The other day we were having some layered chocolate pudding for dessert.  Aubrey Ann had more than her fill so we told her she was all done.  She looked down at her tummy and patted it, and in an effort to convince us to give her more she said, “tummy rumble”.  This coupled with “One more” and “last one” she just about succeeded in making us give in, solely due to her cuteness.  Luckily, we were able to hold strong!

We went to a birthday party this last weekend, and Aubrey Ann had a blast.  I will post more about this later after I transfer some pictures.  But, one of the cutest things that Aubrey Ann loved about the party was the chicken dance.  So now she will randomly say “Chicken dance” and start trying to do the “chicken dance hands”.  If I do it with her then she will imitate me with her elbows and then shaking her bottom.

One more cute thing to add, and then I am done, I promise.  I always tell Aubrey Ann that I have Jesus in my heart.  So the other day, she runs up to me, proceeds to try and pull down my shirt and says “Jesus, inside”.  So sweet.

Ok, ok, I am done, I promise.

Every day Aubrey Ann is just bursting with super-cute things to say.  So here are a few of her new ones.

Lately, everything has been “I’m a”.  She says things like, “I’m a driving the caaar!”  “I’m a swinging on da swing” and her latest “I’m a funny!”.  She thinks she is hilarious, and so do we.  The other night in the car she wouldn’t stop saying it, and she was laughing hysterically.  We still don’t know what her super funny joke was, but it was a good one for sure!

Aubrey Ann loves my homemade cornbread muffins and has taken to calling them “muffin mans”.  So whenever I make muffins or bisquits or rolls, she starts squealing “muffin man, muffin man, muffin man!”

This has been going on for a long time now, but it is still so cute.  Aubrey Ann loves to play school, and will frequently try and teach her stuffed animal things.  She will take her stuffed animal into her playroom and take a yard stick and point to all the shapes, colors, numbers, and letters and tell her stuffed animal what they are.  She also will grab their little paws and try and make them hold the stick.  So cute!

This morning Aubrey Ann was drinking her milk and she suddenly came to the realization of how this whole eating and drinking thing works.  She took a drink of milk and touched her tummy and said “Milk, inside body.”  I agreed.  Then she started touching her chest and saying, “heart inside”.  The ‘heart inside’ comment comes from me telling her that her heart is beautiful and that beauty from the inside is most important.  It is so funny to see the little things she picks up on!

She has this book called, “No Mail for Mitchell” which Aubrey Ann just loves.  In it, Mitchell is sad because he is a mailman, but he never gets any mail.  So Aubrey Ann loves to make her “sad” face for Mitchell.  She sticks out her lower lip and bows her head.  So sad!

Aubrey Ann watches these videos that have frogs in them.  In the video, one of the frogs likes to say “Okie Dokie Smokey”, so Aubrey Ann loves to say that now.  She has a toy that has figurines of the frogs in them, and she calls them her “okies”.  She will scoop them all up in her little arms and say “I’m a walking the okies!”

Got to go, our little “okie” is waking up from her nap!

At breakfast this morning I was doing a devotion with Aubrey Ann out of her Children’s Bible.  It has a collection of Bible stories with colorful pictures that she enjoys very much.  I always wonder what is sinking in. Well today, I got a little glimpse of exactly what she is already learning.

Today our devotion was from Luke 2:41-52.

41Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. 43After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

51Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

So, before I started reading the devotion I was showing Aubrey Ann the pictures.  On one page there was a picture of Jesus sitting in the Temple with all the teachers, and on the next page there was a picture of Jesus walking with his parents, Mary and Joseph.

I pointed to a picture of Jesus and told her who it was.  And then, before I had read the story or told her any of the other names, Aubrey Ann pointed to the picture of Jesus with His parents and said, “Mewwwy, Joseffff”.  I was so proud.  I guess she must have remembered from our other reading, and our discussion of the Nativity during Christmas.

As small as this bit of Bible knowledge is, it blessed Brandon and I beyond words.  To know that the things we do, however small, are making some kind of impact on her little life is amazing.

