Designer hand me downs

My friend Darlene who is quite the talented sewer, help me convert Sebastian's old jeans into the most adorable jean shorts for Ava later. I took a bag of Sebastian's old jeans that had holes in the knees so we could make play clothes out of them for Ava. Darlene helped me with the purchase of the ribbons and iron on patches. The end results were designer quality, I couldn't believe how nice them came out. Here are two examples:


FRONT









BACK (I love the butterflies on the pockets)









FRONT (again, love the flowers on the front pockets)









BACK

Pogo Practice

Sebastian gave up his piano practice for the pogo stick today. ;-)

Another great day

The kids had another great day outdoors. We visited with Darlene, her daughter Taylor and her friend Jackie. Sebastian got to do something he hadn't done before...climb a tree and pogo. Ava got to pick up all the rocks and sticks that were in her reach. The kids played so hard that they conked out five minutes into the car ride home.

Flashback

I was taking a trip down memory lane nine months ago when we were in HCMC (Vietnam). Every once in a while I'll go back and read other people's old blog posting or updated blogs. Sometimes I will remember something I hadnt thought about like this one referenced below. I can't remember if I even posted this when we were in Vietnam last year.

I was reading Tina's blog "Journey to Vietnam" and came across her post of when she first arrived in HCMC. She was part of the last group of families to travel to Vietnam and then the adoption program got all haywired after that. Anyway, we met Tina briefly the morning she was waiting to pick up her twin daughters at the orphanage. I know I have posted pictures of the families meeting in the hotel lobby. I thought it was neat how the story tied into my "full circle" theme on my blog. I think about our group leaving for Hano while the new group just arriving in HCMC and about the experience the very same experiences we had two weeks prior. Tina's blog also mentions meeting the families before her arrival (see her July 22, 2007 posting on the link attached below). Or click on the link "Journey to Vietnam" in the right column of my blog page and scroll back to older posts.

A garden scene and a tender moment

These were taken with Michaels' digital Nikon D80 camera. The kids were playing in the front yard while we were waiting for Daddy to come home so we could go to dinner. Every once in a while Sebastian and Ava will actually interact with each other and engage each other. I was so glad I had the camera out to take these snapshots. It was a rare moment for me and I think the pictures are family album quality ;-)


I have to say, the second picture is my all time favorite. I just love how both their eyes are closed and you can actually feel the love and affection jump right out of the picture. It truly warms my heart when I look at this picture.


















I love how Sebastian is putting the flower (dandelion, aka. weed) behind Ava's ear. I didn't set them up to do this. That's why I love the "naturalness" of this picture.

Sleeping in Session

I don't have many sleeping pictures of both my kids. I think the sleep pose in her car seat was the first one I took. It cracked me up when we got home and I turned around to see if Ava was awake or not. Well, half her face was showing and I couldn't resist! I'm so glad she's not wearing the jumpsuit anymore (or the puffalump as we referred it). It was such a pain to get her out of without waking her up. Believe me, most babies hate their sleep interrupted! Who would?










Every night I go into Ava's room to cover her up and check on her. I usually find her crammed in the corner or her little hiney is pointing up to the ceiling. Luckily she has her stuffed animals for padding ;-) I wish I would have taken more pictures of Sebastian sleeping but he was a light sleeper. I use to have to tip toe out of his room praying he wouldn't hear me. So going back into his room was out of the question.

Digital Junkie

I am truly a digital junkie. I honestly think I need to go to one of those "AA" meetings for my obsession. I file all my pictures by month and there are at least 600 pics in each folder! Is that normal? When ever I think there is a possible photo opportunity, I carry at least two digital cameras with me. One fits inside my purse and the other fits in my coat pocket. Depending the scene, I have to make a split second decision on which cameral to whip out. The Casio cameral takes better qualtiy videos but you can only record about 8 minutes worth of video. Michael bought a high definition digital camcorder that fits right in your hands and you can record up to 60 minutes. But the sound and picture quality is not as good as the Casio. If you talk too loudly or too close to the camcorder, the sound gets all distorted. The HD digital camcorder is Youtube ready and there's no file conversion involved. Where as the Casio videos, I have to reformat so Youtube can recognize the file so I can upload on to my blog. See? I am the model for "techno geek"!

So back to the interesting part of this post. The subject matters are way more interesting than all the technology mumbo jumbo. I really do need help though....

