Power Outage!

Last night Avery and I were eating dinner (Gabe was still cooking his) and all of a sudden the lights flickered, went out, then came back on, then went out again and stayed out.

This is something you expect to happen during a windstorm, snowstorm, or icestorm....but not in July when it's 90+ degrees out and no breeze to be had.

Both neighbors on either side of us lost power as well, but across the street still had theirs on. We called RG&E and supposedly only 19 houses were effected. Lucky us-we were one of them!

So we had to get Avery ready for bed with a flashlight-with no ceiling fan, AC, or humidifier (for noise) for her. Gabe and I sat by candlelight twiddling our thumbs since there was no TV, no internet, etc.

Gabe took a pic of me trying to look through the Sunday ads by candlelight...of course from the flash of the camera you can't tell it's pitch dark in the room! We started worrying about our fridge full of food-of course Gabe had just grocery shopped the night before and we had a very full fridge and freezer. We were thinking of what to do with all of the frozen meat, milk, etc. We were also dreading sleeping with no AC and no fans running when it was sweltering out.

But we lucked out and just as I was heading up to bed 3 hours later, the lights kicked on!! Our food was safe and we had a sound night of sleep! Yay!

Yummy Oreo Dessert

We had our annual block party over the weekend and I chose to make a dessert (big shock!).

When we went to our family reunion in Auburn this summer, there was this oreo dessert that was so, SO yummy. I had no idea who made it (there were 50+ people there) so I didn't bother trying to hunt for a recipe. Instead, I decided to try Google and see what it gave me. I found this which is pretty darn close, if not the same dessert. I'm warning-it's good, really good!

Oreo Dessert
18oz oreos, crushed (I used my food processor)
1 stick butter, melted
16oz cool whip
8 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 pkg (3.5oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups milk
1 can (13.5oz) sweetened condensed milk

Pour Oreo crumbs into 9x13" pan (reserve some for topping). Drizzle melted butter over Oreo crumbs.

Beat 1/2 of the cool whip, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until combined. Spread over oreo layer.

Beat pudding mix and both milks until thick (about 2-3mins). Pour into pan.

Spread remaining cool whip on top and sprinkle with reserved Oreo crumbs.





Notes-next time I might refrigerate the crust for a little bit before spreading the next layer on-the crumbs had a tendency to lift and get mixed into the white layer. Not that it's a huge deal, but it might make it easier. After pouring the pudding layer on, I also refrigerated it for about 20mins to let it set a little bit before spreading on the cool whip. It seemed too liquidy to be able to spread the cool whip without making a mess. Popping it in the fridge definitely helped! I also reserved too many crumbs for the top-I have no idea how much I saved (I didn't measure), but it was way too much!

We took this to our block party and then we took the leftovers to my in-laws for our dinner yesterday. Everyone really liked this dessert-it was a big hit so I'll be making it again for sure!

Last Weekend in August

It is so hard to believe that the last weekend in August has come to an end. All of a sudden I feel like I missed out on summer-like there were so many things I wanted to do, but never did. Not enough trips to the playground, still no trip to the zoo, no swimming (!), no trips to the beach, and definitely not enough ice cream (we have to work on that one for sure!). I really feel like this summer just passed me by-I know we did a lot and had a lot of fun, but part of me feels like I didn't live it like I should have.

But we did eat a lot of cherries this summer!


And we became a pro getting on and off our horse all by ourselves!

We had another busy weekend....

Yesterday I started the day one of the best ways possible...getting a pedicure! My in-laws got me a gift certificate to Scott Miller for Christmas so I decided it was time to cash it in! And it was wonderful! An hour and a half of pampering-how can you complain about that?! Even though I'm in denial that fall is almost here, I did pick out a nice fall shade for my toes

In the afternoon, Gabe and I met with a home builder (more on that to come in another post) for awhile. Then we had our annual block party! Only about a dozen of us showed up, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We had some good food and good conversation. Our neighbors have an 8 month old so both them and us had our baby monitors outside after the girls fell asleep. We ended up staying out until 10pm which was a lot of fun!

