A to Z

I got this from my friend Joelle on her blog so I decided to give it a go as well! A little bit about me....from A to Z!


Age: 32

Bed size: King

Chore you hate: cleaning the bathroom

Dogs: None

Essential start to your day: Breakfast

Favorite color: Red or purple

Gold or silver: Silver

Height: 5'5"

Instruments you play: The flute, although it's been awhile

Job title: Clinical Technician

Kids: 1 girl and 1 on the way

Live: In NY

Maiden Name: An Italian one

Nicknames: Nikki, Nik, Colee, Btags

Overnight hospital stays: Just when I had Avery-was there for 5 nights (yikes!)

Pet peeve: People who chew with their mouth open-yuck!

Quote: "In complete darkness we are all the same-it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separate us. Don't let your eyes deceive you"

Righty or Lefty: Righty

Siblings: None

Time you wake up: Work days-6:20am, days off-whenever I feel like it or when Avery wakes up
University you attended: Haha-which ones haven't I?! Daemen college (2yrs), Buffalo State (2yrs), Canisius College (Masters-2yrs), one class at ECC

Vegetables you dislike: Asparagus, tomatoes, peppers

What makes you run late: Having a child

X-rays you've had: My hip, my leg, ultrasounds for the kiddos, dental ones of course

Yummy food: Italian food and pretty much any dessert


Zoo animal favorite: Lions and tigers

Weekend Recap

We had a very nice weekend....pretty much the last one of summer (*tear*).

Saturday I went to the gym in the morning. After Avery went down for a nap, I got in the shower. My Mom and Aunt Pat showed up around 4pm. We visited for awhile then went out to dinner right on the lake. It was a beautiful night and we had a very yummy dinner! After dinner, they went to visit a friend. Avery wanted ice cream so before we left the lake, we got her an ice cream. Then we just came home and relaxed after Avery went to bed.

Yesterday I met my friend for breakfast in the morning. While Avery napped, Gabe rant to TJMaxx for a few things. He got Avery a pair of Dora sneakers (which she loved, but they were still a little too big for her). After Avery napped, we all took a ride to the airport to pick up my in-laws' van. They left for vacation on Saturday and didn't want the van sitting at the airport all week. So we picked it up and drove it back to their house. Then we made a run to TJMaxx to get her Dora sneakers that fit her now (she insisted on wearing the big ones which just fell off of her feet so we figured for $6 we'd get her a pair she can wear now too). Then we did a family grocery trip to Wegmans. After that, it was dinner, bath for Avery then bedtime!

And just like that the weekend is over :(

Drywall and Siding

Yesterday Avery and I made a trip out to the new house to check on things. The drywall is pretty much up now but I think they still have to tape and mud it.

Here's the kitchen/morning room with actual walls now!

Tray ceiling in the dining room:

Family room with walls!

We couldn't get upstairs because they had scaffolding all set up that was blocking the stairway. Avery was bummed because she wanted to see her new room!

They started the siding outside too and it looks great so far! This is the back of the house:

Back of the garage:

I love the color that we picked-I think it looks great!

I guess the stone on the front of the house starts on Monday and I think the painters come next week....so we have to choose paint colors by then! That is not an easy task, let me tell ya!

18 Weeks-baby #2

Today I'm now 18 weeks along with baby #2!

How I'm feeling/sleeping: I'm getting there. I stopped my unisom about a week ago because I started having bad allergies/sinus problems. So instead of the unisom, I started taking my Zyrtec at night. I've been taking the Zyrtec on and off for the past week and for the most part have felt ok. I did have one bad nauseous moment the other day but it only lasted maybe a half hour and then I felt ok. As far as sleep goes, it's on and off. With my allegy/cold/sinus thing I can't breathe really well so that makes sleeping difficult in itself. I've had good nights and bad nights.

Appointments/events: I had my appt last week. I'm up a total of 6lbs so far which is exactly how much I gained with Avery at this point too. Everything looked well and we heard the heartbeat which is always nice. I talked to the doctor a lot about having a repeat c-section versus trying a VBAC this time....it's a very hard decision for me to make.

Cravings/Aversions: Food has started sounding more appealing to me finally, but no cravings or aversions really. Some things still aren't very appealing (oatmeal, peanut butter) and I've still been reaching for saltier things. Or if I have something sweet, I like something salty along with it (pretzels dipped in nutella like I'm eating at this moment).

Movement: I've definitely felt some flutters! I think it started about a week ago and it's usually once or twice a day that I feel it. Love it!!

Avery's thoughts: She pretty much says hi to the baby everyday. Sometimes we prompt her "Avery did you say hi to baby today?" and sometimes she does it on her own. It's so cute! The other day she came up to me and said "give baby hug" and she pulled up my shirt and hugged my stomach. Too cute!

