a walk in the park

on one of the those really nice we had been having (where did spring weather go??), i took aubrey down to the pond to feed the ducks.
heading out with her bag of bread.

the ducks aubrey was still terrified of. i was hoping she would have gotten over that by now, apparently not. wouldn't go within 100 feet of em and clung to me for dear life.
she is such a baby sometimes ;)
so we walked. and posed by a tree. and clawed at our legs... ???
continued walking... and eating the bread intended for the ducks.

stopped to pick some flowers.

enjoyed the ocean-front view :)
gave momma a sweet face.
played on the dock... looking for ducks. she likes them from a distance.

she's getting too big.


looking through the cracks. smart girl :)
watching the plane- which she loves!
gymnast in the making ;)
i love it when we steal some one-on-one time away.

stupid, red eye flashes twice.

my family (really, my brother and sisters... and really, just one sister.) has kinda an odd sense of humor.

my brother seems to spend all his time on YouTube because he is constantly talking about or showing some random YouTube video. half the time, they are not worth watching, and yet he finds them hilarious!

well, at first, i didn't really "get" this video. or the guy in general.
but, now, i've watched at least 10 of his videos! (this guy is probably banking off of being ridiculous!)

this one in particular is in my head all the time! yikes... haha.



pretty funny, eh? ;)

check out his other stoo. totally random and weird, but still kinda funny.. in a weird and random way :)

side note:
last night, natalie and i went to a photography class, and the subject was on lighting. at one point we were talking about flashes and how it can make red eye... i soooo badly wanted to quote this, but, quickly thought otherwise. :)

that's all.

baby lovin'

This past Saturday night, one of my dearest and oldest (the debate between 1st or 2nd grade still goes on.) friends had her very first baby shower!
Little Sawyer Grace will be making her debut in approximately 5 weeks!!

I'm so glad that I was able to be a part of such a sweet, and beautiful, baby shower.

Ginni did an amazing job on the decor!
Pretty cake that Lauren S. picked out.

love jelly jars!
yummy food and more great decoration.
All of the hostesses with the mom-to-be.
getting ready to play some games. very hard games actually!! :)
just hanging around.(in the below pictures, Lauren is not an amputee... just looks like it!) ;)
really cute little bloomers!
opening the bottle/sippy cup labels I got her. She wasn't really sure what they were.. but, they are great!
The amazing quilt two of the girls made! I want one! :)
Me and Lauren S.
L-Crew.
Our little group keeps getting bigger :)

Can't wait to meet Sawyer!
Love you both! :)

a special play date

A week ago, Aubrey and I went and hung out with Jenny, Landon and Caden.

I have known Jenny since middle school and she is one of my very best friends.
We have been through a lot together.

At the end of January, Landon was diagnosed with Leukemia.
Let me tell you, this was not easy news to get.

My heart was so sad for what my best friend was about to have to go through with her child.

Landon has been doing amazing through it all though!! He has had blood taken, blood transfusions, spinal taps and bone marrow tests- more than I can really keep track of. His steroids have made him a little less than pleasant at times (!) and was eating them out of house and home!
After his first month of Chemo, the Leukemia cells are gone!! But, they have to do maintenance chemo for the next 3 years. The chemo he is doing now he does from home, by pill. Each month will be different types of chemo. (I think? I'm a little hazy on all the facts. God bless Jenny for keeping track of all this!) Now that he is off the steroids, his weight is going down and his attitude is getting better.


Jenny and Brent have a lot still to deal with. Unfortunately, its a very long road to recovery. I just can't imagine myself in their position. But, if I ever am, I sure hope I handle as amazingly as they have. They have an awesome support group around them, and, most of all, God! It is so clearly evident that He is working in this situation. Even though none of us can answer "Why Landon??" we all still trust God's plan. As hard as it is sometimes!

