Avery's Big Girl Bed

By September, Avery had become highly skilled at jumping out of her crib, so Ez decided to take the rail off the front and convert it into a toddler bed. It took her 5 seconds to learn she could crawl out of her bed and into ours...every night for the next 2 months. So, we decided it was time for an upgrade. I found this antique twin bed on craigslist, and thought it would be perfect in a creamy off-white. I also thought it would be a great idea to spray the bed for a store bought finish...what a nightmare. Ten coats of latex, oil primer and paint later Ez finally conquered the annoying yellow-brown tannins that kept bleeding through every layer. Ez finally finished it and Avery loves it! Here is the before and after of her new Big Girl Bed.

Merry Christmas

Halloween Night

Halloween Night was super fun, but super FREEZING cold. I didn't really get to take any pics of Avery all dressed up trick-or-treaing because she was so cold Ezra had to carry her from house to house. It was so cold, we decided to hit 15 houses with the Trockels and head back to our house to hand out some candy.

Ave really wanted me to dress up too, so here is the prego witch.

Ez was a last minute Skeleton. I think Avery was a little scared of him at first. She kept reminding me that Dadda was a NICE Skeleton, not a mean one.

Halloween Activites 09

Avery was a WiTcH for Halloween this year. She made it very clear to us and anyone that asked, that she was a SCARY witch not a nice witch. She loved her costume, and begged to wear it before, during, and after halloween. She also loved to watch You Tube clips of various witches with Ez and quickly picked up lines like
"I'll get you my pretty and your little dog too!" Thoughout the month we tried to go to every Halloween activity we could find. We attended a few Story times' at Pottery Barn and Barnes and Noble. Below are pics of Ave decorating a pumpkin and a little craft at our local mall kids club. The invite said the kids would be painting pumpkins in their halloween costumes?!? Sounded a little scary/messy. When we arrived the paint was replaced by sharpie markers and glitter glue. I'm not sure which is worse, but we made it out of there without any permanent damage. The also had free face painting...1 Scary witch on her arm, she was a happy girl!
We also attended the church Halloween party. Avery had a great time. The mummy cupcake she won in the cake walk was the highlight, until she went trick-or-treating door to door at the end of the party. It was so cute! At each door she would say the magic words and then stick her Halloween bucket right up in the persons face and wait for her candy. They thought it was pretty funny too, and I think she scored extra candy. What can I say the girl knows how to work it.

Ave and her BFF Lorenzo at the party.

Mission Accomplished

For the last month or so, I have spent every morning on the phone and internet in search of the H1N1 vaccine for Avery and I. Since we are both "high risk", I really never thought it was going to be so hard to get our hands on. My OBGYN decided since he never gets the flu or flu shots, that his patients didn't need to have the vaccine. So he didn't order it and refused to offer it to his pregnant patients ?!? After many failed attempts to get it from other offices that where saving their supply for their patients only, I let my OB know that I was considering transfering to another office to get the vaccine. I suggested he call in a favor to one of his OB buddies who did order the vaccine, and the next day I got from the office letting me know they had located one and were holding it for me at an office in Niagara Falls.

It was a bit of a drive, but getting the vaccine makes me feel a lot better about flying home for the holidays. Getting the shot for Avery was a whole other issue. Her Ped office had it for a fraction of a week, never offered it for her age group and then ran out. Luckily Ez was watching the news on Thursday night when they announced a Swine Flu vaccine clinc that was being held 45 mins away in the neighboring county. They urged people to not arrive early. I didn't listen and neither did the 300 other people that were standing outside in line before me when I showed up. After 3.5 HOURS of waiting outside...we are both vaccinated!

Keeping Avery entertained for almost 4 hours standing in line wasn't the easiest thing. I am lucky she loves Sleeping Beauty and Snow White so much, she sat happily in her stroller watching her DVD player for the most part. There were so many parents that had it worse than I did. The worst part was definitly when we neared the end of the line where the shots were being given. You would have thought kids were dying in there with all the terrified screams coming from the shot room. It was hard to convince the kids still waiting to get closer to that room they were in line for a good reason. Slightly tramatizing for all involved.

Dr. Avery

Now Accepting New Patients Every Night Around her Bedtime...

This is what our nightly bedtime routine has come to. The only way she will brush her teeth is if she can dress up in Ezra's "Dentist Shirt", clip on his clinic name badge, and give him a thorough tooth tickling. Once his cleaning is complete she will let Ez be the Dentist and brush her teeth. Super Annoying...but Super Cute at the same time.

Tooth brushing is usually followed up by story time. More often than not she will turn down the couple of books she has picked out for a chance to look at pictures on Ezra's laptop. Pictures of what you might ask?? Oh just detailed photos of people with black rotted out teeth, missing teeth, crowns, fillings etc. He initially showed the gross pics to demonstrate why she should brush her teeth. Well now she is hooked.

SpOOkY Dinner Party

So we decided to have a little last minute Haunted Halloween party. I made a Pumpkin Veggie Tray
...and some Mummy Dogs.

Here are some of the tasty treats or ghoulish guests came up with on last minute notice...I was very impressed. Fun Times.

Nacho Cheese dip (not pictured) with GraveYard Toppings by the Trockels

Halloween Tortilla Chips by the Trockels

Chocolate Covered Mice by the Trockels

Spider Web Guacamole by the Sowells

Ghostly Rice paired with Eyeball Meatballs(below) by the Sowells

Ghost Cupcakes by the Sowells

Mini Mummy Pizzas by the Kings

Devilish Deviled Eggs by the Kings

Frozen Eye Balls by the Kings
Halloween Pumpkin Bread by the Bennions

RIP Micheal Jackson Pudding Cups by the Whiteakers

BONEy BFFs

These two rubbery skeletons and little Ave are attached at the hips'. She takes them everywhere and talks to them like real people. Poor girl, since I am pregnant and slightly paranoid about contracting the SWINE flu...these are the only two friends she is allowed to play with on a regular basis. I know I am mean, but she didn't seem to mind. ...Until yesterday when I heard her yelling "BAD SKELETON" and throwing them against a wall. I don't know what they did wrong, but they must have apologized because ten minutes later I saw the three of them cuddling on the couch watching Sponge Bob together.

Hanging out in the kitchen.
Watching a little TV together.

A SpOOkY HoUsE

So this year since Avery is completely obsessed with Halloween, I decided we should probably decorate the house. I usually consider decorating for every holiday a bit of a waste of money, but Avery was so excited I couldn't resist. She absolutely loves it, I'm scared I may have to leave it up year round. We also happened to watch HGTV's Halloween Spooktaular Show last week. And lets just say it has sparked her interest in interior design. I have caught her several times trying to wrap my dining room table legs in toilet paper. "Mom, I am making our table into a mummy!"

She also decided our white couch would be much more festive if she drew her version of a pumpkin on it with a black ink pen. Yeah I tried hairspray removal, didn't work...so it will be there next Halloween...SUPER!

It's Alive

We found out a few weeks ago that Avery will have her very own baby brother. That's right, I have 6 storage bins of girl clothes, two pink strollers, dollhouses and princess dresses galore....and we are having a BOY!! Awesome! So I guess we are living the dream...one of each and then we can be done...or at least that's how I feel right now being prego. But I really can't complain too much. As of a few weeks ago, I suddenly stopped throwing up everyday. Now its only a couple times a week in the morning, big improvement since I threw up everyday, multiple times a day with Avery. These are the ultrasound pics from my 19 week appointment. He looks perfectly happy and healthy so far, kicking me like crazy. We are excited and scared, but EXCITED!!

and....about NAMES...we are open for suggestions!! If you think of anything that flows with our LAST NAME!?! Like Bobby or Billy Bob...Just kidding...but seriously we need help!