Last Weekend in January

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is February 1st already! Wow! The first month of 2010 is officially over!

We had a pretty low key weekend....
Friday was cold out so Avery and I relaxed at home. When Gabe got home from work we ordered chinese food and just hung out the rest of the night. Avery has been practicing sitting up and she sat all over the place:


In Daddy's chair:



Saturday I got up and went to the gym. After that we just hung out a little bit. Avery did some more sitting:

Then we went over our friend Julie and Richie's house for dinner. Their daughter Carly will be 2 at the end of February and they are expecting a 2nd baby at the end of July! They made a very nice dinner and we caught up on things. The girls got to play together a little bit...or I should say Carly played while Avery watched mostly! Haha!
This is Avery all bundled up in her snowsuit (first time in it!):

Gabe with Avery and Carly:

As soon as Carly saw my camera she ran up to me yelling "Cheese!" It was too cute!

A few of the girls together...Avery loves pulling hair these days:




Thanks for having us over Chapman's!! We had a lot of fun!
Today we did a lot of bumming around the house. I went grocery shopping, Gabe ran to Home Depot...other than that we were hermits today! Seems to be my trend the past few days-it's just been too cold out there to go out! But tomorrow is back to work and back to our routine!

Overnight Suprise

Well to start off....On Avery's 7 monthday I definitely started to feel a tooth coming through on her lower gums...my baby is starting to get her first tooth!! You can feel the sharpness of it now so it's definitely there! I think she's trying to figure it out-she keeps sticking her tongue out and moving it in and out of her mouth trying to feel the sharp part-it's pretty funny!

Anyways, last night she woke up at 1am to eat which is her usual. I go into her room and she is sitting up in her crib!! She hasn't mastered sitting on her own just yet so I was shocked! And the kicker is, I have no idea how she went from lying down to sitting up on her own! I couldn't believe it! All I have to say is thank God we decided to drop her crib mattress over the weekend!

Seven Months Old!

Today Avery is 7 months old!

I have the day off so I took her to a new coffee shop called Melon Bean Eatery to check it out. It's a very cute place and has a play area for kids. I had a panini and coffee and Avery sat in a highchair and played with some toys. It was a fun little outing for us today.

Avery is constantly changing and growing! She is pretty good about napping now taking a morning nap and an afternoon nap in her crib. The past few nights she has only gotten up once overnight to eat which is very nice!

She is loving her meals! She eats twice a day-lunch and dinner. Lunch is usually just cereal and dinner is cereal and a fruit/veggie. So far she has tried carrots, applesauce, sweet potatoes, peas, squash, and avocado. The only one she has hated so far is the peas-she never warmed up to them. Avocado is still iffy at this time too.

Avery is getting very close to sitting on her own now! Sometimes she still arches back or folds in half but she is pretty close to sitting unassisted. I think she'll like it when she can so she can play with her toys more easily.

Gabe and I have been teaching her sign language for awhile now. This past month I think she has really started to recognize a few of the signs-milk, eat, all done. We're waiting to see when she'll sign back to us!

Here are her pics we took today:







These are my faves of the bunch:

A is for...

Avery attempting avocado! This was last night's debut!

The first few spoonfuls:

Spoonful #6:

After that, the mouth was clamped shut and there was no more avocado eating! Today she did the same thing-ate a few bites perfectly fine, then gagged and it was game over. I'm hoping she starts to like them as the days go on...we'll see!

After dinner time, Gabe and Avery played a bit:

Potato Sausage Bake

I got this recipe from an old coworker of mine. We used to have breakfast at work twice a month and different people were assigned to bring in stuff. A woman made this and it was so good so she passed along the recipe to me. I haven't had the need to make it, until now!

My Dad had said he was going to come out for breakfast over the weekend so I was trying to think of what to make. This came to mind and we tried it out! Of course with how busy I was, I forgot to take pics of it! But believe me...it's yummy!! And super easy which is always a plus!

Potato Sausage Bake
3 1/2 cups O'Brien hashbrown potatoes (thawed)
2lbs breakfast sausage (browned and crumbled)
1 1/4 cup milk
8oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp dried mustard
5 eggs, beaten

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease (I used non-stick spray) 9x13" pan.
2. In large bowl, mix potatoes, sausage and cheese.
3. In small bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and mustard together.
4. Add egg mixture to potato mixture and mix until combined.
5. Pour into pan and bake for 50min.

Definitely try this-it's a keeper! And did I say how easy it is??

End of the Busy Week

So my busy week continued into a busy weekend.

Friday night was quiet after work-put the baby to bed and just caught up on some TV (we are WAY behind on things).

Saturday we had a playdate with 2 girls from Avery's daycare. We got together with them about a month ago or so and yesterday we got together with them again. It was a lot of fun and it's fun seeing how much the girls grow! We had a nice brunch-quiche, fruit salad, muffins and cookies and the girls had fun playing together. We were there about 2 hours then they were all ready for naps!
Here they are-Josie (6.5mos-she's 5 days older than Avery), Amelia (10mos), and Avery:

Amelia giving Avery a love tap:


When I got home, Avery went down for a nap and I ran to Wegman's then to JCPenney's to pick up Avery's pictures we had done. When I got home, about 15min. later Megan, Todd, and Noah arrived for a visit! The kids got to visit a bit and we had some pizza and wings for dinner. Avery went to bed and they stayed awhile longer before heading out. I stupidly forgot to take pictures of the kids-you just get to busy and into visiting that it totally slipped my mind. Noah has sprouted a tooth though and is getting so big!
Jerri was enjoying her new favorite place by the heat vent:

This morning my Dad came out for a visit. When we were in Buffalo last weekend we didn't get to see him since I wasn't feeling well so he came out today to see us which was nice. I made a nice breakfast (recipe to come!) so we ate while Avery napped. Then he got in some quality visiting time with her which was nice!
Here's Grandpa feeding Avery for the first time! She did really well!


