Week 21 - The week we forgot

As you can see, we don't have a week picture for this week. As noted in earlier blog entries, this time around has been MUCH tougher to keep up with the pictures, not to mention the blog updates. Yes, we have been known to fudge a little bit and put a "Week Pic" up that was really from a week or two later, but we figured it wouldn't work to insert a picture that was over a month in the future! So, Aubrey, we apologize to you now that your baby book will not have a picture on this page!

This week marked Laura's last full week of maternity leave. This brought with it many things - lots of activities/outings being crammed into the week, lots of tears from Laura, and lots of happy thoughts by Reggie of how great it will be to get two paychecks coming in! :)

Morgan, Shaw, Laura, Aubs, and HBo

During the week, Laura and Aubs had a happy hour with Laura's friend Katie and her new son Ben, a pool date with April and Jack, and a playdate with her friend Morgan and her son Shaw (ok, so that playdate was really for Henry!). 



Aubrey and Ben



All these outings will tucker out a girl out!

Also on Friday, Aubrey officially took a very important step - the ability to be captivated by cartoons! No, Aubrey cannot sit up; Laura propped her up in the chai for this zombie pic of the kids.

Week 20 Baptism & Henry's bday

This was a big week for our family. On Sunday, Aubrey was baptized at Visitation. And, contrary to popular belief, Laura did NOT catch fire when she stepped into the church! Aubs was a great 'baptism baby.' She slept through most of it, even when they placed the water on her head. By comparison, Henry screamed and  yelled the whole time! We were honored that April agreed to be Aubrey's godmother, just as she is Henry's. April had a defined part of the baptism, however no one would know that because Laura didn't listen to the priest and essentially did April's part!

The Andersons

The Bogarts

Grandma Janith and Aunt Alley with the fam!

Godmother A

After the baptism, all the grandparents and the Siffords came over to the house to celebrate Henry's birthday. Henry had a great time opening his presents. This was really the first time he really was fully into doing this. Aubrey was very interested in a piece a wrapping paper, but otherwise knew no difference. Though I am sure she loved being held by all her grandparents! She obviously was pretty tuckered out after the day because Aunt Jen was able to set her down on her changing pad and change her diaper without her even waking up! Seriously, that happened!

Happy Birthday HBo!

Some like presents, some like paper!

Week 19 - Did Bella do that?

This week Aubrey is four months old! Seems like these first four months with Aubs has flown by even faster than Henry's first four months. With this milestone brought another trip to the doctor (and shots! ). She is now 25 inches long, which is in the 75th percentile, and weighs 13.9lbs, which is in the 50th percentile. She is definitely outpacing her brother at this point!

The other development this week is that Aubrey has developed the ability to clear a room. The first few times, poor Bella had the stink blamed on her. However, we quickly figured out that Bella wasn't always around when the funk was present. Just unbelievable (and not ladylike at all)!

Aunt Jen teaches Aubrey an important skill..online shopping!!

Our family of 4

Enjoying the quad with Aunt Jen! 

Week 18 - Rollin', rollin, rollin'........

Some weeks it's just impossible to get a good 'week' shot! 

This week's big news is that Aubs has now mastered the art of rolling from back to front!!! It's funny, because for as many times as she now rolls onto her belly, she sure hates it! Laura got up and went to the gym one morning, and Reggie was awakened to Aubrey going crazy in her crib. She was laying on her belly.

I'll show you my rollover when I am good and ready!

We also are pretty certain that we have a future thumb sucker on our hands. The kid has her hand in her mouth all the time, sometimes causing her to gag a bit.

Finally, the days of Aubrey sleeping through the night appear to be temporarily over. Instead, Aubrey has decided that around 1 or 2am is now social hour. She will fake cry to get you to wake up and come in there. The second you get to the crib, she just greets you with a huge, heart-melting smile, and then wants to talk/coo at you. It is like she knows she is getting closer to going to daycare.......

On Friday, Laura took Henry and Aubrey over to the Lorei's house to play. Aubrey seems somewhat enamored with little Quinn Lorei.

On Sunday, we all packed up and went to brunch with Jenni to meet up with their old sorority sister Daleanna, who was in from Vegas. She hadn't met Aubrey yet, and hadn't seen Henry in a couple of years. Here is a great pic of all the girls:

Week 17

This week brought a number of visits/outings. First, Laura met her friend Sara Wilson and her two boys, Ned and Spencer, at the Leawood pool so the boys could run some energy off. While Ned was very calmly playing in the water and enjoying himself, our little tornado boy was running around the pool, having the lifeguards blow their whistles at him a lot, and testing Laura's patience by acting like he was going to walk into the deep end. :) It is sometimes challenging to have both kids at the pool considering you have to always be within shouting distance of Aubrey. Next summer that will all change!

Later in the week, Laura met up a bunch of her hens and their babies at the Nordstrom cafe for lunch. I don't know what got into Aubrey, but while they were sitting at the table she decided to throw her head forward and bang it off the table! She was fine after a short little cry. Reggie questioned Laura's maternal instincts.....

