Showing posts with label Audrey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audrey. Show all posts

11/26/2014

Audrey's second birthday

Audrey girl turned two last week! We celebrated with a small party consisting of family and it was pretty great. I know I've mentioned it before, but we try not to have too big of birthday parties unless it's more of a milestone year. That means minimal decorating and the invite list is short. Of course, no party can be completely plan and work free, since we like to go all out with the food (think made from scratch, not necessarily creative) and of course have a clean house and gifts for the birthday girl. 

It's really quite nice to have those you love dearest come and celebrate without the pressure of having a huge theme complete with party favors, decorations, and costumes or specific fancy foods. I get stressed out just thinking about it. We do other things to make the birthday girl feel special. The hoopla of "today we having a party for you!" is the main thing,but she also gets to pick out a birthday donut, eat what she wants (easier as they get older and can actually tell us what they want), and of course getting showered with hugs and kisses all day long. It also helps that we all celebrate her. This year, Josie rocked at making sure Audrey knew it was a big deal that it was her birthday. I so loved watching that.

Like I mentioned earlier, we can't help ourselves with the homemade food. I made cupcakes with buttercream frosting, which turned out perfectly. I love to pipe the frosting... there's something about getting the swirl just right that makes all the work completely worth it. It didn't feel like all that much work, but when you make a ton of food from scratch instead of having it prepared and purchased ahead of time, it just takes a lot of time. 

I made homemade buns and potato salad (along with the cupcakes) and hubby smoked a few roasts for bbq style sandwiches. My MIL also brought coleslaw. It was a great meal (if not completely seasonal... what do we think it is, July?). 

All the gifts we got were so appropriate and fun. A few clothes, educational toys, an outside playhouse (a huge hit). Of course, a balloon we'd been gifted earlier in the week was also a huge hit. Cheap fun. :) 

I think the best part, though, was just all of the people being together, enjoying company and celebrating our Audrey girl. She had a huge smile on her face the whole time. 

And now the pictures!




A few pictures of the new outdoor playhouse that we just had to check out right away.



The newest member of the family, my niece, Clara. She's so sweet, isn't she? 

 


Very few decorations, but the birthday banner is a must.

  
And finally, the birthday girl blowing out her candles. She loved being sung to and blew out the candles like she's been doing this for years. I wasn't sure if she'd like all the attention, but her bashfulness didn't mean grumpiness and she just seemed even more sweet. Oh this girl... she wins over everyone she meets.






1/17/2014

the Sisters

Where to begin? A relationship between sisters is complicated. With only 16 months between them, the gap of size and maturity is closing and with that comes more laughter but also more tears.


Most of their behavior is totally typical. Audrey wants to do whatever Josie is doing. It isn't undying admiration at this point, but she definitely "gets inspired" by what the big sis is doing. Josie hasn't learned yet that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so she gets rather worked up about it. Especially if it involves cheerios.

An example:
In the morning, I'll get Josie a bowl full of cheerios to keep her calm before I can get myself together enough to get her a real breakfast. If Audrey has been released from her cage let out of her crib, she beelines straight to Josie to eat her cheerios. If I get her a bowl just for her, she inhales it and then goes to Josie for the rest of hers. You haven't seen a real cat fight until you see this! Josie gets distraught and it takes half the morning for her to recover. Audrey smiles with a real "victory!" expression on her face. I'm ready to throw in the towel by the end of it all.


A story for you.



Every once in a while, Josie will be so very sweet to Audrey and will give her a toy without an ulterior motive or say something sweet about how much she loves her. I have to keep my eyes and ears open for it though, because at this point they are not too lovey dovey. Audrey in turn does occasionally offer kisses and hugs to her, but again, I have to be extra watchful if I want to catch those moments. 


Most of the time, they get along great. They tend to coexist without tears about 90% of the time. The older Audrey gets, the more they play closer and closer together. Josie is happy to role play (and of course assign roles to Audrey) all day long and Audrey plays along for a while before moving on to another game or activity.


There isn't a whole lot of jealousy yet. Most of the time, if one kid wants to he held, the other is content to stand close by or play on her own. I can only recall less than a handful of times that Josie asked me to put Audrey down so she could sit with me (and read a story of course). Most of the time, Audrey is happy to get down because she's done with whatever we are doing anyways. Overall, this doesn't create problems, which I'm so thankful for.


They are almost the same clothing size! For a while, Josie was in 2T and Audrey was in 18 months. I foresee many arguments about clothing since they will more than likely be in similar sizes their whole lives. Lord, help us all.