There is nothing that would please us more as parents then to see Aubrey Ann grow up with a deep and ever-growing faith in Christ. Please continue to pray for us as a family.  There is nothing we treasure more.  Pray for Aubrey Ann, and her little soul.  Please know that she prays for many (if not all of you, there aren’t that many that visit this site!) by name.  Sometimes several times daily!

I will occasionally find her in her play room with one of her stuffed animals, holding there little paws (or flippers, or wings) saying something to the effect of “Dear Jesus, I pray… bless… me, mommy, daddy, (insert many other family and friends here) name (meaning- in Jesus name) Amen”.

Please pray that God can guide Brandon and I and help us to take every opportunity to show Aubrey Ann what it truly means to love and serve Christ.  We can be such failures.  Pray that God helps us to make even small victories daily.

I often feel floored by the huge responsibility I have been entrusted with.  I can’t even fathom how God could trust a sinner like me with something so precious as Aubrey Ann (or any child for that matter).  I can only continually put her in His hands, because I know that God will take care of her, and ask that He grant me the wisdom, maturity, and patience (!) to be the wife, woman and mother He created me to be.

If you have time today, pray for us.  We love you all very much.

I must admit, although I know I have said this before, I love this age.  If I could just stop time and stay here forever I would.  I know time must go on, but DD is just so cute!  I love her little personality, and the way she comes up with different things is so funny.
Like today, we were watching Veggietales because it was our family movie night.  Well, after it was all done I was walking with Aubrey Ann to the bathroom and she tells me, “Mama, bob da mato coo.”  Translation:  “Mom, Bob the Tomato is cool”.  I laughed and said, “Yep he sure is!”

I think I could go the rest of my life hearing little comments like that and never get tired.  Where did she even learn ‘cool’ from?  Nobody besides her is ‘cool’ in this house!  I don’t even know if the word ‘cool’ is part of my vocabulary anymore.  I think I outgrew the need for the word ‘cool’ sometime shortly after high school.

Also, she just loves her new dolly that goes pee pee.  So, the other day her dolly said, “I love you mama”, and Aubrey Ann responded with, “I love you baby too”.  I just melted.  Her favorite thing to say right now is that she “misses” everything.  So she will be holding her toothbrush and giving it a hug and then she will say, “Toothbrush, I miss ‘a’ you!”

She is also so happy to be a ‘helper’ right now.  The other night Brandon was putting together a toy for Aubrey Ann using a screwdriver.  When he set it down she grabbed it and started stabbing at the screws saying, “I’m a helping you Daddy!”  Now she is “a helping” me do everything.  She “a helps” me with laundry, she “a helps” me buckle her up, she “a helps” me pick up toys.  She is “a helping” me laugh, that is for sure!

Also, she loves to pick out letters while we are out and about.  So if we are in the grocery store and she sees a “j” watch out.  She will yell “J…J…/j/…/j/…jumping!” while almost bouncing out of the cart.  I have never seen a child so excited about spotting letters!

Oh and probably the sweetest thing ever is when she gets a ‘boo boo’, real or perceived, she comes running from where ever she is in the house yelling “Mama….boo boo…(insert body part, usually finger) kiss it!”  It is adorable, and I could kiss boo-boo’s all day if she’d let me.  She also thinks that I need to kiss everything that has “boo-boo’s” or little marks or whatever.  She has a bag of blocks, and they have letters on them.  Well, the ‘W’ block has a little scratch in the paint on the edge.  Every time we get out those blocks, without fail, she will find that ‘w’,  and bring it to me saying “W boo boo, kiss it!”

Oh, one of the other funniest things is that Aubrey Ann has turned into a mini super-hero.  Her Meme and Pa bought her some new panties with Ariel on them for Christmas.  She LOVES these panties and every time she wears them she gets so excited about how Ariel is swimming on them.  Well, being the forgetful mama that I am, I sometimes forget to put them on her when she wakes up in the morning, I will accidentally put on Elmo’s.  Well, Aubrey Ann is very polite and never throws a fit about it, but later on she will find a pair of Ariel panties and ask me to help her “put on da Ariel panties”, and she wants them OVER her pants!  So yes, if you drop by unannounced you will likely find my daughter running around the house with a pair of Ariel panties over her clothes.

