Thursday, January 17, 2013

TBT: Picture Dump!

Because I've only recently started blogging, I realize there may be some pictures that some of you may have missed out on that you may enjoy seeing.  Maybe not...but I thought it'd be fun anyways:) I'm going to have a Throw Back Thursday blog with a few pictures from the past...


This week's theme you can guess...Preparing for Baby!!!

8 Weeks


Telling sweet friends!


Finding out she was a GIRL!!!

How we told our families

Registering...Josh enjoyed scanning things.

20, 24, 28, and 36 weeks

Being a good Daddy and assembling things


Nursery Pics




Shower at church
Kayla had a little boy about a month before Aubrey was born




Family and friends shower (we didn't take too many pictures)


Ready for her to come!!!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Christmas 2012: Our 1st Family of 3 Christmas!

This is a little late, but we've been a little busy!! Our first Christmas as a family of three turned out really well.  We spent a lot of time with extended family and even had a little time on our own.  I want Christmas to be a time of year that Aubrey knows is about Jesus' birth and how he came to earth to save us and die for our sins.  I want it to be a time of year that we have traditions with family member, as well as within our own little family. 

One thing we do every year is to send out Christmas cards.  This year was fun because we got to send one with pictures of Aubrey and the three of us! 




We also decided to take Aubrey to see Santa.  We don't really have a mall around, so we went to the next best place...Bass Pro.  I honestly wasn't too thrilled about my baby's first picture with Santa being made at a place targeted toward outdoor activities that I don't like...but ended up being surprisingly impressed.  They had a little workshop set up with a pretty ligit looking Santa!  She did really well...no tears!  He told us that normally comes next year. But we got a nice free picture!



The Saturday before Christmas Josh's mom, her husband Tony, his sister Meghan, and her boyfriend all came over to our house to celebrate.  It was fun to have everyone over and to celebrate all together with them. We opened presents and had dinner.  

She got a fun little barn!

And thoroughly enjoyed snacking on the paper.

Aubrey with Aunt Meghan and Grandma.

Sunday we got to celebrate as our family of 3!  We went to church that morning.  I'd made candy cane cookies for Aubrey to give the ladies who keep her in the nursery.  That was fun because I'd never been on the giving end of giving a gift to my child's teacher!  That afternoon Aubrey took a nice nap and Santa came while she was sleeping!  We decided it would be a good time to exchange gifts between the three of us.  It was nice because it was quiet and simple.  I would love to keep it that way in years to come! That night we went to church for the candle light service.  I've been to very few of these so I was really glad to be able to go.  Aubrey sat nicely in the floor and played.  It was a great service and we read and sang through the Christmas story.


Checking out what Santa brought!

Snacking on a book...

...or 2.  Oh wait...is that a Sophie the Giraffe teether for her to chew on and she's still going for the book...

There she goes:)

Hanging out while Daddy gets ready for the candle light service

The next morning we woke up early and drove to Atlanta to celebrate with my side of the family.  It's something we've done every year since I was 3 years old.  We made it just in time for lunch at my Mimi and D-Daddy's house.  We ate and then opened presents.  I brought Aubrey's pack n' play, which turned out to be a wonderful idea!  She was able to take a nap and was in a much better mood that night at Granny's house.  We ate dinner and opened more presents.
Every year at my Granny's house the 6 granddaughters all squeeze on to this love seat to open presents and take pictures.

This year we added all 4 great-grandbabies!


Now, when I was little (aka before I was married) we would drive back home, put out cookies for Santa, and Caitlin, Madeline, and I would all sleep in one room together.  This year it was a little different!  We also used to get up about 6am...we were able to push it to 7am... Thankfully Aubrey stayed asleep for a little longer so she wasn't super fussy all day.  We got to see what Santa brought, and then opened presents from each other.  Aubrey woke up just in time to nibble on a few bows and a little wrapping paper!

She got some baby Uggs!  They are adorable!!! But the fuzz isn't so tasty...

Her favorite present...my old cell phone cover is now officially hers.

Rolling around in the presents!

Aunt Madeline wants Aubrey to follow in her footsteps some day...she forgot that her mom and dad are Auburn grads;)

Silly face playing with all of her new toys...and a laundry cup...silly kid!

And now the end of the longest blog post ever!!  At least there were plenty of pictures to keep your attention.  We had a wonderful Christmas and were so blessed!! Here are a few more random pictures to finish off the post:

We went to Matt and Rebecca's house to celebrate and look at Christmas lights!

Aubrey got a chair to match her room with her name on it from her Papa in Colorado.

She's modeling it with her 7 month onesie.



A late Merry Christmas from our little elf!

And last but not least...a fun video of her "dancing" at GG's and Big D's house...








Sunday, January 6, 2013

All About Aubrey: 7 Months Old

I realize we are a few days late again...but here's her 7 month blog!  I can't believe how much she's grown and changed and how fast time flies!  I will also have a Christmas blog someday...but one thing at a time:

Firsts: “eating” crackers and Puffs, graduation (Aunt Caitlin’s), sitting up by yourself, eating your toes!, eating avocado and prunes, goose egg :(, Christmas and New Years, saw Santa, and 1st tooth.

News Headlines:  Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: Mommy-reaching out for her told hold you
Daddy-your cute little tooth that popped through

Milestones: You are sitting up all by yourself completely unsupported! Every once in a while you still fall over, not because you loose your balance, but because you haven’t figured out how to ease back down to the ground yet. You are also getting more and more mobile by the day.  Still no crawling though.  You are able to hold a cup all by yourself and occasionally tip it back to drink out of it.  You have recently started picking up tiny puffs with your whole hand and occasionally get one in your mouth. You grab toys all the time and can easily pass them from one hand to another. You’ve started really reaching and holding out your arms to people when you want them to hold you.  You will also reach out for a toy you want and get mad when we take something away. You will open and close your hands and reach and whine or grunt until you get what you are reaching for.

Measurements: On our home scale you weigh about 15 lbs. 7 oz. and since you can put weight on your legs now, we put you up against the wall and drew a line.  You were right at 26 inches.  We are going with something went wrong at your 4 month appointment and you didn’t actually shrink last month! You are in all 3-6 month clothes except you’ve moved up to 9 month footie jammies. You are in size 2 diapers except at night we started having you wear size 3.

Like Mommy: You get crabby when you are tired and/or hungry. You love being in the ATL!

Like Daddy: You don’t really love eating breakfast, and do better a little later in the day.

Funniest Moment: While we were staying with GG and Big D over Christmas you started making silly faces and squealing every time you saw GG.  Also, Mommy got the hiccups and you giggled every time.  You laughed so hard that you got the hiccups, too.



Memorable moment: Mommy got sick and couldn’t see you all day.  You did really well until the end of the day when you had just had it! Mommy came home from the doctor and you’d been crying and wouldn’t eat.  As soon as she held you, you stopped crying immediately.

Challenges: 1. Your nighttime sleep…what’s new. 2. You’ve been throwing up after you eat solids sometimes.  It used to be only after you ate something you didn’t like, such as green beans or peas.  Recently it’s been after other things that you normally like.  It’s really strange because you’ll eat everything and then all of a sudden start gagging and then barf it all up! Then you’re fine. Any suggestions on this or how to get her to stop waking up every night are welcome!! 3. An isolated event of Mommy getting sick. Thankfully we were with GG and she did such a wonderful job taking care of you. She fed you solids and put you down for naps. Mommy was so nervous about getting dehydrated and not being able to feed you, and you refused to take a bottle. Thankfully everything turned out fine :D

How we spend the day: You wake up around 8:30 and you nurse. You go down for a nap about an hour and a half later.  After you wake up you eat oatmeal and a fruit for “brunch”.  You do better eating solids a little later in the day. You take about two 45 minute-1 hour naps and one 30 minute nap later in the day. (This changes basically every day.) You eat dinner around 6:30 and we start our bedtime routine around 7:30 and are in bed by 8:00.  This is the ideal schedule…we may or may not stick to it! You wake up about 12 and 4…we are trying to work on this.

Feedings/Eating: You are nursing pretty regularly about every 3-4 hours during the day…and night.  We are giving you solids about twice a day.  I’d do it 3 times a day, but for some reason your little tummy doesn’t always cooperate.  In the morning you get oatmeal and a fruit.  At night you get rice cereal and a veggie.  I try to throw in something green, but it keeps making you throw everything up!  So…this category is a work in progress. This month I tried mixing your cereals with formula to keep from having to pump, but I’m not totally sure its worth the money because we wont finish it before it goes bad.  Also, I don’t know if this is what is making you throw up your food.  So back to pumping we will go!

Sleeping: Your nap times are going well.  You haven’t been crying very long if at all when we put you down.  Sometimes you just talk and sing until you fall asleep.  You’ve also been napping a little longer these days!  You always sleep on your tummy, and you roll over the second we put you in your crib. At nighttime you are consistently waking up about 12 and 4.  The 12:00 wake up is getting a little exhausting for us because we will have just gone to sleep.  I’m not sure you are still supposed to be waking up this frequently, so we may do something to fix this.  Again, I’m open to suggestions!!

Personality: You still have a strong personality.  You really let us know what you want and will work until you get it.  Apparently in the nursery at church you wanted some keys from another baby so you took them… Thankfully he was nice and gave them to you.  I’m sad I missed this because it sounds like your funny little personality showing through, but I know we will have to work with you on being nice and sharing as you get older! You love to play and to laugh.  You are super friendly and love being around people.

Likes: mommy and daddy, sitting up in the bathtub and playing with toys, sitting up by yourself, drinking from a Sippy cup, prunes, eating wrapping paper and bows, all non-baby electronics, wearing things on your head
Dislikes: getting out of the bathtub, drinking from a bottle, avocados, riding in the car for a long time, sleeping through the night, wearing things on your feet

Mobility: You roll, scoot, and reach to get where you want.  You can stand while holding on to someone’s fingers and can go from sitting to standing while doing this.

Favorite toy: You still love Mommy’s cell phone case, which is now yours because she got a new one.  You really like the shape blocks and remote you got for Christmas.  You also love board books and chewing on them. You are completely content playing with a wooden spoon in your high chair and helping Mommy cook dinner.

New Explorations: You seem to really enjoy just sitting and playing with your toys.  Mommy will sit behind you or put the boppie pillow behind you and you will play with blocks or other toys for a while by yourself.  You will just sit and tap and chew on them and talk to them.  It's pretty cute to watch.

Sounds and words: You say da da, na na, huh, aaa.  Nothing really new, except you are now “talking” more often and putting the sounds together instead of just one at a time.  You also still love blowing raspberries at people.

Sitting up like a big girl!

Enjoying a little Christmas bow. NOM NOM! (Thanks Big D for the picture!)

Yummy toes!

Our little Christmas elf!

Playing with her toys.

Thanks GG for taking care of me while Mommy was sick!!



Helping Mommy shop for groceries with her baby Uggs! Her first time in the actual cart...such a big girl.

Happy 7 Months Aubrey!!!

(more Christmas pictures to come in a future blog...)