My kids are fantastic, and I'm not just saying that!

We have settled in well to life with two kids. Ava and Ian are spectacular. Ava loves her little brother very much. Ian is sleeping well for the most part, and is growing exceptionally fast. Ian is now 11 weeks old and Ava is 2 1/2. Here's a picture from a few weeks ago, and recent one to compare.

October 18th

December 9th

Status quo

We are still holding steady at 38 weeks. No more progression of labor, and actually I'm feeling pretty good. If everything stays the same, we will have the baby on Wednesday. (!!!)

Baby books and bed rest

I am 37.2 weeks pregnant, and back on bed rest. Monday I was dilated to 2cm and contracting, so off my feet to keep Ian in for at least another week. So far so good. Less contractions, although definite engagement happening. He's ready.

Last week I was working on Ian's baby book and updating Ava's. There's a section in each to document current events, important news, prices, etc. I remember when I filled out Ava's book that it was very difficult to find information to include that was not dire or depressing....the war in Iraq, fuel prices, the climate crisis, just to name a few. I find myself in the same predicament with Ian's book, if not worse. The death, pain, suffering, financial burden of the unjust Iraq war on not only the US but the entire world, the lack of urgency or seriousness by conservative lawmakers towards the environmental devastation that is happening, mostly by our own fault, around the globe, the world's dependency on polluting, expensive fossil fuels when the technology exists for clean, non-violent, American-produced wind and solar fuels, the climate of fear perpetuated by the president as a means to his own agenda, etc. etc. etc. Oh yes, and while we're at it, why don't we (that's you and me) give $10,000 per tax payer to the greedy Wall Street execs who didn't do business fairly and now say that their mistakes will create another depression, if we don't bail them out and let them continue to be fat cats. Isn't the writing on the wall? How dumb are we to sit back and continue to let this happen to ourselves?

All this makes me think, what will it be like when my children are grown and expecting little ones of their own? It's frightening. What kind of a world, of a country, will they inherit from us? For my children, for your children, it has to stop. Please join together to make it stop.

Portlanders - Check this out

From my musically-gifted dear friend Naomi and her group, Rising Violet:

This Saturday, September 6 – the Rising Violet trio will perform at the swanky Heathman Hotel Jazz Lounge.

Naomi LaViolette – piano and vocals
Bill Athens – bass
Brandy Keehn – drums

The Heathman Hotel Jazz Lounge, 1001 SW Broadway @ Salmon, Portland
8 pm - Midnight
No cover

For those of you who like to plan ahead – Rising Violet will perform at the Heathman the first Saturday of the month through the end of the year!

For more info, visit www.risingviolet.com.

Mommy's silly little girl

Toddlerhood is so entertaining. Ava'a full of energy and enthusiasm for helping. Here we are baking banana bread together, one of her favorite snacks. Notice her little apron. It was made for me by my Grandma Loraine when I was a little girl and I've been keeping it all this time for Ava. She wants to help with everything I do. It's great! She is very independent and wants to try everything herself. I can hardly wait until she is old enough to vacuum! And we all know how much she loves the vacuum!

Here we are getting ready to go for a walk with the wagon. Unfortunately, mommy is now 29 weeks pregnant with baby Ian, and although my belly is still pretty small, huffing around the neighborhood with the wagon is a little much for me in 100+ degree weather and high humidity! In this picture, we were going out for a walk at about 7:30am. She snacked on flax and blueberry waffles while enjoying the scenery of the neighborhood.

Ahhh, the tupperware cabinet. Plenty of fun stuff in there! She is great at entertaining herself in the kitchen while I'm cooking or cleaning up.

And my little one is pretty good these days at putting on her own accessories - shoes, sunglasses and, of course, any of mommy's jewelry she can get her hands on!

2nd-time-around-mother excuses

I used to be so diligently organized, but now it's a different story. But I'm making amends. I noticed that I had not printed out any photos (well, pretty much at least) from the past year. Ava's photo album was a little out of date. I've only taken one belly photo of baby Ian. Here I am at 20-ish weeks.



I've also uploaded some new-ish pics at Flickr. Photos include Ava's birthday party, as well as a hot day at the local spray park. Yes, she is SUPER cute in her swimsuit!

School....with mommy

Two weeks ago, we spent the week at VBS at our church. I volunteered to head up the nursery with a friend of mine. We had a really great time. We had 20+ kids under the age of 3, but had plenty of activities and crafts to keep them entertained and happy. Ava had a fantastic time, especially since her favorite buddy Kaden was there to play with. She loved going to "school" everyday, so much in fact that we are considering a pre-school/mother's day out program this fall (only a half day twice a week). Check out pictures of VBS fun at Flickr.

