Yes, No, Maybe

Ava learned to nod her head up and down this past week. I had posted her head shaking side to side a few months ago when she learned to do that. Here she is still getting her signals mixed up again. I had bought a riding toy for her to use on the sidewalk but she wasn't in the mood to try it out.

My tongue is bigger than yours

Ava still likes to stick her tongue out. This time, I played the mirror image game with her where she would start and I would follow and then we would simutaneously stick our tongues out at the same time. I know, there's no dignity being a "Mom" ;-P

Shoe obsession?

I'm afraid that Ava's shoe collection is getting bigger than all of us combined. Why do they make little girls shoes so darn adorable? I mean every time I go to a sale, I have to put shoes down because I want to buy them, even if Ava doesn't fit in them yet. I bought two pairs of shoes at the yard sale but they were size 7 (she's an 4/5 right now). See what I mean? I did however find a perfectly brand new pair of Sketchers for her and they were only $ .50! I didn't even know they made Sketchers for tots. Anyway, Ava LOVES her shoes and often times goes to her shoe bag and prompts us to put her shoes on. Come to think of it, Sebastian was like that too... But when Ava likes to play with her shoes...should I be worried?? ;-)

Little teapot

I found a few things at the yard sales for Ava. I have been trying really hard not to go overboard with toy purchases. Now that we have two kids and twice the mess, I really hold back on a lot of my impulse buying. I bought mostly puzzles, books and a riding toy. I forget sometimes that Ava is still a baby/toddler, but every time I see Barbies, dress up clothes and tea sets, I want to snatch them up so we can play with the girlie stuff. Don't get me wrong, I loved playing with Sebastian but I've seen all the cars, trucks and action figures for a lifetime!

Okay, so I made one purchase that was not needed...a little teapot (there's nothing little about this teapot). So while Ava was enjoying my yard sale "find", the song "I'm a little teapot, short and stout" kept going through my mind. She literally played with that thing for over an hour. I think it had a lot to do with the dishes that came with the teapot. She LOVES to pretend play already. ;-)

The knee shuffle

While Sebastian and I were yard saling this morning, Daddy made a new discovery about his little girl...she could walk on her knees. Of course I missed it all and had to see for myself. So I had my handy dandy camera ready and it's true, she can do the knee shuffle! Here's proof.

Moon Shoe, the sequel

Of course we couldn't forget about Ava. Here's Daddy bouncing her and as you can tell by the look on her face...I think she enjoyed it.

Yard Sale Find

Sebastian and I went to the community wide yard sale this morning. We were out for almost three hours...yep, Sebastian can shop with the best of them. He actually looks forward to yard sales. Remember those moon shoes "as seen on t.v."? Well, he found them at a yard sale and HAD to have them. Here he is testing them out.

More Mother's Day Pictures

The party arriving for brunch









Sebastian making use of his napkin ;-)









Practicing the toasting technique









I love the look of old window sills even though Ava wasn't too crazy about being the model.


















Catching our reflection in the window









We passed by a coffee shop and I couldn't resist taking a picture of Ava on the table next to an open window.

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day because I got to spend it with my family. We couldn't help reflecting on last year's events. I think it takes special occassions and holidays to bring out this point. Ava was still in the orphanage and didn't know she had a family who already fell in love with her and couldn't wait to be with her. Now a whole year later, I can' believe I get to celebrate my first Mommy's day with BOTH our children. The weather turned out a lot nicer and warmer than the forecast predicted (rain). It was on the windy side but the sun felt nice once it decided to come out. We were afraid that Sebastian would miss Mother's day brunch because he had the 24-hour stomach bug and fever. We were afraid that he had strep throat again but it didn't turn out to be it. The good part was he made a quick recovery, the bad part was he passed it on to his Mom Mom. Mom Mom was home sick today but we ended up going over to visit in the afternoon.

The Telephone Game

Mom Mom and Pop Pop came to Sebastian's T-Ball game on Wed night. Yes, they did watch Sebastian bat, field and run the bases. But Mom Mom took some time to play with Ava's current obsession, the Cell Phone Game. The buttons on the phone have different ringing sounds and you must answer the phone. As you can tell from the pics, I don't think Mom Mom minded ;-)

Sign says it all

What do you mean I'm going too slow?? Maybe your'e going too fast...read the sign!

Bird's Eye View

Wow, you can really see a lot up here...if only Daddy would stop tickling me









Ava giving Daddy a squeeze on the "honker"









Okay...I give up!!

Sebastian T-Ball Professional Debut

Here are two short video clips of Sebastian batting and running to home plate. Doesn't he look like he's been doing this for a few seasons? He's only had about three games.

Ava Lieu vs. Cindy Lou

Why am I reminded of that cute little girl who plays Cindy Lou from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas? Could it be the hair style? Maybe Ava could be the "stand-in" for the next remake. ;-)

Go Giants!

Sebastian's T-Ball season started a few weeks ago and I'm finally getting around to posting the pictures. I took some pictures a while ago but they didn't come out as well. So these are from tonight's game. As the story goes, the reason Sebastian got into T-ball this year is because he didn't try it last Spring. He did soccer instead. Well this Fall, Sebastian is doing soccer instead of flag football. He was almost registered for football until Mommy found out that he was old enough for REGULAR football. Mommy let out a big GASP...because she wasn't ready for her little man to be run down by other uniformed, heavy weight tacklers. So Sebastian wanted to make his Mommy happy by signing up for soccer instead. Maybe the gasp had something to do with it but I told him maybe next year...we'll see.......hmmmmmm.

Sebastian getting some Daddy advice

















Posing session and Batter's Up!

















On the pitcher's mound and fielding



























Coming down the home stretch and the GRAND FINALE!

More Playground Time

We haven't been getting out to the playground quite as much the past two weeks. The weather is still unpredictable, mornings start out 46 degrees and afternoons end at 60-70 degrees. We try to go at least once or twice week.

Ava and Sebastian are counter-balances for the other girls.









My little man against a beautiful blue the sky.









Sebastian and Elizabeth doing what they do best. Elizabeth lives a few houses down but we rarely get to see her after school so this was a rare treat.

Hair Trial

I went ahead and bought some "ouchless" rubber bands and cute hair bows with cloth elastic ties this weekend. This morning I did a test trial on her hair to see if she could keep her new "do". Sebastian noticed right away when he came down the stairs. It tickled me to think that Sebastian does notice his sister :-) Anyway, when I went to pick up the kids at the daycare this afternoon, Ava was running around the playground with her hair flopping in the breeze and over her eyes. Oh well. Sebastian and I posed with Ava because she was such a wiggle worm this morning and I couldn't capture her to save my life.

Oh yeah, today was the first day I saw a tick this season and it was ON AVA! The teacher saw something behind her ear and pointed it out to me. I of course HATE and DETEST ticks! Out of all the insects....ticks are at the top of the list. I asked Ms. Crystal if she would be afraid to pluck the tick from Ava's ear. As it turns out, the teachers are not allowed to remove them. HUH?? What if the tick was on her all day long? Would they just wait until the parent pick up the child and meanwhile, the tick imbeds itself and inflates like a balloon!! Oh yeah, I got over my fear instantly and plucked the blood sucker off her ear....ugh!
Needless to say, I had Michael check Sebastian's head when we got home. He was clean.