Indian Summer

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

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

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...