Ava at 2

Ava is now two years old and a pure joy to have around. It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, and have put up pictures of her, and of us. Here are a few recent pictures of Ava. Enjoy.

Ava loves books. She spends hours poring over them, and she loves the children’s section at Barnes and Noble.

For a long while, this was the morning routine on the subways.

She may be a good firewoman some day.

She had a bad fever. Totally out of it.

Yeah, she wants the BMW convertible. If she is good enough, she might just get one, though it has to be approved by Mommy.

It finally warmed up enough to go to the beach. But not enough. The wind took away any heat the sun gave out.

With her cousin Nathaniel.

They had lots of fun.

Her cousin Bella gives her a kiss.

Lookin’ hip.

Having lots of fun with Mamma.

Celebrating her 2nd birthday with Crumbs cupcakes.

 

She’s 2!

Dear Little Ava,

It’s happy 2nd birthday! I can’t believe today has come.  How far we are away from PA where you were born, but it seems like just yesterday that you were wearing those adorable 3-6 month dresses.

Your bright, beaming personality is such a joy for our family.  The way you get excited about Cars, Finding Nemo, or Dora the Explorer cracks me up to no end. When Dora asks a question, you’re quick to answer.

In the past week or so, you’ve learned how to put yourself to sleep after reading a few books with me.  You insist on sleeping in your big girl bed, and even trying to use the Dora potty once in a while.  You now speak in nearly full sentences, and have an ever expanding vocabulary.

Who knew you’d have such a love of sea turtles, airplanes, cars, trains or school buses? The sweet lady at the checkout said cars aren’t for girls, but you prove her wrong.  You love them all, often looking out the window to see the airplane or train going by at all hours.

And on the other hand you’re the biggest shoe fiend under the age of 15 that I’ve ever met.  You know the importance of picking gorgeous shoes for each occasion and wearing them well.  In fact, it’s a rare day to see you without shoes on, even in the house!

Your sense of humor is classic– Mama says, “Ava’s 2!” and you promptly reply, “No, 1–Ava’s 1!”  You know the benefits of comedy and aren’t afraid to crack a joke here and there.

As you learn and grow, I’m so proud to be your Mama.  You get more beautiful and intelligent by the day. I love you and look forward to watching you grow up.

Love,

Your Mama

 

Don’t Shop At Wal-Mart

Read this story and see if you can even consider doing business with Wal-Mart ever again. This is disgusting. Wal-Mart makes the worst excuse here that they can’t solve this little problem. A woman gets brain injury in a car accident. It costs $400,000 some odd dollars. Her insurance with Wal-Mart paid for it. She got awarded in a settlement in the car accident. Wal-Mart’s “fine print” says that they can recoup their costs if the victims won a settlement. Legally speaking they are correct. And all the courts agreed with Wal-Mart. But here’s the rub of the whole thing. Wal-Mart makes $90 billion some odd dollars of PROFIT annually. While legally speaking they are in the right to opt the money, there is no law or policy that would restrict Wal-Mart from simply making a “charitable donation” to this grieving family, is there? They can take the legally valid money from the settlement and give it to their insurance company and out of all those profits simply give this family a nice charitable donation to show that Wal-Mart has a heart.

But they don’t.

They are as heartless as the banking world.

 

Dear Ava-Doodles,

I wrote this about a week ago, but haven’t had time to post. I love this girl.

Oh how I love you! Someone once said to me that any child under 3 is just a blob. I can’t disagree more!

You have so much effervescent personality. You’re magnetic; someone everyone wants to know and say hi to. Every morning on the train, at least 2 people sing the ABC song with you, and a few more play peek-a-boo with you. You thrive on the attention, and ham it up hiding behind the sunshade to the stroller.

When I’ve been sick, you’ve been so independent and content. Sure you came over to snuggle and hug, but the majority of the time you played with your toys on your own while I watched you. You even spent 45 minutes putting on Daddy’s socks and shoes, and walking around the house in them. It was by far one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

You didn’t complain at all when Mama had to nap, and peacefully watched Finding Nemo next to Mama on the bed, since you’ve now decided you’re too big for naps.

