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.

"Pass the sweet potatoes please"

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving Day. I wish I had taken more but I was busy slaving away in the kitchen. This year we went to Noonday and met up with Aaron (older bro), Drew (twin bro) and his family, along with my mother and step-dad. Amy (sister) and her family could not make it down from Wyoming but I heard they had a nice feast up north.


This year marked Bryan's first year to carve the turkey! We were so impressed with his cutting skills.












I put an apron on Aubrey and I think she really enjoyed "being a big girl." She kept it on a lot longer than I thought she would. We will probably give her a big girl task next year so she can feel useful in the kitchen. This year she really just wanted to pull pots and pans from the cabinets.







Aubrey and cousin Alyse had a great time together as well. It is so great to watch them both grow and really get excited about seeing each other. They call each other "Aubwey" and "Lyse." Every time they meet up, they will give each other a big hug. This is a picture of them after getting tired out from jumping on the bed.





Also, Drew and I both had the idea for me to pose this picture that he had taken 2 Thanksgivings ago when I was pregnant with Aubrey (left) - I am one month less pregnant in this year's Thanksgiving picture (right) than the one Drew took of me two years ago.
-------Thanksgiving 2005-----------------Thanksgiving 2007--------

I just have to say that I am thankful for God's many blessings in my life!

Give Thanks Always...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you have a good one!
I thought I would share a couple of crafty thanksgiving items I have come across recently. First, my friend Heather made the cutest little candy turkeys out of reese's peanut butter cups, candy corn, twizzlers and marshmallow cream to hold it all together. It was such a cute idea and SO SWEET!
Next, I wanted to share that my awesome friends took me to brunch at Glory Bee Baking Co. for my birthday a few weeks ago and then we were off to the Mud Hut to decorate some pottery. I really had a great time hanging out with the girls and getting to be creative. They went in and bought me a turkey platter that I got to decorate. It was so much fun!
Thanks Beth, Laura, Vanessa (aka - Redmon Galls) and Heather for good times always!

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:20 (KJV)

Mulching MUST GO ON!

I was determined to mulch today!
I had five bags of mulch in our garage for over two weeks and it was high time I did something about it. I am sure that some of you can relate as a moms or dads in that things you want to accomplished during the day are sadly dismissed when you have a clingy, or whiny, or sleepy, or hungry or sick child in which to tend. Hands down, your child is your first responsibility am I right? Well, today I was determined to get my mulching done dangit!
I had it all planned out, I was going to mulch and plant some flowers while Aubrey played with sticks and rocks out in the yard. It was a simple plan and I had high hopes that it would actually work, but Aubrey had different ideas. She didn't want to play with all of the fun rocks and sticks, she wanted to hang on me. It is something I love normally but would not work while this pregnant lady was tending to her yard. I began to get frustrated and wanted to give up...but NO, the mulching MUST GO ON!
Hmmmm, what could we do? I went in for a glass of water while I pondered this dilemma. Just then, I hear Aubrey running in saying "watch Dora," "watch Dora." Ah hah, eureka, she can watch Dora outside on her portable DVD player we got her for her 1st birthday (which incidentally has been a great gift for us as well).

So to conclude my story, there was my precious child out in the garage happily watching her show while I was able to accomplish my task. I was very pleased and learned that sometimes if you want to get things done, you just have to be a little creative.

"I'm in a hurry, I don't know why."

Our neighbor's son (about 3 yrs. old) offered to take Aubrey for a little ride around the block while we took Buck for a walk. Aubs absolutely loved it! It was pretty adorable listening to him describe to her thing's that were in people's yards as he drove..."Look, there isa pumpkin!" He gave her the grand tour of our neighborhood.
She didn't seem scared at all and probably wanted to go faster. It is pretty funny because she road in another 3 year old boy's jeep just last week. It is cute when they are young but I have to tell you, Bryan and I are not looking forward to that when she gets in her teens. (note: Aubrey is wearing her favorite shirt here)


Here is a little video clip of their adventure:

Another time, in NOT another place

Drew and I have officially spent every one of our birthdays together except our 16th (that was because I was in Tennessee at Nationals for volleyball) We have sworn to always meet up on our special day no matter where we lived or the circumstance. Here are a few pictures we have taken through the years at our mom's house. I know there are other pics of birthdays at her house but I have not been able to locate them.
It has been interesting that he has always been my right hand man in the pictures AND that we have always stood in the same spot. Check them out!

