Thursday, October 31, 2013

Pre-Halloween Festivities

Graphic photos included in this update - you've been warned.

Monday started out awesome. Avery and I slept in until 10:30!! We are both getting a lot of extra sleep without the noise from Steven working in the morning. I had planned to stay in my pajamas all day but quickly realized that Avery had no diapers :/ When we got home from the store Yvette stopped by for a visit. I was glad to have Yvette over because Avery had spent the day demonstrating the power of Terrible Twos.


On Tuesday I was determined to potty train Avery. She spent the entire day without a diaper (except for nap time) but refuses to use the potty :/ Avery will gladly sit on the potty, make a fake peeing sound, and pull up her pants but she won't actually go. I wanted her potty trained by 2 but that dream is quickly fading away.
After Avery's nap that day we headed out to Meridian for dinner with my parents. I stopped at my doctor's office to get a flu shot since it was on my way. The nurse was awesome, I didn't feel a thing :) Dinner with my parents was awesome as usual. I got a phone call from Steven while I was there, he was having a blast! He said he would try and call me in a few days.


Avery helping her favorite girl at Starbucks restock

On Wednesday I made an appointment for Avery to get her flu shot. My mom had planned to stay the night at my house so she picked us up and drove us to the pediatrician. I asked the nurse to give Avery her Hep A shot also, she wasn't able to get it at her 18 month appointment, so I decided to get it out of the way so she wouldn't have to get any shots at her 2 year appointment. We got the sweetest nurse who was also incredibly fast at giving shots, the entire thing lasted 3 seconds max. Avery handled her shots like a champ and afterwards the nurse let her pick a toy out of the treasure chest. Avery normally takes her time choosing something from the treasure chest but the second she saw a small stuffed dog she snatched it up :)

On the drive home we stopped at Coldstone, I had a gift card. I got salted caramel and sweet cream, mom got salted caramel and mint. We gave Avery a few tiny bites, she would've devoured the entire thing but she's still sensitive to milk :/ After ice cream we went back to my house for dinner, I made a lasagna, and Yvette came over to eat with us. It was nice having an all-girls night :)


Sharing Mimi's ice cream 

By the time I woke up on Thursday my mom had already left for work. She called a few hours later to say she had Chinese food for lunch and the leftovers were mine if I wanted them - heck yes! Avery and I went to my mom's house for dinner that night. I was expecting a call from Steven and I got it - he told me that he was coming home early! He showed up at my parents' house about 45 minutes later, it was a great surprise :)


Steven and his dad on their trip

On Friday we lazed around until Yvette got off work, we took Avery to her apartment and switched cars, she was babysitting that night. Yvette took Avery and Anne out to dinner, then back to Mike's house to sleep. Steven and I had a date night. We went to Anne's restaurant for dinner then went to the Farmstead. We did the regular corn maze first, we were in there for about 2 hours! It was a lot of fun though, we had a little map and completed the entire thing :) When it was dark we went through the Field of Screams (basically a scary maze), the two girls who were in line in front of us were too scared to go alone and asked us to go with them. The scary maze was a big let down to be honest. It wasn't scary, some actors were just walking around with their masks off, and the family in front of us was SO slow that the actors who were actually doing their job didn't have time to 'reset' before we got there :/ We decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory after that and each got a slice of cheesecake. I don't really care for cheesecake but I love their dulce de leche cheesecake!



Yvette brought Avery home the next day. Steven made the difficult decision to sell his Xbox 360 in order to pay for the PS4. We took all the Xbox stuff to Game Stop and surprisingly made over $250 (in store credit) and put it towards the PS4, which is Steven's Christmas present this year. The sucky part about sell the Xbox is that we have no DVD player, no Netflix, no regular channels, and no video games for a month... Within 2 hours we were bored out of our minds. I sat in silence the first year we lived in Korea and to be honest I'm not looking forward to doing it for a month.

Sunday was busier than usual. We went to Mike's house to drop off Avery and trade cars with Yvette. We then went to Steven's grandparents' house to get his deer - Steven had to cut the head off before we took it to the butcher. We traded cars with Yvette because I didn't want a decapitated dead animal in the Durango :) We dropped the deer off at the butcher and put in our order - jerky, steaks, sausage, etc.


