The Bloggers Kostrzewa

be better

2012-02-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Avery makes me want to be a better person. A nicer person, more friendly and positive about life. When she gets upset, she quickly gets over it and offers hugs to anyone around. She says hi to everyone that walks by. She doesn't judge them or think about "what if they don't say hi back?" She just goes for it, 100%. She apporaches life that way, with full zeal and passion. I wish I was like that. Avery is my inspiration.

birthday joy

2012-01-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Ken treated me like a queen for my birthday doing all sorts of things that he knew I would love. Over the weekend, I thought he forgot and I had a pregnant-hormonal-over-dramatic-reaction, while the whole time, he was probably thinking, "Your birthday is on Monday, right?"

I was a great day. And it looked like this:

6:40- Pancake breakfast with our dear friends at the house. I got to eat on the "You are special today plate." The table had lillies and balloons and love.

7:00- Put on the new and beauitful scarf Rachelle and Marty got me and walked to school.

7:00-12:30- Birthday texts from family and friends while at work and this sweet note.

12:30- Came home to find this chair that I have been wanting for a while.

3:00- Prenatal massage. Oh.my.heavens. If you're pregnant or not, GET ONE!

4:30- Played a message from my mom where she had 100 5th graders sing me happy birthday

4:32-7:00- Hung out with the Ave-face who was espeically adorable (she must have known...)

7:30- A dear friend from church came over to sit with Avery so we could go out.

8:00- Walked to dinner, such a joy.

8:30 Had amazing sushi at the new place that recently opened up by our house. (I get the cooked stuff, no worries.)

9:15 On the way home, stopped at the new frozen yogurt shop literally around the corner from our house and got an extra huge portion. "It's your birthday cake," Ken said.

10:30 Went to bed with a smile on my face, in my new pajamas from my mom.

Great day.

we love pizza

2012-01-25T07:52:00.000-08:00

Ken and I used to buy frozen pizzas from the market and would normally split one. It seemed like the same amount we would eat from a restaurant so we were fine with it. One day though, Ken happened to look at the calories, fat, sodium, etc. The amount of sodium is out of this world! Like, one slice (which is small) was like 65% of your sodium for the DAY. We were not doing ourselves any favors.

So we tried to make our own dough and every recipe I tried looked more like flat bread than pizza dough. Until I got a great recipe that we have loved, and never looked back. The funny thing with yeast is that it is always different, pending on the weather. Baking and dough making is all about the flour. It can make or break you. After making this dough for a about 9 months now, I have been very careful when adding the dough. The recipe calls for 3 cups, but some days I only use 2 and it's perfect.

We made whole wheat dough the other night and it turned out great. The thing with whole wheat dough is that it works best when you still use regular bread flour with it. All whole wheat flour makes a 10 pound pizza, no one wants that. Here's the recipe:

Note: this is not a food blog, and I'm not a pro photographer. Grace is appreciated.

Ingredients:
Flour, active dry yeast (this is key...), salt, olive oil, sugar

These amounts are for one pizza. The original recipe was doubled and for one pizza, but it was so thick. You can do whatever you like, this is just what we do.

1 packet of Active dry yeast and 1 cup of warm water, with a pinch of sugar. Let it double in size in a window sill or some place warm, but not hot. Finicky yeast...

When yeast is ready, mix by hand with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Then, begin with the flour. If you're doing whole wheat, add the whole wheat cup first, and then supplement with bread flour. I always start with a cup, and then gradually add till it's the perfect feel for me. This normally results in 2 to 2 1/2 cups of flour total.

Place in a separate bowl, because you're probably need the mixer to make chocolate chips cookies.

Let it double in size. (Takes about 30 to 45 minutes.) If you use rapid rise, this won't happen as well. That's why Active Dry is the way to go. For baking nerds like myself, I found this chart showing the difference.

The next step is more of a tip. I roll out the dough, place it on my pizza sheet and I paint olive oil all over it. Then I sprinkle some garlic powder. I bake the dough for 5-7 minutes at 425 degrees. This preps the dough well for the toppings.

Toppings we dig:

I buy the whole milk mozzarella, not the stuff in the bag that's already shredded. Working at two pizza places in high school made me a pizza cheese snob. Gotta be whole milk, or fresh mozzarella. I slice the cheese and place it all over the pizza after adding another base of olive oil. Then I slice some cherry tomatoes and put drops of marinara sauce in random spots, but not all over. I bake that for around 10 minutes, then I add some big ole basil leaves all over and cook for about 5 more minutes. Since it's really hot, the basil looks burnt but it isn't. Yummy in my tummy.

If you try it, let me know. I have made CPK's BBQ chicken pizza before with the same dough and it was bomb diggity. Little cilantro, red onions, pineapple, chicken and BBQ sauce; you're good to go. I don't normally have those ingredients on hand, so it's a rare happening in our house.

In my mom fantasies, I picture Avery having some friends over for a sleep over and we make personal pizzas with this dough and then all make different ones and they go, "Wow, Avery's mom, this is the best pizza ever!" I reply, "Oh thanks sweet children."

"people say..."

2012-01-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

If I ever utter that phrase before a statement again, slap me silly. We went to the ultrasound appointment yesterday and I was sure it was a boy because, you know... "people say..."

1. Headaches? BOY
2. Low kicking? BOY
3. Not as sick? BOY
4. Slower heart rate? BOY

Well, we saw the lady parts to prove it. We are blessed with another precious baby girl!

Avery was with us and it was too perfect. I looked at Avery, thought about how much joy she has brought to my life. And now we get another girl like her? We are blessed. This baby showed everything measuring normal. With Avery, there were a few things out of the normal range, so it was conforting to hear that this baby was good to go. Seeing the heart beating is wild, just wild. All four chambers looking fabulous.

In the process of moving, I have been packing a lot of baby girl clothes to go in the attic. I have been reminicsing a lot, shedding a few tears, and thinking, "it would be nice to have another girl. these clothes are so cute!" Now, we only need to get another crib or a big girl bed and a double stroller and we're set!

I have a lot things on my mind about this baby's first few weeks. I remembering thinking about when Avery was a newbie and how clueless I was. I mean, I had no idea what I was doing. I was so scared to do something wrong that my fear probably affected my nursing issues. I hope that with this girl, I can chill and savour more. I woud like to try the Moby Wrap or a sling in the beginning. I tried some of those carriers with Avery and she fussed and I freaked so we did away with those. I'm hoping that if I try it out earlier, the baby will be down and will like it.

I also want to make sure that when baby girl comes home, that I spend a lot of time with Avery and that whatever loving family member is in town can be with baby, after I feed her. I never want Avery to feel neglected. These are hopes, we'll see what happens.

But, more of this?????

Yes please!!!

**Check out the Baby 2K12 tab to keep up with the baby bump. Mama gettin' big!

give her a stage, or a canvas

2012-01-18T20:22:00.000-08:00

Avery is such a ham. She is also very serious at times. These videos capture the two sides of this lively child. How blessed I am to have her? I'm thankful everyday.

I finally did it

2012-01-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

Since I have been little, I have been making chocolate chip cookies. I used to love making them with my mom. It actually is the first recipie that I memorized. I used to hate adding the flour because I thought it ruined the taste, hence some sloppy cookies.

So, I marry this man who LOVES chocolate chip cookies. His nanny growing up had this recipie that made Ken weak in the knees. So while we were dating, I practiced making him the perfect cookie. I worked with recipies I found online. I got the recipe from his nanny and worked with that. Then, I went through this spell where all my cookies sucked. Seriously, I would not even eat them. Ken pretty much would eat them all to make me happy. Then I decided to get out of my slump and see what Martha Stewart had to say. I found her recipe for soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Now, Ken likes them crisp, I like them chewy. What's that they say? Marriage=compromise? Thank goodness for shortening. I sub that in for half of what would have been a full cup of butter, added another egg and bam, I declare:

I MADE THE PERFECT COOKIE (for the Kostrzewa household.)

The dough:

1/2 cup shortening

6 tablespoons of butter/magarine

*I put less just cause, made the cookie crispier

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 cup brown sugar

*I'm so used to equal parts of these two sugars, but with more brown sugar, makes them sweeter.

TURN ON MIXER!

Always, always... scrape while you go.

Next throw in there

2 teaspoons of salt (yes, TWO!)

2 teaspoons of vanilla (yes, TWO!!)

2 eggs (at room temperature)

MIX! SCRAPE!

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

2 2/3 cups of flour (added about 1/2 a cup at a time)

*With the flour, I always feel that after I bake, I look at the cookies and think, "should have added more flour." You want the dough to be sticky but not stick to you finger when you touch it. I have found that if the dough falls off the mixing blade, there is too much flour. For those chewy, yet crispy cookies, a little bit sticky works. I put this much flour in.

2 cups of chocolate chips

Take a few bites of the dough, enjoy... it's dang tasty.

Measure out Tablespoon size balls on the cookies sheet, 4x4.

Bake at 350 for 14 minutes.

BAM! It's cookie time!!!

And the family approves!!! Avery was so thrilled, she savored that thing.

And a happy papa with his milk and cookies.

It seems only approriate to read "The Real Mouse Cookie" with the remaining cookie clutched tighty in her fist.

For a baker like myself, I feel like I can move on from this quest of finding the best chocolate chip cookie. Maybe I'll try something dangerous next, but know that in our house, there will always be the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. Always.

these are my confessions (in the 20th week)

2012-01-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

As I inch towards to midway point, I have some confessions to make. Things that are ridiculous that I'm going to attribute to being pregnant. Ken might disagree that I'm like this all the time, but who would say that to a pregnant woman?

1. I love McDonald's breakfast, with a coke. Probably the worst way to start a morning, but it calls to me and I try to figure out a way to get there. After like 3 bites into my sausage egg mcmuffin however, I have eaters remorse because I know I did something bad to my body.

2. I love how I look pregnant. From like 20 weeks to about 34 weeks, I feel fabulous. I love to put my hands on my belly to draw emphasis. My maternity clothes are the best. Stretch panel pants? I'll take 3. None of my clothes zip, button or snap. Thank the good Lord.

3. I ate an entire pint of gelato in two days, not by sitting down and actually eating it. EVERY time I was in the kitchen, I had a spoon handy for "just a few ~~ten~~ bites." Ken literally had ONE bite. My response was, "hey, I don't get to drink your beer, you can't eat my gelato." Purely rational.

4. Newman's mint cookies are like crack to me. In two days, they have vanished. Ken had five, and I actually don't remember when I devoured the remaining box of them. No recollection. Probably after I had those sweet bites of gelato, I needed a cookie, or five.

5. I will blame ANYTHING on being pregnant.
"Hon, can you make the bed?" (no, tired and pregnant.)
"Did you change Avery's poopy diaper? (no, the smell makes me sick, I'm pregnant.)
"Can you bring the groceries in? (too heavy, I'm pregnant)

Or...even worse
6. I'll ask for EVERYTHING because I'm pregnant.
"Is the power cord for the computer near you?" (I'd get up, but I'm pregnant)
"Let's go out to eat, the baby wants Mexican food"
"Are we getting a sweet treat after dinner?" (craving- I'm pregnant)

7. I have the stinkiest breath. Why?

8. I don't want to tell my students I'm pregnant because I don't want to have to calm them down after they react. Laaazy!! (I'm sure they know, but still. I did this with Avery too. I'm weird.)

9. I'm not hungry for dinner most days, but around 3, I crave a coke and a hot dog. Not a hot dog from a nice place, a dirty one from circle K. This, however, has only happened once. All the other times I go there, they are out. (I get pissed inside. I settle for a bag of jalapeno Cheetos.)

10. I did yoga once and I felt like a bad ass.

11. I had a bit a wine last night, it was delicious. And I'll have a sip of Ken's beer when he has one. Eeek!

There you have it. I'm ridiculous but I have a husband who loves me regardless. Really, I can only imagine how many times he has wanted to roll his eyes but has controlled the desire.

We find out Thursday is it's a boy or girl! I keep thinking it's a boy because I feel so different from Avery. I was sick with Avery the whole time pretty much, but with this one, I was CRAZY sick (in the ER for dehydration sick) for the beginning, and now, I'm good to go. No more throwing up. I also got headaches in the beginning with this one, and never with Avery. People say (my doctors looooves it when I tell him "what people say...") but people say that you have headaches with boys because of the hormone levels. With Avery I gave her all my lady hormones, but this baby doesn't want them, so they stay with me, giving me my awesome migraines. Makes sense to me! This baby's heart rate is slower, but about 5 beats on average and I feel the baby kicking really low, where with Avery I felt her kick at this point all over. Boys carry lower? Again, my doctor literally laughs when I mention these things, but they help me think of boy names, which I have like ten I love, and Avery got the best girl name I could think of.

What do you think? Boy or girl?

who dat

2012-01-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

So sad to say, but it's true. The season is over, but it was so much fun to watch any and every game. Today, despite the loss, was great because the game was at 3:30: right after Avery's nap and ended at bedtime. She was amazing through the whole game. She cried when we screamed when Graham had that awesome touchdown, because it was pretty loud! Other than that, she was perfect. She was dressed every so appropriately all day too. We pre-gamed at the park. She was wearing a Saints track suit making her look like Sean Payton. I put a flower clip in her hair and pink shoes to help people know she was a girl. Still got called a boy, but who cares.

After Avery's nap, we dressed it up a bit for the game.

But then the evening ended like this:

We'll see you next year, Saints!

doctor and date

2012-01-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

One of the perks of being part time this year is that I get to take Avery to her check ups. It's fun to hear that she's doing well and that she's still toping the charts (95% in all categories...) and that she's meeting all her milestones and the fact that she calls me Daddy is not a big deal. I'm not sure if she's at the age of understand "shots" but she got two yesterday and I let her wear my shades to take her mind off of the needle and she still cried, but was quickly comforted with a care bear sticker.

There is this great restaurant by the doctor's office called Milk Bar so we stopped in to get a sweet treat. We bought a banana mango smoothie just to see how she'd like it. Avery, in the beverages category, 90% water, 10% milk. We have tried juice and she's not down. Smoothies that taste like her favorite fruit (banana)... well, that's another story. She loved it, and this place had a bin of books and stuffed animals for her to play with. And she got her own cup and straw. What a great day. It was the first time we went somewhere that we didn't plan on going to and it felt like a date. She was well behaved and clearly enjoyed herself. We parked far away, and she didn't want me to hold her, she wanted to walk, while holding my hand. It was a lovely day!

Avery Pollock

2011-12-31T14:05:00.000-08:00

Avery got some paints in her stocking and I had some extra canvases for her to create with. We covered the table with butcher paper and let her go to town. She was so funny at the beginning, VERY SERIOUS. Who knew letting her flex her artistic side would cause so much intensity! It was very special for me because I love to paint and seeing how she was so into it, I can only imagine she'll enjoy this for years to come. Here are her creations:

With paint brushes

Started with brushes, ended with fingers

And here she is being very serious and focused:

found: the only person she won't go to

2011-12-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

There are two acceptable Santa pictures in my mind. Smiling or crying. You know you love those websites where they have screaming children sitting with Santa, probably more than the posed, happy smiling ones. Last night we finally got ourselves to see Santa. Avery is only 14 months, so I'm not sure she would even know if we told her, but we never talk about Santa. Her Christmas themed toys are a Nativity set and a Mickey Mouse dressed in matching Christmas pajamas. When we lay out the Nativity, if we ask, "Where's baby Jesus? Where's the angel?" She finds them and hands them to us. Pretty special. So, meeting Santa last night was more like, "Why are you handing me to this guy? This random, farcical character who isn't really that friendly?" So with lines of people waiting, and Ken and I nearly crying from laughter, Avery was not to be left alone with Santa. She held on to me so tight and really started to wail. The photographer suggested (insisted) that mom and dad get in the picture as well. So here we have it. The expressions were accurately caught. Dad: hilarious. Mom: funniest moment ever. Avery: frightened, and a little ticked off. Santa: could give a lick! What made it the best was looking up and seeing our friends crack up with us. Oh Avery, you have been held by EVERYONE and by your prompting, so why no love for Santa? Ken said, "She knows the truth, he's fake." Nice dad, that's probably what it is.

christmastime in the quarter

2011-12-03T11:31:00.001-08:00

I haven't felt in the Christmas mood until today when we ventured to the French Quarter with some of Ken's family who is in town from Michigan. We live about 10 minutes from here, but it takes having visitors to actually get us to go down there. Avery loved it, and she even ate a beignet!

An attempt at a Christmas card photo, but the wind was out of control!

Amazing locks these days

Family from Michigan! So fun to have them here.

Taking a stroll with Uncle Jim

halloween...on december 1

2011-12-01T12:34:00.001-08:00

I would consider my husband and myself to be clever people. I think this because of our Halloween costumes. We always wait till the last minute and we'll spin ideas off of each other for about 20 minutes and they magically, something perfect comes up. I delayed posting this year's picture because it revealed, only to our close friends, the baby news. This is a history of our Halloweens together, and two first place wins, I might add.

Year one: We were our good friends, Ray and Kathy as they were back when they first met in college. This one is only funny or enjoyable to the people who were at the Halloween party. We won first place!

2008

Year two: We kept with the Ray theme and decided to take our constant joke with him to the next level. This guy could be mayor of New Orleans because everyone knows him and he loves the city more than most people I know, so Ken made a stencil of his face and we fashioned these t-shirts. We wore visors, tube socks and sneakers, with clip boards in hand for we were Ray's campaign managers. Sadly, victory was not ours: 2nd place.

2009

Year three: Up until about about 2 hours before the party we were not even going to go because of miss Avery. But my Dr. Seuss obseession took over and we dressed as Thing 1, 2, & 3. Avery slept the whole time and was held by everyone. We won nothing but the cutest baby award. (self proclaimed.)

2010

Year four: Debating whether or not to spill the baby beans, we went ahead and did it. I saw this somewhere online and made it with an old cardboard box and felt in about 15 minutes. Thank goodness for glue guns. You can't see Ken, but he was the baker. (insert laugh...) It took people a couple seconds to put together what was going on, and when they did it was followed with, "Awww, congrats!!!" Not only did we win first place, we received so much love for the newest addition to our family.

2011

Who knew Halloween could be so darn sentimental?
Now, off with Fall and now for only Christmas themed posts. Huuzaah!

recent craft

2011-12-01T11:35:00.001-08:00

That's right, #2 is in the works. Coming June 2012. Avery's going to be a big sister!

saltines & sprite

2011-11-11T08:51:00.001-08:00

Mercy me, we are sick at Chez Kostrzewa. First Avery, then mom and thankfully, dad's strong immune system has protected him from making his new home the bathroom. I have never had a stomach virus and I never want it again. And when your almost 14 month old has it too? No fun! I think our house needs to be disinfected, every square inch. I have missed 4 days of work because I'm "highly contagious." I either got sick from Avery or from the 62 children I work with daily. I am not one to miss a meal either and I have literally eaten saltines, sprite and gatorade for 3 days and most of the time I couldn't keep that down. A plus? I made an attempt to go to work yesterday, and in my delirious state I grabbed an old pair of pants, old like I wore them waaay before I was pregnant with Avery and they fit. Forget dieting, just get a stomach virus! No? I feel like Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion where one of them says, "Mono was the best diet ever." Anyway, we have much to update with the house because it's really coming along, but I want to do a huge "before and after" post because it's ridiculous how much has changed, but I don't have the energy! I just hope people are staying healthy and that you are getting excited for the holiday season! As soon as I get out of this house, I'm going to buy the She and Him Christmas album. Gaaa, I love her voice!! Take care!

30 seconds

2011-11-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

Behold, Avery's first steps, an amazing 30 seconds that we would like to share. The video quality is horribly poor, but you get the idea. Now, she's all about it. 13 months and 1 week old, she got up the courage to let go. Way to go, little girl!

And now, more than ever, we feel like we have an official "toddler." Avery also has added some "sounds" that mimic animals, but the best thing is that when we say elephant, she lifts her left arm up and goes, "oooooo." What a fun kid!

a fairy halloween

2011-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

It's no surprise that New Orleans has a close-the-street celebration for Halloween. Another great reason to have a kid is this night. State street is usually a scenic drive to see some of the finest homes in the city. But tonight it was a spooky, cobweb covered, black-light flashing festival. I would do a horrible job guessing how many people were out there, but there were hundreds.

Avery did great, but when we would walk up to the front of a house, after staying in line mind you, I felt funny getting candy when clearly she's not eating it. We had so much fun, but next year we need to be in costume too. Practically every parent was decked out too. Rookies, they probably thought. We went up to this one house the has a bunch of skeletons in their yard, all with name tags that are quite clever. They do it every year, and when we walk to church on Sundays, Avery loves to point at them. So tonight we walked up to the front. (that's the picture of the house) and the guy handing out candy LOVED her. He said her smile beats hearing trick or treat any day. It was just so much fun.

Favorite costumes of the night: A dad dressed at Muno, mom as the pink one, and the son as Brobee. Avery loves Yo Gabba Gabba so it was fun to see. We also really loved all the Angry Bird costumes, very clever. Highlight of the night: As we were driving home, we drove past James Carville's house and we go, how cool would it be for Avery to get candy from James Carville's house? So, we stopped, took a sleepy baby out of the carseat and walked up to the Carville mansion. He wasn't there, but it was cool nonetheless.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween!

i think i'll go for a walk outside

2011-10-29T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's a beautiful, cool day here and Avery and I did one of our favorite things: went to the thrift store. I was searching for a certain something for her costume, but they didn't have what I needed. We did score a jack-o-lantern candy bucket and a peace dove ornament for $1.64. The ladies there love her, so it's always fun to stop in.

bathroom

2011-10-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

This is the bathroom which I find to be beautiful. We picked this light blue color after we saw a really sweet bathroom in the NY Times a while back and it stuck. Ken bought this bead board and put it in and added this nice lip on the top to make it flush with the wall. The choice for the floors was also inspired from another bathroom we saw. Ken just finished the final coat of blue paint and the bright white baseboards and it really made the room come together.

Avery was nice enough to let us have her chandelier because her new room is getting a ceiling fan which I'm sure she is okay with. Do your babies love ceiling fans? Avery can look at them forever, especially when she was a little peanut. We thought this would be funky in the bathroom to have something fancy like this and the bright yellow really pops and adds a nice dash of color. Yellow is a theme in our house!

These are the main players for the completion of the bathroom. Someone gave us this bathtub, which runs around $1,200 so it was nice gift. However, it was RUSTY. I'm talking covered in rust so Ken sanded it down, spray painted the outside and it looked much better. For the inside, we had to get it finished professionally which ran about $300. It is beautiful now. We're looking at the hardware for the faucets and the shower head and it's going to look nice, real nice. The yellow sink is one of my favorite finds. We bought it at this thrift store called Bargin Bin in the Bywater for $20 about a year ago. It would look perfect with the yellow chandelier. We're not sure if we can put this in when we move in because it would take a bit of work, but I'm sure Ken will figure it out.

It's a process over here, but it's fun to see it all come together. So soon!

he's a pro!

2011-10-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

We are in the home stretch! Everyday Ken gets us a little bit closer to moving next door. When I get home from work, he works next door after spending most of the day with Avery and will pound away till dinner, take a brief intermission, hang with his fam, eat some food, and then get back to work. I have gone to bed while he has still been working. (What, I'm tired...) This man has his eye on the prize. Some days the changes are more noticeable than others. In the kitchen, Ken,with his own two hands has:

1. Put together and installed all the cabinets
2. Designed the layout perfectly so that it flows well and that everything can open with ease
3. Put the black and white tile down for the floor, diagonally which is legit

4. Put up subway tile in like 3 hours! (you should see him go!)

5. Bought a dishwasher!!!! :)
6. Painted the wall YELLOW which is so great looking
7. Is currently working on countertops
8. Is creating a tongue and groove bead board to go in front of the island (a picture will give clarity...)
9. and like a million other things that I don't understand enough to write down.

I'm so in love with it!!

Thanks, babe

it's finally fall

2011-10-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

And we're ready!

fall break means:

2011-10-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

All day with this girlie while dad finishes up the house. What a blessed life.

in my humble opinion...

2011-10-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

The other day I was at Target getting something for Avery, and I saw this pregnant lady standing in front of a daunting row of high chairs with her baby registry scanner in hand, on the phone saying, "what the heck do I need for this baby?" I felt her confusion, I felt her anxiety. I asked her if she wanted help and she gladly accepted. I basically got to register with hindsight. There are A LOT of things that I registered for that I would not register for again. Of course, Avery is unique just like any baby so what might work for her could possibly not work for another. This future mom just needed some guidance, and if one thing is for sure, I have been up and down the aisle of the Target baby section many, many times.

So, here goes. If I could register again, what I would ask for:

These swaddle blankets by aden and anais. Avery loved to be swaddled to sleep and these were big enough and had enough stretch so that when she was really tightly swaddled, she could still move comfortably. They are made of muslin cotton which is heavenly. I wish I had these in the hospital. Whenever the next one comes along, I will definitely be putting these in the hospital bag.

Same company, only these are made with bamboo fibers which makes them so soft and snuggly. Avery isn't swaddled anymore, but for her naps and bedtime, if we lay one of these on top of her, her brain is triggered, "sleep time" and she wraps herself in one of these. I can't blame her, I'm thinking of getting sheets made of this fabric. The prints are fabulous too.

If you couldn't tell, sleeping is a big deal in the beginning. We were given this miracle blanket from a dear friend and it is amazing! You kinda feel weird when you're putting in on the babe, but she loves it. Avery LOVED this thing until she got too big for it. I would recommend this for sure.

And speaking of sleeping, for the first 3 months, Avery napped in this bouncer. We were given this from a friend who used it for their kiddos. We took off the rain forest archway of madness and we always made sure that we had plenty of D batteries to keep this think vibrating. Avery loved it, and when we discovered it, we loved it too. It helped extend her naps. And yes, we swaddled her and set her in this thing with our watchful eye very close. As she transitioned from being swaddled, we strapped her in at the bottom for her legs to stick out.

On to eating. So, Avery and I weren't too compatible for nursing. After about 2 months of giving it all we had, formula it was. These bottles were/are great. We have the glass ones and we love them. We choose Dr. Brown's because they had glass options, which is what we wanted, and they have all these parts that make for less air to come in while the baby eats. It's said that the bottle is the closest to nursing, so I found them to be great. We bought 4 at 4oz, and we have 6 at 8oz. That was all we needed for her. We could probably have used less, but when Avery went to my friends house during the day when I worked, we made all her bottles, and one extra the night before so we needed multiple ones.


Speaking of eating, when the Avery got big enough for a high chair we has this huge one that took up a lot of space. It was great in the beginning until she found it fun to use the curved edges as a launching pad to fling peas all of the place. I found this seat at a thrift store for $2.75 and then I ordered a replacement tray. Total cost: $6. Pretty pleased there, however, this runs only $25. I would recommend this over a high chair any day. It provides the same amount of support as a high chair. I love that is doesn't take up much space.

I have loved cloth diapering. I have no idea what it would be like to diaper the other way so I can't offer any opinions there. I do think we're saving money, but I just enjoy it. We have a cloth diapering store in town, but if you don't, I would use Green Mountain Diapers for what you need. These are the diapers we used and the shells.

Avery's favorite, most loved, most used, mom and dad's go to toy. She loves her some wooden blocks. She loves to sort the colors. We have yet to match shapes or anything, but she loves to slam dunk them into the box and then clap for herself. This, in my book, is a "can't live without" toy.

Big props to my sister in law Julie. She knew we would need one of these so she went ahead and ordered us one. We use it all the time. We have a jogger that we love, but for simple walks to the store or around the neighborhood, the jogger is a bit bulky. This think is perfect, and easy fold. So glad we have it.


I will end with this because I wish I had this on day one. We registered for a baby bathtub that was cute and great, but took up a lot of space when not being used. This amazing sponge thing fits perfectly in the sink which was an ideal place to bathe Avery before the tub. Now in the tub, we set this down and she sits there. Plus, I'm pretty sure it's like $5. And that little dot in the center tells you when it's too hot. Love it!

my party in pictures

2011-10-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

I'm one now so I'm going to blog about my party. Enjoy!

The night before we had to get the ingredients for the cupcakes

Mom decorated the house with different banners she sewed and dad got those balloons for me.

There was a guest book for all my friends who came

There were crayons and notecards for my friends to leave notes or draw pictures

Grandma and mom made every type of cupcake for me to choose from

Mom put up some of the millions of pictures they have taken of me this year

Yep, that's right! I'm AVERY!

Dad served cupcakes to my friends

Pretty good, but I more just made a mess than actually ate the cupcake

I'm pretty content here.

I love these guys!

My grandma from California was there!!

Some of my baby friends came to party

I'm exhausted, but so happy!

Time to cuddle with mom!

We had a wonderful day. Thanks to all who came. This girl has a great time. The weather could not have been more perfect, and the company was even better. Avery is blessed to have so many people who love her and care about her life to make this day, and yesterday so special. And EVERY family member sent a card or gift. I'm talking every aunt, uncle, grandparent and great grandparent. She was showered with love. We will always cherish this day.

9.30 @ 9:03

2011-09-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

Avery is one. I have cried a lot today. I want to dedicate more to honoring her birth, but we've been baking cupcakes all night for her party tomorrow. I wanted to post this picture, the first one I ever took of her in the hospital from my old phone. She looks just like I did as a baby here. I think about how I felt taking this and how I feel now, and I'm still madly in love. I'm so glad God gave her to us.

thrift store score

2011-09-29T13:53:00.000-07:00

In college, I used to do all of my shopping at thrift stores because there were so many in San Luis Obispo. When we first moved to New Orleans, it sounds funny to say, but because of the condition of the city, thrift stores were no where to be found. Now I have found a gem of a place, walking distance from our house called Bloomin' Deals. (clever, right?) The donations come from what I could consider high society people, and have been worn only a few times. Yesterday, Avery and I took only $10 with us to see if we could find a birthday dress for her party. Lucky for us, they were having a sale, "buy one, get one free." A sale at a thrift store? My kind of sale. So these dresses were $3 each but because of the sale, we got all 4 of these for $6. 54. Now, which one should she wear? We could do it like she's hosting the oscars and change every hour? I'm partial to the first two. Even better news, twice a year they have a "bag sale" where you get a huge black garbage bag and whatever you can fit inside, you get for $9. And that's happening this Saturday, when my mom is in town! If anyone knows how to thrift and find the best stuff, it's my mom. It's the little things that get us excited.

why do you do this to me, ikea?

2011-09-28T06:01:00.000-07:00

GREAT NEWS!! We ordered our cabinets yesterday from Ikea. This resulted in every few minutes Ken raising his hand for a high five saying, with joy, "Cabinets!" Even Avery got in on the fun. Our kitchen is going to be so beautiful. I love Ikea because we basically ordered really simple pieces that we'll put together to make a unique kitchen that we love. Since there isn't an Ikea near us, closet one being in Houston, TX, some genius created a company called Blue Bag where you order what you want and then go and pick it up for you, for a small fee. This fee is NOTHING compared to shipping costs from the website. Our cabinets are on their way. Yippee!

Today, I was checking out the website, because it's amazing and wandered over to the children's zone. I found some great things for an Avery Kitchen. Feast your eyes on these adorable things. The tools are made of felt. I think that might be my favorite thing here. I have made felt things for Avery, and maybe the felt isn't the greatest, but it balls up and looks bad after a while. I wonder if these do that, seeing how they might be nicer quality. They really need an Ikea in Louisiana, but we'd be in trouble if there was.

M.F.E.O.

2011-09-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

It might not be common in your life to quote Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movies, but it is in mine. Clearly, MFEO means "made for each other." An obvious choice would be, "Oh, she's going to talk on and on about Ken and Avery." Oh, I'm not. Well, in a way, but not. I'm talking about the Relief Team. That is also common vocabulary that anyone close to me knows what I'm talking about when I say that. In short, relief team means: an incredible groups of people who felt called to serve a city that needed help and love, and in the mean time made lifelong frienships.

Let me give you some details, because it's important. After Hurricane Katrina, CRU (the organization formally know as Campus Crusade for Christ) organized trips for people to come and help New Orleans and other affected areas along the Gulf. Each person on the relief team came down on one of those trips. After Spring Break of 2006 was over, the work was far from completed. So, a team was assesmbled of people who wanted to give a year of their life to live and serve as needed in New Orleans. Here are the key players:

Team with some great homeowners, Sherry and Richie (aka: HMFIC)

We came from all over the county. 3 from California (including myself), 3 from Virginia (including my mister), 2 from Ohio, 1 from Nebraska, 1 from Kansas, and 1 from Oklahoma. This team is actually how I met Ken, when I met all these other amazing people. Amazing how from such a tragic event such as Hurricane Katrina came the beginning of my wonderful life.

So when I say, MFEO, I really feel that we, this team, were made for each other. I'm reminded everytime we get together. Some have stayed in New Orleans, like Ken and me, and some have moved back home. Some travel back for Mardi Gras and weddings. It's always so much fun when we are all together. The group has expanded be it with spouses or babies, but the core remains the same. I enjoy these people so much; they really feel like family.

9/2011 gathered for Steph's wedding

gotta do it

are you ready?

2011-09-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

Let the countdown begin. Avery is going to be ONE this Friday and we're going to celebrate on Saturday. I'm hoping to keep the costs at a minimum and I think it's going to work. I took a picture I had from Avery playing on the porch and used it to make an invitation. Her party is going to be held on our porch, so I thought is ever appropriate. I added the text to this picture using this great website (that's free) called Picnik. My firefox even crashed while I was making this and the website remembered all the editing I did. Love them! I cropped the picture to an exact 4x6 so that when I printed them, none of the text would be cut off. I printed them as pictures because that was cheaper (and quicker) with my 40% coupon at Walgreens than printing them at Kinkos on thick cardstock. Score!

To spread the word, I made a facebook event and then printed about 30 of these. We're going to send some home to family that won't be able to make it. Not like they don't know their granddaughter/neice/great granddaughter is turning the big O-N-E or anything. We handed out some invitations to our neighbors too, because most of them don't have facebook. I think Avery is going to love her party. Little does she know that she gets to eat cake for the first time. Oh, to be one again!

making our house a home

2011-09-20T19:38:00.000-07:00

When we bought this house a year and a half ago, we had the plan to live on one side while we fix up the other side. While living on our current side, I don't know if I ever made serious attempts to make it "home" except for Avery's room. I love living on this side; it's great. But plans of decorating and designing was reserved only for the "new" side. When I think about it though, having everything looking nice doesn't make a home. It's not about what it looks like, but rather what happens there. The amount of near perfect moments are countless. Most of them involve Avery, and the top of those moments involve them together. Avery and I have a great time together, but she will laugh so hard for her dad, more than with anyone else. It's that deep belly laugh that she can't control!

But speaking of next door, Ken has been working really hard lately putting in the baseboards and picture trim, most that he reclaimed from the old house so it's actually weathered. I wish we would have tracked all his work more because he has done so much. Our goal is to be moved over there by the end of October. Sweet! This is Avery's room! We picked this green color because we thought that if we have a boy someday, he wouldn't mind this color, and since we already know Avery, and she seems pretty chill about paint colors, we knew she would be down with grape leaves green. The floors in this part of the house were painted white. (What???) So Ken sanded off the layers of paint, then glossed them. Oh la la! Well done, babe. Avery, you're going to love this room.

necklace upgrade

2011-09-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

why i loved today

2011-09-16T13:03:00.000-07:00

This post title did not come from Morning Melanie. Morning Melanie, as of late, is not a happy camper. She hits the snooze ~~one~~ ~~two~~ three too many times before she is left feeling stressed because she has 15 minutes to get ready for work. Morning Melanie has been known to take ~~three~~ two excedrin tension migraine pills as a "preventative" method for she believes a migraine is in her future. Morning Melanie walks out of the house WITHOUT HER COFFEE. Morning Ken wonders, where is Melanie?

Morning Melanie is at school for about the first 30-45 minutes as she greets her students with the faint resemblance of a smile. Morning Melanie crosses her fingers that specific students might be absent. Morning Melanie is best friends with Debby Downer. Morning Melanie sent her mid morning text to Ken saying, "I can't wait for this day to be over." Ken can't wait till Melanie comes home... And then around 8:30ish, Morning Melanie leaves and a teacher shows up. A teacher who dorks out about analogies in her vocabulary lesson. A teacher who was thrilled to teach about run-on sentences.

A teacher who likes her job.

When I came home, Ken saw my face and said, "I take it you had a good day? You're smiling?" I did, because I realized that quote that I have up in my class applied to me. "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it." I have been letting this 10% take over my life. My circumstances have been making me this bitter person (in my work life, not home life as much.) My 90% has been a negative person with this new feeling of anxiety. I have never felt anxious before. I have always been a go with the flow type of person, so this feeling comes as a surprise for me.

So when I came home, with a smile, I decided to make the most out of our afternoon. Avery and I went shopping, and it was fuuuuun. I mean, we had to see what the fuss was over this Missoni stuff at our favorite, Target! I felt like my mom yesterday, because I took Avery to The Educator, this great school supply store.

When I was younger, I would go with my mom to CM School Supply in Fullerton and from what I remember, I loved it. A special shout out to The Educator because they have a huge selection of Melissa & Doug stuff. Woohoo! Now, when I use to go to the store with my mom, I would get a pack of stickers, or something fun for being a good sport. Avery acted great, except for when she literally pulled out some of my hair to get my headband which she loves to play with. I got her these AMAZING things. They will be wrapped for the b-day coming up.

