The Burton Bundle

"No! It's Mine!"

2012-01-31T19:00:00.000-08:00

Seriously, do you ever wonder where kids come up with the phrase "No, it's mine?" My friend Adriana and I were just talking about how frustrating it is that toddlers use the word "MINE" (and with authority). Where does that come from? I don't use that word, I don't talk that way to Andy, I don't talk that way to Aubrey, so I thought, then I got a rude awakening...

This evening, I was just trying to "veg" out by looking around on Pinterest and getting new ideas. In my mind, I was entitled to a little down time after a full day of Bible study, errand running, cooking a meal for a friend and for our family, cleaning the kitchen 3 times, making calls, paying bills, doing laundry, cleaning up again after I just cleaned, eating dinner and cleaning up the kitchen again (well, I still have a full sink of dishes because I refuse to run the dishwasher a third time today)! *Ok, so I couldn't stand it and I did dishes!*

I sat down, got out my computer and began my mindless browsing…2 minutes later, I get a text message from my friend asking about double strollers, I pick up my phone to respond and Aubrey decides that she wants to play a game on my phone and proceeds to pull the phone out of my hand while I try to type my text…no asking, just grabbing…I take a deep breath (starting to get frustrated) and tell Aubrey that I am using MY phone and to please let it go…she proceeds to do this annoying squeal/scream because she isn't getting her way. I told her that when I am done texting she can play on my phone. I finish the text, set the phone down and continue to browse, Aubrey then grabs my phone and starts her game.

Only minutes later, another text comes through, I stop what I am doing and tell Aubrey that I need MY phone back to answer the text. She gets upset again and I tell her "It's MINE Aubrey, I need it." As I take my phone, Andy then decides that he wants to use my computer…(Anger and frustration building up here…) I tell him "Gosh, can't I use anything of MY own? I am trying to just sit here and "veg" out for 10 minutes and now you want to take MY computer from me?" Andy informs me that I wasn't using it and he wants to use MY computer…I told him I was trying to use it but I had to return a text and I stopped using it for 30 seconds because I am trying to please everyone! Ok, so I give up…Fine use MY computer Andy and here Aubrey use MY phone! I will just sit over here on the couch and stare at the wall! *Insert pity party here*

So that's my reality…every day Aubrey is saying or doing something new and often times I wonder where she gets it from. If it is something horrible (like grabbing and saying MINE) she couldn't possibly have learned that from us, but it it is something great, of course, she learned it from us! The true reality is that no matter how much we think we are doing a great job at raising our kids, we all fall short and get swift kicks in the butt to remind us that those little beasts pick up on everything we do and say and they truly are a reflection of us…OH BOY that is scary! Don't be so quick to wonder where they got it from without doing a little self reflection!

Now if only I could use MY phone without it being ripped out of my hand, use MY computer without it being taken away from me or keys being pushed as I am trying to type, eat MY food without someone mooching from me, take MY shower without a toddler opening the shower door, do MY makeup without having to share MY lipgloss, keep MY house clean for longer than a nap time, drink MY drink without chunks of food in it, fold MY laundry without it being unfolded behind me, listen to MY music without being yelled at to turn it down, watch MY show without interruptions…maybe one day…

As you can see, it has been one of those days and sometimes mommy frustrations need to be vented. These mundane moments in the life of a parent aren't always talked about in a public forum, but maybe someone else feels my frustration at times…Here's to a new day!

It Is Well, With My Soul…Time to Reflect

2012-01-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

Now that the dust has settled and the news of Blessing #2 is public, I have finally taken the time to take a step back from the emotional whirlwind/roller coaster and reflect…

Since I have made the news public, I have received all sorts of e-mails, texts, calls, etc. from people who feel the need to remind me how blessed I am, how lucky I am, and how this is all in God's perfect timing. At first I got frustrated…I wondered…"Do I really come off as a completely negative person who is always complaining about my horrible life? Are my blog posts/FB status updates so discouraging to others that they feel the need to remind me and put things in perspective for me? Or is my honesty to how I am really feeling too much for some to handle and should I just keep that to myself…am I being judged for how honest I am? Do I not state enough how blessed I am at the end of everything I write about? What does this all mean"? I do have to admit that after I was pushed over the edge with one last message about how blessed I am, I got a bit sarcastic on Facebook and decided to add "I am so blessed" to the end of most of my status updates whether or not they made sense..yes, I know, that is horrible, but I was coping!

As I reflected more, I decided not to take personally all the things people have been telling me (unsolicited advice most of the time), remember that most people have good intentions and most of them are just trying to encourage me and make me feel better.

As I have slowly "let go and let God" (if you will) He has been revealing himself to me through my daily time with Him and songs. To be honest, ever since I found out I was pregnant, I was probably the furthest away from God than I have been in a long time. I wasn't angry, because I know He is Sovereign, but I was complacent. I really didn't want to be told one more time "this is all in God's timing" or "He knows what is best for you" or "aren't you just so excited?" I figured that if I stayed far away from the Bible and closeness with God I wouldn't have to hear Him tell me the exact same things. I contemplated when I was was going to make the news public (ie. post it on Facebook) but it wasn't until January 17th that I really opened my Bible with an open mind ready to hear what God had to say. Of course, He always knows when to speak to me at the perfect times. I was coming to the end of my reading for the day when finished with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Wow! I felt like God was talking directly to me…"Emily, get out of your funk, change your attitude and be joyful! This is my will for your life whether you like it or not!" In that moment, I got excited and my heart started to soften. I got a smile on my face imagining the life that God has planned for us as a family of four, the dynamic of Aubrey and her little sibling and that in just about 5.5 months I will get to meet this sweet little bundle!

At church on Sunday God totally spoke to me through the worship music. We sang an old hymn that really spoke to my heart, I began to cry and for once in a long time, I felt complete peace as if angels were singing to me…Here are the lyrics in the song that just resonated with me…

"Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL, WITH MY SOUL"!

(You can listen to the full song here)

As much as I may have come off as not being grateful for this new adventure in our lives, I am feeling comfort knowing that God knows me well enough to give me a second baby at the perfect time. Am I still scared? YES! Do I wonder what this new dynamic will look like? YES! Do I question my ability to be just as good of a mother to a second child as to my first? YES! Does the idea of being able to juggle having a newborn, chiseling and shaping a toddler, being a loving wife, an invested mother, a loyal and available friend, and a committed Christian completely FREAK ME OUT? YES!!!! But one thing I know for sure is that this is God's will for me in Christ Jesus (as cliche and "churchy" as that sounds) and I can't wait to see what He has in store!!! IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL, WITH MY SOUL!!

What is a blog post without a photo? This is the first photo I have taken but it was about 3 weeks ago. New one to come soon (there is definitely a lot more to show)!

Reactions to the news...

2012-01-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

I guess disbelief is what I get when I play a joke on everyone for April Fools!

The Joke's on me…Updates!

2012-01-05T11:52:00.000-08:00

We sure have stayed busy the last couple of months. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a relaxing time with the in-laws. I stayed busy around the house in November with numerous house guests and lots of cooking. December was a packed month as we celebrated Christmas early with the in-laws, did lots of Christmas shopping (rushing around) and prepared for our three week trip to visit my family. The beginning of December was super stressful which pretty much turned me into a super cranky person. I didn't put up one Christmas decoration, had no desire to do anything, didn't really take one photo and I feel like I completely lost sight of EVERYTHING Christmas is supposed to be about. To say the least, I am glad Christmas is over.

Andy and I had a good talk about how we will do things so differently next year. This holiday season was an all time low for us in so many ways and we don't want this to be the beginning of the rest of our lives for the holidays. Sometimes Andy and I feel like we don't belong anywhere during the holidays. We are pulled in so many different directions, have so many obligations and sometimes feel like we are trying to please everyone else and we don't get the chance to make our own family traditions. We are a family now, and we need to do our thing and start our own traditions.

Next year will be a complete new dynamic with baby #2 here…Yes, I typed it! Baby #2 you all are probably just as shocked as I was when I found out I was pregnant (only a few people know my real response, but I won't share that). This was definitely NOT in my plans but being on birth control, not even knowing if I really wanted another child and not even having the thought in my head…I know it is GOD's plan for our life. It has taken me quite some time to come to grips with a second child…but to be honest, I don't know if I fully have come to grips with it and don't know if/when I will. The one thing that makes me hopeful is that this is completely out of my hands and I know God is teaching me some huge things through this experience (besides the fact that I can't control and plan everything, still trying to figure out what else). I have been overwhelmed with so many emotions..tears (lots of them), feeling like a horribly selfish person for not being super excited when there are so many people out there who want to be pregnant but can't, complacent, unmotivated, feelings of depression, upset at how hard I worked to lose 40lbs and now I will pack it all back on…pretty much any emotion that one human can have in the course of three months. I was already two months pregnant when I found out, so now here I am…baby due to arrive July 28th and I am still trying to figure out how to wrap my mind around it all.

People who already know have asked when I will make it public and I usually reply "Probably, when I am on my way to labor and delivery in July!" I thought I should share with everyone sooner rather than later since it is becoming pretty obvious that I am either pregnant or packing on some winter pounds. Plus, the parents and in-laws will be happy that they can finally tell everyone.

Besides all the regular thoughts about how I am going to make our lives work with two kids…I have some pretty selfish thoughts about how being pregnant is going to put a kink in some of the major things happening in the spring…January-Andy has a cocktail/formal event in which I have to dress up (not feeling cute…just feeling fat), February- 10 days in Hawaii kid free with two of my best friends and hubby (again…bathing suit and not quite looking prego…just packing on pounds), March-Bachleorette party in Vegas (ticket bought, no turning back, everything about that is horrible being prego), April- In a wedding at a winery (wonder if they are really going to be able to alter the already ordered dress to fit a 7 month belly), June- My 30th birthday, July- Baby #2!! So there it is…keep us in your prayers!

January 17: Here I am some time later and since I have opened up my heart to hear what the Lord wants me to hear, He gives me this verse this morning… 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Simple, yet amazingly powerful in my life today. I am so thankful for a God who knows every intricate detail of who I am and understands just the right timing for everything in my life.

April 1, 2011

Joke's on you…

December 1, 2011

Joke's on me!!!

(I love this brochure that my Mom brought home from her pregnancy center about how to deal when your teenage daughter tells you she is pregnant. It made me laugh.)

Catch up…My birthday!

2011-11-26T22:11:00.001-08:00

Here is the beginning of my attempt to get caught up in the world of blogging with hopes to get my blog printed for Christmas.

Waaaaay back in June Andy planned a perfect 29th birthday party for me. He rented a stretch excursion limo, invited seven of my closest friends and their spouses and headed to Temecula to do some wine tasting. He couldn't have picked a better crowd of people to celebrate the beginning of my last year in my twenties. We had a picnic lunch at Weins winery, visited a few more wineries, then headed back to our house to continue the festivities with a BBQ. A few more couples who weren't able to attend wine tasting came for dinner and it was nice to get to celebrate with a few more friends.

This birthday was one of my most memorable yet. Not because of what was planned, but because of the friends who surrounded me. I know I have amazing friends when I can invite friends from all walks of life (who may or may not know each other) and everyone has a blast, no one is caddy, everyone takes interest in getting to know each other better and new friends exchange numbers with old friends. It was such a nice feeling to know that the friends who celebrated with me will be lifelong friends and we have many years of celebrating ahead of us!

Getting ready to leave

Birthday girl planking

Fall Time!

2011-11-10T22:23:00.001-08:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah…I am slacking…Hey, I still have blogs to write about from June, but here are a few adorable photos of Aubrey on her third Halloween all dressed up like a pirate and a few photos from some of the things we have done this fall.

Aubrey's first painting endeavor. We painted a mason jar like a pumpkin and added a tealight candle.

She then decided to paint on the paper we gave her.

About a week before Halloween we took Aubrey to trunk-n-treat at the YMCA and met up with some of our dear friends the Velasco family. Here is Aubrey with baby Caleb and below with her first love Josiah.

Aubrey loved her pirate costume and didn't want to take it off…

I thought it would be cute if we matched :)

The weekend before Halloween, we joined the George family and headed to the Live Oak Canyon pumpkin patch. There were lots of cute little rides and Aubrey had so much fun with her sweet friend Roman.

The monkey swiped the veggie straw straight from the baby's hand…

We paid $1 to shake the monkey's hand…Aubrey was amused.

Later that day we met up with the Martinez family and headed up to Oak Glen for a picnic, a hike and some raspberry picking.

On Halloween day we went out to Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland for their fall festival. It was a fun event full of free games and prizes for all ages.

Aubrey and her best buddy Micah…

They were in their own little world…

Checking out where they want to go first…

Grandpa Burton and Aubs…

The New Ride and the Super Long Story Behind it...

2011-10-15T17:47:00.000-07:00

*Yet another long story, but I needed to write out all the details to have a record of God's faithfulness.

THE BACKGROUND:
A few weeks ago my Xterra started acting up. I was grocery shopping and came out to a car that wouldn't start. For a second I thought I might be out of gas, so a kind gentleman helped me put gas in it and it still wouldn't start (I knew I didn't need gas but it was worth a shot). I called AAA and waited 3 hours for a tow truck. When we got the Xterra to the shop the mechanic was able to start it right up…of course! Well, the mechanic had it for a couple days and found nothing wrong with it except it needed new brakes (which had nothing to do with the problem, but I got them changed). Two days later, my car started doing the exact same thing and it broke down again…called a tow truck and took it back to mechanic. After a few days he finally realized it was the distributor and it was going to cost about $500 to replace…fine do it…no big deal (still less than having a car payment). Once he replaced the distributor he realized that didn't fix the problem and the real problem was the internal gears and I needed a new engine. Hey, at least he was honest with me, didn't charge me a penny, put my old distributor in and sent me on my way.

THE DECISIONS:
Now we are hit with a decision…replace the engine on an 11 year old car with 170K miles on it (that we only had for 2 years) or buy a car…Well, after lots of discussion we decided to start shopping for a new car. We were not excited about this as we haven't had a car payment in a long time, so the idea of paying interest on an item that depreciates was painful. We surveyed our options…pay cash for something that wasn't the favorite car in the world or finance something a little nicer that was reliable. We did the cash thing for the Xterra but we never fully trusted that truck. We never took it on long trips and I shouldn't have been toting my toddler around in something we weren't confident in, but it served its purpose and got us through two years without a car payment.

THE HUNT:
We were on a mad hunt…we had connections with a friend of mine whose brother is the GM of a whole auto mall. All we knew for sure was what we wanted to spend, that we definitely wanted another SUV and that we were in love with the Honda Pilot. We had no idea what we could get with our money but our connection had his people working hard for us. We looked at tons of SUVs and started doing lots of research soon realizing that our cash price was not going to get us what we really wanted. We decided to up our price bracket and were at peace about financing a little bit.

After comparing all of the SUVs on the market, we kept falling back on a brand new Honda Pilot, but there was no way we were going to spend 40K on a car AGAIN (we have done that in the past and it was probably the stupidest thing we could have done). The dealers almost even talked us into a "lease to own" program that Honda offers and two times we almost packed up, went down to the dealer and settled for a lease, but neither of us felt at ease about it. Also, used Honda Pilots are almost impossible to find because people love and keep their Pilots.

HOW GOD WORKS:
It was a Wednesday, we test drove a Nissan Armada, we loved it (even brought it home to see if it would fit in the garage and it did), got back to the dealer and decided to get the credit application started, but Andy had to leave to go work at the fair (which I think was divine intervention) so we couldn't finish the buying process. I went home and of course started second guessing the decision to buy the Armada. I'm from Humboldt, shouldn't I be more caring of the environment? Why would I be driving a massive boat that gets 13 MPG? I started to feel bad thinking that even if I had 4 kids one day (which isn't likely) I would never need that much space. Then I started doing some research and found that the '05 Armada was the WORST rated SUV for that year! Phew, the Lord revealed that to me and I was quickly over the idea of buying that Armada, but then we were back to square one. UGH!!!

I woke up Thursday morning feeling very discouraged because the car shopping process is draining…driving all around southern California looking at different cars, trying to find a sitter, spending every waking moment on the computer searching, being completely off schedule, dealing with car salesmen, feeling guilt for not buying from someone who spent so much time with me etc. I call my Dad and he gave me some really encouraging words. He asked me "what are the desires of your heart?" I told him that I really desired the Honda Pilot and I feel like I would be settling if I got anything else. I also told him that my desire was to not be in bondage to a car for five years and that we didn't want to spend more than a certain amount of money. He then said, "Then make your requests known to God. Tell Him what you want and have faith that he is going to provide it for you." Through this whole process we did do a lot of praying (which is why I think things happened the way they did), but we never made our real requests known to God. Before I even opened up my computer to begin my morning search, Andy and I stopped and prayed…We made our requests known to God and shared the desires of our hearts.

I opened the computer and started my search…the very first vehicle to pop up was this 2008 Honda Pilot with 50K miles on it, it had leather (which was a must for me) and it was under our price range! Just so you know, up until this point I had searched everywhere over the internet for a used Honda Pilot in my area and never found one that met our needs. This is was the first time I had ever seen this listing and I felt overwhelmed that this may be the car that God placed in our path. We decided to go look at it that day, took it for a test drive and bought it.

IT GETS BETTER:
They ran our credit and we find out that we have an extremely high credit score, in fact, the finance manager said he has never in his career seen such a high credit score and "we could buy ten cars today if we wanted." We were planning on financing through our bank because they had a pretty good rate of 3.9% and they offered a 3 year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper comprehensive warranty that beat the dealer's prices by about $700, plus there is no deductible (and the dealer's is $100). When we went into the room to sign our papers the finance man says, "Hey, you guys have amazing credit and our banks would be chomping at the bit to carry your loan. How about I give you a 2.4% interest rate?" We told him that was great and all, but our bank beats their warranty program. He then said. "We'll, match it." We then reminded him that our bank has no deductible and theirs is $100. He said, "We'll match it!" We walked out of the dealer with a car payment that is pretty much the same as our cell phone bill and we will have the car paid off in a couple years! We feel truly blessed and we are so glad the process is over.

LESSONS LEARNED:

#1 It is impossible to get out of a car dealership in less than 5 hours even if you know what you want.

#2 It pays to do your research, sleep on it and don't settle.

#3 Get something that will last at least 10 years because the car buying process sucks and it will probably take me that long to get over the pain!

#4 MAKE YOUR REQUESTS KNOWN TO GOD AND HE WILL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART!

Sometimes Grey's Anatomy has it all right...

2011-10-01T22:53:00.000-07:00

"You think that true love is the only thing that can crush your heart, the thing that will take your life and light it up, or destroy it…then you become a mother." -Merideth Grey

That pretty much sums it up…

The Great Crib Escape!

2011-09-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, we made it 2 years and 3 months…Yesterday, I put Aubrey down for her nap, she did her normal chatting for a few minutes and then it was silent. I went downstairs and made a phone call and while I was on the phone, I see Aubrey's sweet little face peering around the couch and smiling. Her stealthy ninja moves not only got her out of her crib without me knowing, but all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. I was shocked and thought it was a little funny so unfortunately, I laughed…Well, the laughing only made it worse because at that point, Aubrey thought it was a game. I took her upstairs and told her to lay down and go to sleep, then I proceeded to go back downstairs and continue on with what I needed to do for the day. Not two minutes later I hear the thump, thump, thump of little toddler feet in the upstairs hallway then I hear her sweet little giggle then she popped her head into the living room again. The cycle continued…I told her to go back upstairs and get in her bed and she said "Oh ok, I will!" and she ran back upstairs giggling because she knew I was following her. This continued about four times until I finally decided that maybe I should sit in her room until she fell asleep (it works on Super Nanny).

She laid down and was quiet for about five minutes so I was about to pat myself on the back and give myself a gold star until suddenly she stands up in her crib, looks me straight in the face (I am trying to ignore her at this point) and says "Hey Mom, how was your day?" I have to cover my face at this point to refrain from laughing then she says again "Hey Mommica, how was your day?" At this point I started to crack up because she recently saw the movie "Monsters VS. Aliens" and she thought it would be funny to start calling me "Ginormica" which turned into "Mommica."

Holding back my laughs I had to spank her because it had been over an hour and it was starting to get old (I had stuff to get done)! Thankfully, Andy was on his way home and he has some way about making her do what he says on the first try. I told her that I was going to lay her down one more time and she better be asleep before Daddy got home or else she would get a Daddy spanking. She laid down, I left the room then I hear some noise (she is trying to escape again) and then the garage door opens and she hears it. She knew at that minute that if she wasn't in her bed she would be in big trouble because now Daddy is home. Well, she was halfway out of her crib and she was stuck…she needed help getting back in her bed so she starts crying…I walk in her room to find this...

I'm not quite sure if this was her normal escape strategy, but I wouldn't be surprised. The child is a jumper and I wouldn't put it pass her to jump from this position. She was caught red-handed! Andy went in the room one time, told her to go to sleep and not get up again (he didn't even have to use corporal punishment) and she laid right down and went to sleep! This morning she didn't try to get out, she just called me so I think I will wait a little bit longer to switch her crib to a toddler bed. Oh the joys!

The Joys of Aubrey and my brag blog!

2011-09-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

*WARNING This is a really long post in which I brag about my intelligent kid who amazes me. I understand how this can be annoying to most people. Please feel free to skip the text and look at the pictures, I won't be offended. I just thought is was about time I get these items on the record.

It has been exactly a month since I last blogged and so much has happened so I will have to update everything soon. The most prevalently amazing adventure in our family is Aubrey (but what's new?). I don't even know where to start with describing the kind of two year old she is. She impresses us every day with her skills and we are blown away by her speech and abilities. She has many times been described as a six-year old trapped in a two-year old's body which is pretty much exact. I have to take this moment to brag/record where she is right now or I will forget in the future as she is only two and I have already forgotten when a lot of her firsts happened.

Thinking very hard, these are some of the things I have come up with, although I know there are so many more. First and foremost, she is one of the most honest kids I know. It blesses me to know that she doesn't lie to me because of fear of the outcome. "Aubrey, did you spit on the dog?" "Yes, I spit on her because I want to clean her off, can I have a tissue?" She is very good about telling the truth or correcting someone when they aren't being fully "truthful." One tiny example, Me: "Andy, today Aubrey took her pants off and decided to run around naked." Aubrey: "No mom, I took off my shorts and ran around naked!"

She no longer likes to be called nicknames…Andy: "Come here Aubs." Aubrey: "No it's not Aubs, it's Aubrey!"

She has the memory of an elephant! I thought it was around age 4 when kids could remember things that were told to them the previous day. Aubrey won't let anything get by us…Example, on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend we talked up the fact that we were going to go to Disneyland, unfortunately I forgot to check our blackout days and that day happened to be blocked. Most kids would forget, but Aubrey asked me to go to Disneyland the entire week after that. Finally, we decided to go last night after dinner and naps and yet again we talked it all up only to find out they closed at 8pm so we didn't end up going. She has asked me about 5 times today why we didn't go to Disneyland because we were supposed to go "yast night."

When we were home visiting my parents in July she got to go horseback riding for the first time. The only house rule was that she wear a helmet. She did not want to wear a helmet. Once we finally talked her into wearing a helmet, Andy put it on her and snapped her chin in the buckle and pinched her. She cried and cried and actually still put the helmet on again. Now, EVERY single time she sees a horse she says "Daddy snapped me."

She is fearless, super coordinated and sure-footed. She hasn't taken swimming lessons, but if I put her in lessons she would probably already be in the advanced class. She WILL NOT wear floaties or a life jacket or use any kind of flotation device. She loves jumping off the side of the pool into the water, holding her breath underwater and holding on to the side of the pool and pulling herself all around the pool.

She is a total Ham and loves to make people laugh. Her favorite phrase when she needs attention is "Hey people, watch this!" She will say that to random people in public and it makes me smile.

She is a good friend. She is kind, compassionate and loving and always willing to give someone a hug or kiss who is hurt or sad. When I stub my toe or run into anything she is always the first one to ask "Are you ok mommy? Here, let me kiss it and get a bandaid." We are still working on sharing, but she is good about taking turns and giving things up.

She is extremely helpful and cleaning comes pretty naturally to her (I don't know where she gets it ;)). She instinctively turns off lights behind her, closes doors behind her, picks up trash or items in her path and throws them away or puts them away. She sometimes gets carried away with baby wipes and tries to clean everything ie. cracks in the cement outside, the dog's paws and hair, the carpet, etc. She also likes to try to get the dogs to blow their noses in a tissue. She acts very maternal which I think is so cute.

She can take and do more than three-step instructions (better than some of my first graders) and I haven't come across a time when she hasn't understood what I was trying to tell her to do. She is very good about asking questions and clarifying what I mean and doing what I ask. ie. "Can you please turn off the fan, it is the switch on the left not the right." Aubrey- "Ok, is it this one?"

She can chew gum for hours without swallowing it and throws it away when she is done.

She is very polite and genuine in her verbiage. She is careful to say "excuse me," "please and thank you," "i'm sorry" "your welcome" "may I…" "Yes Mom/Dad" "Hi, nice to meet you"(while reaching to shake a hand) "goodbye, see you soon" without cue from us, which I LOVE.

Her new phrases this month "Uh yeah, kind of!" "No, i'm ok"

Here are a few more things for the record:
-Counts to 20
-Recognizes all numbers and most letters
-Knows most letter sounds
-Counts to 10 in Spanish
-Says her ABCs
-Knows 10 shapes
-Spells her name
-Knows all colors of rainbow
-Knows how to use prepositions correctly (on, in, behind, under, above, beside, inside, outside, around, below) ie. The book is behind the couch or the clip is under my bed.
-Speaks in full and complete sentences using 5-7 + words per sentence.
-Loves to "read" books and is excellent at remembering and memorizing parts of stories. She always asks "What happened here" or "what's that?"

Back to Work and Truly BLESSED!!!!

2011-08-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I have shared with the blogging world but for some time now I have been feeling an itch to teach again. I could never teach full time again because I have been so blessed with the opportunity to stay home with Aubrey for over two years. I know that being home with my kids will always be my full-time job, but I have wanted to be a teacher since I was a kid (only after my dream to be the first professional female football player). For the past two years we have paid a ridiculously high amount each month for health benefits. We talked about how neat it would be if I could teach a tiny bit and use what I made working to cover the cost of medical benefits. We decided that working 1-2 days a week would be the max that would be suitable for our family, but in reality we didn't really think there would be a way for it to actually happen.

I have a very close friend who was actually my "master" teacher when I student teaching about 6 years ago. We ended up teaching at the same school for several years and we have stayed close friends over the years. She always talked about how fun it would be to share a contract with me when I had kids one day and how I am am one of the only teachers she could partner with. We always talked about it but never really did much about it…well, this year we chatted a lot and decided that we would be willing to share a contract, but it would be an 80/20 contract. She would work four days and I would work one day. There are several hoops to jump through to get a shared contract approved and an 80/20 almost never gets approved.

Nervously, Ginger took our proposal to her principal (who has NEVER approved a shared contract in her career as a principal). I have never worked with this principal, but I was lucky enough to have her as my professor in one of my administrative credential classes, so she knew who I was. She took a few seconds to think about the situation and almost immediately said yes! She said we are the only teachers she would ever approve this contract because she knew we would do an amazing job. I was so flattered that she felt this way about us. Soon enough, the paperwork was sent to the district and it was approved! I work every Monday and Ginger works Tuesday-Friday. The best part of all...the one day a week I work covers full medical, dental and vision for my whole family, plus Aubrey gets to hang out with her Grandma Burton every Monday and she loves it!

I have to admit that I have a sweet set up. Not many people can say they work one day a week for benefits for a whole family. I am truly blessed because I get to do what I love but I don't have to deal with all the politics and unpleasant business of being a teacher. I show up one day a week VERY prepared, I give 200%, then I pack up and go home for my "6 day weekend" and if I don't end up enjoying it I don't HAVE to do it next year.

My first day back was Monday and it was super draining! I have 32 first graders and I haven't taught in over 2 years so I quickly forgot the difficulty of the first few months of first grade. However, in all that came with the first day of school, I was happy…Happy to be able to have an impact on the lives of 32 young children, happy to be working with one of my dearest friends, happy that I don't HAVE to work, and happy that I get to do what I love! I am blessed!

Aubrey's 2nd Birthday Party...

2011-08-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

After a very large and planning intensive first birthday party at our house, we decided to have a low key second birthday party for Aubrey. We still had a lot of people, but this year we decided to rent out a portion of our favorite park. We had her party a week after her actual birthday at the new Arlington Sports Park which comes complete with a large shade shelter, a park for little kids, a park for big kids, a whole spray portion where kids can get wet and lots of grass. We had the party in the late afternoon so the weather was perfect, we ordered pizza, had some kids snacks and drinks, played yard games, did a craft and played in the water. My little addition was the candy bar instead of having a piñata (since that is a tradition at all American birthday parties LOL). I recreated most of my ideas (and Jessica’s) from Jehn’s baby shower and Jessica even let me borrow all of the mason jars for the candy bar (we still need to get together so I can return them)! I was blessed by all the friends and family who came out to celebrate with us and all the help we got with set up and tear down. Our amazing friends and family surprise us with their goodness more and more each day!

Dropped the ball on a family picture (as always)…

The invitation…

Kylie doesn't want hugs from the birthday girl…

First bite of cake…

Aubs with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Caleb…

The cake started to melt…

My sister and her girlfriends stopping in for the weekend on their road trip…

Sara and the Gomez family…

The craft mug…

Craft time…

Ready to go…

Auntie Sara and Aubs…

Food…

Centerpieces…Photos and flowers…

Craft mugs…

More centerpieces…

Candy bar…

Aubrey Turns Two!!!

2011-08-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

Pondering life as a two year old…

Until you are a parent, it is hard to describe or completely understand that special love you have for your children. As each day passes, that love gets even stronger. It is an unconditional love that makes every moment joyous and exciting. I feel like we have worked hard to soak up and cherish every second Aubrey is on loan to us and really embrace the opportunities to create memories, yet the time seems to get away from us so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that we were snuggling with her tightly between us at night and changing the newborn diapers in awe of how tiny she was. I remember the day she melted my heart with her first sweet giggle and when she learned to give kisses and hugs. I remember how shocked we were at her first word (dog). I remember the moment she pulled herself up to a standing position and how excited we were when she took her first steps. Now she is 2 and I still can't believe how fast the time flies!

Aubrey turned two on June 3rd and I headed down to Oceanside and took her to the beach for the first time this year. We had a fun-filled day with some old friends and for the first time since her birth, I actually enjoyed the beach! Last year, our times at the beach weren’t very fun as she was just learning to walk and she was all over the place. She put everything in her mouth (including sand) and wouldn’t just sit down and play in the sand. Needless to say, our trips to the beach were a rarity. This time she was reluctant to just run out into the water without an adult and she loved just sitting in her beach chair eating snacks or sitting down playing in the sand. When we returned from the beach we took her out to a birthday dinner at Red Robin. She enjoyed all the attention when they sang to her.

Trying to carry all of her stuff…

"Reyaxing"

Her new infamous chicken dance…

Lounging with her buddy Josiah…

Dinner at Red Robin

Not quite sure what to think…

Daddy and a happy birthday girl...

Baby Shower for Baby Buchanan...

2011-08-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

The baby shower we planned for Jehn took place Memorial Day weekend up in San Jose. It turned out perfectly and everything about it reminded me of Jehn. It was sweet, simple and very enjoyable. We didn’t play any crazy games (just a couple of raffles) and Jessica lead a beautiful devotional about the way Christ loves us and translated it to the love a mother has for her child. We made fabric flowers (that we called Prayer Poises) that we gave as favors to each of the guests; the flowers were to be a reminder to pray for the Buchanan family and the new baby boy each time they were worn. We also had a candy bar in which we put all of the Buchanan’s favorite candies in cutely decorated mason jars. Jehn and Mike LOVE candy so this was a perfect addition to the shower. We made diaper cakes and filled the middle of them with fresh flowers and placed them on cake platters and used them as centerpieces for each table. We had such an awesome weekend visiting with Jehn and Mike and Jehn’s parents. I can’t think of a better way to spend Memorial Day weekend! Enjoy a few photos…

The invitation…

Guest of Honor and the planners…

Jehn and her Mommy…

Party Planners!

Raffle time!

Prayer Poises and Devotional…

Candy Bar…

Jehn's first look…

Verses on each table in frames…

Food!

Visit to the Dairy Farm

2011-07-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

After going through all of my old pictures I am slowly realizing how much I have forgotten to blog! Back in May Aubrey and I headed up to Riverdale to visit my friend Jessica. We were working together to plan our good friend Jehn’s baby shower so we thought we would spend a weekend getting a lot of the planning and creating done. My favorite part of the trip was the fact that Jess and the family own a dairy farm with lots of cows! I got to try raw milk for the first time (had it in my coffee every morning...delicious!) and Aubrey loved all the cows. I even got to milk a cow for the first time. The four kids had a blast playing together and I enjoyed my time getting to know Jessica better. We will definitely be visiting more often! Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Believe it or not…they don't sit on a milking stool and milk the cows into a bucket…I was shocked!!!

6-03 Aubrey's Birthday

My first time milking a cow! It was very familiar to me for some reason!

Things you should know before potty training...

2011-06-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

*WARNING: This is a really long blog for anyone who is planning on potty training in the near future, has already potty trained and totally gets it, or someone who will never have to potty train and just wants a good laugh (ie. LeAnn). DUE TO THE GRAPHIC NATURE OF THIS BLOG, VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

For someone like me who likes things in order (ie. house clean, things organized, clean clothes, clean hands, etc.) and who hates germs; potty training can turn your world upside down! I thought I lightened up a lot with my germ phobia and need for cleanliness once I had Aubrey, but I wasn't at all prepared for what was to come when I decided to potty train! Aubrey is doing so well and I am so proud of her, but the stress and out of control feeling I have is tearing me apart. After I vent about how I feel, I will list all the things you should know before getting started (*insert sarcastic tone here* since I am an expert in week one of potty training my first child and that I learned first hand).

The out of control feeling I am getting is a big bundle of a lot of issues. I feel like this is worse than the beginning stages of having a baby on the move. At least when you have a baby who isn't walking, you can tie them down for periods at a time and not worry what they are doing (ie. swing, jumper, play pen, etc.). When a potty training child is tied down (ie. sitting in chair eating lunch, riding in the car seat, sleeping in bed) their pee and poop follow them where ever they are. This has created a very stressful and out of control feeling in my life. I feel like I have to be a mind reader and CONSTANTLY be watching Aubrey more than I ever have in her entire life. I have to always be available to drop whatever I am doing (at that moment) to help her go to the bathroom (even if I am separating and cutting raw chicken).

For the first few days (except the first day which was clearly a total fluke) Aubrey didn't tell me she had to go which meant I had to closely be watching for the potty signals and make sure I ask/take her every 15-20 minutes. My life was on a timer and I felt like I could get nothing done which made me feel completely out of control in my own home. I had no idea how long kids can hold it or how often they needed to go so sometimes I would completely forget she was wearing underwear only to realize she had already had an accident (if you know me well, you already know how bad I was at changing diapers in a timely fashion anyway, so I have completely had to retrain my brain from 2 years of hardly ever changing a diaper unless it was dirty). I feel like I can't keep anything clean (floors, carpet, outside, toilets, Aubrey's butt, clothes) because the minute I clean it, it gets messed up again.

Today is day 9 of potty training and Aubrey hasn't had an awake accident in 2 days and she has woken up dry in the morning 2 times and nap most days. I am so proud of her but…

HERE IS MY HONEST OPINION OF POTTY TRAINING: I envy those who still have kids in diapers, I would so rather waste money on diapers for the convenience of not ever having to worry about it, I would choose changing a poopie diaper over cleaning a poopie toilet any day, it was never a competition for me to get her ahead of other kids her age she was just showing signs of being ready, I don't see "how it will all be worth it" as everyone says and I don't see any positives for the end result. Having a potty trained child or potty training in general is inconvenient, time consuming and exhausting. Yes, the days get easier but sometimes I wish I could wear a diaper because I don't like stopping what I am doing to go to the bathroom nonetheless stop for my child. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND POTTY TRAINING UNLESS YOU ARE 100% READY AND YOU REALLY WANT IT FOR YOUR CHILD. I see nothing wrong with waiting until right before they enter school to start potty training…even just before kindergarten…yeah it may not be socially acceptable, but who cares! I wouldn't judge you, I would envy you!

Things I learned the hard way:

*Get everything set up ahead of time. Create potty stations, with everything your child needs to get the job done (ie. wipes and toilet paper at every station, trash can, bags, books, flashcards, etc.)

*Do not, for any reason, allow your potty training child to eat endless amounts of apricots from your tree over a three day period because on day four, you will regret it!

*Don't cheer for your child until after they completely finish their business because if you cheer too soon, they will get excited and not empty their bladder in turn requiring another trip to the bathroom only minutes later.

*Naked in the house- bad idea unless you love cleaning peed on carpet.

*When they say they need to go…they need to go NOW! No putting on your shoes first or finishing a phone call or watching the end of a show…it is NOW!

*Child-size toilet- bad and good…good because it is convenient for outside, but bad for day four after your child has eaten too many apricots…cleaning it completely grosses me out and I am on the verge of barfing every time I clean it.

*Protect them at sleep times with some sort of diaper or pull up and if they wake up dry for 2 weeks straight, then put them in underwear…unless of course you love changing the crib sheet and doing endless amounts of laundry while still having endless amounts of real laundry to do.

*Do not leave the house until they have gone potty- unless you like to strip down car seats and wash them and you love putting the covers back on the car seats.

*Do not have friends over to your house on day two of potty training and expect your child to tell you when they need to go.

*Once you start it, be consistent and continue with it until they have completed the process…Clear your calendar of events for at least a week straight and plan not to leave the house and go a little crazy.

IF SOMEONE CAN SHARE THE BENEFITS OF POTTY TRAINING BESIDES THE COST OF DIAPERS…PLEASE LET ME KNOW…I AM DYING TO HEAR IT!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2011-06-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

I love when I feel special on my birthday and it is only 2:00 and I already feel so loved! I woke up to a very nice card from Andy and a very practical "Burton" gift (they are practical people and we love them for this). He got me a handsfree speaker bluetooth thingy for my car, which was much needed…considering my previous ticket for talking on the phone. Besides the gift, I know he has something very nice planned for this weekend and I can't wait…we will blog about that day when it comes. Around 9:00 my in-laws came over to truly serve me at my house. They decided that for my birthday gift they would come over and do much needed yard work! They trimmed back trees, cut all the dead leaves off of my palm tree and attacked my over grown (but valuable) sago palm. They did all of this while I was at my morning women's Bible study.

(After seeing this bad boy cleaned up, I wished I would have taken a before picture…Just imagine leaves growing all the way from the bottom of the plant and hanging over the sidewalk I never knew Sagos were supposed to look like this).

When I arrived at my Bible study, the table was nicely decorated and the wonderful ladies had flowers and homemade from scratch cupcakes for me (may I mention that they were the BEST cupcakes I have ever had, close runner with my mother-in-law's oreo cupcakes)! I have learned that I think I have a love for cupcakes! I have tried three amazing kinds of cupcakes in the past week and I am now convinced this is my new dessert…(that was totally a tangent but I had to share)!

Besides all of that, I had tons of Facebook love (although Facebook tells everyone it is my birthday) but it still makes me feel loved that people stopped what they were doing and took the time to tell me happy birthday and some of those people genuinely remembered that it was my birthday. Overall it has been a great day and I am looking forward to this weekend.

BUT THE GIFT THAT TAKES THE CAKE: AUBREY WOKE UP DRY THIS MORNING and has woke up dry from her nap the past several days! (I don't know if this will be consistent, but we will see).

Thank you to everyone who has made this day special for me! I love you all!

Potty Training Day Three and Four...

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

I love the little cheeks in the underwear!

Day three went way better than day two. She only had two accidents and ten successes. A big accomplishment was waking up dry from her nap. On day one, she went to the toilet on her own when she needed to go, I never had to ask her. That is one thing that has changed…I am now asking her every 10-15 minutes if she needs to go (she always says no) then I started setting the timer to remind her to go into the bathroom and try. That seemed to help. She did resist sitting down on the toilet several times yesterday so I decided to bring some flashcards into the bathroom to help her take her mind of the action…that seemed to help as well. One last thing I have learned is that she doesn't completely empty her bladder each time she goes so I make her try again about 15 minutes after she goes potty.

Today I went to a women's breakfast and Andy to get the whole potty training experience for the first time. She did have one accident with him but he is still getting used to understanding her signals. Other than the one accident, she has had ten successes. Tonight we are going on our first outing to a friend's house for dinner, hopefully she will be successful. Tomorrow is the big outing when we head to church…we will see how that goes.

Enjoy these cute little pictures. I have to post them because I think they are so cute and I will print this blog someday.

Flashcards while she does her business…

Potty Training Day Two..

2011-06-16T22:56:00.001-07:00

Today was completely different than yesterday. I had such high expectations for today because yesterday was so easy. Unfortunately, I had wrong expectations which may have led to why I was so disappointed. After about a 50% success rate, I quickly learned that Aubrey needs my undivided attention during this process. A friend and her son come over to play today for about 4 hours and I am sure that was a bad idea on my part. First of all, I was busy talking to my friend and not fully paying attention to Aubrey's signals and secondly, she was having too much fun to stop and tell me she needed to go potty. Then, this evening I cooked a large meal for four of our friends and Aubrey's little buddy Micah came over again for dinner. Again, my attention was divided and at one point I completely forgot Aubrey was wearing underwear. By the time I realized I hadn't checked on her in a while, she was already wet.

By the end of the night, I am in one word EXHAUSTED. I feel a bit defeated and mad at myself for not being more attentive to Aubrey's needs. It wasn't her fault at all, it was mine for overbooking our day. Tomorrow is a new day and I know what I did wrong so hopefully I will be rested and renewed with a new mindset. Still in need of prayers…

Aubrey's Potty Chart

Potty Training Day One...

2011-06-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the day I decided to start potty training. Aubrey has been asking me for months if she can go potty. I keep telling her "next week." Honestly, I wasn't ready for her to potty train because it all sounded so inconvenient. It has been nice knowing that she has a diaper on at all times and I can jump in the car and go anywhere and let her do her business without issues. The idea of always having to remember to ask her if she needs to go potty and constantly feeling like I have to check her "just in case" was not appealing to me. So many friends told me that if I didn't potty train when she showed interest, then it could get a lot harder later. With that constantly running through my head, I finally decided to buckle down and just do it. It took about a month for me to find a week where we didn't have anything going on for at least 3 consecutive days. I want to make sure I am consistent and not just do a little here and there.

When she woke up yesterday I was ready to start, but I was planning on letting her wear her diaper during breakfast and start after that. Well, once I realized I had not a single diaper in the house, that moment is when I had to begin. It was such a stressful feeling knowing that at any time she could have an accident, so I decided to go outside (thanks Hayley for the idea). I took her little toilet outside and let her run without diaper or underwear. I explained that if she needed to go potty that she sit down on the toilet and go in the toilet (at this point I didn't even know if she even knew what the sensation felt like). Of course, she went to the toilet about 3 times back and forth to try it out and sit down. At one point I saw her grabbing her bottom several times, running to the toilet, sitting down then getting back up. Finally, she ran to the toilet, sat down and went #2! Her first thing in the toilet was #2!!!! I cheered for her, gave her a sticker on her sticker chart and gave her a Skittle.

Throughout the rest of the day, she went to the toilet on her own and went potty all day on her own without me having to ask her. Clearly, she understood the feeling of needing to go so I was happy about that. We survived the entire day without one pee or poo outside of the toilet except for the nap time accident in which I put her in underwear (because I had nothing else) but she definitely wasn't ready for that. She wore big girl underwear all day long and I never had to change another pair.

Overall, we had a very successful first day, but who knows what today will bring.

Blog slacking and 23 months...

2011-05-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how time can pass so quickly. I can't believe my last real blog was in April when Aubrey turned 22 months. In just a week and a half she will be two so I better get out some photos and a quick update about her 23rd month. So much has gone on in the last few months that I really haven't been motivated to sit down and blog about it. Blogging sometimes feels like a chore and when I feel obligated or mandated to do something, my natural reaction is to rebel! I get over that quickly when I have a boss hovering over my head or someone is paying me :) but as far as keeping up with all the things I would love to do in my personal life ie. blogging, printing pictures, digital scrapbooking, etc. I end up finding other things to do...in short, if I was getting paid to blog. I would post daily!

Aubrey's 23rd month was a learning experience, yet again! Like every month, she is really coming into her personality and she know specifically what she wants. Especially what she wants to wear! The getting dressed battle started a few weeks ago when she had a complete meltdown over what I picked for her to wear. I asked for advice from friends about how I should approach this new phase in parenting and most friends said to give her two options. That worked for a bit of time, then she got too smart and decided that my options weren't good enough and she wanted to pick...which brought us back to square one! Thankfully, this isn't a daily occurrence, but I never know what our morning will bring. I guess this is just one of the many things I will have to learn as I go, while raising a toddler.

One of the outfits she chose...well, it was her PJs from the night before, but at least the boots she chose matched!

Funny things this month:

As we work on helping Aubrey to annunciate words correctly, we have a habit of repeating what she says in a more clear and concise manner. Well, she has quickly learned to use that to her advantage to turn her idea into our idea...Example- Aubrey: "Mommy, I want to go outside." Me: "You want to go outside?" Aubrey: "OK!"

Whenever she gets to roam free in store of any sort, she loves to pretend she is browsing and goes up to all sorts of things and says "ahhh that's so cute!" She also loves to do that passionate "ahh that's so cute" when she sees something in a book or something I am doing. I was making a diaper cake for a baby shower and gluing buttons onto the cake and she said it. She was looking through a book with puppies and she said it.

Mother's Day...2011

2011-05-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

This year, I got to celebrate mother's day with my mom and dad. It has been over 10 years since I have actually been with my mom on mother's day so I wanted to make it special for her. I planned a whole spa day for the the two of us and we had a wonderful day of much needed relaxation. Most of our week was consumed with eating out and shopping. My dad even came down for a few days it was very special to have my parents around. On Mother's Day we went to church then celebrated at Andy's parents house for a BBQ. Here are some photos from my parent's visit and Mother's Day...

My beautiful mom and me...

Saying goodbye to Opa...

Opa, Oma and Aubrey...

22 months...

2011-04-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

We are creeping up on the 2 year mark and I am loving every moment! Aubrey is new every morning and is full of energy and joy.

Silly Milestones: sings alphabet song, identifys all colors of rainbow, counts to 15 with a blur of numbers to 20, very good at saying "please," "thank you," "you're welcome," "excuse me," and "bless you" in context, but we are working on choosing "excuse me" over "watch out!"

I got to take Aubrey to the park with a friend and her son to get some photos of him telling the world that he was going to be a big brother, it was a hot day and they got very sweaty, but they had a blast.

Aubrey breaks the news to Daddy...

2011-04-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

World Travelers...well...travelers!

2011-03-19T20:09:00.001-07:00

The last couple weeks of February and the first week of March were quite busy for our family. I started by meeting my mom halfway in San Jose to drop off Aubrey so they could watch her while Andy and I enjoyed a baby free vacation. I spent the night in San Jose and turned around and headed back to Riverside only to fly out the next day to Costa Rica for a week. This was Andy's annual company trip that he has earned for the past five years. I will finish blogging about Costa Rica in separate posts. We returned from our trip on a Sunday at midnight and I had to head for the airport at 4pm on Monday to fly up to Eureka to pick up Aubrey. I was home less than 24 hours and had to unpack, do all the laundry and repack for winter weather.

I reunited with Aubrey on Tuesday morning and we stayed with my family until Saturday. We did a lot of eating and visiting with friends and family and I even got to do a photo shoot of one of my old friends from elementary school and her daughter. Aubrey had the time of her life at Oma and Opa's house. All of my siblings live in Eureka and my niece and nephews all live there as well, so Aubrey stayed busy and well entertained the entire time. When I asked my mom if Aubrey had any tantrums or issues when she didn't get what she wanted my mom replies with "NO, NOT AT ALL, BECAUSE I GAVE HER EVERYTHING SHE WANTED." Hence the fact that Aubrey asked for macaroni and cheese when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast and responded with "Macaroni and Cheese College" when asked what college she wanted to attend.

Couple of my favs from the photoshoot with my friend Maria...and her daughter who turned one.

Stomping around in her cousin Madison's "galoshes boots" as she calls them...

Power tools...

Oma and Aubs...

Aubrey and two of three cousins...

Going for a motorcycle ride with my crazy brother!

Aubs driving the only BMW she will ever drive, with Opa!

Taking lessons from cousin Madison

We flew into LA on Saturday afternoon then headed straight down to San Diego until Tuesday. Andy had a realtor show down there and one of my best friends from college, Cassie was visiting so it worked out perfectly. Aubrey and I went to the zoo with Cassie and her entire family and had a blast. It was great to finally meet all of Cassie's family they are awesome! Aubs had so much fun with Cassie's nephew Kenan.

We met Larry David at the zoo LOL (Cassie's Dad looks just like LD, but his name is Skip)...

Aubrey cuddling with Uncle Bill (Cassie's hubby) on the buckets that take you across the zoo...

Kisses from Auntie Cassie on the buckets

Besties hanging with the sea lions....

Aubs and Kenan having fun...

Her favorite part of the zoo was the the park and slides of course!

So sweet...

Aubs was supposed to be sleeping I go out on Zach and LeAnn's patio to find her looking out the window and talking...

Her reaction was priceless when she saw me...

