Up...and...over

Ok, first off let me explain that as hard as it is...I try not one of those mothers that compares my baby to others. I was sure when Ava was a newborn she was destined to reach milestones early. She slept for 9 hour stretches alone in her crib at 7 weeks, rolled over at 2 months...I was beginning to think I'd have a walker at 9 months. And now?? I have an 11 month old who REFUSES to do what she's supposed to do at her age. And it's not because she can't, she won't! She has always been perfectly content to lay, and now sit on the floor for long stretches of time and completely entertain herself. And believe me I am NOT complaining. She used to throw herself backwards when I put her on her butt. Now she assumes the crawling position, only to gently lay her head down and roll to whatever it is she wants. The child will roll until something stops her, and if it's small enough she just rolls over it.

Her thighs are so strong though...and I honestly believe that if she could pull herself up on a table with her feet she would do it...and she tries. She does everything with her feet, picks her bottle up with her feet, picks her toys up with her feet. Mark my words...this child will either be the worlds greatest gymnast, or in the circus somewhere. We didn't dub her the nickname of "monkey toes" on the day she was born for nothing.


But anyway, getting back to the original reason for this post. You can imagine my utter delight when the following events of the day happened.

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:




Exhibit C:

That's right. My baby finally pulled up...and landed on her head...and I can assure you that she was not injured during the course of the event.

And I am so proud of her.

Just a phase or something else??

Something has been bothering me, and it's been bothering me for quite a while. I have debated writing about it, but no one in my family knows about this blog...at least not yet, so it is sort of anonymous still. Ava is beginning to show sheer uncomfortableness for my husbands side of the family, to the point where it's making me not want to attend family gatherings. And it's not just in the unfamiliar surroundings of their houses....it's everywhere. Anytime we go somewhere she takes one look at my MIL or anyone in my husbands family for that matter and she lets out blood curdling, inconsolable screams. Lip quivers, legs shake..the whole she bang. And you know what aggravates me even more is that after I have spent 15 minutes trying to calm her down because something they did made her cry, they try to come and hold her again. I thought maybe it had something to do with me being in her sight and her wanting me, but my husband has her right now (as I'm getting ready for round #2 of tennis) and I called to check in with him and he said as soon as they walked into his grandmothers house it all started again. Now it's not like they are total strangers, I mean they have spent more time with her than some of my friends and all she does is laugh and play with them. I don't get it...and it makes me anxious every time we are around them. We don't ask them to watch her much, mainly because of this...but they seem to think that we don't want them to ever babysit. She's not the only grand baby so they have plenty of experience, and I'm not worried that they have done anything to her, I just can't make sense of it all.

Am I crazy??? Is this something that she is going to grow out of or could there possibly be something wrong??? This is taking stranger anxiety to a whole new level for me.

Fuzzy balls and flowers

Who knew that an hour of mostly standing around hitting a little green ball would cause soreness in parts of my body I didn't know existed. Tennis was great..we had a blast and I can't wait until next week. We all sucked pretty bad, and I'm sure we pissed off everyone on the courts around us, but we just laughed it off. The instructor was super cute in that preppy college sort of way, but I'm sure he's not a day over 22!! I woke up yesterday a little sore, but no big deal...but today was a different story. Oh...my...gawd, even my thumb is sore. I used to be in such great shape but apparently those days are long gone. At we least we all looked cute.

Anyhoo, I hope everyones V Day was good. I got 12 roses and possibly the most romantic letter a girl could get. He's not much of a romantic at all but it brought both of us to tears, something that's very hard to make me do. I've only gotten flowers 3 times from him in over 5 years, so that was definately special. He knows not to do it too often, because I will come to expect it.

Ava on the other hand doesn't understand what all of the fuss is about...

Game...Set...Match

Tennis Skirt - Check
Shirt - Check
Ridiculously white legs - Check
Shoes - Check
Racket - Check
5 Equally Non - athletic friends to partake in weekly tennis group - Check

That's right folks, you heard it. I, along with 5 of my friends have bravely decided to get together on a weekly basis and attempt to play tennis. I actually used to be good, but that was back circa 1990 when it was cool to have colored strings and a pink handle. The sad thing is I still have that racket, but it will not be making the journey with me tonight. We're starting with lessons, but we actually think that in a few months we will be good enough to play each other...funny huh! It's really just an excuse for all of us to get together once a week, and maybe if the instructor is good looking we will have an even better reason to show up! These are girls that I have been friends with since high school or earlier, and with all of us going in different directions with our lives, we were really looking to do something consistently where we all get together. We tried the dinner/drink thing, but someone always had something else to do. Now we can combine a little bit of exercise (if you call it that) and then dinner and drinks can follow!

