Have You Heard?

Baby due April 7th!

Update from the last month

I'm getting really bad at updating my blog, huh? I've been pushed by friends the last few times to update and here I am again. It has been a busy month!

Michael took 3 weeks vacation! We had grand plans and I even envisioned making a trip to the beach. It didn't turn out that exciting.

Michael spent the first 2 weeks at the library studying for the last portion of the CPA exam. And I'm happy to announce that he passed and once the paper work processes, he'll be a CPA! I'm very proud of how dedicated he was to do well at this and also balance everything else going on in his life. He is something else!

During this vacation time, he persuaded me to become a member at our rec center. We were going to trade out mornings of watching Audrey and working out. I've worked out once. :(

On his last week of vacation, we transformed our sunroom (actually, we just stored stuff in there) into a playroom for Audrey. This was quite a job! We had previously fixed the leaky roof and replaced the water-damaged ceiling. During this week, we put down carpet, replaced the lighting, changed up some electrical stuff, primed the brick, painted, changed paint colors and painted again, and painted furniture. We also bought curtains, but I will need a lot of spare time to shorten and hang those. Here is a before and after picture, but the after is not complete. Who knows when it will be.

During that last week of vacation, Michael also treated me to Texas de Brazil for part of my Mothers Day gift. YUM! Michael's sister watched Audrey while we were out. Unfortunately, we did not know that Audrey had a very contagious illness at that point. She had hand/foot/mouth disease and passed it on to her baby cousin Molly. Molly then passed it on to her sisters, Ashley and Kaley. I felt horrible about it! Thankfully, she did not pass it on to her other cousins, Maddie and Macie, and our friends Anna Lee and JD (just weeks old then) when we saw them that week. Audrey broke out with blisters on her hands, feet, and bottom, but not so much her mouth. We had to stay away from civilization for 10 days or so. She still may be contagious through her stools. We're always careful in that situation, so I'm not too concerned with that. Below is a fuzzy picture of Audrey's foot with the blisters.

Michael also got sick at the end of that week and took a couple of days off when work started back up. I had my hands full nursing my sick loved ones. I think I may have had migraines during this time. We were not fun to be around - for sure!

Recently, I've been making my baby gifts. My mother-in-law showed me how to sew hooded towels. I've made a few now. My first attempt was a little embarrassing. I'm sorry you were my first, JD! I save money by making these and I feel like it means more since I made it myself. Here are some pictures of a couple.

Update on Audrey. She has just been so fun lately! She has grown out of her whiny mood lately. She sings and laughs often. She plays so sweetly with her dolls and loves on us all the time. I'm loving this stage in her life!

I got my hair colored. I wanted to match my roots. I had been using my own box of color to cover up highlights. I wasn't matching my natural hair color well, so I went to a professional. Oops. I have black hair now. I should have known when my stylist told me while cutting my hair that he may be color blind because he can't tell the dark colors apart. Michael loves the black hair. I'm okay with it, but I'm trying to fade it out a bit by washing my hair with Dawn.

My brother and his wife (Brett and Jenny) are going to have a boy! Jenny's going to be outnumbered 4-1 in her house! Zachary and Ethan are great kids and so we're excited to have another little Perkins boy in the family!

That's all I can think of right now about the past month. I hope to update better this month, but no promises.

More Randoms

I looked at my camera last night and found more pictures and videos to share.  Below is Audrey displaying her little stinker personality.  Check out that smirk!  Btw, we are certainly in the phase of all out fits when she becomes frustrated.  She also knows when we think she's cute and she hams it up.  Love that!

It is very rare that Audrey is just in a diaper, even though she loves it that way!  It's even more rare that Michael wears a cap.  I think this picture is pretty cute and it will most likely never happen again.  I just wish I had gotten a better shot.

Here is a video you may or may not enjoy.  Just depends on how invested you are in my kid! She's just playing in the pool here.

Here's a video of what Audrey loves to do lately.  Seriously, this kid loves everything I don't.  I hate spinning around and to feel like I'm falling.  She thinks this is the only way to have fun.   Even when she was colicky, if you swung her up and down, she would calm down.  Anyone want to take her to Six Flags when she's older?

I've mentioned before that I would love for a professional makeup artist to do my makeup.  I think that I even contemplated wearing hideous clothes for a while so TLC's What Not To Wear would come rescue me and give me a makeover.  

I got my chance about a week ago.  This guy, that is apparently top notch in the cosmetic world, was in town and putting makeup on desperate girls like me.  He was a sight to see, to be sure.   He wore a black shirt with red, possibly velour, pants and hightop sneakers.  He had these fantastic green eyes that he highlighted with mascara.  He had an assistant who stood behind him and would offer a clean brush for each new application.  After he worked on me, my technician just went on and on about how excited she was for me that he worked on me.  I had asked for a natural look.  I came home and took a washcloth to my face to remove much of the makeup before heading back out.  I was so disappointed.  I guess I got what I paid for...nuthin!

Catching Up

Hello, Blog World!  It certainly has been awhile.

Since I last wrote, Michael has completed busy season and is off for three weeks vacation!  He is using two of those weeks to study for his final portion of the CPA Exam.  We hope to do some fun things that final week.  He has jury duty that Monday, so hopefully he'll be turned away and our fun can start!

I've told y'all about how Audrey freaks out at the doctor's office.  Well, shortly after her 15 month check-up, Audrey touched a mystery object that's she's allergic to and then touched her eye.  Her eye immediately swelled shut.  I tried to wash it out with saline and took her to the doctor immediately.  He, too, washed out her eye and gave her some meds.  We headed home and she took a nap in the car.  This is what she looked like after her meds kicked in and after her nap.

She took Benadryl for 24 hours and her eye went back to normal.  Over the next week or so, her eye swelled up twice - not nearly as severe - and I became really concerned.  We have no idea what is causing this to happen to her.  She was always inside, but not always at our house.  I hated doping her up with Benadryl...especially since it makes her hyper and she can't sleep well.  My pediatrician referred us to an allergist because she has had so many reactions.

We made our trip to the allergist on Monday.  Audrey hates elevators and this guy is on the 5th floor.  I knew going in that Audrey would be in tears before we ever entered the doc's office.  Then, our doctor just had spinal surgery, so he is wearing a brace around his neck and is legitimately scary looking.  Audrey completely freaked out!  I'm so glad I had Michael with me so that he could take Audrey away while the doctor and I talked.  Fortunately, he didn't feel like Audrey needed to have any tests done to her!  He gave us some very good advice and answered the many questions I had.  I feel so much more at ease about knowing how and when to do things.

Audrey has been cutting 6 teeth, so she nows has 12 pearly whites!  I'm glad that they have all finally cut through her gums!

The Saturday before Easter, we celebrated with the Hall family.  Here are some pics from that time:   

On Easter, we went to church with my parents and ate lunch at my aunt Sasa's house.  Sasa took pictures of us as a family and I haven't seen those yet.  These are what my dad took.  Hopefully I'll get some good pics of her dress the next time she wears it.

Audrey has been swimming in our little kiddie-pool a lot lately.  We love this warm weather!  Can't wait until the big pools warm up enough to go swimming!

Today, we are clearing out our extra room.  We hope to put carpet in there next week and make it into a play room.  That's fun and exciting! (Did you read that with sarcasm?) 

Next week should be fun with Michael home.  I hope to blog about it before another month goes by!  Thanks for checking in!

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.

What a Gorgeous Weekend!

Saturday's weather could not have been more beautiful! What a way to wrap up an icy week! And to top it off, Michael didn't have to work! We took full advantage of this unexpected great day. The 3 of us spent the whole day together, just being spontaneous. We went to the library and then to the park. The park is a lot more fun when Audrey can walk! She loved everything about it. The wind in her face, the kids to watch, and the ducks that came looking for food. We made a stop at Sonic. I got a hot fudge sundae...yummmm! Then we went shopping, well, window shopping for the most part. It was still a lot of fun. We headed home for a quick stop and played in the backyard. Audrey carried around the basketball that was almost half her size. When she dropped it, she would chase after it and hoist it up again . I can not wait to show her how to shoot one day. We ate dinner at Cowboy Chicken and I had free peach cobbler with ice cream. Two great desserts in one day! We headed over to Home Depot to get supplies for a project that we'll do on the next pretty day. While we were there, we bumped into some friends that we had not seen in a very long time. This was my favorite kind of day - laid back, beautiful weather, desserts, and fun surprises!

What I Bought Today

I bought sponge rollers for my little girl!  She didn't give me a single problem putting them in.  I can't wait to do her hair for real with them.  Audrey did get a little upset when she was playing and felt one of them.  Hopefully, she'll get used to them just like her bands and bows.  She just might have better tamed hair the next time you see her.

Are You Serious?

Yesterday, I was out at target and I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing in JANUARY! SWIMSUITS! And I bought one for Audrey. She now is the proud owner of 3 swimsuits at the tender age of 13 months! She had one for last summer, a new one for our stay at Great Wolf Lodge during Thanksgiving, and now she has one for this summer. At least baby swimsuits are not nearly as pricey as adult swimsuits. I'm not happy with any of mine and I sure spent a lot more. I usually don't buy one until it is absolutely vital for me to get one. By then, they are all picked over and I struggle just to find one in my size. Maybe I should do swimsuit shopping for me before that happens again! I don't know if I can make myself do that right now as we recover financially from Christmas and Audrey's birthday.

Proud to be an American

(Picture has nothing to do with this post.)

I am so proud to be an American today. I enjoyed watching all of the events that occurred today. At the same time, I am very disappointed to read comments by a few white people that diminished the importance of finally electing a non-white male as our commander-in-chief. I still see a lot of room for us to grow together. I am excited for minorities to know that their dreams of having ANY occupation can truly happen in this nation. I am hoping that all men see a loving husband and father and give themselves a good, hard look at themselves and make sure they are being the man they are supposed to be. It seems like everyone in DC was friendly and caught up in the spirit of this step forward in race relations in this country.

On a side note, yesterday marks the age Audrey would be if I followed my mother's timing in having a second child. She jokingly told me I was being pokey. I think not! I don't know how she did it!

Video

Here's a taste of what's been going on at our house.

I'm Updating...Finally

Well, I was updating, but blogger won't let me upload pictures. :(

It's been busy times with holidays, sickness (time and time again), Grandmommy's funeral, Michael's CPA test and busy season. To see pictures of Christmas that's on my facebook, click on this LINK.