Pierced

Avery FINALLY cut another tooth on Wednesday the 17th! When this one fully emerges she will still only have 5 teeth lol. She spent the day going between extremely happy and terribly clingy. I didn't manage to leave the house until nearly 2 pm. I reluctantly wore my glasses because 1-800-Contacts takes their sweet time delivering. Avery and I went to the Albertsons near my house because it has a Starbucks in it. The woman at the coffee stand had just finished putting up a 'Help Wanted' sign, she needed someone to work evenings and weekends which is exactly what I'm looking for. I asked for an application (but of course that's all online these days) but the woman took down my name and phone number so she could pick me out of the other online applicants. I guess frequenting that particular Starbucks since 2008 has its perks. I applied the second I got home so fingers crossed. I REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to leave Avery to pursue a job outside of the home because I love being a stay at home mother. However, I have no choice and must do what's best for my family even if that's not what's best for me.

A while later Mitch and his son Cooper came over. Avery and Cooper played kind of - Avery has a habit of following other kids around and simply studying them instead of engaging in play. We were all getting a bit hungry and conveniently enough had a coupon for Pizza Hut. The closest Pizza Hut is just shy of a mile from our house, I walked there (because honestly it would be down right lazy of me to drive a mile for something). To burn a few extra calories I strapped Avery onto my chest for the walk, I felt the burn.

Thursday was business as usual. Avery decided that our day should begin at 5 am. She sat in my lap as we ate our cereal. I struggled to get ready as Avery clung onto my leg crying about not being held for 5 seconds. I changed my clothes twice because Avery wiped boogers all over my shirt and spit her mostly chewed granola bar in my lap. I was able to get out of the house before 2 pm which is a very rare event. We went to Starbucks of course. Thankfully Steven got off work a little early that day and we walked down to the park. The Head Start kids were there and we waited an hour for them to leave so we could enjoy the park as a family. Avery went down the slide a billion times, we searched for a nearby geocache without luck, and we enjoyed the outdoors.

Friday was a big deal for several reasons. I finally got the courage to pierce Avery's ears. Normally you'd get a girl's ears pierced as an infant or as an older child. Steven wasn't allowed to get any piercings or tattoos in Korea because they have different standards of sanitation and, although the Army couldn't restrict a dependent from getting tattooed or pierced, we came to the conclusion that if it wasn't safe for Steven then it wasn't safe for Avery. Steven and his mother wanted to get Avery's ears pierced when we visited the states last March and I hesitantly agreed. When the time came I freaked out and would not allow them to do it, she was only 6 weeks old and no one was going to hurt her. We moved back to the United States when she was 12 months old but between the milk allergy and constant teething it never seemed like a good time - until now! Avery finally cut her 5th tooth and her GI tract was doing great since switching to soy so she was back to a normal happy baby.

On Friday morning I made several calls to piercing parlors but unfortunately no one was willing to pierce a baby. I didn't want to go to Claire's because of their lack of training but I made a trip to the mall for other things and decided to check them out. I pretty much interrogated the poor woman that worked at Claire's, I asked her question after question about their sanitation, training, and overall experience. The woman had worked there for 5 years and in that time did close to 500 piercings. There was a little girl in the store who had gotten pierced a few minutes prior to my arrival and I asked her mom if I could look at her ears. I'm sure they thought I was crazy but the woman did a great job.

I had Avery pick out which ear rings she wanted and like a girly girl she picked the pink ones :) Avery seemed confused when the woman was sterilizing her hands, Avery's ears and both our hands. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting Avery to sit still while the woman put a mark on her ears, she wanted to play with the marker so bad. I grabbed a shiny necklace off a nearby rack and let her play with that. Avery yelled at me when I held her head to my chest, I don't think she even noticed the woman piercing her ears. The moment I let her go she stopped fussing and continued playing with the necklace. The woman gave her a lollipop afterwards :) Avery took a 2 hour nap afterwards, it was great!

Later that day my mom stopped by. She was excited to see Avery's ears. Steven watched Avery while my mom and I went to Talon Tattoo. John, an artist at Talon, had drawn up my mom's pumpkin tattoo and it looked amazing! Its like he took the image directly out of my mom's mind and put it on paper. We excitedly tried to set our appointments but because we wanted them done together it was tough. They couldn't get the two of us in until late May :( We told the receptionist that we would just have to settle with getting our tattoos separately and be there for each other. John knew how important getting our tattoos together was and booked us and appointment for next week before the shop opens up. I couldn't believe he was willing to come in before the shop even opens just to accommodate our wishes, I couldn't express my gratitude enough. So our appointment is set for next Sunday morning :D I didn't realize at the time that it was also Steven's birthday that day so I'll have to try extra hard this year to make up for it.

As if my Friday couldn't get any better we also had a date night planned :) My mother in law came over a little after 7 pm to watch the baby. I already had her bathed and in PJs because I didn't want to leave his mom with the responsibility of cleaning Avery's piercings  Steven and I went to On The Border for dinner, it wasn't anything spectacular to be honest. We met Quinn and Ashley at Edwards to see Oblivion! The movie didn't start until 945 pm which is way past our usual bedtime but it was worth it, the movie was awesome! By the end of it I was SO ready for bed but Steven and I had a surprise waiting for us when we got home - a completely awake baby...I finally crawled into bed around 1 am.

The next morning Avery decided to get up at 5 am again! I cannot survive off of such little sleep and I dealt with her waking up every hour on the hour for the first 8 months of her life, I deserve sleep! Avery didn't think I had a valid point and instead wanted me to sit up cuddling her. Steven was little help as he had college orientation that morning. All I wanted to do was take a nap when Avery did but I had to be in Meridian by noon and there was no time for it :( Steven finished orientation a little before noon and I met him at my parents' house a bit later. He had won a free lunch for 6 at Flying Pie in Meridian. Steven, his mother, Ashley (Quinn's girlfriend), my parents, Avery and I enjoyed a free meal :) After that we went to Walmart with my parents because my dad wanted a bicycle for his birthday, instead Avery ended up with a new toy compliments of my dad. When we got back to my parents' house Steven convinced me to take a nap. I didn't wake up until 745 pm!!

Avery loves corn

Avery woke up at midnight and again at 5 am, I am not liking this new trend at all. Steven got stuck at work which meant we were late getting to my parents' house. Sunday dinner was fantastic as usual, and I ate way too much as usual. Avery got to play with the neighbor kids took a walk with my dad. She was exhausted by the time we left and passed out in the car. Steven and I were supposed to go on a double date with Kristen and Matt but unfortunately plans fell through. It worked out in my favor though because a few hours later I ended up getting a horrible migraine.

Sharing a push-pop

All in all it was a normal week for the Lyon family. My daughter is getting too big too fast.

Avery Quinn - 15 months