girls saturday

Avery and I decided to spend the afternoon with my good friend Emily and her daughter Sophia.  Sophia is two months younger than Avery.  They always have fun looking at each other and playing together.  I love seeing Sophia, she is such a happy little thing!  Here is Avery saying "Hello Friend" as she crawls up to Sophia to check her out. 

Girlfriends holding hands. 

Just playing... more like chewing on some blocks.

My little sweetheart.  Look how blue her eyes look.  I love putting her in blue clothes to bring out her eyes.

Pretty Sophia smiling for the camera.

Picture time together on the couch!  This lasted about two seconds. 

And Avery begins to freak her freak.

Then Sophia started crying and had to be held.  Avery needed her pacifier.  It was clearly time to leave and go have lunch at Chickfila!

The girls had fun snacking while we ate our lunch at Chickfila.  Seriously, that is the place to go with babies and kids of all ages.  After lunch, we went over to Buy Buy Baby, Office Max, and Target.  By the time we finished at those few stores the girls told us it was nap time. 

When we got home, Avery went down for a super long nap.  While she was sleeping, I started laundry, did some light cleaning, and even got brave enough to climb the ladder to replace a battery in the master bedroom smoke alarm.  It started chirping this morning to tell me it needed a new battery.  I was pretty darn proud of myself for doing it on my own. 

This evening I did the normal routine of dinner, bath, play, bed time for Avery.  I'm just relaxing this evening.  Today was a good Saturday!

Look who is 10 months old!

Happy 10 months Avery Blake!  She is just getting so big.  She is so much fun to be around and play with.  Avery's personality has grown so much lately.  I can't believe she is going to be a year old in two months!  How did the time pass so quickly?  I'm already getting into party planning mode, especially after going to my friend Angie's little girls first birthday party last weekend.  It was so fun! 

Here is my sweet 10 month old girl! 

Some 10 month stats:  you sleep through the night from 6pm to 7am, you usually take two naps a day, you drink 3 formula bottles a day, you eat all solid foods (no more baby food), loves snacking on yogurt melts and puffs, loves sucking on a pacifier, wears size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes, loves bath time, crawls all over the place and super fast at it, pulls up onto knees, into anything and everything she can reach (wires, outlets), loves going to play dates to see friends, enjoys going on outings to shop and eat out. 

Today Avery and I are spending the day at home.  We are playing and I got some cleaning and laundry done.  I love having a clean house.  Eric is in a class for work until 1pm and then he will be coming home to spend the afternoon and night with us. 

My mom sent Avery this cute outfit sometime in June.  It used to be really tight in her belly.  It is size 18 months.  Avery is thinning out since she is crawling all over the place now.  It fits with much more room now!  I've noticed this with some of her other clothes too.  I wonder if she'll stay in size 18 months for a little while?  I might have to exchange a birthday outfit I bought for an 18 month size.  I got it in 24 months since she seems to out grow clothes in about 3 months. 

Rolo curled up in a little ball while we played in the play room.

Avery is down for her afternoon nap.  I'm going to get some dishes washed and put away, then relax.  We are making fish tacos tonight!  One of my favorites.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday!

wednesday play date

Avery and I spent the day with my good friend Angie and her two kids, Austin and Kinley.  We always have so much fun hanging out.  Today we had a successful lunch at Chickfila with no screaming and food throwing.  Avery LOVED the Chickfila fries I gave her at lunch.  After lunch, we walked over to the Super Target.  Neither of us needed to buy much, but it is still always fun to walk around looking and talking.  I could wander around Target for hours!

After lunch and shopping, we headed back over to Angie's house.  We snacked on some leftover party treats from Kinley's birthday, talked, and the kids played.  Avery always has a blast at their house.  They have tons of fun toys.  I always leave their house with another toy in mind that I want to buy Avery. 

Here is little Miss One Year old playing with her new picnic basket. 

I got one of all the kids, but nobody was looking.  Avery and Kinley are interested in the tea set. 

Having fun playing with all the blocks. 

Avery finally taking a moment to look up at mommy for a picture.  She was having such a great time. 

We're going to miss Angie, Austin, and Kinley next week!  They are going on a cruise with their family.  They are going to have so much fun.  We can't wait to hear all about it and see pictures when they return. 

When we got home from our play date, Avery was ready for her dinner and bath.  Once she was in bed I started with some cleaning that needed to get done.  I was able to clean both bathrooms, dust all the wood furniture and window sills, and clean the kitchen counters.  I'm glad I knocked all of that out.  Tomorrow I just have to do all the laundry and clean/vacuum the floors. 

Good night!

funny faces and cupcakes

When Eric got home this morning from work, we decided to go for an early morning walk.  Even at 8am it was pretty hot out.  I am so ready for the cooler weather, but I'll be waiting awhile.  In Austin, it doesn't start to get NICE out until October and November.  I hate this hot sunny weather we have 24/7.  No thank you 103 degrees.  Give me some 60s and 70s please. 

Avery was in a playful mood after her morning nap today.  She was making funny faces at me through the crib bars. 

HAHA look at that face!  Every time I look at this picture I laugh.

I had to go to a dentist appointment at 4pm today.  Eric stayed home with Avery.  He prepared a home made pizza crust and prepped veggies.  He gave Avery her dinner and bath by the time I got home.  As soon as I walked in the door, Avery was ready for her night time bottle and bed.  I took her and rocked her to sleep while Eric finished getting our veggie pizza together and in the oven.  It came out great!  I love home made pizza. 

Since I went to the dentist today, what better way to celebrate than making a super sugary dessert?  I decided to make some strawberry cupcakes with vanilla butter cream frosting.  No, this wasn't made from a box folks!  Here I am adding fresh strawberries to the batter. 

My super pretty finished product.  I'm trying out a few new cupcake recipes before Avery's first birthday party.  I'm planning on making all of the cupcakes.  These strawberry cupcakes are a for sure go!  I'm thinking I would like to make some lemon cupcakes as well. 

Look at that strawberry goodness.  YUM!  Eric ate 3 of them already. 

Time to go clean up the mess I made in the kitchen.  Hope everyone has a great night! 

errands, lamp and 100th post

After Avery took an awesome two hour morning nap, we headed over to Hobby Lobby and Super Target.  I needed to pick up some paint for a little project I wanted to do.  I also ended up buying Avery two new bows.  That store is so dangerous  They have all their pretty fall home decorations out and I want TONS of it.  I love fall and the colors and the thought of the upcoming holidays and the cooler weather and coziness of staying inside bundled up!  After browsing in Hobby Lobby we headed over to Super Target to get groceries.  We picked up lots of good stuff at Target, now I just need to figure out what we are having for dinner all week.  Any healthy ideas?

Avery did some playing after lunch and before afternoon nap.  She never smiles at the camera for me anymore.  She growls and comes charging at me like she wants to eat the camera lens.  Well, I guess she is my kid... mind is always on food!  My mom found my baby book in the basement the other day and was looking through it.  She told me one of my very first sentences was "What are you eating?".  I guess some things never change!  I need to stop thinking about food so much so I can drop these 20 pounds of baby weight that is hanging around.  I hate it.  I've always been really skinny and I am so much bigger now.  It is difficult to deal with.  Working out and eating well is hard, especially when you've never had to do that in the past to look good. 

While Avery was napping this afternoon, I wanted to start on a little painting project I've been wanting to do.  I've been wanting to paint the green bunny on her lamp a shade of pink for awhile.  Avery has a light green room with splashes of pink.  Here is the lamp before.

And after!  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I got the pink lamp without having to pay for a new one!

This evening I'm working on laundry and watching The Bachelorette.  Hope you had a great Monday. 

This is my 100th blog post!  I can't believe I have already posted that many times since the middle of April.  I'm so happy I decided to start blogging.  I love updating my family and close friends with what we are doing.  I hope one day Avery can look back and read it.  If you stop by and read my blog, let me know!  I would love to know if I have other readers out there besides my parents and few close friends.  Leave me a comment or email me at melissaannlancaster@gmail.com.  :)

Kinley's birthday party

Today we drove up to Pflugerville to my friend Angie's house.  Today was Kinley's first birthday party!  Angie had the house all decorated and it looked adorable, the food and cupcakes were delicious, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  I was glad Eric was able to come with me.  He hadn't met Angie and her husband Doc yet.  Eric had lots of fun and said we need to hang out with them more! 

I played photographer for awhile at the party.  Eric and Avery sat in the kitchen talking with others at the party.  Avery was eating everything!  She had banana, strawberries, goldfish crackers, guacamole, quiche, cheese, and cupcake.  I didn't even give her dinner when we got home. 

Kinley had a special birthday hat, bib, and outfit for her party.  It was just precious. 

Here she is getting ready to have her birthday cupcake! 

Oh look at all that pink icing!  It was a huge mess but she loved it.  She ended up getting stripped and taken to the bathroom for a quick rinse down before coming back to open presents.

We decided to let Avery have some cupcake to celebrate her friends birthday.  We stripped her down to her diaper and let her go to town. 

Avery made a huge mess too, loved the cupcake, and needed a rinse down afterwards as well! 

We had a great time hanging out at the party.  I thought for sure Avery would have slept on the 45 minute drive home.  NOPE!  Girlfriend was wide awake, but you could tell she was tired.  She didn't nap at all for me today so I was really surprised at how well she was at the party.  As soon as we got home, she had her bottle, and went right to sleep.

Thanks Angie and Doc for having us over!  We had a wonderful time.  Happy Birthday sweet Kinley!

new glider and ottoman

About two weeks ago, the glider in Avery's room broke.  We got that glider for a steal before Avery was born.  Our neighbors had a yard sale and sold the glider and ottoman to us for $40!  I wasn't heartbroken that the chair broke after using it for almost 10 months, but I'm not ready to part with a rocker in Avery's room.  We still give bottles and rock to to sleep every night.  I started searching on Craigslist to see if I could find another good deal on a glider and ottoman set.  I came across a posting from the beginning of July.  It was for a really pretty sage green and white gingham glider with matching ottoman for $50!  I told Eric we had to see if it was still available.  It would look perfect in Avery's room and it was the style I really liked.  Plus, it is Pottery Barn brand!  We got lucky and it was still available.  We drove out to Steiner Ranch today to pick it up.  I'm so excited we got this new glider to replace the old one!  It looks great in Avery's room and is so pretty! 

We put it to the test tonight with Avery's bed time bottle.  She settled in, and fell right to sleep.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Saturday! 

Roar!

Roar is all I can think when I see this picture!  She cracks me up.  I just love her to pieces.

Today was a lazy day at home.  Avery did lots of playing and we had a delicious home made pizza for dinner.  Hope everyone had a great Friday!

shopping and chipotle disaster

Today I met up with my friend Angie and her two kids, Austin and Kinley.  We met over at Buy Buy Baby to do some shopping.  We also looked in Home Goods, Ross, and TJ Maxx.  I love that we enjoy just walking around browsing and talking.  Avery didn't want to take a morning nap for me before meeting our friends, so she was pretty cranky while we where out.  Kinley wasn't thrilled to be out shopping either.  These girls need to learn to hang!  While at Buy Buy Baby, I found a really cute light pink tutu and Happy First Birthday onesie to save for Avery's first birthday.  I know we are still a couple months away, but I'm so excited to start planning her party!

We decided to have lunch at Chipotle.   It was super busy when we went in there and had to wait in line for awhile.  Once we got situated at our table the fun started.  I walked away to get some drinks for Angie and I, and in that 30 second period Avery managed to grab my entire burrito bowl and spill it all over herself and the floor.  It was a huge mess!  I was really embarrassed.  Two really nice guys at the table next to us started helping us clean up while I picked up my screaming kid.  The staff at Chipotle got us all cleaned up and even gave me another burrito bowl for free which was super awesome.  As soon as I got home, I wrote Chipotle a kudos email for that specific location.  Great customer service goes unrecognized so much.  I worked in the customer service world for a very long time, and getting a letter of recognition from a customer was always a great thing. 

Angie had a few toys and small red table that her kids no longer used, so she gave them to me for Avery.  Avery loves her new toys and the table fits in perfectly with our playroom!  Thanks for all the goodies Angie!  We always have lots of fun hanging out with Angie and her kids.  We are excited to go up to their house on Sunday for Kinley's first birthday party!

When we got home, we had a little package for Avery in the mail.  Her grandpa Rick and grandma Liz sent her a really cute pink Ron Jon surf shop t-shirt from Mexico!  They just got back from a cruise.  It was a fun surprise.  Avery was so tired while we were out that I thought for sure she would take a great nap this afternoon.  That is a huge no!  She never napped for me today!  I let her fuss in her crib for 40 minutes until I ended up just going in and getting her out.  I let her play in the playroom and gave her dinner.  We skipped bath tonight because I was lazy.  She wanted her bottle and bed at 5:15pm.  She has been asleep ever since.  I've knocked out a bunch of cleaning and I'm working on laundry.  Once I'm finished, I'm going to catch up on some of my shows that have been recorded for a couple weeks.

Sorry no pictures today!  Hope everyone had a great Thursday!

morning playdate and afternoon at home

Avery and I had a play date with my friend Ashley and her daughter Sienna today.  We went over to their house around 11:45 this morning to hang out and visit.  Sienna is just beautiful and just seeing how small she was made me miss those days with Avery!  Sienna is a few months younger than Avery, so she isn't mobile yet.  I had a great time visiting with Ashley and her husband Frank, and I know Avery enjoyed meeting Sienna and getting lots of puppy kisses from their two dogs.  Hopefully we'll plan more play dates in the future!

This afternoon, Avery took a great afternoon nap.  Eric and I just relaxed while the house was quiet.  When Avery woke up she was ready to play!

Eric made us taco salads for dinner tonight.  They tasted so good!  Avery was crawling around the kitchen while we made our salads, and I got this cute picture of her feet.  She enjoyed some taco meat, cheese, black beans, and corn for dinner. 

I've been in a funk the past few days with keeping up on my house cleaning.  I'm not sure what it is but I don't have any motivation, which is so not like me.  If you are close to me, you know I am weird OCD about cleaning and organizing.  I tried getting some stuff done this evening, but it wasn't much.  Maybe I'll have a better day with that stuff tomorrow.  Hope everyone had a great Tuesday! 

Follow up surgery appointment

Today I had my follow up from my in office small surgery procedure I had 3 weeks ago.  The doctor examined me and told me that the in office procedure did not correct the problem.  I am now scheduled to have out patient surgery at St. David's on August 22nd.  I'm not thrilled but I do know that this specific procedure has a 99% success rate.  My parents also decided to fly out to be with me.  They will get here August 20th and stay until August 26th.  I'm really happy they decided to cut their Florida vacation short to come and be with me.  The day after my surgery Eric is back at work the rest of the week.  I'm going to need to be on pain killers (the kind I get make me feel dizzy and tired and just not right) so they are going to help me a bunch with Avery.  So that is where I am right now with my problem. 

Back story on my issue:  Two weeks after Avery was born I got really sick.  We thought I had the flu because I had the chills and a fever and was really tired.  Then I started having really bad diarrhea.  It never went away.  I finally went to go and see a doctor who did some testing.  One of the tests came back positive for c-diff.  Check out the information in the clicky link about what c-diff is.  I was put on a medication called Flagyl for two weeks.  It did not work.  Shortly after I stopped that medication, I got worse and ended up being taken to the emergency room.  I was given three liters of fluids and some morphine for the pain.  That stuff made me loopy!  I was given a prescription for vancomycin which is a pretty strong drug.  I had to take that every 6 hours on the dot for 2 weeks.  If we didn't have health insurance, those pills would have cost over a grand to buy.  It still took awhile for the stronger medicine to kick in and really start working.  It finally did the trick and I felt better around Thanksgiving.  I went back for a follow up test to make sure it came back negative and it did.

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.  I had never been so ill in my life.  And on top of all of that, I was taking care of my brand new baby and struggling with breastfeeding.  I'm nervous about being put under for my surgery, but I want to feel better and move on from this issue. 

Fun weekend recap

We had a really fun and busy weekend with grandma Charlene visiting!

On Friday we had a relaxing morning at home and then went to Flying Saucer for lunch.  We all shared chips and queso and got hamburgers with fries.  Avery wasn't in the best mood while out, but we tried to keep her happy and occupied with eating snacks and playing with the beer coasters.  All of us decided we have no desire to go back to Flying Saucer.  It is a great place if you want to try a bunch of different beers.  We thought the service was really slow, the food sucked, and it isn't kid friendly (no changing table in the bathroom).  We came home after lunch since Avery was in major need of a nap.  Charlene and I ended up running out to Target and Hobby Lobby later that evening.  We picked up Chipotle for dinner and brought it home.  It was much better than our lunch.  We also picked up Avery this awesome play table!  I was so excited about it and put it together as soon as we got home!

Delicious Chipotle! 

On Saturday, my good friend Emily and her daughter Sophia stopped by.  Emily had met Charlene in the past so it was nice she was able to stop over to visit.  Charlene made her an awesome diaper bag just like mine, and even had Sophia's name embroidered on it!  Emily loved it.  I got some really cute shots of Emily and Sophia. 

I love this one!

Silly little girl!

Later Saturday afternoon, Eric needed to mow the grass.  Avery had fun watching him from the front door!  She always likes to look outside but is deathly afraid of the grass whenever we have her in the yard. 

While Charlene was here, she made Avery a new valance for her window!  I picked out all the fabric Friday night at Hobby Lobby.  I love it!  It was exactly what I wanted.  Now I just need to replace Avery's bedroom lamp to have everything matching with more pink in her room!

Speaking of Avery's room... I had her on the floor playing in there on Saturday and I happened to see something on the floor under the brown window drapes.  I moved the drapes a little and realized it was a HUGE spider!  I yelled for Eric and picked Avery up off the floor.  Eric walked in annoyed thinking it was going to be a bug as big as my thumb nail and then realized how big it really was.  He wasn't very thrilled about getting close to kill it.  The thing was massive.  We didn't get a picture so we have no idea what kind of spider it was.  Even dead and curled up the thing was big.  GROSS!  We both agreed it was the biggest spider we have ever seen in real life outside of a zoo.  And it was in our baby girls room. 

Look how awesome our basil looks in the backyard!

Saturday night we did some good cooking.  Check out this blueberry cobbler!  We got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated (seriously the BEST cooking magazine ever!).  It combines blueberry with lemon zest.  It was amazing.

We grilled chicken and tomatoes on the grill. 

We also did asparagus with lemon and garlic on the grill. 

Our dinner plates.  It is chicken caprese with asparagus!  The chicken caprese recipe is also from Cook's Illustrated.  It turned out super delicious. 

This morning Avery had fun playing with her new table. 

We also got some pictures with grandma before she went to the airport. 

We got our sneak peak from Tiffany so I wanted to share one of the pictures.  We had a very successful photo shoot on Saturday morning.  I loved our sneak peak (the full link is on my FB page) and I can't wait to see all our photos.  Tiffany is really excited to see us again in a few months for Avery's one year shoot with a smash cake!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!