I've been tagged?

One of my blogging friends, Josephine, tagged me as a "True Authentic Mom" and I'm not sure what exactly that means... but here goes my 5 things that make me a true authentic bmabma (as Audrey calls me).

1) As a True Authentic Mom, I inspect my daughter's diapers (NOT thoroughly - just a quick glance) to make sure everything is digesting fine.

2) As a True Authentic Mom, I shield my daughter from coughing children and adults in public (and give them the evil eye when they don't cover their cough).

3) As a True Authentic Mom, I sing The Wheels on the Bus to Audrey every day on the way home from daycare because it makes her smile (I will sing it as many times as necessary to see those dimples)

4) As a True Authentic Mom, I have lost all inhibitions when I am trying to make Audrey laugh. I can dance and twirl wildly around the house, sing horribly, act stupidly without embarrassment.

5) As a True Authentic Mom, I sometimes put off bathtime for 3-4 days.

I now have to tag 5 other True Authentic Moms.
Staci
Brandi
Marla
Jo-Ann
Sarah

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Sick Day

Audrey had to take a sick day today :(

She woke up with a low-grade fever around 100 and it's been breaking and coming back all day. She woke up at 5:15AM very warm and wouldn't go back to sleep until 8am. She took an almost 2 hour nap this morning, woke up without a fever and took a bottle, she seemed well enough to play a little and then it was like someone turned the light off. She became very irritable and needed another nap about an hour later. She woke up with another fever but was hungry enough to eat a sandwich, but refused her juice. Then it was down for another nap that lasted 45 minutes. Up with a fever and ate a snack and drank some juice. Played a little and then the light went back off - she's down for her 4th nap today.

Poor baby. She doesn't want me to hold her, but then she does. She's happy one minute and then she's sad.

Why is she sick? Oh I don't know. She got her flu shot about 2 weeks ago, we opted to not do the H1N1 vaccine. I'm thinking it's either an ear infection or she's teething. If she's sick throughout the weekend, we'll obviously take her in to see Dr. Porter on Monday. We just need to keep the fluids up and keep a close eye on her.

She did come home with a goose egg on her forehead yesterday from daycare. And, she screams at me when I swipe her temporal thermometer across her forehead. Now that she's mobile, that won't be the last goose egg.

Someone needs her Mommy - got to go.

One Step Closer

That's right, we are one step... or a couple of steps closer to seeing Audrey walk.



I think she's on her way to being a dancer - look at that high kick!!

Oh... and we're one step closer to her turning out just like her father... we discovered that she enjoys chili dogs (baby proofed, of course). We mushed and mushed half of a Hebrew National hot dog so that she could eat with ease, sprinkled some shredded cheese, hot dog bun and some chili (not a lot, very little actually because she is like her father). And, then it was followed by some gas drops.

18 Month Check-Up

Audrey had her 18 Month Check-up today (one day before her actual year and half birthday). She is starting to getting a little anxiety at the doctor's office, which our favorite Dr. Porter said was normal. He also said that at her 2 year check-up, she should be a little more social and tolerant. But at any rate - he was very pleased with everything she is doing and where she's at.
So, here are her stats:

Weight: 25 lbs 14 oz and 73%
Height: 30 1/2 inches and 20% (she's going to be petite like her Mommy)
Head Circumference: 19 1/2 inches and 99% (I asked them to check since her sutures are still open and it hasn't changed since she was 1!)

I've been reluctant to give Audrey eggs, peanut butter and orange juice because I've been worried about food allergies. He said it was fine - so it looks like Audrey might have her first peanut butter sandwich for lunch on Saturday. Something tells me that this will be one of her favorites (like her Mommy) just like the ole grilled cheese sandwich. And, her Papa has already promised Audrey that he will make her eggs and french toast the next time she stays the night.

Audrey loves bathtime more than anything right now!

You can't hear what she is saying here, but she is say "HI"

Blowing Raspberries

Splish Splash, I was taking a bath!

More?

Audrey wants a kiss...

Would you like to see a funny video of Audrey?

Where's Audrey?

Well... she's EVERYWHERE!!!!



And, here's Audrey playing with Daddy!


And... a few Halloween photos of Audrey Sue and Family.

I made Audrey's costume this year - she was an Octopus. She ripped off one of her legs as soon as I tried it on her... But kept them all on when we went trick-or-treating with the family.

She would not let anyone hold her but Daddy and refused to get in her wagon that her cousin Madi helped decorate with Nana. And, Shawn was dressed up as a 70's Detective.

I think this picture is hilarious because she HATED my beard and would not look at me, talk to me or even let me hold her. (I don't even care that I'm making a weird face - this is pretty funny, plus I was feeling like crud at this point) And, I went as Willie Nelson.

Aunt Staci as a Sexy Kitty Cat and Cousin Madi as a Beautiful Mermaid (she wanted to coordinate with Audrey).

The Under The Sea Wagon

Audrey has the best cousin in the world!! Aren't they cute together?

Trick or Treat!

