How many pictures is too many?

In the month of August, we have taken 451 pictures. That's not too many, right? Let me point out that we have taken way more than 451 pictures, but that is the amount of pictures we have kept. You know, with digital cameras, you take 5 pictures for every good one that gets saved. Well, at that rate we've a taken......(doing math in my head)......well, alot. When I was pregnant with Ava, my uncle Marv challenged me that I couldn't take as many pictures of the second child. I think it's pretty typical that there are less pictures of baby #2, but not in this house! Not when baby number 2 is this cute! Come on, Grandma...can't a girl get a little privacy when she gets ready for a bath?

Uncle Marv, I think we should have made a real bet because I can almost guarantee that I would have won. There will be just as many, if not more pictures of our precious baby #2! I am up for the challenge!

Fun day at the Children's Museum

We had a great day at the Children's Museum of Phoenix today. I think this is one of my mom's favorite places to visit when she is here, and Tyler loves it too. Know who else loved it? Ava! She had a perma-smile on her face. I carried her in her Snugli facing out and she just loved seeing all that was going on around her. She just doesn't want to miss a thing! Karen and Dave met us there with Dawson too, and they enjoyed it so much they bought a membership! Here are some pictures from our day....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

4 months old!

Can you believe it? I can't! Ava is 4 months old today. It's so fun to see her begin to have some personality. She is smiling so much now, and is truly a happy, happy girl! She lights up when she sees a happy face, and everyone enjoys all the smiles she shares. Her brother almost always makes her smile, and she enjoys watching him run around and play. She loves looking at herself (and whoever is holding her) in the mirror. She just smiles and smiles at that pretty little girl looking back at her! She has really begun to "talk" and I absolutely love listening to her coos, gurgles, and giggles. She can be quite the jabberbox sometimes!

She is also getting to be very strong. She can hold her head up when she's on her tummy, and loves to "stand" when she's held on our lap. Her little chubby legs are really working! Her favorite way to be held is facing out so she can see everything. The few times when she really cries, this will often calm her down. She has started to roll over, although she still doesn't do it much. She is pretty happy to lay on her back and look around. Her newest trick is to arch her back and scoot herself down when she is sitting in her bouncy seat or her swing. If she's not buckled in, it doesn't take long until she's scootched (is that a word?) so far she's almost falling out! This has also made it a bit difficult to get her in her car seat!

Just in the past few days, Ava has started reaching for toys. When she is laying on her little blanket with the playground thing hanging above her (what is that thing called?), she will reach up for the toys hanging down. She will also play with toys on the table of her Bumbo seat. She has really discovered her hands. She has always been a big Binky girl, but lately she can't keep her hands out of her mouth. It's not specifically a thumb or finger, but any combination of fist or fingers she can fit. She is a drool monster, and always seems to have a drenched collar! This is unfortunate for her because she hates having her clothes changed. It's ok for me though since it let's me change her into another super cute outfit!

Ava is still sleeping like a champ. She goes to sleep around 9:00 and most of this past week, I have had to wake her up to feed her at 5:45 before I got ready for work. She goes back to sleep until 8 or 9. Last night, she slept from 10 pm until 6:30 and then went back to slepe till 9! It's so nice to not be tired! Thanks baby girl!

The biggest change now is that I am back to work. The first week wasn't as bad as I had imagined it would be, but it is still so very hard to be away from Ty and Ava. It's wonderful having Grandma Jean here for awhile, and it's been nice working shorter days. I think it will really help that I am "easing" myself back up to full time. I've been approved to work 4 x 10s though, so will have my Fridays off, for the most part. It will be great having 3 day weekends with my kids, but 10 hour days will seem like an eternity away from them!

She is starting to sit in her Bumbo seat for longer periods of time now. Grandma Jean put the tray on it and she would bat around her toys. Tyler also enjoys driving his trains on the Bumbo table, and "sharing" with Ava. He gives her his "Rosie" train because "they're both girls."

Mommy sure misses you now that I'm back at work! I look forward to our time together. We love you, little Ava. Happy 4 month birthday!

Ava's first swim...for real, this time!

