Sprinkles Cupcakes

A bite out of Heaven! Who knew food could be so ethereal. If you haven't tried Sprinkles cupcakes, you have got to drop everything and go get yourself one. They have a store at Fashion Island in Newport, or you could make them yourself by purchasing a Sprinkles cupcake mix from their store or at Williams-Sonoma. My neighbor brought me a couple cupcakes yesterday and they were AMAZING! I never knew a cupcake could be THAT good. I have only tried the dark chocolate with chocolate frosting. Has anyone else tried the other flavors? Which kind is your favorite?

Grandma and Grandpa Norton come to visit

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 2 Year Anniversary! I can't believe how time flies. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were married in the San Diego Temple. I made this little cake for Brian and me on our anniversary--gotta love funfetti. It's been the best 2 years of my life by a long shot, and I look forward to many more amazing years to come in the future. I love you DEER!

First Beach Trip

Yes, we took our little dear one to the beach for the first time!

Avery is getting so big! When I first viewed these pictures I was shocked to see just how much she is changing. For some reason seeing her on film made me realize this. She looks like a completely different baby almost--compared to her newborn pictures.

Look at that chubby belly! So cute.

Mommy's angel. As you can see, she has lost her caramel coloring. Now we see she has Brian and my pale skin--sorry my little one. No more Carribbean tan.

The camera loves her!

Avery loves to stand. I think she likes to be right next to your face to see you better. The last couple of weeks she has been getting so strong. She'll be walking in no time! So crazy.

Avery is starting to love going outside, as well. It is so cool to see her become so much more aware of her surroundings.

Also, just in case you read my last blog, I just wanted to assure everyone that things are getting so much better now. I am starting to be more cognizant of Avery's needs--deciphering what each cry means i.e. the tired cry from the hungry cry. And Avery is much less fussy now when it comes to naptime. YAY! She is back to her angel self. I think she just had a rough couple of weeks and I wanted to gripe about it in that last blog. Babies are the BEST!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Lately I have been lamenting about the arduous life of a mother to friends and family. Avery hasn't been her angel self the last week and a half, much to our chagrin. Now I am getting a taste of what my parents went through with me. (They tell me I was a difficult baby--wouldn't sleep unless rocked or bounced A LOT, fussy unless entertained indefinitely, etc.) Sorry, Mom and Dad! But some days Avery has her moments of peaceful cuteness that I just can't get enough of.

Today is a Dr. Jekyll day--full of smiles and coos; yesterday: Mr. Hyde. It is such an extreme. Yesterday crying all day with minimal naptime. Today, no crying(hardly) and easy naptime--knock on wood. I know the lack of sleep was probably the reason for all the crying. But it's her own fault. I tried everything to get her to nap and sometimes even the shoe-in sleep methods didn't work. Like, for instance, a few days ago Avery hadn't slept all day and was incredibly fussy. So I decided to take her for a ride in the stroller. One of those shoe-in methods I mentioned. She never stays awake for a stroller ride, NEVER! But about 20 min. into the walk to the park, she woke up. At first she liked the change of scenery, looking at the sunlight and all the trees enjoying herself. Then about 15 min. later she decided to fuss and root. I was still at the park without any kind of a nursing cover. So I had to (literally) run home (which I am way out of shape FYI), and she cried the whole rest of the way home. Poor baby. I think she was going through a growth spurt and that's why she threw a wrench in my seemingly perfect schedule--she would wake out of her naps early because of hunger. Or so I think...it would be so nice if she could just tell us why the cry.

The last day or so have been much better as far as routine feedings. Now I'm just trying to establish her routine naptimes again. The book I follow--On becomming Babywise--says to not use sleep props like: swings, vibrating chairs, loud fans, etc. to get your baby to sleep. It says they need to learn to fall asleep or back asleep on their own without props. BUT it is so hard to resist these methods because they work wonders. If Avery wakes early out of a nap, I am finding it harder and harder to resist these methods because if I don't use them, she wont go back to sleep and then her whole schedule gets thrown off. When she sticks to her schedule it is baby and mommy heaven..ahhhh, sweet bliss. When she resists the schedule, we both get cranky.

My mom told me not to get too comfortable with any schedule because babies are constantly growing and changing. I know I can't keep her on the same schedule forever, and my book addresses how to change the schedule when baby requires less sleep for example..but no baby follows a book exactly.

I guess what I am wondering is: when do babies start taking just 2 or 3 naps a day? Avery seems like she wants to sleep less which is normal, but she doesn't want to sleep enough. She wants to be awake more but the more I let her stay awake and not go down for her naps, the crankier she becomes as the day goes on. Babies sure are tricky. And if you've made it this far through my little diatribe, thanks for reading :)

On a happier note, I woke up to find an Easter basket downstairs for our family!! A big surprise for Avery and me. Thanks Dear! Happy Easter, everyone!

Attention Overload

Whoa! It has been a different scene around here lately. I am learning life is getting a lot more demanding when your baby gets bored of just lying there. Before, I could just set Avery down in one of her seats and grab a bite to eat or do the dishes, for example. Looking around the room or out a window would be sufficient entertainment for our little dear. Not the case anymore! Avery needs much more to keep her happy these days. And it's even more difficult for me because Brian is gone from about 4:30 A.M. until about 7:30 P.M. And then when he gets home he wants to relax--understandably so! Brian has a new job he started a couple of weeks ago (for those of you who didn't already know). He works for a company called Shaw Environmental. Brian primarily locates, removes, and eradicates environmental threats ie anthrax, or currently: granade, rocket, and bomb ordinates. Risky business, I know. Not to worry though, he says they take every precaution and he doesn't even consider it dangerous at all. The biggest worry for him is poison oak and rattlesnakes.

So back to my attention overload... I am adjusting to Avery's new stage of life. She'll be 2 months old in a matter of days! So crazy. She changes so much every day. Her hair just keeps getting longer, too! I can almost put her hair in a "spout" ponytail. She likes getting plenty of exercise as well: standing up (with our support, obviously), constantly lifting up her head, and even little scooting motions when she's on her tummy. I think she is getting anxious to be mobile. Also, can I just say--babies sure can poop a ton! Brian and I joke about wrapping her up in saran wrap to always be sure to avoid diaper leaks--a frequent occurrence here. Maybe I don't know how to properly secure a diaper. Brian thinks I don't put them on tight enough. But I swear if I put them on tighter, her circulation will be compromised! My mom said I should get bigger diapers, but I am convinced that is not the case--we have the size one diapers from huggies and they are good up to 14 lbs, I think. No, I'm convinced it's just the volume of waste that's the problem. No diaper could keep in some of her blow out episodes. Maybe I should affix 2 diapers to our baby.

My new life as a MOM :D

So, I thought I would talk about my thoughts of motherhood so far. Brian can post a blog of his own describing his thoughts--which differ a little from my own. I've decided being a mother is the best job EVER! Sleepless nights, limited free time, dirty diapers all day long, crying spells, and depleted funds--let the party begin! In sooth, it is definitely not "the easy life;" however, all of the many, many chores of motherhood are all a small price to pay for our precious baby. It just doesn't make sense though, I KNOW! Before I was a mother, I was dreading those costs I mentioned above. I thought having a newborn would be cool--mostly because that's what everyone says-- but I thought I would be annoyed that I had to get up in the night, disappointed about my limited free time, etc. I truly thought I would feel more overwhelmed with it all. You may be wondering why I decided to get pregnant in the first place. To be honest, I did have a little bit of a bleak outlook on life as a mother. I just didn't get it. How could mom's enjoy their jobs with screaming babies, rebellious teenagers, and stubborn toddlers? It just did not make logical sense to me. My mom would try to tell me how awesome it is to have kids of your own. She would say that kids aren't annoying when they do those teeth clenching behaviors you experience in sacrament meeting--when they are your own. And I would incredulously ask her: how could that be true? To be completely honest (maybe a little too honest for a blog post), I didn't really like kids before I had Avery. Now is the time you can really be upset with me. Why would I have a baby and not even like kids? My Aunt Robyn, my mom's sister, had a little something to do with it. She had a similar opinion of kids when she was my age. Just like me she didn't like kids all that much. Call us crazy. When my mom was a child, she was always the one who would relish her time playing with little kids/babies, and my aunt never really saw why that was so fun for her. She didn't get it either. But now my Aunt Robyn has 7 children! She said that once she started having kids of her own, she was finally able to see how amazingly cool children really are. And now I, too, view children in a different light. I don't think I'll have 7, but I do want more than just a couple more. Some of you seasoned mothers reading this blog of mine may be thinking I'm a little naive about it all, and you may be right. I mean, I have only been a mother for about 6 weeks now. I don't really know what it will be like in the future, but I am excited for it, nonetheless.
Avery's awake time is so much fun these days! Well, unless she is crying and that's not too fun. She is more excited to see her mom and dad now and has even begun smiling a tiny bit. We just need to try to capture it on film! She usually will smile a little when I come in her room in the morning to feed her. The above and below pictures are a good representation of her typical awake time expressions.