Ms. Busy Bee

Avery has found a new favorite thing to do. She LOVVVVES to unload and load anything. A dishwasher, playpen, bucket, basket, anything at all! She started this habit, I suppose, thanks to me. I am a bit of a clean freak, well a 'straighten freak' I guess you could say. I always like the house freshly 'straightened' and find it hard to really relax if everything is not 'in its place'. After we bought Avery her big, bouncy 'playpen' we quickly discovered she was not that 'into it'. Soon this became the place where all the toys got dumped. Every day I take out some of her toys but every few hours I would throw them back into the playpen. Avery has watched me do it so many times, she thinks she must do it herself now. The problem is, she doesn't understand that this is the place for toys only. So if we're missing a phone, camera, remote, cell phone, calculator, pen, debit card, bill, Gladware container, sippy cup or anything else she can get her hands on - we know where to look! I decided to catch her in action and get some photos since this task occupies so much of her time at our house! Here is what I saw:

Step 1: If someone is trying to get you to smile for pictures, while you are working, frown at them...do NOT let them break your concentration.

Step 2 - Gather remotes, DVDs, Cell Phones, Toys and any other possible item to move them to your ball pit.

Step 3 - Go very quickly, you don't have all day, ya know!

Step 4 - Run if necessary.

Step 5 - There will sometimes be items so large they are hard to get in the playpen. But you must keep trying and eventually you'll figure it out. Never let mommy help you and if she does immediately throw a fit.

Step 6 - After you have found all possible toys, find other things of importance - DVD remotes, cell phones, empty water bottles and fingernail files. Throw them in ONLY when mommy isn't watching!

So...after all steps were completed by Avery, I decided it was very much time to clean it out. The ball pit was almost full at this point! Just look at the mess!

So after organizing for hours, I put only the balls back into the ball pit. I threw away the junk, bagged up the 'baby' toys and separated the rest into baskets, placing them around the house. And what happened next? Avery found the neatly placed baskets throughout the house with different toys and immediately returned them to where they belong!!

The Carousel

Today, Avery had a fun time riding the carousel. We went right after church and the mall had just opened, so we had it all to ourselves! And by we, I do mean all three of us. Charlie, my first child (a.k.a. husband) wanted to ride the alligator and the operator of the carousel said it was fine with her. I'm sure she was thinking, "Go ahead, knock yourself out...if you want to make a fool of yourself, who am I to say no?" So, ahead he went. And as he hoisted himself atop the plastic alligator, laughter erupted. Not only from me, but from a few tables in the food court. Although we had the carousel to ourselves, we did not have the entire mall to ourselves! And Charlie provide the afternoon entertainment. Now, can you believe he is more of the disciplinarian than I am? Yeah, me either!

This was before church...

Looks like we need a puppy!

Happy Birthday Avery!

Today Avery is 1 1/2 years old! Nonna stopped by with a cupcake on her way out of town. So, although I missed the mini-celebration (Avery is with gigi, I'm at work), that is probably for the better. Cupcakes are my weakness. Nonna says Avery looks much better today - yay! Maybe she will go back to daycare tomorrow? I know she misses her friends! What an amazing, wonderful, miraculous year-and-a-half we've had with our sweet princess. She is by far my biggest accomplishment and the joy of my life. There is nothing else like it in this world. Here are some pics of our amazing journey:

Avery's Birthday

1 MONTH

2 MONTHS

4 MONTHS

5 MONTHS

6 MONTHS

7 MONTHS

8 MONTHS

9 MONTHS

10 MONTHS

11 MONTHS

12 MONTHS

13 MONTHS

14 MONTHS

15 MONTHS
16 MONTHS

17 MONTHS

18 MONTHS

A Sick Little Girl

My apparent lack of blogging can be summed up to one word: Gingivostomatitis. Yes, I have one sick little girl. And I just couldn't find it in my heart to take pictures and show you the proof. And I would warn against a google image search if you plan on eating in the near future. Basically, its ulcers and blisters in and around her mouth. The long g word is caused by the same virus that causes cold sores. Yuck! Accompanied by a sore throat, high fever and a cranky baby who refuses to eat anything she is offered. Sounds fun, huh? So, please forgive me for the blog slackin' but I've been tending to a sick lil princess who requires 24/7 attention and care! Here is a recap of the last week and I'm sure it will be quite boring but will be a great help to me if she gets these symptoms again :)