My aunt and uncle were in town this week, and were staying at a beautiful resort in Paradise Valley---The Camelback Inn. They invited us to come up last night to swim. We decided to give it another shot with Ava in the water. I think it must have been a fluke last time, because she was much happier in the water this time around. It wasn't a bad place to have her first swim!

Daddy was the brave one who put Ava in the water. I sat on the edge and held her for quite awhile and she watched everyone else swim. She seemed very relaxed and comfortable swimming with Daddy!

Not a bad view, huh? That's Camelback Mountain in the background.

Tyler had fun swimming too, until he cut his heel. He was running around in the little kiddie splash pad when he stepped directly on one of the fountains. None of us saw it, but it either suctioned his foot down or he jumped on it and got cut. Either way, there was a perfect round circle on his heel. He didn't swim much after that, and he's walking around with his heal up even today. Although, I think he's being a bit of a faker now!

We had a very nice dinner at the resort after swimming. Great food, great atmosphere, and supurb company! Tyler and Ava were so good the whole night too. Thanks Marv & Joyce! We couldn't have asked for a better place for Ava's first swim!

Grandma Jean is on duty

One of the things that makes it a bit easier to go back to work is that Grandma Jean is here to babysit for a couple weeks. Grandma Claire and Grandpa Ed are visiting the Schomakers in Germany for 2 weeks, so Grandma Jean flew out to give us a hand. I didn't want to have to send the kids to someone different for only a few weeks (especially Ava) while Grandma Claire was gone, so I am thrilled that Mom is here. She has survived her first 2 days with the kids, and it seems like everyone is having a nice time!

Thanks for being here Grandma!

P.S. This is my 100th post! It has been so much fun to keep up this blog. I hope I can keep at it now that I'm back at work. Who am I kidding? I'll probably do it more from work--but don't tell anyone!

Ava went swimming...sort of.

We spent Sunday evening at my aunt Karen's house. I thought it would be a good time to introduce Ava to the pool, but unfortunately, she wasn't interested. She loves her bath, but the pool...notsomuch. I think something might have scared her right before we got in because she started crying before I even put her little toes in the water. I put her feet in a little more and she let me know what she thought of this idea...I guess she's not quite ready for the pool yet.In her defense, however, she didn't have much of an afternoon nap and may have just been too tired to try something new.

In a way, it was great. She just wanted to be held after her traumatic experience. She layed on me like this for about a half hour. It was so nice! Especially the day before I went back to work...I just wanted to cuddle her all day!

Tyler, on the other hand---had no problem with the pool! He loved these goggles. He was 'diving' for fishies underwater.

Here is our little bathing beauty. She may not have liked the pool much, but she sure looked cute!

The things I'll miss most when I'm at work.....

The short version is that I'll miss everything about seeing these two faces all day long. See below for the long version of what I'll miss!

These eyes.... This funny little person and his energy....

This brother and this sister...

Let me preface this post by saying that I do know that I will get to experience these things again, and it's not like I'm leaving my kids forever. I know that I will have the evenings and weekends to be with them, but that's just not enough. Here are some things that have become our routine for the past 4 months that I will miss deperately when I have to go back to work. I should also warn you that this may be long....there are so many things that I love about my days with Tyler and Ava. This post is more for me than anyone else. I don't ever want to forget the day to day wonders of our 4 months home together. It's amazing how quickly that can happen. I'm sure there are tons of things I'm forgetting to mention, but if I wrote everything here, I'd be typing till next week. I'd rather be holding Ava. Here we go.....

