Almost There, Stay on Target

I apologize for the obligatory Star Wars reference. Yesterday, we spent nearly two hours waiting at the doctor's office for Audrey's appointment. Well, not really a doctor. I believe the correct term is a craniologist, but I cannot exactly recall. Kerri is more adept at recalling specifics. I digress.

Back to the topic at hand, we waited nearly two hours just to meet with the guy. Everyone at the office fell over themselves to apologize and what not. We were not terribly concerned other than the fact that we were soon to encounter Audrey's self-imposed meltdown periods. Dinner time and bedtime. Luckily, Kerri was quite prepared for the former. Audrey dined upon a delicacy of pureed chicken and veggies with a succulent appetizer of cheerios. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

As we neared bedtime, the doctor (craniologist?) was finally turning his expertise in our direction. Audrey's helmet has been tight as of late, so we knew she had grown quite a bit. To our surprise and our doctor's (craniologist's?) delight, her head was almost perfectly symmetrical. Terrific news! He stated that we could stop wearing the helmet if we wanted, but he personally wanted to see what would happen with one more month's donning. We whole-heartedly agreed. She has shown no ill-will towards her stylish accoutrement to this point, and it's a great barrier/safeguard for her teetering nature. Thus, she should have the helmet off permanently by the first of April. Then, her bald beautiful head will be free. Harhar.

For posterity's sake:

postscript - As to the latter self-imposed meltdown period, the ride home was much more pleasant than we anticipated. Audrey fell asleep quickly, leaving her mother and I exhausted shells after the day's festivities. It did get me out of bath duty for the evening though. Win for dad.

Valentine's & Friends

Mama Sue, Grandpa & Audrey

For Valentine's Day weekend we packed up and headed south to celebrate Mama Sue's birthday. We had a nice, relaxing weekend in Houston & Audrey even met one of her future BFF's, little Miss Alexa Grace. One of the funniest people in the entire world and my dearest friend Cristina had her beautiful little girl only a month ago. While we were in Houston we were able to hang out with Nina, her Mom Loretta and Alexa. It's crazy to think that 20 years ago we were carpooling to gymnastics together and playing on the playground at school & now we have daughters!

Grandpa and Audrey hanging out by the Woodland's Waterway.

Happy Birthday Mama Sue!!!

Loretta, Alexa, & Nina

Smile

Audrey was fascinated with Alexa

Teething Time!

I'm sure you can tell from the title that we FINALLY have a tooth, well almost. Audrey has one little tooth on the bottom breaking through. Apparently her Mommy was also nine months when I got my first tooth.

The pictures below have nothing to do with the tooth, just a funny comment we overheard earlier this week. Cory and I were at the grocery store with Audrey on Monday and put her in the Big Girl seat instead of her car seat carrier. As you can tell from her death grip on the side of the cart, she wasn't sure what to think. As we walked past a 9 or 10 yr old boy and his Mom, the boy told his Mom how cool Audrey's helmet was and that she looked just like a race car driver :-)

Ladies & Gentleman, Start your engines!

How adorable is she?! Audrey holds her ears when she's sleepy now.

Oklahoma bound

We spent last weekend in Oklahoma for Christmas and birthday celebrations. Audrey had a great time tearing into the paper and tissue, visiting with everyone, and showing off her crawling & cruising skills.


Aunt Lauren, Audrey, Grandpa, & Dad

I LOVE that smile!

Daddy, Grandma, Audrey, & Aunt Lindsey

Christmas Rocks!

Audrey "reading" one of her new books on her fabulous doggie pillow from Grandma

Isn't her hat adorable? Wait until spring and she wears the rest of the outfit :-)

Christmas Pictures- Finally!

Yes, it is almost a month late but we finally have some pictures from Audrey's 1st Christmas. We spent several days in Houston with Mama Sue and Grandpa. Audrey LOVED the bows and pulled most of them off of the presents and then slobbered all over them. Enjoy the pictures!

Audrey modeling her helmet

Between her Dad and Grandpa, Audrey is already an Apple geek.

"Have to reach my new toys...almost there."

Mama Sue, Mommy, and Audrey on Christmas Day

Audrey is ready and waiting for everyone before church on Christmas Eve.

CHRISTMAS MORNING PICTURES

Ribbons and bows~ who needs toys?!!

Audrey trying to climb up into Daddy's lap while he is taking pictures
(Still no teeth)

Mom really will do anything to get a smile and laugh out of me.

Go figure. Audrey stole Shelby's tennis ball and she got a sloppy wet kiss in return.

License to Drive

So with all the driving we have been doing over the holidays to Oklahoma & Houston, Cory and I needed a co-pilot. Audrey has been a a great asset when we have been too tired to drive ourselves. ; -) She turns the bass up too much when she has control of the radio though. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. More pictures of our Christmas will be posted soon.

Long Absence

Kerri and I have been fairly busy throughout November and December. There have been trips to Oklahoma and Chicago. Visits from family and friends. Birthdays (mine). Anniversaries (ours). And helmets (Audrey's). Through it all, we've been taking pictures, but Kerri hasn't had an opportunity to post in a while. Thus, I'm including a few pictures from our anniversary in November for your perusal. Kerri will be back shortly. Happy Holidays.

Audrey is helping her dad open an anniversary card. She's sporting her new helmet which is correcting a flat spot on the back right side of her head. She's taken to it very well. In fact, better than her parents. We have to drive her every couple of weeks to Dallas to get it adjusted. She's scheduled to wear it for 3 to 6 months from the beginning of November.

Shelby and her dad. Our first daughter needs some attention every now and again. She's been very good with Audrey thus far. My scraggly beard in its beginning stages. Now, it's patchy and long. Awesome.

Audrey at a picnic for her parents' anniversary. It was a bit chilly, so she was well-bundled. Notice her pink cheeks. As over-reactionary first time parents, we ran her to the urgent care facility shortly hereafter. Four hours after that, we were home. Nothing to worry about. She had an ear infection.

This was a huge pecan tree at the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens. The opening was large enough to crawl through, and the hollow in the tree would provide decent shelter in the event you're caught out in the wilds of the park in a blizzard. Blizzards and Fort Worth go together hand in hand. Or something.

Audrey and her mother at the gardens. Even I had a pretty good time, considering we were at a picnic and everything. Audrey's almost 20 pounds at this point, and will be 8 months old this Friday (the 19th). Time is flying. Kerri and I are ever vigilant now that she's crawling around and pulling herself up on inanimate (and animate) objects. Shelby's not a big fan of being used as a walker, but she tolerates it.