Daddy's Boy

I managed to get a few shots of Aubrey watching and laughing at his dad. He loves to just sit and look at Jody. Of course, Jody is also great at getting him to laugh. It's really too cute. I love to watch them both.

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year. Ours was very busy. We had lots of family to spend time with this year.

On Christmas eve we celebrated my birthday and early Christmas with Grandma Debbie, Grandpa Jim and Aunt Kerri. Aubrey made out with lots of great stuff!!

Aubrey surrounded by his gifts!

Jody helping Aubrey open his presents

Aubrey checking out Grandpa Jim!

Jody and I at dinner.

Grandma, Grandpa and Aubrey

Aubrey and Jody

Me and Aubrey (We could not get him to look at the camera!)

On Christmas we spent the day with Grandma Jacki and Grandpa Dean. Aubrey saw all his aunts and uncles and met his Great Grandparents for the 2nd time. It was a nice day with a great meal and lots of fun.

Aubrey with his Uncle Roger and Grandma Jacki.

On Monday we go for Aubrey's tenotomy procedure at Texas Children's. So, please keep him in your thoughts. He will have the procedure and be in a cast for three weeks while the tendon heels and to place his feet in a completely corrected position. He will probably be fussy for a few days afterwards....hopefully he'll feel better for Christmas. But his daddy has reminded me that luckily he's not weightbearing on those feet, so there won't be any added pressure as the tendon heels. Thank goodness Jody is good at calming me down about things. :-) We are excited that this will be his final set of casts. On January 13th he'll be fitted for a brace and wear that until he starts to scoot. After that, we only wear the brace at night till age three.

Here is a website that describes more about clubfeet and the method of correction we are using.

http://www.ponseti.info/v1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=28

I will update on Monday after he's home from TCH and hopefully sleeping soundly!

Super Sweet Smile!

I was finally able to get a picture of Aubrey's adorable smile. What a cutie!!!

Aubrey's Aunt Kerri

Aubrey met his Aunt Kerri over Thanksgiving! He loves her and looks forward to seeing her again over the Christmas holidays!

Making some good progress.....

On Tuesday of this week, Aubrey had his 3rd set of casts put on. Autumn at the clinic said he's making good progress and hopes for only six weeks of the initial casting. They always give a range of 6-8 weeks. After she sees enough progress we make an appointment for the minor surgery to make an incision at the achilles tendon....YIKES! He'll only need a local ansethia and Autumn reassures us that the surgery is harder on parents than on these little babies.....try telling that to a new mom, who manages to tear up when he gets the casts on.....but we'll make it through. :-) The next set of pictures are of his progress.....

PIC 1 - No Casts....

PIC 2 - After first set of casts

PIC 3 - After second set of casts
We are excited because we are definitely seeing a good change in his tiny little feet. Other than our weekly trips to TCH, we are doing good. Aubrey has been fussier during and after his feedings lately so we are trying new formula starting today....and hoping it helps with his colic and reflux. He's changed alot in just the past four weeks and has definite times of quiet, alert play time now. He enjoys his new play mat, looking at the colors and is tolerating some tummy time. He can sometimes hold up his head and turn it to both sides while on his tummy. We also continue to see more smiles....especially when I play patty cake with him. He seems to always show me one smile with that game.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are most thankful this year for our happy, healthy little newborn!

Welcome to the world Aubrey!

Aubrey's First Photo Shoot!

Before the first set of casts I managed to get some adorable pictures of Aubrey. ENJOY!

Our 1st Trip to Texas Children's Hospital

We had our first trip to Texas Children's Hospital on Tuesday, Nov. 18th, 2008. As some of you know, Aubrey was born with bilateral club feet. This occurs in about 1 out of 1,000 births and is fairly common. In fact several famous athletes had it also including Troy Aikman, Mia Hamm and Krisit Yamaguchi. We visited with Autumn, the PA, who runs the club foot clinic and got Aubrey's first set of casts yesterday. It was all very overwhelming for the family but we are trying to remember that after six months of casts and braces, Aubrey should be able to meet all his development gross motor milestones just like other kids. Our next appointment is next Tuesday and this continues for about 6-8 weeks. Each week they stretch the foot and put it in a more appropriate position. The morning of the appointment we get to take the cast off and prepare for a new cast that afternoon. Although, I think Aubrey's feet were just as cute and perfect as can be, I know that if we want him to be the next quarterback for the Texas Longhorns - Hook 'em Horns, this is the path that is set for us for the next several months. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin this journey. I will continue to update his progress and I know he will do great!! He's a strong little man already!!

"Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold. "

Baby Aubrey is Here!!!!

Aubrey Michael Draper

Born: 11/7/08

8lbs, 3 oz

19 1/4 inches long

Daddy and Aubrey

Mom and Aubrey - Tired but in love already!

What a pair!

Aubrey's Nursery Pictures

Pictures of Aubrey's Nursery

My belly at 35 weeks! It's grown since then!!!

The waiting game......

Tomorrow I will be 37 weeks along with little Aubrey Michael. I saw my doctor yesterday and decided to ask what happens if I go past my due date. She kind of laughed and said that she didn't think that would happen with how I was progressing, but if I did, the longest we'd have to wait to be induced was a week, pretty standard these days. But I'm hopeful he'll be here a bit early, so we don't have to wait that long to meet him. So, for now, Jody and I continue to prepare for our little man's arrival....we've got the car seat in the car, my bag is packed (well, almost packed) and the nursery and all the "baby stuff" we could ever need is ready. I'll try and post some updated pictures of the nursery soon.....but for now, we continue to wait and count down the weeks....3 more to go!

My first attempt.....

OK. So, I've tried this before and didn't quite get into it. I've decided to try again since our little man will be arriving soon and I'd love to have a place to post pictures and updates about our family. I'm officially 36 weeks along and just waiting for Aubrey to decide when he wants to arrive. It's been an amazing journey to get to the place we are at now and I'm thankful for all of our friends and family who've supported us. I hope that you all enjoy the blog and I look forward to announcing Aubrey's birth here soon......