Monday, May 31, 2010

Nationals - Day 5:Play in the pool continues, pool play begins

Day three in Phoenix is the same as the first two, but in a different order. Wake, eat breakfast, hit the gym, hit the pool, nap, back to the gym, dinner, bed....

Kids are doing great. Both are sleeping hard when they do sleep. Aubrey has been sleeping through each night, however, she's all over the bed at night. She often changes directions resulting in her laying with her feet across my chest. She also tends to swing her arms, kung fu chopping me often. Tyler wakes 2-3 times each night but goes back down fairly quickly. It definitely could be worse. Here is a picture of them before they woke in the morning. So precious!

Jeff and his team also continue to play well. They won their challenge match against Silverbacks (MN) to put them in gold and three additional matches today putting them in the winner's bracket final tomorrow morning. This guarantees them a medal and a finish of third or better. Go Summit!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Nationals - Day 4:Yucky colds


Today is by far the worst day for the kids and their colds. Aubrey slept great. Tyler did not. Good thing I'm used to not getting any sleep at home either. The poor guy just seems miserable, coughing, sneezing, etc. He is usually all smiles and as happy as can be. However, now he is super crabby and into everything. Needless to say, I'm not getting to watch as much volleyball as I'd like.


So, to try to make matters better, we decided to fore go watching one of Jeff's matches in order to take a nap and rest up. It was an excellent decision leading to better behaved kids. This means I even got to watch a little bit of volleyball, too. Jeff's team is continuing to play great and looks to be coming out of their pool in first place.


Luckily, today was a short day for Summit, so we headed over to Uno's to get food. While waiting for it to be done, we let Aubrey make a wish and toss a penny in the fountain in the outdoor mall. In case you are curious, she wishes for "flowers and rainbows." So sweet!


I also sent Jeff out for some cold medicine for the kids. Hopefully it helps!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Nationals - Day 3:Sleep in, pool, gym, dinner, bed...

Thankfully the kids allowed us to sleep in a bit. They woke around 8:30am local time, giving us about 5.5 hours of sleep. We would have preferred more sleep, but knew it could have been much worse. Jeff's team got the draw of playing the afternoon session, so to give him so more time to sleep, I took the kids to the pool on my own.

So, swimsuits - CHECK, sunscreen - CHECK, pool floaties - CHECK! Aubrey was so excited to go. After months of lessons, this was to be her first time in the pool to have fun. Tyler appeared to be just as excited, however, was extremely scared upon entering the pool. It definitely took him a while to warm up to the idea of the water, the floatie, etc. Once he did though, he loved it! I would have never expected it to go as well as it did. Both kids did their own thing in their floaties while I was able to just enjoy the nice weather. The outside temperature was about 95 degrees, but the cool water and nice breeze made it perfect.

After an hour or so in the pool, we headed back up to the room for a nap before an afternoon in the gym. All of us were able to snooze (phew!). The kids were ready to go. But, by now both of them are starting to get a cold, along with me. How miserable!

Jeff's team played 2 matches, then we went back to the room, ordered pizza and went to bed by 10pm. What a day!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Nationals - Day 2:Still on the road

It's the second day of travel and we are all still alive. :) We learned a couple of lessons. 1) It's hard to get the kids to nap on schedule when they are SO excited. 2) Do not leave your room on on the train with the kids. Ever.

All in all, the kids are doing great. They are being kids, so we are trying not to fault them for being squirmy, anxious, excited, restless, etc. We left Naperville at 3pm on Thursday and were scheduled to arrive in Flagstaff at 9pm on Friday. However, due to a minor breakdown, we arrived 2 hours late to Flagstaff. This delay caused the rental car person to be gone briefly forcing us to wait at the rental car office/train station for 30 additional minutes before getting our car. Then we had a 2+ hour drive ahead of us to get to Phoenix. Did I mention this drive was through the mountains? The kids held up well considering. They both fell asleep once the car started moving. However, since Tyler was so off with his sleeping, he had a terrible night terror. He screamed and cried for 15-20 minutes before I was finally able to wake him and calm him and get him back to sleep. All of this while Jeff was trying to concentrate on the crazy curves and turns at high elevations. Aubrey was so exhausted, she slept through it all! Amazing.

We arrived at the Sheraton in Phoenix around 1am local time (3am Chicago time) and fell asleep instantly. The kids slept fairly well the first night. Tyler was in a pack and play. I shared a bed with Aubrey. Let's see what Day 3 has to offer.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Nationals - Day 1:Can I get a choo choo?

It's time for Nationals and this year it is being held in Phoenix, Arizona. Jeff's team is playing, so we decided to make the trip as a family. To ease some of the nerves and craziness with the kids, we chose to travel by train. Are we crazy? Yes! The trip is 31 hours from Naperville to Flagstaff. We will then rent a car and drive 2 hours through the mountains to Phoenix. We look forward to the adventure!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Summer is near

Summer is almost here! With the warm weather, we've been trying to get outside to play some. Here are the kids in action...







Sunday, May 16, 2010

May photos

Here are a few of my favorite photos from May...

pretty girl

new chair?

just hanging around

snuggling on Daddy's lap (under the blanket)

no hands while sleeping

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Aubrey's birthday with the Sandbergs

To wrap up Aubrey's weeklong birthday celebration, we had a birthday party for her at our house with the Sandberg side of the family. She dressed in her new blue tutu skirt with a shirt that said "Daddy's Little Princess" and she was ready to celebrate like the Princess she is.

We had a wonderful time with all of our family. She received so many gifts, mostly clothes. Aubrey and I are both excited about that. Maybe I am a little more excited than she is... :)

Thanks to everyone that came to celebrate with us. You are all very special to Aubrey. Some day she will realize that as well!





