Welcome

Bailey and I made a Welcome Family! sign on the dry erase board to welcome Nick's family who were visiting from Ohio. I already had written some shopping list items that I needed to pick up. It was an unfortunate coincidence, but it appears that I need to disinfect the place after our visitors. Oops!

Seemed like a good day for infant mutilation

Avery was upset to have me holding her arms and head still, but having jewelry punched into her ears didn't seem to bother her.  It was super cool to have the judgmental stares of all of the mall patrons on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.  

Merry Christmas

We all decided to stay in Buffalo for Christmas this year.  I tried really hard to make it not suck.  Bailey had a lot of trouble falling asleep even after refusing sugar cookies.  She was still up at midnight wishing she could fall asleep and was up at 5 (possibly earlier).  Bailey did not get the big ticket items she was hoping for, but I think she handled it well. 

 Bailey wrapping a gift for her sister on Christmas Eve.

 The gifts on Christmas morning

 Our stockings hanging on the wall along with the personalized Bronner's ornaments I don't want broken.  We broke so many ornaments this year.

 Bailey and Avery looking stylish.

 Avery eating a gift from Santa

 Drool soaked wrapping paper

 

Stuck in the middle

I am stuck in the middle of some sort of dog ownership triangle.  It has turned into some sort of hostage situation between the vet, the "owner" and my neighbor.  Accusations of neglect, a vacation to Malaysia and a poor little Maltese. . . it's like an episode of Law and Order.

I'm about ready to change my phone number.

Close call

Some neighbors knocked on the door this afternoon with a shivering little fluff ball of a dog asking if he was ours.  No.  Our dog is no longer alive, her body burned and her bones were crushed so she could fit in a wooden box on a shelf.  That cute little fluff ball was not our dog.  This neighbor said she can't keep an eye on him because she has a dog.  Her little brat of a dog is mean.  Sarina hated his guts.  He hated Sarina.  The neighbor was taking the dog to the vet to see if they could help.  I said to bring the dog back to our place if they can't find the owner and we would help.

Bailey of course fell in love with the idea of another dog even temporarily.  A cute malti-poo dog (maltese/poodle).  He was  a doll.  I got more and more anxious about how Cheeseburger would act with a dog in the house temporarily.  I got anxious about if the dog wasn't potty trained.  The vet said he was between 6 and 8 months old.  Eeek!

Luckily (for us, not the dog), the dog had a urinary infection and was tinkling around the office.  The neighbor took pity on me and didn't bring him over and is paying to have him boarded at the vet for the week.  Yes, she is shelling out $400 for a dog that isn't even hers.  In order to have him boarded, he has to be fully vaccinated.  He also needed a bath and a haircut.  That is EXACTLY something I would do.  But I'm not and I am going to love an appreciate the critters we do have.

NO DOGS.  NO DOGS.  NO DOGS.  I have to keep telling myself.  

Posting pictures

This is my attempt at "classic" cloth diapering.  I was trying to explain the rubber stretchy fastener to my Dad.  Here is a picture for you dad.  It is made of rubber and has little plastic teeth that grab the diaper in 3 places.  It is called a Snappi.  

I am not so good at the classic cloth diaper and am afraid to leave the house and I just throw on one of those "new fangled" cloth ones that I usually use.  

     

Here are the other random pictures I had in my phone.  

Here is Avery's six pack of breast milk that I prepare every night.  

    

This is Avery wearing baby legwarmers.  I thought they are the stupidest things in the world until I got some for turbo cheap and I do like them.  The cloth diapers are mega bulky and it is so much easier to wear the leg warmers.  I put pants on her when we leave the house.  I love love love that shark shirt she is wearing.  It was an emergency purchase at the Aquarium of Niagara after an unfortunate diaper malfunction.  

Here is a random video of Avery in her Jumperoo.  She likes it a lot.  

Volleyball!

Our school system is offering an 8 week volleyball clinic! Of course Bailey is giving it a try. She starts in January.

This picture has nothing to do with volleyball.

Drumroll please. . .

We love the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation film. Nick has shown interest in hanging Christmas lights like Clark Griswold. I've been resisting, but when Nick said he wanted a live tree, I changed my mind on the lights.