Today we hung around the house for a little bit in the morning. When Avery napped, I went shopping at the mall for a few things. Then when I got home we went to my in-laws for a "cold supper"-which was very yummy! Just all different salads and things that didn't need to be cooked since it was so hot out.

So it was another busy weekend and it's back to work tomorrow. Even though the calendar says September later this week, it's supposed to be blazing hot the next few days!

Fourteen Months Old!

Today my little girl is 14months old! She definitely doesn't seem like a baby to me any more-she really is a toddler these days!

She is now up to 12 teeth-she is just getting 4 molars in all at once right now and has been so good through it all!

She is walking 100% of the time now-she very rarely crawls anymore. She's getting quite good at it too!

She is still a really good eater-she loves her fruits and vegetables still! She is fully on whole milk milk now and doing just fine with it. She's only nursing once a day at bedtime, but that might come to an end soon if I have my way! I'll miss it, but at this point I don't think she's getting much out of it.

She has a few new words-"pasta", "ta" (tail), and "teeth". She loves blowing kisses to anyone when we leave...she'll say "bye bye" and blow kisses-it's so cute! She also tries to call for Jerri to get her to come to her. She recently has gotten interested in trying to feed herself with her spoon. We help her of course, but she always gets excited to try it herself!

She is still sleeping well-usually 11-12 hours overnight and lately she's been doing just one nap a day. Sometimes it'll only be an hour and other times it's been as long as almost 3 hours. Every now and then she'll take 2 naps, but lately she just fights one of them anyways.


I'm happy to say that bathtime is getting better. We switched it up and tried doing it during the day instead of at bedtime. I think part of the problem was that she didn't want to go to bed and knew that the bath lead to bedtime which made her cry through the whole thing. We realized that even on nights she didn't have a bath, she was still crying. So, we moved bathtime to the afternoon and so far she's done a lot better. She still cries when we wash her hair, but overall she's pretty happy in there and has even done some kicking and splashing! So I'm happy about that!

Here are her 14month pics. I took a few in her Pottery Barn chair that I liked too...this one I told her to "sit like a big girl":

Here she's pointing to her name:

This one cracks me up-look where the giraffe is! I caught it just when she chucked the giraffe into the air!

Reading "Goodnight Moon"-her latest favorite:

Here are my favorites from the bunch-here she's smiling because she realized the giraffe was next to her!

Hugs!

Pointing at something:


She was posing like this waiting for me to take the picture-too funny!

Smiley girl!

We Had Visitors!

Yesterday, my friend Jessica and her son Connor and my friend Megan and her son Noah came in from Buffalo for a visit. They are both teachers and are enjoying their summer off so we decided to do a get together on one of my days off.

We were debating between the Strong Museum of Play and the Zoo. When they got here, the weather didn't look too great out. It was very overcast and gloomy out so we decided against the zoo. It didn't end up raining, but it wasn't the nicest of days out either.

So off to the museum we went! Right when we got there, we had a quick lunch since none of us had eaten. Then it was off to explore! We basically started at the furthest point from the entrance and worked our way back to leave. We stayed in each area maybe for a half hour and just let the kids run wild and do what they want!

Here is Avery and Noah going up one of the many inclines:
Avery at the top of the "ship" on the bridge looking down at kids playing in the "sand".

Avery in Big Bird's nest:

Avery and Noah in the nest:

They had a blast shopping at the Wegman's there! Of course the 5 item only rule was a challenge, but they had fun! Avery was all over the jars of peanut butter (just like her mama!):

For awhile she would just take them off of the shelf and put them in the cart:

Connor pushing the cart and Avery chasing him with 2 jars of PB:
Avery decided that Connor should have the PB in his cart:

Connor pushing away!

Noah checking out the fruit strips:

They loved the fruit and veggie area-all of them were carrying as many as they could! It was so funny!

Avery and Noah checking out the carrot selection:

I didn't get a picture but Avery was picking all of the gross stuff off of the shelves (except the PB of course)-she was walking at one time with a head of garlic in one hand and a can of sauerkraut in the other-yum! Forget the cake mix and frosting, bring on the garlic and sauerkraut!

