Picnicing with Auntie Jen and Uncle Rob

Auntie Jen and Uncle Rob came over to visit Ava on Monday and took her on a picnic. She loves her Auntie Jen and loves flirting with Uncle Rob even more! I just had to put these pictures up because they are so flipping cute! Stay tuned for our Thanksgiving update…I haven’t had a chance to upload the pictures.

Thankful…

It’s the time of year to reflect on the things we are thankful for. I wish Thanksgiving happened more than once a year as I believe we need to remember to be thankful all the time. I’m thankful for so many things this year but perhaps what I’m most thankful for was my first Mother’s Day.

I spent my first Mother’s Day in Missouri visiting my grandmother. It was the last time I saw her alive and I think it was the best Mother’s Day any mother could have asked for. I was so proud to show her Ava and to show her what kind of mother I am. I know she was proud of me as well. It will always be a bittersweet memory for me. It was a trip filled with lots of laughs, love and as I said goodbye, tears as I knew it was the last time I’d see her alive. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t miss her but I constantly try to remind myself of how thankful I am to have been blessed with 27 wonderful years with her as my grandmother. There’s a lot of memories there that I will forever be grateful for.

So during this Thanksgiving remember to tell the people you love just how much you love them. As someone recently said to me, “Cherish every minute because you never know when those minutes might change.”

To all of our wonderful friends and family, thank you for being part of our lives! We love you and wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Laughing Out Loud

I saw this picture and just started cracking up. My daughter doing her best impersonation of mommy:

DON’T YOU DARE CRAWL AWAY FROM ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU!!!!

Tao of Mom

I’m not quite sure when it happened, but I’m officially a mom. I know I’m a mom because I have a daughter that I love more than anything but here are some things that have made me realize I’ve fully embraced the Tao of Mom:

1. I’ve been checking out mini-van’s…something I swore I would NEVER do. I can’t believe I’m going to admit this but I actually made Mike rewind the Tivo to see the commercial for the new Dodge mini-van, all the while pointing out to him all of the features that make it a great “family” car.
2. The other day, while waiting at the dentist’s office, I stroll over to the table of magazines and pick up Family Fun even though the new issue of In Style was right next to it.
3. I now want a subscription to Family Fun.
4. My living room more closely resembles Toys R Us than a place where people live. Walking through our living room is a serious hazard. If you come to my house and see the carpet, you may want to make sure you’ve come to the right house. The part that really freaks me out is that I don’t mind it one bit.
5. I love to read. This is nothing new. However, I found myself looking at scrapbooking books that I could purchase for myself to work on Ava’s scrapbook rather than seeing if I could score the newest Danielle Steele novel. At any given time there are 3 parenting books scattered around the house that I have looked at so many times I think I my eyes are bleeding.
6. My secret wish is to have a place where Ava has her own bathroom, so that her bath toys can have a permanent home in the bathtub and relieve Mike of picking them up every night after bath time.
7. I asked our IT guy at work if he could hook me up with a non-working cell phone and a non-working keyboard because Ava loves both of those things. I swear I can’t make it through one blog without her erasing or adding something to the post. She HAS to touch the keyboard. And the cell phone, well, she just puts it to her ear and says, “Hi” over and over and over.

If I think of anything else, I’ll be sure to add it but I think that pretty much sums it up. Life is great!

It’s A Good Thing She’s Cute

So Ava’s new favorite thing is to help Mommy with the laundry. I really wish she wouldn’t. The other day I pull out three laundry baskets and start sorting the laundry. You know the drill: whites, colors and darks. Ava’s sitting on the floor next to the baskets and I’m sorting away. About halfway through, I notice pinks in the whites and whites in the darks. The little booger was waiting until I turned to grab more laundry and then switching clothes from one basket to the other. So I resort the laundry, at which point she fixates on the whites and starts chucking them behind her head. At this point, I can’t stop laughing and she is totally pleased with herself, not only because she’s doing what she wants because now Mommy thinks she’s funny.

