Road Trip

A few months ago Mike's brother and family moved to Oklahoma City. Mike's mom was flying in to visit them and so we decided to tag along. The 2 1/2 hour drive south made for a perfect first road trip for Aubrie. 

 We ventured to the zoo with all 5 kiddos :) Exhausting but SO fun!

 Fed birds! We were in a cage of birds that just land on you and eat. Kinda scary, but really fun. Brody wasn't real sure what to think, Aubs wasn't a huge fan when the birds shook nectar in her face (but who would be, right?)

 Loved every second of looking at every animal!

 Had a blast being with the cousins :)

 It was a low key weekend of going to the Zoo, Target, Chick-fil-A and LOTS of playing and TONS of giggling! One of my favorite parts of the weekend was when I lost my phone. I couldn't find it the whole day, even went to sleep without knowing where it was (not a huge deal, it never rings!) When we finally found it stuffed away in my suitcase pouch, Dillon said, "Yea, that's where I hid it"! HA! What a stink! :)

Oh and sweet Ashlyn! She choose her outfit specifically to match Aubs! What a great big cousin she it :)

 We finally became brave and took our family camping! It was just a little overnight thing but Mike and I wanted to know how doable camping was with a baby. The verdict is.....it's VERY doable!! :) We had so much fun! B is at such a fun age where camping just came to life for him. He was such a big helper setting up camp.

 Aubs did wonderful. She just kinda hung out wherever we placed her and was a happy baby :)

 We learned that quick, simple and easy is the key to camping food nowadays. Hot dogs over a fire, pancakes and DQ were a hit :)

 In the past Mike and I camped as far away from the playground as possible. We have now discovered the greatness of camping as close to the playground as possible ;) B would just stare at the playground pointing saying, "Side, deas" translation "Slide please" :)

 These two sungglers got to snuggle for about 30 minutes and B is not a snugler. So Mike soaked up every minute of this before putting the boy down for bed. Mike and B slept together, A slept in the pack n play and I got a bed all to myself! :)

 

Another highlight was a couple we met. They were on a worldwide camping adventure! Yes, worldwide. They ship their massive, camper around with them. She even gave me a tour of their home on wheels :) Check out their website www.whiteacorn.com. What a great retired couple exploring the world together!

This camping trip was such a success, another is being planned for next month :)

Top 10 about Meghan!

Today is Show Us Your Singles Day on a blog I follow http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/2012/09/show-us-your-singles.html . So in all respect to that blog I am posting this for my sweet, fun, heart of gold, adorable, motivated, single sister, Meghan. Enjoy this top 10 list of who Meghan is :)

 #1 - She loves the Lord with her whole heart, soul, mind and strength! She has such a desire in helping others know Him as well.

#2 - She helps out as a leader in youth group weekly and leads a middle school small group for "her" girls. She has so much fun with them :)

#3 - Meghan is a senior at Oklahoma Wesleyan University studying Physical Therapy. After graduation she plans on getting a second degree in nursing. 

#4 -She loves helping people and as you can see by her sweet, friendly smile others love it when she helps them also :)

#5- Meghan enjoys being outdoors. She's currently training for her first 1/2 marathon in November! She also likes hiking, backpacking and camping. 

#6 -Works at a Physical Therapy office and is a Barista at Starbucks.

 #7 -Family such a huge part in Meghan's heart. She ADORES her 4 nieces and nephews!

 #8 - She loves to travel and is always up for a trip.

#9 - She does like cats (but please don't hold that against her!) HA!

#1 - She enjoy watching and play sports (and I'm not just saying that).

Meghan is not just beautiful on the outside but her heart is absolutely gorgeous! She is a wonderful friend, auntie and sister! :)

 B really wanted to play trains with his sister so this is how he included her :) I feel like this could be one of those western movies where the young maiden is tied to the tracks, should I be concerned?

 B has also been a big helper lately around the house! When he sees us doing something that he thinks he could do he quickly says "Help peas, peas help". So here he is helping me with the dishes. I'm pretty sure his "help" is more of a mess with splashing bubbles all over but how can I resist such an eager helper :) His favorite chore is feeding the pups. He carries their bowels to their food, we fill them and then he carries both full bowels back and finds each pup and tells them to go eat. It really is the cutest thing!

 Today he was finding such entertainment in his toy bin :) He's really into Thomas the Train as you can see by him clinging to Oliver in his left hand and Thomas in his right :)

This was my first week back to work and what a week it was! I worked Tuesday (and it was a great day!) Wednesday afternoon I became sick, called Mike home early from church Thursday for kiddo help, went to work Friday (yea, shouldn't have done that) and finally today feel 100%. So yesterday was Mike's first full day home with the kids by himself. He did great and even got a nap himself! There were a couple projects around the house that he told me before going to work that he would do. Once I saw they weren't done when I got home he laughed and said, "Yea, what was I thinking?!"