Walking home from the park after a fun weekend in San Diego...

21 months...

2011-03-14T16:41:00.000-07:00

I barely made it home from our trips with enough time to celebrate Aubrey's 21 month birthday. We celebrated by heading out to a fun little spot and played in the rain. I was scoping out new places to take pictures in Eureka and I found a cool bridge that Aubrey had fun walking across and looking at all the cows and horses in the pastures.

This month was a difficult one...between travel and kinks in our schedule, Aubrey was not herself. I thought it was due to the fact that she is getting closer to two years old, but later realized she was under a lot of stress some how sensing that we were going to be leaving her. She was throwing about 3 tantrums a day and making everything we did very difficult. We felt like we were walking on eggshells wondering when her next meltdown would happen. Fortunately for us, once we returned from our vacation and got to embrace our sweet little girl, everything changed and she was back to her normal self...full of personality, engaging anyone around her and talking more than most three-four year olds. There is no communication barrier in our family and for that, I am thankful.

A new phrase for the month: "Oh my gosh!" When she first said this I was completely caught off guard. Then realized that she is a little parrot and definitely gets that from us. It is a very regular thing for us to say when we are annoyed, shocked, frustrated, etc. The other day we had friends over for dinner, she asked me to do something for her, I said not right now, then she said "oh my gosh" with a sigh and walks away like a teenage girl! I was shocked, but couldn't help but secretly laugh after telling her she needed to change her attitude and not talk to me like that!

I love the toddler years so far as she gets more of a personality each day. She wakes up so happy every day and I love our evening family play sessions after dinner rolling around on the carpet being really loud and silly. Parenthood has been such a joy!

Costa Rica Days 1 and 2...

2011-02-22T17:12:00.001-08:00

After about 15 hours of traveling, we made it to Costa Rica safe and sound. We arrived to our hotel around 1:00 in the afternoon so it gave us the full day to enjoy the wonderful surroundings. So far, Costa Rica has been everything I dreamed of and more. As we travelled to the resort from the airport, our tour guide enlightened us to so many new facts that verify for me why I knew I would love this place. He said that Costa Ricans have a 97% literacy rate in their country and that after the government stopped funding the army, all of that money went to fund education. I was impressed by how important education is to the culture. Elementary through high school is free and mandatory while a majority of universities are public (free) and if your family can’t afford college it can be free.

“Costa Rica has the second best coffee in the world,” said Minor our tour guide. “But that’s because Columbia, Nicaragua and a few other countries fight for first. No one fights for second so we have the second best coffee in the world!” The variety and amount of fruit that is fresh and growing year around was impressive. Mangos, pineapples, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, avocados, etc. are all in season and growing wildly around us. Costa Rica is also the one of the biggest exporters of pineapple. The best thing our tour guide said was that Costa Ricans are genuinely happy people because they have everything they need and a little more. Therefore, when they greet us and say they are glad we are here to visit, they mean it with all sincerity. Tourism has been a huge contributor to their economy within the past 10 years so they love having tourists come to visit. We have definitely felt a warm welcome and have only been here two days.

Today consisted of a short hike, volleyball in the pool, horse and knock-out in the pool, eating and tanning. Tomorrow we head out to the Congo Trail Canopy Tour to go zip lining.

The welcome reception the night we arrive...

View from my hike...

View from our room...

Another view from the room...

Flying into Costa Rica...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

This morning Aubs and I made some Valentine's Day cookies that I found at the 99 cent store. When I say "made" I mean we placed pre-mixed and pre-cut cookies on a baking sheet and put them in the oven. I hate making cookies! If I want a cookie type thing I normally take a cookie recipe and make them into bars which are way easier and less messy! She also ~~scribbled~~ drew a picture for Andy with markers (her first time) and made him a special star cookie that says "Dad is my star." I love this age because there are so many fun things we can do together.

CBU was doing a fundraiser for their ISP (International Service Project) group and offered babysitting from 5pm-10pm for just $10/kid. Andy and I thought it was a great deal and for a great cause and we would take advantage of it. We called last minute (Sunday night) to get a reservation at a restaurant called Creola. Our friend's daughter works there and it is known to have high quality delicious food. Unfortunately, they were fully booked for Valentine's Day...but fortunately for us, our friend's daughter was still able to get us a reservation for 6:45 and we went there for dinner. I got the rack of lamb and Andy got the fillet mignon. The food was great but I found the ambiance and clientele to be quite silly. The decor was definitely a grandma's house style (complete with plastic table cloths, floral seat cushions on kitchen chairs, and hats!) and the customers were 60 years or older! It was very quaint if you will, but the quality of the food was outstanding. No date in our marriage would be complete without a trip to Costco (my favorite store ever) where we did a little shopping and got frozen yogurt and a churro for dessert. We had a great night, but didn't take any pictures.

Here are a few pictures of Aubs making cookies...

Pre-mixed, pre-cut, pre-decorated cookies are the best!

After she laid them all out, she decided to count each one by stacking them in a pile...

Waiting patiently...

Rolling out the left over dough for daddy's special cookie...

Turning white frosting into pink frosting...

Getting the card ready...

"Dad is my star"

20 Months Old...

2011-02-13T20:55:00.000-08:00

Aubrey turned 20 months on the 3rd and we can't believe how much she has changed! Her vocabulary alone is so impressive. I am happy to say that I can fully verbally communicate with her now which makes my life a lot easier. She knows what she wants and needs and tells me and I know what she wants and needs and can help her. This all to say, that we aren't without tantrums! Yes, she can communicate with words what she wants, but if she doesn't get what she wants, she has a way of showing it (but what toddler doesn't?)!

She can mumble off most of the alphabet, count to ten (most of the time in order LOL), identify her colors by pointing (although when asked what color something is, her response is always "yellow") and she will basically repeat ANYTHING you say with perfect annunciation. She would be a great candidate for commercials, although we would never do that!

I would say the most impressive thing right now is that she is amazing with association. I will say a name of one of her friends and she will say their mother's name. Here are a few of her other associations: "Disneyland" = " Scared of Nicky Mouse" (yes, with "n") "Uncle Matt" = "Hunter" (her cousin), "Aunt LeAnn" = "Uncle Zach, Hucy" (Lucy their dog), "Grandma and Grandpa" = "Uncle Caleb" (he lives with them). "Auntie Jehn and Uncle Mike" = "Oreo and Pepe" (their dogs' names well, Orly and Pepe). She also associates kids names with the toys they have at their house..."We are going to Micah's house" = "Dancing Nicky Mouse." Most recently, I was getting her dressed with an outfit that has gray and pink striped pants and the top has gray and pink stars on it, when I pulled out the pants she immediately said "comfy star shirt" before I ever took out the shirt. She even knows how to make outfits! LOL

Her interests this month:

Drawing "yellow cars" and "motorcycles" with a pen on paper, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, play-doh, exploring the outdoors, gymnastics, reading, mud, dogs, playing guitar, slides, swings, and her Leap frog computer from Auntie Niki and Uncle Ferenc.

So far, the toddler years are my favorite as I watch her come into her personality. Andy and I always say she is a little human and we are so blessed! Getting pictures is a little harder these days as she is always on the go, but here are a few I got today.

Balance beam...

"Too high, Mommy."

Her "coolster" shoes she insisted on wearing with her dress.

Silly Girl Coming Into Her Personality...

2011-01-31T23:03:00.000-08:00

Andy and I can spend hours observing Aubrey and everything she does. She provides us with so much entertainment and we love to soak up all the moments we can spend watching her learn and grow. Here are a couple videos that illustrate perfectly her sweet little personality.

In this first video, she was drawing a picture and she told us what she was drawing...A Yellow Car! At the end of the video I tell her "I Love You" and she responds with...

In this video, she thinks hard about what she will draw then tells us she is drawing a picture of all of her uncles.

Tips for making household chores a manageable task...

2011-01-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

If any of you women are anything like me, the thought of cleaning and maintaining a two-story, 2000 square foot home is a bit overwhelming. Half the days I have no rhyme or reason to my tactics and I am barely keeping my head above water as I try to keep up on laundry, sort through mail, keep the house tidy on a daily basis, meal plan, grocery shop and cook each meal; meanwhile wondering how I will ever attack the bigger projects around the house like cleaning blinds, baseboards, oven, fridge, etc.

After reading through a book called "Cleaning Up the Clutter" by Emilie Barnes I came across a neat idea for organizing the household chores in a way that makes them more manageable. Normally I see the big picture as a huge pile of chores instead of simply breaking down the chores into a little bit each day to make them easier to attack. With the ideas from Emilie Barnes and some customizing to my needs, I came up with this list of tasks that should be done daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, biannually and annually. In the book, she suggests that if something comes up ie. lunch with a friend and you miss one of your weekly chores (say on a Tuesday; vacuuming) that you don't pile that task onto Wednesday, but simply skip it for the week and get it done the next Tuesday.

Hopefully this will be a helpful tool to making your life a little easier. It isn't so bad when you break it up and much easier to do a little every day than spending hours cleaning something that hasn't been cleaned in months.

*Note: I am a stay at home mom so household chores are part of my full time job. Working moms should customize this to their time and availability. Certain tasks may not be feasible on a daily or weekly basis.

Daily Chores:

Wash Dishes

Make Beds

Check Bathrooms

Pick up rooms

Pick up kitchen

Open and file mail

Weekly Chores:

Monday: at least one load of laundry, vacuum and mop master bath, stock bathrooms, menu plan, grocery shop

Tuesday: sweep and mop kitchen, dust and vacuum downstairs, clean downstairs bathroom, gather all household trash for trash day

Wednesday: one load of laundry, vacuum and dust upstairs, clean guest bathroom, clean showers

Thursday: wash bed linens, towels and remaining laundry, clean up outside

Friday: vacuum, dust and mop downstairs, clean out car, take action file (this is a file I keep with things I need to take care of like phone calls, mailing something, etc.)

Saturday: Quarterly chore

Monthly Chores:

(You have a week to work on these chores so you can do them slowly throughout the week or simply do it on a day with lighter chores like laundry day where there will be lots of in between time.)

Week 1: Clean refrigerator (take everything out, wipe it down inside and out, reorganize)

Week 2: Clean oven, dust ceiling fans

Week 3: Clean and dust baseboards and doors

Week 4: Straighten and organize garage

Quarterly Chores:

Straighten drawers

Clean windows

Go through clothes and donate

Fold and organize linen closet

Clean and organize shoe closet

Clean blinds

Clean out cabinets

Move furniture and vacuum

Biannually

Clean Screens

Rearrange furniture

Annually

Wash curtains

Clean carpets

Prune trees

Clean out garage and donate or yard sale

*Please let me know if there is anything you would add.*

Disneyland Take Two...

2011-01-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

We decided to take a second shot at Disneyland since the first time wasn't anything to brag about. This time around we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. We headed down on Monday around 9:45 and got there at 10:30, it took us about an hour to park and get into the park but it wasn't horrible. The weather was a cool 78 degrees and there wasn't more than a 15 minute wait for any of the rides we went on. Aubrey was a PERFECT angel, she had no meltdowns and she was soaking up all of the attention passer byers were giving to her. She admired all of the wonderful decor and her favorite part was seeing one of the Disney princesses walk through our area when we were sitting down eating lunch. The best part about the whole trip...we didn't spend a dime! We packed our own lunch and had an awesome family day, spending about 5 hours there and headed home early enough to miss the traffic. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our day.

As we were leaving the park, we saw Mickey Mouse was out and taking pictures with people. We thought it would be fun to get a picture with him since Aubrey has never met Mickey. When she saw him from afar, she was so excited to see him but when we got up close she freaked out! She clung to me for dear life!

I love this one of Aubs cuddling with Daddy. We took the train ride around the park and she said "I cuddle Daddy" of course he couldn't resist squeezing his baby girl.

After many attempts and a bit finger...we got this great shot of me and Aubs...

She was over taking so many pictures so instead of telling me...she just bit me!

I just thought this was funny...

So we had no meltdowns, but our first ride of the day was Pirates of the Caribbean, we sat front row and I didn't know how wet and scary the ride can be. At the start of the ride there is a fast drop in the dark and we got pretty wet. She did cry and cling to me the rest of the ride. Above is a picture of her with wet hair and eating lunch.

Shouting "hooray" after seeing the Disney princess...

Celebrating my Husband's Achievements...

