Birthday Party!

This is going to be a crazy posting week with Halloween AND Averie's birthday so buckle up! :)

Saturday night was Averie's first birthday party for her 2nd birthday -- got that? ;-).  Averie's cousin, Oliver, was born just four days after her so we decided to do a joint party for them with Chris' family, and then we'll have another small party next week with my family.  

Averie and Daddy before dinner

We had the party at the home of Oliver's parents.  Homemade soups (yummy during this cold weather!) and cake abounded.  PSA: Costco makes beautiful, delicious half-sheet cakes -- and they're cheaper than 1/4 sheet elsewhere! -- which is perfect when you're feeding 30+ people :).

Unfortunately, we didn't get too many pictures since Averie was on the run with one of her many cousins for most of the night.  They love her so much and she just soaks up every ounce of the attention!  She got some fun gifts and her very first piggy bank, even started off for her with a stash of coins.   

She has a mini Magnadoodle that she LOVES, so she was pretty thrilled to get a big one :)

We couldn't convince her to blow out her candles (even though she knows how), but Oliver took care of that for her :-).

Aah, so blurry, but Oliver was looking cute and proud of himself for blowing out the candles :)

Everyone had a great time and despite the massive sugar high (did you see those frosting balloons?! Yikes!), Averie conked out on the ride home :)

And just a gratuitous picture of Averie's cheesy grin:

Babymoon!

Ours wasn’t QUITE a babymoon since you are supposed to take it when you are still child-free, but Chris and I had the chance to take another somewhat-free vacation thanks to Living Social, so we jumped on it.  My mom was kind enough to take on Averie for us for the three days we were gone.

We left early Wednesday morning, headed for Lake Havasu City, AZ and stayed at the London Bridge Resort.  

Everything there was so beautiful and the weather was just right.  The low-80s temperature was a nice change from the chillier weather coming to Utah now.  Chris and I are already hoping to plan a trip back with Averie and the new baby next year.  There were tons of family-friendly activities in their not-so-little resort city, although we didn’t participate in any.

Nope!  Not a one.  Our suite was huge and beautiful and we were not the least bit inclined to leave it!  We slept in, watched movies all day long, ate at delicious restaurants and relaxed in the jetted spa tub. 

It. Was. HEAVEN. 

Chris and I both came back feeling rejuvenated and ready to take on the day again.  And a certain little girl welcomed us back with big smiles, hugs and kisses.  We missed her terribly, but I can’t deny that this vacation was just what the doctor ordered after this year! 

Pregnancy Post: Feelin' It

Up until our anniversary last month, pregnancy had been pretty good to me.  Of course I’m exhausted, but y’know, I’ve been exhausted for the past 10 months so I don’t know how much of that I can actually blame on the pregnancy and how much is the MS.

And I thought I’d escaped morning all-day sickness until it reared its ugly head at almost 10 weeks along when Chris and I were supposed to be enjoying a romantic anniversary dinner!  We ended up eating salads from the grocery store deli at 8:30 PM in the living room with Averie running circles around us.  Which is just not quite the same as the candlelit table and bacon-wrapped filet I was planning on…

The hardest part of being nauseous was that I still had diapers to change.  Chris changed all the diapers for me when he was home, but that still left usually three for me to change while he was at work.  An empty trash can by the changing table -- just in case! -- was enough reassurance to get me through those really vile diapers :).

And just when I think it’s fiiinally tapering off (like last night), the dry heaves return with a vengeance and I’m running to the medicine cabinet for a Zofran -- my beautiful, beautiful miracle drug.  All of the nausea does make me wonder if it’s a boy this time since the all-day sickness I had with Averie was much more mild and didn’t last nearly as long.  We shall see!

Everything else has been pretty normal and I am noticing a return in my energy levels now that I’ve entered the second trimester.  Hopefully, productivity is in my future!

Looking Up

Things are improving at our new home.  Fewer toes are being stepped on, and we are finally settling in.  I can finally envision our family staying here until the time is right, instead of leaving as soon as possible.  

Work has started on finishing the backyard so Averie will have a yard larger than we could have imagined to play in next spring and summer, alongside her new sibling --- who will probably just lay there ;-).  

One thing that I do love about being here, that I've always loved about being here, is how much space Averie has to play.  

We've re-arranged since to make room for her small table and chairs for coloring, and I'm busy envisioning where else we can fit all the new stuff I want to get her for her birthday and Christmas.  

She never could have had this much space at Garden Park...unless we removed all the living room furniture!  Here, we have enough seating in the basement for at least nine people and she STILL has all this room to run and jump and play and just stretch out.  You can tell she's happy about it, too :).

Guess Whoo Has a Secret?

I'm going to be a big sister!

Chris and I had been talking about expanding our family for a few months and in July, we decided the timing was right to try for a sibling for Averie.  I am so grateful that we were blessed right away with the opportunity to bring another life into this world.  If it had not happened that month, I would have started treatment for my MS immediately after confirming the diagnosis, and our children would have been spaced much further apart than we wanted them. 

I am due April 16, 2012 and am 12 weeks, 3 days along today.  We got to see our little one last week and everything looks perfect.  He/she is already measuring a few days ahead, so I guess I just bake long babies (I’m 100% positive on my dates), since Averie has also always been in at least the 90th percentile for length.  

I have an anterior placenta -- again! boo! -- which means I probably won’t get to feel much movement for a little longer (but it does mean more ultrasounds -- yay! -- because it’s more difficult to find the heartbeat through the extra tissue with the regular doppler). 

We are just SO excited for this addition to our family.  Seeing those two lines was a bright spot in an otherwise dark year and I am looking forward to meeting our new little one.

