Cold Snap

So we had a "cold snap" here today with lows in the 60s and high of 75.  Its so funny because when we first moved here to South Florida I would laugh so hard at all the people that put on their jackets, fleeces and turtlenecks for frickin high-60 degree weather.  I mean seriously people it is not THAT cold but sure enough when we woke up this morning and the temperature was 61 degrees the entire Winston Family bundled up like it was going to snow or something.  Haha guess we are one of those people I used to laugh at!

*** Excuse our pathetic appearance- these pics were taken at 6:30 this morning!***

Question

Is the video in the below post working for you?  It works on my computer but my sister said its not working for her.  please let me know. thanks!

update 10/28-- alright i give up- i removed the video- sorry!

Speed Racer

Here is another video of my little crawling girl. She is getting very good and very fast! Now I am going to have to make extra sure that our floors are clean!!!!

VIDEO REMOVED- NOT WORKING CORRECTLY- OUR APOLOGIES- ANOTHER TO COME SOON

And here are a few extra pics I took around the house yesterday.

"Hey, Macy- puh-lease wake up and play with me...."

"I really loooove my Halloween socks that Aunt Allison gave me!"

"Mom, please get that camera out of my face- I am trying to crawl!"

Yowza

I had my wisdom teeth taken out yesterday.  I guess I should actually say that I had my wisdom tooth take out yesterday.  Yes, tooth as in singular.  My right wisdom tooth had a root that was stuck on the bone and was running all the way up into my sinus cavity.  So my dentist, who refused to be a "quitter" (his words) pulled, yanked, poked and scraped for TWO hours trying to get the tooth root out.  So he drilled up into the sinus cavity and was eventually able to get the root out, thank God.  But he said my mouth had been through so much trauma that he didn't want to do anymore teeth at this time.  So I now have a small hole from my sinus cavity into my mouth, which feels SO weird.  He said he put me on the strongest anti-infection and pain meds he possibly could and I have to be super duper careful about certain things (what i eat, drink, not using a straw, avoiding sneezing, etc.) so that I make 100% sure that the sutures all heal well, because if they don't it could create an enormous problem.  

The good news is that the medications must be working because I am not really in a lot of pain and am really not all that swollen, but I just feel pretty sore- like I got punched in the jaw or something.  The bad news is that I am going to have to go through this all again eventually in order to get the other wisdom teeth out. 

Luckily I have the best hubbie in the whole world who was able to get off early yesterday and pick up Avery for me.  He came home and took complete care of her while I rested which was SO nice.  He has been so amazing and doted on me all night- thanks so much babe!  I love you!

Best Laid Plans

Well, I had the best of intentions.  I was really excited to be eco-friendly, money-saving, forward thinking cloth diapering parents but its not in the cards for us.  We only recently begun 24 hr cloth diapering with Avery (the nanny just agreed to start doing it) and it has come to our attention that she is allergic to them.  It seems really odd because before we even ordered them I bought 2 diapers and we used them for 3-4 days, all day and night and didn't notice any problems.  Not really sure why they are causing problems now.  We haven't changed detergent, liners, anything.

We just jumped back into the cloth diapering this Monday and almost immediately Avery developed a terrible rash on her bottom.  We stopped (obviously) and let the rash heal and I thought I would make 100% sure it was the diapers (we spent over $200 on these so i wanted to be completely sure that they were the culprit for the rash) so I put one more on her and sure enough it caused a huge rash all over her little tooshie.  My poor baby has the reddest, little chaffed bottom.  And we are stuck with 14 almost new cloth diapers.  

I googled it and almost nobody is ever allergic to these things but of course we are amongst the minority.  So now its back to those chemical-filled, expensive disposables.  Let me tell you it pained me to buy a new package of diapers today.  

So sadly I guess I am going to try to sell the diapers on ebay or something.......anybody out there interested in 14 almost new BumGenius 3.0 diapers or know somebody who might be?  I will give you a good deal :-)  Don't be shy now!

***Updated 10/23/08 the diapers are SOLD!  Yay! ****

It's my birthday...

.....and I can CRAWL if I want to!

Happy 7 month old birthday baby girl!!!

***She also learned to pull up on furniture today!!  Look out world, here she comes...........*****

Bottoms Up

We had a big day here in the Winston house beginning with Avery learning how to hold her sippy cup correctly and drink it on her own. I know it doesn't sound like much but after a few weeks of her trying to hold it upside down, sucking on the handles, and spilling it everywhere, it really is a big accomplishment!  To be honest she doesn't do it correctly all the time but we are still pretty proud of our little independent drinker!



And then we got a brand new toy!  We noticed that Avery was LOVING this toy at church the other day so we went out and got her one today.  She loved it and played with it all afternoon.  Its actually really a cute toy with all the little knobs and toys resembling different types of fruits and veggies.  And it even sings the ABCs and 123s--and its not nearly as annoying as some of her other baby toys......at least not yet.  And I must say that  Avery is getting pretty good at standing but mommy stays close by just in case.  

She is not pulling up yet.  Well she is on us but not really on furniture or anything yet.  But I think it's only a matter of time...........No rush Avery, take your time sweetie  :-)

And lastly we got to have a great night together as a family.  Matt was home from the game at about 4 so I was able to try out my new recipe for chicken and dumplings (turned out sooooo good!) and Avery got to spend the rest of the evening playing on the floor with her daddy.

And yes that is an inflatable pool in my living room.  What you don't have one?  Well then you really should get with it!

Bright Sunshiny Day

Its cooled off a teensy bit here, relatively speaking. I mean today it was only 90 degrees instead of 95....so that is some progress, right? Well we decided to take advantage of the nice sunny day and play outside a while. Avery is so much more mobile now that I can hardly keep her from pulling the grass out and trying to put it in her mouth. Now don't me wrong I don't care if she pulls out the grass, gets messy, and even if she eats a piece or two of grass thats OK (kind of) but this little lady wants to eat huge fistfuls of grass...and mud. Uck. That is where i draw the line. But we had a nice little day outside anyways.....for about 10 minutes and then we got hot and sweaty and then went back inside to the cool AC!  

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Here is a shout out to my original children- my pups.  They are so well-behaved and their lives have changes dramatically since the birth of Avery and they don't get nearly the praise they deserve.  I love all my girls!

Annoyed

Let me tell you about my day yesterday..........

I have been having some tooth pain and for the past 3 days I can only open my mouth about halfway (which makes eating REALLY tricky) so I found a dentist and had an appt at 9AM.  Once I get in there they try to take x-rays and I can't open my mouth wide enough to get the so they send me to another office in another town 30 minutes away to get panaramic xrays taken- you don't have to open you mouth at all to take these.  Well I waited in the waiting room for TWO hours to get these x-rays taken, and for those of you who don't know me that well- i am not a very patient person, so needless to say I was so annoyed.  And I was supposed to be going to work after my 9AM appt-needless to say I had to call in for the entire day.  Annoying. 

Once I finally got the xrays taken I took them back to the original dentist's office and finally got to see the actual dentist.  At this point it is 2PM. After he ripped my mouth open and tried to "stretch" my jaw (aka pull as hard as he could to make it open wider), poked all my teeth, and stuck things into my gums it has been decided that my wisdom teeth are infected and impacted and I have to get them out ASAP. uggggghhhhhhh.

Let me tell you the annoying thing is that 5 years ago I went to my dentist when I felt the beginnings of my wisdom teeth coming in and he said that my wisdom teeth were "coming in at an angle that would not disrupt my other teeth" and we should just go ahead and let them come on in.  Then another dentist in Houston agreed.  Well I was informed by the dentist yesterday that it was a ridiculous recommendation to let my wisdom teeth come in.  Great.  Nice to know.......

So he put me on amoxicillan to stop the infection and hydrocodone for the pain.  I have to be on the antibiotics for 5 days to decrease the infection and then we have surgery scheduled for next Wed.  BOOOOOHOOOOOO.  I am so annoyed.  Annoyed because i KNEW this was going to happen and should have trusted my gut 5 years ago and got a second opinion then.  Annoyed because I have to take another day off work.  Annoyed that its going to cost us $450 to get this done (and we HAVE insurance!).  Annoyed because arranging for this surgery (childcare, picking up avery, picking/dropping me off, etc)  is really hard to do when you don't have any close friends or family in the area to help you.  And just downright annoyed to have to have this surgery at all.  I know people have their wisdom teeth taken out every day and its not really that big of a deal but ugggghhhhhhhhh its just not really what i wanted to be dealing with right now.  So annoying. 

Photo Hunt Game

Can you see a difference in the two pictures? Look closely at the crib. The first picture was taken before Avery's arrival and the second picture was taken last night.




 

Have you figured it out yet?  Its really hard to see but we had to move the mattress down to the lower position last night.  Avery has yet to pull herself up but its only a matter of time (and she has been trying to do it a little bit) so we decided to play it safe and move her down now. So far I hate it.  It is soooo much harder to lay her down in the lower position- my arms/body are not long enough (and I am really not that short).  I am going to have to work on the "transition" from my arms to the crib because I keep waking her up now everytime.  Maybe I should try a little stepstool?      
Also, I know this is going to sound crazy but I completely teared up afterwards. Seeing her bed in the lower "big girl" position was such a milestone of how big she is getting and how fast she is growing that it really made me a little sad.  Time is flying and I feel like I am trying to soak up every day, every minute, every second- but it is still going waayyy too fast for me.  Who knew a mattress would send me into an emotional fit????  :-)

Our Pumpkin Patch Trip

I know this is my 3rd post for today (I am really cool, i know) but I was inspired by everyone else's pumpkin patch pictures so Matt, Avery and I loaded up and went to the pumpkin patch today too.  It was a small one but they had tons of pumpkins to choose from.  Avery was not in her best mood so she really wasn't too impressed but we tried really hard to get some good pictures anyway............not very successful.  Decide for yourself.

