I'm getting so excited about Christmas! I get excited every year but it's even more exciting with Avery here. I was thinking about traditions that we can do as a family and keep Christ as the center of Christmas and found some good ideas on the internet. I love love love christian blogs! I'm glad other people have good ideas that I can "steal" haha!

I'm so frustrated with our living situation. The people downstairs are ridiculous. I think if you expect us to be mindful of the noise we make, you should too. The guy always has his TV turned up incredibly loud. It has never bothered us too much because in our living room you can't hear it too much but he's started keeping it loud until 11 twice this week. Avery's room is right above their living room. It hasn't kept her awake but it's still making me mad. David put tape around the door that goes downstairs and a towel at the bottom to help muffle the sound and it worked some.

The main problem is that we are in an ideal location. And to stay in this location and not pay out the wazoo, you have to live in a 2 family house. If you want a whole house to yourself, you pay for it. We also need a 2 car garage. Those are limited around here. If we move any further south, David will have a heck of a time getting home because of traffic. If we move further west, it's not the nicest area. We're close to the highway and school. It's a nice neighborhood. I need to look into seeing what it costs to live further north. We're in south Salt Lake, maybe we could find something in north Salt Lake. I hope that by the time our lease is up, we can find something that will work for us I'm ready to find a place to stay for a long time. Moving into this house was such a mistake :(

Yuck

So I never get sick but this last week I've been sick. Not down and out sick but a head/throat thing that won't go away. It's so annoying. I can't even remember the last time something has stuck around this long.

David went to Preston on Friday night to get some stuff of his and came home Saturday. He told me he was feeling kind of achey. Well, we went out with the Brackin's and then he came home and went straight to bed with fever, chills and aches. He woke up the next day feeling fine. I don't think he was 100% but he said he felt a million times better and he acted perfectly fine. So I hope Avery doesn't catch all of this. I hope she gets my immune system haha. David always gets things worse than I do. This time mine is lasting longer but the symptoms haven't had me laid up in bed.

We went and bought Avery a coat last night and got our sledding discs from Preston. The park near our house has a huge hill you can sled down so we plan on taking Avery sledding this winter! I'm pretty excited about it. I think she'll really like it.

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. We'll be celebrating with our friends here in Salt Lake. It's funny because I feel like a real adult doing my own Thanksgiving! We've always gone to Bonnie's or the Brackin's.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas! I can't wait to put a tree up but I'm going to have to wait. I think I'm going to get a real one this year and then try to get a pre-lit one on sale.

I'm also looking forward to next September when I can move out of this house. It can't come fast enough. Actually I can't wait for the downstairs people to move out. I hate this living situation. David was about to have me text them last night because the guy plays video games REALLY loud and he was still going at 11. But then I heard the girl yelling at him, he still didn't turn down the volume and then we heard a door slam and THEN we heard him turn it off. So thankfully I didn't have to ask them to turn it down. I avoid them at all costs except for the other day when she pushed me to my limit. For the last 2 months I've tried as hard as I can to keep the peace but she made me mad. Grr I don't like her.

Anyway, it's beautiful outside. I need to go get Avery some shoes so she can walk around outside. She has a pair that seem like they should fit but I think she might have a wide foot. I had to take the shoe laces out for them to fit and then I couldn't get her right foot to stop popping out of the shoe. She loves eing outside. I think we'll go for a walk later. She loves going on walks.

A Few Pics

In the picture below, Avery had hit her daddy in the face and all we said was "Don't hit" and she burst into tears. Broke her heart :(
Love this kid. Alot.

An Apple A Day...

Keeps the doctor away! Look at those pretty blue eyes :)

She LOVES to draw.

Tonight I was looking back at my posts from when she was born and the month after. I just can't believe that little baby has turned into this toddler. I'm just as in love with her now as when she was born. I could kiss those cheeks all day. And believe me, they do get kissed alot!

I was looking at a picture of me when I was pregnant, 2 days before I had her. Geez I forgot how big my belly was! What a fun time. This time is fun too.

This past year has gone so fast and it boggles my mind to think at this time next year she'll be two. Wow.

Avery is so silly and such a joy. I forgot when I was putting down the things she does now to add that every night when it's time to go to bed, she tells her daddy night night. Any time you mention night night, she'll wave bye bye and say bye bye. So every night she waves and tells her daddy bye when she goes to bed. It's so cute.