We made it out of there with time to spare, before Avery's normal nap time, so we hit up Target. Can I just say, I am in love with Target. Always have been, always will. We went because of this Missoni character who apparently makes the most adorable sweaters for little girls, so you know me and cardigans...I need to start Avery early with this obsession. We walk in, and I see the $1.00 dictionaries that Ken's mom bought for my class last week for 50% off. What?? Then I saw they had matching thesaurus'. Oh, to be a teacher without impulse control. So, I bought 32 of them. But then, when I go to buy them, they ring up for 30 CENTS!!! The cashier thought I was about to fall out, I got so excited. Are you kidding me? Only 30 cents??? Such a happy day. For $1.30 each student has their own dictionary and thesaurus. Score.

Then we went upstairs to what was left of the Missoni stuff. Lucky for me, they had some stuff left. I felt like I needed to grab everything and then sell it on ebay. I have heard that some places cleaned our within an hour opening. I cannot wait until she can wear these shoes, and can I get one of these sweaters in my size??

So clearly, I loved today! The first time Avery and I got our "shop" on and it was awesome. This spells trouble for the mister if we continue to enjoy this as much as we do!

kiss means love

2011-09-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Avery is in her birthday month. When people see her and ask about how old she is, I now say, "almost a year." How did a year go by so fast? Sure, there were times in the beginning where I thought time was literally standing still, but now, can it please slow down? It's fun though to see her personality and new understandings bloom. I'm pretty sure she understands affection, in some way. In the past week she will lean in when we say, "kiss?" and plant a wet one on us. It's pretty adorable. But today when we were playing, I said, "Avery, I love you." And when I said that she leaned in and kissed me. Be still my heart! We kept playing, and I said I loved her again, and right away, she stopped playing and kissed me again.

She associates "love" with "kisses"!!!! How great is that? She knows that when we tell her we love her, it's normally followed with a kiss.

Oh, I'm so stinking happy about this development.

So happy.

a quality crafternoon

2011-09-12T13:55:00.000-07:00

While Avery did this over the weekend...

I got some sewing done. Of course I didn't leave her there! We have noticed that she has been more ~~crazy~~ curious lately...

Now, if you ever are making a felt or fabric banner, you MUST use a rotary cutter. Seriously saved me loads of time. I'm pretty sure if I didn't have it, I would have made a much shorter banner. I bought this fabric, the white with multi-colored specks, from the local thrift store for $2. I got about 5 yards of it too! My friend said it looked like sheets she had as a kid. I love it- I made a skirt for Avery with it, one that she'll probably enjoy more when she starts walking. I made a template for the banner triangles out of the back of a composition notebook, folded the fabric a few times over, and went to slicing. I then used some bias tape to connect the pieces together. I also used some felt, because I love felt. I pretty much just grabbed each piece, unaware of order and it turned out pretty great.

I was hoping to make it long enough for the width of our front porch, but the bias tape was not long enough.

(instagram picture, poor quality...)

So then I found my failed attempt at one of those felt wreaths that I had sitting in the corner with my other craft projects. Months ago I cut out nearly 100 felt circles in all sorts of bright colors, and then I stacked them on a clothes hanger, but I ended up getting bored with it. :) So I took it apart, what little I had done, and I sewed them together. I'm pretty sure this will take a permanet address in Avery's room next door after it's used to celebrate her birthday.

Since she was born, I have been wanting to make one of these. Her name is one of my favorite things in this world. Ken thought of it, and I, without hesitation said, "Oh my gosh, it's perfect!" I love saying her name, writing, singing it, making various nickname derived from it. I'm so happy with it. We're thinking it would be fun if all our kids have names that start with vowels. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

(what would we do for "U"???)

Lastly, Ken and I took the babe for a drive last night. It was my first time with her in her new front facing seat. It was so much fun. She LOVES facing forward. Loves to feel the wind in her hair, kicks her legs like crazy, and I think she is having conversations with us.

We take drives around town looking at house colors that catch our eye. This one we BOTH liked. We wouldn't paint our door yellow, but we loved the gray and yellow inside window. The yellow on the ceiling porch is a little much for our taste, but overall, we thought this looked great. Painting the exterior of our house in a LONG ways away, but it's never too soon to get ideas.

weekend agenda

2011-09-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Friday gets my pumped. The weekend is full of so many possibilites. I have many things that I want to work on, while Ken works on the house. We all know that Avery will be making one on September 30. She needs a par-tay. I have a few ideas of what this will look like, and it will be chill. We want our neighbors to come because they have watched her and talked to her so much in her first, that it seems obvious to have them all over. But dang pinterest, gives me too many ideas that I can't quite help myself. I'm trying not to go overboard with ideas because I'll just get down if I don't do them. Here are some few things that I want to do for the Avery, and additionally, somethings I want to craft this weekend.

Oh, and this is sweet. Lowes has a craft website! They are clever folks over there. This is a sweet kitchen, although I would like to use some older looking furniture because I think it would look cooler. And it's all about being cool when it comes to Avery's toys. Oh, and this is the wall color of her room next door. Looks good!

important moments

2011-09-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ken's mom and grandpa were in town this week and it was great to have them here. We captured as many moments as we could because living so far away from family, these visits are rare. They doted on Avery in every way. She loved it, and is learning faces and definately recognized them. It was nice having family in for a lot of reasons, but one being, Ken and I had a mid-week date! Woo-hoo! We went to Cure, a great place right by our house. It's always fun to date my husband, without a stroller and diaper bag. He's quite the romantic.

Yesterday was game day, and even though the Saints lost, it was still so fun to watch. This city loves the Saints and for me, having never really followed a team before, it's seriously so much fun. My students get excited, everyone is wearing black and gold. It's a sign a fall too, which is great!

Ken's mom bought Avery an early birthday present: a porch swing. I know many, many precious moments will happen here. She really likes being outside and she will ~~yell~~ say hi to everyone who walks by, and if you're a dog? Forget it! She LOVES dogs. Even says, "Do, do, do" and points when she see them. Adorable. This will also be a great place to calm down before bedtime. Lucky girl!

Ken's grandpa is a great man. You can tell that he really enjoys Avery. I tried to get as many pictures of him with Avery because, even though he's in good health (like, helped Ken strip paint, hang doors, and organized the shed) I know these times are precious. Since my grandma passed in June, I think about how much she would enjoy to see Avery now, with her personality and all the rest. So I'm tender to grandparents, even if they are not mine. Can I claim grandpa Frank as my grandpa? I hope so because he's the best. I think Ken looks up to his grandpa like I did/do with my grandma Rhoads. It's one of those things where I think Frank and Margaret would have been good friends if they knew each other.

And then there is this nonsense. Who is this big girl? I'm not too sure how I feel about my growing girl because I have to realize, she's not a baby anymore. Would you look at this picture? Holy moly!!

Lately, Avery has been pointing her booty in the air when she sleeps. She was like this early this morning before I went to work. And who doesn't love a cow print diaper cover? Fred, her faithful friend was not like that when we put her down. She totally talks to him before her naps, and in my imagination, lays him down so he can nap with her. Too cute.

It's a good life here, a good life.

Kitchen

2011-09-03T08:37:00.000-07:00

When I say kitchen, Ken isn't thinking what I'm thinking. He's thinking about the cabinets that are going to be put in next door and what type of counter tops we're going to make. I'm thinking about this:

What a dream would it be for me Avery to have a kitchen this awesome? Then I found myself on the Melissa & Doug page, and even looked at the careers tab because, how fun would it be to work for a sweet toy company? They seem like fun people too. These are what I found, and really loved. Not all kitchens, but all things that I ~~need~~ want from their page:

I see these beautiful things, and I see a challenge! How about making Avery her very own kitchen? I have seen some amazing DIY kitchens on pinterest and I'm officially inspired. I need to start looking around at thrift stores for some old end tables with drawers. Now I'm on the look out. Add this idea to my crafting list. I figure if I start now, I might possibly have it ready for her ~~second~~ third birthday.

humble pie

2011-09-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

It was appropriate that last night I made a pie. I never make pies, but I had the need to bake because it's cathartic for me after having a stressful day at work. Since we didn't have any eggs or milk, I had to scrounge to find the ingredients (last day of the month...) to make something savory or sweet. Ken loved coming to the smell of baker's chocolate melting, and even though the pie was a bit of mush, it was still chocolaty and delicious.

Now on to the metaphor. Yesterday was the hardest day of my teaching career. Consider this my declaration! I have had some hard days, some crazy days, and some (many) days that have brought me to tears. But this one was different. It rocked my pride, without me knowing it. The first year, I had very little management. I was in survival mode. I still managed to teach them and indefinitely love them. The second year, boom. I was in business. Even executed centers with success in every subject. Boo-yah, I found my career. Third year, new school, new grade, different part of town, 30% increase in students in my class. I struggled, and then soared and realized I love kids a bit older. And, content was stronger and I saw results. Fourth year, one subject (ELA), 62 kids, pregnant. Yikes, but even after returning from "Avery" leave, still maintained with strong management and good results. Fifth year: ego is on the high. "Shoot, I got this!" was my bumper sticker. And then, slap in the face. My students' require something different, and I wasn't delivering, and probably not willing to change.

And then we're at yesterday. I had been approaching conflicts in class in a positive frame. If student cursed, I offered better ways of expression. If a student talked back, I quoted the golden rule. If a student hit someone, I hugged and redirected. Yesterday, something snapped and I didn't care. I was more Coach Taylor than Tami Taylor. (Friday night lights reference for those not in the now, and if you're not in the now, GET IN) A student was wanting to fight someone and I go, "Then go ahead. If you're gonna talk big, then act big. Hit him." Nice, and now I would like to accept my nomination for teacher of the year. Student continues to threaten the other student, so I ask him to leave. As he leaves the room, he turns around and says, to me, in front of the whole class, "F--- you." (I know I'm 27, but I still feel weird writing the actually "f" word. But believe me, he said the actual word.) And I kid you not, at that moment, I was beside myself and I said, in front of the class as I threw my dry eraser marker down, "Oh hell no." And I walk this boy to the principal's office.

DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?????

After a day of reflection, and a day of suspension for the student, I realized that I will never stop dealing with challenging days and difficult students in the work that I do. Even experience could not have prevented that from happening. Come to think of it, I should let this student know that in my 27 years of life, no one has ever said that to me, much less a 9 year old. Maybe I should consider myself blessed to have only has this said to me once.

And with that, I woke up today, put on my sparkly black TOMS and walked to school. Here's to another day of teaching and possibly another slice of humble pie.

avery the explorer

2011-08-27T09:40:00.001-07:00

from the CA trip

2011-08-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

My mom sent me these pictures today and they are worth sharing. Avery is so loved, and you can see it in the faces of her family. What a delight!

lovely day

2011-08-27T09:20:00.001-07:00

Saturdays are lovely days in our house. Thankfully the weather hasn't been too bad, so Avery and I took a walk to our favorite park, that has her favorite swing. Since she's so close to walking, and can walk along things, today she just explored the park, and loved it. I just watched, and documented of course.

back to school

2011-08-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

School started Monday, and phew! I'm tired! But what is so amazing this year is that I'm part-time. I'm the lead teacher in the room, teaching the same subjects as last year, reading, writing and grammar, and then after lunch duty, I get to walk home and spend the rest of the day with Avery. It is so great, a dream come true really. God has provided, again, just what our family needs. Ken bought me a new pair of toms as my "back to school" present. He's trying to help me keep some funk with my school attire. They are sparkly, I love them. I have worn them everyday and I think it's giving me that extra kick I need in the day. I have about 60 students and my two classes are very different. Meaning both classes challenge my teaching skills a lot. One more than other, but I'm enjoying the challenge so far. I got frustrated with some of them Wednesday, so I went to school that evening and decided to bring the heat. Thursday, I didn't take crap from any of them. You're thinking, wow, kinda intense. But that's what they like, and what they require. It was a much better day and I have a feeling my 5th year of teaching will turn out to be a good one.

