Spring Break - IDAHO

Derek had a week off of school for spring break so we decided to use that time to get out and visit his Mom and Dad at their new house in Idaho. They have a beautiful home! It was so great to get to visit with them and his four sisters and their families that are also in Idaho. We had such a good time!!

Avery enjoying Grandma's pool
Jumping on the trampoline
Outside with Grandma
Relaxing with Grandpa
Feeding Aunt Joyce's horse
Playing piano with Aunt Sharon
Aunt Lynette and Spanky
Avery and Aunt Natalie
Allie and Avery really enjoyed being with Grandma and Grandpa, their Aunts and Uncles and cousin Matt.......Allie is still talking about them and can't wait until they come to visit her in her "new" house.

Our Busy Week

Wow! This week has flown by. The weather has been beautiful and we've kept ourselves busy, busy. Here is a quick recap of the week:

MONDAY: Spent the day @ Boonshoft Museum of Discovery w/ friends...followed by lunch @ Chic-fil-a so the girls could play in the play area. (sorry no pics b/c I left my camera in the car). Allie LOVED Boonshoft and was getting quite brave on the slide....going down on her belly head first!

TUESDAY: Derek needed to work on his final so the girls and I were out and about pretty much all day (and a gorgeous day it was!) We went to the library, playground and a nature reserve. While at the playground Allie took her new found bravery to new heights. The slides here were so tall, but she went down them without thinking twice about it. She eventually started going down on her belly and there was this one slide that was super steep with a quick twist towards the bottom. When she hit the twist she flipped over to her back and hit her head....so she didn't want to go down the big slides anymore. I didn't want her to be afraid of them so before we left I made her go down again (this time sitting up right) and she was loving it again.
After leaving the park we went to the nature park. My plan was to take the girls pictures with their new St Patricks day gizmos that Mony and Papa sent them.......BUT the batteries in the camera died so I wasn't able to get them taken :(

WEDNESDAY: Derek finished up his final and got things pretty much squared away for next quarter while the girls and I packed up for spring break vacation and played outside. That evening we went and picked up a treadmill for me so I can hopefully get my weight loss program back on track. I'll start posting on my Weight Loss Journey Blog once we get back from spring break. On our way back from picking that up we stopped at a wood shop to get some wood so Derek can finish up our new kitchen table. I got some pretty cute pics of Allie while we were there.




THURSDAY: We're off to Indy to watch the Purdue game with Uncle Buddy. Allie had a lot of fun with Bella and Priscilla....AND PURDUE WON!! GO BOILERS! Then Bryan dropped us off at the airport and we were off to Idaho to visit Grandma and Grandpa!!!!! (the flight wasn't too bad and the girls were really good)


FRIDAY: We're in Idaho now and Allie was so excited to see Damaw and Dapaw (that's how she says Grandma and Grandpa). She will not leave Grandma's side! Their house is very nice...it's the first time we've been out here since they moved. We spent most of the day in town yesterday.........we took Allie to the dr for a little potty problem. It seems like every time we go somewhere something happens with one of the girls and we have to deal with Tricare and get them into a dr. Ugh, it's a pain........but hopefully Allie will heal up okay. Derek and I are quite worried about her. She does seem to be doing better today(saturday) though.
We ate dinner at Golden Corral and Avery ate chopped up green beans, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and bread! She also had a mashed up banana for breakfast! What a big girl.

Avery ~ 7 months

Well, Avery is now 7 months. Not a whole lot has changed in the last month. She's still a happy little girl. She can roll over front to back and back to front now.....sits up pretty much on her own, is eating cereal and just started eating veggies (see video). Her sleeping habits could be improved....it's mainly my fault though. I go running to her every time she cries because I just can't stand to see her sad. I'm going to have to start letting her cry it out because I haven't had a good night's rest in I don't know how long. That's about it!

The DR is IN!!!

You mean, I actually WIN?

This can't be right

Have you checked your sight?

I tell you sincerely,

said the girl on the phone,

I read it quite clearly.

Brooke Huber it said

I tell you I READ

So come on in

and pick up your WIN

Six books will be yours

Not twos, threes or fours

SIX,

I say,

SIX

Books you will read

I do love THE DR.... indeed, Indeed, INDEED!

How awesome is that?! I couldn't believe it when we got the call. I really NEVER win anything. Speaking of Dr Seuss....I don't know who wrote this.....but I thought it would be fun to share because I think it's quite cute. It goes along to the book, Horton Hatches An Egg. It's fitting for me because I was just called into the Primary at church......teaching little 4 and 5 year olds. Here it is:

One day our dear heroine was in the church walking, When
she chanced by some sisters out in the hall talking.

"Hello!" called the Primary President, smiling her best.
"There's something to do, this is no time to rest. Would you
teach the sunbeams? They're so cute and so sweet that chair
up in front, on the end is your seat."


"Me teach your class? Why that doesn't make sense. The
chairs are so small and I'm so immense!"

