Aubree's Baptism

On November 17th Aubree got baptized!  I was baptized as a baby and I couldn't wait to do the same for Aubree. She was baptized at the same church that I was baptized in (my Grandma's church in Milliken) and she wore the same dress that I was baptized in!  I also made her a pearl bracelet out of the bracelet that I wore in my friend, Pam's wedding and she wore a necklace that my mom gave her.  

We chose our siblings to be her Godparents.  Thanks Jeremy and Sarah for being there for her.  (And to Marie for taking all of our pictures :) )  It meant so much to have you all there for her.

After, we celebrated by having lunch at The Cracked Egg.  Aubree got some cake.  I am not sure how she felt about it.

She also got lots of presents!  She seemed more interested in the tissue paper, but we are so grateful and blessed to have such amazing family that care so much and want to celebrate her.

She also thought her new bible from Uncle Jeremy was tasty.  We have been reading a few pages every night before bed as her bedtime story.  She still wants to eat it, but I think she enjoys reading it more.

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!  More than ever, we have so much to be thankful for.  November is a wonderful time to reflect on everything that we have to be grateful for.  Well, I wrote this in November, but December is a great time to reflect on how blessed we are too.

I read once, what would you do if you woke up tomorrow and you only had what you thanked God for tonight? I am not sure where it came from but I think about it every day.  My life may not be perfect and I may take so many things for granted, but each night as Aubree and I do our nightly routine I slow down just enough to thank God for everything that I have been blessed with.

Every night, the top of my list is my family.  Dan and Aubree are my life and the reason I get out of bed each day (even if it is earlier than I planned... or 6 times during the night).  Aubree is the best thing that has ever happened to me and she is my world.  Dan is my best friend and I am so glad that God picked him to be my partner in life.  I love my little family and could not ask for more.

I am also thankful for the rest of my family.  My parents are my rock and my support.  I could not stand on my own if it were not for them.  They have taught me to be strong and how to love and be a family so that I can give the same to Aubree.  They are the best listeners (and advice-givers) and I only hope that we can be half the parents to Aubree that they were to me.  And my brother, my life-long partner in crime.  Every kid needs a built-in best friend and I am glad that he is mine.  My boys are included in my family.  Amp and Jenkins are my protectors when Dan is not home.  I wish I could be as happy as they are when I walk in the door each day.

Next on my list is my friends.  We may have our own families and live miles apart but I couldn't imagine my life without them.  Someone told me that when you are young you make friends because they are close to you or on your soccer team but when you are older you choose friends that compliment you and make you a better person.  I am so blessed that I have found that group of girls that make me want to do more.

There are so many things to be thankful for.  I am so thankful for each and everyday.  I can not believe how much my life has changed in the past year and I try to remember to enjoy every single second.

7 Months

Age: 7 months

Height: 25 inches (9th percentile)

Weight:  14 pounds 4 ounces (12th percentile)
Head Circumference: 85th percentile

Clothes: A is about 1 week away from outgrowing her 3-6 month jammies.  She seems to outgrow the jams before any of her other clothes.  She is still wearing 3-6 month clothes for the most part but she has many cuter 9-12 clothes so we are starting to go to that side of the closet more.

Diaper Size: Size 2, except at night, we started using overnight diapers.  Dan swore the smallest size they had at the store was a 3, so that is what she wears at night.  

Things she loves: sitting up! Playing with anything that has buttons... toys, remotes, phones, drinking out of cups and bottles, eating everything, her dogs, being carried, playing with keys,  the love list is getting much longer than the hate list, so that is good!

Things she hates: SLEEP.  Girl hates her sleep... naps, bedtime, if sleep is involved she hates it.  We are still working on sleeping through the night... we make it about 5 hours and then every 2-3 after that.  She went from loving her swing, to hating her swing in about a day.  But I think she associates it with nap time, so technically it would be included with sleep.  Other than that, she is a very happy baby.  

Milestones:  Sitting for minutes at a time, reaching for things, pushing buttons, bringing food the her mouth (and wondering why the food didn't stay in her mouth... we are working on that one.), rolling in every way possible, babbling consonant sounds (her favorite is mmm, which leads to mom and mama. :))

Teething: She got her first teeth at 4 months, but we haven't seen anymore yet.  Her doctor said she definitely has movement, which cold be the cause of some fussiness and headaches.

Sleeping: Eh... Not good.  Better than terrible though.  She is officially in her own room (and we did it without any tears from me... and only one night of sleeping on her floor.  It would have been more, but I am too old for that)  She always starts the night on her left side, then rolls to her right, then rolls right onto her tummy.  That is usually how she sleeps until she wakes up in the middle of the night.  (Can you tell I have spent many nights watching the video monitor?)

Eating: Girl loves her food!  I love watching her try new things.  She seems to enjoy baby food, but loves eating whatever we have.  Her favorites seem to be strawberry puffs, applesauce, and pears.
Looking forward to: I am so excited for Aubree to start crawling.  We also can't wait to get our family pictures taken! 

30 and 31 weeks

Time is going so fast!

Aubree may be getting more independent, but she loves cuddling.

She also loves remotes and watching Sesame Street.  

