Ava's Birthday--January 12, 2009

Easy Online Video Editing and Video Sharing

Picasa Web Album

I am in the process of uploading all of our pictures to picasa web album, I will be removing the videos, because they take up a lot of space, and be uploading them to my channel on youtube.  I hope that isn't too confusing, but I only have 1GB of space, and am already  maxed out without adding a year's worth of pictures in, so hopefully this will work, I may just have to take the older pictures offline in a few months also, so if you want copies of them, order soon.  The link to the album is embedded in the Title of this post.   Once I have the videos uploaded, I will be adding the youtube channel link on the links at the top of our blog page.

I will also be polling you on how long you would like me to keep the older pictures from 2006 and earlier up, then will just have  2007 to present up, until I max out space again.  So if you want to be heard on the pictures, vote!

Thanks and enjoy!

Chelsea

Ava is Turning 2!!!

Ava is turning 2, and her birthday is a week from today!  I cannot believe it!  I still remember when Caleb was just born, and now it's 3 and 1/2 years later.  It goes by way too quick.  We're going to celebrate her birthday the Saturday after her birthday though with friends and family.  Any ideas on what type of games 2 year olds would enjoy at our home, that easy and cheap and/or free?  Just post a comment if you know of any.  I was thinking of getting a cheap long white tablecloth, the paper kind though that the kids could draw on.  That's about all I have so far.  Thanks for any suggestions.  It will only be about 4 or 5 kids that are 2.  Something that's good for lots of adults being there too?  

Our First Real Vacation since we became parents...

Is coming up in February.  We'll be staying for one week, we wanted to stay longer, but not really possible with Caleb's preschool and Ricky and I being in school.  We are going to visit my Grandma Turner, she has never met our kids yet.  They live in Las Vegas, and they've never flown before.  So just keep us in prayers for safe, as peaceful as it can be travel.  We are excited to visit her, and lots of other family will hopefully come visit us there, since we're a lot closer then when we're in NC.  We aren't planning to do a lot of driving once there, other than maybe one day just to go see Hoover Dam as a family, something Ricky wants us to do, and it sounds fun. Needless to say we are really excited. 

Turner Family Visit 2008

Well my three younger sisters came to visit us last weekend, Dec. 5-7th and it was so much fun.  Caleb and Ava loved all the attention on them, more than just I can give them.  And I loved having a break for a weekend, wow they helped so much, other than poopy diapers, but that's okay, Ricky helps do that :)  Saturday morning we all went to Ricky's basketball game that he coached, which turned out better than I would have expected with the kids.  Then that afternoon Ricky stayed home with the kids for their naps and I went out with Jocelyn, Brianna and Richelle and saw a matinee.  We saw "Twilight."  Okay movie for me, not a favorite, but my sisters loved it so much, this was their second time seeing it.  I don't see movies in theatres much anymore.  Then that night we went to see Christmas lights and had so much fun.  I'll post a few photos but you can see all of them on my Facebook account.  Caleb loved it so much because we rode on a little train to see the lights!

Mom and Dad then came on Sunday and met us at church, and they all came to church with us.  Afterwards, Ricky made us all Spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.  It was a lot of fun!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

It was actually very fun this year decorating the Christmas tree because Caleb could help and enjoyed it so much.  Ava didn't now how to hang them up yet, but does know how to take them off.  But she does love looking at the tree and the lights on the tree.  Here's a few pictures, if you'd like to see more you can go here.

Santa Pictures

Our trip to go see Santa Claus and waiting in line.  I'll upload the picture of them with Santa when I find a scanner and upload it, hopefully that will be soon, but not sure.

Wow, it's been a long time....

Okay, so it has been a long time.  But this was my first semester back to school since 2003, so it's a lot to get used to, along with being a Mother now.  I just finished my last final Sat. evening and thought I'd try to update you on our family.  

So what we've been up to by each indivdual:

Ricky--Has been hard at work with IBM and Strayer.  He also is the Basketball coach now for the highschool boys youth from our church.  He is loving it, but it does take a lot of time.  I think he likes it a lot though.  He also has been amazing with the chores around the house ever since our 5th anniversary which was Nov. 7th.  Hard to believe it's already been 5 years.  I am amazed with how he finds time to help me as much as he does now at home.  Going to school part-time, and work and daddy full-time, and now a basketball coach now too. He is defnitely keeping busy.

Chelsea--Just finished my first semester back to school at the college near our house.  I'm working towards my Medical Billing and Coding certificate, and if all goes well should receive it after Summer '09 semester.  Then hopefully plan to continue for my 2 year degree and finish in 2010, we'll see how that goes.  I have been trying to potty train Caleb, which was working okay for awhile, but now he's starting to fight even trying, so that's a struggle in itself.  Ava was going for about a month too, but she decided to stop.  In a way I'm glad, because it's hard to potty train both of them at the same time.  I also have been struggling on new recipes to make for Caleb with his allergies, I found a new recipe book, and so far he's eaten a little of one of three recipes I've made for him.  Now I'm getting caught up during my break on the blog, and finishing up some things for Christmas.

Caleb--Has been going to our church Preschool, which was hard for me at first, but I know it is really good for him.  And he has an amazing teacher, that he loves, and now talks about his friends all the time now.  He loves his trains and cars still and don't know if he'll ever stop, but it is cute.  He has progressed so much from when he first started school in August.  He will read letters to us, and is right about 90% of the time.  He thinks capital i's are l's, but he is just amazing his Mom and Dad.  He understands Christmas this year, which will be fun.  He will be in a Christmas play this coming week for preschool, which is exciting.  I can understand him so much better and he is learning so many new things from going to school.  So many things I wouldn't be able to teach him at home with chores, school and Ava.

