Meal Times

February 6, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

I don’t know how I, one of the least pickiest eaters, has a child who doesn’t like anything. I might say that this is the most frustrating part of parenting to date. Each meal is a struggle, one week she likes something, the next she doesn’t. I know this is probably pretty normal but my gawd it’s driving me mad. I am about to let her eat dry cereal and taquitos three meals a day.

Meanwhile, Aves is still a pretty good eater and I hope it lasts.

The girls just love music. Averi gets into a semi trance while watching any sort of singing and Kaili likes all the hip songs on the radio. I hate to admit this but I just downloaded a Justin Bieber song because Kaili loves it..

Kaili’s class had a field trip to the new Children’s Museum downtown. I was worried about having to bring Averi along but it worked out pretty well. A lot of the museum was great for both kids but there were some parts that weren’t Averi accessible, I would have had a hard time rounding them up all by myself.

Days are starting to get easier. Averi is sleeping through the night, Kaili has been pretty good about staying quiet until 6:30. Aves will play by herself and watch some cartoons while I need to get whatever done, and then she naps from about 10 until noonish. That time I spend working out and reading in the sun or the bath. I am trying to take more of her nap time to zen out. I don’t know if it helps with my patience or not, I like to think it does.

Room Sharing

January 13, 2016December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Room sharing, you want to guess how that has been going? The past 14 days have actually been pretty amazing. Aside from this morning, they have been sleeping through the night and quiet until the green light comes on at 6:30. The only downside is when Aves wakes up screaming I have to go get her up so she doesn’t wake up K but since it was early in the morning, Kaili popped up and the house was alive at five.

The girls got a trampoline for Christmas and Kaili gets some good energy out on it. Averi just likes to climb in and out, in and out and then cry when Kaili won’t let her in.

We took the trolley downtown to the SD auto show.

Kaili got to test drive a car and holy smokes she is a terrible driver. She crashed into everything and almost broke through the barricade, but she enjoyed herself.

Kaili is in school 5 days a week now and starting up soccer practice at the YMCA. I have my fingers crossed that she really likes it. Averi just likes to get into mischief and then whine about it. She is starting to show more interest in books, instead of turning the pages and then throwing the book on the ground, she will listen to the words and point to the pictures.

She is also not as terrified of sand anymore. I took the girls to the park on the bay and she spent a lot of time drawing in the sand with a stick. In the past she would freeze in place and cry if any sand got on her hands, we might actually be able to go to the beach this summer.

Saying Goodbye to 2015

December 30, 2015December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Instagram gave me a collage of my best nine pictures of the year. I thought that was a good way to say farewell to the year while looking back on all the fun we had.

klsnyder_full

January – We had just returned from a Washington Christmas and spent the month getting used to all the changes our then 6 month old was giving us. We saw a little horror on the trolley when a woman was stabbed in our car, that is still fresh in all of our minds when we get on the trolley.

February- I turned another year older, sigh… we spent a weekend as tourists in our own city. We ate (the best) tacos at Puesto, drank amazing wine in Little Italy, gorged on cheese from the Cheese shop and spent the evenings in the hot tub.

March- Averi graduated to sitting up on her own and I did a lot of cooking, trying out new recipes from Chicken pot pie to Sriracha chicken wings.

April- Miss Kaili turned 4 years old. We had a Frozen party with a bounce house and she is still talking about it.

May- We spent Memorial day in Lake Arrowhead staying in a condo we rented through VRBO. We fell in love with the place and were already planning our next trip for the summer.

June- Kaili moved from the 3 year old class to the 4’s, she handled the transition with ease, as always. That was the first time I really saw how amazing it was going to be to have two little girls, sisters.

July- We went back to Lake Arrowhead with the grandparents. We did all the fun things that we couldn’t do when the weather was colder. After our getaway we celebrated the Avester turning one!

August- Averi started walking at 13 months. I found out about the Vegetti and started spiralizing zucchini for all the dishes.

