Lately.....

So, I do realize it's yet again been over a month since I updated my blog. I know...I'm horrible at it. I do have some new family pics to upload for ya, and once I figure out how to make blogger upload COLOR high resolution pics....I'll get right on it ;) Rhett's last final for the semester is tomorrow! YEAH!!!! Can't wait! Joy to the world that he won't go back to school until January 11th. Poor guy...he's seems to be stricken with all sorts of illness lately. Luckily he's better today. We'll see what tomorrow brings I suppose. We are getting super excited for Christmas. Ava is going to absolutely LOVE it this year! She keeps asking when it's coming and keeps singing Christmas songs. She has turned into quite the little character and says some of the funniest stuff ever. I'm sure every parent says that though. Here's a list of some of my personal favs....

"Oh my gosh Mom, they put toilet paper on that cupcake! You've GOT to be kidding me!" (They really put white fondant on a colorful cake to make it appear as a bow)

"Mom! Look!!!!! A MONSTER POO!!!!" (thanks Rhett)

"Bye Bye poo....I love you...be a good girl for daddy!" (as her poo flushes down the toilet...thanks again Rhett.)

"Grandpa! HURRY UP!"

"That's not funny mom! I'm not laughing!"

"Probably he'll just laugh at me."

"I'll tell you my thoughts. Either I can sleep in your bed, or I can go downstairs and play the Wii."

"NO!!!!! I'll do it all myself"....ok this one isn't really a favorite, but it's about all I hear all day.

"Where's my pretties?!" (Lipgloss)

"Where's my bandaids?!" (Silly bands)

"MOM! MOM! MY HIGH SCHOOL!!!" (preschool)

"I need my ipod." (anything that is small and appears to be electronic)

She seriously keeps me laughing all day long! She is definitely still a typical 2 year old with fits and all, but they seem to be less often than they used to be. She is still tiny, but then again...she doesn't have much hope. Last I checked she weighed around 22lbs and was about 33 inches tall. People that don't know her usually about die when she opens her mouth. They always think she's about 18 months old. Uh....yeah....try a year older. Oh well....we think it's pretty funny. Night all!

What the?!

Ever heard of Transient Synovitis? Yeah....I hadn't either, until today. So, yesterday morning Ava wakes up EARLY EARLY yelling and crying that her leg hurt. She kept grabbing her knee and made me rub it for a while. After about a half hour or so, she stopped complainig so we figured she just had a dead leg or something. This morning she wakes up at about 6:30am screaming and crying that she has an owie. Same thing....same leg....same exact spot that she's pointing to and grabbing. I think it's weird, but figure she must have slept in the same position and has another dead leg. After a while, she wasn't getting any better. It was way worse than yesterday. She was just cryin and shaking every few minutes because it hurt so bad. I try to get her up to go potty, but she wouldn't put ANY pressure on it. Every time she'd try she'd just fall to the floor. Saddest thing you've ever seen. So, naturally...I call the doctor. We take her in and he suspects it's something called transient synovitis. Evidently what it means is she had a viral infection somewhere else in the last few weeks and instead of the antibodies that faught it leaving the body, they settle in a joint. Typically they settle in the hip, but he thinks they settled in her knee instead. It was all swollen up. We also had to take her to get blood drawn so he can make sure it's not bacterial (which would be much worse). Unfortunately, there's not much they can do for her. It will supposedly pass in about a week. All we can do is treat it with motrin for pain and inflammation. As we got home tonight she says to me....."Mom.....I had a rough day. That lady poked me. It hurt really bad!"....poor kid. Here's a pic of her knee from this morning.

I know right?!

Two days in a row...can you believe it?! Me neither! Ever have those days that just don't end near quick enough? Today has been one of those days. Nothing really bad happened, just an ornery 2 year old who has decided to test me clear to my last nerve...that's all. Thank heaven she's in bed. Here's a little video of what I have heard constantly over the last week. I took these videos with my phone and can't get them to flip....sorry.



Freaking out because I buckled up her seatbelt instead of her doing it herself. Even though I gave her ample opportunities to do so, but she would just stare at me with a crusty look and not do it.




And then there's moments like this that just make me laugh. Don't ask me what she's saying cuz I've tried and tried to figure it out...NO idea. All i get is 1,2,3,4,5.....something something something....RIGHT NOW!...

And moments like this where she sings her little heart out in the tub (I believe she's singing a song from Pete's Dragon)....

