Friday, May 31, 2013

Walk?

A question we hear a lot these days is "walk?"

Cassandra will come up to you, hold our her hand and say "walk?"...she wants you to hold her hand and walk with her.

Yesterday, Avery wanted to be the walking aide...melts my heart!


Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Memorial Day Weekend

The unofficial start of summer is here and gone...Memorial Day!

Saturday we went and checked out a new Wegman's that opened up near us. It was our old store we shopped at when we lived in our other house. It closed shortly after we moved and they completely knocked it down and started over. It turned out really nice! Other than that, we just hung out and enjoyed the day.

Sunday we went to Buffalo for a visit. We started at my Dad's house and stayed there about 2 hours. Then we went to my Mom's. My Aunt and Uncle stopped by and cousin Taylor came over to play with Avery (which she loved!).

My Mom got the girls a new kitchen to play with and they had a blast playing with it!

 Cassandra has become quite the walker over the holiday weekend. She's definitely taking more steps now and is on her way to being a walker!

 Monday we relaxed during the day then went to Gabe's parents' house for a cookout after Cassandra napped. The girls donned their red, white and blue for the festivities:
Happy Memorial Day!!

Friday, May 24, 2013

Sixteen Months Old!

Yesterday Cassandra turned 16 months old!

The little peanut is still in 9 or 12 month clothing! I'd say she's leaning more towards 12 months now, but some of those pants still drag on the floor!

Knock on wood, she's still a great sleeper! She very, very rarely wakes up overnight. In fact, I can't remember the last time we had to go in there to settle her down. (Of course the night I wrote this, she woke up crying  on and off for a half hour!) She's still doing an afternoon nap...usually around 2 hours or so which is pretty good.

We are officially done nursing! We stopped about 3 days after she turned 15 months old. She basically wasn't drinking from a bottle at all anymore and was nursing for such a short time at bedtime that I don't even think she was getting much out of it. The weekend we ended, there was going to be a few nights I couldn't nurse her so I just figured it would be a good time to call it quits since I wouldn't be there to nurse her. And all went smoothly. She has never asked for it or anything-it's like she has no memory of it. And surprisingly I didn't even cry! I think I was just at peace with the whole thing. We both just knew it was time.

Cassandra is a great eater. Sister loves her food, that's for sure (even though she's skinny as all heck!)!  There's nothing new I can think of that she's tried this month. Some of her favorite foods lately-bananas, cheese, avocado, blueberries (and most fruits), pasta.

New words this month include: "boo boo", "cado" (avocado), "Hi doggie", "Hi Jer Jer", "pizza", "dinner", "diaper", "hello", "noise", "pasta", "bagel", "nonut" (doughnut), "daydee" (Daisy), "e a go" (here ya go), "walk", "chair", "yogurt", "lights", "nak" (snack), "Danda" (Cassandra). She also has signed "kitty" and "love".

Cass is still working on the whole walking thing. She now will only hold one hand when she walks with us. And all of a sudden she has this determination to walk. I swear overnight she decided that she can walk (and she can't) and she just stands up and takes off....and will fall flat on her face after about 2 steps. She'll also crawl up to us and say "walk??" and hold out her hand...she wants you to put out your hand and walk with her. It's all she wants to do now!

Cassandra is now up to 11 teeth. We have the canines left and one more up front before 2 year molars. She has started waving by opening and closing her hand-it's adorable!

I was trying to get a full shot of her in this outfit because it's so cute (here's Avery in the same outfit!) but it was really hard getting her to "pose" for me. I told her to say cheese and this is what I got!

And our usual pics...
no idea what she's doing!

randomly doing "so big!"

Showing her tongue
My faves:


I just was looking at Avery's 16 month pics, and she's looking at this exact book! I didn't even realize it until now so no, it wasn't planned!!
Good shot of the teeth:
Pretty girl!
Of course Avery had to jump in for a few photos as well!
Giving kisses

Tickling Cassandra

Sister hugs!
Flashback! Avery at 16 months old!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

This is How We Roll

This is the site I see pretty much anytime Cassandra is awake.

