The spray park and other fun adventures

This past Saturday the Spray Park opened and we took Ada there the first day. She is not the biggest fan of flowing water (beaches or showers) but loves pools and bath tubs. However, she is now a pro and walks around waving her hands and yelling her excitement to all, which causes her to be slightly intimidating to other kids her age. We have gone without Dad (Josh) but Ada has more fun when she can be picked up more and I just sort of let her do her thing while walking around after her. Josh loves to come and play with us and Ada loves playing with all of us. Afterwards we go on walks around the park to dry off, and that more or less makes up our day (besides cooking, cleaning and generally cleaning up). So here are some pictures of our recent exploits.

Ada "wearing" her bathing suit

One of the new summer outfits

Holiday Outfit- Ada picked this one out

Testing out the waters

Okay, maybe I like this...

A not so cute pregnancy picture, but we hope to take much better ones.

Trying out her new water wings and putting her arms up (she loves to do this)

I don't know why but I love this picture! She just looks like she is pleading with me to not take off her new toy.

Walking shoes

We bought Ada some walking shoes, and I was made aware of the Stride Rite shoes which came highly recommended (thanks mom and fam!). For those of you who don't know, these shoes are great as they help to teach the wearer how to walk properly, rather than the flat soled shoes which are much cheaper (but right now Nordstroms' is having a sale where they are half price!). But we found a great deal on them and Ada loves wearing her new shoes! We put them by the door where all of our shoes go, and she loves to put her shoes on too before we leave. Now she can walk around in the grass, playground (and slides), stores and anywhere she wants (which is everywhere). Take a look at some of the new pics and the video (sorry for those of you who think we take too many videos, as they are short and somewhat non-noteworthy, but we love them and we share them for those relatives who live far away and don't get to see Ada as much-which is unfortunately most of you!!).

The new shoes
Playing in the toy box

Her sun hat which we try to get her to wear often

Ready to go outside!

Wow, sunglasses and a hat! Ready for the Park!

Celebrations all around

When I was little, my mom always did these really creative and fun things like actually celebrating cinco de mayo and any and all other holidays (which may have prompted my youngest sister to one day ask my mom when she was very young why we never have any mint picnics?) So we did a cinco de mayo themed dinner (see pics below) and it was a lot of fun and really good! We also are blessed enough to have free babysitting as my sister Devin and her husband Leo live in town with us and love to watch Ada for us; so we went out last Tues to see X-Men Origins and we are hoping to see Star Trek this week (Josh is a trekie-whilst I have never gotten into it as I am a die hard Star Wars fan and the two are well known enemies even though we have managed to make it work). Mothers' Day was great as Josh kept alluding to the fact that he was getting me something really big when all I told him I wanted was flowers and a card! Apparently he couldn't wait and set up my present after he bought it when he came home from work, around 5 am and then proceeded to wake me up at 6 to see it. I was not expecting it, but he was so excited. He bought me/us/our family a Wii. It has been a lot of fun as I have long since told him that if we were to get a game system for our family, this would be it, as it encourages fine and gross motor skills plus ensures that you get up and move around. They even have games for kids as little as 3 yrs old! It will be so great when Ada can finally play with us. But Josh couldn't leave my present at just that as I didn't get it on Mothers' Day, so he also bought a huge and very loud (but sweet) singing card and a DVD on our list (yes, we have a list of DVD's we are trying to get). So enjoy the pics (and the new video of Ada brushing her teeth with a toothbrush!).

Ada and her Daddy
I found out a way to make Churros with crescent rolls!

Pretty cool right? I found non alcoholic sangrias!

And these I am very proud of...I found a way to make the taco bowls in the oven rather than deep frying them!

No more school and 10 mos

It feels so good to finally be finished with school (although I have one more test to take-which has to do with my teaching certificate and not my degree). I just want to say thank you to my husband, who 6 months into our marriage, was completely okay with me going back to school in a completely different field! It has been exactly 2 years since then, and now that I am finished, my hindsight is kicking in. Not to say that I am sorry for getting my M.S. but more that I can now more clearly look back and see the work and strain it has put on more than just myself (however, I may feel a little sorry when the student loans come due without a job, but Josh, who is more often than not a bit of a pessimist, states he will never be sorry I got my masters). To be finished, and to be able to be just a mom is great, albeit sometimes a little crazy just in that with this awful weather getting outside can prove highly difficult.

I was away with Ada in Philly when my degree was delivered, and Josh was great enough to call me just to say that it came and that he would get it in a suitable frame as soon as possible. He also thought it was a little disconcerting that I have my undergraduate and graduate degrees on the wall before he even has one (but to be fair, I got my undergraduate degree before I even met Josh). Someone during my student teaching said that maybe I would want to go for my doctorate, but to be emphatically frank, no thanks!! Maybe if I were planning to support the family with my career path, but as I am now turning over the reigns to my loving and much more hardworking husband, that would be a bit overboard.

Other than that, Ada and I are at home most of the day while I try to get her to eat new foods. She has eaten avocado, baby meatballs, chicken and plain organic yogurt (thanks mom). She is not too fond of the avocado, but in small pieces and followed quickly by cheese, I have managed to get her to eat it. The meatballs worked well at first, so I gave them to her alone (without her cheese chasers) but then she decided to spit them out or grind them in her fingers! It's hard not to laugh at some of the faces she makes, especially when she all of the sudden decides she doesn't want the item in her mouth anymore! She makes big messes sometimes, but it's always funny to turn around and see what she has managed to do in such a short period of time (you know, that I just turned my back for a second phrase?). So check out the few pictures and the video of her walking (she's really quick now so we had her walk the distance twice!).

walking around
wearing Daddys' new Red Sox hat