Happy 3rd Birthday, Aubrey!!!

Today Aubrey is 3! These 3 years have passed so quickly & I have treasured each day with her. She seems so grown up to me and continues makes me laugh everyday by the things she says and does. Just yesterday, we were making some Christmas cookies and I had left them on a plate on the counter. She broke off a bite of one and I asked her what she was eating. She said, "It's a cookie, but God glued my tummy on so you can't see it inside." She hasn't had the most exciting week or even birthday today, since Robert is still sick, but we celebrated a little today with presents and birthday cake and are planning on a fun outing when she is done with her rest time. Thankfully, Aubrey, Will and I still seem healthy and Robert is starting to feel better, so maybe we'll do some more celebrating this weekend. Happy birthday, sweet girl! We love you more than you can imagine!

The flu, oh no!

Poor Robert has the flu! He started feeling weak & tired on Friday night and then it came on strong Saturday afternoon. He thought he'd feel better the next day, but no luck. So, today we went to the doctor's office and he confirmed our suspicion that it's the yucky influenza virus. Thankfully, Aubrey & Will had their flu shots, so I pray that they will not get sick! I, on the other hand, did not get the flu shot yet ( I have been meaning to get it for a while now and just hadn't gotten around to it), so you can pray that my immune system is strong enough to fight it off. We are planning on traveling for Christmas next week and Aubrey's b-day is this Thursday, so it would be nice to be over it. In the 7 years I've known Robert, he's never missed a day of work for being sick, but I think he'll be out several days this week. We'd appreciate your prayers-- that Robert gets well quickly ( I can tell he's pretty miserable) and that the rest of us stay healthy... Getting the flu is not on my Christmas list!

Playing together in the kitchen.

This time Aubrey gave her water toys a bath in the sink with my permission. She was bored and it kept her occupied for at least 30 minutes.

After going potty, Aubrey came out of the bathroom with her hand wrapped in toilet paper & with one of my hair velcro rollers on. She called it her "hand cast"

We had our neighborhood Christmas party on Sunday afternoon with Santa, a moon jump, cookies, hot chocolate and candy canes. Aubrey was scared of Santa because "he's a little bit big", bur thuroughly enjoyed the cookie and candy cane.

Posing in their monogrammed pjs from Aunt Ashley, A smiling, W serious

A silly, W smiling

W crawling away, A smiling. It's almost impossible to get a picture of them both smiling AND still. I have 2 very wiggly children! Today Will let go 2 or 3 times while standing and stood alone for a couple seconds before grabbing onto something or sitting down! Also, A is a week away from being 3! Where did this year go??? I feel like I was just planning her 2nd b-day party and now here it is again, crazy!

Singing while standing on the furniture -- not a first for Aubrey

Going for a ride in the laundry basket today

Having fun in the playroom

Dancing and hopping around as usual

Decorating our first fake Christmas tree -- star on top!

"I'm Mary, Baby Will is Joseph and the baby doll is Jesus wrapped in the manger"

7 months! He was 18 lbs and 28 inches long at his doctors appt. 2 weeks ago. He loves saying, "Da, da, da, dad, add" over & over again. I'm still working on getting him to say, "Ma, ma".

Another clean mess. Aubrey decided to wash her doll's hair with her foamy hand soap.

Thanksgiving continued...

Aubrey & Barrett posed on their own this time, after receiving a gummy bear for their good behavior in the pajama pictures

All 5 again

Aunt Susan was a huge help with Will last week and she also celebrated her birthday the day after mine. Happy Birthday, Susan!

Will wasn't happy for long being held down by Aubrey

The big kids

The babies

After the Christmas pajama shoot, it was time for an outfit change, Can you tell how windy it was?

Cousins

Aubrey & Barrett laying on the coffee table at the beach house.

Checking out the view. This was our only sunny day -- it was cold and rainy the rest of the time, but we still had fun inside -- visiting, watching the kids & babies play, eating a lot and watching football.

Will meeting his cousins -- Addie & McKellee-- all 3 of them were born within two weeks of each other in April!

All 5 of them in their Christmas pajamas. You should have seen how many adults were hovered around this chair trying to orchestrate this photo

An eventful week

We had a fun birthday celebration last week! Robert took the whole week off and we went out to lunch and had a yummy birthday cake that night at home. Then we spent the rest of the night packing and getting ready to leave town the next day for our Thanksgiving trip. Robert's parents rented a big house in Galveston so there would be enough room for all their kids and grandkids.

Be suspicious if your almost 3 year old is quiet for more than a minute or two. Aubrey got the idea to pour out all her shampoo all over the counter and slather it all over her Winniw the pooh stuffed animal. At least it was a "clean" mess.

Will being his sweet self

Aubrey being extremely silly while Joy read a story to her
more silliness
Aubrey figured out that she could fit her whole body in her laundry basket. This is her new favorite hiding place.
Will was extra smiley and sweet as he played in a pile of clean, warm clothes