Time in Michigan

Aubrey and I had such a wonderful time in Michigan this past week. Aubrey did AWESOME on the plane. Both ways were direct and she nursed as we took off and slept until about 30 minutes before landing and then was content to have a snack and watch out the window. I was so pleased and I think everyone on the plane was happy too, but they don't know what a sweet girl she is when she is awake and it would have been fine if she were awake the whole time.

I used our backpack to carry her in and she loved it! And no one touched her at the airport, which I loved!

The star of the week, and the reason we went to Michigan, was this guy...Jacob.

He is the sweetest little guy and such a cuddler!

Aubrey love him too and was so excited whenever she realized he was close and unattended! She would scoot herself right over and love on him.

The week was filled with playing with the OTHER cousins too.

While Livy (7) was at school, we were busy at home.

Carley (4) and Aubrey played pat-a-cake and Luke (3) filled in as her buddy for Ella.

That bear is pretty special and he was more than willing to let her share it

and do tricks on her with it!

Carley and Luke taught me the art of Wii Bowling!

We baked 2 batches of muffins and a triple chocolate fudge birthday cake

for Auntie Sarah's birthday.

Aubrey didn't neglect her therapy. We did page turning and reading and lots of standing by the windows looking at the lake and longing to see the wonderful snow covered swimming pool.

And of course, we bundled up and went out to play in the snow. They have a little baby sled with a belt, and she had a good time being pulled around. Grandpa even took her down the hill and she had a big smile! (too bad I wasn't ready with the video or camera)

Cousin Livy puller her around the yard for awhile.

Carley and I at snow together, though I think she enjoyed it more than I!

While Livy and I were happy to sled down the big hill in the back yard, Carley and Luke were happy to swing on the playset. I did have to dig out a bit for their feet, but that is where they liked to be.

On Sunday, Jacob became a child of God through baptism.

May the Lord continue to watch over him and bless his life.

Woody and I are lucky to be godparents to him and look forward to watching over him as well. He is a special little guy.

Ears and Speech

This morning, Aubrey had an appointment with the ENT. We saw her for the first time in July and then she wanted to see Aubrey every 4 months for maintenance, so we saw her in November. They did a hearing test at that time that showed mild loss and she has super small ears and lots of wax, so they wanted to see her in 3 months. So there we were this morning, getting her ears cleaned out and checked. They look PERFECT! Not as much wax as last time, NO fluid and they just look great. She was shocked at how good they looked. I did ask about the speech delays though. They had not originally planned a hearing test, but decided to do one anyway. She did much better this time.

Aubrey's test still shows mild hearing loss, but it is a wait and see game. She is still very young, so the test is not 100% accurate and they will keep a close eye on her and let the speech teacher take it from hear. They were kind enough to print her results for me to take with and give to ourECI teacher for reference.

Things went so well because Miss Ella was on a "Starwars" playdate with Andrew:) (Can you tell that these people only have "boy" toys and my little girls don't know about all this "cool" stuff)

I was on the ball and actually scheduled a speech session for this afternoon! Aubrey was able to show off her new skills. It never occurred to us that we should give Aubrey a fork, but we did the other day and we were totally blown away! Pizza for lunch, bite size of course.

I think I can get it...

This is kind of tough, Mom...

GOT IT...And in the mouth!!!

For her second skill, Aubrey showed off her ability to not only drink from a straw cup, but she grabbed the cup herself from the table, drank, and then gently put it back!

She has such GREAT table manners!

Since Aubrey has met her goals, self feeding and drinking from a straw, we talked about new goals and I spend a lot of time talking about language. Aubrey doesn't say anything yet. She has "B" and "D" sounds and is starting on some "M" and "N" and the "A". She says "dadadada", but doesn't use it for Daddy. Since we see her twice a month, we decided that for now, we would focus one session on eating. This will keep her on task and make sure she is progressing. The other session will be more language focused, but may still happen at meals (yet to be decided).

I mentioned that while she has quite a few signs that she CAN use, she doesn't use the consistently or very often. She does a lot of screaming and yelling these days. Melissa suggested that we use some picture cards (hand made) of her favorite foods and toys and such that we could use to help her communicate until she is using more signs consistently or using actual words. That would ease some of her frustrations. I am looking forward to seeing how this works. And maybe it is time to see speech more often these days...sigh...

