Chatty

Yesterday I went antique/junk store shopping for props. Call me crazy, but I took Ava and Cohen with me. Before we went in, I told Ava several times not to touch everything...YEAH RIGHT! The store we went in was unbelievably packed to the ceiling with all kinds of knicknacks and antiques, and well...stuff! It literally had a little winding path that you just followed all around in the store, barely big enough for just me to walk through, not to mention a mommy carrying a diaper bag, a baby in a car seat carrier trying to corral a 2 year old! Ava couldn't keep her hands off of everything, it was just too interesting! Miraculously, we managed not to break anything, I don't know how, because everything Ava picked up was breakable. And I found several great items to use for photos that I am really excited about! I got 2 chairs, a wooden red crackly one and an orange wingback that needs re-covered, but I might just clean it up and use it as is, it's a neat color and would look great just sitting out in a field with a kid or a senior sitting in it! I got a giant frame, to use as a prop or to use in my studio someday with a huge picture or a mirror in it. I got a big crock to put kids in, and an old tricycle, both will be great for pictures of kids. I was going to take pictures of the stuff and post it, but it has been too rainy today to get it out of the garage. It all has to stay out there till I get a chance to clean it up!

Ava has been on a rampage lately, she is THE destroyer. She has been banned from all writing utensils after she colored on the toilet lid and on the sectional (yes, the poor sectional got it again...last year she wrote on it with a black sharpie...see April 07 if you wanna read about that...) The other thing Ava does right now is change her clothes 32 times a day. She can open her jammie drawer and play clothes drawer, and when she does, she slings all the clothes everywhere to find what she wants to change into. Everytime I walk into her room it looks like a tornado has hit, because there are jammies everywhere!! Plus she dumps out half the bookcase everyday because she loves books right now, and Maddie Kate has Barbies set up in families and little couples all over the room, so it really looks like a tornado has hit all the time, no matter what I do or how many times I pick up the mess. I sing the Trace Adkins song "You're gonna miss this" to myself everyday...it helps! :)

My mom and dad are on a cruise this week! She is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator and she earned the cruise by selling lots of stamping stuff. A free cruise! They are in Bermuda, and the boat sailed out of New York right past the Statue of Liberty! I think that is really neat, and I made her promise to take loads of pictures. I do miss talking to my mom every day though, I usually talk to her 3 or 4 times a day! I call her for advice about everything! She's my business sounding board, and she always has good business advice and kid advice, and those are my main topics right now! I'll be glad when they get back, and I bet my brothers are too, because they are home alone this week having to cook for themselves...

I attempted to get a picture of Cohen smiling today(he's 8 weeks old today!), but that is really hard to do while holding a big black scary camera! I did get some sweet ones though, and one sorta smile, but I will have to have Johnny help me get a really good one later.I love his pretty blue eyes!!

I have been exercising (an aerobic workout video and Johnny's personal training workout he fixed up for me) and doing a "meal plan" that my friend Dana (she didn't want to call it a diet) gave me a few years ago. It helped me lose the weight after I had Ava, and so far it's helping now! I've lost 8 lbs in the past few weeks, which is very encouraging to me! If anyone has any weight loss advice, I would love to hear it!
Well, I need to go to bed, Cohen will probably be up in a few hours...he is sleeping better lately though, just getting up once. He whines around 6 or 6:30 and I have just been getting up and putting his pacifier in his mouth, and that helps until after 7, when I usually have to get up anyway to do Maddie Kate's hair for school! I hope he keeps doing this well, it makes me so much more functional during the day!