Avery's First Haircut

Yesterday was the big day....for 2 things!

One...Avery is now facing forward in the car!! We took our cars on Saturday to have the seats reversed. Since Avery was sick, yesterday was the first time she got to ride in them. I really think she enjoys being able to see everything going on and being able to see us!! Doesn't she look so big though?! And two....Avery got her first haircut yesterday! We took her to Haircuts for Peanuts. I wasn't sure how she'd do for the first haircut, so I figured we'd try a kid friendly place.

I mean, just look at the entrance!

It was really cute inside. Instead of one big room, every kid got their own room (sort of like a bedroom) for their haircut. Which is a good thing...because if some kid is screaming bloody murder, do you think your child would be interested in sitting there for a haircut?! I don't think so. So the separate rooms are a great idea.

Avery was a big girl and sat in the chair all by herself holding Daddy's hand the entire time! So cute.

Here's her before shot:

Trimming away!

Combing:

Snip, snip:

So how did she sit still you ask?! Well, here's the set up....so they each have their own room and each room is painted in bright colors, has a big mirror and a flat screen TV so the kids can watch whatever they like. They have drawers full of DVD's for the kids so you can pick what you want! Avery loves Dora so of course we knew she'd enjoy that! And it worked...the kid didn't budge the entire time!

And here's her after shot:

I realize it doesn't look that different, but most of the "clean up" was done in the back. She also got to pick out the bow in her hair, she got a lollipop, a balloon and a nice certificate with a before/after picture and a lock of her hair.

Here she is with her balloon in the waiting area. Since they took her right when we got there, she didn't have time to play. So we let her play a few minutes afterwards in the waiting area.

Yeah the place is a little pricey, but I think it was worth it. Next time maybe we'll go to a cheaper chain type of place, but I had to feel her out and see how she would do for the first cut. And maybe we'll go back there again...we'll see. It's a super cute place though and I highly recommend it!

And Avery got to have her first lollipop on the way home...she loved it!

Nineteen Months Old!

Avery turned 19 months old on the 27th. With her being sick, I had to delay taking her pics and doing this post for a few days.

Avery is still a good eater. She goes in phases where she's not real interested in eating, but then other days she eats like a champ. I think she's officially done with the highchair-she hasn't sat in it in a long time. We have a hook on chair attached to our dining room table and she does well sitting in that now.

She is still sleeping the same-about 12 hours at night with an afternoon nap.

She's still in size 3 diapers for daytime and size 4's for overnight (she's been in these sizes since May!). Most clothes she wears are 12 or 18 months, with a random 9monther in there as well.

Avery is still learning so much each day it seems. It's amazing how she picks up on things! She still loves her babies and is into Dora and Elmo as well (what kid isn't?!). She has gotten really good at a few of her puzzles she got for Christmas and she loves to color too!

Some new words this month: "puppy", "work", "milk", "bus", "away", "potty", "broccoli", "gas", "pee pee", "open", "doggy", "black", "fresh", "eat", "up". She has also started saying some phrases: "Hi Noah (or another name)", "thank you", "fix it", "open it", "all done baby". She also can do the motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider-it's so cute! She likes singing The Wheels on the Bus as well!

Here are some pics of her now that she's feeling better!

Playing with Daddy on the chair:

These are my faves:

This one she is doing the "side eye":

Saying "cheese" for the camera:

I just love this age that she is at-she is just so much fun to watch and listen to! She really makes us laugh everyday and we just love her to death! It's such a bittersweet thing to see her grow up!

Finally Feeling Better

Avery has finally turned a corner today!

Yesterday morning we ended up taking her to the doctor. When she woke up, she was really delirious and not acting like herself. I took her temperature and one reading was 101.1, the other was 103.4. So I decided to take her to the walk-in hours just to be on the safe side. They checked her ears and did a strep culture of her throat, but all came out clean. He said it was most likely just a virus but to keep an eye on her over the weekend. There was a possibility that it could be a UTI so he said if she got worse, they'd have to test for that.

Unfortunately, yesterday was by far her worst day. I think we held her all day long-she just didn't want to get down. And she took a 4 hour nap! I actually woke her up after 4 hours because I was afraid she wouldn't sleep at night (she did thankfully!).

This is pretty much how we were all day long: I'm happy to report that today she woke up in pretty good spirits and was ready to play! That in itself made us happy! She's still a little stuffed up and coughs here and there (mostly in bed), but otherwise she seems pretty good!

She somehow got interested in our icicles outside so I broke one and brought it in for her to investigate:

She loved picking it up:

And watching it drip:

Today was still a very lazy day for us-we didn't want to take her out anywhere since she still isn't 100% yet. Lots of playing and cuddling for us!!

My Poor Little Monkey

My baby girl is sick.

Tuesday when I picked her up from daycare, she looked very tired to me-which isn't unusual. She's at my in-laws on Monday and daycare Tuesday. And to be honest, she doesn't sleep well at either place. So by Tuesday afternoon, she's typically pretty wiped out and in need of some sleep.

When I brought her home, she felt warm to me, although when I took her temperature, it was fine. I went to the gym and when I came home, Gabe greeted me at the door with "she's sick". She didn't eat dinner and she had her head on his shoulder all evening and went to bed early. He said her temp was around 99 before bed.

Yesterday she woke up and seemed pretty good. Her nose was runny, but she wasn't warm to me at all. She ate breakfast, played, and acted pretty normal. She took a monster nap which was probably needed. We met with another daycare last night and while we were there, I touched her and she felt really warm to me. By the time we left, she had that sick look about her-just didn't seem like herself at all. Sure enough, her temp was 101.1 when we got home. We gave her some Ibuprofen and off to bed she went.

Today I got up and went to work (Gabe and Avery were still asleep when I left). I texted Gabe that if she stayed home (she was supposed to go to my in-laws again) to let me know and if need be, I'd come home. Sure enough he called and said her temp was over 101 again and she had her head on his shoulder since waking up. He gave her more medicine and she came around a little bit. I left work around 12:30 so that Gabe could go in for a little bit this afternoon. She was pretty miserable when I got home but I finally got her down for a nap. She's been sleeping about two hours now and we'll see what her temp is like when she wakes up.

I just feel so bad for her-she gets really quiet when the fever spikes and just gives you this look like "please do something for me". It breaks my heart. Luckily my day off is tomorrow so I won't have to miss work again if she's still under the weather. Hopefully that's not the case though!

First Time Bowling!

After our play date Saturday, Avery took a nap, then it was off to meet our friends Julie and Richie (and their 2 kids Carly and Brayden).

What did we decide to do?! Go bowling!

The thought never would have crossed my mind with 3 little kids, but Julie suggested it, saying they have bumpers and ramps for the kids to use. We had no idea how it would go, but we decided to give it a shot.

And the kids LOVED it!

What we did was we got 2 lanes. One for the kids, one for the adults. We all played just a single game, which took about an hour. The parents took their turn, then ran to help their little one with their turn...so it kept us busy the entire time, but it was a lot of fun!

Here I am getting Avery's ball on the ramp for her: Trying to steady the ball and pick her up:

First roll!

Right into the pins!

Avery and Daddy:

Watching for her ball to come back:

Avery's turn is over!

Now it's Carly's turn!

The final scores:

Ok, want to hear the sad part?! My score was also an 89...yep, my daughter and I tied! Haha! I think the kids did better than most of us did!

After bowling, we headed out for a bite to eat at Friendly's.

For some reason right before we left the restaurant, Avery was obsessed with plugging her ears. She's never done it before, but seriously did it for at least 5min before we left. It was pretty funny!

So that was our busy day Saturday....Yesterday we met with another daycare in the morning, then I had a coworker's baby shower in the afternoon. After I got home, we just played with Avery until it was her bedtime, then we followed shortly after. It was a pretty busy weekend for us!

