She's a Superstar!

Today, Ava, my mom and I headed to Los Angeles for Ava's first job! I was a little apprehensive when my agent wanted to book her-she is my baby after all and why on earth would I want other people looking at her and filming her?! Well, the pay was really good...and she only had to "work" for two hours. It was a shoot for a skin care infomercial. It was shot at this AMAZING private residence in LA. We got there 5 minutes early and Ava was ready to work! Well....production wasn't quite ready to work so we hung out with the wardrobe lady for awhile and had some playtime...

So the entire crew and everyone on set was REALLY quiet. I couldn't figure out why they were all being so calm and almost wispering...then the producer told me that they were keeping the entire house calm for Ava! I was like, "Oh she is just fine". She was happy as a clam. They had me dress her in only her diaper and then came in and said, "Ready for the beautiful baby" ....

So off we went through the house to the big living room where the shot was set up. It was just a HUGE white platform and tons of light-everywhere lights-and a massive TV camera and big monitor to watch the feed on...it was so much fun to watch my baby girl on a TV! HAHA Anyway I though she would get nervous when I layed her on the platform but we gave her the rattle she loves and she just played and played. I played peek-a-boo with her behind the camera so that they could get some great laughing shots...then we took a break and had more playtime!

They bought in the mommy model and had her sit with Ava and play/cuddle her on the platform and just filmed them interacting for awhile. Ava was sooooo nice and friendly to her pretend mommy-I was so proud!

 

Then we left after two hours of being there (only about 30 minutes of actual camera time) and us girls went to lunch and to Barnes and Noble to buy books. I got 2 GREAT books-one about my specific camera and an advanced operations manual for my editing program-475 pages-yikes! All in all it was a great day-but we did hit a bird on the way up there-God bless his squashed bird soul!!!

Sleep

So last night Ava went to bed at 8:30pm (which is an hour late) because we were out with Scott's side of the family, celebrating a few birthdays. She slept in her room until.........................

4:00am!!!!!!

Scott said that he woke up at 3:30am and went to check on her (so sweet) and she was still fast asleep. He woke me up at 4am and had her in his arms. He said that all she did was grunt a little bit and he went and got her because he thought my boobies would be ready to explode (haha-I said "boobies" on my blog!) This morning when we got up I said, "Honey, if I'm asleep then I don't care about my boobies!" It was amazing. Maybe she will want to sleep now that her 3rd tooth finally came in. I feel like a normal human being this morning :) Sleep is seriously a gift from God LOL

                                         

Teefers Teefers Everywhere!

Ava officially has 3 teeth. They are all on the bottom and they are all adorable! This morning I was buckling Aden into his carseat when he let out a big, exciting scream and I thought I noticed too many teeth...well it turns out that he has one of his 2 year old molars already! It is fully in so he must have cut it through awhile ago. Everytime I try to put my fingers in his mouth to feel for teeth he bites me so I stopped trying LOL Only 3 teeth left for Aden and then he is DONE getting them-until they all fall out and the big ones come in :) I love my big babies

A Day With Tyler

On Saturday Holly came over with Tyler and we had a little photo shoot. Scott was still out of town so Aden, Ava and Tyler kept the house pretty noisy! Holly gets Tyler dressed and plops him on the backdrop and he is happy as a clam until I start shooting. It was so cute-every time he heard the shutter release he would get so serious and not move! I got some beautiful shots of him staring me down :) We were able to get a few precious smiles too. I've been editing (fixing my exposure mistakes LOL) them and can't wait to give Holly a disc of the images and see what she thinks. After that, Chad came to pick up Tyler and Holly stayed. A few of my other girlfriends came over and we had a little "girls night" after my babies went to bed. I needed laughter after 3 days of Scott being gone so I really enjoyed sitting by the pool with a margarita and relaxing! Thanks girlies  :)  Holly was such a good helper with my babies so that I could make dinner and clean the kitchen too!! Love you Holly!!!!!!!!!!!!

The End of My Very Long and Patient Rope

Here is how last night went.

8:45pm I went to bed early to catch up on some sleep-house clean-kids asleep

10:45pm Ava up...I get here and bring her to bed w/me. Nurse and back to sleep

11:45pm Aden starts screaming from a night terror (he gets them from time to time)

I walk with him and calm him down...he will not go back in his crib so I bring him to bed 

with me and he lays quietly.

3:30am ADEN IS STILL WIDE AWAKE and Ava wakes up again to nurse. He smacks her head

and starts bouncing up and down. I promptly yank him out of bed and put him back in his crib. He promptly begins screaming. I nurse Ava back to sleep and lay in the dark listening to him scream and sob hysterically.

