Happy 11 Months Aubriella!

I can't believe Aubri is 11 months today! It is going by so fast, yet I can't remember what our lives were like without her. We love our sweet girl so much and we are so thankful for the little fiesty person she is.

Everyone thinks they have the smartest baby in the whole world, but I'm sure I really do! ;-) Aubriella learns something new everyday and her vocabulary is over 20 words (though only the trained ear can distinguish between puppy and baby sometimes). She knows animal sounds and hums certain tunes. She mimics any sound we make from coughing to whistling, and loves to fake blow her nose. She pretend chews when she tells me she is hungry and pretends to swallow and say "ahhh" when she is thirsty. She can point to her nose, mouth, eyes, and hair, and understands instructions like getting a certain object or picking up a toy. I know I'm very very biased, but even when she is around other kids her age she stands out and other parents tell us they can't believe her age. Her social skills and verbal skills are impressive, but her motor skills excel too! At 11 months of age she has been walking for over 2 months, and now tries to run away from us when she doesn't want to be caught! She keeps us on our toes and chasing her around has helped me manage to not gain any weight this holiday season.

Aubriella used to be very shy and only want her mama, but now is the friendliest little thing. She knows no stranger and will wave at everyone she passes. She demonstrates a strong will and can be downright stubborn. She knows what she likes and there is no convincing her otherwise. She makes me laugh- and at times pull out my hair- when she gets an idea and won't get over it. She believes Mama's dish towel belongs on the floor (not the oven door), the measuring cups belong with her toys, the real remote is hers (not the old one we took the batteries out of), nap time is negotiable, and Mommy's milk should be available when she wants it and where she wants it.

Aubri is a little dare devil who will dive off of couches, loves to be thrown in the air, hang upside down, and climb anything she can. Sometimes I think she is a little tom boy hidden in tutus (but I relax knowing she loves shoes, brushes and bows). She laughs when she burps and farts (and says "Papa!" when she hears a fart much to my dad's embarrassment!). No one makes her laugh like daddy, and she loves to rough house with him.



She LOVES to give slobbery kisses and I've given up touching up the make-up she smears off of me. She gives hugs, but doesn't like to cuddle long. Don't try to hold Ms. Independent's hand when she is walking, but feel free to pick her up to take outside.

Even when I start to get mad that she throws all her food on the floor, I can't help but get over it when she mischievously says "uh oh" or tries to say "bom" (for bombs away- thanks Daddy!). With those big, dark eyes she'll turn you into putty, and the two-toothy grin will melt your heart.

Aubriella you've completely captured our hearts and we love you more than we thought possible. You are beautiful inside and out and we love everything about you!

Pictures from her 9 month photo shoot byMoments Caputred

There'll be parties for hosting (marshmallows for roasting!)

Two years ago when we were house hunting, Jose and I prayed for a house that we would be able to use for entertaining, fellowshipping, and welcoming people in. We were teaching 4th-6th grade Sunday School and every month the kids would pray for us and ask if they could come over when we moved. We finally found the perfect house (almost two years ago- WOW!) and were true to our word by hosting sleepovers for the kids. Since then we have taken advantage of our home and love having parties and get togethers here.


This past December was no different! The Saturday before Christmas I invited the young girls from church to come have a bake day. The perfect amount of girls came and we had a blast! I was wiped out afterwards though (it's tough work keeping young girls entertained and on baking task for 5 hours!) and I'll admit I found sprinkles and frosting all over the place for days afterward. Our baking paid off, because the next day we had a bake sale at church and raised over $500 for the Children's ministry!!

The Thursday before Christmas we had over 30 of Jose's family over for the weekly Thursday night dinner and Andrew's Birthday Party! Everyone I've told about having this large of a group over has seemed shocked, but the way our family pitches in is awesome! I barely had to do any work!

Christmas Evening we had our immediate family over to celebrate Christmas and my (earthly;-) Dad's 50th birthday! Poor guy has always been jipped having his birthday and Christmas on the same day, so I tried to make it seem birthday party-ish and not just Christmas-y. After a day full of festivities this was the perfect ending and I was proud to host Christmas Dinner.

(Jasen attempted to make an anatomically correct Gingerbread man, but I did not approve hence the smear. )

Monday evening, I had the smallest gathering yet- the 12 ladies of my Bunco group! As always, it was a fun night hanging out even though I didn't win a prize. I had planned on announcing that I would be dropping out of the group for the following year (trying to cut down my commitments) but I have so much fun with the girls that they wore me down and I committed for another year!

After hosting parties every other day, I'm taking a much deserved break. 4 whole days without a party! You thought I'd pass up an opportunity to host a New Years Eve party? Wouldn't dream of it!

Christmas 2010

Christmas morning is so exciting again having a baby! As much as I love Christmas, my adult years haven't included the extreme excitement for waking early and opening presents. This year though I couldn't wait to see how Aubri would react!

Jose and I were awake before Aubriella was and got showered and ready. The little stinker choose Christmas morning to sleep in! We ended up opening our present to each other before she got up. With Jose's new Lecrae rap CD as background music we ran up the stairs with video camera in hand. Aubriella usually goes from sleepy to active in 30 seconds, but Christmas morning she was happy and mellow (go figure!). After being told to not touch the presents, I think she was confused why we were trying to get her to rip them open!



She was so patient ripping one tiny piece of paper off at a time- and walking each little piece to us! And when one present was finally open she sat contentedly opening and closing the box lid for a few minutes! Daddy taught her how to rip paper and throw it in the air and that got her finally moving faster.





Aubriella is one loved little girl! We didn't even bother buying her a single gift to open because she had a million from her Grammy and favorite cousins! (We did pitch in to buy the wooden playset that Grammy and Tia Emma bought her! Papa and Daddy are going to build it once the rain stops!)


LOVE her new little chair that matches our couches!

Aubri tripped and fell backward into the pile of paper! It was so funny and I am glad we had the camera in hand! Classic!

Even with all her new toys, the most excitement came from playing in the box! And later her favorite thing to play with was a small jewelry box!

After Christmas morning at our house, we went to Nana and Papa's for breakfast and more presents! Aubri got to help Papa open his big gift and got lots of help from her 2 of her favorite uncles.

Every wrestler needs a wrestling mask!

The fun (and busyness ;-) never stops when we are fortunate to have all our family near by. After changing out of our PJs we went straight to Nino and Nina's house (Jose's grandparents). The commotion that can be a little overwhelming other times is so fun on Christmas! Presents are being passed, paper is being thrown, and everyone competes for the few open seats. The littlest great-grandkids are growing so fast.

Nino loved his new Uppercase Living sign!

I wonder if it will ever get easier to take pictures of the littlest great-grandkids?? This picture cracks me up!!

From Nino and Nina's house it was back home to prepare for the Christmas Dinner/Dad's Birthday Party and more celebrating!

Sweet Song

There is something so sweet about hearing little ones sing! Our kid's Christmas song performance during church service went so well! Even though we only had 4 kids show up for practice, I don't think it mattered. I feel like we could have practiced for weeks and still had the same results. Half the fun is watching the teeny tiny ones play on stage and talk to each other instead of sing. They sang so quietly you could barely hear them, but did their hand motions great!

And the older ones did great anyway singing Joy to the World.

Faith earned her standing ovation with the prettiest song that she performed so well.


So proud of "my kids!"



PS How cute is their Happy Birthday Jesus party?? I was so blessed by the effort of the teachers to make it special! They had cake, party bags, hats, balloons and streamers!

Best Friends Finally Meet

Aubriella and Kamryn don't know it yet, but I have big plans for them to be best friends- even if they live 4 hours apart! It is horrible that it has been over a year since I last saw Katie. I am so grateful we were finally able to meet up for an evening. Hopefully we will be able to see them again soon!