Aubrey's bow hides her concussion well! :)

Over the weekend, Mimi and Papa Craig came into to town to visit the kids. It was their first time seeing the kids in about 5 weeks, so you know Mimi was chomping at the bit to get some 'baby time' in with Aubs! And, luckily for Henry (unlucky for Bella), Papa brought one of his remote-controlled helicopters! Their visit also allowed Laura and Reggie to go out for dinner once without having to hurriedly eat our meal and get our check before either Aubrey started to wail, or Henry got stir crazy and started hiding under the table, or dancing out in the restaurant!

Henry telling Mimi about 'his baby'

Nothing really 'developmental' to report this week. However, Aubrey had apparently taught herself how to hold her "#2's." This girl now will go a couple of days in between 'episodes.' Luckily, it is always Laura who has had to deal with her when it is 'time.'

Oh, mom, I just need to 'go'!

Just awesome.



Week 16 - Grabbing everything!

Have we mentioned Henry loves being with his sis on the activity mat!

Each week during the summer, Henry's daycare goes on a different Wednesday field trip. This week took him to Legoland, so Laura and Aubs loaded up and went along for the ride! Henry proudly showed off 'his baby' to all his friends. Aubrey did great, and didn't even mind when one of the daycare administrators watched her while Laura went on a ride with Henry and one of his friends. After Legoland, Reggie came over from work and met the family at Fritz's for lunch. This place is certainly not where you go for a culinary delight, but the food is delivered to you by a motorized train, so we went! As you can see, one child was captivated, and one was not impressed. :)



The train was too much for Aubs to take in!



Legoland, Bjorn-style!



Later that night, Laura and Aubs went out and met up 'Aunt' Jenni for happy hour to catch up. Jenni has always had a certain touch with babies that keeps them calm. It was certainly true for Henry, and is the same with Aubrey. I think we may have found our permanent sitter!!!!

The Baby Whisperer herself!

Developmentally, Aubrey is really starting to grasp at everything - toys, blankets, your necklace, your hair. More than one woman in her family has had to deal with some strongly-pulled hair recently!

Week 15 - A visit from Grandma Janith

The key to good parenting, just like managing a dept., is good delegation!

This week was highlighted by a visit from Grandma Janith. One thing grandparents are great at is spoiling their grandchildren. Grandma came bearing dresses for Aubrey, and toys for Henry! After playing with grandma during the day, we all went to the T-Rex restaurant for dinner to entertain Henry (he LOVES to 'roar' and 'growl'). Before leaving on Sunday, grandma was able to get in some quality Aubrey time before Henry decided it was time for her to go outside with him to swing and play baseball :)

They love their Grandma!

Who has the bigger roar????

Henry continues to love his sister to death, and especially loves to play with Aubrey on her activity mat. Also, as you can see above, he really enjoys helping to feed Aubrey a bottle. A couple of the latest pics follow. There were probably some other things which were worth writing about, but when you write Week 15 at the end of Week 20, you forget things (which is why we started this blog in the first place :) )! Having these two little munchkins is exhausing, time consuming, and worth every minute!!!

Henry teaching Aubs about cartoons



Week 14 - First Royals Game! (and 4th of July)

This week Aubrey turned three months old, and to celebrate the nation shot off fireworks! Ok, so they were for the Fourth of July, but it was still a pretty great week to have a birthday milestone. In conjunction with the 4th, Henry's daycare held an all-school parade which Aubrey and Laura attended. On the actual 4th, Aubrey wasn't able to make it to dusk to see the fireworks shot off. Luckily, you can observe the city firework show from our driveway, so we were able to put her down in her crib and go out and enjoy the show (with the baby monitor, of course!). Henry was able to stay awake, but didn't like the "mean" fireworks (loud ones), so we also missed some of the show as well. He did, however, like the "pretty" ones (those with color but no real noise).  



Happy 4th of July!

Prior to the fireworks, we all hit up the pool for a few hours. Later, our next-door neighbors held a large barbeque for their friends and family. Lots of kids, which meant it was a great chance to run a bunch of energy out of Henry!

Loungin' by the pool!

This weekend also marked Aubrey's first Royals game experience. Both kids were great for pretty much the entire game. Aubrey did not, however, like it when the Royals scored and the crowd would cheer loudly. Luckily for her, that doesn't generally happen too often at a Royal game :). Also, after her brother had put down a half-bag of peanuts and groped all over her during the game, there is a pretty good chance that we know Aubrey doesn't have peanut allergies!



The next generation of Royals fans!





Week 13

Just loungin'

This week was relatively tame for Aubrey. Laura took her out to lunch with our friend Jerrod so that he could meet out little girl. Luckily, she was very well behaved throughout the lunch! On Friday, Laura lined up a playdate with her friend Morgan and her son Shaw. Both Shaw and Henry are the same age, and both enjoyed the free painting class.

Over the weekend, we had the Loreis over for dinner and a playdate for Henry and their son Reece. After dinner we took all the kids downstairs. The boys started hitting a whiffle ball off a tee while the girls sat and chirped. Luckily, it didn't both Aubrey or Quinn when Henry shattered one of our can lights with a hit ball!



The Loreis and the ladies



Henry has started enjoying climbing into the crib with Aubrey, particularly when she is waking up. Since it is his old crib, we assume he just feels like on some level it is his still :) Very funny, and very cute!

HBo giving a tour of his old bed to Aubs

Finally, what weekend would be complete without a trip to the pool! Henry and Aubs were not happy that their mom left the cooler with snacks and a bottle at the pool when they left!