Photo Shoot

I didn't want to post any of these pictures until I sent out Aubrey's birth announcements. Here are some newborn pictures that were taken in the hospital. Aubrey didn't wake up or cry for the first 3 days of her life until this photographer came in. She decided during the photo shoot to wake up, move around non stop, and cry. So... we only got a few that were decent.

This is the one I used for the announcement. Love those sweet cheeks.



Love it in black and white too. We had a big print made of this one to frame.

 

 

 

I set up my own photo shoot to try to get some good shots with all three girls. All three of them were actually pretty cooperative. I got some pretty good ones. Just wish I was a better photographer.

 

 





 

 

 

 

 





Aubrey James is 1 Month Old

Aubrey is one month old and life is good. She is such a sweet baby. If I had known one baby was this easy, I might not have waited 5 years to have another one! : ) She has a fussy spell between 8pm and 10pm most nights and she cries when she’s hungry but other than that she doesn’t make a lot of noise.  She eats every 3 hours during the day but at night she will go at least 4 hours. Recently she has had nights where she will go 5 or 6 hours between feedings! With Ava and Macy, I woke them up to feed them. With Aubrey, I am following the “never wake a sleeping baby” rule. And I have to say, that is the way to go. She will give a little shout when she gets hungry. No screaming. No crying. Just a little noise to wake me up when she is ready to eat. Then she just goes right back to sleep. Such a dream baby!

Ava and Macy are adjusting to life with a baby. They transitioned to being big sisters really well thanks to my mom who stayed with us for over a week and entertained them constantly. She took them places and kept them happy which helped me settle into a routine with the baby. After she left, they had a little bit of a hard time getting back into the routine of school.  Macy has been a little more clingy to me than usual but I guess that is to be expected. They LOVE Aubrey though and are constantly hugging her and kissing her and asking to hold her. They also love to show her off to their friends at school, but we are trying to keep our distance from all of their germy friends until she is a little older. There is no doubt that Aubrey has four people in this house that love her very much and are willing to hold her and love on her anytime. Even though she has only been here a month, it is hard to imagine our family without her. It feels like she has always been a part of us. Here are some pictures of her first month:

 

 

This is from her first outing. We went to Five Guys to eat lunch.

 

Treating her like their very own baby doll.

Ava and Macy are always trying to get her to play with toys. She doesn't have much interest yet. : )

Christmas 2012

With the arrival of Aubrey, this Christmas was definitely different. Ben's parents were in town the week before Christmas for the birth so we celebrated with them before they left town. My parents, Craig, and Jacqueline came in town on the Saturday before Christmas so we were able to spend a few days with them. I was recovering from the c-section and still sort of in the "newborn fog" so I was not a very good hostess. Thankfully, mom and Jacqueline took over the cooking and everyone was readily available to clean up, entertain Macy and Ava, and hold the baby. We opened presents with Craig and Jacqueline on Christmas Eve because they ended up leaving early the next morning due to the bad weather that was heading to Fayetteville. They made it home safely thank goodness but we were really worried about them driving in the snow and ice that hit Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Santa came Christmas morning, mom cooked a yummy lunch and then we spent the day relaxing and enjoying our new toys. Here are some pictures from our Christmas festivities:

 

This is from the girls’ Christmas program at their school. They sang “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with their class. Very cute!

 

Presents from Grammy

 

 

 

Showing Pawpaw something. Look at tiny Aubrey curled up in Pawpaw's arms! So sweet!

 

 

 

 

Christmas Eve Nap

 

 

 

Christmas Jammies

 

This was after they had raided their loot from Santa and sadly it is the best picture i have from Christmas morning.

 

Santa must have been listening closely to Macy's requests because he brought them Spiderman Pajamas. This was easily their favorite gift and they put them on right away. Here is Macy striking her spiderman pose.

 

My Nana sent them a book where she recorded her voice reading it. They loved it and knew exactly whose voice it was when they heard it.

 

Mom and Dad got them a Wii. Here they are dancing with Dora.

 

Even though we broke some traditions and didn't get to spend any time in Arkansas, we still had a great Christmas!