two years old and a date to the park

did you know it is a holiday when avery has a birthday? chad took the day off just for him. we took avery on a date to freestone park to ride the train. what more would a 2yr old boy want? you may not be able to tell in the pictures but he was so excited! and maybe a tad nervous.

we could have skipped the train ride for this car and he would have been in heaven. he sat there forever pretend driving it and loving life.

then we put in a quarter and...

you apparently also become a man at the old age of two. (see below)

we fed the ducks. played on the playground and headed home with a sleepy boy.

chad=avery's favorite, me=not jealous
well a maybe a little jealous.
Happy Birthday Avery!

hefty, hefty davis!

davis is 3 months already! he is getting so fun and active. he is a chunky little thing, we are flying through avery's old clothes and diaper sizes. his tummy squishes when i tape the sides. his legs are full of rolls and i love it! i can't believe how fast he is growing. he was talking to avery and i tonight and making us laugh with his husky little voice.
*avery is slapping his head less, and starting to be more brotherly with him. like sniffing his head while holding him and saying "ca-ca", as in he thought davis smelled like poop! or wiping his mouth with the burp cloth, waking davis from his nap. and saying hi in a girlish momish way, because he mimics the way i say hi to davis.

blessing sweet davis

this day came way too fast. i loved getting davis dressed in his little white outfit, and how sweet he looked in it. we had a little lunch at grandma shellee's afterward with all the family. it was a good day!

halloween

this was our first time going to trunk or treat. next year i plan on really decorating the trunk of the car. my two halloween decorations didn't cut it. avery was bam bam, davis was frogger, preston was a pumpkin (before his costume got to him). it was fun hanging out with devin and kristin, and so fun taking avery around. he didn't really get the candy part. he did like roaming around by himself though.

davis is home

so exciting! i had him two weeks early. it was kinda crazy and unexpected. the dr. did tell me at my apt on thurs he thought i would go into labor that night. so i got everything ready and then remained in denial that it would happen that fast or early. we went to the hospital friday at 5pm and had davis at 9:20pm. we brought him home yesterday and he is such a good little baby. avery is paying more attention to him now that we are at home, and seems to like him. so far so good!

job complete

my job is done! i finished the quilt top and bottom for davis. and it is now in the hands of a professional quilter. (fancy i know). i am glad to be rid of it for 5-6 wks. i had some trouble with this one so i had lots of seam ripping and do overs. and just when i thought i was done, i had to take apart the back and add more material to it. apparently it should be bigger than the front for being quilted, who knew? i can't wait to see what it looks like finished.

growing so big!

11 months (taken by amanda)

12 months

18 months

i can't believe how much avery has changed in the last 6 months. i wish i had been better about his monthly chair pictures. he is so big now! this is the best i could get from him this month. he kept getting off the chair and wouldn't really smile for me. his most frequently used words are mom, ball, and more. he can also say dad and bird, occasionally we can get him to say porfavor. he has said once or twice bird, water, hat, and hi. he still has just barely 8 teeth (two of the 8 are only half way in). his favorite thing to do besides play with balls, bats, and dad is putting on shoes and skipping around the house. he loves to try to wear chads shoes, he even has a favorite pair he always picks. he is a funny little guy.
pretty sure i just bored everyone but grandmas.

yes, please!

i have been shopping around online for fabric to make a quilt for davis and ideas for the playroom. i ordered this fabric already.

and will do something like this with it. *from here

and today, i stumbled across this:

i love it! it is on etsy in the shop lovemaestore. they are fabric wall decals. apparently they are washable and reusable, amazing! i want them, davis needs them, we will be ordering soon. and for all of avery's future lady friends, of course there are really cute ones for girls too.

blue bath

so this is what hides in our second bathroom (supposed to be guest bathroom). a blue bath, a missing toilet, no sink, cabinet, or mirror, and protruding wires where the vanity fixture should be. so if you have been to my house and used the bathroom in my bedroom that is why (we thought you might prefer a toilet to a hole in the ground). of all of things we got rid of in there, we are keeping the blue bath. thats right, we are going to just embrace it's hideousness and try to rock it. obviously a remodel is needed. first on the list is a new spout, shower head, and plug. the knob to turn off the water, we tore that off, we like using pliers instead? and to get it to hold water i believe we are using a sandwich bag or the kitchen sink plug? as for decor though, i am at a loss? i haven't actually looked around too much. i do know i don't really want it to be a "kids bathroom" since guests will use it too. so if you see anything or have any ideas for me, help is welcomed.

criss cross applesauce!

