SNAGGLE TOOTH.....

Well, just when we thought that we would escape the tooth issues that other adopted kids have....WRONG!!
Most of you know that when we brought Ava home in April, she had most of her teeth already. With the exception of one in the front, on the bottom. Well. About a month ago, it finally started to come in. Let's name "it"....I'm sick of saying "it" and I like to name things. So, let's say that "it" is now Lucille. Anyway, Lucille was very slow to make an appearance. Kind of poked her little tooth-head up and then back down. About two weeks ago, I noticed that Lucille looked like she was running North to South instead of East to West. Dave HATES it when I say that. That's, pretty much, why I still say it. To me, it makes perfect sense! I mean, Lucille is going straight back from her lips to her throat rather than side to side from cheek to cheek. See, my North to South is way better, huh!! This is about the same time that my dear friend, Grace, tells me it's "Summa" disease...."summa straight and some ain't"....No laughing! This is serious! Okay. So the end of last week rolls around and Lucille freakin' erupts!! Seriously!! And then....we realize that Lucille is laying on her side and she is very loose!! Fast forward to today. I call this really great dentist about 3 minutes from our house and, lo and behold, he will see us in 45 minutes!! I'm nervous. Dave is nervous. Ava is oblivious...Thank God! We get Conway's office....seriously....his first name is Conway and that's how he introduced himself! They weren't busy at all...only been open for about two weeks. So, all the staff comes out and are playing with baby girl. Who loves it. I'm filling out the paperwork....weird, weird, weird...it's all done on a little computer-type-screen-thingy that you hold on your lap! Weird! Sorry...got a little sidetracked...again!! First Conway does the exam and fluorides her teeth. She, apparently, has quite a few white "weak" spots...good nutrition will correct it. Then, out comes the x-ray machine. I'm thinking that all hell is going to break loose...nope. Ava sat like a trooper...loved the sunglasses and tv right above her head. Come to find out....drum roll please....frigging Lucille is broke!! A long time ago!! Roots are growing kind of sideways and poor Lucille has no roots attached to her! So, he gives her a shot...again, not a peep out of Aves and pulls Lucille out. Poor Lucille. There is a lot of tissue left but Conway says that Aves body will absorb it. Conway. What a kick. I still can't believe that my daughter has a dentist with the name of Conway. Did I mention that he's about 28 and not all that hard to look at? He has VERY nice teeth. :) We brought Ava home, fed her lunch, put her down for a nap. She woke up happy as can be about two hours later. When I asked her if she wanted to back to see Conway, she shook her head yes and showed me her ball. Oh, I forgot to mention.....after Conway pulled her tooth, he has his nurse go get Ava a frozen popsicle! How cool is that!! Oh, and I asked...it was sugar-free.

Thank you Cleveland!!!

Check out Aves on her new skins....a rockstar in the making! Thanks Uncle Jim and Aunt Barb!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

To our friends and family.
We love you all,
Dave, Bec and Ava.

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY....

my friend Grace called. She was in the process of sending us the profile and picture of a little one year old girl. Her name was Rahel and she was tiny and malnourished...weighed in at 14 pounds...but, was cute as could be. She had been found abandoned. Did we want her? Oh my, how we wanted her. Didn't even need to see the profile and picture to know that THIS little girl was our daughter.
We are eternally grateful and so very blessed. December 21st will always be a special day to us. It's the day that we found our daughter, the piece that had been misssing from our family.
We love you Ava-girl.
First pic is Aves referral picture. Second is the first picture we ever saw of her. Last two are of her this morning.

Day 2 of snow!

Eeek! It is so beautiful....about 28* and about 6 inches of snow. BE-A-U-T-IF-UL!!

Yay...it finally snowed!!!!

Just look at all this snow....Chris Martel, can you even believe how deep it is!!??!! Ha! Anyway, we went out this morning and Ava loved it. She was really irked when we came back in, but being that I'm old and everything, my bones were starting to freeze. Aves favorite thing was throwing snowballs at Gus...he'd catch them and eat them. She thought it was the funniest thing ever!

Well snap...I've been "tagged".....

Yup. That's right. My good friend, Rhonda, tagged me. So this is how it works. I go to the 6th folder in my photos, go to the 6th picture, post it and explain what was going on when it was taken.
Well. This is going to be a REAL page turner. Seriously. Take a look....This is Dave. Driving his forklift. At work. Another day in paradise, right baby?

This last week....

Well, we got our big snow storm of '08. Half an inch. Yup. City is basically shut down...school has been cancelled. I know, I know....half an inch is A LOT!!! Anyhoo, the little snow that we did get, Ava loved! Her eyes were huge when she first saw it. Then we put her snow jacket on. Didn't love that so much. Probably because we had so many layers on her that she could barely move!
And, here are some pics of her birthday party. She wasn't at all sure what to do when it came time to open her presents. Didn't take long tho. And the cake....uh yeah...she wouldn't touch it! I dipped her finger in it and had her lick it...she gagged twice and started to vomit. Bad mamma, bad mamma!! In my defense, how can she not like chocolate! The girl will not have anything to do with sugar. No ice cream, no candy, no cookies, nothing!! Or peanut butter!! Give her yogurt or cauliflower and she is a happy-camper!! Gack....gag me with a Ginsu!!!

AVA IS TWO!!

Dear Ava, Wow. Today you are two years old. To think that last year at this time, we didn't even know that you were born(almost tho...we got your referral on the 21st). We wanted you tho. Oh, how we wanted you. Yearned for you, dreamed of you, prayed for you. And, now you've been home for 8 months. Where has the time gone? It feels as tho you've been with us forever. You, baby girl, have brought so much into so many lives. Love, light, faith, laughter....lots and lots of laughter!! There is not a day that goes by that we don't thank God for you. You are such a blessing. A miracle. Our miracle. Happy Birthday baby girl. We love you.

As Luke ran his hand down.....

Vivan's silk-clad leg, she threw her head back in shameless pleasure, begging for more.
Ha!! That was for you Gina Ellerbee!!! As if I would read a book such as that!!
For everyone else who's wondering if I've finally lost my mind, rest easy. I've been "bookworm tagged"....that means that I have to grab the first book I see, turn to page 56 and write the first sentence of paragraph 5.
So, that being said....unfortunately, for everyone who wants a good romance or mystery, our computer happens to be in Dave's music room. With HIS books. So, here goes...

"Guards, aware of Luciano's criminal stature, never disturbed him." WTH?!?! That is SO boring!! A mafia book...Five Families by Selwyn Raab.
Now, if the computer was in our bedroom, where I keep my books, it would have been much more interesting. Sigh. Maybe next time.

RAHEL DAVID BRUTTO is now.....

AVA RAHEL JEANETTE BRUTTO!!!!!! Yay! We had to go to court today....had to re-adopt Miss Aves here in WA state. She gets a brand new birth certificate and her new name becomes legal.
A couple funny things happened. First, when we got in the courtroom, there were a few cases ahead of ours. This was my first time in court ever...yes, I am a VERY good girl as you all know. Kind of felt like we were in church...pews and a dude in the front with a black robe on. Hmmm. There was a cop in there....wanted to ask him if his gun had a name, but Dave wouldn't let me. (Pat, that would have been for you...brother Pat is a cop and I've christened his gun "Cliff"....I have this weird thing with naming things...van is Iris, computer is RayAnn, stove is Abby...geez...now that I write this I realize that maybe I need medication..hmmm) Anyway, back to court. As many of you know, Ava is REALLY loud. REALLY. She jabbers all the time. LOUDLY. VERY, VERY LOUDLY. Well, Dave is trying to shush her. Over and over again. Finally, in the middle of one of the other cases, the judge tells the attorney "hold on just a minute."...."Dad, (meaning Dave) it's okay...this is family court...just relax....besides, as cute as she is, she shouldn't have to be quiet." Snicker, snort....how funny is that!! Dave got scolded in family court! So, it's finally our turn. First thing Judge Poyce asks is where our camera is. Uh, I didn't know you could bring one in the courtroom!! So, he proceeds to tell us that the whole hearing is taped and he's going to burn us a copy so that we can have some kind of pictures. He was SOOO nice! About 70-ish. Had Ava sit on his lap and pound the gavel to make her own adoption official. She did it. Twice. Then she proceeds to give him a hive five and, of course, knuckles. He gave her a really cute little stuffed bear and a candy cane. Great experience.
I tried to take a pic when we got home. She was mad. Again. At Dave. Again. You can see in the one pic the attitude....has her arms crossed at him. Again.
First two pictures are of earlier this week....