I'll let ya know how it goes tomorrow...I think the only muscle that will be sore will be my stomach from all of the laughter.

Oh and for all of you who were dying to know how I spent my Friday night...I was taking down my Christmas Tree. You see, I am not perfect afterall...

TGIF...

Those 4 letters used to be what I looked forward the most during the week. Boy how times have changed. I'm lucky to know what time of day it is, not to mention what day of the week!! I used to never rely on a calendar, I could pretty much remember everything that I had to do without writing it down, and now??? I might as well right down scheduled times to go to the bathroom!! Why is it now that I'm home, everything in the house seems to fall apart?? Sure...I'm taking care of a baby all day long, but Ava's so good at entertaining herself that I should have plenty of time to catch up on laundry, change out the dishes in the dishwasher, clean a room or two here and there. I used to be a freak about keeping my house cleaned, and now it seems that the only thing I do seem to be good at is vacuuming, but that's only because with two pets and my hair falling out at record speed I'm sick of picking hair off of Ava's clothes. I'm past the point of picking up toys everyday, I mean what's the point when all you do is turn right around and put them out again?? I've seriously contemplated seeing if hubby will let me hire a cleaning service to come in and clean once a month...but I already know what he will say. He doesn't always seem to understand how hard it is to be a stay at home mom. Do any of your husbands think that you sit around and do nothing all day?? Because apparently mine does....but then there will be a time on the weekend where he's left alone with the baby say for...maybe an hour and as soon as I walk back in...he complains that he needs a break!!! HA!! But I don't complain most of the time, because I know I'm lucky enough to have a husband that thinks we can afford for me to stay home (at least for right now).

So with my ramble over...and getting back to the original reason I wrote this post...it is Friday and I've got a fun weekend planned! I'm not going to tell you what I'm doing tonight, mainly because I'm too embarrassed to talk about it. If you really want to know, all you have to do is ask :-) Tomorrow we're taking Harley (the dog) to the kennel so he can play with some of his buddies, and then I'm taking my best friend to the basketball game. Basketball is HUGE here and we are playing one of our big rivals...who happens to be ranked #1 so you can figure it out. She has 3 kids so this is our night out. Hubby is even paying for us to stay in a hotel room Saturday night...but don't let that fool ya, the game will be more than enough excitement and we will probably crash about 12:00!! She's a SAHM mom to 3 and doesn't get to spend many nights away, so I think she might be looking forward to it more than me. Sunday is one of our nephews 9th birthday so we are going to a party for him, and that will be the first time that I get to see my new nephew who will be 2 weeks old, so me and Ava are both anxious for that!!

Ava's gearing up for a fun night at "camp" aka Grandma and Grandma's house

I hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend!!

So sad...

I was just sitting here trying to catch up from being gone most of the day, and as I'm holding my precious baby girl the news that Ann.a Nic.ole Smit.h was dead comes up on the TV. It was JUST last night that hubby and I were watching Entertainment Tonight and we talked about how tired we were of hearing her name and the endless drama that she creates.

I am sincerely hoping that this was a death of natural causes and not drug related. I agree that this woman has been through alot but IF this is the case of a drug overdose, I just cannot sympathize. To be so selfish to leave your new daughter and husband because you are going through a rough time...just doesn't cut it for me. My heart goes out to her husband and the rest of her family, and I will be keeping them in my thoughts.

Sorry...I'll get off my soapbox now

Y'all didn't think I had it in me now did ya?? :-)

A Much Needed Break

The trip was just what I needed, and with the cold weather here I am seriously wishing I was still there!! Ava was a DREAM on the plane. She didn't even make one peep. She took her bottle on take off, took about an hour long nap, and then took another bottle as we were landing. Her ears were perfect, mine on the other hand were not. I was trying to get over that cold, and the pressure was like nothing I have ever felt...at one point I thought my ears were going to explode. They did eventually pop, but I couldn't hear in one ear for about 2 days.

