Week in Review: Birthday Bash!

This week was GREAT! It started off with a holiday weekend and ended with a birthday party! In between was lots of other fun stuff too ;)

Sunday: We went to church, and Jude was great. He slept through the whole service. I fed him between church and Sunday School, and he did great in Sunday School too. Only a few more weeks until he will be in the nursery -- crazy! After Sunday School we came home and ate lunch. We had our usual restful Sunday afternoon. We went back to church that night. On the way home from church, BOTH Aubrey and Jude were having meltdowns and screaming in the car. I think Aubrey was just upset because Jude was crying, but oh my goodness! I needed a nerve pill by the time we got home. Ha! Of course, they were both fine by then :)

Monday: We had SUCH a good Labor Day. Nothing overly exciting happened, but it was just a good day :) David was home and got up with Aubrey. My brother came over with his truck late morning to go with David to pick up the sideboard I had bought for our dining room. David was going to surprise me by taking Aubrey with them and leaving me to sleep in a quiet house. However, after David put her carseat in my brother's truck and tried to put Aubrey in there, she freaked out! Apparently, my brother's truck terrified her (it is really loud). It was sad, because she really did want to go with them. When David brought her in to me, she was crying and saying she wanted to go. We tried one more time, but she was just too scared to get into the truck. She decided staying with mommy would be ok after all ;) We had a nice time while they were gone. We played and reads books. When David and my brother got back, they unloaded the sideboard and put it in the dining room. I think it looks great, and I'm so excited to get the dining room put together over the next few months (everything is a slow process). After my brother left, we just hung out at home and fed Aubrey lunch. It was then time for her to take a nap. While she was asleep, David worked around the house, and Jude and I went shopping. I was looking for a rug for the dining room. I had found one that I liked on Saturday, but it had a small defect. I was looking for another one similar, but I couldn't find another one I liked. I decided I would just go back to the store where I had seen the one I really liked later in the week and ask for a discount. Aubrey woke up shortly after Jude and I got home, and we got ready and headed to my parents' house for dinner. My family and my brother's [girl]friend and my grandparents were there, and we grilled hamburgers and just hung out. It was fun! After we ate, David and I left Aubrey and Jude at my parents' house and ran to a furniture store to look at rugs and dining room furniture. We didn't buy anything, but we got some ideas of what we like. We went back to my parents' house for dessert. We hung out some more and then came home. Aubrey went right to bed, and I fed Jude and got on the computer. David worked more on cleaning out the dining room. (Since we haven't had furniture, the dining room has sort of become a storage area for things that need to go in the office or attic.)

Tuesday: Aubrey woke up at 6:45 :( David took her until he had to go to work. I had to get up early to get ready for Bible Study anyway. We had a good time at Bible Study even though Aubrey cried and cried when I dropped her off in the nursery. I'm sad that she's started doing that again, and I'm hoping it's a short phase. We stayed for lunch after Bible Study was over, and we helped fold fliers for our church's Women's Retreat after we ate lunch. I wanted to go buy that rug when we left church, but it was naptime, and I really didn't want to take Aubrey and Jude anyway. So, we went home instead. They both took naps, and I straightened up and did some shopping on eBay (I didn't end up winning anything I bid on). My mom called and offered to go get the rug for me, and of course I took her up on it ;) She ended up getting a different one that the one I originally saw, but it worked out better. I had Bunco that night, so when David got home, I left the children with him and met Rebekkah so we could ride together. My mom followed us there. She didn't want to ride with us because my rug was in the back of her car, and she didn't think we should leave it in a parking lot somewhere. I had lots of fun at Bunco even though I didn't win anything! It's just nice to have a night out. My mom followed me home to deliver the rug -- how nice! When I got home, Jude was screaming. Poor daddy and baby! :( David said after keeping both Aubrey and Jude for the evening, he has a new appreciation for what I do everyday. I thought that was nice of him to say! Of course Jude was fine as soon as I took him. Sweet little Mama's boy!

