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!

17 months…Right?

December 15, 2015December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Shane and I were going back and forth on how old Averi was, pretty sure she is 17 months, a year and a half…almost two. How did that happen?

This girl, that face. She is so loving and cuddly, just what I always wanted, but with that she is also very clingy and emotional. Sometimes I feel that I am never away from her…ever, more so than with Kaili.. There are days where I just want to walk out of the door and say “see ya” be back tonight…but others where I just want to lay with her and breathe her in.

She is a pretty good listener. We didn’t have to do much to keep her away from the Christmas tree, ornaments or presents. She listens when I tell her “no” but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t throw herself on the ground and have herself a little tantrum. She is happy with daddy but when I enter the room, she starts crying and wants to be held. I am sure this is a learned behavior and it sucks and sometimes it sucks the life out of me.

She wants to be like sister, do like sister and have everything that sister has. I took plenty of early childhood education courses and learned how to deal with two children wanting that one thing…Ya, that doesn’t work very well in the house with children of different ages….two of everything (for the most part) is the easiest or laziest answer to that.

Her language is coming along, she doesn’t have too many words but she can express what she wants, or I am just good at guessing. She loves to climb, explore and just run free. Run free into the street…ack! You can’t take your eyes off of her outside, if she isn’t eating something off the ground, she is off to the races down the road.We can not leave the front door open for more than a minute without her heading down the front steps…it’s exhausting.

She has the cutest little laugh and quite the sense of humor. She is learning to put up with big sisters bullying and they are starting to play more together which melts my heart. Nothing makes my heart happier than hearing the two of them laughing.

And at the end of the day, this is my view, simply perfect.

Halloween Eve

November 3, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Friday, we took Kaili out of school so we could make our annual trip to Bates Nut Farm. Going the day before Halloween was a big WIN! There was hardly anyone there, meaning no lines for pony rides, plenty of room in the petting zoo and you could actually browse the store without being shoved by the person behind you.

The kids enjoyed themselves, you goat to believe it.

After the pumpkin patch we went to a restaurant on our to-do list and I was honestly miserable the entire time. Kaili was so good and so easy to take out to restaurants. But Averi, well she isn’t. There is whining, so much whining and she isn’t happy unless she is eating or walking around. It wasn’t a very “kid inviting” restaurant and I just felt horrible for her screeching while others tried to enjoy their lunch. Meanwhile, Kaili fell off her chair hitting the ground head first, causing gasps from everyone around us…she was fine. My blood pressure was not.

After lunch we hit a few new wineries nearby because after that lunch, we all needed a drink. The first winery, Deer Park Winery and Auto Museum was like walking into the past. Everything in the “museum” had a layer of dust on it. The wine bar was something out of the 70’s as was the decor. The wine though, the wine was atrocious. The whole experience was strange. Yes, Averi is eating off of old dirty carpet.

After that experience we hopped into another winery but I think we were all done and ready to head home. After baths, finally able to relax we enjoyed dinner outside while the men watched baseball and the girls played until dark.

Before the Sun

October 12, 2015October 14, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Oh, it’s only been a month since I blogged last…sigh.

Shane and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary. We went downtown for dinner, without the kids, went to an underground Speakeasy and played pool. It was just what I needed, in fact it’s something I could get used to, say once a month?

Averi is now 15 months and things are pretty much the same, most days are routine and a tad mundane. Her sleep schedule is 6:30 to 6:30 give or take. We just got over the girls having colds, Averi was waking up multiple times a night but knock on wood, that is over.

Her vocabulary is coming along, saying mom, dad, all done, bye and a lot of whining. She is waving and blowing kisses bye bye unless it’s to me, then it’s a full meltdown. She is very attached and although she is fine when I am gone, it’s the going and returning part that causes the tears.

Kaili was going through some 4 year old challenging behaviors. Not listening, trying to get rid of her sister and her sleeping regressed. Can I say how DONE I am with not sleeping? We are hoping that the girls will share a room sometime but the way it’s going, I am not sure how that will ever work. Sometimes they piggy back each other in the wake ups and if one of them actually sleeps in, I can promise you the other one was awake at 5.

