Christmas & Secrets

First of all, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! Scott and I had fun bouncing around all week, but we're glad to get back to normal. We got tons of really cool presents, I was most excited for what the Grandmas would get Avery...it was fun having my baby's first Christmas! Scott also was his normal sweet self and got everything I said I wanted...the most important was my recliner that gets here in a couple of weeks...yes, I've had a baby for 3 months and no where to rock her, she's used to being bounced...but that will soon change!! So Christmas was really fun!

For anyone out there who knows me really well, you'll know that I HATE surprises (when I know about them)...and I have a really hard time keeping secrets from my Mom. Well I knew I wanted to get pictures taken of our new little family, and the thought of keeping that a secret from our parents and giving them the cute pics for Christmas seemed like an awesome plan...I had to bite my tongue a million times and Scott's Mom even saw a few, but we made it! And now I can hang mine up, I've had almost 2 months to decide where they are going!!

The New "Crafty" Me

I don't consider myself a "crafty" person at all! But ever since I've gotten married and had a home to decorate, I've started to get an itch for it. Well, my VERY crafty, make-it-yourself and have it look WAY cute mom-in-law learned how to make block letters with scrap book paper glued on, words...if that makes any sense. Scott's cousin Tiffany came over and we crafted all day! Laurie made the word JOY herself, and together we made LOVE and AVERY...they turned out better than I dreamed! We had to draw the letters ourselves, which of course we wanted to be cuter than cute so it took quite a while, anyway...here's the end results!

Too Much Information

1. Do you like bleu cheese? NO.

2. Have you ever smoked? No, I think smoking is disgusting, the smell of it sucks too...especially when I come home and my apartment smells like it because of our neighbors...I think we're going to tell them Avery is allergic to the smell so they'll stop because nothing else has worked and we hate it!!

3. Do you own a gun? No, but we're looking for one for safety.

4. What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite? I like the blue packets...not exactly sure what the flavor is.

5. Do you get nervous about doctor appointments? Yes, especially when I was pregnant, I was always afraid something was going to be wrong.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? I've always hated hot dogs...might of liked them when I was younger, but I don't remember.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? The Santa Clause & It's a Wonderful Life, can't decide!

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I love water at all times.

9. Can you do push-ups? I haven't done push-ups in such a long time, I think it would be a sad sight to see me try.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My beautiful wedding ring!

11. Favorite hobby? I love to read.

12. Do you have ADD? I was actually tested for ADD when I was younger...the test was hard too!!!...and yes I have it.

13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? I don't like that I'm uncomfortable with my body...but I'm working on it!

14. Middle initial? A

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I need to finish laundry, but I'm putting it off because I hate folding, FRIENDS is hilarious and I can't wait until Christmas.

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, juice, Sprite.

17. Current worry? Money

18. Current hate right now? My upstairs neighbors. I'm SO done with living in an apartment...too bad we'll be living in one for the next few years.

19. Favorite place to be? I'm loving the shower. It's time I get all to myself.

20. How did you ring in the new year? I hung out at home with my hubby, happily married for 1 whole month!!

21. Where would you like to go? Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Greece, New York, Florida, California, Seattle, Figi, The Bahamas, a Cruise somewhere...

22. Name 3 people to tag? Katie, Brittney, Cassie

23. Do you own slippers? Yes, and I love them.

24. What shirt are you wearing? A black long sleeved tee.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I'm too poor for satin sheets.

26. Can you whistle? Yes, but I'm not very good at it.

27. Favorite color? It depends...if its house decor I'm really digging deep red, for clothes, I love brown right now.

28. Would you be a pirate? For a day? Sure!

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I never sing in the shower, I have a horrible voice.

30. Favorite girl's name? Avery

31. Favorite boy's name? ? I'm lucky we had a girl because I could never find a boys name that I liked.

32. What's in your pocket right now? I'm wearing gauchos so no pockets.

33. Last thing that made you laugh? My sweet baby giggling for the first time.

34. What vehicle do you drive? Pontiac Bonneville

35. Worst injury? Having my baby.

36. Do you love where you live? I did when we moved in...but then our obnoxious neighbors moved in and now it sucks.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 1

38. Who is your loudest friend? I don't have any loud friends.

39. Do you have any pets? Nope

40. Does someone have a crush on you? Well I'm married, soI hope so.

41. Your favorite book? Twilight.

42. Do you collect anything? Nope.

43. Favorite sports team? I really don't watch sports.

44. What song do you want played at your funeral? That's a weird question that I'm too young to think about!

So in Love.

I never thought I could love something so much. Then my little one came along...I'll never be the same.

One Year & One Baby Later!

We celebrated our one year anniversary on Monday, I told Scott that I wanted a romantic night, and he totally followed through! The night started with me taking Avery to Grandma Boyce' s, Scott wanted me out of the house, so I went shopping until he called me to come home. We really wanted to go to this Italian restaurant, but it was closed on Mondays, so we settled for Olive Garden, which was really yummy! Scott gave me a book called "The Simple Truth About Love", it's a book with funny pictures and sayings, so sweet! Our server saw me opening it, and found out that it was our anniversary, so when she brought us our desert, she had some people sing a song about celebrating..we were kind of embarrassed, but whatever.



Then we drove home and he had me close my eyes while he opened the door, and this is what I opened my eyes to!

There were candles and pink rose petals everywhere!

The song "When You Say Nothing at All" was playing, so we danced to it for awhile, it was the most romantic night of my life! I seriously have the best husband ever, I'm so lucky!

Scott and I met 7 years ago, I was 13, he was 16. My family had just moved to Kennewick, and we were in the same ward. We were going to Seattle for a temple trip and I happened to get into the same car that he was riding in. We hung out the whole time...until he found out how old I was...haha. Then we just stayed friends, he became best friends with my older brother, so he was always over, but with the age difference...neither of us really thought of anything but being friends. Then in the summer of 2007, I was at BYU-I and he was in Kansas City selling alarm systems, we started talking on the phone everyday and things just started happening. He got home in August and we were in engaged in September and then married on December 1st. This has been the biggest year of our lives! We've had a baby, moved twice, got jobs, lost jobs and are in school. I'm so lucky that I've had such an awesome husband, he is my best friend and the one person that knows me best! Here's some cute wedding photos of us one year ago!

Turkey Day!

This was our first Thanksgiving with our little one...we woke up to a screaming baby, who decided to scream all day! By the time we were ready to head over to dinner, we were SO done with little miss cranky pants. It's funny how I used to think her cry was cute...that was before she found her lungs! She calmed down for a few minutes, so we decided to snap some shots with her in her little Thanksgiving outfit, they turned out alright, we couldn't get her to smile...but at that point we were relieved to have some peace, so I'm not going to complain. Luckily when we pulled into Grandma's house Avery was happy, we figured she needed some fresh air and new faces! We ate yummy food and relaxed with the Boyce side, it was fun!

Sweet Avery

The Boyce men (minus Carter)


The Boyce women

We saw this cool truck on our way the mall. It was playing Christmas music too!

The Grandkids!

Then it was off to the Watson side, we get to spend holidays with both sides of our family, it's hard to split the time equally, but we try our best and feel blessed to have so much family around!

I'll Admit It....

Sometimes when I am bored (usually if Avery is napping), I tend to become a blogger junkie. I'll go from one blog to another, finding people that I haven't talked to in a long time, or even people that I've never talked to. Well tonight I came across a blog title that I thought was interesting so I began to read. Come to find out, it's a blog that a young widow created for her late husband. When I say young, I mean really young, they have 3 young girls. Anyway, the woman's husband was in a tragic motorcycle accident and died in May of this year. In the blog she wrote out a list of things that she missed, little things that people never think about until they don't have it anymore. I sat and cried like a baby while I read the things that she misses. I began to feel so lucky to have my husband sitting right next to me, I didn't have to miss his voice or holding his hand the way that this woman does. So I decided to write my own list of things that I LOVE about my hubby.

He always does what I ask him to do, without making me feel bad for asking him to do it, even if its getting up in the middle of the night to get me a glass of water because I'm thirsty, or changing Avery's very poopy diaper, no matter what, he does it!

He always tries to make me laugh, by talking in funny voices, dancing like a weirdo, making up a joke, repeating a line in a movie, he loves getting a laugh out of me and I love him for it!

I love the kind of daddy he is to Avery. The voices he uses when he talks to her, the nicknames he's given her. If she's fussy he'll give me a break and walk around with her for hours if he has to.

I love that he sincerely gets excited with me or for me. Like when a movie that I really want to see is finally out, or new things that Avery does that no one else would appreciate. He never makes me feel stupid about things that I'm excited for.

He's always in a good mood, so its hard for me not to be.

He rubs my back and tickles my feet whenever I ask him to, the best is when I don't have to ask him, he knows I like it that much.

He sees past my flaws and loves me anyway.

He's good at putting things together, which is a really good thing, because I'm so bad at it.

He's so willing to help my family, he never complains when we have to do things like spend the night at my parents house when they are out of town, to make sure my sister is safe.

He lets me pick what we watch on TV, even if it is 'So you think you can dance'.

He helps me clean and cook, he's never made me feel like it's expected.

He plays cards with me when I'm up feeding Avery at 2 in the morning, even if he has to be up early to go to school.

He holds the Priesthood and has been able to give me blessings when I've needed them, and will be able to Avery blessings if she does.

He always wants to cuddle or hold my hand.

He needs me.

He didn't get mad at me when I lost the diamond earrings he gave me for Christmas, in fact, he bought me another pair.

He's a hard worker.

He traded in some of his movies so I could get another season of FRIENDS.

When I was pregnant, he didn't use his body wash because of how sick it made me. He also didn't eat foods that he liked, ate the same meal multiple times in a row because it was the only thing I could eat, stayed home from school when I was super sick. He never made me feel bad for being so lame in the first 10 months that we were married--and I was SO lame.

He sacrifices things that he wants so I can have things that I want.

I basically have the most amazing husband, and I'm going to try harder to appreciate the things that he does for me and our daughter. Thank you for everything you do, I love you!

My Big Girl!

Ever since our little Avery was born, she's been just a little dependent on us, probably due to the fact that she was never sat down for one second (and still isn't)! Mostly because she's just so dang cute, I can't stand not to be holding her if I'm not busy cleaning or something. Seriously, she would be fast asleep, and as soon as we'd lay her down and walk away, what do you know, she's awake! The days before we had our swing were crazy! When she was about 2 weeks old, her daddy needed a haircut badly! So we laid her down on the couch while she was asleep, and when she realized that no one was holding her, she just couldn't believe what was happening! Well...things are starting to change!

I was making lunch this week and Scott was trying to write a paper, so we just sat Avery on the couch and she got pretty comfy! She sat back and even used the arm rest and just observed everything around her, we were amazed!! We caught some cute pics of her content on her own for once!





Other new things Avery is doing...

• She's cooing a whole lot more, (haven't caught any on tape yet).
  
• When she cries there's a lot more to it then just constant screaming.
• She's actually just becoming a big whiner! We love her anyway though!
• She's started sleeping for about 8 hours every night! Totally makes up for being a bit whiny during the day!!
• Smiles are a lot more frequent! I can't get enough of them!!
• She recognizes her daddy when he gets home from school and just gives him big fat smiles...its the cutest thing ever!
• She got scared for the first time by a loud noise...it was sad.
• She got her 2 month shots, that was also pretty sad.
• She weighs 12 pounds and is 22 inches long, that puts her in the 75th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height...you can probably guess who she's taking after...sorry Avery!
• She constantly wants to eat! I've had to give her a bottle a couple of times because I can't keep up with my chunky monkey!
• I've started walking at the park to get rid of my post-baby body, so she's been to the park for the first time.
• She has tummy time every day and looooves it! It's cool to see her little muscles in action!
• She recognizes my voice and follows it.
• She likes watching TV, don't worry, if I catch her I quickly turn her head, she's too young for that!

Well those are all of the new things that I can think of...we're both still amazed that we're parents! I'm so thankful that Scott and I were married in the temple and sealed together forever, and that Avery is ours forever! I can't imagine our life without her!

you know you're sick when....

For the past week or so, I've been feeling the sickness coming. Waking up with a sore throat every day, stuffy nose, that sort of thing. Well...this last weekend it hit. I'm officially sick and there seems to be no end in sight. Scott has been stuffing vitamins down my throat, I'm drinking lots of fluids like people tell me too. I'm just not sure what kind of medication is okay to take while nursing?? I was able to take sud-a-fed (sp??), while I was pregnant, so I've taken that once, but I'm trying to be medication free and just take vitamins. I'm assuming this is a good plan.

But you know it's pretty bad when you can't remember your own husbands name, or why there is a crying baby in your room. Scott was being an AWESOME, amazing husband, when he let me go to bed early on Saturday night and offered to stay up with Avery all on his own (this has never happened). Well, he thought she had fallen asleep, so he came and put her in her swing, which is in our room. Let's just say, she wasn't asleep...all I remember is waking up to a crying baby, trying to figure out why and all I could think to do is call out "LUKE" (which is my brother's name). I knew it didn't sound right, but I couldn't think of anything else. Luckily, Scott came in and got her and I slept for a while more. I remember waking up and feeding her and putting her back into her swing and passing out again. The next thing I know, I'm waking up, its about 3 in the morning and our nightstand light is on. Again, I couldn't remember where I was, so I told "RACHEL"( the person I shared a room with, my whole life, until I was married) to turn off the light..

The next morning I woke up with a very confused husband. Wondering why I had been calling out my siblings names all night.

On a brighter note, my baby is smiling SOOOOO, so, so much now. It's the cutest most precious thing I've ever witnessed in my life. It's getting to the point where she'll wake up to eat in the morning, all cranky and fussy... and when I pick her up, she'll look at me and get the biggest grin I've ever seen. Amazing. I fall in love with this little baby more and more every day.

Halloween Baby!

So Avery had her first Halloween, which also happens to be her Grandma's birthday. So we spent the day hanging out with Grandma celebrating and waiting for the tricker treaters to come. A lady in the ward gave Avery a little pumpkin outfit...she looked so cute in orange! And Scott's brother and his wife gave us a little lamb outfit...so Avery was dressed for the occasion. My aunt Becky and grandma came over with Becky's kiddos all dressed up. Malia was Piglet, Kianoa was a gorilla...and let us know how sweaty his costume made him, he kept saying that he was the "sweatiest"..Kianoa is hilarious! And Kiana was a pirate. They come over every year so we can see them in their cute costumes. My cousing Malia showed us her new trick...she's learning a bunch of sign language and can do things like fishy, elephant, pig, doggy, kitty. Her newest trick is doing the signs to "It You're Happy and you Know it...."

Malia, Kainoa and Kiana

We took Avery next door to my parents neighbors for her first trick-or-treat...we thought we'd look kinda funny going around with a 6 week old...so we kept our trick-or-treating to a minimum. Anyway, here's some cute pictures of us and Avery!
Aunt Rachel with baby Avery.

New family's first halloween!

Daddy with the baby.

Me and the little lamb baby.

Mommy's little pumpkin.



She's just starting to smile!

Baby lamb.