WE'RE MOVING!!!

So, perhaps this is old news already, but Brandon, Ava, and I have decided to start a new chapter in our lives- we're moving to Aurora, CO! Brandon has been offered a fantastic job at Cherry Creek School District, and he starts July 1st. The planning is incredibly stressful, especially since I don't have my job lined up yet and the housing market SUCKS, but never once have we questioned our decision to go for it. We're confident that everything will work out the way its supposed to, so we're going to sit tight and enjoy the wild ride.

My last day at Mesa County DHS is July 10th. I'm trying to look at my (hopefully) brief time off as time to get organized and spend extra time with my baby (who is rapidly becoming a toddler, minus the walking).

Anywho, if you know anyone hoping to relocate to an awesome house on Orchard Mesa, pass along the link!
http://www.brayandco.com/listings/detail.php?lid=46073201&limit=28&offset=10&&&posc=17&post=28&cfq=limit%3D10%26county%3D77%26state%3D8%26pricemin%3D224000%26pricemax%3D225000%26property_category%3D1%26radarea%3D1%26searchtype%3D1%26sort%3D1%26restype%3D1%26searchtypesent%3D1%26yb_l%3D0000%26yb_h%3D2009%26vtycount%3D2%26SRSearchDate%3D1245121852%26SRRecordCount%3D28%26SRPageCount%3D3%26SRPage%3D2

PS to my cousins- You know you want to live across the street from your mom ;-)

She may not crawl or walk, but she sure can dance!

Forget Old McDonald- our kid busts it out to songs about apple bottom jeans!

Soccer makes little girls tired

Ava's been to quite a few soccer games this year, and sometimes high school games can get a little crazy. We've taught her a trick that we'll find quite handy over the next few years. "Ava, earmuffs!" Feel free to say any adult content that you may not want a 1 year old to hear.

Soccer games are super tiring though. Too bad this car seat doesn't recline further!

She's going to be 1 on Monday. I can't believe how quickly this year has flown. This time last year, I was already mentally checked out of work (5/9/08 was my last day) and was anticipating 10 weeks off. I had the next week all planned out- I was going to get a pedicure, clean my house, and relax. I got one day off, then little Missy decided she was ready to come, so obviously that didn't happen like I planned. This has truly been one of the best years of my life. I can't wait for everything she's going to bring in the coming years.

Three months? Really?

Now that I've quite certainly lost any followers I might've had on my blog, I figure I'll blog for blogging's sake. Updates:

-Ava will be 1 year old in 12 days. Where the hell has time gone?

-No, she isn't even crawling yet, but she can roll around like the crazy little baby she is. Walking does seem to interest her, but she needs help. Not too worried anymore about this stuff. I never crawled because I had amazing cousins to carry me around everywhere. Pretty sure Ava's going to take after me and go straight to walking. When she's ready.

-She pretty much has a full set of teeth already, and has had them for quite some time. Weird.

-We teach her tricks like she's a puppy. She can wave, blow kisses, put her hands over her ears when we say "Earmuffs!" (which comes in quite handy when we want to talk about adult stuff), give high fives, and she laughs when everyone else does because she wants to be part of the group.

-She's an adrenaline junkie. A favorite past time is being swung around by her feet.

-She dances. Cutest damn thing you ever saw.

-Ava says "Dada" when she's happy. She says "Mama" when she's upset and needs something.

MY MOM DRIVES LIKE A MANIAC!!!

Keep your britches on. I'll update the blog someday...

Before I was a mom

I got this in an email the other day, and it touched me. Every word is so true.

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not

my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind

and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child

so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night

watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because

I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces

when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so

small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of

having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel

to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond

between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small

could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night

every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth,

the joy,

the love,

the heartache,

the wonderment

or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom.

The delinquent blogger

I've been pretty bad lately... I could say that this last month has been crazy, but that's a lame (and probably overused) excuse. What really happened is that we were overtaken by a band of vampires and warewolves, and they held our internet captive until we agreed to turn Ava over to them on her 14th birthday to let her roam their lands and learn how to lead their ranks. It kinda works out well, since in my field, I've seen the peaceful, drama-free nature of teenage girls. Aside from that...