I decided to try a behavior chart with her, made it myself to fit our needs. I have to say it really worked well for the first few months but her sleeping is back to shit. Okay, that is a strong word. She goes to sleep by 7 and is, for the most part (4 out the 7 days a week) is quiet once in bed. She has been waking up in the middle of the night due to nightmares or scary sounds and sometimes it’s a battle to get her back to sleep. But really the problem lies in her waking up for the day. She is usually up before 6:00 and comes into my room. The rule is, she is to stay in her room (aside from bathroom runs) until 6:30 when the green light on her clock comes on, but that is out the window. I could let her in my room or go into hers but I don’t want to create a habit but, I also don’t want to spend that time getting up and down in a fight with her. Ugh, does this make sense?

Anyhow, the chart hasn’t really been working for me in that department. I don’t know what else to do except make a mandatory rest time after school if she doesn’t follow the wake up rule.

Marching On

September 16, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

The Avester is getting pretty good at walking. She enjoys putting on her shoes and heading out. She’s got to work on getting up and down steps but soon she should be able to wander around without much help.

California has been in the oven the past month and we have been held up in our nice air conditioned house. I think Aves gets stir crazy sometimes but then I think of the book The Room and I’m like, girl, you’re good. In all seriousness, it’s been too hot to be outside for long, plain miserable. If we were outside, water was involved.

She is now 14 months. I have started her on some sign language, just a few basic signs. She is catching on fast but I’m not so sure she quite understands what she is saying, but she will. We don’t have much language, she can say dada and growls for “doggy” but that’s about it. She does babble and laughs a lot, she melts my heart. Not everything is getting put in her mouth anymore, she is good about stopping if I tell her “Averi, not in your mouth.” I was doing a bunch of art activities with Kaili at her age because K never had any sort of oral fixation. I am still hesitant to do much with A, hopefully soon. I know she will love it.

We stopped bottles completely, no problem. I tried everything I could to get her to drink milk but she doesn’t want it. Without the milk, her constipation stopped. She get’s her dairy through yogurt and cheese and that doesn’t seem to bother her…luckily.

I have to admit, I am looking forward to the holidays with the girls, fun times ahead.

“Uh Oh”

August 20, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Averi has left fear in the dust and decided to start walking. Granted, she isn’t in any hurry when she is on her feet. She knows her speed lies in her crawl, but she will get there soon. Yesterday she just popped up on her own and went for it. I don’t know if this is why her nights have been a wreck, or if it’s the teeth coming in, or both, but it sucks and I hope it ends soon. On with it, here is a little video of Miss twinkle toes.

She is also saying “uh oh” throughout the day and even in the middle of the night. I went in to her room at some ungodly hour the other night and she was sitting in her crib, “uh oh, uh oh” she says. Her pacifier was on the ground. Luckily, I didn’t hear from her again until the sun was up. She will purposely drop things so she can say her favorite words, I must admit, it’s cute.

It’s been a week without bottles, well almost all bottles. I didn’t rid the nighttime bottle for two reasons. One; I didn’t want to just cut them all out cold turkey. She was still taking about 4 or 5 bottles a day, I thought it would be plain mean to stop them altogether. Two; the bedtime bottle was more for comfort and since she is my last baby forever, I selfishly didn’t want to give up that 10 minutes of cuddle time with her…not yet. How did it go? Fine. She was a lot more hungry after that so she eats and eats, the girl can put away food. Her schedule looks somewhat like this:

6-6:30 Wake up

7:00 Breakfast

9/10:00-naps for an hour to an hour and a half

Snack

11:30/12 lunch

2:00 nap…sometimes 😦

3:00 snack

5:15 dinner

Bath

6:15/6:30 bottle and bed

This is during the week, when we are busy on weekends naps are pushed later or the afternoon nap is skipped altogether. She is pretty go with the flow, luckily.

Kaili, that girl is sumpthin’ else. She is saying things like “turn it up, that song is my jam” The kid just goes and goes, doesn’t nap, doesn’t drop and when everyone else’s kids are passing out in cars she just keeps chugging along. Even after an early wake up, school, the park, and swimming, she will lay in bed for a good half hour before she drifts away. Please tell me, how do I make her tired?

Late Birthday

July 26, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Finally, pictures of the Avester’s first birthday, next up, the thank you cards…I promise.

It was a small affair with just family and close neighbors. In other words, the second child gets screwed. Let’s face it, the first few birthdays are really for the parents anyway, and since we go overboard on Kaili’s, Averi will have to wait for her big shindigs.

I made a DIY taco bar with ground beef and shrimp tacos. Easy rice and beans from the Mexican market and doctored up a cake mix for a delish cake.

