I don't know how or when, but Aubrie grew up on me. Her chubby cheeks and baby thighs are gone. She's officially 5 years old. She talks like she's 12, and acts like she's 15. I'm not ready for her to be a big girl yet!
5 years ago the night before I had her, I ridiculously cried in the bath tub. Jade couldn't quite figure out what my deal was that night. I was so scared for some reason of delivery & becoming a Mom and suddenly realized I didn't take a class on how to take care of her other than nursing. How would I know when she needed a bath, and how to change her diaper. Ridiculous - I know.
Then, on December 20th at 6:15 PM she came into the world. 7 pounds 12 ounces at 20 1/2 inches long with thick black Mohawk hair. Jade bawled like I've never seen him cry before, and we became a family. She was beautiful. I remember thinking, she is the prettiest baby I have ever seen. Honestly, she was!
She was a difficult baby. She had trouble nursing and we'd both cry, but we finally got the hang of that and she nursed for a year. Then, she had colic and would cry for hours at night until we let her start sleeping in our bed full time. She slept with us until we moved to our new house and made her bed a new routine. She loved Trace Adkins & for her first Valentine's day my Mom bought her the Honky Tonk Ba Donka Donk CD - it calmed her down every time. She was quite the diva!
She was beautiful and really knew how to rock a Mohawk. Everyone at church loved her and she was perfect on her baptism day in her Great Great Grandpa Jack's baptism gown.
She adored her daddy. You can see why she's pretty, because he is very pretty too! They watched Cardinals games together and that year the Cardinals won the world series while she laid on his chest. At night we would watch the Top 20 Countdown on CMT every single night to put her to bed - until she was literally 20 months old. To this day I can hardly stand country music. She ruined it for me.
She was and still is full of personality, especially around her Grandma Janie. Grandma Janie is her one true love and to this day, her favorite person ever. They are two peas in a pod. I'm glad they are close and I don't really ever see that changing.
When she was 20 months old she got glasses & became a big sister in the same day. I remember crying over her glasses worrying about covering her beautiful face, and now she looks odd without them. She makes glasses cute! She loved her baby brother and was so proud of him. Now that I look back on it, she was still a baby, and I don't know how I survived some days. Now they are so close in age, but they play together and for the most part get along well - the hard times I had were well worth it!
We finally moved into our own house when Aubrie was 22 months old, and Aubrie had a big yard that was safe and away from a road. She developed a love of trees & helping plant them is one of her favorite things. This is a tree she helped put into the ground & oh how she was proud of it that day! She's such a ham and a mini-me.
Aubrie adores her brother, and he loves her. They are always kissing and hugging to the point it's almost embarrassing in public! As soon as they are done hugging they are sure to always slap each other and then run around the staircase in a mad dash. It's always loud and hectic at my house & someone is going to time out most of the time. That's how they work, but no matter what they are always best friends & partners in crime together.
My best friend has a little girl, Millie, the same age as Aubrie. They were fast friends. So close they cut each others hair. Seeing this picture again made me laugh out loud! Melissa and I literally laughed until we peed our pants - I am not even joking! Even though it was awful thank God we are best friends because we couldn't stop laughing! Most women wouldn't have laughed like we did that night.
Thank the lord for Aunt Maggie. A perm later for Aubrie and a sweet haircut & both girls looked styled. You couldn't tell they had done anything other than Aubrie's absence of bangs hidden by curls! They to this day are the best of friends.
Aubrie started preschool and it nearly killed me. I knew she'd love it, and she did. Tiny Tech is one of her biggest joys every week. She sees her friends and her teachers. She crafts and is so proud of it all! I wish I could be a fly on the wall at her school. She's big into public announcements that really shouldn't be publicly announced - so I can't even imagine the stories that her teachers hear about our family - kind of scary in a funny way!
Last winter she started dance and tumbling and oh my gosh talk about another love. This year they switched to a closer gym & now Everett goes with her. They only do tumbling now, and they both love love it. They crack us up with their tricks and are learning so much!
This year she has grown up the most it seems. She acts like such an adult and even her body looks like a little girls - no more toddler is left in her! Her stories have gotten bigger and better and her memory - oh her memory - she has the ability to remember everything in detail for years. She still brings up Carl the cat she had when she was 2 1/2 - we had him a couple days & he got really sick & passed & I told her he lives in the trees. I thought back then that small lie would appease her and she'd forget about Carl. Not the case - she brings him up on a regular basis still.
She is happy pretty much all of the time! She finds excitement in everything that she does. She drags Everett and her cousin Caroline around for her adventures. They are the three amigos & they think they are all siblings which is great!
Her favorite person is still her Grandma Janie. Together they craft about 8 projects a day. I made a big bulletin board to display her artwork & I can't keep up with her. I can't forget to mention her Grandma RuRu. She loves her RuRu very much and thinks that RuRu is the best at baking cookies, teaching her about aminals, & going on nature hikes. One of her favorite things to do is to call them both on speaker phone with her random topics of conversation which are always funny to hear from my end!
She started posing in pictures this year - that's a new one. It always surprises me because you don't expect it at first and she breaks out some funny pose. She also has started to dance a lot, but it's a weird jerky like break dancing move. She did it all over the streets of Disney - it is too funny!
She's still a princess, even though she likes the farm & days where she goes on the gator or with Pa to see cattle. She loves makeup, dress up, nail polish, jewelry of any kind, and lots of hugs from her friends. She wants to be a veterinarian, chiropractor, cosmetologist, Mommy, and many other things when she grows up. She doesn't want to be a land surveyor or accounting customer service representative though - Jade & I did not rub off on her!
She couldn't be any cuter. I'm sorry, but she really couldn't be!
And anything gets her excited to the point where she makes this face then the whole room lights up. People like her Grandma Janie and her Mommy cry to see her so happy - thank you Disney!
This year has flown by and we have so many more great years ahead of us. Next year she gets a baby sister & I can't wait to see the new bond she'll form with Ollie. Then her Aunt Maggie, Uncle Kylie, & Caroline move in until they build their house and she is pumped about that! I think she'll probably drive them nuts for at least the first two weeks!
I am so proud of her. She is so smart, it shocks me sometimes. She makes me laugh hard even when I shouldn't be laughing. She is so sweet, I love her hugs and kisses, and I love watching her loving on the entire family. Her singing just makes my day as do her aminal stories. I just can't imagine life if I wasn't her Mommy. God blessed Jade & I in a big way 5 years ago. I can't believe 5 years ago I cried because I was so scared, and today I cry because time has went just too fast!