Dear Dog Food,

Why do I love you so much? Is it because you have such a pleasing scent? Maybe the way you leave little crumbs all over after I play with you? Nope....I think it's because I know that Mom HATES it when I play with you. Whatever, I love you.
P.S. Please tell Mr. Purina that I love him too. Love, Ava.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

Well, we had a great day! We're still over at my folks' house. Mom had a knee replacement last week and we've been staying with them. She is doing well and we are so glad!
This Thanksgiving was a tad different as the family spent a lot of time in the bedroom with her. Kinda funny. We are a really LOUD family. Really loud.
Have I mentioned that my nephews taught Ava a new trick? Whenever someone belches or farts you have to put your thumb to your forehead. Last one to do it has to eat it. Sick, I know, but that's the kind of family we are. Hey, we always have a good time and laugh a lot!!!
Anyway, Ava's 2nd birthday is in 2 weeks (Dec 11), so Grandma and Grandpa have been teaching her how to sing "Happy Birthday"....over and over and over! You'll notice that Aves gets a tad bit irritated in the middle as Josh isn't singing loud enough. What a diva!
Second video is, of course, I love you!!! As if it can't be made out from her talking!

Weekend pics....

Does this little girl know how much I love her? How much she has changed my life? She's napping right now and all I want to do is go in and wake her up! Someone please remember this so that you can play it back to me when she's 16!!

It's getting cold here, but absolutely gorgeous. We were able to get out and feed her buddies, the ducks...including Ted and Nugent...that's right...we've named two of the big, funny-looking ones....Cat Scratch Fever baby!! If you were here right now you'd see me holding up the rocker sign. :) We also played out on the deck and her slide. I'm afraid that it might be the last time this year. Yuck. I'm not looking forward to all the rain. Sigh.

Today's Mail.....

Sweet Ava,
Grandpa and Grandma wanted you to have a nice blanket for the cold Fall and Winter days. When you use it, remember our love is sent with it.
Love, Grandpa and Grandma Brutto

Oh,oh,oh,ooooh Sweet child o' mine

I usually don't post on Bec's blog, but since she was talking about the 80's, I had to risk my life and post these two pics from her G'N'R groupie days. She'll kill me but it's worth it!!! Long live Axl Rose!!! Fall 1988.

HEART ATTACK.......God's revenge for eating his animal friends.

"UH-DA-BLOO"

Mmm...hmmm!!! That's right. Babygirl is saying "I Love You"....okay, so maybe not exactly, but ding-dang close!!
So. I've been thinking. I know, I know....look out. But, the cableguy came last night and was freaking out about how big Gus is. I guess I don't see it because I'm with him everyday. The guy is like "OMG....that is one of the biggest dogs I've ever seen...he's huge"...so. Got me to thinking. When we adopted Gus last year, in August, he weighed in at 85 pounds. Now, he's pushing 140. Gasp!!
Then I got to thinking again....we weighed Ava two nights ago. Ahem, she weighs, ahem again, 37 pounds. No kidding!! However, she did have a headband on....that should count for a pound, right?!?!
When I met Dave, he was about 135 pounds, soaking wet. Seriously. Now remember that was, HOLY CRAP, 20 years ago. Anyway, he's gained about a hundred. Should I be writing this? He won't care...he looks GREAT! I'm just saying....what is going on?
20 years ago, I only weighed 105 pounds. Okay, stop right there...this IS NOT about how much I've fluffed up. No more on THAT subject.
Anyhoo....I've come to the conclusion that I am one fantastic cook/wife/mom. It's all the love....
Here's a pic from 1988, right after Dave and I met....I LOVED the '80's!!! I mean, seriously....would you just look at our hair! Sweet!!