Our little princess

So I mentioned Aubrey's birthday in my last post, but she's such a sweet, amazing girl that I felt she was owed her own post. One day I promise she will care that I did this for her. Right now she thinks "blog" is a noise a frog makes.

Aubrey is 3 years old going on 16. She is smart and creative and loves to get her away - I wanted to say manipulative but that just sounds mean. She's not mean, just...gifted. And spoiled.

Here are some fun Aubrey facts:

Aubrey LOVES:

• Her morning cartoons, usually Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, My Little Pony (or My Little Hony in Aubreyese), and Bubble Guppies. Not all in one day. I do have to limit her, though, because she is a couch potato.
• Baths. She used to cry at the mention of water, now I have to drain the water in order for her to finally climb out.
• Singing random songs that make no sense. She usually sings about what she's doing or what she sees, but sometimes the song is a mix of "Child of God" where she was given an earthly home with parents with "nice hair" and then she goes into princess songs and back to "Child of God." She also sings for a bit before falling asleep at night. We need to get that on video. It's too cute.
• Food. Seriously, it's a joke in the family to hear her say, "Mom, I'm hungry." Because, literally, she's always hungry! It's 10am right now and she's already had cereal, eggs, and a tomato, and she is telling me she is ready for lunch. Either she's growing vertically (aka growth spurt) or she's just going to be growing horizontally. Either way, she's growing.
• Anything princess-y. I can get her to do just about anything if I insert the word "princess" into my sentence, such as "Aubrey, can you put on your princess scarf? It's pretty cold outside." Or, "Aubrey, eat your princess soup so you can be a good princess." Works every time.
• Being, well, lovey. She's so quick to apologize (Oh, hawry Mama!) when she does something wrong, and is always giving hugs and kisses, even to people she's just met. I know, she has no boundaries, but I'm just excited she's past her shy stage.

Aubrey DOESN'T love:

• Bedtime. She will always come up with an excuse as to why she shouldn't have to go to bed just yet. I'm pretty sure she picked this up from her brothers. Her favorite excuse? She's hungry. No surprise there.
• Getting her hair brushed. She has been known to hide the brush, throw it away from me, and cry as if I'd just broke her arm. But she also cries if I suggest we cut it. It's almost to her waist. Trust me, it's going to get cut.
• Sitting down for meals. She'd rather take a few bites and then run and play for a bit. It's a work in progress, she's doing better but she's pretty quick at sliding under the table when we're not looking and run into her room. We need to invest in some strong tape to keep her in place.
• Getting in trouble. Even if it's something like, "Aubrey, you're stepping on my toes." Her eyes will well up and she'll give me a hug and hope that I'm not too mad. I don't know where she picked that up. It's very dramatic. I blame Olivia.

Settling In

I know, I know...I've been a blogging slacker! The best excuse I can come up with is that I've been lazy. It took us a few weeks to unpack and figure out where to put all our stuff - we seriously had to get creative. The old baby mattress is under the couch. The kids closets are a masterful puzzle of broken down boxes, Christmas decorations, and baby clothes we can't seem to get rid of. I feel like such a packrat.

We are settling in pretty good. Albuquerque is better then I imagined (ie desert, cactus, scorpions) but still not quite home yet for me. I still miss my out-of-state family and the familiarity of home. I still find myself GPSing my way to anything that isn't our grocery store, our church, Jeremiah's job, or the mall. Or Costco, but that's because we literally live next to it. Did I mention we also live within walking distance to Target, Hobby Lobby, and the mall? I love our location, although we are a 20 or so minute drive to Jeremiah's work.

Another Albuquerque plus? It's mid-November and while a lot of my friends are Facebooking about snow and freezing weather conditions, we're still enjoying high 50s, low 60s weather. Sorry, I had to rub that in your face. I just love it.

Our ward here is pretty great. Everyone welcomed us so warmly and made us feel at home. I still don't know 90% of everyone's names, but they know mine and everyone is quite friendly. I've been called as the Relief Society Activities committee (I think there's a more official title?) and I really enjoy it. I love being crafty even if I'm not always that good at it!

Jeremiah is enjoying his job. He gets along well with his coworkers, especially his boss and the firm accountant (it's always nice to be friends with the boss and the accountant, you think he has this planned?). We've been on a few dates with his boss, Josh, and Josh's wife, Dana. They are really down to earth and fun to be around, even if Josh has a knack for picking awful movies. Trust me, you don't want to see "In Time".