September- This is when Kaili started really challenging us with her behavior. I tried behavior charts, which were mildly successful. Averi started to have some sleep changes and was waking up before the sun. Shane and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary with a super fun night out on the town.

October- Seems like just yesterday. We took the girls to Oma’s pumpkin patch and Bates nut farm. This was the first time Halloween was really exciting for Kaili, we still have candy leftover.

November- Our first Friendsgiving along with my herniated disc. Really good times and some very painful ones sum up that month.

December- This has been a good month. Too much food, but a lot of good cooking. Great times with friends and family and it’s been amazing to watch the girls together. We just moved Averi into her sisters room, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Happy New Year!

Out and About

September 14, 2015September 15, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

There is a new restaurant down in Harbor Island. One I have been anticipating for months. Since Shane and I don’t get many chances to go out alone, we decided to try Coasterra with kids in tow. The view is AHmazing, I crave sitting outside along the water and their atmosphere definitely satisfied.

I can’t go into detail on the food, we had a few apps and a soup, all good but not AHmazing. Their menu was enticing but pricey, not worth dropping that much on a meal that I can’t enjoy in peace…know what i’m saying?

Kaili got to see San Diego from a higher point of view, she loved it…she also loved her first attempt at pool, she needs some practice.

We don’t get downtown much these days but since they let little kids in bars, I don’t see why we don’t go more often.

Out of Towner’s

September 4, 2015September 4, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

We spent a couple of days with my parents in Laguna Niguel. The girls were happy to be in a new place, with new things to explore and get into. Kaili got some swimming lessons with grandpa, she didn’t complain about the pool water temperature so maybe it’s time to retry swim lessons.

In San Juan Capistrano there is a cute little petting zoo, with pony err horse rides, a little train and a playground. The girls enjoyed themselves, I however got spit on by an alpaca and smelled like regurgitated food and dirty animal the rest of the time.

They revamped a park near my parents house and turned it into a splash ground. Now that Aves is walking she got to participate. I was surprised by how long they both lasted being wet.

Averi is now my great little eater and Kaili, ugh, finding food she will eat is a struggle. How did I get such a picky eater? I mean the girl won’t eat mac n cheese or pizza, those were my old standbys. She has been living off of steak, rice and berries this past week, yes that is a good meal but soon I am sure she won’t like any of those foods anymore.

After dinner we kicked the soccer ball around with the girls, one final chance to wear them out. They share a room when we stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s so we need them both good and tired.

We all enjoyed ourselves, next week is back to school.

Dinosaur Roar!

October 8, 2014October 8, 2014 ~ Girlmom ~ 5 Comments

Last week I got to meet Jenny Mollen. “Who?” is what you are thinking…right? She is an actress, author and married to an “American Pie” actor. I have followed her on social media for awhile because she is hilarious and when her book came out I read it in 2 days. So when I saw that she was going to be in San Diego for a book signing I was eager to go. My girlfriend and I went down to meet her and listen to her chat about the book. I had never done anything like that before and although I didn’t need my iPad signed or even feel the need to have a picture with her, it was fun and i would do it again!

Averi is turning 3 months in a few days. It’s been a LONG 3 months. Her favorite thing to do is visit our newest winery.

Kaili is eagerly awaiting Halloween. She has been adamant that she wants to be a Dinosaur.
ROAR!

A Week in Photos

September 5, 2014September 5, 2014 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Is it really September? Somehow the the past few weeks have been a blur and I find myself looking forward to Fall. I am sure I will regret that statement by NovemBRRR.

Kaili has spent the past week in the water, swimming in our neighbors pool or the hot tub. She has stayed up late playing with friends and making pizza. We had our neighborhood block party and Kaili had her “real” first day of school. When watching her play, the three things I know she is picking up from school are, the months of the year, that Jesus loves her, and you go to time out for hitting.