11 Months Old

 

 If you're 11 months and you know it clap your hands!

 Yep. This little ray of sunshine has been all ours for 11 months now. 

Doesn't seem possible, does it?

They See Me Rollin'

We finally upgraded Audrey to a big girl bike. I know, kinda past due being 4 and all but hey, better late than never, right?

For several months we've been planning on letting Santa give her a bike for Christmas but the weather is still so nice in November that neither of us wanted to wait any longer. And truth be told Barker is just awful at keeping gifts surprises. I rarely get a gift on my actual birthday or Christmas. They're always burning holes in his pockets. In fact, when ever I give him a baby he gives me a diamond band. His little tradition. He gave me one for Hudson when I was still in ICU and not even very coherent. I didn't know if it was day or night or even what day of the week it was. I was so out of it. Maybe he was hoping to cheer me up since they wouldn't bring my baby to me in ICU, or perhaps he just couldn't bring himself to hold onto the ring any longer. Probably both. So yeah, we're awful at waiting. So we told her that we ran it by Santa and he said it was OK if we gave her a bike early, that it was one less thing he'd have to fit in the sleigh this Christmas. Not surprisingly, she didn't mind one bit.

I knew she'd love the bike. She was asking for a bell for a bike before she wanted an actual bike, so I was sure Barker bought one. And I told him that the first thing she would ask for upon seeing it is for him to take the stabilizers off. And sure enough, she saw it...squealed...hugged him...thanked him...looked at it again...and then asked him to take the stabilizers off. ha! I know my girl. 

Gobble til you Waddle

Thanksgiving. A time to remember what we're thankful for. A time when Americans look forward to turkey, dressing, gravy, and pumpkin pie. 

In high school my best friend's mom would host what she called midnight turkey. She'd have Thanksgiving dinner ready for all of her kid's friends (we all practically lived there) at midnight the night before Thanksgiving so she could see us all before we had to spend the actual day with our own families. She'd cook, then we'd stuff ourselves, pass out around 1:30 or 2, and she'd wake us up in the am to head to our homes in time to get ready for guests or whatever. I LOVED IT! And I'm looking forward to when my kids are in high school so I can carry on her tradition. 

Thanksgiving, like everyday, is a time that makes me thankful to be a stay at home mom because I always get to attend Audrey's Thanksgiving feast at school.  She had feathers in her hair like she always does. And this year she lead the prayer.

 Thanking God for the feast they were about to eat

 Her class singing a song about "turkey, dressing and pumpkin pie" that ended with "yum, yum, yum". Exactly!

Note: There are two girls and a boy that are smaller than her. I bet she loves not being the smallest like she was last year when most of the girls were September or October birthdays.

playing on the playground after the feast with her friends

Kids always make laminated mats for things like this at school. This year it had the things they're thankful for. I was standing behind Audrey and couldn't see all of hers so I skimmed the mats of the other kids at her table first. One child put they were thankful for Halloween candy, ha! I agree little girl. The next said their playroom. Another said their daddy's airplane. But my girl, well she had Mommy, Hudson, food and Jesus. Yep. That's my sweet girl. Had it not said Hudson I would have thought hers was mixed up with the one that said Halloween candy. I'm sure it just missed being on her short list.

Footie Fanatics

Soccer seems to be in the forefront of our lives most days. The kids especially love going to their Daddy's games. Audrey tends to play with the other kids while Hudson snacks and chases what ever ball happens to be near. 

I love that the weather is still nice enough here in late November to allow us to spend our afternoons outside.

Bedazzled Baby

I don't normally think babies should be bedazzled. That's just not my thing. In college a friend of mine had holes in her ears that were way off center. She said it was because her parents did her ears when she was a tiny baby and then her ears grew and grew and the holes became off center. 

So I always thought I'd let Audrey get her ears pierced when she asked for it and could take care of them herself, and I figured that would be around 1st grade. But at the tender age of 4 she started asking. Said that's what she was going to put on her list for Santa. I'm sure he keeps one of those guns in his sleigh. I told Audrey I thought that wasn't for babies and she informed me that she isn't a baby. Sigh. She's right. 

We were at the mall and Barker pointed it out. It was like a plaster, as Audrey calls them, that's a Band-Aid to the rest of you. I couldn't think about it. I just had to let her do it before I thought too much and freaked out. 

I showed her the options. She immediately chose the pink glitter hearts. She's always asking for purple or diamond earrings so I asked her 3 times if she was sure she didn't want diamonds. She stuck to her guns. Speaking of guns, they no longer use those loud guns. I had prepared her for them. I told her it would be loud and might hurt for a second and that I'd have to clean them several times a day and twist them. She didn't care. She was all in. To my surprise there are no longer guns. Just these single use sterile plastic things. Great. 

