Silly Aubrey

Aubrey and two of our neighbor friends. They were playing salon (one of our neighbors is a hairstylist), and blow drying their hair on the air conditioners. They had a blast. 

 

Today Aubrey really got into the chalk and it was so much fun. We spent over an hour drawing while Cameron and Ada were napping. Aubrey would make up stories, draw her own pictures, and spend a lot of time coloring pictures that I drew. We also traced her and she colored her outfit. She even drew Daddy a snack cake and a dog named Aubrey. 

Aubrey said a few funny things today that I thought should be recorded:

On the way to Costco, Aubrey asked where Grandpa was. I told her that he was at work. She started laughing and said, "Why is he at work?" In her mind it isn't normal for people to work during the day, and she thought it was so funny. 

While leaving Costco, the old man beside us began backing out of his spot while I was loading Aubrey in the car. Another car was driving by, and blared their horn as if the man was going to back into them. Aubrey got very excited and waved and said, "Someone is honking at us!" Hopefully it lightened up their day.

Happy Birthday Adalyn!

Our little Ada turned 1 yesterday! It was so fun celebrating her birthday, and Aubrey has been looking forward to it so much as well. The girls slept in until almost 8, and then we took them into the living room to open presents. We also have a tradition of getting a balloon bouquet for our girls birthdays, so Ada picked hers out on Saturday afternoon. I think they are her favorite toy/present. She gets so excited when she sees them and loves carrying them around from room to room. 

 

Looking at the presents!

 

Aubrey was very excited to see that there was one with her name on it. She loved that Grandma Dalton had taped a sticky note with her name to the wrapping paper, and kept asking what it said. She got a little Belle doll and has been playing with it ever since. 

 

Aubrey loved that Ada needed help opening her presents. 

 

Lots of cute new outfits from Grandma and Papa!

 

We got Ada some stacking cups, and both girls have been having fun with them. 

 

Poppyseed muffins for breakfast! I felt bad that I didn't make the traditional monkey bread, but with the race the day before and trying to get the cake made, it didn't happen. 

 

The fish cake looked great, and it tasted good too!

 

We decided at the last minute to invite our neighbors up. Because it was a Sunday afternoon, most of them were around, and the girls loved having friends to share the special day with. 

 

Lots of cake and ice cream!

 

Ada ate a tiny bit of cake, but loved the strawberries!

 

Ada follows Aubrey everywhere these past few weeks, and Aubrey has gotten really good at slamming the doors and locking them. Cameron finally turned the knob on her door around so she wouldn't constantly lock us out (and so we could lock her in for time outs :)). Ada loved that there were 4 friends to follow around and play with. 

 

Ada is also learning to climb, and was so proud of herself sitting in this chair. 

 

Had to add a picture of Aubrey on her first birthday for comparison. 

Ada had to get some shots today. We also got her 1 year stats: 

Weight: 19.86 pounds (30%)

Length: 29.72 inches (72%)

Head: 18.0 inches (72%)

Here are some things our little girl does at 1 year:

• 12 teeth, four on top, four on bottom, and four molars.
• Says MaMa, DaDa, Bye Bye, No, and maybe Ada and Aubrey
• Sleeps from about 7:30 to 8 at night to about 7 to 8 in the morning. 
• 1 to 2 naps depending on the day. We will probably be transitioning to 1 in the next month or so
• Happy Happy girl. 
• Can sign All Done
• Loves stuffed animals and her blanket
• Loves Aubrey and will follow her anywhere
• Loves to share things with Aubrey, like a sucker or popsicle. Ada will laugh and laugh at Aubrey. 
• Easy going. Doesn't get too shy around strangers yet. 
• Is our little social bug at church. She will walk from chair to chair and play with each person as they go by. I always try to stop her, but usually people enjoy it. 
• Big smiler. 
• Has been walking for about 3-4 weeks, and is starting to get really fast. Also starting to climb. 
• Loves our neighbor friends and will squeal and get so excited when she sees them. 
• Hates brushing her teeth. 
• Does not like peaches. But most other foods she will eat. Has always been a good eater. 
• Still loves her bottles, but we are starting to transition from formula to milk, and from bottles to sippy cups. 
• Loves her binky. We probably need to fix that soon. She only gets it for naps and bedtime though. 
• Shakes her head no, and has nodded a few times. 
• Loves tub time. 
• Favorite Food: Cheese
• Likes the running stroller and always has. Both girls really enjoy it now which is so nice. 

Top of Utah Half Marathon

Today Cameron and I ran the Top of Utah Half Marathon. Neither one of us had ever run this course before. We woke up at 3:30 and left the house at four in order to get up to Logan to pick up our packets and load the bus. Our wonderful neighbors took care of our girls. They came upstairs to our apartment so early in the morning! We love and are so grateful for good neighbors and friends. 

Cameron had a goal to break 1:20, and I was aiming for 1:30. We both had great races. Cameron ran a 1:19:45, which averages to 6:05 minute miles for the 13.1 mile race! I ran 1:30:26 and average 6:53 per mile. We were both happy. I am trying to appreciate the shape I am in now and not compare to what I used to do. Considering I push a stroller on half my runs and have two little girls, I am very pleased. We got perfect weather, the course was mostly downhill, and we even had a tailwind for a mile or so during the race. Couldn't have asked for a better day. 

