Happy 4th of July!

My sister Danielle came yesterday to help us celebrate the 4th of July. It was nice to see her again. Aubrey was very excited to see her too. Calvin didn't have to work, so we went with his parents to the parade in Watseka. We got there shortly before the parade started and were able to get all set up before the parade reached us. Aubrey loved watching all of the police cars, fire engines, ambulances, and floats go by. She did great with all of the sirens - they didn't seem to affect her at all! She even got to pick up candy that people threw to us. (We decided next year we need to bring more kids with us so we can get more candy! :) After the parade, we all went out to eat at Monical's. It was yummy! We then came home and worked on cleaning our deck so that I can stain it this weekend.

Waiting for the parade to start

Picking up candy

Waving to the people going by

Family Vacation

On June 21st, Aubrey and I left for vacation with my family to Afton, Oklahoma. (Calvin and my sister Hannah were both unable to go because of work, but the rest of us went together.) We stayed on Grand Lake, which is the largest lake in Oklahoma. The scenery was beautiful - lots of rolling hills, trees, and pasture. We had a great time together and were able to relax along with doing some sight-seeing (mom's favorite thing to do!). Some of the highlights of the trip were:

• Aubrey running away from Maximus. He tried to use her several times as a support to stand up, which she didn't like. She also didn't like having to share her toys. :)


• Shopping at some local stores and flea markets. What great deals they had!


• Swimming! I love swimming, but I wasn't sure if Aubrey would as well. It turns out that she does. She had such a good time that I had to go and buy her a float so that I didn't have to hold her the entire time. (Nic and Ingrid also bought one for Maximus, because he loved swimming too.)


• Spending time together. It was so nice to spend time together without having to constantly be working on something.


• Seeing Har-Ber Village (an outdoor museum spanning the 1800s-1900s and taking a tour of the Pensacola Dam (the dam that was built to create Grand Lake).

All in all, it was a great trip. We returned home June 29th. Aubrey did pretty well in the car. She had her moments when she definitely got sick of her car seat, but singing really helped her to calm down. Thank God for VeggieTales!

Aubrey and I in front of some flowers at our resort.

Aubrey's new swim float

Aubrey and Maximus in front of a turbine at the Pensacola Dam.

Here is Aubrey reading some information about the Pensacola Dam.

Grandma and Aubrey swinging at the small park we found.

Shots and Swings

Almost two weeks ago, Aubrey went in for her 15 month checkup. She is doing great. She weighs 19 lb. 4 oz. and is 30 1/2 inches tall. She is still small in the weight area, but the doctor was not concerned about it at all. She also had to get two shots, which we were told are the last ones for a while. Hallelujah! She did great and loved her shiny band-aids. Hopefully you can see them in the picture. She has one on each leg.






Calvin was finally able to get the baby swing put up in one of our trees. She absolutely loves to swing. She likes to go high though. If you don't push her high enough, she will just sit there and keep saying "more" until you do. She can also sort of say swing. It sounds more like "wing", but we get the idea of what she wants. She could probably spend all day in that thing!

Happy Father's Day!

Aubrey is still loving and carrying around her baby. She sleeps with it during every nap and even at night. In the morning when I get her up, she has to take her baby with her. She takes it everywhere. She's even started saying baby. It's really cute! Here's a picture of Aubrey rocking her baby.


Last Friday, we went to the park in Crescent City. We weren't there very long, because it was so hot. I tried to take her down some of the slides, but they were in the direct sunlight and were very hot. I did take her down the tunnel slide (you can see it in the back of the swing picture), and she liked that. She also climbed on some of the equipment. We went across the bridge and climbed the steps. She had a great time. Aubrey's favorite part was swinging.

She also liked "driving" the bus that was at the top of the steps.

Today was Father's Day. We spent the day at Denny and Eileen's house. Aubrey had a blast playing with the babies at Grandma's house and being around her cousins. She didn't take a nap until around 5:00 when we got home, but you would never have known it. She was wide awake and in a great mood. After taking a nap at home and eating supper, Aubrey and her daddy danced to her favorite music - VeggieTales - and had fun playing together. What a great way to celebrate Father's Day! Here's Aubrey and Daddy. (Notice the baby in the picture!)

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma

Last week Grandpa and Grandma Leininger came for a visit on their way to my mom and dad's. It was so nice to see them. (Danielle came over too so that she could see them also.) We hadn't seen them since December when they came to celebrate Hannah's graduation. I didn't know how Aubrey would act, as she pretends to be shy around people she doesn't know very well. She really surprised me though. She latched onto Grandpa almost immediately. She sat on his lap for awhile and showed him toys. Then they went through Grandma's purse together. It was very cute! The next morning after she ate breakfast, I cleaned her up and then put her down. She immediately went to Grandpa who was sitting at the table finishing his breakfast. She got on his lap again. Later that morning Grandpa and Grandma went upstairs to see Aubrey's room, and Aubrey brought Grandpa her song book. She and Grandpa then sang songs together. It was priceless! It just amazes me that she attached herself so quickly. She's not around older men much, nor is she usually real friendly with men. I was very proud of her.




We also played with Play-doh. Aubrey enjoyed making dog shapes, "worms", and balls out of it.

We had mostaccoli for supper. Aubrey's face was a mess, but she sure loved it!

The Baby Discovery

Our church picnic was this past Sunday. The weather was beautiful, and we all had a good time. Aubrey had a blast playing with her cousins and seeing other children. I think that she gets bored sometimes just seeing me all day. We went to the playground at school later in the afternoon. Her favorite part was climbing up the steps to get to the slide. She even let Abby and Gracie take her down the big slides. We probably played over there for at least 45 minutes. I definitely need to make sure that I get her to the park in Crescent at least every couple of weeks to play.

Yesterday after supper, Aubrey was playing with her toys and found her baby that she had gotten for Christmas. She hasn't really played with babies yet. But after she found her baby yesterday, she would not let go of it. Calvin taught her how to rock it, and she was also giving it drinks from her sippy cup. When we went upstairs to take a bath, the baby had to come with and she cried because the baby couldn't go in the water with her. We then read books with the baby and she slept with the baby. Today, it was all about the baby again. We took it shopping with us (though Aubrey did drop it several times). Back at home, she played with it all day. It's so funny how she has just latched on to it. I don't know if it's because we saw Clare on Sunday, or what the deal is.

We also went swimming yesterday for the first time in our little plastic pool. Aubrey wasn't too sure of it at first, but after about twenty minutes of sitting on my lap, she was finally brave enough to move around some. She liked splashing, as long as it didn't get in her face, and shoveling water into a plastic fish. Hopefully this gets her used to swimming, so that we can go in a "real" pool on vacation.