Velazquez Family 2010 Christmas Letter

So here it is. Our annual Christmas letter! I only mail it with some of our Christmas cards- mostly to people who don't read the blog or see us every week. So if you didn't get the letter, don't feel bad. It just means I didn't want to bore you with the redundancy of an update. And, just in case you want to read it anyway....

December 2010
Dear Friends and Family,
As I sit down to write the 3rd annual Velazquez Family Christmas letter, I’m humbled at all we have to be thankful for. This year has been so rewarding as we have become parents to the most wonderful little girl, Aubriella Joy! A year ago we couldn’t imagine how much our lives would change to have this sweet, active, and beautiful child in our lives.

January was spent enjoying our final days of being just a couple, and we tried to be conscious of making the most of our uninterrupted time together. On January 29th, our due date, Marlene went in to labor. In the most amazing experience of our lifetime, together with our moms, we welcomed Aubriella into the world the morning of January 30th. The teamwork we had during our natural, drug free birth bonded us closer than ever. We instantly fell in love with Aubriella who came out wide eyed and alert just staring and her mommy and daddy. We just completed Bradley Childbirth Education training, and are so excited to begin teaching natural childbirth classes next year. We look forward to teaching pregnant couples how to have the same positive birth experience!

The next couple of months were a blur of tired, happy, joy. Jose was able to take 7 weeks off of work during Marlene’s maternity leave. It was so nice to have nothing to do but be a family and get paid for it (wish we could find a way to make that work forever!). When Jose did go back to work at Child Welfare Services, he was able to transfer to the local office five minutes from home. You should see how excited Aubriella gets when she stands at the window and sees Daddy come home for lunch everyday!

In April we accepted the position of Children’s Pastor at our church. We are so grateful to have this opportunity to assist in teaching children how to have a personal relationship with Jesus. This job has been the biggest blessing as it has always been one of Marlene’s dreams to become a Children’s pastor, and she was able to resign from her position at CWS. Aubriella gets to hang out with Mama all day, but loves to go to Nana’s house when Marlene needs to go into the office.

In June we took a family vacation to Hawaii for a friend’s wedding. Aubriella was the perfect traveler proving to us that she should be included in all future vacations. We were told by numerous passengers on our plane that they had never seen such a happy, well behaved baby. We had a great time at the beautiful wedding and spent time hiking and exploring the Big Island.

Aubriella started walking in October at 8 ½ months. We have been chasing her around ever since! She keeps us on our toes with her inquisitive personality and her no fear attitude. She makes us laugh everyday with her growing vocabulary and the sense of humor she is already demonstrating! Aubriella proved she is still a great traveler on the 4 day cruise we just returned from, though now that she is mobile to say it was a relaxing trip would be a stretch!

2010 was an amazing adventure! It has been so awesome to see God’s provision in our lives, and we look forward to the New Year with expectation of great things. We pray that you and your family are blessed this Christmas Season!
Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15

Love, Jose, Marlene and Aubriella

O Christmas Tree!

I know there are much cheaper places to buy a tree than Holloways, but it's a tradition I love and I don't mind paying a bit more for the atmosphere.

I'm enjoying the remaining few years I have to buy a "pretty" fir, until Aubri starts asking to chop down an "ugly" tree.

Nana, Papa and Jasen went along for Aubri's first tree farm experience and to see her meet Santa.

She wasn't too sure about this man.

Papa saved her right before she was about to start crying. I want to take her to see him again because now anytime she sees any picture of Santa - or even any red velvet and white fur- she says Ho Ho Ho!

It was raining, but I didn't mind. I tried to tell the family to pretend it is snow!

Uncle Jasen is the best! Aubri LOOOOVES him. I'm a little suspicious he has been sneaking her candy or something because she prefers him over anyone. Sometimes Jasen gets annoyed because she follows him around and won't leave him alone!

My little helper!
S
She is so "helpful" finding new places for the decorations, and putting them in places I would have never thought of. She is also so creative in coming up with new uses for everything! Praise the Lord she won't touch the tree! I can't figure out why she hasn't, but I'm am so very grateful!