A Snapshot

So little time…I’m trying to learn more about photography and get out of auto. I need more time, or to be a better steward of my 24 hours, and make room for study and practice. I have been practicing more with the girls and Sophie is a good sport about it. I’m not good at all indoors yet (darn low light!) but am improving with outdoor shots. I am hoping Santa will be kind and bring me a sweet 50mm f/1.8 lens. That would be a nice incentive to get better quickly!

As for our latest news, Audrey is becoming more verbal each week. She attempts several new words and often I recognize it before she gets too upset with me. She loves to chase Cody and have him chase her for a treat. She loves the Bye Bye song from our visits to the Baby Gym (our nickname for My Gym). And she LOVES her milk still. We are in the process of kicking the milk-to-bed habit. Most nights are pretty good, but if she doesn’t eat well at dinnertime, there is a battle ahead!

For Sophie, she was very sad at preschool on Thursday because when they passed around the offering bucket in chapel, she did not have any coins to give. Bad mommy! So I will be more diligent about putting some money in her coin purse each week. During our prayers last night, I asked her what are some ways we can show God’s love to others and she said to sing Twinkle Twinkle because that’s what she sings to Audrey when she is cries. So thoughtful! She is also sleeping through the night now pretty consistently (Halleluiah!) and is not playing with poop. Life just gets better every day!

Anyway, here are some of my favorite photos this month.

After enjoying a PB&J.
Audrey's new hobby.
Sophie strung every card as a gift for Daddy after his big hunting trip.

Posing while Mommy plays with her camera.

Caught a sweet smile.

How is it possible?

How is it possible that I'm planning a first birthday party for Audrey? I am amazed how fast year one goes by. It's bittersweet...I'm so proud of my walking, talking bundle of love but I'm also so sad that she's growing up so quickly. It's hard to even imagine how little she was and it really wasn't that long ago. Here are five things I know (and love) about my little Audrey.

1. 
   
   She loves the sandbox. And sometimes, she just can't resist having a taste test.


2. 
   
   She snuggles up on her side with her baby blanket in her arms to fall asleep, and she is an amazing sleeper. She falls asleep quickly and hardly ever wakes during the night. What a wonderful treat for this sleep-addicted mommy.


3. 
   
   She loves Cody. For the longest time, she would crawl to wherever he was just to pet him and smile and giggle the whole time Poor thing, each time she made it to him after all that hard work, he would just walk away.


4. 
   
   She's a climber. She started climbing about a month ago onto Sophie's bed. Then Sophie's little rocking chair. Onto the ottoman and into the chair. From the laundry basket onto the couch. She's a brave one.


5. 
   
   She points like a gunslinger with both her pointer finger and her thumb. And she grunts at whatever has caught her attention 'guh, guh'. She's starting to sign and communicate with us, which is so much fun. So far, she's signing 'more', 'fan', 'bye', 'hi'. And she saying 'mama' (love!), and 'dada'. Fun!

Lastly, here is a proof of the adorable birthday party invitation for Audrey. We're having a very small get-together and hoping for a intimate, special day for our youngest. Sweet, sweet moments....

Try and Try Again

All month I've been trying to get a cute picture of Audrey with her '8 month old' sign and have had little luck. She is so squirmy and I can't get her to sit still long enough to get a photo. Here are the best of the crop so far!

In this session, she just kept trying to crawl towards me.
Here she kept making funny faces or wanted to grab the sign.

Yummy!

This is the best one I got....But if you look close, you'll notice she has a black eye...her first shiner! Darn you, bathtub!

Rock a bye baby

I HAD to rock both my babies to sleep last night. For me, that's not necessarily a good thing. We have our girls accustomed to going to bed on their own after a book, a prayer, and some one-on-one time with either mom or dad. But we are not the parents who plan to sit and patiently rock their kids to sleep every night. I would much rather them be able to fall asleep alone without my help. Plus, I really want/need my quiet time. Trust me, I'm a better mom because of it.

Anyway, last night Sophie decided to play in her room until 10:30pm, at which time Benoit was already in bed and I was ready to call it a night too. I went to bed and could just hear her quietly playing but was too worried about something happening while I slept to let her just play by herself all night. So I carried her to the couch and we snuggled until she fell asleep. Then 20 minutes after I put her in bed, Audrey starts stirring. She just got her first tooth in and the next one is on its way too, so she's right in the middle of teething, which is disturbing her sleep. This time, I made Benoit get up because I didn't want to feed her and I was worried that she would want me to if I was the one who came in. We ended up feeding her anyway, but she only had a little to drink. So I gave her some Tylenol and drops for her teeth, then rocked her for 20 minutes until she fell asleep. By midnight, I was in bed and ready for some rest...until my 3am nighttime fiesta with Audrey. Yes, we're still feeding in the middle of the night but that's another story.

Although it took a while to get to bed and was certainly frustrating along the way, its rewarding to be able to comfort both my girls and help them get the sleep they need. It's easy to forget to soak in the sweet moments when they are wrapped around rotten ones, but I'm trying to focus on the good parts of parenting. And last night was tough....but I choose to remember holding my sweet babies.

Fall Festival Fun

I was way to busy (ahem, lazy) to upload pictures the other day from our trip to the local Fall Festival, so here they are. As you can see, we had a pretty good time even though it was raining and it took forever. The line eventually wound it's way inside the fire department, which is where most of these pictures were taken.

In other news, Audrey has started rolling over from tummy to back. She was only rolling from back to tummy (both directions), which is the more difficult way I hear. Maybe she just likes a challenge. :) She's also starting making tons of little noises, which is exactly what Sophie calls it: 'Audrey noise!'. She grunts a lot and is starting to roll her r's. She sounds like a little pirate: 'Arrrrgh!'. I love it!

Sophie as a little bunny at the Frisco Fall Festival.
A quick shot as we were leaving the car...no rain and daylight.

An hour and a half later, after the rain we made it to the front of the line to see the old firetrucks. Here I am with my little turtle.The turtle and the hare!Sophie figured out quickly that people were putting candy in her pumpkin and she held it all night!

A Story In Pictures

If you've been following along, you'll notice we only have one day of potty training on record. That's because halfway through day 2, we realized Sophie wasn't quite ready yet. She was not interested at all to sit on the potty and was quite content to continue going in her pants even without a diaper. So we'll wait and try again another day. In the words of Kenny Rogers, "you've got to know when to fold 'em."

Here are a few snapshots of late to catch you up on our little world. It changes every day!

Little Miss Cool enjoying her carrot sticks and hummus on the patio.

My four month old beauty!

Must have a pic with the big bow...and just look at the perfect little lips! Cutie patootie!

Hammin' it up for the camera. 1
My first attempt to pull Sophie's hair back.
Sophie's first pigtails!

Audrey's Baptism Video

I have finally had the time to edit and upload Audrey's baptism video for our families to view. It was a sweet ceremony and we are so thankful Tim and Caroline could be here with us. I hope you all enjoy seeing our little girl being baptized!

Audrey's Naming Day

Today was Audrey's baptism and we are so blessed to share the day with her godparents, Caroline and Tim. Audrey wore the christening gown that her great-grandmother had made for Sophie, which is a sweet sisterly connection. She wore a pair of white, knit booties that were Benoit's when he was a little boy. Her godparents gave her a beautiful bracelet to celebrate the day, which she wore around her ankle since it was too big for her arm today. And of course, she wore a fabulous bow made by yours truly.

During the church service, Sophie quietly sat with us and studiously watched the activity around her. She was intrigued by the service, especially the organ music and the choir. When we went to the front for the baptism, the preacher invited us and the godparents to lay our hands on Audrey during the sprinkling of water and a baptismal prayer. When he sprinkled water on Audrey's head, she started to cry a little and then so did Sophie. I'm not sure she liked the idea of someone she didn't know well making her little sister cry. So sweet! Then afterwards, the congregation sang Jesus Loves Me as we took our seats. It was a simple and tender ceremony. We are blessed to have a healthy, happy daughter to christen today!

Benoit and me with Audrey after the baptism.

Godparents Tim and Caroline Brooks (Benoit's sister and her husband) with Audrey.
The whole gang (minus Sophie, who was in the nursery at this point). A sweet Mommy/daughter picture. And yes, I made this adorable hairbow.


I'll add the video next time, but too tired to edit/upload it tonight.

Pretty Little Things

This weekend, I decided to make a couple of burp cloths for Audrey since we all need pretty little things in our lives. The first one took me a really long time because I kept messing up but the second one I finished in about 45 minutes. That's still really slow, but I'm just learning how to sew again after a 20 year hiatus. I got the idea from a cute blog I follow (http://www.makeandtakes.com). Let's give credit where it's due! Anyway, here are the two burp cloths followed by some pics of the pretty little thing I created them for.

Yes, they need to be ironed, but they are still cute!
A full length version.
My cutie pie!
A little afternoon workout.
Both my pretty little things....Sophie was 'helping' at bathtime.

Preschool Daze

Sophie just finished her third day of preschool and seems to be enjoying it. She has talked about her teachers several times over the weekend, so I'm guessing she's having fun. There are two teachers and seven children, so the ratio is really good. That certainly makes me feel better about sending her off to school two days a week. The first couple of days, she was a little nervous going in the room and cried a bit. But today, Benoit took her to class and said she did not cry, but just looked a little timid. I think she's doing a great job and I'm sure it will help her be more independent and more comfortable with new people.

Her school days include craft time (usually coloring activities), two playground outings, movement (dance) or music (singing songs), chapel once a week, lunch, and naptime. Today, her teachers said she had a great time and was very playful with the other kids. So proud of her! There are a few pictures of her first day below.

Audrey and I have been staying busy with doctor and dentist appointments, gym workouts, and outings to Target or the grocery store. I never realized how easy it was with one child, especially an infant until now. I suppose you never know how good you've got it until you don't have it anymore, right! I've still got it good, but not as easy. :) I'm ready for all these appointments to slow down so I can focus on spending quality personal time with Audrey while Sophie is in school. I am able to play with Audrey more frequently and pay more attention to her already and am certainly enjoying that. I don't want to miss special moments with Audrey because I'm chasing Sophie. It's going to be difficult to balance my time and attention between the two girls, not to mention my sweet hubby and hyper dog! But like the amazing women before me, I'll find a way.

As promised, here are the pics of Sophie's first preschool day!

Sunshine in a Smile

A smile is a beautiful thing, especially when it's given to you by someone you love. My sweet baby Audrey has recently developed her own unique grin, which is usually followed by a sweet coo. My heart melts each time and I impatiently wait for the next one. Here are a few of Audrey's first smiles caught on camera. Enjoy!