Ava Turns Two!

On June 25th, we celebrated our little girl's 2nd birthday.  She's not so little anymore!  We didn't do anything very momentous.  On Sunday the 24th, Grandpa and Gigi came up and spent the afternoon with us.  They brought presents, including her first baby doll, equipped with all the accessories.  Tim and I had wanted for her to get a baby before our baby came along.  I thought it might be helpful for her to have a baby to take care of while Mama takes care of hers.  And believe it or not, the girl didn't have a baby yet!  We celebrated by opening presents and eating cupcakes and that was about it.  On Monday--her actual birthday--we had cupcakes and sang to her again after dinner.  Then we had a nice conversation with Nana and Papa Ernie via Skype.  Not a bad birthday for a two-year-old.  

Here are some pictures from it.  Ava really likes to look at her birthday pictures on the computer (she loves to watch Picasa slideshows - mostly just pictures of herself, though).  She likes to sing "Happy Birthday" while she watches.  "Happy birthday to youee, youee, youee . . . " is usually how it goes.  :)

Having a snack before opening presents.  Grandpa and Gigi came while she was napping, so she was a little surprised to see them when she woke up.

Reading her "Peekaboo Duck" card.  She still loves it.  :)

Sidewalk chalk?  Yes!

Reading one of her new books with Grandpa.

Opening her baby.  Ooh . . . what could it be?

The look on her face says, "What the heck IS this thing?"

Too bad all babies don't just come nicely wrapped in a box!

So many fun accessories!  It took forever to get them all out of the box.

Baby needs her pacifier.

On a walk with her baby and diaper bag.  As soon as she opened the baby and saw what it was, she was quiet for the next 15 minutes or so . . . so serious about playing with her new baby!

Coloring Outside!  So fun.

Coloring your feet is especially fun.

Attempting to eat a cupcake . . . 

THIS is how you eat a cupcake!

Such a good little mommy!

A New Era

So . . . obviously I haven't been on the blog in a while.  The last post I did was in January it tells me.  Whew!  That was a while ago.  I'm not surprised.  At some point, I think not long after I did that post, I came to a conclusion about blogs:  family blogs are for women who work part-time or are stay-at-home moms.  They are NOT for full-time working moms.  I do not mean that as any kind of criticism on either side of the spectrum.  I suppose there are full-time working moms who keep blogs, and I'm sure there are stay-at-home or part-timers who can't find the time.  For my life--I had to decide that it just wasn't enough of a priority for me to make it happen.  It's hard enough just keeping your head above water when you're a working mom!  Honestly, after the last two years, I have a whole new respect for my own mother and my sister.  Both have/had successful careers while raising two children.  I am amazed at their perseverance and dedication.  However, after much prayer and consideration, Tim and I have decided (with a lot of guidance from the Lord!) that the working-mom life is not for me/us.  At least not while our children are young.  Which brings me to my next point . . . 


I am now officially a "stay-at-home" mom.  My husband has given me the title of "Director of Household Operations" (at Kelleher Enterprises).  You can refer to me as the DHO or as a Domestic Goddess.  I will answer to either.  :)  All joking aside, this has been a BIG step for our family!  It was an incredibly hard decision in many ways.  It was very hard for me to leave the job and people that I loved so much (Will I ever find another job that I like as much?  Will I ever find another boss that is as supportive and with whom I will have such a GREAT relationship/friendship?).  It is also a hard decision for us financially.  Don't get me wrong; Tim is perfectly capable of providing well for our family, of which I am so very thankful.  Yet we have become accustom to a two-income lifestyle and it will take some lifestyle changes to make everything work on one income.  There are a few sacrifices that we are going to have to make.  We are perfectly willing to make them, but that doesn't mean it won't be an adjustment.  There is a learning curve here, and we are going to have to bend quite a bit here and there to make everything work.  You know what?  We're kind of excited about that.  We believe it will be good for our family to learn to make do with a little less.  What a great opportunity for growth!


