Jen & Audrey

We're moving! In more ways than one...

2011-07-25T14:44:00.002-04:00

First off, I've decided to relocate Jen&Audrey to Tumblr.

I just have not been updating as frequently, and since I have a personal blog over there as well, I feel like it'll be a worthwhile switch! I really like the format. Blogspot, it's been real, but so long for now!

Regardless, FOLLOW US OVER THERE!!!!

In other news, Audrey and I literally are moving. Like in real life. We are about to get our house on the market to sell, and our new lease begins August 15! So many changes. I'm very excited for a new start. Can't wait!

A Toddler's Top 5

2011-05-17T22:56:00.004-04:00

Audrey has taken quite a liking to some of my music lately. While she certainly enjoys children's music (especially "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star") she also has quite a sophisticated, slightly hipster-ish taste in music.

The first song of mine that she really started requesting was "Little Bit" by Lykke Li. We had to listen to this song over and over and over and over for a while, especially when we would get into the car. As soon as she was clicked into that car seat, I'd hear "Ittle Bit! Ittle Bit! Ittle Bit!" coming as a request from the backseat. Good thing I like Lykke Li.

I have tried to get Audrey to listen to other Lykke Li (who she calls Ikcky Eeee) songs for quite a long time. In fact, I tried to get Audrey to listen to ANY other songs for quite a while. The other day, we were listening to all of her stuff on shuffle and "Possibility" came on once. An hour or so later, I heard her going "der's a possibiwittyyyy" over and over. I could not believe she caught on to it!

Next on her list of obsessions was "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I think this is quite possibly one of the most adorable songs ever written, so I fully support this obsession. I still here this one requested at least once a day, every day. Plus, she attempts to sing along with this one as well. "Awabama Awkensaw I do wuv my ma n' pa." Could you get any cuter?!

Audrey is also a hug fan of Feist, especially "1234." She first heard the song when I played it for her on my iPod figuring that she would become hooked. I was right! Then, she saw Feist on Sesame Street, so sometimes she'll request to watch that video, too. It's so good. She often sings or hums along. I love it. Sometimes I'll try to turn the music down all of the sudden so I can hear her sing better, but she'll say "No, mommy! Louder! Louder, please!"

Her 5th favorite song as of late is "Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh!" by Sunset Rubdown. My friend Amanda made me a mix CD that included this gem, and much like "Possibility," Audrey heard it once and began requesting it. She just refers to it as "Anna Anna Oh!" The ending part where they actually sing those words is her favorite part, and needless to say, I can always hear her singing along.

So far, I fully support Audrey's taste in music! Sometimes it gets frustrating because she'll insist on listening to the same songs over and over and over, and when I suggest we listen to something new, she'll reply "No new song! (Insert song title she wants to listen to)!" However, every now and then she'll let me sneak in something she doesn't know. And every now and then she'll fall in love with one of those songs I sneak in. That girl should thank me.

"Phiwadelphia"

2011-04-13T00:43:00.006-04:00

Ok, I'll be honest, this was just taken at a restaurant we went to to celebrate Audrey's birthday with some of our friends. I wouldn't actually put her on a bear's lap. Certainly not a boozin' bear.

Beyond fun birthday dinners, Audrey and I took a trip to Philadelphia to visit some Temple University friends and have some toddler-birthday related fun! We had such a great time, and part of me really really really misses being in the city now. Audrey loved it as well, and if you question where she went she enthusiastically replies "Phiwadelphia!" We stayed with some friends of ours in what must be the cutest home in North Philly. We arrived Saturday afternoon and got to hang out and catch up and occasionally sit in a giant doughnut. You know, usual Saturday hangout activities.

Then on Sunday, we hit up the Please Touch Museum, which is something I would HIGHLY recommend to parents of any young kid. Audrey LOVED IT. Imagine two floors of a ginormous building filled with fun-themed activities for little children. Yeah, it was just as cool for my friends and I as it was for Audge.

She got to....

...play with some real cool boats! ...have air and balls blown at her face while my friends and I watched and laughed!

...crawl through cool tunnels!

...hang out in this weird psychadelic, visually confusing hallway inspired by Alice in Wonderland!

....sass some silly playing cards!

....strike a pose on a lily pad!

...cheese it up with hands perfectly perched on a swan's head!

....rock out as a mini Mozart!

...hang out with her super-cool mom near an elephant made out of recycled goods!

P.S. I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS PICTURE!

...take pictures in this pool of blue plastic strips resembling part of a car wash but, in this circumstance also resembling water!

...check out her shoes on a pond full of lily pads!

...and have a great time being generally adorable. I mean, not to brag, but I'm sorry, look at that freaking face. It just kills me every time!

It was hilarious watching Audrey try to make friends at the museum. She is obviously still learning how to interact with others, and besides a few playdates here and there, she doesn't really get to spend too much time with other kids her age. Every now and then as she was playing she'd go right up to another occupied child and wave in his or her face while saying "HI! HI!" with a semi-creepy smile. Most of the kids just looked at her like she was crazy. It was pretty funny, but I certainly respect her courage for trying!

After the museum, we headed to Center City to chow down on some Five Guys and search for some high-waisted Levi's I had seen on Urban Outfitters website. LUCKILY, they had them, and they fit PERFECTLY. I'm in jean love. Audrey enjoyed roaming around Urban Outfitters with Lindsay, Keiran, and Beth while I was in the fitting room. She found a box of those silly little nylon faux-tights that are meant for women to wear while trying on shoes, and decided that they would be great for wearing on her hands. I don't know what it is with her lately, but she loves putting socks--and I guess now nylons, too--on her hands. What a goof.

Overall, I'll make the assumption that Audrey had a lovely birthday celebration. Shout out to all my buddies in Philadelphia for letting us stay and whatnot. And thanks for the fun Saturday Night Ladies Night which included chick flicks, Law and Order SVU, 40s/cheap wine, and lots of necessary catching up. Good times for all!

Muh Ladies are the Best

2011-04-06T22:50:00.000-04:00

Videos Posted by Elena Jasić: Diva turns 2 [HD]

Birthday Lady!

2011-04-01T23:56:00.004-04:00

It's official! Audrey is two years old! I cannot believe that two entire years have flown by already. It really seems impossible. I know I say it all the time, but she's practically a grown up.

Audrey informed me that she didn't want any presents for her birthday, just balloons. She named all kinds of Sesame Street characters that she wanted balloons of, so I went out hunting, and luckily the grocery store had quite a supply. She insisted on posing with her stash, so luckily we'll have evidence of her coolness for years to come.

Beyond balloons, I gave Audrey some fancy shoes for her birthday as well. Whenever we played at her friends' house, she loved trying on their dress-up shoes, so I figured it was time for her to get her own pair. Much to my dismay, the "princess shoes" have gone lots of places with us, including Panera just the other day. But some battles are not worth fighting; let's see, do I freak out and cause a melt down or do I just let her stumble around Panera in pink fluffy shoes that don't fit quite right? I'll take option number two for sure.

Other than that, Audrey got some new twistable crayons and dry-erase crayons to use on her easel. I had found her all kinds of cute clothes for spring as well as for wayyyy down the road, so she unwrapped all of them as well. We also picked out a book shelf because right now, her books just lay in piles all around the house in a disorganized mess.

Needless to say, Audrey quite enjoyed all of this. I had school all day on her actual birthday, but she got to go to dad's house and celebrate as well, which is great. As we drove home after my classes on Wednesday evening and talked about her day, she told me she had fun. The fact that her and I can have conversations now just kills me. Granted, lots of things are still "no big deal," but it's amazing to see her growth, independence, and the beginnings of a great imagination. The other day she was opening up an empty box and telling me about all of the animals that were inside of it. Dead serious. What a total goofball.

Since we didn't get to celebrate much on her actual birthday, I planned a little Philadelphia getaway this weekend to visit some Temple friends and do fun toddler-related activities. We're hoping to go to the Please Touch Museum, which is an interactive museum that looks like a lot of fun. I'm super pumped, and Audrey seems to be as well. In fact, she tried to avoid bed-time tonight by insisting, "No bed! Philadelphia!" Good try, but I ain't no sucka.

Let's pray to GOD that tonight is better than last night considering I was up half the night with a crying baby who was just doing anything to NOT sleep. If this is what two-year-old sleep habits are like, count me out. So far, so good tonight, but I don't want to jinx it.

In an effor to procrastinate, I've been revisiting all of Audrey's old videos and pictures, and I came across this gem. I would much rather her sleeping be more like this:

Even better if it includes the adorable snoring.

(P.S. I'm sorry the videos are sideways. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to turn them!)

Art, Driving, and Other Big Girl Activities

2011-03-10T00:17:00.006-05:00

Audrey love love loves anything artistic lately. Between her very cool easel given to her by my best friends Angie and Gia at Christmas, her window crayons, and all of her cool coloring books (such as Taro Gomi's Scribbles, only the coolest coloring book EVER), Audrey has had many outlets for creativity. Her godfather, Pete, gave her the Indie Rock Coloring Book, which is also another winner. And apparently she's been making some Playdoh snowmen with Neen (my godmother, Maureen) as well!

It's so neat to observe her desire to be artistic. I swear that little girl could color FOREVER. Lately she's been asking for some pretty bizarre things to be drawn. She always wants very specific dogs drawn, which I cannot do. She'll name dogs that we know and expect me to doodle it on her easel. I'm virtually ALWAYS unsuccessful.

Apparently Audrey has had a big thing with beards lately; the other day she had me draw fish with beards, and yesterday Angie and I were responsible for doodling pictures of Audrey and Mommy with beards! I mean, ladies with facial hair are cool, right?

Audrey drew up this face recently and was quite proud of it. I absolutely love her little artwork. Whether she's drawing a happy face or a sad face, it always has a smile. Maybe it's all part of her "no big deal" mentality. Or maybe she just can't draw frowns yet. I'll stick with the first option.

This blows my mind. I know it's just a few half circles, but Audrey went up to the window, doodled this bad boy, and exclaimed "snowman!!" I don't know what made her want to draw a snowman, or how she put it all together to actually form the shape of a snowman, but she did it.

I swear on my life that Audrey drew this red face all by herself. It's insane!!!! How the heck did that little baby of mine become a big grown-up artist?!

Every day I just cannot believe what it is that she's saying, doing, and catching on to. She has a personality, a voice and little ideas brewing in that adorable head of hers. To think that two years ago things were so amazingly different is just insane. Two years ago today I was still pregnant! And now I have a grown-up on my hands. My, how things change.

In other news, my brother gave Audrey this sick Little Tikes' Cozy Coupe for Christmas, and a friend of mine recently put it together because he thought it was a shame for such a fun, exciting toy to stay in the box any longer. The little lady has LITERALLY been obsessed with it. We've been having to set limits on the amount of time she spends driving. "Couple minutes!!" she'll bargain with me. I have literally had to pry her out of it on multiple occasions. Gia went back to school in Pittsburgh recently, and Audrey misses her, so she's been getting in her car and telling me that she's heading to Pittsburgh. So look out, Steel City. Audrey's on her way!

No big deal, Beiber

2011-03-02T00:54:00.002-05:00

Maureen's kids, Brendan and Kaci, like to make fun of Justin Beiber a lot, and apparently Audrey has picked up on that as well. She does not have Beiber fever in the least. In fact, when she saw his Rolling Stone cover, she literally started whining and saying "NO, Beiber. No!" Jeesh, she's a tough crowd.

Audrey's most favorite phrase lately is most certainly "no big deal." I hear it allllllll the time. When she falls down while running in the hall, it's no big deal. When she intentionally drops food on the floor while eating her breakfast, it's no big deal. When she takes a big smelly poop in her diaper, it's no big deal. When mom accidentally smacks her in the face when trying to put a barrett in her hair, it's no big deal.

I'd say it's a pretty healthy outlook to have in life. You just can't sweat the small stuff, right? I'll have to take lessons from that girl.

Miss Fancy Pants

2011-01-15T23:49:00.004-05:00

Audrey is a pretty fancy lady lately. Between painted nails, jewelery, hats, and picking out (segments) of her outfits, she's been keeping busy when it comes to being fashion forward.

Take this for example: Sometimes you've just got to wear your mom's underwear over your t-shirt and tutu. Haven't you been reading Vogue? It's all the rage in Europe.

Hats are hot, too. She LOVES this one for some reason. I mean, so do I. I found it at Salvation Army for $5, and there's totally some guy's name and phone number in it. I haven't called.

Audrey will do this funny thing where she'll smash it in and then go "Uh oh! Uh oh! Uh oh!" and run to me deeply concerned. I just push it back out from the inside and she'll say "All better!" But a second later, she's bashed it in again and is really worried about it.

Earrings are just the national symbol for classiness. I think this pretty lady is a clear example of that.

Audrey and I have something in common when it comes to ears: NEITHER of us have our ears pierced. Ok, ok, I know, that's crazy. I hear it all the time. The thing is, I used to be TERRIFIED of needles, so I never wanted to get them done. Furthermore, I played sports all year-round, so it was hard to find a good time to do it. Need another reason? There's plenty of other jewelery I like, so earrings just never really catch my eye. Who knows, maybe Audrey and I can go get it done together when she's older.

Regardless, these clip-on earrings I found are so granny-chic, and I think Audge rocks them. I've never actually worn them, but she's so inspirational when it comes to fashion that I may have to give it a try.

And then sometimes Audrey and I have to rock all of our fancy-pants accessories together. Like I said, she's pretty much the style muse of a generation.

A Very Toddler Christmas

2011-01-08T23:25:00.007-05:00

WOW, I can't believe that Christmas and New Year's are already over. JEEZE. And to top it all off, school starts back up again on Monday! I AM looking forward to some of my classes this semester, but still. Thanks for flying by, time.

Needless to say we had a lovely little holiday. On Christmas we just hung out at the house and had two--COUNT 'EM--Christmas dinners. First, we had steak and lobster with Chris in the late afternoon, and it was delicious. Later, we had a yummy chicken dinner with Gia, Amanda, Elena, and Eric, which was a fantastic way to end the day.

It was so cool to see Audrey really get more excited this Christmas. When she first came out to see our tree and stockings, she had her mouth gaping open as she walked around checking everything out.

WOAH, check out that stocking!

Lounging on a quilt made by our family friend Beth.

That's our tree! Which is still up, by the way. Hey, why not?

As the present-opening progressed, the clothes came off. Plus, she had some "diayeyeyeayah" on Christmas day as she was getting over her stomach bug.

I found her this COMPLETELY AWESOME old school Fisher Price record player from Urban Outfitters, and I'm so glad I did. Audrey is a big music fan, so this has been perfect.

If all else fails, I'll put her to work in a pizza parlor. This Pizza Party kit is wonderful practice for that. She LOVES IT.

Audrey liked to thank Santa after she opened a lot of her gifts, which is something I fully support. IT WAS ADORABLE! She'd open something, check it out and yell "THANK YOU SANTA!" except it sounded more like "DA DU SAAANTAAA!"

Audge loves lounging around with Uncle Chris!

Audrey got pretty easily distracted while opening presents, so Mommy helped out a little here and there.

Woah, some of these presents were pretty heavy, so it's a good thing Audrey has huge muscles.

Now, that's bedhead in the truest form. It doesn't matter though cause Santa left some pretty cool stuff in that stocking.

Checkin' out the goods!

The day after Christmas we headed out to Cleveland to visit Mimi, Pop Pop, and Aunt Emmie, and we had a great time!

Lots of snuggling occured, especially between Audrey and Emilee!

Parties on Aunt Emilee's bunk bed were lots of fun...until Toxic Audrey got everyone in Cleveland (starting with Emilee) sick sick sick.

Audrey STILL can't stop bragging about how Emmie painted her "fingah naaaails" and "toe naaaails." Little todder painted nails have to top the list of "Most Adorable Things in the Freaking World."

Audrey really enjoyed having Taylor Swift dance parties with her Aunt. I mean, who wouldn't?!

This pretty much sums up how I feel after the holidays. But as long as I have my little snuggle buddy, I'm good to go. PLUS, Audrey has apparently noticed that when we're in snuggly moods, I call her 'honey.' I never really noticed that I do it until she pointed it out! Now she'll come up to me and say "Audgeeyyy hooooney!" and get all cozy with me.

And things like that are the most perfect Christmas presents ever. I'll take that anyday!

Model Chick

2010-12-12T23:58:00.005-05:00

If you don't know who Elena Jasic is, than you're crazy and you need to get your life together. For real. She's just amazing, and she has taken some fantastic photos of Audrey throughout her short 20 months of life, and this past set proves to be no different.

Here are some of my favorites:

(yes, that is a fox! Elena had it, and for some reason Audrey LOVED it. I thought she'd be terrified. Instead, she would snuggle with it and then lay it down and say, "Night, Night!")

(For more, click HERE, and prepare to have your mind blown!)

A Holiday Behind

2010-11-25T22:09:00.006-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! HOWEVER, considering it's been crazy nuts around here lately, this post will be about the previous holiday: HALLOWEEN! I will do my best to get into a better posting schedule soon. Between work, school, and big Audge, my time has been a little bit occupied.

Regardless, we had a fantastic Halloween. Audrey dressed up like a shark, and she rocked it! The thing is, so many toddler girl costumes--and let's be honest, female costumes in general--are just too girly. They're all the same! The racks are filled with fairies, princesses, and other overly-cutesy costumes. This shark just stuck out to me because it was AH-MAZING. It was also made out of fleece, so I knew it would keep her warm and comfy no matter what the crazy weather decided to do. PLUS, it was only $7.95 after my Gap, Inc. discount at Old Navy! You simply cannot beat that!

OK, now that that holiday is taken care of..... Here's what else we've been up to lately!

We did some baking together lately tha was lots of fun. Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! YUM. It's one of those things that my mom made a habit of making around this time of the year, so I couldn't resist doing it with Audrey to keep that deliciousness alive. She was HILARIOUS. She was a huge help when it came to dumping ingredients in the bowls and stirring her little toddler brains out. She also very much enjoyed chowing down on pumpkin and all the chocolate chips she could get her hands on.

(Ok, maybe I should note, Audrey was just playing with that oven mitt. I did not make her take the cookies out of the oven or anything. She's not that advanced of a baker just yet!)

Other than baking and dressing up like a ferocious shark, Audrey has been attempting to go to the bathroom on the big girl potty!!! It's so exciting. She's pooped in the potty 3 times now and peed about twice. The best way to get her to keep her little naked butt on the pot is to sing songs. She likes to sing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and insert all of her family members' names into it. Apparently we all have sheep. Which is totally cool, right? BUT, considering that we've had some successes, I can't complain. I'm not into pressuring her to do it, but I think it's good to show her and let her learn at her pace. We made a big deal about it when she first went. If you ask her what mommy says when she pees or poops on the potty, she'll let you know that I went "YAAAAAY!!!"

Pictures of that to come, for sure!

Cheesin' to the MAX

2010-10-23T22:54:00.005-04:00

FIRST OF ALL:
100th post! NUTS. 100 posts of baby-filled wonderfulness. Or at least that's what I'm going for. Thanks so much for reading and checking in!

But anywayyyyy:
Lately, a good deal of the photos I've taken of Audrey are filled to the brim with THIS face:

That face with mom:

That face acting CRAZY with mom:

That face in her jammies:

That face in her cool jacket:

I'm telling you that face is popping up everywhere! I just hope she sustains it until it's school picture time! I would most certainly pay big bucks for tons of copies of that face.

Sometimes it comes out looking semi-nervous:

Sometimes it involves wearing mom's belt as a necklace:

Heck, sometimes it requires wearing mom's BRA:

(I swear, she found my bra and put it on and then started reaching for my camera. The she insisted that I take her picture with it! What a goofball.)

Sometimes it requires being a little more serious while wearing a hat:

And then sometimes it requires a little extra sass (which can easily be shown by sticking her tongue out):

Regardless, that face is freaking adorable. Let's be honest. I love the incredible range of emotions that Audrey has now. Everything is happening so fast! Every day it's something new. Every day she's saying new words or doing new things. Lately she's been catching on to colors, especially green, purple, orange, blue, and yellow. A good amount of times she'll get them right! It's amazing to see the changes that occur each and every day. Today, she came running back to my room going "HAP-PY! HAP-PY! HAP-PY!" with a big goofy smile filled with goofy crooked teeth. In return, I was most certainly "hap-py!"

Doing Big Girl Things

2010-10-05T22:22:00.002-04:00

Well would you look at what we've got here! Audrey is quickly turning into a little Picasso!
The other weekend, we went to the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA with our friend Amanda, and let me just say, it was FANTASTIC. It was so cool to see Audrey react positively to all the arts-and-crafts-related items. There were crayons, paints, Model Magic (which is kind of like Playdough but less sticky), chalk, and markers among other wonderful products. Throughout the different rooms of the building, you could test out all the different items Crayola has to offer. I was a little nervous that Audrey would be too young to really have fun and appreciate it. BUT, I was pleasantly surprised at how much she loved it!

AND, as you can tell, that enthusiasm has continued! We stocked up on some products before we left such as these fantastic window crayons. Thank GOD for our sliding glass door! Audrey absolutely loves these things! Sometimes she'll just decide that she wants to go color and off she waddles to the kitchen to open up her window crayons and create a masterpiece. So far she hasn't tried to use them on any other surfaces.

Besides window crayons, we got some triangle shaped crayons that are supposed to be easier for little hands to hold (and they don't roll off the table all the time!), bathtub markers, a very cool puzzle (courtesy of Amanda who is a HUGE puzzle fan in the best way possible) and Color Wonder finger paints and paper. The Color Wonder products are pretty awesome because they ONLY work on the Color Wonder paper. AKA no mess! That's the only thing we haven't tried out yet.

But you know something we have tried out?

BABY PEDICUREEEEEES! My Lord, I always said I would never do something like that to Audrey because she's a baby and that's ridiculous. But I did. And it's adorable. I mean seriously, take a look at those piggies. GAAAH! I was touching up my own pedicure, and Audrey was grunting and putting her toes close to mine. I said "Audrey, I don't think you'll hold still for me to do it," to which she replied "Uh. Uh. Uh." I thought heck, I'll try one and if she doesn't hold still I'll just take it off and forget this ever happened. The thing is, she did hold still. The whole time. We call them her fancy toes, and she LOVES IT.

I swear, she is so freaking funny. It's amazing at what she catches up on these days or attempts to try herself. While I was making dinner tonight this crazy girl got herself up on the chair at the desk in our kitchen and began checking the messages on our home phone. I mean HONESTLY?! Who is this crazy little human being, and what did she do with my baby?!

Hey September, Where Did You Go?!

2010-09-28T01:05:00.005-04:00

WOW, so much time has passed since my last blog post. What the whaaaaat?! I apologize. It's been craaazy busy around here lately considering that I've been getting more hours at work (temporary promotion woop woop!) and school started! Oh, and don't forget miss Audrey in all of that!

She's got zero time since she's always trying to weasel out of pictures that her mother attempts to take of the two of them (that ends up causing us each to have the most awkward faces ever):

She's busy sitting casually on the steps of cafes with flowers in her hair:

It's been really hectic having a good time on car rides (occasionally...other times it's like "GET ME OUT OF THIS CAR NOWWWW!"):

Oh, and don't even get her started on how slammed she's been cheesin' it up before bedtime:
Heck, she's got to be a big cheeseball morning, noon, and night! Where's blogging supposed to fit into that mix?!

However, there is certainly a lot to post about. This past Saturday we took a road trip to Easton, Pennsylvania, to visit the Crayola Factory with Amanda from work. Then on Sunday we took another trip to Hershey Park with the Shays to close out the season! And to make it even better, the tickets were free. Gotta love that!

Needless to say, I promise I will make an effort to update more frequently!

Quiz time!

2010-08-31T21:39:00.004-04:00

Lately, Audrey and I have these ridiculous conversations that pretty much consist of me asking a bajillion and one questions as Audrey responds in the most adorable way possible. I just go around pointing at all kinds of things and listening to her version of the word. She catches on to so much. I've realized that I make this clicking noise when I'm calling to Dia (our dog), and lately Audrey has started making that sound, too! One day, I was like, "My God, she picked that up from me!" Who knew?!

Anyway, as you can see in this video, Audrey has been loving corn on the cob lately. She likes it better on the cob than when I cut it off. It's hilarous. She just chows the heck down.

PLEASE ignore how annoying my voice is in this video. Someone please tell me I don't sound like that in real life. Good thing my daughter is adorable; that makes up for it.

P.S. I'm not drinking a beer in this video. It's an Peach IZZE!

P.P.S. How much of a CREEP does that Elmo balloon look like in the background?!

Give and Get is Here!

2010-08-22T09:41:00.000-04:00

Give and Get is Here!: "Enjoy 30% off from August 26-29 at Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy and we'll donate 5% of what you spend to a non-profit."

So, as a Gap employee, I got to pick an organization (out of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, WWF, Feeding America, (RED), Teach for America, or Big Brother Big Sister) that 5% of my Friends and Families proceeds will go towards. I've picked The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, so if you'd like me to email you a coupon, let me know! It's good multiple times in all of our stores, and one time online (INCLUDING at Piperlime and Athleta).

Prego-versary!

2010-08-18T23:55:00.006-04:00

Guess what today is?

Just a normal day for you, BUT, exactly 2 years ago today I found out I was pregnant with Audrey. How nutso! It's crazy to think about how different things were before all of that. I THOUGHT I was getting ready to go to Temple to be a normal kid, but, life had different plans. Isn't that always the way things go?

Look at that. She was a cutie, even then. Oh, and in case you know nothing about child development in utero, THIS was not the ultrasounds taken the first day I found out. This was a few months down the road haha. In the beginning she looked like a little blob with a slight distinction betweeen her head and her body.

Ugh, just thinking about the nausea and tuna fish sandwich cravings makes me...well it makes me want to barf every day all over again! And to think my DUMBASS doctors--yes, I'll say it, those doctors suck pretty bad--INSISTED that I had a stomach virus for almost a month. WHAT MORONS?! Even after I said, "No really, there is a chance I could be pregnant I guess" they were like "Noooo, you're not pregnant. You have gastroenteritis."

But instead, THIS happened. Yes, besides the fact that I made wonderful friends at Temple (such as the two touching my belly above), I also grew in the stomach region. And grew. And grew. And then I had a baby.

It has all made me revisit this bad boy:

HAHAH. Jeeze, would you look at that goof! it's been a while since I saw all that. (AKA when it was printed). Why was my hair that short? At least it's nice and shiny. I remember I felt like I needed something different and Temple's water was rough on my hair (knot CENTRAL), and my mom encouraged me because she thought my bangs made me look even younger than I already was haha. I still don't see the Ellen Page resemblance, but I remember there were one or two comments on how I looked like "Juno" haha. Maybe it was the flannel?

As far as the writing goes, I feel like it has changed so much. Plus, that was written for a class and edited a good amount to make it work in the "alternative weekly" newspaper setting. It's just so weird to read about that day. I'll never forget it.

It does make me think about my mom and how happy she'd be with Audrey here in the house every day. I guarantee I wouldn't have gotten to see my daughter allllll summer because she'd hog her up. I guarantee I'd sleep better because she'd do that thing she used to do where she'd yell down "Jennnn, turn off the tv. Go to bed." or "Jen, what are you eating? Go to bed." I can also guarantee that my mom would spoil the you-know-what out of Audrey, no matter how hard I'd try to stop it.

I wish Audrey would have gotten to spend more time with her. They would have gotten along juuuuust fine :)

Accessories, Water Parks, Belly Buttons and More

2010-08-14T22:40:00.004-04:00

So here are some recent aspects of our life that you should probably be aware of:

1. I'm in love with this dress. It's Stella McCartney for BabyGap, and it's adorable! Crocheted tops on babies are amazing, especially because you know that if the same top was on a grown woman, it would be totally inappropriate, especially if no bra was involved haha.
Oh, and then when cute dresses are combined with THIS FACE:

the cuteness level blows a gasket! This is her cheesy smile, and lately, it pops up alllll the time. Thank GOD. It's adorable. I hope that's how her school pictures end up for the first few years.

2. Lately Audrey wears anything semi-similar to a necklace around her neck. It either goes directly around her neck or else in this Miss-America-sash style such as this:

Oh and this? It's a strap from one of her chairs. BUT, the way she has it styled makes it such a glamorous necklace!

3. For Audrey's birthday, we got her this amaaaazing inflatable WATERPARK. It's amazing in theory, but absolutely horrible when it comes to actually blowing it up. It took FOREVER. I'm talking HOURS UPON HOURS, and it wasn't even completely inflated. But, it was still pretty sweet. The alligator is a pool with a little spray fountain; the elephant is like a sprinkler; and water comes out of the neck of the giraffe like a tunnel. Yeah, I know you're jealous. Plus, she has a sandbox that our neighbors got her for her birthday, so she's all set!

EXCEPT, the only part she really liked was the pool because I had put some warm water in it. Everything else was getting cold hose water so she'd do her best to dodge those. At one point she walked RIGHT through the stream coming out of the elephant's nose and got soooo upset. Oh, and don't even get her started on the sand in the sandbox. She's too much of a clean freak right now to deal with that pesky sand that sticks to everything. She constantly tried to wipe it off of her.

4. The accessorizing has already begun! Beyond necklaces, Audrey is obsessed with bracelets. It started one morning while I was picking out a bangle and Audrey insisted that she needed one was well. Ok, well actually she needed two or three. Since they're my bracelets, they're entirely too big, but that doesn't bother her at all. She knows to hold her arms up so that they don't fall off.

