Wichita Falls Trip

Last week Avery and I made a trip to Wichita Falls - my hometown and "God's country" according to my dad.

We go back there about every 6 weeks. Why 6 weeks? Because, yes, I still get my hair done there. I go to the same lady who has done it since early college. Every time I've gotten it done in Dallas, I've paid double and ended up with super short orange hair. But that's not the whole reason. I can't stay away from my family very long, so it also gives me a good excuse to visit. And they like seeing me... or Avery. 

The drive was a little more treacherous than normal. As I left Allen, I noticed my gas tank was about half full. I should have stopped but I thought a half a tank could get me there. More on that later.

I don't go the way most people go from Dallas to WF. Since we are so far north, it is about the same distance for me to go up to Sherman and take 82. There is less traffic and more places for me to pull over with Avery if I need to. Overall I just feel like it's a safer route. I also love feeling like I'm in the country. And I love driving through Nocona. My best friend in high school, Sandy, lived there for a while and I think I spent every weekend of my sophomore year there.

Anyway my gas tank started to dip quicker than expected but it started POURING rain. Who wants to pump gas in the rain?? Plus Avery was asleep and if there's one rule we live by at my house it is NEVER wake the baby!

The rain stopped around Saint Jo (if you recognize any of the towns I have named so far, you are a true Texan), but I guess I zoned out on memories in Nocona because getting gas was the last thing on my mind. Then my gas light came on. If you're familiar with this route, you know there is NOTHING for miles. Yes, there's Ringgold, but there's no gas stations there. 

I've always judged people who ran out of gas. I always wondered how dumb you had to be. I mean do you not see your tank gauge or gas light? I also knew that if I did run out of gas, the person I would be forced to call would be my dad. He thinks his tank is low if it is below 3/4 of a tank. I knew that phone call would not be pretty.

Avery was sound asleep in the backseat as I felt my car start to sputter (is that the right word??). I felt like it was my "Jesus Take the Wheel" moment. I've never had a panic attack but I am certain I did right then. I was sure we were running out of gas. I started breathing really fast and my heart was beating out of my chest. I kept praying for God to get me to Henrietta.

We made it to Henrietta.

I feel like I just wrote a lot of build up for nothing. Anyway lesson learned. I will fill up before leaving town from now on. I didn't even tell my dad when I got to town. I didn't want the lecture, but I'm pretty sure my phone will be ringing any second now...

So while in WF Avery got to see Uncle Colby's new apartment. It's really nice and looks out over Lake Wellington.

She also made her first trip to one of my all-time favorite restaurants - Samurai of Tokyo. We figured the guy making the food would keep her entertained. Well instead he scared her and she started crying at the top of her lungs. Here are a few pictures. My mom's going to kill me for the first one.

We also ate at Jason's Deli. They just got one there and they think it's super awesome. I had my fill of Jason's Deli when I worked at IBM. Angie and I went there every day for lunch. So much so our coworkers asked us if we owned stock. But anyway I think my parents wanted to get the all you can eat ice cream. My PE teacher from elementary school was working the door.

Avery is still obsessed with Willie, and now that she can crawl, he's in trouble.

We had a great time and can't wait to go back... in a few weeks...

Valentine's Day

Rustin took me to eat at III Forks for dinner for Valentine's Day. I've wanted to go there for years. When we were in college this guy took Andrea on a date there and she came back telling me how awesome it was, so I've always wanted to try it. We went the week before Valentine's because they were doing a free wine tasting and we wanted to avoid the crowds. (Does that make us old??) Rustin also had a coupon for free dessert so we enjoyed some key lime pie with our steak :) It was really good, but for our 1st anniversary we went to Fearings and we both agree that place is still the best!

We usually don't really exchange gifts but Rustin snuck out in the morning and got me a Starbucks drink (my fave!) and these pretty flowers! I definitely needed the Starbucks because Avery woke up for the day at 5:40 am! 

I guess Avery couldn't sleep later because she was excited for her first Valentine's Day. She got cards from her grandparents and great grandparents. She also had a cute outfit Andrea gave her. Here are a few pictures-

My mom was here that week, and we had a lot of fun! I never want her to leave. I felt like I didn't have any good pictures of Avery and I since I dyed my hair so I made my mom do a "photo shoot" of us. (I know - I'm a dork.) Our neighborhood has a cool walking trail and a little pier, so that's where we went to get a few pictures.

Speaking of my hair, I'm going to Wichita Falls next week and have a hair appointment. I'm still torn on whether or not to keep it dark. I like it better highlighted but get tired of the upkeep. But I have seriously found tons of gray hairs recently, so it looks like I'm going to have to color it no matter what! Either way I'm looking forward to going there... I haven't been since Christmas.

Avery's First Christmas

I'm not sure where to even start with this Christmas. It was wonderful because it's the first one I got to spend with my little girl. I didn't find out I was pregnant with her until early January, so last year at Christmas I was praying so hard for her. Now I am so blessed and happy she is here. But it was also an incredibly sad Christmas because my Grandad passed away on the 20th. I think it would just be too hard to try to write one post and combine such opposing emotions, so for this post I am just going to focus on the good parts of this Christmas and write a separate post about my Grandad later.

Avery started off the holidays with a new trick - the night before we left for Wichita Falls (the 18th) she rolled over for the first time! I thought it might be a fluke so I put her back on her tummy to see if she'd do it again and she did, but she hasn't done it since, so I'm not sure what to make of that. I guess she'll do it again when she's ready.

Avery and I left for Wichita Falls on Dec. 19. I was going to spend the week before Christmas with my family since it was Rustin's parents' turn to get us for Christmas this year. I had a hair appointment scheduled on the 20th to dye my hair back to its natural color, and much to my surprise (and I think everyone else's) I actually went through with it... and even like it! I just wanted a change and since my hair is so dark naturally, I felt like I had noticeable roots two weeks after getting my hair highlighted. Plus, it's expensive! Here is a picture of the new look...

We tried to do a photo shoot of Avery in her "First Christmas" outfit my grandma gave her but it didn't go too well because she wouldn't look at the camera and kept making faces like this...



And this...

Also the outfit was very close to being too small, and to make matters worse (or more funny) she kept grabbing her shirt and lifting it up to reveal her poochy little tummy.

We went over to my grandma's and had Christmas lunch and decided to take a few more pictures of Avery with the family.



After lunch we came home and opened presents. I think Avery got the most! She even got a cute little dress all the way from Virginia from Aunt Holly and Uncle Greg!

My grandma and aunt came by a lot that week to visit with Avery and she liked chatting with them. Here is a picture of her doing what she loves - holding her hands and laughing.

I'll end with an update on Avery's sleep habits (my main concern). She is still doing the same thing - only taking 20 minute naps during the day and not going to sleep until around 10 at night. I've tried everything to get her to nap longer and go to bed earlier and nothing works. I guess the only thing I haven't tried is cry it out. I just don't know if I can do it. Part of me thinks that it would be cruel to let her cry like that, but then the other part of me knows that sometimes as a parent you have to do hard things for the benefit of your child. I want her to have healthy sleep habits and for our whole family to be rested, but how? I think I've driven myself crazy reading all the books and their opposing points of view and still feel just as lost. If any moms have any advice on what they did to sleep train their babies, I would love to hear it. I want to do what is best for her, but I just don't know what that is. But I do know that what I'm doing right now is not working and she's not sleeping enough.