• Monday, July 13th - Avery ran fever in the middle of the night, but it was gone in the morning.
• Tuesday, July 14th - Avery went to Christina's house (the babysitter) and did fine until 3:30. She became very lethargic and started running a fever. I get off of work at 3:30, so I rushed to get her and decided it must be some more molars coming through - )last time she had a pretty high fever and even threw up w/ a molar coming through).
• Wednesday, July 15th - Charlie stayed home with her and I had scheduled 1/2 day off. We were supposed to have a little date, but priorities changed when a sick baby was involved. She didn't eat much at all and was fussy throughout the day. The fever continued, even with Tylenol or Motrin every 4 hours.
• Thursday, July 16th - She woke up refusing to eat again and the fever was at an all time high for the week - 102.6. I called the pedi and they insisted I come in and that the fever was much too high for teething. I left work to take her to the pedi. Dr. K is on vacation for 3 weeks, must be nice, so his partner Dr. Y looked at Avery. She looked in her mouth and said "Oh my goodness!" She said their were blisters and her gums were swollen. They did bloodwork to determine it was a virus, not an infection, and she told me to give her 1/2 tsp of Benadryl mixed with 1/2 tsp of Maalox every 5-6 hours. She also told me that the combination of Motrin and Tylenol can cause problems with kidneys, so I should not alternate them (Which is what Dr. K had told me to do once before - sure wish they would get on the same page!) Avery refused to eat anything, was fussy and ran fever all day.
• Friday, July 17th - My lovely parents came to keep Avery so I could go to work. She did a little better, but ate very little.
• Saturday, July 18th - She ate a good breakfast (thanks McDonald's!) but not much more. The fever was off and on, but not constant and she was less fussy.
• Sunday, July 19th - She wouldn't eat all day and FINALLY decided to eat supper - who can resist a slice of Johnny's pizza and a chocolate eclair?
• Monday, July 20th - Charlie said her mouth still looks terrible, he got a good look at the inside today and she has 12 sores on the outside (up 2 from last night). I've also noticed she is pulling on her ear - Dr. Y mentioned it looked a little pink - which can only mean one thing: Another trip to the pedi! Thankfully, Gigi and Paps have come down to be here for the week if needed. Hopefully she will be better tomorrow, but everything I can find online says one to two weeks, so we will see. I am so glad we didn't plan on going to San Antonio with the rest of my family this week! God always plans ahead :)

Please pray for our little angel to feel better. There is nothing worse than a sick baby that you can't help!

In other news, I have no excuse to whine as much as Avery, but thanks to starting Atkins today it may just turn out that Charlie has two whiny babies on his hands! Besides, I think I ate enough this weekend during my eat-all-the-carbs-you-possibly-can binge to last well until I'm down to my goal weight! Hope you have a decent Monday, after all, decent on Monday's is about as good as it gets!

Avery's First Roadtrip

Nonna and I took Avery on her first 6 hour roadtrip. She did great! Here are the pictures:

Me, Avery and Grandma...at this point we were saying bye and she was ready for a nap!

Nonna and Avery

She loved the kitty...grandma has an inside dog and she LOVED him too!

Grandma bought her the Laugh n Learn puppy -she loves him too!

Count it all Joy

First let me say that I've just read this post written by MckMama. And it made me cry. (She is a great blogger! If you don't follow her - start today and you will not regret it!) And it made me think. Wow, what a complainer I have been this week. It has been a rough one. Busy and stressful at work, a fussy baby at home, blah....blah...blah. So I've basically been throwing a week long pity party. Why can't I just get ahead for once? Why can't things just go right? Why can't people just do their work and quit putting it off on me? Why can't Avery just quit whining?

Completely forgetting the miracles. Not stopping to give him thanks. What a shame.

Since I'm writing this post, I guess I'll speak for myself. I'm so quick to talk about something that's not going right. So quick to gripe about something at work. So quick to tell Charlie that Avery has done nothing but whine all evening. But when I'm surprised by joy, am I quick to share? When things are going right at work, am I thankful? Am I quick to tell my coworkers that I'm having a great day? Am I thankful to have a job in the first place? Shame, shame, shame on me.

533 days ago, I walked into a sonogram. Not necessarily nervous, probably a little bit though (considering my past). 5 seconds after the technician started, I was nervous. I knew immediately something was wrong, I had paid for the 4D and she wasn't even showing me! Blood flow and bone length? BORING! I want to see her face! And shortly after, I did see her face. Her tiny little face, as I laid on the operating table. I was surprised by joy, just like MckMama.

What made this pregnancy different from the last? How did she make it for 31 weeks? How did she make it for the 4 weeks without growing at all inside of me? I cannot imagine the alternative, I cannot bear to think of it. I have been blessed with the most amazing gift I could ever receive. How can I complain? How can I not celebrate every day? How can I not count it all joy? This tiny baby came into our lives 533 days ago and has done nothing but amaze us ever since. How dare I not count every single second all joy?

Not Me Monday

Well, it's another Monday. Why do Monday's always, always, always go so, so bad? At least mine do. And I can't figure out if it's all in my head, but at the time it really doesn't feel like it. Maybe it's because weekends spoil me rotten. Especially these days. Blessings abound on weekends. My wonderful, perfect (yes, and I really do believe that) parents, my hilarious husband and my sweet angel baby - usually we're all together and life is just plain good. Then there's Monday. I think that's the core of the problem :) So enough complaining about Monday's. There is one good thing about Monday's - Not Me Monday's!!! So take a look at MckMama's blog for all the nitty gritty details...and then write your own...they really are fun! So go ahead....spilllll!

Here we go....

1. I did not assume the deep freeze had been empty for a while, since Avery started to refuse breastmilk, so I did not decide we should probably sell it. I did not open it to find a bag of breastmilk from March 2008 nicely frozen, labeled and organized. I did not decide not to mention this to Charlie, unless he happens to read the blog, because it would probably really gross him out. Oh by the way, I have this barely used, great deep freeze for sale - anyone interested? Ha!

2. I did not go venture into a children's clothing store in town, without really meaning to, and proceed to buy the 'hoochie mama dress' and a few other things. When the nice clerk asked which branch of Chase I worked at, I did not get a little freaked out and ask, "How do you know I work at Chase???" He did not kindly reply, "Ummmm, well...your t-shirt, ma'am." Yes, of course, plastered across my chest were the letters C-H-A-S-E. I did not say "Wow, some days I am such a blonde!" and then leave quickly, never even explaining which one I worked at!

3. I did not get a bit stressed at work after I had to do the late night privacy audit last Monday and tell my boss I wouldn't be in until 9 on Tuesday. I had not planned on sleeping in and decide sleeping in was a waste of time when I could be grocery shopping. So I certainly did not wake up at 5am, as usual, get myself and Avery ready, and head off to WalMart on an early Tuesday morning. I assure you, the parking lot looked like pure heaven and one side was completely empty. Wow! I thought, what a great idea. I'll park on this side and get the first spot! I did not figure out, upon waiting for the automatic door to open, that it was so early the doors on one side were still locked and my great idea wasn't so great after all. And that would probably explain why I was the only car on that side.

4. I also did not quickly rip open a box of Nilla Wafers when Avery started to get a bit antsy in the buggy (for you Northerners, buggy = shopping cart). And I certainly did not sit the box of Nilla Wafers beside her in the buggy and let her go.to.town for the rest of the time in the store. Whatever works...right?
*CPS Disclaimer: Avery had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast before we left, so I counted those cookies as her 'morning snack!'

