Hangin w/ The Westons!

I was going to hang out in Albuquerque for a couple days because Sarah is visiting, but Sarah went and got sick (a nasty stomach flu bug) and now poor Olivia and Jan are sick too. We did hang out yesterday and I am afraid Avery and I might be doomed for the same fate. I am hoping it is the same bug we had a couple months ago and it is just circulating through Albuquerque. I really don't want to do that again any time soon! While we were there we went to the mall and Jan introduced us to this weird smoothie/tea concoction with giant tapioca balls in it. It is called Boba Tea or bubble tea. It was really good. We then went to Babies R Us and I was able to get Avery 2 more of her favorite blankies and some new shoes (she is outgrowing her size 2's). Sarah also got Avery an awesome birthday present which she cannot have until Sept. 19th, but Thank You Sarah!
Then Sarah got sick so we headed back to the Weston house. Avery and Olivia went to the park to swing and play in the grass. I got some great photos of the girls.
Other than that nothing is happening other than I am 1 year closer to 30 today and Sam worked all weekend yet again.

11 Months Old!

In just one short month our little baby is going to be 1 year old! Lately, Sam and I have found ourselves talking about how little she used to be and when she couldn't do anything for herself. Now she is self feeding, on the move and has quite the attitude!

Current Accomplishments:

• Her first tooth broke through the gum two days ago. It is her bottom right incisor. You can see her bottom left under the gums. Teething diapers have been pretty gnarly.
• She is able to stand up without pulling herself up.
• We are sure she is saying "dog", but it sounds more like "dah".
• She is a waving pro and waves hello and bye bye to just about anyone who comes or goes.
• I would not say she is walking, but I have coaxed a baby step here and there out of her. The most I have been able to get out of her has been 3 before she launches herself at me (kind of a full body thrust....we are going to have a little dare devil)

On a total side note, we leave for AK in T-minus 5 months for an entire MONTH! Avery is going to have so much fun hanging with her Grandpa and her Kooka, not to even mention cousins Evan and Lillian and Aunt Amanda and Uncle Sonny. It will be nice to home, maybe we will even get lucky and see some Northern Lights. It has been years since I have witnessed a good show. Sam is hoping to get up there for at least a week so he can hang out with the folks at this practice he has been looking into. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

August Already!

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but there really has not been much to blog about. Sam has been keeping busy with work and Avery and I have just been chilling. She has been beyond cranky lately and I am ready for a darn tooth to pop through already. She has dropped all but her morning bottle so we have started introducing whole milk with her meals. She isn't really digging it. I have tried adding Ovaltine, but she is not fooled. She has also figured out the act of throwing and enjoys throwing food across the table. Real nice when we are out at a restaurant. Other than that not much is going on.

Below are a few cute photos of Avery from the Millhouse/Tschacher wedding!

I will try to get Avery's new silly laugh on video soon. It is really silly!

Albuquerque

Sunday was Miss Dresden's 1st Birthday party!!! I totally slacked and didn't take any photos. But, it was quite amusing to watch Dresden walk up and down the mega slip and slide that was set up in the back yard. She was having a ball!
Avery has been working on her standing A LOT as of Sunday, so maybe she will surprise us and start walking. I have my fingers crossed that she will before 8/23 so I can enroll her in a tumble class at a local gym...she needs to be walking to join.
We went back to Albuquerque yesterday and had a sleepover with Miss Olivia and Jan! Lots of fun. Jan took us to Corrales and a local kiddie pool. Avery was so excited when she saw the water. She was bouncing and squeeling and had a really good time outside keeping cool at the pool. Then we headed back to the Weston household and Avery played with all Olivia's toys before it was bedtime while Jan and myself enjoyed some really yummy pizza from Dion's. Then it was back to Santa Fe this morning.

10 months old...already

Miss Avery is 10 months on the 19th! Time is flying by and our little sweetie gets cuter by the day. It seems like every week she is accomplishing something new. Sam is busy at work and I am keeping myself occupied in our trailer as well as trying to keep Avery and myself cool in this ridiculously hot weather!

Avery's 10 month accomplishments:

• she is pointing at objects and babbling
• standing a few seconds unsupported
• she plays peek.a.boo on her own
• feeds the dogs her food (the dogs like this a lot)
• understands "no no" and "come here"
• has survived her first trip to the ER (more like I survived it), a fever of 104+, urinary catheterization, and a blood draw!
  

No walking yet...Sam and I decided that she probably wont walk until she is closer to 12 mo or later unless she has a real breakthrough in the near future.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but our internet use is restricted these days.

