Easter Bunny who?

Amy  - puuuulease control your 6yr old.

Overheard

Ava:  "Is anyone going to push me?   Is anyone going to push me?"

(Not sure exactly who she was talking to and how long she had been asking that question...since we were all running around the yard talking and playing frisbee) 

Routines

I never realized that little habbits turn into routines that Ava hangs on to. Take for instance this morning...

Our usual morning routine (on days I work)

1) I get Ava dressed while Brian gets ready

2) Brian starts breakfast with Ava while I get ready

3) Brian leaves for work and I finish breakfast

Today's routine went a little differently

1) Ava ate in her PJ's with Brian

2) Brian left for work and I dressed Ava

Everything was fine until Ava ran from her nursery into our bedroom (in her usual excited fashion) asking her almost daily question..."Daddy, I look pretty?" When she realized he wasn't there to answer with his usual "Yes, Ava, very pretty" -  we had a little fling on the floor meltdown in the dark, daddy-less bedroom.  

Our solution: call Daddy and ask him over the phone...

"Daddy, I look pretty?"   -    "Yes, Ava, VERY pretty."

spring break

Usually spring break means sunny destinations, rest and relaxation...not at our house. This year it meant shovels and gravel, scrapes and backaches, and lots and lots of DIRT! My wonderful, handy husband spent his break last week making new pathways and stone walls for the yard. But he can't take all the credit - he did have a little helper to lighten the load.  Here she is "working hard" (in her own words)...

...although I am not sure that digging up buckets of gravel you just put down is really much help but it sure makes it more enjoyable!

Just look at her cute little (DIRTY) face! 

Out to lunch

We've moved on from the high-chair...for meals out. These days Ava likes to express her independence in many ways- one of which is sitting next to Mommy in a "big girl" chair. Here is Ava in the booth. Cuuuutie pie.

Easter Sunday

Lots of wonderful memories were made this Easter! A full day of Easter baskets, Church celebrations,  egg hunts and more. A fun time was had by all. 

My little boy...

Aidan would be 6 months and a few days old.  I often have a "something is missing" feeling when it's the three of us together. It's mostly a gut feeling that, like many things in life, can't be captured with words. Hard to imagine my little family with four of us.

My friend Tanya has a little boy, Atticus, that was born a few weeks before Aidan. I love to watch him grow. Atticus allows me to imagine my Aidan at different stages in a more tangible way. It's hard to describe. While painful at times it helps me connect with feelings and fleeting thoughts that would otherwise pass by too quickly. Even if it only in my imagination, I get to dream of what Aidan may have been like at 6 months. I can think 'O- he'd be getting ready to crawl right around now'.  What he may have looked like- hair, no hair? Pudgy or wiry? Would he look more like Brian or me? I get to make up the sound of his coo's. Even though he will only ever "grow-up" in my imagination, he will always live on in my heart.