Aubrey's Daddy

As Aubrey gets older, it's always fun (or not) to see her relationships with different people change. For example, one day she wants nothing to do with her Grampy and the next, she won't let him out of her sight when we go spend time with him. But, by far, the one I enjoy seeing the most is the relationship between Aubrey & her Daddy blossom. Don't get me wrong, Keith has always been a good father to her and would do anything for her, but ever since she started talking more and is running around and is old enough to really play with, they're inseparable when he gets home from work.

I'll be honest. When we found out we were having a baby, Keith had his heart set on having a boy and when I slipped and fell at work at 20 weeks pregnant and had to get an ultrasound, the technician offered her opinion as to what she thought we were having. We already had an appointment set up a week later to officially find out the sex, but the anticipation was KILLING me so I didn't even have to think about it. She said "My guess is a girl" and my eyes automatically shifted to Keith to see the expression on his face. I was expecting to see at least a little disappointment but his face was lit up like a child on Christmas morning.

So anyway, I guess the point of this post is to just look back on Aubrey & Keith's relationship through pictures.


I wish I could have somehow gotten a photo of the first time Keith held Aubrey. It was right after my c-section and they put me under anesthesia and when I came to, the first thing I saw when I looked over was my husband holding our baby. I will never forget the feeling I felt and that was one of the best moments of my life.


When Aubrey was a newborn, they would nap together all the time.


Pretty soon she was babbling away and telling her Daddy stories.


♥


She was about 3 months old the first time he gave her a bath (I think he was nervous)


Aubrey LOVED watching football when she was this age. She would just stare at the television in awe. It was definitely father/daughter bonding time ;)


This photo was exactly one year ago. Our first Thanksgiving as a family. :)


A pair a full house couldn't beat ♥


Aubrey's first snow storm!


"The Claw". She would never laugh as hard when I would do it. Clearly, I was doing it wrong.


Using her Daddy as a bed after a long night of dancing at a family member's Sweet 16.


Aubrey's first Red Sox game.


Snuggle time when she was in the hospital.

I can't wait to see the bond between the two of them strengthen as time goes on and Aubrey becomes more and more of her own little person. I can just see them having tea parties now...


Since the day they got married, he'd been praying for a little baby boy
Someone he could take fishing, throw the football and be his pride & joy..
He could already see him holding that trophy, taking his team to state
But when the nurse came in with a little pink blanket, all those big dreams changed..
And now he's wrapped around her finger, she's the center of his whole world
And his heart belongs to that sweet little beautiful, wonderful, perfect all-American girl ♥

Aubrey vs. Santa

We woke up bright & early Saturday morning to take Aubrey to go meet Santa. Our local mall has an awesome children's program, where they do monthly activities and can have a meet & greet with Santa around Christmas and the Easter Bunny in April. We get to the mall around 8 and there was an assembly line of staff signing people in, assigning numbers to meet Santa (we were number 11!), passing out small bean bag animals with Santa hats, small stockings, snowman markers, muffins, and bottled water. They also had little stations to make reindeer food, Hello Kitty facepainting, letters to Santa, coloring pages, and Bertucci's was also there handing out dough to play with, coloring sheets with crayons, coupons & magnets. There were a couple places open in the food court, so Keith & I grabbed some breakfast and let Aubrey color while waiting for Santa to get there. We found out that Aubrey LOVES orange juice, so I'll definitely be buying some next time I go shopping.

Santa got there fairly early, so we weren't waiting long. Aubrey wanted NOTHING to do with him. Even after I sat down next to him and gave him a hug, showing her that "we love Santa!", she was still in hysterics. Keith snapped 3 pictures (even after I told him to just keep taking them.. oh, men), we told him what she wanted for Christmas, and went back to our table to finish breakfast. Someone from Build-a-bear came out in a big teddy bear suit and of course, Aubrey was fascinated by it. She kept going over and touching his leg and when I picked her up, she kept trying to take his hat off. I wish she would have been like that with Santa! Ah well. At least we didn't have to pay for it.










The dreaded Santa pic! Oh noes!


And here are some from the makeshift tunnel we made to crawl under :)






She enjoyed crawling under it a LOT, so I'm thinking of adding one of those play tunnels to her Christmas list. I started a Wishlist on toysrus.com but I still need to tweak it a bit and add a few more things. I recently learned that Toys R Us will be starting their Black Friday sale the night of Thanksgiving so that's probably what I'll be doing, since I have to work early Friday morning.

Are you going out for Black Friday? What are you going to be on the hunt for?

Let's catch up!

Things have been busy lately. I recently started a new job at a popular children's clothing store that Aubrey & I shop at frequently. So far, I love it! It's a busy environment and my first check was spent before I even got it. Every day I go in, there is something new being put out that I want to buy for Aubrey. I already bought her Christmas outfit (minus the shoes), some PJs and some adorable outfits, including a "Santa Rocks!" shirt that she will be wearing Saturday morning when we head on over to our other local mall to meet Santa! He has been at the mall I work at for a little over a week, but there is a kids club that you can sign up for that allows them to meet Santa and parents can take pictures with their own cameras instead of paying ridiculous amounts of money for a couple professional 5x7s. Half the time, my photos come out better anyway. ;)

Halloween was a blast. I had to close the store that night, but since it was Sunday we got out early, at around 6:15. Trick-or-treating started at 6, so I called Keith as soon as I left and he waited to take Aubrey out until I got there which was great. I was pretty upset that I was going to miss her first trick-or-treating experience (although, the stores at our mall did do a trick-or-treating event that she went to, but it wasn't the same!)

We went up and down her Grampy's street, but it was too cold to keep going so we passed out candy for the rest of the night, then went to visit her Uncle Joe (who always goes all out for Halloween!)


Aubrey "trick-or-treating" at her Nana's! No tricks here, just a treat - a box of Aubrey's favorite banana cookies!




At the mall




I managed to snap a few pictures during the short time we were out!


Aubrey & her Grampy! She got another treat here - a touch & feel book "Biscuit's Pet & Play Halloween". Touch & feel books are her favorite! She loves the different textures with the turn of each page.


Some new things Aubrey has learned..
- When I ask for a kiss, she (sometimes, if she's in the mood!) smooshes my cheeks into her hands and plants a kiss on my lips. Adorable.
- When I ask her if she's all done her food, she'll either shake her head no or throw her hands up in the air, waiting for me to clean them.
- When I tell her to go grab a book to read, she goes and grabs one
- She has learned to be VERY sneaky! This afternoon, when she woke up from her nap, I had a half can of Coke sitting on the end table from my lunch. She wanted it and kept pointing at it, but I wouldn't let her have it. A few minutes later, she brings me her bottle for a milk refill. I go and fill the bottle up and come back to find her sitting on the floor drinking my soda. Little con artist!



Hope you're all having a nice week!

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