MOVING

So I’m terribly behind on this thing, between moving and getting a new job, I have zero time/motivation to actually write anything. This is an end of Jan/beginning of Feb update.

On Monday the 27^th Steven started working the 11 am – 8 pm shift at work, he does not like it at all. During the ‘busy season’ at work my dad and Steven have to work from 8 am – 8 pm so they are alternating shifts – one works 8 am – 5pm and the other works 11 am – 8 pm and then they swap the next week. The really crappy part is that they also have to alternate working Saturdays :/

She got stuck in the stroller

Nothing weird here, just a girl pushing her vacuum in a stroller

Packing for our move was very slow going – Avery was waking up left and right during the night and refusing to nap during the day so we were all sleep deprived. We didn’t really get anything done until Friday, the day before we moved. Steven had the day off work so he got the keys to the new house and spent several hours moving boxes. Avery and I stayed behind so that we could have one final lunch date with my mom. We ate at Applebee’s, got coffee, and went to the dollar store J My mom picked up Avery after work for a sleepover so that Steven and I could finish packing, we stayed up until midnight getting shit done.

Riding a pony and talking to Nana on the phone

Saturday was moving day! Steven’s paycheck didn’t come again, we had been waiting on it since Wednesday and the fact that it was still MIA was getting pretty stressful. Luckily we had plenty of distractions that day, we spent cleaned and packed until Steven’s parents and grandparents showed up. We spent 2 hours packing Grandpa’s truck, Mike’s truck and trailer, the van that we borrowed from my parents, and the Durango – even with all that it still took a second trip to get all of our stuff. Everyone caravanned over to the new house while I stayed behind at the apartment to clean. Steven and Mike came back a while later to get the last of our stuff.

Steven’s parents helped us unpack at the new house, I didn’t care about the rest of the house, I just wanted Avery’s room set up. My mom brought Avery over shortly after since Yvette hadn’t seen her in weeks and my dad came over to help after he got off work. Steven picked up pizza for dinner, his parents left but mine stayed. It was a great first meal in the new house. Dad left shortly after dinner but my mom stuck around to see Quinn when he got off work. I slept like a rock that night but Steven couldn’t sleep, he was worried about his baby being downstairs and us upstairs in case of an intruder or something, he ended up sleeping on the couch that night.

Our new home

Sunday was Super Bowl. Steven and I spent most of the day unpacking before going over to Jan and Scott’s house to watch the game. The game was uneventful (as most of you know) but there was good food and friends so it worked out. 

Piggy back with Mimi

Avery Quinn - 2 years

McCall, ID

I took Avery to the pediatrician on Monday for the strange diaper rash that has plagued her since early December. It was her second appointment for the rash – we've been treating her for typical diaper rash, a yeast infection, eczema, etc but the rash wasn't responding to any treatment so far. My mom met me at the pediatrician's office since she had the day off of work. We were stuck waiting for the doctor for nearly an hour but Avery did very well behaving herself during that time. The doctor isn't sure what Avery's mystery rash is, she suspects it was a yeast infection that got a secondary infection when Avery started scratching. We were prescribed an all-in-one type of antibiotic cream and left the office with hopeful optimism. My mom and I treated Avery to some ice cream after her appointment for her great behavior.

By Wednesday Avery's rash was completely gone! I was so happy that she finally got some relief. Avery went to day care that day so that I could clean my parents' house, my mom ended up coming home early because she was feeling well. Quinn, Ashley, and Steven all came over after work so we were able to have an actual family dinner :)

Avery coloring our boxes

The next day Avery was being a nightmare, I was counting down the minutes until nap time. I rejoiced when it was finally nap time but naturally the maintenance guy showed right as I was putting Avery into bed. He started working in the bathroom on something (we weren't told what he was there to fix) and he was the noisiest person alive, I swear he was in the bathroom just throwing tools into the air to hear them bang on the floor. Needless to say, Avery didn't nap...which meant no down time for me...which meant everyone was unhappy.

