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.

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!