Ava's 5 months old!....How can this be?

Ava turned 5 months yesterday. I don't want to get all nostalgic on you guys, but I really can't believe she's that big already. I guess knowing she is my last baby makes me think along these terms. Don't get me wrong, I am perfectly content with 3 children, and I can honestly say I don't have a desire for more (nor does 4 c-sections sound appealing what so ever), but that doesn't get rid of the fact that I think they grow up way too quick. All in all, I truly am so thankful to the Lord for the gift of children, and I hope to treasure each and every moment with them!

I don't really have any new "Ava facts" other than what I mentioned before - sleeping 12 hours at night, enjoying her rice cereal... She still rolls over from her tummy to her back and I still have yet to see it happen (she's so secretive about it! :). She's a little more...what's the word... intense?? than my other two were. I hate to say she gets it from me, but I'm pretty sure she does. I think it might be safe to say she'll be up and moving before you know it! I love this girl and I can't imagine life without her!

Who Would Have Guessed??

Stella Lost Her First Tooth

After a little bit of coaxing... all right... after a little bit of force, Stella had her first tooth pulled out. I'll be honest and say she wasn't thrilled with the idea, but nevertheless, Sean was able to pull it out. It was beyond wiggly. She could push it so it pointed straight at you with her tongue and the new tooth was there wishing for some space. We told Stella "today is the day!" Stella's exact words were "I don't really care for that idea, I think tomorrow will be much better." But we weren't taking "how about tomorrow??" for an answer anymore. So through the crying, Sean managed to wrestle his thumb in there and pull it out. Then there was the whole issue of seeing blood, which caused another round of tears and drama. Thankfully we managed to grab the tiny tooth before it was swallowed down - phew!!... I can't imagine her going through all of that and then not having a tooth to put under her pillow?! While we were in the bathroom Stella said to me "I can't believe dad pulled my tooth out (which was exactly what I was thinking)...it wasn't so bad...but it did hurt a little... and it scared me too." I told her for the next one she won't need to be scared because she'll already know what to expect. We'll see how that works out for us. Here's a few pictures of Stella's new smile.

Stella's words before I said goodnight...

"I can't believe the Tooth Fairy is coming!!"

(happy squeal)

"Mom I'm so excited I'm shivering"

Did you know...

...when Jonah runs "fast" he looks over his shoulders. I'm not sure if he's looking at his feet or the "dust" he's leaving behind??! :0



...Ava LOVES being on her tummy. Whether that be on the floor, in her bed or on your lap, the tummy is always the best.

...when Stella runs she makes the funniest face ever.

here's the face while on the scooter

...Jonah can get dressed all by himself. Although there are times when certain items of clothes are put on backwards.

whoopsies...at least he got his legs in the right holes

...Stella's favorite princess is Aurora, or you may know her as Sleeping Beauty. Why you ask? Because she has a crown of course.


...when Ava's tired there is no consoling her, she just wants her bed. You can try to rock her but she'll give you the look of "what are you doing?? Just put me to bed already!"



...Jonah's "friend" Treaty (the one who lives in CA) has been "eating" dinner at our house lately. Last night he even got his own plate and one chicken nugget which magically disappeared. Hmmmm.... wonder who ate it?? Maybe the boy whose favorite dinner is chicken nuggets (Jonah)??



...Stella loves tuna fish sandwiches and every time I make them Jonah says "I DON'T like that smell."


...Ava is now sleeping from 7:30pm to 7:30am. Bless your heart Ava, mama loves you for that!


...Stella has the sense of smell like that of a dog, and the memory like that of an elephant. So basically you can't get away with anything from that girl!


...Stella and Jonah both love having stories read to them. They are still really enjoying the Bible stories that we started a while ago. Jonah's answers have moved from - God made the world to, God made a guy to, God made a rainbow...


...Ava is really starting to chow down on her rice cereal. It's gone from ending up all over her face and shirt, to her mouth opening at the sight of the spoon.


I just thought you'd all like to know.

And the Winner Is........

The votes are in, the poll is closed,
short hair is the victor!

I am very excited. It is going to be great for the summer.
For those of you who voted for long hair, don't fear, it's
just hair and we all know that hair grows. And in my
case, hair grows like weeds, so you can bet it'll be long
again in no time. Pictures of the new "do"
to come later this month!

The Tooth Fairy Is Coming!!

That's right, the Tooth Fairy will be paying a visit to the Parsons' house real soon. Stella has her first wiggly tooth. She came to me the other night after brushing her teeth and said "mom my tooth feels funny." So I had her show me her tooth and, low and behold, it was wiggly and the new one was right there in sight! We went to Grandpa, the master tooth-puller, the other night to see if he could "check" it. Well he gave it the ol' sneaky yank and thought he had gotten it out. No such luck. It scared Stella a little, might have hurt a bit too, and it definitely made it more loose. Stella was trying her best to keep up the brave front. I told her to look on the bright side, I said to her "Stella, Grandpa just stuck his massive paw in your mouth, just be thankful he didn't accidentally pull out ALL your teeth at once!" If you know my dad, you know he has gi-normous (gigantic + enormous = gi-normous) hands and if you know Stella, you know she has tiny teeth...probably not the best combo. If it is up to Stella I think she will try to keep that tooth her mouth until it is hanging by a thread. Although she is looking forward to finding out what that little fairy is going to bring her. So take a good look friends, this is probably the last time you'll see this cute smile on this cute little face!

Leavin' On A Jet Plane.....

Me: "Guess what you guys?"

Stella and Jonah: "What?"

Me: "We are going to fly to California!!!!!"

Stella: "Really?! YES!! Then I won't have to sleep in the car!"

She still remembers our last trip when we drove through the night and how uncomfortable it was - she literally thought her mom and dad were crazy when they told her to just lay down and sleep.

Here they were all "tucked" in for the night on the road, on our 2006 trip to CA

Jonah: "Wait mom, I need to go get my cape." He runs and gets his "super man" cape on (what?? does he think we have magic powers or something??).

Me: "No Jonah, we are going to fly in a big airplane!"

After showing the kids what the airplane looks like Stella said...
"Oh mom, I just love that airplane." I think she's just about as excited as me that we're flying and not driving!

A Monday Memory

So I'm back with a Monday memory. Did anyone miss them?? I took a few weeks off...

I remember when Tori and Liz came and stayed with us before we (the girls) headed out to our annual Lake Chelan gathering. The plan was for them to get here Wednesday early afternoon and then we would head out to Chelan Thursday morning. I went and picked them up from the ferry on Wednesday and we headed back to our house and kicked it for awhile. Liz has this HILARIOUS photo thing on her laptop, so we messed around with that. I don't know if I have ever laughed so hard, seriously my stomach hurt! Her laptop has a camera and then there is this program where you can totally distort your face. OK here, have a look...

like mother like daughter

like father like son

Funny huh?! And yes, just a little bit scary.

After messing around with the computer we had some dinner. Sean barb-b-qued some yummy hamburgers, and I made a fruit salad. I remember Jonah ate a ton of pineapple. After dinner we decided to go on a touristy drive but first we wanted to go get some ice cream. Everything seemed to be going great, but I noticed Jonah wasn't really acting like himself. He seemed a little bit quiet and a little tired, but hey ice cream would perk him up right?! Nope. I think he took like 3 slicks off his ice cream cone and that was it. We finished up our ice cream and headed back in the car for our drive. We decided to go out to the west side to watch for whales. We almost got to our destination but then Jonah started to cry and say his mouth hurt. He was acting really weird. His mouth was all watery and his tongue was sticking out of his mouth. My first instinct was - he's having an allergic reaction. He kept saying his mouth hurt and the way he was talking seemed like his tongue was swelling. So I turned into a mad-woman and was like "SEAN TURN THE CAR AROUND JONAH'S TONGUE IS SWELLING!!" So Sean turns the car around and then we were behind some people driving super slow. So I was like "HONK YOUR HORN SEAN, GET THEM TO PULL OVER!" So we honk and thankfully the car pulls off to the side of the road and we take off in a mad dash. Jonah's still crying, I'm acting like a crazy person and yelling, when all of the sudden Jonah starts coughing and then boom he throws up all over (phew, it wasn't an allergic reaction). Poor Tori and Liz. Jonah was sitting right in the middle of the two of them. After he threw up he was crying big time because he was covered in barf (yep you guessed, it consisted of 'lots of pineapple). Both Tori and Liz looked like they were going to throw up too. Then Stella, who was sitting in the way back, starts to cry and ask for water because she wasn't feeling good now either. Oh man, it was quite the car ride. My thought then was 'well I guess I won't be going to Lake Chelan.' But Liz calmly said, "we'll see how they are feeling tomorrow." Thankfully the girls were OK with leaving later on Thursday instead of in the morning and thankfully they used their persuasive skills and convinced me to go (I'm also thankful they still think I'm a good mom, despite my craziness). Jonah didn't throw up again and Stella never got the stomach sickness. Graciously my husband stayed home with the kids and let me go have fun with my friends. I got calls while in Chelan that both Jonah and Stella were running high fevers, I felt horrible that I wasn't there to help, but at the same time I was so thankful for Sean and his willingness to let me go.

(FYI, I was 6 months pregnant with Ava)

Jenny "tagged" me on her blog to answer these "4 things" about me that you may or may not have known. Here it goes...


Four jobs I have had in my life:
1.Amigo's - waitress
2.Abercrombie (I know, I know... it was in college, they recruited Sean and I. But shoot, I got some good deals on clothes)
3.3rd grade assistant teacher
4.An office job - I really have no idea what I did there!!
(I think it's safe to say the job I have now is the best - I love being a mom!)


Four places I have lived:
1.Santa Clarita
2.Lynnwood
3.My current location
4. " "


Four TV Shows that I watch: (we don't have TV, so these are some I watch at my parent's house)
1.HGTV
2.TLC - take home chef, what not to wear
3.Rachel Ray
4.Lost (I tape it)


Four places I have been:
1.Oahu
2.California
3.Chicago
4.Lake Chelan


Four blogs I read regularly:
I read everyone's blogs that I have listed as a favorite on mine - honestly I do.


Four of my favorite foods:
1.Mexican (especially Baja Fresh, but I'm a sucker for any type of Mexican)
2.BBQ Chicken salad (me too Jenny!)
3.Bread and butter
4.Waffles with syrup of course


Four places I would rather be right now:
1.On a vacation with just my husband
2.laying out by a pool or the beach
3.On the couch reading a good book
4.In my bed watching a movie
(man, I sound like I'm wishing for some lazy days...)


Four friends that I think will respond:
1.Tori
2.Kim
3.Amber
4.Reese
(no pressure girls :)


Four things I look forward to in the next year:
1.Ava learning to sit up, crawl, walk and start to talk
2.Going to California
3.My sister's wedding (although it makes me a little sad too - pure selfishness though Trish, I just like it when you come home...)
4.Stella starting Kindergarten (as scary as it is, I do look forward to her going, learning to read, and coming home and sharing what she did that day)


Now if you read this you have been Tagged!! That's right, you're IT! I can't wait to read about all of your "4 things" on each of your blogs. Come on, you know you want to play!!

Pictures, Pictures, and a few more Pictures....