Back to School

Well, we've made it through yet another double ear infection. We'll likely be discussing tubes if these infections keep springing up. Aubrey is doing so much better with her appetite and is actually eating pureed baby food for the first time! My mom came to the rescue for the last four days and got Aubrey fed very well during her visit. It was great to have a second opinion and another set of hands. Mom is back home to our dismay but it was a very nice visit. Aubrey cried when we dropped Grandma off at the bus stop yesterday :-(

Aubrey's back to daycare today and is doing well. I'm missing her like nobody's business but have only a few hours left till I can pick her up.

In only a few days, Aubrey will be 10 months old! We're off to Iowa for our first trip back in at least a couple years. It will be nice to have a week off and to see Aaron's family. I'm looking forward to all the Thanksgiving food too :-)

Fighting the Flu

Well, Aubrey and I are having quite the week. On Wednesday, I got a call from daycare asking that I come pick Aubrey up for the day. She was throwing up. We decided to also keep her home yesterday as she had a case of the scoots as well. Yesterday afternoon, my health took a nose dive which led to lots of throwing up and nausea. Unfortunately, I had to come to work today as I have a few clients. If I had a personal secretary, I'd be at home sleeping but I had no way of letting these people know so I peeled myself off the bed and came in today. Aubrey's doing a lot better and is back at daycare for today. I may head home this afternoon and get a few hours sleep before picking her up for the weekend. So much for getting flu shots!

I Love Halloween

I think we have a candy lover living in our house. As you can see from the following pictures, Aubrey is quite enthralled by Halloween candy. I'm sure this love will only increase as the years pass by. Aubrey couldn't just settle on one candy pack at a time; she had to double fist it or try to shove two packs in her mouth at once. Don't worry, no samples were had this year, except by Aaron and I. We went around to 5 houses in our neighborhood tonight to say hi and show Aubrey the ropes of trick or treating. Aaron and I had a lot of fun with the day and are looking forward to the many Halloween's over the next 15 or so years. Lots of kids stopped by our house...we actually had to pull out the granola bars as we ran out of candy by 7:45! We'll have to buy another bag next year. Hope you all had a great one!

Hmm what have we here?

Mmm M&M's and Milky Way

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!

Oooh I really like these!

Time is Flying

Aubrey and Grandpa

Our little pumpkin

Aaron's new truck

Well, it's already been nine months since our baby girl was born. Hard to believe I could have relived another pregnancy (greatful that I haven't though). Since I blogged last, we've celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends Tim and Emily, had a visit from Grandpa S, purchased Aaron a new truck (farewell Subaru Impreza), gotten Aubrey through a double ear infection and round of antibiotics, and worked a lot. Aubrey is really trying to cut some more teeth but they are very resistant to breaking through.

This week, Aaron and I have been struggling to get Aubrey to sleep at her usual 7:30 time. She is not happy when it's time to go in the crib. We've tried to let her cry it out, done the whole patting on the back trick, and consoling her. Unfortunately, those things are not effective. We're at a bit of a loss and hoping this is just a phase...maybe her teeth are just really bugging her. Anyways, we're crossing our fingers that bedtime goes back to being an easy time.

This Sunday marks Aubrey's first Halloween. She will be a pumpkin this year and will have had a couple practice runs in her costume before Sunday. They are taking pictures of all the kids at daycare, dressed in their costumes. Aaron and I are going to a Halloween party tomorrow night and I am yet to come up with a costume. I'm going to have to get creative tonight. Our friends Elizabeth and Chance are going to man the house while we're away for a couple hours. It will be nice to see them.

Happy Halloween everyone! Happy moving day to Greg, Britt, and Quinn!

Colorado and Climbing

I'm waving so hard, the picture is blury~ This is me and dad at the Airforce Academy Visitors Center

Outside the US Olympic Training Facility. Yeah!

Mom and Aubrey reunited at the end of the workshop. So happy to see each other again!

We had a great time in Colorado Springs. Aaron played Mister Mom and did a great job. Aubrey was always happy when I returned home at the end of the day and both Aaron and Aubrey appeared to bond a bit more over the week. Aubrey and Aaron went to the zoo, we checked out Garden of the Gods, went to the Airforce Academy, ate some great food (Aubrey's favorite was Spaetzl- a German noodle), saw the location for the US Women's Open for 2011, and slept a bunch.

My conference was really good. I learned a bunch and also confirmed my knowledge of sports nutrition. It was so cool to eat and walk around in the same place as Olympic athletes and see their training facilities. Most of their sports dietitians taught classes and labs in our workshop, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Now that we're back, Aubrey is crawling and climbing on everything. Today, she helped me empty the dishwasher, as you can see above :-)

8 months!