2011-01-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

Whenever someone asks Andy what he does for a living he answers "I sell engraved knives to realtors." I love his simple and vague response because people always think he is joking. The truth is, he does sell knives to realtors...really good knives (Cutco) and they use them as closing gifts for their clients. He has been selling Cutco since 1999 and that is the only job he has had since I have known him. People always wonder how he can support a family and me not work (outside the home) while simply selling knives. It is possible and he finished 7th in the nation for sales reps. I love that he works for Vector because they really take care of him. We travel all over the world for incentive trips, they wine and dine us as rewards for his accomplishments and our house is full of plaques, trophies and swords that he earns for different sales contests.

Each January, the company hosts a Year End Banquet that rewards reps for their sales accomplishments for the year prior. Reps who hit certain goals receive different rewards. One of the things we get to do each year is dress up fancy, have appetizers and champagne, get our photos taken, take charter buses to a nice restaurant and have dinner with other reps who have achieved this level in sales. It is a nice night to get together with friends we have made over the past 10 years and meet new reps who have accomplished this level for the first time.

I love any reason to get fancy and I can always rely on the Academy of Champions dinner to give me my annual fix. Aubrey spent the night with Andy's parents for the first time and we headed to Hollywood for a nice night out. We had a lot of fun and I am so proud of Andy! Here are a few pictures from the event.

The two of us all fancy...

The whole outfit...

Make-up close and personal done by my friend Amy Cooper

Trying New Things...Play Doh!

2011-01-16T19:01:00.001-08:00

I don't know if any of you moms are at all like me, but sometimes I get so used to my routine with Aubs that as she gets older, I forget to try new things. I was guilty of this when she was a baby too. I would forget that she was old enough for new toys or new adventures. Just the other day I saw a video of my friend's son (who is about 3 months younger than Aubrey) playing with Play Doh. I realized that it was time to introduce her to every kid's dream...Play Doh! Fortunately, she embarked on the adventure without the urge to put it in her mouth (I was actually pretty surprised). Here are a few pictures of her first time with Play Doh.

Pesto, Pasta and Peas!

2011-01-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

Here is a recipe my friend Mandy shared with me. It is found on Food Network, Recipes on TV, Ina Garten. She made it for a delicious lunch play date for Aubs and me. She also added grilled chicken to the top for some protein. This is great served hot, room temperature or cold. We had it cold and it was so good. I am not even going to attempt to calculate the Weight Watchers points on this one! I say, make a batch (makes 12 servings), invite some friends over, have your serving and send the leftovers with the guests. This can be dangerous if it sits around your house!

Fresh Basil before making pesto...

Basil after making fresh pesto. Once recipe is complete, I will upload a picture.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds bow tie pasta
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 1/2 cups pesto (packaged or see recipe below)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 cups good mayonnaise
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, defrosted
1/3 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the bow ties in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until each pasta is al dente. Drain and toss into a bowl with the olive oil. Cool to room temperature.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and puree. Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta and then add theParmesan, peas, pignoli, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

Pesto:

1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pignoli (pine nuts)
3 tablespoons chopped garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignoli, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 15 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is thoroughly pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Use right away or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

Notes: Air is the enemy of pesto. For freezing, pack it in containers with a film of oil or plastic wrap directly on top with the air pressed out.

To clean basil, remove the leaves, swirl them in a bowl of water, and then spin them very dry in a salad spinner. Store them in a closed plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel. As long as the leaves are dry they will stay green for several days.

Yield: 4 cups

Worst Mom Award...

2011-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

On Christmas night I officially earned the "Worst Mom" Award. Aubrey had a poopie diaper so laid her down to change her, took her diaper off, wiped her and asked Andy to grab the diaper bag out of the car. When I got the diaper bag, I realized I had NO diapers! I freaked out then realized I could just run up to the store real quick...forgetting it was Christmas at 7:30 p.m. Thankfully, CVS was open for another 30 minutes so Aubrey had to wear this festive "cloth diaper" in the meantime...It's amazing what a little duck tape and a Christmas dish towel can do! Don't judge!

Sweet and Sour Chicken with Rice...

2011-01-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

I devoted this week to cook every night from the crock pot. To make it easy, I used one cookbook. This week's pick is the Pillsbury Slow Cooker Recipes book that my wonderful sister-in-law LeAnn got me for Christmas last year. We really enjoyed this dinner and it is only 8 pts per serving which includes 1 cup of rice. Serves 8.

Ingredients:

1-20oz. can pineapple chunks in unsweetened juice

1 cup fresh baby carrots, cut in half

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon finely chopped gingerroot

2 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces

1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 medium red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup cornstarch

Chopped fresh parsley, if desired

Directions:

1. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Place pineapple chunks in small bowl; cover and refrigerate

2. In slow cooker, combine carrots, onion, garlic and ginger; mix well. Top with chicken. In small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar and reserved pineapple juice; mix well. Pour over chicken.

3. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours (I cooked mine on high for 3 hours)

4. About 35 minutes before serving, cook rice. Then stir pineapple and bell peppers into chicken mixture. Increase heat setting to high; cover and cook 20 minutes.

5. In small bowl, blend 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Stir into chicken mixture. Cover and cook on high setting for an additional 10 minutes. Stir parsley into rice. Serve chicken mixture with rice.

Brie and Caramelized Onion Puff Recipe...

2011-01-04T13:31:00.000-08:00

I found this recipe on the 5 Ingredient Fix on Food Network and made this delicious appetizer for the first time on Thanksgiving. I have since made it about 12 times. It has been a crowd pleaser wherever I go. I always have these basic ingredients in my fridge if an unexpected guest arrives. Remember, this recipe makes 2 pastries. I normally just make one and cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
2 sheets frozen puffed pastry, thawed according to box instructions
2 (5-inch) rounds Brie cheese
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and saute until just brown, about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook stirring often, until dark golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. This is important or the hot onions will melt through the pastry and it will make a mess.

Unfold the pastry sheets. Divide the caramelized onions in the center of each pastry. Put a brie round on top of the onions and brush edges of both pastry squares with beaten egg. Fold pastry up and over cheese to completely enclose the cheese in the pastry. Press the seams together to completely seal. Arrange each pastry round, seam side down, on a silicone mat or parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the top of each pastry round with beaten egg. Bake until golden brown. 20 to 25 minutes. Let stand 15 to 20 minutes before indulging. Serve with crackers or fresh bread. Enjoy!

19 Months old and Aubrey's first trip to Disneyland...

2011-01-04T00:54:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Andy and I received season passes to Disneyland from his parents. I have been so excited about one day taking Aubrey and Andy has slowly come around to the thought that Disneyland may possibly be enjoyable (not his idea of fun). We decided that since Monday was a little drizzly and most kids went back to school it may be a good day to try it out for the first time. I have only been to Disneyland twice and the last time Andy was there was about 9 years ago. Andy put in a day of work then we headed down around 4:30. By the time we got there it was dark. Going to Disneyland for the first time at dark wouldn't be something I would recommend. Neither of us knew our way around so it was a little tough to navigate with the map.

19 months: I blogged her 18 month milestone pretty late so 18 and 19 months are pretty close. One new thing this month is stalling...Aubrey has started to stall before naps or bedtime...extra kisses, more hugs, another book, another prayer, more water, etc. We find it quite amusing that she already understands this concept. Of course, I take advantage of the extra cuddles I now receive before bed. Staying up 10 minutes longer won't hurt her :)

Trapped in the bars waiting for Casey's train ride...

Taking it all in on "It's a Small World"

Pushing her stroller...

Checking out all the lights on It's a Small World...

All of us on Dumbo...Aubrey loved it but Mommy got a little sick...

Daddy and Aubs on Dumbo...

Watching the fireworks...

Family picture in front of the Christmas tree on our way out... before the meltdown.

And...the meltdown...She so desperately wanted to walk, but she didn't just want to walk, she wanted to push her own stroller. Imagine a 19 month old pushing a stroller in the middle of a crowded theme park at night...not the best idea...needless to say...she didn't get her way this time. Of course, I had to snap a picture because what Disneyland trip would be complete without a tantrum? Luckily Aubrey's tantrums last less than a minute and she is happy again.

We were all over it, but had to snap one last shot before we left.

Ok, maybe one more...

The end result on the way home...snacks in hand 10 pm.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Muffins...Weight Watchers 3 pt.s

2011-01-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

I don't share a recipe unless it is delicious. My friend gave me this recipe before Weight Watchers changed all of their points and they used to be 2 points but now they are 3 still so worth it to me!

1- 15oz. can pumpkin, plain

1 spice cake mix

1 package cinnamon chips (Hershey's 10 oz. package)

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease 24 regular sized muffin cups

Combine all ingredients and mix well

Fill muffin cups full and bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

*I was told that cinnamon chips are seasonal so stock up now. I bought three packs because the muffins were so yummy! Great with a hot cup of coffee or tea! Enjoy!

Christmas 2010...New Traditions...

2010-12-31T11:48:00.000-08:00

This was the first year in my life that I was away from my family for Christmas. It was hard, but not as bad as I thought it would be. We decided since we have a family of our own now, it was time to start our own traditions and wake up in our own home for Christmas morning. Running around on Christmas day (like we hear of so many people doing) didn't appeal to either of us, we just wanted to relax, have a nice breakfast and enjoy our time. On Christmas Eve, we went to the family Christmas Eve service at our church (the first service we have ever attended at our own church in 10 years) then we headed to Andy's parents' house for tamales and a nice evening of hanging out. We didn't get home until around 11:30 p.m. then we all slept in. Andy's brother Zach and his wife LeAnn stayed at our house on Christmas Eve and we all opened our presents together Christmas morning. Since Aubrey wasn't in bed until 11:30 we had to wake her up at 10:15 on Christmas morning! We opened our presents and enjoyed a nice breakfast then later in the afternoon we went to Andy's parents' house for a delicious prime rib dinner.

New Tradition:

I have a hard time with Christmas in general because I am disappointed by how commercialized it has become and how the whole meaning of Christmas and the birth of our savior has been so diminished and taken over by gifts, crazy behavior, overspending, last minute obligatory shopping, going into debt for the new year, etc. I have been guilty of focusing on all the wrong things at Christmas too. One thing that gets to me most is when I watch kids open gifts and they tear through their gifts not taking time to enjoy them and be thankful to the person who gave them the gift; almost expecting that they be given gifts. Andy and I really want to make sure that we focus on teaching Aubrey about the gift of our Savior and how this season is a time to give and be thankful for what we have.

This year, we decided to start a tradition with Aubrey (that I have heard about) of simply giving her three gifts like Jesus received...1. something that she needs 2. something that she wants 3. something she can share. This way, she can take time to enjoy her presents and be thankful for what she gets. This also keeps Andy and I in check for not going overboard with Christmas. As she gets older, we will go through all of her toys before every Christmas and donate a bunch of her old ones so she can learn to give to others in need. We had such an enjoyable time watching her LOVE all of her gifts and really take the time to play with each one. It was a nice relaxing time with family. Here are a few pictures of our time...

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (Our New Year's card picture)

Christmas afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Burton's house.

This is pretty much the only picture I took of her in her Christmas Eve dress...missing one shoe and opening the traditional pajamas (so she can get out of that ridiculous dress!) I always wonder why velvet and itchy = Christmas outfits for kids. I swore I would never put her in one of those dresses, but that didn't last long.

Reading the story of Christmas...and drinking a smoothie of course.

Opening her stocking...

Checking out her new kitchen...

Her kitchen she got from us...(Something to share)

Something that she wants (she sat on Santa's lap and asked for a bike...we all heard it!)

Walking in Aunt LeAnn's heels...

Her big gift from Grandma and Grandpa Burton...A double outside slide and playhouse!

The double slide!

So excited about her new puppy.

Her new Jellycat puppy from Uncle Zach...(her new favorite animal)

She got a Dyson from Aunt LeAnn...

My Weight loss Journey through 2010 and My New Year's Goal...

2010-12-31T10:29:00.001-08:00

Sharing this story with the public is a hard thing for me to do because no one wants the world to know that they are over weight, but I feel like sharing will help keep me accountable to living a healthy lifestyle.

Once Aubrey was about 5 months (November 2009) old I finally lost the 40 pounds I gained in pregnancy and got back to my pre-pregnancy weight. There was one problem...my pre-pregnancy weight was still about 30 pounds heavier than my healthy weight range for my age and height. We went to Puerto Rico in February of this year and after looking at all the pictures, I realized it was time to finally get rid of those 30 extra pounds that I gained shortly after we got married 5 years ago.