I don't particularly love the kids school, but maybe it's because I was spoiled at Park Lodge. I feel like the communication between the school and the parents is lacking - aka there was a food drive that ended on Tuesday. I didn't hear anything about it until after it was over. And while Roman's teacher gets back to me pretty quick when I shoot her an email, Hayden's teacher takes a week or longer. But they are both learning, Hayden has made a few friends and Roman is learning to read.

Aubrey is spoiled at home with me. She's so attached to me that she'll leave Dora on the tv to follow me into the bedroom, even if I'm just changing my clothes. I'm trying to teach her to be more independent, but it's a work in progress. Luckily for me she's a really easy little girl who loves me and is eager to please me. She rarely has tantrums (but when she does they are stellar) and loves to be helpful.

My sisters and I started a food blog called Girls in Aprons. It was hard at first to get it going because my kitchen was a disaster and it's hard to cook in chaos. One of the first recipes I posted was on cream puffs and eclairs. My kids had a blast. Not only was there extra filling which they generously offered to eat, but I even found Aubrey sneaking into the fridge to take bites of the extras.

Aubrey slept in the pack & play for awhile after we moved. Her room was used for all of our random boxes and until they were all put away (aka stuffed in the closet) we couldn't set up her room. One day I had a burst of energy (this is history in the making, I don't usually have bursts of energy. Ever.) and I moved everything around and got her room set up. Including her big girl bed. She only fell out a dozen times or so her first time. But we used Carissa's trick and rolled up old towels and taped them under her sheet and she stayed in bed.

I love seeing her in her big girl bed. She lines up all her animals, uses her pillow pet as, well, a pillow, and refuses blankets (just like Roman) so I always have to sneak in and put them on after she's asleep. When she wakes up she sits there and cries for us until we come get her. She can't seem to figure out that she can actually get out of her own bed.

And see that Elmo kitchen behind her? She hates it. She wants a Dora kitchen or a Disney Princess kitchen. She's not spoiled, right?

We were fortunate enough to move down before the annual Balloon Fiesta. Although rain and winds kept some events from taking place, it was a lot of fun to see so many balloons in the sky all over the place. Some were so high they were just dots in the sky and others were so low we were sure they were going to land on the freeway. We really wanted to go to the Glowdeo, where the balloons were tied down in the evening time and put on a light show with their fires. But all those events were cancelled because of our weather. Maybe next year.

These pictures were taken on our way to Jeremiah's work. This is over the freeway. People were pulling off just to take pictures. We followed suit.

Aubrey turned 3 on October 10. She was So. Excited. It's her first year where she's actually sort of understood that it was her special day (although she still tells me almost daily that today is her birthday). We held off opening presents until Jeremiah got home from work, but she was super patient. Jeremiah got her a baby My Little Pony that she feeds with a bottle. Aubrey's in the mothering stage (ask the boys, they'll totally agree) and this present was perfect.

The boys watching her open presents. Weirdos, right?

A few months ago I saw these cupcake necklaces on Groopdealz. I got a pink one and a blue one. Aubrey is always begging to wear my jewelry and she felt so big having her own!

The best part...at least for me. Cupcakes! We felt like awful parents, we didn't even have candles for her, which is fine because with our luck she would have caught the house on fire with it...or worse, her hair.

Aubrey also got gifts from other family members, such as a Belle doll with a horse, My Little Pony dress-up dress, and money that she used to buy a My Little Pony remote control car.

Utah or Bust!

Wait, why are we going to New Mexico. Did I forget to mention that...

Jeremiah got a job!!!!

He started work at Carpenter Law in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 12 and loves it so far, although I don't love that he's gone from 7am-7pm (or later) every day.

On our way to New Mexico, we made a stop in Utah. Not only because 99% of our possessions were in storage there, but because we wanted to see our friends and family before we headed on south. It'd been 9 months since we moved away from Utah, and I was really missing so many people and places.

Jeremiah drove the Penske truck and we rotated the boys in and out, leaving me with two kiddos in the Trailblazer. For some reason, Aubrey was wide awake the whole way there. She was on her own little adventure and was easily entertained with snacks and toys and books. And the DVD player, my little lifesaver! Roman, though, was out like a light right after lunch. I sort of expected (hoped?) Aubrey would be the one to pass out and Roman would stay awake, he's a little more self-entertaining, but it all worked out and we survived.

This is what I saw during most of our trip. Stupid Penske. It couldn't go that fast, although when playing the alphabet game, having a "k" in the title sure helped!

During our stay in Utah, we spent a lot of time with Jeremiah's family, including his mom (we stayed with her, so of course we saw her a lot) and Steve and Melanie and their kids, Taylor and Natalie, who my kids adore. We did what's becoming something of a tradition and went to Jack and Jill's in Lehi. Usually we go bowling, but we opted for the arcade and laser tag. I LOVE laser tag, but I feel a lot better about myself if I don't look at my statistics afterwards. I always feel like I did really well and then find out that my boys fared better then I did. Sad, right? But it's so much fun.

Yes, this is the dancing game. They had no idea what they were doing but they had a blast anyway.

Don't be fooled, Aubrey has no coordination with this game. She throws the balls overhand and I'm really glad the game is not made of breakable material.

We also made some time to spend with Hayden's BFF from Utah, Will. Hayden adores Will and talks about him all the time, even though they were only BFFs for a few months before we moved to Washington. When Hayden said goodbye to Will the day we left Utah, he cried, Will cried, and I cried. It was a terrible day and I felt guilty about separating these two. Luckily they picked up right where they left off. They spend the afternoon talking about video games and cartoons and went to the park and wrestled and chased each other. It was great to see Hayden with a friend who really understood him and got along with him so well.
 

See the pained look on Will's face? They recruited other little kids and made these huge trains down the slide. For some reason Will was always on bottom and being smooshed by the others. Tough kid.

We spent some time with Kory and Ana Lee, too. She's finally starting to show her pregnancy and she looked great. We had dinner at their new condo on Sunday and I was so jealous. It was gorgeous, although next to the Boulders (for those who know what that is) but Kory and Ana Lee have some great decorations and I got the idea for this menu from her. What can I say, I love my sister in law and I sure love my baby brother!

I also got to spend some time with Christina, my sister from another mother - I know, doesn't rhyme, but you know what I mean. We took the kids to Arctic Circle and ran some errands. I always have fun with her and I can always be so honest with her about things. Stina is one of the things I miss about Utah. I certainly don't have friends like her in New Mexico (yet...maybe ever...unless she moves here? Eh???)

Unfortunately, my visits were limited. With car troubles ($1100 in repairs will put a damper on any vacation) and crazy schedules I didn't get to see Destiny, my aunt Wendy, and my dear friend Heather. I am making it a point to see all three next time we come, so girls, clear you calendar...although I'm not really sure when we'll be there next. My vacation felt incomplete and I felt a deep sadness as I left Utah knowing I hadn't seen everyone I wanted to see.

Our visit wouldn't be the same without a visit to Park City. I needed some serious retail therapy and I love their outlets, although they are usually quite busy and I hate shopping in a store where we are packed in like sardines (so why, oh why, do I put up with Black Friday every year?!). We got some great steals from Gap, Old Navy, and American Eagle.

We then met up with Steve and Melanie and their kids for the Alpine Slides. Thanks to a go-kart accident when I was younger I am not so brave when it comes to four-wheel adventures without seatbelts and airbags. So I opted out and stayed down at the end of the course with Aubrey while the Hayden rode down with Jeremiah and Roman went down with Steven. I must seriously trust these boys because they are known for their adventurous streak and they were taking my babies down with them. And apparently taking the ski lift up stop Hayden from trying to lean over to see everything there was to see. I guess he gave Melanie a bit of a panic attack :) Seeing how much fun they had I think that next time we go I will put on a brave face and go down *slowly* with Aubrey in tow.

While we waited for the boys to come down (it took about 45 minutes for them to reach the top, wait in line, and come back down) Aubrey went on a little train and a merry-go-round. She is getting braver, because a year ago she would cry at just the sight of one of these moving obstacles. Now she cheers and begs to go on them. My baby is growing up!

We finally said our sad goodbyes to Utah and made our way to New Mexico. I cried as I passed the familiar landmarks of Provo and Orem, cried as I passed Mapleton (goodbye Heather!), cried as I passed Spanish Fork (bye Stina!) and cried at everything I was going to miss. Part of my heart will always be in Utah, for some reason I always feel drawn to it, and I can't wait to return for a vacation soon.