Ava--Has been saying sentences consistently now.  I think we know for sure now that she favors Daddy over Mommy, but that's a good thing I guess.  She has grown so much this year, and her hair is getting a lot longer and curlier.  She loves getting tickled and playing with "Caweb"  (how she pronounces Caleb's name).

Both Ava and Caleb saw Santa Claus this year, and they loved it.  Before I even got Caleb on Santa's lap he looked at Santa, smiled and said CARS.  We got pictures because they asked we didn't take our own pictures.  As soon as we find somewhere to scan it, I'll upload it.  

We also just had my 3 younger sisters visit for the weekend and then my Mom and Dad came Sunday and they loved the attention, and I enjoyed all the help, it felt like a break for me.  It was wonderful!

I think that's about it in a nutshell with what's been going on since my last post!

Pictures if you want to see here

Vanderpools Visit before Ricky's trip to Tiwan

These were some pictures we took with Ricky's parents and his sister, Stephanie when they came to visit. They came over about a week before Ricky left so Ricky and I could go to a hotel in the area for the night, get some quality time, just the two of us. I take getting out with Ricky without the children as a valuable time, as to now, we don't have that too often anymore, where we're actually getting to go to a movie or take a walk in the park. I love my kids, but I'm with them normally every day all day long. And let's just say it, they don't talk much yet, and that can get to you mentally when you're watching them all day long. I already understand Caleb so much better than 3 months ago though, it's amazing! Ava's vocabulary is already up to about 30 words and she tries to show me what she wants a lot by pointing or making motions with her hands. So it's def. getting better, but sometimes I just need some adult conversation. So, I'm just trying to say thank you Mom and Dad Vanderpool for coming and watching them so we could get our adult time together, Ricky and I.

Happy Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day a little early before Ricky left for Tiwan. We got him a motorcycle cover for his new used motorcycle. He was worried about Caleb putting rocks in the muffler while he was gone and various other reasons, but that was the main one. We still are giving him his card and some paintings Caleb and Ava painted for him when he gets back, I will add those later on.

Talking to Grandma Vanderpool

So, this is a really cute video of the kids when talking to Grandma Vanderpool. I think they really like the way she talks, you'll just have to watch the video. And this is also the first time, believe it or not, we actually got the first time of Ava calling her "Mamama"---not a fake "first" for video. So it's really sweet. Also, notice how Ava has a bowl and spoon. Well, this is her favorite thing to play with when we're in the playroom. She goes to the little play kitchen and pretends to mix the food and then feeds it to one of her stuffed animals, or to me. Caleb also is a little obsessed with the camera in this one at first.
Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Caleb

We love you Caleb!!! Happy 3rd birthday! You are a sweet boy! Love Mom, Dad and Ava!
Sorry I didn't get to actually post on his actual birthday, which was June 15, but we are really not celebrating it until Ricky gets home. So I'll post again with pictures of his gifts. He got a card from his great grandma and grandpa Potter, a card from Great Grandma Turner and a car and play camera from Grandma Vanderpool. We love him so much.
He and Ava have recently gotten excited about painting with paintbrushes now, as I went and got some basic paint with paintbrushes for them to paint a picture for Daddy. Well now, Caleb has been painting every day since. It's so cute. Ava too! I'll make another post with some pictures and possibly video, I'll see if it will let me upload tonight.

Caleb and Ava Updates

Here are some recent cute pictures of Caleb and Ava. Caleb has a new little golf set that you can see off to the side. But he always goes back to playing with cars, notice how he has one car in each hand. Updates on the kids, how they are handling Daddy being gone, now only half way through the trip. Ava will kiss Daddy's picture on the computer screen, and seems to punish me for him being gone by not giving me any hugs or kisses since he's been gone. Caleb seems fine till bed time when he asks where Daddy is and when he is coming home. Now if only I knew what to say to comfort them, all I say is we'll see him soon, when we go to see planes, we'll get to go see Daddy.
Updates on Ava's words:
Wow, her words have just sky rocketed in the last 2 weeks. Her words include: (of course, Mommy and Daddy)-- then there is: ready, duckie, cookie, puppy, bubble, balloon (she doesn't say kiss yet but she def. knows what it is, hugs too for that matter). She also says mamama differently if she's talking to grandma, which is neat to me. Caleb didn't seem to get so well with his words till after he turned 2, I guess he was more into observing everything and staring at wheels turn, figuring how stuff moves.
By the way, the golf game thing, we got from Target for $2.50, what a deal?
We were supposed to go visit grandparents this weekend, but didn't make it, as Caleb woke up sick this morning, he still has a slight fever, so we're going to stay home just to be on the safe side I think. We celebrated Father's Day before Ricky left, knowing he wouldn't be home for it. Ironically, Father's Day and Caleb's birthday are on the exact same day this year. Caleb will be 3 on Sunday, hard to believe it's been that long, I still remember being in the hospital with him. What a sweet personality that has come through him in the past 3 years, a very sweet, loving boy who loves hugs and kisses, and occassionally will cuddle, usually only when he falls though or is sick.
I'll try to upload a few new videos, for some reason blogger won't let me upload them right now. Have a great weekend, and to all the fathers, Happy Fathers Day! We love you and all you do for your family! Here's a cute video for Father's Day: