It's Party Time and Potty Time

Aubrey's 2nd birthday party was a lot of fun. We had lots of friends and family over and Aubrey got a lot of nice gifts. Just one more reason why we need to get a bigger house. We did a dual party with Jaden and the theme was Dora and Diego. All the kids had a blast in the pool and slip-n-slide. Brad cooked up burgers and dogs on the grill and I made the fixins. It was a wonderfully sunny day and Aubrey had a blast.

We had Aubrey's 2 yr well child visit today and she is 32 pounds and 3 ft tall....96th percentile for both! She got one shot and didn't cry at all. She gave us a weird look and then said "Owee" and then she ate her sucker. She was such a big girl!

Speaking of big girls......drum roll please........Aubrey went pee pee on the Potty tonight!!! TWICE!!! Of course, we made a big fuss about it and you could tell she was so proud of herself too. I hope this is a trend and not just a fluke thing. This is the first time she has showed interest in her potty so I think I will take her shopping to buy some underwear tomorrow and hopefully that will act as more incentive to keep going on the potty.

We have been very busy this summer. We have gotten to the cottage a few times and Aubrey LOVES it. She loves playing in the lake and riding the golf cart. We don't even have to take her in for a nap - she naps right on the boat for us! She is such a good kid that I am scared to have another one.

I am enjoying a week off work right now and don't go back until next Wednesday. I get to spend lots of time with Brad and Aubrey and am hoping to get some scrapbooking done before my classes start up again. The house is still on the market and we have an open house on Sunday. We are still in a waiting game with the house we put an offer on. I figure, what's meant to be will be. Thankfully, we are not in a rush to sell our house. There are 5 houses for sale on our street alone!

Here's a few pictures from Aubrey's party - Enjoy :)

Yummy!

Birthday kisses between cousins

Aubrey's new house!

Chillaxin' in her new chair

Birthdays

When I was a kid, I remember thinking that 30 was old. Now here I am! No longer a twenty-something. The last few years as I approached this milestone I wondered how I'd actually react to this birthday. And here is how I feel......BLESSED! I am reminded of the Tim McGraw song, In My Next 30 Years. He says, 'My next 30 yrs will be the best years of my life'. And I believe that to be true. God has blessed me more times over than I can thank him for and I look forward to the years to come where Brad and I will raise Aubrey and watch her grow and go through countless milestones of her own. I am thankful for a family that loves me and whom I can always depend upon, a career where I can be fulfilled, and a home to raise our child(ren?).

Brad planned a wonderful birthday party for me. I am thankful for all the friends and family that came out and for Steph and Kristi's help in planning. It was a great day and I am looking forward to many birthdays to come.

Now onto another big birthday, Aubrey is turning 2! Her actual bday is July 27 but we will be having her birthday party on August 2nd. Time goes by so fast! I know I have said that a thousand times but I just can't believe my baby is turning 2. I will post pictures from her birthday party. Until next time..........

Guess how old I am?!

In Saugatuck on my actual birthday

Long overdue update!

Aubrey is now in a big girl bed since she decided to take a flying leap out of her crib! Brad and I heard a thud and then a cry and went running into her room. I picked her up and tried to comfort her as she tried to wiggle out of my arms. I let her down and she stopped crying and ran to the living room yelling "Play! Play!". She was un-phased by the fall as I sat stunned with my heart racing on her bedroom floor. Overall, the transition has been great. She had a few nights where she got out of bed to get toys but one stint in time-out and she got over that. She likes to have Paris, our dog, sleeping next to her bed on the floor. Whenever we are done saying prayers, she starts calling for Paris to come. It is really cute.

Aubrey's First night in her Big Girl Bed

We have had an exciting two weeks of vacation. We spent 5 days at a beautiful cottage on Lake Michigan in St Ignace and the next week spent 5 days at the Wolf Lake cottage. Aubrey has gotten to see Mackinaw Island, rode on a boat worth more than my house, and swim in Lake Michigan. She even helped Grandpa drive the pontoon boat! We have had a lot of fun that it seems boring at home now. Though we have enough going on right now to keep us busy. My 30th bday was yesterday and Brad has planned a birthday party for me tomorrow night. It should be a lot of fun. I also need to start planning Aubrey's Elmo-themed 2nd birthday party. It seems like she just turned one! Time goes by way too fast. We actually bought a couple of her birthday presents tonight. She still loves Elmo and is getting back into Dora. Her big gift is going to be a house for the backyard....but shhhhhhh.....dont tell :)

Aubrey sleeping on the boat after a day in the sun!

