This and That

THE APPOINTMENT:

Last Wednesday, Audrey had her 15 month checkup.  

Oh. My.

The child was cheerful and a delight to be around until we stepped into the office.  Immediate tears.  The lady behind the desk thought she must have bumped her head.  Um..no.  She just knows that she doesn't like this place.  They went ahead and gave her a toy at the beginning to help ease her nerves.  Good idea...but didn't work so much.  I was able to settle her with a book for about 30 seconds before the nurse walked in.  Okay...sweetest nurse ever!  Audrey absolutely throws a fit.  The lady has only walked in and sat down, nothing else.  We basically scream questions and answers at each other.  Great environment to remember things.  Then the doc strolls in.  Ok, guys - this doctor is Mr. Rogers - but better.  We go into another level of screams.  I didn't know that was possible in her non-colicky stage.  He is dumbfounded.  He can not believe she is crying this hard.  This guy works with children and he is shocked.  In fact, he eventually finds it comical and just shakes his head laughing!  And it gets worse...shots!  The moment the nurse walks in with the shots, Audrey acts like she's about to vomit.  The nurse hands me a bunch of paper towels in case she does.  She probably gave the two quickest shots of her life at that moment.  We were moved very quickly out the door.  We hit outside air...the child is back to her normal self.  Sheesh!

FIRST DAY OF SPRING:

My parents, my sis-in-law Jaime, nieces Maddie and Macie, and Audrey and I went to the Arboretum.  It was so beautiful!  We had a great time.  Maddie and Macie enjoyed walking up and rolling down a big grassy hill.  Audrey was just proud if she could stand on such an elevation!  The flowers were gorgeous and the weather was nice.  Here are some pics. (There's more exciting stuff below the pictures, so keep reading!)

WORK, WORK, WORK:

Michael worked 96 hours last week.  And that doesn't count some hours that spilled into the next week because he worked past midnight on Sunday.  I just got a call (11:15 pm) that he's coming home.  I'm stoked!  That's a couple of hours early and I'll get to have a conversation with him!  He's so wiped out.  I can't WAIT for busy season to be over so that he can just function the way a human should!

EXCITING NEWS!:

My brother Brett and his wife Jenny are PREGNANT!  It's a big surprise, but I'm super excited!  Think PINK!

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Update

So, going against the rumor from my last post, I am not pregnant!  Ha!  Y'all are funny!  The main reason for my absence is that Audrey has been pulling some crazy times getting up in the mornings.  For about 2-3 week stretch it was 5am or before.  If that isn't bad enough, I've been staying up, waiting for Michael to come home.  He's been leaving work after 11 (pm!) for quite a while now.  Then the poor guy studies for his last CPA exam.  Then works Saturdays.  UGH!  I am lucky enough to get the chance to nap when Audrey naps.  So, instead of blogging, I've been mostly napping.  I also have been reading books for two book clubs plus my own personal readings.  Then there's housework that is always needing to be done.  Audrey's sleep improved for about a week and has been getting earlier lately.  We're sleeping to at least 6 am, but barely.  I've tried everything and have read just about everything.  Who knows what to do.

Big news is that she's a 20 pounder!  That means a front-facing car seat!  No more sun in her eyes and she'll now see what we see!  I've been waiting soooo long for this!

She couldn't wait to test it out!

Not that amazed by her new view on life.

Comfy enough to sleep, though!

Shannon gave me the idea of going to the pet store for free entertainment.  Brilliant!  This was so much fun.  She loved the fish the best.  She amazed us my imitating the parakeets...very high pitched!

As soon as the weather started to get warmer, we began to spend a lot of time outside.  She loves the sounds, sights, and wind!  We have quite a few dogs next door and she loves to go see them and bark back at them.  Here are a few shots I've taken while out.

This is at our park.  Audrey is a little obsessed with ducks right now.  She was so happy when she saw the ducks in the picture below.

Audrey is also climbing on top of everything.  She's only gotten on the hearth twice.  I hope she knows mommy does not like that.  She can get on the couch and onto two rocker-type toys that she has.  It's almost impossible to do laundry these days...
And for the last picture, Audrey is trying out the side bang for the moment.  This is after being outside for 20 minutes in the wind, but you get the idea.  I think I like it.  We'll see I long I stick with it.

Hello World!

I promise that I'll return to the blogging world soon.  I'm afraid to get started now because I think Audrey will be waking up soon.  I'll have pictures and explanations on why I've been MIA.