weekend outings

Wes is in the throws of very heavy studying for his comp exam that he has on Wednesday. At this point, he needs as much study time as possible. So, to make things easier on us both, I decided to get Bri and I out of the house for a weekend of fun. We definitely missed spending time with Dada but we were glad to give him time to study in peace.

On Friday, we headed to the zoo. We have a pass so we can see a few of Bri's favorite animals, eat a picnic lunch, and then head on home without feeling like we have to stay all day. And it's days like this, I am so grateful for our pass, because the zoo was PACKED! So we only spent a couple hours and then headed to the mini train across the street instead.

This girl loves all the fish, reptiles, and amphibians.

She loved watching the Python slither all around.

After we saw the kangaroos, she jumped like a kangaroo to every other exhibit! :)

The elephants were her favorite....today!

Riding the train!

A friend of mine told me about this really need farm where you can go and pick your own strawberries. So, this morning, Bri and loaded on the sunscreen and headed out for some pickin'. We both had so much fun! We could have stayed out there for hours but once Bri told me the bucket was too heavy for her to carry, I knew it was time to go home (since you pay by the pound, and all...)!





On the way home from the farm, we stopped to take some pictures in the bluebonnets. Apparently, this is a Texas tradition and since we have been Texas residents for 7 years now, I suppose it's time we participate.
They were beautiful!!!
They were up to her hip!
And yes, I was scared to death we were going to stumble across a snake.


Sweet girl!

Bri and I had so much fun having some girl time this weekend.
Please pray for Wes as he continues studying and preparing for his test this next week.

Aubri is 3!

We now have a 3 year old!

Aubri turned 3 in January while we were home in Arkansas visiting family over the New Year.
My mom made one of Aubri's favorite desserts, Oreo cookie pie, and we had a small little party for her.

She just loves all the attention!

We had her birthday party back in Fort Worth when we got home. She had a wonderful time with all of her friends! Mima and Poppie came to celebrate, too! They were a HUGE help getting all the final details into place!

I found so many ideas for the decorations for her party on Pinterest, of course!

We gave Mickey ears to all the boys.

And gave Minnie ears to all the girls.

The party favor bags for all of her friends to take home.

Again, another Pinterest recipe, Oreo Mickey cookies were given to all her friends in their party favor bags.

Aubri and Mima are all ready to head to her party!

Swim time!
First, everyone met at the RAC pool for a swim party then we moved to the party room for pizza and cupcakes.

Big girl blowing out her 3 candles!

Opening presents with help from her sweet friends.

"We've got ears! Say cheers!"

All loaded up and ready to head home! What a fun day!

This year on Aubri's birthday we started a birthday questionnaire. We plan to ask her the same set of questions each year and see how her answers change as she grows up. Here are her answers this year....

1. What is your favorite color? PINK

2. What is your favorite toy? NALA

3. What is your favorite t.v. show? SID THE SCIENCE KID

4. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? CHEETOS

5. What is your favorite outfit? SKIRTS

6. What is your favorite snack? CHEERIOS

7. What is your favorite animal? LIGERS

8. What is your favorite song? CIRCLE OF LIFE

9. What is your favorite thing to do outside? BUBBLES

10. What is your favorite drink? MILK

11. What is do you like to sleep with at nighttime? NALA

12. What is your favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS AND CHRISTMAS TREES

13. What is your favorite breakfast? OATMEAL AND BACON

14. What is do you want to eat for dinner on your birthday? LASAGNA

15. What do you want to be when you grow up? MOMMA

We are so thankful for each day with our little Aubri.

The Lord is fashioning her into a beautiful little girl that we are so proud of!

We love you, Aubri Ruth!

Where have we been?

I know it's been a long while since our last post. We have had lots of things going on. I will do my best to fill in all the blanks in the upcoming posts.

But, first let me start with why it has been so long...

Well, to be honest, we (meaning, I)
have been feeling completely exhausted, unmotivated, more than a little nauseous,
and COMPLETELY BLESSED!

Yep, you guessed it!

We are expecting Baby Mills #3 due in September!

Because of our slight increased risk for having another baby with a neural tube defect, we have received LOTS of sonograms and have been monitored more closely. We are loving the opportunity to get to see our sweet baby more often!

Here is our first picture of our littlest one- about 6 weeks along.


And this is our sweet little one at about 10-11 weeks.
At this appointment the doctor was able to let us know that this baby DOES NOT have Anencephaly.
Praise the Lord! We are so excited that our little one is growing stronger and doing so well!
We are so thankful for each day with this precious life the Lord has entrusted to us!

Just look at that big, beautiful head! We just love it!

We will go back to our specialist in mid-April to get a detailed anatomy scan done and hopefully, find out the gender!

Christmas 2011

The week before Christmas, Aubri and I took a road trip to Cave City to see my sister and her family.

One of Esther's Christmas wishes was to lose her tooth!

Uncle John took Bri and the other kiddos out to Mimi's house to see their horse, Mary.

We iced our Christmas cookies!

Carolers came to sing. It brought tears to our eyes! It was so sweet!
After a wonderful week at my sister's we met Wes in Van Buren for a week with his family.
We were so glad for our little family to back together again.

Aubri and Papa

Dancing with Poppie

Cooking in the kitchen with Mima

Me and my nephew, Asa.

Me and sweet Blake.

After a wonderful week with Wes's family, we moved on over to Fort Smith to spend the weekend with my parents.

Aubri and Ops

Playing golf with John Michael

Building a fire with Ops so we could eat some SMORES! yum!

Uncle Ben and John Michael riding Ops tractor.

It has been a long time since we have been able to spend that long back in Arkansas with our family. We enjoyed every minute!

Advent Season!

