Valentine's Day 2014

Yes yes, I realize that Valentine's Day was two weeks ago. Better late than never.

This year, like last, we really didn't get to plan a traditional date or celebration of Valentine's Day. Last year, we were with Ava in the hospital so we got her a cute Vday bib, and stayed by her side.

This year we were again scheduled to be in St. Louis on Valentine's Day for doctor's visits. But if you've been reading this blog, you know that sickness postponed that visit. So we stayed home on Valentine's Day and worked on recuperating. We did however go buy a steak, and an impromptu pair of lobster tail's to fix for dinner the next night after Ava had gone to bed. And I have a confession...both items were purchased at Aldi's (discount grocery store). We have started buying 90% of our groceries there, and we thought we'd give it a try. The steak was a steak. Not the best I've had, not the worst. It was no Harter House tri-tip. We did try out a new cooking method where you get a cast iron skillet piping hot, add steak, DON'T TOUCH for 3 minutes (or 4 depending on thickness), then flip and repeat. Seriously no peeking. After your 6 minutes are up, you remove steak to a cooling rack to rest for at least 10 minutes. This method yielded very pleasing results and cooked the steak nicely. I'll do it again.

But back to those lobster tails. They.Were.Amazing. I am not kidding. You heard me right. Aldi's frozen lobster tails were super yummy. We just boiled them. I couldn't believe it.

Ya ya, I know my food photography skills are pretty lacking.

How was your Valentine's Day? I hope it was full of fuzzy warm lovey feelings. Speaking of, I also recently received my main Christmas gift from Wynston. He purchased me a bracelet I'd been coveting on Etsy; it's just a simple bar bracelet stamped with her first name and date of birth. Simple and lovely. I wear it almost everyday. Love <3

Parties, Pigtails and Playtimes

Every late Winter/early Spring, schedules get pretty busy around here. We've got January birthdays, Valentine's Day and (postponed) visits up to Ava's St. Louis doctors, March birthdays and even a few baby showers in the mix. It keeps us hopping.

Back in January, we attended Ava's friend Bennett's second birthday party, baseball themed. What fun it is to get these kids together at birthdays to celebrate yet another year. They are growing up so fast.

Ava being shy around her friend Adalyn.

Even a bit shy around birthday boy Bennett.

But the shyness definitely didn't last long.

How adorable are these little girls?!

Birthday piñata!

The next day was relatively warm for January, so my friend Kandis and I got our girls out to a park for some playtime. They were soo funny, and Ava did NOT want to get off those swings.

 

Just a swingin.

This is a close-up of the picture above. Ava's face is pure playground joy. So hilarious.

 

Snot Snot Go Away

The Johnson household has been pretty much under the weather for about 3 weeks now. Wynston recently attended a large work conference where he touched 100+ laptops, and lo and behold he soon turned up with a nasty case of sinusitis. Just as I was getting him feeling better, Ava and I followed his path. In fact, last week we were supposed to return to the St. Louis Children's Hospital for her 1 Year Post Op Assessment (wow 1 year!), but an ear infection and sinus infection for Little Miss changed our plans. I was the last one that broke down and made a trip to the doctor yesterday. At this point all three of us are on antibiotics and feeling much better. Plus the weather is finally warming up and we are looking forward to some fresh air and playtime outside!

The one plus of a sick girl is the extra snuggliness.

Finally feeling better!



Then and Now

I know I just posted this picture of Ava the other day, but here's a little Then and Now comparison for ya. What a difference a year can make. Still cute as ever. Boy do I miss the days of having the crib mattress that high.

2-1-13

2-2-14

A Weekend with Family

Wynston recently spent several days out of town with work, including being gone over the weekend. So Little Miss and I packed up and took ourselves down to my parents for the weekend. We got to spend lots of time with family, including my brother's two girls. Ava loves all her cousins and it's so fun watching them all play. It was a nice way to spend a cold weekend. But we sure were glad when Wynston got back home Tuesday. Ava even got to show off her new skill for her dad: running in circles. Literally. :)

Hanging out in our pj's and houseshoes.

Waving to Daddy.

Big girl coloring.

"Stop taking my picture!!"

"Seriously!! No pictures!"

More waving to her dad.

Big Girl Things

It's hard not to feel like Ava has really changed from a baby to a big girl in the last couple of months. She can do so many things on her own. She can hold conversations with you and talk in her little sentences..."Diva eat pretzels, please?" Haha, yes she pronounces her own name as Diva...which is so fitting. She's can tell you if she's hot, and makes a good, sometimes successful, attempt at taking some clothes off. She's making good ground in potty training, going on the potty often and letting you know before she goes (though we're still not pushing this too much). She eats like a horse. The past few nights, before bed, she will tell us "I go take a nap", then she gives us our hugs and kisses and walks into her room. We haven't given her a binky at bedtime for two nights now, and she hasn't missed it a bit. Plus so many other things.

Here are some pictures of other big girl things in Little Miss' life right now:

This big girl has 2 kitchens. Here is her first kitchen, which we've recently moved up to Grandma Cheryl and Grandpa Randy's. We really don't need two play kitchens in our home. And sometimes, you find a girl in her pajamas and winter coat, with a hankering for a play snack.  :)

This is Ava's new play kitchen. I really love the colors on this one, and it matches our house and Ava's play house quite well!

If this isn't a big girl picture, I don't know what is. Little Miss looking MUCH older than her 20 months.

Here's Ava sitting contentedly at her dad's work bench, playing quietly. She'll do this for soo long.

...Until she catches you trying to take her picture. Then she'll make a rasberry tongue at you. PFFFFT!

What big girl is complete without a backpack. Trying to take her picture with this backpack was...challenging. It involved Ava running all over the house, including climbing up onto our bed, with me following her around with my camera.

Another backpack shot, from a different day. This day's activities included bringing Mom's missing watch back to our attention in that small glass cube, then laying down on the floor to count the 5 dead (or mabye dormant) ladybugs she'd stashed with that watch. What IS it with her room and ladybugs?!

Here's Ava with a hat she likes to put on herself...and she does a pretty good job of getting it on right! This is also her CHEESE! face. :)

Mistletoe Memories

I know, KNOW that we took some adorable pictures of Ava and Wynston under our mistletoe last year. But I can't find them. So here's our 2013 Mistletoe pictures. I can't wait to see next years!

"OH! What's this? Let me get my hands on it!"

"Mommy...want to see what I found?!"

Kiss from Daddy.

Kiss from Little Miss

And anymore, a lot of kisses are followed by big bear hugs!