Bases Loaded

I love my garden

2011-08-20T20:21:00.000-06:00

For a first ever garden, we sure have hit the jackpot. Last week, we had three days in a row that I picked 12 cucumbers a day! We are averaging about: 2-3 bell peppers and jalapenos a week, about 1 eggplant a week and we have a TON of tomatoes that are on the greenish side, some turning a few shades of red. Today we picked our first 'crop' of tomatoes...maybe a half dozen and they taste delicious. I had the best BLT sandwich today....I probably could have had just a tomato sandwich and been quite satisfied. Now I need to take up canning and pickling.

Now that was a hiatus!

2011-08-19T13:34:00.002-06:00

I'm back!

Life and every ounce of it has been undocumented for the last 2+ years here, but not for long. Thanks to Facebook, I was able to stay afloat with tidbits and downloaded pictures of our lives, but I have MISSED blogging.

So here we are again....Bases Loaded....enjoy!!! :-)

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY AVA!

2009-04-22T21:37:00.006-06:00

I can't believe my little princess is 4. I'm sure every year I'll be saying "I can't believe she's ___" but it's true, you really can't believe it!

Ava opened up her presents from me and Joe this morning. She was most excited about the camera and kept it with her all day. She told me she also likes the Hannah Montana shirt she got and plans on wearing it to her party on Saturday.After Roman's morning nap, we all went to the zoo and met Nanny Vicki and Grandpa Tony there. It was only in the mid 50's but considering it was snowing yesterday, it turned out to be A decent day. We attempted to get a nice picture of Ava and Roman but she got antsy and refused to open her eyes and smile. She told me now that she is 4, she doesn't have to smile all of the time.After the zoo we had pizza and cake... Ava's favorite... the cake, that is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRINCESS!!!

Another ear infection

2009-04-19T21:14:00.006-06:00

I took Roman in for his 9 month check up this past Wednesday and guess what??? A double ear infection! He wasn't sleeping well and was grabbing at his ear a lot so I had a feeling it was bothering him. He's about halfway through with his antibiotics and seems to be feeling better. We also got a referral for him to see an ENT as this is his 5th-6th ear infection. There's a strong possibility he made need tubes but we'll see what the doctor has to say.
He's crawling ALL OVER the place and is in to everything. We definitely have to keep an eye on him every second but it is nice that he can have his freedom and can roam from toy to toy or place to place to keep him entertained.

Ava is beyond excited for her birthday... 3 more days! We had Grandma Mary and Grandpa Dick over tonight to celebrate with them and Ava got a swimsuit, clothes and a Barbie she can take in the tub.

She's been doing really well at preschool lately and has really started to come out of her shell. She is still quite shy in the mornings when I drop her off but when we pick her up in the evening, she's interacting a lot and playing with all of her friends. She is writing and sounding out letters very well. Tonight she read "dog" when she saw it in the book. Simple word but it was exciting to see her do it. I think I was more excited that she was.

This is her serious face when she does her homework for preschool...

She's also been doing a fantastic job brushing her teeth. She wants to do it all by herself but still needs some hand over hand assistance. She is now begging to brush her teeth every night and every morning. I'm not sure how long that will last but we'll take it when we can get it.She's learning how to brush her tongue, too.

Our neighbor across the street has a very friendly cat that visits us nightly. The kids get so excited when he arrives...

We are planning to go to the zoo on Wednesday for Ava's birthday as long as the weather permits. It was 70 here Friday and Saturday but it dropped into the 40's and has been raining all day today.

Baseball and the Easter Bunny

2009-04-12T20:19:00.007-06:00

Happy Easter!

Joe and I started out the holiday weekend by attending Opening Day on Friday. In Milwaukee, Opening Day is a holiday... it just happened to coincide with Good Friday and Easter weekend this year. It was one of the warmest Opening Days I can remember and we had a fantastic time. It helped that the Brewers came from behind and won the game in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the 9th to beat the Cubs. Woot!

This morning the kids woke up and found their Easter baskets. Actually, Ava found both and took it upon herself to show her brother everything he got. She thought it was the funniest thing that Roman got Cheerios and goldfish crackers in his plastic eggs.

One of Ava's many little gifts was a dry erase board for her to practice her writing. She is doing a fabulous job writing her name and a few others. In this picture, she wrote "Ava Mae" but had a hard time with the M. I wrote it for her and she copied... the other letters she did all by herself!

Roman is officially a crawler but would prefer to stand all day. He is able to get himself up on his knees but needs help to get to his feet. He gets super giddy once on his feet and really upset if you get him down.

We went for a walk this evening. It was decent weather but you can't tell b/c the kids are bundled up. When the sun went behind the clouds and the wind whipped around, it was freezing! We are anxiously waiting for warmer weather to arrive... and stay!!!

2009-04-05T21:11:00.005-06:00

Roman is finally feeling better.
Poor kid has had a rough winter.

I took the kids to Madison earlier this week to stay with Brian and Ree's kids while Charisse flew down to Texas to see Brian one more time before departing to Iraq. Charisse's mom, Betty, was also there when we visited and was a big help. 5 kids would have been way too much for me to handle on my own... how does Crazy Octomom really think she can do it???

The kids had a blast together. Roman and Genevieve sized each other up and enjoyed watching each other slobber over their toys. Ava and Dominic really bonded, especially when Soleil was at school both days. They hid from monsters and enjoyed playing doctor...
even bandaging Roman's head! Once Soleil was home, though, she and Ava started their "girl's only" tactics and would run away (or chase) Dominic any chance they had. In the end, it was a fantastic time!

Not much else going on at home. Ava is getting super excited that her birthday is coming soon. Her Hannah Montana themed birthday party is slated for the 25th and can't get here soon enough!

Roman is officially crawling!!!! He also has 6 teeth and I just saw #7 tonight trying to pop through. At this rate, he'll have his molars by his first birthday...

Spoke to soon

2009-03-28T20:02:00.007-06:00

One day after the last post, Roman came down with the stomach flu. He vomited several times last Friday night and has had diarrhea since then (8 days now). It went from bad to worse by Monday when he had the worst diaper rash ever. Poor little dude. He was in so much pain and I nearly cried every time I had to change him. Fortunately, after a lot of "air time" and gobs and gobs of Triple Paste, it is clearing up.

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, he fell of the changing table on Thursday. He is okay; just a scratched nose and two freaked out parents. This kid has had a bad week. REALLY bad.

He is in surprisingly good spirits considering what he's been through. We're still not out of the woods yet. We switched him to soy formula earlier in the week but the nurse from our ped's office suggested we switch back once it was gone and when we did, he seemed to get worse again. I sent Joe out in the horrible weather conditions tonight to pick up another can of soy formula. Let's hope this helps him or I might need to get a second washing machine soon.

Ava has been a big help this week. Here she is licking chocolate out of a cup. Joe surprised her last night with some chocolate (bread) sticks or whatever they're called from Pizza Hut. After she saw them, she ate her pizza in lightening speed to get her fingers on the chocolate.

On the mend

2009-03-19T18:55:00.005-06:00

Everyone is finally feeling better in the Passante household!!!

Roman is now rolling around like crazy but has made zero effort to get on his hands and knees to even attempt crawling. Ava was already on the move at this age. I guess I should be careful what I wish for because I know he will be a handful when he does start moving. His 5th tooth has already come through and he is now finally able to find his mouth when he picks up Cheerios! Yeah!

Ava enjoys building human forts and it's obvious Roman gets a kick out of them, too.

We had some amazing weather at the beginning of this week. It was warm enough to go sans jacket when the sun was out. We couldn't get enough of it and hope it returns soon to stay.Roman enjoyed his first ever swing on our neighbor's playset. He LOVED it.

Already March!!!!!

2009-03-01T14:11:00.005-06:00

We had a busy, fun and sick filled month of February!

It started out with a Disney on Ice extravaganza; Joe and I took Ava to see it while Aunt Nancy babysat Roman. Ava was in princess heaven the entire evening telling me often that she was going to have long hair and be like______ (which ever princess was skating at the time).
We had fairly mild weather for a week or so and we were able to go to the zoo and for one walk.... it got up to 58 degrees! Soon enough it was back to reality. Here is Ava sipping some hot cocoa after her and I played in the snow last week.
Speaking of big sister Ava... she is so good with her little brother. She loves to entertain him and helps out whenever I ask. She will get him toys when he fusses and gets super excited when he plays in the playroom with her. She LOVES to read him books, too.

Roman has been battling a lengthy cold virus for almost two months. We've been to the pediatrician's office a few times b/c of his wheezing, and recently found out he had another ear infection. Three days after finishing antibiotics for that, he got pink eye!!!!

Here's Boochie and his paci - it's either in his mouth or he has a tight grip on it when he sleeps! XOXO

Roman found his package... and other exciting news!

2009-02-03T20:55:00.005-06:00

After much exploration in the bathtub,
Roman officially has found his penis! I know, I know... I'm not sure this is appropriate blog material, but he has been cracking me up the last week with his antics. Lately, I've been afraid he's really going to hurt himself with how hard he pulls. Joe refuses to even look when I give him the play by play. In other news, he's been playing with his sporty activity center and he absolutely loves it. He's been charged with goal tending and breaking the rim several times... and look at the bat in his left hand!!!!! He's also been enjoying his new found freedom of sitting up on his own and exploring more toys. This is his first experience with the Little People Farm. On Monday evening, Roman had his first taste of real food... meaning something other than pureed or baby food. We had a few pears that were very ripe and juicy and he enjoyed gnawing at it for quite some time.
Over the weekend, we had a serious heat wave come through. It was in the mid 30's!!!! Of course, we celebrated by playing outside. Joe put together Ava's scooter she had gotten for Christmas and then decided to ride his own for awhile. Such a show off... Today it was back to reality... temps were in the teens and the wind chill was hovering just above zero. I took the day off of work and Ava and I had a "girl's day" while Roman was at daycare. We went to an indoor play center just a few miles from us called Family Fun Land. It was similar to Chuck E. Cheese but it was clean... and had a lot more climbing apparatuses for the kids to go on.

Silly kids

2009-01-28T22:26:00.001-06:00

Hall of Honor

2009-01-25T15:58:00.005-06:00

Last night I was inducted into Beloit College's Athletic Hall of Honor. It was an amazing evening and I only wish ALL of my family and friends could have been there to share the evening with me.
It was an honor indeed.

There was a brief ceremony during halftime of the men's basketball game when we were introduced...

After the game, there was a dinner and the actual ceremony for the induction. Here the Beloit College President and the Athletic Director gave me a plaque. A copy of it will hang in the Sportscenter at the school.

The inscription on the plaque says:

It is said that the single, most difficult thing in sports is to hit a ball with a bat. If that is the case, Carrie Bieniek had the ability to make that task seem like child’s play during her time at Beloit College. A four-time First Team All-Midwest Conference player, Bieniek remains to this day the most prolific power hitter in Buccaneer Softball history, holding both the season (9) and career (17) records for home runs. But she wasn’t just a long ball hitter. She is also the all-time season and career leader in hits (44/140), average (.478/.417), and runs-batted-in (40/94). Her abilities, combined with her teammates’, helped lead the Bucs to a record of 79-35 during her four seasons, including 32-8 in MWC play. The team hit the top of the MWC in 1996 when the squad won its first and, to date, only conference championship. Even in the years since her graduation with a degree in Psychology, she has continued to lead, working as a Case Manager for adults with developmental disabilities at Bell Therapy in Milwaukee.

A special thank you to those that attended (Christy and Kris, that means you)!

This week in photos...

2009-01-23T22:19:00.003-06:00

Ava loves when Roman can play with her.

He's starting to sit up well on his own but we still use the Boppy pillow because he likes to play a game of flinging himself backwards sometimes!
Little mommy...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

2009-01-18T20:34:00.010-06:00

Apologies for the much delayed holiday blog. Life is hectic as usual in the Passante household but I am happy to report after controlled (and sometimes uncontrolled) chaos since July, it seems like we are finding some normalcy now that the holidays are over.

We've had a busy winter with the massive snowfalls that seemed to be coming weekly there for awhile. We enjoyed decorating our new house and found a cozy spot for our tree in our front room... perfect for Santa and his reindeer to spot from the front window!
Ava seemed to really "get" Christmas this year which was such a joy to watch and relive through her eyes. We built our first ever gingerbread house this year and saved it for a day when more than a foot of snow was falling outside.

After the house was built and several pieces of building material were consumed, Ava got a chance to enjoy the massive snowfall.

As is tradition now, I snapped over 100 pictures to get the perfect Christmas card shot. I ended up using a picture of our new house as the backdrop, but here are a few shots from our photo shoot:

We spent a lot of time visiting with family this year and were happy to have spent quality time with my sister Lisa and her family from Cleveland. Aunt Lisa loved spending time with Roman but, as you can see, he didn't always feel the same. lolOn Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Nancy's house and Ava loved seeing her cousins. The group grew by 3 this year . Roman, and both my brother's new daughter and my cousin's little girl were born within a month of each other this summer. I can't imagine what Christmas Eve will be like next year. We stayed well into the evening and both kids fell asleep on the way home. They both got tucked into bed and slept soundly while Santa made his visit.

Roman woke up early for a bottle but fell back to sleep unaware he had toys waiting for him under the tree. Ava, on the other hand, had a smile from ear to ear when she woke up and realized we had a visitor over night. It was definitely a Princess Christmas for her. She got a few Barbies, princess dress up clothes and jewelry and hair extensions to complete the outfits.
She also scored a Big Wheel and a microphone and guitar set to mimic her "best friend", Hannah Montana.

Once Roman woke up, Ava helped him open his toys then showed him all of her new things. She's such a good big sister these days and is really being good about sharing... most of the time.

On Christmas day, after we all got a nap in, Ava put on her Christmas dress for our visit to Joe's Aunt Jeannie's house. She kept telling everyone she was a princess and really, she was.

Ava was so sad to see her cousin, Ashley, leave. She was enamored with Ash's long hair and would pet it every chance she got. We printed this picture below and put it in a frame on Ava's nightstand. She always says she wants long hair... "just like Ashley and Hannah Montana."

Our Christmas card:

Lots of snow!!!!

2008-12-01T22:20:00.006-06:00

We got almost 10 inches of snow yesterday and Ava thoroughly enjoyed it!

Roman enjoyed it from the inside...

Photos of the week

2008-11-29T12:18:00.002-06:00

Random photos of the kids from the past week..

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T22:12:00.003-06:00

We had an enjoyable Thanksgiving today at (Joe's) Aunt Jeannie's house. Ava was hesitant to try new things... she was adamant the turkey was chicken, she turned her nose up at the cornbread stuffing, ate a few bites of mashed potatoes and couldn't get enough of Aunt Jenny's birthday cake and the chocolate pie. Go figure. Roman was pleasant the entire day, minus the 10 minutes prior to leaving. He just cut his first tooth yesterday (!) and was short on his naps today so he went from happy to pissed in 1.2 seconds... and screamed most of the way home.

Aside from the tooth, Roman has also learned to start rolling over this week. I have a feeling he would have shown off his tricks earlier but bad mommy here doesn't give him enough tummy time to practice. He also has started eating rice cereal. After some initial frustration on Roman's part, I think we have a system that works and will probably start feeding him 2x a day since he's been going through a growth spurt and is taking his bottle more often.
I have been taking so many pictures lately now that I have my camera working again. I think I'll post another blog in the next few days with some misc photos I've taken over the last week.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Houston, we have a camera!

2008-11-19T13:41:00.011-06:00

My baby is back... woohoo! We picked up my camera from the shop today. I hope there are no more problems because I felt lost (and sad) without it.

I took both kids to the zoo a couple of weeks ago. You'd never know it was November by the clothes we were wearing. Both Ava and I had on capris! It was only Roman's second time there and his first on the train. Ava was so excited to be showing him new things...
Ava was "Star of the Week" last week at preschool. She got to bring in favorite toys, books and photos and show everything to her classmates. On Friday, Nanny Vicki & I went to her classroom to read a few books. She loved it.
I took a few extra pictures of the kids today b/c I was so excited about getting my camera back. Roman enjoyed smiling for me...
Ava decided she wanted her photo shoot outside but only stood still long enough for me to take one non-blurry photo.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-10-31T21:13:00.006-06:00

We had the mother load of trick-or-treating tonight. We had over 100 kids in our new neighborhood and Ava is worn out from the many houses we visited! The "princess witch" enjoyed all the candy she received. A few times, she reached her hand into the candy bowl as the person was picking it out to give to her. That's what you get for putting a big 'ol bowl of candy in her face. She even told one lady she didn't like the bag of pretzels she received, saying they were a "snack" and not a "treat". Well, well.Little Boochie stayed home with Nanny Vicki and Grandpa Tony but we got a picture of him in his costume.All in all it was a very fun night. We're already planning next year's Halloween bash with our neighbors.

This is a butt pumpkin. Yes, that's Roman's butt! Daycare did it last week. Dontchya love it?Here are a few other pictures of the kids. My regular camera is at the camera hospital, so I apologize for the quality of them all. :( Roman can already sit in the Jumperoo. Although you can't tell here, he absolutely loves it.Ava wanted to pose by our tree in the yard with her new hat and gloves. I'm not sure about the pose but check out those leaves. That's it for raking this year and I think the wind already took them. Yeah!
Bye Bye October!

It's been a couple of weeks...

2008-10-21T20:36:00.003-06:00

Nothing exciting to update on. The Brewers lost but it was a fun ride. My camera is acting silly so I haven't taken as many pictures as I'd like.

Fall is upon us here in southeastern Wisconsin. There is a crisp chill in the air and the leaves are beautiful. This is from a tree on our front lawn. LOVE it!Ava is getting exciting for Trick or Treating next Friday. I think she thinks Santa comes the week after that. lol.

Lazy Saturday

2008-10-04T20:23:00.004-06:00

Didn't do much today, except watch the Brewers avoid the sweep and beat the Phillies 4-1. Ava walked around the house chanting, "Let's Go Cubbies" (which she learned from our recent trip to Miller Park). I think she stopped when she realized she might get a time-out in our house for singing that...

I took a few pictures of the Booch today. He was all smiles when the camera was clicking away... he's such a happy baby which makes a happy mommy!

GO BREWERS!!!!

Fall & playoff baseball are upon us!!!!

2008-09-28T21:28:00.006-06:00

I guess we've been quite busy lately or at least that's an excuse for not blogging recently. Being back at work makes it more difficult to have any length of time on the computer...

Roman is still smiling and cooing a lot. He also likes to watch baseball and football with Joe. Go figure. He has been doing great at daycare and all of the teachers brag about how good he is. We also hear the same about Ava but I'm tempted to get some of her temper tantrums on video and show them to the teachers so they can see Ava, Side B. She seems to be adapting well at school and continues to open up to her "friends". One of the teachers told Joe last week she didn't think Ava was ever going to talk but she finally is! Again, she never stops talking at home. She also has mastered "selective listening" and earned a few timeouts this weekend because of it. It's mainly a problem when she's literally laying on top of Roman when he's in his bouncy seat and refuses to move when we ask her to. Someday, he will pay her back; I just know it.

The highlight of the week, and month... oh hell, the year so far, was watching the Brewers clinch a spot in the playoffs today with a win over the Cubs and a Mets loss to the Marlins.
I was lucky enough to be able to take Ava to the game on Friday night, thanks to my awesome friend, Christy. She had two extra tickets at the last second and asked if we could go. We were unable to get a babysitter with such short notice so I took Ava and we had a fun girl's night out. Ava was well behaved (until she hit the wall after 10pm) but the licorice, suckers, peanuts, hot dog, Mike N' Ikes and cheese fries kept her busy most of the night. I don't think she had any idea what was going on but she talked about it today when we were watching the game on TV.Yesterday I took Ava to Beloit for their Homecoming and the 1st annual Alumni Softball game. She got upset when I had to go on the field and play 1st base but those Twizzler's Pull N Peels came in handy again. She also kept yelling, "What are you doing Momma" when I'd put the helmet on to go bat. I'm proud to say I made contact all three times but only came away with one hit. After three innings, we were happy to hear the grills were turned on and cold beer was available. Unfortunately, my lack of fitness these days means every muscle I used to run, throw and swing a bat are sore today.Special shout out to my college friend, Kris, who says she enjoys reading my blog to stay caught up on our lives: Hi Sheriff, it was great to see you this weekend!!!!

Christy, thanks again for the tix...!

Back to some normalcy

2008-09-17T19:11:00.004-06:00

I officially ended my maternity leave last week and started work again this Monday. It was also Roman's first day at daycare. He did great and slept most of the day. Ava even got a chance to visit him during the day as their classrooms are just down the hall from each other.

Ava continues to be very protective of her brother and gets quite concerned when he's crying. She's usually the first one to his side to see if his paci fell out and she will put it back in for him. She also makes silly faces and sings to him and he gets the biggest kick out of it. He is really smiling and cooing a lot these days.

I will have Wednesdays off so we did some shopping this morning and spent a little bit of time outside today enjoying the beautiful day.

The Booch

2008-09-11T12:59:00.008-06:00

Roman inherited a nickname shortly after he was born. It started out innocent enough but I'm started to get concerned that this nickname will follow him longer than he may like.Ever since he's been in the picture, big sister Ava takes it upon herself to repeat everything I say to him as if she were the one in charge. Ya know, just little things, but after awhile, I realized I sometimes need to watch what I say. She does this with her dolls, too, and it scares me because when I look at her, I'm really looking at myself, get it? Last night she said to her doll, "if you do that one more time, I'm gonna put you in a time out!" Oops.

So... to make this long story longer, Ava started mimicking the baby talk I was doing to Roman. One morning I must have said something like, "Hello my little oochie boochie" (in that silly baby talk voice). Within hours, she was repeating, "Hi, my boochie" and that was it. Boochie was born. Simple as that. No more Roman, Romeo, RoJo, etc. Just Boochie.

It's to the point now that in this house, he's now referred to as "The Booch." Like, "How's The Booch doing" or "when is the last time The Booch ate?"

To Ava, he's "My Boochie". This morning she said, "can you take My Boochie out of the crib so I can kiss him?" When we get ready to leave for her school in the morning, she says, "don't forget My Boochie". Recently, we've taken it to the next level. Ava's known as Big Booch, I'm Momma Booch and Joe is, you guessed it, Papa Booch.

The Booch...

It's already September!

2008-09-01T19:30:00.006-06:00

I can't believe it's the 1st of September already. Winter will be here before we know it but you'd never know from the current heat wave we're having. It's supposed to be 92 tomorrow. Ava and I have enjoyed going to the local watering hole recently; no, not a bar but a "splash pad" or zero depth pool as some call it. It's little fountains sprouting up through the ground and little sprinklers splashing from overhead. She enjoys filling up her bucket and watering the "flowers" in the surrounding grass. Little does she know they're actually weeds but I'm sure the parks department doesn't mind considering were experiencing a drought... one of the driest Augusts on record. Today we were lucky enough to meet up at the splash pad with two of my friends from college, Cara and Fred, and their adorable son, Jack. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of them but the kids really didn't play together anyhow; they kinda did their own thing. Maybe next time...

Our deck is finally complete! It still needs to be stained but it's built and usable. Now we just need to find the right time to have a party to show it off! Here are two pictures looking from our bedroom window the 2nd floor.

Roman, A.K.A. Boochie (don't ask), is 7 weeks today. He is really starting to smile and it melts my heart every time!

The next Georgia O'Keeffe?

2008-08-24T11:35:00.006-06:00

We had a painting day yesterday and Ava took it very serious. She's a fan of mixing colors to see what she can create.
She did a little finger painting, made some hand prints and practiced free hand with a paint brush.

On to other news... we are getting a deck built on to the back of our house and we're super excited! I forgot to take a "before" picture so here are two "in progress" pictures, one from each side.

