New Beginnings

Wednesday, May 15th, was the first day of a healthier me! I used my new gym membership for the first time that day :) I had gone to the little gym in our apartment complex but I hardly count that as a 'gym'. Its the size of my bedroom and anyone that lives in the apartment complex has access to it which means its infested with unsupervised (and extremely annoying) children at all times. So on Wednesday morning Avery and I walked over to my new gym, which is conveniently located within walking distance. I dropped off Avery at the gym day care then awkwardly worked out. Everyone at the gym was super fit and had amazing bodies, I was the only one there with a bit of baby weight, it was embarrassing. I made an appointment with a personal trainer (since I get one freebie with my membership), I'm hopeful that he can help me achieve my fitness goal. Our appointment is on Monday which I am excited for yet dreading. The trainer told me to eat a good breakfast because many people pass out during their first training session...

Walking home from the gym

May 15th is also the day that Steven started his '365 Days of Beard' challenge. Basically you clean shave and then don't shave, trim, or maintain your facial hair at all for an entire year. I am not looking forward to this year's Christmas pictures haha but I will post a weekly photo of his progress.

Avery and I went to Goldy's to pick up Steven's paycheck on the 16th, unfortunately his job doesn't allow direct deposit. We went to the bank on the way to Kristen's house - our kids were in desperate need of a play date (as were the mommies). Avery was being very sensitive during the play date - she was having a meltdown every time Conner took a toy that she was playing with (which normally doesn't phase her), cry whenever Conner accidentally bumped into her, and was extra cuddly with Kristen.

Checking on Cassius

We met Steven at my parents' house after the play date and all had dinner together. Since we had two vehicles at my parents' house Steven and I swapped cars. He drove Avery home in the Durango while I took his car - I had to go back to Kristen's to pick up my Bobble. On the way home I drove by a house I have been drooling over online but was sad to see there was already a pending sign in the front lawn :(

Avery watching Steven shower haha

Friday was a very nice day. I picked up my mom from work for a lunch date :) She had a gift card for Applebees - I enjoy their club sandwich and the Vista Applebees is always a ghost town (perfect for letting Avery wander the restaurant). We went to Starbucks after lunch and I lucked out because my mom had another gift card! I felt pretty pampered during our girls' day.

Saturday had a less than pleasant start. Our upstairs neighbors woke Avery up three times during the night with their loud stomping. I was wide awake from 1 am - 4 am because of them - even with the air conditioning blowing and a fan in the bedroom I could still hear them stomping around. I think they are on some kind of drug because when I woke up at 6 am they were still up but instead of stomping they were blaring music! Of course they never answer when I start pounding on the door and the apartment office is closed on the weekends so I can't even file a complaint.

I managed to drag my butt out of the house and go to Walmart for a few items. I was in such a grumpy mood from the lack of sleep. I was pleased with myself that I only bought things that I had a coupon for (minus one box of animal crackers for the princess). I had planned to take a nap when Steven got home from work but instead we had to go to dinner with his family. They chose to eat at Applebees, yup the same place I had gone the day before. Luckily I am really in love with the club sandwich lately so I still enjoyed a good meal even though I wasn't feeling very sociable. Avery was a crazy ball of energy at dinner (Yvette chased her all around the restaurant) so we took her to the park to burn some of it off. While at the park I noticed a purple truck that looked just like Yvette's, I pointed it out to Steven and it was Yvette lol. She stopped by the park and played with Avery for a bit while Steven and I laid on the slide.

 My mom had to put in a few hours at the office on Sunday. It sort of worked out well because we were able to car pool back to Meridian. She left her Explorer at my house for Steven and we took the Durango. While at my parents' house I started getting a little headache. I ignored it but it soon turned into a full blown migraine. I was too nauseous to eat and every sound was excruciating so I went upstairs to lay down. Its strange to lay in my old bedroom yet so familiar and comforting at the same time. I stayed in bed until it was time to leave, Steven tried to get me downstairs to the car but I didn't make it past the bathroom, I was so nauseous. I spent the entire drive home focusing on not throwing up, Steven spent the drive home trying to keep Avery completely silent (which didn't happen by the way). I was finally able to take some aspirin when we got home - my mom had offered me Excedrin Migraine but it had expired a LONG time ago, we also stopped at a gas station on the drive home but they didn't have anything.