The true meaning of being a fan

I'm not so sure about Ava being a cheerleader in 15 years, but she sure makes a cute one now!

PS- The actual pictures turned out really well, but these are pretty grainy since I had to scan them in.

Just an observation

Have you ever noticed that those who subscribe to beliefs that espouse tolerance and compassion are usually the least tolerant and compassionate?

That's all.





*The contents of this blog are the sole observation of the blog author, and not necessarily that of the Gillespie family as a whole*

Bye, kitties....

We finally found a home for our cats by posting them on craigslist. Dropping them off was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long time, and that surprised me. I've wanted to get rid of them for months, yet when the day actually came, I cried like a baby. The lady we gave them to seems a little off, but I guess you'd have to be to take three adult cats. They'll be the only cats in the home and they have a little dog that I'm sure Oreo will love playing with. In social work land, we would call the home minimally adequate. The upshot is that they're probably going to get to play outside again, they'll have plenty of places to hide, and the family was very excited to have them and love them. We cleaned the house last night to start the process of ridding ourselves of the cat hair, and I have to admit, it feels nice. Here's to hoping that they live out long, happy lives with their new family.

Teething!

Ava started to cut her first tooth yesterday! You can't really see it yet, but her gum is pretty white and swollen. You can feel the little ridges popping through though. As always, she's being a trooper about it. She didn't sleep very good for her grandma yesterday, but otherwise, she's not being overly fussy. As soon as it pops through enough to take a picture, you know it'll be posted!

The cutest ladybug ever

Ava thoroughly enjoyed her first Halloween (well, I decided that). She came to work with me and went "trick or treating" (which mostly involved everyone oohing and aahing over her). It was a pretty low key night- we took her voting with us, then we picked up some pizza and passed out candy. She was simply adorable in her costume, especially with "love bug" on her feet. And you gotta love how Ava and her cousin Kendall matched!

Not the intended purpose of the jumper, but...

Ava's first real belly laughs caught on camera! Thanks to Melissa for the jumper that greatly amused our little one!

The joys of... carrots?

As Ava expands her culinary experiences, she's deciding what she loves and what she doesn't. Carrots are definitely good. Green beans... not so much.

Stay tuned for Halloween pictures. She's going to be a lady bug!

Big girl time!

Ava's 4 month birthday brought the dreaded shots, but we also learned some fun stuff too. She's now 25 1/2 inches long and 14 lbs, which puts her in the 50th percentile. Everything about her is continuing to look great. We also got the clearance to start her on baby food, so on Sunday, she tried rice cereal for the first time. She wasn't sure about it at first, but now she's crazy about it and is eager for the next bite!

Russ & Stephanie's Wedding

Ava and I made the trip to Arkansas on September 5th for Russ & Stephanie's wedding, and it was definitely worth the trip. Ava, of course, did wonderful on the plane(s)- all of the flight attendants commented on how great she did. Haha, I guess I kinda make it sound like she's always an angel, but she's not- only about 95% of the time ;-) Anyway, it was a beautiful wedding, a fun day, and one of the craziest weekends ever!

The cigarette picture always makes me laugh a little. It kinda epitomizes my family!

What?! No! Shane didn't have anything to drink!

Airplane is fun...

But Shane repeatedly saying, "Get in my belly!" is a little scary.

And finally, this is what my family calls "sightseeing." We all felt bad for the little car!

First camping trip!

We took Ava on her very first camping trip over Labor Day weekend. It should be no surprise to ya that she just rolled with it and was the most perfect little camper ever! Well, except for the one morning that she decided to wake up at 4:30 AM... but that's okay too. We didn't take many pictures because we're not very good at making it a priority, but here's a few that we did take.

Some "artistic" pics

This is what happens when I have too much time on my hands. I love photobucket.

Click on the picture to get a better look!

Keith & Kandis's wedding!

I don't have any pics from the actual ceremony since I was recording it, but here's some from the day!

Brotherly love!

Ah, Jeremy- the perpetual goofball!

The day was beautiful and the bride and groom looked so happy. Welcome to the family, Kandis, and congratulations to you both!