we made it!

Hangin'

I will say that was a hard day! Flying alone with a 16 month old is hard. Avery seriously was terrific and only had a few melt downs. The 6 hour flight from MN to AK was long. Avery also decided it would be a terrific idea to blow out her diaper on our descent into MN. That is the first time since she was about 7 months old. I was smart and had an extra outfit. She also was super friendly with our neighbors on the plane and insisted on sitting on their laps for part of the flights. They were all nice and more than willing to let Avery hang out with them for a bit, but those of you who know Avery on a personal level know how rare this is. I resisted the urge to take a picture. I wish I could remember more, but I was seriously a zombie by the end of the day. But, I did enjoy about 6 cheesy bread sticks from the Mooses Tooth on our drive to Wasilla :)
Avery's cousins, Evan and Lillian have both visited and Avery and Lillian have another play date tomorrow. Avery is learning to deal with another toddler in the room and she gets pretty angry when Lillian has something that she wants. They are pretty silly together and it is clear they will be getting into trouble together!

Lillian taunting Avery with a toy.


They were having fun with the ball!

still in limbo

We have one more week of waiting for our Alaska trip. We have been busy with getting things set to move to AK, so hopefully all goes as planned. We are totally in an awkward spot, but Sam is looking like a shoe in for the job (knock on wood) and we are just trying to get things together. Sam has been very productive! He installed the block heater in the truck today, he got a much needed haircut, he got CSU's Vet Hospital to get us the necessary paperwork to get the dogs into Canada and he has been working with the border people on getting his guns authorized to be transported through the country. I, on the other hand, have been much less productive and have been dealing with what seems like a toddler who may have started cutting canines and it is NOT fun. They are not swollen yet, but she is walking around screaming and biting her fingers in the gaps where they should come in. All the other teeth, besides her 2 year molars, have cut so I figure it is only a matter of time. Motrin seemed to help.

Today we had lunch with Sam's Uncle Craig and that was nice. Avery was in a terrible mood, but we got through it. A huge triumph today was that I was able to get Avery to take a bath without screaming bloody freaking murder the entire time. For the past 3 weeks she has HATED bath time with a passion. She screams like she is being hurt or in pain and tries to climb out of the tub. I have no clue how or when it started. She used to LOVE baths and would try to climb into the tub, so I was totally at a loss. She had done this several months ago, but it only lasted like a week. Tonight she started out screaming, but after about 2 minutes she started playing and it was wonderful! I feel so bad making her take a bath when she is in such distress. My fingers are crossed that we have made it past the hatred of bath time.

We will go to the library for story time tomorrow. The downtown library here has 2 pet bunnies in a hutch in the children's section. Avery LOVED them and was so excited the last time. That is about all I have planned for tomorrow. If it warms up we'll take the dogs and Avery to the park, but it only made it into the teens today so we will see.

I am quite surprised the first week of 2011 is quickly coming to an end. We are still in Colorado Springs and will be for the next 10 days. Then we set south back to NM for a brief detour on our trek to AK. I guess we could have paid to have our tickets changed and left from Denver, but Avery had a doctor appointment in Santa Fe the day before our flight and we already reserved a great spot for our dogs just south of Santa Fe. We figured we would stick to our original plan and leave from Albuquerque on the 18th. Both Sam and I are anxious and excited and a little scared. We are being cautiously optimistic! The practice appears to be a great fit for Sam and I hope he is reassured when he visits later in the month.

We have been keeping ourselves busy with family time. Avery has seen lots of her Gigi and Grandpa Rick since we have been in town. She has even become comfortable enough to request to sit in Grandpa's lap during dinner and help him eat his food. She is such a good helper!

I will blog more once we figure some things out. Until then...