Bath time

2008-08-20T12:21:00.004-06:00

Don't let the concerned look fool you,
I think he enjoys his naked bath time.
He even spent time flexing his guns.

Lazy Monday

2008-08-18T11:52:00.005-06:00

Little Man is 5 weeks today. We celebrated by buying diapers and hanging out at Target! Now he's sleeping soundly in his car seat and will promptly wake up when I decide to close my eyes for a few minutes.

My little man is 1 month old

2008-08-14T16:02:00.003-06:00

Despite the fact Roman is experiencing male pattern baldness, serious baby acne and major shedding of his skin, he looks quite good for his age!Don't you wanna kiss these lips?

The big sis

2008-08-12T15:35:00.002-06:00

She's totally in love with him...

He likes to sleep

2008-08-04T21:36:00.003-06:00

Baby boy, binkie, Bobby pillow...

Burrito...

Like father like son. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. A chip of the old block. Okay, you get the point...

Busy week

2008-08-04T20:08:00.000-06:00

My sister, Lisa, and her family visited from Cleveland this week. While Ava took some time to warm up to her cousins, Ashley and Troy, you can see Roman had no problem doing so.

We visited the zoo this past Friday and Ava enjoyed it, as usual. Ashely took her to feed the goats. Ava was much more assertive with the goats this year, yelling several times, "leave me alone, goat!"

She was beyond excited when Ashley took her on the merry-go-round. After she warmed up to Ash, they were inseparable the rest of the weekend. In the bathtub tonight, Ava said she was going to play with Ashely tomorrow. She was bummed when I told her they left to go home today but after thinking about it for a few seconds, she responded, "that's okay, we'll drive our car to see her tomorrow."
We also had a "Big Sister" party for Ava this weekend to help her feel special during her brother's attention grabbing time these days. She eventually started calling it a "princess party" instead. Aunt Christy got her a Matchbox car; these are the closest thing to Ava being a tomboy...

Mommy and daddy got Ava a "princess dress" but it was off in 30 seconds as she was more excited about the M&M's Aunt Christy also got for her.

Not taking enough pictures

2008-07-31T21:54:00.006-06:00

I realized today that by the time Ava was 2.5 weeks old, I had already taken hundreds of pictures of her. I'm totally slacking with Little Man. Today was an attempt to make up for it.

This last one is my favorite. He's saying, "oh no you didn't!"

Wordless Wednesday

2008-07-30T20:46:00.001-06:00

Ava's 1st day of school

2008-07-28T20:03:00.002-06:00

Ava's 1st day of preschool was today. Mommy and Ava had a very tough time this morning but I'm happy to report we got through it. Ava promised me when she got home that she wouldn't cry for me anymore, but made sure to tell me, "Mommy, I cried for you a lot today because you weren't at my school". That made me feel so bad...

She did make a few friends already but told me the boys were "naughty" so all of her friends were girls. She's too funny.

Finally moved in and Roman is already 2 weeks

2008-07-27T13:21:00.006-06:00

We are finally in our new house! I'm sure we'll be surrounded by boxes for several more weeks (or months) but we're finally done.

Ava helped pack up the last of her toys in the van. She is loving her new bedroom and playroom...

Here is the house!Ava loves the humongous driveway. It's probably 5 times the size of our old one. We're also on a cul-du-sac in a new neighborhood so we have almost no traffic.

Can't forget Little Man. He's doing great and sleeping pretty good as well. He loves to eat and watch baseball. He's definitely enjoying the tight race between the Brewers and Cubs. I think he (literally) crapped his diaper last night when the Brewers won and became tied for 1st place with Chicago.This is the 2nd picture in as many weeks that Roman has used an obscene gesture when I took a picture.

Roman Joseph is here!!!!!

2008-07-20T13:33:00.007-06:00

Roman Joseph Passante joined our family on July 14th at 1:19pm. He weighed 7lb 11 oz and was 20 inches long. The labor and delivery part was much easier this time around, specifically once the epidural was in place. :)

Roman swallowed a lot of fluid on his way out, so they had to suction him and give some oxygen before I could even hold him... the longest 25 minutes of my life. We also kept a close eye on his bilirubin numbers as he showed slight signs of being jaundice, just as Ava was. We had to go to the pediatrician both Thursday and Friday morning so they could get blood samples. We were also told to increase his milk intake and I'm happy to report not only did the numbers stay in a healthy range, he gained back the 4 ounces he had lost since leaving the hospital.

We've had a busy last couple of days adjusting to life with two kids. It's a lot more difficult than I imagined, mainly because of Ava's transition to sharing our time. She's definitely aware that Roman is taking up Mommy's time from her and she has been very sensitive and sassy.

We're also 3 days from moving into our new home. Joe's been busy packing and transporting most of the boxes and small things while I work on trying to nap any chance I get.

I'll attempt to make another update before the computer gets packed but please bookmark this blog if you'd like to continue with our family updates and pictures. Thanks to all for your well wishes!

Only a day away....

2008-07-13T15:46:00.009-06:00

Wow, what a journey it's been! This baby has been almost two years in the making and we couldn't be any more excited to see what tomorrow brings. Ava is at Grandma Mary's house for the next two days as we have to be at the hospital by 6am tomorrow. I had a really hard time (emotionally) dropping her off. I just wish I could put into words to reassure her that although her life will be nothing like she knows it now, we will still love her the same.

To celebrate our last full day of pregnancy, we did a little photo shoot this morning.

14 days until 3 becomes 4!

2008-06-30T09:48:00.001-06:00

I am scheduled to get induced in two more weeks! I can't believe in just 14 more days I get to meet my little boy, someone I feel like I've been waiting a lifetime for.

This pregnancy was completely different from my last but nobody ever said they'd be the same, right? The morning sickness has been much worse, I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes this time around, and while he has hiccups on a daily basis like his sister did (in my womb), he is MUCH more active. I swear, it's almost alien like. Sigourney Weaver-ish.

Here's my other observation... he has been very active lately when we're watching baseball games. Ava was always active during prime time reality shows. Does this mean anything?

Starting over, again and again.

2008-06-24T09:05:00.002-06:00

It's time to get back to my roots and update our "family" blog. I found a new place to blog and post pictures and still visit there daily ( http://www.humzoo.com/carriepassante/ ), but I realized I should come back here for more personal posts to update our family and friends about our growing family.

We are 20 days away from having a family of 4!!!! I am due July 22nd but will be induced on July 14th.

I will continue to update as we get closer and once the big day arrives.

Falling behind on my blogging...

2007-11-25T21:03:00.001-06:00

With the onset of the holiday madness, I realized it would not be wise to slack anymore on my blog.

Joe went hunting last weekend and Ava and I spent a fun filled "girls weekend" at home, filled with a trip to the mall, Happy Meals from McDonald's and lots of jumping on mommy's bed... Ava's favorite! yes, those are her tighty whities and she is doing a fabulous job using the potty. She is still using Pull Ups at naps and bedtime, but we have not had an accident in about a weekend. Go Ava Mae!

Thanksgiving was this weekend and we woke up to about an inch of snow on Thanksgiving day. The ground is still warm so it didn't stay very long, but Ava enjoyed it. We visited Joe's aunt's house for some delicious food, but not before we saw Brett Favre and the Pack go to 10-1. Let's not forget the Browns actually have a winning record this year and are playing for the playoffs as I write this... I miss Bernie Kosar.
She actually posed for me here on Thanksgiving Day. She is a girl after my own heart and becoming fond of the camera.
When she does something silly, she'll say, "take it a picture of me mommy."
Here is the princess on Friday night in her crib for the LAST time. :(
We ended up getting a toddler bed for the simple fact that a twin bed will not fit in her room. We were waiting to see how the sale of the house would go but considering the market is still so crappy and winter is officially here, we may be here until at least next summer. I was always against buying a toddler bed b/c I think they are a waste of money (and still kinda do) but at $50 (from Wal-Mart), we couldn't go wrong.
Here she is posing for us again... this time pretending she's asleep in her new Big Girl bed. This is also the first time she is using a pillow and she loves it. Actually, she loves the entire concept of her "new" room. All weekend, she kept saying, "I wanna play in my room!" It helps that we took the rocking chair out to give her more space. She can now play in her room while I sit here a room away wasting my life away on this computer. Sweet freedom.

Busy with life... and potty training

2007-11-09T20:51:00.000-06:00

This past week was a blur; so much going on. I'll be brief and let the pictures tell the stories. Last weekend, Ava and I traveled to Wausau to visit my cousin, Todd, and his family. It was Kayla's 5th birthday party. Ava not only enjoyed the toys Kayla received, she fell in love with the cake as well.
This past week was our first official week of "big girl underwear" for Ava. She's worn them a few times in the past but with our inconsistencies, we've made no progress. I realized we have to create a balance between encouraging her to use the bathroom and her telling us she needs to go. Based on words of advice from my cousin's wife, we decided to praise Ava for keeping her underwear dry rather than praise her for using the potty. The more we were telling her to go, the less likely she was able to experience the urge to go. Monday and Tuesday, Ava had 2-3 accidents at daycare. We are still using a Pull up for sleep time and I'm not going to stress about that at this point. I told Ava Tuesday night that I would take her to Target to get a toy if she kept her underwear dry the next day at Miss Ruth's. Although she had 3 more accidents on Wednesday, she stayed dry all day Thursday and today!!!!! I think I scared the crap out of her when I realized she had on the same pair of pants when she got home from Miss Ruth's as she did when I dropped her off in the morning. I just about cried. Off we went to Target for a Play-Doh set; her choice.

This is my little pumpkin sleeping last night with "Baby". I love how Baby is facing her.... aww.

I had read in the paper earlier this week that Santa would be at Mayfair Mall tonight. I understand it's a bit early, but it seemed to tie in well with Ava's recent obsession with Santa/Christmas/holiday music and a reward for staying dry again today. I also wanted to see if she'd be freaked out by him; maybe she'd get used to him so we could take pictures in a few weeks. Might be wishful thinking. This particular Santa is my favorite. He is so "real" and cute as a button. Ava was in awe the entire time; I'm not sure if she was scared or just thinking, "what the heck is going on?" Not only were there alot of people, Santa and Mrs. Clause were joined by four elves who took it upon themselves to make several attempts at entertaining the crowd.

I tried to take a picture of Ava with Santa in the background, but after asking Ava to look at the camera and say cheese, this is all I got of her. She was quite intrigued!
Here she is making friends and grooving to some music. The next picture is Santa and Mrs. Clause jamming to music, too, right there in the food court. LOL!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T21:03:00.000-06:00

Ava was the cutest little ladybug for Halloween. We had practiced the proper "trick or treat" technique for a week and it was a success. She seemed hesitant at first, but with my prompting, she said, "trick or treat" and "thank you" at every house. After she received candy at the first house we visited, she turned around and yelled, "I GOT TREATS". It's amazing what kind of trance candy will put you in. Little Miss Shy Girl spoke to strangers tonight!

As soon a we got home, I let Ava rummage through her bucket and pick out one treat. She immediately picked out her favorite, M&M's.

Trick-or-treat was a success!

Relaxing weekend...

2007-10-28T20:32:00.000-06:00

My birthday weekend was fabulous. The reason? I got a nap in Saturday and today! Okay, it was also wonderful because my husband spoiled me with a gift card to Target AND one for a facial and a massage at a local spa!!!! He also took us out to breakfast yesterday and then he and I had a date last night after dropping Ava off at Nanny Vicki and Grandpa Tony's house for the evening. We went out for Mexican and we were serenaded by a Mariachi band... cute.

Ava was a princess while she was visiting the G-rents... I'm sure it had something to do with the cookies, M&M's, donut and cake she had. For some reason, she didn't fall asleep until 2pm today for her nap... hmmm... I wonder why?

After her nap, she helped Joe and I rake the leaves. Truth be told, I raked and Joe used the leaf blower but I won't tell. She was a bit hesitant at first of the noisy leaf blower and of the entire leaf raking process, but soon realized how much fun it is to run into the pile of leaves. She offered some minor assistance with the rake then spent the rest of the time playing in the pile of leaves by the curb. She also got a kick out of daddy blowing the leaves on her.