We sure love our little girl!

Update

It's been a while....AGAIN....I know, I know. It is what it is. We've been busy as ever. Rhett's back in school for the semester, Ava is as sassy as ever, things are pretty much the same as always around here. We got our flooring in our kitchen redone....tile instead of linoleum, YEAH! Now I just need to pick out some new carpet. I love it! Seems like we've still been constantly out of town or crazy busy with one project or another. Rhett and my dad went hunting a couple weekends ago, with zero luck. That's totally fine by me! :) he he he..... Here's some pics

Flooring before

Flooring after (still needs cleaned)

Me and a couple of my friends took a cake decorating class. Ava is enjoying the fruits of said class....

My final creation from my class

Ava at Jumpin Jack's in St. George

Holding a lizard that Rhett caught in my gma's backyard in St. George

Time flies!

Wow....I can't believe it's really been that long since my last post on here. Craziness! Summer has been insane. Seems like we've hardly been home at all! Oh wait! That's cuz we've been out of town constantly. Between a wedding, girl's trips, visiting family, boating, family reunions, and just little fam vaca....we've been busy. I can't believe that summer is basically over. Just a few warm days left and then it's another long hated winter. UGH.....does anyone else just HATE the snow?!?!?! SOOOOOOO not ready for it! And thanks to my dear neighbor (who reminds me all the time) Christmas is just around the corner. Unfortunately, Ava has been sick for almost the past week. She has what we thought was a sore throat caused by a virus, but turns out it's the same virus as what you have when you get cold sores. She's been miserable! High fever and little coldsore-like lesions all over the inside of her mouth. Her gums are swollen and hurt so bad she can't eat anything.....not that she ate a lot to begin with. She's been living on pediasure and yogurt for the last week. Poor little thing. She still manages to be as sassy as ever. Here's some pics....

Wearing Dad's socks......yuck! Rylee, Ava, Grandpa

She was such a trooper the whole time. Didn't complain at all....

Stick 'em up!

Be careful....

You know that old saying..."be careful what you wish for"? Well, I think that also goes for: "be careful what you talk about". On my last post I talked about how nothing interesting had been going on....well that all changed in one swoop! Literally days...nay, probably moments after posting that... everything went haywire! My poor sweet gma got sick and had to go to the hospital for a several days (thanks again Talia for the help!), she finally got discharged, but needed help for a couple weeks....Enter: Britney (the help). I was more than happy to do it though! Then there came the prep work for my bro's wedding. He and his cute (now wife) Jessica decided that they wanted to have their ceremony and reception in my parent's backyard. While beautiful, it takes a TON of work before hand to get the yard looking "up to par". If it were my choice....I would've made sure the grass was green (you know....not that crunchy brownish yellow stuff) , mowed, no giant weeds and called it good. ;) But, my parents, the ever loving super troopers that they are, of course went all out. All kinds of shrubs, flowers, new fire pit area, paint on the fence, re-do the shed, paint the shed, paint the stucco on the house, paint the front door, paint the garage, paint the shutters....did I mention paint?, prep the pond, grow the garden, name it.....the list goes on an on. Oh...ps.....guess who got to do it all.....that's right.....Mom, Dad, Me, Rhett, Corinne, Jake, couple of corinne's friends. And I think Treavor and Jessica MAY have helped a little ;) ....Anyway, I'm sure after all this rambling you get the point that it was a TON of work. They wedding has finally come and passed. It was on June 5th. And THAT is exactly what has occupied my time this last little while. Hence, the no posts on here. So, I do apologize to all of my ever faithful readers for the lack of entertainment. However, my amazingly buff arms, large stature, and cranial capacity was greatly needed. I will post some wedding pics as soon as humanly possible....in the meantime, here's some always cute pics of Ava...enjoy!

Ava thinking she owns the joint at a furniture store....A "big girl bed"....pretty sure she looks like a needle in a haystack...

Playin around in Dad's work boots...waiting patiently at the window for gpa to come....

This would be Ava cheating at the eat the donut off the string game at McKell's bday party. She's no dummy....she knows how to win!

Again...running the previously mentioned furniture store...this time, playing dress up...

We have started a new project in our back yard. We are putting in a big sandbox and playland for Ava (thanks Mom & Dad) and burying the trampoline. I CAN'T wait for the tramp to be buried! No more, "Mom! UP!", "Mom! DOWN!" Here are the before pics...I'll post more as said project progresses.

