Moving.... Ugh!

It is official, we are moving. For good reasons. It is closer to our oldest daughters school, and it is going to be a little cheaper a month, it is only one story, so the cleaning is going to decrease dramatically. Lastly, it is super homey. Is that a word. Well, with any move there is going to be stress, but first there is the excitement of changing things up. We are painting all the rooms. Brian and I went to Home Depot last night to pick out wall colors.

Anessa wants lime green. Averie's room is going to be lavender, and our room is going to be gray. My best friend is experimenting a lot with gray and it looks really good. So I am stealing it. I made the below inspiration board to help myself organize my thoughts. I think I am going to make one for Averie's room too. I found brick wallpaper.

What do you think tacky?

I love the look in the top left photo. But will it look like that really? The whole house is going to be a cream color with white base boards. I am leaning towards the living room color below. It looks like it might have a gray tone to it. I guess there is still a lot to plan out. Man, here comes the stress.

"A" Okay

Averie is doing wonderful after her surgery. The nurses were very surprised at how well she did. They put her under, and it took literally 15 minutes for them to put the tubes in. In order for her to come home she had to wake up from the anesthesia. This is where the nurses were impressed. It only took her a few minutes, and she was not grumpy at all when she woke. They told us in the beginning that most babies are very grumpy and uncomfortable. Averie was a champ.Not only did she wake up happy, but she started eating normal food right away. No special diet for our little girl. She did have a little bleeding out of one ear, which is to be expected according to the doctors. Other than that one ear bleeding, there have been no other complications. We are putting her drops in, and she is feeling fantastic.

We have definitely noticed a difference in her hearing. She is responding to us a lot better. She is also talking louder. Okay making noises. She has got "Mama" down. She knows who I am for sure. The other words will come slowly. the speech therapist will let us know if she can see a difference.

Now we are going to focus on the walking and talking. She is scaling walls now, which is a great sign. She is doing a little independent standing but not for to long. My little girl is getting there. I am very excited for the talking. I am going to read her as many books as I can. I know that helps. Maybe not a lot but a little I am sure. The newest development are the pull ups. She grabs onto the edge of the table and hangs like a monkey. It is the cutest thing. It blows me away how strong she is. I do believe it is super human. She is getting so big. She will be 18 months soon. Look out for some pictures. I think I am going to try my hand at taking them myself. Maybe the park on the swings. She is so much fun. I am sure that we can make it work wherever.

Here is my Baby girl post surgery eating some veggie chips. Like nothing ever happened.

There SHE goes/Week in Insta-pics

Averie is scheduled for a 7:30am ear tube procedure. I on the other hand an scheduled to be at work at 7:30am. Can anyone say SAHM? I want to be so badly right at the moment. I know that Dad is with her, but I am Mama I want to be with her. I have a great hubby though, he is giving me the play by play as everything happens. I know I complain a lot. I am getting out of work at 11:30 though, so I will be with her after surgery. I am lucky enough to at least be able to be with her today. According to the nurse it is a pretty quick and straight forward procedure. I am sure that have this phrase on auto pilot, "the is nothing to worry about, she will do wonderfully." They have it recorded somewhere I am positive. This whole week has  been leading up to this day and here we are. I wonder what results this surgery will actually bear. I am excited to see if this helps her develop verbally.

Well I will try and keep everyone updated as I find out what is going on. In the mean time. Week in Insta-pics. YAY!

{My Week in Insta-pics are always a mish mash of stuff.}

What we have here is, kale chips and a V8 juice, both very yummy.{see kale chip recipe here}. Black pepper triscuts. I am recommending them, they are delish. Then my outfits Tuesday through today. I have been trying to go back to my goals. One of them was feel better, and looking good always seems to do the trick. Averie giving Mama some love, and her coming to get me. I love that kid. The water bottle is odd, I know. But I have found the perfect water bottle straw. It is a subway straw. I know that is kind of useless, but if you prefer to drink out of straws, then your welcome. The Starbucks cup, self explanatory. Lastly my sock bun, and then a normal bun. I like to wear the sock buns just as a hair do.