Fast forward to this morning. I was in the kitchen getting my lunch together for work…I left her in the living room to play. All of the sudden it was quiet. If you’re a parent, you know that quiet equals trouble. So I peek around the corner and this is what I find…

If Mike had done this I would’ve hit the roof. It’s a good thing God made her so cute.

The Iron Chef Birthday

So last Saturday Casie hosted the first ever Iron Chef Birthday party! We had a blast. The gist of the party was that the guests chose whether they wanted to be a chef or a judge. The people who chose to be chefs competed (2 chefs each round) to see who was the best chef. The theme ingredient was cheese. Constipation anyone? There ended up being 7 chefs, of which, Ricky took home the title of Iron Chef. Some of the things we ate: Amazing Macaroni and Cheese from Chef Susan, To Die for Grilled Cheese and Tomato Bisque from Chef Kim, Crab Concoctions from Chef Bernd, Sopas and Spinach Rolls from Chef Roque, Pizzettes with Goat Cheese and Carmelized Onions from Chef Janice and Homemade Pizza from Chef Ricky! I have to tell you, Ricky was totally deserving of the Iron Chef title. His pizza was amazing, his presentation was amazing and he looked damn hot cooking in the kitchen! 🙂 We drank way to much and ate way too much…wait…is there such a thing?

I think the funniest moment of the whole evening was Susan, whom I adore, walking into the sliding screen door not once, but twice. I think the second time was funnier. The best part was that she was carrying red wine, which flew into the air and all over Casie and Tuti’s carpet. Have no fear, the Stainmaster is here! I arrived on the scene with Resolve, a rag and some good ole elbow grease and got those red wines stains right out. You can say it…I rule!

It was a great party and I want to give a big shout out to Casie for her birthday! Thanks for hosting such a wonderful party. It was great seeing the old faces and meeting new ones. Wish I could say let’s do it again next year, but this chica will be lounging in Mexico celebrating someone’s 40th! Happy Birthday doll! Here’s to another great year of watching our babies grow and enjoying life!

Below are a few of my favorite pictures from the party. Use the link at the bottom of this blog to view the rest.

Casie explaining the rules

The Girls!

Janice and Kim cooking!

The Iron Chef!

The Boys Getting Their Drink On

To view all the pics: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AatXLFk1btmNU

Last Weekend…

I never got around to updating the blog last weekend but Heather was in town. It’s always so wonderful when she’s here and I can’t wait for the day she lives closer. It can’t come soon enough. Friday night Heather and I hung out and went to bed early. Mike was out of town so Heather slept in our room with me. Heather likes to sleep with the tv on. So we went to sleep watching “There’s Something About Mary.” About 2 am I wake up because I hear what sounds like people doing the wild thing. Lo and behold, Cinemax had turned into Skinemax. I open my eyes and there’s a couple in a compromising position on the tv. I found the remote, changed the channel and went back to sleep. The next morning I’m telling Heather about my 2 am wake-up call (mind you the tv is still on) and Heather looks at the tv and says, “They were playing porn on the family channel?” This coming from the same girl who saw the street sign “Sepulveda Wwy” and said…are you ready for it…What’s a wayway? Apparently I had changed it to a family channel but it was comical. I guess I left out the part about changing the channel. Too funny.

On Saturday morning we headed to Downtown LA for some shopping in Santee Alley. So disappointing! I swear you know you’re in the wrong place when the mannequins have bigger butts than the three of us combined and everything is made of 100% stretch. Saturday night we headed over to the Casa Lopez for some dinner and games. All in all it was a great weekend. Here’s a few pictures.

I’m sure this had something to do with ear wax?

It’s a Janice Stack!!!!

It’s a Sergio Sandwich!

Playing Apples to Apples!

Happy Halloween!

So it’s Ava’s 1st Halloween and I thought the most appropriate costume was a pumpkin. So we dressed her up and invited Mimi’s and Tuti over to go to the Halloween Frolic on Main Street. Below are a couple of pics. Hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween!