Accessorize!

It seems as tho my son likes to have at least something fun to wear at any time of the day - this usually includes hats... but this morning, just out of bed it was SWIM GOGGLES! I love it.

Then this afternoon we were off to a playgroup and Avery decided to add a little pizazz to his clothing again.... I seriously had nothing to do with this and about dropped on the ground laughing when I saw him, but I had to run get the camera before he moved.

He put his hood up, put on some sort of halo ring, and gardening gloves. Is he my son or my husbands? hmmmmm :)

Summer Fun!

It has just been so nice out that it has been a few weeks since I have downloaded all of our photos, let alone post any of them! It has been a wonderful spring, and summer is definitely here! We have been spending so much time outside. We have been busy planning outside playdates with Avery's buddies and playgroups! Fun Fun Fun!

Scooting down a hill & picking flowers! SOOO pretty out!

Taking in the view (or at least we were!)

Playing in the back yard.

Checking out the veggie /sunflower garden!

We Are Back!

We are back from our trip to CA to visit family. We have been back for a week actually, but it takes a bit to get back into the regular routine (plus we have a house guest for the next two weeks, so that took sometime getting ready for too).

The trip was great and tiring. Visiting family is always nice but at the same time a little exhausting with all the traveling, driving, and different houses. I think we needed a vacation after our vacation.

We did catch the heat wave CA was having - we had a couple days in the 90s! Yes 90s! Too hot for the beach, but just right for a kiddy pool on the back patio! The remainder of the trip was typical weather, high 50s/low 60s and some fog.

We have been very fortunate to have beautiful weather here at home once we got back - Spring has sprung and summer is well on its way!

Here are a few pics from the trip.

Easter Bunny Arrived

We had a great weekend for Easter. We spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was seriously like Christmas for Avery... He got so many toys. It started with an easter egg hunt around the house, which he did great at. He really got into it, put each one in his basket, and went looking for the next one. Then he got a new backpack (for our trip this week) and it was stuffed with goodies. Avery had a blast.

Family Time

Avery's new thing is to pull Mom and Dad together. He grabs my hand, then Dad's and has us hold hands, or sit down together, group hug, group kiss, or pulls out a book and has us all read together as he gets a huge smile on his face and a look of satisfaction.

It took me a moment to realize why this makes him so happy - but when Dad comes home from work it is usually my time to finish up dinner, clean that last dish, straighten up a bit, etc. etc. We always sit together for an entire meal, and we play games together each night - but Dad doesn't get home until 6:00-6:30pm so family quality time is limited weeknights. I realized that only a very small portion of each weeknight includes all three of us sitting on the floor together - it is usually one or the other for the most part. And Mom and Dad usually don't hold hands then either!

Funny how he feels that Mom and Dad sitting together, holding hands, giving kisses is so important and makes him so happy. He is usually the one that gets held, gets the kisses, and we hold his hand - funny and absolutely adorable he wants Mike and I to do that.

I am happy we have every weekend together as a family and every other weekend is a three day weekend with Mike's work schedule - More family time the better!

Puddle Jumping - New Arrival

Avery loves puddles. Thankfully he likes his galoshes so that he can play in them to his hearts content. Today we spent an hour outside just trotting through all the puddles on our street from the recent warm temps. No snow suit even needed today!



In other news - we have a new baby in the circle. My dear friend delivered a baby boy early on the 5th. I got to visit her for a couple hours during labor late Saturday night after picking up her sister and mom from the airport. I could not believe how strong and upbeat she was after much inducing, and 15 hours of labor (plus pain meds :) They were about to give her a c-section but the doc agreed to one more try using forceps, and wah-la Hugo arrived at 4:20am. Went to visit them yesterday and they are both doing great.

HOT WHEELS!

This weekend Avery got a new ride from Grandma and Grandpa - a very spiffy hog made by Hot Wheels. He LOVES it - he can't reach the pedals yet, but he can move himself around using his feet just fine. He loves the all the sounds it makes too. This is his first bike type of toy. For now it is in the house until more snow melts - but he does not seem to mind at all.

April Fools!

Any tricks up your sleeve today? My husband likes to be pranked and scared... so naturally I had to pull a few tricks today.

