What is Avery doing?

What is Avery doing....

(besides being the cutest baby in the world?)

Take a guess.....

She's swinging on the BIG GIRL swing!!!

Yup, I went outside of the box and let Miss Aver's play on the big girl swing! She loved it! This might become a daily treat until the weather changes.

Pictures of the weddin'

We haven't received our pictures from our photographer quite yet, but here are some we took, friends took and my sis took. (Thank you everyone who took pictures!! :))

Beautiful HUGE waves!

Aver's slept during the entire ceremony.

My sweet family.

Nick's sis Lindsay.

Emily and sweet Grace.

View from the restaurant.

The new Mr. and Mrs.

The Alpha Chi's.

The Boys.

All the ladies!

All the gent's!

Madre and I. Avery slept through pictures as well. :(

Love you sis!

Erika, Coraline and I.

Ha!

I am SO mad. JK!

Trying to play catch up! SUPER LONG BEWARE!

Wow! Time flies and so have we. Next thing you know, we are married, tomorrow Avery will ask for the keys to the car. Time to play catch up!

Since the last post, Nick and I finally got hitched in the beautiful state of Cali-Forn-Eye-Aye! Not much happened from the time of the last post to the time we got married, so we will just talk about the weddin'!

We left good ole Salt Lake City early Thursday morning. Grandpa Dale just purchased a new Challenger 604 (technical, I know) that was BEAUTIFUL! We were lucky enough to fly on its maiden voyage! We were able to have 11 people fly down with us. Our great friends Erika, Sean and their daughter Coraline joined us as well. Avery was pretty fussy on the way down. Lucky for us, we had enough room to lay a blanket down and just let her roll on the floor. Plus, we had many aunties, cousins and grandma and grandpa to occupy her time.


When we got to the tarmac in San Diego, it was SOOOO humid! Which immediately made me feel sticky. But, the smell of the salty air is something I cherish! We had enough luggage come out of the plane that it looked like we needed our own luggage round-a-bout for everyone to claim their own bags. We were able to fit ALL of it into 2 vehicles. It was pretty amazing how strategically placed everything was.


When we got to the condo, we got situated and unpacked. Sean and Erika and Coraline stayed with us. We headed out to Tartine (a favorite local bakery), headed to the grocery store, fed the girls, made the wedding centerpieces, went on a walk to The Del Coronado, then came back and got ready for a cocktail party Dale and Sheri threw in honor of Nick and I. It was awesome! Their condo overlooks the entire ocean. We had the most amazing sunset to watch and even got some pictures of. After the amazing cocktails, we walked to another of our favorite restaurants, Tomaso's. This place knows the Holt's by name. Even ALL the grandchildren. Nick and I went on a date there in July and the waiter, Walter, remembered we were getting married after two months. Great memory! It was fun to sit, relax, and tell some funny stories! Nick was even referred to as a china man. Next time you see him, ask why!


On Friday, we were pretty busy with some last minute preparations. We were able to go to our favorite breakfast spot, Villa Nueva. Afterwards, Nick, Avery and I drove into downtown San Diego to apply for our marriage license. This was an interesting venture! We saw a woman who had to be at least 60 (cougar) marrying a 19 year old Jamaican man who did not speak a word of English. I am trying not to judge, and hopefully it was true love....but we think she may have been a woman who helped get men green cards into the US as a profession. Just sayin'! We definitely felt like the minority at that time. We had to rush back to the island because I had a hair appointment to get to. Very Important! ;-) I had a trial up-do to practice for the BIG day. All went well and we were done within 30 minutes. What a relief. (Until the BIG day!) When I got back we headed to the Burger Lounge for a bite to eat. The island was SOOO hot this day. Avery was chillin' in just her diaper. I was that mom! I always rolled my eyes at the mom's who let their child run around in just a diaper. Now that I am a mom, you do what you have to do to keep your child cool, calm and collected. I felt so bad for her and kept her cool by pouring ice cold water on her head. Coronado is never this hot, so we were a little anxious to see what our wedding day would have in store.


