City Creek

Everything is fancy at city creek, even the drainage grates.

A shot of the temple.

The part David helped build is the very top, outer thingy.

This is the other side of the walk way and the other side of the retractable roof.

Tried a new hair do.

There's a creek that runs through the complex. Hence the name City Creek.

Yesterday my girl turned one and a half!!! I can't believe we've had her in our lives for 18 months! She's so awesome.

We went to City Creek yesterday. It's a new shopping center in Salt Lake. David helped build the retractable roof. So that's what the above pictures are. David said he thinks he heard that it only has a life of 300 openings/closings. It was a nice place but there weren't many stores that we would actually shop at. We parked underground and the parking garage was so nice. It had painted ceilings, walls and floors and was nicely lit. The Mormon church knows how to make things nice :o)

New Food

Avery and I went next door today and had a play date with the little boy and 2 other girls from the next street over. We had a good time.

The boy next door is absurdly smart. Yesterday he said "So...heard any good Sodium jokes lately?" Unfortunately I didn't get the joke. Apparently the symbol for Sodium on the periodic table is Na. Get it? Na...as in no...

He can't eat wheat, oat, dairy or gluten. There might be others I can't remember. I'm actually glad to have gotten to know them because we can talk food allergy food :) Even their dog has food allergies!

I don't know the difference with the wheat/gluten thing but I do know that Avery's face is significantly better when she doesn't eat bread or crackers. I need to get her tested to see if she has an allergy or an intolerance and to wheat or gluten or both. I know some kids grow out of wheat allergies.

I have done some reading and plan on trying some things for Avery's peanut allergy that I'm hoping will heal her from it. But I can only do what I can do when I can do it. Know what I mean? So in the meantime we will abide by the crazy diet. My neighbor gave us some gluten free, nut free, soy free bread to try. She also gave us some brown rice pasta to try. I tried the bread and it's not bad. It's definitely not regular bread but after I put some butter and jelly on it, it will do. She has also offered to share with me her recipes for waffles and some other things. She let us try some gluten free pretzels today too. They tasted very similar to regular pretzels.

I can't believe that Avery is about to be 18 months old! She drinks out of regular cups good now and she now walks up our front steps without holding on to the rail!!! What a big girl!!

Well, that's all for today!

Story Time

Today Avery and I went to the library for a toddler story time. She loved it! I think we'll go back. There was a lot of people there and we sang songs and a lady read some books. Avery was dancing and clapping to the songs. It was cute. She started feeling really comfortable and started running around but so were some other kids. I'm glad we went.

Beautiful Weather

It's been in the 80s yesterday and today. I was actually hot outside today! Avery loves running around outside. What kid doesn't?

I am feeling frustrated today with businesses. I got our taxes done in March but a few weeks ago found a tuition document that I forgot to give to the tax guy. So I emailed it to him 3 weeks ago and asked him to email me back letting me know he got it. He did and said he'd call me the next day since it was so late. Never heard from him. I called twice last week. I left a message with the receptionist and one on the answering machine. I told the receptionist that I was getting frustrated that I couldn't get a hold of him. So today I call and she answers. I tell her who I am and who I'm calling for. She says he's not in his office. I said "of course". I left another message so we'll see if he calls me back.

Last week I called a lawn service and left a message. He didn't call me back until yesterday. Sorry dude...found someone else.

Last week I called someone to come look at my duct work to give me a second opinion on whether or not they need to be replaced. Said he'd call my renters to set up a time. Found out today they never heard from him.

I called some guy for lawn service or something last week. I had to leave a message and his voicemail message was less than enthusiastic for his business. I left him a message telling him exactly why I was calling and he calls me back and with this I could care less tone and says "I missed a call?" That guy didn't get my business.

Being a homeowner costs me a lot of money. However, now that I have had the joys of renting...I'll take money sucking home ownership over renting. It's nice to have someone else fix stuff but there's nothing like living in a home that is yours...or the bank's ;) Since we have left OK, we have put in a new shower, a new stainless steel oven, stainless steel stove top, new heat and air and we're about to put on guttering that got taken down when we tore the carport down. I have conflicting reports on whether or not I need to get new ducting so we'll see about that. It'd be nice though to have new ducting to go along with the new heat and air. I guess this is also why people buy new houses and not old ones!

