Digging some dirt

I had lots of help this year digging up my garden to get ready for planting. Ava enjoyed digging up dirt with a shovel and dumping it into a bucket until she discovered how much more fun it was to use her hands. I agree! This Iowa dirt is amazing. Dark, rich, full of worms, and has a smell that must bring out our historical beginnings somewhere in our brains. It just makes me want to work hard and feel pride in my "crop" (I put that in quotations because my mini garden, that tends to fade away before I even reap its benefits, is no where near a crop).

My 80 year old neighbor, Gail, must have been keeping a watchful eye on us, and got sick of watching us take our sweet time. He came out and helped me pull up a ton of weeds and trees that were near impossible to dig out. So yes, that's right, an 80 year old showed me up in my own garden. Now I owe him a homemade cherry pie once all our cherries ripen up...and good lord, that tree is FULL of cherries this year.

I have big hopes for my garden this year since Ava is old enough to help and play on her own (this helps to get some stuff done without interruption). The lettuce is in, the eggplant is in, and the strawberries are blooming (well, what's left of them). Summer is right around the corner, I can smell it.

*Ava was quit interested in those worms*

Funny things Ava does to make me laugh as two approaches

**Holds up one finger when she wants "one" more book or "one" more cartoon and gives us her little cute blue eyed look.
**Says she has dreams "bout cookies".
**Opened her bag of rock crayons and said "candy" and tried to eat it. When I said no, she looked at it again and said "poopie" and dropped a few into her potty.
**On the way home from the store, where a dog kept hanging around her outside, she said "more dog" the ENTIRE trip home. Then changed it up a bit after she found a little bouncy ball in the car..."more dog, ball", "Ava, do you want to give the dog your ball?", "Yeah!".
** I believe she is peeing in her potty a little at a time to get "two mm" (that's two m & m's...you see where she is going with this, right!?)
**Called for me frantically one morning from her crib to show me she could put two fingers up for "tttwwwooo"
**Chants "Moooooommmmmyyyyy" at nap time and bedtime to see if she can get me to come in(lucky for me I'm smarter than her for the moment).
**Finishes all the sentences in books, pretends she doesn't know how to talk, hates when I sing unless it is through the monitor (no kidding, she wants me to go to her room while she listens to me sing through the monitor she has downstairs), HAS to pick out her daily outfit, LOVES walking around in my colorful shoes with a beach hat on, hides behind something and yells "BOO" when she is pooping in her pants. So many I'm sure I'm forgetting to write down, but you get the picture.

As Ava approaches her second birthday, I am enjoying every little change in behavior, every new word that just pops out, and the fantastic personality which keeps developing into this perfect little girl...well not perfect (none of us are), but cute, sweet, and full of hugs and kisses (especially when she wants something). My favorite thing to do at night before I fall asleep is remember all the funny things she has done throughout the day. There hasn't been one night I haven't gone to sleep laughing or smiling to myself. The best part, she hasn't even really started talking yet, so I know the best is yet to come.

The Power of a Smell

I am always astounded by the power of a smell to transport one back and bring so many memories. It happened twice this past weekend, and feel happy for once about my hyper sensitive sense of smell.

The first was while driving in the country back home. My windows were down, the weather was PERFECT and a smell wafted in that literally made me feel like I was 16 again. What is it about Illinois and Iowa that make it smell so good ( and NO, I'm not talking about the hogs and pigs...well, they don't smell good, but I know some of you would go there). The dirt, the blooming trees, grass being cut, the mighty Miss., and even the wind seems to have a certain containment of smells that I just can't place. Whatever it is, I love it! I was 16, driving in the country with my best friends, blaring music, and doing things I'm sure we should not have been doing at 16. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of memories stored in my mind, but that smell made me smile and gave me a brief trip into the past. Thanks to all my friends, and especially my husband, who are all part of my past, and included somewhere in that breeze that wafted into my window.

