May 15, 2011

ballet recital

Today was the recital for Audrey's ballet class. We had bought the required special costume, invited the grandmas to attend, and asked papa to watch Charlie. But Audrey refused to perform. She seemed excited for recital until yesterday at rehearsal. She wouldn't go onto the stage, saying she was too scared. So I wasn't expecting much for today. I was really hoping when it came down to it, she would just go for it.

Audrey wouldn't even put her costume back on afterwards for pictures with the grandmas.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (1)

May 14, 2011

happy birthday, Seth!

Seth turned five yesterday and today we celebrated with him. Happy birthday, Seth!

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2011

sports class

Charlie and I have been going to a sports class, his first organized class. Each week they do a different sport: floor hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, football. He is not much of a focused class participant and more often than not does his own thing rather than what the coaches and I instruct him to do. He still has fun running around and throwing, kicking and hitting the balls but I think it will be a while before we sign up for another of this type of class.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2011

Mother's Day outtakes

I really did try to get the kids to pose for a Mother's Day card, but luck wasn't with me. I ultimately went with a photo from a different day, but these are still pretty cute.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

Happy Mother's Day!

We kept the tradition alive, except this year I had two little helpers in the kitchen. Audrey is really good with just about every step involved in making the waffles but the egg cracking (which she claims scares her), while Charlie contributed some well supervised whisking. He did a good job staying quiet and letting Mama sleep in, which earned him high marks for the morning. That and dressing like a chef with his sister.

Audrey thought it would be a good idea to make the waffles look pretty, so we came up with a sun design. This is the kind of special treatment you get around here when it's your day.

Mama was "surprised" when we came upstairs with a delicious breakfast for her to enjoy in bed. Between wrangling kids and opening presents, it's not easy to to actually get to the breakfast-in-bed part of the tradition.

It's always nice when both kids (especially Charlie) can settle down long enough to pose for a picture with us.

Audrey has the last word. Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2011

Happy Free Comic Book Day

Audrey was really excited to get out to FCBD this year in anticipation of snagging a new Smurfs comic. Charlie took one step into the store, quickly turned to me and asked "what do we do here, Dada?" He caught on swiftly and a good time was had by all...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2011

gifted

Audrey was very excited to give me the mother's day gift they had made in preschool. She had decided to wait until Todd came home from work, but just couldn't stand the anticipation so had me open it before we even ate lunch.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2011

angelic

We went out to dinner tonight and there was some hamming for the camera before the impatience of sitting set in and the misbehaving began.

Posted by jill at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2011

art show

Audrey's preschool had an art show today. Each child had a piece taped up to the wall outside the classrooms. Audrey was very proud of her snake. I think it is pretty awesome, too!

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2011

twins turn six!

Happy birthday to Jeffery and Jaila who turned six this week. We celebrated at their house today. Charlie and Audrey both love getting to see their cousins!

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April 30, 2011

ballet picture day

Audrey's dance recital is coming up in two weeks and today was picture day. Audrey was excited to get all dressed up.

Audrey waiting with some classmates to get pictures.

Audrey, Abby and Sarah came up with this Charlie's Angels-like pose all on their own.

After pictures, we loitered outside the park district eating popcorn.

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)

April 29, 2011

twenty-seven months

Charlie has really been loving that the weather is nice and he can go outside and dig in the dirt. He is all boy when it comes to getting dirty.

Now that he is really talking, Charlie comes up with the silliest things. He'll say "I have an idea guys" and then tell us some gibberish about cars or trucks. If you try to tell his an idea he always argues that it is not an idea. I guess in this house, Charlie come up with all the good ideas.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

park playdate

We had a great afternoon today with Amber and Brylen at a park we had never been to. We took a nice walk (run) around the pond and saw what we think was a beaver then played at the playground.

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April 28, 2011

talent

Look what Charlie proudly showed me he could do today with a chip. That's my boy!

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April 24, 2011

bunny cake

Audrey and Charlie discovered this morning that the easter bunny visited our house and brought books and candy.

We saved the egg hunting for Nana and Papa's house, who organized a great egg hunt for Audrey, Charlie and cousins Imani, Jaila and Jeffery.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2011

I need a vacation from this vacation

Erinn and Kieran were off to Ireland again so we were off to Chicago to stay at their loft for a mini vacation. Our plan was two nights, low expectations and keep the cats company.

We started our trip by picking up Todd from work yesterday and going out for dinner at Leona's. I should have known we were destined for trouble when Charlie didn't nap at all. It started out small with happy screams because he thought it was funny. Dinner ended with Charlie throwing himself on the sidewalk on Taylor Street crying and screaming (unhappily).

Audrey was pretty good at least for the most part. Since she and Todd are both smiling, this picture must have been taken before Audrey grossed out us and half the restaurant by licking the top of the parmesan cheese shaker. Eww.

The rest of the night really only got worse. It had been a while since Charlie slept in the pack and play and he was not having it. He leaned so far over the side he fell right out. So, Charlie got to sleep in a big bed for the first time and did great. But between thinking someone was trying to break into the loft, crying cats and bed-hogging, thrashing children, Todd and I did not sleep so well.
The tired crew this morning.

Todd had to go into work this afternoon so I debated about just taking the kids home after breakfast. We bucked up and went ahead with our plan for the morning - the Museum of Science and Industry- and then we would go home. It was a good decision to go, we had a lot of fun.

Audrey in front of a model of the building we call "dada's building" and everyone else calls the Sears Tower.

Audrey had been talking about coming back here to see her favorite baby chicks for months.

Who knew the MSI has mold-a-ramas? Charlie pushes his new train.

Audrey wanted to take Charlie for a ride on the tractor.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2011

jumptastic

Our neighbors invited us to join them at the local bouncy place and we accepted. Last time Charlie was here last summer, I had to leave with him while Todd and Audrey stayed and had fun. It took a little bit for him to warm up but soon he was jumping with joy and cruising down the big slides with Todd.

Posted by jill at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2011

daffodils

We know that spring is coming - our daffodils are finally in full bloom!

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2011

good kitty

Charlie still gets excited every time he sees Natasha. He is a pretty good friend to her when he isn't threatening to pull her tail.

Posted by jill at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2011

digging in the dirt

Charlie gets some serious outside time.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2011

wonder bry

Hooray! Amber and Brylen visited today! They delved into Audrey's dress up clothes and Brylen was rocking the Wonder Woman costume.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2011

clean shaven

The kids didn't even notice Todd finally shaved his winter beard today.

Posted by jill at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 02, 2011

up in the air

Posted by jill at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2011

shut down

We had a bit of excitement this afternoon, when there were three police cars outside our house, dealing with a minor issue at the neighbors. Audrey thought it was funny to tell Charlie they were going to be taken to jail and convinced Charlie to hide under the couch with her.

Posted by jill at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2011

twenty-six months

Charlie's language abilities have exploded! The boy whom I was worried would never talk is talking in sentences and saying new words every day.

It is so nice to hear him express himself, even if it hasn't helped as much as I had hoped with the occasional meltdown.

We love this crazy, little guy!

Posted by jill at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2011

cute fam

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March 25, 2011

basil

Susan started her spring break early with a lunch with me, Audrey and Charlie.

Even though they wouldn't try anything greek on the menu, they were both very excited about the pasta with parmesan cheese.

Posted by jill at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2011

zippity do da

Nana joined us for Audrey's observation day at ballet.

Then we at lunch at Audrey's favorite, Noodles & Co.

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March 20, 2011

snuggle time

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March 19, 2011

off to see the wizard

We hadn't seen Brylen, Amber and Patrick for way too long. So when we decided to see a puppet show at Todd's hometown library, we got together with them for breakfast, then all went to the show.

It's like these two were never apart.

Patrick kept Charlie well entertained.

Sitting so nicely waiting for the show to start.

Charlie checks out the puppets after the show.

Before heading home for Charlie's nap, we got to visit with Nana and aunt Nancy.

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2011

drop off

Todd's car is in the shop getting some work done so we took him to the train this morning.

Charlie was thrilled to be so close to real trains and insisted we stay and watch several more go by, even after Todd was long gone on his way to work.

Posted by jill at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2011

happy st patrick's day

Audrey was supposed to wear green for school so I made Charlie represent his small portion of Irish heritage today too.

Posted by jill at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2011

tap tap tap

I visited with Sara today while Audrey was in school and she gave me some great hand-me-downs from Emma. Despite the princess gear, Audrey was initially the most excited about the tap shoes. I think she may be giving up ballet for tap this summer.

Posted by jill at 08:59 PM | Comments (1)

March 13, 2011

fried pickles

Today we dug it with Mike and April for lunch.

Audrey and Charlie were both very interested in Mike's tats and he was more than happy to show them off.

Posted by jill at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2011

Charlie bath

The boy is very serious about his shampoo mohawk.

Posted by jill at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2011

free pancakes

It isn't very often I take both Audrey and Charlie to a restaurant by myself, but today was free pancake day. How could I pass that up just because I didn't have another adult to supervise with me?

Posted by jill at 05:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2011

twenty-five months

I am excited to report that Charlie has decided to pronounce the long "e" at the end of words, such as Audrey, Channy and Charlie. He used to do this just fine but hasn't for quite a while, instead using a short "a" sound. One day out of the blue, he just started saying things correctly.

Charlie's behavior has gone up and down over the last few months, but this month he has been what we refer to as a perfect gentleman. There have been the usual tiffs with his sister and such, of course. That's my good, sweet boy!

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2011

have a seat

I bring a new storage container in the house and everyone has to sit in it!

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2011

big cat

Since the weather was mild today, we took a trip to the free zoo. We got to see most of the usual animals, including a couple of wolves close up. No otters today, though, and we couldn't find the elk in their wooded area.

The biggest difference was the mountain lions. Both of them were out and about. Most days they are hiding in their rock alcove. One even sat on the bench by the observation glass and started licking the glass while Charlie was standing right there. That caused him to jump a bit and exclaim "big cat licking me!"

Posted by jill at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2011

happy valentines day

Todd and I showed Audrey and Charlie a little extra love this morning by giving them each a book.

When I asked Audrey is she wanted to make Todd a card for valentines day, she told me she wanted to make him a crown. Todd is now the king of valentines!

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

double tutu

Today was another wear any dancewear day for ballet class. Audrey doesn't have much to choose from, but decided to double up with both the petal-filled tutu she wore last time and her smaller dress up dance skirt.

Before and after class the girls spend their time running around this pole.

Posted by jill at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2011

crafty valentine

Audrey's pre-school class is exchanging valentines and I thought it would be nice for Audrey and I to make something. I cut out shapes for Audrey to decorate and she tired of it after not even half. With 20 children and two teachers in her class, I think it was a little over ambitious for us.

We did finish all of them and here is the finished product: tootsie roll pops made to look like flowers. Cute, but a lot of work.

Posted by jill at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2011

all the track

With neighbor Colin's help, we built a railway this morning that incorporated every piece of train track we have. Colin has been wanting to come over to play trains for ever. During the fall when we were all playing out in the yard, he used to make up excuses to come inside and would try to sneak over to the trains.

Posted by jill at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2011

snowpocolypse 2011

Imagine Audrey's delight to wake up to almost three feet of snow this morning! Charlie had a rare morning nap so we bundled up and got to work on shoveling ourselves out.

Audrey and Colin had fun climbing and sliding down the snow drifts that were taller than them and throwing snowballs.

Once the driveway and sidewalk were cleared, thanks to the help of the best neighbors in the world, we went back inside for a snowed-in movie day.

Charlie joined us for round two outside.

Posted by jill at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2011

argyle

Audrey is quite the fashionista. She wants to wear these tights every chance she gets. And she just discovered these shoes from last summer and wears them constantly when in the house. At least she is sensible enough to know it is too cold outside for them.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2011

Charlie celebration, day three

Todd's side of the family came over celebrate Charlie's birthday today.

Charlie's attempt at showing us he is "two".

It was great to have the whole family here. I'm just sorry we didn't get any good pictures of Rickie!!!

Posted by jill at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2011

two years

Our little guy is two! Charlie has come a long way in recent months. Pretty much anything Audrey does, he wants to do too. It is fun to watch him look to her for cues on how to act, though not always in his best interest.

He is clearer in communicating his thoughts and can even tell stories with a little help. Charlie is still pretty goofy, but we have started seeing a serious side of Charlie too. Sometimes he tells us something with such conviction it is hard not to laugh.

One of our favorite things about Charlie is his dancing. It is a cute little circular skip that requires a great deal of concentration. We love you, Char char!

Posted by jill at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

double party

Cousin Grant's birthday was yesterday and Charlie's is today, so Channy agreed to host a joint birthday party for the boys.

Allysa introduced the kids to Justin Bieber songs and videos on her Ipod. Audrey's verdict: nice. Charlie's: cute.

Seth got into the party spirit.

Birthday boys with lots of birthday cake.

Charlie, of course, loved his Thomas cake that Channy picked out for him.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2011

choo choo Charlie

Our little guy's birthday is tomorrow so Todd took the day off from work and we planned some activities just for Charlie. First stop was the children's museum. The last time we were there was six days before I had Charlie.

Then was the highlight of Charlie's day, or possibly of his life so far, the train restaurant. I don't think he could believe he was at a place with working trains everywhere.

We sat at a counter where they brought our food out on a train.

They even brought his birthday ice cream with a candle out on a train. He loved it!

Posted by jill at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)

January 26, 2011

the many faces of Charlie

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January 25, 2011

cool kids

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January 24, 2011

this one's for you, uncle Jeff

Audrey loved wearing her new warm up suit to and from ballet today.

Posted by jill at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2011

go bears

When we found out we could get free food at Noodles for wearing team gear and we were invited to a playoff game party, we had to pull this Bears hand-me-down out of the outgrown pile for Audrey to wear. She asked for days when she would get to wear it, calling it the Cubs outfit every single time.

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (1)

January 22, 2011

airtastic party

Audrey attended her friend Sarah's birthday party at one of those bouncy places today.

Crabby after playing, despite a large delicious cake right next to her.

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2011

bakery men

Santa brought Audrey and Charlie a toy kitchen and a few accessories, like these chef hats.

Posted by jill at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2011

check up

Today the whole family took a trip to the doctor for Audrey's late four year and Charlie's early two year check ups. I convinced Todd to take the day off from work to assist since I knew there were going to be shots. I love at Charlie's age when they get shots and don't even know what hit them. He had a little whimper then was perfectly fine. Audrey did better this time than with her flu shot - there was no kicking, though she did angrily yell at the nurse that she did not like her. Once she calmed down, she did apologize.

We know that Audrey is a big girl now, she had to wear a paper gown for the appointment. She, of course, called it her princess gown.

Here are the stats: Audrey is 41 inches tall and 35 pounds. Charlie is 35 inches tall (64th percentile), 25 pounds (17th percentile), with a 19.5 inch head circumference.

Posted by jill at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2011

first homework

We had a family homework assignment for Audrey's preschool - to decorate a snowman. I may have directed a bit too much, but Audrey was very happy with the results. Making our snowfriend patriotic was all her.

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (1)

January 15, 2011

good timing

What luck that when we go to spend a gift card Audrey got for her birthday (thanks, uncle Scott!), there just happens to be storytime at the bookstore. And they gave out cookies. Our kind of storytime.

Posted by jill at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2011

so fancy

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January 11, 2011

snow fort

Another snowfall, another snow fort.

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storytime

Charlie's first session of storytime began at the library today. Like his sister, he is not much of a participator, but sat quietly and paid attention to the stories.

Posted by jill at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2011

rite of passage

One of the worst things about working is missing big moments like this: Audrey received her first library card today! I'm so proud of you, girl!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2011

ear tubes

I'll be honest, we've been more than a little worried about today. Sure, it's a simple procedure, but signing off on surgery for your little girl, no matter how minor, is not an easy thing to do. Thankfully she was super brave and chatted up the procession of nurses and doctors as if the whole thing were no big deal. They whisked her away and about 5-10 minutes later the doctor was back to tell us everything went well. Audrey is now the proud owner of some ear tubes and hopefully is now done with her recurring ear infections. We could not be prouder of her; she was really great today.

She's also the proud owner of some really cool new hospital socks!

Special thanks to Channy for coming out before the crack of dawn to keep an eye on Charlie!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2011

work from home

One day back into the old routine and I was ready to be back home, only this time I was working. Someone slipped an elf hat on my head while I was diligently conducting searches.

Not one to be left out of the fun, Charlie improvised and crafted himself an 80's style headband.

After lunch Charlie declared he needed to use the potty. As it is our dream to see him out of diapers, we got him in the bathroom in about 1/2second later. Nothing happened, but it's a start...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2011

back in the routine

After almost two weeks of Todd off work and no classes, Todd was back to work and Audrey was back to dance class today.

Posted by jill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2011

you've reached Charlie Milo...

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January 01, 2011

Happy New Year!

Celebrating the start of 2011 by staying in where it's warm. Happy New Year!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2010

white wolf

Audrey was visiting Nana and Papa and Todd was visiting a friend, so it was just me and Charlie today. The weather was so unseasonably warm, we decided to visit the nearby zoo.

We'd never been in cooler weather and it appears that this is the time to go. We saw all the animals we normally see and a few that we usually don't.

Charlie was face to face with one of the wolves. Normally, we might catch a quick far-away glance of them.

On our way out of the park, a little boy was sitting on this blue bench and Charlie sat down right next to him. The boy's dad offered to take a picture of me and Charlie. So here we are, a rare outing together and an even rarer picture while out together. It was fun hanging with the boy.

Posted by jill at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2010

twenty-three months

I had decided that December was officially the month that Charlie went insane. We had a really rough patch in the middle of the month with a lot of crying fits and tantrums. Then just as quickly as crazy Charlie appeared, right before christmas, we had our old Charlie back.

Charlie still thinks it is funny to throw food sometimes at meals and is hit or miss on his cooperation with diaper changes, but is more often than not such a sweet little guy.

Trucks, trains and balls still top Charlie's list of favorite things. His talking continues to get better and better and he is stringing words together. We are not sure when this happened, but he no longer will say a long e at the end of words, they all end in a short a sound. He CAN say it, he just won't. This boy has ways of doing things and that is that.

Posted by jill at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2010

happy birthday, dada!

Todd is 38 today! Though we can't quite plan the big birthday celebrations we used to have before kids, but Audrey, Charlie and I tried to make his day special.

Audrey is notorious for ruining gift surprises for Todd and this time around was no different. She didn't completely give away what she picked out for him, but there was a few mentions of Batman to Todd the previous weeks. This time she at least knew to try and cover up her mistake. She really did pick out the mask and shirt all herself. These will go great with the Bobba Fett helmet he got for christmas.

We were a little apprehensive about going out to dinner to celebrate because our last experience was not so pleasant thanks to a wild Charlie. We threw caution to the wind, Charlie was quite the gentleman and we had a very nice time. Back home, we had cake and ice cream. Audrey accidentally blew out the candles before Todd could and then I couldn't get the 8 to relight, but I hope Todd's wish came true anyway! Happy birthday!

Posted by jill at 10:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2010

channy christmas

Channy stopped by for a holiday visit today, bringing all kinds of fun gifts.

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December 25, 2010

merry christmas 2010

Santa came and brought all kinds of prizes for Audrey and Charlie!

After opening presents and eating breakfast, we loaded everyone up and headed out to Jeff and Rickie's beautiful new house for a celebration with Todd's family.

The night ended with a rousing game of Jenga and Charlie cuddled up on the couch with Jeff watching basketball.

Posted by jill at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2010

christmas eve

It was great to see my extended family at tonight's christmas gathering.
Charlie charmed his teenage cousins Julie and Mackenzie.

Audrey and Charlie jumped right in to help Caden with his new Thomas train set.

Charlie had just gotten a new toy truck but just wanted to play with cousin Lori's holiday decorations.

Now the kiddos are tucked into bed waiting for Santa!

Posted by jill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2010

holiday hats

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December 18, 2010

Charlie time

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December 16, 2010

pinecone present

Audrey brought home a present for Todd and I from preschool today. At first she said we had to wait until christmas to open it, but then decided we should open it tonight.

It is a pinecone with blue glitter. Audrey made it herself in class.

She chose blue because it is her favorite, of course.

Posted by jill at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2010

future blogger

The girl preparing for the day we turn this site over to her...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2010

simple pleasures

A nice reminder that childhood joy doesn't have to be attached to pricey toys.

As we get closer to Christmas day, perhaps we should consider trading in the kids' gifts for a few empty boxes..?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2010

a little more tree trimming

We already had the lights, but today saw the kids add some garland and ornaments to the tree.

Charlie was really good, though he can't reach very high. I was happy he only pulled a few ornaments off once we had them on.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2010

birthday movie

We promised Audrey we'd see Tangled for her birthday and made good on it this morning. Aud & Charlie had spent the night with Channy, so we stole her away for a bit before returning for the boy. She liked the movie, but once again I think she was happiest about the big tub of popcorn.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2010

in awe

Charlie missed out on the tree construction last night. He was tired and was not cooperating. So he was amazed at what ended up in the living room overnight.

Last year, when Charlie wasn't walking yet, having the tree up on the table allowed us not to worry about him pulling it over on top of himself. We shall see how it works out this year.

Posted by jill at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2010

trimming

We started decorating for the holidays today.

We needed new lights for the tree and Audrey requested blue, since it is her favorite. We got as far as the tree going up and lights on.

Posted by jill at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2010

happy birthday, Audrey!

Audrey is four years old today!

She was excited about all of the presents she received (mostly books), but really was loving her new camera.

We got the first real snow of the season last night and I don't think a better thing could have happened to Audrey on her birthday. The other day there were barely flurries and she wanted to go out and play in the snow, so she couldn't wait to get out today. She was practicing her snow angels on the carpet inside while still in her pajamas.

Even on her birthday, Todd put her to work shoveling.

Snowman!

After the snowman, Audrey and I worked on a snow fort, really just a wall of snow. Poor Charlie was tired of the difficulty moving in his snow gear so just sat and watched. Audrey could have stayed outside all day, but we finally coaxed her inside with hot chocolate.

Audrey's other birthday wish was to see the annual local light display. She enjoys looking at holiday lights but I think it is mostly a ploy to get the candycane they pass out at the end. It is our sweet girl's birthday, so of course, we oblige.

Posted by jill at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2010

birthday party fail, year two

Tomorrow is Audrey's birthday, and in usual Audrey fashion, she is sick! Today Audrey was supposed to have a party with a few of her friends but we decided yesterday to cancel because Audrey had a fever and was vomiting. She broke out in hives this morning. At the doctor we discovered, as has been happening when she has hives as of late, she has an ear infection too. The poor girl just can't catch a break. Her family party was canceled due to sickness last year too.

Nana and Papa braved the germs and came over for a visit. Audrey perked up for a bit while they were here. She was happy to see them, snuggle with Nana, read books and open presents, of course.

We already had ordered a cake for the party, so Audrey got to blow out her candles and share the cake with Nana and Papa.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2010

waste not

I was annoyed when a single book ordered online came packaged in a ridiculously large box with a ton of paper filler. But, apparently, that filler is the best toy ever. Charlie, Audrey, even Natasha played with it all day today.

Posted by jill at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2010

twenty-two months

Charlie is officially done with a morning nap! It had become more of a habit for him to go down in the mornings and usually he wouldn't even sleep, but would be cranky without the quiet time. Not being tied to the house in the morning is great and Charlie and I get some time just the two of us while Audrey is in school.

This month, Charlie really starting realizing he has an opinion about what he does and wants to do what he wants, when he wants. With our new found morning freedom, we have been getting out more, but when it is time to leave somewhere he is having fun, such as the library, playground our Audrey's preschool classroom, a fit ensues. We feel that terrible two year mark coming closer every day, Charlie!

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2010

happy (early) birthday, papa

When we asked Audrey what we should do for Papa's birthday she unselfishly suggested we take him out to eat at her very favorite restaurant. So we hopped in the car and headed out to make some birthday magic.

When we arrived Audrey gave Papa his choice of two lunch spots: Noodles & Co. or Noodles, Inc. He chose "Inc." and she informed him that it was the same place.

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2010

happy thanksgiving, everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The kids were excited about the parades this year; we watched portions of both the Chicago and New York events. They weren't exactly excited about the Tofurkey feast, but did gobble down a few corn muffins each. Did I mention that Charlie will cheer for "muff" when ever we make muffins? That little guy cracks us up!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2010

santa fail

After Audrey saw Charlie's photo with Santa, she decided she could be brave and visit with him too. Mostly, she just wanted a candy cane. When we got to the big guy, though, she lost her bravery and instead we watched him for a bit from a distance.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2010

the mail is here

Charlie and Audrey received some Thanksgiving cheer from Channy in the mail today. Watching Charlie open mail is always fun.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2010

happy belated birthday, Erinn!

Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran were out our way for a birthday shopping spree and dropped in for a visit. Nana and Papa brought Audrey home and we all had a nice get together...as there are no big Thanksgiving plans this year, this was pretty much our celebration.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

the first kid on Santa's lap

This morning Charlie was talking about Santa and when we asked if he'd like to see him in person, he replied with an "uh-huh." That was enough for us! We quickly got him ready and headed for the mall. Charlie was excited about it until he actually saw Santa and then quickly tried to make a run for it. We calmed him down and got him on Santa's lap...he didn't even seem to notice what was going on for a few moments. But when Charlie glanced back over his shoulder and saw Santa's face up close, it was all over. Not exactly a rousing success, but far better results than we've achieved with his sister thus far.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2010

super late Father's Day outing

Today we hit the road to see Nana and Papa. Audrey was spending the night, but Charlie got some fun time in as well as I made good on my promise to take Papa to the movies for Father's Day. Maybe we'll get a little closer to the actual date next year...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2010

stare down

Susan and Jeremy came over for dinner tonight and for some reason Charlie was giving him the stink eye.

Jeremy, giving it right back at him.

Posted by jill at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2010

dentist

Last night Audrey had her second dentist appointment for a cleaning and check up.

She has become an old pro and even let the hygienist use Mr. Thirsty this time.

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2010

fork in the road

Charlie and I took a long walk while Aud was in school this morning.

Posted by jill at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2010

happy birthday, Allyssa

We celebrated cousin Allysa's eighth birthday today!

Posted by jill at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2010

cat mustache

You may think that we somehow arranged this string on Natasha's face to look like a mustache, but it was all her.

Posted by jill at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2010

hair accessories

Audrey got new barrettes and had to try all of them at the same time.

Posted by jill at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2010

dirty play

Today we went with Sara to pick up Emma from school, to lunch, then to the playground. Somehow Charlie and Audrey both got filthy - Emma did not. I have never seen children get so dirty just from playing on playground equipment. I guess that means they had a lot of fun.

Posted by jill at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2010

posing together

This doesn't happen often without a lot of coaxing...

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2010

leaves and a ball

What more could a boy want?

Posted by jill at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2010

good and evil

We made a few purchases from the Halloween clearance rack this morning for dress up.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2010

Todd and Audrey

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2010

happy halloween!

Audrey had been talking about being Wonder Woman for weeks and luckily her costume from last year still fit, but decided two days ago she wanted to be a kitty. So, instead of having the same costume as last year, she had pretty much the same costume as two years ago. The costume we got for Charlie was too uncomfortable, so I fashioned him a gnome outfit out of his own clothes, felt and the hat that came with the original.

Todd took Charlie out to just a few houses, while I took Audrey to trick or treat with neighbor Colin and his friend Emma. Audrey went to many more houses than last year, but still pooped out much quicker than her friends.

Charlie helped Todd pass out candy. The entire time, he held on to a sucker for himself and one for Audrey, which they both enjoyed when we returned home.

Posted by jill at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2010

trains on tv

Charlie loves our train set and got to see Thomas on tv for the first time today.
He was elated.

Posted by jill at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2010

twenty-one months

Our Charlie is always on the go. The picture below is pretty much what I see of him any time we leave the house. All he wants to do is run. Away from me. Luckily, he mostly sticks to the sidewalk.

We are excited that Charlie finally is able to say a version of his own and Audrey's names. His Charlie sounds like he is saying "Char char" and Audrey is "Awa" but we can totally tell who he is talking about. He also has started to string two words together.

On Mondays during Audrey's dance class at the park district, I have been dropping Charlie off at the child care. He loves it and now wants to go there every time we drop off and pick up Audrey from preschool. He is always happy to see me when I pick him up, so that makes me feel good!

Posted by jill at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2010

the gnome that was not meant to be

What could have been the cutest Halloween costume for Charlie will not see the light of day. I have been trying to get him excited about this costume for weeks. He has been pointing to it and saying gnome. The few times I have convinced him to put the hat on I have cheered and clapped until he joined in.

But this is just not going to work.

Posted by jill at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2010

fancy tutus

Today the girls got to veer from their usual ballet uniform.

Posted by jill at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2010

haircut

Charlie has been so good for the haircuts we have given him at home, we thought he wouldn't have any trouble getting his hair cut at a shop if he was sitting in a race car, watching tv. Boy, were we wrong.

The balloon and slide helped tremendously in calming him down.

Cute with his new haircut, but I think we do just as good a job.

Posted by jill at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2010

purrfect pumpkin carving

The plan

First cut

Scooping guts

Peeking in

Grossed out by the smell

Executing the design

Final product!

Posted by jill at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 22, 2010

baby dear

Charlie has taken a strong liking to Audrey's baby doll, Ruby. It is very sweet how he carries her around and even wants it in his crib sometimes when he sleeps.

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2010

ripe

It actually happened. The tomato Audrey planted finally ripened to red!

I was hoping Audrey would eat her tomato, but she put it in the corner of her slide platform with some grass and called it her pantry. Then she stepped on it and smooshed it. Maybe next year.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2010

little ballerinas

Audrey is several weeks into her second ballet class and today was another observation day.

Posted by jill at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2010

farming pumpkins

Today was our annual trip to Kuiper's Farm with Nana and Papa.

Charlie could not believe the awesomeness of the toy train traveling around near the ceiling of the store.

Donuts!

We couldn't find it last year, so this was Charlie's first year to see how tall this fall.

Almost to the pumpkins!

Charlie tried so hard to pick up this pumpkin, poor little guy.

Washing and carting our our pumpkin selections of the day.

Posted by jill at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2010

in the trees

Charlie recently learned the sign for walk. Even though he can say the word, he loves to do the sign as a very exaggerated motion that looks more like swimming. When he suggested this morning we go for a walk, it was so beautiful out we were all for it.

Posted by jill at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2010

slurp

Spaghetti night!

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2010

fall ahead

This morning, we broke out our Halloween stash and let Audrey and Charlie decorate the windows.

Audrey and her neighborhood friends Divya and Colin spent most of the afternoon collecting this pile of leaves and just a few minutes jumping in it.

Dave next door, aka Popsicleman, provided the popsicles. I think this was Charlie's first and most of it ended up on the sidewalk.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2010

more to crow about

Today Audrey and I headed to Scarecrow Fest to have my annual meet up with college friends Sarah, Priscilla and Rebecca and her two children. Charlie stayed home with Todd as to not disrupt his nap schedule. Audrey is no stranger to Scarecrow Fest. Two years ago she had a full weekend of it.

It was pretty crowded so we didn't get to see many actual scarecrows, but I think Audrey makes a good one.

I tried to convince her to get the skull and crossbones. She opted for the pastel sparkly butterfly.

We have a winner! Sarah's dog Simon won his dog race!

Priscilla is such a trouper. Not feeling well and still hanging with Audrey, Dylan and Hadley.

Finally Audrey gets brave enough to pet Simon. She now considers him one of her friends.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2010

do the backpack

Todd and Audrey have a dance they do together called the jumping backpack. Charlie was working on his own version tonight. I guess it would be called the sitting backpack.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

October 05, 2010

noodles

High five for eating out on a weeknight!

Waiting patiently for her beloved mac and cheese.

Posted by jill at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2010

tomato

Back when Audrey planted her tomato seeds, we never thought we would actually see any tomatoes. After watering the plant almost ever day all summer, there are three little green tomatoes! I'm guessing this is as good as it is going to get.

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2010

nice save

This afternoon, Audrey was walking through the hallway, tripped and fell. When I asked her if she was ok she told me she was resting, as if she did it on purpose.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2010

jenga

Today Audrey took interest in the Jenga game that has always been in the cabinet and asked to play. After dinner Todd set it up and taught her how. She caught on quickly and did really well!

Posted by jill at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2010

painting

Audrey really wanted take part in the painting that we have been doing in the bathroom, so I let her help with the door.

Posted by jill at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2010

twenty months

Our boy is twenty months!

Charlie has learned one of the most dreaded of toddler words: mine. We were able to keep it out of Audrey's vocabulary for much longer, but I guess that is what happens when you are the little brother. He still is pretty sweet and can usually be persuaded to share after being asked nicely.

It is getting harder and harder to take happy pictures of Charlie because once the camera comes out, he cries to "look, look" at the pictures already taken. Our new tactic is the sneak attack before he even realizes his picture is being taken.

It only took twenty months, but it seems that Charlie has finally figured out that he will get his diaper changed when it is dirty and it is futile to fight it. Diaper changes have been a wrestling match with Charlie every time for as long as I can remember but all of the sudden he is cooperating. Hooray for small miracles!

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2010

red day at school

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2010

shipping out

Todd and I are having a work-on-the-house weekend so Audrey is going to Nana and Papa's tomorrow and Channy came to pick up Charlie today.

But first, Channy kindly took us out to lunch.

Posted by jill at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2010

prim and proper

Charlie really wants to be just like his big sister, including wearing her clothes.

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 17, 2010

empty space

I moved a chair to get something from behind it and immediately there were two little people sitting where the chair was.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2010

first day of preschool - this time for real

Audrey is finally feeling better and had her first day of preschool today, after missing the first two classes.

I couldn't get much information out of her, but Audrey says she had fun and likes school. She was happy to see Charlie after class.

Posted by jill at 08:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2010

head on collision

We watched Colin for a few hours today. He and Audrey get along so great and Charlie always enjoys observing older kids. The played trains and ran circles like crazy around the house.

Posted by jill at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2010

stairs are tiring

Sometimes when Charlie is climbing the stairs he likes to stop and take a little rest.

And, of course, around here it is all about monkey see, monkey do, so Audrey has to do it too.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2010

tiny dancers

Here is my son in a tutu. Charlie loves to dress up in Audrey's ballerina and princess clothes almost as much as Audrey does. The spinning in the flouncy skirts is really what seems to attract him to it. Why should girls get all the fun?

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2010

does whatever a spider can

Audrey is feeling better so we stopped by Colin's birthday party across the street, with the plan to drop off his present and stay for the last few minutes. This turned into hours of playing with the neighborhood children in the rented bounce house. I am feeling a lot of guilt and I hope that Audrey doesn't get anyone sick but she was so happy to be out of the house for the first time since Tuesday.

Posted by jill at 09:23 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2010

go, Charlie, go

Charlie can't even ride on the musical zebra without holding onto a ball.

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

September 09, 2010

first day of preschool

Today was supposed to have been Audrey's first day of preschool. She is sick with a cold so instead is home resting on the couch with the puke bucket.

Posted by jill at 10:25 AM | Comments (1)

September 07, 2010

preschool orientation

Today Todd and I took Audrey for preschool orientation. This was our first time meeting the teachers and seeing the classroom. The kids played while the parents listened to a presentation by Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Antonsen.

Audrey was excited to find her name on the window.

So many toys...

Audrey finally decided on the dollhouse.

Posted by jill at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2010

birthday sand

Finally Charlie got to use the sandbox he received for his birthday back in January. He had a lot of fun digging - "dig" is one of the words he can say really well - and did not try to eat or throw the sand. Hooray for small miracles!

Posted by jill at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2010

kittens

We were actually thinking about adopting a kitten this weekend. We visited the shelter twice and went back today to get a kitten named Skittles and she was gone. In the thirty minutes left of adoption time the day before someone else had come in and adopted her. Audrey and I spent more time with the cats to see if we were drawn to another, but we weren't loving any like Skittles. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Posted by jill at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

September 03, 2010

on top of the world

I took advantage of a day off from work to do the one thing I like to avoid if at all possible - I hopped on my usual morning train into the city and headed to the office. Only this time with Audrey in tow. We've been talking about seeing the view from the top of "my building" for ages and this seemed like the perfect end-of-summer day to do it. Get ready for another photo heavy post, my friends.

Audrey points the way to Chicago.

Before heading to the top, we stopped in to see some of Audrey's "work friends." I'm glad she had the chance to see Marti again before her last day at the firm. Audrey talks about her all the time.

