Trick, Treat and Tennis

November 10, 2015December 30, 2025 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Averi had a hard time waiting around for the sun to go down, she was one un happy camper.

Kaili was just eager. We were going to Trick or Treat with her little neighbor friend, I think that was the most exciting part.

By the time we were ready to head out, everyone was in a better mood.

Averi went up to a few houses and then happily sat in the stroller taking it all in. Kaili went for about 2 hours, we finally had to drag her home to get the baby to bed.

The next morning they were both up early, as always, and thanks to DLS time ending, sleep has been shit ever since.

We spent the following weekend in Orange county watching the two final matches of the Tennis Doubles Masters. Even though the kids were in the beginning stages of colds, they did pretty good. I was thankful to have family support at the final to help wrangle the kids so I could enjoy the match, because it was a good one.

Nick and Wags, Champions once again.

I was dreading the drive home, traffic looked bad and both kids were on their last leg but they were fine. Both slept part of the way and I think they were so done, they didn’t even have the energy to cry about it.

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.

Thumbs Up

October 20, 2015October 20, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

Last week Kaili had her 6 month dental check up. To say I was proud of her is an understatement. I had been reminding her of her appointment a few days ahead of time, to make sure she wasn’t blind sided. When the day came, she didn’t even question it. They took x-rays and cleaned her teeth, the dentist gave us a thumbs up and that was it. She hopped out of the chair like no big deal. I love her.

Her school had a field trip to Oma’s pumpkin patch in Lakeside. I took both the girls and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. This place was a kids sanctuary, they had everything. Playgrounds, soccer field, corn maze, hayrides, a toddler play area, animals, should I go on? But I think her favorite part was being able to pal around with her BFF’s!

The kids got a kick out of the hayride that went through the farms property and stopped inside the rather smelly cow stalls. The nice driver got out of the tractor and attempted to tell us a little about the newly born calf but he was drowned out by all the kids yelling “ew, poop” repeatedly.

They finished the trip with a group lunch and by this time, almost 1:00, Averi was beat, she was asleep halfway home. First time for everything. Kaili on the other hand, wanted me to take her to the park, the girl is an energizer bunny.

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.

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.

“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?

Playing Catch Up

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

This poor blog has been so neglected and I have no excuses. Let’s catch up. Averi is 13 months today. Yes I am serious. She has gotten her own little personality. She loves to dance and, like her sister, jams out to Uptown Funk, will that song ever die? Sheesh. She can clap and give kisses and her pretend sneeze is the cutest. I am trying to phase out the bottles and so far so good, ask me again in a week. Her body isn’t adjusting great to the whole milk and she doesn’t want to drink much out of her sippy cup, she prefers water. I am going to focus on getting her dairy through food, again ask me in a week. Remember how I said she is whiny and clingy? Well it turns out all she wanted was her lovey and pacifier, give her those and she is just fine. So unlike her sister, I am okay with her having them outside of her crib, if I am out of options, AKA making dinner or if I have my hands full and can’t put up with the crying any more. I may be creating a monster but right now it works for me.

We have been super busy every weekend the past few months so we are taking a month off and laying low. We spent the last weekend taking a lot of walks and checking out open houses around San Diego, Kaili loves it as much as we do.

I’m trying to get back into meal planning for the week. This week I butterflied my first whole chicken and threw it on the grill. I have been cooking chicken wrong because this was so easy and so good. Plus it only took half of the time to cook as it does a whole chicken AND I didn’t have to heat the house up…winning. I also went back to an old favorite, I forgot how good this dish was and how simple, it’s going back on rotation. I made Kale two ways. I prefer my kale in chip form but I can’t get through an entire bunch of kale that way, so I took the rest and threw it a pot with quinoa and water and once it was cooked, turned it into a salad. I dressed it with olive oil, lemon juice, a serrano and some parmesan. The leftovers made a great lunch topped with chicken.

Kaili and her eating, ugh. It’s a challenge to get her to eat anything new. Lately she doesn’t even want mac n cheese. She is starting to gag on even her favorite foods, the struggle is real. I see all of these great meal ideas for kids but I don’t even want to waste my time making them because I know she will turn her nose up at it. But then on a random day she will gobble down peas and eat an entire avocado…. This is a phase, right?

Kaili has gymnastics again this month and she has some Toys R Us money burning a hole in her pocket, I wonder what she will pick out? Does the Frozen phase fade out or live forever? We shall see. Happy Monday!

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.