10 Months Old

Wow - 10 Months old! That sounds so old to me. She's double digits now. As I was holding her tonight before I put her to bed, I was in tears thinking about how fast she's grown. I read a quote the other day that said, "the days are long but the years are fast". How true is that! I thought of the very sweet time we had with Miss Audrey in the hospital after she was born. She was so content to sleep in her little crib, she nursed well, and she didn't cry much at all. Then we brought her home! Her reflux troubles really made for some rough months and my heart breaks when I think of the many difficult times we've had. Overall she's not been a happy baby but who would be when you have acid burning your chest and throat. Oh, how I pray that if we do have another child, he/she does not have GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) as the doctors call it. Thankfully we've got it under control now and she's much happier and rarely spits up. She's very close to walking, has taken 3-4 steps on her own and cruises everywhere as long as there's something nearby to put a hand on. Now that she's feeling better and over her cold/ear infection, she's been eating and napping better but we're still struggling with sleeping at night. She wakes up usually once and it seems to be separation anxiety related because she's not happy unless mommy goes in. We also have a hard time getting her back to sleep without feeding her. I keep telling myself that this too shall pass and one day she'll sleep at night again. :) She will happily clean out any cupboard you would like her to, drawers as well. Here she is waving "hi" at me before she moves on to the task at hand. Thankfully she likes her bed during the day...just not always at night. :0)

Christmas Pics

Here are some random pictures from Christmas. I didn't take nearly as many as I usually do but it was hard with Audrey being mobile and into everything. At least we've got some that turned out. All dressed up...so snazzy! 4 Generations New outfits Siblings Audrey with her new Cookie Monster. My grandparents with the girls. My mom made each of the grandkids their own fleece blanket. They are so soft and each is sized accordingly to the kid. You can imagine how much material it took to make the older kids!

Eating her baby

Audrey got her first baby for Christmas and she LOVES to chew on it. The poor thing is always soaking wet. She's hugged it a few times as well which is so sweet to see. She's also started giving open mouth kisses on our cheeks...so nice to be slobbered. :0)

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

On Thursday, Anna's preschool class celebrated her 1/2 birthday since she has a summer birthday. She was so excited to take pink sprinkle cupcakes and be the helper of the day again.

Yucky Colds

It's been a rough past week at our house. Both girls came down with colds and ear infections last weekend and have not been sleeping, eating, or playing well. Mommy and Daddy also have colds so we've had lots of grumpiness hanging around. Not fun! Thankfully everyone seems to be on the mend although the coughing and congestion is still not completely gone. This was a nasty cold bug that's lasted longer than usual. Audrey has been way clingy and seemed to be content as long we held her and she could lay her head on our shoulders. Quite the change from the busy body she usually is. Anna preferred to cuddle instead of play as well. By the end of this week we started seeing their pretty smiles again...what a blessing!

Christmas Giggles

Not sure why Audrey thought Anna was so funny being the wild, out-of-control princess but she sure had some good laughs over Anna's silliness.

Merry Christmas!

What a fun day it's been at our house! We've stayed in our PJ's the entire day - yes, we're still in them - and have relaxed and played lots! Audrey enjoyed the wrapping paper and Anna was ecstatic over her new kitchen. Both had lots of fun checking out the new addition to the toy room and Anna quickly got it all set up with some help from mommy of course. She's been wearing her apron and princess crown, which she calls her new headband, all day. Audrey really enjoyed tearing the paper just as much if not more than the new toys. Anna has spent most of the day playing with her new kitchen and also with her new dollhouse accessories. We made cupcakes to celebrate Jesus's birthday and had fun coloring pictures of the nativity while Daddy read about Jesus's birth from the Children's Bible. Anna helped narrate... she loves to tell about the angels talking to the shepherds. We hope everyone has had a great day celebrating the birth of our Savior. The past month has been fun for us as a family with Anna being old enough now to understand some of the Christmas story. We walked through the living nativity, went caroling at a nursing home and to some homes of older people in our church, and delivered sweets to our neighbors. Anna's excitement with each activity has made it all the more fun.

Ornery!

It's so much fun to push buttons and pull the cords... She found the stairs...