When we got to the top of the building, Audrey immediately took off to the windows to see if she could see boats from that height. When we made our way to the new Skydeck ledges, Aud plopped down on her belly next to some teens who declared she was "so brave" as they were still mustering the courage to try it.

Meow enjoyed the view from 103 floors up too.

We covered a lot of ground on our little outing. After showing Audrey around the library, we stopped to check out the giant eyeball. She would later report to Jill that it was "so creepy!"

The other main attraction of our city tour was Millenium Park as Audrey really wanted to see the bean again.

Little did we know that there was a tent full of family fun waiting for us. Audrey was excited to try the hula hoops, but was quickly discouraged when she realized how hard it is to keep the hoop moving.

After lunch at Audrey's favorite spot, Noodles & Co., we started our trek back to the train station. Audrey was very interested in pigeons during our walk and spent some time chasing them around Daley plaza. Luckily this fountain was cool enough that she soon gave up the chase and forgot all about them.

As they say, all good things must come to an end. We caught a bonus express train out of the city due to the holiday weekend and read Audrey's new comic on the way home. Does it get any better?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:34 PM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2010

two points

We thought it might be nice for Charlie to have something to do with all those balls he is constantly carrying around so we got a little basketball hoop. Everything from shoes to food went through this hoop today.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2010

sandbox!

Charlie received this sandbox for his birthday back in January and we finally got sand and set it up today. We have been worried that Charlie would eat the sand. Audrey had fun playing in it during Charlie's nap. My worry now is that Charlie will throw sand, since he throws EVERYTHING.

Posted by jill at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2010

happy (belated) birthday, Nana!

We were only two days late for the big day when we arrived in Sycamore. Papa was off giving a tennis lesson so we had the birthday girl to ourselves for a bit.

We told Nana to pick a hot spot for lunch and she chose an old haunt just a few blocks away. Audrey entertained us all with stories and animal sounds.

Charlie entertained as well, but mostly he was just excited for pancakes.

A good time was had by all until a certain birthday girl closed a car door on this poor author's thumb. Despite the injury we had a great time - happy birthday, Nana!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

nineteen months

At Charlie's 18 month check-up the pediatrician and I discussed Charlie seeking some help for his talking - or lack of talking. He was saying quite a few words but had still been getting easily frustrated and we thought maybe progressing his speech would help. Well over this last month, he has been learning new words like crazy without any therapist's help.

Charlie still loves balls and his stuffed dog Bandit and has now acquired a love of trains. We can hear trains from the nearby tracks and the faint sound of them gets him all excited.

For now, Charlie is a better sharer than his big sister. If she is fussing about wanting a toy that he has he always gives it to her willingly. He is such a sweet boy!

Posted by jill at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2010

helicopter

Charlie and Audrey love watching Todd fly his remote control helicopter.

Looks of amazement.

Audrey likes to try and catch the helicopter. She didn't get this one.

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

happy International Read a Comic in Public Day!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2010

Do you like mustaches?

While drawing, Charlie in inadvertently marked his upper lip and it looked like a mustache! I may have embellished it a bit for the photo, but really it was mostly Charlie.

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2010

imitation

Charlie can be so funny sometimes. Susan was standing leaning against the wall drinking her coffee and Charlie walked up and stood just like she was to drink his juice.

Of course Audrey had to get in on it, too.

Posted by jill at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2010

sprinkler

Audrey and Charlie had a great time in the sprinkler at Sarah's house today.

These two are so cute together.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2010

wild at the zoo

I like this photo of Charlie crossing his fingers at the entrance of Brookfield Zoo. The promise of a fun day spread out before him, what could he be wishing for? If the lad was hoping not to spoil the trip with a tantrum the likes of which we've never seen before, well, perhaps next time he'd have better luck crossing fingers on both hands...

The day started out nicely. We arrived at the zoo early ready for fun. Audrey and Jill hit the butterfly house right away while Charlie and I waited outside. As Audrey tried in vain to get the butterflies to land on her finger, I pushed Charlie in his stroller until he started to get antsy. I let him down and we waited outside the exit of the butterflies. When he finally saw Mama, he lost it and started screaming and crying. All attempts at consoling the boy were met with further frustration. Jill offered to take him outside the park to see if a drive would cool him down. As it turned out, she drove all the way home and put him down for a nap.

Aud and I bravely carried on, determined not to let misfortune spoil the day for all. We paused briefly to recreate a classic scene; I can't believe how big my little girl is getting!

Jill and I were worried about Charlie's ability to handle himself at the Dolphin show, so his untimely departure made it an easy decision to make it our first stop. I wish he could have been there as I bet he would have loved seeing them do their tricks. Audrey sat very quietly next to me the whole time, but talked about them quite a bit once the show was over.

Audrey has been talking about the goats since our last visit, so we made sure to spend some time in the goat pen again this time around. She was a little shy at first, but I think she may have brushed nearly every goat in the place by the time she was finished. We even witnessed a goat milking session too.

I'm not sure what is going on with these cut-outs, but we couldn't resist a few shots.

After a tour of the primate house I received a call, Jill and Charlie were back for another attempt at zoo fun. Charlie was in much better spirits this time around and we all marched over to check out the new wilderness exhibit.

The kids loved the bears, especially watching them cool off with a dip in the water. It was pretty amazing how close those bears were.

After the disastrous start, it was great to get a second chance. Charlie enjoyed himself and we were all glad to tour the zoo without any further drama.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 18, 2010

water park

Audrey's friend Sarah and her nanny invited us along to the local park district pool today. We'd never been there before and it was a lot of fun. The zero depth part of the pool is huge and there is a sand area and kid water play area.

Posted by jill at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2010

honk honk

Posted by jill at 09:00 PM | Comments (1)

August 15, 2010

attack of the cousins!

Audrey and Charlie had a nice surprise today - a visit from cousins Imani, Jeffrey and Jaila! Audrey raced around the house while Charlie demonstrated his throwing skills to Uncle Jeff. After we all said our goodbyes Audrey plopped down on the couch and told me that she needed a rest because "my friends got me too excited!"

Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2010

touch-a-truck FAIL!

When Jill told me about her latest discovery I thought we had a winner. But touch-a-truck day wasn't meant to be this time around.

Charlie was excited, looking around wildly at the ambulance, fire truck, police car, etc. But he got jumpy when he heard sirens. Audrey was interested too, but the sirens made her cover her ears and demand that we go somewhere else. We traveled across the lot to see a dump truck and a tractor, but some super-dad honked the dump truck's horn making his own kid cry. Once he broke the silence every kid in line had to climb up there and honk the horn which brought about more ear plugging and more demands to leave. We left without touching any trucks!

The day wasn't a total loss - we took off to Pockets for their customer appreciation day and once everyone had eaten and chilled out a little we stopped by the zoo. Audrey was excited to show me the Mastodon she's always talking about. And Charlie was happy he had me around to do some heavy lifting.

It was ungodly hot, but we had a fun time checking out the animals as they beat the heat. I don't think the otters have ever come this close to us before; the kids were thrilled to get such a good look at them in action.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2010

a cat and a dog

I don't know how it came to be that Audrey is obsessed with cats/Meow and Charlie with dogs/Bandit. Here they are each looking at books about their favorite animal.

Posted by jill at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2010

poolside

We had another swim day today at Channy's.

Erika, Seth and Grant were there too.

Charlie is really getting better in the water. Today he was happy in the floating turtle and the innertube. Check out that kicking!

Audrey didn't even bother with her lifejacket today. She is becoming an old pro.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2010

pasta shake

Today I didn't mind when Charlie and Audrey raided the cabinet and pulled out boxes of food. They had so much fun making music and dancing to the sound of dry pasta.

After all that activity they needed to rest.

A rarity - sitting still and looking at the camera at the same time.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (1)

August 09, 2010

hurry, back inside!

We attempted to have some outside fun after dinner, but it wasn't meant to be. I don't know about your backyard, but ours has become mosquito central.

I think the boy's face tells the tale better than I can.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2010

okay barbie let's go party

That's my boy having the most fun playing with Barbies. I love that guy.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2010

and Charlie is number 101

We were going for Billy Idol. Not sure we got there, maybe we were close?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2010

the queen of accessories and the king of the ball

Who needs to actually fill the pool with water? Today Audrey, Charlie and I sat in the shade in the empty pool and blew bubbles and tossed the ball around.

Then they went down the slide again and again and again.

Posted by jill at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2010

bedtime stories

One of the things I am most excited about these days is Charlie's new found love of bedtime stories. I about died recently when he grabbed a book from his shelf and then plopped himself in my lap, but I was even happier to see him do it to Audrey tonight! She read him Goodnight Gorilla and Books are for Eating Reading all on her own. He still gets a little squirrely, which she countered by hugging him tight every time he tried to make a break for it. So fun, I could not be more thrilled to see this become part of his nighttime ritual.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2010

lunch

In order to beat the heat today, we went out to run some errands and grab lunch. Charlie graduated from high chair to a seat that attaches to the booth. At first he seemed excited, but the novelty faded quickly. When he starts saying "down!" you know he means business.

Audrey worked on the kids' menu and enjoyed the cherries from our drinks. She did not enjoy her father trying to create a poor man's cheese fries by dunking his french fries into her mac & cheese. I received an earful and promised never to do it again.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2010

eighteen months, the stats

Charlie had his eighteen month check up today. The little guy is 32 inches tall, 24.2 pounds and his big head is 19 3/4 inches. The pediatrician says he is "perfect."

Waiting to see the doctor

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2010

eighteen months

My boy, you are a year and a half old today! My little guy is growing up so fast; I swear time sped up tenfold when I became a father. These past few weeks have been really fun, we can practically see the gears turning in that head of yours.

Now I know it gets frustrating not being able to communicate with us to the extent you obviously would like, but the word "ball" comes across loud and clear! We need to work on this obsession before you turn into your Uncle Jeff! You've been saying some new things too, just the other day you started saying "knee" with a whole lot of enthusiasm (just like your big sister used to, I guess it's just a fun word to say). And you've been repeating things from books (which you now love to read with all of us, even Audrey), especially sounds from Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can You? I love hearing "boom, boom, boom" in that little Charlie voice.

You love to play and simply cannot get enough of whatever your big sister is doing. One thing that has been constant is your good humor, you love to laugh and be part of the fun. I came home from work earlier this week and as soon as I opened the door I heard "Dada!" and here comes Charlie running to greet me. You looked up at me, smiled and then started dancing for a minute and then ran off again to see what Audrey and Mama were doing. That's my boy!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:22 PM | Comments (1)

wild animals

This afternoon's trip to the park started off just fine. We spent time looking at memorial statues and the flowers in the sunken garden before heading over to see the animals.

What ended up being our last stop of the visit was the reptile house. Lunch was overdue and Charlie was a little nutty. He was banging on the alligator enclosure, running and then laying on the floor. He even got a talking to from the high schooler working the front door. Then on the way to the car, Audrey had a huge fit because she didn't get to see the mastodon. Good times.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2010

ballet

Today was the last class of Audrey's first session of ballet. Channy and Nana came to watch the budding ballerina.

Warming up

First position

At the end of each class, the girls show one of the steps they practiced

Todd took off work to watch too

Nana stuck around after class for a bit to try to catch bugs with Audrey

After naps we went on a search for soft serve ice cream

Charlie was a big fan

Posted by jill at 08:47 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2010

two cakes

Tyler's 14th birthday was a few weeks ago AND he graduated from 8th grade so we celebrated him and his accomplishments at pool party at Channy's today. Congrats, Tyler!

Audrey and Charlie were both tired - Aud from her sleepover with Allysa and Charlie skipped his nap for the party.

Charlie even fell asleep on the way home.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (1)

July 23, 2010

drop off

Charlie and I dropped off Audrey at Channy's this morning to spend the night. Allysa is staying over too, so there is a cousin slumber party tonight!

Audrey was all ready to swim in Channy's pool by the time Charlie and I left.

Posted by jill at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2010

coloring

I think this may be the first time I let Charlie go wild with the markers. They are messier than crayons but I don't have to worry about him taking a big bite of the marker. Thank goodness for the washable kind!

Posted by jill at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2010

swinging

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2010

pool

We finally took the baby pool that has been sitting in the living room outside and filled it with water today. We let the water warm until after dinner, when Audrey and Charlie got to take their first dip in it. They have been having fun it the pool in the house but really loved to actually splash around!

Posted by jill at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

strangest houses

These are regular spots for Charlie and Audrey to hang out. Audrey calls her corner her house and doesn't want Charlie to come in, hence the pillow door.

Posted by jill at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2010

boy hugs

Posted by jill at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2010

yo-yo party

Jill was off to see a friend's performance in the city which gave me the chance to spend some quality time reconnecting with the little ones. Jill had purchased a Hello Kitty yo-yo for Audrey earlier in the week, but hadn't yet given it to her. I broke that baby out after dinner with the promise that I'd show Aud how to use it. After about a minute of instruction, she ran to the living room and called out to us to come quick and join her yo-yo party! Charlie grabbed his bubbles and we were on our way to good times.

While I don't have much to report, I can say with certainty this was the best yo-yo party I've ever attended.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2010

target shades

We had a nice visit with Sara and Emma today. We happened to notice that Emma and Audrey have the same sunglasses and, of course, had to make them pose for a picture.

The girls played with chalk, jumped rope, hopscotched . . .

and rode Audrey's scooter that she got from her cousins.

Posted by jill at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2010

airport loop

Audrey, Charlie and I have all been home since Monday. The grandparents all say they did great during their three day stays. Todd is done with his conference and we picked him up from the airport today. We were all happy to be back together and Todd brought gifts.

Charlie got a new BALL.

Audrey got a sticker book and a snowglobe, which has become the traditional souvenir Todd brings her from his work trips.

Posted by jill at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2010

on vacation

This morning Todd took Audrey to Nana and Papa's and I took Charlie to Channy's. They are staying for three days while Todd and I go to Denver! It will be nice to have a break, but we are going to miss these two.

Posted by jill at 12:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2010

the artist and her assistant

The girl loves to draw so when I suggested she work on some artwork this morning, she was eager to get to going. Charlie wanted to be part of the action too so Audrey let him fetch markers and even color a bit on some of her pages.

I'm not sure what this is that she's working on, looks a bit like the flux capacitor to me. It's too bad I didn't capture her working on "Sun Holding a Meatball" as that was my favorite of the day.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:58 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2010

playground reroute

We met Audrey's friend Sarah at the playground this morning. The equipment was too wet from last night's rain though, so we walked over to the free zoo instead.

turkey vulture, Audrey, Sarah

It was a muggy morning. Even Charlie was hot lounging in the stroller.

Showing off their best snake impression. They also did moose and crocodile. Talented girls.

Charlie always likes the attention he gets from Sarah.

Pushing the wall. I have no idea why.

Finishing the morning with a drink and a snack.

Posted by jill at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2010

a boy at play

Charlie isn't exactly at the age where he can entertain himself for any length of time, but he does break off on his own every so often. He's really taken a shine to the wooden caterpillar Popsicle Man made for Audrey when she was little.

The boy likes to work the circuit around the kitchen with the caterpillar in tow. Now you can't go read a book or get on the computer while he's at it, but he is perfectly content to run his laps all on his own.

Despite his seemingly endless supply of energy, sometimes our li'l guy needs to stop for a rest.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2010

pool party

We celebrated our independence today by heading out to Channy's pool party!

Audrey wanted "the Pebbles" ponytail and completed the look with her superstar sunglasses.

Charlie was just happy to get out of the house.

Audrey insisted I teach her to swim, but mainly just clung to me for dear life. Her cousins Seth & Grant brought along some inner-tubes, which made for a much more enjoyable swim.

And what is the Fourth without some patriotic mini cupcakes?

Charlie took a dip too, but spent much of his time poolside, avoiding the paparazzi.

After tucking the boy in for the night, we let Audrey stay up late for the annual neighborhood fire works show.

The proceedings were a bit lackluster this year, but still fun - Audrey made sure plenty of "oohs" and "ahhs" were heard, if only for our benefit.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2010

aunt and uncle visit

We hadn't seen aunt Erinn and uncle Kieran for a while and today they came out for a fun little visit.

Kieran entertained himself and Charlie by throwing balls at Charlie that he would never catch and putting things on his head.

Erinn cooperated for the visit's required holding of the baby.

Charlie missed out on decorating cupcakes with Erinn and Kieran during his naptime.

Posted by jill at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2010

the great escape

Audrey agreed to leave the house this morning, even though the men are still working on the back patio, for a quick trip to the store. Charlie isn't bothered by any of it and is up for anything, as usual.

Yesterday's progress: wall done. The entire project should be complete by the end of today!

Posted by jill at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2010

work begins

Work has finally begun on our back patio! Day one consisted of tearing out all of the timbers, rocks and weeds surrounding the concrete, digging and filling with gravel in preparation for pavers. Charlie could have just watched the men work all day. Audrey refused to leave the house all day, even out the front in fear we might actually run into and have to talk to one of the workers.

Interested kids

Progress

Posted by jill at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2010

seventeen months

Seventeen months and Charlie has a new obsession: balls! I don't know if it is because it is one of the few words he can say and we understand him, but he really loves balls. "Ball" is usually the first thing he says in the morning and the last thing he says at night.

From what I understand, uncle Jeff was obsessed with balls at a young age. Maybe we have the next great basketball player of the family in the making here.

Charlie is still our crazy little guy, but will finally sit still long enough to make it through an entire book. He loves picking out books to read before naps and bedtime, his favorite being Goodnight Gorilla.

Posted by jill at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

seesaw partner

Yay! Audrey finally gets a worthy seesaw partner - Brylen!

While Charlie was still at Channy's, Audrey and I met up with Amber and Brylen for some girl-only time. We walked, played at two different playgrounds and lunched. It was great fun!

Posted by jill at 08:20 PM | Comments (1)

June 28, 2010

second overnight

Charlie is having his second overnight at Channy's tonight. This morning the weather cooperated and we got to have some pool time. Charlie even had a little swim before going down for his nap.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2010

random activities

We hadn't been to the mastodon slide for a while, so we all went out there this morning. Charlie slept through both visits last year but this year got to slide just like his big sister.

This is us going through the car wash - the ultimate wash, to be exact. Audrey likes it, just thinks it is loud. This was Charlie's first time and he looks a bit stressed but didn't fuss at all.

On the way home from the car wash we saw that the neighborhood horse was outside so we stopped to say hi.

Posted by jill at 09:47 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2010

reptile house

We paid another visit to the local zoo this morning. We spent some time by the mastodon statue and went into the visitor center to look at the mastodon bones.

Then, we watched the crocodiles for a long time. This guy snapped at the turtle in the cage next to him.

Posted by jill at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2010

toy story

Todd and I took Audrey to see her second movie ever, Toy Story 3 today. She hasn't seen the first two movies, but is now a huge fan of Buzz Lightyear. She was great during the entire thing, her favorite part probably being the popcorn.

Posted by jill at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2010

happy father's day, dada!

Todd woke up today to hugs from his biggest fans.

French toast, Sunday comics, presents consisting of comics and comics-related items - what more could a father want?

Natasha even joined in the celebration.

Todd is trying really hard to get these two interested in comics. So far it has worked with Audrey.

We went out for a late lunch of stir fry, where Todd was able to get four different kinds of fake meat in his dish. Afterwards we got cookie dough and ice cream.

Otherwise, our day was relaxing around the house, something Todd greatly deserves. We love you, dada! Thank you for all you do!

Posted by jill at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2010

sometimes it's tough being little

Audrey attended our neighbor's seventh birthday party at the bouncy place this evening. She wanted so badly to hang with the older kids, but they were just too fast for her to keep up. Audrey had plenty of fun without them, went down the huge slide all by herself many times and made a new little friend.

Posted by jill at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2010

pretty, pretty princess

Brylen and Audrey all dressed up. Why is it that three year olds like princesses so much?

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2010

trickster

Audrey proudly performing one of her many "tricks" - laying across the arms of the chair.

Posted by jill at 05:35 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2010

rainbow

Last year I tried to show Audrey a rainbow and she had no idea what I was talking about. Today, she got to see her first real rainbow! It is to the left of her head in the picture.

Posted by jill at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2010

first overnight

Charlie spent his first night without us tonight at Channy's. Even though it was Charlie's big day, shortly after we got to Channy's, he went down for his nap so all I have are pictures of Audrey.

She didn't waste any time digging into Allysa's toys and dress up chest.

Aunt Ericka, Seth and Grant stopped by while we were there. Seth had just went to the dentist for the first time so he and Audrey had a lot to talk about together.

I always want to go to Ikea, but don't want to go with both children, so I took advantage of no Charlie and Audrey and I went. She had a lot of fun playing with the toy kitchen and sitting in the display rooms, especially the kids rooms. She had a hard time figuring out why the display toilets didn't work though.

What better way to spend quality time with Audrey, but to take her to dinner at Noodles?

A picture text from Channy this evening showed that Charlie is sleeping, so I guess all is well for him away from home.

Posted by jill at 07:10 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2010

family reunion

Todd's family had a reunion today to coincide with uncle Steve and some of his crew being in town for the first time in a while. It was most of the family's first time seeing Charlie. We met at the racetrack and hoped the rain would hold off - it didn't. This would have been the time to take extended family photos, but, as usual, we were focused on the kids.

Charlie checking out the petting zoo that consisted of a llama, donkey, rabbits and an albino kangaroo. The rain kept Audrey from riding a pony.

It's the Batmobile!

The rain did not stop the Audrey from having a lot of fun with her cousins.

Posted by jill at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2010

idol

Sometimes Audrey uses the drum mallet as a microphone. Today she was really on a role. She danced and sang like crazy.

Charlie was looking pretty cute today too.

Posted by jill at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2010

another zoo trip

Charlie getting a good look at the peacocks.

Audrey and her favorite turtle, Franklin.

Enjoying the zoo together.

Posted by jill at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2010

new basement

We went to visit Sara and her newly finished basement this morning. We haven't been over there for a long time. Charlie got into everything he could, while Emma and Audrey played. It is so nice to see Audrey playing nicely and not being that annoying little kid.

Posted by jill at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2010

stick

Today Audrey had her last gymnastics class...

...and her first ballet class.

Posted by jill at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2010

library visit

Posted by jill at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2010

birthday redo

Our plan for Audrey's third birthday was to take her to the bouncy place, like we did for her second birthday. Audrey was sick on her birthday so we took her today for an early three and a half years celebration. The place scared Charlie so he and I went elsewhere while Todd and Audrey played. Audrey had the run of the place and loved it.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2010

happy birthday, Mama!

Today (actually all weekend) we celebrated our favorite day of the year: Jill's birthday! The plan was to go out to breakfast everyday, but she actually tired of it after two.

Audrey and Charlie helped me design a card and we showered her with gifts.

She had some free birthday meals to cash in, so Jill picked Red Robin for lunch as the kids really like to go there. Those balloons they give out after the meal are always a hit.

Both the kids like to color the kid menus when we go out. Audrey is starting to actually fill in spaces as opposed to just scribbling all over. Charlie likes to nibble on his crayons, so we need to watch him like a hawk.

Charlie chose the right bib for the occasion.

They threw in a free Sundae and even agreed not to sing happy birthday, though I was hoping they would. Birthday girl's prerogative, I suppose.

Happy birthday, Mama!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:50 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2010

sixteen months

Sixteen months and always on the move. Charlie never wants to sit still, especially for diaper changes. He has been moving to music for some time now, but I think has officially discovered he loves to dance. His latest moves look like he is moshing it up in the pit. There is no sitting under a tree leisurely blowing bubbles for this guy. The minute we walk outside he is off running. And as always, when he wants something he is impatient, but when he is being sweet, he is super sweet.

Posted by jill at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2010

housekeeping

For weeks I have not used the swiffer in front of Charlie and Audrey because every time, as soon as I get it out, they want to take it and play with it. And even though we have two swiffers, they always end up fighting over them. I thought it had been long enough and their fascination might done. Not so much.

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2010

happy birthday, Susan

Susan was sick on her actual birthday, so she came over tonight. I made her dinner and a mint chocolate bundt cake. She liked the cake this year much better than last year's vegan cake!

Posted by jill at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2010

grilled

Amber, Patrick and Brylen came over for a fun lunch and a lot of happy screaming (from the kids) today. Even though Brylen tried to convince Audrey that eating her vegetables would make her strong and healthy, Audrey still opted for cereal.

Meeting of the minds.

Here is that screaming, all directed at Patrick for some reason.

Finally, a quiet moment.

BFFs.

Posted by jill at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2010

happy birthday, Seth

Today we celebrated Seth's birthday, which was last week. Audrey spent a little time with the birthday boy early on.

Seth knows how to throw a party - there was a big inflatable with a slide for the kids to play on!

Audrey loved it, jumped right in and kept right up with the bigger kids.

Charlie was missing his afternoon nap so he mostly laid low in the swing.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2010

real sport

Audrey's pom poms make Charlie very happy.

Posted by jill at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2010

favorite turtle

Today we took our first trip to the small local zoo of the season.
The peacocks greeted us as soon as we got there.

Audrey liked this turtle, who's name I think is Franklin, so much we had to go see him twice.

Charlie contemplating how the turkey got up on his branch.

Cougar, up close.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2010

free samples

We did not go to Costco just for the free samples, but Audrey and Charlie did enjoy them.

Audrey is getting much better at pedaling!

Todd gave Charlie his second hair cut today. No beard trimmers today. We bought real clippers just for him.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2010

first dentist visit

Todd took Audrey for her first dental checkup today. We have been talking about it for months, trying to prepare her and every time she said she didn't want to go. She did great though and didn't cry once. She did refuse to let the hygienist use the suction wand, Mr. Thirsty. Audrey's flavor of choice for all cleaning and treatments: bubble gum.

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2010

annuals

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2010

chocolate smiles

Audrey had lunch and a playdate at Sarah's today. One of the activities was decorating, and obviously eating, cupcakes.

Posted by jill at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2010

uneven bars

Posted by jill at 08:57 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2010

Happy Mother's Day! 2010

It's fun to have a child who is old enough to appreciate holidays now. Audrey was excited to help make waffles for Mama this morning, but was especially pumped to have her very own apron in which to do it. I love that she actually can help in the kitchen.

Aud and I had gone downstairs to prepare breakfast on the sly, but as we neared completion, Charlie woke up and started crying. I had hoped to get him before he woke up Jill, but no dice. On the plus side, he was awake and ready to join the fun.

It's also fun to have a kid who has no idea what is going on - breakfast in bed pretty much blew Charlie's mind. Unfortunately he was a little too crazy and couldn't stay in bed with the gals for long.

Jill was able to open presents in bed, but we had to move the party downstairs for breakfast defeating the whole breakfast-in-bed thing. Maybe next year...

After lunch out and a fairly quiet afternoon, we took advantage of the nice weather and took a family trip to the park. Audrey is itching to get on the big kid swings, but didn't put up a fuss when we asked her to swing in the baby swings with Charlie.

All-in-all a really nice day. Happy Mother's Day, Mama!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2010

"reading"

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2010

goodbye, Jake

Audrey met her friend Jake when she was just a couple of months old and Jake was just a few weeks old. Jake's family is moving back to their home state of Michigan so we took one last morning walk with them today. Goodbye, Jake. You will always be Audrey's favorite ring around the rosie partner!

Posted by jill at 11:20 PM | Comments (1)

April 30, 2010

vacation!

Erinn and Kieran were off to Paris so we volunteered to cat sit and have another mini city vacation. With Charlie napping several hours a day, our expectations were not set too high We did manage to have a lot of fun.

Charlie, Todd and Audrey getting settled at the loft.

Charlie doesn't say many comprehensible words, but within minutes of meeting Bella, he was yelling her name repeatedly.

Kita and Sasha don't usually come out from their hiding spots in the basement. This time we saw a lot of them during our stay.


At the zoo, the favorite part by far for both Audrey and Charlie was the farm-in-the-zoo.

The only thing Audrey said she wanted to do on vacation was see baby chicks. Success!

Just hatched.

Charlie sharing his father's excitement about goats.

It was cold and windy but we really wanted to visit the beach, if only for a short while. It was just long enough for Charlie to put a handful of sand in his mouth.

The kids get a taste of our old mode of transportation, riding the L in the loop.

Charlie's first visit to Todd's office.

Todd's co-librarian, Marti, actually encouraged Audrey to climb the ladder. She was a great tour guide for Audrey through the office re-do.

Soaking in the view from the 63rd floor.

While downtown, we visited the bean,

saw Chinese contemporary sculpture,

ran around the Pritzker Pavillion,

walked across the the Nichols Bridgeway to the modern wing,

and strolled through the Art Institute.

I should have a nice picture from our last morning enjoying brunch at a cute little breakfast place, but by this time, the kids were tired and done with vacation. After ordering our food we realized we had to get out. Not a great end to our trip but other than a hurt finger and bump on the head, we had a great time.

Posted by jill at 11:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2010

fifteen months

Charlie has made some big steps this month, both literally and figuratively. Most notably, he is walking! I can tell how happy and excited he is to be on his feet like everyone else. While I'm sure the occupational therapist would disapprove, I love his cute wide walking stance. He has added please, thank you and sleep to his sign language repertoire. Charlie is one polite little guy.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2010

through the eye of a three year old

Posted by jill at 12:06 PM | Comments (0)

sunday morning

Posted by jill at 11:54 AM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2010

weekday visit

Todd and the kids made a rare weekday visit to Nana and Papa today while I met with a garden designer to discuss ideas to fix our mess of a back yard.

They even got to play with cousins Jeffery, Imani and Jaila.

Posted by jill at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2010

high beam

Today was the last day of this session of gymnastics, so parents were allowed to observe again.

Bridge!

Another certificate of completion.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2010

caught

Trying out the butterfly net at Target.

This never gets old.

Back home, Audrey plants her special purchase, a tomato plant that Todd and I have very little expectations for.

Posted by jill at 10:11 PM | Comments (1)

April 17, 2010

last day of cutting school

While you can't see the project that Audrey made this last day of cutting school, you can see behind her the boy that Todd insisted, even after seeing him every week at class, was a girl.

Posted by jill at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2010

snip snip

Audrey is getting very good at wielding her scissors and practices almost every day.

Posted by jill at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2010

park

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April 12, 2010

happy national library week

To help kick off library week and the grand re-opening of Todd's new work library, we got him a little something to decorate his newly redone office.

Posted by jill at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2010

transportation

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April 10, 2010

small gift big smile

After cutting school, where Audrey cut flowers and made fish, we were off to visit Nana and Papa to hear all about Papa's visit to Japan.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2010

punky power

I am trying so hard to not be bothered by the mismatched outfits Audrey sometimes insists on wearing, as long as she is weather appropriate. Here we have, in my opinion, the worst yet.

Posted by jill at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2010

egg hunt

We hid some plastic eggs for Audrey and Charlie this morning. Audrey had fun finding them. We made it very easy for Charlie and he wasn't even disappointed that all he found inside of them were Cheerios.

Audrey wore her new apron to help Todd make flower- and butterfly-shaped pancakes.

After breakfast we worked in the yard and I tried to get Audrey and Charlie to pose in front of the now fully-bloomed daffodils. One out of two isn't bad.

Charlie meets the gnome.

Posted by jill at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2010

we have a walker

We are calling this Charlie's first true day of walking. Not just a few steps, this little guy is now walking.

Posted by jill at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2010

while Audrey's away

Charlie and I went to lunch with Susan and Jeremy. We just turned Charlie's car seat to face forward last night. He is very excited about the new view.

After dinner Todd and I took Charlie to the park for some sunset swinging.

Posted by jill at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2010

two nights

Audrey practiced peddling on her tricycle...

then was ready to go to Channy's for a two-night sleepover!

Only one child = eating out and fun with pasta finger puppets!

Posted by jill at 10:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2010

out front

We spent the afternoon out in the yard admiring the newly bloomed daffodils, blowing bubbles and running around.

Posted by jill at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2010

fourteen months

Oh, Charlie. When you are happy, you are really happy and when you are mad, you are really mad. More and more he is getting frustrated by all of the things that a fourteen month old can't do. He is using sign language for more, eat, milk and all done, which helps a bit. His words are still limited to pretty much mama, dada and, more recently, cheers. He wants to tap glasses constantly through every meal.

Charlie takes steps here and there, but still prefers crawling. It won't be long now, sweet boy!

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2010

out back

Family exploring time in the back yard

Posted by jill at 08:51 PM | Comments (1)

March 27, 2010

first flower

Another week of cutting school.

After school, Todd and Audrey noticed the first flowers starting to bloom in our yard.

Posted by jill at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2010

more assisted walking

Charlie walking with the swiffer again. Maybe I'll start a daily post about Charlie and his favorite item, the swiffer. Enough already, Charlie! Just walk on your own!

Posted by jill at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2010

jeremy and the head

Here is Jeremy with his new head that he got from Susan for his birthday.

All he got from us was a monkey-decorated birthday bundt cake. Happy birthday, Jeremy!

Posted by jill at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2010

assisted walking

I am sure my son is the only child in the world who would rather hold onto the swiffer to help him learn to walk than his mother's hand.

Posted by jill at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2010

peeking

Posted by jill at 08:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2010

rinse and spit

This morning Audrey went with Todd to the dentist to see the whole process. She was fine observing but insists that she will not be seeing the dentist herself.

Then it was off to cutting school.

Audrey made a boat.

Posted by jill at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2010

afternoon delight

More good times outside after naps.

Posted by jill at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2010

before dark

Todd took Audrey outside for a bit after dinner for her first bubble blowing of the season.

Posted by jill at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2010

mission aborted

Today we had a failed attempt to walk to the horse because of potty stops and no where to sit. It was some good outside time though.

Charlie was not liking our prickly dead grass. More incentive to put more effort into the yard this year, I guess.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2010

observation day

Audrey has been taking a gymnastics class that does not include parents. This was the third week and I got to sit in, watch and photograph.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2010

outside the lines

Audrey tried to make her hair blue today while coloring with markers but just ended up with lines on her scalp.

Meanwhile, Charlie was in the cabinet again, this time interested in just one bowl to use on his head.

Posted by jill at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2010

cutting school, week two

Audrey is feeling better about her scissor abilities after another week of cutting school.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2010

like at the zoo

Sara dropped off more toys and clothes that Jack and Emma have outgrown. The bean bag toss is a big hit so far though neither of them get the hang of how to play the game yet.

Posted by jill at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2010

window seat

The two of them could stand at the window and watch the new puppy next door all day.

Posted by jill at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2010

lunch

We joined Amber, Patrick and Brylen for lunch today.

I love these two together.

Charlie entertained other patrons with his enthusiastic nonstop waving and fascination with the ceiling lights.

Posted by jill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

babysat

For Todd's birthday, Erinn and Kieran gave him movie tickets and a promise to babysit, though their babysitting requirements include no changing diapers. We took them up on it last night and left after putting Charlie to bed, keeping to said requirement.

In preparation for aunt Erinn, Audrey dressed up as a kitty. She looks pretty innocent here, but Audrey got Erinn to read to her before bed for almost an hour. Usually she gets one short story.

Audrey had to show aunt Erinn the cheerleading game.

Kieran and Charlie watch the action. Don't think that Kieran thinks himself too manly to play some cheerleading. I hear he was pretty good at it.

Posted by jill at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2010

first steps

Charlie took his first steps today! It was just a couple, but we are counting them!

He has been getting a lot of practice while pushing this toy around and Audrey has been more than happy to help with the steering.

Posted by jill at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

cutting school

Audrey started a new class at the park district today - learning to use scissors. She was very worried that she didn't already know how to use scissors despite our reassurances that she would be taught at class. She seemed to enjoy the class and did actually cut things.

Posted by jill at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2010

fruit loops

I dropped off Audrey and Charlie at Channy and John's for a bit this afternoon where they discovered a love for a new breakfast cereal.

Posted by jill at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2010

the boys

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2010

thirteen months

Our boy is getting so big! Charlie's favorite things these days are waving at everyone and everything and giving kisses. He is much more daring with standing on his own, but has not taken any solo steps yet. He has mastered pushing the wagon and can even maneuver his new push toy in a big circle around the entire first floor of our house by himself. He has ten teeth now and a whole lot of drool to show for it.

Charlie is starting to realize that he does not get to do all of the things that the rest of us get to do and he gets pretty frustrated. Not being able to say much more than "mama" and "dada" and not caring to use the sign language I have been showing him for months does not help these situations. Diversion is the key and he is usually back to his happy, lovable self fairly quickly.