3 years

2011-08-01T20:52:00.000-07:00

I'm more me when I'm with you. If I knew all the words, I'd write them on your heart so you would know the depth of love I have for you. You make my life complete. 3 years, a house, and a baby girl- you still make me weak in the knees, and strong in spirit. Here's to together forever, babe. Forever.

trip to CA

2011-07-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

In honor of my Grandma's incredible life, everyone flew to CA to celebrate her last weekend. This is the first time we have both flown with Avery and the first time she got to be with her whole family, all at the same time. I wonder if she realizes how rare and awesome it was? In some way, I think she does. It was an amazing gathering of the people most precious in my life. I told Ken this morning that I know we are New Orleanians now, but a part of me still, and will always feel right at home in Fullerton. But it wasn't until we were all together in my parent's kitchen that I felt that tug and warmth come over me. The meals shared around the table, the late nights of talking, the in-n-out burgers, mom's tacos that seriously NO ONE can make as good as she does... all good things that are signs of God's goodness in my life. Just so special and I look forward to the next time it happens. Now I'm trying to figure out how that works without flying. 9.5 month Avery=not the best flyer. Mom with 9.5 month old Avery= not winning the patience award. Oh well, a few hours of discomfort for a weekend of lasting memories? Worth it completely. My mom has the family pictures and the pool pictures, but these we caught with our iphones of Avery looooving life.

pillow make-over

2011-07-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

We bought some pillows way back in the day with a gift card from our wedding, back when I was not daring with color or pattern. Back when I didn't know how to use my sewing machine. Back when I was trying to decorate my house with mute colors. Thank goodness for this blog tutorial: PILLOW TUTORIAL which come to find out is written by a girl who lives in San Luis Obispo, where I lived for 4 years during college. I know, get out of town!! I bought this cherry blossom fabric a while back and realized it was too thick for any dress or skirt for Avery, but perfect for household things. This pillow is a cover that comes off for cleaning and changing out if I suddenly became one of those people who change decorative pillow case covers based on the season. Good luck there. It's more for when Avery spits up, now I can actually wash the cover. Let's be real here. Now, here is the before and after.

avery art #2

2011-07-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

I think I saw something similar to this on Pinterest...either way, it was fun making for her (& Ken.)

afternoon thrift date

2011-07-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

Ken and I went to Bloomin' Deals last week and found some great things. Some things we went home with, and some we decided, "If it's there the next time, then we'll get it." You know how that goes. Avery was a champ and let us explore and be goofy with our visit. She knows that most of the things we buy go towards her wardrobe.

Gerber Contest

2011-07-08T09:15:00.000-07:00

We have been campaigning, if you will, for Avery with this Gerber contest we entered her in, and Ken said, "you should put it on your blog." To which I responded, "I don't think anyone reads it!" To which he then responded, trying to lift my spirits, "Babe, I read your blog." What a loving husband. To that end, Avery is in the running, along with 150,000 other babies to be the next Gerber baby. People who see Avery on the street say that she's a Gerber baby. We agree, and if you help us by voting, she could win!! Click on the link (it's through facebook) and get your vote on daily! We appreciate it, and Avery does too. Click here: VOTE FOR AVERY!!

fun weekend

2011-07-05T09:15:00.001-07:00

First fireworks, first "swim", first swimsuit, first time putting my face up to the window during a thunderstorm, first post-swim thug face, first time to home depot in the most patriotic pants ever. It was a good weekend. I even got to stay up till late to catch the dueling barges on the Mississippi River. It was awesome!

new favorite

2011-07-01T14:35:00.001-07:00

Avery in her swim suit.

avery art

2011-06-29T21:07:00.000-07:00

I made this for Avery after picking up a scrap piece of plywood I found in the neighbors trash. It's about 25 inches x 25 inches. I use to paint with stencils often in college, so I bought these at home depot and went for it. I used modge podge to cover the wood to make it easier to paint on. I tore up an old telephone book and glued these strips all over the plywood. I had been doodling this idea for a while and I thought I'd give it a go. If it didn't work out, I only lost a piece of wood that was being thrown away anyways. I'm pleased with how it turned out. If more kids come along, it'll be fun to make something similar for them. Or it could be something I make for friends when their babies are born. Then I was thinking how it would have made a pretty cool birth announcement. We'll see!

standing, sunday second line, smiles all around

explore..

2011-06-27T06:28:00.001-07:00

...new ways to use my exersaucer!

you better believe it

2011-06-22T08:05:00.001-07:00

I love this artist. We have some of her prints in our bedroom. I saw this book and it made me so happy because I know that if Avery could talk, she would have been asking this! Now that it is, we are having so much fun. I think she's realizing that both of us are with her in the morning, and during lunch, and she seems pretty pleased. She clapped yesterday which was hilarious. We were at a put luck dinner and someone was holding her and she was looking at us and started doing it. Ken and I looked at each other with silly grins on our faces. And then Avery went on to be the comedian of the night making all sorts of funny noises, one especially when she makes a sound like she's clearing her throat, kind of like, "Um, excuse me? I believe I'm the center of attention here!" What a ham!

1st father's day

2011-06-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah for Ken's first father's day! Now, we're silly rookies over here. Ken was in VA with Avery on Mother's Day, so we didn't get to be together till later that evening, and then on Father's day, Ken was flying home from another wedding that he was in over in VA. Two things: first, we're clueless about these holidays because we normally are at church those days and we then call our parents and grandparents that afternoon to tell them we love them, etc. But as far as plans, when we were getting his plane tickets, and I'm sure when his buddies were planning their weddings, they weren't thinking about these special days. second, I guess Ken is just too good of a friend that people can't but help to ask him to be in their wedding? Either way, it was kinda perfect because on Mother's day, I got to see them walk through the gate at the airport and I felt a new level of longing while they were gone, and then a new joy to see them return. I'm sure Ken felt the same way we he saw his baby girl the next morning. And clearly, if you look here you'll see just how happy she was to have him back. But on the real, Ken is an amazing father, he loves his girl so much and I love him even more as I watch him become a father. Even though I think every day I acknowledge his natural taking to fatherhood, having a day to shout it out more is always nice. So, Ken: YOU ARE THE BEST!!

DAD

2011-06-18T21:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad.
There are no words to express my love and respect for you.
Simply put, YTB!

You're a pretty good grandpa, too.

But I'll always be your little girl.

And, I'm not a crook.

Love,
Melsie

37 days of summer

2011-06-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Goals. I like to set goals, and since it's the beginning of my summer, that's just what I'm doing here. I have 37 days. Thirty-seven days! Often times when I have a break from school, I find that the time slipped by and I didn't do all that I wanted to do. Well not this time, folks. The whole sleeping in thing that often keeps me from doing all the things I want doesn't exist much anymore with Avery. So here we go. Things I want to do this summer, and I would love to put it here on this blog. And when I go back to work, I can look back through this blog and say, "That was a nice summer, real nice."

1. Get my thrift on

2. Read more, internet less

3. ALWAYS make the bed 4. Drink this much water daily

5. Take Avery outside as much as possible!!!

houses & homes

2011-06-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Franklin Ave. '06-'07 : Congress Street '07-'08 : Laurel Street '08-'09 : Cadiz Street '09-forever!

New Orleans' homes are unique. The first two homes I lived in flooded from Katrina, the 3rd one didn't get any water, and the current one I believe got water to the porch. I love the style of these homes. All but the first ones are double shotguns. Something you know about the house you live in, because these homes are so old, is that a lot of life was lived in them. These different homes held many memories for me that when I see them, I'm reminded of these times. Franklin house: First place I moved to when I came to New Orleans after college. I lived upstairs with 3 amazing girls, and 4 equally amazing girls lived downstairs. We coordinated relief work. We lived in Gentilly as we watched a neighborhood come back after the storm. It was incredible. Congress house: I lived here during my first year of teaching. This house is in the 9th ward, not the best place to live, but with my roommate, Emily, it was safe. I came to this place after long days of teaching second graders, and one day I came home to find my boyfriend proposing among candles, pictures, and roses. I think of how I'll take Avery here one day and say, "This is where Daddy asked me to be his wife." Laurel Street: Located near Audubon Park, this is the first home for the Mr. & Mrs. Ken carried me across the threshold of the front door the day we got back to New Orleans after our honeymoon. I loved our days here. This house is where we returned to after we experienced our first evacuation, Gustav, and this is the house where we found out we were pregnant one Sunday afternoon. And today, Cadiz: Avery's first home and the house that made us homeowners. The house where Ken gets to put his skills in rebuilding homes to work on our home. The house that I get to leave in the morning and walk a block to work. The house that is walking distance from Freret street where we get to see restaurants and small businesses blossom. All of these homes have made life in New Orleans so special. We love living here.

moving and grooving

2011-06-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Avery has been on the move these days, not fully crawling but scooting all over the place. She is now pulling up on things and is figuring out just about everything. She knows where we keep her toys, she's aware when a toy falls that she has the ability to get it, especially when she's in her high chair. She is enjoying life so much, from what we can tell! Tomorrow is my last day of school and I'm so thrilled to spend a lot of quality time with her. Trips to the park, play dates with friends, early morning snuggles, and maybe even a kiddie pool in the near future. Hopefully I'll get the chance to sew and make some more things for her. Needless to say, I can't wait!

happy

2011-06-10T18:17:00.001-07:00

That was a great moment, when Grandma met Avery. I found this today on my phone, and I'm so glad I caught it. Grandma is so happy, and so was Avery.

great grandma rhoads

2011-06-08T08:25:00.001-07:00

Dear Avery- Your great grandma Rhoads went home this morning. She's celebrating with great grandpa Rhoads, great grandpa Elmore, and cousin Katie. She was 95 years old and lived an amazingly full life. She raised 4 wonderful children, including your grandpa, was a grandma to 12 grandchildren, and was a great grandma to 18 great grandchildren. You got to meet her in March of 2011 and she loved you so much. In her last days, she would get the chance to see pictures of you and they always made her smile, and laugh a bit because you're so funny. We have some of her art in our house and one day I'll get to tell you everything about her. She was a wonderful woman. A woman of deep character, integrity, compassion, and wisdom. She has been a role model to me and a matriarch to our family. Your dad got to meet her, and he loves her too. She saw me graduate, get married, and then got to see me as a mother to you. She always called me Melsie. I'm so glad you got to meet her, and I pray that you will always know her in your heart.

house update via Ken K

2011-06-06T07:31:00.001-07:00

Ken primed the house on Saturday! What you see here is the kitchen ready to go! When I look at the house, it's like a huge canvas just ready to paint. Pretty cool! Ken hung all the drywall himself which blows me away, then primed the ENTIRE house in one Saturday. Are you kidding me? This guy is crazy awesome! He's so excited too. It's really fun to see it come together. Remember when it looked like this? We've come a long way, baby!

weekend update with avery K

2011-06-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

a challenge

2011-06-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

In my obsession with reading craft blogs, mainly about people's sewing adventures, I bought this book. After flipping through it last night, it's a good thing the sizes are for little girls 4,5,6, and 7 because it's going to take me that long to figure it all out! The girl in the book is quite the aspiring hippie, which is all I can hope for for Avery. Hippie in the good sense, of course. Has anyone read this book?

start 'em young

2011-06-03T12:17:00.001-07:00

Dad has been showing Avery how to brush her precious two little teeth. She surprisingly does well with it. I'm waiting for the day that she shoves that thing back and gags herself. I think she just likes to imitate her dad. When did she get so big?

beginnings of the bathroom

2011-06-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ken has been working diligently to get our house ready to move in to. We own a double shotgun, and we live on one side while we are fixing up the other side. Eventually, we want to rent out the side that we live on now until our family requires more room, and then we would open the walls and make one big house. Shotgun houses get their name because you could stand and the front door, shoot a shotgun, and the bullet would hit the back door. (I think...) That means the all the rooms are in a row. You have to walk through our bedroom to get to the kitchen, for example. There are no hallways. So when Avery goes to bed in her nursery, she's actually about 15 feet away from us in "another room." On the other side, we (and when I say we I really mean Ken) added a hallway to make 3 private rooms, moved the kitchen up to the front and made the first two rooms a big kitchen open area. It's going to be awesome. Ken just finished the tile for the bathroom, and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out!

100% more fun

2011-06-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

Even though she can't talk, even though she poops her pants, and even though she is just a baby, this girl has the most positive effect on everyone she meets! People stop me and say, "Now that's a happy baby." I think about the impact that Avery will have on the world one day. How she will bring joy to the lives of many. I have thought about the person that Avery will grow up to be and how she will change the world, but I had no idea she would do that even now. We have family in Virignia, Missouri, and California. We skype and facetime with them often. The instant they see her face, they squeal with delight. My brother Jack just stares at her. My dad kisses the phone. We have a dear friend who doesn't have the best outlook on life who is now dreaming of seeing her graduate from high school. Her 8 months of life have added a lot to this world.

We went to a parenting seminar last week and the guy who spoke was great. God gave us Avery to watch over her and take care of her. We get to guide her, teach her and love her. What a blessing! The next day he saw Avery at church and said, "That is a very special girl. She's smart, like an old soul." How can he tell that from an 8 month old? Either way, I really liked that he said that.

picnic dress

2011-06-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

Doesn't she look like a picnic waiting to happen? I love this print, very simple. But when it's a whole dress, I'm a little bit like, "whoa, that's a lot of pattern!" She pretty much hated the process of making it because I made the dress from my mind, without a pattern, and I put in on her with a lot of kinks. Then I took it off, improved the sleeves, added the yellow part on the bottom to make it longer and put a button on the front because Avery's head is so big! Even though she hates the process of me putting it on her, she loves the result. What a babe!! There is a thick 2 inch elastic band that goes around her waist making it fitted there. I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed with those colors together. I'll probably make a skirt so that she can sport this cute color combo more. At first, the top of the dress was closed in and she looked a bit like a boy. Then I cut the top like a deep v-neck and I found that to be a bit to american-apparel-trashy-even-for-a-baby look so I added the button to gather it together. If we ever buy this child some shoes, some brown sandles would be real cute. That yellow is my fave, too. I have a cardigan (duh) that is the same color that I wear at least once a week, even in the hot summers here. Is it sad that Avery dresses A LOT better than I do?

new book

2011-06-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

I ordered this book the other day from borders.com and search for a border promotion code and saved 40%! How sweet! I hope this book is good, I can't imagine it being bad. Just look and the kid on the cover! Yummy! Avery makes faces like that from time to time. Taking pictures of Avery might be my favorite hobby because she's a ham. She knows that I'm taking a picture and will smile. And then try to eat the camera. So maybe she just thinks it's a big brownie or something. Either way, I'm hoping this with help me with lighting. Our house is kind of dark, but our new house (next door) will be a lot brighter. Yippee!! You can hold me accountable: my pictures should be a lot better after I read this book!

guest blogger

2011-04-30T12:55:00.000-07:00

It's about time I got on here to speak my mind. I'm your guest blogger today: Avery K. So my mom spends a lot of time reading blogs from crafty ladies and I'm usually sitting nearby and I keep asking myself, "What's keeping her from getting her craft on?" And then I realized her fear: the sewing machine. I saw that thing a bit around Christmas time, but it has since been sitting in the corner. I had a heart to heart with my mom about when things are hard, we don't give up, we keep going. I gave her my best Coach Taylor pep talk and I think it worked. Then I really broke it down: I want couture baby clothes. Sure, Carters and Target and Babygap are great, but I'm bored. I see dad wearing this red shirt all the time, and I want one. What's cool about this shirt is that mom designed it for her relief team years ago when she first met dad. The skyline of New Orleans that is on the front is from a picture that dad took from the levee over in Holy Cross where mom and dad used to make out, I mean hang out. Mom used that picture to make the shirt. Then, when dad started working for the church coordinating relief work, mom took the same logo and re-worked it for the church. Now every volunteer that comes through our church gets one. It's only fair that I get one too! So this is what my mom did this week because she was on spring break from school. It's been great, and I have even taken longer naps to help her finish her projects. Summer is going to be sweet, I'll get all sorts of homemade crafted crap. Yeah!Before and after! The headband is from the end of a sleeve The side bow is my personal favorite, that and this spoon in my mouth.The back says, "There are a lot of places I like, but I like New Orleans better."This is my felt boom box, and it was my idea to dress up like an aerobics instructor to help model the new craft. Please, my mom isn't that crazy. Mom made this skirt with scraps that she had from making onesies for me when I was just a bitty baby. She got the idea from www.dana-made-it.com. That girl is crafty!Does this skirt make my butt look big? Maybe it's the huge cloth diaper...Perfect for a date with Mom & Dad to Dat Dog last night!Not only does this thing have plenty of places for me to chew on, it crinkles because mom put an old target bag inside. Nice mom. For me? Aw, gee. Mom, please work on your stitches next time. So, that's all I have to say. Another thing, all of the words for some reason are links to something else because the return key on mom and dad's computer doesn't work anymore. Bummer. You'll be hearing from me again soon. I just thought since the whole blog is about me, I should chime in! Till next time, avery elizabeth

big girl

2011-04-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

Not much to say, but this girl is getting bigger by the second. She's getting mobile, which has been fun to witness. She is a joy!

get it girl

2011-03-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

I will always remember the 26th week of Avery's life because it's when she became a little person to me. They way she eats, holds her head up when she's on her tummy, and how she sits up all of the sudden. I find myself calling her, "little person" more and more because she's growing up so fast. I can't wait till she starts talking, we have so much to catch up on!

sweet potato

2011-03-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Introducing foods to Ave has been really fun. She enjoys eating with a spoon, and even though it makes quite a mess, we love feeding her this way. She seems to get a kick out of putting her hand in the bowl of whatever we're giving her (rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes) and smearing it all over just about everything. She's a nut. I was looking forward to making her food because my parents bought me an immersion blender for Christmas. It was super easy to make her food with the crock pot. It feels good to give her homemade food.

I think she likes them!

And then she has been really cute, so that's why these are here:

A proper tribute to Dr. Seuss on his birthday

I LOVE her face in this, caught in the middle of a hearty laugh!

She loves to stand, and stick out her tongue

All about the tummy time, the preferred method of play time these days.

a special trip

2011-03-10T22:55:00.001-08:00

Avery and I traveled to California to visit some family, mainly the great grandmas. The following pictures are very precious to me and I can't wait to tell Avery all about it when she's older.

This is my Grandma Rhoads, my dad's mom. My dad is her youngest child, I am her youngest grand child, and Avery is her youngest great grand child. 4 generations!

This is my Grandma Elmore, my mom's mom. My mom is her youngest child, I am her youngest grand child, and Avery is her youngest great grand child. How cool?!

Thank God for safe travels and digital cameras to record these priceless moments.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2011-03-02T06:32:00.000-08:00

You're off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your mountain is waiting.

So...get on your way!

thug life

2011-02-19T20:56:00.000-08:00

The first time I was away from Avery, I felt this empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. She was about a month old and I was simply at a pot luck dinner lasting no more than an hour and half. I thought of her the entire time. And I felt guilty; like I was doing something wrong by not being with her. When I came back home, I held her and cried while constantly kissing her head. Some would call these hormones; I would agree.

My first day back to work on January 3 had a similar feeling. When the clock turned to 10:00am, I started getting hungry because when Avery ate, I normally got a snack too. At 11:00am, I started swaying in my classroom, because Avery was getting ready for her nap. That day was the longest I had ever been apart from her.

Now we are here, February 19. Avery has been going to my friend's house during the day while we're at work and I'm fine. It helps that she's an incredible sleeper and I leave before she wakes up, but I'm still doing fine being apart from her. Not today though.

Ken and I are closet Mardi Gras innerkrewe captains. If you even know what that means, then, well, you know what we're talking about. This evening was our parade in the French Quarter. I have not been as involved this year because when Ken goes to meetings, I'm home with baby. All that to say, we knew tonight would be Avery's first non-family-night babysitter. A great friend from church was going to watch her, we were thrilled.

The run-down only took 30 minutes (sarcasm...I explained everything) and we were on our way. As we left, Avery started crying. Like "sad pouty baby crying" not, "i'm tired" or "i'm hungry" or "i don't like it when you sit on the couch, stand up now because i like that better" cry. I think she knew we were leaving, and she was sad.

Our friend called while we were driving to our parade saying Avery won't stop crying and she's not eating her bottle. Red flag: have you seen our girl? She eats. So when she doesn't eat, my maternal instincts tell me that something is off. Ken knew then that I was going to head home, even though we didn't reach that conclusion till later, he could tell by how I was acting.

I get home after being gone for a little less than an hour, and Avery is sobbing. I get her in my arms, her face red and snotty and I start talking to her, and instantly, my voice soothed her and she was fine. She was smiley again. I think she knew we were gone. I think it's the first time.

Can a 5 month old have separation anxiety? I humbly say that Avery is very advanced, but I think this is a little soon. Now, she is wearing 9 month old clothes- maybe she's on the fast track.

All that to say, even though I didn't get to parade this year, even though Avery was not down with a babysitter just yet, it felt really great to know that she knows me, and knows when I'm with her. She makes everything in my life more beautiful.

that fabulous face!

2011-02-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

i could do this all day

2011-01-10T18:08:00.000-08:00

Maternity leave is over. A new phase has begun: I'm a working mom, like so many mothers out there. Last Monday was my first day back and the morning was terrible; I cried and cried but I knew that she would be there when I got back and I had to keep telling myself that. I walked out of the doors in tears and Ken just kept telling me, "you can do it, babe." Monday was the only day that I wish I had a long commute to work. Thankfully, the kids weren't there yet so I had a day to get my feet wet. There were so many moments in the day where I was so thrown, had no idea what do to. My life for the past 13 weeks was on a 3 hour cycle. This was going to take some adjustment. Of huge blessings as of late, everyone at work was really excited to see me and Avery gets to spend her days at the Gibson home. I thrilled with this set-up, while nothing does compare to getting to spend every minute with my girl. I love coming home to see her, she's just so beautiful. Weekends are extra special now, and yesterday after church, we did this:

and it was amazing!

3 months & traditions

2010-12-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

The babe turned 3 months last night. I'm torn with emotion because she gets more incredible by the day, by as each day passes, it's getting closer to when I have to return to work. When she was a month old, I thought, I have 2 more months to spend every minute with her! Yeah! Then when she turned 2 months, I thought, I only have a month left!! And now, well, dang it; the best season (yet) of my life is concluding. I'm trying not to spend most of these remaining days crying, but that's been a challenge. My weekends will be a lot more special, that's for sure. Here's a bunch of photos of the recent happenings at Cadiz.

Still not so sure about this bath time thing...

Avery's face when I told her I have to go back to work.

Our house for Christmas.

A little smile for ya in my cute Christmas dress!

Snuggles with mommy

I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!

A family tradition brought to New Orleans. My mom and dad deliver these coffee cakes to friends all over town. After baking 32 of them (while Avery napped) Ken, Avery, and I handed them out to our neighbors and friends. It was a great day.

I found my hands! I eat them ALL the time.

I ready to walk up in this piece!

Family's first Christmas!

I could stare at this picture for hours

And my doll-face saying, "See ya 2010, here's to an even better 2011!"

they grow up so fast

2010-12-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T13:04:00.001-08:00

a familiar face

2010-12-19T22:32:00.000-08:00

I always knew that the Lord gave me a desire to serve and love children. After spending a summer in Sri Lanka at an orphanage, I knew I was going to spend my life with kids. I didn't know how, or where but I knew. I love teaching here in New Orleans, but I don't have that same joy that I had when I was in Sri Lanka with those kids. My face showed it.

Sri Lanka 2005

Tonight Ken took a picture of me and my girl. I saw that face again. A face that was trying to contain a person's heart that was bursting with love and who didn't know what to do with it. A person who has run out of places to pour this emotion that she just cries with joy, all the time.

New Orleans 2010

Now I know the how: to be a mother.
And the where: right here with Avery.

the one about cloth diapering

2010-12-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

I have to give all credit here to Ken. It was his idea that we do cloth diapers for Avery's tushy. I was hesitant, probably because it's different, but I have to say, I love it. Since being a temporary stay at home mom, I have come to enjoy the simple things in life. I enjoy doing laundry, washing bottles, folding baby clothes- it's as if it has a greater purpose than before. So I really don't mind cleaning her diapers. It's real simple, and cleaning a poopy diaper is NOT that big of a deal. To be totally honest, it's good to make sure that what's coming out is all good, so when I'm cleaning a poopy diaper, I get to "analyze" if you will how Avery's processing things. :)

This is what we do:
We use the pre-folds which means we form the diaper to her body. At her age and size, the diaper is about the size of a piece of paper. The center of the diaper is 6-8 layers thick while the sides are about 2 layers thick. Plenty of absorption.
Our station: From L to R we have the shells that go over the diaper, the pre-fold diapers, the liners for the night diaper, flannel wipes and in the basket some diaper cream, baby lotion, etc.
This snappy is what holds the diaper on her. So much better than pins, in my opinion. And not once has this come off while she's been wearing it. It's not Velcro; it's these claws that grab onto the cotton really well and stay in place.
The shells are not only really cute, they go over the diaper and keep all the moisture and other things contained. Someone said they looked like American Apparel diapers. I'm pretty sure these were not nearly as expensive as anything sold at that store! This one is attached by Velcro at the top.
This one is attached with snaps that provide a lot of size adjustment for our growing baby. At night, she sleeps in a much bigger diaper with a liner so that a wet diaper doesn't wake her up. When we do that, we open the snaps more to make more room.
THE GUSSETS! This is an important piece to the type of diapers we use. The little white line closest to the leg is the gusset. This keeps every thing in the shell and not out on the clothes and mom's pants. I have made the mistake of not checking to see if the diaper was in the gussets and ended up with poop on my leg. Fool me once...
The cleaning. I am going to NOT post a picture of a poopy diaper. We all know what it looks like! But when that happens, we take the diaper to the toilet and rinse it off with:
this sprayer that Ken hooked up to the water line of the toilet. It's just like a sprayer you have attached to your kitchen sink. We'll just hold the diaper over the toilet and rinse it off. Then we ring it out and put it in:
our diaper bag. This bag is great and it holds about two days worth of diapers and dirty wipes. You only have to rinse off the poopy diapers, and the wipes we just put in there without rinsing. So every other morning, I take the bag and put the whole thing in the washer. At the bottom of this bag is a zipper that I unzip and in the wash, the diapers escape and get good and clean. You don't have to reach in a pull out the dirty diaps which is nice. We pre-wash and then wash the load on heavy soil level with warm water.
Now is the weather is right, we hang the diapers out to dry. The sun bleaches them and drys them quickly. Ken is a bigger fan of this than I am, but I'm learning to love it. They have a tendency of coming out a little crispy when we hang them to dry, so we'll throw them in the dryer for a few minutes to soften them.
She seems to enjoy them! Way to save the world, Avery!

