This is why you should leave handywork to the professionals

Do you ever have one of those days when you wake up and realize it's just going to be a bad day? Yeah, well today was one of those, and seeing as it's now 8:00, I hope that the worst for today is over.

So I know I mentioned back a bit ago about the leaky roof?? (don't know how to link back to that post so if you missed it, you may want to go back a few entries). Well see my husband was supposed to call someone to come out and look at it, BUT he decided that he wanted to wait until it rained again to see if he could see where the leak was coming from. I was under the impression that was THEIR job, not his, but since he makes the mortgage payments I went with it.

Fast forward to 6:15 this morning. I don't get up that early. I'm lucky to be out of bed by 8 (and please don't throw rotten tomatoes at me, I have a child that LOVES to sleep.) So I hear what appears to be drip, drip, drip and naturally I'm thinking, oh shit the roof. I summon husband from the basement couch, (he's been banned to sleeping down there until he gets over his nasty, crummy coughing crud, I've already had it and I don't want it again) and we realize that all the rain we've had overnight has caused the leak to increase, and is now all the way down part of the ceiling and dripping onto some furniture and the carpet. GREAT. Thankfully my father in law owns a construction company and didn't mind the 6:30 wake up call. He has someone coming to fix it tomorrow, but that doesn't solve our problem today. So Matthew decides he's still to sick to go to work so at the advice of his father in law, he climbs up in the attic and places a huge pan under the leak, hopefully avoiding any further damage. Here's where it gets interesting. All was good until after lunch, when I was getting ready to lay in bed and catch up with my second best friend, otherwise known as the DVR, when I heard that dripping sound again. Oh shit again was running through my head. This time it was leaking in a different place, around one of the lights. SO, Matthew decides that he probably needs to get another dripping pan and check the leak again. I'm in the kitchen when all of a sudden I hear a loud crash and him screaming out in pain. Initially my thought was how in the hell are the paramedics going to get him down from there. I hear him yelling for me to go to the bedroom, and to my horror this is what I saw.

Which was a result of this...

You guessed it, my handyman husband FELL through the ceiling in true Clark Griswold fashion. And what did I do?? Laugh hystericall of course. But after I made sure he was okay. He banged up his knee pretty bad and came pretty close to putting a smashing to his manly parts (thank you honey for not hurting those) but I just couldn't stop laughing. I mean what can you do. We are probably going to have to replace most of the ceiling in there already, so I mean what's another hole?? And the good thing about this is that we have MORE heavy rain and thunderstorms expected to move through. Hopefully my wake up call in the morning won't be rain or snow on my forehead.

Snow Day

We woke up to a little snow cover on the ground, and Miss Ava and I decided we needed to take advantage of this before it melts. We MIGHT have gotten a 1/2 inch, and of course schools all over the state were cancelled. Basically if there is a threat to get any snow at all, this entire area goes into survival mode, and I'm sure if I needed a gallon of milk right now I wouldn't be able to find one within a 50 mile radius. That's how we work in these parts.

So we got all dressed up (minus pants, she was still wearing her pajamas), and went out side for a bit. I also realized that the child doesn't have boots, so I broke the rules for my online shopping limits and just ordered her a pair of UG.G's, and I am going to get it for that. I don't know that I can justify spending that kind of money on shoes for her, but I would rather spend it in her than on me, so JUST THIS ONCE (yeah right) I'll indulge myself. She wasn't really sure what to do once we got out there, so she just decided it was best to stand still.

See how she's sort of frozen in her own footsteps?

Still trying to figure out what the hell this white stuff is.

This is his "I'm done" look. He ironically enough went back inside a good 5 minutes before us, and just stood and watched us from the window.

Crazy Week

To say it's been a crazy week would be an understatement. I took Ava to the doctor on Monday to check out a cough that she's had for a week or so and it turns out that she had a double ear infection as well as an upper respiratory infection. Only her second ear infection so far (knock on wood) but the coughing was keeping us all up at night and it needed to stop. Take that and add "I" teeth finally breaking through, 8547 temper tantrums and I can say I've seen better weeks. To top it all off my parents are in FL for a month, Matthew worked late almost every night, and I came close to pulling a Britney and shaving my head. It would have saved me the trouble and energy of pulling each and every hair out.

In Ava news, I know I mentioned a while back that she was taking her clothes off in her crib, leaving much to be desired when I would get her up. Well I did solve the problem temporarily by putting onesies or body suits on under anything she had on. That worked....for about a week and now she has figured out how to pull the tabs of her diaper through the onesie, and while she can't quite get it all the way off, she can get enough of it off so that the goods still come out. It wouldn't be such a problem except for that she is now OBSESSED with putting her hands down her pants, and you can imagine what a mess this can create. Just today, I got her up from her nap and she had poop smeared all over her pants, shirt, arms and face. Immediately to the tub we went. This child now bathes on average of 2 times a day. I don't know what else to do. She's not interested in the potty. She will say potty and sit on it for a few minutes, and if she's naked she will get up and immediately find a more suitable place to go. I guess I just have to be thankful that my dog seems to think that baby pee is just as good as water.

