Saturday, February 12, 2011

Big Changes

So it's been a little over a year since my last post and well over a year since I've said anything about the family. So much has happened in such a short period of time so I'll just get right to it.

When I wrote the last update, Ava's first birthday was the next day. We had her birthday party at my father-in-law's house. It was a great birthday party for a great little girl. The party was all princess themed and we got her a beautiful little pink and white tiered cake that had her own personal little cupcake on top. That was her first time having cake and she didn't seem to like it too much. Special appearances were made by Luke (who flew in for her party) and Dan. It was a great day.

Shortly after her birthday, we stayed in Brigantine with the usual crowd for the Borgata events. Our bachelor/bachelorette parties were scheduled for September 18th so Rod and Ken accompanied Trevor to his which was in Philly. It kind of sucked for me because I had to drive home from AC to get ready for the night and then go back down to AC for the party, go back home that night and head back to AC the next day. Overall, it was a great time. Trevor went to dinner and then went to some bar afterwards where he decided to give the young bathroom attendant $300 over the course of the night. The next day, we went to the Eagles/Saints game with Dan and Kerri. Trevor spent most of the game staring at his feet while we all were sweating to death because it was super hot that day and we were in the sun the entire time.

When we got home from AC, we needed to get all of the last minute things in order for our big day. October 9th was our rehearsal dinner which we had at a small little Italian restaurant near The Westin where we got married. Afterwards, we hung out at the hotel bar for a little bit before we needed to go to bed. AG felt it was necessary to wear one of his new suits when we were just hanging out which is where the nickname "The Senator" came from. He got really drunk but refused to go to his room and instead just kept showing everyone his suit. I finally went to bed because the next day was going to be long.

Of course, I could not sleep at all. I slept for maybe an hour that night because I was so incredibly anxious for the wedding - it was like being a kid waiting for Christmas morning. It was finally time to get up and start getting ready. Slowly, the bridesmaids arrived. A friend of Trevor's and her mom were doing the hair and makeup for everyone at the hotel so we were all together in two joining rooms just one floor up from Trevor and his groomsmen. At one point, I went to the front desk for something that I can't remember now and as I was standing there I looked to my right to see Trevor walking up. OOPS. Oh well, I wasn't ready yet so no biggie. My dad brought all of us some food while were getting ready and eventually the photographer arrived. She was able to get pictures with Trevor and his guys before the wedding but us girls ran out of time for that because guests started arriving. I stayed in the room with my parents and one of my two matron's of honor until we got the phone call that it was time to come down. My father walked me into the room with 180 guests and all I could do was take deep breaths to stop myself from becoming overly emotional. I immediately locked eyes with Trevor as soon as the doors opened and never looked away. We were married by my Aunt Cindy (who was a mayor at the time) on October 10, 2009 in an absolutely perfect wedding. Ava was our flower girl and our nephew Cole was the ring bearer. We also had 2 matron's of honor and 2 best men as well as 6 bridesmaids and 2 junior bridesmaids and 8 groomsmen. It was a huge wedding party but it worked out. Then we had cocktail hour which Trevor and I never saw because we spent the entire time with the bridal party and family taking pictures. The bridal party were able to spend some time in the cocktail hour and from what I've heard, there was no shortage of food and it was incredible. A little over an hour later, it was time to introduce the bridal party in to the reception. Everyone came up with their own creative way to walk in - most of which we didn't really get to see until we got the video since we were the last to come in. Once we were introduced, it was time for our first dance which we surprised everyone. There were only three people besides us who knew what our song was and that we took dance lessons (my mom, Dan, and Luke). So we had a whole dance routine to do to the song which was Dig by Incubus. We missed an entire part of it but no one could tell so in the end it turned out great. I just recently found a list of the food for the wedding so here it is:

Cocktail Hour

  • Chicken Satay with spicy sauce
  • Potato Latkes
  • Parmesan Crusted Artichoke
  • Kobe Sliders
  • Spanikopita
  • Mixed Bruschetta
  • Mini Crab Cakes
  • Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
We also had two stations during cocktail hour - Pasta and a Stir Fry/Wok station.

Dinner

  • Appetizer - Tri-colored cheese tortellini (this was so delicious - I could have eaten it all night)
  • Salad - Tomato Mozzarella with Pesto dressing
  • Entree - Prime Rib, Stuffed Chicken Breast, or Salmon Filet with a Lemon Lime sauce
For dessert we had wedding cake obviously which had three tiers. The bottom tier was chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting, the second was vanilla or marble (I can't remember) cake with mocha frosting, and the top was lemon cake with raspberry frosting. It was delicious. We also had a Viennese table with a ton of desserts and a huge cordial station. Unfortunately, the Viennese table wasn't announced in the reception so a lot of people had idea it was there.

We danced the night away and when it was over, we took the party to the hotel bar. Trevor bought quite of few bottles of our favorite champagne. The bar wouldn't supply us with glasses so Trevor took the bottles into the lobby and passed them around and made people chug them. He somehow managed to convince my Dad to chug the bottle as well. We didn't get to sleep until probably about 4 am and woke up to a delicious breakfast buffet with everyone. Trevor stayed in the room for a while because he had a little bit too much to drink. Eventually he came down but just long enough to eat and he was back in the room in no time. Overall, it was an amazing day that went by way too fast.

A week or two later, we took a quick trip to LA and San Diego for our "mini-moon." Ava stayed with Trevor's dad and stepmom. We had a great time relaxing in one of our favorite places to be (San Diego).

In December 2009, we stayed in Brigantine for Harrah's WSOPC. It was Mark, AG, Rod, Jesse, Casey, Mike, Trevor, myself, and Ava. Although we met Mark before, this trip is when Ava fell in love. To this day, she gets super excited to see Mark. We were there for about two weeks around Christmas time so we got a Christmas tree for the house and I decorated the whole place inside and out. I figured if we were going to be spending a decent portion of December there, I might as well decorate. We had a holiday party with lots of food and it was good time. Before our stay ended, we learned some news that would change our lives again. About mid December, we found out we were expecting for the second time. Our new baby was due August 20, 2010.

In January 2010, we made our first trip to New Orleans to go to a Saints playoff game. It had been a life long dream of Trevor's to watch a game at the Superdome. It was just a weekend trip so we were able to leave Ava at home with her grandparents. We ate at some delicious restaurants that I thoroughly enjoyed despite feeling horribly sick. It was fun to see a new city but I'd like to go back again to really get to see the sites.

The next big change in our lives came in April. We had been looking for a house for a while with no luck. There were houses we fell in love with and went for but crazy scenarios prevented us from getting the house. In the end, it was for the better since we found a brand new house, in the perfect area of the town we wanted to live in, with the exact number of bedrooms and bathrooms we wanted for a great price. We settled on April 23, 2010 and moved in the very same day. It was so nice to get out of a one bedroom apartment and into a four bedroom house with tons of space. The clutter in the apartment was starting to make me insane. There was no room for anything in that place - it was awful. Now, we have a two car garage, huge basement, and lots of living space for the kids to play and for us to entertain.

One thing we didn't take into consideration when choosing the house was that it backs up to a main road. The thought of it being a problem never crossed my mind until two weeks to the day we moved in. Trevor and I were standing in the living room talking when I heard tires losing control. I turned my head to look out of the windows and BOOM - a car crashed into the telephone pole right in front of my eyes. It was the eeriest thing I've ever experienced because everything instantly went silent. Immediately, we called 911. The dispatcher asked if anyone was still in the vehicle (which split completely in half width wise) so Trevor had to go out to the car and look inside. He said it was really creepy because the radio was still playing and the windshield wipers were broken in half but moving side to side. The male driver was thrown into the street and a young female passenger was thrown across our yard. Both were alive when the ambulance took them away but we have no idea what happened after that. The wreck stayed in our yard for hours afterwards while police investigated. Our neighbor was talking with the driver before the ambulance came and she was fairly certain he was drunk. A driver behind him said he was driving at least 85 mph (the speed limit is 40). He had to come around a curve before he slammed into the pole. The pole and a road sign that he sheared off had to be replaced. For weeks, Trevor found car parts and random things he had in his car all over our yard. There was a heavy duty car jack that was just passed the house on one side. Had the jack been over about five feet or less, it would have come through the windows we were standing in front of. That night, I didn't sleep very well. Since then, knock wood, we haven't had any other accidents in our backyard and I hope it stays that way.

During the summer, we went to Vegas for the WSOP and stayed with Jay, Ken, Andy, Dan, Kerri, Zach, and Luke. After a little less than a week of being there, my mom flew to stay for the rest of the trip to help me with Ava since I was about 7.5 months pregnant. I'm so glad she was able to make the trip out because she was a huge help for both Trevor and me. It allowed us both to be able to get some sleep since Trevor had to wake up for tournaments and it was a huge help on the days when Trevor was playing. It's so much different to have a toddler running around your own house as opposed to someone else's house. Our house is baby proofed but the Vegas house obviously wasn't. Overall, Ava is really good about staying out of things but I still feel like I have to chase her all over to make sure she stays out of every last thing in the house. As always, the guys were great with her and she has such a good time with them. The trip was Ava's second flight and second trip to Vegas.

