everyday life

Today....

Tonka was groomed (finally)
Ava has severe diaper rash
I had cereal for breakfast
vaccumed my house (ok...the main floor)
I am still making easter candy
went to lunch with a great friend
finishing a project...getting Ava's clothes organized
thinking about cleaning out the downstairs fridge
listening to Ava 'talk' when she should be napping
praying for my new nephew
missing my friend Jenny
wanting to go read my new book
looking forward to a great weekend with my little family!

How about you?

Do you ever wish...

Do you ever wish that you lived in the cartoons that your kids watched? Ava is watching a cartoon (it's totally snowing so we are not going anywhere) and I just turned and thought 'I want to be that kid....I want life to be that simple.....I want to live in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....life looks so good there'!!! Do you ever wish that?

I know.....a little crazy!

And Ken informed me last night that blog posts without pictures are "boring" so I'm sorry to bore you! I will work on posting some picture later! :)

What do I do when I have TOO much to do???

Well, for starters I sit here and blog...read other peeps blogs....and generally just waste some time!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! This is not good, but it's what I do. I usually only allow myself about 15 minutes of this nonsense....I've got 3 more minutes so this might be a short post!

We've been busy this weekend! Ken is still out of town so we've been a party of 3 (4 if you count my sweet sister who lives in the basement) and trying to get a lot done. My Sister-in-Law decided (wink, wink) to have her baby on Thursday so we have been celebrating the arrival of a new little one, Spencer Michael. He wasn't scheduled to visit us until the middle of April so he has had to stay in the hospital until he can run home on his own. No, just until he eats well and keeps some weight on. His lungs have cleared up and he is on the up swing so we are very happy. Ava has been officially dethroned as the youngest cousin on my side of the family. Secretly I think she is happy about it! Oh, and she has been so great with her new medicines....I can already see improvement! We just might have an eater by summer! Hooray! A by product of these new meds is better sleep (because she's not in pain) so she has been taking 3 hour naps and uninterupted sleep at night! The first 16 months of her life I was still waking up to give her a binky, burp her, sooth her...etc. Talk about feeling like you are getting your eyes pecked out by chickens...try waking up 3 times a night (sometimes more) for 16 months! But I digress...

So I should go get some bills paid and clean up my office. I'm really feeling the need to be creative so I need to clean up my space before that can happen! I get too many projects going at once and then I wait until I just can't take anymore...then I clean up. It's usually when I can't see the color of the desk...that is the indicator.

OK....the 3 minutes are up...see you later!

i just can't get enough

it's true....i cannot get enough of this little girl.  in my (never to be humble) opinion, her cuteness has no end!

We were at Ken's office and she was playing, sucking the salt off of her goldfish crackers and making silly faces.  I just couldn't pass up the photo op.  and THAT people, is why I keep a camera in my purse!  Ken has left today for a whole week....boo hoo!  We will miss him.  I, as usual, have some pretty lofty goals set for myself.  we will see how much I can actually get accomplished! Wish me luck!

happy st. patrick's day

ok..so I know that I am one day late but we celebrated today. we had a traditional irish feast with corned beef, cabbage & red potatoes. The only thing we were missing was the irish soda bread. My Grandma Dunn used to make the bread but she is a few states away and I was not that daring! :) Yesterday we celebrated my Grandpa's 81st Birthday! We all went to my Aunt Shelley's and we had a pretty big celebration....it was fun. The weather has been amazing here so we had fun hanging outside and playing with the kids. A little sunshine really feels good! Unfortunately, it looks like we will be getting some cold weather in the middle of this week! :( Oh, well....spring is bound to show up soon!

So our trip to Kansas was a complete success! We have a diagnosis and are on 2 new medications to start to fix the problem. The basics are this: Ava's digestive system has never really developed! When you put food in her stomach nothing happens...it just sits. She also has some pain in her stomach. So the 2 meds will start her system working and get rid of the pain. We will also be working on some behavioral modification so she can start accepting a spoon and get ready for the food. Now that she is older she can refuse so this will help us with that. Sorry this is such a 'Reader's Digest' version but there so much to explain...and you would probably be bored. We are so excited to have some answers....it feels like the puzzle pieces have finally been put together. This will all take some time but we are soooo on the right track and it feels really good!!!

I have some fun pictures of the weekend but it's too late and I'm pooped! Gotta go get some sleep!

we are here....

and Ava's testing is going on as I type. Gotta love technology...I can sit at my daughter's hospital bedside while she sleeps and update you all as to her progress! Love that! She has had her usual response to the medical people (screaming & crying) but other than that she has been a total trooper! Even with the 2.5 hour plane ride...the time change...and a weird crib.....in a different environment...she has been doing great! We will have our results and plan of action tomorrow. We meet with a 'feeding team' in the morning then we will be heading home tomorrow afternoon!

So excited to be on the next phase of this sweet baby's life! I'll have more to post tomorrow. We have been having a good time otherwise! We got in some sight seeing yesterday and the weather is amazing!!! Wish I would have brought the flip flops!

We are almost ready...

I think?

It feels like I have been getting us ready for this trip forever! I made my last run to Target (I love that place) and now we are home to start putting suitcases together. I'm notorious for forgetting things so I'm trying to pack a day early so I can avoid that problem. The problem with having a special needs child is that you can't just 'pick up' some of her things at a Target in Kansas. If I forget some of her stuff then we are in deep doo doo! So I will make a million lists and check them all 5 times...just in case!

Our good friends are coming to stay at our house with Tonka. He will get taken care of VERY well! Probably so well that he won't be too excited when we return! I am looking forward to Spring so we can all get out of the house and enjoy some long walks. We all need that. The weather has been really beautiful these last couple days. I actually saw 58 on my car temp thing. I'm really craving some sunshine so it's about time!

Well, I'm off to pack a bag and get something crossed of the long list! I will probably be posting from Kansas....

Have a nice weekend everyone!

randomness

nothing but some random things to post today....sorry, no pictures. (I know that a blog post with no picture is like cereal with no milk....what's the point?! but hang in there...it might not be so bad!)

Had to take Tonka boy to the vet today. He ate a pacifier! He's done that before but this one seemed to take a while to get out. Oh the joys of dog ownership! He has been really emotional these last couple of weeks? While we were there Ava meet a St. Bernard and we also met Tonka's twin! Seriously, this great dane was EXACTLY like Tonka but a girl. I thought for a second that someone was leaving with my dog! It was a little strange. She was so cute too! Ava loved the extra doggie attention. Tonka is fine now and currently sleeping soundly on our bed!

We are headed to Kansas on Saturday night. Meeting with a Doc who has some very promising tests/results for Ava's feeding/gastro issues! I'm so excited....just so much to do to get ready. I spent 2 1/2 hours making formula tonight. We will be there for 5 days so there is a lot to pack! Ava hasn't been on an airplane since last summer so I'm not sure how she will do?! I guess time will tell!

In two weeks we will have been living in Utah for 1 year! I can't believe how fast time goes by. I guess I really notice it when I look at Ava. She was such a baby when we moved here and now she is cruising around like she owns the place. And she is so funny too! Tonight, Ava was putting a piece of bread in her shoe (for safe keeping) while singing at the top of her lungs! She fed Tonka her marshmellow and was laughing hysterically while doing it! She is such a crack up!

Anyway....That is what's going on with us these days!

Let's all take a minute...

to wish this man a very Happy Birthday!  I wonder if he wants to come over later for Cake & Ice Cream?
Happy Birthday Jon Bon Jovi!