Our girl is 3!

Dearest Aubrey,
I have admired you from the moment I met you. I prayed for you even before you were born. God blessed us way beyond what we could have ever thought or imagined! We have enjoyed being there when your first tooth popped out, you first started crawling and walking, when you said your first word and all of the other stages in your life thus far.Your dad and I are amazed by you every day. You are funny, more than you even know - your dad and I will talk and laugh about the things you do even after you go to sleep. You are a special and unique young lady. I am honored and privileged to have a front row seat along with your daddy and Pete as we watch the story of your life unfold.

Happy third birthday to our sweet little ladybug.

To you, the reader this blog post,
I leave you with just a few of my most memorable pictures of Aubrey:

Zoo-PARTY!

First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYSIE!! Our sweet, first born niece, Alyse, turned 3 this past Saturday and we celebrated in a really unique way...ZOO PARTY!! The Tyler Zoo was loads of fun and we were so excited that all the cousins on my side of the family were there. Jack, Alyse, Aubrey, Alexa, Evie, Pete, Allie & Charlie (respectively to age) It was awesome to be with friends and family there. Great party Allens!! Here are a few fun pictures from that day:





And of course, our newest nephew, Baby Charlie, was there which was so exciting!!

Hungry, hungry Hippo

I just couldn't help myself in posting this. Bryan and I think Pete looks like this Hippo on one of Aubrey's (well, actually the Butler's) sippy-cups. Pete's teeth have been coming in quite nicely. He really loves to eat, well, pretty much anything (Cheerios, bananas, strawberries, carrots, sweets, ect.). He has 6 teeth now and two more are coming in.
Tomorrow marks ten months that he has been "outside of womb." We love Pete's sweet disposition and the smile he usually has on his face, which always brings a smile to our faces. LOVE YA BIG BOY!

Useful iPhone Apps

Bryan got me and iPhone for my birthday a few months ago and I have to say that it has proved to be one of the coolest gifts EVER. I was pretty content with just having my old razor phone but when Bryan gave me this multi-purpose gadget, it really opened the eyes to a whole new world for this mom-on-the-go. If you have an iPhone (or are thinking of getting an iPhone) and have kiddos, or have an iPhone and are thinking of having kiddos, you may want to at least check out my suggestions. If you are not thinking of having an iPhone OR kiddos then you may stop reading this post now and play solitaire on your PC.
Baby Monitor has been one of the most useful apps to me as a mom. I have used it many times after putting one of my kids to sleep at one of my relatives houses or while on vacation. It helps me to feel secure that my baby is sleeping safe and sound. I simply forward my calls to a phone of someone I am with (usually my husbands phone), start the baby monitor, set it next to your sleeping baby - when the baby starts crying or makes a noise, your phone calls the number you have designated for it to call. I love it!! Especially when I go to my moms and put Pete upstairs where it would be hard to hear him if he woke up.

Bryan introduced me to the Ambiance app. I was just using a "white noise" app but this has a wide variety of noises for your listening pleasures. It is great to help a baby stay asleep and drowned out other noises or to help an adult go to sleep and drowned out baby noises. ;)

Since I have had the Grocery IQ, I have not put a pen to paper when planning out my grocery run. I go to my pantry and bust out my iPhone and start planning. I love that I just put an item in my phone when I randomly think of it since my phone it always with me. It also has a "favorites" list you can add so you can easily add your personal staples. (side note: among our top 3 favorites are regular Cheerios, milk & coffee) This application has more! It will sort your list by category/aisle and will save your history just in case you would like to include that to your favorites or grocery list. This is a must have in my book.

...and while we are on the food topic, here is one I haven't used much yet but I can see how it will be quite handy in the future. It is the Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner You can easily browse through recipes by specifying what dish type (Appetizers, beverages, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, ect.) then specify an ingredient you might want in it (chicken, pork, pasta, ect.) and it will even search for recipes by time frames you designate (such as under 20 min, 45 min or less, an hour plus, ect.) I am really excited about this one. It will give you recipe options within your specifications along with their nutritional facts and some reviews as well.

Sketches is great for adults and kids. Aubrey uses it all the time so it is obviously a kid pleasure. I really enjoy creating masterpieces on it as well. I can just doodle, pull up fun clipart or pull photos from my album and add text, clipart, ect.

So these are apps I feel could be useful to most every mom on the go who has an iPhone. Take my suggestions or leave them. I know this post is not in vain!! One of you will find this post useful right? Let me know if you have any suggestions for me. I am always looking for something fun and new (when it comes to apps that is)

Here are a few of my other, personal favorites not mentioned above:







NOTE: did you know that friend, Drew Corbitt, helped to create the "Pitch Pipe" application? It has really been useful to me.

Introducing - Charlie Butler

Amy was 9 days past her due date and finally had her baby just 1 day before her scheduled induction. It was pretty awesome that Charlie came on his own.
I just wanted you to see our sweet nephew, Charlie Emerson Butler. He was born Sunday, January 18 at 1:45pm. He was 9 lbs 3oz and was 21 3/4 inches long. We are so proud!! Congratulations Butlers!You have a beautiful family.

The 6th day past due

I came to Bossier City on Tuesday with the kids and we are still here awaiting Amy's baby (baby Charlie) to be born. She was due on the 9th but hasn't shown any signs of labor just yet. I am hoping Charlie will come soon while we are here. It has been nice because the kids are having so much fun together plus Amy and I have enjoyed this time together. She was with me when I was a week late with Pete and it made the time pass so hopefully we are helping this time pass for her too. I am sure my next post will have a picture of our sweet Charlie on it. Amy will be induced on Monday if he doesn't come before that.

For Pete's sake

This is Pete's 9 month post. Yes, we still love him and still want to keep him ;)
I am just blown away by his cuteness and growth every day. We love to see his little personality, to play games with him, watch him crawl, pull up and eat more and more different kinds of food. I haven't taken him for a 9 month appointment but I weighed him the other day and he weighed a little over 20 lbs., he also has 6 teeth!
We will have to see how tall he is at the Dr. office. God has truly blessed us with a sweet boy and we enjoy every day with him.

I pay tribute to his nine months by sharing recent pictures of him:
Here are a couple of pictures of Pete with friends, Jaiden & Cole.


My friend, Jessi, posted some pictures of Pete and his buddy Lars on her blog.

I love this picture of Pete and cousin, Lysie, playing.


Here is a sweet one of Pete with cousin, Jack, around Christmas time while wearing their Peanut shirts. (Note: for those of you who are wondering - my sister has not had Charlie just yet)
And of course, his proud sister, Aubrey, just adores him even more than when they first started hanging out.