Dear Aubry,

Dear Aubry,

Well, so far this new year has been really good to you. You are putting on weight and eating so good lately. I am no longer worried about starving you. January was spent refining all of your growing abilities. Crawling super fast, eating super fast, drinking super fast, and standing up and walking on the furniture, not so fast. We worked really hard together to make videos for your grandparents and your Aunt Jenn on her mission. We went on long walks with your dad, and played in puddles. Me and your Dad have been called to teach in the primary. So that means that you have been spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Cox in Relief Society and Sunday School. That seems to work out really well, because mom and dad have our hands full with 6 year olds.

You love spending time outside and sometimes that is the only thing that makes you stop crying. No more teeth so far, but I have high hopes for some top ones in the next month or too. Two weeks ago, we went and played at Chayse's house. You and her had so much fun standing up together and even having and eating contest!! It seems that Chayse didn't want you to win and ate two whole bottles of baby food!! It was a lot of fun, and I think we are going there again this month.

You are so proud of your dad for putting in another transfer to Salt Lake City. You hope that we get to move there soon. You also helped him apply for two other jobs online and we hope to hear from someone soon. Before you know it, we will be packing up and moving to a new home, but we don't know where yet!=)

You have so much to be proud of this month. You are a great napper and you can almost sleep through the night. I don't mind getting up and feeding you, but soon you will be able to handle the whole night without me or your daddy. We are also going to be working on getting you to say "Mama" before you say, "Dada". But I think you might even say "Kitty" first!!

Well, think next month is going to be full of surprises, so here we come!!

Love,

Mom

This is a video from before Christmas that I had promised Kelly I would post. So here it is.

Dear Aubry,

Aubry has the crawling down!!!

Official Christmas photo!!!!

Standing all the time now. And posing.......

Dear Aubry,

It's a New Year already and things are going so well. You are crawling around so fast and are pulling yourself to standing all the time now. Sadly, you had to stop breastfeeding because apparently my milk was starving you. You like formula pretty well and are already putting on weight. I was super scared when we went to the doctor and found out that you hadn't gained even a pound in three months. Needless to say, as your mother I felt like a complete failure. Not to mention, you managed to lock yourself in the car when we went and visited Kelly and Sam. I was letting you play with my keys and when I closed the back door and went to the front door, you locked the car. I know, right? What 7 month old can do that?? Well, you can dear daughter. After the fire engine and police car left, you were safe and sound in my arms and we even took a picture with your rescuers.

Your first Christmas was pretty good. You managed to score all sorts of loot, including clothes toys and a ton of books (from me=). You also rang in the New Year with your dad and me, and your Aunt Amelia. Something exciting also happened on New Year Eve's day. You got into the cat food for the second time, and convinced your parents that you needed your own room and bed. Things are going well in that department but you haven't slept through the night yet. I am hopeful for the coming month though. Your dad is putting in his application to the Air Traffic Control job soon and he is also putting in his transfer to Salt Lake City. Keep your fingers crossed. Well, I love you tons little girl and we will see how much you weigh this month and hopefully you will be back on track. You sure seem to have grown already now that you are on formula.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Dear Aubry,

Me and Aubry again.

I found this picture and laughed.

Dear little girl,

Today was hard. You woke up at about 6 am and I knew your were still tired because you woke up crying. After trying to calm you down, I gave you your pacifier and rolled over. For the next hour you cried and crawled and rolled around. Finally, you fell asleep. Please note, that while you were crying for whatever reason, I too was crying. I was sad that you were upset and that it was 6 am in the morning and I was now too awake to sleep anymore. You slept for the next 45 minutes and woke up smiling, so lesson learned. After a breakfast of Apples and Cherries, which went down better than that last fruit you ate, we played with the remotes and enjoyed a visit from my visiting teachers. As 10am rolled around, you informed me of your desire to take a nap. Very forcefully. I fed you some milk and you went to sleep for the next 2 and 1/2 hours. During which, you permitted me to watch a movie. (thanks btw)

Upon waking, you calming let me know your were hungry and whereupon you dined on harvest veggies with mixed grains. We than visited the post office and the bank, while talking to your Aunt Krysta.

You gracefully received your dad's new computer from the Fed Ex guy, and hid it away where none can find it. As you now play around my feet, I wonder what other surprises you have for me today. If you would crawl, that would be great. But I just wanted to let you know how your day was going. I love you tons little girl and I do enjoy the times we have. I especially enjoy watching you inch worm your way around the floor.