We also made a video because people don't believe how easy it is to diaper this way. Enjoy!

Watch us cloth diaper!

Websites that we love about cloth diapering:
Green Mountain Diapers
Zuka Baby, New Orleans

the nursery

2010-12-13T11:05:00.001-08:00

I told Ken last night that my favorite room in the house is Avery's room. Some of the most special moments, and hardest moments (hard for mom and dad...) of her life thus far have been spent in here. We also do a good amount of family time in here. When I'm feeding her, Ken will hang out with us just talking about how much we love her. Some of her best smiles happen right after a nap or when she's on the changing table looking at herself in the mirror. Not to mention her dad worked his tail off making this nursery perfect for little miss, it's about time to show it off. Now, this is a functioning nursery. I see nurseries online that are beautiful, but I wonder how functional they are. This set up we have works for us and for our sweet bubby. Enjoy!

This is very special. I just learned today that husbands get their wives presents after they give birth. They are called "push" presents. I'm pretty sure Ken doesn't know this, but he got me the most thoughtful gift I've ever received. Ken and I went to San Francisco last summer and rode our bikes across the golden gate bridge to this little town on the other side. There we stumbled upon a Dr. Seuss art gallery. Are you kidding me? Only my most favorite author! I have dressed up as Cat in the Hat 3 times in my teaching career, thank you very much. When I read "Oh, the place you'll go!" to my class every year, I almost start crying because I think about the potential that they all have. Ken knows this passion I have for my kids and their futures, and knew that this was only exponentially multiplied when it came to Avery. He bought this piece, an original from "Oh, the place you'll go" from that same art gallery we went to. The frame is made from Cypress trees from Louisiana (a friend from church custom made it!). Ken ordered it for Mother's Day but it didn't get completed till the day Avery was born. When I came home from the hospital, this was hanging in her nursery. With all the emotions I was experiencing, and the new love I had for Ken, the moment when I saw this, I burst into tears. The happiest of tears. My husband is amazing. (the light from outside doesn't do it justice!)

Remember the summer chandelier project? It turned out perfect with lavender walls. Another secret Ken had was that he very much encouraged these colors for the walls and the chandelier because he knew how great it would look with the Dr. Seuss print.

The cloth diapering station. We LOVE to cloth diaper. I might make a blog about how it works for us, and how it could work for you! :)

5 bins of clothes and a dresser full as well! And I think we bought her like 5 things, ALL of these clothes were gifted or handed down. We are very blessed with loving friends and family.

I'd sleep well too if these guys were keeping me company!

I love her crib... another gift from Ken's mom

get your craft on

2010-12-11T11:10:00.000-08:00

Most of my day is filled with feeding, changing, calming, cleaning, and loving little Miss Avery. But there are points in the day when she's sleeping, and that's when I make things. I'm proud to say that I finally know how to use a sewing machine. With Ken's patience, I was able to learn how to use it. The sky's the limit now! I also have enjoyed reading craft blogs from some very talented ladies. Some of things they do...impressive! I also look at The Land of Nod catalogue and steal ideas because there is no way I'm spending that much on a felt ornament! These are some of the things I've made!

felt plush toys for Avery
(I'm hoping for make the alphabet, but I might just make her initials...:)

felt flowers: either clips, pins or headbands
(you will never see Avery wearing this, she hates to have things on her head)
Tutorial at this blog:
http://juliegillrie.blogspot.com/2009/09/flower-hair-clip-tutorial.html

felt garland for the Christmas tree with a blanket stitch, and super easy!
Tutorial at this blog:
http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/2006/12/cozy-up-with-blanket.html

my fave: felt embroidered peace dove ornament
(idea from The Land of Nod Christmas catalogue)

burp cloth made from old towels & Ken's old Louis Armstrong T-shirt
(a great way to recycle things we were probably going to toss)

STOCKINGS for our family of 3!
(took a while to figure out how to make the top to fold over just right...)

a little cross-stitch action for the names
(taking me back to 8th grade needle point class...memories)

Now this took me a while to make, about 10 months.
Ken helped a lot. I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out.
I wouldn't change a thing!
(I don't have the tutorial blog for this one :)

you are my sunshine

2010-12-09T13:32:00.001-08:00

Avery is 10 weeks old today. The older she gets, the sooner I have to return to work. I have enjoyed being home with her so much. She's just so much fun to be around. Even when she doesn't want to nap and she gets fussy, she's still smiley. I'm trying to get her to nap better and it's been a challenge, but not the end of the world by any means. She loves to be swaddled. LOVES it. It's like a switch in her mind that when she's swaddled, she should calm down and eventually fall asleep. I love to wrap her up real good, and sometimes she likes to see how quickly she can break free. Lately, I have been trying to wean her off of the swaddle. I'll let you know how that goes. Poor girl's reflexes are so sensitive that if she's falling asleep and her arms are free, she hits herself in the face. Oh Avery, you are so funny.

I came across this picture the other day, and now it's my backdrop. This is minutes after Avery was born. I think it might be my favorite picture of her. It's the first time she looked at dad for a picture. Her fingers are all spread out and she has the greatest expression on her face. She is a long baby! This is right before she was wrapped up and brought to my face so I could meet her. I just love it, and every ounce of her.

8 weeks

2010-11-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

Things that Avery does that make me smile:

1. any time she smiles
2. sometimes when she needs to sneeze and doesn't, she makes this beautiful sound of cooing contentment.
3. the way she moves her arms when she's hungry
4. how she tries to talk
5. when she rolled over in her crib yesterday and didn't cry, but more was in shock at this new thing she could do
6. when i put pants on her, she looks like an old man
7. her face when she's making a big poopy
8. how she will stare at her daddy for the longest time
9. when she looks at herself in the mirror
10. how she calms down when i hold her tight and pat her back

thankful for this love

2010-11-25T05:52:00.000-08:00

Last night I was reading blogs to help me fall asleep and I went to this blog of a family that has a daughter with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). It's a condition where the heart doesn't develop fully and the precious little baby has to go through open heart surgery in their first few days of life. I have been reading this blog of a little girl named Charlotte Hope. Her mom is a cousin of a friend of ours. Charlotte's parents were faithful to update the blog multiple times a day with was procedures Charlotte was having done and how she was doing. I spent one night last week reading the entire thing, going back to when they first learned of her condition at 5 months pregnant. I fell in love with this family, and Charlotte. I thought about her throughout the day. I prayed for her. I googled all these medical terms that they would write about so I could better understand what was going on. I felt so much love for this little girl.

So last night, I checked her blog and she passed away yesterday. I started sobbing. I woke up Ken, and cried some more. I couldn't stop. In fact, I've been crying most of the morning because I'm so sad for Charlotte's mom and dad. I went into Avery's room last night and just looked at her. Listened to her breathe and I wanted to badly just to hold her and never let go. Then I felt so bad for this mom who only held her daughter but a handful of times, and the last time was when Charlotte was hooked up to so many things that it took 3 people just to move her into her mother's arms. Then I just ask, "why?"

I take comfort in knowing that God is in control. I know that He is. Charlotte's life was special. Her life had purpose. But it still breaks your heart. And you find yourself thinking things like, why did Avery get a healthy heart and Charlotte didn't? I don't know how to answer that, I don't think I can. This family wrote this on the blog:

"But in the end her little heart needed to be at rest.We have hope that God is good and that our child is with him safe from surgeries, medicines and procedures."

To know that she is in a better place brings some joy to the situation, but it makes you wonder why she was only given 16 days of life. But to think how many people are mourning this loss; people who the parents don't even know, like me.

I know I feel so much for this little girl because I'm a mom now and I couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have Avery. To not be able to hold her, to love her, to calm her when she cries, to feed her, to swaddle her, to simply stare at her for hours. It makes me realize that my worries and stresses about things with Avery are minor. I can't breastfeed Avery for whatever reason and it breaks my heart. I felt so inadequate when this became a challenge soon after she was born. We did everything we could to make it work, and it was wearing on me. After 7 weeks of working at it, we decided that we gave it all we had, and we needed to move on. For a while there I would cry every day about it. But the Lord slowly healed this frustration and enabled me to focus on the important things: Avery is healthy.

This early morning, as I was feeding Avery, I thought of Charlotte's mom. I was tired and would have liked to be sleeping, but what would Charlotte's mom give to have the chance to feed her baby this morning. Every moment I have with Avery is special, and as Avery ate, she held tightly to my pinky finger and I would have been fine if she never let go. I get lost in moments with my little girl, and this morning my love for her went deeper. I understand more how I love her. Charlotte's life helped me understand.

Her story is powerful: www.charlotteshope.com

what a difference a week makes

2010-11-20T09:48:00.000-08:00

Babywise, Happiest Baby on the Block, Bringing Home your Newborn, Healthy Sleep Habits: Happy Child, and the Google search on my computer.

The above resources ALL SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT about what to do with your fussy 6 week old baby. Growth spurt? Colic? Reflux? Sleep deprived?

How about this: she's a baby.

Pardon the all caps frustration, but for a first time mother, all you want to know is why your baby is upset. Is she hurt? These books do offer good advice, but it's hard when they say completely different things. One says to wake your baby up to feed her, and another will say, never wake a sleeping baby. What to do? And as of yet, I'm not trusting my maternal instinct like I should.

But, after this 6th week passed, Avery decided that she was done with the 24/7 fussiness and that she would nap during the day and sleep 7 hours at night. My girl is an independent woman already and was insulted that we would use a book to understand her! In honor of her decision, she decided to smile all the time. So what else am I to do but... PHOTO SHOOT!

stats

2010-11-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

Our "little" girl is showing some impressive stats these days. At her first week appointment she weighed 8lbs 15 oz and was 22 inches long. 95%! Then at her one month appointment, she weighed 11lbs 8 oz and was 23 3/4 inches long. Again, both in the 95%! She a big girl, and she's proportional. And the other day we took her to the doctor because she has some reflux issues, and she weighed 12lbs 13 oz at 6 weeks and 4 days old. I call her my chunky monkey, and the most beautiful girl in the world (duh). When we were in the waiting room yesterday, we round up when we say how old she is. The mom next to us asked how old she was and we said, "7 weeks" and she thought we said 7 months and she goes, "That's how old my son is!" Then Ken said, "No 7 WEEKS..." which only got the response, "She's really big!"

Heck yes she is and we love it.

one month!

2010-11-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Avery,

A month ago you came into this world with a bang! Holding you for the first time, I didn't think I could love more than in that moment, but you have taught me new levels of love. You're the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. Your eyes are the perfect shape of a pumpkin seed, the color is of a deepest crystal blue with a little bit of light blue around the pupils, your nose is simply adorable, and the dimple on our right cheek compliments your smile perfectly. Your dad and I just want to kiss you all the time. I love how when you are waking up after a good swaddle, your arms shoot up in the air and you stretch to the moon. I can tell that you are going to be athletic because of how strong your arms and legs are. The question is, will you play softball and basketball like mommy or will you be a runner like your daddy? Your legs are looking more like dad's so maybe you won't follow in mom's footsteps and be a catcher! Sometimes, it's as if you want to stand up on my lap when I try to burp you.

You have impacted so many lives so far with your presence, but mostly your dad's and mine. Our life has a new purpose, to love you and teach you about the Lord's love for you. We pray that you will always know of God's love for you, and that we can show that to you in how we love you. Forgive me for getting frustrated with you when I try to figure out why you're crying- we're new at this too! Forgive me too for when I get upset when you dirty up the new diaper I just put on you! :)

You are the most special little girl and I can't remember life before you came because when you came, it got so much better. I know you will "wow" us daily, but so far you have done a pretty good job at being amazing.

