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.

Water Babies

Yesterday was Aubrey’s first day to go swimming! It was also the first time ALL the cousins were together. They were all so cute and had so much fun!

My little water baby

Lazy day on the water

Aubrey and Collins in their matching swim suits

Grandma and Grandpa with all their grandkids. Elliana 5, Jonas 3,

Aubrey 4 months and Collins 3 months.

The Hardest Thing I've Had To Do...

This past week Rob and I had noticed that Aubrey had been spitting up more than normal. This was a gradual change and we really began to get concerned when she started to have projectile vomiting (I know this is really gross). After talking with some experienced moms I figured this was just a case of acid reflux so I made an appointment to see her pediatrician.

On Thursday I took her to get checked out. The Dr. was a little concerned when she felt a knot on Aubrey’s Pyloric Valve. This is the valve that allows food to move out of the stomach and into the intestines. If this valve thickens and creates a blockage, the only remedy is surgery. Naturally I immediately began to worry when hearing this news. The Dr. suggested an ultrasound to get a look at it. So I followed the pediatrician’s orders and made Aubrey fast, except for a bottle of pedialyte when she woke up. Poor baby ate at 9:30 on Thursday night and didn’t have another meal until 4:00pm Friday. Yes that’s right 19.5 hrs!!! Aubrey was STARVING and let me hear about it all day long. This is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Every time she would cry and real tears were flowing I would tear up as well. Not being able to feed my baby was heartbreaking.

So Friday afternoon Aubrey and I arrived at the hospital for her ultrasound. Her appointment was at 1:15 but we were told we had to be checked in 30 minutes before her appointment. I don’t know why we had to be there so early when we sat and waited for 2 hours before seeing a Dr. I’m sure the receptionists were annoyed with me, because I kept reminding them that we were waiting and that my 3 month old has been fasting and is STARVING. Finally we were called back to the imaging center and the Dr. began the ultrasound only to find out that they were unable to get a clear view of Aubrey’s stomach.

The Dr. informs me that we are now going to have to have an Upper GI done. So we move on down to radiology and little Miss Aubrey was given a bottle of barium, yuck, while they x-rayed her stomach. She was such a good girl during her test and she inhaled that barium, like I said she was starving. After a few minutes of watching the barium enter her stomach we finally saw it empty, and I let out a sigh of relief when the Dr. said “everything looks beautiful, there is no blockage in the pyloric, she just has a bad case of acid reflux. She will be just fine.” Once we got home, the pediatrician gave me a call and confirmed the results of the UGI and called in a prescription. I was so happy and exhausted from our long and stressful day; it took most of Saturday to recover! Rob and I are just so happy Aubrey does not have a more serious problem and will have relief with the medicine and will most likely grow out of it within the next few months.

Praise God!

Easter 2011/ 3 Months!

I was late getting Aubrey’s 2 month update posted and now I’m late on my Easter and 3 month update. Oh the life of a working mommy.

Let’s start with Aubrey’s first Easter. We had a great time celebrating this exciting first. We began by spending Saturday evening with my parents, my brother and his family and my little sister and her fiancé. We had a great time just hanging out by the pool and eating great food. Easter Sunday, we woke up early and headed out to the Woodlands to spend the day with Rob’s Mom and Grandmother. We went to church then had brunch at the Woodlands Country Club. The food was delicious as always and I ate WAY TO MUCH! It is so fun to celebrate all of Aubrey’s firsts, but I really can’t wait till next year when she can actually participate in all the fun. So this year she received her Easter baskets and eggs and next year she will be hunting those eggs!

The week after Easter Aubrey had her 3 month birthday (on May 6)! Oh my goodness, my baby is getting so big! I know I say this all the time, but I really can’t believe how much she has changed from our first meeting on February 6.

Miss Aubrey,

You have brought so much joy and happiness to your Mommy and Daddy’s lives. Even though our lives have changed drastically since your birth we would not change a thing. In fact I feel like you have been a part of our family all along and I cannot image going a day without seeing your sweet smiling face.

This month, you have become even more vocal and “talkative.” So much so, that you had a “conversation” with Mommy for 20 minutes this evening. Your little personality is beginning to really come out and you find a lot of Mommy and Daddy’s silly faces, and antics funny. Every night you giggle so much, it is the cutest thing.

Just like last month, you really love to sit up and look at everything. Your bumbo chair and your boppy pillow allow you to sit and take in all the sights. You really don’t like to miss a thing. You are getting stronger every month. You have recently started trying to sit up when you are reclined. You flex your stomach muscles and pull your head up almost to where you are sitting upright. You have also gained more eye-hand coordination. You have started to hold your bottle when we feed you and you will even put your pacifier back in your mouth when it starts to fall out. You haven’t rolled over yet but you are getting really good at arching and pushing up.

Daddy had to return to work a week earlier than expected so we had to rearrange your daycare arrangements. You were shuffled between family members and friends for two weeks, Mommy thought this might be hard on you but you were not phased at all. You stuck to your schedule and had so much fun. Aubrey, you are such a good girl and all of your babysitters this month said you were a delight to take care of.

Sweet girl, Mommy and Daddy love you so much. You have such a sweet, calm and quiet personality and we so thankful for you.

Trying to sit up!

My first Easter April 24, 2011