Happy 8 Month Birthday Little Bambino!

Happy 8 Month Birthday Midge!!!

Another month has come and gone! You are growing up so fast right before our eyes! You are on the Go!! You want to discover everything that is around you at all times. There is no holding you back!!!

This has been one of the hardest months with you. You want to be so independent, but also are so dependant on your mom and dad. You try So SO SO hard to communicate and tell us what you are wanting or needing, but we aren't quite understanding yet. You get so frustrated because you know what you are trying to tell us!

You have officially hit the Separation/Stranger Anxiety Phase. Mommy and Daddy were not quite ready for this to happen. You trust no one but mom or dad. One day you were so happy to see Grandpa and Grandma, the next...you were so upset and thought we were leaving you there. We are working on this together Midge. Mommy and Daddy are trying to be so patient. We love you so much.

In the last month you have grown so much!

*We weighed you the other day and you weigh 18 pounds!!

*You are almost completely out of your 9 month clothes. You are mostly wearing 12 month sizes. We switched you to two piece jammies because you were too tall for your footed ones!

*You have started eating everything that mommy and daddy eat. You loves muffins and bread!

*You have also started eating turkey meals at dinner. (Gerber) Usually you hate sweet potatoes, but you LOVE the sweet potatoe turkey meal & turkey veggie meal.

*You are not as interested in fruit anymore! Weird!

*You now drink 4-5 ounces of apple juice a day! It is your favorite snack! We have tried other juices, but you only like this one.

*You LOVE your sippy cup and are a pro at it!

*You hate your high chair. Argh!

*You still are a great sleeper at night. You sleep 10-12 hours. Thank you!!!

*Rubber duckies are your favorite toys. Balls are next.

*You are fixated with the dog food and water. We try so hard to keep you away from it, but you are drawn to it. Yucky!

*You have been to Philly and California in the last month. You travel pretty well.

*You are not too fond of your carseat again. Dang!

*Your new word is up! You woke us up in Cali saying UP when you wanted out of your pack and play.

*You have the cutest dang laugh I have ever heard. It melts our heart!

*You are still nursing and turn your nose to formula. We are crossing our fingers to make it through the flu season, then we may wean you. MAY....

*You love looking at mirrors. You try to lick yourself in them and love licking windows.

*You hate your snow suit. (I think you hate the cold like your mom.)

*You love playing with your cousins as long as they do not pick you up.

*You walk along furniture. You know what you want and you are trying to get to it...before we catch you!!

*You hate your walker and jumper. Sad day! This would help mom get things done around the house.

*You are the best thing to happen to me and your dad!

Avery, we LOVE you with all of our heart and more! You are truly and angel and are the most beautiful thing in the world. Please be patient through this tough phase. We will try as hard as we can too. We love you Midge!

You eat anything and everything!

Playing with your cousins Mia and Hayden.

Licking the mirror and making it dirty!

Throwing a temper tantrum in your snowsuit. You were SO cute in it though!

So curious!

What? I didn't do anything.

Climbing on everything.

Beach time!

Our favorite smile!

Yummmmm....

You are SOOOO curious!!!!

Showing off your Yankee spirit!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We were lucky enough this year to spend 10 days in Coronado for Thanksgiving 2009. It was sooo much fun. I downloaded a ton of pictures. Instead of writing a ten page summary, I wrote under the pic's. We experienced many high's and low's on this trip. Our little Ave was an angel the first 5 days, then she turned for the worse. Welcome to the Separation/Stranger Anxiety phase. Man, this is one tough phase!!!

We ate at lot's of yummy restaurants, hung around the beach and the pool, strolled along the beach at sunset, walked all over the island, hung in the condo one entire day and enjoyed being on a true vacay and hung out with alot of our family. We spent Thanksgiving at The Del eating their yummy food. It was such a fun trip. We won't be down there until January (work), so we took a lot of pictures.

My Loves!

Happy Baby (Day 1 through 5)

We loved watching the surfers in the morning. Ave was napping on Nick.

Please note the background...the sun is still rising. Ave was a little off for a couple of days.

She also bonked her nose ALOT on EVERYTHING. Hence the bruise under her right nostril.

It was chilly in the morning, but rose to 70-80 degrees in the afternoon. Perfect!

Avery LOVED discovering the condo. We had to child proof a little while we were there.

These two were brave souls. I didn't even get in the water. Too cold! Ave lasted maybe 3 minutes, her lip started to quiver. But, she didn't complain once!

I love this picture. She was so happy & content in the sand. We love our beach baby!

Looking out Grandpa's window. She would lick the windows for hours if we let her. It was SO funny!

Such an awesome view!

