Averi

BAE is TWO

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I can not believe that Averi just turned TWO years old,  I also can not believe that it’s been two years since she came home. It’s hard to imagine life without her and it’s hard to believe I haven’t spent a night away from her.

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We didn’t have a big party and  I haven’t finished going through all the photos, so this will be a short post.

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But a bragging post about how much this child is loved. My heart is full and I hope she understands one day how my heart aches for her.

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She is a perfect half girly girl and a perfect half dare devil!

She is TWO!

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Keeping Busy

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Kaili has two more weeks at her school and then she is out for summer. I finished her Kinder paperwork which I have been procrastinating on. She is up to date with her school vaccinations but she still needs to have a doctor fill out a medical record and apparently they want the same done with her dentist.Two things that are easy to want to push aside, but I finally made appointments to get it done.

We have been watching a lot of soccer with the Copa America going on. Kaili picked out a new shirt to wear for our viewing pleasure.

How do you like that garden back there? We have been eating a lot of sweet tomatoes, plenty of  zucchini and we have six baby artichokes on the way.

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I have been taking Averi to the park in the mornings without K so I can focus on playing one on one with her. She is not as adventurous as her sister was but slowly she is starting to test her fear.

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Can you believe she is going to be two in less than a month? Ya, me either. She looks up to her sister, has to do whatever it is Kaili is doing, eating, watching you name it. It’s what I always wanted with siblings but it’s also very draining.

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The girls were  invited to a birthday party out in Ramona last weekend. The land you can have out there is attractive to me but then again you are out in Ramona which isn’t attractive at all, to me.

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We try to stop at a winery or two when we are out there. This time we tried one that had recently opened. It had a great outside area, live music and luckily some decent wine. The girls  spent most of their time chasing the dog around. The little winery Chihuahua was the hit until she stole Averi’s chocolate chip cookie and booked it across the lot. Averi was more stunned than upset and I was more worried about the tiny dog eating a whole cookie, but the owners weren’t phased. Must happen often.

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Knee Scopes and Viruses

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A year ago I hurt my knee while stretching. I was in a lunge position when the mat moved underneath me during a transition. Not sure what exactly happened but the pain was instant. I nursed it for a couple weeks and although it never got really swollen, it was painful to put weight on it. I went to the doctor and he didn’t think I did anything serious so he suggested physical therapy. After months of “rest” and physical therapy I still couldn’t fully straighten my knee, I definitely couldn’t kick out that leg and it really hurt if I accidentally stepped wrong or one of my kids tried to put their weight on it while I was sitting straight legged. Long story short, I switched doctors and ended up getting a second opinion and finally a year later had arthoscopy on it.

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I have my post-op appointment this Friday. The swelling is way down…

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48 hours post op

 

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8 days post op

It’s going to take some time and daily PT exercises to get my full range of motion back, let’s hope I am as good as new sooner than later.

The kids had a rough time adjusting to my recovery. I was told to stay off my feet for a few days so that left Shane and my parents doing all the things. Averi had meltdowns over anything, especially when she wanted to me carry her around and Kaili had tears before school and swimming. I was surprised they had such a hard time but just when things were getting back to routine or so I thought, Averi got sick.

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She was beyond cranky, fever out of nowhere, extra long naps…all she wanted was for me to hold her…ALL DAY LONG and sometimes that wasn’t soothing her either. I had no idea what was wrong, she didn’t have a runny nose or a cough. I started to think I should make a Dr. appointment just to ease my mind. Then Sunday morning, I gave the inconsolible Averi a bath and that’s when I noticed little sores dotting her ankles. The closer I looked the more I saw.  I hollered to Shane “hey, Google Hand Foot Mouth disease” and while he was reading me what he found, I knew that is what she had.

The past few days have been a doozy, the poor girl has sores in her mouth on her butt, legs and around her mouth and looks like this a lot of the time.

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After messaging our pediatrician, doing some research and asking other mommies I realized there wasn’t too much I could do. It’s a virus that has to run it’s course while I do my best to keep her comfortable.

Kaili seems just fine for now, fingers crossed and double crossed this stops with Averi. I disinfected the whole house, washed ALL the sheets and blankets, got new toothbrushes  and do my best to keep Averi’s mouth away from everything. One day at a time!

Disneyland Day 2

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I hope you didn’t think I abandoned you. Day 2 is a long one so tuck in with some coffee, wine, burritos…whatever you love.

I can’t tell you who woke up first, probably me but it was early per usual. This was our “magic” morning at Disneyland and we HAD to be in line by 7:45. Turns out they actually let guests into the park at 7:45 but you don’t get passed Main street until 8:00 and that is because all of the United States is behind you, it’s got to be a semi fair game….I guess?

All Kaili was asking for was the Dumbo ride and since we didn’t get that done day one, this was my first stop. I took both the girls and they loved it. We hopped over to another ride because it was pretty empty. Turns out the Alice in Wonderland ride was a tad scary, Averi wasn’t sure about it and Kaili asked immediately when we would be done but they weren’t crying so we were good.

