Well, Hello There!

I'm alive! I'm alive!

I've been so MIA lately because we just got home. We spent the holidays out and about visiting family. I have family in northern Canada who flew into the states (whom I completely forgot to get pictures with because I was incredibly tired, have a toddler, and dealing with heartburn and contractions), we spent about a week in New England with my family, and then headed down to Florida to ring in the new year with my grandfather. Whew! Are we exhausted!

Here's a little snippet of our adventures:

Here's my angel in the Beco in the airport. Everyone should have one of these. They're my favorite baby carrier next to my Hot Sling. This was after staying up all night because we were still battling a virus, getting up early, driving across the state to the airport, and getting through check in.

Surprisingly, security was a breeze. I was fully expecting to have everything searched, go through a ridiculous pat down, be questioned about everything. They didn't even bust us for not emptying out her sippy cup. And I have discovered the trick to getting a toddler to stay melt-down free during flight delays and plane rides: portable DVD players. We got one on sale before we left because I figured there would be delays and at 30 weeks pregnant really, really, REALLY did not want to deal with a fussy toddler, swollen extremities, and a host of angry passengers. It was amazing. She did get a little antsy a few times, but she was a DOLL. We sat there and watched The Wiggles and Veggie Tales and everything went smoothly.

We flew up on Christmas Eve. Not exactly the way I'd want to spend my Christmas Eve, but c'est la vie. My dad and cousin Brett met us at the airport and had the joy of finding a place that was open late at night on Christmas Eve for food. We found a gas station. It was surprisingly edible food for gas station food. We got Auds down, and then we stayed up til 2:30 in the morning wrapping my sisters' Christmas presents. That's another can of worms that I'm not even going to open. Let's just say I have seen consumerism at its finest.

When we got up in the morning Grandpa insisted on opening stockings. This picture is a miracle because Audrey actually helped him open his stocking (really she just like sorting things, taking them out and putting them back in). She is not a big Grandpa fan. She's typically petrified of him. The last time we saw him in September, she wouldn't get within 10 feet of him. If she heard him talk, she'd scream bloody murder. But she got near him! And handed him stuff!

Grandpa got her a princess dress up set, which was a huge hit. She made Honey open it up and help her get dressed. Here she is getting her pink heels on over her footie pajamas.

After stockings, we got showered and dressed and Audrey loved on Grandpa's wife's cat. My dad's wife refuses to be called Grandma, so she's just Col. Col has had Tubby for about 18 years and he pretty much hates everyone... except the three of us. And he absolutely ADORES Auds. He let her lay on him and play with him the entire time we were there. Most of the time he never even comes near anyone. He even napped with her. My girl LOVES animals. And they love her back. Now, don't worry, we always supervise her around animals and make sure that she doesn't hurt them or provoke them. She really just wants to cuddle them.

Then when my sisters arrived, we opened up more presents. Audrey actually got overwhelmed and didn't want to open them. She opened one gift and was completely content - as were we - when we were informed that there was still a whole mountain left. But she accumulated a lot of great well thought out gifts that I will disperse throughout the year.

She even let Grandpa hug her... as long as I was within 5 feet and Daddy held on to her. But she let him! I think that's the biggest thanks he'll ever get. This was a Christmas miracle! She even let him hold her for about 20 seconds while my husband picked up the presents afterward. She couldn't take her eye off of either of us, but it still happened!

And loving on Buster. Tubby got a little jealous.

And then we went to have Christmas dinner with everyone. Here's little miss awaiting her food. She actually didn't like it compared to good old Southern food, so she ate 3 bowls of fruit instead. We definitely stole this idea from my cousin - when her girls got too big for bibs but still made a huge mess with their food, she'd put tshirts over their clothes so they wouldn't ruin them. Genius! I bought a pack of little boy undershirts for Auds and we are now doing the same thing at home. It's amazing. And you just throw the dirty shirt in the wash and not worry about stains on the good clothes. It's so amazingly simple that I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

After dinner, it was time for more dress up. Yes, my daughter is wearing a skirt as a skirt and a skirt as a top. There were 6 kids running around playing dress up. Do you know how hard it is to get pictures of 6 toddlers rummaging through costumes and flying around? It was hilarious though.

