Looking like a big girl

I'm well aware that this blog has quickly turned into an Avery blog...What can I say? Its pretty much the Avery Show at our house, all the time...But, I love it! This little girl of mine is quickly becoming a very big girl...It took some time for me to come to terms that Avery will be 3 in a matter a month or so...But, after strangers upon strangers have asked me "Is she 3 or 4" I'm starting to see/accept the transformation from toddlerhood that seemed to have taken place overnight. Here are some recent pictures to prove my case...Avery desperately wants a princess bike (w/training wheels) for her birthday...She had a tricycle that had a pushing attachment that I would use to assist her efforts. I told Avery she had to start pedaling on her bike so that she would be ready for a big girl bike so we took out the extra piece...And here you have it. She is now "too cool for school" on this little tricycle...I also love this picture with Avery and her pj's...She is usually the morning sunshine on days that we don't have to get up early for school and this is just a classic example.

My new guy

Had to post some pics of my little nephew, Tanner(Click on the above pic to enlarge-sorry so small). I love getting to hold/babysit/love him as much as possible...Its also been fun just watching April be a mom- she's a natural. Avery also adores Tanner to pieces...She likes to hold him, assist with the diaper/clothes changing, and show him how to play with his toys properly. She is also really good at getting him to smile!

The big time

Friday, I took Ave to our little town's annual Fall Festival...We had a great time. My favorite part was watching Ave come alive as she enjoyed the carnival rides, food, music, and animals.

New skill

Well, I finally came to the realization that I can record videos on my camera...How exciting! So, here it the first video I captured of Ave and I playing in her room...As you will hear, my daughter is actually tryin to get me to take a nap...She enjoys role reversal a little too much but I'm not sure why I refused...

Mom, I'm taking my elephant food shopping...

This is what I hear from Avery while I'm trying to make dinner tonight...I come out and find this...I love this picture because she looks truly stumped...I think I had asked her what kind of food her elephant likes at the food store..She has started putting her pointer finger to her mouth and saying, "Hmmm" while she thinks before giving me any answers. I think its pretty cute...

Ever wondered what its like to be a student nurse?

Probably not...But, it is equally fun and stressful...For instance, here's my last week...

Monday- Cardiovascular test...I was stressed...I have never experienced test anxiety like I have in nursing school, this time around. I seriously have problems sleeping the night before which doesn't exactly put me in the best form for test taking... I love the heart and find it to be the most ineresting system, but definitely the hardest! I was beyond relieved to find out I made an 84%, especially since more than 25% of the class failed...

Tuesday/Wednesday- Worked on community assesment/manual...Had to find all the health resources and referrals I could give someone in this small, little town we now live in...Kinda difficult! I did get to meet an awesome school nurse and realized that I would love her job!

Thursday-Clinicals from 6:30am-4pm...I got a thank you card from my patient from last week thanking me, personally, for my care/concern for her...That made my day until a RN got on to me, the team leader for this week's clinicals, for letting another student nurse take a lunch when there was work to be done...The nerve- why should I think we should be granted meal breaks while we work for free?

But then, practice for code check offs with my team...I don't get to pick Ave up from daycare until 5:30...My poor little girl...

Friday- Clinicals again...And experienced my first real code with a real patient....I did chest compressions for fifteen minutes and loved the learning experience until I saw the patient's family, in the corner of my eye...

Sat/today- Code team check offs! We passed! I even got the role I didn't want in the code, the medication nurse...I had to assist the rest of the team,find the IV and give the IV pushes STAT...And I was literally shaking from nerves because of the instructor watching over my shoulder, but we did it. Our mannequin came back to life! At the end, the instructor told us we did a great job and she would feel comfortable with us coding any of her loved ones.

What a week!

The Life of a 2 year old

Here are some activities of my busy 2 year old...Avery's first love is scissoring. She can spend 30 minutes cutting one piece of construction paper into a hundred "shapes" and then the next 30 minutes glueing them onto another piece of paper. And until she has a little scissor incident (ie:cutting of the hair), I am a big supporter of these cute projects....Secondly, Avery's paintings are always masterpieces...My sister gave her this great art easel for christmas last year, but I was always hesitant to let her begin painting while we lived with them, for some reason...Well, we are now able to paint freely with washable paints and Avery is really cautious during her art time...She asks to paint daily and I have more paintings than I know what to do with, hence the art wall in my office...Lastly, my daughter is now officially a member of generation tech...Our local library has computer games available for check out. Well, last week we brought home Blue's Clues Preschool....I had to show Ave a couple times how to use the mouse and go through the activities...But, as you can see, she is now independently and correctly operating the mouse and playing the game on her own as I make sure, from afar, she's playing nice with my computer.