A look back

I really can't believe the '00s are almost over. The last 10 years have without a doubt been the most amazing of my life. Since it's the end of the year and the end of the decade, lots of people are being reflective of the past, so I thought I'd join in.

So, here's a look at my last 10 years.

2000-junior/senior in college, in long-term relationship, moved back home with the 'rents

2001-completed internship, graduated from ECU, started grad school at UNCC, started dancing again, 9/11

2002-grad school, working, moved out on my own for the first time in my life to my grandparents' old house, my parents separated, first dance recital in 5 years

2003-my Granny passed away, year-long internship, finished grad school, got my first "real" job

2004-lots of working and paying bills, got my first dog, ended long-term relationship after 6 years

2005-started dating again, changed jobs, got my 2nd dog, met Todd and started dating, bought my first car on my own, got my CCAS/LCAS, went to Washington, DC

2006-moved in with Todd, got engaged, lots of wedding planning, got my LPC

2007-sold house in Mooresville, moved to Huntersville, got my first new car, got married, went on honeymoon

2008-changed to my current job, became an aunt, got pregnant, went to Las Vegas, turned 30

2009-delivered Aubrey, watched my sister-in-law get married, enjoyed the first year as a parent

I can only hope the next 10 years will be as amazing at the last 10.

Happy New Year to everyone!

11 months

Wow, the last 26th that I can say Aubrey is just __ months old has passed. I can't believe in less than 30 days I will have a 1-year old. Over Christmas, I was remembering how miserable I was last Christmas and it seemed to hard to believe that was a year ago. Sigh....

Milestones from the past month
*Crawling like a speed demon
*Clapping (which is beyond cute, by the way)
*Discovered her 5th and 6th teeth have broken the skin
*Started crawling over anything that gets in her way
*Is no longer content to just sit. She insists on pulling herself to stand on whatever is close. Including her crib, which is how she greets when she wakes up
*Started cruising on furniture
*First Christmas
*First taste of the Pearce annual barbeque
*Got into her first "fight" at school--she wanted another baby's toy so they played tug-o-war and Aubrey won--until the other little girl got mad and sat on Aubrey. I wish I could have seen this go down. I bet it was funny!
*She fits in a few 12-month things, but mostly wears 6-12 months and 9-month stuff

The best I could do for this month's shot.
She spent the rest of the time doing this...

First Christmas

Due to the joys of holiday travels, Aubrey's first Christmas started last Sunday with G-ma and G-pa. Of course she has no clue what gifts are but she loved all the attention that came along with people watching her open presents. After presents, we went to to visit Santa. Or, let me rephrase, attempted to visit Santa. I looked up his scheduled ahead of time and he was supposed to be available until 5:00 and then he would be back at 6:00. So, we got to the mall at 4:15 thinking we would have plenty of time. When we went to get in line the gentleman in front of us said he was waiting on the 6:00 visit. WHAT?! I was not standing in line with my 10-month old for an hour an a half to wait on some expensive pictures of her crying in the big man's lap. So, we nixed that idea and moved on with some shopping. We then had a nice meal with G-ma and G-pa and called it a day.

The next part of Christmas started on Wednesday when we made the annual trek to Raleigh to hang out with Todd's extended family. Wednesday was a long day of riding in the car and visiting, but not a bad day. But the night was a different story. We always stay with Todd's cousin Diana because she lets us bring the dogs. The only problem with staying with her is the guest room is upstairs and does not have heat running to it. Usually, Todd and I plan for this, bring warm jammies, and snuggle up to sleep. We put Aubrey to bed, but she woke up about 2 hours later and WOULD NOT go back to sleep. I think she got too cold, which made me feel bad for her so I decided to sleep on the floor with her so she could snuggle with me. Yeah, she's not much of a snuggler, so that was out. About 12:30 when I was hitting exhaustion and frustration, I grabbed an extra blanket and wrapped the base of the pack 'n play in it, but another layer of clothes on Aubrey and put her back to bed. She finally went back to sleep, but then she started coughing. ALL NIGHT LONG. So, neither Todd nor I got much sleep so we were beat on Thursday. Aubrey somehow got some sleep and seemed all happy, fortunately. We took her to Todd's aunt and uncles house for Christmas Eve breakfast, which was fabulous as always. The rest of the day was just spent visiting with friends and family. At 5:00, Santa came to visit the little kids and I've never seen so many excited kids. We usually leave before this happens, but since Aubrey needed the requisite visit with Santa, we stayed. We did get some pics with her and Santa before quickly scooting out the door for our 3 hour ride home.


Santa came to visit Aubrey and I woke up before she did because I was excited for her. Of course, she demanded breakfast before toys (I am sure I will miss that in a few years when she refuses to eat because she wants to play). After a good bottle, she discovered the joy of Santa and new toys and it was so much fun to watch. We spent the rest of the day playing with her toys or watching Christmas movies on tv.

In her Christmas jammies playing with her favorite present

Christmas dinner was spent with my family at my house. This was our first time hosting Christmas dinner and I was pretty excited. I even used my wedding china and silver for the first time in the 2 years I've had it! We had a great meal together and then enjoyed watching (or in Aubrey's case, helping) the little ones open presents.

My brother playing with my nephew Dameon and Aubrey

It's so much fun to have a little one during this time of year. I know Aubrey will never remember this Christmas, but to Todd and I it was pretty special. For the last 2 Christmases we have been waiting to share it with a little one so for it to finally happen was so exciting. I can't wait until Aubrey can understand the meaning behind Christmas and gets excited about all of it. So much fun!

Completely Done

Even when I went to almost exclusive pumping, I still nursed Aubrey 1 time a day. That was our special time together. But, for the last few weeks, she was pretty much avoiding nursing. She'd go for about 5 minutes and then pull off and not re-latch. I knew some of it was teething pain, but I figured if she was hungry, she would eat. But, unfortunately, she was never a good nurser and when her gums hurt, she was even worse. I am pretty sure my milk supply was almost gone since she hadn't been nursing well for over a week. So, I made the decision to go ahead and completely wean her. I was so sad that last morning I attempted to nurse. I just kept remembering how much we struggled with it those first few months and how proud of myself I was for making it even when I wanted to quit so badly. Fortunately, I still have enough milk in the freezer that she can get an extra bottle in the morning.

