Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving. Aubrey had a lot of fun with at card that Grandma Janis sent her.

I know it might not look like she's having fun, but she really was! 

We had a great thanksgiving. We cooked the turkey for a get together with four other couples. It was really fun and it turned out delicious. We brined the turkey, which we had never done before. But it was pretty easy and made the turkey so juicy and flavorful. It was awesome. 

We were going to take a family trip to Williamsburg, but Aubrey has gotten a little cold and it kind of miserable. Plus I'm really nervous with her sick and don't want it to get any worse. So we didn't take our trip. We worked on Christmas presents and decorating instead. It has been a nice weekend hanging out as a family. 

Smiles

So, a little while ago I was looking through this blog and realized that there are no pictures of Aubrey smiling. So I wanted to post a picture of her darling smile, lest you think we are no fun. I couldn't really catch a picture, so I had to get a video. This video is also apt since Aubs is usually smiling when she eats. She loves her food now! She eats baby food for three meals a day with bottles in between.

Aubrey: Home for 5 months

Aubrey's Aerobics

Aubrey is rolling all over and moving a lot. She is working really hard to try to get up on all fours. Sometimes this gets her stuck, particularly in her crib:

So far, she hasn't been upset by getting her legs stuck. John had to wake her up from a nap the other day. She had been laying with her face on her hands and found her like this:

She didn't seem really upset by that either. The cranky face is because she got woken up from her nap. 

We look forward to the time when she can get wherever she wants...

Happy Halloween!

Aubrey hopes you all have a Happy Halloween Day!

John's Birthday

So I know that John's birthday was almost a month ago, but I still want to share the pictures and the cool stuff we did. Aubrey and I picked out a few presents.

Aubrey helped him open his presents. Isn't that nice of her? 

We left Aubrey with a baby-sitter that wasn't related to her for the first time and went out to dinner. It was really fun. We also had a Root Beer tasting party. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the taste test table. We bought Dixie cups and lined them up on the table for each different kind. We also made root beer which I did take pictures of. 

The homemade root beer was amazing. My favorite from the taste test was A&W and John landed on Mug, with Barq's a close second. 

Happy Birthday, John! We love you. 

Stuff I Made

So, I have been crafty lately. It's something I look forward to during the day and it motivates me to get all my work done. So I wanted to share a few of the things I made. I'm also working on photographing my projects, so please excuse the amateur pictures.

I really needed a place to organize my time, family events and random papers. I was drooling over these awesome bulletin boards. So I wanted to make some of my own. I got a regular frame to be the dry-erase part of the Wall Of Organization.

I put fabric under the glass and just use a regular dry erase marker to make my daily to-do lists. I found a frame with no glass in the clearance section at Michael's. It was perfect for the next section of the Wall Of Organization: the magnet board. This part turned out to be a little more complicated than I anticipated. I went to Home Depot and got a metal sheet. I covered that with the same fabric. 

John had some super-strong magnets and he said I could use them. So I glued some pretty glass on them and had some lovely magnets. 

It took a little more work and cost a little more than I thought, but it turned out really well. And the best part is it's really working to help me stay organized. 

The next thing is an idea a good friend of mine had. Someone made her daughter a really cute pillowcase dress and she thought we could use it as a pattern for a dress for Aubrey. I has some fabric that I had bought intending to use in Aubrey's room, but those decorating plans kind of changed. So the fabric was available for a new project!

It's pretty cute and Aubrey wore it to church. Sadly, the binding fell off while we were there. And it's kind of too short for her. So I'll still have to practice my dress-making skills. 

Aubrey: Home for 4 Months

Isn't she so cute? She rolled from her back to her stomach today, for the very first time. She also ate rice cereal and did pretty well. We'll keep working on it! She also thanks Grandma Janis for the very cute outfit. 

Remembering Rachel

The weekend that Aubrey was blessed, we also had a celebration for Rachel. A dear friend suggested that we choose a symbol for little Rachel and that a butterfly would be a good one. So we decided to do a butterfly release to remember Rachel.

We got the butterflies from this farm. They are cooled so they are dormant but alive for shipping. They come in these lovely custom envelopes.

The butterflies like to crawl on fingers before flying away.

Many of the butterflies liked visiting Aubrey.

Aubrey Got Blessed

John gave Aubrey a blessing on September 4, 2011. Both sets of grandparents were able to be here and share the event with us.

Our Trip to the North

My sister, Amy, got married on Aug. 19 in Cardston, Alberta. (Congrats!  Welcome to the family, Charles!) So we went to stay with my parents in Calgary for about a week. We got to help test all the desserts, put up the tulle, and set the tables. In case you're wondering, testing the desserts was the most fun part! My mom did a dessert bar for Amy's reception and it was absolutely amazing.

