Avery's wedding day...

Ok, so weird title...but it'll make sense in a minute. Remember this post where I talked about dreaming of Avery wearing the same earrings I wore on my wedding day and that she wouldn't be able to b/c the darn robbers took them along with my jewelry box??? Well look here:


I found them!!! I was going through an old makeup basket that I haven't used in months and saw the box...I opened it up expecting it to be empty and almost fell over when I saw my earrings. I litterally screamed and Kevin came running over. I looked at Avery who was sitting on my vanity waiting to get her hair blowdried before her nap and just gave her kisses...knowing that my dreams may come true. If she decides not to wear them then that's fine, but at least she will have that choice now! AHHHHHH!!!!

We've upped the security at our house. I've gotten  more paranoid and still blow dry my hair facing my bedroom door. I still check closets and jump at loud noises. I suppose it will just take time to feel secure again in my own home. In the meantime I'm on cloud nine!!!

It's a great Easter so far!!! Will post more on that later!!!

Sleep baby sleep

A few people have asked about Avery and how she was sleeping b/c of this post and this post. My parents were actually really worried. Truthfully I was too. I was actually really frightened that there was really something wrong b/c she was refusing to go in her crib, to lay down at all, and it looked like she was fighting sleep. As I've said before she has a really tough time with teething and she goes through periods where it is tough to put her to bed. But typically it isn't as hard to put her to sleep at night than it is for nap time. She's def never just sat in the corner for hours and refused to lay down.

To ease some of my worries, I actually spoke to her nanny for a while about what we were going through at night. I had already told her that she was having a really hard time going to sleep at night, but I didn't go into any details. She said everything was fine at daycare and she's a happy kid. The only time she cries is during drop off and pick up. She doesn't like it when she can't see Ms. Debbie and tends to follow her around and will refuse to lay down and nap unless she has her within her sight. I asked if she rocked Avery for nap time b/c I haven't rocked her since she was 13 months old and weaned from her bottle, but she started to say "chair" and pointing to her recliner for us to sit and cuddle at night. I told her this wasn't an issue, but just wanted to know. She advised that she cuddled Avery for a few minutes during the first week or so, but hasn't since. When Avery first started daycare and pointing at her chair we would literally only sit on the chair for 10 sec before she wanted to go in her crib, but during this whole "ordeal" we would sit in the chair forever!

So here's our theories of what might have been going on:

1) She was teething like we thought. 8 long days after the first incident, I got a pic message from Kevin showing Avery laying down for a nap. He said that she just layed down right away. That was on a Sunday afternoon. Sunday night I wanted to see if she had issues going to sleep so I tried to put her to sleep. I started to go through our old routine of standing by her crib, cuddling and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I didn't even make it past "little" before she was reaching for crib and saying "bed" and "nite nite". It's been a breeze since...KNOCK ON WOOD!!!

2) Her ears were bothering her...possibly from teething...possibly from an ear infection. By the time we were going to take her to the doctor she was fine. Besides we kept getting mixed answers from her when we would ask if her ears hurt. She'd say yes then no. If I asked her if she had an owie, she'd say "owie. boo boo." and grab her knee. Anyway, when kiddos have an earache it hurts to lay down so that may have been a reason why she was refusing to lay down.

3) She just needed some extra time with us and needed the extra attention and cuddles. We gave her that. I made sure to give her as much one on one time as possible when I got home from work b/c I have a feeling that she may be taking it extra hard that I've gone back to work. All she's ever known is Mommy being home with her and now I'm dropping her off at Ms. Debbie's.

I'm just relieved she is sleeping better. She was a grouchy little kiddo in the mornings b/c she wasn't sleeping well. Now, she doesn't cry when I go into her room to get her ready for daycare. Then again I usually have a banana or a granola bar to bribe her with...hey, whatever works, right???

