Oh Life

Steven signed us both up for this journal website called "Oh Life" that sends you an e-mail each night. You reply to the e-mail and it records it all in an online journal. I'm definitely not as good at it as Steven, mostly because I just feel like everyday life is not all that interesting. However, this weekend, was completely everyday. Nothing that exciting happened. But I loved it.

Since family life and just being able to hang out together hasn't happened in so long, it was great to just do boring, everyday things. We did laundry. We watched Monk. We went for a walk. We went out for frozen yogurt. I went to the store. We hung out with Aubrey. We just talked.

However, the weather has not been as nice as before and I'm feeling a little stir-crazy. We are trying to keep Aubrey out of public since she was premature and it is still the peak of flu and RSV season. Since Steven is gone from the sun comes up and comes home long after it sets, I slightly feel like we are hibernating. 

Life definitely is moving at a different pace than before. But, I am so happy. I get to hang out with this little girl everyday....

I think that one of my favorite quotes is, "The secret to having it all is knowing you already do."

It may have taken me four hours to get the apartment clean Thursday because Aubrey was fussy. I might have been the recipient of projectile poop twice this weekend. I may hardly be leaving the house which is hard since I don't know many people here yet. But, even though motherhood is exhausting, I really do feel like I have it all. I do miss working, but I feel content and fulfilled in a way I never did before. While not always exciting, everyday life is very sweet. 

2 Months

Aubrey went for her two-month check-up today. I was really nervous for her shots and I was also nervous about liking the pediatrician. This was her first official doctor's visit since coming to California, but we "tried" to go to the doctor once.

In order to leave the NICU, I had to have a pediatrician lined up for Aubrey in both Utah and California. When I was picking the doctor here, I had no idea about anything since we have no family here and I had only visited once before we moved.

So, I showed up a couple of weeks ago to her appointment and it was in a really bad part of town and the waiting room was so dirty. I pretty much almost cried and we didn't go through with that appointment. I have now found a doctor that is 2 minutes away from our apartment, the clinic in new and clean, and I LOVE the doctor. Moving to a new city is hard for things like that. Anyways, here are little Aubrey's 2 month stats:

Length: 21.5 inches

Weight: 8 lbs 11 oz

Head: I can't remember, but she has a small head!

I was seriously shocked when they weighed her. She has pretty much doubled her birth weight in 2 months. And "unadjusted" she is now in the 5% for weight and the 10% for height. Little Aubrey is definitely growing up.  

And.... Aubrey is 64 days old. Steven has been around her for 23 of them. How sad. But.... this week is his last week of travel. Hooray! Even though he hasn't been able to be around her much, we definitely make good use out of the time we have. I love seeing Steven as a dad.

Where there is smoke...

Luckily, there is no fire.....

Steven has been gone all week working in Orange County and he gets back tonight. Now that my mom is gone, I have just been here alone with Aubrey for the past couple of days. This afternoon, I had just put Aubrey down for a nap when the fire alarm in our apartment complex went off.

I opened the door to see if it was just a false alarm, when I saw everybody evacuating and I smelled smoke. I will admit that I was pretty shaken and scared, probably even more than was warranted because just this past summer, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law (Jer & Ked) had their 3rd floor apartment burn down just two weeks after they moved in. They lost almost everything, and so I know how scary apartment fires can be. 

It felt pretty similar to when we rushed to the hospital when my water broke. Except instead of grabbing my purse and a towel, I grabbed Aubrey and my diaper bag.

I put her car seat in the stroller and realized when I got to the end of the hall, that because it was a fire, I couldn't use the elevator. So, I had to carry Aubrey and the stroller (with Aubrey in the stroller) down three flights of stairs. My workout for the day  :)

The fire department was there and since it was pouring rain, I put Aubrey in the car and drove down the street to wait and see. Luckily, in the end, it was just a kitchen fire that was mostly smoke. It was scary, especially being all alone here, but I'm grateful that everything is fine.

Sometimes I seriously feel like the past few months of my life could be the setting of a dramatic movie. Can we go back to normal now?

Newborn Photos

Right before we left for California, I had Aubrey's newborn photos taken. Since I'm not supposed to take Aubrey anywhere for a while, my friend Heather came to the house to take them for me.

She is so talented. I absolutely LOVE them. I also love seeing how much Aubrey has already grown. She is gaining weight so well and has officially grown out of her newborn clothes. We're on the 0-3 month wardrobe now.

The pictures were taken when she was 5 weeks old.... so she technically shouldn't have even been born yet. Here are a few of my favorites. I especially love how the pictures capture her funny personality.

Finally Settled

When we moved into Wymount temporarily in July, we only unpacked half of our boxes and pretty much just lived with the basics. I have now completely unpacked and put away everything in our apartment, and so for the first time in 8 months, I finally feel like I have a home.

After everything that has gone on the past few months, I now feel like I can relax, breathe, and just live life again. I didn't really realize how stressed I have been until I started to relax. However.... just as Aubrey and I get here, Steven has been sent to work in Orange County for the next three weeks. *sigh* I guess life never really slows down.

So, to entice our family and friends to come visit, here is a tour of our apartment:

The kitchen:

Bathroom:

Dining Room:

Bedroom:

Aubrey's Room:

And Living Room:

We really like it here, and hope we can stay for a while. I know I mentioned this in my last post, but one of the main things I am LOVING is the weather. 70 degrees in February. Having grown up in Canada, I almost didn't know that was possible. 

And.... the "Littlest Foote"....

Is starting to get some chub on her cheeks. I'm loving it!

California Here We Come....

Aubrey and I are now finally in California and we are all together as a family for good. Aubrey was discharged from the NICU on January 12th but since the insurance for my job went through the end of January and the insurance from Steven's job started February 1st, we stayed in Utah until the end of the month.

My mom (who has stayed to help me this whole time since Steven was gone), and I started the normally 13-hour-drive at 5 am on Sunday. The plan was to make it to Reno and then drive the rest of the way on Monday, but my mom and I are both kind of the "get it done" type, and so we ended up driving the entire way in one day- with a newborn who had to eat every couple of hours and get out of her car seat every hour and a half because we had to watch her oxygen levels.

The 13-hour trip turned into an 18-hour trip and we pulled up at our apartment at 11 that night.

Aubrey was seriously the BEST baby all day. She hardly cried and the drive with her was better than I thought.

However, by the end of the trip, I was covered in poop, pee, spit up, infant vitamins, and a cup of sprite. I sure looked and smelled good when Steven first saw us.

Now, we have been working like mad to get our apartment all organized and decorated. I love to unpack so it has been fun. Pictures to come later.

Aubrey is doing great and I feel so blessed and relieved that she is now healthy. She looks healthy and from her last three doctors appointments, she is gaining about an ounce a day, which is about half a pound a week. She now weighs about 7 pounds...... which is "almost" on the growth charts. Almost. We are getting there.

She is a funny baby. She is very alert and is already starting to coo, holds her head up pretty well, and grunts like a man. I am getting good at doing everything one handed (currently burping her and typing) and I am surviving pretty well on little sleep.

And, one thing that I am loving about our new home is definitely the weather. It is freezing back in Utah, and I just got back from a nice, sunny walk. I think I can get used to this.