David and I are now working on our 8th year of marriage :) Feels good! We went to dinner last night and he bought me a card and chocolate :) Then we went to Home Depot and then watched a movie. Nothing fancy but I love spending time with my little family. I love my family :)

Happy Anniversary To Us!

Eating breakfast.

She loves these Mega Bloks. She play with them more than anything else.

The driveway was hurting her feet.

Anniversary dinner at Red Iguana.

Avery loves chips and salsa.

I can't believe we've been married 7 years! What a blessing to have made it this far. So many people don't. I'm looking forward to what the next 7 will bring.

I just had to take a little break and go wash yogurt out of Avery's hair. She put a big glob of it on top of her head. That's her new thing I guess. She did it the other day too. Well, it was bacon grease that time. She also squeezes her food in her hand like she's squeezing the life out of it. She's also gotten where she writes all over herself now, especially her hands and head.

We must be movin' on up :) We received an invite from the next door neighbor to attend a play date on Thursday! We went over and played with the neighbor boy Saturday. He's smarter than I am. Seriously. I also received an invitation to a neighborhood book club. Woot woot!

David and I are waiting on Avery to go to bed so we can watch a movie. So I'm out :o)

Photo Bomb!

Avery was trying to climb the drawers because she knew there were chips on the counter.

This is her cheese face. At least she tries to smile for me now :)

Wait for me Dad!

Loves to ring the doorbell.

Waiting for our friends to come over!

Showing Lily some games on the Nook.

Our friends and their 3 kiddos came over last night and we grilled some chicken. We had a good time. Avery ran around like a crazy kid...they all did :)

I was hoping she'd be worn out and sleep all night. Nope. She was super tired since she went bed 2 hours late but she woke up 3 times and cried when I put her back to bed the 3rd time but I didn't get her.

She's still sleeping and it's almost 8. It's nice to be up and drink my coffee (and blog) while she snoozes. I think my cold is coming back though :(

I'm sad it is Sunday and it's back to work for David tomorrow. Yesterday he went to the pull a part place and got a brake line for his truck...seems like it's going to work. WAHOO! The weather was in the 80s yesterday and will be for the next few days. It's beautiful here.

Flowers

I don't know what kind of tree (if this is classified as a tree) this is but it's next to my driveway and I love it. I took a close up of it because I like how it starts out with pink buds that turn into pretty white flowers. However, this tree does NOT smell good. I don't know why but I don't like the way it smells.

Well, yesterday I was feeling kind of run down, which I mentioned. So I decided to use the homeopathic pellets that I won at the homeopathy class I went to. I took 5 pellets every 2 hours and I have to say I really think they worked. I felt better as the day went on and my sinus headache went away and today I feel pretty good! Avery is getting better each day. She was always up and running around but oh how I wish she'd blow her nose. The good thing is that she lets me use the booger sucker on her.

It's supposed to be really nice the next few days and warm too! We've got friends coming over on Saturday. I think we'll do some bbq chicken. I think we'll be going to the zoo soon too.

I believe next week is David's last week of school but it might be the week after. He's got to write a research paper that's due this coming week I think. He is writing about Bonneville Salt Flats. He LOVES that place. I guess some people are trying to say that the racing they do on the Flats is detrimental and we should be preserving it. Some say there's some natural stuff going on that is having an affect on the Flats...or something. I'll probably be learning more about it as I will most likely be the one typing the paper :o)  I don't know what David would do without me typing his stuff. Well, I do...he'd be typing something all night long! I typed his papers the first time he was in college too.

I forgot to mention yesterday that I couldn't believe it's been 17 years since the Oklahoma City Bombing. 17 years! That day the whole 5th grade was going to a concert at the Civic Center right near the Murrah building. I am so very thankful that we didn't get there before the bombing happened. We were lined up ready to get on the buses and then we found out. We spent the rest of the day watching the TV.

TGIF!