I'm not going to lie . . . thinking about being home day after day and year after year terrifies me a little.  But it also excites me a lot.  I am so glad that Ava had the time that she did in childcare.  She loved it and I believe that it has played a huge part in the social skills that she has and her amazing verbal ability.  But . . . I am excited about being home with her so that I can be the one teaching and training her.  The Bible calls us as parents to train our children in the way they should go.  Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against childcare (obviously, I worked at the best one in Fort Collins for over 5 years!), but I do believe that being able to raise my children day in and day out is an amazing opportunity.  It is not easy . . . so far she has really been testing me (especially since June came home), but I am determined to win her heart and keep it.  That is my mission field, the work God has given me with the two beautiful children with which he has blessed me.


I'm finding it a little odd to have such a shift in my priorities.  It is also really difficult to re-train my brain.  What?  I don't have to try to cram every household task into my much-too-short weekend, making myself and my husband crazy??!!  Tim and are hopeful that this change will allow us to spend more quality time together as a family, having fun and making memories.  I know that sounds cheesy, but I don't really want my children to grow up with memories of their mom and dad always doing chores rather than spending time with them.  It has already been a huge blessing to us all, and especially to my husband.  One of the benefits of this situation that I am really excited about is how it will make life easier for Tim.  He deserves it!


All this being said, I am hopeful that I will now have more time to keep up with this blog!  Obviously it is not all fun and free-time, being home with two kids.  I am finding that out quickly (not that I expected it to be a walk in the park).  Praise God that June is such a content little baby and a good sleeper!  :)  But I do want to make this blog somewhat of a priority now.  We will see how well I do.  Today I have shared with you my heart in becoming a full-time mom.  My plan is to post pictures from Ava's second birthday soon!  Check back when you get a chance, and please leave me a comment if you can!

Hope These Make You Smile!

I'm home with a sick Ava today (poor little girl can't get a break!) so I thought I'd take the time to upload some new video. I am thankful to have a phone that takes pretty good pictures and videos when the moment calls for it (because we are awful about having the camera close by). Anyway, here is a video from a couple weeks ago that one of Ava's teachers took with her iPhone while they were on the playground, and then sent it to me. What a treat to get that text while working at my desk! I love her giggle in this video and it has quickly become Ava's favorite video of herself to watch (she LOVES to watch videos of herself). Enjoy!





And here is a video that Tim took just the other night of Ava performing her favorite dance move. She LOVES music and especially loves to dance to it. She calls music "gik" and demands it almost every night when they get home. The video is a little far away, but it's hard to get close because then she gets distracted by the camera. And please, please, PLEASE, ignore the dorky woman dancing and clapping with her.




By the way, she happens to be dancing to Led Zepplin. Papa Tony would be proud.

Ava's Christmas Program Performance

Ava participated in her second Christmas Program tonight, and here is a video for your viewing pleasure.




Unfortunately, she spotted Daddy and was slightly distracted, but it was still successful.

First Bike Ride!

All summer long we've been planning to buy a bike trailer so that we can go for bike rides with Ava . . . well, now that summer is nearly over we've finally gotten one! Hurray! We haven't actually gone for that first ride yet, but we plan to squeeze one in today. First there is cleaning and basement work to be done. Boo.

Here are some pictures of Ava exploring the new trailer and its accessories:

Hey, I kinda like this thing.

This picture pretty accurately portrays how she feels about her new Winnie the Pooh helmet!

Ooh, the camera . . .

Can I take this thing off yet?!

Wish us luck for our first ride! We're hoping she likes it!

Ava's Famous Dance Move

Our little girl is discovering that she likes to dance! And she'll dance to just about any little ditty she hears. Daddy caught her doing this the other day and was able to get it on video:




That's the little farm we got her for her birthday. She has started playing with it a lot, but we didn't even know she knew how to make it play the music! Such a funny girl.

One to Remember

In case you didn't already know, our little girl turned one on June 25th. It's hard to believe it has been that long since she came into our world! She is very busy as a one year old, and even managed to start walking days before her birthday. So now she toddles all around our house, getting into all kinds of trouble. She has been so much fun and such a blessing to us. We can't imagine life without her anymore.

Happy First Birthday, Ava Marie!