City girls visit Benton County

Last Wednesday morning Ava and I packed the car up and headed south. Destination: Grandma & Grandpa Becker's Grandma had agreed to meet us in Clear Lake since I didn't want to drive the five hours by myself with Ms. Ava. We set out on time, leaving the house at 8:30. As we were driving through St. Paul Ava fussed and I turned around to see what she was trying to say. As I turned around she began to vomit all over her blankie that I had just handed her, her clothes, her car seat...you get the picture. I immediately switch lanes to take the next exit so we can stop at the nearest ghetto gas station as I think to myself, "seriously kid, you have never thrown up in your life and you choose right now to do it.". I called Grandma to tell her we would now be running behind and gathered up the baby wipes to fish out the grapes and waffle from breakfast as well as the cheese filled tortellini from dinner the night before. Oh how that smell wakes you up. Of course Ava's diaper bag full of clothes was at the back of the trunk. So, I unpack half the trunk to get her stuff out and go into the ghetto bathroom that has no changing station. I'm sure the people outside were wondering if I was abusing my kid as she cried and screamed for her blankie which I was rinsing the vomit out of in the sink. I then took off her nasty clothes and as she was running around naked crying some lady opens the door (Ava must have grabbed the handle and unlocked it earlier). She looks at us and apologizes. I'm sure that she thought that I was a homeless woman washing up my naked kid in the bathroom and doing laundry in the sink. Oh so classy! So, we got back on the road with a car that smelled of vomit and Ava snuggled up to her wet nasty smelling blanket that she refused to give up. The rest of the drive went smoothly and we still made it to Clear Lake on time.

We had a great time visiting with everybody while we were back. Besides Grandma & Grandpa Becker Ava also got to see Aunt Darlene, Aunt Moe Moe, Uncle Carl, Aunt Virgie, cousins Sara, Daniel, Carl, Anna, Jakob, Zacky, and Reece, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Angie, Grandma Great, Great Grandma, a few of Grandma's co-workers. She was so excited to see every body that she woke up around 6:15 every morning. She continues to do so, and actually woke up at 5:00 this morning (I put her down again until 6:00). Day light savings time change has not been kind to us!

We had an action packed few days in IA. We did a lot of shopping, reading, and playing before heading back home to MN on Sunday morning. I'll let the pictures tell the story. I know that there are a lot of pictures, I have about 20 more that I really wanted to share as well. :) Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for a Wonderful few days. We had so much fun!!!


Ava enjoyed a much needed bubble bath in Grandma's "big tub" when we arrived there on Wednesday.
Thursday was evidently "vest day" I'm sure that we looked "so cute" walking around the outlet mall together. We met Aunt Lisa & cousin Reece on Thursday morning and went shopping all morning and into the afternoon. Aunt Lisa & Reece then came back to spend the rest of the week with us at Grandma & Grandpa's.

Grandma didn't go shopping, but somehow ended up wearing a white vest that day as well.

We started Friday morning at the mall again and then went to the Play Station. The kids had a great time and gave Grandma a good workout as she climbed through the tubes, went down the slides, and played in the balls with Ava & Reece.

Ava, Grandma, & Reece getting ready to come down the slide

Playing in the balls

Peek-a-boo

After nap time we went to Aunt Moe Moe's to "ride the pony". Ava wasn't too sure. We did get her to sit on it for a short while with Reece. She's much happier combing the pony's hair though

Yes, I rode bareback and went fast.

Ava & Mommy on Seven

This is one of my favorite pictures.

Ava having a nice conversation with one of the kitties

Ava, Carl, & Reece

Grandma & Ava

We met up with Grandma Great, Aunt Angie, and cousins Anna & Jakob for dinner on Friday night.

Grandpa & Ava reading nursery rhymes

Baking cookies on Saturday morning. Daddy got some when we got home and LOVES them.

One exhausted little girl (perhaps she shouldn't get up at 6 am)

Friday afternoon we made a trip into the fire station.

Ava working the controls

After we arrived home from the fire station it was time for a tractor ride. Ava even wore her pioneer hat. She loved driving while cousin Reece & Grandma rode.

