Keeping up with The Sonneks ♥

* Feb Challange: day 9

2012-02-09T20:29:00.000-06:00

Haha, had I looked ahead I would have seen that TODAY is about the 'Front Door'! If you remember from yesterday I talked about the Prisms that now reflect onto the floor of our front entry- due to the SUNshine coming through the new front door.

Anyway... with it being about the front door today, I am not going to share the new door with you quite yet. BUT I will share a picture of our OLD front door and where It's hanging out at this very moment.

day nine: "front door"

{i asked Aaron to take a photo of it for me today when he got home from work.

seriously it is the UGLIEST front door on earth!

If you were to see this door in person you would know that it's a steel door that has been painted brown and then on the inside some type of paint tool was used to give it a "wood grain" effect- sweeeeet.

so, ~~poor old~~ ugly old door is out back in our woods, waiting for It's final demise...

dun dun dun...}

...tomorrow Aaron will be working on tile in the front entryway so we are getting closer to a final project! :D

* Feb Challange: day 8

2012-02-08T11:34:00.000-06:00

This is a different point of view post...

and what I mean by this is, below is a photo showing what we will NOW see when the sun shines through our new front door!

day eight: "sun"

{the new door reflects prisms onto the floor- SO PRETTY

and reminds me of my old daycare- Darlene used to have crystals in her windows and every sunny afternoon there would be rainbows all over the floors and walls!}

Once our front entryway update is all done, I will post some before and afters. The door is in but the tile is not yet down- and let me tell you, it already looks awesome!

* Avrie Jo: 32 weeks

2012-02-07T15:16:00.001-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 32 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: hanging out with daddy while mommy had a "date night" with auntie jamie. playing on her ABC mat. taking a MUCH needed nap with grandma sonnek. going to cousin hannah's dance recital! she loved all of the music- and was so happy and content watching all of the girls dance and all of the music. the show was an hour long and she ended up falling asleep by the end. sunday we headed to cousin ethan's wrestling match on the way home- this event was much longer {3 hours} and she was fighting sleep more than half the time- it was a little too hot for her in there but she hung in until the end and slept the entire drive home {2.5hrs!}. yesterday we had a busy day of play group, mommy getting a hair cut and we went to the grocery store all within a 3 hour time frame- 2 bottles and 1 poopy diaper later we made it home. this afternoon we are just taking it easy until it's time to get ready for cooking class!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: talking! she has been SUPER vocal this week and just last night started to babble, she is saying something to the effect of nom, nom, nom- we think is sounds like she is saying "oniononiononion"- hahaha!
Dr. appts this week: no appts- but i was THIS close to calling the nurse line- avrie has been shaking her head back and forth and only when she is sleepy- i was at first worried about it but after talking with SIL kris and also our group facilitator at play group- i feel better about it just being a phase and something she does to soothe- weird way to sooth, but hey... she is learning and doing so much each day it's amazing!
We are Thankful for: sassy seats & great traveling weather yet again!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: trying another week of new foods- asparagus for a veggie and mango for a fruit. AND... daddy's 30th birthday on saturday! avrie won't be joining us for the night out, but she will get to hang out with babysitter, tina.

* Feb Challange: day 7

2012-02-07T14:52:00.000-06:00

Today's challage gives me an excuse to share my latest upgrade.

I haven't jumped onto the iPhone or Android train just yet- I still LOVE my Blackberry and can't stand an all touch screen. I had a touch screen about 3 years ago and hated it. SO- I was REALLY excited to find out that the bold now had a touch screen AND a Qwerty keyboard with any sliding function- YES please!

day seven: "button"

{touch screen w/ REAL buttons = love!}

* Feb Challange: day 6

2012-02-06T22:28:00.000-06:00

Meal planning is back in action here at our house, which was perfect for today's photo.

day six: "dinner"

{pepper steak! yummmmmm!}

I prepped the meal in the early evening and Aaron was cooking when I got home from working out.

* Feb Challange: days 3, 4 & 5

2012-02-06T22:20:00.001-06:00

Did you think I gave up already!?

I didn't... it was a weekend away from home, but that didn't stop me from keeping this Feb Challange homework in the back of my mind.

So let's see what the camera found this weekend for days 3, 4 & 5:

day three: "a hand"

{this is a hard working hand that had to deliver itty bitty baby pigs this past friday AM-

and when i say deliver, i am talking... D.E.L.I.V.E.R!}

day four: "a stranger"

{avrie so far and still doesn't even give a care when she meets a stranger and is ok being held by one. here she is hanging out with "joe" who's joe- she doesn't care. aaron and i will have multiple "stranger=danger" chats with this little one!}

day five: "10am"

{actually since i forgot to snap a photo, this is what i was doing at 10pm!

folding our EVERlast/growing laundry pile on the guest bed.}

...so far I am having fun with this! haha

* Feb Challange: day 2

2012-02-02T14:26:00.000-06:00

day two: "words"

...with friends!

I'm OBSESSED!

* Feb Challange

2012-02-01T23:54:00.000-06:00

Spotted this on another bloggy blog! I think it's a cute idea- so... I am going to see if I can do it.

Month {photo a day & all photos will be SOOC- no editing.} days 1-29 criteria:

day 1: "your view today"

{a daily countdown to our wedding anniversary 2.20.12-

each envelope has a pink note card inside with a special note/activity for Aaron & I. }

Aaron thinks I am a TOTAL dweeb... but this was a cute idea and plus I was able to use up a lot of our extra candy bags leftover from our MN wedding reception- they were used to fill up with salt water taffy and a late night beef jerky snack ;)

{taffy shot: ct ryan photography}

My Anniversary craft was inspired by another friend of mine and her fun valentine's tradition- read about it over at her blog.

* Pizza Hotdish!

2012-02-01T01:14:00.003-06:00

"HOTDISH!"... isn't that what Nelly says is his song??... haha

Anyway, it's been a REALLY long time since I have posted a recipe on my blog. Tonight I created a pin board called "made this: the food edition". On this board you will find posts of food that I have made and blogged about and also pins that I have found, went ahead and made and then commented on what I did differently and if its a keeper! I thought I would blog about a goodie so that I could add a recent "how-to" to the board.

A couple of weeks ago we made one of our house favorites. Pizza Hotdish, a microwave meal and recipe from cooking class. This is super easy and takes about 20 minutes to make after prep and cooking.

What You'll Need:

1 pound of hamburger (you can add 1/2 lb Italian sausage or an optional amount of Pepperoni as well).
3 cups of egg noodles (skinny or wide)
1 can of Tomato Sauce (15oz)
1 can of Cheese Soup
1 small onion
Pizza Sauce Seasoning (we used Wildtree "Perfect Pizza Sauce" blend)
*optional: Garlic Seasoning Blend or fresh Garlic (to season meat while you brown it, we used Wildtree "Garlic Galore" blend).
Mozzarella cheese (a little Cheddar Cheese too)

How To:

Brown meat in a microwave safe baking dish (5-8 minutes depending on how much meat use use) if adding pepperonis add to meat after it's browned.
In the meantime, mix together soup, sauce and pizza seasoning in a separate bowl- set aside.
Once meat is browned- drain grease then dump uncooked noodles over top the meat {do not stir}
Then pour sauce mixture over top completely covering all noodles {again, do not stir and make sure that all of the noodles are covered with the sauce otherwise they get crunchy}
Cover and microwave cook for 10 minutes
Remove, stir, then add desired amount of cheese over the top and microwave for another 5 minutes.
Let sit for a couple minutes it's SUPER HOT **serve with garlic bread & shredded parmesan cheese!

Enjoy! {and follow my pins HERE!}

Soon I will add my other go to favorite hotdish... LOVE the good ol' MN hotdishes- and if you LOVE sauerkraut than you are going to want to watch for this one.

* Avrie Jo: 31 weeks

2012-01-31T23:54:00.005-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 31 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: having coffee with our friend chris- we haven't seen her since avrie was just a day or two old! snuggling with tiki- as soon as aaron left town for ice fishing in lake of the woods- tiki was on our laps protecting her family. living the single life "and loving it" avrie wore her single girl shirt in honor of a girls weekend spent with mommy ;) avrie turned 7 months this week! she has been waiting for 7 months to sit up- all of a sudden she is sitting, not pulling her self into a sitting position just yet- but sitting for a long time and maintaining her balance when she gets a little wobbly. she dressed up for daddy when he came home on sunday and we then had dinner over at gma & gpa e's house. in photo 217 you can see her sitting up so well and in photo 218 you can see that as of TODAY she is using one leg while on her belly to get mobile. she was pretty mellow all day- and at the same time she was doing a lot of lifting her weight up off the ground more than she ever has- i even noticed her trying to rock onto her knees while on her belly- i am afraid that we are not too far away from a crawling baby!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: seeing her friends again after a long winter break- we had play group on monday after almost a month break. avrie enjoyed seeing a couple of her friends again and mommy liked seeing some of her mommy friends as well.
Dr. appts this week: no appts- nothing until the end of march for her 9month check up.
We are Thankful for: spring like temps- still and again! this winter weather has been amazing! and cake batter dip {ok... that is mommy talking but have you made this yet!!!}

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: a weekend in minn lake and the super bowl, we dont have any party plans but you never know where the weekend might take us.

* January Cooking Class

2012-01-30T23:58:00.001-06:00

New year, another new start to cooking class year four! Year FOUR? How is that possible!

{Avrie and I returned for round two of class-

All of the ladies are waving goodbye with leftovers in hand!}

With the SUPER mild winter we are having, we decided to heat things up in the kitchen with some awesome chili creations! When you hear chili, a couple things come to mind- a crock pot, beans and crackers?! right....

Well, now when I think of chili I have some NEW ideas that come to mind- chili egg rolls w/ a spicy sauce, chili fries {in jojo form} with a bacon cheese sauce Um... YUM! and finally a cheesy, macaroni chili bake- which was a class fav- a close tie with the chili fries. If we were going to be home this weekend for the Super Bowl- we would be making these fries for sure!

We started the new year with a couple of class newbies- I hope they join us again for classes this year, it's always a really fun time!

After spicing up our mouths with all of that chili-stuff, it was only appropriate to have a really light & crisp dessert- complete with the use of Mascarpone, heath bits & caramel- all for dipping green apple slices in. HEAVEN.... this was super yummy!

Can't wait to see what February's class brings- both food and company! There is a new "punch card" available at the next class- so I will have more fun details to share about that next month as well!

2012 is going to be a great year in the kitchen!

* Avrie Jo: 30 weeks

2012-01-24T22:23:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 30 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: checking out her hands, playing dress-up {we are plowing thru all those clothes that are just about too small}, eating bananas, hanging out with daddy for the day while mommy went on a "carrie guided personal shopping" spree ;), playing with some new toys that light up and sing when she hits the buttons- i love the way she bats at toys now as if to say... "hey... make some noise or something!", she is still practicing her sitting up- she is just not all that interested in it and of course yelling, screaming, laughing and giggling- 6 months has been a very fun age! *side note: photo 207 was from my cell phone. i had a mini "im a bad mom moment" b/c that picture was the ONLY photo i took of that day. i was so sad thinking that i almost forgot to take a photo of avrie- it would have been the FIRST day in almost SEVENS months that i didn't snap at least 10 photos of baby girl.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: she loves playing with any and all of her toys that play music. she will look and look when the music begins and when it stops she sings back to it. so funny!
Dr. appts this week: no appts- baby might have a little cough like mom does but we are all on the mend! thank goodness.
We are Thankful for: heated blankets for COLD basements & music {avrie LOVES listening to someone singing- it's so cute the way she stops what she is doing to listen...}

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: a weekend home with mommy- daddy is headed to lake of the woods to ice fish. oh the things baby and i will do & the fun we will have- girl time is always fun! :D

* Our 1st OVERnight out!

2012-01-22T22:51:00.000-06:00

After a day of baking, it was finally time to pack Avrie's "going to grandma's" suitcase... because this would be her first time sleeping over- away from home and away from mommy! This was HUGE... I am just one of those... moms... {yes thats me} that likes to check on baby and see her sleeping before I can go to sleep.
Anyway, Avrie's things were all packed up and we were ready to head on out for the night. We would be celebrating with Russ for his 30th birthday. The limo was leaving at 6pm- so in order to drop Avrie off, and grab dinner we headed out about 3pm.

After dropping Avrie off {SAD...} Aaron and I headed down to Inver Grove Hts to meet up with Freid and Chicken for a quick bite to eat- we then made our way over to Russ & Rachel's to find a stretch Hummer- sweet!

After a glass of wine the group headed out and we were on our way to Treasure Island Casino. But not without a stop at a towny bar in Hastings, "the bar" and towny it was... there were big fat men trying to pick fights, needless to say- it was a one drink stop and we were all on our way. At this bar, the bar, we bought Russ a shot {because he is the KING of shots, and he didn't even take it! we were heartbroken!}

We had tickets for Billy Gardell of "Mike & Molly". The show began at 8pm and went until about 10pm. He was pretty funny- and Aaron and I both find it funny that he is on CBS in the evenings- the language of his show is not TV friendly. haha but there were a lot laughs and before we knew it the show was over.

After the show we all split up and everyone found entertainment in either the gift shop {Aaron, Chicken, Rachel and I}, the BINGO hall, bowling alley or the blackjack tables. After our gift purchases we found Russ to give him his birthday gift. He was SO excited to find cheeeeeeeeeese in his gift bag! Only Russ.... HAHA!

After gift opening we watched Freid win big at blackjack, we found the BINGO hall to be closed and I almost got the smack down for taking a photo while near a table- even though it was only of Russ, I didn't even think twice about it. Whoops.

After gifts, we found our way back to the bowling alley and stayed their the rest of the evening bowling. I was sort of embarrassed about the fact that I had BRIGHT WHITE knee high nylons on under my tall black slouchy boots... let's just say I was a sight for sore eyes along with my bowling score- I did HORRIBLE! Oh well... I haven't been bowling in almost a year- not that I was really that good then either!

We all left the casino around 2am... made it back to Russ & Rachel's by 3am and left for home by 4am... we got home and were in bed by 5am {baby what baby!?} We were both SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired!

So, yes, I made it through the night without baby home :( I missed her all night, everyone asked about her so much. It was weird though, waking up to... no baby. So Aaron and I got ready, grabbed breakfast at Key's and then headed over to pick up baby. Life was then complete again ;) until... I got sick, it's a week later and I am still sick and without a voice, no fun! and I KNOW it's because I was up and out waaaaaaaaaay too late, oh well we still had a really good time!

* baking with auntie!

2012-01-22T18:26:00.001-06:00

Last weekend before our 'big night out' {post coming soon} Jamie, Gabriel and Victoria came over to hang out for the afternoon. I had the perfect cookie recipe to try and they were more than excited to help me bake them.

...hang on I still have ONE Oero Pudding Cookie left and I am going to go eat it, they are sooooooooo good!

Ok. With all ingredients ready- we got started. I had both Gabriel and Victoria help add ingredients to the bowl and Victoria helped me mix everything together & scoop onto the baking trays.

after 9 minutes in the oven- these babies were ready to melt in our mouth! so yummy. Gabriel watched a movie while he waited...

Victoria was more than happy to eat a 4th cookie to be my taste tester for the photo ;)

Her quote "those cookies are sooooooooo good!" *note: this girl doesn't eat anything, this is the most I have seen her eat, um ever! so- that tells you something MAKE THESE! I am happy Jamie and I split the batch- if she hadn't taken half home I would have had at least 3 or 4 of them each day- not just two! YUM.

As Jamie was getting ready to leave I asked Gabriel to smile for his "Auntie photo" and he would only do so after I shared part of my cookie with him, smart kid...

* SAY WHAAA???

2012-01-21T22:24:00.000-06:00

is anyone else out there TOTALLY bummed that picnik will be shutting down on April 19th, 2012!

i am talking, i am losing sleep... well not really but for real! i do SO much with this site that i can't even imagine blogging without it!

so... please please please tell me the best/most affordable photo editing program out there! i need to do my research now to find something so there are no hiccups in my blogging this spring, we have WAY TOO many fun things coming up and my photos make my blog posts fun {for me}!

so, thanks in advance- again share your photo editing programs pros and cons and NO THANKS to picnik, i am seriously sad/annoyed/angry about this news. :(

* Avrie Jo: 29 weeks

2012-01-19T13:18:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 29 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: here we have avrie gearing up for waterbabies- we had a bottle before the pool. it has worked out so far for her to eat before class and then after class she conks out! waterbabies really tires her out! with grandma & grandpa sonnek along this week at waterbabies after class we went out to dinner to a favorite post, Orchid! after saying bye-bye to grandma and grandpa sonnek on thursday morning, we spent the rest of the week just hanging out. photo 199 is avrie REALLY enjoying her squash. and after three failed attempts she finally likes bananas now too! we are currently eating a fruit in the morning and a veggie midday or early evening. she's sitting up pretty good this week- her balance gets better with each day. we love that she is always full of smiles, it just lights up her entire face! photo 201 avrie is hanging with her auntie- who also dressed her on this day, she looked so adorable with her bow on. i always forget to put them on her, leave up to auntie to dig up something cute for her most favorite niece. photo 202 is avrie hanging with gma & gpa e- aaron and i had our first overnight away from baby, she did well with her 1st sleepover and had a great time over at grandma's house! we spent the rest of the week just hanging out here at home- i spent a lot of time on sunday cleaning out avrie's closet and dresser- so many cloths to packup yet again. we are trying to get thru the last bit of 6month clothing that fits her, i just LOVE her cowgirl onesie from her aunt and uncle evenson in texas- its so cute with her big old head on top of that little onesie body- haha! the last photo was on the day of avrie's 6 month photos- i can't wait to see how they turned out. cory from CT Ryan photography let me peek at a few of them and i am dying to see the rest!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: as you can also see in photo 204 she is really loving time on her tummy- she is on the move not only with rolling but now creeping as well. when she sees something she wants she finds a way to get it but pulling with her arms and pivoting on her belly- she enjoys this most these days and i love watching her figure out the best possible way to get "that toy" and how happy she is when she finally does reach it- too cute!
Dr. appts this week: no appts- but mommy has come down with a cold this week. it's never fun playing with & caring for baby and trying to keep a safe distance :(
We are Thankful for: fruits and veggies- feeding avrie with a spoon is one of my favorite times of the day. & hang time & making cookies with auntie jamie and cousins gabriel and victoria

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: just hanging out with mommy & daddy {inside and not outside} we have finally reached below zero temperatures in MN! but we still dont have ANY SNOW! we also have a play date with miss kenley this weekend!