Steven and his grandma cutting the head off his deer


We picked up Avery and took her to my parents' house for Sunday dinner and pumpkin carving :D Its early in the month for carving pumpkins but Quinn was going to be off work to participate so we carved anyway. Avery got to color her pumpkin with sharpies :)






The back of my pumpkin - KCCO: Keep Calm Chive On


The front of my pumpkin


From left to right: Ashley's, mom's, mine, and Quinn's



Avery Quinn - 21 months


Saturday, October 26, 2013

Post Vacation Fallout

It was so nice to wake up in my own bed the next morning! Avery normally wakes me up but she was a little jet-lagged and was still asleep. I woke her up at her usual time to get her back on schedule. That day she walked around the house saying "I am home!" over and over again, it was adorable.


Avery's face when I told her there were no more stuffed animals

Steven spent most of Friday preparing for his hunting trip. My mom picked Avery up after work for a sleepover. Steven and I cashed his check downtown then went to dinner, we wanted to eat at Black Bear Diner where my sister-in-law works but there was 40 minute wait. We ended up eating at Twin Peaks which is basically the outdoorsman's version of Hooters, the girls wear tiny flannel tops (and I use the word 'wear' lightly) that leave little to the imagination. The food was pretty good, and I definitely want to go back for some of the other things I saw on the menu, but I don't think Steven will ever take me there again - he was sweating bullets trying not to look at any of the girls in front of me lol. After dinner we went to my father-in-law's house so the men-folk could load up the trucks and trailers.

On Saturday Steven left bright and early for his hunting trip. I vaguely remember him kissing me goodbye but pretty much slept through him leaving haha. I decided to be overly-productive so I didn't think about missing him. I got ready and cleaned the whole house while waiting for Yvette to bring the Neon over, Mike had been borrowing it for a few days. When she arrived we went to Costco for gas before I dropped her off at Mike's house. I went to Kidz Again in Meridian (a children's consignment store) to drop off a box of clothing, then headed to my mom's house. Avery, Mom, and I went to Albertson's to kill some time - I was going to a birthday party at 4 pm and my mom was going to watch a friend skydive at 4 pm as well. My mom bought me coffee and the people at Starbucks were SO nice! The cashier gave us raspberry pound cake for free and the barista made Avery a little drink for free - the drink contained chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and caramel drizzle! Needless to say Avery went berserk after that pure sugar drink and refused to nap. Never ever again will she get one of those little drinks haha.


Around 4 pm we parted ways. My parents went to the DZ I used to jump at to watch Jan's youngest son and mother go skydiving. I would have liked to go but it was best I didn't, I'm too poor to skydive and watching friends do it would've sucked. I took Avery over to Kristen's house for Cassius' 1st birthday!! It was a truly amazing day. Cassius was born 12 weeks early at only 28 weeks, he was 2 lbs 5 oz. Little Cassius stayed in the NICU for 85 very LONG days but came home 1 day before his original due date of January 4th. Looking at Cassius today you would never guess he was born premature. The party was a lot of fun and it took my mind off of missing Steven. Cassius was not shy about his cake smash, it was adorable! I was pleased to see that Avery was using her manners even with strangers around. I heard her say please and thank you multiple times, she also used "excuse me" a lot, its her favorite 'manner word'. When it was time to go Avery and Conner gave each other a hug and kiss, Avery said "I love you Conner" and Conner said he loved her too - I nearly went into a cuteness overload. That evening was uneventful and quiet without my husband.


Newborn Cassius


Cassius after his cake smash


Avery trying to get into Conner's hiding place


On Sunday I went over to my mom and dad's house. Quinn had work that day but he was able to eat dinner with us during his lunch break. Avery helped my mom in the garden a little bit, she pulled some carrots :) We didn't stay too late because I wanted to try and get to bed early but I failed miserably at that. I got into bed and decided I would read a few pages of A Game of Thrones which is the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, well reading just a few pages of this book is impossible and I ended up reading for 4 hours before I even realized what time it was.




