Going to be a good mommy someday...

It is such an honor to be Aubrey Rose's mommy. What a joy it is for me to be able to watch this little girl learn new things every day. It is an even bigger joy to watch Aubrey Rose accomplish things we have taught her. And it melts my heart when she says I love you, especially when I haven't said it to her. She just offers it on her own.
Aubrey Rose is going to be 2 years old in March. At times I feel as if she should be older and other times it feels like it was just yesterday she was born. I actually enjoy life flying by, only because I feel as though we are soaking up EVERY second possible. I love our little family God has blessed us with. Life continues to get even sweeter. Just when you think life can't get better, I watch Aubrey Rose do something new or she makes me laugh, and life becomes even more sweet. I sure do love being Aubrey Rose's mommy.
Some of my favorite moments are the most random and raw moments of the day. I am not really a fan of going up and down and up and down the stairs, so just about every morning her and I get dressed before we go downstairs. This morning was a weekend with Daddy home. We were just hanging out with no agenda. Love those kind of days!

Aubrey Rose LOVES being a mommy to this baby she got for Christmas from Blake's grandparents.

All mommies want to make sure their babies are warm with their hats on...
Or even moreso warm with their blankets, while they sleep...
Sometimes, mommies fold the blankets just right...
When they are done with their naps, the babies usually need to be fed...

However, just when you have a second to feed them...

Somebody else might need some attention too! Ahhh, the life of a mommy! The best job EVER!

Salad for dinner...

The other night Aubrey Rose helped me make a quick and easy Oriental Chicken Salad for dinner. She helped pour all the ingredients in and then I asked her, "Do you want to eat some?" She said yes. I said "Alright, let's sit down for dinner." Blake asked me what we were going to serve her and I said "Oriental Chicken Salad." And so we did. Here is a little play by play of how that went with an almost two year old eating salad for dinner.

Dinner is served...Oriental Chicken Salad

You want me to eat this?????? (Please notice how much salad is in her bowl.)

First bite...

Are you doubting me????

Sometimes you just HAVE to ditch the fork!!!

Thumbs up baby!

End result...okay, a little messy, but not much left!!

ALL DONE!!!

Why did you doubt me??? I LOVE salad!!!

I can't believe you doubted me!!!! HA!!!

Go Blair!

Blair (Blake's sister) recently won an Outstanding Young Adult award. She was nominated for the Martin Luther King Outstanding Young Adult award and she was chosen! Go Blair! We were able to be there when she was given her award and she then had about a 5 minute acceptance speech. She is made for this stuff! She was her bubbly Blair self even in front of all the people. We are so proud of her! We DEFINITELY missed Bill and Linda as they were on their vacation in Australia, but we tried to represent as good as possible on their behalf.

Brad (Blake's brother), Blair, myself and Blake

Lisa is a friend of Blair's. She was so sweet to nominate Blair for the award. Blair and Lisa ride horses and barrel race competitively together.

Derek (Blair's friend), Blair, Blake, myself and Bradley

Below are all of the 2010 Award winners, as well as Fresno's Mayor and board members. Our Mayor, Ashley Swearengin was the keynote speaker. It was a joy to hear her speak as well as an honor to be apart of the event. Go Blair!

The Globetrotters!

I realize now that I should have taken more pictures from this evening, but hey a group shot is really the highlight anyway! The Globetrotters came to Fresno's SaveMart Center and we were all able to enjoy the fun. Christy and Aaron (my sister and her hubby) joined, as well as our friends the Visser's and Farmer's. Natalie, Jessica and I (and a bunch of other amazing women) were blessed to be in a Mom's and More group together a few years back. These ladies sure have come along side Blake and I throughout all kinds of memories together. I just love them! And I love their husbands and kids! The little girls LOVED dancing to the music and eating popcorn, while Treysen was quite intent on not missing a thing of the game. The rest of us adults enjoyed all that and the in between.

Friends and family!

The picture did not turn out that great but at least we will always have the memory photographed. I love mixing family with friends. The other night we were able to enjoy a dinner out with both! We went to dinner with Blake's brother and sister, as well as with friends who sure feel like family, the Patricio's. In honor of Blake and Christina's big Austrailian cruise that was coming up we ate at Outback Steakhouse. Fun times!

Girl of many talents...

Today we went out to Auntie Blair's barrel race. She is a lady of MANY talents and barrel racing is one of them. I enjoy seeing Blair in her horse element. She is so good at it! Even though she took a little time off for her queen run, she did not loose a thing when it comes to barrel racing. She came in 1st today in the 2D division! Yeah Blair! Maybe we were her lucky charms. :)

Or maybe Aubrey Rose is her lucky charm. :)
Blake and Christina came too!

Blair is on her horse in the background ready for her run.

Here's the 1st barrel...looking at the 2nd barrel

After looping around the third barrel...

she brought it on home with a win! Go Blair!

Aubrey Rose LOVED it out there! She kept saying "More, More, More!"

Fun at the Snow!

Saturday we drove up to the snow to get in some more skiing time. We went with the Patricio's and had a blast. Love those guys!!! This time we brought Aubrey Rose. Her and I hung out in the lodge while daddy and our friends skied. Her and I had the best time together. It was so fun to have just one on one time with her, with no distractions of my own at home. We colored, played with playdoh, worked on using scissors and glue, danced to the music and whatever else we wanted to do. It really was a fun time for us.
The best time of the day though was play time with everyone during the breaks of skiing.
At lunch time, Steve and Nikki (Garrett and Blake's parents) brought Taylor and Peyton to have some fun too. We should have gotten a picture of all three girls, but this one of Aubrey Rose and Taylor is so fun. They loved the sledding!
Daddy went down with Aubrey Rose too!
We ran into Luke and Becca (my cousins) too while we were there! They are getting married on our anniversary (March 27) and they asked Aubrey Rose to be a flower girl!!! Yeah!!
Our family of three at the snow.