Reece & Ava playing in the bucket of the tractor

Ava & Grandma Great

Vagina

That's right, I said it...and so does Ava. Ava has been "exploring" herself the past couple of weeks while taking her baths. This freaks Nate out beyond belief. He usually starts yelling for me and tells me to make her stop. I laugh and try to explain that it's normal. I told her the other day that it's her vagina, just as I told her what her knee is. She repeated it a few times and we were done. Now I'm just praying that she doesn't start yelling "vagina" while in the church nursery on Sunday morning. :)

Speaking of those parts I keep forgetting to update you all on the potty training. Remember the last time that I posted that she peed on the potty. Well, that's the last time that she did it. She still loves to sit on her potty, but it's more of a recreational activity and time for her to play with her ducks. She'll sometimes pretend like she's trying, grunting and then saying "hard". I'm in no rush, she'll figure it out eventually.

As for the past couple of days. Ava got to have a play date with Cora & her mommy Kristi on Thursday. We were so happy to see them, as it has been awhile. We went to story time at the local library. The girls had fun readying, singing, and playing. Then they came over for some lunch. I am amazed at how well Cora plays by herself. If I could get Ava to do that for 10 minutes I would be happy. We hope to see them again sometime soon. That afternoon we headed to the park, as we could not pass up the gorgeous weather. I know that there aren't many more of these days before the snow starts to fly. Ava had so much fun running around the "dino park", going up and down the slides more times than I can count.

Today we started the day off with a trip to the gym. Ava has had a persistent cough for about 3 weeks now, accompanied by a darn runny nose. The cough was worse today so it was recommended to by the pediatrician to bring her in. They told me exactly what I thought...she has a cold. The same cold that every other child in the twin cities has right now. Unfortunately she is to young for any sort of cough medicine. She's still eating fine (shocking I know) and is in good spirits (except for that annoying whining when she doesn't get things her way). So we'll just wait it out. She did get weighed at her appt. I think that she was just over 30 pounds, and was 34 inches tall. No wonder I can't lift my kid as high as everybody else during her music class!

I'm off to work my 12 hour shifts this weekend, luckily the day shift. Ava will be loved on by Daddy, Grandma, & Boppa. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, and enjoy your extra hour!


Ava going in for a kiss while Cora tries to escape

She couldn't get enough of the slides!

Her favorite...Dino!

Halloween

Ava is in bed for the night and should sleep well. She's had a very busy last 5 days. Friday evening she went over to Maple Grove and "Grandma Terri" watched her while the rest of us went out for a delicious meaty dinner at Fogo de Chao. I was stuffed half way in, but made sure that I packed on the extra pounds with a giant piece of cheesecake for dessert. We picked up our sleeping beauty after dinner, headed home, and pulled into our driveway to find Uncle Brent, Aunt Lisa, & cousins Zack & Reece unloading their van in our driveway. Ava was so excited to see them that she stayed up for awhile before heading to bed WAY past her bedtime.

Saturday morning Daddy, Boppa, and Uncle Brent were up early to go down and tailgate. The rest of us went to the Fall Festival in Maple Grove. I was shocked at how busy it was. We got there at 10:00 and there were so many people out. The Fall Festival is where most of the stores on Main St. open their doors to trick-or-treaters. There is pumpkin decorating, photos taken, etc. The weather was beautiful and the kids had a great time seeing the other costumes and getting candy. When we were done we dropped Ava off at Grandma's while Lisa, Zack, Reece, and I went shopping in Albertville. I have to admit that I was kind of sad that we didn't go to the game. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and the gophers actually won. I had a Very happy husband (and a very distraut brother-in-law) that night, although he had no voice from all the yelling he did.

Sunday morning we went to church, hung out for awhile, and then gave our hugs & kisses good-bye to Lisa, Brent, and the boys. Ava had so much fun with them and she can't wait to see them again in a week and a half when we go back to IA to visit Grandma & Boppa Becker.

Monday Ava had her Halloween party at daycare. I picked her up and we went directly to pick Daddy up at the bus stop in Maple Grove. We made our stops at Grandma's, Grandma Terri's, Lauryn's, and then went to see Ryan, Andrea, & Uncle Wes. We had good intentions of being home by 7:00 to get Ava down to bed and then hand out candy. We ended up not getting home until after 8:00. By then most of the trick-or-treaters were done. So now we have a very large bag of candy in our pantry. Just what my butt/thighs Don't need!!!

