Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Not so wordless-Wednesday

This was recorded about a month ago.  I thought I would share it finally.  I love to record her, but as soon as she notices the camera she stops what she is doing to come check it out.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Avery update

I have not been very good at Avery's updates or blogging for that matter.  I started this blog for our family who are spread out all around, and I've done a terrible job of keeping you updated.  I apologize, I don't seem to be as good at multi-tasking as I once thought I was.

 Avery is 18 months now.  As you can see from these pictures from the last 6 months, she is growing up so quickly.

We put a lot of miles on this car over the summer.


This picture was taken at the Simmons family cabin in Alpina, MI.

Ready to watch college football.

The cutest pumpkin ever!

Greatest smile.

On our way to see Santa.


  • You say Mama, Da-ddy, Bumpa, doggy, No, ba-by, hi, bye-bye, waffle, nanna (banana), uh-oh, yeah, wow and attempt to say a lot of other things.
  • You sign more, please, thank you, milk, eat, dog, cat, all done, fish, grandpa, grandma, drink, baby, banana, read.
  • When asked what noises a cow or duck say, you answer with moo or quack.
  • You give the most amazing kisses!!
  • You love to watch your Elmo video.
  • You love to dance around to any kind of music.
  • You can point to your bellybutton, nose, eyes, and ears when asked.
  • You love to read books or have books read to you. 
  • You love to sing the alphabet song, and wear everything around your neck. 
  • You wear size 4 diapers.
  • You wear 18 month - 24 month clothes and a size 6 shoe.
  • You can use a fork to eat pretty well.
  • You go to bed around 8pm and wake up each morning at 745am.
  • You are down to pretty much 1 nap a day.
  • You know how to throw some great tantrums.  I believe that it's because you want to communicate, but don't know how.  In addition, you are very independent and have definite views on some things.  If someone puts a stop to your plan, it makes you very upset. 
  • I think something I notice in pictures is how much your hair has grown.  If we want your hair to stay out of your face, we have to put it in pigtails.  I've recently tried headbands again, but you don't keep them in for very long.
  • If we tell you something is hot, you blow on it.  And I don't just mean food.
  • You have 16 teeth.  Your "K9" teeth were the last four to come in all
     at once.  Similar to how your all 4 pre-molars showed up at once in August.
  • Most recently you've learned how to climb onto the kitchen chairs and on top of the coffee table.
  • You are in this phase where you like to take clothes and wear them around your neck.
Avery I can not believe how much you have changed in the last 6 months.  It's exciting to see you grow into a little girl, but makes me sad that my baby is growing up so fast.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Facelift

Now that finals are over, I gave some much needed attention to our blog. Hope you like the new look. I promise to add new posts too.



Amazing how much fun a strainer can be.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Day 2: Meaning Behind Your Blog Name

Our Sweet Life came about after lots of brainstorming.  Both my husband and I are type 1 diabetic.  Although diabetes does not define who we are, it is definitely something that we deal with each day.  Our life became much sweeter after having our daughter in June 2009.  I can't imagine a greater love.  I created this blog because we live so far away from our families.  I wanted them to be able to watch Avery grow and change.

 Interesting fact....our blog was almost named New Pants On the Block.  I'm not afraid to admit that I am a New Kids On the Block fan, and my husbands nickname for me is Pants.  Avery has been referred to as baby pants on occassion amon many of her other nicknames.  But in the end I'm glad that I chose Our Sweet Life.  It just fits.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 1

I have seen the 30 day blog challenge on a few of the blogs I read.  I decided that I've not had too much to write about or much time to write, and I thought this might me just what I needed.  Bear with me as I play catch up for the first few days.
Bedillion Wedding 7/31/10

My name is Kristen, I am a wife to Gregory, mom to 16 month old Avery and a nursing school student.  I had a real job as a merchandise buyer for over 5 years, but with the encouragement from my wonderful husband I am back in school to pursue my true passion.  I was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and now live in Ohio. 

