Upward Basketball 2011

Both of my older kiddos played Upward Basketball thru our church this year. Annaleigh's team was the Suns, and Alden's was the Jazz. Jason also was involved this year in that he coached Alden's team.

Alden running thru the tunnel for the first time!



The whole team...

Coach Daddy and Alden...

Daddy "coaching him up"....

"What did he just say?"

Getting the ball for the first time...and dribbling it well!



Talking serious strategy on the bench...

Guarding "his man"...

Getting his hands on the ball again!

Who to pass it to now???

Mind you, all of the kids are yelling, "Alden, I'm OPEN!"

Running with the ball...

Luckily they don't call much on the U5 division...

Dribble Alden, DRIBBLE!! 

He eventually gets it!

Annaleigh running thru the tunnel. Let's be honest, she's less than thrilled about all this attention.

Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle Dum...

Mutt and Jeff...

Best Friends....Annaleigh and Darby...

That's Annaleigh in that pile somewhere passing the ball...

Taking her first shot!!!

That's some great form!

Alden receiving his basketball at the Upwards Awards Celebration...



You should have heard all of those balls bouncing at the same time!

Annaleigh receiving her award...

Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum...

Aubrey is 7 months old!

Aubrey has changed so much this month! She was sitting up pretty well at 6 months, but now it would take a hurricane to knock her over! She is reaching really far for toys now, so when she does get off-kilter, she just gets on her tummy and plays. She is now to the point where she gets up on all-fours and rocks a little back and forth. I foresee a mobile baby in the very near future.

Aubrey is sleeping in her own bed, in her own room which has been painted, and decorated, and  "baby-fied". She has been known to sleep all night a couple of nights a week, but for the most part, she wakes up around 3-4am and wants to be changed and fed. We give her a bottle in our room, and most nights she spends the rest of the night in our bed. This seems to work well for us and her, since she sleeps like a rock while we all get ready in the mornings. This is an unbelievable feat, since our room is like Grand Central for 4 people getting ready!

Aubrey has also officially been weaned from Mama. I hated it, but mother nature had other plans. When I came back to school, I was pumping once a day during 6th period and getting between 9-10 ounces. About 8 weeks in, I was getting 3 ounces total, and that was taking all period! Aubrey took to the bottle very well, so we're all happy about how it worked out. As for the rest of her eating, she is a hungry gal! She likes table food now, and gravy and potatoes are her favs!

Aubrey's big news now is that she now has not ONE, but TWO teeth. They are the bottom middle ones! Believe you me, she likes to use them! In general, Aubrey is the happiest baby I've ever been around, and I don't say that just because she's mine. She never gets upset over anything. She has the most contagious smile that is so big, it makes her eyes scrunch together. She is completely enamoured by Annaleigh and Alden, and will pretty much sit for any length of time as long as she can watch them. Her big sister is the best helper ever, and I fully trust her to take care of Aubrey in any way. She's that good. Alden is in love with "sissy" as well. He can't keep his hands off of her and loves to play Patty-Cake, which is her favorite game!

Have you ever seen a HAPPIER baby???

Precious Profile...

I included this one because this is what she looks like when she laughs really hard! I know her eyes are closed, but it is the funniest thing to watch her! Here, Annaleigh is standing behind me making her laugh...

In general, we are all completely and totally smitten by Aubrey Jill Baggett, and I don't think that will end any time soon!

Alden's 5th Birthday

This has to be the most low-key party we have ever had. Everyone was sick, and I mean SICK! Actually, the party was the bright spot in the week...Pappy was already very sick and couldn't come. Jason and I had also been sickly, but not to the point of skipping the party, just miserable! The party, if you could call it that, consisted of our immediate family, Nana, Meemaw, Granny Dunn, and Uncle Culley, and Dawson....that's it.

Shortly after, like hours after, both Nana and Uncle Culley came down with what Pappy had, and within a couple of days, both of them were in the hospital!! To make up for such a pitiful celebration of my sweet son's life, we took two of his friends to Chucky Cheese the next afternoon. They really know how to celebrate!

Great-Granny Dunn and Aubrey

Uncle Culley and Dawson playing the Wii...

Meemaw and Annaleigh playing on the ipod...

The birthday boy and his LEGO cake...

Aubrey gets her some blue cake icing...

Party Decorations...I made copies of all of Alden's previous birthdays and included those so everyone could see how much he had changed! Next are the close-ups...

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th Birthday

Opening presents...



Surrounded by lots of love!

Chuck E. Cheese with friends!

They were all so good...

...that we took them all to the primary school to play on the playground afterwards.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

1st Valentine's Day

Although very belated, Annaleigh, Alden, and Aubrey had a great Valentine's Day!

This was special for Aubrey as her first Valentine's!

Granddaddy and Nana also came over later and brought flowers for all the girls (Mama included!) and something special for Alden, too!

The loot from Mama and Daddy...

Alden got a DS game...Batman...

Annaleigh got Brighton earrings...

...and Aubrey got a Pillow Pet!

This was her Valentine's outfit for school!

Aubrey is 6 Months Old!

How could it possibly be? 

My baby went from this...

To this...
In just six short months?

Just two short days after her six month birthday on February 8th, Aubrey Jill decided that she was tired of rolling around on her belly and back...

While I was trying some clothes on her for upcoming pictures, she decided she would just start sitting up all on her own...and here she is!

So, what are you up to these days Sweet Girl? 

Well, you are the happiest baby I have ever been around! You are simply joyful all the time. You are loving your teachers at school, Mrs. Judy and Mrs. Linda. You never cry at school at all. At night, you are sometimes sleeping thru the night, and other times you wake up and are hungry again. I usually feed you, but I let you stay in the bed with us after that. In the mornings, you lay in our bed and sleep while we all get ready for school. Then you wake up happy and ready to go. 

You are rolling over still, and now you are sitting up. You love to jump in your "Johnny Jumper" that has the musical pad under it. You still love your exersaucer, your walker (where you go backwards most of the time), and now you like to sit in the high chair and play with toys while we are in the kitchen. 

You are a big eater these days. You like carrots, apples, and pears the best. The only thing you aren't crazy about is peas! 

You like to go all kinds of places with us. You are happy anywhere we go, even seemingly all day Upward basketball games with Alden and Annaleigh! You sit on my lap and just watch all the action....that is when you aren't being passed around by all the adults in your life who adore you!

I am trying so hard to keep you little, but you are growing up before my eyes!