Aubrey turned 8 months on Tuesday! Hard to believe I could have almost had another baby by now! This weekend Aaron and I met a couple at a baby consignment store that were holding a nine month old and were expecting their next baby in 3 short months!!! No thanks! I can't imagine all the diapers, sleeplessness, and stress those parents are going to go through.

Something new for Aubrey is that she is waving almost every few minutes. Whenever someone walks in the room at daycare, she does a little princess wave and smiles. It's very cute. Other than that, she is still trying to figure out the crawling business. She really wants to stand at all times so perhaps she is distracted by her thoughts of standing that she is not thinking of scooting around on the ground. At any rate, we're having lots of fun with her. She is now in the next level at daycare; Polliwogs. No longer a Guppy but I think she's really loving the new room. There is a lot more interaction and the kids aren't quite as needy. She's enjoying sitting at a kid-size table for snacks and meals.

Next week, the three of us are off to Colorado Springs for a work/vacation. I'm attending a sports nutrition workshop at the US Olympic Training Facility (very excited about this) and Aaron is going to hang out with Aubrey and do some sight seeing. We're heading out a day early to catch a couple tourist stops...maybe the Red Rocks and Airforce base. It will be a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll have pictures to post when we get back :-)

A nice weekend

I love Daddy!

Oh Uncle Greg. I knew I'd like you!

Proud grandparents enjoying the two girlies.

Grandpa! You're hilarious!

Atlast! Quinn and I have met! We're buds for life :-)

We had lots of fun in Edmonton visiting with Greg, Britt, and Quinn and Grammie and

Grampie S. Can't wait for the next visit!

Busy Month!

Me and my ducky are buds!

Hi guys! I got a new bow to clip back my long bangs!

What's up? I'm hanging out on the kitchen counter playing with my sippy cup!

Peek-a-boo! I've figured out how to lift sheets and cloths over my face and

bring them down to reveal that I'm still there!

Hi all~ It's been a tad busy for us this month and I apologize for being absent from the blog for so long. I feel bad thinking of many of you checking the blog every day and being disappointed to find no new posts.

Since I blogged last, we have had lots of visitors and events. My friend Elizabeth from work got married to Chance on August 8... a beautiful wedding and gorgeous bride. They've since gone and returned from their honeymoon. For visitors, my cousin Heidi, from Vancouver, visited on her way to and from a conference in California. Next, my mom came to visit for 4 days while Aaron went fishing with our friend Paul and then shortly after, Aaron's mom came to visit for a week. Yesterday, Aaron and I hosted a barbecue for a mommy group I belong to and invited all moms, dads, and babies. There were three baby boys and three baby girls, only about a month apart. Fun to see them all together and nice for all the spouses to meet. There were 19 people in total who attended (babies included) so we had a really full house.

Work has been very busy for me this summer. I was promoted, which is wonderful, but with the promotion came a lot of extra responsibilities and work. I rarely get any down time and wonder where each day went by the time 4 o'clock rolls around. Life is busy but we are all hanging on and enjoying the ride.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

We hope you are having a wonderful day and that this next year will be as good as the last!! Love you lots!!!

Proud Grandpa

A fun guy!

An excellent entertainer

That's my dad! I'm so thankful and lucky! We love you Dad!!!

A Nice Weekend

We had a really great past few days. On Friday night, we enjoyed some home-made pizza and an Episode of Glee (we're very addicted to this series). On Saturday, I enjoyed a mani-pedi with a couple friends whose birthdays are also in July and who also have babies Aubrey's age. Afterwards, Aaron, Aubrey and I went to Gig Harbor to hang out with our friends Tim and Emily and their daughter Natalie. We played some Bochi Ball (Emily and I won ofcourse) and then ate some awesome grilled beef kebabs and portabello mushrooms. For dessert, Aaron had made some black bottom cupcakes. Delish! On Sunday, we went out on Paul and Gina's boat and jetted around the harbor, out to a marina, where we enjoyed some drinks and snacks and a great time with friends. Below are some pics of our weekend.

Out in Gig Harbor. Aubrey loved Natalie's Baby Bjorn.

A little tug-o-war over napkins. These girls are starting to become a lot more interactive with each other. Natalie is now at the same daycare so that has been fun for all of us.

"I'm wearing a PFD mom!"

Looks like Aaron had twins! A cute shot with Ryan and Aubrey in their PFD's.

Aubrey and Ryan slept the whole way back to the boat launch. Fun was had by all!

Jumping Bean

Aubrey would like to share some jumping fun with her cousin Quinn.

Eating Escapades

"Yummy...I think I like green beans."

"Do I have something on my face? Don't lie. I'm thinking I might have overshot my mouth a little when I was eating sweet potatoes."

"I think I'd rather brush my gums with this spoon than eat carrots. No thanks!"

Mom, I think I'll have what you guys are having...wait a minute...is that curry I smell? Mom, don't even think about it...you remember how poopy I get don't you?

Oh yeah! A break from eating. Look at me everyone! I got a new dress from Grandma Mo! Aren't I beautiful? Thanks Grandma for making me this gorgeous reversible dress! We all love it!

Famous for 30 seconds

I did an interview on Wednesday for Q13 Fox News up in Seattle on knowing your calorie numbers. Check out the video! Have a great weekend!

http://www.q13fox.com/videobeta/35b8b8c7-8592-4288-a69c-d61f004f130f/News/Do-You-Know-Your-Calorie-Number-

I want to go outside!

The weather here is beautiful this week but I have been locked up in my office and at the sports med clinic from 8-4 daily. I miss the days when I had summer break! Aubrey seems cagy too this week at day care. She is back to not liking bottles and is starting to get upset when I leave her after my lunch break. It's enough to break a mom's heart!!! My mom has reassured me in the past that she will not be psychologically traumatized by going to daycare. They are doing a great job but Aubrey is getting a little out of sorts lately.

Luckily, Aubrey's friend Natalie got in to her daycare 3 days a week starting last week. She is adjusting nicely and the two girls have had some nice quality time together. Emily and I get a chance to catch up while feeding the girls at lunch which is also really nice.

In other news, Aubrey has advanced to eating green beans and rice cereal mixed together. It's a big mess but she seems to really enjoy it. I'll post some pics soon of her food escapades.

No big plans this weekend. Going for a walk and to the Farmer's Market with some clients on Saturday then hopefully spending some time outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather. Maybe we'll go for a picnic? This has become one of my favorite things to do since becoming a mom.

We're Back!

A road just down the street from Grandma's house!

Hi everybody! We're back from our trip and doing well. One day of work down and one to go until another weekend. Not too shabby. It's about 90 degrees here which is great when you're not at work but not so great when you're at work...especially if your office doesn't have air conditioning like mine.

Below are some pics from Kelowna. We stayed with grandma Bodeux and visited with mom and dad Stephanson. It was great to see everyone and get a few away times for Aaron and I. We were able to enjoy Stromboli's at Boston Pizza, Poutine at Costco, appetizers and wine at Quail's Gate Winery and tappas and wine tasting at the Little Straw winery. Aubrey had a blast meeting Grandma B and seeing her grandma and grandpa S. She had a doctor's appt. today and was cleared of her ear infection despite her continued playing with her ear. Looks like the amoxacillin did it's job. Thanks Mom for administering so many doses while we were in Kelowna!

Hi Guys!

Aubrey playing with her cat Pinky while mom and I watched an episode of Glee on her I-Pad

Aubrey and her Great Grandma Margaret

What a stylin girl in her baby wetsuit! Her and her cousin Quinn are quite proud of themselves in their new suits. Thanks Grandpa S!

Aubrey and Grandpa enjoying some bonding time on the grass. "Give me those toes!"

4 generations together

Aubrey enjoyed her first spoon-fed snack tonight and did very well! She has been grabbing our place mats and cutlery lately and acting very interested in food. It was time to give her a little taste. She seemed very happy to finally get to taste something other than plain milk.

Ear Infection

Well, unfortunately, Aubrey has an ear infection. After a rough night of crying on Sunday, we suspected something was up. Everytime I tried to lay her down on her back, she would cry out in pain. As soon as I would pick her up, she would fall asleep on my shoulder. After some relief from baby Tylenol, we were able to get some sleep. On Monday, I brought her in to daycare thinking everything was ok. After she refused to eat, I knew something was definitely wrong. While holding her, I noticed she had a really faint dried on white crusty film around her ear canal. When I showed the ladies at daycare, they agreed it was likely an ear infection that was making Aubrey so out of whack. I called the doc and made an appointment that afternoon. It was confirmed she had a pretty bad infection. Luckily, since starting amoxacillin, she is acting like herself again and the pain seems to have gone away.

Daycare said sometimes ear infections are linked to genetics with something to do with the size of the inner ear parts. Aaron struggled with lots of ear infections as a baby so perhaps Aubrey has acquired his ears? We're crossing our fingers that this is the first and last one but we know now that when Aubrey is not acting herself, we should get it checked out.