She had no problems not nursing, but why would she? She got it dumped down her throat from a bottle instead of working for it through nursing. I figured I would be hurting physically after a while, but really I have had no problems. So, all in all, it was an easy transition. I am glad to get the extra sleep during the week but I do miss the quiet time together on the weekends. It is weird to think for the first time in 19 months my body is just mine again. I am not physically nourishing a child anymore. Very sad and amazing at the same time.

A few videos

I managed to get Aubrey saying uh oh for me. She says it all the time and it is sooo cute. The rest of the video is just her rolling around and being silly.



This video was taken the weekend she started crawling. She was really tired when I filmed it so she is crying a lot throughout, but I still managed to get her to move a little bit.

10 months old and Thanksgiving

Aubrey shared her 10 month birthday with Turkey day. We went to visit my family in Kernersville and of course, stuffed ourselves silly. Aubrey ate lots of turkey, but seemed to like ham a lot more. She also ate stuffing for the first time, which she wasn't too sure of at first, but then she gobbled it down.

Milestones this month:
**Crawling- she is all over the place now
**Pulling up on anything she can
**First Halloween
**3rd and 4th teeth are coming in (both upper lateral incisors)
**She now gets to eat whatever we eat, but she still eats mostly veggies
**Says uh oh all the time (usually followed by her paci being thrown)
**Also says mama and something that sounds an awful lot like sit (I guess she hears us tell the dogs that a lot)
**She is just about to outgrow most 6 month clothes, but a few of the onsies still fit

We are less than 2 months away from the big 1 year. I am still in denial that she won't be a baby much longer.

2 huge milestones

Last Friday, Todd got home from work early so he was home hanging out with Aubrey. I was slaving away at work, counting down to 5:00 when I get the following picture message on my phone:

Yep, that's my child standing up. He said she was trying to pull up on it by herself but was frustrated she couldn't pull all the way up. So, he helped her just a bit and this was the result. Now, she pulls up on everything. She even had her 1st accident report sent home from day care because she was pulling up on the bookcases and fell over. At this point, I became convinced she was never going to crawl. I figured she would just be one of those babies that skips crawling and goes straight to walking....

Until this Friday. It was Todd's Friday off so he keeps her at home on those days. He said she made a few attempts at trying to crawl, but would get frustrated and give up. So, yesterday I decided to really work with her. I found a few enticing toys (including my phone, her favorite obsession) and put them just out of reach. She was so mad at first because she couldn't reach them. Before I knew it, she picked one of those back legs up (which at first she resembled a dog peeing on a hydrant) and managed to move a few inches forward. YAY! I worked really hard with her the rest of the day and got her to move a lot. I got a little on video, but she was getting tired by the time I got it and most of the video is her crying. I think once she realizes she can really move and get what she wants, we are in trouble. Let the major babyproofing begin!

Good-bye my not so dear friend

I can hardly believe it. I have been done pumping for over a week now. 1 whole week of not being attached to that evilness. I had planned to drop down to 1 pump last week, but after dropping down to 2 pumps, I realized it probably wouldn't be so hard to just go from 2 to none. I am still nursing first thing in the morning, but that is a piece of cake. That's kind of our quiet time together and it gives me time to actually just sit and relax, which I don't have time to do more of. The first day of not pumping was easy, the 2nd day was a little uncomfortable, but then the 3rd day I was good to go. I've still got to clean the parts really well and find a way to seal it back up, but the day I put it up in the attic to wait patiently for number 2 will be a great day. It is down hill to her 1st birthday and I made my goal of giving her breast milk until age 1. To celebrate, I bought some new make up and have time to enjoy putting it on in the morning without being attached to a noisy piece of equipment. It's the little things that are so exciting now!

9-month check-up

Aubrey had her 9-month check-up on 11.06.09. She weighs 17 lb. 4 oz (25% percentile) and is 27 inches long (30% percentile). She still has a large noggin', which is 44 cm (70% percentile). It's getting harder and harder to take her to the doctor because there is so much waiting. Keeping a 9-month old entertained for 20 minutes between measurements and actually seeing the doctor is no easy task. Luckily, she was entertained for a while by kicking and tearing the paper on the exam table. When the doctor finally came in, she did her exam and said everything looks great. There was some concern over the continuous faucet Aubrey's nose has become (along with the lovely colored stuff draining from it) over the past few weeks, but she said since Aubrey seems to feel fine, she wouldn't start any antibiotics for now. She said she seems to be right on track in her milestones and growing perfectly. The nurse came in and gave Aubrey a much dreaded (ok, much dreaded for me and Todd) flu shot and sent us on our merry way. So, she is good to go until her next visit, which is scheduled on her 1-year birthday. I can't believe that was close enough to schedule. It's going to be here so soon!

1st Halloween

Aubrey's 1st Halloween was pretty uneventful. We carved our pumpkins on Friday night, which was sad considering we've had them almost 2 weeks. Of course, Aubrey went to bed before Todd's masterpieces were finished, so we took pics of them on Saturday. Aubrey did not nap well during the day, so by the time we put her in her costume, she was not happy. I managed to get a few pics of her, but I am so glad we got professional pics of her in her costume, because I didn't get any great pics of her in the costume. Todd took her to our neighbors' house and they took some pics of their little girl and Aubrey. Aubrey then drank a bottle, ate dinner, and went to bed. She was asleep before most of the trick-or-treaters got here, so keeping Bailey quiet with the door bell ringing constantly was no fun. I felt bad for the kids because it started raining about 7:30. But, that meant Todd and I have candy left over, which is awesome, even though we don't need it. I think next year will be more fun because we will actually take Aubrey out and enjoy it more.

9 months old

Aubrey and I shared a birthday this month. She turned 9 months old on my 31st (uggghh) birthday. Since I didn't go to work, we went to visit Todd at work because his coworkers haven't seen Aubrey since she was itty bitty. It was pretty cold and dreary, which is yucky when you're walking downtown. But, we had a nice lunch with Todd, visited for a while, and then left to go shopping . We ate dinner with my dad that night, which was really good.

