Sunday Soup on Tuesday

It has been too long since my last Sunday Soup. Since I am enjoying a Stay at Home Mama day with my little and this may be the only time that I get an extra minute to catch up (as baby girl is taking a really good nap), I figure why not. So enjoy my Sunday Soup on this Tuesday. So without further adieu enjoy our little happenings as of late.

1. On Easter Sunday, the Prius battery died. We somehow made it to church and back, but then it died before our Easter afternoon brunch with the Ogles. Our sweet friends loaned us their car for three days until we could get a new battery. Being a one car family has its challenges. We are just so thankful for sweet friends who made such a huge sacrifice to help us.

2. I have enjoyed Mama Monday's with my sweet friend, Kristin. It is such a fun example of what my summer may look like.

3. I am counting down the days until I get to spend my days with my little. She and her daddy are my heart.

4. My two loves have been sick the past two weeks. Poor daddy had to take a few days off to feel better and then another to take baby girl to the doctor. Mommy took off on Tuesday to make sure all of her sickies were gone.

5.  My first grade teammate and new mama friend returned to school. I surely have missed her and can't wait for more play dates with her sweet baby girl, Miss Cassidy.

6. We celebrated our first Easter as a family of three. 

7. Ray and I helped host an Easter Party Service celebration with our ABF and La Mirada/Kidz Pointe. 

8. To celebrate Earth Day, I took 17 children outside to paint with water. They LOVED it!

9. We met baby Haley. She was absolutely perfect. 

10. Baby girl started officially teething. A little pearly white popped up this past Saturday, April 26th.

11. Aubrey has been army crawling for several weeks but is now pushing up on her hands and knees and is able to rock a bit. 

12. I did my first bit of baby proofing our house today. She definitely is interested in door stoppers and chords. Oh no. 

13. We are already making plans to do a College Station, Sugar Land, and Alabama trip this summer. I can't wait to spend time with our family.

14. I have loved spending our afternoons outside. It is the perfect weather. 

15. One of my worst nightmares came true this week. I fell down the stairs with Auby. Thank goodness I fell on my bottom and held tightly to her. She was absolutely fine but let out a big scream once she realized we had stopped. I simply scared her. While baby was ok, I sadly had multiple bruises all down my legs and backside. I guess a 4:00 in the morning adventure down the stairs to get more formula and an exhausted mommy was a bad decision after all. Loosing footing is never fun especially when you are carrying your little with you. But like I said... on a good note. Mommy and baby are fine and now I'm super careful with her!

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Sunday Soup. Here were the ups, downs, and everything in between. Baby girl is starting to stir and it is time for more mommy/daughter play time. I wouldn't miss that for the world. I wish you a wonderful day and look forward to more Sunday Soups coming soon... even if they are on a random Tuesday.

Our Little Lady LOVES to EAT!

Who would have known that back when baby girl was four months old, all we needed to do was to let her sleep on her tummy and feed her rice cereal. We have come a long way from that. We have enjoyed a variety of foods, tastes, and textures. I sure do love that she is not a fussy eater (minus pees as they do not agree with her) Now please know that I am not saying what to do or when to do it... but I love those moments when you can go back and say man if only I had.... blah blah... whatever that blah blah was. Now that we are at the six month mark, I can easily say that our little lady LOVES to EAT! If you look at this progression of photos, it absolutely cracks me up. YAY food! Yum, I can feed myself mommy! The food is gone? Que the tears. Then mommy brings out her phone and all is good with the world... Cheese:) (the pictures from top left, top right, bottom right, and bottom left).

The past few days have been so beautiful, we have even eaten outside. I don't think little girl cares where we eat as long as she's getting her food:) But hey she looks cute as ever!

She sure does love to "feed" herself. Really she enjoys sticking her fingers in her mouth as well as when I twirl the spoon in circles and say woo woo. She's easy to please. But a mess she sure is. Oh how we love that sweet messy face. This picture reminds me of the story, Messy Meals. She can surely get her food on her nose and even in between her fingers and toes.

We love you sweet girl. I love watching how your sweet body keeps growing. You are such a big girl... a messy one for sure;)

Our Sick Baby

It absolutely breaks my heart to see my baby girl so sick. Being a daycare baby and really any baby is susceptible to catching little things here and there. It just isn't fun when it's your little one. This weekend, she was our typical happy baby, but by Sunday it was extremely apparent that she was not feeling well. I mean seriously look at this sad face. Again break your heart.

 

Monday, with baby girl snuggling in my arms, eyes puffy, and snotty nose with a cough, it was a definite that little one would not be making an appearance at daycare. We were also officially teething. Saturday morning, I saw our first little pearly white popping through. With all these little things against us, I would even have to admit that our Sunday night may have been the worse night since Aubrey was a newborn. She slept until 1AM then cried (not fussed). She was completely uncomfortable. There was no consoling sweet angel. We gave her children's Tylenol, baby Orajel, rocked, walked, sang, gave another bottle... nothing was solving the problem. The only way she would sleep is if we held her. She even let out small little cries every time she would turn her head. I loved the snuggles, but hated that it was because she felt so bad. Every 20 minutes she would wake up which meant a super long night for mommy and daddy. Monday was definitely a day  that I felt my mommy strings tugging at my heart. I hated to leave her but knew she was in great hands. Daddy was our superman and took little one to the doctor. She of course was all smiles when the doctor arrived, but quickly changed her tune when the doctor tried to look into her ears. Yep. Just as mommy thought. The dreaded ear infection.... our first. So here is the list of little ailments that poor baby has at this time.