I love decorating for Christmas! We moved into our apartment in December 2oo8, so as we were settling in and setting up our home, we were also decorating for Christmas. So much so, that our entertainment center (and the pictures that are hung above it) is always slightly off center on the wall, due to our need to make room for the Christmas tree. I guess that's why our home seems more proportionate, er, I mean a little cozier and more homey with all the decorations up (at least this is what I try to convince Wes of when I want to start decorating for Christmas . . . before Thanksgiving, Ha!)

I am working on transitioning our Christmas tree into a cross-themed Christmas tree. My mom and mother-in-law have already given me a few cross ornaments to help with the transition. I am really excited about having a Christmas tree that will remind us that during the Christmas season we are not only celebrating Christ's birth,the 1st advent, but also rejoicing in His work on the cross and longing for the day when He will fulfill the promise of his return, the 2nd advent!

About the time Wes and I got married, 7 years ago, I began collecting different creches. We buy a new one together each year. It is a fun little tradition.
This one is one of my favorite. Wes bought it for me when he was in Bethlehem. I love having a nativity that is from Christ's birthplace.

My mom started piecing this Willow Tree creche together for me as gifts over the years for different holidays: birthdays, mother's day, Christmas, etc. It is another one of my favorites!

Wes bought me this one last Christmas. I love it.
Each figure has a scripture etched in it.
I love Mary's verse, it says "My soul magnifies the Lord. Luke 1:46"

This is a little countdown to Christmas calender that I made at MOPS. It is made from a small pizza pan, cardstock, ribbon, and sparkly glue. The star is made of foam and has a magnet on the back. Super simple, but so cute! Aubri loves moving the star all around.

Our Advent calender.
I found the idea on pinterest. I modified it a little to make it our own.
Each day we light the corresponding advent candle(s) and Aubri pulls the card out of the day's pocket that consists of the daily scripture reading and a family activity. The family activities include different things like reading the Christmas story from Bri's bible, playing with her Little People Nativity set, drinking hot chocolate, calling grandparents to sing Christmas carols, etc.

I'm so excited about our Christmas wrapping paper this year!
It has a nativity scene on it! I found it at Hobby Lobby if you are interested...

This is Aubri's tree that is in her room. She LOVES it!
The first few nights she would take the ornaments off the tree because she said she wanted to sleep with them. Some of them are glass, so we had to put a stop to that! :)

Aubri's creche. It lights up so it serves as a little nightlight, too.

Her Mickey Mouse snowglobe. Our sweet friend, Jenny, gave this to Bri because she knows how much Bri loves Mickey Mouse. It sits on her nightstand but usually ends up in her bed... with the ornaments. Crazy girl! :)

The purpose for celebrating Advent is to quicken our hearts with anticipation for the Lord's arrival into the world through the birth of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Advent is a time to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. It is also a time to look forward to Christ's second coming.
A friend of mine on facebook, wrote a quote from Ann Voskamp's blog,
"Whenever Christmas begins to burden, it's a sign that I've taken on something of the world and not of Christ. Any weight in Christmas has to be of this world... Christ came into this world as grace to lift all the weighty burdens."
May this be our prayer for one another as we fight against this world, striving to rejoice and celebrate Christ's birth, and await the second coming of our Lord and Savior with eager anticipation!

SUCCESS!

We went to see Bri's urologist last Thursday to get the results from her tests that would let us know if her surgery had been successful.
We were absolutely thrilled when the doctor came into our exam room,
shot his arms up in the air, and said "NO MORE REFLUX!"
Thank you, LORD! We are SO HAPPY!
And it makes all those doctors and hospital bills a little more tolerable! ha!
We stopped by Starbucks and then headed home to watch Bambi (the current favorite!) to celebrate!

WA's 1st birthday.

Last Tuesday, Nov. 22, was Wesley Adam's 1st birthday. We were overwhelmed by friends and family who remembered and encouraged us through cards, phone calls, emails, etc., during this time. Thank you. God truly used you as a means of His grace to our family.
My sweet sisters in my Bible study made a book for me. They each had written several pages and compiled them all together. It included many scriptures, prayers, and words of encouragement. It was a timely keepsake that I will treasure forever and glean on often.

While Wes was at work on Monday, a few of his close friends came filing in. One right after another were men that have walked this road with him and have been a stay of encouragement and accountability. They gathered around and each prayed over him. We are so blessed by saints the Lord has embraced us with and their faithfulness to bear our burdens so graciously.

Wes took off work on Tuesday, so we planned to go out to the cemetery. We knew we wanted to make WA's birthday special but having never been through anything like this before, we didn't have many ideas on what to do. Some sweet friends from our church lost their son in a car accident last year. They have mentored us through much of this grieving time and were able to give us a few ideas and ways to incorporate Aubri. So we took their wisdom and bought a few balloons to take out to the cemetery with us.

Wes brought his Bible and read several texts aloud.
We also spent some time in prayer together as a family.

We wrote on his birthday balloon and had Aubri let it go. We watched as the balloon floated towards the heavens. Aubri really enjoyed that part of it!

"Happy 1st birthday, Wesley Adam! We can only imagine the celebration in Heaven! We love miss you and love you! Love, Dada, Momma, and Aubri"

To be expected, it was a difficult day as we miss our little boy so much. We reflected back on the events from last year and how our arms ache to hold and love on our sweet son. However, the Lord was so gracious to recall to our minds and encourage our hearts of how His matchless grace has been very real and sustaining this past year. We were joyous as we gleaned on how the Lord has shaped us and how differently and more intimately we know Him. Even though we miss WA so incredibly much, we are thankful that we know he is abiding with Christ and someday we'll join him. Together, then, we will worship our great God forevermore!