Thursday, September 27, 2007

Lil' Miss Independent....

Ava has decided she no longer needs Mommy or Daddy's help in the pool - she can do it ALL herself! She has embraced the idea of floating in a swim ring, so that she can go wherever she wants, including jumping off the side over and over again all by herself!! It is so cute to watch, but sad to admit, there goes one more thing she can do without help. What happened to our baby?!!



We are trying our best to squeeze every last little bit out of the summer before we close up the pool for good this fall. It has definitely been fun spending the weekends lounging in the sun and enjoying the water. This is the joy that is the midwest though - the four seasons! But I'll gladly close the pool, with hopes of a crisp fall, leaves turning, and a snowy White Christmas too - I wouldn't trade that for anything!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

A "womb" with a view....

And so the planning, and purchasing has begun!

Baby Aidan got a major delivery today - his entire bedroom set of furniture was delivered! How something so little can provoke purses and wallets to open (and empty) so quickly, I will never know, but it is SO beautiful and I'm happy it is all finally here!


We had a fairly easy decision to make - what color wood, and what style in general - and that was it. We learned after several months of nursery furniture shopping when expecting Ava, exactly what we wanted out of childrens' furniture.... something durable, well-built, classic styling, and "non-babyish" design that will grow with them for several years.
My pet peeve among ALL pet peeves about baby products (and trust me, I have a lot!) is the furniture that is sold with a "convertible" crib, that turns into a full size bed, but the matching dresser has a telltale raised side that screams "CHANGING PAD GOES HERE!" Sooooo babyish! I can't stand that. Once they are to the point of sleeping in a full size bed, I surely hope the need for a changing pad is no longer. Hence my furniture dilemma.
This furniture met all of our high expectations - the dresser looks like a normal dresser, the chest of drawers looks like a normal chest of drawers. And best of all, it also does turn into a full size bed. Perfect! I'm hoping the next furniture item I'm buying for Aidan is his dorm room loft for college! Seriously.
It is a black wood, sort of "antique-y" with rubbed, distressed edges, smooth lines, and simple hardware. Very "boy" to me as well, which I love. And we are doing the room in a nautical theme... sailboats and shades of navy and slate blue. I can't wait until the hard work is over, and I'm posting pictures of the finished product!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Snotty noses and lizzard tails...

Have you noticed how attached toddlers get to certain things? I never realized the magnitude of this, but at two years old, children latch on to some things that adults would never expect them to! Take bedtime, for example. Ava is getting to be so much of a packrat when it is time for bed, I'm afraid there will barely be any room left in her crib for her to sleep! You never know what it is she may ask for, but when a good nights' sleep is what is up for consideration, it is much easier to make the princess happy than to deny her sleeping with a few toys!

Lately, her favorites are becoming more predictable. The normal ones - Moe (an increasingly-ragged stuffed monkey she adores!), Blankie (her soft yellow blanket with the satin trim), and an Elmo story book or two. But then there are the not-so-normal favorites - Shrek and Nemo (two empty Pez dispensers), a small yellow duck keychain that quacks when you push a button, and every night, at least one pair of Crocs shoes!


Being the sleep-deprived working parents we are, we don't put up a fight, and she rewards us with a blissful night of sound sleep. Its just funny to see her asleep in that crib, surrounded by all these things that are so important to her, but so comical to us!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Our beach bum!


Just a quick picture of Ava from "Water Day" taken at her school!