Author Archives: Ava the Brave

Tonight the kids were doing a spontaneous conga line, so I joined in and we went down the hallway and we all plopped down on the couch. We read the original and Hawaiian version of Twas The Night Before Christmas and then conga lined back to bed, this time with Adrian joining us, too. They all piled into Ava’s bed, including Pip and Maggie, but not including Jane of course. She fell asleep on the way home from Kasi’s house and is snoozing peacefully in her crib. She’s so precious.

The presents have been placed. The milk and cookies have been “eaten”. And the elf is stashed away, until next year Charlit.

Blessed family.

Perfect Christmas Eve.

I totally forgot about this blog. Again.

Jane is 15 months old as of yesterday. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. She isn’t walking yet but she’s getting better and standing and she seems more interested in walking than before.

Mom and dad came over and we opened gifts, and the kids performed Carol of the Bells on piano and guitar, and then read from the Bible. Pete said a prayer at the end. Then we all ate and drank hot chocolate and played a board game, kids vs parents. The kids won.

Great night. Christmas Eve Eve.

Fasting from sweets and Starbucks. 2x per week at blueprint. Journaling. Calorie counting. Let’s get back to feeling good and taking care of the body God gave me.

I’ve probably written about pack before. Pack is our group of ladies that gets together and prays for each other essentially. It’s supposed to be more of a bible study, but it’s become a group of friends praying for each other.

I’ve been feeling a stirring lately. That feeling you get when somethings going to move. John 15 has been coming up a lot. I received a word from Rachel Turner that I would be mothering in this season, not necessarily kids that are my own. And tonight Heidi said she sees me praying at night and there’s things that I’m praying for like little notes or papers that are prayers, and God has an even bigger plan. Something even more than I could imagine. What an amazing word. I’m really excited to see what God does, but I know and trust that it will be amazing.

She gained weight in Mexico, and now has a different look with her chubby face and body. She’s crawling everywhere, pulling herself up to stand, has the most adorable wave you’ve ever seen, and does kiss noises and scrunch faces. Her wave- she put her arm up alongside her head and leans into it, and then wiggles her fingers. It’s precious.

She booted today and the boys went over to smell it. Adrian asked why they wanted to smell a fart, and they said because everything Jane does is so cute, they thought it would smell like rainbows.

Pete’s birthday is coming up. He’s going to be 7. It just doesn’t seem real that my baby boy could be 7 years old. I love him so much. He’s such an amazing big brother, too. I’m sure it’s hard going from being the baby for several years to all of a sudden, everyone’s attention is on a new baby. but he’s handling it so well, and pours so much love into her. At swim lessons this morning he ran over because he remembered he hadn’t hugged Jane yet today. Then he gave her a big squeeze and ran back. It’s genuine… he is completely head over heels for his little sis. We all are.

I love spending time with my whole family, and it’s even more fun with friends here. Jane is along for the ride, she’s being such a good girl. We’re all sun burned and water logged, and having the most relaxing time of our lives.

The waves have such intense power here, I’ve never experienced anything like it. At night the windows rattle when the waves crash.

We went whale watching yesterday out of Morro Bay. The waves were pretty big and it was very rocky out on the boat, but the kids were brave. Jane fell asleep in her Tot Pack. Pete read a book about California Birds to distract himself, but soon he made a friend, Alice, and forgot all about being scared. Jack and Ava hung out near the front of the boat to spot whales in the distance. We saw some far away, and some really close up. It was incredible. This was our second time whale watching. It’s truly an amazing experience.

Ava had her first music recital with Fusion

Music School today. It was incredible. She’s just so talented. She sang two songs, played drums for one, and percussion for another. It was really fun to watch.

Jane is starting to learn to crawl.

This is so hard. I made the choice not to vaccinate Jane early for many reasons. The possible link to Autism being one, research on the ingredients, injury reports and her being so tiny are the others. Wouldn’t you know she’d end up with whooping cough. Did we all have it? We were all so sick, and now she’s the last one with this terrible cough, and I mean terrible. Gasping for air, choking, gagging, spitting up, turning bright red, tears streaming down her face. It’s truly horrible. Jesus, please make it go away.

I want to be excited for our upcoming cruise and vacation, but I just want Jane to be well. I’m so tired. I just want her to be well. At the end of the day, I’m grateful that I get to take care of her. And I’m grateful that one day, she will be well. Hopefully that day is soon.

Yesterday was Jane’s 6 month birthday. Ava, Jane, and I were enjoying a girls’ weekend in Cambria with our friend Sarah and her girls, and went on a long hike to the ocean at Harmony Headlands followed by ice cream, coffee, and a little shopping in the town of Harmony.

The time spend with Ava was precious to me. She’s such an amazing girl. We stayed up late talking about lots of things, and she’s just so wise and remarkable. I’m truly blessed.

Today we had a little party for Jane at the beginning of our school day. I ordered donuts, we had coffee milk, grandma came over- it was great. The highlights were “happy birthday” on our new/old out of tune piano, all Pete’s thoughtful gifts (monster truck, nerf gun, a book he had written…) and taking turns praying over Jane and thanking God for her. I love my family. My heart is bursting.