The Foote Family

The Aubbers

2012-02-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

Well, I definitely fell off the blogging wagon for a while. Mostly because we haven't really taken very many pictures lately, and because things have been a little crazy. We are moving next week to a new apartment, and my to-do list is pretty long. But, mostly for my own benefit, I thought it was time to do an update on the Aubbers.

She loves to climb, climb, climb, and gets pretty excited when she makes it on top of things. We sold our kitchen table and bought a new one that is going to be delivered next week, but for now, this is the only chair we have. I think Aubrey will miss it when it gets demoted again to the deck.

She talks all the time.... just not in English. "Real" words that she can say are: Hi (as a greeting), Hey! (I want attention!), Uh oh (ususally when she drops something... on purpose), Yum (umm...umm...), mama (usually just mom mom), dada, and yeah. She has started repeating some words that I tell her to say, but I don't think she uses anything else with meaning yet.

Putting her to sleep is like a dream now. I seriously can put her down for naps or bedtime and she either sings her self to sleep or doesn't make a peep. I definitely have been blessed with a good little sleeper.

She has been eating pretty well, and is now officially drinking whole milk out of a straw cup. Weaning her was easier than I thought it would be. She loves curry and other random things you wouldn't expect a baby to eat.

I also find it pretty ironic that as soon as she started eating well.... her growth curve dropped. She was a whopping 17 lbs 15 oz at her one year check-up. I think she has grown a bit since then, but she is definitely a tiny girl. She never stops moving... and that is why most pictures of her now look like this!

She has a very funny, social personality. She can also be mischievous. She will walk up to the toilet pointing and shaking her head saying "ah ah" and then stick her hand in. And then smile at me. She knows she shouldn't, but just can't help herself!

Mischief and all, I am loving the stage she is at. She is so much fun! Now that she is walking and running all over, she just seems so much like a little girl... not a baby. I loved the sweet newborn stage, but I actually think I am a better mom for the toddler stage. We go to parks, play dates, shopping, etc. Now, we just need it to get warm enough for the pool. She is my little buddy :)

Baby Shower!

2012-01-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

Aubrey and I just got back from a fun week in LA where we helped host my sister's baby shower along with my mom and Connie. We had a lot of fun with the aqua and brown color scheme (love these colors!)

The food was delicious and we spent the few days before making and prepping everything. I think that it turned out looking pretty darn cute.

See the blue cupcakes? We also made a whole pan of brown fudge ones, but they ended up getting spilled all over the car and my mom on the way there. We chose to laugh instead of cry and my mom was a great sport considering she was covered in chocolate :)

Miss Aubrey was such a trooper. We dragged her all over LA and she was her happy little self. She is also quite the social butterfly and made lots of friends wherever we went.

Nicole got so much cute stuff.... Baby Mac is going to be one very well-dressed little guy.

Most of all, it was so much fun spending the week with my little girl, my mom, and my sister. We are good friends, and I'm grateful for that.

Weekend of Unemployment

2012-01-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

Steven had his exit interview at E & Y on Thursday morning and he started his new job at LinkedIn on Monday. So, we had a nice long weekend of unemployment. We were still pretty tired from all the vacationing we did at Christmas, so we mostly just hung out as a family. But, we couldn't resist a trip to San Francisco. We live by cool stuff and I would feel ungrateful if we didn't experience all that cool stuff!

We have tried 2 other times to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, but it never happened. However, this time was a success!

We had a lot of fun. Our experience in three words would probably be: windy, exercise, and crowded. There we so many people. And lots of bikes. A lot of people that don't know how to ride bikes. But, it was great, and Aubrey was happy the entire time. Even with the wind blowing in her face like crazy.

We went to a park after and the only thing that Aubrey wanted to do was walk up and down these stairs. Over and over and over. We had to take turns because really... there were only so many times I thought that was interesting.

Now our days of vacations are over and Steven is back to work. So far, both he and I are loving it.

I'm mostly loving that he eats both breakfast and lunch at work and so I only have to feed him dinner. This might mean I can slip a few more clothes for me/Steven/Aubrey into the cart at Target and still meet my "grocery" budget :)

Trouble

2012-01-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get a video of Aubrey walking before she is proficient at it. Right now she kind of lumbers along and I think it is so cute. And pretty funny. Well..... except when that lumbering is right into the table, or the floor, or the couch, etc. She has her one-year check-up tomorrow and will be sporting a few nasty bruises.

This little girl just loves to MOVE. She seriously runs around the house like this all day long. I cleaned the apartment today and I clean about as fast as she takes apart. We are in trouble. But I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Christmas

2011-12-31T11:52:00.000-08:00

This year we had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Southern California. And I even got what I wanted most for Christmas- our whole family to be healthy! We all spent pretty much the entire time between Thanksgiving and Christmas sick. Including a nasty bout of stomach flu that hit Aubrey pretty hard.

But, Christmas was wonderful! I have such a great family!

I think that my favorite part of Christmas Day might have been this moment that my mom managed to catch on camera.

Aubrey got her first kiss from a dog and was quite surprised! The shock wasn't enough to keep her from trying to get more "kisses" from the dog.

Steven and I got each other a new Chromebook that is awesome and making writing this blog pretty nice. It boots in 8 seconds!

Aubrey got to eat even more cake at her family birthday party. She cried when I took it away.

After Christmas, we then spent the next few days going like mad. We went to Disneyland, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, the Holiday Bowl, and the beach. Whew.

Aubrey is now walking and seems to think that running is even better than walking. She is such a good little baby (or toddler I guess now), but definitely very active and keeps me on my toes.

She was NOT a fan of the beach. Maybe next time.

We all can't wait to meet little "Baby Mac" and we were very grateful for him at the amusement parks. Since the parks were so crowded and crazy and my sister is quite pregnant, we got her a wheelchair. That wheelchair got us on a lot of rides without having to wait in line. Definitely the way to do Disneyland.

Aubrey couldn't get enough of the rides and shows. She is a girl after my heart! We even got stuck in the Haunted Mansion for about 15 minutes. I thought she would cry, but she loved it!

We had such a good time. We are so blessed to have such great family that likes to have lots of fun.

Happy Birthday!

2011-12-18T14:18:00.001-08:00

My sweet little Aubrey is ONE!!

I can't believe that it has been a year since all of this happened.

It has been a quite the year, and I couldn't imagine life without my little girl in it. Aubrey is such a joy. I'm amazed and grateful that I get to be her mother.

To celebrate, here is a video montage Steven and I made- Aubrey's first year of life in 5 minutes. Trust me, it's good :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREY!

First Sweets

2011-12-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

Even though Aubrey's real birthday isn't until next Monday, she had her first taste of "birthday cake" tonight.

These 3 amigos are so cute together and are all born just a few weeks apart...

So, of course we had to have a joint party for them!

Tonight was definitely Aubrey's first taste of anything sweet. If I already haven't had a hard enough time getting her to eat her vegetables, I'm now going to be doomed. . .

She seriously could not get enough of that cupcake. After eating over half, I was worried she might get sick, so I took the rest away. Her solution? Just go after James' and Tyler's cupcakes. They were both a little less aggressive with the sugar.

I blame my sugar addiction on my mother. I guess Aubrey will have the same excuse.

We had so much fun. I love watching Aubrey with her little buddies!

New Direction

2011-12-07T21:24:00.000-08:00

Since the news is going out in both of our families' Christmas cards, we figured that now was a good time to share that on January 9th, Steven will be starting a new job as a Web developer/programmer with LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com).

We are SUPER excited about this opportunity and feel very blessed. Going from public accounting to web programming will definitely be a change, but a change in a very good way. Way better pay, way better hours, and a way better job in an area that Steven is passionate about.

The past year has honestly been a hard one for the Foote family. Starting with Aubrey's unexpected premature birth, NICU stay, moving here, and then having Steven gone so much at a job that just wasn't working out, we definitely learned alot and grew as a family. We are very excited that 2012 is looking to be much better.

We are finally settled in and LOVING where we live (except the expense. My accountant heart still almost faints every time we pay rent). We love the area, we love our friends, we love the weather... and now we hope to love Steven's job.

From almost the beginning, we knew that Ernst & Young was not going to work out for us. Let's just say that we are surprised that they made it on the "50 Best Places to Work" list.

But, we made sure that Steven will stay to the 1 year mark (+ 3 days) so that he can still get his CPA designation.

LinkedIn is an awesome company with great benefits. Steven is especially excited about the ice cream freezer and free lunch every day. I'm excited about the awesome health insurance and that Steven will actually be working at ONE place instead of traveling all over.

And... we will see where life takes us from here. We are super excited about this new direction!

Home Again

2011-12-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

We are back from our fun Thanksgiving trip to Las Vegas. I took way too many pictures of course, but here are a few highlights:

We had an early "Christmas" with Steven's family since that is when everybody was together. Aubrey got this pink tutu and loves to wear it. She seriously gets so excited to toddle around in it.

We went to Steven's old high school to look around and visit his art teacher. This sign of In N Out that hangs up in the school was an art project he did and it is made up of hundreds of smaller pictures. FYI- Steven was voted most artistic in high school. It is a talent we both wish he had more time to pursue.

We went to the ranch- lots of hiking, quad riding, and even some glow-in-the-dark frisbee.

To me, it seems like Aubrey grew up so much while we were there. She took her first steps on Friday. She still seems a ways from actual walking (working on balance) but she is getting close. She so badly wants to be a "big girl" and play with her cousins, but most of the time just got left in the dust. Maybe next year :)

Blurry picture, but I wanted to document that we went and rode go-carts. I was proud that I did it, and that I went fast. At least I felt like I was going fast. I finished near the back of the pack, but it was really fun!

The car trips there and back were so much better than I thought. Aubrey actually slept 5 of the 9 hours on the way home. Thanks for a great time Foote's!

Cousins

2011-11-29T20:32:00.001-08:00

We have been here in Las Vegas for almost a week now to celebrate Thanksgiving with Steven's family. We have been having a great time, and one of my favorite parts is seeing Aubrey with her cousins:

Yes, Aubrey is pulling David's ear, which put a quick end to this photo session...

Seeing them all together brought back so many memories that I had playing with my cousins growing up. I remember one time we tied up my aunt's entire house in string while our moms went shopping. Oh to be a kid...

We are also super excited for my sister Nicole to have her baby, so Aubrey can have cousins on both sides!

11 Months

2011-11-20T10:50:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that she is almost one!

At 11 months....

She is getting pretty good at walking between furniture and she loves to walk holding a hand.

Steven calls her our "kamikaze baby" because she has no fear and thinks that she can just walk anywhere... even though she is not quite there yet!

She loves to hang out with her friends and is still my social little girl, but she has finally found some stranger anxiety... mostly afraid of strange men.

She has FINALLY decided that she has an appetite! Life has gotten so much easier now that mealtime is not such a battle.

And 11 months = boundless energy and less sleep. Despite the fact that I am totally not ready for it, she is trying her best to transition to just 1 nap a day. I don't know what I am going to do when she stops napping all together.

She has become great at imitating actions. She "talks" into anything she thinks is a phone, puts her hat on her head, etc.

She gets into everything and is REALLY quick.

She is a babbler and has down the b, k, g, t, m, d, and f sounds. Mama, dada, and "hi" are the words I THINK she says with meaning, but at this age, it is really hard to tell.

Even though she isn't even close for weight, she outgrew the length requirements on her car seat. She seems to like her new ride, even though the car is not a favorite place in general:

She is always on the go and I find it hard to get much of anything done. Hence, the complete lack of blogging this past month.

Can't wait for the holidays and for her birthday!

Halloween

2011-10-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Halloween here in the Foote house. One cute little lady bug couldn't contain her excitement:

Except when it came to taking pictures. She is usually such a ham for the camera, but we didn't get ANY good pictures. You get the general idea though...

We went to a Halloween party with a bunch of friends and a whole bunch of other babies. One two year old, one 14 month old, and 9 kids under 1. Pretty crazy.

Aubrey (the one who won't stay still) had a little ladybug twin (on the couch).

I had fun making these strawberry chocolate ghosts to take:

Aubrey had fun trying to break open a pinata:

And Steven had fun as Mr. Monk:

I will admit that we are not creative with Halloween costumes. I like to save my excitement for Christmas. Steven, however, does a pretty darn good Monk impression, so we found it fitting to "dress-up" as Monk and his assistant Natalie.

If you have never seen Monk, then watch it! It is a favorite show of ours.

Happy Halloween!

Canada

2011-10-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

Aubrey and I took a little vacation to visit my home and parents. Our week here is almost over and I have loved to see my family and get a little taste of cold weather. However, Aubrey has had a little bit of a rough week. There have been some great parts...

Always loving the park and swings. Nicely sporting her winter hat, which I think is pretty cute.

We don't have any stairs, so this was her first experience. Took about 10 seconds and now she is a pro at climbing up. And loves it.

Greeting all her "fans" while going out to eat. She is a little flirt.

And, of course hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa.

Not so great parts?

Aubrey hitting a full glass of water all over the guy in front of us on the plane. We were popular. I don't even want to think about the flight back.
She got the stomach flu.... and all the symptoms that go along with it. Was up ALL night crying and miserable. I hated seeing her in so much pain.
Went to a Halloween party and got a trial run of her costume. I win the "bad mom" award since I forgot to run the costume through the wash first. She now has hives all over her face and neck.
Oh yeah... and she is cutting another tooth.

So, all and all... she has been pretty darn cranky.

But, we still had a great trip and I will miss my family when we leave. But, I am so excited to see Steven again.

Why can't I be in more than one place at once and be able to be with everybody I love? *sigh* Such is life.

10 Months

2011-10-20T15:37:00.000-07:00

Little miss Aubrey is already 10 months old! She is growing and changing every day and I love watching her happy little personality develop.

She now has 5 teeth... and cut the 3 new ones on top in one day while on vacation in Las Vegas. That was not a fun day.
Puts herself to sleep, takes great naps, sleeps through the night. BUT she is definitely an early riser.... sleeping in until 6:30 now feels like heaven.

She is my climber and takes any opportunity she can find to swing her little leg up to higher ground. Keeps me on my toes.

Learned to drink from a straw which I'm grateful about because I'm hoping to wean her at one directly to a cup. She is getting better at eating now that she is mostly feeding herself but we have our days. Her pediatrician called her "strong-willed." Very fitting.

Now says mama and dada fairly frequently along with a host of other continual babbling. Not always to the correct parent but it still feels great just to hear the sound!
She learned to use her pointer finger which is really cute.... except for the few times she decided to "point" at my eye.

She is happy, and social, and wins hearts with her mega-watt smile.

We Looooove her!

Buddies

2011-10-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

These are Aubrey's little buddies:

Sometimes there are a couple of little girls that come hang out with us, but for the most part it is Aubrey and her boyfriends.

Steven is a little worried about what that means for the future :)

I'm just so glad that we have found good friends here with kids Aubrey's age. They already love to hang out... and we moms have a good time too. Like, spending Thursday afternoon at the pool in the middle of October....

Yes, the weather is still hot and I am loving it.

Vegas Recap

2011-10-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our trip to Las Vegas this morning. We took an EARLY (6:50 am) flight, and boy am I exhausted.

Flying with Aubrey was exponentially harder at 9 months than 6 or 7. Seriously.... our sweet little girl WILL NOT stay still. And, I am flying again to Canada by myself in just a couple of weeks. Pretty sure that is going to be a nightmare. It is a good thing she is so darn cute.

Vegas was a blast... here is a recap:

She started standing by herself for a few seconds at a time. We were pretty excited.

Fun times at the park with Grandma.

Spending time with Grandpa.

These two are definitely "kissing cousins." Here is Aubrey going for it. David wasn't quite sure at first since Aubrey is a little bit more aggressive.

Steven, Jason, Kimmy, and I went on the Big Shot ride at the Stratosphere.

Went to the lake

Don't think Aubrey will remember the lake.

Tourists on the strip.

And... the main reason we planned the trip was to see Jason! Steven's little brother got home from his mission last month and we couldn't come to his homecoming. These two brothers had a great reunion.

We had fun.... can't wait to go back next month for Thanksgiving. Lots more traveling coming up in the next couple of months.

Eye on the Prize

2011-10-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

We are here in Las Vegas having a great time with Steven's family. We are especially loving that Aubrey is getting to spend time with her cousins. Today, we had Aubrey and her twin cousin David "race."

I like the part where Steven tells Aubrey to "keep your eye on the prize."

You can see distraction is common for little 9 month olds. More to come on our fun trip later. We love being around family!

This is how...

2011-10-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

we watched General Conference in our house:

Fully enclosed "Aubrey arena"

Lots of snacks

Tons of Toys

Lets just say that we might have to read or watch many of the talks again.

We had a great weekend together as a family. And Aubrey and I had a lot of fun hanging our with Lauren (& Caleb) and Lisa (& Blake) for the traditional girls night on Saturday.

On another note, I have done a pretty good job baby-proofing our apartment, although Aubrey adds new projects to my list daily. I'm not kidding when I say that she never stays still.

But... we are having a hard time with our floor to ceiling heater (see behind the couch). It hasn't been on yet, but once winter rolls around, I need a way to keep Aubrey away from there! Any suggestions?

Visiting the bookshelf is one of her favorite activities and so I would hate to make that whole area off-limits.

The weather has been HOT...

2011-09-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

and we've been sick :(

90+ degree days would have been awesome if both Steven and I did not get sick. Luckily, Aubrey has been just fine. When I am sick, all I want to do is cuddle up on the couch with a blanket. Not so much fun in the heat.

We are on the mend now, but Thursday was the worst. Of course, Aubrey was wild that night. Her average time to stay still is about 0.3 seconds. Here she is after crawling and climbing on everything for about an hour while Steven and I took turns laying on the ground/chasing after her.

And no, she did not just have a bath. She literally "worked up a sweat."

And since Saturdays are a rare commodity, we wanted to do something fun, but neither of us was feeling up to anything too strenuous.

We got a new child carrier backpack and decided to try it out by walking on the bike path by our apartment...

and visiting the Intel museum since it is free and so close. We learned all about the history of the microprocessor.

Aubrey was in her own version of a utopia- a whole room of screens that she was actually allowed to look at and touch!

Hopefully by tomorrow, Steven and I will again have enough energy to keep up with this little one.

9 Months

2011-09-22T15:20:00.000-07:00

Somebody is pretty excited to be 9 months old...

She is definitely getting closer and closer to toddler-hood and my baby is disappearing before my eyes!

Her Stats:

Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz (12%)

Height: 28.25 inches (73%)

Head Circumference: 43 cm (23%)

She is still my tiny little girl, but growing well. Especially considering she is a preemie and technically should only be 7.5 months old.

This has been a big month for Aubrey. Crawling, pulling to stand, and now on to cruising. It kind of scares me how quickly she is learning to get around.

She learned to clap and wave, but we are still working on getting her to do them on demand. Pretty cute when she does, and both are often accompanied by this face:

Eating still isn't super high on her priority list, but she is getting better. Some days. Her favorite foods? Cheerios, steamed broccoli and yo-baby yogurt seem to be big hits.

She is sleeping through the night every night, and takes 2 good naps each day. She is a really good sleeper. Makes up for all those struggles I have getting her to eat :)

Lots of babbling. yayayayay, babababa, and gagagaga. "mama" and "dada" make an occasional appearance, but sadly do not seem to be favorites.

She is still so sweet and curious and fun. She has become my shadow and follows me around the house wherever I go, often climbing up and clinging to my legs.

This parenting thing just keeps getting better :)

It's a Boy!

2011-09-18T20:50:00.000-07:00

But not for me!

Yesterday Lisa and I hosted a baby shower for our good friend Lauren. She is having a baby boy in October and we are so excited for her to join the mom clan.

I had a lot of fun making the decorations and cupcakes. Steven even complimented me on them and said that I was "creative." I said that I am just good at copying off other people's blogs. Does that count?

Aubrey had fun hanging out with her buddy Blake. She really seemed to enjoy eating his toes, but I tried to limit that for both of their sakes.

Congrats Lauren! We are so excited for you.

Blech. I look terrible in this photo, but it is the only one we took of the three of us.

We then spent the evening at a "Holy War" party watching the BYU vs. Utah football game. BYU played terrible.. but we had a lot of fun and we are all enjoying feeling settled and having friends.

Whew. I sure was tired by the end of the day. Why don't babies get that weekends are for sleeping in?

Our Little Monkey

2011-09-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

I'm finding it more fun to take videos of Aubrey now that she is moving. But.... I know that videos of other people's kids are not the most exciting thing. So these might just be grandparent worthy.

When she first started crawling, she would use her feet, and I thought that she was just learning and would completely graduate to hands and knees soon. Nope. She is our little monkey crawler, and I think it is adorable. She just wants to be up and standing so bad!

And.... she is just so happy and that is why I love this one.

Ahh... does anybody else miss their kids during naps? Aubrey has been sleeping for over an hour and I think I have watched these videos a few times just because I miss her!

Rancho San Antonio

2011-09-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning a group of us went on a cool hike at Rancho San Antonio out by the Los Altos hills. Aubrey had fun with her little buddy Tyler in the car. So cute.

And, how do you get sunscreen on two very active babies? Contain them in the trunk of the car :)

I'm lucky that I have great friends here. Being fairly new to the area, I don't yet know the "cool" places to go. This was a one we will definitely have to revisit. Very popular as well. The parking lot was completely packed at 8 am on a Tuesday.

We stuck to some of the easier trails, but with 16 pounds (maybe 17?) of baby strapped to me, I was exhausted by the end.

And that 16 pounds is now officially on the loose and getting into trouble.

The biggest obstacle for me now that she is crawling is limiting the bumps on her head. She is fearless and will dive into anything. She is also trying to pull up, but not quite there yet, resulting in some missed attempts.

I know that I can't raise her in a plastic bubble (or is that an option?) but this new phase is definitely a challenge for me. I can't believe how fast she is changing.

Saturday on the Coast

2011-08-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

We had a rare Saturday where Steven didn't have to work at all (sad, but true). So, we took advantage and went on a day trip.

I just had to take a picture- Doesn't this look like a stereotypical "beach bum" car?

We went to Swanton Berry Farms, where we picked our own delicious strawberries.

I've eaten a lot of strawberries, and these were by far the best I have ever tasted. Way better than Oregon strawberries (j/k Kedra).

But, seriously... the farm was really cool. And right on the coast, so we had amazing ocean views the entire time.

Aubrey was all smiles as usual. And even "helped" pick the berries until she started shoving dirt and leaves into her mouth.

We also visited Pigeon Point Lighthouse, which has been around since 1872. And has the claim to fame of being the most photographed lighthouse in the US.

Ahh... I do love the fresh coastal air.

Days like today make me love living in California.

Fresh & Sweet

2011-08-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

My mom just left and I am so sad. I really wish that I lived by family, and that she could be my neighbor. Sometimes it is hard not having any family or support system here.

But... before she left, we had a few fun days. Lots of shopping, and one day to explore where we...

visited the Muir Woods Monument, which was full of amazing redwood trees.

Pictures never do natural beauty justice but trust me, they were incredible.

We had a great time, but wowee the drive there was crazy. The entire way was up a super steep, super winding road.

My mom and I are both roller-coaster enthusiasts, never get car-sick kind of people and we were both feeling completely nauseous by the time we arrived. Aubrey was looking quite green herself. But, the fresh air helped us nicely recover.

And we found out that Aubrey has the wing-span of a Heron. Who knew?

And, since I inherited my sweet tooth from my mom, we spent the rest of the afternoon at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, enjoying the beautiful sun...

and eating the best chocolate fudge sundae that $8.75 can buy. Yum!

Writing this makes me want chocolate again :)

8 Months

2011-08-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

Do I really have an 8-month-old?

It feels like each month goes faster and faster. And she just keeps getting more fun. At 8 months....

lots of rolling and scooting around. She can definitely get where she wants to go.
On the verge of crawling. She just needs to figure out how her hands work, and then there will be no stopping her.

This has been a good month for sleeping. She is now sleeping through the night (11 hours) about half the time. Naps are also WAY better, with 2 pretty consistent naps that are 1-2 hours each. Loving it.
However, it has been a terrible month for eating. Her eating skills are improving with lots of work on that pincer grasp and she is doing great drinking from a cup. Actually getting her to eat/drink enough.... is often quite the struggle. She is still quite tiny, and so I worry about her weight gain.
She loves to stand and is getting some strong legs. In fact, she loves to stand so much, I often have a really hard time getting her to sit down.

When Kimmy was here, I asked her to tell me one word to describe Aubrey. Her choice? Giddy. I would say that fits her quite perfect. She is so happy and social and giggly. Lots of squealing and everybody is greeted with a smile.

And 8 months has brought lots of visitors. My mom is now here to visit and we are loving it! Aubrey thinks her grandma is so much fun.

She also thinks that this stud is pretty fun too.

I'm a lucky girl.

Kimmy

2011-08-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Steven's sister Kimmy is here for a visit before going off to BYU in a couple of weeks. We are so excited that she is here....

Seriously. We are having a great time and Aubrey is loving spending so much time with "Aunt Kimmy."

So far we have gone on a picnic, lots of walks, road the Google bikes, out for dinner, met Steven for lunch, and just lots of hanging out.

And we still have a few fun days left. We plan on filling those with swimming, shopping, and maybe a "Make it or Break It" marathon after Aubrey goes to bed since Steven is working late. I think that Aubrey is going to make sure she can't go home.... We love Kimmy!

Mini-Shopaholic

2011-08-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

Steven and I often have debates about reading. After so many years of schooling where almost all of my reading came in the form of textbooks, I like to "enjoyment" read. Steven likes the classics and often makes fun of my enjoyment reading.

The "Confessions of a Shopaholic" books are one series that I find quite funny. The latest installment in this series is called "Mini-Shopaholic."

After coming shopping with me and Aubrey once, Steven remarked that he is worried we might have our own little mini-shopaholic one day. Seriously, this little girl LOVES to come to the store.

After getting super giddy at all the exciting things to look at, she intently studies each fellow shopper....

and either gets super excited that so many people want to talk to her or....

is completely perplexed why she isn't immediately told how cute she is.

Since I am a frugal accountant and Mint.com unfortunately tracks every single stinking cent that I spend, most of our shopping is either groceries or "window" shopping.

But, I do definitely love that I have my little mini-shopaholic to keep me company.

Back In CA

2011-08-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are alive and back in California. Actually, we have been back for almost 2 weeks, but I have neglected catching up on the blog. Somebody is keeping me a little busy....

No crawling, not even really that close. Rolling ALL over is her way of getting into trouble. I say... crawling can definitely wait a little bit.

So, one funny part about our trip home that I want to remember is how my 7-month-old was selected for "extra" security screening. She had to have a security pat down, was swipe-tested for explosives, and I got in trouble for not removing her shoes.

So ridiculous. And really... pretty funny. It was good that Aubrey thought the whole experience was hilarious, or else I might have been more mad about it. But really?? A baby? What has our world come to!

In other news, Steven is ONE week away from taking his last CPA exam. Hallelujah. So far he has aced the ones he has taken, and so I am not worried about him passing. But it will be so nice to at least have our mornings back even though he usually works late. We enjoy the time we get.

And, I have spent the past couple of days helping watch my friend's little girl while she was in the hospital having her second baby. The verdict? It was fun, but I'm definitely not quite ready for two yet. This little girl is enough for me right now :)

7 Months

2011-07-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

At 7 months/5.5 adjusted, Aubrey is still such a joy. Month 7 has been the month of vacation and Aubrey has been s-p-o-i-l-e-d. I guess that is what you get when you are the first grandchild and the first great-grandchild (Peterson side).

She is also pretty darn easy to spoil.

She has now mastered sitting and is starting to get up on all fours. Crawling is still a ways off but she definitely WANTS to move.
Lots of teething. She has earned the nickname Steven gave her of "Slobbery Aubrey."

She has very delicate hands and loves to examine and pass objects hand to hand. Necklaces are a favorite.
The past couple of weeks she has started giving "kisses." I love it.
She is still quite loud. She has added banging toys to her repoitiore of yelling and squealing.

This has also been the month of food. Some days it is a pain to get her to eat, but overall, starting her on solids has gone a lot smoother than I was expecting. Foods she has tried: avacado, sweet potoatoes, peas, carrots, pears, prunes, peaches, squash, banana, oatmeal. Maybe a few others I am forgetting.
Is still my little social butterfly that loves people. She is happiest when she is the center of attention. I wonder where she gets that from?

We sure adore her.

Exhibit A

2011-07-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

I was wanting to update the blog, but we haven't taken too many pictures lately. I'm still here in Calgary until Saturday. I'm having a great time, but we are definitely missing Steven.

I did however, load a bunch of photos from last week onto the computer and laughed really hard at these. In my last post, I mentioned that Aubrey is kind of on a rampage with her new teeth. Here is what happened when she met her little buddy Seth.....

I can't decide if my favorite part is the growling noises she makes, or how funny Steven and Shaun thought their children were.

6 + 6 + 11

2011-07-14T06:59:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I was able to get together with my best friends from high school. I had a great time and I am so sad that I don't get to live around any of them. Considering we all currently live in Calgary (2), Idaho, Arizona, Utah, and California, it was pretty lucky that we were all in the same city at the same time.

We have definitely been busy since high school. The 6 of us married 6 great guys. And.... between us we have 11 kids under 4. We managed to get a shot with all of the kiddos. It isn't pretty but they were all there!

Even though Aubrey looks like a little angel in the midst of all that chaos, after the picture, Lana's little girl who is sitting next to Aubrey on the couch said, "she bite me." She has 2 teeth now, and I am afraid that the biting stage has begun. She is as sweet as can be, but definitely tries to eat anything that comes near her mouth.

Thanks Jocelyn for hosting and for the photos. I definitely miss you guys!

What a Treat

2011-07-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Somebody thought that it was quite the treat to go to kid's day at the Stampede this morning:

I also thought that today was a treat because Aubrey slept 12 straight hours for the FIRST TIME EVER.

She went to bed at 8, and I had to wake her up at 7:40 in order for us to make it through the gates before 9 so we could get in free. I'm hoping that this is not a one-time deal and the sleeping all the way through the night continues.

We got to see an awesome ice show, starring former Olympic Gold Medalists. I love ice skating and so that was really fun for me.

And... here is one more picture at the Stampede just for Steven. I chopped all my hair off yesterday and he wanted to see a picture since he is now back to work in California and I am still here in Canada.

We have been dragging Aubrey all over the place. She has been such a trooper and finds ways to entertain herself when she gets bored....

I think she is more flexible than those ice skaters we saw today.

Wicked Swim Zoo

2011-07-08T09:33:00.000-07:00

So, I turned the big 2-5 yesterday...

Yikes, I feel like I am getting old. I had a great birthday full of food, family, shopping, and fun. I loved that my birthday was while we were on vacation because I got to spend it with my family and Steven was around for the whole day.

In other Canada fun, we went to see Wicked (which was Wicked awesome).

We have taken Aubrey swimming to my grandparents pool twice since we have been here. She is becoming quite the little water baby.

We went to the zoo. Aubrey loved all the animals, but mostly loved watching the animals otherwise known as people.

And... we have eaten. Alot. The main "bucket list" of things that we must always do when we come to visit is almost entirely about food. Spolumbos, German Deli, Tim Hortons, etc. I guess food and shopping. All my favorite clothing stores (Jacob!) are here.

I have also sadly learned that vacation + baby = sleep deprivation. We are staying up way late having lots of fun, but Aubrey did not get the memo that vacation is for sleeping through the night and/or not waking up early.

Tonight we are off to the Stampede. Yeehaw!

Oh Canada!

2011-07-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

As mentioned before, Steven and I are pretty frugal. From this post, you can see that we often go to extreme measures to save money. Except on clothes for Aubrey. Those cute dresses are a weakness of mine.

Anyways, we are now in Canada, enjoying my family and a much needed vacation. Lots of vacation fun ahead. But, getting here was quite the trek. The cheapest flights left from San Francisco not San Jose, but parking at the San Francisco airport was $13.50 per day. So, it would have been over $150 just to park our car. Seriously, we were not going for that.

So our trip from our little apartment in Santa Clara, California, to Calgary, Alberta went something like this:

9:30- drive to Caltrain station. Drop off me, Aubrey, and stuff at train.
9:45-10:10: Steven drives car back to our apartment and then runs the 2 miles to the train. Arrives on time but fairly sweaty.
10:20- Take the Caltrain into San Francisco
11:15-12:15: Feed Aubrey on dirty train bench, take 2 different BART trains, arrive at airport.
12:15-2:30: check in, security wakes up sleeping baby making unhappy mom, pay $22 for 2 sandwiches (arg!), hang out in airport because flight was delayed.
3:06-5:45: flight with very squirmy but happy baby (seriously, she was so good.)
5:45-7:30: get bags, drive to HOME!

It was such a long day, but our total train fare came to about $25 instead of $150. I LOVE saving money.

But, we were quite the spectacle. 2 large bags, 1 smaller bag, 1 backpack, 1 diaper bag, 1 car seat, and 1 baby. A lady on the train was taking pictures of us and laughing. We looked that ridiculous.

Oh Canada! Now we are here, and I can't wait to enjoy all the things that I miss about my glorious home.

6 Months

2011-06-24T10:26:00.000-07:00

At 6 months, this....

Happy

Curious

Bundle Of Energy

is.....

Weight: 14 lbs 3 oz (14%)

Length: 25.5 inches (38%)

Head Circumference: 41 cm (11%)

Some of the things she is up to as a 6-month-old are:

Sucks her toes. Both feet at the same time if she can manage.
Cut her first tooth (I guess my teething suspicions were correct).
Sleeps great at night (usually 8-7 getting up once around 4 to eat) but fights naps like crazy.
Is quite loud. Luckily, it is a happy loud with a lot of squealing/yelling. Pretty cute most of the time. Makes church hard because she loudly expresses her excitement at all the new things she has to look at.
Loves to practice standing and sitting. Pretty close to sitting unsupported.
Is terrified of the blow dryer/blender/vacuum which makes looking cute/cooking/cleaning a challenge.
Rolls front to back and back to side both directions but hasn't quite figured out how to completely go back to front yet.
No stranger anxiety yet... she loves when people pay attention to her.

I am loving the stage she is at now. Super fun and interactive but can't go anywhere yet. I'm definitely trying to enjoy every day because she is growing up so fast.

Redwoods

2011-06-22T11:33:00.000-07:00

We went hiking up in the hills on Saturday and saw some gigantic and cool redwood trees.

Steven and I love to hike and were glad that Aubrey enjoyed the experience. I didn't love the warning sign about ticks, poison oak, and rattlesnakes, so we definitely stuck to the trail. But, the trail was great because all the trees provided plenty of shade.

And.... it was a good thing it was a warm day because I changed Aubrey in my lap in the car right before and spent the first half of the hike covered in pee until I dried off. Steven and Aubrey both thought that was pretty funny.

First Meal

2011-06-18T17:13:00.000-07:00

Today Aubrey had her first taste of food that wasn't mom's milk. I was worried that she would hate it because feeding her and getting her to eat enough has sometimes been a struggle... but she loved it!

Here is the picture progression of how her "first meal" went:

"Am I supposed to eat the bowl?"

"Ok.. I'll try the rice cereal but I'm not too sure about this..."

"More Please..."

"I can't get enough!"

"I'm full and satisfied."

She also is loving her new high chair. Probably because it is "high" and being big and tall has always been one of her favorite things.

Silver

2011-06-16T07:28:00.000-07:00

We seem to be fitting right in here in Silicon Valley. Well, at least our little silver Honda Civic is fitting right in. Here is what our parking garage looked like at 7 am this morning:

I'm also enjoying fitting in with the gorgeous weather. Weekly pool play dates, amazing morning bike rides, and lots of time on walks are making me a happy California girl.

