Sweet Potato Helper

We experimented w/ making sweet potato fries last week and they came out pretty good! Ava, of course, LOVED them! They were a little too soggy for my liking. I don't know why they came out so limp, but nevertheless, they were tasty.

I peeled and cut them into strips and drizzled on some EVOO. Baked for about 25 minutes at 425* and ta-da! A (somewhat) healthy treat!

Ava helping me put them onto the pan.
She decided to try one, raw....And....not so much.
The finished product. YUM!

Our Little Peach

Enjoy the pics from snack time this afternoon. Before I could even get the peach sliced, Ava took the other half and inhaled it, almost whole!

THIS. IS. SO. GOOD
I just can't get enough.
Where did it all go? Some call me a chipmunk, for I tend to hord food in my cheeks.

I LOVE peaches! (This is the cutest pic EVER!)

Impromptu Studio Pictures

So we went to BRU today for some items and kiddie kandids ask if I wanted to do a free sitting w/ a free 5x7. I said as long as I don't have to pay, sure. The pictures actually turned out better than any studio pictures we've done. She actually smiled, or smirked.

Homemade Playdough

Recently, Ava and I made homemade playdough and probably had more fun making it and rolling it than playing with it. She liked it for about 2 minutes. She liked taking a fork and jabbing it the most. I'll probably get cookie cutters next time to make fun shapes.

Here is the recipe:(this can be halved for smaller ball)
2 c. Flour
½ c. Salt
2 c. Water
2 T. Vegetable Oil
¼ c. Cream of Tartar (found in spice section)

Pour all ingredients into a large saucepan. Food coloring can be added here if desired (I waited until it cooled), 5-7 drops (I needed more drops than this).

Turn to med-high heat and stir constantly until the mix becomes very warm and starts to form together, about 3-5 minutes. Do not over heat, it will burn. Continue stirring until the mix forms into a playdough ball. Remove from heat and pour ball onto a wax paper sheet.

Let cool for a few minutes and then knead until soft, 2-3 minutes. Food coloring can also be added during the kneading process as well, especially if you want to split the dough and use 2 or more colors. I suggest wearing baggies over your hands if doing this.

Store your play dough in a ziplock bag and in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months, or until little white spots develop.

Our ingredients:
The ball after it came off the heat
Adding blue food coloring
Adding red food coloring
Our two balls

A Day in the Life of Ava

I got this idea from a message board that I am a member of and I so wanted to do it! Thanks Carla!

It is a Virtual Get Together, also referred to as A day in the life. When I saw one I thought, what better way to show Ava a typical day for her and I, when she gets older. I know that's in the distant future, but it would be great to put one together every so often, in order to document our days together while I'm staying at home.

I took a camera with us all day on Friday, August 1st, and tried my best to show what a "typical" day is like for us. I feel it is important to remember that this isn't what we do everyday, but it could be, because it is just a "typical" day. Aside from eating out for dinner, which we usually only do on Fridays, it is just any other day. Nothing too special. Enjoy!

I can't get the code to work to put it in here, so a link will have to do.

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i146/mnallen79/?action=view¤t=ea90db6a.pbr

Wee Wee Weekly: The Potty Training Incident

(Don't read if you are repulsed by bathroom discussion)

Something huge happened this weekend! Can you guess by the title?

Ok, let me set it up for you....

Backstory:

We got Ava a potty a few months ago b/c of her interest in our toilet. Since then she's pretended to use the potty, wipe, etc. but never a big deal. We just went with it. Honestly, it's mostly used as a container for her to place things in.

The Incident:

So, on Saturday afternoon, we're driving home from being out and about and we're talking to/with Aves and she says something that sounds like potty and points to her diaper. I say, "Do you need to go Potty?" to which I get a head nod in response. "Okay, you can go pee-pee in your diaper now, or you can wait til we get home and use your big girl potty." Again another head nod. I didn't know which one is was, but really didn't think anything of it.

We get home, unload everything, and do whatever it is when you get home. Ava starts saying what we think at first is "Pop Pop" (Poppy) her favorite words in the world and then it hits me that she is probably saying "Potty". So I ask her, "Do you want to use your potty?" Head nods.

I take off her diaper and put her on the potty and about a minute later we hear music going off. "Ryan" I say, "She had to have just peed b/c when you do the music sounds". We cheer and look for ourselves and sure enough.....PEE!! We congratulate and go about our business. What a big girl!

But, as you can see the story is not over yet.

Ryan goes out to pull some weeds and I call my sister, Aunt Jill, to tell her the news. Whilst talking on the phone, it happens. Add the "sh" to it and well, as the saying goes, "it" happened.

On the rug. About 2 feet away from the potty.

She wasn't quite done using the potty and pooped on the rug beside it. I gasp (probably scared her a bit) and quickly got off the phone and say (trying to play off my previous gasping) , "Oops, let's finish in the potty." And sure enough, SHE DID!

So, not only a pee-pee, but a poo-poo in the potty!

AND, better yet..... Ava actually told ME that she had to go! I was blown away!

