Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend.

Me: "Ava, you're such a big girl! Do you know what you get to wear now?"

Ava: "Diamonds!!!!!"

That's my girl.

Touche.

Catching Up.

I've been a bad blogger lately. Forgive me?

Let's see - what's been keeping me away? First, my new job. I have yet to start full-time (that begins tomorrow - yikes!), but I've still been rounding out about 25 hours a week with four kids, and if you don't know from personal experience, that's a LOT. Add in my second job, the writing I am attempting to keep up with and failing miserably, and my 'round-the-clock gig as Little A's mama, and I'm not making excuses when I say that blogging has taken a backseat to attempting to preserve my sanity.

Also, I've now been at work for the past 53 straight hours, as I worked Friday, and then went directly to pick up the girls from school and have had a two-night sleepover with them while the D's are in Vegas. I'm definitely not complaining, seeing as how I miss their faces terribly every day that I'm not here, but it's definitely keeping me on my toes.

What else is new...hmmmm. Oh yeah, if you missed my post yesterday, we let Ava have a piece of pizza (two, actually, but I didn't want to call her out!), and she hasn't reacted. HALLELUJAH. There is hope.

One big piece of news from last week is that I finally, after years of debating, purchased a MacBook Pro. Woot! I'm a straight up Dell hater, especially seeing as how mine was only months old when it started seriously underperforming, and I've been wanting to make the switch to Apple for a long, long time. And now, finally, at long last, I have. Side note: What apps do you have for your MacBook that you'd recommend? I got a $100 App Store credit, and other than iTunes, have no idea what to do with it :) Suggestions welcome and appreciated!

Alright - that's all the free time I have until the D's return later this afternoon, and then I'll surely be planting my tired booty on the couch in my PJs and watching TV to try to zone myself into a zen state of mind before I start my 52-hour workweek. Woosaahhhhhhh.

TGIF.

First things first, TGIF. Ava is being a serious BUTTHEAD - today has probably been the worst behavior she's ever exhibited, all for no apparent reason. Perhaps two year molars?

Thankfully, she's cute enough to save herself. Take for example at bedtime tonight. Ava, for whatever reason, will only take her pink pacis now. UGH. In case that's not a huge pain in the ass. Anyways, she loves the pink ones so much that she's started to chew through the nipple of them, and so I can't let her sleep with them in her mouth for fear that she'll bite through it and choke. Anywho, we switch them out once she's either asleep, or it is dark enough she won't notice. Tonight, I had done just that, when Ava pulls her paci out and puts it up close to her eyes.

"Ba?" (that's what she calls her bink) "Ba???" "Ba Ba Ba Ba Ba" (with increasing hysterics). "BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" (for blue - she realized I had swapped hers for a blue one - apparently a cardinal sin!)

Hahaha. She's too smart for her own good (and for my sanity!).

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

..though still on a posting hiatus, thanks to the summertime sickness that's overtaken my household. Bleh.

I'll be back soon - hopefully tomorrow - to give a vacation rundown, including super cute pics of Ava being...well, super cute, and some tips on flying with a toddler! Hope everyone has had a great week!

Ava Wants to Know...

Does this Barbie couch make my butt look big?

What The....

This morning, as I was trying to get a bit of writing in/moreso messing around on Twitter, our dog started going nuts! He's not a barker 99% of the time (hence why I chose him at Town Lake Animal Shelter), so I figured something was causing the racket. This was definitely not my first guess:



The suburbs are a crazy place, plain and simple.

If you haven't yet, please weigh in on my post about whether or not to add a second child to the mix...mama needs some advice!

In A Funk.

Please excuse my absence over the last week. I've been in a serious funk, due in significant part to last Monday's post, and just haven't felt like bringing my readers down with my melancholy dribble. I'm still feeling a bit of it, though not as bad, so instead of focusing on family stuff, here's just a random tidbit of things currently going on in my head (the not-so-serious stuff.)

In news that makes me feel all Chester Molester, the D's recently got new neighbors, and they have a son that is totally swoon-worthy. The kid is all of 19, but mmmhmmmm. He's been strutting his gorgeous tushy around moving furniture into the house, shirtless and glistening with sweat. Seriously, this is what fantasies are made of. On a side note, when the hell did teenagers start looking like this (I'm looking at you right now, Taylor Lautner!)! When I was in high school and my first years of college, guys were basically skinny, or at best, slightly filled out. Where on Earth did these ripped 18-year-old kids come from? And how on Earth can I strike a deal to go back to high school and relive my senior year?! Yikes.

Also on my mind: Osama Bin Laden. Duh. He's on everyone's mind. But while the rest of the U.S. is currently buying one another shots and patting themselves on the back in celebration, I've taken a stance which is clearly going to bring me under attack. To those who don't like what I have to say, feel free not to read.

I know firsthand the pain of losing someone to the reign of terror that was Osama Bin Laden felt by those who lost someone - either that day, or as a direct result in the war. I lost my uncle, and while I was younger and we weren't best buds, I still think about him all the time. And yet, despite being directly affected, I cannot and will not ever be the kind of person who can rejoice in the point blank assassination of another human being. Yes, he was a horrifying individual, with crimes against humanity too numerous to list. But I do not believe that in pilfering villages and causing thousands of casualties in our search for him for TEN YEARS, losing countless of our own soldiers to "the cause", and killing him and several other people, we can claim a victory. He took hundreds of lives directly on 9/11, and we in turn gave thousands more, and took countless many lives of innocents, many women and children, in return. How is that justice? How are we ending a reign of terror? To those who shook in fear as our planes ransacked their skies, taking out hundreds at a time, we ARE terrorists. It pains me to see people out there "thanking God" for Osama's death. I don't think that God is rejoicing and celebrating that his children are out there taking one another's lives in his name.

"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi

A Mother's Prayer for Her Child (by Tina Fey)

“First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, may she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her when crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels. What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen.Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short – a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day – And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back. “My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.”

-Tina Fey

My Little Comedienne.

Ava has been doing some pretty hilarious things lately.

First and foremost, she's really starting to talk (YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! More on this tomorrow..), and she specializes in some new animal noises. One such animal noise comes when you ask what a rooster says, to which she responds - loudly and enthusiastically - "COCK!", repeating it over and over for hours. It's gotten us some interesting stares lately! We're working on the "-a-doodle-doo!" part ;)

She's also taken up an interest with the word "Toots!". I blame my hysterical giggles whenever she lets one rip and I happily declare "toots!". Oops. Didn't think that one through!

The best, though?

The other night, I took the clothes out of the dryer (finally - it has been a couple days since I dried them...oops!) to fold while David gave her a bath. When she came running out of the bathroom for her post-bath streak through the upstairs living area, she decided to help me start folding the clothes and ran right over and stood on top of the heap...and peed! HAHA! I died laughing :)

Why Today is Awesome.

I love when I'm able to write a post like this. When good, relieving and/or just generally overwhelmingly positive news inspires me to the point where I can't come up with one particular thing to focus on, so I get to list them all. Much, much better than the days when I have to write posts entitled, "Why Life Sucks," or, "The Twenty Things That Went Wrong Today...Before 9AM."

So, without further adieu, here they are (and in no particular order):

1. I have a solution to a problem that's been really, really eating away at me, and it's one that - long story short - I don't hate. I hadn't realized how much the fact that I would be more or less losing my job (cutting back to ten hours due to the girl's school schedules and the family's changing needs) was nagging at my every thought, every day until I found a solution. I'm going to be taking a new job come August, working as a nanny for one of David's co-workers. I was initially skeptical of the arrangement, seeing as how working for a family can be a bit...sensitive...and will be more so given that it's one of David's co-workers, but the more I talked to the woman about it, the more I felt certain it was a good solution. I'll be working a TON more hours, but also making more money than I not only do now, but more than I have since I started, because I'll still be keeping my job with the D's, working two late afternoons per week. I'll be working over fifty hours, which makes me a bit nervous, but it's a.) not like I haven't done it before, and b.) will get to be with Ava, so basically will just be a full-time mom, with a few more kids sprinkled in :) How many kids you ask? I'll be working with two boys, who are turning 3 & 5 over the summer, as well as a baby being born in June. AHHH! That's right - I'll be spending my days with a 5-year-old, 3-year-old, my 20-month-old and a 2-month-old. Jealous? Hahaha. While it may sound overwhelming, the boys have varying school schedules, so it won't be all four all the time. And I know it's right, since the feeling I felt most when I accepted the job? Relief. Relief that I can stay with the D's, relief that I'll have enough money, and - most of all - relief that I'll get to continue to be home with Ava. That's the most important thing to me!

OK, now that my novel is concluded, here are the other reasons:

-My writing job has brought new writing opportunities, and I've been hired on not only by Pampers, but now Triscuit and McCormick, doing various projects for them. I welcome the extra work - and income!

-NEIGHBOR UPDATE! I went for a long walk with Ava this morning, and was able to finally stop in and actually see my neighbor, who - I'm very happy to report - thanked me profusely!!! I was more than expecting anger, but had come to terms with the fact that I 100% did the right thing (thank you all SO much for your input!), and instead, was greeted with tears and gratitude. Turns out, he had a seizure, and thanks to EMS, he was able to get the care he needed. Thank you, God!

-I'm not pregnant. Never suggest that again! Hahaha ;P

-Ava's said "shoes", "thanks" ("tanks") and "mooo" (the only animal sound she previously wouldn't say) today! Yay!

-It's my Friday!

It's not all good news, unfortunately. My mom called a couple hours ago to tell me my grandpa has had a stroke, so please do keep him in your prayers.

Have a lovely rest of your day!!!

Signature.

I have finally, like three months behind schedule, taken the lovely Emily's advice and made my own signature:



Doesn't the complexity of the design just knock your socks off? Hahaha

Thoughts?

