2010 was incredible for so many reasons! Audrey had just turned one and began walking...her growth this year has been incredible to witness. I had a terrific year at school and was able to loop up with my awesome class. We became pregnant with another little baby and couldn't be happier!
I'm sure 2011 will be amazing as well. We're healthy & happy & together. What more could we ask for?
Before Audrey was born I began looking for a photographer who would come to the house for photo shoots. I had seen many blogs and websites with such gorgeous images of newborns and babies...and while I think studio photos are very nice, there's just something so special about the home setting. So we've had photos taken at home (or at some other pretty outdoor location) for her milestone birthdays (nb, 6 mo, 1 year, 18 mo.) The problem with these shoots is that our photographer was SO EXPENSIVE! The session alone was pricey and the prints were outrageous (for just ONE print!) But I sucked it up because the photos were always gorgeous and they would last a lifetime.
Then my friend Stacy from high school became a mom and started her own photography business. Through FB we'd kept in touch and she started blogging, too. I absolutely loved seeing her work, mostly of her beautiful daughter Addisyn. She now lived in DE but often visited her family who still live in the area. I knew she'd be perfect for Audrey's 2 year portraits.
Our sneak peak was posted on her blog last night and I love how they came out so far. Stacy was so great to work with...she directed us, had great ideas, and even insisted we take pictures on Main Street. If you are in the northern VA/MD/DE area I highly recommend her...you get more than your money's worth and it's such a fun experience!
One thing I love about Stacy's work...she also focuses on the parents...what a change! After all, it all starts with 2 people in love...
On the 23rd we celebrated at Grandma & Grandpa's house with Aunt Sarah & cousin Bella. The girls got so many cool toys including a MMCH table with chairs and an indoor play tent with a tunnel. They had so much fun unwrapping gifts and playing with their new toys.
On Christmas morning my family came over for breakfast and to open presents...there were so many!
After all the presents were unwrapped she walked around and gave everyone a hug. Adorable!
She got so many cool toys; Little People zoo & scooters, Minnie's Bowtique, books, a sled, clothes, a basketball hoop and much more. Santa knew she was a very good girl this year :)
After Christmas morning with my family we headed up north to see Mom Maw and the rest of Christopher's family. More birthday gifts and Christmas presents!
She loved playing with cousin Teddy. He's so funny! I love this picture...we're both looking at the camera for once! By this time Audrey was pretty tired of opening gifts. She got new PJs, books, DVDs, a jewelry box and a beautiful silver bracelet. What a great day!
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that you were able to spend it with loved ones. I'm so depressed that it's all over! I'm going to start putting away Christmas decorations today but the tree stays up until January 1st :)
It was a wonderful day...we began with a photo shoot and ended with a party. She got some really great gifts: an art easel, a bathrobe with matching slippers, MMCH stuffed animals & laptop, a Radio Flyer tricycle, a Nerf gun (lol!) and more. She was much more into unwrapping her gifts this year... she would say, "Open!" after it was unwrapped. She had a wonderful birthday!
Traditional birthday breakfast: pancakes with candles
Blowing out the candles (she got one!)
Balloons!
So many presents...
Loved the bike from Nana!
Really loved the stuffed animals
She was super excited about the Nerf gun...we set up Woody from Toy Story as target practice, lol
One day as I was driving to work the song Forever Young by Rod Stewart came on. As I listened to the lyrics, I got so teary eyed- how perfect they were to describe my hopes and dreams for Audrey's future:
May the good Lord be with you Down every road you roam And may sunshine and happiness surround you when you're far from home And may you grow to be proud Dignified and true And do unto others As you'd have done to you Be courageous and be brave And in my heart you'll always stay Forever Young, Forever Young Forever Young, Forever Young
May good fortune be with you May your guiding light be strong Build a stairway to heaven with a prince or a vagabond
And may you never love in vain and in my heart you will remain Forever Young, Forever Young Forever Young, Forever Young Forever Young Forever Young
And when you finally fly away I'll be hoping that I served you well For all the wisdom of a lifetime No one can ever tell
But whatever road you choose I'm right behind you, win or lose Forever Young, Forever Young Forever Young ,Forever Young Forever Young, Forever Young For, Forever Young, Forever Young
My favorite part of the song is about standing behind her, win or lose...it is very much true. I knew when I heard the song that I wanted to use it in her slideshow. On her first day of school, on graduation day, on her wedding day and at the birth of my grandchildren I know I will always look at her and see my little girl, my sweet Audrey Cate.
Two years ago we were admitted to the hospital (after hours of walking the maternity ward!) Our family members started to show up around 10:00...I had a nice hot soak in the spa tub and shortly thereafter in my comfy hospital bed my water broke. Within minutes I was having intense contractions and by midnight my epidural was complete and I was determined to get a good night's sleep before meeting Baby Burns.
I consider myself to have a very terrible memory. That's the whole reason for this blog...it's for me, so that I don't forget all the precious (and not so precious) moments of raising my children. While my memory is pretty bad, I know I will never forget certain things about that night...Chris closely watching the monitors and trying to get comfortable on the couch. My in laws, grandparents, & sister in law waiting outside of our room. My mom coming in much later, then my brother sometime past midnight. I'll never forget my nurse who held my hand through the epidural and made me feel so comfortable and at ease. Waking all through the night as the nurse came to periodically check on my progress. Clicking the button for pain relief over and over because there was no way in HELL I wanted to feel this huge kid being ripped from my loins.
I remember waiting until about 5 am before telling the nurse that I had been feeling a lot of pressure. It had been building all night but I kept wanting more sleep! I remember everything happening so fast. Lights came blaring on, Chris holding one leg, being told to push for 10 seconds at a time (those were 10 very long seconds!) The doctor was called in and after just a couple more pushes we had a baby...I couldn't wait, was it a boy or girl?! I heard Chris say, "It's a girl!" and I nearly died with anticipation to get my arms around her. "Hi, Audrey, I love you!" I kept saying...I just couldn't believe it! I will always remember those moments.
They weighed her and cleaned her and I got to hold her again while Christopher told everyone the good news. Then they all came in to see our sweet Audrey Cate. I know that when I'm old and I look back on all of the best moments of my life, that will be one of my proudest.
Tomorrow Audrey will be two years old. Everyday I look at her and I know my purpose in life is to love and support her unconditionally. I am so thankful to her for teaching me how to love in that way. Happy birthday sweet Audrey Cate!
We went to the doctor today for our 20 week u/s and check-up. We got a bunch of cool pictures...Baby Burns was doing somersaults! We were very good and looked away when we were told :) Everything is measuring great, looks great, and we're still on track for May 7th. I weighed in at 135 which makes me dread the next 4 months...this is when I start packing on the pounds.
I still can't believe we're having another baby...when Chris picked up Audrey and brought her home tonight, she seemed so BIG to me...she's going to be a big sister, not the baby anymore. But this doesn't make me sad...it makes me really, really excited to help her build a bond with her little brother or sister. I think she will be so wonderful.
Tomorrow is our last day of school before break. Audrey will be 2 on Friday and Christmas is on Saturday. I can't wait to spend all of my time with my sweet girl!
On Wednesday Audrey seemed to be feeling much better so we headed back to the mall to try 2 year portraits & pictures with Santa. What a difference! She was such an angel and in the best mood. First we went to Picture People. I had a coupon and wanted to get a good picture of her to give out for Christmas. It was a quick shoot and was a doll:
While we waited for those, we stood in line for Santa (about 30 minutes.) To my complete surprise she did not cry or scream. Actually, she barely paid attention to Santa...the camera guy was throwing a stuffed animal high into the air and it worked....smiles!
While we were there we stopped to visit Aunt Sarah at TCP. Audrey just loves her auntie. She gets SOOO excited when we see her. We didn't get home until after 8:00 and after dinner she passed out as soon as we laid her down. I was so relieved at how well it went.
Next Friday is her 2nd birthday and my friend Stacy is coming to take pictures. I can't wait!
And it couldn't have come soon enough! With Audrey's birthday & Christmas next week (GAH!) I so needed a day to get things done around the house.
We knew yesterday that we were going to get snow but they didn't make the cancellation until just after 6am today. I usually leave the house around 6 so I can get work done before the kids show up. This morning I was up at 5 and refreshing my browser for the next hour. I finally got in the shower and afterwards, when I checked again, the call had been made :) Just after 8 Audrey woke up and we headed to Main Street for breakfast. By then the snow had started falling & it hasn't stopped yet!
Chris went to work for a couple of hours while Audrey and I played and got a few things done. God how I cherish these free, unexpected days with her! I guess I don't realize how much I miss her during the day. We got bundled up and headed out to play in the snow. At first she didn't care for it...she kept saying, "Up, up, UP!" But then I showed her how to kick in the snow and she LOVED it. She kept walking around and saying, "Kick, kick, kick." She would also pretend to sneeze which was pretty funny. I got some amazing shots of our sweet snow angel:
Look at how far she traveled, all by herself!
We came back in after a few minutes (it was FREEZING!) and she complained the entire time we were undressing. She ran to the door and yelled, "OPEN!" Luckily she was easily distracted with crayons :) She laid down for her nap and I'm thinking we might have to go out again this afternoon!
