Audrey - 23 months

Hi sweetie!

23 months. Wow! I say it every month, but I can't believe how quickly you are growing. It doesn't seem possible that you'll be 2 next month. Besides our vacation, I hardly took any photos of you this month, not that it bothers you any. But Mama likes to document everything you do and it's disappointing when I get to the end of a month and realize I didn't pick up the camera much.

Anyway, we started this month out with Halloween and you were the cutest Cabbage Patch Kid ever!

You've been sick almost the entire month. We started the month off with a 24 hour stomach bug, and then you had a cough for a good 3 weeks. The cough then turned into a full blown cold, complete with stuffy, runny nose, cough and fever that you have now. I hate seeing you sick, but the doctor says it's viral, so there's not much we can do besides wait it out.

You had your first voting experience, and came with Mama while she voted. You were more interested in the guy at the sign-in table than what we were doing there, but I guess we have to start somewhere.

It's getting much colder here now and after playing outside one day, we came in and shared your first cup of hot cocoa! It was a big hit, as I expected, and you say it in the cutest way!

We went on vacation to Turks & Caicos and you flew on an airplane for the very first time! You did great and we had a wonderful, relaxing vacation! We swam in the pool and went to the beach every day. We built sand castles, searched for seashells, found starfish, flew a kite and enjoyed time together.

We came home from vacation and had a nice Thanksgiving with family and enjoyed another week and a half with Titi, Uncle Ry Ry and Blake.

Your vocabulary and language skills continue to exceed even your doctor's expectations. When we took you on Monday to check out your cough, you answered her questions yourself and had a full conversation with her. She was amazed and Mama was so proud. Two of your favorite phrases this month are "Yucky!" and "No way!" In addition, if anything hurts you, it "hurts real bad."

You are the sweetest little thing, and I love watching your personality develop. The next month is sure to be filled with lots of adventures, birthday party fun and tons of Christmas activities! We already started reading Christmas books and had a picnic on the living room floor while watching the Polar Express. We also went to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in town, and went to pick out our Christmas tree! I can't wait for all the other fun holiday adventures we'll have! I am so proud of you and everything you are becoming!

I love you to the moon and back, baby girl!
Love always,
Mama

See this...

This is going to be my view for the next week.

If I don't return, you know why!

Baby shower gifts

My best friend for the past 15 years is pregnant with her first baby and I'm so excited for her! Last weekend, I went to her baby shower and had the best time. As our gift, we bought the car seat for them, but I gave it to her early so they could figure it out and practice getting it in the car. So, I also had a few little things I wanted to give her at the shower. I thought it made a really cute gift, so I wanted to share it here, too.

I gave her a blanket that I knit, a book, a calendar to keep track of baby's firsts, and a onesie that I made.

The shower had a storybook theme and everyone was supposed to bring a book. This book is one of Audrey's favorites, so I thought it was a good choice.

April used to keep a diary of sorts by writing a little something each day on a calendar. This baby calendar has stickers and lets you document everything that happens in baby's first year, so I thought it was a good gift for her.

The onesie was inspired by Pinterest. It says, "an april & eric production TM." It just seemed like "them" to me.

Finally, I made up a little poem to go with it. It read:

A book to read at bedtime

or whenever just feels right.

A blanket knit with love,

to keep you warm all night.

A calendar to record all of

your firsts and how you grew.

And a custom little onesie,

that can be worn by only you!

I can't wait to meet you sweet baby! I love you so much already! 

Love, Auntie Sara

I am not perfect.

I am not perfect.

I am not super mom.

I consider myself a pretty patient person.

I still lose my patience.

I sometimes yell at my daughter.

I try to feed my family healthy, wholesome foods.

My daughter stills know what a doughnut and a potato chip taste like.

I have good intentions to do projects and read and teach my daughter every day.

Some days we watch cartoons all day.

I know there is a plan for my life and that I shouldn't compare my life to others.

I still have moments where I feel jealous despite how happy I may want to be for them.

I thank God every day for the many blessings in my life.

I still feel like I got the shit end of the stick sometimes.

I sometimes let the "what-if"s overwhelm me.

I make homemade gifts for people, not because I am talented,

crafty, or really thoughtful, but because I can't afford not to.

On facebook, and sometimes on my blog, it looks like I'm 

Miss Suzy Sunshine and I have a perfect life.

I choose to put on a smile and not share all my dirty laundry.

That doesn't mean I don't have any.

I am not perfect.

I am not super mom.

But my faith allows me to grow and move forward every day.

If I pray and ask Him to take the jealous feelings from my mind and heart,

I wake up feeling better.

My faith allows me to put on a smile and move on.

I believe that faith is the difference, the reason I don't let myself wallow, 

or let the negatives consume me.

I am not perfect.

And that is okay.

My God loves me anyway.

My family loves me anyway.

My friends love me anyway.

It may look like it.

I may try to be.

But I am not perfect.

Trick-or-Treat!

Last year, Audrey was so young that we only took her to a few family members' houses to show off her costume on Halloween. This year, we actually took her out trick-or-treating! Granted, we only went to a handful of houses on our street and to some family, but it was about the experience. And she had a great time!

We practiced for a week saying "Trick-or-Treat!" and "Happy Halloween!" and "Thank you!" That all went out the window as soon as we hit the first house. She started to play shy and would only sign "thank you." Unless they had a dog, of course, and then she was smiling, waving and shouting, "Hi, dog!!!"

Anyway, despite the shyness, she said she had a good time and she was smiling, so I think we can say it was a success. She was pretty darn cute, too! She dressed up as a Cabbage Patch Kid, and actually wore the same exact costume that my mom made for me 25 years ago. She is a couple years younger than I was when I wore it, but she was so adorable in it.

My mom saved it all these years because it was so much work to make. So I took it out of a box in the basement, washed it, tacked it up in a few places and ironed it. It turned out really well and everyone commented on how much they loved the costume and how adorable she looked!

This is the comparison shot. That is Audrey on the left and little ol' me on the right.
(This photo of Audrey and the two below were a test run of trying it on, so it hadn't been ironed yet and it wasn't stuffed.)

 Ready to go Trick-or-Treating!

 Looking in her bucket after the first house and knocking on a door with Dada.

I just love my baby girl!