Izzy - 2011

I can't believe I forgot to talk about Izzy! Izzy is the new puppy that we got the weekend before Thanksgiving. She is a 2 1/2 month old, black and white shih tzu who weighs just under 3 lbs. We had been talking about getting Aubrey a puppy for her birthday and we wanted to get her a shih tzu as she is always drawn to them. We had no intentions of getting a puppy during the holiday season but we went to Petland for dog food and it was all over from there. Izzy was in a cage with 2 of her siblings and Justin asked to see her. When they brought her out to us there was no way we could walk away without her. I made Justin call my mom and try to convince her this was a good idea, but she wasn't having any of it. She made me get on the phone and after several minutes of telling me no she said she would support my decision as long as I "took a moment to think like a responsible adult." Lol. So this responsible adult bought her daughter a puppy. She is quickly becoming a member of the family. Bella and Gigi ignores her and Nugget is learning to love her. Aubrey loves her and talks about her all the time and is obsessed with walking her. Of course we have to follow closely behind otherwise it turns into Aubrey dragging Izzy.

October & November 2011

Ok, this time I have a reason for not posting in a more timely fashion. The website I use to make the slideshows every month is no longer in service, so now I have to find a new place to make free slideshows. I didn't want to update until I had pictures to add, but since that hasn't happed I figured I should post before I forget everything that has happened! Hopefully I'll have some pictures to add soon.

October
October was a fun filled month for us. In the beginning of the month I had my exam for the clinical license. I had been studying for months and felt pretty well prepared but I took an extra day off before the exam to cram. Something must have worked because I passed it! I am now a licensed clinical social worker so I can diagnosed and do therapy (and bill for it all!). I haven't decided what I want to do with my license so for now I'm going to stay where I'm at. I don't want to leave my current job for anything but "the perfect job." Anyway, after I passed my test we celebrated with dinner at Trulucks - my favorite!
We celebrated mom's birthday this year with a trip to the Bishop Art's district. We had a blast walking around and checking out the shops. Justin found a store for men where he wanted everything in the store. This was a first for him! It was kind of entertaining to watch. We had dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse - all three of us had the chicken fried steak. It was delicious. We also had tableside smores which was the best part of the meal. Aubrey enjoyed holding her marshmellow over the fire and watching them melt.
Aubrey attended a petting zoo birthday party for Rosie & Caroline Paulk. The Paulk girls just turned two so Aubrey gets along well with them. It was adorable watching all the children play with the animals. Aubrey was fascinated by guinea pigs (yuck!) and loved the goats. Aubrey rode a pony for the first time but she wasn't sure what she thought of it. She didn't cry but was very stoic the entire time she was on it.
We ended the month with Halloween celebrations galore. A few weeks before Halloween I gave Aubrey the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and let her pick out her costume. She kept pointing at the black and white puppy dog costume, so that is what she was. I decided it was a little plain so I added some rhinestones and hearts to the collar and bows on the ears. She wore it with a black turtleneck, polka dot leggings, and red sparkly converse. She couldn't have been any cuter. The Sunday before Halloween we dressed Aubrey in her costume and took her to the Arboretum. They had all the pumpkins and gourds out which made for great pictures. They also had trick or treating but we didn't stay for that as we had one very tired puppy dog. On Halloween she wore her costume to the nursing home to visit Mr. Royall and was a big hit. Dowtown Mckinney had trick-or-treat around the square that evening and we had a great time. All the shop owners were outside handing out candy in costume,the fire department was there with their truck for the kids to play on, and there was a group of firemen dressed in clown costumes. Aubrey loved watching the other kids and gathering candy. We finished up with dinner at Sauce which was perfect because we could sit outside and watch the trick-or-treaters. It was a perfect Halloween!

November
Ah, November. The first weekend in November I went with my friend Kim to visit Paula and Omar in Baltimore. This was very stressful for me - it was my first time away from Aubrey! I was worried that my plane would crash or that something would happen to Aubrey and Justin. It was horrible. Well, it was a great trip but the stress was horrible. I had fun catching up with the girls and doing a bit of shopping, and I think Justin enjoyed the weekend alone with Aubrey. I made a video of myself each morning for him to show to her because I was worried she'd forget me. I think the weekend was good for all of us. It gave Justin some daddy/daughter time and it gave me some relaxing girl time.
We celebrated Justin's birthday with a family dinner at Bob's steakhouse in Plano. It was a fun night with a ton of yummy food. He played golf with his friends the next day and we went out to dinner again that night (I can't remember where but I'm sure it was good!). All he wanted this year was clothes so thats what he got. Dress shirts, pants, sweaters, and 2 pairs of shoes. If you had told me seven years ago that he would become a fashionista I would have laughed, but here we are! :)
The next weekend was craft show fun! We hit the country peddler show, 'Neath the Wreath in Plano, and the Chi O Christmas Market. We didn't get much this year but had a blast looking. This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions and I can't wait until Aubrey can enjoy it.
This Thanksgiving was different than any other - all of my mom's brothers and sister came up to celebrate grandma being 80. Her birthday was in September but Thanksgiving was the first time everyone could get together. She had no idea this was happening, so on Thanksgiving morning we went outside to greet her like usual and when she came inside everyone said "surprise!" This was the first time I've ever seen her surprised. She was so shocked she was shaking. We had lunch and talked, it was a very nice day. While we were sad it was such a short time together it was still worth it. It has been a very long time since we were all together and able to catch up.

So, that is what we've been up to! Hopefully I'll get some pics on here soon but I'm not promising anything!

August & September

Once again, time has gotten away from me and I am two months behind in posting. 2011 is flying by!


At the beginning of August Justin went to a golf tournament in Amarillo. This was his first time away from Aubrey. He had a great time with his friends and family, and even played a decent game. We missed him at home but had a fun girls weekend with Bitsy. When Justin made it back to Dallas we decided we would get Aubrey a fish. So, we went to Petsmart and picked out a pretty blue beta and a nice bowl; took him home and set him up and Aubrey couldn't be less interested! We named him fishy and make a production out of feeding him daily but the only one who seems to be interested in him is Gigi the cat. Justin says that Aubrey likes feeding him dinner but I still don't think she'd miss him. Towards the end of the month we went back to Cedar Creek Lake for a long weekend. We were supposed to go to Galveston but there was an impending hurricane so we had a last minute change of plans. I think it actually turned out for the better. We relaxed by the lake, played with the animals, cooked and played games - it was a perfect mini-vacation. We decided that since none of us are big on being IN the ocean, we will go to Galveston sometime in the off-season to walk the beach and the strand.

September was busy as always but who knows what we were doing...Grandma came to Dallas for 2 weeks to celebrate her 80th birthday. She stayed with Bitsy and helped entertain Aubrey during the week. They had a blast having tea parties and playing outside. The last weekend of the month was busy for us. On that Friday Justin and I took Aubrey to the Dallas Greek Food Festival. There was food and music and dancing and shopping - we had so much fun. We got Aubrey a belly dancing skirt which we tied around her multiple times and some wrist bracelets with jingles that we put on her ankles. She was putting on her own musical show in the courtyard while we enjoyed our gyros. The next day we went to the Country Peddler show in Allen with grandma and Bitsy. There were a few cute holiday things but not as much as the show in Arlington. Mom and I each got two turkey decorations, so I guess we did pretty well. After that we went to Octoberfest in downtown Mckinney and met Justin for lunch. We ate on the patio at Sauce while we enjoyed authentic German music and dancing. Aubrey loved watching the people pass by dressed in costume. We left at nap time and went back later that night so I could do some shopping and Aubrey could play in the kids area. It was a festive weekend that was made perfect by the fall weather!

As for Aubrey, she is doing great. She has finally started eating meat, which has made our lives a lot easier. Some of her favorite foods are: chicken tenders, eggplant Parmesan, greek yogurt, and cheese, cheese, and more cheese. Her vocabulary is expanding daily. She can name all the farm animals as well as many zoo animals. She is putting together short sentences and is using correct pronouns (most of the time). She tells us what she wants and what she likes and dislikes. She loves playing with her dolls and has recently enjoyed playing "doctor" with them. She has a clipboard that she carries around and pretends to write on after she checks their heartbeat and temperature. It's adorable. She has become obsessed with asking the animals for hugs and kisses...this works okay with the dogs but not so much with the cat. It hasn't stopped her from trying - she is nothing if not persistent. She goes crazy for anything having to do with animals - toys, songs, iphone apps. She is adorable.

That's all for now, enjoy the pictures!

June & July 2011

In May’s posting I said I would try to be more timely with my posts…obviously, since I am now trying to write for June and July that did not happen! I will try to recount the goings-on from the past two months the best I can…

June
June was a pretty quiet month for us. Justin got promoted, so we were very excited about that. He is now managing both the nursing and allied sides of the Ft. Worth office. It is more money and more responsibility, so he is very pleased with this. We celebrated with dinner at Trulucks, which is always delicious! The very next week we celebrated Father’s Day with sushi at Naan. Bitsy gave Justin some magnetic boards to go up in the garage that will hold his tools and accessories. Justin has been wanting these for awhile, so he is excited. I am excited to have an organized system for tools and equipment and not the mess we currently have! I gave Justin a gift certificate to the PGA golf store, which he used to buy a travel bag for his clubs since he has an upcoming golf tournament in Amarillo. Aubrey had a great time walking around the PGA superstore, and even practiced with some clubs just her size. Justin got me a pink club (I think it’s called a driver?) to use when we go to Top Golf. I think he only got it for me so I would stop using his good clubs, but I can’t say I blame him! Aubrey and I made him a small canvas for his office that have our handprints on it. The background is black and then my handprint is in white, with Aubrey’s handprint in red on top of mine. It wound up being more abstract than I had hoped for, but I think he liked it.

That’s about all I have for June…when we weren’t celebrating various occasions we were escaping the heat in our pool!

July
This was a crazy month for us – it seems like the hottest month of the year is always the busiest! We had a great 4th of July weekend. Bitsy came over that Saturday and we had a cook-out at our house. We tried some new recipes that were delicious and then swam and sipped on Sangrias. It was a relaxing evening and the perfect way to celebrate. Downtown McKinney celebrates the fourth with a fabulous parade. We went to this for the first time and had a blast. We got there early and picked a prime spot on the square and were able to see the parade up close and personal. We didn’t stay for the whole thing as it was very hot and Aubrey was pretty tired. Most of the city’s fireworks didn’t start until 9 pm so we missed out on them this year. It was too late for Aubrey and I think it would have freaked her out, but hopefully we’ll get to see some next year!

Mid-month we took Aubrey to lunch with Kate at Rise (yum) and then headed to her 18 month appointment with Dr. Kennedy. She weighed 23. 6 lbs and is 33 ½ inches tall. Dr. Kennedy is pleased with how she is doing, especially on her motor development and her vocabulary. By the time a child is 2 they should have around 50 words. At her appointment she had 49 words. Here are a few of her words: hello, hi, byebye, nighty night, bird, cookie, pup pup, more, up, momma, daddy, Sadie, Maemae, Bubba, Gigi, Bell Bell, hungry, stinky, poo, orange, apple, hey, baby, Aubrey, elmo, uhoh, no, moo, hot, bath, nap, home, hat, shoe, beep, boom, kitty, ow, amen, vroom, yum yum, good, book, now, balloon, what happen?, ball, duck. She is constantly moving and running and dancing. She loves to pretend vacuum and sweep the house, and she loves to play with her dolls. She follows instruction really well, but it is only when she wants to. She has a stubborn streak just like her momma and we are working on getting it under control. When she is really tired she gets frustrated easily but calms down pretty quickly. We are constantly exhausted by her but we love every moment!


The last weekend of the month we were supposed to go to Galveston for a few days but at the last minute we cancelled due to tropical storm Don. There was talk about it becoming a hurricane so we decided it would be best to cancel the trip. Luckily, we were able to reserve a house at Cedar Creek lake at the last minute which turned out to be perfect. The house was called “the Farmhouse” and it was gorgeous. It was a 2 bedroom, 2 bath home with every amenity one could need on about an acre of land. Outside was a huge chicken coop and yard, with tons of chickens and roosters. Aubrey LOVED the chickens. Also on the property were several goats that we were able to feed and pet and even walk. Aubrey fed them apples every day we were there and let them nibble on her fingers. The lake water was down 4 ft, but this actually worked out perfectly for us. It created a sandy beach that Aubrey could play on and then wade into the water. She had a blast. even got to ride in Justin’s kayak, as well as float alongside Bitsy in her own pink kayak. I think all of this was overwhelming to her at first but she soon fell in love with the lake and the farmhouse. It was a perfect, relaxing weekend and we can’t wait to go back!

So, that’s about it for the months of June and July. That was brutal to sit down and write so I will be sure to try to keep up on a monthly basis from now on!

May 2011 cont.