The day that these particular pictures were taken, she kept the bracelets on for like an hour straight. It totally cracks me up.

5. Sometimes I would just love to know what exactly is going through Audrye's head. CLARIFICATION: not sometimes, ALL the time. For example, what makes her decide to take allllll of the dog's toys out of the basket so that she can sit in it? What makes her walk up to an eight-month-old, look at it like, "hmm, what happens when I do this?" and chuck a toy at the baby's head? What makes her get insanely excited when she sees a Swiffer? Lord only knows.

6. Audrey absolutely loves her belly button lately. Every know and then as she's walking around she'll just pull her shirt up and fondle her belly button as if she's been thinking, "Oh, shoot, is my belly button still attached?" I'm sure she's relieved to find it time and time again.

And as most things these days go, it allllll ends up with a cheesy smile!

7. And last but CERTAINLY not least, we have TEDDY.

Teddy is definitely one of the vital members of our household. Since my brother's girlfriend gave him to Audrey on her first birthday they've been just about inseperable. She clings to him and tackles him on the floor for full snuggling space. In fact, when I put her down in her bed, I literally put her right on top of him and that's how they sleep together. As long as he's involved, she's good to go when it comes to the bedtime routine.

In this particular picture, she had woken up insanely early for some reason so for the first time in forever, I put her in bed with me. NOT COOL. Apparently I was like the kiss of death to sleep with and Audrey seems to be quite the same. She flails her body all over the place and head butts me and kicks me and gives me LITERALLY enough of the mattress so that I'm teetering on my side at the edge of the bed while my bedstand is digging into my skull. Yeah, it's not quite as cute and cuddly as it used to be. But even then, she could be violent!

However, I've got to say when she finally does lay down and snuggle right into my little nutch (I don't think that's a real word), it's honestly the best thing that could ever happen. EVER.

Hershey Park-ing it

2010-08-01T23:00:00.006-04:00

Soooo, not this past Sunday, the Sunday before that, but the Sunday before THAT (ok, yeah, I know, I'm tottttally behind), Spence, Audrey and I hit up Hershey Park with some friends. It was rather fun. I was kind of nervous because I'm not a huge amusement park person, and I didn't know how it would go with a 16-month-old. BUT, all was well, and we were indeed "Hershey Park Happy." Besides the fact that we were BROKE since it's so expensive. We got our tickets at our local grocery store for $41.95, but they're usually close to $53! HOW INSANE? And the food is so expensive as well as pretty much everything else there. But luckily my godmother Maureen and her family are Hershey Park pros and were able to give us some good, money-saving (and fun-enhancing) advice.

The first ride we attempted to go on was the Ladybugs, but that was rather unsuccessful. I was pretty surprised how much it whipped us around. Not cool, especially for a kids ride. Thank GOD they didn't let the little 4-month-old looking baby who's psycho mom was trying to take her on the ride on. I don't know what people are thinking these days. Anyway, she did not like it. She started crying, ,and every time we passed Spencer, she'd go "DADAAAAA" in the most pathetic tone I've ever heard.

Though Audrey wasn't a huuuge ride fan, it was overall a good day. Plus, she LOVED the wave pool. So did I! I could have sat in that lovely warm, shallow water forever and watched Audrey splash around in a big old life vest. So cute. She loved dipping her hand in the water and wiping it on me. I'm not sure why, but apparently that's a really fun time.

The one ride that we went on that she DID like were the Tiny Timbers. She went on in with myself and Kaci, Maureen's daughter.

Since the Shays have season passes to Hershey Park, they stopped out for just a little to hang out and pick up Audrey, giving Spencer and I some 20-year-old time. That worked out nicely because then Audrey didn't get too worn out staying later and we got to ride some more rollercoasters and whatnot.

Dating Older Men

2010-07-10T22:51:00.003-04:00

Sometimes when Audrey hangs out at the Shay's house, she gets to play with Tony, the two-and-a-half-year-old who lives next door. All I can say is that he's adorable. Plus, it's so neat to see how many changes will occur by the time Audrey is that age, which is almost just a year from now! He'll come up and say "HEY, watch how fast I can run!" and waddle off as fast as his little legs can take him.

One of the many perks that comes with dating an older man is that he's got a car. LOOK AT THAT THING. What am I saying; that's not a car! That's a Harley Davidson Monster Traction TRUCK.

Tonight when we saw him, he was very excited to show off the wood that he had helped his dad chop. I'm telling you he is quite a manly man.

Oh, and he's smart, too! Upon asking what type of dog he had, he exclaimed, "She's a LABRADOR!"

Top Ten Parenting Frustrations

2010-07-02T22:31:00.016-04:00

Sometimes when I look back on my blog I can't help but notice how gosh darn cheery it is. Parenting is not all butterflies and cupcakes, and there are certainly some tough aspects. Let me elaborate. Here are some things about parenthood that can drive me a bit insane at times:

1) Lack of sleep
From DAY ONE, you're tired, and I swear you just never catch back up. I remember being EXHAUSTED after giving birth. It's called LABOR for a reason. However, at the hospital there is constantly someone in and out of the room at all times. Then, you go home, and CONTINUE to have a wacky sleep schedule because you're living with a newborn. I'll be honest, there are some mornings where I hear that first cry and I just think "PLEASE NOOOO. GO BACK TO SLEEEEP!" I've never been a morning person, anyway. Oh, but funny story. The other day I had to be at work at 8 am, and I come home to find out that Audrey decided to sleep until 11am for dad!! ELEVEN?! She usually wakes up between 6:30 am and 8:30 am, usually closer to 8:30. I swear, I don't know what he does to her. And then of course, he went to work and she took no nap that day! That darn Audrey.

2) The time added to everything I do
With a child, a simple trip to the grocery store to pick up a gallon of milk becomes quite an adventure. Even just getting out of the house takes so much longer than it once did. Oh, and don't forget those perfectly timed poops that I seem to sniff JUST as we're getting out the door. LOVELY. I feel like I'm constantly late. I swear there's a mental checklist that forms in your brain of all the things you need to do and need to bring to get yourself out of the house and accomplish anything.

3) Judgment
As a young parent, I often get the "WOW, you look too young to have a child!" or "Oh, really, she's your's?!" or even the "So are you the babysitter or the mother?" Listen up; I'm old enough to menstruate, therefore, old enough to create a baby. Keep the comments to yourself and mind your own business. And don't give me that once over. Sometimes, I feel like I'm not allowed to express discontent because I did chose to be in the situation I'm in. Yeah, I made that decision, and I'm so happy I did, but that doesn't mean that, like any parent, I don't have stressful days.

4) Stretch marks
Yes, I said it. I've got stretch marks! I'M TWENTY! That weight gain during my pregnancy has left me less than pleased with my skin. It's not even my stomach, which was the area that primarily grew! Nope, it's all over my thighs and bottom, and it makes me much less enthusiastic about swimsuit season.

5) Unwanted advice
It's AMAZING how many people don't even hesitate to tell you what the best thing for your child is. I guess some of it may be because I'm young, but that really has nothing to do with the type of parent I will be. My mom always encouraged that any concerns I have brought up are the same concerns she had as a new parent, and she was close to 10 years older than me when she first gave birth! I'm not an idiot; I have raised Audrey thus far, and I'd say she's doing pretty well. So no, she doesn't need one more layer of clothing. And if her sleeping in my bed is going to get us all a good night sleep, guess what? THAT'S WHERE SHE'LL SLEEP (though she hasn't in a while, and if she ever does, she's VIOLENT in her sleep...she gets it from her mama) It's so frustrating. I've found that at the end of the day, when I trust my parental instincts, both Audrey and I are happy. And I'm tired of being told "Just WAIT till she can (fill in the blank with an important childhood milestone)! Then you're in for it." WHAT does that even mean?! Well, considering I'd like my daughter to be a competent, functioning member of society, yes, YES, I'm certainly "in for it."

6) Competitive parents
Don't even get me started on the competition. WE'RE RAISING CHILDREN NOT BATTLING IT OUT ON A GAME SHOW FOR A TOP PRIZE, PEOPLE. I don't care if your child and my child aren't meeting the same milestone at the same time. I don't care if you're child is a genius, or if he or she is a little slow. It's not about that. Children develop at their own pace, and guess what? Usually, most of them turn out just fine. I don't want my child's entire life to be a competition. I don't want her to grow up and think that she has to constantly be better at everything than everyone else. So BUZZ OFF, and go play a game or an organized sport or something to burn off that competitiveness of yours.

7) Housework
UGH. Menial tasks like putting away laundry or unloading the dishwasher are the most annoying tasks in the world. Especially when I've just put Audrey down for the night and all I want to do is sit down. Sometimes, I look around and just get down on myself because there's clutter everywhere. But you know what, if it comes down to it that I either have time to play with my daughter or clean, I'm going with the first choice.

8) Inconsistent Naps.
Some of these baby books act like if you do "the right thing" your child will take 3 hour naps every day without fail. Well, hey, guess what?! That's a lie. Oh, and how about that books that claim no crying is involved EVER? Not here. I hope that doesn't include the mom, too, because if so, we are wayyyy off track! There are times I get frustrated, and I need to leave that room and take a breather. But I've come to realize that though routine is important, we all have days (or nights) where we just can sleep right. By putting less emphasis on naptime as a time to squeeze in all types of school work and chores, I've gotten less frustrated if she only naps for a half hour. Does it make me less tired? No. Can we get through the day and go to bed a little earlier? Yes.

9) Lack of freedom
No, I don't mean this in the way that many young parents controlling our prime time TV shows may mean it. I'm not interested in going out and partying all the time. I don't want to, and I don't have the energy to. I honestly feel like if you're going out constantly, you're probably not putting in 100% into your parenting. BUT, that doesn't mean there aren't nights where it's like, you know what, I wish I could go out to dinner and see a movie tonight. I'm lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life who love Audrey and would love to babysit. I AM able to occasionally do things (though I usually use babysitter time for school or work haha), but I can no longer make decisions at the last minute. If I want to do something, it needs to be planned in advance.

10) Getting bathed.
Ok, so this may sound kind of weird, but bathing is so overrated. Since becoming a mother, my showers have become a challenge of See-How-Quickly-You-Can-Semi-Clean-Everything-Before-The-Baby-Gets-Bored. I've already submitted to bribery! I can't believe it. I usually give her a granola bar to munch on so that I can bathe in something close to peace. However, my showering is usually filled with trying to keep Audrey's head/arms out of the stream of water, peeking out when it gets too quiet to make sure that Audrey isn't digging in the trashcan or peeking in the toilet, deflecting objects thrown into the bathtub, talking and/or singing songs such as "The Wheels on the Bus," and opening my eyes after washing my hair only to find the shower curtain pulled open and a fifteen-month-old staring at me and giving ME the once-over. It's just such an ordeal! Plus, I just can't find a good time to do it. Sometimes I'll get a shower at night, but some nights, I don't feel like it, and I just want to go to bed. However, if I have somewhere to be early, I don't want to get it in the morning. I usually judge it by my hair. If my hair looks greasy, I've got to get a shower. If not, I'm good to go. Lovely, huh?

But you know what, after all of this, I see why my posts aren't usually negative. Even through doing this post, I laugh. I laugh at the little things that I get stressed out about. I laugh about the situations Audrey and I have been through. I laugh at the silly faces she makes when she's upset. No, it's not funny at the time, but at the end of the day, when it really comes to what I'll post on my blog, I just laugh. Ultimately, all of these annoyances are trumped by the fact that I have a beautiful daughter who can now point at me and say MAMA! and give me the most adorable kiss and the biggest hug that her little arms could possibly give. And all of that is worth more than any frustration parenting could throw my way.

Picture Flashback

2010-06-29T23:57:00.008-04:00

Ok, so these pictures are MONTHS old, but I realized I never posted all of them! A friend of mine that I met at Temple, Michele, stayed overnight a while back, and as we hung out, she took some adorable pictures of big Audge. The great thing about these pics is that there is such a wide range of baby emotions being shown.

Such as zombie baby.

Or caught-off-guard-and-rushing-a-wave baby.

Or exhausted baby.

Or about-to-zonk-out baby
Or creepy grinning baby.

Or adorable baby :)
Or spying baby.
Or old-lady-look-a-like baby.

And of course, if you were ever wondering where she gets all of these fun facial expressions from, just check out her mama!

There's punk rock baby! Oi! Oi! Oi!
And pin-up baby.
Modeling baby.

Exaggerated whining baby.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me, Mom!" baby face.
"Hey lady, don't even think about moving an inch closer" sassy baby.
Grumpsters McGee baby.
Senior portrait baby. (minus the cheesy smile)
Too cool for school baby.

Deep in thought baby.

Intellectual baby.

"Hey, gimme that camera!" baby
Flirty baby.

Pondering-life-as-I-stare-off-into-the-distance baby

You know, the usual expressions. From a big ol' pouty face, to full out whining, to a cute little grin, Michele caught it all. I'm glad that Audrey was being animated. Sometimes when a camera comes out, she just goes all blasé and acts like the just can't possibly be bothered by the picture taking going on. Which, I mean, that's cool, too, I guess.

ALL PICTURES TAKEN BY MICHELE LESTOCHI :)

Play Dates!

2010-06-25T15:30:00.005-04:00

Lately, with it being summertime and all, we've been trying to get together with friends as much as possible. Not only is it a great time, but I also think it's important for Audrey to be around other children and learn how to interact well with them. Luckily, we've got some cool friends with cool kids! My friend Laura has two-year-old twin girls who are AAAADORABLE. Audrey really seems to love playing with Andrea and Makaela. The three of them together seriously just crack me up. It's hard, too, because they're all at that age where they're learning what it means to share, but at the same time, they don't quite understand its importance or why we must do it. Needless to say, sometimes one of them will have a little mini melt down, but Laura and I deal with it and the play date goes on!
The girls loved playing in Audrey's walker, even though none of them needed it for walking assistance. They took turns getting pushed around!
For a little while, the three of them ended up in Audrey's bed with TONS of blankets and stuffed animals. While they hung out in there, Andrea taught Audrey how to turn the light switch on and off by demonstrating and saying "Watch, Audrey." And Audrey does it ALL the time now!
Makaela had a pillow, about four blankets, and some stuffed animals all piled on and around her and reached for Audrey saying "NUGGGLE! NUGGLE, AUDREY!!!" She wanted to snuggle with Audrey soooo bad, and it was adorable. When her sister tried to come over to snuggle, she insisted "NO SISSY! AUDREY NUGGLE!"

On Thursday, Audrey and I went to go play at Laura and the twins' house, which was filled with so many big girl toys that Audrey had a hayday! She especially loved the high-heeled dress up shoes, and surprisingly enough, she could actually walk in them!! So much fun!

