Someone take this girl to Disney World!!

Audrey LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She can be totally distracted by something else but when she hears Mickey's voice at the start of the show her head snaps toward the TV and she gets the biggest grin on her face...it's hilarious! It never fails, you can put her in front of the TV and she'll watch it with a pretty serious expression. But when Mickey walks over the hill at the start of the show she smiles and gets all shy. Usually she leans towards the TV as if she's super interested. Here's one of the many videos I've taken of her latest trick:



One day I had her in my lap while on the computer. She was starting to get super fussy so I You-Tubed the MMCH opening and sure enough she immediately stopped crying and started smiling! I heart Mickey.

First Father's Day

Chris is an amazing father. From day one he's been fantastic...changing diapers, getting up at all hours, giving me a break when I need it, working his ass off in this tough economy, cooking dinner, washing endless dishes & bottles...there's nothing he can't or won't do. I've always known how lucky I was to have him as my husband. I hope she grows to appreciate having him as a dad. He's so good for her...I hope that one day she finds someone just like him to marry. And I hope that if we have a son he's exactly like his dad!


Posing for her Father's Day picture


So happy to be with Dad! Look at that grin!!

Night 2 of Ferber went exactly like the first night. We were supposed to wait 5, 10, then 12 minutes, but I felt like we should try 3, 5, and 10 again. I guess I thought that night 1 was a fluke. Sure enough she cried through the 3 and 5 minute wait times. After 5 minutes was up and we were about to check on her she fell fast asleep...and slept until about 4:30. I got her up for the day but she got tired again about an hour later and took a long nap. This evening was rough again...she kept rubbing her ear and was super fussy. Also, she's had a runny/gunky eye all day. Tonight we'll definitely do the 5, 10, 12 minute wait times. It's going to be so hard if she makes it to 10 minutes. Hopefully I'll have good news to post tomorrow!

My Gerber baby is a Ferber baby

Last night was our first night putting Audrey back in her crib and trying Ferber. My 2 main goals are to help her get herself back to sleep when she wakes at night (no paci, no feeding) and to of course sleep in her crib all night. I'm keeping a sleep training journal, but the here's the gist of it:

She went into her crib around 8:45 and cried through the 3 minute wait time. We went in and checked on her, then left. She proceeded to cry through the 5 minute wait time. Just as we were going in to check on her, she stopped and was fast asleep. She slept until about 4:20. According to Ferber, we had to get her up for the day at that time. I was completely fine with that! She went down for a nap in her crib at around 5:40. It only took about 30 seconds of whimpering before she fell fast asleep until 9:00. The rest of the day we didn't bother with Ferber's methods because we were in and out of the car and we spent the rest of the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house in the pool.

She was quite fussy this evening so of course I was dreading putting her in her crib. Total repeat of last night...cried through the 3 and 5 minute wait times. Stopped at exactly the end of 5 minutes. I'm hoping that she'll stay asleep again, but not counting on it. I'll update tomorrow about how it goes...

She cracks me up!

She's been doing this for about a month now and it never ceases to make me laugh. She looks like a mean old lady.

Thanks, Uncle Scott!

My little brother made this beautiful table for Audrey in his 7th grade Tech Ed class. Pretty much the sweetest gift ever. I especially love the hearts carved on each side. Our special summer project will be painting it, I can't wait!

I said I'd never do it...

But my favorite part of the day is when I lay Audrey in our bed and snuggle with her until we both fall asleep. I just love listening to her breathe and make her sweet little sounds. I love watching her as she turns towards me to get more comfortable and how she smiles at me from behind her pacifier. She only stays there for a few hours, and then it's back to the bouncer so that Chris and I can get some really good sleep without worrying about rolling over on her :)

New things!

Two new happenings this month!

Audrey will not stop rolling over...it's ridiculous! She does not want to be on her back. It's way too cute how she rolls over and just wants to play on her belly:



When she's not playing on her belly she's sitting up and playing!! That's right, Miss Audrey can sit all by herself. I've been so excited for this moment. Her balance is amazing, she tilts in all directions and straightens back up. She even turns her body to look at what's going on behind her. Amazing, this girl is!!


Audrey with her pal Janine Giraffalo


"I'm going to eat your face!"


"You taste terrible!"



So far all of her milestones have been exciting and I've looked forward to them so much. But I think I'm going to cry the day she actually becomes mobile. Where is the time going?!

Growing up fast!

It seems like Audrey changes overnight. All of a sudden she can just do different things. A few weeks ago we put up the doorway jumper. She liked it ok, would give a few bounces here and there. A few days later she's bouncing and laughing and having a great old time. Recently she's discovered the musical buttons and has been hitting them like crazy.





She is really starting to get better at sitting up. A few days ago I had her in the bouncer as I was eating dinner. All of a sudden she sits straight up and starts smiling at the dogs. She would not lay back down! She'd even lean back, then pull herself upright again. It was pretty funny. It's getting harder and harder to hold her in the bathtub when she does this!

She is such a great eater! Opens her mouth wide when she sees the spoon coming. Sometimes she'll grab ahold of it and put it to her mouth.

She's pretty awesome in every way imaginable.

Sleep Training: Step 1

I've been dreading this. Sleep training...it sounds so institutional, but it's the best way to describe it. I've been looking into the different approaches and Ferber is looking to be the best (as in most efficient.) So today Audrey and I went to Borders and picked up Dr. Ferber's book. Right now she sleeps in her Boppy bouncer on the floor next to our bed where it's quite convenient. When she stirs at night all I have to do is a) replace her paci b) restart the vibration or c) que the nature/heartbeat sounds. Sure it's a terrible habit, but it's helped me to realize that she can in fact sleep through the night and she does not need to eat every two hours.

We'll be starting mid-June when I'm out of school. I just don't know if we should put her in the crib and start Ferberizing that night or let her get used to her crib again for a few nights before starting the Ferber method. I'll take any suggestions!

Step 1 of Operation Sleep Training is complete- we've picked a method and have committed. It's going to take the next 3 weeks to get used to the idea of letting sweet Audrey Cate learn to soothe herself to sleep. I mean, look at this face!!

5 month photo session

A few of my favorites:

5 months!

What a big, beautiful girl!









I updated her 4-5 month page with adorable pics and video. Enjoy!!

That's My Girl!!

I recently came across some of my baby pictures. I don't have very many at all. We were shocked to see just how much Audrey looks like me:


Me


Audrey


Me


Audrey


Me


Audrey


Me


Audrey

Some strong genes I have!! But I have to say Audrey is much cuter...because she's got some Chris in her :)

Sitting Up....sort of!

Our new favorite thing to do is practice sitting up on the couch. She looks so freaking cute, like a tiny little person (ok, I know she is a tiny person, but you know what I mean!!)




I'm falling over...


Face plant!


But I'm OK!!

Randomness!

A potpourri of pictures if you wiil :)


Audrey prefers oatmeal over rice cereal. I think I'll wait a few weeks before mixing in fruits and veggies.


I love that she'll chill out pretty much anywhere you put her...the swing, the excersaucer, the Bumbo...which reminds me I need to pick up a jumperoo!


Her newest toy is a 6 foot long caterpillar that has the entire alphabet on it. We haven't decided on a name yet.


Nakey baby!!


Smiley girl :)

Next Sunday she'll be 5 months old. In a way time has flown by, but when I think back to those boring, stressful newborn days...well, it's about time she became more fun! She smiles so much. She still makes us work for a laugh though. I can't wait until Summer...I have so many fun things planned! I'm so lucky to have job that gives me 2 1/2 months off. Only 5 weeks to go!

Naughty Audrey!!!

She is soooo grounded!!



Is it just me, or does she look like she's talking back?



Back to being cute :)

Since when did allergies suck so bad??

I am miserable. I am stuffy, achy, my head feels like it's going to explode every time I move. My voice is completely shot (which makes for some creative teaching!) It hit me all of a sudden on Monday at school and by that night I was convinced I had the Swine Flu. I went to the doctor today only to be told it's probably allergies and they sent me home with a Rx for a Z-pack. My main concern was that I did have the flu or a cold, and was contagious...of course I was hoping that wasn't the case, but I feel totally sick! Since I have no voice it's pointless to go work and honestly I feel so awful that I wouldn't be able to make it through the day. I really hate missing school :(

Hopefully this passes soon. They told me not to start the Z-pack unless my symptoms persist for a few more days. I'll give it to the weekend. Damn allergies.

My First Mother's Day

It was wonderful! Last year Chris took me to Mother's Day brunch at the Mattaponi Golf Club. We were celebrating the fact that we were newly pregnant. So it was very fitting that we had brunch there this morning, but this time as a family of three :) He had to work the rest of the day, so Audrey and I hung out the rest of the day. The weather was beautiful and when Chris got home he snapped some pictures of us in front of the pretty flower bushes we have growing on the side of the house.









When Chris asked what I wanted for Mother's Day, I had no idea what to tell him. I did know that I wanted something "motherly"...something that would reminded me of my beautiful daughter. He picked out the perfect gift from Tiffany's:



It will also have Audrey's initials. I can hardly wait for it to get here!! Every time I look at it I'll think of my lovely Audrey and thoughtful Christopher. They are my life and the reason I'm a mom.

I hope all of the moms who read this enjoyed their special day!

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." ~Rajneesh

Solids

On Sunday Audrey had her first bit of rice cereal! It was so fun to put her in her highchair an slap a bib on her. How did we get here already?


Ready for action!




WTH?! Have you TASTED this??


Not so bad!


And of course we got it on video...click here!

Day two wasn't very successful. She was fussy and not at all receptive to my attempts (I was making funny airplane noises and everything!) So we'll just keep trying once a day until she gets the hang of it. It's hard to believe that one day soon she'll be shoveling food into her mouth just like her momma ;)

Happy Monday!

We hardly got any sleep last night....it seems like Miss Audrey was having some issues. She woke every 3 hours to eat and kept making these pitiful grunting sounds. Last night was the first time we tried rice cereal and I'm wondering if she was a bit stopped up. So, if you're like me and could use a laugh today, here's a cute video for you :)

AWWWWWWWWW

She does NOT like the song, "Love to Love You, Baby". This is what we get when we sing it: