audrey's first pedi

so over easter weekend my mom took my sister melissa and i over to get pedicures at her nail place. it was pretty fun. my mom got dark purple, my sister melissa got lavender and i picked hot pink. ever since my toes have been painted audrey is fascinated with them. if she is on the floor she will roll over to my feet and grab at my toes. she especially loves the painted white flowers. on sunday, just for fun, i painted her big toe the same color pink. she LOVED it so i painted them all. i was so surprised how still she was while i was painting them (waiting for them to dry was a different story, haha) and she kept looking at her toes and smiling. she even shimmered her toes (think jazz hands in slow motion but with her toes) and rotated her ankles. dave and i were laughing so hard. i wish i had it on tape. she is such a girly girl. haha, i love it.

my future's so bright...

i gotta wear shades.


no more pictures, please.


audrey HATED wearing these. she hates when the sun is in her eyes so i thought she might like some sunglasses to keep out the glare...nope, she cried like hell when i put them on her...i snapped a couple of pictures on my phone quickly right before she pulled them off...the velcro on the strap didn't prevent audrey from pulling them off, she is one tough cookie.

she is sick and wouldn't eat anything yesterday. i was at my wit's end. i finally tried some ravioli and she LOVED it. i didn't think she would be able to manage noodles and meat with her two bottom teeth but she did just fine. thank goodness for chef boyardee, right?

that is all for today.

audrey's first easter

we have had such a fun week with melissa in town. yesterday was easter and it was my favorite easter yet because it was so fun to watch audrey celebrate it. we thought she would get bored pretty fast but she didn't. she pulled each item out of her basket one at a time and was content and smiling for over an hour and then continued to laugh in her bumbo while we uploaded all the photos. i think she is a fan of easter!



























audrey loved the stuff that grandma montoya sent too:





she liked the foil from her giant chocolate egg best:




here are a few shots of audrey in her easter dress from auntie rachel. thanks rach!






we have had a great week. we went to the tidal basin and rode the paddle boats, went to happy hour at chevy's, dave was offered a great new job, we went to lunch at mount vernon, got pedicures (all of our toes looked like easter eggs with colors like green, purple, lavender and hot pink), went to dinner at carlos o'kellys, dyed easter eggs, had deviled egg casserole for breakfast on easter and ham with all the fixings for dinner and lots of great conversations.

my mom watched audrey so i could ride the paddle boats with melissa. here is a picture my dad shot of my mom kissing audrey.


dave and audrey gave me beautiful tulips for easter. i love them and they bring springtime into the basement. i especially love them today since i am sick once more and will stay home and rest today.

hope everyone had a great easter weekend.

growing up

audrey looked too cute today not to post a few pictures of her. my dad took these and i can't get over how grown up she looks. dave's mom gave her the ruffled onesie and we bought her those overalls months ago and they finally fit (close enough)...AND she got another tooth finally. She now has two bottom teeth. YAY AUDREY!

weekend update

last week was dave's first week of work. it was lonely to be without him but audrey and i stayed pretty busy. we went and purchased some easter stuff for audrey (i am really excited for that) and more baskets to organize our stuff. we took full advantage of double coupon day at the grocery store and got $35.00 worth of groceries for fifteen dollars, i made homemade baby food (which wasn't nearly as hard or time-consuming as i thought it would be), and found a nice centerpiece for the kitchen table.

audrey experienced her first ride in a grocery cart. she was not thrilled about it. here is a picture. you can kind of see the fear in her eyes. i think she was wondering what happened to her regular ride. she actually had a meltdown after about ten minutes and i ended up carrying her around the store. i guess it is like eating solid foods for her, it will just take some time to get used to the idea.



we had a great weekend. on friday night my parents watched offered to watch the princess so we could go get a bite to eat. when we got home, audrey was sitting in her bumbo on the couch, between my parents and when she saw us, she screamed at us. a couple of times in a row...i wish we had gotten it on tape, it was the funniest thing i have ever seen. we all just laughed and laughed. she did not want us to come home. it was like she was yelling, "go away, i am not done playing with my grandparents."

on saturday we went to old town alexandria just to knock around the shops and i found the cutest book for audrey. i can't wait for easter to give it to her. after that we went and had lunch at panera bread and went to a few more stores in search of some nightstands for our bedroom. we didn't have much luck so we went to the library and got a library card and ran a few errands and came home. it was a great day and i am excited for all the fun free stuff there is for us to do on the weekends here.

well, that is just a little of what i have been up to this past week. i just heard the kitchen timer beep signaling that the carrots i have boiling our done and are ready to be mashed up into baby food. i am going to try to be better about blogging but audrey is still struggling with taking naps so i guess only time will tell.

i know i haven't been around much lately. my posts have been brief and mainly pictures. it isn't that i haven't had anything going on, just nothing i really wanted to post about. growing up i would usually only write in my journal when i was sad or upset so i have a few journals that just read of my sorrows and "learning experiences" and i don't really find them uplifting to read. even when i read past entries of my blog when struggling with infertility i feel sad for myself. i don't want to feel sad for myself. i want to be glad and grateful for everything that i have and everything that i have learned...but, i don't want to only record the happy times either so i guess i need to make a concerted effort to be glad and grateful for the little joys and happy moments during the hard times and try to record a good sampling of it all.

after my grandpa proctor died, my grandmother gathered all of the grandchildren at his grave and gave us each a slab of petrified wood. each one was beautiful and had shimmery lines all throughout almost like stripes...anyway, she told us that the shimmery (this is not the technical term, haha) parts were where the cracks in the wood had been. it was not only the most beautiful part of the petrified wood but also the strongest. i have always loved this because it seems sometimes that some people float along and enjoy a life of ease. good times and noodle salad and others (me, namely) face struggle at every turn that does seem to leave cracks in our soul and in our happiness on our mortal journey. i love the idea that these experiences will leave our souls stronger and more beautiful even though it does not feel that way initially.

i know that everyone has their fair share of trials and time is the great equalizer when it comes to pain and struggle and you never know what someone else is dealing with but when you are in the midst of a trial it does seem like the universe has singled you out for misery.

my husband was recently laid off and my little family has moved into my parent's basement apartment. the funny thing is, for several months my husband and i have been talking about moving to virginia and he had been looking for job opportunities here when kind of suddenly (not altogether out of the blue, since he works in the mortgage industry but the company dissolved the mortgage servicing part of the company without warning) became unemployed. i am very proud of my husband. we have been here for three weeks and he has received two great job offers. i am not surprised because he would be a great asset to any company but in this economy it is amazing that we have been so blessed to have him find employment so fast. i have been pretty emotional since we have been here and audrey and i have both been sick and have not been sleeping well so i know it has been rough on him but i am so proud of him and how hard he works for our family.

my parents have been great too. we have eaten quite a few dinners with my family and my parents have watched audrey a couple of times so dave and i could get out together and have some alone time. it is truly a blessing to live rent free and have a place that we can still have time with just our little family.

the last two days with dave working have been rough. my little audrey has not napped well (if at all) and is still congested so mama hasn't gotten a break. i miss having dave home...he has never worked so late in the evening before and i know that he comes home tired after a long day at work and an hour commute.

we have so much to be thankful for. i am thankful dave is employed. i am thankful we have a place to live. i am thankful we have two working cars that have never given us trouble. i am thankful they have Michaels out here. i am thankful for many things, but i am missing friends and family in salt lake and feeling lonely for dave and feeling a bit displaced at the moment.