At dinner this evening, Ava proved once again how particular she is about so many things. She would take one to two bites out of each "square" of her tuna sandwich, then proceeded to line them up like a train. Fortunately, I had the camera right there at the table to capture her goofiness...

Cry me a river!

2007-10-23T18:54:00.000-06:00

That's what my husband said to me today when I asked if he read yesterday's blog. Nice. I had to remind him that the Packers won a championship in his lifetime. Oh wait, maybe they won three, if you include the 1st two Superbowls. That was YOUR lifetime, right honey?

NO more sassy-ness or I will show more pictures like this:

It wasn't meant to be... again.

2007-10-22T19:35:00.001-06:00

In the words of a Cleveland fan, I'm sure representing many Clevelanders today:

The Cavs ... Jordan ... The Browns ... The Drive. The Fumble ... The Indians in '97 against the Marlins in extra innings ... This year's sweep of the Cavs by the Spurs ... Ohio State getting blown out against Florida.

...I can't be doing this all the time. At least the other losing baseball teams have another sport to fall back on. We got nothing. Boston had the Celtics, the Pats, the Bruins.

Cleveland's combined losing records over the years for all sports without a champion ... 60 years for the Tribe. ... 50 years for the Browns. ... 40 years for the Cavs ... wow ... We are pathetic.

I don't get why we still sell out games.

We got nothing.

Pumpkin Picking

2007-10-20T21:18:00.000-06:00

I took Ava to a Pumpkin Farm today; Joe stayed home as his walking is still limited at this point. The weather was beautiful and according to the ad in the paper for the place I choose for our Saturday adventure, it would be a child's dream. Suffice to say it was average at most. I asked the price for the hayride... I was told $5.00 a person. I told her we we would be interested. She asked if I wanted to buy two tickets; did she think Ava was going by herself? So we went on a hayride... those picture taking opportunities they bragged about in the ad were difficult with all the bumps we encountered. Ava hung on for dear life but seemed to enjoy this new adventure. We then went looking for pumpkins since we were at a Pumpkin Farm. They had about 15 pumpkins left; no lie. I recalled seeing a nice pumpkin stand on the way there so I put that thought in my head for our drive home.

Fortunately, they had a mini petting zoo which consisted of about a dozen animals in a small fenced in area that you could pet outside of the fence. This kept Ava entertained for some time and she really enjoyed the assertiveness of the goats. We fed the goats their "food" then Ava attempted to feed them the rocks off the ground and some of the hay that was nearby. They didn't buy it.
Before heading home, we stopped at a stand on the side of the road that offered seasonal vegetables and a ginormous variety of pumpkins... yeah!!!! I was excited at the prospect of some picture taking opportunities and Ava was lovin' the pumpkins.

M-a-Mem's!!!!

2007-10-17T19:14:00.000-06:00

Ava is officially crazy for M&M's. She could be in one of those commercials where a million things are going on around her and she would be sitting in the middle of it all quietly munching on her M&M's... completely unaware that life exists.

When life gives you lemons make lemonade, right?

So we've been starting to give Ava M&M's when she uses the potty. I'll admit that we are still quite inconsistent but we're making progress. Miss Ruth is also on board at daycare, so this much I know... as soon as I ask her to use the potty, she says, "I get M-a-Mem's if I go pee pee on the potty, right?"

The inconsistency on our part definitely has kept this at a snail's pace but I think I hit the jackpot tonight. After picking Ava up at daycare today, we stopped at the grocery store to get a few things. We passed the candy aisle and I let her pick out a small bag of M&M's. We talked right then and there what they were for. She told me (and everyone within ear shot) that she gets "M-a-Mem's when I go poopy on the potty". I let her carry the bag to the checkout and carry them in the car on the way home but she knew she had to earn them. As soon as we got home, she made a beeline for the toilet, yelling "I got to get it out of my tummy, mommy". I think she meant poop, but we'll never know.

Fast forward to bath time... she sat on the toilet for 20 minutes so she could earn those M&M's... and she did!!!

Autumn has officially arrived...

2007-10-13T20:10:00.000-06:00

October is my favorite month of the year and so far, it has not disappointed. The weather is pleasant, the leaves are changing, I can actually wear work clothes that are suitable for the weather (pants in summer suck) and the Indians are in the ALCS!

Ava came down with some sort of virus just over a week ago that included a fever and a hoarse voice. She seems to be on the mend but unfortunately, both Joe and I woke up this morning feeling achy. I made some chicken noodle soup from scratch today and just got done putting some cream cheese frosting on some pumpkin bars. Nothing like comfort food to make one feel better, right?

I took Ava to the park today and finally took a few pictures of her. She looks so grown up to me these days. There's nothing 'baby' or 'toddler' about her anymore. She is still quite shy around others and just wanted to stare at the other kids at the park rather than join along in their fun.
She's been doing alot of imaginary play lately, specifically with her baby dolls and her "telephone". She "called" so many people on her phone today including: Nanny Vicki and Grandpa Tony, Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy and her friend Lilly. She was able to hold about a 20 second phone conversation before hanging up. She was especially talkative with Grandma Nancy on her phone, asking her if she had a big owie, telling her about Daddy's owie and mentioning the scratch she got on her thumb when she fell on the sidewalk today.

I think we may visit a pumpkin farm within the next week and I'm crossing my fingers for decent weather next weekend as our trees are expected to be at peak, i.e. 100% color.

I don't want to smell you...

2007-10-02T19:02:00.000-06:00

I got home from work tonight and was baffled to hear my child speak. She picked up an entire new language today at daycare. Granted, she has always been well spoken for her age but today, she not only was having complete conversations, she was doing it with a MAJOR attitude!

Here, we were sitting down on the couch watching Sound of Music when she realized she wanted the entire couch to herself:
Ava: Don't sit here mommy. Get away mommy. I don't want to smell you.
Me: You don't want to smell me?
Ava: No, I don't want to smell you.
Me: Well, that's not very nice to say. I'm gonna tell daddy.
Ava: You can sit here mommy. I not gonna smell you anymore.

Then, I told her it was time for her bath and she was quite upset that we had to pause the movie:
I sick mommy.
You're sick?
Yeah, I sick.
Where are you sick, honey?
I sick with mommy. (I think she meant, 'sick of mommy')

So now it's time for bed and were rocking in the rocking chair when she tattles on one of her friends at daycare:
Elizabeth pushed me like that. (pause) I hit her.
Honey, we don't hit people. If she pushed you, tell her 'don't do that.'
She push me and Ava say 'don't do that'. Elizabeth get time out. She pushed me. That's not very nice.

Okay, honey, it's time for night night.
No foolin' around?
No foolin' around, honey.
No singing?
No singing, honey.
Just a little bit?

That's my girl... reaching for the stars!

(Miss Sassy, 2 years ago today)

The end of September...

2007-09-30T21:29:00.000-06:00

I can't believe today is the last day of September. While I'm looking forward to so many things in October, we all know what's after that... WINTER. Boo hoo.

This week was a busy one. Work is controlled chaos at this point but I feel comfortable knowing in just a couple of weeks, things will calm down. I'm still transitioning between the new and old place so I'm not feeling "planted" anywhere. I strive for structure and that's definitely missing right now.

We had a wonderful football weekend. Ohio State, Wisconsin, Packers and Browns all had big wins for us. Those big wins helped ease the pain of the Brewers late season nose dive. The Cubs were literally saying, "Here, take this. It's a free pass into the playoffs" but for some reason, the Brew Crew couldn't do it when it mattered most. So now we look to next year...

The Indians start post season play on Oct 4th!!!!

The weather continues to be beautiful here. I was frantic buying Ava some fall clothes and winter pj's a few weeks back when the temps dipped, but she hasn't really had to wear any of it yet.

Ava had a fun weekend and was able to play outside today and yesterday. We went to Culver's for dinner tonight and she had her first taste of "real" ice cream, a.k.a. custard. We brought it home and she didn't let me forget for a second that I put it in the freezer. She wanted it right away. I figured we would have shared but I was only lucky enough to have two small bites.

Ava also has a new movie to watch thanks to Grandpa Tony and Nanny Vicki. They stopped over on Friday night with The Sound of Music! She has watched it a few times this weekend (not all the way through) and has shown great interest. Here she was before bedtime tonight... watching it intently.

2007-09-23T19:58:00.000-06:00

I can't start my blog without a big congrats to the Indians!!!! Considering the Brewers recent nose dive, I'm more ecstatic than ever to know they'll be baseball in October in our household. Any of my Cleveland family reading this, please feel free to let me know if you come across any "extra" playoff tickets. I'll be there in a heartbeat...

We had a decent week here. The weather has been summer like although today was the first official day of fall. The leaves are starting to change and some nights you can smell autumn... while I'm looking forward to it, I know that we'll have 6 months of snow to follow. Yuck.

Joe's knee is healing as scheduled. He doesn't have to use the traction machine anymore and impressed the Physical Therapists with his range of motion during his first visit on Thursday. He has to go once a week for PT for the next three weeks. Hopefully he can be crutch free in three weeks as well. He's obviously bored and jumped at the chance to ride along with me to the grocery store yesterday. LOL! Ava continues to take care of daddy while he's home bound. She gets very worried about him and wants to see him the minute she wakes up.

She had a good weekend and got very excited today when Joe and I yelled when the Packers won. She woke up from her nap just in time to see them win. She also had her new favorite snack... remember those little 'snack packs' with the cheese and bread sticks? Her pack had pretzels and cheese and she devoured them. She made sure there wasn't an ounce of cheese left either; same thing I used to do! We watched Annie for the 167th time tonight. I have considered getting Ava an Annie costume for Halloween but didn't want to spend the money for the dress (that I saw on eBay) knowing she'd never complete the outfit with the red wig. Maybe next year...

We rounded out our weekend with a visit from Uncle Brian, Aunt Charisse, Soleil and Dominic. We had breakfast with them this morning to celebrate Brian's birthday. After breakfast, we compared our new minivans as we've both purchased new ones within the last month.

The Passante Family Blog, PART 2

2007-09-16T19:32:00.000-06:00

A sincere apology to those of you who have shown interest in my blog. I can't believe I have let 5 months slip by... I'm starting a new chapter with a (pseudo) clean slate. I didn't want to start a brand new blog and lose the information I had already documented, but I also felt bad that so much time has passed. Nonetheless, it's time to move on.

There's no way I can discuss all the happenings of the past five months so I'll start with the most recent news...

I was recently promoted from Supervisor of the Community Support Program I had been at for 6 years and will now be a Program Manager at a similar CSP... it's still with the same company and just 15 blocks down the road. The CSP I had been with assisted the developmentally disabled adult population (mentally retarded and behavioral issues). The newer CSP serves the chronically (and severe) mentally ill population. I am now working full time again which was quite a difficult decision, but I realized this was an opportunity I could not pass. I will no longer be doing clinical work; my focus will be on the program itself (audits, licensing) along with building related issues. Also, I will no longer have a caseload of consumers... I will miss the daily contact but will not miss the daily visits to the ghetto, car beak-ins, flat tires, unsafe situations, etc.

Our other newest (biggest) news was Joe's knee surgery on Friday. He's had problems with his right knee forever and he finally got up enough nerve (and sick time) to get it taken care of. I don't know the medical terminology of what was exactly done, but there was something about a a completely torn meniscus, missing cartilage and holes drilled into the exposed bone to create scar tissue (and act as cartilage). Joe was hoping he'd be out no more than 1-3 weeks but the surgeon told me it was worse than they thought and he'll be out at least 4 weeks. He has "no weight bearing" orders for 4 weeks which means no driving and non-stop crutches. Ugh. He's hooked up to some sort of contraption about 8 hours a day that helps his knee bend (to precisely 110 degrees) and ices it in between. Ava is quite concerned about her daddy and any chance she gets, she runs into the room saying, "how you doin' daddy?"

