Big Changes

It's been a while since we've posted and some big changes have happened since then. We made a big move from California to Idaho for Justin's new job with Northwestern Mutual Financial and to be closer to Justin's brother and nieces. It all happened really quickly. It all started in February when we decided to start looking at making a move. We came to Idaho to visit and have Justin interview with a few companies during the first week of March and we left with Justin having accepted a position with Northwestern Mutual. 

After paperwork was finished, background check completed and a drug test passed we had exactly two weeks to plan, pack and move to Idaho. We left California on April 6, and with a stopover in Winnemucca, NV for the night arrived at our new home on April 7, 2013. 

Just before leaving our house in California for the last time. 

  

We stopped as we crossed into Idaho to commemorate our big move. 

 

It's been exactly a month since we arrived and we have had a blast here. We've been making friends, visiting new places and we even joined the local YMCA which is pretty dang cool. It even has a water slide and wading pool for the little kids. We can't wait to see what other fun stuff our new adventure has in store for us.

 

Happy 1st Birthday Olivia!

Since we are moving before Olivia turns 1 we decided to have a birthday celebration with our family and friends in Napa. We picked the Saturday before Easter but since we are packing we couldn't have it at our house. We decided to host it at the same park we've had Avery's birthday and cross our fingers for good weather. 

Unfortunately we did not make out on the weather, but what would a rainbow themed birthday party be without rain? Luckily it didn't rain too hard and the trees gave us pretty good cover. The kids enjoyed themselves splashing in the water and getting all wet.

Mmm food!

A lot of the time people ask me about Baby Led Weaning. Some people think it's some new-fangled way to transition your baby to eating solid food. Really, it's just coming back to the natural way. To me it just makes sense. Teach a baby to chew before you teach her to swallow. Since we started introducing solid food at 6 months Olivia has shown how much she really loves food. Here are some of her firsts.

 Cantaloupe

 Chicken

 Pizza

 Graham cracker

 

Cuties Oranges

 Pot Roast

Green Beans

Bye bye pacis

We finally kicked the paci habit for Avery. It's been a long time coming, but we finally bit the bullet and told her they were going bye bye.

For about a week we told her how the Paci Fairy was going to come to our house one night and take the pacis. In return she will leave a present only for big girls. We thought making it like the Tooth Fairy would be more believable.

So last Wednesday night we searched the house and car for all the pacis we could find. She helped me put write a note to the Paci Fairy, put the pacis in a box and tie a ribbon around the box.
 The original plan was to put them next to her bed for the Paci Fairy to come get once she was asleep. Unfortunately when it came time to go to sleep she was hysterical knowing the pacis were right there but she couldn't have them.

Then when she was upset and telling Justin about how she wanted the pacis we decided to make the switch now and tell her the Paci Fairy came while she was out in the living room. Luckily she is young and it worked. The Paci Fairy left Avery a new Dora watch so we put it on and told her when she felt like she wanted a paci to remember she was a big girl and look at her watch. It worked! I threw all the pacis in the trash that night and we have been paci free ever since. 

Olivia meets Santa

I have never been fond of taking my kids to see some smelly old man dressed in a Santa costume who has nothing better to do the other 11 months of the year where he has time to sit all day at the mall for the month of December.

This year the Town of Yountville where Aunt Stacy works had one of the firemen (who happens to be a friend of Aunt Stacy) dress up and arrive at the tree lighting on a fire truck. While he may not be the most "authentic" looking Santa, the girls are young enough still not to notice and knowing the person dressing up made me a little more comfortable with letting my kids sit on Santa's lap.

Unfortunately Avery was not a fan. She wanted nothing to do with Santa other than to wave at him from a distance similar to those enforced by a restraining order. Olivia on the other hand was a ham. She loved his beard and looking at him. She was even accommodating in sitting on his lap for a photo op.

Election 2012

This year is an election year. Justin and I are both registered to vote by mail, but this year is special. This year we have two young American's to show the importance of actively participating in the determining the future of the country we call home. This year we decided we would fill out our ballots at home and on election day we would walk to our nearest polling place -- which happens to be the school across the street from our house -- and have the girls see us drop them off. 

