A Day of First's

Another thing I've been talking about a lot is getting Aubri's hair cut...well, trimmed.  Her hair is getting longer every day and it's beautiful and curly and I love it, but it's just in her face ALL the time.  The hair in front is especially thin and whispy.  She's constantly pushing it out of her eyes and to the side.  I try to put hair clips in, but they last like 3 minutes, if that.  It's tough because I don't wanna cut a lot off and loose what's taken so long to get, but I'm tired of the mess of her hair.  It looks out of control most of the time.

We went to the mall with Grandma & Papa today bound and determined to get it cut.  I wanted mine cut too, but that didn't happen tonight.  I knew I wanted to get Aubri's done for sure because I keep puttin it off. I went to Aveda first hoping to get in there, but of course, no luck.  Then I tried Regis, but there was a wait there too.  My last option was

so we went here!

 This "before" picture doesn't show how bad it really is most of the time.

 She did a fabulous job!

 She was having a good time.

 Looking down at her toes while she cuts the back.

 Trimming her bangs.

 All done!  At least now, she doesn't have to constantly being shoving hair out of her face.

She got to ride some rides afterwards!

Star Patient

Today was Aubri's 1st Dentist Appointment!!  I was a little behind accomplishing this important appointment, but we got it done.  I have been talking to her for a few weeks about her going and she's been excited.  She went to my last dentist appointment with me a few months ago and watched while they cleaned my teeth.  I kept referring to that event for her to relate to.

She loves brushing her teeth and usually never puts up a fight.  Often times she likes to brush more than I would suggest.

I chose Jordan Creek Pediatric Dentistry because it is advertised as being kid-friendly for infants and young children.  In addition their professional staff provides gentle dentistry in a fun, clean atmosphere to make your child's dentist experience as comfortable as possible.

They offer a video game room, movies on big screen monitors, and a toddler play area. The best part is that parents are welcome chair-side.  I loved what I saw on their website and booked her the appointment!

 Excited and ready to roll!

 She plays in the toddler toy area while she waits for them to call her name.

 She happily climbed right up into the chair, very interested in what was about to happen!

They're visiting about the brush she's going to use to clean her little teeth. 

 She got to feel it on her finger before starting on her teeth.  Aubri was cool with it!

She did keep asking the dental hygientist if she was gonna "shot" her.  She assured her, "NO"!

 Clean, clean, clean!

She was an awesome patient.

 Rinse, rinse, rinse

 She enjoyed every bit of this visit.

 Floss, floss, floss

 She got to choose unlimited stickers for doing so well!

 Dr. Burns was next in to look at her pretty teeth.  He sang her a song as he counted and looked at them.  He said she had Cinderella teeth and gave her a score of 10/10!!

No cavities, no concerns, perfect spacing, healthy mouth!

It was a great visit!  I was very impressed and pleased with the service and staff.

It was stupendous morning (as Aubri would say)!

Heart Day!

Valentine's Day is a day I have always enjoyed since middle/high school.  My mom used to always send me flowers and/or balloons at school and occasionally I would get something from others as well.

Since dating Trace and to date, I still get treated very well on this day of love! 

This particular year I was especially excited about it because my lovely husband planned an entire evening for just the two of us.  I love surprises so he said he would plan everything without me knowing details.  Perfect!  I love the element of the unknown and surprise!!

I rushed home from work Tuesday afternoon to change into something a little, but not too, dressy.

I knew we were going out for dinner first and I actually did know where because just days before, he asked me a question regarding the menu and it was a dead give away of where we were going.  When he made the comment, I gasped and dropped my mouth...he then did the same thing knowing at that very moment that he had just told me the restaurant he was taking me to!  I didn't care because it's a fav of mine even though we don't make frequent trips there.  If you saw the prices, you'd understand...but it's worth every cent!

 YUMMY!!  You won't get anything that isn't delicious.

 Trace - Tuna Appetizer & Steak

Me - Salad and Macaroni & Cheese (silly you're thinking, right, but it was the best ever) and a perfect meal for me!

Both - Bread and Cream Corn

 As ya'll know...my hubby likes his women tall!

 I was amazed that I'd never seen these 2 large statues prior to this evening.  There is so much in Des Moines that I've never seen or experienced.  I need to change that.

