I have Audrey on an alternative vaccination schedule. I saw this schedule in Fit Pregnancy magazine. It was created by Dr. Robert W. Sears who is the author of The Vaccine Book:Making the Right Decision for Your Child. (If anyone who reads this is interested in the schedule, just email me and I will forward it to you. I have it in a PDF file.) I was interested in an alternative schedule for a couple of reasons. 1. The possibility of the link between vaccines and autism. 2. If you get 2 vaccines at a visit rather than the usual 4 and your child has an allergic reaction, it is much easier to pinpoint which vaccine may have caused it. I also didn't realize how much easier it is on me when Audrey has to only get 1 or 2 shots rather than 3 or 4. It's very hard on a mama when your child gets a shot! I just hate seeing her get so upset. So anyway, I took Audrey to the doc today for 2 more vaccines. Usually children go in at 2 and 4 months for their first vaccines but because of the alternative schedule, she gets them at 2, 3, 4 months and so on. It was raining when we left for the appointment so that wasn't very fun hauling a car seat out the door and squeezing it into a 2-door Celica! Anyway, she got the Hib (Haemophilus Influenzae Type b) and PC (Pneumococcal Conjugate) vaccine today. She got a shot in each thigh and really cried when the nurse gave it to her. But she quickly stopped crying as soon as the initial pain was over. I was so proud of her! Her name means "Strength" and I really feel like she lives up to that when she gets her shots. I had her weighed and she is almost 12 pounds. She is exactly 11 pounds, 15 ounces. Yay! Recently I tried measuring her length...she kept wiggling but I know for sure she was at least 23 inches long. She is also cooing tons these days and has even started to giggle! She smiles a lot too!


On May 7th, we are traveling to Louisiana! The only person in my family who has met Audrey is my mom so I am really looking forward to everyone else seeing her! The Saturday before Mother's Day, lots of my family on my dad's side are getting together for a cookout. Lots of cousins will be there including two other babies! Two of my cousins recently gave birth in the past 6 months so it will be awesome to get all the babies together. One of my cousins actually had her son a week before Audrey was born so they are very close in age.



I am very excited about my first Mother's Day. The best part will be spending it with my own mom as well. I haven't been able to do that in about 4 years since I moved up here so I can't wait!

Audrey is 3 months old today!! She smiles a lot and makes all kinds of cute cooing sounds. She just started to giggle a couple of days ago! Last night she slept in her crib the whole night for the first time! Usually she starts off in there and then when she wakes up I go and get her and bring her into our bed or put her in her Moses basket on the floor next to me after feeding her. Last night was tough but we did it! When she woke up at 2:45 and 3:45, I just went in and gave her the pacifier, reswaddled her, and patted her back to sleep. I usually would feed her at 2 but I realized yesterday she has been habitually waking up at that time and isn't necessarily hungry. So, when I gave her the pacifier last night-it worked! She woke up at 5 this morning and I nursed her, reswaddled, gave her the paci, and put her back in her crib and patted her. Then she woke up at 6:20 and I went in and reswaddled her, gave her the paci, and patted till she fell asleep. After that she slept till about 7:30...she made little noises for about 15 minutes and I went in and got her around 8. Now, one night down and 2 nights to go and hopefully this will form a new habit and we will cut out the 2:00 waking. After 3 months of interrupted sleep, the lack of sleep had really hit me! So,last night I decided to try something new!

A friend of mine gave me this tummy time mat and Audrey really enjoys it!



I love her chubby little legs!
She's just hanging out in her swing.
Daddy and daughter in our kitchen.
Audrey smiling for the camera! :-)

Audrey in her Bum Genius cloth diaper. Doesn't she look fabulous?

This picture was taken on March 29th. It's Audrey trying out the remote control for the first time ;-)

Today is the anniversary of when we got engaged! Four years ago, Evan proposed to me at Oatlands Plantation. We were touring the grounds and when we got to the sundial he proposed. I can't remember all the things he said but I do remember he began by saying my first and middle name. He said lots of wonderful things that day and after he proposed we prayed together and walked around a little bit more. Then we went to Tuscarora Mill for lunch to celebrate. We had a delicious lunch and a great bottle of wine. However, one thing I failed to mention was that the engagement ring didn't fit! It was too small. It was so small that we called it the "world's most expensive pinkie ring". We were bummed that it didn't fit but we got over it pretty quickly. It's hard to believe it's been 4 years since that day!

Audrey-serious

Audrey and her beautiful smile :-)

I originally started this blog in October but never really did much with it. So, here I am attempting to get this going again.
We had our baby girl, Audrey Amalie, on January 25, 2008. She is such a blessing to us! She is beautiful, cute, and brings us lots of happiness. She has been smiling and cooing so much lately. She coos the most when she is in her swing. She only started enjoying her swing about a couple of weeks ago. I actually got some video of her in her swing making some very cute noises the other day. Hopefully I will be able to post that on here. I am still figuring out this site...