Yes....that is Rhett with a chainsaw! He cut down one of the giant cottonwood trees in our backyard. Must make room you know....He was more than excited to chop it down. Been wanting to for years now.

Lately....

Not a whole lot of interesting stuff has been going on lately.....just the normal busy being busy. Rhett has been out of school for the semester and that has been REALLY nice. I actually got him to clean the garage....I think I can fit my car in there now....we got part of our fence up, got the garden planted, and he got the tiller going. It's been rather productive, but not necessarily interesting. A few days ago my mom and I were driving in the car with Ava....and Ava decided it would be ok to tell me to S-H-U-T-U-P. NOT OK! Pretty sure she learned that from her cousins. Just lovely. And it begins. Here's some pics of the random stuff that's been going on....

Ava found more of my lip liner. I think she's destined to sell Mary Kay with as much as she loves "pretties".

Chillin on the giant chair in Granite Furniture. We went to look at new kitchen tables for my mom. Ava HAD to sit on it. She thought it was pretty cool.

Takin a snooze in Mom & Dad's bed. She wanted to watch cartoons, but evidently she was a little tired too.

EASTER!......in the sticks

We went to Rhett's parent's house for Easter this year. We were able to go out on Wednesday night and didn't have to come back until Sunday. We did all sorts of great things....the kind of things that one does while in the country. You know, things like....

Catch baby lambs and pet them.

Catch roosters (or hens as I was informed), yank their feathers out, and then pet them.

Catch horses and pet them. Or, unless you're Ava and then it's "no touch, Daddy, no touch".

Roast hotlinks/hot dogs in the freezing cold

But, most importantly.....just relax and have a good time.

Then, it was time for the Easter festivities to begin. Here's the egg dying process.

There is a really funny video I wanted to show you all to give you some insight into my daily life. In order to show you that video...I needed to show you this one first. It is a little lengthy, but it is the prelude to the next video....

So...at the end of the last video you see us beginning to clean up all the egg dying stuff. Here is Ava's reaction to us cleaning up. Again, insight into my daily life....

Easter Morning...

Ava is really into Trains right now. There's a new show on Disney show called Chuggington. Ever since it came on, she can't seem to get enough of trains. And lucky her! The Easter Bunny brought her some trains!

Unfortunately, it snowed several inches so the kiddies had to do their egg hunt inside. Not quite as much fun, but they still enjoyed it. Ava caught onto the idea really quickly.

Ava's basket-o-eggs/candy...mmm.....

The Birthday Party

This year for Ava's 2nd birthday party we decided to have a combined party with her best bud Turner. Everyone had a blast! We rented out the party room at the South Jordan rec center and had a swimming party. That would be why Ava has on a swimming suit. Here's some pics....

Ava and Turner got a slip & slide to share from Aunt Heidi! We can't wait for them to use it in the backyard this summer. I'll post pics when that occurs...(if it ever gets warm enough).

Grandpa and the girls swimming

Yeah....this would be one of the presents from Mom & Dad...she has no clue what it is and looks oh-so thrilled. Now that she plays with it... she loves it.

Cake time!

Mom & Ava hanging out before the party began.

The flip flop cake I made for the party. It was a TON of work. Better than my first attempt, but still not great. I'll get better though!

Happy Birthday Ava!

WOW!!!!! I can't believe that our sweet little Ava is 2 years old already! Where oh where does the time go? I have a feeling it's not going to be slowing down any time soon. We absolutely love Ava to death and couldn't ask for a more precious child! She always bring a smile to her face and has so much love to give. She was born on a Monday morning....yes...St. Patrick's Day..March 17, 2008 @ 11:54 am. Weighing 6lbs 6oz and 18 inches long. She was small then and she's still small now. She barely (if even) reaches the 1% in height and weight. LOL! But, then again...she doesn't exactly come from large parents.

She loves to spend her days playing with mom, reading books, watching the movie Cars, drawing, playing with what she calls "pretties" (anything that she thinks makes her look/smell prettier), helping Dad do whatever he's doing whenever he's doing it, playing with her babies, and she LOVES to tease any chance she gets. I'm pretty sure she gets that one from her dad.

She is just getting so big.....ok,ok...old...she's not big. I can't believe how much she can do by herself. She would be able to do more if she were a tad bit taller ;) but gotta be honest...I'm not too sad that she can't do the things that require her to be taller. Such as opening doors. ha ha.

We love you Ava! Happy Birthday!