Jumping Jack Sports

Thursday afternoon Aubrey's neighborhood playgroup was at Jumping Jack Sports for their open gym play time. Will is still talking about the "Big nounce" and "Baby nounce" -- the big bounce is the large obstacle course bouncer and the baby bounce is a regular bouncer. He was afraid of the obstacle course the first time, but then loved it. Each time he'd make it through, he'd jump and say, "I did it!"

Balancing and hopping here, she also had fun on the climbing wall behind her.

Will balancing & Aubrey running to climb the rope wall.

Aubrey still loves to make her "creations", which basically consists of her gathering up as many toys (and other random objects) as possible and arranging them in a very particular way. I think I have a detail-oriented child on my hands because she'll notice if even one piece of her creation is slightly out of place. Then no one can touch her creation for a long time... Eventually, I'll take a picture of it so that we can clean it up!

Dallas World Aquarium

Checking out the sea turtles and manatees.

Do you think they had any fun?

This jaguar kept pushing his face against the glass right in front of Aubrey & Will and Will would say "neow" to him over & over again.

Aubrey was very entertained by the Mayan rain dance we saw in the rain forest section. She really wanted to take a picture with them, but not by herself. If you haven't been to the DWA, I would recommend it -- we saw monkeys, sting rays, different kids of sharks, owls, bats, sloths, orange flamingos, penguins, etc -- it is more than just an aquarium and the kids had a great time!

Merry Christmas!

We're back in VA after a full week in Dallas over Christmas. We had a great time seeing both Robert's and my family and I got to see a few friends, too! We had 3 nights with Robert's parents and siblings at a Bed & Breakfast in Dallas. We had some wonderful huge breakfasts each morning, went to a beautiful candlelight communion service on Christmas Eve and had lots of fun hanging out at the B&B -- playing games, watching the kids play and open stockings & presents on Christmas morning. On the 26th, we went to spend 4 nights at my mom's house and have a few visits with my Grandma. Aubrey loves going to Nana's house (my mom) to play with all her "collections". She likes to play with seashells, buttons, marbles, etc and go on treasure hunts through out the house. We went to church with my Grandma on the Sunday after Christmas and the kids loved finding the Christmas tree sugar cookies each time we were at her house. It was fun to be back in TX and wonderful to spend the holidays with our families. We're thankful that both our flights there & back were fine, as well -- Robert had a fever & was throwing up 36 hours before we left. I was worried more of us would come down with it and we would have to postpone our trip home. Thankfully, we all stayed healthy and Robert was well enough to make the trip back. We let the kids open their presents from us when we got home yesterday and are now slowly unpacking and getting back into our routine at home. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a blessed 2009! Aubrey's modeling all the jewelry and pins she found in one of her great-grandmother's drawers.

Trying on some Santa hats at my Grandma's.

Once again, out of order pictures... This was a group of neighbors who we met at the park before we left for TX. The local fire department was having a Christmas parade -- the kids loved seeing all the fire trucks with their lights & sirens and Santa was on one of the trucks, as well.

Christmas Eve at church with cousin, McKellee, who Aubrey adored and wanted to spend every minute with!

At the mall the week before Christmas, enjoying a "babybop" -- Will's favorite treat! He asks for one everyday and got to eat one on the plane each way.

Opening presents here at home when we got back from TX.

The fam at church on Christmas Eve.

Four!

My beautiful girl on her birthday Saturday the 20th. Since her party was last week, we had a fun family day just spending time together and going on a few outings of Aubrey's choice. Aubrey has grown up so much this year and is such a joyful spirit who lives life to the fullest. She keeps me on my toes and never fails to make me laugh by the creative things she says and does. It's been so fun to watch her relationship with Will blossom as they both get older, as well. They really love each other & play well together for the most part. I've also loved watching her become more independent this year as she started school & ballet, etc. She is very outgoing and always makes new friends where ever we go. One of my favorite times of day is bedtime when I get to hear her sweet prayers. I love how every night she prays for Tracy (our Compassion child that we sponsor in Uganda). She always prays for her health and that she'll have enough food, etc and has done this for months with out us reminding her. I always ask her before bed, "What are you?" and she answers, "A precious gift from God". And that is what she is. Happy Birthday, Angel! We love you so much!

Christmas Program

Today was Aubrey's last day of preschool for the semester and they had a really cute Christmas program followed by a party in their classroom. Aubrey was being especially sweet with Will and sharing all her food with him. She also kept holding out her juice box for Will to drink!

This is her best bud in her class. It cracks me up how Aubrey looks like a giant next to her!

This is Aubrey's class walking in the sanctuary and she was super excited to find us in the audience.

Waving from the stage.

Singing away. I was so proud of Aubrey this week -- She did great at both of her performances and didn't get nervous or scared at all!

More singing and hand motions. Aubrey has loved her preschool experience so far and I'm very thankful she's had such a smooth transition here. She still talks about people from Texas and memories from our old house, but she seems to be maturing and blossoming more and more this year. I can't believe she is almost four, that really blows me away! More about 4 in a couple days, for now she is still 3!

Quotes

Yesterday when I got Will out of his crib, I asked him what he wanted to eat for breakfast. He answered, "Babybops and egg non" Translation: Lollipops & Egg nog! He's only tried both of those things one time, I guess they made an impression... We settled on a bowl of oatmeal instead.

Every night after we do Aubrey's whole bedtime routine and I'm about to leave her room , she asks me some deep, complex question that would take forever to answer. Like, "How do starfish think if they don't have brains?" or last night she just made the observation, "I wish I had a third eye in the middle of my head so I could see the inside of my bones."

Ballet Recital

Trying to occupy Aubrey with a quiet, still activity before her first dance performance. I was afraid she'd rip her tights, get something on her leotard or that her bun would fall down. Thankfully, we made it there looking fairly put together. Getting ready to do their ballet dance. Aubrey did a great job and smiled most of the time & didn't seem nervous or shy at all! This recital is more casual/informal and then they have a bigger one in the spring with fancy costumes.

Performing the tap dance..

Posing after the show.

Not a great family shot, but I'm learning to take what I can get. Afterwards, we went out to eat at a restaurant in the Town Center down the street and Aubrey got some ice cream for dessert to celebrate her debut!

The Princess Party

Trying on her jewels before the party Making princess party hats and bracelets The back up cup cakes if we ran out of cake. Some fancy ballroom dancing This is how the kids felt at the end up the party. We tried to take a group shot and one princess laid down, soon most of them were laying down! Opening a few presents after the party. We had a great time, but we're tired, too! Now that the party is over, we can start thinking about our Christmas plans and flying to TX. We'll celebrate Aubrey's "real" birthday as a family next Saturday and then leave for Texas on Monday the 22nd. Between now & then, we'll be finishing Christmas shopping, packing, attending Aubrey's first ballet recital and her first preschool Christmas program. It should be a fun week!

An early birthday present

We got Aubrey a little bouncer/moon jump thing for her FOURTH! birthday, which is on the 20th. We gave it to her a little early because we wanted to be able to use it for her party this Saturday. Aubrey & Will have been having a blast jumping in the basement every night when Daddy gets home from work. Look at all that static!

We might end up leaving it out for most of the winter because we haven't been outside to play in a loooong time. It's supposed to snow again tomorrow morning, we'll see...

Stay tuned for lots of pictures from Aubrey's princess party in a couple days!