Stranger Danger!!!!

A picture is worth a thousand words and this one speaks entirely for itself!!!!

Two Sweet!

Angela took our Christmas pictures last week (Christmas cards will be mailed out shortly!) and this was one of the pictures that came from a totally unplanned moment. How sweet are these two little girls holding hands! It looks like they are having a conversation! We hope that one day these two little ones will grow up to be great friends just like their mommies!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

JD finally turned 30 and I took him to Nashville! We (especailly JD) had a great time in Music City. We only had 3 days and 2 nights there but we made the most of every second we had. The main attractions on our agenda were the Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman Auditorium, and open mic at the Bluebird Cafe. Luckily JD was able to do and see everything that he hoped. Odds were against us at the Bluebird but thankfully JD was able to play one of Nashville's most difficult open mic's to get in to. And to top it off, he played while standing on the stage of the Ryman during our tour! Not many people can say they played at the Bluebird and on the Ryman stage in the same night!!

Mom of the Year!

So there are no pics to go along with this story but there is really no need! All I can say is that if there was truly a mom of the year award......I would NOT be getting it! So, Friday starts off like any other day in our little Kesner house. Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid, nap, lunch, pj's off, out the door. My "incident" occurred once we were out the door. Aubree and I went to do a little shopping in Kingwood and all was well and we even found the cutest Christmas picture dress. I load Aubree in the car as always, give her my keys to hold, shut the car door (do you see where this is going?!), load the stroller in the trunk, and listen as my little girl laughs and locks, unlocks, locks, unlocks, then finally locks the car doors on me. OMG! Did this really just happen to me?! Yes...she locks me out of the car and is laughing at me because I am madly walking in circles around the car to check each door. Panic immediately sets in and I call JD to tell him what a bad thing I have just done (he thinks I am calling to tell him that I spent too much money!). Thankfully, like the wonderful husband he is, JD keeps me calm as I watch Aubree holding the key and pray that she pushes the button just one more time to unlock the door. Well, no luck! She realizes that her mommy is for some reason standing out of the car and she is in the car and proceeds to scream and chunk the keys across the seat! OMG! Now it is official my little girl is locked in the car!! Long story kinda short, I google locksmiths and find one that is less than 10 minutes away. I start crying to the guy because I am worried he will not be able to get into my car and he promises me he will get her out and be there as fast as he can. After Aubree and I shed some tears and a few failed attempts to unlock a door he is successful after only about 7 minutes. Total time locked in the car only about 15 to 20 minutes. Luckily it was not hot that day and when the guy opens the door Aubree chuckles like it was the funniest thing ever. Once the door is open, I go to give Aubree a hug and the guys says "well ok, see you later, have a good day." I yell at him to come back because I forgot to pay him and he says "no ma'am its a free service." I couldn't believe it but I had to give him something for being so nice and saving my day. I highly recommend Lake Lock and Key after all of this!!
Anyway, NOT mom of the year! I gave Aubree the barrette that she swallowed then gave her the keys that she locked herself in the car with! Hopefully I will win the award next year! Unfortunately this year I wasn't even in the running!!

Happy Birthday NaNa!

My mom's birthday was November the 9th but unfortunately Aubree was under the weather that day. Luckily we had her birthday dinner a few days before the 9th and Aubree spent the night before at her NaNa's house. Although Aubree isn't old enough to buy presents, I think my mom got the best gift Aubree could give.....she said "NaNa!" I was there to pick up Aubree from her sleepover and we were just sitting in the living room and just as plain as day Aubree turned around and ever so sweetly said "NaNa" as my mom was walking back into the room. I just assumed they had been working on it all weekend until my mom informed me that it was actually the first time she heard her say it. Luckily, it wasn't a one hit wonder and she has been saying it every since that day!

When I went to pick up Aubree, I found the two of them across the street at the park going down the slide.....multiple times!

Fun at the Farm!

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Dewberry Farms with Ava, Angela, and Jarred. Unfortunately it was a littler hotter than it is now but we still had a good time despite the heat. Aubree and Ava loved the pumpkins (or balls as Ava called them!) and lucky for us it made a wonderful photo opp!

Aubree's New Doo!

So JD and I were at the store the other day and we saw this little girl in a stroller with her hair in a waterfall (thats what GiGi and Leslie call it). Its the little ponytail sticking straight up on the top of the head. I told JD that Aubree's hair would probably be long enough so one day I tried it....and she left it alone. It was super cute!! The pictures don't even do it justice!

Our Punkin was a Pixie!

