December

Your cutest things of the week are

1.You say "that's not nice" at the perfect times! Like if we put you in a time out

2. You know that my name is Lisa and that Daddy's name is John

3. We can finally read books together without you pulling them out of my hands!

4. At Disneyland we were in the first row for the Aladdin show and you danced in front of thousands of people

5. You've been getting jealous and say "my Mommy" "my Daddy"

6. Monsters Inc is your favorite movie of the month-we've seen it over 25 times

7. In the morning you ask to see trucks and buses all the way to Nana and Papa's

Thanksgiving

Today is Black Friday and we just got home from the mall. This girl has no money to shop so I just glanced in envy at all the happy holiday shoppers wasting there hard earned salaries away on useless junk they probably already have at home. Instead of shopping for things to go in our home, we purchased our home from Uncle Mark last week and he installed some new doors. I'm pretty thankful for this, although there is a small piece of me that wishes I could enjoy all the 40% off sales like the rest of the world.

This morning when we got in the car I looked back at Buggy and told her that her sunglasses look very pretty on her. Usually she has no reaction to my compliments other than a smile but this time she promptly replied "Thank You Mommy!" I am still wondering where the time has gone as I plan for her two year birthday party. She has suddenly become a talking human being, I just don't understand how! We were looking in the mirror and I asked who was there, she said "me and you". She clearly states all of her wants-not yet understanding that we can't live on "purple otterpops", watch Monsters all day long and use endless amounts of toilet paper without even one drop of pee. We went to Disneyland last week and she didn't want to leave. "more ride" and "mickey mouse" were her favorite phrases and she danced and skipped her way through the entire park. I think Davis got more use out of the stroller than Ava did.

August

So much has happened....again! I was looking into preschools more, specifically one in Agoura, when the Calabasas Klubhouse called with an opening!!! Ava starts "school" on September 7th...It's right up the street from work so I plan on there being many days where I bring her to work with me for a few minutes in the morning....then I'll either take her or Mom can pick her up and take her on a walk around the lake. I'm thrilled it all worked out!

Ava Terry passed away late last month. She paid for August and Lila, her sister, was planning on having everything out. Well, turns out Grandma isn't quite ready for assisted living so she's going to move in for a bit! She is really unhappy right now with how small and hot her place is so I think she'll be really pleased with the condo. At least I hope.

Davis spent the night 2 weeks ago...his choice. The actual plan of sleeping over starts this weekend. We're letting the kids all camp in the backyard so it'll be interesting to see how many end up inside!

Work is still wonderful. Candy told me this week that she really wants me to get commissions so she's going to give me a little something for every new lease :) I'm really getting the hang of everything, I have 5 new move in's set for 9/1 and everything is on track!

Ava is just a doll!!!! She is so smart and has started singing abc's and she's counting and mimicking a lot better. She is so cute with her manners, whenever we ask"what do you say?" she says "PPPPWWEEEEZZZEEE????" She's also learning thank you yet it's not as clear.

The chickens are good, we still have the three and I just rearranged the coop tonight. Only Crazy is laying but I have a feeling Cookie and Cake will start laying in the next month or two.

Hmmm, what else? We went to Jessica's and Mindy's weddings this year for wedding season....both were beautiful!!! Married life is great, John likes his job and we had his boss babysit Ava this week-big brownie points!!!

Life as a Momma

Just a couple little things to fill in lately...

1. Ava went to her 18 month old check up with Grandma this week and she's TALL!!! 74% for height and 35% for head and weight. Finally, the tall gene have come to visit.

2. Before bath last night Ava climbed on the couch naked and peed....Daddy came over and minding his P's and Q's said "Awwwwww MAN!!!" so Ava ran around all night doing the same.

3. Juan, my maintenance guy came by the house to unclog our guest bathroom shower drain. It was FULL of disgusting hair dating back to June's red do. Gross. Disgusting. But hopefully soon my baby will be able to take baths like a big girl does, which means I'm sure we will be wasting more water :(

4. Candy is on vacation all week so I've had at least one emergency a day-either somebody shit all over the bathroom floor, threw up on the wall, had the urinal shoot water in their face, or the toilet leak all over the a lady's pants. Oh, and a rat decided to have a nest near one of our buildings so we've had a call everyday because people hear the traps go off while they are working. You would seriously think I manage I building in the ghetto, but no, it's Calabasas.

5. Looking into preschools is impossible. I'm going to try and set up interviews next week.

6. Davis's mom thinks that Davis spending 3 hours with John on Father's Day this weekend is reasonable.

7. I just accidentally let Rusty out when the chicks were roaming the backyard...I was screaming at the top of my lungs chasing him around outside in my bra and panties-I really hope nobody was looking!! He almost got one of the chick but somehow the little gal survived, I'm naming her Brewser.