9 Months Old

Clapping her hands... Audrey's 9 month check-up was yesterday and she's doing really well. Dr. Miller took her off of her Zantac so she's only taking Prevacid now and if things continue to go well, she'll take her off of that at her 1 year check-up. I never would've thought she'd be on reflux medecine her entire first year but I praise the Lord that it's helped her body heal and made her a lot more comfortable. She weighed 16 lbs. 8 oz. (continues to gain 1 pound a month) and was 27 3/4 inches long. Compared to Anna at 9 months she weighed 2 pounds less and was only 1/4 of an inch shorter which has been the pattern at each check-up. She's gotten really picky with food, seems to do best with table food. She'll eat peas and green beans if we put small pieces on her tray but she won't eat them very well out of a baby food container. She loves bread, yogurt, and fruit puffs. She's even gotten picky with her cereal which just a week ago she loved. She doesn't want to take much time to eat as she'd rather be down on the floor working hard at walking. I've even decided to wean her from nursing as she's not into taking a full feeding. She'd rather "graze" and have an open buffet all day and mommy's not into that. At 8 months she mastered standing up, crawling, and walking behind things so I wonder what 9 months will bring. She is definitely on a mission to walk. She crawls over to anything she can stand up to, even the wall, and then cruises along usually holding on with just one hand. She is constantly scaring me! And it seems that I really can't get anything done now because she doesn't stay in the same spot. She either follows me right on my heels or gets into stuff. The bathroom doors now have to be shut as well as the pantry and laundry room doors. Anna is our "policewoman" hollering often to let us know what Audrey's getting into. That's probably why Audrey grabs handfuls of Anna's hair any chance she gets. :0) Here is a video of Audrey cruising behind her walk along toy. She uses this to get around the house and as you can see, gets frustrated when she runs into something and is stuck.

Preschool Christmas Program

Anna's preschool Christmas program was yesterday and she did GREAT! Here's a short video of it. I ran out of space on the camera but thankfully Michael got it all on the camcorder. I've watched this video several times and laugh each time at different kids. They're all so animated at this age. The little boy laughing, Anna's friend Ally beside her getting behind the music...so funny! I was trying hard to hold the camera still while laughing. Anna's in the front with the red plaid dress on made by her very talented Grandma Kathy. Audrey has one to match and they are so cute!! Enjoy the video!

Watch out!

Here's Audrey chasing me in her walker. Makes me laugh to see her little feet and legs move so fast. Not sure why Anna was screaming so much...I promise we did not feed her straight sugar for dinner. :)

All bundled up!

This is why we're late everywhere we go. Putting 15 layers of clothing on two squirming girls takes time. We were late before we had to bundle up but now we're usually really late. :0) Thankfully I found her a snowsuit she could actually bend in. It's my $1 garage sale bargain! Audrey gets so warm and cozy in the car that she usually drifts off to sleep even if she's not been awake very long. Riding in the car has always made me very sleepy too. Nothing like motion and the low hum of the tires on the road to lull you off into dreamland!

Angel Anna

Anna wears these butterfly wings, a.k.a. angel wings, daily now. I'm not quite sure why she wants to be an angel although she has seen a lot of angels lately in Christmas books and on Christmas movies. She typically puts the wings on after breakfast, takes them off for meals and naptime, and then wears them the rest of the day.

Little Miss Trouble!

Now that Audrey is crawling and standing up, she is into EVERYTHING! She loves to "clean off" the end tables and coffee table and has so much fun ripping the beads and ornaments off the Christmas tree. I told you we shouldn't put the tree up this year Mom! :0) We've put up the gates and are sorting toys tonight to clean out all of the choking hazards in Anna's toys.

Stinky peas

This is how I found Michael after warming up Audrey's peas for dinner last night. He hates the taste and smell of them. Oh the things you can do with a chip clip. :0)

Bisquit anyone?

We gave Audrey a teething bisquit the other night while we ate dinner and it was great. She was quiet the entire time we were eating which isn't the usual unless she's watching Praise Baby. Surprisingly she didn't get very messy either. I think this could become our nightly dinner routine. :0) Hum...what's this? I think she likes it! She's doing great with a sippy cup. I fill it up 1/2 way at least twice a day. She really likes water but will drink some watered down juice as well.

Favorite Things

Anna loved playing with our nativity set last year and was so excited to get it out again this year. She'll entertain herself with this off and on throughout the day telling me who each person is and moving them around. It's my favorite decoration of Christmas. Our pieces are plastic but look like ceramic so they're pretty yet safe to play with. Audrey will play with this little kitchen for long periods of time opening/closing the doors and pulling up to it on her knees and feet. This was a fun toy for Anna when she was 8 months old as well. I have two girls who love to "cook".

Girl on the move

Audrey has really been working hard at trying to crawl and stand up. Within the past two days she's stood up by herself from a sitting position and crawled a few feet. She's still very awkward at crawling but it won't be long until she's zooming all over the house on Anna's heels like she does in her walker now. We've found her numerous times today standing up to things. She's such a dare devil only holding on with one hand. Almost there... She did it!

O Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree up last week, thankfully before Anna came down with her stomach bug, and it's so nice to sit and just enjoy it. I'm hoping to get some presents wrapped soon to put under it. Anna was very particular about where she wanted to hang ornaments. She "rearranges" them a bit each day. :) Audrey tries hard to get close to the tree. Anna loves to have her picture taken next to it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from our house to yours! Anna has come down with the flu so we are going nowhere!! However, here's a Thanksgiving wish for you :0) May your stuffing be tasty May your turkey plump, May your potatoes and gravy Have never a lump. May your yams be delicious And your pies take the prize, And may your Thanksgiving dinner Stay off your thighs!