The Seiters

Happy 20 Weeks, Cam!

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

I'm really bad at blogging... I always have been and probably will always be. I always have an excuse and here is the most recent one...I can't seem to find the time to sit down and document what we have been doing because I'm obsessed with spending time with this cute boy and his crazy seeeeester. That's a pretty good excuse in my book!

I can't believe that it's 2012!

2012-01-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Cam had his 4 month check up yesterday and I had to sign a new release form for the year and it was really weird having to write 2012! I think that it is always weird getting used to writing the new year but the older I get, the faster the years seem to go, so it just didn't seem right! Cam is growing like a weed! At his appointment he weighed 15 and 1/2 lbs and was 25 inches long! Avery only weighed 18 lbs at her year appointment! Cam isn't real chubby, but he is getting big! He is now wearing 6-12 month clothes from places like Old Navy and 6 or 9 month Carter's stuff! He has a really long torso, so his pants are a smaller size, but if he is wearing a one piece deal, anything smaller than 9 months is too short! He is rolling and laughing and eating rice cereal and smiling every second. Cute boy! Avery has so much energy that it is seriously exhausting just being around her these days! I long for spring just so that we can take her outside to play! We got her some computer games for Christmas and she loves to sit and play them. It is a good break for me and she really likes learning how to use the computer. Problem is that when we want to use the computer, she wants to. The password that we put on it when we got it is now coming in handy! She can get on the internet to her games or put in the cds and open the games we bought so if we leave the computer on, we find her playing them all the time.
We had a great Christmas! Brooke came home for a couple of weeks and it was fun to catch up with her and to show off Cam. This was her first time seeing him in person, so that was cool. Avery and Cam both LOVE attention, so it was nice to have another person around to help entertain them! We went to a hockey game, went bowling, went to movies, shopped A LOT, made gingerbread houses, went out to eat, played games, sewed, and tons more! Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks!

Cam's Christmas pjs came complete with a hat... he looks like a little elf in this picture!

Brooke thinks that Cam looks like Mighty Mouse... He kind of does in this picture!

Aves and Cam

2011-12-11T19:07:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking lately that Cam looks a lot like baby Avery so tonight I pulled out the hard drive and went through Avery's baby pictures. It is so easy to compare them because they are the same age during the same times of the year. So I have concluded that Avery and Cam do look a lot alike. These two pictures were taken on the same day just three years apart. Such cute kids!

The other night I put Cam in Avery's baby stroller and he really hammed it up good! He liked sitting up and I would have let him hang out, until we noticed that that the back wheels were bending! They may look alike but they are either built really differently or Cam is just hoarding weight more than she did! Last week he had a doc appointment and he weighed 14.7. I pulled out Avery's charts and she weighed exactly 12 pounds at her four month appointment and Cam isn't four months yet! He has also started to drool, A LOT, as you can see by the front of his shirt! Avery had teeth at Christmas 3 years ago, so maybe Cam is following in her footsteps?!

Brother Man...

2011-12-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here are a few recent pictures of Cam... even though he isn't smiling in most of these pictures, he is really smiley and happy all the time! He seems to be doing something really cute but as soon as I pull out the camera, he stops smiling and just stares. He is really "talkative" and engaging and sure likes attention! We love you Brother Man!

A little blurry, but this kid never sits still!

I actually took quite a few pictures of him smiling while he was sitting in the bumbo, but he looked like he had gained 30 pounds in his face and I didn't think he would appreciate me showing anyone his "fat" pictures!

And I know the one of him smiling in this collage is really blurry, but it just shows how cute he is with a grin on!

Has it been three months already?

2011-11-21T20:17:00.000-08:00

Cam is three months old!!! I forgot how much babies change in just three short months! Newborn babies are fun because they smell good and sleep a lot and look really cute doing it, but I personally love the older, more interactive stages and we are quickly headed there! I am still nursing, despite all of the problems we have been having! Last week I finally made a doctor appointment just to ask about feeding Cam and if we should switch him to formula etc. We noticed that he behaved the same whether he was nursing or taking a bottle so we ruled out that it was my milk making him sick. He is now taking a medicine to help neutralize the acid in his stomach and he is a different baby. He is eating so much better and he doesn't kick and cry the whole time anymore. At that doctor's appointment he weighed 13 lbs 5 oz, so even though we have had a rough go with the whole eating thing, he is growing like a weed! He still loves his baths and has started grabbing and holding toys which is fun. He is really smiley and is getting to be really loud and he loves to have a blanket up by his face when he is going to sleep. He does not like to be on his belly, and we are working on that. Avery is really cute with Cam. She rarely calls him his name; she calls him brother or brother bear and is more interested in him now that she can get him to hold onto toys. She is a great big sister and Cam is going to have a hard time keeping up with her gigantic personality!

Fall is gone...

2011-11-14T20:57:00.000-08:00

The weather here in North Dakota keeps playing tricks on us! It gets pretty chilly and then all of the sudden we get a couple of really nice fall like days and then we get hit with the cold again! Mondays are Paul's day off and as we were out running errands today, I looked around at us all dressed in our light fall wear and realized it's time for winter stuff to come out and stay out! So I'm not really ready for it to get cold, but just because I refuse to wear a down coat won't make it warm up anytime soon... at least for months to come! So goodbye officially to fall, we will miss you!

Cam's blessing day and a few extra pictures...

2011-11-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

We blessed Cam on October 30, and I have been really slow getting pictures uploaded! We planned his blessing around the shop's install in Jamestown, North Dakota, which is two hours southwest from where we are. Paul's parents, Tim and Laurel and their kids and Mark were able to be there and it turned out to be a really nice day. Cam and Avery were a little cheesy for our family blessing day picture! Oh well, kids will be kids!

As I was uploading pictures I realized that there were some pictures from our family shoot that I didn't see... so here are a few of my favorites from that day! Cam already looks different than he did when we took these a few weeks ago!

Classic Avery... a little unaware of what's going on around her!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T17:43:00.000-07:00

We got to celebrate Halloween two times this year; at the ward trunk or treat and last night on the actual holiday! Laurel, Olivia, and Brayden have been visiting since last Tuesday and it was so fun to dress up all three kids! For the trunk or treat Avery went as a cat, Olivia as a spooky witch, Brayden as a dinosaur, and Cam as a football. Here in North Dakota it is usually too cold to go trick or treating in just costumes so we had the kids' faces painted and then dressed them up warm. Avery and Olivia chose to be beautiful butterflies and Brayden was the cutest spiderman!

I just can't win with pictures!

2011-10-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

I am a control freak. Most people who know me really well know this about me and those who don't often find out right in the middle of an anxiety attack. I try and hide it most of the time only freaking out to Paul or by myself but sometimes it can't be avoided. Take this summer at the Seiter family reunion... I always try and make sure that Avery looks cute, well dressed, and well groomed etc. So when I walked outside and found her completely covered in sidewalk chalk in her new cute clothes and freshly showered body, I may have freaked out just a little. And it is such a dumb thing to get all worked up about, but there I was in front of Paul's family and I couldn't hide it. For this reason, I have had a hard time having kids and letting them, ok just Avery at the moment, be kids. I have had to give up a few silly things like the idea that I will do Avery's hair in the morning and it will look exactly the same, not a hair out of place, at dinner, or even lunchtime. Avery may have a tantrum for no reason, that I can see, in the middle of Walmart, and despite my embarrassment, Cam may have an audible and visual blow out during a really quiet part of our Relief Society lesson. I can't control everything, and I'm not sure if I would even really want to, but some days I have a harder time than others. Take yesterday for example. In my last post I mentioned that the weather here in North Dakota is really true to forecast, and I still stand by that. That said, I have been wanting to go outside and take some family pictures, but it has been too cold. When we saw that it was going to be warmish again on Friday, we made plans. Avery has come down with a little cold but it hasn't been a big deal, until yesterday, of course. She coughed all day, her eyes were runny and red and to top it off, under her nose was bright red and raw from wiping it so much. She refused to take a nap and once again fell asleep in the car on the way to the shoot. She was so grumpy, and all my yelling at her to smile and be cute and open her eyes, just made things worse. Cam was fussy as well, and wanted to have a binky in for most of the time... not family picture worthy of course! And to top it all off... when we got out of the car to take the pictures, the horses on the property came running at us full speed, hoping for a little affection. They were so friendly and beautiful, but we could not get a picture in without them. If we moved, they moved, if we sat down, they hung their heads low, right in the picture. So we have all these pictures with horses in the background... not exactly what I had in mind! Some of them just have horse rear ends or hooves, and those can be cropped out, but most of them are quite comical.. it looks like they are our pets and we wanted them in the pictures! NOT how I pictured the day going and not what I wanted in our family pictures! And I picked the spot and don't know anything about photography so when we got home and looked at them, we noticed how weird the sunlight was in the pictures. Oh well... Some of them look ok... and they will have to do. It's getting cold again and I'm not going to go through the stress of trying to organize a picture again. I can't control everything, right?

The sunlight is pretty weird in this picture and Avery must have been talking, but it's one of the only "normal" pictures we got. Avery would not smile or even look at the camera most of the time.

Notice the horse in the background!

Week 7

2011-10-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Cam is 7 1/2 weeks old! The weather here is really true to the forecast and when they said that this last Tuesday was going to be the last nice warm day, I took the kiddos outside to take some pictures of them... Cam wouldn't wake up, he scratched himself so badly on his head as we were gently trying to wake him (you can see it on his forehead in the middle picture of Avery and him... it looks a lot better in sepia!) and cried when he did open his eyes, Avery almost fell asleep in the car on the way there which resulted in a not very happy Avery, and she refused to look at the camera when we did get there. After some heavy bribing, we got her to "allow" us to put Cam on her lap for some pictures, but that was it. She was happy to hold him, but still refused to look at us. I was pretty annoyed but some of the pictures turned out cute... and by cute, I mean, making no eye contact with the camera :)
I took some cute pictures of Paul and Cam... Cam is really filling out in his face! And he smiles all the time, which is what I wanted to get pictures of, but at least he isn't crying! Paul always looks good in pictures and he was great to step in when Avery refused!

This is how Avery wanted to take her pictures... far away, behind a tree. I kept trying to get closer and she kept yelling at me to stay put. Three year olds are fun!

Six Weeks in Sepia...

2011-10-02T18:56:00.000-07:00

Cam will be 6 weeks tomorrow! He is getting so big! I had Paul hold him on the scale yesterday and according to our at home calculations, which we did more than once, Cam now weighs 10 lbs 6 oz! Everyone at church keeps telling us that we have the smallest baby etc. and when we tell them how old he is, they always tell us that he is so tiny, like a newborn baby. I think he is growing like a weed and that he looks like a very healthy, filling out 6 week old! He has been smiling at us for about a week now, but the last few days or so he really turned on the charm! I can't wait for him to get even more smiley; get more of those real big, wide open mouth smiles. It has taken him 6 weeks to wake up, but now he is awake for a lot longer stretches during the day. He is still really chill, but he does like to be held. I remember a lot of people telling us that Avery had a really round head when she was a baby, and we have been told the same about Cam. The other day he when he was fussing, I picked him up and I realized that my babies have round heads cause we hold them a lot; they are totally spoiled! Oh well, there is nothing better than holding Cam and taking in his new baby smell. Cam doesn't really like to be on his belly if we just lay him flat on it, but he seems to enjoy being propped up on the boppy. He doesn't like to be swaddled anymore. His right tear duct seems to be clogged like Avery's was, and his eye is usually goopy and watery. I massage the corner of his eye a lot hoping that it will clear up, if not, I will see what his pediatrician says at his two month appointment in a couple of weeks. As for me, my 6 week appointment is tomorrow morning and I am excited to get the go ahead to work out. Avery is loving preschool and has made some cute friends in the ward that we have been doing stuff with during the week. The weather here can't decide if it wants to be hot or cold, but I believe that there is some pretty warm weather in the forecast for this week so hopefully we can get outside and enjoy it!

Avery's 3 year pics!

2011-09-29T08:01:00.000-07:00

I posted these on Facebook the other day...but for those of you who don't check or have Facebook, check out our cute Aves!

Sweet Tooth..

2011-09-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

Cute Aves...

Good Luck BYU!

2011-09-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

Even though we never want to talk about or hear about last week's game again, we are excited for the game tonight! I guess that means we are real fans... with them through the good and the bad!

Happy 4 weeks!

2011-09-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

It is so much easier to enjoy a newborn the second time around! With Avery I was nervous and didn't feel like we knew what we were doing... it is pretty surreal to bring a new baby home from the hospital. I remember that with Avery, we didn't quite know what to make of the situation. I am by no means a perfect parent, but since I have done the baby thing once before, this time around I expect and anticipate things differently. I find myself enjoying Cam much more than I did Avery; MEANING that I'm out of school and am not worried about every little sound etc. Not that I am rough with Cam but I remember it taking me a long time to get Avery dressed. How do you get their little bent arms in a onsie without hurting them? That's the kind of question that floated around my mind constantly. Now I'm a pro at putting onsies on, no injuries involved. I love giving Cam baths mostly because he smells so absolutely delicious afterwards. Nothing beats that newborn freshly bathed and lotioned smell. His little features are so cute and perfect. A few other things about Cam... his eyes are still really dark. They aren't brown but it is hard to tell if he will have blue or green eyes. I can't remember when Avery's went really blue. He has a very obvious cowlick in the front of his hair. His hair is growing in a perfect circle, not sure what to make of it! Speaking of hair, he hasn't lost his hair yet; I'm sure that it's coming, but for now he still has brown hair. He has two horse shoe shaped hemangiomas (birth marks) on his belly. We noticed them a couple of weeks ago and when I asked the pediatrician about them, he told me they are just birth marks, but are so light that they will probably go away in a few years. They are red vascular marks and are really noticeable when he is cold. At least they are on his belly!
Avery started preschool last week and had a blast! She is going Tuesday and Thursday mornings and has been excited all weekend for her class tomorrow. I'm so glad she can get out and be with kids her own age. I'm sure that she gets sick of me all day long.
I officially started working out today. My mom and I went to a spin class this morning at the Y and I actually really enjoyed myself. It was a HARD workout, especially since I haven't been active for a very long time. I'm sure that I won't be able to walk tomorrow, but I'm planning on going on Wednesday; hopefully by then I will be recovered! I wasn't very good at taking pictures this week! Since cam can't sit up and sleeps the day away, most of the pictures I take of him look the same... Here is a cute one of sleeping boy from yesterday.

Week Three...

2011-09-14T11:30:00.001-07:00

Cam is three and a half weeks old! Where did those three weeks go? At his two week appointment last week, he had gained a pound and grown an inch, which is pretty good. The doctor said that if babies can be back at their birth weight by two weeks that is great, so he is growing! He is still pretty little, I wonder if he will fill out nicely or just be a little baby. Avery has been pretty average as far as weight and height goes. She never has been extremely small but never big for her age. She is easy to fit and wears exactly her age in clothes. I'm sure Cam will be the same. Nursing is going better but not great, yet. Hopefully we can get to that point. He still likes to eat around the clock, but I am trying not to feed him that often so that when I do feed him, he actually is hungry and eats and gets full instead of these constant snacks. It's amazing how much more awake he is now than even last week. We are trying to get him on a good schedule; the last two nights we put both kids to bed at 8. Avery is a great sleeper, and Cam just slept his three hours, woke up and went back to bed etc. through out the night. I can't wait for him to get bigger and stay full longer. Hopefully we can stick with this. I hate putting Avery to bed and then being up with Cam until 11 or so and then putting him to bed. He loves his baths... ok, who knows if he loves his baths at three weeks, he isn't exactly kicking and laughing during them, but he doesn't cry, he just lays there in the warm water. I think he likes them. He is still the loudest baby I have encountered yet. I almost had to leave story time yesterday and church has been interesting. He grunts and groans so loudly. Even with him in his cradle at night, he keeps me up because he is so loud. Maybe he will be a really loud kid? Avery is still a great helper. I'm sure she always will be. I am finding that it's really hard to balance my time between the two of them, myself, Paul, house work etc. Avery is pretty content with things, but there are certain days when Paul gets home from work that I realize that she probably didn't get a lot of my attention during the day. I'm looking into putting her in gymnastics for the fall and she is starting at a little preschool by a lady in our ward tomorrow. If I can get her out and involved, I don't feel so bad. I better go do something productive, like wait for my new "double" stroller! I haven't been able to go on walks or go to the mall because I can't carry the car seat around, but starting tomorrow I will be a new woman!

Look at those lips!

2011-09-08T13:32:00.000-07:00

Scrumptious!

Cam IS the man!

2011-09-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peak of Cam's newborn pics! They are the same group that I posted on Facebook, so sorry if you were hoping for different ones! Isn't he adorable?

Two weeks!

2011-09-05T14:28:00.001-07:00

Cam is two weeks old today! I am going to try and blog at least once a week for journal purposes! I got really lazy with blogging, but I started writing in my journal more, so now I am going to try and keep both up. I just always write differently and about different things on my blog, so I like to have both records.
I have had a lot of problems with breastfeeding and have been debating for a week and a half whether or not to pump full time or to switch to formula. Cam doesn't eat very good and is hungry all the time, which isn't very much fun or convenient for me! One day when he wasn't eating at all, I pumped a bottle for him and he gobbled it down; the next day he wouldn't even look at me, and only wanted a bottle. I decided I had "nipple confused" him( if that's a real thing), so I refused to give him any more bottles. This kid has seriously lazy lips... it took a couple of days of only trying to breastfeed before he got the picture and started really eating again. Only he still isn't eating very well. His two week appointment is on Friday, and this will be the main topic of conversation. Hopefully we can work something out. He is also really loud! This kid grunts and groans non-stop. Last night it kept me up most of the night. He doesn't cry or seem colicky, he doesn't spit up, but he is really gassy and he sounds like he is in pain. When he sleeps, he just rolls from side to side groaning. Another topic for the pediatrician.
We went to church yesterday and we were only a couple of minutes late; I'm learning how long it takes to get two kids ready and myself in our Sunday best and out the door! I think that next week I will have to get everything ready on Saturday night and get up earlier on Sunday. And it's a good thing that Paul is here on Sunday mornings, something we are still getting used to, since he hasn't been for 3 years! Avery continues to be a good helper and really prides herself on fastening the snaps on Cam's clothes and getting his binky in his mouth. My mom saved a lot of books on tape from when we were kids, and they have become Avery's new favorite past time. She loves laying on the floor listening to them. During our stay at my Grandparent's house in Salt Lake the last week in July, Avery fell head first off one of their tall bar stools. She hit her front left tooth hard enough that it bled and was loose. In the next day or two, it hardened back up and we didn't think anything of it, until we moved here and looked at her one day and noticed that her tooth was obviously turning gray. It continued to get darker and darker, one thing that really bothered me. She smiled really cute at me on her birthday and I burst into tears. There are a lot worse things in life, but I have been devastated about her tooth. It doesn't hurt or bother her and the option is basically to have a dark tooth or to pull it, which they don't normally do unless the tooth has an abscess. So after all that, this week we noticed that her tooth is lightening back up! We have read a lot about tooth injuries and it will never be white or the same color as her other teeth, but if the nerve didn't die, it will lighten up quite a bit and it looks like it is going to do that! I am still sad about it, but hopefully it will lighten up and not be so noticeable. I have been thinking about Avery's 3 year pictures since we moved here, so hopefully my next post will include those and Cam's newborn photos! Here are some pictures from today of cute two week old Cam!

One week down...

2011-09-01T09:36:00.001-07:00

Time is a weird thing. It seems like Cam has been with us a lot longer than one week! Before he was born, I picked up and held Avery all the time, and she seemed to be growing, but after holding Camden and then picking her up, she feels like she weighs a ton. It's only been one week and I don't think she has put on weight! Cam is a really good baby, of course, but he is still following the newborn way of life... sleep 23 hours a day or something ridiculous. When he does muster up the strength to open his eyes, he is perfectly content to lay on a blanket on the floor or in his swing and just look around. When he gets fussy, he eats, I change him, and he goes back to sleep for another long nap. Not too shabby. He sleeps great at night, as far as not being wide awake at night goes. A lot of newborns have their days and nights reversed, so that has been nice. Avery is a great helper. I'm learning a new level of patience as I wait for her to put on his socks or help with his baths, which results in water all over the bathroom floor because what 3 year old knows how to wring out a washcloth? She keeps wanting to help me put him in the swing or burp him, and I'm learning that there really isn't a rush, and that it's more important for her to feel like she is helping and involved than to get things done in a timely fashion. I think she is adjusting well. She makes a comment every now and then about nobody playing with her. Lucky for her, Paul is a great dad and Avery gets lots of attention from him when he gets home from work, and from Grandma, Grandpa, and Taylor. Makes it alot easier when I have so much help! As for me I feel pretty good; my stomach and side are still really sore, but I'm anxious to get active again. Unfortunately, I was left with quite a big post pregnancy belly, something I didn't have to deal with after Avery was born. One of those things that you don't really expect. Hopefully in the next few weeks or so I can start working out and slim down a bit. Here are a couple pictures of Cam at one week old.

Cam the Man

2011-08-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

Scroll down below this one to see our official baby announcement! I guess that I should have posted this first... I will see if I can change the order of posts since I "introduced" our new addition first and then decided to add more.
Last Friday I was on the way home from a shopping trip with my mom and I started to have extreme pain in my lower left side. At first it just kind of felt like a cramp but by the time we got home I was almost in tears. Paul got home from work shortly afterwards and when he saw me, he became very concerned and we decided to go to the hospital. They admitted us into the labor and delivery ward because I was almost 39
weeks pregnant and they immediately started an IV and some morphine to help take the edge off. It didn't help at all and so they decided to try another pain med and ultrasound my kidney and ovary on my left side. At my prenatal a few days before I had a high amount of blood in my urine and they have also been watching a pretty big cyst on my left ovary. When they did the ultrasound everything looked fine and they didn't see any stones, but came to the conclusion that I was probably passing a stone, a small one at that. (It always makes you feel good when you feel like you are going to pass out from pain but since the ultrasound didn't show any backup into my kidney, it apparently wasn't big enough to cause real problems... they always tell you this so you don't feel dumb. Ya right.)So with the continuous drip of narcotics, I was able to relax and they sent me home the next day with a prescription for oral drugs. I still wasn't feeling great and pretty much slept the rest of Saturday away and Sunday, until Sunday evening, when the pain only got worse. At the hospital, they told me that if I was passing a kidney stone, it would pass within 24 hours or so. So on Sunday night around 830 we decided to go, yet again, to the dreaded hospital. It's also really cool how all the same people who "helped" us before were there again because they were working the evening shift for the whole weekend. :) They again started an IV and hooked me up to all the baby monitors. They did that on Friday just to make sure that the drugs weren't affecting baby's heart rate or oxygen levels etc. As soon as they turned on the monitors on Sunday night, the nurse asked me when I started having contractions. I told her that I didn't know that I was contracting. She showed us the monitor and apparently I was having really strong contractions every minute to minute and a half! All I could feel was this throbbing pain in my side, the same as on Friday night. They said that I was probably dehydrated and started another IV with morphine. The nurse told me that the contractions would probably stop because dehydration sometimes causes contractions and once they pumped me full of fluids, I would feel much better. WRONG... they only got harder. So we were admitted for left flank pain at 8:45 and around 11:30, when they checked and I was dilating, changed me to being admitted for labor. So good news was that morphine really took the edge off my contractions, which were bearable because of my left side pain, bad news was that it didn't help with my side pain. Two hours later, they came in to give me some more morphine for the pain and decided to just give me my epidural because I had expressed wanting one anyways. I was dilated to a 4 around 1 in the morning. So with the epidural, Paul and I slept on and off for the next few hours, and at the shift change at 7, my new labor nurse came and checked me and said, "Well, it's time for a birthday party". They called the doctor and set up the room; she gave me some pushing directions. With Avery, I didn't push very long because the cord was wrapped around her neck and as soon as I pushed, her heart rate dropped, they turned me on my side, and gave me the option of forceps or c-section. I was really nervous this time around. Everything had gone so smoothly up until this point, except for the epidural not helping with my side pain! (They told me that it was just located within different nerves, kind of weird) In Rexburg, they don't bring the doctor in until you are basically delivering your baby, and so when they got the room set up and the doc walked in, I was thinking, "What are you doing here?" He checked me and he told me that this was going to be fast because of how low baby was. WHAT? So three contractions and literally 8 minutes later, we had our beautiful baby boy, one minor stage 1 tear and I didn't even feel like I had done anything. I won't post pictures of me after labor because we went in and spent the night, so I didn't look great, but with Avery, it was a really stressful, painful day. I swelled all over and afterwards I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Night and day labor and deliveries! We moved rooms and that was that! I was just so impressed with this big hospital... I mean, they were doing things and telling me things to do and not to do and I just kept comparing my experience in Rexburg, no offense to Rexburg doctors or care, but they didn't seem to know what they were doing! We were treated so well here and I really feel like we received the best possible care. Kind of nice since we only moved here 3 weeks ago! So that is that. Paul went back to work on Tues, so I spent the day with little Cam by myself (with Avery and my mom as company at lunch time) until he got off work and escorted us home and we have been doing great ever since. My recovery this time around is completely different and my body is healing so much faster. It has been a big adjustment, but we are adjusting great and hopefully Cam will continue to be a good baby. It's so hard to know when he is only 4 days old... all newborns sleep like 23 hours a day etc. Avery has been a big helper ever since we got home and loves to be right in the action. We are so happy to be a family of four! (And my left side pain is still there! Not as bad as it was when we went to the hospital, but its there. They ruled out kidney stones since I didn't pass anything, and have decided it may have something to do with the cyst on my ovary. We are following up in a few weeks.)

Introducing...

2011-08-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Camden Timothy Seiter
August 22, 2011
7:34 am
7 lbs 5 oz
19 in long

Where has time gone?

2011-08-15T17:13:00.001-07:00

Avery turned 3 yesterday! We have lots of cute pictures of her opening gifts and eating cupcakes, but when you are 3 and have lots of balloons and presents to look at it must be really hard to look at the camera! She would look up for a second or two, flash us a cheesy grin and go back to whatever she was doing! We had a really fun day, even though it was Sunday. As kids get older and start to understand what their birthday is, the day just gets better. I remember thinking that on her 2nd bday; that she understood so much more than her first, obviously, but it was really fun to be apart of her day yesterday. We love you, Avery!

Glorious 4th!

2011-07-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th!

It's about time...