2 months

Sweet thang had her 2 month check up today. Can you believe it? 2 months already! These days are flying by. I blinked and now Brody is almost 2, so we are trying to keep our eye's wide open over here but somehow time is still flying by! 

We are on the complete other end of the spectrum with Aub's. She weighs 11 lbs 9 oz and that places her in the 50-75% for wight and she is in the 90% for height! Holy cow! I knew she was getting long once she began to outgrow her 3 month clothes, but goodness! Here are a few more highlights:

• Has the most beautiful smile and often times smiles at the song "You are my Sunshine my only Sunshine"
• Is FINALLY going 8 hours at night (well the last 2 nights at least). Bedtime feeding at 10 pm and wakes between 6:30-7:00am. She has shown some major stubbornness with her night time sleep but after 2 weeks broke her from waking up at 4 am! YAY!
• Continues to LOVE sleep (she really is my girl!) It's still a chore to keep her awake during wake times.
• Nursing every 4 hours and she continues to be short, sweet and to the point. I remember with Brody nursing was such a great excuse to sit and watch TV for awhile or at least let it get me out of cleaning up after dinner. Not for sweet Aubrie though, she means business. 
• Doesn't need to be swaddled anymore.
• Really likes to suck her finger (as of day actually). I've caught that thumb in her mouth a few times!
• Continues to be ADORED by her brother! Brody is now saying "Aubi, Aubi" and is the first person he wants to see in the morning and when he wakes up from his nap. Brody loves rubbing her head and playing with her hands/feet. It's amazing how gentle he is with her and recently I've discovered he has a look for that he gives no one else. It's this protective, adorning look that melts my heart every time!

Aubrie continues to be a bit of a drama queen. I promise you the second she gets tired watch out world she's going to fall apart at the seams! Just like the picture above :) It is really cute though ;) She got shots today (we all got shots actually!). As soon as the first one went it of course she screams. Me seeing her pain I begin crying with her until I realize the girl hasn't taken a breath in quite some time (of course this is in a matter of tiny seconds). My tears quit as I begin gently shaking her saying, "Breath girl, breath" and the nurse quickly blows hard in her face and finally she took a huge breath and cried. I'm not sure if I have ever been so happy to hear that cry! This truly goes to show how dramatic she is ;) 

My heart has been SO full these last few months! I LOVE having children, I LOVE our growing family! Brody is growing up to be such a gentle heart all boy kind of boy and I find myself a million times a day saying how proud of him I am.Like the other night during family devotions we were praying and B reaches over and grabs my arm. I ask him if he would like to hold my hand instead and we sat holding hands and praying!  I find myself a million times a day just staring at our daughter and thinking how beautiful she is and just how perfect she is. I LOVE every bit of each of them and love how I don't love either of them less. My heart just grew and I love it! Yes, there are moments (lots of moments!) that are difficult and frustrating but we are praising the Father for His wonderful gift of family! I say this often but truly, life is good and God is great!

 We had one last (well I hope it was the last) bout of summer by going to the Splash Pad this weekend. B ran around like a crazy boy as if he knew this was his last time of the season here!

 Aubs enjoyed her first time (out of my baking oven) at the Splash Pad :)

 He had tons of fun filling up cups and then pouring water out.

 I'm always amazed when it's time to dry off how freezing cold B is and he doesn't even bat an eye. His lips were shivering this time!

 At 8 weeks old, Aubrie's room is complete! We are so happy with how it turned out.

 The dress on the wall is for all her bows. Do you think the girl has enough? And Auntie keeps making 

more :)

 The Bumbo came out the other day. Aubrie kinda likes it, for short periods of time. Brody has tons of fun holding toys in front of her face or trying to get her to drink his milk!

This one makes me laugh. It's as if she is saying, "Don't mess with me, I'm one tough girl!" I'm not sure if tough is the word quite yet, but B is making her tougher :)

Today we were sitting down to have breakfast. Brody had noticed we didn't pray. So very quickly he folded his hands and said pretty frantically, "Pay, pay, pay". I guess we are doing something right! Oh Lord continue to make him sensitive to Your Spirit :) We also got out the Nerf Guns today. Oh my what fun!! Brody quickly learned how to load the gun and laughed so hard as they were being shot. I found myself feeling sorry for Aubs that she couldn't play with us. She was totally missing out. Soon my girl you will join us :) I really included both praying and guns in the same paragraph. You get it all in this Kaelber household I guess ;)

We have some serious cuteness going on in this Kaelber home lately!

 Sweet Aubrie is smiling and beginning to to chat :) She is having a bit longer awake times but still is one laid back chica that LOVES to sleep!

