Christmas Videos

Here are few videos of Audrey from Christmas.


Waking up Christmas morning to her new kitchen


Playing and singing with her new keyboard and microphone

Merry Christmas!!

Today is one of the first days I've been able to sit down and rest this month. 2 weeks of no school is nice! Yesterday we drove (really, I did the whole way) to NC to visit grandparents. There was a little traffic, but it wasn't too bad.

We woke up Christmas morning to room full of presents. We got Audrey a big kitchen with tons of food and plates etc. (thank you Nicole, Mike, and Twyla!!). We also got a couple of flash card sets for numbers, letters, and shapes/colors. From her grandparents she got a laptop, a baby alive (yes it wets, but we're not letting it yet), a stroller, and more clothes.

It took us about 2 hours to unwrap everything. Audrey took her time and had to play with every present for about 5-10 minutes before opening a new present. Whew! But it was fun! Audrey didn't want to go down or a nap, but right now she is laying in her crib with her baby who is laughing and crying currently. :) She keeps squeezing the baby's wrist!

Here are some pics!

Wrapping Presents

Out of order a bit, but Audrey has really been a real help around the house - cleaning, straightening, throwing things away, and now wrapping presents! At the lovely age of 2 you can wrap presents with her and she has no idea they are actually for her! She helped "write" the names on the tags, tape them on, tape the paper on, and put gifts under the tree. Our tree was full well before Christmas, but it's alright - she had no clue. She likes Santa on TV, but not in person. We told her he was coming to give her presents, and she just looked around and couldn't find him. I feel this is my last year of freedom. Next year we'll have to hide gifts!

Christmas at Home

No, this isn't just the title for our Christmas play at church. We had our "first" Christmas on Monday night at my parents' house. Audrey got a purse with makeup, a phone, money, credit card and keys in it. She also got a stroller with a car seat/carrier and a piano complete with a microphone. Don't worry, not much money was spent. Thank goodness for friends and yard sales!

Potty Training

Just an update that I don't quite have pictures for...Audrey is potty training for real now!! The day after Thanksgiving we went to Target and she wanted some Hello Kitty underpants. We got home and she wanted to wear them right away. It was a rough first few days, but she got through it! We're not done, she wears pull-ups at naps and at night. But during the day she actually tells us when she has to go, we rarely ask her now. So my advice for other moms - go cold turkey, go for the underwear. Now we get to save a little more money now!

Pretty Dresses

I thought I would take a couple of pictures with Audrey in her new dresses. Here is one that her Grandma M. got her:

Third Haircut

Audrey technically had her first haircut at the end of the summer. She had it trimmed again last month. Both times I forgot my camera (my hairdresser did Audrey after me). I did get the clippings after the first time. So, third haircut is the charm. I had my camera and Audrey sat perfectly still except for the "cheese" shots where she turned her head to look at the camera. She did get a little upset that she didn't get her hair washed like mommy in the sink. Too bad.

More family fun...

The day after Thanksgiving we had our two families over for some chili. Since we wouldn't see some members at Christmas, we exchanged some presents.

Audrey was happy to be "Santa" and pass out the gifts. She got inventive and pushed a big one over to Uncle Kevin. She even knew how to turn the corner without any help.

Audrey and Grandma; and Audrey and Poppop. They came for the weekend - we braved the shopping at Target Friday morning (although at 11am, much less busy) and relaxed the rest of the day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving day in WV at my uncle's house. They have a nice amount of land and a few animals that Audrey loved!

Audrey and my cousin petting the cat:

The cat (I thought this was a good picture):

The boys "hard" at work frying the turkey. It didn't take to long to prepare, but took forever for the oil to cool! This was in my uncle's new garage that he built.

My Uncle Paul took us on a "hay" ride without the hay (which is good because I'm allergic to it). Mom had a bit of a time holding Audrey and not falling out of her seat, so I took over.

Here is all of us eating dinner. Too much food! But it was good!

Audrey and Droopy who she calls "Roopy".

Another "hay" ride! Grandma (Nana) holding on for dear life. Uncle Ken having a great time. Funny thing is I'm doing fine holding Audrey AND taking a picture, all without falling off.

