Happy Halloween!

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...

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!

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.

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

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!!!!

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...

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...

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)