Aubree's blessing and Doctor appt.

Aubree was blessed by her Daddy last Sunday. It was a beautiful blessing and I wish I would have written it down while he was blessing her. The thing that stood out to me and was very special to me in the blessing was that he said Aubree and I were good friends before and that we would continue that friendship here on earth. It's no wonder that all along I've felt like I knew her better than just a relationship of a few months! Doesn't it make you wonder about pre-earth life and who our close friends were and how it all worked?! I imagine that I was good friends with my whole family (parents, siblings, Aaron, my kids)...


We had lots of family join us which was so wonderful! I wanted to take a picture of the whole family afterwards, but the thought of gathering EVERYONE (24 people) and trying to get a decent picture would almost give me an anxiety attack, so we never even attempted a picture of everyone (I always regret it later). Does the thought of getting pictures taken cause stress for any of you? This is why we have only ever had our pictures taken professionaly once (even the girls haven't had pictures taken) - so sad!


So, here is a picture of our little family on Aubree's blessing day (I didn't even get one of her in her blessing dress because we were in such a hurry before church and I didn't even think of it).

Smiling at Grandma Kathy (Aaron's Mom).


We went to Temple Square later that same day. I LOVE living so close to Temple Square. We are going to try to make it a tradition to go there on Sundays especially while the weather is so beautiful.Beautiful Carly. (Ellie WOULD NOT pose for me!)


------------------------------------------------------------


I took Aubree to the doctor on Wednesday because she's had a pretty bad cold and been a little more fussy than normal and kind of a barky cough which made us a little nervous. While at the doctor she had her rectal temperature taken (which made her really mad), and they gave her the deep nose suctioning (also made her mad). She has a bad ear infection (thus the fussiness - poor thing), and they are going to run some tests on her mucus to see what virus she has (like croup).

Just look at this sweet pouty face!

But, she still gives us sweet smiles too! (She has laughed back at Aaron a couple of times when he laughs for her - so cute!! The first time she laughed out loud it totally scared her - ha ha!)

p.s. Thanks for all of your encouraging comments from the last post - you are all such great friends!

Rough Economy

Right now Aaron and I are trying to decided where we want to end up in the near future. Gratefully, Aaron still has a job - there are so many people in this sort of field (landscape architecture) without jobs right now - a little scary! In fact, in the past month the firm Aaron works for has laid off about 7 people and Aaron's entire group got 10% pay cuts and 36 hr. work weeks. (I'm excited about the 36hr work week, but trying not to think about the pay cut.) Aaron is so talented and such a hard worker, but if there's no work, there's no work and they have to let even good employees go. Aaron's pretty sure the lay off's aren't over. We're trying to be optimistic, but we also have to be realistic and plan for if he lost his job.

(I tried to upload some of Aaron's work, but the files are too big I think. So, hopefully I'll be able to put them up in a future post.)

Aaron's dream has always been to teach at BYU-I someday (which is why we did the master's program in Moscow, only now BYU-I really encourages new hires to have a doctorate). So, we've been looking into some PhD programs hoping to find one that will allow him to get the degree without having to be on campus and still be able to keep his job here (not much luck with that). We've actually looked into some of the PhD programs at the U of I. It would be really weird to go back there - not in a bad way - just weird because we never thought we would ever see Moscow, ID again and a lot of the friends we had there are gone now. The ONLY reason we would even consider a PhD is for Aaron to have the opportunity to teach at BYU-I. But, we obviously can't guarentee ourselves a job there just because Aaron has a PhD. It would be so awful to go back to school (the irregular hours, the homework, the loans, etc) and not get a job at BYU-I and then try to find another job (especially if the economy is still bad).

Aaron has talked with some of the professors at BYU-I to get their advice and feedback about getting a job there. They have asked him to come and teach (sub.) this coming fall and spring while one of the other teachers is taking a sabbatical. Sounds like a great opportunity but, we would be out of a job afterwards. So, Aaron has told them no. For now we're just going to stay with his job here (hoping it lasts).


It seems like a lot of the talks in this past conference were about making it throught these rough economic times. Here are a few things from Conference that really comforted me:

In Pres. Eyring's talk "Adversity" he spoke of a man who had recently lost
his job.

"When I asked his wife on the day he lost his job if she was worried, she
said with cheerfulness in her voice, 'No, we’ve just come from the bishop’s
office. We are full-tithe payers.' Now, it is still too early to tell, but I
felt assured as they seemed to be assured: 'Things will work
out.'"

I am grateful for the peace it brings me in knowing that we pay tithing! Even if we did lose our job and face some hard times, I know we would be okay.



In Elder Christofferson's talk "The Power of Covenants" he told of a family who had lost their home and ALL their belongings in an earthquake. When the wife was asked how she could still have a smile on her face, she said,

"I have prayed and I am at peace. We have all we need. We have each other,
we have our children, we are sealed in the temple, we have this marvelous
Church, and we have the Lord. We can build again with the Lord's help."

There were also so many talks about going to the temple. We don't need to be afraid if we are worthy to go to the temple and go often.

In Elder Stevenson's talk he said that even young children are encouraged to touch the temple because Pres. Monson said, "as we touch the Temple, the Temple will touch us". So, for FHE this week we took the girls to Temple Square and let them touch the temple.

Carly

Ellie

All About Aubree - Two Months

Monday was Bree's two month appt. Here are her stats:

Weight: 11.7 lbs (75% - makes Mommy so proud!)
Height: under the 20% (not quite sure about the exact measurement)
Head: 50% -Amazing! (Carly has always been about 75% and Ellie has always been 90%...despite the fact that they are both below the 5% in height.)

