Summer...hmmm

Summer is almost over :( I've really enjoyed being able to be at home with Ava and I'm not looking forward to only seeing her in the evenings and on weekends. Hunter's been gone now for about 2 weeks and I miss him a ton as well. We talk almost every day and I still can't tell if he misses me or not...hope so :) He'll be back in about 3 weeks...which feels like a LONG way off. I wish I could say that I have some exciting news to share or some interesting story to tell but I don't...I've been spending most of my days being a "bum". You would think that my house would be spotless and that I'd have meals cooked everyday...ha ha ha not at all! Right now there is folded laundry on my couch, laundry in the dryer and washer, dishes in the sink, clean dishes in the dishwasher and baby toys on the floor. The best part...I DON'T FEEL GUILTY!!!! Don't worry though I'll be back to normal once school starts. Funny how when your really busy and feel like you have no extra time to do anything is when you accomplish the most...well at least that's true for me. Well Ava is standing now and crawling ALL OVER the place. Today a friend of Bryan's was visiting and we were all hanging out in the kitchen. He asked "Can Ava climb the stairs?" My reply "No, not really" Dan's reply "Well she's climbing them right now". Sure enough she was up to the 3rd stair and wasn't stopping...guess we need to get a gate.

So here is my little (not so little anymore) H-man...he said he wanted to get some sun...heehee...he's so cute. He of course LOVES the water whether its the beach or pool. He's my little fish.

This was Ava's second time at the YMCA pool. She gets so excited when we go and loves to splash in the water. Her hair is a bit messy and you may even see sunblock on her face. She was getting tired and was ready for a nap.

Here is Ava in her Kate Mack tutu bathing suit...I LOVE this suit!! We will definately get it again for next summer. This pic was taken on July 4th. Unfortunately when we got to my aunts house it was time to eat so Ava didn't get to go down to the beach in her bathing suit. We went down later that evening and she wasn't too excited about the sand and waves. She did however LOVE the fireworks!! She watched them in awe and clapped the entire time. I'm waiting on a friend to send pics from the night of her clapping. It is too cute!

Yeah! I've added some pictures!!! I feel like I accomplished so much. Well I'm gonna end with a funny story from yesterday. My sister, Hunter, Ava and I went to the Y to go swimming. Bryan came and met us a bit later. We all got in the pool and Bryan took Ava to play with her. A group of girls (probably age 4) swam by and said that Ava was cute. A few minutes later these same girls came over again but this time they wanted to talk and "play" with Ava. So Bryan, being the character he is, says to the little girls that he just found this baby on the other side of the pool and was trying to think of a good name for her. He asked them what they thought of the name "Bruce". Of course the girls laughed and said that Bruce is a boys name and that the baby was a girl. So then he asked "How bout Ava". They of course thought that was a much better name. Well the girls swam off but not for too long. In the mean time, a little boy (probably age 3) swam REALLY CLOSE next to Bryan and looked at him with this smile on his face. He continued on and we thought that would be the last of him. Soon after that funny encounter the girls were back in full force. This time Bryan offered to sell "Bruce" (Ava) for $5 if they wanted her. Of course they did so they took off to ask their parents for $5. I was starting to worry that the police might come either b/c Bryan was trying to sell a baby or that the parents were starting to think Bryan was a Chester (if ya know what I mean)...ha ha well of course we didn't sell Ava. Before we got out of the pool though Bryan's son...I mean the little boy that looked at Bryan in such a loving way came back but this time he swam up to Bryan and decided to kind of hug and hang on him. We had know clue who this kid belonged to or where he came from but obviously he had some attraction to Bryan...maybe Bryan looked like his dad...so that's the story...it was pretty funny to those of us who were there...don't worry we did figure out who the boy belonged to and Bryan made sure we didn't bring home an extra mouth for us to feed. Well its getting late...I need to go to bed early...can't sleep in tomorrow b/c I have to be up to "babysit" my parents dogs and take Hunter to summer camp. Good Night!!!

I told you so...

Didn't I tell you that I wouldn't be good at this??? I was right! It's been so long that I almost forgot how to blog. Well Ava started crawling today!!! I'm excited for this milestone but at the same time I'm thinking "Oh no!!" Now I need to cover the fireplace, get two baby gates, cover outlets, put away cords and any other potentially dangerous objects. Oh and we need to do something about the entertainment center...I don't think her daddy will be all to happy if something happens to his PS3 or other "toys".
We're getting ready to head down to the beach for fun, family, food, and fireworks. This will be Ava's first time at the beach and I'm hoping she'll be a beach bum like her mom, Grammy, Aunt Annie, and Aunt Les...I should of just said "like her family" instead of trying to name everyone. I'm sure she will be :)
Not only am I horrible at keeping up with this but I'm EVEN worse at putting pictures up. So I'm not making any promises but I'm going to try my hardest to put some up from today. I promised Ava's Granny that I'd take pics of her in her 4th of July outfit so maybe that will give me some more motivation to put pics up.
Well as soon as I can get off my butt, put my bathing suit on, wait for Bryan to get ready and load the car we will be off to the beach. Sand, water, crabs HERE WE COME!!!!

