More Christmas Parties and Colds

What a week it has been. We only had 3 days of work and only 2 days of daycare for Aubrey, but it sure felt like a long week. I think all short weeks are like that. This weekend is another 4 day weekend for both Daddy and I, so we are super excited for the extra time that we will have to hang out as a family. We didn't do too much this week, except for getting back into the work/daycare routine. We relaxed on Friday night, then Saturday brought the night of our Heldt Christmas party. It was so much fun seeing everyone. We hadn't all gotten together for about a year (except for baby showers), so it was nice to have everyone together again. And talk about the chaos with all the little great grandkids running around. Not everyone could make it, but there were still 11 great grandkids there ranging in age from 3 months to 8 years old. My cousin Kelly did a great job organizing everything! I don't know how someone can host a party like that at their house for that many people! It was the perfect set-up though.

I forgot to mention that Aubrey didn't seem to get much better this week, so Grandma and Grandpa Trost took her to the doctor on Friday. Good news that she does not have an ear infection, but hopefully her nasty cold gets better soon. She has a horrible cough and runny nose. I just want to snuggle her up and make her feel better. At least we have a long weekend for her to get better!

Playing with her Favorite Toy

Getting as Close to the Cartoons as Possible

 

Aubrey and Most of Her Extended Cousins (Heldt Side)

Aubrey Pushing the Tractor

Aubrey's 1st Christmas

Merry Christmas! I think Mommy and Daddy were more excited than Aubrey was. First off, we received some amazing news. Aubrey has a new cousin that was born really early this morning! Brylee Jean was born 12:36 this morning, which makes her a true Christmas baby. We were so excited to meet our new niece, so we hurried up and opened our gifts as quickly as we could, while still enjoying Christmas morning. Aubrey had a great time opening her gifts, but she was a little overwhelmed by how many there were. We had to take a few stops and redirect her attention to the wrapped gifts because she just wanted to play with her new toys. It was still a very fun morning!

As a little side note, I don't know if I mentioned one of the gifts Aubrey and I gave Daddy. We had a little holiday photo shoot with our photographer (the amazing Niki Manning) a few weeks ago and gave Daddy one of the canvas pictures from it. Some of the photos are below....and he loved the picture!

After we unwrapped all the gifts, we packed up the rest of the gifts for the Cave family and headed to Lincoln. We went to Aunt Jami and Uncle Nick's house where we had a quick lunch, then took turns visiting Baby Brylee, Aunt Kellie and Uncle Joe in the hospital. Baby Brylee is such a beautiful little girl and we are so excited to see her grow over the years. It will be so much fun having her and Aubrey so close in age. It is still so crazy that all four Cave grandchildren are girls. I wonder when the first boy will be born??!!

After the trips to the hospital, we opened up gifts and relaxed a bit before we had to head home for work the next day. Aubrey came down with a bad cold today so she wasn't feeling the best towards the end of the day. The poor thing had such a runny nose and watery eyes. Hopefully daycare will go okay tomorrow. Only two days at daycare this week, then we will have another long weekend.

I cannot believe Christmas is already over. We get so excited and anxious for the day to come, then it is always over in a flash. What a great first Christmas for Aubrey, filled with lots of love and family time. Christmas is truly my favorite holiday with all the lights, shopping, decorations, snow, laughter and love all around. Hopefully each year will be special. Next year we will have to start our own traditions....I cannot wait!

And to my dearest daughter - Merry 1st Christmas sweetheart. We love you so, so much and are excited for all the many Christmases that we will have together!

Riding in her New Car

Christmas Family Picture

 

Aubrey in her Christmas Dress

So Excited to Open All Her Presents

Opening Gifts with Daddy

Aubrey and All Her Gifts

Taking a Nap Before More Gift Opening

Opening Presents at the Cave Christmas

Aubrey and her Cave Cousins

Trost Christmas and More Santa Visits

Is Christmas really just two days away? I am so, so excited to see Aubrey's face opening up gifts in front of the Christmas tree. I must admit that we (okay....mainly me) may have bought a few too many gifts for Aubrey, but it is so much fun to buy this and that. We will see how she does on Christmas Day. This week was busy with getting those last minute errands ran before the big day, along with a few Christmas festivities.

Santa visited Aubrey at daycare on Monday, so that was a lot of fun. Her teachers said that she was a little bit out of it when it was her turn to see him because he decided to stop right in the middle of nap time. Miss Anne had to wake her up to bring her out to sit on his lap. They wanted to make sure Aubrey didn't miss out on her turn! I do want to say that Aubrey has made quite the friends at daycare and seems to have a great time being there. They do so many activities every day, such as painting, drawing, reading, singing (okay, maybe not Aubrey yet), etc. I do have to admit that I am really looking forward to having two 4-day weekends in a row. I am going to LOVE spending the extra time cuddling and loving up Aubs. I know Daddy is pretty excited for an extra day or two off as well.