I love you with my all,
Mommy

the story of her birth

2010-10-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

People say that it's good to record major events in your life for posterity sake, and I have already forgotten different parts of the delivery, so I'm going to record it here, and maybe never think of it again! :)

Ken and I had our 40 week check up, and we went to see Dr. Morris and had very strong intentions of getting Indian food for lunch after the appointment. That was pretty much all we were thinking about. Funny how things were different! They took my blood pressure and it was really high, much higher than it had ever been. Avery was fine in my tummy- great heartbeat, good amount of fluid. Then they sent us upstairs, and we weren't too clear as to what we were doing next, and for a brief time, they didn't know either. I was on a blood pressure monitor for about an hour, they took some blood, tested some other things and concluded that I wasn't leaving the hospital, I was going to have a baby.

Dr. Morris said we could eat some food because he knew that this was going to be a looooong day/night/day/night... They moved us to the delivery room. I had no idea what to do so I sat at the table, in my clothes and a nurse comes in and goes, "you need to get on the bed, we need to get started." This is about 2:00pm on Wednesday. I get settled and then they hooked up the IV which took 3 nurses because my veins apparently suck. IV set up, and then came this really cool (sarcasm) blood pressure machine that squeezed the crap out of my arm every 15 minutes. Sequence is foggy here, but they put a cathiter in, and set up the magnesium sulfate drip. Apparently, I was not doing too well here. 5 hours later, my doctor comes in and he wasn't his chipper self that we are so commonly used to. He was worried about me, and we had no clue what was going on. But when Dr. Morris said, "I'm sorry you have to be on magnesium, you're going to feel terrible on it," I knew that something was up. He doesn't exaggerate. And as the hours slowly passed, I started to feel like I had been sick for weeks with mono, and that I was hungover. I started to itch on my chest, I was sensitive to light so I only had one eye open, and I was so thirsty. Ken saw me go from just fine to pretty crappy. They wanted be to sleep because the following day this baby was coming and I needed a lot of strength. A combination of some other medicine that put in me to start contractions (not pitocin) the magnesium, and the fact that some nurse or doctor was coming in the room every 30 minutes, and that this blood pressure machine is getting tighter with every 15 minute squeeze- I couldn't sleep.

But morning came and with that came the pitocin. That kinda makes you feel crappy too, but I was so excited to have some contractions, I was okay with it. I had been having them since the night before, but I didn't really know what with all the things flowing through my body. So I was laboring for about 20 hours and I finally got to 5 cm. And I got the epidural at that point. Crazy procedure, but it did lessen the pain of the contractions but I still could feel them which was a good thing- almost liked it because I knew a baby was getting closer to arrival!

Hours later, at 6:00pm on Thursday, I was getting really close to 9 cm and they decided it's pushing time. Yikes! What was great though was that Ken's mom got to the hospital at noon, and then my mom showed up around 5:00pm; right off the plane from CA. I had a lot of support fro family which was a blessing. So, trying to push out a baby sucks, no one was lying when they said this was hard. I wanted my mom in the room so Ken and her were holding my legs as I pushed, and pushed, and pushed. This was the hardest part of it all. I could feel the contractions cause at this point the epidural had worn off. There were a lot of nurses in the room too, it was weird. Dr. Morris then came in and saw that I hadn't dilated any more, that Avery was not dropping down, and that I was losing blood. He then said I could be pushing for 3 more hours before she'd deliver and he was worried about the a lot of factors so it was decided to have a c-section. Not what we wanted, but was what needed for Avery, and for me. In the end, a healthy baby was what we wanted so off to the OR.

This was a real fog, but hearing Ken's voice and Dr. Morris' voice through the whole thing was really comforting. I was pretty much all numb and really confused. I thought I was laying on the floor and all the voices I was hearing were muffled. But then I heard the her first cry. "Is that really her? Is that my daughter?" I thought to myself. I couldn't hold her right away, but Ken saw her come out and said she was perfect. I asked if she was healthy, and he said yes. For a better part of half the pregnancy, we were made aware of a small chance that Avery could have down-syndrome because of some things the doctors saw on her 5 month sonogram. Even though the chances were slim, I still knew it was a possibility. So when I asked Ken, as he's standing over me looking at her emerge, if she was healthy, to hear, "yes" was a huge answer to prayer. Ken brought her beautiful little face up to mine and I couldn't believe that was my little girl. Ken went with her to the nursery as they finished up my surgery. I got to hold her a couple hours later, and I was instantly in love, and blown away with how pretty she was. We spent the next few days in the hospital marveling at this creation and the work of God's hand, while I fell in love with Avery and more in love with Ken. He instantly became "dad" and I could not imagine going through this whole experience without him.
As I write this in between feedings, my precious angel is sleeping next to me. I look at her and I melt, tears form, and I pray that God will enable us to be amazing parents to her. I have never wanted to be better at something in my whole life. Without words this girl has already changed many people's lives, and Ken and I are thrilled to journey with her through life and she continues to make her mark on the world.

avery elizabeth kostrzewa

2010-10-05T12:44:00.000-07:00

Attention world: the baby has arrived! When mom and dad thought they were going in for a check up on Wednesday, they ended up staying still Sunday, and when they came back home, there was a baby in tow. What a whirlwind it was but we are so blessed to have her home and we are learning how to be parents. Not that I thought it was going to be easy, but different challenges have come up that I didn't expect but the Lord has provided us with wonderful grandmas who came in from both coasts right when the doctors told us, "yeah, you're not going home today. you're having this baby." Her 'birth story' is a long one that would require a bit more sleep for me to dictate, but for now, you can melt with me as you look at this precious little life God has given us.

tick tock

2010-09-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

So, the doctor has been telling me September 29 is the due date. Does that mean that she knows that? When the clock strikes midnight, will contractions begin? Will my water break immediately? I'm guessing not. I think she's pretty comfortable in my belly, which is great that I have provided such a great environment for her, but if she only knew how sweet it is out here in the world, she'd rather be born. Her room is all ready, clothes are clean, and not to mention really cute. We are ready to become parents, ready to learn how this all works, ready to fail and try again, and ready to fall in love. Yeah! I can't wait!

People have been telling me about things you can do to induce labor. The best one I have heard is eat fried eggplant. Who has ever heard this before? Well, I told a friend and she brought over a couple eggplants, so I fried them and ate them. Did the babe come? Not yet, but hopefully she got some good nutrients from it. It's so funny what people say, I love it though- they are just trying to help.

Here is a picture of me from yesterday- Ken finally convinced me to go for a walk! 2 days shy of the due date. iphones are great for documenting all these moments! The weather was amazing yesterday, amazing. Such a blessing!
I promise to post pictures of the nursery, if I'm not in labor...

lately, as of late

2010-09-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

If you look at Ken's "what to expect" app on his iphone, it will not lie to you. I have 1 week and 5 days from the blessed arrival of baby k. And let me tell you, I am ready. It's incredible what your body does to carry a child, but it is clearly not how my body is meant to stay, hence some insanely uncomfortable nights. Everyone has a remedy to help me be more comfortable. Swollen feet? Elevate them as much as you can. Heartburn? Sit up while you sleep, but still elevate your feet. Poor circulation? Sleep on your side, while sitting up, while elevating your feet. It's quite hilarious at night deciding which of this discomforts I'll focus on. Enough with the complaining, I could not be more excited for this chapter of our lives. She is going to bring us so much joy and I can't wait to share in the joy with Ken.

Of recent happenings, I have about a week more of teaching before my leave starts and though I love teaching, it will be nice to not be on my feet all day! I'm teaching 4th grade ELA this year which has posed new challenges and expectations. I have a great team to work with and a ton of kids to teach, but it's all good!

My oldest brother, Jack got married to a most amazing lady, Becky. Now I have 5 sisters! Their wedding was fabulous. My family is so entertaining and it's fun to see how much other people love my family. If only we all lived a bit closer...

My old roommate, Emily, moved from New Orleans a few weeks ago to start her journey to South Africa where she will be serving the poor, through Christ's love for 3 years. She was my roomie the year Ken and I got engaged, my first year of teaching, and my first year living in a real "hood" if you will. She has taught me so much about grace and acceptance. I will miss her, but I know that she is doing what God has called her to and that simply excites me.

I will post pictures of the babies room once I get all her clothes put away. People have been so generous with gifts and hand me downs, she is already pretty spoiled.

my chickie

2010-06-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad it's summer because I can do stuff like this! I made this little onesie for our girl, and I even have a brown skirt that she can wear to match the button. I know that no one cares like I do, but things like this get me so excited for this little jewel to be part of our lives!

chandelier project

2010-06-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

the final product!

When we bought this house, this little gem was left to us. When we found out we were having a girl, we decided to paint it, change the lights, and then hang it from the center of her nursery. This took the combined efforts of my crafty side and my husband's handyman side. The following pictures are the steps to get it looking this fancy and fabulous! We're pretty pleased with how it turned out.

what we found!

then we took off the dangling pieces, took out the cord and chain and cleaned it with baking soda and water

after making a trip to the hardware store, bought some automotive primer to get it ready for the yellow paint we would eventually usethen we sprayed it with two coats of this pretty yellow paint

sparks

2010-06-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Baby K,

I hope you know that we already love you and that we are so excited to meet you! According to the lady at Home Depot today, you should be here any minute. (grr...) I wanted to show you this picture of your daddy preparing your nursery. We bought this old house and in your room, there was carpet. We wanted to have hardwood floors in your room to match all the other rooms. So dad simply took out the carpet, only to find another layer, and then another layer of flooring. Right now your dad is grinding down about 500 nails (individually, by hand) that were coming out of the floor with this little tool called a Dremel. I'm pretty sure if he wasn't madly in love with you, he would have lost motivation in this project days ago.

See you soon!

Love, Mom and Dad

Mommy at 6 months 3 weeks in our mini garden

knocked up!

2010-06-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Don't mind the title of this post, but truth be told, I am! Most of you know this already because of facebook, emails, and phone calls, but we are blessed to announce that a precious baby girl will be added to our family of two. She is expected to make her grand arrival towards the end of September.

We are thrilled and completely clueless about what our new life is going to look like, but we know that God has is all planned. Ken has been working hard to get our house ready, and currently he is removing nails from the hardwood floors that were covered by 3 layers of other floors. I think this might be what people do in New Orleans. When you want new floors, why would you remove the other floor? Just layer it up! Here are some photos of the recent happenings:

moving all our crap

the dumpster in front of our new place for the massive gut

the front couple of rooms, ready for remodel
some freshly gutted rooms, how about those colors?
where the babe's room will be when we move to this side
the three of us:
Kostrzewas on Cadiz

And to end this post, a shout out to this guy. My husband, and our baby girl's daddy. He's been incredible through the whole pregnancy and with our house; I have never seen someone work harder on something. He has vision, drive, and compassion all in one.

and not to mention, these blue eyes that melt me daily.
what are the chances that our baby girl will have light eyes? hmm...

we bought a house!

2010-04-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

Well, about 3 months ago, but Ken has been working so hard on it that we should move in any day now! We had to make some improvements/upgrades before we could move in. It's so cute, and I can't wait to decorate it for Christmas. Everyone, come visit!!

spring break

2010-04-22T21:07:00.000-07:00

Spring break this year has never been more anticipated. Teaching this year has been a lot more work, fulfilling work, but a lot more nonetheless. My students took the iLEAP test last week and did a great job. I have no idea how they scored, but I know they did their best, and what more can I ask of them? This test is a big deal, and it starts in 3rd grade. As the months led up to this test, I was saddened that they even had to take this intense exam. I don't remember having to do this? Of course, I understand why, but it still sucks for them. They'll be feeling this pressure from here on out in school. First the iLEAP, then LEAP, then SAT, ACT, GRE...and it never stops. To become a teacher 3 years ago I had to take some tests and it worried me sick. If only we didn't need these tests. In a perfect world...

Speaking of a (near) perfect world, Ken and I took a couple days out of the city to the closest beach, Pensecola, FL. I told him that I love New Orleans, but I need some different scenery for a day. We rode in Sunday, and left Monday night. Ken brought his board, which needed some dusting, but as soon as it hit the water, it was as if he surfed everyday. I lounged on the beach, played in the water, and talked about life with my love between the waves he was catching. We played backgammon, cards, and music. It was like we had to beach to ourselves and we loved every minute of it. They we got back in the car, and we in New Orleans in a few hours. Sometimes it's just nice to get away, even when you live in the greatest city on the planet.