Avery Quinn - 21 months

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Vacation Part 2

On Monday I got up at 5am for no good reason, Avery slept soundly until 7am. That day Yvette, Joanne, Avery, Lizette, Jovan (Steven's other cousin), and I all went to the beach - Jovan and Lizette took the day off school to hang out with us. It was Avery's first time at the beach, she didn't like the sand or the water haha.




We let her nap at Joanne's house before packing up her things and taking her to the aquarium. It was small but Avery had a lot of fun running around and yelling "FISH!!!!!!". After the aquarium we made the long drive back to Tustin, Avery unfortunately did not sleep during the drive. Brianna picked me up shortly after arriving at Nana's house so we could have dinner, just the two of us, she had a Panera gift card so we went there - the food was awesome.




My mom, Nana, Avery, and I had breakfast with a friend of my mom's on Tuesday morning. After Avery's afternoon nap my mom and I took her to meet her Great Great Grandma for the first time! I was so happy to see my Great Grandma, we didn't get to see her when we visited last March because she was sick and didn't want Avery around her :( I hadn't seen her since 2010 when Quinn graduated high school, I flew down to California and drove back up to Idaho with my Great Grandma and my Grammy :)



When my mom and I got back to Nana's house I met my childhood best friend, Kelly, and her fiance, Luis, in the park. I only had about 20 minutes to visit with them because I already had dinner plans that evening. We chatted for a bit and exchanged gifts - Kelly gave me a friendship bracelet, and I gave her a hand-made cross stitch of our childhood memories. After gifts Kelly and Luis walked me and Avery back to Nana's house. I was only inside the house for about 10 seconds before we all piled in Nana's car and left for dinner.





The gift I made for Kelly



The bracelet she got me

We went to Tulsa Rib Co for dinner. Mom and I split a half rack of ribs and it was more than enough food.


Coloring at the restaurant

I woke up ridiculously early on Wednesday morning so we could go to the airport at 730am. Going through security was a breeze with my Ergo :) Our first flight to Vegas was packed so Avery didn't get her own seat, thankfully it was a really short flight. We met up with Yvette in Las Vegas and wandered around the airport, our second flight was delayed so we had plenty of time to kill. I played a few bucks on the slot machines, it was my first time gambling, I lost everything haha. On the flight to Boise my mom, Yvette, Avery, and I all sat together. Steven was waiting for us when we got to Boise, we all got in the Durango and went back to my house. Steven had to go back to work so Yvette stayed at our house for a bit while he made an important call while I took my mom home. That evening Steven made dinner, did the laundry, and completely cleaned the house. Avery put up a fight when it came to bed time, we had been co-sleeping the entire week so she had trouble going back to the crib. I think I am done traveling indefinitely.


Passed out - LOVE my Ergo


Lita, Avery, and Mimi

This is only half of the weekly blog because it wouldn't let me upload anymore photos. I'll get the second half out soon :)

Monday, October 21, 2013

Vacation Part 1

VACATION!!
On Wednesday, October 2nd, we got up bright and early for our flight. Mom had stayed the night with us so we could all go to the airport together. I toddler-wore Avery through security, it made things so much easier! Our first flight to Oakland was packed, Avery was good during the flight but decided to poop during descent the moment the seat belt light came on :/ For 15 minutes she cried about being poopy but we weren't allowed to get up to change her. We didn't change planes when in Oakland so when everyone got off the plane my mom changed Avery and we moved our stuff to a seat at the front of the plane. The flight to Orange wasn't nearly as packed so Avery got her own seat (except during take off and landing when she had to be in my lap). On the descent into Orange Avery passed out - of course she spent the entire flight fighting sleep and fell asleep right before landing. Thankfully Avery was so tired that she stayed asleep while we got off the plane, got all our bags, and waited for my cousin Brianna to come pick us up. Brianna wasn't able to find a parking spot so she dropped off her boyfriend, Taylor, to get our bags as she pulled up to the curb. We worked well as a team - Taylor loaded the bags, I installed the car seat, and mom held sleeping Avery (who finally woke up when we put her in the car seat.



