Beginning to Feel LIke Christmas

I love the holidays to begin with, but with kids it's even more fun! This year Cory and I went to ICE! at the Gaylord Texan with our friend Nate & Laura and their daughter Leyla. It was freezing, but awesome. The theme this year was Charlie Brown and the ice sculptures were incredible. They provide parkas for everyone to wear since it's about 8 degrees in the tent. Note to self: next year bring gloves. Audrey loved it, especially the ice slide. Next event: Santa in the Park . Our neighborhood hosts this event every year and this year included the Big Guy, cookies, hot chocolate, music, hayrides and even a guy walking around on stilts. The pictures took forever to print so we left with only our own copy which didn't turn out that great as you will see. Finally, we let Audrey open her presents from Cory's side of the family before we left for Houston. Not sure if Audrey or Shelby enjoyed it more:-)

The background video on how the ICE exhibit was created.

Audrey and Cory waiting for our turn. Maybe it was a fluke but there was not much of a line the Sat we went and well worth the price.

She's not so sure about this. They were out of toddler parkas when we went through so we had to roll up the sleeves but nothing we could do about the bottom of the jacket dragging on the floor.

Santa in the park- great pic of us all looking into the sun.

Deep conversation with Daddy over cookies...what could they be talking about?

Audrey was terrified of the baby swing but is a HUGE fan of the big kid swing now.

Shelby checking out all the presents for Audrey. Sorry pup, no bones in there.

Audrey has an extended collection of Fancy Nancy books which she refers to as " Fancy Fancy"

Showing off her necklaces, bracelets and Frenchy purse.

Modeling her new OU dress (love the headband and mink scarf too!)

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving in OK this year and I wouldn't have a single picture to show for it if it wasn't for Carol & Lindsey (thanks guys!). We had the first meal of the day at Gigi & Papa's house with Cory's Dad's side of the family and then on to Aunt Terry's house to see Nama and Cory's Mom's side of the family. LOTS of delicious food!

Audrey wasn't a little skeptical of Thanksgiving dinner- if it isn't a carb then she's

usually not interested...

Audrey and her 2nd cousin Gram

Audrey spent a lot of time playing with Aunt Lauren's dog Lily. They were very entertaining together.

Our little fashionista- she wore Daddy's belt around her waist and it actually looked pretty cute!

Lots of love for Aunt Lauren

Audrey and her "Birthday Buddy". This was the last time she saw E.L.~ he passed away in December. I love that she and Cory's Grandpa share the same birthday...a special bond they will always have.

Almost a family pic...now where is Daddy?

Audrey and Gabe- Thank you Gabe for entertaining her! They were two peas in a pod for most of the morning!

October 2010

October was filled with lots of funs for us. This included trips to OK- we had seasons tickets to the OU games this year. Yet another reason I didn't have time to update the blog, we made something like 8 trips to OK between Aug & Nov. We had a great time visiting with family and friends though. We even got to see Holland and Riley while they were in town for a wedding. We visited the pumpkin patch, went to The Little Gym to celebrate our friend Nathan's birthday and went to Boo at the Zoo with Audrey's buddy Leyla.

Where do we start?

So it has been a VERY long time since I have updated our not so little sweet pea's blog. Working full time, pregnant and chasing around a 2 year old...can you blame me if I let a few things slip?;-) Thankfully mother nature granted us 4 snow days so I finally have time to catch up on my To Do list. Yes, I did just type 4 snow days in TX! Audrey and I have loved every minute of it- lots of baking, movies, crafts, hot chocolate and snuggling. I've even had time to unpack Audrey's newborn, 0-3 month and 3-6 month clothing for her little sister. It's amazing how quickly time has passed. In 7 weeks we will meet Audrey's new sister and shortly after that my little sweet pea will turn 3! So here are a few updates about Audrey:

*She is still a sweet natured little girl & LOVES to give hugs and kisses to anyone when we are leaving someplace.
*Although sweet, she can throw quite a fit when she doesn't get her way...thankfully this crazy behavior doesn't happen very often. (that doesn't mean she gets her way either!)
*She is currently obsessed with Buzz Lightyear. I think she could watch Toy Story 3 times through if we let her.
* Audrey moved to a big girl bed in December and the transition was seamless (yea!). I'll post pics soon.
* She loves to kiss my belly at night and tells people that the baby is in Mommy's belly.
* We are still working on potty training...Audrey will go in the big girl potty whenever prompted but doesn't seem to grasp the concept on her own. Any advice is welcome.
* We have quite the little diva on our hands when it comes to clothes (Thanks Aunt Lauren!). Audrey loves dressing up in her tutu, putting on ALL her necklaces and earrings, high heels and singing to us or having tea parties with her babies.
*She loves to take care of "her babies". She changes their diapers, feeds them, tucks them in at night and I overheard her singing to them yesterday during her nap. Hopefully she will still be interested in helping out when her sister arrives.