I'm still not in maternity clothes (shocker!!) but I know it'll be very soon. Luckily I haven't had to dress up for work lately because I know my dress pants won't be fitting me anytime soon! I have one pair of shorts that I can get in to and the others are getting very, very snug.

Here's my photo from today (left, bottom) and with Avery at 19wks (right, top):

Baby Shower for Kim

Yesterday we had a baby shower to attend in Auburn for a cousin of ours, Kim. She's expecting a little girl next month!

My Mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I all rode together which was nice. It was pretty much an all day thing. We left by 930am to get there for the 11am start. The shower went until 130ish so we didn't get home until close to 3.

Here's cousin Kim and her Mom, Cindy:


Cindy, Kim, Marissa, Michelle (all cousins of ours):

The beautiful (and yummy) cake:

Kim with the cake:

The shower was very nice. They had a brunch and the food was great! Kim got a lot of great stuff too! She got enough clothes for the baby to wear for at least a year (haha!), carseats, strollers, bouncers, etc. I don't think I've been to a shower before where the person got almost everything you need!

It was a great party and we can't wait to meet the baby!!

Happy Birthday Owen!

Our nephew's birthday was earlier this week and yesterday we went to his party to celebrate!

They had it at one of those indoor bounce house places and we were anxious to see how Avery would be.

When we first got there it was very crowded and loud. Avery was a bit overwhelmed I think (she had just woken up from her nap) and was clinging to us for awhile. I finally got her to go into and empty bouce house by herself and she started to have a lot of fun.

While she was in there, the kids from the party gathered around and used one of those parachute things: They put Owen in the middle:

Avery finally got brave and went to a bigger bounce house that was a slide. Here she is climbing the stairs:

Sitting at the top:

And her and Bianca coming down:

Avery went down the slide a few times, then something happened and she sort of freaked out and cried. After that, she wouldn't go near the slides again!

She was however, obsessed with a balloon and a few balls she found there and was playing with them a lot!

The kids played about an hour then they rounded them all up for a group photo:

and marched them down to a party room. There they had pizza, saw some magic tricks and then it was time for cupcakes!

Singing to Owen:

the cupcake tower:

After cake they did gifts and then the party was technically over. With the party, the kids got admission for as long as the place was open. We stuck around because Avery was dying to bounce some more. Owen and his family stuck around as well as a few other kids from the party. It was interesting that they had no workers supervising the bounce houses. Adults are not supposed to go in them, but pretty much all of them tried out at least one slide! I couldn't of course, which bummed me out.

But here's my husband, the big kid going down the huge slide:

Happy 7th Birthday Owen!!

Turtle Cake

I had to look back at all of my recipes and see if I posted this one yet...and I was surprised to see that I didn't!

This is a very yummy dessert and super easy to make too! Not too sweet, not too rich....just delicious!

Turtle Cake
1 box of German Chocolate cake mix
14oz bag of caramels
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3/4 stick of butter
1 cup of chocolate chips
1 cup of chopped walnuts

1. Prepare cake mix as directed on box. Grease and flour a 9x13" pan. Pour half of the cake batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake on 350 for 15min.

2. While cake is baking, melt caramels, butter, and evaporated milk in a saucepan over low heat until melted.

3. Remove cake from oven and pour caramel mixture over cake. Spread evenly and let sit 5-10min.

4. Pour remaining cake batter over caramel mixture. Spread evenly. Top with walnuts and chocolate chips. Return to oven for 20min or until cake is baked through.

Try this! You won't regret it!

Seabreeze

Yesterday, Gabe had his company picnic at Seabreeze! Last year the weather wasn't great (and according to that, the year before wasn't either!) so we were hoping for a nice day this time around. Once again, we weren't so lucky. I guess we have a 3 year track record going now!

The park opened at 11am so we got there shortly after. We wanted to get in as much time as we could before the rain came.

We took Avery to the kiddie rides and she really wasn't interested in going on them. I finally said "Avery, do you want to drive a car?" and she said "YES!" So I got her in the car and hoped that when I walked away she didn't freak out....and she didn't!

So, here is Avery on her first ride all by herself:

And yes, I totally had one of those "my baby girl is growing up" moments and had a tear in my eye.

After the cars, she wanted to ride the horses, so off to the carousel we went. I took her on first, then Gabe took her a second time.

None of my pics turned out real great from it though:

After the carousel, our Brother-in-law and our niece and nephew showed up. So we went and met them and Owen really wanted to go on the log ride. Gabe, Mark and Owen went on while I stayed with Avery and Bianca. Here they are coming down the big hill:

And them right after coming down:

After the log ride, we headed to the shelter for lunch and Gabe's parents met us there too. We all got our bellies full then it was off for more rides!

I was hoping with Owen and Bianca there that Avery would go on rides with them. At first she didn't want to, so Owen and Bianca went on the planes together while we watched:

When they got off, Avery really wanted to go on! So we got her on there with Bianca. Here she is waving to us as Gabe buckled her in:

And here they are flying around!

