spaghetti dinner

This morning when Eric got home from work, Avery had some breakfast and we headed outside for a morning walk.  It was hot as always.  We stopped at the park so Avery could get on the swing for a little while.  She loves getting on the swing!

Later in the morning, I got a spurt of energy.  I decided to make a pot of my rice, beans, and veggies to have as left overs the next couple of days.  I also prepared my home made meat sauce in the crock pot so we could have spaghetti and meat sauce tonight for dinner.  Some fresh Italian herb bread was baking in the bread maker too!  Our house smelled pretty good!  Avery had fun checking things out in the pantry.  Too bad there is nothing exciting.  She is like her mom, always wanting to see what is in the pantry or fridge.  I know I go and open those doors during the day wishing a platter of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting would appear.

Today was a lazy day around the house.  Avery took two naps, and while she napped I relaxed and did a few things around the house.  Her afternoon nap started rather late and she slept until 4:15pm.  I'm not going to have my normal evening to myself tonight.  Eric napped this afternoon since he is working tonight.  I was excited when the mail came because I received my box of invites I made on Shutterfly for Avery's birthday party.  I need to work on getting those out in the mail by the end of this week.

Avery got down and dirty with her spaghetti dinner tonight.  She loved it.  I'll have to fix spaghetti more often. She was a complete mess and went straight into the bath tub when she was finished eating.

Tonight I need to do a load of laundry and clean up the kitchen from dinner.  After that, I'm going to catch up on some Bachelor Pad action.  I have two episodes recorded!  Have a great night!

Happy 11 Months Avery!

I can not believe my sweet angel is already 11 months old today.  This year has seriously flown by!  Next month we'll be celebrating her first year and I can't wait to have her little party.  She was all smiles for her little photo shoot this afternoon.

Here are some 11 month stats:  sleeping through the night like a champ, takes two naps a day (morning and afternoon), crawling all over the place, can pull herself up to standing while holding onto something, claps her hands, loves laughing with you, crawls over to you to be close and hug, loves her pacifier, learning to drink from a sippy cup, loves playing with her music table and toys, loves looking at her books, tries to get into the crate with Rolo, loves being around Rolo, has fun taking trips with me to visit friends, go shopping, and out to eat, finally is not afraid of the grass (thanks Eric!), drinks three formula bottles a day, eats three full meals a day, loves Chickfila chicken nuggets and fries, wears a size 4 diaper, wears size 18 months in clothes, wears a size 2-3 in shoes, can say mama and dada, loves going for walks in her stroller, loves swinging at the park.

Mommy and daddy just adore you Avery Blake!  You make us smile and laugh everyday.  We love you so much baby girl!

She's standing!

Look who is standing up now!  Avery recently started pulling herself up to standing, but it was every once in awhile and she would fall right down.  Now she is standing up all the time and she can stand for awhile.

She is so surprised and proud of herself!

Our friends Michael and Jenny stopped over for a few minutes this evening.  Eric was able to get a shot of Avery and Rhyan together.  Rhyan is one week younger than Avery and she is already walking and running around!  It was so funny watching her.

Jenny brought me the bib and bloomers set I ordered for Avery's birthday.  I absolutely love it!  She also made me a matching hair bow.  Avery is going to be wearing this when she has her cake/cupcakes for her birthday.  Thank you so much Jenny of Two Sisters Crafting!

Close up of the bib.

Tonight Eric made us an awesome dinner!  He had the grill and smoker out.  We had pork tenderloin, sweet potatoes, and grilled peaches.

Our delicious dinner.

We did some cleaning once Avery went to bed and now we are relaxing until bed.  I'm still coughing and not feeling 100%.  I'm so ready for this cold to take a hike.  Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

lunch out and HOTLR blog

We said good bye to my parents this morning.  We dropped them off at the airport at 9am.  We are going to miss them so much, but can't wait to see them the end of September.  Once Avery and I left the airport, we stopped at Target to pick up a couple things before heading home.  As soon as we got home Avery was ready for a bottle and a nap.  Once she went down, I just lounged on the couch and relaxed.  I have been tired and sick with a cold.  I have felt horrible today.