• I moved Mike's beautiful new truck down the street at a friends house - so when he woke up this morning and walked eddie his truck would not be in our driveway.
• I put food coloring in his milk - which grossed him out and still couldn't eat it
• I switched all the settings on the computer
• and I put color tablets in the faucets so the water came out blue! fun fun fun!

New Avery Things

• Does a somersault on his own
• Climbed up the stairs by himself (not crawling)
  
• Says 'bye' on the phone
• Said 'bear' and went and got his bear
• Read a book to his bear - literally babbled, shoved bears nose into pictures, then turned the page - he has done this for awhile, but not with such intent.
  
• Goes tummy first into the tub, and puts his head under water
• Loves to pull mom, dad, and eddie together to read books while sitting on the floor.
• Still LOVES tomatoes! They are practically dessert!
  

Ash Ash go away!

So the volcano has had a recent obsession with erupting and spewing ash across our state. The airport has been shut down on and off for about a week now, and Saturday we got a lovely dusting of the nasty stuff. You could taste the grit in your mouth, your throat felt scratchy, and it smelled like a freshly put out camp fire outside. Sunday we stayed inside ALL DAY due to the ashfall and minor health risks associated with being out in it, we didn't drive either - very bad for vehicles. To lighten up the day, we put up the tent in our house and had some fun with that!

Here are some pics of the ash. It is a normal, bright day out, and the snow is dark and gray - yuck!

Morning at the Waterpark!

Friday morning, Mike's flex day, we decided to go to the indoor water park. Avery loves the pool, but we just have not made it to the water park until now. The water was very warm, and he had a lot of fun. He even went belly first in the water and blew bubbles by himself like he does in the tub!

Snow, new words, new ride!

Snow

Sunday we woke up to 6" of fresh snow, and we continued to get about another inch throughout the day. Although I am more than ready for spring (ha, ha, ha... we have more than a month to go) I just love a fresh snow fall. I think this has rubbed off on Avery... he loves the snow!

Not sure if you have heard... but we have a volcano erupting here... literally. My dad was even caught in 1/4" of ash fall (very unhealthy, and very bad for mechanical systems as well). A risk we take living where we do I guess.

But in spite of the "real" volcano... we made an "Avery volcano"!!!!! (the light was really flat so kind of hard to see the definition in the snow photos)

Mount Avery starting to stir

Mount Avery begins to rumble, small pyroclasitc flows are visible

Duck for cover - Mount Avery is alive!!!!
(yes, mom is a nerd)


WORDS

Avery is by no means at the top of his class for speaking, but our doc says he is doing just fine... actually, none of his buddies say more than a couple words on their own right now. They are good at repeating, but not necessarily spitting the words out at the appropriate times... so I don't feel so bad (one even took their kid to a speech therapist, and no worries... so that is that!) He is also getting very good at pointing to objects in books as we say them... not just his favorites either.

But Avery's new word is "hi". He loves to say it on the phone, to his bear, to me after waking up... his new favorite word. He is also starting to say bah-bye... yes, BAH-bye, cracks me up. He also likes "beep" after the microwave or oven.... he stands at either of them and says "beep, beep, beep". He is getting great at his alphabet too.

Now that I am thinking about it I think these are his words right now:

• up
• down
• on
• off
• hi
• bah-bye
• beep
• eddie
• mama
• dada
• door
• ball
• night night
• i think those are his words... he repeats lots of words well, but i think these are the ones he uses on his own..

NEW RIDE

This weekend we also got a new ride for Avery. A chariot! I am so excited, we waited a long time to get one. I am cheap, so I have been watching craigslist all winter and those suckers go as fast as they are posted, and for only like $100 cheaper than new.... so we finally broke down and got one. I am so excited because it can be used as a jogger, a bike trailer, and as a ski trailer (you pull it behind you as you x-ski). I am most excited to take him skiing in it! yahoooo! And bike trips this summer! It is required they wear a helmet if biking, so he got a very studdly new helmet too! Too much snow to bike right now, but we are certainly ready!


