Our Little Peanut

Our little peanut, while growing slowly in size, is none-the-less growing up. It's really amazing that so much has happened and changed in our lives in the last year. I feel like the last year has been the most important and exciting of my life. I know my life is richer and more meaningful than ever before, thats for sure.

Aurora had her 1 yr old apt on Friday. I brought my Mom along for company, and she was going crazy and just about had a panic attack when they wanted to give Rory 6 shots that day. I opted to hold off on one of them for her next apt. My Mom said she would never have given us ANY shots if she could do it over. I just shook my head. Not even going to go there with her! Rory screamed this sad terrified and painful cry the whole time they were shooting her up, as tears streamed down her face and the sobs kept getting stuck in her throat. Poor girl all I wanted to do was cuddle her and tell her it would be ok. She did calm down ok and was fine after that. Besides a very slight fever and wanting to sleep ALOT the next few days she was fine.

She has gained about 2lbs since the 9 month old apt, which is something! Here is how she ranks now:
They said she is doing just fine and they are not worried about her growth at all, since she is tracking on the growth curve as she should.

Shes getting much better at walking now, though its still slow going. She loves walking about 5 steps to you and is so proud when she finally gets to you!

She is wanting to feed herself now, and we let her practice with her own spoon and fork. Shes not great at it yet, but for sure gets the jist of the movements, just not quite fine tuned enough to really get there. Mostly she dips the spoon in things then sucks on it, and with the fork, she picks up a piece of food with one hand, and then stabs it with the fork in the other, then either bites the food off the fork, or takes it back off and eats it with her hand. Its hilarious.

She is playing so much with everything now, its so much fun. And its great that shes more interactive with the other kids now too. We spent almost all day with Ashley, Dylan and Boston on Saturday, and it was a blast. We went to the Tierrastanta Parade, and saw most everyone else we knew in the complex there too, then Ashley and I went to the fair to hang out while the boys took the kids home, we grilled dogs for lunch, hung out in our back yard with the kids playing with the water table Boston's Gma Mimi got her for her b-day, and then that night went to see Rain the Beatles Tribute downtown. It was one of the best days Ive had in a long time. Then yesterday we went to hang with friends we have not seen in a long time and it was awesome.

Her 4th tooth finally broke about a week ago; it was the canine next to the top tooth she already has. But the other top middle and canine are on their way too, so she wont be lopsided for long. Its so nice to have teeth for her, going without them for so long you realize how much teeth really help them eat big people food. Although we have to get her used to brushing now. Good thing she loves the toothbrush, bad thing she only wants to suck on it and not actually brush with it. lol.

She loves all stuffed animals. Skye and Althea got her a super soft pillow that also velcros up into a stuffed ladybug, and she LOVES it. She will give "loves" to just about anything, but is especially happy to oblige for anything soft.

Oh goodness shes just the best! I cant wait for memorial day weekend, its going to be good times with friends and family, and just rest and relaxation. Ahhhhhh long overdue.

Aurora's 1st Birthday

Click on the Picture for the Picasa Folder of all the pictures from Aurora's 1st Bday.

Super Cute Clothes

Oh yeah and I forgot to mention all the adorable clothes she got for her birthday. Added to all the ones she got from her showers and this girl is going to be one well dressed sista! Shes in 6 month stuff now, but I cant wait till she's in her 9 and 12 month old stuff, cause there is too much cute stuff!

Oh yeah, and slight rant here, why the heck is it that the CUTEST stuff starts at 12 month? Like all the cute jeans and shorts mostly. It is so annoying. At this rate, Aurora will be 2 before she is in any of that.

Aurora is One!

Today Aurora is one! Wow, crazy. Hard to believe that a year ago right now I was just getting into the craziest part of labor and in just a few short hours I would be holding my precious baby girl in my arms for the first time ever. Its been an amazing journey, and I am sooo looking forward to the rest of our life!

Aurora is finally walking like a big girl. She is still really shakey (hello Frankenstein), takes little steps staggering from side to side, and falls often. But she is getting better, and Im sure will be running across the room before we know it!

We started milk too. :0) No more formula, she seems to like milk just fine, and will drink the full 4 oz if you heat it up (that much cold milk is too much for her all at once), and she does like to sip cold milk from her sippy cup. We have decided to buy organic milk for her. After reading what the experts are saying, if you are going to buy organic, meat and milk are your best place to spend the money because of all the awful pesticides in the food the cows eat, compounded with the hormones that they are given, etc. You can really tell the difference too; the meat tastes way better, and the milk crisper and creamier. It really breaks the bank, but you cant put a price on the health and well being of your children. And to be honest, I think that in the years to come, they are going to find that things like Autism has more do do with pesticides and hormones in our food than vaccinations do.