Thursday, May 13, 2010

Well visit

I just took the kids to the doctor today for their well visits. This stop marks 15 months for Tyler and three years for Aubrey. Time is flying by!

Both kids are right on target developmentally. While Tyler continues to be off the charts growthwise, Aubrey is finally steadying out. They are healthy though which is most important!

Here are their stats:
Aubrey --> height - 38" (75%); weight - 33 lbs (75%)
Tyler -->35 1/2" (>95%); weight - 29 lb, 11 oz (>95%)

Just for comparison purposes, Aubrey was 34 1/4" tall and 23 lb at her 15 month visit. She finally his 35 1/4" at 2 years and was still only 27 lb, 3 oz then. Tyler is definitely much bigger!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Letter to Aubrey

Dear Aubrey,

With the celebration of your third birthday behind us, I thought it was time to sit down and write a letter to you. I want you to be able to look back one day and know how truly special you are to me.

One...You are so beautiful. I never imagined your Daddy and I could create something so pretty, so precious, so delicate and just flat out beautiful. Your brown hair is such a lovely shade. Even though my hair is much darker today, my hair was the exact same color as your when I was younger. I can only imagine what a little sun will do to it this summer. I picture lighter highlights to frame your sweet face. Also, your smile is so precious. Even though you tend to be a little devious, you can light up the room with your little smile. Maybe it's the dimple in your chin. (Daddy and I have the same dimple, too). It could be the shape of your lips. They are full, yet simple. I just love your smile!

Two...You are so kind. I know we try to emphasize manners to you but your usage of them comes naturally. You were barely speaking when you started to say "bless you" after someone sneezed. You always say "thank you" and "you're welcome," too. We are still working on "please" but you definitely use it on your own when you really want something. You are also very good at sharing. Whenever someone offers you a snack, you want two so that you can share with someone else...your friends, Daddy, Tyler, etc. You are learning to share your toys with your brother now, too. You use to push him away but now you make sure he has one to play with alongside of you.

Three...You are so smart. You know your alphabet perfectly. You can identify all of your capital letter and are starting to learn your lowercase letters as well. You know your numbers and are able to count to about 30 in English. You can even count to ocho in Spanish. Mrs. Anderson (my high school Spanish teacher) would be so proud. Maybe all of those hours of Dora and Diego are helpful after all. You know your colors very well. In case you were curious, purple is currently your favorite color. You tell me so at least 1-2 times per day. Animals also come easily to you. All of our trips to the zoo are paying off. The books and some of the TV shows help in the arena as well.

Four...You are so talented. Although your singing voice may not always be in tune (I take full blame for that one), you sing and sing and sing. "Twinkle Twinkle" is one of your favorites. That may be because I sing it to you every night at bedtime along with "You are My Sunshine" and "I Love You" (Barney theme song). You also know all of the words to many other songs including The Little Einsteins' theme song. "We're going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship..."

Five...You are so imaginative. You can play for hours on end with your pets (Littlest Pet Shop), your dollhouse, your Barbies, etc. You have make believe conversations almost as if you are truly acting out their days.

Six (and last)...You are so loving. I make sure that I tell you how much I love you every day. The part that melts my heart is when you say I love you back. You almost always say it to me in return but you often say it on your own, too. It brings a smile to my face and makes me forget everything when you do it out of the blue...even if you just did something to make me mad or get in trouble. But, not only are you loving to me, you also show your Daddy and brother how much you love them. Even though you pick on Tyler quite a bit, every once in a (rare) while you sneak in a hug or share a toy with him. Three months ago, I don't know if I would have witnessed this but I think it's finally hit home that he will be your partner in crime in the years to come.

Aubrey, you mean the world to me. You are my first born, my second love (to Daddy), and are one of the bright spots to my day. I look forward to teaching you as you grow and learning from you, too. Thank you for being so special.

I love you very much!!
Mommy

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Aubrey is Three!

The day started early and ended late. We celebrated by opening gifts when Jeff got home form work and took her out to dinner at Red Robin. She was tickled when the staff sang to her and brought her an ice cream sundae. Aubrey was as proud as can be all day long. She's officially three now. Where has the time gone? She has changed immensely over the year. She knows her alphabet and can recognize all of the capital letters. She counts to about 30 in English and ocho in Espanol. She knows all of her colors and animals...even some that we've never heard of (i.e. tapir, Thanks Diego!). She can also sing song after song after song. Aubrey is 100% girl. She loves her dolls, wearing dresses and bows and talks nonstop! I can only imagine how things will be in 10 years when she's a teenager! Our little girl is as beautiful as can be and we love her from head to toe. We look forward to what this next year will bring all the while secretly hoping is means fewer diapers, no pacifiers and lots more sleep! :) Happy Birthday, Aubrey!! We love you!


Shiner

Tyler received his first black eye over the weekend. Evan and Jared were having a block fight when Tyler walked right into the middle. No one was to blame but Tyler sure let everyone know it hurt! The good thing is he only cried for a few minutes. Within 5 minutes, he was more interested in biting the ice pack than putting it on his eye. Jared felt terrible. No worries though, Jared, I'm sure there will be plenty more black eyes in Tyler's future. He is all boy!
Day 1

Day 2

Day 4

Aubrey's second year - month by month

Look how Aubrey has changed each month this year...

2 years, 1 month

2 years, 2 months

2 years, 3 months

2 years, 4 months

2 years, 5 months

2 years, 6 months

2 years, 7 months

2 years, 8 months

2 years, 10 months

3 years old