2011-06-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

Paul finally got a job!!! We are so excited about this new chapter that we are going to be starting in August, which will include moving, Paul starting a new job, and adding this little boy to our family. The job is with Amazon as in Amazon.com and we are looking forward to being part of a great company with great benefits, and I am especially excited because the job is in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where my family lives! We have been away for so long; we can't wait for Avery to be able to see Grandma and Grandpa everyday (at least until they get sick of us :), and have that support when this baby arrives. Paul's training starts on August 5, so we will be moving the first week of August. And as far as a baby update goes... I am officially on the countdown; I am 31 1/2 weeks today and baby looks and sounds good. I feel huge, but at every appointment I measure right on the week so it makes me feel a little better until I get up the next day and look in the mirror! We still don't have a name for him and most of the time I feel really stressed and worried about it. With Avery we knew that she was going to be Avery, well we at least went to the hospital knowing she was going to be this or that. I'm not sure that we have even come up with something that we both really like yet. So if anyone has any ideas, they would be welcomed for sure. As for Avery, she is growing up too fast, not really, because in order to keep me sane, I will need a big girl, not a baby, when we have this baby. It finally warmed up last week, and Avery came down with a stomach bug, so we haven't been out much, but yesterday we took her to the splash park and I don't think we will be able to keep her inside much the rest of the summer. She loves riding her new bike around our apartment complex and playing at the park here at the Village. She is really excited about her birthday and tells me something new that she would like everyday. We are probably going to go way overboard just because her little brother will be arriving shortly afterwards. Other than that, nothing new has happened. We are practically packed and it is a little strange looking at our bare walls and boxes in every corner. The other day Avery said, "I don't want to move, I want to stay here in number 7!" I'm sure that we will miss Rexburg, but not enough to miss out on life! Paul and I both started college here, worked low paying college kid jobs here, met, fell in love, got married and moved back here to finish school. Our first baby was born here and she is now old enough to know that we live in Rexburg, Idaho in number 7. I don't know that we will miss it (especially not enough to move back) but Rexburg will always hold some great memories for Paul and I.

It's a...

2011-04-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

BOY!!!
And we couldn't be more excited!!! Everything looked great and baby boy is measuring in the 45th percentile... slightly less than average, but have you seen Paul and I? We aren't exactly large people, and I would have been a lot more nervous if they had told us we are having a big baby! He weighs 10 oz. and according to the ultrasound, has all his fingers and toes. The lady that did our ultrasound is actually still in school to become an ultrasound tech, so she did our initial ultrasound, and then the real tech came in and double checked her work with a 3D ultrasound. They look pretty weird, but it was cool to see the baby's face instead of just a hazy profile shot. There were some pretty obvious shots of male genitalia, but due to some issues with one of my ovaries, they scheduled an ultrasound for 8 weeks from this appointment and said they will double check the gender at that time. We aren't worried that they were wrong... let the boy shopping begin!

The two loves of my life...

2011-03-24T09:01:00.001-07:00

I hadn't planned on posting anything until our big news on the 5th, but the other day we took Avery to her first movie and I was going through pictures, and came across this one, that I love!

Paul and I are a little anxious to "move" on with our lives; we are ready for a job, or to get started on grad school preparations, and sometimes we get caught up in the fact that we are still here not progressing. But we are all healthy, Paul does have a pretty good steady job, we have a beautiful daughter, and each other and whether we are here at the house or out doing things, we have a great time. Life is good and I'm sure we are here for a reason. It shouldn't take a cute picture to remind me of that, but today it did.

Baby update...

2011-03-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today I went to my 17 week doctor appointment and everything looked and sounded great! I have officially gained 5 pounds and baby's heartbeat sounded strong but slow... at my last appointment and today, the nurses made comments about how slower heartbeats sometimes indicate the male gender... so maybe, just maybe. Paul would be so excited if we are having a boy but I don't really care this time around. We have a lot of girl stuff, so it would be really convenient and fun because little girls are so cute, but it would be fun the other way around as well. I'm not going to write my personal prediction... always weird when they are wrong! And the highlight of the day came when the dr. started talking about our ultrasound and we assumed it would just be at my next appointment in 4 weeks, but he said, "why don't you make an appointment for 2 weeks and we can do your ultrasound at 19 weeks." So we scheduled our ultrasound for April 5 at 10:00 am, and we are so excited! I got a bunch of boxes today and went through and organized all of Avery's baby clothes by size etc. We had some in garbage bags, some in bins, some in suitcases, pretty much all over the apartment and I must have been in a hurry to clean out her closet because all sizes were mixed in with each other. So it was time to organize them. I figure that if we are having a girl, this is more convenient, and if we are having a boy, then they are stored and ready for the next time around, whenever that may be. It took me pretty much all afternoon, but I just put the last box away and it feels really good to be done with it. My sewing machine has been acting up lately, so I had it looked at, serviced and cleaned, and it was gone all last week. I picked it up on Saturday and it looks like it is working great. My goal for the next two weeks is to finish up all of my projects I started around Christmas time (when my machine started giving me problems), sew Avery's Easter dress, and sew her pillows for her bed. As soon as we find out what we are having, I will want to start sewing for baby #2 and can't have so many things unfinished! And probably until the 5th of April....

A small update...

2011-03-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I read blogs everyday but haven't felt very inspired lately when it comes to updating my own... Last weekend I decided to save a few bucks by buying off-brand face wash. Big mistake! I used it on Sunday night before I went to bed and I woke up itchy and swollen and bright red. I had a lot of errands to run yesterday but of course could not leave the house, so Paul and Avery ran them. I went to bed last night hoping that miraculously I would be cured by morning, but I woke up in pretty much the same state. I can think of few things that are worse than having an allergic reaction on your face! Hopefully I can get back to normal soon because the rest of the week is planned out of our house. And it is even more pathetic that that was the most "exciting" thing that has happened in a while. Curse Equate brand! On a happier note, I am officially 16 weeks along and feeling pretty good. I can't suck in my belly anymore so the reality of being pregnant is setting in. Avery is super interested in my growing middle and is convinced that we are having a boy and that his name will be Freckles. Good thing we don't have a tradition where we let our children pick baby names! I have an appointment next Monday and then the 3rd week in April, we will find out what we are having! This last month flew by so I'm hoping that the next will go fast; we just really want to know so that we can start buying and planning. Speaking of things flying by, last night we put Avery to bed and Paul said, "I can remember a year ago like it was yesterday". And so can I; Easter is pretty late this year, but I remember last Easter so vividly. I remember doing Avery's hair and what she was wearing. I just can't believe that was a year ago, and that we are already planning for Easter this year. Avery has grown leaps and bounds in one year and she has turned into such a fun little girl. She amazes us everyday and we are so proud of her. She is learning how to write her name and her memory is unmatched. She is going to be a great big sister!

A Late Valentine's Day Announcement...

2011-02-15T09:58:00.000-08:00

We wanted to announce this yesterday on Valentine's Day, but we were surprising family members who read our blog so we didn't want to ruin the surprise...
Baby # 2 is on the way and is due on August 29th, just two weeks after Avery's 3rd birthday!
Happy late Valentine's Day!!!

Avery and her big (little) bed...

2011-01-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

I have felt really out of the blog world lately... I check other blogs but haven't felt very inspired to blog myself. We had a great Christmas break, spent here in Rexburg, in Salt Lake, Heber City, and Logan. It was fun to see all of our family and for Avery to spend time with grandmas and grandpas and lots of cousins. On Christmas Eve, we got out our camera and realized that our memory card was broken! So I have no pictures to share. I need to get some from my mom; at least she was able to document Avery on Christmas! Our biggest news lately is that Avery is no longer in a crib! We have wanted to move her into a bed for a long time now. I started making her bedding back in September but we just haven't been able to find a bed for a good price. When we got back from Utah, we decided that we would just put her mattress on the floor so she could get used to the whole not having crib bars thing. The first night she was so excited and slept peacefully through the night so the next day, we took down her crib hoping that we wouldn't have big problems with the new sleeping arrangements and haven't looked back since! Avery isn't always the most obedient kid, but she has not gotten off her bed since we started the whole thing. I'm sure at one point her toys will tempt her or she will realize that we won't always know if she steps down, but for now she knows that when it's bedtime, she isn't allowed off her bed. In the mornings she still yells my name like when she was in a crib and waits for me to tell her she can come into my room. It has worked out great! Since we are in an apartment, we wanted to put her in a toddler bed. We are so short on space as it is, but I haven't been able to find a toddler bed in good condition for a really good price. I'm sure that when we are established later in life, we won't be using toddler beds, but it makes the most sense for us now. My friend Julia found Avery a great bed at DI for $25 the other day. I went and checked it out and bought it! It is so cute and in great shape! Avery's bedding looks so cute on it. I just need to finish all of her pillows and when we get a new memory card, I will post pictures.

Hair Wars...

2010-12-10T09:21:00.000-08:00

Avery has been blessed with a lot of things... good health (for the most part), a love for life that is unmatched, great parents (of course)... the list could go on and on but there is one thing that Avery has not been blessed with and that is hair. Since she was born we have battled elderly church couples asking us why our baby boy's ears were pierced, complete strangers in the grocery store commenting on our bouncing baby boy etc. Her hair is finally starting to creep in and has decided to grow really unevenly and my little trims here and there aren't keeping the mullet at bay. So I decided to take her to a salon to get it all evened up, maybe it will help it grow a little better. Avery was really excited to go to get her haircut and sat very still for the whole THREE minutes it took to cut her hair. I was all prepared for a long intense haircut of Avery moving all over and the hairdresser having a hard time; I went with my bag stocked of treats and a bribe ready for a treat at Broulims after it was over. But no, by the time I sat down, the haircut was over! As I stood waiting to hear the total, the kind lady who cut her hair leaned over and whispered to me that they usually charge $13.50 for a kids cut (which is a lot!) but since Avery barely had any hair to cut she will only charge me $6.50! Great! We can't even go get a real haircut because her hair is so thin!!! It actually looks pretty good... she isn't at the stage where she can have a real bob or cute a-line because she has no hair in the front, but at least it is even and it has a few layers in the back. More than I could have done for her myself! We walked over to Broulims to show Paul and when the produce guys asked where we had been Avery proudly announced that she had just been to the salon! Oh, one more thing... Avery's been blessed with a great personality!

Snow Bunny Avery...

2010-11-22T19:04:00.000-08:00

It seems popular to post about the snow... I guess I will bandwagon the idea and share some cute pictures of Avery that I took today! She obviously really dislikes the snow :)

Rexburg is so cold with snow... we will get a few warm winter days which will be fun to go out and play, but for the most part the wind blows and after about 10 minutes it is time to be done. Avery asks everyday to go out and I feel bad because I hate going outside because I hate being cold! It doesn't seem to phase her; I will have to convince Paul to take her so I can stay in and watch from the window!

Cute Aves...

2010-11-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween...

2010-10-31T20:56:00.001-07:00

We had a great Halloween weekend! Tim and Laurel drove up on Thursday and we spent 3 fun days full of cooking, eating good food, laughing, chasing kids, and trick or treating! Come again soon, we love you guys!!!!

4 years already? WOW!

2010-10-20T13:09:00.001-07:00

Recently my mom and I have been talking about going private with our blogs... we have heard or read way too many creepy stories involving children and so I think that will be my goal... eventually. That or I will be removing our names and referring to us and B,P, and A, which seems silly, but for some reason, seems smart. So if you want to be apart of our blog going private, let me know what your email address is; again, I will eventually do this, so no rush!
On a happier note, today is our 4th anniversary!!! We went out to a movie on Monday and dinner yesterday, and we both kept saying how weird it is that we have been married for 4 years!!! We must have been doing something right to find each other because, well I won't talk for Paul :), but he truly is my other half, the perfect balance to my personality! We couldn't be happier... unless he got a job :), and we love sharing our lives with our sweet little Avery. I hope that she always feels loved by us and feels that we love each other. I know that we will love our other children (No, I'm not pregnant :), but I can't imagine loving someone as much as Paul and I love Aves! And I didn't want this to by a mushy gushy post, and it is turning into that, but I think the world of Paul and so does Avery... Those two are completely wrapped up in each other, and I love Paul more today than I did when we got married because I've seen how great of a father he is. Thanks for 4 wonderful years! LOVE YOU PAUL!!!

Pumpkins!!!

2010-10-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

First off, I am so frustrated with blogger! I can't figure our how to change my template or background... well I have tried to use the "user friendly" template designer, I just can't figure out how to do what I want... so hopefully I will figure it out soon and get things designed how I want... for now, plain jane will have to do...
Tonight we met our friends, the Hansons, at a pumpkin patch in Idaho Falls! Last year I really wanted to go but Avery was so little and she wouldn't have cared... this year, I wasn't letting it go! Avery had alot of fun running around chasing Parker and getting her new coat really dirty! She kept walking up to pumpkins and saying, "This one is my perfect size!" which was really cute. The kids liked the chickens and sitting on the train, but we decided to forgo more activites and headed to Red Robin for a delicious dinner! It was a really fun night; we never get out and we were glad to have the Hanson's for company! We got a big pumpkin and three small ones and for now they will sit outside our door and wait for Hallow's eve when we will carve something spectacular in the big one!

More Pics!

2010-09-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

I still can't get all of my pictures from our trip to upload, so these will probably be the last of them!

Undies Galore!

