Wedding planning

Wedding planning is exhausting stuff!!
The venue, caterer, dj, photographer, tables and chairs, wedding night suite, dress and invitations are done....now I have to do the flowers, decor, rsvp list, transportation, registry and wedding party details.
whew!
our venue is GORGEOUS. we picked it because it both spoke to us, we both agreed that we pictured ourselves getting married there. Only one drawback, while we want to have every single person we love to be there to witness our special day, we can only have 80 people!! That is my biggest stress right now...the guest list. i am cutting people off the list i have known for 10+ years just so I can accomodate the wedding party and their families, and MY family (just immediate!) and HIS family (just local)! and we are still OVER 100 people. ouch :(

on a better note....chris and i found AWESOME deals to hawaii online.
i am SO tempted.
we really want a honeymoon. I think I am ready to be away from ava for a few days. I will be sooo sad at first but I think the break will be nice...i can't wait to marry chris, and walk down the aisle and say our vows. we made a vow to eachother over a year ago, right before ava was born, and that commitment alone was SO huge and important in our relationship...and it wasnt even "legal"..it was personal, and special, and beautiful and that is exactly what i want our wedding to be.
I want our family to see our love. i want our friends to witness our commitment to eachother and to our families. to take vows and make promises and exchange rings.
I know chris is anxious about his vows, words dont come easy to him, but i know even the most simple vow from him will bring tears to my eyes. he does have a way with words even if he doesnt know it ;)
i got a text from him today randomly...he wrote : "you have a face i never want to stop looking at."
To some people thats cute or whatever, but to me thats Chris..thats the BEST thing to hear from someone that has seen you at your worst and ugliest and fattest pregnant gross, and has also seen you at your best. Its the little things he says that means the world to me.

I am still trying to figure out how to include Ava in our ceremony. She takes 10 steps at a time now...but i dont think she would be able to walk to full aisle in a dress and clunky shoes. (*i wonder if i have to buy an aisle..?) We are including her in our vows for sure, and we have a cute 5 yr old flower girl already, so maybe we will just have to have her wheeled in on a wagon or something. i dont want anyone carrying her.
Something to think about while I am trying to go to sleep at night!

Ava turned ONE!

Ava celebrated her 1st birthday with 40 family and friends at G'ma and G'pas house on Saturday. We had face painting and water play for the kids. it was a blast! Ava wore an adorable navy blue dress with white polka dots and a pink belt. She had her first top-tail pony tail!
It is amazing to me that my little girl is a toddler now. She takes up to 4 steps at a time and loves to walk while holding our hand. Her personality is coming out more and more, she loves to mimic our movements and expressions. Especially "clicking" with our tongue and snapping our fingers. She scrunches her face and snorts to make us laugh. She has my sense of humor for sure. She plays with her voice all the time...squealing, singing, whining, yelling...sometimes at the highest pitch you have ever heard!! we "fake sing" opera together. she loves it. haha.

My baby is almost ONE!

ava has 4 teeth now
she can stand on her own
she is fiesty than ever
no separation anxiety
happy wrists!!
loves cell phones
waves to everyone
says momma and dadda and dog
we dont have a dog
we are moving out of our cottage in the city into an apartment in a "town"...a fancy town called El dorado hills. yaya
ava has curly blonde hair
she likes tofu and bananas and pears
and puffs
ohhhh the puffs win every time
she isnt into tv too much
LOVES music and has rhythm (gets that from mommy!)

I'm a career mom now?

Life is busy with a 10month old that wants to walk and a new job that requires my attention from home!
Now I understand why working momma's need nannies even at home!

I love my new job. I have 90days to prove myself and increase the doctors "clientele" A LOT. Its a lot of pressure, but I welcome the challenge. What I didnt expect was how little I would be able to actually do from home. The whole reason I took this job was because they said I could primarily work from my phone and email. However my daughter finds my phone and computer (and basically anything else I am focused on) very interesting and fun. She can pull herself up to a standing position now and is almost always at my feet or latched to my leg. haha. its actually very cute :)
I LOVE this age. She is so interactive and smiles a lot more now! She isnt a fan of my new job though. It takes the attention away from her.

