Valentine's Day, Evan's birthday and a few other random pics

Here are some photos from Valentine's Day-
Valentine's morning-Audrey with her valentine from her daddy
Miss A with all of her valentines-

Our littlest valentine with all of her valentine babies and her Lovey Pups book that her granny gave her for her first Valentine's Day last year-
Audrey and Mommy-


I took Audrey to a tot lot in our neighborhood a couple of weeks ago.
Just a swingin'
Audrey enjoying the sidecar-
Audrey doing her favorite thing-pointing!
She loves crawling into the cabinet-


The other day, I tried to get her to wake up after she had fallen asleep in the car...it was too late in the day for her to be napping...so I laid her down on the living room carpet and went about my business...talking on the phone and unloading the dishwasher and she still slept so I decided to take a rare photo of her sleeping-
We had our wine club again recently...this time to celebrate Dan's birthday. Here's a ladies pic-
And the guys pic-
Evan's birthday lunch at Tuscarora Mill last Saturday-
Audrey doing another of her favorite things-hiding-
Family Photo-


OH the things that can amuse a 1 year old! Bread baskets!

Audrey enjoying a rare treat-French Fries! (Anything to get a few more minutes while we wait for the bill!)

Audrey turned 13 months old yesterday! She weighs almost 22 pounds and is in 12-18 month clothing now.

She says "deh-dee" for Daddy
"duh-gee" for doggy, kitty, almost any animal but mostly for dogs.
She recognizes dogs and kitties in books and will point to a dog or cat if you ask her to point to one!
She has been taking more and more steps...she took lots today.
She likes to take about 3 steps and then dive right into me and she is getting a lot braver with letting go and standing or even standing up all on her own!

Audrey got her first haircut today! We went to "Toddler Salon" which is hosted by mom in our church's mom's group. Another mom in our group, Sarah, gives haircuts to the kids. Julie, the hostess, took lots of pics of Audrey getting her hair cut and I will post pics of that soon. It was so precious! I have a baggie with some of her locks to put in her a baby book and a little box that says "Baby's First Curl". It may not be a curl but it will do!

Happy Birthday, Evan!!!!

To my incredible husband,
Happy 31st Birthday today! It's been such an amazing year...watching you with Audrey during her first year of life has been the most wonderful thing to see.
You are such a blessing to me! I thank the Lord for putting you in my life almost 6 years ago. You are a wonderful husband, a loving daddy, and a loyal friend to all who are blessed to call you friend.

You are my Mr. Right...the love of my life...my best friend...an answer to my prayers. You make me laugh EVERY day! Thank you for all the joy and happiness you bring to my life. Thank you for being there for me when I am upset or stressed or just blue. Thank you for working so hard so that I could stay home with Audrey and thank you for all the work you do at home. Thank you for letting me put my ice cold feet against your warm feet every night...even when you swear there must be no blood running to my feet.

I love you so much,
Laura

She walked...with both feet this time!

Today, while I was doing diaper laundry, I stood Audrey up and she stood there for a few moments and then she started walking!!! This time with both feet...not just her left foot! :-) She took about 5 steps and then squatted and sat down. I was ecstatic and I almost teared up. Later I got her to walk a few more steps. She also stood up all on her own without pulling up on anything or holding onto anything. I tried to get her to walk for Daddy when he came home but she only wanted to be in his arms and didn't want to let go. I love those moments.

In the news...

We recently found out that our midwife's sister was killed in the plane crash in Buffalo, NY last week. Margie Brandquist, the midwife that delivered Audrey, comes from a family of 9 brothers and sisters. She was on Larry King Live recently with her brother and they talked about the loss of their sister in the plane crash last week. Here is a link to an article:

http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=81520

Here is a link to the Larry King episode:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/02/14/lkl.pettys.brother.sister.cnn

Please keep their family in your prayers as well as the other families and friends who lost loved ones in the plane crash.

Dear Audrey,

Dear Audrey Amalie,
To my beautiful miracle born over a year ago, what do I wish for you and pray over you? I pray for you over 100 years of a very full life. I wish you God's blessings and love over your life. I wish you contentment, character, integrity, laughter, empathy, a compassionate heart, true love, introspection, knowledge, friends, faith and understanding of the love of Jesus and lots of sunny days.

You are your mother's daughter with your insistence on not going to sleep when you are supposed to but going to sleep on your own terms. Your preference for sleeping next to me...right up against my neck...and for being hugged and held and cuddled remind me all so much of my own love of those things. Your desire to sit up/crawl/walk correctly and to do so means waiting till after others have gone before you reminds me way too much of my own careful research that I like to do before trying something new and also of your daddy's love of research and careful contemplation before making decisions.

