Here Comes Santa Clause Here Comes Santa Clause

Well today we took Audree to the mall to see Jolly Old Saint Nicholas! I was really shocked when we got here because there was not a line to see him. Usually you have to stand in line for atleast 30 minutes to a hour. So we walked up and Audree was cheesing as usual for all the ladies that worked there. I handed her off to Santa and she just looked at him like who in the heck are you? She touched his beard and then just looked at Brett & I like what am I supposed to be doing? She wouldn't really smile for the ladies or us. You could tell she was REALLY uncomfortable with him! HAHA Anywho we took the picture for keepsake!! Brett & I were both wearing UT shirts and Audree has on a cute little dress. Santa told us that Audree asked for a ATM shirt for Christmas. Of course we had to say she doesn't stand in chance for that offer. HAHA Then the photographer said NOPE I think she wants a Texas Tech shirt since she is wearing their colors (the dress was red & black). So of course we had to tell her not just no, but NOWAY IN HECK!! HAHA Here is a pic of Aud with Santa:

Its the most wonderful time of the year

WOW!!! Christmas season is FINALLY here!! I have been counting down the days til we could put our christmas tree, our lights, and all of decorations up!!

Last night when we got home from making our Thanksgiving rounds we put all our inside decorations up as well as our Christmas tree! Brett & I did the lights and garland and then little missy got to help us put the ornaments on!! I sat her by the ornament box and she dug in and handed us the balls! She was too cute doing it.

This morning I got up and went out shopping the CRAZY sales! I got a bunch of good deals at Toys R Us and we stood in line for a hour! It was nuts there, but Im telling you they were having $40-$50 on toys! I got Audree a barbie jeep power wheels! HAHA I know she is too little for it now but she will grow into it! We also went to JcPenny's Sears, Compass & James Avery. I was so tired of standing in lines and could not go into another store. I came home and wrapped all of our presents and HOLY GEEZ there is 36 under there and we aren't even done. Yes I know all of you are thinking who are those for... Sadly most of them are for Audree. We have to spoil her rotten on her first Christmas!!

What I am THANKFUL for

First and foremost I am thankful for my beautiful baby girl. God definitely blessed us with an angel and we are very thankful for that. She lights up our life in ways we didn’t even think were possible. You are more perfect than I could have hoped, more beautiful than I could have dreamed, more precious than I could have imagined...I love you more than I could have known. Everytime I look at you my heart skips a beat. You are my life and my world.I feel like our life is complete with her. We have the little family that we have always dreamed of having.

I am so thankful for my husband. He has been by my side for 7 faithful years now. We have been through so much together. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. He has my deepest love, my fullest devotion & my tenderest care. You have shown me what love feels like and for that I thank you. You are everything I need and I know all of my prayers have been answered and that all of my dreams have come true. I praise God for you: for all of your love and constant friendship. I know that our love is heaven sent and I promise to be here for ever and always

My family is my rock. They are always there for me no matter if its big or small. I know I can call them at any hour of the day and they always no what to say to help me get through whatever it is I am needing. My mom is truly my best friend and without her I’d be lost. I love the time we spend together and all of the phone conversations we have. We could just talk for hours on the phone and never run out of things to say. My dad is also one of my best friends. We talk almost everyday! He comes over to our house and we will play games together and just laugh and laugh. I am so thankful for my parents. They have always supported me in whatever I choose to do in my life, whether or not they agree.

And of course I am thankful for all of my friends!! You guys have helped me in my life as well. I love talking to all of you and giving and receiving advice. I love when we hang out together and spend hours talking about nothing. I love the inside jokes we have, how we can just look at each other and know exactly we the other ones are thinking.

I hope everyone takes the time to reflect on what they are thankful for this season. It really puts a whole new perspective on life when you realize what all you have. I am thankful that God has blessed me in so many ways. I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe turkey day!

