Settling Down

This past week we did not do much except take some time to relax after the busy weekend that we had. We finally got all of Aubrey and Chloe's new things put away. Aubrey loves playing with all of her new toys and it's nice to have some clothes that seem to fit her a little bit better. Aubrey helped me write thank-you notes, and I also found time to finally write in Chloe's baby book. It is now up to date. On Friday, I had my 6-week checkup (even though it's only been 5 weeks) with my OBGYN and she said everything was great. Aubrey went to Aunt Kathy's house to play, and I took Chloe with me. Chloe normally sleeps in the car seat, but she was pretty much awake the entire time we were gone, with only a few cat naps here and there. Needless to say she was pretty fussy by the time we got home because she was so tired. Other than that day, she has been pretty good. She looked at me today and smiled as I was talking to her several times. I think that she's finally maybe starting to smile at times other than when she is passing gas or dreaming. :) She loves her bath and likes to lay on the floor after her bath and just look around. That's one of my favorite times of the day!

Aubrey and Chloe

Chloe in a dress for the first time!

Yesterday, we went to Calvin's mom and dad's house to celebrate Easter. Dinner was great, and it was nice for Aubrey to play with her cousins. They had an Easter egg hunt outside, and Aubrey had a great time hunting eggs with Daddy. I don't think she quite understood that there were things inside the eggs until we got inside and opened them. Then of course she was excited by the money and candy that she found. It was a fun day for both girls!

Birthdays and Baptism

This past weekend was a very busy one! We celebrated Aubrey's 2nd birthday and Chloe's baptism on Sunday with a party for both of them in one. (They don't know any different at this point in time!) My family came for the weekend to help us celebrate. Aubrey and Maximus played pretty well together. Aubrey for the most part was willing to share her toys, except for her babies. They were funny to watch. So with my family, Calvin's family, and a few friends, we had about 30 people at our house! Everyone had a great time though, and the girls got many nice things. Chloe's baptism also went very well. She slept through the entire service, even when Pastor poured water over her head. Mom also sang and did a beautiful job. By the time the day was over and everyone had left, I was exhausted!

Aubrey ended up getting an upper respiratory and sinus infection last week and is finally starting to get over it and feel better. She had her 24 month well check last Friday. She now weighs 23 pounds and is 33 inches tall. Overall, the doctor said that everything looked good for her (except for the infection). Chloe also went for her 1 month well check. She now weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces and is 21 1/2 inches long. She grew 1 1/2 inches last month. Amazing! She is also doing very well and finally lost her umbilical cord last week.

I continue to be busy just with the basic household chores. I do not know where the day goes. It seems like its supper time and I have gotten hardly anything done. We are starting to get into a routine though. Chloe is doing much better at night. As long as I keep her up more during the day, she sleeps great at night. Last night I only had to get up once, which was so nice! She is also doing better with laying on the floor. Before she hated to be left on the floor, but now she is getting more used to it. Aubrey continues to be a bundle of energy. She is very good at entertaining herself and finding things to play with. Though, she does occasionally want me to hold her when I'm trying to nurse Chloe or do something for her when I'm trying to calm Chloe down, but that's to be expected. Overall, we are all doing great and looking forward to some warmer weather!

Chloe in her baptismal dress

Our family

The Timm family

Aubrey celebrating on her birthday (March 2nd)

Aubrey's Pooh birthday cake

Aubrey playing in the snow

Aubrey loves to throw snowballs!

Chloe loves sitting in the bouncy seat!

Choe's 1 month picture

Taking a real bath for the first time

Relaxing after bath time

Chloe Danielle is here!

