Minivan Mama

Yep.  I'm a minivan mama!  I couldn't be more excited and sure never thought that would be the case!

We've been cruising in our new van for a little over a week and LOVE it!  Ava still talks about how awesome it is each time we get in and we have uttered many prayers of thanksgiving for God's amazing gift to our family.

(So much love for the new van Grayson just had to give it a hug!)

Our new van proclaims that God provides in ways that only He can get the credit.  We are so thankful for my cousins for their generous gift and are even more thankful that they themselves give all the glory to God!

Our new van is also a daily reminder that there is room for more.  We wait expectantly for Easton to be part of our family . . . not with anxiety, because we trust in God's timing, but with such excitement for God's good plans for our family and our new son.  Oh man I can't wait to get another carseat and have another sweet little face smiling back at me in the rearview mirror!  (And Chad has been quick to point out that even after Easton is home we now have room for 2 more! Only the Lord knows about that one!)

The van is amazing.  The travel to get the van was not.

My cousins who gave us the van live outside of Nashville.  We had already planned a trip up there to see them and attend the Empowered to Connect conference.  The details worked out perfectly for us to visit them and bring back the van, but we hated to have to drive home in two cars.

Solution = Megabus.

The Megabus is amazing really.  It goes to many cities and is ridiculously cheap.  Chad and I both got from New Orleans to Nashville for $30.  Not $30 each.  $30 total.  You can't get down the road without using that much in gas these days!

Megabus seemed like the perfect solution.  We ride a bus together there and drive our van home together.  Sounds all rosy and snuggly, right?  Wrong.

Our bus ride from New Orleans to Atlanta was from 9:30 pm to 7:30 am.  I obviously knew this, but talked myself into the fact that it would be an "adventure" for us, great bonding time, blah blah blah.

The bus was full.  The wifi wasn't working so we couldn't watch movies like we'd planned.  And for the love of all that is good, I just can't sleep in anything but a bed.  That little 2 inch reclining does nothing for me.  I had ear plugs, an eye mask, a pillow, and my Louisiana Tech blanket that I never leave home without.  And I still barely got 2 hours of sleep on that never ending ride.

Not to mention that every time I would start to doze off, I would jump up in a panic when I heard the bus make a noise because I was just sure that our driver would be dozing off too. (I had to sit up half the night keeping a bus driver awake on a college trip to Glorieta and I've evidently been scarred for life.)

Chad did a little better and got maybe 4 hours of sleep, but you wouldn't have known it.  When we got to Atlanta, Chad woke up quite delirious and kept talking about how he couldn't see right.  I'm like "Yea, yea.  Just keep moving and get me off this bus."  We waited for them to unload the luggage and as Chad grabs our suitcase he swung it around and literally knocked over 4 other suitcases and almost sideswiped an innocent bystander.  I'm picking up suitcases and looking at Chad like everyone else . . . "Are you crazy?"

We walk down the road a bit before Chad realizes that he's left his phone on the bus.  Thankfully it hadn't left yet, but as he runs back up to me, I'm like, "Chad you better snap out of it and get yourself together.  We are in the middle of an overpass in downtown Atlanta and I need you to be able to think!"  If that hadn't worked, there is a good chance he would've gotten a slap in the face. :)

Middle of an overpass?  Yeah, that's another fun part of this adventure.  Megabus is so cheap because they have no bus stations.  You literally get dropped off on the side of the road.  No address, just an intersection. And in downtown Atlanta, it just so happens to be in the middle of an interstate overpass.

So there we are . . . exhausted, hungry, in desperate need of coffee, and pulling our luggage behind us as we wander through downtown.  Sensing that we clearly needed help, a security guard kindly guided us to a cafe where we fueled up (and brushed our teeth in the bathroom).  We found a little courtyard to read our Bibles until we had to be back at the overpass to get on our bus to Nashville (I stared at the same words like a zombie and then just gave up).

The Nashville trip wasn't near as bad, but I was D.O.N.E. by the time we got there!  I so wish I was a better traveler, but it just hasn't happened yet.  :)

Even with all the adventure in getting there, our time in Nashville was incredible.  We loved getting to spend time with our family.  And the conference was life changing.  Too much to put into words.

And let me tell you . . . the ride home in our new van was like a ride in luxury compared to what it took to get there!

 Letting Ava and Grayson check out the new ride for the first time!

Testing out the buttons!

My two cuties with SO much room!  Ava asks daily if she can play in the van . . . it's like a playground in there!

Ava Funnies

I can't believe that my Ava girl will be 4 years old in just a few weeks!  It seriously seems like she was born just yesterday, but then again the last four years have been so full of fun and amazing (and tough . . . let's be honest here!) moments with her!

I thought I'd share a few funnies that show Ava's firstborn intense big and hilarious personality!  :)

• Ava is flat out obsessed with the garbage truck.  Go ahead and laugh (it's all we can do).  We have no idea why, but the sound of the garbage truck is literally what gets her out of bed most mornings. :)  If she hears even the slightest tremble that sounds like the truck (school buses are now frequently mistaken and are cruising around way too early . . . not a good combo), she flies out of her room and heads straight to the front window to watch the truck roll by.  It is not uncommon for her to run out in a panic with tears already streaming because she is terrified of missing the truck.  As you can imagine, this drama is not our favorite way for Ava to wake up each morning, especially when it is an hour before we expected.  At least our garbage men know they have a huge fan at 5245 Chamberlain who is always ready to give them a wave and a smile bright and early in the morning!

• Ava loves to watch movies and is a big fan of the fact that you can "pause" them so you don't miss anything.  Unfortunately, she's been disappointed to learn that this feature doesn't carry over into real life.  The other day she was, you guessed it, at the window watching the garbage truck.  She started crying because she had to go to the bathroom, but didn't want to miss the truck going by.  She panicked, looked at me dead serious, and said, "Mom, you have to push pause.  Pause the garbage truck."  Never thought I'd have to tell my daughter that there isn't a pause button in real life and that she'll have to miss the garbage truck so she doesn't wet her pants!

• My girl has LOVED watching the olympics!  She had a meltdown one night because I told her it was bedtime.  She said, "But I saw a girl on the TV and she looks like she will be so good so I really need to see if she wins."  Nice try . . . mommy can stay up way past her bedtime to watch gymnastics, but not 3 year olds!  The Olympics have also gotten Ava thinking about what sports she would like to do. She announced the other day that instead of going to school when she turns 5, she wants to take ballet.  Not mutually exclusive, my dear. :)

• She might have a big personality, but she is still my very little girl.  As I got the kiddos dressed one day, I realized that Ava and Grayson were wearing the same size clothes . . . 24 months!  Um, just 2 years behind in sizes!  At least it has saves us money on clothes . . . this is her third summer wearing the same swimsuit and she is in all her summer clothes from last year!  I let little girls at church wear all the clothes that Ava has out grown, but they are quickly catching up and will pass her by soon!  

Swimming in June 2010.

Same swimsuit in May 2012!

• Speaking of my little girl . . . we are always trying crazy creative ways to get her to eat.  She really doesn't get excited about eating unless it is what she will tell you is her favorite food . . . "cake and junk" . . . and she definitely doesn't get that often!  Our latest strategy was all Chad's idea and has been working well for the past 2 weeks.  Ava gets a hole punched for every bite of the main dish she takes and we try to see how high she can go.  Amazing what a sticky note and a hole punch can do to make meal time not such a battle (at least for now)!

• I've been doing some preschool stuff with Ava and she is doing really well.  She has a short attention span for "school" so I have to make it fun or even better make her not realize she is actually practicing what I've taught her!  We've been working on her writing . . . I started out writing words and then she would copy them below, but now she will write if I just tell her the letters in the word!  I've been having her make a lot of cards to send to people where she writes the message by herself (tricky and encouraging to others . . . win/win)!  The other day she brought me a paper and asked me to write a bunch of words on it for her to copy.  When I asked what words, she said, "Just some words I know like camouflage or something."  What?  I laughed out loud at that one!  One, that is a completely random word.  Two, I wasn't exactly sure how to spell it . . . she had to make due with camo!

My girl is so funny, creative, and imaginative.  She can definitely be strong-willed and controlling, but she comes by it honest (firstborn, my daughter, a sinner)!  It has been so amazing to watch her learn and grow, to see her love and serve others, and to witness the seeds of the Word that we are planting begin to grow in her heart!  I'm blessed beyond measure with this precious girl who makes me laugh, cry, smile, and thank God!

Back to the Kitchen

We don't eat out much.  No budget for that.  But when we get a gift card . . . you better believe I enjoy every bite of the food that I didn't have to cook!

I really like eating new and yummy places.  Chad and I loved to have long dinners out together before kiddos came on the scene.  Even then, we haven't been one of those families that never leaves the house just because we have toddlers.

