Mommy's favorites

This picture reminds me of the black and white photos of my parents when they were kids.

Oh sweet Easter...

all smiles on Easter

chocolate is our favorite!!

Can I have one more?

mmmmmm... good!

I like the ones with the foil wrappers.

Did someone say candy?!?!?!?

Egg hunting 101

Dress, tights and a turtleneck (it's cold outside), comfy tennis shoes, and a basket... check!

Cell phone... check!

Quick phone call to the Easter bunny to make sure he is on time... check!

Eggs that we didn't realize were filled with candy... check!

Easter eggs

Daddy reserved one Easter egg for himself before Ava got ahold of it.

Watching the tablets dissolve in the cups

Ava doesn't smile much when experiencing something new... this is her typical look of concentration

When she realized she could peel and eat the eggs she was all smiles!

Love this face!

Man I love this face. Some days I look at her and think I couldn't possibly love her more than I do at this moment... and the next day I have the very same feeling. She is so much fun right now it kills me. She is starting to develop all of those crazy personality quirks. For instance, when we watch Elmo we have to fast forward through Mr. Noodle... he freaks her out. Don't know why but she says to me with a very grave expression on her face "no noodle mommy!" She doesn't mind him in fast forward, but she freaks out when he is about to come on. What else? Funny words right now are "tepup" for ketchup and "gubblebum" for bubble gum. Mimi also taught her to say 'pararado' for Colorado when daddy was on his business trip a couple of weeks ago. She is attached to this book that one of my students made her on the computer called Jack the Snowman. She wants to hold it in the car every morning. She is obsessed with the flashing orange don't walk signs at stop lights.... the one that is shaped like a hand. She asks me for them and gets really excited when we see one. She also whines incessantly if there isn't one at a stoplight. I wasn't exaggerating when I said obsessed. She also loves bumps in the road and the "moo cows" we see on our way to the babysitter every morning. When she asks where daddy is and I tell her at work and that he will be home soon she responds by saying "two minutes mommy." She has no idea how long 2 minutes is, but apparently it means not right now and that is enough to suffice. When I count down with the microwave and it beeps she always yells 'blast off.' (This one must come from the babysitter because we don't say it at our house). She hates having her nails clipped and yells 'oweeeee' though I know it doesn't hurt her. She still loves her "bebo" - belly button- but thankfully has stopped wanting to see everyone elses. She loves to brush her teeth with "paste" and unload the silverware from the dishwasher. Her favorite food is probably "cheewios" with "miwk" in a "bowl" with a "poon" but the food she asks for most is "cheeboogoo" - translation - cheeseburger.

There is a lot of laughing at our house these days and the timeouts and meltdowns are getting fewer and further between. Oh, have no doubt, there are many more timeouts and meltdowns in this little drama queen's future, but giggles take up most of our time these days.

Happy Birthday mimi!

Though we didn't get to see her today... we celebrated with her anyways! How old are you now? 25? We love you mimi and we hope it was happy!

in her eyes...

That is daddy's reflection in her eye while he was trying to make her smile tonight. We are so ready for spring we went out in the cold tonight and played in the snow a little bit while the sunset. Please spring... come soon!!!