We were so lucky that the polling place volunteers were so nice because they let Avery put our (already sealed) ballots in the official box and even gave both girls stickers. Avery sort of understood what the sticker was for but Olivia just likes having her picture taken. I am so proud to have been able to share this with them.

Sleep breakthrough!

 Sleep is a magical thing. Unfortunately with kids it is hard to come by. Until last week it was always a fight to get Avery to nap. Then something magical happened. She decided napping is a good thing. It's a fun thing. She just wanted to do it on the couch.

I cannot believe it took me 2 years to figure out, but we are finally at a place where we can both look forward to naptime without anxiety. And doesn't she look so peaceful?

We have a sitter!

Such a big girl she is. Olivia is officially an independent sitter. She gets tired after about 2 minutes, but she has so much fun being able to see like we do.

Princess Pee Pee in the Potty girl

Avery is a big girl now. A couple weeks ago we decided it was time to try potty training Avery. She had shown interest for a few months but I was hesitant to start before Olivia was born for fear of regression once seeing baby sister in diapers So Monday night we went to the store and stocked up on supplies. We already had a little potty, but we got a potty seat for the big potty, some fruit snacks (Avery's most favorite "prize") and about 20 pairs of tiny little underwear.

Tuesday morning we woke up and Avery helped me throw away all her diapers we could find. We were jumping in feet first and not holding on to any lifelines. It's all or nothing.

Tuesday was a huge success. She only had 3 accidents, one of which was Justin's fault for locking the bathroom door when he was in there. She even made it through her first nap diaper-free without so much as a drop! That night she went to bed late and woke up early, but stayed dry the whole night.

The next two days we had a couple accidents, but by the end of day 3 she was fully using the potty for every time. On day 4 we visited Aunt Stacy at work for our first public-potty trial since it's someplace she was familiar with. She used the potty there like a champ. The next day she used the travel potty I bought for the car while we were at the park. By day 6 I concluded she was 100% fully a potty-using big girl. I couldn't be more proud! And grateful not to change as many diapers.

Olivia's first swing!

Olivia rode on her very first swing at a part today. She absolutely loved it and laughed the entire time. It was so fun to watch.

Leavin' on a jet plane...

Last week Avery, Olivia and I took a "vacation". I use the word vacation lightly because who am I kidding? Traveling alone with two kids is no vacation. It would have been easier if Justin could have made the trip with us, but he had to work the days we were going.

For our adventure we traveled by plane to San Diego to watch my little brother, Thomas, graduate boot camp and become a United States Marine. We were able to stay with my sister, Amanda, and her little family. I was even able to finally meet my niece, Penny.

Justin dropped us off at the airport, but after he left us at the tram we had a little trouble getting through security that included a meltdown by Avery and all of our carry on luggage being taken apart, but that's a story for another day. Once we got on the plane both girls were so well behaved and Avery loved the plane. She sat in her carseat next the the window, ate snacks and watched her DVD's like a big girl. She even had some airplane pretzels and said thank you to the flight attendant without being prompted. (My polite little girl!)

Once we arrived Amanda picked us up at the airport and we got all three kids in the car. Good thing she just got a new SUV or we would not have fit! While we were there Avery loved helping Aunt Mandy make dinner and play with her sister and cousin. 

 

On Thursday we were able to go to the depot where Thomas had spent the last 13 weeks and after what seemed like forever we were finally able to see and talk to him. I may have cried. Luckily I rented a stroller because it was so hot none of the kids wanted to walk or even stand while we waited for hours for the drill instructors to release the recruits to their families. As you can see Olivia fell asleep and Avery stole Sophie the Giraffe. I swear that thing can keep even her entertained. Once we got to see Thomas I was so amazing to see how much he had changed, but that he was still the same Thommy we had been missing.

On Friday we attended his graduation where he officially became a Marine. What was normally a 20 minute car ride took us 2 hours and all the kids had meltdowns on the way (Avery worst of all, naturally) but once we got there we got settled in and at least the bleachers were in the shade. It was seriously hot (like 90+ at 10am) but the girls did relatively well. Avery was fascinated with the marching band and tried to march back and forth on the bleachers like they did. Unfortunately there wasn't much room because they were packed! Luckily the ceremony was only about an hour and then we were free to take Thomas with us!