Yvette showed up a few minutes later to baby sit Avery. We had pre-ordered tickets to go see the new Star Trek movie that night with Quinn and Ashley. Steven offered to cancel our double date and see if the theater would refund us but I knew that he really wanted to go. Even though I was still in a lot of pain I insisted we still go see the movie. I was hoping that the aspirin would kick in by the time it started but it didn't - I was still nauseous and in pain for the first 40 minutes of the movie, I even had to close my eyes any time a bright scene popped up. I felt 100% by the end of the movie and was able to enjoy myself, Steven and I even got frozen yogurt afterwards :)

On Monday, Steven went golfing with Quinn. I had a meeting with the personal trainer that afternoon. I dropped Avery off at the gym day care but that didn't last long. About ten minutes into the meeting a gym employee came to inform me that I needed to go get Avery because she was freaking out. When I got to the day care Avery was having a complete meltdown, it took her almost ten minutes to calm down. I only got an hour with the trainer so when Avery was completely calm I put her back into day care. She, again, freaked out so badly that she had to be removed from day care and taken to the front desk. The woman at the front desk closed the doors to the gym so that Avery couldn't escape but the doors were glass so Avery just squished her face against the glass and continued to scream and cry, the entire gym could hear her. I was beyond exhausted after working with the trainer and I was also beyond embarrassed by Avery's behavior. I put her down for a nap when we got home, I was hoping to nap as well but since Steven wasn't home I had to use her nap time to shower instead - it sucked.

The next day was pretty mellow, Steven and I spent the day with our little girl. We went to Starbucks for me and Goldy's Corner to get him a smoothie - Avery made friends with the girls sitting in the booth behind us. After our refreshing beverages we went to a few office stores and found a desk chair for Steven's office, Avery had a blast running around the stores. We met Yvette for dinner at 10 Barrel. There was a 20 minute wait to be seated so the 4 of us played in a near by grassy area. The food was average but it was nice having dinner with the family.

Avery Quinn - 16 months

Mother's Day

I love date nights :) On Wednesday Steven and I went on a double date with Quinn and Ashley. We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and because we were there so early in the day it was nearly empty, although there were some elderly people also enjoying an early dinner. The food was amazing and since Quinn owed me money he picked up the bill :) After dinner the four of us went to Big Al's for bowling. The first game was normal, most points win - I didn't do too well. The second game was silly - Quinn and Steven put up the bumper and the point of the game was to get the lowest score possible. I decided to play the second game normal and try to do well. I ended up getting several strikes and did awesome! We ended the date night early enough to get Avery home and in bed on time.

Ignore the blurriness of Steven

My mother in law took photos of Avery and I at the train depot on Friday - I agreed to help her photograph a wedding on Saturday. On Friday we were her test subjects for perfect position and lighting. I was excited to get some pre-mother's day photos done with my baby but Avery was too excited to sit still for more than 1 second. I guess I shouldn't have expected a toddler in a large open field to sit still instead of run around like a small crazy person haha. I'm hoping to get the photos from Yvette soon so I can have them framed :)

Avery <3 Mimi

The next day I met Yvette back at the train depot. My mom had volunteered to watch Avery for a bit until Steven got off work. My job as Yvette's assistant was basically to sit on the step stool she was standing on so it didn't tip over (we were on a slight hill) and holding the little flash thing. We were at the train depot for about two hours - I got sunburned and I think Yvette got a touch of heat exhaustion. We went back to my house after finishing up photos at the depot so we could cool down, eat, and get changed. I had worn shorts and a tank top at the depot but the actual wedding was at a church so I put on a dress and heels. The wedding was beautiful! It really made me want my own wedding - the wedding that Korea ruined. Possibly a 5 year renewal/wedding???

Anyway, after the wedding we drove to a third location for the reception. The food was AMAZING! I haven't eaten that well in a while. After finishing my meal I had to run to Winco to pick up spare batteries for Yvette's camera, I felt really awkward walking around Winco in a nice dress and heels. I bought the batteries and got out of there as quick as possible. I went home after dropping off the batteries so I could be home in time to put Avery to bed.

Sunday was Mother's Day, my second one with my beautiful daughter. So much has changed in a year - last year my baby was only 4 months old, we were still in Korea, and I got an 'I <3 Mom' picture frame (which is currently hung up on our living room wall). This year Steven had to work but it was still a wonderful day. Yvette came over for a visit in the morning to pick up the step stool she left in my car. Her visit worked out in my favor because I realized that Steven had Avery's car seat in his car at work - Yvette watched Avery for a bit while I went to retrieve it.