Friday was a night of relaxation and spending some quality time with the three of us. It seems by the time Aubrey gets home from spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Trost and Daddy gets home from work, then it is already dinner time about time for Aubrey to go to bed since her bedtime is between 7 and 7:30 every night. We live for the weekends when we can spend more time playing together and getting to spend some real time with each other.

Daddy and I met up with some friends on Saturday night for dinner and to see Christmas lights, so Aubrey stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa Trost. We had fun enjoying some festivities with our friends, but I was anxious to head out to Yutan on Sunday to see Aubrey. Sunday was a big day because that was the day the Trost clan was going to celebrate Christmas. Daddy, Aubrey and I went to church with Grandma and Grandpa, then we helped Grandma get the house and food ready for the big party. Everyone arrived around 2:00, so it left plenty of time for all eight cousins to play together. It truly is a sight to see and it is even more fun now that Aubrey is moving around. She loves each and every one of her cousins, but I think she is a little skeptical of all the noise and madness at first and takes a little time to warm up to them all.

Santa came to visit us at Grandma and Grandpa Trost's house before we all opened gifts...what a surprise! Aubrey wasn't the least bit happy about it, but at least we were able to get a few pictures together. Then of course it was time to open all the gifts. Grandma does this really neat thing of wrapping each grandchild's gifts in the same wrapping paper so they all know which ones go to which person. I wonder where I get my organizational skills from? :) Aubrey was mostly amazed watching all her cousins open their gifts. When it came time for her to open them, she was interested in the first few, then would get a little annoyed that she couldn't just play with the gifts she already "opened" (Daddy and I did most of the opening, Aubrey was mostly concerned with the bows and ribbon). She had quite a few to open though, so I had to take over after she lost complete interest. Needless to say, we had to keep a few of the gifts at Grandma and Grandpa's house because we couldn't fit it all in the car for the trip home. And this is just the first Christmas! Good thing we have so much open space in our basement. It is going to be filled with Aubrey's toys!

We also had a really big snowstorm this week and I woke up in the middle of the night to find that our power had gone out.  It took over 12 hours for it to come on.  We were able to dig our way out of our driveway to get to Grandma and Grandpa Trost's house so we could heat up.  We made the most of it at home while we could!

Reading Her Book

Snuggling with Daddy During the Power Outage

Picture with Mommy

Staying Warm by the Fire

 

Staying Warm While Napping

Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Trost

Trost Cousins with Great Grandma Heldt

Grandma and Grandpa Trost with the Trost Cousins

Still Not Liking Santa

Opening Presents

So Tired From the Festivities

9 Month Update

Holy moly, our little baby is 9 months old! Aubrey is getting to be such a big girl and is becoming independent and doing more things on her own. I am proud that she is developing so much each month, but it also makes me a bit sad at how fast the time has gone.

 

Some developments/loves this month:

• Pulling herself up to standing. Yes, she will pull herself up on anything...you name it.
• Saying "mama". Makes Mommy pretty darn happy!
• Crawling. No longer a few steps girl, now Aubrey is crawling all over the place.  She comes to find Mommy and Daddy when they are in another room. So much fun!
• Going on adventures and exploring. This month has been all about curiosity since she can now crawl and she crawls all over the place checking things out.
• Becoming more ticklish. She loves having her tummy tickled along with her legs and feet and lets out the loudest, deepest laugh.
• Babbling. Aubrey loves talking to herself as well as anyone else who will listen. When I pick her up from daycare, she will sit in her carseat and just talk and talk. I'm sure she is telling me about her day, I just wish I could understand what she is saying!
• Being independent. Yes, she loves to be held and cuddled still, but Aubrey also loves playing by herself.
• Banging things together. Anything that she can pick up in her hands, she will hit together to make noises. A future musician possibly?
• An attitude. Yes, that is right.  Aubrey will now let anyone know when she is not happy with something or if she wants something. This might be the start to a long journey, but at least it will be a fun one!
• People watcher. Aubrey does so well going shopping. She will just sit in her stroller and stare at people as they walk by. She is amazed by other babies and takes in everything.
• Second tooth. The second tooth finally came in this month.