The one thing we did want to do during that “magic” hour was the Nemo Submarine ride.

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Averi pretty much loved it between her bouts of concern.

We then headed to an adult ride. Thunder mountain requires riders to be 40′, Kaili is 39′. We were told by some other parents in line that they are sticklers when it comes to height and we would later find out that was true. So even though Kaili insisted Grandpa stretched her out and she was tall enough, I took the girls for a stroll  while the rest of them could have a go.

Us girls ventured over to Tarzan’s tree house, Kaili skipped up while I dragged Averi with me.

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Having just  watched Tarzan the day before,  Kaili had her eye out for that Leopard who may  was lurking in the tree tops.

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We wandered our way through Tomorrowland and it was out.of.control.

And as  early as it was, it was just a preview of what was to come.

Kaili wanted to go on a ride in Tomorrowland so we waited 45 minutes for another ride that goes around in circles, much like the Dumbo ride. I’m pretty sure we need to bring back the merry go rounds to our playgrounds so we can forgo this boring children  ride people pay thousands of dollars for.

We made our way over to California Adventure and it was a tad overwhelming. I felt like we had done so much already, I couldn’t wrap my head around what was left to do…but there was a lot. Luckily Mickey was one of the first things  we saw heading into CA so that took some pressure off.

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We also ran into Doc McStuffin’s and now they are besties.

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After a few kiddy rides in Bugs Life….

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Food was on our mind. We grabbed some pretty good clam chowder and not so great Mexican over by Paradise Pier, beer is always good.

Our hotel room looks over CA land so the Mickey ferris wheel is a fixture you can’t hide from even the littles. Kaili begged to go on and once everyone agreed,  we payed our dues in line, but the ride was SO worth it…although Shane will disagree.

IMG_8499 We got the rocking car because there was no way standing in line with two kids for a boring ride is a good idea. It turns out that rocking car is a thrill ride for Kaili and Grandpa! Averi was in tears with her head in my lap.

We dragged the tired kids, but not Kaili because she is never tired, back to the hotel. Averi went down for a nap and grandma rested along side her while Shane and I took Kaili to the pool.

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Our early bird dinner reservations were approaching, we packed up the crew and headed out to the Rainforest Cafe. It wasn’t my top pick but I thought it would be perfect to help keep the overtired kids entertained. I was wrong. The place is a joke but it’s hard to compete with a tired Averi. To sum it up, my food wasn’t good, service wasn’t good and my kid wasn’t good.

After overpaying for shitty food, we confidently headed back out to CA land to take on what we hadn’t yet mastered. In other words, we got a fast pass to Tower of Terror and Cars, Radiator Springs.

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Unfortunately, the Cars ride had a 40′ height restriction. We didn’t bother to put Kaili through the ringer but I think we both regret not trying. She would have LOVED that one!

Gramps and I were the only ones that went on Tower of Terror…”because food”  meaning no-one else wanted to ride that because they just ate. But it’s the best ride there.

After grabbing a churro we went back to the hotel to watch the light show from our hotel room. We fell asleep one by one, grandpa and Ave’s weren’t far apart.

 

 

 

 

Easter in Ramona

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Our old neighbors are now living out in Ramona. They have so much land, so much space, perfect for an Easter egg hunt. So the girls got their baskets and we loaded up the truck.

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Their house has quite the views, hawks soar above the citrus trees and squirrels dart across the path to their pool.

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If you squint you can see some of our favorite wineries.

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The kids had a lot of fun hunting eggs, well I should say Kaili had fun. Averi just wanted to chase the cat and explore.

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There was quite a spread for lunch, homemade quiche to fried chicken sliders and delicious fresh squeezed OJ from their trees. I made this lemon cake. I was overly cautious to keep an eye on it but somehow I overcooked it by a few minutes, but I would still recommend the recipe. I am going to try another recipe this week to compare and because I need a another piece of lemon cake in my life.

Once we were able to drag the kids away from their playground we headed down the road to Kohill winery. We are new members and had a wine pickup but also, you can’t go to Ramona without hitting a winery, i am pretty sure it’s illegal.

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The girls snacked because they don’t eat their actual meals and then they chased each other around the tasting room while we decided what wines to take home.

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It was a good practice run for Easter, now we get to do it all over again next week but without getting in the car.

Food and Stuff

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I was lucky enough to have a post birthday lunch…delivered while the Avers was napping and K was at school… and it was so good.

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Kung Pao Tofu, lamb with onions, pork and bean curd and of course dumplings ( not shown) because we did order from The Dumpling Inn.  Don’t forget the sparkling cremant, the most important part.

The Trader Joes in Pacific Beach is the one I have been hitting up lately and that is because a few streets over is a park on the bay. Now every time I mention TJ’s Kaili brings up that park and so it’s a thing, a pretty good thing.

