Photo Dump

Life has been busy this month. We go non-stop everyday, all day. I started school again and Austin is gone from 7:30am to 8:30pm every night.  Poor guy.  So here is our life these last few weeks while we've been home for those few sweet moments.

Aubri has become obsessesed with wipes. Just the other day, she pulled out about fifty wipes to play with, in about a 60 seconds. Yes, we are in trouble. A baby becoming mobile, equals a dirty home and a trail of messes everywhere. We still love her though. Aubri has also started to hold her bottle. She can do the 4 oz. ones but anything over that, she can't hold it up. She will get there soon with all the pull up she does to get stand along the couch.

Aubri with Grandma D. She loves going over there everyday to play with the cats and pulling down the dish towels on the stove. It makes for a good practice of patients for Grandma :) Luckily, Aubri takes the best naps at Grandma's and goes down 15 minutes after she gets dropped off. 

Just this morning, Aubri started smiling for the camera when you say "Say Cheese, Aubri!" Its so cute! Love those big blues.

Of course, last but not least, our snuggle bear Aubri.  She just loves the camera and playing after bath time.  Especially when Daddy is there.  Since Austin is gone so much, she has suddenly taken an interest in staying to wait for him when he gets home from school. She gets so excited and quickly crawls to the bottom of the stairs as fast as she can to greet him with a leg hug.  We are off to another packed full week. Hopefully life will slow down here soon. Austin is almost finished with summer semester, which means Aubri and I get the man back in our life. Hooray!  We are also looking forward to a 4 day weekend, three of which will be spent up in a cabin at Star Valley. We cannot wait for it. 

Aubri Ka-Bang

Within the last week, Aubri has learned to crawl, go from laying to sitting all by herself,  kneel to the couch, then pull herself up to stand on anything and now her next battle, climbing the stairs.  She is out of control and busier than ever. Yesterday she was determined to master standing up, with of course the help of a chair, stair or couch.  She would stand up, get scared and fall down hitting her head. 

 Now for starters, we have conditioned taught her that when she gets hurt not to cry. How you ask?  By cheering and clapping for her when she gets hurt and saying "Yay!! Aubri!" She is pretty tough and just looks at us smiling, sticks her tongue out, and tries again. Since yesterday was a practice day, she was doing this all day long. By the time dinner time came around, we were in the kitchen and she was playing with her Sofie on the kitchen floor while I washed the dishes.  To keep the story short, she fell backwards and smacked her head on the floor and burst into tears.  She cried for a good ten minutes and still wanted to be held for a while. 

We kept our eye on her for anything out of the ordinary that would say "Concussion!"  She was just emotional.  Throughout the night, she was up every three hours and was a complete mess by the time morning came.  I mean, just an emotional roller coaster--which is not like her in anyway.  After talking with the nurse, we ended up taking her to the doctor just to safe. Turns out she has a mild concussion.  Poor thing.  I feel like the worse Mom ever, by the way. Its not bad concussion, just enough to cause extreme tenderness on her head, headaches and being very sensitive emotionally.  We are just glad it wasn't any worse. Here is to hoping that the next few days are smooth and that she has a quick recovery, because we all know, Aubri just doesn't slow down.

Shop 'Til They Drop

Yesterday, Jamie and I headed to Park City with our girls. They are 4 month apart and love interacting with each other as you can see. Lanae (aka LaLa) taught Aubri to talk more, which was really cute! They did great considering the amount of sitting they had to do. But by the end, they had had it and wanted to go home.  But we couldn't go home until we got some Red Mango. They were beyond happy at Red Mango. Aubri was dancing in her chair and they were holding arms and smiled at each other. (Both our girls like to grab and pinch just their Mom's. The Dad's are lucky!)

The second we got home, Aubri was just talking her head off.  Thanks Lanae for always being such a great teacher. You are such a cute girl, you to Jamie! Can't wait for next time. 

7 Months

I can't believe another month has come and gone. This year has just flown by. Aubri turned 7 months on Sunday. She has grown up so much this last month. Its bitter sweet. She now goes from rolling over to sitting up all by herself. She is still working on crawling, but totally could if she had a little more courage. (She has moved a few steps and then falls down.) We have a battle over who gets to pull the plug in the tub each morning. All I can say is, she is a very determined little girl, and wins most of the time. And just yesterday, I look over while she is draining the tub, and she is up on her knees doing it. Oh my!  She holds her smaller bottle and loves to feed herself Mum-Mums. Of course, with sitting up on your own, means you get to sit in the big girl seat at the store. She loved it! She doesn't make a peep.  And while she has lost the best sleeper award, she has redeemed herself by being more of snuggle bug lately. I will take that any day! Love you peanut.

