shots and a busy day

Today started early and was a busy day.  First thing this morning, Eric and I took Avery to her one year check up.  While we were out, my mom and Eric's mom baked some chocolate chip cookies that we are using as favors for Avery's birthday party.  Avery was due for a few shots today.  It broke my heart to see her cry so hard getting 4 needles in her little legs.  As soon as she was finished, I scooped her up and rocked her in my arms.  I felt so bad for her.  She is one healthy little girl!  She weighs 22 lbs. 6 oz. and is 30 1/2 inches long.  We have a tall girl!  She had her picture taken at the doctors office for her file today and got to wear a cute conductors hat.  Here is her picture before her shots.

And the after picture.  You can't really see the tears on her cheeks as we walked out of the doctors office.  She was so upset.  She took a long two hour nap once we got home. 

After Avery's appointment, it was time to do some shopping.  My mom, Eric's mom, and I headed out to get a bunch of food and supplies that we are going to need for Avery's birthday party tomorrow.  We went to Target for some groceries, drinks, and a few random things we needed.  We went to Party City to get some balloons.  We stopped at Panera for lunch.  We went to Costco for the party platters.  We spent a good amount of time out this afternoon.

When we got home, we all got busy doing things around the house.  Eric and his mom cleaned the house windows.  I put the birthday party favors together.  My parents entertained Avery.  I got all my laundry done.  We got the bathrooms cleaned.  We had a great dinner of hamburgers on the grill and baked beans.  My dad went out and got us frozen custard for dessert.  We are all finally sitting down and relaxing close to 10pm!

I'm looking forward to the party tomorrow, but I'll be happy when the stress of it is over.  It's all I've been worrying about the past couple of weeks.  Tomorrow morning, Eric is going to pick up ice and the cupcakes we ordered.  We have some cooking to do and a little more cleaning before the party starts at 11am.

Well, that was our busy day.  Check back tomorrow night for some birthday party pictures!

Avery's Birthday (part 2)

After we took Avery's birthday 12 month sticker picture, I got working in the kitchen.  No birthday is complete without some Funfetti cupcakes!!!  They are my favorite so I wanted to make them for Avery. 

I even got her the pink vanilla frosting!

Yum... my pretty cupcakes. 

After Avery took a short nap, we decided to open presents.  Today we did presents from my parents, Eric's mom, Uncle Brian, Uncle Tom, and great grandma Verna. 

She was very curious about the big bag and tissue paper.  She was standing up on her own here.  She is starting to do that more often.

Taking a look at what is under all that tissue paper. 

A pretty pea pod baby!  These are so cute. 

Looking at her Winnie the Pooh, baby doll, and light up ladybug. 

Checking out her picnic basket set. 

Baby dolls. 

Two of her bigger presents.  She got a stroller for her baby dolls and a fun learning walker. 

Tea Set. 

Ready to get her eat on at Red's Porch.  She loves the queso and rice and beans there. 

Avery and I at lunch.

Eric and Avery at lunch.

The entire group after lunch, all nice and full.  My mom Janice, my dad Tom, Eric, Eric's mom Charlene, me, and Avery.  Lunch was delicious.  We always love eating at Red's Porch.  I had fried chicken tacos!  Talk about an awesome combination! 

This evening we sang Happy Birthday to Avery and gave her a cupcake. 

She wasn't quite sure what to do with it at first.  I seriously thought she was going to chuck it against my wall!

She grabbed the entire cupcake and took a huge bite! 

Making silly faces and enjoying her cupcake. 

Lots of pink icing on the hands!

I think she liked it!

We've had thunder and lightening all afternoon.  It has been great.  We haven't really had much rain, but just the overcast dark sky has been great!  You crave the dreary days when you never get them and it is still so hot at the end of September. 

Avery had a wonderful birthday.  We are looking forward to her birthday party on Saturday to celebrate with our friends.  Have a good night!

Happy 1st Birthday Avery (part 1)

Today my sweet baby girl turned one year old.  I can't believe it.  This year has gone by so fast.  Avery has changed so much and is just so full of personality.  She is stubborn and inquisitive like Eric.  She is social and full of smiles like me.  She is smart and full of curiosity.  She is sweet and sassy.  It is amazing how much of a difference a year makes.  I feel like we just brought her home from the hospital, and here we are playing with big girl toys and eating cupcakes!  I couldn't have more love in my heart for anyone else.  We are so blessed to have such a wonderful and healthy child.  Happy 1st Birthday Avery Blake!

Here are some 12 month stats (we take her in to see the pediatrician tomorrow for shots, so we'll get an accurate weight and height then): Avery eats EVERYTHING and loves trying new foods.  She has quite the appetite!  She is still drinking formula out of bottles, but has had some whole milk mixed in at times.  We are slowly going to transition her to whole milk.  She can drink water out of her sippy cup.  She still loves her pacifiers.  She has good nap days and bad nap days, but always sleeps through the night.  She always has her lovey bear to sleep with.  She is a crawling machine.  She can stand up like a pro with the help of furniture, and has just started to randomly stand on her own!  She loves playing with all of her toys and books.  She enjoys watching the Disney Channel cartoons and Disney movies.  She loves playing with her little friends when we have play dates or shopping/lunch dates.  She says mama and dada, but not directed at us yet.  She knows her name.  She is wearing all 18 month clothes.  She wears a size 4 toddler shoe.  She doesn't like having headbands and bows in her hair anymore (I hope that is just a phase!).  She is in a size 4 diaper.  She enjoys being outside, crawling in the grass, going for walks in the stroller, and swinging on swings at the park.  She loves her big brown dog and always touches him.  She always tries to grab my cell phone and laptop.  She loves shoes.

Happy 1st Birthday Avery Blake!!!

first day with my parents visiting

My parents arrived in Austin yesterday afternoon.  Today was our first full day together.  We put Avery in one of her new birthday girl tops and we headed out for lunch and a little shopping. 

My dad with his grand-daughter. 

Avery and grandma outside of Chickfila.  They had the cute firetruck there today so we had to get a picture. 

Avery enjoying her nuggets and fries for lunch. 

She had her first taste of chocolate milk today.  I think she liked it, but we are actually going to stop feeding her milk for right now and stick to formula.  We think the whole milk might be upsetting her stomach.  I increased her whole milk intake about a week ago, and that is when her diarrhea started.  We see her doctor on Friday, so we'll talk to her about what is best to do. 

Grandma and grandpa got Avery a few cute outfits at Carter's.  The weather here NEEDS to cool off!  Avery has so many cute fall outfits that I want to start dressing her in. 

They also bought me a new fall door hanging for my front door.  I was so happy to take down my summer door hanging and switch it out. 

We are relaxing at home this evening and hoping for a thunderstorm.  It is super dark out!  We might go and get some frozen custard as dessert.  Have a great night! 

birthday dress and cookies

I'm happy to report that Avery slept in until 7:30am this morning.  It was so nice.  I love not being woken up before 7am.  I mentioned in my post the other day that we received one of Avery's birthday presents early.  Her grandpa Rick and grandma Liz sent her a light pink Anywhere Chair from Pottery Barn Kids.  It is adorable! 

Here is Avery sitting in it this morning.  She doesn't know how to get in and out of the chair, and already face planted getting out of it.  She will figure it out in time.  She'll have many years in this chair, she has lots of room in it now!

We decided to go out to lunch today.  Since Avery's first birthday is in less than a week and her party is one week from today, I figured it was time to start letting her wear some of her birthday gear.  I put her in this cute birthday dress today.  She was more interested in crawling around and playing with her sandals than having her picture taken. 

Her dress says I love sprinkles and icing!

My big girl getting to everything in her changing table cubbie.  I finally had to move her lotions, hair brush, nail clippers, aspirator, etc. that I had in a basket in the cubbie to her bathroom today. 

We enjoyed a really yummy lunch at Cypress Grill.  They have wonderful Cajun food.  Avery made some friends at the table next to us.  She liked the garlic bread, red beans, and rice she had for lunch. 

Later this evening, Avery enjoyed her dinner while watching college football with her daddy.  Here they are. 

We made some chocolate chip cookies today.  Eric took some to work with him today so I wouldn't be tempted to eat the entire plate tonight.  I love home made cookies!

I'm caught up on all my laundry and cleaning, so I'm relaxing this evening with my cookies and DVR.  Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

a blonde, a brunette, and a red head

Avery was up bright and early this morning.  She didn't have a temperature like she did last night so that was good!  I was worried she was going to wake up sick.  We had breakfast, did some playing, watched cartoons, then Avery went down for a morning nap around 10:15am.  Once she was asleep, I took a quick shower, had a bowl of cereal, and got our bag ready to be out for the day.  We spent the afternoon at my friend Angie's house.  As soon as we got to Angie's, I needed to give Avery some lunch.  She enjoyed her veggies, black beans, sausage balls, and chocolate cookie!  Angie made a really yummy lunch with chips and queso, chicken tortilla soup, sausage balls, and chocolate M&M cookies. 

We had three girls today all a month a part in age from each other.  Kinley (Angie's daughter) is 14 months, Alexis (Lisa's daughter) is 13 months, and Avery is 12 months.  They are all so cute!  We have a blonde, a brunette, and a red head! 

