My Little Bi-Lingual Child

So today Avery was trying to open a bag that was holding her foam alphabet and numbers. I had tied it up pretty well because I hate when they spill out everywhere. Avery was giving it a few good tugs and then she called out "Help me! Help me!" And then a couple of seconds later, "Ayuda me! Ayuda me!" (forgive me if my spelling is off...I don't remember a whole lot of my high school Spanish).

I just looked at her like, what?!? And then I asked her to repeat what she said and she proudly said, "Ayuda me!" again. She's only watched Dora a handful of times, but apparantly that is enough to learn some Spanish.

Princess Avery

For the last several weeks Avery has been really into her dress-up clothes. She loves the sparkly tiaras, fancy dresses, high heels, wands, etc. So every day she gets dressed-up at least once, in some variation of her accessories, and prances around the house, fancying herself a princess or a fairy. She will even announce herself with a trumpet sound that she makes through her cheerleading megaphone and then will call out "Princess Avery!" She told me that she wants a trumpet...but I can only imagine the joyful sounds that would provide in our house.

When her friend Em comes over to play it is for certain that they will spend the whole time decked out. Avery is really good about taking turns and sharing the favorite items (a certain pair of shoes, the butterfly wings).

Another favorite ensemble is the pirate hat that my mom bought her while we were in Utah and her foam pirate sword. Al dresses up as a pirate too (ties a t-shirt on his head) and he and Avery take a ride on the pirate ship (our bed) and watch out for whales. Yesterday Avery told the librarian that she was a pirate (she wasn't wearing her pirate get-up) and then followed through with a hearty, "AARGH!!" She also likes to break into "Yo-ho Yo-ho a pirate's life for me!"

I love the dress-up clothes and am excited to add on to them over the years. I think they are a great source of creativity and entertainment. Plus it makes Al do stuff like tie a t-shirt on his head.

Pouty Avery

Mostly for Uncle Jubie...but I think the picture is pretty dang cute.

Alice the Fairy

There is a book called Alice The Fairy, by David Shannon, and it is one of Avery's favorites. We have checked it out from the library 3 or 4 times now and it is one that we just need to make part of our home library. It is a book about a little girl that pretends she is a fairy and all of the neat tricks she can do. Actually it's really cute.

So the other night we made a crown like Alice the Fairy's. Avery wanted a green crown because green is her favorite color. And then I got out some of our crafty supplies and let Avery create her own crown. I did the cutting and stapling but Avery did everything else on her own. Well, I also applied glue to the pom poms and whatever else she was using but then she did all of the placement. I think she did a great job!!

And today she put on her butterfly wings and was waving her wand around, running back and forth across the family room saying, "I'm flying! I'm a fairy! I'm flying!" Very cute. Very imaginative.

Another Cake

I got hired to make a cake for a baby shower for someone in the ward. They wanted something simple. Here is the end result. I think it turned out pretty cute.

The Morning After the Wedding

I had to include the pics of the morning after the wedding. Look how tired Al looks! I think that fatigue is from before the wedding though. The wedding was probably a break in pace from his usual grind. And then there's Avery eating some chocolate wedding cake for breakfast. We had SO much cake leftover. We brought home all of the Market Street cake and then the cake I made. My parents still had a ton when we left.

The Reception

I am mad at myself for not taking hardly any pictures at the reception! It was so beautiful. There were pictures and candles, limes, etc. everywhere! And I didn't get any pictures of us in our reception outfits, tuxes, or the kids all dolled up in their gowns and suits. The kids almost stole the show they were just so cute!

I thought the reception at Market Street was great. I didn't know they had that big courtyard in the back with the awning and all of the greenery. It was a really good atmosphere. The food was super too. We had a sit-down dinner at the beginning for all of the wedding guests and the food was fabulous. Then we had different food brought out for the reception and it was so pretty and really good too.

Al had a lot of fun hanging out with his friend and mission companion, Craig. And then he spent most of the night hanging out with his dad and his sister, Sarah. I was glad that they were able to catch up since Al was in SLC for less than 48 hours.

Cookies, Cake, and Jen

Well, here is a sample pic of the cookies that were out for favors. At the formal dinner we put a cookie at each place setting. Then for the reception we had a table set up and it was just a sea of cookies.

Speaking of sea of cookies...our house was a sea of cookies the couple of days before the wedding. We completely converted our dining room into the cookie room and Jen sealed it off from all possible access of the kids. I had been baking off and on for several days before the wedding and freezing them until the Monday before. That Monday we girls enforced a no make-up/no showering day and we sat around in our pajamas frosting all 288 of those. We listened to the Mama Mia soundtrack a few times and got in some good talking. Then in the afternoon we showered (still enforced no make-up) and treated ourselves to giant cheeseburgers and fries with fry sauce from Carl's Jr. It was fabulous.

