Audrey's Dedication

On Sunday we dedicated Audrey to the Lord. What an awesome way to celebrate Mother's Day and what an awesome gift for a mother to have her children give their life to Christ! That is Michael and I's greatest prayer. My mom made her beautiful gown, Anna wore it too as will all our of children (maybe even a boy if we have one) and my Grandma gave us the bonnet. I couldn't pick which pictures to post so I just posted lots. :0)

Backyard fun

Anna has had so much fun playing on her new swing set. She LOVES the glider - will swing for 30 minutes+ on it and mommy and daddy love it too because she can get on and off all by herself and keep it going. She's such a big girl!! Michael spent about 12 hours last weekend putting it together and still has around 2 hours left to finish it. Anna will be right there with him "helping". :0) This is how it started... This is how it ended...

Cara & Chase

My good friend Cara and her little boy, Chase, came to visit us last week and we had so much fun. It was great to catch up and spend time together. Cara has been my friend from birth practically with us both being raised in the same church. We spent lots of time together playing as little girls and then were together often in youth group and 4-H activities once we got older. I'm so glad we still keep in touch. Thanks for coming to visit us Cara and Chase!!

Happy Girls

Daddy and Uncle Nate planted a small garden outside of our kitchen window and Anna has had so much fun watering it and our flowers on the porch. We've learned that we need to put her rain boots on her though when she's helping as her feet always seem to end up wet. :0) Audrey really enjoys playing in the floor gym, especially looking at herself in the mirror. It's so cute to see her smiling at herself and listening to her "talk". Of course we're loving the smiles she's giving us as well.

New Hairdo

Michael gave Audrey a bath tonight after yet another explosive diaper (the thrush medicine gives her diarrhea- LOVELY!) and then he quickly dried her hair and this is how it stayed. It's the new Mohawk style for infants. :0)

7 weeks old

We've been saying all along that Audrey looks so much like Anna but after looking at these pictures of both girls at 7 weeks, we've kinda changed our minds. They definitely have similar features but they also look different. Their noses look alike but their hair and hairlines are different in the pictures as well as their eyes. Anna had a much longer face and higher forehead than Audrey. Anna's face also looks thinner. A lot of it could be due to differences in lighting and positioning of the girls when the pictures were taken but I tried to get them as close as possible. What are your thoughts? Audrey Anna Swimsuit Beauty Audrey Swimsuit Beauty Anna

What next?!

Thrush, double ear infection, coughing, snotty noses - That's what you'll find in our house. The past few days have been rough with both girls not feeling well. Anna started complaining of her ear hurting Wednesday evening which lead to a night of little sleep. After a doctor visit on Thursday, we found out she had a double ear infection. Both girls had coughs and yucky noses so we should've known it would lead to something else. Anna finally drifted off to sleep while watching Elmo. This was her first ear infection and hopefully the last!! Yesterday Audrey was sleepier than usual and wasn't nursing very well. I thought she might be getting Anna's ear infection and as the day wore on and she continued to get very fussy, we decided to take her to urgent care where they diagnosed her with thrush. The doctor said it's very common for babies with reflux to get thrush because there's always fluid coming up in their mouth harboring an environment for yeast to grow. I sure hope this heals quickly and doesn't come back. Not fun for Audrey or mommy!

Silly Anna

I couldn't figure out why Anna was walking so weird one day last week and then when I looked at her shoes, I knew the reason. What a goof! She usually gets her shoes on the right feet but every now and then gets them switched. It always makes me laugh because it doesn't seem to bother her but looks so funny.

Sleepy Smiles

Audrey started smiling at 4 weeks which of course just brightened our days after some nights of very little sleep. She gives us many grins when we talk and sing to her and when she's getting her diaper changed. Unfortunately, I've not been able to catch her smiles with her eyes open (I'm too busy soaking them up and don't want to go grab the camera) but here's a few as she dozes. She's also cooing and making little sounds, talking to us as we call it, when we talk to her and it's so sweet! I'll try to catch some of that on video soon.

