Happy Valentine's Day! I hope each of you enjoyed it with the people you love. I know I sure did!
For funsies, here's Audrey last year, her 1st Valentine's Day: Eeeek! What a tiny little baby! And what a difference a year makes:
Getting ready to go out to dinner!
She was an angel at dinner! Which surprised us because she hadn't had an afternoon nap (she did fall asleep about 5 minutes before we got to the restaurant, in true Audrey fashion.) Reading her Valentine's Day card from mom & dad (Dora!)
Love. That's what Valentine's Day is all about. And while I have always considered it a romantic holiday for couples, I have pretty much decided it's going to be about celebrating love as a family. Christopher is my Valentine, but sweet Audrey Cate is OUR Valentine, and will be until she's old enough to find someone worthy of being hers.
So, to both of my loves, a quote that sums it all up so nicely: "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach." ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
No, not at school, not my usual 2nd graders...Just because we've had a ton of snow days does not mean I'm slacking off! Look what I taught Miss Audrey today:
I usually get like this during winter break and summer vacation...I lose track of what day it is, because really, what does it even matter? All I know is that I didn't work yesterday and I'm not working tomorrow. Well, I didn't GO to work...but trust me, there's been a lot of lesson planning and grading going on!
Being home has thrown off our schedule a bit. Since Audrey sleeps until 8 or 9, her afternoon nap is insanely late. So we've just been doing one mid-day nap, with a short period of quiet time in the late afternoon. I'm sure she'll transition just fine back to 2 naps when she goes back to grandma.
Today I noticed how much she was all over the place. Just aimlessly wandering from one room to another, for no specific purpose. She babbled the entire time (which made it easier to keep track of her!) Most of the time she carries something, like her teapot, a small ball, a book, but usually she finds her Mickey to tote around:
He's great for chewing on as well!
She always seems to be having fun, I just love her personality!
The past couple of nights, after she's been sleeping for awhile, I've brought her into bed with me and I just hold her while I watch TV. She sleeps so peacefully in my arms, and I love being able to kiss her sweet head and stroke her soft hair. After an hour or so, I put her right back in her crib and she's none the wiser :)
I decided to take Audrey out for some pictures since we have another storm coming tonight (they've already canceled school for tomorrow and Thursday!) She really does not care for the snow, especially since she doesn't have gloves that fit. And the snow is as tall as she is :)
She liked patting the snow around her, and then kept trying to eat it!
I think I've lost count! School was canceled today AND tomorrow due to the storm we had over the weekend. And what do you know, another few inches are due to fall tomorrow night. I should be sick of the snow by now, but I'm not! There is nothing better than being woken up by a smiley, happy Audrey. I love feeding her breakfast while I drink my morning coffee. We watch Mickey Mouse and chase each other around the house. I give her a million kisses and enjoy watching her play with the gazillion toys that litter our house. I love everything about being home and I'm soaking up every moment! Here are a few pics from today:
Why was I dreading the walking phase? She is SO CUTE!!
THRILLED with herself...I hope she always has such enthusiasm
CHEESE!!
Seriously, what is she so excited about?!
I am so in love with this beautiful face..
This is our nightly ritual...she drinks her milk while watching Mickey Mouse. Lately she's been enjoying the movie "Adventures in Wonderland," thanks to Aunt Sarah!
I am very, very thankful for this extra time home with Audrey. But the more time we have off the more difficult it will be to get back to work. Luckily I have a wonderful group of kids who make each day so, so fun!
We are getting hit hard with a ton of snow! As I was heading home with Audrey yesterday afternoon, school was already cancelled for today. It started snowing early this afternoon, but didn't start sticking until around 4:00. According to FB, many neighborhoods up north are losing power. Chris completely prepared for this...he picked up a generator from his parents and did all the grocery shopping (he forgot to get any kind of chocolate though, so I made a quick trip...crisis averted!)
I can't tell you how ELATED I am about having all this time to spend with Audrey. I just love these snow days! I'm not sure when we'll be going back to school, but hopefully we use 4 more snow days (if we use 10 in a school year, we don't have to make them up...as in losing Spring Break or extending the school year.) I have to say, I do miss my kids a lot. Seeing them on Thursday (after 6 days!) was so great, tons of hugs and smiles. I hope they're enjoying this time in the snow!
I forgot to update about Audrey's dr appt last Friday. Her iron level looks good, but they suggest keeping her on it for another month. As for her back, it's definitely eczema. We started putting cortisone on it and for the first few days it looked WORSE. But now it has really cleared up! In fact, it's hard to tell where exactly to put the cream anymore :) She has tried (and liked) a few new foods this week; pizza (she'll nibbles off of mine!), potatoes, and turkey. We also tried these broccoli fries and she didn't hate them! She actually munched on them until they were really gooey, so I don't think she really "ate" them.
She just loves walking around with no clothes on, lol.
I love her expression in this picture!
Camera shy
She stayed in her PJs all day!
And here is one benefit of letting her have her own kitchen cabinet:
Thanks to a little more snow overnight, school was cancelled again. There's nothing like the anticipation of waking up at 5 am, running to the computer, and seeing the closing message atop the district's website (and we're supposed to be getting more this weekend! SQUEAL!!)
With the extra time on my hands and having the Internet back (yessssss), I've been looking into Audrey's spring/summer wardrobe. Although she loves to run around in just a diaper, I have to get her a few things to wear in public :) Lo and behold, Gymboree has come out with an Alligator line for GIRLS!! Just one of the adorable items:
And just in time for my school's spirit week in March. Chris will be bringing her on Super Gator Pride Day, so of course she'll have to be Gatorized to match the rest of us :)
Last night we were playing and her stacking rings were laying out. Now, ever since she could sit up, she would always unstack (destack?) the rings. Sometimes one by one, sometimes she'd be super efficient and just dump the entire thing over. She just did not like them being stacked. Ever. But last night she just started stacking her rings! It was pretty cool to watch:
I like how at first she tries to crawl away, but then "listens" to me when I tell her to go back (I had to run to get my camera, and of course as soon as you do that, they stop doing whatever amazing thing it was that they were doing...) Then towards the end, when she can't quite stack the orange ring, she hands it to me. Smarty pants :)
Finally, a hilarious clip I found from Modern Family...does anyone watch this show? It's one of my new favorites. The comedic timing is genius:
