Snow

We've had lots of snow recently but we took Audrey out for the first time to play in the snow when it snowed on MLK, Jr. day. Little did we know, she was coming down with the croup and an ear infection...yes, we win the prize for BEST PARENTS IN THE WORLD.

Anyway, in the photos, you can see most of the time she isn't thrilled to be outside in the snow...but what else are two let-me-capture-every-pinnacle-moment parents going to do?

Watching it snow...nothing like seeing it from her eyes...

So, Audrey's hands are so small she can still fit into those newborn mittens and because that's all we had...we had to improvise...
I know I look like a terrible mom because she doesn't have a mitten on...but those things wouldn't stay on!


Daddy trying to get her to smile...
All of our shoes lined up after we came in...you just gotta love baby shoes...

Audrey's First Birthday

Okay, I FINALLY uploaded the photos from Audrey's birthday party and her actual birthday. Here is a slideshow-

She's 1 Year Old Today!!

I can't believe I have a 1 year old! Where did my little bitty baby go?
It's been a busy weekend. Will post pics later. We've had a sick little girl this weekend...she went to the doc yesterday morning again...she has the croup and an ear infection. :-(
She had a great party yesterday though. Gotta run...I have a fussy little one!

Audrey's First Fever :-(

We have been so blessed for Audrey to be so healthy her first year of life. The only illness she had this past year was a mild case of what appeared to be the croup...until...Tuesday night. Audrey woke up around 2:30 in the morning and we brought her in our room. She had soaked through her diaper so I started to change her diaper and clothes and noticed how hot her torso and head felt. I noticed that all her extremities felt warm too. So, I checked her temp under her arm and it was 100.5. She had never had a fever this past year until now. I was really hoping this would be one thing we would not experience during her first 365 days of life. Wednesday morning, I got up with her and took her to the doctor during their walk-in hours. While I was there, a girl threw up in the office and right after that, people just started pouring in to the office. After about 20 minutes, we got called back to the room. Audrey weighed 20 pounds and her temp was around 99.5. They did a strep test and it came back negative but her nose was congested and runny and her throat was red. She also had a slight cough but she was, of course, not coughing while the NP was there. The nurse practitioner suggested fluids, rest, and Tylenol for the fever. Well, thankfully for me, my mom flew in Wednesday afternoon for Audrey's birthday this weekend. The Lord's timing was perfect because He knew I would need reinforcements with Audrey being sick. After picking up my mom, we came home and gave Audrey a nap.

Around 3 this morning, Audrey woke up with a fever of 101.6 and we gave her Tylenol and milk and she went back to sleep. When she woke up this morning, her fever was right under 99.8 and the rest of the day it's been down. I am so thankful....I've been praying that her fever would go away and that she would be well by this weekend.

I've also been praying for Evan and my mom because before my mom flew up here she had a head cold/sinus infection and I was worried that her ears would give her problems while flying. She did have some problems with the pressure while she was flying but thankfully she made it here fine.
Evan has been sick this week and he left work early yesterday but made it the full day today. He is feeling better today thankfully as well. As for me, I've had a scratchy throat, stopped up ears, and a stuffy nose but I've felt okay overall and I have been very thankful but I would do anything to change places with Audrey and have a fever instead of her. :-(

I can't believe it's almost been a year since she was born!!

I really can't believe it's almost been a year since my baby girl was born. I keep thinking back over this week to a year ago and what I was doing.
For one thing, I looked like this: (**Important: this was me 1 year ago...not today! Yes, I have to put a disclaimer as some people have recently seen old prego pics of me from last year and thought they were taken recently...I guess my belly under my peacoat isn't flat enough to suggest otherwise.)
I know I am being gutsy putting my bare belly on here but it's just a wonderful reminder to me of my little Audrey Amalie and all the exciting emotions I felt. My belly was quite the torpedo but I loved it! I loved that she had dropped and was ready to be born. I had been to the midwives the day before and Margie, the one who ended up delivering Audrey, told me that she didn't think I would make it to my due date which was 2 weeks away and she would've been very surprised if I had made it through the week and weekend to my next appointment. Well, she called it because that Friday, the 25th, my water broke and 9 hours later I had Audrey Amalie. I will try to post my birth story later this week.
Anyway, this week has been full of reminiscing for me and I told Evan that I miss being pregnant with Audrey and that I just want to be pregnant with her again and have her all over again. I just enjoyed all of it so much...yes, even the birth!

Stand, wave, and nod your head!