Yesterday Ava was back to daycare. We rushed home, took a bath, ate dinner, and then off to music class we went. Ava did much better this week. She was much more engaged and seemed to actually enjoy it. She once again fell asleep on the way home.

Today she got to stay home with Lauryn. Lauryn taught her to say something new today...."Justin Bieber". Exactly what I want my 20 month old running around saying. :) Actually, she spent most of the evening running around the house singing her ABC's. I'm amazed that she knows the entire alphabet. She knows her colors, counts to ten, and now her ABC's...she's no longer a baby, but rather a little girl. Before storytime tonight we ended our day with a family game of "ring around the rosey". What a great end to the day!


Ava LOVED playing with cousins Zacky & Reece
Trick-or-treating at the Fall festival

Cousins Zacky, Reece, & Ava

Pretzels and a movie with a buddy...life doesn't get much better than this.

Ava's monkey face while modeling her new monkey pjs

This is how Ava looks all the time lately. She is attached to her blankie and has been spending a lot of time with that darn thumb in her mouth. I'm going to start calling her Linus.

Our little strawberry

Lauryn & Ava

Another week has quickly flown by. Ava had her first music class last week. Unfortunately she spent the majority of the time taking her name tag on and off. She's pretty amazed at the concept of stickers these days. So this past week we opted to forgo the name tag. Instead she was overtired and whiny. While all the other children were tapping their rhythm sticks and singing, our child was at the front of the room yelling and trying to grab the bag of "shakers". I was so happy when we could finally get those damn shakers down so that my kid would stop making a scene. I'm kind of regretting enrolling her in this class because of the time of day it is. The class gets over a little after 7:00, which is Ava's bedtime. We then have a 30 minute drive home. I think that she was overtired, as she was asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the class. I'm hoping that next week goes a bit better.

Thursday Nate and I "celebrated" our 4 year wedding anniversary. Celebrated is a nice way of saying that we had dinner, watched a little TV, and I think I probably fell asleep on the couch. We did however get a chance last weekend to get away. Ava had a sleep over at Grandma & Boppa's on Friday and Saturday while Nate and I got away for the weekend at the cabin. It was beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. We had a great time. We even got to enjoy a nice dinner out...no interruptions. Thank you to Grandma & Boppa for allowing us to have that much needed getaway.

This week has been busy with work, music classes, dinner with friends, etc. Yesterday Ava and I went to our first story time at the local library. Ava wowed the moms and grandmas there with her vocabulary. Of course we were drawing shapes while coloring and she whipped out her newest shape as of last weekend; octagon. She seemed to really love story time and the activities there. It will be a great activity this winter when we're stuck inside.

This weekend is the IA/MN football game. Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brent, and cousins Reece & Zackery are coming up late tonight. Ava is very excited to see them all. Daddy & Uncle Brent will go to the game while Aunt Lisa and I take the kids to a fall festival in Maple Grove Saturday morning and then go shopping. We're anticipating a fun weekend. We're going to kick the weekend off by having a fabulous dinner tonight at Fogo de Chao. Ava will be staying with "Grandma Terri" in Maple Grove while Nate and I enjoy dinner with Grandma, Boppa, Uncle Wes, & Janna. I don't think that a Brazilian steakhouse is the best place for Ava on a Friday night.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!


Cheryl & J joined Lauryn at our house last week while we were at work. They carved pumpkins. Lauryn made Ava her own. From what I hear, Ava was a bit of a diva and didn't want to touch the insides.
Ava loves her new desk and spends a lot of time there asking for "help" drawing shapes and tracing our hands.

Doing a little dancing with her booty sticking out.

It's been awhile

I think back to how I used to try to blog every 2-3 days when Ava was first born. Now I see that it's been a week and half since I last updated. I don't know where the time goes. I suppose it could be that Ava has us constantly running around doing puzzles and reading books that there's not a lot of extra time until the end of the day when we're exhausted. Every day with Ava is exciting. She is like a sponge and is talking so much. I swear that she has a new word every day. It's the little things that she says that make my day though. The other day on the way home she told me that she was "done cup", I took it from her and she said, "thank you mommy". I hope that she'll always be that polite. I worked my 12 hour night shifts this weekend. I was tired when I got home Sunday morning at 8:00. I pulled into the garage and saw the door to the house open. There stood Ava proclaiming "Mommy's home" with a huge smile on her face. Life doesn't get much better than that! She's now singing "rock-a-bye baby" all the time, and loves to sing "L-M-N-O-P". For some reason she can't get the ABC down, but loves L-M-N-O-P. I'm still working on getting her to play by herself. That doesn't go over very well. She'll usually come up to me and say "hand, walk this way" as she takes me hand and leads me over to her puzzles or whatever she wants to play with.