We also went to Rachel's house this weekend with our friend Staci. Rachel has a two-year-old girl named Taylor and about a two-month-old named Noah. They're both pretty darn cute! And wow, can Taylor talk well! We're talking full sentences! I think the funniest was when her mom was telling her to share and Taylor said "But mom, I CAN'T share. I can't!" But she did, and she was very good at it! Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of this fun get together. I'm sure we'll get together with them again soon and take tons of pictures of the adorableness that ensues!

Animal Lovers

2010-06-21T22:58:00.005-04:00

Recently we went to Lake Tobias with our friend Amanda. It's a local animal reserve that, for being in central Pennsylvania, is actually a lot more impressive than you may think! We're talking lions, tigers, bears, ostriches, bison, llamas, goats, lemurs....the list goes on! It was a blast. Plus, it's SO inexpensive; it costs $4 to get in and then $5 to go on a safari ride. Needless to say, it's a steal.

Audrey had literally no fear of all of the animals. I mean, she's a toddler, and I know she doesn't understand the consequences of going over and smacking an alpaca on the head, but seriously. You'd think she'd be a little tenative. At both the petting zoo and the safari ride, you can buy crackers to feed the animals. She LOVED that. On the safari ride she was practically hanging over the side to feed the different animals.

And like I said, there were some BIG animals. We're talking BISON. And don't forget the vicious birds. One almost took her hand off. But she wasn't even phased. It amazed me. There were girls who were probably around 6 or 7 sitting in front of us and Amanda and obviously they were trying to give the animals crackers, too. Audrey seeemed to notice this and insist even harder that the animals take her crackers. What a goof.

(that deer in the background is totally sticking his tongue out at us!)

Then at the petting zoo, she was going right up to these animals that I'm pretty sure could have bitten her finger off in one chomp and patting them and shoving crackers in their faces with no apprehension whatsoever. There was also a pregnant goat there that seemed to take a liking to her. And of course, she loved it.

And then her big adventure ended like this:

Which, after such a fun day, I could definitely have gone for, too!

P.S. Amanda Mustard is responsible for taking allllll of these adorable pictures.

Swimming and Such

2010-06-20T22:14:00.002-04:00

Pretend that we're still in last week so that this post happened on time...

2010-06-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

Hahahah check out these nerds! We went to the Baltimore Aquarium LAST Thursday (yes, I'm ultra behind) and hung out in Inner Harbor for a little while. It was lots of fun, and I think Audrey really enjoyed herself, too! It's hard to tell by this picture because they caught us totally offguard as soon as we walked into the aquarium, they were like "OK STAND HERE...SMILE!" She had a little trouble on the car rides because she refused to sleep. It's not that she was really crying or anything but she just kept making this little annoyed noise that she makes, and after an hour and a half of hearing it, you're like MY GOD, PLEASE STOP THAT NOISE! She's like a little gorilla!

But she was great. We got down there around 1pm I want to say, and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. I haven't been there in forever and Spencer has never been to one (I'm more hard rocking then him, OBVIOUSLY), so it was a fun time. Oh yeah, and Audrey had never been to one either.

After all that deliciousness, we headed to the aquarium. Audrey was pretty tired by that point, but she seemed very intrigued by all the animals. The coolest was this shark whose snout looks like a saw. NO LIE. This thing was ridiculous.

(PICTURE FROM http://de.academic.ru)

I've got to say, we weren't too impressed by the dolphin show! It was good, but they tried too hard to make it informative when really, I mean really, come on, all we really want to see is crazy jumps, flips, and tricks. Spencer chose a seat for us in the SPLASH ZONE along with all the other elementary school aged children there on field trips. However, we didn't get totally soaked or anything. Audrey loved sitting by all of the kids. She was clapping along with them with a big grin plastered on her face. She definitely thought she was one of the big kids.

We only did a little bit of shopping [I got a much-needed pair of shorts (high-waisted!) and Spencer got a hat] but it was so nice to just walk around down there. THIS was the point where Audrey fell asleep. It worked out pretty well, but I do wish she would have slept in the car. Oh, and I left my wallet in Urban Outfitters for about 15 minutes. THANK GOD Spencer knew where it was and nobody took it. Beyond that, we had a total Seinfeld moment when leaving. We got lost in the parking garage. It was horrible, and I got cranky. Spencer had to start at the top and walk down until he found our car. OH, and it was already $22 to park there for the length of time that we did and then they charged us another $5 I guess because it took us so long to get OUT of the garage. WHAT THE HECK?! We payed just as much for parking as we did for one ticket to the aquarium.

THEN, on LAST Friday, we met up with a buddy from middle school, Miss Amanda Mustard! We hadn't really been in touch much since back in the 8th grade, but it was cool getting together and catching up. Plus, she took a lot of adorrrable pictures of Audrey. In fact, all of the pictures that make up the rest of this post were taken by her!

We went to Dockside Willies (I don't think I will ever be comfortable with that restaurant's name...it's just odd!) and chowed down on pizza and a giiinorrrmousss loaded potato. No, literally, this potato was massive. It was honestly the size of Audrey's head. HUGE.

(SO pumped for potato!)

After that we had to hit up the park to burn off the food. Ok, Amanda and I didn't, but Audrey did some running around while Amanda snapped pics.

(talking on da' phone)

(She was being totally serious again for some reason, so some tickeling was needed)

(Sniffing flowers! I love this scrunched face!)

(Scaaaryy mom, but adorable Audrey)

(Serious swinger)

(Nobody hugs her so she has to hug herself)

[Just kidding! We love hugs and snuggles :) ]

But don't worry, as if that other food wasn't enough to fill us up, we headed for some yummy ice cream as well! Peanut butter soft serve is amazing! Audrey seemed to enjoy some, too :)

Someone was hogging it up! Her name starts with an "A" and ends in a "udrey." Oh, and she made friends with a very friendly older couple who have two grandchildren. Audrey even got a french fry out of them! She's sly, I'll tell you what.

Spike Leen

2010-05-21T21:46:00.003-04:00

Toofs! Would you check out all those chompers? Pretty cool, huh?! I'm not sure exactly how many have poked through now (the picture above is probably a week or two old) I think there's four on the top and at least four on the bottom. I know at least two have broken through the surface in the past week or so. It's so funny to see them! Spencer is convinced that we have to get her braces now because they seem so uneven and crooked. I try to tell him that that's just how baby teeth are!

Sometimes I like to spike up Audrey's hair after her bath and let her walk around like that. It's so funny considering that she has no clue how ridiculous she looks. So there she is, walking around and doing her thing with her crazy hairs way up in the air. She'll do something very serious like "read" a book or "organize" her shoes. You know, the usual bedtime activities.

Besides spiked hair and growin' teeth, we've been having fun now that school's over! Today we went to the park with my friend Laura and her twin two-year-old daughters Andrea and Makaela. Those girls are SO ADORABLE. MY GOD. It's amazing to see how much they learn in between our get-togethers. Audrey was trying so hard to keep up with them and chase after tham, but my the time we left she was EXHAUSTED.

Here are some ultra old pictures of Audrey, Andrea, and Makaela playing together back in November. So just add a good six months to all of that cuteness and you'll get a good idea of how adorable these hang out sessions get!

(this was our progression of attempting to get a good picture of the three of them. It went from one in place, to two in place, to three in place and about zero children looking :) )

Children's Books I've Memorized Monday: Goodnight Moon

2010-05-17T21:42:00.006-04:00

You've got to love Goodnight Moon. Come on now, kids, it's a classic! No, seriously, it's been around since 1947, so if you have never heard of it, you've been living under a rock or had a rather deprived childhood. You just can't go wrong. Simple text? Check. Adorable bunny in pajamas? Check. Tacky color scheme? CHECK.

Maybe it's for these reasons that Audrey has been obsessed with it lately. It's odd, she wasn't that in to it before, but these days, it's all she wants to read. Plus, she has like two or three copies, so there's always one lying around.
So here it goes:

Goodnight Moon

By Margaret Wise Brown

Pictures by Clement Hurd

In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of--

A cow jumping over the moon
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs

And two little kittens
And a pair of mittens

And a little toy house
And a young mouse

And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was wispering "hush"

Goodnight room
Goodnight moon

Goodnight cow jumping over the moon

Goodnight light
And red balloon

Goodnight bears
Goodnight chairs

Goodnight kittens
And goodnight mittens

Goodnight clocks
And goodnight socks

Goodnight little house
And goodnight mouse

Goodnight comb
And goodnight brush

Goodnight nobody
Goodnight mush

And goodnight to the old lady wispering "hush"

Goodnight stars
Goodnight air

Goodnight noises everywhere

Ahhhh, how relaxing :) If that's not a great ending to a good night, I don't know what is.

I mean, let's be serious, books are great, and television makes us look and feel like this:

And really no one except a thirteen month old can pull that off.

BEWARE: Adorable Naked Baby Pictures Below!

2010-05-13T23:17:00.004-04:00

This is usually what occurs while I'm attempting to get Audrey's bath ready. She zooms around butt naked. AND LOVES IT. One night Chris was about to leave when he looked back the hallway and saw her naked little buttcheeks scurry from the bathroom into my room. It's so funny to watch her! Plus, as a toddler, she has no concept of nakedness or the idea that in Western culture, we don't usually just lounge around the house in our birthday suit.

This naked time is usually quite fun and exciting except for when Audrey starts peeing. Obviously, she's got no control over those muscles (get the Kegels going, giiiirrrrl!) so when she's gotta go, she's gotta go, regardless of whether or not she has a diaper on. The other night, Spencer was watching her while I was at work and she waked out to the kitchen (naked) with him (he wasn't, just her haha) to check on my brother and see what he was doing. Apparently she urinated all over the kitchen floor, but neither of them noticed until she went to walk and slipped. I guess she completely wiped out, which she wasn't so happy about. Slipping in your own pee is not only embarrassing, but also painful!

The other night, she peed on the bathroom floor while I was filling the bathtub, slipped in it, and hit her head on the side of the bathtub :( I felt SO bad. She criiiieeed and criiieeed. Poor, poor baby. But I'm sure it won't be the last big bump she'll ever have!

Kicking with her piggggiieeeesss!

A very serious bather!

Audrey is obsesssssed with balls. She'll point to a ball and tell you that it's a "baa." I think she's starting to get a little bit of that "l" souond in there. We'll see. I don't know what it is about round things, but she loves balls and dots. She has dot decals on her bedroom walls, and she'll look point to them and say "DOT!" It's hilarious. Of all things. AND WHERE IS MAMA?! COME ON CHILD! I mean, I get it occassionally, but not too often. Nope, it's all about balls, dots, and DAD! (which is just fine with me!)

Cheeesssing! After she finishes brushing her teeth I always say, "Ok, smiiiileee!" Then she gives a big old goofy grin and I tell her how gorgeous and sparkling clean her teeth look. You can tell she gets a big kick out of this. I think she likes the compliment :)

Momma's Day!

2010-05-11T15:35:00.008-04:00

Ahhh, I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I have been finishing up this semester and it's been a bit crazy lately. BUT, things have been going pretty well. This past weekend was Mother's Day! Chris (my brother) took us out to a very yummy breakfast and then later we visited my mom's grave. That went all right actually. I mean, not that that's ever a fun thing to do, but Audrey kept running around and trying to steal people's flowers, so that kind of took some of the edge off. After all of that, Spencer came over and made some chicken with this great marinade he put together (soy sauce, honey, mustard, and a bit of salt and pepper....I think that was all, but I forget!). Aww, and he got me a cute tank top and dress! How sweet? He works at Pac Sun, and every time I go in to visit I was dropping little hints of how much I liked this tank top, but I wasn't expecting him to get me anything for Mother's Day! Very nice :)

(notice the adorable slippers hahaha)

Later, Maureen, her daughter Kaci, and I went to see Babies while Spencer hung out with Audrey and put her to bed by himself for the first time. And he was successful! Woohooo! Since I was nursing before, the night time routine was predominately on me, but it's nice that he can step in and do it sometimes, too. Anyway, the movie was great! I really liked it. It's very different; there was pretty much no dialogue, but with all the adorable baby acts involved, none was needed! It was very cool. I'd suggest checking it out. It's amazing to see how other people--let alone BABIES--live!

Overall it was a great day. I really wasn't expecting to have much going on, but it ended up being very entertaining. Plus, Audrey has been sleeping REALLY well at night. We're talking 8pm to 9-10am. YEAH. REAL WELL. I'd like to think this is a combined Mother's Day and Hey-I-Know-You're-Taking-Finals-So-I'm-Going-To-Be-A-Good-Girl present. However, I hope this is one of those gifts that keeps on giving. I could definitely get used tot his. It's been going on for about a week now. The first night she did it, she slept until 9, but the second night, she slept until 10. Or, should I say, I slept until 10, woke up in terror, and ran into her room expecting to find a dead baby. MY GOD, I was terrified! That never happens.

[paparazzi pic :) ]

She had been napping really well, too, but the past two days, naps have been real tough. We're lucky if we're getting a half hour for the whole day! UGH. She may be cutting some new teeth. I hope that's it. It's so tough because you really can't tell what the heck is going on to cause a weird "phase" yet before you know it, that phase is over and it's on to the next one!

Weekend Adventures!!

2010-04-23T23:58:00.000-04:00

So, we've been some busy travelers lately! Right now I'm getting ready for bed in Cleveland while visiting my Dad, stepmom, and little sister. Today was my dad's birthday, so we came to surprise him! He didn't even see it coming :) At least, I don't THINK he did. It's so great to be out here and see their new house and visit. We went to a great steakhouse for dinner and chowed down. Audrey was being a ham as usual, and she was wandering around waving at everyone. It's ADORABLE to see Audrey with Emilee. At the table, she kept tapping Emilee on the shoulder so that Emilee would look at her. That or else she'd lean in for hugs and kisses. It was adorable.

I'll have more of an update and hopefully some pictures on the rest of this weekend later!

LAST WEEKEND, Audrey and I visited my Temple friends in Philly. It was TONS of fun. We got in Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday afternoon. By planning the car rides around nap time, we were able to make the car rides pretty easy. EXCEPT, I had to stop at a rest stop on the way home to get coffee because I was so tired for some reason. It stunk that I had to get her out of the car, which ended up waking her up. That wasn't fun. But it's better than me falling asleep driving!

But, back to the weekend at hand, it was SO great to be back and see everyone. We stayed in Keiran and Annie's dorm, which is actually more like an apartment than a dorm. It was just renovated last summer, so it's really nice. They even have enough room in their one common room that they had a cot set up as a "spare bed" for guests like me :) I popped up Audrey's Pack-n-Play, and we were good to go. I was worried she wouldn't sleep well being in a different bed and being in a dorm building with very thin walls. You know those college students like to stay out until all hours of the morning!! BUT, she only woke up once, and it wasn't for long.