Steven had to work on Saturday as part of his new tax-season shift. I took Avery to my mom's house to hang out for a bit before girls' night at Kristen's. Girls' night was a lot of fun but I really don't enjoy having the responsibility of parenting while I'm trying to have adult time, this was the first girls' night I've ever brought Avery to – she was behaving but tired and therefore overly clingy. By the time we got home Steven was already gone, it was his dad's birthday so he and his sister took his dad out for dinner and a movie. It was nice having some alone time after I put Avery to bed.

We decided to change up family dinner this week and went to the McCall winter carnival :) We woke up early and went to my parents' house because we had already packed all of our winter stuff. My mom and dad took Avery in their car so that we could take Quinn and Ashley with us. The winter carnival involved a lot more walking than anticipated because all the ice sculptures were spread out about the town. I didn't feel comfortable having Avery walk around on the icy sidewalk so we went between carrying her, holding hands, and baby wearing. Avery seemed to have a good time playing in the snow, and it was nice doing something different for a change.

Enjoying McCall

Avery Quinn - 2 years

January 13-19

This week had a very slow start. I felt horrible since Sunday and have spent almost every waking hour wrapped in blanket on the couch. Avery did a pretty good job of not bothering me too much but I did allow her to watch more cartoons than I am willing to admit to get that peace and quiet. Oh well, a few days of cartoons won’t kill her and thankfully it gave me time to recuperate.

I didn’t feel well enough to go anywhere until Wednesday when I was forced to take Avery to daycare. I did my usual Wednesday cleaning at my mom’s house but kind of half-assed it because I still felt crappy. Steven brought the whole family dinner at my mom’s house after he got off work J Quinn even stopped by and ate with us.

On Thursday evening I got some much needed girl time with my friend Kristen. We took Avery to the mall to walk around and play in their kids’ area, we didn’t stay too long because there were a lot of inattentive parents and unruly children. We went back to my house to bathe Avery and put her to bed. Steven insisted several times that Kristen and I go out and do something, he more or less kicked us out of the house to enjoy our child-free time. We went to Olive Garden for a very late dinner, Olive Garden was always our go-to place before the kids came along. Kristen and I would ALWAYS secretly try to pay for the bill, I would wait for her to go to the bathroom, or she would wait until I was distracted, and swipe the check. It was really fun, but we’re both poor now haha so we had the waitress split the check.

Playing at the mall

Friday was pretty good, I went to lunch with my mom J 

Annihilating a grilled cheese

She picked up Avery after work for a slumber party so that Steven and I could have one final date night before the big move. We had planned to go to adult night at the Discovery Center but it turns out the website advertised the wrong day and we had missed it. Steven suggested we take a romantic drive to the hot springs BUT we had already packed our bathing suits and they were in a box at my mom’s house. We finally decided on having dinner at the Cheese Cake Factory using a gift card Steven’s admirer had sent. After dinner we went thrift shopping looking for a rug and a dresser, we didn’t find either though. The night was still young so we drove out to our new house to see how the neighborhood was on a Friday night, thankfully there were no parties going on. We stopped by Quinn and Ashley’s house, Quinn was working so we hung out with Ashley for a bit and she gave us a tour of the place. And after all that we went to Hastings and got coffee J It was so nice going where ever we wanted with no plan or time constraint.

Steven and I slept in on Saturday before going to get Avery. We went out to breakfast with my parents, although I had already eaten that morning so I just had a plate of bacon J Then the five of us went to Home Depot to get my parents a new vacuum. My dad had several gift cards and ended up getting a very nice vacuum. We all went to Winco after that for grocery shopping, I definitely got my walking done for the day. We went back to my parents’ house to help them unload groceries and set up the vacuum, you know you’re getting old when a new vacuum is super exciting, all four of us were playing with it.

Sunday was the usual family dinner. It will be nice when we’re settled into our new place and can rotate family dinners so it’s not always on my parents’ shoulders. Steven called dibs on the first family dinner after we’re moved in so I’ll have to try and get everything unpacked before then.

Avery Quinn - 2 years old

There is a serious lack of pictures this week because I wasn't feeling well but next update will be better :)