9 Months Old

No Smiles

Funny Faces

Trying to Take the Sticker Off

Finally a Smile

Standing Up

Santa and "Mama"

Aubrey had a great week at daycare and we continued the fun throughout the weekend.  Friday night the three of us decided to go out to dinner at Charleston's and boy did Aubrey like that.  She sat in her highchair like a big girl and ate right alongside Daddy and I.  We didn't get home until a little past her bedtime, but it didn't seem to bother her.  Saturday brought a day of running some errands and having Grandma and Papa Cave come over.  We just hung out Saturday night and prepared for our big day of going to visit Santa on Sunday.  We got to Regency mall around 12:30 on Sunday and thought we might be the rush since they opened at 12:00.  Boy were we wrong.  After a little more than 2 hours of standing in line, Aubrey was finally able to sit on Santa's lap.  She was really curious at first and couldn't stop looking at his long white beard, tiny glasses and red suit.  All of a sudden the curiosity turned to fear and the tears started.  Maybe next year will bring smiles.

Grandma and Papa stayed Sunday night as well so Daddy and I could have a date night.  I know they enjoyed spending some alone time with Aubrey just as we appreciated a little time for just the two of us.  We took the day off work today and we pretty much just relaxed and played at the house all day.  It was a great long weekend!

Oh, and as a little side note, Aubrey said "mama" this weekend!  I couldn't have been more proud.  :)

Playing with her Ducky

Aubrey and Papa Cave Playing

Tired Out

Aubrey with Grandma and Papa Cave

Waiting for Santa with Grandma Cave

Not Liking Santa

Another Family Picture

 

Grandpa Trost and Aubrey Snoozing

Driving Miss Aubrey

Dinner Out at Charleston's

Infections, Colds and Pink Eye

We had yet another sick household this week.  I stayed home with Aubrey on Monday because Sunday night was a really hard night for her with coughing and pain and Monday was not much better.  The doctor said she had yet another ear infection and a sinus infection so I was really happy I could hold her and cuddle her all day on Monday.  I hate seeing our sweet, happy baby in pain!  She did better throughout the week and she is back to being her happy self.  I came down with pink eye on Thursday and Daddy came down with a bad cold this weekend so hopefully we can keep it to ourselves and not pass it to Aubrey.  We absolutely love her daycare, but it's hard passing all these illnesses and colds around.  Hopefully we are all building our immune systems.

As a side note, Aubrey tried chicken this week and did not like it one bit...not even after the 4th day of trying it.  Guess we will try again in the next few weeks, but maybe turkey will suit her better?

Daddy had a day of bonding with Aubrey on Saturday because I spent the day doing all of our Christmas shopping.  It was quite funny because I kept receiving all of these texts and videos from Daddy letting me know what was going on back at the house.  Aubrey found quite a few things that we will need to baby proof.  She also decided that she is ready to start standing up in her crib.  Daddy walked in there when he heard her talking and found her standing up like it was nothing. Needless to say that she loves pulling herself up to standing now.

We are just about ready for Christmas with just one more thing on our list.  We need to visit Santa still!  We are planning on next weekend for that so hopefully the weather stays nice.  I still cannot believe the amazing weather we have had.  It's been in the 40's and it is mid-December.  I hate to say it, but I do hope we get snow for Christmas.  It wouldn't be the same without it!

Helping Make the Bed

Mommy and Aubrey

Curious About the Christmas Decorations

So Tired That She Fell Asleep This Way

Happy Baby

 Loving the Activity Table

 

Activity Table at Grandma and Grandpa Trost's

Weekend with Mommy and Second Tooth

Aubrey and I had a mommy and me weekend because Daddy "had" to go to the Husker Big 10 Conference game in Indianapolis.  Yes, I was a bit jealous when he first told me that he was going to go because I figured it would be a great experience.  It was a fun experience for him; however, the game was not fun at all.  Aubrey and I relaxed on Friday night; however I woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning and started freaking out.  The monitor in my room was off and wouldn't turn on.  I went to the one on Jason's nightstand and it wouldn't turn on either.  I had the thought that maybe someone broke into our house, turned off the monitor in Aubrey's room (since we lost the connection in our room) and took out baby.  I freaked out and ran to Aubrey's room.  Needless to say she was sound asleep in her crib and the monitor light was still on.  Somehow we just lost the connection on ours.  Relief ran through me, but I wasn't going to go through that again.  Aubrey and I stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Trost's Saturday night so no more freak outs from mom!  I think Grandma and Grandpa were happy that we decided to come out.  Being back home is always a treat!

Aubrey's second tooth finally came in.  She looks so cute with her two little bottom teeth.  Maybe those top two will come in soon!

Talking While Crawling

Helping Mommy With Laundry

Feeding Herself

Having Fun at Grandma and Grandpa Trost's

Aubrey with Grandpa Trost

Aubrey with Grandma Trost

 

Living the Life