Christmas Blessings

I wish that I could feel the Christmas spirit all year. I don't know what it is about Christmastime that makes you feel so blessed. We had a wonderful first Christmas with Aubrey. We had our Richardson family Christmas on Sunday the 20th with Adam's dad's family, and had a great day of food and fun. It will be so fun to see the babies grow up together!

Big Changes since last Christmas!

Adam, Aubrey and I had our Christmas Wednesday morning here at our house. Aubrey got a busy zoo, cabbage patch, books, and some clothes. I was thrilled with my new camera!

Aubrey's first stocking

Aubrey's first baby

Then, it was off to Nina and Poppy's. It was so nice to have everyone at Mom and Dad's. We didn't do much, just spent time together making cookies, playing games, and eating and talking. We did our traditional Christmas Eve at Granny's, Christmas morning at home, Christmas dinner at Grandmommy's, and Christmas night at Granny's. It is a whirlwind day, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I know that these traditions are probably going to begin diminishing as we all have our own families and traditions. While I know that's how it should be, it still is a little sad that things have to change. It makes me want to establish those same traditions with our family so Aubrey can have the same excitement and happiness that I've been so fortunate to experience every Christmas.

The whole fam

Our traditional Christmas cookies

Four Generations!

Sweet moment from Christmas morning

I am truly blessed. I have such a wonderful, loving family who I love spending time with. I have a wonderful husband and a happy marriage, and a beautiful baby girl. I'm also thankful for our home, and our jobs, and being fortunate enough to have all our needs met. I can't wait to see what's next.

Turkey Day

We had a very busy and fun-filled Thanksgiving Break. On Thursday we went to Muhlenberg County to have Thanksgiving dinner with Dad's side of the family. I love it the fact that I've been able to be with my extended family for every Thanksgiving of my life. Our family has grown so much that we had to rent a place to have dinner! I feel so fortunate that I was able to grow up around all of my cousins. We were such great playmates and friends, and although we aren't as close as we once were the memories we've shared will always stay with us. It saddens me to think that my kids won't share those same experiences. Memories with my cousins are some of the fondest memories of my childhood. It makes me so happy to see them have beautiful families of their own.
Aubrey had her first tastes of turkey, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, and pumpkin pie! She also enjoyed playing with her second cousins. She did not, however, enjoy her first Santa experience. Aubrey can be very shy, and Santa scared her a bit. After dinner we went and had a light meal at my Mom's side of the family. We had good food and played our traditional game. This year is was "The game of things" and we had a blast.
Friday isn't a traditional shopping day for us, but we did venture to Nashville to see the lights at Opry Mills. They had a light and water show and Aubrey was mesmerized. She loved looking at the lights and watching all the people. We are continually amazed at what a great baby she is! She is just so sweet, content, and fun! We did some shopping on Saturday then it was back home for Thanksgiving Sunday with Grandpa Gene and Mia. What a different Thanksgiving we had there this year! We went from no babies to three! It was so much fun watching Will, Blaine, and Aubrey play. It's so funny how our priorities have changed so drastically in a year. Life will certainly never be the same. The holidays are going to be so fun this year!

Beautiful Angel

I just wanted to share some of the professional pictures that we recently had taken of Aubrey. It was the first we have done since she was a newborn. We had the photographer come to our home , and I think she did a fantastic job capturing her sweet face and personality. These are just a few of the many beautiful pics.

Fall and Family

We had so much fun on Aubrey's first Halloween! Adam and I are reminded every day of all the things that will be new and different for us from here on out. We had fun dressing her up and taking pics (which is about all we can do at this age). We went and visited cousin Will and we all went to the block party in downtown Somerset. Aubrey is so lucky to already have several cousins her age. Will (Adam's step-sister's son) is just two weeks younger than her and Blaine (Adam's sister's daughter) is four months younger. My brother Andrew and his wife are expecting in January. I'm so excited for her to make life long friends and memories with her cousins like I did. Aubrey is getting such a personality these days. She laughs all the time and is crawling and pulling up on everything. She is so inquisitive and just seems to love life. She has become quite attached to mommy and daddy and she knows now the difference between strangers and family. She's such a fun, happy baby and we love her so much.

Fall is Here

I love the changing of seasons, and sharing it with Aubrey makes it even more special this year-the pumpkins, apple pies, mums, fall colors, cider, crisp air, and it's not fall until we make a trip to Haney's of course. What I'm looking forward to most is spending the with Aubrey at home this week (Fall Break!!) It's the little things that I miss-spending time in bed in the mornings, getting her up from her nap with her sleepy eyes and big smile, and just playing in the floor for hours. These are all things I don't get to experience everyday because I have to work. Although I miss her terribly, I think that it makes me cherish those moments even more when I do get to spend time with her. I hope we can live up every moment this week.

New Milestones

Aubrey is growing right before our eyes. It seems like she does something new everyday. Right now, she is enjoying what we call "army crawling" all over the place. She is pretty fast, but does get frustrated after a while when her little legs start hurting. We try to model for her how to get on her hands and knees but she just won't listen. She has also started pulling up some and stands really well. It's like she just can't wait to get out of her little baby body and move. She's babbling now, da da being her favorite. She'll give us an occasional ba ba and ma ma. She sits up great and plays well by herself, always exploring and studying everything so intently. We can't wait to see what's next.

Our sweet baby girl

I couldn't think of a better time to start a family blog. Our baby girl is now six-no SEVEN months old! She has changed our life completely as we were told, but we never imaged we could be so blessed with such a sweet, happy, good child who we are completely in love with. We think every single move she makes is the most precious thing we have ever seen and that she must be a baby genius. Each day is so exciting, and we love seeing how she reacts to new things. She makes it easy to get up in the mornings. Aubrey is good natured, content, always smiles, and loves to study. She has always been a petite thing, and a great sleeper. I think she prefers her sleep over eating! I have been back at work now for a month and Aubrey has been going to a great daycare (The Learning Tree) here in Somerset. They love her there, and she seems very happy. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to take her to such a great place where I don't worry about her. They spoil her there and she gets lots of attention. Aubrey is sitting up great now, and I think close to crawling! She loves playing on her tummy and being mobile. She loves her baby food, and her favorites are bananas and sweet potatoes. She babbles now and goes into da da fits all the time. Adam and I are smitten with her and can't wait for each new stage. I hope I can be good about keeping up with this blog to update our family and friends about her progress and new adventures.