Giving Thanks

Hooray for Thanksgiving!

I love this time of year and I'm even more excited about celebrating the holidays now that I get to spend them with Aubrey. Watching her experience family traditions, and the importance of the holidays is so much fun. It's true what they say, experiencing life in the eyes of your child is really amazing.

I have a lot to be thankful for. Too many blessings to count really. I am truly a lucky girl. I have a loving family, wonderful friends, a good job, a comfortable home, food to eat, and a car to get me around. I could continue this list but I'm afraid it would go on and on. So, I'm simply going to say I'm thankful for every blessing big and small that God has graciously given me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

PS. I just love this beautiful spaghetti face!

EPIC Update!

To say I’m behind on this little blog is an understatement. But I’ve been a little bit busy and by “little bit” I mean I’ve been extremely busy. So since I’ve missed Aubrey’s 8-month update and I’m already behind on her 9-month update, here are some of the highlights.

8 Months!


• Aubrey’s four top teeth came in and she now has a beautiful smile with 6 teeth with the seventh on the way.
• Aubrey you are on the move! You started crawling on September 27 and we got you on video. You are much faster now and you LOVE to follow Mommy around. You are just the cutest little girl!



• We celebrated your Daddy’s birthday and you loved helping him unwrap his presents. But you enjoyed playing with his cards the most.



• We went to the pumpkin patch as a family and we got some really cute pictures of you. This is a fun little tradition we’ve started.







• You got your first ear infection on the Sunday before Halloween. Poor baby you felt so bad but once we got you some antibiotics you were back to your normal happy self.

Home from the Dr. Ear infections are no fun!

• Your first Halloween was spent at home handing out candy to the neighbor kids. You were the cutest little Strawberry!

Aubrey, now you are 9 months old. Which means you are WAY too close to turning 1. So far this month…

• You are crawling so fast!
• You have 8 teeth! Four on top and four on the bottom. You have such a beautiful smile that melts my heart.
• You are a good listener. When Mommy asks you to come see her, you usually come crawling with a big smile on your face.
• You are pulling up to your feet.

This is what I see when she starts to pull up on the coffee table

• You had your 9 month checkup and you measured 14lbs 4oz and 26 ½ in long. You had a TB test, a hemoglobin test and a Flu shot. You were so sad to get poked so many times in one visit, but you calmed down pretty quickly.
• You got your second ear infection. Yep, right after finishing 10 days on antibiotics from the first ear infection you got another one. Apparently Amoxicillin didn’t completely clear the infection. You are now on a different medication and hopefully this time it will heal your ear completely.

Recovering from her second ear infection


• We had a fun day with your Aunt Sarah, Cousin Collins, Grandma and Grandpa last Saturday. We toured a Good Housekeeping model home and met Grandpa for lunch.
• You are beginning to really love your puppies. For a long time you were a little scared of them but now you love to follow Toby around and pet him. I think you figured out how to hold your own with him.

Playing with Toby

Cheering for the Red Raiders

9 Months old and full of so much personality

"Sorry Mommy, I didn't mean to spill my water on my shirt"

The grass didn't taste as good as it looked

Originals By Aubrey

Aubrey, you are seven months old! You are getting to be such a big girl. You are sitting up so well and you like to maneuver from your booty to your tummy. You are just so ready to be on the move and you are working very hard to get up on your knees. You are so close! You are also really close to going from your tummy back into a seated position. Your vocabulary is increasing and you have definitely said “Dada” several times, but I don’t think you are able to equate that word to your Daddy just yet. And of course we are working on you saying “Mama”.

Aubrey you are quite the budding artist! Every week you create beautiful pictures at school, and Mommy and Daddy just LOVE to see what you create each week. I think the best part is seeing how proud you are of yourself when you show me what you’ve made. Aubrey, I love you and your beautiful art. You are just so talented!

7 Months Old!

Very first finger painting!

The apples on the tree are her finger prints

Green Crayon

Her little feet are growing so fast

Her hands are growing fast too!

Her "Bear Family" it's a little hard to see the bears,

she wanted to make sure they were covered in paint.

"The Thumbprint Family" upside down

Happy 6-Month Birthday Aubrey!!

Oh Aubrey, my little love bug, I cannot believe how big you are getting! I can’t believe how fast the past 6 months have gone by. You are learning so many new things and becoming more and more independent every day.

