Audrey is Two and a Half

Dear Sweet Audrey Cate,

Today you are two and a half years old. You are such a beautiful and wonderful little girl. You light up our lives and fill our hearts with joy we never imagined.

You amaze us everyday. Last night when I sat with you to say your prayers, you said them all by yourself! You can count to 12 (and then all the numbers after sound like gibberish…but they all end in ‘teen’ lol.) You love to sing and dance. You are a serious radio nazi. If a song comes on that you don’t like, you let us know. Recently you’ve been trying to sing the songs on the radio and it’s so cute because you pretty much just chime in on the endings. You really love your tv shows; Mickey Mouse, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Umi Zoomi, Bubble Guppies, Little Einsteins. In fact, you go through phases where you just want the same show over and over.

You love to play pretend. We have pretend picnics and tea parties. I can’t wait to get you a dollhouse so you can pretend all day long! You are very helpful…you stand on a chair at the sink and I wash bottles and pass them to you so you can throw them in the cold water.

You have adjusted so well to having a little sister. For the most part you go about your day as if she doesn’t exist. One day that will change and you’ll be the best of friends and you won’t be able to imagine a time when she didn’t exist. You are so patient when I’m tending to her. You don’t seem to be jealous at all.

You have your moments…when you don’t listen we put you in Time-Out. You sit there, quietly and you face the corner. It’s so odd…you place your hand on the wall and we’re not sure why! Even when you’re in trouble you’re so damn cute!

You want nothing to do with potty training. You’ll sit on the potty to appease us and I’m almost certain you actually hold it while on the potty because as soon as your diaper is on you go! I’m not too worried because when you’re ready you’ll rock it and be potty trained in no time.

You really can’t be bothered with eating. I seriously dread your mealtimes! Breakfast is usually ok; you eat yogurt and pancakes and toast (and the occasional donut.) You do enjoy a variety of snacks and fruit. You’re back on a chicken strike and prefer “peanut butter on a spoon.” Grilled cheese can be a hit or miss and luckily you’re still eating YoMeals. Your eating habits stress me out especially since there’s nothing I can do but keep offering different foods. Your response is almost always, “I don’t like it!” Maybe when Abby starts eating real food in a few months you’ll regain interest! But for know you’re healthy and growing and all I can do is wait it out.

I feel so blessed to be your mom. I love watching you grow up and learn new things. You are wonderful in every way! I hope you always know how much we love you.

Love, Mom

Fastest week of my life. Ever.

We all know that time flies when you're having fun, but did you know that it also flies when you're busy as hell from sun up til sun down? A coworker put it perfectly... "It may be the last week of school, but it's one hell of a week to come back." Amen to that!

All in all it was a good, albeit busy, week. We have a good evening routine: Audrey gets a bath, brushes her teeth, takes her vitamins, puts on her PJs and watches one of her shows in our room. Abby gets her bath, PJs, swaddle and bottle. We put Audrey to bed after she says her prayers (with her "fan on, blanket on, music on".) Abby goes into her crib (or into the swing until she is either asleep or very drowsy.) Chris stays up late each night so he can dream feed Abby (yes, he actually used the term 'dream feed'!) I get up with her for the next feeding (usually in the 2 or 3 o'clock hour.) The only thing that stinks about that is afterwards I have to pump...by the time I'm done it's basically time to start getting ready for school, lol. 3am-9pm makes for a long day...I'm exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow.

The morning is jam packed. I pump and get myself ready. I try to get as many things packed and ready the night before (clothes, bottles, Audrey's juice, etc.) I start getting Audrey up at 6:00. She's easy- I change her diaper, give her milk and have her come with me to Abby's room. I unswaddle Abby (which results in her pouty cry), change her diaper, and feed her if needed. I put her in her car seat while Audrey and I say goodbye to Chris. Sometimes Abby wakes before 6:00 so I feed and change her before I get Audrey up. My goal is to leave the house by 6:30 but most mornings we left a little later due to toddler meltdowns, spit up on my clothes, and other unforeseen events. That 30 minute window goes by so freakin fast. I'm hoping to get a better handle on it when school starts back up again.

