Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Aubrey's First Birthday!


Today, my precious girl turned a year old!


I wrote about all of the emotions I was feeling and tonight as I reflect on this day, I'm just so overjoyed that this little girl is in my life. I am so inlove with her!




The morning started pretty magical as Aubrey woke up to a beautiful Birthday Land just for her. Her Auntie Sarah spent the night setting up the decorations and baking cupcakes and a cake. What a treat! I was so excited to see it all as I had no idea Sarah was putting it all together.



The day was spent making sure Aubrey had the best day. She had all of her favorites at each of her meals and she was able to watch her favorite shows on DVD while she played the day away.




Her darling little friend, Leah, brought over flowers and a card. It was truly the sweetest thing. Leah practiced saying "Happy Birthday" all day and it was so sweet to hear her say it to Aubrey. I'm so lucky to have such great friends for myself and for my daughter.

Shane had to work overtime - the first time in forever - so he actually missed all of Aubrey's special day. He was pretty disapointed but there was little he could do. We saved the present opening for when he will be home. When he finally arrived, he and I went out for a steak dinner to celebrate our first year as parents. Don't worry, Grandma was home so Aubrey wasn't alone. :)

It was such a sweet and special day. I'm so very excited to see what this next year holds for Aubrey and for our little family!

Here are some photos of the rest of the day.


Birthday Land!







Birhtday Girl shirt, a cupcake bank and even a little gift for Mommy!

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa. They also bought her a new car seat!

She reached for her card right away and opened all on her own.





Aubrey is obsessed with cell phones. She LOVES them. Since Mommy doesn't have one (I know, crazy, right?) Aubrey got her very own phone. She didn't put it down all day!

Opening more gifts.



A breakfast of all of her favorite things: Eggs, Toast, Turkey Bacon, and Blackberries.



Aubrey's Cupcake Scentsy Warmer warming "Happy Birthday"! How appropriate!

Aubrey's phone at lunch - all scratched up from so much use!









Birthday Set-Up in the evening with more gifts from Mommy and Daddy.




Sunday, October 30, 2011

Aubrey's Candy Corn Costume

Yesterday was our church Harvest Party. It's basically an alternative to Halloween for kids. I was going to meet another mommy friend there and we were going to peruse the party with your kiddos. She wasn't able to make it so Aubrey and I went anyways. My mom had made her a candy corn pillowcase dress and I was dying for Aubs to wear it. Here are a few pictures from our day.





Believe it or not, these are the best photos of the day. Aubrey was far too busy people watching to dare look at her mom and her goofy picture snapping ways. I think people thought I was a little nuts at some of the photos I took.




I loved that there was a room set up for woman and little girls to have their nails painted. Gals from the youth group massaged lotion onto your hands and then painted your nails. We were also offered the most delicious punch. Here's my glass complete with a little lemon slice. How nice is that?




My nails. I probably should have asked for a second coat, but having my nails done is a luxury that I was too giddy to care!




One of the activities at the Harvest Party was "Cookie Decorating". We ... well, mainly I, made this for Daddy. He took it to work in his lunch today. I hope he doesn't trade it for something better. :)




Again, this is the best photo I could get from my distracted little girl. There was just too much eye candy!




Cheerios. Mommy's best friend! I even keep a little hippo container, identical to the one above, in the stroller for emergencies. And by emergency, I mean those instances when I need a distraction for Aubrey.



Probably the best shot of her costume. I just adore this little dress! I only wish she had been able to wear it more.



This is Aubrey's Candy Corn Boutique Bow that I made for her the night before the Harvest Party. I absolutely love making these bows! They are just so fun!



And the side view of the bow - for those bow loving gals out there. :)

So that was a glimpse of our Saturday! I hope that this weekend has been great for all of you so far!

Friday, October 07, 2011

Dream Home - More Than Bricks and Mortor

The last time we talked, we were discussing about having a vision for our home. Today we are going to put some feet to that concept and really make it work in our lives. I'm daring you to create the kind of home you've always longed for. We're going beyond the furniture, curtains, paint colors and accessories and daring to dig in to the true heart of the home.


So what does your dream home look like? What happens in that space? What sort of feelings are conjured up? What emotions are expressed? What do you do in your dream home?


I've created a printable of a house and what I'm proposing that we all do is print this baby off, and write those dreams inside the structure of the house. Make this a family kind of event. Maybe gather tonight at dinner and write what each person desires to have happen or to feel in the home. Maybe you'll write things like "Weekly Movie Night" or "Laughter" or "Have Parties". Maybe you need to have some more "Peace" and "Quiet" in your lives and for you, that would be a real dream. Make this a family thing. Is it just you and your man? Cook him his favorite dinner and sit down together and create your dream home. Are you just by yourself? Then girl, don't you count yourself out of this activity. Put onto paper how you want your home to rise up and greet you.

I'll be doing this with my family as well. Aubrey obviously doesn't have a lot of imput at just 9 months old, but she and her life growing up will be big focuses of what we want to accomplish in our home. My man is away for the next few days and truth be told, it's tough to nail his feet to the floor even when he is home. We are in a major season of business in our lives. This activity may just be my own dreams and visions until he can come on board. As the momma and wife, I am the Keeper of our home (Titus 2:5 KJV) so I feel confident in filling this page out myself. Which isn't to say that it will be all things that will benefit me. No way! I'm also hoping that when we celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary (on the 13th), we can have some time together to look to the future and talk about our dream home.


Here are a few things I'm thinking of putting on my paper.

* Christ as the Center of Our Home
* Prayer
* Laughter
* Joy
* Homecooked Meals
* Quiet Evenings
* Weekly Family Night
* Sundays As a Day of Rest
* Learning
* Communication
* Dinners Together
* Time For Traveling
* Smiles
* Neat and Tidy
* Organized - A Place for Everything and Everything In Its Place
* Creativity
* A Soft Place To Land
* Gentleness
* Celebrating Special Days
* Practicing Good Stewardship
* Peace
* Practicing a Health and Balanced Lifestyle


These are a few dreams for my home. Be sure to print your "home" off and plan with your family what your dream home looks like. Tack it to the fridge so that everyone can see and be reminded to put those things into practice.


Our Home Printable

I loved hearing all of your feedback about this series. I'm not promising to write everyday. That had been the plan but I just can't commit. But I've got a bunch of posts so don't you worry. :) You can't get rid of me that easily.

See you next time as we work on Finding Home!


Wednesday, September 07, 2011

An Ordinary Wednesday






It's just an ordinary day around here.




I've started a new devotional by Beth Moore and already am challenged.




We had a good breakfast of scrambled cheese eggs, turkey bacon and a slice of toast.




I'm folding small little shirts, pants, socks and washcloths.

The sun is shining and it becons me to take Aubrey for a long walk.

Soon Aubery will wake from her morning nap and we'll get ready for lunch.

Later on I'll make Shane a big meal to take to work. He's traveling out of town working the late shift all week.

Crazy work schedules are just normal around here.

The night will cap off around 7 when I'll put Aubs in the tub for a long soak and a good play. Then it's her last nurse of the night and then she's off to dreamland.

Whatever your ordinary day holds, may it be great. Happy Wednesday Friends!


To read what else I had to say about an Ordinary Day, follow this link.



Sunday, September 04, 2011





I'm excited to introduce this newest feature on my blog. It's called "The Sunday Seven". I read about this idea on the blog "The Intentional Peace" and really couldn't get it out of my mind. Allison describes it best so I'll share a few of her words but please check out her post for a complete description of what "The Sunday Seven" is all about. Way to go Allison! What a great concept!

Allison writes, "If we look at the ares of our life that need our attention and focus, we can usually find about 7.


Faith
Family
Relationships
Work
Health and Fitness
Finances
Me Time


"The Sunday Seven" are the 7 biggest "rocks" in your life; the 7 things or tasks that really need to happen in each area of your life each week. This is not a list of everything that needs to be done, but it is a list of the most important things in each section of your life. "


See what I mean? What an excellent idea! Today I'm going to share with you my Sunday Seven and each week, on Sunday, I'll share with you my next Sunday Seven. Please check out Allison's post for more on The Sunday Seven.


1. Faith: Purchase devotional by Beth Moore. Read through my new Mother's Prayers devotional.
2. Family:  Spend quality time with Aubrey while she is awake from her naps. No computer or tv.
3. Relationships:  Watch a movie with Shane for some together time.
4. Work:  Organize, purge and sort Summer/Fall clothes. Determine what we need for the new season.
5. Health and Fitness: Walk 7 km's three times this week. Take 5 walks - minimum half hour each.
6. Finances:  Budget for new Fall clothes and Life Planner
7. Me Time:  Take a long, hot, relaxing bath.

So there you have it! My Sunday Seven - the most important things to do in the most important areas of my life.


I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday! May you find rest and relaxation enjoy your loved ones today!


Thursday, March 03, 2011

Aubrey - 2 Months Old!


2 Months Old. Wow! She's two months old already! I take that back. Technically she turned two months old on February 20th. Today she is now 11 weeks old. Time is really flying by. My baby is changing so much! She's no longer a newborn but an infant. It's so exciting to see her grow.




On Monday, the 28th, we had Aubrey's doctor's appointment. She was weighed, measured and had her first vaccines. My peanut weighs in at 11 pounds 2 ounces and is 22 inches long. She hasn't quiet gained a pound since her last appointment almost a month and a half ago. Her shots were terrible! Or her reaction to them was. She screamed bloody murder and had tears running down her cheeks. It broke this momma's heart! The photo above is her numbing patches for her shots. Thankfully, she had no adverse reaction to the shots. Not even a fever so Praise the Lord for that!!




Aubrey is now cooing, smiling and "talking" to us. The best thing is in the morning when she's making noise and you look down into her cradle - when she cathes your eye, there is that killer smile. It melts my heart every time and makes the groggy wake-up feeling worth it.




On my birthday, the 21st, I put a toy in Aubrey's hands and she promptly brought it up to her mouth. It was the first time she actually held a toy! What a milestone! Soon everything will be going into her mouth but it's been fun these past few weeks playing toys with her.




Aubrey is still sleeping through the night. Our evening routine is a bath at 8. I have the lights in our bedroom off with just a night table lamp on. Her blanket is laid out on the bed with her pajamas, undershirt, brush, diaper and lotion. After her bath I bring her into the room and put on her diaper. She's usually pretty fussy at this point because she knows dinner is coming! But then we move on to a baby massage and she usually stops her fussing. I dress her, comb her hair and wrap her up in the warmest blanket she owns. Then I turn on a lullaby cd and she nurses until she falls asleep. I say prayers over her and just enjoy the quiet moment with my precious girl. Thankfully she sleep from around 11 pm/midnight until 6 or 8 in the morning. It's lovely!



The week Aubrey turned 2 months old, she officially grew out of her newborn outfits. She still fits best into clothes that are 0-3 months. Three month items are generally way to big on her.




We finally ventured to church. I hesitated for awhile until she was older because I was afraid of the germ factor. I knew a lot of friends would want to see Aubrey and I just wanted to make sure she was a little older first. Plus, I was still getting used to being a mom so I think the Lord gave me a little break on the no church thing. Our first trip Aubrey slept through the worship. Then woke up for the sermon. She started to get a little fussy and had a wet diaper so we scooted out and missed the entire service. Funny, there were so many moms and dads in the foyer.




We made it to church again two weeks later and what a difference those two weeks made! She was smiling at everyone. She loved the worship and sat in my arms just enjoying it. During the service she slept in her daddy's arms and afterwards enjoyed being held by a number of our friends. She was such a champ! I was really proud of her.




And finally, last night, we removed the netting out of Aubrey's bathtub. Her tub came with this little net that a newborn sits in. It's such a nice feature for a baby bathtub as the mom or dad can be hands free while washing their little peanut. Aubrey loved her net but was getting a little scrunched in it. So last night, I took it out. And oh did she love it!! She was able to splash, and kick, and trash about in her tub. She sat in there for half an hour!! I wish I had a video of it because it was so entertaining. But I suppose I will have to do as Mary did and treasure that moment up in my heart. I can't wait for bathtime tonight!

Happy 2 Months little girl!!


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