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Friday, December 27, 2013

Audrey is FIVE!

Five years old. I just cannot believe it.



Everything about her is precious. She's a living dream.

She's the early riser in our house (Annie and I don't count!) If she were a Disney princess, animals would be at her window helping her to get ready as she sang. I swear, she's the happiest morning person ever. Seeing her bright happy smile first thing is like Christmas morning. She starts out my day RIGHT.

She's considerate. When she needs something from me she always prefaces it by saying "When you're done with ___, will you ____?" She understand that I'm a busy momma! I hope she knows that I'm NEVER too busy for her. I live for her!

I want to put her in a bubble. She's constantly running, skipping, jumping...bumping into things and people! She's just so excitable!! I admire her enthusiasm.

She has the cheeriest disposition. She truly is happy 99% of the time. And when she does get upset, she's over it just as quickly. No moping around for Miss Audrey Cate! I admire her ability to brush things off and move on with life. I accidentally spilled popcorn all over her when we were at the movie theater. She said, "It's ok, Mom! Everyone makes mistakes!!" HAHA :)

She's creative. You can give her 3 objects and she'll build something or make a game or use them in some crazy way. She's like a little MacGyver! She loves to build, create, draw, and play dress up.

She continues to be outgoing, friendly, and full of expression. She's a joy to talk to or just sit back and watch. She's full of energy and enthusiasm. Life would be so dull without our little sunshine girl!

I thank my lucky stars every day that we were blessed with her. She's meant for greatness. We love her more than words could ever say!



Annual slideshow:

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Mortifying Mother Moment

First public meltdown in almost 5 years...not bad, I guess!

After we went to the pancake breakfast at my school, I took Audrey and Abigail to the mall for a birthday party. My MIL kept Annie for me (thank goodness!) Originally I was going to take all 3...WTF was I thinking?

We got to the food court and right away Miss Abigail decides she wants to run around. Fine, I get it- she's two and loves to explore. So I decided to walk around with her (instead of forcing her to sit still) while we waited for the festivities to begin. She was fine as she ate her cupcake, but again- she just couldn't wait around while the rest of the party just kind of hung out. I totally understood (I was frustrated, but I understood!) She just wanted to dance around the VERY busy mall and when I'd try to wrangle her back she'd fall on the floor. Ugh. If I'd had to feed or hold Annie, there's just no way I would've been able to handle the situation.

So, we get to Build a Bear and for the most part she's fine. I stay with her while Audrey participates in the party. She wanders around, plays on the computers, dances around to the sound machine thing. The party ends and of course she wants to go on the rides that are located RIGHT in front of the store (who decided to put those there?? Bastards!) But hey, I am completely cool with letting her and Audrey hang out on the rides for a few minutes, even though I was DYYYYING to get out of there.

This is where it gets bad...Abigail had a total meltdown when it was time to leave. I have never seen her act that way before! Throwing herself on the ground, screaming, crying, refusing to be picked up. Oh my goodness! I was actually more angry than I was embarrassed. Because really, what's a trip to the mall in December without a screaming toddler somewhere? Too bad it was MY screaming toddler. I almost had to laugh, especially when I see Audrey walking behind us, looking totally exasperated. Actually, now that I think about it- this is HER fault! If she'd gone through the Terrible Twos, I would've been expecting this. But nooo, she was a freaking angel child! Damn it, she spoiled us :(

So we're walking through the mall, stopping frequently to put her down because she's so damn heavy when she's throwing a fit. I'm trying to get her to calm down by telling her to breathe and just TALK to me. But it starts all over again when we decide to keep walking. We get to the exit (what seems like 3 months later) and of course it's freezing rain outside. Perfect. Luckily she decided to take some kind of pity on me and walked. Once we got into the van I laid into her. I was very specific with her..."You do NOT lay on the floor! You COME WITH ME when it's time to go!" I was very careful not to say she was a bad girl. So I'll say it here...she was a bad, bad girl! BADBADBADBAD!!!! I had her say she was sorry and we just hugged as we both calmed down. I don't know if I handled the situation correctly...when we're at home and she gets upset, we do the breathe/talk thing but if that doesn't work I let her work out her mood on her own. She gets no further attention and we don't offer her a thousand options to keep her happy. But I just could not let her work it out in the crowded mall. I couldn't get us out of there fast enough.

Again, I was so grateful that my MIL kept Annie. I didn't bring the double stroller, so there's no way I could've gotten Abby out of there. I should've left Abby with Grandma instead! But I don't like to leave her out of fun things :( Lesson learned- I cannot do it all by myself. Trying to do too much will backfire. All was fine by the time we picked up Annie and got home. I look at her sweet face, hear her adorable little voice and all is good again. Sigh...is she 5 yet?!



I'd love to hear other public meltdown stories and how you handled them. I need to feel better about this!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Holiday pics

No matter how busy we are, no matter how long my to-do list is, I will ALWAYS find time to stop and capture these beauties on camera!


"5 years old!"


I especially love this one of Abigail. I think she looks so old! Plus, I love her little smirk :)




Santa, baby :)

These were so fun (and easy!) to do. It started with me just wanting to get some good up-close face pics of the girls for Grandparent gifts. I took Audrey's first. She, always having helpful suggestions and ideas, asked if she could wear the Santa hat. They came out so great that I knew I had to give it a try with Abigail and Anne. I was so worried about Abby- she's the typical 2 year old who won't sit still for pictures. But WOW. She loved having her picture taken (and it REALLY helped that my camera has the burst function!) I think I may have to do this every year!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Anne Elizabeth is 2 months old!

I read something on Pinterest a few weeks ago that really touched me. It's kind of corny, but I love it..."Babies smile in their sleep because they're listening to the whispers of angels." LOVE!! She has the most beautiful smile. In the past week she has started smiling more often when she sees us. I live for those! Also, she grins when you put her in front of a mirror. Talk about cuteness overload!



Her sweet face...it's almost TOO MUCH!!! I kiss and squeeze those soft cheeks 100x a day. Yum.

Abigail at 2 months:


Audrey at 2 months:


Month 2 was rough. Inconsistent sleep and growth spurts made for a very tired momma.

At around 6 weeks she had pretty bad acne (red bumps AND yellow flakes on her eyebrows and ears.) She also had redness in both eyes. The pediatrician gave us cortisone and eye ointment..she was cleared up within 2 days. At that appointment she weighed 10 lbs 1 ounce. At her 2 month wellness check she weighed 11 lbs 2 ounces and was 22 inches tall. She's wearing size 0-3 clothes and size 1 diapers.

She's sleeping in her crib at night. Chris does her late feeding (10-11 pm) and she sleeps until 1-2 am. I put her back in bed when she falls asleep. She wakes again around 4-5 to eat and I just sleep with her on the couch until she's ready to eat again between 7-8. I really wish she'd drop a feeding soon!!

She's found her fist and I always find her sucking on it when she wakes from her naps (slurp, slurp!) She still spits up a lot and so the pedi prescribed Zantac which she takes 3x a day. She's so alert and will turn to follow people/objects as they go by. She has great head control and I just love watching her as she looks around :)




I hang out on my Boppy lounger a lot!


I really love being in Mom's arms :)


Abigail is an awesome sister! When I cry she is the first to give me a paci, bounce me in the bouncer, or get a toy. She loves me so much!


Mom gets jealous that I get to catch up on my sleep during the day! But she loves to cuddle with me anyways!



Both of my sisters think I'm sooo funny and interesting!

They like to get all up in my business!


2 month check up


Annie is getting so big, so quickly. She's reminded me of why having a newborn is so hard, yet so amazing at the same time. I am so thankful that she is a thriving, beautiful little lady!