We are off to clean the bedroom, so look out world, I might just clean my room!!!

Sincerely,

Your tired mother.

Lazy.....

Yes, I am so lazy. I haven't blogged in forever. And I have done Aubry's 6 month pictures. I am a bad parent=) Well, Aubry is 6 months old now. She is so close to crawling still. I think I mentioned that Chris let me get a video camera for my birthday. Well, it came in the mail yesterday and he wouldn't let me open it!!! How mean right! Other than that, things are going good. Chris will be putting in his transfer to Salt Lake this month, and we will see how that goes. This is just a short post cause nothing is really going on this week. Although, I have noticed, that my mom is making me make cookies like every week. Anyways, here is the video I took of Aubry. Enjoy.

Blog Stalker....

So I admit it. I am a stalker. A blog stalker. I randomly read peoples blogs and they have no idea. I kinda feel bad about it, especially because I am sure they would feel weird about me reading it, but sometimes, that's all there is to do around here. And then you feel even weirder seeing them and saying, "Yeah, I know all about what is going on in your family even though we haven't spoken in 6 years. I read your blog!"

Well, it's the day before Thanksgiving and I really should be making pies right now, or cleaning my room, but I feel the urge to post something. Aubry is 6 months old. She is days away from crawling and is a great eater. She loves bananas and squash. She'll eat peas, but for some reason does not like peaches. Can't really blame her. Not a huge fan of peaches myself. I am not sure how much she weighs at this point. I haven't taken her into the doctors for her shots yet, but she is finally in size 2 diapers. Yea!!!

No word yet on what we are doing about Chris's job or our life or where we are moving. Just don't believe anything I say about it. Whenever I say we are going to move somewhere at a certain time, just don't believe it. I have said it a million times and we haven't even made it out of Nevada yet. So those of you who I talked to about moving to Boise, or Salt Lake or even out of the state, don't hold your breath. I wouldn't be surprised if we never moved. So just don't get your hopes up anymore=(

On a lighter note, Chris let me buy a video camera for my birthday so we can document Aubry's crawling when she finally does it. Oh and a quick endorsement for Best Buy. They price match now, and they even price match Amazon.com!! We saved 80 bucks!!!

Trying on Chris's TSA beanie. Way too big.

in the crawl position. She rocks and moves her legs now.

One of the few pictures I have taken of us together.

Sometimes the days go by.....

Wow. It has been quite awhile since I have posted. So much has happened these past couple of weeks that I can't even begin to wrap my head around it. First off, moving to Boise has been put on hold. Things with Chris's work didn't come together in time and finding a job up there is alot different when you don't live up there. So we moved in with my parents. Things are going good here, my parents love the fact that Aubry is here and that I love to bake desserts=) Chris is commuting to Vegas four times a week and that is really tough on him. I feel like this is all my fault. That if I had planned better and prepared better, we would not by having all of these problems. If I could have been content in Vegas, or if we hadn't moved down here at all, we would be better off. Chris's school is on hold until we find a place with an ITT Tech that we can afford to live. I feel guilty about him missing out on school when he was doing so good.

Aubry is growing up so dang fast. She is six months old in a week, and it doesn't feel real. She eats baby food and sits up on her own. She is almost crawling. She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. Hasn't taken that first step yet, but it ain't far off. She has finally been able to fit into her 6 month clothes. She can still fit in her 3 month ones, but at least she isn't drowning in the 6 month ones. Naptime is alot better these days, and thank goodness for the baby monitor. I can't imagine not having one in this huge house and having to stay near her room in order to hear her.

Oh and she has one tooth that has broken the surface and is getting the second one soon. Amazing. I think it's pretty darn cool. It helps me to know that even though she is tiny for her age she is still developing at a good rate. We went and hung out with Kelly this past Friday and had a really good time shopping. I got everything I am going to get for Aubry for Christmas this year. A bunch of books, and clothes. I am pretty sure she will be getting toys from everyone else=) Hopefully, not noisy ones. She is at the stage where she is screaming for no reason, just to hear herself=) It's cute, but we don't need anymore added noise.

I am grateful to everyone who has helped us out these days, especially my parents who are giving us a place to live. Things are hard but we will get through them. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember to be thankful for the bad and good times=)

Another Freakin' Update

So, once again things are falling apart and not happening the way that they are supposed to. I am very annoyed to say that Chris's transfer hasn't been turned in by his HR person to be approved or denied. We turned in the paperwork at the beginning of the month, hoping that we would know by now, only to find out that nothing has happened. Stupid woman HR rep. So now we will be homeless in two weeks and have no idea if he should quit the TSA and move already or wait and still have a job. What sucks even more is that this past weekend we went to Boise and found an apartment that we really liked. Unfortunately, without proof of income or a letter saying that he will have a job in Boise, they won't approve our application. So, despite swearing to never do this, we will be staying with my parents until we figure stuff out.