Its a GIRL

NO NO NO.... Im not pregnant again hahaha

WOW this time last year was the day that we found out we were having our precious little Audree. We called her little peanut since the day we found out we were pregnant, but on this day last year she actually had a name and we knew she was GIRL!! I remember calling my mom and dad and telling them they were going to have a granddaughter. My dad said Oh Lord I'm going to be broke! This time last year our whole world changed, our new favorite color became PINK, we painted her room, we bought her crib, bedding and most important her daddy bought her her very first UT cheerleader outfit!! Yes all in the same day! HAHA

I can't believe how fast the months have gone. I remember Brett & I driving home from the holiday dinners and I started bawling in the car. Brett asked me what was wrong.... I told him just let me cry for a minute or two. After I dried my tears up, I took my hands and just held my belly. I told him our baby will be here for the next holiday. I can't believe that was a year ago!!! My baby girl is now here and she is particpating in all of these things!!!

Grace

Every year at Thanksgiving my uncle always says Grace at my mom's house before we eat. We dont ever say it at Brett's family's house so I thought we are going to do it this year. Yesterday I told his dad okay you are in charge of saying grace! HA his dad just laughed, he isn't into saying things. WELL let me take that back!! HAHAHA he likes to say things just not leading them. So I emailed his mom and she said she thought it was a great idea. So I will be leading us in Grace this Turkey Day at his parents house! Im so excited!! Just to thank the Lord for everything you have is something that we should do every day not just on certain occassions. I'll be nervous because well i dont normally say GRACE in front of a big family hahaha. Ill start practicing tonight! haha

On another note I went and bought Aud's 1st turkey day outfit @ Im Yours! I can't wait to see her in it!!

Early Bird

Yes I posted Christmas Songs tonight!! We have been singing them all weekend, even Brett was singing with me! I just can't wait for Christmas!!

After Church Fun

After church today we came home and ate lunch. Audree had chicken noodle!! She absolutley ♥ 's chicken noodle! After she got done eating we practiced our crawling skilles and pulling up on things. Audree wasn't in too much of a mood to practice she just wanted to roll around the living room haha BUT she did stop long enough to give me some poses. You'll have to excuse the messy face.... chicken noodle stains her face hahaha

Table Food

At our 9 month checkup last week the Dr told us that we need to start letting Audree experiment with table food. Everyone who knows me knows that Im scared to death of her choking. I always make sure things are very thin and runny so itll just slide right down. My first step was letting her have some finger puffs. They are in shapes of little stars and I even broke those up into tiny pieces. I have been getting braver and finally let her have them whole and TA DA she didn't choke on them!! So tonight I cooked chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. I gave Audree a little bit of all 3 and put them on her highchair tray. I turned around to wash some dishes, then looked back and little miss had mixed it all together and she was having a blast doing it. She hasn't really gotten down the concept of putting things in her mouth yet, but thats probably due to me always telling her no and not put her hands in her mouth! Anywho she ate the food and did so great!! I can't believe we are now on to table food. Of course I still feed her baby food veggies and fruits too, we are on stage 3 which Audree does NOT like. I think its the thickness and texture of it. She finally likes Chicken Noodle and Green Beans and Rice but she HATES Spaghetti. She has also taken to the sippy cup no more crying when I give it to her!! Im so excited!! She only has 3 month left on the bottle.... :o(

Pictures

So Aunt Tiffany brought to my attention that Im slacking in the pic dept with Aud! HAHA I have to admit I have been bad at this. Brett is working on his last paper for school so he has been hogging the computer at night time. So while he is in the shower tonight I thought Id post some for yall!!!

Crawling?

So Brett & I have been working really hard with Audree on crawling. Most of the time she realizes that she can roll to and from and get to places faster and easier than crawling. Well last night I put a toy in the middle of the floor and said come on Aud, come to mommy and the toy! She was so funny. She stretched her little arms as far as they could do, looked at the toy, looked at me, looked at the toy again and her little legs came shooting out from underneathe her! It was so cute. She finally "army" crawled her way to the toy. I tried to get action shots but as soon as the camera came out she decided she was going to pose for me!

Holidays

I ♥ this time of year! I love the food, the weather, the family gatherings, the presents, its all just amazing and so much fun!