Back in Santa Fe

It has been a crazy few months but we are finally home after a wonderful trip to Seattle. Sarah and Luke's wedding(s) went beautifully as expected. They are now enjoying a honeymoon in Fiji...I hope you two are having a blast!
Avery held up terrifically and could not have been any better on our flights. She handled the shuffling around from place to place and busy week in Seattle wonderfully! Aside from chillin' with the Millhouse gang in WA, we did manage to make it downtown to the public market and made our first trip to IKEA. We had a blast seeing some very dear friends! We also enjoyed the wonderful Pacific Northwest weather. Nothing like some clouds and misting rain :) I am not being sarcastic...I really do miss it.

Below are a few photos I have of Avery and I's adventure to Seattle....there will be more in the future. I am sure the wedding photographer got some great shots that I will be sure to share.

Happy Avery enjoying some leg stretching time waiting to board our flight to Seattle.

Sarah and Miss Olivia @ the rehersal dinner.


Avery about to pass out in downtown Seattle


Fish tossing...this fish was outrageously priced!


Avery stole my waffle off my plate!


Avery was obsessed with this vent!


Happy Independence Day on our way home to Santa Fe.

dimples

Getting Settled...

We have finally moved into the trailer and unpacked most of our boxes. Only a box of shoes and a box of random bathroom crap are left. I have hung our pictures and gotten us pretty organized, but we still have a daily object that comes up missing. We can't seem to locate the remote for our computer and we are in the process of locating the cord that connects the camera to the computer so I can upload pictures. One of the bathrooms is still not working (who knows when the damn plumber will finally finish the job), the AC should be finished tomorrow, I believe a guy is coming on Wednesday to work on the front and back porch, the dryer is waiting on a part so it can be converted to propane and the electric should be taken off the temporary system and put on to the permanent system this week sometime. So as you can see I have been dealing with a lot of men who speak no English hanging around the house. I really wish I knew Spanish.
Avery seems to enjoy the place. She has recently realized that she can simply follow me when I walk out of the room rather than sit there and scream :) This is a nice change. She has also started to point at things and is using her push toy more often. She has totally fallen off the growth curve after that nasty stomach bug we all had. The doctor has me making the formula slightly more caloric and adding oil and butter to her solids. Her new favorite food is tater tots! I am pretty much giving her whatever I am eating because she wont eat baby food anymore. The doctor assured me not to worry about failing to thrive because she is above and beyond on her social and motor skills for her age. I showed him a video of her climbing stairs and he was in shock (in a good way).
The dogs are driving us nuts. It is a big open space and they think that means they can run off when they feel the urge. Really annoying! Frankie is working hard. She caught a mouse this morning and I thought it was dead and made her drop it. Apparently she was playing with it and it ran off. I am sure she will get it soon.
Today, Brian (coworker of Sam's) installed a repeater to boost our cell phone coverage. This now allows us to actually talk on our phones in the house and even enough coverage to let us use the internet. It is not as fast as I am used to but is much faster than the old dial up days.

9 months old!

Avery's current accomplishments:

• She can crawl like a maniac
• Can get into the sitting position with ease
• Pulls up to standing on EVERYTHING
• Eating just about anything (we have starting giving her more dairy products and she seems to be tolerating yogurt, cheese and baked goods with dairy)
• She will crawl with a toy in one hand and also try and pull up to standing with a toy in one hand
• I think she says "Mama"
• She can wave
• She can dance if she wants to
• She also prefers to feed herself
• Has learned how to spit food
• Will hold her bottle 85% of the time
• Figured out the sippy cup
• She will hang on to you when being held!

On a side note: we had a stowaway on our return to Santa Fe from Albuquerque. It started with Avery vomiting all night, moved on to me, and now Dr. Smith is laid out on his death bed. Avery got over it really quick and seems to feel better. I took about a day to recover, but thought I was dying the entire time. I even resorted to calling Sam to come home from work because it is a little hard to be that sick and take care of a needy, teething 9 month old. He was unable to get home any earlier than normal, but poor guy is in the peak of this stomach bug right now. He has been throwing up for 16 hours now and cannot keep anything down. Yuk!

Avery & Mom go to Albuquerque

With Sam working so much, I need to get a life ;) Waiting for our trailer to be ready so we can get settled has been really boring. Luckily, Sam's cousin Ryan came to my rescue. Sam has to work, so it was just Avery and myself off to visit family in Albuquerque for the day. Avery got to meet her second cousins Ronin (almost 4) and Dresden (1 next month)! She also got to meet cousins Ryan, Katrina, Jocelyn and Peter. We hung out, had lunch and played around until Dresden and Avery decided they had had enough and needed naps. Then it was back to Santa Fe.

Ronin playing with his Uncle Peter



Dres tries and accomplishes stealing back her apple slice. (Notice their matching shoes)



Dresden playing with the sought after toilet plunger.