All-in-all, our first Trick-or-Treating was as successful as it could be. Next year maybe we will see her walking door-to-door. I'd say that the amount of love she receives from EVERYONE makes up for the lack of candy we received. :_

Keeping Us Busy

This last week and half has been insanely busy for us. I haven't had any time to check facebook, blogger, email - it's been insane. Sunday, October 25, I woke up in the very EARLY morning to some abdominal pain. I shrugged it off as gas and tried to lay on my stomach for some relief. I rocked on my tummy hoping that would relieve some of the pain but it only got worse. I got up to see if I needed to use the restroom and to take some tums - that wasn't helping. I walked around the house for about 15 minutes to see if I could work something out and the pain only intensified. Finally, I climbed into bed and woke Shawn up telling him I was in the worst pain of my life. I told him I thought that he should take me to the emergency room and he said he would. He got up, got dressed, called Clint and Heather (they live 2 blocks away from us), I put on my shoes, Shawn then helped me climb into the backseat and then waited for Clint and Heather to arrive. I found out later that Heather and Clint came in through the garage and they could hear me moaning in pain. Shawn drove way above the speed limit to the hospital which was less than 1 mile away from our home. When we walked in, no one was there to greet us and that made Shawn very nervous. He was looking all around for someone and loudly pronouncing that we were there. Then someone came out of the back and took me to triage. While the nurse was getting my vitals he asked me where the pain was, I told him and he said it sounded like it was my gallbladder. They gave me an IV and some morphine and the pain was gone :) We waited for about 2 1/2 hours for Radiology to come get me for my sonogram. It turns out it was my gallbladder causing all the pain and I have a polyp on my gallbladder. I saw a surgeon this past Thursday and he wants to run a certain type of test to see how my gallbladder is functioning. If it is contracting sporadically then he will most likely want to remove it, if it's functioning okay, we will just continue to monitor the polyp. If the polyp grows any bigger over the next 6 months, he will remove my gallbladder. So... it's not looking so good for the ole gallbladder. That part of me maybe gone over the next couple of months.

We've also been busy making Audrey's costume and putting my little getup together, Shawn was busy getting our Karaoke song list together and putting his books together, we were busy planning our adult Halloween party that we co-host with our friends Clint & Heather, and Tim & Jennylind. Work has been extremely busy. Friday night Shawn and I took turns helping the C&H and T&J setting everything up for the big shebang. Saturday morning (Shawn's morning to sleep in), I woke up feeling great and was really excited about what the night had in store. But, around 8:30AM, something fierce came over me and knocked me out. I was so relieved that Audrey was happy to go down for a short morning nap. When she woke up, Shawn got up with her and let me nap a little bit longer. He woke me up at about 10 am and that's when it got worse for me. We did our chores around the house - me not doing much because I was nauseated and had a couple bouts of dry heaving. I thought it was my gallbladder but something happened that made me think otherwise. Around 9:30, something fierce caught Shawn while at the party. We began the Karaoke part of the party, which was Shawn's contribution but he was not feeling up to working the laptop and organizing everyone's requests so he asked Tim if he would mind working the Karaoke. I took Shawn home and Tim did an excellent job running things on the laptop and the microphone. I had to get back to the party because Shawn wanted me to bring the laptop home that night - so it was a long night for me. I enjoyed my time with friends and got home around 2am.

Sunday, Shawn still wasn't feeling 100% and to tell you the truth, I was not feeling 100% either. I had to go to a client event that night. I wore a beautiful black polished cotton dress, and borrowed a aqua wrap from Heather - it matched my earrings. I met several of our clients which was very nice placing faces with the voices that I speak to almost daily. Then I volunteered my time at the client's golf tournament.

I have been so out of touch with everyone and I do apologize to my family and friends. Everything's all good especially because it only took Audrey one week to go from army crawling to Hands and Knees Crawling. I have video of this and will post tomorrow night along with photos of her Trick-or-Treating with her cousin Madi. But for now, I must say goodnight and try to catch up on some sleep.

We're Making Progress!

There are times when we have a lull moment in Audrey's development. It's usually a discouraging time for me because I don't know why she doesn't want to do the things she can do. However, we are not in one of those times now... we are very much in a momentum moment (tongue twister). She is just thriving... and I think it's because she finally crossed her midline when she learned to clap!! See... those cross crawl exercises were working!

And now for some proof...

Clapping because she knows she's happy!

Audrey is a good helper in the kitchen. This was taken last Saturday when I spent the majority of the afternoon in the kitchen baking my grandmother's whole wheat rolls. She sat in her high chair playing and eating animal crackers for a good 30 minutes - I was impressed!

Eating Mommy's Spaghetti - she couldn't get enough and was even taking it from my plate too! She's showing signs of independence by wanting to feed herself!

The two videos below should bring a big smile to your face. The first video is of Audrey playing patty cake and I apologize beforehand for not knowing the nursery rhyme - I need a good tutorial on all nursery rhymes. The second video is of Audrey army crawling - YES! You read that right ARMY CRAWLING!?!?!?!?!?!?! She's amazes me every day - even in our lull moments of development. Gosh, she just fills my heart with more joy than I think my heart can take.