This year's Halloween was a bit different for the girls.
Aubrey wrote about it at school when the teacher asked the class to draw a picture of what they were going to be for Halloween...
"I will be a tooth fairy. Too bad that I can't come to Halloween. I am going to Atlanta to be a flower girl. I am excited."
(See the end of this post for her custom-made costume she wore to a Halloween party. :))
So instead of trick-or-treating on Oct. 31st, the girls were practicing their flower girl skills before Uncle Jacob's wedding the next day.
And let me just say, I cannot wait see the professional photographer's photos!
I know I'm biased, but goodness gracious. These two make my heart swell!
Despite the massive temperature drop and 25+ mph wind, the day was absolutely beautiful!
I even snagged a photo with the best man! (This guy was made to wear formal attire. Swoon!)
And what's a wedding without dancing?
Daniel captured this gem of a video while I stepped out to help Aubrey bandage her skinned knee.
I'm pretty sure I've watched this a gazillion times...
It was such a great weekend!
Congrats Jacob and Brandy!
Thanks for letting us share in your special day!
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Even though the girls didn't get to go trick-or-treating this year, Aubrey came up with her own costume as the Tooth Fairy for a Halloween party at a friend's house, and Mina has been in non-stop Elsa mode. The girl can seriously NOT let it go.
We recently had Mina's ENT follow-up appointment after the accident, and I am still in awe at God's mercy. We go back in three months for a second test for her hearing. She may have some very, very mild hearing loss in her left ear, but nothing that concerns the ENT. Here she is in the waiting room with Daniel before her appointment. Precious miracle sitting in her daddy's lap...
Other than potty training (Lord, help me.), Mina is seriously the easiest child on the planet.
She is also the most loving child you'll ever meet.
This girl even waves and blows kisses to the potty saying, "Bye-bye, poo-poo!" as she flushes. (She doesn't bid farewell to many toilet pee-pee's, unfortunately...)
She'll -- out-of-nowhere -- announce, "I need a kiss, Mama! And a hug!"
Every time we drive by Aubrey's school, she waves and shouts as loud as she can, "Hi Auuuuuubie! I miss youuuuu!"
She is just downright sweet.
And as sweet as she is, there's definitely a SPICY side to her.
Literally.
She can take down hot food like it's nothing.
Here's Mina just cackling at Aubrey one afternoon while chowing-down on some jalapeño chips. I asked her if she was okay and if she needed a drink. She said, "My tongue is on fire, but I okay! I wike it!"
And below is a rare photo.
Mad Minxie.
It doesn't happen often (extreme cases of when she's super tired or hungry), so I feel the need to document it. I do remember Aubrey at this age, so this actually may be a face we start seeing more...
But I can't end this post on that picture.
This little video gem is such a perfect representation of Mina ninety-nine percent of the time.
Adorably funny and as cute as can be!
So, just as I was saying I wasn't going to disappear...I disappeared. ;)
Things have gone from crazy busy to downright INSANE.
You see, this FOR SALE sign found its way into our front yard a week ago.
Have you ever had to sell a house while living with a 19 month old and 4 year old under your roof?
Well, it ain't fun.
After five showings Daniel jokingly/seriously asked if we should move to another house while we tried to sell our current one. Would you believe that after only five days we had a signed contract?!
As long as everything goes according to plan, we will be out of our house by April 30th.
That means we have to find a place to live for about 7-8 weeks until we move to Cleveland.
Oh boy.
While life is literally flying by, there have been some lovely blessings in the midst of this madness.
First and foremost: we are still getting meals from our amazing friends after bringing Mina home.
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!
And it was super helpful having nice weather during the week we were showing our house...
Spring feels as if it's about to burst forth, and we could not be more excited.
I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat -- Allergy season is awakening!
This little one is so thrilled that she can go outside more.
Winter about did her in...
And this little one is loving the ability to explore her surroundings and really check things out.
Speaking of the two munchkins...