Avery discovered the separation anxiety phase while we were down there. Wherever mommy went, Ave had to go. From day 5 through day 10, it was really REALLY tough!! This is God teaching me patience. My sweet baby has been replaced by a baby who cries if I do not hold her or if I walk away or if anyone but Nick or I come near her. TOUGH...TOUGH...STAGE!

Sea World! Yes, this was mostly for Nick and I. We say we will go everytime we are down there and this time we actually did! There were maybe 50 people in the park. It was awesome!

The Shamu show! LOVED every minute! Nick and I ran from the other end of the park so we would not miss this. Ave slept the whole show.

After the show we snuck back stage...ACCIDENTALLY. We watched them for nearly an hour by ourselves. Not crowds..no interuptions! The whales were coughing up fish to feed to the birds. Kinda gross, really funny! Thanks for the private show Shamu #?

Ave woke up during our private show. She was fixated. This was Nick describing Shamu to her. Such a good daddy!

Avery also had to climb on everything in the condo. This was her favorite. She looks like a little dancer to me.

Family Pic under Sea World's tree. (Sorry it's out of order.)

We strolled along the beach almost everyday. It was so beautiful!

The salt in the mist kept creating weird contrasts in my camera. This is The Del next to our condo. It is so beautiful. Especially with the Christmas lights. (Our friends Sean and Erika our leaving December 3rd for Coronado. We missed them by a hair. They will be staying here.)

**The Del also built an ice skating rink overlooking the ocean. We didn't have a chance to try it out. Next year maybe!**

Sunset!

Daddy/Daughter time. Avery is in love with him!

Avery LOVED the sand. She ate SO much of it! For 2 days she wouldn't nurse before bed. We couldn't figure it out. Then we realized, she was full of sand. (This was confirmed by her poopy sandy diapers!)

YUM!

Pool time again. My husband is a hottie!

Ave's 1st Thanksgiving. We ate dinner at The Del. It was incredible! It was buffet style, but let's just say...it was gourmet and the best I have ever tasted! Ave was pretty difficult during dinner and we ended up with more mashed potatoes on our clothing than in our belly. She wanted to eat everything Nick and I were eating. She tried almost everything but dessert. (Funny note: Nick left our garmet bag in SLC & we didn't realize it until we were on the plane. It had our nice clothing for dinner. So, we got new clothes. Thanks for your forgetfulness. You're welcome to do it again anytime! ;))

The Marine Layer hit the day after Thanksgiving. It moved in within minutes. It was eerie but also very cool to experience. This is Nick with his nephew playing wiffle ball. This was such a fun day!

The mist made our hair dripping wet.

Off to Grandpa and Grandma's.

Happy 8 Month Birthday Midge!!

This was Aver's eating Mexican Food. She loved the rice and chicken from my plate. She refused her baby food and would only eat what I was eating. She is growing up too fast!

We went to La Jolla for the Mexican cuisine. The waves were amazing due to the storm that came in. This poor seal was trying to join his buddy up on the rock. He was funny.

This is Children's Beach. It was built for children in La Jolla to play in, but the Seals overtook it. It is now their territory. Quite funny looking creatures! All the cousins on our last night. (Except Darwin. He sat with the adults.) I was at the kid table with Aver's.

This is our favorite restaurant Asti. It's in the gaslamp district in downtown San Diego. So yummy! Please try it if you're ever there!!!

Thank you honey for such a wonderful trip and spending almost every waking moment with your wifey! Love you!

Welcome to your late twenties!

Son of a! How did this happen? I am NOW in my late twenties? Hhhmmm....feels like yesterday that I just graduated high school, that I just turned twenty one, that I was in college with all of my girlfriends and comrades, that I bought my first house and my first car, that I thought twenty five was the perfect "ripe" age.....where in the heck did time go? I tease Nick all the time that he is closer to forty than I ever will be. He finally told me I am now in my late twenties and that much closer to thirty. There's no turning back. CRAP!

I had a great birthday. November is a tough month for our family, but we had a fun time anyways. I didn't want to do anything big. Now that I am a mom, spending time with the fam was ideal. Nick took me to dinner in Logan at my favorite restaurant: The Beehive Grill. It is the ONLY brewery in Logan AND it is deeeeelish! I thought it was just going to be Nick, myself, Ave and Smash. When we got there, Nick told me he had to go to the restroom. He was gone for maybe a minute and showed up with my brother Ty! It was awesome! Now if you know my brother, he does not know any one's birthday but his own. He is horrible with remembering things, so it was so fun to have him up in L Town!

Thank you Nick for making my REAL birthday fun. Thank you Smash and Ty for spending time with me. (I know I am SO much fun and all!) I LOVE my family!!!

We are NOT related!

I LOVE my sibs!

I LOVE my Little FAM!

Goofs.

Uhm Ave...you're kind of a passionate kisser! LOVE IT!

She pulls chunks of hair out ALL THE TIME!

=)