Our house is still up for sale with no bites yet. We put in an offer on a house in Hudsonville today so we will see what that brings. We would really like to avoid a double mortgage but I know the Lord will guide us through this process and everything will work out the way it is supposed to.

Happy Summer!!!!

So long....no post!

Life has been so busy that I haven't had time to post lately! My summer classes started a couple weeks ago so I am once again busy with school. These classes are proving to be a bit more involved than the other classes I have taken. Just a few more semesters.......

I have also started selling Avon which I am really enjoying! I have been using the products and, since I went part time, I figured it would be a fun way to earn a little bit of moola on the side :) Or if nothing else, I could get my products at a discount! I have a website if you want to check out what's new with Avon - www.youravon.com/agrutter.

Brad is very busy with work. He had a record month last month. I hope that means the market is turning around and we will sell our house soon. So far, we have had no calls on our house which is not very encouraging. We did have an open house 2 days ago and 5 or 6 families showed up but no offers to date. I just need to learn a little patience.

Aubrey is growing like a weed. I am buying her 4T clothes now!!!! She isn't even 2 yrs old!!! CRAZY! I love being home more with her. She still loves Elmo and loves playing outside. She has another tooth coming in which will bring the total to 13. This tooth helped explained her recent crabbiness ;)

Not much else to report. We are looking forward to heading to the cottage this weekend and are hoping the weather holds out for us. Hope everyone is enjoying the beginnings of summer! Until next time......................

Aubrey's Dedication

Mother's Day was extra special because Aubrey was Dedicated at Church that morning! She is not one for sitting still too long so when the pastor called us up front, Aubrey sat still in my arms for about 60 seconds and then proceeded to put on a show for the congregation. By the end of the dedication, I was sweating from her wiggling and flipping all around on me. We appreciated everyone who came to celebrate this special time with us and that Howard (our pastor) did such a special dedication for her. We know we are truly blessed.

We went to lunch afterward and Aubrey got a new Bible, an Elmo movie, and a talking Elmo (which she LOVES!). Aubrey bought me a Coach purse and new Bible for Mother's Day. She sure does know how to buy good gifts :)

Aubrey continues to talk up a storm. She loves to play outside and be read to. Most of all, she loves her GG (aka Jaden). She asks about him every day. She has also found a love of talking on the phone. I never realized that started so young in life.

Brad and I listed the house this week. It is a little bittersweet but it is time to upgrade. We are hoping to find a house in Byron Center and have already looked at a few. We have barely started the process and I am already feeling stressed. I will just have to have a few extra bottles of wine on hand to help me chill out.

The start of the Dedication

Her flipping upside down during the prayer

Giving GG some kisses

Elmo - the new fad

I think Dora has lost her spot to Elmo. Aubrey has fallen in love with Elmo and watches her Elmo movie every day. She even has to sleep with Elmo at night now. Not sure what we do with the hundred or so Dora toys, clothes, books etc that we have collected! She has also found a love of the outdoors. I am glad it is getting warmer because she always wants to play outside. She just runs around and plays with the dogs and cracks herself up! She also got to spend the night with Aunt Stephanie last night and had a lot of fun playing with Jaden (aka G.G.), Haley (aka Hay), and Elly.

Today was Richard's 70th bday and all the family came from Detroit. Holly, Chris, and the kids surprised Richard by coming up from Georgia. He was really choked up when he saw them. It was a special day and Richard was so thankful that everyone celebrated this day with him. Somehow we fit over 30 people in their condo! Mom had a wonderful spread of food and Steph baked a delicious banana cake. Aubrey did great with all of the new faces. She did a good job of keeping us all entertained.

On a side note, she is saying more 3 & 4 word sentences now. She says things like, mama get puppy out (put the dogs outside) or mama watch Elmo. When we are in the car, she just talks non stop in the backseat. It's almost as if she is saying all of the words she knows so she doesn't forget! She is just getting too big too fast. I can't believe she will be 2 in just 3 months. CRAZY!

Aubrey at Richard's party

Mom & Richard

Spring has sprung - for the time being at least :)

We enjoyed a beautiful day yesterday. We spent the afternoon with friends and Aubrey got to play outside with Carter, Brayden, Easton, Jaden, and Elly. She had so much fun on the swings and in the sand box and even has a few war wounds to prove it. She is definitely not afraid to get down and dirty with the boys. I think we have a little tom boy on our hands. We are looking forward to more warmer weather coming up towards the end of the week. I am hoping I can take her to the park. I'm also looking forward to getting out on the golf course. I'm so excited for Spring!!!

