The holidays are finally here!

I just LOVE this time of year! It starts right after Halloween with the anticipation of Thanksgiving break. Lots of time with family & friends, eating great food, the general feeling of cheerfulness.

I am especially grateful to be sharing these first experiences with sweet Audrey. She is so into the holiday spirit this year...the songs, the decorations, and even Santa. We spent Thanksgiving with my family then headed up to Woodbridge to celebrate with the Burns family. Audrey napped for about 30 minutes in the car but was an angel the whole time. She especially loved playing with cousin Teddy. He's 5 and entertains her so well!


Checking out Pop's tree


Helping herself to raspberries at Mom-Maw's.

She didn't eat any of the amazing food...maybe next year?

Next week a good friend of mine is coming to take her 2 year pictures. We're doing them a little early so we can hopefully use them in our holiday cards. I'm hoping to get her new bedroom ready by then so she can take pictures in there. It's been painted and most f the walls are decorated. I'm waiting on a couple of decals from Etsy and for Chris to assemble her crib. I'm so happy with how it's turned out so far!


She kept very busy with this foam block while I put together the closetmaid organizer.


She even tried to help


Trying to get to the hanging lanterns


Phew! All that work is exhausting!

On Saturday during nap time we put up the Christmas tree. When Audrey saw it she said, "Oooohhhh!" and clapped and smiled. She really loves it. I hung all of the kid-friendly ornament on the bottom and let her play with them as much as she likes. Her favorite is a small gold bell decorated with holly leaves.







Just looking at the tree makes me feel so nostalgic. Two years ago I remember sitting in the recliner right in front of the tree with my warming blanket (and a heating pad!) wondering when oh when I'd get to meet Baby Burns. Wondering if it was a Jack or an Audrey. Being very thankful to be on the verge of meeting our first baby. I'm not quite as pregnant this time, but I still have the same feelings. Only this time I get to watch her playing and dancing and singing around the beautiful tree. I love this time of year!

Wedding Weekend

Ryan and Mimi were married on Friday and it was a beautiful wedding. We went to the rehearsal on Thursday (the church was absolutely gorgeous) and then went to dinner at Logan's. Chris stayed with Ryan and the groomsmen while Audrey and I came home to rest up for the big day.


Audrey and cousin Nina at the church

Audrey slept the whole way to the church (over an hour) and was in great spirits when we arrived. She got to hang out with cousin Isabella during the ceremnoy. Thank goodness the church had quiet rooms. The girls could chat and we could still hear the ceremony.




At the reception the girls danced the whole night. It was such a fun party with great food, great music, and awesome family.




Audrey & Bella liked walking around the dance floor.


Nina led the whole time :)






They had a mother-daughter dance. It was so sweet!






Favorite!


Had to be carried off the dance floor

We had a wonderful time. Unfortunately most of my pictures came out blurry or my camera delayed so much that I missed a lot of good shots. So, if you're reading this, Santa, mama needs a camera for Christmas :)

Our lovely girl, a lovely big sister

I've been waiting so long to blog about this! On August 25th we found out we were pregnant. We had been hoping for another, but after speaking with my doctor in May it seemed like a long shot. We had decided that if nothing happened this summer I'd go back on Clomid next summer. Imagine our shock and surprise when I randomly took a test on CD 41. I kept saying, "Oh my God, OH MY GOD!" We told close family & friends right away. Obv I wanted to wait until after the 1st tri to announce it on the interwebz.

I shouldn't have been too surprised...after I finished nursing I began to have regular cycles (something that never happened pre-Audrey.) I assumed I ovulated as well but I never kept track- which was a huge difference from ttc the first time (taking temps daily, charting, OPKs- UGH!) My cycles were long which is why Dr K. said we'd probably need to get back on meds to conceive again. The look on his face when he walked into our first appointment was priceless and we totally high-fived, lol.

Baby Burns is due May 7th. I'm 15 weeks and feel great, even starting to show a bit. I was mostly exhausted during the 1st tri, but no morning sickness. On Thursday Audrey and I went to the doctor for a quick check up. We heard a nice strong heartbeat at 160 bpm. I go back in 3 weeks for a quad screen and then 3 weeks after that for a sonogram (right around Christmas!) It's definitely an exciting time for our family :)

Some pics of the day we found out:




Someone seems happy with the news! She missed all the excitement while she was napping.


I get to have another one of these?! Life is good.

Ahhhh, much better!

Looks like we had a serious teething situation on our hands last week! She also got a pretty bad cold (coughing, stuffy nose, scratchy voice.) When I was brushing her teeth last week she opened nice and wide for me to see 2 pointy back teeth sticking out. I'm happy to say she's back to being her wonderful self!

We didn't really celebrate Halloween this year, but we did go out for Grandpa's birthday which is the same day.








See? Feeling much better!


We went to Uncle Scott's last football game but didn't stay very long since it was getting chilly.

Since her birthday and Christmas are right next to each other, we ended up putting most of her gifts away and we give them to her throughout the year (I really hope that continues to work for the next 16 years!) This is the final toy from Gift Extravaganza 2009...an awesome train from Uncle Scott. She loves it and played with it all day. She kept singing her ABCs and saying "Choo choo!!"






We have a few busy weeks ahead...I'm very busy with school (grad class, report cards & conferences, training...) and Chris's brother is getting married in just 2 weeks! Then it will be Thanksgiving, then time to put up the Christmas decorations. I love this time of year.