overdue update

wow, it has been a busy month...much busier than i had anticipated. thanksgiving went off without a hitch. it was my first year hosting and much more work than i was prepared for, haha. it was fun though. it gave me a good excuse to practice my apple pie baking and it was fun to brine a turkey with dave. the food was delicious and setting the table was my favorite part. i found these perfect leaf place mats and gold chargers and it was very fancy and formal and fun. i have been too busy to blog about everything i have wanted to blog about since i started working. i am cutting back to one day a week.

we did so many fun things while my family was in town. we went to see the elves and gardner village, we toured mrs. cavanaughs chocolates, we went to see new moon, my sisters and i took our kids (except audrey, she is still too young for the movies) to a dollar show.

dave and i have been busy getting the house ready for christmas. we put up the tree and other holiday decorations, we put candy in the advent calendar, we took audrey to go see santa, we decorated a gingerbread house with audrey, went to annual christmas lunch with some friends from high school, and today i tried out a new cookie recipe i found in yesterday's paper. this week's project is gathering addresses to try to get my christmas cards out. i have a few other christmas projects up my sleeve if i can find time to get them started and then time to get them finished, haha.

audrey is growing up so fast. she is repeating most of what we say and can climb stairs and up onto furniture with great speed. she is not very skilled though at going down the stairs or down from furniture so she keeps me on my toes. she doesn't like to hold still even for a moment. she is so busy exploring and discovering the world around her. she brings us so much joy. her favorite thing right now (besides climbing the stairs) is the christmas tree. she will kneel and reach up as high as she can and pull the ornaments and berries off and then turn to us and tell us things (we don't understand much of what she says but she says "pretty" a lot, haha) while using grand hand gestures, haha. i love watching her and am happy that she already feels the wonder of the season while tearing apart the tree several times a day. she cruises around furniture so fast that i don't think walking is too far off. she loves to be chased and squeals with delight when dave and i are "chasing" her around her playroom.

hope you all are having a happy holiday season.

thirty days of thanks #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15 and #16

i have not been blogging each day like i had planned on. It is much more difficult to balance my time with my family and my "me" time since I have started working. Most of the time I don't really want to spend my time on the computer when I am at home with my family.

10. I am thankful for my schedule at work that allows for my family to eat dinner together at night even on the nights that dave or I have to go to work.

11. I am thankful for music. I have always loved music. It has always been such a powerful influence in my life.

12. I am thankful for books. I love reading to my daughter and I hope that I am able to instill in her a great love of books and learning. I love how books can take you to another place and give you a new perspective on something already familiar to you.

13. I am thankful for my body. I struggle with my weight and often with my health but I am so thankful that I have the use of my limbs and that when the house is dirty, I can scrub it. I can pick up my daughter and run and play with her. I know that I am prone to be negative about my body but I am so thankful for all that it enables me to do.

14. I am thankful for family traditions that create strong loving bonds and memories that last forever.

15. I am thankful for holiday (and other home) decor. I love the permanence of it. As a mom most of what I do is temporary or gets undone: cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, picking things up, putting things away, setting the table, etc. I know that when I buy (or make) something for the house that it will not get undone (most of the time, with a fifteen month old all bets are off, haha) and will become part of our home or part of our holiday not just this year but each year and that is something I love. I feel like it is something I do for my family that it permanent and adds to our home.

16. I am thankful for clean water. This is also something I take for granted too much of the time.

thirty days of thanks #6, #7, #8 and #9

i have not written for five days. i have felt really down. it has been a heartbreaking week for my family and i haven't felt much like blogging. our thoughts and prayers have been with my brother and his wife and children. we love them so much and wish we could be there to encircle them in our arms. i know that i have many things to be thankful for but it has been a very sad few days for my extended family and my brother's family in particular.

#6. i'm thankful for my siblings. i love them so much and i feel their love for me. i grew up with my siblings as my friends and our vacations now are all visits to see family.

#7. i'm thankful for my parents. i love them and appreciate everything they do for us. it was so good to see them and spend some time with them this last week.

#8. i'm thankful for this season. it is a great opportunity for me to appreciate all that i have even when i am feeling down.

#9. i'm thankful to be in our own place. we have been blessed by the generosity of family this year that have opened their home to us for months at a time and i am thankful for that, it is also nice to be able to have a place of our own to create a home for our little family.

thirty days of thanks #4 and #5

#4. thankful for friends. it has been so much fun to reconnect and meet up with old friends and remember fun times and make new memories.

