Genny insists that they wear crowns....

Genny wanted for her and Audrey to wear crowns today. Audrey wasn't thrilled about this.

She didn't seem to see the point. But Genny tried really hard to explain it to her.

It went like this: "BUT I WANT YOU TO WEAR A CROWN, AUDREY KATE!"

oh, well, when you put it that way......

See?

Gennyfaces...

Genny makes a lot of funny faces these days.....

hidden surprises....

Yesterday we showed our house around lunchtime, and although I had cleaned it before we left in the morning for gymnastics, it was not quite as ideal as it really should be. Dirty dishes were in the sink, you see?

So I ran home and ran through the house like a crazy person chunking things various places. But the most important part is to remember what you've chunked where.

I remembered that I hid the wal-mart sacks in the dryer.

I remembered that the mail was in the window seat.

What I forgot was.....

those dirty dishes. In the oven..... until today at lunch when I preheated it....

and smelled melted plastic. ...... surprise!

Nobody tell Robert, ok? Let's just keep this between us......

Audrey puts her baby to bed.

Audrey has reached the hilarious stage of knowing exactly what she wants to do, and having the mobility and motor skills to accomplish it.

Yesterday she went into the playroom on a mission, and I followed with a camera.

First, she removed her pants and a sock, then put on a necklace.

Then she removed sister's baby from the baby bed and relocated her. Note the pants by the table.

Covered her up with her blankie.

Gloated a little at her own motor skills.

Gave baby some kisses....

And put her to bed.

Contact the Vatican...

Because right here we have proof of a miracle..... it's Genny and Audrey playing together! And Audrey's not crying!

I thought this day might never come.... but I sure am glad it did!

Audrey Kate is 1!

So I'm a little late on posting Audrey's first birthday pictures.... but here they are!

Audrey Kate turned 1 on March 7. Sweet little girl......

She was all dolled up for her tea party in a fancy skirt and a feathered headpiece...

We were all fancy, actually.

Audrey really dug into her cake. But didn't eat it at all....

She did enjoy the plate, though.

Quite a lot.

I posted some pictures of her first year... notice the little dress. It was her easter dress last year.

We love you, little tater tot!

The scary dentist of Wal-Mart

So someone mentioned this weekend that they like my stories of Wal-Mart. Now... I'm concerned that you lovely people will think that all I do is go to Wal-Mart. It's not all I do. It's more around 80%.....

So today we were leaving Wal-Mart with most of the things I had come to buy, and we were in a foreign Wal-Mart.... not our usual. And we walked by the beauty shop at the front. And they had an elaborate display of their nail art. Using shiny silver old CD's as a backdrop for their array of frighteningly long, I mean loooooong nails with lovely special artwork on them.

As we walked by, Genny stared in horror. And once we were past, she asked me in a whisper, "Mommy, what does that dentist do to you???"

Genny, that's not a dentist.

Yes it is. I saw him.

No, that's a nail technician. In a beauty shop.

No mommy. That's a scary dentist.

So thank you, Wal-Mart beauty shop for not only making the store smell like formaldehyde and perm, but also for making my child scared of the dentist as well. Awesome.

Audrey is 1 Year Old!

Dear Audrey Kate,

Today you are 1 Year old! What a big girl you are. We are so proud of you.

You are a crawling machine. In fact, today I saw you crawl carrying a toy in each hand and something in your mouth. Amazing. I think you'll be walking soon -- you get braver every day. But for now, crawling gets you where you need to go.

You love to play with your sister. You guys are starting to interact more and play games together. I think you are understanding how much she loves you and wants to spend time with you!

At last weigh-in, you were at 18 pounds. No wonder -- you love to eat! Table foods are your friend. Last week you put away turkey dinner with us and ate more than your sister. Amazing.

You are funny and charming and sweet, and you like people... mostly. As long as they don't get too close too fast! I love to watch you study things -- your toys, the dog, your sister...... you are smart, little tater tot! I think you will have lots of interesting observations when you have words to share them with us.