My Dad stayed a few hours and Avery went down for nap #2. I'm catching up on here and just relaxing a bit before she wakes up.

This coming week will be a little less chaotic. Gabe's parents are gone on vacation so I'm only working one day this week when Avery goes to daycare. Since I worked a full week last week, they nicely counted those days for this week so I could swing it. So it's like a vacation for me this week which will be great! And we don't have much planned either which is even better!

Speaking of teeth....I think I can see Avery's bottom teeth. I swear I've caught glimpses of something white in her gums. When I really try to look, she fights me so it's hard to tell, but I swear I see something. I don't feel them yet, but they might be ready to pop out one of these days. I'll keep ya posted!

Busy Week

I've been slacking in my blog writing this week....for 2 reasons.

1. I feel like I have nothing to say lately (ideas anyone?).

2. This week has been super busy

Since I went back to work at the end of September, I work Mon, Tues, Thurs each week. Well, this week I worked all 5 days to cover for someone on vacation. I haven't worked a full work week since before Avery came in June. Let me tell ya-a full work week with a child is insane! God bless all of you who work full-time and have kids-I don't know how you do it every week! Here it is Thursday night and I feel like I'm so wiped out-and I still have one more day to go!

Besides working everyday, our nights have been busy as well. Tuesday night my Mom came into town to help out with watching Avery this week while I worked. Last night after work I had a nail appointment. Tonight, Gabe and I took advantage of a babysitter and went out for date night. We tried a place we haven't been called Virtu. The food was good, but a little pricey for the portions you get. Tomorrow after work we have no plans, but I have some baking to do for a playdate this weekend so I'll be doing that. It's just been one of those weeks where I feel like I get home and just do stuff right up until I go to bed (which has been at like 9pm!). So yes, I've been neglecting the blog a bit this week but there hasn't been much to update on! All I know is I feel like I haven't seen my baby at all this week-I can't wait for the weekend!

Blah

Blah....

That's how I feel....yuck.

Thursday I had a weird feeling stomach ache all day at work. It went away on Friday so I thought I was in the clear.

Not so much.

We had a trip to Buffalo planned so we were up early yesterday and got there by noon. We didn't do much. My Mom's one friend stopped over to see Avery and that's about it. Avery was in bed by 7pm and I followed shortly after since I wasn't feeling too great. My stomach was just churning and churning and I just felt yucky.
Here's Avery before she went to bed...playing with Lexie:


Needless to say we didn't get much sleep at all. I went to bed around 9:45 and was still awake when Avery got up at 11. She was up until after 1am and I was feeling like garbage. She was up again around 5 to eat then was up at 7 for the day. I probably got 4 hours of sleep and still felt crappy this morning. We were supposed to go over my Dad's for breakfast, but we cancelled and came home early-were home by noon.
Avery enjoyed her pacifier and Lexie before we left today:


I came home and took a nap and relaxed most of the day. I'm still not feeling great and haven't eaten much at all today. Unfortunately this is my week to cover a girl's vacation at work so I'm working all 5 days this week. I hope I feel better tomorrow because it'll suck if I don't.

I hate being sick!

Entertaining the "beast"

Avery was in a mood today-a not-so-good-mood. She was very whiny and crying a lot today, which she normally doesn't do. Yesterday she woke up from her nap with a stuffed up nose so I don't know if that is bothering her. Or if it's her non-existant teeth doing something? She normally doesn't fuss unless she's tired or hungry, so something must have been bothering her today. She did get better in the evening, which was nice. This is when I wish they could talk and tell you what's wrong with them. It's frustrating not knowing how to help them!

So I took some pics of her today since I was trying a lot of new things to entertain her and distract her a few minutes here and there.
Pushing up high on her stomach:

She loves seeing herself in the mirror:


Teeny tiny toes:


I attempted giving her some ice in one of those mesh feeders and she was pretty interested in it. Not sure if it was soothing somehow or if it was the newness of it that interested her:



Today we also tried a new veggie...peas! She ate the first 2 spoonfuls without a reaction, then we got the winner!

Put Her in Jail!

Gabe told me about a story at lunch today so I had to look it up when I got home.

This article makes me mad!

Seriously?! Changing a diaper on a stove-how genius is that?! Who in their right mind when they have a dirty diaper thinks "stove? Sounds like a good place to me!" Unreal! I just don't understand how that thought comes into your head. Especially a 44 year old woman who I'm sure reared kids of her own (which is a scary thought).

And who has to deal with the consequences? A sweet, innocent baby....for the rest of her life! That's unfair.

I hope her ass gets thrown in the slammer!

Oatmeal & Applesauce

Today was a dinner full of new things for Avery! She has become a "pro" with the rice cereal but when I went shopping last weekend, I decided to pick up a box of baby oatmeal to try next. Last night we finished the rice cereal so tonight was the debut of oatmeal.... First taste:
Unsure.... This isn't what I'm used to! She wasn't a huge fan. But with everything so far, it takes her a few days to get used to it, then she seems to like it. Hopefully that happens with the oatmeal. We also finished off her sweet potatoes yesterday so today we moved on to her first fruit-apples! I cooked a few last night and pureed them for her so we could try them tonight. I took a video of her first few spoonfuls but unfortunately the video is too big to post on here! It's a shame because it's pretty funny! Again, she was not a huge fan, but we'll see if she warms up to them soon!