15 Random facts:

1) I could honestly each pizza every single day of the week.  Avery is a fan too.  Some say it's because I ate so much of it while I was pregnant.

2) My next guilty pleasure is Chik-fil-a.  We are what you call "regulars" at our local restruant.

3) While on the food facts, my favorite ice cream is Baskin Robbins Rocky Road.

4) I played fast pitch softball since I was in the 2nd grade until Jr. year in high school.  Then I thought having a car was more important.  I would go back and do things differently if I could.

5) I played the flute in band, but only did marching band for one year. 

6) I only knew my one grandmother, and she passed away when I was in the first grade.  I think that is the reason I treasure Greg's grandparents so much.  And makes me so happy that Avery not only knows her grandparents but her great grandparents as well.

7) My dad passed away when I was 2 years old from pancreatic cancer at the age of 31.

8) I have a Bachelor of Science in Global Business from Arizona State University.

9) I have lived in AZ, NJ, VA and OH.  Arizona will always be home to me.  We've lived in Ohio for the last 5 years.  We have beautiful Summer's, gorgeous Fall's, wonderful neighbors and friends here.  I just have a hard time with the long winters.  Hopefully one day we can live somewhere a little warmer.

10) I'm a much better student the second time around. 

11) I am practically the oldest student in two of my classes this year.  I swear none of them are paying any attention to the teacher, they are all on Facebook or texting.  Boy that makes me sound old doesn't it!!

12) Since meeting my husband I have become a big fan of college football.  We root for Michigan State in this house.  (Arizona State too, it's just never on tv here)

13) I also love to watch Michigan State basketball!!

14) Stacey and Lea have been my best friends since elementary school.

15) After getting my BSN I plan to become a Certified Diabetes Educator.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Happy 3 year anniversary!!

Today is our 3 year anniversary.  I married an amazingly romantic man.  From the beginning he created a plan for each anniversary, he would plan all odd years and I would have all even.  For our first anniversary he surprised me by taking me to San Diego for 5 amazing days! I could not have asked for a better first anniversary.  So I was in charge of year two celebrations, however we had a 3 month old.  I had actually started to make plans while I was pregnant, but Greg and I agreed that we weren't ready to travel or leave Avery when it got closer to September.  So now we are celebrating 3 years together, and boy how are lives have changed since year one.  I'm not working and now going to school, we have a baby, etc., but my husband still knows how to plan a romantic anniversary!

He started planning a few months ago, but never gives me any clues to what he is putting together.  Steph and Steve drove down from Michigan on Friday afternoon to watch Avery.  We had a fun dinner out in Hudson Friday night together.  Then Saturday I had strict orders to be ready to go by 1030am. Do you have any idea how hard it is to pack when you don't know where you're even going?

Our anniversary started out with an early lunch at our favorite place....Chic-fil-a.  Then we headed South.  I had a lot of ideas in my head about where we might be going....but I never thought we would be heading South.  We got slightly lost, and ended up parked in a movie theatre.  I thought we were stopping for directions, because we NEVER go to the movies.  But that was part 2 of our celebration.  We watched Grown Ups.  It was a typical funny Adam Sandler movie.  Even Greg enjoyed it.

Then we continued to head South.  We were driving on roads that were twisting and turning back and forth, until we arrived at our destination....Whispering Pine Bed and Breakfast.  It is an old farmhouse across from a lake in Dellroy, OH.  After checking in we walked through the entire house, checked out some of the other rooms and spent some time on the swing outside. And then at 5pm there was a knock on our door, it was a women there to give me a massage.  After that, we got ready for our dinner reservations at 630pm.  We ate dinner at this resort on the other side of the lake.  It had the most gorgeous views.  We ended our night in the bar....watching the Spartans take on the Fighting Irish.  I am pretty sure we were the only ones there watching the game.  Everyone else was dancing and singing karaoke.  But it was an amazing game!! Sunday we woke up and had an amazing breakfast before we headed back home.  It was so much different from our trip to San Diego, but it was still an amazing anniversary!! The bed and breakfast was so peaceful, decorated tastefully with antiques and had numerous Tiffany style lamps.  I have love Tiffany lamps! 



Whispering Pines B&B

The view from our balcony.
Perfect weekend!

We came home and had an amazing welcome from Avery! When she heard our voice she came running with a big smile and arms out wide. We were excited to see her too!! I'm pretty sure she had a good time entertaining Grandma and Steve, she even got to show them her favorite place...the park!
 
Greg has yet again set the bar high. I better start planning our 4 year anniversary now.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Back from my blog black out

Hello, it is nice to be back after a busy Summer! It has been crazy the last few months, but I can say that it was a good crazy....but only because I got an "A" in both of my Summer school classes.  :) We also went on our first vacation as a family of three (and lived to tell about it), our baby is now a walking toddler, and so much more.  I will try and go back and recap some of our Summer later.  For now, just a few alot of  pictures from last weekend.  We are trying to enjoy the warm weather while it lasts, and get the most out of our pool membership this season.

Friday night our neighbors invited us over for dinner on the deck.  We ordered from a local favorite, Luigi's.  It was a beautiful night, and Avery and Miles had so much fun playing together.


This is how we roll these days. There's barely any room for Avery. :)



Avery has once again found her love for the swing.

And here are a few pictures from the last time we got together for dinner on the deck.


Avery and Miles.

Checking under the hood.  They look so serious.

I'm not quite sure what is going on here.  But check out Avery going for a taste of the handle bars.

Miles likes to try riding all toys backwards.


Avery loves the Elmo chair that Miles got for his birthday.

On Saturday we had the Wolfe family over to our deck.  Look at this moment I captured of Miles and Jackson.  He did the same thing to our other dog, Franklin, but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture of it.


Now for a few pictures from the pool. The pool is a completely different experience now that Avery is walking. She loves to go down the slide in the baby pool, and spend time in the play house and slides they have outside the pool, and most recently she loves the "spray ground".


She could slide all day.
Chasing after Avery.
Spending time in the big pool with daddy.


The weather is suppose to remain warm and sunny all week, which means Avery and I will be heading to the pool this week and over the weekend.  Of course we can't forget what Saturday is.....the start of college football!! Yeah!! Look who else is ready for football....

Go State!!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Happy Birthday baby girl!!

Look Whooo's One!!


Oh my, Avery we survived your first year!! It wasn't too hard, life is just a lot different these days. I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you so much! You make me laugh and excited to be your mom each day.
What are you doing at 12 months?
  • You are back to a strict nap schedule...something you've done on your own. 930a and 330p every day.
  • Bed time is around 8ish....but is so hard when the sun is out. Mom & Dad still want to play with you.
  • You have finally started to clap, wave and shake your head no.
  • You have 8 teeth. The last one to come in was the bottom left of center.
  • Baby food is really no longer an option. You must be able to feed yourself. And goldfish are your snack of choice.
  • Your volume is impressive. You yell so loudly. We're not sure how you don't hurt your own ears because ours are definitely ringing.
  • You like toys that you can push or walk behind like your hippo. You enjoy playing with toys in the bathtub. But my favorite...you love to sit and look at books. I will read them to you, but you are very happy just to look at the pictures and read your own story.
What an amazing year we've had!! I can't way to share in the excitement of next year. You'll always be my baby!
Some pictures of Avery at her friend Kayla's first birthday. The car was hard for her to sit in and go anywhere, but she enjoyed pushing it. She also liked the slide in the background of this picture.





Sorry for my blog absence. Summer school is a lot of work!! I can't promise that things will get much better.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Busy Saturday

Our Saturday was so busy, I thought that it should have a post of its own. The day seemed so long, and I got so much accomplished as well as had fun with friends.

I started out the morning cleaning the deck, washing the windows and screens. It was so beautiful outside, that I didn't mind at all. Avery took the longest nap ever....which probably helped the productivity factor quite a bit. Once she was up and had some lunch, we were off to our first stop...Crystal's graduation party. Crystal is the daughter of our good friend Diane. She just graduated from the University of Akron. It was great to see Diane and Crystal, and we also got to catch up with our friend Nathan and his beautiful new wife. He came all the way from to Jamaica to celebrate Crystal's graduation. I know, I know....where are the pictures? We both spent the entire time chasing after Avery making sure that she wasn't eating mulch, rocks and finding any other sort of trouble. I make up for the lack of pictures later...read on.

After a few hours catching up, Avery started rubbing her eyes and getting fussy-sign it is time to make our exit. She was unhappy the entire way home, so we thought that there was no way we were going to be able to spend much time at Sophia's 1st birthday. We put her in the stroller and went up there to quickly drop off her present. However, Avery caught a second wind. Here are pictures....

The shirt says it all.

Avery checking out Sophia's new Elmo chair. I think Sophia was making sure Avery knew who the chair belonged too.

Miles taking his turn pushing the baby stroller around. All the kids loved this toy, especially Avery.
Avery did so well with the clown, Gumball. I was afraid that she was going to freak out, but she didn't even for one second. She did love Gumball's hair!!

They were playing "this little piggy". One of Avery's favorite games.

Gumball hooked me up with a little ink.
Avery spent quite some time on this Little Tikes gym. I was amazed at how quickly she could climb up it.

She was content on this toy for quite some time.



Avery being a spectator of the corn hole game.

Miles doing more than spectating... His leg is through the hole.



Avery is always fascinated with baby Mason. Isn't he so handsome?
Makenna and Avery hanging out. Makenna is the sweetest little girl.

This is after eating a little cake. I had to go home and change my pants, because I think more of it was on me. There was red frosting everywhere!!!
Lastly, a picture of Sophia with her birthday cupcake.




We are lucky to have such good friends and neighbors. We had such a great time.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Blog absence = Not much going on

Sorry that it's been awhile since my last post, however there just hasn't been that much going on around here. I'm sure that it won't last too long, so I'm trying to enjoy it!

The weather has been hot, might I say "Summer-like" here in Ohio. I'm embarrassed to say that we already have our air conditioning on. Growing up in Arizona, I remember seeing how long we could go before we had to turn the a/c on. I can assure you that it wasn't when it was 80 degrees outside. Either I've have become a terrible wimp when it comes to heat, or 80 degrees feels different in Ohio than it does in Arizona. I will go with the second option. Side note....when I lived in my apartment in Phoenix I set my air conditioning for 82 when I was home and 85 while I was at work. Hey....I was a starving college student!!

Here are a few pictures that I took at our most recent play group get together. Avery would ride on this toy, and Miles would push her around. It was so cute to watch!!





And here is Miles taking a ride on Avery's beloved pig.

Last Summer I bought this pool on clearance. It is so much cuter than the picture on the box makes it out to be. So cute, that I can't bring myself to put it outside to go swimming in. So it is currently in our front room. Avery and I have had a good time reading and playing in it. I have thought about buying balls to fill it up with and make it like a ball pit. Greg thinks I'm crazy...what do you think? Is Avery too young to enjoy the fun of a ball pit? I did go to Target today, and bought a smaller pool for Avery to play in on the deck. I think the dogs think it is just one huge water bowl for them :)

The pool even has four detachable butterflies. One on each palm tree trunk.

We started our holiday weekend a little early with dinner out at our favorite Mexican food restaurant with our neighbors Alicia, Chuck and Miles on Thursday.
Here is a picture of Avery with beans all over her face.


This would be a better picture if we were both smiling.


Alicia and Miles
I'm so excited for the 3 day holiday weekend!!! It should be full of birthday and graduation parties, and just getting things done around the house. Hopefully I have lots of great pictures to share with you all. Have a great weekend!!