Smiles all around

The pictures above were taken a couple weeks ago before we had dinner at Boardwalk Billy's. Don't they look just alike?! They are my favorite subjects ever to photograph!! And they just keep getting cuter every day!!

Waving hello

Thanks Jungs for a good family picture!

Look at those big eyes! She just melts my heart!!

CHEESE!

This is typical Audrey as of late. She carries her little bag around along with one of many babies and in this picture she's carrying an American Eagle shopping bag. 100% girl!!

Shopping diva!!

15 months

Here's Audrey playing (or hiding) under the exam table at the pediatricians office this morning. It seems as though she may have known what was to come in the very near future, shots. It rips your heart out a little to hear your child make a cry like no other, the owwwwwie cry. But other than that, the appointment went great. The Dr. quizzed her on her facial features. She was impressed Audrey knew where her hair was and laughed when she showed her where her tongue was, she stuck it way out. She said kids don't usually learn features such as hair and tongue until at least 18 months. I told her about the week or two that she went on the potty and that she still goes every once in awhile. I told her she even goes "poop". When Audrey heard me say that, she held her breath and grunted as though she had to "go". The Dr. said that was one of the funniest things she's ever seen! That's my girl! :)

The Dr. did seem a bit disappointed that she wasn't walking yet but she's convinced it will happen very soon. She watched as I walked with her while she only had hold of one of my fingers and walked around the room. She said she thinks she can walk on her own she just doesn't have the confidence yet. But she did stand on her own, no hands! And she learned how to crawl up and down the stairs a few weeks ago which I would think would be harder to figure out than walking but I guess she'll do it when she's ready. I'm going to try to enjoy the last little bit of this crawling stage while I can!

Overall, she's still one happy, healthy and full of life little girl!! Her hair is getting curlier by the day!! She is continuing learning sign language, she can sign about 10-12 signs. And she's talking more too!! She can say Mama, Daddy, Baby, nigh nigh (night night) and her favorite of all bubbo (bubble) She can make the sound for a dog and an elephant (she makes kind of a blowing sound and puts her arm in the air like a trunk :) She seems to understand everything we say. She knows what she wants and does her best to tell us exactly that! She continues to be such a joy to us! She really does make me laugh to tears almost every day! Here's her 15 month stats:

Weight: 21 lb 14oz (25-50%)

Height: 31 1/2 inches (75%)

Head: 18 1/2 (75%)

Here she is trying to eat like a big girl at the table

Watching TV and eating Cheerios in her easy chair

It's official and in stores now. She's on the box of the new Combi jumper!
Look Mom! It's me!

#3

What is that in the distance? It resembles the Emerald City a bit doesn't it?! Well, it was BETTER! Steve surprised me for our 3 year anniversary and took me to Savannah Georgia! Everything about it was absolutely perfect! A sister of a guy that he works with works at the Westin and we got our hotel room and all hotel food for half off!! WHAT A BLESSING! We seriously wouldn't have been able to attempt to go if we hadn't had that help. The hotel was beautiful! It was on Huntington Island, the only thing besides the hotel that was on the island was some big factory type building. Whenever we wanted to go into town, we'd take a 5 minute ferry ride across the water! It was like we were in another country; cobblestone walkways, European-style architecture, beautiful homes and many historic sites to see! We spent a lot of our 2 1/2 days there relaxing by the gorgeous pool at the hotel. They had these awesome foam air mattresses that almost put me to sleep. They also had a pool table next to the pool that we spent some time at. It was so nice having time to be alone. I'm so in awe of how God uniquely designed us for each other! What a precious gift Steve is to me! Here's to 3 years and hopefully many, many more! I love you!!

And a special shout out and thanks to the Yarbroughs and the Malaments for watching Audrey while we were gone!! You blessed us tremendously!

Our hotel room

The view of the pool from our room

These cabanas by the pool were awesome! Steve doesn't like to sit in direct sun for too long so they really were perfect. We ate lunch under it one day.

The walkway in front of our hotel, along the river

Patiently waiting for our anniversary breakfast

It has arrived! Georgia peach waffles!!! Oh yum!

After breakfast, Steve took me golfing for the first time. Well, not a real game, just the driving range. Here's the pro at work.

And here's the beginner trying to keep up. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would!

But boy, WAS IT HOT! Here we are heading back after an hour of hitting balls in the scorching sun.

Entering Chart House, the restaurant we had our anniversary dinner at.

Happy anniversary Honey!

Cool building

This Catholic church was beautiful, inside and out

My dream home

And this one's not too shabby either.

On the ferry heading over to check out the town

Inside the ferry at night and a strange man

Beautiful sunset

Best anniversary trip, they just keep getting better! Steve, thank you for such an amazing trip! I love that you took the time to plan the trip and to keep it a surprise :) I am one blessed girl! I love you more today than I did yesterday and I will love you more tomorrow than I did today! I couldn't have ask for a more perfect life mate! I love you!!!!!

I love me some crafts!!

