Happy Halloween!

Jennifer and her family came to Texas for a few days at the end of October. We celebrated Ashley's birthday while they were here and watched the Texas Rangers in the World Series! (hence the red shirts below!)

Sid and Zoe are working hard on their pumpkins- over the years pumpkin carving has evolved a lot- I am always excited to see what the kids come up with.


Aubrey was suppose to be this flower for Halloween! That lasted for like 5 minutes! Its too hot here for this kind of costume- plus baby no likey!

Don't ask what the big kids were, cause they weren't anything- they were just "scary"!

This is how we looked before hitting the streets to trick or trea! I love Zoe's halloween tights! And Sid's mask overflows with blood if he squeezes a heart in his hand- which I am pretty sure he is doing in this picture! Creepy! Aubrey ended up wearing some pink leopard print pjs! I was a mom! Or Bella from twilight its hard to tell! So similar...

Aren't the pumpkins great?? Sid's is on the left and Zoe's is on the right!

Happy Halloween!

3 Months, More Football and a Science Project!

Aubrey you are 3 months old!

You are still nursing and I am pumping at work while you stay with Grandma during the day! You haven't started any solids or rice cereal yet!


You go with us to Sid's football games! Sometimes daddy or I will walk around with you cause you can cry very loud when you want something!

You have such a sweet personality and you are starting to smile :)

Sid and his Science project for Coach Varrone's class!

What color do you think will burn the fastest?

You are really growing and changing every day Aubrey Grace!

Photo Shoot With Lacey

SO my best freind Lacey takes really good pictures for fun with her really good camera! She had asked to take some of Aubrey. It has taken me a while to get it together enough to have her over. Well last week she came over and these "fun" pics that were just taken in my front yard are melting my heart! Her talent is unreal!! And my little 3 month old baby is so precious!

As soon as she was done she showed me a few- I had NO IDEA how amazing they were going to be! I am so thankful for Lacey and that she shares her amazing talent with me!

My Baby Aubrey Grace forever captured in time as my rolly little 3 month old!


Sisters :)

Daddy holding Aubrey's tiny feet!

This one makes my heart hurt!

Those little tiny fingers will one day hang onto a different set of rings!

FUN! "Grandma's Girl!" Nanny bought her these bloomers! SO cute!

Magical! I love this one!

Daddy's Girl!

My treasure, My heart!

The night before Lacey came over, I sat up in the middle of the night rocking this little one to sleep, and fretttting about these pictures, hoping Lacey would be able to work with the plainess of an infant photo shoot in a front yard....I needn't have worried- Lacey is so blessed!

All 3 of my babies! I love that Lacey takes the time and care to share her talents with me! I think she could quit her day job today and photograph babies fulltime!

My Babies...

I want to take a few minutes and really document what life is like for us these days, cause I know there will come a time when I look back and regret not doing it, although most days I don't have a moment to even brush my hair!


The first 3 weeks or so being home with Aubrey were pretty tough. I wasn't getting any sleep and I wanted desperately to jump right back into being busy with my big kids after months of bed rest! But my body just wasn't up for it.

Now things are getting back to normal for me physically and Aubrey is more consistent with her schedule. The kids started school and were so sad to be apart from Aubrey every day. Sid has football practice very early every morning and we take him to school when it is still dark outside. Sometimes mom will come with me and after we take Zoe to school we sit outside of Sid's school and watch him practice.

Sid is going to Fossil Hill Middle School and will be switching classrooms for every subject. Zoe is at Chisholm in 6th grade. Her teachers are Mrs. Bryce and Ms. Johnson. She loves her teachers so much! I think this is going to be a great year for both of them!

They miss Aubrey when they are away from her in the day. Zoe and I like to "talk" for Aubrey as if she herself was having to attend 6th grade. The things that come out of Zoe's mouth crack me up!She tells about having to wear a onesie and being fussy- so cute!

Sid told me one morning during football practice he went to wipe his hair out of his face and he could smell sweet baby Aubrey on his hands and that made him miss her so much!

Our sweet baby is growing and changing right before our eyes. She eats about every 2-3 hours. She wiggles and looks around when we talk to her, but Dr. Gomez thinks her eyes have not really focused yet, so she cannot see us yet!

