs and decided that chocolate is her friend. that’s my girl!

Since the party, Ava has been playing with all of her new toys. The noisy ones are instant favs, but she did get this interesting spider thing called Wacky Willy that she can’t seem to leave alone. However, she can be distracted with her lawn mower or diva mirror sing along thing. She got a sandbox for her birthday as well. We have not had a chance to go get some sand, but that is a project for the near future!

Sunday, everyone left. Thatw as when I started this blog, but then Shawn came home from running errands and I thought that it would be nicer to spend some QT with him. We have not seen much of eachother in in over a month with all of the party prep, etc. We vegged and watched all of our old tivo stuff. Since it was raining out, it was the perfect way to spend some time. Ava slept for about 5 hours yesterday. I think she was jsut too tired from all of the fun!

Today, Ava had her one year check up at the doctors. She weighs 17 pounds, 7 ounces (5th percentile), is 28 1/4 inches long (45th percentile) and her head circumference is 45 inches which puts her in the 50th percentile. The doctor said that the weight loss is common at this point in her development as she is mobile now. He expects a continued drop until about 15 months as she masters walking. If at 18 months she is still losing weight, he will consider monitoring her every month and treat as neccessary. He said that the true test is based on head circumference which has remained constant. Based on that and the fact that she is still growing normally and steadily, he sees no need to worry about that at this time. He said that she could be one of the very lucky: a skinny girl.

Ava had her shots today: chicken pox, MMR and Hep A. the first two are live vaccines, which she has not had before, and hte last is the dead vaccine like the rest of her shots. We are not sure how the night and subsequent couple of days are going to pan out. We have given her motrin and tylenol to preempt the fever, etc as she was a little irritable at bedtime. In the past, she seems to get a higher fever with each shot. the last set brought on a temp of 104. I don’t want to go through that again.

It feels very strange to think that Ava is 1. She is becomming a litle girl. Her personality is showing and she has a mind of ehr own. She shakes her head no if she doesn’t want something and will continue to do something that she wants even when told no. If forced to do something that she doesn’t want to, she will scream and tense up, like a temper tantrum. she will hand you something and say your name. She loves games and I will do anything to make her laugh. That is the best sound in the world and there is nothing else like it. This year has been an amazing journey and it has been exciting to experience life again. There are so many firsts that have become mundane to me as i grow older that I notice again through Ava’s eyes, like a carousel ride. Ice cream. Spring flowers. winter’s first snow. i think I have gained enough perception to put information into context that I perhaps stop seeing things in the first place. Ava makes me slow down. On a walk around the block, she smiles and points when an airplane goes overhead (they are low enough to jsut about touch them or so she thinks) and I stop and describe the plane to her. Then I remember being a little girl laying in the grass watching the planes with their fluffy tails of condensation and wondering where all of the people were going and why. I would make up stories about who they are and why they were traveling. Now I only notice them if they fly too low and make too much noise. Not Ava. the plane is entertainment and wonderment. My mom always says that she has big plans for Ava and I wonder if she can’t wait for these “firsts” again, too; her third set of “firsts”. I have plans, too, and can’t wait to get started.



New Poll

Published
by
Shawn
on Monday, May 18, 2009
in Ava and Baby News
. 0 Comments

Well, the last poll was a nailbiter, but most people thought that Ava would have teeth by her first birthday, and they were correct.  She got her first tooth about a month before the big day.

The new poll question is “When will Ava take her first steps?”.  She’s crusing around holding furniture, but she hasn’t had much success taking steps on her own.



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Monday, May 18, 2009
in Ava, Baby News, Holidays and Picture of the Day
. 0 Comments

I’ve posted the pictures from Ava’s 1st Birthday Celebration.  Here is a picture of her enjoying her chocolate cupcake.  She didn’t want anything to do with it at first, but once she got that first taste, she dove right in.

Avas Birthday Cake

Ava's Birthday Cake



Photo Updates

Published
by
Shawn
on Monday, May 18, 2009
in Home Improvement, Photo Updates and Travel
. 0 Comments

I’m still working on naming all of the photos, but I’ve uploaded a ton of new ones.

We’ve done a lot of work on our back yard recently.  We put in mulch and some new flowers.  I haven’t taken pictures of the flowers, but here are some pics of the newly mulched yard.

We recently traveled to Ohio for Chem’s grandmother’s funeral.  Her family were some of the earliest settlers in that region, so we took some pictures of some of the Zink family historical sites.

We recently got a new TV stand and are in the process of repainting our kitchen table and chairs.  Here are some pictures of the furniture projects.

Finally, we painted our master bedroom.  Here are a few pictures of the process.  I’ll post more once we hang all of the new pictures.



Easter Egg Hunt

Published
by
Shawn
on Friday, May 15, 2009
in Ava, Holidays and You-Tube
. 0 Comments

I know Easter was a month ago, but I finally posted a video of Ava’s Easter Egg hunt.  She found all of the eggs, and she even figured out that she needed to put the eggs in the bag.




Photo Updates (Finally!)

Published
by
Shawn
on Thursday, May 14, 2009
in Ava and Photo Updates
. 0 Comments

It’s been a long time since I last updated photos, but we’ve been pretty busy lately.

Here are some recent pictures of Ava.  I’ve also uploaded pictures from Easter.  I still have a ton more photos, but they’ll have to wait a few more days.



Happy Birthday Ava!

Published
by
Shawn
on Thursday, May 14, 2009
in Pecze News
. 0 Comments

I can’t believe it’s been a year since Ava arrived.  The last thing I remember was watching American Idol with Chem when her water broke, and now we’re celebrating her 1st birthday.

I really need to make sure I enjoy these moments because they’re flying by so quickly.



Many Changes 2

Published
by
Chem
on Wednesday, May 6, 2009
in Pecze News
. 2 Comments

Ava’s diet: I forgot to blog about her love of Mac n Cheese. Of course Ava is on a gluten free diet since she stands a strong chance of being Celiac like me. Last week, I stopped at Earth Fare and bought a gluten free mac-n- cheese frozen dinner to eat on the fly. We were packing and preparing to go out of town and I didn’t have much time to make something. They are 3.19 each, so its not a habit I really want to make. Ava was fussy, I think she could pick up on my stress, so I was carrying her while I ate. I never stand to eat, but ever since the baby was born, if I want to eat, I stand. Ava was eyeing my food. I want to encourage her curiosity, so I gave her a bite. she loved it. So much so, she ate 1/2 my dish. Last night, we went through a traumatic experience of sitting out a tornado in the lounge of a day spa and she would not eat. I had a spare mac-n-cheese in the freezer and pulled it out on a whim. She ate almsot the whole thing; at least 3/4! it is not a child sized portion!

