HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY

Since we've lived in Idaho for over a year now I figured it was finally time to update the name of my blog - Little Lyon's Life in Korea doesn't really apply anymore when little Lyon doesn't live in Korea. New year, new name. 

So it turns out 2013 wasn’t all that bad, in fact my family had some pretty good moments: We moved back to the United States, I’ve been able to reconnect with all of my friends here, Avery went from a baby to a toddler, Steven got a kick ass job that allows him to work from home, I’ve been able to remain a stay at home mom, I got to visit my California family and see my grandparents renew their vows for their 50^th wedding anniversary, Avery got to meet her great great grandmother and I got to see my Grammy (I haven’t seen either of them in years), AND we were able to spend holidays with family in person instead of via Skype. So yeah, not bad.

This week we started cleaning out our home for a new chapter in life. We are moving in February and have started the daunting task of cleaning out our apartment. I honestly don’t know how we keep accumulating so much stuff! I moved to Korea with a duffel bag and came back with an entire house full of stuff, then we moved into this apartment with nearly nothing and somehow have a house full of stuff. I wasn’t about to clean without coffee in my system and I’ve recently decided to make my own to save money. It turns out I have absolutely no idea how to prepare my own coffee, it tasted horrible no matter how I doctored it. I really prefer to just pay someone to make my coffee the way I like it but I don’t plan to quit after just one failed attempt.

Avery's scar is healing up nicely

I met my mom at her work for lunch, I had worked up an appetite from watching Steven clean out our storage shed lol. We bumped into my friend Brian who joined us for lunch, we were very good friends when I worked at Wells Fargo, and it turns out our daughters are birthday twins both born on January 8^th. I absolutely love having lunch at Wells Fargo because every time I got there I bump into old friends, I HATED that job but I loved the people I worked with. 

On Tuesday, Steven made me a caramel frappuchino like I always order from Starbucks, it was AMAZING!! I still can’t make my own coffee to save my life but now I have Steven to make them for me J After a long day of cleaning my mom picked up Avery so that Steven and I could go tour the house we’ve been itching to rent. The house is in Nampa, roughly a minute away from Quinn and Ashley. After viewing the home we went back to my mom’s house for dinner. There was a package from Grammy waiting for me (well Avery), inside was a quilt that Grammy had made for Avery and a mini-quilt for Avery’s doll, Avery loved them!

Avery and Minnie have matching quilts :)

Avery’s birthday was on Wednesday, Steven and I almost forgot since we already celebrated over the weekend. I put Avery in a shirt that says ‘It’s my birthday’ but she would not allow me to get a clear picture of it, she’s suddenly become camera shy. I dropped her off at day care and cleaned my parents’ house, it had been snowing so I got to shovel the driveway, its one of my favorite chores. We didn’t do anything special for Avery’s birthday after day care, last year we went to dinner, but this year we just didn’t.

I took Avery to a play date on Thursday. I had to get off at Ten Mile but got stuck behind a 46 car pile-up. I was a half mile from the freeway exit when they shut down the freeway and it ended up taking me an hour to get that half mile. When we finally made it to the play date though Avery had a lot of fun, it was at my friend Ari’s house. Avery got to play with her twins and could not stop talking about it on the drive home.

Avery had her 2 year check up on Friday afternoon. My daughter is not the most compliant patient so she was yelling at the nurse and doctor… The nurse wanted to take Avery’s vitals and Avery told her “too bad”, then the doctor tried to look her in ears and Avery yelled at her “that’s enough!” It was embarrassing but at least the doctor was pleased with her vocabulary haha. Avery weighed in at 25.5 lbs and 33 inches tall, the weight is accurate but the height isn’t, she kept squatting down to avoid being measured. Avery didn’t need any shots (thank goodness) since I had them get those out of the way when we got her flu shot.

The "twirly wall" at the pediatrician 

As if the day wasn’t eventful enough, we got to sign for the house in Nampa after work that day. We took my mom with us so she could see the house. We ended up staying the night at my parents’ house so that Steven could help Quinn move the next day.

Pretending to be asleep

Steven, Dad, and Quinn were gone most of the day moving stuff to Quinn’s new place in Nampa. Mom, Avery, and I just hung out at the house – I made chili for the men-folk since they would be hungry when they got back. It was a pretty lazy day for me.

Sunday was the usual family dinner but this week I stayed home. I felt MISERABLE all day so I rested while Steven and Avery were gone. 

I love having an active toddler but dang I sure do miss Avery's newborn days. On the left is my 7lb 8oz baby girl who had the biggest, squishiest cheeks. On the right is my 25lb 5oz toddler who is the most lovable, compassionate little girl. 

Avery Quinn - 2 YEARS OLD!!!

