Funzone Clubhouse

It was rainy today in Ventura so I decided to try out the Clubhouse Funzone indoor playground in Ventura. Avila had a blast playing with all the toys while I chased her around. Afterward I think we both needed a nap. Instead she slept while I worked out.

While we were there she learned to ride a bike. More like walking on it while sitting, but hey she's only 11 months old.



She loved playing in the little pretend houses. This is me looking through the window watching her play in the the sink. So cute.
She got in all by herself. She couldn't move it thought. Legs are too short and the car is too heavy. She tried at least and managed to get stuck under the car. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want people to think I was a mean mom. :o)

Our Christmas Vacation

Well, like I mentioned earlier Avila was sick over the vacation, so the 3 of us stayed at home together. 3 days of vacation actually went by slowly and we were able to enjoy each other as a family.

We watch A LOT of movies! I am extremely thankful for Baby Einstein. And although I had Mozart stuck in my head every waking moment, it kept Avila happy and rested.

The cat loved having us home with a sick baby. The baby's room was always the warmest place in the house. It was a warm, lazy weekend for everyone; even the cats.

Once she started feeling better we made her do all her chores!!! Just kidding, this is her new favorite activity. Unloading the clean or dirty dishes onto the floor. One day she'll get the hang of it. Sick or not, when she heard the dishes being loaded she came full speed to help.

Merry Sickmas

December 5th
Getting ready for Christmas!!! She loved playing/breaking all the ornaments!

She loved the tree. It is her newest toy - taking everything off and mom putting everything back on. Pine needles EVERYWHERE! Lot's of empty boxes to practice for Christmas.

December 25th
Sickmas is here. Day three of swine flu and feeling much better in time for Christmas. Ripping the paper was a lot of fun!

My new barn! This is her sick way of saying, "I LOVE IT! THANK YOU MOMMY AND DADDY!" We could see the excitement in her eyes. What came next (video) helped us to see how much she loved it! Made our 1st Christmas with her perfect!

Not so excited about the first gift. Practical. She was about excited as I am about getting socks in my stocking.

Priceless......... My new favorite video of Avila.

Merry Sickmas everyone!!!!

The evolution of Christmas

So I was thinking last night as I was holding my sick daughter and trying to figure how bad it was to get on a plane and give everyone the swine flu for Christmas and wondering what happened to "Christmas". And just as going to the beach will never be the same Christmas will forever be different. Not bad, just different.

As kids the anticipation of Christmas lasted the entire month of December; thinking constantly of all the things that Santa might bring. Then by college Christmas was a great time to sleep in, get new clothes and visit with family. Then the married years came along and we're trying to figure out who gets to see you and when. The baby years is all new. We have had to think of things like how many diapers to pack and pray she doesn't cry on the hour flight. Never did I think that she might be sick with the little piggy flu and NEVER did I think of the chaos the word "swine flu" brings with it.

So...... this will be our first Christmas at home as a family. We quickly are thinking of the traditions that we want to start with baby #1 and continue with baby #1 and #2 next year. So I guess for Christmas Avila got us a day home as a family, even if it meant her getting sick.

Morning hair

What could she have possibly done in the middle of the night to wake up with this hair do? Couldn't look more lovely on a Sunday before heading to church.

Fun Times and GREAT news!

Last week started off with a fun trip to the zoo! I think here she was actually more excited to be out of the stroller walking around than she was of the gorilla in the distance. Her favorite animal were the stinky flamingos and the otter (I'm pretty sure she thought it was a cat though).

On our way to Napa to visit mommy's side of the family. The little girl we sat next to gave Avila the glasses to keep. The little girl didn't seem to have swine flu or any other ailment so I said thanks and Avila got a kick out of wearing them. She thought it was hilarious when I wore them as well, but I didn't really think a picture of me in heart glasses was what the internet needs.

She took her first bubble bath at grandma's. She didn't really care that there were bubbles in the sink. She did try to eat them though - that didn't work out too well.

She gave Tigger a little bath as well.

YEAH! We came home from our trip to Napa and heard the best news ever! Daddy got a promotion and a raise! Look how surprised Owen looks. I'm pretty sure that was my face when I heard the news as well. We went our to dinner with some of our best friends to celebrate the Lord's amazing mercies to us! We are so thankful for his provision!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our zoo to yours!

Blair and I dressed as zoo keepers......sometimes I don't think that is too far from reality either. Some may not call 2 cats, a dog and a baby and proper zoo, but when you compare job descriptions they're not that different
- feed the animals
- pick up/clean up their poo
- teach the animals tricks
- encourage the animals to perform and entertain others
- keep the animals happy
- bathe the animals

That's my day...just change the word animals to Avila, Maverick, Lunchbox, and Spaz
I'll have to add these credentials to my resume.

Pumpkin Patch

Oh the silly things parent do.....
We had already bought pumpkins at Trader joes weeks before, but I wanted a picture of her at the pumpkin patch for her baby book. So we dragged her on this chilly night to the nearest pumpkin patch, had her hold a pumpkin and took tons of pictures. We didn't even buy a pumpkin!

I am ONE OF THOSE parents! Oh well, Blair and I had fun at least and got some cute pictures out of it!

Surprise!!!

Some people might refer to this picture as Avila's first date, I on the other hand refer to it as the picture to coming attractions. This will be a soon to be picture of my back seat in about 7 months..........We're PREGNANT!