 We continue to get more into a regular schedule and I feel we are at one currently that we can sink our feet into. I love schedules and knowing what the day entails especially with being home with 2 little ones. Things just go so much for smoothly :)

Brody has room time every day for 30 minutes. As soon as the timer went off today this is what I found; a sound asleep boy snuggling his ball! Oh my!! I really just can't get over this cuteness! B is talking non stop. We are working on using his "kind words". He's pretty good once he's reminded about them :) Me, Aubrie and him were playing together the other day. He had a rattle and was shaking it every so gently in front of her for at least 5 minutes! Cute, cute, cute! Life is good, God is good! :)

 At 6 weeks old, Aubs weighs in at 10 pounds even! Look at those chunky, chunky cheeks!

 She is such a snuggler :) We are trying to teach her the art of self soothing though....It's not working.

 Have I said that big brother LOVES his little sister yet?

 Snuggling in bed together :) We ask Brody what you do with a pillow and he quickly lays his head down :) 

This is from this morning. Aubrie was starting to get a bit fussy so B quickly found her soothie and tried giving it to her. He truly is always looking out for her :) Between this boy and daddy, it's going to take one very special man to win this girls heart or even get close to her for that matter :)

The Olympics are over :( We were such dedicated fans that the TV was on all the time. We are all going through TV withdrawal now. Brody has never watched so much TV. He now walks around going "T,T,T" carrying the remote and pointing to the TV. He loved watching the Olympics as he would imitate what was going on. While track was on B would run laps in the house (he got pretty quick, Mike has actually gone from walking to chase him to needing to do a fast walk :) ), during volleyball he would hold a ball and try to spike it, while watching ribbon twirling (always a weird one, but yet so cool!) he would spin circles, swimming he would point out the water, and diving and gymnastics he would jump. We may have an Olympiad on our hands :) On a side note, I don't remember the commercials being so emotional in the past! Good grief I was a sobbing mess as each commercial was dedicated to mom's. Mike had the thought that the Hallmark channel with Olympic commercials would be the death of me. HA!

Besides withdrawal we are doing great! Miss Aubrie has officially slept through the night 3 times at 5 weeks old! Daytime sleep has been a bit of a struggle and self soothing is beginning to be taught. She just started to smile at us and is really good at following my voice with her eyes. She will stop crying when big brother hugs her and kisses her. They truly do have this really cool bond already!! I can't share enough how much he ADORES her! He is quick to get her burp rag if she doesn't have it, he loves burping her and rubbing her head. We are teaching him he can't point to her eye's as he points a bit too hard. We are just so, so, so proud of how he has adjusted to sharing attention :) Kids started back to school today and I had the thought that when B and A are in school A will be known as Brody's little sister and I love that! I remember how I loved being known as Eric's little sister in school and it just makes me a proud momma!

Last month we dedicated Aubrie to the Lord. We decided to do our own private ceremony for her instead of in front of the whole church. Dedications at our church have become impersonal and we've felt like just another number. We had it in the youth center and Mike got the opportunity to dedicate Aubrie.

 We invited our friends that have a large part in our lives in helping us raise our children. How great and encouraging it was to hear them pray over us for direction and guidance from the Lord in being parents!

 We provided lunch after and some delicious cake. It was a great time to eat and hang out visiting with everyone. This picture above makes me laugh. Mike and I were laughing because during the first shot of this pic, Brod quickly dove his hand down and grabbed the corner of the cake and quickly shoved his hand in his mouth! I really do think he was plotting this for some time :)

We did give him his own piece with a plate and silverware this time :)

1 month!

One month has already flown my with our little miss Aubrie Marie and how sweet is she! I jotted highlights down B's first year and now with Aubrie they are so fun to go trough and compare the two. So here are a few highlights of what you are doing Miss Aubrie.

• ·         Nursing every 3-31/2 hours and you nurse quick! So quick lots of times I question if you are eating enough. The scale says you weigh at least 9 lbs now, so I guess your getting enough.

• ·         Wakes once in the night anywhere between 1 and 3 am to eat. Daddy gives an already pumped bottle and loves being up with you in the night (truly he really does!)

• ·         HATES being sat up. So your not a fan of the swing (which we have already placed back in storage) or your bouncer or your car seat. We run out of places to put you trying to keep you out of the line of fire with your brother J So your held a lot or placed on the couch. When B is eating or taking nap is when you can have some good floor/tummy time.

• ·         You’re a VERY loud sleeper! We were so glad to get you out of our room at night ;)

• ·         Your such a laid back girl who LOVES to sleep! It's almost impossible to wake you up (even to eat!) When we force you to stay awake, you cry as if the world was falling apart! So lately your awake time is your screaming time.

• ·         In newborn clothes but quickly growing out of them.

• ·         People say you look a lot  like your momma :)

• ·         Your brother LOVES and ADORES you! He is always concerned about where you are and what your doing :)

• ·         We think you like being outside. We’ve only spent about 2 times outside (it’s been too hot to be out) but both those times you really enjoyed ;)

You are just such a precious gem and we’ve loved adding  you to our family!