Friday when we landed we just got a quick bite to eat, came back to the house let Ava play and let mommy unpack, and then headed out for a late dinner. Ava, as always, showed off for everyone. There was a man playing an electric piano, and she just bobbed her head and danced while we ate. We got up Saturday and went to the pool. She hadn't been swimming since last summer...not a good experience...so I was a little worried about how she would react, but this time she loved it!! It was even a little windy outside, but she didn't seem to mind a bit.

Sunday we watched UK pound Tennessee and then decided to head off for some shopping and then out again for dinner. My mom doesn't really cook while on vacation...the kicker is that they had been down there since December...and they eat out all.the.time. I'm not complaining because it was free food, but it gets tiring and it's nice sometimes to cook up some good seafood, have a drink and chill in the house. Again, not complaining. I do have one complaint about this day, I missed my nephews birth! Hubby called to tell me that my SIL had her baby...I told her to hold off until we got back but he had better plans!!! Ava cannot wait to meet her new little cousin.

Monday was probably my favorite day. We took Ava to the Zoo. It was a little chilly...actually the coldest week in Florida in a while so we had to bundle up, but it was totally worth it. Ava was so enthralled with everything, she did NOT want to sit in her stroller. She wanted us to hold her so she could see and hear everything that was going on. We got to see all kinds of birds, crocodiles, monkeys, a rhinoceros, some giraffes and many other things. It would have been a nice place to go if I didn't have a child, but being there with her, and watching her learn and get so excited made it so much more fun for me!!!

Tuesday we went to Cocoa Beach to do some more shopping, and then it was time to get home and start packing. There was alot to do!!! I had no idea how much stuff a baby would need while gone...packing for just me is such a piece of cake.

As promised, here are some pics from the trip...


First plane ride

Waving with Grandpa at the airport

Keeping up with current events

Fun times at the pool

Not in the mood for a posed picture

I didn't want to bore you with Zoo pics so I graciously put them in collage form


Off to watch the Super Bowl!!! Go Colts!!

Date Night and Karoke

Well hubby and I had a "date" last night, if you want to call it that!! We try to go out on our own at least one night a week, but since my parents have been in Florida for over a month, we haven't much of an opportunity to get out. I guess before I go any further, I need to take a step back. He and I are very social people, and before we got married and before the baby we went out with friends ALOT. Obviously things have slowed down with the baby, so we really do try to have at least one night a week where it's just us, even if it's just for a couple of hours.

So getting back to the evening...I call it a date, but really we just went to Applebees, or as I call it "Crapplebees" as I'm not really fond of the food. They do, however have super happy hour prices and killer macaroni and cheese. We live in a pretty small town and there aren't a whole lot of options, but we go there because we always see people we know and it's good to catch up. As so many other nights have gone, we sat and chatted and had a few drinks, and then it was someones idea to go to another place for Karaoke (okay, I'm guilty, it was my idea). I'm really not a mean person...but watching these people sing is like my very own live version of the American Idol auditions. Too much fun!!!

I got to sleep in this morning...something that I don't get to enjoy very often, and then it was back to the daily grind as a SAHM...although one major piece of my morning was missing! They won't be home until late tonight so we will go get her first thing in the morning...and we're going to take advantage of another free night by going to dinner with some friends of ours. But don't think for a second that I am not counting down the minute where I get to plant kisses on those deliciously chubby cheeks!!! Being out of the house helps because I'm not sitting here thinking about how much I miss her.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend....we got some snow last night, and the frigid Arctic temps are right around the corner. Sitting by the fireplace is starting to sound better by the minute!!

Florida pics coming soon!!

We're Back!

Well I'm back from Florida, and the cold already makes me want to turn around and go back!! I have alot to update, and lots of pictures...BUT I left my camera in my parents car and they won't be back until Friday...so you will have to hold off for just a few more days :-)

Ava is riding back with my parents..so I'm going to try to get the house in order after leaving my husband alone for 6 days! He's definately not the clean one in this relationship. I'm also going to try to keep my mind off of missing my baby! Hubby is taking me out on a date tonight though, something we haven't done in a while so at least I have that to look forward to.

Until later!