Future soccer player

We are 24 weeks pregnant. I say "we" because little Ian (yes, we decided to name him Ian!) is our baby. I'm trying to instill in Ava that taking care of the new baby is a team effort and she gets to help in every aspect - bathing, snuggling, loving and nursing. It's already such a joy to see her embrace the concept of a little brother. She enjoys patting my belly, giving it hugs and kisses and saying hello to baby. And does this little boy like to kick! I've felt him since VERY early, but it's fun to see the movements from the outside and feel the differentiation between different baby parts as they dance inside my belly.

Ava continues to amaze and entertain us daily. Toddlerhood is full of precious and also silly moments....too many to describe. She is talking so well, putting 2-3 words together and comprehending even detailed instructions. Her and I are so attune to each other and are so closely bonded, even while she is becoming more independent than ever. I'm so deeply in love with her.

Did I mention Ava loves Mexican food?

Ava's new buddy

Rock-a-bye

So many excuses why I haven't added any new info here lately. Ava's turning 2, mom and dad getting settled, busy, busy, etc., etc. But the real reason is that my "free time" (I use the term VERY loosely, as free time usually constitutes dishes or other household work) at night is slowly dwindling away. I used to get an hour or two after Ava would go to bed before I would head off to sleep, but these days it's not untypical for me to fall asleep on the floor next to her bed while I'm waiting for her to drift off to sleepyland, only to awaken late at night and stumble into bed myself. Once weaning was fully intact, sleep times became a bit more of a drawn-out event. Nursing my child to sleep was a quick and predictable process, leaving me plenty of "me time" (again, me time usually translates into more stuff I do to keep the house running... or at the very least checking email, which I still have many replies that need to be written!). Bed time now takes a bit longer as there is much more reading and snuggling involved, NOT THAT I MIND ONE BIT. In fact, I love it. I dread the day when Miss Independent doesn't want mommy that close. And now since the weaning is a few months behind us, I was safely able to bring the rocking chair back into her room (before, it was too much of a reminder of "nursey-bys", aka nursing to sleep). So tonight, for the first time in a very long time, Ava drifted to sleep in my arms while being rocked in our special chair. She's so big I can barely cradle her in my arms without her entire bottom half hanging over the edge. My belly's already significantly protruding, making long-term rocking a bit difficult, but fortunately she was out in just a few minutes. It was a very precious moment that made my heart flutter. I can't imagine holding my son in that chair. I can't imagine any child except Ava. But then again motherhood seemed quite surreal in the beginning and now my baby is quickly blossoming into a little girl. Someone please slow down the clock.

Little piggies

These little piggies can hardly keep their shoes on these days.
Here is Ava enjoying lunch at Grandma's, where she happily runs around barefooted,
chasing after the puppy Brady and seeing what she can get into to explore!
Hurray for Grandma's house!

Puppy love

Ava's new favorite word....PUPPY! Here is mom and dad's new little puppy, Brady. Ava, of course, adores him. They are too cute together. She especially likes his little doggy bed and tried to take a nap in there today. Everybody say "Awwwww!"

Sweet treat

Ava enjoyed sharing her first ice cream cone with mommy (and a little from grandpa too!) this afternoon. Dad used to take me to Baskin Robins for a treat when I was a kid. Lucky for me my dad likes ice cream so much! So to keep the tradition going, we took Ava for a scoop today. Big fun!

THANK YOU!

Mom, Jenny & Sony, Jose, Cindy, Betty & Neil, Lori and Shelby.....

Thank you so much for your donations to our Relay for Life efforts. Your kindness and generosity means so much to me. I'm getting closer to my goal! And thank you to everyone that has pledged their prayers and support for our family. I am so grateful.

Relay For Life

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=5271757&fr_id=6311&pg=personal

Just a reminder, I'm in the last few days of fundraising for the upcoming Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society. If you can spare a few dollars to help me reach my goal, click the link above and follow the instructions to make a donation online. Thank you!

Dad arrives Saturday at noon! Lots of updates and pictures to follow!

Chat with us!

Here are Ava and I, just taken a second ago, sitting at our laptop using our new Web cam. We were chatting with Auntie Jenny using Skype (although the sound connection was BAD!). If anyone wants to chat on Web cam, or has advice on reliable VOIP, let me know!

Baby Baby!

Here he/she is..... Due October 17th.
Some of you may have heard a little about my experience early on. The hcg levels in my blood dropped A LOT, indicating that I was going to have a miscarriage. At 6 weeks, I started spotting and my OB was unable to detect an embryo via ultrasound. He said I most likely had a blighted ovum, when the fertilized egg implants and a sack grows, but no baby grows inside. By 8 weeks my levels were back up to normal and we saw a healthy baby on ultrasound. GO FIGURE!
Here is my little one at 12 weeks. I am happy and grateful, more than words can say.

Easter!

Easter is big fun!

Ava was SQUIRMY all through mass, but was entertained by her buddies Trish (her babysitter), AJ (her favorite little buddy), and the entire Boyle family who sat behind us. She was making quite a racket in her new "clappy" shoes. We tried to make a quiet exit during the homily, but I think everyone heard us!