Quarter Birthday

2011-06-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

Steven turned 25 yesterday! He said that it was his "quarter" birthday. I say that when I turn 25 in a few weeks it better be my "third" birthday because I do not want to live to be 100...

Other than Aubrey and I chilling at home a while yesterday when Steven worked (see previous post), here is how we celebrated the day-

After present opening and a family walk, Aubrey and I spent the morning making Steven a birthday cake to take into his work:

Definitely nothing special or fancy, but I just completely ran out of time. I seem to always forget how everything takes 2X as long with Aubrey around.

We met Steven and his work team for lunch at a Brazilian restaurant. It was fun to meet the people he works with and sees so much more than me. And... thanks E&Y for picking up the tab :)

And, for dinner, we went out as a family. So from writing this it sounds like his whole birthday was about food. Food and friends and family. Pretty good if you ask me.

Steven is definitely something special and I am so grateful he is mine. He works so hard, and still manages to be creative, fun, and an amazing father and husband. I'm glad that I get spend my life with him. Happy Birthday!

Today

2011-06-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

So, today is Steven's birthday. Happy Birthday! I will blog about his birthday tomorrow hopefully once all the festivities are complete. But Aubrey is being quite the character today and so I just couldn't help but share some pictures since I want to remember all the funny things she does.

Plus, my mom told me that she keeps checking our blog and that I have been failing in the update department lately. So, here mom, just for you.

This morning, we had to be out of the house and I had quite a few things that I needed to do before then. Of course, that means that Aubrey decided that she was going to full on hysterically cry for an hour. She never does that.

Anyways, even after I got her to sleep she kept waking up and crying anytime I tried to leave. So, I slowly inched away and left my shirt with her so I could quickly get dressed. Her peacefully sleeping made me instantly forget the cry-fest she had just been through.

She likes tummy time and has been rolling over for a while. But, she has recently decided that rolling over is so much fun, and it is getting hard to keep her on her belly. Except.... when she tries to roll and forgets that she has an arm. That doesn't look too comfortable!

And, she is getting better at sitting up by herself. I definitely wouldn't say that she is sitting, but she can stay usually long enough for me to snap a picture before toppling over.

Oh, she is a joy.

Nursery Rhymes

2011-06-02T08:42:00.000-07:00

Every morning from 7-8 is daddy-daughter time. That is when I get some "me" time to exercise.

Steven gets up at 5:30 each day so that he can study and spend time with Aubrey before work since she is usually sleeping when he gets home at night.

This morning as I was filling up my water bottle for my bike ride, I heard Steven teaching Aubrey some nursery rhymes. It was pretty cute:

And, typical of Steven, she wasn't learning just any nursery rhymes. She got her own special version.

For example in "Rock-a-Bye, Baby" after

"When the bough breaks,
The cradle will fall,"

Aubrey will be learning a much softer version ending in,

"But she was wearing a parachute,
So it didn't hurt at all."

Life with Steven is never dull.

Sweet Moments

2011-05-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

I often joke to Steven that he looks like a single dad because I am always taking the pictures and I'm never in any of them. As it is with most moms I'm sure.

But, he did a good job and took some pictures of Aubrey and I snoozing during an afternoon nap.

The nap was very needed because the past few days have been rough. Aubrey has been very fussy, and definitely not sleeping as well as normal. I feel like it is too early for teething, but if it is not that, I am at a loss. I'm hoping my happy baby will be returning shortly.

Most of the time, I get really excited to watch her discover new things and grow. But, some days when she is so cute and snuggly, I just want her to stay my little baby forever.

Beach & Feet

2011-05-27T16:13:00.000-07:00

Steven may have to work a ton of hours, but one perk of working at E&Y is extra days off at all major holidays. So, we are enjoying our first four-day weekend. And... we decided to spend it at the beach:

We are getting used to this sunny California lifestyle. It was a little windy today, but Aubrey loves to people watch so she was a trooper. Seriously, what better place to people watch than a beach boardwalk? There were some strange folk out.

And... somebody has found her feet! Gotta love those chubby legs.

Swimming Playdate

2011-05-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

Today was Aubrey's first time swimming. I think that experiencing all of the "firsts" with your child is one of life's great joys.

I was probably the more excited one of the two of us. She kind of just chilled there in the pool. But she has come a long way from the baby who sobbed every time I gave her a bath.

(yes, I had her wear a hat... I just took it off for the picture)

I'm lucky that I have already made some great friends here. Most have first babies similar in age to Aubrey, so we have some fun playdates.

And, I felt bad this morning because as he was getting ready to go to work Steven said, "so, I get to go to work all day while you go to the pool?" Yes, there are sleepless nights, but being a mom sure has its perks.

I can't believe.....

2011-05-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

that she is already 5 months old today! It has also been 1 year since I woke Steven up at 5 in the morning to let him know we were going to be parents.

And, just like her father, she already thinks that goofy faces are better than smiles once the camera is out:

Where does the time go? I seriously feel like I JUST had a baby.

May Updates

2011-05-17T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a bit of a recap of what is going on in the Foote household in May:

Steven- is BUSY BUSY BUSY. He works average of 50-70 hour weeks, and on top of that is studying another 15-20 for the CPA exam. He takes his second exam tomorrow, and should be done with all 4 in August. We can't wait. He is also managing to have some fun by riding his bike and hanging out with his favorite people (Aubrey & me).

Paige- is getting the hang of this whole mom and housewife thing. I think that I have the cleaning, keeping baby happy, and cooking part going pretty well. But, I feel like a "craft mom failure" because despite my attempts, I suck at sewing. My mom even got me a quilt kit, cut out all the pieces, and ALL I had to do was sew them together. Not happening. Oh well. I am also riding my bike every morning before Steven goes to work, making new friends, and loving spending my days with Aubrey.

Aubrey- of course the most interesting member of the household. She has discovered her yelling voice, babbles constantly, has gotten over her hatred of tummy time, and is still such a joy. She is also grabbing at everything and of course putting it all in her mouth. She rarely cries but often "tells me off" when she doesn't like something. I sense some temper tantrums in the future :)

I have been terrible at bringing our camera around as we discover all parts of the Bay Area. We are having a great time, but I need to be better at documenting. So instead of pictures, I have videos!

We got a Flip Video camera for Christmas and it sadly has not gotten too much use. But, I pulled it out yesterday and found the first video we took with it on Christmas in the hospital, and then we shot a quick one last night. Enjoy.

Milk?

2011-05-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Since Aubrey spent the first three weeks of her life being fed by gavage (tube-fed), I could not nurse her right away. I was still pretty determined to nurse her, but it took a lot of patience and a lot of pumping to get to that point. Which, right now is working great.

I kept bringing my pumped milk into the NICU, the nurses kept putting it into a fridge, and I never saw it again. Much to my surprise, when they discharged Aubrey, not only did I get to bring home an adorable little girl, but a huge bag of pumped milk. I have only added quite a bit to my "stash" since then.

In order to gain extra weight and get extra vitamins she needs, I have been mostly nursing, but twice a day I pump and give her a bottle with extra fortifier/vitamins in the bottle. My plan was to rotate through my milk supply, and so I always would have some on hand, and then use it up when I wean her.

Some plan!

Aubrey will NOT take any of the frozen milk. At all. She cries and pushes the bottle away. I even tried mixing in just a little bit of frozen. Nothing. So.... all that milk is basically useless. And a lot of it is about to go past the recommend date for freezer storage.

I haven't had the heart to throw it away yet. So I took it out today, and at least took a picture. It represents a lot of tired nights and a lot of work. I counted and it is currently at 254 ounces. Yikes.

I figure that most of my friends are also moms, so I am asking for help. Any suggestions? Is it all a complete waste?

Taxes to Babies

2011-05-06T16:32:00.000-07:00

I was lucky and got to spend a sunny afternoon yesterday with Lauren and Lisa. We all did the tax MAcc at BYU together, became CPA's, and now we are moving onto the mom life:

I had Aubrey in December, Lisa's little boy Blake was born in March, and Lauren will be joining us in mommy-hood in October.

I said to Steven right before I went that I was excited because Aubrey had never been around a baby that was smaller than her. Well, her little buddy Blake is already catching up in size even though he is 3 months younger. I guess even with her chubby cheeks, I can't start calling her chunker yet.

I had a great time and I am lucky that these girls live so close. Our husbands all work long hours, and it is nice to have friends that can relate.

It also made me realize how there really are "seasons of life," and I am trying to enjoy and become better at each one. Just a few years ago, we were all together studying tax laws and now we are feeding babies. And I love it.

Lauren and I even got to be on the BYU tax team where we competed against other schools across the USA and we were crowned national tax champions. It came with an an all-expense paid trip to Florida, some prize money, and I even got to hold a giant check. I know, I'm cool.

It will most certainly be my only chance to be a national champion, but I think that I could currently compete in "how to change the fastest diaper while keeping squirmy baby foot out of the poop", or "fastest refluxes to catch projectile spit-up."

I'm definitely practicing my skills in those areas :)

4 Months

2011-04-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Aubrey had her 4 month check-up today. We celebrated her turning 4 months old last week by bringing out her 4th set of clothes.

When she was born, her preemie clothes were WAY too big. Then we had newborn. Then 0-3 months. And now.... she is breaking into the 3-6 month size. She is still wearing some of her smaller clothes, but she is growing fast:

And, to get a size comparison idea, her preemie onesie is just barely over 9 inches long:

Here are her 4 month stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 7 oz (19%)

Height: 23.75 inches (24%)

Head Circumference: 15.25 inches (4%)

I was excited that her head grew so well. That was the last thing to finally make the charts. At her appointment, her pediatrician did an assessment of her development (head control, bear weight on legs, tummy time, social interaction, reaching for objects, etc.)

She said that based on her assessment, she is completely in the normal range for a 4 month old. So, even though her adjusted age is still not quite 3 months, she is no longer planning on adjusting her age because she is doing so well. Whahoo! I am excited.

The not exciting part was that the shots were rough on the poor little girl. I didn't notice too much of an effect at 2 months, but today was a rough day.

She has been feverish, fussy, tired, not eating well, and just generally miserable all day. Needless to say that I did not get anything done today. Except maybe watching a few too many Grey's Anatomy episodes while Aubrey took a long nap on my chest. I love the snuggles, but it is hard to see her so miserable.

Aubrey's Blessing & Easter

2011-04-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a special day in that we blessed Aubrey at church today and it was Easter. We are so lucky that almost everybody from both my family and Steven's family were able to come visit for the occasion. We were only missing my brother, Trent, who is in the middle of final exams at University, and Steven's brother, Jason, who is on a mission.

We had 16 adults and 4 children. Lots of people. Even though our current apartment is double the square footage than it used to be, it was still quite full. But, it was great to have everybody here, and I would take a crammed apartment any day to spend some time with our families.

I was conflicted because I loved her blessing outfit AND I wanted her to have an adorable first Easter outfit, so I split the day and our little girl had both:

Aubrey was so good all weekend and enjoyed all the attention she received. I also was told many times that I don't know how lucky I am because she is such a good baby. Apparently, not all babies put themselves to sleep, rarely cry, eat well, and are just generally happy :) We are proud parents.

All the Foote cousins were also together for the first time. They were really cute. Aubrey especially enjoyed meeting her "twin cousin" David. Katie was due one week before me. Aubrey came earlier than expected but they are still less than a month apart.

THANK YOU everybody for coming so far. We had such a great weekend and are so blessed to have such great families. Aubrey already misses everybody :(

So far so fast....

2011-04-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

My little girl is sleeping peacefully, and I spent the past 10 minutes just watching her sleep. I never get tired of looking at her.

Now that Aubrey is doing so well, I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about her birth and how far she has already come. Here is the last pregnancy photo I ever took. Aubrey was born just a few days later. At the time, I had no idea what was about to happen:

Here is how my little girl looked the very first time that I met her. Right after she was born, they took her straight to the NICU and I didn't get to see her for a couple of hours until after I got out of recovery. Steven still laughs because I convinced the nurse that I was just fine and walked myself up to the NICU just a couple of hours after giving birth.

