We're back in VA

We got back last night from Louisiana. We had a wonderful time and miss everyone already. I took over 100 pictures that I still need to download to iPhoto and then I will post about our trip...probably tomorrow or on New Year's Day. I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas, a lovely Hanukkah, and I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year!

Happy Christmakuh!

This weekend was a Christmakuh weekend or as Evan's grandpa calls it-Chanu-mas. Saturday we had Christmas with Grammy (Evan's mom). We dined on potato latkes, salad and tomato soup. (I love applesauce on my latkes and Evan likes sour cream and applesauce-separately of course.)For the sweet tooth, we had chocolate chip cookies and chocolate cake. Audrey got some great wooden toys from Grammy that she really enjoyed playing with while we were there.
A couple of Audrey and Grammy pics-

Audrey enjoying her farmen wagen-
Mommy and Daddy got creative with some old blocks that Grammy had kept from Evan's childhood days-
Every year Evan and I take a pic in front of Karen's tree and this year we added a new person to our photo-
Today, we celebrated the first day of Hanukkah with Evan's dad (Grandpapa), Deena, Ethan, and Kate. We had more delicious latkes with applesauce and sour cream. We also had a salad with chicken...so good! Evan and I brought some cinnamon rugelach and a cherry chocolate cake. Here are pics from Audrey's First Hanukkah:
Grandpapa making Audrey laugh-

Audrey was still hungry after I gave her some applesauce so she decided to take things into her own hands and get some latkes for herself-
Evan pulled the plate away but that didn't deter her. She just pulled the plate back towards her-
A nice candid shot that Daddy took-
Aunt Kate (Evan's sis) with Miss A-
On the way home, we listened to the national menorah lighting ceremony in D.C. on the Hanukkah station that started today on Sirius radio. When we got home we listened to it on the internet. After they finished lighting the candles, we said the blessings and lit the shamash and the first candle for the first night-
For Hanukkah, Grandpapa and Deenie gave Audrey an exersaucer and a Baby Einstein octopus. I know that I needed this exersaucer months ago but it's better late than never. I also know that an exersaucer is so much more for the parents than the child but what a great entertainer it will be when I need to get some laundry or ironing done. Evan and I gave Audrey a wooden Hanukkah set. It comes with a menorah, candles, gelt, latkes, a pan, a spatula, and a dreidel. Notice that Audrey lit one candle on her menorah just like Mommy and Daddy's menorah. She's so advanced...
My Aunt Dianne recently sent Audrey a Christmas gift-two books-one is a counting book about counting your blessings and the other is the Nativity story with little lights and music. I got a couple of pics when she was opening the gift and after she opened it. These just seem to really capture her personality and her big blue eyes. She is starting to look more and more like a toddler and I am missing that little baby that I brought home almost 11 months ago-
This shot just cracks me up-
Well, that's it for my Christmakuh/Chanumas blog. We are flying to Louisiana on Tuesday to spend Christmas with my family. We have a layover in Memphis on our way there. We are praying for good weather and a happy baby. After we return from Louisiana, Audrey will have 12 flights under her belt in just 11 months of life! So, I will post again when we get back!
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

First Photo with Santa

Today, Audrey and I made the trek to Tyson's Corner to get her first photo with Santa. The reason I made the drive to Tyson's rather than Dulles Town Center is because of the story I read about this Santa- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/22/AR2008112201893.html

He had been the Santa at Tyson's for 18 years and then he was let go this year without prior notice. But in a very Christmas movie fashion, there was a threat of a boycott, emails and phone calls and that Santa returned. Mall Santas everywhere cheered for a small victory. After I read the article, I knew that I HAD TO HAVE the real deal. I read that he uses hair dye to get the white hair for goodness sake! Any mall Santa that will go to those lengths deserves the drive.

