Happenings

This blog is for journaling purposes, but if someone laughs along the way, so be it.

Rob is at a work conference, so I'm acting as a single mom (which, by the way, I'm not that good at).

I do not mean to imply that Avery is normally this bratty sassy, because she's normally very sweet, but she has been having quite a few "toddler moments" lately.

I enrolled Avery in the summer reading program at the library, and she has been asking to go back to the "libary" and get more books.  Awwwwwwwwwwwww. 


You do not realize how loud a 2 year-old's cry is until you're in a library.  The reason for the crying was never established.  After the crying ceased, I set about trying to quickly pick out a few books to check out.  Avery normally loves going to the library and looking at books, but there was a bee in her bonnet yesterday.  I think it had something to do with being overly tired from not going to bed (AHEM getting out of bed repeatedly) on time the night before.

Me:  Oooooh, how about this one, Avery?  It has Piglet in it.


Avery: NO.


Me: OK.  Oh, look, how about this one?  Olivia Learns to Surf.


Avery: NO

Rinse and repeat.  I gathered five books I thought she would like, and we checked them out.

Next, I had to stop at Target for a prescription.  Normally I don't take Avery to the store.  She doesn't act right, and her behavior is not conducive to me aimlessly wandering the isles for an hour, so I leave her home (same goes for her dad).  As soon as we pull up, (and this is where I really start to question our relation) she takes a look at the front of the store and says "no."

Me: Yes, Avery, we're going in the store.  Act like a big girl, and you can play with my phone.  


Avery: No.


See a theme here?

Once we get inside, she tried to battle me about riding in the cart ("I WALK").  I won. Shortest.trip.to.Target.ever.

The battle continued at home.

Me: Avery, eat your chicken.


Avery (looking me dead in the eyes): Walk away.


Me: Excuse me?


Avery (slower): Walk. Away.

Bedtime went off without too much of a problem and she only got out of bed/out of her room one time.

This morning started off as an epic fail because I overslept by about 30 minutes.  Trying to rush a toddler is like trying to herd a cat.  It took her about 5 minutes just to put her shoes on.  And Wednesday is water play day at daycare, so I had to apply sunscreen which takes a little bit of extra time as well.  I took her to the garage to spray her down with sunscreen and she took off running into the street.  If you've ever tried to run in a pencil skirt and heels you can imagine that she beat me.  Fortunately there was no vehicular activity at that time.  I may or may not have arrived at daycare sweating and with dusty footprints on my skirt.

Despite the fact that I was running 30 minutes late, I took time to snap this picture to send to Rob so he could have a picture of his little angel.  And I'm glad I did.

Big Girl Bed & Family Visit

Last Friday night, Avery didn't want to go to sleep.  Most nights she goes down without a problem but one or twice a week she puts up a fight.  About ten minutes after we'd put her down she was still crying so I went in to check on her and she had one leg slung over the crib rail.

Great.

I got her to lay down and went out and told Rob that it was time to convert the crib to a "big girl bed." Honestly, we had been dreading this because she sleeps so well in her crib, and, well, if it ain't broke...

Saturday we put her down for a nap and about an hour later (a short nap...) we heard a thud and then crying. 

Well...it's broke.  

So Rob got out the screwdriver, took the front rail off the crib, and voila: Big Girl Bed.  Which she loved.  If I recall she even went to bed pretty easy that night.  

My mom had returned from her vacation in Florida, so Sunday we went to have lunch.  She bought a few things for Avery, which of course, she had to wear on the way home. 

Later that afternoon we went to see some of Rob's family that were visiting from Kentucky. 

The little ones are Rob's 3rd cousins.  We couldn't figure out what that made them to Avery (4th? 5th?).  Either way, they loved Avery and carried her around like a baby doll for hours.  They wanted to feed her, carry her, fix her hair, etc.  Too cute.

Despite the look on her face she was really quite content.

 

Dada's Day

For some reason, Avery still calls Rob "dada" even though she can say "dad" or "daddy" just fine.  Sometimes she does call him "daddy" though.

But I digress.

We started the day with Rob's breakfast of choice (a bagel from Panera Bread) then we went to the pool.

We gave Dada his presents and new pictures for his desk.

Later that afternoon we went to Claremore for dinner with the family.

Pepaw & Dada-2 of the best dads around

 
Avery taught Gigi her "crazy walk."  The crazy walk cannot be explained, it must simply be witnessed.