And, here is Aubrey now- completely healthy and completely thriving:

When she was in the NICU, I was pretty strong. I only had a few breakdowns, and I did what I needed to do to take her home. I was pretty much on autopilot. Looking back, some of the stuff she went through was pretty scary. The nurses even told me that she was a candidate for failure to thrive because she struggled so much with weight gain in the NICU. So now, when I look at her chubby cheeks, I am just so grateful.

As hard as the whole experience was for me, I feel like it has made me appreciate motherhood so much more. It was harder for Steven and I to get pregnant with Aubrey than I would have liked and it was harder for her to come into this world than I would have liked.

But, I don't really take anything for granted- not even the little things like how she can eat and breathe. Because I remember when she struggled to eat and struggled to breathe.

I will admit that at times I still feel guilty. I think that motherhood always comes with some guilt because you always want to make sure you are doing your best for your baby. But, I think that having a premature baby adds extra guilt. I know deep down that it wasn't my fault... but I still think- "did I not gain enough weight?" "Was I too busy/stressed at work?" "Was it my fault that she has already had to go through so much?"

I'm also scared for future children. They did a pathology report on my placenta, and basically it showed that my placenta had aged. And, the OB said that I have a small uterus. So, the chances of having another baby premature are higher than I would like. But, I try not to dwell on that fact. I wonder if I will ever get to go to the hospital excited to give birth, not terrified because I know it is just too early.

However, for now I'll just hug my little girl and be so grateful that she is ours and that she is doing so well.

She is such a sweet, good baby. I feel like I must have had to earn the privilege of being her mom, and that is why we had to go through so much. And I am thankful every day that she is mine. I love being her mom more than anything.

Explore

2011-04-09T21:29:00.000-07:00

Steven and I were talking today and decided that one really cool part about being new here in the Bay Area is that we don't have to go very far to feel like we are on vacation. We took advantage of a beautiful day today and explored quite a bit of the Bay.

First stop: San Francisco where Steven had to listen to my off-key version of the Full House theme song while we checked out the "Full House House" on Broderick street. I LOVED that show growing up. In fact, I still like that show. Brought back many memories of my childhood.

Then we went and visited the "Palace of Fine Arts", which is this really cool garden/pond/architecture park. I loved Central Park in New York, and I really liked this place too. Something about such beautiful quiet parks in the middle of huge cities is really cool.

Then we ventured across the Golden Gate Bridge to the other side of the Bay and checked out Sausalito. We had a pizza lunch and walked around the boardwalk. The views of the Bay were incredible, but it was WAY too crowded for my liking. I guess we're not the only ones who think it is a cool place.

Our next stop was Oakland, where we visited the Oakland temple.

Then finished the day in Fremont eating dinner at Claim Jumper with a giftcard Steven won from work. Whew. I'm tired just thinking about our day.

And Aubrey? She was an angel of course. That is why I often call her "Aubrey Angel." Steven, however, has decided to nickname her "The Aubs." I'm not the hugest fan. But, really... we have a pretty easy, happy baby. I just have to feed her, change her diaper and make sure she is able to look around and she is good to go.

Just a Thursday

2011-04-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

Today is just one of those days. The first thing that I saw this morning when I went to wake Aubrey up was poo and pee everywhere. All over the crib sheet, all over her blanket, all over her sleeper, etc. After investigating further, I realized that in my exhausted middle of the night stupor, I must have done a terrible job on her diaper because the entire front had come undone. She is still our little stinker, but I can't blame that one on her :)

Then, I went on a pretty good bike ride this morning while Steven watched Aubrey. It rained last night and the bike path was covered with a ton of snails. My bike ride felt like "dodge the snails." I did a pretty good job.... but I know that I definitely didn't "dodge" one. I felt really bad and that is one sick, crunchy, sound!

Steven got to stay home from work this morning and study because he is currently taking his first CPA exam. Aubrey "helped" him study:

He has a ton on his plate and manages to handle everything so well. He really is pretty darn amazing.

Oh... and we bounced our rent check. WHAT??? I know. That is how I felt when the apartment manager called and told us. Don't worry, the Bay Area is super expensive but we are not out of funds. Actually, somehow even with all of Aubrey's medical bills, we have more savings than before.

Some checks that we had when Steven managed a condo for his dad got mixed in with our checks, and so I accidentally wrote the check with the wrong checkbook. It was a $60 ouch mistake, and we now have to pay our rent with a cashiers check for six months to prove that we have money.

I was embarrased. Also a little mad because the apartment manager called and said that normally the protocol is to send us a 3-day eviction notice but she thought she would call because we don't seem like people who bounce checks. I feel so bad for people who honestly just get a little behind. The world can be cruel.

I am now blogging when I should be finishing cleaning the house before Aubrey wakes up from her nap. I want it to be Friday. I think I've had enough of Thursday.

I take it back....

2011-04-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

Aubrey was more than willing to show off her happy cuteness today:

And, I'm very lucky that she was this happy after our three-hour-stint at the DMV this morning. I had been to the DMV in Utah.... not a fun experience, but we were completely unprepared for what the DMV in California would be like.

We got there before it opened at 8 and the line to get a number already stretched halfway around the building. Five lines, a bunch of money, and a grumpy baby later, we are now officially registered to drive and vote in California.

And, I did a very un-Paige-like thing and took the written test without even glancing at the handbook. I quite honestly couldn't remember half of the answers, but my 17 years of schooling taught me all the tricks of multiple-choice tests, and I managed to only get two wrong. Steven did the same thing, but he got three wrong :)

I also can't believe that I'm blogging two days in a row. Can you tell that Steven is working late?

Conference Weekend

2011-04-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

We are used to spending conference weekend with lots of family. Now that it is "just us" we had to spend conference in a new way. And we had a great time.

We bought a new TV back in January with some of the graduation money my parents gave Steven.

But... we are too cheap to pay for anything except Netflix so our conference watching had a little bit of a different set-up.

Aubrey was an attentive listener. She really loves to look around, so the Bumbo is her new favorite toy. And, I'm sad because Aubrey seriously spends half of her day giggling and smiling.... but as soon as I try to take a picture or show her off on video chats.... nothing. I guess everybody will just have to come visit and see her happy cuteness in person.

And... I had great time with my good friend Lauren for the traditional "girls' night" on Saturday. We went out for dinner and shopping. My kind of night. Aubrey blissfully slept through the entire experience. I'm very lucky because a couple of girls that I did the BYU accounting program with are also in the Bay Area, so I had some friends waiting when I got here. Friends definitely make life sweeter.

And.... just because Steven and I think this is hilarious, here is how we found Aubrey when we went to check on her during her nap this morning. She is a bundle of personality.

Rain Rain Go Away!

2011-03-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

So it has been raining here for the past 10 days straight. Seriously, no break and no sun. I'm starting to get depressed. However, the forecast shows sun on the horizon- which is a good thing or I might go crazy.

The rain, along with Steven having both an ear infection and pink eye, has made our lives definitely less than exciting lately. No pictures of either of us... BUT, I know that Aubrey is way cuter than both of us and I want to remember some of the fun things she is doing now:

She is now three months old and weighs about 11 pounds. Not sure exactly, but she is growing well and chunking up. She has recently decided that she no longer wants to take a pacifier, but I still bring it along everywhere "just in case."

She still loves to sleep and has a little bit of a hard time waking up in the morning...

She is "Miss Independent" and her favorite thing in the entire world is to be held up high so that she can look around everywhere. I can't rock or hold her to calm her down, but this works almost 100% of the time.

She has rolled over a few times. Definitely not consistent and most of the time she gets stuck on her side. But, she is getting stronger, and I am happy that she is developing so well. Developmental delays are always a preemie parents' worry, and there might be some thing we have to work on in the future, but for now, she is doing remarkably well. She is seeming to be on track with even her actual age instead of her adjusted age.

But, most of all she is my sweet, happy girl....

So, I guess even with the rain, I have somebody pretty awesome to keep me company.

Oh Busy Season....

2011-03-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dilbert is a definite favorite in our house. Steven and I both cracked up at the following Dilbert comic:

We both know that the long hours of public accounting can quite honestly suck sometimes. But, we also know that you have to "put in your time" if you want to get anywhere in the future. Which, we do.

I think people are crazy if they think that you can have a high-paying, 40-hour-a-week job right out of college. It doesn't work that way. So, for now, when Aubrey and I don't see Steven that often, we will just laugh at comics like this.

Picture Attempt

2011-03-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

After realizing that we had very few, I attempted to take a cute mother-daughter photo this weekend. I'm not sure if I could call it a complete success...

But I do really wonder what she is pointing at. I really love watching her funny personality develop everyday. She is quite comical.

Apartment Life

2011-03-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

Since I left home at 18, I have lived in apartments. I counted this morning and I have lived in 8 different apartments. That actually isn't too bad considering the turnover rate of most students.

And, since the Bay Area is super expensive, and Steven and I are not completely sure where we will settle down one day, our apartment life will continue at least into the foreseeable future. I just keep telling myself that I'm not ready for yard work or to be responsible for our own repairs and it makes me feel better about my apartment-dwelling status.

I was thinking today about all the things you learn about your neighbors while living in apartments. Some good, some weird, and some not so good.

For example, I spent a few weeks observing the habits of our downstairs neighbor and this is what I came up with:

He lives alone
Every time I am up feeding Aubrey in the middle of the night, I hear him talking loudly on the phone.
He snores VERY loudly almost all day
He makes very aromatic food at 6:30 in the morning

From that I have concluded that he works all night, makes his evening meal when all I feel like stomaching is a bowl of cheerios, and probably needs his tonsils out.

I wonder what our neighbors think of us? I'm probably not his friend every morning when I sweat it out to The Biggest Loser workout DVDs while trying to get rid of these last five pregnancy pounds.

Oh the joys of apartment life.... it was our last noisy upstairs neighbors that made me adamant about getting a third-floor apartment. While dragging myself, Aubrey, laundry, and groceries up the stairs can be a pain, I have decided that I prefer the third-floor lifestyle.

And.... on a completely unrelated note because I think that every post needs some pictures.... this tiny, cute little girl...

poops so much. I know that babies poop a lot, but I am not exaggerating when I say that I have NEVER changed a diaper that didn't at least have some poop in it. And, I hate dirty diapers, so she gets changed very frequently. She must have some metabolism.

A couple of nights ago after a particularly bad blow-out, I decided to take a picture of her face:

She was pretty proud of herself.

Sleep

2011-03-07T19:25:00.000-08:00

Aubrey definitely loves to sleep. She is also kind of an all or nothing girl. She takes 3 hour naps and then will be awake for 4 to 5 hours at a time. However, sometimes tummy time turns into nap time....

Sometimes play time turns into nap time.....

She is funny. And, I am now excited that she has also decided to start sleeping through the night. She has definitely always enjoyed to sleep, but since the doctors were worried about her weight, I wasn't allowed to let her go more than 5 hours between feedings.

Now that she is gaining weight so well, I got the go ahead to let her go as long as she wants. She started sleeping 5 to 6 hour chunks, and then.....

I bought her this sleep sack and she is now sleeping from 10pm to 6am, eating and then going back to sleep until 8 or 9.

I am loving this whole getting enough sleep business. Now.... if we could only see Steven during some of those rested waking hours, I would be so happy. But, this is the last week of his busy season. What is it like to have a husband that gets home at 5? I can't remember.....

100 Grand?

2011-03-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

There is a game often played at baby showers where you have to match words to different candy bars. For example, "epidurals" is linked with "lifesavers." Often, the candy bar "100 grand" is linked to "hospital bills." This is usually done in jest because having a baby is expensive.... but not 100 grand, right? Not unless your baby ends up in the NICU.....

Aubrey is now over 2 months old and I have just finally settled the last hospital bill. Insurance companies are a huge pain. I probably spent over 15 hours on the phone dealing with it all. For my Canadian friends, the cost of everything will be shocking. It definitely was to me when I moved to the USA. I have my opinions on healthcare here.... definitely not favorable... but we will keep those out of it.

