Family Day!

Have I mentioned that the recent weather has been amazing? (Except for Aubriella's party....grrrrr). ;-) We had to take advantage of it being this nice so we finally walked the Bob Jones trail. Jose and I may be the last ones on the Central Coast that hadn't walked it! Even Aubriella is familiar with it thanks to Nana and Papa!

We of course took off wearing flip flops, and started getting nervous that everyone else was in hiking gear or looked really prepared. I guess they just really wanted to get some excercise because flip flops served us well!



It was so pretty and Aubri loved the stop at the swings and seeing all the dogs! We will definitely be doing this more often!
My girl loves the swings!





Aubri brought along her balloon from an earlier shopping trip.





Exploring the open road

Wish I knew how to take better pictures! The sun made this one dark, but the moment I caught is priceless!

Whenever Aubri is on Jose's shoulders she spends the whole time bending over to see him!

Since we took the walk at a very lesuirely pace (and somehow passed our bridge exit!) we got to Avila later than we planned. Aubri had fun walking around, and of course going on the swings.

We could have walked back, but instead added to our adventure and took the trolley ride!

A short story

Once upon the time there was this really lucky mommy who had a beautiful baby girl and a handsome husband. The lucky mommy was convinced to get a pedicure by the handsome husband. Not one to argue with that, the lucky mommy indulged herself. Turns out the beautiful baby girl was lucky too. The Handsome husband/daddy took her to the park while the lucky mommy was enjoying her treat.

The silly Handsome Husband had so much fun with the beautiful baby girl. He told the lucky mommy "We must take her to the park much more!" to which the lucky mommy replied, "I don't think so. Not when we have two huge boxes containing lumber and parts for a gorgeous swingset for our own backyard sitting in the garage waiting to be assembled!" Turns out the only one not lucky is the handsome husband...because he has some work cut out for him!
The End

Long Legged Lady

January has been very unseasonably warm around here (that is until the day of Aubri's party....grrrrr). A few weeks back it was pushing 80 degrees and when Aubri put up a fight during a clothes change I decide to not fight back. Jose and I were cracking up that she was walking around in her diaper and shoes (lately if she finds a pair of her sparkly shoes she HAS to have them on!).

Things got even funnier when she took a break for a snack! We could not get over how long she looks! She's really been thinning out lately, and obviously getting taller!

Setting the tone

I'm a big advocate for invites setting the tone for a party/wedding/event. The invites hint at the theme, colors, and tone of the festivity to come.


With that said, you can imagine the pressure I felt after the holidays were over when I realized that I had 2 weeks to find invites and mail them for Aubriella's party! I didn't even have a concrete theme! I found invites I looooved but they were about $1.25 a piece and needing 45 of them didn't go over to well. Believe it or not I "settled" for some 44 cent ones from Walmart. At the time I didn't think they were the right style, but after the party came together I realized they were perfect.

Ok, hard part done, card picked...now we just need a picture. Wow! I forgot how hard it is to stage a picture of a very active girl. I've been singing since then my made up song "How do you take a picture of Aubriella?" (to the Sound of Music tune How do You Solve a Problem like Maria). It is like trying to catch a wave upon the sand, holding a moonbeam in your hand, catching a cloud and pinning it down...



Thought you might want to laugh with me some of the outtakes. I'm sure Aubriella will love these someday. Keep in mind these were taken over the course of a couple of days.

Clearly outside was too distracting. All she wanted to do was run around! We tried her chair outside and that didn't last.

So we moved inside.


I actually got this cute one inside, but her diaper was a little distracting. I tried to fix her skirt, but she took off....and hid inside her tent!

Not happy to come out of her tent!

Very not happy!


Ok lets call it a day!
Day 2

I had to chase her down after every shot! Looks like she is dancing, but just trying to run away I think.




Trying to get her to smile. I was singing to her and she's doing the "mark it with a B"

She's off again!

Not her fault in this one, camera setting too dark.

Can you see how messy her hair is getting from all the chasing and wrangling her back in the chair?



Believe it or not, this is the winner!

Not posed, taken as a joke over the stair banister, distracting tile and carpet... but that is 100% my little girl!

I just had the best year of my life!

Happy birthday Aubriella Joy! You have brought us so much joy. I love everything about you (except can we please try working on that food throwing thing? thanks), and I thank God everyday for allowing us to be entrusted with your little life. I can't wait to see the big things you were created for, and look forward to 17 more years of helping mold you and guide you closer to Christ.

Baby girl Mama and Dada love you so much!

Jose

Jose celebrated his 29th birthday this month! I may be a bit... ok a lot...behind in blogging but he deserves his post nonetheless!

Where do I even start to praise Jose? Aubri and I are SO lucky to have Jose in our lives. As he likes to point out, he is different then most guys. He loves everything about being a husband and dad. He helps out around the house, changes diapers, puts his clothes in the hamper, always puts the toilet seat down, and wipes up his splashes around the sink! WHOA! On top of that, he is handsome, sweet, writes me silly poems, reads his Bible every morning, and does a devotion or lesson with me at night! He works hard for his kids at work, comes home, and before even getting a chance to sit down gets ready for whatever committment we seem to have every.single.night. He watches most football games in fast forward (thanks DVR!) and gave up fantasy football to spend more time with us.

Jose you are the greatest husband and father there is! We love you so much and are so thankful for all that you do for us!

1st picture

Sorry friends for the lack of updates! Just wanted to share with you the first picture of the new year.

Taken New Years Day morning:

I think it is going to be a great year!