That's all for now.

Thankful

So thankful I get to stay home and play with this silly girl.

Rambling On and On

I think I've said it before on here but I love this website called Pinterest. There are just so many awesome ideas on there. The latest thing that I found on there that I really want to do is to make journals for each of my children. Pretty leather journals that I want to write letters, memories and anything else pertaining to that child. I think it would be such a wonderful gift to give them one day. I think it particularly hits home with me because I don't come from a family of story tellers. I don't know things about me as a child that I wish I did know. Unfortunately I've learned a hard lesson about this. Sometimes you realize things too late. I wish I would have prodded my mom for more information about me as a baby/kid.

A while back I also started labeling things and need to finish it up. I have a tub of Avery's things I've put away for her. I intend on labeling them so that when she's older she'll look at something and know exactly what it is. I have chests and trunks full of items that were kept for a reason but I don't know what those reasons are. Clothing and other items that I don't even know who exactly they belong to. I hate that.

I'm very good about making sure I label photos too. Another pet peeve...not knowing who are in old photos that I have.

I was also thinking this morning about how much I love watching Avery figure things out. I love the little things that she does. So of course, I'm going to put them on here :) I love the big milestones but I love these little ones:

--I love how she gets so excited turning the light switch on and off (and on and off...). Her face lights up when she realizes she turned the light off and then back on. She flips the switch and then flips her head around to see what she has done.

--I love that she can close a drawer and keep her fingers out of the way.

--I love how she tries to turn the stick that hangs from the blinds.

--She imitates me and takes a rag and wipes the couch off or table.

--She pushes buttons on the DVD player and then looks at the TV to see what she's done. She's been learning a big lesson in cause and effect!

--I love how excited she gets when it's bath time. When I undress her she'll help pull the shirt off her head and then it's so cute how she'll step out of her pants. I also love how she puts her arm through her sleeves when getting dressed.

It just amazes me how she learns when I'm not even trying to teach her. Then it amazes me how she won't cooperate with the things I am trying to teach her haha!

I am so thankful that I am blessed enough to experience what it is to be a mother. I love my husband and he comes first. But the love of my baby is something different...

Update

We had a good weekend. We woke up to beautiful, fat snow falling on Saturday morning. I love fall and winter. Some days are dreary in a bad way but I just love the coziness. I love having my heater on and cozy'n up. The weekend was especially good because our downstairs neighbors are not here. They left at 4 in the morning on Thursday and haven't been back. It's been awesome.

David and I have been blessed with having a wonderful landlord. I finally told him today about our "relationship" with the underlings and he's dealt with the same bad attitude from the girl. He came over tonight to flip a breaker that we couldn't get to since the underlings are gone and told us that he is giving them a notice that this will be their last month. Their lease was up Oct 31. The girl is mad at our landlord for giving us the driveway so I guess they decided they were going to leave but then decided to stay longer. Our landlord sweetly offered us the house they live in if they move (they'll find out in the next 30 days). The situation seemed better...3 bedrooms, basement that we get and it's only $50 more. But there's no back yard and only one side of a leaky garage. Then the landlord offered to let us rent his walk out basement if they get the new house. He truly is a kind man. His wife is too. Wonderful people.

AVery is the cutest thing ever. I noticed the other day that she had quit crawling completely. She is constantly on the move. It's so cute to watch her. She's getting pretty fast too and has great balance.

Some one year updates on her (minus height and weight): She obviously is walking now, she is showing her temper and acting less like a baby every day. She enjoys eating anything we're eating. She prefers to drink water over anything else. She likes cinnamon applesauce better than plain. She plays with her food lately. She likes to pick it apart now, which is kind of annoying sometimes. She likes to put food in her mouth and then pull it out and then eat it. She loves electronics of any kind. She loves to stand at the window at the head of our bed. She likes to jump in her bed. She's still a pain to get dressed. She's better about not fussing when getting her diaper changed. She thinks she's funny and she is. She gets really excited every day when her daddy comes home and even gets in a better mood when he's home if she's been grumpy. She has no attachment to any toy or blanket or anything else. She's the happiest baby I know. She's such a blessing and makes our life so much better. She tries so hard to talk and it's the cutest thing ever. She crosses her ankles like a little lady. Adorable.

Well, I'm tired and I can't think of anything else. Back to the grind tomorrow. Thankful for a wonderful weekend!