• Being roused from sleep around 7:30 am to the sound of Tyler climbing into our bed and turning on the tv.
• Falling back asleep to the sounds of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Diego, or Dora..whichever happens to be on that particular day.
• Waking again around 8:00, sometimes as late as 9:00, when Tyler says "I'm ready for breakfast now." Wow, how nice is it that I get to sleep so late with 2 kids? I'm so lucky.
• Fixing Ty's breakfast and watching him eat it peacefully on the back patio. And of course, taking his morning potty break in the grass!
• I don't have to worry about packing my lunch. I have all day with my kids, so I won't mind the time it takes me to make dinner tonight. When I only have a few hours with them in the evening, the last thing I want to be doing in thinking about dinner. I know...we have to eat, but there may be some easy meals on the table for awhile!
• Checking on my sleeping princess in her crib, and seeing that she is still sound asleep.
• When she does begin to stir and open her pretty eyes, I would open her blinds to let the light in. When I walk to her crib and she sees me, she gives me the biggest, most beautiful smile of the day. She kicks her legs and her face beams. This has become my most cherished moment of my day, and I stand there and look at her for as long as she'll let me.
• I unwrap Ava from her Miracle Blanket, which has kept her sleeping peacefully all through the night, and watch her stretch her little arms above her head. She makes this cute little face while she stretches--closes her eyes and pushs her lips out. Her legs stretch as long as they'll go and then pull back up to her stomach. She does this a few times before I pick her up. Click here to see Heath Ledger talking about releasing his baby from her "straight jacket" in an interview on Leno. Apparently I'm not the only one who loves this! (RIP Heath!)
  
• I sit in the glider and nurse her for the first time of the day. The only sounds I hear are the clock ticking and her breathing. There may be other noise outside the room, but these are the only sounds at this moment.
• I will miss seeing Daddy and Tyler greet Ava in the morning. She has those great morning smiles for everyone! She especially loves when Ty stands at the head of her changing table and she has to tilt her head back to see him. "Good morning Ava!"
• Dave is the one heading to work, and we are all telling him to have a great day. We'll see you later! He kisses us all good-bye for now.
• I don't worry about what to wear today. Do I need to shower? Nah, only every other day or so! Throw on my white sweat pant cut-offs and a t-shirt and I'm ready to spend the day with my kids! Maybe I'll put on a little make-up if I have to go anywhere. Maybe not.
• What should Ava wear today? She has so many cute clothes. It is fun to pick out something new each day. Oh, to have a wardrobe like that little girl!
• Speaking of going anywhere...what should we do today? Maybe a trip to the library and then lunch at McDonalds. Maybe we'll play at the mall playground or another toy store. We might see some of our friends or go play with cousins at Grandmas. Do we need anything at Costco, Wal-Mart or the grocery store? Maybe we'll just stay home. Yes, that sounds good.
• If we stay home, we need to think of something to do. Ty is busy playing trains. Let's pull out some puzzles, a game, or paint. Although, I'll admit, I did not do enough of this with Tyler. I could have been more structured in our activities. Maybe we should play in the sprinklers or the slin-n-slide, or have a treasure hunt. I'll turn on Tyler's music on Itunes and we'll watch the pictures from the computer on the tv. Love watching the picture slideshow.
• Maybe I'll clean the house a bit. Nah. There's a verse from a poem by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton..."the cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow, but children grow up I've learned to my sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep, I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep." ...wow, I cried a little when I typed that. So true.
• Ava will take another little morning snooze, and will usually fall asleep in my arms. I put her down, usually in her swing for this nap, so I can play trains a bit more.
• Lunch time! Tyler is pretty predictible. "What do you want for lunch, Ty?" "Um, I think PB &J." We sneak in some variation from time to time. Gotta switch it up a bit, right?!
• Ava is fed again. I will miss being the only one who feeds her. Selfish? Maybe. I'm not sure I care though. I love nursing my daughter. I love seeing her grow and knowing that I am the one that has provided that for her. I know I will still be providing the milk for someone else to feed her, but there is not the same satisfaction when I am sitting behind the closed blinds in my office with a breast pump. I love to hold her close and listen to her breath, feel her feet tickling me, her closing her little fists around my shirt or necklace, and see her look up into my eyes. I love the big ole' burp she has when she's had a satisfying meal, and the smile on her face when she's done.
• I enjoy the few hours in the afternoon when both kids are napping. The house is quiet and I have some time to myself. I don't get much of that these days, and for the past 3+ years, for that matter. It's ok though. There is no one I'd rather give up my "me" time for than those precious little people. Maybe I'll blog or go through some of the pictures I've taken. I'll "work-out" a bit with my Wii Active game. I use that term loosely, by the way. I'm not sure how much good it has done. Running in place in front of the tv, squatting and lunging on cue, and "strength training" with a rubber band....better than nothing, right?!
• Kids are up! Ava is usually up first. Tyler still takes 2 hour naps typically. He usually wants to watch one of his shows when he wakes up. We all sit down and watch some Thomas or Diego.
• Ava and I stand in front of the mirror and she smiles at the pretty baby looking back at her. I sing to her and she smiles up at me in the mirror. She loves it when I sing to her. She is probably the only person in the world who doesn't mind listening to me sing. Tyler has even told me to stop!
• I don't have to worry about missing any of her firsts. I was lucky enough to be there when Ava rolled over for the first time, but that next special "first" might happen at Grandma's house when we're at work. If that does happen, I don't want to know! Let me think I saw it first!
• I will miss comforting her when she cries. It doesn't happen much. She is such an amazingly happy baby. I like that I know best how to comfort her. Selfish again? Maybe. She used to love to be held close, but now she prefers to be held with her back to me and looking away. She wants to be able to see what's going on! This is almost a proven solution when she's upset.
• I will miss watching Tyler help her when she's dropped her binky. I love to see if he'll get it right or if it'll be upside down! He is such a sweet big brother. Unless, of course, he's driving cars on her head. He also sings to her when she's upset. It's the sweetest thing. He started singing Twinkle Twinkle and the Little Einstein song to her the other day.
• When she is tired, but just can't quite let herself fall asleep, all she usually needs is her binky. It's amazing how quick those little eyelids droop when she gets that binky in her mouth, and is cozy in my arms. I will miss watching her drift off to sleep randomly throughout the day.
• There's nothing I have to do today...other than keep my kids happy, fed, comforted, disciplined (Tyler!), entertained, and loved. I don't have to check my email. I don't have to see anyone outside of my house unless I want to. I don't have to deal with the politics and paperwork and whatever else my day of work holds. I don't have to watch the clock and count the minutes until I will be with my kids again. I can just hold my baby. I can tickle my son. I can play trains and listen to kids music. I can be their mom all day long and don't have to worry about trying to squeeze all the time I need with them--and they need with me--into a few hours in the evening and a few short weekend days.
• I'll miss holding Ava. Whenever I want. For no reason at all. Other than that I love her. More than she could ever know.
• I will miss seeing her smiles. I will miss hearing Tyler's laughs and his creative play. I will miss being their Mom all day...every day. I don't like the thought of being a night and weekend Mom. It breaks my heart.