Most of you know that tornadoes are my worst fear. I had an appointment at the day spa at 6:30 and Shawn was going to pick up Ava at 6:15 from the day spa on his way home from work. That plan would give him some extra time at work. I went to Michael’s to pick up some picture wire and rubber picture bumper things to protect the wall. I had some extra time and I noticed the rain was picking up. I went to the day spa early. As I was getting out, I thought that it would be easier to put Ava in the car when she was already in her seat (it would jsut snap into the base, instead of fumbling with all of the harnesses in the rain) and brought in my groceries. I was in the front lobby and Shawn called me to say that he couldn’t leave. He was on his way out and he was stopped. Apparently there was a tornado sighted in the area. I panicked as I am jsut a few minutes from him. As I hung up the phone, the receptionist confirmed that the tornado was in RTP and was coming down I-40 towards the airport- right for us. They bundled everyone into the lounge and we were all sitting on the floor. The lounge is an interior room surrounded by the men and womens locker rooms and reception and treatment rooms. There were 2 receptionists, 4 practitioners 3 other patrons and Ava and me. So here I am, facing my worst fear, feeling exposed in a shopping plaza, with my daughter. I saw the plaza go up. It went up in, like, a day (slight exaggeration) so I don’t really have a lot of faith in the integrity of the structure.  the elderly patron said in a very Southern accent, “Don’t worry, honey. if a tornado hits, i’ll throw myself over you and that baby. I’ve lived my life.” What do you say to that… thanks? It was kinda funny. It was dark and the music went out. It was so quiet and you could hear the rain pelting the roof. It became a roar. I had strapped Ava into her seat. I figured that the car seat was the safest place for her as it was made to withstand a collision. I hoped it would protect her head and spine. I saw a blanket under a chair and grabbed it before anyone else. I folded it up and put it over Ava. We played peek-a-boo so that she wouldn’t be too frightened, but i could tell she knew something was up. All of a sudden, we heard this roaring woosh and i thought we were about to be sucked up into Oz. Turns out, it was the a/c coming back on.  The tornado was only a funnel cloud over us and touched down in Cary. I was so scared. I made Shawn come and get us and I followed him home. I was glued to the news all night long and couldn’t sleep until the watch had expired at midnight. needless to say, today is dragging for me. I could drop any moment. Poor Shawn stayed up with me and he had to go into work today!

Shawn did get to hang the pictures last night and they look great! After 5 years, it finally looks like we live here…now to finish painting and move all of the furniture back into the appropriate rooms..and maybe plant some flowers. I know, I know, I’m pushy. Poor Shawn. he is usually the labor for my motivated bright ideas!



Many Changes

Published
by
Chem
on Tuesday, May 5, 2009
in Pecze News
. 8 Comments

I guess I haven’t blogged since February, so I have a lot to report.

1. I found THE dress. Kerrie and I went to Smithfield to shop the outlets. I wasn’t really looking for the dress there, but it called to me from the parking lot. Kerrie had parked outside of Gymboree and we walked across the hot, shimmering pavement (it was in the 80’s that day) and the dress appeared like a mirage. You might think that I was dramatizing, but I really am not. Kerrie can vouch for me. The dress was in the windows and I said right away that I loved it. There were two, actually, and a brief phone call to Shawn decided which one I bought. It was called Neopolitin as it resembled the ice cream. It was vanilla colored silk A-line with a strawberry colored silk ribbon and bow at the waist with  chocolate and strawberry colored bands at the bottom. You can see it in the Easter bunny pics. She looked adorable. Since it was the fanciest dress she has, she also wore it to my Grandmother’s funeral last Saturday. Since she wore it there, she will nto be wearing it to her birthday party and I have another cute little dress picked out. Actually, the Easter Bunny brought it to her.

2. My Grandma (my dad’s mom) passed away last Monday. It seemed very sudden, more so being over 8 hours away and not able to get there in time to say good-bye. My Gram would have been 94 in June. This was a very sad occasion for our family, but at the same time, we were able to see people that we can’t ordinarily.

My brother, John, and his wife, Diana, were able to get the time off to come up to Ohio. I was just chatting with them the other day and we were bummed to figure out that we wouldn’t see each other for some time yet. John was upset that he had not seen Ava since she was 4 months old and now she is nearly 1 year! He wouldn’t get a chance to see her until she was even older.

My cousin, Rachel, had a little boy, Joshua, 2 1/2 years ago and I had not met him yet. We always seemed to miss each other, even by hours. I haven’t seen her since 2001? Joshua seemed to love Ava and kept coming over to play.

My cousin, Bill and his wife, Gina, live in Washington State. They had a little boy, William Charles, 6 months ago. I chat with Gina through emails and online, but had not met her either. Bill, being older and in the Navy, then med school, etc. I had not seen him since I was in high school? the dates are hazy, but you get the drift.

my other brother, Eric also came up. We see him more frequently as he lives about 4 hours away, but it was still good to visit. My mom and Dad have not had all of us together since John’s wedding in Sept and then I think it was the Christmas before that.

I, of course, made sure to visit with all of my Ohio family that I do see regularly, but am always happy to visit with!

I did use this as a chance to do the Zink family tour, visiting the Zink building, seeing where my granparents worked, their old house, etc. I think that helped with the healing process. Even though this was a very sad occasion,  it was great to reconnect with family. I did catch a few pics, and they will be posted shortly.

Ava also had her first Dairy Queen and hot fudge sundae experience. She ate it without slopping one drop on her clothing! Much better than her Mommy or Daddy!

3. We have been cleaning like madmen in preparation of Ava’s birthday. We started with the need for a new entertainment center. Ava likes the sound of hitting glass. She will slap the windows, the stove door, the sliding glass door, etc. The entertainment center had a large glass door, but it was very thin glass. At limes, I could see the glass bend and knew that it would only be a matter of time before she would go through the door. I am also shameless as I used the baby once again to get rid of another piece of Shawn’s ugly college or just post-college furniture. So, we found a piece that we liked and cleared out the old one. Once the carpet was bared, we freaked at the amount of dust collected behind the t.v. and how the carpet was white underneath and brownish gray elsewhere. We felt like dirty pigs. We decided to get the carpets cleaned. Not just cleaned. We decided to remove all of the furniture in every carpeted room and move them to the bathrooms, dining room, kitchen, etc which did not have carpet. We were climbing over baskets and piles of furniture and trinkets for a week. Once the rooms were bare, we realized the baseboards were nasty. Then the woodwork. Why not do the windows? Finally, we haven’t painted our bedroom or bathroom in the 5 years we have lived here and they are the rooms that need it the most. Yep, we decided to paint the bedroom. Unfortunately, we were in the middle of the project when we were called to Ohio. Shawn ripped down the tape from the part that he had accomplished so that the tape wouldn’t damage the paint (if it is up too long, the tape sticks to the paint and makes a mess), but made a few tears in th paint. We still need a lot of work in there and so, we are still living with all of our bedroom furniture in our clost, bathroom, and bonus room. The house is a wreck and Ava’s party is a week and a half away. The room will look awesome when it is done, though! Did I mention that somehow all of this cleaning morphed into a big screen t.v. as well? Still not sure how that happened….

4. I walked into Michael’s to buy some decorations for Ava’s party when I saw frames on clearance. I got 11 x 14 frames for 6 dollars and smaller frames for 4. They are the exact frames that I have been looking for for years, but haven’t found. We have been thinking about getting them framed proffessionally since I couldn’t find what I wanted, but that was going to be about 150 a picture. Definitely a slow process then. I couldn’t believe my luck. I bought about $100 worth of frames and started framing sketches from our trips. We are not nick-nack type people, so on vacation, we buy sketches of places we have visited. When I look at the pictures, I remember the day, the vacation, even where we were when we decided on that pic- a street vendor, a map store, a framer, an art gallery or museum gift shop. We have had pictures that go back as far as 8 years, hiding in the closet until we could frame them. Our walls have been bare and have that just-moved-in-look. Since I couldn’t take an active role in all of the home improvement projects, this was my contribution. Shawn plans to hang them tonight while I spend some time to myself getting beautiful (love salon appts and my salon is a spa…so relaxing)

5. We finally finished mulching the back yard. Last year, we planned out how the garden would look, measured it, bought the supplies, then oops! my water broke 9 days early. We were one weekend short of accomplishing our project! I can’t really participate in projects now because we have to watch Ava. She wont sit in her playyard as she gets bored easily and loves to explore. Since she loves to explore, she gets into trouble. We can’t hear her if we work outside during naps. It really is more difficult now that Ava is here. Things that you wouldn’t normally think twice about doing (like popping into Starbucks, getting gas, or even grocery shopping) are major productions. Kerrie and Shayne popped over, ARMED WITH A WHEELBARROW AND SHOVELS!!! they helped us MOVE 15 yards of MULCH!!! I couldn’t believe it. We are so grateful! The garden looks so much better now. All of the bare spots that wont grow anything but moss look like an actual garden. We are still working on planting flowers, but it already looks neater and more…planned.

6. last year, we were examining all of the trip on our house and noticed some had rotted and all of it needed painted. We had started it last year, but again, the project was interrupted by baby. We started once again in the fall, but the project was bigger than our time constraints allowed. We ended up hiring a painting service to come and, in one day, they completely painted all of our trim and examined our wood for rot. They are the same firm that cleaned our gutters this past winter. That was another project that we desperately needed to complete!

7. We traveled to NY for Easter. It was a quick trip up, but we were able to visit with my other grandma as well. We watched Ava as she figured out the Easter Egg Hunt! She quickly located the eggs and gently put them in her Easter Bag. it was almost as if she knew the egg would break and took care. Mom made all of our favorites and Ava had her first tastes of soda, pizza, ebelskivers, and probably others that i don’t know about.

8. Ava has been turning into such a little girl and less like a newborn. Everyday, she learns or does something new. She has two teeth (finally!) They are not completely emerged, but I’ll take it. Since 3 months, she has been giving us quite a time with teething. About 1 week a month, she goes through this period of fussiness, diarrhea, not eating, fever, chewing on everything, drooling, etc. We bring her in to the doctor’s and he says it is just teething. Ugh. This was getting old! Sure enough, we give her a teething ring and some motrin and she’s fine. All of the other kids, even those much younger than Ava, have teeth. Ugh! We can’t move on to more adventerous food until there are some teeth! The doctor even said that he can see all of her teeth and her gums are split, they jsut need to emerge. He said that if he were to guess, they will all come in at once. Sure enough,  one on top of anotehr, they are popping up. Luckily, she is really no more fussy,e tc than any other time we went through this and she even seems to becoming used to it? Heavan help you if you try to look in her mouth, though. She will bite off a finger!

Ava is also able to climb stairs now. We figured this out the hard way. We had her on the floor and she was very content to play with her toys. She usually babbles while playing and the noise has almost become white noise to me. All of a sudden, I realized that it was very quiet. I ran around the house searching for her. She was 8 steps up and looking so pleased with herself. I helped her climb the rest of the way and now this has become her daily exercise. If she is fussy, I let her climb the stairs.

She is also enthralled with anything that swings, like our gates and doors. this has become a problem for us. She also has figured out how to turn off the water to the toilet and sink and is lightening fast for getting into what she is not allowed. All three of these things go together. For instance, if I use the rest room, I can hear her crawling as fast as her little body can shimmy to follow me in. While I am held captive at her mercy, she is turning off the water at the pedestal sink and toilet or trying to shut the door. I have learned to keep catalogs hidden in the bathroom to pull out in times of need. she loves to crinkle the paper, rip the pages,e tc. This usually distracts her.  If I am trying to get soemthing out of the fridge, I have to figure out exactly what item I need and mentally picture its location so that i am in and out because before I can turn around, she has shimmied herself into the fridge and is pulling all of my condiments off of the door shelves.

We also have a large walk-in closet in the living room, under the stairs. We keep tupperware and small appliances in there as well as paper goods. She loves that closet as it is hardwood and she can glide right in. It has a distinctive squeak, so no matter where she is, she can hear us entering the closet and she wants in!

Ava is trying to walk. For about a month, she will use us to balance herself and she will stand for a few seconds. Right before Easter, she attempted to walk on her own, but face planted and has been reluctant ever since. She has a little push toy walker thing and scoots all over the house and even the park with it. She will walk two-handed with me and one-handed with Shawn. We are so anxious for her to take those steps. Her confidence seems to be her only inhibitor.

She also learned high-5. She used to be really good at this until Grandma high-5′d her without really knowing her strength and poor Ava went flying. Now when you say “high-5!”, she buries her head in your shoulder and tries to hide. While cute, I feel bad. I hope she doesn’t end up in therapy over this one day.

She has finally figured out calpping and can mostly do this on demand. Before she had a weird clap, one hand clapping the top of the other instead of palm-to-palm. Now, things seem to be normal.She is also more regular about waving, but when you say “Hi” to her, wait about 5 minutes. She always has a delayed “hi” reaction.

She dances mroe than ever. It used to be to certain songs, like Sex In the City theme or the salsa and twist songs on her Leap Frog toy. Now whenever there is peppy music, she will dance. Today, she danced to a toiletpaper jingle and that is when I knew we hit the real low point.

I used to be very anti-t.v., but Ava loves Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny, Imagination Movers and Playhouse Disney. Shawn, especially, has found this quite disturbing as he will find himself humming the songs at work. So far, he has not been caught, but it is only a matter of time. Ava, of course, dances like crazy- especially with the Imagination Movers.

Ava loves processed meats. Hotdogs, salami, sausage, peperoni, etc. We notice that she would watch us eat very intently. She would even sort of mimic us eating. We decided we could try a hot dog and she ate almsot the whole thing! Same with Salami! At my grandma’s funeral, mom took me out to a restaurant while Shawn and Dad were picking up my brothers from the airport. the restaurant featured a prime rib special, a favorite of mine. There was only one slab left and Mom, who also ordered that, let me have it. It was 9 ounces. Ava was watching me eat so hard, that I let her have a little piece. She LOVED it! She ate 1/2 of my beef. Iw as ticked! not to mention it took her over an hour to eat, so when I finally sneaked a piece,it was stone cold and congealed! When the prime rib was gone, she screamed. SCREAMED! Did I mention I had the last piece? Don’t worry, G-ma to the rescue! She distracted her with white chocolate raspberry gelato. She also loves buffet restaurants where she can have a little of everything. At Hoss’s, she ate some peas, ham cubes, applesauce, cheese shreds, and cottage cheese. The girl is a cottage cheese fiend! She is even drinking a little milk mixed in with her bottles.

We think she might be closing in on the 20 pound mark to flip her carseat around. We can’t wait for this. Although travel is getting easier with her, if she could see us, it would be smoother. We think she is really bored in her rear-facing seat. After her birthday, we are going to start shopping for a new car seat.

8. Ava’s boyfriend, Finley, is moving away. Megan and Adam hosted a going away party for the Krug’s two weeks ago. It was very nice. Adam and Megan have the same garden obstacles as us, but they are showing us up. Two doors down are Melody and Griff and I don’t even want to tell you about their lawn. We CANNOT compete (lush, green, well manicured and all with the same obstacles as us)! Anyway, Annie, travis and Finley are moving to Charlotte and this will be another sad time. They have been great friends and we will miss them. We will have to hook up at Discovery Place!

Well, Ava is still sleeping, (if that garbage truck could jsut be quieter!) so I would like to finish my laundry from unpacking my suitcases and change my clothes for my spa date! hopefully, we will post some pictures soon, we have tons, just no time!



Picture of the Day

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by
Shawn
on Wednesday, April 8, 2009
in Picture of the Day and Travel
. 0 Comments

Back in March, we took a trip to Winchester, VA.  Chem’s parents met us there.  It’s exactly half way between Raleigh and Binghamton, so it was an easy way to get together so they could see the baby.

While we were there, we visited some of the historical sites.  We went to the Old Court House and Civil War Museum, Abram’s Delight, Mout Hebron Cemetery, the Winchester National Cemetery, the Museum of the Shenendoah Valley at Glen Burnie, and Veramar Vineyard.

We went a few weeks too soon as some of the sites were closed (such as George Washington’s office and Stonewall Jackson’s office), but we’re planning to go back to pick up where we left off.

