Ava, Ava, Bo Bava, Banana Fana Fo Fava...

Well I feel like I am always doing posts about Van and then adding a little side note about our crazy 2nd child. This post will be purely dedicated to our "beautiful tornado" as daddy calls her. Honestly she can be such a handful or such a lover. She is highly volatile and such a spaz. You really just never know which side of Ava you are going to get. She is so sweet...when she wants to be. She loves to give tons of hugs and kisses and just sit with you, rub you, and usually tell you she loves you...unlike her completely independent brother. But on the other hand, she can squeal and grunt when she doesn't get her way...or usually the food she wants when she wants it. She is obsessed with saying "mine" which I detest. As a good friend recently told me...2 of the most annoying things kids say...mine and no....let me tell you, Ava has them both down. She has this crazy hair, that really is some of the softest and prettiest little girl hair I have ever seen, but anyways, it is really long and if not pulled back, all over her face. So she likes to shake her head no super fast so her hair is flying all over her face....this too I detest. She is quite the talker these days. She loves to say hi and bye to anybody who will pay attention to her. Also in her vocabulary are...cheetoh, please, na-nu (thank you), every family member you can think of, juice, shoe, hair, head, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, oowee (ow wee), brother, i love you, ni-night, amen, num nums, water, swing, ball....I'm sure I'm forgetting other stuff but unless she is standing here saying it to me, I just can't remember. She is an excellent climber and will take on any physical task I give her. She loves almost everybody. She loves to play chase with her brother...mostly when its bedtime and she's running after him with her arms open to catch him and give him a big hug. She loves to get up in the morning and go looking for "da-ee" (daddy) or "brover" (brother). She loves to be in the cupboard at all times, usually finding something to carry around with her like Cheezits or chips...yes she just helps herself. She loves to lay on the carpet on her tummy with her head resting on her elbows and be engrossed in whatever activity I'm doing with Van. She loves to imitate anything Van is doing....he can be quite the manipulator. I have even over heard him telling her..."Ava stick your hand in the fan....yeah like that"....minutes later there was some crying while Van comes running so innocently to me..."mommy Ava stuck her hand in the fan". Oh the fun stuff these two do. But honestly, they really love each other and that just melts my heart. Although there are some days I would love to pack up my daughter and ship her to Siberia (:)), I really just can't imagine our life without her. Our 2 kids remind me so much of Mike and I...polar opposites...really I think I keep Mike grounded with my seriousness....mostly like how Van does for Ava....and Mike is always my entertainment....just like how Ava is for Van. Well I will end this post with a few pics of Ava that I took while she was playing with Daddy....enjoy!

Loves to you baby girl.

B

Family Pics

So a few weeks back, we got to have a free photo session with an amazing photographer. My boss was having a contest where the winning families got a free session. We ended up with an open session right in the middle of the pack so my boss asked if my family would like to take it for free. Of course we said YES!!! As any young family can attest, good pics are hard to come by and even harder to buy. We can never seem to capture just the perfect moment with our little ones...but these professionals...they are amazing. I thought I would post a few pics for you guys to see from the session!!! Love them....Jack Randall Photography in Dana Point....amazing! Enjoy :)







B

U...C...LLLLLL...A...U.C.L.A. Fight Fight Fight!

So college football season has begun again...which means every Saturday is consumed by a 3 hour football game. I'm really so tired of hearing "fight on"...blah blah blah...usc blah blah blah....we need to give our Bruins some love. For those of you who don't know, we are HUGE UCLA fans. Not only does my husband enjoy the games, but I do too. I actually like sports a lot...as Mike says, its kind of freakish how I know random things about sports. But anywhoo, we both enjoy this season. This was the first year that Van got to accompany dad to a game. They tend to be all day affairs between the driving, commuting on the bus to the stadium, the (at least) 3 hour game itself, commuting back to the parking structure, and then driving home. So up until now, I'm not sure any of us wanted to brave the whole day with a tired little boy...but now....big boys get to have all of the fun. Mike took Van to the first game of the season, against SDSU and of course we were hoping for a win. Van even wore his little jersey (seen above) that he got from "nana" for his birthday this year. So him and his daddy got all dressed up, packed in the car and had a great time. Van said he got to enjoy popcorn, nachos, a hotdog, lemonade and much more. He got to see Joe Bruin dancing too. Still to this day, if you ask Van what the best part was he will tell you "the tunnels". I guess when Mike and him were driving there they rolled down the windows when they went through the freeway tunnels and screamed really loud....he loved it. It was so nice for Van and daddy to get to spend some one on one time. You really forget about that once you have a second. You forget that for the first part of your first child's life, they were used to having you all to themselves. Van is great with Ava and never really puts up too big a fight about sharing time with her...but you can tell by the big smile on his face that when he gets you all to himself he loves it! Here's a couple of more pics from the big game day.

PS The bruins won...so all around it was a great day!!

To Blog or Not To Blog

This would be the question of the day...or shall I say week...or really to be honest, almost month. Not that I don't love blogging and love being a blog stalker to others, I just find that I am so lacking in extra time around here. This month seemed to fly by. I know, I feel like I say that all the time, or at least every blog post. I know everybody is so busy and yet they still manage to blog...how? So let's see, what have we been up to? Well I think this one will be a long one.

Let's start with the beginning of August. We had the pleasure of watching a very good, close friend of many years get married. Our friend Bryan..whom some of you know...married his girlfriend Renee on August 1st. Mike was part of the wedding party, yes I was a bit bitter that Mike was called upon to stand up for Bryan when I've known him longer and he was my friend first...couldn't I have worn a tux?!?!? All kidding aside, I still got to be part of all of the festivities and enjoyed every minute. Mike was a busy guy, between the rehearsal dinner, the night before of "boys will be boys" fun, and then the all day affair that was the wedding. It was SOOO much fun. My hubby was looking really good in a tux so of course I got all dappered up and we enjoyed a night away from the kiddos. Its always so much fun, and refreshing, to just get to be a couple again...especially when we were looking so good. I love my hubby in jeans, shorts, comfy clothes...just about anything...but seeing him in a tux is always a pleasant surprise!! It was cool because we both knew so many people at the wedding. It was just a huge celebration with a ton of friends of both of ours. Lots and lots and lots of fun. Here are some pics from the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself. Congrats Bryan...we love you both....thanks for the good time!

So that was our most recent celebration. Otherwise our month has been pretty normal. Van has been playing soccer and tball through the city of Orange all summer long and really enjoying both. They both took a day or so to warm up to, but eventually he got the hang of it and had a good time. I think he just liked doing something special, just him. We are so excited for him to be 4 (yep I can't believe it either) next year so he can actually join a league and play a sport for a team with uniforms and all. Here's a couple of soccer and tball pics...for the sake of keeping this post semi-short, I won't post too many.

okay really how many of us have this same picture from years ago...I thought it was funny (and yes he had to wear that shirt...it was the smallest the coach could find)

this day he was on "the green machine"

must have been an all red day??? what was I thinking?

"point, step, and throw"

the "shovel"

Let's see...oh yeah, in early August we had Vacation Bible School. What a hectic week this was. I was teaching the 2-4 year old class with another mom. That meant, up, dressed and fed (me and both kids) and out of the house by 9am, everyday. Boy were they tired. It seemed to get worse and worse as the week dragged on. They had a great time, but we were all just so beat by the time we got home everyday. Ava pretty much ran amuck in the class the entire time, since she was a little younger than the actual age group, but Van was a real champ. He practiced his questions every day and always knew his answer when he was called on. At the closing ceremonies, he even grabbed the mic from me to show how well he knew his answers to all of the crowd. For those of you that really know Van...you know this is just not him. He is usually one of the shyest kids around....but for some reason, when it came to showing everyone how much he had studied...he was all about showing off...those Billingsley genes coming through. Here are some cute pics from the closing day....

