Anniversary, Thanksgiving, and Family!

In order to make sure to keep my blog up to date, I'm going to combine a lot of different topics in one entry.  Let's face it, I have a baby...I do what I can! Sooo...here it goes:

Josh and I celebrated our 5th anniversary on November 17!  I can't believe how fast time flies.  It seems like just yesterday we were meeting for the first time.  I'll never forget the day we met...I walked into his dorm room where he'd been "reading history" (aka taking a nap) wearing a cut-off shirt!  We watched a movie (shhh it was Old School HA!) and he got me a coke, and we shared a bowl of goldfish.  That night he got my AIM screen name and IMed me...the rest is history.  Fast forward a few years, we took a walk on campus and went to all of our favorite places...I closed my eyes, he got down on one knee, and we were engaged on May 6, 2007.  Now, a house and two apartments, two different cities, 3 years of seminary, 4 years of teaching, and a beautiful baby girl later...we've celebrated our 5th anniversary!!  So, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my best friend, wonderful husband, and fabulous daddy!

November 17, 2007 :)

5 years later...!! Thanks GG and Big D for watching Aubrey so we could go out and celebrate!

Now onto Thanksgiving...  We started the week by spending a little time with Madeline and Caitlin and Matt and Rebecca and hanging out in Auburn for a few days.  On Wednesday we went to Josh's mom's house and ate a delicious Thanksgiving meal including a juicy turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.  We stayed there that night and left the next morning to drive to Marietta for a full day of festivities.  We ate another fabulous meal-lunch with my mom's side of the family at Mimi and D-Daddy's house.  We found out my cousin and his wife are having a baby!  It was very exciting and reminded me of last year because it was when we told our extended family about Aubrey.  She's due right around the same time.  We went through our usual sales paper in preparation for the traditional day after Thanksgiving shopping, ate pecan pie, and then headed across town to my Granny's house to celebrate with my dad's side of the family. At both places Aubrey met many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins that she'd never met.  At my Granny's house she got to meet her 3rd cousins, my cousin's little girl and boy!  It is so different now that we are all starting to have babies of our own and so much fun!  One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving was when we first got to my Granny's house. Poor Aubrey had seen so many new people, had been passed all around, and had missed a lot of nap time. My Granny wanted to hold her as soon as we walked in the door. Well, it was loud and she'd had it for the day.  She started to cry, but then...wait for it...she looked at me and reached out her arms for me.  My heart melted just a little bit, but poor Granny!  The rest of the evening went well...a little more chaotic and different from years past, but it was so great to be with family and get to see everyone:) 

The morning after Thanksgiving normally goes like this: we wake up and leave the house around 5:30, meet my grandmother and cousins at North Point mall, eat a chicken biscuit from Chick fil a, shop until lunch, eat a Chili's, break off on our own and go to other places away from the mall.  This year however, was a little different.  I had already decided to wait until Aubrey woke up because there's no need to have a cranky baby on our hands because she's tired.  Well that day, she must have been tired from the day before because she slept super late!  I got to hang out with my dad for a while while she slept.  It was good quality father/daughter bonding time over electronic talk!! By the time she woke up we made if for lunch. After lunch everyone was tired from meeting early that morning so they went home for the day.  I went to Borders with my mom to get a few things for Aubrey's stocking and then went home so Aubrey could have a little afternoon nap (poor kid was exhausted from all that socialization!).  Needless to say, I have a buttload of online shopping to do!  ...or perhaps some IOU's for Christmas! HA!  That night we watched our annual day after Thanksgiving movie...ELF!  And since we couldn't go to an actual movie this year we picked up some movie popcorn and brought it home...fabulous idea!!  The rest of the weekend we saw a few of Josh's family friends, visited the church where we were married, went on our date, and had some family/Christmas/Aubrey's 6 months pictures taken.

We enjoyed all of the time we got to spend with all of our family members and were thankful for the time Josh was able to take off work.  I have been told this many times before having Aubrey, but it was funny to hear Josh make the comment.  As we were driving back he told me how he felt more tired from his vacation haha...welcome to parenthood?!?  We hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!!!

Ready for Thanksgiving in her new furry boots!

Grandma and Tony

Mimi and D-Daddy: Aubrey's great-grand parents

3rd Cousins:)

Ready for Christmas pictures!!

"Because the day I became yours, you became mine..."