The family at Glen Burnie

The family at Glen Burnie



Picture of the Day

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by
Shawn
on Tuesday, April 7, 2009
in Ava, Holidays and Picture of the Day
. 0 Comments
Ava and the Easter Bunny

Ava and the Easter Bunny



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, March 24, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 1 Comment
Enjoying the awesome March weather

Enjoying the awesome March weather



New Poll

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, March 17, 2009
in Ava and Baby News
. 3 Comments

Ava is now 10 months old, and there are STILL no signs of any teeth.  The doctor says he can see that they’re lined up, but the just haven’t come through yet.  Apparantly, it can take as long as 14 months for some babies to get their first tooth.

So, the question is, do you think Ava will have any teeth by her 1st birthday in May?  Vote in the Poll section in the right sidebar.



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Sunday, March 15, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 3 Comments
Ava enjoying the swings

Ava enjoying the swings



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Friday, March 6, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 5 Comments
Avas first Ash Wednesday

Ava's first Ash Wednesday



Picture of the Day

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by
Shawn
on Thursday, March 5, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 0 Comments

We had a nice day a few weeks back, so, while Chem was at the movies with friends, Ava and I had took a little trip to the park.  It was Ava’s first time on the swings, and she loved it.

Ava on the swings

Ava on the swings



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Wednesday, March 4, 2009
in Ava, Baby News and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments

We’ve been taking Ava to Gymboree for the past few weeks, and she loves it.  She loves crawling on the different stations and interacting with the other babies.

Ava crawling through the tunnel

Ava crawling through the tunnel



Ava Dances

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, February 24, 2009
in Ava and You-Tube
. 4 Comments

Whenever Ava hears music, she starts doing this bounce dance and waving her arms.  It’s very cute.  Recently, she’s even started shaking her head — our own little headbanger.

Anyway, here is a video montage of her dancing away.



Ava Uses the Phone

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by
Shawn
on Friday, February 20, 2009
in Ava and You-Tube
. 1 Comment

A few weeks ago, I was video taping ava pulling herself up on furniture.  She saw my cell phone on the ottoman, and pulled herself up to get it.  Somehow, she pushed the right combination of buttons to call Chem’s parent’s house.

The video’s a little long, but I was lazy and didn’t feel like doing a lot of editing.  However, it does show off her ability to stand and her cute babbling.  I just love hearing her voice.



Pecze Update

Published
by
Chem
on Friday, February 20, 2009
in Pecze News
. 2 Comments

Things have been really busy around here lately. I have already bragged that spring is just around the corner. With Spring comes, Easter, Ava’s first birthday and the culmination of my volunteer work.

I have already started the Great Search for the perfect Easter dress that she can wear for her One Year portraits and First Birthday. This shopping is not like any other shopping. It has to be THE dress. Afterall, the next time I care about The Dress will be Prom and then her wedding, I’m totally not messing up a third of THE shopping experiences.

Ava hhad been sick with Roseola, a virus in the family of Chicken Pox and Measles. We’re not sure where she picked it up, but at least she was sick gradually. Another mom, who had her little boy a week after Ava was born, placed her son in day care and he has been sick with a cold every day since. I want Ava to  get the colds and viruses to build her immunity, but I would rather that she didn’t get it all at once and continuously. Anyway, the virus is not life threatening, rather more irritating to Mom and Dad. She spiked fevers randomly, seemingly going from 98.6 to 104.6 instantly. With the high fever came vomiting. Suddenly, the runny nose and coughing came. With coughing came more vomitting.  Finally, she broke into a rash and then everything seemed to calm down. She is perfectly happy now.

I took her to Gymboree on Tuesday. Much to my surprise, Ava climbed from a lower mat to a knee-high mat on her own! I couldn’t believe it! She has been pulling herself up on everything and does not even need to grip anything to pull up anymore. She can pull up on the sliding glass door or the wall. She has even been trying to cruise now. She can really only walk when holding our hands or looping her arm through the seat on her activity center and moving around to the different stations using that as her guide. That is the only way she can move laterally. She refuses to sit in the seat now and really prefers to pull up, try to move among the stations on her own and sit down. She has figured out how to sit with out plunking down. She also climbed up the wedge, at Gymboree, without any assistance. The teachers claim that she is very strong. This I know.

Ava and I have been having issues with diaper changes. She is very wriggly and wiggly. She rolls over and wants no part of the diaper change. She puts her hand in the mess, tried to block the diaper, tries to rip off the diaper and has given me more than enough stress for a lifetime. Tuesday, she almost flipped right off the changing table. Now we change on the floor, but this seems to give her license to crawl. Have you ever tried to clean a messy diaper when the subject in question is crawling away? I joked to my parents that I need duct tape and a HazMat crew to change her diaper…now i am beginning to think that the idea has merit! My parents were completely unsympathetic, telling me that turnabout is fair play. I couldn’t possibly be THAT much trouble!

Ava had her 9 month appointment on Monday. The week that she had a virus, she has dropped a pound. When I first noticed her fever, I brought her to the pediatrician. She weighed 17 lbs. At her check up, she weighed 16. She has dropped from the 25th percentile to the 15th. The doctor is not worried and said that he can see the weight loss occur over the week. She had lots of nausea and vomiting with the virus. He said that they will reevaluate at the 12 mos appointment.

I finished baking my cookies and delivering toiletries for the troops through the Daughters of the American Revolution In January. Since then, things have sped up, not decreased. Monday, I attended a mid-year review meeting for my Provisional year with the Junior League. monday was such a long day. The pediatrician appointment disruppted Ava’s nap and she couldn’t settle into routine after that. Plus, I had to race around to slap on some make-up, comb out my pony tail and change out of my sweats (yep, I’m a sexy beast). Then, I had to update the GPS, cook dinner, eat and head out. I was so tired and just didn’t feel up to it. Luckily, it was more socialization than really taking in info. Tuesday, I took Ava to gymboree and, that night, Shawn and I went to our ballroom dance class and again, we raced to make dinner, eat and get dressed to go out. Wednesday, we actually stayed home and went to bed at 9PM! Last night, I had a meeting for my spring project. It looks like things are about to speed up for us as Shawn is going to join his Ultimate League and I have a lot of work before I complete my provisional year.

I have also been loking at things to prepare for Ava’s first birthday party and Shawn is getting the yard ready for Spring. Our ornamental Pear tree is jsut about to bust into lacy white flowers, our crocus have jsut about finished blooming and the tulips are about to bloom. We are planning to mulch and plant flowers soon, the weather took a slight dip into the 50’s and its a bit cold to be considering planting. We were really motivated when the weather was in the 70’s, but wanted to wait until it was closer to actual spring so that the plants wouldn’t die.

I have a bad feeling that Ava will be entering her First Birthday without any teeth. The doctor looked and said that her gums are split and he can see teeth are there and ready, they just wont errupt. Since, she doesn’t have teeth, I have not given her any finger foods, for fear of choking. The Gerber puffs that supposedly dissolve in the mouth are made with gluten and we have to avoid all gluten with Ava. Afraid that I am not allowing her to develop normally, I questioned the doc about what was safe. He suggested over cooking green beans or peas until they are very soft, but still able to be picked up with pincer grasp. He also suggested very ripe, cubed avocado. Mom suggested very ripe, cubed bananas. Since I will be shopping later, I will definitely try these!

Well, Ava and I have a date with Daddy for lunch, so I had better slap on some make-up while she is still sleeping!



Happy Valentine’s Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Saturday, February 14, 2009
in Ava, Holidays and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments

I’m getting this in with a few hours to spare.  Ava’s been sick all week, and now I feel rotten.  But, Ava wanted to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!  I’ve also uploaded some additional photos.

Ava loves her grandparents

Ava loves her grandparents

Daddys little Valentine

Daddy's little Valentine



New Gluten Free Links

Published
by
Shawn
on Thursday, February 12, 2009
in Food & Drink
. 0 Comments

I’ve added a few new links to the Gluten Free page.  They are mainly for the local RDU area — local bloggers highlighting local restaurants that offer gluten free dishses.