We can't put lights on the gutters because it is too snowy and icy this week. We also don't own a ladder yet. So I picked up lights for our 3 bushes. Then I got home only to realize we only have 2 bushes. We decorated our bushes and porch instead.

I then waited for dark so Bailey can stand in the front yard in her bathrobe. We did a lame drumroll before we plugged in the lights. It was dorky and fun.

Bailey has started the movie for the 3rd time since Halloween.

Winter is here

Bailey and I just finished shoveling and she needs an adult sized shovel. Wow she is getting big!

Here is a picture of Avery next to our tree. She also met Santa and was indifferent.

I am posting from my phone so all the pictures will appear at the bottom in random order.

Through the months

Avery is 6 months old now! Happy half birthday Avery! This was on Wednesday, but I never posted it.

Trying to sit

A little brag

We had a fun week of traveling and relatives.  All I can say is that my kids were the BEST travelers on earth.  Oh my gosh I thought I was in for some trouble with a whiny 9 year old and crabby 5 month old.  They were fabulous.  Bailey went straight from Buffalo to Cincinnati fine with her Dad.  I took a detour to Toledo then to Cincinnati with Avery.  We all came back together.  I think I won the lottery in well behaved kids this week.  I am so happy.

Avery trying to smother herself so she can sleep on the way to Toledo.

Bailey and Avery on the way home.

Avery gnawing on a toy on the way from Toledo to Cincinnati.

A video of Avery cooing up a storm on the way from Toledo to Cincinnati.  

I would like to thank my mom and dad for the rides!  THANKS!!

Mom of the year.

It's that time of year!  The air is cool, the leaves are falling. It is Thanksgiving time.  Bailey brought home a long paper about what she is thankful for.  It was laminated so it must be important.  I will share the first two sentences with you:

"I am thankful for many things this year.  First, I am thankful for my mom because even though she doesn't like it, she cooks for our family."

Boo Ya!  Mom of the Year.  Right there. Laminated for eternity.

Torticollis

Avery's pediatrician said her head is tilted. I haven't noticed. I guess this is why we go to the pediatrician for well child visits. It isn't serious. Don't worry. It's called Torticollis and it's fixable. I took some pictures of her in a Bumbo seat and they all looked like this.

I also took a picture of her after her vaccinations yesterday. She was inconsolable pretty much all day. I think crying baby pictures are cute.

Oh yeah, we bought a new (to us) car. It is a Toyota Camry. Her name is Ginger. Old Betty the White Grand Am needed to be retired.

Fat and Happy

An older couple went out of their way to come say hello to us tonight. The gentleman called our "son" fat and happy. No more of that little peanut bull crap!

Baby got back.

I put on what I consider baby spanx on Avery. A disposable diaper.

I cloth diaper Avery. I do it for the environment. I like the colors. Bailey has sensitive skin and had rash issues in disposables. Cloth was worth a try. It doesn't save a ton of money but you can resell your diapers if you take good care of them.

I put Avery in her Suburban Mean Girl velour Puma track suit today. Her tush was HUGE. The outfit is size 3-6 months and should fit well. The pants were snug. After I put on a disposable diaper on her, they looked great.

You can't wear a velour track suit with a lumpy butt. I left the paper diaper on her just to admire her trim physique. I did switch back to lumpy cloth after she needed changed but it was fun.

I took pictures for comparison. The sitting up picture is from another day. I just wanted to include a forward facing picture so her grand parents can see her beautiful face instead of her wide butt.

Halloween 2011

Bailey was a vampire.  avery was a bat.  I was a cat.  Nick didn't dress up because he didn't get home from work until 6:20 and we rushed him out the door to go trick or treating in his work clothes. Our pumpkins turned out nice except for the vampire pumpkin's tooth falling out and my pumpkin rotted before we could carve it (this happened last year too).  Some of the rotting pumpkin looked like a face which was cool.

We love Halloween and Bailey has the worst luck every year.  She is tired, sick or gets a migraine headache.  Luckily, she had a migraine on Sunday night (getting it out of the way early) and was willing to take ibuprofen before going out trick or treating.  It went well except for the cold and the rain, but we still had fun. 

I almost forgot the classiest candy Bailey got!

Fun at the hotel pool.

Nick's parents are in town and we got to swim at the hotel pool.