Walking holding my hand....all.day.long!


Sunday, May 19, 2013

Tantrum

Cassandra is hitting a lovely milestone...the tantrum stage.

Today, I fear, was just the beginning.

Gabe took Avery out so it was just Cass and I at home.  She was playing in our living room and all of a sudden she burst into tears. And not just tears, but screaming along with them.

So I go over to her and pick her up-well, let me tell you-this girl HATES being cuddled (boo boos, etc) so as soon as I picked her up, she arched her back and started kicking me. So I put her down sitting on the floor. She proceeded to throw herself backwards (luckily I caught her so she didn't hit her head) and land on the ground. She laid there screaming and kicking.

I tried picking her up and getting her to walk (her new fave thing to do) and her legs became spaghetti. She sat on the floor hitting her hands together and screaming her head off. Again I tried holding her, again she arches back. Repeat throwing herself on the floor multiple times.

Sister did this for a good 10 minutes.

I finally coaxed her into her highchair (I don't even remember how) and she was happily eating. Well, as she ate she would randomly burst into tears again. It was crazy!

I don't recall if Avery was ever like this. If she was, I don't remember it lasting so long. And she actually liked being held so this is very different for me!

Wow is all I can say....she's going to be a challenging one!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Panic (Take Two)

We got some bad news yesterday.

I picked up Avery from daycare and there was a letter (stapled shut) in her take home folder. Normally I just read those things when I get home, but something made me want to read it right away.  I got her in her car seat, pulled out of the parking lot and realized I hadn't read it. So I pulled over and skimmed the letter.

Crap.

Her daycare provider is getting out of the business and is going to try and sell the daycare.

You may remember that this happened to us before.  How this happens to a family twice is beyond me!

In the letter she said she'll definitely be closed come September, but she might not even open for the summer. If that's the case, we need a new daycare in about 3 weeks. Yep, 3 WEEKS!  Panic totally set in.

I'm so incredibly bummed about this. We really, REALLY love it there and Avery has grown so much by being there. She loves the teachers and loves the kids and Cassandra was going to be starting there this summer as well. It sucks! And I know changing daycare now is going to be a lot different than it was 2 years ago-she is definitely going to know what's going on now and it makes me sad.

Best case scenario? They sell the place and the kids can stay there and the owner/teachers are great. Worst case? We're starting from scratch. AGAIN. And we might only have 3 weeks. 

My stress level is through the roof right now!



Monday, May 13, 2013

A Day for Mommy

Yesterday was a special day for all of the Mommys out there...Mother's Day!

Unfortunately I didn't get to sleep in...Gabe went running early in the morning and we had a brunch reservation at 11....so we all had to get up and dressed to head there. No, I'm not complaining because this is THE brunch-one of my favorite meals of the year! I'm not kidding!

Like we have for the past 5yrs (at least), we went to the Hyatt. And (score!) we got the private room again, which is so nice to have....especially when there are 4 kids who just want to run wild while everyone else eats!

Before stuffing our faces eating, we took some nice photos.
3 Generations-Avery, me, my Mom, Cassandra

Avery, me, Cassandra, Gabe
All of the kids (I love how tiny Cass looks here!):
Owen, Avery, Bianca, Cassandra
The Moms:
Molly, Camille, Aunt Pat, Mom, Me
And the whole crew:

Once again, the food was great and the company even greater. The kids had a blast in the kids room getting balloon animals and their faces painted. Even Cassandra got a little heart on her arm:
Of course her favorite thing? The balloons!
After brunch, Gabe took Avery to my in-laws' house to play with our niece and nephew. I put Cassandra down for a nap and I actually napped myself-heaven!!

Once they got home, we just hung out-Gabe and I were too full for dinner so we just fed the kids. They gave me some nice cards and a gift card to Cold Stone! 

And Avery made me this at daycare this week...melts my heart!
It was a very nice day. I'm glad we got to see everyone that we care about so much!  And I'm glad I got to spend it with both my Mom and my girls...without them I wouldn't be the Mom that I am!