Twins at 28

Twins at 25

Twins at 22

Twins at 20

Twins at 15

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween."

Wonder Woman!
All the world is waiting for you
and the power you possess
In your satin tights
fighting for your rights
And the old red white and blue
Wonder Woman!

As you can see, Aubrey went as Wonder Woman this year to the trunk-or-treat and was oh, so cute (not to brag on my own daughter or anything). Her Nana took us out and bought Aubrey this sweet little outfit.

Bryan and I got to dress up too (along with our small group at church) as extras from the Richard Simmons workout video, "Sweatin' to the oldies." I thought Bryan looked awesome - straight out of the 80's. Anyway, we had a great time at our church where we passed out candy to all the decorated little boys & girls.

- This is Carmen, me and Melissa gettin' in shape -

I love this picture of Mallory and Aubrey!
One of the cutest things was Aubrey playing with her little friends. We had an excercise ball in the back of the truck so we got it out and it was instant entertainment for the kiddos.

The wonder of the Glow Worm

I had a glow worm as a young child and although I can't recall a whole lot about my experiences with it, I did get a warm fuzzy feeling when my older brother gave one to Aubrey for her 1st birthday. At that time Aubrey didn't think much of it but I am sure glad we kept the little guy out.
Recently, Aubrey has cried when we have put her to sleep. She would usually calm down after 10 minutes or so, but oh, the torture to sit there and just let your sweet little toddler cry for that long.
Bryan had the wonderful suggestion to put her baby glow worm in the crib with her. The first night we did she cried for about a minute and then, to our wonderment, all we heard was the sweet music of the glow worm over and over again until Aubrey went to sleep...Man, that is MUCH better than hearing my child scream; it was so calming for all of us to hear. From that point on we put the little "bebe" (as she calls it) in Aubrey's, NO CRYING! It is a wonder to behold. Thank you makers of the glow warm; you have a great product! Here is proof that it works!

I know this is a simple video with just music coming from the monitor but it is very special to Bryan and I because our baby is peaceful at the other end of that.

Every morning when Aubrey wakes up, she cries for a little while. I go into her room and this is what I see:
She has gathered up all of her things and wants to get out of her crib. I love that she feels she needs to take her pillow, blanket and baby glow worm with her.

Thundering Sneakers 5K

I was so glad to be a part of the Thundering Sneakers 5K run once again with the girls. Beth and Laura (my former roommates) have been such awesome friends! I am so glad they live down the road so we can keep an eye out for each other and take random walks around our little circle every now and again. This was our second year to participate in this event and we have had so much fun both times. This will for sure be a tradition of ours. Bryan and I would love to take the kiddos in the future because there is a 1/2 mile fun run for kids. Proceeds of the race benefit theRuskCounty Library.

THUNDERING SNEAKERS 2007
(Andrea, Laura & Beth)

THUNDERING SNEAKERS 2006
P.S. Congratulations Laura for placing 3rd this year!

Cousin fun on video

This is a continuation of the last blog. I just wanted to show how much fun the cousins had. It was hard to capture all of their cuteness on camera but here is a little glimpse:

Good times, noodle salad

This past week has been pretty awesome because my sister, Amy, and her family came in from Wyoming. We got to meet them in Tyler along with the rest of my family and some friends from old school. It was great to see my siblings and all of our kids (the cousins) together at last. My mom was loving it too! Mind you, all 5 of her grandkids are UNDER the age of two.


(back left to right) Alyse, Alexa, Grammy, Evie, Aubrey
(front) Jack

It was crazy trying to get this picture taken and will get even crazier when there is 6 grandkids (thanks to the Silverthorne addition coming next March)

Here are a few more pictures from our time together: