10 Months Old and 10 Things to Look Forward to!

Here's my big ole grown up girl at 10 months. Can't believe we are so close to the ONE YEAR thing! We have so much to look forward to in the coming months - I can barely count them on all my fingers (and toes)! But we'll just do 10, since my little Honey Bun is 10 months old!

Audrey:

weighed 17 lbs at her 9 month appointment which was 2 weeks ago (No shots Yay!!)

STILL HAS NO TEETH! Where are them teefers?

is crawling everywhere!! I have to go find her sometimes! And she loves to go up the stairs (and out came the baby gate). And she is pulling up on everything and even starting to cruise a little.

loves to take stuff out of the cabinets (keeps her entertained in the bathroom while Mommy gets ready)

is stressin Momma out with her eating habits (or lack of) - She will only eat fruit and puffs. She doesn't even really like the fruit she just eats it - if I never gave her a bite of food again she wouldn't care.

Says "bye-bye" (which sounds like "duh dye") and waves

Says "kitty" - Evan will not admit to this but she loves the cats, follows, chases, and yanks on them and says a word that sounds a lot like "kitty" when she sees them.

Claps with much enthusiasm!

Puts everything in her mouth (unless it's a vegetable) - green beans get thrown on the floor before even a taste but cat hair, carpet fuzz, toilet paper - IN THE MOUTH!

Finally drinks from a sippy cup

Thinks "no-no" & "no ma'am" are just some crazy things Mommy says.

Takes 1 long nap around lunchtime and a catnap around dinner time. Everyday when she starts getting sleepy, I put her in the jumper and one second she is jumping like crazy and the next she is asleep. Then we move onto her bed.

Ok here's the 10 Things we are looking forward to:

1. THE BEACH! One week from today we are going to Myrtle Beach with Brett, Missy, Ellie, Matthew, Jane, and Eli and we are so pumped! So excited for Audrey's first trip to the beach and also glad we are going with awesome friends :)

2. One Year Birthday for my rugrat - less than 2 months away! It's not real and it's not going to happen.

3. Summer & The Pool - Finally it's almost here (although this cold, gloomy weather the past few days seems more like winter) - we will be heading outside to enjoy the warmth and prune up in the pool - Hoping the little lady likes swimming as much as Mommy. She did like her little pool on the deck on the few days of a warm tease we got last week.

4. Um...Teeth - I'm dying to see them! And I want to stop blaming everything on teething

5. The ZOO - We made our first zoo trip and purchased a membership so we can go for free for the next year! Audrey did not look at a single animal but she enjoyed riding around in the stroller outside all day long! We went with the grandparents but next time, Daddy will get to go!

6. Mommy and Daddy's Birthdays - in June - and I can't wait to reward my sweet, loving, hard-working, deserving, wonderful Daddy/Hubby with something special (it's a secret) ;) And he's pretty good at cooking up a special birthday so I'm excited to see what my big 25 will be like. 25?? That rounds up to 30. It's all down hill from here. Daddy will be 29 - that really is almost 30.

This was our chat while I was confirming that he would indeed be 29:

me: Are you gonna be 29?? That seems weird to me.

Sent at 1:57 PM on Wednesday

Evan: i know, i'm old

me: daaaaaang. wrinkly man.

Evan: you know i ain't

i'm built like a greek god, obviously

7. The park - during this summer that I am so looking forward to, I'm sure will make many a trip to the park. As you can see the look of delight on her face in the swing. She did like it more than it appears. But oh what a sad face that is?!

8. A Walking Bambina - I usually am torn about being excited for the next stage and savoring every moment of the one she is in but it sure will be nice when she doesn't have her poor little knees and hands on the dirty floors and we can put her down in public places!

9. Father's Day - My First Mother's Day was super special. I did miss my Mummy though. I felt loved and appreciated. I still have a surprise coming this Friday - wonder what it is?! I can't wait for Father's Day

10. Family, Friends, babies for family and friends, babies for us (not yet though), seeing what God has in His plan for us, and this beautiful, beautiful life that seems to be going so fast.

Audrey had a wonderful 1st Easter. Beautiful church service. Evan's family over for lunch on the deck. And of course Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny!

Mother's Day was P-E-R-F-E-C-T. I felt special. The weather was beautiful. EVERYONE in Evan's family was present for dinner by the pool at the parent's house - including Memry and Greg in from London with my new nephew sweet tiny Samuel. We miss them. There is no doubt Memry was made to be a mommy!

Audrey Crawling for the first time!

Ok I finally took some time and figured out how to get videos on the computer! This one is Audrey's very first crawls on March 25 at 8 1/2 months old! She is much faster now!!

9 Months and No Excuses - well maybe a few...

Shopping with Ellie

Ok, so the last few months the blogging thing has felt like a chore. I haven't felt like doing it, I don't feel like doing it now, but I need to do this and it will feel good when I'm done. I want my little girl to read these when she is older and to know how much I love her and love watching her grow. I love being her momma so much that I feel guilty not spending this time with her, we are staying super busy, and let's face it, Audrey, Momma's a little lazy! - when she gets her spare time that is. On top of baby (poo diapers, 3 meals a day, bottles, CRAWLING, don't eat that, where are you? snuggles, nap time, playtime, bathtime, bedtime, etc), hubby, cleaning, cleaning, more cleaning, grocery shopping, shopping in general, church, family & friends (great for sanity), gardening, etc. there just isn't much time leftover and when there is I DON'T WANT TO BLOG. Which is odd because I love talking about my lil un and it's easy but it's just the getting there. And it feels so good after.

Let me just keep rolling with the excuses and a hint - we don't have a camera. I haven't taken a picture of Audrey with a real camera in about 3 months. They've all been on my phone. It's my fault, I broke our camera (yes, it was a coincidence that I broke it right after I started asking for a new fancy one). I left it out in the freezing rainy cold and it's capoot. We have taken lots of video of her. Haven't figured out how to put that on the computer. Another aspect of my laziness.

Here's what we've been up to:

The biggest news with Audrey is that she started crawling on March 24th around 8 1/2 months old. The sitting stage has definitely been the easiest! She would just sit and play for hours with all her toys. The crawling stage is pretty easy too because she's not super fast yet. I can't still keep up with her but occasionally I'll have to go find her as she is starting to explore more, and with that comes eating things off the floor and getting into things that are way better than her boring toys. She loves shoes, cords, dirt, cat hair, the springy door stopper, and climbing on the fireplace mostly. She hasn't ventured to the stairs yet but I'm sure it will happen soon - then out comes the baby gate. She's so cute when she crawls. I love watching her little mind work and where she's going. She's usually going after one of the cats (mostly Fiona who is very tolerant of her) and she talks to them in a crazy squeaky voice.

Audrey eats 3 meals a day. Usually oatmeal in the morning. And fruits and grains for lunch and dinner. Every now and then I'll throw in a veggie (which she won't eat). She will occasionally eat squash or sweet potatoes but she is definitely a fruitie. She also loves eating her puffs. I have recently started giving her our food - she will eat a tiny bit of noodles, canteloupe, honey dew melon - she will not touch cheese, peas, green beans, or bananas. She does not like juice. We are currently working on using the sippy cup but it's not going so well. Momma stopped nursing around 8 1/2 months. Audrey just wasn't interested anymore - too much to do with all that crawling! So now she has about 3-4 bottles of formula a day.

We don't have her 9 months check-up for a couple weeks so I don't know how much she weighs but I'm guessing around 16.5ish.

Audrey wears 6-9 months clothes

She has NO TEETH YET! "Where's your teefs" we ask her often.

She has started to dance a little when she hears music

She somewhat claps her hands and waves. She loves to clap her hands on someone else (usually Daddy's face)

She sleeps from 8pm (on the dot - we better be near her bed or a melt down will come) to 7am - and she doesn't want us to "put her to sleep" anymore :( she wants to lay in her own bed and go to sleep on her own! She's so grown up!

We traveled to San Antonio, TX in mid February for my brother's Air Force Basic Training graduation. It was a fabulous trip! I loved San Antonio especially the Riverwalk and I really want to go back. It was also awesome to see my bro graduate. We are very proud of our Airman!

Audrey's BFF Ellie arrived on Feb 27. She is absolutely beautiful and I know Missy and Brett and are eating up every minute with that precious girl.

Audrey also got a new cousin on March 14th. His name is Samuel and we can't wait to meet him! They live in London but are coming for a visit soon!

We are adjusting to Daddy having a job job. So far, it's been good. We miss him during the day but overall it's been good for our family. Daddy being away during the day has made Audrey a bit of a Mommy's girl. She is quite clingy to me - NOT THAT I MIND ONE BIT ;)

SITTING in a Winter Funk

So it's winter. I hate winter. I hate cold. I hate ridiculous cold. I only like snow. I like cold when it snows. If it's not snowing, it better be above 80 degrees. We are stuck in the house but gladly because I hate going out in the cold. But in this Winter Funk up has sprouted a super awesome baby sitter! It's official - we have an unassisted unwobbly sitter! It is so fun to watch her sit and play with toys like a big girl! Also in this cold weather, I've been getting crafty and creative preparing for Missy's shower. And have I mentioned that I can't wait for the arrival of Audrey's BFF Ellie?! But more than that I can't wait for Missy to have that feeling - that amazing feeling when you have all the firsts with your new baby. I know she will love it and I know she knows she will love it but I just can't wait for her to know and feel it. It's amazing that love! Unbelievable, indescribable love beyond compare. And while typing this I realize that God loves me that way and it feels so good to love and be loved like that.

