Can I love another?

I think every Mother asks themselves when the become pregnant with another child, am I going to be able to love another child like I love my first?

I was thinking about this last night at 3 AM while feeding Ava. She has been sleeping through the night (most nights) but last night she got up and I actually enjoyed sitting there in the dark feeding her as she held onto my finger. She ate and fell back to sleep all curled up with her face pressed against mine. I could hold her forever like that. At that moment, I just was reflecting on how thankful I am for the wonderful gift God had given us, all the tears I cried wanting another child have been replaced by the smiles she gives to me every day. It's so overwhelming how much you come to love your children, it's truly an unexplainable feeling. I also find that my heart just melts watching Aiden with her and my love for both Aiden and Chris has grown since she has been born. She is such a precious little girl. I never thought I needed a daughter until I had her.

So, I guess the answer is YES, I do love another child as much as I do my first and it's amazing that just when you think you can't love someone more....your love gets even stronger than you could imagine! What a wonderful feeling! Furthermore, I feel more confident now that I can tell each of my children they are my favorites because it is completely possible for them both to be mommy's favorite!

I can ride my bike.....

Aiden asked Chris on Saturday if he could have motorcycle after seeing the 4-5 year olds motorcross racing at the fair. Chris's response was, " You can't even ride your bike without training wheels yet, you have to do that first" thinking this would buy us more time on the entire subject......well Sunday morning, Aiden all of a sudden shows intrest in trying to ride his bike again, which I have been trying to practice with him for months and here is the result........

He's OFF!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at him go....

That was hard work!!! He looks like such a big boy in this picture!


Monday afternoon rolls around, they practice again, and he rides down the sidewalk on his own until about the 3rd or 4th house down from ours and turns around to Chris and asks "So, Dad, when can I get my motorcycle?" LOL! He is too much. I sure hope he is not holding his breath waiting.

The Fair

Ava all ready to go to her first fair.....

( I LOVE this picture of her!)

UMMMM..maybe not....

Aiden and one of his many lady friends, he ran into Ayana his classmate

from daycare and they watched the clown circus show together.

Aiden and Chris on the Ferris Wheel. I wouldn't go on that one!

Chris said he was more afraid than Aiden after getting stopped three times

at the top! The exact reason I chose not to go on in the first place!

Aiden and Mommy after eating so good fair food...just what I needed!

Amy and Ava, enjoying some time together. I have
to watch them, Amy has a tendency to kidnap her sometimes!

Ava had enough....it's night night time

Chris and Ava waiting for Aiden to finish his pony ride

We attend the county fair every year, not only because the kid(s) aways have a great time but the food is a guilty pleasure for both Chris and I and the people watching is even better! This year was even more special because I broke a crown the night before so I had a missing tooth and fit right in with the rest of the crowd! LOL! I know that was mean and after finding out just how much this sucker is going to cost to have repaired I now sympathize with my fair friends!

Zoombezi Bay

Chris's niece and I took Aiden to the local waterpark, Zoombezi Bay on July 9th. We had a great time! Aiden is just in between being able to ride the big slides but there were two pretty big ones he was tall enough to ride so we went on those over and over and over again! We also had fun on the lazy river and in the wave pool! Then we went on some of the rides in the amusement area afterwards.

I think Chris and I need to go alone for an afternoon, they have an adult only lazy river with a bar! Sounds good to me!!!

4th of July

Our 4th of July Celebration was a lot of fun this year! We started the day by attending the Hilliard parade. Aiden enjoyed watching and most of all ended up coming home with a bag filled with candy! We then went home and cooked out and had family over in the afternoon. We had BBQ ribs, potato salad, fruit, and veggie trays and a wonderful strawberry and blueberry cream cheese pie for dessert! We then headed to the municipal park for fireworks. It was raining a little when we first arrived but ended up clearing up just in time for the fun to begin. We were able to park next to our neighbors so all the kids had fun lighting sparklers and watching the Dad's light off the smoke bombs!

(Ava had three outfits for the day so that is why there are so many pics of her! She already has one for next year in her closet as well....:-))

Call me crazy...

Just checking a local news website this morning, and this was the top story...

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Burglary suspects broke into a North Side dollar store Thursday morning and got away with almost $2,500, according to authorities.

Call me crazy, but if I were to break into a store it sure as hell wouldn't be a dollar tree!!!

Is that really worth going to jail?? Now, a bank or jewelry store, I could see.....

Momnesia

Momnesia - The forgetfulness that overtakes the

mental capacity of any new mother

Okay- There is a diagnosis for what I am currently experiencing!

For those of you that have never heard of this term but suffered from this after having a little one, you were not crazy after all!!!

For those of you that have yet to experience this bizarre state of mind, this is a warning.....also, it seems to be so much worse the second time around! Don't say I didn't warn you!

I am hoping this doesn't last too much longer.

For those of you that don't believe me....google it!!!

The worst part is there is no cure!

Not enough time in a day.....

I didn't think there was enough time in the day when I had 1 child, now I am back to work with 2 and I can't lie, it is a bit overwhelming! Yesterday was my first full day back at the office and Ava's first day at her babysitters. I knew it was going to be an emotional morning for me and it was, but I made it! I was so happy to see my little princess at the end of the day. She did really well at the sitters. I am so glad I started back at work only part time last week, it really helped make coming to the office much easier yesterday.

