October 31

First, happy second birthday to Audrey! We have had a good, and very busy, day!

I have enough pictures from today for about 10 posts, but I'm not going to get them all edited and uploaded tonight. The past few days (and weeks) have worn me out, and my eyes will barely stay open now.

So I may turn today's pictures into a series of posts spread throughout the week. For today, here is Audrey in her new class at church...Beginner I for 2 year olds. Miss Peggy is the teacher, and she has been teaching that class every week for over 50 years!!!! Her grand-daughter and our friend, Angela, also helps in the class.

I was really nervous about Audrey going to a big kid class. In the nursery they just play and have snack time, so she is used to being able to do whatever she wants at church. I wasn't sure how she would react when asked to sit still and listen and participate in an entire hour's worth of structured group activities.

But she did great! I snuck a peek through the door at one point, and she was sitting in a chair by herself (shocking! I really thought she would cling to Angela all morning!) listening and watching everyone. Miss Peggy said she participated in all the centers and did a good job. What a big girl! They also sang Happy Birthday to her and gave her a special sticker, which she liked a lot!

Stay tuned this week for pictures of Audrey's new play kitchen, her Halloween costume, and her night of trick-or-treating with her buddy Cael!

October 30

We survived the birthday party, and I think everyone had a good time! Our house was packed full with family and friends and lots of little kids. It was a bit crazy, but that's the way it is around here.

Audrey was in a good mood and seemed to have fun. She really enjoyed the unlimited access to the goldfish crackers I had set out. She had a good time hanging out with all of her friends, especially her buddy Adam. She did a fairly good job opening her presents, and she especially liked the guitar she got from Wesley and Owen. She didn't want to eat her birthday cake though, which was surprising because it was all she had been talking about for the past two days. Here are a few pics from the party today.



After everyone left the party and Audrey went down for a nap, I headed to the park to do a photo shoot with the Berg family. I almost always photograph little kids. So it was a nice treat to do a photo shoot with adults, who were willing to sit and pose for more than a split second at a time!
And finally, Daniel, Audrey and I ended the night with dinner at Panera and book browsing at Barnes and Noble. A nice relaxing end to a long, crazy day!

October 29

I'm in the midst of getting ready for Audrey's second 2nd birthday party tomorrow. I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to have two parties this year. Two parties means decorating two cakes. And decorating cakes stresses me out!!! I always think I will be able to do it, but it never quite works out the way I want it to...frustrating.

I'll post a cake picture tomorrow. For today, here are a few pictures of Audrey "helping" Daddy rake the yard.

October 28

I am failing at this daily picture thing lately.

I wish I would have taken a picture of Audrey dressed up in her Pippi Longstocking costume at Sprouts this morning. She looked pretty cute, and I managed to get her pigtails to stick straight out! I can't wait to take her trick or treating!

I wish I would have taken a picture of Audrey and I working at the pumpkin patch at church this afternoon. It was FREEZING, so we spent a lot of time inside the foyer. But Audrey was just so happy to be at church; she loves that place so much. She had a lot of fun going up and down the stairs again and again.

I wish I would have taken a picture of Audrey riding the train at the mall tonight with Simon and Elliot. She had to ride on it by herself, because adults aren't allowed. That's a pretty big step for Audrey, as she tends to be a bit clingy and scared of new things. But she loved riding the train all by herself, and she smiled and waved hi to me and Lindsey every time she rode past us.

Instead I have a picture of the new toothbrush I got at the dentist's office today...probably the one event of the day that I don't want to remember. It was just a cleaning, so it wasn't really that bad...but still, I HATE even having to step foot in the dentist's office!

October 27

I don't have much to share today...just a picture of my sweet little girl!

October 26

Ugh. It's 11:25 pm. I just walked in the door and I haven't taken any pictures yet today. Tuesday's are such crazy days. Things should start to calm down for me by next week. I keep saying that, so I hope it is true!

Anyway, here's a picture of a card that we made in my Stampin' Up! workshop tonight. Christmas is only two months away!!!

October 25

This is a lame picture, but it's all I have for today.

Audrey got this "puter" at her birthday party yesterday, and she loves it! I'm sure she loves being able to have a computer that she can actually touch, because Mommy and Daddy's computers are strictly off limits. It's actually a pretty cool computer. You can download customized content to it. Right now, when you turn it on, it says, "Hi Audrey!" You can also send Audrey e-mails from our computer. Then when she presses the e-mail button, our e-mail will show up on the screen and be read out loud to her. So fancy!