Avery's Birthday

We celebrated Avery’s 2^nd birthday on January 4^th this year, her birthday wasn’t until the 8^th (obviously) but my mother in law had to fly back to California before her actual birthday so we had the party early. The previous day I had ordered Avery a plain old cake but when I picked it up before the party the baker said she added a little something to make it not so plain. I opened the cake box to find Minnie and Mickey Mouse rings on her cake, the baker had no idea that Avery was having a Minnie Mouse party so it was perfect!

My nana bought Avery a Minnie Mouse dress from the Disney store, I was SO excited for her to see it. We put the dress on Avery about 1 minute before guests were due to arrive so she wouldn’t mess it up. It took longer than expected to get her in the dress because she wouldn’t stop hugging it.

The party was a huge success and much more enjoyable than last year. Last year we had JUST moved back, we were still partially jet-lagged, it was my first time seeing a lot of old friends, and I was overwhelmed by the fact that my baby was turning 1 year old. This birthday was much more fun, there was a lot less stress, Avery knew how to open her gifts, and she didn’t scream when we brought out the cake haha J

She insisted on wearing her new outfit

Saying bye to Conner

After the party I went out with Quinn, Ashley, and Steven. We hadn’t been on a double date in ages and we got to celebrate the fact that Quinn and Ashley were approved to rent a home in Nampa J We went to Red Robin for dinner and then went to see 47 Ronin – both were paid for with Christmas gift cards heck yes! Avery was still awake when we got back to my parents’ house, I’m pretty sure she was still riding the sugar rush from the cake. It took a while to calm her down enough for bed but once she was asleep I hoped in bed myself, Steven and I stayed the night at my parents’ house.

On Sunday I slept in AND got a massage!! Crazy right? Steven and I received massage certificates for Christmas 2012 and finally got around to using them in January 2014 lol. My mom watched Avery while we went to get our couples massage. The experience was weird for several reasons – 1^st I had a dude massaging me. I have nothing against male masseuses and have had them before but this guy was a dude. I asked for medium pressure which he interpreted as ‘spine breaking, push you through the table and into the floor’ pressure. 2^nd He didn’t actually massage me, he instead poked me a lot (I’m assuming pressure points or something??), either way it didn’t feel good, although I felt great afterwards. 3^rd the place played upbeat music instead of the usual soothing sounds so it was hard to turn my brain off. And 4^th was that Steven’s masseuse had the biggest fakest boobies and while massaging him “accidentally” put them on Steven’s face…yeah I kid you not. After the massage we were too tired to drive all the way home, we went back to my mom’s house for lunch and somehow ended up staying for dinner too lol.    

Avery Quinn - (almost) 2

The Longest Day EVER

The Lyon family has officially lived in the United States for a year! January 1^st 2013 was one of the most chaotic days of my life. Steven, Avery, and I got up at 4:30 in the morning, packed the rest of the tiny hotel room we had been living in for a week, and caught a bus to the airport. On the way to the airport we saw several car accidents occur on the very icy roads and hoped we weren’t next to crash (crazy Korean drivers). When we finally got to the airport two hours later they started announcing that flights were cancelled due to the bad weather, but thankfully our flight wasn’t one of them – however we had to go to the complete opposite end of the airport for our check-in. We had 5 suitcases, 3 back packs, a 1 year old, her stroller and her car seat to lug around.

I really wanted Avery to have her own seat but the Army never bought her a ticket home because of “paperwork issues” and, because our move took place between Christmas and New Years, the issue was never resolved. Our first flight was a 2 hour hop over to Japan, then it was on to the US. The flight from Japan to San Francisco was the worst flight of my life – 4 hours into the flight the plane began shaking violently, it made drops so steep that personal items were strewn about, people were crying, and even the flight attendants started praying. The flight lasted 9 hours, for 5 straight hours I thought my family was going to die, it was horrific. I’ve flown nearly 100 times with only 1 bad flight (this one) so I’ve managed to put that behind me and continue to fly, Steven hasn’t flown since that day, it took some major convincing to get him on the flight from San Francisco to Boise.

We started our journey home on January 1^st 2013, we travelled for 28 straight hours, and arrived home on January 1^st 2013…. Because of the 16 hour difference between Korea and Idaho, January 1^st 2013 will always be the longest day of my life.

This new year was a lot more mellow than last year thankfully. Steven and I weren’t invited to do anything so we stayed home with Avery and went about our usual routine. Around 11:30 pm some idiots started lighting off fireworks even though it’s strictly prohibited in our apartment complex, they continued lighting them off until well after midnight and ended up waking Avery :/ It’s funny how I loved fireworks until I became a parent, now I hate them.