Chocolate cake mix cake, with a home made chocolate ganache filling and coconut cream cheese frosting.

The cake was for the adults and I bought two cupcakes for the girls, I really wanted to make it easy on myself.

Averi enjoyed her first cupcake, she even made a wish before diving in. In Love with this picture.

After a quick scrub down she diligently opened her pressies.

Happy birthday sweet girl.

*Photo credit-Brian Kerr

12 Months better known as 1 Year

July 21, 2015July 21, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

“Aw, your baby is so cute, how old is he?”

“Thanks, he is 24 months. Hey, do you have the time?”

“Sure. It’s 972 minutes past midnight.”

I think I did that with Kaili and I blame the Doc. “We will see you back when she is 18 months.” I will do my best NOT to do that with Averi.

Aves just had her 1 year doctor appointment I am happy to report there is not much to say. She weights 18 1/2 lbs and is in the 40th percentile for height and weight.

She is still going to bed about 6 and still waking up at 5:30 sometimes she goes back to sleep but most of the time not.

Unlike her sister she doesn’t love the bath, she would rather climb around knocking things down. She just wants to be on the move, investigating and eating everything she finds on the floor.

I think she has a few teeth trying to make their appearance, I can’t wait for the teething to be done with.

We are slowly working with the whole milk situation. I am adding a little to her formula each day until she seems adjusted to it. Some days she gobbles up the fruit I give her, some days they all end up on the floor. She isn’t keen on the veggies, or the meat. So now I have two picky eaters.

She whines.. A LOT. She sees me and starts crying. Her vocabulary consists of MAAM. DADA. WAH. NO. and EHHHH WHINE. My head hurts typing this.

But she is a lovable, cuddly, sweet little girl when she isn’t crying at my legs or throwing herself on the ground, I promise.

Eats and Greets

July 14, 2015July 15, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

I am saving up for my next life. I am going to hire a night nanny. She will come at 6:00pm and take care of all the tedious bed time hoopla {we will keep story time} wake up with the kids when they cry, fall out of bed or just plain don’t want to sleep and wake up with them at 5:30 in the morning. Then I will glide in, all bright eyed and bushy tailed and redeem my position.

We spent part of the day in Seaport village last week, I have been there so many times now I can’t keep track, we seriously live in the best place. Averi went on her first carousel ride and we had a very overpriced lunch but the view….

sisters first rodeo — Sisters first rodeo

Shane and I were lucky enough to get away for a 21 and over dinner while the folks were here. Averi had been being such a little PITA that I was nervous about leaving her…but she was just fine. We wanted to stay away from downtown due to Comic Con so it was the perfect excuse to try Brian Malarkey’s La Jolla eatery Herringbone. The vibe of this place is sound. I wish I lived walking distance, I would be a regular.

There is a booze bar and a raw bar and I want to get to know both. I ordered the Branzino and it was by far the best I have ever had. Don’t forget that the cheeks on fish are the best part, just slap that hand away when someone tries to be cheeky. It was paired with an artichoke salad and a minty pea puree that put London’s mushy peas to shame, sorry lads.

We also knocked out another restaurant on our to-do list…The OB noodle house. This is a place where you need a group of people and everyone is into sharing. So many great things on their menu. Everything I tried was good, Kaili liked the Pho and you have to try the garlic chili chicken wings…drool.

It was a fun visit with the in-laws as always. Averi is back in her room and her crib and it’s been glorious. Good sleep has her like….Chillen.

Bacon Ricotta Crostini

June 29, 2015June 29, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Leftover baguette sitting on the kitchen counter and a fresh container of ricotta in the fridge brought me to this crostini. I had some bacon in the fridge, which doesn’t happen very often but it’s now Kaili’s favorite food. Add those things together and drizzle with honey, simple and delicious. Here is a recipe I just found, although you don’t really need a recipe for this, just do what sounds good to you.

Averi has been eating a lot better these days. I have found that instead of cutting food up into little pieces, she would rather hold bigger pieces and eat away. She can eat as much as her sister in one sitting.

She is getting dangerously close to walking, the milestone might even happen before her first birthday.

The Art of Thyming

A Life Blog

Averi

Saying Goodbye to 2015

17 months…Right?

Halloween Eve

Before the Sun

Marching On

“Uh Oh”

Late Birthday

12 Months better known as 1 Year

Eats and Greets

Bacon Ricotta Crostini

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