Update.

Well a lot has happened since my last post. I FINALLY got a job Its with NorthStar Financial & Insurance I am the new Executive Assistant to David Patrick there. Right after I found out that I was getting the job we also had the Wardells coming down for the weekend. So Friday I was going to get the house clean and ready and then have a mommy/daughter date with Avery. I had this fun day planned out with taking Avery to the splash pad with the river and they have this carousel there that I thought we could ride a few times and maybe even go to the Children's Museum. Lots of super fun activities that I was excited for. But as I was having my breakfast planning my day out. Avery came up to me and told me she had cereal up her nose. I looked and sure enough there was a Lucky Charm stuck in her nose. It was to far back for me to get out so we had to do the inevitable and go to the insta care. I called James to let him know and then Avery and I went and filled out the papers and waited to be called back. It took a LONG time I am not even joking I think we were sitting there for about 30 min. They finally called us back and at first Avery was just fine. She knew the routine of hopping up on the scale to get her weight and then her height and the we got into the room to wait for the doc and she started pulling out books to read. After the doc came in though she was NOT happy. The doctor and nurse came in and he showed me this nifty little tool. It was this long hose looking thing that he needed to stick down Avery's nose and then he would push the top and a bubble would inflate and the bottom of this hose and then he could drag out the piece of cereal. The only problem was that he couldn't get to the piece of cereal no matter how hard he tried and then as accidents happen it got to be out of his reach and the only option after that was take her to the ER. SO once again we loaded up into the car and I called James to give him an update as we headed down to the ER. When we got there there was hardly anyone there (thank goodness) they took us back and did Avery's weight and height again, which she was a little more reluctant to do. They took her blood pressure which Avery Hated. The nurse was so good with her though even though it had to have been frustrating, Finally after the 3rd or 4th attempt they got her blood pressure results. They gave Avery and little "bracelet" and sent us to the waiting room. Again another long wait but this one was about 45 min to an hour before they finally called us back, and then another 15 min wait in the room. The doctor came in and showed me the same tool only a lot longer than the doctor at the insta care. Avery was trying to hide from her. She tried to get it out but the bubble in the little tool popped. Something she said had never happened before. She was concerned that there may be more than just cereal so she sent in the X-ray crew. By this time anytime someone walked into the room Avery would get so scared and start to cry. The guy helping with the x-ray was so nice and good with Avery. He said he had a little girl about her age. He kept telling Avery that he just wanted her picture and asked if she could say cheese. He really helped her to calm down and Avery was enjoyed being able to see her nose bones. After awhile the doc came back in and said they couldn't see anything but that didn't always mean anything. So we tried again and a few more methods, Avery's poor nose was so swollen. After awhile the doctor said that it must have dissolved or that Avery could have sucked it down her throat. We had to wait another long time to do paper work. Poor Avery was curled up in my arms just whimpering and crying. When the lady came in to have me sign some stuff so we could go poor Avery looked up all sad and scared and started to sob again, she was so tired that she couldn't even give her all out cry anymore. We didn't even get a mile down the street before she was out cold. When we got home I thought she would wake up when I tried to move her into the house. She did for a little bit to ask for her piggie (her favorite stuffed to) before she fell back asleep. She slept for a good 3 hours. We got to the insta care at 10AM and we got home from the whole ordeal around 3PM. It was EXHAUSTING. But I still got quite a bit of the house cleaned before James brought the Wardell kids back to the house. They were down for Gavin's clogging competition and were running a little late, so Nikki headed straight there and James met her there to pick up the kids who didn't want to stay and bring them back to our house. We had a great weekend with them. Avery loved having them down to play, especially the twins. Gavin did a great job and his team got first place in their division. We played at the park, James took all the kids to laser tag while Nikki and I took the younger kids out for ice cream. It was a good chance to talk and catch up with her.Over all (besides the ER trip) it was a really great weekend. and I am ready to start at my new job, albeit I am pretty nervous. :)

These are just some fun pictures. The one above shows Avery playing with her piggie.

She has been learning how to hit and seems to really enjoy it.

 showing off her "bracelet" in the waiting room

 Waiting for the doctor.

After the doctor left. Cal you see her poor little swollen nose?

 Hospital visits are the pits. Sadly we didn't take any pictures with the Wardell's. We were just having to much fun that we forgot.