As soon as the ride stopped, Avery cried "more! More!" so she went on again!

Then all 3 of them went on the boats together:

After the boats, Avery wanted to do the cars again....go around #2:

And go around #3 with Bianca this time!

After that, Owen wanted to go on the log ride again, so Avery, Bianca, Gabe Sr. and I stuck around the kiddie rides. We got Avery to go on the turtle ride...it's sort of a mini roller coaster. And look at that smile:

Well, the smile didn't last long. After about 6 times around, she burst into tears. The last 2 times around she was crying. Who knows what set her off, but she wasn't too happy about it!

Once everyone joined us again, Gabe took Avery on the teacups:

Yet another ride she wasn't thrilled with. She didn't cry, but looked terrified the whole time and once they got off, she was pretty whiny about it. Oh well, at least she tried it!

After the teacups and the carousel a few more times, we decided to head to the water park. Well, as soon as we got there, they started kicking everyone out due to a storm that was heading towards us. So we went back to the shelter and timed it perfectly-the rain really came down! We all had another snack (or two) to eat-ice cream, popsicles, candy and lounged around for about an hour. Can you tell that Avery enjoyed a nice blue popsicle?

After an hour, it was still raining pretty good out so we all decided to head out. We watched Owen go on the bumper cars, then we took Avery on the carousel one last time before leaving. The good news? We got a rain check on our way out! So we get to go again before the summer is over! Yay!
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House Pics

Seriously, I haven't been to the new house in probably close to a month! Ok, maybe not a month, but a good 3 weeks I'm guessing. My Mom came out on Wednesday night and stayed until today, so last night we decided to take her there and show her the place!

The builder was on vacation all of last week, so nothing got done then. And really, the stuff they have been doing is hard to take pictues of....heat ducts, electrical, plumbing. So when we went, I was surprised that not much looked different to me.

The house is now wrapped in Tyvek. I think they're starting to side it maybe next week! That'll be exciting! We also now have basement stairs which is nice-no more ladder climbing!
Our garage has a concrete floor now!
And our basement has a floor too!
Those are the big updates that you can take pictures of!

16 Weeks-baby #2

So today I'm 16 weeks along in my pregnancy!

How I'm feeling/sleeping: Still not great. I'm still taking my unisom at night to help with the nausea. I tried not taking it over the weekend and the first night I slept ok, but the second night I was awake for 3 hours overnight for no reason! Then on Sunday I really felt sick again. So I took it Sunday night and slept like a rock and felt fine Monday. I tried skipping it again Monday night and again I was up for 2 hours overnight and then felt like crud all day at work yesterday. So I don't think I'm quite ready to stop taking it yet. I do hate that it makes me tired when I take it, but I think I'd rather be tired than feeling like I want to puke!

Appointments/events: Nada-I go next week!

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing very strong either way. I keep choosing saltier foods over sweet foods (totally not me at all)-cheese, pretzels, crackers, soup, lemon ice. Still not loving to eat anything-I do miss peanut butter and ice cream though-I just don't want it!

Movement: Hard to tell...I thought a few times I might have felt something, but then I don't feel it again so then I doubt myself. I'm sure it'll be soon though! I think with Avery it was around 17wks.

Avery's thoughts: She always says "hi baby" to my tummy and wants to kiss it-she'll come over and yank up my shirt to kiss my bare tummy! It's so adorable! We've asked her a few times if it's a boy or girl and almost every time she says a girl! I asked her what we should name it the other day and she told me "Fourteen"!! Nice!

My other shock is that I'm not in maternity clothes yet. I thought for sure I would be, but my shorts are still hangin' on! I'll find out next week what I've gained since my last appt.

Here is my photo from today (left) and my photo at 17wks with Avery (right):

Happy Birthday Brayden!

Yesterday we went to Julie and Richie's house for Brayden's first birthday party!

Avery sported a new dress and I somehow got pigtails in her hair too (she hates ponytails lately for some reason, but aren't they cute?!). When we pulled up, we saw quite the surprise in the backyard-a bounce house!

Avery was a chicken all day-she didn't go in the bounce house at all and had no desire to go swimming in the pool. What's wrong with this girl?! Maybe next year....

Here's Brayden's cake:

Avery running around outside at the party:

Avery was just having fun playing with Carly's toys. She really didn't want to be outside much and was very content to play with stuff inside on her own. At one point she got herself all gussied up in jewels!

After we ate (a yummy cookout), it was time for cake! Brayden patiently waited.... And big sister Carly joined him (they really look alike here!):

Starting to to sing:

Brayden was loving it when we sang to him! Look at this face!

He was such a happy boy and was eating up the attention from everyone! It was so cute!

And he did a good job on his cake too!

Happy Birthday Brayden! Thanks for having us share your special day!