For Baby Aubrey

This gift is for baby Aubrey.

So, you might ask yourself,

Who is baby Aubrey?!?!?!?!?

We were wondering the same thing...

(by the way, these are burp cloths)

Blake was handed this gift at church on Sunday from a really sweet and kind lady. 

The question is....

 Is Baby Aubrey suppose to say Baby Ashby?

or...

Does this kind lady think we are naming our little girl Aubrey? 

and...

 If she does think we are naming her Aubrey, 

Do we now need to do that so that we don't hurt her feelings?

Luckily, that question was answered for us after church as I was having a lovely conversation with this sweet, kind lady. It's a pregnancy conversation first, so I really didn't know how to respond to what she said to me. Bare with me a little, I don't remember exactly how the conversation went.

"You know how some people count sheep to fall asleep?"

"Yeah."

"I can't sleep at night. I use to count sheep. I worry if I wake up in the middle of the night. I can't fall back to sleep. It's hard to fall asleep too. Instead of counting sheep, I think of all the baby names that sound good with Aubrey."

(silent smile)

"I came up with some really good names too." 

"Yeah? Really?"

"It really helps me fall asleep."

"That's good....(smile)...thanks for the gift."

I was afraid to actually ask her the names that she came up with. Now I'm a little disappointed I didn't ask. I'm glad that my pregnancy is helping others in their difficult sleeping problems. Sadly, if I think of baby names when I can't sleep at night, it only makes my sleeping problems worse. I try to avoid all thoughts of baby when I'm falling asleep.

I'm also glad that she thinks our last name is Aubrey and not that we are naming her Aubrey. It might have been a little disappointing to her or could offend her if we changed our little one's name. It all was really sweet, and I'm grateful that she was thinking of us. It was a homemade gift, so I know some time and thought went into the gift. 

Only 1 week left until baby Aubrey arrives. I guess that can be her name until she is  here. 

My Literal 4 Year Old

We had the missionaries over for dinner a couple nights ago. During dinner one of them asked Tiffany:

"Did you paint that picture on the fridge?"

Tiffany looked at the fridge and replied:

"No, I painted that at school."

I'm sorry Elder B., but we don't allow 4 year olds to paint on our fridge.

Coloring Pictures for the Mantle

Tiffany and Addie LOVE LOVE LOVE to color!!!! It's probably Tiffany's 1st favorite thing to do. 

I love watching them color together. It might be the one thing they can do together that doesn't lead to tears. 

 Tiffany's 2nd favorite thing to do is hang up her pictures on the wall. 

The pictures end up all over the house at 4 year old height. 

The other day I printed up Halloween pictures for them to color. I thought it was pretty cute that all 5 pictures were taped on top of each other in our piano room. After Tiffany went to bed I moved them to our mantle and she was so excited to see them when she woke up the next morning. 

(Disclaimer: We don't use that fireplace ever, so there is no fire hazard here. We seriously can't figure out how to turn it on)

The witch is the only one Tiffany took seriously in coloring. All the others she quickly scribbled over with a pencil. I don't get it, but Tiffany's 3rd favorite thing to do is color with a pencil. 

Don't you just love the skeleton. It's a candle holder from my Mom's business that is no longer available. I told my mom how disappointed I was that I never bought it (or the rest of the skeleton family) and my mom gave her extra to me. These are my only Halloween decorations. Maybe if I'm still pregnant after Halloween I will buy some decorations half off from Target. 

Art Prize 2012

Remember this toy?

and how cool it was to push your face into it?

and other things into it, but mainly the face?

WELL.....

We totally got to do this at Artprize a few weeks ago.

Tiffany thought it was really cool!

I had to really shove her into it. 

I didn't try it and totally regret it now. 

If you're wondering....

Artprize is a LARGE outdoor/indoor art exhibit in downtown Grand Rapids. If it's art, it's been at Artprize. 

They added a music category this year and I got to perform a piece written by my friend Emily Brown. There were 12 flutes, 4 piccolos, 4 alto flutes, 4 bass flutes and 1 contrabass flute. You can listen to the link below:

03 The Gathering by Emily Brown 11

I also heard a very cool percussion piece written by the Timpani player for the Grand Rapids Orchestra, Shannon Wood. Hearing it live and watching it performed was AMAZING! Here's the link:

Concerto for Section Percussion and Orchestra, Three Shades of Lyricism by Shannonwood

Blake and I went 3 times this year, but only took photos of the piece above. My favorite work was Rebirth of Spring by Fritz Hoendervanger. It got 3rd place overall. When we first walked up to the piece we thought that the paint would be 3-D/textured but it is completely flat. 

http://www.artprize.org/frits-hoendervanger/2012/rebirth-of-spring

Family Photos

When we visited Arizona this past summer I had my little sister do family photos for us. Since Phoenix is HOT HOT HOT during the summer we drove up to Sedona to do the pictures. It was still hot (humid) but way better than being in Phoenix. I think they turned out great! Thanks Desiree.