6 Months

At 6 months old Aubree can sit up like a champ. She still scares me though because when she wants to lay down she will throw herself back half of the time and so far she hasn't cried but it just seems like that would cause a killer headache since she hits her head on the floor every time.
She is getting to where she will actually swallow food that is put in her mouth which is great. I am happy to see we are moving in the right direction! Ha
He is super active and doesn't sit still for a second! He doctor thinks she will walk early.  I hope that is the case!  I love when babies become mobile.
The poor girl has had a stuffy nose since labor day weekend. If she is anything like Briggs then it is a sign that she should be getting some teeth soon. I guess we will see. Both kids have well checks on Wesnesday so if it is something else I will find out then.

Aubree's Stats:

Weight: 17lbs 4oz

Height: 24.5 inches

Head Circumference: 42.5cm

Today Mark came home from work sick. As soon as he walked in the door he ran to the kitchen. I thought he was hiding from Brigham but nope, he was trying to get to the sink in time to barf. Luckily he did make it. Brigham was so worried about his daddy. He followed Mark to our room and when I came in a few minutes later they were both lying on the floor and Briggs was holding Mark's hand. It was just too sweet. Poor Mark spent the rest of the day in bed with a killer headache. Briggs would come check on him and lay beside him. What a sweet boy. Mark thinks he is just dehydrated. I just hope it isn't contagious, whatever it is.

Carolina Beach

We spent Labor Day weekend on our first family vacation with just the 4 of us.  I found a 1 bedroom condo that was across the street from the beach for just $75 a night.  We had so much fun.  I was not ready to come home.  I could sit on the beach all day and I would be in heaven.  Carolina Beach is my favorite beach.  There are only 1 or 2 hotels so the beaches are not crowded at all.  We were at the north end where the beach is short during low tide and non-existent during high tide.  I love this because there is no one between you and the ocean.   It is especially great with kids because whether you are on the beach or in the ocean, they are still close to you.  There are also lots of rocks/boulders that are a barrier between the beach and homes which make for a great place for Brigham to climb.  We spent a few hours on the beach Saturday morning and a couple of hours late Sunday afternoon.  Brigham wanted nothing to do with the ocean when he and I first went down Saturday.  He would run every time the water would come near him and he was very worried about the water touching me.  He pleaded with me to please come back to our chair and umbrella.   I obliged and we built some more sand castles and knocked them over and climbed on the rocks.  Once I got bored with this I told Brigham we should go play in the ocean and he ran down to the water.  We started small by just sitting at the water's edge but worked our way in to where the water was to Brigham's belly while sitting down.  He then began jumping over the waves and when Mark came down with Aubree he went out with Mark.  Aubree did not like the beach at all this first day and after only an hour of being out there Mark took her and Brigham back to the condo and I packed up our gear and went back.
Our condo had a pool that was practically at our door step and we played in it while Aubree napped.
Friday night we went to the carnival they have all summer and had so much fun!  We bought some tickets for the rides and Brigham rode every ride he could.  I could not believe he loved them so much considering he hated Carowinds last year and cried on everything (even the carousel).  We later wished we had gotten the unlimited riding band for him.
We ate out for every meal which was great because we got to try lots of local places and it also meant no cooking or cleaning for us!  Our favorite places were Ida Thai, Surf Shop Cafe, Hang Ten, and of course Britt's Donuts.  We ate a lot of donuts. One time I had to wait in line for 20 or so minutes just to get some.
On Sunday we went to the NC Aquarium and then to the beach that afternoon.  All day it looked like it was going to rain and there was even a little thunder.  Mark and Brigham played on the beach and once Aubree woke up from her nap she and I went down to play.  Mark and I took turns riding the boogie board.  It was a great afternoon.

                                                                             
Monday morning I got up at 6:15 and was able to sneek down to the beach to catch the sunrise. It was so nice being on the beach.  I was hoping to catch some people surfing but there was one sufer and one guy paddle boarding and they weren't very entertaining to watch.  The sunrise was beautiful though even if it was cloudy.  

Mark and Brigham played in the pool most of the morning as Aubree slept and I packed up and cleaned the condo.  Marked packed up the car in the perfect way that he always seems to do that and we headed home.  On our way we stopped at the USS North Carolina for a tour.  That is one huge battleship.  Mark saw every inch of it I think.  Brigham and I were tired of it long before he was.  We were there for over 2 hours and we didn't even read the stories and descriptions of that are posted all through the ship.  I can't imagine how long it would have taken if we would have stopped to read everything. Afterwards we stopped for some ice cream at Kilwins.  The ice cream was okay.  If I ever go back, I will skip the ice cream and get some fudge.  Our first official family vacay was a blast and I can't wait until we get to go back!  I am even more excited for our trip to Disney next year now that Brigham LOVES roller coasters (as he calls them).