Here are some of Aubrey's highlights from this month:
*Was in her first wedding
*Moved up to size 3 diapers
*Dropped a bottle and started eating 3 "meals"
*Finally put away the 3-6 month clothes
*Could start wearing some 9 month clothes
*Working on at least 2 teeth
*Went to her 1st pumpkin patch and farm
*Pulling up to all fours and rocking
*Sleeping in her lowered crib

Almost the end of an era

An era of pumping that is. Aubrey has dropped another bottle which means that I now have enough milk stored that I can quit pumping and she will still have enough milk to last until her birthday. I was in shock when I did the math Friday and realized that. I thought I would be going a few more weeks before I hit that mark. I am still amazed that I can really start weaning from pumping now. I need to take it pretty slow because I've had a nasty clogged duct in the same area twice in the past 2 weeks and I don't want to take the chance of causing an infection. But, I have dropped to 3 pumps a day now and hopefully I will be down to 2 next week and then 1 the week after that. I still plan to nurse first thing in the morning until she decides she wants to stop that. I don't mind nursing at all. But, I despise pumping. I am proud that I have made it this long, though. There were so many times in those first few months I never thought I'd make it to this point. I am going to buy myself some sort of present on the day I put the pump away. I think I've earned it.

Moving on down

Since Aubrey has started consistently laying on her belly and pushing up, she has been greeting us in the morning almost looking over the side rail of her crib. Even though she is nowhere near pulling up, knowing she is that close the top has made me nervous ever since. So, we decided to move her bed frame down. Todd didn't think it needed to go all the way down, but it's not an simple task, so I decided moving it once was enough. So, we put the frame all the way down to the bottom and it is so low. Getting her in and out is now quite a struggle for me since her crib is not drop side. Todd's dad built me a stool, which helps some. But, I am sure it is still quite comical to watch met getting her in and out. Todd said the crib looks more prison-like now, and it really does. The first time I laid her down in it, she looked at me like "where the heck are you putting me?" I know she'll be pulling up in the next few months so I think I can deal with the strain for a few months if it means I know she can't maneuver out yet.

Up on all fours

I think Aubrey has decided to bypass army crawling. She has shown no signs of wanting to pull herself around on her belly, which I guess I can't blame her for that. I wouldn't want to do that much myself. She has decided to start working hard core on crawling. She has started to pull herself up on to all fours, which is amazing to me because this is the same baby who hated her belly just a month ago, but has somehow built up those muscles with a quickness. The first time she did it, I got so exited and squealed, which got her excited and she proceed to face plant. So, she did it again and I just cheered quietly, so she decided it was safe to keep going. Then, she started rocking back and forth like she was getting ready to launch off. It was really cute to watch her get so excited. I know it is probably just a matter of days before she realizes that rolling to get where she wants to be is just not efficient anymore. Sigh...my life will never be the same.

Pumpkin patch fail

Ok, maybe not complete fail, but partial failure for sure. There are some Octobers that I can clearly remember wearing shorts and flip flops. So why it decided to be brrr freakin cold this October is really not clear to me.

Saturday was the only day that Todd and I both had free to take Aubrey to a pumpkin patch and take those gloriously cute pictures amongst all the pumpkins. I found this cute little farm in the University area called Hodges's Farm that has a maze, farm animals, and of course, pumpkins. Luckily, it wasn't raining so we thought we'd be ok just dressing Aubrey in her cute Halloween t-shirt and jeans. She was ok while we checked out the maze and the goats. She even let us take a few shots on the ground with some pumpkins. But, then the failure started. I put her on this cute hay stack with her pumpkin and she let loose with the tears. We realized she was cold when I touched her hands and realized they felt like ice cubes. I deserved bad mother of the year award right then. I felt so bad. I stay hot most of the time so I tend to forget other people actually get cold. I should have brought a coat for her but in my rush, I forgot. So, no cute pics of her posing with her pumpkin flashing that famous grin because mom was the doofus who forgets warm clothes for her 8 month old. Luckily, I had a fleece blanket in my car, so we wrapped her up in that. Once she got warm, she was much happier (imagine that) so we finished touring the farm, which included Aubrey getting to rub a pony. We bought 2 nice pumpkins and hopefully I can get some cute pics of Aubrey with them. So, all in all, things weren't completely ruined, but I did learn my lesson.

Cute shot with the pumpkins

Failure


Warm again and in love with rubbing the pony

Teething hell

Ughh, we are back in teething hell again. Aubrey has been such a pill the last 3-4 days. She does not want to do anything except be held, which makes it hard to do anything else. When she is by herself, she is whiny and fussy. To top it all off, she bit me 3 times while she was nursing this morning. After the 3rd time, I sat her up, firmly said no biting, that hurts, and she gave me the most pitiful face and started crying. I held out and ended nursing because it usually happens at the end so I knew she was done. It was so pitiful to hear her cry, but her little shatp teeth freaking hurt. I can't tell what tooth is coming through, but I really wish it would come on. I'm almost out of Motrin and that's not good when teething.

Aubrey's first wedding

At the ripe old age of 8 months, Aubrey was in her first wedding. As soon as Todd's sister got engaged, she asked if Aubrey could be her flower girl. How could I say no to an excuse to dress up a baby in a frilly dress? Finding the dress was a bit of a challenge, since most flower girls are a bit older than Aubrey. But, Grammy pulled through and found the perfect brown pageant dress for us. It's just been hanging in her closet for the past 2-3 months and I was so excited that she was finally going to get to wear it.

The plan was to pull Aubrey down the isle in Todd's old wagon. And pulling the wagon would be the groom-to-be's nephews. I still don't remember exactly how old they were, but they were so excited about their roles. The wagon ride went very well on Friday night, which made me nervous for Saturday. Practice is supposed to be bad so the real deal is good. On Saturday, Aubrey was a pill by the time the ceremony started. She didn't take much of a nap during the day so by 5:00 she was not happy to be forced to sit up in this wagon. Luckily, Todd was walking behind her in case things went south. She kept scooting forward in the wagon but managed to stay up until she got about halfway down the isle and fell backwards. Luckily, she didn't cry and Todd managed to get her back up. She then proceeded to "talk" throughout the entire ceremony, but I don't think anyone noticed. She wasn't very cooperative for pictures after the ceremony, so we'll see how those turn out. But, we did manage to get a few dances out of her at the reception before she wanted her dinner and then passed out in her stroller. I think she did pretty well overall and I'm excited to use the dress again for her 9-month pics in a few weeks.

First beach trip

Todd's cousins own a house in Cape Carteret, NC, which is on the Intracoastal Waterway and they were nice enough to let us use it for the week. So, we loaded up both vehicles, Aubrey, and both dogs and took off for the week. Aubrey seemed to love being at the beach. She got to hang out at her Aunt Traci's bachelorette party for a bit the first weekend and got her first visit to the ocean. The water was a bit cool for her to sit in long, but she loved to kick her legs in the water.



We also took her to her first aquarium in Pine Knoll Shore and it was so neat to see her face while she stared at the huge tanks. She also went with us to our wedding anniversary dinner and decided she wanted to be fussy, so we entertained her with crushed up crackers, which she managed to get everywhere! On Thursday, we went to Beaufort, NC which is a neat old town with a beautiful downtown on the waterway. Friday, Todd's cousin took us out on his boat on the waterway and it was so much fun. Unfortunately, we left on Saturday and drove home in the pouring rain. We stopped in Kernersville to see some of my family from Kansas before we finished the rest of the drive. It was a great week and I can't wait to do it again.

8 months old

I think each month goes faster than the one before it because it really just seems like I wrote the 7 month post yesterday.

This month's milestones:
*Started sleeping on her belly
*First trip to the beach (separate post with those stories coming later)
*She is trying so hard to crawl. She still can't get her legs and arms to work together
*Started mimicking our sounds. Especially the "uh" as in "Uh, oh"
*Started mimicking our movements, like shaking her head no. I am sure I will hate this one day but it is really cute right now
*First trip to the lake and a family reunion
*Spent first night away from mommy (Yes, I was more upset than she was)
*Laughs on her own now, we don't have to tickle or laugh at her anymore to get her to laugh

She's getting to be such a big girl. She seems to learn something new everyday and it amazes me. It's so hard to remember those first few months where she really couldn't do anything but sleep. eat, and poop. She is so much fun to be around and I can't wait to see what she learns next.

They fit!

Finally, after 16 months of waiting, I can wear some of my pre-preggers pants. Unfortunately, I can't say all of my pants because I had gained some weight before I got pregnant, so those pants will have to wait about 5-6 more pounds to have their dust shaken off. I am so grateful that nursing burns some awesome calories because I surely haven't exercised this weight off. Who has time for that? I still would love to loose about 25 lbs to get back to where I was when Todd and I started dating, but in reality if I loose 15 more, I will be happy. However, I plan to stop pumping in about 2 months, so I guess those last pounds will have to be worked off the old fashioned way. That's ok, though. Once I stop pumping, that gives me an extra 40-ish minutes at night that I can hopefully dedicate to exercise time. Plus, Aubrey will be crawling soon so I will burn more calories chasing her around, I am sure.

7 months old

The munchkin is 7 months old today. I kept staring at her birth announcement at work today and thinking how different she looks today. It's hard to believe she really was that small at one time.

This month's milestones:
*1st 2 teeth came through
*Rolled to her belly on her own
*Started pushing up to her hands and knees (that means crawling is soon...sigh)
*Started pushing herself backwards
*Started having separation anxiety
*Went on her 1st hike

I really do love this age. She is so interactive but also plays pretty well by herself. I wish she could stay just like this for a while, but I know even more fun things are in store for us.

Separation anxiety

Aubrey started her new day care this morning. I was hoping for a smooth, easy transition, but Aubrey had other plans. As soon as I handed her to the teacher so I could unpack her bag, she lost it. She was screaming and clearly unhappy. So, I took her back and all was fine with the world. I walked her around the room, showed her where things were, laughed and smiled at her teacher and I thought she would be ok so I put her down on the floor to play while I went to try unpacking again. Again, screaming waterworks. So, I started getting a little stressed at this point. Aubrey is one of the happiest babies I know. She is always smiling and usually goes to just about anybody with no fuss, so it amazed me she was this worked up. I sat down on the floor to play for a while and she was smiling and happy. The second I walked away, screaming again. Like someone was chpopping her arm off. It dawned on me that she is starting to have separation anxiety. Greeeaaat. Perfect timing with the change in day care. But, thinking back, she has been doing this in the morning when I am getting ready if she can't see me. Uggh. Not good.

I delayed going to work as long as I could, but eventually I had to leave. She was crying when I walked out of the room and I could hear her crying in the lobby. It was so hard to leave knowing my little girl was so upset. Such a mean mommy leaving her in this new place with these new people all alone. I called at lunch and they said she was doing better, as long as she was being held. Yep, that's my child, alright. Todd picked her up after work and they said her afternoon was much better. I am going in tomorrow better prepared for the tears and screaming. I hope it gets better over the next couple of days because I only have so much strength to keep leaving her like that.

Changing day cares

Todd and I made the decision a few weeks ago that it was time to change Aubrey's day care. I've been frustrated with us getting home so late because it doesn't give her much time to eat before it's time for her to go to bed. Plus, I have been solely responsible for day care duty since its close to my office. So, we would leave for the day at 7:15 and not get home until 6:15. Aubrey would be in her car seat for 1.5 hours every day and I felt so bad for her. I was just trying to make it work until stuff start going down hill at her day care. They are understaffed for the summer because a lot of kids are home with parents. So, they would combine the 2 baby rooms and chaos was the order of the day. In my opinion, a 6 month old baby who can barely sit does not need to be in a room with a 12-month old who is walking. One of those babies is likely to get hurt and when the staff is overwhelmed, they can't watch everyone properly. We would get different bottle parts coming home with us, nobody was available for me to explain when Aubrey started solids during the day, and crib sheets went home with other parents or Aubrey came home in different diapers. Plus, there was no communication amongst staff. The floating staff wouldn't have a clue about that day or my baby and when I got there, they couldn't tell me anything about the day. So, enough was enough and I decided to make the switch. Todd and I decided to go with a day care closer to our house so he can help me by picking her up. We found a center that appears to be a little more organized and more education focused instead of just being babysitter during the day. Plus, with Todd picking her up, I can change my work schedule around since I don't have to rush and pick her up. So, I am going to start working 9-5:30, which will let me sleep 30 minutes later in the mornings. Hopefully that extra 30 minutes of sleep will help me feel better and more can get done around the house and I can exercise. Those are my goals. We'll see how it goes this week but I am hoping for good things.

Teething sucks

My normally happy baby has been replaced with the whiny, unhappy version of herself. All she has done for the past 2 days is whine and Todd and I want to pull our hair out. Her little gums are so swollen and she wants to bite everything. I feel bad for being frustrated because I know she is hurting, but I just wish my happy baby would come back.

