Lavender farm

On Saturday my Mom and I took Ava to Lavender Hills Farm, in Marysville. It was a hot muggy day on Saturday and we got there around 11:15, the farm was having a festival and a fair with lots of food, handmade items and a lot of people.

The lavender in the field was GORGEOUS and it smelled so wonderful. I cant even describe what it’s like to smell that much lavender, it’s not at all overpowering but just fantastic. Ava had a great time seeing all the bumble bee’s visiting the flowers. They also had an herb garden and flower garden where Ava got to see some Cosmos’, Sweet Pea’s, Black Eyed Susans and sunflowers.  Then there was a honey maker there who had a beehive in plexiglass and we visited them to watch the bee’s do their work. Ava sure loves, bee’s and insects.

My Mom gave me 2 huge bunches of lavender, you could pick your own or buy them pre-cut, with the heat we opted for the pre-cut. Without putting them in water or direct sunlight they are supposed to last forever. I put mine in a hurricane I got from partylite with decorative rocks and they are sitting in the bedroom. It smells wonderful and looks fabulous.

But I will be making a trip back there again in the next few weeks to buy more lavender. It is so inexpensive, $7.00 a bunch of 3 for $15.00. I plan on buying more for my bathroom and also to make bath products out of. I will be making soaps, shower gels and lotions out of it for Holiday gifts. And along with the bottles from specialty bottle, I am in good shape!

Another great thing about the lavender, cats dont like it! I have two naughty, very naughty cats. And both of them have stayed away from it. My Mom is cat-sitting for my sister and brother in-law while they are in Africa and their cat doesnt bother it either! Finally a plant I can have indoors that my cats leave alone!

I really suggest that if you live in the area you head up to the farm, it’s $1.00 for parking and a really beautiful place.

General update on wrist, weather, etc.

So I have been wearing a brace on my wrist for over 2 weeks now which is difficult to say the least. I have to take it off to cook or to craft and on especially hot days like today. When I went in to see my Dr. and she suggested the brace she mentioned getting an ink contrast MRI. I called her on Monday to find out what the next step is since the brace is NOT helping a bit. We finally talked today and we are trying therapy with a hand and wrist specialist as she thinks I may have tendonitis, since the pain is on both sides of my wrist bones where it was broken and goes up to my forearm. I should be hearing back from them again in a day or two with an appointment. If the therapy does not go well or the specialist doesnt believe I have tendonitis then back to the ink contrast MRI and surgery. I dont care at this point what happens as long as the pain starts to go away.

Oh and was it hot today or was it hot???? It was over 100 degree’s here in Snohomish and most of the Puget Sound area. It’s no surprise that I hate this weather. But I keep telling myself, it’s not Africa…..it’s not Africa, which is where my sister Jen and her husband Shamez are right now. They are in Kenya, and Tanzania and possibly one other country for the next month. They are there visiting his relatives and also plan on going on a safari and to a Giraffe place. I know, it’s really descriptive….she told me the name but I’ve forgotten already.

So as hot as it is here it is NOT Africa hot. And for that I am most thankful!

The great comparison

Ava at 18 months old:

Audrey at 18 months old:

The new Mary Camden

Yesterday we made a trek to Target in Woodinville and picked up some things we needed like a new toaster (the one we got for our wedding just died a couple weeks ago), a lamp for my desk in the office and a few toys for the girls.

For Audrey we got a bead maze, like you see in the office of Dr.’s and Dentists. And for Ava we got her a basketball hoop and ball. It adjusts from 2 1/2 ft. to 4 ft. high. She had been asking for a basketball for what seems like FOREVER. She loves sports, soccer, football, baseball, basktball, volleyball, tennis…..anything that has a ball.

So yesterday we set up the b-ball set in the garage and opened the door for extra sunshine and played while Audrey had her afternoon nap. SHE LOVED IT!  One of the best purchases EVER. We took pictures and if I got up and found the camera I’d put them up, but right now I’m using the stock photo. I’ll post the actual pictures on Flickr soon.

(Mary Camden is the oldest daughter on the show “7th Heaven” who was a basketball player, very sporty and what we call Ava because of her love of sports.)

New stroller

When I was pregnant with Ava I did the normal thing and got a travel system, baby carseat and matching stroller. I remember being lured into thinking it was the best thing because you could put the carseat right on top of the stroller without taking a little sleeping baby out.

But then when I had Audrey I needed a double stroller and quickly realized that almost every stroller has an attachment for a carseat to sit on it. So I was kinda thinking, ‘why did I get a travel system?’ Also I thought when I got the travel system that the carseat would be good for the first year….WRONG. With Ava it lasted her until about 8 months, with Audrey 6 months.

Well now after 3 1/2 years the travel system is busted. The two front wheels on the stroller are stuck and make it very challenging to turn. I’m basically making Audrey pop a wheelie (is it still called that or am I dating myself?) everytime I turn the stroller. And the fabric has rips in it, especially the car seat.

So after great debate I found a stroller, the Kolcraft contours options. It has a seat that faces forward or flips around to face you, great for little babies. And the seat folds flat for newborns or it has an attachment so you can put a car seat on it. It has a big basket, a big sunshade and is 3 wheels so its super easy to maneuver.

This was the only stroller with the flippable seats on the market that was NOT $700 or more. Crikey! Seriously, I know I’ve seen actors and rich people in magazines with these strollers but I dont care if I had 40 million, I’d still never spend $700 on a stroller……idiots. Anyway, this was about the same price as a “regular” stroller….except I used my super ebay skills and got it even cheaper AND brand NEW!

