A time for change.

Tomorrow is the last day of my life in Peru, Indiana. Thank God! This town reminds me of a piece of my life that I would rather not remember. So many things have changed over the past year and one of these things is my contentment in living in this town - it has gone out the window!

I have cut all ties with all friends living here. It is hard sometimes when driving down the road and you see someone you knew - sometimes it makes me resentful (and I don't like feeling negative about anything anymore!). However, I have made a few new ones! :)

The only sad thing about this move is I feel bad for taking Ava and her daddy far away. I realize it is only an hour, but it was only 10 minutes. I have a lot of thoughts jumbling around within the walls of my brain right now - of which I won't bore everybody with. Let's just say I really hope that the Lord will change something in Sean's heart through all of this. How amazing would it be if Ava's parents were to marry someday?

It is time for a new start for a new me - and a new life that has been brought into the life of the new me! :)

Speaking of that new life - a few of you have asked for more videos of my Avie love. Once we get settled, I will happily make some more! That is, if the camera can keep up with her! She is so fast! She is really good at standing and holding on to things now. And she thinks when you blow kisses to her that it is the silliest thing in the world. <3 to my baby.

It is really time for me to go to bed. I have a long day of last minute throwing things in boxes. And some work to do still. I can't WAIT until this weekend and this move!

There comes a time...

when a new post is necessary!

And here goes the update...

First, I just got a new car. Yep. It's true.

I've got a little ol' pile of tin.
Nobody knows what shape it's in.
It's got four wheels and a runnin' board.
It's a four-door, it's a Ford.
Honk honk, rattle rattle rattle
crash, beep-beep.
Honk honk, rattle rattle rattle
crash, beep-beep.
Honk honk, rattle rattle rattle
crash, beep-beep.
Honk honk.

:]

Had to get that out. Anyway, it's a 1990 Mercury Topaz. Yes it indeed does have 4 doors and is a Ford (the keys say so, anyway)! It has a broken cd player and I love it. It just need some tlc as it was a to/from work car and is really dirty.

Next. Ava is crawling. Yes, Kennedi's (she is my oldest little sister for those of you who aren't aware) blog does read that she has been crawling for a while - but not like she is now. She is EVERYWHERE! I came inside today from talking with the people I got my car from (she was not alone in the house please know) and Ava (who was on a totally different side of the room by this time) got her first taste of pastels. Not the color - the things you USE to color. She was sitting down with a pile of them around her, licking one. I wouldn't mind so much if it were like crayons - but no - it had to be chalky pastels! Ew! Oh well. Hopefully she isn't a glue-eater since she liked those.

Also we had Ava's 6 month check up last week. She is now 16 lbs and 4 ounces. She is in the 50th percentile (as opposed to the 100th at her 4 month checkup) in her weight class now. I think she isn't as chunky now because she is moving around so much. She hardly ever lets me hold her anymore! Her head has moved up 3/4 of an inch since a visit one month ago - now to 16 inches around. AND her length is a whopping 28.5 inches. THIS is why my girl fits in 12 month-sized clothing.

Sean got a job this past week. He went back to a place he worked a few years ago and they ended up hiring him. I guess they realized that he is a little bit more mature now than he used to be. Hopefully this one works out for him. He is a cook at the Siding in Peru. Praise the Lord for the fact that he was able to get a job as this is something we've been praying about - now hopefully he can move in some other areas of Sean's life next!

We had a tree fall on our house this past Tuesday. Most people know about this so I won't bore everyone with the details but if you are a member of the Jones family and are interested, give me a call and I'll be glad to share the story with you. Actually, I need to call some of you anyway. It's been too long.

I have a video to upload but I am pinned to the chair by a sleeping baby in my lap (I know, I spoil her) right now and nobody answered my *nudge* to the downstairs computer by MSN Messenger so I suppose I will mosey downstairs in a bit to get the camera so that I can upload it. It is nice. Ava eating my face. Absolutely lovely. :D

Love,
Courtney
& Ava, too!

Ava is such a BIG girl!!

My dear Ava is growing so quickly!! We went to the doctor this past week and she weighs 16 lbs. already! She is 5 months and 2 weeks old and is fitting in 12 months clothing (mind you that whoever decided on the sizes for infant clothing must have had a runt in the litter as the sizes almost never turn out to be true to age)!

It doesn't help that I am putting in 30 hour work weeks at my new job so the time just flies by! It could be worse though... I could have to work outside of our home!!

So many new things are happening with her. She is sitting up without supporting herself now. She can't get in an upright position from laying, but she can sit up very well without any support and play with toys. She is rolling all over the place, scoots on her head sometimes, and last night she discovered that she can rock back and forth on her hands and knees! Mom (aka Mamae) said last night, "She will be crawling by the time she is 6 months!"

I'll be posting pictures much more often now as my baby is reaching all these milestones (quite early, I must say - not that it means anything) all of a sudden! I may also have some from Ashley's wedding to post after today. Here are a few to share!

She eats at the dinner table now (once a day, the rest is milk still)!

That smile makes me melt.

She isn't so big here. :) She fits in my new diaper bag!

(P.S. Michelle C., I already got one so don't worry about sending pics! Thank you so much for your kindess to share!)

Walk.

Today Mom and I took a nice walk with Ava while Pops and the girlies went to get the first addition to the Koozer Rabbitry. It is nice to get time like that with my Mommy. :]

Ava thought it was pretty nice too.

I love my baby!!!!

soap!

So my hand currently smells like chocolate. No, I haven't been eating. The wonderful lady I met last weekend in Wabash - who makes handmade soap out of vegetable products - was so kind as to send us a couple sample bars out of our order recently placed! And one is CHOCOLATE scented. Mom noted that it sort of smells of playdough, but we still like it. After you sniff it over and over, the playdough smell goes away!

I have been so busy that I have neglected all forms of communication in my life outside of my home. Email, blog, and phone have all been shunned (along with those of you who have attempted to contact me). I apologize, but I am on the phone and computer all day as my work day stretches throughout the day so by the time I am done, I am over both. I have been getting up and working for an hour, taking a break and hanging with Ava, working for 2 hours while she naps, eating lunch, playing, working for an hour here and there til I get 6 in. It is actually quite exhausting! But it sure beats leaving my dear baby home alone while I go off to work so she can scream and swat at her loving Mamae!

This week will be really interesting. I have commited myself to only 4 hours each day of work as opposed to the regular 6 as I will be standing in for Mom while she is away at 4-h with Kennedi, Kaylee, and Buddy (the horse) all day, every day. Please pray for me as this will be my first attempt at working, parenting, and housekeeping all at one time. I will surely fail! All is in the Lord's hands.

Yesterday we spent some quality time with my sisters. We made a trip to Wabash to Wal-mart to pick up a couple toys for Ava (and Kennedi got some stuff for her future rabbit). Ava now has a walker that she is about 2 inches too short for and a Rainforest Jumperoo! (The latter item mentioned is sooo cool! I wish they made big people ones!) I will take some pics later and post.

Off for now bc Mamae and Pappy are tiring of an extended playtime with Miss Avie.

Love,
Courtney

ava's chin.

here is the most recent video. no other writings today as we are about to walk out the door!

<3court.

Ava gets Mamae!

A lot has been going on here.... I few things to update on.. I will try to make this brief though, as I have Sean's aunt coming with a dresser she is letting Ava and I borrow.

Well, I started off my birthday with a bang... I began my first day of work for 1st Advantage solutions. Since then, I have worked about 7 hours, doing things like filling information in on spreadsheets, making new links on web pages, and making phone calls. I did have the day off for the most part yesterday. Today, I am currently awaiting an assignment. Yesterday I got a call from Misty, a lady from our church family, who works from home as well. Her company had a position open and she wanted to know if I was interested. I said I was, as things are still very dark (as in I am not even sure what or when I get paid with my current company - nor have I had to log my time yet). Today she called to confirm my hire. I am waiting on instructions to begin! Now I am faced with whether or not I should continue employment with my first job. I hate to leave such a nice employer. He is the nicest boss I have ever had! Please pray for me and this situation! And praise the lord for bringing me so many opportunities! I turned down a different job on Tuesday. I also have an interview Friday that I must now cancel! I went from desperately seeking work to home employment overload! God is good. And I think He has a great sense of humor. :)

Ava is now rolling over. I had to run to the office store on Tuesday to send a fax. I was standing in line when my cell rang. It was mom who said, "I am just calling to tell you at 9:10 a.m. on June 3rd, Ava Michelle Jones rolled over for the first time from back to tummy." I was so happy but sad that I missed it! Mamae got her first smile. And she got to see a big milestone first! Haha. She also does this really long groan when she is about to get upset. Especially when she is tired and wanting to go up to our room so she can sleep. She is hilarous. She brings such joy to me. There is never a dull moment in my life anymore. I can thank God for that.

I also remembered last night before falling asleep, with Ava in my arms, how difficult it was to get her here... we had a couple close calls. I had prayed that the Lord would show me more things to be thankful for, and then that realization came back to me. I am so thankful that my precious daughter is even able to overcome these milestone obstacles. If it weren't for the prayer Mom made in the other room during the complications, and the sweet prayer that Monica said, with her arms around me (this just made me cry, haha!), and also of course for the Lord's presence, Miss Ava may not have made it! God is soooo good! My baby is alive and well! And look at her go!

Other than that, I haven't done much. My time has been very consumed by work and searching for it. By the way, Ava now despises the computer.

The video shown in this post was recorded a couple weeks ago... I have another one that we recorded more recently but I'm trying to go in order from now on... So I guess I had better get to posting so I can catch up because there are plenty more to come!