After Yvette left Avery and I were able to make gifts for her and my mother. We painted two small wooden boxes and used glitter glue to write a little note on the sides. When the first layer of paint dried I dipped Avery's hand in paint and put a hand print on each box. We only got three and a half fingers on my mom's box, and on Yvette's box we got a perfect hand print that Avery quickly messed up - they turned out really cute though. When Steven got off work we went to his grandparents' house for a visit. We managed to get out of there just in time to get to Starbucks before the last day of Frappy Hour ended.

Mother's Day supplies

Avery's first time finger painting

Happy Mother's Day

We went to my parents' house for Mother's Day dinner. They had invited a few of the neighbors and their kids over as well so it was a big party. My parents made me a beautiful photo album with pictures of Avery, myself, and Steven. Avery finally got to use her new bathing suit to play in the sprinklers, Steven even got in the sprinklers too :) That evening Steven bathed Avery and put her to bed then gave me a massage. He and Avery gave me an awesome food processor (I really hate hand grating cheese) and a gym membership!! I had gone to the gym in our apartment complex before and it was awful. Its open to anyone that lives in the complex so all the neighborhood kids go in there and play on the equipment. I am over the moon about my gym membership. It was a wonderful Mother's Day.

Steven's days off were packed full of family time. On Monday Steven took Avery out to get coffee and donuts - a rare treat. Avery licked the glaze off of my doughnut holes then spit them back out onto my plate :/ We toured the Anniversary Inn (which is full of themed hotel rooms) later that day. Avery got to run around and it was free - double win! By the time we got home Avery was exhausted, she took a long nap, we had to wake her up at 5 pm to take Yvette out to dinner for Mother's Day. Dinner wasn't spectacular but afterwards we all went to Julia Davis park and ran around. Yvette and Avery walked down the greenbelt towards Yvette's apartment while Steven and I got the car. We parked and walked the greenbelt as well, it was wonderful.

Recently, Steven and I have been discussing buying a home - possibly next year. "We" want a home before having our next baby and heck I don't want to be 30 by the time I give Avery a sibling. We looked a few houses on Tuesday, just browsing. We ended up finding the most amazingly perfect house with an equally amazing back yard. I called the number listed on the 'For Sale' sign but we were too late, someone had put an off on the house only a few days prior. Steven was pretty bummed after that, it was literally the perfect house for us. We had dinner at my parents' house that night and continued the search for homes online.

Avery Quinn - 16 months

Family Time

This week Avery's already wide vocabulary has grown even more. She is repeating everything I say and learned at least 10 new words. Avery can point out her body parts when prompted and can also say them - this week her favorite body part is her eyes. She has been randomly poking me in the eye and exclaiming "EYE!!!", its hilarious (and painful). Avery also knows her animals and the sounds they make. Oddly enough she has two of every stuffed animal: monkeys, frogs, bears, pandas, lambs, penguins, dinosaurs, bunnies, and lions. Lately Avery has gotten picky about what she wears, she wants to choose :( The days of dressing her up in cute outfits may be coming to an end. Her sixth tooth emerged without any fuss at all - now she has 4 on the bottom and two on the top :) Bath time is still her favorite time. When I turn on the faucet she will literally run into the bathroom and take off her clothes in record time.

What other Avery related news is there? I always feel like I'm forgetting something. She still isn't keen on using a bowl or utensils, she'll gladly toss the food I give her in a bowl on the ground and eat it by hand. Avery has launched a war against diapers lately and it sucks. Trying to diaper that child is like wrestling a bear that has a loud pitch scream. She's been pooping on the toilet and tells me when she's pooping but refuses to pee. I was hoping to start potty training soon. Every time I use the restroom she runs into the bathroom and yells "bye-bye pee pee!" so she knows that people pee in the toilet but won't do it. That's all the Avery updates I've got for now. I'm sure you'll hear about anything I forgot in next week's blog.

I can hardly believe its May already. It does not seem like we've been back in the United States that long - I guess time flies when you're having fun. Steven recently took Avery and I to Camelsback Park. The park has a HUGE steep hill in the center that people hike up. We walked around the hill on a small trail in an attempt to tire Avery out. On the other side of the hill is a large area of sandstone. Steven stayed with Avery while I climbed up the hill to carve our family name into the side. After the park we went to Goody's, its an amazing little ice cream parlor. Unfortunately for me the place is also filled with adorable stuffed animals, Avery was going crazy hugging them all and telling me to look at every single one of them. We gave Avery her own ice cream cone and, as much as it killed Steven, I let her eat it all by herself. She was soaked in melted ice cream. Luckily I had an extra change of clothes for Avery. When we got home I realized I had gotten sunburned. A healing tattoo is supposed to feel like a sunburn but I don't think that's accurate. I've had no pain or itching while my tattoo heals but my sunburn its ridiculously itchy!

