Has It Been 1 Year Already!?

We just celebrated Avery's 1st birthday (a week and a half ago! Sorry, I'm late posting this). It was so much fun! She had a blast!

Her birthday outfit!

How lady-like

Opening presents

Cake time!!! She didn't like it as much as I thought she would!

Milk break!

Sticky frosting face!

"Bathtime!"

Playtime with cousin Ayla!

And of course I had to take 1 year shots. A friend of ours made Avery a tutu and I thought it would be perfect to take pictures of Avery in it in Grandma's flower garden.  

Her 1 year well check visit was today and she weighs 21 lbs 4 oz and 33 inches tall!! The Dr. said she looks great but I'm wondering when her hair is going to come in :o/

The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly!

Avery got her first war wound a few days ago. She gets into her own little world now that she can walk and she was babbling to herself and not paying attention to where she was going. Sure enough, she tripped and Wa Bam! Smacked her head on the corner of the wall creating an instant goose egg! As the seconds passed and the thing began to grow and grow, I thought for sure an alien was going to pop out of it! I picked her up, popped her bink (binkie) back in her mouth, grabbed her blanket and in a few minutes she was just fine. Back to babbling and walking around in circles. It's amazing how resilient kids are! I figure there's bound to be more bumps along the way & you know me...document EVERYTHING...the good, the bad and the ugly!

Good Old Vitamin D

Since the weather has been becoming more enjoyable, we've been taking advantage of the parks in the Tri Cities. When I'm at work, Jesse has been loading Avery up in the stroller and taking her for a walk down to the nearest park. Being cooped up all winter long, there's no surprise that Avery LOVES being outside. At first she wouldn't wander beyond the boundaries of the blanket. The grass was icky feeling on her feet as you can see from the picture.

But with a couple trips to the park she soon came around when she realized the whole world is her playground now.  

Now that she can walk, she's everywhere. Here's a video of her cruising!

Can't believe she's 11 months already. Next stop, her 1st birthday!

Winners Circle

For those who may not know, I entered Avery in a Parents Magazine "Kid of the Year" photo contest. It was more for fun just to see what place she would get but on the 2nd day of voting she was #1 so I thought I'd take it more seriously and get my Facebook friends involved in the voting. After a long week of non-stop voting, asking people to vote and checking the website EVERYDAY at 8am, 9pm and midnight (because those were the times the votes were updated) to see if Avery was still #1, I was disappointed to see that when the voting closed, she was #2....BUT, I just got an email from Parents Magazine saying the votes were verified and Avery DID get 1st place and they would be sending the $250 prize shortly! I was shocked so I had to check the website and sure enough, she was 1st for week 17!

What a great "day after Mothers Day" present!

On an equally exciting note, Avery has begun to walk! She took her 1st few steps 2 weeks ago but I FINALLY got it on video yesterday! I think her personal best is 10 steps but she's practicing!

Happy Easter!!

Our Easter was wonderful this year. It was just us three and it was filled with fun....and a lot of firsts.

1.) It was Avery's first Easter and the Easter Bunny spoiled her rotten!  She got a stuffed duck, a new pair of shoes, a new snail toy (which she loves because it has a mirror on it), a basket full of goodies including "Are You My Mother" by Dr. Seuss (one of my favorites as a kid), The Care Bear Movie (another favorite of mine), bubbles (because she loves them), big girl cups (which may or may not be a huge mistake), a chocolate bunny (which will probably be eaten by mommy), and Gerber Puffs (her favorite snack and a substitution for traditional Easter candy).

2.) It was my first time cooking a holiday dinner...all by myself. I must say it turned out better than expected. I made a ham, mashed potatoes with brown gravy, cresent rolls, broccoli bacon salad and a funfetti fondant cake.

3.) The funfetti fondant cake (my biggest triuph of the day) was the first time I ever experimented with marshmallow fondant. I want to bake Avery's 1st birthday cake but haven't really had any reason to just back a cake so I thought Easter would be as good as any. I baked it, layered it and frosted it with funfetti icing the night before so it could crust overnight. Then I made the marshmallow fondant. All I can say is sticky sticky sticky but once I was able to nead it into a dough, it was a lot of fun. I think the end result came out pretty good.

All in all it was a wonderful (but busy) Easter Sunday. We hope you had a wonderful Easter as well!