Im so excited for Audree's First Turkey Day & her First Christmas! We will be having 3 thanksgivings this year. We will start out with my mom's family, head to my inlaws and then finally it will be off to my dad's. We have to be home by 7 though because of the UT VS Aggie game! You know we are die hard UT fans! HAHA

I ♥ the day after Thanksgiving. Since I was a little girl I ♥ getting up early in the morning and going with my aunt and mom to do that CRAZY shopping. We have gotten a lot of good deals over the years, my best friend and I even SLEPT outside Circuit City one year to get laptops. Even though we froze our rears off we had a BLAST! I love shopping for everyone, but this year is special because we get to by for our little angel.

I can't for Turkey Day to pass... Dont get me wrong I ♥ it, but Christmas is just a ton of fun! I love putting up our Christmas tree, the decorations inside, the lights outside, the yard decorations, etc. I love decorating our house! I can't wait to put all of our presents under the tree, turn our heater on, & drink hot chocolate every night together, just the 3 of us! Well Aud can't drink it but will make her a warm bottle haha. We have such a HUGE family that our presents literally come out to the middle of our floor. I can't wait for Audree's face to light up when she sees all of the lights on the tree, sees the presents on the floor, etc! I cant wait to see her open her presents, even though I know she will be more interested in the wrapping paper.

Dont get mixed up in the stress of money and buying this holiday season. Sit back and remember what it is all about! I know we all love the presents and lights just like a said above but it isn't worth freaking out over. In our case its spending enough time with all of our family members. We have such a huge family that it is hard to fit everyone in and have EQUAL time with them. I stress about how we will fit this time in, and sometimes mine and Brett's family's time have conflict due to his neice being with her dad as well. While Audree is young its not a problem, but as she gets older I really just want to be home with our little family and let her play all day long! I know a lot of people worry about how things will pan out for the holidays, where will they come up with the money, but just remember this season is truely about being with family, cherishing every moment you have with them, and celebrating the Lord our Saviour Jesus Christ!

Computer Savvy Already?

Audree loves to hit the keyboard when she is sitting in my lap so I told her I would let her post a blog. Here it is.....

hn jmn myimn 33qqqb il , z, t hkiui u UO HBV HHNM

Not sure what it says by she did actually type a word "my" hahaha Yep I guess she is my future little blogger!

9 Month Checkup

Well today was Audree's 9 month checkup!

As we were waiting in the waiting room we saw one of her NICU nurses and she recognized us! She was telling us how big Audree had gotten and how beautiful she was. I was so happy to see her nurse!! We talked about the NICU for a bit, but then it was our turn to be called back.

She weighs in at a whopping 20.5 pounds and is 28.5 inches long! Her head was around 17 inches I think. She is in the 75% for everything and the Dr said she looks WONDERFUL!

She said we could start feeding Audree table food, which made me sad :o( I just can't imagine feeding her grown up food. She also said we need to start practicing with the sippy cup because in 3 months YES JUST 3 MONTHS Audree will be completley off the bottle. She also said we could get Audree some gerber finger foods too!

Audree also got her 2nd round of the flu shot today and I cried along with Audree. I have been telling her NO SHOTS this time! I didn't know they gave babise 2 rounds of shots for the flu their first year. So Audree screamed bloody murder and I picked her up and we cried together. Audree has also been crying when I leave the room, so I questioned the Dr about it and she said she is having seperation anxiety. I said well she doesn't do it with my husband at all. I mean Brett will have her and Ill walk out of the room and BAM here comes the screaming. I walk back in the room and she stops immediatley! She said that its just something that some babies go through.

Tonight after the Dr's appointment I went straight to H-E-B and got her some finger puffs, stage 3 foods, and a sippy cup. I put some finger puffs on her high chair tray and she just moved them all around her tray laughing. HAHA It was really cute. I had to put them in her mouth though because she was too busy playing and making a mess with them. Our first go around with spaghetti (stage 3) didn't go so well. Audree kept coughing and acting like she was choking (which she wasn't, I have an actress for a daughter). So then I decided we would give the sippy cup a whirl. YEAH NO LUCK WITH THAT EITHER. She took one suck and looked at me like I was CRAZY! I only got her to take about .5 oz of her juice and she threw a fit after that. So I ended up putting her juice back in a bottle and let her finish it.

