Being One

You may be wondering, 'What has Audrey been up to now that she's a big girl?' Well, the answer is a little of this, a little of that...

Audrey scribbles in the driveway

Who needs shoes on a beautiful day like this?

Audrey refocuses her vision

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

Masterpiece

Pretending to be at work with Dada

Feet can't quite touch the ground... that might not be OSHA approved...

Audrey sports her new cords

Audrey paints a picture for Gramps' birthday

Discovering that big boxes make great drums... (and yes, she put the necklace on herself)

...and little boxes, too

Hey, you can bang anything together and make a noise!

One

Our little Peanut turned one yesterday. Somewhere amidst the cooking, cleaning, and chaos, Audrey rolled over one-hundredth of a century. There was much celebration to be had, and our little trooper faced it with much curiosity and her usual happy disposition.

Strangely, I woke up at almost exactly 6:40am, the moment Audrey turned one. I decided the moment called for a strong pot of coffee. Once 7:30 rolled around, I got Audrey up and fed her oat meal sweet potato pancakes and bananas, and then got her dressed in her Linus t-shirt, jeans, and cotton crew socks (an outfit I've been looking forward to seeing her in since I stumbled upon the shirt months ago). Almost right away, she decided she didn't want to wear socks...


...so we switched to shoes, and all was well. We decided to take some pictures by her amazing birthday cake (which Mimmy and Mama made the day before in only 8 hours) before the fun began and there were too many distractions.

The Peanuts Gang and the Great Pumpkin... cake

Hand-painted sugar cookies by Mimmy

We fed Audrey some lunch as family and friends started to arrive: brisket, baked beans, potato salad, and rolls. She was quite in to her lunch... that is, until the house started filling up...


After lunch, Audrey played with her friends, opened all her birthday loot, and moved on to her personal Woodstock cake. I must say, her smash and bash performance was quite lacking. I guess I shouldn't complain that my child doesn't want to gorge on cake and frosting, but at least one fist-to-mouth Kodak moment would have been nice. Alas, she only had a taste, then decided she would rather move on to something else.

Audrey turns her Destructo attention to the big cake

Poor Lucy never saw what hit her

Once nap time rolled around, Audrey was down and out for the count. We cleaned up a little and documented some of her birthday loot (many other gifts not pictured, and thank you to everyone!):

Audrey gets a whole new autumn/winter wardrobe

An earth mover for her sandbox days

Dada puts together a pink rolling horse thing from Uncle Robert & Aunt Kim

Once Audrey got up from her nap, she headed straight for her new toys and the laptop from Aunt KK...

...then on to a drum solo...

...which lulls Dada to sleep

The grand finale to Audrey's Big Day was a return trip to the little park down the street. A beautiful evening, and a peaceful ending to a wonderful day. We are so blessed.

The Last Friday

I think this October the 16th was just as busy as last year's. Settle in, I have a tale to tell...

Last October 16th was my first day of maternity leave. I started it off by getting up early and getting ready like I would if I was going to work. Instead of piling in the car and heading off to Fort Worth, though, I started cleaning! Now, some may say I cleaned like a madwoman because I was nesting, but honestly, it was just because it was my first day off and I had a lot on my to-do list. I never felt a 'need' to clean during my pregnancy.

I did floors, bathrooms, laundry, dishes, and blinds, then I went out and grocery shopped, took the dog to be groomed, got my oil changed, and got my tires rotated and balanced. Then I came home and made dinner and the elements to a Boston creme pie.

Towards the end of the day, my lower back started hurting, and I just credited it with all the housework I had been doing, and moved on. Hmmm....

After dinner, Kyle and I relaxed for a bit, then he went upstairs to the Man Cave and I hopped in the shower. As I dried my hair, my water broke. I remember telling Kyle, and him looking at me like I had just told him I had decided to move to Mars and become an eggplant. We hung out in the bedroom for about 30 or 45 minutes, attempting to measure contractions and trying to decide if we should go to the hospital. We eventually pulled out a few of our books and read that when your water breaks, you should go, so we packed up and went. We decided not to call anyone yet, though, in case we were sent home.

I remember as we slowly walked through the parking lot in to L&D, someone coming out said over their shoulder, "Good luck!"

We were admitted at about 10pm, and after that, most of the night is a blur to me. I know that once we were settled in our room, Kyle called our parents. Some time later, they showed up, and apparently spent the rest of what was for everyone a week night and work night pacing the waiting room. I labored for about 9 hours with no pain meds, and at one point in time seriously thought I was talking to Hilliary Clinton, who was just on the TV in our room (I'm told all the blood leaves your head during labor... that's my excuse, anyway).

At 6:40am, Audrey Grace joined our family weighing 7lbs and 6oz. She was perfect in every way, and was so good-natured from the start that she didn't even cry coming out. Here are some pics from Audrey's Birth Day to remind you of how she started out:

Mimmy meets Audrey

Gramps and Audrey

Our little Burrito of Joy

Proud, tired Dada

Of course, this October 16th was a crazy one, too, but for a totally different reason! Audrey's last Friday was spent in preparation for her big day! From morning until after dark, I was cleaning and cooking, and Mimmy joined in at about 11am to help with the creation of the birthday cake and such, while Pappy entertained the soon-to-be Birthday Girl.

Audrey starts her day with some light reading

Audrey plays with Mimmy and Pappy

Now, get ready for this one, kids... while playing with Pappy, Audrey took her first wobbly steps! I caught her secondary and following steps on video (coming soon), but it was quite a way to celebrate her Last Friday.

Audrey enjoys some bites of puffed wheat

Pappy gives Audrey a pre-dinner shoulder ride

Mimmy calms the Beastie with a hypnotic tummy scratchin'

The Last Thursday

I can't believe this week is almost gone, already! Yay for the weather, yay for Audrey's great moods, and a conflicted yay/boo that Saturday is almost here!

On the 15th of last year, I was wrapping up all loose ends, because it was my last day at work before my maternity leave started! Oh, happy day! I had mentally checked out several days earlier, but this was officially my last day... I remember completing all necessary FMLA paperwork, and having many people stop by throughout the day to say good-bye (like I wasn't going to come back or something... hmm...).

On this October 15th, Audrey and I stayed at home and alternated playing with naps and chores. I was able to carve and decorate her little personal birthday cake, and it now sits ready for smashing and bashing in the fridge. I also baked 4 pound cakes for the everyone-else cake, and did some more cleaning.

Grammy joined us in the afternoon, and we played with puzzles and toys until dinner time. After dinner, Grammy let Audrey play with her iPhone, and once Audrey was off to bath time, Grammy headed to the airport to pick up Aunt KK (what a special girl Audrey is- Aunt KK flew in just for her party!).

Audrey begins the day in a summery outfit, investigating the helmets left on the couch

Once the cold front blew in, we had a wardrobe change, and Audrey moved on to the stuff under Mama's sink (with close supervision, of course)

Audrey enjoys some of the fresh, cool breeze

Audrey hangs out with Dada and Grammy


Audrey finally gets a hold of Grammy's iPhone