The Man of our House!

Can I brag on my honey?

Evan traveled to Guatemala for 10 days in November on a mission trip with his Dad (they are on the left). They worked on a school putting up barbed wire around it with armed guards protecting them. Isn't that sad that these children can't even safely go to school? Breaks my heart. And they gave away lots of candy, piggy back rides, and Evan even gave away his beloved UT hat (*tear). He says next time, he will bring shoes.
And this hubby of mine is also now a volunteer firefighter! While I did not enjoy the hours of him being away from home while training, I am sure proud of him. And not to mention, he looks super awesome in the uniform ;)
My sweet love does so much for me on a daily basis - I'm so proud and thankful for him and I just don't say it enough.

Evan:

dresses Audrey everyday while I get ready

gets her ready in her carseat and carries her out the door

when I return home, he hears the garage door open and comes to get her out of the car

changes lots of dirty diapers

sings (and raps) to Audrey

makes us laugh

is cute in gym shorts

cooks more than I do

provides for our family

is handy around the house

pays me lots of attention

surprises me with goodies

is ambitious

lets me nap on the weekends

always wants me to be happy

Loves me

Loves Audrey

I love you with all my heart sweet Evan. Thank you.

5 Months Young!

It's been a while since I've posted - mostly because it's that busy busy time of year - the holiday season! We've been traveling and running around like crazy people all the time! My baby girl will be 5 months old tomorrow and everyday I can't believe another day has gone by. I keep telling Evan as we spend the days playing the Wii and laughing at our baby girl that these are the best days of our life. He says they'll keep getting better and I know that's true too but it's still so hard to let the time go by so fast!

At 5 months old, Audrey:

weighs 12.14 lbs

is 24 in. long

sleeps from 8-9 pm to 6am then back to sleep til 9am - Thanks for giving Mommy good sleep!

takes 3 - 1 hour naps during the day

wears 0-3 or 3 month clothes - but almost in the 3-6 month size

GIGGLES!!

smiles all the time

is bashful

has cried less than 5 tears - no tears at the shots again!!

makes lots of noise ;) coos, goos, grunts, spits, laughter

still loves her swing

no teeth yet

less spitting up

likes to hold onto her feet and is working on getting those toes in her mouth

does not like formula

does not like rice cereal or apples

pulls hair

always wants something in her mouth - fingers, pacifier, teething ring, stuffed animal, etc...

loves Daddy's rap songs

IS CUTE!

Audrey's First Snow - I don't think you can see the snow flurries but they're there!!

Thanksgiving Festivities

This year we spent Thanksgiving at Meg's house with Evan's family. The whole crew was there - minus Memry (and the little boy in her belly) & Greg who are living in London as missionaries - we miss you ;) In the pic above are from left: Colby 9, Audrey, Emily 6, G-Pop, Jackson 3, and Mr. Mike.

After Thanksgiving dinner, we were all exhausted - and ready to pull out the Christmas jammies :)

Those lips!

Then my family arrived to hang out for the weekend before my bro had to leave for the rest of basic training. He left Dec 5th and I miss him already!! We won't get to be with him for Christmas since he'll still be in training - just won't be the same without him! He sure knows how to mesmerize this gal but I think he wishes she was at least 3 and that she wouldn't spit up on him anymore... ;)

Happy Halloweeeeeeeeeen!!!!

Here's my little pea pod picked fresh from the vine on her First Halloween! Of course, the outfit was spit up on within 30 seconds and it became too hot after about 5 minutes. However, she wore it long enough to take a few pics :)We spent the morning at church - those 2 and 1/2 hours away from Audrey in the nursery are painful but glorious at the same time! We ate lunch, watched football, watched football, Mommy got a two hour nap!!!!, watched football, and then we watched football some more. We got 2 Trick-or-Treaters and a very special visit from cousins Colby (a pirate), Emily (a cowgirl), and Jackson (a knight)! They loved on Audrey, drank some cream sodas, and then headed off to more adventures!

The picture above cracks me up: if you notice in the picture behind Daddy there is a reflection of the football game that is on and he is obviously watching and not into the photo session - How dare I take pictures of him during a football game? And this was as big of a smile I could get out of him since the Titans lost :( How can you not smile with a little pea pod in your arms?? This is known as Grouchy Evanpants Gower.

For My Brother

My heart is hurting for my brother. I've been missing him so much while he is at Basic Training for the Air Force. His short phone calls and sweet letters have been making me so proud and holding me over til I get to see him again at his graduation. I've been looking forward to the day where I will get to see him with his new haircut and in a spiffy uniform! Unfortunately, he injured his leg around Week 6 of "boot camp" and he will not be able to graduate until he is healed and completes his last few days. He was SO CLOSE to being done! I can't imagine how that must feel. His letter talked about how he had gotten to be brothers with his fellow airmen - but now they will move on while he is in recovery. We don't know the details but hope he will be integrated in with a new flight group and will not have to start Basic Training all over again. It will depend on how severe the injury and how much physical therapy he will need.