Thursday, May 9, 2013

First Ponytail!

Finally I was able to get a ponytail in Cassandra's hair!

It's so funny...Avery had so much hair when she was born that she's been wearing barrettes since she was about 3 months old (maybe younger). She has just always needed something to hold it out of her face.

And little Cassandra.....barely had any hair when she was born, then lost it all and went bald and now it's finally coming in a la baby mullet!  Today I was playing around to see if I could actually get a ponytail in and I did!! I've tried barrettes a few times but she rips them right out. I think it's because she's not used to it like Avery was. Avery knew nothing but having a barrette in! So for Cassie, this is all new to her. And she just rips everything right out.

So I got a ponytail in and immediately she was grabbing for it:

This is a perfect shot of it:
I think it stayed in all of 5 minutes, but it's a start!!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Busy Buffalo Day

We went to Buffalo yesterday for a birthday party. It ended up being a very busy day (for me at least!).

We got to my Mom's and had lunch. Then I headed to my friend Jessica's house to see their new baby. She's 2 weeks old now so I had to see her while she's still an itty-bitty!  And boy, you forget just how tiny they are!  Here's little Caroline Cecelia:
After that, I ran to another friend's house to drop off a few things. Then headed back to my Mom's. About 15mins later, we had to leave for the party. Yep, I was doing lots of running around!

The party was for Noah, who just turned 4! They had it at their house-which we finally got to see after they moved back in November!

This photo is so darn cute-look how happy she is!
Her latest thing...trying to step on anything she comes across!
Singing "Happy Birthday" to Noah!


They had a bounce house for the kids so once things died down a bit, Cassandra got to go in too! And she LOVED it!

Opening presents:

Poor Cassandra only napped a half hour in the car on our way to Buffalo so she was exhausted. By the end of the party, she was all snuggles...which I totally loved!

After we helped clean up a bit, we headed home. I thought both girls would pass out from all of the fresh air, bouncing, etc....well...it took Cassandra about 2min to fall asleep, but then she woke up after an hour. Avery stayed awake the entire ride home! Gabe and I were ready to pass out and she's wide awake!

Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Sale of All Sales

This weekend is the sale of all sales folks!

My in-laws moved into a new house a year ago and their neighborhood does the largest garage sale that I know of. This is the first one we've gotten to experience so we had no idea what we were in for.

Gabe and I rounded up some stuff to sell-mostly baby clothes and baby items...and a few random household things.  We took everything to their house on Friday so it could get set up for Saturday morning.

The sale was both today and tomorrow, but tomorrow we're going to Buffalo for the day so we just went today.  We got to his parents' house around 10am (it started at 9) and holy cow....it took us 10-15min to drive the 3 blocks to their house from the main road! Luckily we parked in the driveway because parking there was a joke! And the weather was perfect-low 70s and sunny all day long-it was such a gorgeous day!

I will say that I have never seen a sight like this in my life. It's 200 garage sales over a span of 18 streets. The crowd was insane! Avery and I made huge chocolate chip cookies to sell-we had 40 of them-and she sold them all in 20min! Here I thought they would last her most of the day! Nope!  Then we set up a lemonade stand and we sold out of that in about 10min. It was just crazy!!  A guy a few houses down had his grill going cooking up hamburgers and hotdogs for sale, coolers of soda, huge boxes of granola bars, etc....and he had quite a line forming!  They had a few "street meat" vendors and also a local restaurant set up shop at a nearby school selling lunches. Again....I have never seen anything like it in my life!

Needless to say, we did pretty well. I'd say I sold about 3/4 of my baby clothes and I also sold quite a few toys and baby items. Gabe sold a work bench and we sold 2 lamps as well. All in all we made about $215 and Avery made about $35 between the cookies and lemonade. Not too shabby considering most of the stuff we sold was about $1-2! 

This sale is every 2 years so we already are getting a game plan for the next one-lots more cookies, lots more lemonade and maybe some other goodies to go with it!  And of course by then I'll have more baby stuff to get rid of!