My mom's birthday was Friday the 3rd - it was also the first day of half priced frappuchinos. My mom came over after work and we got coffee. Avery LOVES visits from her Mimi. Avery also loves playing on our cell phones. I have a lock on my phone because she was deleting apps but Steven doesn't have a lock. Avery got into Steven's phone, accessed Groupon, and ordered $40 worth of flowers. It was a good Friday.

On Saturday we saw our first giant swarm of bees. Steven and I were hanging out with Avery in her bedroom. I heard a loud buzzing and assumed it was one of our phones but soon realized that it was bees. I quickly shut the window and Steven ran to close the back door. The swarmed was just passing through but it was freaky! A few hours later (after I was sure the bees were gone) I took Avery to the park, she had a blast. She picked dandelions, tried to pick up heavy rocks, and played on the balance beam. Yvette had flown back to Boise early stopped by that evening to visit Avery.

Blowing dandelions

Hugging rocks

I've decided that I don't like living next to the community basketball court anymore. At first it was nice because its gated and gave Avery a chance to run wild but now it just sucks. I can barely keep my windows open for a few hours a day before the kids get out of school and flock to the court. The kids just scream, cry, whine, and cuss each other out; its unbelievably annoying. I keep telling myself: only 10 more months until we can move back to Meridian. I hope the countdown will keep me sane when this school year ends and I have to listen to those brats all day (and night) long.

It was a beautiful day on Sunday, I can't wait until Steven has weekends off so we can enjoy the nice weather together. As usual I went through the newspaper and clipped coupons, all the ads were for Mother's Day. Speaking of mothers, I finally remembered to give my mother her birthday present (Starbucks gift card of course) but managed to forget the card I got her lol. We had a great Sunday dinner but then again they are always great :) My dad has a freezer full of Otter Pops for the neighborhood kids (yeah, he's awesome like that) and Avery really enjoyed being able to eat her ice cream with the big kids. My dad turned on the sprinklers for her and the two of them played in the water, it was the best thing I've seen in a while. That evening we went on a double date with Quinn and Ashley to see Iron Man 3.

She spilled her ice cream

It was Steven's day to sleep in on Monday morning - he slept in until 1030 am! An hour after Steven woke up Avery went down for a nap, she ended up sleeping for two and a half hours. Steven watched Avery for an hour while I went shopping for diapers (which I saved $3 on by using coupons!). After shopping I swung by the house to pick up Avery, the two of us went to Kristen's house for dinner :D Kristen was stuck in traffic when I got to her house and her boyfriend (who was asleep) didn't hear me knocking. Avery and I took a walk around the neighborhood while we were waiting for Kristen - Avery tried several times to play in some one's sprinklers.

Kristen made a delicious dinner: breaded chicken, rice, and some kind of candied bacon squash! Something about Kristen's house gives Avery an appetite - she ate a TON of food and even tried the squash. A great night was made even greater when Kristen gave me a pair of shorts that she had bought that day, she bought a pair for herself as well in a different color. I love my best friend! Avery and I took off after dinner so that she could be in bed on time. When I got home Steven announced that he was hungry and left to get food - I bathed Avery and put her to bed. Steven got off pretty easy today considering he was only around Avery for two hours that day.

Tuesday was glorious - Steven let me sleep in until 11 am!!

Avery Quinn - 16 months

Deep

This week was...hmm, its tough to find the right words. Well here it goes.

While Steven and I were still living in South Korea I became pregnant with our second child and I miscarried that child. I won't go into too many details because it was actually very horrific. It was a very difficult time, one that Steven and I had to suffer through alone without the support of friends and family. I quit breastfeeding immediately because I couldn't stand to have that close intimate bond with Avery when I felt like such a horrible mother. We didn't want to tell anyone (other than immediate family and very close friends) what had happened. At the time I had 10 friends who were all pregnant and at one point or another I hated each and every one of them. I was angry, I shut out everyone. I stopped going to Lunch with the Ladies, play dates, coffee dates, I didn't even play the last game in the spouse's bowling league. Naturally, I lost most of my friends in Korea because I basically fell off the face of the planet, but I didn't care.

