I saved my pennies...literally

Yes this is a huge pile of pennies! $39 to be exact. I started saving them a looong time ago. I knew they would come in handy someday. Today is that day. Along with the stack of pennies I finally saved enough cash to buy my new Bosch Universal Plus Mixer! I have wanted one for so long! I worked extra shifts and scrimped money in different ways and now I ordered it!! It feels so good to have worked hard for something I want. Now what to save for next....

Giggles

I have had a cold this last week. I am feeling a lot better now and the congestion has mostly cleared up. I do have a lingering cough every once in a while. Last night Audrey thought my coughing was hilarious. The coughing on the video is obviously fake (you wouldn't want to listen to my real cough anyway). Enjoy this little video. :)

Sorry the quality isn't great but I couldn't get the video to load directly from my hard drive. Enjoy.

Random Tidbits

I finally got Audrey a crib! She has been sleeping in her pack and play for 4 months and it was getting crowded so she has a new bed! I love it! I'm still not sure if she does though. With all of the added space she can freely roll around in bed now but she get frustrated when she gets stuck on her tummy or in a corner. She will get used to it before too long. I love the bedding though! It looks even better than I remembered! I think her nursery is pretty cute considering that its a rented apartment so we can't do too much and that I am too cheap to splurge on anything really nice.

I got my hair cut and colored darker. I was nervous to go darker because I have never NOT been a blonde. I like it though, I may have to ease in to this whole brunette thing.

The weather has gotten a bit chillier out here. Fall is about to be upon us! With the colder weather out come the slippers! I need to get me a new pair but Audrey has some adorable ones that look like little bunnies! She loves them because they are built in toys!

Our smart little girl has figured out how to bounce herself in her bouncy seat.

On Saturday we took a trip down to Chicago to go to the temple! It's been a while since we have been able to go and it was great to be there. Chicago is about a 2.5-3 hour trip each way so it is definitely more of a sacrifice to go than it was in Utah with several nearby temples. We carpooled down with another couple and their 2 kiddos. It worked out great for all of us because we traded babysitting so we could attend the sessions as a couple. The Chicago temple is really small! There were only 12 people in our session but I really liked the intimate feeling. I felt a neat bond to the other few people there as we worshiped together. I am so grateful for the promises I have made with Heavenly Father in the temple. One of the greatest sources of hope and peace in my life is that through my temple marriage I know that our family will be together for eternity.

Friday Photo Feature

Having lunch with Daddy at work

Just a little photo shoot after Audrey's bath. I know some people wont care about seeing dozens of pictures of my baby but I'm trying to keep the grandmas and great grandmas well supplied.

Pretty baby!

Her hair just keeps getting redder and redder! Thank you Kitty for that gene!

"Ooh! Toes!"

This was really funny. Audrey was sitting in her highchair and I gave her one of her teething toys from the fridge. It was cold in her mouth and she pulled it out and slammed it on her tray. Then she proceeded to give it quite the lecture about being so cold! I was dying laughing!

Labor Day

Labor Day was extra special this year because now that Mitchell has a full-time 40 hour a week plus job, his extra days off are a real treat! Mitchell got us tickets to see the Milwaukee Brewers play the Saint Louis Cardinals. We decided to make a day of it and see what there is to see in Milwaukee! The game was really fun! The Brewers were leading the whole game until about the 7th inning when the Cardinals took the lead with a grand slam! We thought it would be a blow out but the Brewers made a valiant come back at the end but it wasn't quite enough. The final score was Brewers: 6, Cardinals: 8.

Miller Park. Sorry for the blur, it was the view from the freeway.

After the game we tried to go to an indoor conservatory called the Domes. They are 3 huge greenhouses with warm weather and tropical plants. It was closed by the time we got there.

We also visited a botanical garden that was beautiful! We liked the rose garden, the herb garden and the trial garden the most! The trial garden was really neat! They grow genetically altered plants or vegetables and compete against other gardens. The plants are rated based on height of flowers above greenery, duration of bloom, yield of fruit and fruit taste among other things. It was neat to see the past and present winners displayed. I wish I had a picture of the HUGE marigolds they grew for the 2010 competition! They were like bushes rather than little flowers! Very pretty.

Anyone know what kind of flowers these are? They look like little red and yellow chilis. So cute!

Rose Garden

A bench in a meadow that reminded me of Pride and Prejudice

Does this picture look familiar? Remember this post? She has grown so much in 3.5 months!

We finished off the fun day with some frozen custard at a famous midwest establishment, Kopps.

**A shout out to our friends the DeRolfs for the great Milwaukee recommendations!**

Side note: Audrey's latest trick is screeching and squealing just to hear her own voice. Sometimes I think it is adorable and sometimes I think it's just loud. Here's a video, you decide...