lewis and clark had a journal. you, beth-annie, have a diary.

Sunday, April 29, 2007
Various and sundry.
I love love love The Children's Place outlet stores.  We recently bought $217.90 worth of clothes for Ava there for $38.87.  Love.  It.

I said I would alert any "Veronica Mars" watchers when the show was coming back from its hiatus.  That time is now.  (Meaning Tuesday.)  Enjoy these five episodes as if they were the last.  Because they probably are.  And I will post the fourth-season-yea-or-nay news here the minute I find out (likely on May 17th).  Even though I know none of you care as much as I do.  Or, some of you, even at all.  But, hey, my blog.  :-)

We have boughtened vegetable seeds for to turn our Backyard Mound of Dirt into a garden.  You know, only two years after we put it there (it was displaced with our front yard landscaping project).  And we actually have to do it this time or else we're out, like, two bucks.  Motivation, baby.  Motivation.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The other VEISHEA* post.
I will refer you to the first VEISHEA post, by moM, for a good description of Ava's weekend. In addition to all that, she also had her first PHS** experience at my home church, and she behaved well enough for Daddy to play bass (as well as he could after not having touched it for a good 2 years) and for Mommy to sing with the group. She also met another baby, the daughter of our friends Tyler and Sarah (that will only mean something to Kaly), who's about six weeks younger than Ava. She mostly just stared, but I think I caught a hint of a smile in there somewhere. On to the VEISHEA photos.

This hat is still too big for Ava, but it's her only ISU one, so we had to go with it. For a few photos, at least.

Hangin' with grandmA at the parade.

Checking out the Ames High marching band with grandpA.

Chewing on Daddy's finger is obviously more interesting than the colorful floats.

Parade-watching, it's a tiring business...

We caught up with Aunt Sarah for a few minutes -- just long enough for some quality baby-holding.

Still tuckered out a day later.

*VEISHEA = a ginormous annual festival at Iowa State University meant to showcase the university and provide zillions of activities for families, students, and the community in general.

**PHS = Praise Hymn Singers, the contemporary music group at my home church my dad has led for, well, decades.
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The Tremendously Ravenous Ava.
Sunday was a big day in the Prins household. Somebody (and I'm not naming names) had her very first Big Girl Meal of very soupy rice cereal. We were very proud of how well she handled all the new things, from sitting in the high chair to the spoon (we didn't figure that one would be a problem with how much she likes to chew on everything) to the cereal itself. I'm not sure how much she actually ate, but that wasn't really the point yet. For her second meal yesterday she both tolerated it for longer and seemed to get a little more actually in her mouth and swallowed. She seemed to "get" that this was food a bit more than the first time. I imagine she'll eat a little more at each meal (and we'll be able to gradually make the cereal thicker) until she's eventually getting an actual whole feeding out of it -- right now I still have to nurse her after she's decided she's had enough of the spoon feeding thing.

I have mixed feelings about this whole thing...

Messy? Who, me?

Does my cuteness not speak for itself?

I know no one will be interested in seeing Ava's first three bites, but, what the heck, here they are anyway.
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Monday, April 16, 2007
Answer: Andy.
Question: Who is the most underrated "Saturday Night Live" character of recent years?

Okay, now you can call me crazy. (Though I have to tell you, Josh happens to agree with me. Perhaps we've stumbled upon why our marriage works so well. :-P)
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Sunday, April 15, 2007
Watch out for roll-overs.  You're gonna get some roll-overs.
Because I haven't posted a video in a while, here's a little ditty I like to call "Ava Rolls Around.  And Stuff."
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Tremendously Ravenous Larva.
Okay, so Ava's not quite reading yet, but she does pay more attention to books than she used to (also tries to eat them, of course, which is fine as long as they aren't library books). She's started grabbing the pages and "helping" turn them (just not always in the right direction). She especially seems to like closing books when we're in the middle of reading them. Oh, she's gonna be a fun one, she is... :-P

I can turn the pages, too!

Mmmmm... fiber...

I am so done with this, Mommy!
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Monday, April 9, 2007
Ava's first Easter.
She obviously couldn't do much special for the day yet at her age, but she sure looked adorable not doing it! At first glance a lot of these photos may look quite similar, but I think they each have their own unique cuteness, and this was the minimum number we could narrow it down to. Sue us. :-)

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Wednesday, April 4, 2007
A question for the masses.
Anyone know of somewhere you can order 3.5x5 digital prints, either through a store or online? Everywhere we've looked has jumped straight from wallets to 4x6s, and most of the spots for photos in Ava's baby book are about the right size for 3.5x5s. We could use 4x6s, but we'd have to choose photos that we could trim down to a small enough size that they would fit.
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Monday, April 2, 2007
Nuttified goodness.  (And one nut-free beverage.)
Because I feel an obligation to pass on yummy informations to my friends.

Emerald Chocolate Brownie Glazed Walnuts.  The only thing wrong with these is that there aren't enough of them in a package.

Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bars.  I luuurrrrve the almond ones, though the mixed nut are good, too.  Much better than your standard-type granola bars, in my completely correct opinion.

Turtle Chocolate Chex Mix.  With the designation of "turtle," this should really have pecans, not peanuts (it would make it better, too, though likely even more expensive than it already is), but let's not quibble.  And if you happen to not like nuts, you can easily eat around them.  Either way, yum.

Fuze Healthy Infusions Beverages.  This smoothie-like drink has a lot of sugar, sure.  But at least it's loaded with vitamins, which means it's better than drinking pop/soda.  Just watch out for the "low carb" varieties -- which are many -- that are loaded with sucralose.  Blech.  (As an aside, can I just say how much I hate that they've ruined V8 Splash by adding some sucralose to even the non-diet versions?  The taste of it is so permeating that you basically end up with a drink that tastes like a horrid diet one yet still has 18 grams of sugar per serving.  Who wins there?)

(As another aside, can I also say how much I hate that everyone uses Flash sites nowadays?  It made it impossible for me to link to these products on their official web sites because you can't link to any specific sub-pages.  Big fat grrrrr.)
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