Posted by jill at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 28, 2010

what word did I spell?

Posted by jill at 11:06 AM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2010

go spartans

Yesterday Todd worked a half day and then we took Audrey to Nana and Papa's to spend the night.

Last night Audrey went to her first basketball game, which she calls a basketball party, to see uncle Jeff coach. Even though her aunt Rickie and her cousins were there, Audrey clung to Papa for most of the game. She did enjoy the cheerleaders and dancers. Today before she came home, Audrey went to the pet store with Nana and Papa to help pick out two fish and a snail. Audrey chose the name of the goldfish - Dorothy, after Elmo's pet fish.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2010

free pancake day

If we can get our act together to get free food when it is available, we do it. Today was free pancake day at ihop so we ate pancakes for dinner.

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2010

monkey see, monkey do

We've been finding socks and small toys on the stairs to the basement. Turns out it is Charlie who is dropping things through the cat door.

When Audrey saw the photo of Charlie doing this, she had to try it out too.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2010

puddle jumping

at the park district after gymnastics

Posted by jill at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2010

feeding himself

Posted by jill at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2010

valentines

finger hearts

new book

first baby-sized pancake for baby-sized Charlie

Charlie makes his newspaper debut

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2010

miss congeniatlity

Audrey and Todd came home from the grocery store with flowers for valentine's day.

Audrey looked like she had just won a beauty prize holding them so we had to have her put on her crown and do her best miss america wave.

Posted by jill at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2010

all while wearing a cat dress

Helpful Audrey fed Charlie his entire bowl of oatmeal while I cooked dinner.

Posted by jill at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2010

quiet time

During Charlie's nap, Audrey decorated hearts for the valentines she will give out.

During Audrey's nap, Charlie practiced his walking with the wagon.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2010

milk for two

Now that Charlie is one we have started to introduce a small amount of dairy in the form of a couple tablespoons of yogurt per day. So far so good, but for now he has to drink soy milk. He's making it look good in the picture but so far he isn't really interested. Probably because I want so badly for him to be. We also had to start Audrey with soy when she turned one and she still drinks it exclusively. She calls it "original" milk. Not sure why.

Audrey had an allergy appointment today and just happened to wake up with a bad case of hives (you can see them in the picture). The allergist thought maybe she had something worse than a typical ear infection so sent us down to pediatrics right away. Turns out Audrey does have an ear infection, but not in the ear the walk-in care doctor diagnosed. She also probably has strep but they did not bother with the throat swab as the antibiotics prescribed yesterday for her ear will take care of that too. Good times.

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2010

sick again

Last night Audrey was complaining of her ear hurting. With all of the ear infections she has had she has never complained so I took her to the walk-in care this morning. She has another ear infection that the doctor thinks burst. This has been the winter of sickness for poor Aud.

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2010

eight and nine

Posted by jill at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2010

one year party

Family gathered at our house today to celebrate Charlie turning one!

How could one little cupcake make such a mess? I'm not sure how much of this he actually ate. Most of it ended up on his shirt sleeves and crumbled in his seat.

Charlie had a lot of help opening presents with Todd, Audrey and all of the cousins. Thank you, everyone!

Posted by jill at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2010

one year

Charlie is one today! Between burnt fingers, stitches, head bumps and such, I wasn't sure we would make it to this day!

Since Audrey wears a crown most days, she wanted Charlie to have one too. We made him his very own birthday crown on the fly yesterday out of felt, elastic, a hole punch and Audrey's new favorite craft item, glitter glue.

Charlie would have been happy with just balloons but opened a few books and toys that he can make noise with.

My sweet boy isn't a baby anymore. He is a silly boy who is always laughing. He is cruising along furniture, using his sign language a bit and says a few words, mostly mama and dada. We love you, Charlie!

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2010

after gymnastics

For the last few weeks, Audrey has been having snacks and coloring with Sarah after gymnastics while I get Charlie from day care.

Sarah is always very interested in where Charlie is. Today she was giving him kisses and found out the hard way that Charlie's kisses are slobbery with an open mouth.

Posted by jill at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2010

memory

Audrey has her own version of Memory that she taught Susan tonight. It doesn't involve taking turns, just flipping over all of the cards faster than the other player to find the most pairs. The most important pair to find is the ice cream cones.

Charlie wanted to stay out of it and just wanted more Cheerios.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2010

six and seven

Audrey chose crocodile as the game at school today but still did not participate. Next week she says she wants to play hippo. Miss Ann also asked Audrey to draw her a picture of a hippo.

Audrey did participate in a little tea party before dinner tonight.

Posted by jill at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2010

back window

A little bonding while wondering where the snow went and watching the neighbor's dogs

Posted by jill at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2010

not helping

Charlie climbed into the laundry basket all on his own as I was about to start some folding.

Posted by jill at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 20, 2010

channeling rerun

Posted by jill at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2010

four and five

Hanging at the library again during Audrey's class. Meow even snuck out for a bit. Don't tell Audrey!

Miss Ann tells me that Audrey did not participate in the class game today so she is supposed to decide what game they will play next week. She has already decided on crocodile, whatever that is. We'll see how that goes...

Posted by jill at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2010

plastics

Charlie has an unhealthy obsession with the knobs on the stove. Just like everything else he isn't supposed to touch, he then decides he must get it every time he is near.

I am usually able to distract with the tupperware drawer.

Charlie pulled every single item out of the cabinet and put every single item in his mouth as he did it. Thank goodness for the dishwasher.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2010

first haircut

The back of Charlie's hair was getting a little unruly so we took matters into our own hands and gave him his first haircut.

Todd's beard trimmer did the trick.

Charlie was cooperative for most of it.

Much better!

Posted by jill at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2010

tinkerbell, dinosaurs and ariel

Audrey attended her friend Sarah's birthday party today. It was Tinkerbell themed with a dinosaur cake. It was quite action-filled. They made wands, had a treasure hunt and played pin the tiara on Ariel.

Audrey's favorite part was eating the treasure, which were ring pops. She had to be sure to show every person at the party her red tongue and then, of course, dada when we got home.

Posted by jill at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2010

princess fairy ballerina mommy

Audrey can do it all.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2010

divine hammer

Charlie got this toy for christmas (thanks, Kolars!) and he loves it. I am enjoying seeing his little mind work when he hammers the balls, puts them back in their spot and does it all over again.

Posted by jill at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2010

two and three

Charlie and I kept busy in the library while Audrey was in class learning about the numbers 2 and 3.

Posted by jill at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2010

big big girl bed

When it was still warm out I painted this daybed that Todd used in college. We finally put it back together and put it in Audrey's room today. She calls it her princess bed and says " I really, really, really love it."

Posted by jill at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

January 09, 2010

packing it up

While I had coffee with Sara, Todd and Audrey took down the tree. Audrey told dada how to do it.

Then she sorted all of the ornaments by color. Oh, so helpful.

Posted by jill at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

January 08, 2010

happy together

What a joy when they play nice.

Charlie got his stitches out yesterday. The healing process is going well.

Posted by jill at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2010

busted ...

taking the comics page to the bathroom. She is her father's daughter.

Posted by jill at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2010

meow

Audrey has been obsessed with this cat costume she got from her cousin.

Her favorite thing about it is the way the skirt poofs out when she spins.

Meanwhile, Charlie has discovered the joy of swiffering. Why are children so intrigued with cleaning when they can't actually do any good? I'm sure when it becomes mandatory there will be nothing but resistance.

Posted by jill at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2010

let's count together

Audrey started a new class at the park district - Let's Count Together. Today's numbers were, of course, zero and one.

Charlie enjoyed the balloon with the number nine on it that Audrey brought home from class along with her three projects.

Posted by jill at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2010

princess topham hatt

Posted by jill at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2010

frankenbaby

Today Charlie was practicing his standing, fell and hit his head hard on the edge of a piece of wooden furniture. After much crying, mostly by me, and a little bleeding, we took him to the walk-in care to get the cut checked out, thinking it looked a little deep. Sure enough, stitches were needed. Here is our brave little guy after getting the cut cleaned, waiting to see the doctor.

As expected, Charlie was upset receiving his five stitches while strapped onto a papoose board. He was quite the trouper though. But, long after the tape holding on the topical anesthetic was removed, Charlie was red and irritated where the tape had been. The doctor thinks he has an allergy to adhesive so instead of a simple band-aid covering the stitches, Charlie got the super-cool head wrap. Also, he has another ear infection.

The head wrap came off shortly after we got home. Charlie has been good so far about not bothering the stitches and does not seem too traumatized by the events of the day.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (1)

January 01, 2010

Happy New Year!

Jill hard at work on her resolution to get the blog up-to-date. You're doing a great job!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2009

new year's eve

I entertained myself today by having Charlie race Audrey's new crawling baby doll. Charlie won!

Todd and I are ringing in the new year by playing Rock Band. We let Audrey have her midnight at 9pm and play some too.

After her short stint at the drums, all she wanted to do was sing. That is, sing the alphabet over and over to every song we played. It was awfully cute, but it didn't help our band's tour success.

Posted by jill at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2009

first movie

Todd has been itching to take Audrey to her first movie at a theater for a while. When Audrey first laid eyes on a picture of Disney's new princess she declared that she was her most favorite princess ever so we decided to take her to see the Princess and the Frog movie.

All of the commercials and previews may have been a bit much because by about one third of the way through the movie Audrey said she didn't want to watch the movie anymore.

She stuck it out, even after we ate all the popcorn, and still hasn't said much about the movie. Maybe in a few days it will all sink in...

Thanks to Channy for watching Charlie so we could go to the movie!

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2009

eleven months

Every day that gets us closer to Charlie's birthday is another day I can't believe he is almost one year old. He is on the move and into everything! Any large object he can grab he pulls himself up into a stand on with no fear. This month he has started to wave at everyone and everything, dance, share his food and shake his head no to any question you ask him. He is such a sweet boy, we just wish he would be more careful!

This evening we had a fun dinner at my cousin Lori's and delivered Mackenzie's christmas present. Connor and Mackenzie were both so good about playing with and sharing their things with Audrey and Charlie. It was great to see everyone!

Posted by jill at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2009

happy birthday, dada!

Thirty-seven years of Todd! First thing on Todd's birthday agenda after sleeping in as long as Audrey will let him: opening presents. Second: french toast made with love.

Things get a little crazy when Charlie get ahold of Meow.

After dinner from Francesca's, Todd and Audrey ate Boston cream pie (Todd's favorite) and ice cream while Charlie and I snacked on Cheerios.

After the kids were in bed Todd and I snuck off to see a movie. The poor babysitter had to experience Audrey's repeated opening and closing of her bedroom door until she finally decides to go to the bathroom. Happy birthday, Todd!

Posted by jill at 05:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2009

party fail, christmas version

I am a horrible wimp about driving in the snow so we bailed on my extended family's holiday gathering this evening. Sorry family! Since the kids were all dressed up, we took advantage and snapped some pictures.

Charlie does his best Gap ad pose.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)

more snow

Audrey is a hard worker when it comes to shoveling snow.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the prospect of hot chocolate when the job is done.

Posted by jill at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2009

merry christmas

Charlie's first christmas!

Audrey getting her first glimpse of the swag under the tree. When Todd told her that Santa was going to come to our house and bring presents, she got upset and said that he should stay at the mall.

Charlie puts his new teething ring to immediate use. Now I hope he will stop chewing on the dining room chairs.

Audrey whips up a little something in her new pots and pans. She was getting impatient for the real french toast.

Posted by jill at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2009

christmas eve

We offered to host the christmas celebration for Todd's family this year and to our surprise everyone decided to come!

The city folk catch up with the country folk in our suburban home.

The big kids share dinner while Charlie naps.

The celebration was lively with all the kids, but you'd never know it from this shot. Must have been a temporary lull in the action.

Audrey stole a sword from Jeffery, grabbed a stray ribbon and became an impromptu christmas pirate queen.

Nana tried her best to gather up all the grandkids for a group shot at the end of the night, but Audrey elected to run from the room screaming. The remaining participants posed nicely.

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2009

holiday card outtakes

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2009

one is not enough

Audrey wrapped the book she chose for Charlie's christmas present. Apparently she is a big fan of bows.

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2009

channy's christmas special

We celebrated with my family at Channy's today.

Charlie was excited about his new shirt

Audrey plays Thomas with cousins Seth and Grant

Audrey shows Channy some love

Audrey made us listen to Channy's holiday animated music decorations over and over and over

Posted by jill at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 19, 2009

city of lights

Driving through the annual local light display

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

snow day

The boys texting at breakfast.

There was snow to be shoveled and Audrey was there to help.

We couldn't get Audrey to make snow angels so we built a snowman instead.

Audrey surveying her handywork.

The final product. This snowman has a green onion nose and mulch whiskers. Snowcat?

Charlie woke up from his nap so it was time to go back inside.

Hot chocolate!

Posted by jill at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2009

hugs all around

Audrey was feeling the love today and wanted to hug everyone.

She knocked Todd over with her hug.

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2009

sears (not willis) tower

Audrey's tribute to Todd's work building

Posted by jill at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2009

mini chef

Mixing

Tasting

As you can see, Charlie is still a happy boy even though he is suffering from his first ear infection. I took Audrey to the doctor this morning because she had more hives and found out both of her ears are infected so had Charlie checked too. When will the sickness end?

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2009

relapse

Nana and Papa were sad not to see Audrey the week before for her birthday so they came over today to brave what seems to be a whole new version of Audrey germs. I would like to write more, but I wasn't feeling well either and slept through most of the visit.

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2009

feeling a little better

Posted by jill at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2009

the point

Charlie has a new favorite trick: pointing.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2009

christmas kitty

Natasha has been enjoying chewing on the tree and ornaments.

Posted by jill at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

December 06, 2009

party fail

We ended up canceling Audrey's family birthday party because of illness but Channy braved the germs and came for a little birthday visit this morning. She brought donuts!

In the afternoon we put up and decorated our new able-to-be-put-on-a-table-out-of-Charlie's-reach tree. Somehow we ended up with a ton of low-hanging ornaments.

Posted by jill at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2009

audrey's birthday, take two

Audrey was feeling a bit better today so we attempted her birthday lunch with her favorite mac and cheese.

Then she got to blow out her candle and we had birthday cupcakes.

She is still not feeling well but was able to enjoy her day a bit more than yesterday.

Posted by jill at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2009

three years

We have been so excited about Audrey turning three but now that the big day is here, Audrey has a bad cold.

Audrey was not too sick to open her presents and worry that Charlie wanted to open her presents though.

We ate special birthday pancakes this morning. Unfortunately, we would all get to see these again later when Audrey got sick.

All birthday activities for the day were canceled and we just tried to make Audrey as comfortable as possible. Hopefully the rest of Audrey's birthday weekend will be better! Happy birthday, Audrey!

Posted by jill at 10:42 PM | Comments (0)

December 02, 2009

crazy hair day

Audrey woke up with some funky hair today

Looking better

Cute but not happy after her three year check up

Three year Audrey stats: 38 inches tall and 34 pounds

Posted by jill at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2009

Audrey's store

Audrey and her art project from school today. I have no idea what she is selling in her store and I don't think she does either.

Posted by jill at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2009

ten months

Oh, Charlie. You are getting so big! Now that the crawling is perfected, he has already moved on to pulling himself up and has even started a little bit of cruising. This is all going way too fast. Please stay my baby for a bit longer!

Posted by jill at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2009

happy thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Todd's family. It was an extra great day because it was the first time all of us were together on a holiday in quite a while.

Imani collected what everyone is thankful for. Mine was that Audrey is potty trained!

Time for dessert. Kieran was way too excited about the novelty pie.

Audrey stole Papa's attention after dinner for lots of book reading.

Posted by jill at 04:48 PM | Comments (1)

November 23, 2009

crawling!

Charlie is a crawler! He has started moving on all fours in addition to the army crawl.

Posted by jill at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2009

brief stop

Erinn and Kieran were in the area and came for a visit.

Even though she never wants to, we always make Erinn hold the baby. Look how happy he is to be with his aunt Erinn.

Audrey and Erinn rocking the plastic instruments.

As always, uncle Kieran isn't afraid of any babies.

Posted by jill at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2009

number of the day

I peeked in at Audrey during her class today. Instead of being at the table with all of the other children working on the day's craft, she was by herself cleaning up toys. I'm not sure if that has something to do with being the only girl in class or not. We only have her number painting to show off today.

Posted by jill at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2009

happy birthday, allysa

Cousin Allysa turned seven a couple of weeks ago and we went to Channy's today to celebrate.

Cake with cousins

Princess dress courtesy of Allysa

Charlie misses seven by a few digits

Posted by jill at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2009

smelly job

Audrey and Todd worked hard this morning raking and playing in the rest of the leaves in the yard. I wish I would have heard this myself, but Todd says that while raking Audrey said "something stinks - it smells like a skunk pooped out here." Hmmm.

Posted by jill at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2009

so funny

Hooray for a visit from Amber and Brylen!

Posted by jill at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2009

the future

Jake and Audrey - just two kids hanging out at the mall

Posted by jill at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2009

Audrey and mama are at a campfire

The second session of Audrey's pre-preschool started today. Audrey headed straight for the baby dolls and didn't even care when I left.

Posted by jill at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2009

easily entertained

Who knew a laundry hamper could be so much fun?

Posted by jill at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2009

saturday night

Posted by jill at 05:29 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2009

thirty-five months

What a goofball. I had to bribe Audrey with a popsicle to let me take any pictures to mark her thirty-fifth month. She has been all about princesses, fairies, tutus, wings, pink and sparkles lately. I fought it for as long as I could and have lost the battle.

Posted by jill at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2009

happy birthday, channy!

Channamom's birthday was last week and we took her out to lunch today.

Back home, Audrey models the poncho Channy made for her.

Posted by jill at 10:49 PM | Comments (1)

November 01, 2009

winterizing

Audrey wasn't much help getting the yard ready for the cold, especially after she found this stick to play with.

Posted by jill at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2009

super halloween

Audrey trick or treated with neighbor Colin and his friend Emma. She went up to the first house but wouldn't take the candy. The second house had a dog so she didn't go up the step to the door. At the third house she wouldn't even go on the sidewalk to the door. At the fourth house she saw a boy in a scary costume (the grim reaper and it was pretty scary) and lost it. That was the end of Audrey's trick or treating. There is always next year. Happy Halloween!

Posted by jill at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 30, 2009

samba de amigo

Susan brought over another Wii game tonight, this one we had to shake the controllers like maracas to music. Usually Audrey is just given a controller that isn't even on and will have a great time jumping around thinking she is actually playing the game. Tonight we plugged her in and found out the girl has some rhythm!

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2009

nine months, the stats

Our happy boy had a checkup yesterday. Charlie is 21 pounds and 28 5/8 inches tall. As one of the nurses said, he is "growing like a weed." Audrey thought that was really funny and has repeated it about one hundred times.

Posted by jill at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

nine months

Charlie, my boy, you are nine months old! You're growing so fast and the funny thing is, it seems like it's not nearly fast enough for you. You're so full of energy, so full of life, it's hard for us to keep up!

You've been crawling on your belly for a month, but now you're getting up on all fours and trying for real. You're really close, you'll be there in no time at all. Even crazier is the fact that you're trying to pull yourself up on furniture too. Charlie, I'm not ready for this yet!

You love to babble and "sing" all the time, almost as much as you love to flash us your huge smile. Eating is one of your favorite things, though I'll be happy when you get out of the stick-everything-in-my-mouth phase. Perhaps your greatest joy in the world is to play with your big sister, which could not make us happier. It's been a great ride so far, little guy, we can't wait to see what's ahead!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2009

sprinkles make me smile

Sarah came over for a playdate this morning and brought cookies. How did she know Audrey is such a big fan of sprinkles?

And while Audrey got to eat cookies, Charlie wanted to bite Audrey's nose.

Posted by jill at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2009

pumpkin, pumpkin pie

This year, Audrey wanted nothing to do with pumpkin carving. It was hard just to get her to sit next to it for pictures. Charlie, on the other hand, was all too eager to get by the pumpkin so he could try to chew on it.

Posted by jill at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2009

celebrating silas

Silas turns three tomorrow and we got to celebrate with him today. After pizza, cake and cookies, the skies cleared and we were able to walk around the nature center.

the birthday boy shows off his climbing skills

"Audrey your eyes are so blue"

Charlie bundled up for our walk

Audrey could not get enough of Katie

me, Silas, Sam, Katie, and Audrey

While in the city, we took a trip through our old neighborhood then went to one of our favorite thai restaurants for dinner. Audrey thought her noodles were fine but Todd and I really enjoyed our old usual dishes. Oh, Cozy Noodle, how we miss you!

Posted by jill at 05:21 PM | Comments (1)

October 22, 2009

last day of gymnastics

Audrey's impressive one-arm bar hang

This is how Audrey and Sarah spent a large majority of their time during class

Showing off their certificates of accomplishment

Posted by jill at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 20, 2009

fall

It was so nice out today Audrey and I were happy to run around, play jump rope and admire the changing colors in the yard while Charlie slept.

When Charlie is let loose on the floor the first place he now goes is the cat door that leads to the basement. I know one day we are going to find him half way through trying to follow Natasha down the stairs.

Posted by jill at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2009

Audrey's pumpkin is named Audrey

Audrey missed two weeks of her school while sick. This week was the last week of this session. Audrey says her pumpkin is a boy and his name is Audrey.

While Audrey was in class Charlie and I snuck out to the playground. I realized that we went the entire summer without putting this boy in a swing. Well I am glad we did this today because he loved it. He smiled and laughed the entire time.

Posted by jill at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2009

poseurs

We already had the camera out, so during lunch today we each grabbed a kid and posed for some more photos.

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pumpkins

It's becoming a tradition: the yearly trip to the pumpkin farm with Nana and Papa! We were very sad to discover that the "how tall this fall" had gone missing this time around; we were really looking forward to seeing how much Audrey had grown as well as trying to get Charlie to stand for a photo. We did get some shots of kids sitting with pumpkins, so all is good.

It was little chilly, but the sun was shining which made for a nice day at the farm.

Workers were moving crates of pumpkins around with a forklift which scared Audrey. She somehow found the courage to brave the pumpkin washing station with Papa to clean off her gourd.

Kuiper's is famous for its doughnuts, no way were we going to pass those up. Audrey even had her own cider-sipper which was a hit.

It's hard to believe, but we don't really have any photos of our family now that we're a foursome. Now we just have to aim for some good photos of the four of us...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2009

diaper changing

Audrey's helpful streak continued tonight when she asked if she could change Charlie's diaper. Diaper changes have become wrestling matches because Charlie just will not sit still. Audrey gave it her best try but I had to finish the job.

Posted by jill at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2009

feeding and clapping

For the first time Audrey asked if she could feed Charlie today. I always worry that she won't be gentle enough with him but she did a great job, even if she did tire of it pretty quickly.

Another first at lunch was Charlie clapping on his own. He must have needed to express the extra excitement he was feeling with the special attention from his big sister.

Posted by jill at 05:08 PM | Comments (1)

October 11, 2009

peel stick repeat

Audrey's cold last week turned into an ear infection and then she got her worst case of hives yet. She still has a few spots left (even after six days of steroids) but is feeling better so we started decorating for Halloween today.

Posted by jill at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2009

how big is Charlie?

So big!

Posted by jill at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2009

thirty-four months

Audrey has a very bad cold so there were no pictures taken today to commemorate 34 months. Instead, more pictures from out time at the museum on Friday.

I love how Audrey was taking a bite of her sandwich with gusto ...

... and then the look on her face when she didn't like the bread. I give her credit for even trying.

Audrey is such a little person I sometimes forget that she is only two.

Posted by jill at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2009

science and industry

Family field trip! Audrey rode the metra into the city with Todd this morning and then went into the office with him. Charlie and I picked them up later in the morning and we all went to the museum of science and industry.

The morning commute

Sprinkle donut with a view in MGB's break room

Audrey's new "work friend", Todd's co-librarian Marti

Todd said it was Audrey's new work friend's idea for her to climb the library ladder

Audrey driving Charlie on the tractor at msi

Audrey's favorite exhibit at the museum, she could have watched the chicks in the hatchery all day

Probably the most fun Charlie had was looking at himself in the reflection at the model trains

End of the day and everyone is still smiling!

Posted by jill at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2009

seesaw

Playing at the playground after gymnastics with Sarah

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September 29, 2009

eight months

Charlie, or "my little guy" as Audrey calls him, is eight months today!

Charlie has made some great strides in his physical development over the last month. He graduated from scooter to army crawler over the weekend and is quite efficient.

He is doing a great job with sitting but really doesn't want to sit still long enough in one spot to even bother with it.

The babbling is nonstop and all of us are sure he is saying a version of our names, even Audrey.

Posted by jill at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)

September 28, 2009

my mommy lives on Audrey's farm

There was still a little bit of whining when I left Audrey at school this morning but each time it gets less and less. This week's theme was farms.

Posted by jill at 11:18 AM | Comments (2)

September 25, 2009

zucchini as big as a baby

Susan stopped by tonight and just had to show us the zucchini she took from the break room at her work. It is almost as big as Charlie. That is a big zucchini! Charlie really liked hanging out on the floor with it.

Posted by jill at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2009

gymnastics

Today was the second week of gymnastics. It has been great to see how much more confident and coordinated Audrey is compared to last year's gymnastics class. Thanks to Nana and Channamom who are splitting the days watching Charlie so I can take Audrey to class!

Walking the beam with coach Dave

Somersault!

Getting serious air and hanging with new friend Sara, who is also in pre-preschool

Posted by jill at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2009

front yard

This didn't last long before Charlie decided the grass was too scratchy and Audrey got scared of bugs.

Posted by jill at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2009

Audrey's apple is red

Today was the second week of Audrey's pre-preschool. There was still a bit of whining when I went to leave but not as much as last week. I think it helps that Audrey has made a friend in class who is also in her gymnastics class. Here is week two's art project.

Posted by jill at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2009

introducing the sippy

Just chewing on it, like everything else, for now

Posted by jill at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2009

two nights

After gymnastics on Thursday, Channamom took Audrey back to her house to spend TWO nights. Audrey refuses to nap anywhere but home so was quite tired and loopy by the time we got her. She didn't seem to miss us too much though. It couldn't have hurt that she visited with cousins Seth and Grant on Friday and then Tyler and Alyssa where at Channy's overnight on Friday too.

Posted by jill at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2009

super baby

This is actually one of Charlie's physical therapy exercises. Strengthen those stomach muscles, Charlie!

Posted by jill at 05:04 PM | Comments (1)

September 17, 2009

while Audrey is away, Charlie will play

We took advantage of our picky eater sleeping over at Channy's and went out for thai. Charlie tried to chew on the table a bit but otherwise did a fine job in the restaurant high chair.

Posted by jill at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2009

boy vs puff

Sizing up the competition

Puff - 1, Charlie - 0

The thrill of victory

The crowd goes wild

Posted by jill at 05:03 PM | Comments (2)

September 14, 2009

school

Audrey started a class at the park district today that I have dubbed pre-preschool. It is just one hour per week without parents. We barely ever have babysitters and when we do it is usually Channamom or Nana so this was a big deal. Audrey was the only one who put up any fuss when dropped off but was fairly easily distracted by the teacher with toys and was fine during the remainder of the class.

First school craft

Post-school library visit

Posted by jill at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2009

dance all night

Papa got to spend a little time with Charlie when we went to pick up Audrey after her overnight visit.

No nap and late sleep make for one crazy girl.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2009

girls' night out

Todd was hanging with Holmes and Audrey was spending the night at Nana and Papa's so I made plans with Susan for a night out on the town. Charlie was an honorary girl for the evening.

Shortly after this picture, the tables behind Charlie would be overflowing with teenagers. Tonight must have been the homecoming dance at the local high school. Luckily Charlie was not able to grab any of the fancy dresses, though he sure did try.

Posted by jill at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2009

first haircut

Only a child who knows no better would trust me to put scissors to hair. When Audrey's hair is wet and straight it goes down to the middle of her back. Tonight after her bath it was especially knotty and I suggested I cut a little off. Audrey agreed so we went with it. I just cut a couple of inches off the back and it is probably the worst, most uneven cut ever. Audrey would not keep her head straight for more than a few seconds at a time. With the curls, you can't even tell and she loves her new haircut.

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)

good friends

We had a long overdue visit with Amber and Brylen today. Brylen could barely contain herself waiting for Charlie to get up from his nap and wanted to get her hands on him as quickly as possible. Brylen and Audrey played unsupervised in Audrey's room, which is so weird. It seems like just yesterday they were babies sitting next to each other in strollers.

Charlie trying to charm Amber into moving in next door. He's going to keep working on that.

Posted by jill at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2009

more teeth

I still haven't gotten a picture of Charlie's two bottom teeth and now I discovered today that the two front top teeth are about to break through his gums!

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2009

bag hat

Paper bag crown, courtesy of Andy

Posted by jill at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2009

surprise invitation

Audrey surprised us by inviting her grandparents over for a visit during an otherwise uneventful phone call yesterday. We didn't have any other plans for today, so we told them they had best come over.

Charlie was a little surprised by the visit, even though Papa decked him out in a cool headband.

Fortunately some time with Nana made everything better.

Audrey took advantage of her time with Nana and Papa to show off some of her new tricks. This one has a variation including a few hops. Once finished she demands to see her audience give it a try.

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2009

sitting up

Charlie had his first ride in the stroller sitting up by himself today. Over the last week his sitting has really improved. All of that extra tummy time and new therapy exercises must be doing the trick!

Meow got prime cart seating on our trip to Costco.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2009

thirty-three months

This last month was the month of the potty. Every day in August Audrey used the potty at least once, one day even only dirtying a diaper during naptime. We like where this is going and am so proud of our big girl!

Somehow Audrey already has better English skills than I do. She uses big words, speaks in grammatically correct sentences and even corrects herself if she uses the wrong word tense. It must be the good influence of Todd. All of this talking does get a little embarrassing though when she repeats everything strangers say while we are out in public.

She seems to be coming out of her shell a bit. She used to not want to play on equipment at the park if other kids were on it but has gotten much better recently. I hope this will just get better when she starts up gymnastics and what I am calling pre-preschool class without me next month.

Audrey still love to ham it up for the camera and posed as the beggar woman below just for aunt Erinn and our beloved Russian cats.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2009

chunky monkey

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August 30, 2009

Todd's the type of guy

In Audrey's current favorite library book, Elmo's favorite flavor of ice cream is pistachio so Todd decided he needed to introduce Audrey to one of his favorites, instant pistachio pudding. Audrey was a bit hesitant at first but as long as her bite didn't have pieces of almond, she liked it.

Posted by jill at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2009

seven months

Charlie is on the move! If he wants to get somewhere he will roll and scoot on his tummy. He mostly does this in Audrey's room while trying to chew on all of the things Audrey doesn't want him to touch, such as books and Meow. He has yet to get up on his knees so thank goodness we are still far away from crawling.

He had his first occupational therapy session this week. Charlie's trunk muscles are weak, keeping him from sitting up for any length of time. He's improving bit by bit; as you can see in the photo above he can now sit long enough to pose for a photo or two. And he sits with us for dinner in his booster seat...it would be an understatement to say our little guy has enjoyed exploring solid foods. He sometimes cries between bites, we can't feed him fast enough!

Posted by jill at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

happy birthday, nana!

Today we visited Nana for her birthday. All of her grandchildren were there to celebrate: Audrey, Jeffery, Charlie, Imani and Jaila.

We took a walk to see Jeff and Rickie's new house, just a few minutes from Nana and Papa's.

Charlie visited with aunt Rickie.

Erinn let Charlie sit next to her and even held him for a bit.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2009

high chair

Charlie is taking his own sweet time sitting unassisted so have been feeding him in his bouncy seat. Tonight he finally made the move to the booster.

Audrey helped Charlie celebrate this little milestone with some banging on the tray.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (1)

August 27, 2009

general lee

Todd has dubbed this the "dukes of hazzard." Audrey is not supposed to do this to her desk but I just happened to have the camera out and caught her in the act.

Posted by jill at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2009

another quiet place

Not much is better than Audrey entertaining herself by looking at books so I can cook dinner.

Posted by jill at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2009

reel around the fountain

Playing by the fountain after lunch with Sara and Emma

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August 23, 2009

washcloth

Todd's solution to our loud vacuum and sensitive baby ears...

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

August 22, 2009

superheroes

Audrey ready for a Saturday morning trip to the library with Todd.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2009

I've got a rainbow for you

Susan called this afternoon to tell me there was a rainbow outside. I was very excited and got Audrey out of bed from her nap so she could see her first rainbow. I was very sad when she said she couldn't see it, no matter how many different ways I tried to explain where to look in the sky. In the picture it can be made out just to the right of Aud's head.

Posted by jill at 09:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2009

filled with family and friends

This morning we met up with Sara, Jack and Emma and Kristin, Eden and August who are in town from Iowa. In the afternoon we went to a surprise 40th wedding anniversary for aunt Pam-o and uncle Marc. What a milestone! And they were actually surprised!

Here is our one photo from the day - Charlie with my cousin Michelle's son Caden. Caden is only five weeks older than Charlie.

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2009

hand holding

Audrey on a walk with Jake and Luke

Posted by jill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2009

bouncy day

Charlie has gotten the hang of the jumperoo. It is probably my fault that he hadn't been jumping in it until now - I had never turned on the music and lights for him before today. Now it is a lot more fun for him.

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2009

just a poke

Another allergist appointment, another ice cream treat. This time Audrey tried a Frosty. She liked it better than the cones she had after her previous traumatic doctor experiences. Her daily antihistamine dosage has been bumped up to three. The blood draw went about as well as can be expected. She cried, screamed and squirmed. Once it was over she was pretty much fine. All in for the purpose of finding out why she keeps getting hives.

Posted by jill at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2009

my cute family

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August 09, 2009

post bbq

Audrey really, really wanted to go outside all day, so Mama sat with her for a few minutes before we shipped the girl off to her nap. Someone looks a little sleepy here.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

too hot for a bbq

Plans have been in the works for some time now for a summer bbq with some of my ol' high school pals and after a couple date/time/location switches, we ended up hosting on the hottest day imaginable. Turned out to be one of those outdoor parties where everyone stays inside cooled by the AC while some poor schlub works the grill and tries not to pass out from heat exhaustion. While I tended to the veggie dogs, Jill tended to the dishes inside and between us we snapped a few photos.

Audrey was excited to play with her BFF, Brylen. Those two are always super cute together.

Grown-up BFFs Amber and April pose for a shot.

Charlie was the man of the hour, everybody wanted a piece of the little guy. Auntie Lou got her mitts on him first.

My man Holmes couldn't help but get in on it. This is my new favorite photo.

Even Brylen had to hold him, with an assist from Patrick. That girl was really excited to spend some time with the baby, that's for sure.

It was great to see everyone. To my shame, I did not get any good shots of Martha or her friend Blaine; next time, I promise! And we neglected to get a group shot, which would have been nice. Oh well, at least we have some cute shots of the kids, that's what you're here for after all...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2009

sweeping up

Audrey pitched in while we tried to get our patio ready for company.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

patent pending

On her trip to the library this morning, Audrey really wanted to wear the cute shirt that Todd's co-worker Marti brought home for her from the US Patent and Trademark Office. This is funny to patent lawyers (and their librarians).

Posted by jill at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 07, 2009

Charlie loves peas

Charlie had his first vegetable today. I let Audrey pick which kind he would have and she chose peas. She may have been trying to be a devious big sister but he loved them. Really loved them.

Posted by jill at 05:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2009

thirty-two months

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

teeth!

Charlie has teeth! I noticed for the first time today that his two front bottom teeth have broke through his gums. I took about 20 pictures trying to get the teeth but each time he covered them with his tongue. It is going to be a two-person job.

Posted by jill at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 03, 2009

we cheer

Susan has a new cheerleading (yes, cheerleading) videogame that she brought over tonight. Audrey was loving jumping around and dancing to the music. Todd was the big winner and his new official nickname is Cheer Captain.

Todd, Charlie and Jeremy watching Audrey and Susan cheer.

Posted by jill at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2009

desperate

We didn't want it to come to this, but today we started bribing Audrey with M&M's to sit on the potty today. So far we have had success! Audrey is showing off her new tattoo and painted fingernails after a productive potty session.

Posted by jill at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

go fly

A nice breeze this morning prompted us to try to fly Audrey's kite.

Todd managed to get it into the air for a little bit before the rain started.

Posted by jill at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2009

monkey bars

We have been trying to go to the park in the evenings after dinner. More often than not we don't go because Audrey takes too long to eat. Tonight was a quick dinner so Audrey got to practice her leg pumping on the swing and climb the monkey bars with a little help.

Charlie, as usual, was contained in a carrying device but was perfectly happy.

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2009

here comes trouble

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

quiet place

Audrey in her "quiet place" looking at a book.

Posted by jill at 06:02 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2009

six months

Our sweet boy is six months already! He really is genuinely a happy baby. Audrey and Natasha make him even happier.

Charlie just started a two-a-day nap schedule, one of them during Audrey's nap!, and I am hoping it sticks. Without fail he has been sleeping through the night for 10 hours each night.

Charlie had his six month check up today. Though the doctor and nurse both referred to him as a big baby, his stats are average, right around the 50th percentile: 18 pounds and nearly 28 inches long. He is rolling over but has been a bit slow sitting up so the doctor suggested as much tummy time as possible to work his stomach muscles. Poor little guy.

Posted by jill at 04:48 PM | Comments (1)

July 28, 2009

demonia

Audrey was digging around under my bed and found these shoes that I used to wear back in the day.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (3)

July 26, 2009

five hour lunch

Last night Erinn and Kieran visited. Todd and I left Audrey and Charlie with them for about thirty minutes while we picked up food. They agreed to this even though both kids were awake. Thank goodness no one pooped!

Posted by jill at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2009

dinosaurs are scary

Today was Todd's company picnic at the zoo. If you ask Audrey her favorite part of the zoo she will tell you it was NOT the dinosaurs. As part of the Dinosaurs Alive exhibit this gigantic dino that moves, makes noise and spits water is situated by the fountain. It scared Audrey and she got nervous every time we heard it. We had free tickets for the exhibit but had to skip it because of other mechanical, noise-making dinosaurs inside.

Audrey has been talking about elephants for weeks. It was the first animal we saw and our choice for the annual Mold-A-Rama.

The dolphins also scared Audrey at first but then she loved them and did not want to leave. Charlie was much more interested in the other people viewing the dolphins.

Since last year's zoo trip, Todd's dream has been to have Audrey pet the goats with him. Audrey bravely walked right into the goat pen, grabbed a brush and used it on docile Ruby. The next goat (pictured below) accidentally stepped on Audrey's sandal so she could not move, causing her much distress. She recovered quickly and continued the brushing but didn't even notice she had goat poo on her toe from the incident. Eww.

Audrey had a nice conversation with this very vocal goose.

Diaper changes and feeding in the picnic area before Charlie fell asleep for the rest of trip. He missed seeing the cats and meeting Todd's coworkers.

Audrey's first sno-cone. It looks good but had no flavor. We were actually glad when Audrey dropped it half way through and couldn't eat it anymore.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2009

say hello to my little friend

At one point Audrey was so scared of ants she would insist on being picked up. Todd tried to remedy her fear by letting ants crawl on his arm. This morning Audrey saw an ant on the driveway and coaxed it onto her hand. She let it crawl on her until it started going up her arm and she had a little freak out and swatted him off. Don't worry he was ok. I was proud of my brave girl. I wouldn't have wanted that ant on me.

Posted by jill at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2009

tummy sleep

When I checked on Charlie this morning, he turned over at some point during the night and was sleeping on his tummy. Maybe he will be a tummy sleeper like his sister.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2009

just the girls (and Charlie)

We met Sara and Emma for coffee today for Charlie's first visit to Starbucks. Audrey had a lot of fun following Emma around as she took pictures with Sara's phone.

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2009

he ain't heavy he's my brother

Audrey asked to hold Charlie for the first time today. She has tried to pick him up before without success. She got bored with it pretty quickly but it was sweet while it lasted.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 19, 2009

working on puzzles

The girl sat at her newly refurbished school desk today (thanks again, Nana!) and worked on some puzzles. It's nice to see some critical thinking at work with the usual craziness.

And speaking of wild and crazy, Charlie entertained us with his impression of a cat with a gas problem. That kid is all about the high concept.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2009

Pool party!

We headed out for fun in the sun today to celebrate Tyler's 13th birthday! When did that kid get so old? And how did we manage not to snag a photo of him?

Charlie braved the shallow end with his designated swim buddy, Channamom. He didn't seem too crazy about the water at first, but came around pretty quickly.

Audrey was excited to hit the pool, but found herself a bit nervous once actually in the water. The boat helped, though I think Allysa was secretly wishing Audrey was ready to join her swimming under the water. Maybe in a few years.

For days Audrey was telling me that she would jump from the side of the pool into my waiting arms. Once at the pool, the story changed. No way was she going to do that! Of course after I was out she decided maybe she could give it a try after all with her pal, Channy.

And what to do after a quick dip? Dry off with a cruise around the neighbor's backyard with the top down, of course.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2009

cute on wheels

I was going to mention how excited we are that Audrey is starting to pedal a bit, but this photo shows a sight we know too well: Audrey's feet on the ground! She'll get there...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2009

first roll

Today was a big day for Charlie. He rolled over from back to belly for the first time! Apparently what he had needed was the right incentive. With Audrey it was the tv remote. Charlie was trying to reach Audrey's water cup. It wasn't just a fluke either - he rolled eight other times throughout the day, including when I put him down for bed. What a big boy!

This picture was immediately following one of his turns. He looks like he knows he accomplished something.

Posted by jill at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

lopsided pigtail

While I worked on cutting down branches and Charlie napped, Audrey played with bubbles and her new jump rope.

We will have to get a video of Audrey's version of jumping rope - it is pretty awesome. For now a picture will have to do.

Posted by jill at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2009

four eyes

Audrey calls these her reading glasses, just like Nana she says.

Audrey thought Charlie would like to try them on too.

Not even hiding under the table can stop my picture taking.

Posted by jill at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2009

while dada is away

Todd stayed downtown to have dinner with some library school friends so we went out to eat. Audrey is obsessed with the mac and cheese at Noodles, boxed will no longer suffice. This was my first time at a restaurant with both Audrey and Charlie alone. It went surprisingly well.

Posted by jill at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

totally

This morning at breakfast Audrey put her headband on her forehead and asked me if she was "like 80's". How does she know that???

Posted by jill at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2009

raspberries

Blowing raspberries is Charlie's latest favorite way to entertain himself.

Posted by jill at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2009

wood pile

We have had a dead tree in our yard for the last two years and finally had it taken care of today. A friend of Todd's dad, Tommy, chopped it down and did some major hedge trimming. Audrey was very scared of the sound of the chainsaw but once it was off she was outside entertaining Papa and Tommy with stories of our neighbors and their pets.

Papa, Audrey and Todd examine the aftermath of tree demolition.

Posted by jill at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2009

yard work

We spent our morning working on the yard.

Neighbor Popsicle Man saw Audrey outside and shared his bounty.

Audrey wonders why it took so long for her parents to spread the final four bags of mulch.

Posted by jill at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2009

pod for toddler

This seat is supposed to help babies learn to sit up. So far Charlie screams every time I've put him in it but Audrey has been enjoying regressing back to when she used to sit in it.

Charlie is content to keep working on tummy time, especially when his big sister joins him.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2009

ready to go

What better to wear outside on a hot day to ride a tricycle than a crown, dress and hooded sweatshirt?

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2009

sweet boy cuddles

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

July 07, 2009

nostalgia

Todd's parents recently cleaned out their attic so we have gotten all kinds of Todd's beloved childhood items like an original Star Wars x-wing fighter and a monster coloring book. I don't know how happy Todd is that Audrey was playing with his toys while he was at work.

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2009

charlie eats

Charlie has seemed unsatisfied after eating the last few days so we gave him his first taste of rice cereal tonight.

He was very excited about it. I'm not sure if it was because of the food or because he was enjoying chewing on the spoon.

I think he may have drooled most of the cereal right back out of his mouth. Audrey was so tired from her sleepover with Nana and Papa that she went to bed even before Todd arrived home from work so she missed out on this first.

Posted by jill at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2009

sleepover

I've been working on trying to establish a Father's Day tradition of taking the old man out to the movies each year. This year I came up with the added bonus of letting Papa and Nana keep Audrey overnight. While Papa and I enjoyed Public Enemies, Charlie and the girls spent some time with Nana. Here are some shots of the grandparents getting to enjoy some time with the kids.

Audrey was adamant that this was a sleepover, not a slumber party. When we were getting ready to leave Nana and Papa's she told us "don't take me with you!"

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2009

happy 4th of july

Audrey had a late nap after the drama earlier in the day and fireworks had started around the neighborhood by the time we finished dinner. We put Charlie to bed and took the monitor and walked down the street to the park to watch fireworks in the distance.

Audrey insisted that Todd carry her and we didn't want to be away from Charlie too long, so we moved inside and watched a great display right out our bedroom window. Audrey called out the colors of each one and was excited to tell us that the fireworks go "boom boom boom!" over and over.

Posted by jill at 11:55 PM | Comments (0)

thirty-one months

Today started off like any other Saturday. Todd made us pancakes. Audrey got special star-shaped cakes with stripes of syrup since it is the 4th of July. Audrey has been obsessed with pancakes lately because it is all that Nate (from the Nate the Great books that she checks out from the library) eats. After breakfast we went to the store to pick up groceries. As soon as we got there, Audrey was hanging and twisting while holding Todd's hand and hurt her arm. She was in pain and couldn't move her arm. We took Audrey to urgent care and discovered she had nursemaid elbow. The doctor popped her bones back in place and almost immediately she was jumping around, waving her arms and singing that she was cured. The entire experience was scary but luckily a minor injury with a quick fix. This is how Audrey got to have her second ice cream cone ever.

Posted by jill at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)

July 03, 2009

brand spanking new

Todd had the day off and we met Amber, Patrick and Brylen at the park.

These two are so awesome together. At lunch they tapped their cups for cheers and fed each other mac and cheese.

Posted by jill at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2009

animal houses, part two

Audrey, Charlie and I went back to the arboretum to see the animal houses we didn't get to the other day and to look at some we already did see again.

Audrey and some really big heron eggs

Charlie escapes the car seat to explore the raccoon den

Visiting with the squirrel and raccoon in the fallen log

There was running around the squirrel drey, but no climbing in it

Stopping to smell the flowers

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2009

five months

Charlie is becoming a really giggly, happy little guy. He wakes up in the morning laughing and squealing with delight. I don't know where he gets it, none of the rest of us are morning people.

We keep thinking a tooth is going to show up any day now. There is definitely teething going on, as evidenced by all of the drooling and chewing. We swear he says "hi" and I know he says "mama" when he is upset and crying. And he is so close to rolling over.

This month Charlie found his toes and discovered he could get them into his mouth. It seemed to be a short phase and he doesn't do it very much, thank goodness.

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

animal houses

Todd took the day off from work today so I could take Audrey back the allergist without Charlie in case there was any of the drama of the last visit. The only new development is that Audrey's daily dosage of antihistamines is up to twice per day. After the appointment we took a family trip to the arboretum to see the human-sized animal houses.

We started at the prairie habitat with the ant colony and coyote den. Audrey did not want any part of the climbable spider web.

a bridge on the prairie trail

ant colony

Next was the wetland. Audrey really liked the polliwog pond and kept going back to it. She was practically pole dancing on the puzzle weed.

beaver lodge

skunk den

We did not make it to the third habitat, the woodlands - next time!

When we got home from the arboretum Audrey successfully used the potty! Her chosen reward: polish on her fingernails.

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)

June 28, 2009

big boy bath

Charlie had his first bath in the big tub today.

This was supposed to be a bath just for Charlie, but Audrey didn't want to miss out on any fun and got in too.

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2009

tea party

Audrey was talking about tea parties this morning so I thought it was time to get out the play set she received from Nana a long time ago. She shared her tea with Purple Baby (aka Dirty-face Baby) and even served chai for me. Audrey got the crown yesterday from John when we went to Channamom's to escape paint fumes and avoid the heat because Audrey had another bad case of the hives. She has barely taken it off since.

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2009

hot day

Audrey and I braved the heat and played outside for a while this morning.

In the afternoon, Nana and Papa came over to jump start the painting of the family room. We never would have gotten the project done (or probably even started) without their help!

Posted by jill at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2009

no water chai

We finally got together again with Tracy today and had a fun time visiting and watching big girl Abby dance. Audrey was not as interested in Abby as she was when we met her at one month old. She just wanted to play with Abby's toys. Charlie just wanted to chew on Abby's toys.

Posted by jill at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2009

fairy

Posted by jill at 09:57 PM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2009

happy father's day, dada!

We celebrated Todd with a special breakfast, a few gifts and by letting him choose our day's activities. Todd opted for a much-deserved day of relaxing at home. It's the least we could do for the man who puts a roof over our head, food on our plates and love in our hearts (aww).

French toast and comics. What more could a father ask for?

In typical Audrey fashion, she spilled the beans to Todd about his presents beforehand, just like she did for christmas. I coached Audrey to say "thank you for everything you do for us" to Todd but it came out as "you do what you do". I think Todd got the idea though.

"I love you this much, dada!"

Posted by jill at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2009

insisting on peacocks

When Audrey woke up this morning she told Todd she wanted to go see the peacocks. So we went to see the peacocks at the nearby free zoo.

Audrey was not scared as she has been of the peacocks, but did not want to go into the reptile house. Luckily for us a couple of the tortoises were outside in their "exercise area". The elusive otter was also out today.

We made a quick stop at the mastodon to marvel at his big footprints and drop rocks in the puddles before heading home.

Guess what Charlie was doing at the zoo.

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2009

join in the chant

Hooray! Kristin and her children Ellie, Eden and August are in town from Iowa and came to visit today. Sara, Jack and Emma came over too. It is always great to see Kristin, even if it is impossible to have a full conversation with all of these kids distracting us!

Posted by jill at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2009

twinsies

Audrey has decided that Baby Giggle's new name is Girl Charlie and she keeps setting her up next to Charlie in her own toy bouncy seat.

Posted by jill at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2009

chalk drawing

Posted by jill at 08:40 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2009

jumperoo

Charlie took his first ride in the jumperoo yesterday. He didn't seem to know what to make of it.

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2009

children's garden

Today we made a trip to the arboretum to meet Nicole, Nathan and Griffin.

Audrey was more interested in playing with Griffin in the rocks than going through the maze.

Before today I didn't know this stream the kids can play in existed. Nathan was very convincing trying to get Audrey in the water. Audrey waded a bit but mostly rolled around in mud on the side.

Nathan and Griffin

Posted by jill at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2009

googoo goggles

Susan gave me the idea to have Audrey wear goggles during her bath so she wouldn't be so scared of getting soap in her eyes. It worked! Audrey thought it was really fun to wear them and didn't even notice when I washed her hair.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2009

all the boys and all the girls

Impromptu rainy morning tent

Posted by jill at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2009

bff

It has been a few months since we have seen Amber and Brylen. We met them at the zoo this morning and the girls picked right up where they had left off. And what would a visit with them be without Brylen feeding Audrey?

Charlie was awake enough to give a few coos and smiles to Amber.

Posted by jill at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2009

Thursday photos

Posted by jill at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2009

bubble girl

While Charlie napped this morning, Audrey and I planted flowers and blew and chased bubbles.

Posted by jill at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2009

lady and the tramp

Todd used to make Pips(the cat) do this with spaghetti too.

Posted by jill at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2009

tummy time with Audrey

Audrey got in on some of tummy time action today.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2009

turn baby turn!

Charlie is starting to show signs that he might be ready to turn over from his back to his front. He doesn't try very hard; once he gets about half way, he hangs out in that position for a while.

Posted by jill at 09:16 PM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2009

crab walk

Susan stopped over tonight and spent some time trying to teach Audrey how to walk like a crab. Audrey promised to practice, stay tuned for further developments.

Posted by jill at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2009

two and a half years

Two and a half has hit during a bit of a rough time for Audrey. Due to being a two year old and, also in my opinion, the trauma of her last blood draw there have been many problems with sleeping and new fears. When Audrey is not being scared of baths, the dark, closed doors, open doors, strangers, cars, dogs and bugs or refusing to stay in her room at bed and naptime, she is her usual sweet, silly self.

She is loving when the weather is nice and we can go for walks, play with bubbles and dig in the dirt.

Posted by jill at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2009

tummy time with dada

Charlie and Dada bond with a little bit of tummy time.

Posted by jill at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2009

seven years ago

Today is our seven year wedding anniversary! To commemorate the occasion, we took a family trip to the park.
Audrey got to show Todd the mastodon slide. It had been raining and there were daunting spiderwebs, so there was no sliding today.

We spent a lot of time watching fish splash out of the water in the lake.

Todd and Audrey hung out in the sunken garden until other people came to look at the fountain and Audrey had a stranger danger freak out.

Yes, Charlie was at the park with us but was trapped in the stroller and slept through most of it as usual. Back at home he participated in his new favorite activity: sucking on his fingers like there is no tomorrow.

Rickie came to babysit with Imani, Jeffery and Jaila so Todd and I could enjoy a child-free dinner! Thanks, Rickie!!

Posted by jill at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2009

stand

Nana and Papa babysat Audrey and Charlie so Todd and I could go to a movie. It was the longest we have been away from Charlie and he slept the entire time. Audrey balanced on Nana and learned all about tennis from Papa.

Posted by jill at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2009

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today is Mama's birthday and the celebration started a bit earlier than we would have wished for. Charlie received a trio of shots yesterday, and while fine during the day, he developed a fever and woke up crying several times during the night. In fact, he and I had a little slumber party after I calmed him down and then crashed on his floor sometime around 4 in the morning. Audrey was up and ready to start the day before too long. She doesn't wear the head scarf nearly often enough, so we knew she was doing her best to make this a special occasion!

Thankfully Jill just learned that she can add soy back to her diet, so I was able to whip up a batch of my famous dairy-free pancakes for her. Audrey helped me mix them up and horrified her mother by requesting I give her a squirt of syrup directly into her mouth. After breakfast, Audrey danced with her Mama to the sounds of her new Brit Box collection.

One birthday surprise came a day early - Chef Johnny T and his pal Billy came out to install our new patio door! As is the nature of these things, the door didn't quite fit and John had to come back this morning to finish up the job. To Audrey's delight, he brought Allysa and Channy with him! Jill and I ditched the kids with grandma for a quick trip to the store, realizing while we were out that it was the first time we had both been away from Charlie at the same time.

We originally planned to head into the city to meet up with Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran for some museum fun. When those plans fell apart, they graciously offered to come out and share in Jill's b-day dinner. We had been wanting to try Francesca's for ages and it was very much delicious. I think the kids wore their poor aunt and unlce out!

Happy birthday, Mama! Hope you had a fun day - we love you!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2009

four months

It's hard to believe you've been with us for a whole third of a year, Charlie! You've come come a long way from that little guy who used to scream his head off for hours at a time. Well, you're still that guy from time-to-time, but now you're so much more!

You've become quite personable over the past few weeks, always quick to catch an eye and flash a smile. You're still very much in your own little world, but you're definitely becoming more and more observant. I had to capture this shot of you conversing with your twin brother in the mirror during this morning's bath.

As I'm sure you'll deny it later, I had to get a photo of you with your new favorite toy: Audrey's first baby doll...I suppose she's now your first baby doll too. This shot is a bit deceptive as you're usually chewing on her face. Baby and Bug are your best pals, it's fun to catch you "talking" to them.

While Mama ran out for a bit this afternoon, I tried to prop you up on the couch for some four month poses. I failed to capture the magic of you slowly falling over, but did manage to get this photo which I really like. It's not often we catch such earnestness on your face.

Keep up the good work, kid - your Mama and I love you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)

May 28, 2009

cone

Today was Audrey's visit to the allergist. He does not believe she has any food or environmental allergies, but that her hives are idiopathic. All went well until Audrey had to give blood for a few more tests just to be sure. Major crying and drama ensued when the nurses had an elaborate buildup and then missed the vein on the first attempt.

Even though it was 9:30am, when we left Audrey wanted an ice cream cone, despite the fact she had never had one before. We could not deny her.

Posted by jill at 09:59 PM | Comments (1)

May 26, 2009

stories

Audrey "reading" The Three Bears to Charlie before bed

Posted by jill at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2009

solid

Audrey tests out the new step. We are hoping the step makes it look like no plants grow here on purpose.

Posted by jill at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2009

flying frogs

Erinn and Kieran were going to be at Nana and Papa's today so we went out for a visit too.

The biggest excitement of the day was watching frogs in the creek.

Posted by jill at 09:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2009

spotty

Audrey had another bad case of the hives today. She has been having regular outbreaks for almost five months now and it was first thought to be a food allergy, then some type of virus. I took her to the doctor again for it today and our next step is the allergist. Hopefully this will solve the mystery of the hives.

Posted by jill at 06:16 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2009

playdate

My friend Nicci from high school was in town from Texas and brought her one-year old twins, Abby and Izzy, over to visit with us and Sara, Jack and Emma. I had not seen Nicci or the girls in almost a year. It was fun to catch up and have fairly new walkers toddling around the house.

Jack, Emma and Audrey seemed to be playing well together today. I am excited that Audrey is getting better at actually playing with friends, as opposed to playing next to them.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2009

happy birthday, Susan!

We had Susan over for her birthday and ate Indian food. Everyone had to suffer with vegan cake since I can't eat the real thing.

Audrey thought her green pepper looked like a sea horse. Very observant!

Posted by jill at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2009

Happy Birthday, Seth!

Cousin Seth turned three last week and we went to his house today to celebrate. Audrey had her first experience with "sponge the bob", Seth's party theme.

Allysa, Tyler and Audrey checked out the coy fish.

Channamom spent time with Charlie.

Audrey was a bit too helpful to Seth while he opened gifts.

Last time we saw Grant he wasn't walking yet. Now he is all over the place.

Posted by jill at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2009

gone fishing

Posted by jill at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2009

this time was for real

Posted by jill at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2009

sign language

Todd, Susan and I had way too much fun encouraging Audrey to do the sign for airplane that looks an awful lot like something else...

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

aftermath

Charlie made quite a mess while we were out walking today. I had to wash him, the outfit and the carrier.

Posted by jill at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2009

raspberry finger puppet

Posted by jill at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2009

Happy Mother's Day! 2009!

Audrey woke up early to help me make some dairy-free waffles for Jill this morning. She was eager to lend a hand, whether it be stirring up the batter or applauding as I took each waffle off the waffle iron.

We stuck to tradition and treated Mama to breakfast in bed. I love that this year Audrey was able to call up the stairs "happy Mother's Day!" and "we made you some pancakes!" She even woke up talking about how much Mama was going to love some waffles, but a girl can get confused in the heat of the moment I guess.

Along with the waffles, strawberries and chai, we brought up a stack of presents: one each from Audrey, Charlie and Natasha. Charlie elected to sleep through the festivities and lord only knows what Natasha was up to. Audrey was more than happy to lend a helping hand when it came time to open the gifts.

Audrey was excited to check out one of the gifts, so Mama read a little of The Kittens of Boxville to her before moving on to the others.

It was Jill's day of choosing today, so we headed out to the outlet mall for some family fun. As you can see, Charlie chose to sleep through this part of the celebration too. Audrey decided to crank up the excitement by losing her best friend Meow - after going back over our tracks all the way to the car and pleading with Audrey to remember where she last had her, Jill found the poor cat abandoned on a rack of clothes in the store we had last visited. I can't imagine how miserable Audrey would have been once it sunk in that she had lost her constant companion, just one more reason to cheer for Mama today! We love you!!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:05 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2009

batarang

Bridget and Dave visited today! They met Charlie for the first time and Audrey had a ton of fun playing with the contents of Bridget's purse and insisting they both dance with her.

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2009

life of the party

Yes, Audrey has a lampshade on her head.

Audrey relaxed with Todd after all the lampshade madness.

Posted by jill at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2009

dairy-free

Audrey, Charlie and I walked at the park with Jake and Luke (and their moms and siblings) today and stopped at TWO parks along the way.

Swinging with Jake

Happy after a slide

No pictures of Charlie today, just news. We think he has the same milk sensitivity Audrey had while nursing. So, I have to eliminate dairy from my diet again for now. It has not affected his growth at all though, and at the doctor today weighed 14 pounds 12 ounces and was 26 inches long.

Posted by jill at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)

May 04, 2009

twenty-nine months

Every month that goes by I can't believe how big Audrey is getting. Last week she started throwing her leg over the side of the crib and we knew we had to convert to the toddler bed. Since Saturday she has been in her big girl bed and so far her sleep is as good as always.

Somersaults and "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" are Audrey's current obsessions. She asks probably twenty times a day for that story to be read. Also this month Audrey developed and got over a stifling fear of Natasha. For two weeks she was sure Natasha was out to bite her toes and wouldn't be in the same room as her. Then, just as quickly as it started, the fear ended and they are friends again.

I don't understand how that little brain of her works but I love all of the crazy things she comes up with!

Posted by jill at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2009

ten day bread

We had to cancel our plans for the day because Charlie woke up with one eye very red and swollen and a very cranky demeanor. Also Audrey broke out in hives again during breakfast. Both issues cleared up by the afternoon and things really started to look up when Todd's parents stopped by for a quick visit.

Posted by jill at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2009

free comics and free bounces

Woo hoo! Free comic book day! Audrey and Todd had a date. Instead of paying attention while driving home, Todd was apparently taking pictures of Audrey reading her comic book bounty.

Then it was off to Jeffery's birthday party. And what a party it was! What more could a girl who loves to bounce ask for?

Audrey had some bounce time with cousins Imani and Jaila.

Charlie kept a close eye on Meow while his sister jumped.

Posted by jill at 03:36 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2009

three months

Charlie hit 3 months today! The boy has been a lot of fun lately...sure, he still can't do much, but I'd say his nature in general is rather gregarious. He's flashing smiles all the time and trying to talk here and there. For a guy who can't get around, he certainly appears very active - those limbs are always moving. Even though he hasn't shown much interest in standing, he did give it a try today. We'll be seeing more of that, I'm sure. He's putting in a good 7-8 hours of sleep most nights now, which is much appreciated (especially by Mama!) I can't wait to see what the future has in store for this little guy - happy three months, Charlie!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:47 PM | Comments (2)

April 28, 2009

Audrey's new twist on ring-down

The girl has remixed her old favorite game, ring-down (aka ring-around-the-rosie), by adding a somersault to the end. All fall down, indeed!

And yes, she still loves her Spider-Man pajamas.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:45 PM | Comments (1)

April 27, 2009

different drummer

Jill snapped this shot of our girl; I think it really captures the experience of spending the day with Audrey.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2009

return of the tutu

While Mama went out to run some errands, Audrey and I tried our best to keep Charlie entertained. Audrey's first move was to break out the tutu. And then she insisted we dance. In circles. When the dizziness nearly floored me, she must have misunderstood - for the rest of our dance session she would stop and ask me "Dada, are you getting busy?" It's like she's never seen me on the dance floor...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2009

perfect accessory

Audrey ready for her Saturday trip to the library with dada: skirt, boots, pink plastic bracelet and meow, of course.

Posted by jill at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2009

asleep

Today Charlie was propped up in the family room chair playing with his bug. I turned my back for a moment and he fell asleep while sitting there. Too cute.

Posted by jill at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2009

hours of entertainment

Last week my friend Sarah from college visited. She came bearing gifts like this activity toy that Charlie (and Audrey) both are loving to play with that we finally put together today. We had a very nice visit with Sarah - once Audrey got over her initial stranger danger reaction.

Posted by jill at 02:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2009

choo choo charlie

Posted by jill at 07:13 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2009

park again!

We took a family trip to the park today. It is pretty crazy how much more Audrey can do compared to just this past fall.

I was especially nervous about this but she made it up without much trouble.

Look at how long Audrey's legs are! Is my baby too big now for the baby swings?

Charlie ready for the park. Soon he would fall asleep and miss all of the fun.

Posted by jill at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2009

park!

Sara, Jack and Emma came over today and we all went for a walk then to the park - our first trip to the park this year.

Posted by jill at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

April 15, 2009

doublewide

We haven't walked with our old walking buddies since before Charlie was born. Today we joined them again and had to get out the double stroller. I have been likening the double stroller as the minivan of strollers but it wasn't too bad to handle.

Audrey and Jake together again and ready for laps.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2009

Easter overnight

I was off to spend some time with friends at the Dinosaur Jr. show, so I dropped Audrey off with Nana and Papa for some overnight fun. The Easter Bunny dropped by during the wee hours and hid some eggs for our little girl to find. Nana was able to spend some quality time with Charlie when they brought Aud back home while Papa shared some photos of his recent African adventure to Jill and me. A good time was had by all.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2009

incredible, edible

Audrey decorated eggs today.

Channamom showed up with easter baskets just in time to paint her own.

As usual, Charlie slept through all of the action.

Posted by jill at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2009

happy together

Hanging out in Charlie's crib this morning

Audrey's best friend Meow had to join in the fun too

Posted by jill at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2009

who knew?

After two months of staying close to home on weekdays, it was nice enough outside today for a trip to the local free zoo and park with Audrey and Charlie.

Audrey and I have been to this zoo many times before. But today the very loud sounds the peacocks scared her, which put a bit of a damper on the rest of the animal viewing. After looking at the animals we walked around the park and discovered a slide in the shape of a mastodon! I had no idea it was there. Audrey told me over and over "this is fun" every time she went down the slide. What a nice change from being cooped up in the house!

This was Charlie's first trip to the zoo. He slept through the entire outing.

Posted by jill at 03:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 08, 2009

lunch lady audrey

Todd has had this head cover that he wore and gloves the nurses let Audrey play with at the hospital when Charlie was born in his work bag for the last two months and finally took them out yesterday. Audrey was quick to put them on as soon as she saw them. I think she looks more lunch lady then doctor though.

Posted by jill at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2009

happy boy

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 05, 2009

Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran's road trip

Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran dropped by yesterday on their way back from a day trip to Wisconsin. And they brought gifts! Not only did Audrey score a Smurfette doll, but also received one incredibly cool cat book.

Charlie showed his appreciation for some new onesies by flashing plenty of smiles at his Uncle Kieran. Charlie has been on a roll for the past few days, I'm glad they were here to see him in such a good mood.

Audrey has been under the weather for the past few days, as has her Dada (let's not point fingers as to who got whom sick, okay?), but managed to summon forth enough of her usual charm. I just hope we didn't send the sick bug on with our visitors, lord knows Erinn has enough health issues to deal with...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:32 PM | Comments (1)

April 04, 2009

twenty-eight months

Audrey continued to adjust to being a big sister over the last month. The earlier sad crying fits and desire to be a baby seem to be gone. It has become a ritual every morning for Audrey to sit in her chair next to Charlie before starting her day. She is awfully sweet with her little brother.

The big development this month: Audrey knows the entire alphabet! She had been good with different parts of it for a while and all of the sudden she is singing the entire thing. Always making us proud!

Now if we could just get rid of those pesky recurring hives...

Posted by jill at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)

April 03, 2009

artiste

Audrey played at neighbor Colin's house for a few hours today and Colin's mom Cathy bravely broke out the finger paints. Reports back are that Audrey was pretty girly about it, not wanting to get her hands too dirty. Here she is with her first finger paint masterpiece.

With Audrey across the street, that left Charlie and I time to go out and about on our own.

Posted by jill at 06:06 PM | Comments (0)

March 31, 2009

thriller

You can't really tell so much in this picture, but in real life Charlie looked like he was doing the "Thriller" zombie dance while sleeping today. I wish my friend Nicole could have been here to see it.

Posted by jill at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2009

babies don't eat pretzels

Audrey and I were both very excited about our visit from Amber and Brylen today. It had been waaaay too long. Brylen met Charlie for the first time today and as her usual loving self could not get enough of him.

Posted by jill at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2009

two months

At 12 pounds 12 ounces now it is hard to remember just two months ago when Charlie was just a seven pound infant. His newborn crying is starting to subside and more and more he is happy to just hang out and smile at us when he is awake. He is starting to hold baby conversations with us now too. Charlie loves to be talked to and will respond with adorable cooing and gurgles. We will have to get that on video and posted soon!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2009

late night chatterbox

Audrey took off for an overnight trip to Channamom's last night. With spring break in full effect, this meant Audrey was able to spend some quality time with her cousin Allysa.

Audrey and Allysa were going to sleep in a tent together, but our little girl was such a chatterbox she drove Allysa out at some point late in the night. Eventually after running circles around the living room, Audrey crashed on the couch.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2009

big sister, little brother

It may be a little early to tell for sure, but if I had to pick, I would say Audrey is clearly Charlie's favorite family member. He just lights up when he hears her voice. She always asks to sit in her chair with her little brother, this time we were lucky enough to have the camera nearby.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:52 PM | Comments (2)

March 22, 2009

sunny day

Audrey took to the outdoors to try out her new scooter (thanks neighbor Kim!)

Audrey was out about a minute before she attracted the attention of her friend Colin who drove on over.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2009

number two

Audrey went poop on the potty for the first time today! Actually, it was more catching her mid-poo and getting her to the bathroom quickly, but if you ask me, it counts. We're not above stealing ideas from our friends, so we took a page from the book of Silas Lee and rewarded the girl with a temporary tattoo. I asked what she'd like and she told me "blue." I think this one fits the bill...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:19 AM | Comments (4)

March 20, 2009

making us proud

While Audrey, Charlie and I were playing at the neighbor's house today, Todd was receiving an award and planting flowers in Millennium Park for the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days fundraiser!

Posted by jill at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2009

swinging

We love the face Audrey is making in this one

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2009

bedtime story

Perhaps a bit too soon to include Charlie in our bedtime story routine...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2009

kickball superstar

Here is Audrey practicing her pose for the kickball team's picture day.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2009

burrito

When I arrived home from work today, Audrey met me at the door with the comic section from the Sunday paper in hand. "Dada, you have jokes!" she exclaimed, handing it to me. Before I could even finish this week's B.C., she was upon me again with her friend Meow all wrapped up in a burp cloth. "Dada, Meow is a burrito!" is absolutely my new favorite greeting.

In other news, Charlie continues to impress with his tummytime skills. He may not be able to do much, but the kid can lift that neck with the best of them.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:50 PM | Comments (1)

March 15, 2009

firsts

First flowers of spring!

First popsicles from neighbor Popsicleman of the year!

Posted by jill at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

will dance for cheese

Our friends the Falbos, Brad and Eva visited from Chicago today. We ate bagels then headed outside to enjoy the nice weather with kickball, sliding and bubbles.

Silas was a dancing fool, even when cheese was not involved. He and Audrey got along great. They have come a long way since their first playdate.

Sam showed the kids how to blow bubbles. Audrey's method involves putting her mouth directly on the wand to get as much bubble solution on her face as possible.

Brad showed no fear holding six-week old Charlie.

Eva, Audrey and Katie shared some girl talk on the steps.

Posted by jill at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2009

It's starting to feel a lot like Springtime

The girl soaked up a little sun on the first nice day of the season before rushing off to the library, post office and grocery store with her Dada. We even snagged a free piece of chocolate-mint pie to ensure we celebrated Pi Day properly...it may be a little early, but we're going to say it anyway: Hooray for Spring!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2009

developments

Charlie had his best night of sleeping yet last night and I am, really for the first time, hopeful for his (and my) future sleeping. This good night for him consisted of two four hour stretches between feedings. I keep reminding myself that every baby is different but it is hard to not think of how Audrey was sleeping through the night by six weeks.

In Audrey news, we are working more aggressively on the potty training. She has successfully used her potty several times in recent weeks and we have started a sticker and chart system that will hopefully be incentive for her. She is such a big girl now, she seems too old to me to still be in diapers.

Posted by jill at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2009

Tuesday photos

Posted by jill at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2009

cheers

Audrey and neighbor Colin toasting over water and goldfish this morning when he came over for a bit to play.

Audrey demonstrating more of her mothering skills by carrying giraffe in the baby bjorn.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2009

in celebration of Caden

Today we went to a party at aunt Pam's to celebrate my cousin Michelle's son Caden's baptism, who was born on Christmas day. What a bad party guest am I that I didn't get any photos of the guest of honor? I did, however, catch Audrey playing with her cousins Jenna and Mackenzie.

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2009

Burping the puppy

This morning started with Audrey demonstrating her baby burping skills to Mama. Special thanks to Dotty for being such a good stand in.

Posted by jill at 09:08 PM | Comments (1)

March 06, 2009

first walk

Audrey had a playdate with "her boys" this morning. Afterwards she wanted to wind down and get toasty with Charlie on the couch. Being toasty under a blanket is one of her favorite things.

We managed to actually get out of the house today and went for a walk around the block.

At first Audrey was upset that she didn't get to ride in the stroller - I am just not ready to get out the double stroller yet - but we had a very nice time talking to dogs and looking at plants we saw along the way.

It was Charlie's first trip outside in the neighborhood.

Posted by jill at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2009

tutu love

Instead of going outside to enjoy the mild weather, Audrey wanted to stay inside wearing her tutu and bunny ears while playing with the tape measure.

Posted by jill at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2009

twenty-seven months

Audrey is becoming such a big girl. But now with the addition of Charlie, she is insisting she is a baby. Hopefully this phase will work itself out by our next month's post.

Audrey seems to have inherited the steel-trap memory of her father. She can hear a song a couple of times then sing it out of the blue a few days later. What she interprets as the lyrics are not always correct but she belts out her songs with great confidence. She can also recite books nearly word for word after having them read to her only once or twice. This has made checking out books from the library extra fun.

Posted by jill at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2009

overnight

Audrey had her first overnight stay with Nana and Papa last night! And though we missed her terribly, it was a little fun to pretend that we had only one baby just for a little bit.

While Audrey was away we thought that would be a good night to see how Charlie did sleeping in his crib, rather in the cradle in our room. The change of scenery did not seem to faze him at all.

Posted by jill at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2009

one month

How has an entire month gone by since Charlie was born? It has been quite an adjustment having an infant in the house again and we are loving getting to know this little guy.

Charlie has been giving us smiles since day two that, at least for a while, make us forget about the lack of sleep.

At one month Charlie is obviously not doing much more than eating and sleeping but he has had some impressive tummy time in recent days. We are excited to see his developments in the months to come!

Posted by jill at 02:06 PM | Comments (1)

February 21, 2009

carpet angels

Audrey insisted she come outside and help me shovel the driveway this morning. What a good helper!

She wouldn't make snow angels in the snow but did on the carpet.

Meanwhile, Charlie stayed warm during his first trip into the playhut.

Posted by jill at 02:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2009

multi-state playdate

My friend Kristin and her children were in town to see family and stopped by for a visit with us and Sara, Jack and Emma. It has been over a year since we last saw our Iowa friends. All of the kids have grown so much!

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2009

puddin' in a cloud

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:15 PM | Comments (1)

February 18, 2009

hives and stumps

Our 401st post finds us with no Audrey. Oh, she's still around, she's just suffering the outbreak of a particularly nasty case of hives. We were under the impression at first that they were due to a food allergy but her doctor is not so sure. Aud bravely gave 4(!) vials of blood yesterday and we're awaiting the results of the tests. Today the hives were at their worst, taking quite a toll on the poor girl's spirit. Add in the fact that she refuses to voluntarily take her medicine and the situation just gets ugly. We will spare you the photos.

Charlie picks up the slack today with a gross little development of his own - his umbilical cord fell off this morning! Here he is showing off his brand new belly button to the world.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:58 PM | Comments (1)

February 14, 2009

happy Valentine's Day!

Through no special planning, today turned out to be a pretty big celebration for a holiday we usually don't think too much about. Audrey and Charlie received gifts this morning, Audrey a book on Paris and Charlie a plush bug. Here's Audrey presenting him with his new toy.

With all the warm weather it was odd to look out the window and see a blanket of snow covering everything in view. Audrey was eager to get out her bucket & rake and her shovel to move some of it around. It was already beginning to melt by the time we got out, but there was enough left to keep us entertained.

My favorite part of the day involved the creation of our snowbaby! We put it right out front near the window so we'd be able to check on it from inside. Unfortunately by this afternoon all the snow was gone from the front yard with the exception of two small globs that were once this cute little guy.

For dinner we ordered a heart shaped pizza which turned out to be a big circle with a slight arch at the top and a crusty point on the bottom. Audrey had been waiting patiently all day and finally was allowed to rip into her special Valentine's Day cupcake. Here she is waiting to be passed some sprinkles to decorate the top.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2009

special delivery

Audrey, Meow and I hit the neighborhood streets this afternoon to drop off some messages of love and friendship.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:08 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2009

making Valentine's Day cards

Audrey was hard at work today making Valentine's Day cards for her grandparents. I wrote in a generic message and the rest was all her. Markers, stamps, and stickers all came in handy in setting the right tone.

Here's Audrey showing off the dirty side of her artistic furor.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2009

back to story time

Audrey and I went back to the library for story time today. It was fun and all, but I think the girl was more excited that we used an umbrella to get through the rain than she was by the stories about Valentine's Day and hair (really, "hair" was part of the theme). I snapped a quick shot of Audrey hard at work on her craft at the end of the session: a self portrait constructed of crayons, yarn for hair and googly eyes. Audrey stuck a heart on for the lips, which elevated the piece to greatness.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2009

unseasonably warm

We've been virtual shut-ins lately, so it was nice to see some warm weather come our way on a day we needed to leave the house. Charlie took his first shopping trip to Babies R Us and slept through the entire visit. Very unlike us, we did not record the occasion with a photo, must be the sleep deprivation.

Because it was so nice out, Audrey and I took a walk around the neighborhood before her nap. She held my hand and talked my ear off. And looked for pine cones.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2009

weigh in

We took Charlie to the doctor again today for a weight check. It is safe to say that this boy is getting his nutrients, which is quite a relief after some recent exorcist-like spitting up. He is weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces. Looks like a satisfied customer to me.

Posted by jill at 05:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2009

mike and lynn

Mike and Lynn came out to get a look at baby Charlie and surprise us with lunch (not to mention whisking Todd away to a 3D showing of Coraline).

Here's the post visit discussion at dinner.

Audrey: Who came to visit with my, my Mike?

Todd: C'mon, you know who that was.

Audrey: I do not remember her name. I do not.

Todd: That was Lynn!

Audrey: Lynn.

Jill: You remember Lynn, she's really nice to you.

Audrey: She's really cute.

Posted by jill at 05:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 06, 2009

with the boys

Today Audrey's friend Jake turned two and Audrey attended his birthday party along with Luke and the siblings Brooke and Brady.

Drop off birthday parties with boys starting already? Are we ready for this??

While Audrey was with her boys we gave Charlie his first documented sponge bath. He did really well - I remember Audrey screaming during and after her baths early on.

Posted by jill at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2009

grandparent to the rescue

Audrey received a present from her little brother today. We got her a doll cradle so that she would have some excitement amongst all of the fanfare for Charlie.

Audrey thanks Charlie.

And a big thank you to Channamom for visiting and helping out with some housework while she was here!

We didn't get any pictures, but Susan visited tonight and treated us to spinach and tomato pizza. Thanks Nunu!

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2009

twenty-six months

Audrey came up on 26 months today as her parents tried their best to keep up (still plenty of adjusting to the new presence in the home). Audrey had Dada all to herself this morning as they shared a visit to the library for story time. After learning all about polar bears, Audrey suggested they stop to get Mama a combo for lunch, though it is likely this was just a ploy to get some corn on the cob for herself.

Audrey has been great with her little brother, or as she refers to him, "my new baby." With all the baby excitement it would be easy to forget old friends, but Audrey makes sure to have fun with her pal Natasha too.

Posted by jill at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2009

grandparents to the rescue

Nana and Papa came for a visit, bringing food and gifts. Audrey received some clothes for her dolls, but she still needs a little help determining where each article is intended to go...

Posted by jill at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2009

doctor visit

Charlie had his first doctor appointment today. He is just about back up to his birth weight, which means he is getting plenty to eat, and the doctor says he looks great.

Audrey kept herself busy while waiting for the doctor to see Charlie by "standing like dada."

Amber came for a visit this evening to meet Charlie, bringing a ton of food for us. Thanks, Amber!

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

homecoming

Yesterday we got Charlie bundled up and came home from the hospital after a two day stay.

Audrey is excited to have baby brother finally home.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2009

visiting the boy part two

More well wishers today.

Aunt Erika dropped in with presents on her way home from work.

Channamom got to spend a little time with her newest grandchild.

Audrey decided she was ready to hold the baby today. She has taken to calling Charlie "my baby!"

And Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran closed out the day with a visit before we were discharged.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2009

visiting the boy

Audrey stayed with her Channamom while Dada and Mama recovered at the hospital. Among the sea of doctors and nurses there were a few well wishers too.

Aunt Rickie and Imani were first with bagels and kisses.

Audrey squeezed in some sibling bonding during her visit.

The big sister brought some kisses too.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2009

and then there were two...

We've been talking about it for a long time, so it was with great excitement that we finally introduced Audrey to her baby brother!

Charles Milo was born at 2:50pm, weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces, and measured in at 20 1/4 inches.

Jill was scheduled for her c-section next week, so it was a bit, shall we say surprising, when she started going into labor while I was in city for work. Trying to get to the hospital in time (and just making it by minutes) added to the excitement of the day.

Audrey had a lot of questions for her brother Charlie and made sure to count his toes for us.

We're thrilled, the grandparents were thrilled...baby Charlie is here and now the fun begins!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 02:50 PM | Comments (5)

January 26, 2009

happy birthday, Grant!

Audrey's cousin Grant will turn one on Wednesday. Last night we went to his house to celebrate.

The birthday boy in a new hat

The first cousins: Audrey, Allysa, Seth, Tyler and Grant

Posted by jill at 03:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2009

the boys

Audrey and I met up with Jake and Luke (and their moms and siblings Laura and Brooke and Julie and Brady) on Tuesday to walk and then again today for fun at the children's museum. Since Tuesday Audrey has been talking about Jake and Luke and saying she got to play with "my boys."

Playing blocks with Jake

A physics lesson with Luke

Fascinated by the glowing sticks

Funneling the icy water

Ready for the wind tunnel

Posted by jill at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2009

today

Brylen and Audrey while out for coffee this afternoon

Audrey and Susan jumping together in the kitchen after dinner tonight

Posted by jill at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

locker buddies

Today we met up with one of my favorite friends Nicole and her sons Nathan and Griffin. Nathan and Audrey have never really paid much mind to each other until today. Audrey is old enough now to care about what Nathan is doing and I think Nathan liked that she was entertained by him and followed him around. It was awfully cute.

Posted by jill at 04:13 PM | Comments (1)

January 19, 2009

dada finally gets some help

Posted by jill at 05:19 PM | Comments (1)

January 18, 2009

everybody in

A lot of family come over this weekend to help us get some things ready for the arrival of Audrey's baby brother. Most were required to spend time in the playhut with Audrey.

Saturday Nana and Papa put together and arranged furniture and went through box after box of baby clothes.

Erinn and Kieran brought lunch.

On Sunday Channamom and John brought the cradle, bedding and a swing.

Props to Channamom for making it through the tunnel part of the playhut.

Posted by jill at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 16, 2009

first zipper zipped

We thought it was a pretty exciting event when Audrey zipped this zipper all by herself tonight.

Posted by jill at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2009

when dada shops ...

Audrey gets things like Spiderman pajamas

Posted by jill at 04:27 PM | Comments (4)

January 07, 2009

well

Today during the first session of Audrey's new story/craft at the library the librarian was leading a song with arm movements and I was helping Audrey. But Audrey told me "mama, I want to do it myself."

The "craft" today was coloring a picture of a mitten.

Posted by jill at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2009

dada party

Yesterday was Todd's birthday gathering (a bit late).
Todd, Mike, Audrey

Brad, Katie, Silas

The playhut was a bit hit. I think Silas was a bit scared of how crazy Brylen and Audrey got.

Rock Band seems to have become tradition in celebrating Todd's birthday.
Brad, Mike, Sam and Todd play.

Audrey and Brylen don't want to be left out.

Posted by jill at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)

January 04, 2009

twenty-five months

I thought Audrey reaching two was crazy. Every day since that milestone I just can't believe how much more grown up she seems. She must think this too, as she now is calling Todd by his first name more than she calls him dada anymore.

Audrey's communication skills continue to amaze me. She carries on actual conversations with Todd and I and is starting to ask all kinds of questions that make sense. We are loving that most days out of the blue she will tell us she is happy.

If all goes as planned, one month from today Audrey will be a big sister. She talks about baby brother quite often so I hope she isn't too traumatized by the new addition coming to our family.

Posted by jill at 11:39 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2009

new year, new toy

We get the best hand-me-downs for Audrey from Sara. The other day she gave us a playhut with a tunnel that Jack and Emma have outgrown and Audrey LOVES it. She has been hanging out in it playing with other toys and reading books.

Audrey is happy when Todd sits with her in the "doll house." I lost a bet with Todd that he wouldn't be able to fit through the tunnel.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2008

that's good nog, mike

Mike came out for a visit today.

While Todd and Mike were "digging it," Audrey and I had lunch with Sara, Jack and Emma.

Posted by jill at 06:10 PM | Comments (1)

December 28, 2008

packages and ribbon and dada and birthday

Todd turned 36 today! He started his day with birthday hugs from Audrey and french toast made with love.

One of the books Todd received is almost as big as Audrey.

On the way to lunch

Birthday lunch with Erinn and Kieran

Erinn and Kieran babysat(!) Audrey so Todd and I could see a movie. Afterwards we had cake and ice cream.

To finish the day we went to a big light display at a nearby park, as we did last year.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)

December 26, 2008

bag of salt

Today we had the last of our holiday gatherings with aunt Rickie and cousins Imani, Jeffery and Jaila while uncle Jeff was off making his basketball team practice.

Posted by jill at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2008

baby, it's cold outside

Audrey played in the snow (really it was mostly ice) for the first time this winter today. It was nothing like her snow experience last year.

Posted by jill at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)

merry christmas

We had a delightful day with no commitments and nowhere to go. Audrey got some new toys, her favorite probably either the Mr. Potatohead or the flashlight.

I learned that a two year old can not be trusted with gift details. I got Todd a rc helicopter last week and told Audrey about it. That night she asked Todd where the helicopter was. Surprise!

Todd got some flying in while Audrey napped.

Last night we went to my extended family gathering. Jenna let Audrey borrow some of her fancy gear to wear while opening her new dollhouse.

Cousins Julie and Mackenzie spent a lot of time playing with Audrey and read her and Ethan books.

When we got home Audrey put out her stocking. The idea that Santa may be in the house while she was sleeping freaked her out a bit, even if it was to bring her presents.

Congratulations to my cousin Michelle who had a baby boy today!

Posted by jill at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 24, 2008

here comes santa claus

Merry Christmas!

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2008

holiday gatherings

We got together with both sides of the family this weekend. First it was to Channamom's house on Saturday.

Audrey and Channamom with matching fashionable bows.

Why didn't we think to get Audrey a drill? She loved the one that Seth got.

On Sunday Erinn and Kieran hosted their first family holiday party as a married couple.
Audrey sharing Nana's excitement about her new Griddler.

Papa showing Audrey how to work her new PDA.

Unfortunately holiday mood lighting and our inability to figure out how to properly use the flash on our camera left us with very few useable pictures.

Posted by jill at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2008

mango break

Today when Audrey and I met Amber and Brylen to walk I remembered to bring my camera and was able to capture the cuteness.

Posted by jill at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2008

holiday playdate

Saturday Audrey had a playdate with all of those crazy boys she gets together with every month or so. The gathering was a holiday party with a gift exchange.

Audrey received "my first beauty bag" that includes the curlers in her hair here, a brush that she is loving to use on her own and Natasha's hair, curling iron and hair dryer. It is pretty funny to see her using all of these items.

Today we started putting up our tree. So far the lights are on. Audrey was helpful and I think is looking forward to putting on ornaments.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2008

sickies out

Coffee and important phone calls with child-less Sara the other morning.

Today Audrey and I met up with Amber and Brylen even though it took quite a bit of convincing to get Audrey out the door. The girls were so cute. Besides Brylen's usual feeding of snacks to Audrey, they held hands and ran together squealing with joy for a long time. Alas, I did not have my camera.

Posted by jill at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2008

birthday brunch

We invited immediate family over to celebrate Audrey's birthday on Sunday.

Uncle Jeff, cousin Jeffery and Papa

Grandma Channamom and John

Aunt Erika, uncle Kurt and cousin Seth

Nana, Aunt Erinn, Papa and uncle Kieran

Audrey tried to teach Seth ring around the rosie.

Learning about static and balloons. This party was fun and educational.

Posted by jill at 06:38 PM | Comments (1)

December 08, 2008

how old is Audrey?

Audrey is getting the hang of this being two thing.

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2008

two years!

Audrey turned two today! Where has this year gone? Audrey has grown from baby into little girl right before our eyes. Almost every day we notice things clicking in that brain of hers. Family, friends, even strangers are always impressed by Audrey's grasp of grammar, clear speech and use of full sentences.

Though the struggle for independence has already started (why is what she wears so important it has to be a struggle?), Audrey is silly, sweet and caring. She gets sad when she she hears other children cry. At breakfast this morning Audrey was telling the pancakes "happy birthday."

We celebrated Audrey's birthday by taking her to the bouncy place near our house.

Amber and Brylen met us there.

Audrey loved jumping at her gymnastics class so we hoped she would like this just as much. Todd was way more freaked out by this huge slide than Audrey was.

Amber and Brylen came over for lunch and cupcakes afterwards. Audrey's new doll stroller was a big hit and was a bit hard for her to share.

Cupcakes with candles. It seems Audrey has gotten over the fear of fire we accidentally instilled at Halloween.

We don't know how another year could possibly have flown by so quickly, but it has been an amazing year. Happy birthday, we love you Audrey!

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (1)

two year portraits

What a difference a year makes. Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Posted by jill at 07:01 AM | Comments (4)

December 01, 2008

Scared of Santa. Again.

As you may recall, the girl had no fondness for a certain jolly old elf last year, so we've been working the past few weeks on making a trip to Santa sound fun. Little by little she started to warm up to the idea. She does a great "ho, ho, ho!" She tells us about how kids like Santa. She's been talking about how Pips the cat liked Santa (there's a picture of her and Santa on our fridge). But whenever we mentioned seeing him her voice would get all high and she would plead "no see Santa!" Until a few days ago, then she started talking about how she wanted to see him. When asked what she would say when she met him, she told us in a sing-song voice "Happy Birthday, Santa Claus." She was still saying it this morning and even insisted on wearing her Santa hat. But the story changed as soon as she got a look at him, her eyes were filled with absolute terror. We gave her some time to calm down, but she still refused to go within 15 feet of him. There's still plenty of time left in the month, but I'm beginning to think this is as close as we're going to get to a picture of Audrey and Santa this year.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:51 PM | Comments (3)

November 28, 2008

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Audrey says: Happy Birthday, Papa! I loved seeing you yesterday for my Thanksgiving feast of corn and biscuits. Say hi to Nana for me!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2008

bonus vacation photo

I really like this one of Audrey checking our some butterflies at the Field Museum.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Vacation, all I ever wanted

We invaded the big city this week for our big family vacation! Aunt Erinn and Uncle Kieran gave us the run of their place while they were off honeymooning. We had big dreams of hanging out in old haunts, dining with old friends, soaking in new sights...it didn't exactly work out that way. Audrey kept us from sleeping, Jill got sick, and I had to spend some time in the office. But we did manage to have some fun.

The reason we chose Chicago for our vacation spot, aside from the donated accomodations, is a simple one: we've been wanting to take Audrey to a number of museums, but between her nap schedule and her willingness (or lack thereof) to get ready in the morning, we haven't been able to make it work, save for a trip to the Shedd some time ago. First up was the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier.

The girls picked me up from work Monday morning. We had driven in the night before, but due to a late departure, decided we would simply order a pizza and go to bed early to be ready for a fun-filled day. Unfortunately, Audrey refused to sleep in her Pack-N-Play and the only way we could get her to lay down was by sharing our bed. That wouldn't have been too bad had she gone right to sleep, but for some reason the guy in the condo upstairs decided to do some home improvements at around 10pm, just as the girl was starting to drift off. After enduring the sounds of much hammering and drilling, Jill marched up the stairs at midnight and gave him a good talking to. Eventually we got some rest, but it really wasn't much.

Back to Navy Pier. As I was pulling Audrey from her car seat I immediately noticed something damp; the girl had soaked her diaper all the way through to her jeans. We should have turned right around, but having lost most of the morning to my meeting we decided to press ahead. Fast forward a few minutes to me drying her pants via the hand dryer in the mens room and finally emerging triumphant, only to hear the front snap of her jeans fall to the floor before I even reached the stroller. Again, we probably should have cut our losses but trudged on. Amazingly her pants held for most of our stay with a number of adjustments here and there, but by the end Audrey thought she was hilarious by pulling them down to her ankles and trying to run away from us.

Despite all my grumbling, let it be said that Audrey really did have a good time at the museum. The photos don't lie. She especially enjoyed throwing on a raincoat and getting her hands on the fun features of the Waterways room, like building a network of pipes to carry water. She even brought it up out of the blue today, I always love when she gives us a peek into what's going through her mind. The wings she's wearing are one of many props for a snowman in the winter room, we just had to let her try them on.

The remainder of the day saw our sleepy family try to catch up on rest and little else. The worst part was now Jill was starting to feel ill and we were all feeling grouchy. At least the upstairs home improvements were kept to a minimum.

The next day saw us in better moods, so we started out early and went out to breakfast at the Bongo Room downtown. Jill and I had lived near the one in Wicker Park years ago, but had never been because the line for brunch was always crazy. Since we were so close to the Roosevelt stop, we hopped onto the Orange line and took an El trip around the loop. Audrey got the whole CTA experience, complete with a folks standing in/blocking the doorway and a brief unscheduled stop for equipment failure (plus you gotta love that no one bothered to offer up a seat for my quite visibly pregnant wife...ah, just like old times)

We hit the Field Museum this time and I'm happy to say the girl stayed dry for this one. We asked her what she wanted to do at the museum and each time she answered "see animals," so we hit the Nature Walk after checking out Sue. Audrey liked seeing all the birds, but I think she liked pressing buttons to hear their calls even more. The wild cats made a big impression; she reassured us several times that they "can't get out," which left us trying to explain to her why she wouldn't have to worry about too much about that.

We walked through a few more exhibits and capped off the trip with a lengthy stay in the Family Playlab. Some of the activities were definitely designed with older children in mind, but Audrey had a great time nonetheless. Playing with the baby dinosaurs was fun as was collecting corn from the fields. The music room in particular was a big hit: it may not be completely evident in this shot, but she played that taiko drum like a pro!

We had discussed staying overnight again and hitting another museum in the morning, but Jill was beginning to feel miserable and I can't say I complained too much when she suggested we head back home after rush hour. Jill and Audrey settled in together for an afternoon nap, but the girl refused to fall asleep and I could tell Jill was reaching her breaking point so Audrey and I took to the streets and wandered the neighborhood, eventually nerding it up at Monster Island Toys. At one point while we were walking hand-in-hand down those mean streets of Chicago, she looked up at me and flashed the sweetest smile a guy could ever hope to see; I can't begin to describe what that did for my flagging spirits.

Even though it was a bit of a disaster, we were sad to see our family vacation come to an end. Having packed all our things, it was time for good-bye kisses; believe me, Bella, Audrey misses you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2008

happy birthday, erinn!

Audrey and I traveled into the city and met up with Erinn and Todd for lunch to celebrate Erinn's birthday.

Audrey and Erinn give each other the "eyes."

We also wished Erinn bon voyage, as she and Kieran leave for their honeymoon to Paris tomorrow!

Posted by jill at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2008

play date

Audrey had a play date with her friend Jake today. We hadn't seen Jake since before his baby sister Brooke was born last month. Jake and Audrey were awfully cute together. Here they are hanging out underneath Laura's kitchen island together.

The toddlers are red-faced because the moms were taking pictures at the same time. You can see a little peek of Brooke in her bouncy seat in the background.

Posted by jill at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2008

happy birthday, allysa!

Saturday we celebrated Audrey's cousin Allysa's sixth birthday.

Aunt Erika with all of the kids: Audrey, Allysa, Seth and Grant.

Posted by jill at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)

November 12, 2008

Abby Grace

My friend Tracy, who I worked with at the ACS, visited today with her month-old daughter. It was great to catch up and meet sweet Abby. Notice Tracy sporting a Walk & Roll t-shirt!

When Audrey wasn't pointing at Abby, she was pulling everything out of the diaper bag and trying to pile it all on top of her.

Audrey regressed while Abby was here. She only used a pacifier a few times as an infant but today she was very interested and couldn't keep Abby's out of her mouth. When Tracy left we couldn't find this one anywhere. I think Audrey stuck it in her pocket for later.

The last time Audrey saw Tracy was when she came over to visit when Audrey was just over a month old. This was before we really started posting much on this blog so I thought I would share a picture from that day. It is so strange to think that Audrey used to be as small as Abby, but here is the picture of Tracy and Audrey to prove it.

Posted by jill at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)

November 10, 2008

looks can be deceiving

Audrey looks so angelic in this picture with the light behind her. This day, though, was one when she was so uncooperative about getting ready that we didn't end up leaving the house. We had a fun day inside anyway.

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2008

Erinn & Kieran

Last night was finally Erinn and Kieran's wedding! Erinn looked beautiful, Todd rocked his officiant duties, Audrey stayed awake the whole night without getting crabby and we all had a great time. Welcome to the family, Kieran!

Posted by jill at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2008

twenty-three months

The girl celebrated her big Twenty-three with a trip to the polls today to cast her vote for, and I quote, "Oh, Mama!" With history unfolding as I type this, I hope your big milestone isn't completely lost in the shuffle, Aud. You're coming up on your second birthday so quickly, I wish you'd give us a chance to catch up. There is a lot to be impressed with, but on the whole I'd say your enormous vocabulary and ability to carry on conversations is what is really knocking my socks off these days. And your ability to describe any liquid you're drinking, from soy milk to water, as "lime-y" is pretty spectacular too.

Thanks for helping me cast my ballot today. You get my vote for best daughter ever, hands down!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2008

"rehearsal" dinner

Less than a week to go before aunt Erinn's wedding! On Saturday Todd's family met up with Kieran's family for a rehearsal dinner without the rehearsal.

Flowergirl Audrey with future bride Erinn at dinner.

Audrey dressed up for the occasion with her fancy coat and argyle knee socks.

Posted by jill at 04:10 PM | Comments (1)

October 31, 2008

happy halloween!

Posted by jill at 08:09 AM | Comments (2)

October 29, 2008

pumpkin carving

We finally carved Audrey's pumpkin tonight.

Audrey helped scoop out pumpkin guts but wasn't too keen on touching them.

Todd was the mastermind behind the design and the wielder of the knife.

Once the pumpkin was done and the candle was lit Audrey did not want to go near it. Todd was able to coax her to sit on his lap next to it for a moment. We may have scared her talking about getting burned by the candle. Oops.

Posted by jill at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2008

breakfast cereal

Last week Audrey decided she would not sit in her highchair anymore. So I got her booster out and she has been excited about her "new seat" ever since, even though it is essentially the same thing as sitting in the highchair.

Posted by jill at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Grunge is alive and well at the Blueberry Hill Breakfast Cafe

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2008

dressed for the occassion

Audrey and I haven't really been getting out much lately. Luckily today Amber and Brylen wanted to hang out with us. Unlike yesterday, I was able to convince Audrey to put a shirt on this morning so we stopped at the doctor's office where Audrey was given a clean bill of health from her most recent ear infection. Then we were off to meet Amber and Brylen for coffee. Brylen was her usual loving self giving Audrey kisses and sharing her carrots and bunny crackers. Audrey sat on this bench or on Amber's lap watching Brylen have the run of the coffee shop.

Posted by jill at 05:49 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2008

the great pumpkin

Today we went to Kuipers Family Farm with Nana and Papa to get Audrey a pumpkin, just as we did one year ago.

Hitching a ride with the pumpkins.

How tall this fall...

... compared to last fall.

Audrey down on the farm.

Apple cider donuts. Yum!

Posted by jill at 09:34 PM | Comments (1)

October 18, 2008

home alone

Mama was off to the big city today to help Aunt Erinn with wedding fun, which means I had the girl all to myself today. We kicked off the day by decorating the front windows with spooky images. She let me help, but it really was Audrey's show.

This afternoon we took the tricycle for a spin outside. She doesn't really have the hang of pedaling yet, but is getting better at it. Steering might be an issue too, seems whenever she started to get going, she kept ending up in the grass.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2008

flip

Finally some action shots from gymnastics! Todd stayed home sick from work today but did venture out briefly with us for Audrey's little wigglers gymnastics class.

After gymnastics Audrey and I went to Cosley Zoo with Sara, Jack and Emma. We did a quick tour of the animals, then the kids played among the pumpkins.

Todd put together Audrey's tricycle last night that she received for christmas last year and is now almost big enough to ride. Even though she could barely reach the pedals, she loved sitting on it and ringing the bell.

Posted by jill at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2008

something to crow about

Audrey was all about Scarecrow Fest this weekend. Audrey and I went on Saturday and met up with my college friends Sarah, Priscilla and Rebecca and her two children for a mini Stevenson South 7A reunion. Todd took Audrey back today with Amber, Patrick and Brylen while I was at Erinn's wedding shower.

Audrey and a crow

Father daughter scarecrows

Patrick and Brylen getting ready for their photo

Audrey lasted just a bit longer at the fest than her poor balloon that Sarah got for her.

Posted by jill at 09:20 PM | Comments (1)

October 06, 2008

Connor's Diabetes Kickers

On Sunday Audrey, Todd and I walked in the JDRF walk in support of my cousin Lori's son Connor. We never got the camera out during the walk but did at the family brunch at aunt Kim and uncle Bob's house afterwards. Kim and Bob's yard has all kinds of entertainment, complete with waterfall, putting green, bunny statues and cousin Holly and aunt Pam-o.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2008

twenty-two months

Audrey, my dear, you are closing in on two years! I've been with you every step of the way, yet it's completely hard to believe. Every month we take some time to reflect on your growth and lately it seems to have increased exponentially. Your vocabulary is huge and your speech is clear; I'll admit there are times I have no clue what you're talking about, but your Mama usually steps in to clarify things. I absolutely love seeing your mind at work, there is a certain degree of critical thought in your actions now that just astounds me. And while you have your less-than-perfect moments, you continue to be such a thoughtful and sweet little girl.

Your special day was marked by a little fun outside followed by a trip to the outlet mall to find a suit for your father. I know, we know how to have good time, don't we? I left empty handed, but you walked away with some cute clothes and a nice new winter coat. Happy 22 months, Audrey Mae!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2008

happy birthday, brylen!

Brylen turned two(!) today and Audrey and I spent some time with her, Amber and Patrick at the park.

Posted by jill at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2008

neigh

A few blocks from our house there is a fenced in field where two horses live. We have taken walks specifically to go see the horses and Audrey requests that we drive by every time we go anywhere just to try to get a glimpse. Today the horses were right up by the road, which is rare, so we stopped to take a look. Audrey was content sitting on my lap watching them for a long time.

Kisses for the horses

Taking photographic advantage of the stationary toddler on my lap

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2008

my daughter, the go-go dancer

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:32 PM | Comments (1)

September 27, 2008

silver shoes

I just like this shot of the girl, ready to start her day (with Meow in tow, of course)

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2008

spoiler alert!

Mama had a pair of doctor's appointments, so I had the pleasure of escorting the lovely Audrey to her "'nastics" class today. The girl loves to jump around our house, so it was fun to see her really cut loose in the proper setting. Between hopping around the room, we managed to squeeze a few walks on the balance beam, plenty of hanging on one of the uneven bars, a trip or two around the obstacle course and even some fun with a parachute. Afterward we cooled down with a visit to the library for a drink from their water fountain and some quality time with their collection of puzzles. Even on his day off you can't keep Dada away from a library.

After a quick lunch we were off to Mama's second appointment while Sara, Jack and Emma came over to watch Audrey. This was a big one, and as I type this I realize we've been silent here on the blog about a major developing event in our life. It's true, Audrey is going to be a big sister! And today we found out whether this sibling will a brother or sister. Jill is more-or-less 20 weeks pregnant, so we're essentially halfway there! Tonight at dinner Audrey announced, out of the blue, that she's a big sister and the other day was even pointing to her own belly, telling us she has a baby in there (proving she is actually thinking about what's going on).

Here's the world's first peek at the little one. We know the sex and we're not exactly keeping it a secret, but since I'm breaking the news here I'll give anyone who wants to keep it a surprise a chance to avoid this major spoiler. If you want to know, roll the cursor over the photo above. If you don't want to know, don't. And then make sure to plug your ears any time we're around, I'm sure we'll be talking about it quite a bit from now on...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:01 PM | Comments (2)

September 15, 2008

future friends

Audrey and Natasha are slowly becoming better at cohabitating. The cat doesn't run away from Audrey as much as she used to and Audrey insists on giving her treats every day and even brushed her for a bit yesterday. Of course, today when I asked Audrey to tell one of her neighborhood friends her pet cat's name she said meow, who is her favorite stuffed cat, not Natasha, the real cat.

Posted by jill at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2008

both feet off the ground

Today Audrey grabbed the edge of the table, lifted up both of her feet and dangled, no doubt trying to relive her Wiggle Worms class that we started at the park district this past Monday. It is a beginning gymnastics for toddlers where she got to walk on a balance beam, bounce on a trampoline and hang from uneven bars. At first I told her to stop and then asked her to do it just once more so I could take a picture.

Posted by jill at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2008

i'm so proud of me

We have been trying to go for a walk each evening and tonight even stopped at the park.

Yesterday Nana came over so she and I could travel together to Erinn's first wedding dress fitting. Nana brought Audrey the shirt that aunt Rickie, uncle Jeff and the kids brought Audrey back from vacation.

In developmental news, Audrey went pee in her potty for the first time today! Just the first small step of what is going to be a long process. Good job, Audrey! Double high five!

Posted by jill at 09:44 PM | Comments (1)

September 04, 2008

twenty-one months (or "Oh, Audrey!")

I'm not saying we're not excited that you've hit the big two-one today, Audrey, but it is kinda hard to celebrate when your little girl has been sick all week. Don't worry, you're getting better...I'm blaming that new molar coming in on the bottom coupled with the change in weather. We've had a few near-sleepless nights where your voice has cut through the static of the baby monitor, over and over: "Oh, Audrey!" you cry with a tiny voice full of misery, the sort of self-pity any parent would understand and forgive in a heartbeat. When you haven't been crushed by illness, you've been delighting us with your two to three word sentences and your singing and your running and laughing and all that good stuff.

You repeat everything we say and then try to get us involved in your mimicry. "Mama, do that," you'll say while imitating your poor father suffering through a case of the hiccups. It's cute the way you enlist your mother to make fun of me, I imagine you two will be doing quite a bit of that in the coming years.

Double high five for making it this far, Audrey! Woo!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2008

the 325th post features pig tails and skull pants

Told you

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2008

Happy Birthday, Nana!

It may be Labor Day weekend, but we were off to corn country for a different celebration: Nana's birthday!

Even though we had to wait until after Audrey's nap to leave, we managed to arrive while the beautiful day was still in bloom.

Audrey was excited to check out the home improvements, especially those made to the playhouse out back. A new floor and rustic chairs give the place a whole new zeal.

It may have been Nana's special day, but Audrey found some time for fun with Papa! And Erinn and Kieran too, but they had the terrible luck to be in photos deemed to be too murky for the blog.

Birthday hugs for Nana! Hope it was a happy one!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2008

since the last post...

I haven't posted for several days but it has not been from a lack of cute Audrey pictures or stories.

On Friday we met Sara and Emma for coffee while Jack was at his second full day of kindergarten. Emma, who is three, took this picture.

Before doing Audrey's favorite daily activity, "run errands."

We took a family walk at the park district and took the bridge over traffic. Audrey found a dollar! She insisted on wearing her Paris t-shirt from Papa on Sunday.

Todd took yesterday off from work and we went swimming at Channamom's. Audrey cried desperately for her swimming suit the day before when we started talking about going swimming.

We met our Thursday morning walking friends for an extra day this morning. After the walk, Audrey and Jake chased each other around. Notice how nice and behaved Jake is while Audrey is climbing the fence.

Posted by jill at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2008

chasing bubbles

We played with bubbles after dinner again last night. I just really like that Audrey looks like an old man in her white t-shirt and plaid shorts.

Posted by jill at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2008

an explaination

On Monday Audrey and I were at the park and she took a tumble off of a picnic bench onto concrete. She has a scabby, fat lip and scrapes on her chin as a result. Yesterday when Susan saw Audrey she said that it looked like she had gotten into a baby fight and Audrey imitated Susan's air punching.