* Waterbabies!

2012-01-12T17:33:00.000-06:00

I enrolled Avrie into a water activities class, named Waterbabies, that is every Wednesday for a 10 week session. Class is 30 minutes and held at The Courage Center in Stillwater. This is also the same location where I attended a prenatal class, named Prenatal Splash class. Waterbabies is basically just time spent in the water, welcome to both parents of baby- helping them get used to being in the water and preparing them for future swim lessons.

Only Avrie and I attended class the first night {last Wednesday}- it was super fun, but would have been more fun with Aaron there as well. So, last night was our second session and both Aaron & I took Avrie to class. Kay & Ambrose were on the side watching Avrie enjoy the water by kicking, splashing and floating. It was also nice having Aaron along having him to hold her and do more of the activities with her, like dumping...- I took photos with our underwater camera- they turned out pretty cute!

Here is Avrie hanging with Daddy in the pool. Of course Aaron had her working on her core balance, yet again!

Check out her cute {starting to prune} feet under the water! I also love the picture of her where she looks like she is hanging on the wall at the side of the pool.

After the nursery rhyme "The Three Little Pigs" everyone gets to grab a little rubber toy to which we all find a spot on the wall. Baby then watches the toy get thrown into the water and they can fall/jump into mommy or daddy's arms on the count of 3 to go and get it. They practice on their tummies for a few rounds...

We then do the same thing for another few rounds on their backs- with ears partway in the water. Avrie really only seems focused on her duck and could care less that she is "floating" in the water. She is sort of indifferent, but she did splash much more this time- last week she almost feel asleep as I moved her around in the water.

Everyone then forms a large circle and we go around grabbing a rubber ball to shoot into the basketball hoop followed by a waterfall. Aaron was able to hold Avrie up to the basket allowing her to put the ball into the hoop. I will have to try and get a photo of that another time- the waterfall as well.

After the basketball hoop we sing a couple more songs, like "motor boat, motor boat", "jet ski, jet ski" & "The Wheels on the Bus". Then the last activity is having the babies, sit/stand/walk on and jump/fall off the floating mat into mommy or daddy's arms. The bigger kids REALLY love this one! This class is for babies 6 months - 36 months. There seems to be about 20 kids all together and almost every mom comes along with their hubbies. If they aren't in the water- then they are on the side taking photos. hehe

Aaron said I only wanted him along so that I could take photos. This maybe true BUT it was still a really fun activity that I envisioned the three of us having a really good time with. Soon the 30 minutes was up and class was over- can't wait for the next week.

Avrie is going to have so much fun at the lake and in the pool this summer! AND she will also love the Ocean when we are in Florida in April! fun fun fun!

* Avrie Jo: 28 weeks

2012-01-12T14:24:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 28 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: wednesday we had our first night of Waterbabies. I didn't have a free hand to get a photo but photo 191 is her out like a light after class- it wore her out! avrie was being a big girl one night and sat at the table while daddy and i ate dinner. she's still a little bit small for her sassy seat. photo 193 is avrie sitting up- for just a few seconds. we are working on it still but just not there yet. last weekend on saturday avrie and i went shopping with gma e. we found a lot of really cute clearance 9mo summer clothing, which we will need for our florida trip in april- check out those CUTE shades!! they match her new swimsuit as well- zebra, or course! speaking of zebra- can you find avrie among all the zebra in photo 195!? i made her and i matching zebra fleece tie blankies ;) avrie also had fun this week hanging out with daddy in the garage after he gets home from work and also attending cooking class on tuesday. we also had a visit from grandma & grandpa sonnek tuesday-thursday, so this would be why i was late in posting for this week. we had a fun visit, but more about that next week.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: singing- we have a girly that loves to make noise and a lot of the time it's very song like {we've even said this from the very beginning when her cries sounded like she would be singing "la la la"}. so we might have a singer? and a dancer! on our hands :D can you say britney!? haha
Dr. appts this week: no appts this week and not again until she is 9months. but i do want to mention that we are MAJOR teething this week. this week was the first time avrie experienced some diaper rash and major discomfort. it seems to be bothering her more in the evenings and still has yet to disrupt her bedtime- i thought for sure we would be in for some sleepless nights, but not just yet- knocking on wood! we did learn that desitin is a MAJOR no no for our little girly- we went with target's up brand "A+D ointment" it has proved to be much much better!
We are Thankful for: ointments and fun visits with grandmas & grandpas!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: her 1st sleepover! {sidenote, she has no clue- hope she does well and mommy is NOT looking forward to her first night away from baby overnight...}

* Hanging with Merrit

2012-01-07T21:07:00.002-06:00

The day after Christmas and as we made our way home, we stopped in to visit with Eric, Sarah & Merrit. Madison was at her Grandma's- so we didn't get to see her. By the sounds of it, she really loves being a big sister.

Merrit is the Ward's 2nd born- she was born exactly one week before Avrie on June 21st. So it's pretty fun chatting here and there with Sarah about our two girls that are the same age.

The girls met when they were two and three weeks of age- on the night of Festag. It was really fun seeing them both so brand new. Here are the daddies holding their little girls, so proud, both back in July and then again just last month!

We had a fun afternoon visit with Sarah & Merrit- the girls had fun baby talking it up, waving their arms at each other and "sitting up" to get a good look at each other. I think Merrit had a good time showing and sharing all of her new and fun toys from Christmas!

{both girls look so much like their daddies!}

We look forward to another visit with the Wards in the future!

* Ringing in the New Year!

2012-01-04T22:20:00.000-06:00

With NYE falling on the same night as our Christmas #3 we were prepared for a night, with company or not.

With the first REAL snow of the year {isn't it sad that in MN, this time of year, an 1" of snow was a HUGE deal!?} anyway... the snow arrived right around 9pm so soon after presents and quick dessert everyone headed for home.

After Avrie was in bed Aaron and I headed outside to marvel and the GINORMOUS snowflakes that were falling from the sky- it was so cool!

We then headed inside, to the basement to veg on the couch. Well, me & Tiki on the couch and Aaron in his new recliner- he LOVES that thing! Santa {mom} gifted me a Nook- Yessssssssss! So I spent the evening figuring out all the fun stuff on there. Words with Friends- LOVE IT and figured out how to add a BN giftcard. So easy- gift ideas for life for me... a BN gift card, done and done. All the while Aaron is busy playing his newest video game- some basketball game. He never ever plays video games but bought a new one to have here at the house for Tristan. Welp, he's played it almost every night since then. Good thing about Aaron and video games- he gets sick of it after a couple of weeks and then he forgets about it.

At about 11:30pm we turned of the video game and watched the ball drop- we were channel surfing b/w CNN with Kathy Griffin and Anderson Copper and the New Years Eve show on CMT, CMT won.

At 11:50pm I went to find our bottle of champagne that we would be splitting and cheesecake that sister brought over. That was our new years treat.

Tiki wanted in on it too- and since it was New Years and she is our other little baby, we let her enjoy a wrapper licking. She says "thanks auntie jamie!"

After the champagne was popped, pured and bubbling- we were ready for the ball drop! 10, 9, 8....

3, 2, 1... it was already HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! 2012.... really!? We gave a little toast and a little kiss to the new year and then I tip toed into Avrie's room to whisper her a Happy New Year. She was fast asleep and dreaming about snowflakes & glitter I am sure.

A few minutes into the new year, Aaron and I headed outside to see that the snow had stopped. We had fresh blanket of thick, fluffy and the perfect snow for snowballs! Naturally we threw a couple [at one another] then we bundled up {well, kind of Aaron is shorts and me in zebra rain boots}...

I then did a few practice jumping jacks...

and got creative with some fancy footprint art....

the footprint "2012" art was MUCH cooler in person, trust me!

The snow angel was a nice touch! Aaron was all about NOT doing one- but did agree to get a photo of me doing mine. We always find ourselves being TOTALLY random when we are home, by ourselves, on New Years- we like it. It was the prefect way to begin another great year.

...bring it on twoTHOUSANDandTWELVE!

* Avrie Jo: 27 weeks

2012-01-03T23:57:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 27 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: turning 6 months old, YAH! flying in the air with daddy during "diaper time" her favorite time of day! chewing on a new toy added to her toy box while she practices her skills in sitting up- we are now there yet. In photo 187 avrie is just hanging out and getting excited about a fun night ahead- this was our night of christmas #3/NYE with gma & gpa e, auntie jamie, cousin gabriel & family. avrie doesn't spend too much time in her swing anymore- she's getting to be a little too long, but it was the only thing she she didn't fuss for the other night, so she took a nice snooze in that for a while on new years day. i am afraid we will soon have to pack the swing up- and i thought packing away clothes that are too small is hard... in photo 189 she is happy girl spending the day hanging with daddy while mommy worked all day long at her desk. finally in photo 190 she is all bundled up so that she stays nice and warm while mommy took her out shopping for some household essentials. i realized today that i haven't left the house since THURSDAY night!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: ROLLING! This little girl is all over the place, it's so fun to watch- she rolls with such ease- and last week she was only doing it here and there once in a while and only onto her tummy- to which she hated. Now she laughs and giggles on her tummy- she has it figured out that if she is mad she can just... roll over! Aaron and I were talking tonight about how crazy it is that one day she isn't yet doing something and as soon as she shows a hint of it- she is a pro at it in a matter of days. babies are amazing! she has also found her tongue and sticks it out all of the time and always has her arms up to be picked up when she is on the floor or in her pack and play.
Dr. appts this week: we had her 6 month appt on the day she turned 6 months. her early morning appt went well, she took her shots well- cried until mommy gave her a hug. she's a tough cookie. her stats were as follows: 14lbs 10.1oz {24th percentile} / 26.6" {82nd percentile} / head is 17.4" {91st percentile!} the nurse says... "daddy, you will have a tall, skinny daughter with brains- get a gun.} baby girl is on track and growing like a weed. she is also going through a little growth spurt right now, she is up to 6oz bottles and drinking them SUPER fast... and getting hungry quicker than normal and lots of good sleep!
We are Thankful for: heat- its actually starting to get cold in MN and on that note- baby snowsuits, they are so cute!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: waterbabies on wednesday night!

* a year in review

2012-01-03T23:14:00.000-06:00

a little behind in getting this out- but my days are all mixed up anyway!

so... 2011.... WHAT A YEAR!

I always have fun looking back and remembering some highlights from each month. So, let's start with taking a look back at January. In this month we were still not "public via web" {facebook/blog} about our baby bump- so we kept life pretty low-key. We rang in the new year of 2011 with the Chamberlins and funny enough spent most Fridays nights in the better part of winter on a couple's bowling league. I even figured out the rules of bowling etiquette.

{"i want MONNEEEEHHHH!" quoting a toddlers and tiara's commercial, anyone...?}

February we finally announced our big news via this video on the blog and a photo of a can of coke on facebook! We shared the news soon after our 20week ultrasound- we were told that baby was looking perfect and about 13oz {just slightly more than a can of coke- hence the photo}. On this day we also decided that we would WAIT to find out what we were having- best. decision. ever! We celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary this month as well- what a year!

{This was the photo posted to FB for our big announcement ;)}

March was a month of some serious home projects- or project THE BABY'S ROOM! I learned REAL quick that I hate wallpaper! so much I posted a three part story alllll about it- start reading about it HERE. I also got in my first accident with the G6- read about that day HERE {ugh barb...}. oh annnnnd this month I also found out that I would be traveling with one of my besties to LA to meet none other than BRITNEY SPEARS {but I didn't share the news until just days before the trip in May}!

{LOVE Brit Brit!}

April was a busy month- as you remember my cousin Amber got married last year and with it being April we were only 2 months away from her big day! As maid of honor I planned and hosted her bridal shower, LOVED doing this- can't wait to it again this year- but for a BABY!!!

{SO excited to co-plan her a shower Mar/Apr'12 for baby Worthington!}

May is always a big month and boy was it MORE THAN EVER in 2011. a). I put together and held my very first garage sale- that was a lot of work! b). We finished baby's nursery- so in love with this cozy little room. c). My sister & BFF organized a wonderful baby shower here at home & then my SILs organized a shower down in Minn Lake- BOTH showers were wonderful! d). I celebrated my 29th birthday with Kevin and friends-my last year in the 20s & Kevin's big 3-0! e). May 23rd I left for LA {34 weeks preggo!} May 24th I walked around Beverly Hills shopping and eating everything in sight! and then... on MAY 25TH I.MET.BRITNEY.SPEARS! seriouslllly like...... WHOA! I still can't believe that day happened and that I didn't pee my pants and or have that baby right then and there! WHOA. and finally f). To calm down and take a breather- we spent a fun weekend at the lake celebrating Memorial weekend, oh what a FUN FUN MONTH it was!

{YUP! There I am just 2' from Brit's left side...

me and my HUGE belly & SUPER nervous smile! ahhhhh what an awesome day!}

June... our lives changed FOREVER! for the better of course. But first this month we were officially down to a 30day countdown. I was SURE that I would have a June baby vs. my estimated due date of July 2nd 2011. But first it was another busy month. I had Amber's wedding, MOH 9, months preggo & it was a beautiful day aside from my feet just killing me! Gabriel turned 2 years old- blog post STILL in the works ;) Gabriel's birthday being on June 19th and I had a "feeling" baby was coming on the 20th {that didn't happen}:

{2 days before baby arrived- I woke up with contractions on the day}

Baby GIRL waited to make her appearance on June 28th. After two days of contractions, she was 4 days early- my water broke while at home and the same day that we bought a new vehicle, what a day, one to never ever forget!

July... what JULY! The month of July was such. a. blur! It went way too fast and really slow all at the same time. We were home with our brand new baby and figuring out our new life. Getting to know this perfect little baby was/is SUCH an experience. I only posted 9 times that month, so that should tell you a lot. I had better things to do ;) I never go around to posting that at just 1 week after Avrie was born I attended the Britney concert with my BFF. SUPER fun and still deserves it's own post- coming soon! LOL Then at 2 weeks of age Avrie made her first big trip to Minn Lake to attend her very first Festag! It was not the best move on my part {2 weeks post c-section} but it was somewhat nice to get out of the house for a couple of days.

{She was SO excited... and so were Mommy & Daddy!}

August we were getting the hang of things and getting back into the swing of life. We kept busy for the remainder of summer. We visited the MN State Fair- I wasn't exactly ready for an entire day of walking and being on my feet but we hung in there for as long as I could stand it. LOVE the fair. We spent as many weekends as we could by the pool, we started some regular baby play dates- I love when Avrie gets to play with her friends! Another big event this month involved another long trip up to Duluth for The Karlgaard wedding. We brought Avrie along and our friends Jayme & Scottie {preBabyB} were SO kind in letting us stay at their place overnight AND to watch Avrie while we attended a wedding for the evening. I missed her the entire time, but she was in GREAT hands!

{Avrie LOVED hanging out with the Bee's!}

September was busy as usual with Fall Harvest, so there were a couple weekends of us being in Minn Lake for the weekend. One favorite memory from early Fall would have to be our first trip to the lake as a family of three for Labor Day weekend! Avrie did SO good at the cabin and loved the lake. She took her first boat ride and it will be SO SO fun taking her back this Spring/Summer! We also started Monday afternoon playgroups this month- it's so fun having this group to look forward to, all of our babies are getting SO BIG!

{Awe.... look how little AV was!!!}

October was full of more Fall fun & firsts; 1st tractor rides, 1st pumpkin & pumpkin carving, 1st Halloween, 1st costume & our 2nd Annual Sonnek Halloween Party. October has to be one of my most favorite times of the year!

{Our Costumed Crew!}

November was again busy with play dates, shopping, girls weekends etc etc etc... all those fun things girls do when their men are away & hunting. Avrie and I survived a long week and a half while Aaron was away Elk Hunting in Colorado. Avrie also started on solids- beginning with veggies, her first real taste of food food was Thanksgiving.

{mommy/daughter time!}

December was a whirlwind of Holiday preparation and doing fun things with baby! Her 1st Christmas(s) 1, 2 & 3 were wonderful and I can't even imagine how fun Christmas will be next year with our little girl. As you can see Avrie took over the Sonnek household and lifestyle from the day we welcomed her into this world- but that is what life is all about. There's nothing better than having baby here for mommy & daddy to love & take care of 24/7 AND to enjoy all of it every.single.bit. of. it! because... as usual, life goes fast and time is moving way way way wayyyyy to quick!

{favorite photo, to date, of baby girl!}

This has been one pretty incredible year for Aaron and I- for the last 9 years it's been Aaron and I, then 5 years ago we became Aaron, Tiki and I... as of June we are now Aa, A, baby a & Tiki.

Life is good- we can't wait to have all kinds of fun this year in TWOthousandANDtwelve!

* Avrie's 1st Christmas: part III

2011-12-31T23:50:00.000-06:00

The final 1st Christmas for Avrie was last night! We had Christmas with my parents {Mom & Paul} and Jamie, Michael, Gabriel, Tristan and Victoria. It worked out to have us all together for New Years Eve- so this year we missed out on the Chamberlin's NYE celebration- maybe next year!

The crew arrived around 4/4:30pm and we were on track for dinner to be served at 6pm, as planned. I love having our home to host events but dang- we need a BIGGER kitchen! some day... some day...

Aaron did his research this year and cooked up a FABULOUS Prime Rib. We took many photos- so there will be a separate post all about how to cook a huge hunk of meat- for all you men out there! ...or ladies out there that have men who like huge hunks of meat and want to cook something for them. It was super easy and TASTY! {mouth is watering just thinking about it}

We started with some apps; chicken wonton tacos, bacon wrapped water chestnuts and cream cheese wontons, num! {mouth watering again}. Soon apps were gone and dinner was served! We enjoyed a huge dinner of Prime Rib, King and Snow Crab Legs, Twice Baked Broccoli Cheese Potatoes {delicious & via}, Arugula Salad, Bread & Wine. #stuffed!