Speaking of the princess, she's just about 2.5 years old now and runs the house. She is quite independent, stubborn as all heck and has quite the vocabulary. As most of you witnessed from the recent video, she is absolutely obsessed with the movie Annie. She has probably seen it about 50-60 times since we bought it less than 2 months ago. She has also seen Happy Feet and Cars, but her heart is set on Annie. She still attends daycare with Miss Ruth and is now going 5 days/ week. Her favorite activities are: watching Annie, coloring, painting with water colors, reading books with daddy and going to the park. She can't live with her "juice and a snack" every morning and is still addicted to mac n' cheese.

No Duckies

2007-04-16T20:09:00.000-06:00

We've had 2 spring-like days in a row here so no complaining. Daddy was on-call all weekend so Ava and mommy spent some quality (and quantity) time together. She also took over a three hour nap both Saturday and Sunday... she had been getting up so early in the morning and falling asleep so late.

Grandpa Tony and Nanny Vicki visited yesterday afternoon and stayed for dinner. Ava enjoyed their visit and had then both wrapped around her little finger. She got to play with her markers and crayons while mommy cooked.

Today Ava went to daycare and had a great day. She was anxious to see Mrs. Ruth and her friends b/c Mrs. Ruth was on vacation last week. She had a good lunch and 2.5 hour nap. After mommy picked her up from daycare, we played outside on the slide then went for a long walk. We purposely brought a few slices of bread but there were "no duckies".

Ava ate one of those Gerber Graduate meals for dinner and licked it clean which really surprised me. Her dessert was a home made *popsicle* mommy made from drinkable yogurt. She enjoyed it but it got to be too cold for her after awhile.

She enjoyed reading "Wheels on the Bus" with daddy before bed and didn't put up much of a fight once in her crib.

Michigan, Easter and the Indians at Miller Park!

2007-04-14T19:53:00.000-06:00

Ava and I left last Saturday morning to drive to Michigan to see Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy. Daddy had to stay home because he had to work. The drive to Michigan was not too bad... a few snow showers and one minor white out. We stopped once in Paw Paw, MI at a Big Boy and made it to Grosse Pointe in 6 hours 20 minutes.

We had a wonderful visit! Ava was slow to warm up to Grandma and Grandpa but I know she enjoyed every second of our visit.

On Saturday evening we colored Easter Eggs. It was Ava's first time but she was an old pro. She especially enjoyed helping Grandma put the stickers on the colored eggs. She even surprised me by eating a hard boiled egg when we were all done.

On Sunday, we stayed around the house as it was quite wintry outside. We had an Easter dinner with ham and rolls, egg salad, potato salad and some lemon cake to celebrate Ava's birthday. Before bedtime, Ava enjoyed sitting with Grandpa for a bedtime story. Doesn't she look comfy?

On Monday, Grandma and Grandpa left for a bit to go to a doctor appointment. While they were gone, we walked across the street to the GPP Library. Ava enjoyed playing with the wooden puzzles, looking at the fish and browsing through the board books. Once back at G&G's, Ava helped me clean up and vacuum. She was quite fond of Grandma's vacuum. It was just her size! While Grandma rested after her appointment, Ava, Grandpa and mommy went to the park to play. It was pretty cold outside, but Ava still enjoyed going down the slide several times and swinging on the swings. She got very upset with me when it was time to go. She kept running back to the playground yelling, "me go on da swings!" For dinner on Monday, we went to an Italian restaurant and Ava was well behaved. She kept flirting with a little boy a few tables away. When she wasn't distracted, she enjoyed some spaghetti and tiramisu for dessert.

We left to head back to Milwaukee on Tuesday morning. Both Ava and mommy were sad to go. It was such a pleasure to see that Ava made Grandma and Grandpa smile and laugh so much. We stopped for lunch just east of Benton Harbor at a McDonald's with a very nice playland. Ava got upset again when I told her it was time to go. The weather was perfect for our drive back and we were home in less than 7 hours. On the way home, daddy called and asked if I wanted to go to the Indians game tomorrow. What?!?! I had not been watching the news (or reading the newspaper) so I was totally out of the loop. Due to the severe weather in Cleveland, the Indians were unable to play their last 4 home games and ended up scheduling three at Miller Park on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. By the time I was going through Chicago, I was already on the phone ordering tickets!

Oddly enough, we ended up getting almost 6 inches of snow before we left for the Indians game on Wednesday night. Thank god for the roof! We took Ava and she enjoyed herself. She actually sat on both of our laps for a period of time but it was helpful that we had raisins and jellybeans to keep her occupied. I got her a hot dog but she wasn't too interested. I'm sure she'll learn to love them, especially with the Secret Stadium Sauce!!!

April showers? or Snow?

2007-04-04T20:22:00.000-06:00

Brrr... We woke up to snow flurries this morning. I actually attempted to clean off my glasses then realized it really was snowing. We've been getting teased lately with some warmer temps only to feel the Wisconsin freeze when we pull out the t-shirts and spring coats. No fair.

We ran some errands this morning to the post office and grocery store. I got some ingredients to make chicken noodle soup today... really the only positive thing to come from a blistery cold day. After shopping, Ava and I read a few books and played with her dolls before having lunch. She likes to put her diapers on her "baby" and has even resorted to using the kitchen towel to do so!

Ava had cereal for lunch today, per her request. She is now sitting in her booster seat at the table during all meals. Last night she tried it for the first time while eating Mac N Cheese and seemed quite proud of herself. I put her baby doll in the high chair while we ate to and made a big deal about her being a big girl... she's lovin' it.

Tonight she had some of the chicken noodle soup and some blueberries. She has learned how to lift the bowl and slurp really loud. She had me and Joe really cracking up about it. After dinner, she sat with daddy and read several books. She has really started to LOVE this night time routine of reading with daddy. It's funny because she won't sit with me for more than a few minutes but she'll lounge with daddy for an hour to read books.

Both Ava and I are heading to Michigan this weekend to spend Easter with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Nancy. Daddy has to stay home and work. :(

Mini heat wave and a well trained toddler...

2007-03-28T18:58:00.000-06:00

Reality has set in but we were living quite the fantasy Sunday and Monday. Sunny and 80 degree weather was here and we didn't know what to do with ourselves! We spent as much time outside as possible, only to come in for dinner and sleep. Tuesday we woke up and it was 65 but soon dropped to 45 when the cold front came in. Like I said, reality check.

The pictures I'm posting today were from Monday's heat wave. Ava has found a friend in our neighbor's dog, Alexis.

Today was my day off and I am proud to admit I have Ava well trained with regards to our regular shopping trips. I asked this morning if she wanted to go shopping and she said "Tator Joe's". Ha! That's my girl. We actually just hit Target today and she told daddy as soon as he got home that that's where we went. It's funny though, when she wants to go outside for a walk, she says, "let's go shopping". I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Ava was a good eater today. She had scrambled eggs and a waffle for breakfast, chicken nuggets and applesauce for lunch and creamy chicken pasta with green beans for dinner. We went *shopping* after dinner (just a short walk around the block) and she's now in bed singing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

She tricked me!

2007-03-25T20:08:00.000-06:00

Less than 5 minutes after I stated here in this blog that Ava was asleep (last night), she starting talking... it was after 9pm again when she finally fell asleep. Fortunately, tonight she was out by 8:30pm.

We had another great day and more BEAUTIFUL weather. We actually had a record high of 79! It beat the old record of 72 for today. Looks like tomorrow will be the same... too bad I have to work.

We met Grandma Mary, Grandpa Dick, Aunt Jenny and Ava's cousin Tayler for breakfast this morning. Ava was well behaved and devoured the pancake we ordered for her. She also got a piece of bacon but passed on it after the first bite. After breakfast, we ran to the grocery store for a few items then came home and put Ava down for a nap. She slept for about 2.5 hours then it was time to play!

Ava watched daddy rake some of the leaves, tree branches and misc debris from the lawn then we went for a long walk throughout the park and golf course across the street from our subdivision. We found some geese and Ava was not shy with them at all. She kept saying "hi duckies, quack, quack" which obviously scared them. She got fairly close to one and it made a mean hissing sound. That freaked me out enough to get back on our walking course. lol! Once back at home, she had her favorite meal for dinner... mac n cheese.

Tonight's the first night in quite some time that Ava is not wearing a footed sleeper to bed. We've been warned though... it could be in the 40's by this next weekend.

Busy week and not much sleep...

2007-03-24T18:59:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, Ava's sleep patterns have made me very tired the last few days. She has not been falling asleep until after 9pm the last few nights, even though she's in bed by 7:30pm. I attributed it to the different cold medication I gave her so we'll see how tonight goes... with no medication. Although she's falling asleep later, she's still getting up pretty early; this morning she was up at 6:30am. I hope this changes soon...

We had a fun day today. We found a quaint little park less than a mile from our house. It has some fun playground equipment including slides, Ava's favorite. She made a couple of friends there and was excited to run into "Wizzy" (Lizzy), her friend from daycare. They played together for awhile but Ava was also more than content playing by herself. She still does alot of parallel play and does not interact much with the other little ones.

When we got home from the park, Ava played with her sidewalk chalk on the driveway. She had some sliced turkey and yogurt for dinner. I also made per a peanut butter sandwich, but she pretty much destroyed it and made it inedible. After dinner, we went back outside for more sidewalk chalk.

It's 8:15pm and there are no sounds coming from her room!

Poopy on the potty!!!!

2007-03-19T21:43:00.000-06:00

**Disclaimer to non-parents: for some reason this seems like a huge milestone to me**

**Disclaimer Part 2: I'm going to discuss the milestone in some detail, so feel free to skip**

Yes, she did it this evening and mommy is so proud!!! I can't believe how independent my little girl is getting and seemingly so smart. (I'm the parent, I can sound silly and brag!) Anyway, she made mention of going poopy when she got home from daycare so I put her on the potty. No such luck. A few minutes later, she went towards the bathroom door, looked at me and said, "be right back". Of course I ran into the bathroom to help her take her diaper off, then gave her some privacy and shut the door. Just a minute later daddy went in to check on her and she pooped!!!

I immediately ran to my secret stash of stickers I'd been waiting to give her. She loved putting them on everything but the sticker book it came with.

She had a decent dinner of chicken noodle soup and strawberries. We also got a chance to go for a long walk when we got home as the weather was fairly decent... chilly but sunny out.

Right before bath time, I rewarded Ava again for a job well done on the potty with an ice cream bar. She devoured it... right there in the bathroom. Hey, easy clean up in the tub!

March MADNESS!

2007-03-17T20:08:00.000-06:00

Between Wisconsin and Ohio State's come from behind wins yesterday and today, my blood pressure has been at unhealthy levels in the last 24 hours! I'm not sure I can take much more... I think I scared Ava today when Ohio State's Lewis hit a three pointer with 2 seconds left to send them to OT. I jumped up and screamed and she freaked out a second later. Oops. Bad mommy.

Aside from nonstop basketball, we made the invitation today for Ava's birthday party. Out of the 50+ pictures I took, I was pleased with three. We went along with the Sesame Street theme... last year it was just Elmo so I guess we just expanded to include the entire posse. I'd post a picture of it, but I want it to be a surprise!

Ava played inside all day today. It was just a tad bit too cold to take a walk and I did my errands solo this morning (!!!). She has been doing so well playing independently. She enjoys coloring, playing dress up with her winter coat and accessories and most importantly, playing with her baby dolls. Today, she opened a bottle of lotion and proceeded to put *diaper cream* on her baby's bottom. It was so darn cute!

She didn't eat very much for dinner but had some healthy snacks throughout the day. She went to bed without a fuss and now we are back to watching more basketball...

What a difference a day makes...

2007-03-15T19:24:00.000-06:00

It's sooooo cold today... wasn't it just 72 on Tuesday? The windchill today had to have been around 20-25. Brrrrr.