After all that we went to lunch and a miracle occurred. On the 10 minute car ride to the restaurant both my kids fell asleep. I successfully transferred them, still sleeping, to the stroller where they slept for the entire lunch. Luckily Penny was so well behaved in the big girl high chair I was actually able to eat a hot meal and have an adult conversation. It was a amazing.

One of my favorite things was finally getting to meet Penny. Seeing her on Skype is just not the same as snuggling that little peanut in my mommy nook and feeling that full head of hair brush against my cheek when she leans on my shoulder for a baby hug. It was amazing seeing all three cousins play together and the way she and Olivia interacted was just adorable.

All in all it was a stressful "vacation" but one I am glad I took. I wouldn't have missed Thomas's graduation for the world and seeing my sister, meeting Penny and making those memories are a few things I wouldn't have gotten had I not taken the girls. They even got their very first set of wings which are now in their baby books.

Avery's 2nd Birthday Party!

On Saturday we celebrated 2 years with Avery. It's hard to believe she is 2 years old. It feels like she just got here, but at the same time it also feels like she's always been here.

We celebrated with a monster-themed party at Yountville Community Park. We had lots of family and friends join us. Even with the unseasonably cool and windy weather we had a great time; Avery especially enjoyed herself.

Olivia Rolls

Today while we were waiting at the doctor's office for Olivia's 2 month check up she was practicing her tummy time. I turned my head for one second to look at Avery and when I turned back she was on her back. I couldn't believe I missed the very first roll, but I put her back on her belly and tried to get her to do it again. She did it two more times before I could get the camera to record. I finally got it on camera on the last attempt because after 3 tries she was not exactly happy to be doing tricks for me.

Ice cream!

Avery had her first ice cream cone by herself and loved it!

"Bath"

Since her umbilical stump fell off this week Olivia got her first "bath". I say "bath" because it was really a shower since we don't actually have a bathtub. We found this nifty bath hammock that works pretty well for our situation. In case you didn't know soapy newborns are quite slippery, so I really like this because it holds her up so I can wash all the parts without worrying about dropping her.

Contrary to what I assumed was normal Olivia didn't hate her first bath. In fact, she actually seemed to enjoy it. She especially enjoyed when I held her in the shallow water and poured water over her belly and hair. I hope she continues to like baths because I was not looking forward to bathing a cranky baby like we did with Avery.

Welcome to the world Olivia Grace!

Olivia Grace Nunley

 3 minutes old

Wednesday, April 18, 2012 

7:37pm
6lbs 13oz -- 20 inches long

Sisters' first meeting

Pee pee

I'll spare you a TMI photo but I am so proud of my girl! She pee peed in the potty for the first time ever tonight.
We have been putting her on the potty any time she asked and before her bath and tonight she stool up, squealed with delight and pointed proudly at her accomplishment.
We both did a happy dance.

2011: Best of!

This year has been a whirlwind and I can't believe it has flown by so quickly. Here are our top 10 from 2011. *Note: These are in no particular order. 

1. Avery turns 1!











 
2. Brenda becomes a stay-at-home-mommy.
3. Cousin Kayla visits.













4. Finding out Avery will be a big sister in 2012!

 

5. Avery starts walking.

6. Auntie Mandy visits.












7. We took our first family vacation to Monterey, CA.













8. Justin and I celebrated great 3 years of marriage.

9. Aunt Audra & cousin Jess visit.

10. Avery took swimming lessons.










To bring everything full circle, here is "then and now" of Avery. We can't wait to see what 2012 brings us and meet Avery's baby sister.

First trip to the library!

This afternoon Avery and I were itching to get out of the house, but it was too windy to go to the park. Since Avery was in the sleepy-but-not-cranky mood I thought it might be a good time to try taking her to the library. She did so well!

 She was so interested in all the books. And when we walked out she tried to run right back in. 

Once we were home she was so intrigued at all the books we checked out.

Bananas

Avery's new word is

bananas.

It sounds more like "ma-nana" but she gets it. She will only actually say it when I have a banana or she is eating a banana. They are her favorite fruit.