How's This Font?

Ok, clearly we're having some font issues....how's this one???

Part-on Me.

Alright, y'all. Which side do you think Ava's hair should be parted on?


Yes, I'm entirely serious. And yes, if there is an award for most pointless, silliest post, go ahead and bestow it upon me ;)

But in all seriousness, I am conflicted. What do you guys think?!

I'm a Bad Blogger.

Man...I'm a bad blogger these days. I have a review in the works, a post that's been in draft form for weeks (ironic, since it starts off, "I meant to post this days ago..." Oops!), and zero time and motivation to post this week.

Part of it is that I'm worried to death about what's going to happen this fall when my hours get cut back to ten. I mean, TEN HOURS?! What two-income family can survive on that? Not ours, that's for sure. Especially when I used to work 40-45 before the first hours cut. And as such, I'm starting to think maybe I should just find a new full-time position, rather than a second part-time. Which makes me terrible sad and upset and opens up a whole new set of issues, and basically I feel trapped. And screwed. And just really stressed and nervous.

As you know, I'm in the process of attempting to launch a business venture, From Two to Three. But even still, the BEST case scenario will put years between now and it being successful/profitable, and even still the market for these services makes me nervous. And, between my writing gigs, my actual job and business stuff, I'm ending up working from morning to night every day, and it's getting to me. Big time. In a nutshell, I don't know what to do, and don't know what is going to happen in the fall, and I'm FREAKING OUT.

On a more positive note, things are going great with our little family of three. Ava started saying "uh oh" yesterday, and has been saying "num nums" when eating, which is darling. She's also starting to get little curls...is there anything on Earth sweeter than baby curls? Certainly not adult curls - at least in my case, haha!

Anyways, just wanting to update and say hi and ask for any and all suggestions about what on Earth I can do to try to supplement my extra income this fall. I'm feeling so lost.

Ladies, Please!

Can one of y'all please get pregnant already?!

First and foremost, I call NOT. IT.

It's just, I need one of you to, so that in fifteen months or so when I am ready to consider even the slightest possibility of having another child so that A doesn't end up spoiled or lonely or socially awkward, I'll have a good idea of what being pregnant and managing a newborn is like with a very active toddler and can make an informed decision.

So get on it, please :) Or shall we say, get it on, please. Ba-dum-cha!

*And yes, by informed I mean I want to watch one of you juggle a one-year-old, a huge belly, and the demands of recovering from childbirth/the sleep deprivation brought on by a newborn. I wonder why no one is stepping up to the plate after reading that! Ha!

Opinions...

Are we feeling the new background?!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

David is off at ACL Festival, wrapping up day one seeing The Strokes. Totally jealous.

I, on the other hand, was unable to resolve my pumping dilemma in a way that worked for me, so relinquished my ACL pass to David's brother, and am spending today and tomorrow entertaining my in-laws while the boys rock out and drink themselves silly.

*excusemewhat*

In all seriousness, though, I think they're awesome. As far as (unofficial) in-laws go, they're cool, and we get along really well. Just the same, I'm missing The Strokes, Temper Trap, Muse, Broken Bells, and many, many more bands I would've enjoyed, plus I'm working double duty between A and D's parents.

Small price to pay, though, to have family here in Texas :)

Dentiphobia.

No, that's not the technical term.

I am an adult. I am a mom: a strong, resourceful, confident women. And yet, I am afraid of the dentist.

While it's reported that something like 50% of people experience some amount of anxiety regarding dental care, I'm really afraid. I'm talking tears, people. I've been known to break into a full on sweat, shaking profusely in the waiting room. And while I have a flair for the dramatic (you're not surprised, are you?), I'm unfortunately not exaggerating even slightly. My last dentist - since I switch constantly, put off by their lack of sensitivity - recommended valium and gas. For a cleaning.

A cleaning which I may or may not now be overdue for. Hence, the search for a.) a new, SUPER SYMPATHETIC dentist in Austin or the nearby area (will travel for sympathetic care!), and b.) any suggestions on how to get so insanely smashed on medically indicated drugs that I won't even know I'm *at* the dentist. Or other relaxation techniques. Either way.

Help!

Today Was Awesome.

Today was seriously such a great day! I love being able to say that :)

First off, I had the day off. Mrs. D wanted to stay home and hang out with the girls, so she gave me the day off. Loooooooooooove that. Then, D called in sick so we could have a "day date", seeing as how Tuesday is baby day at the Alamo, and so we headed over to the theater with little A to see Inception (which is really good, btw!) and to eat some delish food...as long as I can have the Alamo BLT and fries, why do I need dairy????

Then, we came home and I passed out in a food coma on the couch for two hours. Yep, a mid-week two-hour nap. Heaven.

Then, I didn't feel like eating dinner (aka cooking dinner), so D had leftovers and I got out of cooking :) Hallelujah!

Anyhow, nothing else to share right now - I have to get caught up on my writing - but check back tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday :)