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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Memories

I'm not sure why, but I've been thinking about my childhood a lot lately. I really don't have a great recollection of it, my memory is awful! I guess that's one reason I write this blog. When Audrey is older and wants to know about when she was a baby, I can just tell her to go read the blog :)

My most cherished memory is of my Nana and Pop. I absolutely loved it when they came to visit. It was like everything was so much better. I wish I had a better word to describe it. The anticipation would start when we would clean the whole house (who doesn't love a super clean, ready-for-company house??) My mom would set out a little snack (Entenmann's coffee cake...YUM) and make coffee and have it setting on the table for when they arrived. Their arrival was thrilling in itself. If we were in school that day, I'd be overcome with anticipation as our bus pulled to our stop. I remember being so anxious to see if their car was there. And of course, if it was, we'd run so fast to get home. Even when I was in high school and I could drive, that feeling never went away. I clearly remember what that felt like. My Pop was very quiet and gentle. My Nana was kind and generous and boisterous...I can still hear her wonderful laugh, it was contagious. And she always smelled so good and looked beautiful, even after the 6 hour car ride from Staten Island.

What's interesting is that we didn't really do anything out of the ordinary during their visit. They came and watched our soccer games and dance recitals. We'd sit around the big dining room table and eat a huge spaghetti dinner (my Nana made the best sauce!) We'd all cram into the living room and watch prime time TV. We did normal, everyday things and yet they were so much more fun just because Nana and Pop were there. They completely lightened the mood of our house. You couldn't help but be happy around them. And when they left, my Nana always gave us money. $5 a piece. It was awesome.

And going to visit them was just as great. I loved their house. It was way tiny, there was only 1 bathroom, and we had to share a bedroom (I'm pretty sure my closet is bigger than my dad's old bedroom!) But it was so clean and cozy. My Nana knew how to make a house a home. We loved playing in their large basement and we'd spend hours down there dancing or playing random games. I used to love curling up on their couch and reading. It was there I discovered my love of mystery/thriller novels. My Nana had a copy of The Silence of the Lambs. I had been thumbing through it (I was in middle school) and came across a particularly gruesome part. I read it over and over, thinking to myself, "How could someone write about something so horrible??" I was hooked. And then I just had to read it from the beginning. I became obsessed with the book and would read it every chance I got. To this day it's one of my favorite books, and probably the reason I'm so obsessed with reading about and watching anything that has to do with crime solving. I've digressed.

Basically, the best part of my childhood were my grandparents. They passed away a few years ago and it was so, so hard on my family. I miss them all the time. I wish I could have danced with my Nana at my wedding. I wish they could have held Audrey. Chris is lucky enough to have most of his grandparents, even some of his great grandparents. And now I'm lucky to have them too. As I reminisce about those warm fuzzy feelings I wonder what memories Audrey will cherish, what memories will be really important to her. I hope she has plenty of them and I hope, I pray, that some of them include me.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

First Fair

We took Audrey to our county fair. We walked around and showed her the animals, played a couple games, and of course ate a funnel cake :) Audrey even took her first carousel ride! I think I enjoyed it way more than she did.


She got on and knew to hold on immediately. Too cute.






This is how she relaxes in her stroller.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Happy 7 months!!

Audrey is 7 months today. I can't believe it! I'm loving this age and I know I'm very fortunate to spend so much time with her. She is so close to crawling! She can make her way around the room, but uses a variety of methods to do so. She loves to stand up while holding onto things and she has the cutest little fake laugh. Ugh, I could just squeeze her!!! Her favorite foods are yogurt (with cereal and fruit mixed in), all fruits and veggie combinations, turkey & chicken. A very well-rounded diet this girl has. Not much into snacks yet which is ok by me. She's really getting the hang of her sippy cup but I'm not too great at remembering to give it to her. Still loves Mickey, but tolerates pretty much any cartoon (I'm loving Phineas and Ferb right now.) She sleeps in her crib all night but hasn't given up that one early morning feeding (sometimes it's at 3:00, sometimes it's 5:30...you can never be sure!) She is such a great kid!! Chris says it should be illegal to have a baby this cute. No arguments here!




Look at that face! She's clearly givng attitude.



Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Oh geez...

I'll never be able to say no to this face. Ever.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Awesome weekend!

I love summer. So sad it's half over :( But I'm not going to dwell on that, I'm going to enjoy what time I have left! This weekend we went to visit with MomMaw. We got to see cousin Teddy at his swim lesson, then we all went out to breakfast. Teddy just loves "Baby Audrey"...




She's going for his nose, and he let her squeeze it!


Fair is fair though, and he got her back pretty good!

Later that night Chris and I had our first date night since Audrey has been born. We went to dinner and saw The Hangover, which was totally hilarious. It was so nice to be out by ourselves. We missed Audrey, of course, but she was having a good old time with Grandma and Grandpa. I'll have pictures of their night together later. It was a great weekend. Audrey is just too fun to be around. How did we get to be so lucky?!

Friday, July 17, 2009

When life hands you lemons...

suck on them!!

Audrey loves lemons. Just like her momma :) At first we gave her one to see the famous "WTH is this?!" face. But then she wanted it. Like REALLY wanted it. It's pretty funny to watch her go at it :)






Thursday, July 16, 2009

Finally!



I really, really love our Stokke. Best baby purchase by far. The only thing missing was a good cupholder (you'd think for the price tag it would have come with one, but whatever.) At the time they didn't make them, so I bought a chap velcro one that barely holds a tall mocha. I pretty much use it to hold my keys and cell phone. Anyways, a few months ago I get an email about a contest. Submit a short video about why you love your Stokke, the first 100 entries get a free cup holder. Well, there's no way I'm taking the time to make a video, I'll just buy a cup holder! Come to find out that they weren't available in the US yet. Huh?! Every Google search sent me to online stores all over Europe. Not much help to me. I even tried Ebay to no avail. I thought you could get pretty much anything on Ebay!

I decided to do a Google search again the other day and managed to find a very cute website, Nini & Loli. In America, baby. Cup holder is arriving next week :)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Growth Spurts Suck

Audrey's sleep has been shot to hell recently. At first she was just waking up a little earlier than normal...4:00 am one day, then 3:00 the next, then 2:00, then 1:00. She'd take a bottle and go right back to sleep until her regular wake up time (7:00 ish). Last night was by far the worst though. She went to bed around 8:00. And then woke up at 10:30...WTH??! Chris fed her since he was still up, you know because it was only 10:30. I forget what times she woke up, but it was about every 2 hours the rest of the night. Most of the time she wasn't really interested in eating, although she did manage to suck down a couple ounces each time. It was like she was a newborn again, a time I do not miss (well, as far as night feedings/wakings goes.) This HAS to be a growth spurt. My sweet little baby needs her beauty sleep!

In my search to find a teething cracker/cookie/biscuit, I finally found a snack she likes! I've tried giving her yogurt melts and puffs. She picks them up but doesn't put them in her mouth. Mum Mums are a different story, though. She loves to chew on them. It's so cute to watch her self-feed.


As you can tell, she takes snacking pretty seriously.

Anyways, please recommend your favorite teething snacks and where I can find them. Thanks!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Such a personality!

One of the best things about being a parent is watching your child's personality take shape. Audrey can be serious, bashful, playful, silly, cranky, snuggly. I love that she does things unique and special to her...like when she's on my shoulder she likes to blow raspberries. Or how she sings herself to sleep. Or how she babbles on and on and then as clear as day says, "Dada!"

She loves the dogs. They make her laugh by doing absolutely nothing. Wish that worked for me!


This video is pretty boring, but it's the first time we caught her saying "Dada" on film. Lucky for you it's at about 12 seconds :)


She sings herself to sleep if she's being held , in the stroller, or in the car. It's adorable.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

6 month photo shoot








I just love these pictures. Stephanie does an amazing job. She did Audrey's newborn pictures and we'll definitely have her back for Audrey's 1 year! The rest should be ready in a couple weeks :)

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Teething?

I really hope this is happening. She gets cranky at random times, takes shorter naps, wakes in the middle of the night, has a little rash under her bottom lip. She is also very interested in her teething toys lately. She especially loves cousin Stephanie's silver bracelets.




"What do you mean I can't take them home?"

Sunday, July 5, 2009

She was...an American Girl!

That song was in my head pretty much all day :) We had a great 4th, spending it with family by the pool. Audrey looked so pretty, as usual, in her red, white, and blue. And she had a blast in the pool!




Obsessed with the flag on Grandpa's shirt


Loves her Grandma!




She's been holding her bottle for awhile now :)

Friday, July 3, 2009

Anyone else see the resemblance?





She's going to take over the world!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Sophie has arrived

And so far she's a hit! Dr. A said that he sees no signs of impending teeth, but I decided to have Sophie on hand when the time comes. I'm a good mom like that.


Gimme!!


See, she knows exactly what to do with it!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Crawling soon??

She tries sooo hard to crawl. At first it was the body surf...you know, belly on the floor, arms and legs flailing about. Very funny to watch, frustrating as anything for her! Now she can get up on her hands and knees and kind of rock a little bit before she flops onto the floor. Again, pretty hilarious to watch, but it really pisses her off.




It's hard to tell in this picture, but she's WAAAAY off the ground!


She ends up scooting backwards...frustrating when you're trying to get something that's IN FRONT of you!