26 Weeks

This pregnancy is flying by!  Here were are with only 14 weeks left to go.  

Thankfully I'm continuing to feel well, though it is getting much more difficult to sleep.  (Seems like this baby usually wants to dance every night when I want to fall asleep!) 

I recently had a friend ask if we are "doing the same thing" with this birth as we did with Audra's birth. (She's an older lady who never had any children of her own, so I know she thinks I'm a little nuts to plan a natural, drug-free birth!)  So for her, and anybody else who is wondering, the answer is definitely yes!  Despite the 15 hours of active labor with a baby in a posterior position (read: major back pain) I am excited that I have the opportunity to birth another baby.  It really is an amazing experience!

First Snow

Not only did we experience our first snowfall of the year this past weekend, but Audra also had the opportunity to play in the snow for the first time in her life.  (We only got a slight dusting of snow in the winters of 2012 and 2013, and this is the first time since the winter 2010-2011that the ground has been completely covered.)  Audra was completely thrilled with the experience, despite the fact that she'd had a cold all week and was generally miserable from cutting her 2-year-molars.

Sophie, of course, was delighted by the opportunity to play in the snow, too!

Since I'm still an Upstate NYer at heart, I was excited to see this much snow in early December.  Hopefully it's a sign that Audra and I will have many more opportunities to play in the snow this winter!

Christmas Tree

We went to get our Christmas tree this past weekend.  The weather was quite cold, but at least it wasn't raining.  

It was a delight to continue our family tradition of going to Stimpson's Tree Farm in Monroeville, NJ to search for the perfect tree, especially since Audra is at such a fun age these days.  She is very focused on the details in life, so she made sure to point out the holes in the ground that we came across, and asked to step in them about 5 times.

Audra seemed to think it was a bit strange that we were cutting down a tree to put it in our living room, but she enjoyed the new sights and the hayride with Daddy.

Back at the house we got prepared for Christmas by listening to Christmas music and setting up the decorations.  Audra had fun "helping" (and has continued to "help" by taking the decorations off the tree since then!).  And the next day we gathered near the tree for some pictures.

 I love the holiday traditions of our little family!

Tired Dog

After seeing how tired Sophie was when our guests left, Audra brought a blanket and two pillows from the couch.  She then proceeded to snuggle on the floor with "Doodle".

Sophie seemed to enjoy the special treatment!

Thanksgiving with the Loucks Family

We had a wonderful holiday with my sister and her family, who drove down from upstate NY.  Audra was so excited to spend time with her cousins, aunt and uncle!

The day after Thanksgiving we celebrated Christmas (after much prompting from the kids!).  Audra was thrilled with the magnet drawing board that she received and her cousins had fun showing her how it worked.

Sophie received lots of extra attention as well!

Thank you, Loucks's, for visiting!  We love you!

New Decking

We were thankful to have a visit from David's parents during a weekend in October.  David and his dad worked hard to tear apart the decking, which had been in bad shape for a couple of years.

Thankfully the frame was still solid, so the project moved along quickly.  By the end of Saturday they had completely re-decked the area.

And this previous week Audra enjoyed playing on our new deck!

Boxer Puppies

We were able to see some Boxer puppies this morning, though we definitely didn't have plans to bring one home.  However, after a short time with a sweet, snuggly male Boxer named Schoffield, David was wishing that that particular puppy wasn't already sold.

Audra was pretty excited about the puppies, though she was a little overwhelmed at seven 7-week-old puppies who were extremely hyper.

The good news about puppies is that they tire easily, and when they calmed down Audra was able to pet a couple of them.

All seven of the puppies had similar coloring to our Sophie and it was like stepping back in time to July 2010!

Dancing

For 3 seasons I've taken Audra to a mommy-and-me Music Together class in a nearby town.  She loves music and has grown very fond of our classes, the teacher and the songs that we learn together.  There are many nights when she asks us to turn on her cd's and this song (Jim-Along Josie) is a favorite!  

Expressions

Last week Audra and I took a road trip to Upstate NY.  It was a whirlwind trip of seeing many friends over the course of 4 days, and I didn't take 1 picture.  (Very unlike me!)  However, when we were staying with Dave and Suzanne Loucks (my sisters in laws), Suzanne got out her camera and got some shots of Audra.  She was being her typical, expressive self and Suzanne was able to capture some classic Audra looks.

(Almost) 17 Weeks

Shortly after Audra turned 18 months old we discovered that Baby #2 will be joining our family next April!  We're delighted by this new addition!

Pool Time

While we were in North Myrtle Beach we tried using arm floaties and a water ring on Audra, but she didn't enjoy the fact that an adult still had to hold onto her.  She kept insisting "Aww-da, Aww-da, Aww-da" which is her way of saying her name and letting us know that she wanted to do it all by herself.  We saw some other kids at the pool who were wearing Puddle Jumpers, and on Tuesday night my sweet in laws drove to a Target to buy one for Audra.

Our pool time for the remaining 3 days of vacation went much smoother, as Audra could swim all by herself!  What a great invention!

Sand Creations

A few years ago, during the Crosby family reunion at Sandbridge Beach, VA, I was able to see my husbands talent for sculpting sand.  The race car that he designed and helped build was pretty incredible (and it was a huge hit with my nephews, who were 3 1/2 at the time).

During our beach vacation I was able to see more of David's talent and discover that this talent was passed on from his father, Bruce.

On our 4th day at the beach they started with a small project, a turtle.

Audra thought it was a great place to sit.

Day 5 saw the creation of a sand shark.  (My only contribution to the sculpture was help in gathering some broken shells for the teeth.  In this picture I was trying to keep Audra from wrecking it.)

Day 6 was our last full day at the beach, so David and Dad Cundey spent about 3 hours on their artwork.  First they created the sea serpent, but that wasn't enough.  So they added an alligator, who was attacking from the serpents left side.

Next came the shark, who was trying to pull the serpent back into the water.

And then a squid attacked the sea serpent, too.  Three against one... it really was quite unfair!  But it brought a lot of attention from those passing by.

Exfoliating

We were all very amused when Audra used the sand to exfoliate her legs (and feet and arms) when we were at the beach a couple weeks ago.  

Beach Baby

I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to North Myrtle Beach, which happened between September 26 and October 5.  

We left our house on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 26, but stopped for the night near Richmond, VA and didn't get to our destination until about 2pm on Friday afternoon.  Audra rarely sleeps in the car (and if she does wind up falling asleep in the car it's usually for less than 45 minutes), so we were glad we spread the trip over 2 days.

We got settled into the Wyndham Resort, had a late lunch and then Audra went down for a nap.  After she woke we decided to take a quick walk on the beach before dinner.  My mother in law suggested changing Audra into her swimsuit, but I didn't think it was necessary.  Silly me!!  After about 15 minutes Audra was tired of walking in the sand and found the water too enticing to avoid.  We tried to keep her dry but she didn't want any of us to hold onto her so pretty soon she had fallen into the water.

Audra was giving Mimi a difficult time by trying to plunge headfirst into the water.

We eventually gave up on trying to keep Audra out of the water and just let her sit in the waves with her clothes on.  I learned my lesson about trying to keep a child dry while they're next to the ocean!

For the next 7 days we were blessed with warm and sunshiny weather... perfect beach weather!  Audra loved playing in the sand, rolling in the sand and going into the ocean.  She is definitely a beach baby!

I enjoyed watching Audra learn to love the beach!  Thanks, Mom and Dad Cundey, for inviting us to South Carolina and sharing this vacation with us!