We made a new friend this weekend, Kelsey! She crocheted Audrey these adorable little stuffed animals. How adorable?! I'm pretty sure she could sell them and become super-famous and go on Oprah or something. Just a thought. I love how awkwardly cute they are.

On Saturday evening, everyone made some very delicious food (yes, even the sad, sad Confetti Cake!) and we hung out, ate, laughed, tried on wigs, and attempted to put wigs on Audrey. She was NOT having it with the wigs. Not a fan. My friends were bummed about that, but they're still going to give her another chance to redeem herself.

We got to hang out with Audrey's unofficial godfather, Pete, on Sunday. He met up with a very lazy Audrey, myself, Keiran, Adam, Corrie, and Kelsey and took us to this really cool restaurant in South Philly called the Royal Tavern. Very good stuff. They had a really great jukebox that Audrey enjoyed playing with. Heck, maybe she'll be a DJ! It was a great time, and I'm glad we got to see Pete, too!

Childrens' Books I've Memorized Monday

2010-04-12T23:37:00.000-04:00

For today's selection, I'll do another Sandra Boynton book that has cemented itself to my memory. What can I say, we read a lot of Boynton. As Spencer has said, she's become his new favorite author! I agree.

This book is short but sweet. It's really a winner. "Moo, Baa, La La La!"
A cow says moo.

A sheep says baa.

Three singing pigs say LA LA LA!

"NO, NO," you say, "that isn't right."

The pigs say oink all day and night.

Rhinocereses snort and snuff.

And little dogs go ruff ruff ruff.

Some other dogs go bow wow wow.

And cats and kittens say meow.

Quack says the duck.

A horse says neigh.

(It's quite now, what do you say?)

Audrey likes this one. It's especially good if she's having a day with a very short attention span because this one gets right to the point and doesn't have too many words on each page. She gets bored with too many words sometimes. Plus, she's always trying to turn all the pages, so sometimes I get a word or two in and it's just on to the next one!
Usually she just ends up running around while I read to her. I feel like I'm reading to myself, which occassionally makes me feel ultra-lame because I'm laying there on my living room floor reading childrens' books while Audrey is off texting and organizing her clothes.

That's cool, right?

Speaking of clothes, how cute is this dress:

It was only $12.99 at Target! I'm obsessed. It's part of that Liberty of London collection, which I think has a lot of cute things. All of the baby things are ADORABLE. She got a ruffled romper (yes, I said the words "ruffled" and "romper" together!) from the line for her birthday. Now that's one fun article of clothing! It's over-the-top in a good way. I saw a woman's dress with this SAME print on it and joked that I should get it so we can be matching. The thing is, I like this print so much, that I was only semi-joking.

Stuff that Big Girls Do

2010-04-10T22:52:00.000-04:00

Cheesin' it. Look at her hands. How adorable is that? Lately, she does this thing with her hands and acts all shy and whatnot. She especially does it around men. She has been such a cheeseball, it's ridiculous! I'll say "SMILE!" and she'll give me the goofiest, toothiest grin in the world. Except she doesn't quite get that you're supposed to look at the camera when you smile. But we'll get there I'm sure.

I SO WISH THIS PICTURE WASN'T BLURRY!!!

Lounging...in a box.

I swear, her toes are pretty much the cutest things ever. They kill me every time. Plus, lately she's been crossing her ankles a lot and being very sophisticated. That kills me even more. Oh, and apparently they're really delicious; she keeps sticking them in her mouth! I'll say "Eat your toes!" and she'll grab them and start chowing down. It's really very adorable.

"What?! YOU don't hang out in a box every so often? It's completely normal."

Car rides are exhausting.

Speaking of car rides, I turned Audrey's car seat around to face the front now that she's a big one year old! I have to say, I was more nervous driving with her for the first time facing forward than I think I was the first time I ever took her in the car! I guess it seems more real because I can look in my rearview mirror and actually see her as opposed to only seeing her carseat. Plus, she was just really quiet and busy looking around. It was borderline awkward. I tried to keep the conversation up, but obviously our conversations are still very one-sided. I just kept saying "Whaddaya think Audge?" (translation: What do you think, Audrey?). So far, so good. I just feel like I have someone judging my driving at all times now. Plus, she's in the middle seat, so she's pretty close. She's breathing down my neck! The pressure's on!!

I figured this adjustment would either make things better or worse; it would make things better because she'd have more to look at it, but it could be worse because she's able to see me and yet not have me. Plus, she's so nosey that I have a hard time believing that she'll ever fall asleep in the car again since there's so much to see.

But I really hope that doesn't happen!

Easter time!

2010-04-08T01:07:00.000-04:00

On Easter morning, I tip-toed into Audrey's room to wake her up. I know, I know, I DID WHAT?! Who wakes a baby?! Well, we were going to church soon and this little girl was being a lazy bum.
I just love her little butt-up-in-the-air pose! I've never seen her sleep like that before. She just looked so adorable, peaceful, and zonked out that I hated waking her! But I did, because we had a big day ahead of us. And this is what came from that...

HAHAH. This face is probably also due to the fact that she woke up to my camera flashing at her. Jeesh. Apparantly Paparazzi Mom needs to CALM DOWN. I'll admit, I'd be grumpy, too, if someone woke me up and was immediatley taking pictures. Even if I was this cute.
But, after I gave her a bottle (we're weaning! yahoo whole milk!), I got her into her Easter dress and all was well. She thought she was HOT STUFF. It was hilarious. She kept looking at her dress and touching it and feeling her sparkley shoes. Plus, I was "oohing" and "ahhing" all over her, so her ego was pretty big. I'd say "OHHHH, AUDREY, LOOK AT YOU! YOU LOOK SOOOO GLAMOROUS!" To which she'd reply:
She has honestly been such a cheeseball lately! What's this smiling thing?! She never used to do that haha.

Then it was on to breakfast. Lately, Audrey has been loving the blueberries. Actually, she seems to like any berries, really, but blueberries and strawberries seem to be at the top of her list. HOWEVER (and this may be TMI) I think it's making her poop blueish/blackish. So, that's gross. I'm pretty sure that's the only thing in her diet that would do that. I was totally disgusted the first time it was like that, but considering all the bodily function ordeals that us parents have to control, it's no biggie.

All blue/black baby poop aside, I think we had a very nice Easter! We went to church with the Shays, visited the Musselmans and went on a walk (their wonderful dog Sammy passed away recently, and she will surely be missed!!!), and had a nice steak dinner with dad/Spencer. The day was relaxing and fun for the most part. Though we had some invitations for Easter dinner, it was nice to just be at home and do something ourselves. The smoke alarm did ring once, but we're all alive and well. One holiday down, hopefully lots more to go!

You can't tell, but this was while Audrey was hunting for Easter eggs. To her, that meant trying to run around all over the place and wiggle her hand out of mine and occassionally come upon a colorful egg. She really liked it outside. It has been SO NICE lately. We got her a swing to hang from one of our trees for her birthday, and we attempted to put it up but had no such luck. GOOD LORD that thing was difficult. It's like you need a completely straight branch or else it gets all tilted. And who the heck wants to push a baby in a tilted swing?! Not me. It was so frustrating that we ended up taking it down and just planning on asking Uncle Chris for some help.

Audrey's little onesie cracks me up. It's a horoscope t-shirt from the Gap. Since she's an Aries, it has a ram on it accompanied by the phrases "Born Good Natured" and "Loves to Rock the Boat." So far I'd say that seems to be pretty accurate!

Birthday Girl!!!

2010-04-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

Audrey is officially ONE YEAR OLD! Now that doesn't even seem possible, does it?! It's insane. That's all I can say. It's felt like both the longest and the shortest year of my life allllllll at the same time. Just a year ago, we were feeling eachother out during our first few days home from the hospital. I was exhausted and nervous but completely in love. She was still making sure she trusted us and NURSING THE HELL OUT OF ME. It's so funny, I remember that she pretty much kept at least one eye open ALL night during that first night home. My mom and I said she just didn't trust us yet. She was thinking, "Who the heck are you people and who let you take me home?!"
(This adorable picture was taken by my friend Michele. She took a bunch of her when she visited a little while ago and I completely forgot to post them! That'll be another day :) )

And now look at us?! I pick pacifiers up off the ground and give them to her. I let her wander around the kitchen while I clean up from breakfast. I know it's ok to give her a few minutes of fussing before I peel myself out of bed in the morning to feed her. I HAVE MY OWN ROOM AGAIN. Oh my, things have changed.

Here's a few pictures of her birthday party, but you can see more here. Luckily, Lee took lots of pictures at the big bash because I was pretty busy and kept forgetting to take my camera out! The party turned out great! There were about 50 people that came! It got big haha. But it was a great time, and Audrey seemed to have a lot of fun. She did get a little nervous at first, but she calmed down pretty well. She got a whole lot of loot, such as LOTS AND LOTS of books! Overall, it was a wonderful day!

Audrey had her little fruit tart, and she was ALLLLLL about it. It was so funny. At one point I thought she was reaching for the cake, but nope, she just wanted more blueberries! I'm proud of her :)

One change that I am not too fond of is not having my mom anymore. It's been a little rough lately with Audrey turning one. I mean, obviously I'm thrilled and it's been so fun and exciting, but it's also very bittersweet. For example, on Audrey's birthday I just kept thinking about being in labor at the hospital with my mom a year go, walking around through my contractions, laughing at pictures of ugly babies, pushing as my mom counted REALLLLLYYY SLOOWWWWLLLYY in attempt to get me to push longer (that didn't make me too happy!). I miss her so, so much. Each milestone is exciting, but it's also a reminder that the person I'd most like to share it with--my mother--is not here. I know, I know, she's in a better place and she can still see everything, but I'm honestly tired of hearing that. She's not HERE. She's not seeing it. And that sucks. I just know how excited she'd be to see all of this. I know she'd brag about Audrey to all of her friends. I know she'd spoil her, even if I told her not to. I'm so so lucky to have all of the support I still have, but nothing will ever take the place of having my mom here.

MISS YOU MOM.

Recent Adventures with the Shays

2010-03-26T23:50:00.000-04:00

Check out Audrey's new shoes! My godmother and great friend Maureen (as well as the rest of the wonderful Shay family) got Audrey these as an early birthday gift. They're legit walking shoes, so they have more support than some of the other little shoes out there. You could tell she thought she was hot stuff when she was trying them on :)

It's so funny, it took her a while to get used to walking with shoes on, but now she's got it down pat. At first, her little feet would flop around, and she'd stare down at them like, "what the heck are these things?!"

Check out that speed demon!!!

I've been trying to upload videos lately, but it hasn't been letting me! As soon as I can, I will.

Last Saturday--since it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL out--we went to the park with the Shays. It's nice having a park that's literally 2 minutes from our house. Audrey liked it! She seemed to really enjoy picking up pieces of tanbark one by one and handing them to Maureen. I guess that's more interesting than a playground full of swings, slides, etc. She cracks me up!

She really enjoyed waving to this pig as well. Audrey LOVES animals, even fake ones :)

It's so funny, if Maureen's around, she's like "I don't want my boring mom...MAUREEN'S HERE!" It's so funny. I guess parents just don't understand :) And it's hilarious how excited she gets to see Maureen's children. She literally gives them the BIGGEST smiles. It's also impressive how comfortable she's gotten with Maureen's husband even though she is usually very tenative around men.

It's great to see her bond with people, especially people like the Shays who have become such a big part of her life!

Food, Drink, and EVERYTHING in Between

2010-03-20T00:26:00.000-04:00

Wow, I had a quiz and short essay due at 11:59pm tonight and when did I turn the essay? 11:52 pm. Not good. I should not procrastinate so badly. It's not good. I would have definitely finished it earlier if I wouldn't have fallen asleep while feeding Audrey as I do so very often. It's just so hard. I'm laying there next to her in the dark and it's silent and it's warm and cozy.

However, we're starting the whole weaning process, so I guess soon enough, I won't have that as an excuse for procrastinating. We've cut out one of the feedings so far, but there's still 4 to go, including her first "meal" of the day and right before bed time. Those will probably be the toughest. I guess the morning shouldn't be too bad but she always wakes up so darn hungry and practically pulling my t-shirt down as soon as I pick her up. Not appropriate. And really, I'm hoping that her nursing before bed can just be switched out with a bottle of whole milk and maybe she won't mind. I guess we'll wait and see.

I tried the whole milk the other day out of curiosity, and MAN is that gross. UGH. But they suggest it for weaning and for children over the age of 1 (she's close enough) as the next step after breastmilk or formula. They need the fat, unlike the rest of us. But hey, I'm not jealous. That stuff's gross. Drink all the fat you want, Audrey; I'll be sticking with my 1%.

(Eating a plum. I have a video of it, but it won't load. I was eating it, but she wanted some, too. She was slurping the heck out of it.)

And speaking of food, it's amazing how much Audrey will eat now! I swear she gets bored before she gets full. She just keeps going and going sometimes. I try my best to feed her mainly FRESH fruits and vegetables, and she really seems to like that. She shows so much more of an interest in our food lately, so she might help me improve my own eating habits. For example, today I was trying to sneak in an apple fritter while I gave her apple sauce, but she had her eye on the prize. She does this little grunt and reach thing to try to show what she wants. I didn't give her any though; I just ate it faster and then was like, "Oh, what? It's all gone. Sorry. I didn't know."

Spencer and I agreed to try our best to keep her off the sweets as much as possible. She doesn't need that crap now; she's not even a year old, and any time she has had something sweet (such as a few bites of cake on my birthday) it has not agreed with her. I hate seeing her not feel good, and it's obvious her body is jut not ready for that stuff yet. She has her whole life to have junk food, so why introduce her to that taste now? It's one that will catch on far too quickly. There is also some diabetes in Spencer's family, so I'm not messing with it.

In fact, for her birthday, I'm not going to do cake. Go ahead, call me a controlling parent. Call me a health nut. Call me what you will. BUT I'M NOT. I just don't understand this insane idea that we're supposed to put down a big ol' slab of cake and let our BABIES have at it. People act like I'm committing child abuse. I'd say my decision is the sane one. Plus, she LOVES fruit. She'll be totally into it! And there will be some sweetness in the crust. I'm sure she'll survive. :)

Children's-Book-I've-Memorized Mondays

2010-03-15T23:27:00.001-04:00

I'm going to start this new tradition of sharing with you some fun books that Audrey is obsessed with lately. She's so obsessed with them that I have some memorized. Yes, we read them that much. But I'm fully willing to encourage this obsession!

This week's book is Pajama Time! by children's book God Sandra Boynton. It's been one of Audrey's favorites for a while, and it's because of this book that Spencer pointed out to me that I have a problem.

The moon is up, it's getting late

Let's get ready to celebrate!

It's pajama time!

