10 months old

And here we are again, another month under our belts! My baby girl is 10 months old and getting so big!

Here is what Avonlea is up to these days:
--crawling like a mad women! This child is everywhere and has discovered the dog food bowl and the washing machine!
--her first bottom tooth finally broke through on 5/27/12. She's been wearing her amber teething necklace for over a week now and it has made teething sooo much better! We've also used the Hyland's teething tablets if necessary.
--wearing 12-18 or 18 month clothing
--wearing size 4 diapers
--saying "dada", "mama", "hi", and "ball"
--starting to wave "bye bye"
--she is off of pureed foods and solely on table food
--drinking 6oz bottles
--averaging waking 1-2 times per night, which is amazing compared to what is used to be like!
--pulling up on everything and will take steps holding your hands
--hates grass but loves to be outside!

Avonlea is still a joy to have around! I absolutely LOVE the hugs she gives. She will wrap her arms around your neck and just squeeze. Melts my heart!! She is usually happy and smiles so much. We constantly get stopped at the store by strangers. She smiles at them and they just eat her up!

 *This is an 18-24 month outfit!

She loves to eat as well! Most meals, I have to cut her off either because she's ate it all or she just wont stop. We're also working more on using the cup. She does well holding it up, but she is particular about the spout on it. She still will not suck from a straw, she just chews on it.

She also loves bath time!! I'm pretty sure not a single thing in the bathroom is dry by the time she is done, but she has such a blast in the tub! I'm also drenched by the end! :)

I just love my sissy girl!!! I can't imagine life without her! She makes me smile and laugh so much!

Garden, allergies & graduation

You know, cause they go hand in hand. No?

We've had quite the busy week! On Monday, Peytonn graduated from Preschool. Their school had a little ceremony complete with caps and gowns. The kids sang some songs for the parents and then the head priest and the teachers handed out diplomas. It was really cute! I can't believe my first born will be in all day kindergarten in just a few short months!

The on Tuesday, Peytonn and I traveled to Riley Children's Hospital for more allergy testing. Peytonn's last allergy test was when he was 3 years old and he was allergic to grass, pigweed, and oak trees.

This time around, he was allergic to 9 different things. Mostly different kinds of trees and weeds. He is due to have his tonsils out in July and then weekly allergy shots will start in September.

This week, Peytonn also learned how to ride his bike without his training wheels. He is so proud of himself!!!

Our garden is coming along nicely this year, unlike last year when is was severly neglected. Which was mostly due to my laziness pregnancy. This year, all of the flower beds and the vegetable garden are in much better shape! Thanks to Pinterest, I was able to make my own tomato cages this year. They are 100 times better than the cheapo store bought ones.

So far, we've planted tomatos, broccoli, peppers (red, green, yellow), jalapenos, red onions, green onions, and cilantro. I also have 2 basil plants planted close to the house in an old, smaller flower bed. The boys are very excited because there are little baby broccoli on each plant. Peytonn also spotted 3 baby tomatoes and some peppers last night.

We've also gotten 6 qts of natural strawberries for the last two weeks in a row. With the first batch, I made some strawberry chipotle jam/sauce. Its AMAZING! I canned most of it but left some in the frig to use.

Source: cookinfood.com via Courtney on Pinterest

This week, I simply put each container in a quart size ziploc bag and froze the berries. Then I can make jam later or pull them out to use in smoothies or cooking.

But the recipe for the jam and the chipotle sauce are very good!!

Things I never thought I'd do...

Today, I'm linking up with Toddle Along Tuesday. The topic is "Things I never thought I'd do" as a parent. This should be fun! :)

1. I swore up and down and all around that I would NEVER sleep with my children! That was too dangerous!

Newsflash.....I've co-slept with all 3 of my children! Why? Uhh, cause when you're up every 45-90 minutes to feed a baby, its just easier to roll over, latch them on, and go back to sleep! But don't you worry, every one has survived and all now sleep in their own rooms in their own beds!

2. I swore I would not let my kids watch a bunch of TV.

My kids watch TV, they even watch movies. But my kids are pretty darn active and don't really sit for long. If we are inside, usually the TV is on, but that doesnt mean they are watching it. We play outside a lot and go for walks, etc. But yes, my kids do watch TV.

