M&M's

Big Stuff!

2012-01-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

The Harris family has a big announcement! In addition to the twins (which was a pretty big announcement), we are moving back to Utah! Mitchell recently accepted a job in good ole Provo, UT so we are headed back! We have loved our time in Wisconsin and have made some really excellent friends here. They will be sorely missed. If any of you come out to Utah though, please stop by to visit! We are excited to return to the west and to be A LOT closer to our families. Things are falling in to place really fast and we are moving on ~~February 13th!!~~ Oops, I had the date wrong, make that February 8th! In addition to moving across the country and starting a new job, we will be buying our first house! Woo! We will likely live a bit north of Provo, Lehi maybe? It is all very exciting stuff. Hopefully the transition goes smoothly and we get settled in pretty quick before the babies arrive! We consider this a huge blessing to be able to find a new job and be closer to our families. We are so blessed!

Audrey helped pack the first box last night. Many more to pack!

The other morning Audrey put Mitchell's shoes on all by herself. She thought it was pretty hilarious.

Oh boy! Oh boy!

2012-01-10T06:37:00.001-08:00

Cast Your Votes!

2012-01-04T11:52:00.000-08:00

Exactly one month from tomorrow, February 6th, we find out the genders of the twins!! Cast your vote using the poll on the sidebar.

Since I know several of the grandmas and great grandmas check the blog anxiously awaiting new pictures of Audrey, here is a funny video. Audrey sneezed and thought it was hilarious. She then proceeded to fake sneeze and laughed every time. Enjoy! And don't forget to vote!!

A Balmy 30 Degree Day, Perfect for the Water Park!

2011-12-24T18:59:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated Christmas Eve with a family outing to Mt. Olympus water park in the Wisconsin Dells! It was a blast! Of course, since it is the end of December and we are in Wisconsin (not Florida) the water park was indoor. I think it was better than the outdoor variety though because I didn't come home with a sunburn! Nor did I have to worry about my little fair skinned red head. It took Audrey a few minutes to get comfortable in the water but once she did it was all smiles and games. When we got out to dry off she even broke loose and ran back toward the pool! Once we were done being wet we changed and checked out the indoor amusement park too! I wasn't sure what Audrey would think of the carnival style rides but I was pleased that she LOVED them! She knows how to sign 'ride' and kept saying 'more ride please'! We stayed until almost 2 hours after her nap time and Audrey was angelic. What a fun day!

*My apologies for the low quality photos, they are all from my phone*

I don't look too scary with my pregnant belly in a swimsuit, right?

There she is with her roof, heating ducts and all!

The teacups were the favorite at the amusement park! We rode them until 2 out of the 3 of us were sick! The other one was just too cute to say no to!

Audrey figured out how to spin the cup, I'm pretty sure Mitchell was wishing he had brought along some Dramamine!

White Christmas?

2011-12-17T07:11:00.000-08:00

This morning, December 17, we woke up to our first snow! None of us can believe it's been dry this long! It's not too much but maybe it will stick around until the weekend and we'll have a white Christmas. One way or the other, Audrey thoroughly enjoyed playing out in it while Mitchell shoveled the walks. We even let her get some early use out of her Christmas present from Grandpa Tracy. Thanks for the galoshes!

Also, here's another baby bump picture. 12 weeks along.

Unbelieveable

2011-12-04T08:17:00.001-08:00

My belly is growing FAST this time! The scary thing is, I have 29 weeks to go!...or should I say, to grow! Yikes!

Thanksgiving Fun 2011

2011-12-01T13:21:00.001-08:00

My mom and sister came out to stay with us for a week and celebrate Thanksgiving! It was so much fun! We hardly took any pictures at all because we were so busy enjoying each other. We were especially excited for Mom and Eileen to come so we could surprise them with our exciting news! They didn't even know I was pregnant!

I made this shirt for Audrey that says" Big Sis." Audrey wore it to the airport when we went to pick them up. As I predicted, my mom noticed the shirt right away and said, "Big sister? Is this an announcement?" I had her sit down before I handed over the ultrasound. She was so excited to discover that there are 2 babies in there!

We enjoyed a local Mongolian BBQ restaurant that night and mostly enjoyed seeing and talking to each other. For Family Home Evening we went to Mitchell's work to make s'mores. It is a really cool campus and there are themed conference rooms all over. Each conference room has a fireplace so you can build a fire. It's really cool. Eileen reminded us to be grateful and gave a great lesson based on President Monson's talk on gratitude from a year ago. The s'mores were good and Audrey loved all of the extra attention!

Tuesday we took a tour of the rest of Mitchell's work and saw some of the neat artwork and quirky displays, followed by a delicious lunch at the gourmet cafeteria with Mitchell.

Audrey warmed right up to Grandma and Aunt Eileen. It helps that Grandma fed her cookies all week and played new games with her. Eileen spoiled her rotten with attention and fun. Here is Audrey and Grandma playing "Where's Bruce." Audrey turned to smile at Eileen with the camera every time.

Wednesday was a cooking day and we made 6 dozen rolls, 2 batches of stuffing, cranberry relish and fudge. When Mitchell got home from work we headed north to spend 3 days with our great friends the Easters and the Smiths! Cindy made 2 succulent and delicious turkeys and there was more food than we could possibly eat. Not to mention more games than we could play and more football than we could watch. I think we did a great job of observing the 4 F's of Thanksgiving: Food, Family, Friends and Football.

I was a wonderful visit and as always, it flew by way too fast! We can't wait to see you again soon Mom and Eileen!

Double Vision

2011-11-20T14:27:00.001-08:00

Coming June 27, 2012...or thereabouts!

Deck the Halls

2011-11-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Mitchell has been travelling this week so I took advantage of my extra free time to sew! I've been hoarding this fabric since last year to make a Christmas tree skirt, and now here it is!! I love it! Can I set up the tree now? I have more of the same fabrics to make coordinating stockings too! I can't wait for Christmas!

Trick or Treat

2011-11-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

I didn't think Audrey would get the concept of trick or treating this year. I am so glad I brought a bucket to the church trunk or treat party just in case! Once she figured out people were putting candy in her bucket she was unstoppable! She even remembered to say (actually, sign) thank you to everyone! Cutest little fairy princess ever!

Farm and Corn Maze

2011-10-15T19:48:00.000-07:00

Today was a full and fun Saturday! I'll let the pictures do most of the talking since there are a lot. We started the day with a family workout. I ran 11 miles and Mitchell rode along side me on his bike while towing Audrey in the bike trailer. I was grateful for the company and the support! Looks like I am well on my way to being ready for the Haunted Half Marathon I'm running in 2 weeks! Here's my support crew. I wish I had snapped a picture of Audrey in the little trailer too. So cute!

After the ride Audrey was a champ and willingly took an early nap so we could enjoy the afternoon at a (semi) local farm/corn maze/pumpkin patch. It was a blast! Audrey ran around delighted at all of the new experiences to be had. I do NOT want to jinx myself but she is so good natured. It was a long day and although she was exhausted after 3 hours at the pumpkin patch, she was really patient and didn't throw a fit at all. I love being her mom!

I could hardly keep up with her, she ran around inspecting everything in sight!

This picture is my favorite recent photo of Audrey. So cute!

Climbing...of course.

I wonder what sinister plan she had cooked up with that corn husk?

Sad faces (I cracked a smile) because we found ourselves at a dead end in the corn maze.

The whole gang!

We also got to go on a tractor/ wagon ride. Audrey loved it. She also enjoyed the hot apple cider and pumpkin donuts. Isn't Autumn full of charm!?!

Christmas Came Early!

2011-10-11T20:39:00.001-07:00

Santa visited our home early this year! I am giddy with excitement waiting for Audrey to wake up and see her new car! She is going to love it!

Communication

2011-10-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Since Audrey was a little baby I have taught her what little sign language I remember. She now knows and uses at least 10 signs! It's great that she is able to tell me useful things. I'm sure that some situations are less stressful for her because she can communicate a few of her basic preferences.

Here is a sampling of her signs. Audrey has modified most of them to suit her taste.

Melanie Harris, RN

2011-09-27T19:14:00.001-07:00

I am a working woman now! I got a job as a team nurse at a skilled nursing facility associated with a local hospital. I am really excited! This is my second week of orientation and I am loving the facility. Once I get trained and working on my own I will be scheduled for the PM shift, 2:00pm-10:30pm and I will be working about 20 hours per week. We really lucked out too with our awesome babysitter! She is a friend and Audrey loves it there! I am happy that I still get to be home with Audrey most of the time and the days that I do work she will basically just take her nap at the babysitters and Mitchell will pick her up after work. More updates to come! :)

And because no blog post is complete with out a picture...

