My Two Girls

Over the Easter weekend, Daniel took some pictures of the girls and me.
If you're a mom, you know how rare it is to get a picture with your littles.
I decided, with the inspiration of these photos (and the out-takes), to write a little bit of what life is like right now.

First of all, life with two little girls is full.
It's amazing to me how adding one more little person can create exponentially more work.
But you won't hear me complain (probably because I'm too tired!). 

Life is crazy and good.
Crazy good, actually.

So, let's start with Miss Aubrey (who organized these photo-shoot poses, I might add).

The daughter who doesn't let me forget for a millisecond just how awesomely spectacular she is... 

There is always a "show" she's ready to perform, and she is constantly feeding me my lines...

"Ok, Mom, pretend we're on a magical cloud and I come floating down from a gorgeous rainbow and you say, 'Oooh what a beautiful princess! Isn't her dress lovely?!' and then..." It goes on and on and on. I'm not going to lie, it can be exhausting.

Aubrey begs me to give her homework and asks when I'll ever give her chores to do.

Two things I'm happy to start implementing. :)

She has a new obsession with coloring, drawing, and making cards. 

She has been asking me to teach her how to read for awhile, so we've officially started the Bob books. I am amazed at how quickly she's picking it up. 

She has started making her bed, brushing her teeth, going to the bathroom, and getting dressed all by herself.

Aubrey asks some really good / deep theological questions, and I'm blown away by how much she's processing. I pray her little heart is always seeking after God's truth. 

While she loves lots of girly things, her favorite shows to watch are Rescue Bots and Wild Kratts.

She would live outdoors if we'd let her.

Her relationship with Mina is (slowly) becoming less dramatic. 

Mina's pinching has drastically decreased, but Aubrey's memory hasn't exactly forgotten those early days of abuse. Forgiveness is a lifelong lesson, isn't it?

I wouldn't say Aubrey and Mina are anywhere near becoming best friends, but their relationship is certainly growing...

I even caught this video of them the other day in the backyard while I was folding laundry.

Now, onto our sweet, little Mina.
She has been home a little over two months now. 

I think she's spent about 90 percent of that time within arms reach of me, which I have absolutely loved. 

I feel like I'm still catching up on those 18 months of her life that I wasn't a part of. 

I wonder if I'll always feel like I'm making up for lost time?

I absolutely cannot get enough of her.

She is just downright amazing
Silly, sweet, saucy, and simply wonderful.
Mina has several words she says regularly now: Mama, Daddy, Baaboo (Aubrey), bye-bye, nye-nye (nite-nite), ank ooo (thank you), uv u (love you), biper (diaper), and some others I just can't think of at the moment.
She loves making animal sounds (I'm pretty sure her kitty "meow" and lion "roar" are my two favorites).
She would be completely content to sit in a lap and read books all day long or be outside playing.
Right now she's still sleeping on a crib mattress beside our bed at night. Each morning she wakes up ready to be scooped up into our bed for snuggles and smooches. It is THE best way to start the day.

Here is a video of Mina laughing -- this was taken with my phone shortly after she had been home.

Her deep, raspy chuckles crack me up.

While life is definitely nuts -- and I find myself craving moments of "me" time -- I cannot remember a time when I've been happier. I have literally been blessed from head to toe!

Friday Funsies

This morning Aubrey and I were reading her Children's Bible book. We came to a picture of David and his sheep and had the following conversation:

Aubrey: He loves sheep? [pointing to David]
Me: Yes. David was a shepherd.
A: A shepherd?
M: Yes. Did you know that God is our shepherd and that we are God's sheep?
A: God loves sheep too?
M: Yes, God loves His sheep very much.
A: He likes cats too?
M: Who--God or David?
A: God.
M: Uh, yeah. God loves cats.
A: I wannabe God's kitty cat.
M: You do? Why do you want to be God's kitty cat?
A: 'Cause kitty cats are purrrfect.
M: [busted out laughing]

{photo courtesy of my friend, Bethany.}

*******

Happy Friday!
Hope it's purrrfect.
;)

Friday Funsies

Instead of cocktail dresses, hors d'oeuvres, and champagne on New Year's Eve, it has been camo, barbecue, and sweet tea here in Kentucky.

Today is my dad's birthday, and we wanted to do something a little special since we were all in town for once.

My dad has loved hunting for as long as I can remember, so we all went out and bought some camo/hunting attire for his shindig. We ordered a funny deer hunter scene birthday cake, used deer calls as party kazoos, and had some of dad's deer meat cooked/bbq'ed (yuck to me, but yummy to him).

When party time rolled around and dad saw us all decked out in camo, he absolutely LOVED it. He laughed and cried. The perfect combination.