This has been a wonderful 4 months. Truly the best 4 months of my life so far. I have enjoyed the adjustment to having 2 children. I appreciate the time I have had with them, and understand that going back to work is just something I have to do. My mom told me back when I returned to work after 3 months with Ty that providing for my family is part of being a parent. It's not an ideal situation, and I'd rather be the one home raising my children but the reality of it is that I can't. We need my income. We need the health insurance that my job provides. I guess that is part of providing for my children, although I'd prefer that I could do it from home. I will cherish the time I do have with them, and feel fortunate that I am able to leave them with someone I trust rather than with strangers. I don't know what we would do without Grandma Claire. We are truly blessed to have such amazing family to support us in raising our children.

Grandma Jean, thank you for being here these two weeks to help us out when Grandma Claire is gone. It will make my transition easier, and I am glad you can have this time to bond with your grandchildren.

Dave, thank you for holding me while I cry about how hard this is. You are amazing, and we are so unbelievably lucky you are in our life.

Tyler and Ava, Mommy loves you more than you could ever possibly know. I will be thinking of you all throughout my time away. I will count the hours and minutes until I am back with you and holding you in my arms. You are my world.

♥

Some pics with Mom for a change!

I seem to get left out of the pictures most of the time since I'm usually the one behind the camera. I drug Dave outside this evening and he got some good pictures!

Does this look like a happy, healthy almost 4 month old baby, or what?! So, look closely at our eyebrows (or click on it to enlarge). Could they be more identical in this picture?!