Audrey is now up to 4 seconds! Yes, she can now stand without holding on to anything for a whole 4 seconds. She has been letting go and trying to stand lots the past two days.
She has also been waving for a while but not really at anyone in particular...till today...she waved bye-bye to Tiffani when she was leaving our house this evening.
Audrey has also found her rhythm. When she hears music playing on her Little Tikes piano that Ashley gave her, she nods her head to the beat.
We have had a few busy weekends since we returned from Shreveport.
Last weekend we got to help celebrate Gavin's (Josh and Alex's son) first birthday and we got some great pics of Audrey with Gavin and his older brother, Liam.
Daddy showing Audrey how to use a noisemaker-
Last weekend, we also got to have a belated Chanukah gift exchange with the Schendells. Grandpa came too-
Audrey and her cousin, Max
Here are a couple of cute pics of Audrey enjoying her exersaucer-
Click on the picture below to enlarge it so you can see the grin on her face-I took this idea from Lindsay who has a blog on my blog list. While I was talking to Lindsley (who also has a few blogs on my blog list), I put a scarf through the clothes basket and gave Audrey a ride around the living room.
We had a playdate on Friday at Carrie's house. This is Audrey playing with Kyle and Isaac. Kyle loves the camera as you can see. Audrey is a tough crowd when it comes to looking at the camera. I practically have to stand on my head.
Here is a closeup that Cheryl, Kyle's mom, took of Audrey playing-
These three were all born on the same day-March 5th!
From left: Abra, Isaac, Kyle
This is just a snapshot of Miss A in a little sweatsuit that her Granny in Shreveport gave her for Christams and of course, she is holding one of her favorite things-a ring from her ring stacker that her Granny also gave her for Christmas-

Cold...again!

So, if it couldn't get any colder than yesterday, it did! Right now it's 13 and it feels like -5...that's right...negative 5...at least that is what weather.com says. We didn't make it to our playdate yesterday because my friend's little boy had a fever. So we just stayed in and stayed warm. But we have another playdate today so we will be bundling up soon to venture out into the frigid air!

Freezing here!

This morning we surprisingly woke up to a dusting of snow outside! I've been listening to the wind blowing and thinking I know it must be really cold outside but how cold is it?
I just went to weather.com and got my answer! It says-

24°F Feels Like 9°F Updated Jan 15 10:25 a.m. ET

UV Index: 1 Low Wind: From NW at 22 mph gusting to 31 mph Humidity: 38% Pressure: 30.30 in. Dew Point: 6°F Visibility: 10.0 miles

Yes, that's right---it's 24 and it feels like 9!!! The high is only 29 today and tomorrow's high is 22! I have to say though...I did miss the cold weather when I was in Shreveport for Christmas. While we were there, the weather stayed in the 60's and the 70's. I missed the winter weather and was happy to feel VA's cold wind on my face when I returned.
Today, we have a playdate with friends from our Hypnobirthing class that we took a year ago. So, Audrey will be wearing layers for sure!

More pics...finally!

I am finally getting a chance to post more pictures from Christmas and photos from New Year's Eve. Thanks to Audrey for taking a nice long nap!

Christmas Day
Audrey and her Papa in the backyard at my grandparents' house
Evan chasing Nate in the backyard-

Audrey with her great-grandmother
Audrey with her great-grandfather-
Audrey with her granddaddy (and my Aunt Lisa to the left)-
All ready for bed Christmas night-
After this photo, she put that candy cane in her mouth-
The day after Christmas, we visited my grandmother (Audrey's other great-grandmother) on my mom's side in the nursing home. She and Audrey both enjoyed each other's company-

4 Generations: My mom, my grandmother, me, Audrey

Audrey enjoying one of her favorite foods: Carrots. She also enjoys using carrots as hair gel as you can see in the photo on the left side of her head-
My Aunt Marilyn and cousin, Jennifer, holding Audrey-
Audrey with her granddaddy again-
Audrey with her great-grandpa again-
Audrey giving her great-grandma a kiss-
My brother bought a menorah so we could light the candles and say the blessings while we were there. Here's Evan enjoying some crackers/chips with the menorah lit-

We visited my BFF Ashley and her family while we were in town. We saw them Christmas day and again that Saturday. The next two photos are of Audrey and Ashley's little boys. Audrey and Andrew playing in Andrew's room-
Audrey and Ethan-
A quick shot with Ash before we left. Check out that look on Audrey's face-
We had to go to Evan's favorite restaurant while we were home-Superior!
Audrey was introduced to Superior's great salsa while we were there and she enjoyed it. Here are a couple of pics of Audrey in the high chair enjoying the atmosphere. *The pic at the top of our blog was taken at Superior too.Miss Serious
Granny and Pawpaw (my mom and stepdad)
Audrey got to visit with her my cousin, Melody and her family while we were there. Melody's mom who was my great-aunt was also named Audrey. She passed away the week after Thanksgiving in 2007. I got to see her for Thanksgiving and was so thankful that God granted me the chance to see her before He took her home.
This is Audrey getting some sugar from Melody-
Audrey with Uncle Bill (my great-aunt Audrey's husband)-
When we returned to VA the evening of the 29th, we opened the rest of the presents under the tree-

We went to a New Year's Eve party at our friend's house-Dave and Merrie. Last year Carrie and I took a photo with the year 2008 written out and held it in front our prego bellies. I can't find that photo on our computer but this it the pic we took this year with regular, non-prego bellies :-)Picture of Mr. and Mrs. Brownstein-
Spencer (Carrie's husband), Isaac (Spencer and Carrie's son), Audrey and Evan-
Carrie, Tiffani, Me-
Audrey on New Year's Day, welcoming in the New year!