3. I swore I would never count 1-2-3 to my kids, like my mom did.

Ha! Well, it seems to be the only thing that works for Bennett. He needs those extra warnings to shape up. I dont have to use it for Peytonn.

4. I swore my kids would not eat junk food!

Yeeeah. It happens. For the most part though, my kids eat home cooked meals daily, with a variety of foods. My kids are not picky eaters and eat just about everything. But yeah, sometimes its hotdogs and mac n cheese. But i have been a stickler about our milk. We have always drank either raw milk or organic milk. Its just not something I am willing to budge on. So yeah, we stomach the $6-$7 a gallon for milk.

Overall, I had all these ideas in my head about what kind of parent I was going to be. In reality, I feel like I've had to change my parenting several times depending on which child it is. Peytonn is pretty easy to discipline. Bennett on the other hand, its like Parenting 101 all over again! As parents I think we do the best that we can.

Oh, Monday!

Its Monday. It's raining. I've been up since 6am. Yeeeeah.

Avonlea decided that she needed to be up a gazillion 6 times last night and then she was up for good at 6am this morning. I slept like crap last night too. Ugh! I also realized at 3am that I had to be at work at 8am this morning instead of thinking I had the morning off. Then, my client no showed me at 8. Such a joyous start to my day!

So, here I sit at my office, attempting to work. I did get my billing finished for the month and I should be working on reports.....buuuuut....I'm not. Yes, Hi, my name is Courtney and I'm a procrastinator. Mmmmk.

In other news, Peytonn saw the ENT on Friday. On a scale of 1-4, his tonsils were a 2.5-3+ in size. Needless to say, they need to be taken out. Its affecting his sleep and he is in the beginning stages of apnea. He'll need to be "down" from all activity for approximately 2 weeks. (that should be fun!) He won't even be able to ride in a car for longer than an hour. So, with school still in session and baseball until the end of June, we've scheduled the procedure for July. The doc says we should see immediate results in his sleep. I sure hope so!

Peytonn is also LOVING baseball this year. I'm so glad that I ignored him when he told me he didn't want to play this summer. Last year, he played through the YMCA and its an understatement to say that it was horrible! We got switched teams mid-season and the coach parent volunteer hardly ever showed up. In the "team" picture, there are 4 kids. Yeeeah. But this year, he was old enough to play in one of the youth leagues in our town. The coach is awesome, they have practice twice a week with games on Saturday, and most of the kids (including the coaches kid) attend catholic school. I am glad Peytonn is getting a chance to socialize with kids he will be attending school with next year. His first game is this Saturday and he is totally pumped about it. He asks everyday if he has baseball. But the best part, is watching him attempt to do jumping jacks during practice. Ha! One day son, one day. I'm sorry that you have inherited your father's rhythm!

I'm hoping to get Bennett into some swim lessons or some sort of activity this summer. He really wants to play baseball, but he is too young and I'm not wasting my money on the YMCA again.

Avonlea is crawling EVERYWHERE! Nothing is safe from this child! Her bottom teeth are also super close to breaking through. It's only a matter of time.

She has also tried several new foods this month and has done really well with them and feeding herself. Here is what we have tried:
--quinoa
--kiwi
--mango
--ground beef
--cheerios
--yogurt
--cottage cheese
--cheese

This girl loves to feed herself and is starting to slow down on wanting to eat pureed foods. I mostly just use them to finish "filling her up" at the end of a meal. She has also slowed down on bottles too. She was drinking close to 40oz a day, but has now dropped to taking 4-6 ounces at a time while increasing her solid food intake.  She also has a sassy "feed me now or else" kind of attitude as well these days. But how can you get agitated when she is just so darn cute! But then she pulls your hair and pinches you. I think I'm in trouble!

9 months old!

My little Missy Moo-Moo is 9 months old!! She is sassier than ever, too!

