Miss Independent

Aubrey is driving me CRAZY! She only wants to eat food that she can pick up herself. However, many of her foods are still mushy, like cereal and mashed potatoes. So, if you give her those foods with a spoon, she reaches into her mouth, pulls it out, looks at it, and decides if it is worth eating!!! Very funny, I admit, but extremely frustrating. The only exception to this behavior is yogurt. She loves it and has no problem waiting for her heaping spoonfuls.

Too Much Information!

I warned you! This is your last chance to stop reading. Too Late. Well, I took Tabitha to the vet today because she has been having some bathroom issues. Mike is ready to kill her and I wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason behind the behavior. You may want to stop reading. Her anal glands were blocked! Apparently when cats do their business, they spray a liquid on their stuff. Tabby hasn't been able to do that so she was all swollen and red. The vet had to drain her anal glands! I didn't ask how, eww! You would not believe the sounds that came out of that room! Poor Tabitha. I guess this stuff is generally liquid, Tabby's was the consistency of toothpaste and as thick as a grape. Ouch! You know that hurt. She also had a yeast infection and two bacterial infections in her ears. So we are going to patch her up one more time and see if she is easier to live with.

The Project!

Every man should have one thing. Well, I am sure there are many things, but there is one that all should have to give him a sense of manly manliness. What is it you ask?... A WORKBENCH! You know, a place where he can go and make grunting sounds as he organizes his many tools and sketches plans for the next big project. Well, I can finally say I have one myself. After drawing up some plans and buying the lumber and consulting with the master builder, my dad, I managed to put together a workbench to rival all others. It's sturdy, big, and really really good-looking. Here are the pics of progress! And then to top off my manly day, I made this double burger and ate it. It isn't your standard, run of the mill stacked double burger, but I got creative and acheived the same result. DELICIOUSNESSLYEREDMMMMmmmm! Come to think about it, that is the night I had food poisoning. Hmm!

Look at us!

I had to choose the picture where Mike and I looked good over Aubrey! You see plenty of pictures of her in her prime. Here we are enjoying a Spring day at a friend's house. We even remembered to hand over the camera!!!

In other news, I am NOT pregnant!!! I just took a test and I failed. I have never been so happy to fail in my life. It is such a relief that I don't have to go to the doctor anymore for them to continually tell me how weird it is that my HCG count is so high after losing the baby such a long time ago. Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Bath Time !!!

For about the last month, Aubrey has graduated from baths in the sink to baths in the big tub. She LOVES them! I have taken on the "bather" role, and the minute I start filling up the water she comes over, pulls her self up on the tub and starts making every excitable sound known to man or at least to her. She received some bath toys for Easter which she splashes around with. The biggest challenge is getting her to sit still during the actual washing portion of the event. She crawls all over the tub and tries pulling herself up on the faucet and is just beside herself with joy...Aubrey Joy that is. Most kids I know aren't the biggest fan of water in the face. Not this kid. She loves that too. The picture with her hair down is about 2 seconds after the deluge of water hit her face. Yeah, she really hates it...You can tell. I thought you all might enjoy a few pictures of bath time. Rated PG of course!

One Month Later

It was a month ago that Mike and I found out that we wouldn't be meeting our baby until Heaven. Even though I have completed the miscarriage, my body is still thinking it is pregnant. I had another positive pregnancy test for the second week in a row. If it is still positive on Monday I have to have blood taken to determine if the HCG levels are climbing or falling. Apparently they have to be at zero before you are considered not pregnant. The doctor said that if my HCG levels are higher than a month ago I am probably looking at another Ultrasound and a D&C. If they are lower, but not zero, they keep monitoring you with additional blood work. SO, PLEASE PRAY THAT I HAVE A NEGATIVE TEST ON MONDAY! THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!

Right Handed, Left Armed!

So before I was a mom, working out used to be fun. Well kinda, Tammi and I chatted over coffee afterwards so that was the fun part! When I used to work out it was always difficult to use the same weight on both arms. My right arm was slightly more tolerant and never got fatigued as fast as my left. Life has changed. Apparently carrying a 17 plus pound person up and down stairs is a mini workout. Unfortunately, I seem to only carry her on my left side, which makes sense since I am right handed. I need my more coordinated hand free for everything else. Now that we have the Bowflex I am noticing that my right arm is weak. When I do any exercise that requires both arms moving at once I am totally lopsided. My left arm moves twice as fast as my right. Hopefully this will self correct in a few weeks. In other news, Mike had a slight case of food poisoning yesterday and the night before. We hope to have a well house by this weekend so we can enjoy Spring!

Kissing

Aubrey has been using kisses to show love for half her life now. It used to be more of her attacking us with a big wet mouth, but lately it has turned into something very sweet. She will be playing, climb up to you, and gently put her face towards yours, and give you a more traditional kiss. It simply melts your heart. Yesterday Mike and I were kissing and Aubrey freaked out. She yelled, crawled over and started to pull on us. We were laughing and kept giving each other pecks to see what she would do. Well, she wanted in on all the action! So we lifted her up and Mike and I would kiss and then Aubrey would kiss each of us. Those are the times you wish you had the video camera on a tri-pod recording all day.

Easter Photos

At the park enjoying her first egg hunt! She spent most of the time in her stroller since the eggs were full of jelly beans. They were just the right size for her wind pipe, so...
Her new shades with velcro, likely to last 30 seconds tops! I'm hoping they will be used for our summer hikes. As you can tell they will last her a few years.
Easter morning. The dress lasted five minutes. Apparently kids end up face first when crawling in dresses! We even tried tucking it into the bloomers, but that looked really bad.
Too cute to leave out! She fought and fought with the hat, but the tie around her chin seemed to work. Notice the tank top too. It was in the mid-seventies yesterday. I even burned the tops of my feet!
No candy this year, sorry Aubrey. I meant to include a picture of Mike and I, but I forgot to have someone take one. You can just assume that he looked extremely handsome and I was drop dead gorgeous. See, isn't it better to use your imagination! I don't want to read any comments about how we must have had surgery since we moved either. You all think you are so funny, don't you.

Say Hello to Jello

Well Aubrey had her first sugar today. Oops. She was being held while Mike and I were getting our food, and a friends mom gave her a few spoonfuls of Jello. That's not too bad, but it was loaded with cool whip and other stuff. I also think it may have had strawberries in it which are not a food for ten month olds. I actually was very allergic to strawberries as a baby. Hopefully a few teaspoons won't cause a reaction or worse another food strike. It seems when Aubrey has a rich food, like macaroni and cheese, she hates her veggies for a few days. We will post her Easter pictures sometime this week.

Aubrey's a Grump!

We thought Aubrey was in the clear, but she has been down right nasty today. If she's awake, she is fussy. I'm just not used to that since she is normally such a riot. Here is a picture of her in a good mood. I need to see it to believe it can happen again. Mike and I went for a walk today and surveyed the neighborhood. There are still many free lots and a handful of finished homes for sale. Any takers?

Just in time for Easter

Aubrey has the flu!!! We are such a healthy family. She threw up a lot yesterday. I felt so helpless and had to cry a little. She was still very interested in her toys which I thought was a good sign. That is until she threw up into her toy box hitting ALL of her toys, many of which were books or stuffed animals. Even though she had an empty stomach, she managed to sleep eleven hours last night. She has a low grade fever today, but has been keeping everything down. Hopefully she will be better by Sunday. We have plans with Bryan and Natali and would hate to miss out.

I went back to the doctor today too. She cannot believe how long this is taking me. Apparently I am almost there, but she said it will still be a little longer. Luckily, I have avoided a D&C and a hefty medical bill- make that another hefty medical bill. Unfortunately, my hormone levels are still high and I am still getting a "pregnant"reading on the urine test. I have to take another pregnancy test in a week. If it is still positive I will have to have more blood work done. I was afraid to ask what the next step would be, so I am just hoping that the test comes out negative!

Mike is finally healthy again. It is good to see him eat more than an orange in a 24 hour period. I also appreciate that he has reclaimed his duties at bath time and even shared in the glory of diaper duty!

New Milestones

What a BIG day Aubrey had. This morning Aubrey was looking for a toy in her toy box and just dove in. She was digging around in there with her feet in the air parallel to the ground. I lunged for the camera, turned it on, and snapped! If your digital camera is anything like mine, you know that it then took forever to autofocus and I missed it! If you look closely you can see that her feet are barely off the ground. All you have to do is imagine her head first in there with her feet suspended. I'll keep trying for the picture, but I won't hold my breath!

Half an hour later we called Grandma and Grandpa Keyes to see how their weekend was going. Aubrey loves talking on the phone so I usually lay on the ground with the phone on speaker. She climbed me, like usual, and threw her hands in the air to balance ALL ON HER OWN. She has tried this move before, where you can see her delicately placing her fingers on something trying to balance, but it always ends with a lot of tears and a face full of coffee table. Well, she must of repeated this move fifteen times during the thirty minute phone call. I apologize for the picture, the camera seems to have focused on my hip and butt!!!

Half an hour later we decided to put her behind a push toy and see if she would try to walk. Her usual response is to sit as soon as the wheels turn. Yesterday she went about eight feet before falling and lost interest. Today she was motoring around the house like it was no big thing. The only problem is that she is right footed and kept moving to the right and would bang into a wall. She would then cry until I got her in a better position to stroll. She must have walked around for fifteen minutes before her little legs gave out. Trust me, she is walking in these pictures. We have the video to prove it, but that will cost you a plane ticket to Colorado to see it.

As you can see, we had a fun day at home. Tomorrow we are off to play with our friend Josiah. He has a lot of cool toys and we cannot wait to see him! By the way, if you click on the individual pictures they will display full screen.

It is finished

Where have I heard that before? Oh yeah, if memory serves me correctly, the Bible. Well, after nine days of wondering if my body was truly in the midst of a miscarriage I know that it is over, or at least the worst of it. For whatever reason the pills the doctor gave me didn't have the immediate effect that was expected and it took over a week to get the desired result. I thought that the emotional toll was over, but apparently there were a few more tears left to come out. Mike has continued to be an amazing husband in the midst of this. I thank the Lord for giving me such a caring husband. Thanks for all of the support during this difficult time for our family.

Enjoying the Weather

As you know, or heard, Colorado's snow season isn't officially over until May. Yikes, that is a lot of time for snow to be falling. Luckily, it doesn't fall often. For instance last week while it was ferociously raining on California we were enjoying temperatures in the 80's. The next day however was 50 AND that night it must have really dropped because we woke up to a few inches of snow. That was yesterday. Today it is about 75 and beautiful outside. The snow has almost completely melted, the mountains are beautiful, and the sky is crystal clear. So the Heldts headed out for a bike ride. When did the Heldts get bikes? Last week before the flu of course.

We are definitely on a budget so Mike did a lot of research and bought a red mountain bike for under $100 from Walmart. I on the other hand have much more important things to do then research, so I picked the pretty teal one for under $70! Well Mike's bike rides smoothly, corners well, and is very comfortable. My bike is pretty, but horrible. One of the wheels is slightly crooked, the brakes make a horrible noise when you use them, and then you still are not guaranteed to stop! It is still very pretty though. Walmart has a policy that if you bought it, you own it, so I'll make the best of it. Mike is actually trying to break it in right now and fix some of the flaws. What a man! Aubrey has a pretty cool trailer to ride in with lots of room for toys and a brother or sister someday. She is loving the speedy trips up and down the streets. I'm still working on my stamina, but I'm sure I will be able to go on longer trips soon.

Aubrey's hairstylist is FIRED!!!