Parents Magazine Cover Contest

So I was on the Parents Magazine website the other day and noticed they were having a magazine cover contest for children 3 months to 6 years. I thought it was a shot in the dark but I uploaded the requested 5 photos and one of them made the cut to be voted on. This was the photo they chose:

There will be 10 winners who will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to be photographed for an upcoming issue of Parents magazine! You can vote everyday until the 17th so VOTE VOTE VOTE!!! Heres the link: http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/783992

Super Saver

I love saving money, who doesn't now a days!? Coupon clipping has become one of my favorite things to do on Sunday. I just stumbled upon a really good diaper deal and thought I'd share. I've had this $10 off purchase in the Baby Store at Amazon.com coupon from Parents Magazine stuck on my fridge for weeks ready to expire at the end of this month and throwing it away would be like throwing $10 in the garbage. So, I put it to good use today! I went to the Baby Store at Amazon.com and searched for the best deal on diapers. I found a regular priced box of diapers (180 count) for $34.54. After my $10 off coupon, it went down to $24.54. Plus, I got 15% off the original price by applying for their Subscribe & Save option lowering the price again by $5.18. With free shipping plus tax, my total came to $20.97 for 180 diapers. Not bad considering I would have paid $35 at Walmart for the same item.

If anyone is interested in getting these coupons, you can subscribe for free to American Baby and Parents Magazine by going to http://www.parents.com/ and clicking subscribe at the bottom of the website. Also, Baby Talk Magazine has great baby coupon deals also. You can subscribe for free by going to http://www.opt-in-offers.net/bonnier/A1.asp

Cruising Along

Once again, Avery is on the move. This time...cruising! She can now pull herself up on our furniture and is now trying to figure out cruising. Of course she needs a little motivation to get moving so I usually use my cell phone or the TV remote to get her going.



Avery just got over her first cold which was not fun. She had a runny nose which interfered with her being able to eat. I was lucky if I got 20 ounces in her a day. She wouldn't take naps so she was fussy and exhausted during the day and we had to switch between her swing and her carseat during the night just so she could get some decent sleep. Which meant we were both sleeping in the living room. I pumped her full of vitamins, invested in an electric nasal aspirator and now she's back to her old self...with a definite increased appetite.

I feel bad because I was the one that brought it home, making Avery sick. Amazingly enough Jesse dodged the bullet and never did get it. He says he hopes her and I never get sick again. Apparently I was a little on the grouchy side :o{ There is an upside to Avery getting sick, she is so cuddly now and will lay her head on my shoulder and fall asleep. Something she would NEVER do before. I love it!

Now that she's feeling better, she's reverted back to her old habits...getting into EVERYTHING! She has a basket of 5000 toys yet she wants to play with the stuff she isn't suppose to have; the TV remote, anyone's cell phone, shoes, cords, the PS3 controllers, the TV antenna, plug in air fresheners and our glass end tables. She loves crawling on our cheap, wobbly, glass end tables so we knew we had to get rid of them. We finally found these ones and surprisingly enough she has no interest in wanting to crawl on them. Plus, we were able to sell our old ones on craigslist for the same amount we paid for them! Can't beat that!

First (overreacted) Mommy Meltdown

I've always been a very laid back, go with the flow, don't panic when Avery bumps her head kind of a mom, but over the weekend I had my first bad scare. It wasn't a swallowing of a button, or falling off the bed or an unidentifiable rash all over her body. No, it was a viral respiratory illness...AKA...a common cold. Here's the story:

Avery started getting a runny nose Saturday afternoon. I didn't think much of it but it was causing her to have trouble eating. She couldn't breathe and suck at the same time. So come Sunday, she wasn't eating a whole lot and naps had no meaning to her. My mom suggested taking her to an Immediate Care Clinic just to get her checked out to make sure everything was fine. After dragging Avery to 4 clinics and each one being booked solid, I decided to take her home and keep a close eye on her.

Everything was fine until 11:30 that night. She woke up crying so I picked her up out of her carseat where she had been sleeping (it's the only thing that will prop her up well enough). I walked her into the kitchen with me and by this time she wasn't acting like herself. Her eyes wouldn't focus and she was bobbing around in my arms. At this time I began to panic; "what is wrong with my baby!?" She also developed a congested wheezing cough, something I had never heard before and "whooping cough" automatically entered my mind causing me to panic even more. Jesse was at work so I got on the phone with her pediatrician hysterically crying so much he couldn't understand what I was saying. After I finally composed myself enough to explain to him what was going on, he recommended I take her to the ER. Panic even more! So we go to the ER and as I was registering her at the front desk they asked me what was wrong with her and again, the hysterical crying came. After I got my words out, we waited 2 hours, finally saw the doctor and everything was fine. She just has a viral respiratory illness (common cold) and her "not acting quite right" was because of her being exhausted.

Looking back I feel embarrassed that I overreacted to a common illness and acted like a total psycho infront of the entire ER as well as her pediatrician (which Im hoping he won't remember me come April when we see him again) but I know that if I hadn't taken her to the doctor, I'd still be wonding if something more serious was wrong.