Pull on the bottoms,

Put on the top,

Get yourself set to pajama-dee-bop

It's pajama time!

Now some are old,

Some are new.

Some are red,

and some are blue.

Some are fuzzy,

Some are not.

But we can all pajammy in whatever we've got!

It's pajama time!!!

Some are pink,

Some are green.

Some are the ugliest we've ever seen!

They might be stripey or polka dot,

But we can all pajammy in whatever we've got!

It's pajama time!!!

Pajammy to the left,

Pajammy to the right,

Jamma Jamma Jamma Jamma P! J!

Everybody's wearing them for dancing tonight

Jamma Jamma Jamma Jamma P! J!

Now all around the room,

In one big line,

Wearing our pajamas and looking SO fine!

It's pajama time!!!

Hop in to bed,

Turn out the light,

You can have a party in your dreams tonight,

IT'S PAJAMA TIME!!!!

Hush, Hush

It's pajama time!!!

Hush, Hush

it's pajama time

Shhhh.

(Goodnight. Sleep tight!)

New Kicks Bring Street Cred

2010-03-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

I found these cute little Chucks for Audrey, and although they're a little big, I put them on her anyway. Since she's a big walking girl, I want her to get used to having shoes on her feet. However, it's tough for her to walk in shoes that are slightly too big. Plus, she struggles so hard whenever I try to get shoes on her feet. She HATES it. It's so hard to wiggle her little foot fully into those shoes. Quite a predicament. And then on top of it all, it's so hard to find cute baby shoes that aren't crazy expensive. There are so many tacky baby shoes out there it's insane.

Oh, just checking up on her text messages.

Did I tell you all that she sent a text to Spencer, like, a month ago? She got through the 2-button lock on my phone, got to my text messages, got to Spencer's name, and sent him one of the quick texts from Verizon that said "On my way." It' was ironic too because we were getting ready to go pick him up soon. She cracks me up. She's texted him once since then, and once she had typed "Hi :) :) :) :)" and I helped her send it to him haha.

Audrey rocked her Converse sneaks with a pair of black leggings and her "Brooklyn" t-shirt from Brooklyn Industries layered over a striped onesie that I found for about $2.00 at Old Navy. Her t-shirt is a 2T, so she decided to wear it as more of a dress haah. I just saw it and remembered how cute it was and insisted that she wear it.

On another note, I uploaded some pictures from my phone the other day, including this gem:

This is Audrey grocery shopping butt naked while dancing to the Who's Super Bowl Halftime show and cutting coupons. Doesn't everbody do that?!

Getting an Early Start

2010-03-05T00:29:00.000-05:00

Audrey has always seemed to love books, but lately, she has been OBSESSED! I always think back till when she was a few weeks old and I was reading a book of nursery rhymes to her and my mom walked in to find Audrey literally fist pumping to my reading. We both found it hilarious. My mom said she was cheering, but after seeing that ridiculous Jersey Shore, I'd say I have reason to be nervous....

Anyway, lately, Audrey will go through a stack of books and hand me one after another and grunt until you read them all to her. She is a big fan of turning the pages, and sometimes I think she's more into that than the actual book haha. Well, it depends on the book. Her favorites are Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton (or pretty much ANY Sandra Boynton book), Global Babies by the Global Fund for Children, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle, and Cat by Matthew Van Fleet.

My Lord, I feel like I have read these books SO much lately. You know it's sad when you don't even have to have the book in front of you to recite it. For example, the very inspiring Global Babies that is pictured in the pictures goes as follows:
Whereever they live,
Whereever they go,
Whatever they wear,
Whatever they feel,
Babies everywhere,
Are beautiful,
Special,
And loved!

Get this: my mom's yoga teacher gave Audrey this book as well as an organically made monkey stuffed animal when she was born. How nice yet rather cliche of her! For some reason, that always cracks me up.TOES!

Tonight, I attended a fundraising event for the Capital Area Pregnancy Center. I had visited the center the first day I found out I was pregnant, so it holds a special place in my heart. They had asked me to share my story this year, which was a wonderful opportunity. Oh, and there were about 500 people there! AHHH. I didn't feel too nervous until I got up there and looked out and truly realized how many people were there. But overall, it was a pretty cool experience. Audrey slept through the beginning of it, and finally I just woke her up since I wanted her to sleep tonight. People would clap and her eyes would open, roll back in her head, and close again :) She just kills me.

AHHHHH!

2010-03-02T00:21:00.001-05:00

GUESS WHAT?! Audrey took her first steps on her own last Friday! It was so exciting; she just got real gutsy all of the sudden and went for it and took like 4 or 5 steps the first time. It was so cool. I didn't see it coming at all because I didn't think she was developmentally ready. She's been standing on her own for a little, walking while holding our hands, and transferring from one object to the next, etc., but I didn't know her balance and coordination were this good! Then, once she did it once I figured it wouldn't happen again any time soon. You know, I thought it was a big fluke (sorry, Aud). But then she took two steps two other times that night, and since then, she's done it some more every day. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures from it or anything. I was so unprepared! But here are some other pictures that are cute, regardless :)

I was so excited that I literally had tears in my eyes when it happened. It's amazing that she is actually a real live human being, and about 11 months ago, she was completely incapable of doing ANYTHING. And now look!! She's practically a grown up. AHHH. I know people keep saying like, "Ohhhh, and NOW the fun begins. Just you wait. It stinks when they become mobile." I get what they're saying, and I'm sure it's going to get tough to chase after her all the time and whatnot, but she's my daughter, and I'm pretty damn proud that she can walk. I mean, I was hoping that at some point in her life, she'd be able to move on her own, so really, this suits me just fine.
As soon as I get a video of her legitimately walking, I'll certainly post it! I started to get a real good one tonight, but then my camera died. That always happens at the most convenient times, doesn't it?

Modeling Gig

2010-02-22T22:21:00.000-05:00

So waaaay back in January, we went over to Elena's to get some new pics taken. As you may or may not know, that is always a fun time. Except when I get a stomach virus and barf 4 times in her bathroom. Not so glamorous. But, lucky Audrey got to play with Elena's cell phone and eat some delicious fruity cake.

I ended up puking 11 times that night and sleeping on the bathroom floor. Luckily, that was all over in a few days, but unfortunately, Audrey's modeling gig had to be cut short thanks to her TOTALLY embarrassing mom. We're certainly going to reschedule again soon, but both Elena and I (and Audrey, too, of course) have been swamped lately. Buttttt, I can't wait for her to take more!

Bundled

2010-02-21T00:22:00.000-05:00

If this jacket isn't the cutest thing imaginable, I don't know what is. I got it at Baby Gap back when Audrey was like 6 months old, even though the last size they had was 12-18 months. She just had to have it. It's still kind of big, but that makes it good for layering right now.

As you can see, I often try to get pictures of us together because sometimes no one else is around to take them! I don't want to look back in years and not be in ANY of the pictures with the both of us! It's certainly tough to get us both in the picture and actually looking at the camera (HINT HINT, AUDREY), but it's definitely worth it. I think it adds character :)

How Babies Deal with Blizzards

2010-02-12T00:01:00.001-05:00

We got hit pretty hard by this whole February Fury thing going on! I've got to say, I find that name pretty darn catchy. It details the intensity of these past few days in the cheesiest way possible. On last Friday to Saturday we probably got like 2 feet or so of snow and then starting on Tuesday, we got like 16 more inches! Something like that.

I should get all the details from my brother. When it comes to snow, he becomes a meteorologist and a five year old at the same time. He kept The Weather Channel on for, like, 48 hours as well as this little weather box which used to be our mother's stepdad's! I've NEVER seen one of these besides the one we have. It's like a little box with an antenna, and all it plays is this man talking about the weather. My brother also LOVES playing outside. He was outside for about 4 hours on Wednesday with our eleven-year-old neighbor. He told us it was "like a marshmallow world" outside. Oh, my brother is twenty-three.

Audrey and I didn't play outside nearly as much as Chris. Spencer got snowed in with us, too, so that was nice! It's adorable to watch Audrey and Spence together. So cute. We stayed in and played, walked in the snow a little, and visited our neighbors. She seemed to be very interested in the snow. She really wasn't sure what to think of it; she did a lot of waving and looking around. However, she absolutely HATED getting all bundled up.

Aud has been showing off all her tricks lately, too! Sometimes when we say "Audrey," she tries to mimick us by what sounds like "aaauuuddgge-eeee." Other times, she goes "hiiiiiiii" "heyyyyyyyy." And just tonight, when I asked where my nose was, she would grab it! It's so cool to see her personality begin to form. I can't believe that she can actually DO things now, as weird as that sounds. Ten months ago she really couldn't do anything. It reallly is amazing.

I have to say, though, Audrey has been SO sensitive lately! It's a little bit adorable and a little bit absurd. Whenever we try to discipline her, she gets the saddest look on her face and her mouth turns into the most perfect frown that you've ever seen. She will burst in to tears, but then within 10 seconds, it's usually over. For example, the other night, she was stuffing all these avacado pieces in her mouth so I said "no" and Spencer tried to fish some of them out of her mouth. She got so sad. Just then, my brother got home from work and scooped her up and asked, "Aww, what happened?" and she started to cry again as if to say "Oh, Uncle Chris, you'll never guess what my parents did now!" And sometimes she tries SO hard to fuss, but then she just can't. It's pretty entertaining. I have to stop myself from laughing sometimes.

I hope everyone had nice snow days!

Double Digits!

2010-01-30T22:30:00.001-05:00

FLASHBACK:

It does not seem like it was just over TEN MONTHS AGO that Audrey was still cooking away in my stomach. Nor does it seem that these first few pictures were taken ten months ago. She doesn't even look like the same person. Sometimes I swear someone switched out my baby for some other baby along the way. I mean, seriously! She's practically an adult. What the heck happened?!

So, now we're officially into the double digit month birthdays. Next month is going to be a little tricky considering that there aren't even 30 days in February. We'll just have to celebrate for a few days. The 1st birthday is practically here! I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday that morning sickness was causing me to puke all over Central PA, Philly, and everywhere in between--literally. Thank GOD those days are over!

Now our days are filled with zombie poses...

...sly faces...

...walks in the hooooood...

...and lots and lots of crusty faces!

You know, the good stuff :)

HELP

2010-01-22T22:35:00.000-05:00

photo from www.ft.com

They need all the help they can get.

Do what you can.

What Happens in the High Chair...Ends Up on the Blog

2010-01-19T23:44:00.001-05:00

OH HEY!!! I've found a decent amount of pictures just from the past month in which Audrey is hanging in her high chair. I mean, we do spend time there about three times a day EVERY DAY. Well, I should clarify, SHE spends time in the high chair, and I hang out beside a lame old regular chair. Psssht, who would want to sit in one of THOSE?!

SNOW DAYYYY! I kept trying to get a nice posed picture of her and our rather snowy back yard. Naturally, she wasn't too impressed. She'd rather do some cooking with her spatula.

"Ugh, Mom. Could you buzz off already?! It's entirely TOO early to have that darn camera in my face AGAIN."

Those darn teeth! The whole teething process can be a little tough, but thanks to an ice cold butterfly, we're going to make it out alive! At least for now...

She's over it. Good Lord, look at her little piggy toes just hanging out. I swear, she just kills me. Each and every day, there are times I look at her and feel so incredibly overwhelmed with joy and happiness. Her toes seem to have this affect on me--along with everything else about her!

As you can see, Dia, our sheltie, has found the hot spot for food droppings in the house. Audrey seems to like to feed Dia. She flops her body over one side of her high chair in order to search the tiles for the dog. If she's not visible on that side, she flops over to the other side to get a good look in, and all the while, she's waving at the floor as if that's going to make Dia appear. If foods involved, Dia will usually be there. If Audrey is just trying to give her a toy though, Dia's not interested. Heck, she's going to be 12 in February; she's done messing around with that stuff!

Audrey really seems to like these teething biscuits. Yum, yum, doesn't that sound delicious?! It's so funny, though; I think she's really beginning to develop frustration more. She tried to stick this HUGE chunk of the biscuit in her mouth which was entirely too big for her 2 (almost 4!) little chompers to handle. I had to stick my finger in her mouth and fish it out as she was flailing around. This was not ok in Audrey's opinion. Her adorable little mouth formed the biggest frown and she grunted as a few tears began to collect in her eyes. Plus, she'll shake her arms now when she gets a little mad. It's equal parts hilarious and sad.

X-X-X-MAS!!!!

2010-01-12T23:14:00.000-05:00

If you don't like seeing excessive amounts of baby toys, you probably shouldn't view this post.

Just a warning.

So anyyyywaaay, Santa dropped off so much loot that we don't know what to do with it all! I mean, literally, it is January 12, and almost ALL of the stuff that Audrey got is still in our living room. In a pile. I mean, we moved it out from under the christmas tree [which is in the process of being taken down :( ], so I guess that was a good step.

Spence and I tried to be reasonable and hold ourselves back, but being Audrey's first Christmas, that was hard for us and even harder for EVERYONE ELSE. My two best friends Angie and Gia got Audrey a very cool Jeep walker to cruise around the house in. It's so funny watch Audrey wobble all over the place and try to get into things. She enjoys eating her puffs while "driving around," as well as chasing down Dia, our dog.

Some of our neighbors got Audrey a little table that speaks in both English and Spanish. Bilingual baby!! I swear if I here "ROOOOJOOOO" (Spanish for "red") one more time, I may possibly chuck it out the window. Just kidding. She really seems to like it! It's really very cute.

Other neighbors got Audrey a very adorable shopping cart and a pair of Uggs! I have to say, I'm not an Ugg fan for the most part, but I really feel that they're adorrrrable for babies!

The most outrageous gift that Audrey got from some of our neighbors was a case of beer. Yeah, I said it. BEER. Once, she was down at the Musselman's house just hanging out, and Will got out a beer after a long day of work. Audrey proceeded to snatch it up and put it up to her mouth as though she was drinking from it. Should I be worried?! I don't have a copy of the picture on my computer, but once I put it up, I'll post it. It's HILARIOUS.

As far as gifts from family, Chris got Audrey a pretty fly jogging stroller that has a place to plug in my iPod as well as speakers so we can BUMP IT! Hahah we're going to be the coolest mother-daughter exercising team EVER. It's so nice.

(P.S. I stink and for some reason I CANNOT figure out how to flip these videos around! I can do it in the Picasa program, but not the actual video itself. So, I'm sorry for that!)

Spencer and I got Audrey a tent that looks like a tree (this was a compromise because Spence thought she should get the inflatable ball pit)...

A set of bongos...

A bowling set, a set of very cool keys, AND LOOOOOOOVEEEE. I'm only adding that because I can't remember what else we gave her haha. And I don't feel like hunting down any more pictures. I apologize.