#5. thankful for a husband that will stay up with me after i get home from work and watch the office with me even though i know he is tired.

thirty days of thanks #3

i'm thankful for a car that works and takes us where we need to go. it is so nice to be able to go on outings each day with audrey. she loves to get out and look around and explore. my car is something i am thankful for each and every day.



this picture was taken after it died in the middle of nowhere somewhere in wyoming.

as i was making my bed this morning, i found myself singing, "when you're tired and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings" from "white christmas" and i don't know if it popped into my head because i am trying to have a thankful heart or because halloween is over and it is time to usher in all things christmas (at least in stores, i personally don't think thanksgiving gets enough play) but either way i'm glad to be singing while cleaning...

Thirty days of thanks #1 and #2

i have so many things to be thankful for right now and i have been neglecting my blog so i am going to post each day about something i am thankful for. it is the second day of november so i will do two today.

1. i am thankful to have had such an enjoyable halloween with dave and audrey. we had so much fun carving pumpkins and trick or treating.






2. i am thankful to have found a part time job that is evenings and weekends only so that i do not have to find a babysitter for audrey because her dad is home from work and takes care of this munchkin while i am gone.

snow white

audrey before story time at the library. i'm glad i got a picture of her dressed up in her costume BEFORE she threw up all over it. she has had a rough week.

snow white watching peter pan

my little sickie...

at least her tootsies were warm

dave brought me home flowers and they have really cheered me up while i have been home with audrey.

the pumpkin patch

we took audrey to the pumpkin patch yesterday. it was her first time and she loved it.


her new thing is wanting to be held 100% of the time. haha. this is a sight i see every single time i put her down...luckily, the pumpkins were fun enough that she didn't mind sitting and looking at all the pumpkins while we took some pictures of her.








my favorite!


i loved the set up for the pictures at this pumpkin patch. everyone was so nice there too. they were oohing and aahing over audrey (of course as her mom, i always love that) and they were cheap! they sent us a coupon for a free twenty pound but we got a smaller pumpkin for audrey and a few mini pumpkins for decorating because they were so inexpensive. i would definitely recommend this place to anyone still in need of pumpkins!

we also went to jamba juice as part of our family activity and audrey was hilarious. they have these tiny cups for toddlers and she looked so cute with it (even if she did make a colossal mess, haha).

i love the fall...looks like audrey is a fan too.

a year in the life of the princess

well i haven't blogged in a month but i have been kept busy with other things. audrey jane had her first birthday since i last blogged so i thought i would post some of my favorite pictures from her first year.

i love this little girl so much and i am so happy to be her mother. she is the light and joy in my life.


July 2008




August 2008


September 2008


October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009 first birthday party

party for our little cupcake

i am posting a ton of pictures because i can't pick between them. we had a professional photographer (my dad) and ten other family members with cameras so we got a ton of pictures. if you are not into that kind of thing, skip this post.

audrey jane turns one on the twenty-third of july but since she had cousins, aunts and uncles in town for the fourth, we did her cupcake party then.

the birthday girl after her nap





her party outfit



the party paparazzi



the decorations



the grandparents





the cuzzies (brody was asleep)





when Brody woke up



the food - we had mini pizzas (not pictured) chips, mandarin oranges and drinks



the cake



when she first saw the cake


trying to lick the cake












what do you get when you rub your eye with a hand full of frosting? pink eye!


when audrey was done, everyone else had to try the giant cupcake, yummy.



Clark did some decorating in the living room and then he and JJ tooked turns jumping over the crepe paper





coloring paper cupcakes







Clark singing happy birthday to Audrey


everybody decorated their own cupcake. we had strawberry, chocolate and yellow cupcakes (some were dyed green and blue) and chocolate, vanilla and cream cheese frosting and little bowls of assorted candy, sprinkles and chocolate chips

the cupcakes



Kate with her cupcake





Auntie Laura and Kate


the opening of presents

is this how i feed the baby?


giving her baby doll a kiss


loves her little batons


Auntie Melissa reading to Audrey


Clark was such a good helper, he helped Audrey open all her presents


Audrey loves anything that makes noise


Audrey's favorite movie is "Snow White"











a big thank you to everyone who helped put up the decorations, cook the pizzas, took pictures and brought such sweet and generous gifts for audrey. it was such a great day for me and my little family...hope you all had as much fun at the cupcake party as we did.