Catch-up!

So far behind! This year has been a very blessed one for us. Busy, but blessed. We have been able to start our own business which allows me to stay home. It has also allowed us to move into our (my) dream house. Sooo much has happened since my last post, but I'll try to give a synopsis.

Aubrey has cut 7 teeth. Four upper and three lower, all in front. The first couple came together and were really painful. The rest weren't as bad. She has been working on some back teeth (I can only tell because she'll put her finger back there when it bothers her), but I haven't been able to see anything yet.

Aubrey moved quickly from crawling to pulling up. She started standing on her own around Easter and began walking shortly thereafter. She is running now, although I'm afraid she's inherited her mother's gracefulness. She falls a lot, and even hits her head most of the time, but rarely cries. She just gets up and keeps on going.

Aubrey loves, LOVES, our pugs. I'm pretty sure she thinks they are her playmates. When they go outside, she wants to go too. She runs and plays with them, yells at them, hugs them and kisses them. She'll feed them from her highchair, give them her cookies (although I think she expects them back) and even share her juice. I really need to get her out and around more kids.

In mid-March, we moved into our house. We are still working on financing, but are lease purchasing for now. It is the perfect house for us and we have room to grow. It is a four bedroom, three bath with a garage and huge backyard with patio. I have an office right off the living room so I can watch Aubrey while she plays. My mom came to help us move (actually, she said she came to watch Aubrey while we moved!). It just so happened that the weather turned and it was 30 degrees! Oh well, it gave us a chance to use our fireplace before Spring/Summer. We are settled in now and have hosted a few family events since the move. We love our house and the space we have. Aubrey loves to play in the backyard with her slide, pool, etc. She doesn't understand that she can't go out when it's over 100 degrees, which it has been almost all Summer. We live in a small, very safe neighborhood. Our street is a cul-de-sac and kids are always riding bikes, scooters and skateboards in front of our house. I love that even in this crazy world where people snatch kids from their front yards, we found a neighborhood where Aubrey can play and I don't have to be so worried.

May through August is Chad's busy time at work and the busiest time for our company as well. Kids move in and out in May and in and out in August. We haven't gotten to see him as much as we would like, but he does the best he can. Aubrey is a daddy's girl. She follows him everywhere when he's home and loves it when he takes her for "a ride" in his truck. They go to McDonalds or somewhere to get a drink or food. She really loves that we have turned her seat around so she can see out the windsheild.

June 24 was her First Birthday. I had been planning her party for months. We had a Fairy Princess party. There were tons of balloons, pink and purple decorations and each little girl got a goody bag with a tiara, boa and play jewelry. We had hamburgers and hot dogs and CAKE! Aubrey loved her cake and completely destroyed it. I think she ate almost all of it. And she'd never had sugar before! We had so much fun and she got lots of great gifts. Thanks to everyone for making her party so memorable!

Aubrey isn't talking yet, but she's really trying. She says Mamamamama, Dadadada, and recently started saying Popopop. She's working on belly button and pug butt. We always tell her "pug butt" when she's naked and running around. And she knows where her belly button is (and yours too!), as well as where her nose, ears and eyes are. She knows what we are saying to her. She is VERY stubborn. It comes from both sides of the family. She has been testing us since before she turned one. There are 2 places in the living room where she knows she isn't to touch. She'll go to them when she's feeling particularly devilish, stand there and stare at us. Just to see what we do. We have had to resort to spanking both on her hand and on her butt. She gets plenty of warnings beforehand and we have used time-outs, but she's still testing. Dog bowls and trashcans are another temptation for her. We're working on it . . .

Last month, she started throwing temper-tantrums. They are usually fairly small and involve her throwing herself down to the floor, flopping her head on the floor and "crying". Her Uncle Shane will have NONE of the whining and is shutting her down pretty good on this. I usually ignore her and it clears up quickly. I've caught her looking at me while "crying" to see if I'm paying attention and if it's working. Once she figures out it isn't, she moves on. She does need more playmates. Kennedy (my best friend's daughter, who's 2) has come over to play a few times. She is still amazed when she sees other kids. She just doesn't realize that there are other people like her in the world. I think Chad and I have decided to put her in school at A&M Church of Christ at least one day a week this year. It will be good for her and give me time to catch up on work. That's where she'll be going to elementary anyway, so might as well get used to it now.

The first couple of weeks in July, we went to swimming leasons at the city pool. She LOVES the water. She was ready to jump in as soon as we got there. She learned how to jump in off the side after I counted to three, she learned to "swim" (while I held her) on her tummy and kick. She is more hesitant on her back. She will go on her back, since that's what we do in the tub, but not for long. She would also go under water, but I had to convince her to close her mouth beforehand. The whole time she was smiling and so happy. I think she was one of the youngest there and everyone thought she was soooo cute. We had a blast and Daddy came to watch on her last day. We even got to go down the kiddie slide. This kid has no fear and always wants to be in the water.

