The Holidays are here! (and Ava can participate!)

OKAY so i am totally nuts about the holidays! basically any reason to CELEBRATE i love. I love getting in the spirit, being festive, i totally listen to christmas music a week before thanksgiving and i secretly appreciate all the stores putting out their xmas decorations before halloween...just makes it last longer! I love the pumpkin spice lattes and the egg nog, i love a reason to throw a party, drink more, sing more, have holiday outfits, boots, rain, snow, waking up to a freezing house and having a reason to wear UGG boots all day long.
i LOVE this time of year!

And i also LOVE that my daughter is old enough and aware enough to see, smell, taste, hear all the beautiful things this time of year brings. she is fascinated by xmas twinkle lights and im sure she will rip every one of those ornaments off the tree. she loves the music i play in the car (we have officially programmed every station that plays xmas music...107.9 will have to wait!) and i have watched xmas themed movies atleast 5 times so far...and its not even DECEMBER!

We wear our boots and hats and have a cozy blanket in the car :) We go out to coffee and she gets her vanilla milk.

In addition to all the festivities, we get more and more FAMILY TIME:) I love how we all get together, chris and I are married and each year I feel like our families blends more and more. He actually called my Dad "Dad" the other day. he didnt mean to, but i liked it :)

Life is great, we feel so blessed.

LOVE.

I love my Family with all my heart. ♥

♥

Play pen or Jail?

We got a playpen for Ava this week, and for a kid who has never liked her crib or any kind of confinement I was a little wary of how she would react to this. Still a little on the fence (no pun intended) about this play pen concept. I understand needing to contain your little one at times when you need to...God Forbid...take a shower or do dishes, but is it worth it?

I dont want her to feel like its a jail. But I do want her to have a safe and cushy environment to play. And frankly, our 2 bedroom duplex is only so baby proofed. We have the cabinet locks and the outlet covers but if I step on ONE MORE TOY in the middle of the night and re-roll a roll of TP or put back all her shoes and socks that she pulled out .... i think I might have to give up on housekeeping all together!
So, chris picked up some cushy foam letters playmat and a play yard gate from Babies r Us, i liked the idea but is it TOO confining?

Halloween 2010

Ava's first official Halloween experience was GREAT! We had a busier schedule than most that day, starting with 3 Costumes:
Halloween morning: Wear your Green Bay Packer cheerleader costume and take pictures for G'ma and G'pa (Diehard Cheeseheads). Change.
Halloween lunchtime: Wear your butterfly costume (in 75+degree weather) to Winco to get a pumpkin and candy for the trick or treaters. Go to Sabrina's party and play in the jumpjump with all the big kids. Go home, take a nap, eat dinner and change.
Halloween evening: Wear your pink Cat costume that daddy bought you for your 1st birthday and grab your candy bucket and go trick or treating!!!!

Ava was SO BRAVE trick or treating for the 1st time. She would hold our hands and walk with us up to the doors with all the other big kids. she would even knock and hold out her bucket! We were out with gma and gpa Jarman for about an hour. Chris was 'Zorro' and I was a Witch with an awesome hat with a bunch of feathers and netting. I loved it.

Ava was adored by every person who opened up their door to give her candy. some even called other people in the room to come see "the cutest little girl ever!"...Chris and I were beaming... :):):)






We made some great memories!

The wedding festivities are coming to a close.

The wedding fun is officially over:(
We're finishing up our thank you cards, we're picking out our photos and unpacked our last wedding gift.
Its sad.

Oh well, i'll just have to wait for Ava's wedding now!
here are some pics. ENJOY!!

Married...with children

So now its official. We're married.
We took vows in front of close family and friends, and most importantly eachother.
Ava was our platform for us to decide...do we jump? or just, be glorified roommates and raise our baby. So, we jumped.
And I must say, it is an amazing, indescribable feeling. So I will do my best:
The morning we woke up after our wedding day, I know we both looked at eachother and thought, 'should we feel different?'. The truth is, although we didnt admit it at the time, we didnt. In fact, I vaguely recall a little tiff over breakfast or who was in charge of cleaning up the reception or how hot the bath water was. We were taken back, this is technically our 'honeymoon' and we're arguing? It made us laugh.
Having a baby first, in a way, thrust us into the realities of marriage. No matter what, we are a team now. We are parents. we are a couple. and we have to fight. fight for US. we have to fight to be heard, to take advantage of every child-free moment to invest in US. We have to fight for romance and affection and communication and understanding and patience. This isn't a Should we or shouldnt we situation, its a 'can you handle it situation.
After a year of raising our daughter, being a couple, being parents, being roommates, being a team, we realized...we jumped a long time ago.
The wedding was our investment in eachother and our lifelong promise. the validation everyone talks about. the validation every parent needs with someone (be a groom or life partner or a best friend.). that we are in this life together, because i love you and choose You and want you. I definitely dont think marriage should have (or could have) happened for us before Ava was born. We needed to both realize the difference between being parents together and being husband and wife. To others, its the same thing. To the couple living it day to day, I can ASSURE you they are not the same thing.
I feel so blessed to have Chris in my life. I couldnt ask for a better life partner, my husband. my best friend. He understands me, he cares, he is honest and loving. The best father to Ava,
The night I looked at those two pink lines and then at chris's brave face and heard his reassuring words, I knew. He did too. We loved eachother. We were fighters and we were going to navigate this crazy thing called life and find our destiny, our fate. We love eachother and I couldnt have asked for a better beginning.
I have all the confidence in the world in us. I love him. He loves me ( God help him) and we are in this together.
For better or for worse.

We're MARRIED!!!