2010-09-18T15:45:00.001-07:00

We have had a fun couple of weeks… My mom brought my little brother, Marshall, out for his first semester here at BYU-I, and was able to stay longer than she usually can. We were all spoiled by grandma, especially Avery! After we got Marsh settled in, and school started, my mom, Avery, and I headed to Logan and Salt Lake to visit Avery’s great grandparents. It seems that we usually stop and say hi on our way to or from Heber, so it was nice to take a few days and just relax and play. With Avery being the only grandkid and great grandkid on my side of the family, there is attention galore and she really loves being the center of it all. We shopped a lot, went to the zoo, went to Peach Days in Brigham City, my mom surprised me with tickets to the Lion King Broadway show in Salt Lake, went to the Utah State Fair, and started sewing Avery’s new bedding and so much more! What a really fun couple of weeks! Thanks mom! We miss you already!!! Grandma left this morning, and we have been sad all day… I hope that someday we can live close, a few visits a year is not enough! On an Avery note, she is officially potty trained, which is something that we are really excited about! She is still in a crib and is young, so the night training part will come later, when we can get her in a bed and she can physically stay dry all night. She continues to surprise us and we are so proud of our cute girl!Here are some fun pictures from our time with grandma and big uncle Marsh!(I have spent quite a few minutes trying to figure out why the rest of my pictures didn't and won'y upload, so here are a few that will upload! I got some cute pictures of Avery with Marshall and of her at the zoo and fair so as soon as I figure out how to use blogger I will upload them!)

Life goes on...

2010-08-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ever since having Avery and being in school I have wondered what it would be like to just be a mom... not a student mom, and now that I have a few months under my belt, I have decided that I LOVE IT! I love having a clean house, having time to sew, read good books, workout, play with Avery and so much more! What a great time for me to develop my talents, serve those around me, and learn how to be a better mom! I am, of course, not perfect at any of these things, but I really love my days, which seem to be busier that when I was in school, but filled with stuff that I love! We are still on the job hunt, so Paul is still working until the early afternoons and it has been so fun to have the rest of the day to play. When our apartment got rid of the internet, we were so concerned about what we would do, and it still is inconvenient when we need it, but now I don't spend my time browsing online, which is something that I did a lot before we lost it. Every couple of days or so we trek over to the clubhouse, let Avery play in the kids room and get important things done. It has been a breath of fresh air to only use the internet when we really need it. On an Avery note, she has been sans diapers for about 6 days now! She has been using the potty since about March, and last week I just decided that it is time to put her in undies full time and see what she does, and she has done great! We run errands or visit Paul at Broulims just about everyday and she wears undies and uses the bathroom where ever we are. On Sat we ran to Idaho Falls and she was dry the whole time and yesterday at church she used the potty three times and stayed dry! YAY Avery! She is too little to get onto the toilet herself, but she uses her little potty and really likes it! We are really proud of her and hope that she continues to be without diapers! My mom and brother, Marshall, are going to be here this Friday and we are really looking forward to spending some time with them! We are excited because Marsh is staying here to attend the fall semester!

Aves is two!

2010-08-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well it's official... Our little girl is two!!! I can hardly believe it! I remember her 1st bday and even the day she was born so vividly; time is flying! We had a great day, full of fun, sweet memories. I wanted to get some pictures up sooner, but our apartment complex decided that they don't need to provide Internet anymore, so I only get to browse every few days, if that! Enjoy the pictures of Avery, she had so much fun on her birthday and the pictures really capture how fun of a kid she is, full of excitement! We love her so much!

The 4th on the 3rd...

2010-07-06T22:36:00.001-07:00

It seems as though people are getting their 4th of July posts up, so I better do the same...
There is something wrong with the picture below...
It was taken at Rexburg's oh so famous 4th of July parade...
It was hard to get a cute picture of both squirmy kids... this was the best one...
They both were having fun...
BUT Avery wasn't wearing her cute 4th of July dress that I bought her. We weren't sweating like is to be expected on the 4th of July and to top it all off, we had to wear jackets! And even in jackets, when the sun wasn't shining, it was COLD! And it is days later and it is still chilly... too cold to go to the splash park or outside to swim, and even if the temperature were to get warm enough, the wind is enough to stay inside!

Even though the morning was pretty chilly for the parade, it warmed up into a very nice evening. We had dinner with Randy, Julia, and Parker, and then played games outside and did some fireworks...very minor fireworks... What kind of fireworks can you do with two year olds at 8 pm, when it is still light? Pretty much just poppers and sparklers. Avery and Parker loved the poppers and it was hilarious trying to get them to throw them hard enough to pop. Avery mostly just held her hand high and dropped them, but they did the get hang of it and then realized that they could step on them. Avery is at such a fun age! I know that the older she gets, the more she will understand, but I swear we can just see the wheels turning with this girl; she is full of suprises! I love holidays and love celebrating them and making them fun and it seems that Avery is following in my footsteps! Next step is her birthday! I can't believe that she will be two in a little more than a month!

Cute Aves...

2010-07-02T13:03:00.000-07:00

I made this dress for Avery a couple of weeks ago and finally decided to take some pictures of her in it. It seems like lately the only pictures I take of Avery are ones of her doing funny or messy or destructive things because we want to document that she was a wild child in her younger years! We went to the nature park and she was much more interested in looking at the ducks than getting her picture taken, but I got a few cute ones!

Avery looks like such a diva... Cute girl!

Summer is Here!!!

2010-06-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

Daddy or Paul?

2010-06-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

I dated this boy once who called his mom by her first name... at first, I thought it was cool. I mean, why wouldn't it be? She was obviously one of those hip, non-old moms! After awhile though, it became just weird; maybe because I grew up calling my mom, MOM, and felt awkward calling her by her first name unless I was in a crowded store with 100 moms who all turned towards the girl yelling, "Mom!" First name basis was for emergencies only! It obviously didn't work out with the boy who didn't call his mom, mom, and I have not thought about all of those weird encounters until this last week, when my almost 2 year old started calling her dad, Paul! I think that Avery has referred to Paul as Paul more than daddy this week, and it is starting to freak Paul and me out! Will she be one of THOSE kids? Since the first name calling started, we have been saying things like, "That's not Paul, that's daddy!" trying to get her to make the switch back to sweet adoring Avery. I can just picture our "sweet" teenager yelling, "Hey, Paul, pass the juice" or something that sassy teens say. Most of the time when we introduce Avery to new people, she gets a little shy and lately she starts to mumble and then will say, "This mommy, and this daddy", like introducing us again will calm her nerves. The other day, we were put in this kind of new people situation, and when we prompted Avery to say hello, she said, very loudly and clear, "This mommy, and this not daddy! This PAUL!" Happy Father's Day, Paul, I mean daddy, we sure do love you!

Avery's Ouchy Boo Boo...

2010-06-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Avery came down with the stomach flu and ended up in the hospital! I was uploading some pictures tonight and came across some that we took of her the day she got home. They left her catheter in just in case she needed more fluids and Avery wasn't real happy about it but her bandage had bees on it and she walked around calling it her "buzz buzz band aid". She couldn't bend her arm and it was weird to see her automatically switch from using her right hand to her left! Having the stomach flu is not fun, but having a really sick kid with the stomach flu is worse. Avery has had the flu three times this year; I don't think I can handle it if she gets sick anymore!

It never ends...

2010-06-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

I always said that after student teaching I will have time to do this and that, and then it was after graduation and graduation company leaves, and then after Mexico, and then after Avery and I get back from North Dakota I will have time to do things, complete the millions of projects I have started in my mind... But we are home from North Dakota, and I still barely found time to update my blog! I left it to the last minutes of my day and have a good book waiting for me so I'm afraid that this won't be a real good update. I will have to find time between swimming lessons, Ave's school, midterm conferences, babysitting, job hunting and applying etc. this week, which probably won't happen!!! Avery and I were able to fly home for Marshall's high school graduation, which is so crazy to me! We spent a week and a half with my family and got spoiled left and right. I love going home; I always feel like a really good mom, and Avery is always ALWAYS entertained and spoiled, which is fun to witness as a parent. My mom took all of our pictures for us, but said that I always post them on my blog before she can post them, so she won't email them to me until she gets to pick her favorites and post them! I did get a few from our trip, but will post them when I get her to disclose hers to me! We are here though, applying for jobs left and right and yet we haven't heard anything from any of them! The waiting game continues and we are trying to keep good moral and not get too discouraged! It is easy to forget that things probably won't go as we plan or on our time line; the Lord knows us best, and I'm sure has plan for us! For now, we are anxiously awaiting warm weather to arrive and will enjoy summer here in Rexburg!

Avery's First Day of School...

2010-05-13T07:18:00.001-07:00

On Monday Avery started toddler lab on campus! It is like a pre-preschool for a couple of hours a week and she was so excited! She had to wear her backpack and didn't want help from us saying, "I'm going to school". She is growing up!

She wouldn't take off her backpack in her car seat!

Can't Get Enough Sun...

2010-05-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

I finally had a few minutes to sit down and upload the rest of our pictures and write a quick blurb about our trip... which all started a couple of months ago. Paul and I were talking about how we always talk about going somewhere, but never do, and how we were graduating and didn't have a job lined up right away, and how Avery is at a really good age to leave etc. So we started looking into warm, tropical places and decided on Cancun, but I never thought that we would really go. A few days later, Paul booked our trip and said that it was our graduation gift to ourselves and the preparations began! When our families inquired about graduation gifts we mentioned that money towards our trip would be greatly appreciated, but little did we know that our entire trip would be paid for! Thanks again! Tim and Laurel took Avery for us, and we obviously wouldn't have been able to go and have such a good time, if she wasn't with someone who we know she felt comfortable with. Thanks again Tim and Laurel! I could probably write a novel on how wonderful Cancun is, and all of the stuff that we did, but I won't... I will say that we LOVED it, and that we will go back someday! We got there on Monday, and flew home on Saturday, such a treat! We got really lucky with the time of the year that we went because there was NO one there! On our hotel's beach, there were seriously no more than 15 people at a time... we never had anyone walking in front of us or even by us, and didn't have to fight to get the cabanas or lounge chairs by the pools and on the beach. We did go through two bottles of sunscreen because the sun is crazy intense, but managed to come home with a slight tan. We did an all inclusive package, so all of our food and recreation at our hotel was included, which was so nice, and our resort happened to be right across the street from La Isla, Cancun's largest shopping area. It is a huge outdoor mall, and it was perfect to spend all day in the sun and then head across the street after dinner, for shows and shopping. The mall is so big, that you couldn't walk it all in one night! We missed Avery, but knew that she was in good hands, and it was so nice for Paul and I to get away together. It is easy to forget the little things with our lives being so busy, so it was fun to focus only on each other! Love you Paul! Anyways, like I said, I could go on and on about what we did, but I will just post some pictures, and write captions! Sorry there are so many pictures... we seriously took like 400 pictures, so it was hard to pick and choose!Our beach at like 1 in the afternoon, and NO ONE on it!!!

This is our beach and a shot of the back of our hotel! So beautiful! Our first day on the beach! The front of our hotel!

There were iguanas EVERYWHERE! This picture was at our hotel on our 2nd day, and I thought this guy was big, hence the picture. The Mayans apparently considered them to be sacred, so when we went to Tulum and Xel-Ha, we saw iguanas twice this size, and roaming all over! We went on a bike ride through the jungle at Xel-Ha, and it became a try and miss the lizards ride. Yuck.

The Mayan Ruins of Tulum... So neat, and so many pictures! By the way, after we got home and I started looking at pictures, I noticed that I have sunglasses on it almost EVERY picture! It was so bright!

This is Xel-Ha... We snorkeled here and saw huge fish, like 4 feet long. It was here that I also discovered that I have a weird fear of HUGE fish! One look was good enough for me! I liked the smaller, friendlier looking fish towards the edges!Sad to leave!

Need I Say More?

2010-05-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

We arrived home tonight after our wonderful week in beautiful Cancun!!! We had some bum travel arrangements yesterday and I am sleep deprived and have about 20 loads of laundry from traveling to catch up on before I post more pictures and blog the details... This will have to do for now... Can you see why I didn't want to come home?

Let's just say...

2010-04-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

We are officially done! It feels great, and we can't wait to either enjoy the summer here in Rexburg or be headed elsewhere for an internship or a job!

Easter!

2010-04-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

It was weird having General Conference and Easter fall on the same weekend! If I was thinking about one, I forgot the other and visa versa. Conference was great, as usual, and the Easter celebrations that we got in were great as well. Last year, we took baby Avery to see the Easter bunny at Broulims. YUCK! They really should invest in a suit that isn't the spitting image of a diseased rabies rabbit! Alas, this year we took Avery to see the same scary bunny, and it really did SCARE her! She did not want to be within 50 feet of it, always asking where it was, I'm sure to make sure it wasn't sneaking up behind her. After about 20 minutes of asking were the bunny was, eating a doughnut and me assuring her that the "Easter bunny isn't scary", Avery ventured out to find it. At first she just stood and looked at it, then she ran and grabbed some candy from its basket, and then finally she stood next to it for a picture! It was a weird thing watching her conquer a fear in about 45 minutes. She enjoyed her candy kisses on the way home and told me about 100 times, "Easter bunny not scary"!
This morning we gave Avery her Easter basket and it is so fun to see her personality with things like that. I am very meticulous. I like to examine my Christmas stocking, one thing at a time etc. She took one look at her Easter basket, picked it up, and dumped it all out to sort through. We have seen this behavior with various other things, namely Marshmallow Maties. It is so much easier to dump out the whole bowl of cereal than slowly pick out the marshmallows one at a time! After the first session of conference, our friends Randy and Julia and their cute little boy Parker came over and we had an egg hunt for Avery and him in the clubhouse. It snowed a ton yesterday and was cold and wet outside, so that was the best we could do! After egg hunting, we came back and made Easter cookies and dyed Easter eggs! It is almost 9 pm and Avery still hasn't eaten a meal since breakfast... She is full of cookies and candy! I hope she isn't sick tonight. The day ended with a delicious traditional Easter dinner at Randy and Julia's! We are so glad we live close and that Avery has such a good friend! (and us too!:)

The Big Finale...