As an accountant, I love numbers and so here is the official final tally for all of the baby-related hospital bills:

Ultrasounds and lab work prior to delivery: $883.96

Epidural: $1,008.00

OB charges for the delivery and prenatal appts: $2,900.00

My 48-hour hospital stay: $6,433.13

Pathology report on my placenta: $195.36

Daily NICU doctor visits: $8,265.25

2 failed attempts to insert a PICC line: $1,520.76

Insertion of PICC line: $1,500.03

Oxygen Saturation Study: $250.00

And the big one....

The hospital charges for Aubrey's NICU stay: $65,642.52

Total cost: ** $88,591.01**

Not quite "100 grand" but pretty darn close. And she was only in the NICU for three weeks. Some babies are there so much longer.

Luckily, I had good insurance through my job that had a yearly deductible and then everything was 100% covered.

Not so lucky was the fact that Aubrey was in the NICU over the new year which meant TWO deductibles had to be met. So, out of that $88,591.01, we had to pay $8,000. Still painful, but we are blessed that I had a good job and we had savings.

Even though it was ridiculously expensive, I feel like the cheesy Mastercard commercial when I say having her really is priceless. She was worth every penny.

Her college fund just might be smaller because of it :)

Oh Life

2011-02-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

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...

2011-02-18T15:37:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-12T20:54:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

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....

2011-02-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

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.

Family Photo

2011-01-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

Steven was able to come and visit this weekend and even though we were only together as a family for about 36 hours, the time was so good and so needed. One thing that we tried to do was take our first family photo in which I wasn't wearing a hospital gown and she wasn't hooked up to monitors and tubes.

She was hilarious, and the progression of these photos shows how hard it is to take a picture with a newborn:

But.... we finally managed to get a good shot. Good enough to be the new blog photo.

Life at Home

2011-01-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Aubrey has now been home for five days and it feels great. I am grateful for the NICU and I learned a lot in those rough few weeks, but now she feels like my daughter and I can hug and hold her whenever I want.

Here is her first time in her car seat, all ready to make the ride home:

Here we are with the NICU nurse who discharged us on Wednesday morning. This is after my mom and I had spent three and a half straight days living in the hospital. We look good :)

And.... she is home! She is so sweet and funny and likes to party at 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 in the morning. However, sleep deprivation has never been more rewarding.

Little Miracles

2011-01-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Ever since Aubrey has been born, life has been a huge blur and it has been filled with some long, tough days. However, all along the way, there have been little miracles that have been definite answers to prayers.

Since my water broke and I went into labor so fast, they didn't give her any steroid shots or anything for her lungs, yet she came out breathing on her own, which was a miracle at only 34 weeks. She never had any medications or infections or anything too serious.

The day that I was discharged from the hospital, Steven and I drove back to Wallsburg at midnight, and when I got up at 6, the power in the house had gone off. When my uncle came to fix the problem, he found that there was a fire in the electrical box and the whole house could have burned down.

There have been so many other little blessings and miracles along the way that have strengthened my testimony and the importance of having faith. Another little miracle that I am SO happy about is that Aubrey does not have to come home on oxygen, and unless something goes wrong today, she is coming home..... TOMORROW!!!!

The doctors had told me that she would have to come home on oxygen, but they had to do an oxygen saturation study to document the need. For 12 hours, she had to do all her feedings, have a bath, and spend 90 minutes in her car seat to test how her oxygen levels responded. I told myself, "Ok, just get through this. We know she will be on oxygen, but then she at least can come home."

She had been struggling up until the day that they did the study and then she just turned a corner and her oxygen has been great ever since. She has been eating like a champ and gaining weight. She passed her 12 hour feeding test, and her first 24 hour feeding test. She is on her last 24 hour feeding test today, and should be discharged tomorrow. So... I have basically been living at the hospital since Sunday. Even though Steven has been gone and that is hard, my mom has been with me the entire time and I am lucky to have her.

Aubrey will have spent 3 weeks and 3 days in the NICU. She was born at 4 lbs 9 oz. She dropped down to 4 lbs 2 oz, and will be discharged at 5 lbs 9 oz. We are so grateful she is growing and coming home. This has been her "home" since she was born......

However, I think we are all ready for her to leave and really come home. I can't wait.

A New Look

2011-01-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

I thought that it was about time to do an update on Aubrey. She is doing well and at least in my opinion, is as adorable as ever. She is still in the NICU but we are getting closer to the much anticipated day that we can bring her home.

The main thing that has been keeping her in the NICU for so long is that she has needed to learn to eat and gain weight. For a couple of weeks she was just so sleepy and didn't have the energy to eat on her own. When she was born, her lungs were mature enough that she didn't need any help breathing and her oxygen levels were doing great, so the doctors took her off everything and she was breathing on her own. However, as she started eating the doctors realized that while she has great oxygen levels when she is just resting or sleeping, her levels drop when she eats and that is why she has struggled.

Now that we know that is the problem, she is on oxygen and doing GREAT. So great that I think she will be able to come home pretty soon. However, it also means that she will most likely be coming home on oxygen. I was honestly really upset when I first learned this, but I've come to terms with it now.

The whole time she has been in the hospital, I have just been telling myself that I can handle the 12-hour hospital days, rude nurses, and hardly getting to hold my own daughter because as soon as she was out of the NICU, it would all just be a memory. And now, it is looking like it will be a while before this is all a memory.

The doctors said that when they send a baby home on oxygen it is for between 1 and 3 months. I am also worried because I don't know what this will mean as far as being able to go to California and switching insurance. But, I am so grateful that she is now thriving and growing.

Here is the little girl sporting her new look with her oxygen:

Despite the setbacks and struggles, long-term she will be just fine, and I know that one day this really will all be in the past. Whenever I get frustrated or upset, all I have to do is look at that face and I realize that I would do this all over again in a second. We sure love her.

Happy Anniversary Steven!

2011-01-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

Your girls miss you a ton.....

First came love (6 years ago when we were 18), then came marriage (3 years ago today), then came our adorable baby (2 weeks ago). We are blessed.

A little too comfy

2010-12-31T21:01:00.000-08:00

Aubrey is almost two weeks old and she STILL has jaundice and is under the bili lights. Her jaundice isn't too bad but it is sure taking a while to go away. It has been a big obstacle in getting her to eat because it makes her so sleepy. As you can see, she is a little too comfy under those lights.....

Today the doctor said that she should be off the lights tomorrow. That will be a great start to the new year and make one happy mom. I'm crossing my fingers.

Life does not have to be perfect

2010-12-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

to be wonderful....

This is the quote that hangs in the parents lounge in the NICU. I have been spending a lot of time there and I am learning more and more the sweetness and truth to this statement.

Our little girl is doing pretty good. She is completely healthy, her lungs are great, and she is maintaining her body temperature on her own. Her remaining obstacle is learning how to eat and gain weight. Her digestive system was not completely developed when she was born, and so she is having a few setbacks and not tolerating all of her feedings. She will still be just fine but I think we might still have a few weeks ahead of us in the NICU before she can come home.

Having a baby in the NICU is completely emotionally and physically exhausting. But Aubrey is honestly so amazing, and Steven and I are both in awe at how much we love her. She has a sweet disposition and rarely cries, even as much as she has been poked and prodded.

Christmas this year was special and very different. We spent most of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the hospital. Aubrey got her first Christmas ornament and the NICU staff brought in Santa Claus to take pictures with all the babies.

I just want to also thank everybody for all of their support and help. We have had so much help with moving, and cleaning, and getting everything else sorted out during this crazy time. I'm sorry that I haven't responded to many people yet, but I'm working on it and I appreciate all the support we have been given.

Steven left yesterday to go to San Jose to move into our new apartment there and start his job. Life really is crazy right now. I miss him a ton, but I'm enjoying the sweet moments we have here, while definitely looking forward to when we can be together as a family again.

Our Little Aubrey

2010-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

This morning we received the best early Christmas gift you could ever want. Our sweet baby girl, Aubrey Paige Foote was born at 5:15 am. She was 4 lbs 9 oz and 18.5 inches long. Despite being 5.5 weeks early, she is doing great, and will just require a few week stay in the NICU to grow and get stronger. Here is her story.....

Steven and I get kicked out of our Wymount apartment tomorrow (Monday.... yes we still have to move) because Steven just graduated Thursday. So we spent most of the day on Saturday packing up boxes with Jeremy and Kedra. I just pretty much "directed" everybody else's packing while laying there because being 8 months pregnant I was trying to take it easy.

After packing, we went out for dinner to the Pizza Pie Cafe with Jeremy and Kedra since we have no food left in our kitchen. We finished dinner around 6:00. I went home, showered, and was just getting settled in for a night on the couch in my pajamas, when whoosh...... the biggest shock of my life. My water broke. Having not even had a single braxton hicks contraction or anything, I literally was in complete shock.

We had no hospital bag packed. Nothing. So, I grabbed my purse and a towel since my water was still gushing and we headed to hospital arriving at about 7:25 pm. The doctor and nurse came in and said that 34 weekers do as well long-term as full-term infants and since I was already dilating and almost completely effaced, this baby was coming.... and coming tonight.

I got an epidural at about 10 and things started moving pretty good. The only problem with the epidural is that I just don't seem to "freeze" like most people do. Last May when I got a cavity at the dentist, I needed 6 shots to freeze instead of the usual 2. This is pretty much how things went with the epidural. Even though it took the edge off the pain, I could still feel a lot and by the end it completely wasn't working and I felt everything. Labor is painful.

I started pushing at 3:00 and after two hours of pushing, our little Aubrey was born. I am a little scared for future babies because it took me two hours to push her out and she was not quite 5 pounds. Yikes. I always knew I didn't have great birthing hips.

She came out crying and scored a 9 on her APGAR test, which is great even for a full-term infant. Steven was a champ through everything. He was my labor coach, he cut the cord, and he got to be with our little girl the whole time since they rushed her to the NICU away from me right after she was born.

She has been doing great in the NICU, is breathing completely on her own, and pretty much just needs to get bigger. The NICU nurses said that she is at the stage of most 35 to 36 weekers, which makes sense to me since my doctors moved my due date back 10 days at the beginning and so it is quite possible she was further along than we thought.

We love her so much and she is just the sweetest, most adorable little girl. Things still feel completely surreal, but life is definitely sweeter now that our little Aubrey is here.

Bad Blogger

2010-12-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

I have been terrible at blogging lately. And terrible at taking pictures. I blame this on the fact that so much is going on right now and my life is just crazy. Which is really sad because I know that I am going to wish that I documented everything that is happening right now!

So, here is my quick attempt to catch up between work, dinner, making the shopping list, and trying to start packing up our apartment since we are moving in 10 days....

We went to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with the Foote Family. We had a blast, except for the 9 hour drive home in a snowstorm.

We went and took some pictures at the wedding chapel and on the strip. Always fun. Steven and I took a picture just like this almost 6 years ago right after we had started dating. I had no idea at that point that we would actually get married. It was fun to recreate now that we are married and I'm quite pregnant and large.

And, the whole family (except Jason on a mission) was able to get together. Katie and I can't travel at Christmas since it will be too close to our due dates, so we celebrated Christmas a little early with a gift exchange....

I have also been very very blessed and had a few baby showers in the past few weeks. One with the awesome girls that I work with, one with some girls in my current ward, and one last Saturday with Steven's family and some friends. And the young women from my old ward even gave me a shower and made me a quilt.

I feel so lucky and blessed and I want to say THANK YOU again to everybody. I only have pictures from this Saturday, but I had a blast at all of them and I feel so overwhelmed by love and friendship.

I actually might have cried after last weekend because I have such an awesome support system and family here in Utah. And now I am moving where I will have no family and very few friends. It makes me grateful that we have had this time at BYU to enjoy being around so many wonderful people. I am excited to get to know a new place and make new friends, but I will miss everybody that I already know so much.

And, since thinking of my baby girl occupies most of my waking and sleeping hours, here is an update. I will have to take some updated belly shots, but the big news this week is that she moved! For the past two months, she has been quite content to wedge herself into my right rib. I had a weird, lopsided belly and sometimes it hurt so bad to breathe.

Well, I woke up on Monday and she had moved to the middle. So, now my heartburn is much better, I have a normal rounded belly, and I can breathe. Yeah! We are making progress. 7 weeks to go. I am so excited. Having a baby, moving, husband graduating, and Christmas all at the same time certainly makes the time go quickly.

