Gone Fishin'

I just friggen adore my daughter! This week on her way to day care she insisted that Steven stop and get me a “coffeechino” and told him that I needed to drink it with my mouth. She was so insistent that they stopped, got coffee, and surprised me at work :D

Playing with Avery on my lunch hour

I am going to miss all of Avery’s cute toddler words, she’s growing so fast that some of my favorite words are fading quickly. 1) ‘Coffeechino’ is by far my favorite, which comes from me always ordering frappuchinos and Avery knowing that its coffee. 2) ‘Nammies’ is a close second, which is her word for pajamas. 3) ‘Heckercocker’ = helicopter. I’ve been trying to get these cute words on video since it’s very unlikely that our future children will have the same cute nicknames for things.

Slowing getting photos of our new place uploaded - Avery's room

The week was pretty uneventful – work work work. Steven had Friday off this week so he picked me up for lunch, we went to the Sunrise Café. We had some time left over after eating so I showed Avery and Steven around my office.

Steven and I took Avery to the Sportsman’s expo. The expo was insanely crowded, we brought the stroller in the hopes that Avery would actually sit in it but that only lasted 10 minutes haha. I got the most amazing shirt! It’s a Starbucks/gun shirt, I have an almost identical air soft patch. Steven got a gun bag for super cheap and some awesome BBQ sauce – I was LITERALLY telling Steven about seeing a local BBQ sauce company the other day when we walked right passed the booth for that very BBQ sauce.

Cool new shirt

The highlight of the expo was the kids’ fishing tent – kids under 12 were allowed to fish for trout in a giant fountain. Steven helped Avery hold the fishing pole, they managed to snag a little trout but it got away before they could reel it in. After that I took a turn helping Avery, we had a few nibbles but didn’t catch anything until a monster trout swam up and basically caught itself. Avery was SO excited to have caught a fish!

Afterwards we drove to Costco to meet Steven’s parents, we all walked around the store as they shopped, then we went to their house since Avery was staying the night there. Steven and I went out for dinner and saw a movie that evening. We saw Lone Survivor, which at points was very difficult to watch, being a former military wife I could not imagine Steven being in a similar situation. 

Avery Quinn

Paco got a job

I am officially a working mother - working as in having a job outside of the home, I sure as hell worked my butt off as a stay at home mom too. Steven has volunteered to take the 11 am - 8 pm shift at work so that Avery is only in day care part time. Yvette had President's Day off so we didn't have to worry about day care on my first day of work. I was so nervous that I would sleep through my alarm that I checked the time constantly throughout the night. I set an alarm on my phone and an alarm on my FitBit. A FitBit is a wireless activity trackers that I wear on wrist like a watch - it tracks my daily steps, stairs climbed, calories burned, distance traveled, active minutes, and tracks my sleep. I set my FitBit alarm to go off first because its a silent alarm (it sends burst vibrations to wake me) so I didn't have to worry about it waking Steven.

I got up at 5:30 am, got ready, stopped for coffee, and still managed to get to work 20 minutes early. My first day was an absolute overload of information, by lunch time I thought my head was going to explode. I ate lunch alone that day, it was kind of depressing - Quinn's girlfriend works for the same company but does her own thing during lunch so I'm hoping to make friends soon so I'm not eating alone forever. I felt like the awkward new girl just sitting there, eating my lunch that Steven had packed for me, I ended up calling him, my mom, and Yvette just so I wouldn't feel so dorky.

My coffee did not last long and soon my eyes were crossing and vision blurring because I was so tired. Being trained at work was so boring that even on a well-rested day I would've fallen asleep. Thankfully near the end of the work day I was able to sit at my own desk and actually work - the job consists of lots and lots of data entry.

I couldn't get home from work fast enough, I missed my family. Yvette was already there with Avery when I got home, I was so happy to see my baby. I spent all day just wanting to play with Avery but when I got home I was way too tired to play with her, it was sad. I was in bed by 8 pm that night.

She didn't last long either

Unfortunately sleep didn't last that long, Avery got up at 2 am screaming. She had this god-awful chest congestion, I seriously considered taking her to the hospital because she sounded so bad. We kept her in bed with us for a bit so that I could monitor her and after a while Steven took her downstairs so that I could at least get a few hours of sleep.

When I got up for work Steven and Avery were still awake, he finally managed to get her back to sleep while I was getting ready. Steven obviously couldn't take Avery to day care sounding like that so he had to take the day off of work to take care of her. My second day of work was just as tough, my body is not accustomed to this horrific schedule. Avery sounded a little better by the afternoon so Steven picked me up for lunch, it was so good to see my loves, it definitely got me through the rest of the day.