Audrey added her own flourishes.

It is probably a bad idea to encourage the toddler to play fight, but at least Susan also played ring-around-the-rosie with her.

Posted by jill at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)

August 17, 2008

High School Reunion

Last night was the night of the big reunion barbeque for Dada and several high school friends, fortunately it also meant a reunion for Audrey and her BFF Brylen. I don't think I've been in the same room with April, Amber, Mike and Brad for the better part of two decades.

Audrey and Brylen both worked the room, knocking fists with all the old folks. Here she is getting a good one in with her pal Lynn. Audrey must have said "bye-bye, Lynn" on our drive home about a hundred times.

Even after Brylen took off to bed, Amber still gets stuck looking after a kid!

Sometimes it's pretty easy to tell when it's time to go. Hopefully we won't until Audrey is an adult for us all to hang out together again!

Here's a shot of the kids back in 1989(!) and one from last night.

Sorry, Mike, 4 out of 5 was the best combination I could find...if it's any consolation, I'm barely in it as well.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:58 PM | Comments (2)

August 14, 2008

getting tanky

Audrey posing for the camera last week.

Posted by jill at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2008

we bite, year two

Today we met Nicole, Nathan and Griffin and Jessica, Lauren and Paige for a fun day at the Cosley Zoo, just as we did last summer.

This is still my favorite sign.

Audrey was enthralled with the pigs.

The adorable little Griffin.

Posted by jill at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2008

PONY-tail!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:45 PM | Comments (1)

August 10, 2008

hey, lady

Much to Audrey's delight, Erinn, Kieran and Mac came out today. Before Erinn and I headed out to accomplish wedding tasks, Kieran kindly reattached the bumper to Todd's car that fell off on Friday when he got into a fender-bender, which the shop wanted more money than we paid for the car to fix.

Audrey has only been around Mac a few times, though she talks about him often. She warmed up pretty well to him today considering her general fear of dogs.

Eventually she even gave him some pets.

Kieran, our hero.

Posted by jill at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2008

twenty months

A few weeks ago Audrey went through a little phase where she was completely uncooperative for about three days in a row. She would refuse get dressed in the morning, it took fifteen minutes just to wrangle her into a diaper change and really in general didn't want to do anything that I wanted to. Since then she has been back to her usual joy to be around, probably even more so.

This month's new favorite things are counting to ten but always skipping five, spelling her last name but only with one "l", constantly dancing, playing in the curtains and climbing. On everything. Today she tried to climb into her crib and I had to lift her off of the coffee table twice.

Oh, and she can get out of the front screen door, which unfortunately does not lock, all on her own.

Posted by jill at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2008

the high seas

Mama was struck with a brilliant idea today, so we packed up the girl and headed out for some paddle boating! Audrey was guarded at first, but soon relaxed and had fun saying hello to all the ducks while her Dada pedaled around the Riverwalk. Throw in some frozen yogurt from the top rated place in Chicagoland (according to Chicago magazine, at least) and you pretty much have the perfect summer evening.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2008

all hugged out

Audrey and Brylen ride on the space shuttle at a park near Amber and Brylen's house yesterday. Brylen gave Audrey so many hugs during our visit that by the end Audrey was running away from her.

Today is national cheesecake day and Audrey, Susan and I took a trip out to get some super cheap cheesecake.

Todd came home with a comic book for Audrey tonight. She was so excited about it she couldn't wait to get upstairs to thumb through it, even though she thinks that Spiderman is Batman.

Posted by jill at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2008

on the cob

Todd cooked quesadillas and corn on the grill for dinner tonight. Audrey was so excited to eat her corn off the cob for the first time!

Posted by jill at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2008

a-u-d-r-e-y

Yesterday Todd went to spend time with his parents so Audrey and I went to Channamom's to swim. Audrey's "unkie" Kurt, aunt "Ka" and cousins Seth, Grant, Tyler and Allysa were all there too.

Audrey's little pool came out today for the first time this summer and she splashed around for a while. Then Audrey joined our four year old neighbor Katherine as she ran through her sprinkler.

Audrey received a book from her great aunt Kim and uncle Bob that we read almost every night before bed that spells out her name. I know she only did this by memory and doesn't understand, but this afternoon she spelled her name all on her own unprompted out of the blue!

Posted by jill at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2008

just the girls

Today Audrey and I met Sara and Emma at the coffee shop while Jack was at a kindergarten prep class.

Audrey kept taking her shoe off and Emma was awfully sweet and help her get it back on.

Yesterday Audrey's favorite friend Susan came over for a visit. It wouldn't be a visit from Susan without some knitting (she showed me how to purl!). Audrey got to have a yarn bow in her hair.

Posted by jill at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2008

hissss

Audrey and I went to the little zoo near our house today. We spent quite a bit of time in the sunken garden looking at flowers. Audrey couldn't take her eyes off the big fountain in the middle.

All morning we had been talking about seeing the snakes and gators. She was also excited to see ducks and swans.

Posted by jill at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2008

best friends

For the longest time meow the cat has been Audrey's constant companion. She now has a second favorite doll, baby. She talks about them like they are one in the same saying "meowbaby" and refers to them as her "best friends."

Posted by jill at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2008

all hail Brylen, queen of the snacks

Audrey invited "Auntie" Lou and Brylen over for a playdate today. Apparently my girl can't be bothered to stop for anything while she's in the middle of a good time, thank goodness Brylen is there to make sure she stays hydrated.

Here's a shot from a playdate about a month ago, eerily similar...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2008

a visit from Nunu

She looks calm here, but Audrey always gets wound up during a visit from her pal Susan. If you can picture Audrey hurrying around the room, hunched over with arms bent backward & upward, all the while yelling "wings!" you have a good idea how our evening went.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2008

"baby bunny, yeeeah!"

Just a couple of shots to commemorate a visit from our friendly neighborhood baby bunny.

If you can't tell, the bunny is on the patio snacking on some weeds I had pulled earlier in the afternoon.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2008

gracious host

We hosted playgroup today and Audrey was the only girl with four crazy boys. No pictures were taken until everyone was leaving and Audrey didn't want to give Jake his hat back.

Posted by jill at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2008

little helper

Always wanting to help, Audrey followed me around the house with this toy vacuum as I did real vacuuming today. The toy is actually mine that I got as a gag gift from my brother Kurt to replace the one he broke when we were about four. This one has lights and sound. Mine wasn't so fancy.

Look at her go!

Proud of a job well done.

Trying to catch bubbles with Todd after dinner.

Posted by jill at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)

July 08, 2008

hey, mr. popsicle man

We ran into our neighbor Dave this afternoon who likes to share his wealth of freezer pops.

Audrey says the pineapple flavored freezer pop is "mmm mmm mmm good".

Posted by jill at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2008

surprise visit

Jeff, Rickie and the kids stopped by for a surprise visit today. I think they came specifically so Imani could slaughter Todd at Wii bowling. Audrey and Rickie watch the exciting gameplay.

Audrey was happy to see her cousins, but isn't used to so much action in the house right before nap time. Jeffrey, Imani, Jaila and Audrey all sit still long enough to get a picture.

Posted by jill at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2008

nineteen months

Just as Audrey started to say "eighteen", she turns nineteen months old. What a little nut. Audrey is fun, curious, talkative, wacky, serious and shy all at the same time. We are loving watching the different facets of her personality emerge.

Audrey has been talking about going on her potty and is starting to recognize when she needs to go but has not done the deed yet. Sitting on her potty is more fun and less a real task. This picture looks like she was caught doing something wrong. Next time we'll have to get a shot of her with some of her reading material. Her bathroom book of choice is Olivia.

Audrey walking has turned into Audrey running all of the time. The good news is that her falls are happening less often and are less severe. She has been enjoying going to the park and is getting better at maneuvering the big kid equipment.

This isn't the best picture, but I thought it was cute how Audrey is holding on to me.

Posted by jill at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)

the fourth

We celebrated our country's independence today by going to a pool party at Grandma Channamom's.

Taking a break from pool fun.

Audrey stayed up way past her bedtime to see fireworks around our neighborhood. She oohed and ahhed and said they were pretty.

Extra shout out: Happy 12th birthday cousin Tyler!

Posted by jill at 10:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2008

bubbles

Posted by jill at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2008

Weekend with family

Audrey spent some time catching up with some relatives this weekend. First up was Uncle Kurt (or "Unkie" Kurt as Audrey calls him), who gave up his Saturday morning to help us with our water heater troubles. Audrey showed her appreciation by giving him a guided tour of her blog.

Today we headed out west to see Nana and Papa. Audrey had a good time exploring all around.

This was Audrey's first time in the new play house.

Papa brought Audrey a souvenir from his recent trip through France. Here the girl is saying "tower" while pointing out the famous landmark illustrated on the shirt.

Erinn and Kieran came out as well. Audrey retells the story of how she swindled Papa out of the ring he stole from French gypsies.

And finally, here's a rare shot of the three members of our family.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:02 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2008

knit hat

Thanks to Susan's help, I finished knitting my first hat on the loom she lent me.

Unfortunately the hat is sized for a baby much smaller than Audrey. And with a much longer head.

Posted by jill at 11:05 PM | Comments (1)

June 22, 2008

zoo trip

Yesterday was Todd's company picnic at the zoo. Todd, Audrey and I headed out early hoping the rain would pass us by.

We didn't get around to see the real tigers on this trip, but we had taken a picture here last time we were at the zoo together just over a year ago. Audrey was just a baby then, being carried in her baby bjorn.

I'm not sure what Audrey found more interesting - the dolphins or the baby sitting in front of us.

Audrey talks now about how she went in to pet the goats but at the time would not go near them.

With just some of the swag she got at the zoo courtesy of Todd's firm. The molderama seems to have become a family tradition.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2008

dada's return

Audrey and I picked up Todd from the airport and we went to Amitibul for yummy vegan lunch while we were in that part of the city.

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2008

happy father's day!

Audrey and I celebrated Todd on Saturday because Todd left for Seattle today for his work conference.

Audrey is helpful, as always.

No day is complete without pushing Audrey in her beep beep.

Only meow can comfort Audrey as we drop off Todd at the airport. We will miss you!

Posted by jill at 10:26 PM | Comments (1)

June 11, 2008

pretty in a sun dress

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:51 PM | Comments (1)

June 10, 2008

lunch-hour entertainment

Audrey and I tagged along with Sara, Jack and Emma to see The Flying Fool, a children's entertainer, at the Riverwalk today. He made balloon animals, juggled, rode a unicycle, ate fire, told bad jokes and was a bit inappropriate with children who volunteered to go up on stage. I thought Audrey would not sit through it but she was interested and watched most of the show.

Afterwards Jack and Emma ran around the park while Audrey traded off putting on Sara and Emma's sunglasses.

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2008

cousins

Audrey's aunt Erika brought cousins Seth and Grant over for a visit today.

Grant was tired but did give us a few smiles. Audrey is always fascinated with babies and was happy to regress to play on the bouncy seat that I got out for Grant to sit in.

Seth was a natural on the piano.

Audrey was cracking Seth up by putting this bucket on her head. She must know that her uncle Kurt (Seth's dad) is know as Charlie Buckethead in certain circles.

Seth was very generous with hugs and kisses.

Posted by jill at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2008

skate or die

I had quite the disagreeable baby on my hands this morning. I don't know if Audrey didn't get enough sleep, was too hot or what, but almost everything from eating breakfast to getting dressed she fought against and cried. She was in much better spirits after lunch and a nap. We met Todd out for dinner then stopped for ice cream. Audrey was transfixed by the young skateboarders hanging out at the benches near us. I don't think she took her eyes off of them once while they were there.

You can't see this in any of these pictures but Audrey got her first scraped knee today. She tripped on the sidewalk while pushing her riding toy. She didn't cry but does like to point out her "boo boo" every chance she gets.

The dress may be impractical but she is so cute. I think I enjoy dressing her up a bit too much.

Posted by jill at 10:34 PM | Comments (1)

June 05, 2008

my dainty little flower

Audrey must have been a bit bored during our Thursday morning walk with Jake and Laura today.

Posted by jill at 09:47 PM | Comments (1)

June 04, 2008

eighteen months

Eighteen months! How did my baby become a little girl so quickly?

Every day there is something new. What words will Audrey say that we don't even know how she ever heard? What new use will she think up for her toys? What silly face will she create? What furniture will she climb up and stand on?

Audrey has had quite a growth spurt since her last doctor visit three months ago. At her 18 month check-up today, we found out she has shot up to the 81st percentile in height and is 32.75 inches tall, while her weight is still around the 25th at 22.5 pounds.

Every flower she sees now she says "helped" because of the flowers she planted with Channamom a few weeks ago. Even if she doesn't alway use it correctly, I am glad that "help" has finally made it into her regular vocabulary. Audrey also has been saying "please" and "thank you" without always needing to be prompted. What a big girl!

This next month should be extra interesting. We have plans to get this girl started on some potty training. Also we are starting to give time outs to hopefully curb that standing on the furniture thing. It is hard to believe she is old enough for these things!

Posted by jill at 10:53 PM | Comments (1)

June 02, 2008

ah, nature

After much too long, Audrey and I got together with Amber and Brylen today! Todd had the day off from work so he came along too. We met up with them at a nature center that is a neat little place, even if the cave is over-hyped. We looked at exhibits on natural history and pushed the girls through a wooded path along the river. Next time: go carts!

Audrey and Brylen after our trek through the woods.

Posted by jill at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2008

six years ago today

Today marks six years of wedded bliss for me and Todd. I would have to say that Audrey is definitely the best thing to come out of this marriage so far. We had a nice day playing inside then outside this morning.

We go outside and Audrey says "beep beep" in anticipation of riding in her car no matter what the plan. I would much rather she run around but she is happy being pushed.

After Audrey's nap all three of us went out to dinner. The restaurant had Audrey's favorite items, balloons.

The mean face is back and Audrey now does it on demand. The puckering has become the precursor to the mean face. I have been trying to get her to make a deliberate happy face too with no success.

Posted by jill at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2008

birthday weekend!

My birthday festivities continued today (we celebrate birthday weekends, not just birth days) with all kinds of fun surprises. Audrey and Todd took me out to breakfast where we ran into my cousin Michelle and her new husband Chris.

Todd arranged for Nana to watch Audrey this afternoon so we could go see a movie.

Nana brought these sunglasses for Audrey and she loved wearing them.

Making things even better, Erinn and Kieran met us at the movies.

Afterwards everyone came back to our house for pizza and ice cream cake.

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Posted by jill at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2008

Happy Birthday, Mama!

It's a big day, therefore it's a big post. Get ready to scroll.

Today is Mama's birthday and Audrey couldn't wait to celebrate. Of course her favorite part of celebrating is helping unwrap the presents, and Jill was happy to let her assist.

For quite a while Jill has been talking about visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden and despite a forecast of T-storms, I decided to risk it and surprise her with a visit. The skies looked a bit gray, but it seemed like my gamble was actually going to pay off. Of course it started to rain when we were about 10 minutes away...

Because of the rain we tried to stay indoors as much as possible, taking in the beauty of the outdoor gardens at a quicker clip than we would otherwise have liked. There were plenty of fun things to see indoors, like the mermaid outside the library where I once took a class on rare books.

Audrey had a lot of fun discovering things in the greenhouses when she wasn't busy trying to push her own stroller.

Our evening plan worked out a bit better as we visited the East African restaurant Jill has been longing to check out since it opened. This was a great choice as the food was excellent and we went early enough that we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Audrey entertained herself by reading the menu. When the waitress asked if we wanted to get anything for her, Audrey pointed at the line for tea. I think her grandmother got her hooked on the stuff.

After dinner we walked along the Riverwalk and Audrey quacked at the ducks. Along the way we ran into some fun fiberglass sculptures, chairs shaped like frogs and playhouses shaped like ladybugs.

After playing in the ladybug houses, Audrey was ready to head home for bed, but not before a quick trip for a birthday treat at the cookie dough shop. A good time was had by all.

Happy Birthday, Mama! We love you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:05 PM | Comments (1)

May 29, 2008

knit wits

Our Thursday morning walking friends were sick today so instead Audrey spent a good 40 minutes pushing the swiffer.

Jack's birthday is on Saturday so Audrey and I stopped by today to wish him well and give him presents.

Audrey got to wear Emma's good tutu.

This evening Susan came over and gave me birthday presents: knitting needles, lots of yarn and a knitting tutorial. I've always wanted to learn and am excited to make Audrey and Todd knitted items!

Posted by jill at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2008

can you hear me now?

Over the last several months Audrey has taken to using any nearby object as a telephone to pretend to call "dada!" I caught her in the act today with a black bean during lunch. She has also used shoes, stuffed animals, pasta, bagels, cheese, cups and her hand, among other things.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

May 27, 2008

memorial day

Yesterday while Audrey napped, Erinn and I shopped and then Erinn came to the house to visit with Audrey. Audrey was excited to talk kitties with her aunt Erinn.

Erinn always holds Audrey like she holds her cats. The cats don't like it either.

Kieran joined us a bit later with their dog Mac.

Audrey was brave if Mac wasn't paying attention to her...

... and then ran away when he turned her way.

Posted by jill at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 26, 2008

spaghetti dinner

Posted by jill at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2008

new plantings

Audrey shows off the flowers that she and Grandma Channamom planted yesterday.

Today Audrey ran around the yard and played with her friend Colin from across the street.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 24, 2008

undocumented fun with Grandma Channamom

Todd and I attended the wedding of friend/Todd's co-worker Rebecca to her sweetie Mike today.

Channamom babysat Audrey and it sounds like they had a blast. Audrey helped shop for and plant flowers in the window box on the front of the house. Channamom was unable to teach Audrey to say "Channamom" but did teach her "mm-mm good". THANK YOU CHANNAMOM FOR EVERYTHING!!! Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of Audrey with Channamom.
Here is the only pic we did take of Audrey today.

Posted by jill at 11:27 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2008

lemonade parade

Audrey and I had fun with Sara, Jack and Emma at the bookstore today. There just happened to be a poorly attended storytime going on when we arrived so we joined in. The theme was parades with instruments for the kids to play. It ended in a parade through the store to the cafe for strawberry lemonade.

Posted by jill at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2008

baby in a bowl

#2 in a series of Audrey in receptacles

Posted by jill at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

a tragic story of a girl and her stick

As soon as we went outside this morning Audrey excitedly ran straight for her favorite stick. She tripped and fell on the driveway, landing on the stick, causing a few scratches on her cheek. After crying it out and cuddling with me and meow for a bit she was back on her feet and poking things with the stick again.

Audrey's newest boo boo is just above the left corner of her mouth.

Posted by jill at 09:19 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2008

mr. pointy

Audrey had more time today with her favorite outdoor toy.

What could be more fun than poking things with a stick?

This is an interesting new move of Audrey's. It is like she is trying to take flight.

Posted by jill at 08:28 PM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2008

happy birthday, susan (aka "nunu")

Today is Susan's birthday! Audrey and I went out for Thai with Susan and Jeremy. Audrey was in quite a good mood. She wore her cat ears to the restaurant and repeatedly exclaimed "meat" before, during and long after eating turkey for dinner. Afterwards we came back to our house for cupcakes decorated with farm animal sprinkles.

Posted by jill at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2008

a girl and her cat

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:53 PM | Comments (3)

May 16, 2008

tgif

Audrey and I had another lunch date with Sara, Jack and Emma today. There were plenty of crayons to go around to keep the kids occupied, at least for a while. Jack and Emma must have really made an impression on Audrey today. Between lunch and bedtime she said "Emma" probably 100 times with a few "Jacks" sprinkled in with no provocation.

After lunch Audrey played with the bubble wand that Grandma Channamom gave her on Wednesday and her favorite stick that she seems to find every time we go outside.

At dinner we let Audrey run wild with her apple rather than cut it up.

Todd and I are very excited by a development today. Audrey started saying her name. We have been working with her on this for months and until now could only get "Dree" or "Mae".

Posted by jill at 08:32 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2008

behind the blog

It's a rare behind-the-scenes look at what goes into creating this highly entertaining blog. For those who haven't had the pleasure of visiting our home, the girl really does have a camera pointed at her 24/7. Sometimes two cameras. I really need to get someone to videotape me taking a shot of Jill snapping photos of Audrey, that would be awesome.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2008

lunch with grandma Channamom

We didn't get to see Channamom on mother's day so Audrey and I took her out for lunch today. We stopped at Channamom's office so Audrey could meet her co-workers. Then we were off to lunch at the park district golf course. It pays to have a grandma who cuts all of the checks for the park district employees - Audrey got extra helpings of strawberries and oranges and got to meet the golf course dog.

In addition to feeding Audrey her first french fries, Channamom gave Audrey her first bite of lemon. Initially Audrey thought it was "yum" but once she really got a taste she changed her mind.

Looking at the flowers at the golf course.

Posted by jill at 10:35 PM | Comments (1)

May 13, 2008

baby mean-face

When Audrey gets mad at me and Todd she makes a face that I call her mean face. I caught her doing it at me at breakfast this morning. It isn't her true mean face, as she is trying not to smile.

Audrey wasn't all crabby at breakfast this morning. She was more than happy sharing her milk and bagel with one of her meows. Also not pictured is Audrey making the cat dance by holding it by its ears and bobbing its head back and forth.

Posted by jill at 09:57 PM | Comments (1)

May 12, 2008

flower child

Audrey is fascinated by the flowers that are blooming everywhere right now. She loves to smell them, just like in her Pat the Bunny book. She is getting better about being gentle and not destroying every bloom she sees.

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day! 2008!

What do you do when you want to show that special gal in your life that you appreciate what a wonderful mother she is to your daughter? Well, if you're a super sensitive and thoughtful fellow you take what worked last time and run with it again...except this time breakfast in bed featured waffles that weren't vegan, much to Jill's delight. And strawberries and whipped cream and chai. And chocolate donuts, oh yeah!

Mama shows Audrey some of the things they will make from her new Fun Dolls book.

Audrey enjoys a baby sized waffle after eating a strawberry, stem and all!

It looked bright and beautiful outside when we heard Audrey stirring from her nap, but by the time we got the girl dressed and ready to explore, the sun had disappeared again. She put on a brave face but it was just too cold and windy for our sick little girl. Maybe next year we won't have to spend Mother's Day indoors. Hope you enjoyed it, Mama!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2008

lunch with Nana and Papa

As if we needed an excuse to get out of the house and away from the workmen, we made plans to celebrate Mother's Day a little early with a certain grandmother. Time was in short supply, but we managed to sneak in a nice lunch and a trip to the bookstore before the girl's naptime. A good time was had by all...until we arrived home to find the handymen still hard at work.

Some pre-lunch posing at home

Audrey and Papa share secrets at the table

The girl refuses to cooperate with the staged shots

Nana gets in some story-time before we head home

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:33 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2008

beans between the toes

Audrey is such a trouper. She is not feeling well again with a constant runny nose that I believe might be due to allergies. She also didn't sleep well last night or get a good nap today due to the lateness of the handyman. She was so tired she was slaphappy. Luckily Susan came over and helped entertain Audrey while we were stuck at home while the work on the house was being done.

I didn't take any pictures today but here is one from a recent trip to the bookstore.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2008

baby in a box

Posted by jill at 04:53 PM | Comments (1)

May 07, 2008

bunny bunny bunny

Audrey had an unexpected playdate today. Our neighbors needed me to watch their 20-month old for a few hours. Audrey and Colin were sweet together. They bonded over Cheerios and watching bunnies in the yard.

Posted by jill at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2008

uck uck

After storytime at the library this morning Audrey and I walked around our neighborhood pond, quacked at ducks (it is more of an "uck uck" from Audrey) and stopped at the playground. Audrey had so much fun going from swinging to climbing to sliding to riding on the motorcycle, tucan and car and back to swinging.

Back home Audrey did some yard exploring.

Posted by jill at 10:22 PM | Comments (1)

May 05, 2008

big bugs

Audrey and I spent our day looking at the Big Bug sculptures and enjoying the weather at the arboretum with Sara, Jack and Emma.

Posted by jill at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2008

seventeen months

Another month has swept by, how on earth are you seventeen months old already, Audrey? Because you surely won't remember this I want to let you know that as of today you are in the process of gaining four new teeth. The points of your canines have broken through up top while the bottom cuspids are showing but aren't quite there yet. We don't even try to count your words anymore, you throw out new terms daily; currently "ribbit! ribbit!" is one of your favorite things to say. At dinner tonight you impressed us by repeating after mama your numbers one through ten AND all twenty-six letters of the alphabet (though let's be honest, some of those need some more work).

Today was a fun day. It started off a little slowly, once your parents were showered and ready to face the world you decided it was naptime several hours before you typically go down for a nap. Our neighbors Kim And Katharine stopped by to give you a push car that Katharine had outgrown, which was extremely nice of them to do. You were all too eager to get in for a ride and we met up with lots of neighbors out enjoying the beautiful day.

While you were napping your parents tried to get in some much needed yard work, managing to dig up a number of weeds and mushrooms. Once you were back in the picture the two of us planted the daffodil bulbs we picked up weeks ago during the ACS's Daffodil Days.

We finished out the day with some fun in the backyard as some of the neighborhood kids joined you as you wandered through the grass and slid down your slide. They were impressed to see how well you're walking now.

Top all that off with some dinner, a bath and a trio of stories and you were off to dreamland again. I realize we didn't do anything earth-shattering to mark the occasion, but we really did have a fun day quietly celebrating the seventeen months of pure joy you have given us. Love you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2008

rock

Mike ventured out today and he and Todd visited the comic book store and saw Iron Man. Before they left, Audrey and Mike had a little jam session.

Posted by jill at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2008

feeling better

Yesterday after her second nap Audrey's fever was gone and she felt much better. Susan came over to visit and brought some much-needed coffee. We walked outside, visited the dogs next door and played in the back yard.

Posted by jill at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2008

return to IHOP

Sara saved Audrey and I from a big grocery shopping trip yesterday when she invited us to meet her, Jack and Emma for lunch.

Audrey has had a little cough and I was blaming it on all four cuspid teeth coming in at the same time. This brings the teeth total to 16! But she woke up from her very short nap yesterday crying and with a fever. She did not sleep well last night and is on her second nap already today. Even though she obviously doesn't feel well she is still in good spirits and was having fun screaming "baby" (as she is often known to do) in a high pitched voice this morning.

Posted by jill at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

April 28, 2008

rainy days and mondays

The rain kept Audrey and me indoors today. Wanting to get out of the house, we went to the mall so Audrey could climb, crawl, run and steer in the play area.

In order to get the full mall experience we ate soft pretzels and drank an Orange Julius.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

April 27, 2008

Saturday with the cousins

It was a big Saturday for Dada as he managed to fit in visits with the members of his family and squeeze in a reunion with the members of his former band. Audrey had the big guy all to herself for a bit while Mama helped Aunt Erinn search for (and buy!) a wedding dress. Then it was off to see her cousin Imani play soccer followed by a birthday celebration for Jeffery and Jaila.

Before the game, Uncle Jeff and Papa introduce Audrey to Jackson the puppy

Bundled up for the game with Jaila and Nanna

Audrey and the star goalie

Overwhelmed by cousins!

Aunt Rickie gets a few minutes with the girl before naptime

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

take (any random) child to work day

Todd invited our nephew Tyler to go to his office for take your child to work day so our niece Allysa spent the day with me and Audrey. Tyler and Todd left early to catch the train while Audrey, Allysa and I went to the little zoo near our house with Sara, Jack and Emma.

Allysa being witness to the turtle vs. alligator match.

I thought this toy was a rhinocerus but Jack tells me it is a triceratops.

Audrey, Jack, Allysa and Emma in front of the mastodon. In 1933 mastodon bones where found on the site of this very park.

Tyler during his lunch break in Federal Plaza during a Chinese protest again Western media bias and support of the Olympics.

Posted by jill at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2008

just plain cute

Posted by jill at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2008

meow meow meow meow

We stuck close to home today and enjoyed the weather playing on the slide in the back, exploring the yard with all of its budding plants and walking back and forth along the sidewalk in front of our house. Audrey wanted her cat ears on for our outing after her nap.

This is what Audrey looked like this morning when she woke up. Somehow she gets all wrapped up in her pajama shirts. I guess I should stick to one-pieces. At least it doesn't look like she minds.

Posted by jill at 10:27 PM | Comments (3)

April 19, 2008

city fish

We took Audrey on her first trip to the aquarium today. Audrey's aunt Erinn and soon-to-be-uncle Kieran joined us.

Audrey was interested in the sealife but was scared by the green moray eel.

That is a big fish.

Audrey explored the Soldier Field Children's Garden. It has an earth, space and science motif.

We stopped for lunch at Connie's then went to see Erinn's new place/Kieran's old place. Audrey eventually mustered the courage to give Mack the dog a few pets.

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008

in bloom

Every day Audrey and I check on the status of the daffodils in the yard. Yesterday they were fully bloomed.

The cashier at the store checkout didn't believe me that Audrey put these stickers on by herself.

Posted by jill at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2008

trip to the zoo

Sara called this morning to see if Audrey and I wanted to go to the zoo with her, Jack and Emma. We didn't get to see as much as we would have liked to because of nap and train schedules, but it was a glorious day to be outside.

Mesmerized by dolphins.

Audrey sat and waited nicely for the train. On the train she would have been happy if I would have let her run the aisles.

Posted by jill at 03:57 PM | Comments (1)

April 14, 2008

tour de pancakes

Today Audrey and I had lunch with Susan at the IHOP. Susan has taught Audrey to say "nuts".

Audrey likes to watch the videos of herself on her blog. There isn't much else she will sit still for these days.

Posted by jill at 04:30 PM | Comments (1)

April 09, 2008

very little reading

I was thinking today was going to be a pajama day until Sara called to see if Audrey and I wanted to meet her, Jack and Emma at the library. Audrey was all over the place. Strangers read her stories and kids got mad at her for messing up their puzzles. Jack and Emma were great - Jack performed a puppet show for her and Emma shared the rocking chair.

Todd would want me to remind everyone that next week is National Library Week.

Posted by jill at 04:20 PM | Comments (1)

April 08, 2008

arboretum

Yesterday we met Nicole, Nathan and new baby Griffin at the arboretum. The sun was shining but the chilly wind didn't allow us to spend as much time outside as we would have liked. It is always great to catch up with Nicole and Nathan was an enthusiastic entertainer for Audrey.

Audrey just had to get in on the fun of pushing Griffin's stroller with Nicole and Nathan.

Two month old Griffin - so cute and sweet!

Posted by jill at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2008

weekend recap

The weather was so nice we walked to the park in our neighborhood on Saturday.

We started with the familiar swings.

Then Audrey played on the big kid equipment for the first time.

On Sunday we met Brad, Mike and Lynn in the city for vegan lunch that turned into breakfast at Soul Vegetarian.

Lynn let Audrey play with her jewelry.

Mike and Audrey discuss art and monkeys.

My friend Sara had an outdoor slide that Jack and Emma have outgrown and offered it to us for Audrey. When we got home from the city Sara had come over and set it up in the back yard. Thank you, Sara!

Posted by jill at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2008

sixteen months

Today I took Audrey to her aunt Erika and uncle Kurt's house to have a play date with cousin Seth, seven months her senior. Seth shared hugs upon our arrival but wouldn't let Audrey give him kisses despite several attempts.

Audrey meets her new two-month old cousin Grant for the first time. Look at that smile!

Also, today marks Audrey's 16th month. Audrey continues to learn new things that amaze us and melt our hearts. She has gotten to be quite a walker, goes crazy for eskimo kisses and tells Todd and I "love you." Todd's favorite development is her singing a portion of the Batman theme song. Audrey can't get enough of being read to. Her book of choice for the last several days has been about going potty on the toilet. Today she was liking Wocket in my Pocket.

Audrey looks a lot like I did at 16 months.

Here is the full picture including my twin Kurt. How did Channamom get us to sit for this picture and where did she get these snazzy outfits? Oh, the 70's.

Posted by jill at 08:38 PM | Comments (2)

April 03, 2008

spring break!

Susan is on spring break and what could be more exciting for spring break than hang out with Audrey?

Susan and her co-workers recently did a cleaning of their classroom and Susan kept a couple of things to give to Audrey. Audrey isn't too sure about this particular item.

Susan didn't even try to poke Audrey with pencils while we ate lunch at the Riverwalk. Then I was introduced to something I didn't know existed - a little shop that specializes in raw cookie dough that is safe to eat because it is made without eggs! Susan enjoys hers while all Audrey got was an empty sample spoon to chew.

Best spring break ever!

Posted by jill at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 30, 2008

play dates

Yesterday afternoon my friend Sara called out of the blue and offered to have Audrey over for a play date with Jack and Emma while Todd and I went out to dinner. What a nice surprise! Thank you, Sara! Thank you, Jack and Emma for playing so nicely with Audrey!

Sara told us that Audrey kept wanting Sara to kiss her kitty and then thought it was hilarious when she did. Sounds like our girl.

In the morning we had our monthly mom's group. I didn't take any pictures of the other kids but I did get Audrey on the way there studying her animal book. She now spends car rides making the sounds of the animals from this book.

Posted by jill at 09:29 PM | Comments (1)

March 28, 2008

first flowers

Audrey and I spent some time out in the yard today and discovered three little yellow flowers, the first we've seen growing outside for the year.

Posted by jill at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2008

waiting for dada

Every day after her nap, Audrey starts asking for Todd and checks out the front window for him to arrive home. Some days we bundle up and go outside to wait.

Posted by jill at 03:46 PM | Comments (1)

March 24, 2008

aunt Erinn!

Audrey's aunt Erinn came for a visit on Saturday. Erinn was not only sporting her new engagement ring, but also a new cute short haircut.

Finally someone else to push Audrey in her wagon.

Posted by jill at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2008

daffodils

This week is the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days. I used to work on that event when I was at ACS. Todd's company participates and he brought home some daffodils last night. Having these in the house make me happy. First because spring is finally almost here. Most importantly they remind me how lucky I am that I get to stay home spending my days with Audrey rather than worrying about things like selling daffodils.

Posted by jill at 03:13 PM | Comments (2)

March 16, 2008

congrats Michelle and Chris!

Last night Todd's parents watched Audrey while Todd and I went to my cousin Michelle's wedding.

It was really hard to leave Audrey for the evening because she has been sick since Thursday. It has been the worst at night, keeping her from sleeping well. She looks so sad and tired.

Audrey felt a little bit better being pushed in her wagon.

In other exciting news, Audrey's aunt Erinn and Kieran got engaged yesterday!!!!!

Posted by jill at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2008

spring in her step

Todd worked so late last night he didn't get home until Audrey was already in bed. So tonight he came home early and we went for our first walk outside of the year. This is Audrey's first walk where she is doing actual walking.

Audrey got to talk to her dada on the phone while he was at work yesterday. She loves to talk on the phone, listening to and repeating things Todd says to her.

I didn't take any pictures but today we met up with Amber and Brylen and we pushed the girls around outside.
We are so looking forward to spring!

Posted by jill at 08:27 PM | Comments (2)

March 12, 2008

ha ha ha

Audrey has been fighting us during diaper changes worse than ever the last couple of weeks. Once, to keep her occupied, I put socks on her hands. Since then several times a day she puts socks - anyone's, clean or dirty - on her hands and makes an evil-sounding "ha ha ha" laugh. I must have laughed like the the one time that I did it and she picked up on it. At some point we will catch it on video and post it but for now here she is during lunch today with her socks on her hands.

After lunch today when I was changing her she decided again to be difficult. She grabbed her poop-filled diaper and whipped it against the wall. Poop everywhere. When will it end? If only the socks had still been on her hands!

(This story specifically included in the blog for the enjoyment of Holmes.)

Posted by jill at 01:57 PM | Comments (2)

March 11, 2008

beans and cornbread

This morning we had storytime and then we went to visit Sara, Jack and Emma. Emma let Audrey wear one of her tutus.

Todd came home from work early and we headed out to Sycamore for a wake while grandma and grandpa watched Audrey.
On a happier note, we went to Pizza Villa afterwards.

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (5)

March 09, 2008

spring ahead!

Not much to report, it was a pretty quiet weekend. To mark the start of Daylight Savings Time, here are a few photos of the girl in action.

visiting her local library

eating an afternoon snack of blueberry waffles

reading the Sunday paper

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2008

out and about

I was thinking Audrey and I would be spending another day inside while I recover from my illnesses until Sara called to see if we wanted to meet up for coffee. This was Audrey and my first social outing in almost two weeks. It was nice to be out!

