Party, Party, Party!

We had Aubrey's birthday party Saturday. It was outside at our house with a Garden theme. The weather was perfect, a bit windy but that didn't stop us much. We were so grateful for all our friends that took time out of their Saturday to help celebrate our sweet girl!

The big kids enjoyed playing on the swing set and playing with surprise play dough with glitter and coloring hidden inside.



For lunch we had chicken salad and ham and cheese sandwiches, fruit with fruit dip, chips, and drinks.


I had the best time making cupcakes for Aubrey's party. They were chocolate with green butter cream icing and pink and purple fondant flowers.


Aubrey didn't know what was going on, but it was fun anyways!


I wasn't sure if Aubrey would like her cupcakes. She hasn't ever had sweets of any kind!





I think she liked it!


Aubrey got so many sweet gifts.


I love how kids always crowd around and want to help open the gifts.



My sweet birthday girl and Grandma!


Gotta' practice our walking!


Aubrey and Saul, her 2026 Prom Date!

I love those two sweet blond heads!

Thank you to everyone who made Aubrey's day so special!

12 Months

Aubrey you are 12 months old. You are getting to be such a big girl! You are a big momma's girl but love your daddy and sister to pieces too.

*You love to play peek a boo. You don't quite understand the concept of peek a boo. You don't completely cover your eyes, your hands mostly end up on your forehead.


*You love to "talk" on the phone. You will say "hi".

*You are furniture walking but aren't brave enough to let go yet.

*You love table food. You will eat about anything I place on your tray.

*You're not sure if you like cows milk yet. You just sip on it.



*You are still quite the snuggle bug. You love to snuggle your head between my shoulder and cheek when you are winding down for naps and bed. The other day I was putting makeup on and you sat leaned against my leg sucking on your thumb.

*Your favorite toys are books, a tea pot that plays music, baby dolls, and Ashlyn's Little People/ Doll House and Kitchen items.


*You have four teeth. Two on top and two on bottom. I think you are working on another top tooth because you keep waking up early in the morning.

*You wear 6-9 month clothes but are outgrowing your 6-9 month shirts. You wear size 3 shoes.

*You wear size 3 diapers.


*You weighed 16lb 2oz at your sick dr appointment last week. We'll go next week for your 12 month check up to get your official 12 month stats. You are going to be petite like Ashlyn.

*You are starting to cry when I leave you in the nursery at church. You quickly calm down and are spoiled rotten in there but it makes me sad to see you frantically crawl for the door when you see me leaving.

*You can say dadda, momma, ni-ni (night night), hi, and "Ad-tha" for Ashlyn.

*You know how to sign more and all done but think they are a waste of energy. You will wave your hands at your tray for more and wave "bye" with one hand for all done. Ashlyn can get you to sign more to her when you want her to hand you a snack. You're such a stinker!

I can't believe you are getting so big! I'm anxious to see your personality really start to blossom the next couple months! You are so special to Daddy and I!

Aubrey

My Precious Aubrey,

There have been so many emotions this week that have lead to this day. I'm not sure why your first birthday is so hard to accept. If I could keep you a sweet little baby the rest of your life I would. My selfish side wants to cuddle you in my arms forever. But, I know God has given you to Daddy and I to raise and teach so that you will become the Godly woman he wants you to be.

A year ago when I was carrying you I didn't know how you were going to fit into our family. I loved your sister with such a deep love I didn't know how I could love another child just as much. We were happy and life was full of fun and laughter with your sister. How would our new life look like with another girl? When I held you for the first time and looked at your sweet face I knew instantly I would love you just as deeply. I knew you were going to make our family complete. I knew you would bring immense joy into our lives. Aubrey, I love you with a love only a mommy understands.

You have been such an easy baby. From the first day in the hospital you have been such a content baby. You made it such an easy transition going from one child to two. You sleep well at night and you take great naps. You are easily entertained by one of us or perfectly content playing by yourself. You smile so easily and enjoy putting on a show. You are even starting to develop a little sense of humor. I am often amazed at how well you accept your sister's love. You love any kind of attention she gives you and are pleased as can be when she includes you in her little games. Aubrey, I'm so anxious to see your personality grow and develop this next year.