The Fair

Mark had the brilliant idea of going to the Cabarrus County Fair.  It is no state fair but it is much closer.  Mark left work early and we got to the fair at 5.  Brigham was knocked out because earlier in the day I gave him some Benadryl for his runny nose and he slept for hours at home and for the entire 45 minutes we were driving.  This worried me a little.  I was hoping he would be able to snap out of it once we got to the fair.  He definitely snapped out of it. We bought 2 unlimited riding bands and Mark and I shared one of them so that we both got to ride the rides with him.  At 9 I left the two of them to go feed Aubree and put her pj's on her and I waited for them to finish and come get us.  They didn't come get us until 10 and Brigham still wasn't ready to leave.  He had so much fun.  Aubree fell asleep almost immediately in the car.  I ended up not having her pajamas with me and I didn't want to wake her when we got home so she slept in her leggings, shoes, t-shirt, and jacket. ha ha.  Brigham didn't want to go to sleep.  The fair was nothing compared to a 3 hour nap.  He ended up finally falling asleep around 11:30 or so.
 Here are some pictures from our fun family night:

4 Months

I can't believe our sweet baby girl is already 4 months old and I also can't believe she is ONLY 4 months old. Ha ha. She is a sweet happy girl unless her acid reflux is bothering her and when that is happening she just cries and cries.
Last week she finally darted rolling over from her belly to her back more often. He hadn't done it at all since the one time she did it at the end of June. On August 1st she was finally able to roll from her back to her belly. I tried giving her rice cereal but she hates it so we will wait a month and try again. She is still a great sleeper t night and a not so good afternoon napper but we are a-ok with that!
Brigham really loves her and is very sweet to her. He loves playing peekaboo with her and he is great at getting her to stop crying. Aubree loves him and can spend hours just staring at him.
Brigham LOVES drawing, painting, television, dinosaurs, trains, cars, garbage trucks, fire trucks, slides, swimming, fresh peaches, strawberries, bananas, milk, Cheerios, frosted mini wheats, Crispix, chocolate, dried mango, chicken legs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and spaghetti. He talks all the time and the phrases I hear about 1,000 times a day are " watch this" and "mommy watch." He is starting preschool on August 28th and we are so excited for him to have the opportunity to be around other kids 3 days a week. Hopefully he will love it.
Mark started his career at TIAA-CREF in July. He is enjoying it so far and we are adjusting to him being away 40+ hours a week.
We have started to look at houses in Belmont and Mount Holly and we have found one on 1.7 acres in Mount Holly. It is a short sale so it will most likely take a while for us to get it but we will most likely put in an offer next week and then just wait and hope it is accepted. It was built in 1942 and needs a lot of updating and remodeling to meet our needs and although it isn't an open floor plan at all I just love it and we really love all the land it is on. I know it will all work out how it is supposed to but the waiting will be torture!

This is from a wedding reception/open house where I was in charge of the food. A week before, I had the brilliant idea to make cake stands to display all the food.  I also made almost all the food so it was a very hectic week!  

Month 5

Aubree-Rose is now almost 6 months old but I do have a picture from a day or two after she was officially 5 months old.  At 5 months she could't sit up on her own for more than just a couple of seconds.  As of today, she sits up great until she sees something she wants and she will face plant to get it.  These face plants don't seem to hurt at all but they keep me from leaving her sitting without at least a pillow or two around her.
Aubree is a happy girl that smiles all the time.  She is an easy baby but she is also a girl that knows what she wants, when she wants it.  She does not like to be left alone in a room, even if she can still see me.  I often have to pull her high chair into the kitchen while I am cooking or cleaning so that she is appeased.  She is still a wonderful sleeper at night but day time naps are hit or miss.  Sometimes she will sleep 5 hours a day and I will have to wake her up from each nap and sometimes she will sleep maybe 3 hours a day.  Luckily she is happy no matter how much or little she is napping.  She is not a fan or eating from a spoon yet but we have started pureeing food and putting it in her bottle along with some rice cereal so that she at least can get used to all the new flavors and when she finally learns to swallow food it will hopefully be an easy adjustment since it will taste like food she has already had.  She gets 4 bottles a day.  Three of them are 8 ounces of formula, 1 ounce of food, and some cereal.  Her afternoon bottle is just 9 ounces of formula.  Aubree is our little marshmallow.  She is so soft and squishy and her fat little thighs and arms are just so cute!  
She really loves Brigham to pieces and he is by far her favorite person.  She gets so excited when she sees him and whenever he can find the time to give her a little attention she just laughs at everything he does.  Seeing them interact is my favorite thing.  Last night she wanted his attention so badly and he was not interested in giving it to her.  We had to bribe him with peanut butter chips.  Each time he got her to laugh, he got a chip.  It was a total win-win for everyone! ha ha
Yesterday on the way to church she was just laughing away in her car seat.  We aren't sure what she was laughing it but we loved hearing it.  I hope she is always able to laugh so easily through her life.