Mina is idolizing Aubrey more each day, while Aubrey is taking her time warming up to the idea of having a little sister.
Aubrey is in the phase right now where she simply tolerates (most days) Mina.
Little nugget would love nothing more than to hug and kiss all day long.
Aubrey is learning to accept it.
Aubrey actually showed Mina how to play Ring Around the Rosie the other day.
It was a happy moment...
And just so you don't think it's all smiles, songs, and dances over here -- even little love bug Mina has her moments...
But it doesn't take long before the giggles are back.
This girl is just downright full of joy and happiness.
I need to do a whole post just on this girl. There are so many amazing things to share about her.
And the man of the house seems to be thoroughly enjoying the sweetness of having two daughters to love on...
Little Miss Aubrey was in her first choir performance at church this past Wednesday!
It was a 1950's Shake, Rattle, and Soul theme.
Aubrey was technically 17 days shy of making the official cut-off for the little kid's choir age group, but the preschool director made an exception. :)
And let me tell you...this girl loves to sing her Bible songs!
Psalm 100:1 "Make a joyful NOISE unto the Lord" seems fitting here.
The performance was held in the church's gymnasium. Here's a quick little clip of Aubrey getting ready to take the stage!
Did you catch the "You look great!" voice in the video? That was Daniel! He left the hospital to come watch her perform and then went back to work after it was over. He's such a good dad. :)
Can you spot her in the crowd?
Here's a very rough montage of two song snippets for the grandparents to see. :)
First song: B-I-B-L-E. Not sure what the purpose was for the ribbons, but Aubrey got pretty enthusiastic about it.
Second song: I'm Gonna Wiggle. This was just a silly song for Aubrey to show off her mad dancing skills. By the way, don't miss her "bow" at the very end. Ha!
It was certainly a fun night and just another event to remind me that my baby girl is growing up on me!
By the way, now that the show's over does this mean I can burn eject the practice CD in the car that I've had to listen to for two solid months? If not, I might just wiggle and giggle and...EXPLODE! ;)
It's been over a week and a half since Aubrey's official birthday (seriously?!), and I wanted to jot down her pediatrician stats/overall personality for my mommy records.
I'll start with her stats from her 2-year check up:
Bonus: Daniel was able to come to Aubrey's appointment! She loved having him there (as did I!) and was such a brave girl when it was time to get shots and draw blood (just for a routine screening of iron levels). It amazes me how different she is when Daniel is around -- it truly illustrates just how important building that daddy/daughter relationship is with a little girl. When the pediatrician walked into the exam room, she stood at the door and just stared at Aubrey. Finally she uttered, "SHE'S HUGE!"
(To this day, I have never met another little girl Aubrey's age that was bigger than her.)
The pediatrician spent the first 10 minutes of our visit just advising us on how to handle Aubrey's "size". She told us to try and make comments in public such as, "Remember, Aubrey, now that you are 2 years old, you need to act like a big girl..." because people will see her and assume she's 3 or 4.
A prime example during a trip at Chick-fil-a just a few weeks ago:
The girl with Aubrey in the pictures below is 4 years old. She's not "small" for her age either -- she's anaverage sized 4-year-old. Needless to say, this little girl L-O-V-E-D Aubrey, and they played together the entire time.
So, anyway...we have a friendly giant living in our house. According to height predictors, she'll be 6 ft. or taller by the time she turns 18. We'll see how accurate that ends up being...
Now that we've covered Aubrey's outer shell, let's take a look at what she's like on the inside.
SWEETNESS. Oh, is she sweet... Anytime we go to pick her up from the church nursery or from Mother's Day Out, the comment from her teachers is always the same: Aubrey is the SWEETEST little girl! For awhile Daniel and I would just laugh and say, "This one?!" She is sweet at home, but she really lays it on thick when she's in public.
HILARIOUS. This little girl has us cracking up all the time. She is a ham, a clown, a performer. I call her my "goofy-goose" a lot.
DRAMA QUEEN. In conjunction with "HILARIOUS."...One of Aubrey's favorite things to do lately is watch herself cry in the mirror. It's quite a sight to see. She'll stop mid-tears, laugh, and then pick back up with the waterworks. She also likes to watch herself dance and sing in the mirror or any other reflective surface for that matter...like the fireplace doors, for example...
STUBBORN. Aubrey hit a long awaited milestone at the conclusion of her birthday party. She handed over all her bottles to Baby Andrew. Because, as we all know, bottles are for babies and 2-year-olds are NOT babies.
She has refused to drink even a single ounce of milk since that moment on Saturday. She doesn't ask for her bottle -- she is fully aware that she gave them all to Baby Andrew -- but she wholeheartedly refuses to drink milk from her sippy cup.
LITTLE MOMMA. Being a Mommy is, by far, Aubrey's favorite thing to pretend. She changes diapers on every doll/animal she has, feeds them, teaches them, reads and sings to them. The scene you're about to watch has been trimmed down -- it went on and on and on. You'll also get a tiny peak at her bossy-ness. (please disregard the mess, laundry basket, and sound of the dryer in the background.)
And as any good mother would do...Aubrey even picks their little boogers. She starts out trying the nose suction, but as we all know, fingers are way more efficient. :)
My, my...how Miss Aubrey has changed in one year...
Aubrey had TWO Valentine parties, I co-hosted a baby shower, and we are scheduled to attend an Olympic Party this weekend! Phew!
For memory's sake, here is a recap and some pictures.
{Playgroup Valentine Party}
Oh, our playgroup...how I love thee! We usually have a themed party for the little ones around each holiday (you know, for the kids...that's the only reason we do it. Riiiiight...)
It didn't take Aubrey long to really get the party going as she discovered a singing/dancing giraffe. Hmmm...looks like she inherited her daddy's moves.Sneaking in a picture with my little Valentine. This was post giraffe dance-off, and she was ready for her re-match and not so much into taking this picture.*It would have been great to have a picture of all the kiddos + moms, but at this age, that would be an impossible feat.
Here are some of the goodies that followed us home. {Mother's Day Out Valentine Party}
Just a sample of the cute Valentines. Left to right: Heart crayons, a paci clip, and precious Valentine book (not from her class, but a dear friend nonetheless! Thanks again Vivian & Jamie!).
This Valentine party didn't go quite as smoothly as planned...
I showed up at Aubrey's class to find her joyfully playing and having the best time with her classmates. They had just finished up a game of finding the hidden hearts around the room (Aubrey totally dominated this game -- it was a proud parent moment.), and then she spotted me. And proceeded to have a total MELTDOWN.
Her buddy (Maddox) tried rocking her in an attempt to comfort her, but it was useless (still incredibly sweet, I might add...).
She was glued to me. She refused to sit at the cute table with the others and eat her Valentine treats. She just held on to me for dear life, whimpering, and giving the most pitiful looks.
It was so bad, in fact, that we had to bring out the paci. This is such a huge no-no -- the paci is only for napping/bedtime.And as you can see, not even the paci worked.
I managed to leave the party, choking back the tears all the way out to the car as I heard my child wailing down the hall (this event, not such a proud parent moment...). One of her teachers called to tell me that Aubrey was fast asleep within 5 minutes after I left. I guess she was just partied out. Or maybe it is already totally uncool to have your mom crash your school party.
{Baby Shower!}
One of the moms in our playgroup is expecting Baby #2 in March. Since she will soon have TWO in diapers, we decided to help her stock up on Pampers. We reserved a private room at Bravo and had the best time celebrating the soon-to-be newest addition to the playgroup!
Would you look at that pregnancy glow!? Gorgeous! Some of the playgroup moms:
Some of the decor: {I made the diaper cake. Obviously a first attempt. :/}
********* Now we're all gearing up for the Olympic party this weekend! U-S-A!U-S-A!U-S-A!U-S-A!
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