I can't believe my little booger is growing so fast!!

Back to School Fun!

Well everyone knows that I have always been interested in nursing. I have applied in the past, but unforutnatley got denied. After being turned down twice, I really started re-evaluating everything. Is this really what I want to do? Can I handle the stress? Can I balance my family and school?

This weekend Brett and I sat down and had a talk about it. I took a semester off since I had Audree, because well she is my main focus in life right now. We both want to be able to provide for Audree and let her have anything and everything we can. We want to live in a nice house with a good school district and neighborhood. We want her to have the things in life we didn't have or couldn't afford. So I have decided Im going back to school to see what I can accomplish. I signed up to take the NET (Nursing Entrance Test) for Jan 23rd. You have to pass this test to even apply for the program. I emailed the head lady over the LVN program to look at my grades and give me some advice as to what I can do to ensure my application gets accepted. Im really looking forward to this new adventure.

Wish me luck!

Weekend Fun

Well we had such a great weekend and Im sad to see it come to an end!

Friday I got off work @ 12 and me and miss audree took a little nap (I just love napping with her). After we woke up we headed to the mall and we did some Christmas shopping. We then met up with my inlaws and neice and went to dinner.

Saturday we woke up and watched UT kick Kansas' booty. Then headed off to Austin. My little cousin is a cheerleader for Capital Cheer and she had an exhibition so we went and watched her. WOW!! She was just back handspringing all over the place. She was so good. We decided we would spend the night with my aunt and uncle and cousins instead of driving back to waco. My uncle grilled us out some burgers, beans, and french fries and they were tummy licious! After that we started a fire and roasted marshmellows! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!! My little cousins kept burning their marshmellows and well........ I wasn't too good at it either haha. My uncle finally taught me the "fine art" of roasting marshmellows and boy they were good!

This morning we woke up and my aunt made us breakfast burritos! I ♥ her breakfast burritos! Brett says she could sell them in a store :o) My uncle also went and got us some donuts too. They are always soo good to us when we come to visit them. Audree and I slept on the way back home. Now we are home and just watching some football. Not ready for the work week, but I just keep thinking 1 more week then its turkey day!!

TAG YOURE IT

Now if you read this & have a blog of your own, you gotta do it too! Go to the picture folder on your computer.Open the 4th folder. Pull up the 4th picture. Tell us about it...

Here is a picture of my goofy girl playing with the shirt over her head. She ♥ 's to do this when we are getting her dressed for bed at night. She is just so silly and sweet. I love you sweet baby girl!!

BLOG AWARDS

I got a comment from Tiffany that had something "on her blog"...I head over there and notice, I HAVE MYSELF AN AWARD!!!!





So, here are the rules to receiving this award:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions:On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then "add image" it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the "picture" gidget.Also, don't forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.



My 5 addictions that keep me going:

1. My daughter- My daughter is absolutley amazing and im sure all of you knew that i would put her down. She has been through so much in her 9 months on this Earth. She had a struggle that first month of life and it was a very tough road we went down but she pulled through like a champ. She is the most beautiful angel Ive ever seen in my entire life. She is the sweetest little thing that God ever put on this Earth. She is my entire world and without her life would not be complete.

2. My husband- I have known him since we were in the 4th grade. And we have been together since I was in the 11th grade (7 years now and married for 4 of those). We are with each other every second of almost every day (except while at work). I love the way he holds me in his arms at night, I love the way he can cheer me up when Im down, I love the way he looks at me, I love that he is the best husband any wife could ever ask for and most of all I love that he is such a WONDERFUL father to our daughter.

