Christmas

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!

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

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

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

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!