JoeyCole82's Xanga

Long time, old friend

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:38:45 GMT

Well, I have fallen into a blogging lull, it seems. Why? Well, I could blame it on multiple things. Being a mother and a pastor does not allow for much time to do anything. Also, I feel like I haven't had anything blog worthy to write about recently... If I do, I usually can tweet about it in 140 characters, so what's the point of writing a whole blog. Sad, but true.

Life seems anything but dull, but I hate to bore you all with tale after tale about Aubrey. Then again, she is my life right now.

What else is new? Well, let's see:

Had a great time on vacation. It was very relaxing and just what we needed - family time with just the three of us. Spent a lot of time sleeping and watching tv. Ahhh.
This weekend I have the annual Fall Retreat with the youthies. Excited to spend time with them. Not excited to leave my baby girl for three days...
I have been the solo pastor at Main Street for two weeks now. So far, nothing has burned down, but there is a very funky skunk smelling coming from the kitchen. I maintain that it would be there whether Jame had left or not.
I am really struggling with finding time to do much of anything around the house. There seems to be no time to clean, cook, read, or even catch up on TiVo. Between work and having an infant, my time is strapped. And on the weekends, I am usually consumed with work stuff, or we are trying to see one of our families so that they can spend time with Aubrey. Oy. It is just nuts. Seriously - the cleaning thing is going to have to happen soon...
We had our annual pet blessing last weekend. This is one of my favorite parts of being a pastor. I love celebrating our pet companions and it's always exciting to meet them. To date, I have blessed: dogs, cats, rabbits, a mouse, and a chicken name Peewee.
Aubrey turned 6 months old today. I cannot believe it.

I think that's about it for now. Told you - nothing too exciting around here.

Aubrey Update

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:32:06 GMT

Little Miss Aubrey has been up to a lot lately. Here's the latest:

She has been sleeping 12-13 hours straight every night.
This morning, I went in to check on her (she had been sleeping for 14 hours) and I found her with her thumb in her mouth, smiling at the ceiling. It was SO cute.
Whenever Steve plays smoochy monster (kisses her all over her face), she giggles. She won't do this for me, which makes me think it is because his beard feels funny to her face.
Every time Aubrey falls asleep on me, I'm afraid it may be the last time, so I spend a few extra minutes snuggling with her before I put her into her crib.
She is loving her exersaucer.
She loves music. Last night I was watching Glee and every time they started singing, she would stop playing and watch the tv until the music ended. She is her father's daughter.
She often tries to suck her thumb while she is eating.
She is a very happy and smiley baby! We are so blessed!

Aubrey's First Soccer Game!

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:39:48 GMT

Aubrey went to her first soccer game last week. We went to see a couple of youth play. She loved it! She loves being outside. So cute!

Cereal!

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:50:54 GMT

Last week we had our 4 month check up with our doctor. She said we can start Aubrey on cereal. I was quite apprehensive about it, not because I was worried about how she would do with it, but because it made me realize exactly how fast my little girl is growing up.

Last Saturday, though, we began our journey towards solid food. Here's what we captured:

she didn't quite get the spoon thing, but she loved sucking it off her fingers:

Recording Repetition

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:16:09 GMT

As many of you know, Steve owns and runs his own recording studio, Winter Sun Recordings, out of our basement. He has had a fairly good amount of business. Actually, if he had much more business, he would probably have to quit one of his other jobs.

Anyway, lately he has been working on a recording for a nice, older man. He's a singer/song-writer and a really nice guy. His music isn't going to be on any radio stations or anything, but he has a nice voice and can play the guitar well.

Steve has been working on recording him off and on for several months. He's finally done all the recording and now Steve is working on the mixing and mastering.

While I love that Steve has a job that he is passionate about and that excites him, it could not drive me more crazy. When Steve is working, I'm usually banished to the upstairs (if he's recording, I can't even walk around). This doesn't really drive me crazy, though. It's just something I have to do for him.

The part that drives me crazy is the mixing and mastering phase. Steve has to listen to the same clip of music over and over and over again. It's insane. This morning, he's been working for 3 hours and isn't even through an entire song.

It bothers me, not because I find it annoying, but because I know I could never do that if it was my job. Steve says that it doesn't bother him because every time he replays a clip, he's listening for something different. Huh. All sounds the same to me. :o)

So, if you hadn't guess, today is mixing and mastering day at the house. I've been playing with Aubrey, cleaning, washing bottles, etc, but I can't escape the mixing/mastering. You can hear it from any room in the house! ARG!

All this got me thinking. If this drives me crazy, but Steve loves it because he's passionate about it, well, what about my job? What about my job sounds crazy to other people? What is it that would annoy or make people think I'm nuts for doing what I do? I have a few guesses: public speaking and hospital visitation. But, I wonder what else?

Anyway, I plan to get out of the house as soon as Aubrey wakes up from her nap. What's a girl to do? Shop, obviously!

Through the Months

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:52:19 GMT

The 4 Month Check Up

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:19:05 GMT

Little Miss Aubrey Jo turned 4 months old yesterday. How has time gone by so quickly? It boggles my mind.

Anyway, we also had her 4 month check up. Things went well. The doctor is very impressed with her ability to stand and her activity while on her tummy. She said that we can start feeding her rice cereal now. I can't believe my baby's big enough for rice cereal!

She is 12lbs and 23 and 3/4" inches, which is in the 25% of babies her age. So, she's still pretty tiny. The doctor said not to be worried about it because she's proportionate and it's just the way God made her. She won't be tall like her uncles, though!

Aubrey also endured her shots. She did really well. I think it was harder on mommy and daddy to watch than it was on her. Since then, though, she's been really sleepy. She took a 2 hour nap and a 2.5 hour nap yesterday. And currently, she's been asleep for the past 14 hours. Crazy shot hangover!

I'll leave you with some pictures of our 4 month old!

Bath Time!

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:44:06 GMT

Steve and I gave Aubrey a bath, and while this isn't usually blog worthy, I thought we got some hilarious pictures this time around. Check them out:

Crazy toupee hair:

Didn't make it to the tub in time and decided to pee on Mommy:

And some other cute pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Falling asleep on the floor with Daddy:

too big for her clothes! Look at that belly!:

Vacation

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:06:36 GMT

I just finished up one of the best vacations I've ever had. I didn't go anywhere fancy, but it was so restful and relaxing. Here's a recap of the week:

Sunday - started out with church, but after it was over - vacation officially began! Aubrey and I headed to my parents in Effingham. First we stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's house so they could see Aubs.

After a nice visit, we finally made it to E-town. We had a wonderful dinner with the family (mom's home cooking- delicious!) and a relaxing evening. Aubrey got lots of attention from Aunt Kelly

and Mimi and Pop-Pop (not a great picture, but i love my dad's face!)

Monday - My great friend Laura and my niece, Lily, and nephew, Evan, came over. We had a great time. Evan is 5 weeks older than Aubrey, and Lily is 2.5. Laura and I have determined that Evan and Aubrey will be married one day, so that we can officially be family.

Tuesday - Girls' day! We dropped Aubrey off at Grandma Wiedman's house and headed out for pedicures. Then we picked her up and headed to lunch. It was such a fun day! Then we decided we better head home to see Daddy, since he was missing us so much. When we got home, Aubs hung out with Dad, while I took off to see Mary Poppins at the Fox with my dear friend, Ginny, who had a friend ticket. It was AMAZING!

pie at lunch:

Aubrey's Aunt Karly and cousin Riley:

Wednesday - A much more low key day. I slept in and then Steve and I headed to Edwardsville so he could get a CD he needed for work. We ate lunch at Q'doba, which was, of course, delicious and headed to Borders (one of my favorite places) to browse and get coffee. I finished up the day with Project Runway reruns. Perfect!

Thursday and Friday we just kind of hung out. Did a little shopping around town, hung out with the baby girl, and just relaxed. We did go to the drive-in in Belleville on Friday to see G.I. Joe and the Hangover. It was a pretty fun evening out.

Saturday - my family came into town because the girls had tickets to see Mary Poppins (yes, I went twice!). It was excellent! And it was good to have family in town (especially since my dad and brother-in-law cleaned my fish tank for me - it was in desperate need of attention!)

Sunday - headed to Steve's church for worship and then out to lunch afterward with Brad, Alison, and Josiah. So fun. Then, I came home and got ready for a Project Runway party with Kira. Good times! We watched all the new stuff that had come out and had humdingers. Fantastic!

All in all, a fantastic vacation! It didn't seem to go too fast (or too slow...is that possible?!) and I feel really ready to jump back into new fall scheduling at church. Yay!

Aubrey Necklace

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:19:22 GMT

For those of you who don't know, I had a pretty crummy Mother's Day this year. Aubrey was 7 days old, I was exhausted, and all those hormones in my body were making me experience some serious baby blues. My mom, dad, sister-in-law, and brother came over for the day, bringing beautiful flowers (tulips - my favorite!) and their servant hearts. They cleaned, cooked, let me nap, and got me out of the house for a bit. I also received numerous text messages and phone calls all wishing me a happy first mother's day. Despite everyone's best efforts, I spent most of the day weeping, too exhausted and emotional to do much of anything.

Since my first Mother's Day was such a bust, I decided to treat myself with a gift from Aubrey to me. :o) It arrived in the mail just last week:

Isn't it sweet? I have worn it almost every day since I've gotten it. I chose the design and the green crystal (emerald is Aubrey's birthstone). I absolutely love it. And it totally makes up for my rotten day!

In case you are interested, I purchased it from Candace Kane Designs. You can look at all she as to offer in her Etsy shop. Enjoy!