(my pictures stink because they were taken on my phone)
this is how avery and i spent a good 5.5 hours last sat. we made and canned our own applesauce, amazing right! it is quite the process. first you pick one tree of apples (i missed that part). next you cut them and boil them. then you grind them right up. then flavor, pour into jars, and steam cook the jars shut. that is how my 5.5 hours went. avery's 5.5 was spent wandering the enormous back yard we were in, following the big kids, petting a cat, jumping/falling off the trampoline (no injuries just tears because he wanted back on), playing in the sand, and wandering around some more pulling a little wagon. he had no nap and played until he almost couldn't stand anymore. he was passed out in 0.2 seconds within leaving. it was a good day!

30 years old

chad had a birthday shout hooray! 06-11 he turned 30! he says he is now 1/3 dead. he may kill me for posting this picture but thats what he gets for posing like that! we had a little pre-birthday dinner for him (he bought 6 2ltrs of mtn dew for the occasion, which was all for himself). followed up dinner watching some baseball. then on his actual birthday we went to oreganos and did a little birthday shopping for him. and then some more post-birthday shopping. we are in the process of sprucing up his wardrobe with classy clothes for his new position at work. i don't think he minds.
ps i am sparing you the 30 things i love about chad, and myself, i don't know if i can come up with that many.

of course

so chad is currently on his way home from here. where he flew to pick up and drive home our new car (found on craigs list) to replace the one just like it that he sold to make some denaro. i am hoping to be able to keep this one for a little while but if you know chad, then you know as well as i do, that might not happen. and if you know me, then you know what i picked to do to help pass the time.

first stop goodwill. picked up a few things for me, a new ride for avery, and i even thought of chad (got him a tie he may or may not like). avery was TICKED, we are talking broken heart cry, when i took his car out of the cart for it to be rung up, and then again when it had to sit beside him and he had to be buckled in his seat, and then again when i insisted on cleaning it before he rode it at home. life is ruff for this little guy.

and to tie up the rest of the night, blockbuster. one for avery, and one for me (okay, so i wanted to see them both). i liked he's just not that into you and the mouse one was eh.
ps. yes i know i just blogged about complete nonsense.

show low trip

for memorial day weekend we headed to show low for an awesome softball tournament. sweet! i am usually against this trip because i don't enjoy watching softball. one game every once in a while to be supportive and all that, whatever. but game after game in a tournament i will be honest, i was somewhat dreading it. this year chad took off an extra day before and after the tournament so we didn't have to fight traffic. it turned out to be a really fun trip. we stayed with devin and kristin at their house. it made it nice so i didn't have to go to every game. we had fun just hanging out with devin and kristin and enjoying the weather. (we sat on their patio a lot and made fun of golfers). avery was in heaven with their dogs toby, lilly, heisman, and winston. 3 are fairly large english bull dogs so you would think he would be a little intimidated. he enjoyed touching their teeth, trying to get them to kiss him, and chasing them with his bat or spatula. i was more nervous for their dogs then for them getting too aggressive with avery. avery was a great trial run for the dogs and devin and kristin. he broke in the dogs and the nursery for when their baby preston arrives in july.

Chad's 1st and last post

I am very excited about this, so I asked Corri if I could post this on her blog, for all the blogstalker moms out there. Not really, it's for the family who haven't seen it. Any of you who know me, know I like a nice, old VW. On many occasions, I have gone "treasure hunting" with my brother or my friend, looking for the old forgotten VW sitting in someone's backyard or garage. It is such an obsession, that I have been known to get on Google earth and try to find one in someone's backyard. Creepy, I know, but I have always wanted to find a good one. Well, I have found one, and hope it isn't the last. I wanted to share my story.

Driving back to work, from lunch one day, I saw 2 guys walking down the sidewalk, and one of them pointed at something. I turned to look, and I almost broke my neck! I did an illegal lane change and flipped a U-turn. My time had come!! Back in the brush and trees, behind an old farm house, barely visible from the street, was an old rotting VW bus. My heart started beating fast and I wanted to investigate. I checked it out later that day with a friend and started looking for the owner. I wanted to see if he would sell it. For 3 or 4 days I tried to find someone. It was always on my mind, and I couldn't sleep at night. I couldn't function normal. I had to find the owner. It was located at a farm, and there was a sign with a phone number, so I called and left a message. As I was driving away, I saw a man walking around, so I went over to talk to him. I tried to have a conversation with him, but all I really was able to get out of it was that he was not interested in selling it. It looked like it had been sitting for years. Trees had grown around it and it was not going anywhere. I drove away sad, and felt like I failed in my mission.

To make a long story short, I got a call from this man about 3 weeks later. He said he was willing to let it go if I made him a good offer. This went on for another month or so. The bus had to be freed from the trees and debris, he had to locate the title, and he had to convince himself that he was really going to sell it. I understand how he felt. It is not easy to let a VW go. They are very sentimental. So I finally made a deal with him, and towed it home. You might not think it is much, but it is a treasure to me. I am going to bring this bus back to life. I spent almost 3 hours that night cleaning out the bus from 20+ years of leaves, trash, and spiders. Then again on Saturday, another couple hours just cleaning and dreaming of what I can do with this. It is a 1959 Volkswagen Double Door Panel Van. For those of you who don't know, the doors on both sides is not too common, so it makes it a little bit cooler to me. Just ask Corri, I tell her all about these things and she listens, even though she probably doesn't care too much. I would like to thank Corri for supporting me in this endeavor. She told me I should buy it. She probably knew that I would have many sleepless nights if I didn't. Enjoy the pics. -chad

look who decided to walk

avery had taken his first steps a while ago and we thought oh he will be walking any day. nope, he didn't want to. then lately he has liked to hold our finger and take laps walking around the house. he would get mad if you let go, refused to do it on his own. a couple of weeks ago grandma shellee called me on my way to pick him up and said they had to stop him from walking because they didn't want me to miss it. and still weeks went by and avery could still care less to walk. then last sunday he decided he would give it a try on his own. he enjoyed it. and hasn't really walked much since. he was walking a little this morning though and even picking up his ball to throw. i think we need to get him a helmet for at our house, i am nervous for him and his not so sturdy/confident walking and our little steps. wish him luck.

easter is coming

go to the easter pageant in mesa. i have gone almost every year since forever and it is amazing. it is a big awesome production they spend a couple of months just constructing the stage. we will be going this week with the youth from church. (avoid a wednesday that is when most youth groups go and will probably be insanely busy). but still worth it. you can sit on the lawn towards the back you can bring food or snacks and there are also chairs set up. if you are not familiar with the easter pageant there is some good information here. so go and have fun.

one two switcharoo!

so much better. i finally found something to switch with the dresser in the salon. i was afraid the dresser would get ruined in the salon and knew it would be perfect in my room. so now in the salon sits this beautiful metal desk with a very nice veneer top (can't do too much damage to that). i questioned it at first, everything looks hideous sitting in a goodwill with other junk piled on top of it. it doesn't look as nice as the dresser did but, i think it is pretty cute. it fits my hair stuff nicely in it's drawers. and huge bonus i already liked the color and scratches that came with it.

afric (a fric)

what is afric? it apparently is a name. why would i know this? i was looking on babycenter for name ideas for middle names. why would i need a middle name or be stalking babycenter? because baby numero dos is on the way. i am 10 or 11 weeks, i have yet to go to the dr. i have been told by my friends since the day chad and i were engaged that our children would be red headed fricks. so if i do have a baby with crazy red hair i could name it afric. then it would really be a red headed fric. but i am almost positive that we have the good kind of red hair genes. i have a niece with flamming red hair and she is dang cute, and two of chad's sisters have red hair and they too are exceptionally attractive. so i think the curse my best friends gave me (how nice of them) will not be happening.
please note: those baby pictures are not of any of chad's sisters or my niece. and the boy is not chad in his youth.

best spot in the house

who knew when i bought this bench for the kitchen it would be loved so much? this is avery's favorite spot. we sit here to eat his breakfast, he plays with his toys on the bench, he can climb up and down, sit and dangle his little legs, or his favorite just standing there looking out the window. except one day he attempted eating a dead fly that was in the widow sill, luckily i got it out of his mouth. so gross! he has also taken a liking to rocks, dirt, and grass. oh and grandma shellee avery told me he misses you.

avery goes to the zoo

happy presidents day! we thought it would be a great day to take avery to the zoo. it was perfect weather so that was wonderful. but it was much busier than we expected. kinda insane. we weren't sure avery would be that into the zoo but he totally enjoyed it. it was funny he would get just as excited if not more about the little brown birds on the sidewalk as he would for any of the animals. we took our bikes and it was so fun to cruise around seeing all the animals. people were jealous they had to walk. they were also staring at avery, which we are used to because he is just that cute but, it was pitty stares he was getting. we are not used to those kinda stares. he took a fall recently and his face got jacked. so sad. but he is happy as ever don't worry.

crazy beautiful comes home

voila! it is done. the salon is finished minus a few minor details (decor on the walls, a trash can, and my drier chair). today was the first day of working at home. i loved it, so much more relaxed. hopefully it feels that way for my clients as well. they do have to venture through my house and a short pass through the garage to get in the salon-which i hope is not awkward or weird.

chad is amazing and spent a lot of time working to get it done for me. he pretty much did it all: the floors, the walls, the moulding, the painting, and then helping my dad replace our water heater that broke. what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.

this is my sweet shampoo bowl, it is great. the bowl tilts to the clients comfort and looks really classy. i get giddy when i use it. i think it is pretty comfy.

this is what i used for the frame of my mirror. i really had to convince chad to let me get rid of the painting. the artist really captured the ugliness of the desert. lets be honest it was sick, no frame deserves to display something so ugly.