Love my girl!

This may be why so many moms cut their hair short whent hey have babies. Not this time. I won't be fooled twice.

Can't forget about my handsome little man! Tyler seems to be getting a bit annoyed at all the pictures I've taken lately. He does like to take them like this though...when I hold the camera and aim it at us together.

Gotta love the folks at Miracle Blanket!

I got the coolest comment on my post about Ava's Miracle Blanket yesterday.

Click here to check it out! Scroll to the bottom of the post to see his comment.

The inventor of the Miracle Blanket read my post and they're going to send me a free one just for talking about how great it is on this blog! Even if they weren't rewarding me for saying it, I'll say it again...I highly recommend this for your must have gift to all new moms! I'm going to be adding a link to Miracle Blanket to this blog, so if you want to buy one, please click it (and I'll get 10% of the sale.)

Remember how I talked about not using it anymore since Ava had been sleeping so well in this post? Well, all was well and good for a few nights. Then there was one night without the Miracle Blanket that she woke up 6 times before 4 am. This hasn't happened in her whole life! At 4 am, I decided it was time to break out the Miracle Blanket again and she slept until 9:30 am. Needless to say, we are back to swaddling her in her MB, and she is sleeping like a princess again--12 hours with only waking once to eat. Love it. Love it! And how great is that company?!

A treasure hunt and a new buddy

Awhile back, Dave set up a sticker chart on Tyler's bedroom door. Everytime he kept his bed dry at night he would get 2 stickers and at nap time he would get 1. When one row was filled he would get a small treat, and when the whole chart was full he would get a treasure hunt. Well, Tyler was much better at keeping his bed dry than we were at giving him stickers. This chart could have been filled three times with all the nights and naps he's stayed dry, but the chart was long ago abandoned. Fast forward a few weeks to his new favorite TV show--Go, Diego, Go! Diego is a cartoon boy who is an "animal rescuer" and rescues all these random animals (Pygmy Marmosets, Humpback Whales, Iguanas, etc.). He is Dora the Explorer's cousin, and he also teaches the kids some Spanish in the shows. Yesterday, Ty asked me what "claro que si" means, and told me that his fuel car was "amarillo"(yellow). It is one of the more annoying, ridiculous, entertaining, educational kids shows. He has this little sidekick, Baby Jaguar, who Tyler has latched on to. First, he was pretending his stuffed Rocket (from Little Einsteins) was Baby Jaguar. Then Dave convinced him that he should at least pretend that a stuffed animal was Baby Jaguar, so it was now one of his teddy bears. He has to sleep with Baby Jaguar every night, and it is something that if threatened to be taken away, he gets very distrought.

Remember the toy store I talked about in this post? Well, they opened one in the mall that is just a few miles from our house. When we were there yesterday, I secretly picked up a new Baby Jaguar for Tyler. He headed straight for the train table, so didn't see me. Tricky, tricky, I know.

Before his nap yesterday, I told him that he got to have a treasure hunt when he woke up because he has done so well keeping his bed dry when he sleeps. He was pretty excited (or like he says "I'm so exciting!"), and it was the first thing he asked for when he woke up. I hid all the little clues while he was sleeping, so when he woke up I gave him his first one. When he got to the end and saw Baby Jaguar sitting on the basketball hoop, I think he thought it was a real live jaguar. He stood and looked at it for about 5 seconds before he ran to it. Doesn't he look frightened?!

Once he realized what it was, he was excited. But this face he's making below is his "I'm trying not to let you see how excited I really am" face. He tries to hide his smile by opening his mouth and putting his tongue in his cheek. It's pretty cute!

Ok, he's ready to smile now! He was so happy to have a real Baby Jaguar!

Afterwards, he wanted to watch Go, Diego, Go, of course. It was so darn cute! He sat on the couch with his new Baby Jaguar and held him so he could see the TV. I kept catching him look down at Baby Jaguar and get a big smile on his face. Everything since then has included BJ (I finally got him to agree that his nickname could be BJ)...dinner, trains, sleep, breakfast, etc. He was even nice enough to share BJ with Ava, for a minute or two. It's so funny that certain things can grab their attention like this. Another example of when Ty is "in to" something, he really is in to it! Now, if only the show wasn't so annoying! Oh well, at least he's learing some Spanish!