We had a great time celebrating him and his favorite hobby. :)

As much as my dad loves hunting, my mom detests it.
This was the first time she's ever worn camo.
Dad LOVED it and kept telling her how cute she looked. :)

Happy Birthday, Daddy-o!
We LOVE you!!

*******
Happy Friday & Happy New Year!

Friday Funsies

Daniel and I have already accepted the fact that we're not "cool" parents in Aubrey's eyes. Anytime either one of us tries to sing or dance with her, she quickly says, "NO MOMMY!" or "NO DADDY!" as if we are a total embarrassment (Those of you who have seen Daniel dance, will understand Aubrey's opinion And if anyone has ever heard me sing, you can side with Aubrey on that one as well).

Despite being completely uncool, we can still act like total nerds to get a giggle out of Miss Aubrey every now and then. And by the look on her face below, it's reason enough for me to make a ridiculous face (think half Elvis/half blowfish) about 27 times in a row.

And because I'm of the belief that a child's laughter should always be shared...here's a video of the tail end of my comedic segment.

(At the end of this video, Aubrey tries to mimic the face I was making -- I'm sure you all wish you could see the real thing, huh?!. The battery ran out so my apologies for the abrupt ending.)

Happy Friday -- hope it's been filled with lots of laughter!

KY Trip: Bestest Friend

While we were visiting in Owensboro, one of my dearest friends in the whole wide world just happened to be in town too. Lacey is about to start her fourth year of medical school in Atlanta, so it was wonderful that the timing worked out for her to be in KY at the same time as us.

And anytime Lacey is around, you can guarantee there will be smiles and laughter until your cheeks hurt.

Lacey and I go waaaaay back. We actually met in our Sunday School class at church when we were just little 6 year old girls with sponge-curled hair and frilly dresses. We didn't live in the same school district, but we remained best friends all the way through high school (rival high schools, at that!).

Since we didn't get to go to school together growing up, we decided we simply MUST go to the same college. And so we did! I don't think either of us stopped laughing our freshman year -- maybe that's how we escaped gaining the dreaded "Freshman 15"!

Lacey and I were also baptized on the same day together -- so we have been "sisters" nearly our whole life!

Lacey -- you are my bestest friend!

Friday Funsies

So not only does my incredibly sweet husband write the most wonderful blog posts, but he also surprises us {Little Miss Priss and me} with a free Gymboree class last week.

Well, we both had a blast and decided to enroll in a class. We can't really afford it, but at the same time, we can't really afford NOT to do it either. We might just have to eat red beans and rice (or as Dave Ramsey puts it: beans and rice, rice and beans...) a couple nights a week.

Today we went to the open gym where you just come and play. Aubrey had the best time figuring everything out and exploring every nook and cranny.

I honestly think she was either squealing or laughing the entire time (as you can see by the pictures below...). She was cracking everyone up! At times she would get to laughing so hard that I thought she was going to explode. It's that priceless giggle that starts from her toes and bubbles all the way up. I'm convinced it's the best sound in the world. Nothing beats it.

I mean if this face doesn't say "I'm having fun!" then I don't know what does!

She is about to explode!Mom, can we live here please?

Hope your weekend gets off to a great start like ours!

Get your Aubrey fix!

Since I've been absent from the blog-scene for awhile now, I know you're all wanting/needing your Aubrey fix. You guys just humored me in acting like you cared about our future home in Oklahoma, didn't you!? Well, here are some pictures from our time in Owensboro and over Easter. Enjoy!

Visit with Aunt Mel Mel:

She always brings a gift!
And Aubrey always LOVES it!

Overall silliness -- just part of our every day life!
Swinging with Pop Pop:
Aunt Mel Mel and Aubrey doing their "Old Man Without Any Teeth" impression.
(Yes, Aubrey is still toothless.)

Wasssup!?

Where else would you find tacky jewelry other than at Great Grandma Tootie's house!?
Such a happy cat!

Easter!
Loving the Spring green grass!

The FamGrammy and Aubrey

*I wish I had some pictures of Aubrey and her time with Zubie's, but I didn't get any of them downloaded from her camera. :(

Here's a clip from a night of some baby yoga. Aubrey got a case of the giggles and then drooled all over me. It was so worth it. (Please pardon my goofy laughs...there must be a law out there somewhere that states you must act like a complete idiot when encouraging your child to laugh.)

And on a final note, we officially have a crawler. Here's a video of Aubrey in full motion (again, my apologies for the annoying Mommy voice). She LOVES the ribbon that was on the gift my sister brought (see the first pic in this post). You know how it goes, you could spend a fortune on toys, and the child is more interested in the box it came in. It's so true with Aubrey. So here she is, my little kitten, chasing after her ribbon. Let the baby-proofing begin!