Anne Elizabeth is 9 months old!

Wow, what an amazing baby she is! She's so happy, she has the best routine and she just radiates with joy.










Impossible!













The past week has been rough :( She caught a cold and it is taking forever for her to get over it! Stuffy nose, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, blah. And she sounds SO hoarse, it's just sad when she talks or cries.

She's pulling up to stand and crawling EVERYWHERE. I have to be super vigilant about where she is and her surroundings at all times.

She sleeps beautifully. All night long and nice long naps (although the past week has been different due to being sick.) She takes amazing naps at Grandma's house, which is wonderful because then I get to enjoy pool time with the big girls!

She is eating all kinds of foods and still drinking a mix of formula and breast milk. She's wearing 6-9 months (they're getting snug!) but mostly 9-12 months. She's been upgraded to size 4 diapers (whoa!!) Her wellness check is in a few days and I'm excited to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. We're getting rid of the infant carrier soon!

She's totally over her stranger anxiety, but has full blown separation anxiety, lol. It's almost endearing. It's like, "Oh, you ONLY want ME?? Ok, come here my sweet baby!!" LOL. She cries when I leave the room but if someone distracts her long enough, she does just fine. I've been thinking about what she'll be like at daycare. It does hurt my heart that I'll be away from her...I mean, who will give her a million kisses when she wakes up from her nap?! Ugh- leaving her will be the hardest part about going back...but I'm trying to focus on the positives. She'll brighten other people's days, she'll have more people to love on her...she'll get to make little friends and have new experiences. My sweet baby will love her "school" and she'll adjust just fine!

Audrey at 9 months:











Abigail at 9 months:











Annie is just amazing. We love her so much. Hard to believe that she's been here with us for so long! This time last year I was blissfully pregnant and LOVING it. Now I get to see and kiss her sweet face all the time. I am so grateful for our little angel!

Summertime is busy time

So much going on! Is it a coincidence that I've developed a slight eye twitch? Audrey is done with dance, but we're not slowing down around here!

We joined the Y and signed the girls up for swimming lessons and beginning gymnastics. The girls have gotten SO brave in the pool this year with a big help from Aunt Dawn. She spends hours with them out there. They both swim UNDER water now! They trust her and have so much fun with her. I am so thankful for that because I usually have Annie in my arms! The more time they spend in the pool, the more daring they get (jumping in, having underwater "tea parties" LOL!)











The girls are taking gymnastics together, too. They really like it! It's so fun to watch them. Abigail is so funny- she likes to do everything by herself- she tells the coach that! Love that girl!








Poor sweet baby!


Abigail had her last day of soccer on Tuesday. I have loved watching her enjoy herself each week. I'm super proud of her listening skills (some days were better than others, lol!) We're signing her up for another session and we'll continue to do so as long as she wants to play.





The girls are really into drawing and coloring. Audrey likes to take it step further now with scissors and glue and stickers (and other random items like baby q-tips, lol.) She made herself an office in the back part of our kitchen where she can do all the creating she wants! Abigail has gotten so good at drawing! She now draws happy faces :)


Audrey's is on the top. Aunt Sarah gave her some Frozen stickers. She made this all by herself! Abigail drew the bottom picture. It's her, dad, and mom :)

She amazes me every day and is really maturing. This age is so challenging! She definitely needs so much of my attention and patience. She tries so hard to use her words and have good manners. Bedtime is so simple now, she actually ASKS to go to bed! She loves to snuggle ("nuggle") and be held ("pick me up, please!") She really enjoys working on puzzles and she's so good at them! 24 pieces are too easy, 48+ pieces are perfect for her. I love how she focuses on putting them together and when she invites me to help :)






I finally got the call about going back to school! It was looking iffy, with budget cuts and enrollment issues, but I'm going back to Gatorland! Not sure of which grade yet, probably upper. Can I just give a shout out to my wonderful husband? Through all the waiting, he said he'd fully support me if I wanted to stay home another year. I love and appreciate him so, so much for that. Not knowing was starting to drive me a bit crazy, but having that as an option really helped to alleviate my stress.

SO, I registered our sweet Audrey Cate for school. I don't know who is more excited...me, her, or the office staff! They spoil her rotten and she just eats it up. My heart is so happy that she's going to be a gator. She is going to thrive there!




I love her short hair! It matches her sassy personality!







Annie is getting her top 2 teeth at the same time, pulling up to stand, and has the worstest cold with the sneezes and coughs :( But more about her in her 9 month post!

This summer is going to FLY. So many great things going on and to look forward to. I'm thankful every single day!

Audrey's Recital

I didn't think anything could top last year's performance, but she totally outdid herself this year!

Last year she spent most of her time onstage waving and talking to us, lol. It was adorable and memorable.

I talked to her a lot about this year's recital. I told her that when she got on stage she could give us a quick wave or kiss or wink, but then she needed to focus on her performance. She understood, but then she started practicing doing all three of those things simultaneously. HA!

Her rehearsal on Friday was great. She smiled a lot, she watched the teacher (who stood off to the side.) It went very smoothly! I was so proud of how focused she was and how she was able to do a lot of the steps...side note, though! The dance was really hard...SO many movements! All the parents thought so as well, but we're a pretty laid back group. One parent did go in and video the teacher doing the dance so she could practice it at home with her daughter. Great intentions, but I'm just not going to stress over my 5 year old's dance routine.

On Saturday the auditorium was packed. Audrey had so many people come to watch her! Grandma and Grandpa, her Great Grandparents who were visiting from TX, Aunt Dawn, Aunt Sarah & cousin Bella, Cousin Steph and baby Brayden, Nana, Uncle Scott and girlfriend Suzy, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Jeremy with baby Jameson, and of course us.

As soon as the music started playing, Audrey bounded onto the stage, waving and smiling at the audience. They all laughed. She was the ONLY one in the entire show to acknowledge the crowd. The look on her face was just priceless...so excited, eating up every moment. I was HYSTERICALLY laughing and crying at the same time. She would do some moves, then spot us and wave and smile again, evoking more laughs. I wish I had recorded it (we weren't allowed, but we will get a DVD!)My mom did take pictures and they are a perfect mix of how she performed.


This is how she came out! HAHAHA!!








See?? She's trying!


Finale!


I was so proud. Not only did she really try to dance well, but she completely stole the show with her enthusiastic personality. We celebrated at Sweet Frog afterwards, but then we headed home for a very low key afternoon/evening. Abigail and Annie had awful colds with coughs, so we all needed some downtime and rest :)

After pictures: thank goodness for Aunt Sarah, Nana, and Grandma Allen! They took these and sent them to me or posted them online. They get al the credit!





I love that they got pics of Audrey and me together, I never get in the pictures, but I need to!


Love this "Lady Liberty" one by Sarah!

SUPER happy!

Cousin love!

Chris had to run back to work and the two little sisters were just too miserable with sneezing and coughing, so no family pics :( Hopefully next year, with TWO dancers!

Next year Audrey will take the same Pre Dance class (she was one of the youngest in her class this year.) Abigail wants to try dance again, so she'll do Dance and Play, which will allow HER to be in the recital next year. I can't help but wonder what kind of performer she will be...will she be serious and try to do every single step? Will she refuse to go on stage at all? I can't wait!