2010-04-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have been dreaming of my final day of student teaching since before Avery was born, but more so after when I morphed into a stressed out mom trying to juggle Aves with school, and Paul's school and work. When the semester started in January, I thought that it would be such a long semester, and honestly wondered how I would make it through. When I switched from my special ed placement to my third grade class, I couldn't believe that I only had 6 weeks left. On Tuesday morning at 3:30 am, Avery woke us up with the stomach flu. I couldn't take her to daycare, so I spent my 2nd to last day of student teaching, with my poor little girl puking her toenails up. That night, I spent hours and hours, baking Easter cookies, hard boiling eggs, and making last minute preparations for our class Easter/my last day party. After I dropped Avery off yesterday, my stomach started to feel a little weird, but I decided to go to school anyways. Afterall, it was my LAST day of student teaching. Well, that lasted until 9:00 am and then I was in the bathroom extremely sick. I had to throw everything that I made for the students away, and go home, and spent all day yesterday feeling like I was going to die. I can't believe that I worked so hard to make it to that final day, and I didn't even get to enjoy it! Paul caught the bug late last night, but I think that we are all in the clear. I spent the day disinfecting, switching old toothbrushes for new ones, lysoling all of the door knobs and light switches, and washing loads of bedding and towels. It was a good jump on my spring cleaning, but I still am not feeling 100% better, so what should have taken me a hour or two, took me all day.
So there you have it... the big climax to my semester... getting the stomach flu... Paul just has one week left, and then we are graduating! AND THEN... on May 3rd we are headed to Cancun! A much needed and deserved break! I was going to post new pictures of Avery, and then I realized that I have barely seen her for the last 4 months, so I don't have any new pictures of her. But this weekend, Avery and her friend Parker are going to do Easter baskets, dye eggs, and have an egg hunt... so I will post pictures after Sunday!

Almost done!

2010-03-25T19:14:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is my last Friday during student teaching! WHOO-HOO! Only 4 more days left!

Birthday Pics...

2010-03-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

Last night I couldn't get any pictures to upload... So here are just a few from last night... Paul and his cake (with the 26 backwards... Avery kept pulling out the candles and when we got them settled, we just snapped some pictures, not paying attention to their direction!), and Avery and her birthday daddy sticking their fingers in the chocolate and licking it off...

Happy Birthday, Paul!

2010-03-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

What a good day it has been! Paul turned 26 today, and it was fun to have a reason to decorate the house, cook good food, and eat lots of cake! We both had to go to school today, but after 4 it was all birthday celebrations! I am so proud of myself... I successfully broiled two delicious steaks, topped with sauteed onions, on the side of steamed asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes! I made a delicious milk chocolate ganache cake, and to top it all off, Avery was perfectly behaved while I cooked and cleaned and got things ready for Paul. I also picked out the perfect gift for Paul, which he loves... he hasn't stopped playing with it. I know that it sounds like I am tooting my own horn, but in the past, the steaks that I have tried to make for Paul haven't worked out, the cakes have either fallen apart or just looked funny after I frosted them, and Paul usually returns all of his gifts and gets what HE wants... so today was a success... mostly because Paul had a great day, but also because I didn't mess things up too bad! Avery was so cute today, singing happy birthday to Paul. She almost cried when he blew out his candles saying, "Candles all gone" with a really sad face, and she loved the poppers that we shot off, and kept asking for more "noise makers". Paul is such a great husband; he makes life so fun, and keeps me on my toes. Some days we drive each other crazy, but those days are easily out numbered by the good days. He is my best friend, and I would be, dare I say, lost, without him. I love you, Paul... Happy Birthday!

I can't believe that it is almost a new month!

2010-01-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

Wow, that first month of school, daycare, and student teaching FLEW by! I can't believe that I am almost halfway done... I switch to regular ed on Feb. 16, and then I am done the end of March! I can't believe that I have been going to school for so long, and now the end is really in sight! Avery really likes daycare now and she continues to amaze us with how fast she is learning... We reinforce things that they teach her during the day and visa versa. She is really into "reading"... she just looks through a book and says, "ABC ABC ABC", but she can point out the different letters if we ask her. She is really into R's and O's, who knows why! We have struggled with disciplining her because she really is too young to understand time- outs, and I don't really like them, at all, but she is starting to test us more and more... so this week we gave her a time-out... this is how it went... I was sitting on the floor playing with Avery and out of no where she bent down and bit my leg. She knows that we don't bite, so I picked her up and took her to her designated time-out spot and told her that we don't bite and that she needs to have a time-out. I left the area and sat in the living room with Paul and waited, and after about 20 seconds we heard, "READY! READY! Mama, ready be nice! Sorry mama", all on her own! Paul and I started laughing so hard, and when she saw us laugh, she started laughing, and at that point, the time-out was over. She is so cute, and so smart... We talk all the time about being nice, and how we don't hit and bite, and how we give hugs and kisses, and it's good to know that some of it is getting through to her. Today she climbed up on the chairs by the table, and when I threatened her with a time-out, she said, "TIME-OUT, YA!" and walked over and sat in her spot... I'm not sure that time-outs are the way to go with this child!

Week two...

2010-01-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

This week was a big change from our first week of the semester! Avery went to daycare great, no crying AT ALL! She even seemed excited and waved to me and told me bye bye. Last week when I went to get her at the end of the day, she just would look at me as to say, "Great, your back, thanks for leaving me here all day". This week, she would see me and then run to me with open arms and then take me to show me whatever she was playing with etc. She has made some friends and talks about them when we get home. She is also learning a lot. She sings all the time, and has learned many new songs from daycare. Whenever I start the vacuum or get ready to go, I will say, "Ready, 1 (and she says, two) 3", and then I do whatever I was going to do. She has filled in the two for a while now, but we haven't heard her count independently. The other night, Paul started counting at one, and she just took off and counted to ten and then started clapping for herself! Who knew? I took a cute video of her counting, but I couldn't get it to upload. She has a hard time saying her "f's" so she says, "pour, pive", it is really cute. She is also really into colors. She can't tell us what color something is, but if we ask her to give us the orange block etc. she can pick it out. She amazes me everyday with what she learns. Our week ended early, when I took Avery to the doctor on Thursday and found out that she has bronchitis, pour girl! She has also been running a high fever since yesterday. I don't really know what to make of it. This is the 6th or 7th time that she has run a really high fever, 103-104, for more than one day. She seems to get them easily and maintains them. We took her the the ER a couple of times ago and they made us feel really dumb for taking her for a 104 fever, so we haven't taken her yet but she just isn't herself. We started her on her antibiotic last night, I hope that it kicks in soon! Student teaching week 2 went really well! I can't believe that we are already to week 3, I hope the rest of the time goes this fast! I am also looking forward to having a long weekend with the holiday on Monday!

One week down, alot more to go!

2010-01-08T19:45:00.000-08:00

Well, we officially made it through the first week of our last semester here at BYU-Idaho, my first week of being gone full time, and Avery's first week of being at daycare from 7:30am to 4:00pm, and I am exhausted! I am not against Avery being at daycare, I just wish that it wasn't for 8 or 9 hours a day! She has actually had a really hard time, and that makes dropping her off even more heart-wrenching. Today was the 4th day, and she didn't cry when I dropped her off. As soon as we got inside, she got this huge pouty lip, and so I asked her if she wanted her blanket and she half yelled half squealed, "YAAAA", holding back tears. When I picked her up today, I was told that she had a great day, no crying and she has been making friends with the other kids. When we left, she stood and waved and said goodbye to everyone. I have found that if I continuously tell her what is going on, or when we get up in the morning, if I tell her about a 100 times that she is going to daycare, and that she will get to play with Walker and Isabelle and eat peaches, she almost seems ok. Since she was born, we have been talking about the day when she will go to nursery so that we will be able to get something out of church again... with us completely traumatizing her with daycare and getting to spend so little time with her, I don't think that we will push nursery if she has a hard time. I rather stand in the hall with her than have her cry for 2 hours. And who knows, maybe she will be used to going to daycare by then and not even care about being in nursery.
Anyways, my first week was good... it is going to be a long 13 weeks, mostly because Avery takes up all of my thoughts while I'm at the school. I got placed at an amazing school, with great mentors, and I am excited to be there in between all of my worrying! Paul's school is going good. I don't think that it has really set in that this is his last semester! At the beginning of every semester we think about how long it is going to be, and at the end, we think about how fast it was! Hopefully the same goes for this one! Wish us luck!

We had a great Christmas!

2010-01-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

I finally found time to change my Christmas background and go through all of our pictures from our Christmas vacation... We spent a fun week in North Dakota with my family and then finished our vacation in Heber with Paul's family. Even though we loved being with family, after 2 weeks of being on the road and finishing with all of us getting a very violent stomach flu, we are glad to be home. I tried to put these pictures in a slide show so that it wouldn't be such a long post, but I failed, so I apologize for how many there are! Enjoy!

Avery was very excited to open presents on Christmas morning!

These two pictures are from our small family Christmas that we had before we left for vacation! Avery loves these mega blocks!

My parents inherited my sister's goldfish while she is on her mission... Avery loved the fish, and was very interested in how my mom cleaned the tank.

The day before Christmas we got snowed in my a big blizzard... we ventured out the next week so that Avery could see how tall the snow was!

My mom made Avery's beautiful Christmas dress! Unfortunately church was canceled because of the blizzard, so she didn't get to show it off! We didn't go to church yesterday because all of us were so sick, so this next week she will get to wear it!

Finally a break.... for a few weeks :(

2009-12-15T20:53:00.000-08:00

It is 10:00 pm on Tues night, and as I sit here watching Gilmore Girl re-runs, I am overcome with sheer excitement over what awaits me tomorrow...NOTHING!!! I am officially done with school; no more classes, no more seminars, and no more going to kindergarten!!!!! I'm not sure that typing exclamation points really does my feelings justice! After attending my last class of the semester this morning, I put Avery down for a nap, and proceeded to package up Christmas treats for our friends and neighbors. I feel like I am running out of time before Christmas; we will be on a plane in exactly one week, and I am quite behind on gifts, packing, and other such things. After Avery woke up, we went and visited the daycare that she will be attending during the winter semester. I am really nervous and sad to take her to daycare, but I'm sure the 3 months will fly by and she is young so I'm sure that she won't remember me leaving her all day! The lady in charge seems really nice, and her house is pretty clean, and she only has a few kids, so it won't be chaos all the time. When we are at church I just keep thinking that in two months Avery will be in nursery and how nice it will be, but she still needs me and the other night at our relief society night, she had a hard time in the nursery. She cried on and off and it was only an hour and a half! I'm sure that when she gets to know the kids at the daycare, it will be fine, but the first little bit will be a big adjustment; 9 hours is a long time for her not to be with either Paul or me. Anyways, after dinner, we walked around and delivered our Christmas treats. It was cold, but fun to get out together and be able to check it off my list.

Christmas Greetings!

2009-12-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

I did one of these online Christmas cards last year, and I really liked how it turned out. Since we are again looking to save money anywhere we can, I opted to make one again for this years Christmas greeting! I know that most blog readers have seen these pictures, since I posted them when we got them done, but it will be fun to send to all of our friends and family who do not have blogs. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox greeting

No news is good news...

2009-12-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

Everyday I get online, ready to update my blog, and then I never do because I really don't have anything exciting to write about. Both of our computers crashed a few weeks ago, and we got them fixed, but both hard drives were completely wiped, and the programs to upload pictures from our camera haven't been re-installed. Luckily last year, my parents got us an external hard drive and we had backed up our computers a few days before they died. I don't know what we would have done if we would have lost Avery's pictures. Speaking of Avery, she is getting older everyday. She is talking really well, mostly in two and 3 word phrases. Everything is "Avery shoes, Avery towel" etc. and after her naps she yells, "Avery OUT!", which is funny to listen to. She is really into saying "ABC" and keeps finding one of her Christmas presents, a fridge phonics (I am not really hiding it, just moving it out of her reach etc. until she finds a way to get it), and singing along to the ABC song. One of my favorite things that she does is when we leave someone or go somewhere, she says, "Bye, See ya!" She says it to people, but the other day she started saying it to our little Christmas tree, "Bye tree... See ya". She is really bright and suprises me daily with things that she remembers and does. On another note, on Thursday night I had my portfolio board to see if I can graduate or not, and it went really well! It was so nerve wrecking, and it took a lot of preparation, but I passed with flying colors, with no recommendations, which is the highest passing score. I also got placed to student teach at South Fork Elementary; the new Archer-Lyman school, so I will be really close to home! Paul's internship got moved to the summer, and at first we were a little disappointed, but it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Instead of putting Avery in daycare until 4 or 5, Paul may be able to get her in the early afternoon, which would make me feel better. And after 3 full months of student teaching, I will officially be done with school! What a long road it has been; I'm nervous and excited and a little tiny bit of me is sad that I will be done. With Paul gone so often, pretty much the only interaction I get with other adults is at school! Well, I better go to bed...This was a boring post, mostly to get my own thoughts down on paper... or down in a post. Wish us luck finishing out the semester; we can't wait to be done, and be headed to North Dakota for a little vacation!

More Halloween...

2009-11-02T13:17:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from our free photo shoot... Avery looks really sad, but she is still the cutest fairy ever! James and Michelle Rognon took our family pictures and these of Avery; they did a fabulous job and we would highly recommend them! Their website is rognonphotography.com- check out their blog to see more of Avery and our family pictures!

Happy Hallows...

