Pictures at the park

Darrell (Aubrey's Grandad) got a new camera and took some awesome pictures Aubrey & Aubrey with Debbie (her Nana) at the park here in Longview on Sunday. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

31 weeks plus

Well, here I am, feeling a little more pregnant and a little more excited with each passing day. Only 58 days until my due date! It seems like 58 days is a long time but then again, it seems like not enough time for me to prepare for a totally dependent newborn. I have really taken the time and enjoyed each day I have with JUST Aubrey. I know my attention will be shared soon. It is really hard to imagine what it will be like to have a second child in the house; it will definitely take a little adjusting. I have become accustomed to Aubrey doing most everything on her own. She feeds herself, brings me the comb and spray to fix her hair, tells me what she wants instead of just crying, she brings me diapers and wipes so I can change her and pretty much puts herself to sleep. That girl is very low maintenance.

I had sweet Bryan get all of Aubrey's baby clothes out of the attic and I sorted through them. Now there is a bin for girl clothes and one for neutral clothes. So now we are prepared for which ever gender baby God decided to give us. The Tuesday before last I had my 30 week checkup and Dr. Mauldin says everything is right on track. I told Bryan that even though I hear that every time I go to the Dr., I just praise God. I don't want to ever take that for granted! Anyway, this was my update. Hope you enjoyed it!
(Here is a picture of Bryan and I last Thursday at the ARC of Gregg County for a Project Star Dance.)

Baby it's cold outside

This past week it has been pretty cold here in Longview. In fact, we actually got snow at one point; granted, it only lasted about an hour AND it melted once it hit the ground BUT it was fun to see. Anyway, I haven't been able to take Aubrey out to the park (which I have been spoiled because there is one right down from our house) So what do us Texans with toddlers do inside when it is cold outside? Well, here are a few things us Silverthornes came up with:
Feed all dolls, bears, chickens and things.
Aubrey loved feeding Hope "chips" and "peppa" (Dr. Pepper) Aubrey got to eat all of the leftovers so she thoroughly enjoyed that.

Play like you're a super hero
Aubrey had a good time dressing up in her headband and wristbands, putting one hand on her hip, one fist to the sky and yelling "superman!" as she ran through the house.

Make them earn their keep.
We made Aubrey clean all of the dishes before she could have dessert! (not really, we just let her play like she was washing the dishes and let her splash in the water) It really seemed to entertain her.

Pitch a tent over all of the toys
Aubrey loved this tent! She wanted me to read a book to her under the tent so I kind of slid halfway out so the lighting would be better but she made sure we were ALL the way under. It really was a cool place to hang out.

Run & slide with Daddy
Aubrey would run down the hall as fast as she could and Bryan would come up from behind her and help her to slide on her feet for part of the way down the hall. Aubrey LOVED going fast. Also, the first time she did it, we put on her Dora socks (which her Aunt Nee' got her) so now she thinks she HAS to have her Dora socks on in order to slide.

Rollin' with my homie

A little over a week ago, Aubrey and I stayed in Tyler a couple of nights to let Bryan get some stuff done here at the house. We missed him but had fun with family. Before we headed back to Longview, we enjoyed the great weather by calling up the cousins to come over and play in Grammy's front yard for a little while. Unky Drew, Aunt Charlotte, Alexa, Alyse, Aubrey, Grammy and I ate some Purple Pig BBQ then played outside. Good times! --(Cousin Alexa pictured right)-->
Here are some pictures of Aubrey and cousin Alyse (just 14 days older than Aubs) playing in Grammy's front yard.
They are so cute together!

Little People Slide

Yesterday evening, Bryan had the great idea to build a slide out of cardboard for Aubrey so she could slide some of her little toys down. Naturally, it became the "Little People Slide." It was fun making it and Aubrey had lots of fun shooting her little people down the shoot. I think we had as much fun as she did! Who knew that cardboard and duct tape could create such fun.
Check it out:

Happy New Year!

I hope all of you had a great time New Year's Eve. Aubrey has been getting over a cold and coughed all night the night before New Year's Eve so we decided mainly for her sake not to make the trip over to Tyler for a big shindig over at my brother's place. Instead, we celebrated here at the house. It was really relaxing! We put Aubrey to bed around 9pm (she slept great praise God) and then stayed up watching The Star of Bethlehem (really pretty interesting - I recommend it) and then Spider-man 3 (it was pretty good) - Also, we had Sparkling Cider & Starbucks Serena Organic blend coffee (Bryan's favorite) to bring in the New Year. Bryan and I just had a great time together. I am so thankful for our little family and I look forward to this coming year as we have our second child and embark on a new journey together.

Christmas with the family

I wanted to post this sooner but we have been busy, busy having a great time with our loved ones! The Saturday before last we made our way to Tyler to have Christmas with my side of the family and then headed back to Longview to hang out with Bryan's side. That Thursday we went to Houston to see my sister and her family. We came back Friday night and just spent some family time here with just me, Bryan, Aubrey and Buck. We are so blessed to celebrate the birth of our Savior with family members who are so loving, supportive and like to have a good time. I would go into great detail about the good times we had with our families but I think these pictures say it all!

CHRISTMAS IN LONGVIEW









CHRISTMAS IN TYLER










CHRISTMAS IN HOUSTON

To all you preggers out there...

...and the ones who form conversations with us.