Tomato Pesto Foccacia

{that kind of looks like a pizza. Oops}

1. Slice fresh heirloom tomatoes, and bocconcini {small mozzarella balls}

2. I use Trader Joe's pesto, and just add a little extra olive oil.

3. You can use either the grated Parmesan in a shaker, or shred your own.

4. The dough I made fresh using this recipe.  http://www.dinneralovestory.com/money-in-the-bank/

5. Roll out the dough.

6. Spread the pesto and the Parmesan .

7. Add the tomatoes and mozzarella.

8. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

9. Cook for 12-13 minutes. If you would like to add fresh basil,

add it during the last 5 minutes of your cook time. {this prevents burning or browning}

10. EAT. Bon Appetito!

Wordless Wednesday {Need a Smile, Take a Smile wk10}

I am here today purely for Smiles. I have lots to give and little to lose. I read something recently that said, be so happy, that when others look at you, they can't be anything other than happy themselves.

Friday is the DAY!

17 Month photo

Friday is Averie's ear tube surgery. I am not sure what the correct verbiage is for this procedure, so you get "ear tube surgery". 

I am not able to take the whole day off. *tears*, but Daddy is going to take her in the morning, and I will be with her after. I am so nervous and anxious for her.

Her PT (Physical Therapist) said that having the tubes put in will help with her balance and speech. My natural reaction would be, that this is all going to happen very fast after the procedure. I know that is not reality though. I am just anxious for her to walk and talk.

Averie is walking while holding onto things. She has mastered cruising. She is still crawling all over the place as well. I have definitely noticed a difference lately in her speech. When she says Mama I know she is trying to get my attention. Where as before I was not so sure.

To know that her hearing is going to improve due to the tubes, has me so excited. Then the improved hearing will affect her speech. I guess when we talk to her now she hears a muffled version of what we say. The sound bounces off of the fluid in her ears and then registers. Her Doctor said that this is very common in children with DS.

Balance, will hopefully be improved as well. Walking here we come. I am so eager to see her running around and being a terror. I could not welcome the chaos more.

So keep us in your thoughts as Friday nears. I know that it is a simple procedure, but my little girl has never been put under before, and it has Mommy's nerves going a mile a minute.

Weekend Wrap-up

My weekend was pretty great. I stayed home Friday night. Averie and I just hung out at the house. No errands, no plans, just us girls. Saturday was pretty nice too. I cleaned the entire house. It looked and felt so good. I wish I could stay caught up with my cleaning but I always feel behind. I have to cherish it, because it will not last long once the other two get home. *sad face*

Saturday night I had my parents over for dinner, I made a tomato basil foccacia. That ended up looking like a pizza. I will post that recipe this week. Then.... the A/C went out. Luckily my Dad was already there so he identified the problem and fixed it. Thanks Dad. I don't know what we would do without you. Problems always arise when the Husband is away. Just my luck. I stayed at their house Saturday night for fear that the A/C was not REALLY fixed. I was taking no chances.

Sunday was spent relaxing some more, and hanging out around my parents home. The rest of the family was home around 2pm. When I walked in our front door it was nice and cool. YAY! for my maintenance guy (DAD). We BBQ some chicken, and watched a movie. Wanderlust with Jennifer Aniston. Pretty strange, and interesting. I am on the fence whether or not to recommend it. Off to bed. Oh but the adventures did not stop there. It started to lighting. In the Summer? What? Then thunder, then rain. Once I realized that all this was going on right outside my window. It took forever to fall back asleep. Otherwise I had a great night of sleep.

I love when my days are filled with this little girl. How did I get so lucky.

Week in Insta-pics {Mayhem}

I admit that I kinda slacked off this week. It has been a tough one.

I think I came out of it a little tired but still kickin'

{top left; at work, getting a caffine fix, the result of my copy{cat} egg McMuffins, trying out a new juice, Averie warning me of the long night ahead, and finally my Birchbox. I just signed up for the Blumm Box too. This one is for Mommy and Baby. I am excited to see what I get in my first one next month.}

Copy{cat} Egg McMuffins

Copy{cat} Egg McMuffins



 



Lost & maybe FOUND?

Have you ever been so lost, there is nothing you can say or do to find your way back. I feel pretty lost these days. Like things are falling apart around me. The more I try and understand ,and fix it, the worse they get. I feel pretty helpless. I am at the consensus that there is nothing I can do. I might have to sit back and let fate take its course. What a scary thought right.

I am at the point where you reflect and start thinking. I DO SO MUCH! It is not possible to do more. I guess my first problem is realizing that there is nothing more I can do. But I can't get my head around that. No matter how may explanations or versions I come up with. My world is still falling apart around me. The attempts will be limitless, knowing me. I wont give up trying to find what it is that needs fixing.