I didn't think it would happen, but Aubrey fell asleep (finally!) and I had a peaceful two hours while Hayden read a book.

We stayed in Moab overnight before trekking onto New Mexico. As long as I've lived in Utah I'd never been to Moab. I didn't even get to see the famous scenery but I loved the city and we ate at a great little pizza buffet restaurant that didn't seem to mind we had tired, cranky kids.

We finally made it into New Mexico, but I suppose I should gather those photos and made a new post out of that one :)

Kind of Hiking

Knowing that we were moving shortly, Jeremiah and I decided to take the kids hiking. We changed into jeans and comfortable shoes and drove out to Point Defiance Park. We were told there were fabulous hiking trails. Unfortunately we never found those trails. How hard could it be? So instead we walked down the waterfront and through some small trails that led us to the rose gardens and the duck pond. So while I wouldn't call it "hiking" we did have a wonderful time exploring nature...and making fun of the ducks.

A man on the waterfront offered to take our family picture. Too bad he didn't know how to use my camera but if you look closely and use a magnifying glass you can kind of make out our faces. And the background is gorgeous.

Jeremiah suggested I look for photo opportunities. With my $100 camera? Sure! It turned out great. I loved this tree.

During our walk through the rose gardens there were a few weddings taking place. I'm not sure they planned on having wild children racing around playing tag. As beautiful as the gardens were, we rushed right through to the duck pond so the love birds could get back to their special day.

We saw this afro duck at the very beginning, but he must have been feeling self-concious at our remarks because he quickly swam away. We spotted him again as we were leaving and I took a paparazzi shot of him. See his afro puff?

Gone Crazy

While I never said my children were normal, I am starting to think they might be less and less so. They like to have a "circus" which I think they mean a parade, they dress up in silly attire (think underwear and pillow cases) and march around, falling over each other, and giggling hysterically. Sometimes they branch out and put on old Halloween costumes, but for some reason putting underwear on their head is mandatory.

I wonder if Hayden knows that he has Roman's underwear on his head?

Taking over Seattle {part 2}

We spent the morning at the Issaquah Farmer's Market. I love Farmer's Markets. Produce is deliciously fresh and fabulously priced. Others are there to share their craftiness and I love finding unique gifts. And I absolutely cannot pass up some fresh baked bread!

We found this truck parked inside the Farmer's Market selling lunch. It was a bit pricey, but Jeremiah was treated to this by his work earlier in the week and was raving about about delicious it was. It was quite cruel, seeing how great it smelled and we couldn't afford it. How dare he rub it in! However, I can imagine you get a lot of stares driving around in a big metal pig :)

We found what we thought were llamas. Apparently Diego has been teaching my kids a thing or do, because Roman said they were not llamas, they were alpacas. Whatever. We played tourist and got a picture with their cute little furry faces.

Uncle Steve surprised the kids with a pony ride. Even fearful Aubrey was super excited. Until the pony started to move. Not a fan.

The boys, however, are true cowboys and loved it. I think they were hoping for a galloping ride, but these ponies were spent. They barely walked at a snails pace {which was still too fast for Aubrey}. Roman kept yelling "Giddy up!"

At the Farmer's Market we picked up some multi-grain ciabatta bread, nectarines, and plums. We then went to Medina to watch the Blue Angels fly over Lake Washington. We had to park a gazillion miles away but it was a lot of fun. I had the best nectarine in the whole wide world. We tore pieces of bread and watched the Blue Angels do stunts and fly-bys that made the kids scream.

The boys convinced Josie and Nana Lafranca to take them to the beach and let them dip in their toes. The water was freezing and I was okay with them getting their feet wet.

I love this face. Cold much?

I also love how the boys shorts are rolled up Daisy Duke style.

So, what I was not okay with was getting themselves completely submerged in the water, mostly because we didn't have a change of clothes for them. We had to lay out their clothes to dry in the sun and they sat around in their little underwear. Seriously, where were their parents? Oh yeah, I was busy taking pictures of their naughty behavior.

Josie holding my baby...um, I mean Amy's baby.

This is just how awesome my camera is. See those dark dots in the sky? Blue Angels. This is the best shot I could get. Don't judge. Or judge. I don't care.

And after a long day at the beach, my kids were ready for a party...with their pillows.