You have a screech that would shatter glass for miles. I am not sure how you came by this special talent, but some days it's challenging to listen to. It actually rattles my brain inside my skull. I look forward to the day when you can simply say, "more goldfish!" rather than let out a crazy loud screech.

We are so amazed by you, little Audrey. You are a blessing and a miracle, and we love you!

A year ago right now.

It's 3-ish am, and I can't sleep. So I'll tell you about why I couldn't sleep a year ago, right about this time. Today is Audrey's birthday. She was born at 1:02 am on March 7, 2009. She was most definitely a surprise since she was not due for nearly 5 more weeks. The week leading up to her birth, Robert had been out of town, I had not been feeling well, and when he got back I went into labor.

That night, we took Genny to Coldstone Creamery. The picture on my phone is still the one I took of her across the table that night, enjoying her ice cream. We brought her home, put her to bed, and I tried everything I could to make the contractions stop. Nothing worked. I finally called my doctor at 11, and he was already at the hospital, so he said to come on up, just in case.

I was pissed. I did not want to go up there. We called my mom to come stay with Gen, and away we went.

At midnight they determined that I was in full labor and having a baby. She was breech, so they said they would deliver her by C-section in an hour. I hadn't even pre-registered yet. They all assured me that she would be just fine, and I didn't believe them.

We called our lovely retired neighbor to go to our house to stay with Gen so my mom could bring up my suitcase and the camera and be there when the baby was born.

I'd love to say I handled this with grace. I did not. I freaked out. Regardless of my freakout, they delivered her anyway. I got a brief glimpse before they took her away to the NICU.

See, she was pretty, huh? So fast-forward to 3-ish when I was out of recovery and deposited in a room. We wanted Genny to wake up to something normal and then come up to the hospital, so that meant Robert needed to be at home when she got up. Robert went home for the rest of the night so that our neighbor could go home and he could get some sleep as well. And I sat there by myself. awake. while my still-un-named baby was somewhere else, and I had no idea where she was or what was going on.

The nurses left my cell phone within reach, so I started sending text messages. At 6 I convinced a nurse to help me get dressed in regular clothes and hand me my makeup. At 7 I called my friend Careese to share the wild news, and she immediately came up to the hospital so I wasn't by myself.

When she found out I hadn't seen my baby yet, she went into action. The nurses were not interested in helping me to go see Audrey. I remember them saying they'd get me up to go about 9 or 10. They didn't seem to sense the urgency. So Careese found a wheelchair somewhere, brought it back and told the nurse "she's going to go see her baby now. do you need to put her in this or may I?" We went down the hall to the NICU, went through security, scrubbed in, put on protective gowns, and went to find my baby.

Did I mention she was very pregnant at the time? Well she was. I'm guessing we were a little bit funny prowling the halls.....
We found "Baby Poling" and they had her in a heated bed, in a giant diaper, with tons of monitors on her. beeping. screens flashing. She seemed very small. And she was sleeping. They told us that we weren't there at the appropriate time to be able to touch her, so I was instructed not to touch my child.

Careese came to my defense. I don't think violence was explicitly threatened (it might have been, I'm not sure), but somehow it was quickly decided that the rules could be bent a little. Thus the picture above.

So that's how I got to meet our little Audrey Kate and begin one of the wildest journeys I've ever experienced.

Audrey kind of dances. A little.

Gattiland... reposted

We decided to take the girls to Mr. Gattis last night.

We had never done this before.

Actually, I think the last time that we went to Mr. Gattis, we were in college.

Audrey very much enjoyed her pizza. And ham. and cheese. and eggs. and peaches. and pineapple. seriously, that child will eat anything.

Genny ate pizza because there was a promise of games.

She rode the train.

Audrey's ride didn't require tokens....

And Genny rode the spaceship as well. It was a hoot to watch her run around to play all the games!