Audrey got this pot out of the cupboard yesterday, hefted it up to the table, climbed up and in and watched out the window waiting for Daddy to come home. She is such a joy!

High Adventure 2011

2011-09-27T19:13:00.001-07:00

So I (Mitchell) have been called to be in the Young Men's in our ward, which also makes me assistant scout master. Which means that I get to do fun things like this:

The Windy City

2011-09-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

We spent the Labor Day weekend in Chicago this year! Saturday was our stake temple day so we decided to take advantage of that and take advantage of the long weekend. It was wonderful. Mitchell and I traded babysitting with another family who brought their 2 adorable girls down. The girls loved it and played at a nearby playground for 3 and a half hours! I love attending the temple it is so wonderful to step inside and leave behind all of my worries, responsibilities and cares of the world for a couple of hours. Not to mention the things I learn and discover through temple worship, I always feel so renewed. Here are some pictures of Audrey with her new friends at the temple.

Later that evening we just checked in to the hotel and relaxed. Audrey was pretty wiped out from playing so hard all afternoon.

It just so happened that our brother in law, who is a pilot for Delta, had a 24 hour layover in Chicago on Sunday! What serendipity! We went to church together in the morning then did some city sight seeing. We went to Millennium Park and saw the iconic giant reflective metallic bean. It was just that, giant, reflective and metallic. A neat photo op and now I can say 'I went there!' when I see in in pictures or a movie. Cool. The much cooler and more fun area of the park was the Crown Fountain. It's essentially an urban chic splash pad. We let Audrey play and slide around in the water even though she was in her church dress. I figured it's not her fault she was all dressed up at a water park. She had a blast! Her favorite game was getting a running start then sliding on the tiles in about 2 inches of water.

This beautiful outdoor amphitheater holds concerts all summer. So pretty!

Of course we didn't think to pose for a picture until it was time to go and Audrey's wet dress was soaking my shirt, she was also crying because she bonked her elbow playing the run and slip game.

We saw this Illinois Department of Transportation sign as we entered the parking garage and all laughed together because we thought it said 'Idiot.' Well, I think it really was there to mock us because parking at Millennium Park was $25 no matter how long you stay! Thank you Leon!

After we dropped Leon back off at the airport we had some delicious Chicago deep dish pizza. Mmm.

Mitchell's grandmother grew up in the Chicago suburbs and we took the opportunity to go out to Lombard, IL and check out the house she grew up in. That was so neat! Grandma's father was an engineer and he designed the home. Her mother was in charge of the decorations. They lived in this house from 1941-1959. So cool! I so wanted to knock on the door and tell the people living there about the history of their house! We also checked out the high school Grandma went to. It is probably one of the neatest looking high schools with it's embossed crests and the castle-like turret. We loved getting to see what Grandma saw growing up in Lombard.

Monday we visited the Shedd Aquarium. This was really cool! Audrey loved seeing the fish. Our favorite displays were the huge Caribbean tank with large fish, sharks, coral and even a SCUBA diver inside! We also loved the Amazon rain forest section. It reminded Mitchell a lot of his mission when he was in the jungle of Peru.

Last, but certainly not least, in our Chicago adventure. I got to do some retail therapy on the Magnificent Mile! If I hadn't had a very tired toddler with me I really could have spent some time....haha, and $$$, on Michigan Avenue. I did get a fun new Chicago outfit to remember the weekend. What a great family trip!

Photo Dumpty

2011-09-07T15:09:00.000-07:00

I have a long post written about our adventures in Chicago this weekend. I'm still waiting to get our camera cord back. In the meantime here's my little fairy tale girl.

Stats

2011-08-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

I like to record Audrey's stats on the blog so I can easily find them later. Here they are. I don't have a picture because our camera cord is being loaned to someone else.

15 months stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 7oz, 5th percentile (yes she does eat!)

Height: 31 inches, 68th percentile

Head Circ: 44.7cm, 18th percentile

What a skinny little runt! She is growing and following her growth curve perfectly though, so no one is worried at all. I think she probably slowed the weight gain this last month due to cutting back to one nap a day. Now there are 2 more hours in the day to climb! And climb she does! Recently I went to visit a friend and before I could get my shoes off at the door, Audrey ran over and climbed on top of my friend's kitchen table! Triumph! She definitely keeps us busy!

On second thought, I do have a couple of pictures to post that were taken in CA in July.

2011-08-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

Mmmm. Spaghetti for dinner. Then straight to the bath!

What I see right now...

2011-08-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Three images from my perspective right now.

My cutie eating lunch and giving me a scrunched up smile.

My other cutie sewing himself a bivy sac for the Boy Scout high adventure trip.

I am chopping veggies from the farmers market for a soup.

...life is good.

Picture of the day

2011-08-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

Audrey and I went to the zoo! She must have really enjoyed it too because she came home and slept for 4 hours!

Baa, Mmm, Ssss, Neh, Arr, Hahhah, baba...

2011-07-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Audrey is learning how to make animal sounds! She loves animals and is delighted when she makes the correct sound! So far she has mastered the sheep, cow, snake, horse, lion, dog and chicken. In keeping with the animal sound theme that has dominated our home in the last week Audrey and I visited a local farm today that has a petting farm set up. She was in heaven! It was the middle of the day so many of the animals were resting but I was thrilled when one of the sheep let out a loud 'BAAA'! Audrey laughed and laughed! What fun it is to have a toddler!

These were baby goats that, fortunately, didn't have teeth because Audrey loved when they would nibble and suck on her fingers.

An expert 2 handed milker!

Audrey could have chased these baby turkeys all afternoon! So entertaining!

July in California

2011-07-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

This month is flying by! Our whole little family got to take a trip to California! Mitchell stayed 4 days and Audrey and I stayed 2 weeks! It was great and we just got back yesterday. Mitchell sure was ready to have his girls back!

My little (haha, not so little. He's a man now) brother returned from his LDS mission on July 6th! It was so fantastic to see him again after 2 years of serving in San Antonio, TX. We got family pictures taken. I have only seen a small preview of them but here's the one of all 4 siblings! Love it! We all love how James' giant wingspan reaches around all of his sisters. There are perks to being 6'1"! Can you tell we're all related?

We also got to visit Grandma Peterson in Palo Alto. It was a fun visit! We got a picnic lunch from the local deli and walked to a really fun park. We all really enjoyed the day! We hope it isn't too long between visits! Love you Grandma Peterson!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous the whole time we were there so we spent a lot of time outside! Mitchell, my dad, our bro in law Jarrel and I went white water rafting one Saturday! So fun! Thanks Dad for putting that together! Makes me remember my childhood, rafting every Saturday all summer!

There were many trips to the park, morning walks and playing with the cousins. Summer is so grown up and Ricky is the smiley-est baby I know! We went to Fairy Tale Town with Jarrel, Lynn and Summer and Ricky. James, Eileen and Mom came along for the fun too! I remember going to Fairytale Town as a kid so it was fun to see Audrey enjoying it too! Basically it is a very old (built in the 50s) amusement park for young kids based on fairy tales and nursery rhymes. There are climbing structures, slides, a barn with animals to look at, open grassy areas and an Indian teepee. The little girls loved it!

Peter Cottontail. In the cages behind the large blue bunny were 4 live rabbits that the kids could look at. Their names are: Flopsy, Mopsy, Peter and Cottontail.

Behind bars on a pirate ship.

Walking the plank.

The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.

Sitting on Mother Goose

Cinderella's Carriage

Jack and the Beanstalk

The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. The goats were chillin in the shade.

Tepee...

...and from the inside, with Grandma!

The trip was busy and leisurely at the same time. So fun to be with family! Oh and how could I forget, we got all caught up on the Harry Potter movies so I am prepped for The Deathly Hallows part 2! ...No, I am way too old to be going to the movies at midnight!

A couple of things

2011-06-23T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the armoire primed and painted and in my bedroom. Even the hardware got a little fresh paint. It was a fun project and I think it turned out pretty nice! Please ignore my massive stash of breakfast cereal has already found a new home up top, haha!

Audrey likes the reaction she gets when she makes a sour face. She's a good sport about the lime wedges too. :)

I don't have any pictures of us (I should fix that for sure) but Mitchell and I joined our city league ultimate frisbee team! It has been so fun! We have games every Tuesday and Thursday evening all summer! It's a fun way to workout, spend time with friends and do something new! Audrey has enjoyed the frequent trips to the park and playing with the other kids that come too.