My unofficial due date is June 16th. They'll give me a more accurate due date after my first sonogram in a few weeks. For those of you that haven't had kids in a while here are a few pointers of things NOT to say to me......
5. "Wow, you're showing already"
4. "That's going to be really hard having two little ones"
3. "Avila was so easy the next one will be really hard"
2. "Are you going to give the next baby a beach name too"
1. and my favorite "wow, you just lost all your baby weight and now you're going to gain it all back"

So, let's stick to happy and cheerful comments. Not that all the above comments aren't all true (except #2 - we don't want a baby Mondo), I just want to focus on ideas that keep me excited for the journey ahead.....it's less scary that way. :o)

Honestly though, I couldn't be more excited for this new little blessing. I love being mom, having 2 will be twice as fun!

What mom's do all day

"Oh, you stay home with the baby? What do you do ALL day?" Not that I get asked this question every day, but often enough that I feel I should show examples of a typical week.

I, ALL BY MYSELF, installed new headlight lamps in the truck! I could have only done that for this week and still felt accomplished! the baby notices the license plate frame also needs to be fixed, that will be next weeks project.

We go for walks around the neighborhood. Our favorite thing to do is chase/look for the kitty's.

We go to the park....a lot. She recently has become obsessed with grabbing handfuls of sand and letting it fall through her fingers. So cute.

She also loves walking around all the play equipment watching the big kids play.

"Mom......stop taking pictures you are embarrassing me!"

Another fun day at the park.In case anyone needed a reminder for why we live in Ventura.......this is the view from the park.
I love it!

We sit on the porch and wait for daddy to get home. While waiting Avila likes to yell across the street to the many leaves moving in the wind. She also enjoys barking at any of the cats she sees in our yard (usually just spazz and lunchbox)

and we learn about nature while mom waters the garden. She LOVES looking at leaves.

This is a video of her playing with the sand. I took it from my phone. Sorry you'll have to watch it with your head cocked to one side.

You'll notice I left out the parts about cleaning house, doing laundry, picking up dog poopy, changing baby poopy, and all that sort of fun stuff. Who wants to look at pictures of that!

Top ten things we love about FALL!

#10 - The nice workers at Trader Joe's give out free balloons! What a treat!

#9 - Going to the park with mom is SOOO much more fun now that I can walk on the equipment. I don't just have to sit in the swing and smile for the camera.

#8 - Taking all the the books off the shelf at a used book store is hours of enjoyment. In the 30 minutes Blair was looking for a book I watched her take at least 35 books off the shelf. She was thrilled and I had of course given up on trying to keep them ON the shelf. They're already used books, what more damage can a 9 month old do?

#7 Quality family fun; dad looking for a book, mom taking pictures and baby destroying a used book store.

#6 Snuggling up with a new/slightly used book that mom bought at the used book store. Like daddy says, you can never have too many books.

#5 - seeing how fast I can walk from one end of the crib to the other and back again and again and again.

#4 - Evening walks with daddy to visit RJ, Anna, and boyfriend Landon

#3 - comfort food.......blueberries. Yum.

#2 - Cozy sweats and sweatshirts. Mommies favorite cloths to wear and now baby's too!

#1 - Singing in the rain! We sat outside on the porch for at least 30 minutes while Avila talked to the rain, walked back and forth and rubbed the leaves of the plant. She LOVES to be outside. She is just like her father!

Oh no!

Everyone had warned me, but I foolishly didn't listen......she's walking and unstopable and I get the new job of following behind her trying to stop her from splitting her head open. She walks like an 99 year old man; shuffleing her feet everywhere she wants to go. Today I got tired of doing circles around the house so I took her outside to walk along the sidewalk. I think she almost took off at a sprint. She can now take about 15-20 steps before she forgets what she's doing and falls. She cries every time you pick her up, not because she's hurt, but becuase she is afraid I might take her away from her favorite new toy. We call it the "walker".

8 months old

This is how I found her this morning. Covered in stuffed animals and blankets strewn every where. Not sure what she was up to in the middle of the night, but from the looks of it this morning she must have had a good time!
Did she really ever have a choice of liking skating/surfing having Blair as a dad, living in Ventura, and being named after a beach. Like she was really ever going to become a chess player. No offense to those that like chess, I bet it's fun

She got her very own cell phone. This one needs to last her until she's 18 years old.
She totally has a little scrunch smile like her mommy. Love it!

Hawaii Pics #2

DAY 1

Where would be the first place you would go if you had 4 days to spend in Hawaii? The hotel pool of course! Well, that where we started Blair disappointment and Avila's excitement. She would have lived in that pool if we would have let her. Blair ...I mean Avila...also got a new hat while we were out there. The baby dropped it into the water, so he was drying it off. What a good dad.
***note to "water diaper" makers*** Some children are smaller than the small and sometimes little surprises can come floating out! Good thing the life guards didn't see Avila's little present float to the top of the pool before I did. I made sure to get out of the pool before I yelled.....grosse! Poop! Just kidding. I quickly hid all evidence and decided swim time was over.

Next stop.....the beach directly outside the hotel. No waves, but a nice family photo opportunity. Grandma Patty is the excellent photographer!

This is Sandys beach. The boys had fun rolling around in the waves, while us girls got a little tan.

DAY 2
Sharks Cove.....Look below to the last post to read more about these shark infested waters. j/k

This is a picture right before she tried to get away with eating the rock. She understands "no", but doesn't understand yet to try to eat rocks when we AREN"T looking at her.

The famous pipeline! No waves, but at least Avila can make Owen and Landon jealous that she was there first. I think this was her favorite beach. There was a little pool of water that she could just sit and play in. Then the tide came up and knocked her over......play time was over after that.

DAY 3

On the boat headed to Pearl Harbor.

My mom is beautiful. I loved this picture of her so I had to add it.
Grandma Patty

Thank you Papa Wolfe for a beautiful vacation. Love you!