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".