October

 Since I became pregnant, and then finding out everything we did with Marabeth, I have been horrible about updating what is going on with my two other precious girls! Aubrey and Ryleigh are such a breath of fresh air throughout all of this. I am so grateful I have two little distractions during the day from what is going on in this pregnancy.

Aubrey thinks that she has a baby in her tummy now too. She will even say things like, "Don't hurt the baby." If I say, "The baby is sick" and touch my tummy; Aubrey will lift up her shirt and say, "Oh, my baby is sick too". She will also pull up her shirt and say, "Look Mommy, it's growing." She has such a sweet, sweet spirit. I know I am her Mommy, so I am going to think the world of her; but I do think it's true. She is so in tune with other people's emotions. She has even started getting upset with me when Ryleigh cries while I am changing her diaper. She will say, "Stop Mommy! Your hurting her!" A few days ago when we were at the park, she told another kid to "watch out for Ryleigh". She is so proud to be her sister. She actually gets upset when Ryleigh leaves the room. I know Aubrey may not always want Ryleigh near the way she does now, so I am enjoying the season we are in.

Aubrey has also come out of her shell some at school. She loves going to school, but she always seems hesitant when  I drop her off. She usually walks in with her hand in her mouth, or clothes in her mouth. It's a nervous habit, for sure. I think she is learning a lot though, and I love her teachers. When I ask Aubrey who she plays with at school she says, "Mrs. Julie." Rod had a conversation with her about how to talk to her friends and she looked at him and said, "I can't think." Oh, how I love her. Her teachers have let us know that she has opened out a lot!

Ryleigh is busy, busy. She has places to go, and people to see. She is a fast little thing too. She has such a strong laugh, and it's impossible not to smile when you hear it. Most of the time she is laughing at Aubrey. She has gotten so incredibly verbal now. She loves music, and will try singing a long to many songs like the ABCs, Wheels on the Bus, the Itsby Bitsy Spider, and more! She runs up to Rod when he gets home and says. "Daddy!" She will repeat just about anything we ask her to, and she says many many words very clearly. Aubrey, Carly, Maggie, Baby, Mommy, Daddy, Yeah, Nana, Papa, Mimi and Papi are just some of the words in her vocabulary. She can understand commands and follow through. For example, "Go pick up the crayons." Or, "Can you bring me the sippy cup?" We are so proud of her and how far she has come! She is still only weighing 19 1/2 pounds, but she is quite an eater!

Despite this hard journey I am on with Marabeth, this is my favorite time of year. I love the Christmas music, I love all the Christmas decorations, and I love the simple things like Mint Frappacinos at Starbucks. For some reason I find comfort in drinking them. Drinking them just makes me think of the holidays! I love the cooler temperatures, and I love just taking the time to enjoy the little things about my girls that make them special. I don't want to look back on this time period and feel like I missed seeing the milestones my girls are making daily. They are only going to be this age once in their life, and I want to cherish it.

Anyways, here are some pictures over this past month!

Tami and I love to meet at The Preserve. So do our girls!

                                              Ryleigh and Carly

Kate and Aubrey

A few weeks ago I came into Aubrey's room, only to find her talking to her stuffed animals. They were all lined up beside her on the bed. She was supposed to be taking a nap, but she said she was "reading them books".

Aubrey loves having time in her room with Ryleigh. She reads Ryleigh books, sings her songs, and introduces her to her toys.

At the beginning of October, Tami and I got away for the weekend to head to Abiliene. We both wanted to go to ACU's Homecoming. I didn't get to go to my ten year last year, so we had a great time this year instead. It was so much fun connecting with old frieneds! We ate at all of our favorite places, we toured the campus, went to Kojie Breakfast, and even made time to see Footloose! It was a great time away for both of us!

In college, Tami, Chris and I used to always make late night trips to the gas station. Typically when we had a test to study for. We made a stop for old times sake, and got a slurpy.

Tami and I have always taken pleasure in making Chris drink horrible things. He was a great sport and drank this really sour candy juice to make us laugh.

Mary's Mexican Food was one of our favorite places to eat in college. I don't love it as much as I did then, but we sure did frequent there when we were at ACU. Brent and Erika used to always eat there too! Chris joined us, although he isn't the biggest Mary's fan.

The new Fitness Center at ACU is AMAZING! Brent, Erika and Chris had fun trying out the new equipment.

Saturday Morning we got up SO EARLY to go to Kojie Breakfast. It was totally worth it though! I haven't sang the Kojie Song in forever. "Ko Jo Kai to you we sing...."

They had aprons available for all the Kojies to take home.

Of course we couldn't miss the Homecoming Parade!

Jessica Goudeau was one of Tami and I's old roommates in college. We had a wonderful time drinking smoothies and coffee and getting caught up. It felt like we were just together yesterday.

Rene Ballard was also one of our roommates. We finally got to meet her precious baby, and spend some time just chatting in our hotel room. It went way too fast!

Tami and I were so surpised to see that our old Youth Minister, Andy Spell was staying at the same hotel we were! We met up with both Andy and Cheryl after church to quickly catch up. Wow, high school was a long time ago!

Aubrey and Ryeligh love going to the Pumpkin Patch. We went with our friends the Hughes and the Robinsons too!

Aubrey's Fall Party

 at School

Ryleigh enjoyed the cookie too!

Aubrey's pumpkin that she decorated

Sweet Sisters!

Fall Festival at my sister Sheri's House

Check out my little Bee and Chef!

Aubrey and her cousins Kate and Isabelle

Ryleigh and her cousin Ellee

Ryleigh, Carly, and Ellee

And still more....

Our attempt at getting pictures of all the cousins desperately failed. Not to mention that Aubrey was terrified of some of the boys' costumes.

Pregnant at 19 weeks

Ryleigh loved the game of throwing the rings on the water bottles.

She thought she was mastering it.

Family Pic-Open your eyes Rod!

Aubrey loved helping me make our Annual Pumpkin Brownie. My Mom made one every Halloween for us, and I have carried on the tradition. You just take any brownie recipe, and and pour the batter into a pizza pan. Then transform your brownie into a pumpkin!

Trunk or Treat with Our Frisco Small Groups

It was great having it next to the park! All the kids got to play!

Halloween!

Trick or Treating with the Hughes and Robinsons

After each house Aubrey would say, "Are we going to go to another house?" Ryleigh loved Trick or Treating too! I am convinced she would of gone four blocks away if I had let her!

I love holding sweet John David! Ryleigh was so sweet about the baby!

Ryleigh loved helping herself  to some chocolate!

Carving the Pumpking with Daddy! Aubrey and Ryleigh loved taking out the seeds!