I just remembered what else happened in May - Mother's Day! This was my second time to celebrate the holiday and I still can't believe I'm actually a mother. So weird. There is one part of me that feels like Aubrey has always been a part of my life, but there is another part of me that feels like I'm not old enough to be a mother. Anyway, we decided to celebrate with a mini-vacation to Ft. Worth. We all went over on Saturday afternoon and checked-in at our hotel and then did some shopping on the square, followed by a fabulous dinner at Grace. Mom and I had pear martinis that were delicious! We had planned on going to the zoo or the botanical gardens the next morning, but Aubrey had had a rough night so we headed back to Dallas instead. On Sunday night mom came over and watched Aubrey so Justin and I could go out. It's been awhile since he and I have gone out just the two of us and we had a great time. We had sushi, followed by drinks on a patio with live music, and wrapped up the night listening to some drummers out by the ponds. It was a lot of fun...well, until the drummers were arrested! All in all, it was a great mothers day weekend. I wish I had pics but we forgot to take any!

May 2011

Sorry for the delay in posting about May, things have been crazy around here. I keep thinking things will calm down but the never do...

So, I've already forgotten most of what happened last month but the main event was Hannah's graduation. This was Justin & Aubrey's first trip to Georgia and they both loved it. My family lives in Athens, which is a pretty part of the state. It was nice to see trees and greenery - both things we miss out on in Texas. Hannah was sweet enough to give us a tour of the University of Georgia, which we all enjoyed. I think Justin especially loved it as we have good friends who are Georgia bulldog fans. He had to take pics everywhere we went on campus and text them to his friend. It was nice getting to know my little cousin and see the young adult she has become. We all had fun at Hannah's graduation party. We haven't seen this side of my family since our wedding, so needless to say we had a lot to catch up on! The visit was too short but it was worth it. I just hope we don't have to wait another five years before we see them again!

As fare as Aubrey goes, she is doing great. She is very playful and social and constantly keeps us on our toes. She is loving the pool and being outdoors, and sometimes gets frustrated when we stay inside. Unfortunately the hotter it gets the more we stay inside, unless we're in the pool. She has really gotten into coloring and stickers, which is great since she can do that anywhere. Bitsy got her a Mrs. Potato Head for Easter and she LOVES it. The eyes, nose, and mouth may not always make it in the correct hole but thats okay. I thought it would be fun to put some of Mrs. Potato Head's crazy lips over my lips and Aubrey thought that was so much fun she wants me to do it all the time. Obviously I am regretting that "fun" idea. I got her a doll crib and other doll accessories and she is having fun playing with her baby. She puts her baby in the little crib and tucks her in, then says "nighty night" and gives her a kiss before rocking her. It is so sweet!

I'm sure there is more but I've got to save something for June! I will try to be more timely in my posts next time!

April 2011

I can't believe April is already over! We had another busy month, here's what was going on:

Play: Early in the month Aubrey got to meet and play with Keagan. Keagan is two and a half and is the son of my oldest friend, Dana. They came over for dinner and the kiddos played outside while Dana and I caught up on gossip. Aubrey loved Keagan, who was so sweet with her. They sat in the wagon together for awhile and were sharing sippy cups...it was pretty cute. The most adorable part of the evening was when Keagan said Aubrey had pretty hair - awwww! Later in the month I co-hosted a bridal shower which Aubrey attended. There were three other children there that were close to her age. She had a blast! She made besties with Rosie Paulk and enjoyed hours of playing in the fountain with her. They both got their pretty dresses soaked, so I took Aubrey's off halfway through the shower. Aubrey loves being down to her diaper! She was running around in her frilly pink panties rubbing her belly and clapping and dancing. It was adorable. She was VERY sociable!

At home: The weather was nice for the majority of the month, so we spent quite a bit of time outside. Aubrey loves her new playhouse, which I have set up in the corner of the yard. I have tried to make that area special for her with flowers and yard decorations, as well as her sand and water table. We recently had a safety net put over the pool, so now we don't have to worry as much about Aubrey running around outside. It has been a great relief not to have to be on her heels the whole time we are out there.

Easter: We went to the Dallas Arboretum for an Easter egg hunt the weekend before Easter. It was so much fun! It was early in the morning and they had breakfast and crafts before the hunt. Aubrey loves being around other children, so she was in a fabulous mood. After breakfast we all lined up along the edge of the big lawn and waited for the bunnies to tell the children to "go!" Once they did it was absolute chaos. We held Aubrey back because she is so little, but by the time she went out all the eggs were gone. Justin was able to wrangle one egg from another kid so Aubrey at least had one. She thought it was the best egg in the world since it had things in it! We walked around for a bit and Aubrey was soon exhausted. We had a great day and started a new family tradition! On Easter Sunday everyone came to our house for lunch (cooked by Bitsy!). It was nice getting to see everyone and catch up on what is happening. Aunt Martha brought confetti eggs for Aubrey. Aubrey didn't know what to think at first but finally got the hang of smashing them. It was pretty cute.

Skills: Aubrey had her 15 month check-up with Dr. Kennedy. All went well! She weighs 22 lbs and is 32 1/2 inches tall. According to Dr. K she is very advanced in everything. We were not surprised! Aubrey says about 15 words, which is advanced even for an 18 month old. She is very sturdy and likes to run and dance and stand on her tip toes. She follows commands well (when she wants to). She is perfect in every way! :)

Pics from the 2nd half of March 2011

March 2011

March was a busy month for us, but it was a fun month. Here's what was going on:

The weather was nice for most of the month, so we spent a lot of time outside. Justin and I took Aubrey to the "Krewe of Barkus" which is the Mardi Gras pooch parade in downtown McKinney. She loved seeing dogs of all shapes and sizes, many of whom were dressed up in Western outfits. We also took her to an art show at the Arboretum during Dallas Blooms. She had fun playing in fountains and with some of the animal sculptures that were for sale. We got some great pictures of her in front of the tulips. Unfortunately, she was more interested in picking the flowers than posing with them. She is finally able to play with her sand and water table we got for her birthday - she loves it. She likes to dump the sand in the water side and then splash in the water. I went a little crazy and bought her a playhouse...I know she's a little young but she seems to like it. It is in the corner of the yard so I decided to decorate it with brightly colored flowers and things that spin. It has kind of turned into her own private garden. We are at the point where if it is nice outside that's where we can be found!

Aubrey has been happy pretty much all the time lately. Its funny to think about this time last year - she was fussy 24/7 and no one was getting sleep. As hard as we tried we couldn't enjoy our time with her because she was so miserable. Today she is a completely different child. She is happy and playful, she is inquisitive and sneaky. We can't be around her and not be laughing or smiling at her. She is rarely fussy, if she is it is usually due to teething, lack of sleep, or constipation. She enjoys playing outside, dancing, and playing with her "Little People" sets. At bedtime she likes to read one book, but if it is a short one we read two books. She sleeps in her crib until about 5:00 when she starts crying and we transfer her to our bed until we get up. She still spends Mon-Fri with Bitsy - taking care of Mr. Royall, helping her with work, and running errands. Her new task at Mr. Royall's is to help put his shoes on. In mid-March, great grandma came to visit for a few weeks. Aubrey loves time with her great-grannie. I was so close to my grandmother growing up it is great to see Aubrey developing the same relationship with her.

I am sitting outside while I write this...I just noticed her un-planting all my herbs - time to go!


***I have more pics from March to upload, check back later!***

February 2011

This month was kind of crazy for us - we had an arctic blast early in the month that immobilized the city. This meant many days off of work and in the house with Aubrey, with no where to go. Early on the power went out at our house, and as the temperature quickly dropped we decided to pack everyone up and go to Bitsy's house. We stayed for several days; I stayed home from work and Justin went into the office when he could. Aubrey LOVED having all of her favorite people (and pets) all under one roof. I think if she had her way she would have it like that all the time. We played a lot, baked cookies, danced to music, and spent a lot of time looking out the window watching fools try to make it up the hill (only to slide right back down). Once it looked like the roads were better we went back home...for a few days. We had another round of bad weather which had us back at my moms. This time it worked out perfect - we were there for my birthday. Justin picked up my favorite pizza on the way home and we celebrated with pizza and strawberry cupcakes. That weekend we celebrated with dinner at Trulucks - which Aubrey thoroughly enjoyed. She was so entertaining and well behaved it was amazing. This year I had the best birthday I've had in a while.

Aubrey had a pretty good month. She is growing out of everything, which means a lot of shopping with mom and Bitsy! She is so active we have to make sure she has clothes that she can play in and get dirty. Her molars are coming in, as are a few more teeth up front. This has made her pretty miserable and nothing seems to help. She babbles all the time, I just wish we could understand what she is saying. She can still say Sadie, Bubba, Gigi, Momma, and Daddy. The only thing is now "Bubba" seems to apply to all dogs, not just Nugget. We are working on this. Even though she can't say more she clearly understands most things. She follows directions and knows the names of most objects. She can point to her nose, belly and feet. Aubrey is smart as a whip but also stubborn as anything. She has a mind of her own and will do what she wants when she want. She has even started throwing temper tantrums when she doesn't get her way (I am not amused). We are also working on this. She loves playing with her "little people" and ball popper. She is learning to use crayons and markers. Aubrey loves to be outside, especially when the dogs are out. I can't wait until it is warmer so we can be out there more often.

We are looking forward to March - we already have a lot of fun things planned! Check back later!

January 2011

Aubrey turned one on January 13...I can't believe she's already one! Where did time go? This past year has been so amazing. The first few months with Aubrey were so hard and stressful on all of us. She was sick and unhappy all the time, and there was nothing we could do to help her. Mom was living at our house helping us out in the afternoon and at night, then going to work during the day. Justin was working every day and trying to keep the household running. I was an emotional wreck but trying to do the best I could. We were at the pediatrician at least once a week, and when we weren't there we were on the phone with them. Dr. Kennedy has been the best pediatrician we could have ever asked for. Despite the lack of sleep, all the screaming (by Aubrey AND by us), we were all madly in love with that little bundle of fury. Things got better after a few months and then we started having fun. Aubrey is a true individual with a personality all her own...she makes us laugh and smile every day. She has changed all of our lives in a way I never knew possible, and I am so grateful for her.

We had a birthday party for Aubrey the weekend after her birthday. We kept it small and just had family, which was perfect. It was a monkey theme with green and pink decorations. Because of the family that attended we had an Indian food lunch, which was delicious. How many one year olds have Indian food at their party? I got a strawberry cake and white cupcakes from Tart bakery, where I get everything. We thought they were yummy, however Aubrey did not seem impressed. The cupcake was her first sweet ever...she picked at the frosting with her thumb and forefinger and daintily brought it to her mouth. This is the first time I have ever questioned whether she was truly my child! She got a ton of presents - books, a tiara and wand, dress up clothes, toys, a giant stuffed monkey. I think she had a great first birthday!

As for what she's up to, here 'ya go:
-1 year doctor visit: She weighs 21 lbs and is 30 1/2 inches tall. She is advanced in her language skills and right on target with everything else. She is walking, running, and squatting; not to mention CLIMBING.
-Words: Momma, dadda, Gigi (our cat), Bubba (Nugget's nickname), Sadie (Bitsy's dog); and a whole lot of baby babbles
-Sleeping: Aubrey is still sleeping in her crib (hurray)! She goes to bed at 7:30 and gets up around 6. She usually sleeps the whole night, however sometimes we have spells of her waking up a few times.
-Teeth: There are two on the bottom, four on the top, and molars coming in! Teething has been an issue for Aubrey with each new tooth, so I can't wait for them all to come in!
-Food: She doesn't like baby food at all anymore. The only thing she will eat that is baby food is the organic fruits and veggies that are in the squeeze pouches. She still eats all organic and some of her favorites are chicken weenies/sausages, broccoli, mashed potatoes, peas, black beans, tortillas, bread. Today we tried curried cauliflower (loved it) and tofu (also loved it). When she turned one we went swapped formula for rice milk. This was an easy transition. We also got rid of the bottle, which we were happy to see go!
-Play:Aubrey loves to play independently. She likes to run around the house and explore different things. She likes little things that she can put in a basket or container and then take back out. She has some Fisher Price "little people" that she has fun with. The little people go in a farm or a dollhouse. For some reason she is really into having her own chair, so she has little chairs scattered everywhere she goes. She loves it when we read to her, which we do throughout the day and every night. Aubrey really enjoys playing outside, I think because there is so much to look at. She also likes going to different places and watching people and seeing new things. I am trying to get her into coloring but so far she scribbles a bit and then bites the tips off of the crayons. She did fingerpaint at Bitsy's house and had a lot of fun with that. Of course, we had to frame her first finger painting!
Other skills:Aubrey can point to her belly and her nose, she follows commands like "come here" and "leave it". She knows the word "no". She likes to bring things to you and "share." She can climb the stairs on her own, which we let her do as long as one of us is following behind her. It seems like all of the sudden she understands everything we say, of course, she is brilliant!

December 2010 - Christmas & New Years!

December was a busy month for us! Check out what we were up to:

On the 10th Justin & I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. I know I say this all the time but I can't believe how fast time has gone by! I remember planning every last detail of our wedding, sending out invitations, finding the perfect dress, getting ready, and finally, walking down the aisle! So much has happened happened since then - I graduated with my masters, we have both had new jobs, we bought our first house and put in a pool, and we had Aubrey! Justin and I celebrated our anniversary by going to dinner at a new Italian restaurant, followed by dessert at our favorite wine bar; it was the perfect way to celebrate five years!

We tried to think of special things we could do this year to celebrate Christmas with Aubrey. The only problem is there is not much you can do with an eleven month old that they will enjoy! We went to look at Christmas lights in Grand Prairie - she slept through the whole thing. We decorated the tree with Bitsy and Aunty Eileen - that was okay but she got sleepy early. We went to Breakfast with Santa at the Neiman Marcus downtown - she LOVED it! We headed downtown on a Sunday morning and made our way to Neiman's, which was closed for the day, except for breakfast. We were seated at a lovely table with our name on it and waited for breakfast to be brought out. While we were waiting we were visited by Santa's elf who was making balloon animals for all the kids. Aubrey was fascinated by the elf's outfit and balloons. She loved the balloon snowglobe she received! As they were bringing out the food Santa walked in with a great big "HO HO HO!" It was a lot of fun to watch as all the kids turned around to look. While we were eating Santa made his way to our table. Aubrey wasn't all that interested, however she was perplexed by his big silver belt buckle. When we finished eating they invited all the children out to the middle to listen to live music and dance around. We were a little hesitant to send tiny Aubrey out there but she did great. There was a group of little girls that came up to her and were paying her a lot of attention, which she enjoyed. Once dance time was over we headed downstairs to have pictures taken with Santa. At this point Aubrey was exhausted and ready for a nap! All in all, I think she had a great time!

On Christmas Eve we stayed in the Driskoll with Bitsy. It is such a beautiful hotel and is very festive, we love spending time here every year. Aubrey had great fun puttering around the suite...the best thing about hotels is they are virtually baby proof. She was able to move about freely and check everything out. She had a lot of fun running from room to room. We had a fancy dinner in the grill...my favorite part was the amuse bouche and the gnocchi. Justin was brave and tried oysters. He seemed to like them but they looked pretty slimy to me. After dinner Aubrey went to bed in her cute Christmas nightie and waited for Santa to come. Christmas morning Aubrey opened her stocking, which she was actually pretty into, much to my surprise. Her stocking had a stuffed Grinch in it, little balls that light up, and a pair of black patent keds. Everything was a hit! Justin and I opened our stockings from mom, and mom opened her stocking from us. Later in the morning we headed to Uncle Dennis and Aunt Martha's house, where we had a yummy breakfast and fun opening presents. Aubrey was more into the bags and wrapping paper than the actual presents. She also was having fun picking one thing up and carrying it around the room. Here is a list of what Aubrey took home for Christmas:

-Clothes, clothes, and more clothes!
-Xylephone
-Marracas
-Tambourine
-Drums
-Winnie the pooh toy
-Books
-a llama llama toy
-a talking lambchop toy
-a lei with a big bell on it
-a stuffed gorilla
-Fischer Price kitchen
-Shoes
-TWO COLLEGE FUNDS!!! One from Bitsy & one from grandpa! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
-I know there is more but I've already forgotten!!

We headed back to Dallas on Christmas Day - Aubrey slept the entire way home. The next day Aubrey's Grandpa came over for lunch and a visit. She has grown so much since the last time they saw each other! It was nice to be able to visit with him and let Aubrey get to show off all her new skills. We had a great time, I wish we could do it more often!

We didn't do anything for New Years, which was kind of nice after all of the holiday festivities. Bitsy and I took Aubrey to lunch at Gloria's on New Years Eve. Aubrey enjoyed looking at all of the decorations, especially the balloons. The rest of the day was pretty normal - play, eat, play, bath, bedtime! Justin and I had a nice dinner at home and then went to bed early, only to be woken up by little miss in the middle of the night. I can say that it was the first time I've been awake at midnight on New Years in a long time!

Aubrey's first Christmas season was perfect. We were able to celebrate in different ways and got to spend time with family and friends. We kept old traditions and started new ones. I can't wait until next year, when she can understand what is going on a little more!