Wed, Sep 15, 20045:00 PMWe spent the weekend with Gigi and Opa. It was delightfully relaxing! They came up to visit on Saturday and then Aviana and I went home with them. I have been having a difficult time adjusting to being at home and solely responsible for such a tiny being ALL THE TIME. I miss my students and the constant change and stimulation of teaching. Let me tell you, tho’ I am constantly changing (dirty duds :), it ain’t all that stimulating! It’s hard to even chat online since Her Majesty wants to be held about all the time. ANYWAY, my mom and dad blessed us with the best gift- they took care of Aviana all the time except for when she was eating so I could just feel like a person again!

We went on a picnic with Uncle Cory and Tia, Uncle Tony and Cora, and Gigi and Opa on Monday. It was a good idea-in theory! There were mosquitoes the size of bats! Speaking of bats, bats can bounce their sonar off of a single mosquito. Bats eat mosquitoes. Where are all the bats when you need them?? Aviana stayed hidden under a blanket although Cora got three nasty bites. The rest of us got too many to count. Cora learned a new “sign”- slap your head- that means nasty old mosquito. She does know many real signs, which allows the observer a peek into a one year old’s brain. It’s not too exciting. An average conversation goes something like this:
Cora signs “eat”
Her mama says “we can eat in a little bit”
Cora signs “eat”
Her mama says “Yes we’re going to eat”
Cora signs “eat”
Her mama says “In a little while, we can eat”
Cora signs “play”
Uncle Cory (UC) wants to play with her and thinks this is a good idea. He starts to play with her.
Cora signs “eat”
Her mama says “we can eat in a little bit, why don’t you play with your Uncle Cory?”
Cora signs “banana”
Her mama says “He doesn’t have a banana, but he’ll play with you!”

I thought that was pretty funny! Wed, Sep 22, 200411:10 PMWell I don’t really feel that there is a lot newsworthy going on in the Holst Haus, but here goes. Aviana has been really smiling lately! It has been quite exciting! I think that she recognizes me too. We have been going all over town. We went up to UT for the Homecoming assembly and parade. I couldn’t believe she slept through it all! We went and got our pictures taken (or “made” if you’re from the south:)) on Sunday, it was fun but a little frustrating too as she slept through the whole thing, so we only have one with her eyes open and one where she is winking (I think she is part pirate, as I have several pics of her like that.)
Our Cranky Princess is not such a fussbudget anymore. I think getting her adjusted at the chiro has been helping her feel better.
I started working out at Curves- I really enjoy the workout, it goes by really fast & it’s nice to be out of the house. I’ve been leaving her w/ Grammy but they said that I could bring Aviana during naptimes if Grammy can’t watch her sometimes. I’m really glad of that!
I guess that is about it for tonight- I won’t bore you with the tedious-ness of our daily routine.
Sun, Sep 26, 20048:46 PMWe had a busy weekend. Yesterday we went over to Auntie Tina’s to check out all her cool stuff for Stampin’ Up! which made for a nice little visit. Then we went to Bethany’s birthday party, who turned the big ONE! It was quite enjoyable. I was so energized from seeing all the friends I did that Aviana & I went home & made dinner. From scratch. Where you actually cut things up. No boxes! I made Swiss steak, au gratin potatoes, broccoli, and for dessert, stuffed apples! (You know you’re jealous:))I was so impressed with myself that I was trying to decide who to invite over for dinner as all that work needs to be appreciated by more than just Kevin :-). So then the phone rang and it was our friend Ria, who came over & brought homemade pink booties for Aviana. We had a terrific evening together.

Today after church, we drove up to visit with Kevin’s cousin and their daughters. We had a nice time at their house. The girls wanted Aviana to stay the night with them, but we thought that it was a little too early for that. They were DYING to hold the baby. We were talking about 4H and realized that Sarah will be 21 by the time that Aviana is old enough to be in 4h!! & I’ll be almost 40!!

We then went to talk to a guy about a corn burning stove. He runs a corn “maize” and has a petting zoo. Aviana met baby goats named Daisy and Daffodil. She also saw her first pigs and sheep. She was indubitably impressed.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend. Now I have to go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow to take Ellie to be groomed. Now that’s what you would call a tough agenda! 🙂

Whatever you do, put romance and enthusiasm into the lives of our children–Margaret R. MacDonaldWed, Sep 29, 200411:52 PMAviana weighs 10 pounds 4 ounces and is 22 inches long. Officially. The doc said that she looks great and to keep doing what we are doing. Glad to hear that. Poor thing has a stuffed up head -it’s painful to listen to her breathe, and she cries (screams, whatever) a lot, AND we have thrush AGAIN. For the FOURTH time. Good grief. I guess I’ll have to give up eating carbs altogether!

In other news, Harvest has officially started. Kevin got into the first cornfield today, combining. It was incredibly dusty as we’ve had only one rain this month. Good for drying the crops nature’s way, Bad for vision when the dust is all in your face in front of the combine.

Yesterday Leah and Cora went with us to get Aviana’s social security number. I got the biggest run around about what forms of I.D. Aviana needed (excuse me but does anyone else think that it’s odd they expect a baby to have I.D.? ), none of which I had. So my nest task was to then go get a certified copy of her birth certificate from the Courthouse, but we didn’t know where that was so we drove to where we thought it was, but that turned out to be City Hall, so since we had to mail some letters anyway we went to the post office to ask and there was a long line, and then we had to turn back around to get the directions because we were so distracted we forgot to get them the first time so we’re finally on our way but as it turns out I didn’t have enough I.D. for the Birth Certificate either, or enough money as they had changed the prices since Leah got the form, but it didn’t matter, because they would only take a cashier’s check which I didn’t have, but that didn’t matter either because neither of the downtown buildings for the Court offices were MARKED on the outside, so a heavily armed guard informed us we went into the wrong one, and by the time we walked across the street it was 4:30 and they CLOSE at 4:30. On the dot. No dilly dallying around. Purses over the shoulders and locking up and out the door. Right on time. Sorry. Can’t help you today.

Golly, what a day!