Aside from her poor ear, we are looking forward to our upcoming trip to Grandma Bodeux's. Can't wait for some Kelowna sun and heat!

Summer is Here!

Yeah! We're finally getting some summer weather in the Pacific North West! Temps have been in the 70's and we've been able to get out of the house and enjoy. This past weekend, Aaron celebrated his first Father's Day, with Aubrey so thoughtfully buying him a new bike helmet and signing a card just for her dad. We enjoyed T-bone steaks, potato salad, sweet corn, and brownies for dinner. Yum!

This week, we've gone on a few walks after dinner, soaking up the warm breeze and sounds of summer. In only one week, we're heading to Kelowna, BC to visit my grandma Bodeux, cousins, and Aunt and Uncle. Mom and dad Stephanson are going to meet us there for a visit and give us some time to have a date or two while they oggle over Aubrey girl.

Updates on our girl include her 5th month birthday this past Monday (!!!), lots of drooling as teathing has commenced, absolutely no qualms about taking bottles any more, only 1 month away from trying her first bite of food, in love with the bouncer and will bounce happily away as we eat dinner every night, wore her first pair of shorts today (jean shorts) and a shirt that says "There's just something special about me."

We've been having fun being parents and can't believe where the time has gone.

Happy Birthday Grandma Deb!

"Happy Happy Birthday, on this your special day! Happy Happy Birthday, that's what I'm here to say! We hope you have a wonderful day!"

Grandma! I miss you!

I wish I could be there to help Mommy make a cake for your birthday!

Just know that I love you!

And am thinking about you!

And can't wait to see you in Kelowna in a couple weeks!

Happy Birthday Mom. We love you!

Under the Weather

Unfortunately, I've been hit with another bug...likely from daycare. I had a ripe temperature of 101 last night and felt like I was on fire. I'm at work this morning but have an intense headache and a bad case of the chills. I've got a few clients I have to see so staying home sick wasn't an option. I think Aubrey girl is also feeling a little sick as she has been a bit contancorous the last couple days. She didn't take a bottle at daycare yesterday so each time I stopped by, she was ready to chow down. It's tough on the nerves when your wee babe doesn't want to eat from a bottle while you're at work.

In other news, we are set to do our second family 5 k this Saturday at the annual Sound to Narrows in Tacoma. I've got a group of participants from a weight loss group who are doing the run/walk with us. The weather is supposed to be amazing, forcasted at 78 on Saturday and 80 on Sunday. It's raining and chilly today so the heat will come as a welcome change. Sunday, Aubrey and I are going to a mom and baby group with some moms from strollersize and a couple other new moms and babies. It will be nice to see everyone again! That's about it for now. Hope all is well with everyone!

Time is Flying

I can't believe it's already hump day! We had a nice long weekend, hanging out a lot at home while it rained outside. We had some sun on Monday which gave Aaron some time to refresh the yard for the week and I had a chance to attend my greatly-missed strollersize class. It was so great to see some of the regulars there along with other moms and babies who have also returned to work. Our friends Naomi and Bradley had us and another couple Hayley and John over for dinner on Monday. We met Naomi and Bradley (parents to Elliot) in childbirthing class and Hayley attended strollersize with her son Max. It was fun for all of us to visit and have the babies play together. Elliot is a month older than Aubrey and Max is a month younger. It's amazing to see all the developmental changes from a 3 month old to a 5 month old.

This week has been super busy at work. I taught a "Breakfast for a Busy World" class to a company yesterday which involved a bunch of cooking demos and sampling. It's only an hour class but there is a lot of pre prepping that goes in to it! I spent a good chunk of Saturday and Sunday getting everything ready to go. Thankfully everything went well and I think I convinced everyone to buy Muesli and Agave Nectar; both products that are new to me but were used in some new recipes I demoed. 2 more days to go until the weekend! Yeah!

Much Better

Our little Aubrey Strawberry has been amazing this week. She has consistently been drinking 2 bottles a day at daycare along with a feeding from me at lunch. Daycare said she didn't fuss once over the past two days. Each time that I have stopped by for a visit, she has been greatly enjoying herself. She busily plays with all of the toys, chats with her teachers and other babies or sleeps like a little angel. My stress level has greatly reduced this week knowing that she is doing so well.

This weekend, we will be relaxing, prepping meals for the upcoming week and enjoying time together. Yeah for the long weekend!