Chris gave me a nice necklace with Audrey's birthstone on it as well as a gift certificate to the HERSHEY SPA! I can't wait to go sometime. Oh, and Spence got me a really cool pair of Hunter boots. It was adorable, he said he remembered me talking about them a while ago but couldn't remember the brand. He did recall me talking about how cool Kate Moss looked in them, so he Googled "Kate Moss rain boots" and did some searching haha. How cute is that?! He listens! I certainly made out very well.

Chris's girlfriend, Brittany, gave me a BEAUTIFUL drawing of Audrey that she made. It's gorgeous, and I can't wait to hang it up. I had no clue that she even drew, but it's SO GOOD! You can kind of see it in the bottom right corner of the 2nd picture in this post.

Plus, Chris and I are pretty sure we could start our own cafe now. His girlfriend's parents got us one of those Keurig machines, my dad and stepmom gave me an espresso machine, and Angie gave me a really amazing tea pot! Looooook out Starbucks!

For our Christmas dinner, we stuck with tradition and made steak and lobster, just like we had always used to do with our mom. It was gooooooood. Audrey had mixed vegetables, a green bean, and some mashed potatoes. Very exciting stuff. We all ate our brains out.

One of the most meaningful gifts I was given was a scarf from my neighbors. My mom's good freind Jude had been out Christmas shopping with my mom last year, and during that trip, she had picked out a scarf for a good freind of hers. My mom continued to comment on how much she had loved that scarf, so Jude went back and got my mom one, too, and planned to give it to her this Christmas. Obviously, that didn't happen. It's ironic because, as Jude says, she NEVER Christmas shops that early. EVER. It's just crazy. However, it is a very beautiful scarf, and I love wearing it. It makes me think of my mom, and I can certainly see why she loved it so much.

The weekend after Christmas, we visited my dad, stepmom, and little sister in Maryland. I hesitate to say little sister considering she's like aallllllll grown up now! It's insane. That's her in the picture above. How adorable? I mean serrrrriously. We had lots of fun visiting them, too. They just moved to Cleveland this past week, so I hope all is well there and I hope my sister is enjoying her new school!

Chrirstmas Eve FLASHBACK!

2010-01-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

So, we made out very well this Christmas. And when I say very well, I mean, like, we acquired a boatload of extremely cool and amazing things. More than we could ever want or need. Our living room is just ridiculous right now. Still. Because we look at it all, and it's like, ahhh, where are we going to put all of this stuff?! We are just so incredibly blessed to have so many generous, supportive peope in our lives. Beyond the presents, the good times with friends and family has been great, too :)

Every year, we get nice and dressed up and go to church at 6:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Granted, there was one year when my mom attempted to drag us to the midnight mass, but we were literally falling asleep in the middle of it. We were in elementary and middle school! Come on, Dee! So this year, we stuck with the 6:30 mass. Brittany, my brother's girlfriend, went with us, too, which was probably a good thing considering that Audrey and I were up walking around for part of the mass. She was getting antsy. So was I. Plus, I hadn't been back to that chuch since my mom's funeral, so it was a bit odd.

And besides my mom's funeral, Audrey has never been to church, so she doesn't know the proper church going etiquette. SUCH AS the fact that you're NOT supposed to wave at EVERYONE that walks by or go "aaaAAAAHHHHH" or "pfiiiiiiiiiiiit" loudly (or quietly, for that matter). You're also not permitted to take your dress shoes off, chew on them, and then chuck them on the floor. I'm sure she'll get the hang of all of this soon enough, though, and everyone around us seemed to get a kick out of it. She is seriously so nosey it's not even funny. There were these two old people on oxygen behind us, and she's strain her neck soooo hard to lean over my side, and stare and wave at them.

After church, we stopped home to take some pics in front of the tree before heading off to our neighbors for their annual Christmas eve party. It's always so much fun and the food is SOOO GOOOOOOD. We eat and eat and eat and eat some more. Scattered somewhere between all that eating is some talking and gift giving, but the eating is what's truly important, right?! Our neighbors are like family, and we've known them all forever, so it's always a lot of fun.
Yes, there was certainly an empty spot there that night, especially considering how much my mom loved Christmas and Christmas Eve. This party was the one night of the year when my mom drank. Like, more than 1 Zima. Or, I'll never forget the time I was at Temple and was talking to my mom after a rough Friday and she sassily informed me, "You know what, I think I'm going to have HALF a beer tonight!" Jeesh mom, go big or go home!

Anyway, so she'd go to our neighbor's house and they'd buy cases and cases of this fantastic champagne. Mike, our neighbor, would top my mom off the ENTIRE night. She'd take one sip, and he'd be RIGHT there to fill her back up again. And she'd try to fight it. But barely. It was so funny.

This year, Audrey seemed to really enjoy herself. She hung out for a little while before slipping into something more comfortable (also known as fleece snowman button down pajamas). She then proceeded to open some presents, wave to everyone with both hands like she always does when she gets ultra-tired, and head to bed in a pack-and-play our neighbors new, ginormous bedroom that is part of an AMAZING edition they put on their house. As she slept soundly upstairs I continued to get my party on downstairs (responsibly, of course) with my monitor strapped to the belt of my jeans. No seriously, they have a way to attach it to your pants. I looked cool. Then, I bundled up, scooped her up, and snuck back to our house to get in bed so that Santa could show up with the goooooods. She stayed asleep, which was nice. My brother and his girlfriend stayed at the party a lot later than we did. As a new mom, I just don't have any party stamina I suppose. And that's just fine :)

A Little Behind on the Holiday Posts

2010-01-04T00:06:00.000-05:00

Sooo, let's take it back to 2009. Now, don't get nervous or anything. I'm only talking about December of 2009. I've uploaded tons of pictures from all of our holiday gatherings, events, etc. so I figured I'd share them.

That requires us to head back to December 4th when we took a trip with our good friends the Millers to pick out a lovely Christmas tree. We have done this with them EVERY YEAR for as long as I can remember. And we're not a bunch of sissies. We rough it out to McCurdy's Tree Farm near Ski Roundtop and chop it down ourselves!

Well, technically, the men cut it down and we watch. It usually takes an hour or two for us to find our trees because we make sure to hike alllllll over the farm. It's really quite amusing. My mom was always a big fan of this tradition, and she took her Christmas tree hunting very very seriously. My brother and I would pick out a tree that we liked, and each time, she'd point out SOMETHING that was wrong with it, such as a crooked top, or an awkward shape, or the fact that she just didn't like it. Then, she'd find a tree with a big gap in the side or barely any needles or branches, and that was THE TREE. We'd argue. We'd fight. But in the end, we usually got her tree. But to give her credit, it always looked really good.

This year, it didn't quite take us as long, probably because our mother wasn't there to pick at every little thing. Not that I didn't wish she was there. I would have KILLED for her to be there this year to tell me how ugly my tree was and to have us trekking all over God's creation to find one that she liked. However, Chris and I found a wonderful wonderful tree. Before we cut it down it was like 14 feet tall. There were about 3 feet of bare trunk on the bottom, and we have high ceilings in our house, so we figured that if we cut off that bare trunk, it would be perfect.
And it was! It barely fit, but it looks really great.

It's sad thinking about taking our tree down now :( It'll definitely have to happen some time this week. I just love the atmosphere of our house when the tree is here.

I swear I'm not a Christmas superfan. Jeeze, look at me, posting a whole post on my Christmas tree about a month after we even chopped it down. YAHOOO CHRISTMAAAAS!

Quick New Year's Post!!

2009-12-31T23:13:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the past month (and especially the past week) that I thought I'd share. Happy New Year, everyone!!!!

Guess who got A NEW CAAAAAAAR (in the Price is Right voice) for Christmas.....Audrey!!! My best freinds Angie and Gia got her this pretty sweet Jeep. Riding in styyyyle.

Hey do you have a license for that thing?!

Yeah, I don't know what this picture was from, but that's one of the sleepiest, sassiest faces EVER. It reminds me of her current face which is in bed, but sniffling like crazy. The poor baby is soooo stuffy :( she's having trouble sleeping because it's not too easy for her to breathe well through her nose. I feel so bad. I try to use the nasal aspirator, but she gets SO upset and for such a little girl, that girl can flail around like the best of them.

This was right after we chopped down our Christmas tree. Audrey's cheeks look nice and rosey :) We were in the back of our friends' van. I just think she looks gorgeous in this picture. As uuusssuaaal.

Here she is all bundled up and ready to find the perfect Christmas tree! And man did she find one. That will be another post in and of itself. She was SO bundled up, though! It was adorable.

Oh, just doing some reading. And some pounding. You know, your typical Saturday morning for an 8 month old (who is now 9 months and 1 day old!!)

Hahahaha cheesing it up with Uncle Chris on Christmas! I love this picture. It kills me. We were getting our Christmas dinner ready and they struck a pose. Looks like Audrey's been downing some of that champagne Uncle Chris was drinking.

New Pictures!

2009-12-17T01:39:00.000-05:00

My friend Elena took a whole bunch of pictures of Audrey (and a few of me) the other week. I'm in love. As usual. She's just freaking amazing! I love having cool pictures of Audrey so that we can look back and reminisce about her growing up and becoming a little lady. Plus, I like having pictures of the two of us, too! It's hard to get pictures of her and I in our every day life since it's pretty much just her and I a lot. I mean, there's obviously lots of other people in our lives--such as Spence, my brother, Chris, Maureen and her family, a TON of other friends and babysitters--but a lot of times when Audrey's playing and I get out the camera, it's just her and I. That means I end up taking annoying Myspace-like pictures of her doing something really cute and me sticking my goofy face in there as if to say "Look at me! I was there!" Some of the pictures turn out really cute. Other ones? Not so much.

But Elena's pictures? THEY'RE ALWAYS ROCKING IT.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this pictures of Audrey in one of my mom's bags. I'm obsessed. She was loving it for a little while, and then she got kind of antsy from being stuck in a bag. It'll be so weird to look back and think, "You fit in THAT?!"

Of course, we had to take some pictures of baby in just a diaper. I mean, what could be cuter? Especially when the baby in question makes silly body movements such as this pseudo-marionette/zombie/thriller-dancing shot.

Happy Holidays from Jen and Audreyyyyy!

2009-12-09T23:00:00.000-05:00

Last night we headed over to our friend Elena's house to get some pictures taken for the holidays. Plus, we just messed around and got some other glam shots of her. This is the one picture that she has shown me so far, and I can't wait to see more!

Audrey just cracks me up! Just look at her crazy hair-do, intense face, and chubby little arm rolls. It just kills me every time. We didn't pose her like that or anything; she just happened to strike that little pose. I'm pretty sure Elena got some pretty great shots. As usual. She's so good it's insane.

You can also see Audrey and her friend Jolie here. How gorgeous is Jolie? Her eyes are sooo amazing! They're little model friends :)

Going for a Swing

2009-11-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

Audrey and I spent a day at the park a few weeks ago, and she seemed to really love it. She hated getting into the swing, but once she was in, she was loving it. One of my best friends, Gia, was home this weekend, and we went to the park with her, too. She's all about it.

We've gone with Spencer before, too, but he gets too worried that she's going to get hurt. EVERYTHING we tried to do, he'd say "No, that's too fast" "No, that's too high" "No, that's too dangerous." He was cracking me up. Needless to say, that park trip didn't last too long.

I really, really wish that this wasn't sideways, but I can't figure out how to turn it around! Oh, and you can ignore my crazy person voice. I go to great, embarrassing lengths to make her crack a smile. Just mute it or something haha.

Babies are High Fashion

2009-11-22T01:47:00.001-05:00

I totally stumbled on the most ridiculous but most amazing child website EVER. Children Salon is an adorable upscale children's clothing website that carries brands such as Baby Dior, Little Marc Jacobs, Burberry, Armani Junior, Chloe, John Galliano, Ralph Lauren, Fendi, DKNY, John Paul Gaultier....and the list goes on and on. Pictured above is an approximately $25 Dior pacifier, which are apparently called "dummies" in Europe.

It's honestly INSANE. There's a ridiculous white Fendi stroller that costs over $800. Now, besides the price, my major question is WHO WOULD MAKE A WHITE STROLLER? Has that individual EVER had a child before. Or even been around a child? Heck, have they ever SEEN a child in a stroller? If you have said "yes" to one or more of those questions, than you should have never made a white stroller. Even if it is Fendi. And gorgeous.

The Little Marc Jacobs stuff is ADORABLE. They don't have much for babies, but these little mouse flats are SO cute. Granted, they're crazy expensive for baby shoes--we're talking like $60. Jeesh. And how awesome is that t-shirt dress? Your child would be the coolest thing everrrr.

Speaking of being really really cool, can we puuhlleeasssee talk about this Burberry trench. For babies. Heck, I would wear that coat. Except it's, like, over $200. I don't think I've ever spent that on a jacket for myself, let alone for my rapidly-growing child. I mean, children grow out of clothes in like 3 to 6 months. Insaaaaanity.

However, the most outrageous item I saw (so far) on the site was this little number. It's an over $200 fox and rabbit fur jacket that "is perfect for glamorous girls." Granted, it's not necessarily for babies. The smallest size is for 2 year olds, but STILL, a 2 year old in a fur coat?! Those free-flowing bodily functions--snot, spit, poop, pee, barf, etc.-- will greatly compliment that pink fur.

Not much to do with babies, but stilllllll

2009-11-17T00:33:00.000-05:00

Ok, so this doesn't have much to do with the Audrey part of this blog, but this editorial from Harper's Bazaar Russia stood out to me for some reason. The title is translated to "The Renaissance of Grunge." I found it on foto_decadent.

SO COOL. Love the mixture of patterns.

AND LOOK, A BABY IS INVOLVED! Haha I'll tell you what, I think I have some baby radar nowadays. I clicked on the link initially just because I liked the first picture, but then of course, there was a baby in one of the pictures! I WOULD find the fashion editorial with a baby in it :)

love love love.

Model Material

2009-11-16T01:45:00.000-05:00

She's not afraid to glam it up.

She can even look Asian if needed. (Versatility)

She is more than willing to do commercial advertising.

She knows all the right poses.

Alright, I'll admit, sometimes, she can be a diva. PRIVACY PLEASE!!!!

Oh, and she's willing to take it all off.

I don't know why, but I love this picture.

2009-11-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

I think this picture is just wonderful for some odd reason. It's blurry; it has an odd blueish tint; it's not focused; it somewhat gives me a headach; it's hard to tell what's going on.

But every now and then, you've just got to say screw "good" photography.

This is just amazing.

Holly Golightly + Bumble Bee!

2009-11-03T00:34:00.000-05:00

This is one of the few pictures I have of the two of us this Halloween. Guess who I was? I was my second favorite Audrey (Ms. Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's) and in case you were unaware, Audrey was a bumble bee. I'd say we're pretty cute.

On Friday, her and I went to a Halloween party at my friend Katie's house. It was pretty fun, and Audrey was a hit, as uuuuusual. She was clapping like crazy. She just figured out that little skill recently, and she seems to love the reactions she gets from everyone.

Saturday was a pretty fun day, too. One of my best friends, Angie, was home from college in North Carolina, so we went out to lunch with her and her sister, did some shoppppping, and had a delicious dinner at the country club that they belong to. Oh, and somewhere in there I took my sociology test, too. But good LOOOOORD Almighty, this lady FLIPPED OUT at us at the country club. We ran into a friend's mom and were talking to her for literally less than one minute, but apparently we were in front of the TV broadcasting the PSU game. This woman gets up and yells, "GET OUT OF THE WAY GIRLS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" At first we thought she was joking, but we quickly realized she wasn't when she continued "WELL MOVE GIRRRRRLS!" Oh, aren't people just wonderful? I guess when we were walking to our seats she said "Who do those girls think they are?! This isn't some gathering spot." Uh, yeah, technically, I'm pretty sure that is the point of a country club. Oh, and she was using a reading light to see her food since it was dark in the room. Yeah, we win old grumpy lady.

After dinner, Angie and I went to my neighbors' Halloween party for just a little bit. It's so funny to see all the adults in my neighborhood in all their crazy costumes. There were some good costumes, such as the Publisher's Clearing House winner in PJ's and curlers, complete with an oversized check and balloons, a man in a woman's sexy nurse costume, a black judge, a gynecolegist, a urologist (Dr. Orphelia Weiner), etc. etc. etc.

During dinner and this party, Audrey was hanging with Maureen, my godmother/executrix extraordinaire. She took Audrey to her son's hockey game,and I guess her bumble bee outfit was a smash hit. Oh yeah, I made Audrey wear her costume alllllllll day on Saturday :) Hey, I figure she won't let me do something like that, like, EVER again. Plus, I insist on getting my money's worth! Most importantly, she looked so stinking adorable. What made it even more hilarious was that she has no idea that that's not a normal outfit to wear. So there she is, doing her thing, hanging out at lunch and the mall dressed like a bumble bee.

(This is Katie's dog, Lucy. Her and Audrey were BFFs for a night. It was cute.)

(Oh, and besides the first picture, all of the pictures were taken by Katie Hoffman.)

Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good To Eat!!!

2009-10-30T01:07:00.001-04:00

Tonight was Audrey's very first Trick-or-Treat night! She was an adorable bumble bee. Very exciting stuff. We went all around our neighborhood first, but Audrey fell asleep at the third house. What a lazy bum. She's going to have to build up some stamina for years to come, cause, honey, I go BIG when it comes to getting free candy! :) Anyway, every ooooh-ed and aaahhh-ed over her, so it took us 2 hours just to do our neighborhood. And our neighborhood really isn't that big! She woke up towards the end of it all, and then we headed off to my grandparents' house to say hello.

Needless to say, Audrey was a hit! From her cute little antenna down to her itty bitty stinger, she was the cutest bumble bee imaginable--at least in my opinion.

Audrey has accumulated so many little Halloween outfits, it's ridiculous! Here's a few of them. I'm trying to get her to wear them all this week quick. She looks like such a Halloween superfan. Every day it's like "Baby's First Halloween!" or "I Want My Mummy!" or "Happy Halloween!". She apparently loves it.

In other news, by this point, Audrey has two teeth. Count 'em!!! I swear, she's practically all grown up.

She's allllll about eating now, and really seems to like her solid food. (Knock on wood) There hasn't been anything she has completely refused to eat. I mean, looking at her pictures, she obviously doesn't look like one to miss a meal, and believe me, she's not! We've tried allllll kinds of things, ranging from your basics, such as bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, and applesauce, to the more exciting, such as avacado and soybeans. She likes it all! Like I mentioned before, I've been referencing the book "Super Baby Food" which is really so cool. It gives you all these different foods and when the can developmentally try them and how to prepare them and everything imaginable! Very cool. Plus, I've been making most of my own baby food because of the helpful hints in that book. It's really very easy. You can do it all in bulk by pureeing a bunch of food and freezing it in ice cube trays. I used to think, "There is NO way I'm making her food. That's gotta be a pain in the ass" but really, it's not. I don't know, part of me likes to know what all is going in her food. At the same time, I'm totally not against jarred baby food! I love how convenient it is, and they've got a lot of great stuff out there. I like experimenting with both the homemade and the store bought. Pretty fun stuff.

The past few nights have been kind of rough for some reason. I think it's some of the natural attachment issues that come with her age. She'll wake up, and when I pick her up, she immediately falls right back to sleep. I feel bad for her because there have been times that she's gotten herself rather worked up. I've just been going with my gut to decide how to deal with it. There are sometimes I pick her up, sometimes I rub her tummy and give her her pacifier, and sometimes I have to just let her cry a little. It makes me feel so bad, but she can't just get used to NEEDING to be in someone's arms to sleep. I mean, that's ok every now and then; who doesn't like that?! Poor Audrey. I also tried wrapping one of my tshirts around her bumpber because I heard maybe just being able to smell me would be comfortable. Since I smell soooo good haha :). I don't know. We'll see what works.

I'm sure it'll be one of those things that, like everything with raising a child, will pass just as fast as it came.

In the middle of the night when I'm exhausted and just want to go back to bed, I keep trying to remind myself that one day, she's not going to want to cuddle with me at all, so really, I should take full advantage of this situation! Hey, you've gotta find a silver lining somewhere.

Skeletor!

2009-10-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

No time for a long post, it's midterm time!

Highlights of the past few weeks:

1. Audrey's first tooth has come in! Yahoooo! And the second one is on it's way. They're both on the bottom. It's pretty damn adorable. If she keeps her mouth open long enough for me to take a picture, you know I'll share it. She had about 5 nights in a row that were pretty rough, but other than that, she handled it pretty well. Such a little trooper :)

2. I entered Audrey into a Casting Call for Baby Gap!!! She's a model at heart. I just know it. It makes me feel like such a stage mom, but I swear I'm not. We don't find out until like December or January or something. I guess it's some serious stuff haha.

3. Audrey had her 6 month appointment recently. She's 17 lbs. 8.5 oz (75th percentile) and 27 1/4 inches tall (90th percentile). I think. For some reason I'm not positive about the height, but I don't feel like digging out the paper that it's on. Other than that, she had to get 4 shots :( and then one vaccination was an oral thing that they squirt in your mouth. Her doctor said she's healthy and looking goooood.

I believe that's everything interesting. It has just been a complete whirlwind lately. Ugh, and today I burnt my hands cutting peppers. I didn't know that hot peppers can, like, burn you, and I cut them with no gloves on and right now they sting SOOOO incredibly bad! I've tried putting rubbing alcohol on them, putting baking soda/water on them, soaking them in milk, and running cold water over them. It'll work for about 2 minutes and then the burning returns. I'm on fiiiiirrreeee.

Audrey is so pumped for Halloween that she has busted out her skeleton pjs a bit early! So cute. In that first picture she looks like she's in the Misfits haha. My little punk rocker. The second one looks more like Morrissey on a windy day. I can't wait for Trick-or-Treat! It'll be one of the few times that I can steal her candy and she'll be ok with it. I'm sure that will probably never happen ever again after this year.

Exersaucerrrrr!

2009-09-21T01:11:00.001-04:00

So, our neighbors got Audrey this exersaucer about 2 months ago, and she absolutely loves it. It's pretty entertaining to watch her. She can really entertain herself for a little while. It's amazing to see her spin around and play with everything. She always presses the buttons that play little songs and then looks up like, did you see what I did?! Plus, I used to dance whenever she'd press the buttons, but that got really tiring. She presses them A LOT. And man, does she get a kick out of it.

I always think that just about 5 and a half months ago, she wasn't doing any of that. It's crazy to see the development happening right before your eyes. I can't believe she's almost six months old! It has FLOWN by. Such a big girl :) She's so inquisitive now. I mean, she's always been curious, but now that she's figured out that she can move, she just wants to touch and explore everything.

And she's NOSEY, too!

2009-09-21T00:34:00.000-04:00

Things have been, like, CRAZY busy lately. Not even kidding. Plus, I get distracted really easily, so each time I've told myself I was going to update my blog, I ended up doing homework (good), cutting out coupons (good), writing thank-you's (good), watching random shows like Tool Academy (BAD...those people are insane, so it's hilarious), or just sitting and staring at a wall (bad).

Today was productive, though. Audrey and I went out to the Verizon store to get my phone fixed. I dropped it and the back fell off, which is really not that big of a deal. Plus, I DID get the insurance on my phone, thank God. But the guy was being dumb. He kept making all these comments about "See, this is why you need to buy a case for your phone." I was like, "I don't understand why you need to have a case. There's no reason. If it's so necessary it should come with the phone." He didn't have anything to say.

But I ended up getting a case.

I guess he won. Damn. But then again, they are sending me another phone. Fo' free. Maybe I win :) Audrey was pretty good the whole time, but she started practicing her fun little yells. She's totally just testing out her vocal chords, but I'm not big on it if we're like out at a restaurant or something. Sometimes I'll let it go a little, but I usually kindly say, "No yelling, Audrey." I'm not trying to be a big party pooper or anything, and I understand she's only 5 (almost 6!) months old, but I just don't think it's appropriate. I know she can't understand what I'm saying, but I figure I can plant the seed now so that she'll understand when mom reacts like this, I stop. We'll see how that works out. If we're at home or something, I'll let it go a little more.

Other than that, my godmother Maureen and her daughter Kaci came over to help me write out some bills and go through my mom's closet a bit more. We went through a bunch of her shoes. My mom has some adorably--and ridiculous--stuff. She has kept EVERYTHING. She had these cute little gray pumps with bows on them that she bought in 1981! How do I know this? She kept all the receipts. I definitely have to do a post about some of her clothes. Oh, she still cracks me up. I miss her.

But I willllllll attempt to update this more often. I've just been so busy with Audrey, school, work, keeping up with housework, meeting with finanical advisors, and running a million and five random little errands. But we're hanging in there.

We <3 Elena....again.

2009-09-15T16:25:00.000-04:00

Sooooo, Elena came over to take SOME MORE pictures of Audrey last night, and they are so freaking adorable. I am just constantly amazed by Elena's photography. It's amazing. Plus, Audrey is a natural in front of the camera, so that certainly helps. She cracks me up; it's like she was being such a serious model. I was pulling out all the tricks that usually make her smile, and towards the end she cracked, but in the beginning she was just trying to be so suave and sophisticated. My girrrrrl.

I'm in love love love love love. Oh, Audrey in her pearls. Elena has ANOTHER idea, so she'd like to try that out soon, too. She just has an endless amount of ideas I guess haha.

You can see more pictures from our photoshoot on Elena's blog. Not sure where to find it? Well that's totally cool; just click here.

Don't forget about Dia, too! That's our dog. She is really unsure about Audrey. From day one, she has acted pretty protective with her, especially when other people hold her. At the same time, now that Audrey is starting to reach for things, Dia will just get up and go to another room if Audrey tries to touch her. It's somewhat cute. I mean, our dog is like 11 years old, so I think that she's sometimes a grumpy old lady who is soooo over it. Regardless, she's still pretty freaking adorable. Oh, and please excuse the boobage going on in this picture. Oh, the joyyyys of breastfeeding.

We <3 Elena

2009-09-07T01:27:00.001-04:00

My friend Elena is a pretty freaking amazing photographer. When I had written my article for Philadelphia Weekly, she was the person I asked to take the pictures. Plus, it doesn't hurt that she's really cool, too haha.

Anywayyyy, we were hanging out the other day and she snapped some quick pictures of Audrey, so I thought I'd share them. She has some other really cute ideas for baby pictures, so I willingly offered my daughter. I'm pumped.

I'm a bad (busy) blogger

2009-09-02T00:20:00.000-04:00

Oh, blog, you have not been forgotten. It's just that the school year starting makes me feel like this:

Between school starting, taking care of Audrey, our big trip to NYC, work (aka serving people who take coffee ENTIRELY too seriously), and running around like a crazy person, I have about zero minutes of free time each day. In fact, usually my free time is spent changing a diaper or something fun like that. Such as putting away laundry so that my bras aren't just sitting around when my brother's friends come over. Smoothe, Jen. Realllllll smoothe.

Besides all that, things have been sinking in a whole lot more lately concerning my mom. It'll hit me at the weirdest times and out of nowhere I'm having a little mini breakdown. Or, sometimes it's not mini it all. But usually, if you give it a few minutes, it pretty much passes. I mean, it's always there, but it doesn't always involve tears, spit, and snot or turn me into a babbling fool. No matter how many people are coming to spend time with us, inquiring as to how we're doing, or cooking us casseroles, I just can't help but feel alone. It's a gap that no one--no matter who they are--can ever fill. Even Audrey. And even if she's this incredibly cute:

Obviously, cuteness like that helps make most of the sadness go away. (God, I love that picture.) But some of it always lingers there deep down where nothing can reach it.

I'll come back and play soon. I promise. Believe me, I have a whole bunch of pictures, so it'll certainly happen soon.

Plus, Audrey is officially a big bad 5 month old. So LOOK OUT!

Goodnight :)

STOP THE PRESS!

2009-08-18T22:28:00.001-04:00

SHE DID IT! IT'S TRUE! AUDREY ROLLED OVERRRRRRRR!

GOOOOOO AUDREYYYY! Wow, you can't even imagine how excited I am. My brother and I were just chit chatting and she kept rolling over to her side like she has been doing for a while now. Next thing you know, she was on her stomach! You could tell it really surprised her; she must have been thinking, how the hell did I do that. Ahhh, I'm just so proud of her. You could tell that she loved all the attention she was getting. We kept ooh-ing and ahhh-ing over her each time she did it, so you could tell she was pretty happy with herself. I'm telling you, she's practically allllll grown up :)

Oh, and these pictures are quick ones I took before my camera died. Her room is still getting put together, but I really do love her crib. That weirdo dinosaur hooks in the back will be coming down; that was acutally my brother's. He is 23 years old and has finnnaaalllly outgrown it I guess. But yes, it will be coming down. We may have to hold on to it though for memories' sake.
I really do love it. The two quilts over the side were actually made for me by two of my mom's friends. Neither of them knew eachother but they just so happened to match! How perfect! Then I found the bumper pad on sale at Target, and that matched, too. I think I got pretty lucky.

I wish my bed was that cool. But then again, I'm not busy hitting major life milestones, so I guess she really deserves it more than I would.

But speaking of my own life milestones, I found out that I was pregnant a year ago today. It's pretty insane to think about how different my life was a year ago. Who would have thought?

WOW

2009-08-18T00:41:00.000-04:00

As much as I totally love the whole breastfeeding thing, I will never ever ever ever allow my daughter to get this.