Big girl car seat

Todd and I made the decision to go ahead and move Aubrey to her big girl car seat. We were both tired of carrying her in her infant seat because the 2 together weighed over 20 pounds. Plus, she hated sitting in that seat and always felt so hot when I got her out of it. So, we went to have her seats installed in both cars and inspected. We had 3 people working on each seat and it was crazy to see how tied down these seats are. The only frustrating thing about putting her seats behind the passenger side is the passenger will now be eating the dash. I am not comfortable with that, but there was not a whole lot that could be done about it. She's still not in love with being strapped in a seat, but she feels cooler when I bring her out and does pitch nearly the same level of fit while being strapped in. It is a little sad to be putting her infant carrier away and to watch her sit in a high chair at restaurants, but overall I think everyone is pretty pleased with the transition.

Let's make that 2 teeth

I stand corrected today. Not only does Aubrey have her bottom left front tooth coming in, she has the bottom right front tooth that decided to make an appearance as well. Looking back, it makes perfect sense that she has been a pill this week with 2 teeth breaking through and the virus on top of that. I feel so bad for her and hope things get better soon.

6-month check-up

Aubrey has been eating like a champ so I was really excited to see how things would go at her appointment today. She is 24.75" long and weighs 15 lb 1 oz. Todd said they freaked him out at first because they put her height and weight in the 3rd percentile and started talking about endocrinologists and crazy stuff, but then they realized they had her as 9 months not 6 and that made a huge difference. She is in the 25th percentile for height and 45th for weight. The doctor said everything looks great, despite the little virus she had, which has led to some sleepless nights over the past week. Todd said she did fine while the doctor examined her, but when the nurse gave her the shots, she made the most awful face and opened her mouth like she wanted to cry, but no sound came out. He said it was so sad to see her in that much pain. But, luckily he brought a bottle with him and that made the world ok for her again. Luckily, she won't get anymore shots until her 1 year visit. She got the cool Tweety bandaids again, but as another sign that she is growing up, she pulled the first one off before I got home so she could see it. And then she pulled the 2nd one off shortly after.

I see a tooth

Todd was getting Aubrey out of the car and putting her in the stroller when I heard him say "I see a tooth." I thought he was kidding, but sure enough I opened up her little mouth and there is just a sliver of her bottom left front tooth sticking out from her gum. It seems like she has been teething forever, so I am glad to see something is finally happening. I would take a picture, but she doesn't like me messing with her mouth (but I guess if my gums were sore, I wouldn't want anyone messing with my mouth either), so I guess I'll have to wait 'til it is sticking out a little bit more.

6 months old

Wow. I am the mommy of a 6 month old. Hardly seems real. Just 6 short months ago this little girl came into the world and changed me so much. It is even more amazing how much she has changed in 6 months. It is so amazing to compare pics of her from when we first brought her home to now. For a reference, here are two pics of her in her bouncy seat.

4 days old

6 months old

Milestones this month:

*Sitting up like a champ
*Started solids
*First 4th of July and fireworks
*First time swimming
*Started sleeping on her side

I can say without a doubt the last 6 months have been the best but most challenging in my life. Who knew something so tiny would make my life better everyday. This little girl is an amazing baby and I am very proud to be her mommy.

We have a sitter

Aubrey has been working on sitting up for over a month now, just needing a little support, like my hands on her thighs or the Boppy around her. Not anymore. She can sit by her self really well for 20-30 seconds on a flat surface before she gets tired and face plants or falls to the side. I am so excited about her sitting up. That makes life so much easier because she can sit and play and I don't have to hold her up like I did before. Once she gets a bit better at sitting, I am ditching the infant carrier and moving to her convertible seat that is waiting for her in the garage. I am so tired of carrying that heavy seat, but she can't sit in a buggy or high chair at a restaurant, so I have to wait a few more weeks.

Mmm, solids

Aubrey's pediatrician gave us the go ahead for solids at her 4-month visit. I was not ready at that point and decided to revisit it at 5 months. I bought the spoons and boxes of rice cereal and oatmeal right before she turned 5 months, but still wasn't ready when she turned 5 months. Finally, last Saturday, I took the plunge and decided we would go for it. I mixed a tablespoon of rice cereal with a little bit of breast milk and sat down to feed her. As I leaned in with the spoon, she opened her mouth just like she had been eating from a spoon her entire life. Todd and I have figured out she sucks her thumb after each bite to help move her tongue so she can swallow. She did pretty well with that feeding and we decided the journey to real food started with a success.



We have tried rice cereal, oatmeal, and sweet potatoes at this point. Her favorite has been the sweet potatoes so far, but I am sure that will change as we add more foods in. It's exciting and sad at the same time that my little girl is not solely being nourished by me anymore. I know breast milk is still her main "food" but she hasn't had anything else since she was 4 weeks old and I have been so proud of that fact. But, I know it was time to move on to the next phase, but it still makes me a little sad.

After the rice cereal...not so messy

But, the sweet potatoes were messier and much tastier, too

3 goals met!

It's been a pretty good week for me because I've almost hit all 3 big personal goals I set earlier in the year.The first was to successfully breast feed for 6 months, which I will meet on 7.26. There were many times in the first 2 months I didn't think I would make this goal. To say Aubrey and I struggled with nursing would be understatement between thrush that wouldn't go away, the general pain of early nursing, and then a pretty low supply to start with. Finally, the thrush went away, the pain subsided, and then when I went back to work and started pumping on schedule, my supply dramatically increased. Which leads to the next goal.

I hated pumping right from the get go. Even when it hurt to nurse, I still would have rather nursed than pumped. I knew I would have to pump at work to keep enough milk for Aubrey to have at day care, so I decided to try and pump enough to where I could stop the last month and still have enough for her. After doing the math, I figured that would be around 800 oz of milk, which seemed like a huge number. I didn't think I would be close until September or October. Well, once I figured out my pumping schedule, took the fenugreek and blessed thistle, and drank the right amount of water, my supply sky rocketed. So much that I was storing an extra 12 oz every night. This coming from the woman that struggled to get 12 oz a day total at first. I am proud to say that this week I hit that goal. I have put our deep freezer to good use. I am so excited that I reached the goal. Now, my Christmas present to myself will be the joy I will feel putting that pump away. I still hate pumping worse than anything, but it was motivating to store away that much milk and know I was doing the best I could for Aubrey.

The 3rd goal I reached this week was fitting in my bridesmaid dress for Todd's sister's wedding in October. I had to buy the dress when I was 9 months pregnant and I had no clue what size to get. After talking with the saleslady, I decided on my size and hoped for the best. I picked it up the Saturday after Aubrey was born and couldn't even zip it a quarter of the way. I've tried it on several times since then and could zip it a little more each time. Well, I tried it on again today and was shocked that I could finally zip it all the way. I am nowhere close to happy with what size I am right now, but at least I know the dress will fit. Hopefully, I can loose at least 10 more pounds by October. I owe all of that weight loss to breastfeeding, because I eat like it's going out of style and stay too exhausted to work out. So, as much as I hate pumping, I am thankful that I have been able to loose the weight because of it. A lot of good things have come out of my stubbornness to provide milk for Aubrey and I am so glad I stuck it out through the tough times. Aubrey is fat and happy and I am getting skinnier and happy, which is all I can ask for.

First 4th of July

Aubrey's first 4th of July started on July 3rd. Mooresville has their family celebration with fireworks on th3 3rd. We had a picnic dinner and then watched the fireworks. We weren't sure how Aubrey would handle the loud noises of the fireworks, but she was fascinated.



For July 4th, we went swimming at Todd's parents' neighbor's pool. We tried to find a floaty for Aubrey to swim in, but Target was all out, so we just held her in the pool. She loved kicking her legs and splashing us in the face with the water. So, I am going to start looking for a swim class for her so we can spend some more time in the pool.

With Todd in the pool

After swimming, we had some grilled steaks and homemade ice cream, which Aubrey seemed pretty jealous of. She decided to pass out before it got dark, so she didn't get to see the sparklers we bought. But, it was amazing that a bunch of 20-year olds (ok, and 1 30-year old) can be so easily entertained by sparklers. It was a pretty chill 4th, but exactly what we needed after the last few stressful months.

Megan Grace

A few months ago I wrote about Megan Grace. You can learn more about Megan's story by clicking on the Megan's Matey's logo on the left. Miss Megan joined the other angels in heaven today and my heart is just breaking for her mom and dad. I met her parents just a few months ago and they are 2 very nice people and I can't imagine what they are going through right now. So, even thought you don't know them, please just add Megan, Amber, and Steve to your prayer lists.

5 months old

It's so hard to believe another month has gone by. I've been so busy the last few weeks so I haven't had much time to update the blog. Aubrey has been as busy as ever and getting bigger by the minute. I got on the scale with her to try and weigh her and she is a little over 14 pounds. She has almost doubled her birth weight, which is crazy. Right now we are working on her sitting up. It really worries me that she may be getting a slight flat spot on the back of her head because the day care lets her lay down too much. So, she sits a lot in the Bumbo and in her jumperoo at home, which she loves. She is becoming so much more playful, now. She loves to chew everything she gets hands on and she has started grabbing anything close..hair, necklaces, shirts, dog hair. She loves watching the dogs and will ignore everything else when one of them walks by. In just a few weeks, we will be starting solids which I hope helps slow down the milk drinking a little bit. She is drinking close to 36 ounces a day, which is a lot of milk.

Milestones of the month:
* Finally outgrew all 0-3 month clothes.
* Moved up to size 2 diapers
* Improving on her motor skills- she can pass a toy back and forth between her hands and grabs it when she drops it
* Talks (ok, babbles) a lot
* Her new favorite game is drop the toy on the floor and let mommy and daddy grab it, repeat
* Her favorite small toy is her noisy Pooh cloth book and her favorite big toy is her jumperoo

Our little munckin will be 6 months old in just a few weeks, which is amazing and sad all at the same time. She is getting so big but it still seems like yesterday we were bringing her home.

Working on sitting up

Chewing on the chew toy in her jumperoo

1st school picture

Aubrey's day care took pictures on her 4 month birthday so I decided I had to buy them no matter what. The photographer had a hard time getting a good shot but when she finally did, it was precious! I was so excited to see them today when I went to pick her up and here is the result:

4 months old!

I swear, time is going even faster since I went back to work. Aubrey has had a busy month. Her firsts for the month:

*Rolling over from back to belly-happened at day care (5.18) Todd and I first see it on 5.25
*Attended her first wedding (Congrats Lesley and Steven)
*Attended her first concert -Lifehouse, not a great show
*Attended her first dance recital
*Moved up to 5.5 ounces of milk per bottle
*Realized that her voice is hers and loves to use it
*Started teething (2 on the way)
*Could finally wear 3 month old clothes
*Started reaching for things and holding things in her hands

I love watching her make the milestones and watching her grow, but it's bittersweet. While I don't miss the newborn stage, it is sad to know the first 4 months are gone. I know there is so much more to come and I am excited to watch, but yet a little sad at what has passed. My little girl is growing up and it is THE most amazing thing I have ever seen.

4 month check up

Todd had the pleasure of taking Aubrey to her 4 month appointment since I had to work. Our little munchkin weighs 11 lbs, 15 oz and is 24 inches long. All the milk she has been chugging since she started day care is starting to make a difference. She moved up to the 30th percentile in weight and 5oth in height. Her doctor wants us to start her on rice cereal since she is eating so much and wants her on baby food by her next visit, but I am not quite ready for that. Plus, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast milk only for the 1st 6 months. I might start trying her out on it next month, but we'll see. She is sleeping through the night and gaining weight, so I don't see a major need to change things up, yet. The other lovely news the doctor gave us is Aubrey has 2 teeth coming in. Lovely. We knew she was starting to teeth because she is chewing on everything and is wanting her paci more than her thumb so she can chew on it. She's also been a bit more fussy lately. While I am happy that she is making progress, I am not looking forward to those teeth coming in. The first time she bites me while she is nursing is not going to be a pleasant time. Ok, back to the appointment. The doctor said she looks great as far as tummy time and said she should be rolling over shortly. Which she has done at day care, but I haven't seen it yet so it doesn't count. She said she should also be working on sitting up, so we are trying to put her in the Bumbo more often to work on those ab muscles. Then, Aubrey got her 4 month vaccines and Todd said she did great. We also learned that giving her a bottle right after the shot made a big difference because it gave her something else to focus on. She got a cool pink camoflage band-aid to cover her leg this time, but I forgot to get the picture. So, all in all our little girl is doing well and growing so fast. She'll be 4 months on Tuesday and I can't believe it.

