Nine Months

This post is exclusively for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and for one proud momma! I put some pictures of Clay and Audrey playing this afternoon with her wagon to break up the monotony for the rest of you :). They went up and down the driveway a million times!



Last Thursday was Audrey's nine month birthday. We went for her well baby check up yesterday morning. She is continuing to grow and grow. She actually grew 2 1/2 inches since her last check up. She weighs 17 pounds and 11 ounces and she has one big head for a baby her age! Her head is in the 99th percentile!!



Here is a run down of her new tricks:
-- She can stand alone for 3-5 seconds.
-- She is CRUISING everywhere!
-- She will wave "bye-bye" but not consistently. She's still processing how that works!
-- She loves to bang objects together.
-- She will say "mom--ma" and "dad- deee" when asked but not directed toward Clay or myself.
-- Her preferred method of movement is for us to hold her hands so she can "walk". She doesn't care much for crawling these days.



-- We've been taking swim classes with a friend of mine for the month of May. She is a water baby! She loves to kick, splash, and just play, play, play! She will sit on the side of the pool, hold my fingers and "jump" off into the water. Fearless!
-- She loves music. We listen to Eve and Mare's "Daddy's Moonlight Alligator Boatride" CD everyday! She will bob her little head and bounce to the music. Dancing!! So cute! She will also do this in the car, when her Daddy or I sing to her, when her toys sing, etc.
-- She has a bit of a bashful side. When strangers speak to her she will bury her head in my shoulder. After a few minutes she gets warmed up to people and will let them hold her or at least talk to her.



-- She will not hold her bottle or her sippy cup. She will drink from the sippy cup if I hold it for her but she is more interested in just playing with it.
-- She has two perfect little teeth!!



-- She's also had her 2nd cold this past week and it has been a whopper!! She is finally getting better and we are so glad!


The most exciting thing she can do is eat food from the table!! So far she's had Paula Deen's "Not Yo' Momma's Banana Puddin'" and a mashed up banana. She was pretty indifferent to both of them! We'll see about some ice cream soon!

Mother's Day

This year Audrey and I went home to spend some time with my Momma the Thursday before Mother's Day. My sister came up that Wednesday, we rode back home with her Thursday and Clay came to stay the weekend with us and to pick us up that Saturday. Saturday night was our nieces Tumbling recital and he had to make sure he was down there to see that!



Before I became a Mother I didn't realize what all went into being a mom. I've always known about the sacrifices that my parents have both made for me but I didn't realize the extent that they would go for me. I mean, I know they love me and it is an unconditional love but I didn't realize what that unconditional, all-sacrificing love was until I had Audrey. My momma has always told me that it didn't matter what I did, or said or how I acted, or how disapointed she may be, she would always love me. I get it now. I finally understand.



It is hard for me to write down and describe the feelings that a mother has for her child. I can't begin to describe it. Not just a mother, a parent. I know Clay has the same feelings for Audrey as I do. It is a true, unconditonal, unwavering love for another human being. I had no clue that I was even capable of feeling these emotions before I had Audrey. No clue. I thought I loved people, and I do love them, but nothing compares to the love I have for Audrey.



My brother-in-law, Shad, was trying to describe this love to us once. He used an analogy about a train and his wife and son and who he would jump in front of the train for... blah, blah.. all that wasn't the best analogy and we have had many laughs over how he said what he said but now Clay and I understand much better what he meant. During the same conversation, he brought up God's love for us. He pointed out that He gave up His only Son so that we could have eternal life. How AMAZING is that?? His ONLY son?!? What a love! Could you do what He did? It puts the sacrifice He made for us into perspective.

People used to ask me when I was going to have children. My response usually was that I was a tad bit too selfish to have children just yet. I typically said that to get people to leave me alone about it. What I didn't realize (and what my momma has been saying for 30 years) was that the moment I laid eyes on Audrey-- thoughts of myself and my selfish desires were completely gone. From that point on, Audrey was put before myself. Her needs, her desires, her-- all comes before me. It is not a conscientious decision-- it just happens. My momma has modeled this unselfishness for me for 30 years now. I hope I can be just half as good a mom to Audrey as my mom is to me.

So, for me, Mother's Day was extra special this year.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Hey, Paw Paw.....

Happy Birthday!!
I love you,
Audrey

Easter- Yes, Easter

It has taken me awhile to get this post up! I didn't take my camera with me to Andalusia so I used my sister's. I then left the memory card with her so I just got these photos this past weekend!

Audrey had a wonderful first Easter. We went to church on Saturday night!?! and then got up bright and early Sunday to head home to see my family. We dyed eggs, hid eggs and ate eggs! Audrey also got lots of play time in with her sweet cousins.



Laura (dark hair) told me this past weekend that Audrey was her "baby". I said, "She is?" and she said, "We'll just have to share her I guess!" HAHA!! I won't go into the conversation we had about when Audrey lived in my belly! That Laura is one smart cookie!!


Granny helped the girls get everything set up so they could dye their eggs the brightest colors. They were a lot of help.


Notice how close they are? That's so they are right there in case you need one of them.




See that pink/coral egg? That one was Lesa's! Laura made it for her and she was very serious about getting it exactly right. Isn't it lovely?


Audrey spent her time examining Paw Paw. She also got a LOT of enjoyment out of the egg carton.
>



Laura enjoyed eating those eggs she made. We did hide all the eggs we dyed and nope-- we didn't find them all!!


This sweet girl is the most loving, kind-hearted little girl I know. She loves and loves on Audrey when they are together. She plays with her, holds her, feeds her-- you name it, Gracie wants to do it. She even WANTS to change her diaper. She is an amazing cousin to Audrey. She knows just what to say and do to make Audrey happy. While I was home this last time, Gracie was on the floor just playing and playing with Audrey. She turns to me and says, "I just LOVE her!". I know the feeling, Gracie! Me, too!


Finally, here I am with my sweet baby girl who is growing up way too fast for my liking.



Because I stay at home with her, she is rarely around other adults. She has become a "Momma's Girl". She wants me to hold her all the time (which I love!!). The following pictures are a result of me putting her down so I could take her picture.

It's almost as if she is saying, "What do you think you are doing? Pick me up!"



Now she is serious. :)


I am trying something different with my pictures this time. I am trying to make them a bit bigger. I learned how to do it from Darby. Hopefully it will work out and I will be able to do it. It is a lot easier to just upload the photos to blogger-- they just are smaller that way. I am still trying to figure out how to make that ugly purple border go away. I have tried EVERYTHING! I even had a couple of sweet friends who work with html in their jobs look at it but they couldn't figure it out. I hope I am not stuck with it forever!!!

Update: I tricked the blog! The purple border is still there but you just can't see it. I guess you could say I put a band-aid on the problem.

The next post will hopefully be Mother's Day! :)

Allardt, TN

Clay's parents love to trail ride and bought some land in an equestrian type community in Allardt, TN a couple of years ago. Most of the people who have lots in the neighborhood build cabins or barn/cabins. There are lots of different styles-- from an eco-friendly "green" cabin, to log cabins, to traditional barns to barns with apartments in them. All of the houses or dwellings cater to the horses though!

The Watts' built a HUMONGOUS barn with an apartment inside. It was ready for us to move them in this past weekend so Clay,Audrey and I drove up there Friday night and home Sunday.

Their barn has a tack room, 3 horse stalls, a storage loft and an upstairs room for storage. The "hallway" is large enough for them to pull their horse trailer that has living quarters in it through the middle of the barn. That way they can have another bedroom/bathroom if they need more sleeping room. Audrey enjoyed being pulled through that hallway in her wagon! I think she will also enjoy riding a tricycle in it or a bike one day!

The apartment emcompasses the right hand side of the building. It has a covered front porch (that you can sit on and listen to the waterfall!), a den, eating area, kitchen, bedroom, and full bath (with jacuzzi!!-- all those horse people have to have those jacuzzi tubs to soak their aching muscles and to relax in on snowy days!), and a laundry closet.

Here are some pictures of the new "cabin" and of us enjoying the great outdoors!

Clay measuring shelf liner for the drawers and cabinets.


The view from the eating area. Right past those trees is a huge gorge. I have some pitiful pictures of it that DO NOT show how beautiful it is! The gorge starts right behind those trees with a 25-30 foot waterfall that is so relaxing to hear. You can't see the waterfall from the barn but it is only a short little hike to it.


Taking a walk down to the waterfall.


If you squint and look just right you can see the waterfall. Look at the second, skinny little branch. It starts about right there and then drops waaaaaaayyyyyyyy down into the gorge. This is NOT a place for small children or toddlers. Shoot-- not even teenagers!



This is the way to and from the waterfall. I am looking up at the rocks to climb out.


The gorge. This is the best photo I got. It is a pitiful photo-- doesn't do it justice!


Back to the barn photos!

This is the sign at the road with the barn in the background.


Inside the barn-- the apartment is to the right. You can see two of the stalls and the loft from this picture. I was standing in the big sliding door. They will pull their horse trailer right down the middle of this hallway.


The den area-- it has stained concrete floors.





The kitchen with Clay and his Dad doing the dishes. This town is a very small town. The nearest Walmart is about 25-30 minutes away in Jamestown,TN. There are very few places to go out to eat other than The Hanging Hog (local BBQ). I like that about it though, when we go-- NO makeup required!! :)


And the bathroom....




I don't have any photos of the bedroom because Clay and I had our mess strewn all
over it!! It takes a lot of STUFF to travel with a baby!

This is the outside of the barn. One of the things The Watts like so much about this particular community is that it borders Big South Fork National Park. From here you can just hop on your horse and ride all the trails of the park. They love that they don't have to trailer their horses in order to be able to enjoy a ride!




Allardt, TN is nearly on the Kentucky line. It takes us four hours to get there without Audrey and FIVE with her. She decided that she wasn't riding in her carseat on the way home. She wanted to drive. She's pretty demanding!


Just kidding!! Don't report us to DHR. We do make her ride in the carseat, we just stopped to let her stretch her little legs. And yes, she is still in her pajamas! We were hoping that would encourage her to nap! Whatever!!

Audrey's First Vacation Part II

I am just going to post pictures this time. I am packing to go to the mountains this weekend so I really should be doing something else with Audrey's nap time than blogging!!