(almost) 9 months old!

 

Me: "You goan crawl?" Whew, think I got a little "redneck" in that video! HAHA :)

This video was taken on May 9th. A week later she is officially crawling! It goes by so fast! Andrew and I cannot decide on an exact date of her first "crawl". The definition of crawling is more gray than black and white. We are going to say as of 5-17-11 is probably the best example of "crawling" we have seen so far. Really, it's a backwards crawl. So cute!

It's funny to me how kids reach their milestones. Audrey rolled over for the first time at 4 months old. She really did not start rolling over consistently until about 7 1/2 months old. We would laugh at ourselves when she would roll over because we would get so excited. "Yay! My almost-8-month-old can ROLL OVER!" Haha! A few weeks later she is crawling. My goodness, she is changing fast! For the first time ever she completely pulled up on the entertainment center and stood on her legs. (Wednesday, 5-18-11). She has never pulled all the way up.  I was just telling my father-in-law the other day of how she will pull herself up in her crib, but her knees are still bent. She finally pushed through and stood all the way up! We are so proud of her. Those chunky thunder thighs of hers weigh her down just a little, don't ya think? Cutest thunder thighs I've ever seen!!! She wears them well. ;-)

Finally finished her nursery....8 months later! 

I am so happy to say that Audrey's sleeping issues are pretty much solved!!! I would like to thank my friend Lora for recommending the book Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child. I am only 85 pages in, and the suggestions this doctor writes about have completely solved her sleeping issues. No more fighting sleep, screaming and crying, and she sleeps just fine on her tummy. I say all this, but this is for when we are at home. As long as she is in her bed, we pretty much have no issues. Occasional fuss here and there, but by no means nothing like before.  I HIGHLY recommend this book to all mommies, even if your children are no longer babies. Before I read this book, I would put Audrey to sleep when she would start fussing and rubbing her eyes. According to the author, Dr. Weissbluth, when you wait this long to put a child to sleep, you have waited too long. They are overtired by this point which actually makes it harder for them to go to sleep. Also, we used to put Audrey to sleep around 8-9pm. Most nights were spent with a fussy, screaming child. Audrey screams. She doesn't really cry-cry, just short LOUD screams. We did not realize how stressful this was on us, or how she was actually telling us that she was ready for bed! Audrey now goes to sleep between 6-6:30pm. We have been doing this for about 2 weeks now and it has seriously been a breeze. Nap-time is easy and our evenings are spent screaming-free (for the most part!). I am excited because I think Andrew and I will actually get to watch movies again! Before her bedtime changed, we were too tired or it was too late to watch a movie. The great thing is, she still sleeps through the night. She never quit sleeping through the night.  We always thought the later we put her to bed, the later she would sleep. She never really slept much past 7am. So if bedtime was at 9pm and she woke up at 7am, she was getting around 10 hours of sleep. Now if she goes to bed at 6pm and wakes up at 6am, she is getting 12 hours of sleep. We were depriving her of her sleep. Not good! If you read this book you will also learn all the reasons why babies and older children alike need so much sleep. It is a great book!! (It will probably be a new baby shower gift too from me, hehe.) Also, you can get for $.33 on Amazon.com, so believe me, you won't break the bank getting it. ;)

My first Mother's Day....


One of the best days ever!!!

 Audrey helped me pick out flowers for my planters. :)

 Some of my new flowers + Georgie the cat.

 Planting my flowers.

 Standing all by herself with the aid of my planter. She didn't like it too much.

It was a great day! And thank you too all my friends and family for the sweet cards I received. You all made it so special for me. My first Mother's Day was just perfect!



I bought Audrey her first ponytails this past week. I have to say, she looks pretty darn cute in ponytails and pigtails. I do not know why I never did this sooner. At least now she is fully stocked with literally hundreds of ponytails!

Below is a family photo shoot today. I had to get some pics in her pigtails and Sunday dress. :-P

New car seat!! She is testing it out before we install it. This thing is like her own comfy recliner! I think she is going to like it. Too bad it's not pink :(. I'm a stickler for neutrals. Oh well, brown and green is cute too.

Happy Sunday! Now it's time for my lazy Sunday afternoon nap.....Not sure if that will actually happen!