It's not that I don't love my parents. I really do. It's just that this feels so embarrassing having to ask for help like this. I like being able to take care of things by myself. I don't like asking for help, it feels like I am failing to be an adult and that I am mooching off of my family. GRRRRR!!!! I just am so annoyed with Chris's job!! They are making this suck! We need to move to Boise so Chris can finish school and then we can focus on finding him a great job.

So, that's the big deal with us. We have two weeks to move the majority of our stuff to a storage unit, then move to my parents, for a couple of months so we can finally get away from the TSA.

On a lighter note, Aubry is doing good eating rice cereal, and hopefully by the end of this week, she will be on real baby food. She rolls over all the time and is not allowed on the couch anymore (cause she rolls off) and she laughs and sleeps really good. Wish us luck with Chris's transfer and hopefully, we can make the move to Boise in the next couple of months.

I love my computer...

I love my computer. Yes, yes, I do. why do I love it? Well, it hasn't failed me yet, and it doesn't judge me. Nope. During my husband and Aubry's three hour nap, it hasn't complained once about the endless blogs I read. It doesn't gripe that maybe I should be doing something a little more productive, like the dishes. No, it sits so soundly on my tray table, and silently reassures me that despite reading nothing worth remembering, it still supports me...=)

On a more productive note, I have once again decided to learn to knit. Chris's mom was down when Aubry was born and ran through the basics, but then I haven't touched it since them. So I got it out and sat through conference, trying to remember everything. So far, I remember important things, but I haven't managed to knit anything in particular. Oh well. Maybe I will make Chris a scarf. Sounds good.

Aubry is having good sleep days and bad sleep days, and my goodness I am having just bad sleep days. Sometimes, she just starts screaming, then when I wake up and roll over, she is sound asleep again!!!

We are at least getting over our colds this week. Thanks to the humidifier. Other than that, nothing at all is going on. But thanks for stopping by!!

Oh Yeah...

Boo-YA!! Aubry is doing so good lately with her naps. Like right now. She went down without a fight and I didn't even have to hold the pacifier in her mouth. I put it in and she rolled over and went to sleep. I am so amazed. I want to say thanks to everyone who recommended the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. It read like a blender manual but it had some awesome ideas. Besides Aubry doing better at her naps, things are progressing slowly with Chris's transfer. We still haven't been able to turn in his transfer packet, because of letters and information that he needs from his supervisors. Which is really lame. But since we now have less than a month to move, we are getting on the ball. I am still collecting boxes so if you got some, I'll take em'.

Despite having a nasty cold this week, I have been feeling so awesome. The weather has finally turned really nice. Fall is my favorite season. And for some reason, it feels like Christmas. Probably because my nose is red and it's nippy outside. Kinda weird, I know. This holiday season will be the first that we will spend away from our families because of the move. I am not sure how I feel about it. Happy that we will probably have a white Christmas in Boise, but sad cause I will most likely miss my family. I know that I am really excited to get away from southern Nevada, but I am very aware that I will miss my family. It is all part of growing up, and I have to face the reality that I really can't live in the heat anymore. Maybe in the future that will change, but right now I need a change.

I am gonna miss hanging out with Lara and sewing every week. Hopefully, I can find a sewing group or something in my new ward in Boise so I can continue expanding my wardrobe and Aubry's. Well, I will keep everyone posted and updated with the move this month=)

Found It!!

I found her laugh. Hope you can hear and enjoy it!!

Cold...

Yeah, you guessed wrong. You thought perhaps by "Cold" that I meant the temperature. Nope. Poor little Aubry has a cold. She tipped me off by sneezing snot all over me. It sucks that the doctors can't really do anything about the common cold, but at least it isn't any more serious.

On another note, we tried rice cereal yesterday and she isn't quite ready for it. Still has that tongue reflex thing. Oh well. We will try when we are in Elko next week.

I am so excited for our trip!! We are going to Boise next week (hopefully Chris work approved time off) and we are stopping in Elko for the night up and back. We get to see my Aunt and cousin who live there and have never met Aubry. Super excited. Then we are going to Boise and spending time with Rachel and fam and trying to find an apartment up there for our move. Everyone please keep us in your prayers that Chris will be able to transfer. It would help so much.