I know Rachel commented on Aubrey's propensity to use her dinner as hair gel. Here is a much better picture of what we are talking about. Needless to say, this turns everyday into bath day. Notice the orange and red in her normally very blonde hair?

Cinnamon Burritos???

I've been down and out here lately, but now that I am feeling a bit better, I have to share what may end up being the most classic Rachel story ever.

Have you ever had Rachel's famous Cinnamon flavored burritos? I hadn't either until last week. So Rachel is whipping up a feast, as usual, in the kitchen while she is feeding Aubrey and more than likely doing a few other things as well. Burritos is on the menu. She is quite the multi-tasker; warming up the beans, cutting the lettuce and tomatoes, browning the meat. It brought back visions of my days at Applebee's. It comes to the point where she seasons the meat. We use the big McCormick Taco Seasoning plastic container from Costco. So, in goes the seasoning. I finish up a business call and come to her aid to help stir the meat. What is this I smell? "Hey, Rach, does this smell like cinnamon to you?" It sure did. At this point, in perfect timing, my cute little wife and I LOSE IT! Tears of laughter was streaming as we both realized that we also use the McCormick size container of cinnamon and they are almost the same color. "Cup o' cinnamon with your meat, Governor?" (For those of you who watch Friends, this was as close to Rachel Greene's trifle with lady fingers and sauteed onions I had heard of happening in real life. All in the name.)

Needless to say, we tried to salvage the meal. We quickly rinsed as much of the foreign substance off of the meat as we could and applied the correct seasoning. It worked...kinda. You could definitately taste the cinnamon invader. You know, I hate to admit it, but she might be on to something. It actually tasted pretty good. So put some cinnamon on your burritos next time you have them and let us know what you think. I can only assume the this little "mistake" will end up like other "mistakes" such as Penicillin, Post-It Notes, and Peanut Butter and Pickle Sandwichs.

Hope you got a chuckle.

The Little Things

Haven't been getting done since Mike and I have been sick. You know, taking out the trash, getting the mail, emptying the dishwasher and the like. There are a few little things I do three times a day. I wash off Aubrey's high chair and tray, sweep the kitchen floor, wipe Aubrey's hands and face, and clean her plastic bibs. Well, they haven't been getting done either- at least not three times a day! I have pretty much been peeling off chunks of food and putting her back in her chair and letting her have at it. I haven't scrubbed her tray, just wiped it with a dry paper towel and figured it was clean enough. Yesterday I was laying on the couch with my eyes closed and listening to Aubrey play. You see as long as I can hear her she must not be in too much trouble. So anyway she was thumping around in the kitchen... Pause... Thump, thump, thump... Pause- well you get the picture. So I drag myself to my feet to see why there are pauses, I knew something was up. Well Aubrey was cleaning the kitchen floor. Eating a cheerio here, a piece of who knows what there, maybe even hard crusty cheese! EWW. The little things are important. So I redirected her to some fresh cheerios on the coffee table and got to cleaning for a minute. Luckily I feel much better today and have been diligently searching for my kitchen counter and scrubbing her highchair. Mike on the other hand is still on his death bed. He retreated into our bedroom at 9:00 with all three Lord of the Rings movies and a pitcher of water. What a life!

Health Report

After nine days of being in a funk Aubrey is well. She is finally eating again which is a huge relief. She is even playing with her toys and climbing the stairs with gusto! Mike has a BAD case of the flu. He hasn't even made it down stairs for more than twenty minutes in two days. I have a mild case of the flu too. I'm soooo tired and have a pounding headache. But I'm the mommy so I have to fake it for half the day.

Hair Gel

So Aubrey's new thing is to run her fingers through her hair after each bite of food. She likes to pull it out and make it nice and crunchy. She looks kinda like Megan Larson when she's done. Sorry for those of you that don't get the reference. We only bath Aubrey three times a week because of the dry climate. She has managed to bump that up to at least once a day. This picture doesn't do the look justice, I'll have to snap a few more off tomorrow!