4:15am Aden finally cries himself to sleep...I want to cry now because I feel so bad but I try to sleep instead

4:30am My neighbors decided this is the perfect time for a swim party. Unbelievable.

5am I finally get used to the swim party and drift off...BEEP! What was that loud beep?!

I get up and check the phone, alarm, smoke detectors and can't find anything wrong.

Go to sleep

7:15am Ava and Aden are awake...good morning mommy!

Of course Scott is out of town, golfing. Let me assure all of  you that when he gets back I will be taking the longest nap of my life. The coffee is ready-and I need it. I'm losing my mind.

Here's the pretty picture

There it is :)

Suprises For Me!

A few days ago there was a knock on the door. Since I have been waiting for all of my equipment to arrive I was up and running to answer it. It was FedEx and he had a huge HP professional photo printer/copier/scanner/fax ect. "I didn't order this!" After a few minutes Scott fessed up and it was my belated birthday present! I am sooooo excited. 

Next...

Our laptop is 6 years old and has been in pretty bad shape for some time. We've often talked about getting a new computer, one that I can edit images on and work this photography thing out with :)  Money is always an issue though when you have 2 babies in diapers and gas is just under $5 a gallon...so today I came home from my mom's house and there was a thin black box sitting on the table with a note..."happy anniversary" It was a MacBook Pro!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this is my first blog on my amazing new computer. Scott also ordered the most incredible editing program and had it installed for me. I'm getting a better hang of the camera and shooting manually, but with this program I can fix anything that I mess up-woohoo! Here is a lovely shot of my lovely daughter, taking with my amazing camera and edited with my amazing editing program. It was a good day :)

OOPS! OK I have no clue how to use a Mac and how to get this picture from my editing program into this post...hmm...lot's to learn...next time HAHA

Progress...??

About Ava...

We still have her sleeping in her room as much as possible and it hasn't been going very well. Scott has to run down to her a few times every night and then brings her to bed to nurse and sleep with us after he can't take it anymore (what a trooper!). Well, last night I put her to bed at 7:45pm. She woke up 45 minutes later and I had to sway her back and forth for about 30 seconds and then I layed her down and she was out like a light. Scott heard her fuss at 10pm and while he was on his way to pick her up she went back to sleep on her own! WAIT-it gets better! THEN she slept until 2:40am!!! This means that from 8:30pm - 2:40am she was on her own :) I went to bed at 9:45 and slept for 5 straight hours :) Needless to say, this is very encouraging and I hope nights like these will start becoming the norm.

Update

Aden's tooth seems to be doing very well. I guess that the "blueness" isn't really that noticeable unless you pull his lip up and really look at it but I am his mommy so I know everything and it freaked me out. It isn't any darker and I didn't end up taking him to the dentist. I know that I will just pay a couple hundred dollars and all I will hear is "Let's keep an eye on it". Anyway, it isn't loose anymore so that is a GREAT sign. He is still chomping down on apples daily so I think it is safe to move past this one. I'm sure other mouth injuries will creep up on us over the next few years though! Boys are so rough and tough :)

Yesterday Scott and I had massages. It was so nice but I felt a little sick afterward. I guess she just worked out a lot of kinks so I just felt a bit achy and nauseous. I hear that is pretty common though. After the babies went to bed we went for a swim in the dark and it was SO nice. The water was perfect. It was just nice to float around and be peaceful.

SOOOOO.....something else happened yesterday that was very cool...

MY CAMERA CAME IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was about 4 days early so I was shocked when I opened the door and it was UPS with a big box full of goodies for me! I'm still waiting for one of the lenses and my lighting equipment should come next week. I squealed when I saw it. It is HUGE and beautiful and I am in the process of going through the paperwork and starting to dive into the manual to learn about it. The thing is alot more complicated than I thought! My goal is to shoot in fully "manual" mode and opposed to "automatic" that we all are used to shooting in. In manual mode, the photographer is in charge of setting the shutter speed, exposure ECT for every shot-the camera doesn't do it for you. So basically-I have a lot of learning to do!

I Ordered...

...my CAMERA!!! I am so excited! I also was able to buy a ton of extras, lighting equipment and a couple of muslin backdrops...now I just have to learn how to use it all LOL I' should be getting it all at the end of this week or the beginning of next. Everyone-gets your babies ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aden's Blue Tooth

On Saturday my little boy fell in the kitchen and hit his mouth on the floor. His two front teeth busted his lip and we had a bit of a bloody mouth. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be once he let me really look at it. I wiggled his teeth and one of them felt a tiny bit loose...well now...2 days later...it is turning blue. SOOOO I'm sure that he damaged the root and I'm PRAYING that it doesn't fall out or have to be pulled. I would appreciate it if everyone who reads this could send up a prayer or two for Aden's tooth! His teeth are so perfect and it is just breaking my heart to see this one turn blue! He is able to eat just fine and it doesn't seem to bother him. I am so very sad about this :(

Tomorrow we will probably be taking a trip to Dr Okamono's office (Aden's pediatric dentist who we have already seen once for a baby check up and who I just LOVE) I know that sometimes baby teeth will just sort of re-attach themselves and it all just works out on it's own-I am soooooooo hoping this will be the case for us!