Guess I had a lot to say today.... too much going on in my head with my friends recent news. Better to write it here than bore too many friends on the phone right!?! :)

Something depressing, hopeful, and loving

the last couple days have been a mix of everything...

i found out yesterday a dear friend of mine, with an 18 month old girl, just left her husband. oh shit! Yes, I had not seen her in a few months, we just kept missing each other, Avery or I had a cold/flu like every week of Jan & Feb and this, that and the other thing kept us from catching up more than email. They came over for a play date yesterday and I got the news. She said she has been keeping these feelings bottled up inside and has not really talked to anyone about it for a very long time. I was stunned and I can't stop thinking about it... literally. As you can tell I cannot even write a complete sentence right now.

She is a stay at home mom, and moved in with her sister. They don't plan on divorcing at the moment due to religious beliefs - but she has been moved out for 4 weeks now. Stunned, still totally stunned. I just cannot stop thinking about what happened, when, why, how this changes her entire life ahead of her, and especially her daughters life. The minute it came out of her mouth I cried... not sure why, but I couldn't control it... and then we both cried for quite some time together.

It makes you check in with yourself, your true self, and realize just how extremely happy I really am. I did a lot of listening yesterday and not a lot of questioning - but as she was talking, when she was listing some of the things that went wrong, inside I was saying to myself "thank god i don't feel that way about my spouse right now", "thank god i don't feel that way about decisions I have made right now", "thank god i don't feel that way about my life right now". I was no way comparing myself to her in a spiteful way... but it was more of a check and balance, spur of the moment response in my head. I feel exhausted just thinking about the decisions she has had to make, the decisions that lie before her, and if I was in that situation what I would do next. She is very strong, stronger than I think I would ever be.

Day at the Zoo!

Today we went to the Zoo! It was a chilly 20°, but we still had fun! The tigers came out to see Avery - it is amazing how big they are when you get that close! Avery did his best Tiger impersonation but they didn't feel like talking back :)



On another note - I got my hair cut and highlighted today and I love it! yahooooooo! Nothing crazy, but it was just enough change to make me happy!

Needing some color & Sweets go away!

So I don't know if spring has got to me or what... well lack of spring where I am right now... in about 2 feet of snow. But I felt the need for more color. I got a light/cardigan style sweater with bright red poppies on it.... yes, that is right, red. For anyone who knows me this is major. And I made some very simple necklaces last night to add a little color to what I normally wear. Now that Avery does not insist on yanking necklaces off I have started to wear them occasionally.


On another note, I am having a major sweet tooth lately. I went to a camp last week and got lots of snack food, which we didn't eat any of because we were so busy or tired. And now they are here at the house and I find myself eating something sweet everyday since then... twix, m&ms, gushers... you name it. (no - i am not pregnant) But my addiction this week cannot be good for my waistline... which I have been working very hard at getting back to normal! :)

Also, in the name of spring I am getting my haircut and highlighted tomorrow! yeah! It has been a long time. I think I have gotten my haircut like twice since Avery was born.... sad, very sad. But it is just not the first thing I think of doing with my spare time. Hope it goes well!

Produce Box Fun!

So we are part of an organic produce box community. Each week get a box filled with organic produce from the Northwest - produce that is in season and delicious. Living where we do, fresh produce is not always at its peak by the time it gets to us - let alone organic. And it is fun because they pick the contents for that week.

Avery loves helping unpack the box... this week we let him really dive in. He even got to eat a pear for the first time all by himself. He loved it!

banana bread!

Best Banana Bread Ever!

My family loves banana bread! Avery eats a banana every morning for breakfast and I always buy extra thinking we will have some left over to make banana bread... but our monkey seems to always eat them before they get ripe enough to make bread. But, low and behold we made it today! Here is the recipe if anyone would like it. It is the best recipe I have found... from Cooking Light (I LOVE cooking light recipes!).

1 C sugar
1/4 C butter, softened
1 2/3 C mashed ripe bananas
1/4 C skim milk
1/4 C sour cream
2 large egg whites
2 C all-purpose flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine sugar and butter in a bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well blended. Add banana, milk, sour cream, and egg whites; beat well and set aside.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, beating until well blended. Spoon batter into loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 70 minutes - or until tooth pic comes clean when inserted into center. ENJOY!