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Sunday, May 16, 2010

A New Game

Audrey has discovered that she can maneuver herself underneath the coffee table to play hide-and-seek. I absolutely love the look on her face when she's surprised!











It was a great weekend. We had dinner at our friend's house on Saturday night. Audrey loved playing with M (she's 2 1/2.) M has the coolest toys, it's always fun to go over there and see what Audrey gravitates towards. I ended up ordering a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe this morning. Audrey just loved M's and had a FIT when we had to leave. I can't wait to see her face when she gets it. She tried french fries last night for dinner and loved them, Goldfish crackers, too. So that's what she had for dinner. Tonight she had spaghetti. At first she just swung the noodles around (one in each hand) cowgirl style....noises and all. Then she put one in her mouth and decided she liked it. She was a mess afterwards :)

There are 5 weeks of school left. There are a zillion things to get done at school, even more at home. Time is going by too fast these days. I am really excited for things to slow down so I can just enjoy being with Audrey.

Friday, May 14, 2010

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Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day 2010

To Christopher, thank you for making me a mother to the most beautiful and precious little girl. To Audrey, thank you for being the angel you are. I never could have imagined such a tiny person could change my whole world. I love you so much, more than life itself, and would give anything to make you happy.




We went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast and waited FOREVER! Note to self: make reservations next year. We fed Audrey some of her breakfast right in the waiting area.






Thank goodness for the iTouch! It's a lifesaver for when she starts getting antsy. The best part is that she can work it herself!






Yummy popsicles!! I found these mini-pops and they are slow-melting as well. Perfect for her.


"Brush! Brush, brush your teeth. Brush, brush, brush, brush your teeth!"

What a difference a year makes: Mother's Day 2009



Friday, May 7, 2010

Great week!

An amazing, fun, exhausting week! The 2nd graders performed the Spring musical and it was the absolute best performance ever. It brought tears to my eyes. I was so proud of all of my kids but especially the ones that took a chance and chose to memorize speaking parts. They stood up and delivered their lines beautifully. That alone made me weepy, but then, at the end, the lights were turned off and they held electric candles and sang, "This little light of mine...I'm going to let it shine..." It was too much!!!! The entire program had a great message about being happy with yourself, finding your place in the world, and letting your light shine. Pretty much sums up my wishes for these kids. It was Teacher Appreciation Week and I received all sort of sweet gifts; flowers, cards, chocolate, even lunch!

Chris brought Audrey to the Thursday night performance. She got to play on the playground for the very first time:












She got to play with the kids as they arrived for the performance. They had a serious amount of nervous energy built up, so I played "Down" (our favorite Friday Freeze Dance song!) and we all busted a move as we waited to get called down for the performance. Audrey LOVED watching them dance, she sang along and clapped. Such a fun memory!



Hooray for an awesome week!

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Hello, Summer (weather)!

Summer is so close I can taste it. This weekend was hot, hot, hot. As of tomorrow there are 34 school days left. Crazy!

This weekend we traveled up to Mom Maw's to have dinner and pick up the outdoor play set for Audrey. I was so excited to be getting this! With all the time I'll have with her at home, I really wanted more outdoor play options. We have bubbles and the stroller, but every kid needs a swing and a slide! I remember when Scott was little, we'd push him for hours in his red toddler swing that hung from a tree in our front yard. He loved it!! Especially when you'd pretend to fall over as he got closer. Classic. She loved the swing and the slide, and I imagine it will only be a matter of time before she's climbing all over it like a little monkey child.


In the car on the way to see Mom Maw (she loves her books!)

















The large flower bush bloomed beside the house this week, so we took some pictures since the weather was gorgeous:











Friday, April 23, 2010

Happiness is not being sick...

and I'm not talking allergies, people. I'm talking violently expelling stomach contents in a way that makes you wish you were dead. It was NOT a good week for many members of my family.

Monday: I woke Audrey up with a cup of milk and a diaper change. I decided to feed her breakfast before we headed to Grandma's (usually she eats when we get there.) As soon as I strapped her into her highchair, she spewed all of her milk. Then cried. I really should have known something was wrong at that point. But I figured (wrongly) that she must've drank her milk too fast and proceeded to feed her yogurt. She started getting really fussy about halfway through, so I sealed the rest up, we said good-bye to Dad, and I strapped her in the car seat. As soon as she was buckled in the yogurt came up (I thought ALL of it had come up, but I was very, very wrong.) I took her out of her seat, changed her PJs, cleaned the seat, then put her back in. Now I'm starting to worry. She never throws up! But she doesn't feel warm, so we head off to Grandma's. About halfway there she got sick again, I swear throwing up much more yogurt than she actually ate. IT JUST KEPT COMING AND COMING. I pulled over immediately but had nowhere near enough wipes to completely clean her up. We finally got to Grandma's and you could tell she was NOT happy. She just wanted Mom, just wanted to be held. We got her cleaned up and Grandma held her while I tried calling work and cleaning out my car. We gave her water, which she threw up. Grandma made her toast which she eventually ate (which we'd both be sorry for later...) We left for home shortly thereafter and she fell asleep on the way. I started to get us settled in when she threw up all of her toast. It was so sad watching her get sick. Finally, we settled on the couch with all of the necessities:





She seemed to be getting hungry around 11:00, so I gave her lunch, which she gobbled up (and managed to keep down!) I put her down for her nap and she slept for FIVE HOURS. I went in several times after 2 1/2 hours and she would stir, turn over, go back to sleep. She was great afterwards. Ate her snack, drank juice, and seemed really happy to just relax:



Dinner was great, she had a bath and went to bed as usual. All was right with the world again.

Until Tuesday. Mid-morning, halfway through a math lesson, I was hit like a ton of bricks. I kept it together until my kids went to PE, then made immediate plans for an afternoon sub. I'm sparing all the gruesome details, but I was more sick than I've ever been in my life. I went straight home and was sick the rest of the day. So sick that later that night my legs started cramping from dehydration. I knew I wasn't going to get much sleep, and I couldn't walk 5 steps without becoming short of breath, so I stayed up typing lesson plans and arranging for a sub. I kept Audrey home the next day and started feeling better little by little. I napped when she did and that helped a lot.

I was excited to get back to work Thursday. I missed my kids, and while I wasn't feeling 100%, I was just happy to get back to a normal routine. But then the bad news came....both Grandma and Grandpa were sick. Chris stayed home with Audrey on Thursday and Friday which is something he's never done before, but handled it like a pro. Audrey had the best time with him, as evidenced by the texts I received throughout the day from Chris:






Coming home to this made me soooo happy :)

So, it's now Friday night and everyone seems to be healthy again. It will be a miracle if Christopher doesn't get sick. I don't know where this bug came from, but it was brutal. I am so glad it didn't last too long. Now we can enjoy a lazy, rainy weekend at home!

Audrey will be 16 months tomorrow.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Nina's 1st Birthday

Our niece Nina Sophia turned one this week! We celebrated on Saturday with a party at Nonie's.


Love that beautiful smile!


She's cute even when she's mad! And check out the rockin birthday outfit!











Happy Birthday, Nina Bean! And congrats to mom & dad for surviving the first year :)