One year old

This little girl turned 1 this last Friday! I'm going to keep this post brief, the pictures tell the story. Audrey has and is such an amazing gift from God and we are so thankful He has blessed us with her!

We spent Friday, her actual birthday, picking strawberries at a local strawberry farm with a bunch of friends. We sure had a blast! Audrey was such a sticky mess! We ended our time with a wonderful picnic in the shade. On Saturday, we had some family and friends over for a hot dog cookout. I was prepared for Audrey to be overwhelmed but she did great! She definitely hated her Princess hat (see photos below) and she also did not care for her special cupcake. Oh well, guess we'll stick with green beans :) Happy Birthday Audrey Lane! Can't believe we all made it to a year! I hope we are blessed with many, many more together! We love you Bean!

The birthday sign I made for Audrey

Butterfly cupcakes

The Nilsen Tres

Some of the party people

Sporting a fake smile

What are you looking at?

Get me outta here right now!

I like this gift opening thing!

Flapping her arms in excitement

Trying on her do-rag

She kept pointing at all her gifts, she was very interested in each and every one!

Pointing at the baby in the stroller

Her favorite gift of all, her new baby from her little friend Kate :)

Blowing out the cupcake

Let's give it a try

Both of us trying to get her to eat her cupcake!

I hate this!

I'll give it another try

Remains of a lovely day

Easter weekend

Saturdays are usually reserved as a family day for the Nilsen household. This last Saturday was beautiful so we decided to take a stroll downtown to see what we could find. I know I've mentioned it before, but we love to discover new areas of Charlotte that we've never been before, it's like we're on vacation! We had a coupon for Fuel pizza, we all ate lunch for $7, can't beat that! We had only been to one of the locations so we chose to try the other one, just as good! Then we walked through an historic district with beautiful houses and stumbled upon a cute little park! We all had such a fun time! Audrey's favorite of course were the swings :) She could swing all day if it was up to her! I had such a wonderful time with my 2 favs :) What a blessed girl I am!
On Sunday, I started up working in Children's Ministry again, the Tiny Turtles ages 18-24 months. 5 little girls, all so different but what a joy it was to play with them! Since I am in CM now, Audrey was allowed to start Children's Ministry a couple weeks early. (She would normally have to wait until she's one) And she was able to survive the whole time! Since I was in the next room, I kept going out to peek through the door to see if she was doing ok :) She misses her morning nap on Sunday so I wasn't sure if she'd get crabby and Steve would have to be called down to get her. But she did great! I had a hard time with it, realizing how big she's getting! Her birthday is in 11 days, WOW! That blows me away!
And yesterday was EASTER! I heard the message at church was amazing! After church, we had Steve's mom, her husband, his sister and her boyfriend over for ham lunch. And I made my first ham ever! And it was so easy! And IT WAS SO GOOD! And mashed potatoes, homemade macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, rolls, awww and I get to have it all again for lunch today! YEEEEESSS! :) Hope you all had a blessed day, thankful for what the day signified, our Lord being raised from the dead!

Philippians 3:10-12
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

March Madness

Actually it really hasn't been mad around here, just weird. Lots of crazy weather; beautiful and sunny then the next it rains 3 days straight! Speaking of weather, I have received so many inquiries and people contacting me concerned about my family in Fargo. How kind of you all! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers for them! They are all located far enough away from the river that their houses are not in danger. My sister has quite a bit of water in her backyard but other than that, everyone has remained safe and dry. Schools are closed, hospitals have been evacuated, only grocery and gas stations are open. The river level has dropped enough for now by is expected to rise again in the next week or so. Please keep North Dakota and Minnesota in your prayers!

We've been trying to stay busy around the house and have been trying to get out as often as we can. I'm in the process of planning Audrey's 1st birthday party! I can't even believe that she is that old already! Even though it's sad, each day is such a joy! Her personality is really blooming these days! She makes me laugh so hard! :) What a lucky girl I am to have such an amazing little girl in my life!

Randomness of pictures below...

Audrey using her big girl toothbrush

Audrey LOVES taking baths!

Singing! :)


Staring out the window watching the rain


We went to the park with our friends the Bentons a couple weeks ago. We had so much fun!



Waiting to slide



Audrey's new chair. We got it for $1.99 at the Goodwill! She will sit in it, holding onto the handles on the side, until you take her off :)

Cheerio on the nose :)

I made my first diaper cake with my friend Priscilla for our friend's baby shower. I think it turned out pretty cute!