California Vacation

We left our house bright and early at about 3:30 to ensure we had time to get the car dropped off, get to the airport, through security, and waiting at the gate without stressing. Traveling with kids is no joke. Our timing actually ending up being pretty dang perfect, so we really impressed ourselves haha.

They loved their first flight experience.

(Hudson was on a plane right after he turned one, but doesn't remember it)

After leaving the airport we found some food, stopped at Target to get beach toys, and headed in the direction of the shore.
We spent some time driving around to look at all of the houses, and to let the kids get a longer nap in.
After so long we got tired of driving, so we parked and impatiently waited for them to wake up.

Hudson warmed right up to the beach.

He apparently is made to be a beach bum.

Ella took some time to warm up to it.

She wasn't too sure of all the sand at first, and she definitely didn't like the water.

She never did change her mind about the water, but she did decide the sand was ok.

Later that day we went to Downtown Disney.

We browsed the shops, ate at Earl of Sandwich (so good), and played at the lego store.

It was nice to get an extra taste of Disney before our official days in the parks.

We went to California Adventure the day before Nathan's wedding.

The day started out with a grumpy Ella (shocker haha)

But once the parks officially opened Disney magic took over, and all was well :)

Ella is pictured with her Great Grandma Jackie

Lightning McQueen was in the shop when we visited the parks last time, so Hudson was pretty excited to get to meet him this time around!

Hudson being short for his age isn't a big deal at all until it comes to Disneyland.

Then it's heartbreaking when your dad and the rest of the family is going on a ride without you because you're too short.

He didn't seem to care that pregnant mom couldn't go on the ride either haha.

Getting a sundae from Ghiradellis has officially become a tradition.

The Paint the Night Parade was probably the highlight of the day!

The kids LOVED the parade.

It's completely worth sticking around the park for if they bring it back.

The next day was Uncle Nathan's wedding at the Newport Beach LDS Temple.

The weather was gorgeous!

From what I heard the ceremony went great, but unfortunately I wasn't able to make it into it.

Part of the reason was because at 28 weeks pregnant I had a tendency to get super light headed if I sat too long which wouldn't have mixed well with a decently long sealing. 

The main reason though was because we had an incident that morning that involved Ella grabbing the iron while Taylor and I were distracted trying to help Hudson with something. Look at those huge blisters. They got even bigger than this photo shows..

The sealing was during her normal nap time, and the poor girl was so distraught from being in pain that we couldn't in good conscious leave her with anyone.

After the sealing we went and got a late lunch/early dinner with Taylor's family.

From there we were supposed to head to the reception which was about 45 minutes-an hour north of where we were eating if I remember correctly. Traffic was crazy (rush hour in southern california), our kids were exhausted, and Ella was still so grumpy. Because of these things we decided it was best that we went back to our hotel instead of the reception. We felt so bad, but we figured that no one would want our grumpy kids there anyway.

We had just a little bit of pool time before we had to get the kids to bed so we could get up early for Disneyland the next day.

Ella was still grumpy and didn't really want to do anything, but Hudson had a great time swimming.

The last day we were in California we went to Disneyland!

The day was so dang good and went so smoothly. It was truly some Disney magic

Ella meeting Minnie Mouse was quite possibly the most magical thing ever.

She was so happy and in complete awe.

Disney magic worked it's charm, and Ella fell asleep riding It's A Small World.

She stayed asleep for an hour or so? Which meant we didn't need to go back to the hotel for a nap.

We were happy about that because it left more time for rides!

I finally got my dole whip. 

I was going to get one right before we left the parks in November, but the machine was down and we had to get going so we could get everyone to the airport in time. It was heartbreaking then, but worth the wait.

I'm literally the worst player at Buzz Lightyear. I don't understand how I can be so terrible, but the kids either come decently close to my score or beat me. 

And that's a wrap! We walked away thinking "oh my goodness we just had a crazy successful day at Disneyland!!" We were SO happy with how our Disneyland day went. We just felt like we really nailed it. The kids were happy, we were happy, and my pregnant self got to fulfil allll of my Disney food cravings so I was very happy hahaha.