On a side note, I am going part-time starting the end of May so I will have more time to spend with Aubrey. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to do this. Brad has been too busy to watch Aubrey and try to get his work done at home. Hopefully this will eleviate some of his stress and mine too! We are also preparing to put our house up for sale. We have a lot of jobs to get done around the house before we list so the next month will be very busy. I am not looking forward to this but we are running out of room for Aubrey's toys! I am hoping this will be a smoother transition than I am imagining.

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful Easter and hope everyone else had the same! Aubrey finally seems to be doing better (knock on wood). She learned how to say her name today. She is talking up a storm and learning new words daily. She still loves to dance. Anytime music comes on she starts dancing. It is so adorable. Happily I can say, there is not much else to report :) Therefore, I will just attach a picture from Easter.

Where do I begin???

Let's start with the good news. Aubrey's follow up appointment on Monday showed her ears are finally improving but the doctor wanted to put her on one more round of antibiotics to ensure we get all of the ear infection taken care of. Now for the bad news...she was running a 102.7 fever at the office which they deemed due to a viral infection (aka - they have no idea why she has a fever). Aubrey awoke that night about 1 hour after going to bed and vomited all over me.....twice. Poor thing just felt terrible. She woke up several times throughout the night crying. On Tuesday morning, both Brad and I started feeling pretty crummy. I napped when Aubrey napped and awoke in a cold sweat. Ironically, so did Aubrey. Needless to say, we have done several loads of laundry for vomit covered clothes and sweat soaked sheets.

Forward to Wednesday - I think we are on the upslide from the crud. Brad and I just feel very tired and have headaches. Aubrey is still a little whiny and did wake up tonight about an hour after going to bed crying. She wasn't running a fever so I don't know what is still bothering her. We gave her Tylenol to try to help with the aches and pains she might be having.

I look forward to the days that I am not posting on the latest illness in our house. I mustered up all the energy I could and disinfected the house today. Hopefully I killed all those germs!

So frustrating!!!

Aubrey has another diaper rash thanks to the latest antibiotic. She had 8 dirty diapers today. Poor thing! We have been giving her probiotic yogurt and lots of bananas to try to keep her from having diarrhea but our efforts have not payed off. At least not all of her diapers are diarrhea so maybe we are a little more ahead of the game than last time.

More frustrating is the fact that we are on day 6 of the abx and she is still picking at her ears. I just wanted to cry when she started doing that today. I would be very surprised if this antibiotic worked and we don't end up going to an ENT. Here's hoping the next post will bring better news.

Today's follow up ear appt

First of all, when we got into the room and the MA took Aubrey's temperature she was running a fever..of which we had no idea because she had been laughing and playing all day. It was a lovely start to the appointment. We still have a double ear infection and are onto antibiotic #4. She also has started a nasty cough which may or may not be pneumonia but they gave her an antibiotic that would work for both the ears and lungs. We have a follow up appt in 11 days to see if the ear infection cleared and, if not, we are off to see an ENT specialist (ears, nose, and throat). I am in awe of how 'unsick' she seems. She has been eating like a champ and playing like normal. I wonder how she will be without the infection!

Beach baby

Aubrey is having a blast on vacation. She just loves the water! Pool or ocean - she doesn't care. Her schedule has not adjusted real well. She has been getting up around 6am....ugh! Thankfully Nana is here to babysit and mommy and daddy get to sleep in :)

She is not having any diarrhea anymore and her diaper rash has cleared up - Thank the Lord!! Now Brad and I have stomach bugs....go figure. Is it too much to ask for the entire family to be healthy?

Here are some pics of Aubrey on vacation.....

Family Vacation Time!

We made it to Florida! Aubrey did very good for spending 2 days in a car seat and having diarrhea. She whined very little and spent most of the time watching movies and playing with nana. We stopped in Nashville on Friday and got to spend time with Ricky, Sondra, Ryan, and Sammie. I wish we were able to stay there longer but we were off to Panama City Beach.

Aubrey is back to her normal self today (other than waking up at 5:30am!!!). She is happy and finally eating again. She has not had much of an appetite since she has been sick. She lost 2 pounds the last time we went to the doctor. It is a bit overcast today so I am anxiously awaiting the sun to come out so we can take Aubrey to the beach and pool to play.