Once I got home I had laundry to get done, had to make dinner, get all of our clothes ready for today, give baths and all I wanted to do was hold my baby! Chris helped me with dinner and took the kids on a walk while I got the laundry folded and took a shower. I also was able to get everything ready for today and get the kids bathed when they got home. We had company this past weekend which made yesterday a little worse as far as housework so, I hope to get a routine down next weekend that will help me stay organized with planning our week ahead of time so my evenings will be less hectic. I am just taking one day at a time right now. I have a feeling my I don't want to cook (menu) book will be used now more than ever!

Ava seemed to do really well at the sitters and she actually slept through the night Sunday from about 9:30pm until I woke her at 6:45am Monday! I had to go check on her at 4:45am since I looked at the clock and realized she was still sleeping! Last night she got up once at 2:30am for her bottle but went right back to sleep, we can handle that. (Chris got up with her so that was extra nice!) I think once she starts on her own little routine she will start sleeping through the night every night. The morning routine seems to be going well so far, I haven't dropped off both kids yet but I felt like I could have today and I would have still made it to work on time. Although today I forgot Ava's diaper bag on the counter so I pulled into the sitters driveway and had to drive back home to get it, luckily we only live two streets over!

We are trying to get Aiden to be more independent in the mornings as well. He is getting himself dressed and brushing his teeth, sometimes he even does his hair. Next month we will be getting him all prepared to start school!

Overall I am enjoying being back at work, if it was part time it would be ideal but, that is in a perfect world. All my co-workers have been so sweet and have welcomed me back with open arms. I think once I get all my ducks in a row I will be happy with my decision, I just have to give it a little more time. I just keep telling myself, one day at a time......one day at a time.....

Zoo Day!

Aiden and Ava getting ready to head to the zoo!

Ava excited for her second zoo trip, in her sun dress and hat!

Aiden viewing the map deciding where to go first?

The big elephant...second trip to the zoo since the baby elephant arrived and we keep missing

the viewing hours...maybe next time!

Tiger taking a nap, he looks so comfortable.

Ava, Me & Aiden hanging out at Jack's Landing.

Aiden loves the rides and I love going on them with him!

Happy 4th Birthday Sethy!

Today is not only the 4th of July but it's also a very special person's 4th Birthday!

Sethy-

Aunt Dana, Uncle Chris, Aiden & Ava are so proud of you and we cannot wait to come celebrate your birthday with you are your party tomorrow!!! We hope you are enjoying your day today with your Mommy, Daddy, Nanny and Pappy and we will see you later for fireworks!

XOXO

Aunt Dana!

PS- I thought about not calling you Sethy anymore since you are now a big boy but, I think we have a few more years to get away with it! :-)

July (already?)

WOW! It's July 1st! I knew time would fly once Ava arrived but never did I imagine how fast! I will return to work next week. Ava's babysitter is on vacation next week so our niece Ashley is coming down from Akron to help me out for the week. I will be working in the office half days and at home the other half of the day. I will then start back full time at the office the following week. It worked out well, I would rather ease back into my routine rather than jumping in with both feet. I am sad about having to leave her, I imagined it would be easier since this is the second time around but it's not. I know once I get back into the swing of things I will feel better and I know we are leaving her in wonderful hands. I just can't leave a job that I enjoy, not to mention such a family friendly place to work when things are so unpredictable with the economy.

Ava is fantastic!!!! She is smiling and talking all the time now. We just love to hear her make her noises! She loves just laying on her blanket kicking and cooing. She is growing out of her 0-3 month clothes and moving into 3-6 months. She is still waking about once in the middle of the night for feeding and not on a set schedule yet but I imagine once we start our routine next week she will start her own schedule and it will be easier on all of us.

Aiden is also doing great! I have been taking him to the pool as much as possible. If the weather is nice next week I might try to take him and my niece to the water park for the day. He has been asking to go all summer. He deserves a special treat for being such a wonderful big brother. He enjoys playing outside with our neighbor Alex. It's nice having a neighbor the same age as him! Next month he will start kindergarten! We are getting him prepared for that and he seems to be very excited about starting school like the big kids! He will continue to attend his childcare facility and they will bus him to and from school each day.

In other news, my car is still at the dealership. This has turned out to be a total mess. The car has about $8,000 worth of damage. I don't even want to drive it even after it's repaired. The insurance company called and is expecting us to pay for part of the tires since they have to put two new tires on the car and the tires were not new at the time of the accident. (mind you they did not need replaced either) We are basically telling them we refuse to pay for tires when their customer hit our car. It's insane to me that they are seriously putting up a fight over $175 when the car has $8000 in damages???? I let Chris deal with these type issues, hopefully we will get a resolution soon but at any rate, I am going to try to get out of my lease and into a new car. I just don't feel safe driving my two children around in a car with that much damage. If I owned it I would sell it and I would never purchase a car knowing it had that much damage at one time.

On a lighter note....our basement is just about finished!!! We had our carpet installed last Friday and we have our furniture arriving this Friday! We are so excited! I will post pics once we get everything in place. It's going to be so nice having the extra space. It will also serve as our "guest room" since the sectional has a pull out and we put in a half bath down there.

We are looking forward to celebrating the 4th of July this weekend! Saturday is our community parade in the morning and we plan on attending fireworks that night. Sunday we will be attending a birthday party for our little buddy Seth! He is turning 4 years old on the 4th!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th and I should have some new pics to post next week of our weekend!