Even though I'm not feeling well, Eric suggested going to Red's Porch for some lunch.  Avery was pretty happy about going out for lunch.

Eric enjoyed a couple brew while we had lunch.  I'm always the DD when we go out.

All our food.  Eric got a burger, I got some King Ranch chicken casserole (which wasn't that great, I was pretty disappointed), and rice and beans for Avery.

Eric and Avery after lunch.  It was nice to go out to eat even though I'm sick.  That is also why there are no pictures of me today!  I started not feeling well on Monday with a really sore throat.  Then on Thursday I started in with being congested.  Now my throat hurts, I'm congested, sneezing, and coughing.  It is just lovely.

We've just been relaxing all afternoon and evening.  We are ordering sandwiches from Cafe 1626 for dinner and hanging out watching Food Network.  Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives is such a fun show!

Eric and I have been part of the Heart of Texas Lab Rescue family since we adopted Rolo in May 2007.  We have fostered a few labs, started the HOTLR Facebook page, and done some other volunteer work for the organization.  We haven't been able to do as much lately since we have a little one.  Avery and Rolo made the HOTLR blog!  Check out this article on kids and labs together.

Have a wonderful Friday night and enjoy your weekend!

whataburger, shopping, and RAIN!

Today we went to have lunch at Whataburger.  My parents don't have Whataburger back home, so whenever they visit they like to go.

Had to act like tourists and get a picture in front of Whataburger!

Avery was very interested in playing with grandpa's drink.

Enjoying some yummy burgers, fries, and root beer.

After lunch, we noticed it was pretty cloudy and dark outside.  We drove over to the Kohl's shopping center. As soon as we parked and got out, it started to RAIN!!!  We haven't had rain in months.  It was so exciting.  It poured while we shopped in Kohl's.  I picked up two new picture frames for Avery's room.  I got her a new shelf at Target the other day that my dad put up for me.  I ordered a picture for the daddy's girl frame and we are obviously waiting on her first birthday to get a picture for the other one.

My mom also bought Avery two new pajama sets.  They are super cute!  I'm so ready for some cooler weather so we can switch out of the summer clothes we have been wearing FOREVER.

I finally used Avery's big duck towel after her bath today.  It is much bigger than all of her baby bath towels.  She is really growing out of those, so we'll be using this towel now.  I'm planning on redoing our hallway bathroom in a kids theme once I find a shower curtain I really like.  I'll get new towels and washcloths to match it.

We are just at home relaxing tonight.  My parents are headed back to Florida tomorrow morning.  We are hoping their flight isn't messed up because of the hurricane off the Florida coast.  They are flying from Florida to Virginia on Monday.  Have a great night!

pampers box and chuys

Who needs toys?  This morning after breakfast, Avery had a blast playing in the empty Pampers box.  We pushed her around in it and she loved it.

She tried closing herself inside of the box.

Just having a ball and laughing at her grandma and grandpa.  She is loving having them around.  We are excited that they'll be back down the end of September for Avery's first birthday party.

After Avery took a morning nap and we all got ready, we decided to get lunch at Chuy's.  My dad loves the big as your face burrito they have!  Here are Avery and I before leaving for lunch.

I love this one!  So cute and happy!

She is ready for her rice and beans!  She ate so much at lunch today.  We all did.  I love Chuy's!

My mom let her play with her small Vera Bradley wallet while we finished eating.  She loved that thing!  She has good taste at an early age.

After lunch, we headed over to the mall to walk around for awhile.  I also needed to get my truck battery checked at Sears.  When I go to start my truck, it skips a beat before starting.  The battery checked out fine, but I'm sure a new starter for my truck is in the future.  My Explorer is almost 10 years old.

When we got home, we all laid down and took naps.  I'm still not feeling well and fighting a cold.  We napped until 4pm!  When Avery got up, I gave her some dinner and got her a bath.  While I was doing that, my parents ran to the grocery store to pick up something quick and easy for dinner.  They also brought home some mint chocolate chip ice cream!  Eric is working tonight and the rest of us are just relaxing this evening.

Good night!

Tuesday Stuff

I didn't take any pictures today.  I just have some randomness to post tonight.

I'm fighting a stupid cold and I feel like crap.
Avery was super cranky all day today.
Avery and I did a little shopping and lunch out with my parents this afternoon.
Mom made some yummy chili for dinner and a strawberry pie for dessert.
Dad hung a new shelf in Avery's room.
There was a 5.9 earthquake back home.  Scary, but everyone is OK.
Eric is at work and I miss him a lot today.

That's about it.  Night.

outlets (again), BBQ, cupcakes

This morning after pancakes and bacon for breakfast, mom and I drove back down to the San Marcos outlets.  We needed to do a few exchanges at a couple stores.  While driving down to the outlets, my mom got a call from her coworker Denise.  Denise told her that the 11 people at her work who went in on the lottery had just won!  They won a total of $10,000 and the 11 people (including my mom) get to split it.  Perfect timing to find out she just won some cash as we headed back down to the outlets!

When we got home, I saw that Eric cleaned the entire kitchen top to bottom.  It was a really nice surprise.  Avery went down for her afternoon nap shortly after we got home, so we all relaxed while she slept.  Once she woke up, we got ready and headed out to an early dinner at Uncle Billy's Brew-B-Que.  We originally wanted to go to the location out at Lake Travis, but decided to just go to the location closer to the house.  Here are Avery and I before leaving for dinner.  She loves playing with her hair brush.

Everyone when we got seated at our table.  We all were starving!

Eric and Avery.

Our happy little family.  I really love this picture.

With my amazing parents.  I love having them here.  We've been having so much fun.

Avery waiting on the chips and queso!  She was so good while we had dinner.  My grandma got her this new outfit and it is adorable on her.

Our appetizers of chips and queso and fried pickles.  So good!

When we got home from dinner, it was time for Avery to get her bath and get ready for bed.  Eric gave her a little mohawk when he got her out of the tub.  She wasn't super happy in this picture.  She wanted to get on the floor and crawl around.

Today was a great day.  We ended it on a sweet note with some delicious cupcakes from Hey Cupcake!

Good night!

day of shopping

Today I spent the entire day down at the San Marcos outlets with my parents.  Eric has no interest in shopping, so he stayed at home with Avery.  We got to the mall as soon as it opened at 10am.  We shopped till we dropped!  It was really hot out and packed because it was the last day of tax free shopping weekend.  We went to Johnny Rockets for lunch and it was so good!

I love that they have real Cherry Coke!

Our smiley face of ketchup.

All our yummy burgers, fries, and onion rings.  We ate so much and walked out of there stuffed.

My dad carried all our bags while we shopped.  When we started making our way back to the car, I had to get a picture of him carrying all our bags!  I had so much fun shopping with my parents today.  I always miss them and hate that we live so far away.

All of the goods piled into the back of the truck.

For dinner we are having chicken tacos.  I started the taco meat before we left for the outlets this morning.  When we got home, it smelled great in the house.  Avery had her dinner and bath pretty early.  She is sporting her new t-shirt that my parents brought her.  It says My First Deerfield Beach Florida t-shirt on it.

We are going to have a relaxing night.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Sunday!

getting ready for grandpa and grandma to arrive!

Today we had lots of stuff to do around the house.  This evening, grandpa Tom and grandma Jan are flying in from Florida to stay with us for a week.  We are all really excited.  We needed to do some cleaning up around the house, some laundry, Eric brewed some beer this morning and had to clean up after that, Eric is also trimming and mowing the lawn, and we are making homemade pizza for dinner.