Finally, the Three Musketeers. Or partners in crime...

Cheesey-ness

Something has happened - she's gone cheesey! Now anytime we take pictures she says "cheese" and then gives the most cheesy-est smile! Nothing natural. and PS - she loves to play the piano. She's got the microphone, one hand playing, the foot on the "pedal" going. Not evident here, but this is her little piano.

Pre-Thanksgiving Shopping

Well, Christmas is almost here and I had a few days off. So I tood Audrey and Nana to the mall to try to get some good pics for our Christmas card. Audrey loved the pointsetta "tree" and the fountains (as usual). The last shot is at Macy's by the door to leave. There was a small ledge so I had her sit down...that may be the one you may see on a card soon...

Nana's House

We recently visited my grandmother, aka Nana by Audrey, at the beach. She is 86 and needed to be hooked up to the internet! She is probably mad now that I have mentioned her age... Anywho, there was a swarm (what else to you call it!) of birds that decided to land in her front yard.

Then we went for lunch on the boardwalk. Even with shoes on, Audrey didn't want to walk on the sand! One day we'll make a beach-lover out of her.

Yes, it was the middle of November and Aaron is wearing a short sleeved shirt and Audrey with no coat! A warm day...

Setting the Table

Well, my child is a genius. A couple of weeks ago I was making dinner and gave Audrey some of the items to put on the table. I told her who the item belonged to and she knew where to put it. I had never had her set the table before. The best part was I gave her the forks and she knew they went on the left side of the plate. And, I gave her the forks before the napkins - she knew to put the napkin under the fork. Wow! While I didn't catch her in action, we got her to reinact the event....

Yummy Cake

Lately we've been getting tons of coupons from our grocery store. Each week something is free. This time we got a free box of cake mix. I made this cake on Election Day since I had off. Audrey got to lick the spoon for the first time ever in her life (at least that I know of). Happy Election Day! Here's the play by play:

Happy Halloween!

I have tried for the past two months to get Audrey in her Halloween outfit. Why pay more when you have a dress up costume already? The problem was, she never would get into the thing! The only way we got her into her Cinderella skirt was to bribe her with real lipstick. I had already put eyeshadow and blush on her, but she still wouldn't dress up. We even got some jewelry on her, but no shirt, no skirt, no tiara. Oh my. So, we got her in the skirt finally then went out into the sunshine. Was it me or did not having the time change alter the evening just a bit? We felt kind of odd going around to friends' houses while it was still light out. At least Audrey didn't get scared. With our small bag of goodies, we headed back to Grammy and Poppy's house to have a bite before heading off to a party...which explains why I'm dressed up too...

Newseum

I had the chance to go to DC on a field trip at the end of October. My kids loved the Newseum! On the top floor there was a wrap around part that overlooked the capitol (or capital, I'm an English teacher who's trying to think hard!). My kids took my picture. Happy Halloween!

Petting Zoo

Alright, forget September. It was a nice month, but I thought I'd move on to October since that is what is still on my camera. :) Audrey actually liked feeding and petting the animals. We took a good bit of time going around to all the animals at least once. Most animals were caged in and we fed through the mesh, but there was a section where you could walk in the pen to pet the goats and be face to face with chickens. At least nothing attacked! It was a chilly day, but fun to get out and see a few animals...

Audrey is 2

Now she can blow out candles. Now she can say "happy birthday". It makes parties more exciting! Again, so many birthdays...what to do? We decided to share a party since the BFFs are only two days apart. They don't mind. Christian and Audrey were great throughout the whole party - a craft making a tambourine, cake, and presents. We had friends and family come to this one...
















































Uncle Kevin and Aunt Courtney nicely gave Audrey a fish...a Nemo, as she calls it. Her party was on her birthday, what seemed the longest day ever. Once we got home from the party, Audrey had to stay up and watch daddy put together Nemo's tank. How exciting!

















Can't you see her excitement? Just kidding; I know she was exhausted. She was truly happy about having Nemo stay in her room. A couple of days later, she got a crab too. Now her room is "swimming" with excitement. Ha ha.