ok so I've been behind on posts lately. it's hard (as I'm sure most all mom's know, especially those who work) to keep everything juggled and up to speed 24/7.
so my priorities are as follows:

#1) daughter & husband
#2) feeding & clothing said family members
#3) bills {this one we are finally getting a hold of...after nearly 3 years of marriage...}
#4) dishes {since I can't feed them w/out clean dishes. well, that's not true. but it sure does make it easier}
#5) laundry {since being fed is more important than having every piece of laundry clean all the time. and I just don't think that's even possible.}
#6) personal hygene {this might be a tie for #4 or #5, it really just depends on the day}.
#7 blog/read/watch movies {these are all pending that the above get done. sometimes #7 gets done even if #3-6 don't, but mostly it's last on the list}

so, those are my reasons for not being caught up. but I WILL get better. I will. someday. when I've mastered all of the above. My day will come. oh yeah--and working full time fits in there somewhere. probably it fits in the parenthesis of why some of them don't get done.

But, we have started recycling! so we're slowly going green. I said S-L-O-W-L-Y. and since I've started making aves' baby food, I feel like we do a few things right. at least it's a step in the right direction. we still drive two gas guzzler cars though, we still buy disposable diapers, and we still spend way too much money on fast food. so we are FAR from with it. but baby steps.

our baby, not even 6 months of age, has a TOOTH! that's right. a tooth. and another on the verge of breakthru any day now.

what's next, crawling?!? we better finish putting up that baby gate that's been half up for over a week now...

the tooth that's coming thru is on the bottom, one of the middle ones. it's not picture quality yet, but once that baby pops up and reveals its pearly white you better believe we'll post some photos!!!

Ava got some TLC yesterday from her little boy cousins, Sam and Joel. It's hard to believe that her and Joel are only 1 year apart, and yet he's so big and it's just flown by!!! I know they have to grow up, but it doesn't HAVE to go by that fast...does it?!?

first things first. The jury was out on the homemade sweet potatoes, and the verdict is...

I THINK it was skepticism at first, and then I think she decided she likes it!

Plan A for this afternoon was to go to the pool with some friends. She was all ready in her swimsuit and cover up!

and then...it started POURING!!!

needless to say all parties were pretty bummed!!

Plan B: So we made good use of our time. Me, trying my hand at homemade applesauce, bananas and greenbeans for her

ava trying her hardest to get her paci back in her mouth all by herself

and after all that hardwork comes a well-deserved Sunday afternoon nap!

it's moments like this that make being a mommy so fun. it's all part of a big 'ole plan. and I know we can only see our little part of it, but I sure do love the part we've been given!

well, here it is. my very first attempt at homemade baby food. sweet potatoes; aka yams.
3 baked sweet potatoes + water to suit + mini food processor = ava's dinner for the next however long 2 ice cube trays full lasts. we're slowly starting her on solid foods. green beans were NOT a hit. sweet potatoes were however. we'll see if my version meets the challenge of the loved Gerber brand. (if you do this at home be sure to cover the trays before freezing; once frozen, pop out and put in freezer bag & label; the website says it should only stay in the freezer for about a month.)

we started her on sweet potatoes a few days ago and her body seems to be liking them just fine. so we added an avocado to her dinner tonight. she wasn't a fan at first, but avocado covered in sweet potatoes seemed to do the trick!

Here are a few more things I'm going to try my hand at. the website where I found some good recipies is http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. They also give charts for what the typical baby's body can handle and when (excluding any allergies that a baby might have). so Ava's diet for 4-6 months consists right now of breast milk, formula, baby cereal, sweet potatoes and avocado. but we'll soon be adding: homemade applesauce; bananas; greenbeans (in some form to where she will eat them...that might entail coating them with sweet potatoes); more avocado; and acorn / butternut squash. she's by far the healthiest eater in our house.

and, this was my exciting find at the store:

for all the fresh food we'll be feeding to our daughter (boiled down of course and pureed to it's smoothest form) and for all our fresh-food-eating in the future. I'm hoping Ava's diet rubs off on us...but I'm not holding my breath.

for the record, so we never forget these sleep-filled nights...

Ava has slept thru the night the past two nights, and for the past three nights we have laid her in her crib completely awake with her paci and her glowworm, left the room, and she has gone to sleep on her own. this is a bitter/sweet time for sam and me. she doesn't need us to rock her to sleep anymore :( BUT she doesn't need us to rock her to sleep anymore! :) (knock on wood, knock knock knock) that this continues. I didn't think Aves was much of a pacifier-sucker until now...

these seem to make her so happy. so - kuddos to you Jules. Ava, in kind, loves her bipper. not to the extent that you do...YET...but seeing as how we want to do anything that makes our baby girl happy, her day shall surely come.

inspirational thought for the morning:

I heard this on klove the other morning. Lisa Williams was talking about a conversation with one of the singers from 3rd Day. She asked him how he handles being a star in the Christian music world. His reply was something like this:

there are no stars when it comes to Christians. we are more like moons. there is one Sun and we are here to reflect his light as best we can.

I just thought that was so appropriate for what we should apply in our lives. if we all would just be moons to the Son and not focus on ourselves but consume ourselves with reflecting HIM, life would be the way it should be and we would be that much closer to living up to why we were created in the first place.

we tested out the baby 1st steps green beans. I think it's going to take some getting used to...

big plans for this weekend! my cousin Becky is graduating from MU and me, aves and my mom are going down for the big celebration. CONGRATULATIONS BECK!

Ava has changed a lot since you have seen her last. thanks again for bringing us chili that first week when we had her. You are so sweet. Can't wait to see you and your family tomorrow!!!!!

well, we tried. But little Rocky went home to be with his family in heaven last night. at least he died having been dry, warm, comfortable, and hopefully full from the food we fed him. bye little rocky.

