Fall 2011

Preston's First Birthday

I know I have mentioned on more than one occasion on how my sister-in-law is a mini-Martha Stewart, but I mean I think these pictures prove it. My nephew, Preston, had a Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday party. Everything was related to the book. The spread was not only beautiful, but it was also the food in the actual story. Like I said, AMAZING! We had such a great time. It was held at a local park in Tennessee, and the weather could not have been better.

This is a closer picture of the cake. Yes, she (my SIL) made it.

Pics of decorations...

Mini-parfait table....

I believe Audrie had a blast too. How could she not being passed around between grandparents?

Poppa Q teaches Audrie how to "drive"

Audrie's first time in a playground swing with Poppa Q pushing. Will she like it?

I think she does! Success!

Now, onto sliding with Grammy...

Birthday boy chowing down on his cake!

Relaxing with PopPop

Someone was starting to look sleepy.

Halloween

Audrie was a little lamb. Her cousin, Kate, let us borrow her outfit for the night. It does have a cute little hat, but Audrie's head was too big. So, we improvised....

We strolled around our little neighborhood. It was fun watching all the kids walk from door to door. We went with our neighbors, the Fielders, who have a 3 year old son who dressed as Buzz-Light-Year from Toy Story. We let him go get all the candy. I didn't want to get those looks that mean, "I know she can't eat this candy. It must be for you."

One night...Audrie managed to get ALL her hair to stick up! So of course, I had to take pics of it.

"Ugh Mom! WHY are taking my picture?"

She is still precious, even with her hair crazy!

We had a pretty uneventful Thanksgiving. Audrie got her first stomach bug, and she gave it to me. Fortunately, I did not give it to Michael. But, our Thanksgiving meal was grill cheeses-Granny Cantrell style. Well, we always called them cheese grills.

Now, I know I am behind on my blog....but, I will have to do Christmas in parts..but I am working on catching up.

Audrie Turns ONE!

Audrie turns ONE!
I know parents say this all the time, but the quote is sooo true.
"Time goes by so quickly"

We celebrated Audrie on September 10th.
Here is some photo shots of the day!

Starting with the decorations.....

mailbox

The loot...and pics of Audrie's first year

The sign

The birthday girl's throne for a day

The treat table

The all important food. The lady bug cupcakes were done by Audrie's godmother, Emmylou. I hear her boyfriend, Jason, helped too. He wouldn't take any credit at the party though. They turned about fabulous!!!

The Birthday GIRL

Our little family

opening presents

Audrie's introduction to sugar!

They love each other!

This picture was taken on her actual birthday!

September 16, 2011
20 lbs - 25th percentile
29.75 in - 75th percentile

Dear Audrie,
You have been the light of mine and your dad's world since you the day you were born. We LOVE watching your grow. You have my sensitivity and your dad's curiosity. You are a little dramatic, but I am not sure where you get that. hahaha! That's from me too! You are independent and like to do things for yourself. You have such a sweet little personality and always happy and smiling. We are so blessed to be your parents. We thank our Lord every night for you.

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

August.....the finger incident

So, my last weekend of freedom...before work started again, I was blessed to be able to go and help out the Cantrells, also known as - my big brother's family. Luke was still on crutches at the time, and Amanda had to work that weekend. So, Audrie and I loaded up and headed north!

As you can see, my S-I-L has her hands full!!!

I love those sweet babies!

Audrie turned 11 months: August 16, 2011. Her 11 months is a little bit of a blur. I got the phone call at work that you never want to hear. "Mrs. Case, Audrie is hurt." She had had an accident at daycare. Her finger was smashed. Michael was off work and went to get her. The adjective he used was mangled. So, he headed to the pediatrician's office. Dr. Van Norman had to substitute in for Dr. Mullins, because she was not at work. Dr. Van Norman immediately referred Audrie to a plastic surgeon, Dr. Brantley. I met Michael at the plastic surgeon's office shaky and completely nauseated. Michael described the accident and her finger to Dr. Brantley. He didn't even unwrap it before making the decision to operate. We headed downstairs to the waiting room. Karon, M-I-L, was sitting there with us. It was so nice to have some moral support. They took her back, and we could do was...wait. Fortunately, it was a short surgery, about 30 minutes. They called us back to let her wake up for post-op. She handled it like a champ. I will say...it was the longest day of my life. Did I mention the tornado siren were going off during her surgery? Yes, a very long day! We were blessed to have such great doctors and to be able to Audrie home safe and sound.

The finger all wrapped up!

As you can see, it didn't slow her down very much....

Now, you can barely even tell anything happened. Dr. Brantley does amazing work!

ending the Summer of 2011

To end the summer of 2011 (July), we headed to Grammy and Pop Pop's for a few days. Michael couldn't go because of work :( but we made the road trip....and plan trip back...

On the way.... we broke up the trip into two days. Which was a good thing, since Audrie expired after about 6 hours of riding. I thought she did really well! I forgot the town we stopped at, but I do remember getting to eat at Ruby Tuesday's! The have the BEST salad bar..hands down! Audrie was not a fan of the hotel crib, so she slept on my chest most of the night. Reminded me of her newborn days :)

Audrie learned a new trick at Grammy's: pulling up!

Practicing

and she has it !

Audrie @ 10 months: July 16, 2010

We headed to Daytona Beach to relax. Note to self: a baby at the beach is not very relaxing but fun...and funny...

Audrie checking out the ocean...

Not very sure what to think and then...

Yep! she hated it! hahaha

It was too cold for her little feet!

She was great after we got her out of the water!

We just hung out the rest of the time.

Before church on Sunday

The trip ended with me flying on a plane back with Audrie. I am still not sure if I was being really brave to flying with a baby along or just plain dumb. But, it all worked out. We made it safe and sound back to the Jackson airport!

Little Sprout Update

Audrie @ 9 months
Stats:
28.75 inches - 90th percentile
17.5 lbs. - 25th percentile
In other words...we have a tall/slim girl :)
It has become more difficult to take pictures of our little bit, because she is always on the go!
Luckily, I got this snapshot of her in her outfit from her Popa Q and Ninabelle. The rest were blurry from her moving...hahaha

She doesn't normally sleep with her booty in the air, but I thought is was so funny/cute. So, I took a pic.

Michael and Little Bit on his 1st Father's Day. We were in my brother's and sister-in-laws's pediatrician's apartment in Memphis, TN. Luke was in a terrible car wreck and was at The Med. If you want to know about all of that...check out their blog! It is on my blog list that I read -The Cantrell blog

Happy 4th of July!!!

We went to the beach while visiting Grammy and Pop Pop. That will be a whole other post...once I get all the pictures.

Audrie no longer needs her car seat in the stroller! Riding like a big girl!

Audrie @ 10 months
Stats:
18 lbs.
29 inches
In this pic, she is wearing one of my old dresses.

Practicing pulling up...

and she has it! This is her big accomplishment for this month!

Well, that's all for now...Florida trip blog will be soon!