Meeting the latest Zylstra

Today we had the pleasure of meeting little Grace Ellen.  She was born to our good friends Nick and Katie Zylstra at 6 lbs, 15 oz.  She is ADORABLE and what a great blessing to get to meet her in the hospital.  This was Aubrey's first visit to a hospital since her birth and she even got a visitor pass with her picture on it :).  That will definately go in the baby book.  It was a bit sureal holding her and thinking back at how small Aubrey really was and how fast she has grown already.  Makes us treasure every moment that much more...the good and the tough.  Bring on the dress up and tea parties Grace!  Welcome to the world little one!

(Not so) Happy St. Patrick's Day

Allow me to tell you about the roughest day of parenting for us to date.  So the morning of St. Patrick's Day started off with us taking a trip to a gastroenterologist for Aubrey to try and figure out what is going on with her feeding and tummy issues.  We had to wake Aubrey up a little earlier to make it to our appointment on time, but thankfully she slept in the car on the way. 

As the doctor examined our little one and as we told her what we were experiencing with her, she came to a conclusion that she might have a milk allergy or a reflux issue.  During the appointment we also found out Aubrey had a heart murmur of which we are going to see another specialist about in the future.  The fix for a milk allergy; expensive prescription formula and mom going on a milk free diet :(.  Oh the humanity!  This doesn't only mean no milk and no yogurt, it also means no milk derivitives that are in non-dairy creamers, ranch flavored items, and pop-rocks (ya, pop rocks).  We know this won't be easy, but I'm willing to try whatever for this little girl :). 

After the appointment, we decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for $.60 boneless wings.  The wings were delicious, but for the second time in a row at that establishment we recieved some of the worst service ever! 

When we got home it was a beautiful day, so Brandon decided to do some yard work while I decided to catch up on some laundry.  Brandon quickly changed in the closet and went on to his work while I picked up all the clothes and started the wash. 

Fast forward 45 minutes later...
I was taking a picture of some truffles I made (of which I could now not eat any) while Brandon was playing with Aubrey.

Suddenly Brandon's car alarm went off.  Confused Brandon went to go investigate.  The instant he opened the car to the garage the alarm stopped.  Being a cunning man, he thought that maybe I was up to some trickery.  When he asked me if I had done it I assured him that it was not I.  He pondered for a moment, possibly with his hand on his chin, as to why the alarm would go off by itself.  He then asked me, "Did you take the keys out of my jean pockets?"  I just stared at him blankly.  He then repeated, "Did you take the keys out?"  We then went to the laundry room where the washer was already on the spin cycle and we found his keys, wallet, and cell phone in the washer.  Brandon immediately took his cell phone apart and took the keys and put them all in a bag on rice.  He also had to take apart his wallet and set everything out to dry :(  I wasn't feeling so good about myself by now.  Sounds like a rough day, but the day continued.

It was then time to feed Aubrey her special formula.  We opened the can and it smelled of dog food.  It was terrible.  Judging by her reaction it tasted the same.

It took Brandon 50 minutes to feed her one ounce of the formula while she screamed, red faced and tears streaming.  She tired herself out so much that she just went to sleep while mom had a few tears of her own.

So today was by far the most difficult day of parenting yet.  We know there will be harder days to come, but I know God will give us the strength for those days as well.

Pretty much summed up our day :(

Tummy Time!!

Finally at four months now, she's loving being on her tummy!

Four Months

At four months Aubrey:

~ Starting babbling a lot more.  She loves her changing table and laughs and babbles a lot there.

~ Rolled around to her tummy!!  Now she's gotten really good at that.  Whenever we set her down on her back, she's on her tummy in a matter of minutes.



~ Started to hold her bottle while she's being fed

~ Had a couple of nights where she slept through the night!!

~ Is an expert at getting out of her swaddle.  We find her out of it often!

~ Found out that she might have a milk allergy, so doctor put mom on a milk free diet.  You don't know how many things have milk in it until you can't have it!  We are seeing a GI doctor and seeing whether a formula will work or not.  So far no on the prescription formula...she hates the taste and gags on it :(  Hopefully we'll figure out those tummy problems soon.

~ Still likes "white noise" to put her to sleep, but she really relaxes when we sing to her.  Daddy also does a randition of Unchained Melody, Twist and Shout, and The Rhythm is Gonna Get You to get her really moving and laughing too.

~ Discovered her toes and loves to grab them while being changed

~ Still a little on the small side: height- 24 1/4 inches (50th percentile) / weight- 11 lbs, 3 oz (10th percentile)

Three Months

At three months Aubrey:
~ Rolled over from your tummy to your back, but we still think this was on accident
~ Likes tummy time a little more each day :)
~ Puts EVERYTHING in her mouth
~ You smile and mommy and daddy all the time, but sometimes cry with other people

~ Likes to sit upright and likes her little booster seat
~ Plays for longer periods of time now, but still fights those naps

~ Had some screaming fits this month and we couldn't figure out what was wrong.  We'll see if this is just a stage or not.
~ Drooled a LOT.  Started some signs of teething, but no teath yet
~ Loves "hugging" her stuffed animals and turning around and to the side with them.  It looks so cute :)
~ Had her first Valentine's Day.  We actually had it as a family this year and Brandon had the night off! First Valentine's Day he's had off since we've been married :)  It was very special getting to spend this day just the three of us!

Ten Weeks!

Of course Evie with her camera had to get in a photo shoot :)  Brandon even made the beanie she's wearing.

We're loving that gummy smile and can't get enough of it!

Tahoe trip with Krystal and Jon

We decided to take Krystal and Jon up to Tahoe before Krystal started her new job.  They had never been to the cabin and this was a great opportunity.  There was fresh snow, sunny weather, and lots of games to be played.  We had a great time just spending time together and getting one more chance to see snow this season.

 

First Trip to the Mountains

Since I am taking some time off from my teaching "work," Brandon's crazy schedule allows for some great family time and outings on his days off in the middle of the week.  What's nice is that the places we get to go aren't that crowded as they would be on the weekends.  We can also enjoy this time off together, whereas if I was teaching we would hardly see eachother!  This is such a blessing!

We decided to go up to Tahoe to the family cabin for a couple nights in January.  It was cold, but beautiful.  The day we went up it was sunny, but then it snowed in the evening.  When we woke up in the morning there was a light blanket of snow on everything.  The snow was so light it was blowing a little off of the trees and just glittered with the sun shining through the flakes.  I could try to describe it, but it would not do it justice.  It was beautiful.  Aubrey did great and even slept pretty well!!  It was a great first overnight trip.

Snow Angel!