Dance recital

May 16th was my dance recital. At the beginning of the dance year, I think I was around 20ish weeks pregnant, so it made time seem like it had flown since Aubrey is over 3 months old. Of course, we had to bring her to dress rehearsal and the actual recital. I am sure the music sounded pretty familiar since I am sure she heard the songs a million times inside my belly. Amazingly, she slept through most of both shows, but we had kept her out well past her bed time so I should not have been surprised.

Sleeping during dress rehearsal

With me at the recital

Drinking with us at the Sports Page

Mother's Day

I had a fabulous first Mother's Day. Instead of buying me a gift, Todd decided to do all of my work for the day so I could just hang out. So, he cleaned the house, made me breakfast and lunch, did my laundry, plus took care of Aubrey most the day. Then we went to his parents' house for a steak dinner. It was awesome to just be able to chill for a while and enjoy having a clean house I didn't work for. I hear so many mom's that say their husbands let them down for Mother's Day so I know I am very fortunate that Todd took care of me. It's still amazing to me that I am a mother now. It still seems surreal that I am responsible for another human being like that. But, I love every minute of it. I can't wait until she's older and can make me those wonderful handmade Mother's Day cards and pictures. Those are the best and I am sure I will cry when I get one. I remember how proud I was of the projects I made for my mom and I hope she enjoys it just as much.

Aubrey exercising her lungs

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on over the Memorial Day weekend. I have been so busy I haven't had a lot of time to sit at my computer for long periods of time. So, until I can get everything caught up, here is a video I took of Aubrey learning that she has control of her voice to hold you over.

Bath time

It amazes me how much about being a mom is trial-by-fire. For the past 3 months, Aubrey has hated the bath. I mean, full on turning-purple-in-the-face-screaming hated it. Evidence from her 1st bath at 5 days old.


We have the baby tub that has a shower bucket in it so the water showers over her. Normally, I started the bath by spraying her down all over starting at her belly and then wait 30 seconds to let the initial screaming end. Sunday, I started spraying the water on her feet first and waited for the screaming and then my jaw dropped in amazement because she didn't scream. I went on the with the bath and brushed off the no screaming as luck. We don't put her in the tub every night because it dries out her skin, so she gets sponge baths on the no tub nights. The next time I put her in the tub, I started with her feet again and was thrilled that there were no tears again. The proof:
That's actually a little bit of a smile. Next time I'll have to get video because she actually started splashing her feet in the water. It was actually fun to give her a bath.

It doesn't take much to amuse a sleep-deprived mom.

Cloth diapers

I made the decision while I was pregnant that I would use cloth diapers for Aubrey. And most people gave me the wide-eyed "Really?" comment. I knew what they were thinking. The old school fold up cloth diapers that use pins to hold them closed and a diaper service. Neither of which I planned to use. Cloth diapers have come a looong way since even I was a baby. Today there are so many styles to choose from it is mind boggling. When I first decided to use cloth diapers, I decided to use pocket diapers. These diapers are fleece on the inside and you stuff the pocket sewn inside with inserts that absorb the fluids. The outside is made of PUL, which is a waterproof material that holds everything in. These are the most like disposable diapers and are so easy to use because you just close it with snaps or velcro and go. But, once we determined that Aubrey is a munchkin and the pocket diapers don't fit well until 12 lbs, I decided to use fitted diapers. These are made out of different absorbent materials like fleece or bamboo and fit much more snugly. You have to use a cover with these to hold everything in because they have no outer cover sewn on. These are working great for us right now because they fit her little bottom the best. There are also the classic prefold diapers that are the traditional cloth diapers and all-in-one diapers that are a combination of fitteds and pockets, but I haven't tried either of those. We still use disposables for day care and trips, but hopefully we will be using them a lot more as she gets bigger. After she wears one, it gets thrown in a big bag and the entire bag goes in the wash when its time. And any poop just gets scraped into the toilet. It only creates 1 extra load of laundry for me right now which is not a major deal. It's so easy!

Bonuses of cloth diapers:
Much cheaper--the pocket diapers are one size fits all so they will last us hopefully until she's potty trained. One diaper is 18 dollars and we have 14 of those, so $250 for diapers that will last till she's 2-ish is not a bad deal.
Much better for the environment--less yucky diapers being thrown away.
Better for her tushie--less chemicals coming in contact with that sensitive bum
Cloth diapers are sooo much cuter than sposies

This is a fitted diaper


This is the cover over the diaper


See, so much cuter than a white sposie

3 months old

The past month has flown by. It seems like yesterday I was doing Aubrey's 2 month post and now she's 3 months. She's had quite a few firsts in the past month.
*First road trip
*Started sleeping in her crib
*Started sleeping unswaddled (April 22)
*First day of day care
*Consistently sleeping through the night (started April 20th)
*Finally hit double digits in weight (around April 19th or so)
*Moved to size 1 diapers (around April 11th)
*Moved from 4 ounces to 5 ounces of milk per bottle
*First time to church
*First Easter
*First cold
*She discovered her hands and how to consistently suck her thumb

Just in time for me to go back to work, Aubrey has become so much fun. Her little personality is starting to come out and it's so cute. I've really started to enjoy being a mommy now. Looking back, the first 2-ish months were so hard because of sleep deprivation and feeding issues. I know not to get too confident because the next challenge is just around the corner. But for right this minute, I am the happiest I've ever been in my life and I can't wait to see what's next.