"When a child is born, so is a mom"

I have never been a crier, and I'm still really not...but this commercial made me tear up just a bit! It honestly gets me every time, and I may have tears in my eyes as I'm writing this blog... Probably something to do with the fact that I had a baby about 5 months, and she's already growing up TOO FAST!  It seems like just yesterday that I was getting to see her on the ultrasound and hear her heartbeat for the first time...then getting to hold her and see her big eyes looking up at me...having her home that first night truly was "a doozy"...and now she's already changed and grown so much in such a short time.  Words can not even begin to describe how much of a blessing she is in our lives and how much we love her.  Every time I see those same sweet, big eyes looking into mine, hear her precious giggle, feel her hold on to me, when her cries stop because I hold her...I fall more and more in love, and I am reminded over and over of what a blessing from God that she truly is. 

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change"

James 1:17

All About Aubrey: 5 Months Old!

For those who would like an update on our quickly growing (no longer a newborn) baby, here ya go:

Firsts: This month Aubrey went to Florida for the first time and got to see and touch the sand and ocean! She ate cereal and baby food for the first time, drank from a sippy cup, sat in a high chair, and slept in her own room all by herself.  We also went to the pumpkin patch as a family and celebrated her first Halloween where she wore her first costume. We walked in a 5K for breast cancer. There was also the first time change (probably my least favorite 1st).

Mommy’s Favorite: snuggle time at the end of the day after bath time.  Also, its been fun feeding her new things.

Daddy’s Favorites: Aubrey going to sleep on her own, yay! He also likes to be the one to be there when she first wakes up and to get her out of her crib.

Milestones: Aubrey is able to put herself to sleep now! She has excellent head control, constantly grabs things and bring them to her mouth, rolls from back to belly a lot and occasionally from belly to back, and can sit and stand with help.

Measurements:  Weight and length are probably a little off because we didn't have a doctor's appointment this month. She's about 13lbs. 6oz. and probably 26ish inches. We finally finished up the last pack of size 1 diapers just in time.  They were getting a little snug, and there were a few leakage problems.  She wears all 3-6/6 month footie pajamas now.  She's wearing some 0-3 months and some 3-6 months in everything else.   She's at an awkward size right now. The smaller size seems a little tight but the bigger size seems a little big.  In pants she mostly wears the 0-3 months still.  It just depends on the outfit and where its from!

Like Mommy: wakes up grumpy after a nap, but feels much better after a snack.

Like Daddy: likes to be outside.

Funniest/most awkward moment: We went to a funeral after church one Sunday.  We sat in the back in case she started to fuss, but for the most part she was sitting quietly, chomping away on her Elmo.  I thought she felt a little wet when I picked her up and put her on my lap, but didn't see anything so I figured she'd just gotten hot in the car.  All of a sudden I felt something warm fill my lap!  Her diaper had leaked ALL OVER my lap.  Needless to say we had to leave... Josh asked me after the funeral if he diaper had exploded. (He was up front because he was doing part of the funeral.)  He said he could tell by the way I carried her out about a foot away from me!

Challenges: Napping has gotten better but is still a little challenging and inconsistent.  Because we’ve started solids the diapers have been, well, a little nastier. She's are constantly wiggling and on the prowl for something to chew on.  It’s hard to eat with her in our laps now because she's are grabbing everything and putting it in her mouth. Eating green beans...we had a gagging episode 2 days in a row.

How we spend the day: We have been working on more of a schedule this past month.  She has been waking up about 7:30 or 8 each morning.  After about two hours she gets a little fussy, and I know its time to put her down for a nap…so I’ll put her down for a nap, YAY!  She will sleep for about 30 minutes still, but more often than she was, will sleep for over an hour. She takes about 2-3 naps during the day. At about 7:45 or 8 we give her a bath, put on her pj’s, Josh reads her a Bible story, I nurse her, and then she goes to sleep.  She was waking up about twice, but very recently its been only once to eat. (This was all pre-time change...UGH!!!)

Feedings/Eating: She is still nursing on demand throughout the day.  She’s nursing about every three hours, but has gotten much more efficient.  Unless she’s tired it only takes about 15-20 minutes and she’s full.  A new thing we’ve started since last month is we’ve started her on solids!  She eats in her high chair with us at the dinner table once a day.  We fed her cereal mixed with pumped milk for about 3 weeks and then started sweet potatoes and green beans.  She liked the cereal and sweet potatoes, and seemed to like the green beans until she gagged.  We will keep trying those and introducing more food.

Sleeping: This has been the biggest change this month!  I went to the beach with some other mommy friends who helped “sleep train” Aubrey.  She had a few rough times, but the longest time she cried was about 30/35 minutes.  Now she rarely cries that long, especially when we put her to bed at night.  It has been great because she has become a much better sleeper.  Instead of putting her down asleep and having her wake up and needing to be bounced for 30 minutes, she can be put down awake.  During the night even if she’s awake, she will just wiggle around a little until she falls asleep.  We are SO thankful for this!  Another big change is that Aubrey has moved into her own room.  It’s been kind of sad, and there have been times when we want to bring her back to our room.  However, we know it is for the best.  She seemed to be getting too big for the bassinet in the pack ‘n play.  The crib is much more comfy, and she seems to sleep better.  A final change is that we have found her on her TUMMY multiple times when she’s woken up. I always put her down on her back, but she seems to enjoy sleeping on her tummy with her bottom in the air.  It is pretty cute.

Personality: Aubrey’s personality becomes more evident by the day.  She knows what she wants and tries her hardest to get it.  She gets frustrated when she can’t do something she wants to do.  She’s getting very busy…we may have a wild child on our hands!

Likes: Mommy and Daddy, her play mat, anything she can put in her mouth, Mommy’s phone, the remote, rice cereal, sweet potatoes, bath time and making big splashes, sleeping on her tummy

Dislikes: loud noises, not being able to put something in her mouth, trying to get somewhere and not being able to, green beans, riding in her stroller in the dark, laying down for naps,

Favorite toy: We got her a new “O-Ball”. Its pretty fun because its easy for her to grab…but then she'll throw it.  Maybe that’s not her favorite...  She actually really seems to enjoy the Elmo that hangs on her car seat more recently.  If she is crying in the car sometimes we will look back and she's holding his hand.  She also like his feet because they crinkle.  And of course he’s great to chew on!

Sounds: still working on the /a/ sound.  I may have hear the /n/ sound one day.

Upcoming Events: Presidential election, Thanksgiving!

And now for the fun part...

Beach trip!

First time trying cereal...she enjoyed the bib the best, I think.

We had some fun family time....with GG

Big D

And Mimi and D-Daddy

Pink for breast cancer walk!

Tummy sleeper...

Nom nom...

A true picture...haha

Aubrey, you have been with us for almost half a year.  I can't even believe it!   We can't wait to see what exciting things this next month will bring.You have changed our lives in so many ways, and we love you so, SO much sweet girl!

Pumpkin Patches and Trunk or Treat

Fall has always been my favorite time of year.  I remember deciding this when I was in high school back when I'd go to the Friday night football games.  I loved when the weather would start to get cool.  The first time you'd get to put on jeans and a long sleeve shirt, bundling up with a hoodie, drinking hot chocolate.  I love the leaves changing colors.  Fall is the season leading up to the holiday season and all of our family traditions.  It is also the time of year when Josh and I got married! It was even about this time last year when we found out we were going to have Aubrey joining us!  

This year was the first fall that we enjoyed as a family of 3.  One of my favorite things to do during the fall is going to a pumpkin patch.  Its not something we did a lot growing up, but for some reason it just feels like something you should do to celebrate the season.  I want to start some of our own traditions as our family grows, and I would love for the pumpkin patch to be one of those annual traditions.  We decided to visit Auburn for a day and went to The Farmer in the Dell pumpkin patch.  We had so much fun picking a pumpkin, taking family pictures, visiting friends, and watching a pumpkin getting launched.  Here's some of our favorites!

Our fall family picture.

Aubrey our "goat baby" with a goat!

She picked a flower and tried to eat it (aka...our goat baby)

Aubrey and our pumpkin we picked.

This fall we also had a "Trunk or Treat" at our church.  Aubrey went as an adorable strawberry!!  We had fun getting her all dressed up.  Even though she doesn't seem to be too happy here she was actually really good about wearing the hat!

Mommy and Daddy with our little strawberry! We love you!!

Halloween was actually on a Wednesday night, so Josh couldn't go.  But me and Aubrey went with our neighbors to downtown Greenville's little festival so that we could dress her up one more time!

In front of the old movie theater downtown.

And...Strawberry is OUT!

Welcome to the blog

Here it is!!  The peer pressured blog that has begun.  Thanks to my Cohort C friends and our recent beach trip, I have really become a part of social networking in the past month.  I am now an active Twitter member and here is my blog.  I'm kind of excited to begin a blog.  I used to have a diary back in my middle school days, and I always enjoy going back to read that years later.  So this will be similar, right?  I also tired to start a blog during my weeks of pregnancy with Aubrey which you may be able to see here! (It may or may not work...) I am not a great writer or speller (so thankful for spell check!) so don't expect greatness!  And please don't comment and "edit" my blog no matter how tempted you will be HA!  But sit back and enjoy my musings about life as a wife, mommy, pastor's wife, and life in a small town.