Monday, January 21, 2013

To My Precious 4 Year Old . . .




Wow.  It's true, "The days are long but the years are short."  I just cannot believe I have a 4 year old!  On one hand it feels as if Audrey was born yesterday, but then those days of having a newborn also seem so long ago.

Dear Audrey,

Just 4 short years ago Mommy and Daddy were anxiously getting ready for you.  We had your room all ready (as well as your bed in our room), we had your clothes ready, and we just couldn't wait to meet you.  You were due on January 19th.  But you didn't want to come out!  So the doctors had to induce you on your birthday, the 22nd.  After a long day in the hospital, you were born.  

You were beautiful.  You are even more beautiful today.  You look mostly like your Aunt Amanda, your "Auntie Moo."  Your facial features, your build, and your hair is just like hers.  Lucky girl.  :)

You are so old these days.  You are really coming into your own.  You love to color more than anything.  And you are GOOD at it.  Just today we were at a playdate with your friends and the other mom remarked at how well you were coloring.  You are an artist, that's for sure.  You can thank your Daddy for that.  But today when another Mommy asked you what you wanted to be when you grow up, you immediately responded " a teacher, like my Momma."  Be still my heart.

Audrey, I am so proud of you.  You are kind.  You are creative.  You are strong willed.  Every day I thank God that I am your Momma. I can't wait to see the next 4 years with you. I love you!

Love,
Momma

Sunday, January 20, 2013

4 Year Interview

I cannot believe Audrey will be 4 on Tuesday.  We had her party this weekend and it was so much fun.  Last year I did a 3 Year Old Interview with Auds, and I was excited to do the same thing this year.  

Here is our little 4 Year Old, ready to answer some questions.  :)



Favorite Color: pink  
Favorite Animal: flamingo
Best friend: Madilyn Kelso  
Favorite Food: cheese crackers
Favorite Tv show: Max and Ruby
Favorite Toy:  Pink ballerina Barbie Doll
Favorite Movie: Tangled
Favorite Drink: Strawberry lemonade
Favorite Restaurant: Chick Fil A
Favorite place to go: Madi's House
Favorite Game to play: Princess Dominoes
Silliest thing daddy does: try to take my cake on my birthday
Silliest thing Mommy does: just does tricks

:)

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

Seeing the Trains at Northpark with Uncle Eric.  One of our favorite Holiday traditions!





Monday, January 7, 2013

The Best of Intentions . . .

So today was our first day back to school.  It was just a Work Day for me, so that meant I could go in a little later and not have to wake us up so early.  I'll be honest, it was *pretty* hard for me when my alarm went off at 6:30.  (I'm sure tomorrow's wake up call of 5:45 will be even harder!)  But when I woke Audrey up at 7 she was ready to go.  She was super excited to see her friends, so she got ready and we were out the door before 7:30.  Nice!  

She was a little hesitant to go back to school once we got there, and was pretty clingy to me.  Luckily her wonderful teacher, Ms. Brandi, scooped her right up and I was on my way.  It was great to see my co-workers and have some time back at school.  I just love my job and the people I work with so much.  Half of the day was spent just catching up with each other, and the other half was spent getting ready to teach my kiddos this week.

I was out the door by 3:30 and I was T.I.R.E.D.  All of this working business really wore me out.  I was too tired to even go for a run when I got home.  Hence the 5:45 wake up tomorrow morning.  ;)  

James sometimes gets Audrey on the Mondays after the weekend he doesn't have her, because he's an awesome dad like that and just plain misses her and wants to see her.  So this morning I let Audrey know that Daddy would be picking her up and she would be spending the night at his house.  She was so excited and we packed her suitcase and brought it to school.

Well, once I got home at 3:30 I realized *just* how much I missed my girl who I had been spending all day with the past 2 weeks.  Then James called and said he couldn't leave early and would probably be getting Auds from school around 5:30.  Um, no!  So I said I would go pick her up (because if I missed her so much, surely she felt the same?!) right then.  I envisioned Audrey leaping into my arms and thanking me for picking her up.

Not so much.  

I walked in to her classroom and the first words out of her mouth were "Where's my daddy?  Daddy is supposed to get me today.  NOT YOU!"  Ouch.

So we got out to the car and she just freaked out.  Like this: (those are her blankies that she's waving around like a maniac)


When she finally calmed down I asked her to use her words to tell me what was wrong.  "But but, it was supposed to be Daddy, not you!  And and, it was centers time and now I can't go to centers!"  Aha.  That was it.  Audrey's FAVORITE time of day at school is centers, and I literally picked her up when her teacher was telling them which center they could go to.  Oops.

But, after a snack and some dancing, we had fun.  :)  Then off she went with Daddy and was a very happy girl. And I'm off to catch up on The Real Housewives of Atlanta.  Whoop!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Back to Reality

Wow, I can't believe our vacation is over.  2 solid weeks of no school for either of us and we really made the most of it!  Audrey has been so well behaved and sweet to be around (not including her time out on Christmas Day, really, who goes to time out on Christmas?  And the restaurant issue on Uncle Eric's Birthday).  She's really been enjoying her new toys, helping me clean, and just being all around fun to hang out with.  We've been sleeping in, meeting friends to play, and enjoying our time with no schedule.

Is there anything better than movie night?  No friends, there is not.  Snuggling in our pj's watching a movie is the best.  We watched "The Princess and The Frog" last night and it started out really good, but got a little creepy in the middle.  We all know that Audrey gets scared easily, and this movie had a few scary parts.  But overall it was fun to watch a "different" kind of princess movie.

If this Christmas Break can be summed up in one word it would be:  Princesses.  "Mama, come play in my Princess Castle with me.  Mama, I want to wear my Tangled socks, shirt, etc.  Mama, I'm going to color in my Princess coloring book.  Mama, I'm reading my Tangled book on my Leap Pad."

The Leap Pad.  This was the one gift I was SUPER excited about getting Audrey for Christmas.  She already navigates through my iPhone like a pro, so I knew she would catch on quickly.  She loves this thing.  But it's a little scary because she's getting a little more "away" from us if that makes any sense.  Like she can put on her headphones and just be in her own world.  So far she hasn't used it so much that I need to put a limit on it, but I am ready to do so when needed.  I have worked with way too many kiddos with behavior issues at school who spend all of their time with electronic devices.  Using her Leap Pad is a privilege, not something to use all of the time.  But it sure is neat!  And it really is showing me how she is such the little artist.  She has so many apps and games to choose from, but she consistently picks the Art Adventure one.

Again, such a little artist.  Audrey can color forever.  One day she colored for over an hour on her own.  She LOVES it.  I have started running again over the break, so Grammy came over each day to watch Auds for a little bit while I got back into it.  I would always come back to find them coloring or playing one of Audrey's new board games.

Goodbye Christmas Break, we will miss you!