Youngstown

This weekend we were privileged to be able to travel to Youngstown, OH for birthday and wedding fun!  Our gracious hosts for the weekend, Cindy and Tom, threw Avery a birthday party when we arrived on Friday.  We had a wonderful time-and Avery was spoiled!  Cindy's parents were there to celebrate too-and spoil Avery some more!!  They got her a yummy ice cream cake-which she absolutely loved because she loves ice cream:)  Later in the evening, Beth and Dave arrived, and in the morning we all got to hang out and then got ready for why we were all there-Amy and Stephen's wedding!  The wedding was beautiful-thankfully the weather cleared up from the ton of rain they got the day before-and Avery was pretty good through the ceremony!  There were many SMC girls there and we enjoyed getting to see everyone. Deanne (Czajkowski) McKenna and her husband, Doug were the other couple at the table with us, Cindy and Tom, and Beth and Dave.  It was so nice to get to catch up with her!!  She looked great and she and Doug will be celebrating their 1st anniversary in December.  Avery was quite a handful at the reception as she didn't want to sit in her booster at the table AT ALL.  She only wanted to run around searching for outlets (the electrical kind) and anything else to get into.  Thankfully, Domenico, Adrienne's husband (fellow smcer), gave me some perspective and told me that Avery walking this soon is good because she is learning more-I think that's the doctor in him speaking, but I know he has a point!  At one point, I calmed Avery down with a spoon (seriously who knew that's all it would take) and she found a pumpkin they were using for decoration that was just her size.  She was a sight to see with a spoon in one hand and a pumpkin in the other!  You would think, as a good mom, I would have had my camera ready to take pics of the cute things she was doing and all of the people she was visiting with-well I didn't. Unfortunately, I barely have any pictures of the entire weekend.  I think I got so caught up in visiting and enjoying everyone that I really didn't take as many pictures as I normally would.  I'm rather sad because we saw so many people that I would like to have pictures of, but I don't.  I don't even have any pics on my camera of Beth and Dave-hopefully I can get some soon from another source!  After the reception we headed back to Cindy and Tom's to watch the Notre Dame game-Avery even got to stay up a bit past bedtime!  Then we concluded the weekend by having breakfast over at Cindy's parents', Mr. and Mrs. C's house.  They made us a wonderful meal and we had a great time visiting with them this weekend as much as everyone else!  I think Avery gave them a glimpse of how much fun they are going to have when Cindy and Tom's little one arrives late winter/early spring!  Thanks to our hosts for a great weekend, and everyone who chased Avery around and helped watch her!  Here are a few of the pics I DID manage to take this weekend!

Avery with her balloons that she got for her birthday-she is in love with balloons and she dragged them all over the house!

I love this picture!  Cindy and Tom's dog, Lady, couldn't get enough of the paper from Avery's gifts-it was so funny, she stole the show!

So cute, Avery wearing her pumpkin hat she got with her pink scrubs that Adrienne and Domenico sent for her birthday-she had so many compliments on those scrubs:)

The beautiful ice cream cake that we all enjoyed after Avery's yummy birthday meal-Avery had chicken nuggets while everyone else (minus me of course) had steak!

Amy and Stephen cutting their cake-everything was so beautiful and classic.  Amy's dress was gorgeous and their wedding definitely reflected their personalities-Artie loved the band they had-L80's Night!

After the reception, Avery watched some of the ND game from Uncle Tom's lap with her new Care Bear, Cheer Bear!

Aunt Beth is responsible for this one!  She taught Avery how to do "touchdown" so here she is showing off her brand new skills!

The ladies on the dance floor-from left: Cindy, Beth, me, and Avery...we didn't get to dance too much before we had to leave, but we enjoyed the 80's music!! (note the spoon Avery is still holding on tight to...we had a tough time getting it out of her hand before we left!)

Tom and Cindy outside the reception.  It was a beautiful view.  Beth and Dave also had an adorable couple picture taken here...but, of course, I didn't get it on my camera:(

Family pic outside!  Avery was mad because she was trying to take the bow out of her hair, but mean mommy wouldn't let her-however, shortly after this picture she showed me and took it out anyway, it never made it back in her hair!

20/50

This week Avery had her 1 year check up.  It was a tough one because she had to have a shot in both arms and legs, and had her finger pricked!  I always have lots of trouble with the shots because she's not old enough yet to know they're coming.  She would have had less shots but Artie and I chose to get her a flu shot this year-her first one because she's old enough this flu season.  In March, she got the flu so bad it scared us to death-then we both got it and felt like we really were going to die (I'm not even exaggerating).  I never want to feel like that again, so flu shots for the whole family this year!  So this check up was also a big deal because the doctor that Avery had been with since birth left the practice we go to so we were seeing her new doctor for the first time.  She's very nice and has a lot of the qualities that her other doctor had that we loved.  Avery weighed in at a whopping 19.3 lbs - 20th percentile - and measured in at 29 inches - 50th percentile.  She's just getting so big, I can't believe it!  We were also informed at this visit that Avery is old enough to start using time outs!  They are only to be for 30 seconds, but the doctor said to try and use them in situations where she's doing something dangerous (i.e. her obsession with cords) so that she starts to learn right and wrong.  I can't believe she's old enough to comprehend that!  She did put on a cute display for her new doctor, showing off by signing more-because she wanted more yogurt melts!  It has helped so much teaching her to do that.  Instead of getting mad and throwing a fit because she wants something, she signs it to us-so I guess she can comprehend time out!  I put up a few  pics of the week.  She's getting more daring/creative with her climbing skills, and shots always make her kind of tired for a few days-so she was cuddly!  

                                                Avery cuddling on mom:)

Yup, she opened the drawer and climbed in-it can't be good to be that close to the TV!

Birthday Party!!

Well, the first birthday party has come and gone.  Thank you so much to everyone who sent happy birthday wishes to Avery.  I think that she had a great few days of celebration.  I still cannot believe my little princess is one year old, but it's starting to sink in!  She had so many people that love her celebrating her big milestone, it was so nice to have a house full of family!  Avery got quite a good mix of gifts too!  She got girly stuff, educational stuff, bath stuff and clothes.  We had great food, great company, and a perfectly wonderful, sunny fall day!  I really don't remember much of the actual party-it seemed like such a blur and went so fast for all that work and planning.  My sister-in-law, Jamie, said 'it's kind of like you're wedding, huh?' (she's mom to cousin Garrett, who had his first birthday 6 months ago).  I thought how right is that!!  Wedding days take a lot of work and planning and then they go so fast and end up being mostly a blur!  I never thought throwing a birthday party could be like a wedding, but oh yeah, it can!  Good thing we have lots of pictures and video of the all important first cake!  But really, it was such a great day!  Thank you to everyone that came and helped us celebrate Avery's 1st birthday!!  

                         Mom and Avery after the big bash!

  Avery's birthday balloons and sign outside for all to see!!

Avery in her birthday princess hat sitting on her princess chair (she was a little upset about the hat!)

The Princess cake!  The picture was wrong, but it tasted all the same-yummy!

                   Avery checking out her special cupcake

                    Yay, look I have frosting all over my hands!

           Taking Great Uncle Tom's cane (and him!) for a walk around the house

Cousin Garrett and Avery loving the foam numbers and letters she got:)

Opening her first Elmo toy-I know we have deprived her of the love of Elmo-but now she has this Elmo boom box and loves it so much!!

Avery's saying 'yay for Pooh bath toys' she especially loves the Piglet because it squirts water!

                                                Checking out Wacky Willie

                                                   Ooh...a princess cell phone!

            Fascinated by Lap and Learn dog...Avery likes to dance when it sings!

 

Video of the birthday cake!!

Avery's 1!

Oh my, how time flies.  I can't believe a year ago today Artie and I were getting ready to go to the hospital to finally meet our little girl.  At 12:15, she came into the world screaming her lungs out-she can still scream like that!  In her first year, she has been to Los Angeles, Redondo and Hermosa beaches on the Pacific Ocean, the San Diego Zoo, Chicago for St. Patty's Day, Asheville, NC to visit the Builtmore, and Charleston, SC (which included a visit to Folly Beach on the Atlantic Ocean).  Avery has definitely changed our lives, but she has become a part of everything we do.  Today, Artie took the day off and we are going to have family time.  The Great Zoo Halloween starts tonight at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo and that's where we're headed so Avery can put on her Tinker Bell costume and have a little fun!  Speaking of fun, thought I would share some "Fun Facts" about Avery...

Weight at birth: 6 lbs 9 oz

Current weight: ~19 lbs

Middle name: Kay (named after her paternal grandma)

Nicknames: Avie, turtle, cakes/cakers, super duper Avery pooper, princess funky butt (she's going to appreciate these two when she's older!), and squishy (Aunt Cim's nickname for her)

Favorite toy(s): books and blocks

Favorite show: maybe a tie between Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Club House

Favorite food: chicken nuggets

Favorite snack: crackers

Favorite beverage: half juice, half water combo

First word: "dada"...but she has finally started to say "mama"!!!

Favorite time of the day: bath time!

First tooth: the bottom two came in at the same time on our last night in Charleston!

Favorite activity: swim class on Saturdays

Happy Birthday to the best thing in our lives!

Avery kissing her cabbage patch baby that Christine, Matt and Elizabeth sent for her b-day, she loves it!

Avery, this morning, having her b-day breakfast...blueberry waffles and marshmallows!

Daddy holding Avery for the first time while waiting for mommy to get out of surgery!

                        Mommy's done and finally holding the princess:)

     Avery's all snuggled in her hospital crib with the puppy Grandpa Tom got her

Avery at home, getting acquainted with her brothers (actually, they're wondering what the heck she's doing there!)

          Resting in her swing for the first time, she used to just love this thing!

Grooming, climbing, and mmm-mmming

This past weekend sure went fast!  For our anniversary, Saturday, we headed up to South Bend for a quick trip.  We ate at Papa Vinos (yum!) and visited Notre Dame and Saint Mary's (of course).  It was an absolute beautiful day, of course half way there I realized we had forgotten the camera!  While hitting the bookstore at SMC, we noticed that my brother isn't the only teenager wearing slippers out in public-apparently it's the cool thing to do for all teens!  It feels a little strange being back at SMC with baby in tow.  Here are Artie and I looking old, pushing around a stroller, while all of these young sprites stroll into the DH around 2pm for lunch-probably because they sleep until noon on Saturdays (I don't even remember what it's like to sleep past 7am)-wondering what old folks like us are doing in their student center, clearly without the company of a current student.  I guess that's the way it goes and in a few short years, most of them will be in my position.  It just doesn't seem possible that my life has changed so much since I left that wonderful place!  But, SMC has changed so much since I was a student, the new student center, the senior dorms, the new classroom building is up and looks awesome!  Notre Dame is up and growing, as always.  There are SO many new buildings going up on that campus!  We weren't there long, we made the drive back home in time for the second quarter of the game...not a great way to end our anniversary-Artie takes these losses very hard! Ok, so to the title of this blog.  We have had our beagle, Rocco, for over 3 years and our retriever mix, Domer, for almost 2 years.  We decided it was finally time to get our dogs professionally groomed.  Avery is having a small celebration for her birthday this weekend and we wanted the dogs to be nice and clean.  Rocco isn't generally scared of anything and likes strangers.  Domer, he is a shelter dog that we adopted and is very skittish.  Anyway, they were at the groomer for 3 hours and Domer was very scared and whined (we were told).  But, to be fare, Domer got a haircut and Rocco didn't.  I would be scared too if a stranger was coming towards me with clippers and I'd never had that done before!  Well, they look and smell great and it was well worth the money to have other people bathe our dogs and brush their teeth!  The climbing part of the title refers to the little princess herself.  Yes, so the time has come.  Avery is starting to climb on everything!  First, it was small things, like a little basket that she could just step on or a pile of laundry, her diaper bag, etc.  Now, it's the fireplace and, as you see in the picture, the TV tower!  I could not believe that she was able to climb on that because it's so vertical!  She even tried to climb over the pew during a baptism on Sunday...oh man is it fun (sarcastic, of course)!  The final thing also has to do with Avery.  She started the cutest thing over the weekend (well it's cute to hear anyway).  In the past, she hasn't wanted anything to do with pizza.  But Saturday, when we got back from South Bend, we didn't feel like cooking so we ordered pizza (from the hut).  Well she loved her personal pan cheese and would put it in her mouth and go "mmmmm" in a high pitch.  Then she did it again Sunday when Artie warmed up some left over pizza, she walked over to him and pointed to it and mmmmed.  Last night Avery tried fish sticks for the first time (we're very open parents considering neither Artie or I can stand fish-the smell alone is enough to make me puke) and she put one bite in her mouth and...mmmmm.  Oh man, it's cute!  Except now we have to have a stock of fish sticks in the freezer, ew.  Well, this has been long!  I'm just a happy mamma this week, to both my daughter and my two furry boys!  If Avery could just say mamma, instead of every other word first-including dadda, bye, dog, up-I would be even happier! 

                   The boys looking cute after being groomed with their bandanas on

 Here she is, climbing her tower-she's even tried to climb in the purple bucket!

5 Years

Well five years have come and gone-very quickly.  I didn't have any pictures of our actual wedding on my computer so I'm sharing some of the honeymoon.  It's really okay, because this was the BEST part of getting married.  We went to Hawaii!  Since we really aren't loungers, we pretty much packed our 7 day excursion with tons of island adventures.  I absolutely fell in love with Hawaii and I sort of left a piece of myself there.  To this day, I still talk about moving there and for now, I have Artie committed to retiring there.  There is no way to describe the beauty of the people and the place.  I loved being on island time too-since I'm always late-I was never late there! (except for the one time we went snorkeling and Artie got to close to the coral bled all over and we missed our bus back to the hotel!)  I could definitely go on and on about Hawaii.  I can't believe it has already been five years since I was there.  We just had the most fantastic time, trying new things and exploring different adventures.  I guess our lives have gone the way of our days in Hawaii.  We are still on adventures and trying new things!

                           Me, attempting to surf (the Royal Hawaiian in the background)

                                   We're heading out to the Pearl Harbor Memorial

                 Visiting the location where Lost and the Jurassic Park movies are filmed

                                             A perfect Hawaiian sunset

Going parasailing-It was terrifying and I will never do it again, but at least I can say I did it in     Hawaii!

             Riding the train at the Dole Plantation-they had the BEST pineapple ice cream!

                        At a Luau drinking our Blue Hawaiians, wearing matching outfits!

A view of Waikiki Beach from Diamond Head (our hotel was second from the first closest one, right on the beach!)

                               We made the climb all the way to the top of Diamond Head!

Luke

I just wanted to put this up on my blog so that as many people as possible are praying for this sweet little boy.  Luke is the son of a friend of mine, Meghan.  Megs and I roomed together freshman and sophomore year at Saint Mary's.  Luke, who is only 2, is currently in a battle with cancer.  He has a Wilm's tumor that has his doctors in Jacksonville a little confused-it isn't responding to chemo the way they thought it would.  Megs, her husband, Ben, and their doctors have turned to the help of other doctors around the country looking for answers.  There's a link to her blog on this site under Megs' blog if you want to check out more of Luke's story.  As a mom, I can't imagine where Meghan and her family get their strength in a situation like this.  They are a great family and could use as many thoughts and prayers as possible!

1 Year Pictures

Sorry I haven't posted in a week!  It has been crazy at our house-and still is.  If you recall a few posts ago, we had a pipe break, water everywhere, etc.  Well, they finally came this week to install our floor.  We spent the entire weekend moving furniture out of all three bedrooms (including 4 closets), hall closets, and our game room (a big 2nd living room).  It felt like we were moving.  We jammed everything in our garage, leaving our cars in the driveway, which I hate (especially now when they are wet in the morning).  We haven't been able to find any of our stuff and are pretty much going crazy.  Monday, they came to start the floor.  Artie happened to be sick over the weekend (of course) and was still sick Monday, so he stayed home from work.  That left us gated in the living room-all day.  The dogs were gated in the kitchen (our only other room available) or outside.  Being confined to one room with a toddler is a little maddening, and the dogs were going nuts being pinned in one room too!  This continued for three days, even though the floor was supposed to be done in two (things aren't always easy!).  In all the madness, we had Avery's 1 year pictures last night.  We had a horrible experience (at Sears) and Artie wanted to walk out after we had our session and not even get any pictures!  We were there for over 2 hours, even though we were the only people in there!  The pictures weren't very good, the poses and backgrounds stunk, and Avery did not want to stay in one place (not there fault, of course).  Anyway, I put up a few of the best pictures we did get-including a family one (our first professional family pic!).  Avery doesn't turn 1 until the 17th, but it's nice to have the pics out of the way!  On the home front, we still have to get our wall fixed (where there's a hole from fixing the broken pipe), put up all the closet doors, and more strangers are coming today to fix some baseboards that got broken...ahhhhh!  Luckily my dad's a wonderful professional painter/decorator and will be doing all of the painting that now needs done (baseboards and the room with the hole) so we don't have any more strangers working in the house!  As soon as we get all of our furniture back in the house and things looking decent again, I will post some pics so you can see how far it has come from concrete floors!