After dinner was done, we worked to clear the table, wash the dishes, run off some of the calories {hehe} sorted gifts and then it was time for presents. I thought that Gabriel was hilarious opening gifts last year, but this year he was too funny! He makes such silly noises and he's so dramatic- I love it!

Aaron sat with Avrie this time to help her open her gifts. She is a stander- so she preferred to stand in her bouncer and open gifts- she was happy as a clam and loved all of her fun gifts. She had fun opening everything fun from sippy cups, teddy bears that sing & light up and a few more adorable outfits for out growing girl! She does pretty good ripping paper- and does even better trying to eat it! Next year should be pretty fun!

After we were all done opening goodies and playing, the kids headed downstairs {&Aaron} to play some floor hockey. It was quite the game and workout- Aaron joined Avrie and I at the tree for a family photo with sweat dripping off his forehead- yup! At least he put on a nice shirt for our cute photo ;)

The first major snow {2"maybe} of the year started this night at about 9pm so Jamie & co packed up the car so that they could head home {made it home around 11:30pm- it was slow going}. Mom & Paul also had to make it an early night with Paul having to go in to work as well.

We had a wonderful evening, Christmas extended was a success- what an exhausting but fun three weeks it's been of Birthday,Christmas and Holiday celebrations- WOW!

Check back to see how Aaron and I rang in the new year after everyone headed home...

* Christmas Morning

2011-12-31T23:00:00.060-06:00

For Avrie's 1st Christmas morning, I ~~kind of~~ LOVED that she woke up and was in our room. When down in Minn Lake her pack and play is set up in our room- so she get's to sleep with us all night long. The only other time she sleeps in the same room with us has been at the cabin and her very first night home waaaaaaaaay back in July ;)

Ok. So... Christmas morning I scooped Avrie out from her pack and play and had her lay in bed with daddy and I for a little bit- just so we could all wake up and we could wish her Merry Christmas, soon she was like "what the heck- I am awake, so... where's my bottle!?" I wanted to get a photo of the three of us- in all our pretty 'just woke up' glory- but that would have to wait until we headed down stairs- this is what I came up with:

maybe we'll try again for next year.

After Avrie's bottle, we were waiting for the Evenson clan to arrive- they were home opening their Santa gifts. In the meantime I dressed Avrie in her pretty little '1st Christmas' outfit. It was the cutest little fuzzy & pink comfy dress. The sun was bright and beaming all day long- so in most photos it's super bright in all of her gift opening photos:

She made out pretty good from her Grandpa and Grandpa Sonnek, Auntie Kris {&family}, Auntie Krista {&Uncle Jason} & The Texan's. She got everything from another play & learn puppy, to some new clothes, books and a Sophie giraffe- which she loved because she chewed on that thing the entire time I/we opened gifts and all through the day and night.

After gifts we had brunch, Avrie napped, Grandma Sonnek read a book with Avrie on her new Nook and then we all just pretty much kept it low-key the rest of the day. It was so weird having it be sunny and 50 degrees outside. I should have gotten a picture of us outside on such a gorgeous day- but again... maybe next year??

Later on after dinner Hannah helped me take a few photos of Avrie sitting in what would be her Great Grandma's green chair next to the Christmas tree. We almost had a big time BONK {in photo below, bottom right}... for a moment I forgot that Avrie really doesn't sit well on her own just yet annnnnd she almost feel face first- that would have been bad- really really bad. Welp, at that point we were all done with photos and it was jammie time!

Over all Avrie's 1st Minn Lake Christmas was a great one- we started for home the following day, but first making a stop at her little friend Merrit's house- more on that soon! First I have to recap Christmas AGAIN celebrated with grandma & grandpa E & Auntie Jamie, Gabriel {&family}.

* Avrie's 1st Christmas: Part II

2011-12-31T01:35:00.000-06:00

Christmas Eve we spend down in Minn Lake. As I mentioned, the night before was a long one and I was one el tired-o mommy! Aaron was up early with Avrie and let me sleep in for about an hour. yessssss!

We spent the first part of the day just hanging out, I painted Hannah's nails and then after Avrie's afternoon nap Hannah helped me feed her, baby girl has a NEW favorite veggie- BROCCOLI! Hannah thought she was so cute eating her veggies and smacking her lips while she ate.

As the afternoon went on, soon it was time to think about getting ready for early evening church. Hannah and Ethan were in the Christmas program- which started at 4pm sharp! {last year we missed it- thought it started at a later time and we walked in as the service was ending, oops!}

Avrie was dressed in her cute red velvet dress, with houndstooth tights, black dressy shoes {that I later returned b/c they BARELY fit} and headband with a bow that I made to match her tights. She looked ADORABLE. This is not the BEST photo- but this was my mobile photo sent to my family back home as a Merry Christmas wish.

We were out the door at 3:55pm and walked into church just in time and found a cozy spot in the back row. Avrie loved all the music and everything new to look at. She liked the candle lighting and soon after was fast asleep for the rest of service.

After church we headed back home for the usual dinner prep of king crabs legs, lobster {new this year}, steaks, chicken, twice baked potatoes and everything else in between. While the guys prepared our Christmas Eve dinner we poured champagne for the Christmas Eve toast and then took family photos in front of the Christmas tree.

{isn't tiki so cute with her glass of champagne?!}

After dinner everyone was SO FULL... there were even leftovers... yes LEFTOVERS! This is unheard of in a house with Brad, Kris and Aaron serving crab legs... but there was so much good food, you never know what to eat more of. Dinner was followed by a lot of full belly grumbles and couch sitting.

Soon we got Avrie into a pair of Christmas jammies, had a little "sleep good tonight so Santa will stop by" talk, read a book and she was out like a light for the entire night- she slept SUPER GOOD! She was for sure making up for the little sleep that she got the day/night before.

The rest of us {less the Evenson's} stayed up playing cards late into the night. I think Ambrose and I were sleeping, sitting, through a couple of hands but we both managed to pull through and found second winds. It still didn't help my hand & foot game- I played terrible!

...check back to see Avrie on her very first Christmas morning!

* Ethan is 8!

2011-12-31T00:03:00.000-06:00

Friday afternoon {as the snow was flying}, Dec 23rd we packed up the car for a four day Christmas weekend in Minn Lake. As you can probably imagine the car was FULL FULL FULL. We were headed down a day early so that we could help celebrate Ethan's 8th Birthday.

{do you LOVE her party outfit!? Thank you Urbans!}

Dinner was at 6pm over at Brad & Kris's house. Upon our arrival in Minn Lake, Avrie and I visited with Grandma Sonnek as I prepped and cooked my snack for the Birthday party. We headed on over promptly at 5:30pm. It's always fun hanging out over at Brad & Kris's with the kids- so we were looking forward to a fun and relaxing evening.

Avrie was a little bit off this day- she had a little bit of an upset belly, which lead to a bit of spit up and her not being able to get comfy. There was a lot of open arms waiting to hold her so she managed and soon came around and was acting more herself. I believe Chelsea had the magic touch- Avrie was wide awake for almost the entire 2 hours drive down to Minn Lake {we left at Noon} and with being at the party at about 6pm she STILL had only taken about a 30 minute nap the entire day! Chelsea had her snoozing in no time... I gave her a high five!

After snacks, a huge spread of food for dinner & drinks- Ethan opened all of his gifts. He took his time reading each card and saying thank you each person that gave him his gift. He loved all of his gifts! We got him a Nerf football- easiest kid {besides Gabriel} to shop for, the kid love anything & everything that keeps him active!

We spent the rest of the night just hanging out, chatting, catching up, lighting Ethan's cute barn cake and singing happy birthday! The night flew by and it was already 11pm! Avrie was STILL awake... so at about 11:30pm I was a fun hater and said we had to get going- otherwise Christmas Eve was going to be a looooong day!

We headed back to Kay & Ambrose's, got ready for bed and low and behold Avrie didn't have the best night of sleep either. She was up fussing every 1-2hours until about 4am- after that she was out for the night. Mommy was TIRED the next day.

...be back to share some Christmas Eve fun!

* Avrie's 1st Christmas: Part I

2011-12-30T23:25:00.000-06:00

Sunday Dec 18th we celebrated Christmas with my Dad. He hosts Christmas usually well before or even into the new year- so it's nice that we haven't really had to worry about missing out. This year was good- Grandpa Billy Schlomka had a great time with BOTH of his grand kids over for the Holiday.

He was just as excited as a kid in giving both Avrie and Gabriel their gifts. So much that he let Gabriel open up his big gift right away! Gabriel loved the gift- a kid's size card table that was Cars theme- Gabriel LOOOOOOVES Cars!

We set up the table in the living room so that Gabriel could eat at his new table. He even let uncle Aaron sit on one of his chairs- and thankfully it didn't break, what a GREAT set of chairs!

After lots of food & desserts it was gift time! Gabriel loved his two new cars and bag of candy the most! Seeing a 2.5 year old with a sugar buzz is hilarious! Well... it is for now, Avrie isn't just a tad too little for candy. Avrie opened her gifts and even though she had no idea what was going on- she did like the wrapping paper and naturally just wanted to eat it.

We all sat and played with our new toys, Avrie ate another bottle w/ Gabriel's help {chocolate covered fingers and all}, we took some photos with Dad {it took a few shots to get everyone looking in one directions}.

After a while it was time to head out- we packed up all of our goodies, said our thank yous and good-byes and then we were a very exhausted family of three. It was the perfect low-key Christmas in preparation for a long weekend in Minn Lake for Christmas the following weekend.

I'll be back to share about all of our fun we had in Minn Lake with Ethan's birthday, Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day.

more holiday cheer!

2011-12-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

After Charlie's birthday- we made our way over to cousin Shelley's for her Annual Holiday Party. This was another opportunity for Avrie to meet MORE of her cousins and extended family on the Schlomka side.

We enjoyed more time with Cousin Gabriel, he was having fun with Auntie's phone and "texting grandpa"...

Avrie showing her Auntie Jamie's some love with a little squeeze to the nose, she sat on her Great Grandpa Schlomka's lap for a little bit. He hasn't seen her since the day she was born! Avrie even let Cousin Shelley take a couple of photos with her even though she was ready to go to sleep- like NOW!

Cousin Renee loved holding her for a majority of the party while Aaron and I enjoyed some fun holiday food & mingling with guests. Check out these super cute Christmas mice that someone brought to share!

It was a getting to be a long day and Avrie was ready for her last bottle and bed- so we said our good-byes and headed out. We were about an hour from home- Avrie slept the whole ride and once we were home it was jammie time, she had her last bottle and then it was off to bed. We had another fun and exciting day ahead, Christmas #1 with Grandpa Billy Schlomka.

I will be back with Avrie's 1st Christmas celebration of three!

*The Big 5-0!

2011-12-30T21:08:00.001-06:00

My uncle Charlie celebrated his 50th birthday this year and much like last year, he had a great turn out for his special day.

Dec 17th- Aaron, Avrie and I headed down to meet up with everyone for dinner and the party- we were just in time for cake, ice cream and presents! This was also an opportunity for some of my aunts, uncles and cousins to meet and see little AV in person. She was all smiles and really had cousin Danny beaming from ear to ear when she flashed her big smile his way.

After opening up a few funny "over the hill" gifts, candy & pop, tons of restaurant gift cards and A LOT of cash- Charlie was very excited about all of this birthday loot. He is one lucky dude with A LOT of family that really loves him!

Charlie also met Avrie {his 2nd great niece out of a total of 6 nieces/nephews} for the first time. He rubbed her head a few times, called her a cute baby and even sang "twinkle twinkle little star" to her- it was adorable.

Speaking of great nieces/nephews... Charlie can also expect another one this Spring. My cousin Amber & her hubby Randy are having a baby too!!!! SO. EXCITED! After all the party hoopla us girl cousins spent some time chatting about Amber's adorable bump and taking some photos.

Next year- she will have her little one in her arms! CANT. WAIT!

Did I already mention how exciting this is... ? ;)

It was a very happy day for all.

Happy Birthday Charlie Brown!

* Avrie Jo: 26 weeks

2011-12-27T22:45:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 26 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: napping {she gets so excited for her naps b/c she gets to cuddle with both her blankie and giraffe}. hanging out in christmas outfits- i loved her "ho ho ho" fleece pants! hanging out with cousin hannah at cousin ethan's birthday party- she was having a hard time being herself this night, but she found plenty sets of arms to be comfy and cozy in all night long. avrie had a hard time sleeping this night as well, but in photo 180 it's christmas eve and she is ready for bed in her 1st christmas jammies and slept like normal- she really wanted santa to come her grandma & grandpa sonnek's house. christmas morning we hung out and opened gifts- i just loved her santa bib {photo 181}. after a long weekend of fun we finally made it home late on monday night- aaron, avrie, tiki and i opened our stocking gifts- avrie is playing peek-a-boo with her newest blankie from daddy {HUGE gift for daddy to be getting his baby girl- more on that later!} photo 183 avrie is hanging out with one of her favorite gifts so far this christmas- her sophie giraffe!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: she just LOVES her exercise saucer- aka STANDING, still her favorite thing to do. i think we have a future dancer on our hands! :)
Dr. appts this week: tomorrow, 6 month shots and check up! not excited for shots but excited to see how big our girl has gotten!
We are Thankful for: daddy being able to come with to ALL dr appts that involve shots! and safe & clean roads for holiday travel.

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: NYE/Christmas with gma & gma E, auntie jamie, unlce michael and cousins gabriel, tristan & victoria.

* Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T08:39:00.000-06:00

We are off to Minn Lake for the Christmas weekend,

wishing everyone a safe, fun and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

xoxo

* December Cooking Class

2011-12-21T13:06:00.001-06:00

The last class of the year 2011. This marks the end of Cooking Class year #3! Wow...

There was no better way to end the cooking class year than to have multiple favorites in attendance for class #2 of Dec. Besides our class regulars- Lana was able to join for the first time ever & Carrie joined- for the first time ever! Melissa also made a come back this month, we haven't seen her for a couple of at classes.

Of course Avrie was my tag along, she is so much fun these days, I swear she is more and more fun with each passing day. Life just keeps on getting better with little baby in our lives. She was also very happy to see my good friends, she was all about cuddling with Carrie- and Avrie doesn't really cuddle, hardly ever- only when sleepy and way too sleepy to even cry about it.

Ok... back to class. For this month our theme was "Bite Size is the Right Size". We worked to create an amazing spread of mini apps that are sure to please anyone! The POM was Wildtree's Gingerbread Cake Mix. Our menu included; *Microwave Potato Snacks *Ham & Swiss Tarts *Italian Pinwheels & *Wonton Chicken Tacos.

HOLY BUCKETS... wonton chicken tacos- THE. BEST! You will need to find out how we made these and try them yourself. BOTH classes named this as the class favorite! So much flavor and crunch in this little snack- yummy yum yum! I think they will be apart of our Christmas dinner menu this year.

After working through our bite sized meals, dessert and 5 bottles of wine- we ended up having a really great evening. It's so fun having this dedicated night each month to look forward to good friends, good food, tasty wine and a LOT of laughs!

We all enjoyed at least 2 of the mini dessert; Gingerbread Cupcakes with Orange Zest Frosting... ok- these were super YUMMY too!

We all pretty much decided that 3 mini cupcakes equals 1 large cupcake- so no one felt bad about going for seconds or even thirds, 'tis the season, right!?!

As we wished everyone a very Merry Christmas- we said our farewells with the classic "see you next year!" I can't wait to see what a year of cooking class brings us in 2012! Will you be there?

* to grandma sonnek

2011-12-21T03:21:00.000-06:00

This is a BELATED birthday wish post. No worries, the day was not forgotten, I just haven't had time until now {3am on a wednesday- I blame it on a bottle of coke}!

Last Friday, 12.16.11, I was able to send a picture via text to Grandma Sonnek for her birthday- but couldn't NOT post a fun collage of all the fun we had. Here is Avrie wishing her Grandma Sonnek a VERY happy birthday from ONE of her favorite little sweetie pies!

Happy Birthday Kay/Grandma Sonnek! xoxo

{this was the birthday card/sign after the photo session-

maybe she thought it was a cookie...}

* just chillin'

2011-12-21T03:02:00.000-06:00

Last week Avrie and I were lucky in the fact that we got to spend a couple of days hanging out with Lana!

It's always a treat when I get to hang out with my best friend, but this time- our time together was even MORE special with a little baby "r" a brewin'! We had so much fun playing with Avrie, talking about baby "r", making dinner, eating yummy foods, going to cooking class, watching tv, running errands, telling/sharing stories and even sneaking a little work in here and there ;)

Avrie really loves her Auntie Lana she always had a smile waiting to share with Lana. Avrie loves songs and singing and lucky for her Lana is always singing- so this too made her smile! Lana's baby will also LOVE music!

WAY too soon Thursday had arrived and Lana thought she better get back home to her hubby- Ben sent her a text telling her that he missed her, pshhhhhhhhhhhh. JK I know how he feels, I miss her too when she is gone. hehe

Thanks Auntie Lana for coming to visit- come back again soon!

* Gingerbread Houses 2011

2011-12-21T02:39:00.000-06:00

Making gingerbread houses was a 1st time tradition for myself and Avrie. Mom and Paul have been doing gingerbread houses with Paul's two nieces, Katie & Hannah, for years. They started the tradition last year with Gabriel, Tristan and Victoria. This year it worked out for only Tristan & Grabiel to be apart of the fun and Aaron was back home for a funeral, so he wasn't able to join in on this fun this year.

Mom and Paul provide the edible houses and the home to build them in- Paul makes the frosting and the kids [we] are set free to let our building creativity run wild. Right away I was not a fan... I am too much of a perfectionist [they're kind of messy]- Jamie did well in getting everyone's walls to stand! Luckily Avrie needed a break about 5 minutes in and so I fed her some carrots and a bottle.

After everyone was about done, I got to making Av's house- Grabiel helped me as well... he tested the frosting to make sure it was still good. In the photos above, the bottom left photo says it all! "yup, frosting is still good auntie!"

After we were all done with house crafting, photo taking and a very filling dinner- Gabriel provided the entertainment, we were all able to laugh off our dinner. I just LOVE that kid and love to see that Avrie loves her big cousins too! She will hang out sitting with Gabriel for as long as he wants to "hold her" and she just stares at Tristan, in wonder, anytime he was near her.

This was a good night of cousin time, gma/gpa time and auntie time. I love family traditions and will look forward to this one for many years to come.

* Meeting baby B

2011-12-21T01:21:00.000-06:00

Early December Avrie and I were finally able to meet baby Brooklyn! Jayme was nice enough to spend a remaining afternoon over at our house for a couple of hours. With Jayme, Scottie and Brooklyn up in Duluth- we aren't able to just stop on by, so with Brooklyn being 6 weeks old at the time of our visit- I was SO excited to meet her!

Look at how cute she is, she reminds me of a little doll. They girls were so cute together, Avrie seemed to be so amazed by her.

I love that baby B is a girl- a. Avrie has a new playmate & b. I "knew" Jayme was having a girl. Well, not like I knew knew... but it was fun having my guess be a correct one. :)

Jayme and I had fun chatting about how she's been feeling, the joys of motherhood, and all the other fun topics of conversation with two new babies in our lives- feedings, sleeping, eating, pooping {which Brooklyn is VERY good at}. As my grandpa would say- "that must be a sign that everything is working alright!"

After Brooklyn was all done eating we set the girls down for a little bit of playtime. Again, Avrie seemed to have been amazed with Brooklyn- she would gently put her hand on Brooklyn and just stare with a smile. Brooklyn is so cute and so little- it really had me remembering how small Avrie was just a few short months ago and realized just how FAST they grow!

I was able to hold itty bitty Brooklyn for a little while. I was too busy loving Brooklyn's cute little faces and little noises that we should have snapped a photo before she let me know that she wanted her mommy again. Once back in mommy's arms she was happy as can be, fast asleep- oh man how I miss baby falling asleep in my arms!

It was a great afternoon spent with a great friend. If both girls are "like mother, like daughter" they too will have a lot in common and grow to be great friends as well! We can't wait to visit, hold and play with Brooklyn again!

* "friends thanksgiving"

2011-12-21T00:19:00.000-06:00

"friends thanksgiving"... "re-thanksgiving" ... "friends-giving"...

No matter what you call it, we had a fantastic time hosting a thanksgiving dinner with our friends! Our group was small but we had the perfect meal- AND our group is actually the same group that will be together in about 5 months for the R & R wedding down in Destin, Florida!

Our dinner guests included the soon to be married couple Russ and Rachel, and our travel buddies Freid {avrie's bday buddy} & Kevin {"uncle chicken"}. Aaron was up bright and early to head on out and pick up a few items for our big meal. Him and I then prepped our turkey for roasting. This would be our first ever turkey that we would be making without using a turkey fryer.

After all of our guests arrived, the guys & Avrie kept busy in the basement watching football while Rachel and I hung out upstairs sipping wine and talking about all of her wedding planning. Soon enough it was time to get things cookin' for our turkey day meal. Rachel and I got busy making the mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, asparagus and the green been casserole {with cheese}! p.s. gravy is hard to make! The boys cheered us on while snacking away on chips, dip, veggies and pistachios.

As soon as we were ready to start dinner- Aaron carved the perfectly roasted turkey, Russ set the table, Kevin opened the wine and Freid- was catching the last bit of the game before our meal. There was no TV on while we ate- Aaron set the mood with some festive Mexican music, only Aaron...

Avrie had a fun day hanging with the boys and was just as excited to be having another turkey day dinner ;)

* Avrie Jo: 25 weeks

2011-12-20T23:47:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 25 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: we had a busy and fun week! we started out the week hanging out with auntie lana and also attending a really fun cooking class this month! avrie was so happy to see some of her favorites at class. avrie looks forward to seeing her tiki each morning- i know this because she has come up with some pretty cute noises when tiki is near her. for the weekend we kept very busy attending birthday parties, holiday parties and christmas with her grandpa billy schlomka. in photo 173 you can see avrie sporting both her newest "scrunched nose" smile and her cute "way too big for her" hat. grandpa billy loved watching avrie chug her bottle- said she "drinks her bottle the same way he drinks beer"- of course. monday avrie had fun playing with her new puppy toy- she loves when the puppy sings and flashes lights at her :) today avrie was a great sport and spent almost the entire day out shopping with mommy. in photo 176 you can see we are in the car taking a diaper/bottle break :)
Avrie's current favorite activity is: two things- she is so interested in the tags on all of her toys, so naturally she had to have a taggies book- she loves this soft book with all the fun ribbon tags on it. she also loves her daddy's new recliner- i think they both take a nap in it each night- it's so cute. tonight i had to actually wake her up otherwise i was afraid she would still be fast asleep in the chair just as aaron still is!
Dr. appts this week: not this week, but already next week on wednesday.
We are Thankful for: pretty christmas lights {i feel like i already mentioned this} & christmas cards in the mail, love this time of year!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: cousin ethan's birthday party & christmas with the sonnek/evenson family in minn lake- it's been a long time since our last visit to the farm. it's pretty exciting to be celebrating avrie's 1st christmas THREE weekends in a row.

* catching up!

2011-12-18T12:27:00.002-06:00

it's been a while since i have been able to sit and blog, this has been due to a combination of baby, family, the holidays and end of the year tasks in the office...

in the next fews days before christmas hits- i would like to catch up and share the following posts:

"friends thanksgiving"
play-date with brooklyn
gingerbread houses
visiting with "auntie lana"
december cooking class
grandma sonnek's bithday wish from avrie {12.16.11}
uncle charlies 50th birthday
christmas decorations {maybe... sometimes that is boring}

...we'll see how good i do on this list. i remember listing "thing to blog about" back in july, right when baby arrived and i never did get to blogging about gabriel's 2nd birthday OR the britney concert!! some day... maybe those posts will appear as well. ok gotta go, baby is waking up from her nap and then we are off to grandpa billy's for christmas on this 40+ degree day!

* Avrie Jo: 24 weeks

2011-12-14T00:43:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 24 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: we had a pretty busy week, last wednesday we had a fun playdate with little miss brooklyn- what a DOLL! thursday we finished up our "week of eating peas" and started with carrots the following day- SHE LOVES CARROTS! saturday we had a fun day/evening over at gma and gpa e's with cousin's tristan & grabriel making our very first gingerbread house! didn't avrie do so well!? as you can see in photo 166 she wants to eat her creation! slightly warmer temps this weekend/week allow for avrie to dress down a little bit when we leave the house. we love this one piece fleece from gma sonnek! avrie is such a HOT baby that when she has to wear her boots, a hat, mittens AND coat- she is not the happiest of babies. a light coat suits her well! last night avrie was along with me as i got my hair done, she just hung out in the chair and did really mind just hanging out, she really liked hearing all of the blow dryers going all over the place! haha she cant wait to get some hair on her bald head, then she too can have her hairs did! ;) the last photo is of avrie and daddy she is "working on her core strength" as aaron will say... OYE!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: practicing a new cry! oh man... this new found cry appeared over the weekend and continues to reappear when she is really TICKED off, i.e. HUNGRY! the practice of controlled crying... she is getting really good at it. uffda...
Dr. appts this week: no appts this week. but with her 6 week appt right around the corner i am starting to make my "list of questions" for the doc.
We are Thankful for: early "spring like" temps outside & fun/festive family traditions w/ gma & gpa e.

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: hang time with auntie lana, cooking class, great uncle charlie's 50th birthday party and christmas at grandpa billy's house on sunday. it's going to be another busy week!

* birthday wishes!

2011-12-07T21:29:00.000-06:00

a VERY VERY Happy Birthday to my Mom today!

Bet you can't guess who ELSE wants to wish 'gma e' a happy birthday as well... :)

xoxo mommy/grammy- happy birthday!

we can't wait to give you your gift.

* Avrie Jo: 23 weeks

2011-12-07T01:12:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 23 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: sitting up really good in her bumbo seat- we are now able to eat sitting in this thing. matching outfits with gg for their fun day together. showing santa that she too has a big belly {she had just finished eating before sitting with santa- thank goodness she didnt barf on him!} hanging out on the couch watching james bond movies with daddy- see her holding his hand? it was SO sweet! avrie had a great time at "friends thanksgiving this past sunday" more to come on that one. she enjoyed her last bath in her baby tub- we are moving to the real bathtub next time {p.s. photo 161 has to be one of my ALL time favorites of baby so far!} i think her eyes are getting brighter and brighter each day. and finally- today we spent a fun afternoon visiting with carrie here at home and then av and i decorated the christmas tree- tomorrow night she will help daddy put the star on top.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: being naked! she really really hates getting dressed and gets mad when "its PAJAMA TIME!" but one thing that is new this week... when she is on her belly and if we tickle {not even tickle, just touch} her sides she shrieks/laughs/screams- it's SO CUTE!
Dr. appts this week: no appts this week but she is getting stuffed up at night {making it a little hard for her to sleep thru the night}and has a little bit of a runny nose, i'll be watching it but it think it's just a mix of the cold weather and her teething that comes and goes these days.
We are Thankful for: family christmas traditions and christmas lights- they make everything so pretty!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: getting to finally meet & have a playdate w/ baby Brooklyn TOMORROW, YAH!! & making gingerbread houses at gma e's this weekend.

* It's the little things...

2011-12-03T00:53:00.000-06:00

Days like today make me HAPPY and will have me smiling for a long long time. Aaron had the day off of work {but only because the guys have to work all day, again, tomorrow!}. So, we packed up after Avrie's morning feeding with a day of fun planned!

First stop was to Dock86 for some furniture shopping. Our gift for Christmas this year "To: Us, From: Us" is going to be some new furniture. Not at Dock86 but at the mother-hub, HOM Furniture, we found a good fit and I hope to be back to share once we have everything delivered. I am SO excited for some new comfort in our home! YAH!

After furniture shopping we stopped for some lunch- Avrie was ready for a nap... which was perfect because she needed some sleep before her very first meeting of Santa!

Our bank, had Santa stop by this afternoon and not only Santa but also one of his reindeer, "Comet"! I think that Aaron and I were more excited for this visit just to see the live reindeer. haha! We were sure that Avrie would cry, but after waiting for our turn {it was 5 minutes TOPS- easiest wait for a Santa visit EVER!}. We handed baby over to Santa to sit on his lap and she was all about it! We didn't get that cute little smile of hers on camera but she sat still for a couple of photos with the big guy, then a quick photo with mom, dad, santa AND "Comet" annnnd... she didn't even cry when Santa turned her around to talk with her and comment on her "I ♥ Santa" shirt. Ahhhh so fun!

After Santa, we headed home for a change into warmer clothes and then we were off to find this year's perfect Christmas tree before sun down. We ended up at Covered Bridge Farm in Forest Lake {previously visited in 2007}. After driving around almost twice, Aaron spotted a pretty great tree. We got out to measure, give it the "walk around" and then the final ok! Out came the chainsaw, the camera, the baby, the dog, the tripod and the self timer was set!

I LOVE our family photo {too bad I already have our Christmas cards done}- I think we found a GREAT tree for Avrie's first Christmas! I can't wait to get this tree decorated and I even have GIFTS! that are WRAPPED! ALREADY! to put under the tree. Impressed?? So am I and so is Aaron. We are so your typical last minute shoppers AND we usually do it all in one day, wrapping all gifts about 4 days before Christmas! haha

Ya know... Christmas has never really been my most favorite Holiday {too many places to be on one day and never able be in all of those places} but I have to admit that having baby around makes every Holiday SO much more special. It helps me remember that Aaron and I now have only [our family] to worry about and we can have fun making our family traditions last for years and years to come!

oatmeal, veggies and more...

2011-12-03T00:08:00.000-06:00

I mentioned that at 4.5 months we started Avrie on solids. We first went with oatmeal and I was given the advice to "have the camera ready" for a first solids feeding. Not like I have to be told twice, but we were happy to have captured some pretty great facial expressions as Avrie first ate from a spoon. Her face really said it all and it was like she really was thinking/saying "what the heck... mommy... where's my bottle?"

We are trying foods one week at a time, after a week of oatmeal we went with the sweet potatoes- she seemed to like them with each passing day. On the last day of the taters, she ate almost the entire bowl!

We are now onto day three of ~~nasty~~ peas. she LOVED them on day one, now on day three, she is like MEH... ~~haha!~~

Next up will be butternut squash- and don't worry I won't post EVERY TIME we try a new veggie, but I may be back when we find a FAVORITE! :) I just thought the photos of her first bites were SO cute!

I have to say this... making baby food is fun! I love it and I love knowing EXACTLY what is in Avrie's food. So we will have fun making her food for now, because now, is when we have the time.

What was your baby's favorite food?

* Avrie Jo: 22 weeks

2011-11-29T09:17:00.057-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 22 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: again in order of all photos that appear above {this is an easy way to remember our week}- hanging out with gma e while mommy & daddy go out for a little thanksgiving eve date night {just a quick dinner at the BH}, celebrating thanksgiving day with the paines & family, seeing "uncle kyle" again, and eating her first veggie- sweet potatoes! for black friday- we spent the entire day hanging out with auntie jamie and cousin gabriel here at home- avrie is starting to recognize her cousin, and she loves him just as much as he loves her. it's so cute they way she smiles, laughs & reaches for him when he talks to her. we tried to take some "cousin" christmas photos but didn't have the best of luck with that. i did however get a cute photo of avrie and even hammered out our christmas cards... all of thanksgiving weekend avrie hung out with mommy all day/night fri-sun, daddy had to work sun up to sun down the whole weekend, kind of a bummer. her and i did a little bit of shopping on saturday with gma e- she was bored with that though. i think she hated the crazy shoppers crowds as much as this stroller pushing mommy did. on monday avrie had play group after a week break- there is so much difference in all the babies after two weeks, so fun to see! ALSO on monday, avrie turned 5 months! the last photo is of avrie standing with the support of my legs- she will be a stander... i feel like she will want to skip that sitting stage ;) with turning 5 months she is officially fitting nicely into 6month clothing and has outgrown that size 1 diaper, we are now in a size 2 diaper and squeezing into her last bit of 3mo onesies. it was both sad & amazing packing up ALL of her NB & 3mo outfits!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: rolling over EVERYtime she is on her back- she is so good at it now, its become natural and i am sure that in no time she will be rolling across the room. she also LOVES stuffed animals. she cuddles them, plays with them, bites them, suck on them and talks to them- one of her favorites is her "changing time Ellie" it's a little blue elephant that she gets to play with while mommy changes her diaper- it helps to keep her from wiggling around- it doesn't totally distract her but it helps a lot!
Dr. appts this week: no appts this week
We are Thankful for: visits with "uncle kyle", thanksgiving leftovers & a clean kitchen {for about a day}.

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: christmas tree cutting! & possibly a "friends re-thanksgiving" on sunday, we are in the mood for MORE turkey!

* Auntie Love

2011-11-27T01:00:00.000-06:00

I have to share some fun Auntie/Gabriel photos! I am always amazed at how much he seems to grow every time I see him! I often get phone photos from Jamie and SO often my reply back to her is... "is he really only 2!? he looks so big!" awe... he is growing up SO fast!

Gabriel's personality is a big one.

A great one that is better with each passing day.

He is SO fun, super funny and talking up a storm!

{the photo on 10.2 he looks more like "no auntie... no pictures!}

But... one day he will learn about my Auntie rule- from day one on 6.19.09 I said that I want to get a photo with Gabriel every single time I see him. It's something fun that I hope we will always be able to share- it has been so far.

Not only does Gabriel love his Auntie- but he REALLY loves his Uncle Aaron- back on our family pumpkin carving day, Gabriel to ride in Uncle Aaron's big pump truck. It was just a quick ride that consisted of moving the truck about 50 yards- but he didn't care! He loved it- check out how excited he was sitting shotgun with his mommy!{top left}

{see him checking out the big tire... look familiar?}

It is of course SO fun seeing him with Avrie, he still just LOVE LOVE LOVESSSS his cousin "AV". Oh and... Avrie just LOVES her cousin Gabriel. When we were hanging out yesterday, Gabriel would play the game "I'm gonna get you" and run up to Avrie she would just laugh and laugh at him while reaching out to try and touch his face. He loved it! She would also follow him around the room as he ran circles around her. They are going to have so much fun growing up together.

{notice the blue tube of chapstick in his hand and on the couch right next to him... he also LOVES chapstick}

We tried to do some "cousin" photos yesterday here at the house... but let's just say it was a BIG. FAT. FAIL. Avrie was not really "into it" for more than like... a minute!? and Gabriel- yeah... not having it at all. BUT Jamie and I had fun "setting up" and it will be a fun memory for her and I- us trying to get a 5 month old and a 2.5 year old to sit and pose for two cameras clicking away- looking for that "perfect shot!" HA

I am looking forward to doing gingerbread houses with Jamie, Gabriel & family over at Gma & Gpa E's in the next couple of weeks.

* Our 1st Thanksgiving- as a family of 3

2011-11-27T00:15:00.000-06:00

Like past Thanksgivings we spent the day close to home. I am sure that Avrie would have done great traveling but with our one usual invite to the Paine's Thanksgiving- we are thankful for a short travel distance for the day. We are always invited down to Minn Lake over to Brad & Kris' for the day as well- but we make the trip home for Christmas Eve.

Ok, back to our day. Dinner was at 5:30pm so we spent the afternoon getting chores done and prepping for our evening out. Aaron was up early and completed his list of 'to-dos':

blow all leaves and gunk out of the gutters
"store" the patio furniture
split wood to contribute to our wood stock pile for the winter

He then wheeled on over to the new "neighbors" to introduce himself and to get the skinny on the "new guy".

All the while AV and I were hanging out in the house watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and getting the following done:

keeping a tradition that I had growing up- I made a small dish of EASY egg bake. Aaron hates egg bake, so I have to call it an "oven omelet" just so that he will be nice and eat one piece. Again with dinner being so late, we had to have a little brunch to both break our stomachs in and to hold us over for a few hours.
I also put together a batch of stuffing to go along with dinner. I used Kris' mom, Sandy's recipe- a favorite for me and Aaron, it turned out great!
I then helped Aaron make the EVER so popular and delicious pickle wraps. It's so hard making those little devil things and NOT eating every other one!
LAST on my list was to make Avrie's first vegetable puree! As mentioned, I went with sweet potatoes and made enough so that she can try them once each day for about a week. So far we are on day three and she is liking them a little bit more each time she tries them.