Sara brought Jack and Emma all kinds of fun activities to keep them busy. They even got to sit at their own table.

Audrey was stuck at a table with Sara and me. She was very interested in what Jack and Emma were doing and I think she would have preferred to be with them rather than the adults.

Posted by jill at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2008

fifteen months

We are a quarter of the way through another year of Audrey. The months are just flying by. And at 15 months, we finally have a walker! I was worried it would never come, but for the last week and a half walking has been the main mode of getting around.

Audrey and I both had doctor appointments today. Audrey got two shots and barely let out a whimper. During mine (where I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and pink eye), Audrey hung out with her dada at work. Apparently she was quite the charmer with his coworkers. She called everyone dude, ran circles around the library and was buttering up one of the partners, trying to give him kisses.

Meeting Todd's new co-librarian, Marti

Work is so much better with a baby on your lap

Posted by jill at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2008

test run

In two weeks Todd's parents are keeping Audrey overnight while we attend my cousin Michelle's wedding. We went out to Sycamore today to see how Audrey would do taking a nap at grandma and grandpa's house. She has not slept anywhere other than her own bed since our trip to Minnesota in July.

Audrey had lots of fun playing with grandma but when it came time for her nap she would not sleep.

You know Audrey is tired if she cuddles up with you.

Finally sleeping on the way home.

Posted by jill at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

February 29, 2008

all too pink

I haven't been feeling well this week so Audrey and I haven't been up to much. Todd even stayed home from work on Wednesday so I could stay in bed most of the day.

These pictures are while getting ready to go to the grocery on Monday. If you had told me two years ago I would have a daughter who I would dress in all pink I never would have believed you.

Saying "cheese" for the camera

During lunch that same day

Posted by jill at 01:00 PM | Comments (2)

February 26, 2008

no snow bunny

By mid-morning the snowfall had stopped and it was sunny so Audrey and I took a trip outside.

Everything started out fine. Despite being stuffed like a marshmallow, Audrey was doing a good job walking on the driveway in her snow pants.

And then I set her down on the snow and that was the end of our outside adventure.

Posted by jill at 01:40 PM | Comments (2)

February 23, 2008

party girl

This morning Audrey took a trip to the comic book store with Todd. He bought Audrey her first very own comic book.

After a lunch of broccoli and pasta Audrey took a nice long nap.

Then it was off to Emma's (from our playgroup) first birthday party.

Audrey was scared of the dog at the party. She has only been around dogs a few times and has not had a bad experience so I don't know why. She held on to me every time the dog barked. Here she is peeking around the corner making sure the dog isn't around.

Don't look now Audrey, but the dog sees you!

Audrey with the birthday girl as she is strapped in her booster after thoroughly destroying her birthday cake.

Posted by jill at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2008

watch out for killer birds

My college friend Sarah came down from the north shore today to visit Audrey and me. Audrey had fun climbing all over Sarah and showing off a little walking. Sarah got to have fun helping change two poopy diapers. What a friend!

Cheers!

Posted by jill at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2008

in the kitchen

Posted by jill at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2008

mod baby

Here is Audrey looking cute over the weekend after a trip to the grocery store. As usual, she insisted the sticker from the bananas go on her forehead. She spent the entire shopping trip with it there. The balloon (or ball, as she calls it) was her valentines gift.

Posted by jill at 10:00 PM | Comments (1)

February 18, 2008

too cold outside

Audrey and I met up with Amber and Brylen at the mall for some warm indoor walking this morning.

This is how Audrey entertained herself with her sweatshirt while we strolled.

Brylen and Audrey hit the play area for just a bit before going home.

Posted by jill at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2008

our sunday

Tonight we went to Audrey's uncle Jeff and aunt Rickie's house to wish cousin Imani a happy 6th birthday, which was earlier this week. Audrey really liked being around all of her cousins and wanted to be right there in the action with them. This was nice because she usually just sits back and observes around other kids.

We started today with daddy's yummy pancakes.

This is the serious face Audrey makes when she says "no no no." She says this when she knows she is not supposed to be doing something but usually is doing it anyway.

Posted by jill at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2008

happy valentines day

Posted by jill at 12:01 AM | Comments (4)

February 13, 2008

head inside

Audrey has really taken to a song that we sang each week at the library storytime. It involves putting different body parts (hands, head, feet, elbow) on the round cushion they give the kids to sit on. Head is Audrey's favorite and ever since last week she has been tapping her head with pretty much everything she picks up, like at storytime. Here she is over the weekend demonstrating with a plastic container.

Posted by jill at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)

February 12, 2008

quite a morning

Today was our last meeting of winter storytime at the library. We discovered that the mom and 16-month old we had been talking to the last few times lives in walking distance from us and frequents the park by our house. We made plans to meet up once the weather turns.
When we got home, Audrey took 20 steps in a row without falling. This is her best yet! Then came the poop. Audrey pooped so much it came out of the leghole of her diaper. The mess was everywhere - changing pad, pants, shirt and the floor. After giving Audrey a bath I set her in her crib so I could clean up the changing area and she peed in the crib. How do I let this still happen?

Posted by jill at 01:40 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2008

up close on Sunday

Just a couple close ups of our girls

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:38 PM | Comments (1)

February 09, 2008

moving furniture

Posted by jill at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 08, 2008

coffee klatch

Audrey was being a bit crabby this morning so I was happy to meet Sara, Jack and Emma at the coffee shop again. Audrey entertained herself as usual with her monkey and an empty snack container and Jack and Emma busied themselves with coloring, worksheets, stamps and stickers allowing Sara and I to talk.

A sticker was shared with Audrey and, of course, went straight to her forehead.

Eventually Jack and Emma got antsy and lounged on the chairs before Jack took pictures of every random object in the place and Emma walked in circles pretending to talk on Sara's cell phone.

Posted by jill at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2008

the library

Todd took the day off of work today to go on two(!) dental appointments. After Audrey's nap we went on a family trip to the library. At storytime this week the librarian had us write our baby's name on a scale that they used to form a dragon on the wall for Chinese new year.

Audrey walked a bit holding Todd's hand but mostly crawled. I think walking wasn't getting her to all of the things she wanted to see fast enough.

Posted by jill at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

February 05, 2008

accessorizing

Audrey often grabs my glasses from my face and tries to put them on herself. She comes no where near her eyes, usually trying to get them to stay on the top of her head or back of her neck. Not that I want her looking through my coke bottle thick lenses but today I helped her out.


Audrey also likes to wear my hair clips and headbands.

Posted by jill at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)

February 04, 2008

fourteen months

This last month has been all about flipping, pushing and walking. Lucky for Audrey, not so lucky for our electric bill, our house has low light switches. Audrey gets up on her tippy toes and turns them on and off and on and off. She has the same affinity for pushing buttons - on the washing machine, phone, dishwasher, anything she can get her hands on.

And then there is the walking. She has become a pro at walking behind her wagon and ride toy. She will also walk behind anything else tall that will move like chairs and boxes. She walks from room to room holding our hands but hasn't taken more than a few steps on her own. I worry my protectiveness is holding her back.

Audrey has developed quite a personality. She is quiet and observant when we are out and about but at home is a total goofball and we love it.

We thought this was really funny yesterday: Todd was cheering Audrey on while pushing the wagon saying "let's go walkers, let's go rollers" (in reference to the Walk & Roll event I used to plan for the Cancer Society). When he said rollers she stopped walking, got down on the floor and started rolling around. He said it again later and she did the same thing so it wasn't a fluke!

Posted by jill at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2008

uh oh

Audrey received her worst self-inflicted injury to date today. She fell onto a corner of two walls and now has a gash that goes from her chin to her bottom and upper lips and onto her nose. It must look worse than it is because she barely cried and seemed unaffected within minutes. Todd thinks we should tell people she was in a sword fight because it sounds much cooler than what actually happened.

before

after

Posted by jill at 08:28 PM | Comments (1)

February 01, 2008

snow day

Audrey waded through her first drift of snow today! It seems like every other time there has been snow on the ground it is super cold. It took longer to get Audrey into her coveralls and boots than she was outside. She stood for a bit, sat and then laid down while I helped her make a snow angel. I think not being able to move around, due to all of the layers and the deep snow, freaked her out and she wanted to go in after a few minutes.

Posted by jill at 12:52 PM | Comments (1)

Last night I went to dinner with friends Sara and Tina. Tina was kind enough to pick me up on the way to the restaurant since I am such a wimp about driving in snow. She hung out with Audrey while we waited for Todd to get home from work.

Posted by jill at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)

January 31, 2008

best friend

Audrey has loved her stuffed white kitten since her cousin Imani gave it to her months ago. She sleeps with it every night, makes the "meow" sound for it and gives it hugs and kisses often. The last few days she wants it to be a part of everything she does...

like drinking milk,

eating bananas,

and clapping for herself for being a good girl and not throwing her sippy on the floor.

She even brought it on our walk this morning with Emma and Jake.

Posted by jill at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2008

getting there

I got a break from pushing Audrey on her riding toy as now she can push this one herself too. She did one lap last night and did several more this morning. She just needs help steering around the turns.
I do think that this and her wagon are helping with learning to walk. It won't be long now!

She placed the stuffed cat on the seat herself.

Posted by jill at 03:38 PM | Comments (1)

January 29, 2008

bunny

The other night a bunny was hanging out right by the house; Audrey was intrigued.

Posted by jill at 08:41 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2008

welcome, Grant!

Audrey has a new cousin! My twin brother Kurt and his wife Erika had their second child this morning shortly after 8am, a beautiful 8 pound, 14 ounce boy named Grant. Grandma Channamom watched Audrey in the hospital waiting room while I met Grant a few hours after he was born.

Seth meets his new baby brother

Audrey and Seth got to spend a few minutes together before leaving the hospital

Posted by jill at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2008

bear is her co-pilot

Todd went into the city to rock out with the boys, so it was just us girls at home for a pajama day today. I spent a lot of time pushing Audrey through the house on her riding toy, which she just loves.

Posted by jill at 08:19 PM | Comments (1)

January 26, 2008

weekend visit

Bridget and Dave came out from the big city to meet Audrey for the first time today. After finding a place that was actually open for lunch on the weekend, the girl entertained her visitors with a show of her hair styling skills.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2008

breakfast

Audrey and I have had breakfast plans two days in a row with friends we haven't seen in a while. Audrey mostly ignored her friends except to point and say "baby" periodically.

Today we met up with Amber and Brylen. We pushed Audrey and Brylen's seats together before we left to see if we could get them to acknowledge each other (and for a blog photo, of course).

Yesterday we dined with Jamila and Emma. I can't get over how happy and smiley Emma always is.

Posted by jill at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2008

healthy teeth and gums

And when she was done, she pretended to brush her teeth until we put her to bed.

Bonus: the girl can brush her own hair too

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2008

national pie day celebration

Yes, today was National Pie Day. We were invited to join friends Susan and Jeremy in celebrating with a piece of free pie at Baker's Square.

Susan, Beth, Jeremy and Todd with their pie as Audrey tries to get to mine

When Audrey wasn't entertaining everyone by saying her newest word "butt" she amused herself with a straw

Post-pie group shot - you would think we would look happier after free pie

Posted by jill at 11:17 PM | Comments (2)

January 16, 2008

morning coffee

This morning we met Sara, Jack and Emma out for coffee. Jack and Emma (wearing the tutu we gave her for her birthday) busied themselves coloring and completing activity sheets. When they did get antsy Sara convinced them to pretend to drink coffee by themselves on a couch on the other side of the cafe. Genius! Audrey's chair was on wheels so she had fun spinning in circles when she wasn't trying to give Sara kisses.

Posted by jill at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

January 15, 2008

storytime

I signed Audrey up for lapsit storytime at the library and we had our first meeting today. Audrey was not much of a joiner, she mostly sat back and observed the other moms and babies. At one point she laid down on the floor and propped her chin in her hands watching the librarian. It was awfully cute.

Audrey before we left for the library. Today is a crazy hair day.

Posted by jill at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2008

january playgroup

Our monthly playgroup with the moms and babies from our class at the hospital was today. Jonathon and Noah are already walking! I hope Audrey watched and learned.

Being silly with Jake

Audrey was the only girl today with Jonathan, Noah, Jake and Luke (I never seem to get pictures of Luke!)

I hear this has some good hockey action

Posted by jill at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

January 11, 2008

happy third birthday, Emma!

Audrey was invited to Emma's princess tea birthday party this morning.

The birthday girl honored guests with a tap dance performance

Crafty Sara made princess crowns for all of the girls in attendance - so cute!

Audrey, Emma in her new tutu and Jack

Audrey had fun at the party, especially playing with the bead necklace party favors

Posted by jill at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)

January 07, 2008

the hot side

Since Saturday Audrey has had a cold with a runny nose, low fever and trouble sleeping. She had a pediatrician appointment today and we found out she has her first ear infection.

Despite not feeing well Audrey is still in a good enough mood to rock it out on her guitar and have fun looking through clear plastic bowls.

Posted by jill at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2008

thirteen months

It has been quite a month having a one-year old. We had so much fun with Audrey over the holidays and celebrating Todd's birthday. She picked up a few new words, the most recent being "dude" just two nights ago. She thinks it is hilarious every time she says it. Audrey has 12 teeth now, four of them molars that have brought fevers and a lot of extra sleep. The weather has kept us inside more than we would like - thank goodness we have all of those new birthday and christmas toys to play with. Over the last week Audrey has decided she wants to wean and that soy milk will soon be the only milk for her. I had hoped this would be a mutual decision but, alas, she has made it for us.
In this new year we are excited about all of the new experiences we will get to share with Audrey as she understands more and more about the world around her!

Posted by jill at 10:01 PM | Comments (2)

January 03, 2008

where is baby's belly button

Audrey received the book named above for her birthday from aunt Pam-o and uncle Marc. She loves when we read it and often points her own belly button out. She does pretty good showing us the other body parts in the book (hands, feet, mouth), except those couple of times she has thought her eyes are on the top of her head.

Rolling around like a crazy baby first thing in the morning.

Posted by jill at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2008

happy new year

Audrey celebrated the new year by letting her parents sleep in until almost 9am today! We got her another push toy with hopes that at some point early in this new year she will use it to start walking. For now she is content crawling but at least when she is ready to walk along anything other than furniture she will have plenty of help.

She only stood by it long enough to get a picture - all day she pushed it around the house while crawling

Audrey has recently started making a scrunchy face when smiling

The first push toy - she would rather get pushed on it, rather than walk behind and push it herself

Posted by jill at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2007

the celebration continues

Saturday we were psyched about Audrey finally playing in the snow but she took another super-long nap and we didn't have time before the evening's activities. Some friends traveled out to our house from the city to surprise Todd with a little birthday party.

We were excited to see everyone but most excited that Audrey got to hang with Silas. They pretty much ignored each other except when they wanted a toy the other had or when their parents were trying to get them to give each other kisses.

Mike brought over Rock Band - it was almost like the band was back together

Audrey talked about cats almost as much as her aunt Erinn

The babies ganged up on Brad

Today Todd's parents babysat Audrey. While baby-free we ate an uninterrupted meal and saw Juno.

Posted by jill at 11:04 PM | Comments (2)

December 28, 2007

happy birthday, dada!

Opening presents before work

Dropping dada off at the train station, wishing he could stay home and play in the snow

Posted by jill at 11:21 AM | Comments (2)

December 25, 2007

merry christmas

It was a fun christmas morning with Audrey. She has gotten the hang of opening presents with all of the practice from her birthday a few weeks ago and she loved being pushed around the house on her riding toy. After being up for a while though, she started feeling warm to the touch and having crying fits. She took an especially long nap and when she woke had a fever again so we stayed home instead of going to my extended family celebration. The rest of the day was spent cuddling, playing and obsessively taking temperatures.

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (1)

December 24, 2007

city of lights

Sunday Audrey was feeling better so we all went out to Todd's parents' to celebrate with his family.

Erinn and Kieran. Kieran is making "Erinn eyes"

Today Audrey played with new toys and took a super-long nap.

Then we went to see a big light display at a nearby park. The camera battery ran out and this is the only picture I got.

Posted by jill at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 23, 2007

oh christmas tree

Audrey has been pretty good about leaving the tree alone. I think the main problem is that we have to crawl underneath it to turn the lights on and she wants to then crawl underneath herself.

We were going to go ornament-free this year but decided to put up some unbreakable snowflakes. Audrey is always a helper.

Look at that handiwork!

Posted by jill at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

first of many

Yesterday was christmas at Channamom's. Audrey had a bit of a temperature and was sleeping when it was time to leave so I left Todd with her at home and headed out by myself.

My brother Scott plays with Allysa, Seth and Tyler after opening presents.

Posted by jill at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2007

staying warm

Audrey loves to play with her new ring toy. She had plenty of time to play with it yesterday since we stayed home in our jammies all day to avoid the cold. When she gets all of the rings on she claps in celebration, dumps them off and starts all over again.

Posted by jill at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2007

maybe 99%

I know I have already posted a picture that looks like this but I had never seen this particular sticker before. Audrey eats a lot of bananas. So there are many opportunities to put the stickers from the bananas on her forehead, which she thinks is hilarious. This shot was just too good to pass up.

Posted by jill at 09:20 AM | Comments (2)

December 16, 2007

new word

Aunt Erinn gave Audrey a new sweatshirt for her birthday. When Todd and I put it on her Saturday we showed her the whales on it. She instantly said "whale." We don't think she has ever heard the word before and were amazed that she said it.

Audrey cooking up her own creation while Todd and I make our first batch of veggie chili of the winter season today.

Posted by jill at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2007

out of the house

We haven't left the house much this week but yesterday we went to the mall to exchange some items Audrey got for her birthday and met up with Sara, Jack and Emma.

We passed through the shoe department and didn't realize until we were almost out of the store that Audrey had kept a souvenir.

Posted by jill at 11:12 AM | Comments (1)

December 10, 2007

silly girl

On a recent trip to the craft store, Audrey was in quite a playful mood...

She is not so happy when she is bundled up and in her car seat but she is cute in her bear hat

Posted by jill at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2007

cheese, glorious cheese

Since our last post we have been getting the house back in order after the big birthday blowout, finding homes for Audrey's great gifts and holiday shopping. Audrey has been having all kinds of fun playing with (and tasting) her new toys. She rocks her babies in her chair, rides her zebra, matches farm animals, pushes her truck, pops balls and even shares with Natasha.

On Thursday we ate a long lunch with Jamila and Emma from my mom's group. I got the go ahead from the pediatrician on Friday to introduce some dairy back into my diet. Todd worked his research magic and found items for me that are low in lactose and I had cheese today! If all goes well, Audrey will be eating dairy in the next month for the first time. We have started giving her soy milk and she loves it. Tonight she drank two glasses, mostly holding the cup on her own.

Also on Friday, Channamom babysat Audrey so Todd and I could go to his firm holiday party. This was the first time we left her with anyone since June. I was worried about her at bedtime, but she did fine. Thanks Channamom!

Posted by jill at 09:41 PM | Comments (2)

December 05, 2007

santa, baby

This one year old is no fan of jolly men with white beards in red suits. We took Audrey to see Santa yesterday and she cried as soon as I deposited her on his lap. So there are no pictures of her sitting with the scary man but we took some from afar and by the holiday decorations.

Posted by jill at 08:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2007

one year!

I know I tend to go on about the passing of time, but Audrey, I simply cannot believe we've spent a whole year getting to know you! You charmed us from day one, though this past month you've upped the ante considerably. You are less a helpless baby and so much more a cool little girl who we can't wait to spend time with. We love the way you meow when you see a cat or the way you exclaim "bahr!" when you see your teddy bear or "ball!" when you spy a balloon. Just today you looked at a photograph of yourself and helpfully explained to me that I was looking at a "ba-ba" which is your way of saying baby. And you sing! There are your "la-la-la's" from that Shins song and your rendition of a certain Death Cab for Cutie hit is spot on. You woke up singing it in your crib the other morning without any prompting from mama or dada. You've been picking up sign language and are quick to tell us things like "eat" and "more" and "all done," with simple gestures. Not even Natasha can leave a room any more without you cheerfully calling out "bye-bye" and waving. There are so many things, each one the coolest thing in the world to behold.

Physically you've grown too. Your baby fat is disappearing and your hair is getting longer; I love the little wings that feather out on the sides of your head. You have 11(!) teeth now. You have very little interest in walking unless you are holding onto the side of a table or couch, but you have been standing unassisted for a couple seconds at a time. You love to laugh and give kisses to your stuffed animals and to your parents.

I don't know how a year could possibly have flown by so quickly, but I do know with absolute certainty that it's been the best year of my life. Happy birthday, we love you!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:06 PM | Comments (1)

one year(!) portraits

Posted by jill at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2007

more presents, more cake

Sara, Jack and Emma came over for cake and brought Audrey a birthday present. Audrey is so entertained by the older kids and Emma was having so much fun she didn't want to leave.

Audrey was much more interested in tearing wrapping paper today than she was yesterday at her party. Maybe Jack helping was what did the trick.

Emma tells Audrey about her new toy. This was one of Jack and Emma's favorites so I'm sure Audrey will love it too.

Audrey shared her balloons (known as "ball!") with Jack and Emma.

Posted by jill at 01:17 PM | Comments (2)

December 02, 2007

one-derland

Family gathered at our house today to celebrate Audrey's upcoming first birthday. Even though Audrey has developed a bit of a cold she dealt with having 30 people in her house perfectly.

she was not a big fan of her first piece of cake.

Audrey was much more interested in the cards that came with her presents than opening the actual presents. Everyone was so generous and gave her great gifts. Here she models her cute new hat.

Much of the day was spent with second (or is it third?) cousins Julie, Mackenzie and Jenna.

Uncle Jeff and cousin Jeffery stopped by this morning on their way to work to wish Audrey a happy birthday.

Posted by jill at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2007

in the spirit

Today our playgroup got together and celebrated the holidays with a gift exchange.

I made Audrey wear a Santa hat

Playing nicely with Noah

When we left playgroup the first snow of the season had started and turned into the first ice storn of the season

Posted by jill at 09:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2007

bulk

Sara let Audrey and I tag along to Costco today so I could check out bulk items for cheap prices. I didn't even know she took this picture she posted on Jack and Emma's blog because I was so busy looking at birthday cake options. The one I ordered sounds delightful. Too bad Audrey and I can't eat it. It has dairy, of course.

Jack, Audrey and Emma composing a masterpiece before heading out.

Posted by jill at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2007

safety, hello!

We finally installed the gate at the top of the stairs. No more worries about potential tumbles down the staircase.

Channamom stopped by yesterday to drop off supplies for the family party and Audrey's birthday present.
Thank you Channamom!

Posted by jill at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2007

noodles!

After Audrey finished up her dinner of squash and oatmeal, we let her have some of our meal. With pasta we tend to cut her portion into very small pieces before handing any over. Tonight I gave her some longer pieces and instructed "slurp!" but she just looked at me like I was crazy. After sitting through a quick demonstration, the girl picked it up and was soon slurping her noodles as if she'd been doing it her whole life...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2007

Today we are thankful for...

a glimpse of the puppies next door

the ability to stand

daddy's dairy-free pancakes

mommy's thanksgiving day feast

fun craft projects

loving parents

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

a teacher and a zookeeper

After braving Trader Joe's for thanksgiving dinner supplies today, we spent the afternoon with Sara, Jack and Emma. First we went to the library so Emma could pick up a raffle prize she had won. Jack and Emma were to cute telling the librarian their thanksgiving plans, their future jobs and what movies they like to watch. Audrey made friends with other babies while they played in the kids area. It was getting crowded at the library so we headed to Barnes and Noble, making a stop for snacks at Corner Bakery. Audrey tried to join in with the big kids while they played with trains and looked at books.

Sara took this picture back at her house. Audrey is showing that she is so big. Jack and Emma are imitating a sign Audrey had been doing earlier in the day.

Posted by jill at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2007

facing forward

A recap of our last three days...

Today Audrey rode in the car facing forward for the first time. We put her toddler seat in and decided to face it forward since there are only two weeks until her birthday. Todd and I were more excited about it than she was.

Yesterday Todd and I took Audrey to get professional pictures taken. She had fun posing for the photographer and several cute shots resulted. We had to wait way too long for everything: taking the pictures, viewing the pictures and printing the pictures. Unlike me, Audrey patiently waited and found ways to entertain herself.

On Friday Susan came over and then Audrey and I went to lunch with her.
We haven't seen Susan for a while and it was nice to catch up.

Posted by jill at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2007

meow

Even though Todd and I are cat people, Audrey already likes dogs. She gets excited every time she hears the neighbor's dogs bark and she can say puppy. She doesn't want to wear her cat ears either.

Posted by jill at 10:17 AM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2007

new favorite

Audrey really likes to play with the lint roller. She actually rolls it on surfaces and picks up lint. The girl does not mess around.

Posted by jill at 10:15 AM | Comments (2)

November 14, 2007

fall photo ops

I have been in awe for days at how beautiful the leaves on the tree outside our front window look. I don't remember ever noticing these spectacular colors last fall - I must have been too distracted with pregnancy and moving. Finally today I sat Audrey down in front of it for pictures. Audrey was a good model even though it was cold and windy. She didn't even try to eat any of the leaves.

Yesterday Audrey and I went with Amber and Brylen to a forest preserve near their house. We walked along the trails and saw remains of old buildings, a japanese garden and a windmill you can see in the background of this picture.

Posted by jill at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2007

our morning

Every day Audrey and I have the same routine. Nursing, playing, eating breakfast, napping(only her, not me unfortunately). Here are some of today's activities documented.

Audrey playing piano for an audience. Todd has taught her how to say bear. At least we think it is bear. It sounds the same as ball and a one-syllable version of when we think she is saying baby.

Audrey acquired her love for the rubber duck in water babies class.

Today she started signing eat! She has been doing milk and finished for months.
The Chiquita sticker started on her hand but quickly went in her mouth. She ate her entire breakfast with it on her forehead. Is it wrong to have some fun at the expense of your baby?

Posted by jill at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2007

friends of claude (klōd)

Our friends John and Steve made the journey from Chicago today to meet Audrey. Not only did they travel far to see us, they came baring cute baby gifts. We went to Mongolian Barbeque for lunch where Audrey showed off her best moves like dancing, blowing kisses and sharing Cheerios.

Posted by jill at 08:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 09, 2007

eating leaves

Yesterday we went to Riverwalk with Sara, Jack and Emma. Jack and Emma played at the amphitheater while Audrey, as usual, just wanted to eat leaves. Afterwards we went over to Sara's where Audrey followed Jack and Emma around all over the house.

The leaves were just too tempting

Jack having fun throwing leaves

Emma took a while to warm up to idea of playing in the leaves

Getting giggles out of the usually serious baby

Posted by jill at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

November 08, 2007

the stand

I've started another home improvement project, this time painting the kitchen cabinets. This means Audrey is confined upstairs again to avoid paint fumes and scattered wet cabinet doors. Thank goodness Todd's parents came over yesterday to help. While they were here, Audrey stood on her own for the first time for about five seconds. It might have lasted longer if I hadn't scared her by excitedly yelling "she's standing, she's standing!"

Audrey and Todd before the kitchen mess began. It is not very often Audrey stops being busy to just sit and chill.

Posted by jill at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2007

let's hear it for monkeys!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

dinner

Last night we went to dinner with Sara, Mike, Jack and Emma. Audrey showed Mike the food contents of her mouth repeatedly while Jack completed the kids menu activities with ease and Emma played with jelly and told jokes. A sample of an Emma joke: "Knock, knock. Who's there? Orange. Orange who? Don't cry, it's just a joke." A little off but super cute!!

Emma and Jack show off their stickers from the waitress for being good diners

Posted by jill at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2007

eleven months

There are so many new things Audrey has learned to do during the last month. I started writing all of them down because they have become so many I am worried I will forget. My favorites are clapping, saying yum and yuck, dancing, giving kisses, blowing kisses, feeding Todd and I Cheerios, singing "ba ba ba" along with songs and waving at birds in the sky and light fixtures. Each new thing amazes me and makes it even more fun to be around her.

Posted by jill at 11:12 AM | Comments (1)

November 03, 2007

happy birthday, allysa!

Audrey's cousin Allysa's birthday is on Tuesday so today we went to Grandma Channamom's to celebrate.

Getting in some duck chewing while waiting to go

It's always a party with Grandma Channamom

Tyler and Seth play a fierce game of Hungry Hungry Hippos

The birthday girl with her princess birthday cake

Audrey has some goofy cousins

Posted by jill at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)

October 31, 2007

Happy Hallowe'en!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:01 AM | Comments (4)

October 30, 2007

ham

A cute new Audrey move during lunch yesterday

This made Todd and I both think of the Simpsons episode with the line "ow, my freakin ears!"

Posted by jill at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2007

jack-o'-lantern

We carved Audrey's pumpkin today

Audrey didn't want to dig into the pumpkin guts much but did want to eat them

She even shared with Natasha

Surveying the results

Spooky!

Posted by jill at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2007

playgroup

We hosted the monthly playgroup today and all of the babies wore their Halloween costumes. Audrey did very well keeping her Princess Leia bun wig on!

After everyone left we went outside and tried to get a nice fall-themed photo. Audrey just wanted to eat grass and leaves.

Posted by jill at 09:18 PM | Comments (4)

October 26, 2007

in the conservatory

Last night Todd left work early and met Audrey and I at the Garfield Park Conservatory for the Niki in the Garden exhibit. It was pretty cold outside so we didn't see everything, but Audrey got to touch and sit on many of the huge sculptures and enjoy all of the botanics in the conservatory.

Almost a good family picture

Posted by jill at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2007

another project

The past several days Audrey has mostly been confined to the upstairs or out of the house because we have been painting the living room and dining room in our never-ending quest to make this house ours.

Here is Audrey during a trip for painting supplies. I love the groovy striped pants!

Before and after, but there is still more work to be done.

Posted by jill at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)

October 20, 2007

our little pumpkin

Saturday morning cuddling for Audrey and dada

Today we went to Kuipers Family Farm with Todd's parents to get Audrey a pumpkin

Giving butternut squash some love

Watching gma feed goats

How tall this fall

Posing with grandma and grandpa

Posted by jill at 09:27 PM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2007

Audrey fun fact number 5 of many

Just like her mother, the girl likes to keep it spooky!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2007

fall is upon us

Audrey at dinner tonight wearing her seasonal bib

Today we went to the Morton Arboretum with Amber, Patrick and Brylen. It was a nice day for a long walk and some off-roading with the strollers.
Brylen and Audrey inspect a scarecrow made by a girl scout troop

This morning while Audrey and I ate breakfast we looked out the window at the dew on the grass.
When she went down for her nap I took a picture

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2007

carousel

Yesterday Todd took Audrey on her first carousel ride. During the ride she was cautious but that didn't stop her from waving at onlookers

Peeking over the car seat

Banging a plastic bowl with the wooden spoon will no longer do, it has to be the metal garbage can

Today while Todd got his hair cut, Audrey and I wandered around the Target next door

Despite my Meat Is Murder shirt, Audrey and I ate chicken

Looking outside

Posted by jill at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2007

this week

Nothing too adventurous beyond the usual standing, crawling and playing happened this week...

Aunt Erinn stayed over after Uncle Jeff's birthday party.

Natasha patiently shared her toy with Audrey.

A new favorite is giving kisses to stuffed animals, mama, dada and herself in the mirror.

On Thursday night, Todd was on his own with the baby so I could see Interpol in Chicago with Erinn. All went well until bedtime.

Posted by jill at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

October 07, 2007

Happy Birthday, Uncle Jeff!

Uncle Jeff turned the big Four-Oh this weekend, so we were off to his neck of the woods to celebrate. As the party was held during the nighttime, our camera was having difficulty producing anything better than colorful fuzz. So you'd think we'd have a photo or two to share of the birthday boy, but sadly we do not. But we did get some glamour shots of Audrey and her cousins Jaila and Imani posing in their play-skirts lovingly made by Grandma Sue.

Bonus: Here is a shot of Audrey, pre-celebration, in her cute party dress.

Happy Birthday, Jeff! Hope it was a good one!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 05:09 PM | Comments (1)

October 04, 2007

ten months

We are in the double digits! Audrey is 10 months today! It has been another month of crazy firsts and emerging personality. I wanted so badly for Audrey to start crawling. Now that she can there isn't one moment of rest. She moves all over the house looking for new things to pull herself up on while I follow her hoping to lessen the pain of any fall. Audrey has seven teeth now which she has been using for both good and evil. She is so cute taking bites of banana and crunching cheerios but not so cute biting me while nursing, as she has done at least once a day for the last two weeks. She loves to sweetly wave at everyone she sees but then gets shy when they pay attention to her. Here are some results of following her with the camera this morning before her nap...

Posted by jill at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2007

baby maraca

Audrey was being super sweet this afternoon shaking her maraca and kissing her stuffed giraffe, but I was still happy when Sara brought Jack and Emma over for a walk around the pond and a stop at the playground for swinging.

Posted by jill at 11:12 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2007

stuck with daddy

Jill headed into the city to spend a "baby-free" Saturday with some girlfriends. For me that meant daddy was on the clock, flying solo, from around 7 o'clock this morning until the early evening. As is the usual, we kept things pretty low key: a little climbing on furniture, some beating mixing bowls like drums with a wooden spoon, you know, standard father-daughter fun. We took what may be one of our last walks around the pond in summer-like weather. All the fowl were hanging out in the center of the pond together as if discussing their vacation plans down south, so we knew we better enjoy the stroll while we had the chance. We stopped off for some swinging and had the run of the park. As no one was there to stop us, we did a few turns around the merry-go-round too, much to Audrey's delight. The girl wasn't much for napping today, which meant by the time mommy got home, we had a bit of a grouchy baby on our hands. But as you can see, she was in good spirits for most of her day with daddy...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)

Audrey fun fact number 4 of many

Audrey Fun Fact: the girl loves her bananas

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2007

out to lunch

On Wednesday Jamila and Emma from my mom group ran errands and ate lunch with us in Oak Brook.

Yesterday we went on a long walk and to a playground with Sara, Jack and Emma.
Sitting nicely together back at Sara's after our walk.

Audrey can't go long without trying to pull up on tables, dressers, laundry baskets and walls, whether they are stable enough to hold her or not. Thankfully with this chair she would rather sit underneath it or drag it around the kitchen.

Posted by jill at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2007

backlog

I haven't posted in almost a week! Here is what has been happening...

There are no pictures to prove it, but Thursday we went to the gym with Sara, Jack and Emma and I left Audrey in the child care for two hours. It was the first time she was watched by strangers but I don't think she even noticed I was gone. Afterwards we all went swimming and Audrey was loving splashing around and touching the water spraying up from the fountains in the pool.

Saturday was another mom group with everyone from class back in March. Audrey was the only girl this time with Noah, Austin, Lucas and Jonathan.

Sunday Todd's parents and Erinn and Kieran all came over then we went out to lunch.

Audrey with her seven teeth just can't seem to keep herself from biting me while nursing. So today I attempted formula for the first time. Many tears were shed - all by me - but she only played with the bottle and wouldn't actually drink any of it.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2007

pto!

Yesterday since Todd was home from work Audrey and I showed him Phillips Park, where we went last week with Amber and Brylen. We missed the reptile house last time. They have alligators!

It's fun to have daddy home during the week.

Posted by jill at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2007

water babies

I took advantage of a little PTO time today to share in the fun that is Audrey's water babies class; It's always nice to get a first hand glimpse of Audrey's life during the week. For a baby who is constantly chatting my ear off, she sure was quiet during her swim - though I did hear her say a few da-da's while waving to me on the sidelines.

Mommy takes good care of Audrey in the pool

Action shot of the girl during class

And here are some shots of the whole family in front of the giant oceanic mural

Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

September 16, 2007

sunday morning

Posted by jill at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)

another day in the city

Today we took our second trip into Chicago in one week.

We met Mike in one of our old 'hoods at Sultan's Market for our favorite falafel. Mike was up for giving Audrey some tickles and playing the who will pick up my toy when I throw it on the ground game.

Next we went down to Wicker Park for the Renegade Craft Fair. We bought Audrey this cute little knitted lady squid which she threw out of her stroller just minutes after this picture was taken and someone took it before we could find it. The nice craft lady let me have a new one for a discount but it is a boy squid and not quite as cute as the lady. Lesson learned - don't trust the baby with the squid.

Erinn and Kieran treated us to gelato and sorbet before going out to celebrate six months of dating and we head home.
We enjoy making Erinn go way over her baby-holding quota every time we see her.

