Neighbors

Saturday night, Audrey woke up at 3am and had a very hard time of falling back to sleep. It made for a very slow, lazy Sunday, but in the spirit of stepping outside of the house, we decided to walk next door and meet the new neighbors (the ones who just moved in to the un-occupy-able house with the trim painted in 3 clashing colors of green). We made some cookies, gathered up the bebe, and walked next door.

We caught Elija weed-eating, and his wife (what was her name??) watching the news. She was a bit reserved when she answered the door, but once her husband greeted us, she opened her Louisiana heart up and we got at least 80% of her most recent life story in the 30 minutes we were standing on her front porch.

She is an alternative school teacher in Monroe, Louisiana, and she's ready to do something more 9-5 but she's not ready to look yet so that's why she'll only be in town for 3 more weeks then it's back to Louisiana to do one more year at her school then she'll come over and settle and try to find something in the area but not in schools because she's tired of other people's kids and she thought she was just tired of kids but she has 3-year-old and 7-month-old grandbabies one girl one boy and she loves having them around the girl is her daughter's baby and the boy is her son's baby the first grandbabies of the family one lives in Lancaster the other in Dallas and she sees the girl every morning like clockwork in fact they were here this morning and sure her daughter loves it but they keep you busy (about this time, Audrey started blowing raspberries, probably because she was trying to remind the lady to take a breath, or at least us some punctuation) but they're great they really love the new house you know they were trying to get that house across the street but it didn't work out they'd have family meetings in the circle drive every month but they'd have to pay five thousand dollars just to bid on it and that was ridiculous and it had a crack through the foundation that a baby could fall in to and when the daughter saw the house they now own she said 'no matter what this is my parents' house' and so they got it and it was a bonus because no one had ever lived there before and that's why it was so appealing...

About this time, I started trying to wrap up the conversation...

... but what's sad is in Louisiana you could leave town for a month and leave your doors unlocked and when you get home everything is still in place but they say you can't do that in this neighborhood but in Louisiana everyone is one big family and they're really open and the church they just joined has a pastor from Mississippi and he understands but says don't do that here...

...wow, look at the time, it's getting close to Audrey's bed time! It was nice to meet you...

...there sure are a lot of empty houses around here and it seems like all of them need work and they're just happy they got the one they're in because it feels like home and their daughter was right... (the husband hasn't said a word this whole time)

...well, we're glad y'all came along and filled this house, it's nice to have neighbors on both sides!

Finally, we said our good-byes and headed home. What a neighbor! At least she's friendly! But we got our dose of neighbors for the week... or so we thought....

So 3am rolls around again, and this time Kyle is awakened to a spotlight being shined at the side of our house from the OTHER neighbors' driveway... he looks out the window to see the power company sneaking around their driveway, spotlighting first our house, then the side of theirs. They were there for only a few minutes, and in processing it later, we can only conclude that they were there at such an odd hour on a mission, presumably to turn their power off.

Never a dull moment!

The Trend is Broken!

Last night, Audrey fell asleep without whimpering or making a peep. There was much celebrating! Whatever the reasons for her poor sleeping at the beginning of the week, they have passed, and we are so grateful! Maybe she was just feeling extra accomplished after figuring out how to climb the stairs yesterday afternoon... or maybe she was extra sleepy from all the mashed potatoes she had for dinner... or maybe we just wore her out playing chase all evening! Whatever the reason, we're super happy she's sleeping better now!

On the agenda today:

1. Put up baby gate on stairs
2. Go to grocery store (we're out of potatoes)
3. Take a walk in this beautiful weather!

Long Night

I haven't had a night with Audrey like last night in so long! I don't know what gives, but Audrey just would not wind down and go to sleep last night. I'm hoping all this trouble can be contributed to teething, because if that isn't it, I have no idea what was up!

We put her to bed at about 7:45pm, and she cried and squirmed until 9:20pm, fell asleep for about 20 minutes, then woke back up and cried and squirmed until 10:30pm. She also woke up at 1:30am, 5am, and 6:45am to fuss and rearrange. When I got her up at 7:30am, she was in a great mood, despite a crusty nose from crying, and no new teeth to speak of. What a mystery. She's napping perfectly as I write this, so who knows what the problem was. The only thing I can say for sure is this: the most predictable thing about my baby is that she's unpredictable. She's taught me to never get too comfortable with "routine," because she'll change it up just to keep me on my toes! But she's always worth it... she is truly wonderful. Here's hoping we'll see some new pearly whites soon so we can write off the quirkiness as teething and get back on the ball!