Halloween scary? Not at our house! We had the cutest little pixie running around in circles! Aubree loved her costume and seeing all the dressed up boys and girls at the door. Surprisingly, she never even tried to take off any of her costume! She was as content as could be in her glitter petals, wings, head band, and the cutest part.....her green pixie shoes! She would walk to the door each and every time the door bell would ring. She would help close the door, make it half way back to the living room, the bell would ring again and she'd turn right around and go right back to the door. She was literally walking in circles for a good 45 minutes! She loved it to put it mildly and so did we! Who needs TV when you have a dressed up Aubree Chelle to keep you entertained?

Halloween jammies...they glowed in the dark!

Too cute!

Helping Mommy give out candy

Our Baby is 1!

What Aubree has brought to us in her first year:

*Joy. More than we could ever imagine!
*Laughter. Laughter at the things we do to make her smile and the things she does that make us crack up!
*Thankfulness. JD and I are so thankful for the gift that is Aubree. We used to pray nightly that God would send us a bundle of joy. We never imagined we would get so lucky!
*Love. Maybe its the 100 kisses or 100 hugs we give her a day but we have the sweetest little girl! She is so affectionate (for now!) and we love it.
*Togetherness. I don't think I truly appreciated the word "family" until Aubree was born. Family time is the absolute best and we are so blessed to have the best there is.
*Smiles. Just the thought of Aubree brings smiles to our faces and anyone who has met our punkin knows that she has a smile herself that is super contagious.

We love this little girl more than words can explain! This first year of her life has been the absolute best of mine and JD's. We look forward to watching Aubree blossom and to many more birthday celebrations!

Here's some pics of Aubree's wonderful party! The words of the song playing on the slide show sum up so much of how Aubree makes us feel and the crazy things she can make us do. If you only knew how many times I've danced like a fool! And my favorite part of the entire song....."I see the best of me inside your eyes." Oh you make me smile! :-)

This slideshow personalized with Smilebox

This slideshow personalized with Smilebox

Surprise, GiGi!

A few weeks ago (yes, I'm running a bit late) GiGi got a big surprise! A dinner was put together in her honor to celebrate being cancer free for 10 years! Leslie and G-Paw were super sneaky for a few weeks and GiGi never even had a clue. JD called her to ask if they wanted to "meet us for dinner." It wasn't very hard to convince her that we wanted to go to Los Cucos which happens to be her favorite restaurant! Although she never had a clue that there was a surprise for her, she did think something was up with JD and I! She wondered if JD and I were going to announce that we were expecting again! We are definitely not expecting but it was kind of comical that the surprise was of a completely different kind. Despite all the secrecy, the dinner went off without a hitch. We are so glad and lucky to have been able to celebrate such a wonderful milestone. We love our GiGi!

Look What I Can Do!!!!!!

Look who took her first steps tonight?? It's official that she is definitely not going to crawl now! Way to go Aubree Chelle! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!

Our Week

Let me just say that planning a party for a one year old is tough work! To quote my husband, he actually said "you are stressing out more about this party than you did for our wedding." I think that's an exaggeration but I have become a bit of a momzilla. I'm really not sure why but if this is a glimpse into what is to come for future birthdays then I am definitely in trouble!

To de-stress JD and I went to a concert last weekend! Anyone who knows me knows that I am a total 80s girl but I do have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for music of the 90s. So....we went to Stone Temple Pilots (Happy Birthday to me!). We had fun despite the fact that the band only played for about 45 minutes. And then this week JD got an email that someone else I LOVE was coming to town! So I love the 80s and the 90s but I also am a closet fan of Josh Groban (who I saw a few years ago) and Andrea Bocelli. I was watching Andrea Bocelli on TV earlier in the week and I was telling JD that I want to see him if he ever comes to Houston. Well, the very next day, JD gets a email from TicketMaster and guess who is coming to town?! Andrea Bocelli! I was super excited and we got pre-sale tickets. If you have never heard him, you have to find him online. He has the most beautiful voice in the world!!

Aubree had fun this week too! We went to Veggie Tales on Saturday. Aubree loves her veggies and she loves to dance so what better than life size vegetables that sing and dance. She had a blast and they actually kept her attention and she wasn't even scared. Thanks so much to Angela and Ava for inviting us!

The girls checking out their new CD's. Notice Aubree's? It's called Bob and Larry sing the 80's! These veggies know how to jam!!

She was able to stand up the entire time and only got fussy once. She loved watching all of the other kids dancing and singing in the aisles

11 Months!!

Is it possible that time is moving just a little faster than normal?! It sure feels like it! Aubree has changed so much over the last few months. I have to say that I feel like the biggest changes in her since birth have truly been in the last 6 weeks. I think I can see her hair growing! One day she decided she wanted to start babbling (and hasn't stopped yet). She mimics us on the cell phone. She mimics every noise that her daddy makes like coughing, sniffling, and especially laughing (she cracks us up!). She has no desire to sit any longer. She is gaining her balance. She loves to walk around the house while holding our hands. She is getting taller. And last but not least.....personality, personality, personality! Who knew an eleven month old could have so much character?

Can you imagine this lil bit running around?!

She Ate What??!!

Well people, I couldn't make this up if I tried! We have had a crazy last few days. To start with, JD was in an accident on Wednesday morning. Someone pulled out of a parking lot right in front of him! Thankfully, he and the 2 people in the other car were all OK but his truck is not doing so good. We are currently waiting on insurance and all of the paperwork that is involved so that we can see what the next step is.

Then.....on Thursday Aubree swallowed a barrette. Yep, you read right! A hair barrette! I was sitting on the floor putting my make-up on and she was playing with it right in front of me. I NEVER thought (and I'm not sure why) she would put it in her mouth and the next thing I know, she is reaching out for me to help her! She was gagging because it was at the base of her tongue so I tried to reach it. I was able to grab it and then in a split second it was gone. At this point I had my finger all the way down her throat and then I realized it was too late. Her little eyes were watering and then she just looked at me and was completely fine because she had swallowed it! I was freaking out and called JD at work and then my mom at work. Of course, I couldn't get a hold of the pediatricians office (and then in my hysterics, I left my work number as the call back) because they were at lunch. JD ended up coming home and although Aubree was acting completely normal and not having any breathing problems we decided to go to Texas Children's just to be safe. It was the best thing we could have done! Every person there was wonderful. The doctor calmed us down and told us all the possible scenarios. She thought that for sure the barrette was in her esophagus but the xrays would tell us for sure. After doing neck and chest xrays there was no barrette!! The xray tech called the dr and she ordered an abdomen scan and there it was in her itty bitty tummy. This was the best scenario because it meant that it would just come out the other end. Now we just had to wait and get another xray today to make sure it was actually moving and not stuck in the intestines. So we impatiently waited for our little girl to have a poopie. This morning, nothing. Then this afternoon after the 2nd xray, JD went to change her diaper before her nap and OMG......the barrette!!! It came out and didn't seem to phase her a bit. Talk about relief! Now we can look back and joke about it but let me tell you we were a worried little family. We are so thankful that Aubree is ok and glad that she never even had a clue that there was a problem. You gave us quite a scare baby girl!!! So here it is. This picture will go down in the history books for us. I feel like we should be on the TLC show "Your Kid Ate What?"

Double Digits!

10 months! I can't believe it! Aubree is just growing like a weed. We can really see so many changes in her over the last few months. For one, her personality is just bursting from her fingertips. She is so curious and does not miss a thing!! She LOVES music and absolutely LOVES to dance. Some of her favorite songs include Soul Sister by Train, Whip It by Devo, and Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet. Soul Sister is by far her fave. Aubree also loves to wave. She will wave at people clear across the room after staring them down so that they look at her.

She is not crawling yet but does scoot on her belly when there is something she really, really wants. We have decided that she is just going to walk. I actually think that she will talk before she walks based on all of her jibber jabbering. Whichever order she chooses will be just fine with us!!

The Best Birthday to Date!

I had the best birthday while in Gulf Shores. All I kept thinking about was what a difference a year actually makes!! Last year I was about 7 months pregnant and anxiously awaiting the arrival of Aubree Michelle. This year was so different than last and even more wonderful as I sat in front of the cake holding my 10 month old baby girl. Who could ask for anything more?! Great family, great friends, and of course....great cake!

JD found the best little bakery in Gulf Shores and got the most delish cake!

2009....notice the belly2010....Dream come true!
I will share my cake with this little one any day!!

Our 1st Family Vacation!

We had the most wonderful first family vacation ever! We are super lucky to have such great friends as Angela and Jarred that would invite us to join their family vacation. Thanks guys!!
Despite the tropical storm warnings, we had the most wonderful time together. The girls loved the pool, I had a wonderful 29th birthday (despite the cancelled hot air balloon ride), the outlet mall was amazing (Aubree made out like a bandit), and most important was the great family time we had! Even the middle of the night road trip was memorable! Aubree had it made in the back seat with her DVD player/foot rest combo and her neck pillow!