Other things Aubrey does now ... She loves to climb on anything and everything. She has recently learned to climb up on the couch or chair. She loves to help. She'll bring you something or close a door. She is very very loving. She is always willing to give kisses (usually several at a time) and big hugs. She is very happy, with the exception of those pesky tamtrums. She wakes up and lays in bed for a while. She'll talk to herself and finally wake me with Mamamamama. She graduated to her own room. It was actually a transition she sort of initiated. She stopped sleeping through the night in our room and she stopped going to sleep in our bed. I think it's because of the TV. Anyway, after a few sleepless nights, I decided that she could start sleeping in her own room. She did without any problems and has been since. She doesn't cry when we put her down. She listens to music for 10 minutes and then rolls around until she finally gives in to sleep. Such a good baby! She has really done most of these things on her own. I don't push her to be independent, she just is. She eats cereal and drinks milk for breakfast. I put cereal in a bowl, sit her on the living room floor and she eats until she's full.

We are so proud of our little girl. She is growing up so fast, but we are very honored to be her parents and to watch her develop. She is amazing to us and we love her more each day. I think this gets us pretty much caught up. I know its a little random, but I'll try to keep up better. I have pictures, but I haven't uploaded my camera since we moved! I'll post pictures soon...

--Amy

Teeth

Aubrey is cutting teeth! She has been attached to me all week and sooooo cranky. I've been giving her Tylenol and Orajel. There are two coming in, both in the front. One on top and one on bottom. I check each night before bed and I can see them coming in more and more. I hope this is over soon! I feel so bad for her!

--Amy

Happy Half-Birthday!

If you think I'm behind on my blog, you should see Aubrey's baby book. Updating all this stuff and photo albums have been on my To do list for a while. My list has finally gotten down to where I can do stuff like this now. Thank goodness! I am ready for a few "slow" months after the hectic months we've had.

On Christmas eve, Aubrey turned 6 months old! I simply cannot believe she is this old already. And she is growing so big! We didn't have her well-baby check up until Jan. 6, but the dr. was still impressed. She is almost 18 pounds and 27 1/4 inches. He said she is 95th percentile for weight and length and 90th percentile for head circumference. Her spitting up and decreased dramatically. Not gone, but much better. A lot of this is due to eating baby foods, especially oatmeal cereal. Most of the time, she would rather eat food than formula. She loves everything we've given her, although she'd rather have oatmeal cereal than rice cereal. I asked the dr. about her eczema and he gave us some tips to help. It's much better now and I give her benadryl for the itching. At the dr. office she really loved the mirror. She was kissing the baby in the mirror and putting her hand up on it. Really amazed and so cute! The only pictures I got are on my phone though. Overall, he said she is doing great! She got some more shots and was more upset this time. So sad!

She is really growing and trying new things. She is such a good baby! She doesn't fuss much unless she's tired or hungry. She's usually smiling and happy. She sleeps great, but has stopped letting me put her to sleep like a little baby. She likes to lay beside you and fall asleep with her blanket in one hand and the other hand in her mouth. She's very independent! She wants to hold her bottle or put her pacifier in her mouth by herself. She's not my little baby anymore! I'm so proud of her, but sad at the same time.

I guess it's time to start planning a birthday party!

--Amy

Christmas pictures

Aubrey's First Christmas!

I have been so excited for Aubrey's First Christmas. This is my favorite time of year and I couldn't wait to see her reactions. I know it will be better next year, but she actually did more than I expected.

We went to my mom's in Arkansas the weekend before Christmas. Since it is such a long drive, we decided to fly. I found a good deal on tickets, so it was just a matter of trying to get all our stuff and presents in suitecases. Plus, I had no idea how Aubrey would react. She was GREAT! She slept the whole drive to the airport, ate while we waited to get on the plane and went back to sleep almost as soon as we got in the air. I was so relieved! And everywhere we go, including on the plane, people just smile at her and say she is so cute. She really is adorable! Even I am amazed! She keeps us laughing. She is always making a funny face or doing something adorable. I don't know how she'll get in trouble because you just can't get mad at her!