Silly Girl

Yesterday I walked into the living room and this is where I found Avery. Excuse the mess, please. I also caught her sitting in her baby doll walker. I'm surprised she didn't get stuck in that one. I'm so glad for digital cameras because I can't tell you how many pictures of her I get with her eyes closed.

I have a to do list that is about a mile long. It's a good to do list though :o)

I have been commissioned to plan some trips for this summer. I'm excited!

Avery likes to share with me. She's been kind enough to share her cold with me too. This morning I'm sneezing and have that sick feeling in the back of my mouth. When I was drinking my coffee this morning I could feel it in my ears.

Well, I better get busy. I've got things to do!

Avery likes to look out the window. Yesterday, we I cleaned the windows. The neat thing is that vinegar is a wonderful window wash. I just hate the smell. The wind would blow it into my face. At least it wasn't a chemical laden windex.

Avery found a highlighter yesterday and enjoyed writing on things with it. I have to hide pens/markers from her now. She drew all over the couch with a pen the other day. She draws on herself, tables, chairs...

She was supposed to be getting her shoes so we could go outside but she got mine instead.

This morning Avery has a stuffy nose and is sneezing a lot. Last night she was up about every hour so at 1 I finally got up with her and we sat in the rocker. Her nose was stuffy then too so her being upright helped. I was too tired to find something to try to prop her mattress up. I put her back in bed at 2 something and she slept for maybe an hour or something. Then we were back up and rocking until 4:30 . David's alarm goes off at 4:41. I heard Avery wimper some like she was going to start crying but she didn't. She slept until 7. She's in a good mood and ate all of her breakfast so that's good. She's just sneezy and sniffin' a lot.

It's a rainy morning here. I wish Avery was old enough to crawl back in bed and watch TV or movies or something lol. She'd never lay in bed and I have no TV in my room anyway but seems like it's going to be a nice lazy day.

I'm so tired. And I can't wear my left contact right now because it's scratching my eye for some reason. My eye is on fire right now so I've got the contact soaking. Ugh. I just want to close my eyes...

I think next week is David's last week of school. One semester down!! Woot woot! David's worried about his CNC experience waning because of the situation he is in, I know he'll be fine though. There is an engineering student at his work and David was helping him with something. The kid told him he wished David was in engineering classes because he'd blow the other students out of the water with his knowledge. I try to tell him "see? you've got nothing to worry about" but I don't think it helps. Hopefully the next semesters will be easier and he can get more in a groove. Going back to school is hard. If a kid has the opportunity to go to school while young and not have to work a full time job. They should definitely take advantage of that lol.

Wednesday evening Avery was watching some Barbie video in the living room on her little DVD player. She cracked up at one part of the movie. David and I thought it was funny because she's never really laughed AT something on the TV unless we do of course. She would skip forward in the movie and watch that same scene over and over laughing each time. I had to see what was cracking her up. Barbie plays a dancing princess named Genevieve--there are 12 dancing princesses. All of the princesses were sitting at the table about to eat breakfast and one of the girls is so tired. She has her head propped on her hand and she falls asleep and her head falls and she goes face first into her food. Then some man tries to wake the girls up and picks up a chair and slams it down and the girl jerks her head up with food on her face. I wondered what exactly it was that she thought was funny or at least how much of it she was understanding.

The other night I bought my first beer *gasp*! I made french dips last night and put the beer in with the meat in my crockpot. The recipe had all these wonderful reviews about how the beer added this wonderful, complex flavor to the au jus. Well, I didn't think it made much difference from my usual french dips. Seems like I've tried quite a few recipes lately that have all these wonderful reviews and then we end up thinking they're "eh". Maybe it's us. I also tried the beer because it's made in Provo and I was curious to try this "dark" beer. Blech!!!

TGIF!!! I looooove Fridays! I love having the whole weekend to look forward to.

It's also been 9 years today since my mom died. Man I miss her. I wish she was here to see Avery.

Happy Friday!

