Audrey's Birthday Party

Audrey loves to throw pretend tea parties, so naturally she had to have a tea party for her birthday. We had close family and friends over to celebrate and it was just a short, sweet, simple celebration.


Favors: personalized tea cups and saucers (planters) filled with seed packets, teacup lollipops, teacup stickers, & fancy hand mirrors.


She could not WAIT to dig into the goodies: lofthouse cookies, cake balls, party mints. Christopher was just as bad ;)


Poor Abigail! She has a miserable cold. She had a short morning nap so she was unusually cranky/clingy. She took a nice long afternoon nap (right before cake!)






Bella and Audrey


Your party will be soon enough, darling Abby!


Waiting to open presents! She got gifts that were perfect for her: Mini Lalaloopsy, Princess figurines, nail polish, jewelry, tea sets, and tickets to the dinner theater.




Her big present from us was her pink play kitchen (she's only been talking about it for 3 months!!) Her reaction was funny...she walked in, saw it, and blew a raspberry (something she does whenever she's surprised!)


The play kitchen was a hit with all of the girls :)




Our friend made this beautiful cake. It was perfect!


I loved watching her as we sang Happy Birthday. Definitely almost cried!






Cousins! Ony weeks apart in age...look at how they've changed:



Audrey & Bella played in her new sleeping bag








After the party we went to Target with Sarah and Bella to do our grocery shopping. I was absolutely exhausted by the time we got home...at 7 :) Audrey had "the best birthday party EVER!" and so I would call it a success :) In just 2 weeks she'll officially be three. I am ready. Age 2 was easy breezy and I'm hearing age 3 is where they hit their "terrible" stage...bring it :)

December!

Ok, where's the snow? :)

December is going to be super crazy busy and I'm so scared it's going to fly by! Audrey's birthday party is on Saturday (we're going to my school's pancake breakfast first!) Next weekend is Grandma's Christmas party (SANTA! I KNOW HIM!) Then Christopher's birthday. Then it's Audrey's birthday and Christmas. OMGEEEE. Luckily the girls are done for presents (thank you Cyber Monday!) But we have a lot to do for Audrey's party this week. I'm very excited about it because last year we had to cancel it at the last minute because she was sick. And of course this week she's had a cold. Fingers crossed that she gets over it and no one else gets it (especially Abigail!)

Abigail has been eating so well!! I'm just loving that we can give her what we're having. The other night she had green beans.




Tonight she had spaghetti (and went directly into the bath!)

I love how she slurps up the noodles, lol.








We never bathe her in the sink, but we will from now on. It's just so much easier! Until she can sit up and steady in the real bath with Audrey, this is her bath for now!

I love this time of year. I started working on Christmas cards today. Only 13 school days until break!

Too funny

I love how as Audrey gets older that I love each stage more and more. At almost 3 years old she's so fun! I'm in love with her little personality!

Abigail is 7 months old!

Well, almost :) Tomorrow she will be 7 months and I can't believe how fast she's growing!














These pictures are getting so hard to take! She's distracted by everything!!!


Defiant!

She's on a beautiful eating/sleeping/playing schedule. She wakes and has her first bottle, then eats cereal about an hour later. She goes down for her morning nap after being awake for 2-2 1/2 hours. Sleeps a nice looong stretch of 2+ hours :) She wakes, has a bottle, then plays for 2-2 1/2 hours, then takes her afternoon nap (another 2 hour nap!) She has dinner around 6-6:30 and she plays until bedtime, which is anywhere from 7-8. She has a bottle and goes to sleep for the night. I just love it!

She has 2 bottom teeth and is probably on the verge of getting more. She was very hard to get to sleep last night and she was chewing on her paci like mad. She's starting to eat Mum Mums on her own. She likes Cheerios but can't put them in her own mouth yet. Nothing really exciting to report in the food department! I'm hoping these next 2 months will be better.

She's fully sitting on her own which is GREAT. She sits and plays and has a fine time. She still loves her exersaucer and doorway jumper. She grabs for everything, especially the remote (she CRIES for it!) I guess the next stage is crawling and pulling up! I'm secretly hoping those milestones are far away. I love where she's at right now!

She's making the cutest sounds- "ba ba ba" and "ya ya ya." She has the brightest smile and loves to laugh. In fact, after she finishes a bottle, if you wave it or shake it in front of her face she cracks up- it is too funny! She loves to watch Audrey, and Audrey is so sweet to her! She'll pick up toys that have been thrown off the exersaucer :)

Abigail is still as calm and sweet and wonderful as she's always been. We are truly blessed to have such an angel baby!