On Tuesday evening at our frisbee game I had a short conversation with a 3 year old girl and I noticed that Audrey is really picking up on social and conversational cues! The conversation went like this:

Little Girl: "Frogs eat flies with their tongue!"

*Audrey looks at the girl and sticks out her tongue when she hears the word she recognizes*

Little Girl: "Flies eat poop."

Me: "Ew, that's yucky."

*Audrey looks at me when I speak and spits when she hears the word yucky*

Side note: Lately I have been looking a little bit for a nursing job again. I have an interview at St. Mary's hospital on Tuesday! Please send your prayers and good vibes my way!

Makeover

2011-06-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the current progress on the armoire. She's been primed and mostly painted. I decided to go with a light celery green color. I am going to glaze over it with a dark stain (then wipe most of the glaze off) so that the details of the molding come out. It's been fun!

2011-06-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

Audrey is really brave! I am amazed that she wanders all over the park when we go, only glancing over to make sure I am close by. (Of course, I always am) She will even go down the tall slide by herself! What a grown up girl!

Splash Pad!

2011-06-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

This is our new summer hangout. Water, playground, older kids, sunshine, fun and FREE!

"Wow, there's water coming out of the ground. I'll go check it out."

"Where did it go?"

"Whoa!!"

Does she look grown up or what!?! Toddlers are SO fun!

A Vision

2011-06-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Mitchell and I went to a thrift store on Saturday to look for a part he needs for an electronics project. While he was digging around I browsed and I came across this armoire. Ok, I know what you're thinking so I'll just say it, its hideous. I knew it at the time but for the first time in my crafting life I immediately had a vision for what to do with it! I may be the only one who does. I simply could not pass this piece up, it was like she was calling to me. I'll keep you posted on her progress. The vision may or may not involve spray paint and power tools.

Memorial Day

2011-05-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

Mitchell had the day off yesterday so we made some fun plans for the long weekend. Saturday we met up with our friends Jordan and Jessica who just moved to Madison. We headed over to the World's Largest Bratfest! (pronounced braht) It was so fun! We enjoyed the sunshine, good friends, good food and activities. Brats are a really iconic food around here and so good. Imagine a hot dog on steroids- way way better.

A whole tent dedicated to the condiments.

Audrey really enjoyed the corn off the cob. She was eating it as fast as I could bite it off the cob. Mmmm.

A fun little play area they had set up.

It has been FOREVER since I've been on a carnival ride! I am an adrenaline junkie so I didn't let this opportunity pass me up. The rides were $5 each so I chose the most intense and scariest one. It was definitely intense but so fun! I was shaking as I walked off!

This was before they suspended me upside-down repeatedly. :)

Audrey will have to wait until she's taller to join her momma on the scary rides!

Yesterday we decided to check out the Cave of the Mounds which is about 30 minutes away. It is a REALLY old (we're talking millions of years) cave that was discovered by accident in 1939. The area was being mined for iron and after a routine dynamite blast the miners found the large cavity with it's intricate formations inside. We learned that stalactites and stalagmites 'grow' one cubic inch every 100 years. This particular cave is known for it's variety of colors inside the cave. We enjoyed the tour and even Audrey was really good considering that she couldn't get down and walk at all. We weren't allowed to touch anything inside the cave because the natural oils from our skin would prevent the minerals from continuing to form deposits.

Here is a view of some of the beautiful stalactites.

Audrey even got to go on an archeological dig afterward!

After the cave tour we enjoyed the lovely park and had a picnic lunch. It was a really fun day!

Paparazzi

2011-05-27T10:04:00.000-07:00

There are some days when I just follow my adorable little girl around with the camera. She is a fun and interesting subject. Here are some highlights from the last week or so. I know her grandmas and great grandmas will enjoy seeing these.

Takes after her momma, solar powered!

Aunt Jessinna made this adorable little apron. Audrey was so pleased!

She has learned how to really climb and it's making me nervous! Reminds me of my brother! :)

She knows if she were just a little taller she could see out the window.

Little Twins

2011-05-24T11:55:00.001-07:00

This is one of Audrey's best friends, Jenna. They had so much fun playing together today while Jenna's mom had some free time. They were so cute and entertained and I just followed them around with the camera!

One Year

2011-05-17T18:38:00.000-07:00

Wow. The year has flown by. I loved the baby stage but boy are toddlers FUN! Audrey has so much personality and adds so much joy to our family. In the last couple of days I have really felt like I should record what she is like right now. Since this is basically my journal, here goes.

Audrey had a Dr. appointment yesterday and here are the stats:

Weight: 18lb 8oz, 11th percentile

Height: 30", 79th percentile

Head Circ: 43.9cm, 17th percentile

What she's up to these days:

She walks more and more all the time! She probably walks 80% of the time but yesterday I would have said 75%. There have been a lot of bumps and bruises and tears but she is determined to get around. She has figured out that she can carry stuff around now that she isn't crawling. She loves to get random things and bring them to me...or put them in other random places. I actually had to go out and buy a new trash can with a lid because one day she spent quite some time picking up items from the pantry and putting them in the trash. And the other evening Mitchell was unloading the dishwasher and Audrey took all of the silverware out one by one and put it in our bed. We both agree that leaving the car keys within reach could be disastrous!

She is a good little eater too! She loves spaghetti, beans, lentil stew, fruit smoothies, broccoli, raisins and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches just to name a few.

She has started pointing at everything. She points and says "this." She can say: mama, dada, yum yum, no no no, Jesus, fish, and cheese.

She has become so much more independent in some things. For instance, when we put her to bed now she wants to be put in her bed sitting down. She grabs her little bear and her blanket and spends a few minutes talking and playing then puts herself to sleep. It's so great!

She loves her Daddy! They like to play soccer, wrestling and hide and seek. Occasionally she is in the mood and will offer sweet little kisses too.

She is a joy and we love her a lot! (One of these days I'll try to post about something besides Audrey)

Just for the sake of reminiscence.

Audrey's Birthday Party!

2011-05-14T10:40:00.001-07:00

Audrey turned 1 yesterday! I can't believe how fast time flies! We now have a toddler. She just keeps getting more and more fun though so we love it! She has such a little personality; she is curious and loves to make us laugh. Mitchell and I decided to throw a little party in her honor. It started out just inviting several of our friends over for dinner on the grill but it turned in to a full fledged party! It was pretty silly but totally fun. Here are the pictures. Happy Birthday Audrey!

Mitchell and I made this pinata. It was a fun and easy little project.

Birthday Girl!

So we had planned on having the whole party in our large, spacious backyard. It ended up raining all day so we had to move everyone inside where we were quite a bit more cramped. We had to make some obvious modifications to the pinata smashing since we were inside. This was a pinata head butt.

Pinata Karate Chop

Pinata Kick

Another Head Butt

Pin the bow on Audrey

Not bad!

Audrey was pretty overwhelmed with all of the people and being the center of attention.

Her own cake!

She was very dainty as she tasted her cake.

Audrey and her friend Jenna cleaning up the spoils of the pinata.

I made this cake and I have to say I love the way it turned out! It tasted good too! Bonus!

Boast Post

2011-05-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of months I have been clipping coupons to save $$ on our grocery budget. I have been amazed at how quickly I've seen results! Already I am able to stay under budget (something I really struggled with and often did not succeed) AND our cupboards and pantry are stocked up! It's a fun little hobby. :) Here's today's haul. Retail price before sales and coupons is $37.73.....I paid $10.16! Woo!

Glass Half Full

2011-05-11T08:58:00.001-07:00

One could look at their lawn and think: weed infestation or beautiful field of wild flowers. I think the dandelions are kind of pretty, especially since I'm not in charge of lawn care. ;)

Helper

2011-05-07T18:25:00.000-07:00

Audrey has been such a big helper lately! *Insert sarcasm here* Although she doesn't make the daily tasks any easier with her "help" it sure is fun watching her explore new things!

Helping Daddy load the dishwasher

Helping with the garden

Helping with the laundry

She was loving the dirt!

...until she ate some, then she wasn't so sure

In other news I made mozzarella cheese Thursday with the help of a friend. The mozzarella turned out pretty well. Not much to look at but it tastes good. Then I made ricotta with the leftover whey. It turned out really good! Fun little experiment!