Chairs

Avery likes to push her chairs all over the house. She stands on them to see the TV. She pushes them up to the kitchen counters. This morning after she ate her oatmeal, she went on her own and put her bowl and spoon on the kitchen counter. The other day I even caught her in the hallway trying to reach the thermostat. Sometimes she'll push the kitchen table chairs but usually it's one of her small chairs.

Yesterday Avery and I went next door and played with the neighbor boy. He's got a play gym slide swing thing. That kid is really smart. He's 5 and a half and was talking to me about gear ratio's and optical illusions. He's obsessed with elements (as in metals) and is constantly building things. He has a huge K'nex thing that they have to use a ladder for being built in their dining room. His dad is an electrical engineer and teaches his son all of this stuff. All of his toys have birthdays and he has imaginary friends with birthdays too. He told me he has 20 little brothers. So, he's smart buuuuuut kind of strange. Nice kid though. He does not talk like a normal 5 year old at all. He's probably smarter than me. His mom invited me to join a book club in our neighborhood. Apparently there are 2. She said it's been hard to get to know people in this neighborhood. At least she goes to church with people but she said they're kind of cliquey. Then I found out the mom plays on a women's hockey league during the winter and on a men's league during the summer. She doesn't look like a hockey player. She teaches Latin and Ancient History to homeschool kids.

Crazy Avery got up at 6:30 this morning so she's resting now. I thought she'd be asleep but she's just laying in her bed.  Her face is significantly better after having stopped the wheat. I did give her a little yesterday because we had chicken fried chicken for dinner and I noticed it got a little more red. I think I'm on to something here.

My little girl is making some noise so time to go!

This weekend David, Avery and I went for a drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. Alta Ski Resort is up there and when David worked at his old job he made some signs for them and here are a few. I took these with my phone and couldn't see some because of the sun.

 David was excited that they had chocolate covered espresso beans for 25 cents.

Avery is OBSESSED with buckles. Every time we go outside she goes straight to the car and wants to play in it. I think I'm going to go buy some buckles for her to play with. She's also learned to climb into her chair that she eats in and plays with the buckles on it. I had to make her stop though because she would put her feet on the table and rock her chair back. That was a little scary the first time I saw her do that. Had to stop that!

Last night I went to a class about Homeopathy for summer ailments. Most of the people that were there already knew something about homeopathy and had already been using it. The most I've used it is giving Avery some Pulsatilla when she had a snotty nose.  I'm glad I went because I got some background on homeopathy. It's something that has caught my attention and want to learn more about it. Homeopathy is a therapeutic method that uses natural substances in micro-doses to relieve symptoms. It's perfectly safe for everyone in your family. The class was free and they offer classes every week. I think I'm going to go to another one next week. They had a drawing and my name was the first one drawn! They gave me homeopathic medicine for sinus issues. I never have sinus issues so I guess we'll test it out on David :o) Someone won the grand prize which was a basket full of homeopathic medicines. I was jealous lol. I wanted it! I'm really excited that I live near this store and that they offer classes. The guy who owns the store is even available over the phone for you to ask any questions you have. He will also mix custom blends for you since he's a master homeopath. The guy talking last night said that you can treat 70-80% of illnesses with homeopathy.  There was a lady there who is extremely knowledgeable in it and makes herself available for help. She looked like she was from India or somewhere. www.daveshealth.com

For the first time in Avery's almost 18 months of life, I was not home to put her to bed. I really thought David would keep her up but he said she was ready. I was so disappointed! I laugh now but at the time I was sad I wasn't there. David put her to bed on her mattress with no sheet on it so we had to get her up and put her sheet on. Well, didn't have to but I did.

Well, Avery and I are loving this weather. She's getting tan arms while I'm not. I'm waiting for David to get his truck fixed so we can have the car back. The library right by my house has story time on Wednesdays for toddlers so I want to go. Also, it's time for some park trips. I went about 2 weeks ago to the giant park by our house and only us and a lady with her 2 grandkids were there. It was PERFECT. The grandma lost her grandson so I told her where I figured he was and he was there. She was thankful and a little embarrassed that she lost him. Avery loves the park but what kid doesn't? She surprised me by climbing up something that I never would have thought she'd be able to do. She just wanted to climb up the slides too but loved coming down this one metal, wavy slide.