Audrey is always excited to see Kieran

Posted by jill at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2007

phillips park

Friday Audrey and I went to Phillips Park with Todd's high school friend Amber and her daughter Brylen. The park is huge and has a nice little zoo with animals native to North America.

Audrey and Brylen watching animals

Audrey and a cougar

You can't really see them in this picture but here are some elk and ducks

Posted by jill at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2007

day in the city

Today Audrey and I went to Chicago with Sara, Jack and Emma. Getting on and off the train and up and down stairs with the baby, stroller and gear was a task, but we had a fun day. Audrey was happy the entire time and took in all of the new experiences in stride.

We took the metra in - Audrey's first ever train ride.

Our first stop was visiting Todd at work. We met some of Todd's co-workers and took in the views of the city from 63 floors up. Audrey impressed Todd's fellow librarian Sara with her crawling skills.

Among the stacks

Next we headed to Millenium Park. We watched as Jack and Emma played in the Crown Fountain then we picniced under the Pritzker Pavillion.

Audrey liked looking at her reflection in Cloud Gate, aka "the bean".

Can you find our reflection?

We took a water taxi down the Chicago River back to Union Station. Audrey fell asleep in her stroller on the walk there. I did not want to wake her so Sara and I carried her in the stroller down several flights of stairs. Audrey did wake up in time to enjoy her first ride on a boat. Afterwards there were more stairs to climb. Thank you Sara!!!

Posing for one last picture with Jack and Emma before taking the train back home.

Posted by jill at 09:50 PM | Comments (1)

September 04, 2007

nine months

Our baby is now nine months old - a whole 3/4 of a year! We just noticed a new tooth coming in on the bottom so the count is now at six total. The more teeth the better; this girl really enjoys crunching Cheerios and sweet potato puffs. Audrey loves to stand and depending on the surface can even pull herself up and shuffle to her right or left. She will often sit up on her knees in a crawling position, but to date has not actually crawled anywhere. She will, however, get on her belly and move around the floor in a sort of army crawl, so I guess that counts. She's mobile, yet lucky for us, she's easy to catch. No matter the activity, you can be sure Audrey is supplying a commentary. Both "mama" and "dada" come up often in the conversation...

And the official 9 month photo

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:36 AM | Comments (4)

September 03, 2007

life among the cats

Audrey and Natasha striking the same pose while hanging out together on a lazy afternoon

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2007

swim party

Yesterday we went to Channamom's house for a party filled with grilling out and swimming.

Audrey gets more secrets from aunt Pam-o

Mackenzie entertains Audrey in the pool

Posted by jill at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2007

in d house tonight

Audrey and I spent the afternoon at the park with Sara, Jack and Emma. Audrey did lots of swinging then ate applesauce while trying to entertain Sara with razzberries.

Todd hasn't had a guitar out in months but gave a performance of Wheels on the Bus for Audrey and me tonight. The kid-friendliness ended when this of course turned into him playing his own songs from the Mushuganas and Trepan Nation, along with some GG Allin classics.

Posted by jill at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2007

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Today we headed back to my hometown to wish Grandma Sue a happy birthday! It was a lovely day for a birthday celebration, though the sun kept us clinging to whatever shade we could find. It's always fun to get all the family together; I know Grandma loved having everyone there. Afterward we headed over to my old grade school to check out Uncle Jeff's new classroom. That place seems a lot smaller when you're older...

All the grandchildren together - a birthday wish come true!

Audrey takes a break from her apples & strawberries to visit with Imani.

Jeffery welcomes Audrey to school with a high-five. I attended kindergarten in this very room!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2007

reunion

Thanks to this blog I recently got back in touch with one of my very good friends from high school - though we've seen each other since graduation, it's been a good 10 years since our paths last crossed. So tonight the girls and I hit the town to catch up with Amber and her boyfriend Patrick and their daughter Brylen. It was great to see her after all this time, and I promise to do my best to ensure that another decade doesn't go by before we hang out again. Something tells me that even if I'm not present for it, Audrey and Brylen will be having a play date in the near future.

I'm hoping it's just the angle of this shot that makes me look so much larger than everyone else. Sorry to be the one to ruin this otherwise cute shot of your family, Amber!

Here's Audrey, sad to part with her new friend, Brylen. That or she's sad she just got poked in the eye. Probably a little of both...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

Saturday in Black & White

Audrey and I were hanging out on the bedroom floor this afternoon when mommy surprised us by snapping some artsy b&w photos.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2007

not coming to a game console soon

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2007

minty fresh

Todd and I - OK, maybe just me - have been talking about painting the rooms on the first floor and decided to start the project while Audrey napped on Saturday. We painted the eating area and the hallway/laundry area. We only like the new color in direct sunlight and somehow managed to break the less-than-a-year-old laundry dryer in the painting process. I would like to apologize to Audrey right now about how not handy your parents are.

Coloring and raspberries while out to lunch to avoid paint fumes

The results - not so bad in this light...

Posted by jill at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2007

eating grass

Yesterday my friend Kristin and her family were traveling through on their way back to Iowa so Sara, Jack, Emma, Audrey and I met up with them at a park

Audrey and I enjoyed the cooler weather in the backyard today

This evening Audrey rolled and scooted herself around the family room and ended up underneath the tv cabinet - good traveling for a girl who can't walk or crawl!

Posted by jill at 09:32 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2007

what goes up must come down

Posted by jill at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 12, 2007

grandma channamom's new pool

Channamom put a pool in her back yard and she invited us over to swim!

Tyler and Allysa play with Audrey while she floats in her boat

Audrey showing grandma that she is "sooo big"

Posted by jill at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2007

family reunion

Jeff and Ericka hosted a get together with Todd's mom's family who we have not seen since christmas

Audrey poses with her great aunt Lori, grandma and great aunt Nancy

Imani gives Audrey a kiss

Posted by jill at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2007

DCM

Audrey and I met up with Nicole and Nathan at the DuPage Children's Museum. There isn't much for an 8 month old to do but seemed like great fun for the 3 year olds like Nathan!

Nicole and Nathan in the wind area

Audrey and her monkey at the museum

Posted by jill at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2007

she looks innocent enough

A couple of days ago Audrey was giving me a very hard time about eating her lunch. She refused to eat pears, peas and even her favorite sweet potatoes. She looks thoughtful here but I think she is just plotting other ways to worry me like she does when she won't eat.

Posted by jill at 12:48 PM | Comments (0)

August 04, 2007

Eight Months

I'm still in a state of disbelief - my baby is how old? How can she already be 2/3 of a year?! Time moves so fast, I'm already feeling nostalgic for when Audrey was my little baby...but that might have more to do with my silly nature than anything else. The past month has seen the girl rolling from front-to-back and back-to-front effortlessly, attempting to pull herself up to her feet (with one success), waving hello & goodbye to friends and strangers alike, and just generally showing more confidence in her abilities. Oh, and it also saw the arrival of four new teeth in one shot. Who is this big girl smiling at me now?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:12 PM | Comments (0)

happy 40 weeks Silas!

Today we celebrated Silas's 40 week birthday. There was a pool party at Katie's parent's house complete with a prediction of Silas's future profession (baseball player!), cake and a water balloon toss. We were honored to be among the guests commemorating this milestone.

We thought Audrey and Georgia might fight over Silas but instead they got a little rowdy over shoes, a necklace and hair

Audrey shows Mike what a good swimmer she is during her first time ever in a pool

Saying goodbye to Brad with a wave to the face

Posted by jill at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2007

teeth!

Audrey showing off some of her new teeth while eating applesauce last night

Posted by jill at 08:36 AM | Comments (1)

July 30, 2007

back to routine

Audrey has adjusted back to her routine after returning from vacation. She is eating and sleeping well again. We have reinstated our evening walks and took this picture last night. Audrey has graduated to sitting facing forward in her stroller. I had been selfishly keeping her in the carrier in the stroller so we could talk and make faces at each other but now she can see where we are going rather than just where we have been! There are all kinds of really pretty wildflowers growing around the pond that I hope she has been enjoying seeing.

Posted by jill at 08:29 PM | Comments (1)

July 27, 2007

Audrey fun fact number 3 of many

Audrey Fun Fact: when the girl decides it's time to test out her new teeth, no one is safe!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2007

vacation

Todd, Audrey and I left last Friday to spend a week with aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins 600 miles away on the shore of Woman Lake in northern Minnesota, where my family has been vacationing for almost 40 years.

All packed and ready to go

We split the ride up into two and spent Friday night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Audrey's first night's stay away from home just happened to coincide with some major teething - she has FOUR new teeth coming in on the top. She had a fever and cried all night, not sleeping or letting her parents sleep until 9am. We seriously considered heading back home but continued north.

This yawn sums up how we all felt Friday night and all day Saturday after so little sleep

Resting at a stop in Minnesota - that state really has a thing for Paul Bunyan

We finally hit the beach! Audrey thought being in the water was the greatest thing ever

Audrey would have been happy floating out to the middle of the lake by herself in this floaty

Audrey has a moment with her uncle Kurt

Sunset outside our cabin back door

Todd getting ready to be pulled by the boat on the "Super Mable" with Michelle and Jenna

Our home away from home, cabin #14

Gathering the kids for a picture when everyone is happy is hard to do. All of the girls loved playing with Audrey. Mackenzie thought that maybe they had "given her too much love".

We cut our vacation short because I caught a bad cold and was fighting a fever; Audrey was not sleeping well, was covered in heat rash and had her own runny nose and cough. We thought we better leave while Todd was still healthy to drive us. While we didn't get to see the turtle races or spend enough time at the beach or with the family, Todd was the champion of the two game nights we were there for, winning Apples to Apples and 80's Trivial Pursuit with Erika as his partner.

The family before leaving to head back home

Audrey with her only souvenir from vacation - a paper cup from the Best Western we stayed at on the way home

Posted by jill at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2007

I do all of the touching

Todd is back from his work trip in New Orleans tomorrow. Audrey and I made our last evening without daddy more bearable by having dinner with Sara and Tina. At the restaurant Audrey was very excited to wave and chatter at other diners to the point that I felt she was disturbing their meals. Her thing tonight was grabbing everyone's chins. Sara gave Audrey a taste of her own medicine while she was grabbed Tina's chin.

Posted by jill at 10:08 PM | Comments (1)

July 16, 2007

wiggles

Audrey and I trekked up to the northwest burbs and spent today with Nicole and Nathan. Audrey was quite entertained by Nathan and his three-year old antics.

Posted by jill at 11:04 PM | Comments (1)

July 14, 2007

evening swing

It was just me and Audrey for tonight's walk and stop at the park to swing

Posted by jill at 11:36 PM | Comments (1)

July 13, 2007

bananas

Susan went to lunch and strolled around the Riverwalk with us today. Here she is getting ready to poke Audrey with a colored pencil at Egg Harbor Cafe.

Audrey ate her first banana today. She wasn't too sure about the first couple of bites.

Then she realized it's food and she really likes to eat.

In other feeding news, we have been trying to get Audrey to drink from a regular cup and she doesn't get it yet so we let her use a sippy cup today. We don't want to get her hooked on the sippy but she was able to get some water out of it!

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2007

lunchtime entertainment

Today we went to see storyteller Banjo Dan perform in the park with Sara, Jack and Emma. Audrey found more exciting things to do during the performance such as pull on grass and grab Jack's shoe.

Banjo Dan is on stage in the background while Audrey makes her own fun

Jack, Emma and Sara not too thrilled with the banjo man either

Todd asked me yesterday if I remember when Audrey used to have a bottom lip since she has been sucking it in so long

Posted by jill at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2007

major development

Okay, the photo has nothing to do with the news...unfortunately I didn't capture the moment on film, so we're going with this cute shot from earlier today. This evening I sat Audrey in her crib and she reached over, grabbed the railing, and proceeded to pull herself up to her feet! For the first time ever! After about 1.5 seconds of standing on her own she fell over like a ton of bricks, but that's not the part we're going to remember - in fact forget that you just read that.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:13 PM | Comments (2)

July 09, 2007

ducks!

This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table checking my email when an entire family of ducks walked across our back patio. Audrey isn't even up yet, but I hope some day she will appreciate all of the animals that we see on a daily basis in our neighborhood. I know Todd will be be sad that he missed them.

Posted by jill at 09:22 AM | Comments (1)

July 04, 2007

Audrey's first Fourth

As we took our evening walk, there were all kinds of fireworks exploding around our house. Audrey watched in awe and did not get scared despite loud booms and stinky smoke. You can see a bit of firework action between the two houses in the picture above.

Posted by jill at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

seven months

Oh, how time is flying. Audrey is already seven months! The last 30 days have been full of firsts. Audrey ate her first solids and has loved it all from squash to prunes. Though she won't let us see it, she cut her first tooth. She is becoming a rolling queen, immediately wanting to turn from back to belly every time we lay her down. She is such a big girl!

seven months old and loving it

Posted by jill at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2007

we bite

Audrey and I went to the Cosley Zoo in Wheaton today with Nicole and Nathan and Jessica, Lauren and Paige. Afterwards Audrey and I came home and took a nap together. Definitely my idea of a great day!

Audrey at the zoo by a horse and my new favorite sign

Posted by jill at 08:25 PM | Comments (1)

July 01, 2007

knock knock

Today we went to gma Sue's for a family picnic as a pre-4th of July celebration. Todd and I were the big losers in bocce ball but we had a fun day anyway.

Imani entertaining Audrey

Audrey helping Rickie push Jeffery and Jaila

Erinn extended her baby quotient for the year

Posted by jill at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2007

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

We headed down south to wish cousin Tyler an early happy 11th birthday. We could not have asked for a better day, nor for a better behaved little girl - Audrey happily played the part of the adorable baby for all to admire. Scott grilled some portabella patties and tofu dogs for us, which made the day that much sweeter. Tyler got some great presents, cake and ice cream were served, and fun was had by all.

Allysa finally gets her wish to hold Audrey.

Tyler joins the girls for a quick shot before the cake is served.

Audrey pulls Seth aside to tell him about the "cousins must wear orange" rule of the day.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:33 PM | Comments (1)

June 27, 2007

a face fit for the funny papers!

I never thought this would happen, for the first time I think I could legitimately have a cross-over with that other blog I like to call home! Just kidding, Jill!

Audrey started eating prunes this week, and as you can see, she loves to play with them almost as much as she loves to eat them. Between bites she likes to stick her fingers in her mouth and then finger-paint her face, bib, onesie, whatever she can grab. Part of the reason might be that little nub of a tooth we just found poking through the gum...I tell you, this girl is growing up way too fast. Today it's teeth, tomorrow she's going to be asking for the car keys!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:57 PM | Comments (1)

June 26, 2007

life in the burbs

Todd and I have been taking Audrey on walks in the evenings around the pond and stopping at the park to swing. Every day I miss living in Chicago, but when we are on our walks, it is so quiet and we see all kinds of wildlife, I am glad we are here. These walks with the two loves of my life are the best thing about the summer so far.

These pictures have nothing to do with this post. I just think they are cute.

Posted by jill at 01:09 AM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2007

any excuse to not nap

I fought all morning to get Audrey to take a nap. The first time I put her down she was fussy and then really started to cry. I went in to check on her and she had turned over! This was only her third time ever and her first time without the incentive of being able to play with the TV remote. The next nap attempt ended with the same result! This time I got the camera (does this make me a bad mother?) and took this picture. Her eyes are so sad from crying but she is smiling, posing for the camera.

Posted by jill at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2007

two boys for every girl

Audrey got to see her play group friends from the Rush Copley hospital class today. All the babies are getting so big! I look forward to the day when they can actually interact and play together. For now, us moms are enjoying getting together to talk about pediatricians, solids and poop.

Audrey flanked by younger men Jonathan, Jake and Noah

Audrey concerned about sharing her toy with Jonathan

Posted by jill at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)

June 22, 2007

leg up!

Today we met up with my friend Nicole and her son Nathan at the Morton Arboretum. Nicole is one of my favorite people so I am very happy that we got to spend time with her. Audrey was quite agreeable in her stroller as we chatted and followed Nathan as he played.

Nathan explaining the finer points of Buzz Lightyear to Audrey during lunch at the arboretum.

Posted by jill at 09:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2007

prison bound

When you hear your wife shout "hey, Todd, get the camera - my pilgrim baby is in jail," you just go along with it...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2007

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa too!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)

happy father's day!

Happy first father's day Todd! Every day you go to work so that Audrey and I can have fun together and you and I can try to raise the best child possible. Thank you for all you do for our family. You are the best!

Chilling after opening father's day presents.

Posted by jill at 05:52 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2007

beach-ready

Aunt Kim and uncle Bob came for a visit today and brought Audrey everything she will need for the summer, including cool shades and a new hat.

Posted by jill at 10:29 PM | Comments (1)

June 10, 2007

Audrey fun fact number 2 of many

Audrey Fun Fact: the girl likes to spend time at the pool!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)

Audrey fun fact number 1 of many

Audrey Fun Fact: the girl is a Lego-maniac!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)

June 09, 2007

attack of the clones

Like a lot of little girls Audrey spends most of her time wearing pink, so it was nice to see her borrow a page from her mother's book: black and lots of it! Forget Kurt, it's Audrey who looks like mommy's twin today!!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2007

third time's a charm

Somewhere in the fabled halls of well behaved babies there is a place set aside for those who eat their solids. Audrey, today you have earned your right to sit at their table. I was so proud of us when we pureed your earlier feedings and a bit dismayed when your mommy bought home some Brand Name sweet potato baby food, but goodness, it did the trick. Hold that spoon with pride, my little sweet potato, you're eating like a big girl now!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 07:22 PM | Comments (1)

June 06, 2007

wash day

Today was a big day. Audrey helped with laundry (see below), had her second day of sweet potato and turned over from back to belly for the first time!!!

Posted by jill at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2007

mmmm

Because of her allergies, Audrey had to wait until six months to have solids and had to start with vegetables, rather than the usual cereal. Tonight she had her first bites of sweet potato! As you can see by the bottom picture, the taste is going to have to grow on her.

Posted by jill at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2007

six months - part deux

What else can I say that Todd didn't already say below?
Pictures of our six month old...

Posted by jill at 12:55 AM | Comments (1)

six months

Audrey Mae, as trite as it may be to say, I cannot believe how quickly these six months have passed. I've been thinking a lot lately about the nature of time; while I may not have anything original to lend to the subject, I find myself wanting to express something of it to you. Everyday I am amazed just how much joy and wonder you have packed into our lives in such short order. And I know that's the sort of sentiment I would have shrugged off as so much treacle before you were born, but I'll be damned if it isn't absolutely true now. Everyday I want to hold onto the minutes I have have with you in as tightly as I possibly can, knowing all too well that it's silly to think that way. When I picture the tiny baby we brought home from the hospital last December, it's hard to believe that was you - you're such a little person now. To see you so aware of your surroundings, to see you begin to examine and think about your world, it blows my mind. I have so much fun with you, there could never be enough time in the day. I'll continue wishing I could freeze time, wishing I could hold onto moments longer than I have any right to...hopefully, you'll understand that the sentimental fool you call dad goes on this way only because he adores you so.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 12:27 AM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2007

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:46 PM | Comments (1)

May 28, 2007

birthday weekend

Todd and I celebrate not just our birthdays, but the entire weekend around each other's birthdays. With mine approaching, this weekend was full of activities that Todd planned. Audrey was in tow for all of it and made this the best birthday weekend yet.

First we met up with Erinn and the boyfriend Kieran in Chicago at Karyn's raw food, where everything is made of nuts and vegetables and left uncooked to keep all nutrients intact. This was the perfect place for me with my current diet of no dairy, soy and eggs. As usual, Audrey was a perfect lady at the restaurant.

Back at home Audrey gets kisses from Todd

On Sunday we spent the day at Brookfield Zoo. It was Audrey's first time at a zoo!

Posted by jill at 08:42 PM | Comments (1)

baby visitor

Mommy will be posting a little something about all our fun "birthday weekend" activities; for now enjoy this shot of our new friend. She's visited several times over the past few days.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2007

lunch with Sarah

Today Audrey and I had a leisurely lunch with my friend from college Sarah. We hadn't seen each other for about two years and it was great to catch up!

Audrey and Sarah at the restaurant

Posted by jill at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

what's so funny

Something was very funny the other night when Todd was carrying Audrey around the house in the Bjorn. We don't know what it was but he got pictures of the baby during her fit of laughter.

Posted by jill at 07:29 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2007

swing, baby

We put Audrey in the swing at the park for the first time tonight!

She was a bit cautious at first

By the end we knew she liked it because the tongue was out

Posted by jill at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

new camera

We had been talking about upgrading our digital camera for a while. Since I lost our camera on Saturday (it has since been found!), we bought a new one on Sunday as an early anniversary present to ourselves. Unfortunately, we missed out on pictures this weekend when Audrey hung out with Todd, Lynn, Mike and Brad while I volunteered at Walk & Roll.

Yesterday morning I was anxiously waiting for Audrey to wake up so I could get some shots of her with the new camera.

Posted by jill at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2007

two for one

Audrey went to meet her grandpa John and great grandmother Lilian for the first time today.

While we were out that way, we stopped by to see grandma Channamom at work. Audrey helped with payroll.

Posted by jill at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

It was breakfast in bed for my lucky girls today! Waffles and hot chocolate, what more could a mom ask for on her first mother's day? How about a Hotsling that's one size too big? Daddy, you think of everything...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

Happy Birthday, Seth!

We spent our Saturday wishing Audrey's cousin Seth a happy birthday! Here's the birthday boy getting ready for some birthday cake.

Here's the birthday boy debuting his new look.

Audrey was in demand and spent most of her day visiting with all her relatives. Here she is with her cousin Julie.

And while a photo with with his cousins Tyler, Allysa, And Audrey would have been nice, Seth just wasn't having it this time around.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:22 AM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2007

it's a jungle out there

We really needs to mow the lawn. When Todd got home from work tonight we lounged in the back yard and there is grass almost as tall as Audrey.

Audrey's first time barefooted in the grass

Being outside is fun

Even outside you have to watch for flailing fists, daddy!

Posted by jill at 10:07 PM | Comments (1)

Wednesday playgroup

Sara invited us over for her playgroup yesterday. We had a great time!

Audrey and Sara, the gracious host

Sara took this one of us

Posted by jill at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

May 08, 2007

getting our hands dirty

Todd took the day off from work today. After yoga we went to see the baby-friendly showing of Spiderman 3 then did some much needed yard work.

Natasha took time out from exploring the yard to sit with Audrey

We pulled weeds and finally planted flowers in the box outside the front window

Every night we read books to Audrey and tonight she and Todd were looking especially cute

Posted by jill at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2007

water baby

Audrey had her first bath in the real tub this morning. No more baby tub for this big five-month old!

Posted by jill at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2007

five months

Audrey turned five months today! Where does the time go? We can't believe the things she can now do - standing and sitting with assistance, mastering tummy time and grabbing anything in reach.

We spent the day with my old friend Susan. We got coffee and then walked around the hood. Audrey was intrigued by Susan, constantly wanting to look at her.

Audrey and Susan at the coffee shop

Audrey and Todd earlier this week

The official five month photo

Posted by jill at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

May 02, 2007

the park

Sara, Jack and Emma came over today. We went for a walk around the pond and then to the park.

Emma talking to Audrey about animals

Audrey happy to be out of the house and with friends

Posted by jill at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2007

baby yoga master

Audrey started baby yoga this morning; alas, no photo evidence exists yet. I'm hoping next week we'll get a shot of Aud demonstrating a gentle cobra. For now, enjoy this shot Jill took earlier today of the girl trying out a new look.

And here's the scene that greeted me when I arrived home from work. That goofy smile sure takes the sting out of a long day toiling in the library.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:32 PM | Comments (1)

April 29, 2007

clean-shaven daddy

Todd has kept a beard since the day Audrey was born. With the warm weather upon us, he decided to shave it off today.

I love this face!

Posted by jill at 08:16 PM | Comments (1)

party animal

Yesterday we attended not one, but two family parties.

First it was to St. Charles for Mackenzie's first communion. Audrey visited with aunts, uncles and cousins, most of whom she has not seen since Christmas. Here are Todd and Audrey with Mackenzie, Julie and AudBlog devotee Michelle.

Then we were off to Jeffrey and Jaila's second birthday party. They don't pay Todd and I much attention, but Jeffrey does love his cousin Audrey.

The party girl seeing her first balloon

Posted by jill at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2007

go baby go

A master of tummy time!

Posted by jill at 03:37 PM | Comments (4)

April 24, 2007

pod for baby

This molded green plastic thing is supposed to help babies sit. Audrey looks unhappy in this picture that Todd took tonight, but she has really started to like and do a good job sitting in it.

Posted by jill at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2007

our weekend

On Saturday Audrey, Todd and I took a long walk and then marvelled at how nicely the trees and plants are blooming in our yard.

On Sunday we stayed close to home so Todd could recover from getting too much sun from our walk on Saturday. Audrey did a lot of chewing on her new alligator toy. Or is it a crocodile?

Posted by jill at 11:48 PM | Comments (1)

April 17, 2007

Tuesday fun

Took advantage of the beautiful weather today by taking the girl for a walk to the neighborhood skate park.

This marks Audrey's first time on the course, too bad she has a while before she'll be rolling under the power of anything but stroller wheels.

After all that fun, there was only one thing left to do...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 04:58 PM | Comments (0)

April 14, 2007

Chicago!

This morning we had brunch at M. Henry with Kym from the ACS and members of the Daffodil Days committee, who I used to work with. Here is Audrey with Sally, the Daffodil Days chair. She was always one of my favorite volunteers.

After brunch we went to visit Katie, Sam and Silas

Silas gives Audrey a warm welcome

The set-up

Silas and Audrey holding hands - could they be any cuter?

Back at home Todd getting the best kind of distraction while trying to read

Posted by jill at 08:04 PM | Comments (0)

April 09, 2007

Monday in black & white

Audrey visited her new doctor for the first time today. Our little girl has hit 15 pounds! After the visit, Audrey took a long nap and woke up in a great mood. I just had to take pictures.

Posted by jill at 09:39 PM | Comments (1)

April 08, 2007

happy bunny day

It's been a busy weekend! We went to Grandma Sue and Papa Dave's today. Aunt Erinn came too and it was the first time we'd seen her since Christmas. We got to meet her new boyfriend briefly and she brought greasy lamb cake with a brown jelly bean on it's butt. It was a great day until the drive home when Audrey cried the entire time. As soon as we got home she was all smiles and laughs again.

gma and papa

Erinn passed Audrey off seconds after this picture was taken because she was starting to fuss

playing with gma's stuffed bunny

Posted by jill at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2007

visit to Grandma Channamom's

Today we went to Grandma Channamom's house to see my side of the family.

My sister-in-law Erika entertains the kids.

Audrey with cousins Alyssa and Tyler. Last year Tyler called Todd to ask if he is Spiderman. Guess which comic nerd really liked that?

Audrey with her cousin Seth, or "the baby named Seth" as Alyssa calls him. Seth is almost 11 months old and has already started walking.

Posted by jill at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

new toy

After much mental debate we bought Audrey a jumperoo. This is a devise that she sits in and can jump up and down and play with toys attached to it. It is quite obnoxious, but it is going to be a great help keeping the baby busy so I can get things done (like taking a shower!). I went to breakfast with Sara and Tina this morning and when I got home Todd had put it together. Audrey was sitting in it and loving it!

Posted by jill at 01:01 PM | Comments (1)

April 05, 2007

at home

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April 04, 2007

four months

Audrey is four months today! Time is just flying by and we can't believe how amazing she is. She has started to drool and chew on everything within reach, so soon we will see some teeth. At her last weigh in she was 14 pounds 9 ounces. She is now lifting her legs up all of the time and holding her feet, especially when we are changing her, like she is trying to help with the diaper change. Is she a great little helper or just trying to get those feet in her mouth?!

Posted by jill at 07:01 PM | Comments (1)

April 02, 2007

the bad with the good

As she sometimes does when she wakes from naps, Audrey had a bit of a freak out after her nap today. One of my attempts to distract her was to take some pictures of her. This is Audrey when she is upset, tears and all. So sad...

On a happier note, look at how good Audrey was doing with tummy time yesterday.

Posted by jill at 06:50 PM | Comments (1)

April 01, 2007

hooray for the weekend

The new family budget kicks in this month, so we got one last Saturday brunch in before the dining out funds disappear - the irony being that this was the very first brunch we have had as a family. I'm sure there will be others sometime down the road. Audrey handled herself well, though I really wish our waiter had come by to ask "how's it tasting?" when she spent some time gnawing on her own fist.

This weekend also included a visit from Lynn and Mike, but for some reason we didn't have the camera flashing our usual every 10 seconds. Much to their relief I'm sure. I guess we'll just have to run some more brunch shots to fill out the post. (Note Jill's cute new frames!)

Since we didn't take pictures when they were here this weekend, I am posting pictures of Mike when he visited us in the hospital and of Lynn when Lynn, Mike and Brad came out to Aurora in January. Thank you for visiting! -Jill

Posted by Thrillmer! at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

March 28, 2007

day off

Todd took the day off from work to watch Audrey while I went to a dentist appointment.

Our first family picture in a few months. This was the first thing in the morning so we look a bit dishevled.

Todd says about this picture: "You will believe a baby can fly." Apparently this references the Superman movie.

Posted by jill at 09:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2007

new car!

Grandma Susan unloaded her old car on us today, officially making us a two car family.

Audrey was more interested in spending time with a couple of her favorite people than in kicking the tires.

Posted by jill at 06:36 PM | Comments (1)

March 23, 2007

rainy day

Audrey and I were supposed to make a big trip into Chicago today for a daffodil bulb planting ceremony for the American Cancer Society's Daffodil Days in Cancer Survivors Garden. We decided to stay home because of the rain.
Instead we played and Audrey took a long nap in her swing.

Posted by jill at 02:08 PM | Comments (2)

March 22, 2007

visiting with friends

Friends from high school came over yesterday to visit. Kristin was in town with her son August who is six days younger than Audrey. Her two girls were at home in Iowa. Sara brought her two little ones, Jack and Emma. Jack drew all kinds of pictures, one of which he gave to me and I added to my collection of his art on the fridge. Emma is a big fan of stuffed puppies and was excited to play with Audrey's boxer that she got from our friend Michael.

I had to steal this picture from Sara's blog because none of mine turned out.

Posted by jill at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2007

our class

I signed up for a new mom class at Rush-Copley Hospital and today was our second session. Audrey is the oldest baby so I thought that she would be the star of the class with all of her smiling and laughing. She has been the worst, crying for most of the class today and last week. The class is informational and doesn't include any interaction for the babies, so I don't really blame her for being bored.

Here she is happy to be home from class and super cute in her first pair of jeans.

Posted by jill at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2007

Tiger Attack!

and the winner by pinfall is...Bradley the tiger!

better luck next time, girl!

Posted by Thrillmer! at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2007

turn baby turn

Audrey was on her blanket hanging out and I took my eyes off of her for just a couple of minutes and she had turned herself 90 degrees.
What a surprise to see her in a different spot than where I left her!

Posted by jill at 06:19 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2007

welcome new visitors!

Audrey would like to welcome her friends and family to the blog! Here's a shot of her absolute favorite new activity; oh, that girl just loves to stand...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:38 PM | Comments (2)

March 12, 2007

enjoying the evening sun

I came home from work today to find Audrey all snuggled up with Jill in her baby bjorn. We headed out back to soak up the last of the day's sunshine.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2007

out and about

We finally scored some nice weather in the greater Chicagoland area, so Audrey insisted we take her out to celebrate. There was just enough chill in the air to keep us from exploring too much of the neighborhood, but her uncle Jeff will be happy to know she did get a good look at the nearby park's basketball court.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:27 PM | Comments (1)

March 04, 2007

three months

I can't believe Audrey has been in our lives for three months already. Every day we notice her doing something she has never done before that amazes us. She smiles, laughs and talks all of the time and is working hard at holding her head up. Last week at the doctor's office she weighed in at 13 pounds 3 ounces.
Here are some pictures from today...

Audrey will destroy everything in her path with her flailing baby fists.

Doing her new favorite activity - standing.

Catching a ride on daddy's shoulders.

Posted by jill at 05:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2007

together again

Somehow I made it through my first three days back at work and only have two more to go next week. It was so nice to see Audrey when she woke up for the day, as this is her smiliest, happiest time of the day. I think she was happy to see me too.

Posted by jill at 07:41 AM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2007

Back to the grind

Mommy is off to work today - how are we going to make it without her???

Posted by jill at 10:03 AM | Comments (1)

February 24, 2007

Getting ready for the week

Mommy returns to work this week, so Audrey started preparing by taking a few bottles. Definitely not her first choice in the venue of milk dispersion, but she handled it fairly well (not at all the disaster a certain father was dreading...)

Posted by jill at 09:56 AM | Comments (1)

February 23, 2007

sweet lid

Posted by jill at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2007

trying to turn

All of the sudden Audrey has decided she really wants to turn over. She tries so hard but hasn't been able to do it yet.

Posted by jill at 07:31 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2007

happy baby

Audrey has been her super happy self that usually only shows up in the mornings all day today! She just looks so pretty in purple I had to post a picture.

Posted by Thrillmer! at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2007

laughing

It's not uncommon to hear some cooing at feeding time, but I turned my back for a second and missed some belly laughs! I don't know what Jill was up to, but it cracked my daughter up...unfortunately I missed capturing the fun at its height. I think you can still see that these two are having a good time, right?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2007

family

Today was a big day. First Grandma Channamom babysat Audrey while Todd and I went to see a matinee of Pan's Labyrinth.

Then Audrey was off to Joliet to wish her cousin Imani a happy 5th birthday.
Here is Imani holding Audrey like a pro - she's gotten lots of practice with her younger twin sibs.

Posted by jill at 11:03 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2007

the little things

One thing that has dawned on me as I raise my little girl is this: while her birth may have been one incredibly huge event, it is the little things from day-to-day that fill me with wonder. This evening, for example, I arrived home from work to find her on the floor enjoying some time in her play gym. Usually she's good for a couple minutes on that thing, maybe checking herself out in the mirror. But today she spent a solid twenty minutes happily batting at her friend the monkey, chattering away, blissfully unaware that her parents were even in the room. This is the first time I've ever witnessed her this way, just amusing herself. In the scheme of things I realize this is just one small breakthrough, but tonight it feels like a pretty big deal...

Posted by Thrillmer! at 10:38 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2007

i heart daddy

Waiting for daddy to get home from work so Audrey can share some Valentines Day love

Posted by jill at 01:03 PM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2007

Play Date

This weekend Audrey had her very first play date with the dapper Silas

For more of this meeting, head over to Oh Katie!

Posted by jill at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2007

hoodie

This features an adorable hoodie courtesy of Aunt Erinn.

Posted by jill at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)

February 04, 2007

two months

Audrey's two month picture. She has grown so much in such a short time!
At the doctor's last week she weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces and was 23 inches long.

Posted by jill at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2007

after bath

Audrey loves taking baths, but afterwords hates to be cold and naked.
Todd got this shot while we were drying her off.
This is my favorite picture of her to date. How did we create such a cute kid?

Posted by Thrillmer! at 06:00 PM | Comments (2)

January 25, 2007

tummy time

Audrey has not yet mastered raising her head.
She might not be working hard but she looks cute!

Posted by jill at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2007

one month!

Audrey is one month old today!

Posted by jill at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2006

welcome home

After five days in the hospital, bundled up to go home

Natasha checking out her new housemate

Posted by jill at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2006

happy birthday

My first look at baby Audrey. I just couldn't believe that she was finally here and we both made it through the surgery!

Audrey Mae Hillmer
December 4, 2006
3:47pm
7 pounds, 19 inches

Audrey holding Todd's finger at less than two hours old

Todd's first picture with the baby once we got out of recovery and into our room...

And later that night taking care of the crying baby

Posted by jill at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2006

first shots

We found out at the 20 week ultrasound that the baby was a girl. We were relieved to not have to figure out a boy name, as we had already decided on Audrey for a girl. These are the first pictures of the baby who would become Audrey Mae Hillmer.

Posted by jill at 01:22 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2006

and so it begins...

April 10, 2006 was the day we found out I was pregnant. Todd and I had stayed home from work for the delivery of our new couch and I was feeling a bit weird so we went to Jewel to get a test. It was positive and our journey into parenthood began. Here is Todd a few hours before he found out he would be a father.

Posted by jill at 06:58 PM | Comments (1)