Little Gymnast

2011-05-03T11:54:00.001-07:00

This morning Audrey and I joined our friends Michelle and Jenna at a toddler gymnastics class! It was really fun! We practiced somersaults, walking and running while holding a hula hoop, sitting and standing on the balance beam, jumping, climbing, hanging on to a monkey bar and playing with bubbles! It was really fun!

Getting excited about bubbles!

Running!

Hi Jenna! You sure are cute!

Doesn't she look WAY too grown up!?!?

Audrey always likes to stay informed on current events. :)

Photos of the day

2011-04-25T16:06:00.001-07:00

These were all taken today. A busy and fun day!

Daddy is so efficient! Laundry and bath time combined!

I built this garden box on Saturday and got the first of our produce planted this morning! So far there's romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, basil, cilantro and chives!

Lunch time!

Afternoon walk in the sunshine! It was a gorgeous day!

Audrey must have gotten a little tired because I found her on the living room floor laying down reading a book.

Out on a walk with Daddy after work. What a fun day!

Toddles and Giggles

2011-04-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

For your viewing enjoyment.

Sorry this is sideways. I thought I would be able to flip it later.

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah...

2011-04-11T08:22:00.000-07:00

...Plenty of sunshine headed our way...

I think I can finally say...SPRING IS HERE!!! We had a couple of false alarms along the way but I think (hopefully) we are in the safe zone now! Yesterday was 80 degrees!! It was a bit windy but 80 degrees! Woo hoo! I went for a 6.5 mile run on Saturday and enjoyed the warm sunshine. It's about time for my legs to get some sun, they are WHITE! Audrey has loved being able to play outside on warm days too! Hooray for spring!

Girl on a mission

Hi everyone!

Conference Weekend

2011-04-03T19:47:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful conference weekend! Twice per year our church holds a world-wide general conference. The prophet, his 2 counselors, the 12 apostles and other general leaders of the church speak inspired words and counsel to the world. Although it is 10 hours of meetings all crammed into one weekend it truly is one of the highlights of the year! It is a wonderful blessing to have a living prophet who is inspired to lead God's children as a Special Witness of Jesus Christ. A common theme that several speakers addressed was Eternal covenants made in the Holy Temple. I am so thankful to have made covenants with Heavenly Father in His temple. I am thankful that my family can be eternal. I am looking forward to studying the talks that were given throughout the next 6 months before conference weekend comes again!

All of the sessions are available to watch, listen to or read here.

Saturday was a gorgeous spring day!! We took advantage of the weather and walked to the park across the street between conference sessions. There was a slight breeze which was perfect for our little kite. What a wonderful family day!

Audrey was happy to get down and play in the grass. It's a new texture for her!

Of course, being the explorer that she is she wasn't content to just sit for long!

Audrey loves her daddy and swings. It's bliss when she gets them both at the same time!

This evening Mitchell and I were playing a game together and I heard a rumbling noise from outside. It sounded like someone was wheeling their trash dumpster along the street but when it continued for a while I looked out and saw a flash of lightening! Pretty soon we heard the loud popping sound of hail. I risked a concussion to go out and collect these marble-sized beauties.

Ricky Brian Colvin

2011-03-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

We have a new nephew! My sister had a baby boy yesterday!

Ricky Brian Colvin. March 30, 2011. 8lbs 14oz, 21.5"

Random Pictures

2011-03-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have a few random pictures I just want to post so I'll know where to find them later.

Mitchell built this gorgeous handcrafted toy box! It's beautiful!

First braid, inspired by Audrey's cousin Miriam

I can stand up all by myself!

Audrey likes to play peek a boo with anything she can hide behind. The tablecloth? Yes! I love her little pointed toe. Will she be a ballerina like her grandma Kitty?

Only in the last week or so have I given Audrey toys in the bath. I used to be afraid she would slip and not be able to sit steadily. She's very stable now and loves bath time even more than before! This picture kind of shows all 4 of her teeth too!

Farewell Seattle

2011-03-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the month we spent a week in Seattle. All of Mitchell's siblings were there with all of our nieces and nephews! It was great! Mitchell's parents were in the process of moving to Utah so we took the opportunity to bid farewell to Seattle. We had so much fun hanging out and playing with the kiddos. Here are the pics.

We took all of the kids to an inflatable jump house place and they jumped, ran, slid, screamed and climbed until they were exhausted. Even Audrey enjoyed bouncing around!

On another day some of us played frisbee golf at a nearby park. We also took advantage of the playground and Audrey had her first experience in a swing. It was a hit! Our little daredevil loves to swing really high!

Of course I had my camera all week but those are all the pictures I took. Oops! That just goes to show we were having way too much fun to think about stopping for pictures! We did get some family portraits taken and I'll post those when I get them. Thank you Scott and Kitty for hosting us!

Dancing

2011-03-24T20:46:00.001-07:00

I have a whole post I need to write about our trip to Seattle last week. It was such a blast! I will record the details soon but I wanted to post this video I took of Audrey yesterday anyway. I turned on some music to listen to while I was making dinner and she out of the blue started dancing. I'm glad I caught it on tape, pretty darn cute!

Maybe we should sell something.

2011-03-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Google "Maternity Photo". We're hit number 5. If you google "Maternity Photo shoot" we're hit number 3. Does anyone want to start a photography business off our blog? Anyone? Go Google?

At Home and Abroad

2011-03-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

In the last 2 weeks Audrey and I traveled close to 5000 miles! Whew! Thank goodness for airplanes, strollers, awesome rented minivans and comfy shoes! For now we are back and taking it easy at home before our next big adventure to the west coast in 2 weeks!

We got to go to California for almost 2 weeks to visit my side of the family (and Mitchell's wonderful grandmother). It was a great time!! Audrey was such a trooper to patiently and happily endure all of the busyness and travel. Her curiosity was an asset with all of the new places and people we visited too! The first few days of our California vacation were absolutely PACKED with visiting. We visited my dad at work so I could get an eye exam and new sunglasses and we got to go to lunch with my grandparents and sister Lynn and niece Summer. We spent an evening with my high school BFF Jahmese (why didn't we take a picture?!!?) and of course played games with Mom and Eileen. On Friday Audrey and I drove to Palo Alto for a quick visit with Grandma Peterson. It was so nice to get to visit, AND it was her first time meeting Audrey in person! Audrey loved her Great Grandma! Thanks, Grandma, for such a nice visit, sorry we couldn't stay longer!

Grandma Peterson and Audrey

We were even able to squeeze in a baby shower for Lynn since little Ricky will be here before we know it! We also got to see so many friends as we attended an open house in honor of a wonderful woman and a wedding reception for a great girl.

Then on Monday of last week Mom, Eileen, Lynn, Summer, Audrey and I piled in our rented mini van and headed to San Francisco for our 'Girls Week.' It was a blast! Here's the run down:

Monday. Pros: Drove to SF in our sweet van. The floor of the van actually lifts up for massive storage! Sweet! We checked out our awesome suite for the week and had a dinner at a little Italian place. Cons: The restaurant owner (with ash tray breath) kissed Audrey on the mouth. I wanted to deck him.

Tuesday. Pros: Drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, enjoyed a beautiful warm sunny day, met up with my friend Kim and her cutie Sam, played at the Bay Area Discovery Museum. The museum was AWESOME! The kids loved it. Especially the water station. They were soaked and so happy! Cons: Audrey's unprepared mother did not bring her a change of clothes so she had to spend the rest of the afternoon in a onesie after soaking herself from head to toe playing in the water station.

This was us checking out the little stream before the babies (and innocent bystanders) got wet

So FUN!

Do you see Audrey looking over to copy whatever Summer is doing? That was the standard procedure all week! So cute!

The Girls

Wednesday. Pros: We had a picnic on the beach!! It was another gorgeous warm sunny day (with a little wind) so we took advantage and sunned ourselves on the beach! I will put the large flock of seagulls under the 'pros' category because Audrey and Summer had a great time chasing them around! Also, they were respectful and refrained from dropping any bombs on us while we were eating our lunch. Cons: Audrey was fascinated by the warm sand and decided to give it a little taste, and by 'little taste' I mean a WHOLE HANDFUL! Gross.

Happy beach girls

Thursday. Pros: We spent the day in San Francisco! We rode Bart (commuter train) from the airport to Powell Street then took a cable car through the city to Fisherman's Warf. We got a free sample of Ghirardelli chocolate and had delicious clam chowder in a bread bowl while overlooking the warf. Serious PRO: we found the best deal on clam chowder bread bowls in the whole city at a cute little 50s style diner. Yum! Cons: Audrey hated the cable car ride, she cried the whole time. It's tough to be a tourist!

