Ear Piercing Update...

Here are some pictures from when Aurelia got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago...
Here we are at Dacia's On Main in Harmony, the Saturday of Easter weekend, getting ready for THE piercing...
Marking the spot...
Ari doesn't like the marking...oh, Baby you just wait! Mommy doesn't know whether to laugh or cry!! Even the paci is upside down! Haha!
Taking a breather between ears...
2nd ear...OUCH!!! Poor little peanut!
Sorely, showing it off...
It's all over!

I think Grandma Bena cried more than Aurelia!!! But we all made it through! Thanks Dacia!

April...so far...

This month has been a bit more relaxed. We have had some fun "play-dates" with some of our friends. We had a great day at the Lund house with Ella and Rylee and their mommy Natalie. Here are Rylee and Aurelia, getting to know eachother...

We had a fun shopping trip with Julie and Danica to MOA. Here's a picture of Aurelia waiting patiently to go shopping.
Aurelia had her first Easter this month and she had a chance to finally wear her ittle outfit that Grandma Bena had bought for her, even before we knew she was a girl! We got to have a really nice dinner at Yaya and Papa's on Saturday night with Auntie Chelsea and Trevor. Then on Sunday, we celebrated Easter by going to church in Harmony and having a great lunch at G-Uncle Chris's new house. Chase was so sweet with Ari, she even got an adorable little lamb that moves and makes noise from him! Here's Aurelia, waiting to go celebrate with the Cremer's...
This Easter weekend also marked the Saturday that Aurelia got her ears pierced! We had it done at Dacia's On Main in Harmony. Ari cried, but I don't think she cried as much as Grandma Bena! Mommy told Aurelia that it was a tradition in our culture and that Mommy had her ears pierced at 5 days old by G-Grandma Julia with a needle and thread!!! Here is a picture of her new ears...
This month Ari finally got to meet her G-Grandma Wand! G-Grandma and G-Grandpa Wand were away for the winter when Ari was born and returned to Minnesota when we were on our vacation down South. Then G-Grandma Wand got a nasty virus and was unable to meet Aurelia at Auntie Chelsea's games. So here is a picture of Ari, waiting to go meet her G-Grandma Wand. We ended up having a nice lunch and a great visit with G-Grandma Wand and Deb. Aurelia even took a little nap with G-Grandpa in the rocking chair, while we chatted!
Last weekend we had a nice Saturday with the Wands, celebrating G-Grandpa Wand's birthday. It was so much fun to see all of them and for Ari to finally get to meet everyone!<





Following the celebration with the Wands we had a nice dinner with Grandma Bena, Steve, Tia Bria and Charlie at Bucca's. It was a fun Saturday with the family!
Some new things this month for Aurelia, is that she is now really following us with her eyes and loves to watch Frida! She also is now ticklish under her neck and gives us a little giggle when we do raspberries on her. We've noticed that she really LOVES her sleep too! Here are a couple of pictures of her, not wanting to wake up...



Even though she doesn't like to wake up, if she wakes up on her own (no matter what time of the day/night it is!) she is such a happy baby. Here she is giving us some of her morning smiles! Don't mind the bedhead!



One of her favorite things to do when she's awake (and when she's falling asleep!) is veg in her swing as she watches her Baby Einstein videos. Here she is just chill'n in her swing...

And at 11 weeks, Mommy went back to work. It was a hard adjustment but we are all doing just fine now. Glad we are in a bit of a routine and look forward to my days off!!! We spend most of our free time just staring at our little miracle and not believing that she's really ours! These past few months have been so amazing, busy and hectic at times, but we are loving every minute of it!

March...

March started off in paradise in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico and then a week in Houston with family. We were sad to come home to a very cold Minnesota with lots of snow!
Here is Aurelia watching Mommy unpack, she just couldn't take it!
We started getting into a routine once we got back with actual feeding times and naps. Aurelia is a very quick learner and really took to her schedule. She's also had some alone time in her bouncer, watching while Mommy does laundry or dishes or other household stuff that needs to be caught up!
Here is Ari, working with her Daddy.

Zonked out after a bath...
This month we were able to make a trip down to Iowa so that Aurelia could meet her Great Grandma Ruth. We were greeted by Marcy and Roy and Elnor, as well as a surprised Great Aunt Kathy! It was so nice to see everyone and have a nice visit over brownies and ice cream.
Also this month we were able to watch Auntie Chelsea kick some booty in basketball for National Champs in Rochester! Ari was sporting her Jordan outfit that Auntie Chels gave her.
Aurelia has gotten to be so much fun this month with smiling and cooing back at us! Here are a couple of her pictures smiling away as we chatted on the couch one afternoon.

Our Trip Down South...

We left for Houston on the 24th, the day after Aurelia turned 1 month old. We were traveling with Frida too! Aurelia did so amazing on the plane ride (and yes, so did Frida!). Abuelo was there to greet us in Houston. Grandma Texas and Tio Cheech were excited to finally meet their Baby Vail. We got to spend a couple of days in Houston with them and also made sure that Frida was going to get along with their puppies, Radar and Baby Girl (they did!).
We then boarded a plane on the 26th to Cancun, Mexico. We were going to be meeting Grandma Bena, Steve, Tia Bria, Charlie, and Uncle JonJon when we got there. And Tio Ramon and Auntie D were going to be joining us later that evening. Again, Ari Vail did great on the plane ride!
We had our own room (not sure why no one wanted to share a room with a newborn!) with a terrific view of the poolside and ocean. The weather, food, and company was perfect! We would wake up in the morning and order room service for breakfast. Take Aurelia's crib out on the terrace and she would nap while we ate our breakfast. Then about lunch time we'd wonder down to the poolside and chill under the umbrellas and eat the great buffet. At dinner we'd all get dressed up and have a nice dinner either on the resort or we'd wonder off the resort to try a new place. It was absolutely relaxing and perfect! We did venture off and ride the ferry to Cozumel one day. There we rented jeeps and rode around the island and do some sight seeing. Daddy and the other guys rented jetskiis and had a blast on the ocean. We had an absolute blast...THANKS Mom and Steve!!!