2009-10-31T20:09:00.001-07:00

What a fun day it has been! It started out with dressing Avery up and having the same photographers who took our family pictures, take pictures of her in her costume...they are so great and it was free for whoever wanted it done! Then we had a small break and then got dressed back up and headed to Broulims to trick or treat at the different departments. I think that Avery was excited, but she woke up this morning with watery eyes and a runny nose, so I don't think that she was feeling like her usual happy self. She looked dang cute, but I am sad to say that we didn't get any pictures of her really smiling, which makes me sad, but we will just remember that she was feeling under the weather. We had Tim, Laurel, and Olivia over for a Halloween dinner and then took the girls trick or treating in a nearby neighborhood. It was a great night to be outside, and I'm sure that Avery didn't get the whole idea, but it was great to spend time with the other Seiters and take some cute pictures... plus Paul and I got a lot of candy!

We are a happy family...

2009-10-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Our family pictures have arrived! I wanted to post all of them, but there are so many after James edited and changed the colors, that I decided to make a few collages of my most favorites just to give a sneak peak! The pictures of Avery are priceless; she is just way too cute! Enjoy

Pumpkin Shmupkins...

2009-10-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our neighbors across the way have had pumpkins outside their door for about 2 1/2 weeks now and everyday we have to go out and say hi to the pumpkins and when we leave we have to wave to them and say goodbye. I know that Avery is young and that she may not get Halloween, but she loves pumpkins! A few weeks ago I bought her a mini pumpkin for the table in her bedroom and at least once a day she brings it to me and wants to show it to me saying, "Pump pump!" One of my favorite things about fall is getting pumpkins and this year I really wanted to go to a real pumpkin patch, but we had to settle for Broulims instead. This brought much sadness to my heart until we got there and saw how excited Avery was and that she, of course, did not care about being at a grocery store parking lot! It is really sad that we did want to go to a real patch but could not find the time or make our schedules work! Needless to say, Paul and I will be SOOOOOOOO glad when this semester is over. We are always busy during school, but this semester has been especially challenging with school, work, babysitters (not working with babysitters, you guys have been great!), and Paul's calling. Anyways, so tonight was a pretty nice night; not to cold, and it was sunny all day, so we headed to Broulims to let Avery pick a pumpkin. She was transfixed by the giant blow-up cat that we had to walk under to get to the pumpkins, but after we got her attention and she noticed the pumpkins she started running from bin to bin! It made my heart so happy to watch the excitement in her eyes over a pumpkin! Paul was surprised at how into the pumpkins she was and we both wished that we could have gone to a patch and let her run around. BUT we found a perfect Avery sized pumpkin, had a great time together, and watched our little girl grow up a little more. What more can we ask for? Beware of lots of pictures!

We NEVER thought that we would get to this milestone...

2009-10-12T19:12:00.001-07:00

I am proud to announce that tonight, after her evening bath, Avery received her FIRST haircut! Now, this was not an all over cut, so I'm not even sure if it counts as a first haircut, but we just trimmed about an inch of stray hairs behind both of her ears. So it may not look like she got a haircut, but she did! I'm hoping that now her hair will grow a little more even in the back!

Random Ramblings...

2009-09-27T20:43:00.001-07:00

Brooke officially entered the MTC last Wednesday at 12:45 pm! I was able to drive down to Utah with Avery and spend a few days with Brooke, my mom, and my grandparents; we had a great time and were glad that we were able to drop Brooke off at the MTC. Originally, we were going to have to come back on Tuesday night, so things really worked out! Brooke will be in the MTC until the end of November and then she is off to Argentina! She will be a great missionary and we love her so much (and miss her more right now:)!

Brooke and her number one fan!

Lately, Avery has started putting on my shoes and walking around in them...and then the other day, she pulled my old cowboy boots out of the closet and kept saying, "Please, please". So I put them on her, only because I wanted to take some pictures!

She is keeping us busy and is getting brighter by the day! She wants to be outside every second and stops whatever she is doing to dance when she hears music! I think that she is getting a little more used to our crazy babysitting schedule for my classes this semester. She still cries and yells "Mama" a few times a week, but she has stopped crying the entire time that I am gone which makes doing it again in two days almost bearable. Her bottom two molars are officially through her gums so hopefully we will have a few pain-free months! Since she started getting teeth at 4 1/2 months old, it seems like she has been teething every month since then! She is still a daddy's girl; today in church during relief society, she escaped out the door and got into the gym before I could catch her and on her way to Paul, she tripped over her feet and fell flat on her face while yelling "Daddy". It was really sad to have to pick her up and carry her away from her daddy. Mean mommy! Well, I better get to bed, this post has been a lot of random ramblings... sorry if you were bored, I mostly write to keep a journal of sorts, so most of this only means something to Paul and me. Until next time...

School sucks... I mean stinks...

2009-09-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if trying to go to school with Avery is too much! We have such good support from friends and family, but now that Avery is getting older, it is getting harder to leave her to go to class. Not only is is way more sad to leave when she is yelling "Mama" through the door, but today in class I don't think that I heard one word of the lecture; I was thinking of my sad girl at the neighbor's house. And to top it off, when I went to get her, I was informed that she cried the entire hour and a half that I was gone! And then when I thought things would slow down a little, I had to drop her off at yet another neighbor's house so that I could make it to a mandatory meeting for my student teaching group! Paul's schedule is so crazy this semester and I don't think that he will be able to help much with watching Avery, so we will be relying completely on other people to tend her! I'm sure that we will make it through the semester, probably by our fingernails, but we will get done and we will have a short Christmas break and then it will start all over again! I keep thinking that I am ready for life to begin, but when we both graduate next year and have to live in the real world, I might be wishing we were back in our small, noisy, village apartment!
Enough of that... things will work out, they always do! Avery's word of the day is "animal"... She keeps bringing me her farm and Noah's ark books and saying, "aaamimmal please". So cute! Last weekend Paul's dad asked me what was one thing that I didn't expect about being married and I told him that I didn't expect how much I love being a mom! I've never like babysitting or being in the nursery; I hold babies because I want to help and I think that they are cute but never because I feel "baby hungry". I'm sure that we will have more kids, but I don't know if I will even feel that I want a baby sooooo bad, but more that it's been a few years, it must be time! BUT now that Avery is here, I would never change anything! She is my best friend and she is only one! Today we sat and ate ice cream together and I talked to her about my class and she just said , "more please" the whole time, but it was so fun. I know that I will have to teach and guide her, but I hope that we are friends forever, and that I'm not just her mom! And for going to school, I'm sure that she will forgive me if she remembers; I'm just so ready to be a mom with a degree instead of a student mom! Love you, Avery!

I just thought that I would post these pictures from a few weeks ago... She is a monkey, always climbing into or on top of things!

Avery and Lala...

2009-09-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have recently been accused of not blogging anymore :)... This I know, this I wish was not the case... However, I don't suppose that it counts that I think about blogging all the time? Didn't think so.
Yesterday was the first day of the rest of the fall... BYU played their first football game and WON! I wonder if Paul didn't disclose his true love to me before we were married in fear of losing me! Laurel found some cute BYU cheer leader outfits for the girls; a little pricey, but I think that I am going to try and fashion something cute for daddy and his number one fan to watch the games in this fall! Maybe pictures to come?
On the Avery update... I still can't believe that she is one! She acts so much older, which she probably gets from her best friend, Olivia, who she calls Lala. Lately, Olivia has been trying to help Avery do things such as stand up/sit up, or she just wants to hold Avery's hands and dance with her, which is really cute to watch. I don't think that Avery has ever let Olivia hold her hands, but I think that she knows that Olivia cares and Avery misses being with her. Whenever we ask her if she wants to go to Olivia's house, we get an enthusiastic "YA"! A couple of weeks ago for Tim and Laurel's anniversary we watched Olivia and she and Avery were so cute. At one point they got these huge plastic bibs out of the bib drawer. I hate these bibs; they seemed like a good purchase because they are big and I thought that I could wipe them down easy... not the case. Anyways, Avery and Olivia brought me them and wanted to wear them, which they did for about 45 minutes. When I got out the camera I was greeted with "CHEESE", which they both say adorably, and ended up with some funny pictures. It's funny how we say to say "cheese" when we are smiling for a camera, but adults can regulate their "cheese" smile better than one and two year olds, so when they say cheese, they say "CHEEEESSEEE", with their mouths in huge grins. Priceless.
Avery is getting cuter and smarter by the day... She can point to and say all of her major body parts, all farm animals and their sounds and some wild animals including her dinos. One thing that Paul and I think is really important is for her to communicate her wants and needs with words or signs, since she has a ton of them, and because she does, I don't have a lot of patience for whining Avery. She independently signs or says "please" when she wants something, and last week we taught her the sign for "help", which she uses when her strollers gets stuck. She has always been independent, but now that she can walk, she really wants nothing to do with us. When asked to hold our hands, she crosses her arms in front of her and replies with a high-pitched "NOOOO", which sounds like, "Why would you even ask me that!" Enough bragging... we just love her, and we know that she loves us back and her best fried, Lala.

Avery's Birthday!

2009-08-15T16:54:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we celebrated Avery's first birthday! Brooke drove up from Logan to be with us, which made the celebration that much better! Avery opened all of her gifts by herself and said, "Wow" when she saw each one! She loved wearing the birthday hats and even put them on her dolls! What a fun day it was!

Happy Birthday Avery!

2009-08-14T13:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Avery's first birthday! I just wanted to post some pictures of her last year this day and tell the world how much I love her! We are having a fun birthday day and after all of the festivities are done, I will post pictures! Happy birthday, Avery!

Ave's almost one picuture!

2009-07-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever since I have written anything, and still I only have a second or two... We were down in Salt Lake this last weekend for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary celebration and on the agenda was family pictures. We decided to take some of Avery for her one year pictures; they are a little early but super cute! I wanted to post my favorite one, but when I get the other ones I will post all of them! Avery is more like a kid than a baby everyday! She is talking like crazy, almost walking, and making life around here interesting! We will be down in Utah this weekend and the next week, so hopefully when we get back I will have some time to sit down, update my blog and share some pictures! Enjoy!

Mom and daughter time...

2009-06-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

I have two weeks off of school for my class and so this last Monday, I loaded up the car and Avery and drove to Logan to see my grandparents and sister, Brooke, for a few days. Paul couldn't miss school or work, so it was mom and daughter time... if by mom and daughter time you mean driving a 2 hour drive that takes you 3 1/2 hours because daughter is hyperventilating in the back seat and mom is freaking out because her car's heat shield fell off and it sounded like the car was going to blow up any second! JK well, mostly... Avery does NOT like the car and I thought that if I kept her up all morning she would sleep the two hours, who wouldn't? But that back fired and she only slept about 30-45 minutes. Actually I would drive across the country with Avery red in the face from screaming just to spend a few days with family! It was so fun to see my grandparents, who hadn't seen Avery since she was 3 months old. It was nice having some help entertaining her and they loved hearing her say, "Nana, Papa". Brooke had to work most of the time, but we spent a really fun day together shopping, eating Panda Express, and taking Avery to the park! She officially turned in her mission papers last week, and even though we are SO excited for her, it will be kind of sad to see her go. If we didn't have Avery, it wouldn't seem so long, but when she gets home from her mission, Avery will be 2 1/2 ish! Anyways, it was good to get home to our own mess, but it was sad to leave. Good thing that we are going to see alot of family in a month for like a thousand family reunions! I wanted to post my favorite picture of Avery from our trip... it really sums up her personality!

Our baby chick...

2009-05-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we took Avery to the Idaho Falls zoo! We went with our friends the Hansons, and had a really good time. It was so nice to sit outside and eat lunch and even though I was blazing hot (I wore dark jeans!), it was nice for a chance to enjoy the warm weather outside of Rexburg! Some of the fences were hard to see through from Avery's stroller, but she did pet goats and enjoyed looking at the monkeys and otters. We did see the sloth bear twins and mistake an alpaca for a camel, but had a good time. After hearing a lady with a disposable camera cat call the bears from the fence we decided the zoo was a one time thing!jk Actually, after seeing Avery's excitement and reaction to this small zoo, it made us really excited for Paul's family reunion and the Hogle zoo, which could fit about 50 of the Idaho Falls zoo inside of it! She will be older and maybe walking and will hopefully be even more interested.
After the zoo, we went to Best Buy and purchased a Wii with Paul's winnings from his family's weight competition! We have been having a lot of fun with it, and even though my arms are killing me, I am going to practice my skills while Paul is gone tomorrow so that I can give him some good competition for family night!
Here are some pictures of our zoo trip.. ignore me... I was sweating up a storm!

Our outdoor loving, water enjoying, swinging, sliding, adventurous Avery loves summer!

2009-05-28T09:05:00.001-07:00

I got up this morning and thought that I should update my blog... of course the highlight of our lives is Avery, so I posted some pictures of her at our Memorial day BBQ. She is turning out to be a really out going child! It is hard to take cute pictures of her smiling now days because every time that she sees the camera she does this wide open, laughing her guts out smile (like in the first picture :). We go to the park at least every other day, and she loves to swing and climb on the jungle gyms, and then go down the slides. On Tuesday, we went to the Splash park with some friends. She didn't act very excited at first, but after being there for about 20 minutes I set her down on the ground in front of some spraying water, and she loved it. She was laughing and batting at the water. I am excited to take her again today. I want to expose her to as much as I can while it's warm. This Saturday we are going to take her to the zoo, and last week we spent a couple of days at the Nature park in town feeding the zillions of ducks that reside there! We are really loving the warm weather, and are excited to spend even more time outside! As for Paul and I, school is starting to catch up to us, but we will make it! I'm in the preschool on campus and am having an interesting semester playing with kids 3 days a week! Paul is doing good, but often feels sleep deprived as he is working early mornings and staying up late to finish homework. Memorial day weekend was a much needed break for both of us!
Well, I should go get ready and pack our bags for the splash park! Until next time, enjoy the warm weather!