While we enjoyed our clam chowder, Audrey enjoyed a new food. A dill pickle!

Mom was in Grandma heaven!

Friday. Pros: Free breakfast at the hotel, well that was a pro for the whole week. Audrey tried to copy everything Summer did all week so she actually ate food! Pancakes and yogurt for breakfast! I'm pretty sure her grandma was clandestinely passing her fruit loops too! We got all packed up again and headed to the East Bay to visit the Oakland Temple! How wonderful to be in the temple! Eileen got to do baptisms while Lynn and I got the little girls situated. Then Eileen, the BEST baby sister out there, watched both girls while Mom, Lynn and I did a session. It was divine. THANK YOU SISSY!! After the temple we headed back home to Sacramento. As per tradition we stopped at Nations for a delicious burger. Cons: Everyone was so full from the burgers that no one wanted pie. :)

It was such a fun girls week! BIG thanks to Mitchell for letting his girls run off for nearly 2 weeks without him. I don't think he'll be letting us out of his sight for a while now that we are finally back.

While in CA I also got to finish the quilt I have been working on for quite a while! My grandma has a fancy long arm quilting machine that she showed me how to drive and she let me at it! It was awesome! I am really happy with how it turned out!

It looks like I am giving a thumbs up but really it was such a powerful machine that I had to grip it pretty tight to control it! It rattled my whole body! Sure beats quilting by hand though.

Mitchell took the day off work yesterday so we could have a family day! That was such a fun surprise! We ended up sleeping in, having a yummy breakfast and taking Audrey to the Madison Children's Museum. It was such a fun day! Oh and by now you have probably all heard about the rallies going on at the Wisconsin state capitol. It's pretty crazy. Today was day 16 of protests and absent legislators. No one is really sure how this is all going to resolve, we'll all find out eventually I guess. Since the Children's Museum was just around the corner from the capitol we decided to make a detour and check out the excitement! Imagine the deafening sound of whistles, drums, screaming, yelling and chanting and marching all around the capitol. Craziness.

Audrey was so happy to get to play with her daddy! We had so much fun!

Maybe I could teach her to pull weeds this summer! Yeah slave labor!

One more thing to add to this mega long post! She's well on her way...

Messy

2011-02-05T14:45:00.000-08:00

This explains why all of our binder paper, printer paper, index cards etc are always wrinkled. So fun!

Coolest Relief Society Activity!

2011-02-05T11:38:00.001-08:00

I built this from scratch!

Snowpocalypse

2011-02-02T13:08:00.000-08:00

We finally dug ourselves out of all the snow that we got in the blizzard last night! Whew! It was a fantastic storm! There were gale force winds, white out conditions and a TON of snow! The snow in our backyard looked like a sand dune this morning from having been whipped around in all the wind. When I tried to open our front door there was at least 3 feet of snow heaped up on it! I spent a couple of hours this morning digging 2 deep trenches; one from the door to the street and the other from the front door to the driveway. It's crazy! The trenches are about 2-3 feet deep! What an impressive sight! Here are the pictures to prove it!

My awesome trench!

Trench to the front door.

Looks cold? ...We've seen worse!

What you are looking at here is the 10 foot drift that is literally burying our neighbors completely! The small deck in the upper right corner is actually on the second story!

Here it is again, you can barely see the neighbor's sliding glass door peeking up over the snow drift under the deck.

These are our front windows. The debris you see in front of the windows is actually a large shrub! This stuff is deep!

On Saturday we took advantage of the 'best sledding hill in the Madison area' at the park across the street from our apartment. It was really fun! We only did 3 runs down the big hill though. We would have stayed longer but my legs couldn't hike up the hill anymore! (I did run 5 miles earlier that day so I deserve a break!) It was really fun! Audrey even got to try out sledding too!

A very kind lady let us borrow her awesome toboggan for a couple of runs!

All bundled up having a great time!

Cookie Face

2011-01-25T13:27:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I think this is so cute but I do. Mitchell gave Audrey a cookie last night and she looked so cute with it that I had to have a photo shoot. Don't worry health nuts, she only ate maybe 1/16th of the cookie, if even that!

"Daddy gave me this new thing then took a bite out of his"

"Yummy treat!"

I love how she held on to her cookie with both hands for the longest time.

"Yum! Cookie!"

Surprise!!

2011-01-25T08:03:00.001-08:00

Last week Audrey and I migrated south to warmer temperatures. Oh, that and we surprised my best friend, Lindsey, for her birthday!! It was so fun! She didn't know we were coming and we just showed up! It was such a fun adventure! Audrey was an angel (except for a couple of nights that she decided not to sleep, and therefore, I joined in her rebellion) and she charmed everyone wherever we went. Lindsey has 2 little girls and all 3 of the girls were so cute together! Audrey immediately took to Lacey (the almost 3 year old) and the 2 of them played so well together. Michayla is 4 months and is the happiest, smileyest baby ever! We visited the children's museum, shopped, ate sweet pork salad, gave and received scalp massages, chatted, laughed, slept a little (see we have changed a little since our college roommate glory days!) and just overall had a wonderful time! It was such a fun week! Also, while I was in Dallas soaking up the warm sun, wearing short sleeves and leaving the coat packed up, Madison was beyond FREEZING! One day the high temp was 7 degrees! Brrr! So glad I missed that! Here are some photos.

Lacey was singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

Partners in 'climb'

Audrey loved this activity board with spinning tiles. This was such a fun little kids play place.

Beautiful Babies!

Lacey wanted to have a 'sleep over' with Audrey. You can see they adore each other.

And I adore this girl! Happy Birthday!

Audrey and a Unicycle

2011-01-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

I'm inspired by my friend Kim (Hi Kim!) who recently posted several updates to her blog so here's my catch up post. I haven't neglected this blog because of lack of things happening around here, we've been busy! Happy new year to all! 2011 is off to a great start for the Harris family. Mitchell just hit his 6 month mark at work. It's hard to believe that we've been here 6 months already! Melanie is staying busy with Audrey, a quilt, babysitting once a week and I am making a better effort to read consistently too! Audrey is just as obsessed with climbing as she has been for at least the last month. She gets impatient when we have to do other things that take time away from her climbing practice. She stands up in bed now which, fortunately, has only interrupted her sleep routine a couple of times. Nowadays when I go in her room in the morning she is standing up in bed talking, I love being greeted with a big smile when I enter the room! Speaking of her smile, she has a couple of new additions to it! 2 teeth! The lower teeth broke through a couple of days after Christmas.

Audrey won't let me look in her mouth at the teeth so this is the best picture I could find of them. Just 2 little points poking through!

Here are some of Audrey's other 'likes':

*CLIMBING (it's her passion so it's worth mentioning again)

*Experimenting with lots of sounds including: mah, gah, bah, guh, dah, neh, buh. Sometimes she will string different sounds together too!

*Clapping. It's fun to see what gets her excited! The other day she went from crawling position to sitting on her own and clapped at her accomplishment!

*Smiling. Audrey is very generous with her smiles. She makes lots of friends this way. :)

*Crawling. She has mastered the hands and knees crawl and rarely army crawls anymore.

*Being social. She would rather be in the same room with me or Mitchell than be left alone playing with her toys. I often notice her following me around the house if I am doing other things.

*Reading books. Audrey got a lot of books for Christmas and she loves being read to! She has even learned how to open the flaps on her flap books and goes right for the flaps when we turn the page.

*Everything goes to her mouth these days.

*She is getting better at her fine motor skills and is able to pick up small things with her pincer grasp.

*Playing with cords, wires and heaters, all are off limits.

*Playing fetch with herself. She often throws certain toys (especially balls and rings) ahead of her and then crawl after them and repeat the process across the room.

*Sucking on a wet paper towel when I wash her hands and face.

Audrey's 'Dislikes':

*Anything that gets in the way of climbing.

*Water on her face in the bath.

*Being strapped in her car seat.

*Getting in her snow suit.

*Scratchy kisses from her dad who grew a beard.

*Being removed from the vicinity of cords, wires and heaters, they are off limits.

*Dad's Easy Button. She pushed it one afternoon and it scared her and made her cry, now she wont go near it.

Saturday morning we went to a regional juggling expo with our friends Andy and Lynn. It was amazing to see so many people juggling, doing tricks and riding unicycles. Lynn and I decided to give it a try. I have to say, it's a lot harder than it looks!

This guy had 5 pins going at once!

This guy was juggling 7 balls at the same time! His hands were moving SO fast!

I had a lot of confidence that I could learn how to ride a unicycle...until I actually got on it.