We got up early the next morning to catch a 6:30ish flight back to Salt Lake, and we were back in Idaho Falls later that day. It was so bittersweet to be leaving, but really we couldn't have asked for a better vacation.

Thank you, Uncle Nathan, for getting married in California!

12 Months of Avery// Month 7

Weight: 15.2 pounds

Height: about 26 inches

Diapers: Size 2 during the day and size 3 at night for the larger pee capacity haha.

Clothes: some 3-6 months and mostly 6 months

Sleeping: Girlfriend is a rockstar sleeper. All you have to do is lay her in her crib with a bottle and her fan on for white noise, and she goes right to sleep 90% off the time. The other 10% you just have to give her 2 more ounces and then she goes to sleep. She takes two naps a day- usually around 10 and 2. She usually goes to bed around 6:30-7 and is up just after 7.

Eating: 4-6 ounces every 3+ hours. She LOVES to eat puffs. She eats pureed food once a day or every other day. We have given her some steamed food, but she is still a little ways off from being able to successfully feed herself.

Milestones: First french fry (is that really a milestone? No. Does it still feel like one? Yes.) SO close to crawling! She can move both of her hands when she is on her hands and knees. but she can't figure out how to make her legs work the way she wants. She rolls and inch worms to get where the she wants to go She can go from sitting to hands and knees, but she hasn't quite figured out how to sit herself back up. Although, she is super close to being able to sit herself back up.

Likes: Hudson and Ella playing with her/ puffs/ moving around/ toys/ rides in the stroller/ dad tickling her/ food

Dislikes: being tired or hungry/ not being able to sit herself back up/ wind/ being left in a room by herself/ if Taylor comes home from work and doesn't immediately give her attention- she bursts out in tears if he walks by her without picking her up

first french fry..

12 Months of Avery// Month 6

Weight: About 14 pounds 12.5 ounces- 25th percentile

Height: 26 inches- 56th percentile

Diapers: Size 2

Clothes: 3-6 months and 6 months

Sleeping: She's become a pretty good sleeper. She sleeps in her crib, unswaddled, occasionally in a sleep sack. She's in bed by 7 and usually up around 7. She drinks one bottle sometime around 2:30-3, but I hand it to her and go back to sleep. She naps 2-3 times a day depending on what our schedule is like. She is usually awake for 2 or so hours at a time

Eating: She still eats 4-6 ounces of formula every 3-5 hours. Spitting up has basically stopped. Thank goodness! That's one stage I will never miss. We started solids a week or two ago, but she has only had them twice because life is crazy and it obviously takes more time than handing her a bottle. As she gets a little older we'll do baby led weaning like we did with Hudson and Ella, but for now purees are easier for us.

Milestones: She is getting good at sitting up. She still tips over regularly, but even her doctor commented on how well she can sit up for being 6 months old. Holds her own bottle really well.

Likes: moving around/ any and all toys/ getting attention/ jumparoo

Dislikes: being tired or hungry

Avery quite possibly the best baby ever. I think she is even easier than Hudson was, and that is saying something. She is happy and content 95% of the time. The other 5% is her being tired or hungry or wanting to move around. She has a strong desire to be on the move, but she doesn't have the coordination to do much of anything except move backwards and flail around. She does this thing where she lifts her legs and arms up while being on her stomach and flais in an effort to move. All she ends up doing is hitting her face on the ground.

We all got hit with a nasty cold one right after the other, and it was so sad to see Avery suffer. She had a hard time eating for a few days because she couldn't breathe through her nose, so this was a big moment to see her getting over the cold and finally eating again.

Uncle Matt

Avery had a month full of meeting family members.

We took a weekend trip to Utah while my Grandma Thomas was in town. She met Grandma when she was only two weeks old, but she got to meet Molly who is a few months younger than her.

Avery also got to meet Logan who is a cousin on Taylor's side.

Logan is 3.5 months younger than Avery, but he's almost the same size as her haha.