I'm thinking of him everyday. He was so excited to see us at graduation, but now doesn't know when he will be able to see family since there are no visitors allowed on base. And, of course, his sweet heart went right to apologizing to people for purchasing plane tickets and hotel reservations.

We are proud of you Nathan! We love you, we miss you, and we are always thinking of you!

FALLing in Love!

It's Fall!!! We went to Lucky Ladd Farms with our great friends, Josh and Jamie Legg and enjoyed the weather! The air was crisp, the pumpkins were galore (and expensive - I'll buy from Walmart, thank you), and the food was delish! We visited the petting zoo (llamas!!), raced ducks, sling-shotted pumpkins, ate fried junk, got lost in a "maize," and got ideas for our future pumpkin patch/Christmas tree farm/sod farm/etc/etc/etc...We have big dreams!

The bunnies ran away from me! hmph

What a Heavenly angel this is! Love the nakeed baby rolls :)

After bath sweetie! My little bunny!

Look what I can do Mommy! Audrey LOVES this bouncy seat! If she's not in my arms, she's in this chair! Sometimes she is fussy when I'm holding her, I put her in the chair and she's happy as a clam - she wants the toys not Mommy! I was paying bills a few days ago and she was cooing and kicking in the bouncy seat and I looked over at her and she was hanging on to two of the toys! What an impressive gal!

Audrey loves watching football with Daddy! He even let her hold the remote for a little while!

I'm definitely Falling in Love with this family! It's been almost 3 months, the new feeling is wearing off but turning into days of leisure family time with just me and the honey with our little pumpkin! We are really enjoying the days of staying at home, no plans, cooking good meals, and enjoying each other's company - and I guess FOOTBALL...

2+ Months Old & ONE Tear

We went to the Dr. yesterday for the much dreaded SHOTS appointment along with a 2 month checkup - only slightly a couple weeks after she turned 2 months old! I've been dreading this appointment for weeks and weeks only for them to keep moving the appointment further and further away! I blubbered all morning worrying about them hurting my sweet little baby and teared up the whole appointment. You see, this was going to be the first time we see tears from those precious little eyes. She's a pretty happy girl and is quickly calmed when she is upset but I had been noticing her eyes welling up pretty quickly lately. Evan felt so bad for me that he purposely lost a bet with me so that I would win a new pair of shoes! It didn't feel as good to win once I knew he did it on purpose, but I'll still take the shoes :) And the ones I picked aren't even going to be for me - he didn't specify WHO they had to be for so this is what I picked - Keep her tootsies warm in the cold weather that is coming!

Okay okay I strayed from my story...Sooo I was blubbering anticipating all the tears that I knew were coming. She was cooing and smiley and looking at me like I was crazy. The Doc came in and was doing the normal checking up stuff - head, nose, booty, and then when he was looking in her ears she got extremely upset and there I saw it - ONE tear sliding down her cheek which I quickly wiped away. I was devastated. I knew it was going to be bad if only looking in her ears made her that upset. The appointment ended, the nurse came in with the shots, more blubbering from Mommy. I turned away and let Daddy hold her while they poked her and then it was over! She did a sad little silent cry for a few seconds but as soon as Daddy picked her up and held her she was fine! The little sweetie was fine and is still fine. She was happy and smiling and cooing at us on the way out of the doctor's office. Overall, I cried more than she did. But, isn't that what Mommies do?

What my little peanut is like in the 2 month era:

10 lbs. 11 oz.

22 in. long

Smiling tons! - almost to laughter

Loves her tummy play gym, swing, and bouncy seat - all equipped with catchy tunes ;)

Becoming more scheduled - eating more fewer times (might be speaking too soon) and sleeping longer, fewer naps

Smooth transition to her own room - WOOHOOO!!!! She goes to bed between 8-9 and wakes up around 3 and then back to bed until 7-8. The 5 hour stretches are becoming more frequent at night and much enjoyed by Mum and Dad! HOWEVER, I still don't sleep well. I'm sure it's just these first nights getting used to the monitor (and of course, Dad had to get one of those high-tech ones with the video camera so I'm able to WATCH her). I'm always wondering - "Did I turn the monitor up enough? What if it went off? What if it stopped working? Oh, she's waking up. I better not get too sleepy." And of course, I sit there and watch her and am getting only a few hours of sleep by the time the night is over. But also, after I do sleep for a few hours I find myself waking up and watching the monitor simply because I can't wait for her to wake up so I can see her and cuddle her again!

*I wrote the above a couple weeks ago on her actual 2 month birthday and she has since slept through the night once!! but has been waking up around 4am the past few nights! Woohoo! I think we are almost there! In the mornings when she wakes up she is just as happy as can be smiling, cooing, and playing all by herself. I am awakened by the sound of her coos rather than crying which is so sweet to hear. When I go peek in over her crib, she gives me the biggest smile and kicks her legs and waves her arms all over the place in excitement to see me! Ah, I just love it

She gets extremely angry when she has the hiccups.

She is officially a pacifier baby. She loves it. She used to suck on her hands all the time and it gets us through to the next feeding. Before the pacifier, she was eating every two hours and barely eating (pretty sure she was just using me as a pacifier) and now we are going at least 3 hrs and the Dr. wants us to try pushing it closer to 4.