She had 5 immunizations today and did pretty well. She's been just a little more fussy and a lot more tired than usual. She won't take medicine from a dropper, but luckily I had a feeding tube (for breastfeeding) and she was able to take some acetaminophen with that.

Some cute pictures of the little sweetheart:

I just love the look on her face - showing off her double chin!

Aubree's first Sunday to go to church (two Sundays ago) - she wasn't as excited as Mommy. :) I have been so paranoid with her about RSV, so we waited until the doctor gave us the okay. I wasn't nearly this nervous with Carly and Ellie (Ellie went to church when she was two weeks old and she was also born during RSV season).

I love her lips!

(We have a picture of Carly in this same position, making the same expression - of course I can't find it.)

Aubree loves...

-being held!

-talking - we can just tell she is so happy and pleased with herself when she gets sounds out of her mouth. Aaron and I love to have little conversations with her.

-her swing (but only for fifteen minutes at a time). She loves to look at a certain spot on the swing and smile and talk to it.

-when her big sisters read books to her

-eating

-making silly faces

-taking showers with either Mommy or Daddy

Aubree doesn't like so much...

-bottles - I've only tried once, but she was NOT happy. We'll try again when Daddy is home to help.

-binkies - we tried too late with this one I think. Aaron has been able to get her to take one a few times, but she really doesn't like it.

-being put down after she has fallen asleep in our arms (which is how she falls asleep 90% of the time).

-being stationary. If we're in the car, she wants the car moving. If she's in the stroller, she wants the stroller moving. If I'm holding her, she wants me moving.

Best Friends/ Worst Enemies

While I was taking a shower this morning Carly and Ellie were playing with their Doctor kit. Ellie wasn't doing what Carly wanted and so Carly threw the kit at Ellie's face, cutting her lip. Ahhh! It makes me so upset - but at the same time I remember fighting with my little sister, Stephanie, and I also had a really hard time controlling my temper. (I guess I get what I deserve now.)

Here's Ellie telling about her ouchie:



In Carly's defense, she is just a very passionate little person! She gives the TIGHTEST hugs and just grits her teeth and puts everything into it when she's loving you. But, you better watch out if she's ticked! Cuz she puts her all into that too!



Lest you think my girls are CONSTANTLY fighting, here is a picture of Carly cutting a picture in half. It was a picture that their friend brought over for her. Ellie felt bad that she didn't get a picture, so Carly cut hers in half so Ellie could have half.



Also, today (and every day) Ellie was having a hard time falling asleep for her nap, so Carly stood beside Ellie's bed and sang songs to her. It didn't work - but still, it was sweet. (So, here's a sweet picture of Carly.)



Here's Carly loving Ellie after she had a rough time outside with some friends.

This is a picture of a "fort" the girls made in our room (this was an hour past bedtime - they were supposed to be asleep).

At Ensign Peak

------------------------------------------------------------------

POST SNEAK PREVIEWS

Coming soon to our blog...

"All About Aubree - Two Months"

"Stephanie's engaged!!!"

Spring Time

Friday the 20th was the first day of spring.

This is what Carly did today, on the fourth day of spring...

Cute video. Depressing weather.

St. Patty's Day & Super Powers

St. Patrick's Day was also the day of my first Enrichment as the Enrichment Leader. Thanks to my AWESOME committee the night was a success (as far as I could tell). We had a delicious dinner and a video presentation of Sherri Dew giving a talk at Women's Conference. We also had some conversation starter questions at each table which was fun. One of the questions was:

If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Normally I would choose flying - just to feel the sensation.

But considering my current life circumstances I would have to choose endless energy/no need for sleep (self explanatory, right)?

Aaron says he would want to be Superman because he has it all. But, I explained to him that the question said a super power not a super hero. So, then he chose "either speed, or strength, or flying" (middle child syndrome - can't make up his mind. :))

So, what about you (and why)?

March Madness

This month Carly and Ellie have already both had the stomach flu and colds (all at different times). I'm hoping that the warm weather (just around the corner) will help them stay healthy for more than a week at a time.

(Thanks for the picture idea Lacey)

Oh, how I wish I lived closer to my Mom! We've been having "one of those days" for the last couple of weeks now. It seems like our days are one tantrum/drama after another (even Carly who had pretty much outgrown that stage). They absolutely love Aubree but I think it's been hard for them to have such a tired Mommy who has a baby to feed, change, and hold so much.

Hang in there girls!



Ellie can be kept happy for about 45 minutes doing the dishes. (Don't you just love those love handles - wish mine were that cute!)


The girls and I have been reading a chapter book together - "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo. It is a great book about loving other people and Carly has really been enjoying it.

Aubree is a projectile pooper. The other day I was changing her diaper and she pooped all over the front of me - gross, frustrating, and funny all at the same time.

Aaron dressed her while I changed my clothes. (You would be mad too if your Daddy made you dress like this! LOL!!)

Our friends, Curt and Shawna, came by to visit for a few hours on Saturday. The kids watched "Sleeping Beauty" while we played Speed Scrabble.

Aubree is starting to smile a lot and "talk" a little bit too. I can tell that she really wants to start cooing but can't quite figure out how to get the sounds out of her mouth. She's such a sweet baby! The only problem is that she doesn't really like to be put down. She doesn't go to sleep on her own and she hates binkies (I'm pretty sure these two things are related). I think she is a lot like Carly in this way.



Carly requested that I include a video of her singing some songs from one of her favorite websites. She is the energizer bunny when it comes to singing - she'll just sing song after song after song....