Yesterday Ava and I went to my friend's house and visited with her two kids... Aidan, 2 and Alissa, 4. Ava was very quiet for the first two hours but thoroughly enjoyed the *new* toys she encountered. She eventually seemed to enjoy her visit and spent the rest of her time following Aidan around the house and jumping on his bed. She fell asleep in the car before we got on the highway.

She was at daycare today and apparently got scratched and scratched another girl, leading to two time-outs for the both of them. I guess there are some jealousy issues there. LOL! They are both close in age and are at that "it's mine" stage...

I picked Ava up this afternoon as daddy had a looooong date with the dentist (lots of dental work). We stopped at the grocery store for some fresh veggies and fruits then headed home for dinner and playtime. We colored, read a few books and watched an episode of Ellen. Well, I watched it and she danced to it.

I let her play a little bit longer in the tub tonight and she was in bed by 7:30pm, singing and talking until 8pm.

Finally blogging after almost 2 months!!!

2007-03-13T18:51:00.000-06:00

So sorry folks... I never realized when I bragged to everyone that I was starting a blog that I would not be so good at daily entries. I promise I will make more of an effort.

With that being said, we've made it through the rest of January, all of February and the start of March with lots of snow and a fair amount of sickies at our house. Fortunately, we have tackled the stomach bug, sinus infections and pink eye and the 2+ feet of snow we got has all but melted in the past three days with 60-70 degree temps. Now for the unfortunate part... it may snow again by the weekend. :(

Miss Ava is amazing me everyday. She is saying an abundance of words and can make a few small sentences. For example, she got home from daycare today and pointed outside to the lack of snow and said, "it's all gone, mommy". She can count to 20, but often misses 16, 17, 18 and 19! So maybe I should say she counts to 15 and adds the 20 at the end. She is just starting to recognize her colors but likes to think everything is "red".

We went for a walk today and played outside for a bit. I can't believe how wonderful the warm air felt. Ava thoroughly enjoyed the sidewalk chalk and was quite disappointed when I told her it was time to go inside for dinner.

She was fairly crabby before bedtime and is still *talking* in her crib. Tomorrow is my day off so we'll hit Target early then will be visiting a friend in the afternoon.

Sunny out!

2007-01-24T22:18:00.000-06:00

Ava has taken notice to the dangerous effects of the sun and now opts for shades when we head out. Actually, she wears them around the house for long periods of time but today she decided she needed them before we went shopping. The sun had been shining through one of the windows and she kept repeating, "sunny out, sunny out." She demanded the sunglasses as we were walking out the door and wore them in the car as well.

We visited both Trader Joe's and Target today, so it was a successful day. I picked up some healthy snacks at Trader Joe's and Ava was delighted when she was handed a balloon. She followed the indoor sunglasses rule and was not upset when I removed them while we shopped. Once we got to Target, though, she either did not want to be seen with me or the lights were too bright because she wore her shades the entire time we were there. I made the mistake of trying to remove them and she threw a fit. She also got mad when I put my hands on the shopping cart. How was I to push it? She obviously thought I was a genius and would figure it out but unfortunately I didn't and she cried throughout most of the store while my hands touched the cart!

Once we got home from shopping, Ava had some lunch them took a short nap. I had lunch, made some calls for work and was just starting to fold laundry when I heard her. Guess she didn't think I needed any rest today.

We had fun taking pictures of silly things. I thought it would be funny to put her in daddy's boots because they look sooooo big compared to her. Needless to say, she was not pleased! We also took some self portraits and Ava complied by kissing mommy on cue!

She was so excited to see daddy this afternoon when he got home from work. They had fun reading books together and playing with the ball while I made dinner. Ava ate very well at dinner... not only did she eat all of her food but she actually ate the tilapia we were eating. I was so proud of her. Now if she would just eat some broccoli...

Much better...

2007-01-23T21:47:00.000-06:00

The welts/rash that covered most of Ava's body have all but disappeared. She has a few tiny ones that reappeared on her face and neck area after her bath tonight, but the majority of them are gone.

She is in a much better mood... I'm not sure if it's because she's not as itchy or she's not on as much Benadryl anymore. I think that really affected her. She hasn't been able to fall asleep until at least 1:30pm the last two days for her nap. Usually she's down by noon. I've been tapering the dosage so she only got 1/2 tsp twice today as compared to every 2-4 hours a few days ago. I think tomorrow I'll give her 1/4 tsp.

She had a good report from daycare and came home talking and singing our ears off. She was able to independently count to 10 twice, but missed the numbers 8 and 9 both times! She continued honing her skills with Twinkle Twinkle and Pat-a-Cake tonight. I need to get it on video... it's so darn cute!

She had some turkey, pineapple and yogurt for dinner. She passed on the steamed broccoli tonight as well as last night. I think she's predisposed to not liking it. We've never made a scene out of it... she just doesn't like the way it looks or she KNOWS it's broccoli!

Tomorrow's my day off. We have nothing planned. I'm sure we'll end up at Target or Trader Joe's... :)

Well into January... I apologize!

2007-01-22T19:40:00.000-06:00

Apparantly Joe is getting some heat at work that I am not keeping up with this blog. Between the radio contests they win on a daily basis and the obvious obsession with this blog, it's a wonder anyone in the city of Milwaukee gets a proper MRI done by these people ! ! !

Anyway, we've been surrounded by the sickies since I last posted. I ended up taking Ava to the doctor on Monday, January 8th, because her fever did not let up. She also began wheezing on day four w/ the fever. She had a right ear infection and the left ear was not too far behind. Her doctor also said that she had bronchiolitis (RSV). She was put on an albuterol and Flovent (steroid) inhaler until the wheezing subsided. He also put her on amoxicillin for the ear infection.

By the time she started feeling better, both Joe and I came down with a cold. Joe's is still lingering... I was fortunate to get rid of it early last week.

Unfortunately, Ava had a SEVERE reaction to the antibiotics (penicillin). This past Wednesday, the 9th day of the medication, I noticed a few small welts on her legs. Nothing serious... I thought for sure they'd disappear by morning. When she woke up on Thursday, the welts had not only increased in size, but also by number. I called the doctor because I didn't want to take her to daycare if she had something contagious. I had absolutey no idea what it was! By the time we left for her appointment the welts covered most of her legs and arms and she was itching like crazy. After the doctor did a thorough exam, he stated that it was a "classic allergic reaction to penicillin". He said that it is common for it to show up 7-9 days after the medicine has been started. He said the only thing to help it was to stop taking the amoxicillin and to give her Benadryl.

We obeyed although I didn't see much hope the first 48 hours. We were all miserable. Joe and I could hardly stand looking at her, thinking she must be feeling so bad... and she was. I ended up taking her to daycare on Friday and by the time she got home that afternoon, it looked like she had the mask of Zorro on her face. It took until Sunday morning for the welts to disappear on her arms and legs. She still has a few small red areas on her chin and neck but overall she looks 10 times better than Friday.

Aside from the sickies, Ava has been growing up so fast. She's now putting two words together, mainly to the tune of "no mommy" and "no daddy". She also says "thank you welcome" when you give her something. She can sing almost the entire Twinkle Twinkle song and is just starting to dig the Pat-a-Cake tune. (Daddy seems really bothered that I say Patty Cake instead of Pat-a-Cake. What's the difference, right?) She has inherited a few of our traits lately. She is just as stubborn as daddy (!) and is as obsessed with chapstick as me. That's my girl!

I can't complete this blog without mentioning the coolest shirt Ava got two weeks ago from Uncle Jim and Aunt Dineen. Although it did not bring them luck when it most counted, there is enough room to grow into to it for next year's championship game!!!

The Holidays, in a nutshell...

2007-01-06T13:55:00.000-06:00

I apologize that it's taken me this long to get back into blogging. The last few weeks have been very exciting yet beyond hectic at the same time. I'm copying the format of my friend Jules' blog and will give you a brief summary of our daily happenings in the past two weeks:

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24th
We started today out by going to Grandpa Tony and Grandma Vicki's. Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tony, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Brett, Uncle Brian, Aunt Charisse along with Ava's cousins' Ashley, Troy, Tayler, Soleil and Dominic were all in attendance. Ava got spoiled by everyone. She got some cute outfits, a Little Tykes Kitchen, books, new doll and several other toys. She enjoyed running around the house with Dominic (Nieko).

She seemed tired by the time we left but was awake when we got home. We put her down in her crib at 12:30pm and she did not fall asleep until 3pm. We had hoped to get to Aunt Nancy's by 4pm but did not arrive until after 6pm. Unfortunately the flu bug (possibly Norovirus) was visiting with Ava's cousin Emily and eventually passed on to about a dozen more people within 48 hours. Overall, the evening was filled with lots of laughs, food, drinks and toys, toys and more toys. We stayed until just after 10pm. Ava was still awake when we got home, so we gave her a bath and put her down, all the while telling her about Santa's arrival!

MONDAY, DECEMBER 25th

Ava woke up shortly after 7am. I know she really didn't understand the concept of Santa's visit, but she was more than pleased with the Dirt Devil Jr. Vacuum and broom set under the tree. She played with them for hours. She also got a beautiful cradle for her baby doll, a baseball mitt, a Cabbage Doll named Fiona Harley, clothes, books and other toys. She was content for the rest of the morning with her new toys.

After her nap, we headed over to Joe's Aunt Jeannie's house. It was a wonderful visit and Ava had all the Aunts and Grandma Mary spoiling her. She enjoyed climbing up and down Aunt Jeannie's stairs and was happy that Grandma let her try several treats. That's what grandmas are for, right?

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26th
I was out the door before 7am and met Ashley and Grandma Vicki at Target to get some after Christmas deals. Aunt Lisa babysat Ava and she conveniently slept in until after 8am. I think she only does that when she knows I'm not attempting to sleep in myself. Aunt Lisa nad Ashley then babysat until daddy got home from work while I went to a dr. appointment.

DECEMBER 27 - 29th

Fairly uneventful days... Ava went to daycare Wednesday through Friday. On Thursday night, We visited Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tony and Ashely and Troy one more time beofre their trek back home to Cleveland.

DECEMBER 30th - JANUARY 2nd
On Saturday, we drove to Detroit (Grosse Pointe Park), Michigan to visit Grandpa Bob, Grandma Nancy and the rest of the family. We made excellent time and daddy got us there safe (and fast). Our only stop was in Battle Creek, MI for some lunch at Cracker Barrel. We stayed in the condo of G&G's friends, Jim and Nadine. They were gracious hosts and seemed to enjoy Ava's company.

Fortunately, the family was able to reserve the *party* room. This gave us alot of extra room and we spent all of our waking ours there (daddy even spent some sleeping hours in there). We played games, watched a ton of football (shout out to the Badgers), ate, drank and ate some more. Ava enjoyed the company of Dominic and Soleil who also made the trek from Wisconsin. She was quite shy with most of adults, many she had not met yet. She eventually warmed up to everyone, but each day she took quite a long time to do so.

Ava slept/napped great in her pack n play, even though it was just inches from our bed. She didn't eat so well, but I'm assuming the excitment of her surroundings didn't help. Ava was asleep by the time we rang in the new year, but she enjoyed *practicing* the next day. Overall it was a success, and we look forward to our next Bieniek/Vetrone/Passante/Buck/Keller reunion. Maybe in WI???

JANUARY 3rd - PRESENT

Ava came down with a cold on our way home from Michigan. Daddy commented that Ava had a *morning voice* when she woke up from her nap in the car. Little did we know it was the start of something awful. She has not been feeling well since. She's got one serious head/chest cold... fever, cough, runny nose, congestion and possible ear/throat pain. She is beyond clingy and wants to be held 24/7. We both had the day off on Thursday because of a prior scheduled appointment with a dermatolgist; we had been referred there from Ava's pediatrician. We were told everything looks fine. We'll probably have the mole removed when Ava is between 10 and 12.

On Friday, I kept Ava home from daycare. She still has not improved today and I'm being a paranoid 1st time mom. I had called the pediatrician's office this morning but hung up after being on hold for 15 minutes. I know it's probably a virus so they can't do much, but I feel so bad for her. I sure hope tomorrow is a better day...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

2006-12-23T21:07:00.000-06:00

Haven't been able to keep up the last few days. The holidays are in full force and there's just no time to summarize the craziness at the end of the day.