OK, one more cute story, and then my gush will be over.  The other day I was letting Aubrey Ann drink out of a cup without my assistance.  It is usually messy but I was prepared for it, so no biggie.  Well, after she was done with breakfast she kept patting her belly in her monkey pajamas and saying “milk”.  Well, I thought she wanted more milk, so I came over with a cup, but she told me “no mo’ milk”.  I was stumped, so I got her down from her high chair and told her “I don’t understand, can you tell me another way?”  and she patted her belly again and said, “milk on da monkey’s”.  She wanted me to change her because her monkey pajamas had milk on them!  So stinkin’ cute.

Basically, I could die from cute overload on a daily basis.  I just LOVE this age.  Why haven’t scientists invented some way to keep them from getting any older?

I could add a thousand more stories just like this.  She is so funny.

Just in case you aren’t already in cute overload:

This is her singing if your happy and you know it with her mama. “If your happy and you know it then your face will surely show it…”

“Mama, bob da mato coo!”

“Yep, he sure is!”

End gush.

You know you have been waiting for it…the big Christmas update!

For our family, Christmas is not just a day, it goes on for about four weeks.  We try and do something Christmasy every day during those weeks.  We LOVE Christmas around here!  We were so excited to see how Aubrey Ann would like all the Christmas stuff, well we weren’t at all disappointed.

First up on our list of Christmas must do’s was a trip to good ole’ Cobbs Christmas Tree Farm.  What is Christmas without a Christmas tree, right?

Here she is walking out to the Christmas tree’s.  I am thinking, “Oh yeah, she loves Christmas ALREADY!”

Here she is checking out the goats, they were nothing too exciting.  They certainly were not as exciting as Grandma’s cows!

I guess the goats were “Oooooooh” worthy afterall!

That Mamaw’s always trying to feed someone!

Kisses for Charlie!

Here she is on top of a fire truck with her handsome Daddy.  It was VERY exciting, and she kept calling it a “BIIIIIIG red one!”

Here is our family in front of our tree.  Aubrey Ann didn’t want to take a picture, she kept asking for “Mamaw Peas” instead!

She had a great time at Cobb’s and we love that it is our little family tradition.  She loves the animals they have there.

Some of the other activities we did during the Christmas season included three (yes THREE) trips to see the big man in red, several trips driving and looking at Christmas lights, a trip down Christmas tree lane, a visit to a live nativity, and lots of Christmas crafts.

When we took Aubrey Ann to take her pictures with Santa, she was so excited.  She kept saying, “SANTA…..ho ho Mewwwy Chis Mas!” She knew EXACTLY who she was going to meet.  As we stood in line waiting for our turn to see the big man, I explained to her what we were going to do.  So, she knew what she was up for.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I was hoping for a good crying Santa pic this year (dodges a rotten tomato, and ignores the booing).  I didn’t get one last year, so I NEEDED one this year.  So, I hoped for just a couple of tears.  So, it was finally our turn, and I expected her to dissolve into tears the second that I sat her on his lap.  Well, instead she looked at me like a deer caught in headlights and said “Mama mama”.  I think it may have been sadder than crying, and it doesn’t make near as cute as a photo!  Well, I guess she is just our mellow gal, and we can only hope for a good cry out of the next baby!

Here is a picture of Aubrey Ann all dressed up and ready to see Santa!

Aubrey Ann loved looking at Christmas lights.  All season she would let us know if she saw any “Chis Mas Liiiiiiights”.  Any of you who know Aubrey Ann well, know how she changes her tone of voice when she gets really excited about something.  When she gets excited her voice gets deeper.  Like when she says “Bob da Maaaato” (aka bob the tomato from  veggietales) her voice gets deeper when she says “maaaaato”.  Well, her voice changed every time she said “Chis mas Liiiiights”.  So cute.