So, what is my sweet little girl up to these days:

weight: 18 lbs 1.4oz (25-50th %)
Heights: 27 3/4 inches (50th %)

--started army crawling and all fours crawling in the past week
--can get herself to a sitting position from her belly
--feeds herself and gets a mixture of purees and table food
--daytime weaned in the past two weeks and only nursing at night now
--says "dada" and "hi"
--starting to wave
--has been teething for the past month, but still no teeth
--wearing size 4 diapers and 12-18 month clothes

We are still working on sleeping, although things are better, it still no where near consistent or great. The past two nights she has taken the pacifier instead of nursing. She has refused the pacifier since she was like 4 months old. I wonder if it makes her gums feel better. Some nights she is up 3-4 times and other nights she is up once. Its a work in progress.

She is so happy and every place we go, I swear we get so many comments on how cute she is and she smiles at everyone. She is generally happy most of the day, but she is starting the baby tantrums. She definitely wants what she wants, and she wants it NOW! Ha!

Overall, she is such a joy to have and the boys love her to death!

Say what?

I swear my kids say the funniest things ever! Bennett: -I want "harshmellows" in my chocolate milk! -(Bennett riding his scooter on the driveway) mom, did you see those "skeeeerts!?" yeah, my fast! Peytonn: -mom, this looks ok for church? (walks in the room wearing his baseball cap, batting gloves, and cleats with jeans and a tshirt) -mom, look. I dressed myself! Me: how did you get your jeans down off the shelf? Peytonn:I made some stairs in the closer with stuff and I accidentally messed up the closet. Me: oh really? Accidentally, huh? This all happened today. I swear, everyday is something new that they come up with!

Walking in my shoes..

I love seeing how different everybody's day to day life is compared to ours. I love getting new ideas or routines from the way other people live. We all live our lives differently and I love that! So, here's a day in my life: 5:30am Avonlea wakes up for umpteenth time. I attempt to get her back to sleep, but most mornings it's an epic fail! 6:00am I get in the shower before the boys wake up. 6:15am Peytonn comes strolling into my bathroom with tired eyes and wants some "brefquest" 6:45 I head downstairs with two kiddos to start breakfast 7:15am Bennett is usually up and also requesting "brefquest" I feed all three children and then get them dressed. I also load up the diaper bag with diapers, food for Avonlea, a spoon and bib for her, and a bottle. 7:45am we are out the door and loading up the vehicle. I do a mental check of everything: three kids, a school bag, diaper bag, my work bag and breast pump. And we're off to the babysitter! 8am Drop the kids off and head to work. If I'm going to stop for coffee, I usually do it now. I've been up for about 2.5 hours at this point and haven't ate or drank a single thing. 8:30-11:45am At work, which usually consists of case management, supervised visits, or transports 11:45am head back to the babysitter to pick up Peytonn for school. 12:15am Drop Peytonn at school and grab some lunch while heading to the next clients house. 12:30-2:30 Work some more doing the same as above. Or getting yelled at by a client. Or diffusing a situation. You get the point. 2:45pm pick up Peytonn from school and drive back to the babysitter to get the other two children. 3:15pm head home and start job #2 3:30 get the kids settled and get Avonlea in the high hair for a snack. I usually try to tidy up the downstairs at this point from the morning chaos. 4:15 try to figure out something for dinner while playing referee to the older two and handling Avonlea's fussiness 5:00 or 5:30 I feed the kids dinner. I usual stand and eat because otherwise Avonlea throws a tantrum if she can't have my plate. Therefore, I must be sneaky when I eat 6:00pm clean up from dinner and get bathe Avonlea. If we take a walk, we usually do it now. But sometimes we just ride bikes in the driveway or play out back. 7:30pm hubby arrives home from work. Sometimes Avonlea is asleep at this point and sometimes she is awake. The boys are all hyped up because dad is home! 8:00pm showers for the boys and jammies 8:30pm the boys get into bed and I usually read on my kindle or finish up any chores that need to be done ( which are never ending, by the way!) 9:30-10pm I am passed out. Exhausted from a long day and preparing for job #3.....night time with Avonlea! There you have it! I'm exhausted just thinking about it! Maybe this is why I look forward to Saturday so much, knowing I don't have to go anywhere if I don't want to! But I do enjoy my time with my kiddos, even if they do wear me out! I wouldn't have it any other way!