And the saga continues....

Aubrey now has a raging diaper rash from the diarrhea caused by the new antibiotic. We are using magic butt cream in layers to try to give her some relief. She also started running a low grade fever tonight. I don't even know what to do anymore! I just hope these antibiotics work and are worth all this discomfort for her. Other than the diaper rash, she really seems to be getting back to her old self. She is not whiny anymore and has started talking up a storm. She has found a new love for books. She will sit in my lap and we will read book after book. I hope her love of books continues throughout her teenage years!

Here is a picture I took of her yesterday after church. You'd never know she's had an ear infection for three weeks.
This is a picture as we were getting ready to do her breathing treatment. She is checking out the equipment before we hook it all up.

Well Child Visit

Since her last visit Aubrey has lost 2 pounds. Considering her size, they weren't concerned about it. She still has a double ear infection so we got yet another prescription to continue for the next 10 days. We also discussed the fact that she still continues to cough at night. Wendy, her nurse practitioner, said that reactive airway disease (aka asthma) is very common after a child has RSV and we should continue to breathing treatments. We will just be doing them before bedtime. I guess we are getting payback for Aubrey being such a healthy infant!

Aubrey doesn't seem to be bothered by any of it. She is a little more whiney than normal but, other than that, she is her normal happy self. Here's hoping this new antibiotic kicks the infection.

Things are looking better

Aubrey's rash is getting better since we stopped her antibiotics. We have a well child visit tomorrow so they will recheck her ears to make sure everything is cleared up. We also have Aubrey's pictures in the morning so it will be a busy day. Thankfully, I have the next 3 days off so one busy day won't kill me

We are going to be getting our summer clothes ready this weekend because we are heading to Florida next Friday! We all are in desperate need of a vacation. We are driving down and stopping in Nashville to stay the night before completing the drive. We are so excited to see our family in Nashville. I am really looking forward to some Waffle House waffles!! I have actually been having dreams about Waffle House.....how weird am I?!

We hope everyone is doing well! God bless :)

And the madness continues....

Aubrey's fevers have ceased for 2 days now! However, she has developed a large rash over her entire torso and back and it has moved onto her upper thighs. While she has been very whiney today, she does not seem to be itchy but we gave her an oatmeal bath anyways. She has already had her chicken pox vaccine and isn't running a fever so we are a little puzzled. With some advice from a pediatric nurse friend (and a seasoned mother of 3) we think she may have a penicillin allergy since she has been on the penicillin for her ear infections. We will call the doctor in the morning just to confirm that we have nothing to worry about and see if we need to switch antibiotics.

Illness Update

Aubrey woke up with a 102.9 temperature. Actually, we had to wake her up because she was still sleeping at 9am! I called her pediatrician and they said to stop her amoxicillin and they called in a new antibiotic. She has been very emotional today. I shook my head 'no' at her to stay out of the dogs food and she started bawling and laid on the ground with her head down.....can we say drama queen :)

Aubrey's sick again

Aubrey has had a nasty cough for a few days. We took her to the doctor on Monday and she has another double ear infection and they told us to start doing her breathing treatments again. Tonight she was running a 102.1 temp so, in addition to her antibiotic, we gave her some Motrin to help bring the temp down. We knew she was feeling crummy today when she suggested to us it was nap time. She walked into her room and pointed to her bed. Brad put her in bed and she fell right to sleep - about an hour before she normally takes a nap. I have the next 2 days off so I am hoping that she gets feeling better by the time I have to work next.

I think this may be what caused her ear infections.....She loves to dip the side of her head in the water.


Here is a picture of Aubrey when she is feeling good :)

Just a little tidbit on us!

Aubrey is talking up and storm and will repeat most words you ask her to say. She has 3 molars coming in right now. Which I am hoping is the reason she is running a 100.9 fever tonight. She has been spending time with other little kids at the Y for a couple hours 3 or 4 times a week. She is getting a lot better with us leaving her at the Y and at church nursery. Since she is not in daycare we want to get her around other kids her age. Brad and I bought a family membership at the Y last month and have been working our booties off! They have a wonderful play area for kids to hang out in while we workout.

We are getting Aubrey's 18 month pics taken on Thursday. I am giving her lots of practice because I got a Nikon D60 and am loving playing with it! She makes the perfect model too!! It takes the best pictures. I just need to figure out all the cool things it can do. I will post some of the pictures I have taken when I get them uploaded.