Brian's family has a vacation coming up here soon. We are all going to Santa Cruz. It should be fun. Maybe what I need is a trip away. Time to clear my head, get a fresh perspective on things. Brian and Anessa are going to Fresno this weekend for a tournament. I will be at home with Averie. Maybe I can take this time to breathe and reboot. My confidence is pretty low, I don't know how much good it will do. Worth trying I guess.

Wordless Wednesday {A Memory wk9}

I would do anything, give anything, conquer everything for this little girl. Enough SAID!

Linking up with Paper Mama, Jenni from the Blog, Naptime Momtog, and parenting BY dummies.

Results of Hearing Evaluation

Averie did a wonderful job at the Doctor's office yesterday. She was very cooperative with the nurses. At the start of the appointment the Doctor noticed some fluid in her ears, and did a few tests to verify it was not draining. The actual hearing evaluation was kind of neat, while at the same time nerve racking for Mommy. No one wants anything to be wrong with their child's ears obviously. They took us into this little sound proof room. While in this room they made noises to see if Averie would look for them. She did an okay job, but you could tell that she was not hearing some of the softer sounds.

A personal side note: my daughter loves lights so she was starring at the above light for half the time. To get an accurate result I recommended that they turn it off {smiles}. I know I am making excuses. I just wanted her ears to be perfect.

After all the fun noise tests, we moved back into the exam room where the doctor talked about our options. He recommended that she have tubes put in her ears so that the fluid that is currently just sitting there could drain. I asked him a bunch of questions like any mother would. One of them was, "what is she hearing now?" He said that everything we say to her is muffled. When we talk to her the noise bounces off of the fluid and then registers, and that is what she hears. He said that putting the tubes in, her speech could improve, by waiting she could fall further behind in her speech development. After talking to him and asking a million questions. I pretty much had made up my mind, but I still had to talk to B. After to talking to him we were on the same page, easy decision. Tubes here we come. I am a little excited to see if her speech really does improve. I am not however looking forward to surgery. The MD said they will have to put her under using general anesthesia. The idea of Averie going under scares me to tears. I just want my boo boo to be healthy and happy.

The way I see this whole situation is this, I rather her have to have tubes put in her ears, than have heart problems and go through the many surgeries that would require. We lucked out there, she has a healthy well developed little heart. I am blessed that at the moment this is the worst of surgeries that she will have to go through. I HOPE!

Hearing Evaluation

I have no idea what to expect or how long this hearing evaluation will take. I am in the dark. I am a little nervous too. I want everything to be perfect, but what parent doesn't want their child to be problem free. I made sure last night to clean her ears out really well. I know I am ridiculous. Deep down, I can't take another problem this year. Obviously if something is a miss I will figure out how to make it better, but my fingers are crossed that her hearing is perfect. I admittedly am ready for some smooth sailing. My goals. HAHAHA! Goals. I think I have accidentally stuck to some of them. We have a workout room here at my job, and I THINK I am going to try running two or three times a week on my lunch. We will see. Eating better is a failure. Saving money is a daily struggle, but I am hanging in there. Here is a self portrait. I have not taken one of these in a while. This is what stressed out, and overwhelmed looks like. I dont want pity. I am the type of person where if I am not stressed I am bored. I will  however take suggestions on ways not to be like this.

Happy Tuesday Everyone.

                                       

Weekend Wrap-up

My family and I spent yet another weekend hanging out with the Deus family. We went swimming and ate lots of food. My mothers lasagna is delicious. I am feeling better, I think those antibiotics kicked that infections butt! My fingers are crossed that I do not mysteriously come down with anything else. That sinus infection came out of no where. Averie is becoming quite the mermaid in the pool. No back flips or summersaults, but she loves to kick, splash, and blow bubbles. Anessa was gone this past weekend. She was in Portland, Oregon for a softball tournament. Just Brian, me and the kiddo. It was nice and quiet. No teenagers blasting their music at 1am. Today is Monday, ugh, and like any other weekend it must end and the grind must start. I had to run a few errands today but once I got home it was boo boo time. Then dinner, a shower (I straightened my hair and I have not done that in months, I forgot how good it feels.) I painted my nails {gasp}, and am watching a little crap tv. For those of you that don't know what crap tv is. It is ALL reality tv shows. They are my favorite. By the way that is my husbands word for them. Hehe

I think that sums up everything. Oh I almost forgot I got my birchbox today. Yay! I look forward to it every month.