Picture of the Day

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Shawn
on Monday, February 9, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 0 Comments

Ava has started pulling herself up on furniture.  We just got used to her being mobile, and now she’s going to be cruising around soon.  Here is a picture of her peeking over the ottoman.

Ava peeking over the ottoman

Ava peeking over the ottoman



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Sunday, February 8, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments
Ava playing with a pot

Ava playing with a pot



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Saturday, February 7, 2009
in Ava, Picture of the Day and Sports
. 0 Comments

Ava wasn’t able to stay up late enough to watch the Steelers win their 6th superbowl, but I saved it on the Tivo and we watched that last drive again together.

Ava cheers for the Steelers

Ava cheers for the Steelers



Shawn’s birthday

Published
by
Chem
on Wednesday, February 4, 2009
in Pecze News
. 0 Comments

Yesterday was Shawn’s birthday, made all the sweeter by the Steeler’s victory in Sunday’s Superbowl! To celebrate his birthday, Shawn took a vacation day and spent the day with Ava and I. Both of us really enjoyed the day!

Ava woke us up at 5 AM and Shawn changed her diaper. She went immediately back to sleep for another hour. The next time, i woke up and let Shawn sleep in. It had been my intention to answer all of Ava’s cries and let Shawn sleep in in the first place, so I was annoyed when he beat me to her 5 AM call. Shawn slept to 7:15 when Ava and I woke him up to begin his day o’ fun!

We quickly showered and prepared a diaper bag to take Shawn for a birthday breakfast at our favorite diner. Yeah, I know. Doesn’t fit in with the diet, but it WAS a holiday! We both had giant breakfasts and it was sooo yummy.

We had signed Ava up for Gymboree classes and the classes are on either Tuesday morning or Saturday afternoon. Shawn had a rare opportunity to take Ava to class and she LOVED it! It wore her right out!! I was bummed when I went to take a pic and my camera battery died.

We came home and put Ava to bed. Shawn used this as an opportunity to finish installing the gates…well, one more gate to go, anyway! I used the time to make his  favorite birthday cake- a pineapple upside down cake.

Shawn and I also took the opportunity to cuddle up on the couch and catch up on our favorite Tivo’d programs. After that, Shawn helped me make his favorite dinner- Spicy Chicken Meatballs and Penne.  I needed help as it was very labor intensive and we were trying to get it done before Ava woke. Mission accomplished!

Since we worked and cuddled through lunch, we ate an early dinner. Kerrie came over to babysit Ava while Shawn and I went to our dance class. It was rumba night and we learned a few steps that kicked our backsides…we’re still trying to figure out some of those moves! When we came home, we ate cake and ice cream with Kerrie and gossiped while the snow fell.

All in all, it was a perfect day and it was so difficult to let Shawn go into work today. Is it wrong that I was hoping we would get those 4 inches of snow so that we would have a snow day and I could keep him home one more day? Happy Birthday, Shawn!



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, February 3, 2009
in Ava, Baby News, Home Improvement and Picture of the Day
. 1 Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve updated pictures, but things have been crazy here.  Ever since she started crawling, we’ve had to chase her around the house.

I’ve spent the last few days putting up gates.  Poor Bo — he used to be able to avoid the baby, but now he’s trapped with her.

The last thing I need to do is secure the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom.

Anyways, Ava has started pulling herself up, so, here is one of the first pictures of her doing it.

Ava pulling her self up

Ava pulling her self up



One More Thing…

Published
by
Chem
on Sunday, February 1, 2009
in General Information
. 3 Comments

I had to rub one last thing in to my friends and family up North…

My crocus are blooming and my tulips have popped up, waiting to bloom (insert raspberry.) Jealous?

Yea! Spring is coming….at least in the South! ;P



Pecze Fam Update

Published
by
Chem
on Sunday, February 1, 2009
in Ava and Baby News
. 4 Comments

Reminder: Don’t forget to cheer on the Steelers in tonight’s Superbowl. If anyone even mentions the cardinals, Shawn may disown you. Just a word of warning. Shawn made sure that Ava’s outfit didn’t have even a splash of red on it.

Speaking of Ava, we discovered that Ava does have a developed pincer grasp! Woo hoo! I was afraid that I made have hindered her development by not giving her anything pea-sized to play with. This seemed to be a choking hazard in my opinion, so I refused. Trying to calm me down that Ava was fine, Shawn plopped some coins down in front of Ava and, sure enough, she pincer-grabbed them. Whew!

On Saturday, Ava crawled over to shawn and pulled herself up! She did this repeatedly and I was able to catch that on film. Shawn is currently downloading pics and video, so they should be posted soon. We found there were over 100 photos on our camera. Some will have to be deleted as they are too blurry or too dark, but there should be enough photos coming to keep the wolves at bay. Yes, Mom, this means you!

I was chatting with my cousin’s wife on line (maybe Wednesday-ish?) and noticed that Ava had gotten quiet. I found her sitting behind me with my purse. The second I looked at her, she grinned at me, put the purse on her shoulder and dragged it down the hall to my shoes. She sat with my purse, banging my shoes on the hard woods. love of accessories? Love of shoes? Totally my daughter. She may not look like me, but we’re Sex In the City sisters at heart! Oh, yeah. I grabbed pics of that!

Well, I am using Ava’s nap time wisely while Shawn is at a flag fotball game with the neighbor guys. No, not preparing a gametime feast. I am watching Ghost Hunters marathon on SciFi! Commercial over!



Ava Update

Published
by
Chem
on Monday, January 26, 2009
in Ava and Baby News
. 0 Comments

I haven’t had a chance to write much lately. In December, Shawn, Ava and I caught that nasty stomach virus. Well, I ended up spilling a cup of water on my laptop and shorted out my keyboard. It has been difficult to write using the desktop. I swear Ava hears the keys clacking or the monitor’s screech (it emits this faint, really high pitched screech that drives me crazy). I swear Ava has bionic hearing. Anyway. I can only write while she naps and, usually, the second I begin to check email or write a post, she wakes. This weekend, Shawn got my laptop up and running again and I am sooo happy!

As you have seen in other posts, Ava is crawling. Everywhere. On Saturday, I put her down on the living room floor so that I could use the bathroom. No sooner had I settled in, then I heard slap, slap, drag, drag on the hardwoods. It was like a horror movie and seemed to say, “I’m coming to get you!” Sure enough, a little head peeked around the door jam. As soon as she saw me, her face broke out into this giant grin. She seemed so proud of her self  that she had traveled all of that distance herself and found me on her own. While I could have used a few minutes to myself, it was too darn cute to be upset. Also, is it wrong that I get a little giggle out of the fact that I will never have to dust the hardwood floors ever again? With her chasing me all over the house, she is like a rumba, that automated vacuum/dust mop thing. Of course her knees have dog hair plastered to them, but I can just shove her jammies in the wash! OK, I’m kidding. Sort of.

Saturday, we took the advice of our friend, Annie, and enrolled Ava into gymboree classes. Once a week, Ava will take a class with other babies in her age group. They do a bunch of different things. The teacher on Saturday spent the time discussing different rocking methods. We went to different stations rocking on horses, in a row boat, on a giant tube, then she rocked in a tube (she would not crawl through the tunnel though) and even in an inner tube swing. She also sat on this balance ball thing and the teachers were so amazed with her balance and strength. They made a big deal out of her. She got to play with a parachute, listen to stories from a puppet and crawl around. She even played soccer! She was so good the entire time. I was terrified that she might make a fuss or wouldn’t like the class, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. She was so happy and very social. She crawled right up to other babies and was making friends with them. The second we got to the car, however, she went right to sleep! We even stopped for lunch at Backyard Burgers and she slept right through the busy lunch!