The kids spent the afternoon playing and pulling out every possible toy in the playroom.  We chatted and snacked on food all afternoon.  Angie made three really cute pom poms to hang at Avery's birthday party next weekend.  She also pulled out the supplies to make a birthday banner for the party.  I made circles and cut them all out.  Angie printed the letters out and I glued them all together.  I just have to buy some pretty ribbon to link them all together.  I'm so excited to have some pretty decorations!  Thanks for helping me with all the crafts this afternoon Angie!!

Avery and I left Angie's house around 3:30pm to head home.  Avery was getting really cranky.  I figured she would fall asleep on the 45 minute drive home.  No such luck.  She screamed the entire way home.  I even pulled over on the side of the toll road to check on her since she usually never carries on like that in the car.  I know she was a mix of tired and hungry.  As soon as we got home I gave her dinner and got her in a warm bath.  She was in bed at 6:30pm.

I'm working on laundry and a birthday party menu/shopping list.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Friday!!!

a big box, new spices, good food

Today started off great.  Avery slept in until 8am!  She never sleeps in that late.  It felt so nice not waking up when it was dark outside.  I slept so well last night.  Eric was home today and he made us some cinnamon waffles for breakfast.  They turned out great.  I love when we are all home and can have a leisurely morning of breakfast, coffee, and play time. 

Before we went to bed last night, I saw that we had a big box sitting outside our front door.  It is a big box from one of my favorite stores - Pottery Barn Kids!! 

Grandpa Rick and grandma Liz sent Avery her big special birthday gift a little early.  They got her a light pink any where chair with her name on it!  It is super cute.  Avery needs to learn to get in and out of it without face planting.  She already hurt herself with it!  I'll post some pictures of her sitting in her chair tomorrow.  I couldn't get a good shot today of miss cranky pants. 

This afternoon we took a ride downtown to Savory Spice shop.  They are the best spice shop!  We stocked up on lots of spices we ran out of recently.  DAD - we got you some garlic powder for your pizza!!!!  :)

After the spice shop, we came home because Eric had a doctor appointment to get to.  Avery and I stayed home.  I tried to get Avery down for a nap this afternoon, but she wasn't interested.  She has been really cranky all day today and looked pretty flushed.  I finally took her temperature this evening and it was 100.2.  It is horrible, but I'm still watching it.  She was in bed at 5:30pm tonight. 

I got some crock pot chicken taco chili going this morning.  We had it for dinner and it came out great!  We topped it with some shredded cheese and crunched up tortilla chips. 

Eric made some apple crisp for dessert.  We had this with some vanilla custard.  Delicious!  We ate really well tonight. 

We are just relaxing for awhile this evening and heading to bed early.  I have a feeling I might be woken up in the middle of the night by Avery.  Or she will be up really early in the morning since she went to bed so early tonight.  Hope everyone had a great day! 

Baked Ravioli

1 jar of spaghetti sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1/2 cup water
2 packages of frozen cheese ravioli (or whatever kind of ravioli you want)
1 package of Italian three cheese blend shredded cheese
Parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning mix

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, water, and Italian seasoning mix into bowl.
Cover the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with sauce mixture. Top with ravioli, then cheese mixture. Repeat layers. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the top layer of cheese.
Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove cover then bake 15 minutes or until ravioli is cooked through. Let stand 10 minutes. ENJOY!

gymboree class and ravioli dinner

Today we took Avery to her first class at Gymboree Play and Music.  Her class started at 12:15pm and ran until 1pm.  It was mostly free play with kids between the ages of 10 and 16 months.  A teacher did come out to sing songs and play some games, but Avery wasn't interested.  She just wanted to keep exploring.  She had an absolute ball!  She had such a big smile on her face the entire time, was laughing, loved having us there to play with her, checked out other kids, and crawled around like a mad woman.  Unfortunately, it costs $72 a month to have a membership to play there.  This will be Avery's first and last time going to Gymboree.  Here are some pictures we took while she played! 

Avery was worn out after playing so hard.  We got home and she took a really long nap.  I made a new recipe tonight called Ravioli Bake.  It is super simple.  It is out of my Kraft Food and Family magazine (as always, I LOVE that magazine!).  All of my ingredients are ready to go. 

Here is the finished product!  It was pretty good and we'll make it again.  Next time we are going to use two different kinds of ravioli and possibly add some ground turkey to the sauce mix. Recipe to follow. 

Eric gave Avery her bath tonight while I cleaned up the kitchen.  He got some really cute shots of her playing in the tub.  Her hair is starting to get longer and she definitely has some curls! 

Wild woman coming at you!

We are relaxing the rest of the evening.  I'm going to try and talk Eric into getting some frozen custard.  :) 

Hope you had a great Wednesday!