My Uncle Randy (my mom's older brother) was already at Nana's house when we got there, he and his son flew in about an hour before us. I was told Uncle Randy and Riley were now planning to stay with Nana and Papa as well, I was expected to share a room with Riley and Avery which just wasn't going to work for me, there wasn't even room for her pack-n-play. Brianna invited me to stay with her, she and Taylor still live with his parents and they had a spare room for me. I took my things over to Taylor's house and went back to Nana's for dinner. That evening Avery refused to sleep in the pack-n-play :/ She ended up sleeping with me in a twin bed, we don't co-sleep because she's a bigger bed hog than I am so it was an interesting night.

The next day Brianna and I began making 120 party favors for the wedding. It was basically a roll of mints, wrapped in a cool paper, with a ribbon, a flower glued on, and a note that said "Mint to be". Mom and Nana went to the store, had lunch, and got their nails done while Brie and I made the favors. Brie and I decided to paint our own nails that evening before going to dinner with Taylor and Uncle Randy.


Putting make up on the dog

On Friday morning Brianna had school so I walked over to Nana's house - Taylor's parents live in the same area so it was an easy walk. Avery had stayed the night with my mom so that I could recover from the terrible sleep I got the night before. When I got to Nana's house everyone left to go to the church to set up for the wedding. My Aunt Lisa and cousin Hunter showed up at Nana's house shortly after, they had driven in from Oregon. Brianna showed up a little later after I had put Avery down for a nap, she took Lisa and Hunter to get some food while I obviously stayed home with the baby, it gave me time to make more party favors. My dad and Quinn showed up later that afternoon, they had driven from Idaho to California.



That evening we ALL went to dinner at Oggi's, an awesome pizza place that my cousin Austin works at - 'all' includes about 20 of us. After dinner Uncle Randy and Riley decided to stay elsewhere so I moved my stuff back to Nana's house, Quinn had planned to party that night with Brianna and Taylor so I let him take my spot at their house.


Me and Austin


Saturday was the big day. My grandparents renewed their vows for their 50th wedding anniversary. We all met at the church reception hall because family photos were supposed to be taken at 10 am but didn't even get started until nearly 11 am. Guests started showing up shortly after pictures so we all moved to the church for the ceremony. Avery was so cranky that I took her back to the reception hall and missed the entire ceremony :( I went back to the church after the ceremony for more pictures, Avery was only in 2 pictures before she hid behind a pew and pooped haha.



Nana, Mom, Avery (excuse the diaper she was trying to escape) and I


Nana and Papa with all the grandkids

We had a taco guy catering the event, the food was amazing! Avery sat at the kids table with other children - they had cars, coloring books, and dry erase boards to play with. I sat with Brie, Taylor, Dad, Quinn, and my cousins Rose, Dylan, and Austin. After eating I had my dad take Avery and I to my Uncle Mike's house, Avery had skipped her nap for the wedding and was very cranky. Avery passed out in the car so she didn't end up napping at Mike's house :/ plus I couldn't figure out his TV so we sat in silence for a few hours until everyone else showed up.



I went home with Mom, Dad, and Avery around 6pm - Quinn decided to stay at the party drinking and having a good time. He didn't get home until after 11pm, I only know that because he came into my room thinking he was sleeping there that night (to be fair we had been playing musical beds the entire trip - I slept in 5 different beds during that week).

Dad and Quinn drove back to Idaho the next morning, Aunt Lisa and Hunter also made the drive back to Oregon. Avery and I had plans to go to San Diego that day as well. Yvette and Lizette, Steven's cousin, came to pick us up in the morning. Avery slept the entire drive thank goodness! I finally spent money on my trip, I had gone 4 days without spending a penny but broke down and bought myself coffee. We went to Joanne's house, Yvette's sister, for a family party/football game. Avery wasn't really up for seeing so many new people and was quite a pain in the butt that day. I felt bad about her attitude because that side of Steven's family only got to see her for a few days when she was 6 weeks old :/



Avery and Jovan




Avery Quinn - 21 months


The second half of my vacation will be coming soon.