Yes Sebastian...I can see your tonsils.









Ava being her usual cute self.









Ava "multi-tasking".









Popping bubbles.









Ava showing her foot.

Cool Carrots

Ava watched Mommy blow on the carrots tonight and decided to "mimick" Mommy. Little did she know that it made me totally crack up and I did everything to get her to repeat it over and over again. It didn't take much convincing because she learned something new and it kept us entertained and fed at the same time!

Life's simple pleasures

It just proves to show that you can make a game out of an empty bowl and have so much fun and giggles with it. Oh what it's like to be 14 months! As you will tell from the video clip, Mommy shot this scene while she's in the scene. Since no one else grabs a camera during golden moments like these, I am practicing to hold the camera backwards! ;-)

More Playground Adventures

Like I said, the weather has been really cooperative this week so we've taken advantage of it almost every afternoon. It's nice to take a break from life's hectic schedules and just enjoy ourselves. There were so many cute photo moments tonight that we couldn'c catch them all. Here are just a few....

KING OF THE MOUNTAIN?
















CAN YOU SAY "FUN"?











HEEEEY....I KNOW YOU!
















GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!
















LOVE THE STATIC LOOK!

Expressions

Ava must have played with the mulch for about 40 minutes tonight in those tubes. I just love the look on her face and the way the wind blows her wispy hair. I love how the camera captured that. She looks so BIG in these pictures (like a little girl) !

The family that plays together.....

The first two pictures were taken this evening. I promise I didn't spin Ava...I was way too scared to! On the other hand, I couldn't spin Sebastian fast enough. The last one is a video clip that was taken last year! Which one is your favorite? ;-)

Ava's World

Ava is discovering the great outdoors. She is so fascinated with every sight and sound. Since she can't speak yet, she points to everything and grunts. I think she's trying to say "what's that?" which comes out sounding like "DA?". Since she can't verbalize yet. she touches everything and oh yeah, puts everything in her mouth. Grass, gravel, dirt, mulch, you name it. She's had it in her mouth at one point or another. I think her middle name should have been Hoover.




Ava mistook a dried up earthworm on the sidewalk for a twig and was about to pick it up until Mom intervened ;-)












(Note the twig in her mouth)













Zoom in this picture. Notice the mulch and dirt around and in her mouth? That girl is obsessed with mulch on the playgrounds. She will play with it for 20 min. She has had house dirt in her mouth from my houseplants as well. Who knows, maybe she's into that organic stuff.

Toddler Adventures

Now that the weather is starting to get nicer, we've been spending more and more time outdoors. We try to get out for a walk after dinner or go to the playground.

The first video clip was taken on Monday night during Sebastian's tball practice. It was a little chilly out so I had to bundle Ava up. Ava got to experience her first playground and first swing ride.







The second video clip was taken on Saturday afternoon. I purchased a Fisher Price slide (I think it's FP) from the children's sale on Friday night. It is the very same slide Sebastian had when he was a tot. I think that every back yard has one of these slides if you have a toddler on the premises.

Princess in the making?

I'm not sure where Ava gets it from but she is showing the signs of becoming a potential "princess". Of course who better to show her the ways than "PrincessTrainer"...aka Aunt June (Mary's Mom). This is a picture of Ava trying on Mary's sequin slippers back in March. Ava has had an obsession with shoes lately. The other day we were shopping at The Children's Place. They had a great sale on summer dresses and attire. Ava saw Grandmom walking around with these adorable summer sandals and Ava sat down on the floor and wanted to take her shoes off. I wish I had my camera at the time because it was so cute. She also loved the huge bin of socks on sale for $1 each. She kept leaning in the bin and pulling all the socks out. Again, I wish I would have had my video camera. Anyway, she's becoming quite the junior shopper ;-) I attached a picture of Ava on the right because the outfit reminds me of a little ballerina (including her shiny black patent shoes).

In all her cuteness

Just a few more pics of Ava-pie. I really can't get enough of her. I love how she still crosses her feet. She won't be doing that much longer and I am really in denial about the whole idea. It's getting late in blog land (12:14 a.m.) so I'm logging off for the night!

It's a Family Affair

Sebastian and Daddy had their first piano lesson last weekend. No, we are not the Von Trappe family nor do we want to be. But Sebastian is at a good age to start a musical instrument and Daddy wants to learn how to read music sheets so it will perhaps help him expand his acoustical hobby.