Audrey has really been impressing me lately with how well she knows and recognizes the letters of the alphabet. Tonight, we were playing with the computer, and I randomly went through most of the alphabet, asking her to push the letter button when I said the letter name. She got at least 80% right on the first try. Sounds like she's about ready to start reading! :)

October 24

Today we had a birthday party for Audrey with our family and friends in Indiana. I was planning to write more about the party, but I am way too tired tonight. It was a good party, but after a really busy weekend, I am exhausted! We are also having another party (same goldfish theme!) next week in Springfield. So I'll wait until after that one to share more pics of the decor and food. Here are a few pictures from today's party:

October 23

I did a lot of things today.

I went to several main sessions and workshops at the Southeast Conference.

I spent a few hours in the car driving back to Indianapolis.

I got to enjoy a brief visit with my friend Kellie.

I attended (and survived!) my husband's 10 year high school reunion.

I got to talk to and snuggle with my daughter for a few minutes after being away for two days.

I did some more prep work for Audrey's birthday party tomorrow.

I did NOT take a picture.

At this point, I don't really care. I'm sure I will have plenty of pictures to share from the birthday party tomorrow...so I'll make up for it then. Audrey is excited about her party. When you ask her what we are going to do she says: "Bite cake. Toys! Clothes!" I've been trying to explain the idea of presents to her, so I told her she would get lots of presents that she could open and find toys and clothes inside. So I think she's looking forward to it!!

October 22

Last night we drove to Indianapolis to drop Audrey off at Daniel's parents' house. Then this morning, Daniel and I drove to Louisville and met up with some of the other church staff for the Southeast Leadership Conference. We spent the day at the conference today, and then there is more conference tomorrow. After the conference, we are driving back to Indy for Daniel's 10 year high school reunion. Then on Sunday, we are throwing a birthday party for Audrey at Daniel's parents' house. Whew! It's a busy weekend. I'm tired just typing it all out.

So today I went to the children's ministry part of the conference, since I've been volunteering a lot in children's ministry lately. Southeast is a huge church, they have like 20,000 in attendance at their two locations each week. That is almost double the size of the town I grew up in! So, today they just opened up their children's wings, showed us what they do week in and week out, and let us roam around and explore their facilities.

I took pictures of several cool things along the way. However, my most favorite discovery on the tour was this: A library...just for children's books! In their church! I'm so jealous! I would love, love, love to be able to start a children's library at our church. What a fun outreach!

October 21

Audrey had a good day at Sprouts this morning. I was a little nervous after all the pushing at church last night. But she did a good job taking turns with other kids on the slide and rocking horse, and no tears were shed, which is an impressive feat for Audrey at Sprouts.

During story time, Lindsey showed the kids how to make pumpkin pie in a bag. And Audrey got to help. Her job was to squeeze the bag and mix everything together. She did squeeze it, but then she started licking the bag...too bad I didn't get a picture of that, it was funny!

October 20

My sister went to Ikea for me and got this fun felt food as a present for Audrey's birthday. I got it all in the mail today, and I am so excited! We already bought a kitchen set from Craigslist that has been sititng in our basement for months, and I have been dying to give it to her. Play kitchens and play food are usually her favorite toys when we go other places. I think this food from Ikea is way cute too. We got a dessert set, a breakfast set, and a fruit set. I'm tempted to give it to her early since she really has no concept of what birthday presents are, but I am going to be patient and wait until her actual birthday.
And I have a few random tidbits about Audrey that I want to write down before I forget, so here they are:

1. She has named one of her babies Wesley. (Wesley is one of our friend's kids). It's a little funny because this is a baby that is dressed all in pink, and Wesley is a very boyish boy. But almost all of Audrey's friends are boys, so it is understandable that she would pick a boy's name. And this is the first time that she has chosen a name for anything, so I think it's cute.

2. Tonight, on the 30 second drive home from church, I asked Audrey what story she wanted to read before bed. And she said, "Bye-Bye Moon" (aka Good Night Moon). And I realized that we have never actually pointed out the real moon to her. So when we got home, I showed her the moon, which was shining brightly in the sky. And she said, "Elmo's World". Meaning, "Duh Mom, that's nothing new. I learned all about the moon on Elmo's World." We do have an Elmo's World DVD about the Sky, so I think she did learn about the moon from Elmo first. Maybe something worthwhile has come from the TV we let her watch.

3. Audrey has started pushing other kids. Like whenever another kid gets near her, she pushes them out of her way. I caught her pushing a few times when we were playing with Evey and Sophie on Monday, and then tonight when I picked her up in the nursery at church, they said she had been pushing everyone. We've already gone through a hitting phase. Fortunately, she seemed to learn that hitting was wrong pretty quickly, so hopefully she will quickly learn that pushing is also wrong. I talked to her about it after we left. When I asked her what she did at church tonight, she said, "Pushing, no!" Oh dear, she's kind of a bully!!