That afternoon, Kerrie and I went to see Bride Wars. I loved it and thought that it was very cute. It was great to sneak out for a little while. Shawn took Ava shopping for a laptop solution. I’m positive that he enjoyed the Daddy-Daughter bonding session at electronics stores!

Since the weather was so nice, we took Ava out in her little Push Along Buggy that her Nana bought her for Christmas. She loved it. She sort-of has figured the horn. I think it mostly honks accidentally, but when it squeaks, she bounces in her seat and grins.  She absolutely adores the buggy. In fact, it is THE toy in our community. We wanted it for Ava after we saw how much the other kids in the neighborhood adored it! We did take pictures, so you will have to wait for Shawn to upload them.

This weekend was all about baby-proofing. This week, we discovered that Ava is interested in electrical outlets. I have also discovered that when it gets very quiet and I know she is not napping, trouble is just around the corner. Now, I thought that I was genius in September, covering all of the outlets and installing  doorknob covers. I didn’t put up any gates because she wasn’t mobile. One thing I did not take into account was how fascinating the air freshener and plug-in flashlight would be. She had them unplugged and was playing with her wet pacifier! i had a heart attack. I am still not certain as to how I managed to get to her so quickly. I just remember yelling, “No!” and scooping her up. Of course, she thought that was the best thing ever and finally belly-laughed for me. Now they are installed in the rooms that are gated off.

Ava is not sure what to make of the gates. She crawls over to them and peeks through. I think she must think she is in jail. She has this pitiful look on her face that says “I was just learning how to try to go over there” or “So many cords, not enough time.” One thing I have learned is that the baby gates are home security. These things are tall. There is no stepping over them. And How the hell do you open them?! They are Chem proof, too. We don’t have the gate from the dining room to the kitchen up yet. Instead of going from the office into the hallway, I have found it is easier to go into the dining room and into the kitchen, around the corner and back down the hall. That way, I avoid all of the gates. Once we install that last gate, I can tell you the office and dining room are going to be awful dusty. I have no idea how I will get in there to clean! This is how I know we will never be robbed. No one can get anywhere in this house! Besides, if you make it past the gates, you’ll break your neck on the toys everywhere! I swear the second I put them away, Ava has them out again. No, she doesn’t want to play with them while they’re out. She only wants the toys that are put away…only until they are back out on the floor again. THEN they have lost their appeal.

Ava has also developed a love of banging on glass. She doesn’t realize that she takes after the Peczes and glass is not safe for her! Just ask Shawn for a few Pecze-meets-glass stories. They are entertaining! Our entertainment center has a glass door sheltering the electronics. She loves to crawl up to it and hit it as hard as she can.This prompted us to go shopping for a new entertainemnt center this weekend. We haven’t come up with anything that we like, but we know we have to act soon! Right now, we are propping up baskets in front of the door so that she can’t reach it.

Ava understands the word “no”, but thinks it is funny when we say “No”. She will stop what she is doing, will even back away from what we are telling her “No”, but will continue to go for it when she thinks we aren’t looking. This is probably because we have never had to say “no” before. Ava’s personality is definitely becoming evident now. We can see her mind processing information and even beginning to rationalize.

On Friday, she was playing with this ball popper thing. The directions say that occassional balls will pop out, but this thing is crazy. Balls fly everywhere! Ava grabbed two of them, but one had rolled just out of her reach. She didn’ t want to crawl such a short distance to get it, so she used one of the balls in her hand to bring it back to her. It was amazing to see her assess the situation and reason a solution.

It seems like the changes in Ava are beginning to happen more regularly. We are still waiting for her first tooth. Still waiting for that first word, and even that first step, but with every new thing she discovers, she is one step away from being my baby girl. The time is going too quickly. Sure, I can’t wait for ice cream sundaes and tea parties, but this time is sweet too.



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Saturday, January 24, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments

We took a few more pictures of Ava in the snow before it all melted.  There is still one small pile of snow in our yard, but a 60 degree day yesterday pretty much melted it all.

Ava in the snow

Ava in the snow

Last bit of snow

Last bit of snow



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Wednesday, January 21, 2009
in Ava, Baby News and Picture of the Day
. 1 Comment

Ava has started trying to reach for the spoon when we’re feeding her, so we started using these training spoons that Grandma and Grandpa got her for Christmas.

If we put the food on the spoon, she does a pretty good job of getting it in her mouth.

Ava trying to feed herself

Ava trying to feed herself



Picture of the Day: Snow Day Edition

Published
by
Shawn
on Tuesday, January 20, 2009
in Ava, Baby News and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments

We got a rare snowstorm in Raleigh today.  They were calling for 2-4″ of snow, but I think we got closer to 6 (at least at our house).

I tried to make Ava a snowman, but the snow wasn’t “packy” enough, so, we just have a mound of snow in the front yard.

Chem and Ava

Chem and Ava

Ava

Ava

Shawn and Ava

Shawn and Ava



Picture of the Day: Video Edition

Published
by
Shawn
on Monday, January 19, 2009
in Ava, Baby News and You-Tube
. 3 Comments

Yesterday, Ava finally figured out how to crawl.  For weeks, she’s been doing this:

Well, yesterday, we caught this on video:



Photo Updates

Published
by
Shawn
on Thursday, January 15, 2009
in Ava, Holidays, Pecze News, Photo Updates and Site News
. 1 Comment

I’ve finally gotten my act together and posted the rest of the pictures from our holiday trips.

While we were in NY, Chem got a belated birthday dinner since we were sick on her actual birthday.

I’ve also added some new pics from New Years Eve/Day.  It snowed on New Years Eve, so we got enough of a taste of snow to last us a few years.

Finally, I’ve rearranged the Ava Elena album on the web site.  I’ve moved all of the 2008 photos into a 2008 album and created a 2009 album for the new ones.  This means that some of the photo links on our site will be broken until I get through testing/updating them.



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Thursday, January 15, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 0 Comments
Ava loves the buggy Nana bought her for Christmas

Ava loves the buggy Nana bought her for Christmas



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Wednesday, January 14, 2009
in Ava and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments
Ava learned to root through her toy box

Ava learned to root through her toy box



My Posts

Published
by
Chem
on Tuesday, January 13, 2009
in Pecze News
. 1 Comment

I was looking over a few of my posts, including yesterday, and I noticed many grammar and spelling errors as well as so many typos! Sorry! I no longer have the time to proof my work. I feel guilty taking the time to write while she naps as I have so many other things to do, but I want to keep everyone up to date on what Ava is doing and how we are all doing… As soon as I hear her wake from her nap, i hit publish because I know I wont publish it ever if I wait to proof it! Can you imagine the back log?

I did forget to mention one cute thing that Ava does. How do I know that she is awake now that she is more content and no longer cries? She takes her pacifier and swipes it across the slats of her crib like a prisoner in a B-prison movie! Shawn and i think it is adorable!

Oh! and she has figured out that her toys are stored in bins. She will roll across the floor to her bins, sit up and dump her bins to play with her toys. She is jealous, though, and will want whatever toy you are playing with, even if she tossed it aside to get to another!



New Changes in Our Home

Published
by
Chem
on Monday, January 12, 2009
in Pecze News
. 2 Comments

This last month has been a series of discovery in our household. Right after Thanksgiving, Ava stopped eating. this was cause for great concern for Shawn and I as we fought for each drop of formula/milk that she took. We watched as her skin became gray, her eyes purplish, she became more irritable and slept irregularly and, worst of all, her waistbands became quite loose. We kept calling our pediatrician, but we did not receive any help. I started calling friends and family for advice. We tried new bottles, sippy cups, juice, pedialyte, new formula, etc. Finally, our pediatrician stopped returning our calls and we new changes needed to be made. Ava was looking worse and we were not being taken seriously at the doctor’s.  We asked our friend, Megan, for the name of her pediatrician and switched to her doctor’s practice. Turns out, Ava had that terrible stomach bug that was going around. Sure enough, Shawn and I caught it right before Christmas.

