Weekend -- July 30 & 31

Ellie got her very first baby doll of her very own. She named her A-ha and slathered her with kisses immediately. She's not even six months old yet, but this is a girl who knows what she wants.

We finally made it to the farmer's market for the first time this summer. Ava used her money to get her face painted (it was actually a fundraiser for the Kids Food Basket) and to buy a bouquet of really beautiful summer flowers. Good choices, I think.

Food, flowers, and fabulous nails

Ava's favorite thing about going to the bookstore with me is the pizza pretzels in the cafe. She now associates pizza pretzels so much with books that when I tell her we're going to the library, she asks if she can get a pretzel. We tried our hand at making our own this week. We started with pizza dough, rolled it out, cut it into four pieces, and added sauce and cheese (Ava's going through a no-toppings phase).

Then we tried our hand at rainbow nails. I think the hardest part was probably getting Ava to stay still enough to paint each stripe. She was so exicted about them. The next day at school her teachers said she had to show them off to everyone. Next we're going to try to paint butterflies.

David bought me these at the grocery store. I love glads. I think they might be my favorite flower. They make me think of summer at my grandma's. She's always grown them on the bank near her house. Behind the flowers you can see my new (to me) curtains. They are the one purchase for the house that David and I both like equally (Thanks, Joslyn!).

Weekend -- July 16 & 17

I've decided to starting taking at least five photos every weekend. I feel like I'm always negligent on taking photos of all the fun things we do, and so they're forgotten. Now at least I'll have a bit of a record.

We drove across the state for a family reunion. I love long drives along back country roads. They're always so much more interesting than taking the highway. Mid-Michigan is home to lots of Amish families and we saw a few carts along our route selling homemade yummies. We stopped at one and Ava picked out a some molasses cream cookies and monster cookies. We thought it was so interesting that even though they had grown up in Michigan as we had their accents were so uniquely Amish. David and I always have the best conversations when we're in the car. It's my favorite part of long drives. No distractions means we can really talk. Love that!

Each year at the reunion they have an auction to raise funds for the next year. David's dad was always the auctioneer. This year they asked David to do it. It was so important to him to do a good job. His dad always made it fun and funny and David wanted to do the same in tribute to him. He did a great job, but it was a bittersweet reunion because we felt so strongly the absence of Lee.

We also got to celebrate the 30th birthday of one of my best friends in the whole world, Amy. She's expecting her second little boy on 11.11.11. Ellie snacked on toes while the rest of us had yummy burgers.

Weekend

So many things going on right now, I don't know where to start. This week has been a weird one, I keep getting confused about what day it is to the point that Ava missed her last dance class today because I thought it was Wednesday...Yikes. I felt terrible, but she wasn't too upset about it.

On Saturday, Ava had her dance recital. Last year I was one of the chaperones for her class, but with the baby I couldn't do it this year. I didn't think much about it until Ava got sick while she was waiting for her class to perform. I thought she might be coming down with the flu, but she was fine once I was backstage with her. Stage fright. Another sign that she's getting older; she's starting to worry about what other people think. It makes me a little sad. She's always been so fearless and outgoing; I feel like she's learned this self-consciousness from me.

After her recital, we grabbed lunch at our favorite restaurant. Ava gave an encore performance for the other diners, so maybe she's not becoming too shy.

That night we went to the Summer Celebration for the fireworks. As we were walking down the midway with the bright lights and the smells and sounds, I realized that these simple but exciting family activities are the things that my girls will remember. These are the things that make a childhood.

We each picked out one terrible for us food (which isn't helping me lose the baby weight, btw). Ava chose a corn dog, which totally surprised me but she seemed to like it. (This photo cracks me up. I just brought our little point-and-shoot camera instead of the Nikon and I could not for the life of me get a good photo).

There was a guy juggling fire and bowling bowls. Ava loved this. I told her these are not things we try at home.

Ellie was pretty mellow about her first fireworks, the were loud but it didn't seem to bother her at all.

Ellie: Month 2

Length: 22 inches
Weight: 11 pounds, 15 ounces

About You: Your favorite things are blowing bubbles, cooing, and your sissy. You smile so big when you see her. You already know she's someone very important. You've also started making a lot of new noises and try to have conversations with us.

