Thanksgiving 2010

We went to my parents house for Thanksgiving again this year. Audrey really LOVES playing with her cousins and boy did she whoop it up!! We went down on the Sunday before Thanksgiving because the Bass side of my family was having a family reunion. There were people there that I know I've never seen in my life and then some who I see all the time! It was pretty fun to see all our long-lost relatives. I'm not sure if we will have another reunion for a long time so I am glad we were able to go. I think the relative who traveled the greatest distance came from Miami. That made me thankful for the short 3.5 hour trip I have (although I can never make it under 5 since I had Audrey!)

The rest of the week was spent eating. Not really but it certainly felt like I had a Thanksgiving meal every single day. We ate the leftovers from the reunion, momma cooked (like always), then we ate Thanksgiving and then leftovers from that. It was GOOD but I swore when I left I wasn't eating anything until baby girl arrives in February!

My daddy did a lot of sleeping in his recliner while we were there. Or rather, he did a lot of pretending to be asleep because I have no idea how he could possibly have slept with 3 screaming kiddos (and a grown 35 year old man) running through the house!

Clay (the 35 year old who was running through the house) came down on Wednesday and settled into his role of playing with the girls. They love him because he will play and play and play. He doesn't ever seem to get tired!

We also spent a ton of time outside-- riding the golf carts (of course!), digging in the dirt and playing in Paw Paw's turnip patch. He grew some massive turnip roots this year (they were the "talk" of the reunion!) and the girls had to have their picture taken with them. Ha! Yes, I grew up in the country and that's what we do for fun!

These girls probably filled the goats' bellies full of turnips just about every day we were there. Either with turnips or weeds that were growing around the goat pen! Audrey loves those "goaties" and thinks they are talking to her when they "baaaaa". She'll ask them if they like what she is giving them, if they want more, can she pet them, etc. She has no fear!

Lastly, my absolute favorite thing that happened while we were there?! Those two sweet cousins helped Audrey figure out how to use the potty! Laura took her to the bathroom with her every time she went and Gracie would cheer Audrey own! They had their own little "Potty Party" about a hundred times a day. It was awesome! I'd put a pullup on Audrey for the first time about 6 weeks earlier. We would wear it when we were out in public or she was napping. She was really scared of the toilet at first, then she became scared of the actual "going" part. It took Laura and Gracie for her to see that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be! We've had no accidents since Thanksgiving Day!!

It's that time of year again....

The time of year where you start thinking about your Holiday cards. You have to start compiling the list of people to send them too, hunt down addresses for most of them and most importantly, figure out what you want your card to look like. Last year was fairly easy for us because we had just had Audrey's One Year pictures made so we just went with one of those! This year is so much different though! I struggled with where to have my cards printed and what sort of picture to put on them.  Then, I realized that I should utilize Shutterfly! I LOVE Shutterfly! We use them for photobooks, Birthday Invitations, Birthday Cards, and now, Holiday Cards! I’m excited to send them out this year! I can’t wait to get them in the mail and see the finished product! AND, if you are a blogger and would like to get 50 FREE Holiday Cards from SHUTTERFLY to send out this year, you can click HERE!

Fall Program

 Audrey's little MDO program had a Fall Program and it was the most precious thing I've ever seen!! We loved every bit of it (all 10 minutes, ha!). They brought the two year olds out and they sang two songs, "Birdies in the Treetops" and "Apple Annie". I can't tell you enough about how cute it was to see them all up on the stage singing their hearts out!

I was a little worried that Audrey would just suck her thumb and not participate but I shouldn't have been worried at all. She's quite the little ham!! We sat in the balcony and had the best view of them all. She danced and sang her little heart out! I wish I had video to share with you and we should soon. We ordered a DVD of the program from the school and when I get it, I'll share!



After the two year olds performed, they were able to leave the stage and go back to their classrooms. We went and picked Audrey up and then went to tour the art show. We did a lot of "oohing" and "ahhing" over all the children's art and then we FINALLY found a piece of Audrey's. I'm telling you- each kid there had 2 pieces of art and trying to find Audrey's was like a needle in a haystack. We successfully found one piece and here it is in all of it's feathered glory. I loooove it!!

Puzzles!

 Audrey has really become interested in games and puzzles over the last few weeks. Last year, Santa brought her this Infantino puzzle and this one. She wasn't very interested in the puzzles until just recently (almost a year later). Now, it's hard to get her to do anything else!! She even asked me to take her picture with the puzzle pieces! :)

She loves matching the pieces together and basically just playing her little heart out. She's gotten really good at the puzzles Santa brought her last year so hopefully he will bring her some more challenging puzzles this year! If you have a 2 year old to buy for, these are a great gift! Oh, she also loves to play them independently! Hahaha!

Cookie Factory

Last year I took Audrey to tour the local cookie factory with my mom's group. I dropped out of the group this summer but still wanted to take her to do it again this year so I got a bunch of my friends together and we all went! It was just as much fun as last year!! Maybe I should make this an annual event?!?

We even got picked up by Audrey's friend, Jackson. See how they love each other? Jackson was in Audrey's first MDO class and the two of them hit it off. He's the first person she ever mentioned as being her "friend". She says that he is sweet to her! She's right, though, he's a very sweet little boy!

Just like last year, they made us wear hairnets. Audrey didn't mind hers nearly as much as she did last year. I just told her that she couldn't get any cookies unless she wore the hairnet! Ha!

In the following pictures she is telling me in the kindest, sweetest toddler tone that she DOES NOT WANT ME TO TAKE HER PICTURE! :)

My attempt at trying to get a group shot of a bunch of two year olds didn't go so well but what's new?! Haha! Fun times!

There were 2 more sweet little boys who also went but they really didn't want to have their pictures made! :)

I love this group of kiddos (and their mommy's)!

Elf Magic Party

My sweet friend, Kellie, sent me a link last week to a party that a little boutique was having for children today. It was an "Elf Magic" party and Santa was going to be there for children to have their photos taken with him. Audrey has been talking about "Ho, Ho" for about 2 weeks so I decided I would take her to meet him this morning at the party and check out what "Elf Magic" actually was.

I've been asking her what she wants Santa to bring her for Christmas and each time I ask she responds with: soccer ball and chocolate milk. Every now and then she will add something "extra" like a tent or a swing, but she ALWAYS says she wants a soccer ball and chocolate milk. I sure hope Santa can pull through for her! Each time I ask her, I am always worried that she's going to change her mind and ask for something crazy.. like a horse or something. In that case, Santa will have to make a stop in Greenville at her Grandparents' house before he comes here! When Santa finally did ask her today though, she did not disapoint. She promptly told him she wanted a soccer ball and chocolate milk. Now that he knows, I am SURE he won't forget her requests!! :D

Last year, I got Audrey an "Elf on the Shelf" because they were on super clearance after Christmas and I thought she may enjoy it this year. After going to this "Elf Magic" party, I've decided that she needs a "Elf Magic" instead! Ha!  "Elf Magic" is faith based and focuses on teaching the Nativity. I like that!

 Now, I know it's a little early to already be celebrating Christmas and, no, I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving, it's just we do a lot of traveling over the Holidays and we get started early so we can enjoy it at home! :D

Halloween, Halloween

Last week was BUSY but oh, so, FUN! We went to my friend Kelly's house to trick or treat and to say it was a madhouse around there was an understatement. There were children everywhere and they were lined up at each house to wait their turn to trick or treat. Audrey loved it and so did Clay and I!

This is Griffin (4) pre-costume with his sister, Elise(1) and Momma, Kelly (!?!?! ha!). I love this family! This is the sweetest Momma ever. She's my dearest friend. You know, the kind of friend that you call everyday and you talk forever but when you get off the phone you can't remember what you talked about? Those conversations are much shorter these days though. They are almost always interrupted by one of our 3 children. We do have a monthly girls night out that we try to catch up on all our chit-chat at. We joke that we have to have a date night just to get to talk to each other. :)

Here's my sweet Miss Patty Cake all ready to go get some candy. It took her a bit to get warmed up to the idea of walking up to people but once she got the hang of it, she didn't want to stop!

A group shot of a bunch of toddlers/preschoolers is impossible. You can't tell from this picture but Audrey is "cheesing" for the camera-- she's just not looking at the camera! :) I love this age!!!

My favorite part of the evening was when a little girl dressed as Strawberry Shortcake came to trick or treat at Kelly's house. Audrey was in shock. She couldn't believe she was seeing a real, live Strawberry Shortcake! We chased that poor little girl down the street and I asked her Daddy if we could introduce Audrey to her. Both her mom and dad thought it was hilarious and were so kind to Audrey. They brought her over  and let Audrey touch her "beautiful" hair and her pretty dress. Audrey asked her if she was going "night, night" and then offered her the hat she was wearing and her glow necklace. Sweet little Strawberry politely declined Audrey's offers though. :) They then said their goodbyes and that was all Audrey talked about for the next two days! She couldn't BELIEVE she'd seen Strawberry Shortcake!

Completely random:
Audrey has began to talk up a storm. Like real conversations and things like that- not just a random sentence here and there. Here are two things she's said lately that I do not want to forget.

1.
Audrey: My tummy hurts.
Me: Oh, no! Why do you think your tummy hurts?
Audrey: Der's a baby in der!

Um, yeah- that does sometimes make your tummy hurt sweet girl!

2.
As we were folding laundry together...
Me: Audrey, you are a great helper.
Audrey: I help Mommy fold clothes.
Me: Yes, you are the best clothes folding toddler I know!
Audrey: I sure am!!

I love her innocent arrogance. Ha! It's not like she hasn't heard that she is the best thing ever before or anything! I consider that part of my job description. Constant praiser! :)

Wordless Wednesday: Potty Prizes- Makeup