Here is a nicer video. It's of Ava eating cereal. Sam & I think she is very funny. I am fully aware that since this isn't anybody else's child you might find this very lame. but we love it. especially the part when she gets impatient inbetween bites and sternly yells at me.

.

Rocky our sparkling sparrow

This is Rocky:

Sam found Rocky today laying on our front porch. We have one little tree in the front yard and it holds no nest. So he brought him inside and put him in a box and added some grass to make it homey.

A friend at work said her mom IS mother nature and she suggested feeding him with a 1cc dropper of cat food diluted in water and giving him that liquid. So we did that. (see video below)

(I got better at feeding him thru-out the night...at first I had a little difficulty getting it in his mouth. But we got it.)

We called our vet, they referred us to a wild animal care lady. She asked what the bird looked like, specificall it's beak, and determined that it was some sort of sparrow with sparkling in the name of it. However, its not native to Missouri so she couldn't take it in to her habitat. Sam told her where he found it, and she suggested checking the gutters for its nest. (we should have thought about that...) and VOILA!


sure enough there were sticks and grass that looked like a nest was sort of meant to be there (you can't see them in the picture, but they were there). so, being the rehabilitators that we are, we put rocky back where he belongs. We also heard what sounded like several more baby chicks chirpping away. they sounded like they were comung from very close to the gutter, so we gently scooted Rocky closer to his family.

(spoiler: story gets sad now)

We came inside, having decided to let nature take its course, for whatever that entailed. Feeling like helped Rocky in one way or another, we at least got him up off of the cold, wet concrete and he could hear the sweet chirpings of his siblings. We were about to go on with the rest of our night: sam going to the gym, me and aves going shopping while he did so. a chore before we leave is taking Rex back outside so he doesn't go in the house. It rained while we were inside though, and Rocky didn't stay where we thought he would. Rocky took a rollercoaster ride right down the shoot of our gutter. We were wrong about where his siblings were. Though we know they are somehwere near the gutter, they must be in our attick or imbedded in the roof or something. because Sam went outside and there was rocky :( still alive, but it was the saddest scene, on his back with gutter water dripping on him.

I brought him back inside. I'm not nieve, I know the chances are super slim. But if I were that bird, I sure as heck would rather be in a soft, dry blanket under a lamp rather than the cold, wet rocks with water dripping on me. Alive or dead.

Rocky is still alive, I fed him some more cat-food-liquid and he seemed to chirp up every once in a while. We shall see.

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.

Pirate Jules with a blair witch style video-ing at the end

also from sunday...

mother's day was Sunday and it was celebrated joyfully. Sam took me to breakfast at my FAVORITE place, the Big Biscuit. mmmm. then we spent time with both sets of parents, and of course, our own daughter. I actually celebrated mother's day last year for fun, since I was pregnant and counted it. some people do, some people don't. I do.

Sam remembered like the great dad that he is that it was mother's day. (not to mention that i forewarned him several days in advance, JUST to be sure.) and he was so sweet, he printed up 4 black & white photos of me and ava when she was first born and framed them for me.

here are some memories from sunday...

C, A & J

Ava intent with this poor bunny's ear...

my mom, me, and my daughter: 3 generations

I love being ava's mommy

WE LOVE CEREAL!!!

Ava slept from 8:30pm-6:00am last night = 9 1/2 hours solid! (lately she's been waking up around 3am give or take an hour for eating). We have started giving her cereal yesterday and today in the evening. Tonight will be a test (knock on wood!!) to see if this is the secret. But we are loving it.

2nd-ly: we made a visit to a new store tonight for some more awesome tights for little aves. It's in downtown Lee's Summit called Happy Bottomus. They're a Christian family-owned store for babies, mothers (nursing and other), and has tons of the natural toys/shoes/clothes/diapers (cloth), and best of all...TIGHTS! We got 3 pair. I can't stop myself. We also got Ava a little 3 page cloth picture album that she can play with. I really want to go back and get some of the wooden toys. but, another day another dollar. So - my opinion - all mom's should make a visit, either on line or in person. They're open until 6pm on weekdays.

A few things I've learned this week, been reminded of, and am utterly and completely grateful for...

1. (learned) that I have not mastered the skill of walking in heals. I own 1 pair. they're black, open toe, and backless. any time I need to wear heals, those are my crown jewels. and the only reason I own them is because we were a little early for our West Wing Tour and there was a sign right in front that said NO FLIP FLOPS. I should've known better, but that's how I got those.

2. (learned) that my child, my baby girl, is now wearing size 2 diapers, eats cereal now like a champ, and gets the joke now that SHE is the reason we laugh so much. She now joins in.

3. (learned) that thru my husband and I both getting new jobs (at least for the time being) God is stretching us. I've always heard the term and in times past have though whew, glad that's not me. But now I AM glad it's me. He's slowly allowing me to step back and sort of see what he's doing with our lives and that this puzzle we call our life, he really is putting the pieces together for us in more complete ways then we even know how to ask for. God is good. Better than good. Great.

4. (reminded) that even a 5 month old has a heart of gold and loves her mommy and daddy with all of it. she hugs, she kisses, and she sucks on my nose.

5. (reminded) of how much I adore her and her little dimples.

6. (utterly grateful) for all of the above AND below...

thank you God.

5 months (yesterday)

little aves...


these 5 months have flown by so fast. while trying to live up every minute of it, it still seems ilke it's gone before we know it. but you're so great and we don't know what we would do without you. happy 5 months sweetheart...1 day late...