The cake was a lot of fun to make. I did the baking on that Monday and then all of the frosting and decorating on Tuesday. We set up fans around the kitchen to make everything cool and it really helped the icing set.

A shout-out to Jen: Jen was amazing! My mom called her superwoman and I really think she might be. For the record, my own mom has never called me superwoman before. Jen was a huge help from day 1. I, without asking her, kind of took her on as a very valuable assistant in the cookie process. And when I was baking she was Avery's babysitter without my even asking her. We couldn't have done it all without Jen. I didn't get hardly any pictures of Jen! At the temple we were in all of the same pics and so I couldn't take any and then at the reception I was too busy to take hardly any pictures. So this is one of Jen and little Ethan in his cute brown suit.

Siblings

These are pictures of me and my brothers, my dad and most of his brothers and sisters, and my mom with 4 of her 5 sisters and without her 1 brother.

Some things about these pictures: I love how in the one with my mom and her sisters there is a diet coke on the floor in the background. We love diet coke so much, almost like a sibling, so it's kind of fitting.

I'm not sure what I am doing in the picture of me and my brothers with Jessie. I am leaning in so close to Jessie. I'm hoping that the photographer was making me do that and that I wasn't just smothering Jessie. It was super windy all of a sudden at that point and my hair was in my face and my skirt kept doing a Marilyn Monroe and was blowing up in the air. Maybe I am just trying to control everything. I hope the professional photographer gets a better picture of me than this one :)

And although you can't see Daren's face in the picture of my dad with his siblings I have no doubt that the professional got them all in. It was just the angle I was at.

Parents

Here is Jessie and her mom, Jon and my mom, and both with each set of parents. Everybody looked really fantastic!

At The Temple

I apologize for the layout...our computer doesn't let you see the images you upload until you view it on the blog.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite pics from the wedding. I love how everybody is so happy and huggy (real word?) after a wedding. It was a great day! I don't think I've ever been so busy in my life, literally. Not even for my own wedding. This was a real whirlwind trip for me. As soon as we got to Utah it was straight shopping for a few days. My mom was trying to buy my outfit for the temple still and many of our other outfits needed finishing touches. We hit a snag when Allison and Avery got really sick for a couple of days. That meant staying at home and getting everybody better. Grandma 'Nette' stayed home and watched the kids fairly often while Jen and I ran out to do some of the errands. Then Derek called from Minnesota saying he was sick and we begged him not to bring any bugs with him...we already had enough!

About a week before the wedding Jessie got sick too. Then Jon. I don't think the rest of us have washed our hands so much, ever. I still have some OCD from the whole experience. In between all of this illness we threw a bridal shower for Jessie, went to the temple and hosted a dinner afterwards, had a birthday dinner for Jon, I made a wedding cake, I baked nearly 300 cookies to hand out as favors and my mom and Jen helped ice and bag, tie knots, etc. Thank-you to my mother-in-law, Louona, for the perfect labels!! We also ordered the the tuxes for the guys, got all of our hair done, manicures, pedicures,etc. We also managed to have a girl's night out and we all went and saw Mama Mia (it was a blast!).

I forgot that I was making a cookbook for Jon and Jessie for their wedding present. Well, I had typed up all of my recipes before I left for Utah, but then I forgot to print it out and put it all together. Luckily I was able to finish it while they were on their honeymoon.

Derek showed up still sick. By that time Dylan also had part of the illness and Ethan had been having symptoms off and on the whole trip. Jessie got better quick but Jon finally went to the doctor with Derek the day before the wedding and got on some antibiotics. I think we were all desperately praying that we would feel good for the big day.

The ceremony was beautiful and I remember way more from theirs than I do from my own (I sadly remember nothing of my own). It was very emotional. The sealer talked a lot about still dating your spouse after you are married, about how important it is to the relationship. The sealer said to have a date night at least once a week. I have reminded Al of that a few times since ;)

Jessie looked just gorgeous in her wedding dress. She really did. And I loved Jon's tux.

Anyway, I know this is a long post but I tried to condense it all down a lot. Jon and Jessie left a couple of days after the wedding for Puerto Rico and avoided all hurricanes. They are back now and all of my family is back to their homes. It's funny how your whole lives revolve around that one big day for so long and then it's over and you are back to 'real' life again.

Tiny Dancer II

She's already got some killer moves down...I think she could be a choreographer.