So, as any first time mom would do, I woke up early and got Audrey fed and dressed in a cute Christmas top and off we went to the mall. We got there promptly at 10 when Santa would be arriving. There were only 10 people in front of us and lucky for us-we got to see Santa descend the escalator with 2 Security guards...er...elves dressed as Security guards. The children all around cheered for Santa as Audrey stared at the back of another mom's stroller. Twenty minutes later it was our turn! Hooray! The picture guy tried to get a smile from Audrey and managed to conjure up a half smile. (She had only napped for 10 minutes in the car when I woke her up to put her into the stroller....you can imagine her glee.) Then it came time for the man in the red suit. When I put Audrey in his lap, she took one look at him and then one look at me and immediately the waterworks began. Below is a photo of her looking at him while crying.
Here is one of her sizing him up sans tears-

And this is one of her deciding he isn't so bad after all-
Okay, so is he or is he not the best looking Santa?? May he be the Tyson's Santa for 18 more years!
He was seriously so nice and I of course silently oohed and ahhhed over him. I even told him that we had to come see him after reading about him. If you have read all this way and haven't read the article that I linked to above, do go back and read the article. You will probably want to catch the next flight to Dulles to see him and you are welcome to stay at my house.
My friend, Lindsley, took her son, Zaden, to see this Santa earlier in the week so if you would like to see their pics, you can click on their blog "Baby Makes 3" in the blog list on the right.

Oh and please do not judge me for Audrey having non-spotless soles on her shoes. I didn't realize that would show up till afterward. A first time mom can only remember so much and after being pregnant and having a baby, I lost a few brain cells that will never return.

In closing and in the words of Santa Claus himself-Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

It's been 12 days since my last post...

So my confession begins-It's been 12 days since my last post. I am guilty of letting online Christmas shopping and Christmas and Hanukkah card creating take time away from blogging. Please forgive me, bloggers and blog readers. The holidays have surely gotten the best of my time.

I have lots to blog about so get your cup of Joe or cup of tea-whatever your beverage of choice may be...find a comfy seat and sit back and enjoy...

My dear friend and college roommate, Scarlett, (actually the gift was from her cute baby girl, Stella) sent Audrey an uber-cute (that's right-I used the word "uber") set of pj's complete with "Miss A" monogrammed on the back. How can anyone resist such a cute baby in pj's like these??
I also have another pic to add from our tree-cutting day for your viewing pleasure-
This past Saturday night we had "Fancy Wine Club" with our friends. This one was fancy because it was a special Christmas wine club. Last year, we took a picture of us all at Carrie's Fancy Christmas party when we were all pregnant. We took another picture this year. This year, only one person is pregnant-Maile. She is expecting her fourth child on July 4th.
Here's last year's pic (I'm the one with the 3 chins.) From left-Maile, Tiffani, Me, Carrie

Here's this year's pic- From left-Tiffani, Me, Maile, Carrie
Audrey has recently discovered the freedom and fun of sticking her tongue out. Below is a photo of her having fun doing just that and notice her wearing her new Jets bib that her Grandpapa Cliff sent her-
Last week we went out to Round Hill to visit Lindsley and Zaden and to see their new house. Of course, you can guess what appliance Audrey wanted to play in the most but luckily she had a partner in crime.


Lindsley is lucky enough to live close enough to the post office that she can walk there. Oh, what I do envy these days ( I guess I should add that to my confessional too.) So, we went for a walk to the post office because we both needed to mail out some things. We put the babies in Lindsley's stroller and went for a walk.


Grammy Karen came over for a visit 2 Sundays ago and here are a couple of snapshots of Audrey and Grammy playing together-
In case you were wondering what to get Audrey for Christmas or Hanukkah...the answer is a milk jug. Sometimes on recycling day, I will put a recyclable near the front door as a reminder to take it out and put it in the bin. Audrey decided to give me an extra reminder as she used the milk jug as a teether. That must be what they mean by "reuse" in the 3 R's of recycling. Audrey is already an environmentalist...I'm so proud!

10 months old-over a week ago!