They interact the most at mealtimes. Right now, they sit next to each other with the lfb sitting across from them. Josie is all about messing around at dinner time and Audrey is happy to oblige if she can once she's eaten enough to avoid starvation. Many a meal I am guilty of dragging Audrey's high chair away from the table to try to keep them under some kind of control. Many a meal, I fail. It is entertaining, though, so there's that.



I still think that they look like sisters, but the similarities are not that obvious to me. Hair is different, eyes are different, noses are different. With totally different personalities, they just seem so different.


One of their obvious differences (to hubby and me) is how different their approaches are to new things. Josie will dive in head first with excitement, not thinking through what could happen or if she is even capable of it. Usually, she ends up stumbling or initially failing, causing immediate frustration. We do a lot of coaching around about continuing on even though "it's so hard, mommy!"

Audrey will take her time, watch everyone else, figure out exactly what she should do, and then do it almost perfectly. She takes longer because she does this, but in the end she comes out ahead. She didn't have to fail and then figure it out. She just does it right the first time. This can be dangerous, though, because if we aren't careful she could get the attitude that if she can't do it perfectly the first time, it isn't worth doing. No bueno.

It's so fun to watch how different they are. They are both smart. They are both loving. They are both sweet and compassionate to others. They are both dramatic. They are both hilarious. Yet they go about all of these character traits differently. Always keeping us on our toes, these two!


I pray that they can be best friends. I pray that even though it's inevitable that there will be arguing, that they will learn to put each other ahead of friends that will come and go. I pray that they can be sisters in Christ as well as sisters in our little family.


Aren't these little princesses sweet?


And occasionally, they match. Not too often, because come on. But occasionally, it's sweet.




1/16/2014

Because it's been forever (2 of 2)

Picking up where I left off here, now it's time for some Audrey talk.

Where to start? Better question: Where'd my baby go? She's a "big kid" now, as I do believe she thinks of herself. She follows closely behind the bigger two and can almost keep up. Emphasis on almost because we all know those little legs can't quite move fast enough to really keep up. She has spirit though, and isn't afraid to throw down if they are purposefully discluding her. It's entertaining, but also ear piercing.

I know it's blurry, but look at the bearded grin!

She is wearing size 12-18 month clothes and a size 3 shoe. Her blue eyes are just beautiful - lighter than most people's. She gets more comments on her eyes than anything else. Her hair is kind of a mess right now though. It's slowly ever so slowly starting to get some length but it's not even close to long enough for any sort of style. The long hair in the front (affectionately called her Emo hair) helps keep the obvious "I'm a girl" status but other than that, I don't do much else with it. She is too quick for me and rips out any clip or ponytail I put in, so these days it's down and in her eyes most of the time. 

This is how she feels about hair clips.

She's a good eater. If she's hungry, she has no preference. If she's starting to get full, she can be the pickiest little girl, but I can't blame her for that. I've learned to never assume that she will like or dislike something because it completely depends on her mood and hunger level. I have stopped cutting everything up into tiny pieces and thankfully she is rocking the idea of taking bites instead of just stuffing it all in. She drinks milk out of her sippy cups and straw cups and basically acts like the big kids with all things food or drink related. I love it, since it makes life much easier for me.

I offer a fork, but she prefers hand.

She's become quite the daddy's girl, but this mama doesn't mind. I get all of her "ups!" all day long so daddy coming home means a little bit of relief from it. If you missed that, her favorite word right now is "up!!!" and she is oh so insistent when she wants to be picked up. I won't say that it is all the time, because she can be very content playing or meandering around the house. There are days, though, where all she wants is to be on higher ground, mainly being carried around by the tallest person. If I were to sit down while holding her, she'd want down to go to the closest person standing up. Better view I guess.

While it can be exhausting to have a screaming one year old at my feet while I make dinner, deal with a tantrum from the one of the older kids, or clean up a huge mess, I don't mind her love of being held. I know she'll outgrow it and I really do love the physical closeness with her that I never seem to get with the older two.

King Audrey, as royal as it gets in the Deyle house

She's figured out how to give kisses, and give them she does. Almost any time she's picked up or even if you just catch her eye from across the room, she's happy to give kisses (air kisses included). She has the most affectionate laugh and is either screaming mad or smiling. There is hardly any in between. She's ticklish and loves being chased. She puts on the charm by turning her head to one side and thinks it's hilarious to shake her head vigorously to any question.



We had a little scare when we noticed a black dot on her front tooth. I convinced myself that it would have to be pulled because it was dead but thankfully the dentist said that at this time, that isn't necessary. The black spot may get bigger and will probably always be there (until it falls out of course when she's older) but unless the gums are showing certain signs we don't need to worry about it. I was happy to hear that! (If that is what is wrong with it, it would have probably happened when she fell and hit her chin on our hearth a couple of months ago. She bit through her tongue with both of her front teeth and could have possibly killed her tooth nerve but it could take at least this long to show signs of that. And that, my friends, is my uneducated explanation.)