Looks like we are at least in the beginning stages of potty training, but again, Mommy's not really ready, so we will take it s-l-o-w, if at all possible.

P.S. Notice no pictures with this post, I will spare you the pictures I took of the #1 and #2.

Muffin Tin Monday

And Happy 17 months Ava!! I can't believe it!!

Anyway, I got this idea from Sycamore Springs (I think) blog to have Muffin Tin Mondays. It seems to spice up lunch time a bit and create just enough intrigue to get your child to eat more variety. We don't have the problem of a picky eater, not yet anyways, so I just did it to have an indoor picnic. After we played outside in the sprinkler it seemed appropriate to finish off our late morning/ early afternoon w/ a picnic.

Here are the pics:

From top left across: grapes, mushrooms w/ Laughing Cow swiss cheese, and chicken

Bottom left across: Cantaloupe, cucumber, cheese quesadilla

And the after (shocker....it's almost all gone!)

Thanks for this idea, I really look forward to using it more!

She's just tu-tu good!

After insisting on putting on her tu-tu, Aves wanted to shoot some hoops. I found this basketball goal and ball on clearance at Target for $3.74! What a steal! I don't know if all Target's are doing it, but ours had shelves and shelves of toys marked 50% off of the already sale price. I heard an employee say they were re-stocking the shelves again next week w/ even more toys w/ prices slashed.

Anyway, I digress.

I love that my little girl is very sporty too!


Nothin but net!
Mommy, why did you pull my tu-tu up to my belly button? I kind of look silly.

Cheesy Smiles

Here is Ava's way of smiling when we say "Cheese". She really says "Cheese" and squints her eyes and well, smiles, I guess.

Wordless Wednesday: The Art of Dressing One's Self

On multiple occasions

Let the hording begin

Aves loves to sort, move, arrange items with whatever "container" is around. I should have known better when I gave her a snack of Cheddar Bunnies and she gobbled them up really fast, which is not unlike her. Or so I thought.

As I went to put on my shoes to go check the mail, I came across this.

Silly rabbit.

Maybe she was saving them for later.

Paint the Toddler

What started out as a harmless activity of painting on paper, turned into an exciting game of paint on body. We had fun, nonetheless, and nothing a quick bath couldn't solve.

Easy enough.

She loved using the paint brushes so much that she had to double-fist them. Starting to experiment with face painting.Hmmmm, it's much more fun this way.Cheese! Don't I look beautiful?

Oh, but we're not done yet. The painting of the body.Showing off the final masterpiece.

Back for More Splash Park Fun!

Ava just can't get enough of the Brushy Creek Splash Park, so we went again this morning. It is hilarious to watch her running around as if she is the same age/size as all the other kids. She was by far the littlest one out there at one point, and we had 3 moms come up to us just amazed at how fearless and outgoing she was. I added a video clip of her running around having a great time.

11 Things I Love About My 16-Month Old

I'm should try to do this every month in order to document her latest happenings.

Here goes.

1. I love how she hears the music without words to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and knows what it is and does her hand movements along with it.

2. I love that she slides around on her tummy in the bathtub, it reminds me of when I was little.

3. I love how she says "Whoa!" just like Joey f/ "Blossom" (an 80's Television sitcom reference) when she drops something.

4. I love how she sucks her lips, like she has done since she was a newborn, when she gets sleepy.

5. I love how she searches for and finds an edge on her blankie to "Twiddle" (Bowles if you read this, that word is for you.)

6. I love how she pretends a maracca is a microphone and sings into it "Na Na Na Na".

7. I love that she has a "guilty face" and is already into mischief.

8. I love how independant and secure she is. It makes for a lot easier transition when we try new things, see new people, and go to new places. I hope and hope and hope that particular character trait stays with her throughout her teens and her life.

9. I love how she can pretty much communicate anything she needs or wants whether through sign, language, or just our way of communicating.

10. I love how she shakes her head yes or no in response to a question having put a lot of thought into her answers.

11. I swore I wouldn't add another, so I'm now changing the top to 11 things. I love that a miracle just happened and that she wanted and needed me to rock and sing her to sleep. Or at least a sleepy daze. She and I just discovered that having her arm tickled just about seals the deal for a visit from Mr. Sandman.

Wordless Wednesday: Blowing Bubbles

Sprinkler Park Playdate Fun!

We started our playdate at the Champions Park Dinosaur Digging Pit. Ava, along with her friends, H and P, had fun digging in the sand.

Once it got hot, we went over to the Sprinkler Park where the girls had a BLAST!

Finally.....RAIN!

How sad that the pictures aren't of us out playing in the rain. We did go as far as to stand on the front porch and marvel at the downpour, but we had to save the playing outside b/c it was almost naptime. Can you tell, look at those tired eyes.

Happy 4th of July!

We decided to take Ava to see fireworks this year and it was great! She LOVED seeing them and was not scared or cranky at all. She was up WELL past her bedtime, but I'm all for that when it comes to special occasions. Here are some pics from our evening at the Pflugerville Pfireworks Pfestival! (Cute, huh?)

Washing my hands like a big girl.