Sweet Aubrey, I am going to miss your warm head nestled between my neck and shoulder when you are sleepy. I'm going to miss your wet slobbery kisses. I'm not ready for your short chubby legs to grow. I'm going to miss your precious baby giggle when you splash in the bath tub. I hope I never forget the sweet sleepy song you hum when you suck your thumb. I'm going to miss the semi-toothless grins you give me when I walk into your room after nap time. I'm not ready to give up the slap slap slap sound your sweet hands make when you crawl down the hallway to see where momma went. I cherish every sweet and unique thing about you.

Aubrey, I love you more than you can ever imagine. Happy first birthday precious girl!

Mommy

Just a couple thoughts because my week is busy...

*I'm not ready for Aubrey's birthday Wednesday. I may or may not have bawled twice this week.

*I'm so glad Phillip is back from his week long business trip. We miss him terribly when he's gone.

*Aubrey got sick and ended the week with an ear infection. This kind of stuff always happens when he's gone. That must be the rules.

*She woke every two hours on Tuesday and every four hours on Thursday. Oh, and didn't nap longer than 45 minutes each nap time. We were a little sleep deprived.

*Ashlyn was super good last week, which I was so thankful for.

*I finished Aubrey's birthday dress last night.

*I'm anxious to start on her cupcakes and party decorations.

*Her party is outside, rain is in the forecast for Saturday.

*Phillip finished the Pergola. It looks awesome!

*He only threw one board across the lawn out of frustration. I won't admit it to him but I'm pretty sure it was my miss-measurement that caused the "mess up". I actually think he didn't communicate effectively what he wanted measured. :)

*My mom made a quilt for Aubrey and it's coming in the mail today, hopefully. I'm anxious to see it.

*I forgot how messy self feeding babies are. And, Aubrey is a hair rub-er.

*I'm tempted to give her a swirly after each meal. (Remember back to your Jr High days, you know where you stick someone's hair in the toilet and flush it) I'm not serious, but I'm sure it would work better than a washcloth.

Tickets, Tickets Please

Yesterday we were at Old Navy. I only had the single stroller in the trunk of my van so Ashlyn was free to walk around the store. She kept saying tickets, tickets please. I didn't pay much attention to what she was doing, she was being good staying right by me happily entertaining herself. This morning Ashlyn was at MDO and I pulled the stroller out of the van for Aubrey and I happened to notice some "trash" in the bottom basket. It was the bottom portion of Old Navy price tags, a lot of them! Apparently she was pulling the perforated part of the tag off of the clothes "collecting tickets".

My Sassy Girl

Flowers and Fun

It's been raining off and on this week so a couple of my Mommy friends took advantage of the sunny forecast today. We went to the Botanical Garden and let the kids run around and look at the flowers.


They have a fun children's area with a little bridge, a train made out of concrete, and just room for them to be silly. They also have a small pen of chickens, which the kids loved. Aubrey went absolutely nuts over the chickens! We will definitely have to plan a trip to the zoo before it gets to chilly.


We went to the Garden the weekend before I had Aubrey last year. It was fun to look back at me and my sweet girls a year ago.

(Someone was hot and hungry and did not want to smile, I'll let you guess who)

My girls are growing too fast. I can't believe in a couple more months all my baby stuff will slowly start making it's way out the door. Some days I can't wait to have all the big items that comes with having babies (exersaucers, bouncy seats, push toys, etc) out of our house but I know I'll miss it terribly when they are both in school and they don't want to play with toys anymore.

Granola

I really like a good granola. It's hard to find a good granola that isn't too sweet but yet sweet enough and doesn't cost a fortune for a tiny box. So, I went searching and found a good recipe to start from and then modified it to our tastes.
I have eaten a bowl of this with all natural, unflavored yogurt almost every day since I made it. It's really good with milk too, but I like the tangyness of the yogurt.


Almond Granola

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup roughly chopped almonds (a finer chop is fine if you prefer)
1 cup flaked coconut
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbl honey
5 Tbl dark brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 Tbl warm water
Small bag of dried fruit of your choice

Combine rolled oats, coconut, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in large mixing bowl. Combine honey, brown sugar, oil, and water in smaller bowl until well blended. Pour liquid mixture over oats mixture and stir until well coated. Pour granola onto a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes in a 250' oven. Stir every 20 to 30 minutes to ensure even browning. Watch the granola closely the last 15 to 20 minutes because it can burn quickly, you will want to remove it when the granola is a light brown color. After removing from oven mix in dried fruit.

Store in an airtight container once cooled.

*I only added half a bag of cranberries because I don't like it to "fruity". I also sprinkled a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed on the granola when I added the fruit for extra nutrition.

School

Today was Ashlyn's first day of school, or actually Mother's Day Out. She has been so excited! She thinks she is going to a full out legitimate school! When she woke up this morning I asked her how my "big girl who's going to school today" was. She smiled and held up five fingers. She thinks she's as big as the kindergartners!

After eating breakfast and getting dressed in her favorite outfit Ashlyn put on her backpack, she didn't want to forget such an important item.


All ready to go with her peanut butter and jelly sandwich she has been requesting for her new lunch box for a couple weeks now.


Phillip and I kept going back and forth on whether or not she would cry when I dropped her off. She didn't! She was very reserved and nervous but didn't cry. Her teacher said she was very quiet and was stuck to her like glue, but that didn't surprise me. It will take her another time or two to warm up to all the kids.

Aubrey and I ran errands all morning. I think Aubrey was kind of lonely in the back seat. She fussed off and on, not cried just whimpered, all the way to Fayetteville. She never fusses in the car. Phillip and I were actually talking about how she is such a good traveler and wondered if it was because she liked to watch Ashlyn and listen to her and I talk. I picked up some things for Aubrey's birthday party and got some fall clothes for Ashlyn along with new shoes.
When we were hanging out with Phillip's parents this weekend they were talking to Ashlyn about starting school. Grandpa asked her if she was going to wear her tennis shoes to school and she answered. "No these are too little, I'll wear bigger ones". She had outgrown her shoes and I didn't even notice! So, I picked up several pairs for her to try on then I'll take back the ones she doesn't need. I figured it would be easier to stand in the return line for a couple minutes than try on every... pair... of... shoes... She's a girl remember, that's how it works.

She was so tired when we got home and is fast asleep in her bed at this very moment. I think she enjoyed herself. She cried when we were walking out to the car, she wanted to stay at school. It was cute listening to her play school all the way home!

God's Country

We just got back from a little family vacation in the beautiful Ozarks. We rented a cabin for a long weekend and had a wonderful, relaxing time!

Packing for a long trip always seems to be quite the adventure around here. I'm not really sure what I did before I had my two "helpers".


Saturday morning we drove up to Jasper, AR and met Phillip's parents at a fun little restaurant that over looks the mountains. It has good 'ol country cooking with a porch outside and a breath taking view!

After lunch we headed to the cabin to get settled in and let Aubrey nap. We ended up just staying there the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the wrap around porch and grilling dinner.


The girls shared the loft area at night. It was so cute listening to them "talk" before they went to bed and when they woke up in the morning. The first night Ashlyn gave Aubrey her baby doll so Aubrey stayed up late playing in her bed. Little did we know Aubrey wasn't all that innocent. We caught her standing in her pack-in-play squealing at Ashlyn who was trying to sleep and also waving to Daddy who was on the couch at the bottom of the stairs. I know this is just the start of many many giggling late nights!

In the middle of the night my mother-in-law woke up with chest pains. They got to be a bit concerning so her and Phillip's dad drove 45 minutes back to the nearest town to the ER. God answered our prayers and everything seems to be alright. She is going to have a couple follow up appointments to make sure her heart is healthy but so far the doctors are not concerned. We are praying the rest of her tests come back clear.

The doctor didn't see any reason to keep her at home so after lunch we were all able to meet back together and swim in the river. Well, Phillip and his Dad did most of the swimming. Us girls got in and splashed around a bit but decided relaxing on the bank was more up our alley. The weather was absolutely beautiful but a tad too chilly for swimming.

Aubrey ate bananas at lunch and was a gigantic mess! She attracted quite the flock of flies!!


I was so disappointed I didn't have my camera at the bank of the river. Aubrey fell asleep in Grandma's arms and Ashlyn fell asleep in Grandpa's lawn chair. Ashlyn was very adamant about not being at all sleepy and not wanting to snuggle with Momma. Not ten minutes passed and she was sleeping upright in her chair. She was such a sleepy girl!

Phillip's parents had to head back home Sunday night so Monday was spent hanging around the cabin and shopping in a couple antique shops in town. The owners of the cabin had horses on the property so Phillip and Ashlyn headed over to pet them while Aubrey took a morning nap.


After dinner we roasted marshmallows in the fire pit out back. Ashlyn was so excited to roast marshmallows. I may have been a tad excited about it too and got her all pumped about it. I loved roasting marshmallows on my Grandparent's land when I was growing up. The brown toasty marshmallows brought back a lot of fond memories.