3. My Parents, Steparents, Siblings, Nana, Aunt Stacey & Uncle Randy (THEY ALL FALL UNDER 1 CATEGORY)- My mom and dad are so important in my life. They have made me who I am today and I am so thankful for them. My mom is one of my best friends in this world. I can call her anytime of the day just to say Hi to her. She always knows how to calm me down when Im upset. She always knows when something is wrong with me even when I try to hide it. She is such a strong woman and I admire her for that. My mom isn't in the best health and I live my life day to day fearing that I wont have a mother when I reach 30. This is a VERY hard thing that I have to deal with but she is always positive about her life. My dad wasn't always there when i was a kid but as Ive grown we have grown so close. We talk almost everyday on the phone. He calls just to see how we are doing and makes sure that Im okay. I love when he comes over and we just spend time together. My brother and sister are so awesome. I look up to my brother and he means the world to me. He has helped me through so many times in my life. Even though we can fight like cats and dogs at times, we are the best match for a brother and sister. My little sister is just so sweet. I can still remember when she was born and I would sleep on the floor in her room just waiting on her to make a whine so I could get up and get her. We spent every summer together and while we had our fights we also have memories that will last forever. I love when she comes over and just spends the weekends with us. I cherish every moment with her. My Nana is like a 2nd mother to me. She has helped my mother raise me and I can honestly say she is my hero. I can remember when we would lay in bed at night and watch the Golden Girls and baseball games on tv. FINALLY my aunt and uncle. They are the best you could have ever asked for in life. They treat me as if I am one of their own children. We always have fun when we are around them!! I LOVE my Uncle's FAMOUS MALTS and My Aunt's rootbeer slushes. They are so amazing and I LOVE THEM!!

4. Shopping- Yes I ♥ shopping. BUT its not for me, its for Audree! Everytime I go into a store I always leave with something for Audree. I can not tell you the last time I bought myself something. My FAVE place to buy her clothes is Children's Place and Target! I could use my whole paycheck for the MONTH in those stores. Of course Audree has to match from head to toe.

5. Working Out- Yes this is a new ADDICTION that I have recently just developed! I am becoming a better person inside and out. I get up 3 days a week @ 5:30 and hit the gym for a good hour's worth of a workout. I feel so much better when I get done working out and I love the way I feel afterwards. Im looking forward to seeing all of my hard work pay off!!


I love all the blogs on my friends list, and I go to them religiously to see what is all new, BUT if I can only pick 5 to award, the lucky ladies are...


1)Tiffany- Pifers
2)Shelly- Princess Kinley
3)Audrey Caroline
4)Amanda- The Wardens
5)Emily- Emilys Excellent Exisitence

9 Months

Well yesterday Audree turned 9 months old and of course I was sad in a way.

*9 months ago from yesterday we had so many thoughts racing through our heads.
*9 months ago I was an emotional wreck.
*9 months ago I didn't have a life outside of the NICU
*9 months ago I gave birth to our beautiful little girl.
*9 months ago we became a mother and a father.

I have to say that if you look at Audree there is no way anybody would believe that she was a preemie. I mean she is right on target for everything a 9 month old should be doing and even doing some things that a 10-11 month old baby would be doing. Remember Audree should really only be turning 7 months old.

* Trying to crawl... she looks like a wiggle worm
* Rolls from one side of the room to the other (we call her rollie pollie ollie)
* Will stand for a few seconds at a time
* Trying to pull up on things
* ♥ being tickled
* Talks from the moment she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep
* Her hair has had a growth spurt and she has TONS
* Reaches and grabs for EVERYTHING in sight
* Says Momma and we are working on dada
* ♥ our doggies- Daizee is her fave poor thing gets her ears pulled

We really are truely blessed for our baby girl. She is such a wonderful little girl. She is so content with whatever we are doing. Whether its laying in bed at night talking to each other, sitting on the couch, being outside, or driving in the car. She is just a happy go lucky little girl who just goes with the flow of things. I really didn't know how good we had it until Ive seen and heard from other parents house their babies were. I mean Audree very RARELY ever cries! She has always slept through the night, she has always been a good eater, burper, never really had the gas pains and cries, I mean she is PERFECT! Not sure what that means for our next kiddo though haha

Audree, I can't believe 9 months have passed by since we brought you into this world. You amaze me every single second of every single day. I love the way your eyes light up in the mornings when we wake you up, and I love the way my eyes light up when I get to see you. I love the way you rub my face at night when we lay in bed and have our nightly talks and prayers. I love the way you play with my hands and fingers when you are trying to go night night. I love the way you look at your daddy and the way your daddy looks at you. I love the way that you have made our little family dreams come true and how you have made our little family complete. You are a blessing from God and there isn't a day that goes by that I dont thank him for you. Im so proud of everything you have accomplished in your 9 months on Earth. I love you baby girl!!

Bye Red Ruby Hello Coal Camry

Well we made our decision last night to go back to the car dealer and see what kind of deal they would offer us on the camry i loved. So we go in, they look at my old car (red ruby) and come back and say okay we can offer 369 a month. HAHA I laughed and was like NOWAY!! Brett said Sorry we can't do that. He said what else can you offer us? He said well Im not sure what we can do. Brett said well if you can't get it under $330 its no deal. My heart just sunk because I really really wanted this car. He said if I can get it under $330 are you going to buy it? Brett said Im not going to committ to anything, he said you tell me what you can do for me. So we got in the car, drove it up to his parents for his dad to look at. Brett and I had a long talk about the car, if I was serious about it, etc. I said yes Im serious i love this car. So we went back and told the guy under $330 and we will take it. He went into the finance officer's office and they worked numbers came back and TADA payments are $328! I was so excited, I was jumping from the inside out! We signed our papers and off we went. As we were walking out the door I did get sad to leave my red ruby behind!!! I mean Ive had the car for 3.5 years. It was the first car Brett and I purchased together, it was basically my wedding gift from Brett and it was Audree's first car she rode in. Ahhh memories!!!

Brett and I were also talking about our credit score. I was so happy our credit score was 803!!!

Decisions Decisions...

Okay so im completly HATE my car with a passion so Brett said we can start looking for me a new car. At first I wanted a SUV, but then Brett brought up the point that we already have a SUV so I decided that is true lets go for a car. WE have looked at the Pontiac G6's which I really do like and then we have looked at Camry's. I really am in love with the camry. The one we looked at is a dark gray/silver and is all leather inside. Im hesitate about car buying though. I mean in less than 1 yr my car will be paid off and that is a good $300 that will be freed up. Im nervous, excited, and really just confused.

This is what happens....

WHEN DADDY IS LEFT HOME WITH THE BABY

All Gussied Up

I haven't had too much to talk about here in blog land so i decided I would post some cute cute pics of Audree before we went to church last Sunday. I got this dress at Target and I just thought she looked so cute in it

The Deed Is Done

Well most of you know I have been BEGGING Brett to let me get Audree's ears pierced. I just think its something that all little girls should have done. He has always told me no, but today I convinced him to let us do it. So we loaded up and off to Claire's we went. I wanted to get both ears done at the same time, but the lady said its better with babies that they do it one at a time that way they dont jerk and the holes get uneven. I had to hold her so we sat in the chair and held the Claire's bear, she even had her ears pierced. I was getting really nervous the closer and closer it got to doing it. Audree actually did good for the first hole, but the second one she did NOT like at all. She cried for about a minute and that was it. Once I showed her herself in the mirror she started laughing haha. Im very proud of you Audree you were such a BIG girl!! You look so pretty!!!

Halloween Night!!

Well we started out our night by going to see Carson and Courtney! Carson looking so cute in his little bear outfit. It was too hot so he made a costume change into a pirate, and I must say he is the cutest little pirate Ive ever seen! We got some really cute pictures with them. Next stop was Grandpa James and MiMi DD's house. After we visited them we were off to Nonna's and Grandad's house. My mom bought us pizza so we scarfed our food down and off we went to trick or treat. Kolby and Audree had so much fun together!! We put them in their strollers and they just kicked back and rode! After we got done trick or treating we went to Billy and Nikki's house, they had a SPOOKY haunted house that we really neat!!

We had a GREAT first Halloween with Audree and we can't wait for the next years to come!!