Possibly Potty-Training?!?

I have to eat my words from Monday. Audrey was very consistent showing potty-ready signs Monday night-Wednesday morning. So, we bought pull-ups and big girl underwear (in the theme of Minnie Mouse) on Wednesday and I just watched to see what would happen.

She made many trips to sit on the potty, but nuthin. I had to change a lot of pull-ups. We even had an explosion involving Mommy cleaning body, clothes, and floor. Wednesday was not fun, but not horrible. Michael told me that night that he thought she was more than ready to do this, so I continued.

Today, Audrey and I spent the morning running errands, so I wasn't expecting anything. I put her in a diaper for her nap. When I finally got her in a pull-up, she let me know she needed to potty. When it happened, it scared her! Of course! So I had to make it a really good thing. We made phone calls and did a lot of cheering. Let's see what the future brings! Come on Auds!

My Audrey!

So Audrey turned 2 last month. I decided that I need to write some things down about my little squirt before I forget about this time in her life. I remember how awful my brain worked as a fresh new mom and I know that Baby Julia will bring on another case of new-mommy-brain soon. So onto my little bit!

• She is SO silly! She loves to walk around making funny noises and making funny faces. She thinks it's terribly funny to try to lick you. Nice, huh?
• She can count to 13.
• She loves her Ma, Poppy, Mimi, and Pappa. She sings songs about them.
• She's a motormouth, but you probably won't witness that since she tends to be quiet around other people.
• She would eat Mac N Cheese over anything right now. Last week, it was oranges. 2 Weeks ago, it was bananas. Blueberries before that.
• She went to her first Dallas Stars game and fell asleep! She did cheer for awhile, yelling, "Go Stars!" Really cute.
• She loves hats!
• She's a fashionista. She chooses what she wears...up to bow color and down to the type of shoes.
• She is addicted to Curious George. We don't watch anything else.
• Her favorite song is either the Wheels on the Bus or Jesus Loves the Little Children.
• Her sleeping habits are dependent on how often she sees Michael. If he's working a lot, we struggle with sleep. If he's around, a sleep schedule is easily kept. She tends to sleep 2-3 hours for naps. (We try to start the nap at noon.) She usually sleeps from 8pm-7:30am. That bedtime seems to be too early these days.
• Her daddy is her world!
• She's still in a crib, but has a big girl bed waiting for her. She loves to play on it, but isn't ready for the transition yet.
• She's still in diapers and I don't really see potty training happening in the near future. She might surprise me though!
• She's had several hair cuts in her life already. I cut her hair last week and got a little scissor-happy. Oops!
• She has done much better at the doctor's office lately. We were seeing him every other week for awhile, so she began to get more comfortable. We don't have a scheduled visit for another year! Yay!
• She is sweet with babies and recently lets me hold them!
• She loves to care for her baby dolls.
• She loves to be clean. If she makes a mess, she immediately tells me. Yesterday, she walked into the playroom and said, "Mess!" She began to put away her toys. :)

Here are some pics since Christmas:

My parents' neighbor, Jan, made her this hat. Cute!

Playing in the jumphouse before the Stars game.

Asleep during the Stars game (3rd period, OT, and shootout!)

First White Christmas!

I am 30 years old and I finally got my first white Christmas! I can not describe to you how happy I was or how magical the snow made Christmas. I LUVED it! It was Audrey's 3rd Christmas, and it was a lot of fun! I think next year will be awesome because of what all she'll be able to comprehend. She knows now that Baby Jesus was born at Christmas, that Santa says "Ho! Ho! Ho!," and that people put up Christmas trees and put out Christmas lights. She calls the Christmas lights simply, "Christmas."

Audrey and I spent Tuesday through Saturday morning with the Halls. Michael had to work late until Christmas Eve, so he wasn't able to be at EVERYTHING, but it just made it more special to have him when he was there.

Tuesday, Audrey played with her cousins and made sugar cookies with Ma. She would rather eat the dough than make cookies. Silly girl.

Wednesday, the family put on a Christmas play at a nursing home. My brother-in-law's grandmother, Hot Rod :), lives there and helped plan it. My brother-in-law's nephews from California also joined our family in the play. I held Audrey during the play, so you will only see pictures of her before and after the play.

This is the pic I took with my phone right before we left, so that Michael could see his little angel!

Michael got off earlier than expected and got to see the play! It was a Christmas miracle!

On Christmas Eve, we had lunch with Michael's siblings and their spouses at Texas de Brazil! Michael's parents had given all of us a gift card for our birthday present to use during the holiday. This is a super-fun group to hang out with. Texas de Brazil is perfect for a hungry pregnant woman. How could it get more perfect, you ask? SNOW! It had snowed the entire time we were eating and was just beautiful when we left. We just had to spend some more time at Starbucks, sipping their holiday specials, and watching the snow. It was great!

When we returned to Ma and Poppy's, Audrey had just woken up from her nap. I bundled her up and introduced snow to my baby. She wasn't a fan. :(

This is how much of the day was spent. Audrey loved this tent and tunnel.

Playing the piano with cousin Kaley.

Silly girl kept purposefully closing her eyes when I took pictures. I finally got her with her eyes opened! The picture sequence is pretty funny. I may post that one day.

On Christmas Eve night, the grandkids get to open their stockings. She was excited!

Audrey leaving cookies and milk for Santa.

Views on Christmas morning. Audrey slept in late. She probably won't ever do that again!

Snow!

After we opened our gifts at home and had breakfast, we went back to the Hall's house and opened gifts there. Audrey was having a blast until she fell while eating a candy cane. Her chin and teeth got bloodied up. She was back and at it in no time!

Her aunts gave her a kitchen!

She loves her tricycle and helmet! The helmet was her favorite gift from Santa. She LOVES hats! I like how this picture makes her look like she's focused on the road.

Picture with all of the Hall cousins. Poor Andrew was not feeling well at all!

We also celebrated Matthew's 5th birthday. His birthday is the day after Audrey's. I met Mike, Melissa, and Matthew on the day he was born. Those 5 years have flown by!

On Saturday, we went to my parents' house to celebrate. Baby Brady was there and it was so great to HOLD him!

Audrey loved Brady! She treated him so sweetly. Lookin' good for Julia to come!

Audrey loves how silly Papa is. And he is silly.

I am so glad that we were able to see all the members of our family! I'm also glad that we were well during Christmas. The week before Christmas and the week after weren't very fun due to illnesses. I'm already wishing for another white Christmas for next year. Julia can't be left out!