That night, we had our "rehearsal" dinner at Miguel's. The food and company were awesome. My friends Emily, her daughter Grace and Melissa drove all the way from Vegas to join us! Thank you girls!!! It meant alot to have you guys there. It was a late night, but it was so much fun!! Avery slept threw most of dinner both nights, but once we got home, she thought it was playtime and would stay up until almost midnight. Naughty naughty!


The big day had finally arrived!!! Nick only had a few hours left before he could throw on his running shoes and take off. Luckily, he didn't. Thank you honey! Nick and I had made the decision we wanted to spend that day together as a family and get ready together as a family. It was the best decision! We went to breakfast again at Villa Neuva. We met my mom, Smash and Lindsay at Villa Nueva. It was deelish! Ave had been soooo super backed up, so the pediatrician told me to do some laxatives for her. Poor baby girl! BUT...it worked wonders!


After breakie, I went to get my hair did. Since the day before went so smoothly, I wasn't nervous. Hhhmmmm. It took almost an hour and twenty minutes and did not look anything like the day prior! Bummer. I made the poor stylist do it over twice. I finally was running out of time and said whatever and kept it. Besides my hair, and the dress (A WHOLE OTHER POST IN ITSELF!), everything went perfectly. Nick and I checked into The Del Coronado in one of the beach villages. The room was so nice! We got ready with our baby monkey and walked hand in hand to meet everyone at the bar at The Del. Avery was playing with some bushes while we were waiting for Nick, and broke out in a huge rash on her face, 20 minutes before pictures. Damn! We had a glass of wine and met with our officiant for pictures before the ceremony. I can't wait to see those! The weather was perfect. It had cooled down and had a cool breeze.


FINALLY, we were ready to make our union legit!!! We walked down the beach together with our closest family and friends to the most beautiful spot on the beach. Avery was exhausted by this point and slept the whole time on Grandma T's shoulder. What a blessing! Our officiant, Curtis did wonderfully. The waves were bigger than we had ever seen and were crashing onto the beach right in front of us. It was beautiful, breath taking and a little distracting. (Since we wrote our vows, we were both in awe at the waves and kept saying wow!) We sealed our vows with a kiss and were so elated that we finally had done it! We took some more pictures and headed back to the bar for a celebratory cocktail.


Afterwards, we had a limo come charter our party to our dinner reception at Il Forniao. This place is beautiful! It is on the other side of the island and looks across the bay to downtown San Diego. Besides the view being breath taking, the food is awesome! The night was perfect! Pictures will tell the story for us! Aver's spent the night at Grandpa Dale and Grandma Sheri's. (Thank you Thank you!!!)


On Sunday, Nick and I had breakfast for the first time as hubby and wifey. It felt so good and natural. We were so excited to pick up Ave, who was a very naughty girl for grandma. She wanted her mommy! We spent the day relaxing, packing and enjoying the beautiful weather. We went to lunch with the Lee's and decided to take the girls down to the beach. They were able to play in the ocean for the first time. It was cute. Except for the fact that I had a panic attack when the waves would come near Ave. Sorry babe! Ever since her stroller accident, I am a freak and am scared of just about anything. We stayed on the island that night and ate at a local pizzeria, had beer and watched some football. Nice way to end a nice trip.


The next morning we were off to Salty. Ave slept almost the whole way. Thank you!


It was such a fun trip. Thank you to our family and friends who made it out there. It meant so much to have your support. We are so lucky to have such wonderful people in our lives!!! We love you all!


***Since there are ALOT of wedding pic's, I'll post a "picture post" of just those. Stay tuned!***

Flying down to Cali.

In front of The Del.

Nick playing hair stylist.

Before the sunset.

After the sunset. Breathtaking!

The Lee Family.

Splish Splash...taking a bath!

Burger Lounge. Yummy!

Our water baby.

Love this picture!

Poppa and his monkey.

She LOVED the ocean!!

:)

Cooot swim suit monkey!

First day being married!

Mr. and Mrs. Holt!

We basically cried in laughter over this picture!

Avery sitting in the captain's seat! (Grandpa Dale, watch out!)