The second was with a Persian rug my Mom brought back from Florence, Italy which had been in my grandmother's (Nonna) apartment for years. It's worth a lot of money (thanks mom and dad) and carries with it the smells of Florence. The traffic, the smog, the dust, the smells from Nonna's place all rolled up into this rug made over 100 years ago. It's stunning how that smell took be back again. How lucky I can close my eyes, smell this rug and have flashbacks from my early childhood in Italy. I looked at Dejan and was so excited..."It's Firenze!!!" So yes, I close my eyes and take a whiff of this rug and a tear comes to my eyes. I miss Italy, I miss my childhood, I miss my grandparents.

Recovery Week

Our Easter week began a little like this...Ava starts getting a cold Saturday night. By the end of Monday night she is a snot machine, coughing, crying, and not sleeping. Wednesday morning I take her to the Doctor's and she has an ear infection. Antibiotic started. Thursday I am feeling icky and Ava has an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. New medicine started. Hives come and go all day for two days. Yippee it's FRIDAY!! No, never mind, now I'm sick too. UGH! How will I ever find the energy to get ready for Easter Dinner at our house. Friday night...heart palpitations from cold medicine start and I don't sleep a wink and wake Dejan up at 2am telling him I'm certain my heart is going to stop working. Lots of drama at our house, I know! Saturday is such a beautiful day we all forget about our problems and get ready for Easter Sunday. Ava and I cough all day, we color eggs, clean the yard, make some food, borrow tables and chairs from our ever trusty neighbors, and argue over using paper plates or real plates on Sunday. Dejan wins. We set the table for our first official Easter Dinner with real plates (mind you, I am sick, so all I was seeing was way TOO many plates to do). It all turns out beautiful and we head to bed at 11pm. Sleep comes easily.

Easter Sunday...

So far so good. Everyone is up and ready to go by 9am. Cognac glazed ham is in the oven and we head out to church. Church is like a zoo. I think all the kids were jacked up on candy, including Ava. Church over, we head home, the fun begins.

We had such a perfect day. All the food turned out great and thanks to everyone for bringing a delicious covered dish. We ate an hour late, had a fun Easter egg hunt, played badminton, emptied a lot of bottles, ate some delicious desserts, and the rain held off until the party was almost over. Our family made this day perfect. I only regret not getting a picture of all of us together.

As far as my title for this blog post. It is Wednesday and we are all finally rested, but the sewer backed up and flooded our basement, the snot and coughing continues but has almost run its course, the house is still not fully cleaned, Ava is running around saying 'cock" after I taught her the sound a rooster makes (it's even worse because I find myself privately smirking everytime she says it), we have a party to go to tomorrow night (thank you Chris and Sara for babysitting), and company spending the night. Recovery may catch up by the end of the month.

In closing, because I am a picture person, here are a few extra from Easter that make me smile.

You thought I was joking about the weather...

This was what we did Friday...

And this is what we did Sunday morning.

None the less, we had a GREAT time outdoors Friday and a nice visit to see all the Grandparents over the weekend. We made the most of the final snow (hopefully) and Ava was quit proud of her snow people.

My next adventure...tackling Easter Dinner at my house. Stayed tuned, this has got to be good!

Note to family--you are all invited!

March in Iowa

This is what you do in Iowa in March. You put on rain boots, snow bibs with no jacket (just a sweater is needed at this point), pull out sleds (that no one touched all winter because it was negative something until late February), and lay in the semi-sunny day and sunbath using said sled. I love how Iowa prepares you all winter to love 45 degree days, partial sun, really muddy yards, and ginormous puddles from all the rain that finally washed away all the snow! One more round of snow in the forcast and then, I think, it will be on to SPRING!! WOO HOO

Potty Training 101

Little people potty - check
"I'm learning to use the potty" potty time chart - check
Bribery with Stickers - check
Bribery with M&M's - check
"Once upon a potty" book - check
Peeing in the potty almost everytime - check
Poop - well, she's done that twice now and stinks up the entire house
Picture Ava will hate me for some day - check