Here's my little girl watching as Col decides whether or not she'll let the kids dress her up. To the left is my oldest younger sister, my cousin's daughter, and then my dad's wife.

The final creation. She was such a good sport.

Then it was time for baby Jesus' birthday cake. Of course we didn't let Audrey have any, but she loved it. She kept singing the parts of "Frosty the Snowman" and "Happy Birthday" that she knew and screaming "Baby Jesus!" It was adorable. We are definitely doing this idea next year. Maybe not as sugar-laden, but still the same concept.

Here's my little family. Boy, do we look tired. I think Audrey was eyeing up some more presents. We came home with an entire suitcase full of presents for her. I was in shock. So was she. She did get the Leap Frog reading system with the little white man reader thingy. She thought the little man looked like Frosty, so he was her favorite.

Here's us with my grandmother. Audrey is the 5th great-grand and Tony will be the 6th. We are, however, the only family to have both a girl and a boy. Everyone else had one, the other, or two of both.

The next morning we got up early to go to church with my cousin and his wife's family. My cousin is working towards being ordained in the Methodist church. Although we worship very differently, they are the only other Christians in our family (on both sides) so it is nice to have kindred spirits. It was very different than what we're used to, but it was great to get out and worship God. The church was very old and echoed, so Auds and I spent the service in the basement where the nursery was with my cousin's mother-in-law. Afterwards we went to their house and Auds commandeered the toys.

We soon had a traffic jam.

After some brunch and a nap, we were ready to head out to our first hockey game. Here's Loralei showing Auds the snow outside. Audrey was sooo excited to see snow. It's a rare occurrence here. Granted, it has snowed three times since I got pregnant with Audrey. But before that, It had been years and years before we even had a glimmer of a chance of a flurry. This was the big stuff.

Showing Daddy.

My little pink marshmallow and love outside as we sprinted to the van. It was in the 20s... so we didn't stay out much. I got a shot of them in the snow, and I was happy.

Totally not sure about the car ride. Poor thing, every time we got in the car we'd arrive some place new and she'd be surrounded by a bunch of people she didn't know. I have a big family. This is just on my dad's side. There's my ex-step mom's side (who I've known since I was 5 so they're still family), my mother's side, my other mother's side, and then there's my husband's side. Little girl was overwhelmed. But we were on our way to a hockey game.

And an added tidbit about the above photo, her jacket although it looks big, isn't a big typical winter jacket. It's furry, so it gives the appearance of bulk, but it really laid flat against her so that in a crash she wouldn't have crazy amounts of slack. We then tucked warm blankets around her to keep her warm. Family offered her big pouffy winter coats, but we refused for this reason. We didn't want, heaven forbid something happen, her to be ejected from her car seat because her coat was too bulky. Thankfully, this isn't an issue that we typically deal with where we live because it never gets cold enough for her to wear this jacket out.

Here's half of us with the mascot. Audrey loved him. She was growling at him the entire time - because bears growl. At least she knew what she was telling him. :)

Watching the guys practice before the game started.

We won 3-1. There weren't any fights though. I really wanted to see a hockey fight like you always hear about. I'm such a guy like that. Granted, I really do hate violence. I'm pro having the right to a gun but anti having one in the house. I won't let violence be on TV, and we don't hit at all in our house (not even play fighting). But I just think two grown people going at it is just hilarious. Am I the only weird one?

The next day we went to Gymboree with Harry and Finleigh. Finleigh wouldn't stay still long enough to get in any of the pictures, but Auds and Harry had a blast.

Hanging out on the parachute.

Then, right after we flew back down, we drove over to Florida to see my grandfather. Audrey claimed my grandmother's costume jewelry as her own. She looks like she belongs at a Mardi Gras parade. We might take her to one this year. She's still a little too small to get into the chicken races though.

And, of course, she made friends with my grandpa's dog Sis. Every time we've gone over to his house Auds has reached a milestone. The first time, she rolled over. (Which she quickly decided was for the birds and didn't want to do again til she was almost a year, but she did it.) The second time she started crawling. All this mobility was used towards getting to Sis. Well, now that she's a running toddler, Sis didn't have a chance. She just gave up and let Auds do what she wanted. lol

Puppy love!