April 21-29 you can get into national parks for free. I think we might take a little trip down to one of the parks down south. Someone told me that if you are Indian and show your Indian card, you can get into parks for free. Well, the national park service says that isn't true. I think I'll ask David what he thinks about buying a pass though because one pass will cover 4 adults getting into a park. So if we go with friends, that would cover them too.

I can't believe David and I will have been married for 7 years on the 23rd. It has been a CRAZY 7 years for sure. I'm looking forward to what our future holds! I'm very happy and blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. I think I'm pretty blessed :o)

Gee, I guess I'm feeling pretty talkative today!

Video

Posted a new one.

Pictures

Avery loves to look out the window.

She got this cup in her Easter basket.

Shortly after this picture she held the cup upside down and the water ran out of the straw all over the couch.

Avery didn't care about the eggs or the basket. She only did it because David acted super excited and picked up the firsts few eggs. As soon as she picked up the last egg she bolted toward the gate to go to the front.


She slept really well Wednesday night and I have paid for it ever since. She was up 4 times last night. She was up a lot and crying a lot Saturday night. David finally got up and watched a movie at 3 in the morning haha. She had gotten a sore butt on Saturday so that's what originally woke her up but after that I don't know what the deal was. She didn't want to be put in her bed. I hope we're not starting a new trend of sitting in the rocker at night. Although, I do have to say I'd love to be sleeping but I love holding her while she's sleeping in the night. It's one of the few times she cuddles!


We are doing a grain free diet for a while. I have suspected for a while that she's having some sort of issues with it. It's hard to cut out grains though! I love grains! In an effort to clear up whatever is around her mouth all the time, I'm cracking down on the grains. She was grain free all day yesterday and so far today and the redness that is around her mouth about 95% of the time is getting better. I've been reading a little on being grain free and it seems like we will all benefit from it. I probably won't be completely grain free but I'm going to try hard to keep Avery grain free for now.


I'm so ready for summer! I'm determined not to waste my time in Utah. I want to explore it! At the end of this month you can get into national parks for free. I hope to take advantage of that. Someone once told me that if you carry an Indian card that you can get into parks for free but I've never been able to find any info on it. I've asked my Indian family and they couldn't give me any concrete answers either. I hope it's true though!


Saturday we went to a guys house that David works with and had dinner. The guy smokes a lot of meat so we were curious to try his food. He made chicken and ribs. The chicken was AMAZING! I asked him how he made it but he had so much stuff I can't remember. He brined it in some concoction he has created. He has a neat playhouse in his back yard that has electricity and AC. He expanded his basement himself...with a 5 gallon bucket. He seriously dug out his basement with a 5 gallon bucket. David says he has so much energy, it's crazy. He's in his early 40's. He was a really nice guy, so was his family.


The weather has been beautiful. Last night was awesome so Avery and I played outside and enjoyed it. We went for a walk. David worked on some homework and then came out with us. We had a great 3 day weekend. Life is good right now. So good.


We are blessed.

Teeth

I am super excited about something. If I mention it, I'm sure I'll end up eating my words but I'll take my chances :o)

I mentioned that I had started Avery and I on some fermented cod liver oil to help with our teeth. Here's the story. I noticed a while back that Avery had a pit on one of her front teeth. I was really bummed about it. My little girl had tooth decay! I am super paranoid about teeth. I used to have recurring dreams about my teeth falling out. Incredibly vivid dreams. Anyways, I was worried about taking Avery to the dentist at such a young age for dental work. I was afraid that they would want to put a cap on her tooth.

So I researched it. Of course I found lots of reasons why her tooth could be decaying: I was introduced to too much flouride at a certain point in my pregnancy, she could have bottle rot (even nursing babies supposedly get this from night nursing but I don't believe this since breast milk has antibacterial properties in it), genetics, too much sugar and even a gluten intolerance that wouldn't allow her to properly digest nutrients causing her body to pull nutrients from her teeth. The last one is actually what I'm leaning more toward but who knows for sure. I just needed to fix her tooth.