I am so grateful that they come to the house at least and it isn't one more appointment to drive to or entertain Ella at. Sometimes, they even come before Ella wakes up and that is so nice:)

Disney Hats

I have had a lot of questions and comments about the hats the girls were wearing in the video montage and the pictures that I posted last week.

To answer everyone:

1. Yes, I made the hats for the girls.

2. Yes, I will make some for your kids too!

I actually have made 12 now! I did them as Christmas gifts for some family that went to Disney and some friends whom we have gone with. We are "Disney People"! My husband grew up near Disney World and me and the girls have fallen in love with the place. (can you blame us!)

I have been thinking long and hard since Christmas about selling them on Etsy and have finally opened up a shop to do so. It can be found here:

www.theumbrellagirlshop.etsy.com

I am working on other things that I will be adding to my shop this week. So if you are interested in a hat for your little guy or girl, or know someone who would, visit my shop and let me know. I would be thrilled to make one for them.

Have a Magical Day!

Rachel--The Umbrella Girl

Aubrey's update

Today the nutritionist was here for her monthly check.

Aubrey weighed 16lbs 3oz (a 1 lbs GAIN--this mostly due to the fact hat in December she had only gained an ounce or so and only 4 ounces last month because she had been sick)

She grew 1/2 inch and her head grew. (getting smart:)

She is the picture of health! Our once concern is that she is not into dairy/calcium. So when I stop nursing her she will not have any calcium in her diet. We have tried milk in her straw cup and she actually spits it out. We offer her cheese and she rejects it. She will eat milk and cheese if they are IN a dish like soup though. The only dairy she likes is yogurt. So we are going to start offering her yogurt everyday and then try to offer her some milk that has been warmed up a bit. She loves smoothies, so we will offer those but really milk them down over time so that she is mostly getting just milk.

More trial and error, but a really good report for Miss Aubrey. She also assured me that Aubrey would not be going to Kindergarten in her rear facing infant seat and thinks she should get to turn around by her second birthday!

We discovered a new tooth this past weekend. I don't make it a habit to put my fingers in her mouth to avoid possible germ spreading and to prevent the girls from doing it, so sometimes her teeth come as a surprise. Her first tooth is on the bottom right in the front. Her second tooth is on the upper right, in the BACK. You got it, she has a molar coming in! Can you believe it! No wonder she was out of sorts last week. What a funny adventure teeth have become. Can't wait to see where the next one pops through:)

Aubrey has this new face that she makes every time I get the camera out now.

What a silly girl...just like her sisters!

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Cookie Making

Some of these pictures I took and some Kate (5) took. She's doing a pretty good job these days. It was just Kate and Ella this time. But they did so much of the cookie making. Mostly I just did the rolling and taking out, which is nice, because then I can take more photos:)

Things got a little "silly" at the end.

SNOW...Again

So it snowed in Texas...again. Last Thursday morning we awoke to a couple inches on the ground. Kate, Ella, Aubrey and me had a quick breakfast and then bundled up for a trip out to play.

Let's just say, Aubrey was less than excited to bundle up and even less excited to be in the snow.

Kate was super excited. The snowflakes were GIANT.

Ella did a lot of TASTING!

I was having troubles taking pictures and holding Aubrey (who was not thrilled) so I put her in the stroller...still not happy...but content to watch.

There were snow angels.

And then we went around front...to see if the snow was different up there:) Aubrey had to sit by the front door (a little happier, because the snow wasn't landing on her face) so that I could help with a snow man. My kids didn't know how to roll the snow to make a snow ball...Southerners!

Woody came home and there were snowball fights. He also built a little slide for the kids.

Friday, was a snow day for the kids and no work for Woody, so they played. They worked all morning on a SNOW FORT (we have a 75 acre field across the street). It was awesome! And they played all day.

Saturday brought warm temperatures and the melting of the snow. The fort and the slide are just about the only things still up in the neighborhood and they don't look like much any more, but the kids are so proud that there is still a little bit of the masterpiece left:)

Happy Valentine's Day

I know that I am long overdue for a post:) We have been VERY busy this week and have much to say...but I just don't have it in me to get through all the pictures and stuff tonight to share it all. I promise to do a full update tomorrow. We've had a foot of snow and a new tooth, and much more:)

But I love all my girls, and my dear husband,

but I especiallylove kissing baby fingers...

and baby toes!!!