Ava has had some quality time with Grandma the past week and half. A week and half ago I left the cities on Friday afternoon and headed south. I spent Friday evening in DeSoto at my sister's. I got to watch Zackery play in the band during half time of the football game. I had to laugh when we got to the game. It's a very small town outside of Des Moines. Football is obviously very popular there, as I felt like I was in the movie Friday Night Lights. Brent & Lisa's neighbors went and saved our seats at 3:30 that afternoon for a game that started at 7:30. It was a great time though, and the weather was fabulous.

Saturday morning I got to meet up with our friends Erin & Kevin for breakfast. It was great to see them and catch up, even it if was for only a short period of time. I then headed to Ames for a get together with my high school girlfriends. We've been doing these get togethers for the past couple of years, and decided that this year would be just us...no husbands or kids. I have been friends with these girls since we were freshmen in high school. They are an amazing group of women and I feel blessed to have them in my life. We had a great time laughing and catching up. I'll be looking forward to our get together next year. Before heading home Sunday I got to have lunch with my cousin Kristin who is getting married next Sept. It was great to see her, catch up on her wedding plans, as well as everything else that's going on in her life. She's a senior at IA State and has such an exciting year ahead of her. It was so nice to be able to see so many people while I was in IA.

While I was away Ava had plenty of people to love on her. Lauryn came over on Friday to watch Ava. Saturday she spent the day with Grandma while Daddy & Boppa went to the cabin to finish up the railing on the deck. Sunday it was back to Grandma & Boppa's after church.

This weekend Nate and Ava were kicked out of the house during the day so that I could try to sleep. Boppa, Nate, and Ava left for "Nana Day" as Ava called it on Saturday morning. She told me that she was going "with the boys" to see Nana in Hollandale. From what I hear it was a great time. She keeps telling me that she saw Aunt "Sue" and ate "cake". I have no doubt that she had a great time. I know that Daddy enjoyed getting to see everybody in Hollandale. Sunday morning they were off to church and then Ava hung with Grandma & Boppa while Daddy went golfing.

Ava was off to daycare today while I tried to get a little sleep. I hate working nights for many reasons, but one of them is because I have to pay for a day of daycare so that I can sleep. I guess it's just part of the job. I'm off tomorrow and am looking forward to tomorrow evening. Ava has her first "Musikgarten" class. The classes are once a week for 8 weeks. I'm doing it with a group of women and their kids from our church. I think that Ava will really enjoy it. It's dancing, singing, playing instruments, etc. I'm looking forward to spending that time with her doing something new. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Maybe she'll hate it, just like she hated the camel and pony rides that we talked about for weeks. :)


"The Angels" We enjoyed a nice afternoon at the winery in Ames.
Ava's first experience with play-doh

Getting ready to head off to church

Nana & Ava

Pee in the potty (for real this time)

Big day here at the Veldman household...Ava peed in the potty on her own. We got home from running errands and I was changing her diaper. She told me, "poop, pee, potty" so off to the potty chair we went (like so many other times with no expectations). We gathered her ducks, she sat down, and went pee right away. I started clapping and cheering and she looked at me like I was crazy. Then she started to smile and clapping for herself as well. Maybe we can start this potty training sooner rather than later.

On another note, I've been trying to figure out how to disciple this cute, stubborn, and too smart for her own good child. Time outs do not work, as I can not get her to sit and then once she starts to get up she thinks it's a fun game to try to get up every time that I put her back in the chair. For the the last week or so she's been throwing her cup on the floor at the end of her meals. The other day I told her it was naughty and that it made me sad when she's naughty. The next day I took her hand and slapped it, telling her "no" when she did it. Well yesterday she took her cup and threw it on the floor. She then looked at me and said, "naughty" (with a smile on her face), then said, "you sad" and made a frowny face. When I went to wipe her up she slapped at my hand and said "slap slap, naughty". I don't know where she learned the word slap, but I guess we won't be doing that anymore. I can just see her going to daycare and hitting people. So, back to the drawing board for disciple techniques. Perhaps ignoring her actions will work...or is that bad? I guess we'll find out.