My first of many Mom's day!

2009-05-10T22:04:00.002-07:00

The internet is soooo slow at our house, so I haven't been on my blog or able to check any one's blog for a week or so. I just thought that I would post some cute pictures of guy smiley while I have working internet. This week Avery will be 9 months old! It is really amazing to me how fast she is learning and developing her sassy personality. Her favorite word is "no". We get told "no" for everything, and if we put her down when she doesn't want to be put down or take something away from her she says, "nonononononono". It makes it hard to try and discipline her when every time we say "no" we hear it right back. Whether or not she really understands what it means, it is clear and in its own way kind of cute.
This was my first Mother's day as a mother, and it was kind of fun being on the other side of things! I got beautiful flowers and breakfast in bed, and I hope that this is just a start to many more wonderful Mother's days! By the way, I love you, mom!
Well, it's late and I better get to bed... off to another week of no internet!

Update Shmupdate...

2009-04-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Avery is getting cuter and more fun by the day! She was pretty sick last weekend, but is back to her usual sassy self. This semester is turning out to be pretty hectic. Avery goes to a babysitter every day, from 1 hour to 4 ½ hours depending on the day, and that is all just for one class. We have great friends and family who are helping us out; I’m not sure what we would do without them!
Well, this is quick… Here are some new pictures of Avery… Cute as ever, bald as ever, fun as ever! We love her!

Cute Aves...

2009-04-18T19:20:00.001-07:00

It was such a beautiful day today, and we spent a good portion of the day outside with Avery. I just wanted to show her off in some of these cute pictures that we took of her. She looks ravishing in teal...Enjoy!

Easter...

2009-04-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to write a quick post and put up some Easter pictures... My family arrived in Rexburg on Friday night, and it has been so much fun having them here! Avery warmed right up to all of them, and is now Grandma and Grandpa's best friend. I was really worried about her crying and only wanted Paul and me, but from the second they walked in the door she has been fine with being hauled around by everyone!

Broulim's had this scary Easter bunny walking around the day before Easter and I had to have pictures of Avery with it because every child should have an Easter bunny picture, scary bunny or not. Surprisingly she didn't cry, which was what I expected to happen. She didn't smile either, but the pictures and memories are still fun to have. The other pictures are of Avery in her Easter dress from Grandma and Grandpa! She looked so cute on Sunday; Paul and I were walking around so proud to have the cutest girl in our ward :) After church we set Avery on the grass to take some pictures of her and she would not look at the camera. She was too busy picking at and feeling the grass! Anyways, this is quick, but basically we have had a great few days going to the park, shopping, soaking in the hot springs at lava hot springs (which Avery loved!), and just spending time together! Enjoy the pictures!Avery wasn't sure what to think about the Easter bunny.
We are a happy family!

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands...

2009-03-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

I finally uploaded pictures off of our camera today... 339 to be exact... I thought that I would share a few of my favorites! So enjoy!

The Avery update... she is crawling the traditional style now, on hands and knees and getting faster by the day! She has started to pull up on things, like the couch, and boxes on the floor, and her 6th tooth is officially in, even though it is a nub compared to the other front one. Hopefully it catches up soon! Tonight I looked at her and clapped my hands and she looked at me for a few seconds and then started clapping! She did it seriously all night, in the tub, while getting her diaper changed, as I was putting her in her crib for bed... so cute! I started really signing with her this week; I'm just starting with the signs, "more", "eat", and "milk", so we will see how it goes. We obviously won't see her sign for a few more months, but Paul and I are just trying to be so consistent. When she started clapping tonight I thought, "she can put her hands together... maybe in the next couple of months the sign for "more" will click! She is getting so big, and so fun! I can't believe that in 2 weeks she will be 8 months old!

Toys for Avery...

2009-03-23T17:37:00.000-07:00

So Avery has this pink car that she is too young to ride around on, but she really loves when we put her on it and push her around. It has buttons that play music and sounds, and today I noticed that she knows that if she pushes the buttons they make a sound. After pushing her around on her car about 50 times today, I put her on the floor to play with some different toys while I rested my arms. As she was crawling around I realized that she doesn't have any intellectually engaging toys, like cause and effect toys, stacking blocks, pushing buttons and having toys pop up, stacking rings... .NOTHING! So I'm just thought that I would put it out there to see what kinds of toys people think are the best, before I go buy some, and also, if you know anyone that is selling toys, I am interested!

The first day of spring!

2009-03-20T20:57:00.001-07:00

Today was so beautiful! It got up to about 65 degrees and we decided that it was just to nice to sit indoors, so we loaded up Avery in her stroller and enjoyed the sunshine on a nice long walk! We stopped for some ice cream and it was so fun to think about summer coming up and all of the fun outdoor things that we will be able to do.

On another note, my friend Ashely got married today and we told her a while ago that we would for sure be at her reception, which was tonight from 6-8. Our friends Randy and Julia also needed us to watch their cute little boy, Parker, tonight for about the same time frame. We asked them if we could take Parker with us to the reception, and so at 6:30 we headed to Sugar City, two babies in the back seat, looking for a good time. When we got there, Paul grabbed Parker and I took Avery and we headed inside, where we were first greeted by the guest book to sign. Paul and I looked at each other, looked at both kids, looked at the book, and decided against trying to sign it. It was a true glimpse of what life might be like with twins, and it wasn't pretty! Both kids were great, it was just the fact that we couldn't eat dessert, or like I said, sign the guestbook, or give a proper hug to Ashley in the reception line! It was eye opening, and props to all of those moms who do have twins and do it gracefully. When we got back to our apartment, Parker and Avery played with each other on the floor the rest of the time that he was at our house. It was mostly Parker playing and Avery following him around and trying to play with what he was playing with. It was really cute, and Avery was just so excited to have a friend her size. I decided that Julia and I need to have regular play dates because Avery and Parker are becoming fast friends. Well, I think that I am off to bed... Laurel and I have a big day tomorrow...tracking down illegal turtles at the flea market...

Avery and Parker "reading" a book together!

The juices are flowing...

2009-03-18T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Broulim's to grocery shop and of course we made our daily stop in the produce department... cute guy there... :)As I was making small talk with the produce gang I noticed a pile of sour apple jolly ranchers sitting on the table. These were not the small regular jolly ranchers, but the really long, wide ones. I opened one and was eating it and Avery kept grabbing it, so I gave her one of her own to crinkle the wrapper on. After about 5 minutes of sucking on the wrapper, drool just started pouring out of Avery's mouth. Ashley was holding her and so I was trying to wipe up her hands and went and took the wrapper out of Avery's mouth to wipe her down also. As soon as I took the jolly rancher, Avery started to freak out. We have never seen her act like that, but as soon as I turned the jolly rancher around, we realized why. Avery had scraped the wrapper away from the candy and had been pleasantly sucking away on the sour apple candy! Avery let us know that she really wanted the candy back, and as soon as we got her attention with an appropriate toy, we had a good laugh about it! Anyways, I think that the apple candy was the highlight of Avery's day, as her 6th tooth is starting to poke through and we noticed her bottom eye teeth under her gums. Who knew that I would birth a teething machine? Since we got home, Avery has been screaming on and off, but now, 4 hours later, she is finally sitting on the floor with Paul playing with some toys. Hope our night goes a little better than our day... Wish us luck!

Happy 7 months, Aves!

2009-03-14T19:37:00.001-07:00

Avery is 7 months today! I just don't know where the time went! She is getting so big and so fun. The other day I asked Paul if he remembers what she looked like as a new baby... He said that he did, I didn't want to admit that I don't! We had another fun week getting MORE teeth! Her 5th tooth is officially in, and I am proud to say that it is one of her top middle ones... so I'm afraid the vampire look will only last a week or two more until the other front one comes in. A girl that works with Paul told me that she got her vampire teeth first because I read the book "Twilight" while I was pregnant; I had a good laugh! Anyways, enjoy this cute picture of her... Paul's mom has always said that she has sparkling eyes. We kind of laugh about it until we see pictures like this! ( I had to brag for a minute because I think she is so cute:) Enjoy!

Don't buy turtles from the flea market! (Sorry this is so long!)

2009-03-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun weekend! Brooke drove up to visit us Thursday night, and she left after the first hour of church today! I love how close we live; I mean, I would rather live in the same town, but a two hour drive is nothing to be with each other. On Friday I had class and then Brooke and I went shopping and got lots of movies to choose from for the rest of the weekend. While we were out on Friday, we saw a big sign advertising a flea market at the Hinkley building on Saturday from 10- 2. We decided to check it out. On Saturday morning, we got up, got ready, and then at about 10:30 headed to the flea market. We weren't sure what to expect, and didn't think that it would be anything cool. As we came around by the temple, we looked at the parking lot and it was packed full! We parked, put Avery in the Baby Bjorn and head inside. To our wonder and amazement, we were greeted with raffle tickets, free chips and salsa and a plethora of booths containing food, furniture, clothes, and even turtles! We walked around for a while and realized that we really wanted to buy some things, but had no money. We loaded up Avery and headed to Broulim's so that I could snag some cash from Paul and she could get some money off of her ATM card. We then drove back to the flea market, and made our purchases. I bought some things for Avery and all of the sudden Brooke was standing next to me with a tiny turtle in a cup! She asked the sellers how to take care of it, and then we were off to Wal-mart to get a tank, food, rocks etc. To make a long story short... basically it was brought to Brooke's attention that this turtle needed a huge tank to swim in, a heat lamp, a UV lamp, special food,special floating rocks... everything requiring a lot of money. The sellers were very vague and did not tell us anything when asked. After owning little Rexy for a measly 4 hours, Brooke collapsed on her air mattress, stressed out about this little turtle that had cold water, and no heat lamp. I felt so bad, so I got on the phone to Petco and started asking questions... like would they take this turtle for us? The gentlemen that I was talking to asked how big he was, and I told him "really little; maybe a inch and a half across his shell". I was then informed that this little guy was ILLEGAL because turtles that small carry salmonella! He then gave me the number to a reptile guy, and again to make this long story short, we ended up driving the turtle to Idaho Falls to a reptile rescue that this guy runs. SO...Brooke was devastated, I slept good knowing Rex (the turtle) would make it through the night (after bleaching everything that touched the turtle!), and the guys that sold him to her are going to be busted thanks to my sly detective work. What a weekend! So if you ever want to buy a turtle... make sure it's not illegal, and that you have all of the equipment! Anyways, other than the turtle fiasco, we had fun hanging out, playing with Aves, and watching weird movies! Love you Brooke!

Little Rexy... named after our wonderful town!Right before we drove him to his new home... And below, I posted some new pictures of Avery... just because I usually write all about her!
When we weren't looking, Avery crawled over to our dirty shoes... when we caught her in the act, we got some of the cutest photos of her! Avery in her new booster seat!

Addicted to Avery

2009-02-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I should probably change the name of my blog to "Addicted to Avery"( I am going to change the name for a few days... see how I like it :) or something, since I never have anything interesting to write unless it is about Avery. Her newest development is a one-armed army crawl. She has been doing it since last Sunday morning. She was playing on the floor in our bedroom, and she spied Paul's belt buckle on the floor a few feet away and all of the sudden she was on top of it, sucking on the metal! We have had to change how we do lots of things now that she knows that she can move, and it has been eye opening to see what she can actually get into. Another new thing this week is that when she is done napping or wakes up in the morning, we always see her little face looking over her bumper at us just waiting. It is really cute. Sometimes I put her in her crib to roll around while I put her laundry away or clean up her room. She loves looking at me and laughs when I get close. I finally ordered Avery a booster seat to eat in and it arrived this week also! I love it and I think she does too. She has just been hanging out it in at our table... it has the perfect tray to play with toys on. On the not so fun side of things... Avery is really sick! Paul got her into the doctor on Friday morning when I was in class and she has a right ear infection, an upper respiratory virus and the doctor said that he thinks that she has RSV! He didn't officially test her for it because he said that the antibiotic that he was prescribing her is the same one that he would prescribe for RSV. I think that she is really sick of us giving her medicine, and wiping and suctioning her nose. Poor girl, she can hardly breath at night. Hopefully in the next few days, we will see an improvement with her antibiotics and all start getting some sleep! Well that is this weeks update... Paul's bday is this coming Monday and I'm excited to celebrate it! Other than that, I think that it will be another uneventful week.

Cute girl... This picture shows off her slick head... we rub it for luck some days!

Happy Birthday Mimzy!

2009-02-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you, and can't wait until you guys visit in a few months! Avery really wanted to eat your sign... so this is what we were left with... Enjoy Grandma! ( Avery isn't really smiling because these were taken right before bed in her pajamas... oh and look for your present next week, hopefully on Monday or Tuesday :)

Happy 6th Months Aves!

2009-02-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

I don't have much to write but I will say that we had a great Valentine's Day! I didn't anticipate it being so much fun with little Aves, but we had a blast. I love holidays; I don't think anything could have affected my good mood today! Avery turned 6 months old also today! She is getting two more teeth; I just can't believe that we can say that she had 4 teeth by 6 months. (OK, she really only has 3, but we can see the bottom of the other one, which makes 4) She is sitting up great and she gets all ready to crawl and then plops back on her stomach. I don't think that it will be long before she is really on the move.

