Guess What's Back!?!

He doesn't know it, but he's really going to miss having a pregnant mom!

To celebrate the return of my camera (my favorite lens is still in the shop), I thought, what better place to have a photo shoot (and dinner) than Liks! Avery did not object to this plan for one single second. I missed my camera tremendously and am thrilled to have it back as I have many upcoming events that I would like to document - Cheney's wedding, Fred's arrival, a Ved and Shanaya photo shoot, and whatever pictures Cathryn wants me to take of her girls, not to mention Sister, but we have awhile before she gets here (sigh).

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who is happy that this blog has photos again! Enjoy.

Avery Tidbits (My Camera is Still Not Back)

Quotes:

"Mama, help me with my penis." (more on potty training in an upcoming post)

***

"Mama, what are you making?"
"I'm making chicken chili for Miss Cathryn, Annabelle and Scott."
"No, you're making me a baby sister to love."
...and that too.

***

While driving to deliver the above mentioned chicken chili:

"We going to Annabelle's house to see her baby sister Madelyn?"
"Yes, do you like Annabelle's baby sister?" (he had met Madelyn at Monkey Business the day before)
"No, I LOVE MY baby sister!"

***

Avery ran up to me, lifted up my shirt, and hugged and kissed my belly unprompted.
"Baby sister in there...I need to LOVE you!"

***

The Chicken Story:

So I've had only a few cravings during this pregnancy and one hit particularly hard after Avery and I went to Liks for ice cream. I just couldn't stop thinking about fried chicken but was having trouble thinking about actually eating it, not only for the health reasons but also because of the environmental impact such food productions have. Yes, I've seen King Corn and Food Inc. Also, I had just eaten two scoops of ice cream for pete's sake!

So, in trying to talk myself out of it, we got in the car to go home and I just thought that we'd take Colfax for a change (knowing very well that Popeye's is on Colfax, somewhere). I pulled onto Colfax and there it was, beckoning to me... and giving in to my INSANE craving I pulled into the drive-through. Well, my very curious toddler was in the back and he was all, "Mama, what are you doing doing? What are you getting? What is that lady doing? Where is that lady going? What is that money for?" I calmly told him that this was a chicken restaurant and DON'T tell daddy that mama got some chicken (the last thing I wanted was for anyone to know that I had just eaten ice cream and was about to down two mixed pieces and a biscuit). Oh, the shame.

I don't regret it at all. That chicken was probably the best thing I've ever eaten.

The funny part of the story was that two days later, Scott picked up Avery from Heather's house since it was IndiDocuNite and took him home. Well, the route back from Heather's includes a leg on Colfax and when they boys approached Popeye's, Avery screams, "Daddy! Daddy! It's mommy's chicken restaurant!!!" Scott promptly called me and said that the gig was up. Avery ratted me out and I had to admit to devouring fried chicken as only a pregnant woman can.

From Scott---To clarify, he actually said, "Daddy!! Ohhhh Drive Thru! Momma gets Chicken. Shhhhh. Secret Daddy!! Drive Thru!"

Notice

This is a message for you blog whores out there to give you warning that I am all caught up on my blogs and sent my camera in to be cleaned. This means that there will probably not be any new pictures and therefore any new blogs until it returns.

Also, as of today Avery is no longer wearing diapers during the day. He did remarkably well on his first day and I am using all methods of bribery to help this process go smoothly (M&Ms, stickers, prizes and tv). He finally pooped in the potty after an hour, 6 books and the promise of an episode of Word World. Success!

Sesame Street Live

Checking out the stage at intermission

Right before security caught them sitting on the steps

Playing after the show

These two love each other

This way!

Everyone look out of the window

A very pooped Hannah (I love this picture of her)

We took the kids, Annabelle, Avery, Eli & Hannah to Sesame Street Live on Saturday and under penalty of death (just kidding, Cathryn) I was to capture the moment for Cathryn since she was otherwise occupied. See previous post for the VERY cute reason why.

So unfortunately, this meant I got very few pictures of Eli and Hannah (Avery and Annabelle were glued to each other's sides) because I was focused on capturing all things Annabelle. Surprisingly, events like these are very emotional for the mamas and I certainly understand Cathryn's wish to participate. Stacy, Erica and I all teared up at the beginning of the show just seeing how happy the kids were. There wasn't a lot of crazy behavior from any of them, just a few moments of dancing and clapping. Generally, all four of them sat there with saucer eyes and their mouths slightly open.

And yes, I gave in and purchased the $10 Elmo balloon at the end of the show. Sucker!!!

Madelyn Mae

Cathryn, Scott and Annabelle welcomed Madelyn Mae into their family on April 8. She is the first of the maj babies scheduled to be born this year and what a precious bundle she is. Cathryn invited me to the hospital room to take pictures of Madelyn and capture Annabelle meeting her sister for the first time. I was honored. To bear witness to such a phenomenal moment really meant a lot to me and I hope that Cathryn can "repay" the favor when Avery meets Sister!

Cathryn was an absolute rockstar and looked amazing just a few short hours after Madelyn's birth. We have all been anxiously awaiting her arrival, not only to welcome her to the world but to also see if she was a boy or girl. Cathryn and Scott had the nerve to not find out the sex which was torture for her friends :) However, almost everyone said that it was a girl, including Annabelle who never wavered in her desire for a baby sister.

I feel so lucky to have the maj ladies as a part of my life and to share the momentous occasions with. The dynamic of the group will be greatly altered by summer when we're watching 7 children grow instead of 4. Wow.

Steamboat

Vacation = Copious amounts of junk food.

At least he's not totally crying in this picture (he did not want his picture taken)

The Wassermans

Playing in the snow

It looks like Avery caught that snowball, doesn't it?

We needed two of everything

Icicle hunting

Warming their hands before heading inside

Sarah came to town so instead of hanging out in Denver, we, along with the Wassermans decided to head up to Steamboat Springs for a long, relaxing weekend, and relaxing it was despite a few moments of pure Colorado adventure. To get to Steamboat, one needs to traverse Rabbit Ears Pass and was it a rough go. It was some of the worst blizzards any of us have ever seen. Luckily, there was a caravan of cars going approximately 5 miles per hour (I'm not kidding, 5 mph) so we didn't have to make the journey alone. When the wind blew, we literally couldn't see 2 feet in front of the car. There was a point that I thought we were going to have to pull over and wait the storm out.

If facing being stranded in the snow wasn't enough, Avery got car sick. There was not a lot we could do because there was not a chance that I was going to unbuckle him in that blizzard because we would need every safety feature should the car go off the side of the mountain. He also got sick on the way home. He always seems to increase his vomit production around Aunt Sarah. At this point, she has caught more episodes than I have.

Thankfully, we all made it safely to our ski in/ski out condo on the mountain and the kids loved it. Luckily, they were happy just to hang out, play and eat junk food for most of the vacation. The daddies skied and the ladies just wanted to relax. I had a raging sinus infection and was almost useless as a human being and was so thankful to have the help with Avery.

Overall, the weekend was very relaxing and not very eventful - everything we were hoping for in this vacation. I did have one of the best massages ever and ate more than one cookie for breakfast.