Thankful

We had a pretty wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent most of the morning hanging out and playing. Then we headed to Kelly's house for our first meal. She did such an amazing job of hosting! The house smelled incredible and the table looked beautiful. She even bought a puzzle and felt coloring pages for Audrey and a plush reindeer for Abby :) Everything was delicious and we just had a great time.


Audrey loved watching us play ping pong before and after dinner. She played, too (with my help!)


Uncle Scott helped her put her puzzle together.

Then we traveled about 4 minutes down the road to aunt Kim's house to celebrate with Chris's side of the family. Again- great food and awesome family. Audrey didn't nap at all (or eat) but she was so good! Fell asleep before we could get on 95 to go home. Abby didn't sleep much either- too much excitement!


Abigail stayed in her PJs all day!

We have a lot to be thankful for again this year. Family, jobs, a home, our health. I'm definitely reflecting on how thankful I am more and more, and not just around the holidays. I hope your holiday was wonderful as well!

Putting up the tree (EARLY!!)

My wonderful husband dragged up the tree two days early for me! He loathes anything Christmas before Thanksgiving (his favorite holiday.) I love you, honey!!


First ornament on the tree! Audrey did such a great job. This is the first time she's helped to decorate it. Usually it's completely done during her nap. I'm so glad I let her help. We blasted Christmas music and I laid out the ones she could hang.

Proud of herself :)


All done!



I'm hoping Abigail gets some ornaments this year- a lot of our tree is covered with Audrey's!






Audrey loves the tree. She likes to lay on the floor and spin the yellow Beetle ornament. Sometimes she calls it her tree. She scolded Abby when she knocked down some ornaments. But when I explained that she was allowed to touch them, and it was ok if they fell, she laid off :)

So far my most memorable Christmas was when we had Audrey. I think this one is going to be great, too! She's just so into everything and it's so amazing to relive a childhood Christmas.

Family Photos

My favorite!


"Just hanging out, holding up this tree..." She loved being Stacy's "model" and talked about her for hours afterwards. She kept saying that she wanted to go to Addisyn's house (Stacy's daughter) who she's never even met before...Stacy left such an impression on her :)






This is Chris's favorite!! We're getting an extra big copy of this one!

Huge thanks again to my sweet and talented friend Stacy Hart!

It was a week.

I experienced a major downside to being a working mom. I always knew it existed, but I got hit with it hard this week. When one of your babies is sick and all you want to do is stay home and cuddle with them, but you have to go to work. On Wednesday I was about to get ready for work when I hear Audrey getting sick in her crib. Poor girl kept throwing up and saying, "Look at me! Clean me up, please!" From the looks of it, I thought she had taken some sips of her milk (old by this time) and immediately threw it up. She didn't have a fever and acted just fine.

So I changed her and laid her in my bed with Chris. I got ready, checking on her multiple times. She was just laying awake, hanging out. Chris got up and started getting ready. Then Audrey got sick again. And again a few minutes later. We decided I needed to stay home with her. I put in for a sub (thank goodness my emergency plans were ready!) and I changed into comfy clothes and just cuddled with her in bed. She continued to get sick all day :( Didn't eat a single thing, just drank. She took a long nap on the couch where she spent most of the day.



After her nap she felt much better (played basketball with Dad!) and was up running around and playing. She had a good night's sleep.

The next morning she woke up just as I was leaving. She kept saying that she wanted me. Her cheeks were flushed and she had a slight fever (99.) But what could I do? I didn't have plans made for my sub so I had to go to work. I felt so bad. Thankfully she had Grandma to take care of her, but I still felt like I was letting her down. To make matters worse, I had 2 conferences after school and my 3rd graders were performing in the evening for parents. So it was an extra long day! Originally Chris was going to bring both girls to school, but he only brought Abigail (which I was very thankful for!)

Thank goodness Audrey woke up in the best mood and all better on Friday. She said, "I'm not sick anymore!" I have used up so many days this year and we've been in school for less than 3 months! But that is what sick days are for, and my first job is my babies so I don't feel too badly. Lesson learned: have 2 straight days of emergency sub plans :)

It's funny the way the girl's schedules work out when we're at home. In the morning I get to enjoy both girls at the same time. The Abigail takes a long morning nap while Audrey is still going strong. Around 1:00 Audrey takes her nap and Abigail wakes up. By the time Audrey wakes up, Abigail is back down for her afternoon nap. They finally see each other again when she wakes up, lol. I love when I get one-on-one time with each sweet girl, and I love seeing them start to play together. It's the best of both worlds! I took these when Audrey was passed out on the couch:


Adorable Abby

BAHAHA! Her newest thing is blowing raspberries (just like Audrey used to do!)

