Rough Transitions

I've been having a rough couple of weeks lately.  Jared's work transferred him to a different office in September.  He has been working off and on at the new office for months but starting this month he has been there Monday-Friday and we just see him on the weekend.  I'm staying in Lex until we sell our house or for as long as I can take it.  (On top of that, my neighbor and dear friend Alyssa moved across the country about the same time).

It actually hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be but I still can't answer more tolerably than "I'm okay" to inquiries about how I'm doing.  I miss my husband.  It's hard being a 'single mom.'  I had thought I would be blogging a ton as therapy or as distraction but I haven't felt like it.

Partially because Aurora has been a handful at times which is reasonable since she's always a heartfull. Her first tooth may have come in with no problems or pain but not so for her second tooth that followed directly.  The poor thing was soooo grumpy!  I tried to keep her supplied with medicine (which helped sometimes but sometimes not) without keeping her in a constant drugged state.

In celebration of this teething period being finished, I actually did get a pic of her two new pearly whites!

(Okay, so still not a very good pic but the best I could get.)

Aurora has also entered a new development stage: mobility.  No, she doesn't crawl yet, although it will be any day now, but she is always moving now.  When you hold her, she squirms and arches her back.  When you feed her, she flails her arms and constantly moves her head.  When she is playing on the floor, she is rolling or scooting backwards.  When she is sleeping, she tosses and turns and gets herself wedged into the corner of the crib every night and for every nap.

Scooting in reverse & getting up on her knees and rocking.

Sleeping with her bum in the air.

Even though it is exciting that she is doing and learning new things...it is turning out to be a painful transition for her and for her parents because she keeps getting hurt. Last week she got hurt 4 times which is 3 times more than she has gotten hurt in her whole life.  

The first time occurred because she loves to stand up now.  She was standing up holding onto Sheila's coffee table. I was giving her some support from behind when she toppled a direction I wasn't expecting and hit her head on the table.  It left a small welt on the side of her face near her eye.  :(

She loves to have help standing in her crib after a nap.

(She can't get to this position on her own yet but we will be moving the mattress down a level very soon!)

The next day when I placed her in the swing I snapped the tray/bar into place which is all she's ever needed to keep her safely in before.  But now since she moves so much the tray came unsnapped and she fell out hitting her head on the legs of the swing.  She had a little goose egg that turned into a small bruise. :(  Needless to say we use the seat belt straps from now on.

The next day Jared was home for an hour on his way to a jobsite.  He was holding her while sitting on the bed and as we were talking Aurora pretty much flings herself out of his arms.  She does a twist mid-air and Jared almost catches her but she does another twist away from him and -you can probably guess what happens next- hits her head on an end table. :(  No marks this time...I think Jared buffered the blow.

Lastly she scooted underneath our coffee table and then tried to get to her knees and rock but she banged her head on the table.  She proceeds to bang her head two more times, crying all the while, before I can get her out.  :(

This is painful to watch and experience and it's hard not to feel like a bad parent.  I know a lot of it is just the stage and age she is at.  Fortunately, this week she hasn't hurt herself...yet.   I like to believe I have adjusted more appropriately to my cute newly locomative darling.  Hopefully it's not that she is just lulling me into a sense of security before she strikes again...most likely on her head.  I have been taking extra precautions.  Not only is my house for sale but so is my coffee table and end tables and the baby swing and well...all my furniture.

Is it the weekend yet?

Aurora's First Tooth

It's official, Aurora's first tooth has finally broken through and is here to stay...well at least until it falls out in a few years. The tooth is located on the bottom, center left. I don't have any pictures because you can't see it when she just smiles normally and if I try to open her mouth to get the shot her tongue is always in the way. You'll just have to use your imagination or come visit us.

*

She wasn't particularly fussy, so it appears that the tooth didn't give her much pain. She has been gnawing on things for a long time and this past week increased the tempo and the number of things that went into her mouth. Today she really enjoyed a carrot stick for almost a solid hour. The day before, it was the big plastic handle on the finger nail clippers (Jared allowed that one to happen). For whatever reason she loves cords or strings that are on some toys like her Hufflelump or on her parents' sweatshirts (I wouldn't think there would be a whole lot to chew on with a small cord). She loves to have her "teeth brushed" (which for right now involves using a warm washcloth) which is nice and I hope that the good habit continues.

She keeps getting bigger and bigger...she is 8 months today!

New Year's with The McCulloughs & Co.

Usually Christmas with my family (or any get-together for that matter) is the largest social event we go to and it seems that my family heard that this year Jared's family was rivaling them...so everyone brought their dogs. We had 5 dogs there on top of the 10 people (we missed Joe & Rachel who couldn't come from Idaho and Jeremy on his mission in Chile).

Aurora knows what the tree and presents mean now...

...more wrapping paper!!!

Here is a cute outfit Aunt Jessie gave Lil A.

Grandpa & Rory

Of course, there was a lot of game playing: Ticket to Ride, Settlers, Texas Hold Em' & the Wii.

Also a lot of eating, talking and movie watching. We all went and saw Avatar 3D in the theater and to my surprise I loved it.

Aurora & Cousin Sabra


But a lot of the celebrating was cut short when a violent stomach flu hit. Mom got it first, followed by Dad, Jessie, and Sabra. After we left, Tom and Josh both came down with it. Jared and I prayed and prayed that Aurora wouldn't get it and our prayers were heard...amazingly she never did get sick. Jared and I didn't get it any worse than feeling just a little queasy.