Anyway, I haven't posted pics of her in a while so here are a few recent ones. Enjoy...

Anyone else think she resembles the mad scientist here?

Sitting in her big girl chair. One of my many recent Pott.ery Barn purchases. I have since been banned from shopping there from my husband.

Doesn't the dog just look thrilled to have her on his back?? Notice the medicine bottles in her hand. She is borderline obsessed with these. Bad yes, but you will be happy to know that the lids are on VERY tight.

Clearly getting good use out of her new easel. And yes she has fallen off, and does it stop her from doing it again?? Not a chance.

And last but not least a little video for your viewing pleasure. I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry at this one. Everytime I clean she insists on having her own cleaning rag, and stuff to spray. I pretend to spray it and she will go around and wipe down where I've just cleaned. Let's hope she still likes to clean when she's 10.

A not so great start to 2008...

It would be nice to catch a break somewhere. I was laying in bed this afternoon, getting ready to take my daily afternoon nap, and I look up and this is what I saw. The picture to the left is of the tray ceiling in my bedroom, to the right is above a window in Matthew's office. Rooms which are not close together.

Yes we've had a shit ton of rain lately, but seriously, this house is less than 2 years old, and in the almost 8 months that we've lived here we've had two leaky toilets, problems with the septic tank, and now a leaky roof. Apparently I could have done a better roofing job. And you know what's more convenient? The house was under warranty until Dec. 2007. So, I assume on Monday I'll be expected to write yet another check for something in which we cannot afford. This might be a good time to get my online shopping addiction under control before the roof literally caves in.

Come out come out wherever you are!

Since it's apparently national de-lurking week, I figured I would jump on the band wagon and ask my lurkers to come forth, if I have any! I know people don't comment everytime I post (I'm guilty of doing things to other people, just because I don't post doesn't meant I'm not reading) but this would be a good time to say hi. I'm always looking for new blogs to read too!

Moving...sort of

I decided to do something that I've wanted to do for a while, and I created a new blog. I am beginning to feel that I'm not giving this one the attention that it needs because of what happened, and I'm missing out on journaling many things that are going on in Ava's life.

This is my happy place, but I also need a place to go when I'm sad, when I need to bitch, or when I just need to vent about the things that have happened. I want this blog to be about Ava, and other things obviously, but I need somewhere to go where I can deal with feelings about the pregnancy that I lost.

So, if you feel like coming with me, I'm over at Grief is a journey

I will still be posting here, hopefully with more frequency than I'm doing now...

New Year...Better times ahead

Goodbye 2007, year from hell, and HELLLLOOOO 2008. Two days into the New Year, and already I feel better that I never have to write 2007 again. It truly was a hard year for our family. We lost 4 family members, (2 of those happened right at Christmas time), we almost lost my father, and we lost 2 babies. I have never been so excited for a year to end, and I know that 2008 has to be better. It can't get any worse right?


I got away for a few days and went down to Nashville to watch my beloved Cats win their second straight bowl game. It was nice to get away, and Matthew offered to stay behind and take care of Ava. Matthew and my parents were both supposed to make the trip, but my parents had to stay behind to attend a funeral and Matthew agreed to let me have some time off. It was much needed and appreciated! And in all honesty I needed a break from him too. He's been on vacation for 3 weeks (starts back at his old job next week) and he's driving me bonkers. I love him and it's been a godsend to have him here to help me but at the same time I'm not used to having him around all the time.


Everyone is talking about their New Year's resolutions, and just like everyone else mine are pretty simple. And my top goal is to of course is to lose weight. I never got it all off after I had Ava, and if I decide to do the baby thing again, I want to make sure my body is as healthy as it can be.


Second on the priority list is to get Ava potty trained, and quick. She's quickly learned how to take off her clothes, and apparently now she's learned how to undo snaps and zippers. Case in point, the past 4 mornings she's greeted us stark naked, diaper on the floor, and a soaking wet bed. Sheets, blankets, and stuffed animals have had to be washed. Thankfully she's been kind enough not to poop in there, and as cute as it is, it's getting old fast. I'm in desperate need of ideas of what to do. I guess for now I'm going to have to go back to putting onesies on underneath her PJ's, but I'm sure it won't be long until she figures that one out too.


I hope everyone had a safe one, here's to 2008 being a kick ass year!