Pictures!

I don't have too much to report. Things are good. I have a cold but fotrunately Aubrey and Troy are both doing fine. Aunt Carla and Becky and Gabi are visiting this weekend so we are very excited to see them! I took these pictures last weekend and thought you might enjoy looking at them!

Happy Days Are Here Again!

Well, now that we have gotten through our first cold experience, life is much more enjoyable for everyone. Aubrey is doing much better and we are both adjusting to being back at school. Aubrey sleeps at school much of the time and when she is awake she really does well with her teachers and with playing in the bebepod and other toys. This has been a relief to me and to my surprise I have actually enjoyed the social aspect of work (and the paychecks don't hurt either). I am still hoping for something different long term but am ok with the situation as of now.

This weekend we celebrated Troy's first Father's day by doing none other than eating festival food - this is his favorite type of food to eat (don't ask me, I think it must be a guy thing). On Saturday Troy had to go to work a couple of times but in the afternoon we went to downtown Libertyville and hung out at Libertyville days where there was an art show and rides and bands and lots of yummy food. Then on Sunday Troy worked at church in the morning and then Aubrey and I met him for lunch and then we all came home and took a nap... pretty exciting I know. I think we all needed some rest and relaxation though. All in all it was a great weekend.

Sick

Well, it's official. Aubrey has her first cold. Boy, it's a lot harder for a baby to have a cold than it is for us big people! I had no idea! Aubrey has been sniffling and sneezing for a few days but has been under the weather for almost a week. It is so sad to see my little baby girl with her bright red watery eyes and stuff running down her face. I feel so awful for her. We went to the doctor to day and it is just a virus so hopefully she is getting toward the end of it. I don't have too much other news to report. To be honest, this cold has taken up pretty much all of my energy! Hopefully I will have something more fun to post next time. Until then I will leave you with a picture of our little sweetheart falling asleep in her daddy's arms. She was so tired she fell asleep sitting up!

Back to work

Well, my 2+ month hiatus is over now and I am getting ready to return back to work on Monday. I am a little nervous about doing that because I don't want Aubrey to get sick in daycare and also I just don't want to be away from her. I have been on a hunt to find ways to stay home but have been less than fruitful so far. I am staying positive though and will only be working part time. I will also get to continue nursing her while I am there during my breaks. I am fortunate to be working and sending Aubrey to a place where I trust the people and I am also available at all times. All in all it's a great situation - it's just not the same as staying home...

I went back to work this week for a couple of hours and left Aubrey in the infant room and she did great. Her teacher said she responded with talking when she was sung to and loved going outside in the buggy. I was happy to hear that she was such a good girl. Today I went shopping and got her a new bouncy seat so she can take her own to school with her. It is not usual or necessary for babies to bring their own things but my thought is that maybe she will be able to stay healthy and not get sick as often if she is using her own toys. I am also hoping that she will feel more at home by bringing her old bouncy in with her. I know I am sappy but this is just a difficult thing for me to get used to.

On Thursday when I woke up I noticed that Aubrey was sort of screaming instead of her usual crying or grunting and she appeared to be in pain. She was also strange because she was sleeping ALL day long and kept even falling asleep on me which is very abnormal for her. I was nervous that she had come down with something already from her time at school so I took her to the doctor and she checked out fine with just a bit of a red throat that the doctor thought might turn into a viral infection. Today, though, she seems just about back to normal (maybe a bit fussier than usual) and her temperature is back to normal. Who knows what that was all about, I'm just glad to see that she is doing better.

I realized today that I haven't really been taking too many pictures of her and I need to get back with it so I will be busy behind the camera this weekend and I will get some more pictures up here next week sometime. Sorry this was kind of a downer entry but I am just in a strange mood. If you have any information regarding a way for me to work from home I would appreciate it. And as always, we appreciate your prayers regarding finding something but more over finding peace with the situation. Thanks!

middle of the night ramblings

So it's a little after 11 here and I am the only one awake. Troy and Aubrey have both been asleep for over an hour now and I am not tired at all! In fact, I have a surprising amount of energy right now. While I was changing Aubrey I started to think about how much I like my wipe warmer and thought "I should make a list of all my favorite must-haves for a first time mom." But then I thought, maybe people would think that was boring and annoying. I always thought it was kind of annoying when people tried to impose their own personal ideas and thoughts on me while I was pregnant. But then I thought, duh people can figure out what works and what doesn't work when their babies are here, but what about while they are still pregnant? It's weird, lately I have been wanting to be pregnant again (which is crazy because at least in my earlier stages of pregnancy I really didn't enjoy it much). But the whole idea that you forget all of the pain of childbirth and all of the struggles of pregnancy the second your baby is born is true, or at least it was for me. So now I am enjoying my beautiful baby girl and realizing that I missed out on some of the fun things that I could have (and should have) enjoyed before she even came into our home as a little baby. So I will not impose my views onto you and say that you need to have a wipe warmer and a bouncy seat and a bebe pod and some of those velcro swaddlers because you already know that and if you don't then you'll figure out what works for you. And anyway, what do I know? But I am going to bore you with some new ideas that are dear to me because I wish that I had known then a year ago and I hope that if I happen to forget these things I can look at this and remember them next time. So here is my list of things to do while you're pregnant:

20. Stop trying to fit into booths at around 8 months to avoid embarrasements
19. Enjoy eating hot food while you can because soon you will rarely eat your food before it's cold
18. Figure out a way to stay home and not have to go back to work. (still working on that one)
17. Video tape when the baby kicks. You can see your belly move and you forget how amazing it is
16. Don't get annoyed when you need to keep moving your car seat back to drive.
15. When you are nausious and throwing up remember that it won't last forever.
14. Spend time with your husband because you won't get those date nights back for a while
13. Rub your belly. I remember how fun that was and I miss it
12. Don't let yourself stress out about the baby. Odds are he or she is going to be fine.
11. Take pictures of yourself every month to show your progress. Some months are just "missing"
10. If they don't know 100% boy or girl, don't ask what they think it might be!
9. Plan on being way more in love with your baby than you can imagine
8. SLEEP! SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP!
7. Start a blog :)
6. Eat what you like but remember that your baby doesn't weigh 40 lbs... I could have sworn mine did!
5. Exercise (see #6)
4. Take lots of video and pictures of you and your husband at the hospital
3. Get a cute haircut if you don't already have one. It will help in those last months when you are feeling less that beautiful.
2. Enjoy the attention you get because pretty soon you'll be your baby's accessory
1. Thank God every day for the amazing job He has allowed you to do

So there are my 2 cents for tonight. Like I said, you don't have to take any of my advice and it isn't even applicable to a lot of you. I guess I just wanted to share my thoughts because I am realizing that my love for Aurbrey started a little less than a year ago when I found out I was pregnant and I really am truly blessed to have gone through this journey.



*** Side Note - I have made it so that anyone can leave comments now. Sorry for the confusion earlier I didn't realize I had regulations set for them! Feel free to leave comments! ***

2 month check-up

what a little angel




what a chunker - look at that tummy!



resting with daddy



celebrating Troy's birthday at Ditkas - with Ditka! Daaaaa Bears




"Look Ma, I can sit!"



bath time



"...choo!"



Can you believe she came home in this outfit? Look how big it was on her in previous posts! Now it barely fits!



This used to be the only outfit that fit her little body...

This morning was Aubrey's 2 month check-up and it went great! She is 11lb 13oz, 22 1/2 in long and totally on track as far as her growth is concerned. It was fun to see that she is doing well but if you have ever taken your baby in for his or her 2 month visit you know that it's not very fun - they get the first set of vaccines at this visit. Aubrey did a great job though and only cried when the shots were being given and actually smiled at the nurse when they were done! It was nice to see that she wasn't too upset by all of it. She slept the whole way home and about an hour afterwards in her carseat once we got in and since then she has been napping on and off and in a fairly good mood and so far no fever so that's a relief! The rest of our day looks like getting a lot of laundry done now that our washer is fixed and letting Aubrey recoup from her big day. I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

8 weeks and counting

I can't believe our little baby girl is almost 2 months old already. She has outgrown many of her newborn clothes and is almost out of her 0-3 month clothes already! It is so fun to dress her up pretty! I feel like I am playing house with one of my baby dolls but she is more fun for sure. She is getting really good at her nighttime schedule by sleeping 5 or more hours for her first big stretch of the night. I usually try to put her down at 11 or so and then she will sleep until 4 at least but usually 5. After that she is up every 2 hours or so which is not too bad since I have already gotten a pretty decent chunk of sleep already. What a good daughter to let mommy sleep!

Troy's parents have been visiting us here in Chicago since the beginning of May so we have gotten lots of practice being out with the baby. So far Aubrey is doing pretty well. We have learned that by 5 or so she gets CRANKY but besides that she is good. I think she gets tired but doesn't want to go to sleep so she gets frustrated too - not a good combination. Luckily during the night when she is sleeping she can put herself to sleep so when I'm done feeding her I just burp her and put her back in the bassinet and she lays there quietly until she's asleep - again, what a blessing she is!

This past week I went to my daycare center where I work and discussed my hours for when I will return to work. It looks like I will be working in a 2 year old room for the summer and will work about 7:30-1:00 with a 1/2 hour break in there to go and feed little Aubery. This will work out great because with the warm weather it is easier to get up earlier in the morning and then I will have the whole day out of work and I can also keep Aubrey on a normal breast feeding schedule which was extremely important to me. Come fall I will be back with my little angels in the Kindergarten and after school programs and will be working 11:45-5:45. In the fall I will also be able to keep Aubery on her regular schedule. This makes going back to work much easier for me and her. We were really blessed for me to find this job.

I don't have a ton more to update you on. I don't usually go on and on like this with my writing but I feel like I haven't shared anything with you all in a while. Troy has discovered that Aubrey calms down and actually seems to enjoy sitting on his lap and watching the bright colors of his iTunes visualizer (if you don't have iTunes it is basically psychedelic looking colors that stream across the screen while the song plays). It's a pretty funny sight to see. Troy's sister, Jill, and her boyfriend are coming in to Chicago tonight at midnight so we will get to spend this weekend with them which we are really looking forward to!

I will stop boring you with all of this. Thanks for tuning in!