updated shabby background code jan 2011

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Happy Birthday Honey!!

FINALLY, my husband is as old as I am! He hasn't let it slide that I am (a mere) 6 months older than him especially for the last 6 months! I am so glad he is finally joining the "club" and has turned 30. When I asked him what he wanted, he said a mellow Chilean-style BBQ at our house with lots of drinks and a dulce de leche cheesecake. With the help of Alex's parents and Mamina and Tats, I think we were successsful in making it happen!
Enjoy the pictures!

The birthday boy, manning the grill

some of the gang, thanks for coming everyone!

The dulce de leche cheescake (home made by yours truly!)

Jess and Kenji

Tim and Corinne

Corey and Lauren

Monkey in her coupe :) (with the grandmas close by, of course!)


Had so much fun with Uncle Gus!

The Ksmith Crew

Alex and Avery, Patrick, Mamina, Joe, Tats and JP

Birthday boy and his favorite baby

Moose in the kitchen late-night

Happy birthday to my partner, my love and my best friend. You are everything to Avery and me and we are BEYOND LUCKY to have you to spend our days with. Cheers to the next 30, my love.
xoxox, your PPM

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Summer Fun!

This summer has been everything I had been dreaming of and more when Avery was born last year. It has definitely come faster than I could have ever anticipated but it has certainly been a blast!
Between driveway pool parties at our home and visiting friends and parks in our area, we have explored much of north county SD. We have yet to check out Legoland and the Wild Animal Park but both are on the agenda later this summer!
Enjoy the pictures!
Enjoying the sprinkler pool in the driveway

Such a funny girl

A rare use of our dining room table!

Lunch before the splash pad

She loved it! Totally fearless

Playing with the water

Meeting new friends at the splash park

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Avery's 12th month

Just writing the title of this post brings tears to my eyes. I still can't even believe my sweet little baby girl is now officially a toddler! As with every major moment in motherhood, this milestone proved to be bittersweet for me as a mom. I miss my little baby but I look forward to getting to see her personality and learn her preferences as they present themselves every day.
We had her one year appointment on Tuesday and here are her stats and of course, some photos.
  • Avery weighs 26 lb 2 oz (95th%) and is 30 inches long (82nd%)
  • She has been walking for a month now and gains confidence and speed every day. She can now stand up from sitting without using something (or someone!) to crawl up on. She can also bend down to pick something up without sitting down to do it.
  • She watches a video, Baby Signing Time, every morning while she eats breakfast. She absolutely loves it and I find myself singing the songs all day long too! She can sign: more, all done, banana, hat, dog, cat, goodbye, and thank you! Such a smart baby we have.
  • She is getting a bit more picky with what she eats and definitely prefers things seasoned and/or cooked. Her favorite food is still cheese but she enjoys fruits (especially mango and banana), veggies (especially sweet potato), grilled chicken (sometimes) and veggie burger patties all the time! She also really enjoys hummus, lentils, raisins, Cheerios and canned peas!
  • Avery does NOT like milk and it is driving mama a bit crazy trying to find ways to get her to drink it. I cut out bottles and formula cold-turkey on her birthday, hoping she wouldn't notice the transition to milk from a sippy cup but no such luck! I have brought the bottles back to attempt the transition again (mixing milk with formula and decreasing the formula each day) but she has noticed the milk in the smallest amounts! She won't even eat it with cereal! Soooo, the milk saga continues. (I make sure she eats a cheese stick and a serving of plain yogurt every day, so she is getting the nutrients she needs.)
We had a family photo shoot the day after her birthday with my good friend, Sarah Thorne Hames of Rhone Studios, who has sure come a long way since doing my maternity photos and Avery's newborn pictures as well. We went to a local park and attempted to get some good shots of the 3 of us together and some of just Avery in her birthday outfit. I am so pleased we got several frame-worthy shots and Avery did a great job despite refusing to nap that morning.

The link to the photos on her blog is here:
http://rhonestudios.blogspot.com/2011/07/klingensmith-family-averys-1st-b-day.html

12 months!

 Mama and Dada and the beautiful birthday girl


She loves to have fun!!

So proud of what we made


Happy birthday to our sweet baby girl. Words can't express how much we love you and how grateful we are that you came along and changed our lives for the (much much) better. We thank our lucky stars several times a day that you are happy and healthy and growing up into someone we are so proud of. Can't wait to see what the years to come will bring you and our family!
Love, Mama and Dada

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Avery's second 4th of July!

Last year on this day, we had just come home from the hospital with our most precious gift. Needless to say, we were pretty wiped out and just glad to be home with our baby girl, so we didn't celebrate the holiday with beer and fireworks. I LOVE fireworks so I was very excited to be able to participate in the holiday this year!
We started off the day by attending a neighborhood parade with our good friends the Cann's. I decorated Avery's wagon and we dressed her up in her special outfit for the occassion and away we went! Then we headed down to our local Ponto beach for the day with some friends. We ended the perfect day with dinner at our house with some friends and watching Legoland's fireworks from lounge chairs in our backyard!
All in all, it was a fantastic way to end an exhausting and super fun weekend. Can't wait to see what next 4th of July will be like!
Enjoy the pictures!
Ready for the parade!

Parkside Parade

Dada and Avery

Happy 4th from the Klingensmiths

Backyard dinner and a show!

Alex playing with Wyatt and Gavin

Jay and Staci and the Cann's

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Avery's First Birthday!

My baby is ONE! So hard to believe one year ago on July 2, I was in the hospital eagerly awaiting the arrival of our daughter. At 8:43 PM, after 12 hours of labor and 1 1/2 hours of pushing, Avery Patricia entered the world and Alex and I were absolutely beside ourselves with wonder and love.
Fast forward one year later and that little 7lb 7oz bundle and grown into such a funny and precocious little girl with an unforgettable! So what to do but throw an over-the-top birthday luau bash for our over-the-top baby!
At Aviara park about a mile from our home in Carlsbad, we set up our luau-themed party and invited about 70 of our friends and family. After a little double-booking mistake made by the city, my AMAZING husband with his cousin and godmother of Avery, Jessalyn and her  friends visiting from Utah, and my mom, we transformed the park into a Hawaiian paradise...sort of, haha!
Fun, food and drinks were had by all. What an amazing day, we are so grateful to all our friends and family that helped us celebrate. What a lucky little girl.
Enjoy the pictures!

Luau at the park

Avery's timeline

Cake for the birthday girl! 
(carrot cake with homemade icing)

Cake pops and rice krispie balls for the guests

So many gifts!!

I'm ONE!
Ready for cake!

She loved it! Yum!

We have a toddler! Oh my!

Fun in the sun

Birthday outfit :)


Playing with her buddy Brayden

2 wonderful sets of great-grandparents, what a lucky girl!
Godmother Jessalyn came all the way from Utah!

Auntie Lauren and Uncle (and godfather!) Corey with the birthday girl

Yaya Sol and silly-faced Avery

Enough said :)

Helping mama open all her gifts!

Wearing a new dress and playing with 
her own cell phone! Uh oh
To everyone who helped make the day possible and unforgettable!