So I grabbed the camera and hoped it didn't hurt her too badly. I waited for her to swat their hands when the sting hit. Started taking pictures. And then nothing happened. Not a flinch. She said it didn't hurt. Huh. She just looked a little anxious like she was waiting for the noise I had warned her of, then looked at me like she was confused when it never happened. I held the mirror out and she was so happy! 

 

looking at me like I'm crazy old for thinking there would be some loud bang

 Daddy loves them

 tiny and cute to boot

I couldn't help it. As much as I wanted to be against permanently changing my baby's body I couldn't help but think she looked adorable. And the pink hearts were perfect. Tiny and cute, just like her. My little trooper. She's let me clean and twirl them 3 times a day with no issues. And she shows them to everyone we see. She loves them.

Go with the Glow

Barker hasn't had much time to run lately but he decided to do The Glow Run with our friends the Lambs. It was the most poorly organized run I've been to (the were people still standing in line to pick up their packets when hundreds had already crossed the finish line) but Audrey loved all the glow sticks, which made it worth the headache.

 The kids bundled up and in their glow stick gear.

 Riley and Mike gearing up

Lacy and her friends nearing the finish line. 

I some how missed Barker and Mike. No idea how. They had to be the first to finish with strollers. Barker finished 8th out of his age group, I think like 2000 people ran it. It was crazy. I wish Barker would have actually pushed himself instead of cruising cause we were late to dinner at the Cefalu's and you NEVER want to be late for dinner over there. Yum.

Dynamo

This year Audrey's indoor team was Dynamo. Barker's friend Greg coached it but once when he was out of town Barker had to get on the tiny field with them for the whole 24 minutes they play. Audrey has not stopped talking about it since and the season is over. She really liked Barker being the coach. So sweet.

A rare sight: Audrey about to kick the ball.

 Trying to hold Coach Daddy's hand

proud of her medal but she really just goes to soccer for the snacks afterward

I think she might have my complete lack of competitive spirit.

Annual Family Christmas Photos '12

It's always been important to me to have annual family pictures taken. This was our first as a family of four which made it extra special! I'm so grateful my friend Melissa at Melissa Shook Photography takes such good care of us every year. 

I had a super cute cream colored lace dress to wear and had Audrey in a gorgeous bright red halter dress. Hudson was in a little tan 2 piece suit and I had Barker in a button down that matched Audrey's dress and a tan suit like Hudson. Then the weather dropped from the 80's to the 40's and was raining, so I had to scramble to find things in our closets that would be warm enough, some what fit, and half way work together. All I could come up with was jeans and sweaters in neutral colors. So we're not as put together as we typically are for family portraits but you can't win them all. However I did manage to at least keep us kinda warm for the 15 minutes it took to get these shots so that's gotta count for something. 

Here are a few of my favs...

I like this one because Huddie is looking back at me.

 I love this one except Audrey looks so grown up. : (

 This captures them perfectly.

Hudson doesn't like when Barker kisses me. 

He always gives him a look that screams "Get off MY momma!" 

 My boys!

 Barker swears this is the baby I delivered last year, even though he doesn't look a thing like me.

 I don't care where he came from, I'm obsessed with this little guy.

 precious pumpkin

Life is grand

Trick or Treat!

This year we went to a Halloween party in the same neighborhood as last year but this time it was at my friend Erica's house. Lots of yummy food, tons of friends, and plenty of homes to trick or treat. 

Audrey was an old pro. Huddie and Daddy were troopers. The weather was perfect. A great time was had by all.

Kylie as Pocahontas and Audrey as Dorothy

In the back ground we have an LSU football player, Mario and Ariel.

The costume I liked the most this year was a girl at the zoo dressed as Katniss from The Hunger Games complete with a real bow and her signature braided hair.

I was so proud of Audrey when we trick or treated. She wasn't scared. She lead the way to every door, said "happy Halloween" or "trick or treat" and "thank you" instead of the knock knock "gimme some candy!" some kids burst out with. And she made quite a haul. Sweet girl even remembered Kit Kats are her Daddy's favourite and grabbed some for him. And the best part...she held my hand A LOT. I know those days are numbered so I cherish them.

 Dorothy and her lion who found his courage. 

None of the costumes or decor scared him a bit.

He also found Pirate's Booty and scarfed down an entire individual sized bag in no time.

 Daddy was scheduled to coach but none of his 6 year old boys showed up (wonder what they were doing? Trick or treating, duh!) so he was able to rush back to Prosper to meet us in time to head to the party. That was the best treat of all! This is one of those days I look forward to all year as a parent (There is nothing better than seeing your child's face light up!) and it wouldn't have been the same had he not been able to join us. 

It was a happy Halloween for sure!