Aubree is starting to eat more than just purees.  She really liked eating soggy Cherrios for breakfast.

She also loves helping her Grandma and Mom work.  I think in no time she will be better at using the adding machine than I am 

She is also very stylish in Grandma's sunglasses

I can't believe that my baby is already over 2 feet tall.  She was 18.75 inches when she was born.  My baby is growing too fast.  One day we will make a growth chart like this for her room... I just have to buy the supplies and find some time :)

Baby jail... do I need to say more?  She fell asleep at to foot of her crib after rolling around like crazy.

Aubree loves to be held.  Especially when I am working.  She also took the hat off of her Rudolph, so she had to wear it.  It lasted about 2.5 seconds before it ended up in her mouth.

Blogging with Baby

Blogging with Baby is way harder than I thought it would be.  Between work, keeping our house semi-livable, and taking care of Aubree there doesn't seem to be an hour left in my day for for me time.  I would never complain though, I love every minute of my crazy, hectic life, but I do wish there was another hour in the day.  Maybe between 8 and 9, after Aubree goes to sleep.  

Not a lot has changed in the past month.  Most importantly, Aubree is a month older!  Here are a few highlights from our month away from the blog...

Aubree has so much more personality these days!  She is silly and loves to laugh.  She is getting so big and loves sitting up, even in her swing.

She also enjoys sitting in her swing like a goofball.

And her bouncy seat...

Maybe she is getting too big for them...  What do we buy her next?

She also started petting the dogs.  She loves them; they do not love her.  She is a little too stressful for them.  She loves when they bark and starts laughing instantly.  She also yells at them when they play in the house.

Aubree started sleeping in her own room.  I only slept in her room long enough to realize that I am too old to sleep on the floor.  Instead, I spent the next few nights watching the video monitor.  She moves around in her sleep, thats for sure.  

 Aubree loves sitting in the cart when we shop.  She gets bored with her toys though and decided to eat my list this time.

She also loves standing in her jumper.

And just lounging in her jumper.

She is getting so big!  This month, she started sitting in highchairs while we eat at restaurants instead of being held the whole time.  Toys like the Fisher Price Piano from my parents help to distract her a bit, so that helps.

It tastes good too.

She may be getting too big for her bouncer so I tried setting her in the sink.  She loved it until she learned to turn the water on.  :) 

Aubree loves to eat anything that we eat.  I think she felt like a big girl when we handed her an ice cream cone. It went straight to her mouth and she did not want to let it go.  It is a good thing Mommy is stronger than Baby.

Ice cream was a one-time thing for Aubree... I think she would be addicted if we let her have more.  She does love fruit, so that is a good substitute for now.  She loves eating bananas in her mesh feeder.  It makes a huge mess though.  Next time she will get it in her highchair, not the couch.  Oops.

Aubree is loving her food.  She has tried so many that I have lost count!  I think the only thing she loves more than eating is drinking out a a sippy cup.  My mom bought her these cups from Tupperware, which are perfect because she can't figure out how to suck on the other ones.  It doesn't matter what is in it, she will drink out of it. She also loves drinking out of regular cups and waterbottles, but sippys make less of a mess.

We also had a great time celebrating my Grandma's 80th birthday!  It was great to have everyone together for lunch and cake.  I wish we would have got more pictures, but at least we snapped one of us before we left. 

We also found an Aubree-sized pumpkin while we were in Milliken.  Thanks, Great-Grandma :)

 I have been waiting since my baby shower for her to be big enough to wear this dress.  It is a little big on her, but my baby can finally wear 6-9 month clothes.  She still wears 3-6 months, but she has so many cute clothes in bigger sizes I can not wait for her to wear them.  I also worked up the courage to clean out her closet and box up her Newborn to 3 month clothes.  I only cried a few tears as I packed them up.  Dan was shocked to see how many clothes she has grown out of.  He even admitted to secretly hoping that our next baby is a girl so that she has hundreds of clothes to wear and we can use them all again. :)  

I got an early Christmas present this month!  I have been dying to get a big-girl camera and learn how to take really good pictures.  (The iphone doesn't really cut it for getting pictures to frame.)  I am beyond excited that Dan wanted to buy it for be so I can learn how to use it before Christmas.  Aubree got bored though.  She sure loves sleeping on her Daddy.

No matter how many times we try (about once a month) Aubree can not figure out the paci.  Don't get me worng, I am glad she won't take it, but it is hilarious to watch her try to figure it out.  She will chew on any part but the part she is supposed to.  She just doesn't know how it works.

Aubree loves to play with my phone.  This was her first masterpiece (before the phone went in her mouth.)

Have I mentioned how much she loves her dogs!  I think their tails are her favorite part.

She also loves keys.  It is a good thing we wash them often.  

Aubree had her first trip to Build-A-Bear!  We went shopping with my mom and Aubree ended up building a Rudolph!  I think we had more fun than she did, but she loves playing with him.  Possibly her favorite toy ever, he sings and his nose lights up, what could be better?

Our life may be crazy but I would never change a minute of it.  Morning cuddles are always the best part of my day.  Aubree may be sleeping in her own crib, but loves nursing and hanging with Mommy on the big bed before we get up for the day.  I just can't get up, or there is no room for me.