Then after about a week of being in paradise we flew back to Houston and were able to continue our layed back vacation in Houston with Abuelo and Grandma Texas. We went to a real Houston Rodeo and watched them ride the bulls. On Saturday, Abuelo and Grandma Texas had all their friends come over and meet their Baby Vail. G-Grandma Stephanie, Tia Esther, and Tio Ruben drove up from the Valley to celebrate as well! Aurelia got to meet Grandma Bena's sisters; Tia Fina and Tia Tina, along with Tio Hermino and Amanda. It was so nice to see everyone!
I do know that we were all sad to head back to cold Minnesota! Especially Frida, her little party was over. She had so much fun playing with the other two pups and being spoiled while we were in Mexico. THANKS again Dad and Mary for taking such good care of our Frida!


****Will be posting pictures of our trip soon!!!

February...

February was a busy one for us! Aurelia was baptized at 2 weeks old. That weekend we spent with so much family. Tio Ramon and Auntie D flew up from Texas to meet Ari. Grandma Bena, Steve, Tia Bria, Charlie and Uncle JonJon were there on Saturday night for some family time.
Ari enjoying her Auntie D...Aurelia, enjoying her time with her Tia Bria and Charlie...
Yaya, Papa, Auntie Chels, and Trevor were there early Sunday morning to help us get to the church. Then Aurelia was fortunate to meet her Great Grandpa and GG, along with G-Aunt Janet, Troy, and Chase and G-Uncle Chris on the Cremer side and Nick and Kim, Tony and Deb, and Julie on the Wand side on Sunday for the baptism.
Not too sure of this gown...
Here are the Godparents; Tio Ramon and Auntie Chelsea...Here is GG and Chase with Aurelia...
We spent Aurelia's first Valentine's Day in Harmony, since we had her "Meet-the-Baby" Shower, hosted by Grandma Bena's friends; Shelle, Leanne, and Dacia. It was so much fun to see everyone and have them meet our little Ari Vail.


Here's Daddy and Ari, napping after a long day

We also had a visit from our friends, Amanda and Gavin from Fargo. It was so great to see them and for Aurelia to meet one of Mommy's good friends!
The rest of February was spent getting ready for our vacation down South. We started Aurelia on a bottle, so that Mommy wouldn't be the only one that got to feed her while we were on our vacation. Here is Aurelia's first bottle!
Here's a picture of Aurelia watching Mommy pack for our trip!

That 1st Week...

Aurelia's first week was already a busy one! By her 3rd day she had already had her pictures taken for her passport and a Dr's visit. Ari had dropped a couple of ounces when we left the hospital but was almost back to her birth weight by the 4th day.
When we got home from the hospital we were happy to see that Grandma Bena had been taking care of Frida and made several meals for us! We were welcomed with a nice warm roastbeef dinner with all the fixings! It was so awesome to know that she was taking care of everything on the home-front for us. Frida was very excited to see us and a little curious about Aurelia. Later that day, Yaya and Papa, Auntie Chels and Trevor came over to meet the new addition.
Through that first week, Grandma Bena, Yaya, and Abuelo took turns staying with us and helping Mommy get back on her feet. It was sooooo nice to have the extra hands to help!
Here's Aurelia taking a nap in her co-sleeper.

Frida was very curious (and still is) and soon became sort of protective over the new little addition to her home!

The Beginning...

Mommy is back to work and is going to try and update this blog on her breaks again and get us all caught up on what's been happening in the Wand house!
I guess I should start at the beginning with the labor part! All week long Mommy had been having irregular contractions but it was nothing to measure and were not consistant enough to worry about.
On Thursday, Mommy's birthday, we had visitors; Jaime and Aston, were over and we had a nice lunch with them. Then before dinner, Mommy decided that we should swing by the hospital to get checked out. She was sure that it was nothing and that we could even still plan on making our dinner reservations at Chino afterwards...wrong!
Sure enough, Mommy was 3cm dilated and was beginning to have regular contractions. We didn't call or tell anyone until they admitted us to the maternity unit. The first several hours of labor were spent walking around the unit and just breathing. Daddy and Grandma Bena were there to keep Mommy company and help through some of the tougher contractions. Then we tried to get some sleep and Mommy was in such pain, with little progression, that after 12 hours of labor, around 5 in the morning, she asked for the magic Epidural!! Then it was smooth sailing after that!! We had an awesome nurse that started at 7am and she really gave us the confidence and motivation to get things moving. The Dr. came in at around 9:30 to see our progress and was sure that Mommy was going to need a c-section since he thought Baby was too big. He even had her prepped just in case. But with much determination and great coaching, the nurse thought we could have Baby by noon! So that gave us a goal! She soon had to call the Dr. and tell him to come catch Baby...he didn't really think it was time, but he came anyway and was VERY surprised! And sure enough, after about an hour and a half of pushing, on Friday, January 23rd, at 11:56am Aurelia Vail Wand was born with a head full of hair, strong lungs, and very curious and alert eyes! Our little miracle...Zac and I just sat and stared at her for the longest time, loving her every little feature!
Grandma Bena, Steve, Tia Bria, and Uncle Jonjon were the first to help Mommy and Daddy welcome Aurelia Vail.