Well that's all of the big stuff that has been occupying our time. I've been working a lot and Mike has been super busy with softball and his band. You will be happy to know, they have finally "laid down a track"...okay not really a full track. But he is recorded playing his drums along w/ their guitar player on this song. Please keep in mind they are missing the bass playing and lyrics. But, if you have a minute, take a listen here. Also, remember, Mike has only been playing drums since February. I have to say, I'm really impressed. He was so excited to get to do this. Now we have proof of actually how good he is...I've been sending this along...even though he is pretty humble about it...but like I said, take a listen. Its cool to think that's really him playing.

Other than that...we've just been hanging out. Ava is still the most crazy monkey child I have ever seen. I was even joking with Mike the other night that we have to get her one of the "cat climbers" because she just needs some sort of jungle gym to always be climbing on. She is getting so big, I can't believe she is almost 1 1/2 ...time has been flying. I'd love to post a pic of her but believe it or not....in all of our August pics...there aren't very many...or even more than one where she is looking at the camera. Sorry. Van is starting school again in a week and we're pretty anxious for this. He's really excited to go this year so I'm hoping for a very smooth transition. I will keep you all posted. Alright...got to call it quits now...this one has taken me long enough to write and I'm sure long enough for you to read. I will try my hardest to not be gone again so long.

Thanks for reading,

B

A Little Extra Goes A Long Way...

So tonite I was doing the bills, like I'm sure lots of other mommies are doing, and guess what?!?!?! I found $50 extra dollars in our bank account. I had accidentally written something in there twice!!! I was so excited. Its 3 days till payday and now I can sit back relieved that we will definitely make it...yippee.

And, because I found this extra $50 I was in such a good mood. Such a good mood that I went and cleaned a bathroom I had been putting off for a couple of days, helped my little ones clean their bedrooms, and sat down at the computer to work!! Yes, that's right...instead of being lazy, enjoying some microwavable popcorn and watching tv...I got to work. I made a checklist and am determined to get it done. I was so excited about that relief money that I became so motivated to get other stuff done.

Yeah to extra money!!! Hope all of you other mommies out there are as lucky as I am tonite!!!

Amazing, Amazing, Amazing...Oh My Keith!

Well I had the privilege...and I do mean privilege of seeing Keith Urban in concert on Sunday night. Oh my goodness it was AMAZING. We had floor seats, which meant we were standing most of the time because if someone in front of us was standing we had to stand too just to see him. Well that was fine by me because I was standing and clapping and singing and dancing almost all of the night. I was really bummed in the beginning because they were supposed to be performing with Sugarland that night and on the way to the concert we heard on the radio that Sugarland wouldn't be performing because the lead singer was sick. Well I was beyond upset...they were actually why Mike got me the tickets. I really like Keith Urban but I love Sugarland. Well let me just say that Keith made up for the loss. He must have played 10 different guitars all night long. I knew almost all of the songs which is great for me because I love to sing...and sing I did...all night long. He was such a great entertainer. I mean it was more than just singing, it was straight rock 'n' roll all night. He sang sweet ballads, rock songs, fun dance songs...he really had everything. Awesome!! His band was great too. He came out in the audience a few times and performed on little side stages...one of the times he was only 15 feet from us. I'll post some pics at the end here and that's when he was really close...too bad we didn't take our camera so the pics are just off of Mike's phone which didn't take the best shots. And we got to see his wifey, Nicole Kidman, like 10 feet from us too. Mike said that made his night. I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had. It was my first concert and I had no idea what to expect but I LOVED it. I think he will be so hard to top. I want to be a concert junkie, but not just for anyone, I really just want to go see him again and again!! Thanks babe for the best birthday present EVER!!!

PS Keith you would be proud, I even pulled out my old Keith Urban CD and I've been listening to it ever since the concert. I'm still in awe.

Becky

Let the countdown begin...5 days

Only 5 more days until I get to go to my FIRST CONCERT!! Yippee. A couple of months back Mike surprised me by buying tickets to go see Keith Urban and Sugarland on the 19th, the day after my birthday, as a present. I can't believe now its only 5 days away....I'm super excited. Yeah for great hubbies!!