I am sure there are a million more things that I could share but for now I will simply say we love Audrey more and more everyday and couldn't imagine our lives with out her. Enjoy the pictures from the last 6 months!

Summer is officially OVER :-(

So summer is officially over, at least at our house. I went back to work on Monday and Audrey is back at her babysitters. I can actually say (type) that without breaking into tears now. Audrey is doing much better with this transition then I am. I have enjoyed spending time with adults but I miss my sweet pea very much. We had a great summer. I love 2 (aside from the occasional temper tantrums) because Audrey loves to explore and play and there was so much more we could do this summer: children's museums, splash pad, swim lessons, the zoo, movies, Little Gym classes and so much more. Here are a some of the pictures I took over the summer but haven't posted.

Audrey at her Little Gym Class. We had a blast and Audrey is now a fan of bubbles and stamps for life (a treat at the end of each class that she got VERY excited about)


Audrey and her buddy Taryn enjoying a snack while running through the fountains at the Splash Pad.



Leyla and Audrey hanging out- such cool chicks!



Audrey on the slide at "the tubes". (imagine an McDonald's like playground on steroids but cleaner) Such a life saver in the 100+ degree heat in Texas.


The tubes!!!


Audrey coloring or "toloring" as she calls it.
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At the movies with her buddy Cayden. We went to several movies with Cayden and Jane and Audrey was a trooper, as long as there were plenty of snacks!


***I must apologize for this following pictures. I uploaded them from my phone and am apparently not talented enough to do it correctly so for now we have mini pictures.***

Visiting our sweet friends Nina and Lexi in Houston. Look at all those beautiful faces!


Ready for her 1st day of swim lessons. I have no pics of her in the water because I was in there too. Mommy and Me swimming was fun for everyone...


Cory and Audrey with Nate and Leyla at the zoo.



Audrey and Leyla ready for another day at the zoo.

Our brief respite from Hades...

***WARNING- This is a VERY picture heavy post***

Every summer it happens. Around the middle of June I start cursing this ridiculously HOT state and contemplate moving somewhere were you can actually spend your summer days outside. So this year we decided to spend 4th of July and the following week in Frisco, Colorado. My family has a very rustic cabin that holds so many memories of fishing trips, camping and simply enjoying the outdoors. The whole fam damily was there at different times during the week and even the Nelsons/Seemans came up for the 4th of July festivities. There was a lot to do around the cabin but we also had time to play and I'm not sure who was the most disappointed when it was time for us to leave- it was a close tie between Audrey and Shelby.



My Grandfather, Dad and Uncle built the cabin


Audrey and Riley walking to the pond- such good buddies!


Audrey "borrowed" Uncle Mikey's Rockies hat and beer


Uncle Tim, Me, Uncle Mikey and Audrey


Audrey checking out Uncle Tim's new tent and head gear


This picture was taken second before the wagon thing they are in tipped over- too funny!


Big Guy, Audrey and Suushie (we're still playing with the spelling) taking a walk around the marina


Uncle Tim and Audrey- they look like locals don't you think?


Happy Hour at the marina


Big Guy "Audrey the weather is this beautiful every day during the summer in the mountains."
Audrey " No way! Then why do my parents make me live in Texas?????"


Her "cheese" face

Audrey and Riley in the bath after a very fun and VERY dirty 4th of July.

Holland and I- lots of pictures of us in the mountains over the years:-)


She had so much fun playing in the mountains. Stickers, dirt, ice cream...you name it and Audrey got into it!


Mickey treated us all to homemade ice cream- Riley and Audrey are her little taste testers


What's more fun than digging in the dirt?


Cory and I at the Frisco 4th of July parade- he left shortly after this to put a certain red head down for a nap...she reached her limit and let us know.


Me, Audrey, Holland and Riley- the little girls were SO excited about another picture...

I love this picture of Cory and Audrey

We had a wonderful trip and as I am typing this blog inside our bat cave ( it's 105 outside right now!!!) I am asking myself why we left...