"Tut, tut" answered the President. "I know you're not small
but I'm sure you can do it, no trouble at all. Just talk to them
softly. You're gentle and kind you'll be a good teacher. I
know you won't mind."

"Very well, " said the teacher. "Yes, I will take it. I'll teach
your small class and a good group I'll make it. I'll stay and be
faithful. I mean what I say."
"Oh, thank you dear teacher," and the president went away.

So that teacher taught primary on that very day and she taught
all that autumn. Soon the leaves blew away. And then came the winter,
the ice and the snow, but that teacher was faithful
every week she would go!
She caught a bad cold, but she said with a sneeze,
"I'll stay with this class and I won't let them freeze!"
I meant what I said
And I said what I meant
This teacher's committed
One hundred per cent!

So that teacher stayed there the whole winter through
And then came the springtime with troubles anew!
Her friends were not with her, they all were away
In Relief Society and Sunday School, where
she wanted to stay.

But she stayed with her class and continued to say:
"I meant what I said
And I said what I meant
This teacher's committed
One hundred per cent!"

Then one day the children, with big smiles and pink cheeks.
The children she'd sat with for fifty-one weeks.
The children she had taught so long and so well.
Hugged her and thanked her! What more can I tell?

Her friends all came running, "What's all this about....?
They looked! And they stared with their eyes popping out!
They cheered and they cheered and they cheered more and more
They'd never seen anything like it before!
"My goodness! My gracious!" They shouted. "Alas!"
It's something special!
A GREAT Primary class!!!

And it should be, it should be, it should be like that!
Because our teacher was faithful! She sat and she sat!

She meant what she said
And she said what she meant.....
And she went home happy,

ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!

Bowling, Hiking, DST

We had a fun filled weekend! Friday started out with bowling. We went with our friends and had a great time. Allie and Adeline are so cute...after they would bowl they would run to give each other a high five! They are becoming best buds! Allie asks to play with her EVERY day.
I can't watch!

Look, it's a STRIKE!!!!

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day so we got up and went hiking at John Bryan State Park, which is only 10 minutes from our house. We planned our route and headed out not knowing that it would turn out to be a 2 1/2 hour hike. It was fun though and a pretty good workout. Allie was ready to be done and Avery fell asleep about 3/4 of the way through. They never complained though!! Derek is pretty excited about this park. We found tons of rock climbing areas while we were there. He's already planning our next trip out there. We already have the harnesses, gri gri and rope so we're pretty much set! After hiking we headed to a very busy Chipotle for our free burrito. Then yesterday, daylight savings time started. Yes, we forgot all about it. So, we strolled into church 10 mintues early........or so we thought. Really we were 50 minutes late! Our whole day was so thrown off.....but Avery has slept the best she has ever slept last night, so that was good.

Tum On.....We Want Spring

Earlier this week the girls and I went to the library. Allie loves it there! They have little tables and chairs that are just her size with lots of fun puzzles to put together. Of course, she loves to pick out a few books to read and take home along with a movie of her choice (usually something with princesses). This time she even used the computer while we were there....playing a Sesame Street shapes and colors game (the little mouse and headphones are soooo cute!) She was a pro at the game, but still needs help controlling the mouse. We'll get her computer hooked up one of these days and then she'll get better at it. Anyway, while she was playing the game another little girl came up to the table behind us and started putting the puzzles together so Allie lost interest in the computer and wanted to put puzzles together again. She went right up to her and started up a little conversation.....it was sooo cute! At one point she said, "Do you have a Daddy?" I don't know what made her say that! Maybe because she was with her Grandma and didn't see her Dad. Anyway the girl said yes and then asked Allie if she had a Daddy and she said, "No, he's at school." I could't help but laugh.......the little girl thought that she didn't have a Daddy then!

The weather is starting to get nice out again. Yay! It's about time. I can't wait until it's a constant thing and we can get out of the house more. I'm really excited to be able to enjoy this spring and summer. There is so much to do around here. It should be a blast! So today it's in the low 60's....a little windy, but not too bad. I took the girls to a really cool playground that I stumbled upon while I was trying to find my way out of a different exit on base (yes, I got lost). This playground is so cool! I remembered some realtor telling us about a playground by the hospital but I never saw it before and I've been to the hospital MANY times. Well, I would say it's more by the housing rather than the hospital, but at any rate, I found it and I know Allie was super excited that I did. She LOVED it and didn't want to leave. I actually loved it too......I was envisioning some sweet obstacle courses!



We had the whole playground to ourselves for a while and then a few more kids eventually showed up. I noticed Allie observing them and while she was swinging. I knew it was a matter of time before she would ask to get down so she could go follow them around. She finally did and I watched from a short distance.......hearing her start the conversations and then saying, "Tum on, let's go." I was very impressed especially with how shy I am. I don't want her to be like that. I know she usually trys to take charge of her younger friends, but these kids were definitely older than her and they did play with her.

Anyway, lots of fun! Avery enjoyed being outside too! Come on SPRING!!!!!
On a side note, Avery is sitting up by herself pretty well now. Not to the point where we can really leave her though....she's still pretty wobbly. But she's doing great!!

She did it!!

Hooray for Avery! She rolled over last night (back to front). I just knew it would be any day......of course the day that she went to the Dr and he was a little worried that she hadn't done it yet. I just had to share the news! She hasn't done it yet today. She's really cranky :( She was up at 5 this morning and didn't go back to sleep. She's only napped for about 30 minutes today. Hopefully she's not getting worse!

Avery ~ 6 months

Avery had her 6 month well baby visit today. No immunizations though, due to her slight case of pneumonia. [while in Indiana we noticed Avery was just not herself on Sunday. She was extremely cranky and was crying like she was in pain. She also had not being eating hardly anything for the past couple of days. She wasn't sleeping very well either. I finally broke down and took her into the ER thinking she might have an ear infection. She didn't have a temp, her ears and throat looked fine so they decided to do some tests. She had an IV put in to draw blood (in the foot) and she was literally covered in blood all the way up to her knee and the bed was soaked around her foot. They put a catheder in her to get a urine sample and then took x-rays of her chest. Everything came back fine, except for the x-ray........showing some fluid in her left lung. She was put on antibiotics throught the IV....but at some point the IV came out and so then they had to jab her with a shot to the muscle :( She was such a trooper........and so was Allie. It was a looooonnnnng 5 1/2 hours there.]

Once she's done with her antibiotics we'll take her back to get her immunizations up to date. Other than that she's 15 lbs 10 ounces - that's 34% on the chart, 25 inches long - that's 30% on charts, and her head is at around 15%.

I know she looks chubby now, but it's looking like she'll be a petite on once she gets moving around. She's pretty much sitting up by herself. She usually leans forward too much, but can keep herself from falling over by using her hands to stop her. She is soooo close to rolling over. I really think that could happen any day now. Crawling should be sometime in the near future, she can really get her head pushed up with her arms and pushes off with her feet, but doesn't get anywhere yet. She has the cutest smile and beautiful eyes. She is so loving and still a mama's girl. Loved her rice cereal until she got sick.......I'm sure she'll still love it once she's feeling better. Then we'll start giving her some veggies too. That's about it for now. We love our little "AV" ( as Allie calls her.)

Where A Kid Can Be A Kid.......

.....or a Mom, Grandma & Grandpa can be a kid! You all know what I'm talking about........Chuck E Cheese's!!!!! While we were in Lafayette my Mom and Dad wanted to take Allie to Chuck E Cheese. They took Monday off so we could spend the day there (ended up being the evening). Allie had never been before, but she knew all about Chuck E Cheese from commercials and seeing coupons I've been saving. When we got there Chuck E Cheese wasn't around, but towards the end of our day he came out to a birthday party at the table next to us. She didn't want to have anything to do with him! As we were leaving to go up to the prize counter he started back towards us. My Dad and I were still at the table gathering things up and I heard a shrill little scream and Allie was sprinting (I mean this is the fastest I've ever seen her run) back towards us! I don't know why she is so afraid of him, but surely she'll grow out of it someday.

Anyway, I think we all had a really good time there. My Mom seemed to enjoy skeeball and I was on fire at the basketball thingy. Every time someone plays it and doesn't score over 60 points the tally for the amount of tickets you'll get keeps going up. The first time I played I got 54 points.....so close! Next thing I know there are a couple people that must have been watching and wanted to play against me to see if they could be me......not a chance! I wasn't going to leave until I scored over 60....finally the last token of the night I got 63 and the tally was 51 so we got 51 tickets too. Allie was excited to have them to use towards her prize.

Anyway, so funny story on our way to Chuck E Cheese's. Allie was exhausted and actually fell asleep about 5 minutes before we got there. We pulled up and tried telling her that we were there. She wouldn't budge. So, I took her hand and again, told her we were here. She sort of opened her eyes so I proceeded to tell her over again and asked her if she still wanted to go. She mumbled yes and fell right back to sleep! Poor little thing! She finally snapped out of it, but she was still so tired......maybe that's why she was afraid of Chuck.....she's always extra sensitive when she's tired.

Another funny thing. Before we went to Chuck E Cheese we ate lunch (Arni's......yum) and picked up Avery's prescription. We knew then that Allie was tired so instead of going to Chuck E Cheese then, we went to GG's........hoping she would take a nap. On our way there my Mom said I think A-L-L-I-E is about out (she spelled out her name). Allie sat straight up and said NO! She didn't take a nap while we were there anyway, but I did!

FUn, FUN, FUN!!

Baby Central

The girls and I headed back to Lafayette for an extended weekend (Fri - Tues). The main reason for going back was to go to a baby shower for my Aunt Amy and new cousin Kiya. She is such a cutie!! Of course all of the little ones were there and we had to get a picture of all 4 together. I also found out that two more of my cousins are expecting by the end of the year (Crystal and Alicia)! How exciting.....and then Derek's sister, Sarah, is due with her baby girl in March! We just keep expanding!!


From L to R: Avery (6 mo), Jenna (4 mo), Conner (3 mo), Kiya (1 mo)