Our baby has been born! Chloe Danielle was born on Thursday, February 7th, at 3:15 p.m. She was 6 pounds 12 1/2 ounces and 20 inches long. She was a definite surprise to both Calvin and I as we were not expecting her to be born a week early. I honestly thought that I would be late, as I wasn't having many contractions, but things didn't exactly happen that way. I went to my doctor's appointment that previous Wednesday (February 6) and measured a little smaller than I had the previous week. My doctor did an ultrasound and found that the amniotic fluid around the baby was low. She ordered a stress test, which turned out fine, and said that I would have to be induced the next day. What a shock! I had to take all of my school stuff back that day, finish packing my bag for the hospital, and mentally prepare for having a baby. It was crazy! That Thursday morning, we were at the hospital by 7:00 a.m. and they started giving me pitocin around 7:45 a.m. My sister-in-law Ingrid came up from St. Louis to be with Calvin and I. What an amazing help she was! I'm so glad that she came! I was only in labor for 7 1/2 hours, which is much better than the 12-24 hours the doctor said that it could be. Things went pretty well and I was in the hospital until Saturday morning. I was very ready to go home!

Mommy, Aubrey, & Chloe

Baby Chloe

Leaving the hospital

My mom came and stayed with us for the first week. It was so nice having an extra pair of hands to help take care of both girls. She also made about 10 meals for me and put them in the freezer for me to make when we are having a rough day. She left the following Saturday, reassuring me that everything would be fine. Things have been going fairly well this week, now that we are on our own. Aubrey has been doing very well with Chloe. She loves to hold her sister and give her kisses. She is concerned when she doesn't see Chloe and asks where her baby is. Aubrey has been a bit whinier, but for the most part, she is adjusting fairly well. I think that she was glad when we came home from the hospital, though I know she had fun with Calvin's parents and aunt. Chloe has been doing pretty well also. She loves to sleep! She pretty much eats and sleeps all day. The past several nights she has not wanted to go to sleep after I feed her so I have been trying to keep her up more during the day, which is very challenging! Overall, things are going very well and I love being home with the girls!

Aubrey holding Chloe

Chloe sleeping - which she loves to do!

Chloe is actually awake for this picture!

Aubrey loves holding Chloe - even if she's crying!

Aubrey is painting in the tub with her paints from Uncle Nic and Aunt Ingrid.

Chloe almost has a smile on her face. It's so cute!

Chloe is so little!

Aubrey likes the bouncy seat more than Chloe does!

The Countdown to Baby

We are now officially on a countdown until the baby is born. We have two weeks from Thursday before my official due date, but it could theoretically be any time now. We have almost everything ready. The crib is set up in our room, the swing and bouncy seat are cleaned, and some clothes have been washed up. Aubrey is in heaven using all of the baby things for her babies. She loves to put her baby in the swing and bouncy seat and has even figured out how to turn the music and vibration on. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. We'll see how well she wants to share her new "toys" with the new baby. She still loves to rub my belly and talk to the baby. Her latest thing is to give the baby hugs and kisses and tell him/her that she loves him/her. It's priceless! Calvin and I are getting excited and nervous at the same time. We are trying to figure out exactly what to do with Aubrey while I'm in the hospital - it's definitely different when you have another child to think about also. I'm hoping that she does well with the baby. She loves the baby at the babysitter's and she loves her cousin Clare. Granted, those babies leave and ours will stay at home with us always, but I'm hoping that she adjusts well and wants to help take care of the baby. Time will tell.

Aubrey is officially in her big girl bed and room. Her room has turned out very cute and she loves her new kitchen that she got for Christmas. She loves to make food and set the table. Each person, including her baby, gets a plate, silverware, and a cup to drink from. She loves to make soup for everyone. She has also become very independent. I hear the word "myself" all the time. She wants to do everything herself - take off her clothes, put things away, put on her coat, etc. These are all great sometimes, except when you're in a hurry or she is putting her coat on backwards and doesn't want help. It is nice that she can take off her hat, gloves, coat, and shoes by herself though. She loves to talk on the phone and does a pretty good job of holding a conversation, although she tends to shake her head instead of saying yes. She continues to make life interesting and fun!

Aubrey and Mommy

My belly as of Sunday - I don't feel like it can possibly get any bigger!

