Now, let me tell you about my trip to Walmart. I really avoid going there if at all possible, but there were just some things that I had to get there. I drove around the parking lot a few times looking for something not a mile away from the entrance. I settled with a a parking spot, and of course there were 5 carts lined up along the curb right next to my car. I pick Kiley up out of the car and went to grab one of the carts to put her in. The first one had a half-drinken soda in it. The second one had nasty brown crusty stuff all over it. And the third one I tried had a plastic bag in it, which (no joke) had a dirty diaper inside. This is starting off well. So, we made the trek to the entrance of the store (I had all three girls with me this time too) and there is one (uno) cart to choose from in the whole entrance. Thankfully, there was no mystery junk on it (not anything visible at least), or any leftover cups or diapers, so I wiped it down the best that I could and put my kids in it. Of course, the "safety" strap is missing on one side, so I couldn't buckle Kiley in, but that's the best Walmart could do for me. We walked in and the first thing we got were two frozen pizzas, which were one of the main reasons why we went to Walmart in the first place. They have these huge pizzas that you can bake at home and they are surprisingly delicious and only cost $8. Well, because they are so huge, they could barely fit in the cart with Hayden sitting in it. So, I tried to stand them up on the side of the cart, but when I did that all the cheese and toppings started sliding off the pizza. So, I had to lay them down flat, which left Hayden about 5 inches to sit/stand. It was not until after I put the pizzas in the cart that I realized how incredibly crowded it was in that store. There were people everywhere!! (No wonder why all the carts were gone!) It is not only hard to walk through a place that's very crowded, but it is even more difficult to push a cart through a crowded store while everyone else is stopping to put things in their cart, looking at the billions of items on every aisle and corner, and of course not watching where they are going. I tried to go down the aisle with the cleaning supplies, but there was a huge pole in the middle of the aisle, and I wouldn't have been able to even make it past the crowd of people to squeeze around the pole. So, I decided to get diapers first and then come back. Well, there were three Walmart associates pricing all of these clearance items, and they were blocking most of the aisle with the diapers. Plus, there were 4 or 5 other people trying to find diapers as well. Ahhh! I finally just squeezed my way through, grabbed the size I needed and got out of there. On my way back to the cleaning aisle, I picked up some milk, cheese, and eggs, tried to strategically place them around Hayden and Kiley in the cart, and tried to maneuver around the neverending crowd of people on every aisle and corner. I finally picked up the cleaner that I needed, then I noticed that Kiley was sucking on the lid of the gallon of milk that was sitting next to her. I just hoped that whoever stocked the milk that day didn't have the swine flu :) (Speaking of the swine flu, I sanitized all of our hands about 5 times while we were at Walmart that day - that place scares me!) When we were finally done, we got to the front and noticed the sea of people on every checkout line. Why do we do this to ourselves? I settled on one of the lines with only 5 people ahead of me, but I think they were the 5 slowest people in the world. By the time we made it to the front, the kids were starting to melt down. Kiley's face was covered in crackers, which were all gone by then and she was crying. Hayden started screaming because she wanted to get out of the cart, and Avery kept asking me what we were going to have for lunch. The lady scanned all of my items, I strategically piled them back in the cart again, and then paid for the stuff. I saw the question: "Did your cashier greet you today?" No, she didn't. In fact, she didn't even look up once, smile or say anything except, "Here" when she handed me my milk. Not that I can blame her really. If I had to be a cashier at Walmart, it would probably be hard for me to be friendly and greet people hour after hour too. I think the neverending "beep", "beep", "beep", "beep" of the items being scanned would alone drive me crazy.
Anyway, we made our way back to the car, crying, starving children and crazy mother, but we survived another trip to Walmart. After one more hand sanitation and moving another cart out of the way so we could back up the car, we were finally done. It was not the worst trip to Walmart I have had, but just another reminder to me of why I hate going there.
I apologize for the long, and probably boring post. And I also apologize to any Walmart lovers (or cashiers) out there. I just very much prefer going to the Red T Store (which is what Avery calls it) with the smell of popcorn, the red plastic carts that generally glide smoothly, the clearance racks which every now and then have an item that I just can't pass up, and the short and relaxing lines at the checkout. Just thinking about Target and all of the red there makes me happy :) I know I will be back there soon...
We had an Easter egg hunt at the park near our house. Thankfully the rain stopped long enough for the kids to be outside and not be cold or wet.
Hayden is walking really well now! She can almost get up to a full running pace, which means she and Avery can chase each other around the house now. Hayden loved finding eggs with all the "big kids".
Avery got more and more excited with each egg she found, and she was so proud of herself for finding them all. She wanted to take her basket of eggs everywhere we went for the next few days. She even begged me to take them to church, but her mean mother wouldn't let her.
After the hunt, we took the kids outside to decorate some real eggs. Hayden didn't quite understand what we were doing. She dumped one of the eggs in a cup of Hawaiian Punch, which we found a few hours later outside. It actually dyed the egg better than the red dye that came in the box. It was pretty funny! The kids had a great time playing together and it was nice of everyone to make the drive out to our house. 
She had just finished eating lunch and spilled on herself - hence the spots on her shirt.
Avery's 1st birthday - and first ice cream cake. It was cold, but she dug in anyway :) She is an ice cream lover like her mom.
Avery's 2nd birthday - this was the same day we blessed her baby sister Hayden..JPG)
Avery's 3rd birthday - blowing out candles at Grandma's house..JPG)
Avery's 4th birthday - she had a princess party with all of her friends.
And now Avery is 5!!
Our theme for preschool was Day & Night so I put a star on the cake. Yes, that is a star cookie cutter - I didn't have anything else that was shaped like a star.
After preschool, my mom took me and Avery out to lunch and shopping for our birthdays. It was really fun!
Avery got a new swimsuit w/ matching towel and flip-flops and a new outfit from Old Navy. She still wanted me to wrap them up even though she picked them out. The more presents to open the merrier, right?
We got Avery the Disney Princess and Cars games for her Leapster. She loves both of them, and they keep her busy during quiet time (a.k.a. nap-time for the other girls and break time for mom :)
Brandon also took Avery to the store to pick out a new Wii game. She picked a skiing game called We Ski, which she loves playing. She is our little Wii pro now. Avery also got a new dress that her Grandma Dorothy (Brandon's mom) made for her and a Littlest Pet Shop board game. Her aunts/uncles got her some Play-Doh, and a Dora fairy. Avery had a really fun birthday and she is so excited to be 5 now. I can't believe how fast the last five years have gone. Everyone tells you it will go by fast when you have babies, but I never realized it until all of a sudden I have a 5-year-old and two other kids. Am I really that old?? (I am 27 now by the way, but I still feel like I should be a teenager :)
