park play

today begins girls weekend!!! this means it's just avery and myself while mark enjoys his "real" guys weekend in colorado! if for some reason you are reading this mark, be careful (and have fun too)!!! philip and avery played this morning! they are just SO cute sometimes!

they've been "friends" since they were 6 months old. they use to play while holding hands. i pulled this off facebook for a comparison! :) this was june last year!

thank you pregnancy for making me tear up looking at this!

i think pregnancy makes me sentimental! remembering how little she was exactly one year ago. http://aubreyandmark.blogspot.com/2010/03/ipood.html! she was so little. she could stand up and crawl but that was about it. now she's a big girl using her utensils properly and eating big girl food. her mimi would have loved dinner tonight. she ate pork tenderloin and brocolli and had mocha almond fudge ice cream for dessert. i have to admit i don't miss the baby food phase one bit! here's my big girl using her fork at lunch!

20 weeks!

before i go on sharing sonogram pictures i have to share something i am very set in my ways on. i get asked by my mom, semi-frequently if i have turned avery around in the car seat. the answer, no. there are many reasons i choose not to but the top reason is her safety. it's not hurting her to face backwards in the car. she's not being developmentally stunted by facing this way. children in forward facing car seats are at a much great risk for severe injury and death if in a collision vs those who are rear facing. if you don't believe just go to www.youtube.com and search rear facing vs. forward facing test. here is a link with dummies and more informational, non graphic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sssIsceKd6U&feature=related and more toddler seats go rear facing and many infant seats go up to 30 lbs or so. i care more about avery's safety than i care about her happiness in the car. she can scream during every car trip and i don't care. and believe me, long car trips are not very enjoyable. but, you wouldn't let your kid play with an outlet if they threw a fit everytime would you?

we got the cd from the dr's office so here are some pictures! if you look some of them have a description on the bottom to help! i know he looks a little alien"ish" but it's cute alienish! don't you think?

feet

that's his arm and face

his hand. i'm hoping their is a thumb in there!

another face!

we had our appt today and everything looks great! he is growing right on schedule and is measuring exactly to my due date! his little alien face was so cute and he kept covering his face. the ultrasound tech said, he was well endowed. naturally, mark was proud. pretty sure this is not what a mother wants to hear. but, regardless he is just perfect! they gave us a cd with the images but when i got home it was blank. i'm hoping i can get another copy from them. i guess what they say is true, the second child doesn't have as many pictures as the first! atleast i can't be to blame for this one! :)

in avery news, i thought it would be fun to wash the car with her today. if i wasn't there for her birth i would have thought they switched my child. she got in her swimsuit (which the bottoms fell off bc it is 18-24 months and she tripped) and went outside. well, avery ran, not walked, RAN away from the hose so fast when it was turned on. then i'd turn it off and she'd come back to play in the bubbles. she was however obsessed with the soap and kept pretending to wash her hands. she might be a little OCD i fear. just when i thought that was girly enough she was sitting on the chair outside at the table and saw a lizard! she freaked out and started crying and wouldn't let me even put her on the ground. that was the end of our playtime outside. i'm not a fan of bugs either but what toddler is afraid of bugs. we may need to take a trip to the natural science museum this summer! i don't think mark and avery are going to be going on any camping trips anytime soon. it will be hotels and spas for us i guess. good thing we're having a boy! i can already see him playing with bugs and making her scream! it's going to be so fun!

cell phone pics because i don't dare bring my camera around water with avery!

all ready to go!

i dumped the rest of the soap on top of my car. i didn't remember adding clementine's to the soap!

playing with the soap

"washing" her hands!

this week marks the 20th week of pregnancy. i can't believe i'm half way through! i can't even begin to explain how different this pregnancy has been in terms of my preparation. i remember reading all the time about the baby's growth and being atleast 1 or 2 weeks ahead with avery. now, i don't even know what's going on until a week later. i actually had to call the dr's office yesterday because i didn't remember what time the appt was at. who forgets their big 20 week u/s appointment? apparently someone with a toddler to take care of all day! the little man had the hiccups last night at 5:30am which was the first time i've noticed. something about knowing exactly what is happening is so awesome. he kicks and moves a lot when i actually sit still for more than 10 minutes. usually, when i'm working on photos. avery is doing great! i've been trying to walk or do some form of exercise. if you would like to know what it's like to walk with a toddler you could probably just buy a ball machine to laugh out balls every 2 minutes and either chase or pick them up. bending over repeatedly is probably great for your back muscles. today i decided to give her a chocolate banana smoothie while we walked with cole and amanda. we got a great walk in and for the first time in awhile i didn't have to pick anything up off of the ground! it ended with a naked girl and a hose! :)

super moon!

really mad i have no clue where the tripod piece is. but, it still looks pretty incredible.

i'm testing out cameras to upgrade! sounds fun but it's more difficult than one would think. the color is totally different than what i am used to and trying to nail the focus is hard. i'm scared to use it at an actual shoot but i know i need to try. lucky for those grandmas this means a lot of random pictures of avery!

this is from this morning when she woke up. i didn't even get her out of bed before taking her picture.

light seems ok.

oh brother!

but, then the blacks are way strong. and i missed the focus.

don't worry there was only a sip. still the blacks are strong.

she looked up at me and said mmm...

i know most people hate daylight savings but i've really enjoyed it! avery sleeps in, it stays light later and it's getting warmer here in texas! i dragged (not literally but almost) mark to the park with avery and i this evening! we stayed until the sun went down and avery had so much fun!!! i wish i had a video of her laughing as she came down the slide and landed in all of the rocks. she was cracking up hysterically!

off to the park!

for a fun comparison this was taken august 7th

we ALWAYS swing first!

august 7th, 2010

then we go over the bridge

up to the slide

down...

and again!

i have 8 shoots this week! well, i have 2 down and they were great so i'm looking forward to this week! it's spring break around here and aunt allison is coming to texas the following weekend so i crammed them all into this coming week! with that being said, most pictures will be coming from my cell phone! i'm not sure our family really minds though. :) feel free to look at the photo blog because there will be a lot going on over there! it's probably just me that this bothers! :) these are not from this weekend but they're new to anyone who hasn't seen them!

her hair is getting so long!!!

4 HOURS

every 4 hours a child dies from cancer. cancer is a scary word and it sucks. it took my dad's life and my mom beat it. for a child it's difficult to deal with. but, for a parent i can't even imagine watching your child suffer. children should not get such a horrible disease. layla grace battled stage 4 neuroblastoma and earned her wings one year ago today. i can't imagine what an emotional day this must be for their family. but, they started the layla grace foundation (http://laylagrace.org) to help raise awareness about childhood cancers and fund research. they also help parents who have a child with cancer. the foundation was built on so much love and everyone who has read layla's story wants to watch and help this charity be a success.

i have signed up for the 2nd annual portrait party for the layla grace foundation. on april 9th photographers from around the country will offer mini sessions for $75. the money goes directly to the foundation and you get some family portraits just for helping out! if you were waiting for the right time to get a couple of photos now is the time!

if you or someone you know wants to sign up go HERE!

feel free to email me at aubreytorrey@yahoo.com for more information or visit www.aubreytorreyphotography.com for details!

we had a small little celebration last night because it's our good friend's birthday!!! avery and i decorated cupcakes for amanda yesterday. well, i decorated and avery just ate. i love my sweet girl with sugar all over here! :)

MORE!!!

final products

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!!!