Sick Day

Still smiling even though I don't feel well!

Yesterday, Avery had the sneezes and a bit of a runny nose.  We thought maybe it was linked to the top tooth she is about to get.  However, last night, we had a night we haven't had since Avery was less than 8 weeks old.  She was up every hour and a half/two hours just screaming her little lungs out.  This morning we all get up, sleep deprived (I almost forgot what it was like!) and low and behold, Avery is sick.  Uncle Jake may have been the culprit since he was sick this weekend when he came home.  Nonetheless, Avery has her first bout of real illness for the fall season and hasn't been this sick since we all had the "death" flu in March.  It's just so sad when your child is sick.  She can't breathe and doesn't know how to blow her nose, I wish I could be sick for her (I think most parents wish they could take away their child's pain)...which I probably will since I'm on tissue duty 'round the clock!  The only great thing about Avery not feeling well is that she wants to cuddle all the time-I can't get enough:)  So, we had a sick day today and I pretty much let her have her way all day (within reason, of course).  She got to eat what she wanted and watch what she wanted.  I did have to dress her in sweats and socks, even though it was in the mid-80s (she was so cold)!  Then, before bed, while daddy was at softball, she was just walking around the living room and I decided to catch some with the video camera.  She tries to take off her top (this is a new thing and I hope she doesn't always want to do this!), rubs her eyes (so cute) and right at the end she does a popping sound that she has recently started making that we just love!  Here's to a better night sleep-for Avery, so she can get better, of course!

First Day of Fall

Uncle Jake stopped by and read to me!

Daddy and Avery post-bath!

Today is the first day of fall, my favorite time of year!  Fall has the best holiday-Halloween, college football, the best smells, colors, food, and temperature!  Welcome Fall 2008!

We had a busy weekend.  Saturday, we started swim lessons (as you see from the last post).  Then, we had lunch with Grandpa B. who was in town visiting from Cinci.  We went to Uncle Tommy's 16th birthday party and watched Notre Dame lose.  Sunday, we saw Grandpa R. and Great Grandma and Grandpa.  Uncle Jake was home from college for the first time this weekend so, of course we saw him, a few times, and his girlfriend, Riley.  It was nice to the see the new college kids!  The weekend concluded with Artie and I trying to go through the madness that is still our house.  Hopefully, they come put the floor in this week!

Sorry for the lack of pictures from our jam-packed weekend...our camera had some malfunctions!

Happy 16th today, Uncle Tommy!

Swim Class

Avery had her first swim class at the YMCA this morning.  Artie went in with her for the first class and it was so much fun to watch!  They sing songs and practice swimming and floating on their backs.  They also work on blowing bubbles in the water and getting their faces wet.  Mommy gets to go in the water with her next week and we can't wait for the next swim class!  

Notre Dame at Michigan State today...Go Irish, Beat Spartans!

Lunch Laughin'

Just thought I would put up this video of Avery laughing.  She shows off her snorty laugh and crinkle nose!  She did this during lunch yesterday, so pardon the food in her mouth!  Avery has bouts of silliness sometimes, and yesterday was one of them.  It's so great just to see your child laugh or smile.  Kids have such an untainted view of life and it's priceless:)

Water, Water Everywhere!

Ok, so water wasn't everywhere, but I felt the title of one of Avery's bath books seemed appropriate for how we felt!  Let me back track a bit...after our neighbors basically called us white trash last week because we hadn't had time to make our yard look as pristine as all the retired folk around us that have all the time in the world, we spent the entire weekend weeding, edging, laying tons of mulch and planting some flowers.  The first few pics are of how great the house looks outside.  Ok, back to the title of this blog.  After a long day in the yard yesterday I walked into the house, while Artie was outside cleaning garden tools with the hose, and yup water, water everywhere.  Apparently our spigot froze over the winter and water poured into the house and covered 3 of our 6 main rooms plus a bedroom closet and our big hall closet, FUN!  I go into panic mode mostly due to pure exhaustion and we had Steamatic out to clean it and put up their big equipment to dry stuff out.  They got Avery's room cleaned enough so she could go to bed and then they left for the night and came back this morning to tear up all of our flooring in the affected areas, bye-bye laminate.  It is really hard to have no flooring in almost half of our living space, especially with two dogs and an 11 month old!  We are trying to look on the bright side, we don't have it as bad as other flood victims, especially recent ones.  We also have a great daughter, who made us smile when we were so stressed this morning.  She was helping with the laundry (one of her favorite things) and got one of my tanks and put it over her to wear.  It was so cute and just really put things in perspective for us.  Luckily nothing personal was damaged, and even though water was completely in the room with our workout machines they still turn on.  I guess these things are just the joys of owning your own house:)  