Here is a random cute picture of Aubrey Ann in her Santa hat with her Meme and Pa.

As I mentioned before Aubrey Ann did a lot of Christmas crafts this year.  This was a day that I let her do some fingerpainting on what ended up being the background for our Christmas cards.

This girl LOVES to fingerpaint!

Yep, she is rather proud of herself.  I from the looks of her mouth, that paint got a little taste!  Thank goodness it is non-toxic!  Yuck!

Here is the finished product!  She kept spreading the paint on her legs saying “Leeegs….leeegs.  Like it baby!”  Everytime I let her fingerpaint I have to take a deep breath, and do some chanting…”it is washable, it is washable, it is…”

I had to mix blue and yellow to make the green for the picture.  Well, the cutest thing was that Aubrey Ann so badly wanted to use yellow.  She kept pointing to it and saying “yeyow peas!”  I think it is adorable that she has a favorite color!

Finally, after sitting in our living room for three or so days, we had time to decorate our tree.  Here is some pictures we took of Aubrey Ann right after the tree was decorated.

Kisses for her Mickey Mouse ornament!

Aubrey Ann was so excited about decorating the tree.  She would run to get ornaments out of the box, and run to give them to me to hang up.  Whenever she hung up an ornament she put it in the exact same spot.  We called this place “the nest” because all of the ornaments were just sort of sitting there on top of a big branch.  She absolutely LOVED looking at the Christmas tree.  She was a very good girl about not touching it.  In fact, on day she even told on herself because she touched it.  She was standing looking at the Christmas tree and she told Brandon and I that she was “Just yooking”, and then as her hand slowly reached out for the tree she said “yooking, yooking, touching, touching, TOUCHING!”  It was so cute.  It was like she just couldn’t help herself!

Another thing Aubrey Ann loved about Christmas was the Christmas songs.  She constantly asked for us to sing “Rudolph”, “Santa” (aka Santa Claus is coming to town) and “Chis mas tree” (aka Oh Christmas Tree).

Another thing that Aubrey Ann and I did a lot of before Christmas was baking here are a couple of pictures of Aubrey Ann helping Mommy with the baking.

Helping Mommy make homemade ornaments.

What a good helper!

Her first taste of Oreo.

Helping Mommy make “coo-coo-kie crumbs”

Helping with clean-up.  This is where she really “shines”.

She makes it look so good!

Aubrey Ann, you have a little something stuck in your teeth.  Yeah, right there.

All cleaned up and ready for COLORING!  Doesn’t she look so grown up here?

Aubrey Ann still likes a good game of Peek-a-boo.

Finally, Christmas Eve came.  We had a great time hanging out with Papa, Nana, Papa Ralph, Uncle PJ and Aunt Valerie.  Aubrey Ann got some great presents from Papa and Nana including a rocking horse that makes noises and shakes his head and tail.

Aubrey Ann was very excited about Christmas morning, and I really think she understood what was happening.

Here is our tree Christmas morning.  Aubrey Ann helped decorate all the presents.

Her stocking runneth over.

Here is what Santa left Aubrey Ann.  When she saw this she said “Santa MESS!”

Here is what we first saw when we got her up on Christmas morning.  Looks familiar doesn’t it?

Followed with this!

Here she is with all her stocking stuffers.

She loved this baby bottle, but her absolute favorite stocking stuffer was her chapstick.  You can see it all over her lips and face.  She called it “Mek up”

For some reason when we asked her to smile, this is all she could muster.

Later that morning we went to Mamaw and Papaw’s house to open Christmas presents.

This was Aubrey Ann opening her first Christmas present of the year.  We weren’t sure how she would like it.

By George, I think she’s got it!

A dolly that goes pee pee…yay!

For some reason, Aubrey Ann would tear off little pieces of the paper and hand them to Uncle PJ saying “snowman!”.  I think she thought she was giving him something really special!

Mamaw showing Aubrey Ann how to ride her new tricycle!  Check her out!