Breathing treatment

I meant to post this last weekend but didn't get around to it....Here is Aubrey doing her breathing treatment. She did wonderful with them. Thankfully we were able to box the nebulizer up since she hasn't needed it anymore.

Cinderella chair

Brad sent me this picture at work. I laughed my butt off! Here is the story behind it....Brad put Aubrey's cinderella chair on the chaise lounge so he could change her diaper on the floor. When he was done changing her diaper he put the chair back on the floor then proceeded to his office to do some work. A short time later, Brad came out to the living room to check on Aubrey and this is how he found her.

Being the perceptive little girl that she is, she copied what daddy did and decided to curl up in her chair and watch an episode of Dora :)

Just an update on her health: She is doing great! We haven't had to do a breathing treatment since Sunday and she hasn't been coughing or had much of a runny nose. I am thinking we our over this little health hurdle **knock on wood**. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Update

Aubrey had a follow up appointment this afternoon. Wendy, the nurse practitioner, saw Aubrey today (she is who usually does her well child visits). She is wonderful. She listened to Aubrey and said, for the most part, her lungs sound better. She is still wheezy and suggested we continue breathing treatments every 4 hours. The albuterol has made Aubrey very hyper so Wendy gave us another medication called Zopanex. She did so much better with this. Wendy said that by Monday we should be able to start cutting back on the breathing treatments and can finally take her out of the house!

Aubrey is in really good spirits. She seems to be acting more and more like herself everyday. We didn't have to clean her nose as much today and she is eating/drinking more. Overall, things are looking up.

On the down side, I've got a cold....again....ARGH!!! At least Brad is healthy :)

RSV update

Aubrey seems to be in better spirits today. She is eating and drinking so much better than the past few days. She's had 3 breathing treatments today and is doing very well with them. The albuterol is making her very hyper so she is bouncing off the walls. Hopefully we can start cutting back on the breathing treatments tomorrow. She still sounds pretty wheezy but doesn't seem to be coughing as much. The cough gets worse when she lays down. Her doctor wants to see her this week so I have to call in the morning to set that up. She has 2 more days of antibiotics. I have to work tomorrow which I am dreading because I can't be here to personally observe her care ;) What can I say....I am a mom! Grandma and Grandpa are coming over to babysit her while Brad works and she has an absolute ball with them. I know she will be in good hands.

First breathing treatment

We started by trying to have her use the nebulizer masks on her dolls to see how it looked and that it didn't hurt. Brad and I put on the masks and then tried to put it on her. That did not go very well. She threw off the mask when we put it on and I think she was scared by the mist coming out of it. There are two different attachments so we tried all 3. She cried for the first ten minutes of the treatment and then we made a game out of it. By the end of the treatment she kept the mouthpiece in her mouth and was holding it by herself! She got a popsicle (sugar free, of course) for being such a trooper.

No so great news....

The RSV swab came back positive. They are delivering a nebulizer machine to our house today and we have to start doing breathing treatments every 4 hours as she needs it. She is still being a trooper though you can tell she is miserable. If we can keep her breathing easy enough for her then she won't need to go back to the hospital.

I am at work so I'll update more as I can.

Aubrey's first trip to the ER

She has had a cold off and on for a couple of weeks which had progressively gotten worse. She developed a nasty cough and started tugging at her ears. She has a rash on her face and has had diarrhea for the past few days. Thus, church was replaced with an ER visit. They examined her and ordered an xray, respiratory treatment, and RSV nasal swab (Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory illness in young children. RSV causes infection of the lungs and breathing passages).

She absolutely hated the breathing treatment and wasn't too happy about a 6 inch q-tip being stuck in her nose. After the xray the doctor informed us that she has pneumonia and, on inspection, an ear infection. Lovely. She was pretty miserable through the entire ER visit. She did cheer up when I gave her my purse to play with....I guess she likes Coach too :) We got a prescription for Zithromax which should clear up her ailments. We ill know the results of the nasal swab tomorrow.

After we left the ER we took her to Target to get the script filled. She was in a great mood. She got a new Dora movie and some sugar free popsicles to help keep fluids in her. She hasn't really eaten much today but did manage to drink a couple cups of milk and had 2 popsicles. I think the cold felt really good on her throat.

As I type I am listening to her cough in her sleep. I wish I could take all the bugs out of her and put them in me instead. Well, hopefully the antibiotics do their job and she heals quickly. I will update tomorrow with anything new. Any prayers would be appreciated.