I had several friends who did Weight Watchers and were very successful so I decided I would fully devote and make an effort to really lose the weight. I always tried to lose weight on my own, which I was successful at doing, but slowly I found the weight again! I joined Weight Watchers in March of this year and hit my weight loss goal at the end of June. At Weight Watchers, once you hit your goal weight (a weight that is in the healthy weight range for your age and height) and keep it off for 6 weeks, you become a Lifetime Member in which you no longer have to pay to be a member of Weight Watchers. You stay a Lifetime Member as long as you never go more than 2 pounds over your healthy weight and weigh in at least once a month. My ultimate goal was to become a Lifetime Member because I hate paying people to do what I should easily be able to do on my own, but I knew I needed the accountability of going to meetings and weighing in each week or I would slack off. Six weeks after I hit my goal weight, I became a Lifetime Member and have kept the weight off since June!

My 2011 Goal:

I told myself once I hit Lifetime Member I would join a gym so I was only paying for one thing. I finally joined a gym after Thanksgiving so I will start small...3 hours at the gym a week (preferably 3 times a week for an hour) and stay a Lifetime Member the entire year while continuing to live a healthy lifestyle. I have started off good at the gym but have only made it about 1-3 times a week so far...it helps that I have a partner to keep me accountable. Lastly, I will leave you with my my horrible before picture and my after picture. The comparison is pretty embarrassing, but I figure if I share with the world, I will be more embarrassed if I gain the weight back...38 pounds later here I am...

Dec 2009/Dec 2010

(I don't remember being this big...must have been a bad angle LOL)

Hard Working Husband...

2010-12-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

I am overwhelmed by how God has blessed us this year and how He has provided Andy with the capacity and drive to work so hard to support our family. Andy is so devoted to God, his family and work and he does a great job balancing the everything as he is the sole provider of our family. Each year, his company offers an incentive trip for the top producers and this is the 5th year Andy has earned the trip. I have been lucky enough to go on 4 of the 5 trips. He has earned a Caribbean cruise, a trip to Puerto Vallarta, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and this year it is Costa Rica! We are unbelievably excited to go to Costa Rica in February as this was our original dream destination for our honeymoon, but it didn't work out. We have both been wanting to go there for years and when Andy found out he could earn an all-expenses paid trip to Costa Rica, he was determined to work hard to earn it.

There are different levels of sales you have to meet to earn the trip. The destination this year is a lot more expensive so the sales levels to earn the trip increased. The first level simply qualifies you for the trip but you have to pay $1200 to go. At the second level you only have to pay $900 to go. When you qualify at the third level you only have to pay $600 and the fourth level is $300. The final level qualifies you for the trip and you get to go completely free! This is the second year Andy has qualified at the final level and we have taken a 7 day all-inclusive trip for free!

He has worked so hard to meet his annual sales goals and his sales have significantly increased since we got married. I am so proud of how hard he works yet how flexible his schedule is so he doesn't miss out on the huge milestones in Aubrey's life. We know Andy wouldn't have been successful without God's abundant blessings and we are so thankful for His faithfulness in our lives. Last year we took Aubrey with us, but this year my parents will be watching her for 10 days. That will be the hardest part about going to Costa Rica. Here is a little glimpse of where we will be going in February...We are staying at the Hilton Papagayo Resort and Spa!

18 months old...

2010-12-27T23:22:00.000-08:00

Aubrey turned 18 months old on December 3rd and she is growing up so much. She is a little adult and she makes us laugh all day long. I don't know where to start because she has changed so much. This month was the month it really hit me that she is no longer a baby, but a little girl.

SHE WANTS TO POTTY TRAIN!

One of the most amazing things this month was when I found her playing in the toilet...when I caught her with her arm down the toilet and half of the toilet paper off of the roll, I asked her what happened...she said "I want to go potty." I decided to take her diaper off and set her on the toilet...she went potty, grabbed the toilet paper and wiped herself! I was really surprised that she would find interest in this so early, but all of my friends are saying I should take advantage of the time when she actually wants to go.

We bought her underwear for Christmas, but not because we have the intention of potty training, but because Aubrey loves to be naked. All her clothes "hurt" her. Whenever I get her dressed she says "Mommy shirt hurt" or "Mommy pants hurt" or "No namas" (pajamas). Once I take off all of her clothes, she automatically wants her diaper off and she runs around. When I put the underwear over her diaper she is fine. This is a pretty funny sight to see, but sometimes getting her dressed can be a huge ordeal.

SHE IS LEARNING SPANISH!

She is a sponge and she can understand and repeat pretty much anything we tell her, we say or what she sees on t.v. Something shocking happened the other day when we realized a word she had been saying all along. As with all toddlers, some of the words Aubrey says aren't always pronounced perfectly but 95% of the time we can understand what she is saying. For about two months now, when she wanted something opened she kept holding things up to us and saying "abre" we knew what she was saying meant open, but we wondered why she said "abre" instead of "open" suddenly it clicked..."abre" is Spanish for "open!" Spanish is a dear language to Andy and my heart as we both minored in it and I studied abroad in Spain. We always say Spanish words to Aubrey (and so does Dora) but it never clicked that she would actually use them. It is such a great feeling to know that she will know the basics of the most important second languages in California.

SHE MAY BECOME A MOVIE STAR OR POLITICIAN!

Judging by the way Aubrey can turn her attitude on and off, she may be headed to Hollywood or Washington D.C.! LOL I would never wish that on her, but she sure does love people! She can be cranky all day with me at home, but the moment she gets around a group of people, she turns on her friendly, cute and loving switch. She gives high fives and hugs to everyone, she gives kisses and talks to them and simply acts irresistible. Getting her out in public is my cure to a cranky child.

I can go on for days about how awesome my job is as a mother and how much I love my baby girl and every opportunity I get to see her grow, but I will just leave you with a couple pictures...

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-25T22:02:00.001-08:00

My computer crashed so blogging and uploading pictures was super inconvenint. I obviously have a lot of catching up to do considering my last real post was about Halloween! We decided to switch things up for the holidays this year. For the past 10 years we have celebrated Thanksgiving with Andy's family and this year we decided to visit my family in Eureka. My mom and I spent Wednesday baking pies so Thanksgiving day was super easy and stress free.We had a great time celebrating with my parents, my three siblings and the four grandkids. We always enjoy our time up there because we literally do nothing but hang out and eat! It is a lot easier to relax when we are away from our own home. Here are a few pictures from our trip up north.

Picture of the whole family right before we left to come home.

Just the cousins...silly boys.

Just the boys...

Just the girls...

Cousins...

Oma and the grandkids...

My beautiful parents...

Thanksgiving dinner...

Aubrey loved the homemade cranberry sauce and all of the Thanksgiving fixins'

Blogs to come...

-18 months old

-New Adventures

-Master bathroom project

-Gymnastics

-Christmas 2010

Christmas gifts from Shutterfly!

2010-12-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

I have diligently searched numerous websites to find the perfect Christmas card this year and I have been most satisfied with the selection that Shutterfly has to offer. I am excited to use Shutterfly for our photo Christmas cards this year. I have used Shutterfly in the past to create fun photobooks for friends and family members and they were a big hit! It is such a fun and easy way to create memories that will last a lifetime! In the fall, I created personalized holiday cards to provide our friends and family with updated pictures of Aubrey and they were well received.

I love using Shutterfly to create gifts because they have a large selection of designs and gift ideas that will make your gift personal to anyone receiving it. Their website is easy to explore and creating gifts is as simple as choosing a picture, uploading it, picking the photo gift and placing the order! You can create wall calendars, mouse pads, mugs and much more. Photo gifts are perfect for everyone and help create lasting memories in a unique way.

If you are looking for a great gift this holiday season, check out Shutterfly for some wonderful ideas, you will not be disappointed!

Halloween 2010...

2010-11-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

This year I was super excited about Halloween because Aubrey was old enough to walk around in her cute little costume and say "Trick or Treat" and "Thanks." We did a couple different things over Halloween weekend. On Friday, we met up with our friends the Velasco family at our local YMCA for a little Trunk and Treat event. Aubrey was a lady bug this year and when we arrived at the YMCA and got her out of the car I realized I forgot the lady bug portion of her costume...she ended up wearing all black, antennas and black shoes. It was pretty funny because she look like a little bandit, but everyone still knew what she was. I had a blast watching her be a big girl and walk from car to car interacting with everyone. At one point she was standing in the middle of a circle of people who were admiring her and she was dancing then holding up her bucket for candy! Andy was not pleased with the fact that our daughter was dancing for candy!

Observing everyone around her...

Mouthful of candy...

Her very first time saying "trick or treat." (in her own way)

Aubrey eating her very first piece of candy...EVER (a Smartie)

The thief in the night...

On Halloween Sunday, we started our day at our first church service in our new building and worshiped together as a family. Later in the evening we took Aubrey around our neighborhood to do a little trick or treating, but there was only one house who was ready to pass out candy so the only candy she got was a pack of Raisinets LOL. After we finished walking the neighborhood, we headed down to our church to volunteer for Trunk & Treat. Our small group decorated our truck with a sports/tailgating theme and took shifts passing out candy. There were 125 cars there and around 5000 people attended our first event at our new church. Aubrey loved passing out candy to all of the kids and I think we will make this an annual tradition.

Her whole costume...

Our pretty ladybug...

Waiting at the first door for candy....

Our family at Trunk & Treat

She sneaked a sucker...

Giving out candy at Trunk & Treat

Getting a high-five for doing a good job...

Sandals Church Finally Has a Building...

2010-11-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, our church had a very special gathering in which all the families from the church were to come and write prayers and scripture on the concrete before the carpet was laid. We all got together, swept out the whole sanctuary and wrote all of our prayers and scripture with permanent marker. This was such a great way for us to pray over our new church and put our prayers and visions for the future under the carpet. The building is in the works, but we had our first official church service there on Halloween. It was such an emotional day for Andy and I as we have been attending Sandals for over 10 years and we have followed it to all of its homes. Now we finally have a place that we can call home. It has been such an encouraging experience to be part of what God is doing in this season of our church. He has truly blessed us and been faithful through this whole process. Here are a few pictures of us writing down our scriptures.

"Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6:38

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house. Test me in this says the Lord Almighty and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it." Malachi 3:10

We got this verse when Andy and I were praying about how we could make ends meet so I could be a stay at home Mom. Our faith was being tested and our church was also going through the building process at the same time. We came together as a church and made pledges to support the building fund. We didn't know how we were going to give extra to the building fund especially if I wasn't working, but we made a pledge to support our church over the next two years and God has been abundantly faithful and has opened the floodgates and poured out so much blessing in our family. We are confident that He will do the same with our church as we continue to grow and reach our community. We are proud to call Sandals Church our home!

Sandals Church Marriage Getaway...

2010-11-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends ago, Andy and I had the opportunity to attend our church's annual marriage getaway for the first time. It was in Rancho Mirage and we stayed at the Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa. We left Aubrey for two nights and three days with our sister-in-law LeAnn. We arrived on Friday evening, had dinner at the Yardhouse then checked in to our hotel. The breakout sessions began on Friday night then we had some morning sessions on Saturday and around noon we were free to have a date day until 6 p.m. We ate lunch at the Piero Acqua Pazza California Bistro then spent the rest of the day relaxing until the dinner and dancing party in the evening. Sunday morning we got Starbucks and headed out to Cabazon for a day of shopping.

We had a wonderful weekend enjoying each other's company and not having the added stress of having a toddler with us. The best part was that we won the drawing for the free getaway next year! We also won a great gift basket filled with nice goodies for the weekend. Here are a few pictures from our weekend together.

Us on our lunch date...

Heading to the dinner party...

Picture at sunset...

The women from my marriage group (minus Heather T.)

Us at dinner...

17 months old...

2010-11-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Aubrey is 17 months old today and that age really does sound old to me. She is no longer a baby (yet at times she loves to pretend) and she is a tiny little girl beaming with personality. She has become quite the little helper and her favorite thing to do is throw away "trash" whether it be a shoe, a cup or one baby wipe at a time until the container is empty, she loves to put things in the trash. We know that if we are missing something we should check the trashcan. Since she also loves to vacuum, mop and dust I am pretty sure a toy vacuum (that really works) will be on her Christmas list this year.

Aubrey has been given her first chore this month and that is to help Daddy feed the dogs. She carries the bowls out to the garage and gives them to Daddy to fill with dog food, then she makes sure to tell each dog to sit before they can eat and tells them "good girl" and "ok" so they can eat. She gets so excited when it is mealtime for the dogs. She also gets excited when it is her mealtime...I tell her it is time for breakfast, lunch or dinner and she climbs up into her chair and buckles herself in the chair and says "eat, eat."

She has become a true mimic as she literally tries to repeat ANYTHING we say! For example, we were at Costco the other night and I called Andy to come over and look at something and suddenly I hear "Andy, Come." Then the whole rest of the trip she was calling daddy by his first name. We were quite entertained.