Where do babies come from?

Ava: "This is my baby sister. I bought her online."

5.25.11 Update:

"I found her in the woods."

"I borrowed her from Kmart." (We don't even live near a Kmart, I don't know where she even heard the name).

My sweet girls

Sometimes I get frustrated when I feel like I'm always picking up after everyone else and the house is never clean. Or when I cook dinner then have to take care of everyone else's needs and by the time I get to sit down and eat it's already cold.

But I hope my girls know how much I love them. And even when I get frustrated and grumpy, they are my treasures.

Ava is very mature, well-spoken and easy-going. Sometimes I forget she has a very tender little heart. Like the time she used too much toilet paper and clogged the toilet. Later in the week I discovered she had started throwing toilet paper in the trash can instead of flushing it because she didn't want to clog the toilet again.

Being a mom is the most important thing I've ever done. I need to protect and nurture those tender hearts and remind myself that if my girls are safe and warm and know they are loved, then we are greatly blessed and I can deal with a messy house and a cold meal.

Baby Lashes

Both my babies have incredibly thick, dark lashes.

So many people have commented on them lately. I wish I could take credit, but this is one feature they definitely don't get from me.

P.S. Ava's lovely Aunt Jessica took her to see Disney Princesses on Ice Sunday afternoon and she loved it so much that she has refused to remove her princess dress since.

It's a Girl!

We're getting more sugar and spice and everything nice!

When the ultrasound technician said it was a girl, Ava leaned in close to me and whispered, "We're going to be best friends, Mommy." I hope so. She's already offered to share all her toys.

Image from Amy Atlas

Tulip Festival

This past weekend Ava's cousin brothers came to visit and we drove to Holland for the annual Tulip Festival. After getting lost (twice) we finally made it to Windmill Island, where they have an antique windmill, Dutch trading post, reenactments and tulips!

These people were camping out old-school for the entire two weeks of the festival (I love the socks with bows).

Ava tushie in the background.

Ava after we told her she wasn't allowed to pick the flowers.

We had so much fun! And Ava can't wait for her cousin brothers to come visit again.

Short Cut

I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. Ava has very fine hair and hates having it brushed. She also pulls out ponytails, bows, or anything else I put in her hair to keep it out of her face almost immediately. So, on Friday I took the plunge and took her to the salon.

It was really hard for me to watch, because her hair grows soooo slowly and it took so long to get as long as it was. But it's grown on me and now I think it's pretty cute.

This weekend, we went up to David's parents' house on the lake and Ava could not wait to go fishing. Despite the cold and rain, she convinced Grandpa to take her out. At first she tried throwing the worms directly into the lake, but she did end up catching a couple.

On the way up, we stopped so David could buy a fishing license and Ava and I waited in the car. After about 20 minutes, this is the conversation we had:
Me: What is taking him so long?
Ava: He should get his ask out here.
Me: That's not nice, we shouldn't say that.
Ava: You can say that.
Me: I can?
Ava: Yes, because you speak Spanish.

Girl's Day

David was still filling pretty under the weather Saturday, so Ava and I decided to have a Girl's Day and do all our favorite things. But when we went outside we had a bit of a surprise. After a week of 60 degree, sunny days, this is what greeted us Saturday morning.

We braved the snow anyway and made our way to our first stop. A library book sale (of course). The books were a little more than usual ($2 for a hardcover, $1 for a paperback), but the selection was really good.

 Then we grabbed lunch and headed to our next stop.

Our first ballet! A performance of Cinderella by the West Michigan Youth Ballet. It was incredible, especially since the performers were all between the ages of 6 and 18.

Ava loved it. Obviously.

After the ballet, we stopped in at our favorite toy store (this stop was all Ava's idea, but it was girls' day so we went for it), where we found a couple new books.

The Color Kittens was one of my favorites when I was little, but I had completely forgotten about it until I spotted it on the shelf. Note that Golden Books now labels it "classic" -- ouch. What I didn't know was that it was written by Margaret Wise Brown, who also wrote Goodnight Moon.

Then, to make a good day even better, when we got home these were waiting for us.

Then, we did manicures before bed (with a sparkle polish top coat).

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a box of Thin Mints waiting for me in the freezer.