Cameron placed 3rd in his age division and I was 2nd in mine. We really enjoy all the friends that we see at the races, and being part of the running community. We saw old friends and old teammates, and Cameron ran into some coworkers and high school acquaintances. 

I ran a marathon 4 days before Aubrey turned 1, and now the 1/2 marathon a day before Ada turns 1. 

We celebrated by heading to TGI Fridays and getting ready for Ada's first birthday tomorrow. 

Party & Peaches

Our neighbors, the Beech's, moved away a few weeks ago after buying a home. We were invited to their new house last Saturday for their son, Adam's, birthday. It was fun to see them again, see their new house, and hang out with all of our neighbors. The kids all had a blast as well. They turned on the sprinklers to play in, had root beer floats, pizza, shark cupcakes, games, and much more. What a fun night. 

 

Playing in the sprinkler. 

 

Marlee and Hailey. We are sad that we will be losing Hailey in a few weeks. Her family will head to California. That will be 5 out of the 10 kids that we play with that have moved. 

 

Very wet Ada. 

 

Playing pin the tooth on the shark. 

 

Ada giving it a try. 

 

Earlier in the day I canned my first ever batch of peaches (and first ever batch of anything canning!). It was a success. I had one case of peaches, and got 16 quarts. I enjoyed it, but was so glad that Cameron was around most of the time that I was doing it, or else I would have been extremely stressed canning and trying to keep the girls entertained.

On another note, Ada is officially a walker. She walks a majority of the time now, and is only getting faster and faster. Videos to come soon. We are excited to celebrate her first birthday on Sunday!

Farmer's Market, Dinosaur Park, & Leaf Bug

Last Friday the girls and I headed to the Dinosaur Park with my friend Sariah and her two little boys. Aubrey was so excited to see the dinosaurs. I told her about it before we went on our run in the morning, and it was all she could talk about. We even passed a UHaul with a big green dinosaur on it and she got so excited because she thought we were there!

 

 After our run we met up and had a blast. It has been fun lately because Aubrey is finally starting to come out of her shell and not be so shy. She has literally drove us nuts at times these past few months constantly needing to be by our side. She would start crying if we were out playing with friends and I ran inside to check on Ada, or if we were anyplace other than inside our house. 

So I wasn't sure how she was going to act at the dinosaur park, but it was so fun to see her excited to have Joshua there, and the two of them ran around and had a blast. Hopefully she is realizing that this is way more fun than holding my hand the whole time. 

I really have seen a change in her these past few weeks. One of our neighbors had some cousins over that were playing outside, and Aubrey went up and starting talking to one. Without me there. And she has been a little better at going to the nursery at church-although she still cries, "Just a little bit." But every week when we pick her up, she is determined that she, "won't cry at all next week."

Aubrey had opened the door and gone outside as I was finishing getting things together to head out on a run. She came in the house and was so excited. She kept saying, "There's a bug on a leaf! There's a bug on a leaf!" I took my time getting outside cause I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but she loved her little friend. 

 

Saturday we went to Ogden's Farmer's Market with Leigh & Todd and Kate & Jordan. They had a train to ride, a man making balloon animals, lots of fun vegetables, fruits, and crafts to look at, a horse, and lots of good food. 

Don't you love Aubrey's train picture? That was her smile face. 

 

We found a cute new dress for Aubrey at one of the booths, and she insisted that she put it on the second after we bought it. 

 

Love the new hairstyle I came up with. She looked so cute. 

 

I had to laugh at all these pictures I found on my camera that Aubrey took...

 

Todd

 

Kate

 

 Jordan

 

Ada

 

 Cameron

 

Me

Maybe we have a future photographer?

Too Cute

Just a couple of pictures from the past few days that were too cute not to post. Aubrey had fun sharing her princess outfit, and Ada thought she looked beautiful (which of course she did). 

Enjoying some Daddy story time!

Ada's Walking!

I am so excited that my parents got to witness Ada's first steps while we were up in Montana. It is hard for me at times to have them so far away. It was even cooler that BOTH of Ada's sets of grandparents watched her first steps. I knew it would be close, that she would either do it when we were up there or right when we got back. 

Right when we got home she got a fever and yesterday I saw that her first molar is coming in. So glad that she waited until we got home to not feel good. 

It is good to be home, but so hard to leave Montana. We want to go back as soon as possible. But, all of Aubrey's friends were so excited to see her, and she was excited to see them too.

One More Day in Montana

After Cameron's parents left we brought back the motor home we had borrowed to my grandparents. Aubrey had a blast jumping on the bed as we drove down the road. So cool!

 

Lounging with Daddy on the drive over. 

 

Grandma and Ada waiting for us to arrive. 

 

With the girls on the porch. 

 

Cameron's work schedule got changed at the last minute, and we changed our plans too and stayed one last day in Montana. It is so hard to leave, and we loved having one extra day to spend at the lake and one extra evening with my parents. 

 

We headed to my Aunt's house to swim for a bit. Above, Aubrey is fixing Ada's hair. 

 

Aubrey got her lifejacket on and learned how to float. She didn't trust it completely, but they had fun. 

 

This is the face I got when I said, "Smile, Aubrey!". And, our attempt to get Ada to not eat the rocks. 

 

Swimming!

 

Aubrey is so proud of herself that she was brave enough to jump off the dock. I am proud of her too. I really am surprised she did it. And loved it. 

 

One last wagon ride before heading home.