Audrey was tired and ready to go home.

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!

2010-12-28T07:51:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was mine and Mitchell's first Christmas on our own without traveling to be with family. It was a little sad because we definitely miss being near our families but it was a neat experience to put in place our own holiday traditions. It was exciting that this year is Audrey's first Christmas! Mitchell and I didn't think she would get it at all, we pretty much thought Christmas would be like any other day to her. We were pleasantly surprised that she was extra excited that day! Here's how it all happened. Christmas Day Mitchell and I woke up about 7:45. We were SO excited to take Audrey to the living room to see what Santa brought! She normally wakes up between 7:00 and 7:30 so we didn't think she would sleep much longer. We waited and waited. We even went into her room and watched her sleep thinking that for sure she would stir and we could go open presents! No...she slept in until after 9 that day!! We probably should have taken advantage of the opportunity to sleep in on Christmas morning, I'm sure there will come a time when that is a luxury not to be had. I heard that my 9 year old cousin set his alarm for 5:00am this year! Anyway, Audrey was so cute and excited about all of the new toys and books! By the time we were done opening presents the living room floor was covered with fun new things for her to explore! She crawled from one toy to another playing with them and squealing with delight! She circled the living room playing non-stop until noon which was WAY past time that she should have had a nap. She wanted to play so badly that she was crying from exhaustion as she crawled from toy to toy! After a nap though, she was right back at it for the rest of the day! I think Christmas is made for kids. Seeing Audrey so delighted was definitely a highlight of the weekend!

Here's Audrey's haul! She was definitely spoiled on her 1st Christmas!

Later in the afternoon we decided to walk across the street to the big park nearby. There were TONS of people out sledding! We don't have a sled so we tried to improvise by using the lids from plastic storage bins. It was a fail. Bummer.

~HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITCHELL!!~

Sunday was Mitchell's birthday! And not just any birthday either, it was his GOLDEN birthday! We of course went to church in the morning then we had the missionaries and our friends Andy and Lynn over to celebrate! I made Mitchell's favorite meal of Chicken Curry Pasta Primavera and we had a yummy chocolate cake with lemon curd fulling. I attempted to get fancy and pipe 'Happy Birthday' with melted chocolate to make a 3D decoration on the cake but it was a fail. That's why the cake has a very crooked 'Birthday Happy' on top. ;)

Audrey loves company and is quite the little social flirt. She sat at the head of the table in her high chair for an hour entertaining herself and us. That earned her a little taste of birthday cake!

As seen in the last post Audrey figured out how to pull herself up on the furniture last week. Apparently she is very proud of herself for figuring that out because now all she wants to do all day is climb! She climbs on the couch, the fireplace, chairs, people, toys, her crib...basically anything she can access she wants to climb! She also thinks she can walk even though she really can't. She gets herself standing up then she lets go and tries to walk off. Of course she promptly falls flat on her face. I wonder how long it will take her to figure it out? It's very fun but I am nervous that she will fall and dislocate her shoulder or break her arm or something. Well, gone are the days of getting anything done during the day. Nap times are all the more precious now! I am so happy to get to be home with her though, I wouldn't trade this time! Another silly thing that she has started doing lately is fake coughing. She coughs all the time. I think she does it for attention, or maybe just to experiment with sounds.

This Baby Doesn't Want to be a Baby

2010-12-23T06:25:00.000-08:00

I simply cannot believe how fast it seems that Audrey is growing up! She wants to do all things adult. She hates to be treated like a baby. Part of me is so proud of her for learning so quickly and so well but part of me would rather her stay my little snuggler forever! The one baby-like thing she still embraces without a hint of discontent is nursing. She will nurse as often as it's offered (even if she's not hungry) and she's really not that interested in solid food. She will, however, eat food if it comes from my plate on my fork! Haha, silly girl!

Yesterday she pulled herself up on a box and today she pulled herself up to the standing position on the chair. Doesn't she look so big!?!

In the evenings when Mitchell gets home from work the 2 loves of my life have play time together. I guess they were cold the other day because I found them having quiet activity time in bed. Audrey was trying to copy Daddy by examining her toy quietly next to him. I love to see them together!

This is just random cuteness. Silly sleeper!

Looks like I have a very special gift under my tree!

On the Move

2010-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

Our little girlie has learned how to crawl! In the last week or two she has been getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. Yesterday she actually took her first crawling...steps? I put up several videos, I don't really expect that the casual Audrey fan will watch them all but I do know there are some die hards out there that will. Enjoy!

This is a little plush nativity that my mom sent for Audrey. She loves it!

Watch out world! Here she comes!

Mitchell and I are on the move too. Santa visited our house early this year and brought us a treadmill! Hooray!

Snow Day!

2010-12-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend we are in severe winter weather alert status. It blizzarded (is that a word?) all night and will continue until this evening. We woke up to a TON of snow! As a result church was canceled today. I love church and wouldn't want it to be canceled every week...but this is kind of fun! :) There is a lot of snow and it's pretty cold out there but probably the worst part about blizzards is the wind! We are having winds between 30-45 MPH from the north and it is COLD!! It also blows the snow up into tall banks. I'm glad we have no place to go because I'm sure it would blow our car all over the place on the road. We are sure the winter wonder will wear off after a while but we are enjoying the novelty of December in the midwest.

Meeting Santa

2010-12-11T20:13:00.000-08:00

Some kids are afraid of Santa Claus when they meet him. Not Audrey...

Photo Dump

2010-12-04T12:35:00.000-08:00

I have a bunch of photos again and not too many stories. Just the way a blog post ought to be!

Audrey's long hair is out of control! She likes to brush it down into her face and it just looks messy a lot. I finally got her some clips and it's helping a lot! I'm impressed that she doesn't just yank them out either!

Audrey has been experimenting with solid foods for about a month now. At first she was leery of the new textures but she was interested in eating like a grown up. After a while the novelty of it must have worn off because she totally lost interest. I was really fine with not feeding her solids for a while because it takes FOREVER but the pediatrician wants us to keep trying. The pediatrician actually wants her eating 3 meals a day but we are just going to start with 1 and see where that goes. (Above) Audrey and Daddy laughing while he attempts to shovel the yogurt and rice cereal in. Every time he got the loaded spoon near her mouth she clamped it shut!

This morning I had given up on trying and just dumped the whole container of yogurt on her tray. I don't think any made it to her mouth but she sure had fun!

The other night I wondered if she would feed herself finger foods. She doesn't really know how to chew yet so it would have to be something that pretty much melts in your mouth. How about grated cheddar and mozzarella cheese? It was a hit!

Here it is again!

For the last month we have known we were living on borrowed time since there was no snow on the ground yet. This is what we woke up to this morning. About 4-5 inches of soft powdery snow. Ahh, oh well, I guess winter has arrived.

In celebration of the season we had 2 other couples over this morning for gingerbread (graham cracker) house making! It was a blast! I should have gotten pictures of the process, it was so messy! We all had a great time though! Mitchell made a graham cracker temple (it's pretty gaudy so we'll call it a non-denominational temple) and I made a nativity scene.

Not For the Weak of Stomach

2010-12-03T07:25:00.000-08:00

The other night as I was brushing my teeth something caught my eye. I glimpsed something unfamiliar on the floor behind the toilet so I took a closer look and found that there were MUSHROOMS growing out from under the baseboard! GROSS!!

So I have to admit, I probably haven't been as diligent as I should be at sanitizing the floor behind the toilet all the time but I do clean around here! Mitchell says I'm not completely to blame. Actually when he took a closer look he found a slow leak where the tank sits on the toilet and there has been moisture collecting under there for a while. Mitchell was my hero when he got down there and took care of the unwanted fungi. I was worried about him breathing in unidentified spores so I got him to wear an N-95 mask while he was cleaning up. We are happy to report that our little shroom farm is no more!

Thanksgiving and New Stats!

2010-11-30T09:48:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a really nice Thanksgiving! We left Madison on Wednesday after Mitchell got off work and headed north to a little town called Shawano (pronounced "Shaw-no") that's about 40 miles north and west of Green Bay. A wonderful family lives up there that I grew up with in California! The kiddos are all grown up now but I used to babysit them all the time! We had a nice, relaxed and fun weekend with the Easters! Audrey sure enjoyed being the center of attention and I loved the break! Several times I would look around and say- where's my baby? Inevitably she would be off having a great time playing with one of the kids. It was a win-win if you ask me! One of the sweetest things was when John (the 15 year old) got out his most favorite bear from when he was a kid. It is just a small bear but you can tell it was loved. He let Audrey play with it and she must have felt the love in this bear because she took right to it. John ended up giving Audrey the bear and she now cuddles up with him when she sleeps. We call him Easter Bear and it is the first stuffed animal that Audrey has really cuddled up with. So cute!