Paul got Avery a balloon for Valentine's and it was the biggest hit! She loves hitting it and having it come back and hit her in the face...instant laughs from all of us!

Avery is on the move!

2009-02-01T17:37:00.001-08:00

Since I always write an Avery update, I will start by saying that Avery is all over the place! She is into everything that she can get her hands on, and is getting really good at rolling to get herself where she wants! When we got home from church today, we put her on the floor to get dinner ready and she honestly rolled the length of our living room like 4 times. We kept having to get her off of the linoleum, but it was only a matter of minutes before she was back on it again. Most of the time I dump her basket of toys right by her when we put her on the floor, but if there is nothing exciting by her, she will find her way to something. I remember when she was really young, and I would try and get ready for the day. It would take me a couple of naps and really fast showering to get all of the way ready. We could only lay her on the ground for about 10 minutes, and she could not entertain herself at all. Now, I just sit on the floor next to her and give her something to play with and I can get ready in one sitting. The other day I was doing my makeup on the floor and she was playing next to me. I made sure that she had a toy and then walked around the bed and got dressed. When I walked back over to her, she had gotten into all of my makeup! When I saw her I said, "Avery, what are you doing?" She just looked at me and gave me a big smile as to say, "Thanks mom for leaving me all of this cool stuff to play with!"I am not ready to think about baby proofing our house! I mean, before we know it, she will be crawling and then walking! I can't believe how fast time has gone since she was born! She is also sitting up really well on her own, for about 10 seconds, and then she spies something interesting and dives to either side to get it. We have to hold toys right in front of her face to get her to sit still and not be distracted by anything else. The two pictures below are of her sitting on our couch. She really wanted the camera, so she kept leaning forward, and Paul had to watch her to make sure that she didn't face plant right off the couch.

Anyways, not a whole lot has happened to Paul and I this last week. Our lives are pretty uneventful, except for Avery. Paul is doing his family's healthy habit challenge and has lost a lot of weight, and is working out faithfully every day! We both got new running shoes the other night, so starting tomorrow I am going to work out also. I told Laurel that she has to motivate me to go, because I really hate running, but hopefully I can get into shape and tone up my post baby bod! Wish me luck :)

Blogography

2009-01-22T15:08:00.001-08:00

It's official.... all of my student teaching stuff is in, and now I'm just waiting to hear where I will be teaching this fall. Hopefully it is close, since "local" refers to what we consider local and then all the way to Driggs! I'm sitting here on our old couch waiting for our new couch to arrive! We are so excited and hope that it is comfy and looks good since we got put on the spot and had to buy it online, going on just the description and the customer reviews! Avery is taking her 4th nap of the day, and I just wanted to post a quick picture of her! This is her hat from her great grandma, and we just think that she looks adorable in it! I took her to Broulim's in it yesterday and it was the biggest hit! If the picture looks like a weird size, it is because I cropped myself out of it... I always get a double chin when I look down at the camera. Anyways, I just got off the phone with my mom and she said that her friend's husband calls what we do "blogography" because it is so addicting like pornography. I tried to play it off and say that I'm not addicted, but the truth is that I am! So I need to get some new hobbies so that I don't become a full blown blogographer! jk... I will post pictures of our new couch in the next couple of days!

A real date!

2009-01-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

Last night Paul and I went to the Temple with Tim and Laurel! We hadn't been since right before Avery was born so it was about time! We left Avery with my friend Janelle from work, and she actually did really good. I was worried because Laurel is pretty much my go to babysitter, so Avery knows her, but she needs to get used to Janelle because she is going to be watching her twice a week when my second block class starts at the end of February. Hopefully it will go well. I'm so lucky to have good family members and friends willing to help Paul and I out while I finish school! We are going to have to rely on them a lot the next two semesters; hopefully they don't get too sick of us! I haven't uploaded any new pictures of Avery so I posted this one of her in North Dakota. You can see her beautiful eyes, and bald head sooooo well! I always write an Avery update, but nothing new has happened since the last time I wrote. One thing that is different; we always put Avery to sleep and then put her in her bed. Sometimes she wakes up a few times and we spend hours putting her to sleep, laying her down, and so on. This week we decided to have her learn how to put herself to sleep. We also decided that we need to do it for all of her naps not just at night. The first two days were tough, she cried for a while before going to sleep. I went in every 5 minutes and reassured her, and now it has been a week and the longest that she cries is 2 or 3 minutes and then goes right to sleep! We are so proud of her! It is so nice to see her getting tired, lay her in her crib, tell her we love her, and 5 minutes later she is asleep. It has really helped her sleep better at night also. Babies wake up periodically and before when she couldn't put herself to sleep, she would cry and cry and then I would get her and put her in bed with me, which is a habit I do not want to get into. I feel kind of bad for our neighbors because at 2 in the morning she has to put herself back to sleep! Sometimes I almost go in and then she goes back to sleep! So that is the big news of the week! She is getting so curious and cuter by the day. We are so blessed to have her in our lives!

To pierce or not to pierce...

2009-01-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

To pierce... a lot has happened since my last post. We had a fun Christmas in Utah, and then quite the adventure getting to and from North Dakota as stand by flyers! It was so fun to spend a week with my family, and for them to get to know little Avery. On the day before we left, my mom and I took Avery and got her ears pierced! She cried, of course, but after her nap that day, she was her smiley self again, and they look really cute. I might not have done it if she had some hair... she looks really girly and cute now! School started this last Wednesday and we are trying to get into a routine. Paul is off track so he is watching Avery a lot and it's amazing how I have failed to let him know every thing, like where her onsies are etc. We will get the hang of it! It seems like Avery has changed so much in the last two weeks. Her bottom two teeth are in, and she is biting everything! She is now rolling from her back to her stomach and then to her back. In North Dakota she would roll all over the living room floor, and has continued it on my living room floor! I'm not ready for her to be able to move yet! Today she rolled into the base of our entertainment center. She wasn't hurt, but it really startled her, since her rolling from her stomach consists of leaning a little and then her big head carries her all the way over, which ends up happening really fast. She has eaten green beans and applesauce, but we still get the best reactions over rice cereal. Her new favorite game is when we lay her on her back and wave a pillow case over her face. She turns 5 months this next Wednesday, and I just cannot believe how fast time has gone! I love her so much! I posted a lot of pictures from our trips! Enjoy!Christmas at Grandma Seiters!
Here is Paul, Taylor, my dad, and Marshall in front of the predator! My dad has a really cool job! Marshall made Avery laugh all the time! It was so fun!Paul and I went to a UND hockey game! It was so fun to go on a date and the Fighting Souix won!

Avery in her Christmas dress! I wanted a picture in front of the Christmas tree, but she cannot quite sit by herself yet!

This is Avery right before getting her ears pierced! Her new favorite toy is this scary looking joker pez man dispenser that she stole from Taylor!Right after!

A few hours after! Her ear lobes looked purple for a couple of days because we couldn't get the purple marker that they used to mark her ears with off!Just for fun; this is a picture of me the day that I got my ears pierced when I was 5 1/2 months old!

Rice Cereal and Teeth!

2008-12-23T23:02:00.001-08:00

It is really late; I'm up cleaning and packing so that we can head to Utah tomorrow and then to North Dakota on Sunday. I should be sleeping but I can only blame myself; I just hate coming home to a messy house after vacation... so I clean. Anyways, at Avery's 4 month well-baby check up, the doctor asked if she was eating rice cereal, and I told him no. I have been nervous about starting her on it, and getting a schedule down. I'm just a new mom and I don't know when to give her "solids" and what the suggested time frame is. All I know is that they recommend waiting until at least 4 months to start solids. Anyways, I told him some of my concerns and how I was unsure if she is ready, and he checked her all out and showed us how she is holding her head up so well and some other things, and then he said that she is developmentally ready, and that we should give it a try. So we went to Broulim's and bought Avery's first box of rice cereal. Too bad that she can't just live on that forever; I think it set us back a whole $1.50 for a big box! Laurel said to mix it with breast milk and so I did that the first time and I followed the box's suggestion to mix 1 TBL of cereal with 5 TBLs of milk and it was sooooo runny. It wouldn't stay on the spoon and if Avery moved even a little, it ran all over the place. She didn't really seem interested, so after a few tries I gave up. The next night, I didn't have time to pump ( I am trying to give it to her the same time every day), so I just mixed it with water, which isn't as good for her, and made it a little thicker and she loved it! She was lunging for the spoon and ate a whole bowl of it! Maybe she didn't like the mix of flavors with the breast milk, but we have had success ever since. She is just eating it once a day at dinner time, and I thought that we would do this for while and then move onto more daring foods! I don't know if you can see the cereal all over her face! She is so cute when she eats it, and so weird; after every bite, she has to suck her thumb. I think it is just her way of getting used to the new flavor and texture. It is cute to watch, but it makes for slow eating!
On another note, for the past couple of weeks Avery has been crying and pulling at her ears, mostly her left one. At her appointment, I had the doc look at them and he said that they looked great, no ear infections. I know that sometimes babies pull at their ears when they are teething, but she is only 4 1/2 months so we dismissed that idea until yesterday! Avery woke up grumpy and one time when she was screaming, I got a looksy at her bottom gums and there on the bottom left was a little tooth trying to make an appearance! She is young to be getting a tooth, but this morning, it was poking through a little on one side! So we don't have a tooth yet, but I think that she might get one for Christmas! Poor Avery!

Sleep deprived!

2008-12-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

Avery has had a runny nose since we got back from Thanksgiving and it has been complicating her sleeping at night, which in turn messes with my schedule! She has been waking up every couple of hours and if we suction her out, she goes back to sleep, but not last night, or I guess, this morning! Paul has been working at 6, so if she wakes up around 5ish I usually put her in bed with me because that is when Paul gets up. This morning though, she woke up and stayed awake at 5! She was just talking and smiling and there I was so disappointed because Paul was leaving and I had to get up with her! Luckily she was only up for an hour and then we went back to sleep, but I will say that even though I was so tired, I got the whole kitchen cleaned and it was a very productive early morning hour!

We got our plane tickets in the mail today to go to North Dakota, which we are very excited about! It will be fun for my family to see Avery and for them to get to spend some time with her! It is really cold here now, and I just feel horrible going out with Avery and all she has on is socks, so the other day I purchased some really cute suede boots for her! They are a little big, which is good because I want her to be able to wear them for most of the cold season here! But anyways, since making that first shoe purchase, my eyes have been opened to the wonderful world of little shoes and how cute Avery would look in them! I have since scoped out shoes and boots for next winter and am in the process of convincing Paul that Avery "needs" them! I just want her to be the cutest little girl ever, and I think that I would go broke if Paul wasn't the reasonable one and stepped in! Anyways, Avery and Paul are taking a nap together, and since I was up cleaning at 5 this morning, I should join them, but instead I'm going to start my student teaching application and resume papers! Wish me luck! I posted some pictures of Avery from this last week! What a cutie!

Christmas Card!

2008-12-10T13:23:00.001-08:00

This was our way of doing a cheap Christmas card! Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox greeting

It's Christmas Time!

2008-12-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I put away all of my fall decorations and got out my Christmas ones! It was really fun to put up our small tree and decorate my shelves! My tree is small so I put it on our end table in our living room and I wanted some presents for under it. I decided to wrap up a few of Avery's gifts. I must have put some of my ribbon a little closer to her than I thought because when I walked back into the living room I found her playing with it! She honestly played with the ribbon for 30 minutes! I didn't think that I would be able to get much done with her but she was quite entertained!

We had a great Thanksgiving week down in Heber. It was fun to be with the whole family and get out of town for a few days! On our way home we stopped by Logan and saw my Grandparents. They had called and wanted us to come visit and to pick up Avery's Christmas gift, which ended up being a little rocking chair that my Grandpa made for her! It is beautiful and Avery loved sitting in it already!

Avery in Handcuffs!

2008-11-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

We have this Fisher Price thing that you can hang links and toys from and Avery loves to lay under it and pull on and play with the toys. The sides are open, and there are also links that hang down for her to pull on. The other night Paul came home from work and I had just fed Avery, so I put her on the ground to play while we ate dinner. Like I said, I had just fed her and changed her and when she started to whine, we ignored it thinking that she would be fine for a few more minutes. Usually if she doesn't get the attention that she wants, she quiets down, but her whining just got louder and louder and we just kept ignoring her. Finally, when she was about to the crying stage, I decided to go get her and I found her handcuffed! Her wrist had slipped through one of the links on the side and she was just pulling so hard at it! I felt so bad, but grabbed the camera to take a picture. Of course, because I was paying attention, she smiled for the pictures and doesn't look as upset as she sounded! I also posted three other cute pictures from this last week! Avery is getting so big and soooo fun! It is amazing how just a few weeks ago she was just looking at her toys and now she is grabbing at them and putting everything in her mouth! And as you can see in the last picture, even though she loves putting toys and other things in her mouth, her favorite thing is still her thumb. I guess holding toys and sucking your thumb is the best it can get!

Avery in her Bumbo seat!

2008-11-18T18:50:00.001-08:00

Avery seems like a new baby since reaching the 3 month mark! She is so vocal and holds her head up really well. Tonight I was getting her some pajamas and I noticed the Bumbo seat sitting in my closet! I decided to try it out and see what Avery thought and ... she loved it! She wouldn't stop smiling! She sat in it for a while and then she kept arching her back to get out! I think that once she starts eating solids and knows that she has to sit in her seat to eat, she will like it better. She is doing so well on a schedule, and it makes my life easier too!