Today, Ava had a check up with the new pediatrician. Shawn took time off of work to meet him and he agrees that the move was a good idea. He really likes the new doctor. Ava’s weight had dropped to 15 lbs, 9 oz by the time we had met with the new pediatrician. In the three or four weeks since recovering from the bug, Ava has gained weight to 16 pounds, 14 oz. The doctor said that she has charted a course for the 25th percentile and will likely remain there permanently. He said she will be a skinny baby and will likely suffer less chance of health consequences as she gets older. I was a very skinny kid (wouldn’t know it know that I have discovered the deliciousness of chocolate!) so I have finally found something genetic that she has taken from me!

While up in Pennsylvania, we froze part way to death. When we left NC, it was 74 degrees. When we arrived in PA, it was 12. We had a slight automobile mishap that required us to pull off the thruway and examine the situation in the cold. We felt every one of those 12 degrees. In fact, we felt every one of those 62 degrees that were missing! Anyway, the experts tell parents not to let their children sleep with blankets, bumpers, pillows, toys, loose pajamas, etc for risk of SIDS and suffocation. We have been faithful about putting Ava in a sleep sack, removing all toys, even pacifiers, from her crib until this summer when we woke to Ava screaming because her leg was stuck in the slats of the crib. We added the bumper. i was paranoid for a very long time after that and have probably only just relaxed about it, if I am honest. Ava, not being used to temperatures this cold, woke up constantly because she was so cold. She would only calm down when she was in bed with us, under the covers. We were too terrified to sleep with her in bed with us, so we had to come up with an alternative solution. We put a hat on her and mittens, but this did not help. We put another sleep sack on, but then she was uncomfortable from too many layers. She couldn’t move her arms, like the kid in Christmas Story. Finally, Shawn’s Aunt Sandy and Uncle Mike made fun of us and told us to use a blanket. They gave us a small, thin fleece blanket to try and Ava instantly became more content. By the time we went to my parents’ home in NY, which was colder than PA, we had graduated to Ava’s favorite blanket, a quilt made by our friend’s, Shayne, mom. Now Ava sleeps with her quilt all of the time. The doctor told us today that Ava will begin establishing preferences, habits and schedules. She will become quite attached to things and suggested buying duplicates of things when she shows a preference just in case one gets lots or we need to wash it. So far her preferences are this particular quilt and Seymour, her stuffed frog from my Mom. Both of these are one of a kind things, so we know we are in for a treat if something happens to either one of them!

Christmas was amazing. We got to visit with my Grandma, great Aunts Peg and Fran, and my Aunt Roberta in Ohio. We didn’t have time for an extended visit in Ohio due to the weather and, unfortunately, missed visiting with my cousin Rachel and her son, Joshua and my Aunt Alex. We spent time with Shawn’s family in Johnstown and got to see family that we haven’t seen in quite a while. We even got to see Shawn’s cousins Michael and Mel and their son, Tyler. We haven’t seen Tyler since he was about two and now he is a little boy! He was very interactive and took quite an interest in helping us take care of Ava. He was very good with Ava and even played toys with her. Lori and Don with Megan and Emma S. came in on Christmas Eve, so Ava was able to spend time with all of her cousins before leaving for NY. It was great to see them all together.

While in Johnstown, we also had the opportunity to visit with Shawn’s Grandma’s (Emma D.) best friend, also named Emma (C.). Emma C.said that looking at Ava was like seeing Emma D. again. It was a bittersweet visit, but I think it gave Shawn new perspective. He was very close to his grandmother and was very sad when she passed away 4 years ago. After visiting with Emma C., it was as if a piece of his grandmother was given back to him.

We left PA on Christmas Eve and drove to NY. For soem reason, Ava was very fussy and the trip took longer than we projected. Didn’t help that we were stuck behind a slow driver on a tiny country road for 20 miles and went 20 under the speed limit! I thought Shawn was going to have an annyerism. I was annoyed, too, because Ava was sleeping during that time and we were trying to get to NY before  a weather system moved in. We would have made it to NY while Ava slept if we had better luck. The last 40 minutes of our trip was sheer pleasure as she screamed the entire way. The temperature had dropped dramatically and the wet roads looked as if they might be turning to black ice, so we refused to stop until we arrived at my parent’s.

My Mom had dinner waiting for us, but we had to wait because my Mom, Dad, and Grandma couldn’t wait to get their hands on the baby. I know times have changed. I am no longer the important one. I am just the vehicle to get the baby to NY. you know, I used to be the princess, but now I am chopped liver.

Our childhood neighbor, Brian, also came over for Christmas Eve dinner. He is like another brother, so it was not unusual to see him at a family dinner. My dad laid a fire in the fire place and read A Visit from St. Nicholas, a family tradition, before putting Ava to bed. Then we all sat around the fire telling funny stories and reliving funny family moments, an impromtu family roast at times. Soon we had our egg nog toast, Brian went home and we all went to bed.

Somewhere in the night, Santa made his visit for Ava. My mom woke us all up at 7. I could have killed her, but did not have the energy and the coffee was too weak to muster up any fake energy, so she lives. Ava actually was sleeping and we woke her to see what Santa brought. Now this is ironic as my brothers and I used to be so excited for Santa that, through out the day on Christmas Eve, we would take turns distracting our parents so that the others could set the clocks ahead. My parents had rules about Christmas. 1. if you found out what presents you were getting before Christmas, they went back to the store (no snooping) 2. We all go as a family downstairs on Christmas morning only after Dad turnes on the Christmas tree and makes sure Santa has arrived (not even Mom was allowed downstairs at this point) and has the camera ready to capture our delighted faces! and 3. We do not get up until 7 AM. This is why we had to put the clocks ahead. Do you really think we could wait until 7 AM?! So here I am, a parent for the first time and struggling to open my eyes at 7 AM. Mom called it justice. I called it torture.

Santa was very good to Ava. She had a Princess rocking chair throne (further evidence that I am now second fiddle) and dolls, books, teddy bears, blocks, toys, ornaments, and even a tea set and dress up clothes for when she is a little older! Shawn and I just looked in dismay…where were we going to put all of this stuff in the car? Shawn and I looked at eachother and said “Fed Ex!”

We spent the rest of the week in NY, trying to catch up with friends and visiting with my family. We watched the Rockin’ New Year’s Eve on TV, toasted 2009 and went to bed. the next day, mom taught me to sew using my new sewing machine and I made an adorable dress for Ava! We then ate pork roast and sour kraut watching Penn State loose in the Rose Bowl. Don’t ask me who they played, I don’t remember. I just remember the cloud of dismay enter the house as Shawn and Ava, decked in their Penn State finest, realized that Penn State just wasn’t going to pull this one out.

Also, around, Christmas, we took my Aunt Alex’s advice and stopped boiling everything all of the time. We have been introducing sippy cups and beef feeding solids, all of which have parts that cannot be boiled. if she can take that without being boiled, why boil everythign else? We run things through the dishwasher now and hand wash in hot soapy water in between dishwasher runs. Life is so much easier now and frees up much more time! My hands have stopped cracking and bleeding from being in soapy water all of the time, so that’s awesome!

I have also stopped breastfeeding. We stopped around Christmas. I Wasn’t producing enough milk and it just became a time consuming obstacle without any reward. I think Ava’s tummy bug, my sickness and travel just dwindled my milk supply down to about 4 ounces a day. Even 6 pumps a day wouldn’t produce more. This was really hard for me. Even as it was a relief to free that time, I felt like another link to Ava-as-a-baby was dissolving. Time seems to be moving too fast and I don’t like it. In 4 months, Ava will be one year. In three months, I will have been out of work a year. I can’t believe it. I do love being able to drink coffee whenever…oh, how I have missed my sweet brew! I gave up everything else without a twinge of regret, except the coffee…..Now I can drown my baby blues in a cup o’ joe!