Soon enough it was go time, Kyle {YES KYLE} had arrived a head of schedule. While we were all running around getting ready and gathering everything we needed to bring along, we caught up with our favorite FBI guy. Soon we were all headed over to Mick & Bob's.

In short {b/c this post got to be WAY too long already} dinner was full of fun & entertainment like usual. We had wine, aps, fancy shoes, laughter, hugs, some surprise guest appearances/including the famous cardboard cutout, tons of food, lots of family and many friends.

I went ahead and had Avrie eat before we were all formally sat down for dinner- and she did pretty good. She tried a couple spoon fulls but then decided that she would much rather her bottle instead. She didn't HATE them... she just didn't have the patience for them. As I mentioned, today was day three and she ate about half of her portion this time- we're making progress! I am thinking that we will try butternut squash for the next vegetable that we introduce to her.

11pm arrived QUICK and we were all headed home. Aaron had to work early the next morning. AND he has had to work all weekend from sun up to sun down- so again, any easy going turkey day was exactly what this family of 3 needed. Thanksgiving was so fun with baby, I can't to see what Christmas will be like!

* babyBFF

2011-11-26T16:47:00.000-06:00

i LOVE my BFF ...

AND!!!

i CAN. NOT. WAIT...

for AV's BEST BABY FRIEND {BBF}...

to arrive next Spring!

---> click HERE for some ~~good~~, ~~great~~, pretty amazing news! <---

* NINE!

2011-11-26T01:25:00.000-06:00

November 17th has come and gone- but it did not go unmentioned here in our household!

Nov 17th is a special day for Aaron and I as a couple. It's the date that we established a relationship and we had our 1st date! With almost being married 2 years now, Aaron is SO OVER celebrating our "dating anniversary" and... I am OK with this but we still have to at least acknowledge the day. Because, honestly, without that date- we wouldn't be where we are today! Am I right ladies!?

So, here we are as "us" on our day and this is who we are today... I love our little family and so happy that something/somewhere/maybe someone brought each of us together! {gotta love the photo of all three of us in our jammies and me after a workout- prettyyyyy}.

Happy NINE to us!

* Npt Girls gather again

2011-11-26T01:06:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday night, when I missed cooking class, I was busy having a fun dinner with some of the Newport Girls {and Parker} at Buca De Beppo. August was our last time we were all together- we have fun meeting up every few months to catch up and to keep up with one another.

With it being a busy time of year, we missed a couple of girls in the group; Margaret & Dana- but still had a great time catching up with us girls that were able to make it. Cassie who was 2 weeks until her due date for the arrival of little baby Geno Jr.- she is feeling good but SUPER ready to have her little boy join her family. This will be her 3rd child and her only boy- she's a little nervous about having to deal with "boy parts" but again really excited for another brand new little one.

Katie and Parker were able to join us, Parker is still CUTE as ever! This was Parker's 1st introduction to the group. Still too small for some to hold, hehe but Katie was able to talk to us about her daycare of choice and preparing for her return back to work the following week. It was SO nice seeing Katie and baby again- I always look forward to seeing them.

"Auntie Amy" and I each enjoyed a glass of wine {YUM!} and she also had great stories to share with us and as always had us laughing with her for each one- I have yet to hear an update from the rest of her evening following our dinner date! Amy....

Melissa "Mommy-to-be" was looking and feeling great! She is 16weeks pregnant and had JUST celebrated her 30th Birthday the day before. I brought along a little gift for her- I gave her a baggie of 30 jolly ranchers. I explained my gift choice in her card by saying "I hear that turning 30 sucks, but life is about to get really sweet!" get it... 30 sucks... 30 jolly ranchers... life getting sweet... baby due in May??? ... I thought it was cute and she liked it as well. While I can't take full credit for the idea, I will share my source. The "30 sucks" stemmed from an idea found HERE. I just love the little world of pinterest!

After a wonderful family style dinner of Garlic Cheese Bread, Chicken Parmesan and Baked Ziti; Cassie ordered dessert to go for her hubby and Melissa ordered a famous Buca Meatball for her hubby. We all parted ways, wished one another a Happy Thanksgiving & Cassie all the best as she waits for her little guy to arrive- we all can't wait to meet up after the Holidays are through and winter in officially here.

p.s. Avrie was with her daddy this night. She had a good time driving with daddy to pick up some lumber and then hung out over at Russ & Rachel's for dinner and some hang time. They had a fun night and I had fun night. It's nice to get a little "me/adult" time but every time I am away from baby I just can't wait to get back to her! I hope this is normal!?

* Girl's Weekend '11

2011-11-26T00:30:00.000-06:00

Like years in the past, while all of our guys were away hunting us girls gathered to have a fun weekend together! This year with having Avrie apart of our girl gang we kept it pretty low-key and easy on our wallets. Just meaning that we didn't spend a full day of shopping! We also had Aunt Wilma join us for the weekend as well. It was a nice treat having Wilma up to meet Avrie for the first time and to be apart of all of our fun.

We started the day with a brunch cooking class, we then left Avrie with the gma's while Krista, Hannah & I ran a few errands and picked up a few items and a movie for our night in. An hour or two later we made it back to Mom's and organized our afternoon craft project. Wine cork necklaces. This cute item was found at a craft sale by my Mom and thought it would be a fun project for our group. With all materials picked up we were ready to create! I pulled out ALLLL of my beads {i have SO many! anyone wanting to buy a TON of beads!? haha} While some of us were all about the project, a couple were not- ~~Krista~~... but I won't name any names... everyone's necklace each turned out so cute and unique.

After the stressful craft project it was time for dinner! Since we had already spent the morning cooking, we decided to head out for dinner. With Kay being Gluten free, more research on my Mom's part brought us to Mad Jacks. They are said to have one of the largest Gluten Free menus. I believe it- there was SO much to choose from and everything we had was DELICIOUS. I can't wait to get back there and share a plate of nachos with Aaron. Avrie hung out and enjoyed watching the TV- just like her daddy... if I want to have a normal dinner time conversation with Aaron I better pick a bar/restaurant without a TV ;)

After dinner we were ready to just lounge- so we headed back to my house were we all got into our jammies, found a comfy spot in the living room, popped our first movie in and hunkered down for the night. We had some fun play time on the floor with Avrie until she was ready for bed. Over in the next room; the Moms and Wilma were having fun making a few cards. After Avrie went down for the night- I, too, was able to make a couple of the cards. It was about 10pm when everyone but Krista and I went to bed. We decided to stay up and watch the movie Crazy. Stupid. Love. it was pretty good- slow in the beginning but has a GREAT ending. We gave it a thumbs up and weren't too mad that we stayed up until 2AM watching it!

The next morning... everyone was SOOOO tired! The gang headed back home around noon after Avrie was up from her afternoon nap. It was a great weekend spent with some of my most favorite people, so happy to keep this tradition going!

* November Cooking Classes

2011-11-25T23:52:00.000-06:00

With November just about behind us- I thought I would quickly try and whip out a post sharing a few delicious details from both classes this month.

I was only able to attend the special Saturday brunch class on Nov 12th: but the menu and company more than made up for it!

Our menu was all Gluten free; the easy & cheesy potatoes were mmm mmm good! The mozzarella stuffed meatballs {made with potatoes flakes instead of bread crumbs} were the class favorite. And the fall fritatta {sans spinach, because we forgot} was a veggie delight. All three menu items included the POM: Wildtree's Smoked Mozzarella & Tomato Blend.

The afternoon class was also a great time for Avrie and Nolan to catch up with one another. A lot can go on with each other when they haven't seen one another in over a month! They had a good time playing and making all kinds of noise on the floor!

This class was also special in having my in-laws up and it being apart of our girl's weekend. It was a great start the day. We ended class with a refreshing taste of fall- our mini cider granita's were sweet, different and the perfect treat for a gorgeous 60 degree fall afternoon.

The second class on Nov 16th was a Wednesday night and I was not able to join- BUT photos and menu details were still sent my way and after "taste testing" in the developing stage {pre-class} I missed out on some REALLY good food!

The entire menu was a spread of dish ideas for using up that leftover thanksgiving turkey meat! yummmm... each item used the kitchen staple POM, Wildtree's Garlic Pepper California Style. I think I heard that the pot stickers had the best presentation and also tasted just as good as they looked.

It was a large class with 12 ladies that all went home with full stomachs and a jump start on those familiar tastes of Thanksgiving with all the turkey and the evening dessert of a pumpkin cheesecake! Remind me to NEVER miss another November cooking class.

Next month's class will be here before we know it, JUST like the Holidays! I hope you are able to take a break from all your Holiday shopping to join us for a night of bite size treats! See you soon.

* from our little turkey to yours!

2011-11-25T13:21:00.000-06:00

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday. We had a great 1st Thanksgiving with Avrie!

Here's a photo of our first use of the Baby Brezza. Avrie is doing so well spoon feeding we decided that we would try sweet potatoes for a little Thanksgiving Day treat.

The brezza was super simple to use you just dice and then set it and forget it! In no time at all you have steamed and pureed veggies ready to serve!

I'll be back later with a little Thanksgiving Day update.

* Avrie Jo: 21 weeks

2011-11-22T21:34:00.000-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 21 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: in order of all photos that appear above- visiting with grandma & grandpa sonnek. they came up for a night mid-week, avrie loved that! sleeping all curled up on her side at night {so cute!} kung-fu fighting, notice her hands in photo 144. saturday we just hung out in our jammies all day and watched the first snow falling outside. sunday we went over to "uncle chicken's" for a visit and to deliver lunch, we then ended our day at gma and gpa e's for a "reggie b-day dinner" avrie had fun laughing at/with "gaga paine". so far this "short week" we have just been hanging out- and the photo from tonight is showing her superior skills at eating from a spoon.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: eating from a spoon! well i don't know if it's her favorite thing, but eating oatmeal from the spoon is going really well! she wants to feed her self, as you can see in photo 148 she grabs for my hand and the spoon and shoves it into her mouth. kind of like HURRY UP MOMMY! we are ready to try some veggies, so for thanksgiving we will begin with sweet potatoes. i am looking forward to seeing what she thinks of them :) avrie also LOVES to stand, if she could stand all day every day she would be so excited! this week avrie has rolled onto her belly from her back a couple of times. both times she used my legs to push off of- but she did it. she is also doing really well with grabbing at and wanting to scoot towards toys in front of her while on her belly.
Dr. appts this week: no appts this week
We are Thankful for: our 1st snow melting and 2012 spring vacation planning

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: avrie's 1st thanksgiving!! & turning 5 months old already!

* Avrie Jo: 20 weeks

2011-11-15T22:36:00.001-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 20 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: welcoming daddy home from both elk hunting and deer hunting- she did cry a little after not seeing him for almost TWO WEEKS! i think she was just SO happy to see him that they were tears of joy she was expressing to him. ;) friday evening we had a fun dinner over at gma e's with cousin kayla, auntie jamie and cousin gabriel. we then had a fun girls weekend with auntie kritsa, grandma sonnek, great aunt wilma and cousin hannah. we had cooking class, crafty time, went out to dinner and watched movies. as you can imagine by sunday evening we were exhausted! sunday afternoon avrie also thought it would be a good time to "pee on mommy for the first time" her full diaper allowed for her to pee all the way down her leg and onto my lap! i learned my lesson to always change baby even if she is screaming her head off waiting for her bottle... always change baby!! it was gross but very funny at the same time. we also started oatmeal this week as planned- i will blog about it a little later, it's pretty cute with all of her faces she made! day #1 wasn't the greatest but day #2 went much better- i'll share in the next post more about what seemed to work better for us {so far}. we are also working on avrie sitting up- as you can see in photo 139 she can tri-pod herself, this lasts for only a minute or two before she leans to one side or forward onto her face.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: this week in play group we shared what we are loving most about baby right now. i shared that avrie is just so fun with all of her smiles, giggles and screams! she is having a lot of fun sharing a little bit more of her personality with each passing day. she's such a fun smiley baby and really reacts to facial expression and mimicking her sounds!
Dr. appts this week: no appts this week
We are Thankful for: hot cocoa and having daddy home!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: lots of daddy time! mommy has a friends dinner on wed, work out class on thursday {both to which she will be staying home hanging with dad!} and then this weekend we hope to have a relaxed weekend of just hanging out around home. maybe we will get a project or two in around the house as well.

eleven.eleven.eleven

2011-11-14T21:53:00.001-06:00

Friday night on 11.11.11, we had a fun family dinner over at Mom's house with Cousin Kayla. There is a fun status, copy and paste, going around facebook and it's only fitting for me to add it to this post!

"COUSINS are the first friends most people ever have as children. No one will ever understand your crazy family like your cousins. As years pass and we grow older and move farther apart involved in our own lives/families, we're still tied by blood and childhood memories..."

Kayla is 1 of three cousins on my Mom's side of the family. I love that Kayla has kept in touch with my Mom, Jamie and I. With that we have been able to meet up a couple of times over the last few years. She was able to join us for Gabriel's 2nd birthday back in June {that I STILL have yet to blog about, haha- things got a little bit busy just a few days after the party- 9 days to be exact}. It was great seeing her this past weekend and how sweet it was for her to make the party this summer for a quick visit.

Then on Friday, Mom did what she does best and made all of us a SUPER yummy dinner! We had a favorite dish- Manicotti, mmmmmm :P

It was a great visit, catching up with Kayla and all the great things that she is accomplishing in her Junior year of college and NDSU. We enjoyed our meal, spent time laughing at the babies {AV and Gaby} and then taking a few group photos, thanks to "photog" Paul.

We look forward to more visits with Cousin Kayla!

* A & K: 2gether again

2011-11-13T22:55:00.000-06:00

Last Friday night Avrie and I headed on over to Molly and Kenley's house for a Friday night play date. Remember back in August we met up with M & K, at that time the girls were matching so well in their yellow outfits. Had we planned an outfit this time for the girls, they could have been matching once again! Kenley was sporting one of my favorite outfits that Avrie also has.

{click on the photo to zoom in on the quote- i LOVE this one!}

Avrie and I arrived around 5pm with Pot Belly sandwiches for dinner- of course we didn't even touch our sammies for at least an hour. It's just too much fun watching the girls be so interactive with one another, what a difference a couple of months will make. Kenley is really moving and grooving- Molly does a "wiggle dance" and Kenley loves to copy her mommy when she tells her "you do it!" it's so cute!

A couple of differences with the girls this time- they gazed at one another, they goo-goo'd and ga-ga'd to each other and they grabbed for one another. There was a point where Kenley had a good grip on Avrie's cheek- I just love how curious babies are & the way they explore with their hands.

Kenley was nice and shared some of her toys- one of which included some "baby paper" such a fun and simple little sound: "cause and effect" toy for babies. Avrie loved this stuff- so that weekend we had to go out and get our own piece of baby paper. Below you will see how much fun she was having with this stuff.

{the middle photo is a blur of motion- she loves her baby paper!}

After the girls & us mommies had our dinners {Kenley was eating her veggies like a good girl!}, some time playing on the floor, posing for a few photos and then playing just a little more- both girls let us know that it was time for this play date to end. The time went so quick, and we really had a lot of fun visiting with M & K again- it will be really fun to see how they play in another couple of months!

Thanks Molly & Kenley for having us over!

* AHHH! get a razor blade!

2011-11-11T11:04:00.000-06:00

ok i need to vent a little bit about my current "freak out" and i would LOVE some input from other women {post-baby} that have/are experiencing this SAME THING!

that bit about get me a razor blade, in the title, yeah... i am THIS close to shaving all of my hair off!

i dread washing my hair these days- why? BECAUSE IT KEEPS FALLING OUT! as i am finding large large clumps of hair in my hands after washing, combing, drying.... i am surprised that i have any hair left at all. this, frankly, is FREAKING ME OUT! has anyone else had to deal with this- what did you do? how long did it last, etc etc etc- please tell me i am not the only one.

a recent visit tot he dr, had me asking an NP about this- she said its just hormones and it's more common post breast feeding. the hair falling out/shedding should get better around 6-9 months! oh. my. gosh... i am thinking that in 6-9 months i will have no hair. SO- get me a razor blade, i am shaving my head BALD!

* got elk?

2011-11-09T19:33:00.000-06:00

I stole this photo from Adam {one of Aaron's elk hunting buddies this week}. The guys are headed home today/tomorrow and Adam just posted this photo to facebook- pretty good lookin' hunter if you ask me...

i wonder, did they get an elk!??? can't wait for the hubby to be home!

* new header

2011-11-09T19:18:00.000-06:00

i thought it was time for a new blog header...

check it out and let me know what you think!

too busy?

too wordy?

too cute!? ;)

* Avrie Jo: 19 weeks

2011-11-08T14:37:00.078-06:00

This week:

Avrie is: 19 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: so many new things this week and i dont know if it's because daddy has been gone all week but there sure is a lot of going on! on top of playing with her feet more and more, she loves trying to get her toes into her mouth {see photo 128}. as of this week avrie is smacking her lips when hungry- its so cute! she is reaching for her bottle, briefly holding her own bottle- she is VERY eager to eat. i am thinking that next week, we will start her on baby oatmeal to get practicing for eating solid foods! by the end of the month we will be ready for veggies and such. although we have no teeth to show as of yet- all signs are pointing towards a teething baby. i have read/heard that babies can sometimes teethe months before actually cutting teeth- but baby girl is gumming all of her toys, drooling a lot, being tad more fussy in the early evenings, extra poopy diapers, rosey cheeks after eating & in the evenings. so who knows, i know all babies are different- so we will just have to see, i am checking her gums daily, haha! we also had a really fun play date with 7mo old kenley last friday night. kenley is a darling and growing baby girl! it was fun seeing her sit in her chair eating her sweet potatoes {or was it squash} for dinner.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: reading books! {see photo 133} its been really fun seeing her become more and more interested in books. she grabs at books when she is being read to, she holds the book for a little bit and really seems to study the pictures. i love it! each day we read a book or two and look at the bright pictures. and our evening routine is always 2 to 3 bedtime books before i put her down to sleep. this is my two in one {we rock and read books} and as soon as she gets wiggly she is letting me know that she has had enough and it's time for bed! her growing interest for books has inspired a christmas gift idea {seen on pinterest}. i'll share more on that later.
Dr. appts this week: no appts this wee, nothing until her 6month baby well check
We are Thankful for: jammies {mostly because we have been hanging out in our jammies A LOT this week!}

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: daddy coming home on thursday, YAH! dinner with cousin kayla on friday night. and also a weekend with the girls as all of our guys {and yes aaron as well} are up north hunting bambi! we will be spending the day with gma e, grandma sonnek, great aunt wilma and auntie krista and then the girls will be staying overnight with avrie and i on saturday.