As my week of vacation comes to a close, I’ve enjoyed spending so much time with you–whether it’s playing guessing games while the Postal Workers took their sweet time at the Post Office for 45 minutes, or while watching Finding Nemo for the 8th 8040th time each day.

I love you dearly,

Your Mama

 

She’s cookin’!

That’s what the triage nurse said to us last night when we got to the Children’s ER. Ava had a temp of 104.7 F.  It was a rough night, but she’s cleared of all major infections, and she’s back home sleeping peacefully. She was a definite trooper throughout it all.

Hopefully she’ll kick this virus quickly!

 

Update on Adrianna

I wish I had pictures, but I haven’t seen her lately.  She went down to Delaware to see the specialist for the first time.  She does have acid reflux, and now is on medicine (she hates it!).  She’ll be doing a sleep test soon and seeing an orthopedic specialist to check out her bones to make sure she’s on the right track.

Jess has been doing well, despite 3 sick kids. I don’t know how she does it. But that’s why she’s SuperMom and I’m just the working mom of 1.

 

Higher Ed becomes more affordable

Most people want their children to have a high quality education at the best university possible.  Sometimes that’s the parents’ alma mater and sometimes that’s one of the nation’s top tier universities.

The most expensive universities in the nation have been revising their fee structures and financial aid packages.  For a great run down of the new structures, see Urban School Principal’s Blog.

 

There is no such thing as bad press?

I used to think this was the case. . . Do I still think so?

To some extent–yes.  Getting the word out there is very valuable, when my biggest challenge as a school leader is letting people know that Queens Collegiate exists and will be thriving in September.

Was the press correct? No, not really.  The building isn’t overcrowded.  With the DOE’s new reporting, I can’t find the statistical report that shows building capacity, but it’s nowhere near 100% capacity.

Just in case anyone is Google-ing Queens Collegiate, please make sure that you see this page also.

 

Cloak & Dagger stuff

So my school is approved (w00t!!) but I’m not really at liberty to publicly discuss location, etc since I’ve not been introduced to the community yet. This whole process is so interesting, exhilarating but so tiring. I think I worked 13 hours today, 13 hours yesterday and there is no such thing as overtime.

My school partner told me today that she read a study that 3 days of less than 5 hours of sleep has the same effects as being drunk. That’s freaking scary, honestly. I hope I get some good sleep tonight!

Please keep Knoah & family in your prayers. Also keep my sister and Baby Adrianna in prayers also. Every night for weeks Adrianna wakes up in the middle of the night, coughing for minutes without end. It always ends up with her throwing up her last meal. Jess is hoping the doctors can find the cause and help fix it.

 

The past week or so. . .

Life’s been crazy lately! We’ve been given some lemons and made some great lemonade. Here’s what’s been happening in no particular order:

• I started a new residency site at a rather large HS. I’m loving the change of scenery.
• Dan’s been working on various computer projects at work.
• Ava’s been talking much more lately. She’s adding words each day and beginning to make sentences.
• Her best sentences so far are simple: “This is stroller.” “This is juice.” Today she was saying “eat”. I’m waiting for her to connect it and say, “Avi eat cake” or something like that.
• She calls herself “Avi” or “Doodlie.” I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve been calling her Doodlie her whole life.
• Ava’s had the flu-like symptoms for the past 20 hours or so. She’s beginning to sweat so I hope it’s almost done. It’s been quite tiring being awake all of the time.
• Donalda and I are having a blast at this new residency.
• I’m hearing about my new school, but nothing is official yet. So we wait. . .
• Our ward has been difficult lately. There’s no one to call for help. Very few mothers with young children, and a large language barrier. Just trying to make it through sacrament from 12-1 without a toddler tantrum is a pipe dream.
• I wish I had time to learn Spanish now, but unfortunately I don’t.
• Luckily my new residency site is more family friendly. Translation: I actually get to see my family while they are not sleeping most nights of the week.
• I got to  see Manon at the Metropolitan Opera this week.  So fabulous!!!