Merry Christmas!

Just wanted you to know we are thinking of you today. Hope you are having a good day with family &/or friends. We love you!

4 month pictures!!

Sleeping babies

With Auntie at Uncle Toby's football game

Happy Baby!

Cuddling sisters

She got her first pony...

...and she's not happy about it!

Wearing the onesie the hospital gave her :)

We went camping/hunting for a week in October. Aubry slept the bathtub :)

Ryan got a buck!

Taking a nap with daddy

This t-shirt is from my mom when they went down to Texas to visit my brother's birth family for the first time

Aubry started noticing toys and picking them up and sticking them in her mouth...everything goes in her mouth!

Chillin' with her sisters

As the baby, Aubry has no say in how her sisters decide she should play with them :) This picture makes me laugh because I think she looks like Grumpy Cat

Zoe figured out that she can hold Aubry while walking around. It made me nervous at first but now I appreciate her help so much!

Stay tuned....5 month pictures coming soon!!

4 months old - no pictures

Unfortunately, this is going to be a short, picture-less post. My laptop is being fixed and of course, it has all my pictures on it. So as soon as I get it back I'll post some pictures of Aubry's month but until then you'll just have to make due with information :) 

Her doctor appt. on Monday weighed her in at 15 lbs. 5 3/4 oz., 23.6 inches. 

Aubry loves her bouncy chair and her bath time. She's figuring out how to grab things and puts anything she can into her mouth. She drools like crazy but still no tooth buds in sight. She has started to suck her thumb so when I catch her I give her a binky...it's easier to take a binky away when she's older than a thumb! Zoë loves to carry her around and Kaia will set up her toys next to Aubry so she can 'play' with her :) Aubry still isn't rolling over or sitting up but she's getting close. She is super easy going (like, super super easy going) and she smiles and laughs all the time so basically she lights up our lives :)

Hope all is well with you and that you are still happy with your job. Take care. We love you!

3 months old!

Little Miss Chunky is growing like crazy! I just look at her and am amazed at how perfect she is and how incredibly blessed we are to be part of her life. Her last Dr. appt. was August 12 and she was 21" long and weighed 11 lbs. 9 3/4 oz. Her height is in the 20th percentile while her weight is in the 90th! Evidence of her love of the bottle! I'm guessing now she's probably about 12 1/2 - 13 lbs...next appt. is in October.

At the end of August we went to our annual church convention. The girls love it because there are always tons of kids to play with and its like camping while wearing princess dresses :) Aubry was quite popular, of course! Pretty much everyone there knew we had been trying to adopt for a couple years and so they were all very excited to see us with a baby!

 

Before school started I was in a mad rush to get a diaper bag sewn before my nephew was born. Aubry was 'forced' to sit in the Bumbo and keep me company. Her legs are so chunky I'm not sure how much longer she'll fit!

Sisters!

Visiting Ryan at work (and learning how to walk :)

Zoe has become quite the reader and loves sitting down with a book and reading her sisters the story. Kaia and Aubry love to listen.

Aubry went school shopping with Zoe and I....

...but she got to stay with her Aunt Shelley while I went with Kaia.

Our little princess is quite the overachiever! She likes to hit all the milestones right on the nose: smiled at exactly 6 weeks, laughed at exactly 10 weeks and is now blowing bubbles like crazy!

I can't remember if I've posted a picture of my Canadian nephew, Trett Hudson

I was lucky enough to be at the hospital for the birth of my brother's son, Easton Alden. He was 8lbs. 8oz. - two lbs. bigger than Aubry when she was born and yet he looked tiny next to her now!

I absolutely love this outfit so I had to get a picture of Aubry wearing it!