* Meeting Baby Parker!

2011-11-06T01:10:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh... when ~~a good~~, ~~a great~~, a best friend has their own baby its the best thing ever! It's kind of like attending your own BFFs wedding, best friend weddings are the MOST fun! So yeah, it's kind of like that. It's also kind of like being an Auntie again- you just love their baby so much because your friendship is that special.

{AV and Parker hanging out this summer ;)}

Anyways.... Katie had her BABY!!! {back in August}

I am late in posting this news, but that is because Avrie and I were finally able to meet her little man! Katie had a little baby BOY, his name is Parker, and he is just the cutest little guy. We had the best time hanging out with Momma Katie and baby Parker.

Another fun thing about friends having babies {younger than your own} you get hit with a wave of "oh, I remember when {insert own baby name here} was this small...." With Parker being 2 months younger than Avrie he is just a peanut! At his 2 month baby well check, he was 10lbs. Avrie is 13lbs but WHAT a difference those 3lbs makes for a little baby!

{these two had a great time playing together.

it looks like we had a little baby dance party going on!}

Ok ok ok... the week before Halloween, Avrie and I headed over to Katie's new apartment to hang out. We had so much fun chatting, playing, taking pictures, giggling with our babies and we even managed to burn dinner {this was because we were having too much fun giggling with the babies}. Both AVs and Parker were on the exact same schedule so it was nice having them both awake and alert at the same time and they even got sleepy at the same time- so our first play date was a success.

Time went way too quick- but you can bet that we will be see Parker again and again. With Katie's move, we are close enough to meet up more often. CANT. WAIT!

* 3mo Play Date with Miss Zoe

2011-11-06T00:38:00.000-05:00

Mid October, found us once again hanging out with Zoe! Amanda and I just can't get over the fact that we have babies that are already 4 months old! As we were catching up and watching the girls "remember one another"- it felt like yesterday that we were keeping in touch via texts and evening dinners waiting for each other's baby's to arrive!

If you remember, Zoe was born exactly one week after Avrie- so these two girls are practically the same age. It's so fun seeing them together and doing all of the same things. We got a little bit of conversation between the two and a couple of smiles- they even seemed to have held hands for a nano second while playing on the floor. Both girls are sitting up with the assistance of couch cushions- which explains the distance between them on the couch- they each got their own crack for support! haha

It was so fun meeting Zoe again. With Amanda headed back to work at the end of October, we are hoping that we will be able to meet up again sooner than later. After the Holidays might be a great time to meet up when the girls are 6months+, that should be really fun!

* Play Group!

2011-11-04T23:11:00.000-05:00

In September, I registered both Avrie and I for a Monday afternoon playgroup. The group is free of charge and runs thru Forest Lake: Early Childhood Family Education [EFCE]. We meet every Monday afternoon from 12:30pm-1:30pm. The same group of moms and babies are in group week to week and we will visit with each other and gather each Monday all the way thru May 2012!

This is a really great group because all of the babies are SO close in age! Ellianna is the youngest- I think she is about 10 weeks old. Kindal is the oldest, she just turned 6 months. As you can see Hudson, the only boy of the group, is out numbered by girls! There is another boy in the group, Connor, who is not pictured- but I don't think Hudson will mind. You you see that he is a little cutie and this stud muffin will love all of the girl's attention!

We spend group talking about our week, voicing any concerns, asking others moms for advise, singing songs, playing with our babies and letting the babies hangout with one another in the gym room {which is basically a brightly colored padded room} ;)

We took a group photo- as it will be fun to see how all of the babies have grown and developed at the end of group this Spring. Another fun fact is thinking that most of these babies will be in the same class, that would be class of 2029!? YICKS!!!!

Avrie and I look forward to group every Monday, it's a really fun way to kick off the week.

* Trick-or-Treat!

2011-11-04T22:48:00.000-05:00

ok, this is my LAST Halloween post- but I just had to share with you my favorite little trick-or-treater!

ELMO!!

I was so excited to treat our one and only trick-or-treater with a Halloween card and treats. Gabriel was shy upon arriving at Auntie's house- and we could NOT get him to say "Trick-or-Treat" even though Jamie swears he was practicing all day long! As soon as Uncle Aaron walked in the door Gabriel greeted him with a.... yup- you got it... "TRICK-OR-TREAT!" seriously.... we tried to get him to say it for like 10 minutes!

After Avrie's bottle/mini-melt down "mom feed me NOW I am STARVING!"- Auntie Jamie, Elmo, Cookie Monster and I {as Big Bird} headed on over to gma E's so that she could see her two favorite Halloween buddies. Gabriel was also NOT having it when we wanted to get good photos sitting with gma, mom, auntie and AV- so we took what we could get. haha

What a great Halloween...

* 2nd Annual Sonnek Halloween Party!

2011-11-03T20:13:00.000-05:00

Let me start by saying, for those of you that missed out, COME NEXT YEAR! It was a really great time- fun was had by all; Aaron, Avrie, Tiki, myself and a good group of our friends! Lets take a look at the evening and how it all went down...

Our welcome display {party was in the garage and out back} i just loved the pumpkin line up and the strobe light flashing our "fright this way" sign.

While all the girls got ready inside, as soon as dark was upon us- our guests started to arrive. It was a little different getting ready for a party when you have a baby to also take care of, feed, dress and keep happy- but we managed and Avrie did quite well! It was nice that gma E and auntie Krista were among the girls inside getting ready.

Randy "Macho Man" Savage was outside and ready to party!

Big Bird was complete but only after her little buddy "Cookie Monster" was transformed into UBER cuteness! {see here for Avrie & I together in costume}.

Freid "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan was just happy there was heat- you are seeing this correctly, he was wearing only a blue speedo & socks. So glad Avrie has only seconds of short-term memory, I would hate for Freid {her birthday buddy} in a speedo to be one of her first memories.

Among the foggy airways- we had a great group photo taken about halfway thru the night. There were a few guests missing as some headed out before the photo and a couple arrived after the photo- but if you remember last year I FORGOT to get a group photo, there was NO way I would miss on it this year.

Avrie changed out of costume and spent time with us in the garage until she was ready for bed- I just LOVED her pink glow in the dark skeleton jammies. So festive and so cute!

With the weather being about 10-15 degrees warmer this year than last we were able to have a little fun outside as well. With an option of "dressing as an 80's wrestler" Aaron had a ring set up in back- but instead of good old fashioned wraaastling, we went with a safer option and set up the lawn game of bean bags inside the ring.

The bean bags led us to the idea of instead of a Costume Contest {poor Kevin, he was heartbroken over this news} we had a Bean Bag tournament and the winning pair would be awarded the most awesome prize of the night. With names drawn from Macho Man's hat everyone was paired up and ready to toss for the big win!

I was paired up with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan- which was great Freid is REALLY good at bags! As we climbed our way along the tournament bracket- Freid and I took home the BIG WIN! So, naturally, we had to gather in the garage for an awards ceremony. With me being a host I couldn't keep the prize, but there was no better fit for the take home than Freid. Our prize was a HUGE Vikings championship ring! A fitting prize for our contest at hand and also for one of the BIGGEST Viking fans we know- he was loving this win!

We finished out the rest of the night enjoying time with our 'cardboarded spirit' Kyle.

Trips inside from the bonfire and giant pile of leaves to warm up with a bowl of Aaron's hot and spicy chili.

{do you love the "headless horseman-ing" photo recreate??

did anyone else see these on Ellen?}

A dance party, hammerschlagen, candy, black light, fog, wood stove warmth and tons of candid photos!

We had a great time hosting our 2nd annual Sonnek Halloween party, we more than doubled in guest attendance this year compared to last year. Next year can only get better- we hope that you are able to join us, so again mark your calendars and get thinking about what you will dress up as next year- you never know, with the HIGH demand of a traditional costume contest- we will probably have that make a come back, but you know... Avrie will be the one to beat! ;)

* Avrie Jo: 18 weeks

2011-11-01T22:27:00.000-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 18 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: turning 4 months old! and celebrating halloween! there was a lot of last minute prepping around the house as we were gearing up for halloween dress up and our annual halloween party. avrie enjoyed her first halloween party with mommy, daddy and friends. she was a party animal and decided to stay up until 11pm on saturday night! after changing out of her cute as can be "cookie monster" costume- she rocked out in her glow in the dark skeleton jammies. after a super fun weekend we had play group on monday where avrie and all of her friends were dressed in costume- it was super cute! i was impressed with the fact that avrie was ok with being in her little costume all of halloween day and into the night when we went over to gma e's to trick-or-treat!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: it is becoming routine for avrie to roll onto her back from tummy using her legs- she has been close a couple of times rolling from back to tummy- but nothing regular yet, just the ONE time that mommy MISSED on 10/13. she is also becoming interested in her feet- grabbing at them and playing with them when she is getting her diaper changed and when she wakes up from her naps. sucking on her two middle fingers is something you can find her doing as she gets sleepy and when she is waking up {see photo 125}- she takes after mommy on this one, i used to also suck on my two middle fingers. this weekend we sent up her exercise bouncer- her legs dont reach the floor but we will figure out something so that she can enjoy this, she is a baby that LOVES standing!
Dr. appts this week: this morning we had avrie's 4 month baby well check. her pediatrician thinks she is looking fantastic with her stats being; 13lbs 4oz {34th percentile}, 25.9" long {95th percentile} and her head measuring at 16.5" {75th percentile}. She is gaining weight perfectly, her length lives up to all comments about avrie being "so long"! she is length-wise just about out of 3-6months and fitting nicely {again length-wise} into 6-9months. with separates we are still in 3 months outfits.
We are Thankful for: a snowless month of october & festive, cute halloween clothes & costumes!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: a week home with mommy! tonight daddy left for a week trip out to colorado for elk hunting with uncle brad. we will keep busy to help the time go fast and we will be counting the days until he returns home with the "bacon".

* Halloween Costume Reveal: 2011!

2011-10-31T23:04:00.001-05:00

This year for Halloween, we were...

Avrie and I: were the duo of Big Bird & Cookie Monster, while Daddy was "Macho Man" Randy Savage along with a few other friends dressed as 80s wrestlers.

Making baby's costume was a success- it turned out better than the picture in my head, which is always a bonus. Like all years past, I had so much fun making both of our costumes! I am bummed that Katie, my costume partner in crime {aka new mommy} had to miss out this year, but maybe we can get back to it next year!?

Costume Details for Big Bird: I went with a simple tube dress sewn together with yellow/orange fleece fabric. I then took a yellow feather boa and hand sewed a portion of it to the bottom of the dress and attached it to the top to go around my neck for Y-shaped dress straps. I had a lot of fun with the rest of my feathery details for earrings, gloves and my headband complete with eyes and a beak. I also really enjoyed wearing bright pink and vibrant blue eye makeup! Neon pink duct tape came in handy for my orange and pink legs. The only thing I didn't manage to recreate was Big Bird's actual height of 8'2". I found the highest pair of platform type shoes I had in my closet circa 2002 and wrapped them in pink duct tape as well.

Aaron's costume- well he had lots of fun with neon paint and bright green duct tape- my favorite details on him were the slim jims in his pocket! hahaha

Costume details for Cookie Monster included the cookie bib made by Grandma Sonnek. I found the stretchy blue crushed velvet fabric as a remnant and traced the onesie so that I could sew fabric onto the front, back and sleeves. I also made her a pair of leg warmers to match. I also made her the tutu, which gave it that girly look and I just LOVED the way the Cookie Monsters crazy eyes gave her headband that finishing touch!

Avrie spent the entire day in costume {we took off her cookie bib, tutu and headband for naps and play time}. We had a busy day of visits and play group, so we are both exhausted. I will return this week with a fun recap of our Halloween fun from this evening and this past week at our annual Halloween party.

* Family Pumpkin Tiiiime!

2011-10-30T22:26:00.001-05:00

Last weekend we spent Sunday afternoon over at Gma & Gpa Ertle's with the Manns. Having our pumpkin garden harvest combined with a few from Gma & Gpa Schlomka, we had a full day of pumpkin carving fun ahead of us.

Everyone gathered all of their carving tools, this also included Gabriel. He was so happy to be "carving" his very own pumpkin this year- it actually turned out to be a pumpkin with a million stab wounds- but it kept him busy, he was having fun and he was very safe with his pumpkin knife.

Over the next few hours there was a lot of creativity going on, lots of laughs, stories, pictures, snacking, eating and playing- ending with a result of 13 carved pumpkins!

Like the last two years, my tradition is to carve a pumpkin for Gabriel- this year I went with a pumpkin face sporting a mohawk- kind of looks like a witch's hat, but I was trying to mirror the cute little mohawk that he has been sporting these days. Also, when I drew the face idea on paper, his eyes lit up and he said "oohhh cute!" so I had to go with it. I originally wanted to carve an Elmo face- but forgot my stencil :/

Auntie Jamie has also taken on the carving tradition and carved Avrie's pumpkin for her! With her big eyes- Jamie went with the same cute face that I used for Gabriel last year. With AV and Gabriel both being June babies, it's been SO fun watching Avrie grow and remembering that Gabriel too was once little "Gaby baby" for his first Halloween.

The lighting of the pumpkins is always my most favorite part- it was again awesome this year! Gabriel was still a little bit unsure about shutting all of the lights off to see the pumpkins all lit up.

I love having this annual tradition of carving pumpkins and look forward to many more years ahead of this!

Pumpkin Harvest 2011

2011-10-30T18:47:00.000-05:00

One of our most favorite things to grow in the garden are pumpkins! With the extreme heat this summer- we didn't end up with as many as we would have liked- but we did get lucky and grew the perfect pumpkin for AVs and we ended up finding a few HUGE gems in the burn pile out back.

We picked one of the last perfect evenings outside to venture on out to the garden with Avrie so that she would pick her very own pumpkin.

Doesn't she look super impressed with daddy's hard work in growing the perfect pumpkin? I think so- he did a great job!

I'll be back with the fun we had carving up all of our HUGE pumpkins last weekend over at gma & gpa E's with Auntie Jamie and family.

* what will she be?

2011-10-29T02:54:00.001-05:00

That's always the question this time of year, "what's your costume for Halloween, this year?" and of course, my answer is always the same... "it's a secret!"

I might have let a few people in on what Avrie and I will be this year- because it's just the cutest- well at least I think it is! You'll have to let me know what you think as well.

Tomorrow is our 2nd annual Halloween party here at the house and I pretty excited. Aaron and I spent the evening getting the garage cleaned and spooky! It is now SUPER late and I have to get to bed, but- I will leave you with a well wish for this Halloween weekend- may all your tricks earn you the best treats!

AND... a costume hint! This is of Avrie's costume only {mine will just be a reveal next week}...

any guesses?

Remember... like in the past I have made BOTH of our costumes- it was a lot of work and required more than just one long evening of sew sew sew... but hopefully well worth it the end- I am looking forward to seeing the final looks tomorrow.

We'll be back next week with some costume reveals!

* Avrie Jo: 17 weeks

2011-10-25T23:07:00.000-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 17 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: this was another week that flew right past us! as you can see by the photos avrie is hanging out with someone new almost each day- we were all over the place this week. we had cooking class, gg day, avrie picked her pumpkin out of our garden, we went to an anniversary party, we hung out over at gma & gpa e's on sunday afternoon carving pumpkins, yesterday we had playgroup and in the evening- we visited with baby parker and katrina- tuesday we took a break in our busy week and just hung out at home. daddy and i both worked on costumes tonight while avrie just hung out- her costume is all done and complete {cant wait to share it!}... we also can't wait for the party on saturday!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: this week we have been working on our sitting up- she is not really "trying" to roll right now, but she is still rolling onto her sides when she gets sleepy. today she took her paci out of her mouth and held onto it and put it back into her mouth a few different times while sitting in her swing. when she is also getting sleepy she likes to reach for her giraffe or a blankie and plays with it until she falls asleep. her "talking" and noise making it getting louder by the day- today she even managed to scream in order to get my attention- it was pretty funny. she also loves when mommy dances and sings- she laughs, probably because i am no good at either ;) last night katie had her laughing and giggling more than i have heard- she had such a good time hanging out with parker- they are going to be best buds!
Dr. appts this week: next tuesday we have avrie's 4 month well check- not looking forward to seeing baby get more shots! :(
We are Thankful for: cute hats & annual family traditions.

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: HALLOWEEN!

* Happy 30!

2011-10-25T16:30:00.001-05:00

I am so happy and excited that Avrie is just as good as her mommy when it comes to remembering a special birthday! Today is one of the most important!

After her morning nap, she found the markers, some white paper and whipped up this birthday sign! She just might also be like her mommy in wanting to take several re-takes until the perfect picture arrives. The out-takes were too cute to not include- so I added them as well. Avrie really wanted to just eat the birthday sign- too cute!

Lana~ Happy 30th Birthday today- such an important milestone in life and SO happy to have you in our life! We love you! p.s. this is another shirt from you, in case you forgot ;)

* Fall Decor/Shower Gift Giving

2011-10-24T00:12:00.001-05:00

Remember me attending Jayme's baby shower on 10.2.11? Well with Jayme's due date just a couple of days away {10.25} Baby Bee's arrival is on my mind! I also got to thinking... I never did post the cute gift idea that Hammer and I created for Jayme.

I spotted the idea via fellow blogger, to which she spotted on pintrest. The gift: a flower arrangement made of baby onesies, wash clothes, socks, booties, etc... I loved the very cute idea and thought it was perfect for Jayme. Being that her and Scottie will soon be welcoming their Fall baby, we gave it a fall spin. Also, Jayme loves a good potted flower ;) So I took this idea, ran with it and together, the brain power of both Hammer and I created exactly what I found pictured. We had a fun evening putting the arrangement together- and it was the perfect project that allowed for some good girl talk and craft time. Even Aaron had a helping hand in this project- he couldn't resist a good project.

Here we prep...

Here we construct...

Here we LOVE our finished product- TOTAL dorks!

Have you logged onto pinterst yet and what project{s} have you been inspired to re-create?

* October Cooking Class

2011-10-23T23:44:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that this months cooking class has come and gone and it's already the last week of the month! Where is the time going!? With the first EVER Tuesday class being canceled- I, along with so many others, was in attendance for the second {only} class of the month.

I had mentioned that we would be enjoying a squash menu, maybe much like our menu in 2009- this very different menu was pretty darn tasty, surprisingly. I am not a squash fan- but really enjoyed just about everything on the menu. While using Wildtree's {come back item} Absolutely Onion Blend we had *Apple- Cheddar- Squash- Soup, *Turkey Tetrazzini served on Spaghetti Squash and *Butternut Squash Pasta Bake. The class favorite was HANDS DOWN the soup- now, to me- this doesn't sound too great on paper apple/cheddar/squash soup!? but... this soup has SO much flavor and only got better the longer is sat- so yummy! I will be making this one for the chilly winter days/nights ahead.

After dinner we all enjoyed a slice from the warm Caramel Apple Spice Cake- this was a great piece of cake. Again perfect for the fall weather and chilly temps.

We had a lot of fun in this class- it was a large group with some new members. Everyone had so much fun cooking up a storm that for the first time in cooking class history- we flipped the breaker for the kitchen and we were all cooking int he dark for a few minutes. This was proof that there never really is a dull moment in the kitchen when having fun and making friends at cooking class!

With it being the last week of the month- we are that much closer to November's {November!!??} cooking class- I hope to see you there!

* Big Tractors

2011-10-23T22:18:00.000-05:00

Harvest back in Minn Lake also includes tractor riding and LOTS of it! I couldn't wait to get Avrie in the tractor. I have always loved being able to hop into the tractor with Aaron and spending a couple of hours going up and down the field and just talking about whatever!

This year was especially fun having Avrie in the tractor with us as well. I do admit I was a little bit like "um... does she need her carseat in here!?" haha such a "cityit" {city/idiot} i am, but in order to keep Avrie comfortable, we didn't cruise around with her along for too long. Avrie seemed to enjoy her ride and after MANY attempts I was able to get at least one good self photo of the three of us, this might be a runner up for our Christmas card this year ;) After filling the grain cart with a load of corn- Aaron brought us back to the car and Avrie had so much fun she went right to sleep once back in the car.

Next year when Avrie is just over year old- she will really get a kick out of riding with her daddy in the big green tractor!

* Harvest Cooking 2011

2011-10-23T21:53:00.001-05:00

In Aaron's family, it's been a tradition for all of the girls to gather and spend the afternoon making homemade eggrolls and wontons. We decided to do this during harvest this year- during our second weekend back home to Minn Lake, Avrie and I got to join in on this venture for the first time!

We gathered all of our things and headed on over to Kris' house to cook in her nice big kitchen. Krista arrived with the groceries and in no time everyone was given a task and we go to making these fabulous creations!

Hannah was such a big help- she played with Avrie, helped wrap eggrolls and was our runner on the gator. She even took me out for a spin- she's a good driver and LOVED having me in the passenger seat.

The eggrolls were a double batch so we had a lot of mixing to do and a lot of wrapping, but with 5 sets of hands we were done in less time than we had anticipated. After the eggrolls were wrapped we made the wontons- and just for clarification, these were pork/shrimp wontons NOT cream cheese. I don't know about you, but a wonton to me involves cream cheese and a lot of it! These were REALLY good though- no cream cheese needed. YUMMY!

After splitting up our goods to take home and freeze, we made a few of each to taste test before dinner- DELICIOUS!

Avrie had a good time checking out everything that we were working on all afternoon- it was a good afternoon of "pass AV baby", which she loves!

Does your family have any fun baking/cooking traditions?

* Avrie Jo: 16 weeks

2011-10-18T21:19:00.004-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 16 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: this week just flew by! we enjoyed a dinner/visit with cousin Ranam on wednesday night, thursday night {10/13} while mommy was gone working out and out to dinner with gma e- avrie rolled onto her tummy right as i was walking in the door- soo.... naturally i missed it! i am hoping i am there for the next time she rolls. she is getting closer- she just needs to build up some arm strength as she's got it. before we knew it the weekend had arrived and we were already back in minn lake for another weekend of fun. on saturday we spent the afternoon over and auntie kris' and cousin hannah's making home made chicken and pork egg rolls and pork/shrimp wontons. we then made dinner for the group and had it ready for when the guys came in from the field. on sunday {i feel like i am reading the very hungry caterpillar "on saturday"... "on sunday"} avrie went for her first tractor ride with daddy and i! {see photo 111} we met aaron in the field- got a family photo, took a picture of avrie in the buddy seat along side aaron and then the three of us went for a ride. she didnt seem to mind it and even tolerated all of the self photos i was trying to get of the three of us. we then spent the rest of the afternoon working on our halloween costumes until it was time to pack up and head home. i have to say that i am VERY excited about avries costume and still not yet on board with my own- but we still have a couple of weeks for it all to come together.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: conversations with tiki, sucking/chewing on her fingers, taking cat naps on her side, playing with her ball rattle and her zebra/cheetah/mouse rattle thingy. smiling and playing with hannah- avrie had tons of smiles for hannah each day they spent time together- it was really cute!
Dr Appointment(s): no appts this week
We are Thankful for: cold medicine {for daddy} and fall harvest memories with family!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: a playdate tomorrow with miss zoe lanik, and some fall fun and pumpkin carving this weekend over at gma & gpa e's with auntie jamie, uncle michael and cousins tristan, victoria and gabriel!

* 5 bones!

2011-10-18T20:56:00.000-05:00

Today our little girl... TIKI is 5 years old!

It has been a crazy year for Tiki- she has lived 4 full seasons in our house and seems to love it more and more each day. She has her favorite spots around the house- loves running outside and we have only had problems with her by the road only a couple of times. I was SO worried about the road and Tiki having the freedom to run, but she has definitely claimed our 10 acres as HER territory.

Tiki ALSO became a big sister this year- she was a little unsure about what was going on as my belly grew bigger and bigger and when the week came she was a weird dog doing weird things- she knew there was a HUGE change coming. Aaron and I were a little unsure about how she would be with a baby in the house, but she has handled it VERY well and really loves Avrie. I will say this though... she now has a few more gray hairs in her coat.

I wanted to get a photo of Tiki all day today- but she has been burrowed in the blankets most of the day. So my photo is of me "disturbing" her millionth nap of the day. It has gone from 80 degrees to 50 degrees in a little over a week and she is not cool with that. Tiki loves warm weather and could for sure move south for the winter! ;)

I did, however, get her attention when I ripped open a bag of her favorite treats this afternoon and also when I gave her a new chew toy/treat! Two of her all times favs.

With 5 years under Teek's belt I want to name 5 things that Tiki [still] loves:

cheese
naps
chasing/playing with kitty cats
car rides
her moose-y moose

Happy Birthday Tiki Babe~

we are so happy to have the best doggy AH-ROUND!

* Lucky 13

2011-10-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Avrie is pretty lucky to have so many "favorite aunties" in her life! Today is one's birthday! Auntie Krista!

It's been a lot of fun seeing family more with baby around. I went back and found a photo of Krista and Avrie when she was less than a week old- and then used a photo from this past weekend when we were down in Minn Lake- Avrie is getting so big and so fast and Krista- as usual, auntie looks good on you!!

We hope that you enjoyed your day today and we look forward to a fun girls day on Saturday!

{love, A, Aa & baby a}

* Avrie Jo: 15 weeks

2011-10-11T23:34:00.000-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 15 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: hanging out in her size 1 diapers! that's right, this week avrie has finally outgrown newborn diapers. i was sad by this- and even thought about keeping one of those tiny diapers and then realized that that was silly... so she is in the 1s now and they are HUGE but in no time they will be just as snug as the last size. i say hanging out in her diaper because i have a very hot little baby. she gets too warm too fast and our 80 degree october weather isn't helping. remember all of those warm clothes i went out to buy for her?? yeah, well... we haven't really had a chance to wear them yet! three of her photos from this week are of her just in her diaper- we were down in minn lake on the farm for the weekend and the hot heat had the house a cookin'! baby girl had heat rash on her belly, chest and legs- diaper time took care of this and the rash has since gone away again {no redness just bumps}. i am going to talk to the doc about this at her 4mo appt. hot baby = heat rash, what to do?? after a busy weekend in minn lake hanging out with our family of the south, we returned home sunday night and have really taken it easy each night since. tonight avrie, daddy and i headed out to gather a few supplies for this years costume making! any guesses as to what i might have in mind for baby and i??
Avrie's current favorite activity is: this week, she is REALLY loving it when we lift her head, back and shoulders off the ground by her hands. her neck is getting stronger by the day! today we even tried a little couch sitting time{see photo 106} it was pretty comical watching her slow mo into a lean/fall face first. i never let her face smash down in front of her- but oh boy... we have some work to do in the sitting department. tummy time is getting longer and longer each day- she loves hanging out on her belly and just kicking her feet and "talking" to anything/anyone that is listening to her :) avrie also really loves "standing" {see photo 104} she really gets a kick out of stomping her feet and stretching out those strong legs of hers. speaking of her legs- most everyone that holds avrie always comments on how strong her legs are- again she is always kicking them, she uses them to turn her self 180 degrees in a circle anytime she is hanging out on the floor and she loves to bridge her back- she is doing this ALL. OF. THE. TIME!
Dr Appointment(s): no appts this week.
We are Thankful for: A/C in the month of October! and ABC linking foam pads

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: another weekend back in minn lake this weekend {we had so much fun last weekend} we will be spending saturday afternoon making egg rolls and wontons with the aunties and also working on our halloween costumes with gma sonnek. we are also looking forward to a visit with cousins amber and randy tomorrow night!

* Baby Bee

2011-10-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

I am a little behind in getting this post up, but had to share the fun had at Baby Bee's Baby shower last Saturday. Jayme is getting SO close to her due date- Baby Bee is due to arrive on Oct 25th, i. can't. wait!

Her sister in law, Erin, hosted the shower at her beautiful home in Blaine. Avrie and I headed on over to the shower and arrived at 11:30am on the dot. Avrie was fed and actually ready for a nap- so we just hung out and soon enough she was content taking a little snooze in her car seat. Jamie's niece {Erin's daughter} Braxton {along with her cousin Olivia} was very excited to see baby Avrie. Braxton even gave Avrie a little hug- it was super cute. She was shy/nervous but really loved seeing another baby. She is going to be a great big sister when Erin's #2 arrives in January.

After everyone had arrived and settled, lunch was served and after all of the guests were thru with their meals we played two baby shower games. Time and time again... I have to brag that I am still REALLY good at baby shower games! Once again I won "How big is Mommy's Belly". I say once again because I remember winning this same shower game at Hammer's shower a few years back! haha Oh yeah and not only did I win again, but I was EXACT again! seriously... I knew that I didn't have much to work with though- Jayme's belly is itty bitty!

I look forward to the day when I hear from Jayme and Scottie in Baby Bee's arrival. They also waited to find out baby's gender. I am TOTALLY voting a little adorable baby girl! I am also guessing that she will go before her due date. She just had that look/gave that vibe of her being pretty close to having that baby. She is ready!

After gifts, dessert, Avrie's bottle, some photos and a little bit of visiting- Avrie and I headed on out and wished the soon to be parents well in these last few weeks! We can't wait to meet baby Bee!

* happy belated

2011-10-09T11:26:00.001-05:00

It's never really too late to wish those that you love a happy birthday, right!?

This wish is a day late and I almost wasn't able to squeeze in a birthday phone call yesterday to gpa.

When I finally was able to give him a call, somewhere around 7:30pm, he had already enjoyed what sounded like the perfect day- cruising around in one of his MANY old cars! AND if you know my grandpa you know that his phone rings non stop on a normal day... and putting together a guy who knows EVERYONE and with all of those "everyones" knowing it's his birthday- you can imagine that his phone would be ringing off the hook all. day. long! You would need to time your call just right to get thru because with having no voicemail and no call waiting on his cell phone, it's one call at a time.

So anyway- we chatted for a few minutes last night- enough for him to share his fun day with me and to tell me that he actually had "forgotten" his phone at home that morning- to which he said "grandma said the morning and afternoon was rather relaxing" hahaha! too funny.

My photo for this post, of my young gramps, are the most recent I have of him and I together at Amber & Randy's wedding and then a photo of him and his latest great-grand baby. He seems to be checking Avrie out- making sure she's a keeper. So far Avrie has been lucky like me in the fact that we both have grandpa Schlomka's pretty blue eyes!

Happy Belated Birthday Grandpa! We love you!

fall colors, coming soon!

2011-10-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

Last week, as I was walking down to the mail box, I passed under one of our trees, looked up and this is what I saw...

This week it's like a WHOLE new yard! One of these afternoons, I have to get out and take some photos around the yard- the colors here in our yard are always SO PRETTY!

* Avrie Jo: 14 weeks

2011-10-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 14 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: making friends! on sunday we went to baby bee's baby shower, braxton {jayme and scottie's niece} and olivia really loved peaking at baby. braxton even gave avrie a hug and the girls "helped" me change avrie's diaper- it was too cute! after the shower, avrie got a little play time in with auntie jamie and cousin gabriel- he just LOVES his cousin "AV". this week avrie and i started our monday afternoon 0-12 months play group! we met 7 babies and 7 mommies- after singing songs, sharing stories and playtime on the colorful mates, all of the babies were ready for naps! it will be a lot of fun playing with these babies each week. our group has 3 boys and 5 girls, ranging anywhere from 3 weeks to 9 months old. group will go until the middle of may. avrie has also been pretty busy running around with mom and getting a lot of errands taken care of this week.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: we are always so amazed with every day and the fact that avrie is doing something different each day. for example today- with her working on her rolling- instead of just laying on her side, all day today she would lay on her side and furthermore tuck her chin into her chest and roll her face into the floor while twisting her legs over- now if she could just figure out how those arms of hers work, she'd be on her belly from her back like that! i will let her take all the time she needs- i hear once they roll they are all of a sudden crawling then walking and there is NO going back after that. we are still quite a few months away from crawling/walking, but again so fun to see her working her way towards the beginning stages of this. avrie is also really loving her hands. she is now to the point where her hands are usually clasped together and stuck in her mouth- figuring those guys out really keeps her busy.
Dr Appointment(s): no appts this week.
We are Thankful for: play groups and warm sunshine in the month of october!

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: this weekend we are headed down to minn lake and we will be BUSY making the rounds, EVERYONE wants to see avrie and how big she is getting. it will be fun, busy and exhausting. i am excited though, i haven't been down to minn lake since july for festag!

LOVE

2011-10-03T17:29:00.000-05:00

we love this baby...

...more than words can fully describe!

farmers widow

2011-09-30T21:05:00.000-05:00

Aaron sent me this photo once he was home and in the field- GREAT photo of the combine and sun!

This weekend marks the first weekend of Aaron being home in Minn Lake to help with Fall Harvest. Since Avrie and I have plans on Sunday we stayed back. Everyone back in Minn Lake can't wait for us to arrive next weekend though. I don't think Aaron would be able to go home two weekends in a row without having baby and I along.

Cheers to the weekend!

5 years- what "wood" you do?

2011-09-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

I am SO happy to wish BFF and hubby Ben a VERY HAPPY 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TODAY!

I went waaaay back into my facebook photos and found the album from their wedding and picked a few favs- I have the same favs every year when looking back on their day. But that's ok- remembering a wedding day is all about looking at those favorite photos again & again, right!?

While the lovely dovey couple is away {BY THEMSELVES} enjoying a weekend at the North Shore- I will type up a little something here so that they know that I am thinking of them here. :)

This photo is so cute:

and yes, they are cute like this all of the time.

This photo is one of my favorites of Lana and I:

I say it every year, but we look SO young here!

This photo is of Aaron and I.... really!?

my caption on facebook for this one:

"I hate this pic, but I think it's funny to laugh at... Aaron has a big hand and I look like I am doing anything BUT dancing! hahahah"

This photo is of Ben & Lana being the awesome friends that they are and five years later...

...being by our side when our sweet little baby a arrived!

With wood being the 5 year anniversary gift. I am wondering what "WOOD" I do... Aaron and I have a few more years to catch up to these two! Happy Anniversary Ben & Lana we love you a whole ~~BRANCH~~ BUNCH! Have a super fun weekend and have a couple of long islands... and takes photos next to a birch tree or two will ya! ;)

1... 2... 3!?

2011-09-29T00:51:00.000-05:00

tonight i am up late... and i am not sure what has me awake THIS late!?

maybe it's the fact that just three months ago i was also up SUPER late marveling at our new bundle of joy...

man oh man, i just can't believe that baby a is already 3 months old! she's is getting SO big!

check out how much baby has grown in the last 3 months! here we have Avrie in her white onesie with her monthly stickers, 1-3:

i like putting her onto a patterned background each month- i need to get out and find some fun fabrics for the months to come.

and here we have mommy and baby- first is us at 1 week:

{soooo little!}

and then here we are again @ 1/2/3months!

{i like to make sure i am wearing black so that baby really sticks out in the photo-

she is the shining star in these photos!}

fun fact about the photos of mommy/baby. we take this picture each month in the same spot of the house- which was ALSO my spot for my weekly belly photo photo, seen below.

every thursday i would set up shop and take a photo each morning {which is way my face is never showing- scaaarryyyy} i wore the same pair of pants and a basic white tank. i am so happy that i was able to take this photo every single week- it's so fun looking back on and thinking, whoa... there was a baby in there!?

my belly photos went all the way thru 38 weeks {baby was born at 39.4wks}- so i am only missing one and the 2nd trimester is actually me at 13weeks thru 27weeks- the photo says 14wks - 27wks.

so.... in what ways are you documenting your baby/belly's growth!? there are SO many fun ideas out there.

i dont know about you but i love having fun things like this to look forward to each month-

it will be SO fun for Avrie to look back on later in life.