I ran across a tutorial online for these lawnmower cakes and knew I wanted to make them for Rob since just about every other evening I hear "I gotta mow tonight."  I can't figure out if he's in competition with the guy three houses down (who has a lawn business) or if he's trying to avoid doing any chores inside.  Either way.  I was making the cupcakes.

They turned out pretty cute overall and were easy to throw together.

Parts:
-Chocolate cupcakes and chocolate icing.  I used a mix.  What?  I'm busy!
-Coconut colored with green food coloring for the grass
-Hershey Nugget for the lawnmower
-M&M wheels and motor
-Licorice handle

The handles were supposed to be black licorice but I couldn't find skinny black licorice so I bought the Twizzler pull n peel kind and they were way too thin to stand up.    I tried freezing them but that only worked for a minute as they quickly thawed.  Also, the wheels were technically supposed to be brown BUT one package of M&Ms only had about 4 brown ones, so...use what you have.

I think Rob had a good day.  We did not do anything special or exciting.  He just relaxed, which is what he said he wanted.  AND he didn't change one diaper.  Probably the best gift of all.

Speaking of diapers.  Yesterday Avery's sheet from daycare indicated that she had used the potty (successfully) one time.  Before her bath last night she also successfully used the potty which resulted in Rob and I acting like complete fools and Avery earning a sticker and an M&M (thankfully, I had some leftover from above project)!  When I got her up this morning her diaper was dry so I asked her to use the potty and (!) she did.  We know that potty training is usually a marathon and not a race, but his is pretty exciting stuff!  She really seems to be initiating it and probably more so now that she knows she'll get an M&M!

Party Girl

Avery was lucky enough to get invited to two birthday parties the last two weekends.  The first was Jonas's 3rd birthday pool party.  And it was a beautiful day for a pool party!   My cousin Summer always makes neat cakes, and this year for Jonas it was a monster cake.  Very cute.


Avery had a great time playing in and around the pool (and enjoying cake and ice cream of course).

This past Saturday we attended Zoe's Olivia-themed 2nd birthday.  That morning I told Avery we were going to another birthday party and that she was a party girl.  Her response?

No, I a BIG girl.  


Alrighty then.

Most of the kids at the party were my co-worker's kids.

From L: Elyse, Bryce, Avery, & Zoe

Funny story: they handed out birthday hats at the party and Rob tried to convince Avery to wear her hat by telling her "look, Avery, all the other kids doing it."

Parental fail. 

Clearly the peer pressure worked.

Egg Muffins & Banana Oat Bread

Amazing food photography courtesy of yours truly

I had some farm fresh eggs that needed to be used so last night I made breakfast egg muffins and banana oat bread.  The egg muffins are an adaptation of a million different South Beach breakfast recipes out there.  I just used what I had on hand.  Lots of other things would be good in these, including bell pepper, broccoli, asparagus, ham, turkey sausage, or bacon.  The possibilities are endless and can be adapted to your own dietary needs.

I used

8 eggs (5 whites, 3 whole)
2% sharp cheddar shredded cheese
zucchini
squash
onion
salt/pepper

I diced the veggies finely and spread them amongst the greased muffin tins (my ingredients made 6 muffins).  I then sprinkled about a tablespoon of cheese in each cup and poured the beaten eggs on top and baked at 375 for about 20 minutes or until the eggs were set.

I consider 2 muffins a serving.  They're convenient for me since I don't have time to make breakfast in the morning and I can throw them in my lunch and heat them up for a few seconds when I get to work.

The only problem I have with these is that they stick to the pan in a bad way.  I tried cupcake liners and those definitely didn't work because the egg stuck to the paper and didn't peel away properly.  I have tried ample cooking spray and that doesn't work too well either.  Seems like a silicone pan would work well but I don't have one.  I saw a recipe that recommended putting the veggies in first, then the cheese, then pouring the eggs on top instead of mixing it all together and then pouring into the tins.  I thought that might be a trick to avoid sticking so that's why I tried them that way but I didn't notice any difference from mixing everything in with the eggs first, which is how I've done it in the past.


I also had a couple of overripe bananas that needed to be used.  I've collected several banana bread recipes over the years but I wanted one that a) had oats and b) didn't call for milk or applesauce (because I didn't have any).  A Google search brought me to this recipe, which I followed pretty much exactly except I used 2 bananas instead of 3 and I did muffins instead of a loaf.  They are not bad.  Pretty dense but not bad for a healthy muffin!