Sweet Ava--rolling and laughing

We knew it was going to happen soon, but tonight we caught a video of Ava rolling over for the first time! What a big day! I say it all the time, but where the heck does the time go?!

And here is another cute one. She is pretty ticklish, and ohhh, so cute!! I'm getting ready to soak up as much Ava sweetness as I can this week. I'll miss her so much when I have to go back to work....

More pool fun

It was another fun afternoon swimming at the Dairman's today. The kids were having fun getting dumped off the air mattress by Dave. Tyler, Hailey, and Talon having fun....

Tyler practicing his back float. Yes, he's cheating a bit by using the life jacket....

Dave trying to get some color on his back, but Talon had other plans. I guess he was trying to get dumped off the raft by Uncle Dave some more!

Cute little Lacy!

Mommy and her princess

Ava and I went to my friend Heather's house for a girls night last night. She was such a good little girl the whole time. I think she had fun with the girls! How cute is she in her little strawberry outfit? She was drenched from all her drooling though. I wonder if she's getting teeth already? She sure drools alot these days... I thought I had a great video of her laughing at my friend Kelly, but the camera didn't record it. It was the funniest thing! She's just starting to laugh, and Kelly really had her going. I'm hoping to get a good laughing video to share soon! I don't ever want to forget the sound of her first laughs! Hopefully there will be a lifetime of laughter ahead!

Ava and her Bumbo

What is a Bumbo, you ask? Well, it's a funny little rubber seat, of course! See Ava back there watching Ty play trains? She has a front row seat to the action now!

Hey Ty, what are you playing? Trains? Oh, that's a surprise...

These little seats are nice to help little ones learn how to sit up on their own. Ava is just a little young for it, I think, but she'll be ready soon. She only likes to sit in it for a minute or two, and then I think she gets a little tired or uncomfotable or something. She loves to sit up and to be held facing out. I guess she wants to make sure she doesn't miss anything important. This seat will be nice for her to be able to be in on the action without being held. I can't believe she's so big already! Where did the time go? Really, where?!

Oh, and Ty really likes sitting in Ava's Bumbo too. It's pretty funny, actually. I'll have to get a picture of that. He also likes to wear it on his head like a helmet.

Bleach Sencil shirts

I made a few new bleach stencil shirts this weekend. I'm not the most crafty person, but I have enjoyed making these unique shirts. My friend Jenifer taught me how to do this awhile back, and she has since started selling them in a shop on Etsy. She is much better than I am, and has a way to make them quicker, but this works for me! They really are pretty easy to do (they'd have to be for me to do it!), and it's great to see the finished product. Most of them have been for Tyler, but I finally made a few for myself.

This first one is a orange-ish color (looks more red in these pics). The top symbol says "Ty" and the bottom symbol says "Ava" in Chinese! How cool is that? I love this one...

Here is the second one I made for myself. It was alot of work cutting out this stencil, so I doubt I'll do one this fancy again! These shirts are awesome too..I got them at my new favorite store--Down East Basics. If anyone is ever looking for a place to buy me a gift certificate...hint hint! I'm looking forward to making a few shirts for my mom while she's here for a few weeks. These would make great yoga shirts, so I'm working on a few yoga designs that would look nice. I just need her to pick out the shirt color she wants and we'll get started!Most of you have probably seen these, but here are some others I have done. This train shirt was the first ever! I'm amazed it actually turned out the first time.

This is my favorite one that I've made for Ty.

This orange one below ended up getting all worn out...the places I sprayed the bleach pretty much dissolved the shirt. Oops! The one above was the second attempt.

I made this one for my friend's little girl for her birthday.This is an AZ D-backs shirt. These also got holes in them (attempted twice) because of all the bleach I had to use to turn the red to white. The front has the D-back's logo.

Anyway...just thought I'd share! It's a fun way to make some unique clothing and gifts! Check out my friend's store for some really nice ones!