Touching a pumpkin for the first time.  Of course she wanted to put her mouth on it and got pissed when I would not let her suck on the dirty pumpkin.  I know, I am a mean mommy.

"what the heck is going on?"  

This picture cracks me up because I took about a billion pics trying to get her to look at us.  Both Matt and I were saying her name, making faces, making noises for like 3 minutes trying to get a good picture- then this 5 year old girl walks behind us and waves at her and then she FINALLY looks and smiles........maybe she is soooo over her parents???!!!

I really don't like this picture at all but it is seriously the only one I got of her looking like she is having a semi-good time.  And I think it looks like one of those cheesy backdrops they use at the Sear's studio.  I swear we really were at a REAL pumpkin patch!

thisclose

Avery is thisclose to crawling.  She sits back on her heels and rocks and then tries to propel herself forward......which usually ends up as a bellyflop.  But she is getting there...........not too sure if I am ready for her to be that mobile yet!  She most definitely has that commando crawl thing down and is super fast when she is trying to get to the remote, my phone, the computer, or the dogs toys! 

And just in case anyone notices (or cares) Avery is wearing a disposable diaper here.  boooo we are bad, i know.  But we have a huge box that i bought pre-cloth diapers, and she is about to outgrow it so we are going to go through them and then jump back on the cloth-diaper train.  AND the good news is that our nanny said she will use them at her house too! yay!

Messy Cookies

Avery is quickly outgrowing her 3-6 month clothes so I have been trying to make her wear the cute outfits just ONE MORE TIME!  She has so many cute little dresses and outfits in the 3-6 month size that it literally kills me to pack them up!  And the sad thing is that all the clothes in the stores here (Babies R' Us, Target, GapKids, etc.) are all for cold weather which we DO NOT have here in Florida so the pickings are very slim for the 6-12 month stuff that she can actually wear here.  Luckily I have found 2 amazing baby consignment stores that are nearby and they carry some of the cutest stuff and lots of it even has the tags still on it!  Here is Avery modeling one of the outfits that I am trying to make last a liiiiiittttle bit longer :-)

Avery must be so grateful to her Nana (my mom) because she opened up my eyes to all different types of foods that I can try to give Avery.  Since I am a first-time mom I always feel like I have to go by "the rules" of what the books say of when to give new foods to Avery and really its not as strict of a process as I was trying to make it.  So now in addition to the tortillas that she got to taste in Texas we have tried bagels, cheerios, Gerber puff, and just yesterday we tried those Gerber biter biscuits.  It was super duper messy but Avery seemed to LOVE it!!!!!





Notice how in the last picture i got smart and took her shirt off of her!  Duh!

Extras

Here are a few extra pics from our Texas trip.  We are still recovering and trying to get back into our "normal" schedule.  Avery still seems a little bit tired and has been sleeping a little bit more than normal.  And I am still trying to catch up on laundry, dishes, grocery shopping and everything else I put off before we left.  Needless to say I am already looking forward to the weekend so both Avery and I can sleep, rest, relax and play all day long.  

These pictures were taken at the state fair.  We had just stopped to eat lunch- of course we had the famous Fleisher's corny dogs- yummy!  I was trying to get some cute pics of her by the pond but she was more interested in getting my camera in her mouth.

And here are a few more from our plane ride home.  Needless to say I was really nervous about flying alone with Avery.  I was petrified that she was going to be one of "those babies" that cried the whole flight and drove everyone crazy.  Thankfully, she was a little angel.  I brought her a TON of toys to occupy her, and of course all she played with was the cup, spoon, and stir stick that the flight attendant gave her.  She did get a little crabby towards the end of the flight but I fed her and rocked her until she fell fast asleep.  

Also the fact that I didn't have to worry about lugging a bunch of baby stuff- carseat, stroller, pack and play- was a huge relief.  It made traveling so much easier.  All I did this time was pack a small bag that i could throw over my shoulder and either carry Avery or wore her in my Baby K'Tan carrier.  Super easy.  And i actually think she liked it!  Thanks again Mom for buying all that stuff for us- made our lives much easier!

Now here is hoping that the rest of this week goes by fast because the weekend can't get here soon enough!

Big Tex

We made it home safe and sound!  We had a fun and VERY busy trip.  I wasn't sure the best way to post all the pics so I am going to go day by day so be ready.......this will probably be a very long post!

Day 1- Traveling To Texas

Avery did really good on the plane and we got so lucky because we had the entire row to ourselves.  She just played, looked around, and flirted with all the people around us.  I had to post these pics of her sitting in the seat all by herself like a big girl and also the pic of her in her cute Juicy Couture outfit- so cute!

Day 2- Lunch with Family, Shopping & Play-date with the Kappa Girls

Lunch with Aunt Rosalie and Cousin Danny (not pictured)

On Thursday evening a bunch of my sorority sisters and I met up at Lisa's house (thanks again for hosting Lis!) and got all the babies together.  There ended up being 8 of us and 5 babies so needless to say it was a fun, noisy, loud, extremely fun place to be.  Of course I only got pictures of the babies- remember the days we used to take pictures of ourselves-haha those days are long gone I guess.

Avery & Campbell

Awww, they are besties

Holden is the oldest and can crawl and climb everywhere- including on top of the other babies!  The other babies just watched him, envious that he is so mobile.

Brooks & Avery sitting in a tree..........

OK this was the original picture of all 5 babies.  All these babies were born within a 2 month span of each other (from Jan- March) and we all had a joint baby shower last December where we all recieved these GO KAPPA onesies.  So this picture was taken at our very first playdate in May.

Avery, Holden, Harper, Brooks, Campbell

And now these are the same babies taken 4 months later.  Isn't it amazing how fast they change??!!!

Campbell, Harper, Brooks, Avery, Holden

You have NO idea how much harder it was to take a group shot this time.  The babies are so much more mobile and tempermental.  We had such a blast seeing everyone and it made me miss my friends even more. I miss you girls and hope to see you again really really soon!

Day 3- Lunch with the Great-Grandparents and Dinner with the Grandparents

We met my grandparents at Good Eats in Denton.  They are famous for the chicken-friend-steaks so I figured HAAAD to try it- and then i got carried away with the whole "well they don't have this stuff in Florida so I better get it now" idea and ended up ordering a huge southern meal of sweet tea, homemade rolls, chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and homemade peach cobbler----yummmmmm!  I was SOOO full and I really think i gained 5 lbs while I was in Texas.

This was a big day because it was Avery's very first time to sit in a high chair.  She thought she was so cool and just banged on the table the entire meal.  She is getting so big!

Later that night just me, mom, Steve and Avery went out for Mexican food.  It is so nice to see your family interacting with your child and something that I really miss since we live so far away.  Avery sat with Steve all night and he fed her, played with her, and entertained her the whole meal.  It was great for me because I got to eat yummy mexican food and sip my margarita in peace-ha!

This is also a monumental picture because it was Avery's first time to eat a tortilla.  I didn't know she was "allowed" to eat tortillas but my mom convinced me to try it.......she loved it.  I was so impressed because she went through like 3 tortillas in record time and I was thinking that she must really love them until we got up to leave and i saw a huge, slimy, pile of mushed up tortillas under her high chair- i am not sure she actually got any into her mouth but she sure did like sucking on them and smooshing them up!

Day 4-  The State Fair and Dinner with Bebo & Mischa

The State Fair was one of the main reasons that we came into town.  My mom had it in her head that she wanted to take her grandbaby to fair before her 1st birthday.  So my wonderful, amazing mom planned our whole trip, bought our plane ticket, bought all the baby gear and bought our fair tickets.  It was so much fun.  We got there around 10:30ish in the morning which was wonderful because it was not crowded and wasn't too hot yet.  We really had a blast and Avery had so much fun looking at everything.  Thanks again Mom and Steve for our wonderful trip- we love you!

They had the most amazing petting zoo with giraffe, zebra, camel, ostrich, and so many more unique animals.  It was so funny to watch Avery react to everything!

Aunt Allison

So sweet

After the fair we went to meet up with my dad and Michelle.  This was their very first time to meet Avery and they arranged for my stepsisters Meg and Candace to be there too- so it was a whole family reunion!  We got to visit all night and go to a nice dinner.  It was a great way to end the trip.

This is the only picture I got of the two grandkids together because they were both a little fussy and when one would cry then the other would start up too........it was sort of funny but very loud!

Bebo & Avery

Loves those tortillas now

 Bebo and Mischa with the grandkids

She thinks its so funny to drink water from a straw........I made the mistake of trying it once and now she reaches for the straw and water glass everytime she sees one.

We had such an amazing time.  We got to see so many of our family and friends.  Thank you so much to all of you who arranged your schedule so that you could visit with us.  We are so lucky to have so many fabulous people in our lives.  We miss you guys so much already and Avery is already ready to come back..........................