2 Years & 1 Month

Today.

Avery is doing new and funny things right now and I need to get them on (e)paper before I forget.

-Every statement or question ends with "OK?"

-She sings "Ring Around the Rosy." This is big.  She has never sang before.  It must be genetic.

-She loves to point out colors and count to ten (sometimes a number or two is skipped).

-Tells us daily: "I not a baby, I a BIG girl!"

-All about Daddy.  When asked if she loves me she says, "No, I wuv Dada."  He's also the only one that freely gets to have a turn ("Dada's turn!") at brushing her teeth or helping her with anything.

-She is testing her independence.  Lots of "NO" and "Avery do it" and the new, expanded version: "Avery do it BY HERSELF."

-She moved up to the 2 year old room at daycare.

She is so funny and has us laughing every day.

2 Years & 1 Month

Today.

Avery is doing new and funny things right now and I need to get them on (e)paper before I forget.

-Every statement or question ends with "OK?"

-She sings "Ring Around the Rosy." This is big.  She has never sang before.  It must be genetic.

-She loves to point out colors and count to ten (sometimes a number or two is skipped).

-Tells us daily: "I not a baby, I a BIG girl!"

-All about Daddy.  When asked if she loves me she says, "No, I wuv Dada."  He's also the only one that freely gets to have a turn ("Dada's turn!") at brushing her teeth or helping her with anything.

-She is testing her independence.  Lots of "NO" and "Avery do it" and the new, expanded version: "Avery do it BY HERSELF."

-She moved up to the 2 year old room at daycare.

She is so funny and has us laughing every day.

Water Fun

Summer is by far our favorite time of year and we try to make the most of it.  We were invited to join some friends at their parent's lake house last weekend, so we took Friday off and headed down on Thursday night after work.  We got there a little late (please note that Rob will never be in charge of directions again).  Saturday morning Avery woke up at six (SIX) a.m. so we were pretty tired all day.  Can you tell that we're extremely spoiled by a child who wakes up at 8:30 or 9 on the weekend?

Once everybody got up and around we went to the garden and the girls picked blackberries and blueberries.  Avery was thoroughly impressed with that, as was I.  My attempt at gardening is an annual pot of peppers or herbs that I inevitably kill.

We took the boat to a beach and the girls played in the "sandbox" (Avery's words) and the water.

Having a snack

View from the back deck

We came back Saturday morning and I took Avery to hang out with my mom at my aunt's pool.  Avery was loving the water, jumping off the side of the pool and kicking her legs while "swimming."

Sunday was HOT.  Our neighborhood pool is temporarily closed due to vandalism so we decided to make the most of it in own our backyard.  We bought a $10 pool from Aldi, set up the sprinklers, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Another fun weekend.

Memorial Day

Saturday morning we headed to the lake to see Gigi and Pepaw.  Avery had been to the lake once last summer but we just stayed for the day, so this was her first overnight visit.  We were hoping she wouldn't be too much of a terrorist on the dock and would at least sleep well on the boat at night.

In short, she was an ANGEL.  It was pretty easy to keep up with her on the dock with 4 sets of eyes watching her.  She had so much fun.

Feeding the fish

Going for a boat ride

Napping during the boat ride

Fun with water guns

I was hoping she wouldn't annoy everyone with the water guns I brought for her.  Nope.  She pretty much only shot herself.  In the face.

Lauren & Shannon were in town for the weekend, so after getting home Sunday we went to a cookout at the Bentley's place.  

They have a huge yard with a creek, a waterfall, and neighbors with horses so Avery was entertained.

Monday we just hung around the house.  Drew's knee was feeling better post-surgery so the Bradshaws came over and we cooked out.  Great end to a long weekend!

Pool Party

I have a little bit of catching up to do.  The weekend before Memorial Day we went to a birthday party in Edmond with some friends.  It was the 60th birthday of our friend Dale's father.  Who also happened to be Rob's boss for several years.  It was great to see everyone and get all the little ones together.

From L: Rob & A, Steve & Cailyn, Dale & Harper, Lemuel & Jordyn

Avery & Harper

Giving Harper a push

Hugs

Here are the little peanuts last year.

There is now a new addition to the group.  Heath and Jamie had twin boys who are about three months old now.  The first boys of the clan.

Jamie & Rearden

Heath & Declan

It was a busy but beautiful day with friends!