Heaven

My anniversary  gift that Austin bought me finally arrived yesterday. (He's amazing,uh?)I am in heaven on earth with this and can't wait to put it to good use.  Thanks Austin, for such an amazing gift! I love you.

A Gluten Free Life

Everyone I run into that finds out I am a Celiac is instantly amazed by the diet and self-control you have to have. It can really be a challenge at first, and almost depressing.  Once you get the swing of things, you'll feel like its a sixth sense to you.

I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease over three and a half years ago.  For those of you who don't know, Celiac Disease is where your body is unable to break down gluten. Instead, it destroys your villi in your small intestines preventing you from absorbing your vitamins and nutrients. This is something not to be ignored if you have it.  So I have no choice but, to eat gluten free.

Being a Celiac came in handy when I was pregnant with Aurbi. I didn't have one sign of morning sickness. My OB/GYN said that when you have a controlled diet before getting pregnant, such as being a Celiac or diabetic, you may not have much or any morning sickness. Which was fantastic! (I think I filled my canteen with nausea and throwing up for the six months I was sick before they discovered I had Celiacs.)

Eating gluten-free doesn't just mean you stop eating baked good and bread. There are a couple other dozen ingredients you need to cut out too.  For starters, modified corn starch and anything with the word "malt" in if, both of these are made with barley and wheat in most cases.   In addition to that, I can't have food coloring or caramel coloring too.  I know, its insane.  Some people can still keep these ingredients in their diet, but once I cut it out of mine, I noticed my headaches went away and my energy spiked.

 By far, the hardest thing about being a Celiac is eating out and at other people's house.  As of right now, here are a list of my go to foods and restaurants that will accommodate eating gluten free easily:

-Kneaders: Their salads are fantastic! You can also get any sandwich "protein style" at your request. At the Kneaders in Lehi and only at this Kneaders their eclairs and Cream of Broccoli soup are both gluten friendly.  The owner or his wife is a Celiac so they made a few changes of their own to work better with their diet.  And can I just say, you can't even tell the difference? They both taste incredible!

- The Wild Zucchuni Grill or Cafe Paesan: They have a gluten free option for a sandwich, with gluten free bread that is amazing, or you can also do a pizza.  We are frequent diners here, and when I say frequent, I mean they know our order and name the second we walk in the door. Pathetic, I know.

-Coasta Vida: Everything there is gluten free except their wheat and flour tortillas and of course their pies. And the second you say gluten-free, they whip of their gloves, wash their hands and put on new gloves.

- Astro Burger: When you really want a good ol' fashion gunge burger with a gluten-free bun, this is the place to go! Eating a burger "protein style" can get old. So its nice to have the option to go there and get one.  On top of that, they cook their fries in a completely separate fryer to prevent cross-contamination. I always get their Bacon Cheeseburger, I figure if I eat gluten free, I can afford the extra fat from the cheese and bacon.

-Sweet Cake Bake Shop in Kaysville- Their entire bakery is gluten free and heavenly!  Their bread and rolls taste just like your grandma's homemade ones. And the rest of their stuff does too.  They have cupcakes, cookies, bundts, pies the list goes on. But you should definitely go check them out.

-Harmon's:  They are my go to place for buying gluten free ingredients to make meals at home. They have a huge selection and the best prices of all the other stores out there. To top it all off, they have multiple brands to choose from and an array of products too.

-Eating at Someone's Home:  My best suggestion is to always offer to bring something you know you can eat. That way you know you will at least get something to eat while you are there.  My friends and family have all been fantastic and always check if I can have something or not.  Don't be afraid to speak up either.  It feels high maintenance at first, but everyone will get used to it. Especially when it seems like everyone has a one or two food allergies.

To sum it up, eating gluten-free is a lot easier then it used to be. Most chain restaurants have gluten free menu's( Chili's, Applebee's, Olive Garden, Five Guys and Fries.) After a while you get a hang of a gluten- free life.  You learn to modify recipes and really think outside the box of how to take a regular Joe recipe and turn it gluten-free.

If you are new to the gluten free world and need some pointers or recipes, let me know! I am more than happy to share this with you!

Bear Lake 2012

This past week we have been up at Bear Lake with Austin's side of the family. It was a blast! They have been going for 26 years to the same resort. (Yes, we are creatures of habit.)  Its called Ideal Beach Resort. They have basketball, tennis, a gym, rock climbing, miniature golf,  a park, and of course, the beach.  It really is  a great place to take a family for a vacation.

