Saturday, December 31, 2011

Last Days of 2011

Tonight we watched the ball drop in NYC as a family, grateful that it happens at 9pm for us so we can go to bed (ha ha ha)! With only a few hours left in 2011 for California, thought I'd post a couple photos of our last few days this year. We have spent the past week very focused on spending quality time with Avery before she graduates to "big sister" status. She is as eager as any of us to meet her brother, but certainly the least cognizant of how much it will change the only-child world she's enjoyed these past 3 years.

Baking Mommy's favorite cookies - peanut butter blossoms! Wish I could say some of the 2 dozen made it to 2012, but alas... they barely lasted 24 hours.

Avery's first professional pedicure. What a sweet treat to go on a pampering mother/daughter date.

Our big Christmas gift to Avery this year was a pedal bike (purple, of course). She has done so well on her balance bike that I think only a few more months of pedal practice with the training wheels on and she might be ready for the real deal. 

For all it lacks in Christmas snow, I could never honestly say I don't love winter in San Diego. Where else are you barefoot swinging at the park on Dec 31st?!

2011 was a great year for us.
Highlights include:
* Traveling to Ohio, Italy, Guam, Nor Cal, Arizona, Michigan
* Friends and family visiting San Diego - Oma/Opa, Grandpa Mark, Uncle Casey, Uncle Spencer, the McGaheys, Gigi Ravenscroft, Grandma Laurie, the Streits, & the Gaines family.
* Matt being home for all our birthdays and major holidays
* Celebrating 9 years of marriage!
* The growth of Custom Climbers
* A fully potty trained kiddo
* Learning we'd be expanding our family by one baby boy (& a healthy pregnancy)
* Quality family time: tent camping, at the beach, Houghton Lake, sailing San Diego bay, Disneyland, Sea World & the Zoo.
* Matt's many successes at work and recognition of his talents in new 2012 opportunities.
* Avery's swim lessons - going from refusing to get her face wet to an absolute fish!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Avery's Antics 3.1


I come downstairs and all her dollhouse people are lined up like this...
"Avery, what are your dolls doing?"
"They're watching me dance and clapping for me!"
( I especially love the fact that the Daddy is sitting on the toilet. )

In a very demanding tone:
"Take me to Starbucks for dinner!"
(Disclaimer - neither Matt nor I drink coffee, so this was all the doing of an OmaOpa visit, ha ha ha! (Disclaimer for the disclaimer - they never actually took her there for a meal.))

"Mommy, Mommy!!! I can't go potty because there's poo-poo crumbs in the toliet!"


"Daddy, can you fix Mommy? She's a grump."


Santa: "What's your name?"
"Avery."
"And what would you like for Christmas this year, Avery?"
"A purple and pink magnifying glass, so I can burn ants."



Thursday, December 8, 2011

Nesting Projects

"How are you feeling?" That's the most common question I get these days.

First trimester I was exhausted, nauseous, and could barely make it off the couch to feed myself. 

Second trimester my energy returned and (still physically small enough to be comfortable) I was busy with traveling and growing my climber business.

Third trimester, the heartburn, backaches and generally feeling like a bloated beached whale has become the norm.

Now, with only 23 days until baby boy is due to join our family, I feel like I'm in hyper project overdrive. I'm mostly running on adrenaline and really should be napping more often, but how can I sleep when Avery's daily nap gives me 2 whole hours every day to attempt all the fabulous ideas I've found on Pinterest?!

Exhibit A: the infant carseat blanket cover-up thingy
- I first sewed one as a gift for my friend Stefani (she is due with a girl just a week after me)
- Then I decided it was WAY too cute/easy/fabulous to not have one for my own carrier
- You want one too?! I know, they're awesome. You can find the tutorial I used online HERE.


Exhibit B: a new boyish boppy cover & coordinating burp cloths
- A couple weeks ago, Stef bought a sewing machine and (having never even touched one prior) asked me to teach her to sew. This was our first project. I did mine step by step as she followed with her own fabric.
- She rocked it and now officially has the domestic sewing bug.


- Figured I'd sew up some coordinating burp cloths with my excess fabric... waste not! (I even sewed a mini-cloth for Avery to use with her baby dolls. She mimics everything.)


Exhibit C: dry erase family calendar
- Coordinating the schedules of 3 people gets a little tedious. Especially when I'm the only one of the 3 that seems to know what's going on with everyone.
- Solution : Large scale monthly dry erase calendar located in the kitchen. No more missed appointments or forgotten To Do's.
- Perhaps I should figure out how to wirelessly sync our smart phone schedules, but honestly, some things are better left old school.


Exhibit D: princess hat
- So this only took an hour of one morning, but Avery's been begging me for a pointy princess hat since last summer.
- I was stoked to use all scraps of stuff I had laying around. I love it when making my daughter's day doesn't cost a cent. And when hoarding craft supplies pays off, much to Matt's chagrin.
- Tutorial HERE.

Exhibit E: dresser overhaul
- This blue chair sat in our master bedroom for 8 years. It's very uncomfortable and was primarily used for collecting dirty clothes.


- So I sold it on Craigslist for $100. I then found a Basset furniture highboy dresser for $60, also on Craigslist. It was poorly primed and in need of TLC.

When operating an electric sander, always wear proper eye/hand/outfit protection. Safety first!

- Spent $40 on new hardware, paint, and polyurethane. Some serious sweat equity and now it's the gem I knew it could be. Avery's previous dresser was moved into our room to serve as the diaper changing station and to hold baby clothing, so this is her replacement. An excellent trade for that useless blue chair, if I do say so myself.


- HUGE shout out to my studly hubs and Mr. Eli for hauling that solid wood son-of-a-gun up our stairs!!!

Soooo, if you're wondering how I'm "feeling" these days, I'd have to say dead on my feet, in the best way possible. Especially considering that all of these projects were started/completed in the last 2 weeks (read: post 35 weeks prego). And I've still more or less managed to keep up with the regular watering/feeding/general maintenance of a 3-year-old and 31-year-old.  ;)

Sunday, December 4, 2011