Yes, I am late with this post but I think we were traveling the day Audrey turned 10 months old.
Anyway, she is over 10 months old now which is unbelievable! I got on the scale with her the other day to weigh her and she was over 18 pounds. She is 27 1/2 inches long. She still has only 1 tooth but we think she is teething right now...lots of drool...lots of putting her hand in her mouth...and lots of night wakings. So much for sleeping through the night!
The last two nights she's been waking up only a couple of hours after she has gone to bed for the night. She has also been waking up very early for the day-around 6 a.m. and earlier! Blah! We had a very early start to our day today. She woke up at 5:45 and we all laid in bed till 6:45 and then we finally got up. By 11:30 this morning, Audrey had already napped twice! She tried to nap again in the car about an hour later. She likes to take 3 naps a day and prefers for them to be about 30-45 minutes each. This makes it extremely hard for me to get anything done. However, she is napping right now and she's been asleep for almost an hour. She fell asleep in the car and I was able to transfer her to her crib. Oh and yeah she's sleeping in her jacket and shoes right now. At least she's warm!
Speaking of napping, I should get off this blog and get to those clean dishes that need unloading from the dishwasher before she wakes up and I have to play "dishwasher goalie".

Audrey's First Christmas Tree

On Sunday, we went on our annual Christmas tree shopping trip. In the pre-baby days, we ventured out to a local farm to cut one down. However, this year, with the rain and cold and a 10 month old, we chose to visit a local plant nursery and make it much easier on ourselves.
Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure of the process of putting up the tree and trying to decorate it with a baby...thankfully, Audrey took a nap during the event so we were able to put on the ornaments during that nap.
Before Evan brought the tree into the house, Audrey was watching him get the tree off of the roof rack. Such fascinating things adults do.






How Audrey occupied her time while Evan put on the lights-

Audrey's newest holiday bibs (You may have seen the top picture as the main photo on the blog for a few days.) Christmas bib-
Hanukkah bib-
We are so excited about Audrey's first Christmas and first Hanukkah. Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, Dec. 21st. We will be celebrating with Evan's dad's family on that Sunday. We will head out to Shreveport for Christmas on that Tuesday. We will be staying with my brother and his family so we will get to light the menorah at their house this year.
We can't wait to see Audrey on Christmas morning along with her 2 1/2 year old cousin, Nate. I am sure squealing, shredded paper, and soggy bows will abound.

Audrey's First Thanksgiving

We had a FANTASTIC time during Thanksgiving at Evan's aunt and uncle's house. Audrey had so much fun playing with Aunt Sharon and Uncle Rob. They even volunteered to watch Audrey on Wednesday afternoon while Evan and I went out to eat for lunch and ran a few errands! We enjoyed a lunch date at a local place called Stella G's. (This place made me think about my friend Scarlett, and her baby girl, Stella.)
Audrey slept through the night each night while we were there and took great naps. (She just started sleeping through the night a week before we left.) Audrey's great-grandmother, Rose, also known as, Grandmom, enjoyed spending time with Audrey too. Aunt Lorraine and Uncle Vince also had fun holding Audrey and playing with her. I have posted lots of photos below.
Above-Evan and Audrey playing
Below-Aunt Sharon and Audrey in the sun room.
Grandmom giving Audrey her bottle.
Audrey bouncing around....this fun toy belonged to Aunt Sharon's boys when they were babies.
Audrey getting her first taste of vanilla ice cream...if you know us, you know this is a rare treat for Miss A. It was Thanksgiving so some rules were thrown out the window for the day!
Audrey showing us her small piece of turkey in her hand. She is sitting in a high chair that was also used by Aunt Sharon's boys when they were babies. Her oldest son, Jeff, is in college now and Jeff's brother, Kenny, is in high school.
The Brownstein 3 on Thanksgiving.
Audrey in the highchair on Thanksgiving. (This photo is out of order-oops!)


Audrey's place setting on Thanksgiving...thanks to Aunt Sharon for setting up such a cute place for her at the table.
Audrey and Grandmom on Thanksgiving.
Audrey chewing on her phone that we brought from home. The rest of the toys around her were Jeff and Kenny's toys...Aunt Sharon in her wise foresight, kept these toys and we were so thankful because Audrey had plenty of toys to occupy her curiosity and energy.