Speaking of, school was CRAZY. It was so fun to be back but I had a million things to do and the kids were pretty excited about the last few days. By Friday I was just ready to be done! I didn't even cry this time :) Today I finished packing my room. I just have to go back in for my evaluation and it's truly SUMMERTIME!!

Some pics from the last couple of weeks:

Field Day 2011:


Audrey Cate's first snow cone!





Hanging out in mom's room with the kiddos!


Audrey is such a great helper! She collects all of Abby's nighttime bottles and throws them into the sink :)


Dad took us to DQ the night before I went back to work. Audrey shared his M&M Blizzard.


I came back to school with a room covered in welcome back signs! LOVE. They also got Abby an adorable outfit and a gator onesie!







I super love this "Good job" sign! LOL


Audrey's last dance class was on Saturday...I can't wait to start back up again in September! We've enjoyed it so much :)




Serious balance skillz!

Freeze dancing "One more time!"


We went to Bonefish for Aunt Kelly's b-day:

Always with the hats!

Yay, Uncle Scott gets her to eat!

Nice of you to wake up and join us, Miss Abigail!



I only went back to work for a little over a week and I feel like I'm in desperate need of a vacation! I am looking forward to taking it easy in the mornings with my girls, coffee and GMA. I'm looking forward to mine and Chris's favorite summer shows. Losing track of what day it is. Library trips. Evening cocktails. Pool time. Man, I love summer!

6 weeks and back to work!

Abby Mae turned 6 weeks on Thursday and she is just getting so big! She's definitely wearing 3 month clothes. I have a ton of little 3 mo rompers that Audrey wore in her first spring/summer (Audrey was 6+ months old!) I guess Audrey was a smaller, slower growing baby. Abby seems to get bigger every minute :) I also had my post partum checkup and everything is back to normal. I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight (127 lbs) and I feel good with one exception...I had some pretty badly clogged ducts the past couple of days and so I spent most of Saturday with cold cabbage leaves in my bra (which felt so good!) Today the girls are back to normal. I have no problems pumping while I'm at home, but when we're out and about it's just such a hassle to pack it up and pump in some random place. I have no idea how I'll do it at work this week, but hopefully I'll be able to pump enough that my supply won't completely tank. Speaking of supply, I froze another batch of milk which brings the freezer total to 788 ounces. You're welcome, Abigail :)

Saturday was a big day! Audrey got her first haircut! I was pretty hesitant. Yes, her hair was starting to get out of control, but I love the way it gets crazy curly in the humidity. PLUS we were able to put it up in an adorable ponytail. But it had to happen sometime. We went after dance class and it was a success. She sat in the chair with a lollipop and even though she wasn't thrilled at least it got done and looks super cute!


Picking out a hairstyle with dad

It was a very long wait!

The first cut!

"Look, lady, I've been growing this out for over 2 years now, make it look good!"

We have an envelope of her precious curls and a certificate. I also kept the receipt :)

Tomorrow I go back to work and I have such mixed emotions! I am so very excited to spend the last week of school with my kids. I saw them on Friday for the first time since having Abby and it was crazy! I didn't realize just how much I missed them until I saw their faces and heard their voices. It was completely crazy because I had both girls AND it was Field Day. They pretty much entertained Audrey while I got to visit. I loved being back.

But, oh my goodness! There is just too much to get done next week...files, a million forms to fill out for NEXT year, meetings, testing, awards, report cards, packing...it's going to be too crazy (which will make the time go by faster, but still!!) And of course I'm going to miss lounging around with my sweet girls. All I can say is thank God for Grandma! I know Audrey is thrilled to be going back next week and of course now Abby will get some good bonding time in with her grandparents. But best of all I can drop them off and not have a single worry all day. They are in the best hands of people who love them just as much as we do and what more could I ask for?

Sisters

Smiles!

Abigail is definitely starting to smile more...I'm pretty sure she's smiling in response to us. She is so happy after she wakes up and has her bottle.







I love watching her sleep...her face is just so still and perfect and content!


Here's baby Audrey asleep in the bouncer:


And baby Abby:


They look so much alike, aside from the dark hair. I just love that smushy face!