It's early but we've already had a full week of halloween and harvest parties of sorts. Very nice for Aubrey who would wear her Belle dress all the time if possible. Bryant has had fun showing off his Davy Crockett duds, too.
Belle in her very full, very twirly Belle dress. Thank you, Nana!
Davy in his gear...the cutest Davy Crockett I've ever seen.
He's here! We are so excited for Drew and Annie and this beautiful baby boy!! Thanks for making your appearance, Noah. We can't wait to meet you!
Translation: "Thank You for Blake and, Jesus, help him every day. And this, pray him. Pray Nana and Papa make Aubrey's Belle dress. And this pray food and Daddy and Blake keep fase. Safe. And this pray food. AMEN."
We did not coach her to pray for any of this. We pray for Uncle Blake every day and she has obviously caught onto that. The Belle dress is the most important thing in her world right now (Halloween costume that Nana is making), and she always prays for Daddy, too. I love that she corrected herself when she said, "face," instead of, "safe."
*This is mostly for my record. It is quite long but you are obviously welcome to read it if you wish. It's a mommy reflecting on the joys of the day-to-day.
These days are going by quickly. Well, while the "day" is going on, it sometimes seems like it is never going to end. But then, with the kids asleep, I sit and realize how quickly these days really are going. And I don't want to miss out on the joy-filled moments. Rather, I want to make the moments joy-filled, because I'm pretty sure that when I blink, these moments will be gone.
My moments with my Aubrey girl lately:
She is in ballet class. Yes, I did it, I put my daughter in ballet. I'm grooming her to be the next "it" ballerina. Kidding. It doesn't take anyone long with Aubrey to understand that this girl is ALL GIRL. She loves princesses, dresses, dancing, twirling, singing, DRAMA...dreaming. Oh, the gift we have in this sweet, spunky, feisty girl. I broke our camera so hopefully we can get a new one sometime soon and I can take video of her in action.
"Mommy, watch me I do," is a standard phrase I hear a lot through my days. It is usually followed by Aubrey showing me a picture she has drawn, a dance move she's figured out, or something she has discovered she can do with (to) Bryant.
Speaking of Bryant, she has learned that she can swing him in his johnny-jump-up, sit on him to, "ride a horse," and feed him...today he was introduced to oreo cookies. He loves it, by the way, and he adores his sissy.
She loves flowers. I actually got choked up yesterday when I went for a walk with the kids. A neighbor of ours puts flowers out in front of her house for passer-by's to take home. We always stop there so Aubrey can pick out a flower. She held onto this dainty little flower exactly like my Grandma used to hold flowers. It made me really miss Grandma, but it also made me thank the Lord that He gave me a little girl who reminds me very much of her.
-Addition- I don't want to forget Aubrey's prayer at mealtimes. It varies slightly by who is with her but it always includes this, "Thank you for Blake and Jesus, help him, every day (dramatic nod of her head through that part). Pray for Nana & Papa make Aubrey's Belle dress (Halloween costume she is so excited about). Pray for Daddy at work. Thank you for food. AMEN."
Aubrey, what will the future hold for you? I don't want to ask God to make your journey light...I believe He has more than that for you. But I do pray that no matter what, you will always hold onto your passion for life. And I pray most of all that you would allow Him to be your Prince. Sweet girl, that is the best hope I can give you, that you are truly His princess.
My moments with my Bubs, Bryant:
He is crawling. He has been for the past two weeks. With crawling came his first bloody nose. He sky-dived off our bed a few days ago. He does a one-two-three lunge thing and he went ahead and did that right off of our bed, onto his nose. John called and said Bryant had a bloody nose and that he cried for about a second.
Today I heard him shaking a rattle pretty furiously and laughing...then crying. I went out to see that he had hit himself right under the eye with the rattle and that it was already swelling up a little.
This one is no secret, he smiles. ALL THE TIME. Little moment that I don't want to forget: we went to get his 6 month pictures taken, he fell asleep in the car. My dad was with me and he got him out of the car and he stayed asleep. When we went into the studio he woke up, smiled really big, and went back to sleep. He kept trying to open his eyes and smile but he kept falling back asleep. He is such a happy kid.
Bryant, what does God have planned for you? Daddy always tells you that you are brave, tough, and strong. We pray all those things for you, little man. We pray those so that you will be prepared for the life God has for you. We want you to be brave, tough, and strong in all the ways that matter...and tender towards God and towards those He puts in your path.
Oh, Lord, thank you for these moments with my children. 