Before we left we decided to take the kids on the train for a quick ride. Avery has been on the train before with my in-laws and she also went on the one at Seabreeze last weekend. For the boys, this was their maiden voyage!

Here is Avery and I:

Megan and Noah on the train!

Connor wasn't so sure about the train-he had some tears along the way, but they all survived the trip! Once it finished, Avery signed "more"!

We had such a fun time with everyone! The kids were really good and really wiped out by the time we left. The only thing was that I wish us ladies had some more time to talk-we spent pretty much all of our time together chasing the little ones! Guess that's what happens when you're a Mom! Thanks for coming out ladies-we'll have to do it again very soon!

Going, Going, Gone!

As of today, my freezer stash of breastmilk is officially gone!

I had quite an impressive amount of breastmilk stored-which was good, but man did it take up a lot of room in our freezer! I will say it'll be nice having that back! We had enough for roughly 2months I'd say. Right around when Avery turned 1, I dropped her day time nursing sessions and used just the sippy cup. That was when I started dipping into the stash. When I got down to about a dozen freezer bags of milk left, I started introducing the whole milk.

I started mixing the whole milk (1/4 whole to 3/4 breastmilk) and every few days would bump up the amount of whole milk she was getting. Today was the first day she had all whole milk and no breastmilk (except at bedtime when she nurses).

So far, no reactions to it which is very good! The transition went very smoothly! Now the next "chore" will be breaking her of her nighttime nursing when she goes to bed. I have a feeling that might be a battle!

Seabreeze

Yesterday I was feeling about 90% back to normal...my fever was definitely gone but my throat was (and is!) still sore.

Good thing I was feeling better because Gabe's work threw their annual family picnic! Just like last year, it was at Seabreeze. Also like last year, the weather wasn't good at all. This year it was very cool out and was raining in the morning. Luckily when we got to the park, the rain stopped and held out the whole time we were there! I wish it had been a little warmer so we could go in the water park, but it was just too chilly out for that. Maybe next year!

When we first got there, we had lunch-hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ chicken, baked beans, pasta salad, potato salad, and ice cream.

Once lunch was over it was time to check out the rides! They have a few kiddie rides that have no height requirement. Technically Avery could have gone on them, but there was just no way-she would never sit still! One of the workers told us that people actually put their kids on them that young which really shocked me! I think if she had an older kid with her, she might be ok, but even then I'd be a little worried she'd try to jump ship in the middle of the ride.

So the only things we could really take her on were the carousel and train. We went to the carousel first and waited in line:

Nice close ups of us in line:

Then it was time to get on! I decided to be brave and put Avery right on a moving horse:

It was cute-as soon as I put her on it I told her, "Avery, hold on!" and she knew exactly what to do-it was so darn cute!

Here she's waving to Daddy:

I'll confess that I got a little teary-eyed through this. As soon as the horse started moving it hit me that my little girl was on her first amusement park ride. She's growing up way too fast. I had to fight back the tears!

As for Avery, let's just say it didn't go over very well. When the horse started moving, she got an excited look on her face, but the more it moved, the more she didn't like it. She ended up crying!

So when we got off, Gabe took her on but decided to go on one of the non-moving benches to see how she'd do:

That went over pretty well-no tears! We came back to the carousel later on and I tried her on a non-moving horse and she did just fine. For the last ride, we tried a moving one again and she cried again!

Then it was off to the train. I took her on first and she enjoyed it! So then Gabe took her on for a second trip:

Love this pic:

There they go!

We walked by the water park area to check things out. Like I said it was a little chilly out but we decided to see what Avery would do. They had a little area that had a 1ft deep pool and she was very interested in it:

She started splashing all around:

She loved it! Her pants got soaked and she had a blast! I wish it had been warmer because I would have taken her in and done some of the kiddie slides with her. I think it would have been fun. Gabe was also meeting some friends for dinner so we were short on time. Maybe if we had stayed longer we would have done the water park. I think if there's a decent weekend day that we have free, we may go back again since we all had a good time!

Movin' On Up

I finally bit the bullet and splurged on myself.

It's been a long time coming....

I have a new laptop! I just got it on Tuesday and so far I love it! I got the Dell Inspiron 14R. It replaces my Dell Inspiron 1150 (which I can't even find a good link to!) that I got back in the summer of 2004. That laptop did its job and always worked well. But in computer life, it was getting old and ridiculously slow. It would take several minutes to load a page which after awhile, got pretty old.

So I decided it was time to buy a new one. Gabe did all of the searching and picked out everything for me, so I really don't know much about my new one-I just know it'll do what I need it to do and it's a LOT faster than my old one was!

It'll take some time to get used to-I have the newest version of Windows and I'm more used to Windows XP so it's a little different. The keys on my new laptop aren't as defined so I'm finding myself hitting things I don't mean to at times. But, it's totally worth it! I love it!

Welcome to the new decade!

Silence

I haven't had a full day home alone since Avery was born.

Until today.

Granted, it's not the best circumstances since I'm home sick. I'm supposed to be working, but per doctor's orders I'm home until Monday.

So it's not like I'm enjoying my "free" day home. I've been in bed all day long (although I just showered to feel somewhat "normal"). I brought my laptop upstairs to occupy me. We don't even have a TV in our room, so it's been a quiet, uneventful day (except that our house is being worked on at the moment so I'm not truly home alone).

I have to admit it's weird.

I'm not used to the silence anymore.

I'm used to the pitter-patter of tiny feet on the hardwoods. The noises of her toys. The sounds of her excitement when she's playing.

It's weird not having any of that today.

I'm actually looking forward to them coming home tonight so my silence is broken!

Two

My blog is two years old today!

Here is my very first post! How long ago it seems....

Thank you to everyone who continues to check in on my life and thank you for leaving comments (although I'd love to see more!!). I hope you continue to follow along in our journey of life! And feel free to let me know if there's anything you'd like to see more (or less) of and if you have any questions about me, fire away!

Sometimes it's difficult to keep up with it, but I do it because our friends and family are so scattered that it makes a nice place for them to keep up with things.

Happy Birthday to Nit's News!!

I love my Mom!

My Mom is the best!

Yesterday I came home from work and wasn't feeling well. I took my temperature and it was 102! I felt lousy all night. This morning when I woke up (my day off) I still didn't feel well and my temp was at 101.

My Mom, the dear that she is, drove here from Buffalo to watch Avery for me. She's the best! I went to the doctors in the afternoon and found out I have another double ear infection (my 3rd in under a year!) and most likely strep throat. I felt ok until about 3pm then I really felt lousy the rest of the day today. I'm on amoxicillin for 10 days and I'm out of work until Monday.

I'm just praying Gabe and Avery don't get it now! Avery is still going to my in-laws tomorrow so I can rest and she'll be away from my germs. We'll see what we end up doing Friday with her.

Thanks for coming out today Mom! I appreciate that you took your day off to come care for sick little me! I love you!

Happy 6th Birthday Owen!

Yesterday we had a busy day. My Mom and Aunt Pat came in from Buffalo to go to the public market with us in the morning. We met my in-laws there, did some shopping, and then had some coffee after. My Mom and Aunt left shortly after Avey went down for a nap.

When Avery woke up, we went to Molly and Mark's house to celebrate our nephew Owen's birthday. His actual birthday is on Tuesday... he'll be 6 this year and starting kindergarten in the fall!

Avery just loves my neice and nephew-they were doing group hugs for awhile when we got there: Sibling love:

Pa with Owen and Bianca (Avery wanted to sit this one out!):

Owen has been big into collecting all sorts of bugs these days. He caught some butterflies and Avery was very interested in them!

Before dinner, Owen opened his gifts....

and Bianca got a few as well:

The sticker/activity book we got Owen:

Avery also got a gift from Pa and Grandma:

After dinner, it was cake time! Owen's plane cake:

Singing "Happy Birthday!"

Once we sang to Owen, Bianca wanted to blow out the candle too, so we also sang to her!


Happy 6th Birthday Owen! Hope you have a fabulous year!!