 

With the 4th of July, it was packed. There were dozens of boats and wave runners everywhere!

After Aubri's morning nap, Aubri and I headed out on a little walk and adventure of our own. It was nice to break away from the group for a while. Aubri loves to be around people, but after a while she wants her own space. So it was good to get out.  

Our little fire work...her bow was the closest thing we could get to a firework this year!

She loves to show off her tongue. She does it when she is beyond happy!

Finally! She let me take a picture of her smiling. This is the cute face I see all day everyday. Doesn't she just have the sweetest smile ever?

Notice the droll? Our little miss is teething again! She is still a happy to play though.

Aubri is a very schedule oriented baby. She is like clock work. She plays, eats and sleeps. And when anything ever gets in the way of her schedule. she can usually cope for the first little bit, after that she is a bear.  By 2pm, she crashed hard. The only way were were able to get her to go to sleep was by taking her on a walk. And then we would carry her up to her bed. Once she went down for a nap, everyone went to the lake but Dylan and GG (Great Grandma Linda). So we joined everyone else down at the lake. It was a lot of fun.  Austin took me on my first and last wave  runner ride.  I do not like wave runners AT ALL Its just not my thing. I would rather go kayak or through a football in the water and lay on the mega station. 

Don't mind the huge bruise on my leg. Ever since I had Aubri, I bruise like a peach. I counted 21 bruises on just my left leg!  Lets just hope this is a phase.

As you can tell, it was a really fun afternoon.  Poor Austin, ended up with a 2nd degree sunburn. After being outside for only 3 hours. Breaks my heart!Thank goodness Aubri got my skin, she has never burned and with the approval of her pediatrician, we don't put sun block on her very often.  You should see how tan her legs are.  Pictures just don't do it justice!

Austin also played in a 3 on 3 basketball tournament with Jason, Dylan and Andy.  The lost in the first round, but I would like to think they would have won if Austin had his other contacts. (Austin has a disease in his eyes that makes his retina deteriorate, because of this, he can't see very sharp and his other contacts help a ton!) Anyways, it was fun to watch them play together!

This is us just playing around before the game.  These a Roo's two favorite things to do.  Be thrown in the air and riding on your shoulders. 

Roo loves hair...and apparently wanted Uncle Dylan's hair along with her Dad's. 

Aubri snuggled down between mine and Brooke's legs. She stayed there a whole 5 seconds. I think that might be a record for her. 

We  ended up leaving a night earlier than originally planned. Aubri was a grump on Thursday. She had been waking up at 5:30am, like a rooster. And just wasn't getting her naps.  There was just too much going on, and too many people to keep quiet long enough to get her a nap or sleep for that matter. When we arrived home last night, she was so happy  to be home! She was on cloud nine and couldn't stop smiling. She wanted to touch and look at everything in the house. We are happy to report she is back on schedule.  Which makes our life easier!  We are definitely looking forward to next year when she is older and can play a lot more. 

Burning

I am so sad to see that there is a fire in Alpine right now. It literally breaks my heart. Austin is from Alpine and we lived there for about two years after we got married. Exactly where the fire is at, is where we went on regular hikes. Its devastating that people may loose their homes, but in addition to that is the gorgeous mountains views. Hopefully everyone is safe and that this fire dies down quickly! As of right now, my in-laws home is not in any danger, but its close to it!

Little Miss & Kittens

My parents cat, Madi, recently had kittens. And as always, they are the cutest things.  She had two boys this time around and we named them Milo and Henry. And they are just darling!

Milo is on the left, and Henry is on the right. Cute, uh?

Aubri loves the kittens. And by love, I mean grabbing, chasing and squeezing them. We watch her like a hawk when she is around them to make she she is "soft" with them.  But then she gets tired of us holding her hand and wants to do it all by herself. Miss Independent. We are getting attitude already, boy we are in trouble.

Notice how scared Milo is. Poor thing!

Pushing me away already. She honestly didn't want anyone to help her. She wanted to play with them on her own. 

Overall, she was great with these cute little kittens. I wish we could take one home...Austin give in already! :)  Since Aubri is such a busy body, her walker has helped out a ton! She loves walking backwards in it. 

Aubri has also adopted a new obsession of her bink or a dumby as Austin calls it. She has learned to take it in and out of her mouth, so she of course wants to show off her new skill constantly. At least it keeps her quiet.

As of right now,  we are busy getting everything for Bear Lake on Wednesday. All I can say is, I better get a good tan, and that when you travel with a baby, you have to take their entire nursery too! Our car will be pack to the roof for just a three day trip.  Here's to a happy 4th of July!