Back to work

Monday was the day I had been dreading since I found out I was pregnant. My maternity leave was up and it was time for Aubrey to start day care. Sunday just seemed like it went so fast because I knew the next day I would be without my muchkin. The tears started Sunday night when Todd and I went to bed and I couldn't help it. I knew I had to go back to work but I just kept asking if we were sure we were doing the right thing. Somehow I managed to get a little bit of sleep before my alarm went off at 5:30. (Yeah, if you know me, you know how hard that was for me to do.) I managed to get us both ready and out the door only 5 minutes late, which is pretty good. We made it to the day care and it really hit me I had to leave her, but I was determined to be strong. After getting her and her things settled, I loved on her for a few more minutes before handing her over to the teacher. Luckily, the teacher started talking to her and got her to grin, so that made it a bit easier to leave. If she had been crying, I don't know if I would have ever left. Somehow, I made it to work tear free. I did go back to the day care during lunch to get my Aubrey fix and she just grinned at me the entire time. Her day care has cameras in the room so I can watch what is going on and that is very comforting. I can't really make out her face and if you don't know what she is wearing, you'll never know it's her. But, I have a good view of her crib so I can see her sleeping and that makes me feel good. She has done really well all week since she's been there. She did get a touch of a cold, but the doctor told us that would probably happen since she's exposed to so many new germs. She's drinking a ton of milk and sleeps A LOT, but she seems pretty happy when I get her, so I guess they are doing something right. The thing that makes me the most sad is that I really only get to spend about 2.5 hours with her a day, not counting the car ride to and from. We get up at 5:15 and leave at 7 AM. Then, we get home at 6:15 and she is out by 7:30. But, she has been sleeping through the night all week and that is amazing. I was in shock Tuesday morning when I woke up and realized I had to wake her up to eat. That never happens. Not that I am complaining. We are slowly getting settled into our routine and that always makes me feel good. I just hope things continue to go as smoothly as they have this week. All ready for her first day of day care

Happy Easter

Today was Aubrey's first Easter. The Easter bunny came to visit and brought her lots of goodies in her basket that we had to check out first thing.


Todd's friend's parents bought her a cute dress that we decided to use as her Easter dress. I was so excited to get to dress her up and take her to church with us for the first time. She sat in the sanctuary with us and did really well. She was fascinated with all the lights and loud music during the service.


And of course, I had to try out one of her Easter basket goodies on her. They are a little big but still ridiculously cute. She's just following the huge glasses trend, that's all!


Allie "had" to try the glasses, too!

Crib time

Aubrey has not slept in her pack-n-play in over a week. She and I had been sleeping in the guest bed because she would keep waking up in the pnp 30 minutes after I put her to bed. We were waiting to get her movement sensor put in the crib before we ever let her sleep overnight in it. Todd and his dad finally cut the board to put under her mattress and we got the monitor hooked up and in place for her to try out last night. After her last feeding I rocked her to sleep as usual and then gently placed her in the crib. I waited for a few minutes to make sure she would stay asleep and with a few tears in my eyes, walked out. Todd and I both watched the monitor for another few minutes before going to bed. It was very sad to move her out and I missed seeing her when I woke up, but I didn't want her to be in the habit of sleeping with one of us. She did really well on her own and I woke up really easily with the monitor. I was actually happy to go get her when it was time to feed her. Hopefully she will sleep better now and Todd and I can get some sleep as well.

First road trip

Todd and I decided before Aubrey was born we would make a trip to Raleigh for his dad's side of the family to meet her. So this weekend was the big trip. Of course, it looked like we were moving out and back with all the stuff, but that's just what happens with a baby. She did great on the car ride up there. She slept the entire way, which was very nice. But, we paid for it that night. She was so fussy after we got there, which did not make for nice visiting with the family. I felt sort of bad for his family for having to listen to her fuss, but I warned them it might happen since she had her shots on Thursday. Saturday morning we went to meet Todd's godmother at IHOP and again Aubrey was very good. But, it went downhill from there on out. One of Todd's best friends brought his new girlfriend down with him along with a lot of Todd's family members. Aubrey got passed from person to person for hours and she did not like it one bit. About 8 pm, she just started screaming and would not let up, so I ended up taking her back to his cousins to chill. As soon as we got it quiet and I turned on my sound machine, she was out. She was just too overstimulated and worn out from all that attention. It didn't help that she was gassy either. She slept pretty well both nights so that made things much easier. The trip back was pretty uneventful, so all in all it wasn't a bad trip. We hope she will be a little happier when we go back for Christmas so everyone can see more of her beautiful smile.

2 months old!

I can't believe its only been 2 months since our lives changed so much. I was looking at her this morning thinking about where she was 2 months ago and how thankful I am that she got here safely. Some mommies never get to hold their little ones or get to enjoy 2 months with them and so I am grateful for every moment we've had together.


She had her 2 month check-up today. She is now 21.5 inches and 8 lbs 6 oz. I feel better now that she is finally starting to gain some weight. That's 1 lb 1 oz in 22 days and I'll take it. She's only in the 5th percentile in weight and height, but the doctor thinks that's just where she is going to fall. The doctor was amazed at her head control while watching her do tummy time. She also watched her sucking the mess out of her thumb and noticed her drooling and said she could be in the very early stages of teething. Not looking forward to that at all. She also released her for day care, which she starts in just over 3 weeks. Then came the shots. It's like she knew they were coming because she started crying before the nurse came in the room. And I made the mistake of having my head down near her mouth trying to soothe her when the nurse stuck her. Let's just say that ear is still ringing just slightly. I just felt so bad for her because she had to get 3 shots and an oral vaccine. But, she got some stylish Tweety and daisy bandaids to make it all better. Now, I just hope she doesn't show the next day fussiness babies have the day after shots because we are going to visit Todd's family in Raleigh tomorrow and that could make for a LONG car ride if she's fussy. But for tonight, she is enjoying being cuddled on the couch with Daddy and the puppies.

The cute band-aids


Sucking on her thumb while cuddling w/Daddy made it all right again

Here are some milestones from the past month:

03.18.09 First time sleeping through the night (7 hrs, it was heavenly!)
5.5 weeks-First social smiles started
She discovered her thumb and it starting to prefer it to the paci
Moved from 3 oz to 4 oz of milk per bottle
Finally passed the 8 lb mark
Attended her first birthday party
Survived her first "bath" from Allie

In other good news, I *think* we have finally beaten the thrush. It's been 10 days and I've had no shooting pains and much less nipple sensitivity. I am sooooo excited. My supply is finally starting to look better and I am able to start freezing milk again. I am still following my routine of the vinegar/water swap after every feeding and nipple ointment at night but I may let that rest this weekend while we are gone. Hopefully, we are done for good and I can finally start to enjoy nursing. Next on my to do list is wean her from the nipple shield so hopefully she can speed up her nursing sessions. I can't handle the hour long sessions at 3 am when I have to get up and work. So, we'll start that Monday and hope it goes quickly.