Ava and Daddy's Recital



Sebastian's Recital with Ava upstaging the show....

I spy....Ava!

My son's old daycare had this half window where you could peer into the room to see the toddler's activities (and spy on your kids). I always wondered about those video cameras that some daycare have where you could check on your child through the internet and computer. Some people say it's an invasion of privacy. But boy do I wish I could be a fly on the wall at my children's daycare. I sometimes sit at work and wonder what Ava is doing right now. So I've taken my digital recorder into the daycare and hide behind the wall so Ava doesn't see me and try to record her for a few minutes. Unfortunately, my recordings usually lasted only 30 seconds before Ava saw me and then I would have to put down the camera. Last week, I was able to shoot a two minute video clip of Ava in her daily environment. Note the little boy in the red shirt about 32 seconds into the video....he's trying to tell Ava that her Mommy is standing at the door. That is another reason why you can't get away with spying on them for very long. The toddlers usually swarm around the doorway, behind the baby gate, staring at the parent who is picking up their child. They look like a herd of little lambs ;-)

I copied text from Angela's blog site "Little Baby Hunter" because she wrote about stuff I could really relate to. You can refer to Angela's blog site under "My Favorite Vietnam Blogs" on the right side of my blog. The two subjects below describe Ava's personality to a "T". I even commented on Angela's blogs that I thought Chloe and Ava had a LOT of similarities ;-)

Food Passion

The girl LOVES food. Not baby food so much, but people food. And if she sees it, she thinks she has to have it. And the child will SCREAM until she gets it. And scream unless she CONSTANTLY gets it. Almost a full out temper tantrum. Like if she doesn't get it, she'll start flailing her arms and legs and everything. The problem is that usually it's my food. So if I try to eat it, it doesn't make her happy. And this goes well beyond the typical I'm hungry cry. She's not even hungry a lot of the time, she just wants it. And wants nobody else to get it. It's the kind of cry where it starts out as kind of grunt, then when she doesn't get the food, it turns into an ear piercing scream. Like she knows that I will give her a mouth full just to quiet her down.


I will also add that Ava HATES being in her highchair, especially when the food runs out. I usually try to get her fed first only because I don't want her to eat later and then have to be rushed upstairs for bath. But sometimes I can't get her fed before we sit down to eat and then I have to rush through my plate because I'm afraid she'll finish before I do and then throw a fit because she sees that we are still eating. Thank goodness I'm not alone in this!

Dependencies

First, let me start by saying that I think Chloe is perfect. But I have to admit, she's got some habits that absolutely drive me nuts.

-This is something that I really don't know what to do about. It's the only thing that I can't just laugh off. Chloe gets hysterical when she's in a car seat in a car with me. It's not your typical cry-for-a-few-minutes-then-I'm-ok. She will cry the WHOLE time. I mean SCREAM. So we only go anywhere when be absolutely have to as it drives me crazy. Actually having to go somewhere with her stresses me out. I actually plan my days around figuring out how I can do the the least amount of driving as possible. The result is that we spend very little time away from the house. Which sucks because it's nice to be able to get out sometimes. But I'm hoping that in time this will pass.

-Chloe doesn't like for me to move. It instantly makes her cry. At first I was going to say that she doesn't like for me to leave the room, or her line of sight, but really that's not even accurate. A lot of times I can't even move from a sitting to standing position without her starting to cry. Now if she notices that I'm not going anywhere, she'll stop crying after a few seconds. But still. I hate that she gets so sad so easily.

Oh my gosh, this is Ava Monday through Friday! Every afternoon I pick up Ava and Sebastian from the daycare after work, take them home, get them something to drink or a snack, go upstairs to get my evening attire on, go downstairs and TRY to get dinner prepared, all the while having a 14 month on my trail screaming and crying because I don't have her attached to my hip. It has become the way of life the past three months.

Dress up "practice"

I am trying to show Ava how to play "dress up". I bought her this cute hat and matching pocket book at the Mom's Sale. It is very hard to keep the hat on her because as you know, she HATES anything on her head. I found this cute sun hat at the sale and it actually has a chin strap with velcro. I tried it on her at the sale and she automatically went for the hat, trying to pull it off and she COULDN'T! But that will be another story I'm sure. Back to the hat and purse. As you can see, the hat did not stay on her head very long. In fact, I think she thought the hat made a better shopping basket then what it's meant for.