There is NEVER a dull moment in the Burton household as I can sit for hours and watch Aubrey explore the world around her. She will pick a book over any other toy and sit for long periods of time just babbling away in her own little way as she looks at the pictures. She loves to talk whether we can understand her or not but she sure is confident that what is coming out of her mouth makes perfect sense.

My Favorite thing this month:

She loves to pray! I can stop her dead in her tracks and ask her if she wants to pray and she says "I want to pray" then she grabs my hand and bows her head (still working on closing her eyes). The best is when she is throwing an all out tantrum and I ask her if she wants to pray and she stops the tantrum, gets really quiet and says "I want to pray." Our prayer goes something like this: "Dear Jesus, please help me to change my attitude. I love you. Amen." After the prayer, we are all happy campers! Enjoy some pictures from our mini photo shoot today...

Love the mischievous look on her face...

Here is a funny video of Aubrey throwing away "trash" she is such a good helper...

Here is an even better video of her doing something a little different with some trash. I asked her to throw away her diaper and this is what she did instead...

Oak Glen Apple Picking 2010...

2010-10-28T09:57:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we headed up to Oak Glen with Grandma and Grandpa Burton to go apple picking. The last time we did this was about two weeks after I found out I was pregnant with Aubrey. We thought this year would be a great year to start the annual tradition with Aubrey. She sure had a blast and we took tons of pictures. She took a bite out of every apple she picked on her own despite all the signs that stated "No eating apples in the orchard."

All of us...

So excited about her apples...

Grandpa and Grandma Burton...

Analyzing if this is the apple we want to pick...

Resting on Daddy after having an apple overload...

She had to have an apple in her hands at all times. It was really funny to watch her try to pick an apple while she was holding one in each hand.

Reaching high for some Granny Smith Apples for the apple crisp and apple pie.

She must have missed the sign...

I guess he did too...

Picking her first apple.

On the way home we stopped for apple cider donuts...

And they were a hit!

A Weekend in San Diego...

2010-10-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends from college and her husband got married in St. Lucia in May, but we were unable to attend the wedding. Her grandparents and her dad live in San Diego so they decided to throw them a little wedding party this past weekend. We had a wonderful weekend surrounded by some of our favorite friends and family! It was really nice to get away together as a family.

We headed down on Friday evening and met up with my brother-in-law, Zach and my sister-in-law, LeAnn at pumpkin patch on the way down to San Diego. This was Aubrey's first trip to a pumpkin patch. She had a blast getting to roam freely and look at all the pumpkins. She even went down the huge slide with Daddy (I didn't get a picture because people walked in front of me each time I was trying to snap a shot). We put her on the pony ride and she was pretty scared at first but after going around several times, it got easier each time. When I walked around with her she was fine :) She loved petting the goats and sheep and made friends with the calf. It was cute to watch her feed the animals. I was glad we made the stop because Aubrey had an enjoyable time.

Aubrey's signature pose when she is in one of these picture frames.

Taking a walk with her Aunt and Uncle...

So upset when Daddy is holding her...

But Mommy makes it all better...

Her little Calf friend...

Such a precious picture of her feeding the goats...

Saturday morning was the little wedding reception. My sister-in-law, LeAnn watched Aubrey so Andy and I could attend. Later that evening we were supposed to meet up with some friends in La Jolla to take some pictures, but they didn't end up being able to come. We decided to go down there anyway and watch the sunset. That night, one of LeAnn's friends came over and watched Aubrey so we could all go out together. We met up with a few of our friends, went to Maloney's for some appetizers and by 10 p.m. all eight of us realized how old and tired we were and headed home!

La Jolla Sunset

Me and Cassie

Bill and Cassie...Newlyweds...

Sunday morning we went out to breakfast with Cassie and Bill (the newlyweds) and their family and headed over to the San Diego Zoo. It was a beautiful day and Aubrey had so much fun. We ended up getting an annual pass because it was a much better deal and it is good for the Wild Animal Park too. It was nice because we didn't have to feel obligated to make it a really long day. After the zoo we were able to go take a nap and then we headed to Carlsbad for dinner at Sara and Cris's house (two more of our newlywed friends).

Aubs loved the Sky Buckets...She was waving and saying "Hewwo" to our friends in the buckets in front of us.

All of us on the Sky Buckets...

Time to build a fort...

2010-10-06T23:30:00.001-07:00

The other day Aubrey and I were home and I was getting a little restless knowing Andy only had two more shifts left to work at the fair, so I decided to build Aubrey a fort. She didn't know what to think about it at first, but after a few minutes she was walking in circles going under it and walking out. She never stayed in the fort for more than a minute. I think she just liked the sheet brushing over her head every time she walked under. This kept her entertained for quite some time.

A friend of mine gave me a tip about pictures that are too grainy...just turn them black and white! I was shooting indoors without a flash and couldn't get enough light so the pictures are really grainy. Normally I would have tossed them, but I thought they didn't look too bad in black and white.

She stopped for a quick picture...

Coming out of the fort, Bible in hand...

She isn't playing in this picture, she just tripped and is getting up LOL...

LA County Fair 2010...

2010-10-05T00:08:00.001-07:00

After a month of Andy working 14 hour days at the fair, our tradition is to go to the fair on the last day and enjoy the fruits of his labor as patrons. This year was no different and I finally came home with the Vitamix blender I have been wanted for years. This is a very pricey restaurant grade blender that I always thought would be great to own, but for years I couldn't break down and spend the money knowing it would probably just sit on my counter. Now that Aubrey is older and I spent 6 months making her baby food in a horrible blender and I make her some kind of smoothie daily, I knew it was time to finally buy one. I use it AT LEAST twice daily. It is awesome! Ok, enough about the Vitamix (you may see me working the fair next year selling them LOL).

The rest of the day was great as we met up with my second cousin Fabiana and her husband Marvin and some other friends of ours Matt and Adriana. Andy got several free admission tickets and parking passes so we invited friends. This year I was much better in the food department as I didn't even splurge on one fried item. We actually found a secret vendor booth where all the food was super cheap for people who worked the fair, it was tucked away so nobody could find it. We spent the whole day there from about 12:30-10pm and Aubrey did awesome! She took about a 2 hour nap in her stroller and she loved all the people watching and attention she always gets.

It is so nice to have Andy home and get back on our normal routine and schedule. Family time at the fair was much needed!

This was the silly circus where you had to pay to see anything....

We paid $1 to look at this 6ft. 6in. steer that was said to be able to make 10,000 hamburgers...

We even paid to see this massive horse 6ft. 6in. Aubrey didn't seem impressed with either!

The ever famous crazy mirror.

That was a huge freezer display that you walk through with a bunch of ice sculptures of L.A. it was a freezing 20 degrees in that place, but I decided against the blankets (only because I wasn't interested in wrapping myself with a blanket that someone else used!)

16 months old...

2010-10-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

Aubrey turned 16 months old yesterday and we have been extremely busy over the past month! Between late night adventures, travelling without Daddy, time changes, schedule changes, missed naps, late dinners, early mornings, only seeing her Daddy on Sunday-Tuesday, daily outtings, visiting lots of people and having lots of visitors, new foods and new experiences, she has held up great reminding me how resilient and flexible she is, considering everything.

The past month seemed to foreshadow what my life will be with a two-year old. I have to give her the benefit of the doubt for everything we had going on throughout the month. Not only was she forced off her schedule on MANY occasions, but her vocabulary has increased immensely causing her to want to chatter, talk and describe all she is feeling although at times she can't clearly communicate so I can understand in turn creating much frustration. We have learned to take time to listen to her when she is frustrated and help her to communicate what she wants, however, there are times when her behavior is completely unacceptable and we clearly communicate that to her...she understands that we mean business and she quickly shapes up. This all to say that there are times when she tries to see how far she can go before she gets punished. She is getting really good at saying "peez" when she wants something, but we are still working HARD on saying "Thank you." For some reason, that has been a battle at times.

She has more personality than any 16 month old I have met. She loves to engage people, smiles and waves at everyone and says "buh-bye" and gives kisses whenever she leaves. One of my favorite things this month is when she is excited about something she puts her arms in the air and says "YEAH." She also loves to dance and immediately breaks out dancing whenever there is music playing. She tells us "dancing, dancing." She loves to say "owie, owie" whenever she doesn't like something (dog licking her, sitting in her stroller too long, hot food, etc.). We think it is pretty funny and find ourselves saying this a lot too. She has all of her teeth besides the two year molars so I am glad we are done with the teething for awhile.

I can't believe how beautiful she is becoming and I find myself being extra protective of her because this baby has the whole package...beauty, brains and personality LOL! I am soaking up every minute and sometimes just want her all to myself. Yet again, I am so blessed!

Here are a few pictures I took while we were waiting for some friends for a practice photo shoot.

Hidden Videos...

2010-09-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

For my avid family (and friends for that matter) who follow my blog and love to watch videos of Aubrey, I started a post at the end of August and didn't publish it until the other day, but it was placed chronologically. In order to see this post "What have we been up to this summer?" you can click on this link to watch some old videos from the summer. I wouldn't want anyone to miss out. :) Enjoy!

Long hours and not enough family time...

2010-09-27T20:05:00.000-07:00

Andy has been working so much at the fair so Aubrey didn't see him Wednesday-Saturday since he is gone before she wakes up and home after she is in bed. Our family time has been very limited, so Sunday and today were nice down days where we could just spend some quality time together at home. I love watching Andy play with Aubs as she smiles and giggles and runs around. It warms my heart to see how happy she is to be with her daddy. Here is a silly video of Andy and Aubs messing around. The little rocking horse was a gift from a friend and Aubrey absolutely loves it. As time goes on, she becomes more and more daring on that little thing. I remember the first day she climbed on it and just simply sat, then a little rock, now a really hard and fast rock (almost tipping the thing over), then standing on the horse and rocking and now this...

Hawaiian Adventures Mobile Uploads...

2010-09-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

Now that I am a stay at home Mom, I get the opportunity to travel a lot more than my job would allow in the past. Unfortunately, most of my traveling is done without Andy, as he stays home like a good husband and daddy to provide for his family. His only requirement while I am gone is that I send him at least two pictures a day via picture mail. Here are some of the ones I sent him while we were gone. They are all random and out of order.

This is what Aubrey did when I told her to smile for Daddy on the plane ride home.

A day of shopping and Aubrey found a shirt she wanted and was looking for her size.

I didn't know soup could be this delicious! Goma Tei Japanese Ramen house...it was so amazing! This is the bowl I got.

Aubrey loved the noddles and the pot stickers.

Sucking the noddles just how it's done.

The picture doesn't do it justice it was about 6 inches long. Centipedes, geckos and cockroaches are just a few of the lovely creatures you find daily in Hawaii.

We had a lazy Saturday at home and the boys played Wii...Aubrey thought it was hilarious to watch the boys play kung fu fighting. I later saw her grab her Dora phone and in the corner pretend she was holding a remote and playing too by shaking it really fast.

This is at the swimming hole. I sent this one to Andy because we have so many pictures of Andy holding Aubrey and snapping his hand in front of her face to get her to smile, in turn ruining the picture. I always tease him that getting her attention is the job of the person behind the camera. I got caught doing the same thing!

This was attempt #10 at getting a picture of Aubrey and I at the swimming hole, but she kept wanting to run away.

Aubs checking out the waves in the calm water.

Here is her little sandy booty

Riding on Auntie Melissa's back on the hike down to the swimming hole.

I always love taking sleeping pictures of Aubs and sending them to Andy but this one was just so sweet. We got to sleep together in this bed the whole week, but one day when she was down for a nap, I found her asleep right on top of the turtle pillow.

Because Josh is in the Coast Guard, we got to shop at the commissary. Here is a picture of Aubs and Kainoa riding in the shopping cart together.

This is the view of the sand bar from the boat.

Aubs was chilling on the ice chest with her raisins while the boat was going pretty fast. She did a good job of staying up there.

Her attempt at taking off in the boat.

She was a happy camper once she got that horrible life jacket off...

But she screamed the entire time out with her life jacket on...notice how it was squeezing her cheeks.

Sometimes it is just more fun to ride in the back of the truck instead of the car seat. Aubs was laughing and screaming as we drove over bumps and she tried to stand up.

These are the beautiful views I got to see the whole drive out to Bellows.

Another sleeping picture of Aubs looking so comfy.

She loved the hibiscus flowers...

Watching a movie on my iPod on the plane.

The whole 30 minutes she slept on the way to Hawaii on the plane.

The day we arrived and the view from Diamondhead.

Diamondhead