Aubrey's favorite thing to do right now is snuggle and listen to daddy, Sid and Zoe talk to her sweetly. We all sing to her all the time and she makes little soft cooing noises. At night she cries very loudly to be fed and held. She is in no shape or form anywhere near sleeping through the night!

Zoe has such a compassionate heart. She had a lemonade stand and earned $35!! All the proceeds went to St. Jude Cancer Research! We posted her success story on Facebook, and the founder of "Lemons to Aid" commented and said she was so impressed with Zoe! I am too! She has such a giving spirit! We mailed a check to St. Jude and they sent back a thank you note with a notep-ad for Zoe!

The Wildcats won the 1st game of the season!! 12-2! GO WILDCATS! I am so proud of my boy for how hard he is playing! Hopefully this is the beginning of a winning season for the Wildcats We are getting T shirts made that will say Wildcats and have Sid's name and number 5 on them! I am thinking I will have to get a black and gold outfit for Miss Aubrey to wear to the games! And a big ol hairbow :)

Daddy fed Aubrey her first bottle in preparation for me to go back to work. Nursing is such an amazing gift that I can give my baby! I pray I am able to continue while I work. I am so blessed to work for a company that allows pump breaks to nursing mothers for the first year! It was really hard for me as the days approached to leave Aubrey and go back to work- I am so glad I can still provide food for her and my mom will be the one watching her!

So far we have made it to every one of Sid's football games! That boy can run so fast! Go # 5!!!!!!!

My mom has her hands full with 3 kiddos everyday! I don't think going back to work would have been as smooth of a transition if I didn't know that she was caring for them! It has been really emotional for me to leave Aubrey and I just love that my mom is able to watch them! I trust her so much and loves them more than anyone else could! Her and Aubrey have gotten into a pretty good routine in the 10 days I have been back to work! So far so good on the pumping! Aubrey is one hungry baby and I think she is hitting a growth spurt!

When I get home from work in the evenings all I wanna do is snuggle this little monkey!

Here is her 2 month old picture! She has changed so much in two months! Staring to become very rolly polly! She loves her bounce seat and will sit very still with hands and feet clenched and listen to us talk and sing to her!

I love my babies so much and am SO glad that I have these memories to hold onto! I know I can't get these days back and I cherish the time I get with all of my babies!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

This is the birthday boy after a night of virtually no sleep! But I think he was still really happy!

Nanny came by on her lunch break to snuggle her newest granddaughter! And wish her son a happy birthday if course!

Sid and Zoe came to snuggle baby sister! They were so gentle with her right away! They also wished Aaron a happy birthday!

Happy Birthday Aaron! Hope you like your birthday gift ;)

I Know This Little Girl!

I didn't sleep at all last night! My mind was reeling with what the next day would hold. I "slept' in the recliner in the living room while Aaron slept in the bedroom. I think he didn't really sleep much either.

We arrived at the hospital about 3o minutes before we were suppose to. (Probably around 4:30) Just Aaron and I and our carefully packed diaper bag, over night bag, with my secret letter from Zoe and my pics of the the family to focus on durong contractions.

There wasn't a room yet ready for us, so we sat out in the waiting room for what felt like forever! I was a little nervous.

Then it was time and we got into a room and I got my lovely hospital grade gown on and on went the monitors and your little heart beat filled the room, and I relaxed. We could hear babies crying and other moms delivering all around us! I thought it was neat to think that ewould be us in a few hours. Aaron I think was disturbed by us. One new mama was doing her share of screaming! We later found out she had opted to have her baby natural!

Sid, Zoe, Grandma and Grandpa came to the hospital after things got underway! I think Sid and ZOe might have been worried about me if they hadn't seen me with there own eyes that I wasdoing great! I think they loved being able to hear Aubrey's heartbeat. Nicole and Nanny and Pop pop did too! Nanny and Pop Pop brought me roses. Aaron and Nicole watched the contraction monitor and talked me through some contractions. I was so glad for the company. I drifted to sleep a few times after I got my epidural.

Then about 2 o'clock I started feeling a lot of pressure and contractions, very strong. I assumed the epidural was wearing off. So Aaron called the nurse. All of our family left the room while she checked me. She said it was time! Aubrey was ready!

We told our families to sit tight- it was time. Everyone kissed us and went out to the waiting room.

As the nurses got things ready, they commented to Dr. K was currently delivering twins and would do her best to get in here as soon as possible! Ha ha! I wasn't sure who would catch Aubrey if need be, but here she came anyway.

Finally the room was ready and Dr K made it. Aubrey was here pretty quickly. Aaron was right next to my head the whole time talking me through it.

Immediatley they put sweet Aubrey on my chest and she was red and LOUD! Her little body was strecthed out stiffly, her eyes shut tight and her mouth was wide open! I thought "I know this little girl"! She was exactly as I had envisioned her.

I remember just saying over and over, "Hi baby, hi, sweet baby!" "I love you Aubrey, its okay, mommy's here!" I kept whispering to this little distraught angel! She had obviously been very comfortable in her mommy's tummy, and being forced out was no picninc!

!

As they cleaned her up, Aaron took these pictures! She definatley was letting us know that no part of that was fun for her. I couldn't wait to get her in my arms. The nurses announced 7 lbs, 15 oz and 19 inches!!

She held tight to daddy's finger!

After they wrapped her up Aaron brought her to me. She was perfect!

Everyone came in to marvel at our sweet baby after that! She made a few squeaky noises and yawned. Sid and Zoe were so quiet and amazed by her instantly!

I am so thankful that our sweet baby came into this world so easily! She is such a gift from God!

Completley Ready

Tomorrow morning, Aaron and I will drive to the hospital, all giggly, and ready for my induction. I am due to be there at 5 AM- not sure they will actually start at that time, but, maybe something will be started by 6. LOL

I have to say, we cannot wait to meet this sweet little angel baby!

Mama is READY, Aaron is ready!, Zoe is ready, and Sid is ready.

The house is ready.

The crib is ready.

Car seat, diaper genie, tiny little booties are all ready.

Hospital bag is ready, gifts for Sid and Zoe are ready, camera is ready.

I think Aubrey is ready too.

The last sonogram showed her lungs were very active :) The sono tech said she has hair and guesstimated about 8 lbs, or just under. I guess tomorrow we will see :) I have been having full blown contractions- just not in any sort of pattern. Due to my bed rest, I notice every little pain, and I immediately think- is this it? And wait for some sort of pattern. But nothing. Hopefully they will have helped me dilate even more, so that things progress quickly.

Next post should be pics of Aubrey, and all about her delivery!!

AND daddy's birthday- he will be 25 Tuesday :)

Sweet Friends and Gifts For Aubrey

My friends from church threw me a baby shower on the 11th. They came over to my house and did the entire set up and clean up, since I am on bed rest!! In the picture above Jan, me and Aubrey, Darla, Kelly and Angie. Kelly shared with me while at the shower that her and her husband and little girl are expecting another baby! This is AWESOME news!!

Jan, myself and Natalie! It was such a joy getting together with them and catching up with everyone. Angie just had her baby, named Ella, and I got to hold her while we chatted. She is a sweet slice of heaven. I couldn't believe the nice things they brought for Aubrey. I was blown away!!

This picture doesn't even do it all justice- there were so many tiny cute outfits and diapers and toys. Darla's son, Nathan, has been in Sid's class at school the last few years and Darla told us how he picked out a lot of the gifts for Aubrey!! Ha Ha- too cute!

Then on Monday the 12th, My boss from work, Amy, and co-worker John, surprised me with lunch (CHIK-FIL-A) and MORE gifts for Aubrey. This is the best pic I have of the two of us- Sid was our photographer ;)

They got me the neatest stuff and I really feel like we are officially ready for this sweet baby girl to make her appearance!

This Diaper Genie is going to be a life saver I am pretty sure!! (or a nose saver rather)

I got tons of cute outfit for Aubrey at all of my showers- this girl is gonna be the best dressed in the whole house!!

I am planning on breast feeding, but it is SO nice to have the bottle back up- especially since I am heading back to work :( Something I don't like to think about.

I am so blessed and so thankful for all the gifts for Aubrey and our family. My friends from church are planning to provide meals for our family in the days after Aubrey is here and I cannot tell you how happy that makes me- these women can cook (and some husbands too!!)