I had a doctor appointment on the 2^nd. Avery was being insanely adorable as we sat waiting for the doctor – she patted my shoulder and told me I was doing a good job sitting down, then she hugged me and told me I was being a good girl haha. After the appointment she kept telling people to have a nice weekend, I was dying from cuteness overload. My mom and I had lunch that afternoon, I cherish our lunches, I’m going to be sad when I move and they end. The day ended on a fun note with a family nerf war in the house. My Aunt Kim and Uncle Mike got us nerf guns for Christmas – Steven got a little nerf gun and I got a nerf crossbow. That evening Steven shot me with the nerf gun and it started an all out war, he was hunkered down in our bedroom and I took cover in Avery’s room – Avery’s job was collecting the bullets and resupply.

On Friday, I dropped Avery off at daycare. Kristen met me over there so I could accompany her on a tour of the daycare for the boys. I really wanted to hang out with her after the tour but I had to get to my mom’s house to help her clean and prep for Avery’s birthday party. Mom and I went shopping for food and set up decorations, it was a lot of fun. Also, Steven got another letter from his secret admirer. What started out as a simple "random act of kindness" thing (basically Steven sent a gift to a random person that also signed up to participate, and he got a gift from a random person in exchange) that Steven participated in for Christmas has evolved into a little crush I think. The first week Steven received authentic costume material worn by Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man, the second week he got a PF Changs gift card, then a Red Robin gift card, and on Friday he got a Cheese Cake Factory gift card. There is no name on the envelope but he's received $75 worth of gift cards and this time the envelope had tons of hearts on it. I should probably be jealous but this mystery person has paid for several dates so far haha.  

Pictures of Avery’s party won’t load for some reason so I shall include those in a separate post J

Christmas

The day after Avery’s accident she was running around like a lunatic – she was swan diving onto her stuffed giraffe chair and running around with her eyes closed… I was a nervous wreck all day, I was so worried she would get hurt again L

Steven’s friend, Mitch, came over that evening – Mitch has been away at basic training for the last few months and was home for Christmas Exodus. I expected us to have a fun evening but Avery had different plans, she did NOT want to go to bed. I assume she was in pain even though I had given her Tylenol before bed, she was screaming bloody murder. Avery ended up in bed with me, although I hadn’t expected to go to bed so early so I was still fully clothed, contacts in, un-showered, hungry, and not tired at all. I snuggled Avery for 40 minutes before she was asleep enough for me to sneak away and at least take out my contacts. It was a rough night for sure.

I was exhausted all Christmas Eve because of the poor sleep I got the night before. We spent Christmas Eve with Steven’s grandparents and parents. It was a lot of fun watching Avery open her gifts. Her first gift was a small stuffed Minnie Mouse that was almost identical to the Minnie Mouse she already had, she was so happy when she realized she had two of them now. Avery’s favorite gift was a tie between a Minnie Mouse jacket (which she refuses to take off) and a Minnie Mouse air plane / scoot along toy.

After dinner and presents we went to my parents’ house to spend the night – thankfully the rest of the family were still at the Prochaska’s house for their Christmas Eve stuff so we were able to get Avery in bed without distractions. Everyone got home shortly after Avery was in bed and they stayed in the living room for quite some time. I was so tired I just wanted everyone to go to bed so that I could go to bed too (since my bed that evening was the couch). By the time everyone cleared out I only got two hours of sleep before Avery woke up screaming, I don’t know what she did but her stitches were bleeding. I cleaned her up, applied some ointment, and tried to get her back to bed but it just wasn’t happening. After a few hours she ended up sharing the couch with me and falling asleep.

Massage train

Avery and I woke up the next morning to my mom and Steven downstairs talking. The rest of the family oddly woke up at the exact same time and all came downstairs. Steven and Uncle Mike volunteered to go get everyone Starbucks while Mom and I made breakfast. Making breakfast for 11 people took longer than expected so we opened gifts while the food cooked. I was nominated as Santa this year – basically I was in charge of handing out the gifts. We usually open gifts one at a time but with so many people this year it was a free-for-all.

So many Minnies

Making dinner

Shortly after eating breakfast we began prepping for Christmas dinner – in addition to Mom, Dad, Quinn, Ashley, Steven, Avery, myself, Uncle Mike, Aunt Kim, Sarah and Nick we also had the neighbors: John and Arlene, and a few Prochaskas: Scott, Jan, and Sean. Christmas dinner was a big event and so much fun!

Holidays with family is more stressful but much more special. I can’t believe this was our first Christmas home since 2010.

On Friday we were able to get Avery’s stitches taken out. After work we met my mom at the ER since Avery only wanted my mom when they put the stitches in. Avery did pretty good getting them taken out, they had to hold her down but it was really quick. We met the rest of the family for dinner after the ER, it was the Donaldson’s going away dinner. Avery was mad at us for the ER visit so she was being pain in the butt. On the drive home she ripped off her scab and started bleeding all over the place again, I was glad to be done with that day.