As of now she's doing just fine. She has gotten over the runny nose but still has chest congestion so I've been using Vicks baby rub on her as well as a humidifier. Im hoping it will pass soon. She still isn't eating as much as I'd like for her too but I bought Poly-Vi-Sol to boost her appetite. She doesn't seem to care that much about being sick, I think she's actually happier.

All You Need Is Love

Whether or not I had someone to share it with, I've never liked Valentines Day. However, in an attempt to not be such a Valentines Day grinch, I thought I would make Saint Valentine proud and get into the holiday that would otherwise be mocked. We exchanged cards a few days ago but I still wanted to do something special so I baked Jesse a giant cupcake with his favorite toppings; chocolate frosting and sprinkles. I definitely put all my love into it. After he went to work last night at midnight, I stayed up till 1:30am baking it, letting it cool and taking it out of the cake mold. This morning, after Avery woke me up promptly at 6:30, I frosted it and added the sprinkles. It actually turned out pretty good.

Little did I know, he had a similar idea and came home with flowers for me and an "I Love You" teddy bear for baby Aves.

Superbowl Fun!

If there's one sport Avery loves to watch, it's football! I don't know what it is about football but she's glued to the TV when it's on. So naturally, the Superbowl was a big hit in her book!  She doesn't seem to favor any specific team but I'm hoping she'll lean toward the Rams and not so much daddys stinky Raiders ;o) 

She's mastering the art of crawling and now is teaching herself how to pull herself up on things. She's working on it but still can't get to her feet. I never realized how fast kids grow until you have one of your own but she's giving in to the idea of cuddling which helps me cope with her growing into an independent toddler. Every now and again I'll look through her photo albums and reminisce on her first couple months of life; the 2am feedings, sleeping on the couch, baths in the sink, falling asleep on my chest. Soon we'll be planning her 1st birthday party and it all seemed to pass by so quick but I'm looking forward to her first steps and first words. After that, I could stand for her to slow down a little. 



7 Months Old & On The Move!

Yes, it's true. Avery is officially on the move...and getting into EVERYTHING! I was so excited for this day to come but I definitely took her immobility for granted. Consequently, she's gradually learning the word "no." She hasn't quite wandered outside the living room but I think now would be a good time to invest in baby gates...and outlet plugs...and latches...and corner covers. Here's a look at her first crawling "steps"

We've also started her on more solid foods. Instead of the plain rice and oatmeal cereals, she's been eating Gerber Graduate snacks. She loves the mixed berry yogurt melts and the peach flavored fruit puffs. She's getting used to the mild cheddar flavored lil' crunchies. She also loves peach flavored Gerber yogurt blends. It's fun watching her discover new tastes and textures.

She's defintely growing up too fast but it's been so much fun watching her discover new things. Can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

6 Months Old...With An Attitude!

We just got back from Avery's 6 month well check visit and her pediatrician said everything looks great. She weights in at 17lbs 5oz (although it feels more like 25lbs) and she is 27.5 inches long. Now, Avery has always been advanced and ahead of her milestones...but there's one advancement she's made that Im not too proud of...her attitude. Which she made perfectly evident of today at the doctors office! She was adorably chewing on Jesse's sweatshirt string (something she does often now that she's teething) very calm and content...being precious little Avery.  Once the doctor layed her down on the table wanting to get a better look at her, causing the string to come out of her mouth, she turned into this spoiled rebellious 2 year old who was just told she couldn't have ice cream for breakfast!! High pitched screaming, kicking, turning over...the whole bit! The doctor said he had never seen this kind of behavior from a 6 month old before; usually just in older babies! How embarrassing is that!?

I don't know how she has developed such an attitude. Ok, maybe A LITTLE BIT was inherited from me, but mine was never this bad. We don't coddle her everytime she cries or screams but when she does we usually redirect her to something else. Which works a lot of the time. Now, we're just suppose to ignore it completely.  We'll keep you updated :o{

She had two shots today and she took them like a champ. Only cried for about 10 seconds. She's strong willed and I think that's where her attitude stems from too. At 6 months she may throw a fit like a 2 year old but she can take the pain of shots like she was 10.

On a much happier note, Christmas just passed and Avery had a great 1st Christmas! She got so many cute clothes and toys thanks to our friends and family!

She also has two teeth now. I caught the first one but have yet to get a picture of the second one. Her teething is coming along great! Now that the first one has cut through, she could care less about the second one.

She's also started to get on all fours and wobble back and forth. She wants to move so bad but just can't get the actions down. I think she'll be crawling before we know it! Here's a video of her.