DSM to PHX

A much needed trip for me, a first plane ride for Ava, and a time to unwind for Dejan. Arizona was our choice destination and the warm weather, sunshine, and visit with family does a person good. The down side, now we dislike Ottumwa even more.

Ava was so great on the plane. She charmed everyone with her "wwwhhhoooo's" during take off, and kept me busy enough to forget I was even flying. Aunt Dusica played Dora on the radio for the car ride to her house, so Ava was immediately in love with "Dodo". Playing with Addison was so easy for her and swimming in the pool was a big hit. Addie this, Addie that, play, doggie, baby, pool, more, TOOOYYYYYSSSSS, bath, all words that kept coming out of Ava's mouth along with an obnoxious squeal, which I'm sure just decided to come out for the trip because I haven't heard it since, but which her and Addie spent a lot of time doing through the house. My poor eardrums are still recovering




PMS seemed to keep me from really enjoying myself like I should have, but that's life and next time I'll remember to plan better. Having babies plays havoc on your hormones, so planning around PMS is a must...I'm just saying so no one else makes the same mistake. I did come back with a tan line and a new appreciation for my baby girl, who can travel and put up with just about anything along the way. I am ready for another trip and ready to move out of Ottumwa. Sorry Ottumwa, you're just not doing it for me.

Getting back into the hum drums of regular life have been a bit slow. Ava hasn't been wanting to go to bed without a fight, laundry is still getting put away,and our yard is a mess. I suddenly feel the need to hire all this work out.

Thanks to all of Dejan's family for a wonderful visit. You made us feel so comfortable we almost felt like we lived there too. We love you guys!

Random Findings

I love to pick up at the end of the day and find Ava's little play scenes throughout the house. I had to share what I laughed about last night.

1220

10 Reasons Why I Love My 103 year old Home

Because...
1. Ava and I can spend even rainy days outside on our fantastic front porch
2. The trees
3. The yard, which allows us to have numerous party spots on any given day
4. The barn still smells like horses
5. The feeling I get late at night or early in the morning, when things are quiet, that this house has so many stories to tell
6. The soil is so rich from previous farm land that the overgrowth of weeds is actually a wonderful sign to plant, plant, plant
7. The wood floors which show signs of wear from years of living
8. The fact I can sleep 10 guests randomly throughout the house with almost everyone being comfortable...sorry Mark and Jim
9. The abundance of windows, for sunshine and those wonderful cross breezes
10. This is the home we brought our first born home to and it will always bring back the laughter, the tears, the happiness, the sadness, the fights, the hugs, the kisses, and the squeals of a toddler happy as a clam to live in this wonderfully old, drafty, leaky basement, too many bushes to trim, in need of a paint job, and endless projects, which all seem to keep us from moving away.

Thanks 1220 for helping Ottumwa feel like home.

Turning Two and Binky Woes

What a difference a year makes in a toddlers life, and ours for that matter. If I could bottle Ava up right now I would love to keep her just as is. She is happy, talkative, learning to use the potty with flying colors, funny & goofy, and has this tendency to run around everywhere at anytime, even first thing in the morning. She runs to the bathroom, to our bedroom, to her bedroom, all while giggling to herself about who knows what. Who knew this crazed postpartum mommy could come out of the fog and be such a happy person again. It's her. It's her hugs, her kisses, her "yeah" when we tell her we love her, her need to put one finger up and shake her head yes when she wants one more of something, her loud squeal, that funny run, and the random words which come out perfectly the first time.

Don't worry it's not all good stuff. She really knows the word NO and the binky is a real issue. Two was supposed to be the end of the binky love affair, but Ava would have none of that. She is still sucking on a half binky (that's right, I cut half of it off and she still won't throw it away). This is touchy and I have decided it's going to be on her terms...I'm just slowly coaxing her in the right direction. I'm not one for drama, which for one week there was WAY too much of it, so she keeps the binky only for sleeping, and I keep telling her how gross that thing is and sometime soon she is going to have to throw it away. She agrees, so we are headed in the right direction.

This picture is the morning we sent all her binky's to another baby. You can she was really happy to do this UNTIL nap time came and she realized what just happened.


We had a big birthday bash...which I said I would never do. But how can we not throw her a party. She's so cute and Dejan and I LOVE a good party. She had such a great day and I am so thankful for all our family and friends who were able to share the day with us. She totally gets what a birthday is all about now. And yes, we had a giant Muno at her party.

Life is going at warp speed and I have missed many opportunities to write. We have had some ups and downs already this year. Yammi blessed us with becoming part of our lives (and the excitement and hugs I get every time she sees me makes me about as happy as Ava does). Dusica gave us another nephew, and a trip in June will allow us to FINALLY meet Conor and catch up with Addison. Dejan's Dad was in the hospital and gave us quit a scare, but is making a full recovery. My nephew's Harris and Nick have changed so much, I cry a little every time I see them. Niece Anna and nephew Sam are quit a pair and bring so much life and laughter when they come to visit. I miss them right now too.

I will take a deep breath now and try to remind myself to enjoy every moment, give lots of hugs, say I love you as much as I can, and make it a point to dance around the kitchen with Ava everyday to our favorite songs. I love those moments and want to bottle them up too.

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.