All of the chemo thus far has really just killed his immune system. Its slowly building back up, but, for the first 8 months they have to be careful with how much he's exposed to the "outside".
So, we went to them! We spent the day just hanging out and playing around at their house. You almost wouldn't even know that Landon was sick. Its amazing really.
Landon loved spinning Aubrey around in the chair... and, she loved it right back!
(Yes, there is something sticking out of his pants.. a lizard I believe?? Fake of course!)Then came the swords!
Armed and very dangerous!
Poor little Caden got the fury of Aubrey taken out on him with that sword.
She got a time out and then he got an apology and a hug.

He decided to do his own thing after that. Smart kid.

I was so glad we got to go over there. Hopefully we'll get to again soon! I love those boys! And, Jenny too! (And, Brent. But, he was working. :)

If you ever think about when you're praying, please pray for my friends.
They could surely use it.

all grown up. mostly.

The time has come.

Well, came.

This past weekend, after a great 2 years and 2 and a half months, we bid adieu to the crib.
Yes, my baby is now in her brand new, fancy-shamncy big girl bed!!

And, let me tell you.... its been great! Shockingly great actually. Which just thrills this momma :)
(Which has really distracted me from that fact that she is growing up entirely way too fast!)

First, the "last night".
It was very dramatic ;)She was happy for the most part of our, um, staged, photoshoot.
(it wasn't really quite bedtime yet). She quickly got over it and wanted out! More reassurance why it was time to move to the bed.This is the closest she's actually come to climbing out, so I wasn't too worried. :)Such a sad a looking prisoner! Sheesh! The very last crib sleeping pictures. They have been my favorite pictures of her throughout her life. I really will miss them. (I know, its not that big of deal, I need to get over it, its just a bed.. blah blah blah.) Here's to hoping for sweet, and crazy, big girl bed sleeping pictures! :)


After our jam-packed day in Ft. Worth, she was completely worn out and slept on the couch till around 7pm. During her little nap, the big switcheroo took place.
When I woke her up, I got her a drink and let her wake up a little (come to find out, she was not awake nearly enough!) and kept telling her she had a surprise!

I thought video of her seeing her new bed for the first time would be great, except,
she was less than impressed.


So, I got her some marshmallows thinking that would surely do the trick.
Clearly it didn't work.
So, after some cuddling while watching one of her movies, a bath, and dinner... we were ready!!
And, lots of jumping.
To break it in of course. ;)
It was finally time to settle down and go to sleep.
Getting herself all situated.

Put on her Veggie Tales cd, and she was good to go! Saying our good nights!
Before I went to bed I snuck a quick pic of her sleeping away..
And, in the morning!
Such a big girl!!
I was really so proud of her, she didn't get out of bed once!! And, since then, when its time for bed she goes no problem! Only one time did she come out, but, I just told her to go back and she did! I was really expecting for her to get up a million times (like one of my friends kids- 17 time the first night!!!) but really, she's such a good sleeper, I shouldn't have been that surprised. Now, I'm not totally naive, I'm still waiting for her to start getting up!
But, until then, I'll just enjoy this. :)


Her headboard started off like this
So, I primed it and then spray painted it Heirloom White.
Which looks cream against the pink walls.

And, that amazing quilt? Canton find! I've been anxiously awaiting using it. I love it! Its not really a twin size though, its too short or something? So, I will need to get another light blanket to use too. But, still love it :)
I also forgot a bed skirt. Add that to the list as well.
The super cute teddy bear came from Etsy.
Nothing but the best for my baby. Pillowtop! ;)
Actually, I got a really good deal on her mattress... so good, I got me a new mattress too! Ha! Once I get all the finishing touches down I'll post full pictures of her room.
Hopefully I'll get most of it done this weekend.
That's the plan anyway ;)


So there you have it. I no longer have a baby, instead, a little girl who sleeps in big bed and is learning to potty train and is talking up a storm and loves to sing and is learning to do everything on her own.

Its a good thing her bed is big enough for me to get into now.