You are your father's daughter with your insistence for every last crumb or toy or book to be cleared off the highchair or table. Your desire to help put laundry in the clothes basket and take it out also reminds me of your daddy's tidiness.

Your choosiness for food...well...that's a beautiful combination of your daddy and mommy.

You have your daddy's hair and complexion not to mention his fingers and toes....Your mommy's eyes and nose...Your grandpapa's and granddaddy's blue eyes...and occasionally your great grandfather's profile.

You are our miracle...you have added so much life to our days and our nights! We love your smile, your laugh that sounds most like a cackle, and your hugs. The way you rest your head on our shoulder lets us know that this...is...the...moment to just be fully in....to shut out the rest of the world...close our eyes...take a deep breath...let out a big sigh...and plaster the goofiest grin on our faces.

We love you so much,
Mommy and Daddy

Push toys, spoons, and a playdate

I'm just posting some quick pics because I just don't get much time to get on here these days.
Another mom at church was giving away this push toy so I asked for it so that Audrey could practice walking. Here are some photos of her trying it after church a couple of Sundays ago-Audrey has realized she can put a spoon in her mouth and leave it there...looking oddly like my grandfather's pipe he used to smoke...
Audrey had a playdate recently at Carrie's house. I took a few cute snapshots of Audrey and Isaac playing-Audrey keeping an eye on Kiedis, Carrie's dog (I pray she doesn't have the fear of dogs that I had when I was a little girl.)
My friend, Michelle, let me borrow her daughter's push toy because it has a wider base so that Audrey can walk easier behind it. Here's Miss A trying it out-

She walks much better behind that one. She really enjoys it and always has a big grin when she is walking.


Oh! I almost forgot! Miss A had her 12 month appointment yesterday. She is 20 pounds, 4 ounces and 28 inches long. Her head is 45 1/2 inches and all these measurements put her in the.....25th percentile. Yep, she is staying consistent...keeping it real in the 25's. Her doctor, Dr. Bunger, who is a wonderfully sweet woman who will give you the biggest ego when you take your child to her....said "Looks can be deceiving because Audrey looks bigger than she is." She said that Audrey has all these rolls so you would think she weighed more. She even called her a little buddha baby-so cute! I agree with Dr. Bunger that looks are deceiving...as roly poly as Audrey is you would think she is off the charts in weight but I think it's her height that keeps her looking so pudgy. I love my little Buddha baby! Dr. Bunger is so wonderfully sweet because she says things like "You are so cute...if you are ever on eBay I am going to bid on you!" She thinks Audrey is very chill and laidback. I can only pray that she continues to be that easygoing.

She took 2 steps today!

For the past couple of days, Audrey has become increasingly confident in her ability to stand on her own. She's been letting go and standing for a few seconds before grabbing onto something or promptly sitting down. This evening as I was preparing dinner, she was squatting and then she stood up (something else she has been doing more of lately)...then...she moved her left foot forward and then moved it forward again. Both steps were with her left foot. I was so excited and so happy for her! My heart just leaped when I saw her do that. This ranked right up there with her first smile, the first time she rolled over, the first time she sat up on her own, and the first time she crawled.

Just a few little things...

Just wanted to post a few little things...
Last week Audrey started pointing! She woke up one morning (in our bed of course) and started pointing at the TV! She knows that we put on the Today Show in the morning and pointed at the TV right away. Since then, she's been pointing at everything. She even points to let me know she wants something! Yay for showing me she wants something in a way OTHER than CRYING! Today she pointed at my glass of water until I let her drink from it. I put it back and she pointed again to get another sip...even after she drank too much and coughed on it...she pointed and wanted more.

Another wonderful thing is that she now takes almost all of her milk from the sippy cup! I bought a couple of Nuby sippy cups the other day and she took her milk from it right away. The only time I give her milk in a bottle now is at night when it's time for bed in hopes that it will trigger "sleepy time" for her.

Yesterday and today she has tried clapping her hands so I think that will be a milestone she will reach soon.

We traded my Passat yesterday for a new car! Yes, the Passat that I've only had for 6 months. It's the perks of being married to a VW/Audi Corporate employee! You can trade in a lease car every 6-12 months and they love for you to do it because they want to see their newest cars on the road! So, we traded the 2008 Volkswagen Passat for a 2009 Audi A4 Quattro. It's 4 wheel drive which makes me feel even safer in the snow we've been getting. I drove it around today and loved it. Of course I miss the Passat a little but I know that it will take me no time to get used to the Audi. Evan is already thinking of where he can go tonight so he can have an excuse to drive it. He feels like his '03 Audi is ancient now. Ha! Maybe he wouldn't mind running to Babies R Us for me...

Will post pics of the new car and fun pics of Audrey soon!