one week old

On Friday, Cyndy and the girls came for a visit. Laurel was at school for the morning, but was beside herself with excitement to come home and see her cousins. Alex said she was content to play at school when he showed up, but when he mentioned that the girls were at the apt., she ran for the car! In the garage, she was saying - hurry daddy, hurry! The usual giggles and excitement bubbled up when they all saw each other and then they ran to play in Laurel's room. Sierra was interested in holding the baby often, but each time she sat with her, Audrey filled her diaper:). As per usual, Audrey was a good baby, little complaining, happy to sit with her Aunt.

Audrey's first week thus far has been going pretty well. She sleeps a lot, poops constantly, eats very well. We had a couple of fluke nights where she slept for a huge stretch of time - 5-6 hours. I've gotten a decent amount of sleep too, so we're faring pretty well. Mom has cooked for us and I've made a short trip to the grocery. That trip ended up being too much for me physically, still very exhausted. Laurel and Alex have been taking daily outings together. They've walked for ice cream, gone to the movies. Laurel has gotten to be much more loving with Audrey. She's tolerating the crying jags better and better each day. Laurel herself is still a bit more obstinant and stubborn that usual. She's talking back and pushing the envelope. But we're hopeful that it's a phase as she gets used to the changes in the house.

Family of 4!

We welcomed Audrey Grace on November 1st at 7:01 a.m. She weighed in at 8 pounds even and measured 21.5" long. She's lovely and our first couple of nights have gone so well. We stayed 2 days/nights in the hospital and went home Wednesday. So far, she's a pretty easy baby:). She is very alert, only cries for the usual reasons, and sleeps very well! Laurel was very excited to visit her new sister in the hospital. I cried like a baby myself when I saw them first meet each other:). My babies! She is mostly enthusiastic about the baby, wanted to hold and kiss her at the hospital. We did have a difficult jag where the baby cried and Laurel sobbed because the crying upset her. On our second day, Laurel didn't want to come into the room and was very emotional. Since we've gotten home though, she's gotten a little better with it and just gets wary around Audrey when she cries. Audrey is enjoying her swing, but mostly loves to be held. But her most favorite thing so far is milk:). Mine has just come in and she can't get enough!

My last entry on Audrey's pregnancy blog is her birth story:)
http://babycrowd.com/jr/online/velezbaby2/

Halloween 2010

I'm actually writing this well after Halloween, but am back dating it to be on Halloween so the posts are in order:). Audrey's birth came the very morning after, so we have been occupied;).

On Halloween, Laurel donned her Jessie costume yet again and we went Trick or Treating with the Mauck family in their neighborhood. I waddled around 7 days past my due date:). Laurel was gang busters about visiting the houses until we went up to one or two that had particularly scary decorations. After that she was very apprehensive:(. But once she got her candy, after much encouragement to approach, she was more than eager to go on to the next one. Watching the little ones go up to the door and say trick or treat was just too cute for words! I really enjoyed being the parent walking them around.

Laurel has really loved Halloween this year, much to Alex's delight. It's his favorite holiday:). She is so sweet how excited she has been. She's always so eager and easy to please. Her enthusiasm has been so endearing. She's game for anything and is so fun to be around:).

Baby Shower

This past weekend was Alex's birthday and my baby shower. Christy hosted both on Alex's birthday at her house. The shower was small, just a few close friends and family. Some husbands and friends of Alex's came after the shower for a bbq. It was a really nice time with friends:). The kids all got into the backyard pool, which was so cold! Eventually they all ended up clustered in the hot tub which was just warm.
For the shower, we played some games, one being selecting the best baby sculpted from play dough:). I got several things I needed off of my registry and lots of sweet new baby clothes. It's nice to have some things new for this baby since I have so much that I've saved to hand down. I thought Laurel would want to take part in the shower and open gifts, but she was too busy playing with her cousins and friends. She's turned into such a social butterfly. She knew everyone at the shower of course, but even when we go to the park or Grandma takes her to the library or elsewhere, she always looks for other children and wants to befriend them:).

Disney Halloween

Halloween started early for us this month. We wanted to take part in the Disneyland trick or treating, but earlier in the month, not knowing how I'd do with all the walking. Laurel decided she wanted to be Jessie for Halloween. She is so very excited this year. She wanted to choose yet another princess costume but after showing her all of the options online, she picked Jessie. I let her put it on when the package came and she didn't want to take it off:). She makes the cutest little Jessie ever!
Grandma came a long and we met up with Rob, Cyndy and the girls in the park. The lines for candy were long, but the rides were open and we were able to jump onto a few that normally have huge lines during the day. Laurel as usual, was thrilled to spend time with her cousins. They squealed and ran about together. They are so cute. The park put on a fun Halloween parade and a really nice fireworks show. As usual, Laurel was so sad to leave "Mickeyland" and her cousins:(. But I'd had my fill of walking and needed to waddle back:).
She is now asking for more Halloween and points out pumpkins and decorations on stores and houses wherever we drive. Anything Halloween gets a "yeah!", "ok!" and "lets do it!" from her:). Her enthusiasm is contagious. This is going to be the most fun I've had on Halloween yet. She will be having a little party at school at the end of the month too.

Starting Preschool

Our baby has officially started preschool! Laurel started at 1st Class Pre-K and everything has been fantastic. Her teacher is young and the kids call her Teacher Sugar. I stayed for her entire first day to see what they do and Laurel had a great time! I think her time at the Twispp program really helped with her independence - she didn't need me there at all. But I was curious to watch her first day. The kids all show up around 9 am and play either at the tables with set out activities, or on the carpets with play things. At 9:45 they clean up and they are moved to the alphabet carpet and they each have to find letters that the teacher assigns them. They go over the day of the week, month, season, weather, etc. They have a snack and then they have story time and other carpet activities. Around 11 they go outside for playtime on the playground and then come back in at 11:45 and wash up for lunch. Some children stay until 1 and eat lunch on site. I pick up Laurel at 12, so she can start on her lunch, but we wrap up and leave. The best part is that her little school is right around the corner from Copper Willow. Until the baby comes of course, I can work during her school hours and get so much done! I am just happy that she likes the school and will be able to make some new little friends. I'm so proud of the growth she's made!

Laurel turns 3!

Today is Laurel's birthday! We just got back from eating out for her birthday and opening presents. Making a prompt post while I can before I let too much time pass. :)

On Sunday we went to Disneyland for a big celebration. I made appts. for Laurel, Amber and Sierra to have their hair and make up done at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and then lunch at Ariel's Grotto to meet the princesses. It was a great day! Laurel had a lot of fun and loved being all dressed up. Aunt Cyndy and Uncle Rob got her a very nice sleeping beauty costume complete with crown, purse and gloves. Laurel opted to have her hair put up with pink hair extensions and pink bouffant. She doesn't like the idea of a bun in her hair because she is too concerned about the status of her "curlies". She loves her curly hair! She wore her fancy hair and makeup all day with her Aurora costume.

The lunch was a lot of fun because so many princesses were there. They posed with Ariel upon entering the restaurant and then Cinderella, Belle, Snow White and Aurora walked around the room for pictures. Laurel is loving Aurora the most right now, maybe just because she wears Laurel's favorite color - pink! When Belle came around, Aurora was after her and she ran up to Belle and said "look there's Aurora"! So funny:).



We were able to ride on a couple of rides and got some dole whip ice cream. The park was quite busy because most kids started back at school this week. I was pretty exhausted from walking around the park all day. The baby weight is really taking a toll on my muscles and feet. So by the time evening arrived, we were ready to head home and get cleaned up. We thought Laurel's hair definitely needed to be washed out!:)

Today we had a pretty chill day. Laurel went to her gym class and she got a birthday sticker. Otherwise, I asked her what else she wanted to do and she just wanted to spend time at home. So we hung out in her room and she made me food in her kitchen and played with her castle. After a nice long nap for us both, we got ready to go out for dinner. We met up with Ryan, Leora and kids for pizza. Grandma and Aunt Meg came along as well. I baked and decorated a cake in the princess theme - Aurora of course! Laurel was very excited for her birthday all day. She enjoyed even singing to herself and announcing that she was 3! When we got home from dinner, we opened presents. She got lots of new things for her play kitchen, some new costume wear, the leap frog reader, and some other little toys and clothes. It was so hard to get her to go to bed right after! We'll have to open presents earlier in the day next year so she has time to play.


She is definitely looking and acting like a three year old. There was a two year old boy in her gym class today and she looked so much older than him. She's thinned out a little bit and her cheeks can't be described as chubby anymore. She's verbal and active and makes funny comments. She's a very entertaining little person!:)