Here are some of my favorite pics. The song playing to the slide show is Aubree's favorite so I had to use it! She will immediately drop whatever it is she is playing with so that she can throw her hands in the air and dance (all with the biggest grin on her face) as soon as she hears it.

Digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

The Sweetest Thing

I have discovered the second sweetest thing ever (first is definitely baby kisses!). This is what Aubree does every night before I lay her down in her crib. I think it's a stall tactic that she discovered because she knows how much I absolutely LOVE it when she puts

her head on my shoulder. If so.....it works! I usually stand there until my arms just can't take

it any longer!

Fun at the Splash Pad

What a fun Friday we had! Angela, Ava, and Lauriss joined me and Aubree for a late afternoon trip to the Splash Pad in the neighborhood. Ava runs around like she has been walking for 3 years so unfortunately, we were not able to get any pictures of the two little ones together. Aubree is still more interested in the people around her but there were a few moments were she actually enjoyed being in the water! Let me re-phrase......she enjoyed sitting in the water for sure, but she people watched the entire time!! It is so fun to just sit and watch her watching other people, go figure! I can't wait to know what is going on in that little head of hers when she starts talking. BUT......guess what Aubree says????? She says mama (the two best syllables in the world)!!!! Most of the time it comes out as mamamama but who cares!! And, most of the time she is crying when she says it but who cares!! I love it no matter how she says it because she knows that I am "mama." Oh how I love being a mom!!! And yes...she says dadadada too : )

Do you love the kitty glam swimsuit?! Too bad I lost the sunglasses that matched!

Has Anyone Seen Aubree Michelle??

Aubree learned a new trick. She discovered the art of peek-a-boo! Once she gets started though, she doesn't want to quit. She will try to play with anything too. Last night she was trying to hide behind her pacifier and this morning it was her stackable blocks she thought she could hide behind!!! JD and I just chuckle at her and she just joins right in.

And....Aubree got her first accident booboo! We were at PF Changs and Aubree was in the high chair. JD came to join us after he parked the truck so before he sat down, he leaned down to give Aubree kisses. She decided she would be bashful and was trying to hide her face from daddy. Well, she thought JD still had a hold of her and she threw her head forward and banged it on the edge of the table! Lets just say there was LOTS of screaming! JD felt sooooo bad! He must have said how bad he felt 100 times. Long story short, we ended up going home with 2 new outfits to make Aubree feel better....daddy's idea!!!!

See the purple bruise on the right of her forehead! It was there for almost a week!

9 Months!

Yet another month has flown by and Aubree is now 9 months old. She still isn't crawling but I think its gonna be any day now! We can tell that she is getting very frustrated with being immobile. She scoots around but she really only goes backwards. She just hasn't quite figured out how to get her knees up under her belly yet! Its soon.....I can feel it but boy oh boy will it add another dimension to parenting. We got a little dose of a mobile child when Rose and Cruz came for a visit this week. Not only was it hard to keep up with Cruz but our house wasn't exactly baby proof when he arrived. I thought I was doing good with outlet covers in the wall!!! I better get to work rearranging!!

Aubree and Cruz's first time in the swing by themselves! The swings were a little big but they still loved every minute of it!

Of course they wouldn't look at the camera!! Never fails!

Fun on the 4th!

Aubree LOVES the water!!! We always knew this because she loves to take baths but now its official after seeing her for the first time in an actual pool. Aunt Guinda had a pool party for the 4th of July (notice the patriotic swim suit!) and we lucked out and finally had a clear, sunny day. Can I just say cute, cute,cute!! I wish I had our video camera so that I could have caught her in action. Pictures couldn't capture her little legs kicking a mile a minute when she realized she could move herself! One thing I do know for sure.....Aubree will definitely be a better swimmer than her mommy. I think she already is!!

This was her kicking her way to her daddy when he called her

Field Trip!!

Aubree had her first field trip to the Children's Museum last week. A lot of the stuff there is meant for older kids but we made due. There is an area called the Tot Spot that is made for babies that she was able to enjoy. She loved just watching all of the kids run around and play and just being out of the house. Here are a few pics of our day!

Daddy had fun playing with all of the gadgets too!

Going for a little ride with mom!

It was so hot outside but she loved dippin' her toes in the water!

Aubree's new thing is giving kisses. She will give a kiss to any book or picture but it takes a little convincing to give a kiss to mommy and daddy. Here, she was kissing the baby in the picture!

She loved the ball pit at the Tot Spot

Notice the tongue? She was concentrating on her driving!

Playing at the Tot Spot with dad. Only problem was that she wanted to put everything in her mouth! Sooo many germs....we were freaking out a little!