While I was cleaning up in the kitchen, Avery was checking out the food selection in the fridge.  There isn't much in there kid.  Like mother, like daughter.  Always seeing what is good to eat in the fridge!

Doing a little playing in the playroom while I was working on the computer.  This morning, I took a premature birthday picture of Avery.  I wanted something for her birthday party invitations.  I got her this cute top and tutu at Carter's.  This is only one of her birthday outfits!  Grandma Charlene is making her a personalized wrap dress with matching bloomers, and my friend Jenny who owns Two Sisters Crafting is making her a personalized bib and bloomers set.  We're going to be celebrating her birthday the entire month of September!

I got her invitations made and ordered.  I really need to start figuring out what I need to buy for her party and start getting ready.

My parents land in Austin around 5:30pm.  We are going to have a fun week full of hanging out, going out to eat, SHOPPING, and doing a few things around the house!  I love having family come and visit us.

tax free shopping and a scare

Avery and I spent the morning playing in the playroom while Eric took a nap.  He worked over night and was going to be taking care of Avery all day while I go shopping.  Avery has lots of toys but loves playing with her CSU water bottle. It kept her occupied all morning.

I left the house at 9am to go and meet my good friend Angie at her house.  We drove together over to Round Rock outlet mall to do some shopping for our kids.  It was tax free shopping in Texas for all clothes, shoes, school supplies, backpacks.  It wasn't as busy as we thought it was going to be.  I'm sure tomorrow and Sunday will be nuts.  We both found some really cute clothes and shoes for our kids.  I got some outfits for Avery at Carter's and Gymboree.  I also got her some shoes at Stride Rite, but they ended up being huge so I'm going to exchange them for another size.  I had such a great time hanging out with Angie.  We always have  so much fun and have become really close friends.  We ended our shopping excursion with a delicious frap from Starbucks!

So the scare for today.  While Eric was home with Avery she choked for real for the first time.  He was letting her snack on some of the Annie's Cheddar Bunnies I got her yesterday.  He was sitting on the floor in the playroom with her while she ate them.  She started to play with some toys and then looked up at him choking.  There was no noise coming from her, she wasn't gagging it up, and her face was turning bright red.  He quickly grabbed her, put her face down, and started smacking her back to get the cracker out of her throat.  It was really lodged in there and took him about 15 hard pushes to get it out.  She cried really hard afterwards and so did he.  He told me he was glad I wasn't home because I would have been so scared.  So from now on, all meals and snacks will be given while she is sitting in her high chair until she is much older.  She isn't very good at chewing crunchy or larger pieces of food yet, and we learned that today.  Today I was thankful that Eric is a paramedic and knew what to do.

blah morning and healthy snacks

I did not feel well when I woke up this morning.  For one, I haven't been able to sleep at night the past 4 or 5 nights.  I started taking a new medication and it isn't agreeing with me.  I talked to my doctor today about the side effects I was having and she told me to stop taking it immediately and to come in and see her next week. I have an appointment set for Tuesday.  I'm hoping I can sleep better tonight and feel refreshed in the morning.

Later this afternoon when I was feeling a little better, Avery and I took a trip over to Sprouts.  I really needed to buy her yogurts and wanted to look for some healthier on the go snacks as well.  She just loves shopping in Sprouts!

I found a few good things for Avery to snack on.  Annie's Cheddar Bunnies, Annie's Fruity Bunnies, and Earths Best Organic Vanilla cookies.  We sampled the cookies this afternoon and they are a hit.

This evening I'm going to try and knock out a little cleaning and laundry around the house.  My parents are flying in Saturday evening and I always like the house to look as nice as possible when we have guests.  I know it will be turned upside down within a day, but I like to start fresh!

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow!  I'm driving up to my good friend Angie's house so we can drive together over to Round Rock outlets for some SHOPPING!  It is tax free shopping weekend in Texas starting tomorrow.  I love that Angie loves to shop just as much as I do.  My awesome amazing wonderful sweet husband is taking care of Avery while I go have fun! :)