Ebay is simply the best for baby items…..PERIOD.

Here it is showing the two seat posistions:

And the lovely lass standing next to the stroller. The stroller folds up in a standing posistion making it nice and compact and easy to store. My combi did this…..I really liked that.

New picture time!

Head on over to Flicker  (now in convenient sets!) for new picture of the girls including Ava’s first ice cream, potty time Audrey and gangsta juice!

Upon enterting our bathroom

Our cat Connor has a mental issue, he likes to go poo on the bathroom floor next to the litterbox. This only started to happen about a year ago. He didnt do it when the litterbox was in another bathroom, and he doesnt do it in any other bathroom…..just right next to the litterbox. It is something we hate, yet we have not been able to fix. It has nothing to do with the cleanliness of the litter, and we have used many different cleansers on the floor to get rid of the odor. Nothing we have done has stopped it. The only thing that gives us hope is when we move it wont happen. It stopped at my Mom’s house.

So this morning I was going into our bathroom to brush my teeth and Ava followed me in. Next to the litterbox on the floor was a huge pile of poo. Ava stopped, took a step back and said:

“JUMPING JUNE BUGS…….THAT’S A BIG POOO!”

She said it like she really meant to say “Damn! That’s a big pile of poo!” but she doesnt know “damn” so she put in “jumping june bugs”. It was mighty funny.

Passing down imperfections

Before I had kids I wondered if I could even have kids. I have scoliosis and my ribcage is rotated, the right side of my ribs are all scrunched together and the left are all spread out and in a nice point. I then worried about passing it down to my children. So far both the girls have perfectly straight spines and healthy looking ribcages. The one imperfection I didnt think about passing down were my ankles.

When I was little, around Ava’s age, my Mom said one day she noticed I was walking on the inside of my ankles, literally on the bone. I was then given orthotics, plastic moulded inserts for my shoes and I had to do ankle excersizes. I remember hating the orthotics, I had to wear tennis shoes with them, no cute little sling back sandals. The biggest issue of that being when I wore dresses we didnt have money to get cute dress shoes that worked with them. In a super cute picture of me and Jen I am wearing a dress, with my hair curled but I hated that day. I had to go wearing my tennis shoes, and I was embarassed. In the corner of the picture you can see them.  And I had to wear them until about 6 or 7 years old. I hated them. It was also painful, the excersizes and the re-shaping of my bones.

And with all the excersizes I had to do for my ankles you would think I have the strongest, skinniest ankles ever. But it’s just the opposite, weak tree stubs that led me to break my wrist last November.

Since Ava started to walk we’ve noticed her walking on the inside of her feet. Finally within the last few months I made an appointment with Dr. Parish, her pediatrician about it. She had told me to wait until around now, since most kids grow out of it. But given my history it was more necessary to keep an eye on it. We were given the number of a specialist who measured her feet, and made a mould for her own orthotics.

I cried when I heard she would need them. I remember how much I hated them, and how painful it was. I felt incredibly guilty. I felt irresponsible for handing down something like this. It’s silly, I know. It’s not that bad, it’s fixable and it’s also not as bad as mine was. But I still felt awful for doing this to her.  Then I went online and looked for cute summer sandals that she could wear these with. Of course the shoe’s I found were all around $70 to $100. But then I sobbed and told Sean about my “shame” of sneakers and dresses and vowed I wouldnt let Ava feel that way. He comforted me by letting me know we would get her cute shoes.

Yesterday Ava had her appointment to pick them up and wore them for the first time. She doesnt mind mostly. We dont wear shoes inside, and for the most part hardly wear socks. So wearing socks and shoes inside is new for her. This weekend we are going to take her to pick out a pair of “house shoes”, special inside shoes. She starts out an hour a day and builds every day until she is wearing them almost all day. The Dr. did say she could go a couple hours inside without them.

We go back in a month to have a checkup and see how they are doing with her feet. Here is a picture I found on the internet of what orthotics look like. Ava’s are clear and small. I would have taken a picture of them but Sean has the camera today.

She is oh so yummy and so very cute

Little Words

Audrey keeps knocking out new words, or really phrases. Yesterday she started saying “All done” after meals. Tonight after dinner she was walking through the kitchen just repeating “All done, all done, all done, all done”. It’s so cute.

Earlier today we were at the drive though Starbucks on highway 9 and the girl in the window was looking at Audrey and Ava and talking to them. Audrey was putting on a HUGE smile and talking to her through the window, she kept saying “whats she doing”, of course it’s all one word “whatsshedoing”. And Ava would smile then look away, she knows yummy blueberry muffins come out that window.

Here’s Audrey’s little words:
Who is it
What is it
All done
Cracker
Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee
Yaaaaa
Hi
High five
Whats she doing
Good Morning

She’s also a great little dancer. Ava has more of a stomp motion, she would be perfect in the broadway show “Stomp” or “Riverdance”, but Audrey is a total groover. She shimmies her rump, her shoulders, swings her head from side to side and then moves her feet, it is complete cuteness. If she isnt standing to dance, she’ll do a little wiggle when she’s sitting or when she’s on her hands and knees and just wiggle her rump. She even does a little “happy dance” like when she’s eating something yummy, she’s shimmies in her chair or standing while eating something. She loves to groove.