Already giving orders!

Playing bongos.

(WE have so many pictures! We will keep posting them!!)

Brittany and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

Yesterday was one of the most trying days for me. I experienced something I never want to experience again.

It all started when Avery and I were leaving the house for our usual morning walk. I strapped Ave in her BOB stroller and headed out the front door. I had just gotten out of the door and turned my back for 1 second to lock the door behind me. I heard a horrible gut wrenching noise, the stroller was going full speed down our concrete stairs with Avery in it. It seemed to be going in slow motion. I couldn't move fast enough. Avery was screaming, I was screaming. I fell down the stairs trying to catch my baby girl. But I couldn't in time. She had reached the bottom and the stroller flipped over. Her head hit the concrete. I couldn't save her in time. I pulled that damn stroller over as fast as I could and only imagined the worst scenario. I was bawling and was scared to see what was under the BOB. Luckily, Avery was strapped in tight and we attached an infant carrier attachment to the front of the stroller, so it took the brunt of the hit. But Avery's poor fragile head still bumped the cement. She had a big purple welt forming on her head and was screaming in pure fright. I was frantically trying to reach Nick at work. I couldn't. I had to call his headquarters to transfer me to a different line in the office. His employee answered the phone. I told him to grab Nick. He said his office door was shut. I told him I didn't care. He said he was on an important conference call. I told him I didn't care. I was not nice. (I am sorry Casey, I was freaking out!) I talked to Nick. We weren't sure if I should go to the ER. I ran to the neighbors house, no one was home. I called my mom, sisters, everyone my finger could dial. No one was answering. I felt so alone. By this time Avery had calmed down and was playing with my hair and shirt. I decided to keep an eye on her. My mom finally called back and came right over. Ave's pupils were responding fine and she was acting normal. Thank God!! In hind sight, I maybe should have rushed to the hospital....but I was scared. I didn't want anyone to think I was a horrible mom who couldn't protect her child. Much worse things could have happened to Avery. If she would have fallen even one inch to her right, this could have been a much different story. We are so lucky. She must have a guardian angel watching ovber her!!

The rest of the day seems menial, but I will continue.

That night, Nick and I were supposed to go to the Dave Matthews Concert. This is my ALL TIME FAVORITE band. He cancelled that morning. This was the 2nd year in a row for a cancellation. Huge Bummer!!! It is supposed to be re-scheduled. My fingers are double and tripled crossed for this.

I layed Avery down for a nap and decided to start to clean the house. I plugged my I Phone in to charge as I was doing this. Well, since the concert was cancelled I was trying to call Nick's mom to let her know we did not need a babysitter. As I grabbed my phone, it slipped and fell right into the bucket of hot Pine Sol water. I plucked it out very quickly, dried it with a rag and put it in a bowl of rice. Nothing. It was dead!

I went in the basement to use our house phone, and it was not working. (May not seem like much, but the phone is connected to the alarm. No phone=no alarm=no bueno!) Ugh!

Nick was not going to make the trek down to SLC since our concert was cancelled, but decided by this point, I needed him home. Badly! We were only able to communicate through email Something not so convenient, considering you have to sit by the computer all day!

Nick had actually sent me a surprise right after the news of the concert being cancelled, flowers and chocolate. He couldn't have predicted a better time for the delivery. It came after all the incidents of the day had occurred. Thank you Nick!

Nick, thank you for being my saving grace last night. I about lost it completely. Without you, I wouldn't have made it through the day. Thank you for fighting two hours of traffic after a long day of work, dealing with getting me a new phone, sending me flowers and chocolate (which I almost completely ate!!) and just holding me saying I was doing a good job. I felt like a failure yesterday. You made me feel better. I don't know where I would be with out you. I love you so much!!

I am sorry this is such a long post, and I probably shouldn't have shared all the details. (DCFS, I swear I am doing my best and am a good mom!), but I figured this may happen to someone else out there. Please use your breaks on you strollers! Something so simple is over looked so often!

I love you Avery! You and your daddy are the most important things in life to me!