Home is a bottle free zone

Aubrey has made a decision to take bottles at daycare but not at home. After our angst over the weekend and a wee breakdown on my part at daycare, when I dropped her off in the morning, Aubrey decided to be an Allstar and drink both of her bottles without fussing yesterday. The daycare took one of my hooter hiders and layed it next to her face as she was feeding and that seemed to do the trick. She wanted my smell next to her. Too cute and very flattering. Hopefully that trick will work at home. We'll need to try that over the weekend.

We enjoyed a nice dinner at home last night with our friends Paul and Gina and their 5 month old son Ryan. He has a really cute laugh and thought Aubrey was hilarious. She didn't know what to do about Ryan so she just looked at him with a stone face most of the evening. Both babes were sleeping by 7:30 which gave Aaron and I some time to chat with Paul and Gina. It was a great visit.

4 month check-up

Today was Aubrey's 4 month appointment where she was weighed, measured, and poked with a couple shots. Aubrey had a fun time in the first part of the appointment but that came crashing down at the end. Luckily a little mommy comfort post shots did the trick.

Here are her stats:

Weight:14 pounds 2 ounces (dropped from the 90th percentile to the 60th...the doctor thinks this is largely in part to Aubrey's habit of holding out for me instead of taking the bottle at daycare :-( .

Height:25 3/4 inches (90th percentile)

Head: all I remember is that it is in the 80th percentile.

All in all, our girl is doing great. I'm home with her today as daycare suggested it might be a good idea to keep her home and she also has a pretty nasty cough she's trying to get over. Lots of naps today for Aubrey girl.

As for the bottle, the weekend went poorly. Aubrey refused the bottle despite our efforts to make it an enjoyable experience. Being home with her today makes me wish I could stay at home with her everyday. Bottles are no fun! We'll keep trying though!

Could this be the one?

I don't want to get too excited but we may have found Aubrey's bottle of choice. Per the suggestion of the daycare providers, we went out and bought the Tommy Tippy bottle which is supposed to resemble the breast the most. I guess it's the "rage" in the UK. I just called daycare and they said she drank the whole bottle after only a short stint of crying. They're going to try it again this afternoon and see how that goes. Gosh would that ever be wonderful if Aubrey began drinking from Tommy Tippy's!!! I'll keep you all posted as I'm sure you're all dying to hear about our saga.

In other news, we ventured off to the mall last night to cruise through Victoria Secret with Aubrey in a stroller. Before you start questionning my purpose of the trip, I was needing to buy lingerie (sp?) for 2 coworkers who are having a dual bridal shower titled "Naughty and Nice." Somehow, I got finangled into hosting it at our house but I think it will be a fun time. Luckily the Nice part of the party will be at our house and the Naughty part is happening afterwards at locations TBD (I can't say where just in case they read my blog). We all felt very out of place in Victoria's but Aubrey seemed to enjoy all the costumes :-). Dress up anyone?

Some new pictures

Aubrey Strawberry

Aubrey at daycare

Hi Mom! Can you see what I'm doing?!!!

Oh Dad! You're hilarious!

I think I want to walk...let's just skip the crawling.

Oh my gosh you guys! I can stand!!!

I'll be honest that blogging is low on the totem poll these days but it feels good to not feel too tired tonight to get a post up. We've had a great week since last Friday. Everyone was healthy over the weekend so we were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather we had. Aaron and I had fun taking a bunch of photos with Aubrey in the backyard. She loves to stand and always has an expression of great pride when she is able to hold herself up on her feet with little help. I always say "Aubrey!!! You're standing!!!" and she gets really excited. A highlight from the weekend was jogging to Proctor for a cinnamon roll at the market and a decaf coffee at Starbucks while hanging out with my girl. We'll definitely need to do that again soon.

The daycare update is: unfortunately they continue to struggle with Aubrey not taking a bottle without putting up a long and painful fight. I had to teach a couple classes in Kent today and wasn't able to feed Aubrey until 2 so she had a tough time holding out. As I was walking to my car, I could hear her crying so popped my head in the baby room to see if it was her. It was unfortunately but when she came to the door to say hi, she immediately let out a squeal of glee. She was like "Yeah mom! You're going to save me!" After a bunch of kisses, I had to pull myself out of there and get to the classroom. The teachers said she held out really long and only had a couple ounces before I was able to get there after the classes. It's tough, to say the least! We just need to keep doing it and eventually I hope she'll realize we aren't torturing her but trying to help her :-)

3 more days left till we can have a nice weekend again. Aubrey and I are headed to a wedding shower for my friend Elizabeth on Saturday and then enjoying some family time the rest of the weekend.