Side note: I’m thinking of a “series” here so the blog won’t be all pregnancy all the time for the next 6ish months.  Maybe just a post each month of what I’m experiencing at that time, anything exciting that happened, thoughts, etc.  Stay tuned! 

Did you check out her "fangs" in the first picture?  She gets those super-sharp canines from her daddy!

A House is Not a Home

After 10 months of unemployment, our savings was wiped out, and we were in deep, deep credit card debt.  The total was so much higher than I thought it would be, once I added it all up, but hey, 10 months without a regular paycheck or unemployment benefits will do that to you.  I’m just glad that we had the resources SOMEWHERE so we could keep living!

My parents had offered to let us move in right after Chris lost his job, but we kept hanging on because we really did not want to turn to that option.  Chris and I had done it once before when we were first married, and there was such conflict that our marriage almost didn’t survive it.  Moving out was the best thing we ever did.

But this time around, we recognized that in our current situation, it could take us, literally, years and years to get back to where we were before the unemployment.  We had to acknowledge that maybe the best thing to do would be to take them up on their offer.  After assurances that things would be different than last time, we took the plunge when our lease ended last month.

Sadly, things have not been any different.  I was truly hopeful that they would be but Chris’ and my relationship with my family continues to grow more strained, and we’ll plan to move out sooner than we would have if boundaries and basic considerations had been respected from the get-go.  It will mean it takes longer to get back on our feet, it will mean taking longer to meet all our financial goals, it will mean uprooting ourselves again too soon after a move that was stressful in the first place.  But all those things are better than the alternative.  

It was very generous of my parents to finish their basement for us – it is beautiful, really, and we have more living space than before – and I am and will be eternally grateful for that.  Unfortunately, a beautiful house is not synonymous with a happy house, when there is discontent as there is now. 

I don’t think I will ever stop calling Garden Park home. When I’m in Orem for school, it feels like I should just drive up the hill to get home, not get on the freeway.  We made wonderfully close friends there that I hope we will keep forever.  It was the first and only home Averie ever knew.  It was actually the first place that ever felt like home to us. 

I hope we can find our next home soon.

Peter Cottontail

This is Averie’s bunny.  You will rue the day you accidentally try to put her down for bedtime or a nap without realizing she does not have the bunny.  Heck, should you ever even try to take it from Averie when she doesn’t want to give it up, you may wonder if she has begun lifting weights in her free time seeing as her grip will suddenly be ten times stronger than yours.

We even have multiples of the same bunny that we rotate so they are equally loved (translation: dirty :P) in case one should be lost or become so gross that I can’t bear to let her have it anymore.

Averie is more attached to her bunny than her pacifier, and that’s saying something because this girl LOVES her binky (it’s next on the wean list as soon as her molars cut through – that should be fun!). 

Sometimes we sit with her and sing “Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail…” with her while the bunny hops up her arm to her neck and then tickles her with his little whiskers.

Cute bunny story: Last night when it was time to go to bed, while we sang the song as we walked, Averie chose to hop all the way to her room instead of walking!  I love when she surprises us with some silly behavior – it can brighten even the worst day!

New Toy!

I have wanted a DSLR camera for years, but we had a perfectly good point-and-shoot and other expenses always took priority (rightly so, but still).  When I opened the box last night and saw the camera, "blown away" doesn't even begin to describe my excitement!  How Chris managed to keep it from me I guess I'll never know -- I am terrible at waiting for surprises.  

It’s a Canon Rebel T3, which is a fairly entry-level camera, but that’s perfect for me since, well, I am entry-level at shooting with a DSLR.  

Even better, Chris also got me photography lessons so I can learn all the ins and outs and features of my awesome new camera.  I’m glad Averie loves the camera because I have a feeling she is going to be my favorite subject! 

(Chris' gift was much less exciting than mine -- a new fog light assembly for our SUV, since ours was broken when we hit a dog running into the street a few years ago.  Chris was still very excited though, so that's all that matters!). 

7 Years!

Chris and I celebrated our anniversary today!

I can't believe it's been so long.  Time just seems to fly by and I love that seven years later, we still go to the grocery store together and text "I love you"s throughout the day like when we were newlyweds.  I hope we stay like this forever.

Chris surprised me on Friday by having flowers and chocolate-covered strawberries delivered!  Oh my, so delectable (the strawberries, not the flowers :P)!

Today, we FINALLY saw the final Harry Potter in the theater, although we had to take a raincheck on our romantic dinner for two.  As much as we both love Averie, it was still nice spending the afternoon together, just us.  

I really couldn't have picked a better spouse.  Chris is just downright amazing.  Of course he's not perfect, but he is perfect for me.

Looking forward to celebrating an eternity of anniversaries together!

Back to School

One semester left, one semester left...


At the end of this year, I will have two degrees, one in Business with an emphasis in accounting, and one in Hospitality Management.  It's been a long time coming -- I have been in school for eight years!


I'm only taking two courses -- Individual Income Tax and Hospitality Managerial Accounting.  The hospitality one is to complete that degree, and the Income Tax is to get me above half-time so I qualify for financial aid.  Plus, I actually enjoy taxes (and, no, I do not need to have my head examined! :P).


I was actually planning to attend next semester but some things changed that made attending this semester a better choice.  Or maybe that's debatable since the first day of school also coincided with our move! 


It will be nice to finally be done though.  I'm happy I will have not one, but two, degrees that will be useful if I decide I would like to go back to work one day.  I will say I never anticipated it taking this long, but multiple major changes will do that to ya!