Thursday night, I took Ava shopping so I could get the essential food items for our family gatherings. We also went to Target to get a gift card for our daycare provider. It was a rainy night and unfortunately, the rain didn't stop until early this morning. If it were cold enough, we probably could have had 2 feet of snow.

On Friday, Joe picked up Ava at daycare and once again we found out Ava did not nap at all. Twice in one week! I sure hope those teeth pop in soon. We had planned on visiting Aunt Lisa, Uncle Tony and Ava's cousins' Ashley and Troy who arrived from Cleveland, but decided between the nasty rain and lack of a nap, we'd stay home. Ava was in bed by 6:30pm and asleep by 7pm.

Today was a busy day for sure. Ava (and both Joe and I) were up by 6:15am. We hung out this morning listening to Christmas music while I attempted to clean the house and bake cookies. Ava took over a two hour nap and I baked about 7-8 dozen cookies during that time. Whew! After her nap, Joe took Ava to visit her Great Grandmother Rose. She was so happy to see Ava. Daddy said Ava warmed up to her but was a bit shy around Grandma's friends at her apartment.

This evening, Grandma Mary, Dick, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Brett and Ava's cousin Tayler visited. We had a mexican fiesta, including chicken tacos, beef enchiladas and plenty of margaritas to go around. We all opened presents after dinner and enjoyed watching Ava open her Giggle Elmo chair. She was a bit weirded out when she sat down and Elmo began to giggle and the chair began to vibrate. She kept turning around to look at Elmo's face. It was so cute! She also got a cute outfit and a fun Little People activity game from Jenny, Brett, Tayler and her Uncle Phil, Aunt Tammy and cousins' Madison and Connor (in Arizona).

We had a wonderful evening but we are all so sleepy! The next few days will be busy and fun filled. I hope I get a chance to post more pictures soon...

Halfway through the week!!!

2006-12-20T21:36:00.000-06:00

We had a pretty good day today. Ava slept until just a few minutes before 7am. This was fantastic considering she was asleep by 6:30pm last night due to the lack of a nap yesterday. We were out the door by 9am and headed to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club for one last minute gift and a few food items to make during this weekend's gatherings. Ava seemed very tired on our way home, but perked up when we got inside. She had a snack before her nap and took almost an hour to fall asleep. Fortunately, she napped for 3 hours!!!

Ava hung out with daddy for a couple of hours tonight while I met some friends for dinner and got another last minute gift at the mall. The mall was an all out crazyfest. They even had people directing traffic in the parking lot. It was a scary sight and I'm happy to report I will not need to return there until AFTER Christmas.

Joe cleaned out one of our closets yesterday (thanks honey) and found two items Ava has gotten attached to. The first item is his old Simon game. 1982 called and they want their game back!!! He also found his old cell phone and Ava is in heaven. She has it all the time. The rubber antenna is actually working as a teether right now as she chews the heck out of it. It's so cute how she walks around the house *talking* to people. She crossed the line of obsession and took it to bed with her tonight.

No Sleep Til Bedtime???

2006-12-19T20:40:00.000-06:00

It may not be Brooklyn folks, but it's damn close. I picked Ava up from daycare this afternoon and was shocked (and a bit miffed) to hear she did not take a nap! No sleep. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Miss Ruth said she tried to put her down a few times but all she did was sing. She said she likes to sing. Does this mean she's not going to play softball???
Although she was very crabby this evening, she spent a few minutes pleasing both mommy and daddy and earned the *cutest baby award* while eating her chocolate pudding. She's in love with that stuff. Who isn't? It's chocolate! She decided the pudding, bananas and oranges were enough to get her through the night. She passed on the hot dog and cheese.
We opted for an early bath and she was in bed and asleep by 6:30pm. Murphy's Law states she'll be up very early on my day off tomorrow. Maybe, just this once, the law can be broken???

Our little gymnast...

2006-12-18T21:55:00.000-06:00

Ava had a good day today. She had a two hour nap at daycare but apparently took more than an hour to fall asleep. Two of the kids were out sick so I'm crossing my fingers that Ava does not catch anything, especially this close to Christmas. I thought I saw the first signs of a runny nose tonight and my paranoia has set in...

She had a good dinner tonight at home and was adventurous enough to try some fish sticks... with ketcup! I must admit, fish sticks normally don't satisfy the *fish* craving for me, but the ones I got from Trader Joe's were actually really fish!!! We also tried some potato pancakes but she was less interested and opted for the applesauce and cubed cheese.

She was very active tonight, circling the house several times getting chased or being the chaser. She also started *tumbling* and would almost fall into a handstand position from her ride-on toy. She was quite proud of herself and was sure to get our attention when she performed. Gee, I wonder where she got that from?

Pee Pee on the Potty!

2006-12-17T22:21:00.000-06:00

I'ts been a few days since I've posted. Obviously the most exciting news is Ava's little squirt in the potty, but we'll get to that in a little bit.

She's been doing great these last few days. I have a feeling her molars are coming in... We gave her Tylenol on Thursday night as she was quite whiny and was putting her fingers in her mouth alot. We also let her chew on the teethers (she calls them "ice") and they seemed to help out. I found her a new bath towel at Target and she had a fun time wearing it around the house.

On Friday, I had a couple of friends over to play some games. Ava enjoyed their visit until her bedtime, but she was very shy. She refused to say their names until I was changing her diaper on Saturday morning... talk about delayed!

Saturday night, Joe and I went out on a date so Grampa Tony and Nanny Vicki babysat. Apparantly, she had them in stiches all night long. Nanny said Ava kept saying, "Hi Nanny, Hi Bumpa" over and over again. She didn't eat much dinner for them and took awhile to fall asleep. She tangled Nanny into her web of a bedtime routine. She had to fall asleep with her blankie, "moony", baby and 2 paci's!

The best news of the weekend happened approximately at 6pm tonight. Ava occasionally sits on her potty when I'm in the restroom. Tonight she went in there to sit on it so I took of her diaper and told her to go. She did! Just a little squirt but she did it. It was pretty funny, because I think the little squirt freaked her out. She was facinated with it in the potty and had to touch it to be sure it was "wet". I'm sure we have a long road ahead of us with the training but at least she has some idea of what the potty is used for.

We have a busy week ahead of us before Christmas arrives. A few last minute gifts to buy and a menu to create for Joe's mom's visit on Saturday night. We're also excited about my sister and her family arriving this coming Friday. We have so many things planned!!!

Picasso in training

2006-12-13T22:34:00.000-06:00

Ava and I had another fun girl's day out on my day off. We were at the Bayshore Town Center by 9am. It was alot colder this morning than the weatherman said (go figure), so I was fortunate we had some extra blankets in the car to cover Ava in the stroller. I was able to get another Christmas gift and picked up a fun pair of slipper flip flops for myself at Aeropostale. The store employee wanted to remind me of all the great sales... I had to remind her I probably wouldn't fit in any of their clothes (just the shoes)! We also visited Trader Joe's and got some delicious food. I had to admit my severe disappointment when I realized they were out of their Joe Joe's... Oreo-like cookies with a peppermint/vanilla center. I had planned on getting several boxes to give at all of the holiday gatherings.

We also had lunch at Applebee's and Ava was well behaved. She even ate a fair amount of her grilled cheese sandwhich even after she loaded up on snacks while I shopped.

Once home, she took a great nap and woke up just before daddy got home. We played outside this afternoon as it got steadily warmer as the day progressed. It was just cool enough to still require a winter coat, but it felt great. For the first time, Ava actually enjoyed the snow and played in it... all of the three square feet left on our front lawn!

She also enjoyed coloring today and was making some beautiful pictures for us. We started off with crayons and she thoroughly enjoyed taking most out the box. She taste-tested a few a realized they weren't too yummy. Then we moved on to washable markers... she hasn't figured out how to *hold* the marker and grabs it at the tip. This created a mess on her hands and eventually on her mouth as she had to lick her hands!

Smile for mommy!

2006-12-12T22:11:00.000-06:00

This is her new smile! I'm trying to get her to *look* at me when I take a picture but she always seems to run away. Tonight daddy and I got her to smile and she showed us all of her pearly whites...

She had a great day at daycare and came home looking like Pigpen. Apparently, they played outside today... the warm temps (47 degrees) with tons of melting snow creating a decent amount of mud in Miss Ruth's yard. She had to assure me it was not poop on the pair of pants she sent home in a bag. Good thing, because if it was, the bag would have gone straight to the trash. Instead, the pants are currently soaking in some Oxyclean.

Ava had a fun night at home entertaining us and reading through several of her books. She checked out the tree for awhile but kept the investigation to a minimum.

Tomorrow is my day off so we'll attempt to get more Christmas shopping done and hopefully make a stop at Trader Joe's. I think it's now my second favorite store (behind Target)!

Monday, Monday...

2006-12-11T21:32:00.000-06:00

... and not too much to report about. Ava had a good day at daycare and took a 2 1/4 hour nap while there. She also tried some tator tot beef casserole for lunch which she apparantly had no objections about.

Once home, she entertained daddy and I by climbing in and out of her toy chest a hundred times. As soon as she'd get in, she'd yell "out" or "help" until one of us rescued her. Sure enough, as soon as we got her out, she went back in. She aslo practiced her "no touch" speech as she'd walk up to the tree and touch most of the lights.

She had some leftover mac n cheese for dinner along with a hot dog and oranges. She had some mini muffins and part of my cookie for a bedtime snack. She was like a vulture how she attacked me to get at the cookie. I couldn't even scold her I was laughing so hard.

Successful shopping day...

2006-12-10T20:24:00.000-06:00

Ava and I had a busy day shopping. We went to Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Big Lots. I was able to cross three more people off my loooooooooong list! Ava doesn't know it, but the Cabbage Patch Doll she was kissing and begging to take out of the box at Big Lots will be under the tree on Christmas morning. I have searched high and low for a cute one and I think I found it. Daddy doesn't find them cute at all, but that's okay. Her name is Fiona Harley...

Ava did a great job eating today. She had two scrambled eggs (with ketchup) and a piece of french toast for breakfast. For lunch, she had the deluxe mac-n-cheese (w/ the shells) and green beans. I didn't think she'd be too hungry for dinner with all the cat cookies (from Trader Joe's) she scarfed down today. I was wrong... she had a yogurt, oranges, oatmeal and fish crackers.

She made us laugh today... she knows she's not allowed to touch the Christmas tree so she goes up close to it and yells "NO TOUCH!" She kept yelling it over and over and I kept thinking, oh my god, is that all I say to her? I think so.

15 more days...

Baking Chirstmas cookies

2006-12-09T22:00:00.000-06:00

We spent most of the day at Nanny's baking Christmas cookies. Auntie Ree joined us and we baked Peanut Butter Blossoms, Turtle Bars, Chocolate Italian Cookies and another type of bar with graham crackers, chocolate chips and some really sweet frosting. Of course, Nanny let Ava sample some of the frosting.

Ava spent most of her time playing with Grandpa while us girls baked the cookies. She took less than a two hour nap and fell asleep without her paci!!! I actually forgot to pack it and Grandpa ran to Walgreen's after about 1/2 hour of her talking in her crib. She was asleep by the time he returned but I realized the main reason she took so long to fall asleep was because of the mess in her diaper. I attempted to put her down tonight without a paci thinking maybe she'd be okay. Wrong! We'll have to try again some other time.

Uncle Brian and Ava's cousins, Dominic and Soleil, joined us after we finished baking cookies. The kids hung out and played for a bit before we all headed back to our homes.

We had an overall fun day, except for the fact that daddy was on call and worked ALL day long. We missed him. Hopefully we get a chance to hang out tomorrow.

TGIF!!!

2006-12-08T19:53:00.000-06:00

We finally made it! What a long week...

Ava woke up this morning and immediately began pointing to all of her pictures in her room. She'd point out daddy in every one and kept yelling "DADDY"! I finally fetched a framed picture for her. She just stared and smiled at daddy. Maybe she didn't see me standing next to him? Anyway, it was cute so I had to grab the camera.