Our new game plan now that I am working, is to stay local and settle down. Chris is going to join the National Guard or Reserves and go back to school. Hopefully we can buy a house next year. *fingers crossed*

Another big thing coming up is AVA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!
I am having soooo much fun planning it!
I want to have a caricature artist or a face painter there. we are renting a couple of big white beautiful tents for my parents backyard for some shade. I am going to have a few water games for the kids and also bake cookies and let the kids go nuts decorating! I can't wait.
I still havent decided on a theme. I am thinking about these:
1) FAIRIES. I could have all the kids wear little fairy wings and I could wear a flower wreath on my head. Plus it would be soooo pretty to decorate.
2) Safari Animals. Ava loves giraffes and elephants, we've taken her to the zoo a few times. We have lots of books on safari animals and she has lots of toys too...it would be gender neutral too, fun for everyone.
3) Cupcakes! I had cupcakes at my babyshower, plus i love the cuppycake song. It would be easy to find cupcake decorations and the kids could decorate cupcakes instead of cookies.

What do you think?

AVA UPDATE

2 TEETH COMING IN
EXCEMA EVERYWHERE :'(
CRAWLING MACHINE!
LIKES TO PLAY WITH HER FEET WHILE SHE EATS/NURSES.
WAVES TO EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING
ROLLS HER EYES AT ME NOW. HAHA
GROWLS WHEN HUNGRY
BLOWS RASBERRIES WHEN TIRED
YELLS WHEN FRUSTRATED
ARCHES HER BACK WHEN ANNOYED
LOVES THE WATER
LOVES ANIMALS
WARMING UP TO BANANA'S FINALLY.
HATES PEACHES.
DRINKS WATER FROM A SIPPY CUP.
LOVES TO DRINK GOATS MILK.
EXPERT AT THE PINCER GRASP.
IN 10TH PERCENTILE FOR HEIGHT.
IN 75TH PERCENTILE FOR WEIGHT.
LOVES HER TUMBLETIME CLASS.
SHE OBSERVES KIDS A LOT, NOT ONE TO PLAY AND ROLL ON THEM.
STARES INTENTLY AT PEOPLE WEARING GLASSES.
LOVES TO RIP UP PAPER TOWELS.
FOUND PAPER TOWEL SCRAPS IN HER DIAPER THIS MORNING. HAHA
NOT A FAN OF NAPTIME.
IN THE MIDDLE OF SLEEP TRAINING.
BEGINNING SEPARATION ANXIETY NOW :'(
LAUGHS AT SCARY FACES.

new JOB to tell you about!

This has been an incredible week for me!

A couple weeks ago I interviewed for a Public Relations position at a local Chiropractors office. They needed someone to do promotions and events and stuff for them. My mom told me about it and she said they are looking for someone that is exactly like me and that I should call and see if I could set up an interview. So I did.
I thought this would be a commission type job, make my own hours, work from home etc.
Well I was right about the working from home thing, but I pretty much have to be on call all the time.
They not only offered to pay me a weekly wage, I also earn bonuses for the business I acquire for them.
I looked up PR position on About.com and found out that most PR people make around $70k a year.
Hm. that got me thinking.
So I sat down with the Doctors wife and had her RE EXPLAIN my compensation.
I was ecstatic.
She made it clear to me that she is looking for someone that wants a career and plans on working long term. I agreed and I GOT THE JOB!!!!

I have now attended 2 events and worked at 1. I LOVE this job and the people I work for.
I am so thrilled for the future.
Chris is going to join the Army Reserves and go back to school and I am going to work for the Doctor doing PR.
Life changed so fast and I couldnt be happier!

isnt this a cool mural for a girls room?