It was a crazy, stressful week but not without some wonderful moments :)

Things I Don't Want to Forget

Audrey is so sweet. As we were getting ready for pictures on Sunday, she was kind of wandering around between our room and the living room. I had just put Abigail down for a nap. She had started to fuss so Chris went and checked on her. He saw Audrey come out of Abby's room. He asked, "What were you doing in there?" She said, "I was singing Abby a lullaby!" When he told me this, I asked her to show me what she did. So we all tiptoed into Abby's room. Audrey goes to the small piano and starts hitting the keys and singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." She was being so quiet (which was why we hadn't heard her on the monitor!) I love her!

I broke my WHAT?!

Ugh. So I had such a bad coughing fit on my way to school on Monday that I decided to take the afternoon off and go see a doctor. I went to an Urgent Care and got in right away. The doctor listened to my back and chest and felt around my upper rib cage. He said that I have bronchitis and a broken rib. He wanted to know why I didn't come in when I had the bad cough. I guess I just figured it came along with my cold. Plus, who has time to go to the doctor for a cough? I know better now! He gave me a rx for antibiotics and some cough meds. He also sent me for a chest xray. He wanted to make sure my lungs were ok and he told me that the xray probably won't pick up the fracture.

I went for the xray (I only had to wait 10 minutes.) The xrays were painful only because I had to raise my right arm and it hurt so bad! In fact, after the xray I started to feel awful. The pain got worse and I felt very winded just walking to my car. I grabbed lunch at Panera and then went to Target to get my meds. It was rough walking around. I was in so much pain by the time I got the girls and it was quite an effort just to talk.

The drive home was brutal. My rib hurt and I started to feel achy and I had the chills. It felt like I had the flu all of a sudden! Chris wasn't home and it took a long time for me to get the girls in and settled. When he did get home I went straight to bed and just hung out there the rest of the night. In addition to my meds I took Tylenol with codeine. It helped get me to sleep :) This morning I feel better (except my rib still hurts and I get very winded just walking and talking.) Should make for an interesting day of teaching. Ugh.

The doctor said a broken rib takes about a month to heal. The only recommendation he had was to hold my ribs when I cough. Once we get the cough cleared up we should be good to go. I hope that's sooner than later. I hate feeling this way! I want to do nothing but sit still. I'm supposed to go back in 2-7 days if the pain is still there for a CAT scan. Blah.

Wonderful week!

I had been looking forward to last week for a loooong time! Aside from the dreaded 24 report cards and parent conferences (I actually like the conferences- the report cards are just so time-consuming!) it was awesome. Tuesday was a work day- a for real work day...no meetings or professional development classes. I spent most of the day on report cards but at least I didn't have to do them at home :) Thursday was an early out for conferences and I didn't mind staying until 7:30 because we had Friday off for Veteran's Day.






Abigail hasn't really needed Ferber. On Sunday she had a super long afternoon nap and went to bed easily. All week she stayed on a perfect schedule for Grandma. Cereal at about 8, nap around 10, bottle at noon. Nap again at 2 and bottle around 4. I give her cereal when we get home between 5:30-6:00 and she gets a big 8 oz bottle at bedtime around 8:00. This weekend she did awesome with naps and bedtime, too! I did cheat on Saturday afternoon when Chris urged me to nap with her on our bed :) I just love that time with her!


I can't believe that sweet Audrey Cate will be THREE next month! I've started planning her birthday party (pray for no sickies this time!) She's having a fancy tea party. All she can talk about is how she wants a play kitchen and the Lalaloopsy clubhouse. This is such a difference from last year. The holidays are going to be so much more exciting now that she's old enough to enjoy everything. I want to start Elf on the Shelf with her. I want her to help decorate the tree, learn Christmas songs, make Pintastic crafts, and choose gifts for people. I am so excited!!!!!

As great as this week has been, I've been in pain since Thursday. I started feeling this awful ache on my right side, from the top of my breastbone down to my rib cage. I have no idea what it could be and it still hurts, hasn't eased up at all. It intensifies when I inhale and when I move. It's nearly unbearable when I cough or sneeze. Leaning over and picking up the babes is very hard and so is reaching for anything. I will probably give it a couple more days before I go to the doctor. I just don't want to overreact and take up anyone's time (or miss time with my girls.) The only thing I can think of is that it's a strained muscle from the wretched cough I've had. At night I coughed so bad I actually got sick a few times. I still have a cough but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I'm just so uncomfortable and I want it to go away, or at least subside a bit. We shall see!

Today we had family pictures taken with Stacy Hart. I can't wait to see how they come out- I just love working with her! You must check out her page if you live in the area! http://stacyhartphotography.com/

This is our last full week before Thanksgiving Break. I am super excited!