I grew up with a mom and a grandma that sewed a lot. I never even had one ounce of me that wanted to learn how. But my time has come! So one day a few months ago, I decided it should probably be a priority to learn to sew on a button at least :) So, first thing, I found a teacher! My friend Hilary is a great sewer, housewife and soon to be mommy so I knew she would be able to teach me so many things! And boy is she patient!! Not that I totally stunk it up but let's just say I am grateful for all her help! I really was starting from zero, I really truly did not know how to sew on a button. When home ec. was offered in high school, I took baking instead :)

I have also found another new crafty hobby, making diaper and toilet paper cakes. That's right, you heard me correctly, toilet paper. Seems like if you aren't getting married, you're having babies which means lots of gifts to buy! I found it more fun and cost effective to make gifts instead of buying them. I think they've gone over well thus far...

Cowboy diaper cake I made for a friend to give to another friend complete with diapers, cowboy fabric, trial sized shampoos, a big bottle of lotion stuck in the top with a bandana around it, a wooden letter O (for Owen) to hang in his room and a wooden boot to kick it off! (and of course ribbon and some twine)


And I threw in a card just for the heck of it

Toilet paper cake I made for my friend Stephanie's bridal shower complete with TP, 2 bath scrubbies, bath spray, a toilet bowl scrubber, rubber gloves and trial sized shampoos and soaps inside the holes of the TP. Oh, and of course ribbon! Everything's prettier with ribbon :)

This is my very first sewing job (made with a sewing machine that is. I did sew on a button and a metal clasp to one of my shirts by hand too) This is a big pouch/bag made out of a pillow case. Yes, I am saddened that it does in fact still resemble a pillow case quite a bit. But not a waste one bit! I originally bought the pillow case from the Goodwill for $.49 and it was a sewing lesson I'll never forget!

What is this wonderfully cute tube shaped thing in my food pantry you ask? Well, it's a plastic grocery bag holder made out of a placemat!! You can find the instructions to make your very own here.

Potty party

So modest :)

Last Thursday Audrey went potty on her potty chair for the first time! I had gotten one at a yard sale the weekend before, thinking it would be months before we would need it. When she saw it sitting upstairs, she pointed at it and made her little high-pitched squeak sound she makes and so I put her on it with her clothes still on. We tried that over the next couple days. On Thursday night, she pointed to it again, just right before going in the bath. I put her on it, no go. She took a bath then stood up when she was done and pointed at the potty again. So I put her back on it, walked in her room to put away her dirty clothes and she had already gone in that 30 seconds!! I think she was a little freaked out, as I was jumping up and down, screaming and clapping, then I started to cry! Cry?! Why?! My little baby is all of a sudden a big girl, going on the potty!! I just can't believe it! From then on, we've been putting her on the potty every time we changer her diaper, not expecting she'll go, but just getting her more used to it. She gets so excited when she just sees it! She's gone 2 other times since that first time so I know she's catching on.

The last month or so

So, I shall try to do my best to sum up the last month or so. On May 14th, Audrey and I flew to North Dakota to visit my side of the family. On May 23rd, my little sister got married. We had so much fun spending time with family!! Lots of time to relax and visit. The weather when we got there was 46 degrees with 40 mile an hour winds. When we left, 70s and 80s! We flew back home to NC May 26th. (sorry for not posting any pictures of our trip. We put them on a disk and viewing and uploading them is too time-consuming. But they are on Facebook if you want to see some there) We were very glad to be home! We sure did miss Steve! He was worried Audrey wouldn't recognize him after being gone so long but she went right to him at the airport :)

We got home on a Tuesday and that Friday Steve and I packed up and drove to Virginia Beach for our first weekend away without Audrey. He had had his eye on a Jeep Wrangler that previous week and we actually bought it the morning we left! We had such a blast together! Lying on the beach, swimming, driving around in the Jeep, looking at cute neighborhoods, hitting up some surf shops and eating lots of yummy food. We went down hoping to catch The Zac Brown Band play on the beach that Friday night but the purchasing of the Jeep delayed us a bit and we only got to see 2 songs. But the trip was well worth it! I missed Audrey but so enjoyed our time away!

As for Audrey, she's still growing and learning so much each day! She's been very content crawling, showing no signs of wanting to walk yet. But 2 days ago, she finally stood up all by herself! She's been pulling up on her own ever since. She continues to sign a lot and learns new signs weekly. It's making communication with her so much easier and it limits the whining as well. She's also learning quite a few animals sounds including; a cow, doggy and frog. She's still such a cheerful little girl, always smiling, alert and full of energy! She is really starting to love her babies. She can rock them and has a bottle that she uses to feed them. She even makes a drinking sound for them :) One of her babies makes a crying sound and she imitates that too. After her naps, she'll just sit in her crib and play with her babies or read a book. I'm so grateful for how content she usually is! Such an easy-going girl! She still loves to read, take walks, swim in her baby pool and play with friends. She LOVES to eat and will eat anything and everything in sight! I think she is about to get rid of one of her naps but still sleeps about 2-3 hours a day and 12 hours at night! (she gets that from her mom :) We've so enjoyed our summer so far and are excited to see what the rest of the season will bring!

First experience with corn on the cob. She knew what the handles were for!

Taking a big bite

This stuff is amazing!

Chillin in her high chair, she didn't want to get out :) She looks much too big for it from this angle, doesn't she?

This is our new sweet ride! Actually, Steve's. But he let me drive it once :) It was a noisy drive but worth having it while at the beach!

Sweet husband in our sweet ride

The boardwalk, VA beach

We stopped at a restaurant on the pier with rocking tables, very relaxing!