You recently started sitting up all by yourself. You are still a little wobbly and fall down sometimes but you are definitely able to hold yourself up. You love this new trick so much that whenever we lay you down on your back you crunch up and push up on your elbows to try to sit all the way up. Dr. Ramsey and I both think you will be the only baby with 6-pack abs. Aubrey you still push up while on your tummy and try to pull your knees in. You aren’t quite strong enough to get it but you are getting closer.

Aubrey you have lots of fun talking with Mommy and Daddy. You are now making new sounds like “mmm nnaaa” and “ddii ggggaaa” and you are exploring just how loud and high your little voice can go. It’s just so fun having conversations with you. You also do this funny thing where you scrunch up your lips and face and breathe in and out through your nose really fast. It makes us all laugh. You also like to make raspberries and wiggle your tongue around. Sweet girl you have also really started to suck your thumb and sometimes your two middle fingers on your right hand. I’m glad you are able to soothe yourself, especially since you will be starting daycare in a week and it will help you feel better when Mommy isn’t there to calm you.

Aubrey, you love playing with your toys and you are working hard at perfecting your motor skills. You are able to transfer toys from one hand to the other and you will stretch and reach for things you want that are out of reach. And you want to touch everything and of course EVERYTHING goes in your mouth.

Aubrey you had your 6-month well baby appointment and you weighed 12lbs 3oz. and measured 25.5 inches long. You have doubled your birth weight and you are just getting so tall! Dr. Ramsey is so impressed with how strong you are and she said you are developing right on track. She also said that since you are doing so well on solids we can advance you to stage two foods. At your appointment you got two more shots. You cried for just a minute and after getting hugs and kisses from Mommy you settled right down and went back to your smiling, happy self.

Aubrey, the first half of your first year has been full of fun memories. You have gone on your first road trip, you were dedicated at church, went to several fun parties, you were an usher with your Daddy at your Aunt Alli and Uncle Dre’s wedding, and you celebrated your first Easter, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and Fourth of July. Yay for a fun filled 6-months sweet Aubrey! Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we’re excited to see all the fun things you do in the next 6 months!








Aubrey making her funny face

Catching Up!

There has been a lot going on this summer and once again I find myself behind in my blogging. So here it goes…

A Tale of Two Teeth!
The week before Aubrey turned 5 months old I made two little discoveries. Teeth! Practically overnight she cut her two bottom teeth. Gone are the days of gummy smiles but her smiles are just as sweet and precious with her little pearly whites. I’ve tried getting a good picture of her teeth but it’s actually harder than I thought. So here is the best picture I could get of her teeth on the day they broke through. They are actually a lot more prominent now.

First 4^th of July:

Oh Aubrey I wish your first 4^th of July was more fun and eventful but unfortunately due to the lack of rain this year there were no fireworks. But that didn’t stop us from having fun. We played all day and watched fireworks on tv. Hopefully next year you will get to experience your first fireworks show!

5 Months!

Happy 5 months old sweet Aubrey! You are just getting so big and your first year is flying by! We went to the pediatricians for a check up on your acid reflux and you weighed in at 11lbs, 6oz. Your acid reflux has subsided a little more and we are so happy about that. You are still a petite baby but you are developing right on track. You are now able to pull out your pacifier and put it back in your mouth. You also reach for your bottle and pull it toward you and you are getting better at holding it in place while you eat. In fact, you are putting everything in your mouth; even your feet! You are usually all smiles and giggles and you are practicing your consonant sounds more often. With each practice you are getting closer to saying “mama” and “dada”. Aubrey you have also begun to turn your head when you hear your name; you are just so smart! Aubrey your personality develops more and more each day. You love to act silly and dramatic and even act shy after “flirting” with your Daddy. You are just so much fun!

Solids:

The past two weeks we have begun to introduce Aubrey to solids. We started out with fresh avocado and she loved it! I had heard it was a good food to start with because of its taste, and because it’s loaded with calories that she needs. Our first attempt Aubrey wasn’t very sure what to do with it but she leaned forward and kept reaching for the spoon. Once she began to swallow it she opened her mouth wider and wider for each bite. After a successful first attempt it was so hard not to try other foods, but we waited and for four days we only let her have the avocado, just to make sure it didn’t upset her stomach and she didn’t have an allergic reaction. Then we tried carrots. Again so far it’s been really successful and she really likes the carrots too. I think after this round we will try either sweet potatoes or green beans. Now that we have started on solids I have found Aubrey reaching more and more for “real” food. The other day she kept trying to steal my oreos. Although this is a delicious choice she isn’t quite ready for them.

Father's Day!

