April Fools!

I had no motivation to prank anyone today, sadly...oh well. At the moment, I'm relaxing on the back porch with the remnants of a puff-pastry-wrapped brie and a glass of wine--a work friend came by for a bit and we chatted and just chilled out, which was nice, but I'm not ready to go in yet (it's cooled down significantly and I'm wrapped in a blanket but I love it out here!) so updating the blog seemed like the thing to do.

Anyhow, a LOT has happened in the last few days: Craig's car broke down again (the clutch went out) but it could've been worse, Ava climbed out of her crib but got hurt (nothing bad, just fell and scared herself) and has not attempted it again, and--this is the worst--Ava's baby-sitter sold her house and will be moving in one month--still in the general area, but too far away for us to continue using her as a sitter. It's only "the worst" from our perspective because we love her! She's had her house on the market forever so I'm happy for them but sad we're losing such an awesome "second mom" for Ava, who has done so well and been very loved while in her care. So, after a lot of tears and panicking on my part for about 48 hours, I finally let it go and am in the process of trying to find a new caregiver--I was dead set on private care but we're looking into day care as well, just in case something good presents itself--the in-laws arrive tomorrow around noon so after Ava goes down for her nap, Craig and I will head to a new day care facility down the road to check it out. I'm comfortable with Ava being at day care at this point, but I'm trying to think ahead to when we have our second (AND FINAL) child...no, I'm not pregnant and we're not even trying, but I like to plan ahead. :) Ideally, I want to place Ava in a situation where we could add a second child and not have to uproot our firstborn again, be it private care or day care. I'm trying to just pray that the right person/place comes along and just trust that it will all work out, but I like to be in control of all the details and find it difficult to let go. I'm trying though, and some possibilities have presented themselves so we're waiting to see what happens. Honestly, I think Ava is waaaaay more adaptable than I give her credit for--I'm the one who thrives on routine and freaks out when anything changes. ;) But, I do think stability and routine is good for kids so hopefully she'll settle into something good and we won't have to change it on her for quite some time. Please pray that something wonderful comes along for us and for Ava! :)

Anyhow, in other news, it is BEAUTIFUL here in North Carolina!! As much as I miss my Illinois family and friends something awful, I LOVE living here. Last week when we returned from our vacation, I felt such contentment when we finally got back into NC...it's just gorgeous, even driving down the interstate. Today we went to Lowe's and got our yearly supply of plants: ferns to hang on the front porch, some pretty pink flowers (no idea what they are) to go on the stands by the front door, trailing petunias for Ava's window box above the garage, and seeds for my herb garden: basil, cilantro, oregano, and rosemary. I love growing my own herbs, it's so easy that even I don't screw it up! :) I think a vegetable garden would be nice but Craig is right: the deer would eat it. I'm wondering if we could built some kind of enclosure but I don't know if he'd really be on board with that...it would be nice though, and would go a long ways towards my "eating healthier" mission.

The in-laws arrive tomorrow for Easter weekend...looking forward to having family around! Not sure exactly what's on the agenda, I'd like to take Pat (mother in law) to the tea room in Wake Forest on Saturday, I'd like to dye eggs with Ava that evening, and do an Easter egg hunt the next morning before church. Then, I'll be cooking up a storm...can't wait! I love food...

That's about it for now. I should probably start thinking about bed, as it's 11pm and we still have things to do in the morning before they get here. Nite!