happy 8 months!

Whoa, my little crazy baby is 8 months? I say this every month because it still surprises me to see she's getting bigger and older, but 8 months?? That's only 4 months away from turning one! 

As of right now, she's the most curious and danger prone baby I've ever known. Literally, the first couple of days we moved into the new place she had bumps and bruises all over. She was so excited to explore every detail of the apartment including opening the fridge and pulling out groceries, hang gliding from drawers and sky diving into the cracks between the window and bed. 

I feel like moms should be built with at least 4 arms and eyes on the back of their heads (not that it wouldn't be creepy or anything)...

Avairy also mastered the art of crawling and is moving at full speeds towards the next thing, standing on her own! She can stand for a good couple of seconds and will definitely be on her way to walking very soon. 

She's also been saying something that sounds a lot like 'mama', but she usually says it when she's hungry and looking at her bottle. Avairy can also clap and splash when you ask her to and is getting better at waving hello and goodbye. Sometimes it even sounds like she says 'hi' while she's waving! 

My mom likes to say that she's so smart and strong because I drank a lot of coconut juice when I was pregnant with her haha. 

I can't wait to see what else she has in store for us! Happy 8 months, my baby!

Happy Mother's Day (tomorrow!)

Happy Mother's Day to all those wonderful moms out there! I'm so so excited since it will be my first time celebrating it as a mother myself.

I'm expecting fireworks, balloons, a parade with a marching band, a field of flowers spelled out in mom...or if for some reason that's not possible, a card is good too. haha

But really, as excited as I am, I think simple is always better. I had gotten a birthday gift from Jordan last year that I absolutely looove! It would be a really thoughtful and easy gift idea for Mother's Day or even a birthday. 

He had given me a delicate gold necklace with a circle pendant on it. It was engraved with the letter 'A' and had Avairy's birthday on the back of it. I think this is such a beautiful and adorable gift. Then as you have more kids, you can add more pendants! 

You can find a bunch of these on etsy.com. Some engrave it for you or you can go to a personalizing store and get it done there.

In other news, I've been DYING without a normal computer! Aside from missing home, I miss designing graphics and editing pictures for the blog. I am surprised how much I am able to do from an iPad though!

Have a fun and cheery Mother's Day everyone!

life so far in saskatchewan

If you follow my instagram (@avanrivong) then you'll already know we made it to Saskatchewan safe and sound!

Avairy was so amazingly good on both flights. She slept the entire time and was hardly fussy at all. I probably didn't need to pack as much toys as I did, but better safe than sorry.

We found some of those Ella's Kitchen pouches and Avairy loved them. She finished the whole thing in one sitting. And it came in handy for the first couple of days when we moved in because I didn't have much time to make her meals.

As for the town we moved to, it's a nice change, but it's definitely nothing like home.
I arrived around nighttime and even in the dark I could notice how dirty all the cars were. I soon found out its because the whole town is surrounded by dusty, dirt roads! I don't want to complain too much, but it'll definitely take some time for my nose to get use to breathing this kind of air.

Aside, from that the weather has been really nice lately. Jordan also told me that it isn't rare to see a moose or a wolf around here, which makes me very excited! I'm gonna make sure I have my phone on me at all times so I can capture that moment!

the start of our adventure!

It's been super hectic around here lately and now the time has come where Avairy and I will have to say our goodbyes.

We had a busy weekend with friends and family, actually I should say a very drunk weekend with friends and family!

Jordan and his dad left yesterday towing a tiny little trailer and a definitely over packed car.

Everyone broke down a handful of times over the last couple of days. I had my episode the day before Jordan left, thinking about my nephew waking up and not understanding why his favourite cousin, Uncle and Aunt are suddenly never home.

It's sad to leave, but the sooner we can setup our future for our family, the sooner we can come back and stay for good.

See you all very soon!

baby travelling essentials

I am so freaking nervous for this plane ride with Avairy in just a couple of days. It's her first time on a plane so I have no clue how she'll handle it. She may sleep the entire time or be a complete nut because everything is so new and exciting.

We have a couple of hours on two separate flights so it may not be that bad, but we have a 4 hour layover that I'm dreading. Who knows though, the weather may be nice and we can do a little bit of exploring!

In the meantime, I want to be ready for anything that may happen while we're travelling. So, here's an idea of what I plan to bring with us.

{check list}

formula 

stroller (sturdy with a lot of extra storage room)

change of clothes 

travel meals 

disposable diaper bags (for soiled clothing)  

toys 

lots of diapers

wipes 

soother 

blankie

How adorable are those Honest diapers?? They're all natural and free of chemicals that give a lot of babies diaper rash and they are so fricken cute! They don't ship to Canada yet, but I would love to get some!

I figure I have to look at diapers every single day so why not add a little sunshine where the sun don't shine? ha. Plus, it would make it a lot more welcoming when changing poopy diapers.

I'm also loving the idea of these Organic Ella's Kitchen pouches. They're great for traveling, even on planes and come in a ton of different flavours. I'll definitely be picking up a bunch for the trip!

By the way, we had day 2 of playing in the grass and it went a whole lot better this time! She was crawling around in the grass a lot, but not after she seriously thought it over.

And I couldn't resist sharing this picture of Avairy during breakfast! A happy tummy makes a happy baby (especially if it's full of blueberries). 

The faces she's starting to make crack me up so much. She's definitely a sassy, little drama queen!

my little itty bitty sunshine

Today was the first time in Avairy's existence, that her tiny toes and fingers got to play in grass! Can you believe that?? For 7 months she never knew what grass felt like!

I think the whole experience was a little shocking for her. She was probably wondering why 1. this carpet is green and 2. why it was so picky haha

She cried for a bit at first when I plopped her down. But then I showed her how to pull the grass out. This opened up a whole new world of destruction for her because after that she kept grabbing chunks and ripping it out of the ground! haha.

I also just booked me & Avairy's plane tickets, while Jordan and his dad will be driving the long 25 hours there (yikes).

I'm extremely nervous to be stuck in a plane/airport with this crazy child. Especially since she's at the age where she always needs to be entertained and on the move. Wish me luck!

Hope everyone is having a good start to their week!

7 months old & on the move!

Every time Jordan and I are out with Avairy, we run into a lot of people who stop us and say, "Enjoy them while they're young because it goes by fast." I use to think it wasn't such a bad thing because I was so eager to show her the world and teach her everything I could. But now I've truly realized what they mean.

Avairy is getting older and smarter everyday and this past month has really shown me this. I cannot believe how much she's learned and how much determination she has in everything she does!


As soon as turned 6 months she learned to crawl and was getting into everything! Jordan decided to nickname her Danger because she was obsessed with cords, outlets and anything metal. I can see a ton of bubble wrap in the future...

On top of all that, the next day that she learned how to crawl, this baby was trying to stand on her own! Let's just relax a little bit with the growing and the mini independence.

I am so in love with this picture! 

She reminds me of King Kong on the Empire State building with her short stubby legs. haha

Speaking of independence, she also decided that she's a big girl and doesn't want mom to feed her anymore. She would eat a couple of spoonfuls of food and refuse the rest (which is very unlike her). Then one day she kept trying to grab the spoon from me so I decided to let her have a go at it. Turned out that's why she wouldn't eat it. All she wanted was to feed herself!

That was also the exact moment when I realized she's growing up too fast. I'll admit that I teared up a bit when she wanted to feed herself. And I saw a flash into the future of me being that mom that pushes her kid back down when they're making their first steps. Just so they could stay a baby a little bit longer. Haha

I love her to death and she is the best thing that has happened to Jordan and I. One day when she's old enough to understand, I'll have to thank her for coming into my life and giving it so much more meaning. I love my little Danger baby.