Tiny Dancer

Avery is signed up for a toddler dance/tumbling class that will start in a couple of weeks. It is for ages 2-4, so she will be on the younger side, but I think she will do great. She is so excited and so are we! Today we went shopping for a little outfit for her to wear. Al told me that he thought any little girl would be most happy with something pink and sparkly, so that is what I bought today.

Here is Avery in her pink, sparkly outfit. She is ready to go!!

A-Z tag

Okay, Carolyn tagged me, so here you go:

A. Attached or Single? Attached
B. Best Friend? Al and my mom
C. Cake or Pie? Mmm...cake. But I would take pie too. Frankly, I wouldn't pass up any dessert except for maybe tapioca.
D. Day of the week? Saturday, but Friday is a close 2nd
E. Essential Items? diet coke, good books, chocolate, make-up, the mall
F. Favorite Color? blue to look at, red to wear
G. Gummy Bears or Worms? not so big on the gummies, but I'd take sour patch kids, or anything that is Haribo brand
H. Hometown? I guess Sandy, Utah?!? I grew up everywhere...I wanna go back to Utah. So I'm going to have to stick with Sandy.
I. Indulgences? cookie dough, Gymboree (it's an addiction), good make-up
J. January or July? How about December?
K. Kids? Sweet Avery
L. Life isn't complete without? Love? Family? This is too deep for me.
M. Marriage Date? October 2, 2003
N. Number of Brothers and Sisters? 2 brothers, 1 older and 1 younger
O. Oranges or Apples? I kind of OD'd on the apples, so I'm going with oranges, but only if they are tangy
P. Phobias or Fears? snakes-seeing them hearing about them, talking about them, imagining them, etc. I would also have to add flying, barfing (although I've gotten a little better about it since having Avery) and worms
Q. Quote: Don't have one
R. Reasons to Smile: I'm going home to see my families soon!!!
S. Superman or Wonder Woman-Superman, baby!
T. Tag 5 people: Sarah, Lara P., and whomever else feels like it
U. Unknown Fact about Me? What is there? I am an Olympics junkie. I find myself watching sports that I would never dream of watching otherwise. Go for the Gold!! I am obsessed with womens gymnastics. Oh how I wish I could do an awesome tumbling pass
V. Vegetables? Yeah, I like them. I like them even better with gravy, hollandaise sauce, cheese sauce, butter, etc. And fresh garden vegetables are always way better.
W. Worst Habit? constant worrying...there's always something to worry about... I know this trait comes genetically to me from Grandma Ann
X. X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound!! I've had some really fun ones! And some not so fun ones...but either way I think it is awesome the stuff they can see.
Y. Your favorite food? pizza, Mexican, Chinese, dessert
Z.Zodiac sign: Sagittarius

Jingle Bell

Avery and I went and ran some errands today while Al was working. One of our stops was to go to Hobby Lobby and get some cake stuff for the wedding (Jessie is going with the square). Well, Hobby Lobby has launched full-fledged into the holidays, not just Halloween, but Christmas too...even though it's August...and 100 degrees outside.

Anyhow, Avery was greatly distracted by the seasonal displays due to her obsession with the holidays. I made her go back and look at the cake stuff with me and then as we were walking back to the register Avery broke away and headed straight for the sparkling Christmas aisle. They already had their artificial trees set up, and lit! Avery got right up on the platform and said in awe, "A Christmas tree! A Christmas tree!" Then she touched the branches, took a couple of steps back and launched into her Christmas medley, which includes her very own renditions of 'Jingle Bells,' 'Frosty the Snowman,' and 'O Christmas Tree,' complete with choreography. Oh, I wish that I had my camera.

Then Avery took it upon herself to grab a couple of the ornaments that are for sale and put them on the sparse trees. After that she got off the platform to admire her work. We walked around the display and in front there was a fairly large nativity set. It was nearly as tall as Avery. I started to quiz Avery and had her point out the baby Jesus, Mary, and then Joseph. She got 100%. Then as we were heading off to the registers, Avery paused, turned, grabbed the Joseph's hand, gave it a good shake and said, "Hi! How are you?" Oh, I wish that I had my camera.

Well, I was on the floor pretty much at that point. Avery just got a bewildered look on her face because for one, there was no response of course, and for two, I was getting a huge kick out of the whole thing.

We ended up leaving the Hobby Lobby with this lovely, glittery lime green jingle bell. It was marked down on clearance for an exceptional price...I'm sure you can see why. But Avery loves it. She already has a red jingle bell at home that my mom bought her last year when she couldn't part with it at a store. I guess she's starting a jingle bell collection.

I Just Remembered...

I was driving home from the grocery store today and I remembered something that happened in Arizona while we were there a month ago. This is one of my all time favorite Avery stories. I'm not sure what sparked it in my memory today, but here you go:

After we landed at the Phoenix airport we reunited with Al's mom and one of his sisters (Sarah) and our niece Hannah. We got all of our luggage and then we had to board a mini-bus to take us to the rental car place. We got all of our stuff on board and all kind of collapsed in our seats, enjoying the air-conditioning. I was holding Avery on my lap and had turned to my right, towards Sarah and Louona (Al's mom) so that we could catch up on everything.

After a few minutes I became aware of a repetitive motion out of my peripheral vision. I looked down and saw Avery's arm moving back and forth in a stroking motion. I thought, huh, that's weird. What is she doing? Then I looked to my left and saw an older man sitting next to me. We kind of made eye contact and then I looked down and saw that he had super thick and burly arm hair....and Avery was petting it!!!

My little girl was petting some strange guy's arm hair!!! I quickly snatched her hand up and looked back up at the guy. I just kind of mumbled, 'sorry.' A couple of seconds passed and then he said, "Well, it's okay. I have grandkids so it's not a big deal." So here this guy has been, patiently sitting there, letting Avery stroke his arm for who knows how long, before her distracted mom clued in on things.

I could feel my face getting all flushed and then I had to turn to Sarah and tell her what was happening. I quickly whispered to her what had happened and then we got the giggles. But we didn't want that guy to know we were laughing. It was like trying to suppress laughter in the middle of sacrament meeting. Good times.

The picture is of Avery doing her Donald Duck impersonation. I think I mentioned it in the post the either day. She did a repeat performance and so I ran and got the camera.

Our Little Piggy

Avery picked out these strawberry marshmallows at the store for her 'special treat.' I was upstairs reading and I could hear Avery laughing so hard downstairs. Al called me down to see what was going on and Avery proceeded to do her piggy impersonation with the marshmallow snout.

I think she likes marshsmallows almost as much as Al does.

I Think It's Genetic...

In the last couple of weeks Avery has become obsessed with Christmas. I think it's genetic...because all of you know how I am a little crazy about the Christmas season. And I'm not even sure how she got on this kick, in the middle of July, when it's over 100 degrees outside.

It is normal for us now to watch Frosty the Snowman 2-3 times a day (it's only 20 minutes long). And it is normal for Avery to go outside to our garage, get the tree stand out, and parade around it in a circle singing, "Frosty the Snowman" with gusto. The other day she wanted to put on her coat from last year. And then she was fairly insistent that she wear it outside, but I put my foot down on that one. I don't want her to get heatstroke. And then while we've been busy packing boxes Avery came across her princess snow boots. I was in the loft packing some things and Avery came out of her room, in the boots, and declared, "I'm Santa!!" Every time we drive around town in White Rocket Avery will point out the 'Christmas Trees' that she sees in peoples yards. Another favorite past-time is to gallop around the living room and belt out, "Jingle Bells."

And, just because I knew she would absolutely love it, I took her to the Hallmark store because they already have their Christmas ornaments on display. We spent over a half an hour checking them all out. They even had a Frosty the Snowman ornament that played the Frosty song. I'm pretty sure that Avery thought that was about the best thing ever. Luckily she's not to an age yet where she asks when Christmas is, how many more days, etc. Because it would be one really long countdown for her.

This has nothing to do with everything I wrote above, but today I made Avery a cheese sandwich for lunch. She promptly took the cheese out of the sandwich, took a couple of bites, and then held the remaining cheese up to her mouth and said, "I'm Donald Duck." Then she quacked a few times. It was hilarious! And maybe the funniest part was that she got such a big kick out of it herself. I hope she does it again so I can get a movie or picture of her with her self-created cheese duckbill.

St. Charles aka Paris

Sometimes in the car we play this game where I will call out "I see a gas station!" and then Avery will look for it and go, "There it is!" So today we were driving to the mall and we were playing the game. "I see the American Flag!" "There it is!" "I see a McDonald's!" "There it is!" and so on.

We drove past the St. Charles police station and outside the police station is a big radio tower. All of a sudden Avery yelled from the backseat, "I see the Eiffel Tower!!" It took Al and I a couple of seconds to catch on, but then we got a good chuckle out of it. It does kinda look like the Eiffel Tower...

I also thought it was so neat the other day when we were outside playing. There was an oil stain out on the street and Avery said, "Oh look! It's a turtle!" I studied it out for a little bit and then saw exactly what she was talking about. The oil stain was in the shape of a turtle!

She's a visual little thing...

Al's 3 Other Sisters