Coming Soon Baby #2

 

My prayer, "Lord, I am constantly reminded just how truly loved I am by you and that you are the true maker of all miracles. Your plans are perfect and I give it to you! You are a good, good Father!"

Today was a day like no other. It was the day we were blessed to know that we would be having another baby. A day our love grew bigger, hearts raced faster, and minds wondered all over. Today was a blessing.
...
We lost our second baby only 6 weeks after we discovered we were pregnant. While our pain cannot be measured in that time, our hearts will forever grieve the loss of our child. When we discovered we were not pregnant last month even after following ovulation calendars, dietary supplements, prenatals, yes doing everything in our power to get pregnant, we came to the realization that we are not in control. God has such a perfect plan for our little family. This month I began to notice symptoms, and even took a few tests. I was surprised when I was graced with only 1 pink line starring back at me. I just knew I was pregnant. I just had to be. But maybe it was me believing what I wanted to feel and having expectations that I did everything I could. So many times I just fall to my knees prayfully asking God to take the wheel but secretly hoping to hold on just a bit. I laugh at myself thinking of this knowing that I am NOT in control. His plan is perfect. It is His timing.While symptoms continued and now a bit of nausea, hoping I was not getting sick I decided to take the last of my 3 dollar store pregnancy tests. To me it was going to say what the others did and would be a clear indication, no you are not pregnant. Try again next month and probably the next and next. I was wrong. A faint line began to appear and then quickly darken. I sat with my eye brows ruffled in complete disbelief.  I may be pregnant.

 It read positive. I love those two beautiful pink lines.

To our sweet babe. I have so much excitement, fear, joy, disbelief, and love. I would ask how I could be filled with so many different emotions, but being a mother, I feel we are used to being emotionally invested in what we do. My greatest joy would be to be pregnant and carry a happy and healthy baby to term. I know that God is a good, good Father. He has a plan for our growing family and for this little one. Lord you are in control and we are beyond blessed by all you do.

Aubrey's Month-iversary Series: 23 Months

Date: 9/7/2015
Age: 23 months
Dear Aubrey, 
You are my talkative, independent, organized, determined, hysterical, and big girl. You are my heart and my love. I thank God each day for my little mini. You continue to amaze me with all that you learn and all that you can do. While I write this, only two short weeks stand between us before your big two year birthday. I am one proud mama. 


Measurements:  I'll have to update the other measurements soon as all measurements will be taken at your 2 year well visit.
Clothing: You wear 24 month/2T shirts and pants. You absolutely love your jammies and will not here of me getting rid of your super girl or wonder woman jammies. Oh how those are super snug and mommy will be hiding them soon as they are 18 month pieces. You love shoes and socks, pearls, and jammies.
Eating: You have actually been a bit finicky with food these days. You eat almost anything but lately seem to just want your milk and little snacks. We are almost through teething with your upper eye teeth.
Teeth: You have 12 teeth which include your molars and your eye teeth are continuing to come through.
Sleeping: Most days you are a fantastic sleeper, but sweet baby you definitely hit a growth spurt this month. You decided for a whole week to wake up between 1 and 2AM and not go back to sleep until 5AM. You would say, "nigh night all done. Auby downstairs?" While this may have been the cutest of all time, staying up for those long hours surely wore this mommy and daddy out. You love sleeping with all of your loveys, blankie, and pillow. Each morning, you have to take out all of your loveys and bring everything downstairs.

New Activities & Random Tidbits:
- new and expanded vocabulary. You are an amazing talker. While we may not understand everything you say, your words and phrases grow daily
- some of your new favorite words and/or phrases are: excuse me Aggie, make picture... it beautiful, I love you mommy, watch guppies, watch paw patrol
- you learned the word "um" from school and are currently using it with every other word (a must fix)
- you know all of your colors (we are still working on gray), Mattie give kisses, Dees Auby's shoes, leave jammies on Mommy, want clean diaper
- You love Bubble Guppies and Paw Patrol
- Your daycare teachers love you and constantly celebrate all of the wonderful things you learn.
- sort Uno cards by color
- You hold our hands and request to pray. You clothes your eyes and bow your head. It is beyond words adorable.
- You can sing Aubrey song, Jesus loves me, Itsy Bitsy Spider
- attempt at putting on clothes
- walk upstairs and down without hands
- when you feel extra cuddly, you say "hold you."
- You love taking care of Mattie. You love her kisses.
- This month you helped mommy make a cake just because, went to the Children's aquarium, visited our Waldrup and Zellner families in Sugar Land, watched the Cowboys and ate popcorn with daddy, went to the Plano balloon festival

You said, "mommy scared... monkey." I loved the extra cuddles

This month we announced that you will be a big sister!

 We love our big sister!

Likes: books, "reading," praying, going shopping with your plastic shopping cart, wearing pearls, coloring, talking, watching Guppies and Paw Patrol, sitting on the counter, trying to dress yourself, learning new things, playing Uno (sorting the cards by color),

Dislikes: being told no, car rides, being hot, waking up before you are ready, teething, 

I love my mini! Watch her grow!

 

We love you sweet angel. We are so excited for your upcoming birthday and are continually thankful for you, our happy healthy little lady.

Auby's Month-iversary Series: 22 Months

Date: 8/7/2015
Age: 22 months
Dear Aubrey, 
You are my laugh out loud, talkative, independent, playful, and determined little lady. I absolutely love our "discussions" as you turn your head from side to side and use those cute little hands to talk with. While I may have believed you were my shy little lady, you are more an observer, but give you a few minutes, you are right in the middle of it whatever it may be. You give the best running hugs, sloppy kisses, and I love the way you sing Jesus Loves Me and tell me, "I love you!" I've spent every day with you this summer (minus one for training) and I couldn't be more thankful for our time together. I am so blessed to be your mama and love watching you grow sweet girl. You are my heart and I thank God each day for you! Enjoy your stats. 

Measurements:  I'll have to update the other measurements soon as all measurements will be taken at your 2 year well visit. I can't believe in two short months you'll be a two year old. Mind blown!
Clothing: You wear 24 month/2T shirts and 18-24 mo pants. Your size 5 shoes are getting tight and will quickly be moving to size 6 and you wear a size 4 diaper. You started picking out your shirts and love dressing up in pearls and a purse when you push your stroller or shopping cart around.
Eating: Your current favorites are chicken nuggies, hot dogs, blueberries, watermelon, any type of pasta and sauce, meatballs, bread, carrots, gold fish, and cheese. You still love your milk. You take your water with ice.
Teeth: You have 12 teeth which include your molars and your eye teeth are continuing to come through.You seem to be struggling with your teeth a bit and will wake up at 3AM on your difficult nights.
Sleeping: You are still our good sleeper; however, you went through a phase where naps and bedtimes were shortened. See the section on teeth as they may have been part of the issue.

New Activities & Random Tidbits:
- new and expanded vocabulary. You are an amazing talker. While we may not understand everything you say and many of your sentences are filled with babble in between, your vocabulary has increased so much this month. You add inflection and your hands to speak.
- Favorite phrases are "I do it!" "Counter please."
- Mommy and daddy love your pig tails
- You mimic story reading.
- love putting toothpaste on your toothbrush and attempting to brush own teeth
- have always loved twirling your pig tails
- we have to kiss all the lovies in your crib each morning
- love sitting on the counter and playing with cups/medicine droppers while we cook
- You love to clean up and do a great job at it.
- You complete chores such as feeding Mattie and giving her treats.
- You love dancing to music, shaking your head and arms
- You enjoyed your first circus this summer. You loved the elephants and horses and continued to sign more as you clapped your hands and screamed yay!

Likes: reading, opening and closing snaps/velcrow, the movie Frozen, Mickey, Sesame Street, playing in your stroller, walks, running around, food, dancing

Dislikes: being told no, car rides, being hot, waking up before you are ready, teething, 

I love my mini! Watch her grow!

 

Happy 22 months little girl. Wishing you adventures and love my sweetie.

Our Last Week of Summer Love'n 2015

Our final week of summer has finally come and quickly gone. I have to say while I am not ready for this baby beauty to go back to daycare on Monday (broken record of the century), I am so thankful for the excitement that we had this summer, the unforgettable memories we made, and for the sweet friends and family that we shared it with. So without further ado here is our final week of the summer.

Monday: On Monday we met our Ogle friends at Play Street Museum for a morning of toddler play and exploration and lunch at Subway.

{Eva Mae, Georgia, & Aubrey}

On Tuesday, I took Auby to the mall for a quick mama and babe play date in the mall play area and to our favorite Barnes and Noble story time. She found this adorable read called If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Dont! She may have thought it was a dinosaur as we are totally into dinosaurs right now, but she loved it. She also enjoyed playing with a few kids on the train area as well. I have to say it was a successful morning which lead to a great afternoon nap!

Wednesday, mommy went to a training with a few of my teammates and daddy enjoyed a day with the little. They enjoyed story time at the library and of course after a few stories and songs, Aubrey's favorite was the toy time that quickly followed. I am so thankful Ray was able to catch this little moment of our girl to share.

 
 

Thursday,  Aubrey and I went back to the library for another morning of Music and Movement. We love listening to Mr. Robert as we sing some of our favorites, dance and jump, play our instrument of the week, and of course finish with bubbles and a sticker. 

 After picking up daddy, we made our way to Smallcakes for a sweet cupcake afternoon together. I just love this picture of my two sweets!

Friday, I was so excited to spend our final day of summer with our little baby besties. We spent a few hours with our Fantlets at their neighborhood pool. I just adore this picture of the girls as well as Bryson's sweet heart who was such an awesome helper of the afternoon.

What an exciting and memorable summer! I'm really thankful for this little mini and so excited to be her mama!

Our Sweet Sunday, National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, Walking Miss Mattie, & Family Love

Our Sunday was perfectly sweet. Our little munchkin loved posing for a few pictures as she monkeyed around the stairs before church. We enjoyed a morning with our church family as Ray guided and taught our classroom about the principals and discipline of Guidance. I truly love my husband's leadership and ability to speak and teach others. After our time in ABF, I helped a friend serve in the 2-3 year classroom. It was a lot of fun and I truly loved watching their little personalities and independence. It was a bit different from the 1 year olds that I typically serve or even my almost 2 year old. It was a fun and tiring afternoon experience. After church, we made our way to Tiff's Treats for ice cream sandwiches.

Sunday was National Ice Cream Sandwich Day. It was so fun to celebrate it with this guy. Plus I cannot deny that we thoroughly enjoyed our ice cream treat before lunch. After lunch little miss went down for her afternoon nap while mommy and daddy enjoyed their own little rest and relaxation time. When she woke up, we took a family walk. This was Auby's first time to walk Mattie. She did it like a boss.

It was an evening of family love and laziness. I adore this little family and our time together.

College Crew Breakfast Brunch

On Saturday we hosted a potluck breakfast brunch with our college friends. 10 years of memories, 8 friends, 6 kids, and 2 pools lead to 1 amazing breakfast brunch and play date with some extraordinary friends.

 {Paige, Michael, Kristin, Stephanie, Adam, Dustin, and I with Ray as the photographer}

At 10AM we gathered and enjoyed some delicious eats. From Ray's father's famous breakfast casserole, bagels and cream cheese, cinnamon rolls, child-favorite cereal, and morning mosas, it was a delicious breakfast. The kids played and they played hard. The house was a beautiful mess and the perfect little play date. Enjoy some sweet pictures of our morning time together.

When your baby besties have a delicious snack and you are trying to find a way to get some, this is what you look like.

{Bryson and Jacob our secret spies}

{Twin picnic brunch}

{Bryson was helping Jacob to see all the fun outdoor play stuff}

After our breakfast, a quick change into their bathing suits, and with the help of a large canopy, two pools and lots of play equipment, the kiddos enjoyed a bit of the summer sun and a lot of outdoor play.

I absolutely loved watching these cute kids and their little personalities shine. From pouring buckets of water on each other, relaxing in the small pool, sliding down the slide, painting, and even a bit of side walk chalk, I have to say our morning time together was a success!

We are so thankful for these wonderful friendships, these amazing adventures, and are so happy that our children are growing up together to experience it all. Thank you friends for our morning breakfast brunch. It was great getting to catch up, mark down a few fun fall calendar dates, and spend some much needed time together. Until next time.

Gym Dandies, Girls Night, Library Love, Painting Party, & Arboretum Adventures

Our second to last week of summer was filled with friendship, fun, and family. To be honest, I'm not ready for the fun to end. I've so enjoyed my little munchkin and mama time. We have packed our days full of gym time, library love, music and movement, mall madness, pool and splash pad dates, and lots of little loves. Enjoy our second to last week of summer from Sunday through Friday.
Sunday

Afternoon snuggles, baby doll holding, Frozen watching, owl sound making, cake sharing, Jesus loves me singing, lazy Sunday with the family.

Monday

Monkeying around, Georgia love, parachute fun, scarf play, and building blocks all lead to an exciting morning at Gym Dandies.

We loved our family date to Gym Dandies with our Ogle friends. We are so excited that daddy could join us today to share in one of our final classes together.

 

Tonight I enjoyed a fabulous pizza and wine night with the ladies at Palios.

Tuesday

 

 Oh the places you will go.Loved this sweet little moment before taking daddy to work.

We enjoyed our final day at Gym Dandies with Eva Mae and Georgia. Until next summer at the Gym. I surely love these two little gymnasts.

Tuesday night I went over to our Fantlet house for a painting party with Kristin. Our babes enjoyed a game night prior to bed. I love these little hungry hungry hippos. 

Wednesday

We love our Wednesday story time hour at our local library. We enjoyed a few stories, songs, and play time. At the very end, the kiddos get a special sticker. Auby loves her library. We enjoyed a new book today, Elephantantrum. Too adorable for words.

That night our family of three went to the mall for a family play date. Auby loves the carousel but does not like to ride the horseys just yet. Loved this special time with her daddy tonight.

Thursday

 This morning we were all about loving on Dotty the Giraffe.

Music and Movement Thursdays at our local library are oh so fun! Our time included bumble bee stickers, shaker and music fun, Elephantantrum reads, and lots of toddler smiles.

Thursday afternoon I enjoyed a pool party with some of my adorable kiddos from school last year and their mommies.

I loved spending time with these cuties and a few others for an afternoon pool session and play time. Love these girls and so did Auby.

Friday

Our Arboretum Adventure included face painting, petting zoo, chatting with goats, water play, and Fantlet fun!