The rest of the afternoon was spend with Shelby and Selso. Ava fell asleep during dinner, but was wide awake and full of energy during her "photo shoot" with Selso, an amazing photographer. See all the pics at Photobucket!

We are weaned!

At times I thought this day would never come. We made it almost 22 months. My little nursling is a nursling no more. We were down to only 2 nursing sessions a day, but with a little effort, we dropped these last 2 and we're mommy-milk free. She still says milk when I'm changing and she catches a glimpse of a breast, which I find pretty funny, but I've been reminding her that it's all gone now, so she drinks her milk from a cup. When I embarked on this breastfeeding journey when Ava was born, I had my own (mis)conceptions of nursing, but I always felt strongly that it was something I wanted to do. And boy did I have to work hard at it in the beginning...wincing in pain and trying not to let my little precious baby see my discomfort. Cracked nipples, engorged breast, pumping malfunctions, galactocele (lactating cyst). But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I'm very proud of the quality and length of our nursing relationship and the closeness and relaxation it imparted to us.

Bunny hop

Today Ava and I went to an Easter party. She had a great time watching all the crazy kids, making crafts (or helping mama make the crafts!) and hunting for eggs. Here she is in her cute bunny ears.

And here's a bonus picture of her napping last weekend. It's usually pretty hard to see her face amidst the mass of messy hair when she's asleep!

Thanks Auntie Shelby!

Ava was treated to almost a full weekend of fun with "Auntie" Shelby. In fact, she barely wanted anything to do with mommy! It was all about Shelby! It's really fun to see Ava so happy and comfortable with her. She was giving her kisses and snuggling her head on her shoulder. It was so adorable.

Stealing mommy's shoes...

Happy happy, joy joy

She's so domestic, she even loves helping with the laundry....although her favorite part is playing inside the basket!

Just a BRIEF note

Hee hee hee. I couldn't resist. Check out Ava sportin' some briefs! Her first pair! They're kind of like girly versions of boys briefs.... so cute. And any chance she gets she's into my shoes and flopping around the house in them. I'm suprised how proficient she is at walking in high heels too!
Today it was gorgeous here...sunny and in the 70's. After mass we took her down to the harbor district for lunch and walking along the waterfront. Boy oh boy does she love to be outside. We also went for 2 walks in the afternoon. Tank top weather if you can believe it.

No Grandpa in Texas this week....

I'm sad to report that the move is not going to happen at this time. The buyers for mom and dad's house have had to back out of the deal, because the buyers of their house lost their financing. So that means that mom and dad have had to back out of the deal on the house here in Texas. It's really a shame, but hopefully they will have another contract soon, one that won't fall apart in the end. Unfortunately, it's just one of the things that can happen in real estate, especially in such a delicate market as this. Mom is going to try to get her job back, all the plane tickets have been suspended, and dad will be getting his caregiver back. We'll be patient and remember that what matters most is that dad is still doing ok. Everything will fall into place when the time is right.

Little helper

Cold Days

It's been in the 30's here, so we've been having fun stay-home days. See how Ava entertains herself....this was after she helped with the laundry of course!

And observe what happens at dinner time when Ava resists any sort of nap all day long....


Could barely keep herself awake long enough to finish her TVP mock chick'n nuggets (slathered in ketchup) and whole wheat macaroni and veggies. What a champ.

Apple, agua, mom, Bo...

Here's a little sample of Ava's favorite words:

Vacuum (of course)
Bo
Mom
Agua
Apple
Please
There she is!
Hello
Woof

List of what she understands: EVERYTHING

It's amazing that I can tell her to do something and she does it. She seems to completely understand everything I say to her. She follows commands really well. In fact, she already has chores that she eagerly does! She unloads all the silverware from the dishwasher (yes, I've been using the dishwasher because it's a great activity for her and she loves it!) and plops it in the right drawer, she helps me put away towels and she helps me fold the laundry. And of course, she is right by my side whenever I vacuum or sweep. What a little helper!

In other news, she is using the potty daily and looks forward to getting a sticker after each successful potty, she is sleeping like a champ and getting pretty close to being totally weaned. Her favorite foods right now are oatmeal, blueberries, cheese, chicken, bean broth, tortilla, granola bars, yogurt, apples, peanut butter, pasta, and crackers. Can you tell I'm a proud mama?!

Baby Molly!

I just got word (via cell-to-land-line text message) that baby Molly has arrived! Congratulations Lucy, Andrew, Carter and the rest of the Lankford family!

Vacuum!

Just for fun....

Ava loves vacuums.....she loves saying "vacuum," she loves following me around when I vacuum, she loved identifying them in the store and in the Sunday ads. But most of all, she loves playing with her very own Ava-sized vacuum from cousin Linda!