The girls seem to think that Aubry needs a cuddle buddy. I often find stuffed animals in her swing or crib, all cuddled up to her while she's sleeping :)

Thank you for posting all those pictures last month. Even if I don't comment on them we still like to see how you are doing and I save all of them to my computer so that I can have them for later when Aubry gets older. How is your job going? Do you still like it as much? School has kept us very busy. I am part of the PTC at Zoe's school so the teachers are used to seeing me walking around packing Aubry :) Needless to say, she is very well loved by everyone! Kaia has started 4 year old pre-school. She has the same teacher Zoe had and they both love her. My brother Toby is playing football this year after sitting out last year due to a few bad concussions. He is one of the star players so we love going to his games. I don't think there is anything like football to say that Fall is here! The weather is getting cooler here. Still warm-ish but we need sweaters in the mornings. Ryan is gone hunting this week. I talked to him yesterday and he said he had missed an elk but wasn't too bummed about it. I think he likes the hunting experience just as much as actually getting an animal. The girls are deciding and then redeciding what they want to be for Halloween :) Zoe was wanting to be Justin Bieber (!!!) but I talked her out of that one, thank goodness! They change their minds every day so I'm not planning anything until a little closer to the actual holiday. I have a pumpkin hat that Kaia used when she was a baby so Aubry will probably get to wear it too :) Hope all is well with you. I put up a picture in our living room of you holding Aubry in the hospital so we 'see' you every day :) Much love to you, from all of us!

A video of Aubry smiling

2 months old!!!

Can you believe Aubry is already 2 months old!?! She has a Dr. appt. tomorrow so we'll see how big she is growing but I'm estimating her weight to be around 12 lbs. She eats 4-5 oz. every 3-4 hrs. but in the evening she'll eat at around 9 or 10pm and then not wake up until 2 or 3am. Let me tell you that long stretch has been a life-saver lately! July and August have been so busy that I feel like I can barely keep up! But I guess summer is like that, especially with 3 kids :)

Zoe and Kaia had swimming lessons in July and then all my nephews had the time slot right after ours so they would come running in to the pool and attack Aubry! They are so sweet with her but 4 kids trying to hug her at the same time can be a little overwhelming!

Which is why I laugh every time I see this picture. Aubry's expression is a combination of shock and "Save me, Mom!"

We've spent some time at the local outdoor pool too. Aubry just soaks up the sunshine ;)

At the pool with sweet Adeline

We've visited Ryan's grandma. Aubry is her 5th great-grandchild!

Milestone Alert!!! Aubry started smiling! She's very liberal with her smiles so all our friends and family are thrilled when she grins at them :)

Kaia and Aubry

This is how Ryan babysits

All snuggled up together

Every year my dad's side of the family goes camping for a week. Both Zoe and Kaia were older babies when we went with them so this was a little different with Aubry being so young. But she was a champ! I think her favorite part was that she was always held! There were so many people there that she just got passed around and cuddled all day long :)

My cousin Rogan holding a baby for the first time! He was a little nervous :)

Aubry loves camping!!

My cousin Devon and Aubry

Sleeping on a lawn chair....for about 2 minutes until someone picked her up

One of the rare times she got put down

One of the rare times I got to hold her....everyone thought they should get a turn first since I get to hold her any time I want

Grandma and Aubry

Grandpa snuggling his baby

This is how a busy momma gets stuff done...with a baby pack!!

Aubry's car seat makes a great pillow for sleepy sisters

I was out running errands the other day and I laid Aubry down in the front seat to change her diaper. She must have been tired because she just snuggled up and went to sleep!

Tummy Time! Working on those neck/ab muscles

Milestone Alert!! Aubry has found her hands! I think it's usually kind of by accident but she seems to keep getting them in her mouth and sucking on them like crazy

Bath time!

How have you been doing? How is your job going? How has your summer gone? Are you ready for fall? Oregon has definite seasons.....is North Carolina like that? How is your family? Have you been on any more fun trips? Ryan's sister (Angie, who lives in Canada) had a little boy on Friday so as soon as we get Aubry a passport we're going to go visit. We have a church convention next week so be prepared for some adorable photos of the girls :) Then school starts - YIKES!!
Please let us know how you're doing. We think of you often and pray for you every day. You are part of our family and are always in our hearts.