I think that all just ended tonight.

We got a gift card to PF Changs (fancy Chinese food in case you didn't know) and decided to cash it in for dinner tonight . . . with the two littles in tow.

No big deal, right?  We have great kids!  That's what we thought too.  Um, we were wrong.

We did pretty well for the first 5 minutes . . . Ava was coloring on the kids menu and I quickly unloaded my bag of goodies for Grayson.  Keep his mouth and belly full and we should be good to go!

He literally blazed through the grapes, yogurt, goldfish, and orange before we even had time to order.  Meanwhile, Ava is bored with coloring and thinks that playing the drums (table) with chopsticks is a much better idea.  Which then seems like a great idea to Grayson.

Chad and I are busy trying to savor every bite of our Lettuce Wraps and just block out the chaos ensuing at our table.  They are just being kids.  At least they aren't screaming or something.

Spoke too soon.  For those of you who know my sweet Grayson, you know that he is an exceptionally happy little guy (unless he has an ear infection and then he is incredibly foul which has been my life for the last 2 months!).  So tonight was no different.  Grayson was, in fact, so happy that he wanted the whole restaurant to know.  :)

He started yelling at the top of his lungs . . . over and over again.  This isn't crying.  He didn't want to be held.  Nothing was wrong.  He just wanted to holler.  And then giggle.  And then scream some more, just to see if he could get any louder (he couldn't).

So you can imagine our reaction . . . Shushing him, which is just laughable because he just giggles even more since he is getting attention.  Then the "Grayson, be quiet.  Stop.  Seriously."  Still hollering.  Then we move to the next logical solution . . . if his mouth is full, he can't scream.  So we are shoving any remaining food into his mouth as fast as we can.  This works for a moment, but since he barely takes the time to chew his food, he is right back at it after a few quick swallows.

It didn't help that at this point waitresses are coming over to talk about how cute he is and laughing about what he is trying to tell us.  More attention just fans the flames.

We're getting looks from the people around us.  You know, the ones that say "he's so cute but for the love of all that is holy could you please shut him up so I can eat my noodles in peace."  Really?  Like we aren't trying?  Cut me some slack . . . I haven't even taken a bite of my noodles!

One group of ladies even moved to a different table (not that I blame them).  I actually didn't notice until after they were gone.  I'm choosing to believe that they needed to have a really serious conversation and moved very discretely in order to not make us feel bad.  That, or maybe I didn't notice because I was too busy trying to keep Grayson from spilling the soy sauce with his ninja chopstick and picking up pieces of food that he had flung at least two feet in every direction.

Once our real food got there, he did a little better, but the screaming and giggling never really stopped for long.  And again, we aren't talking a little yell . . . our boy has some lungs.  

And that is just Grayson.

Ava was great through the whole meal and even helped us distract Grayson a bit.

But she was barefoot.

Before you judge . . . I'm not one of those moms.  We run around barefoot in our house or outside, but NEVER in public places.  Gross.

But today I just so happened to get in the attic to find some warm weather clothes for Ava.  Spring has definitely arrived in NOLA which means summer should be here next week.  I pulled down some clothes and shoes from last year that will still fit (I kid you not, she is 3.5 yrs old and still wears 18 mo. shorts . . . skinny minny!).   Ava found a pair of flip flops and insisted on wearing them out tonight.  All was great for the first 3 minutes and then she wails that they hurt her feet and she can't walk.  Drama anyone?!  So I carried Ava into PF Changs and just put the sandals in my diaper bag.  No big deal.

But at some point during this whole chaotic episode, I realize that we look like "those" parents.  The ones who let their kids walk all over the place barefoot, who can't stop their ridiculously cute little boy from screaming and interrupting a nice dining experience, whose table looks like a war zone at the end of a meal.

Yep.  We are those parents.

And all we could do was laugh.  Pay our bill.  Carry our kids out . . . still hollering and barefoot.  And enjoy one last moment of what was probably our last nice dinner out for a long time (as a whole family . . . still gotta have a date every now and then!).

So it's back to the kitchen for me.  Slaving over a hot stove and loving every minute with my barefoot, hollering, wild and joy-of-my-heart kids!

Ava wrote "Hi Dad" in her journal . . . all by herself!  She is getting so big!

 And Grayson has discovered just how much he loves to feed himself.  Mommy doesn't love the mess, but his cuteness makes up for it!