That evening Avery got up at 2 am again, Steven took her downstairs so that I could sleep. They were both still awake when I left for work at 6:30 am! Work was work, I visited Avery at day care during my lunch hour. It was nap time at day care but Avery never sleeps at day care. I took Avery into another classroom to play while the other kids slept, it was really nice getting to see her. My mom picked her up from day care and when I got off work I picked her up from my mom's house.

Avery had to go to day care for a full day on Friday because Steven had to work the 8 am - 5 pm shift. It was a really long day at work for me, I worked an hour and a half of overtime so hopefully my first paycheck will be plump. Steven met me at my mom's house after work, we all had dinner together which was nice. Steven took Avery home after dinner so that my mom and I could go to a skydiver reunion. Neither of us really wanted to go, we wanted to see our friends, but we were both so tired. We met everyone at the Dutch Goose in Boise, socialized for a bit, and left rather quickly. Mom and I stopped at Starbucks and hung out there for over an hour just chatting, it was the best part of my night.

On Saturday morning Steven and I tried the Blue Sky Cafe for the first time - the food was alright. I took Avery to Kristen's house afterwards for Evelyn's first birthday party (Evelyn is Jeca's daughter). Avery had fun at the party but we were only able to stay for a few hours because we had family dinner that evening.

Oh boy did I have a bad case of the Sundays, I was so annoyed with the fact that I had to get up and go to work the next day. Steven used to get a terrible case of the Sundays every week when he was in the Army and now I can finally sympathize with that. To top it off I was also getting sick, I just wanted to sleep all day but also didn't want to waste a day off by sleeping, it sucked. We ended up going to Steven's grandparents' house for dinner which saved us from having to cook. Steven got to Skype with his best friend, Mitch, who is still in AIT (advanced individual training for the National Guard). It gave me a weird sense of deja vu because there were so many times when I had been sitting in that very room Skyping with Steven while he was in AIT and again when he was in Korea.

Copying Yvette

Steven and Mitch

Avery Quinn

Interviews

This week was insanely hectic! 

It started out with Steven having to unexpectedly having to work 12 hours shifts at work. As if working 8 am to 8 pm wasn’t stressful enough, on Wednesday Steven knocked his phone off the counter into the toilet. I spent a good chunk of the day on the phone with AT&T trying to get a replacement. Even though we pay for insurance on the phone it was still $200 out of pocket to replace! I was pretty stressed by the end of the day but my stress level shot through the roof when I got a phone call about an interview. My mom and I went to Walmart to get interview clothes since I have nothing nicer than jeans and t-shirts. Mom ended up buying my entire outfit for me J

Avery and I on a walk

I had my interview with Shadow Trackers (they run back ground checks), I was SO nervous! I thought the interview went well, I was scheduled for a secondary interview the following day, and I was sent to do drug test. I hadn’t anticipated a second interview and didn’t want to run out and buy another new outfit so Ashley let me borrow something of hers.

My second interview was on Valentine’s morning. I woke up and was immediately given my gifts from Steven before I was even out of bed J I got a gorgeous infinity necklace and a stunning pair of earrings. After the second interview I was told I got the job! I’m happy but nervous, it’s going to be a BIG adjustment.

We went to dinner with my parents that evening, Shari’s had a prime rib and shrimp special going on. We all ate way more than we should have and went to Home Depot afterwards to walk it off. I got a little succulent for my new desk! My parents took Avery for the night and we parted ways in the parking lot of Home Depot. Steven and I went to Ross to get me some work clothes, the attire is very casual at work but this new job is a good excuse to spruce up my wardrobe.

Avery helping Pappy with his dinner

The weekend went by quickly. Family dinner was at Quinn and Ashley’s house, we had chili and played Taboo again. Yvette took Avery overnight on Sunday since she had Monday off of work. I wanted to spend my last day as a stay-at-home-mom with my baby but I didn’t want to wake Avery up at a ridiculous hour to drop her off at Yvette’s Monday morning. I barely slept that night, I kept having dreams that I slept through my alarm.

Steven and Quinn - lovebirds

Max giving me some love too

Avery Quinn

Housewarming

I am so sick of moving! This has been my 5th move in 4 years, that isn’t even counting the times we lived in hotels – oh Army life. We are hoping to buy a house within the next few years, granted life goes according to plan. 

Home

I had a busy Monday this week. I met my mom at Quinn’s house and we all went to KFC for lunch, Quinny was nice enough to get something for Steven and take it back to him since he was working. After lunch mom and I went to Boise to do the final walk through at the apartment. I thought the apartment was pretty damn clean (it was at least way cleaner than when we moved in) but I didn’t clean the top of the fridge so we got dinged there. 