Audrey has outgrown most of her newborn clothes but the next size is way too big. I pretty much just have her in pajamas all day everyday because it's getting cooler and I have no cool weather clothes that fit her.

We found out yesterday that Audrey will have a new BFF in late Feb/early March!!! Missy's growing Baby E who is now Baby Ellie!! So excited to watch her tummy grow and meet that sweet girl! I was convinced she was having a boy but then started really wishing she would have a girl so our little ladies could play together instead of awkward moments in about 13 years! And we can do girly shopping trips, and get our nails done, and compare notes when they start misbehaving! So happy for the Elrods!! Here she is practicing with my little tootie!

Where We've Been!

We traveled to Arkansas for a week to visit family and friends and to see my brother Nathan off to the Air Force. Here's Audrey with Aunt Alli at the pool. We wanted to put her in her watermelon bathing suit very much but the water was just too cold (even for me). Soooo, we enjoyed the weather, played trivial pursuit, ate pizza, and drank cokes (what a treat!)
So proud of this dude! What an awesome big brother! I'm having a hard time imagining him in basic training because I know they are probably kicking his butt and being mean which just hurts my heart, but I know he's brave and strong and can definitely handle it! The night before he hit the road to basic training we ate yummy food at Alli's and then enjoyed the cool weather on the deck - acted silly, stared at Audrey, boys played some football, hugged my brother goodbye.
My sweet, sweet friends came by to visit my little one. I'm pretty sure they are baffled that I have a real live child. I miss them.

Audrey really enjoys riding in the stroller and is getting used to riding in the car seat as well. We've been running around all over the place! In the picture above, our little family went for an evening stroll which is why she is already in her jammies. She conked out and went right to bed when we returned!
Above is one of her newborn pictures. I thought the photo shoot was a disaster since the little booger wasn't sleepy or in the mood to be posed, but it turns out we got some really cute ones!

First Smiles!

So we noticed our little sweet pot was starting to smile - and not the gassy kind - real smiles at people, toys, or for just no reason at all! It just warms my heart to know that I'm raising this sweet little angel and she is a happy smiley little girl! I love all these amazing moments and watching her grow each and every day.

Here's the journey to catch one on camera and I think we've been pretty successful! Click fast over and over!!

what's going on, Mommy?

(not a smile)

semi-smile

There we go!!!

And another!

Daddy took some pictures while I was away getting my hair chopped off - think he was trying to prove that she's not devastated when I'm away ;)

One Month Old!

One month old today! Just can't believe it! Audrey awoke for the day (eyes open for an hourish) around noon, we watched some tv and hung out on the tummy play gym, ate, spit up, napped, swung in swing, napped, ate, spit up, napped, ate, spit up, napped - and many poops & pees in between...

Someone does not look happy that Mommy insists on having the bow on!

This is about the happiest face I can get. Still awaiting smiles!

At one month Dr. appointment Audrey weighed 8 lbs 6 oz. and was 20 in. long! She got one shot and was a little sad about it. I'm guessing the 2 month shots are going to be much worse. Oh my how it's going to hurt my little heart to see them poke her little leg. Bring on the tears (for Audrey and Mommy, I'm sure).

Almost 4 weeks old already!!

I can't believe how fast the time goes by! Every parent says that and it really does and it's hard to accept! I am trying desperately to savor every minute with Baby Audrey...even the super tired ones! I love this time with her and I love my sweet girl! I also love my sweet sweet husband even more everyday! I love seeing them together and sometimes he even has a more magical touch than I do during fussy times!

My very first bottle! I love my Daddy!

Lots of pictures these days have blurry parts...I do not like to hold still! A photographer come take pictures of me a few days ago and I did not like it. I do not like being posed and was not sleepy one bit! I guess Mommy cam will just have to do.

Uncle John and Aunt Alli came for a visit! Uncle John was a comfy place for a snooze!

First outing! Mommy, Aunt Alli, and I went to Mimi's Cafe for lunch and I didn't make a peep the whole time! - Mommy was still a nervous wreck...

These are Mommy's favorite pjs...too bad I already outgrew them! They fit me one day and two days later they were too short! However, they were preemie size jammies but Momma wants to know why her little peanut is growing so fast?!?

First successful attempt at the bouncy chair! Sometimes I like it for 3 hours...sometimes not even 3 minutes!

One of my very first bottles and Grandpa did such a good job feeding it to me!

I found my thumb!!

I love my bath!!

How we spend our days!

Sleeping....

Sleeping...

Sleeping...

AWAKE! Hanging out with Momschelle!

Evan and I have an awesome schedule where we both get plenty of sleep! I'm so blessed to have a hubby that works from home and is such a huge help! He works all night long and keeps Audrey upstairs with him - this keeps me from waking at all her little noises with worry - He gives her a bottle in the middle of the night and I get at least 6 hrs of uninterrupted sleep! He then goes to bed around 4 am and sleeps til around noon. It's just wonderful!