It was still fun and I'm excited and ready to see what this New Year brings all our families!

Christmas With The Edwards & Co.

Aurora helping Grandma Edwards with some Christmas cooking.

Aurora never showed interest in our Christmas tree at home but she really like Grandma and Grandpa's tree.

Aurora's 5 cousins were there too!

Aurora just loves Suzy and would laugh and laugh at her. We all think they look a little like each other especially when Lil A is wearing something that used to be Suzy's. (Same color of hair, blue eyes and round face.)

Boys in Blue: Brendan and Colin


Ladies in Red: Aurora, Suzy and Cara

This is the best pic I was able to capture with all the grandkids.

Grandmother Ison and Aurora

Aurora and Colin (who is 1 month younger). Lil A is eyeing his toy in this picture...she kept trying to take it.

One of the only pics I have out of many where they are both looking at the camera.

Lots of people, lots of craziness, lots of food, lots of presents and lots of fun & love.
Just how the holidays should be.

Chistmas Morning

Note: Please ignore the grungy parents that are blighting the cute pics of their adorable daughter's first Christmas.

We started Christmas around 7am when Aurora naturally wakes up. First, was the reading of the real Christmas story in Luke 2.

Then the stockings.

Look inside...

Whoa! The jackpot...

Trying to fish out all the goods...

Then onto the presents...

YES!!! It's a box!!!

Actually it's a very cute dress from Grandmother Thomas... Thank you!

Here she is now with one of her favorite new presents...

...the wrapping paper. (It seriously was the best part for her.)

Hope your Christmas was as joyful as ours was!

Christmas Eve

Twas the morning before Christmas...(we at the Edward's household do not wait til night to start the celebrations) ...and it was noisier than anything at the traditional Bluegrass Ward Christmas Eve Bowling Party!

By our crazed expressions, or maybe just mine, you can almost hear the chant:

"We've got Christmas spirit, we've got Christmas spirit...How about you?!"

...or see that we are coming down with bowling fever.

The latter appeared to be true, at least for Jared, who burned it up on the lanes. I believe he achieved the highest score of the whole ward with 178. Bekah, a 6yr old that was bowling in my lane had a higher score than me but I did beat Andrew the 3yr old...barely.

If you look closely at row E and in the first column you can see my one strike of the day :)

Then we went home to finish one last present for Lil A. We were refurbishing a super saucer that had been given to us by Jared's sister whose 4 children had previously used. Later, I found out that it had been a used item when given to her.

We cleaned it up...

sanded it... (which ended up being a mistake I think)
primed it...

(good thing it was warm that day and although it appears Jared is doing all the work, I too helped but someone has to document the transformation).

painted the top pink... (with Krylon Plastic Spray Paint)

the base brown...So, I asked Jared to take a picture of me painting the base to prove that I helped. It so happens that a brown can of spray paint is different from a pink can even though they were the same brand/product. As I went to spray paint the base with expert zeal and flourish, I sprayed the paint directly into my eye.

Jared's immediate response was to laugh. He then asked with concern if I was okay and then laughs again and then repeats the previous question.

I immediately drop the can, put my hands to my face and then realize my eye is only stinging a little. I too laugh with relief. Then I sober up and go running for the house calling to Jared "I think I'm okay but I read a book once where someone went blind spraying paint into their eye."

I rinsed my eye with water, it still stinged but I could see out of it...at least I thought so, even though I was surprised not to see brown paint all over my face. (Jared says I didn't spray enough for that to happen.) When Jared sees I'm fine, he comments that I'm probably the only person in the world who will reference a book they have read while running for the house to rinse a toxic product from their eyes. Hmmm...maybe.

But I digress...

The finished product...

(except I'm still sewing a cover for the seat which has been fraught with less peril than painting).

Isn't it very cute?! While we were waiting for the paint to dry we made cookies and other goodies for our Christmas Eve party at the Carlton's.

We all had soooo much fun that night... as Aurora can attest to in the following clip. We also had tons of great food!

The girls: Alyssa, me, Tammy and Sarah

The Carlton's have a tradition of playing Christmas Pictionary. Jared may have rocked the bowling alley but I was Pictionary queen. This will have to be one of our traditions too.

I didn't want to be too boastful, so here is a clip of Alyssa calling out the correct answer first to Erik and Andrew's drawing.

Later, Alyssa, Jared and I play a speed game of settlers while the kids got baths before we watched "Mickey's Christmas Carol." We seriously played the game in 15 minutes with Jared winning.

After the movie, scripture, song & prayer and the children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads; the adults played a "super-massive" settlers game where we combined two boards together. I won this game.

After a jolly good time with friends which after all is the family one chooses for yourself...we went home and put all the presents under the tree and hung our stockings by the chimney with care...

and settled down for a long winter's nap... where not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse or cat... in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.

"I Literally Repel Technology Now..."

So this past Christmas, I forgot to bring my cell phone charger with me and we were probably 30 minutes from Lexington when my cell phone died. Sorry if you tried to get a hold of me but couldn't. Then our Internet stopped working and I have been checking email etc... from computers of friends, family, strangers...(not really strangers just the library which isn't a stranger to me). I lost my camera for a few days but fortunately I found it... eventually. Hopefully in the next few days we will be back online and I can post some of the hundreds of photos I have from Christmas. :)