This was one of those times that I realized I hadn't seen my child in a while. I went down to the basement to find her playing happily with John and a pile of plastic vegetables. (You can see Easter Bear to the left of Audrey's slippers)

We all enjoyed a great game of Ticket to Ride. Jeff and Maddie tied for first! Maddie rocked it without help and did awesome for only being 8 years old!

Kyle was a little shy when the camera came out but we got an awesome showcase of his mad drumming skills! He really is very good!

Maddie got out her old doll house and Audrey loved it!

Audrey went to see the pediatrician yesterday. She is doing great! Here are her latest stats:

Height: 27.5" (93rd percentile)

Weight: 16lb 3oz (44th percentile)

Head Circ.: 41.2cm (11th percentile)

She is growing and getting stronger all the time and doing all the things a 6 month old should do! I can't believe it's been half a year already! Time sure flies! She has really gotten efficient at the army crawl and she motors all around getting in to everything she can reach. A few days ago she pulled one leg up and got one knee involved in the scooting, it's only a matter of time before she crawls on her hands and knees! She babbles all the time and puts some consonants together to say, "mamamama" "yayayaya" "dadadada" or "babababa." She puts everything in her mouth! She loves paper and I try to intercept before she swallows any but when I fail I find it a few hours later...better processed than before. ;) She puts everything in her mouth that is, except food. She doesn't seem to like food too much. She is mostly indifferent and would rather play with the strap on her highchair than anything else. Oh well, we just keep trying.

I took these 2 this morning. She is so stinking cute! I love her silly grin.

In her pretty church dress looking coyly to the side.

Mitchell and I are very pleased and it looks like we moved out of Utah at just the right time! Wisconsin (also known as the forbidden frozen tundra to anyone out west) still doesn't have any snow! We are going to make it to December without seeing ANY snow here in Madison! I think Utah is on their 3rd blizzard of the season... :) We have loved the weather here so far! Summer was warm with lots of lovely humidity to keep our skin and nails looking their best, we had a long fall that was breathtakingly beautiful and so far a mild start to the winter. I'll take it! I do have my plane ticket already purchased to spend a couple of weeks in CA come February though. I am doubting that the mildness will last much longer!

Since it is supposedly going to get ridiculously cold here we decided to do what the locals do and shrink wrap our windows. It helps seal off drafts and also adds a layer of extra insulation on the windows. It's an interesting process that involves double stick tape, thin sheet plastic and a hair dryer.

Adrenalin Junkie

2010-11-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Sorry. I have been kicking myself for 2 weeks now for not taking ANY pictures of Halloween and I couldn't really bring myself to post anything since. We did dress up for Halloween, even though there isn't any photographic evidence. *kick* Audrey and I were parachuters, she was strapped in her baby carrier as my tendem jumper. We had a dozen helium balloons as our parachute. It was fun and the balloons were a hit at the ward Halloween party. Mitchell made his own costume and went as Hangman. It was awesome! This is Hangman as in the game kids play where they try to guess a word or phrase one letter at a time. Mitchell made a noose that he tied (loosely, it was a kids party) around his neck, and he used blue painter's tape on his clothes to look like a stick figure. It was pretty great. Of course Audrey knew nothing about trick or treating and her parents were too dignified/mature/dumb to take her around to get us some candy so we ended up having to buy Halloween candy on sale the next day.

Audrey continues to learn new things all the time! She has definitely perfected the army crawl and it wont be long before she is crawling on her hands and knees! She has started getting up on all fours in the last few days. She has always been really strong in that she developed great head and neck control very young and she will put weight on her legs if you steady her. She likes to stand up and hold my hands for balance and the other day she was doing that and decided she would let go with one hand. She let go then looked up at me grinning as if to say, "see what a daredevil I am!" I guess she likes living on the edge. She did that a few times and then when she let go with both hands she toppled to the floor and laughed. What a silly girl. I wont be surprised if she starts pulling herself up on the furniture in the next few months! Oh dear.

She loves to read! ...or eat the paper

Since Audrey likes standing up and because she is so mobile now I got her a new toy for her sanity and mine! She has a Johnny Jump Up. It is a harness that clips to the door frame and has a spring so she can jump, it also has a little activity center that plays music (so actually it's not really that great for my sanity). It keeps her entertained when I have to do other things that prevent me from monitoring as closely what she is getting in to. She likes it and I love when she spins around on her little toes. Future ballerina?

Does anyone else think she looks like Mitchell?

She has also been dabbling in a few different foods recently. She doesn't seem to really like, or dislike for that matter, eating foods. She is more interested in inspecting the straps on her highchair than anything else. We do give her foods every couple of days though. She has tried, avocado, rice cereal, butternut squash, peas and banana. The reactions are all pretty much the same, doesn't love it, doesn't hate it. Oh well, I'm in no rush. At the rate time is speeding by she'll be eating a steak dinner tomorrow, with a boy on a date! Ahhh!

There was a little piece of apple in the mesh bag and she was having fun licking the juice off. What a ham for the camera! (please excuse the craft mess in the background, Mitchell was traveling and when he is out of town, we don't clean up messes very often!)

As for the star of the show's parents we are staying busy and having fun! Mitchell has traveled a bit in the last couple of months which was fun for him. He got to see his parents in Seattle for a very brief visit between plane flights and enjoyed that very much. Melanie is working on a quilt and is having fun learning through experimentation. Applique isn't nearly as hard as I imagined! We are still blessed with blue skys and sunshine! Everyone is saying we are living on borrowed time though, the snow will come eventually!

Thankful

2010-11-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

It is officially November! I can't believe how fast the year has gone by! Later this month we will celebrate Thanksgiving and I am reminded of President Thomas S. Monson's talk from the Sunday morning session of General Conference in October. He talked about the importance and blessings of gratitude. I have come to know that President Monson is God's prophet on the Earth today. I know that He is inspired by the Lord in all that he does to minister to all of Heavenly Father's children and to guide and direct the Church of Jesus Christ. I love him and will endeavor to show more gratitude, not only in November but all throughout the year. I would like to share some highlights from his conference talk and part of my own gratitude list.

In the Book of Mormon we are told to “live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which [God] doth bestow upon you.”⁷

Regardless of our circumstances, each of us has much for which to be grateful if we will but pause and contemplate our blessings.

This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.

We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”⁸

Some things I am grateful for:

1. A kind, positive and supportive husband who sacrifices many of his own desires to provide for our family and to make me happy.

2. A beautiful and healthy daughter. She brings me such joy!

3. The sunshine!

4. That there is no snow on the ground...yet. :)

5. That I was born in and live in a nation that was founded to protect religious freedom. And that I may worship God as I see fit both in my home and in public.

6. For great friends! Some are next door and some are thousands of miles away but all are wonderful!

7. For technology that allows me to keep in touch with family and friends who fall in to the "thousands of miles away" category.

8. For daily chats with my mom about thoughts, feelings, important things and nonsense and everything in between. I love you Mom!

9. For the beauty of the Earth.

10. That I get to be home with Audrey every day.

11. For my talents.

12. For veterans of war and their brave and valiant service to our country.

13. For my education.

14. That I have had the opportunity to travel to many places in the world.

15. For the selfless sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ.

There are so many things for which to be grateful! This is just a start. I encourage you to make your own gratitude list. It is impossible to not feel happier when you 'count your many blessings.'

A blustery day...

2010-10-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

Today would definitely qualify as a blustery day! In fact, we are having a severe weather watch and high gusting winds for the next 36 hours! Weather.com says this storm will have stronger winds than the last 4 hurricanes in the Atlantic! I guess I'll be parking the car in the garage today, wouldn't want a tree to get uprooted and scratch my car! I am happy to report that we have excellent windows though. They are dual pane, storm windows and I am not feeling even a slight draft in the house. :) That makes me hopeful for winter.

Also, as promised, here is proof that my baby is now mobile. For the record, I did not teach her this. In fact, I am rather put out that she can move as well as she does, I was sort of hoping for a little more time before I had to start baby proofing!