Her talking is happening more and more. Words she says now: Mama, Daddy, baby, Audrey, Jo Jo, UP!, HIII!, bubye, more, moo (the only animal sound at this time - oops need to work on that!), eat, no, yeah, and water. Each day there is a little more expression when she "talks" to us and slowly new words are emerging. I wouldn't be surprised if she has a huge burst with new words any day now. Her comprehension of language and speech has quadrupled in the last month or so and she is just communicating with us more and more. Of course, with that comes some sight of her little personality that we are still getting to know.


She is so happy. When we are out in public, she will make eyes with anyone, smiling, waving, saying Hi hi hi hi hi!! She isn't exactly shy but does like to be near mom or dad for the most part. Of course, we can be substituted by aunties and grandparents at any time. The "hi hi hi hi hi!" greeting is almost my favorite thing she says or does right now. When someone she recognizes walks in the door, she gets so excited that she runs at them with the biggest smile on her face, screaming "hi!!" over and over and over. Whoever it's aimed at is always surprised but who doesn't love a greeting like that? Answer: nobody, because everybody loves it.


If she puts a hat on, it stays on. If you put glasses on, they stay on. Headbands? Unlikely (although in the picture below, I lucked out). Socks come off and go into her mouth (gross, I know). She is often seen walking around the house with our Roku remote since it is the smallest of our three remotes and just her size.


She loves to dance! If there is even a second of music coming from anywhere near her, she's be-bopping along to it. She is the kid that lasts the longest when we have dance parties (although, to be fair, she also takes the most breaks). She isn't about reading books yet, but I have a feeling she'll get there. She seems to like the idea of it but just wants to flip the pages faster and faster and really she doesn't have time for a story. That's not what books are for, right?


Seriously. She's just fun. I have kissed her and squeezed her so many times and I still don't feel like I can get enough. How did we do life without her? I have no idea. 

Next up: A Sisters post. Keep your eyes open for it!

11/25/2013

Audrey's First Birthday Party

After a tough week, we pulled together and threw Audrey her first birthday party. It was so.much.fun! The prepping wasn't too bad. I didn't spend a crazy amount of time planning and preparing, but the day of was busy (as all party days are). My family came to town early to help out and I am so grateful they did because I had a killer headache and three kids running around. I wouldn't have got a lot done on my own.

On to the fun part. Pictures!

First the party decorations:

Streamers, cupcakes, and food

I made the cupcake toppers with my Silhouette machine

Hubby and I made the triple chocolate and vanilla cupcakes the night before and frosted the the afternoon of the party. I don't know why we subject ourselves to torture like that.

In the hallway, I put the pictures from our mini photo shoot on the wall along with a subway art sign of all things Audrey


Some blackboard greetings, using those jumbo letters from the photo shoot again, and party favors for the kiddos


Audrey insisted that everyone wear a hair bow. The men put them on their shirts for the most part and we loved it!

My helpful sister modeling her hair bow. Also, notice all the balloons. Hubby's cousin borrowed us a helium machine and they went to town blowing up balloons so that made the kids happy and the place look particularly festive.

I put her monthly pictures up behind the gift table and hung the birthday banner here too. I love having this at every party. It's a fun tradition to have started with Josie's first birthday.

A little peak at how much she has grown in 11 months.

Christmas decorations that were pink and white worked great as some added bling in the living room. We'll leave those up until the real Christmas decorations make their appearance.


And the birthday girl:

When Josie first saw Audrey, she exclaimed, "She is so beeeyou-tiful!" I couldn't agree more, my dear.

Every time she sat down, her dress did this. It was too cute.




A few pictures from the party:

Josie had a matching feather hair band and could be found holding a balloon for most of the party.

My parents' dog also sported a balloon.

Piles of presents and kids to help open them. Audrey lost interest after the first one.

The only picture we got from her eating her cake. Love that blue eyed girl!

 We also took some family pictures for our Christmas card. Here are a few bloopers (like I'd show you the winner this early...)

Skepticism in mama's eyes, Josie needs some cheering up, and Audrey has no idea where to look.

Nice face, hubby! He's ready... but nobody else is.

Audrey: "Hey Josie, are they for real? Isn't this a party or something?"

We had so many awesome family members and friends that made it. It was a blast to visit with everyone, eat some snacks and cupcakes, and watch the kids destroy enjoy the space and each other. My girl Audrey is worth it! We love her so much and loved celebrating her together.