Four and Fabulous

Yesterday was Miss Ava's official birthday, as well as her party with lots of family and dear friends there ready to celebrate four amazing years with Ava. The day was seriously GORGEOUS, and aside from the nasty wind ruining all my pretty decorations, the party was perfect! Ava was her usual quiet and cautious self, which is always how she gets in large groups of people. She was also super tired as we stayed up quite late the night before attending a Rivercat's game with Brother's little league team(Rivercats lost, btw. But the kiddos loved the fireworks!). But all in all it was a wonderful day, not to mention Miss Ava made out like a bandit! She now has EIGHT pairs of sandals!! That's more shoes than there are days in the week! And if I sound like I have shoe envy, it's because I DO!!! ;) Miss Ava also scored a big girl two wheeler bike, a scooter, a complete Ariel beach ensemble, an entire summer wardrobe, just too much to list.

We missed those who couldn't make it, and appreciate all those who did! If you guys took pictures, please send them to me asap! :)


















Happy Birthday my precious daughter. You have accomplished so much, overcome more than many others will have to face in a lifetime, and did it ALL with a smile on your face! Mommy, Daddy and Brother love you so much and are so thankful for that day you blessed us with your presence. You have accomplished so much just in the last year...You are about to finish your first year of preschool, amazing! You are talking so much more, and working very hard in class and in speech therapy! Growing stronger every day! You started using the big girl potty and barely had an accident since! You were very brave this year for the two catheterizations you had. You started eating 100% orally and now ask for a meal/snack every 20minutes! You have made lots of new friends, had your first soccer class, first trip to the ocean, first trip to DISNEYLAND! Four years, wow!

Happy Birthday Ava! Preschool-style

I am SO super blessed and lucky that I am able to do things such as spend the day in my daughter's class and be a very small part of her mini celebration with her classmates and teachers. Which is exactly what I did today!!! Ava knew she was going to be celebrating her birthday today in class and although she seemed a tad bit apprehensive(not all that unusual for Ava) she was also really really excited! Most of that excitement undoubtedly had to do with the sugary super cute cupcakes that were involved. :) She woke up this morning ready to go! She picked out her outfit(luckily she changed her mind from the VERY full pettiskirt to a more sensible, but equally cute, outfit ;), brushed her teeth, combed her hair and was ready to GO!


I had lots of fun sitting in on class today. Just to see Ava in school and interacting is a milestone I hold near and dear to my heart. She has come so far, and I don't see signs of her slowing down anytime quick! ;) Thanks to the fabulous teacher team Miss Ava has on her side, I have heard so many horror stories of IEP's and everything/one that goes with them. But you have all been so wonderful and I have seen the tremendous progress little miss has made this year, both socially, physically and speech-wise. Thank you! :)

I miss me.

It's been almost four years since our lives forever changed. And I can't help but to reflect on how different things were four years ago today.

I feel like I was an entirely different person. I was optimistic, I was carefree(hindsight), I was naive, I was hopeful, I was joyous, I was elated, I was YOUNG. I knew almost next to nada about how sick babies could be(hindsight again). I especialy knew nothing about CHD. Not to be a total wet towel, but most days when I wake up not many of those descriptions match my mood or thoughts.

I do not think I am depressed, at all. And that Jen you see or hear that is ALWAYS putting a spin on the negative and trying her darndest to turn it into a beautiful picture isn't faking it. It just takes more work nowadays. Sometimes a LOT more work. And I think I am just exhausting myself more than anything. But I don't know how to slow down and just truly relax like I used to. How can you when you are constantly trying to remember appointments, medicines, helping others understand what your daughter is saying, explaining this and that, am I spending enough quality time with each child, am I making sure my marriage is happy, is Ava eating enough/gaining enough weight, etc etc ETC.

Hmm, a work in progress, for sure!

My Mommy's Day 2010

I guess first of all, HI. Total slacker with the blog again. I have been living in the cave that most of us crawl into right before one of our child's birthdays, knee deep in party planning. Luckily the colors are bright and everything is pretty. :)

I hope all my mommy friends had a fabulous Mother's Day with their lovies! I sure did! Hubby works the late shift, from 8pm-6am, so he surprised me with my favorite latte on his way home, as well as donuts for the kiddos so that I wouldn't have to cook...MMM. Oh wait, am I supposed to admit I happily allowed my children to eat donuts for breakfast? Oooh, and that I even had one myself?! And that it was really, really delicious?!

Moving on, so the kiddos and I hung out all morning, they both showed me what they made for me in class, both made me cry cause I'm absolutely, 100%, one of "those" mom's. G offered to make me toast(hey that's huge, I am pretty sure when I met GBo at his tender age of 21 he was burning water still), kept sneaking up and giving me hugs and asking if I was having a day as good as I deserved. SO SWEET. We played, etc, and then started packing up for our mini trip to the coast! Once hubby woke we were off! It took awhile to get there, guess a lot of people like to travel on Mother's Day, who knew, but it was SO worth it once we reached our destination! We went to a little beach I heard about from my brother Daren called McClures. BEAUTIFUL! The weather in town was a bit rainy and overcast, but on the beach it was nothing but blue skies and mid 60's temps. Perfecto! It was Ava's first time visiting the coast, and she was SOOO super excited the whole time. She's been to the lake before, things like that. So when we told her where we were going she was on the lookout for "wa-er(water)" the WHOLE ride down. Once she spotted it she literally shrieked so loud it hurt my head and got SUPER excited. There was a long trail down and from the place where we had to park you couldn't necessarily see the ocean all that well, at least the beachy part. So we started our trek down the path and once that beach came into view Ava again shrieked and started dancing, she even threw in a pirouette. ;)







The kids spent the day exploring, climbing, digging, running from the tide, and I loved every second of it! We finally made it home around 11pm and had some VERY sleepy, but very happy kiddos on our hands. Of course, the next morning was Monday and we all had to rise and shine to get ready for school, but the long day before was totally worth it!










Thank you husband for making my Mommy's Day fantastic and very memorable. Thank you Gregory and Ava for letting me be your Mommy, if everyone could be blessed with two kiddos like you two, I think the world would be a much happier & and fun place to live. :)