Ava has been trying to crawl for soemtime now, but has only mastered creeping backwards. When she goes forward, she face plants or looks like a poodle humping a pillow or something. I call it the dry hump. It really makes me laugh when I see it. I know, I am a terrible mother, but I can’t help it. I;m now chuckling just thinking about it.

2009 brings  new tricks, however! In December, Ava learned to stick out her tongue and make fish faces. In 2009, she learend to sit up. She now goes from crawling position, or being on her tummy to sitting up with ease! She is also becoming quite mobile. She is gettign fed up with trying to crawl and has decided that rolling will get her where she wants to be. She will drop from sitting position and begin rolling across the room and then push herself to sitting when she gets where she wants! She is so clever! On Saturday, we caught her sitting up on film, so stay tuned! Shawn will post that in a couple of days!

On Saturday, we also caught her trying to use the bookcase to pull herself up. She maybe one of the 10% of babies who never crawl, but go right to walking. Today, I found her trying to pull herself up using the computer desk and my chair. We baby proof tonight! now that she has mastered the sitting thing, around 4 AM, she will wake herself up by sitting up and not know how to lay down again. If I weren’t so tired, I would think this was hilarious! The Pediatrician told us to let her figure it out and try to settle herself though, or we will forever be getting up at 4 AM.

Ava has also learned the sound of her voice and screams, “talks”, moter boats and makes a ton of noises to occupy herself. I rarely use the radio in the car now as I jsut listen to her “chatter”. It is so cute that soemtimes I giggle out loud. her new favorite game is trying to get you to immitate her. She will make a noise and look at us with a grin. She will keep making the noise, only more insistent, until you mimic her. When you mimic her, she laughs or gets a giant grin on her face.

She has also learned to shake her head. I found that when I tell her No, I shake my head. On Saturday, I saw her shaking her head while playing with toys. I thought she was getting an ear infection, but the doctor said that her ears look great and, since it was during play time, this was a developmental milestone. She is mimicking us and learning.

We have been gettign concerend about her change in sleep patterns and her waking more regularly at night. We haev also been concerend about her fussiness whengoing down for naps or bed and waking even during naps. She is also screaming when we leave a room. The doctor said that she is entering the manipulative stage. She will have a little bit of separation anxiety as she is learning object placement, but she is also learning that if we respond to her every sound, she can control us. I felt my eyes grow wide! I was stunned and then I thought it was hilarious. That is exactly was my sweet, innocent little princess is doing! She is the puppet master and we are her puppets! Aw, well….it is hard to resist that little face! Thanks to Annie, Megan and Lori for their advice! She is an attention-seeking, manipulative little cutie!

We are expecting some teeth soon. She is grinding her jaws, slobering on everything, and starting to refuse the bottle. She is eating appropriate amounts daily, but wont take more than 1.5-2 ounces at a time. We think the sucking really bothers her.

Ava has changed so much in the last 8 months. I can put her down with toys and walk away. Sometimes, she even forgets I was ever there. She can amuse herself, move on her own, change position on her own, eat plenty of solids, has developed a definitive personality complete with likes and dislikes. She laughs and smiles regularly and takes an interest in things around her. The funniest thing is that she recognizes that she can control us and she is right! We have forgotten what life was life before her.



Happy New Year

Published
by
Shawn
on Thursday, January 1, 2009
in Ava, Holidays and Picture of the Day
. 3 Comments
Little Nittany Lion

Little Nittany Lion



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Wednesday, December 31, 2008
in Ava, Holidays and Picture of the Day
. 0 Comments

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, but we’ve been travelling for the holidays and haven’t had much time.  We had a great Christmas visiting family in PA, OH and NY.

I’ve also posted some additional pictures of Ava.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from the holidays:

Ava and her cousins

Ava and her cousins

Ava and Gi Gi

Ava and Gi Gi

Ava passed out after opening gifts

Ava passed out after opening gifts

Ava and her Raggedy Ann and Andy

Ava and her Raggedy Ann and Andy

Ava and her Grandparents

Ava and her Grandparents



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Friday, December 19, 2008
in Ava, Holidays and Picture of the Day
. 1 Comment

I’ve posted some more Christmas pics.

Here is Ava doing her latest trick.

Ava sticking out her tongue

Ava sticking out her tongue



Birthday

Published
by
Chem
on Thursday, December 18, 2008
in Holidays
. 1 Comment

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. As birthdays go, it was pretty low key, bordering on yucky. No, it wasn’t necessarily the number that made it yucky, although, if I could do something about that, I definitely would! Shawn and I caught a stomach virus a few days ago. I thought that things seemed to be on the mend yesterday, until I tried to do anything. If I showered, I needed a nap. Walking downstairs involved a nap on the sofa. Eating? Don’t even go there. My stomach felt steady until I tried to eat something, then it became a series of roller coaster dips.

Birthday was officially postponed as neither of us felt much up to showering, let alone actually going out to do anything. Instead, we decided to hit my parents up for some free babysitting while in NY and go out to dinner there. I always was very good at milking birthday out for a month…..

Furthermore, I seemed to have shorted out my laptop. My link to the world outside of baby. While I was dying of this plague, I had the laptop with me in bed. I chatted with friends through Google chat, answered emails, checked Facebook constantly (how did Facebook become so addictive?) and surfed the net for new recipes and answers to weird questions that popped into my head (why does Pepto turn your tongue black?) In the spirit of trying to remain hydrated while calming my queasy stomach, I had glasses of flat Coke, ginger ale, Gatorade and water next to my bed. This also saved me from having to make multiple trips for beverages throughout the day, trips that I was completely unable to make! I steadily worked through them all and was down to the glass of water. Finally, 11:30 rolled around and it was time for bed. Shawn had conked out at 6:30, the baby too. I was a bit wired from all of my naps throughout the day and watched a Christmas special on the Hallmark channel (why are Christmas movies so lovable?) I was just cleaning up in the dark so that I wouldn’t disturb Shawn when my glass of water tipped over onto my laptop. All of the lights went out like a candle in a storm. I knew I was in trouble. I must have sworn or something as a very sick and very irate Shawn gave me the “son of a B****” lecture while dry heaving. Great throw in a dry heave to emphasize your point. Nothing like a little emotional blackmail to further the effect of your lecture. Reminded me of those “now this hurts me more than it hurts you” speeches that used to proceed any sort of grounding punishment while growing up. As if the punishment didn’t hurt, throw in the “I’m gonna make you feel 2 inches tall” speech. Very effective, though. That was the effect of the dry heaves.

Shawn did try to boot it up, after a day to dry out. The system loaded, but the keyboard would not. Laptop is password protected, so the keyboard is a bit important. I’m SOL here.  I’m using our desktop now and it is just not as comfortable as sitting on the sofa with the Christmas lights.

Today is a little bit better, but I have not eaten and I have been sitting around for most of the day. I really hope I am on the mend. My final insult to injury on my birthday? I have vomited everything I  ate from Monday forward. Same with Shawn.  So how is it that he lost 6 punds and I gained 2? Argh!!!!! If I wasn’t afraid of my stomach dips and if I didn’t care if I supported the Democratic Party, I would so bust into a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia right now.



Picture of the Day

Published
by
Shawn
on Saturday, December 13, 2008
in Ava, Baby News and Picture of the Day
. 2 Comments

Ava loves Bo.  Every time she sees him, she starts smiling, laughing and squealing.  When she gets close enough, she also tries to reach out and pet him.

Bo, on the other hand, really isn’t into the baby all that much.  Whenever she starts laughing and squealing, he gets up and goes somewhere else.

It’s an endless cycle.

Ava and Bo

Ava and Bo