Bye-Bye, Pacifier

During the month of April all around Omaha different neighborhoods have a weekend set aside for garage sales. This weekend was our neighborhood's. Friday morning my friend Heather and I loaded up Ava and her little boy Dhevan who is the same age as Ava and went looking for a few good finds. I have to say I think I found a really good one too. It was the only thing I bought and it was only $0.25--a book called "Bye-Bye Pacifier". Ava loves this book. We have read it several times to her and you can tell that she fully relates to Piggy about needing that pacifier. On Friday after reading it I asked Ava if she wanted to do as piggy did and say bye-bye to her good friend the paci. I got a definite NO! Then this evening I was talking with Ava about her favorite paci that was completely torn apart, telling her it was ripped and should go in the garbage. With no fight out of her she said "Mommy, I frow it in gabage." I told her if she throws it in the garbage there is no getting it out. She said "OK mommy" and up she went and threw it away. Immediately she ran into her bedroom and said, "I need my blue paci mommy." She found it and was very happy about that. I would say it was an hour later that she tells me she was going to throw her blue paci in the gargbage too. Again I told her if it was in the garbage it was gone forever. "OK mommy"! and up she went again and threw it away. She came down stairs so proud of herself saying "Daddy, I frew my paci in the gabage." We all told her what a big girl she was and how proud we are of her. Later when she went to bed she cried a little saying "I want my paci" when I asked her if she threw it away she said yeah and pretty much accepted that it was gone. She is in bed sleeping now and I am really proud that she did that all on her own without too much fuss about it. We shall see how she does tomorrow.

Dirty Ava...summer is officially here

Last night we all went to Clint's double-header of softball games. It was opening night for his city league, and I took the girls out and met his mom there to cheer him on and have fun in the sun. It was the first 80 degree weather we've had and we took full advantage, spending all evening at the ballpark.

As you can see, Ava made friends with kids whose dads are on Clint's team, so she will have fun watching most of his games this year. They got so dirty playing in the dirt, so I learned my lesson and will dress her in grubs from now on. We got home and put her in the shower with Clint. Turns out when you add water to dirt, you end up with mud. After Clint handed her out of the shower to me, I had to re-shampoo her head to get all of the mud out, which had been caked in there.

Easter 2009

OK, so I really don't remember Easter dress shopping being so difficult, but for some reason this year I had the hardest time. And since when does a cardigan cost more than the dress itself?! I can't believe stores can charge $50 for a little girls' cardigan. After returning about a million different dresses, we finally decided to go with a pair of "matchie matchie" dresses and use cardigans the girls already had used before. I was pleased with how cute both girls looked!

We had a pretty good Easter day. My brother Justin and his wife Andrea were able to drive here from their new home in Knob Nauster, MO., to spend the weekend with us. Saturday night they hung out at our house, had a BBQ and made cookies. Ava has never been too good with men and this weekend she finally warmed up to Uncle Justin which might have gotten a little tiresome for him. He could not leave her side, and if he did she would call out her orders for him to come back and sit where she told him. It was cute though and I am sure it made him feel good. Today Ava woke Mayah up pretty early to go downstairs and see what the Easter bunny had left for them and eat peeps for breakfast. After a long morning of getting ready, we finally left for Stake Conference and then went to Grandpa Rudy and Grandma Brenda's house for a yummy dinner and Easter egg hunt with family and friends. It was fun to watch the girls run around searching for eggs. Of course Mayah was a pro and found a ton of eggs, and Ava caught on quick to the concept and was super cute to watch. Ava would let out an "Ahh" with each egg that she spotted. I enjoyed the day and seeing both my girls light up with the excitement of the day. I feel blessed to have been able to spend the day with my brother and sister-in-law, good friends and of course Clint's parents, my husband and two beautiful girls!

As far as pictures go... it was a bit difficult as always to get Ava to cooperate, but to make matters worse it was a cold and somewhat gloomy day so even Mayah was having a hard time being her usual photo-friendly self. Clint did manage to get a few cute moments of the girls, but for the most part Ava was a little stinker when it came to pictures. She frustrates the heck out of me, but that is part of what I love so much about her!

Happy Easter 2009