1. Ear infection
2. Beginning Stages of Pink Eye and lots of goop
3. Fever
4. Cough & congestion
5. Teething
6. Diaper Rash

Monday I spent a good portion of the day trying to find a sub. It is next to impossible to find one toward the end of the year. I knew that I would be taking Tuesday off to be home with Auby. I am so thankful that I did. After much medicine and lots of napping on Monday (in my arms), she is doing so much better. She is all smiles, lots of new sounds, (I may even heard a da-da in there;), and lots of play time. I have loved spending my day with this little lady. From an early 4:30AM start, I have to say it's been absolutely worth it. I have enjoyed our snuggles, play time, babble talks, stories, laundry time (this may have been mommy doing laundry and Auby putting a few clean pieces in her mouth), and so much more. I could totally rock this stay at home mama thing. Regardless I will say whether I'm at home or not, I will absolutely cherish these special moments. Today baby girl also pushed up on all fours and began to rock. I feel a full time crawler will be in our near future.

Oh how I loved our hugs and special playtime in Auby's room. I definitely got a few sloppy kisses but lots of sweet hugs.

I have to say that I am totally counting down my days until this summer when I can spend all my days loving on our little lady. Until then, I get to enjoy these sweet moments. I mean really, is there anything more precious than this strawberry baby bum?!?

Easter 2014

 For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. 

                                 Jeremiah 29:11

My heart was absolutely filled this Easter Sunday. Being a wife and a mommy has been my greatest love. I thank my heavenly Father today and every day for this gift and the grace that has been provided to me. Let His name be lifted higher and may we remember our true gifts this Easter Sunday.

After the arrival of the Easter bunny... (Mommy and Daddy shared a basket this year)

and a quick morning song with Auby, we were dressed and ready to go. That morning, the Prius was not in working order. I sent several messages in fear we wouldn't make service. But as our friends were about to head our direction to pick us up, our car began to work. Service was amazing. It was so fun to see all the families and children dressed up in Spring outfits. Talk about adorable. Our church also provided free family photos after the service. I love that Ray always talked about his family's church Easter picture each year. Now we have our very own little tradition as well.

We had been invited to share Easter this year with our sweet friends from church, The Ogles. Sadly once home, the car began to have trouble and the battery would not work. Erin came to our rescue and picked up my family of three. They are such sweet friends. 

For brunch, we had a beautiful array of brunch foods from egg casserole, bacon, grits, chicken salad sandwiches, fruit, and red velvet cake for dessert. 

After brunch we took a fun family photo opt. Here are some of my favorites from this afternoon with friends. 

 {Our sweet family of 3}

  {Ray and our beauty}

 

{The Ogles}

 {Richard, Ray and the girls}

 {Aubrey 6 months and Eva Mae 10 months}

 {Erin and I with our littles}

 {Erin and her beautiful blue eyed babe}

 Our babes enjoying the Spring weather. We were supposed to have bad weather, but it was a perfect afternoon. The rain waited for us until our return home.

This Easter season, we began a new family tradition. It is called our letter to heaven. Each year Auby will get a balloon on Easter and will "write" a letter to God and send it to heaven. We of course will write it until she's old enough, but I am so excited about this new little tradition. I am hoping this will be a great way to remind her that Easter is more than chocolate candy bunnies. Since we were sharing this Easter with friends, we decided to get their little girl a balloon as well. Let's just say that our first attempt at our notes to heaven was a bit more comical than I had imagined. Eva Mae loved playing with the balloon string while Auby thought that eating the note was more fun. These pictures absolutely crack me up. I love the sweet little relationship they are forming.

  The gents had to help us out.

Our letters were sent

We are so thankful for what God has done and is continuing to do in our lives, the people He places, and the paths that we've taken. If He is for us who could stand against us... I have always loved those words in the song. I also wanted to give a big thanks to our dear friends for letting us borrow their car for a few days. It was more than we could ever have asked for and exactly what we needed this week.

Today also marks 12 years of dating my husband. 12 years has taught us oh so much and I couldn't be more thankful that God has blessed me with both my best friend and husband as well as our daughter. Without Him, I wouldn't have them! 

I wish you a blessed Easter and all the days to follow.

Easter Bunny Arboretum Adventures

This past Saturday, my fam of three enjoyed a fun afternoon of Arboretum adventures. We quickly dressed in our Sunday best with the idea of taking Spring family photos. The weather was absolutely beautiful, a bit on the hot side, but pretty perfect for our Saturday outing. Well many families must have had the same idea. The parking lot was absolutely filled so we then quickly jumped on the shuttle. After a short wait and trip to the other side of the park, we made our way inside and found our first photo opt. After unpacking, I realized I sadly had packed my tripod but not the connecting pieces. Oops. My hopes for a perfect family photo with the tripod was quickly put to rest. But hey I have to say that our afternoon was still amazing and we did get some super special pictures with the husband and our little Easter Bunny.

 

April iphone Upload

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Auby absolutely loves our puppies. She mostly interested in their collars, grabbing hair (poor Mattie) and going after Toby's legs. In return, the dogs spend most of their time trying to clean her face.

Good Friday day off and post birthday celebration at The Egg and I in Frisco. I was a bit skeptical as I really wasn't feeling eggs; however, they have a HUGE variety of other more sweet options. We also dinned that afternoon at Whiskey Cake for lunch. Thank you gift card. We left with all smiles and full bellies.

Our beautiful baby bunny. An afternoon play time turned into an Easter bunny fashion show. Auby loved playing with her bunny ears.

We enjoyed an Easter Service Celebration at The Heights on Sunday. We were even able to take our first family Easter portrait.

Good Friday was great! We had a post birthday dinner celebration with friends for Ray's 30th. They even decorated. We are surely thankful for these sweet friends. They are absolutely family to us!

I am so thankful for this girl! I loved our scarfs. Great minds think alike!

We were so blessed to meet baby Haley. We absolutely love her parents and are so excited to help celebrate her and welcome her to the world.

We had a mathematical egg hunt in first grade at the beginning of the month. Yes, please forgive the misspelling on my sign. Luckily no one caught but me when I was typing this post. This seriously was the cutest idea (I wish it was mine but I am so excited to use it each year) Luckily Easter falls around our lessons with habitats and animals. So we used this cute activity to introduce those lessons and to reinforce mathematical equations. Boy was it a blast and my kids are still saying it was the best part of our year. Spoken directly from the babes mouths. Love them!

 Rockstars! I love my job!

 Our baby's first time in her highchair. 6 months and counting. Our babe is getting so big. Love her:)

So thank you for reading this post. May each month be filled with lots of craziness and to dos. I look forward to the many blog posts ahead. So thankful for an online diary to recall our life's adventures and to document activities along the way for family and friends.

Love,
The Zellners (daddy, mommy, and baby Auby)

Happy Easter from the Zellners

Happy Easter! May God continue to bless your lives and all the twists and turns in between. From our family to yours.

Love,
Ray, Alicia, and baby Aubrey (6 months and counting)

Field of Blue Family Photo Shoot

 

This has to be one my most favorite shots from our afternoon. A moment when all has come together to catch such a perfect moment in time. When you have all the tripod parts together, the remote is working, we are legitimately sitting in the median of a road, and the baby is not eating a fist full of bluebonnets after you've had a heart attack wondering if they could be poisonous... I would call it a success. 

...I have always loved bluebonnets. Ever since I can remember, I have loved taking pictures in bluebonnets. From family photos, pictures with the pups, and almost being proposed to in a field of bluebonnets, I couldn't wait to have our spring family photos taken in a field of blue! 

 

The Saturday before Easter, Ray, Auby and I were dressed in our Sunday best (shhh yes we wore it twice) and enjoyed a full afternoon of flower photo shoots. That morning we took photos at the Arboretum and on our return home, with the advice from a friend, made our way to Bethany in Allen. It is a street near Waters Creek Shopping Center and consists of a long road with a large median. As we made our way around the corner, we found the most beautiful field of bluebonnets. We parked across the street in the neighborhood and with tripod and baby in hand, we found a perfect spot.

Auby did a great job. She is such a happy little lady. Today was a bit harder to get our usual smile. The sun, feeding time approaching, and sitting in the middle of a field next to a few more bees than mommy was comfortable with, made for a few little unhappy moments.

We even got this little keeper. I love that her expression basically looks like "mama, are we done yet?!?!" But really she is such a sweet baby. She's a definite keeper.:)

 I just loved her little dress. I found it on Etsy and I am so thankful I ordered it. It was perfect. As Ray says, "I love all the things." Yes, I love a mixture of patterns. And really it's not as though we were matching, just not clashing. I have to say, I think the wardrobe choices were pretty fun and perfect for our first little Easter Fam Photo Shoot.

I sure do love this little girl. I love watching her experience grass and bluebonnets for the first time. She loved pulling the blue flowers off their stem and squishing it between her fingers.

These are such sweet pictures with me and my little. Look at that beautiful 6 month old hand. I cannot imagine her being this tiny and yet so big at the same time.

Easter Sunday would mark my husband and my 12 year date-iversary. I cannot believe that our lives have been entwined for this long. He reminded me earlier this week that we have almost known each other half of our lives. It's amazing to see how our lives have twisted and turned, but all lead us here.
Happy 12 years to my husband, 6 months to our baby girl, and a lifetime of memories together... and hopefully many more in this field of blue!