Our Sweet Girls

Grandma's Visit

This past week Michael was traveling with work so my mom came to stay with us and help me keep my sanity. What a blessing!! She helped me get so much done around the house, things that would've taken me months to do on my own, and we even did a little shopping. I'm so grateful she was able to come as Anna and I loved having her with us. Of course Audrey enjoyed the extra attention too. :) Thank you Ma for all of your help - I'm so blessed to have you as my mom!

1 month old Today

Here are my attempts at getting a good 1 month picture of Audrey. She wasn't cooperating very well despite Anna telling her to say "cheese". :0) Can't believe a month has already gone by! Now time will really fly as the first month and all of it's struggles seems to last forever at times.

Jammie Girls

Chillin' with Anna's favorite cow All ready for bed

Gaining Weight!

Praise the Lord, Audrey's gained 11 ounces in 8 days! Most newborns gain 1/2 an ounce to 1 ounce a day so she's gone above and beyond that in the past week. Our prayers have been answered and we are so relieved. She loves to lay on the changing pad and look around, listen to us talk and sing, and gives us a few smiles every now and then. We'll try to catch one soon!

The past 2 weeks...

Here are some sweet moments from the past two weeks since Audrey has arrived. It's amazing how quickly life changes with the birth of another child. We are so blessed to have two healthy, beautiful girls!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Anna loves to help care for Audrey. She doesn't like it when we put Audrey in her room to sleep as she thinks she should be downstairs with us all the time. The first thing she asks in the morning or when getting up from a nap is if Audrey is awake. She's often telling us what Audrey wants or needs and thinks she needs toys to play with. :0)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Easter

Yes, we're a week late in posting this but better late than never. Just Anna and Daddy went to church on Easter as we don't feel it's time yet to take Audrey out and about. Anna was too cute in her Easter dress and hat. She enjoyed the Easter egg hunt at church and was so excited to show mommy her candy when she got home. Mommy was excited to see the candy as well. :0) We praise the Lord for the gift of His son and the hope that we have in Him!

2 weeks old

This is one of my favorite pictures. Can't believe our baby is 2 weeks old already although we've had some struggles so I'm glad time is moving on. Dr. Miller decided today at her 2 week check-up that she has reflux and has put her on Zantac. We're hoping it works quickly. She's been spitting up more often, been crying lots and arching her back in pain, had trouble latching on to nurse, and isn't gaining weight. We've had some really stressful moments but also some very sweet times when she just looks around and takes it all in. Anna's been a great help, is adjusting well to having a little sister and we're so proud of her. She's "reading" to Audrey in the picture below. I'm hoping to post more this weekend when I have more time. There's lots of pictures and a few cute videos I'd love to share.

Audrey Elizabeth

She is here! Audrey Elizabeth was born on Thursday, March 13th at 12:43 pm. She weighed 7 lbs and 1 oz and was 20-1/2" inches long. No c-section was needed and we were blessed to experience a natural birth! We will be leaving the hospital later today (Saturday) to take her home. Anna is so excited to be the big sister and already talks about baby Audrey!

Grandma Smith

Grandma Smith came to visit last weekend. Anna loves having company! Grandma brought her some goodies which Anna had to dig into right away of course. She also bought her a new purse and hat for Easter and Anna asks to wear them with her new Easter dress every day. She would wear a dress every day if mommy let her. Definitely a girly-girl! :-)

No baby yet...

I've not added anything new this week but it's not because the little one has arrived. Mommy's just tired and ready to be done. I've been fighting a cold and that combined with low platelets and the 25 extra pounds is wearing on me. My face, hands, and legs are swollen but not too awful. Nothing like when I carried Anna thankfully. My feet were huge when I was pregnant with her. We have a week to go until my c-section unless I go on my own before then. I've been dilated 2 cent. and almost fully effaced for a week now. I'm hoping I make more progress over the weekend. I go back to the dr. on Monday and then again on Thursday before my c-section on Friday at 9 a.m. So, by this time next week our second little lady will be here. We don't have a name picked out but do have a list to choose from once we see her and decide what fits. I'm treasuring these last few days with just Anna and I. She's such a blessing and will make a great big sister. She's mommy's big helper already and LOVES babies in case you couldn't tell from previous posts. I praise the Lord for my sweet little girl who's getting so big! She'll really seem big once the baby arrives. :0)