This Father’s Day was a special one. It was Rob’s First Father’s Day!!! It was so fun to celebrate Rob being a Daddy. It was also Aubrey’s baby dedication at church. Rob’s Mom and Grandmother and my parents visited our church so they could be apart of the dedication, and it was really so nice to share that special day with them.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Aubrey's Dedication at Community of Faith

Aubrey with her Mimi and Nana

Aubrey with her Grandma and Grandpa

Thursday Hodgepodge

- I am LOVING being a stay-at-home Mommy this summer. I get to play, snuggle and have “conversations” with my sweet Aubrey all day!
- I love a clean house. I love the smell of household cleaners, they just make the house smell so fresh and clean and I love it. So I’ve done a lot of cleaning so far this summer and it feels good to be sitting in a clean living room.
- Earlier this week I took defensive driving online. Yep, I broke the law and the law won (singing the song made me feel better while taking the course).
- I have a mental list of summer projects to complete. I’m hoping I can complete some of them. I’m choosing not to list them because I don’t want to feel like a failure when I don’t finish all of them. But I am underway to completing a few :)

- I love being productive, it makes me feel good. I've been pretty productive so far this summer and if I continue at this pace I think I can really get a lot done. Fingers crossed.
- I’ve been walking/running in the mornings while it’s not as hot. But, lets face it it’s still about 100 degrees out even at 7am. I'm trying to get back in shape after having Aubrey. Even though I've lost most of my baby weight it's amazing how out of shape I am. I like the way I feel after a good workout, however I HATE working out. I don't know if it was all those years as a gymnast that I just don't enjoy it anymore or if I miss getting screamed at to do better crunches. Truth be told I am one of those crazy people that responds to a coach yelling in my face while working out. For some reason it motivates me to show what I'm made of. So I'm trying to do it on my own without the yelling and lets face it, it's hard! Especially when pushing a stroller while the wind is against you. It seems like no matter which direction I'm going the wind is always pushing against me. Thanks God for the extra resistance, I need it. But, I am getting some results. I've got to keep reminding myself it's baby steps. The other day while on my run with Aubrey I was startled when this guy mooed at me. Yes, that is a cow about 50 feet from me. I really didn’t know she was there until she mooed. And she was kind enough to pose for a quick pic.




- Aubrey has been working hard on her rolling. She can now roll from her back to her front and from her front to her back. A full rolling cycle. But even though she can do it, she doesn’t do it all the time. Here is a clip of her rolling, ignore the high-pitched shrills coming from her parents in the background.




And another rolling clip...




- Aubrey has gotten even more talkative the past few days. I have a feeling once she is able to say real words nobody around her will be able to get a word in. I think her new nickname would have to be Chatty Cathy. For real, the girl just “talks” your ear off and I love it. Here is a brief clip of her “talking”, when this was taken she had been going on for over 30 minutes.




And that my friends is the Thursday Hodgepodge.

4 Months!

Oh Miss Aubrey, you are just a hop, skip and a jump away from being half a year old. I love that you are growing and becoming more advanced but I don’t want this time to go by too fast.

This month you have continued to have problems with your acid reflux, poor baby. But it is a little bit better. We have introduced rice to your diet. By mixing a little bit in with your milk, it’s thicker and stays down a little bit better. Also Dr. Ramsey said that rice naturally soothes tummies and helps with acid reflux. You didn’t like it at first, but I think you have gotten used to it.

At your 4 month checkup you got your second round of immunizations. Two shots in your left leg and one in your right, OUCH! And you had one oral immunization; you didn’t like that one either. You cried when you got your shots but they were over real fast and you calmed down as soon as Mommy picked you up. At your appointment you weighed 10 lbs, 5 oz. and measured 24 inches long. You are a petit and long little girl for sure. Your Grandma says you take after your Mommy in the growth department. Dr. Ramsey says you are growing and developing just fine and she’s really impressed at how strong you are!

Aubrey you rolled over!!! Yes, that’s right, you rolled over for the first time on June 7, just one day after you turned 4 months. It was so exciting! I was worried that you would reach this milestone while Mommy and Daddy were both at work but we were so fortunate that you decided to roll when both Mommy and Daddy were home and we both got to see it. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you; we were jumping up and down and cheering for you. We were just so excited!

Aubrey, Mommy is so excited to be home with you this summer. We will have lots of fun and will be working on your rolling over skills, you have only done it once all by yourself. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and we can’t wait to see what fun things you do this month.

Here are a few oldie but goodies from Aubrey's newborn photo shoot. She was just 9 days old.