Dells vs. Orion

This past weekend, Jeff was playing in a volleyball tournament in the Dells, so Aubrey and I went back to Orion to see the family again. She got to meet my godmother, Jane Helke, as well as see Grandma, Grandpa, and all of her aunts, uncles and cousins. She is a loved little girl!

Shots anyone?

Today I took Aubrey for her two month checkup and she continues to be off the charts. Her length is 24 1/4 inches (>95th percentile) and weight is 12 1/2 pounds (90th percentile). The doctor said her length is equivalent to a four month old while her weight is that of a three month old. Our "little" girl is growing so well! She also received her first round of shots today. Although she did cry afterwards, she was asleep within five minutes of getting into the car. She is such a trooper!

On another note... Aaron and Lissy had their baby! Lainey Grace Kunert was born Sunday, July 15 at 9:01pm. She weighed 8 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces and measured 20 1/2 inches long. Lissy labored for 55 hours before delivering c-section. What a champ! The family is doing well! We look forward to meeting Lainey soon! (originally posted on Babysites)

Second month pictures

Here are pictures from the second month. Our little girl is getting so big!

visiting the Langers...my second family

Grandma and Grandpa are over to babysit

in the carrier with Mommy so she can cook dinner

poolside at the Marinier's house

getting chilly

Matt and Robyn come to visit on their way back to St. Louis

Michelle comes to see Aubrey, too

Aubrey and Mommy

napping after a long day!

two months old!

tummy time on the activity mat

napping with Daddy

Lots to celebrate

Good news and bad news.... good news is that I have been spending endless hours with Aubrey lately and we are having a great time. Bad news is the website doesn't get updated as often as we'd like.

A lot has happened since we've last written... we've celebrated Father's Day, Grandpa Sandberg's birthday, Grandma Kunert's birthday, Caleb's birthday and the Fourth of July. Aubrey is really enjoying her time out of the house whether it is shopping, visiting people or just running errands. She is such a joy and is adored by everyone wherever we go. She is becoming more and more alert these days and her little personality is certainly developing. She rarely cries unless she's really hungry or overtired. But, the biggest milestone of late is she's starting to SMILE!!! It is so cute to just watch her. If you start talking to her she will throw so many smiles at you it just melts our heart! We've yet to capture it on film but once we do, we'll be sure to add a picture to the website.


napping on Mommy

We also made a trip back to Orion to celebrate Caleb and Grandma's birthdays. Everyone was happy to see her again and couldn't believe how much bigger she had gotten. She first started her smiling and hasn't stopped since.


blowing out candles with Caleb and her cousins


spending time with Grandma


visiting Great Grandma Harkey

We also went to Denise and Jake's house for their Mexican fiesta party. It was a lot of fun.

at the party with Sarah and her friends

the grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa


visiting Aunt Gail

Then last week we went to Grandma and Grandpa Sandbergs to celebrate the Fourth of July. After a preview of fireworks the weekend before, we weren't sure what to expect, but Aubrey loved them. She let her Uncle Gus carry her around while she just started at the brilliant colors in the sky. It was a relief to us so we didn't have to spend another beautiful night indoors!

fireworks with Uncle Gus

our family on the 4th

Coming up this weekend, Daddy is heading off to the Dells for a volleyball tournament while Aubrey and I are going back to Orion. Aaron and Lissy are due to have their baby any day now so we are really hoping to meet the new little one! It'll be so hard to imagine when Aubrey was that little and it's only been eight weeks! I hope to add more next week.

P.S. Thanks to Grandma Kunert for coming to stay with us for a few days. Mommy really needed the help and feels much better now! :) (originally posted on Babysites)

Mommy pains?

The past few days, I have beginning to experience some pain in my joints. It has gotten so bad in my shoulders that I have not been able to lift Aubrey. We even called our friend, Kate Fasshauer, to come over at 6am to help me out. That day, I broke down and went to the Doctor. Unable to diagnose my problem, they prescribed a muscle relaxer, pain medicine and physical therapy. I began physical therapy with some improvement. The joint flexibility increased but the pain didn't really get much better. I decided I felt okay for us to still head back to Orion for the weekend. We could use a little extra help with Aubrey. :) Things didn't really improve much for me. In fact, by the time Saturday night came, all of my joints were swelling...ankles, wrists, fingers, knees and the pain in my shoulders was unbearable. We decided the next day we needed to bring Mom back with us so I could get some help with Aubrey. So, Sunday afternoon, we headed back home. By the time we got back to Bolingbrook, I could barely walk. So, with some convincing from my Mom, Jeff and I headed directly to the emergency room. Once I got there, they immediately hooked me up to an IV and drew some blood. As expected, my results came back showing my inflammation level was through the roof. The decided to give me a steroid injection into my IV. Within 10 minutes, the swelling went down and the pain started to go away. The next morning I woke up good as new. The doctors still don't know what happened, what caused it, etc. All I know is it was very scary. I was beginning to think I wouldn't be able to ever lift my baby again. Good thing, everything is all back to normal.