Easter Egg Hunting

We went to an Easter party this past weekend that a couple of my friends were hosting. Crazy me didn't look at the invite and thought it was at 10:30...nope it started at 10 am. Would have been fine, but we were already running late. Sorry little kiddos for making you wait and just watching the 400 (yes 400) Easter eggs brightly nestled in the green grass...and the sun baking the chocolates inside. Ooops! So here's picture overload:

getting ready to start the Easter egg hunt!!!

checking his first egg out! Look at Julia (in the yellow dress)...she was flying to grab her first egg!

he's on a mission...

hmm...let's shake it and see if it makes noise. if not then I'm chucking it back on the grass!

this egg had candy inside!
 

Grandma Sheila helping Avery find some eggs

digging in trying to find a special treat since Mommy's head was turned away!

digging in the bushes for eggs

she loved hunting for eggs candy!

basket full of eggs

such a sweet smile

counting his eggs...or rather counting the chocolates and other goodies

"Please, Grandma Sheila??? Ignore my Mommy telling you I'm not supposed to have jelly beans! They're good for me, you know!"

ahhh!!! LOVE sweet moments like this!

look at her tear streaked face...all b/c she ate her jelly beans all gone. Bubba made it all better by sharing his jelly beans.

"Hey, Owen, we are going to watch you count and eat your chocolate b/c our Mommy's mean and only let us eat a few jelly beans!"

Parker and his buddy, Owen

Miss A and Miss E

Who fell for the crocodile tears, sweet pleas, trembling chin, cute face and even cuter pig tails and gave this crazy little girl more jelly beans?!? Mommy did! lol

Sweet Caleigh!

my kids were hungry...if you couldn't tell by Avery chowing down on her pizza!

Owen and Emma - silly kiddos refused to look at my camera and smile. lol

"Avery come here next to me!"

Avery: "Beckett, you're so cute!"

Beckett: "I think you're pretty cute too!"

"Hey Avery, watch how much my grandparents and your mom will get excited if I lean over and give you a hug!"

"Beckett, they'll go crazier if you give me a kiss!"

"MWAH!"

"How was that for a smooch, Avery?"

Parker was a busy little boy...a rare moment of rest and sharing a toy!

pinata time!

Elle was like a little mommy to Avery

"oh, bunny they tell me I have to hit you with the bat...I'll give you a little tap!"

B's turn!

Parker got a good whack in...

Miss C's turn...look at that tongue sticking out in concentration!

HUGE smile for 2 reasons: 3 pretty girls sitting with him and he's eating a cupcake!

Julia's such a neat eater!

Caleigh's pretty neat too...

this boy?!? I don't know what happened. I came back after about 5 min to check on him and found this! I guess this is what happens when you give a little boy who rarely has special treats a cupcake. lol the only thing he ate was the icing...he had no interst in the actual cake!

We had a wonderful time at the party Cammie and Liz. Thanks for hosting such a fun party!

Robbed

Robbed...Burglarized...I still can't comprehend it ever happened. Kevin came home from picking the kids up from school the other day and saw a piece of a picture frame on the floor. He briefly wondered if I had had a tantrum before work and flung a picture frame around (no this has never happened before), but then realized that our TV was missing. Yep, that would be our mounted flat screen TV was gone. He also realized that the other flat screen we had in our bedroom was gone. The TVs we are sad about b/c everyone in our family is a big TV watcher, but they also took our 6 month old Macbook with photos I have of the kids that I haven't backed up yet b/c I hadn't bought a new hard drive. Go figure I have already deleted the pics off of the camera. So I'm really really sad about that. It hurts that they stole my jewelry...some were expensive pieces, but it's not the price that hurts. The pearl bracelet my mom let me borrow on my wedding day was stolen. The Tiffany bracelet Kevin gave me for our 2 year dating anniversary was stolen. The watch Kevin bought me for our 1 year wedding anniversary was stolen. The sapphire and diamond ring Kevin bought me as a "push present" after I had Parker was stolen. The charm bracelet my mother-in-law bought me with charms on it representing the kiddos was stolen. The ring my mom bought me for my college graduation was stolen. Avery was given a bunch of gold and diamond earrings that she was still too young to wear that I was keeping in my jewelry box for safekeeping...now gone. Avery's baby bracelet Kevin's godmother gave her for her baptism was stolen. Avery's other bracelet that was given to her for her baptism by a grandmother figure was stolen. I had 2 sets of diamond earrings that are now gone too. I had a bunch of cheap jewelry in there too and I had the garter that I wore on my wedding day tucked in there. ALL GONE!

