Oh-Bla-Di

Dear Ava,

Tonight, Daddy and I will drop you off at the Hoffmans’ and head to the hospital for Doozy’s induction.  That knowledge has made nearly every thing the last day and a half seem like “the last time.”  This season – the family of three season – has been so short in what I know will be such a long and happy life for us as a family of four.  The change we’re about to undergo together is one that tugs at my heartstrings and leaves everything feeling just a little bittersweet.

Two years, nine months, and four days ago, you made your daddy and I parents.  We had no idea how strange and wonderful this whole experience would be.  You’ve taught us so many things and given us so much more that we could have ever dreamed.  You opened our hearts and minds wide open to the childhood wonders of the world and all the possibilities that lay out there for you and for us.  I can’t even begin to express adequately the pride I feel when I watch you grow into the person you are becoming.  Your strong sense of self, your sense of humor, your empathy, your kindness, your flexibility & even your stubbornness all combine to make you a truly unique and wonderful person.  I’m so excited to see who you will become over the next several years and how you will learn to be a big sister.

Ava, one of the reasons I’m so excited to bring Doozy into our family is because this baby is getting you for a sibling.  It may sound like a lot of responsibility, now, to know that you will always be one of the people Doozy looks up to most in life, but I know that you will embrace that role with the fervor and enthusiasm with which you approach everything you do.  I’m so excited about this opportunity for both of you and am so grateful to know that I can trust you both with each other.

Mostly, though, I wanted to write to you today to tell you that I love you…more than I could ever say.  I am terribly proud of you…my heart nearly bursts with pride when I think of all you already are.  Neither of those things will ever change.  No matter how many times over the next few months you hear “In just a minute” or “You’re the big kid,” know that what I always want most is for you to be happy and for you to know that Daddy and I love you.  I will treasure these almost-three years with just you and our little family of three forever and ever.  Thank you for making them so sweet and so much fun.

Loveyoustuff,

Mommy

In an effort to streamline our chores at home and get us ready for the impending new-baby time crunch, I’ve put us on a new cleaning and laundry regimen to break up the tasks over the course of the week.  We’ve been on the new plan for about three weeks and I have to admit that I love it.  I don’t have to spend a whole day in the week cleaning house and weekends are left free for fun family time instead of chores.

This is the plan we’ve been following…

Another perk of this little program is that none of the tasks take longer than 15 minutes, which is the perfect amount of time for including Ava in the work of the home.  As I scrub the sinks and wash the mirrors, she climbs in the bathtubs and scrubs the floors.  (This is doubly great since I really can’t get that task done right now thanks to Doozy’s size.)

We’re enjoying the benefits and calm of a clean house and Ava’s learning to contribute.  In fact, she asks to help with a chore each day when we get home and is agreeable to picking up her toys every night since she gets to check it off on the chart.  I’m hopeful that this plan continues to work for us as we settle into our “new normal” after Doozy’s arrival!

Ava and her daddy have a special bond.  There are some games they play that I’m just not a part of – usually these activities involve climbing into some sort of box, wearing some sort of headgear, or engaging in some sort of rough housing.  To tell the truth, I love that these things are just for them.  It’s right that they have something special and I find these little interactions so very entertaining.

One of their most favorite games is tackle.  One or the other announces, “I’m going to tackle you,” and then the tackling begins.  In this round, tackling began with a hug…

And then proceeded with Ava going right for Matt’s jugular.

A girl and her daddy having a good time – melts the heart, doesn’t it?

One of my favorite things about my pregnancy with Ava were the photos taken (on my due date, I think) by my good friend, Carrie.  So, when I became pregnant with Doozy, I knew that I’d want pretty photos of this experience too.  Sadly, Carrie is in Florida, so it wasn’t possible for her to do this session.  We lucked out, though, and found a great local photographer to do both our maternity and newborn sessions.  We just got access to our gallery today and Angela said I could post a couple here to share.

Thanks, Angela, for the great work.  Looking forward to photos of our Doozy soon!  

We hosted a pool party/barbeque for the Fourth of July again this year.  Being the folks with the pool when it’s 105 degrees outside makes us the natural choice for putting this one on.

We had a great group of folks to celebrate with this year, including Kevin F. and his wife Cara who were visiting from Tucson.  The Belchers brought their new-ish puppy, Troy, with them and he and Libby had an interesting time getting to know each other.  The eventually settled down and got some sleep so that we could enjoy the parties!

The weekend ended up being rather gourmet, as we tried out a few barbeque recipes we had picked up during our stay in Texas.  We had grilled corn on the cob and Ava actually tried some!

Our resident firecracker was ready for the party early in the day.  Whoozy really loves to throw parties.  Can’t believe how big she’s gotten in the last year.  In case you need the comparison too, here’s last year’s photo.

As good as our meal was on the third of July, the menu for the Fourth was amazing.  Matt spent all afternoon cooking and smoking ribs and then we had, as sides, PW’s Mac & Cheese, baked beans with real bacon, pico de gallo, guacamole, & bacon-wrapped pineapple bites. For dessert, we had homemade vanilla ice cream, apple pie, & cupcakes.  We also had homemade strawberry ice cream that I made as an experiment and, oh boy, that was awesome.  Needless to say, no one walked away from the party hungry.

During the course of all the eating, we did find some time for some swimming…

…and, after a short break to eat dessert & wait for it to get dark….

…some fireworks.

People a couple of streets over were lighting some really big fireworks, so we got a pretty good show when all our sparklers ran out.  They didn’t know it, but our stranger neighbors had a very appreciative crowd sitting in our driveway.

Because of other major events coming up in our world soon, we’re at the end of our summer party season.  It was great to wrap it up with such a fun event!  Thanks to our friends for joining us….we’ll plan to do it again next year!