Mamaw and Papaw made prime rib, lobster tails, shrimp scampi, bacon wrapped prawns, and a turkey for dinner.  Yeah, there were only 8 of us there so we were eating good in the neighborhood for sure!

Aubrey Ann had such a good time at Mamaw and Papaw’s.  She loved all her presents, but most of all she loves her Mamaw and Papaw!

That night all the Hopkins family started showing up from as near as across town, to all the way from North Carolina.  We felt very fortunate that all the family (except Cousin Patrick) could make it this year.  Here are just a couple of pictures of Aubrey Ann hanging out when everyone showed up.

That next night, we all went to Yoshino’s.  We had a wonderful time, and Grandma Nita prepared a lot of fun games with prizes!

Waiting to be seated.

At the table after dinner.

I don’t know how we didn’t get a picture of everyone, but for some reason we didn’t.  Maybe someone would be kind enough to send us one, eh? 

Basically, through the entire evening, Aubrey Ann kept saying “hot…hot..hot”.  She gets that steam=hot=no touch=big owie.

Here she is, on the Hopkins Christmas Eve, just waiting to tear into those presents!

With Cousin Micah!

Is that a sleigh we hear?

There is Santa!

Now there is that crying Santa picture I wanted.  Luckies…

There she is with the sad face and the Mama’s again.  Poor thing.  It really is so sad!

Here she is tearing into her presents, she made out like a bandit!

She loves her Elmo!

And of course, her books too.

Our happy family.  The best present ever!

Here is what Santa brought Aubrey Ann on her Christmas morning.  She loves it.

We had so much fun this Christmas.  Aubrey Ann loved it, and we talked to her a lot about what the real meaning of Christmas is.  Thank you to everyone who made our holiday what it was.  We are so blessed to have all of you.

Aubrey Ann, you are so wonderful, the absolute best Christmas present we could ever receive.  We love you soooo much baby girl!

A couple of weeks ago Brandon, Aubrey Ann and I packed up our van to head to Bakersfield to celebrate Tyler turning the big F-I-V-E!  Seems impossible that he could be that old.  Right when we arrived Aubrey Ann was so tickled.  She started yelling “Gammma Neeeeeddddaaa” and running up to the house.

Shortly there after we headed up to see Grandma’s cows. At risk of sounding like a terrible wuss I am going to give you the full scoop.  Those cows were terrifying.  No joke.  They are massive, and look like a close cousin to a rhino, or perhaps some carniverous dinosaur.  Nevertheless, Aubrey Ann loved them.  I spent most of the time squealing and running, Aubrey Ann spent most of her time reaching out trying to grab them.  She thought they were so funny.  Brandon wasn’t nearly as scared of the dinosaurs cousins as I was.  Thankfully, Aubrey Ann has inherited Brandon’s bravery and not my lack there of.

Here are some pictures of Aubrey Ann with the cows:

Bravery at its best.

The next morning we decided topick up Tyler and hang out with him for awhile.  Here are a couple of pictures of the kids.

Is this a hug or some kind of wrestling move? We weren't sure either.

Later that afternoon we went to see the ever-elusive Santa Claus.  Aubrey Ann was so excited to see the big man in person.  She even gave her best Sant impression, “Ho ho, MEEEEEwwwy chis mas”.  As soon as she saw him, she ran straight up to him.  As soon as he reached his arms out to her, she turned around looked for me and ran straight back.  We love Santa, from a distance that is.

Santa, up close and personal.

No offense Santa, but I prefer Mommy.

Tyler’s birthday party was Sunday, and it was a blast.  Tyler was very surprised, and Aubrey Ann loved seeing all the people.  Here are some pictures from that special day.

Aubrey Ann with the birthday boy and John and Barb

Tyler was such a big boy. He blew out ALL his candles!

I think she thought this party was for HER!

All partied out!

She had such a fun visit to Bakersfield, and she was so tired she slept the entire way home!  We had a great time at Tyler’s big birthday bash!