What are the best words to describe these past two months? FUN TIMES of course!!!
What a dramatic difference two months has made since their two-year old birthday. Their language comprehension is impressive and their verbal communication is now in sentences! Words and phrases are added on a daily basis. They also have a blast jumping, running, climbing and everything in between. We are having such fun times.
Celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas through the eyes of a child has been one of the best moments for Jay and I. Teaching the girls about being thankful for Thanksgiving was really neat, but nothing was more meaningful and special than teaching the girls why we celebrate Christmas-to remember the birth of Jesus who came to save us and give us life eternal. The girls are just learning to pick out baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the nativity. Some other fun memories from the holiday season included fun art projects (they love hand print and foot print art) and mini excursions that commemorate the holidays. A special mommy daughter memory was singing "Silent Night" to the girls each night. It's a special time, holding each girl in your arms, singing about the birth of Jesus and looking into their eyes with pure amazement and thankfulness.The past two months have been filled with fun times from beginning to end.
The girls got to spend some extra time with Aunt Aimee and Uncle Israel during the month of December while they were waiting on their house to be built. MiMi and RaRa, as they were referred to by the girls, were a big hit and they loved having the extra attention and love. The girls were also spoiled by both sets of grandparents and Uncle Joel for the holidays. The month of December was a month full of fun family times.
Some fun facts about the girls:
Avery Grace: 25lbs
-Loves the color blue.
-Loves, make that obsessed, with wearing a very specific set of ballerina pajamas. She tells us about the four ballerinas that are dancing on the pajamas. She even will perform her ballerina dance too. She also has a love for a particular penquin shirt with matching blue skirt that she will take out of the dirty laundry and demand to wear. Seemingly, she is a penguin by day and a ballerina by night.
-Favorite song remains "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
-Walks and runs fast, very fast! She is going to be like her momma, a speed walker!
-Loves for me to hold her over my shoulder. She is a true momma's girl.
-Loves Elmo.
-Loves bread and fruit.
-Can now get herself on and off a 'big kid' swing all by herself.
Aubrey Hope: 23.5lbs
-Prefers the colors pink and purple.
-Is very verbal and loves to tell you what she is thinking, usually in very loud volumes!
-She has a very silly side and we usually see it most especially right before bed time.
-Favorite song remains "Jesus Loves You."
-Loves art projects. Most especially, she loves painting and coloring.
-Loves for mom or dad to hold her with her head over our shoulder. She assumes the position on a regular basis, and then surprises us by popping up laughing out loud. She is much more likely to go back and forth between mommy and daddy for lots of snuggles and love.
-Loves Elmo.
-Loves sweets and fruit. She will follow you all around the kitchen saying "bite, bite, bite!"
Enjoy our pictures from the past two months.
Fun times in the back yard during the winter days:
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| I love this sweet girl...So big and grown up. |
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| I love my baby girl...Cuteness all around. |
World Prematurity Day: November 17, 2013
Our family was honored at the Woman's Hospital of Texas. Our picture proudly hangs on the Wall of Hope in the hospital for years to come. How fitting.
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| Wish we got more smiles, but I did have to wake them up after 45 minutes of napping to get to the event on time. Purple for World Prematurity Day. |
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| Proudly standing in front of our picture before the unveiling. |
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| The hospital CEO honoring the families who are part of the Wall of Hope. |
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| There is our cute family! |
Memories are from every day happenings:
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| Painting for the first time. they loved it. |
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| Looks like we have two girls that love mashed potatoes! |
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| We are going through a phase where the girls prefer to dress themselves. Some days are more interesting than others!! Just excited about life. |
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| Some days of picking out their own wardrobe includes pants and sometimes it does not!! Check out this noise I can make mom! |
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| The best husband in the world! |
Thanksgiving 2013:
What a wondertime to express how grateful we are for our family. God has blessed us far more than we ever could imagine or deserve. God is so good. While we couldn't be with our family in PA and AZ, we were able to enjoy a special meal with Aimee, Israel and friends.
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| Miss Serious! |
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| Sisters...the best things on earth. |
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| My favorite big girl turkey. |
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| Aunt Aimee and Avery doing the "fist pump." |
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| Thanksgiving 2013, and we will always remember the beard Jay had for November-Prostate Awareness month. |
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| While the girls might not have many smiles, momma couldn't have a happier heart. |
December 2013:
We had a few cold days in December. We enjoyed lots of Christmas festivities all bundled up this year!
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| Aubrey all bundled up. |
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| Nana and the troops out shopping. |
This year we went to Santa's Wonderland in College Station. Santa's Wonderland is a Texas Christmas experience with hayride tours, Santa town, a petting zoo, live band, and literally millions of Christmas lights. It was cold, fun and beautiful all at the same time. The girls really loved walking around (they were making so many squeals of delight) and enjoyed the lighted hayride.
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| Avery is all ready to take on the cold! |
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| Walking into Santa Town. |
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| The girls look even more mini compared to the nutcracker--but seemingly looks fun to climb on of course! |
We visited Santa at Chic-Fila this year. The girls enjoyed decorating a cookie (and most of all, eating it!) and were so patient waiting in line for Santa. Santa was great until it was their turn to sit next to him! And...this is why we didn't pay for professional Santa photos! Hahaha.
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| My absolute FAVORITE picture of my sweet daughter Avery. |
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| My love. |
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| One of the best shots with both girls together. |
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| The famous Santa photo. (I'll be paying for therapy later!) |
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| Finally, a picture with all three of us! |
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| Not a good photo, but now you can see the out-takes that I deal with! I love how Google added snow! |
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| My Love. |
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| This makes me so happy. |
Fun times at a local Christmas Festival:
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| I'm the kid from the Christmas Story movie! |
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| This is Texas--why is it so cold out here?! |
Some more fun pictures from the December:
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| CHEESE! Lunch date with momma. |
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| Avery is too interested in eating her yummy food to look up at the camera. |
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| Aubrey says "CHEESE." |
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| Avery says "CHEESE." (Now if only we could do it together all at once!) |
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| Chef in the making. |
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| Absolutely love these dresses from Aunt Maria and Uncle Jim (gorgeous!). Now if only we could get two smiles looking at the camera! |
Christmas Eve Service at Church:
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| I love this smile! |
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| Beautiful daughter indeed. |
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| Mom and Dad trying to get a cute photo of themselves too! |
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| Classic family picture with both kids frowning! |
Christmas Morning:
We had a Christmas Pajama Day. We all got new pajamas on Christmas Eve and wore them all day. It was the most comfy Christmas ever!!
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| They both love Mr. Potato Head. Aubrey especially likes the glasses! |
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| Some well loved kids! |
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| We transitioned from present opening to jumping on Mom's and Dad's bed! |
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| Time to wrestle! |
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| Pinned! |
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| Haivng so much fun! |
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| Jumping with mom. |
Christmas with Gramma and Poppy, MiMi and RaRa:
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| Avery was a little camera shy. They love the dragons they got from MiMi and RaRa. Avery likes to dress up her dragon with bows! |
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| They love this lock puzzle board from Gramma and Poppy. |
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| Gramma spoiling the girls with gifts and love. |
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| Every girl needs to wear at least 3 bows! |
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| Decorating Christmas trees, just like you would gingerbread houses. Gramma can't wait to make this a yearly tradition. |
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| Eating the Christmas tree was so much better than smiling for the camera. Can you tell which one has a sweet tooth? |
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| More presents! |
Christmas with Nana, Grandpa and Uncle Joel:
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| Opening presents for Christmas with Nana, Grandpa, and Uncle Joel. |
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| Starting the girls young on building projects. |
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| Princesses in the workshop. |
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| Fun times with Nana at the park. |
New Year's Eve:
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| Avery loves to blow the kazzoos! |
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| Never a better way to close out my New Year's Eve. (Guess who is saying Cheese!?) |
Our girls add joy, purpose, and fulfillment to our lives. They bring us smiles, optimism, and cheerful attitudes. And given the chance, they will teach us both many valuable lessons about life. Thank you God for these sweet blessings.