Aubrey and Mommy ready for the wedding

It turns out Aubrey is a great traveler. I was getting pretty nervous about the 2 flights and a layover each way. We had bottles and soothers and blankets and extra clothes and diapers all ready for the trip. We had some of everything in the carry-ons in case we got delayed or lost our luggage. But we didn't need to worry too much. Aubrey really did so well. She mostly slept once we got going. She was so patient with layovers and waiting for luggage.

Aubrey got to meet all her aunts and uncles on that side and lots of other relatives. Everyone was so excited to see her. She got passed around quite a bit, which made me sort of nervous. But she didn't seem to mind it at all. She is pretty friendly and likes people. She was just starting to smile and giggle a bit when we were leaving. So it was perfect timing.

Aubrey loved staying at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma has lots of fun toys.

Aubrey - Home 12 Weeks

Aunt Amy brought Aubrey this hat from Peru. However, Aubrey grew too fast and it didn't fit on her head by the time she got it. But I decided to try it on her anyway. Isn't she so cute?

Aubrey: Home for 8 weeks

When I was a little girl I never imagined that I would be so lucky as to have a doll that would demand a new wardrobe every 3 months.  But, lo and behold, here she is!  I have been waiting and waiting for Aubrey's head to get big enough for these adorable headbands.  And the onesie matches!  These are sold by some friends in our ward.  Super cute.  Check out their website.

Baby Wise by Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam

When we brought Aubrey home from the hospital, I think we were all sort of sick of having such a strict routine.  We let Aubrey eat whenever she wanted and sleep whenever she wanted.  And then that sort of backfired when her sleeping got really disorganized.  I was talking to a dear friend about it and she lent me this book.  It is really good and it has helped a lot.  Aubrey is starting to sleep for long stretches at night and she is much happier during the day.  I like this book because it is moderate.  It talks about having a routine, but being flexible.  It teaches that the routine should serve you and your family, not the other way around.  So this book has worked really well for me.  

The List by Melanie Jacobson

John's mom gave me this book when she came to meet Aubrey.  It is a very fun and quick read.  It's about a Mormon girl who doesn't want to get married until she has completed all the adventures on her list.  But she meets the man of her dreams and has to decide what's most important.  It was definitely an accurate portrayal of the Mormon Singles scene.  It was a very nice distraction while Aubrey was in the hospital.  Thanks, Janis!

Half-Baked by Alexa Stevenson

So, you know that song "Killing Me Softly?"  The narrator describes going to a concert and the song performed describes exactly what she's feeling.  That is how I felt when I read this book.  

It's a memoir of a mother who goes through IVF, gets pregnant with twins, ends up on bed-rest, loses one twin and takes care of the surviving twin through a long stay in the NICU.  Sound familiar?  It did to me and it was extremely cathartic to read this while I was recovering.  The author has the same gallows sense of humor that I do.  She describes the incredible anxiety that came with that whole journey.  It was just so reassuring to know that other people went through what I was going through and survived and their babies were okay.  I spent several afternoons crying over this book shortly after Aubrey was born.  It helped me to have courage.  

Do we look alike?

Sara:

Aubrey:

I guess Aubrey wasn't as impressed with this dress as I was back in the day.  Or maybe she was mad that she didn't have a super-cure sweater to accessorize...

Aubrey: Home for 6 weeks

Aubrey has been home for about 6 weeks.  We often get questions about her age.  With preemies there are two things to consider: chronological age and adjusted age. Chronological age is calculated based on actual birth-date.  So Aubrey's chronological age is about four and a half months.  Adjusted age is based on original due date. So Aubrey's adjusted age is about 6 weeks.  Her development will follow her adjusted age for the first two to three years of her life.  After that she will be caught up.

So far, things are going very well.  We do lots of fun things:

Tummy Time

Play Time

Bath Time - She's too big for this tub now!

Sleep Time

Aubrey likes to sit in her bouncy chair.

She likes to sit with Daddy.

She likes to read with Mommy.

She had her first visit from a friend, Michael.

He's a little bit bigger than she is!

She had her first 4th of July.

We went to a friend's house and had a BBQ and watched fireworks.

We all went to church together for the first time.

Aubrey even started smiling at us!

And, the best news of all, Aubrey has slept for 7 hours several times!  We are all doing well, adjusting to a new life.  We've gone out several times and visited with a few of our friends.  Over the weekend we all went to a wedding reception and had our first family picture.