Hopefully we can get her to drink the recommended 16-24 oz of milk a day, because she was only taking 8 oz total of formula a day, plus another 6 oz in her morning cereal.

Wow, Big Girl is Almost 1!

Well it's been a while and our life is crazier than ever.

Aurora is still not walking full on; shes really taking her time with this. After her first steps a month ago, she still is only taking up to about 5 steps at a time, in areas she feels comfortable. Which means her shoes are getting all torn up going between walking and crawling all the time. *Sigh*. Thank goodness for Walmart $8 shoes.

We now have 3 teeth total, both bottom and one middle on top. The other 3 up top are bulging and ready to join the others soon. Its so nice she can actually take "bites" of food now with teeth. Its really helped what food she can eat, and that we can share with her now she can take bites of our food. She is good eating off of spoon and fork of ours, but sometimes really would like to do it herself, even though she doesnt have the dexterity to.

She has been a total champ though the teething process though, and besides just being a little fussy and drooly chewing on stuff, shes been good. We have been giving her the Tylenol, orajel and (due to the post nasel drip at night) expectorant for that bad cough. We will see what the doc says at her 1 yr apt on the 14th if she still has that cough. We felt awful on Sat at at work event one of our female pharmacists could feel the congestion in her chest just from holding her.

She is so interactive now though, shes a blast. She loves peek-a-boo, and likes to do the hiding and the peeking herself. She will hold up a sheet, paper towel, etc then back down with a big grin. Another favorite is peeking around corners of furniture or walls.

She has so much fun with her high fives, low fives, head butts, waving, clapping and dancing. She is such a big girl! Still not a ton of talking (just the same babbles) but if you spend anytime with her you do notice she tries to copy what you say every once in a while. You will say something, then are startled when it sounds like she said the exact same thing you just did!

We were lucky to get some of Ryan's old toys and books from when he was a little kid, as Cheryl recently cleaned out her attic, which was mostly full of all Blake and Ryan's childhood stuff. Shes having a blast with all her fun stuff. In the house, we finished putting in the new flooring, and the baseboards, and got some new shelving units for the new "play room". I cant tell you how nice it is to have real floors, and have clear defined spaces and things put away in their place, instead of a constant construction zone with everything out and everywhere. We still have a lot to do but at least we are making headway and each week our house is more organized than it was the previous week. A little at a time is what you gotta do to make it happen!

This weekend was a HUGE weekend. Saturday was Venissa's shower up in Temecula area (shes having a little girl, who will be named Addison!) Thanks to my Mom who joined me for the long drive up (long drives with no one to talk to + Loralyn = asleep at the wheel) and to help me take care of Aurora so I could visit with that group that I hardly ever get to see anymore. Then we had to book it back down to SD after a few hours up there to get set up for a big work event at my Dean's house that he has every year for some of the staff, the faculty, 3rd & 4th year students and alumni. This was my first year planning and attending the event. It turned out great, but it was a long day for all of us, esp Aurora, considering her birthday party was the next day!

So then the big day was yesterday, and it was great! Our best friends and family came out to celebrate with us, everyone pitched in and helped out a ton, and it was just wonderful. I cant wait to see the pictures that Pam took for the event. Aurora looked so cute in her little sunflower dress, and had too much fun with her cake, esp when all her friends joined in. (Kiera was first, then Boston then Luke. We had all the kids up there sharing this pink Sleeping Beauty cake!!!) But my favorite moment of the day was when Luke had his bottle out, and he left it to go play on the other side of the blanket with something else. Aurora reached down, got the bottle and walked it all the way over to where he was and gave it to him! What a sweet little helper. It doesnt surprise me though; our wonderful sitter Diane has 2 infant babies as well as Aurora and apparently Aurora helps with them all the time; gives them their pacifiers, rocks them in their infant seats, etc. Soooo cute! Boy is she going to come in handy with the next kid.

Anyway, by the end of the day, packing everything up for a huge picnic to the park then packing back up and to our house, plus all the gifts (that we still have yet to open!), our house is a mess, and we are exhausted but so happy and blessed. Now on to Mother's Day events, and after that Memorial Day weekend at the King's River. Cant wait for that, its going to be so much fun!!!