In July, Trevor headed back to Vegas for the Main Event and I stayed home with Ava. It wasn't easy to chase the almost 2 year old around while 8.5 months pregnant but we made it through and it was only for a couple of days before Daddy was back to join us.

As my due date approached, I was incredibly ready to have her. I was so tired of being pregnant. My doctor allowed me to be induced so on August 18, 2010 at 1:38 in the afternoon, our second daughter, Cameron Reese, was born. She was 7 lbs 19.5 in with a full head of black hair and she was pure perfection. Ava showed up a short while later with Trevor's Dad and she was really good about meeting her new baby sister. She held her and loved her and it was really sweet to watch. I was having a hard time dealing with the impending birth because I felt like I was short changing Ava. I felt like Ava had less than two years to be the baby and I was pushing this new little baby into her life. It was hard to try to work out in my head that I was really giving Ava a life long friend and adding more love to our family. As soon as I saw them together, I no longer felt badly about it. Now, Ava and Cameron are totally in love. No one makes Cameron laugh harder than Ava and Ava does nothing but hug and kiss Cameron all day. She is always worried about where she is or what she's doing. She loves to help me and Trevor out with things for Cameron and rarely shows any jealousy. I feel as though they have now and always with have an incredible bond and now it all makes sense.

Two weeks and one day after Cameron was born, Ava turned two. I can't believe she's already two years old. It really is incredible how quickly times goes by. We had her party two weeks later for two reasons. One, it gave me time to bounce back a bit from having Cameron and two, it lined up with the Borgata Poker Open so the guys were able to make it to the party and meet Cameron. The party turned out great and Ava got lots of new toys. Cameron made her debut and it was a great day.

Next came Halloween, Cameron's first - Ava's third. Ava was Minnie Mouse and Cameron was a little black cat. We took our first trip to Sesame Place for their Halloween special that was going on with my dad, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece. It ended up being a super hot day that none of us were expecting. We all had a good time and I'm sure we'll go again next year.

My mom had planned pretty much since the day we moved in to have Thanksgiving at our house. It ended up being a modest dinner party of THIRTY! Somehow, my mom packed everyone into the kitchen to eat and it worked out pretty well. It was the first time the entire family had been together in years and it really made my mom and aunts happy which in turn made me happy.

After that, we decided to take a last minute vacation so two days after Thanksgiving we left for a two week long road trip. We bought a time share together when we were engaged so we used that to stay in Myrtle Beach, SC, Daytona Beach, FL, and Nashville, TN. We made several attempts to see Christmas lights and trees because Ava was really into it this year. It didn't work out so well until Tennessee though. While in Daytona Beach, Jay and Ken drove up to have dinner and play at the dog track later on. That night, Ava fell in love for the second time, this time with Ken. Now she refers to him as "my boyfriend Ken." Once we made it to Nashville, we visited the Opryland Hotel which was completely decorated for Christmas. It is an incredibly beautiful and HUGE hotel and the Christmas decor was amazing. Ava finally got the see the lights and she loved it. Cameron was obviously too little to care. Both girls sat on Santa's lap to get their picture taken and afterwards, Ava rode the little train. We had some delicious meals including breakfast at The Pancake Pantry and dinner at Caney Fork River Valley Grille. We each had pancakes for breakfast - I got sugar and spice pancakes, Trevor got the Grill Cook's Medley with a side of buttermilk pancakes and Ava got a waffle. Everything was delicious, but the buttermilk pancakes were the best I've ever had - hands down. I would recommend anyone who goes to Nashville to visit the Opryland Hotel, especially during Christmas time, and to have breakfast at the Pancake Pantry - you won't be disappointed.

We came home just in time to get our house decorated for our first Christmas here. It was an especially exciting Christmas for me because it was the first year Ava was understanding what was going on and excited about it and it was Cameron's first Christmas. Our annual Christmas Eve family party was at our house and it was a success. Christmas morning didn't disappoint when Ava came downstairs and saw all of her presents from Santa under the tree. She made sure to check the cookies and milk to make sure Santa had some. We had a lot of fun all day with family.

For New Year's, we went to my former place of employment PJ's to celebrate with friends. It was fun, but we decided that we would stay home and relax pretty much every year from now on. It's absurdly expensive to go out on NYE and a huge hassle to try and find a ride home and such so we'll just spend with it our girls.

This brings everyone up to date on the major life events and things we've done since I last posted. I know I have two more things to talk about to truly bring it up to date (the Borgata tournament and West Palm Beach) but they will be their own separate blogs. Sorry this is the longest blog ever but I had a lot to catch up on.