These are pics from Missy's shower! The owl and birdie tree - everyone left a note for Missy and Ellie on the back of them. This was my favorite project to work on.
And the cake was so cute and also delicious! BTW, thanks Jane for letting me steal your pictures. I have a pitiful camera and need a new one. wink wink hint hint. ;)

Ok Ellie...now you can come! We will just be waiting for you! BUT please don't come Feb 22 - 27! I will be in San Antonio, TX at Nathan's Air Force Basic Training Graduation!! YAY! This has been a long time coming! Nate's finally healed, back in training, and on track to graduate! Wahoo!! So proud of him and can't wait to see him in his uniform and all handsomed up!

BIG NEWS: Dad Daddy Evan Evie Ed Jacob Evan Gower got a job. Like a job job. Yes like a real for real go to work everyday job. This could be great or this could be disasterous. Pray for me. I will miss not having him at home all the time, not to mention that I will be late for everything without his help getting out the door. But I am proud of him and do realize that this could be a great thing. More routine for us could be just what we need. And we might have more to talk about in the evenings besides Jeopardy. He will be programming at the Publishing Group of America. He's basically a Sooper Nerd Web Geniyus ;)

6 months!

At 6 months my little snow bunny:

weighs 14 lbs 10 oz

is 25.5 inches long

sits up wobbly then falls over

hates getting dressed

wears size 2 diapers

has very blue eyes

chatters a lot

shrieks with excitement

laughs, giggles, and smiles

has no teeth yet

eats rice cereal mixed with apples, pears, or bananas - no veggies - we try everyday but she just won't have anything to do with them.

At Audrey's 6 month Dr. appointment she got 2 shots, cried for a moment, and then smiled at the nurse! I know as she gets older it will be harder for her to forget the pain so quickly and she will cry longer but I just love seeing what a trooper she is. And I love that the nurse was so excited to see a smile since she says she never gets one after a shot!

These pics were taken at a 5 month photo shoot before Christmas but we just got them! So exciting to get pictures in the mail from Laurie Dallriva Photography!
We are busy planning a shower for Missy and awaiting the arrival of Ellie Rose! Having lots of fun and getting crafty :) Hopefully pictures to follow!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It was so fun waking up to a White Christmas on Miss Audrey's very first Christmas! It was a fabulous time being with family (but missing Nate), eating good food, opening gifts, and loving Jesus.

Christmas Morning! And, of course, we had to put all the bows on her head! We normally do this to whatever unlucky cat is playing in all the paper but for some reason they have gotten the shaft since some cutie arrived.

Aunt Alli arrived - we made ugly sweaters, played the wii, and had lots of giggling at inappropriate humor!

Even Mammaw made it for Audrey's First Christmas! She has this magical touch that puts Audrey right to sleep!

And Happy New Year!! We spend New Year's Eve at Justin and Tiffany's house with their little boy Colton, who is just 2 days older than Audrey - and already sitting up!! - We're still working on that!

We stayed up waaaaaaaayyyy past bedtime! Whew! We did have cabbage, pork, and black-eyed peas to bring luck in the New Year! YUM - Here's the recipe from my Aunt Carmen:

Sausage Cabbage and Rice

Ingredients

1 lb smoked sausage (or other)

1 head cabbage

1 onion (or 2 bags of Seasons Blend)

1 tsp sugar

Salt – few shakes

4 – 5 cups cooked rice

Kitchen bouquet

Red pepper

Cut sausage into bite size circles. Brown in 6 quart Dutch oven or similar pot. You may spray with Pam, but do not add any oil.

After sausage is “charred,” add onion and lover heat. Cook until onions are wilted and browned well.

Add cabbage (chopped in bite-size pieces). This will fill pot to top, but it will cook down. Pour about ¼ cup water over top to keep cabbage from sticking.

Add sugar, few shakes of salt, and red pepper.

Stir occasionally as cabbage cooks down.

Add Kitchen Bouquet for color (mixed with a little water).

Cook about 45 minutes. Add cooked rice. Be sure rice is sort of watery before adding rice so mixture won’t be too dry. If necessary, add water during cooking.