Wednesday: Aubrey got up early again. I gave both of the kids baths and took a shower and got us all ready. We were meeting Sarah Denley and Ann Peyton for lunch. We went to Corner Bakery and had a fun time. Jude slept through the whole lunch, which is always a relief. Aubrey was good; she just got a little bored towards the end and wanted to get down and play. The hardest part about going out with Aubrey and Jude is that Aubrey is super independent and likes to walk/run everywhere herself. She tends to take off before I'm ready, so then I have to chase her down while carrying the infant seat with Jude in it. It gets interesting sometimes. She knows she HAS to hold my hand in parking lots though. (Which is tricky too, because that only leaves me one hand for the infant carrier/diaper bags/purse/anything else we might need. We get by though.) Anyway, after lunch we headed home to nap. Since Jude had slept through lunch, he wasn't sleepy when Aubrey was napping. It was ok though, because I got some one-on-one time with him, which is something I feel like I rarely get. After Aubrey woke up, it was almost time for David to get home. We went to church that night. We got stuck in horrible traffic on the way to church. Apparently a car had gone off the bridge into the reservoir, so we were stuck on the spillway for a LONG time. Thankfully there was still some food left when we got to church ;) After we got home from church, I fed Jude and then went to meet Rebekkah at the park to walk. We have been walking at a park in my neighborhood, and we never really see anyone while we're walking. That night, we had decided that we were going to do some jogging instead of just walking. We were doing a warm-up walk, and we noticed there was a man sitting at a picnic table. When we walked past him, we saw that he was slumped over playing in the dirt. He said something as we walked past, and he sounded either drunk or high. We didn't stick around to find out! We SPRINTED out of the park AWAY from our cars. (You have to drive to the park from my house.) We ended up running all the way to my street. We called the police just so they could check it out -- it sounds like we totally over-reacted, and maybe we did, but we just had a bad feeling about it. Anyway, we ended up just doing our workout on the sidewalks of my neighborhood, and that worked out fine. (Besides the fact that I about died from all the running -- wow, I'm out of shape!) We then walked to my house and got David's car, and I drove Rebekkah back to the park to get her car, and then she followed me home and drove me back for my car. Whew! It's a little funny now looking back on it. Haha. After all that excitement, I went to bed when I got home.

Thursday: Aubrey slept a little later: 7:30. We hung out at home all morning. After lunch, I put Aubrey and Jude down for their naps, and Rebekkah and Carver came over for our weekly craft day! We are still working on the pillows from last week. I'm not so sure how they're going to turn out, but Rebekkah is optimistic, so we'll see ;) They left right as Aubrey was waking up. She never even knew "Ca-Ca" was at her house. Haha. I got Jude up and fed him, and then we headed to church. I don't think I've mentioned on the blog that my dad has recently gone into full-time ministry. He has started a program for boys called "Sons of the King." Anyway, part of the ministry will include teaching karate to the boys 2 afternoons a week, and David will be helping with that part. That means he won't be coming home from work 2 days a week -- we'll just meet him at church. This was the first day he was teaching karate, so we went to church a little early. My mom was there and watched Aubrey and Jude while I ran out to look for a birthday present for Aubrey. Sadly, I didn't find what I wanted :( When I got back to church, we fed Aubrey dinner and I fed Jude, and then we went over to a friend's house during karate. They have lots of little girls to play with, so Aubrey had a blast. We then headed BACK to church, and karate was over. David and I (and the kids) went over to David and Rebekkah's house to watch what was left of the Auburn/MSU game. I need to mention that the Arants are Mississippi State fans, and of course we were going for Auburn. It was pretty friendly though, and everyone was nice to each other :) Haha. We ate pizza and just had fun watching the game together. By the time it ended, it was WAY past Aubrey's bedtime, but she was such a good sport about being up so late. We went home and put her straight to bed.

Friday: Aubrey slept late since she had been up so late the night before. Whoo! Once we got up, I was trying to clean and get things done for her birthday party the next day. We stayed home all day, but I was busy! I dusted and put recent pictures in frames. I also made a grocery list for the next day. Aubrey and Jude took good naps. I got myself ready while they slept. When David got home we went to O'Charley's for dinner. After dinner we went to Cracker Barrel to get a rocking chair for Aubrey. So random that we got her gift at Cracker Barrel, but I could not find a rocker for her anywhere else, and that's really what we wanted to get her. David managed to get it into the back of the car without her seeing it. We went home after that and Jude had a meltdown on the way home -- it was about time for him to eat again. I was planning to go to the grocery store after Aubrey went to bed, but I ended up sitting on the couch watching Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta while I held Jude, and then I got sucked into Four Weddings, and it was too late to go at that point. So I just went to bed instead.

Saturday: Jude slept from 11:30 the night before to 6:25. Yay! That's the longest he has gone so far. It was wonderful! David got up with Aubrey and Jude and I got up around 9. The four of us all loaded up to go run a few errands. I ran in Target and then David dropped me at Kroger and went to Lowes with the kids while I got the groceries. We came home and unloaded the food and then I cooked. The rest of the day consisted of cooking, cleaning, and getting stuff ready for Aubrey's party. Of course we were running behind, because that's how we roll :) Aubrey and Jude both took really long naps, which helped. We had to bathe both of them before the party though, and at 4:15 they were both still asleep and not yet bathed. Guests were coming at 5. Ahh. We did somehow manage to all be dressed and ready when everyone got here. Aubrey's party was fun, and I will do a full recap soon! After everyone left, we cleaned up and watched Aubrey play with all of her fun new stuff. I met Rebekkah to go walking/running tonight, and thankfully the only people we ran into this time were teenagers.

I can't believe my baby turns TWO tomorrow! She is one of the biggest blessings in my life, and I am forever grateful that God chose David and me to be her parents! :)