At my mom's we had dinner and Christmas with her side of the family and Aubrey learned to open presents. I may not have mentioned this, but Aubrey LOVES paper. She will play with a napkin, a postcard or whatever I can find. So presents were right up her alley. She would put her mouth on them first and then after I tore a piece for her, she'd start tearing the rest. I really didn't think she would be so involved this year. These last couple of months she has really become more aware of everything and wants to be involved. Anyway, then we went to visit my dad's family, ate dinner, opened more presents and stopped by his gravesite to put some flowers. Then we had Christmas with my mom, sister, Aaron (Sally's husband) and us. Aubrey got MANY more presents and had such fun. She was really good on this trip and we all had fun playing with her.

We got home on the 22nd. I had a lot to do before everyone came to our house on Christmas eve. I made my husband go with me (again) to the super Walmart to get groceries. He really hates this place and I've talked him into going there at least 5 times in the last couple of months. Chad's mom and her husband always come and spend Christmas with us, then we go to his grandparents house in Brenham on Christmas afternoon. Well, his grandparents decided that it is now tradition (because we did it last year) for them to come up to our house on Christmas eve for appetizers and dessert. So, I had to find some food and get it cooked. Not to mention cleaning and laundry and, oh yeah, I have a baby to care for as well. It was a little crazy, but we pulled it off.

They finally went home and it was time for Santa. I really had a lot of fun stuffing stockings and putting out gifts. We shot video on Christmas morning, but I haven't edited any video yet. I also got some good pictures, but my memory card was full and some of them got deleted. Aubrey got a rocking horse, lots of new toys and new clothes. She is outgrowing everything! She had fun opening presents, but I think she was a little overwhelmed. She didn't know what to do first. But she's had a lot of fun playing with her new toys! We went to Brenham that afternoon for dinner and presents with Chad's family. Aubrey got a rocking chair from her great-grandparents. It was nice, but Aubrey gets tired of so many people. After all this, I have decided we will not be travelling anywhere for at least a month. Her schedule was so screwed up that she would stay up until 2 or 3 am! We've had time to calm down now and she's sorta back on a routine. At least she goes to bed and wakes up at the same times!


--Amy

December . . .

I don't really know why I've been putting this off. I think my excuse was that I needed to upload pictures, but I just realized that I've already done that. Anyway, Aubrey has been keeping us very busy! Since I'm so behind, I'll start with Thanksgiving/December.

We stayed home for Thanksgiving and I cooked the meal for us. Chad's brother Shane came over to eat with us. We watched the parade and ate and watched football. Aubrey had sweet potatoes and played with Uncle Shane. It was fun and I was glad to get to spend time with everyone. We watched the Texas/Texas A & M game last night. I like to support our local team and Chad has always been a big Texas fan, so it's always a fun time! A & M lost (as expected), but there's always next year.

December was a BUSY month for us. We started by getting out all the Christmas decorations and getting the house ready. We put icicle lights across the front of the house. Aubrey watched us from her walker and had such fun. She really loves to be outside and the weather was just the right temperature. However, that would soon change. It took me 3 days to get my tree up. I decided that I wanted a pre-lit tree, so I got one at Walmart. As I was putting it up, I figured out that it looked awful. So, back to Walmart we go (at 11 pm!) to return that tree and pick out a new one. Only they don't do returns after 10 pm. We bought another one and took the first one back the next day. If you're counting, that means that for a while I had 3 trees! And I dragged my husband to Walmart twice. He wasn't happy! I finally got it up and decorated and it was so pretty! Aubrey just stared at it. I could almost see her thinking Why is mommy putting a TREE in our living room?? But, this year at least, she didn't mess with it at all. I wish I could say the same for the pugs. It's never a good sign when you find dog hair under the tree when you take it down! Anyway, I didn't even put out half of my Christmas decorations this year. It just seems like there is not enough room. We have got to move!


On December 10th, it got really really cold. Chad's mom was visiting and she was playing with Aubrey while I tried to get some work done. Then we looked out the window and it was SNOWING!! At first little flakes, but as it continued (for over 4 hours!) the flakes got bigger and bigger! It ended up covering the ground and everything. It was so pretty. And so unusual for Texas in December. Usually we don't get weather like that until January. I found a fleece suit for Aubrey to wear and we took her out to take pictures of her first snow. She looked at us like we were crazy! (Seriously, you can tell in the pictures.) Well, it was fun for us anyway.

We took Aubrey to the Children's Museum to meet Elmo and Santa. Surprisingly, she didn't cry. She just sat on Santa's lap while I took a few pictures and then we left. I'm sure next year will be very different.

During all of December, Aubrey is really getting up on her hands and knees and rocking. We thought she would crawl at any time. Finally, towards the end of the month she started "army crawling" on her belly. She didn't get around too much until New Year's eve. Then she started trying to follow us around the living room. Once she got started, she really didn't stop. I'm just trying to keep up!

--Amy

Aubrey - 5 Month pictures