White Duck & Orange Duck are Ava's potty buddies. She has to have them every time we sit on the potty. Here she is after her big accomplishment today.
Good Job Ava-Bug!!!

A fun filled weekend

What a beautiful and fun filled weekend! We lucked out and had the most beautiful weather this weekend. I'll give you a little run down of the weekend, but the pictures will show all the fun...

Friday evening I came home from work and Lauryn was here hanging out with Nate & Ava. She stayed for dinner and Ava got to spend some time playing with her. Ava has become quite fond of her. When I ask Ava what we should do every day she responds, "Lauryn". Lauryn has volunteered to watch Ava once a week now that Nate is heading back to work. We are so grateful for this and hope that Lauryn doesn't regret this decisions. :)

Saturday morning we packed up and met Grandma & Boppa so that we could go to Emma Krumbee's Scarecrow Festival in Belle Plaine (about an hour away). We had such a great time (see pictures below). It was a little chilly in the early morning, but it turned into a gorgeous day. I'm glad that we got there early, as it got a little busy as we were getting ready to leave.

After we got home Daddy whipped up an amazing apple crisp and a delicious dinner for our friends Kate & Mo who came up for the evening. They are expecting their first baby in December and we couldn't be more excited for them. Kate looks amazing! It was great to see them and catch up.

We were up bright and early this morning so that we could go to St. Paul to cheer on Uncle Wes as he crossed the finish line after running 10 miles (I honestly can't imagine doing such a thing). Congrats to Uncle Wes for finishing strong (and to Janna who finished a whole marathon!). After Uncle Wes was done we headed to breakfast and then we were homeward bound. Ava & I took a nice nap and then went to Uncle Wes's house so that Daddy to get a haircut. We all went to the park and then headed home for dinner. Ava made a stop at the potty chair (see picture below) and then she was off to bed. I'm sure she'll sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow Nate will start his new job. We're all very excited for him and hope that he likes it. Congrats & Good Luck Daddy...we love you!


I had been prepping Ava all week about how were were going to ride a camel and it was going to be SO much fun. She would even tell you that she was going to ride one. Well this is Nick the camel. He's better trained than most dogs. As soon as we walked up next to him Ava put a death grip on me and when I asked if she wanted to ride I got a very stern "no" in response. Nick was very sweet and even gave Ava a kiss (which she did not appreciate). Needless to say, Ava and I did not get our camel ride...
So I thought I'd give the ponies a try. This is pretty much the look she had on her face the whole time (all 15 feet that we made it before I took her off and we made a quick exit).

After a bit of sweet talking she decided that she would try the "choo choo" with Daddy. It was a tight fit, but she and Daddy made it work. By the end Ava was waving to people and having a great time.

The Hulk Hogan scare crow

Ava LOVED driving the tractors

Grandma & Ava

Ava & Mommy driving the trike

Daddy & Mommy (yes, I made Nate do this)

Ava's 1st milk shake

Ava's 1st milk shake mustache :)

I can't believe how big she has gotten!

Picking apples with Boppa

Gathering as many apples as she can (and then she thought it would be fun to throw them like a ball)

Taking a moment for the important things in life (like picking up rocks)

Boppa, Grandma, & Ava

Exhausted after a day at the apple orchard!

It was a cold morning and we had breakfast on the go so we could make it down to watch Uncle Wes.

Uncle Wes looking great after his 10 mile run. Way to go!

This would be Ava putting her potty away after she peed in it! That's right, Ava peed in the big girl potty tonight!!! Ok, well it was kind of an accident but it still kind of counts. She was sitting on her potty and appeared to be done. We was walking back into her room and said, "poop" so I told her to come back in and sit down. As she stood in the bathroom she started to pee on the floor (yet another load of laundry to do tonight) so I grabbed her and put her on the potty. She continued to go. She was startled when Nate and I started to cheer and clap. She soon joined in, smiling and clapping along. Hopefully she can put two and two together and this will be the start of a short and successful potty training mission (there's always wishful thinking).