A Happy Holiday

We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family. Aubrey loved spending time with her aunts and cousins. She and Max did much better together this time. They actually played together some, although she is on a big "mine" kick, especially when it comes to her toys. She isn't so great at sharing. We are working on it. She also loved opening presents and was great at waiting her turn. We got her a kitchen for Christmas, and she got lots of dishes, food, and things to go in her new kitchen. She also got some baby stuff that she can use to change the baby's diaper. She loves it all!
My parents came last weekend and we painted the spare bedroom purple so that it could be Aubrey's big girl room. We bought her a new purple butterfly comforter to also go in her room. I wanted to move her over to her new room before the baby is born. Tonight is her third night sleeping in her big girl bed (a full sized bed). She looks so little and sweet sleeping in it. She isn't doing too bad. The first night she woke up and I had to go up there with her. The past two nights, she has woken up and made a little bit of noise, but has fallen back asleep on her own. She has been waking up earlier than normal though. The worst part about it is that she has cried hysterically when I leave every nightt so far. Calvin goes up after a few minutes and gets her to go right to sleep. I don't know what he does, but it works!
Aubrey's vocabulary continues to grow every day. She says so many things I couldn't even begin to list them all. She loves to play baby and with her kitchen. She also loves to play ball with her daddy and asks about him all day long.

I am looking forward to the baby being born. We are on a countdown of less than six weeks now. I am going to wash up some baby clothes tomorrow and put them in the nursery drawers. In the next few weeks, I need to get the small crib set up in our room and then get some of the other baby things down also. We are getting anxious!

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks that I thought you might enjoy!

Posing in front of the Christmas tree at Grandpa and Grandma Timm's house

Helping mommy make sugar cookie dough

Family picture before opening presents Christmas Eve night

Aubrey did NOT want to get her picture taken with Max in front of the Christmas tree. Max was oblivious to her crying.

Snacking with Grandpa and Maximus before opening presents

Aubrey was such a great helper passing out presents. She took her job very seriously and loved handing out presents.

Opening presents with mommy and daddy

Making sugar cookies

Aubrey did very well pressing the cookie cutter into the dough to cut out the cookies. She loved it!

Playing piano and singing songs with Aunt Jenna

Cheese! Aubrey loves to smile for the camera.

Like my new hat and outfit?

Clare and Aubrey showing off their matching hats from Aunt Kathy

The Wagner girls

The Latest Happenings

I can't believe that it is December already. It seems as if the year has been flying by! Our Thanksgiving was great and we enjoyed spending time with family during the holiday. My sister Danielle stayed with us for almost a week and Aubrey was pretty attached to her by the time she left. She can also say "Aunt Dani" and continues to ask for her even though it's been a week since we've seen her. She also loved having my other two sisters and parents here. There was never a lack of attention or someone to play with. She seemed a little lost once everyone was gone and it was back to just mom and dad. She cried and cried when my sister Jenna and mom left. She had big tears just rolling down her cheeks. I think that she was sad that her playmate was gone.

She has slowly gotten back into her normal schedule and adjusted to being with just mom and dad. She is very entertaining and loves to play with her babies. She has also gotten into this ball throwing thing. She loves to throw balls and then chase after them, only to throw them again. Talking on the phone is another of her favorite things. She loves to talk to people and will say a few things, but mostly shake her head in answer to their questions. It's very cute! She has become very independent and her vocabulary has really started to expand. She will repeat almost everything you ask her to and most of the time you can figure out what she is trying to tell you. In a way, it's nice that she can communicate, while sometimes it's very frustrating, especially when she tells me no and throws a fit when she doesn't get what she wants. She's pretty easily distracted though, and you can usually get her to stop by focusing her attention elsewhere.

A future teacher - Aubrey is reading my teacher's manual.

My little helper - Aubrey helped me bake oatmeal-raisin cookies for Daddy.

Running to the leaf pile that Mommy made

Buried in leaves and happy about it!

Hunting for the perfect Christmas tree with mommy and daddy

A future fashion diva in a Christmas hat and mommy's socks

Unpacking the ornaments and helping decorate the Christmas tree

Painting is so much fun, but it takes lots of concentration!