On a happier note, Aden's new jammies are 3T!! He is only 21 months and he is already wearing things that are 3T. I love my big boy :) He is going to be very tall like his Daddy.

In an effort to help me get more sleep, Scott started taking Ava into her room to sleep and not let her nurse as much. I only nursed her at 2am and then at 5:30am...with his help I know that we will be seeing easier nights sooner rather than later-thank you Scotty! At the same time, I am already missing snuggling in the dark with her and nursing back to sleep...so conflicted!

Frustration

Last night I went out to dinner with one of my best friends. It was lovely to get out of the house for a little while. Ava went to bed at 7:20pm and I was out the door...well...she must have missed me because she was wide awake and ready to play from 10:30pm -12:30am. I keep telling myself that someday soon it will be easier. I'm just so tired!

We are having a cricket problem. Scott sprayed outside and now they are all coming inside so that they don't die. I must have made the poor man (broken toe and all) jump up and kill about 10 crickets yesterday. It's creeping me out!

Today feels like a "two cup of coffee" kind of day.

Ewwww

Tonight I made chicken and fresh spinach fettuccine with alfredo sauce from scratch (the best you'll ever have!) Aden sat down with his little plate, promptly yelled "EEEWWWW!!" and started throwing his chicken and pasta on the floor for the dogs to enjoy. Oh well. Scott and I enjoyed it very much, and the dogs appreciated it as well. LOL Aden is talking a lot lately. He has been so stubborn about not calling my mom anything. She tries so hard to get him to say "grandma, Nana, Nanie Nawnie..." basically ANYTHING that is just her name. She doesn't care what it is-just SOMETHING! So today he finally gave in and yelled "Nah Nah!" Needless to say she is over the moon about this and we have all been instructed to call her that, because Aden has named her-FINALLY! He is also saying, "what is that? where'd it go?" He just sort of walks around the house saying random things. The new thing is to say "Ewwww" and "icky" about everything-even if it isn't icky (Like my dinner). He is definitely coming up on those terrible two's. We are seeing alot of fits and tantrums, but usually it's because we just can't figure out what he wants or needs. He is also starting to hit. Just me usually. He gets frustrated and hits at my face so we are definitely working on that one! He can be so fiesty but he gives me the sweetest hugs and kisses and still needs me to rock and snuggle him every day. My heart is aching as I watch him grow up-I just want him to be my baby boy forever I guess :)

Avers is scooting around more now. I put her on her blanket and a few minutes later she is 3 feet away from it. She's also starting to draw her knees up underneath her belly but she still can't get up on all fours yet-whew! She's a quick one.

Poor Scott has been taking it easy, keeping his little, broken toe up and on ice. It's feeling much better-he's doing a good job of taking care of it. I'd like to say that I am the one taking care of it but all I can do is keep the kids away so that no one jumps on it-OUCH!

My first post as a 24 year old :)

Well, I am another year older. I spent my 24th birthday at home with Scott and the kids. It was a relaxing day, and my mom came over to babysit so that Scott and I could go to dinner. I had a little party on Saturday night with some of my close friends as well. Over all it was a few days of great fun! Thanks to my very wonderful and generous parents, I will be ordering a CAMERA this week! I can't wait to have it in my hands and to start shooting :)

Unfortunately, Scott had a little accident this morning. He was kicking a ball in the house and kicked the ottoman instead! He broke his toe and I had to take him to urgent care for an x-ray. Luckily it was a clean break and it didn't need to be set. All he can do it tape it and wait for it to heal on it's own. This means that golf is out for awhile so I'm sure he is pretty bummed.

Ava had shots today...it's no fun. She did OK and stopped crying when I picked her up. Both of the babies are asleep right now--silence! She weighs just over 17 pounds-I remember when she weighed just over 6 pounds LOL She has decided that her first word is "DADA". I told her that she is a traitor and she needs to say "mama" but she insists that "dada" is the one. She has also decided that her second word is "DADDY" (noticing a trend?!) I told her she was rude but she doesn't seem to care. Ava and Daddy are very happy with each other. "DADADADADA Daddy DADADADADA Daddy..." That's what I hear all day. RUDE. Oh well, I guess it's not the end of the world because she is in love with her daddy-he's not so bad! :)