Happy Birthday To My Little 2 Year Old

My little Aubrey,

Today you turned two. And what a two year old you are! You are such an independent little girl already, very head strong and brave. You have no fear...except when the vacuum is out! You know what you want (most of the time) and will settle for nothing less. You have already mastered the "terrible twos", I can only imagine what is in store for me this year. You are saying so many words now and I can understand you most of the time, but we often have to ask Austin what it is you are wanting because for some reason he just knows. You call your big brother Nahnie, so much so that we have all started to call him that too. You love your big brother, and he can make you laugh like no other. And you love to do whatever it is he is doing, but only when you want him to do it. You have mastered the 'scream' to get him in trouble. You follow him everywhere, and love to be around him, even when he is teasing you and making you cry.

You love "Melmo", and will ask for "melmo on" several times a day. Your favorite movie is Rocky; you will watch it until the theme music starts and then jump off of your daddy's lap and race around the house with your arms in the air. You love your books, and will bring them out in piles and demand to read a story. You also love puzzles, and are getting really good at them, especially the Cookie Monster one. You are learning your ABC's and can count to 9, and you love to sing. Your favorite song is Wheels on the Bus, but you also like Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the ABC song. You love to cuddle with mommy, but are becoming somewhat of a daddy's girl too. You love to brush your teeth, without anyone's help saying "Aubrey do!" You don't like to go night night, but when you are falling asleep you will pick at your top lip. You really don't like new people, and are leery of those you first meet. You don't like to share your toys or your mommy with anyone.

I only have to look at you and your brother to know what is really important in life when I am getting too caught up in the everyday stress of bills, chores, bills, work etc. You keep me grounded. You are such a blessing in our lives, and I love you more and more every day.

Swimming Fun

Our Red Sox friends (coined this because they are just as fanatical about the Sox as we-Brian-are-is. They are who we spend most weekends hanging out with and go to the Red Sox games in Texas with) just got a pool in their backyard, so we spent the weekend in it. I think we were all water-looged by Sunday, but we had a great time playing and hanging out. I joke with them that they will come home from work to find us in their pool, and am only half kidding! It was a nice break from baseball, which is all Austin and his little Red Sox friend do when they are together. Austin is getting to be pretty good swimmer (dog-paddler), but feels much more brave with his floaties on. Here are some good shots of the kiddos having fun...

Austin trying to dive in the water, the end result was more like a belly flop!

Whee!

Going down the slide superman style.

Even Aubrey was brave and went down the slide, once.

Aubrey knows how to enjoy the pool. That is my girl!

Annual Red Sox Weekend

Well, the summer is almost over and it has flown by like I knew it would. Austin starts first grade in less than a month, hard to believe. We have been staying as busy as possible though, and have had a great summer so far. But it wouldn't be complete without our annual trek to watch the Red Sox play the Texas Rangers. We went down for a three game series, (a hard one as we lost all three games and had to endure chants of SWEEP! after the third loss), and had a lot of fun watching baseball, eating hot dogs and peanuts, swapping stories with other Sox fans, starting Red Sox chants, giving high fives and doing the wave. I love doing the wave. There is just something magical about 50,000+ people jumping up out of their seats with their arms in the air shouting "whoooo!" in unison, all around the stadium. And it really does look like a wave, if you squint your eyes just right.

Here are some pics of the weekend:

The Millers at the ballgame.

Austin starting a Red Sox chant.

Aubrey clapping for her beloved team.

Aubrey singing on her daddy's shoulders after the last loss, she wasn't phased by it at all.

My Little Benchwarmer

Aubrey cheering for her big brother in his last game for the season. Notice the batting helmet is on backwards...

Safe!!

As promised, here are some pictures of my little leaguer sliding into home plate. I love this little baseball player.

Notice the black under his eyes, it was really sunny and he and daddy decided he needed it.

And The Laundry Still Waits

So I know it has been more than a few days since my last post. I am behind on everything around here, especially the laundry. I feel like we have been on the go every moment of the day for the last few weeks. And every time I sit down at the computer, Aubrey wants to see "Melmo pictures" (I made the 'mistake' once of playing some Elmo games/videos on the computer with Aubrey, so now she thinks we should do that every time), so we get distracted, and then before you know it something else comes up. And it is usually something other than the laundry, so the laundry waits.

We had a pretty good Holiday weekend, busy but fun. We went swimming for most of the day Friday, then off to some friend's for a BBQ. Saturday morning we got up way to early and went to a parade (some of us in 'already worn' shorts because the laundry hasn't been done in I don't know how long), and then to a cookout. We came home for quick naps before heading over to another friend's house for more 4th of July fun. And so the laundry continues to wait, patiently.

We didn't get to see any fireworks display this year, it was rained out. Instead the kids put on their own show with sparklers and smoke bombs and these neat little eyeball things that swirled on the ground and then popped and sparked. Austin loved it, probably much more than if we would have been sitting and watching the big ones. Aubrey liked to watch from afar.

Sunday I had big plans for cleaning the house and doing laundry, but after church I first needed a nap. You know, to gather the energy for said chores. But then Brian decided we needed to go to a double header at the ballpark, two games for the price of one, and who am I to say no when chores can be put off in lieu of play? So out we headed for some baseball fun. And the laundry waits some more. In the meantime, we are out of socks and other essential items.

Rowdy the Redhawk, Daddy, Austin and Aubrey at the ballgame.

So you would think that today, my only full day off this week, I would take advantage of it to get some stuff done. But it is my only full day off with the kids, so we did take full advantage of it, and spent the day playing. We met some friends downtown and fed the ducks, played in the park, ate lunch, splashed around at the fountains, and had ice cream. Of course we needed a nap when we got home today, so guess what is still waiting?

I have big plans for tomorrow, but I am not holding my breath. Something better just might come up.

Aubrey trying to drink the water, yummy...

Austin giving the fountains his best Karate moves.

Aubrey laying on one of the water spouts, must feel good on her belly.