We're In!!!

Well we've finally moved in!! Yes!! We're just busy unpacking, cleaning, putting pictures up and figuring out where to put stuff. Unfortunately we still have a few things at the apartment and I have to clean it before we turn in our keys. I didn't think it was that bad living in an apartment until we moved into a house. Now I don't even want to go back over there!!! So I can't tell you how happy I am that this is a 3 day weekend. I'm in need of a little break. We're having a get together on Sunday. It started out small-Bryan, myself, Les and Aaron, and Jessica and Karl. Well now its turned into a full-blown PARTY!!! I love throwing parties but man...I'm not ready for that just yet!!
Ava is getting so big!! She's sitting up better and her personality is really showing! Gosh I LOVE being a mom. She has such an infectious laugh and loves to "talk". I only wish she'd stay this age forever!!!
Hunter was in major need of a hair cut...he had his typical "fro" going on. We were supposed to go last weekend but I just never got around to it. This week was crazy busy too. Well yesterday as I was on my way to pick him up I was talking to my mom on the phone. She said that Hunter came home and said that people were making fun of his hair and that he has a big head. I felt horrible...guess I'm not getting "Mom of the Year" award. Why do I do this to my child??? Well don't worry...we headed straight to Great Clips and got a buzz cut. I wasn't so sure of it at first...but its growing on me. I just don't know what to do with his crazy hair. Unfortunately he was blessed with my curly thick hair but somehow God threw in about a million BAD cowlicks.
Well Bryan just finished attaching our TV to the wall. At first I wasn't sure if I'd like it but I actually do and now I won't have to reposition myself on the couch a million times in order to turn the TV on. Thank goodness he finished in time for me to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" (one of my most favorite shows)
Ava is starting to fuss...and I'm getting REALLY sleepy. Bedtime for both of us...goodnight

Busy Bee!!

Well just as I thought!!! I've been really bad about keeping this blog thing up. Sorry! We just bought a house and I basically go to work, leave work, pick up the kids, drop them off with Grammy, go to the new house, paint, clean, unpack, pick up kids, go home, go to bed...that's been my life for the last 2 weeks or so. I do have good new!! I got a new job at a different school!! I'm soooooo excited!! I'll get to be where I want to be and teach the grade that I really wanted to teach. Now if I can just make it through this school year...ha ha
Hunter REALLY wants a puppy and he asked me today if I would buy him one and it could stay at Grammy and Granddaddy's house. He said they could take care of it and buy all its food. :) I told him if he could get Grammy to do that I'd buy him a puppy...shout I'd buy him one TONIGHT...so I told him to call her and see what she says. I'm sure you can guess???? I told Grammy the puppy could be like that goldfish that Hunter got a few years ago at the carnival...you know the one that is still at Grammy and Granddaddy's...I don't think it will EVER die!!
Ava is SO close to rolling over! She's trying real hard to sit up on her own too!! I want her to just stay this age :( I don't want her or Hunter to ever grow up!!
I've been bad about putting up pictures. Sorry!!! I'll get on it once we get things settled with the house.

Can't Wait Till Friday!!

I'm sooooo excited!!! We close on our house this Friday. I promise I'll get some pics up. I can't wait! The yard is beautiful...I only hope we can keep it up. I definately DO NOT have a green thumb...its more like the black thumb of death. I can barely keep a cactus alive...don't worry though, the kids...they're a little easier :) We went to visit the USS Wisconsin this past Sat. I did take pics from that outing and they will follow soon. I've been there a couple of times when I taught elementary but Hunter had never been. He enjoyed it. While we were walking around there was a group of men and when we "eavesdropped" we realized they had been on the ship when it was active. We tried our best to stay within earshot so we could listen to their stories. After the ship we had a picnic lunch before we took a walk around downtown Norfolk. Poor Hunter has bad allergies so we had to cut our walk short. He was constantly sneezing and his eyes were red and starting to close. Hopefully Ava doesn't have allergies like that :( Well I'm at work and I have kids coming in a few minutes so I gotta go...I'll get the pics up later!!!

Spring Break is almost over :( boo hoo!!

So I didn't get good news at the dentist...looks like I have FIVE yes FIVE cavities. One of them was REALLY bad and I had to go this morning to get it taken care of. One down...four to go...But the dentist did give me gas!! I'd never had THAT before and I LOVED it!! Will definately get gas everytime. Ava spent the morning with her Daddy at the Drs office and Hunter went with me to the dentist. After my appt. Hunter and I picked up Ava and headed over to MacArthur Mall to see Les and grab something to eat. On our way home I decided to swing by and do my daily drive by of our "future" home. Hunter asked me why I had to drive by it every day and I told him "To make sure its still there". He replied "MOM, they won't wreck it, its under contrack". I wonder when he'll stop saying "cute" things?? I hope never...So we close on our house in ONE WEEK!!!!!! I am super duper excited!!!! I can't wait to get in there and start getting it ready. I kept saying to myself "Oh we'll just take our time moving in. Our lease isn't up until May 31" but I've changed my mind...I want in NOW!!! We will definately have some kind of party/get together after we're settled in. Well my spring break is almost over and I'm really sad :( Only 9 weeks until summer break! But hey, whose counting???

To the Dentist I go...

Well I calculated it...I haven't been to the dentist in a year. I HATE going to the dentist!! Don't know why because amazingly I usually don't have cavities. This time I either have a cavity or a filling that fell out. I've had this aching pain for about 2-3 months now...I procrastinate on things I don't want to do as you can tell. Well I gotta drop Ava and H-man off with Granddaddy. Wish me luck...

I Need Coffee!!!

So I couldn't sleep last night...I finally got into bed around 1 something in the morning. Ava woke up about 30 min later. She never wakes up!!! I gave her a bottle and WAS trying to get her to sleep. Then my hubbie (who had been playing hockey and went to paradocks afterwards) strolls in. He thinks its funny Ava had a handful of my hair and is WIDE awake...funny funny. Well funny on him cuz guess who had to get up in about 2 hours to go to work...ha ha Well I didn't get much more sleep...Ava kept waking up and at about 7a.m. she told me she was ready to get up and play. Lucky Hunter...he's back there in bed and will probably sleep till around 9 or 10a.m.

So I have to tell you how EXCITED I am about something...I don't need to tell anyone that I love to shop. Well, I happened upon this clothing line durning one of my episodes of ebay searching. I have never loved a clothing line as much as I do this one (I'm talking about clothing for kids...not me...ha ha) Its called Matilda Jane (check out the link on my sidebar). You can't buy it in stores so your only options are Ebay or a Trunk Keeper. I suggest going through a Trunk Keeper unless you want to pay up to 3x or more. If you want one let me know...I know a GREAT one!!! So yesterday I got my FIRST package from Matilda Jane and I cannot wait to put it on Ava!!! I will definately post pics as soon as I get motivated to shower myself, get dressed and pull out my camera. Well I have laundry to do, a house to clean and school work to work on...it's off to work I go!!!

More pics from Pittsburg...

My little sis and my momma

My dad and I :)

Hunter practicing his golf swing...or as Pop Pop would say "Airating the yard". (I think that's how you spell it...)

Les and me!!

She thinks she's sooooo Hollywood...with those hot pink 80s hoops!!!

Pictures from Ava and Hunter's Baptism...
Granny baptizing Ava

Hunter being baptized

Princess Ava Elizabeth

Pictures from our visit to Pittsburg...such a beautiful city!! It was my family's first time visiting. Bryan took the pics!

Great pic of Hunter!!!

Go Steelers!!!

Mom and Les

My little princess!!!

My handsome MONSTER!!!

Here she is again...having playtime in her exersaucer...

Big brother LOVES his little sister...and Daddy LOVES her bow!!!

Looks just like her daddy...only thing he's missing is a pink bow!!!

Ok...so I finally downloaded pics from my "professional" camera. I was a little bummed to see that the pics that Bryan took look WAY more professional than mine do. I've used the camera more them him and somehow he figures out how to use it better than me...typical. I think I need to take a class or something. I've looked at the manual...well I skimmed through it. I hate taking the time to read directions...some teacher I am!!

Well it looks like I'm going to have to add another post to get more pics downloaded cuz thats all I could get...

This is Ava at 4 months...she looks so much like her Daddy!!!

Aaww here is Hunter with his aunt Les!! She's helping him (cheat) on a word contest at Boy Scouts.

My First Blog!!!

Ok so today is my first day "blogging". I've checked out so many blogs (I'm a bit nosy) and decided I would FINALLY create my own. I'm not sure how often I'll make updates and logon but I will try my best!!!

So...a little about me and my family...

I am married to a wonderful man...Bryan...whose last name happens to be the same as my first...(can't tell you how many times I've heard "Your name is CARRIE CAREY!!"...probably about a million...so its a little old to me now). We have two children-Hunter who is 8 and Ava who is 5 months. I am a middle school teacher but I'm trying to go back to elementary. I'm also finishing my Masters hence the reason I may not be able to stay on top of this.

I want to use this blog as a way for my family and friends to stay up to date with the craziness of our world. I'm really bad about calling, writing letters, etc. so I figured I could knock them all out in one swipe...ha ha