June 2011

Ava is officially the funniest kid in the world! She's almost 18 months and her favorite new thing is pushing her baby in the stroller all over the house. She also started saying lots of words other than the momma dadda no bye...now she also says chicken, boat, tree, water, baby, mommy, don't, and I swear she said monitor the other day.

We got two more chickens the other day-Babies! They are four weeks old and Ava adores them! I will add pictures soon :)

Another New Office

It's been another exciting week in my life of "Finding a Job...that I like enough to stay longer than a month!" I'm hoping 3rd time is a charm! I started at a property management company last week after an awesome interview where they hired me on the spot. I absolutely love the position and I'm anticipating being sign on as an employee, rather then being a "temp". Another great thing is that John actually gets credit for my hours since his company found the position for me.

Its funny how quickly things change...last Monday I had such a horrible day which was my last at Homeschool Magazine. Thinking things just weren't going my way this year I was upset, and now a week later, I couldn't be happier! Just look at my gorgeous new office :) :) :)

Real Life Brazilian Blowout

So I know I've mentioned how great the Brazilian Blowout treatment, what I haven't gone into is how EASY it is! My best friend Caitlin and I do it to each other (don't plan on doing it to yourself!) and it takes us about 3 hours total! Not only is it easy, but it's CHEAP too! In the salon they charge anywhere from $100-$300 per application which lasts about 3 months. Well we bought the solution and shampoo online for $700, so $350 a piece, and we'll get 7 applications each out of it---so only $50 bucks every 3 months!!! For soft, shiny, healthy hair that is seriously so easy to manage! I used to spend anywhere from 20-30 minutes with a blow dryer and then the straightener, now I can do my hair in under 5 minutes...plus I save money because I don't need all the conditioning treatments and hair products.

This video explains it all www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9KhydvXks8

The only problem with the treatment in the formaldehyde...it has come out in the news that even though they advertise it being formaldehyde free-it's not. I obviously wouldn't do it pregnant or doing in a salon everyday but if you do it at home and make sure to do it outside I think you're pretty safe.

Rainy Days...

Started a new job Feb 2nd after the worst start to February ever... I miss being with my darling baby at home, it breaks my heart at times. I miss the playdates and afternoon picnics in the park. I actually kind of miss MyGym. I can say though that I love seeing her at the end of the day and it melts my heart when she gets all excited and runs at me with open arms. She's such an angel at daycare and Candice told me yesterday that Ava is very advanced and she finds herself treating her like a two year old because she understands so much. I, of course, think my kid is super duper smart...so it feels good to hear somebody else does too!

It's been a tough month, more ups and downs then I'm used to. Being back in sales is great but seems like the system has many kinks and expectations are high and slightly unrealistic...especially being my very first month. I'm still doing well just don't know if I'm prepared for the micro-managing style of this small business and the mixed/inconsistent messages. The group of women seem to stir up more emotions than necessary---why do we tend to do that?

The rain doesn't make things any better for me. I'm always cold and living in California is a perfect fit for me 90% of the time....this 10% rain crap just really isn't for me. I can handle a day or two but a week without hitting 70 degrees?!?! Not exactly what I call paradise. Charleigh's birthday party is tomorrow and I bought Ava an adorable dress weeks ago, just to find out it's going to be a high of 62 in the valley :( Geez I probably sound like such a brat to most people.

Rusty has been a little shit lately too. I think he's upset we're not around all the time anymore. He keeps pooping in the living room-twice just this week! And on top of burying all of our socks he has a new hobby. He has now moved on to hiding the remote controls!!! The worst was when we found one outside in the rain tonight....thanks rusty.

On a good note, we saw Rock of Ages today which was AMAZING! Also my brazilian blowout is the best invention ever, at least my hair doesn't look frizzy and disgusting with all this rain. It's pretty much impossible to mess up my hair! BRAZILIAN BLOWOUT=BEST INVENTION EVER!!!!

January Pictures

Totally Walking!

Ava is about 13 months and over the past month has pretty much mastered the art of walking! It's adorable and I can't get enough of it. Her favorite activities lately include climbing up and down the couch, playing fetch with Rusty, climbing and bouncing on Mommy and Daddy and trying to walk just about everywhere!

I'm so happy to be back at home with my baby. I started Euler Hermes the week before last and last week I spent 6 days traveling to Baltimore. I missed my family dearly and decided that the position was not a good fit, so I quit. Although I loved working and I loved the company, the position was PURE telemarketing and I knew I would be absolutely miserable if I had to do it day in and day out for months on end. So back to the job search I go! I went to Robert Half yesterday and I'm spending naptime applying to jobs online. Good luck to me!

In the meantime, we're enjoying ourselves at home again. Today we're going to the gym and having a playdate at Jenn and Easton's with the MyGym kiddos. Can't wait!

Happy New Year!

Tom and Kathy came into town just in time to bring in the new year! The guys went to the Rose Bowl game yesterday while Kathy and I took the kids to Ventura.