Despite the rice cereal set back, we are moving forward in the nap department. She is taking longer and better naps each day and it makes my life a little easier. She is just doing so good!!

I got some boxes from my old job at Deseret Book and I am hoping to get some more from some friends in town. But if anybody hears about boxes somewhere, please let me know and I will take them off of your hands!!

The Elusive Laugh...

So Aubry can giggle. She really can. But she won't on camera. So my goal this coming week is to get some cute video of her laughing and doing silly things. Wish me luck.

4 Months

Wow. Four months ago I had my first child. I can't even begin to write about the different emotions that I have experienced since that time. A big one being surprise. Yup, I am continually surprised at how much I love and have fun with Aubry. She is everything I hoped for, but didn't dare think I would get. As many of you have read, Aubry is quite a bit on the small side. Always, below the 5%tile of children her age. No big deal. Well, we went to the doctor yesterday and while her head size is still that small, she is now 11 pounds 5 ounces, and 23 1/4 inches long. That means that in weight she is now in the 5-10%tile and height in the 10-25 %tile. I am so proud of her!! Granted she could still be eaten by most babies her age and by a couple who aren't, but she is growing at a good rate and my hopes of her being taller than me might come to pass. I mean, Chris is a whole foot taller than me so she should be in the middle right??

So anyways, Aubry is doing super well and so now I can brag about all the cool stuff she can do.

She can roll over.

She can giggle.

She can stand up if we steady her.

She can reach for things.

She touches her toes and blows raspberries (at the same time).

She follows our voices.

She brings her hands together.

And she can push up on all fours. (discovered at my parent's house this weekend.)

I can't believe how cool she is. She keeps me guessing all the time and has decided that Chris has to sit by her all the time when we are driving. She loves making faces with him and watching him play the computer. It's hilarious to see them both mesmerized by the computer screen.

Anyways, I also want to let people know how awesomely cool my husband is. He is so amazing with kids and I am so lucky. For example, this weekend me and Lara went to my parents house in Moapa, and Chris spent so much time playing with Dallin. Just sitting on the floor and playing with toys. I was amazed. Dallin was in heaven and I marveled at how good he is with children. And I realized that I hit the freakin' jackpot in husbands, cause how many out there get down and play with toys?? So, THANKS FATE!! For bringing me the best there is!!

I will post some pictures of Aubry when Chris gets home, cause he has the camera in his backpack...=)

P.S. Here are the pictures I promised.

Aubry standing up with Chris holding her.

Aubry holding her toes.

Aubry with Grandpa Cox in Moapa.

Chris and Aubry chillin' at our house.

Aubry sat there for about a minute like that.

Crafts

So lately I have been going over to my sisters house to work on some crafts. I finally finished one and I wanted to show off a picture of it. My hard work finally paid off. I got the tutorial from www.makeitandloveit.blogspot.com. I love that blog. It has so many awesome crafts.

Anyway, all I have been up to lately besides that is hanging out with Aubry and watching Inuyasha. Literally, the entire series. I only have the first five seasons, but Hulu.com has most of them online as well. I recommend this series to everyone. Even if you aren't an anime fan. It's freakin hilarious. And good.

Peace be with everyone today=)

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid...

Yeah, thats right. Me is Stupid. I didn't read the fine print in the apartment lease and now we can't leave town til November 5th. All my plans, BAM, gone in an instant. And the really annoying part is I have only myself to blame. Deep Breath. But, despite this setback, we will prevail and with our heads held high, we will walk to to Boise one day. (well not walk per say, we'll drive there). I just wanted to let everyone know. I am never going to give up on moving out of Las Vegas. I feel bad cause, I know my family that is nearby will miss us, but I WILL NOT raise my daughter here in the crappy public schools, or around strip clubs and gambling. I was raised near it, and I turned out fine, but isn't it the nature of the parent to want better for their children than what they had? I don't apologize to the people who love it here. It is my opinion and I am entitled to it. But I think there are better places to be and while I am able to relocate, I will make every effort to. That being said, I will miss my family and the familiar faces and places. However, what is life, if not one big adventure? How can we know if this is the best place for us, if we don't try out other places? Also, I will not endure another Las Vegas summer if I can help it. It was so horrible. It IS so horrible.

Okay enough complaining. I don't like Las Vegas, but I loved Moapa Valley and always will. Probably the happiest place in my childhood. That being said, I am not a child anymore and I have to spread my wings. Who knows? Perhaps after Chris finishes school up there, we will find ourselves back down here. But I will not feel guilty for moving. Not for family or friends.

