Snow Days!

We’ve been having a lot of these lately!  Certainly more snow this winter than I ever remember.  Audrey has loved having mommy home with her all day long on our snow days and I love it too.  We’ve ventured out a couple of times, but Audrey is no fan of the snow.  She says it is “too big” and “too cold.”  She had more fun her second experience in the snow because she had some playmates, Sunnie Kay, Hope, and Ben, but she still did not last long.  At least she humored me long enough to get some pictures of her enjoying her first times to play in the snow. 

Audrey

Our Little Longhorn

Happy Birthday Audrey!!!!

Audrey turned two years old on December 26th.  I absolutely cannot believe she is already two.  The past two years with her have been the best of our lives and they have gone by so quickly!  We are so excited to see her grow into a beautiful little girl, but there is a little part of us that longs to keep her our baby forever.  I guess that is what it’s like being a parent and I am so blessed to be able to experience it with Audrey. 

Dora the Explorer was our party theme and Audrey loves nothing more than Dora right now, so she was in heaven.  All our favorite people were able to come which made the day even more special.

Here are some things Audrey is up to at age two.  She loves Dora the Explorer as I mentioned earlier and also Max and Ruby.  Those are her favorite cartoons.  She loves, loves, loves playing with her dolls and with her kitchen set.  She also loves to clean.  Audrey helps me sweep and dust around the house all the time.  She even has her own vacuum which she uses when I use mine.  Audrey adores Buddy and he loves her too.  Every night she has to give him a hug and kiss before she goes to sleep.  They are great playmates.  Audrey also loves to play with all her cousins and her little Aunt Hope. 

She talks all the time and speaks very clearly, which is surprising because she does keep her pacifier in her mouth as much as possible  We try to make her take it out when she talks though, so maybe that has helped.  Already I have gotten some criticism about the fact that  Audrey still has her paci.  We do plan to take it away from her at some point, but right now, I am okay with it.  It is something that is soothing and comforting to her and we will transition away from it when I feel it will be least traumatic for her.  We are working on potty training but have not made a lot of progress yet.  I am thinking when the weather gets a little warmer and we aren’t always so bundled up in layers of clothing we will get a little more serious about it. 

At her two year check-up, Audrey weighed 28.5 lbs and was about 32 inches tall.  She is now in the 50th percentile for both weight and height.  Everyone says she seems to be “slimming down.”  Her hair is still curly, but getting a little straighter on the top and front, so I am thinking the curls won’t last. I know I am a little biased, but I am certain she is the most adorable little girl in the world. 

Personality wise, Audrey is Audrey!  She is like no one else.  She is strong-willed, dramatic, a little stubborn (a lot actually), but also so sweet, tender, and loveable. She is very  affectionate.  Audrey is funny and loves to make you laugh and she loves to laugh herself.  When she laughs, you can’t help but laugh with her. 

So that’s a little about our Audrey Elizabeth. I could go on and on and on and on about her, but I will spare you. 

Happy 2nd Birthday, Audrey.  We love you so very, very much!  You have been the sweetest blessing to our lives and we are so thankful for you!

Christmas Day

We spent the rest of Christmas day with Jeff’s family at his mom and Frantz’s house.  Audrey always has fun playing with Trey and Kaylee.  We ate dinner, then opened tons of presents!  And Audrey played and played and played.  Then we all went driving around town to look at Christmas lights. It was the perfect end to a beautiful Christmas. And once again, I did not get all the pictures I wanted to.  But I did get several good ones of the kids, that’s who everyone wants to see anyway!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning at our house was so much fun this year!  We actually woke Audrey up because we were so excited.  She was a little confused at first I think, but then she noticed the Dora chair and realized all those gifts were for her.  She had a good time looking everything over and trying everything out.  It was so cute!  Last year Audrey really didn’t get too excited, but this year she was definitely into it.  It was a really wonderful Christmas morning in our little family.

Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve with my side of the family was the kick-off for our holiday celebrations this year.  As usual, we spent time at my parents house.  This year we all attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service at their church.  It was beautiful. Then we dinner at mom and dad’s, dessert at my grandma’s with even more family, and then back to my parents to open lots and lots of presents.  Audrey had a ball!  Before we open presents, Dad always reads us the story of Jesus’ birth from the Bible.  He has done this as long as I can remember and it is such a precious tradition for us.  Even the kids seems to know it’s important and sit still and listen. It was a tough year for us with Wade not being there.  He has been a part of my Christmas Eve since I was a little kid.  We all did our very best to make this Christmas special and we have all learned a whole lot this year about treasuring the time we have together, so that’s what we did.  Unfortunately, I did not get as many good pictures as I would have liked.  Keeping up with a two year old during Christmas is a full-time job!