October 19

Our sink was overflowing with dishes this afternoon, so I let Audrey "help" me wash them. Which means she spent the whole time playing in the water and getting soaked. But she had fun, and the dishes are done, so all is well!

October 18

This morning Audrey and I went over to Tik's house for a playdate. Audrey loves to play with the toys at their house...especially the slide and the kitchen that they have in their basement. However, Tik and I always have to be ready to play referee between Audrey and Evey (Tik's oldest daughter). I'm really looking forward to the day when Audrey will learn how to play nicely with her friends. We practice a lot and talk about it a lot, but I have a feeling there is still a long road ahead. Today, there were a few toys stolen and a few pushes and a few tears (with subsequent time outs and reprimands), but for the most part, they got along as well as I suppose can be expected from a pair of two year olds.

While in their basement, which like most basements is not very well lit, I got to experiment with my new flash. I'm still learning how to use it, but it definitely is an improvement in situations like this when there is no option for natural light.
Audrey and Evey did a really good job taking turns on the slide. Though sometimes Audrey would get to the top and then just stand there like this and not go down. And that was a bit frustrating for Evey who was trying to patiently wait her turn.
Evey

This is Sophie. She is the tiniest, most adorable little girl! She is over a year old, but she is so little and so sweet, I can hardly stand it. And she is my little buddy. Today she kept bring me books, so she could sit on my lap while I read them to her. (Evey was playing dress up, hence the tutu on Sophie. Audrey refused to participate in the dress up game).

October 17

I just made this tissue paper pom pom as a decoration for Audrey's birthday party. I'm planning to make several to hang from the ceiling. We have two parties coming up for her big second birthday--one this coming weekend in Indiana and one at our house the next weekend.

I'm kind of debating about whether this just looks like a big wad of tissue paper or whether it looks like a decorative accent...but I'm leaning more towards the latter (it's just not quite as pretty as the one I saw on Martha Stewart's website). Off to make some more!!

October 16

I had two photo shoots today. The first was with a sweet little one year old named Alivia. She was very happy, but she was also very active and didn't want to sit still for us. She wore me out, but we did end up with some good shots!Then later this afternoon, we took Audrey to the park to do a photo shoot for her two year pictures (I still can't believe she is going to be 2 in just two weeks!). It requires a lot of patience to get good pictures of kids. And when I do photo shoots with other people's kids, I don't have trouble at all being patient. But when it comes to Audrey, I get frustrated very quickly when she doesn't cooperate. Fortunately, with the help of Daddy's silly antics and a little bribery with some raisins, Audrey stayed still long enough to pose for a few decent pictures.

October 15

Today's picture is courtesy of Daniel.

Daniel and Audrey took a spontaneous trip today to see Mimi and Papaw at the Covered Bridge Festival. I spent the day at home, running errands and trying to tackle my ridiculously long "to-do" list.

It sounds like Audrey had a good day with Mimi and Papaw. She especially liked riding in the golf cart around the campground!

October 14

Audrey has been talking all day about the two firetrucks that came to visit Sprouts this morning. (It was a planned visit, not an emergency visit!). Listening to the fireman talk and hanging out with two of her favorite people: Lindsey and Elliot.
Audrey got a little scared when the fireman put on his hat and mask. Even though the point of him putting on his hat and mask was to teach the kids NOT to be scared of him. That part of the speech went over Audrey's head.
Sprouts buddies: Elliot, Audrey and June!

October 13

Operation Remove the Rotten Tree from our Backyard concluded today. I took advantage of the tree guys' lunch break to take some pictures this afternoon as they were wrapping things up. We wanted a picture of Audrey sitting on what was left of our tree, but she didn't think that sounded like too much fun.



A few hours later (and $1200 poorer) this is what our yard looks like.It's so empty and bare and way too sunny. We are planning to plant a new tree in the spring, but you cant just go out and buy a fully grown 50 year old tree. The good news is that raking the backyard should be pretty easy this fall!

October 12

This may be the worst picture I have ever posted on this blog. I wanted to get a picture of the tree being removed from our yard today. But I didn't want the tree guys to think I was some weird stalker, so I was afraid to take it while they were around. I took this one through the window in the kitchen...but even then I was afraid they would see me. By the time they left for the day, it was too dark for a picture.

Tomorrow the tree should be completely gone, so I'll take a picture of our newly empty backyard and post it then. =(