World War 3

I have a very strong willed, fiercely independent almost 3 year old with TONS of sass. Some days/weeks are really nice and go very well. Some weeks though (like this one so far) it seems like we are always butting heads and its usually over the stupidest things. My sweet little lovey girl turns into this mean defiant little minion. Being a parent is the hardest thing I have ever had to do so far...and I only have 1. She doesn't really like to be alone or play by herself, maybe that's a first child thing. But when I have just had enough and ask her to go play with her toys in her room for awhile she throws a huge fit. She pushes my patience to the breaking point and just when I think I am about to lose it, she does something very kind and I think ok well maybe this battle is over and then she comes back full force and pushes my patience right over the edge and down a 1000 ft drop. Now I would consider myself a very patient person, but for some reason my little one knows where all my buttons are and pushes them all at the same time. She even starts having me question my ability as a mom and if I am this crappy at being a mom with only 1 then how is it going to be IF we have more. Yup if. That's how bad it is, My number has been going down and down on how many kids I want to the point where not only am I thinking about not having anymore, but I am also questioning whether or not I should have even been a mom in the first place. People tell me that this is just a phase and it'll pass, the toddler years are the worst but once they get past that they are a lot of fun. Ok well there's that, but then there's the pressure of what the "proper" thing to do at this age. I hear all these things about how this is the age to mold your child and you have to be firm, show discipline, but no time outs, or spankings. But show them who is boss but don't raise your voice at all, etc. So there's the added pressure, if I raise my voice or do a time out it can cause life altering damage and knock my daughter down from being a doctor to being a burger flipper at McDonalds the rest of her life. Ok so maybe that's exaggerating just a touch. But that's what I feel like a lot of the time. Its hard not to think of all these things. I try not to compare myself with other mothers, but again I think this is something that women do. Comparing is something that we are told constantly not to do but for some reason still do it. Its easy to say don't compare yourself to others, but its a lot harder to actually put it into practice. I think I have been feeling the pressure of this as well. So I guess the lesson that I really need to learn is to just focus on my little girl and my style of parenting, and enjoy/get through her toddler years. ;) 

Weekend With Family

For the past few weeks we have been talking to James' family about a spring break visit. We were planning on the Wardell family and Mom and Dad A. So roughly about 9 people. Well this past week we got a call from Mom A. 

Apparently all the hotels are booked up for spring break and they couldn't find a place to stay, so they asked if it would be ok to come down this weekend with the twins, that way so many people would have to come down for spring break. They got a late start on Friday and also had a delay due to traffic. Avery tried so hard to stay awake so that she could see them, but sleep eventually got her. :p Which was nice for us though; it made it a lot easier to move her to our bed. They were finally able to get here a little after 11PM and they all zonked out. The next morning Avery woke up and and got excited, she looked at me and said "Mommy it's morning, that means Parker and Andrew are here."  She loves her cousins and has so much fun with them. :) James had to work for a while on Saturday because of a subpoena that is taking place within his department. So while he was at work we took a drive to look at houses for Mom and Dad, then we took the kids to Firehouse park. The boys loved that it was a fireman's park. :p 

 After the park we met James at home for a break and snack. Because it was Lisa's birthday Mom and Dad A took us all out to dinner. We went early to make sure we didn't bother a lot of people with 3 rowdy toddlers. After dinner we went to downtown to look around. we went to the big park by the Library, museum and city buildings. They have all these eater features there and it was hard keeping the kids out of it, so we loaded them up and went home. The rest of that night was spent playing in the back yard and relaxing. Sunday Mom and Dad A took Lisa and the boys for a drive while James taught his Sunday school class and Avery and I got ready. Mom A had bought new hats and flip flops for all the kids. After the got back from their drive we got the kids in their swim suits and took them to this neat park that has a splash pad and a fun waterfall and stream that the kids can play in. They had a lot of fun playing in the water. They would go back and forth between the two and made new friends. The boys got tired before Avery and they were ready to go home for some dinner, I kinda had to drag Avery away. :p She is a little fish just like me.

 Showing off her cute new hat.

 After we got the kids home and dried off it was time for me to cook dinner. I did dutch oven chicken and rice in one and a cherry cobbler in the other. YUM! Everyone really loved it, it was a big hit. After we got the kids to bed Lisa, Dad A, James and I stayed up to play a few rounds of Tsuro. Monday they went home, but were nice enough to watch Avery so that I could go to an interview. When I got back they loaded up their things and said a lot of goodbyes; Avery needed just one more big hugs and kisses. :p To try and help make it easier for her. As they were pulling away her and I walked to the park to spend some time there. She misses them A LOT and is still asking where they are and when they are coming back. We had a great time with our family and are going to miss having them here. Come visit us anytime, we would love to see any of our family.