That evening the fun continued when we realized the garage door was being funky. One of the wheels had popped out of the track and the garage door was stuck open. Steven’s check finally came!! After that we got coffee, got gas at Costco, and went to the bank. Avery took a nice long nap, we woke her up at 5 to go to the store but realized the garage door was being funny. One of the wheels had popped out of the track and it was stuck open. We released the emergency thing on the automatic garage door to close it but the whole damn thing fell out of the track and hung awkwardly in the garage. I called the realtor and my dad, both came over to help get the garage door closed until it could be repaired. It was a pain in the ass. After that whole mess Steven and I went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and split a meal (reduced portion size and half the price woohoo), then we went to Winco.

Avery didn’t go to day care this week which sucks – she loves the interaction and I love the break. Unfortunately there has been an outbreak of pink eye AND hand, foot, and mouth disease…. So that blows. Avery was SO stir crazy, she was driving me insane! I had planned to take her to the park that day but it snowed, all…day…long….. She begged and begged to play in the snow so I bundled her up and took her into the backyard. We were only out there for maybe 2 or 3 minutes before she started crying that she was cold, she then cried for 10 more minutes about wanting the snow to go away. Holy cow, I was thankful when nap time rolled around. The garage door repair man arrived and fixed everything within a few minutes. I shoveled the drive way and the side walk, it was nice having my own drive way to shovel.

That evening Steven and I were ultra productive, he installed baby locks under the kitchen sink and I made booties for our couch legs so they don’t scratch up the wood floor. We’ve tried several different kinds of felt padding (like we have on everything else that touches the wood) but the couch legs are shaped weird so nothing fits right. I decided to be crafty and make couch booties and the best part is that I made them completely out of scrap fabric so they only cost $0.11 to make each!!

My project

New booties

On Thursday it snowed a LOT, good thing I spent all that time shoveling the day before… grumble grumble. Quinn sent me a text asking me to feed Max when I let him out to pee, I wasn’t aware that I was taking care of Max at all – Max is his dog for anyone that doesn’t know. I guess there was a miscommunication between Quinn and Ashley about me taking care of the dog, each one of them thought the other asked me. I don’t have a spare key to their house so I had to drive to Albertson’s where Quinn works so I could get his car keys, so that I could get his garage door opener, so that I could get into his house, so that I could feed his dog (even a mouthful in my mind). When I got to Quinn’s house I let the dog out to do its business and fed him. I thought Avery would be super happy to play with Max but she only wanted the cat (who was smart enough to avoid her).

That evening we went to my parents’ house for dinner. My dad was working the 11 am – 8 pm shift this week so we took my mom to the Mongolian BBQ place and got food to go. I haven’t had Mongolian in a long time, it was difficult to stop eating and save some for lunch the next day.

Icicles in front of the house

Avery and I were supposed to go to a play date on Friday but it was cancelled due to snow, even the schools were closed for snow. Avery hasn’t been sleeping well lately, she’s been getting up around 11 pm claiming to be scared of the dark and ends up in bed with us. That wouldn’t be too horrible except she also won’t sleep in at. She got up at 6 am begging to go downstairs, so we did. A few hours later I decided to make the long drive to Starbucks, Avery was asleep before we even left the neighborhood. I knew she wouldn’t nap later so I drove very slowly to make sure she got some extra sleep. She didn’t get to sleep too long because my dad came over to take us out to lunch :D We went to Dickies BBQ, the food was so good, and there was plenty left over to take home to Steven.

Eating her ice cream

Avery didn’t take a nap that afternoon which means I didn’t get a nap either L By the end of the day we were begging Steven’s mom to take the baby for the night, thankfully she agreed. Steven dropped Avery off at their home in Boise but the snow was pretty bad at that point so the drive took 2 hours – that worked out to my advantage because I got 2 hours of alone time. When Steven got home we went to Albertsons and Walmart, it was nice to walk around.

On Saturday my parents bought us a housewarming gift! I went to Home Depot with my dad in search of a rug, we found a gorgeous (and cheap) deep blue rug for our living room. Steven laid it out once I got home, it tied the room together very nicely - although I don't have a photo of it this week haha. 

Everyone came over for family dinner at our house that evening, it was a big success. We had prepared a taco bar which is always a hit. After dinner Steven downloaded Taboo on his iPad and we had a guys vs girls match. The guys annihilated us girls, Quinn and Steven have some kind of crazy mental connection.

Impromptu dance party

Sunday was nice and mellow. Steven took Avery to his grandparents’ house for dinner and I enjoyed an empty house. I had planned to be productive but I ended up curling up on the couch, watching my favorite shows, and eating way more than I should have J

Avery Quinn