Vegas Recap

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

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...

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...

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

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!

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

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!