30 Weeks

2010-11-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I am now in my third trimester and I can't believe that I will have a baby in two months. I am getting so excited. Of course, before the baby, there is still Thanksgiving, moving, Christmas, sending Steven to San Jose, finishing up work, etc. Since we are moving, I am a little sad that I am missing out on the "nesting" phase of pregnancy.

I love to organize and so the fact that our "nursery" is a stack of boxes is probably a good learning experience for me. I'm definitely getting better at just going with the flow.

At my mother's request again, here I am at 30 weeks or about 7 months pregnant. Steven wasn't available to be my photographer, so I had to document the belly myself with the bathroom mirror.

I will admit that I feel pretty big, but I keep getting shocked looks when I tell people how far along I am. It bothered me at first, but I have gained exactly the right amount of weight, and I'm measuring right on track. So, I think our little girl is doing just fine.

And.... speaking of our little girl, we had a 3D ultrasound this week that also confirmed that she is indeed a girl, and a pretty cute one at that. The 3D ultrasounds are kind of crazy (i.e. the picture only shows part of her head). I'm feeling pretty good, and I really just can't wait to meet her!

SketchUp

2010-11-15T19:30:00.000-08:00

Even though Steven and I are both accountants, which I guess in some ways is the epitome of "nerds," I like to think that we are still social and normal. Hopefully, even fun.

However, sometimes I realize that we really are nerds. For example, I think that we make a Google Doc spreadsheet for everything. We track all of our finances in not one but two different accounting systems, and our spare time is often spent reading the Wall Street Journal (me) or tech articles (Steven).

With that being said, as we are getting ready to move, we are realizing how incredibly expensive it is to move long-distance. Steven's company is going to give us a moving reimbursement, but we don't want to spend any more than that, and it is going to be close.

The biggest expense is the moving truck. We found a good deal with a company that will drop off a 28 foot truck. We pack our stuff in the back of the truck and then they ship other goods in the rest of the truck. It should work out great but the initial quoted price that is still hundreds of dollars is for 8 feet of truck space. Which is not very much. Each additional foot is $50. So, Steven measured and sketched all of our furniture in Google SketchUp.....

and then we virtually "packed" our moving truck....

We don't think we can get it down to 8 feet, but it will be pretty close. 9 or 10 at the most. And you can bet we will have printed out copies for direction on moving day. I guess there is no denying that we really are quite dorky.

"What's a dishwasher for?"

2010-11-04T17:21:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is what Steven said in jest yesterday as we were looking at all the great features of our new apartment! Having never had a dishwasher in our married life, that is one definite perk that we are looking forward to.

We are really excited that we finally have a place to live in San Jose in a couple of months. Well.... we haven't officially signed the contract yet, but the unit has been reserved and everything is in process. So, barring some disaster, our new digs will have a kitchen like this....

a bathroom with tons of counter space like this....

...and we are almost doubling our current square footage, so baby girl will have room to roam.

Of course.... it also comes with MORE than double the rent price, but I'm learning to just deal with that. Rent is just sooo expensive in California. Comparative to all the other rentals we looked at this one definitely was the best deal. It was in our budget, is across the street from a park, is behind an elementary school, and is in a nice area. Which was important to me since we are leaving "happy valley" behind.

So, we are excited and I'm mostly just relieved that everything is starting to work out. There are still a lot of uncertainties but this was a big one I'm glad to have out of the way.

Pumpkin Masterpiece

2010-10-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

I love Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving and pretty much all holidays. I get so excited for holidays. Except Halloween. I don't really love Halloween. However, pumpkin carving is one part of Halloween that has definitely become a Foote family tradition.

This tradition is mostly because Steven loves to carve pumpkins. However, faces on pumpkins or pre-made patterns are never part of his pumpkin carving. Steven creates his own pumpkin carvings and designs. He is always so creative. Past year's pumpkins have included Jack Johnson, Batman, and Kenny Chesney (that one was my request).

This year, in honor of our time spent here in Provo, Steven created a BYU pumpkin, showing off Y mountain, the Tanner building and the SWKT. We both can't believe that is was 6 years ago now that we met here. We have loved our "BYU" days, but we are excited for the next chapter of our lives. Here is Steven's pumpkin creation:

6 Months

2010-10-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

Right now, like most pregnant women, I am hungry. Steven and I are going out for dinner before a concert we are going to tonight, but Steven is doing homework. However, despite temptation, I'm being a good wife and leaving him alone. So I thought it was a good time to do a pregnancy update!

Here I am at 6 months pregnant. Or at least I think 6 months pregnant. I don't quite understand how some people quote the whole pregnancy timeline. I am almost 26 weeks and I will be having my baby in about 3 months. 6 months right? Well, most people say that 20 weeks is five months..... 24 is 6 months.... 28 is 7 months... etc. But, that would make pregnancy 10 months when it really is 9. I think that is crazy. So, 6 months it is.

Right now I am enjoying this stage of pregnancy. I finally have a noticeable "bump" but I'm not too big to be uncomfortable. She is moving like crazy and I love being able to watch my belly and see the kicks.

One thing that I am learning about pregnancy is that there are alot of symptoms that come along with it. I was prepared for morning sickness and getting bigger, but I was unaware of charlie horses, ligament pain, nosebleeds, heartburn, etc. But, whenever I start feeling like complaining about anything, I just remember how lucky I am to get this experience, and how excited we are to be parents. Then, all of those symptoms don't seem bad at all.

I haven't really had too many cravings, which Steven has been disappointed about. I think he wanted me to wake up at 3 am one day and demand that he go get whatever food I must have NOW.

However, my first trimester I could not eat anything sweet. It all sounded disgusting to me. Luckily, that has passed and I am pretty much just eating normally, except forcing down a zillion cups of water a day and making sure I eat more fruits and veggies.

Time is going fast now. There are still so many uncertain parts of our life coming up in just a few months that it is a little scary how fast time is flying. But, I am mostly so excited. I can't wait to finally meet her and be a mom.

Viva Bike Vegas - Round 2

2010-10-11T20:54:00.000-07:00

Last time I wrote a post on here, everyone thought it was Paige, so I just want to clarify that, while Paige does indeed write most of the posts, I (Steven) am writing this one.

About two years ago we wrote in our Christmas letter that I was going to do a century during the coming year (2009). A century is 100+ miles of bike riding in a single day. I did the century in Vegas, riding the first half with my brother, Tyler, and the last 30 miles with my dad. My dad took a picture very similar to the one below last year. This year, however, both Tyler and my dad rode the whole thing with me.

Seeing the 100 mile sign is enough to make even the most sunburned cyclist smile. Tyler forgot to apply sunscreen. I forgot to reapply.

This picture is of us crossing the not yet opened Hoover Dam bridge. It was open just to the cyclists of the event for a 2.5 hour window. Pretty awesome.

About 10 hours after we started, we crossed the finish line and got these cool medals. Don't let the smiles fool you; we were in an incredible amount of pain. But, the fact that we didn't have to ride any further was enough reason to smile a bit.

Our support team met us at lunch and a few other places along the route. They sure are cute. I didn't see any other posters, so I guess we're pretty awesome.

Paige is so awesome. Who can dispute that?

In cross-country I learned to sprint to the finish of every race. This race, however, had police barricades about 5 feet past the finish line, so I had to restrain myself and slow down a little early.

It was a great day, and to anyone who thinks they might be interested in buying a road bike, I would direct them to my other blog, where I write about such things fairly often. stevenfoote.posterous.com

Conference Weekend

2010-10-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was General Conference. I love conference. We also always get to spend conference weekend with family, so that will be quite the adjustment because next conference.... we will be in California. I'm still pretty excited about that though. The Foote's came into town and we spent Friday night eating dinner up at Sundance. Steven's sister, Lisa, also got engaged that night. Congrats Lisa!

The Foote family is definitely growing. There are 13 + one fiancé (Miguel) + 2 babies on the way in January. Don't worry. Only one of those is mine.

The boys spent the conference break going on a bike ride. We are going to Las Vegas this weekend because Steven is riding in Viva Bike Vegas again.

I just have one complaint. Most husbands, when their wives are pregnant, gain "sympathy weight." Well, Steven is slim to start with and is training for a 120 mile bike ride with average practice rides that burn 1500 calories. Hmpff... I'm not getting any sympathy!

That is ok. I'm right on track and I know that the weight is good for our little gal. But, I do sometimes freak out about it. Which is why Steven might have hidden our bathroom scale on me. He did a really good job too. I have looked and looked and do not know where he put it.

During the Priesthood session, we had our "girls craft night." This has become quite the tradition. We have decorated eggs, made t-shirts, bracelets.... and this time.... flowers! For our hair of course.

My flower was black and didn't seem to show up in any of the pictures. But, I assure you I was wearing one too. We even made one for my adorable niece, Rebecca.

A Day in the Life...

2010-09-25T08:30:00.000-07:00

of a CPA! Well, I guess not quite. Yesterday was a long day, full of work stuff, but it definitely wasn't a typical day in the office. First we had our firm retreat up at the Zermatt resort in Midway. As part of the retreat we had Larry Gelwix, the Rugby coach from the movie Forever Strong speak to us. I definitely want to see the movie now. We also had panels, food, and my favorite part....

In between each section of panels/speakers, our office (50+) was divided into teams of 4 for a "Minute to Win it Challenge." Each round was single elimination and nobody could go twice. My team won! Whahoo. And the best part is that we each won one of the new Ipod Nano's with the touch screen.

The prize was pretty exciting and will be fun to have when I can get back into good running/biking shape after the baby. The other part about the win that I was really excited about was that I redeemed myself from last year.

Last year, the activity was bowling, and I won the award for the lowest bowling score in the entire firm. Out of over 50 people that was really embarrassing and pretty hard to do. I guess useless games is a new talent of mine. My particular game involved getting two penny's out of the bottom of nylons.

After the retreat, Steven picked me up and we headed up the SLC for the "CPA Inauguration." It was an event to celebrate all the new CPA's in the state of Utah. As part of it, we each walked across the stage to receive a certificate and this funny little award....

And of course, the night wouldn't have been anything without my awesome support system:

I sure love him. We didn't take any pictures until we were in the car going home, so this is the best I got of Steven. I definitely couldn't have reached my goal of becoming a CPA without him.

I will admit that I was feeling a little sad last night. Right as I am feeling really competent at what I do, and my career has the chance of advancing, I'm putting it on hold. At least for now. I love the social interaction and sense of accomplishment of going to work. I love helping people and feeling like I'm contributing to our income. However, I know that in just a few months my life is going to drastically change and I'm kind of terrified.

My husband might not be able to be there for the birth of our first child and will be working tons of hours after that. I am moving to a brand new, huge city with absolutely no family or support system. And, I'll have a new little girl and I'm not quite sure how to be a mom yet. I know that instinct will kick in, but it will be a learning experience for sure.

However, as I was walking across the stage last night, our little girl was kicking me like crazy. I like to think she was telling me congratulations :)

Those little kicks reminded me of what I am doing and why I am choosing to be a full-time mom. Why I know that it is the best thing for our family right now. Why I feel like getting the chance to be a mom is such a privilege. Because despite all the sacrifices and scary unknowns that my future holds, I know that I am doing the right thing and I would make the same choice again in a heartbeat.

Tax "Planning"

2010-09-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

As a tax accountant, I do a lot of tax planning for my clients. However, I have not done the best "tax planning" with my own life.

Steven and I were married on January 3rd.

Little baby girl is due on January 25th.

Even though my "tax planning" was a little off, I think that I will definitely have to get our little girl one of these.....

I love it.

Fall Colors

2010-09-19T19:00:00.000-07:00

As I typed the title for this post, my Canadian and American sides were at war. If I followed my Canadian roots, that would have been "colours," but I guess I've just been in the good ole' USA too long and "colors" won out. Anyways, that was a tangent.

My mom has been in town this past week visiting. She came to bring us a car (more on that later. My parents are very generous and we are very blessed), visit her sisters, and spend some time with us. We had a ton of fun. My mom and I went shopping for baby girl and that was a blast. Today, we went for a drive/walk up by Midway and the colors of fall are just beautiful in the mountains right now.

Steven also loves to take pictures of any wildlife/gross bugs that we find. Here is a spider we found outside of the Wallsburg house. Ick. I don't like bugs, but he finds them fascinating.

And, what would a fall walk be without deer?

The camera and I are not really friends right now, and probably won't be for a while. But, I do want to document the belly progress, so here we go (almost 22 weeks). I'm going to be huge.....:

I love fall. I can't wait for cozy sweaters and crunching leaves.

Pink or Blue?

2010-09-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

I had my 20 week ultrasound today, and according to that, we are definitely looking at......

PINK!!!

Baby Foote is now officially Baby Girl Foote. We actually think we might have a name, but we are only about 75% sure, so I'll keep that a secret a little longer.

Our baby girl was definitely not shy and showed us that she is pretty much 100% for sure a girl.

Everything is looking great and healthy, and the baby is measuring exactly on my due date, maybe even a couple of days ahead. The ultrasound tech said that our little gal was difficult to measure because she was just moving everywhere. Here is her kicking me. I've been feeling a lot of this lately :).

I think this is one of my favorite pictures. Here are her dainty little legs.....

.... And cute little face.

We are already proud parents and she isn't even here yet!

For Mom

2010-08-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

When I talked to my mom on the phone last night, she said she wanted to see some photos of the growing baby bump. Since my mom is awesome, I of course took some pictures. I apologize, because I can't imagine my expanding waistline is that interesting to many other people. But, it is also fun for me to look back and see, so here they are!

We tried a couple of backgrounds. With a whopping 600 square feet of living space, there is really no good place to take a picture.

And, while we are on the portraits, today was Steven's LAST first day of school. He was a good sport, and even let me take a picture of him this morning. Yeah! I just went to work instead of school, but I think we are both celebrating this milestone.

THE Ikea Table

2010-08-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

When Steven and I first got married, we went shopping for a table and chairs. After looking around at a lot of places, we realized that these things were expensive. Then we found THE Ikea table and chairs. The same set that 50% of other new married couples buy because you can get the table and all four chairs for $129.

Well, after two and a half years, I was bored by the table. All our other furniture was dark wood, and I like that look. Oh, and one day about a year ago Steven cut a pizza on the soft wood of the table and so we had a pizza outline to eat every meal with.

So, last Saturday's project was to paint the table black. I was the official sander and supply purchaser. Steven dealt with the fumes and spray-painted the table. We LOVE the final outcome. I am also proud of us, because I was tempted to just buy a new table and this really saved a lot of money.

One thing we learned is to always buy more spray paint than you think you need. I went back to buy more not once but twice. Finally, $25 worth of sand paper and spray paint later, we have a new table!

Beach and Tech

2010-08-19T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, we are getting up really early and starting the 13 hour drive back home. I figured that I should blog about the rest of our vacation now, since I have no responsibilities except to relax. Once we get home the laundry, shopping, cleaning, going back to work, etc. will take over again.

We spent yesterday at the beach as promised. It was fantastic. We went to two different beaches in Santa Cruz. The first beach, Natural Bridges, was very un-touristy, and had amazing views. It was also pretty chilly. Don't I look like I just want to jump right in the water?

After that, we went to the main beach in Santa Cruz, saw the famous boardwalk, and just enjoyed the sun and water. Much warmer here. We had a great relaxing afternoon.

Today, we went to the Tech museum in downtown San Jose. The museum quite honestly was one of the coolest I have ever been to, and it was really cheap. We spent 4 hours there and it didn't seem long at all. Steven loves anything to do with creativity and technology, so he was especially in heaven. They had so many neat exhibits with interactive simulations and games...

One exhibit that I thought was really interesting was where you stood on a platform and it showed the hot/cold areas of your body. When we were at the beach yesterday, I missed a pretty good portion of my leg and some of my upper arm with the sunscreen. Since I pretty much go from white to red with nothing resembling a tan in between, missing sunscreen is not a good idea. You get a pretty good idea from this picture (notice the bright red leg).

And this is how we showed on the heat sensors. Technology sure is fun.

On an unrelated note, since I am often better at blogging than journal writing, I started to feel the baby move this week (17 weeks). What an amazing, funny, exciting feeling!

And, we find out whether we are having a boy or girl on 9/9/10. I think it is a boy and Steven thinks it is a girl. I guess one of us will be right. However, I will be 100% happy with either. Steven thinks that a boy might be easier on our budget since I seem to get sucked into all the cute baby girl clothes at every store.

The City Trek

2010-08-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

We are here in San Jose and having a great time. The past few days have been mostly "business" as we have been looking at TONS of apartments, and meeting with E & Y staff. If you want to test your husband's patience, just try touring apartments for 2-3 days straight. He will love it :)

However, today was the start of our "vacation" vacation. We really planned on this vacation being relaxing, since I came home from New York more exhausted than I left. But, I guess Steven and I are not great at really just doing nothing. Today, we decided to adventure into San Francisco to see the sights. We took the Cal Train, and thought that it wouldn't be such a bad idea to just walk everywhere from there. Exercise is great, right? Our initial trek into Fisherman's Wharf was very far. So far, that I stopped counting the blocks. Below is a map of our walk into the city. Click here for a better look.

And, do you want to know what is really fun to do 17 weeks pregnant? Make that trek where every other street has hills like these......

I survived. And from there we enjoyed the sights.....

Ate authentic clam chowder and sour dough bread....

And, just enjoyed spending time together.

I think we will recover with a beach day tomorrow.

A Sunny Saturday

2010-08-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

After a few days of rain and crazy thunderstorms, having a beautiful Saturday was just what I needed. While Steven is out riding his bike who knows how many miles (probably about 50), I decided to go on a good, long run/walk. Unfortunately, there is a lot more walking than running going on these days. After about a mile, I was hot and SO thirsty. Then, I remembered one of the "perks" of living in Provo.

Why is it that church water tastes SO good? After that, I realized that I never had to go more than a couple of blocks without going by a church, and thus, I was thirsty no longer!

I can't wait to enjoy the rest of our sunny Saturday. I also can't wait for next Saturday when we will be in Sunny California. We are taking our summer vacation and driving to San Jose. It is our check the place out/try to find an apartment we might like/relax vacation. I am very excited but a little bit nervous about the apartment finding part. Even though we will be paying approximately 3 times the amount of rent we are now, and all of the apartments look nice from the pictures, the online reviews are all terrible!

I know that people generally write reviews when they are mad, but it would be nice if SOME good reviews were out there. According to the reviews, every apartment is crime ridden/bug infested/noisy/no parking/etc. Help! Lisa? Lauren? Any GOOD apartment complexes to look at?

Also, I have lost count of the number of people who have said to me, "You're pregnant! I can't wait to see you fat!" Luckily I find that slightly sad but mostly funny. Well, good news everybody. I am officially at this point.... (no, that is no me).

So, I guess let the fun begin!

*Sigh

2010-08-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, even though I knew that the "mandatory" move out date from our apartment was December 21st, BYU has a housing petition and I thought we might have had a shot. I mean, I really thought we had unusual circumstances to at least let us stay in our apartment through Christmas. Especially since I had a friend that was allowed to stay after her husband graduated. Apparantly not...

"Family Housing Petition

Dear Steven Michael Foote,

The Housing Review Board has evaluated your request for an extension past the mandatory move-out deadline. We appreciate your circumstances, but are unable to grant your petition request. We wish you and your family the best in your future endeavors.

Housing Review Board"

Hmpfff..... I'm feeling less than favorable towards BYU right now. Even though I really really love BYU.

I know that we will somehow get Me + Steven + Baby + Stuff to California, but it sure isn't going to be easy!

Doorway Suprise

2010-07-31T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is not what I expected to find outside our door when we moved into Wymount. I guess this is what we get for having the beautiful trees so close to our apartment. To give you an idea of the actual size of this beast:

We'll be locking our doors tonight.

New Apartment & New Belly

2010-07-26T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we have been all "officially" moved into our new apartment for a almost two weeks now. Honestly, I was NOT excited to move into Wymount. However, since our old apartment complex would only sign another contract for a year and we couldn't find anywhere else that wouldn't have us stuck in a contract, we felt like it was our only option.

But, I shouldn't have been so scared. We actually LOVE it here so far. The apartments are cheap, clean, updated, and we pretty much have the best apartment here. We are at the very top of the hill and this is what I see out all of my windows: (ignore the fact that my reflection looks like a creepy ghost).

Yup, trees. I always kept my blinds closed before because we backed up on a courtyard and people were always looking in. I love the privacy. So, while I definitely wouldn't want to live in Wymount forever, I think we can be happy here for the next five months.

The other "new" thing in my life is my growing belly. I wanted to take some "before" kind of pictures to see how things grow, but since I honestly already have quite the little belly, this will have to do. Here I am at about 14 weeks. I'm pretty much at that awkward stage of, "have you been eating too many treats or are you pregnant?" Yikes. I thought it would take longer to get to this point, but I'm trying to enjoy it all.

Big Event(s)

2010-07-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

I think that there are times in everybody's life that are both absolutely crazy and absolutely exciting at the same time. Steven and I are coming up on one of those times. Here is an approximate timeline of the end of 2010/beginning of 2011......

December 17, 2010: Steven finishes his last final exam of his master's degree and the student chapter of our lives officially comes to a close.

December 21, 2010: Because Steven is graduating, we get kicked out of our apartment. Just in time for Christmas :)

Beginning of January 2011: Steven starts working at Ernst & Young in San Jose, California and moves all the way to California without me. Why does he have to move without me? Because......

January 25, 2011:

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!

Yup, baby Foote is on the way at last and we couldn't be more thrilled. Despite the crazy timing, we feel so blessed. I am 13 weeks along and am looking forward to saying goodbye to the sickness and fatigue of the first trimester.

Wahoo!

No More....

2010-07-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

Tuition! This week was a good week, and one that I have been anticipating for a while. We paid Steven's final semester of graduate tuition, and it feels GREAT to have that done.

Two undergraduate and two master's degrees later, we have finally made that final tuition payment. Some days, when I was working 75 hours a week, Steven was taking tons of credits & working, and we still lived in an old, not nice apartment, I wondered if it was worth it.

But, to press that button and be able to graduate 100% debt-free, made all those sacrifices and hard times DEFINITELY worth it.

I will miss SO many things about BYU when we leave in a few months, but paying tuition will not be one of them!

July Updates

2010-07-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

July (so far) has been MOSTLY nice and relaxing. We enjoyed the 4th of July weekend, and did all sorts of typical 4th of July things- BBQ, fireworks, hiking, etc.

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I think that July is the best month of the year. Mostly, because it is my birthday. Even though Steven's birthday is in June, he is also in agreement. He thinks that July is the best month because July is the Tour De France. Yes, we watch a hundred men cycle every single day all month. Steven loves it. You know that you married a road cyclist when....

At first, I thought (like most people) that is was boring. But, seeing as this is my third "tour" I'm actually getting kind of into it. I know all the names and everything. Speaking of my birthday, it was great. I'm now 24, and that is starting to sound old. So many people I loved called and stopped by, and I even got these sweet flowers from a sweet guy.

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We move in four days, and that is the part of July that has not been relaxing. The packing still has a LONG way to go, but it is nice to know that this move is only a couple of miles. Instead of the thousand or so our next move will be. One of the packing things that I have done is take all the pictures off the walls. We had this one picture in our living room that was kind of heavy and awkward. So, we stuck it to the wall with those 3M sticky things that are supposed to be awesome and come right off. Well, dear 3M, this is what our wall looked like when we took the picture down.

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They should have some sort of warning on the package like, "if the walls are painted with really cheap paint and really old, these will probably strip all the paint off down to the drywall." We tried to repaint over it and right now I'm just crossing our fingers that we fixed it enough to get our deposit back. Yikes.

O, Canada!

2010-07-02T13:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Canada day, so Paige and I made Canada Jello and seven-layer dip (apparently a Canadian favorite) and went to the park. Vive le Canada!

Editor's note: Seven-layer dip is not actually a Canadian favorite. Paige just really loves guacamole.