But, what hurts the most is that they stole the pearl earrings my mom bought me to wear on my wedding day. The same earrings that I thought I'd let Avery borrow on her wedding day. I pictured her walking down the aisle wearing my earrings and wearing Lola's pearl bracelet too. Now she can't. Sure I can file an insurance claim and probably buy some of the same items again, but it's not the same thing. I can buy the same pearl earrings that I wore on my wedding day, but those weren't the ones I wore on my wedding day so the significance of Avery wearing them on her wedding day is gone. I can buy another $100 Fossil watch (by no means was it expensive), but that watch represented something more. Kevin bought it for me while we were on our 1 year wedding anniversary trip. We were having to take it easy b/c I was 6 weeks pregnant and had had a close call with the pregnancy just days before the trip so we just walked around City Walk and stayed around our hotel. Every time I wore it I was reminded of how sweet and caring my husband was and of the precious baby we were so excited to have. If I buy the same exact watch it will only remind me that the first one was stolen by some uncaring ruthless a**hole(s) who probably pawned my watch.

But what is really bothering me...and Kevin too is that we feel so violated. Home is supposed to be where you feel safest, but someone invaded our space and took that sense of security from us. Kevin and I barely slept a wink the night that it happened b/c I was so paranoid that the burglar(s) would come back. Kevin took the next day off to clean the house up and to strengthen the security of our house. Still I find myself looking over my shoulder and looking at everyone who walks or drives by my house suspiciously. I was home by myself for a bit yesterday morning and I found myself checking all the windows, the locks, throwing open the kids bedroom doors and checking closets. I blow dried my hair while facing my bedroom door so that I could see if anyone was going to jump out at me. I'm paranoid now that I'm constantly being watched and I hate that feeling! I just want my sense of security back! How can I get that back???

St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. I had been battling a sore throat and coughing on/off for a few days and was just not feeling well. I just wanted to sit at home in my pajamas, but my mom was in town and wanted to go out. Besides my hubby is part Irish so he feels the need to celebrate the holiday. Parker was pretty excited about "Patrick Day" too and Avery wanted to wear her shamrock dress from the moment I pulled it out of her closet to put it up against her to see if it would fit. Side note: my 22 month old def makes it known what she does and doesn't want to wear. I did not experience this with Parker until after he turned 3 so it's all so new to me! 

We decided to go to a St. Patrick's Day event in downtown Dunedin, a nearby town. It was actually pretty nice and low-key...probably b/c we got there so early! lol Sure there was a bunch of beer being served, but what I liked is that it was more of a family event with lots of kids running around and playing. We didn't stay long...about 1.5 hours...enough time to walk around, let the kids run and play, have lunch, then eat some ice cream. My sick self almost fell asleep during the car ride home and grocery shopping drained me. I was able to take a short nap on the couch thanks to my well behaved children! 

Here are some pics from our morning out:

my sweet babies dress in their finest greenery

I can't believe she let me put these white sandals on her. She has been very picky about her clothes and shoes for a while now. She has 1 pair of shoes that she wears and won't let another pair touch her feet without screaming bloody murder. 

Parker was allowed to eat the bag of chips (and share with Avery) that I got with my corned beef sandwich after eating a few bites of Kevin's corned beef and cabbage. He refused at first, but after he tried it he said: "Umm, it yummy!".

my sweet boy and me

the kids love it when Lola comes down to visit!

a rare pic of the 4 of us

mommy and me

hubby and me

eating "green ice cream" on St. Patrick's Day...this is the flavor that we usually have at home b/c I LOVE mint chocolate chip and Parker actually picked this flavor out by himself. 

the kids split 1 scoop...well Avery got a small portion...she was in heaven! 

big mistake...I got 1 scoop of Almond Joy on a waffle cone. I felt sick afterwards...

getting ready to get in the car and she had ice cream on her cheek, down her chin, into her neck and chest...yummy sticky mess!

Parker was a little messy too, but not bad and he asked for some help with his "ice cream soup" at the end otherwise there would have been a lot messier and stickier.