On a different note, laying awake in bed watching Audrey on the monitor as she squirmed and fussed gave my mind a lot of time to wander last night, and I found myself thinking about- of all things- Christmas. Is it wrong that I'm really looking forward to the holidays this year? I can't wait to officially introduce Audrey to what she'll come to love about Christmas: the traditions, the family togetherness, the music, the decorations, the old beloved cartoons and movies... as I hide out from the 90% humidity and 100-degree temperatures that is this July, my mind is already making plans to make every moment count come the holidays, and that is something I am finding really fun to think about!

Nine Months

My baby is nine months old! I can't believe it. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since I sat in my bedroom at 4am feeding my newborn and wishing for 9 months to pass... and now it has, and sometimes I wish for the time to slow down now! It seemed so incredibly far away, and now we're almost to Audrey's first birthday!

For her 9 month Friday, we hung out at home, did some grocery shopping, and had a lot of quality crawling time...

The morning started out with a reading selection...

Then some coloring (see spilled Crayons in background)...

An excursion into the kitchen...

Dress-Up...

Hat squishin'...

And practice pulling up...

...And the evening wrapped up with a visit from Ethan and Jennifer! What a great 9-month birthday!

The 9-Month Check-Up

Today was Audrey's 9-month check-up. Now, granted, she won't be nine months until tomorrow, but I think we're close enough! She was a perfect doll in the waiting room, and endured the 15-minute delay in our appointment with the sweetest disposition. All she really wanted to do was get down on the floor and chase after 2 little blond-haired boys that were playing on the office activity table, but alas, I don't think she's fast enough to keep up with big kids... yet. Once we finally were in to see Dr. Longshaw, the first thing she said upon seeing Audrey was "My, what a happy face! Is she always this happy?" We all know the answer to that. After the usual poking and prodding, Audrey was given a perfect, clean bill of health, and a little prick on the finger (for anemia testing, which also was perfect). It wasn't a bad day at all.

So, did everyone finalize their answers on her newest measurements? Here they are:

Weight: 17lbs 4oz (30%)
Height: 27.75 inches (50%)
Head Circumference: 17.25 inches (50%)

Well, how does your guess measure up to our Little Meatball? Not a bad place to start the ninth month!

Audrey inspecting her "boo-boo" where they drew blood for her anemia test

Audrey's first Band-Aid, featuring Tweetie Bird and flowers

Up To Speed

So much has happened in the past nine months (that's right, it's 2 days short of 9 months since Audrey joined us). Here's a montage of the amazingness that is my baby:

October 17th, 2008: Audrey Grace is born

Audrey does a lot of sleeping for the first 3 months

At 3 months, we start seeing her happy personality: she laughs out loud for the first time while watching Mama brush her hair in the bathroom mirror

Four months marks the last of the pacifier and the beginning of the BabyWise schedule. Other milestones include moving in to her own room and her crib, the first use of her highchair, and the beginning of solid foods. Also the first time she spends the night away from home, with Grammy and Gramps.

By five months, Audrey holds her bottle without help, can play with her feet, and can reach for objects and parents. She also laughs out loud often.

Six months marks the doubling of her birth weight, learning to drink from a straw, sitting unsupported, the beginning of 'creeping' along the floor, and her first babbling (mamamama and buh buh)

Seven months comes and goes in the blink of an eye, and in that time Audrey learns to feed herself with her hands (with about 40% accuracy), claps, pushes herself up on hands & knees, and pushes up into a sitting position.

Now, at the end of eight months, Audrey is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, standing in her crib, taking wobbly steps with help, and eating everything she can get her hands on with the help of her 2 bottom front teeth.

We are truly blessed, and can't wait to see what else is in store for our family!

To Blog or Not To Blog

After much procrastination, the decision has finally been made: do a family blog. We know so many family members and friends would love to keep up with the three of us a little better than what a friends' mom heard from her friend at church, and see some pictures at the same time! A valiant effort will be made to keep up with all our family milestones, and hopefully make everyone feel like they're here, experiencing them with us!