Mustard Museum

2010-10-25T08:09:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we spent the whole day together enjoying family time! Mitchell planned a really fun outing for us too! We visited the National Mustard Museum! I bet you didn't even know there was one! It is basically a mustard store with some mustard obsessed guy's collection of mustards from around the world in the basement. There was quite a lot of information about mustard and I was amazed at how many different flavors of mustards are out there. The coolest thing about the store/museum was that they let you sample any of the mustards they carry, as many as you want! It was pretty fun!...if you like mustard. :) Sorry I forgot my camera so the pictures are from my phone.

This mustard in the squeeze pouch is the same mustard we had on my mission in Argentina!! Brings back memories of the many ways I gained roughly 30 pounds in the southern hemisphere.

ONE of the walls of mustard

Ok this was just funny.

The rest of our fun family day involved a very long Costco trip to finish buying our food storage and get new tires. Then figuring out how to stash all of the food at home and relaxing together. Stay tuned for video of our army crawler. Crazy kid is mobile!

Toto We Aren't in Utah Anymore...

2010-10-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

I was somewhat amused today at the funny looks I got as I loaded up a shopping cart FULL of non-perishables at the grocery store. It's time, actually past time, that Mitchell and I got our food storage in order again. If only the disbelieving onlookers knew that I will probably be buying up 2-3 times this amount of food at Costco this weekend. Haha, oh well. I suppose it is a bit unorthodox to buy so much food at once...weirder still to line it all up and take pictures at home. The lengths I will go to to blog about something/someone beside the usual star of the show. :) Speaking of her, here she is!

I walked in to the living room the other evening to find the 2 loves of my life sitting on the couch together reading their books. It was so sweet! Audrey has been enjoying her daddy time a lot lately!

Audrey is getting the hang of eating and she is really starting to love it! She so far devours rice cereal and avocado. Next up butternut squash or peas?

A friend of mine loaned me a book about developing good sleep habits for kids. She swears by it so I decided to start reading it. Audrey has never been a terrible sleeper by any means but I could use some more snooze so I thought I would see what advice the author has to give. One of his main points of emphasis is to put babies to bed very early. Audrey was going to bed about 9:30-10:00 a few weeks ago. As an experiment we started putting Audrey to bed at 8:00 and found that the first few nights she cried for 15-20 minutes or so before falling asleep. After that she cried less and less and gradually over the last couple of weeks she herself has started showing signs of being ready for bed between 7:00-7:30. We just watch for her signals and put her pajamas on and put her in bed. She now goes down really easily and if she fusses at all she stops by the time we leave the room! Not only has this totally changed her attitude in the evening and at night, she is SO much happier and content during the day! She will even go down if Mitchell puts her to bed! In fact, last night I was doing the dishes and he noticed that she was getting tired so he put her pajamas on and sang her some songs and put her down before I even realized what he was up to! That was a great moment in marriage and parenting!

My girl sure loves playing on the floor! Her mouth is open because she was screeching with delight at having sneakily removed her slippers...for the hundredth time yesterday!

Indian Summer

2010-10-13T11:30:00.000-07:00

I had never heard the term 'Indian Summer' before I moved to the midwest. For any one else who might not know what that means I will define it. An Indian summer is what it's called when the weather cools down in the early fall only to warm up again for a while. I have to say I like Indian summers! The last week or two have been in the 80's again and it is lovely! In fact, because we are also having relatively low humidity as well I have to say it's been nicer than the real summer. Audrey and I have been taking advantage of the great weather by taking daily walks out in the neighborhoods. (see previous post) Monday was quite warm so I let Audrey play in water to see how she liked it. She LOVED it! I put about an inch or so of water in the tray of her highchair and let her go crazy and she splashed and squealed and had a great time! Here is some footage...

This just in! Audrey has 2 items of new business to share just this afternoon! Look at her skills...

She can almost sit up by herself! She was using this toy bucket for balance.

The next series of photos are from this evening after Mitchell and I ate dinner. Audrey decided to have a little meal of her own. :)

"What is dad doing to that avocado?"

"I have a spoon, what's this thing for anyway?"

"Uh oh, Dad has a spoon too. And it has mashed up avocado on it."

"You actually want me to put that stuff in my mouth? Well...ok..."

"Um..."

"Mommy...what is happening? Is this ok?" (I was dying laughing by this point)

"There is something...something...different in my mouth..."

"I don't know about this, I don't think I like it"

"Well, ok Dad, if you say it's that good I will try again"

"Blech."

Mitchell says I am a mean mom because I can't stop laughing at her gagging on avocado. It was so funny! I'm pretty sure that she is just getting used to having a new texture in her mouth. Mitchell was pretty sure that she had taken her last breath. We'll keep letting her explore the world of solid foods at her own pace. I thought the avocado was a partial success. :)

Fall is Definitely Here

2010-10-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

Audrey and I have been taking full advantage of the lovely fall weather we are having here in Madison. We take a walk around different neighborhoods every afternoon. It's a great way to enjoy the nice weather, the fall colors and check out the different areas near by. Maybe we will buy a house here someday? Who knows. I have some gorgeous tree photos to share, too bad it's nearly impossible to really capture the beauty of the landscape with a little point and shoot.

The above photo is my favorite street! Could there be anything more beautiful? Ok, yes there could...(see the below photos of my very beautiful daughter **smile**)

Audrey is growing up way too fast! Today when we were getting ready to head out on our daily walk she absolutely refused to be buckled in to her car seat. It clips on to the stroller so she is well supported and can look up at me. Well today she was having none of it so I tried just sitting her up in the stroller the normal way...like for grown up kids, not babies...and she loved it! I on the other hand am not sure I love it. I am so happy that she is healthy and growing and happy but I wonder where does the time go!?! She is just growing up way too fast! Believe it or not, next week she will be 5 months old. Wow. She drinks water from a sippy cup, she wears pigtails! Enough said. My baby isn't going to be a baby for much longer!

Lastly, Audrey went to the doctor this week. Here are her latest stats:

Height: 25.5" 80th percentile

Weight: 14lb 5oz 50th percentile

Head Circ. 40.1cm 14th percentile

I saved my pennies...literally

2010-09-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-21T12:02:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-10T20:55:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

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...

The Weeks Worth of Pictures

2010-08-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

Mitchell continues his tradition of cooking on Sundays. Yesterday he dazzled everyone (well, me) with this delicacy: Homemade Cajun Crabcakes and Tomato Bisque. YUM!

"Look everyone I made my own hat!"

Our little girl has a lot to learn about fashion apparently. Mitchell turned his back long enough to get some clothes from the closet for her and she pulled a diaper on to her head. Silly girl!

My excellent and crafty sister made these vinyl letters for Audrey's room on her Cricut! I love how they turned out!

Audrey is pictured here with our neighbor and friend Lynn. It was Audrey's first trip to the zoo! We have an awesome free zoo here in Madison!

Caught red-handed!

Sitting up in her "big girl seat" We were reading stories!

This is the view she gave me on Wednesday when she rolled over for the first time!

THE END...haha

Twinage

2010-08-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the UW (that is University of Washington, not Wisconsin) Tyler and I are soon to solve a long debated mystery. Are we fraternal or identical? Both Tyler and I recently submitted mouth swab samples to the UW Twin Registry, who in addition to sending junk mail about participating in studies for the rest of our lives, will kindly tell us if we fraternal or identical twins. Since I still list my parents address as my permanent address, she has gotten the results, and has forwarded them onto us. Soon we will be opening them and revealing the mystery! So make your vote now in the poll to the right. What do you think? If you'd like to be on Skype/conference call when we open them, let me know, and we'll work something out. Let the drum roll begin!

P.S. I'll soon add pictures of both Tyler and I so that you can think it over before you vote.

All Grown Up

2010-08-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

I feel like Audrey is so much more grown up today than even yesterday! She is learning so many new things lately and getting so much bigger! What a joy she brings to our lives! This last week my sister Eileen was in town (that deserves it's own post) and Eileen made Audrey laugh for the first time!! It was so adorable! Today she laughed again and I caught it on video! Also, Audrey is getting close to being able to roll over. She tries but her arms get in the way. She does, however, spin in bed. I put her in bed vertically and sometime during her sleep (or when she is awake playing in bed) she spins around facing horizontally. Funny kid. I think she is really proud of all of her tricks too. Audrey is such a happy girl and willingly gives out hugs and smiles!

She looks so chubby in this one! Here she is looking proud of herself after getting turned around 90 degrees in bed.

Audrey was so happy in Dad's arms this morning as we were getting ready for church.

How did my baby get so big so fast!?!

These are the videos of her laughing. Please try to ignore me as I say "Picaboo!" over and over. It was what was making her laugh and a mommy will do anything to make her baby laugh.