I love you all and I will keep you posted on the whole relocation effort.

I just realized...

So I just realized that I have made this entire blog about Aubry and not so much about our family. So in order to rectify this oversight, I should tell you what is going on with all three of us. Chris, is working on getting transferred from work and getting his school credits transferred. He keeps me smiling and loves to play with Aubry. His specialty is making faces at her so she giggles. I am trying to keep the house clean and working on some sewing crafts with Lara. I took my sewing machine over to her house and we are both making things for the babies. Aubry is content to sleep in the swing while I type this. She didn't sleep very well last night and therefore I didn't. OH well. We are super excited to move in October and eventually buy a house, but I will miss my family.

I will miss them, but I do like to travel and I am hoping that they will feel free to come visit. Idaho has awesome camping sites and I am looking forward to tons of camping!!! I will post some pictures of us, cause I just realized that we have no family pictures of ourselves so that is also my goal for the week=)

3 Month Pictures

Aubry was watching Dallin and wouldn't look at us.

She wasn't into smiling, but glaring.

A rare smile.

So I went to Lara's house yesterday so we could finally take Aubry's 3 month pictures. It went pretty well. She smiled sometimes and did some cute faces. I also took my sewing machine over there and we are going to do some projects in the coming weeks. I am pretty excited about these cute pictures and I am going to print some out and send them to the grandparents=) So we have picked out weekend moving date. The second weekend in October and we will move to Boise. I am so excited and nervous about moving. It's been two years since we last moved and I am hoping that this move will be one of the last ones. I want to settle down as a family and focus on them for the next couple of decades. I really want to thank Lara for taking the time and getting such cute pictures.

PS. Krysta you had better post some pictures of your vacation!!

Baby Aubry

So Aubry is officially 3 months old as of last Friday. I was hoping to get to Lara's house to do pictures but Chris needed the car so we are heading over there tomorrow for some pictures and crafting. I am also hoping that Lara can take a nap while I watch the kids cause I know how much I needed one when Aubry was still small. In fact, I still need one, but decided to take this rather rare opportunity to blog. Me and Chris were watching a movie and I was also listening to my Zune and Aubry fell asleep in my arms without screaming about it. A welcome relief, as the I am becoming hard of hearing on my right side. So I downloaded the pictures me and Chris took of her on Friday and I am going to recount some of the things that me and Aubry do all day.

Aubry usually wakes up at about 2am every morning to be fed and then we go back to sleep usually to about 630am. Then another eat and up again at 8 or 9 then another sleep to 10ish. Then we get up and have breakfast for mama, and I check our farm on facebook cause she really likes watching the computer screen. Then I try and get some house work done, which never happens, (we live in perpetual filth, but at least there is food). Then Chris is home at 1245 and we greet him and then Aubry takes another nap hopefully. But then the feedings and naps go off schedule but in a perfect world, Aubry takes her nap with Chris. Then if we don't get Aubry a nap at 5 or 6 she can't fall asleep and will cry for hours cause she is so tired. But now that we know to look for tired signs after an hour of wakefulness, we are getting better about getting her to sleep earlier and we are enjoying a happier kid.

I wanted to let Lara know, that she should never feel guilty for having a hard time, cause no one else has is harder than yourself. We are each given exactly what we need and it's always hard. I always thought Lara had it easy, but she doesn't. And the same thing for everyone else. I know I have it as hard as it can be, cause if it was any harder, I wouldn't be here. So cheer up Lara and never feel like you don't have something to complain about, cause believe me, if I can complain with only one kid, you have every right to scream about two and so on when you have more.

Everyone Be Quiet

Okay, for the first time ever, Aubry has fallen asleep in her own bed and is still sleeping. Nobody say or make a noise. I am hoping this nap will last an hour or more. Cross your fingers and wish me luck.

Rolling Over...

The whole picture.

She makes the funniest faces.

Finally looking at the camera.

Hilarious. I about died laughing.

Once again proving that kids are a riot.

So Aubry rolled over on Thursday. Then she did it again today proving it wasn't a one time thing. I am so freakin' excited about it!! I called everyone and told them. I took a bunch of pictures of her during "tummy time" because all of a sudden she is pushing up with her arms and doing lots of stuff. In fact today we went out and bought her toys finally. She has a couple but mostly what other people have gotten her. We finally bought her some. I am so looking forward to her learning to crawl and what not. Now, if she could just sleep better at night, we would be okay.