On our way home we called to talk to our little peanut pie before she went to bed.

Grandma & Grandpa were delighted to keep her an extra night so that we could have this night together!

 When we got home, Trace gave me the movie he picked out & bought for us to watch together.  Good choice...a romantic movie I had never seen.  While he worked on dessert, I got the movie ready.

 Dessert is served!  I had no idea what he was preparing, but let me just tell ya, he couldn't have chosen anything better.  These were delectable little tart type cups baked and filled with a little bit of melted dark chocolate with a raspberry and a dab of whipped cream.  Mmm...WOW!  So yummy yet light.  Perfection!  He served these with homemade cappucinno.

 What a guy!  Huh? 

While we finished our drinks and started the movie playing, we opened our cards/gifts from one another!

Like a dork, I forgot to keep the flash off so these pictures don't show the true beauty of what the room looked like, but it's the thought that counts.  Just imagine it dark with candle light.

 Real rose pedals scattered all over the bedroom.

 It was very romantic!

God blessed me with an absolute wonderful man whom I love very much.  I am so lucky he loves me so much too!  We had an incredible evening together and it was the perfect Valentine celebration.

I Love You, Trace!

More every day.

Fondue

Fondue is something we really love doing with friends.  It had been awhile since our last fondue get together so we decided to make it happen again.  Matt & Katie and their little boy, Jackson, joined us at our house for a night of self cooking a variety of food.  The items on the menu this night were: steak, shrimp, mushrooms, and cheese cubes as well as sides of vegetables, bread sticks, and 2 new foods for the nights: pickles & bacon.  The bacon won hands down for the evening!

 The spread!

 Jackson

 Aubri fully participates in this supper event!

 And she's usually willing to try anything.

 The thing that made tonight's fondue time special is that Aubri got to cook all by herself, meaning, we let her put food on her stick and put it in the pot to cook it.  She thought it was pretty cool being able to cook all by herself.  She did a great job!

Daddy's Day!

Since Trace & I were both off on Monday, February 6th, the day before his birthday, I told him that would be "his" special day!  Whatever he wanted to do is what we would do.  I told him I wanted to take him out for coffee and dessert as well as get him a gift he got to pick out himself!

 We started out around 10:30 a.m. at Sports Authority where he got a bunch of work-out clothes with his birthday gift card!  The shopping was all for him, not for me although it was tempting to look at things for myself.  I did sneak off just one time while he was in the dressing room to check out their boot selection.  Other than that, I was very patient with him as he shopped for his clothes and took care of Aubri so he could focus on getting what we were there to get.

 I told him for his gift I would leave my camera at home for the day!  He was a trooper and insisted I bring it along so I could document "his" day!  This is a picture in the parking lot before heading into the next store.

 Some happy people here!

 Stop #2

Destination where he was picking out his gift from me!  Coming up in the next few photos.

 Stop #3 for lunch...I can't see, Aubri.

 Originally this is where we were going to do dessert & coffee, but he decided that we would have lunch here instead, which was perfectly perfect because afterall, this was "his" day and he called the shots!

 I just can't kiss her enough!

 The gift...a new black hat for work to keep my man's cute bald head warm!

 Aubri shows off her new shades we bought in the mall (only because I had a return to make quickly) while we wait for Daddy to bring the car around to pick us up.

Stop #4

After the mall we went home for a quick afternoon nap, which I don't have a picture of.

 Stop #5 - Supper here!

 Aubri waits as Grandma & Grandpa Kendig pull in!

 FREE Dessert...gotta love birthday's at restaurants!

 Stop #6 - After supper, Aubri went home with G & G for the night and Trace & I hit Starbucks for a Peppermint Mocha.

 Stop #7 - Final stop of the day...Dance Across for our final private Ballroom dance lesson.  In the five weeks we attended, we learned Swing, Fot Trot, and Rumba.  This was a lot of fun and a lot harder than you'd think.  People make it look so smooth and easy, but it definately takes work and practice.  So glad we experimented this, it's something we have talked about for years and finally Trace pulled the trigger and gave the go ahead to sign up.  It was one of my Christmas gifts!

Our dance instructors, Suzi & Jim

We had a wonderful day celebrating Daddy's Birthday as a family.