Getting her stitches out

Bleeding all over the place

We went to Mike and Yvette’s house for breakfast on Saturday morning. After eating Yvette offered to watch Avery while Steven and I returned a gift – I asked for a little drawstring bracelet from Kohls and Steven confused it with a really expensive bracelet haha. I returned the expensive bracelet and got two cheaper ones that I liked. Steven also returned two pairs of sweats that he bought me for Christmas, he really wanted our family to wear red sweats for Christmas because you wear red on Fridays for the troops, it seemed appropriate. Steven and Avery managed to find red sweats but they only had shades of pink in the women’s section and no red men’s in my size – we tried, it’s the thought that counts. 

Avery Quinn - 23 months

Our Trip to the ER

Let's start this post out with a photo of my favorite girl

This week started out fun as Avery discovered she could lock her bedroom door. I was worried about Avery eventually locking herself in a room and not being able to get her out but the lock on Avery’s door is backwards so that it locks from the outside. On Tuesday the 17^th, Avery managed to lock BOTH of us in her bedroom. I had left my phone in the living room so there was no calling for help. I knocked on the door and hollered for Steven but he had the TV up so loud that he couldn’t hear me. We were in there for about 15 minutes before I realized that the laptop was on Avery’s changing table! I brought it in the bedroom to pay bills but started playing with Avery and forgot about it. I messaged Steven on Facebook but he didn’t see it, luckily a few people texted him to see if he let me out J

Avery had to go to day care on Wednesday, she has to go at least once a week to stay current. I used the free time to clean my mom’s house in preparation for the Donaldson’s arrival. I cannot keep my house clean to save my life but I can easily clean my parents’ house haha. I took a break at 3 pm to go pick up Avery from day care. Her teacher, Miss Amber, made an owl ornament for our Christmas tree – it was very sweet. Steven brought the entire family Taco Bell for dinner that evening, which was awesome since no one felt like cooking. My mom and I decided to try and make candy sleds, they turned out pretty good, but Avery kept begging for chocolate the entire time. 

I could not get her to leave day care!

Our candy sleds

The rest of the week was pretty dull. On Saturday we went over to Steven’s grandparents’ house to celebrate Anne’s birthday (Steven’s little sister). It was a pretty mellow evening. My mom’s little brother and his family finally made it to Idaho late that night.

Avery with her aunt Anne

Eating a dairy-free dessert since she can't have ice cream

Sunday was our 3 year anniversary!! We celebrated by going tubing with friends and family. We had to wake up pretty early to drop Avery off at Yvette’s house before meeting our group at the Prochaska house. We took Quinn and Ashley with us since they both drive little sedans, my dad drove with the Donaldsons, and my mom rode with the Pros. The whole group caravanned to Garden Valley for tubing, we mainly spent the day trying to beat the speed record (although we never actually beat it). We did make the biggest chain with 15 people J I had SO much fun, I only took a short break during the day because I thought I lost my phone – turns out there was a hole in my pocket and the phone slipped between the pant liner. Ashley had to help push the phone all the way up my leg back through the hole because it was the only way to get it lol. Our passes were only for 2 hours which was plenty of time, everyone was exhausted afterwards.

Our group

My mom and I

Steven and I on our 3 year anniversary

Quinn and Ashley passed out on the drive home

Everyone (minus the Pros) went back to my parents’ house for dinner, thankfully Yvette brought Avery home to us because we were too tired to drive. Steven and I brought Things to play after dinner – basically the game goes like this: One person pulls a card that has a phrase like “Things you wouldn’t want to find in your sandwich” and everyone writes down an answer anonymously, then everyone tries to guess who said what. The game is SO much fun but unfortunately we only got to play for 10 minutes before all hell broke loose - Taz (my parents’ dog) bumped into Avery and she fell face-first into a wooden chair. Steven scooped her up and realized that she was bleeding, we initially thought she had a bloody nose but it turned out to be a gash in her forehead. We immediately went to the hospital – Steven drove, my mom sat in the front seat, and I sat in the back with Avery trying to keep pressure on the wound and stop the bleeding. I got the bleeding under control half way to the hospital and once I removed the towel from her face Avery was fine and dandy. When we got to the hospital the doctor confirmed that she needed stitches, he told me it would take 15 minutes to do and I wanted to punch him in the throat. Thankfully the staff worked quickly and got it done is less than 5 minutes. Immediately after the stitches were done Avery was walking around and showing the hospital staff her ‘night-night’ lion. Avery slept great that night, a full 12 hours, but I didn’t sleep a wink. I had the baby monitor glued to my ear too worried to sleep. 

Helping make dinner

This breaks my heart!

Avery Quinn - 23 weeks