5. I did not give into the demanding princess when she was having meltdowns waiting in the car after the fireworks. She was not allowed OUT of the car seat for a few minutes while we sat in a parking lot, not moving for what seemed like an hour. She was not a little too tired to behave herself and sit nicely in her car seat.

*CPS Disclaimer: Once traffic started moving, she was promptly snapped in her seat for the ride home!

6. I certainly, after posting a previous post about DEFINITELY NOT wanting another 'one' right now, did not try to convince my husband that we should adopt a little boy that lives in the neighborhood and is not well taken care of. Charlie did not vehemently refuse and insist that instead, I should call CPS so someone will "brush his teeth" and "clean him up". If Charlie had agreed to adopt him, I would never consider walking down to his house and knocking on the door requesting that I take him home. Never, ever, ever. Poor Harvey.

*CPS Disclaimer: Harvey is not his real name, I'll call you later with all the details.

Fireworks = Fun

Avery spent Thursday night with Nonna and Poppa because she would've been the only one in daycare on Friday. Shame on Chase for making us work...on July 3rd...wow, I sound like one spoiled American! (And we do get a floating holiday, so I have an extra day off now - yay!) We were supposed to come Saturday morning but Charlie ended up getting to leave work early and of course the only thing I wanted to do was get to my baby! We surprised my parents who were eating with Avery at the hotel on the Riverwalk waiting on fireworks. Avery had a bllllast running around and entertaining everyone and was totally mesmerized and not one bit scared (unlike her mommy when I was her age).

Today Nonna grilled shish-kabobs and we had fresh cream corn and homemade macaroni-n-cheese with cherry cobler and Mamaw's Chocolate Pie. Y-U-M!!! We even did a few sparklers for Avery. We enjoyed our 4th of July and I hope you have as well!

And now for the pictures...courtesy, as always, of Nonna...

Pretty Fireworks...

"Nonna, put that silly camera down! You're gonna miss the fireworks!!! See...?!?"
I think she missed her da-da :)
But I think she had tons of fun with her Nonna and Poppa too...

And I'm so glad we're all together now!

Where does the time go?

Lately, it seems like every blog I read talks about having a hard time with their babies growing up. And I can totally relate. It's so exciting to watch Avery learn new tricks, say new words and become more independent. At the same time, it's so hard not to want to 'freeze time'. It feels like my time at work (which is not where I am at the moment - I would never blog at work!) goes so slowly but when I'm with Avery, time flies by. And before you know it, another year is gone.

I have been really thinking lately about whether Avery will ever have a sibling. It seems like most of my friends either have baby fever or are pregnant or are trying to get pregnant and I am 'none of the above'. I certainly wouldn't consider trying to have a baby right now, even if I felt I could do so without complications. We need to sell our house and buy a bigger one, before we expand our little family. BUT one day I know I will be ready to have another one and make Avery a big sister. How we'll accomplish that is anyone's guess. Getting pregnant seems almost irresponsible, with the likely possibility that I could lose the baby or bring them into this world much too small. There are certainly things I can do reduce the risk, but it will still be there. Sonograms have never been much fun for me (if you know my history you know why!) and would be pure torture with the 3rd pregnancy. And those 9 months would be filled with many days of worry. I would love to adopt, but I know that is a risky, timely, costly process and Charlie isn't completely on board with that either. So, I guess I'm just really sad about my one (and possible only) baby growing up! I know, whatever the situation, this is something every mother deals with. And we just take one day at a time. And before you know it, your baby is graduating from high school!

Wow, what a depressing post for such a wonderful holiday! Hope you have a Happy 4th filled with BBQ, swimming and fireworks! How blessed we our to live in the most wonderful country in the whole wide world! More pics to come from July 4th 2009...

One year ago today.... she still fit in a Bumbo...

July 4, 2008

...and would pose whatever way I requested :)


...and we still used my beloved Moses Basket...

...and the swing was still in the sun room (rather than the garage!)

Where, oh where, does the time go???