Ava had a good day at daycare and spent a few hours with daddy this evening while I enjoyed a fish fry out with some friends. Daddy said she was a bit picky with her food and had some of each of the following... peanut butter and jelly sandwich, turkey, cheese, banana and applesauce.

She also seemed to enjoy Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer for a few minutes, but I'm positive she didn't enjoy it as much as daddy did! We even got shushed during one part.

We're off to bake cookies at Nanny's tomorrow and will get to see Uncle Brian, Auntie Ree and Ava's cousins, Soleil and Dominic. Peanut Butter Blossoms in da house!

St. Nick came!

2006-12-06T20:52:00.000-06:00

Ava and I were both ready to start our Chirstmas shopping early on my day off today and were on the road by 8am. Unfortunately, both Toys R Us and Sears did not open until 9am. We spent the extra time mall-walking with the *white hairs* (as daddy calls them)! Everyone waved and stopped to say hi as we hung out waiting to get into Sears. I found a few items but made one purchase... for myself! By the time we got to Toys R Us, Ava was done with shopping, so I hurried and got a few gifts; at least we were able to cross two more kids off the list.

Ava seemed to be feeling better today and had a pretty good appetite and took a two hour nap. Once daddy got home, Ava checked out her stocking to see what St. Nick brought. She got a new book and two bottles for her baby. She was quite fond of the bottles!

Nanny and Grandpa Tony visited tonight and had dinner with us. I made tilapia, pasta and steamed broccoli and we had a store bought carrot cake for dessert. The cake sure wasn't anything to write home about. Guess that's for the better so I wont be forced to eat anymore of it.

Sill a bit under the weather

2006-12-05T21:38:00.000-06:00

The princess is still not 100%. For the second day in a row, Miss Ruth (our daycare provider) has reported that Ava was crabby. Today, she said she was bumping into things. Ear infection? Who knows. Seems her tummy is not feeling good so we're continuing with a bland diet and limited dairy. She continues to whine VERY often and doesn't want to be consoled by anyone but me. Fun.

We set up the Christmas tree tonight with high hopes for a photo op. I think we did okay in the few seconds that we had. It's pretty obvious I have to remove alot of the ornamnets I've put on and I didn't even cover the entire tree. We had planned to see Santa tomorrow but with her stranger anxiety and clinginess to me right now, it's not happenin'. In the words of every Cleveland Brown fan... there's always next year!

Maybe it's the teeth...

2006-12-04T19:06:00.000-06:00

Who knows, but whatever it is, please pass quickly! The clinginess is at an all time high. She'll fret about the littlest things and grab hold of my legs, bury her head and cry her eyes out. 99% of the time she cannot be consoled by daddy which makes it quite difficult for me to get anything done and it hurts daddy's feelings :(

I dropped her off at daycare today and for the first time ever, she cried so hard when I was leaving. She kept running back to me and it broke my heart. I wanted to cry with her... She only slept an hour there today and Miss Ruth even admitted Ava was crabby. She normally reports that she was an angel.

I think the stomach issues have past but I'm wondering if this is all related to something. She won't let me check her mouth for anymore teeth. I jsut have a feeling... she did go to bed by 7pm but that's because she's been up since 12:30pm.

On a happier note, only 21 more days til Christmas!!!

Lazy Sunday...

2006-12-03T19:31:00.000-06:00

It was a very lazy day as the princess was not feeling so well. After her 2:45am wake up, she went back to sleep a little after 4am and woke up just before 8am. We followed the BRAT diet for the most part, so her meals consisted of applesauce, cheerios, crackers, bananas and chicken rice soup for dinner.

She seems to be feeling much better and was quite the daredevil today. She is climbing on everything... the kitchen chairs, her "play wall", her shopping cart and the stairs. She stayed inside all day due to the flu and the fact that it was a brisk 18 degrees today, not including the wind chill. Brrr!

She took just over a 2 hour nap today and went down for the night about 7pm.

It was another big football day at the Passante household. Unfortunately, the Packers played like a JV team against the Jets. It was a sorry site. On a positive note, the Browns went into OT and upset the KC Chiefs! Woohoo!

Saturday, shopping, sickies...

2006-12-03T10:36:00.000-06:00

The day started off fine. Ava has really taking a liking to her shopping cart and likes to climb in it any chance she gets. Once in awhile, daddy will give her a ride in it which makes her want to climb into it that much more. Today was such a day...

Ava and I went to the mall in an attempt to find some Christmas gifts. I was successful in finding part of one gift and we left just as the shoppers were coming out in full force. We went to Target before dinner and were successful with a few more gifts, until we found out Aunt Lisa got a duplicate of one of ours. Oops. No biggy.

Throughout the day, Ava didn't seem to have much of an appetite and had some minor tummy troubles. She went to bed around 7:30pm but woke up crying around 2:45am. When I came in the room, she pointed to the mattress; I flipped on the light and realized she had puked. Yuck! Daddy and I cleaned her up and changed the sheets and she was back to sleep around 4am. Poor baby. She had some Pedialyte this morning and seems back to her old self. We hope so!

It's a blizzard out there!

2006-12-01T21:13:00.000-06:00

10 inches and then some!!!

We woke up to blizzard conditions outside... very poor visibility with non-stop snowfall until about 12pm. I decided I would have to work from home today so I dropped Ava off at daycare. After driving just 6 blocks on our short journey to Miss Ruth's house, I realized I made the dumbest choice to get in the car and drive. It was horrible. Before leaving, I got Ava fully dressed in her coat, snow pants and boots. She was not pleased. She was even less pleased when I took her outside and tried to take pictures.

She had a great day with Miss Ruth... she was spoiled because she was the only one there! Joe picked her up on his way home from work. I put all of her winter gear on and out we went again. This time, she was a bit more happy because our neighbor's dog was out frolicking in the snow. Tomorrow we may pull out the sled and go for a walk.

She had a fun night playing indoors with daddy. We started watching Polar Express but she has proven once again that the TV is not interesting... she was done with it after 5 minutes! Dinner was a few pieces of cheese, green beans and oranges. She wanted to get out of the high chair shortly after I put her in it... some toy must have caught her eye.

Can you believe it's December 1st already????

Sitting, waiting, hoping...

2006-11-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

... for lots and lots of snow! I will regret this in just a few short months but I'm actually excited about the snow. I think it's because I want to see Ava all decked out in her winter coat and snow pants.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin and all of the Midwest are bracing for the first big storm of the year. It's supposed to start at about 2am. I stopped at Wal-Mart today and they were salting the parking lot! I came home and Joe was *testing* the snow blower. Our neighbors ain't got nothin' on Joe's Big Red. They may have a big and obnoxious inflatable snowman in their yard, but when the snow starts falling, they'll be green with envy when they see Joe outside tearing through the 10 inches of snow!!!

Miss Ava was a princess tonight. We went to Fazoli's for dinner... she had a few bites of pizza, some applesauce and some garlic bread. She was in heaven (and them some) when I gave her the chocolate milk that came with her meal. She finished her last sip with a "nummy"! We also went to Sam's Club and did a little Christmas shopping; she enjoyed running up the aisles and touching all the socks.

(Still no pictures... as soon as we got home from shopping, it was bath and bedtime. I hope to get some pictures of the snow and Ava playing in it tomorrow.)

It hasn't stopped raining...

2006-11-29T20:55:00.000-06:00

This is like an ongoing Energizer Bunny commercial. It keeps raining and raining and raining. We may see some snow by early tomorrow morning... that might even look pretty after the last few dreary days.

Miss Ava had another good report from daycare. She slept for 2.5 hours and had some sort of chicken gumbo for lunch. Our daycare provider has never been shy about what to serve Ava for lunch. I think she was eating spinach there by 12 months! She had turkey, cheese and applesauce for dinner tonight.

She enjoyed the outdoor Christmas "yites" tonight. We haven't put up a tree yet but I know it would be quite facinating. Unfortunately, the ornaments may be too facinating. Thanks to the lessons learned from Ava's dear friend Lilly, we may save the tree until the week before Christmas.

Bedtime was easy tonight... no fussy and less than 20 minutes of singing ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle before she fell asleep. G'night sweetpea!

Rain, rain go away...

2006-11-28T20:36:00.000-06:00

What a crappy day today... didn't see the sun at all. I swear everytime I stepped foot outside, it started pouring. Yuck! Tomorrow looks to be the same. Winter will officially be here by Thursday morning with highs in the upper 20's/lower 30's.

Ava was at daycare all day but had a good *report* sent home. She took a 3 hour nap and just fell asleep at 8:30pm. She had a decent dinner of green beans, turkey, cheesy pasta and oranges.

She's been acting like a dryer sheet lately and has been clinging to me every chance she gets. She freaked everytime I left the room this morning; makes for a difficult time trying to get ready for work. Sesame Street and Curious George have not been keeping her attention for very long in the morning.

Not much else to report in the Passante household tonight. The Packers lost to the Seahawks last night even after the 'Hawks had 4 turnovers in the first half. At least Joe won his fantasy football game this weekend... way to go baby!

Shopping with Mommy!!!

2006-11-27T19:07:00.000-06:00

I normally have Wednesdays off but because our day care provider took today off, I had no choice but to as well. Ava and I took the opportunity to have a *girl's day out*. We headed to the new Bayshore (Mall) Town Center. It used to be an old (crappy) mall but now is a little city of many wonderful shops and eateries. It reminds me of Newport on the Levee, a place we visited a few years ago near my sister, Doreen, just south of Cincinnati. Anyway, it has so many wonderful new stores and restaurants that are new to Milwaukee. Trader Joe's is one... wow! Were we ever missing out. Their selection of food is top notch and the prices are dirt cheap. Ava enjoyed it so much she snuck an apple in the produce section when I was getting some bananas. I was about to put it back when she took a big bite out of it!

We also enjoyed some girl's time at McDonald's and Ava had a Happy Meal. She was most interested in the apple slices... she bypassed the fries, chicken nuggets and toy. I'm sure this won't last.

We were going to play outside for awhile as the unseasonable temps were still around today. By the time she got up from her nap, though, it was misty and a cold front was heading our way. I think winter will be officially here in the next few days.

Daddy just put her down for the night a few minutes ago... not much noise. I think the shopping (and excitement of Trader Joe's) wore her out!!!

(The picture with the *floating* duck was from this evening. Ava was throwing her rubber ball and ducky with daddy. I'm pleased to see she threw that with her left hand. She's learning quick. We'll be at the batting cages next week!)

New here!

2006-11-26T21:21:00.000-06:00

Yeah! The Passantes' finally have a blog!!! I hope to be able to add something everyday here but I seem to say that often with many things and never follow through. Maybe this will be different.

We had a pretty lazy day here. The Packers don't play until tomorrow night and the sorry Browns game was not on TV here (thank god) but it seemed like football was on all day loooooooooong.

Ava went with daddy to Grandma Mary's house for a few hours and I got to put up most of the Christmas decorations. I found a few boxes of *extra* decorations that I continue to put back in the attic every year. Maybe it's time I just get rid of those as I'll never put them out. When Ava got home she napped for three hours... yeah! Once awake, she was amazed by the decorations. Unfortunately, one of the Santas hanging on the wall must look pretty scary because she whines and takes three steps back everytime she sees it in the hallway. I might have to get video of that. It's pretty funny!

Joe put up lights outside a few days ago and Ava loves to run to the window when they are on. She calls them "yites". It's precious. She now says "hi" and "bye" to many objects in the house. Today she was overheard saying "hi" to santa, yites, her green beans, socks and paci.

I didn't take any pictures today but here are a few from yesterday. She was watching daddy (a.ka. Griswald) add a few strands to house. Now that we have neighbors accross the street with their decorations out, Joe sees it as competition and is "taking it to the next level" as he told me today. :)

Notice her Milwaukee Bucks outfit? Didn't bring good luck. They lost last night... what's up with our sports teams?