When Avery was only a few months old, Steven and I decided that we would start trying for baby #2 in December, just a month shy of her first birthday. After I had the miscarriage we changed our minds, neither of us wanted to try for another baby so soon - well I did, I really really did but just couldn't. As the baby's due date neared I became intolerable. All the anger that had subsided for a few months suddenly began bubbling to the surface again - Steven could barely look at me without getting yelled at for it. I decided it was time to let things go.

Friday, April 26th, was the baby's due date. I felt that the baby was a girl like I did with Avery so I decided to finally give her a name. I wrote a long letter to her explaining why she didn't get to be in this world with us. I told her that I loved her and would never forget about her but that I needed to move on and start the healing process. I told her that Steven's grandmother in heaven would take care of her until mommy and daddy got there. I took Avery to a beautiful park and tied the note to a very girly 'Happy Birthday' balloon. I managed not to cry but to be honest I think I used up all my tears from crying myself to sleep every night that month. I'm ready to move on, I don't want to hurt anymore.

The days following the baby's due date were oddly calm. For the first time in months I felt care free and not weighed down with grief. The calm came just in time for Steven's birthday. He turned 24 on Sunday, he's getting old ;) I had planned to make Steven breakfast in bed for his birthday but when my alarm went off that morning I realized he was already awake and playing video games. I guess waking up at 430 am for work on a regular basis kind of kills the ability to sleep in. I made him breakfast anyway though. Yvette came over to our house around 930 am to watch Avery while my mom, Steven and I were at the tattoo parlor. Steven drove his own car to the parlor so that he could go golfing immediately after with my dad and his dad. My mom offered to drive us so that I could leave Yvette the Durango in case anything happened to Avery.

John was waiting for us when we got there - its still amazing to me that he would come in hours before the parlor opened just so my mom and I could be tattooed together. I volunteered to go first because I knew if I watched my mom get tattooed I would chicken out. John asked if I was nervous and I said "Yes, of course I am, this is my first tattoo." He was surprised that I chose the rib cage (generally one of the most painful areas of the body) to get my first tattoo - go big or go home I guess. I put on a bathing suit top and let John do his thing. The first line of the tattoo wasn't bad at all, the second line was not fun, and the third line was just as unpleasant  Although it was his birthday, Steven held my hand the entire time and offered me apple juice, he is such an amazing man. We were all talking during the tattoo process and started talking about Duck Dynasty. We had to keep changing the subject because John and I were laughing and neither of us wanted a squiggly tattoo. I was so excited when John finished but then he informed me that we weren't done, he had to go over the tattoo a few more times - I was done in about 45 minutes though. Everyone seemed impressed with how well I did :) I warned John beforehand that I usually puke and pass out when needles are involved, he was happy that neither of those things happened. John told me stories about how many people will cry or pass out when getting the rib cage tattooed. I was so pleased with myself and with how perfect my tattoo turned out.

My mom was up next, I told her it really wasn't that bad but she called me a liar. I held her hand during the entire process which only took about 20 minutes. She got a pumpkin with AQ in the middle and "Doodle" written underneath in my handwriting :D It was such a great experience to do this with my mom and we already have our next tattoos picked out :) I will definitely go back to John for any other tattoos I decide get.

Steven went golfing after we were finished while mom and I grabbed Avery and went back to her house. A few hours later Steven, his dad, and my dad returned from golf. I'm so happy they got some male bonding time. The entire family went to Fiesta Guadalajara for Steven's birthday dinner - we made him wear the giant sombrero :) After dinner we had cake at my father-in-law's house. Steven hasn't been able to celebrate his birthday with his family in two years so I'm really glad he was able to do so this year.

As I may have mentioned before Steven got a great new job and starts in June. He will be working for the same company that my dad works for - a wonderful at-home job :D On Tuesday I took Avery over to Kristen's house so that Steven could set up his home office - earlier that day we found the perfect desk for only $5!! We had a blast at Kristen's house (as usual). Kristen had also invited her friend Jeca over. Jeca has a beautiful baby girl and I struggle to remember if Avery was ever so small. Avery wore herself out by playing with Conner and kissing the babies. I took her to my parents' house before it got too late so she could say hi. Avery knows exactly where we're going when we get into my parents' subdivision, she yells "MIMI MIMI MIMI!!!!" I love living in the United States again so my daughter can grow up around her family.

Avery Quinn - 15 months