Just a few pictures of what Avery's been up to lately.  She has been drinking out of a sippy since she was 6 months old and left the bottle all together at 9 months.  However, the sippies that she was using were the ones with soft spouts so it was more like a bottle.  This week we finally introduced her to the regular hard spout (of the Disney Princess variety, of course!) expecting that it may take her awhile to adjust and we could do it by the time she turns 1 next month.  Well, after about a half hour of trying and not quite sure what it was, she got the hang of it!  This picture is from breakfast this morning, where she is also enjoying a new favorite, pop-tarts!  She has also started on whole milk this week (our Dr. wanted her to start transitioning around 10 and 1/2 mo).  For now we're just putting it in cereal for her to eat-which she loves!  The other pic is Avery playing in her new kitchen.  Cousin Garrett had one just like it that she loved.  Even though her birthday isn't until next month...mommy and daddy got her a present a little earlier so she could enjoy it longer!  Well, she's definitely been enjoying her kitchen and the new things she has been trying!   

Game Day!!

Today's finally the day!  A day we have been waiting for, essentially, since last season started.  Notre Dame vs. San Diego St.-let's hope ND can win a season opener!  Technically, football season started last weekend, but for us it really starts this weekend!  College football season is our favorite time of the year.  We are usually at the first home game.  But after last year, me waddling around campus and the stadium 8 months pregnant in the scorching heat, I think we're going to wait for a later game!  So, we are proudly waving our ND flag, the whole family is in their Irish gear and we are set to watch the big game!  GOOOO IRISH!!!  BEEEEAT AZTECS!

Pigtails

Avery's hair is finally long enough to put in little pigtails!  We celebrated the extra long weekend with the excitement of the pigtails, putting together our new elliptical machine, driving back down to B-Town, and having lunch at Moe's with Chad, Jamie and Garrett.  So after visiting the orthopedic doctor last week, I'm supposed to be cross training and not just running.  My knee has a chunk of scar tissue that has my knee cap out of line-it hurts!  Thus, enter the elliptical.  So we spent a few hours putting that thing together.  On Saturday, we loaded Avery up and drove down to Bloomington for the 2nd weekend in a row!  Jake needed his car down there so Artie drove it and I followed.  We had a really nice visit with Jake and his girlfriend, Riley.  They seem to be adjusting to college life pretty well.  Sunday, we exhausted ourselves in the yard and really feel like we got nowhere!  We mowed which felt like like trying to mow in Arizona.  We have had no rain in forever and mowing just blew around a bunch of dust.  The grass hasn't grown in a couple of weeks, but somehow the weeds still grow like crazy.  Artie got ahold of a power tool and, well, let's just say one of the trees looks really sad.  The tree is no longer blocking the fence gate or hovering over the house-that was the goal-but it also is really no longer in the way of anything and doesn't look much like a tree.  As my hubby says, "the leaves will grow back and fill it in".  To round out the weekend, we met up with Artie's brother, Chad, and his family.  We have a great time getting together with them.  We ate at Moe's, which is now one of my favorite places in the Fort!  Avery loves any time she gets to spend with her cousin, Garrett-as you can see from the picture!  It was a nice weekend, though we didn't get as much done as we should have-seriously we spent the weekend watching One Tree Hill on dvd!  Here's to a more productive week!