Daycare Playdate!

We had quite a busy weekend this weekend. It all started yesterday morning....

Two girls that Avery currently goes to daycare with came over for a playdate. We've gotten together a few times before, but I honestly think the last time they were all together was at Josie's birthday party at the end of June!! Since all 3 of them are under 2 years old, they all can't be at daycare at the same time (they're only allowed 2 kids under the age of 2). So, Josie and Avery are never at daycare together so they never get to see each other. Since it had been so long, we had to do a get together before their daycare officially closes.

And the girls had a BLAST!

They all crammed in Avery's tent:

And took turns on the train-here Avery and Josie are both crammed on it!

Amelia helping push Josie on the train:

After they played awhile, we took a lunch break! Josie's studying the spread:

Avery wanted everyone's fruit!

Josie eating her sandwich:

After lunch, it was back to playing for a little while before it was their nap time. The girls got a kick out of sitting in Avery's little doll stroller!

And playing with my exercise ball (which is deflated and I have no way to pump it up!)

And again cramming into the tent!

It was so much fun seeing them all together again. They actually played together this time which was great and they all are running around and talking like crazy! It's a big change from the last time they were all around each other! Hopefully we'll be able to get together more often since they might not be seeing much of each other once daycare closes in a few short weeks. We're not sure where everyone will end up, so we'll see if any of them stick together at our next daycare!

Panic

So I told you about our daycare change that's going to take place....

....and now I'm really starting to panic.

Avery goes two more times to her current daycare, then she's done. Yep, about 10days until she's finished....

....and we still have no replacement.

All of the people I left messages with? Well, I called them all a second time, and still no call back. How frustrating is that?!

I've been searching and searching and calling and nothing.

We've met with 2 people so far and weren't totally thrilled with either one. We're meeting with another one on Sunday, so my fingers (and anything else) are crossed that this works out. It's a little further away than the others, but I had to broaden my search as my options are getting very limited. If this one doesn't pan out?! I have no idea. Honestly.

I just feel like this huge weight is on my shoulders right now and I know it won't go away until we find a place. And as time is dwindling and my options are as well, it's freaking me out. I just want my baby girl to have a new "home" while we're at work.

That's all I'm asking.

Approval

I updated a few days ago about our home building and I'm happy to say we have some news!

We found out last week that our mortgage got approved!

The realtor we're working with had rotator cuff surgery at the end of last week, so unfortunately we don't know what's happening next. As soon as we hear from him, we'll be moving forward with building our house!!

I'll be updating as we go and I'm sure I'll be asking for opinions too!

More to come!

Buffalo Trip

Today we made a trip to Buffalo for the day. We haven't been since Christmas Eve, so we were due for a trip.

We started with lunch at The Delaware (no website) with my Dad and Colleen. It's a newer place-maybe open a month or so. It's very nice inside and the food was very good. We will definitely go back. And for being new, it had quite a good crowd for lunch!

After that we went to my Mom's and Avery took a little nap for us. After that, it was all about playing!!

A quick pose with Daddy: She found my Mom's precious moments collection and was shreiking!

One of her new favorite moves:

Drinking out of my water bottle:

My Uncle Joe and Aunt Marion came over for dinner. They try to stop by quite a bit when we're in town, but it's usually for a quick visit. They don't get to spend a good chunk of time with Avery and see her in action. So it was nice that they came for dinner and got to spend some time with her. After we ate, she went on a kissing spree and had to give everyone a kiss!

Grandma:

Mommy:

Uncle Joe:

My Mom put up Avery's new picture and Gabe had me pose to look like I was kissing her:

And of course what's a visit without a story from Grandma?!

We had a very nice time. We left around 7:45 and it took Avery awhile to fall asleep in the car, but she eventually did. We got home, got her in her jammies then she fell right back to sleep which worked out perfectly!