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Averi is such a little ham and she loves her sister. What sissy has, sissy wants. If Kaili wants water, so does Aves, although Averi is more polite. She loves to say “thank you” and when she asks for “more” in sign language it’s so cute, it’s really hard not to hand her anything she wants.

unnamedI am seriously running out of food ideas for these kids. Kaili likes and dislikes food within minutes, it changes daily…I may go crazy. All that literature about having  your kid cook with you and “they will eat it” is shit, not happening. Kaili will happily be my soux chef but when it comes to eating, she refuses food faster than a vegan at a buffet.

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Kaili loves art, coloring, chalk, painting and she is getting really good at her letters. She can spell words with letter dictation. I have no doubt she is beyond ready for Kindergarten. Can you believe it? I can’t.

 

 

Another Year Older

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It’s here guys, the last year of my 30’s is in affect and it’s gonna be a great one. My birthday week started with lunch on Saturday. Shane took us to Coasterra,  Mexican cuisine with ocean front dining. I ordered the tacos and they were really good, I think they gave Puesto’s tacos a run for their money.

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Blackened fish, Michoacan pulled pork and crispy shrimp

Averi wasn’t too much of a terror and I was actually able to eat and enjoy myself, the key was taking her there hungry and slowly giving her food to keep her busy.

IMG_7549She is a chips and salsa fan like her sister. It’s amazing that they devour salsa but won’t  touch tomato sauce.

It’s a tad overpriced, okay a lot over priced but you are paying for the view and the Chef’s name.

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On Monday, I took the girls to Sprinkles to pick out cupcakes after school. They are my all time favorite cupcakes, especially the coconut one, it’s SO delicious.

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Kaili chose chocolate and only ate about four bites but managed to totally destroy the entire thing in the process, making sure no one else could eat it.

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Kaili had her friend from down the street over for dinner and the girls played while the moms talked and enjoyed some wine. Then bedtime came and things went downhill. I don’t know if it was because Averi was wound up but she cried in her room for two hours, I am not exaggerating. She always goes down without any problems and if she fusses it’s short lived. But last night was something else. So Kaili stayed up with me and ate a second dinner until Averi finally wore herself out. By then, I was ready to eat a cupcake and crawl into bed. The kids were up before 6:30 and just like that, I was another year older.

 

Dragging my Feet

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What can I say, I have been a horrible blogger lately. I will blame it on the Avester. Every time I stand by my computer contemplating on writing, she is at my heels yelling “Mama, mama, mama, UP UP UP!” It’s ear piercing and nerve-racking.  I end up picking her up and wandering away from the computer.

Averi is now 19 months and quite the handful. She prefers her meals on the go, something I told myself I would never let her do. Wandering around with food, what good can come of it. Well, it keeps her quiet, let’s me get stuff done and puts meat on her bones, so for now, I just go with it.

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Photo by Brian Kerr

Kaili just ended her first month of soccer. She seemed to really enjoy it so I signed her up for another month.  She also started up swimming again, this time it’s at a swim school opposed to the YMCA. But once a week isn’t frequent enough so I am hoping to up it to twice a week. We need this girl swimming.

IMG_7399As I write this, it’s sprinkling outside but the last couple weeks we have been spoiled with amazing weather. I have spent almost everyday outside reading in the sun and then spending the afternoon playing in the backyard with the girls.

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We spent Valentines day as a family eating chocolate, popping in and out of the hot tub, sun bathing and watching Shane work in the backyard. More on that later. Kaili had a school party and enjoyed scouring through her mound of cards and candy.

Kaili and one of her besties.
Kaili and one of her besties.

Shane and I treated ourselves to some King crab for dinner and then I tried making chocolate soufflés for dessert. They didn’t turn out as I expected, the lava cakes I make are much more decadent. Next year, I will go back to making those.

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Meal Times

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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.

IMG_7296 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.. 

IMG_7226Kaili’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.

IMG_7218IMG_7220IMG_7225Days 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.

 

18 Months Again

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Averi’s 18 month Dr. appointment happened a few weeks back. I was surprised to find out that she is really low in the percentages, barely in the one percentile for weight. I mean, the girl eats…a lot. I have been trying to be conscious about swapping  out the “easy” empty calorie snacks for the more caloric ones but other than that,  I am not going to worry about it. She looks good to me.

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IMG_7204Shane took Kaili to see Frozen on Ice. I think she liked it, or maybe it was more she was mesmerized by the whole production.

Apparently the girl wanted to get some cotton candy because she said she liked it, although she never had it before. Turns out, she doesn’t like cotton candy. Strange child that one.

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I was lucky enough to get away to see the Women’s US national team play that day. I’m not sure I have seen the women play before. Fun to be there but we whooped Ireland so the game was kind of a bore.

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That night we had our babysitter come so we could get away with some friends. Our local winery had live comedy, headlining was a finalist on Last Comic Standing. We had a good time but we didn’t plan well. Everyone had gotten there pretty early, bringing food to graze on leading up to the show. When we showed up the place was pretty packed. The comedians were entertaining, the wine decent but pricey.

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