I read some really great stories of people healing their teeth through the Weston A. Price diets and his recommendations of fermented cod liver oil/high vitamin butter oil blend. He was a dentist. He felt that if we can heal broken bones, we can heal teeth. There's a lot more to it than that but anywho...

So in comes the fermented cod liver oil/high vitamin butter oil blend. I ordered from supposedly the best source and got it in cinnamon so it'd be easier to take. I also bought cell salts to supplement along with it. Cell salts are minerals. I think our body makes 12 or something so I got 2 that are good for teeth.

I gave Avery the FCLO/butter oil blend and she got red around her mouth. I'm not sure if she had a shellfish reaction or if it was the cinnamon. I've heard from other mother's that their kids had a reaction to the cinnamon. I'm not going to risk it though, at least until I get her tested for a shellfish allergy. I was pretty bummed to not give her the FCLO and had been looking at what else I could do. I kept giving her the cell salts anyway.

Today I was brushing her teeth and wouldn't you know it?! Her tooth is healing!!!!! You can't hardly see the pits at all. She had one, then two and now they're hardly visible!!!!!! You have to get in just the right light to see them and I could barely feel them too. At one point I noticed her tooth had turned a little brown but I ran a cloth over it and it was better but today the color looks EVEN better!

Let's just say I'm proud of myself :o)

This is why I'll end up eating my words haha! I'm going to continue the cell salts and see what else I might want to do. I know of some other options so I might try them. I also have been taking her outside to make sure she's getting some vitamin D. FCLO is an excellent source of vitamins A and D and since that was out, I've been more mindful of being outside with her.

Well that's my exciting story of the day!

New Neighbors

Well, Avery is napping and I should be making a grocery list but instead I'm on here :o)

I don't know what was going on last week (or whenever it was) but my happy child has come back to me.  Except when she wakes from her nap...she cries a lot. Last night she slept the WHOLE night. The WHOLE night!!! She's been getting better about waking up. Sometimes it's only once a night sometimes more but then every once in a while I'm graced by a full night of her sleeping. I wish they'd come more often ;o)

David has tomorrow off for Good Friday. Woot Woot! So today is our Friday! Yay! We would have liked to have gone somewhere but considering we just bought a new AC unit for our house yesterday, maybe we should hold off :o)

I was excited about an upcoming wedding in Preston. I got my invitation yesterday. I was excited to go and see my friends but I was a little disappointed when I saw the date and time on the invitation. Who gets married on a Monday night at 7 pm?!?! I mean it's their wedding and I assume they have a reason for the date and time they chose but it's not a good one lol. David won't be able to go. I thought maybe Avery and I could drive up but I'm not sure if we will.

Nothing else is going on around here. Looks like our downstairs neighbors are moving some stuff in today. I guess they're not moving in until May though. I hope we don't have a repeat of our last neighbors. These new people have been warned that there is a toddler living above them so...we'll see!

A Few Pictures

I love this girl. She's turning into a big girl. I can't believe it.

David had to do a brake job on his truck this weekend.  The brakes have been locking up but they're still doing it so whatever he did over the weekend wasn't the cause although what he did was needed. So, Avery and I kept him company :o)

Avery was checking out the backyard.

I posted a video of Avery doing a puzzle. Actually I am posting one right now and I will post another. They're super short. I'm so proud of her that she can match the pictures and put the puzzles pieces in the right spot. She doesn't always get it in the slot perfectly so she'll just set it where it needs to go.

video

I posted a video of Avery and Dayne playing.

Friends

Yesterday the Brackin's stopped by. Avery just crawled right up into Carson's lap. It was so funny that she did that, especially since it's been so long since she's seen him. I was showing them the pictures of when he held her after she was born and noticed that he was wearing the same shirt!

 Avery is 9 days old in the top picture, 17 months in the bottom one.                                                   

Dayne and Avery playing in the bathroom. I got a cute video of them that I'm going to try to upload in a bit.

I tried to get a picture of all of the kids but Trace wouldn't be in it.

I'm so not liking blogger's new style. Forgive anything weird looking on here :o)