This pregnancy seems a little easier now that it is my second time around. I think it is because I am not thinking about being pregnant all the time due to the fact that I am trying to keep up with my 22 month old. I am now 25 weeks along and feel pretty good. I think this is the point where I actually feel more pregnant in the sense that my body reminds me of it more (tired from doing normal tasks, frequent urge to use the ladies room, the need to roll out of bed instead of popping up, ect.)
I hate to admit it but I am posting this mainly because I am wanting to vent a little. Not only am I starting to "feel" pregnant, I am reminded of it by everyone. (which actually is great because I am showing more, it means my baby is growing and I am thankful that my little one is healthy)
I am mainly talking about HOW people sometimes remind me that I am pregnant. I don't know if you are tracking with me but you will. I am posting a list of WHAT NOT TO SAY to a pregnant lady and WHAT TO SAY:

WHAT NOT TO say to a pregger: (actual things I have been told)
- "You just look like you are about to pop." (not too flattering to a woman)
- "WOW, you got huge fast."
- "Are you really sure you are not having twins?"
- "You look so miserable"
- "Have you not had that baby yet?" (especially when I am at least month from my due date)
- "You look 11 months pregnant!"

WHAT TO say to a pregger:
- "Girl, you are all baby."
- "You just look so great."
- "You have that glow about you!"
- "I just saw you from the back and I couldn't even tell you were pregnant." (one of the best comments you can make, especially because we can't see what is going on back there)
- "Wow, you make a great looking pregnant lady."
- "You should model in a pregnancy magazine."

So there you have it. I hope this either gave you some insight or made you laugh. If you are or have been pregnant before, I'd like to hear some comments you have heard that have either rubbed you the wrong way or made you feel great.

I wanted to end with a picture Clay Kitchens took of a line of pregnant women at the Alpine Crossroads Christmas party in order of due dates.

(here are the ladies from right, the furthest along, to left)
Cindy Pruitt, already had her baby (Richard Cooper Pruitt)
Karen Jones, due in mid-March with a girl
Jill Corbitt, having twin girls in March (or before)
Andrea Silverthorne (me), due the end of March and not finding out
Melissa Kitchens, due early May, finds out the gender January 9th
Christy Norton, due July

What a big girl you are!

It is really amazing being a parent and watching this little human being (God's little gift) grow up so fast. I am with Aubrey all the time! Other people may say that she has grown and sometimes I just don't see it; other times I feel like she has grown so much just over night. Recently she has seemed like such a big girl. I have taken these pictures to capture her big girl moments:













Also, we went to Tyler yesterday so I could do a little Christmas shopping (SWEET) and I dropped Aubrey off at my mom's house. When I got back they were playing and Grammy was making Aubrey laugh so hard - here, see for yourself:

Happy 26th Beth!

I just wanted to send a shout out to Beth and wish her a Happy 26th Birthday!!













Thanks for being an awesome, supportive, consistent and fun friend through the years. I treasure your friendship! I hope you have a wonderful day today.

Trim you, trim me!

Trim up the tree with Christmas stuff
Like bingle balls, and whofoo fluff
Trim up the town with goowho gums and bizilbix and wums
Trim every blessed window and trim every blessed door
Hang up whoboohoo bricks, then run out and get some more!
Hang pantookas on the ceilings, pile pankunas on the floor
Trim every blessed needle on the blessed Christmas tree
Christmas comes tomorrow Trim you, trim me!...
I'm tellin' ya, that Dr. Seuss was pretty darn creative - this song came in my mind just before I created this post so I thought I would share.
This past Saturday we decided to go pick up a fresh Christmas tree (yes, I love the smell of real pine), trim it up and set it in our living room just as most American families are doing this time of year. Good times were had by all. Bryan and Aubrey did a great job of making sure the tree looked perfect before we set it out for display. Aubrey is helping "trim up the tree" in this picture. (NOTE: not to worry folks, daddy is near to make sure Aubs is only cutting little tree branches)

Then, it is time for the lighting of the tree and the star...of course, little Aubrey Who has to show daddy that she now knows the song "Twinkle, twinkle wittle star" after she sees the one on our tree.

I thought I would end with this little video I took with my camera. Check it out:

1st close-up of our 2nd one

We went in yesterday for our 23 week ultrasound which usually marks the time people find out the gender of their child but we held out. Bryan and Aubrey accompanied me to see the close-up our precious child. I still couldn't tell you my feelings on whether it is a boy or girl but if you can figure it out, I put a poll on our blog so I would know your thoughts. The lady doing the sonogram said everything looked good! We just thank God for this child - HE OR SHE!

Oooooover halfway there...

Whoa-oh, livin' on a prayer
Take my hand, we'll make it, I swear
Whoa-oh, livin' on a prayer"

- Okay, so I'm not the biggest Bon Jovi fan but Bryan and I heard this on the radio the other day and thought the chorus was somewhat fitting for our pregnancy right now. Plus, it's kind of catchy - Don't you think? Who am I kidding, we were jamming out on the way to church! There, I said it.

I just wanted to update everyone on our pregnancy.
I have officially passed the halfway point of this pregnancy. This picture was taken at 20 weeks so I will have to get a profile picture again in a week or so. I am now about 23 weeks and me+baby are going strong! I feel SO DIFFERENT now than when I was in my first trimester. I feel full of energy (enough to keep up with Aubs) AND I don't have to take a nap everyday - SWEET!

We have an ultrasound scheduled for this coming Wednesday and no, we are not finding out the sex of the baby. We will ALL have to wait to see! OH the anticipation! Most people I talk to say they just can't wait to find out but Bryan and I LOVE to wait. This is one of few surprises in life and we like to take it as it comes. We recommend it to ANYONE expecting a child. I am excited to see the little 3D sonogram and get a glimpse of our second child's face. I got teary-eyed when I saw the 3D of Aubrey's face for the first time - I seriously couldn't believe that little baby was in my tummy. It is truly a miracle; It's surreal!!

We thank God this wonderful blessing and for the healthy pregnancy thus far.