* Avrie Jo: 13 weeks

2011-09-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 13 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: we had a fun week just hanging out. lana came over this weekend and took a great photo with avrie and baby even SMILED for the photo! {see photo 89} as soon as that camera is out, avrie is 'oh so serious' its pretty regular for avrie to wake up happy and be very chatty through the day. i look forward to good morning smiles from my sunshine and daddy looks forward to stories from avrie on how our day went. in photo 92 we are outside because chase {dan & ann's youngest son} got his 1st deer on our land. avrie i headed outside to get a few pictures. she wasn't too impressed with the dead buck :P
Avrie's current favorite activity is: a lot of hanging out has allowed avrie to become very vocal, i feel like i say this every week but she is talking/singing more and more every day. AND last night {9/26} avrie rolled over from her tummy onto her back- 4 times! hehe it was pretty cute, she didn't really know what she was doing but it was still really fun to see.
Dr Appointment(s): no appts this week, but i did make her 4month appt which will be on 11/1 and i also had to make a call into the nurse- avrie had what appeared and we have concluded as heat rash. she woke up on saturday morning with red bumps on her chest and belly- but she was the same baby, they were not itchy and she didn't have a fever.
We are Thankful for: BFF sleepovers and chinese food ;)

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: this weekend we have a fun baby shower for jayme b and her baby bee that is on his/her way!

* September Cooking Class

2011-09-23T00:04:00.003-05:00

Having a "food on a stick" themed class following the MN State Fair was VERY fun exciting- who doesn't love food on a stick!? I attended both classes this month; one with baby and the second round was sans baby. I love having Avrie with but then again I don't get a chance to help make any of the food when I have her along. So... she stayed home with her daddy at my repeat class.

Both classes were a success and the food on a stick was delicious both times! There was a lot going on at class; between a lot of fun conversation, making all of the goodies and then eating all of the cute food- it was a busy & fun evening both nights.

At class #1 Kristina and I had fun talking babies and letting our babies hang out for the night- hehe. At one point, Avrie decided that she wanted to eat RIGHT NOW- so she let us all know and when it was time to talk with Nolan, she wasn't really into having a conversation with him. It's only been twice that the two babies have met but it's fun seeing the month change between our visits.

Our menu was one of the largest to date- it was kind of like a day at the fair but on a much smaller scale. We enjoyed ALL of the following; Bacon wrapped Shrimp Scampi Skewers, Olive Scampi Roll-ups, Caprese Bites brushed in a Grapeseed Oil & Scampi blend, Mini Corn Dogs w/ Scampi seasoned batter, Mini Salami Sub Bites, Mini Ham & Cheese Sub Bites and Grilled Chicken Salad on a Stick w/ a Scampi cream dip. Wow, see what I mean- so much food! I could have snacked on this food all night long- again just like at the fair. I could walk around and eat all day long! Again, there is just something about "food on a stick".

All items included the POM of Wildtree's Scampi Blend. Most people think of "shrimp" and only shrimp when they hear the word "scampi" but this is one of the most versatile products that Wildtree has to offer. As you can see we used it in anywhere from mini appetizers to grilled salad! If you love garlic and a blast flavor, you will be a fan of WT's scampi blend.

To cleanse our palates we were able to enjoy a very sweet and tart 'made from scratch' popsicle treat! This was the ultimate "on a stick" item featured at class. This snazzy popsicle maker, is one of Cheryl's newest gadgets. AND it is a 2011 State Fair purchase- she was/is SO excited to make popsicles and most of all- very excited to "save money" while making her own frozen treats!

It was another great month of cooking, with great company! Class for the month of October will be here before we know it! Come on back and be ready to get in your veggie fix in. We will be having squash in more ways than you ever thought to be possible. I wonder if it will be anything like our squash class back in 2009?

To you... Mrs Worthington!

2011-09-22T22:21:00.000-05:00

It's this beautiful girl's birthday today!

{photo by Happily Ever After Photography}

Amber, Happy Happy Birthday! I hope that your 24th birthday as a Mrs. was wonderful and that the Mr. was able to help you celebrate and make your day extra special!

Love, Andrea

* Avrie Jo: 12 weeks

2011-09-20T12:50:00.019-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 12 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: we had a fun week hanging out at cooking class and seeing our friend nolan again. on thursday, avrie spent an evening running errands with daddy while he got ready for his weekend up north. to keep busy while dad was gone all weekend, avrie and i spent a really fun weekend SHOPPING with gma E, auntie jamie and gabriel. avrie's fall wardrobe is now complete- she is going to be the cutest little girl on this block! we finished out our week spending with gg schlomka on monday afternoon. gg helping out/spending various afternoons here with avrie REALLY helps me out in the office, i really really appreciate it!
Avrie's current favorite activity is: she is becoming more and more fascinated with her hands. she spends a lot of time looking at her hands, hanging on to anything that makes noise, sucking on her fingers and drooling. she is starting to really explore her world around her these days- hands in the mouth, the occasional bath towel/blankie/toy gets slobbered on as she is tries to figure out exactly what it is ;)
Dr Appointment(s): no appts this week.
We are Thankful for: heat & fleece sleepers

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: hang time with daddy this week- he's been really busy and we miss spending down time with him. time with gma & gpa ertle tonight while daddy and i go out for date night and then a visit with "auntie" lana later this weekend!

* shopping!

2011-09-18T00:02:00.000-05:00

Instead of "back to school" shopping- Avrie and I enjoyed some "baby's 1st Fall Season" shopping! While daddy is away up North for the weekend, we planned to go shopping with gma Ertle to the Albertville Outlet mall. You gotta LOVE this spot- SO many stores, SO little time!

I had it on my list to shop the following items for baby; any and all long sleeved items, a jacket, sleepers and play sets for everyday wear and clearance items for next summer.

Now onto our days' adventure. First of all, Jamie and Gabriel joined us- which made our day that much more fun! I love spending time with my sister and her little monster ;) Actually, Gabriel is the best behaved monster- he did SO well with NO NAP. YAH gaby! Avrie on the other hand, napped... the ENTIRE TIME! She napped on the way to lunch {woke up to eat while we ate} and then almost 5 hours later she woke up long enough to realize that HEY she is hungry! It's quite apparent that she enjoys being comfy and cozy in her stroller. With the cooler weather, I will need to start making a stroller walk a regular routine. I envisioned TONS of walking this summer, but the nasty heat and gross bugs spoiled all of that fun!

After dipping in and out of various stores and a few hours later, here is what I ended up with for baby girl.

I still debating whether or not to share this photo "new wardrobe" with daddy ;) Either way Avrie will be comfy, adorable and warm this Fall! Within ALL of these items, unfortunately I wasn't able to find ANY jackets small enough to fit a 6 to 9month old {well nothing that I liked- I don't want a huge puffy pink and polka dot jacket for baby, sorry}. So a quick trip to Kohls tomorrow will be in order, let's hope I have better luck and I don't overdo it ;)

Thank you Mom and Jamie for the fun day!

* Mommy Reads...

2011-09-14T18:05:00.001-05:00

I don't typically read more than one book at a time, but having my nose buried in 5 different books pretty much sums up my current reading style these days. Let me explain.

First, here are the 5 books that I am currently reading:

"Chicken Soup for New Moms" is SO GREAT! This is a book to read a story or two from at night before bed- almost every single story has me laughing out loud because I can TOTALLY relate. This book has been great in reminding me that I am not the ONLY mom out there that worries about this and that, etc. This can be a perfect book for either yourself with being a new Mom or a great gift to include for a Mommy to-be.

Jenny McCarthy's "Baby Laughs" book it just plain hilarious! I read her book Belly Laughs in a day while I was pregnant. This book is much tha same, but again I can relate to her stories on a different level- being a MOM! If I were you, and if you are a mom {soon to be mom} add this one to your collection as well.

Jaycee's book "A Stolen Life" is just down right sad... so, so, so.... sad. I hate to think that there are people like her kidnapper out there. It's SO interesting that 1% of the population {per this book} are victim of kidnapping. I have my own memory/story about a "kidnapper" and at one point in my life I had wanted to do something in the field of helping families who have suffered, who do suffer from kidnapping- but there is NO way my heart would be able to let go and leave that kind of work at the office. I am just SO happy that life finally fell into place for Jaycee and that she was brave enough to share her story with the world. I am still not done with this book {I have been reading it here and there on my Mom's nook} but I am to the point where she "escaped" and her story is truly unbelievable!

Todd Burpo's family story "Heaven is for Real" is the exact reason that we need to start attending church on a regular basis. This story had me, still has me thinking... some of the details in this book are so hard to believe but after reading about it you can't NOT believe it, check it out- this book is a quick read, I started it and finished it in less than a week.

And finally... I am currently reading "The Bone House" by Brian Freeman. This author is husband to a high school classmate of my Mom's- so a local author in a way. He has a series of books, but The Bone House is a book that is solo from the series. It's not my typical read {murder mystery} but so far the story has me hooked and I can't wait to find out "who done it!?"

...so why again am I reading 5 books at once- well... if I thought baby brain was crazy while being pregnant- it's WORSE when being an actual Mom! My concentration levels are not as high as they used to be and I can only get so far in a book before baby needs mommy- so... finding books that have stories within are the best and nothing all too serious and involved are great as well.

...Any suggestions on what I should pick up next!?

Silly Dog...

2011-09-14T17:35:00.000-05:00

Do you remember this post from last month {Tiki and the Bouncy Chair}...

Well, I am starting to think that Tiki thinks that SHE is the baby in the house.

Last night I found her here:

"No, Tiki... that is for baby..."

Then today, I found her playing under the hutch with one of Avrie's paci's:

"No, No Tiki... that is for baby..."

...I swear she is still loved the same BUT all of this just might be her saying "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"

...does your furry little friend play tricks on you with baby's things as well?

"AMC you later"

2011-09-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

"AMC you later" was the send off that the theater guy was telling everyone as we exited the movie "The Help" on Friday night. It thought it was kind of funny...

Anyway- last Friday late afternoon Mom and I met our friends Kelly and Bridget for an early dinner and the 7:10 showing of "The Help" at Rosedale's AMC theater {now you see where the "AMC you later" comes in...?}.

We enjoyed a nice meal with some half-priced cocktails at Flame Restaurant. It was pretty good- nothing for me to really write too much about. I wasn't wow'ed or anything, pretty classic American food menu, but I do remember seeing "8 hour pot roast" on the menu. And I did say "If we were going to a movie, I would probably order this, yummmm".

Soon it was movie time, so we headed on over to claim our tickets- grabbed some snacks, found our seats and couldn't wait for the movie to start. All four of us were able to read and finish the book in the last year- so we couldn't wait to see if the movie was as good/great as the book- it was!

I feel that the movie was a great display of hope, friendship and acceptance. The movie followed the book pretty darn close, there were a couple of scenes that were either unfamiliar to me- or were just a tad different from the book, but fit in really well with the story.

If you haven't seen it yet, grab a good girlfriend and hit the movies- this one does not disappoint. Oh and... don't forget a tissue or two or three!? The movie has you laughing to crying in a matter of seconds- but then it will have you back to laughing before you know it. overall, we loved "The Help".

...did you see this movie or read the book, what'd you think!?

* Avrie Jo: 11 weeks

2011-09-13T13:32:00.000-05:00

This week:

Avrie is: 11 weeks old!
Avrie had a busy week doing the following: growing... again! she has really enjoyed her sleep- which can only mean that is where her growing is taking place. she is back to long stretches of sleep {10-12hours} at night. she is officially eating 5 oz bottles 4 out of 6 feedings each day. she is starting to fill up her 3 month onesies that she has been wearing lengthwise the past two weeks. i packed up almost all of her newborn clothes and even shed a tear or two when i had to pack away her first pair of jammies, her going home from the hospital outfit and her first "going out" outfit from the 4th of july. aside from sleeping, this week, between spending time with family and friends- we have just spent a lot of time just hanging out. we took a walk on the gravel at gma ertle's on saturday and she loved the bumpy ride- it put her right to sleep for the entire walk.
Avrie's current favorite activity is: over the weekend i picked up a floor gym for her- she loves looking all the bright colors moving above her head- she isn't hitting at object quite yet, but she is doing A LOT of kicking. its the best playing/talking with avrie- she will move her entire body as she tries to get just one "word" out- i love it! we are working on tummy time- again she still isn't really enjoying the time flat on her belly- but we're working on it.
Dr Appointment(s): no appts this week.
We are Thankful for: cooler temps & auntie jamie time.

Next week:
Avrie is looking forward to: tonight we have cooking class and "getting ready for fall" shopping this weekend with gma ertle. daddy and gpa ertle will be up north at the cabin, joining gpa sonnek, uncle brad and cousins ryan and ethan.

* Labor Day Weekend O'fun

2011-09-07T23:28:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Labor Day Weekend in the perfect spot, the lake!

We headed up to the lake on Saturday late morning- to spend the next two days just hanging out and relaxing.

I admit that things get a little blurry for me {details wise} when baby is along. I am too focused on where she is what she is doing etc... to make mental note of what's really going on around me! haha I hope this gets better with time.

We arrived Saturday afternoon and after {what seemed like} our entire house was unloaded from the car, we settled in and joined the crowd already having cabin fun. Soon after getting settled we headed out for a boat cruise. It looked like rain but we were up for it anyway. The rain held off JUST long enough for us to get to the other end of the lake. As soon as we were off the boat it started pouring a few minutes later- it was a close call, otherwise we would have all had showers! I am not so sure that Avrie would have enjoyed that, but she DID love the boat ride!

She was too cute in her new purple hat and Charlotte's life vest. She pretty much slept the whole way. The ride back to the cabin was a bit chilly but with her fuzzy blankie on board she stayed warm.

We had our favorite guests with us for our mini weekend. Chad with his fiance Kristin were along and so was Kyle! This was our last bit of time with Mr. Kyle before his big move out to Washington state. We were SO happy to have these good friends with us- we are going to miss Kyle SO much... I was very happy that he agreed to hold Avrie for a picture {or two or three}. He was a little bit scared because A. she is little and B. she is a baby... two things that had him putting this off until his last day home.

I realized that again with baby in tow- I take pictures of ALMOST nothing BUT baby! HA. But I did get this picture below. It's of the group on our way over to Trail's End- all factors pointed out sum up the fun that we have in making our boat rides awesome.

To wrap up our weekend and after cleaning up the cabin before hitting the road- we had to take family photos out by the lake. It was the perfect weekend to end our summer and to welcome fall that is hanging by very close in the air- we had overnight temps in the low 40s- it was AWESOME wearing jeans and sweatshirts!

Getting back here in May for our annual Memorial Day Weekend with Avrie being 11 months old- will be SO FUN! We can't WAIT!

* State Fair 2011

2011-09-07T21:54:00.000-05:00

Aaron and I made it out to the fair ONCE this year. You all know how much I love to enjoy the fair trip after trip after trip... but this year was a doozy! By this I mean that, physically, I might not have been fully ready to walk for 5 hours straight. It was a first time that I have EVER wanted {I mean} uttered the words "let's go" while at the fair. Anyway... all of that aside, now on to our fun day at the fair!

After Aver's {that and AV is what we typically find ourselves calling baby girl} 2month well check GG schlomka arrived to watch her for the afternoon while Aaron and I were out. I would have LOVED to take baby with us for her first fair visit, but it was a HOT day and... she is way too young- in our opinion. Maybe she can join us in the next couple of years- once she will actually remember it.

We arrived at the fair grounds around 12:30pm dying to devour any and all kinds of fair foods! First stop was 'porkchop' on a stick. {i don't have a picture of everything we ate, too busy eating- but we tried to get a picture of almost everything} after pork chop on a stick we headed in & back out of the Dairy Building and then into the Agriculture building and found MN's Wine Farm's stand, yum. We decided to sample the 'MN trio'. We went with three sweet wines- all for me! ;) Following the Ag bldg we headed for the Food Building, I was in search of 'cream cheese wontons' found them right away and they were DELICIOUS... I almost wish I would have gone back and had them a second time that day. After we made our way out of the food bldg we stopped at the Leinie Lodge and headed up the hill to tour the arts & crafts & 4-H buildings. Our niece Hannah's quilt was on display and she ended up winning a blue ribbon.

After all of the buildings we were now ready for our 'Pronto Pup' fix- I'll take mine with "ketchup & extra mustard please". We walked up to the Pet Center and walked 'Machinery Hill' {aka 'lawn mower hill'}. Aaron's next food stop was for a 'Foot Long Hotdog w/ fried onions'- I only had a cherry coke here. We then head on down to the KFAN booth to meet up/run into Doc & Hammer- I stopped for a "Dole Whip' twist cone on the way. Yummy.... this was extremely tasty & refreshing on this hot day. After our mini pit stop we made it a point to seek and find the new hot item 'deep fried cookie dough'. Luckily there was a stand with REALLY cold milk right next door. Aaron and I took a seat for this item- it was REALLY good and REALLY RICH! After this mini break- we headed on over to the Grand Stand- where we never really find anything, but it's still fun to walk around and see the same stuff we've seen year after year.

After tour de grand stand, we made our way over to The Perfect Pickle stand for our 'Gourmet Pickles' this, hands down, is mine and Aaron's shared favorite. As soon as we were done with the pickles we walked the horse barn, cow barn and ended the animal sites with a HUGE disappointment in the hog barn... the fair's "Largest Boar" had gone home early! I don't ever remember this happening in the past- it's a HUGE {literally} and HUGE fair attraction and I am sure that we weren't the only ones bummed to NOT see the biggest piggy this year. Aaron and I quickly ran through a list of reasons as to why the pig would have been gone only a couple days into the fair- our final answer... "he must have ran out of OINKment" HAHAHAHAHA {we thought that was pretty funny}.

Once done with all of the animals- we decided to plan for our last leg of the fair, it was about now that I was getting to be really tired, wore out and feeling pretty sore. So to end our 2011 fair experience we walked the coliseum stands, grabbed a small bucket of fries, and A & W rootbeer walked the DNR building and then I had ONE more 'Pronto Pup'- now I was stuffed and now we were done at the fair... insert "let's go" here.

{a glimpse down "Judson Ave." soooo many people on a Monday afternoon}

This year there were 1,769,872 fair goers- were you one of them and what was your favorite food this year?